Marc Hempel showcases his witty sense of storytelling in an amusing short Spidey story from 1986. Hempel, best know for his work on Sandman, brings some welcome lightheartedness to the character without devolving into Not Brand Echh mode.
Stylistically, think Steve Ditko meets Los Hernandez Brothers.
I didn’t acquire a Ditko Spider-man original art page back when they were simply “very expensive,” and now that prices have soared into the stratosphere, it feels even more unlikely. Homages and tributes will have to do.
And that’s perfectly ok.
(Complete story presented below. As far as I can tell, It’s never been reprinted.)
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA – JULY 02: South Koreans wear Spider-Man cloths during the ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ Seoul Premiere at Yeongdeunpo Times Square on July 2, 2017 in Seoul, South Korea. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)
Kismet.
I’m prepping a series of posts to celebrate the Spider-Man’s upcoming 60th anniversary, and my favorite podcast series, Planet Money, airs an episode on the complex Spidey film partnership between Sony and Marvel.
It’s a great episode, and covers a ton of round in under a half an hour. If I noticed anything “missing,” it’s the drama that happened a few years ago when we heard posturing (bloviating, actually) about Sony and Disney not reaching a new agreement to keep Spidey in the MCU.
Really?
The last Sony Spider-Man film not in the MCU, Amazing Spider-Man 2, grossed about $700 million worldwide. Not shabby, but no where near expectations.
The current Spidey film, No Way Home, has grossed about $1.7 billion globally, and counting. That’s an extra BILLION dollars.
Think about that. It doesn’t matter how that negotiation ultimately played out, everyone made a TON of money. At least on the film side.
On the comic book side? That’s a tale for another day.
Commission (Based On Steve Ditko, Amazing Spider-Man #33, November 1965), 2013
Amazing. Spectacular. Sensational.
It doesn’t matter what adjective you put in front of Spider-Man’s name, his actual popularity dwarfs them all.
And he celebrates his 60th anniversary later this year.
So why not celebrate the world’s most famous web-slinger with a whole month of Spider-Man art.
Why not indeed?
First up — Tony Daniel’s terrific tribute to Stan Lee and Steve Ditko’s most iconic issue of the original series, Amazing Spider-Man #33.
It’s not that Spider-Man wouldn’t be saved (Heck, even a little kid knows that.) But in that classic story, Ditko masterfully conveyed Spidey’s struggle and necessary force of will to find the strength to lift tons of machinery and save himself.
No Iron Man or Thor to the rescue. This is all about Spider-Man’s personal will to survive — so that he himself can rescue Aunt May.
It’s likely the most powerful three-page comic book sequence of the era.
Harris is not the first creator to pay tribute to the scene, but he does it masterfully, creating an image that exists somewhere seconds before page three of Ditko’s original sequence.
Additionally, Harris uses a muted color palate, perfect for the art. I don’t typically pursue color art, but this piece grabbed me the moment I saw it.
Amazing indeed.
Ray Lago’s tribute from a “Marvel Portraits Comic”
The late Dave Stevens was among the many talented artists to work on the short-lived Tarzan Weekly (UK) in 1977.
Editor Russ Manning employed friends and current and former assistants alike in the execution of the ERB-themed stories.
Other talented hands included Bill Stout, Mike Royer, Danny Bulandi, an Mike Ploog to name a few.
Sometimes the credits are a little murky, as I confirmed a few months ago With Bill Stout at SDCC. Often, an artist would pick up whatever page was closet to deadline, and pencil, ink, or both and then switch. All depending on schedule, and who was in the studio. But this page has been confirmed as Stevens — and even though its very early professional work, you can see it.
The young Stevens (about 20 at the time) was already working with Manning when Russ started editing the Tarzan series. He had assisted on the Tarzan comic strip and would ultimately pitch in on Star Wars strip as well.
Fun Fact:
2022 is the 40th anniversary of the Rocketeer, Stevens best known work, and (rightly) a legend among comic art enthusiasts.
But you already knew that part.
Dave Stevens later jungle work evolves into a different focus.
“Tarzan In Savage Pellucidar,” Graphic Novel, 1975
This beautiful Russ Manning splash page has never been published in the US, or in English at all, for that matter.
A foreign publisher hired Manning and his team to create a series of graphic albums for the European markets in the mid 70s. Manning, having beautifully illustrated the Tarzan comic strips, as well as some of the Gold Key comics, was a perfect choice.
A few years back, Dark Horse reprinted two of those graphic albums, but I assume sales were not significant to continue. (Unless it simply fell through the cracks. Not a likely scenario, but it does happen occasionally.)
Another original art page from this story appeared in auction last year, and it too is a beauty.
I would really love to see the whole thing. I haven’t been able to find a foreign edition. But I will, eventually. Trust me on this.
Tarzan in Savage Pellucidar appeared in many languages — except, strangely, in English.
From the dept. of nearly naked women and trippy 70s posters: Neal Adams art for Warp precedes Russ Manning’s poster for Tarzan by a few years. Phantasmagorical indeed.
2022 is the 110th anniversary of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ jungle icon, Tarzan.
This year has at least two-other important Tarzan-related anniversaries:
The first is 1932, the release year of the first Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan feature film. Tarzan existed on screen prior to the Weissmuller film, of course, but his 12 features likely did more to enshrine the character in the popular imagination than any other media representation.
