Guitars in Superhero Comics

JaxUr

Here's an odd topic: Does anyone know of any superhero comics, heroes, villains, etc that incorporate electric guitars into the plot or story? BGSU is holding an academic conference on electric guitars early next year and we are looking for representations of guitars in comics. For example, Jimmy Olsen #88 has Superman's Pal getting the hero to do the "Krypton Crawl" with his powerful playing:

http://cache.coverbrowser.com/image/jimmy-olsen/88-7.jpg

Thinking of comics and guitars led me to things like Josie and the Pussycats, the Archies, etc but I'm otherwise stumped! Anything come to mind? Thanks!!!

hauberk

JaxUr said:

Here's an odd topic: Does anyone know of any superhero comics, heroes, villains, etc that incorporate electric guitars into the plot or story? BGSU is holding an academic conference on electric guitars early next year and we are looking for representations of guitars in comics. For example, Jimmy Olsen #88 has Superman's Pal getting the hero to do the "Krypton Crawl" with his powerful playing:

http://cache.coverbrowser.com/image/jimmy-olsen/88-7.jpg

Thinking of comics and guitars led me to things like Josie and the Pussycats, the Archies, etc but I'm otherwise stumped! Anything come to mind? Thanks!!!

Dazzler / Ultimate Dazzler

Johnny Guitar

Speedy was in a band called the Great Frog when he really was "speedy"

Music Meister - that may have been a keytar

Guitarwolf

Guitar Man (Scout)

Heavy Duty (GI Joe) was a guitarist as was Rock N Roll.

Josh Guthrie (AKA Icaris) brother of Sam Guthrie (Cannonball) was in a band and played to recharge Dazzler at one point)

Trash (Fury of Firestorm) used a sonic guitar

Brack

nweathington

How about Mike Allred’s Red Rocket 7? More sci-fi than superhero, but I think it's close enough.

Or this one with a Jimi Hendrix-type character:

Brack

Lila Cheney

rebis

Not a comicbook, but at right about the 1:00 mark ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtlHz9PZS-8

Brack

Doop is a Doop of many talents.

nweathington

And Kiss were basically superheroes in their Marvel comic book appearances.

Brack

The Wiley Wolverman version of Dove from Hawk and Dove:

Torchsong

1) Don't say Haruko from FLCL isn't a superhero. She holds the fate of the universe in her hands.
2) She plays a Rickenbacker bass. That makes her more awesome than you. :)

rebis

Zenith

RickM

I like both things on their own. But mixed together they're painful.

rebis

phansford

Sort of a side bar….. guitars and stamps.

http://www.linns.com/news/us-stamps/709/Guitars-on-United-States-stamps-celebrate-the-broad-range-variety-of-American-music

nweathington

Torchsong said:

2) She plays a Rickenbacker bass. That makes her more awesome than you. :)

I used to play a 1972 Rick, but I had to sell it several years ago. Wish I still had it.

rebis

JaxUr

Thanks!! You all are the best!

phansford

JaxUr - FWIW. What I find interesting is that certain artists are willing to drawn and depict a specific brand and model of guitar, while others seem to draw upon their own imagination for the guitar (Thus becoming some sort of a funky Japanese guitar from the 1960's - Ha).

The stamps were interesting. Musical artists are typically associated with a specific guitar. ie; Hendrix=Fender Strat. McCartney = Hofner Violin Bass and later years the Ricky. Springsteen= Telecaster (which is really a partscaster). Yet the stamp artist stylized the guitars depicted in the stamp as if not to identify the instrument with the artist.

Certain guitars have certain associations with a style of player or personality (not sure if the latter is the correct word). But certainly the workman-like quality of the Fender Telecaster certainly matches Springsteen's persona. The Strat - used by many electric blues players would fit Clapton. My question: Does the comic artist select a certain guitar to match the personality of the character?

nweathington

phansford said:

JaxUr - FWIW. What I find interesting is that certain artists are willing to drawn and depict a specific brand and model of guitar, while others seem to draw upon their own imagination for the guitar (Thus becoming some sort of a funky Japanese guitar from the 1960's - Ha).

The stamps were interesting. Musical artists are typically associated with a specific guitar. ie; Hendrix=Fender Strat. McCartney = Hofner Violin Bass and later years the Ricky. Springsteen= Telecaster (which is really a partscaster). Yet the stamp artist stylized the guitars depicted in the stamp as if not to identify the instrument with the artist.

