X-Men: The Hidden Years # 17, April 2001 & #20, July 2001
John Byrne returned to the X-Men in 1999. Not his beloved X-Men of Wolverine, Storm, Colossus and Phoenix, however. This time it was the “original” X-Men — in the period between their cancellation and rebirth. The “Hidden Years.”
It’s an often overlooked series and shouldn’t be. John brought great energy — and closed some outstanding story loops — in the 22-issue series.
Inks are by the terrific Tom Palmer, which gave the series a
classic look, reminiscent of those great original Neal Adams issues, while still
keeping it clearly Byrne.
Lots of fun guest appearances in the series as well, including the Fantastic Four — inked in one issue by the legendary Joe Sinnott.
X-Men: Hidden Years #20 is a Byrne homage to Jack Kirby’s Fantastic Four #1. It was the sixth (and final) Marvel-related FF #1 homage that John drew.
Case in point, Mike Parobeck’s cover of X-Men: Early Years #7, which reprints the original X-Men #7.
Jack’s original cover (below) is overloaded, and a composition mish-mash. Ok, I know it’s by Jack Kirby, and some fans will bristle about anything negative about the King’s work, but sorry, there’s no real comparison between the original and the reprint.
Jack’s original has way too many characters all over the map, with the X-men oddly positioned in the background and The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants voyeuristically up front, awkwardly. Are they watching from a window? Or on a TV screen? A magical portal? Why the heck are they even on this cover? This is a selling point?
Now, just to be clear, this may not be at all Jack’s fault. Maybe Stan Lee art directed it. And overwrote the cover blurbs to death. (Now, the Stan haters can come out of the woodwork.)
As I’ve said on the record many times, I’m a fan of both Stan
and Jack, so let’s all calm down. However this original cover developed, it’s simply
not a great one. Even legends drop the ball once in a while.
Mike’s solves the problem thirty years later by focusing only on the X-men coordinating — or attempting to — an attack on the Blob.
Simple. Clear. Clean. Powerful. Typical of Parobeck’s work.
But… On the published version, the trade dress is a bit
heavy handed, so some of the art is obscured — and the entire image had to be
flipped to accommodate said trade dress. And, to add to this litany, why the monochrome
coloring? Ah Hell, who knows.
Anyway, the original art is great and Mike’s Marvel work is
pretty rare; he is best known for some great looking art on the Batman Animated
comic books. I was also a big fan of his Justice Society run.
He unfortunately passed away MUCH too early at the age of 31
(from Diabetes) in 1996.
It’s the 50th anniversary of the original title’s cancellation (Issue #66). It had struggled to find consistent commercial success or creative direction for much of its original seven-year history.
It’s the 45th anniversary of the X-Men’s
“comeback” with the launch of Giant-Size X-Men #1, possibly the greatest rags
to riches story in comics’ history. If anyone else can tell me where a book
goes from cancelled to a company’s most popular title in less than 10 years,
I’m all ears.
And, perhaps more importantly from a broader pop culture perspective, it’s the 20th anniversary of the X-Men film franchise from Fox, which concludes forever in a short while with the release of the problem-plagued New Mutants. (Postponed many times, it was most recently scheduled for an April 3 theatrical release, and has now been indefinitely delayed because of the COVID-19 outbreak.)
The first X-Men film launched 8 years ahead of the MCU, and
in my mind, established what a Marvel film could do in terms of both creativity
and commercial success. It paved the way for what was to come.
Meanwhile, we have this great commission by John Byrne.
John Byrne. X-Men. Not much to add here except a few
details.
This is a Byrne re-imagination (as John calls them, I believe) of the cover of X-Men # 115 featuring the dinosaur villain Sauron. The re-imagination is more dynamic and dramatic than the original, which was only John’s third cover on the book. Dave Cockrum had a few in the can when Byrne took over art duties on issue #108.
Byrne’s commissions can be found easily through a Google
search and there a lot of great ones — at sizes up to 30x 40!
Unfortunately, John’s not doing much if any in the way of commissions right now as he is spending time on his X-Men fan fiction (his phrase) but if you want to keep fingers crossed that he will take them up again, you can contact his art representative, Jim Warden.
John’s Commission is closer in spirit to this great original double-page spread from #115.
The X-Men rebirth began here in Giant-Size #1 and X-Men #94, both 1975.
Byrne’s earliest X-Men work: His first issue (#108, cover by Dave Cockrum) preceded by a guest appearance in Marvel Team-Up #53, featuring another great DPS.
Continuing our celebration of the 80th anniversary of The Spirit, with additional creators’ takes on the beloved and influential character.
Perhaps the artist with the most specific style similarities to Will Eisner is Mike Ploog, who worked for Eisner briefly in the early 1970s, on Eisner’s PS Magazine for the military. Ploog credits his initial Eisner influence on the 10 years he himself spent in the Marines reading and copying the magazine.
Ironically, as a
kid, Ploog was not a comic book fan, so he had no idea who Eisner was, or the
history of the Spirit.
But that obviously changed as Ploog discovered Eisner, The Spirit and comics’ lore in general. On this page from 2007, Ploog, aided by inks from vet Dan Green, captures Eisner’s Spirit — and adds his own taste for a horrific milieu.
Ploog spoke with journalist Jon B. Cooke about the early part of his career in an interview for Comic Book Artist #2 in 1998. Read the full interview here.
