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.)
I have three personal favorite series from my days at Topps Comics:
• Dracula by Roy Thomas, Mike Mignola and John Nyberg.
• Jurassic Park by Walter Simonson, Gil Kane and George Perez.
• Lone Ranger and Tonto by Joe Lansdale,Tim Truman and Rich Maygar.
The first two have been discussed previously — here — and here.
The third has never been reprinted by any other publisher— definitely a miss, considering how much fun the series is.
It’s definitely the Weird West, with odd characters and supernatural elements (along with a refreshing sense of humor) as only Lansdale and Truman (Jonah Hex) can envision it.
Also, it starts off with Tonto punching Lone Ranger in the face, and revisits the Ranger cannon with a “modern” (1993) approach.
Tim gave me this great page (I guess I have a thing for nervous characters with cigars) many years later, when I casually asked him if he had any left for sale. They rarely seem to pop up.
In other words, it’s now in the permanent collection. Permanently.
Truman’s great wraparound comer for the Topps TPB collection of the mini-series.
Here is a great oversize and dynamic page from the creative team of Tim Truman and Ricardo Villagran on Scout: War Shaman, a sequel to the original Scout series, about an Apache warrior in a fairly grim futuristic USA.
Although the first 16 of 24 original issues have been collected twice, the final eight of the original series have yet to make into a TPB. Nor has any of this series, or two additional mini-series and some one-shots.
Seriously? C’mon people…
We continue our month-long celebration of the Independents! — Independent creators whose work has captivated us as much, or even more, than the traditional commercial product typically coming from the large mainstream publishers.
What happens when you reboot a reboot? What happens when you change some continuity, but not all of it? What happens later when you er… change your mind?
What happens is you get DC superhero continuity for the last 35 years or so, post “Crisis on Infinite Earths.”
This is not a knock, per se, just an observation. Along with these many changes have been some great series and story arcs. Just enjoy the ride while it lasts, because a new one is probably around the corner.
Hawkworld is an early “prestige” re-do of the post-crisis Hawk backstory, nicely told by Tim Truman. It led to an ongoing series, and then later on… more retconning.
I like this page because it uses the art “camera” to heighten drama and increase tension, as opposed to more traditional character action. Coincidentally, I also own a Mark Bagley page that’s similarly cinematic in approach to similar subject matter. (I don’t think it’s an homage or swipe, just a classic case of great minds thinking alike — 25 years apart.)
Welcome to July and a month long celebration of the Independents! — Independent creators whose work has captivated us as much, or even more, than the traditional commercial product typically coming from the large mainstream publishers.
This is a very cinematic Tim Truman page from the very first Grimjack story, a two-part back up that appeared in Starslayer #10 and #11, from First Comics in 1983.
Who (or what) is Grimjack? Created by writer John Ostrander, along with Truman, this very succinct description from the Wiki page sums it up nicely:
“Grimjack is the street name of John Gaunt, a sword-for-hire, ex-paramilitary, war veteran and former child gladiator. He operates from Munden’s Bar in the Pit, a slum area of Cynosure, a pan-dimensional city to which all dimensions connect.”
Swashbuckling SF involving multiple dimensions? Sold.
Grimjack ultimately proved more popular than main feature in Starslayer, and the character was awarded his own ongoing series in 1984, which ran originally ran 81 issues until First’s bankruptcy in 1991.
With the help of former First publisher Mike Gold, we brought Grimjack back for a series of new adventures at IDW Publishing starting in 2008. It is now in development for a film / series at Amazon Prime with the Russo brothers (Avengers: Endgame).
Tim has gone on to a remarkable nearly 40-year career that includes Hawkman, Jonah Hex, Turok, Tarzan, Conan and many others. I had first had the pleasure of working with him and writer Joe Lansdale at Topps in the early 90s on a cool Lone Ranger series that highlighted Tonto more than the masked man himself. And then again 20 years later on another Lansdale series, Hawken.
First Comics itself launched in 1983, and rapidly rose to publishing prominence with other additional quality titles and creators including Frank Brunner, Mike Grell, Jim Starlin and Howard Chaykin, whose American Flagg series is featured in the next post — on Independence Day, of course!
