Death in superhero comic books had always been a gimmick. “Robin
Dies at Dawn” likely meant he would be back by dinnertime. (In fairness, it’s a
pretty good story.)
So back in the 60s, legitimately killing a character was in
fact, a groundbreaking novelty. And this T.H.U.N.D.E.R Agents story is one of
the first. Ditko, Wood and company had spent 6 issues developing the character
of Menthor (John Janus), and they shot him to death on this page in Issue #7.
This historic page captures that collaborative methodology
of Woody and the Tower artistic team on T.H.U.N.D.E.R Agents. Dan Adkins scripted
and provided layouts, Ditko penciled the story, and Wood inked it, with assists
by Adkins.
The original T.H.U.N.D.E.R Agents lasted only last 20
issues, and perhaps, had it survived, John would have been resurrected at some
point. But it certainly did not appear that way.
Unlike, say, modern times where killing a lead character is a
gimmick once again.
Superman. Dead. Then alive.
Batman. Dead? Nope, he’s back.
Captain America? Reborn. Bucky? Not dead, just hiding in
Russia for a few decades.
Etc.
A few months after the death of Menthor, teenaged writerJim Shooter kills off (spoiler alert) Ferro Lad in the Legion of Super-Heroes.
Menthor’s powers derived from a “cybernetic” helmet, so t was no surprise that another character would don the helmet and ultimately become a new Menthor when T.H.U.N.D.E.R Agents was resurrected by other publishers. John Janus? Still dead, I believe.
The frustrated artist, working “Marvel style” on Daredevil — plotting AND drawing — but only paid for the art, heard about a new opportunity. Tower, primarily a book publisher, had decided to take a leap of faith into the comics biz, and Woody was ready to help them.
It was the perfect role for Woody, who had carte blanche to
develop the comics as hew saw fit. He was artist, storyteller, art director and
defacto editor — all rolled into one.
And with the help of friends/colleagues Len Brown (Topps
Mars Attacks) and Dan Adkins, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents was born.
Combining a super powered team (think Justice League) with a
secret spy organization (ala S.H.I.E.L.D., which had just launched a few months
prior) T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents was an effort to capitalize on the secret agent pop
culture craze. (James Bond, Man from U.N.C.LE., et al.).
This page is a great example Wood’s crystal clear storytelling
and trademark inks. Adkins is credited in
some instances on this story as the penciller, with Wood on inks, and due to
the collaborative nature of the creative teams on these stories, it’s often
easy to lose the thread of who did what.
But this looks like pure Wood here, as Dynamo and his
“duplicate” (there are actually three Dynamos in this story — don’t ask) are
mowed down in a hail of bullets.
I’ve I always wanted to use that phrase.
Who are you going to call?:
T.H.U.N.D.E.R. The Higher United Nations Defense Enforcement Reserves.
U.N.C.LE. United Network Command for Law and Enforcement.
S.H.I.E.L.D: Originally Supreme Headquarters,
International Espionage and Law-Enforcement Division and
later Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate. In the
MCU film and TV Universe, it means Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement
and Logistics Division.
By 1965, the super-spy craze (and acronym obsession) was in full bore in pop culture.
By the time of T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents launch, Wood had created two bonafide superhero masterpieces. The Superman parody in Mad Comics and the Daredevil and Sub-Mariner crossover in DD#7 are still considered classics today.
The first Locke and Key comic book from IDW Publishing went on sale 12 years ago, and nearly everyone who read it said, “wow, this would make a great television series.”
After a long, winding, often tortuous journey on the entertainment road, here we are. The first season of Locke and Key dropped on Netflix last night. I’m looking forward to binging it.
And I’m looking forward to re-reading the original six graphic novels that comprise the full Locke and Key story. Superb storytelling throughout by Joe Hill and Gabe Rodriguez make this one of the top graphic novel series of the 21st century. Gabe’s art just keeps getting better — and more lavishly detailed — as the series progresses.
I’ve loved nearly all of Gabe’s covers, but he rightfully guessed that this would be one of my favorites, with its emphasis on a classic hero vs. monster fight. (And beautiful detail on the monster.) When we introduced Locke and Key to a wider audience via Free Comic Book Day, we chose this to use cover as well.
It’s a beauty. Thanks Gabe.