CBA: How’d you get the call from Will? Ploog: I was working for Hanna-Barbera, and the guy in the room with me belonged to the National Cartoonist’s Society. He got a flyer Will had put out, looking for an assistant. He looked at it and said, “Ploog, this looks like your stuff.” I looked at it and said, “It is my stuff.” [laughter]. I called Will, and two days later he was in L.A. and interviewed me…the following week I went to work for him.
CBA: When you first burst upon the scene in comic books, you had a style very reminiscent of Will’s work. Did you start developing that style through osmosis, just being around him? Ploog: It was very difficult for me, because I hadn’t done that much work. I really didn’t know what a “style” meant. When Will saw my work, he said, “This guy can adapt to what I’m doing easily.” Obviously whatever I had, it was adaptable to him. I could emulate Will right down to a pinpoint on an occasion…I’m sure from working with Will, it developed in that direction…
I love Will; he’s a dear, dear old friend. He’s been an enormous influence on my work both in comics and film.
-Mike Ploog, 1998
Early Ploog Marvel work — he was a breakout star from pretty much the beginning of his comics career, although he ultimately spent more of his professional life working in film.The Ploog art book is a must have for any fan of Mike’s — or simply for those who like great looking art books.
Today wraps our
special remembrance to Jack Kirby with a third piece by Giorgio Comolo, an Italian
artist who worships the King — and
expresses his adoration with unique and lovely homages and recreations.
“It is your understanding I seek — and not your enmity!” —Galactus
Galactus reveals his origin to Thor (and to us) in this story arc, after Thor, at Odin’s insistence, tracks down the planet devourer in the far reaches of the universe.
Kirby is doing some of his wildest Marvel science fiction in these issues — a small hint of what will come just a short time later in his “Fourth World” comic books at DC.
Apparently, Galactus is not a bad guy. Despite the fact that he devours worlds and galaxies, destroys trillions of lives, he’s misunderstood. That’s all.
Uh-huh.
Comolo homages the cool Kirby cover image and fleshes out the background with cosmic details. And again, he employs that very specific neon-like palate. He also makes Thor’s face a bit more visible — a nice touch. (Although he keeps Thor’s somewhat wonky hand from Jack’s original.)
Oh, and he gives Galactus pants and full sleeves. Galactus should always have pants and full sleeves.
No one has (yet) published a book
–or even a portfolio — of Comolo’s Kirby homages. I hope that is rectified in
the near future.
Or hey, at a minimum, how about
celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Fantastic Four next year by
doing Kirby cover homages all year long. Who wouldn’t want to contribute to
that?
Meanwhile, Thor #168 itself?:
Kirby. Thor. Odin. Galactus. The Watcher. Balder. The Warriors Three. The Thermal Man…
A pretty good deal at 15 cents.
Galactus gets emo… Thor struggles with cosmic ethics… The universe will never be the same.1971 blacklight posters repurposed existing panels & pages from Marvel comics, adding a rich cosmic feel to the art.
We continue to
remember Jack Kirby with the help of Giorgio Comolo, an Italian artist who
worships the King — and expresses his
adoration with unique and lovely homages and recreations.
Thor vs. Thing? Come on, no contest. The Thing is powerful, but Thor is a GOD, right?
In this one-off issue of Fantastic Four (#73), Thor (with diminished powers) helps Spider-Man, who in turn is helping Daredevil, who recently had a mind transference with Doctor Doom who… never mind. The FF think Daredevil is still Doc Doom. Chaos ensues. Read the comic yourself and catch back up with us later.
Pretty much the entire issue is a battle royale, and Comolo
captures the power of this terrific Kirby splash with his own specific style
and palate.
Good thing Thor is having power problems… or Thing would be
a pile of rocks on the next page.
Also, FYI, in this issue Thing calls Thor “Curly” “Goldilocks” and “Cornball” at various times, and Spider-Man calls him an “Asgardian Hippie.” I know that was Stan’s style, but we are perilously close to Not Brand Echh territory at this point.
Fortunately for us, Galactus and the Silver Surfer return in the next issue. More operatic than comedy.
Fantastic Four #77 (August 1968), Cover Re-creation, 2008
This week we remember Jack
Kirby with an artist who worships the King
— and expresses his adoration with unique and lovely homages and
recreations.
Giorgio Comolo speaks no English. None. Niente.
That makes speaking to him about his art challenging if, like me, you don’t speak Italian. (I don’t include the handful of words I learned in my childhood neighborhood. Those are not very useful for polite conversation.)
Thankfully, his brother speaks some, and his sister-in-law a
bit more, so roughly translated, I was able to tell him last year how much I
enjoy his work when I met the whole family in Italy.
And fortunately, King Kirby is a universal language, and Comolo speaks Kirby fluently. The Italian artist recreates many Kirby covers and scenes as paintings, using a specific palate that utilizes cooler color tones and hues. It might be a stretch to some, but his cosmic paintings often remind me of those wild blacklight posters published in 1971 by a long defunct company called Third Eye.
Of course Comolo’s paintings are not Day-Glo — but they definitely pop. His palette creates a very distinctive look to his homages.
And he focuses on Jack’s later works at Marvel (and some of
the Fourth World material at DC), so there’s plenty of cosmic material to work
with.
Like this cover recreation of FF 77. It’s a trippy composition
to begin with, and in Comolo’s hands, becomes… even trippier.
Kirby — and much more Marvel — in Day-Glo. Posters, puzzles and greeting cards from Third Eye, now defunct, in 1971.
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. … “
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.
