John Cassaday’s great art from Captain America seems like a good way to celebrate Independence Day.
And that makes me Captain Obvious, so that’s all I have to say about that.
Have a great 4th of July! (And if you see me, yes I will be wearing My Captain America shield shirt.)
I don’t know if this is an apocryphal quote or not from Captain America’s co-creator, and don’t much care, because from what I know about Jack he certainly could have said it. Like they say: “When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.”
Further Adventures of Indiana Jones #24, December 1984
After the debacle that called itself Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull, I hoped they would put the franchise to rest.
Too much money involved, so no such luck.
That said, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny LOOKS better the last one – at least from the trailers— and hell, he punches some Nazis, so there’s that.
And THAT Said, Raiders of The Lost Ark remains one of my favorite films off all time, and no terrible sequel (or, Heaven forbid, two) will take that away from me.
Meanwhile — Here’s a nice page from Marvel’s original series with story and art by Herb Trimpe, finishes by Danny Bulanadi.
On a warm sunny day in NYC, my friends and I restlessly stood on a movie theater line, a line like many others that day, that wrapped around the proverbial city block. But did it matter that much? We had waited three years for this. What’s another three hours? (For the record, the theater, now gone, was the Loew’s 34th Street Showplace, near Second Ave.)
Return of the Jedi was opening that day, and we figured the Star Wars saga would reach its dramatic — and inevitable — conclusion. End of the story. (How naïve — but we were young and foolish.)
Somehow, I had the discipline and willpower to avoid opening Marvel’s ROTJ magazine adaptation which I owned for about two weeks prior to the film’s release date. (I did not have that same willpower three years prior for ESB, but that’s a story for another day.)
An original piece of art from that graphic novel adaptation, by the legendary Al Williamson, is a prized possession. Here’s my original 2019 post about the art:
Lush brushwork. Clear storytelling. Impeccable detail. Accurate anatomy and likenesses. Al Williamson’s page from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi adaption speaks volumes about realizing potential in adapting other mediums to comics.
George Lucas had the power to choose the artist to draw the Marvel Empire Strikes Back adaption and he had the good sense to choose Al Williamson.
Al’s gorgeous art on classic EC science Fiction stories as well as Flash Gordon had clearly made an impression.
Fortunately for us, Williamson agreed to also illustrate the Star Wars newspaper strip (after Russ Manning’s untimely passing), and he ultimately came back for Return of the Jedi adaption as well.
On all three projects — plus a handful of stories in the regular comics — Al delivered. It’s some of his finest work.
Williamson kept much of his Star Wars related art, and his estate now owns it. Nearly all the originals that have come on the market are those once owned by his assistants or inkers.
This great page from ROTJ has a more interesting provenance. Superstar inker Mike Royer received it from Al (see inscription) shortly after publication. It remained in his collection for many years.
So, it’s not only a great piece of original art, but it also has a great story behind it as well.
And it’s a cornerstone of my collection.
Yes, we waited in line. (That’s me, Star Wars sartorial in a bootleg “REVENGE” of the Jedi t-shirt.) I have a feeling the line on the other side of town was more interesting.
“We are considering turning the universe inside out.”
Jim Starlin delivers a classic and trippy page from his Infinite (figuratively, and sometimes literally) cosmic series featuring Adam Warlock, Gamora, Thanos, et al.
Starlin. Cosmic. Trippy. Nuff said.
Well, almost…
If you told me when I was a kid that we’d have Warlock Happy Meal toys someday, I would have called the drug overdose hotline on your behalf. Trippy indeed.
Marvel Value Stamps: A Visual History, by Roy Thomas, 2023
Marvel Value Stamps: A Visual History took me by surprise as one of the most intriguing books on the history of comics publishing this year.
I never clipped out the 1970s stamps; I was savvy about collectible value at that point, and I certainly didn’t have the budget or inclination to buy two copies of every comic, especially titles I would have never collected in the first place. (Just for the record — A few years earlier, I had made a DIY scrapbook of Marvel covers by cutting up the house ads for new issues. So, I wasn’t always “savvy.”)
The book offers a comprehensive history of the program’s evolution, which originated from a similar gimmick in the UK. Roy Thomas, the author, walks us through Stan Lee’s “seat-of-the-pants “approach to developing and executing the program, which was typical of Marvel.
For me, the book’s most compelling aspect is how it focuses on art and its transformation and re-purposing. The book is detailed and captivating, presenting the original source art for each stamp alongside the full letters page, which is where the published stamp appeared.
