I don’t always understand why I like the artwork I am looking at. Art is personal and we all have personal tastes. Usually, a work appeals to me for reasons that are not readily explained. I see the work…and “it speaks”. And this is how it has been with the work of Mike Ploog. For years, I have known his name and purchased his books when I see them. And for years, I have to confess, I have done little more than that. I really knew very little about the extent of his work prior to crating this post.
Ploog had well respected runs on the Monster of Frankenstein, Werewolf by Night, Man Thing and a few other titles. But he did not, however, produce a tremendous amount of work in his comic career. That aside, his work sort of stops you in your tracks – you know, when you are flipping through the back issue stock at your LCS or at a a con. Flip-flip-flip-flip….wait, what’s this?!?! His covers usually have a dynamism to them that is hard to pass up. And that is very much the case on this Monster of Frankenstein #5 book from 1973.
The interior work on this book also shows the evidence of his skill. The splash is well done, and sets the mood for the book. As the pages get turned, the work may not reach the level of a Gene Colan/Tom Palmer Dracula book, but that’s ok! That could just be a function of the Vanpoorten inks. Either way…it is still serviceable work and well worth the cost of entry.
So all this points to an interesting possibility. With a grand total of about 28 total coversto his name, and not that many more comic interiors to his credit…putting together a complete collection of his work would be a great way to spend some time at a convention. It could probably be accomplished in one afternoon and you would leave the show with a fantastic set of books at a really reasonable price!
For a semi decent checklist of Ploog’s work, check out the Grand Comics Database. Or check out thisinterview of Ploogin Comic Book Artist.
As always, if you want to support this blog, check out comics by Ploog available on eBay!
Cheers!