The second is 1972, the year DC took over the comic book license from Gold Key and re-established Tarzan as a savage lord of the Jungle. Joe Kubert’s comic art work on the character was the first that took the sheen of the character and returned him to his literary roots.
Long before “reboot” became part of the pop culture vocabulary, Kubert’s Tarzan was a stunning new look for comic book readers.
DC, as part its licensing deal, had to provide all the original art to the Burroughs estate. It’s still there in the archives, in excellent condition, and we used it to create three beautiful Artist’s Editions volume at IDW.
Ultimately, thought, this means that Kubert Tarzan pages are among the rarest of the last 50 years. With the exception of a handful, none of them have ever been offered on the open market.
Joe originally gifted this splash, part of a DPS, to a friend.
I happened to see it the day it the day it came up for sale, and despite a lofty price, I acquired it then and there.
I knew I wouldn’t likely see another one.
Typically, Kubert’s full double-page spreads from this period could be broken up without ruining the art.
Three different Tarzan anniversaries in 2022: DC’s Tarzan celebrates its 50th, Weissmuller’s film series celebrates its 90th, and the character himself celebrates his 110th.
The final issue of Gold Key’s Tarzan series is almost as far from Kubert’s interpretation as The Batman 1966 TV series is from Christopher Nolan’s. Coincidentally, that issue also featured an adaptation of “Tarzan and the lion man.”
Eric Powell brings his offbeat sensibility to the good doctor in this two-page gag story featured in a Secret Wars parody comic.
I acquired this page directly from Eric at SDCC a few years back, and apparently the other page had just sold to another lucky purchaser.
Missed it by that much.
(Full two-pager presented below.)
The TPB cover by our pal Jim Mahfood is much more interesting than the comic book cover, which is a gag without much art.
Doctor Doom has a terrific legacy in the pantheons of Marvel humor. Stan and Jack did a hilarious send-up of the FF-Doom-Silver Surfer multi-parter in the very first issue of Not Brand Echh in 1967. (The amazing published splash page here is from the actual story of course, not the parody.)
Doctor Doom’s greatest fantasy? Murdering Reed Richards, of course.
And if you have your own planet, you too can make your dreams come true.
Leo Manco nicely illustrates Doom choking Reed on this page from the Emperor Doom mini-series.
Reminds me of a film moment of a certain costumed villain that looks an awful lot like Doctor Doom. Art imitates art, imitates art, ad infinitum, apparently.
Manco, an Argentinian artist, is terrific, and I wish we’d see more of his work in the comic book space.
The similarities between Darth Vader and Doctor Doom always choke me up. (Ouch.)Per our last post, Lucas owes some public tribute to Jack Kirby as far as we are concerned.
Doctor Doom — Marvel’s first iconic super villain of the Silver Age* — celebrates his 60th anniversary this year.
And I have a question.
How are the MCU pros going to create a new on-screen look for the character that is true to form, but doesn’t look goofy as hell? These folks are the best in the business, but that’s a hell of challenge. Lesser talents have failed, not once, not even twice, but three times.**
They could go all black (always a safe choice) and make the costume more technological and futuristic, but… I believe George Lucas already beat them to the punch by about 45 years.***
The comic book Doom costume is one of those that almost makes sense in 2D, but three-dimensional? Oof.
I’m definitely looking forward to seeing the results, maybe even later this year, if we’re lucky.
And, as always, we digress.
Here, the versatile Ron Lim creates a dramatic splash page with the most Doctor Doom you will ever see in once place. You see, the good doctor has this cool hobby of building robots in his spare time.
Lots of them, apparently.
Fun fact footnotes:
Ok, Sub-Mariner beat Doom by a full issue — or more than 20 years, depending on how you count Silver Age vs. Golden Age — but I can’t fully embrace him as a villain. (This despite the fact that Doom and Sub-Mariner later appeared together in a comic book called Super-Villain Team-Up.)
** Two contemporary big budget film releases, plus the officially unreleased Roger Corman version. I probably shouldn’t count that, but I do. Sue me.
*** Lucas has yet to acknowledge that Darth Vader is essentially a mash-up of two Jack Kirby comic book creations, Doctor Doom and Darkseid. C’mon George, fess up.
Clayton Henry’s cover to the Fantastic Five is an homage (swipe?) of Kirby’s FF Annual #2
Doctor Doom’s first appearance features a ridiculous bird for good measure.
One punch line panel of the iconic Spy vs. Spy gag strip often sported more violence than an entire episode of Looney Tunes. (That’s saying something.)
And we loved it.
Prohias, a Cuban refugee, was a genius. He didn’t speak very much English. And he didn’t have to. Humor is a universal language.
And me personally? I love wordless gags. After all, cartooning is a visual medium.
Spy vs. Spy made its debut in a classic issue of Mad — the infamous election flip cover. Newsstand proprietors could face out whoever actually won the election. (Spoiler alert: It was JFK.) Also above are the first three Spy gags, all appearing in the same issue.
I was fortunate to visit Mad’s offices in 1976 and received the classic Cheap, Crummy Souvenir. More importantly, I met many of the “Usual Gang of Idiots” including the fearless leader himself, Bill Gaines.