Slight alterations (digitally) from original issue to FCBD version.
It was February 6, 1994. As we put the first (and it turned
out, last) issue of Victory to bed at Topps Comics, the sad phone call came
into our offices. The King had moved on — Jack Kirby had passed away at age
76.
Victory was supposed to be a monumental crossover project between
all of Jack’s creator owned characters; the new ones we had already developed,
and the previously existing ones that included Silverstar, and of course
Captain Victory. It was going to be the event that shook the “Kirbyverse.” (I
can’t remember who thought of that – EIC Jim Salicrup or myself, so we will
each take have to take co-credit.)
Since the issue had not yet gone to press, we were able to include this lovely art memorial to Jack by Keith Giffen and Jimmy Palmiotti in the published issue, as well as a two-page editorial tribute written affectionately by Charlie Novinskie.
Although Jack was not directly involved in character or story development, he did enjoy being kept in the loop and, from the feedback we received, he enjoyed our efforts.
The challenge at the time of course, is that the marketplace didn’t enjoy our efforts quite as much as he OR we did. A year prior, we had launched the Kirbyverse with a bang. Four titles launched in April 1993, plus a freebie. Total circulation of the group: More than one million copies. (That is not a typo.)
But our titles launched with mostly retro styling, and the market was not interested in classic storytelling and clean draftsmanship. The market wanted the dynamism and styling of Image-type comics (preferably from Image itself; remember this was 1993). And the younger readers gobbling up Cyberforce and Spawn weren’t that interested in Jack Kirby.
From the moment we launched, sales of the Kirby titles dropped each month. By the time Victory project came to fruition, it was too late. Despite that issues #2 and #3 of the crossover were drawn, they never saw the light of day.
So ironically, and most definitely not intentionally, this
version of the Kirbyverse was laid to rest at about the same Jack was.
But… did the King really die?
Captain America. The Hulk. The Avengers. The X-Men. The Eternals. Darkseid. The Black Panther. The Silver Surfer. Add a few hundred more, and you will just about scratch the surface of Kirby’s creative output.
The King lives on.
Long live the King.
Topps Comics sponsored a memorial event at Pro-Con (tied in to Wonder-Con, back in the day) and attendees were provided with a small program book. I flew out to pay my respects to Jack’s wife Roz — who liked me in part because her maiden name was Goldstein.
Main cover by Keith Giffen, variant by Rob Liefeld
The Iowa caucuses officially kicked off the 2020 national campaign season yesterday. (Although in the 21st century, it feels like every day, of every year, is campaign season. Sigh.)
Campaign season always makes me think of Jack Davis.
I loved his caricatures of famous politicians. Many of them
— especially in the 70s— had plenty of personality, and Davis, like a great
illustrator, could show you that personality through his art. And if they were
bland, boring, run of the mill politicians, Davis could still manage to find
something to say about them — truthful, of course –that would make you
smile.
I also liked that Davis, who went from EC horror artist to
one of America’s top commercial artists in less than 20 years, never became too
successful for appearances in the pages of Mad magazine.
This strip is from a multi-page story called “Wishful Thinking.” It appears to be done on a single board, so in all likelihood all the gags in this story are single pieces of art cobbled together to create story pages. That said, many oversized Mad original art pages have been cut up over the years, to sell individual gags like this separately, so it’s difficult to be definitive.
But it’s not difficult to be definitive about this: In addition to being one of the great American commercial artists, Davis is also one of my personal favorites. Want to offer me an original piece of art for a TV Guide or Time Magazine cover?
I’m all ears.
Published cover from early 1973, and an unpublished cover featuring Democratic candidates from early 1972. Jack’s art did not betray a specific political slant — he caricatured all comers. The unpublished piece is currently available for sale from Fred Taraba Illustration Art.
From an outstanding horror artist at EC Comics (“Foul Play,”above) — to one of America’s most recognizable and best-loved illustrators.
Sal Buscema celebrated his 84th birthday earlier this week — how did that happen, you ask? I don’t know either. (January, by the way, is obviously a great month for the Marvel “bullpen.”) So, we continue our better-late-than-never tribute series.
Sal, one of Marvel’s most versatile and prolific artists,
cites the Hulk as his favorite character. Nevertheless… he penciled and
(mostly) inked 100 issues of Spectacular Spider-man. (That’s 100!)
