This version of the cover for Tales to Astonish #98 by Dan
Adkins, ultimately unused, did not fit the bill. It conveys the storyline
inside, and it’s pretty in its own right, but definitely not very dynamic.
“Likely too soft for Stan,” agreed Roy Thomas, (yes, him again) who wrote this story arc of Sub-Mariner.
But, let’s talk about the replacement cover, also drawn by Adkins — likely in one heckuva hurry. Sure, more dynamic. Namor, in a better pose, still unconscious. (Or dead — but even as kids we knew he wasn’t.) In this version we also see the attack that’s destroying Atlantis. Except… since when are New York City skyscrapers in Atlantis?
I didn’t notice the architecture til later on, but once you see it, you can’t unsee it. (Even the unused cover has modern steel girders.) Why is Empire State Building underwater? What in the name of Neptune was Dan thinking?
The unused cover has the Marvel production guides masked off by tape, leading me to believe the piece may have ultimately been printed elsewhere. Marvelmania magazine? Witzend? Convention program? Any comic book detectives out there recognize it?
Poor Dan; he had to redraw a Doctor Strange cover (Strange Tales #168) a few months later. (I’ll post it if I can get an image of the original version.) I loved his inks — he was one of the best — but he definitely struggled meeting Marvel’s editorial standards for cover layout and composition.
Key appearances by Sub-Mariner in the Silver Age: After a seven-year hiatus in comic book limbo, he first re-emerges in Fantastic Four #4, ultimately becoming a key antagonist for the FF. A few years later in Tales to Astonish #70 he gets his own series, sharing space with the Hulk, and a month later gets his first solo cover. Ultimately, he gets his own series in 1968.
Anthony (“MAC”) Castrillo gathers Marvel’s original heroes from its “Timely Comics Era” (1939-1950) for a group portrait used for a print.
And we present it just in time (ok, barely) for Marvel’s 80thanniversary.
Castrillo’s art-style for the piece works well ; A bit cartoony in the contemporary sense, adding some pizazz and just a touch of whimsy to some of the otherwise stoic heroes.
I didn’t immediately recognize every character — even in color — and Roy Thomas was kind enough to help me sort through it when I acquired the original. With the exception of one mystery character who might be one of the “Marvel Boys”, the full cast list is presented below.
(“Rows” are a bit subjective because of the group composition.)
From top to bottom:
Row 1: Sun Girl, Red Raven, Citizen V
Row 2: Blue Diamond, Blazing Skull, Toro
Row 3: Marvel Boy (?), Challenger (AKA Thunderer), Vision (Original), Jack Frost, Black Marvel, Namora, Patriot, Thin Man, Mercury (AKA Hurricane)
Row 4: Miss America, Destroyer, Namor, Captain America, Whizzer, Human Torch, Bucky, Angel, Blonde Phantom
Marvel Comics #1 launches the Marvel Golden Age with introductions of the Human Torch and Sub-Mariner. My friends and I first encountered the “original” Torch in reprints 25 years later.
Marvel published additional solo stories of its most popular characters in the aptly-titled All Winners Comics.
Finally, in All Winners #19, Marvel’s most popular characters appeared in one story together. Rebranded the “Invaders” in the Silver and Bronze ages, the team continues exist in one form or another today. One of many “Marvel Boys.” Click on the pic for more info.
2019 is somehow the 20th anniversary of Alan Moore’s ABC line of comics at Wildstorm / DC, which included Tom Strong and company.
Seems like only a few years ago that Wildstorm published the first issue of the cool retro-modern Strong, Moore’s obvious love letter to Doc Savage and other pulp heroes. Sprouse’s art was of course perfect for the character designs and storytelling. As noted previously, I’m a big fan of the Sprouse and Story team. (Al Gordon also did a nice job on inks of the earlier issues, but Karl gets my vote anytime Chris is penciling.)
Moore left the regular series shortly before this issue appeared, and in fact, it is “guest-written” by Mark Schultz, and “guest-drawn” by Pascual Ferry. The only Sprouse / Story art in this issue is this terrific cover. (To see it at full-size, check out the amazing and somewhat overlooked America’s Best Comics Artist’s Edition from IDW.)
Moore would team-up one more time with the art duo to wrap up the storyline in the final regular issue (#36), but fortunately for us, Sprouse and Story came back for both mini-series that followed, written by Peter Hogan. (Strong also ultimately appeared in a separate anthology series, Tom Strong’s Terrific Tales, featuring different creative combos.)
Now, of course, the ABC line is dormant and I’m pretty sure the Wildstorm imprint is as well. But Strong and his crew live on for now in the greater DCU, as part of the Terrifics, a quirky multi-verse title. Still, it is definitely worth revisiting the original 36 issues and the spin-off appearances.
