Johnny Cloud's Star Jockey: The Pop Artist Roy Lichtenstein Connection

Johnny Cloud's eighth Mission entitled Star Jockey in AAMOW#89 has gained added attention from comic book collectors due to one of the stories images being appropriated with modifications by Pop Artist Roy Lichtenstein. The painting (acrylic and oil on canvas) is known as WHAAM! -- named after the boldly-lettered sound of Cloud's missile striking a MiG-15 on page eleven of the story.

See my last Blog Post for the original WHAAM! image.

The painting, measuring 68x160 inches was first exhibited in 1963. The subjects were "recomposed" with borrowed elements from other Johnny Cloud panels (in the same and other AAMOW issues, melding art from several comic book artists). The work was purchased by the Tate Modern Museum in London for about $94,000 (in 2023 dollars). WHAAM! is quite popular with museum goers. 

Consequently, this AAMOW#89 issue has been in demand enough to land on The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide ratings of the top 50 War Comics (in the War Report section). This ranking has ranged in the upper to middle 40s. 

Comic book sellers have listed AAMOW#89 at significantly higher prices despite Overstreet lumping this one with subsequent twelve-cent AAMOW issues with valuations of eight to twenty-four dollars for Good to Fine condition books.

As of the date of this blog post, Lone Star Comics (a big seller) offers two AAMOW#89 issues for $190 and $275 (Good/VG 3.0 and Fine 5.5 respectively). E-Bay shows no less that thirteen books ranging from $160 to $450, plus one badly damaged at $70. This is crazy money in my opinion, unless you are a serial collector of AAMOW, or Top-50 hound, or just like the association with Roy Lichtenstein.

Of note, Roy Lichtenstein's work has been controversial since it appropriates the artwork of Irv Novick, Russ Heath, and others without permission, recognition, or compensation. Is this legitimate? That is the question. Not just in this case, but in many instances when artists take inspiration from popular culture -- do soup cans come to mind? Sure. 

All this has made AAMOW#89 a Top-50 war comic.

As a fanatical fan of Johnny Cloud, I felt compelled to find and buy AAMOW#89 (at a price between what Lone Star Comics have in stock -- see above). And yes, I grumbled about it. 

Some other details: This is the first twelve-cent AAMOW comic; it is the first Three-War cover in the Johnny Cloud series; it is the first one wherein "Johnny Cloud" does not appear in a subtitle (however, his warrior-on-flying-horse emblem is shown on his P-51 and his name in tiny print is shown on a shoulder patch when depicted in the cockpit of the F-86 Sabre. The cover is bold and colorful by Jerry Grandenetti -- he did most of the Three-War covers.

For Johnny Cloud fans, here is the important stuff. The origin story details make AAMOW#89 an essential read. Eleven (out of sixty-five) panels are devoted to Johnny Cloud's born-with fascination with flying, plus his glimpse into the future (provided by the Smoke-maker) that shows his fighter-pilot destiny. As I mentioned last week, this is great stuff and sets
Cloud apart from most other War Comic heroes. The rest of the story is solid, but it is not one of Cloud's best adventures.

One more note: The only other Johnny Cloud story to hit the Top 50 War Comic rankings is his inaugural issue AAMOW#82, and this one barely makes the cut in the upper 40s.

Image Credit:
AAMOW#89 (February 1962): Cover: J. Grandenetti; Writer: R. Kanigher.
Johnny Cloud TM DC Comics