Though perhaps less celebrated than Terry Austin, as far as UXM inkers go, Dan Green’s 6 year run on UXM is pivotal, bridging key eras and creators whilst establishing a more modern aesthetic for the series that allowed for continuous evolution. #xmen 1/9
Green’s first go at UXM inks came with issue #107, the last pre-Byrne issue. Green was a fill-in at this point and admirably inked Cockrum’s pencils in a manner that was perfectly consistent with the established look of Dave’s series-launching style. 2/9
Green would later return to the series in 1984 as the regular inker, a position he held for 6 years spanning issues #179-261, a tenure and output exceeding that of any other inker on the series. 3/9
Over the course of his storied career, Green has inked many of the best pencilers in comics, including John Byrne, Gene Colan, Steve Ditko, Keith Giffen, Carmine Infantino, Jack Kirby, George Pérez, Jim Starlin, Al Williamson, and Bernie Wrightson. 4/9
This roster of collaborators speaks to one of Green’s greatest skills: versatility, adjusting his style to suit the strengths and weaknesses of each penciler, including a wide number of iconic UXM pencilers such as Cockrum, Byrne, JRJR, Lee and, of course, Silvestri. 5/9
Versatility is especially obvious in that transition from JRJR to Silvestri with Green providing a bit of stylistic continuity for the series, despite the drastically different styles employed by Romita and Silvestri. 6/9
Silvestri employs a sketchy style of pencils. Converting that to smooth angular lines is challenging, but Green’s inks were able to give that style just enough weight and gravity to keep it grounded without diminishing the innovative components of Silvestri’s detailed style. 7/9
Green lists different influences for each medium he works in, but from a comics perspective, he cites “Kurtzman, Williamson, Wood, Davis and the whole EC comics crew. Eisner, of course…Toth…Gene Colan. Wrightson, Kaluta, Jones” as the artists he drew from. 8/9
In addition to his famous comics inks, Green is quite accomplished as a painter, a talent he actually showcased in the visually stunning “Dr. Strange: Into Shamballa,” which Green lists as a work that he is most particularly proud of. 9/9
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