Included in that record-setting run is this dynamic page from early in his return to the title in 1988. It’s the end of black spider-suit era — pretty much the final appearance of the costume before Peter ditches it for good (mostly) a month later in Amazing Spider-Man #300. (MJ is not too happy that her husband looks like Venom when he wears it, but I digress.) I love the way the three middle panels work cinematically to show Spidey getting the upper hand on the gunmen.
Sal wanted to be an inker. He has said in various interviews (emphatically, in some cases) he prefers it. And it’s clear that it took him some time to find his own voice penciling. (In fact, if you compare his early 70s work to his late 80s work, it’s obvious that, like many great artists, his voice evolved.)
But I think we are all happy that Stan and Marvel’s editorial team pushed him into pencils. He’s anamazing a spectacular storyteller.
Sal’s first professional work for Marvel is inking over Larry Lieber on Rawhide Kid, followed soon thereafter by pencilling on Avengers.(Both 1969.)
John Romita Sr. turned 90(!) the other day, and we would be
remiss if we didn’t celebrate the amazing artist — even belatedly.
This great action page is from the one-shot Kingpin and it represents the final comic book story collaboration between Romita and Stan Lee (with help from Tom Delfaco and inker Dan Green).
What’s great about this story — and this page, specifically — is that it features three important Romita icons in one place:
Daredevil, Romita’s first pencil gig at Marvel after eight years of DC romance comics.
Spider-Man, the character that Romita will always be most associated with, and the one he brought to new heights of popularity.
Kingpin, the all-too-familiar super-villain that John co-created, and who will likely vex DD, Spidey and others for the rest of time.
This page is obviously not from the classic Romita era — in fact, it comes 30 years later, but it’s still a great example of Romita’s superb draftsmanship and storytelling.
And all it’s missing is Mary Jane Watson.
You can’t have everything.
Early key Romita comics: His first Daredevil action page (over Kirby layouts) from DD #12; the first Romita Spider-Man, crossing over with Daredevil in DD #16; and Kingpin’s first splash appearance (Amazing Spider-Man #51) from his multi-part debut.
Romita on his Spidey assignment:
“I was hoping against it, believe it or not. People laugh when I say this, but I did not want to do Spider-Man. I wanted to stay on Daredevil. The only reason I did Spider-Man was because Stan asked me and I felt that I should help out, like a good soldier. I never really felt comfortable on Spider-Man for years. … I felt obliged to [mimic] Ditko because … I was convinced, in my own mind, that he was going to come back in two or three issues. … I couldn’t believe that a guy would walk away from a successful book that was the second-highest seller at Marvel. … After six months, when I realized it wasn’t temporary, I finally stopped trying to [mimic] Ditko. … “
Tonight is the final episode of the extremely well-done Arrow, lasting eight seasons on the CW and successfully launching the “Arrowverse” which now includes Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl and more. I doubt anyone could have predicted that these shows would create a well-crafted and (mostly) unified TV DCU, much like Marvel has created a unified film universe.
I’ve seen some (unjust) criticism that ultimately, these shows feel like any other show on the CW, just with more spandex. I think some of that criticism comes from grading these Greg Berlanti produced shows against the more mature (and expensive) shows that are running (less frequently) on premium cable and streaming services.
Its difficult to imagine something like this unified DCU coming together even just 10-years ago, and kudos off to Berlanti and company for creating quality shows with just enough (hopefully not too much) fan service. And the shows will continue on even without the launch series, and star Stephen Amell.
Matt Wagner created a terrific series of painted covers for this Brad Meltzer run of Green Arrow in 2002 and 2003, including this very dramatic portrait of Oliver Queen. (In this story arc, Ollie is dealing with a Hal Jordan (Green Lantern) sub-plot, hence the green illumination.) And speaking of Green Lantern, will he (they) crossover from the upcoming HBO Max series? Very much looking forward to seeing how this all plays out .
Conan celebrates its
50th anniversary in comics this year, and we conclude our anniversary recognition
with our final of three Conan-themed posts.
Night of the Dark Gods is a great example of Roy Thomas’
ability to adapt an Robert E Howard story without Conan, into one.
