Lets see, Olympics in Rio coming up? Combine that with the fact that I feel very Spidey today? Brazilian EBAL Spiderman #6(EBAL O Homem Arana #57-1973) Cool book, and EBALS are easily one of my favorite South American publishers. Black and white insides, EBALS have a heft to them similar to Italian Cornos. Good quality thick paper/printing have helped these books survive. One problem though was uncoated staples prone to rusting were used in a country thats practically all rain forest. Also, only like 10% percent of the country has air conditioning. So for a book from the 70's to survive heat, rain forrest humidity and a lack of a bag and board culture until very recently is a small miracle. I think I have said this before but most of the nicer good conditioned EBALS escaped the country and made their way to Portugal. Pretty happy to have this….
Sorry guys… really busy weekend. The Greek Crow #1 is something I acquired recently. I love talking to James at shows. I hope to see O'Barr soon somewheres and bring this book with me. I think he would get a kick out of it….
Ok, lets do fun! Spidey, in non-canon stories with a heaping bucketful of sexuality courtesy of our friends at La Prensa in Mexico!
So the documentation as to how these book exist is all over the place! Some state that the Mexican pub caught up to the American publishing schedule. Spiderman was real popular in Mexico and at a certain time I think was published 3 times a month! So it makes sense they would run out of material once they caught up to the American run. When this happened they decided to do their own thing. Thats one story… the other is that the Mexican pub knew how popular Gwen Stacy was to the local readers. When they found out she died they decided to put a stop to that and do their own thing! In the non-canon run Gwen Stacy and Peter get married and continue living their lives in superhero bliss. Fascinating stuff…. even more fascinating is the contradicting statements by both Marvel and our friends south of the border. Marvel, as in Jim Shooter claims he never gave permission to La Prensa to do these issues… The artists involved in Mexico though claimed they actually traveled to New York to get exclusive permission from Marvel. Who is telling the truth? No one knows…. both sides have reason to stretch the truth I think…. Marvel doesn't want to admit they let a pub go hog wild with the license, and La Prensa wouldn't want it known they did this without permission. La Prensa has been a defunct company for a long time but some of the people involved there certainly wouldnt want the possibility of legal action to be an option. Im not sure if there is a statute of limitations on copyright infringement. Anyways, this is one of the beauties of the niche…. pre-internet/globalization all these skeletons were never supposed to be unburied because the world was much too big. As long as the licensing checks cashed the American pubs didn't care and these foreign anomolies were never supposed to be on anyones radar. In defense of La Prensa and the artists that worked on them though I will tell you they are very beautiful for what they are. Using art swipes and traditional Mexican illustrative style these non-canon Spideys are absolutely amazing. The main artist on these books is this man….
MAESTRO JOSÉ LUIS DURAN-EL SORPRENDENTE HOMBRE ARAÑA
translated from Mexican text….
Legend of LA Mexicana Cartoon began his career in 1953, he collaborated on the magazine Piel Canela. In 1957, working in the advertising department of El Sol de Mexico, he made his first cover for Santo the Silver Masked and to Adelita, José G. Cruz publications. In the early 70s, he became the first Mexican to officially draw Spiderman in the comics created specifically for release in Mexico under the seal of Editorial Prensa. He participated in The Phantom Pilot and worked on the design of the Pantera, along with Daniel Muñoz and Juan Alba, as well as in the weekly issues of this cartoon. He worked for 15 years to EDAR, today Grupo Editorial Vid, making calls minis (Horror, Mystery and Legends). Co-creator of The Girl Kung Fu collaborated Sensational Sensational Terror Struggles for EDITORIAL EJEA among other series. He also served as art director of MACC Division Comics, who published over twenty titles for Marvel Comics in our country. Collaborate in the Heraldo de Toluca doing political cartoons. A GREAT VALUE.
A quote from the maestro himself talking about the non-canon Spidey stuff….
The first issue of the Mexican edition was number 123 in the regular series, was published on March 15, 1972, the case was called The Triumph of Iron Man, it was not Tony Stark, but a new character created by the Mexicans, and it came in several of the stories that made for Latin America, most of them were self conclusive, had to intersperse work with Mexico US services. There were only three stories continuing the first intervention Iron Man, The Treasure of the Lost City and where he faced the Tarantula, no relation to the villain who later appeared in America, here was a giant monster, never published the second part, as it was when Spiderman is just inside Editorial La Prensa, the last number was 185 by the end of 1973 from the number 154, Duran was entirely the work of the spider plot and complete drawing, history of this first stage was a duel between the Arachnid and Rhino.
