As noted previously, I’m a giant (pun intended) fan of Michael Golden’s dinosaur covers and portfolio plates for our Topps Jurassic Park comics.
Here’s one I haven’t posted before: Poor Ellie (Laura Dern) about to become a hors d’oeuvre for a group of velociraptors. I love the unique point of view on this one.
Originally designated as the cover for Jurassic Park: Raptor’s Attack #1, it was also reused for the cover of the newsstand exclusive JP comic, Jurassic Park Adventures #3.
Dracula vs. Zorro.? For about a millisecond, this one sounds a bit odd, and then you say, wait a minute…
In the hands of writer Don McGregor and artist Tom Yeates (inks by Rick Magyar), you get a fun Topps Publishing two-parter, with Don’s smart writing and Tom’s magnificent storytelling — on giant art boards, no less.
A few notes:
• ˜The book came out just shy of 30 years ago.
• Dracula (The Francis Ford Coppola adaption kind) was Topps very first comic book; Dracula vs Zorro appears just before the launch of Topps’ Zorro solo series, also featuring stories by McGregor. (The crossover wasn’t originally planned as the character’s introduction— it just sort of happened, following the smash success of the Drac adaptation…)
• It’s only two monthly issues but features a whopping 61 pages of content — which leads me to believe we may have originally intended the story to total three issues. Perhaps we scaled back after the numbers came in for issue #1. Although we collected it in a prestige format comic in 1994, there are definitely not enough pages for a full trade collection. That was an era when we didn’t always plan for collections.
Thirty years ago this month — April 1993 — saw the launch of Topps’ “Kirbyverse.” (I genuinely can’t remember who thought of that phrase – EIC Jim Salicrup or myself, so we will each take have to take co-credit.)
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 consumer marketplace didn’t enjoy our efforts quite as much as he OR we did. Four Kirbyverse titles launched in April 1993, plus a freebie. Total circulation of the group: About one million copies. (That is not a typo.)
But our titles launched purposely with retro styling, (see the ad below) and, at that moment, the market was mostly uninterested in classic styling. Younger readers gobbling up Image’s Youngblood and Spawn weren’t that versed or interested in Jack Kirby.
From the moment we launched, sales of the Kirby titles dropped each month. By the time we had reached 1994, we were sunk.
That said, it was a hell of a launch, and Jim managed to reunite the classic Marvel bullpen (or at least some of it) one last time.
And well-known Kirby superfan and Image co-founder Erik Larsen was kind enough to “lend” us Savage Dragon for the first issue of Jack’s Bombast one-shot.
So, there was that.
More on the Topps Comics “30th anniversary (albeit a few months late) in the next few weeks.
Did I manage to squeeze enough info into this one ad? Did the design team hand draw the “Kirby Crackle” in the background? Hint, those are both rhetorical questions.
Jack Kirby’s Satan’s Six was developed as part on an unrealized “Kirby Line” of comics in 1978, shortly after Jack’s final tenure at Marvel had ended.
Jack drew a cover and eight story pages, plus a character concept and design page. Mike Royer was hired to ink some of those pages as samples, but when the concept for a “Kirby Line” dissipated, the pages sat in a drawer unused for nearly 15 years.
Enter my old home, Topps Comics, the fledging publishing line from the trading card and confectionary giant. Topps signed a deal with Jack in 1992 to produce comic books based on new, and (primarily) previously unused concepts. It was essentially a second chance for a “Kirby Line.” With the King in declining health, however, others would have to create content around Jack’s ideas.
What became of Satan’s Six? Tony Isabella’s stories based on Jack’s high concept of a lovable group of misfits too mischievous for Heaven, but not evil enough for Hell seemed wackily appropriate enough, but the art definitely was a challenge from issue one.
Especially issue one.
Kirby’s eight original pages are scattered throughout the full story with the rest of the art from John Cleary, making for a dizzying juxtaposition of styles.
And Cleary’s “contemporary” (1993) art here, and through the remaining three issues, was simply not enticing enough to sustain interest. The book was cancelled with issue #4. You can read a complete illustrated overview of the series here.
Satan’s Six has yet to return to comics. They remain in… Limbo.
But still…Happy 30th anniversary to the “Kirbyverse!”
Greetings from WonderCon, 2023. One of my favorite things about the event is that the unique plaza area in front of the Anaheim Convention Center is a perfect place for cosplay pics — and no terrible convention lighting!
I’m the guest on last week’s Friday (2/3) episode of the terrific comic book industry podcast Dollar Bin Bandits, available on your favorite podcast platform — and on YouTube. (Links below.)
We covered quite a bit of ground: State of the industry, Topps and IDW days, comic book history, gaming and much more.; maybe something for everyone — or at least anyone who cares about these topics.
They picked a “classic” photo for marketing (as seen above — full version on my “About Me” tab), so don’t’ be too surprised if you watch on video, and well, I don’t look exactly the same. (Must have been the lighting.)
Thanks to Oren Phillips and crew for a very enjoyable hour, and an excellent series all around!
Bram Stoker’s Dracula, #3, December 1992 (& A Topps Gallery, 1992-1995)
Better late than never — Topps Comics actually launched its first title, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, in October, not November of 1992. By mid 1993, we had film adaptions, SF anthologies, Kirby superheroes and dozens more under our belt.
It was a wild ride.
In early 2023, we will have a more extensive look back with some new art, photos, memorabilia, etc. In the meantime, here’s a gallery of previously posted art. (Each piece links to the original post.)
Recreation/ reimagination, undated, both approximately 2008
The late, great Darwyn Cooke would have turned 60 last week. Not sure what I can say that hasn’t already been said here —or more likely elsewhere — but he was arguably the greatest talent of his generation, and the work and the man are missed.
Legend has it that Darwyn and I got into some pretty heated debates during the course of our business relationship, and I confirm that is a fact. But I always knew that those arguments came from his deep passion for the craft, and, as they say, I never took it personally. The last time we saw each other was at the 2015 Comic-Con and we had a fun — but all too brief — chat about Parker, DC superheroes, and a few other odds and ends before we both needed to move on.
Like I said pal, you are missed. Catch you on the other side.
I just discovered that Sandy Jarrell @sandy_jarrell has taken all the great Darwyn recreations he can find and colored them. Love it!
Norm Rapmund Recreation of John Byrne Batman, July2022
How to celebrate the 500th blog post — and a little more than three years of posting?: Here’s a beautiful Norm Rapmund recreation of a John Byrne Batman splash page (from the 1990 Batman 3-D graphic novel) that Norm started well before this blog was even conceived. (Probably 2017 or so.*)
The 500 milestone includes some “reruns” and a few “cheats,” but hey, 500 is still 500. And we have may slipped in frequency for the first time this past month, but there’s still more great art to come.
Stay tuned.
(*A story for another day.)
Byrne’s original 3D graphic novel and the black and white reprint from a Byrne DC collection 25 years later. One change that Norm made that I really like is that the Harvey Dent side of Two-Face’s face is a bit less evil — as it should be.