Given the artistic talent that worked on the story, clearly
some deadline problems ensued. Not surprising, since at this point in Marvel’s 70s
expansion, (comic books and “mature magazines”) deadlines were whizzing
by a the speed of light.
Neal Adams assisted Gil Kane on the pencils, and inked some
of the story as well, supported by Vince Colletta, Frank McLaughlin, and Pablo
Marcos. Marcos also provided the wash tones on the story, necessary to add
depth to a black and white, and also provide some consistency to the art style.
The inking credits are listed as Diverse Hands, and this appears to be the only time that the credit is employed, meaning it’s likely that this specific group of professionals never contributed jointly again on one story.
Neal, of course, was a pro at collaborative art creation. His “Crusty Bunkers” a group of (ever-changing) artists at his Continuity Studios, filled in many times during deadline crunches for Marvel, DC, Charlton and others during the 1970s.
It’s easy to be fondly nostalgic about something you missed entirely, but, based on everything I’ve heard, it sounds like a hoot. Stop by, ink some pages, spot some blacks, and make your deadline, head to the pub. (It was probably much more stressful than that, but I digress.)
The story is ultimately also printed in color, in a Marvel Treasury Edition, and although the coloring itself is okay, many of the inking and wash details are obscured, likely in an effort to get the job done quickly.
(And see below for the mystery of the extra face.)
Night of the Dark God, in glorious black and white, and a bit later on in color. But wait a moment…
…Where did the extra face in the color version come from? It balances the panel a bit more, I guess, but still… I wish had the time right now to compare every panel of this story to see what other “Where’s Waldo” attributes I can find.
Conan celebrates its
50th anniversary in comics this year, and we continue to celebrate the
anniversary with our second of three Conan-themed posts this week.
“This guy used to eat, sleep and breathe drawing. It didn’t matter what was going on around him. He would get bored with it and start sketching. … He just couldn’t stop drawing. [His back-of-board sketches were] better than some of the stuff that he did on the front. … He’d get a spark of inspiration and turn the page over and draw whatever was in his skull.” — Sal Buscema, speaking about his late brother John.
Roy knew that John’s artistic style and storytelling skills
(and interests) could perhaps best capture the Conan character —- and most
remind readers of the amazing eight Frank Frazetta covers that graced the
Lancer paperbacks of the last few years. Those images had helped Conan rapidly turn into
a phenomenon among fantasy readers.
But budgetary concerns forced Thomas to work with the mostly
unknown Barry Windsor Smith, and a different kind of Conan developed. Younger,
sleeker, a bit more handsome. And after a slow start, (it was nearly cancelled
after issue #7) the book caught fire, and inspired a sword and sorcery age in
comic books.
But Smith, frustrated by the deadlines of the comics periodical business, ultimately left Conan.
And so fate called again, and Roy got what he wanted the
second time around.
Under Buscema’s pencils, the burly, muscular, often-raging Conan ultimately epitomized by Arnold Schwarzenegger, emerged. This was an older Conan with more experience (and world weariness) under his belt.
Buscema has rightfully become identified with the character, rendering more than 100 stories each for both the Conan comic book and the more “mature” Savage Sword of Conan magazine.
I’ve owned and traded many Buscema Conan pages over the
years, and this splash remains one of my favorites. After a long fought series
of adventures and battles, Conan is taking a break, and celebrating his
victory.
Nothing wrong with that.
The story itself is an odd one. Michael Fleisher is the scribe, having come on board a just a few months earlier after Roy Thomas bolted for DC. Given the varying art styles of the story, the story length (46 pages) and the multiple inkers (Ernie Chan, Tom Palmer and Bob McLeod are all credited) it’s entirely possible it was originally destined to be a shorter story, and fleshed out when something else fell through.
If so, it’s a feat that John Buscema could pull off — while most others couldn’t even attempt it.
The printed page by Buscema, and the story-driven cover by Joe Jusko, who often cites Buscema as his most important influence.Had this story actually ever been reprinted in comic books, they would have added an undergarment. This was the height of risqué for Marvel at the time, although over at Warren Magazines, (partial) nudity had already crept in.
Eight images worth millions of words — the original Frank Frazetta covers on the Lancer paperback editions of Conan (starting in 1966). In a short time, both Conan and Frazetta would be embedded in the popular culture.