Also, probably the best article on the internet I have found talking about these non-canon books… it is in Spanish so turn on your google chrome auto translation…
Using art swipes and traditional Mexican illustrative style these non-canon Spideys are absolutely amazing.
The female figure looks to be a swipe of Jose Gonazlez (who was Spanish), probably from Vampirella.
@define999, do you have a copy of Alter Ego #43? There’s a nice article on the Golden and Silver Ages of Mexican comics by Fred Patten I'm sure you would find interesting.
The female figure looks to be a swipe of Jose Gonazlez (who was Spanish), probably from Vampirella.
@define999, do you have a copy of Alter Ego #43? There’s a nice article on the Golden and Silver Ages of Mexican comics by Fred Patten I'm sure you would find interesting.
Nah I do not, I will have to check it out! Is their a .pdf version online somewheres?
Oh and yes... this is one of at least 2 vampi swipes I know exist in the run.....
Oct. 1951: With America entering the Korean War, naturally war comics started making a strong comeback, with two new war titles launched this month, but even though horror, westerns, teen humor, and war comics dominated the stands at this time, there were still a few superheroes left, including Plastic Man. So here’s the cover of Plastic Man #33 by Jack Cole and Sam Burluckoff. Cole had pretty much left his creation a few months earlier. In fact, this cover was the last artwork he did with the character to be published. It was the end of an era, though Plas would carry on for several more years without Cole at the helm.
Hellboy: Weird Tales #6 December 2003 Cover art Frank Cho
When Mike Mignola went to work on the first Hellboy movie, rather than put the comic on hiatus, he handed the reins over to a revolving door of writers and artists who put together short comics featuring Big Red and other members of BRPD. This particular issue contains some great work from P. Craig Russell, Gene Colan, Craig Thompson, even John Cassaday. Not essential reading, and not a good starting place for Hellboy newcomers, but definitely worth adding to your collection if you are a "completist." There is a collected edition of all of these.
Hope no one minds me posting something a bit more recent that these latest entries. I just loved this cover :)
Nov. 1951: This month it’s Buster Crabbe #2 from Eastern Color. While most of us probably know Crabbe best from his portrayal of Flash Gordon, he also acted a lot of westerns, particularly on TV. His comic went 12 issues with Eastern Color, and another four issues with Lev Gleason. And while Mike Roy and Jack Farr—two solid, but rather unremarkable artists—did the bulk of the art, two talented young men did some of their earliest work for this series: one being Frank Frazetta, the other being his pal Al Williamson. In fact, the cover of this issue happens to be the first published cover art penciled by Willamson (with inks by George Evans, who did some solo work for the book).
Williamson was born in New York, but his father was Columbian, and he spent much of his early childhood in his father’s homeland. His earliest interest in the comics medium came from reading American comic strips reprinted in Paquin, a popular Mexican publication. That same year (1940) he saw and fell in love with Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (starring, of course, Buster Crabbe). That led him to Alex Raymond’s Flash Gordon newspaper strip, which would become his biggest influence. And before long (1948) he would actually meet his artistic hero at the age of 18—six months into his career as a professional artist.
By the time this cover was published, Williamson had formed a friendship with Frank Frazetta and a few other up and coming artists, collectively known as the “Fleagle Gang,” and they would often collaborate—Frazetta inked Willamson on multiple assignments. And that brings us full circle to Buster Crabbe #2—as Frazetta would draw the covers for issues #4 and 5.
Sarja Kuvalehti #7(The Ghost Rider #1) from Finland is a fine looking foreign key. This babys a beaut! Wonderful look with its yellow and red title. Sarja means comic in Finnish I think. An anthology with the important Ghost Rider #1 story inside, and some other stuff ill figure out later. Notice the date? It seems like this issue printed pretty darn close to the American book, possibly closer than the Mexican MACC which my busy ass needs to research the exact publishing date on as well. Im hoping to find the Spotlight #5 which was also done in the Finnish run.
Another book from my small non-U.S. comic collection -- Tor by Joe Kubert!
This (apparently) Brazillian comic has a story which includes Joe Kubert himself at the beginning and end, as well as two non-superhero back-up shorts. It has a 1976 copyright, and is digest-sized, though not thick like several others I have.