Continuing a celebration of the TMNT 35th anniversary, with a look back at the 30th.
One Minute Later. 30 Seconds Later. 10 Seconds Later. It doesn’t really matter. If a comic book cover is a snapshot of a moment of time, the idea here was to illustrate what the characters on an iconic cover would be doing just after that moment. Kevin and I spitballed this idea for a few minutes and he ran with it. If the Turtles were ready for action on the original cover, they would be jumping into action a moment later.
They are, after all, the Turtles.
IDW offered two versions of the comic book at SDCC that year. A color version that was penciled by Kevin and inked separately by co-creator Peter Laird on a lightbox copy. (Look carefully to see some subtle but interesting differences.) The second version, more limited, is this one, featuring Kevin’s tight pencils only and printed in black and white. I might be biased, but I think it’s a beauty.
For a look at the all the versions and re-do’s of the original cover, check out this great article. Ironically it omits this specific cover, but hopefully catches all the rest.
Printed VersionColor Version, Inked by LairdIssue #1, 1984, art by Eastman
Here’s an original to help us celebrate the 80th anniversary of Batman (I know, we said we were finished with that series… but this time we mean it!) and the 35th anniversary of the Teenage Mutant Turtles, launched in 1984.
Kevin Eastman was inspired to create this Frank Miller Dark Knight Returns homage during the first DC / IDW crossover between Batman and the Teenage Mutant Turtles. No surprise, as Kevin cites Miller and Jack Kirby as inspirations for his and Peter Laird’s original TMNT. The piece wonderfully captures the grittiness and weariness of Miller’s Batman; and Michelangelo as Robin? Mad genius. Everyone at both companies loved it.
But the art was formally submitted for approval a bit late in the game — after all the retailer variants and exclusive covers for that series had been determined and solicited, so it missed series one.
Flash forward to series two and three (2017 and 2019) — and now the DC retailer variant program has been virtually eliminated, and there is no logical place for the piece to appear as a cover. Sigh.
That third series is wrapping up now, and I’m assuming there will be collection of all three in a deluxe format at some point. Maybe this piece will appear as a bonus; I think fans would love to see it, and selfishly, I would love to see a color version.
As for how TMNT came to crossover with Batman in the first place? That’s a great tale, but one for another day.
The iconic Miller image from Dark Knight Returns and… An original art gift from Frank Miller To DC EditorJulie Schwartz in honor of his 75th birthday, 1990. I love it, but not as much as Kevin’s take on his own Dynamic Duo.
Today concludes our special series celebrating Batman’s 80th birthday.
I’m not a child of the ’50s. Didn’t make the cut.
But… I was a little kid in the ’60s when DC published many great 25-cent annuals (80 pages!) and specials reprinting classic tales of classic characters.
Like Batman, for instance.
It was in these annuals that I learned abut Giant Batman, Rip Van Batman, Rainbow Batman and more. I had no idea when these stories first appeared, and I didn’t care. It also didn’t matter that they didn’t quite fit in with the “new-look” Batman. They were goofy fun, and I was a kid, and goofy fun was a job requirement.
I hadn’t thought much about those iterations of Batman in recent years. Many of those stories have yet to be reprinted in the current DC omnibus collections because of, well, pesky chronology.
Then at SDCC, Preview Night, Michael Cho’s art representative put this original of Detective #1000 on display while I was chatting with him.
It floored me.
Michael captured so many of those wondrous Batman moments in one stunning and giant (Its drawn on a double-size board) original. And as noted previously, I’m a passionate admirer of his art.
I asked the price. The dealer answered. I gulped. My art budget would be shredded.
But I understood the pricing — it’s obviously a one-of-a-kind piece. A classic cover for a milestone comic book.
I hesitated for one millisecond. And then I was smart enough to say: “Yes, I want it.”
Good thing too. Turned out there was another buyer literally right behind me. (Typically, I’m the collector who just misses out, so this was unusual.)
I confess that I didn’t recognize ALL the Batmen on the cover at first. (Some of course are covered by the final trade-dress.) But fortunately, with Michael’s help, it’s now sorted out:
17 visible front-facing Batmen surrounding “Conventional” (Regular? Traditional?) Batman and Robin, and seven additional Batmen with a back view to the reader. Below is the complete list, with the original appearances noted as well. The art gallery features the original covers, as wells Michael’s preliminary art, created digitally.
These are not all the odd versions of Batman. Michael himself laments that he couldn’t fit in Batman Jones (Batman #108) or Batman Creature (Batman #162), and a few others, but hey, there’s only so much room.