Certain guitars have certain associations with a style of player or personality (not sure if the latter is the correct word). But certainly the workman-like quality of the Fender Telecaster certainly matches Springsteen's persona. The Strat - used by many electric blues players would fit Clapton. My question: Does the comic artist select a certain guitar to match the personality of the character?

I would say sometimes yes, but usually no. I think if the artist is musically inclined, as say Mike Allred is, then yes, they are probably matching the instrument to the character/setting. Take the Doop panels above. Satan is playing a Flying V, a guitar most closely associated with heavy metal, while Doop is playing a Rickenbacker bass, a bass most closely associated with progressive, more eclectic music (Yes, Rush, etc.) A Rick wouldn't be my first choice when playing funk—generally you think of the Fender Precision for that—but it fits the quirkiness of Doop.

Then you have the JLA cover I posted above, where the artist obviously didn't know anything about guitars. He’s got the guitar upside down, with the cutaway on top. Now, Hendrix played an upside down guitar, but Hendrix was left-handed, and left-handed guitars were a little hard to come by in the ’60s. The idea that this Hendrix-“homage” is playing a left-handed guitar upside down is kind of ridiculous to someone who knows guitars.

I think more often than not, artists pre-Internet just drew what they thought a guitar looked like, going by memory. These days it's easy enough to Google thousands of different models, and I think most artists either pick one that looks cool, or they'll Google bands they know and draw whatever guitars those bands play. Some might take it so far as to think, “Okay, this character probably was into grunge as a kid, so I'll give him whatever those bands were playing,” but it's not really something that comes up too often, so unless it’s an integral part of the story, I doubt the average artist thinks very deeply about it.

Torchsong

As a bassist, the only thing that ever bugged me about music in comics (and some animations) is that the four-stringers would often get omitted. You'd have three people on guitars and nobody holding down the bottom end. That's usually how I know the artist doesn't know their music.

And yes, I suppose you could make the argument that if there's a keyboardist he's using pedals to supply the bass. Or that one of the guitars is a six-string bass (but not with the skinny necks I've seen them draw). :)

JaxUr

Around 1979-80 Dick Tracy encountered punk rocker rogues Bony & Claudine who stole a Les Paul guitar before kidnapping a pregnant Tess.

If anyone happens to think of any other music themed heroes or villains please reply. I first thought of Pied Piper, Fiddler, Minstrel.

fredzilla

Not a superhero comic (or is it?!?) but here's one...

phansford

nweathington said:

I would say sometimes yes, but usually no. I think if the artist is musically inclined, as say Mike Allred is, then yes, they are probably matching the instrument to the character/setting. Take the Doop panels above. Satan is playing a Flying V, a guitar most closely associated with heavy metal, while Doop is playing a Rickenbacker bass, a bass most closely associated with progressive, more eclectic music (Yes, Rush, etc.) A Rick wouldn't be my first choice when playing funk—generally you think of the Fender Precision for that—but it fits the quirkiness of Doop.

Then you have the JLA cover I posted above, where the artist obviously didn't know anything about guitars. He’s got the guitar upside down, with the cutaway on top. Now, Hendrix played an upside down guitar, but Hendrix was left-handed, and left-handed guitars were a little hard to come by in the ’60s. The idea that this Hendrix-“homage” is playing a left-handed guitar upside down is kind of ridiculous to someone who knows guitars.

I think more often than not, artists pre-Internet just drew what they thought a guitar looked like, going by memory. These days it's easy enough to Google thousands of different models, and I think most artists either pick one that looks cool, or they'll Google bands they know and draw whatever guitars those bands play. Some might take it so far as to think, “Okay, this character probably was into grunge as a kid, so I'll give him whatever those bands were playing,” but it's not really something that comes up too often, so unless it’s an integral part of the story, I doubt the average artist thinks very deeply about it.

Thanks…… although I would probably say that heavy metal players lean more to the asymmetrical "V" designs of Dean and Jackson. The Gibson V seems to still be popular with the blues players such as Albert King, Billy Gibbons, J. Geils, Lenny Kravitz. Doop is depicted with a Gibson V. (The Headstock is the give away) Maybe Allred is making reference to Albert King and tossing in some the "Crossroads" legend of Robert Johnson. ;) …. all of which is speculation and interpretation by the viewer.