I just finished up Marvel Masterworks: Avengers Volume 14, which covered #129-135 plus Giant-Size #2-4. This was a run from my childhood and I really enjoyed revisiting these (mostly) Steve Englehart-written tales. You get the Origin of the Vision, the Celestial Madonna saga, Kang War II (including the Legion of the Unliving, with Wonder Man in the mix).
I've posted covers from this run before, but I don't believe I've posted these two...
Avengers 133 Pencils: Gil Kane; Dave Cockrum Inks: Mike Esposito ?; Frank Giacoia ?
Avengers 134 Pencils: Gil Kane; Dave Cockrum Inks: Mike Esposito ?; Frank Giacoia ?
Shang-Chi Master of Kung Fu #89 June 1980 Cover by Mike Zeck
The grand finale to "Warriors of the Golden Dawn"! It's Shang-Chi vs. his father, Fu Manchu...to the DEATH! Story by Doug Moench, with Mike Zeck, and Gene Day and..."The Dragons"!
Hellboy: Weird Tales #6 December 2003 Cover art Frank Cho
When Mike Mignola went to work on the first Hellboy movie, rather than put the comic on hiatus, he handed the reins over to a revolving door of writers and artists who put together short comics featuring Big Red and other members of BRPD. This particular issue contains some great work from P. Craig Russell, Gene Colan, Craig Thompson, even John Cassaday. Not essential reading, and not a good starting place for Hellboy newcomers, but definitely worth adding to your collection if you are a "completist." There is a collected edition of all of these.
Hope no one minds me posting something a bit more recent that these latest entries. I just loved this cover :)
Dec. 1951: Most romance comic covers of this period were either photo covers or not particularly well drawn. Alex Toth provides the exception with his cover to DC’s Girls’ Romances #13. I don’t think Toth inked this one. The inks look too stiff and unorganized. Still, a nice cover.
In my continuing quest to read or re-read Steve Gerber material from the 1970s, I picked up an Omega the Unknown TPB at Baltimore Con for $5.
Gerber (with Mary Skrenes) wrote most of the issues, although the story was eventually finished -- several years after the book's cancellation, I believe -- by Steven Grant over in the Defenders.
It was a fairly fun, offbeat read...I had never read any of these before, I think...
Omega the Unknown #3 (July 1976) Pencils: Gil Kane Inks: Frank Giacoia
Defenders #76 (October1979) Pencils: Rich Buckler Inks: Al Milgrom
Jan. 1952: With the dawn of 1952, Marvel was completely out of the superhero business. Their titles published this month included: 10(!) war comics, 7 romance comics, 6 supernatural/horror comics, 6 crime comics, 4 humor comics, and 1 sports comic. Of those seven romance comics, six of the covers were drawn by Al Hartley, including this cover to Lovers #39.
Hartley wasn’t a great artist, but he was solid and dependable, and he did whatever was asked of him, be it westerns, war, horror, romance... He got his start with Standard in 1946, and worked primarily with them, American Comics Group, and Ace through the rest of the ’40s. In 1949 he got his first work with Timely/Marvel—a romance story for Girl Comics #1—and from 1951 into 1967 he worked almost exclusively for them doing a bit of everything (but drawing only one superhero story—“Thor” in Journey into Mystery #90). Of course, he’s most closely associated with Patsy Walker and its spin-offs, which he drew for more than ten years straight.
After the cancellation of the Patsy Walker books (Patsy and Hedy being the last survivor) in 1967, he moved over to Archie. In 1972 he helped start the Spire Christian Comics company, and secured the license to the Archie characters for them. From that point until his retirement in 1998, he split his time between the two publishers.
In my continuing quest to read or re-read Steve Gerber material from the 1970s, I picked up an Omega the Unknown TPB at Baltimore Con for $5.
Gerber (with Mary Skrenes) wrote most of the issues, although the story was eventually finished -- several years after the book's cancellation, I believe -- by Steven Grant over in the Defenders.
It was a fairly fun, offbeat read...I had never read any of these before, I think...
Omega the Unknown #3 (July 1976) Pencils: Gil Kane Inks: Frank Giacoia
Defenders #76 (October1979) Pencils: Rich Buckler Inks: Al Milgrom
I remember picking up Omega pf the racks as a kid and enjoyed them, I'm always on the look out for issues in the cheap bins
Feb. 1952: There are a lot of interesting choices this month, but I can’t overlook the first appearance of Uncle Scrooge as a lead character. He’d first appeared in a Donald Duck story in Four Color #178 (1947), but after a few more appearances he became popular enough to rate his own issue, Four Color #386, with a cover by Carl Barks, who also wrote and drew the interior stories. Before much longer, the penny-pinching duck would get an ongoing series that would become the best-selling comic in the land.