On some of my favorite pages, we see art for the original covers as well as the altered reprints.
My only quibble? I wish the trim size was the same as an actual comic book. (It’s smaller.) Makes it hard on the eyes in places, especially the letters pages. And let’s face it: The prime audience for this title is well into the reading glasses phase.
Priced at $29.95, the book itself is a bargain, regardless of whether you collected the stamps – or not.
Man-Thing (Seriously, what kind of drugs to you take to come up with a name like that?) makes his first color comic book appearance in this terrific Ka-Zar story illustrated primarily by John Buscema.
Part of the story was slated to appear in the B&W Savage Tales #2 which did not see the light of day, so it was cleverly re-worked here. Because of the re-mixing, credits on this issue read like an all-star line-up, and include Buscema, Neal Adams, John Romita and Dan Adkins.
Writer Roy Thomas somehow made sense of it all, creating the framing story around Len Wein’s original tale.
Bonus: Man -Thing’s first overall appearance in Savage Tales #1 includes this glorious splash (below) by Gray Morrow.
Red Sonja and Conan together again, as they say, on this great cover by my pal, the very talented Sean Chen.
That’s it. That’s the post.
Red Sonja made her first appearance in Conan #23, and appeared on the cover one month later in issue #24. Both issues feature glorious art by the legendary Barry Windsor Smith.
Unused Cover,Sword of Red Sonja: Doom of the Gods #1, October 2007
In an age of variant covers, exclusive covers, incentive covers, et al, sometimes a cover simply gets lost in shuffle.
It happens. (Take it from a former publisher. It definitely happens.)
Case in point: This stunning Red Sonja cover art was scheduled for Sword of Red Sonja: Doom of the Gods #1, got shuffled around and by the time the mini-series was complete, had not been published. I’m sure it didn’t help that another artist turned in a similar composition for a later issue.
I had a chance to catch up with Aaron last month and he thinks it may have appeared in a later trade collection or elsewhere at some point, but he couldn’t swear to it. And neither one of us could find it.
So, unpublished until we hear further. (Bonus points for the Marvel cover paper — all covers look better on that board, even if they weren’t actually produced by Marvel.)
All four published Lopresti covers from the original mini-series.
It took me a while to acquire a piece of art from his run on the famed female barbarian, but I ended up with a cool one.
To this day, the wildest convention events I have ever personally witnessed were the live performances featuring Red Sonja (Wendy Pini, Linda Behrle, and others) and Frank Thorne playing a wizard: “Sonja and the Wizard.”
They called themselves the “The Hyborian Players.”
It was indeed the 70s. Trippy, dude. Trippy.
Famed talk show host Mike Douglas with Phil Seuling, Wendy Pini as Red Sonja and actor Jamie Farr, July 1977
Mike Machlan adds his own flavor to the classic match-up of The Avengers vs. the Space Phantom (Avengers #2) in this published pin-up from Marvel fanfare #41. Mike did a few of these classic interpretations as a portfolio in this issue, each with a different inker. (John Beatty provides finishes here.)
I’ve always enjoyed Machlan’s art. I understand that health reasons cut his career short, which, goes without saying, is a terrible shame.
Separately, I’ve gone on record saying that the first four issues of the Avengers are the craziest (in a positive way) and most colorful start to any series in the Silver Age — if not ever:
Issue #1 —The Avengers (Ant-man, Wasp, Thor Iron Man, Hulk) form to fight Loki, and despite Hulk’s reticence they agree to become a team. Wasp provides the name “Avengers.”
Issue #2 — Ant-Man is now Giant-Man, and this time the Space Phantom (instead of Loki) manipulates the Hulk (and the rest of the group) — and after a big fight, ol’ greenskin gets angry and runs-off.
Issue #3 – The remaining Avengers chase after the Hulk and run into the Namor the Sub-Mariner along the way. Iron Man wears new armor, everyone gets into a big fight, and the Hulk runs off. Again. Namor escapes to the sea. Cameos by Spider-man, The X-Men and The Fantastic Four.
Issue #4 — Namor, now really, really angry, starts hurling some icebergs around, and it turns out Captain America is frozen in one of them, although Subby swims off before he can discover that. The Avengers revive Cap (good thing they have a submarine), and after they tussle, and he comprehends he’s been in suspended animation for 20 years, he joins them.