As for Invisible Batman? (Detective #199.) Who’s to say he’s not also on the cover somewhere? I’m certainly not ruling it out.
Detective 1000 by Michael Cho:
Front view (17):
Jungle Batman – Batman 72
Rainbow Batman (full) – Detective 241
Mummy Batman – Detective 320
Giant Batman (leg) – Detective 243
“First” Batman (Thomas Wayne costume) – Detective 235
Alien Batman (weird face & body) – Batman 140
Alien Batman (orange ears) – Detective 251
Bat-Baby – Batman 147
Genie Batman – Detective 322
Swindle Batman – Detective 222
Captive Planet Batman (weird helmet) – Detective 256
Rip Van Batman – Batman 119
Scuba Batman – Detective 253
Robot Batman – Detective 239
Dragon Society Batman (tunic with #1) – Detective 273
Scottish Batman (kilt bottom) – Detective 198
“Original” Batman (cape open like wings) – Detective 195
Back View (7):
Bronze Batman – Detective 302
Clayface Batman – Detective 312
Zebra Batman – Detective 275
Interplanetary (space helmet) Batman – Detective 165
White Snow Suit Batman – Detective 165
Luminous (radiation) Batman – Detective 165
Rainbow Batman (pink) — Detective 241
Young brains explode — at a bargain price of a quarter!
Michael’s cover jarred my memory into recalling this 1994 cover by Jon Bogdanove which features many different versions of “traditional” Batman in one place, and the matching “reverse” version featuring Batman surrounded by Supermen. I think that one appeared as a poster only. Not as cool, certainly, but fun in their own right.
One year ago today, Stan Lee headed off into the greater cosmos. I like to think he’s bugging the Watchers, endlessly and enthusiastically reviewing his many adventures on Planet Earth with them. Like this:
“Hey fellas, remember that time I saved everyone form the Martian invasion? Remember? Fellas?”
Fortunately for us, in case we forget, Joe Jusko captures the moment perfectly with this premium trading card and litho for Stan’s own Los Angeles comic book convention in 2013.
Stan Lee and Topps Mars Attacks. It’s perfect reflection of my misspent youth, and well beyond. I knew the moment I saw the painting I had to have it. Hell, Joe probably knew I would need to have it when he took the assignment. (We’ve known each other a long time.)
We miss ya Stan. I hope Jack and Steve are taking you on a wild ride through the multiverse — just like the good old days.
DC’s war comic books, taking inspiration from EC’s titles years prior, featured some of the best stories published in any genre. They often dealt directly with the human toll and sacrifice of war, and rarely emphasized a false “glory of battle.” In the 1970s, Editor Joe Kubert quietly added in the widget “Make War No More” at the end of many of those stories. (Seen in the published page below as the paste-up in the original is missing.)
The brilliant John Severin (1922-2012), who drew some of the best of those original EC masterpieces, returns here to illustrate Robert Kanigher’s haunting Sgt. Rock tale “The Bloody Flag.” Rock’s dialogue, and his expression in panel three, sum up much more than just the story itself.
Today we honor John, and millions of other veterans of the armed forces, past and present. Thank you for your service!
Part five of a multi-part series celebrating Batman’s 80th birthday.
Booster Gold goes back in time to save Barbara Gordon (Batgirl) from being crippled as depicted in Alan Moore’s classic Killing Joke. Of course it doesn’t work, and of course, this being a Booster Gold comic, things go from bad to worse. Batman (at this point in the timeline, Dick Grayson) is none too happy.
Jurgens wrote much of this Booster Gold series, and he plays to his own specific artistic skills and interests. I enjoy the storytelling here, as well as the expression on Booster’s face, a combination of dismay and disappointment as he explains his failure to Batman. And extending Batman’s “ears” into the upper panel is a clever and splashy touch.
The New 52 reboot ended this series a few years later, which was unfortunate. It combined action and wit (and mind-bending time paradoxes) avoiding outright camp or satire while providing a joyful and thoughtful ride through the DC time stream.
Batman Animated remains a timeless version of the character more than 25 years after its debut. That’s a well-known fact. Lesser well known perhaps is that the comic books published to support the award-winning TV series are pretty terrific in their own right.
Similar to the series itself, DC assembled an all-star group of creators to support these tie-ins including Burchett, Templeton, Joe Staton, and the late Mike Parobeck among many others.
Stories were typically self- contained, and the writing style was “all-ages,” sophisticated enough for adults, but not too complex for kids.
On this absolutely great opening splash page by the Templeton/Burchett team, the artists dramatically illustrate how Batman can get very, very animated indeed. Cartoon or not, this version of Batman is a deadly serious guy.
