Here's a lovely collection of house style sheets from DC in the early 80s, drawn by the inestimable José Luis García-López. These served as reference samples for other DC artists, and they are all gorgeous.
(With the notable exception of Supergirl's horrific headband outfit, for which sin she eventually died in the Crisis on Infinite Earths. Supergirl has always had a lot of problems with costuming. But I digress.)
In some ways, it's remarkable looking at something like this, to see some classic designs that still resonate today, but also for body forms that haven't yet gone off the deep end (look at Wonder Woman's waist, her bust size, her overall definition; this is not an anorexic waif with a boob job and steroid addiction).
The mid-80s and later saw a lot of changes in comic book art to a more idiosyncratic series of styles, from Miller to Simonson to Sienkiewicz to McFarland and beyond — some of them good, some of them not. Seeing this collection fills me with a lot of nostalgia.
Which is also ironic, because at the time I didn't collect any DC other than New Teen Titans — but that had George Perez on art, so no problems there.
DC’s 1982 Character Style Guide is a Beautiful Treasure Trove of Comic Book Nostalgia
If you’re a fan of classic DC comics, then it’s probably the artwork of the ‘80s that is burned into your memory—more specifically it might be the art featured in the rare, never-released-for-sale 1982 style guide. While bits and pieces have made their way online in the past, we’ve never had a chance to see the entirety of it… until now.