My collection has grown since these "family" photos were taken. This is about 1/2 of what it is now. :\">
I'm in a 12 -step program for buying vintage amps and guitars. HaHa

JaxUr said:

Around 1979-80 Dick Tracy encountered punk rocker rogues Bony & Claudine who stole a Les Paul guitar before kidnapping a pregnant Tess.

If anyone happens to think of any other music themed heroes or villains please reply. I first thought of Pied Piper, Fiddler, Minstrel.

If you're just looking to discuss the use of guitars (or other stringed instruments) in comics and musically themed characters… that should be an easier topic to research and present.

I can think of these ….. but mostly from Saturday Morning Cartoons from when I was a kid. HaHa. But then there was typically the comic book that followed - typically from Dell or Gold Key or Archie. But these may have more to do with 'rock and roll" becoming part of the youth culture; the guitar being the most iconic instrument of the genre. (I don't think icon is the right word…… Sorry…. I didn't take Pop Culture 101 when I was at BGSU. :\"> HaHa….. I was too busy at the Tech Building and Fine Arts)

phansford

The guitar does show up in popular culture before the rock era…… looking at the call for papers, which seem focused on the electric (Gibson v. Fender), not sure if this helps. The Singing Cowboys certainly were a factor in guitar sales in the 1930's thru the 1950's. Harmony (Supertone/Silvertone) made a boat load of them.





http://youtu.be/pAwBxWjcukA

nweathington

That reminds me that I forgot one of my favorite Golden Age heroes, the singing cowboy, Vigilante (especially when drawn by Mort Meskin).

nweathington

phansford said:

Thanks…… although I would probably say that heavy metal players lean more to the asymmetrical "V" designs of Dean and Jackson. The Gibson V seems to still be popular with the blues players such as Albert King, Billy Gibbons, J. Geils, Lenny Kravitz. Doop is depicted with a Gibson V. (The Headstock is the give away) Maybe Allred is making reference to Albert King and tossing in some the "Crossroads" legend of Robert Johnson. ;) …. all of which is speculation and interpretation by the viewer.

When I think Flying V, I usually think Randy Rhoads, but yeah, it's definitely a crossover instrument between heavy blues players and metal players, just as the Fender Strat is—though a lot of metal is just really heavy blues anyway. My guess is that he chose the Flying V for the Devil (Doop is the one playing the Rick bass) because of the metal (or blues) association, plus it has “horns” like the Devil, not to refer to any one player. I mean, it's obvious the whole scene is a Crossroads reference.

Nice collection, by the way. I'm jealous. The only vintage stuff I own now is a ’67 Fender Mustang. I have to say, though, I hate playing SGs. The neck is just totally wrong for my hands.

phansford

I think you and I may have hit on the real "discovery", which is the old cowboy stuff. That certainly seems to be where it started.

My son owns a modern SG. The Gibson in the above photo is a 1965 Gibson Melody Maker. I had one as a kid…. sold it to fund the purchase of the Telecaster Thinline when I was in grad school. For sentimental reasons I wanted another, so I found this one at a Guitar Center in Jersey. The guitars are a mix of modern and vintage. All the amps, except for the Oahu Suitcase, are vintage. I highly recommend getting a vintage amp. You can typically find them for the same price or less than the modern amps which have PCB's. Once a modern amp goes back, its pretty much a boat anchor. I just got my 1956 Silvertone 1333 amp back from repair yesterday. It was a Goodwill find.

nweathington

The singing cowboys—Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Tex Ritter, et al—were big in the movies for quite a while, and they crossed over into books and comics, radio, and a few of them into TV. Tex Ritter appeared in a few Dell comics from 1938-39 and then came back in the ’50s, but Autry and Rogers were pretty steady in the comics from ’39 through the early ’60s.

As a sidenote, I think Vigilante (who first appeared in 1941) may have been named Greg Sanders (later changed to Saunders) after John Wayne’s character Singin’ Sandy Saunders in Riders of Destiny (1933). Wayne didn't do any singing in the movie; someone else’s voice was dubbed in.

Chuck_Melville

Metamorpho slung a guitar with a built-in laser against the Thunderer in issue #15 (“Hour Of Armageddon!”) ‘way back in December 1967.

rebis

I can't believe that I forgot Vigilante.