Comments
So the documentation as to how these book exist is all over the place! Some state that the Mexican pub caught up to the American publishing schedule. Spiderman was real popular in Mexico and at a certain time I think was published 3 times a month! So it makes sense they would run out of material once they caught up to the American run. When this happened they decided to do their own thing. Thats one story… the other is that the Mexican pub knew how popular Gwen Stacy was to the local readers. When they found out she died they decided to put a stop to that and do their own thing! In the non-canon run Gwen Stacy and Peter get married and continue living their lives in superhero bliss. Fascinating stuff…. even more fascinating is the contradicting statements by both Marvel and our friends south of the border. Marvel, as in Jim Shooter claims he never gave permission to La Prensa to do these issues… The artists involved in Mexico though claimed they actually traveled to New York to get exclusive permission from Marvel. Who is telling the truth? No one knows…. both sides have reason to stretch the truth I think…. Marvel doesn't want to admit they let a pub go hog wild with the license, and La Prensa wouldn't want it known they did this without permission. La Prensa has been a defunct company for a long time but some of the people involved there certainly wouldnt want the possibility of legal action to be an option. Im not sure if there is a statute of limitations on copyright infringement. Anyways, this is one of the beauties of the niche…. pre-internet/globalization all these skeletons were never supposed to be unburied because the world was much too big. As long as the licensing checks cashed the American pubs didn't care and these foreign anomolies were never supposed to be on anyones radar. In defense of La Prensa and the artists that worked on them though I will tell you they are very beautiful for what they are. Using art swipes and traditional Mexican illustrative style these non-canon Spideys are absolutely amazing. The main artist on these books is this man….
MAESTRO JOSÉ LUIS DURAN-EL SORPRENDENTE HOMBRE ARAÑA
translated from Mexican text….
Legend of LA Mexicana Cartoon began his career in 1953, he collaborated on the magazine Piel Canela. In 1957, working in the advertising department of El Sol de Mexico, he made his first cover for Santo the Silver Masked and to Adelita, José G. Cruz publications. In the early 70s, he became the first Mexican to officially draw Spiderman in the comics created specifically for release in Mexico under the seal of Editorial Prensa. He participated in The Phantom Pilot and worked on the design of the Pantera, along with Daniel Muñoz and Juan Alba, as well as in the weekly issues of this cartoon. He worked for 15 years to EDAR, today Grupo Editorial Vid, making calls minis (Horror, Mystery and Legends). Co-creator of The Girl Kung Fu collaborated Sensational Sensational Terror Struggles for EDITORIAL EJEA among other series. He also served as art director of MACC Division Comics, who published over twenty titles for Marvel Comics in our country. Collaborate in the Heraldo de Toluca doing political cartoons. A GREAT VALUE.
A quote from the maestro himself talking about the non-canon Spidey stuff….
The first issue of the Mexican edition was number 123 in the regular series, was published on March 15, 1972, the case was called The Triumph of Iron Man, it was not Tony Stark, but a new character created by the Mexicans, and it came in several of the stories that made for Latin America, most of them were self conclusive, had to intersperse work with Mexico US services. There were only three stories continuing the first intervention Iron Man, The Treasure of the Lost City and where he faced the Tarantula, no relation to the villain who later appeared in America, here was a giant monster, never published the second part, as it was when Spiderman is just inside Editorial La Prensa, the last number was 185 by the end of 1973 from the number 154, Duran was entirely the work of the spider plot and complete drawing, history of this first stage was a duel between the Arachnid and Rhino.
Also, probably the best article on the internet I have found talking about these non-canon books… it is in Spanish so turn on your google chrome auto translation…
http://bajolamascara.universomarvel.com/2008/02/el_spiderman_ilegal_mexicano.html
Also, if you think this topic is worthy of its own thread let me know... we can explore all the non-canon stuff La Prensa did, not just Spiderman....
@define999, do you have a copy of Alter Ego #43? There’s a nice article on the Golden and Silver Ages of Mexican comics by Fred Patten I'm sure you would find interesting.
Oh and yes... this is one of at least 2 vampi swipes I know exist in the run.....
I thought that whole "Gwen and Peter got married and lived happily ever after" continuity only existed in my broken-hearted 8-year-old mind! ;)
I've been away for a bit, but hope to post soon.
December 2003
Cover art Frank Cho
When Mike Mignola went to work on the first Hellboy movie, rather than put the comic on hiatus, he handed the reins over to a revolving door of writers and artists who put together short comics featuring Big Red and other members of BRPD. This particular issue contains some great work from P. Craig Russell, Gene Colan, Craig Thompson, even John Cassaday. Not essential reading, and not a good starting place for Hellboy newcomers, but definitely worth adding to your collection if you are a "completist." There is a collected edition of all of these.
Hope no one minds me posting something a bit more recent that these latest entries. I just loved this cover :)
Williamson was born in New York, but his father was Columbian, and he spent much of his early childhood in his father’s homeland. His earliest interest in the comics medium came from reading American comic strips reprinted in Paquin, a popular Mexican publication. That same year (1940) he saw and fell in love with Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (starring, of course, Buster Crabbe). That led him to Alex Raymond’s Flash Gordon newspaper strip, which would become his biggest influence. And before long (1948) he would actually meet his artistic hero at the age of 18—six months into his career as a professional artist.
By the time this cover was published, Williamson had formed a friendship with Frank Frazetta and a few other up and coming artists, collectively known as the “Fleagle Gang,” and they would often collaborate—Frazetta inked Willamson on multiple assignments. And that brings us full circle to Buster Crabbe #2—as Frazetta would draw the covers for issues #4 and 5.
Another book from my small non-U.S. comic collection -- Tor by Joe Kubert!
This (apparently) Brazillian comic has a story which includes Joe Kubert himself at the beginning and end, as well as two non-superhero back-up shorts. It has a 1976 copyright, and is digest-sized, though not thick like several others I have.
I love that back cover, too!
I've posted covers from this run before, but I don't believe I've posted these two...
Avengers 133
Pencils:
Gil Kane; Dave Cockrum
Inks:
Mike Esposito ?; Frank Giacoia ?
Avengers 134
Pencils:
Gil Kane; Dave Cockrum
Inks:
Mike Esposito ?; Frank Giacoia ?
June 1980
Cover by Mike Zeck
The grand finale to "Warriors of the Golden Dawn"! It's Shang-Chi vs. his father, Fu Manchu...to the DEATH! Story by Doug Moench, with Mike Zeck, and Gene Day and..."The Dragons"!
The Cat #1 (v2)
November 1972
Wally Wood art & cover
Containing the first appearance and origin of this feminist super-heroine.
Gerber (with Mary Skrenes) wrote most of the issues, although the story was eventually finished -- several years after the book's cancellation, I believe -- by Steven Grant over in the Defenders.
It was a fairly fun, offbeat read...I had never read any of these before, I think...
Omega the Unknown #3 (July 1976)
Pencils: Gil Kane
Inks: Frank Giacoia
Defenders #76 (October1979)
Pencils: Rich Buckler
Inks: Al Milgrom
Aquaman #44
September 2015
Variant cover art by Francis Manapul
DC celebrated the 75th Anniversary of GREEN LANTERN September 2015 with special variant covers recognizing various ring-slingers from throughout the character's rich publishing history. See all those variants here: http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/06/12/25-green-lantern-covers-light-up-dcs-75th-anniversary-celebration
Hartley wasn’t a great artist, but he was solid and dependable, and he did whatever was asked of him, be it westerns, war, horror, romance... He got his start with Standard in 1946, and worked primarily with them, American Comics Group, and Ace through the rest of the ’40s. In 1949 he got his first work with Timely/Marvel—a romance story for Girl Comics #1—and from 1951 into 1967 he worked almost exclusively for them doing a bit of everything (but drawing only one superhero story—“Thor” in Journey into Mystery #90). Of course, he’s most closely associated with Patsy Walker and its spin-offs, which he drew for more than ten years straight.
After the cancellation of the Patsy Walker books (Patsy and Hedy being the last survivor) in 1967, he moved over to Archie. In 1972 he helped start the Spire Christian Comics company, and secured the license to the Archie characters for them. From that point until his retirement in 1998, he split his time between the two publishers.
I remember picking up Omega pf the racks as a kid and enjoyed them, I'm always on the look out for issues in the cheap bins