Late to the "birthdate covers" party, but here are a couple that hit the stands (on sale date) just days after my birth! I don't think that I've ever read any of the ones from the month I was born (maybe a reprint here or there?) -- with one notable exception at the end!
Nick Cardy
Curt Swan(pencils) & George Klein (inks)
Jack Kirby & Mike Esposito
Jack Kirby & Wally Wood
And my favorite of the bunch, by Jack Kirby & John Severin. This one I actually DID own and read a number of years later. It was one of the comics I bought for 10 cents at the flea market when I was a kid (thanks to my Dad and my Uncle's friend -- I've mentioned that experience a number of time; I still dream about that day!)
Here's a Jack Kirby & Dick Ayers cover from 1973, reprinting Journey Into Mystery #82 from 1962, with new colors...
And a Gil Kane cover, with inks by Tom Palmer, also from 1973...
On an entirely different 1973 note, here's a 100-Page Spectacular that popped up the other day. I *loved* the 100-pagers as a kid, and had this one, later lost it....but I then reacquired it a few years ago!
Cover by Nick Cardy. I continue to be amazed by my childhood lack of awareness of Nick Cardy. So many DC covers I loved from 1973 were by Nick, and I didn't even know his name at that time! (Whereas, at Marvel, I felt like I knew the creators, thanks to Stan Lee's Soapbox, etc.)
I need to track down that book @nweathington mentioned a while back...
I read the first two or three issues of Lady Justice as they came out. Unfortunately, like much of the Techno Comix line, the covers were the best part of the book. I did like Mr. Hero the Newmatic Man, and considering that steampunk is as popular as ever, it might do much better now than it did in the mid-’90s during the comics market crash. Cover by Marc Sasso.
I need to track down that book @nweathington mentioned a while back...
@RobAnderson, As it so happens, TwoMorrows is running a 12 Sales of Christmas from now until the end of the month. You can get my Nick Cardy: Behind the Art hardcover for a measly ten bucks. (And while you're at it, you can get the Carmine Infantino and Sal Buscema softcovers I co-edited for a mere eight bucks a piece.)
Cover by Frank Borth. (Alas, it's a wrap-around, and the gag makes no sense unless you can see the back cover, which I have no access to.)
@Chuck_Melville Do you remember the gag? I'm in suspense here! ;-)
I honestly wish I did, but it's been too many years. I think the punchline was that the artist was drawing them into the back cover, breaking the fourth wall as it was, but I can't swear to it and haven't seen a repro of the full cover.
Since TC was distributed through a private channel -- Catholic schools -- there was no advertising in the book anywhere. So the back cover was sometimes used for a single gag strip, other times they would run a wrap-around, such as this one.
Here's a Jack Kirby & Dick Ayers cover from 1973, reprinting Journey Into Mystery #82 from 1962, with new colors...
Man, the recoloring job is so much better than the original. Yes, the new coloring is more realistic—the clothes, the highlights on the scorpion’s back, etc.—but in the original cover, the colorist made no distinction between the two walls in the background, which really flattens out the image. And why do the humans in the original cover have no shadows? The scorpion does. Were they removed from the original, or added in the reprint?
In the original cover, the eye is drawn first to the big areas of red. That's not where the action is. In the reprint, the scorpion stands out more, and the eye is drawn there initially. The shadows provide a sense of flow (as well as a greater sense of mystery), and the eye travels naturally from the scorpion to the hero, and on to the cowering scientists.
But the biggest improvement for me is the crop of the reprint. By removing the wide open ceiling and cropping down to just above the machinery, the scene becomes more intense. The scientists are now truly trapped in a corner with their backs against the wall. I'm betting the artist intended that crop to be there in the first place.
I need to track down that book @nweathington mentioned a while back...
@RobAnderson, As it so happens, TwoMorrows is running a 12 Sales of Christmas from now until the end of the month. You can get my Nick Cardy: Behind the Art hardcover for a measly ten bucks. (And while you're at it, you can get the Carmine Infantino and Sal Buscema softcovers I co-edited for a mere eight bucks a piece.)
I picked up that Infantino book several months ago, as Mr I is just about my favorite comic book artist ever, and I eagerly devoured it with great relish. Great stuff! I heartily recommend it. I wish I had a few extra bucks on hand so I could pick up a few more of the TwoMorrows series; I've particularly had my eye on the Sal Buscema book for some time.
I have to say that Sal was not one of my favorite artists when he first started appearing in Marvel books in the late 60's. In fact, I absolutely hated his work. It looked too often like a cheap copy of his brother John's work. Over the years, though, I began to mellow, and it wasn't until his run on Marvel Team-Up that I finally began seeing what a terrific storyteller he was, always hitting the right notes in his story pacing. I gradually developed an appreciation for his art and realized how wrong and short-sighted my original impressions were. (Not for the first or even the last time, either.) He wasn't the powerhouse that a lot of other Marvel artists were, but he was a solid workhorse with strong skills. And, to my knowledge, he never missed a deadline. I look forward to getting that book about him; maybe for Christmas.
I need to track down that book @nweathington mentioned a while back...
@RobAnderson, As it so happens, TwoMorrows is running a 12 Sales of Christmas from now until the end of the month. You can get my Nick Cardy: Behind the Art hardcover for a measly ten bucks. (And while you're at it, you can get the Carmine Infantino and Sal Buscema softcovers I co-edited for a mere eight bucks a piece.)
I picked up that Infantino book several months ago, as Mr I is just about my favorite comic book artist ever, and I eagerly devoured it with great relish. Great stuff! I heartily recommend it. I wish I had a few extra bucks on hand so I could pick up a few more of the TwoMorrows series; I've particularly had my eye on the Sal Buscema book for some time.
I have to say that Sal was not one of my favorite artists when he first started appearing in Marvel books in the late 60's. In fact, I absolutely hated his work. It looked too often like a cheap copy of his brother John's work. Over the years, though, I began to mellow, and it wasn't until his run on Marvel Team-Up that I finally began seeing what a terrific storyteller he was, always hitting the right notes in his story pacing. I gradually developed an appreciation for his art and realized how wrong and short-sighted my original impressions were. (Not for the first or even the last time, either.) He wasn't the powerhouse that a lot of other Marvel artists were, but he was a solid workhorse with strong skills. And, to my knowledge, he never missed a deadline. I look forward to getting that book about him; maybe for Christmas.
Glad you liked the Infantino book, Chuck. Thanks for the kind words.
I had similar feelings about Sal’s work myself. Storytelling was definitely his strong suit. Unfortunately, during the time he was knocking out two or three books a month (!), he was doing more breakdowns than full pencils—all the linework was there, just not all the blacks—and a lot of the inkers he was saddled with just didn’t gel with his sensibilities. He would have preferred to pencil and ink, but Marvel wanted as much penciling work out of him as they could get, and he didn’t argue with them because the money was good.
Because of the vast amount of work he did, I would argue that, from the mid- to late ’70s through the mid-’80s, his work—not Kirby’s, or brother John’s, or even Romita’s—defined the look of Marvel Comics.
I need to track down that book @nweathington mentioned a while back...
@RobAnderson, As it so happens, TwoMorrows is running a 12 Sales of Christmas from now until the end of the month. You can get my Nick Cardy: Behind the Art hardcover for a measly ten bucks. (And while you're at it, you can get the Carmine Infantino and Sal Buscema softcovers I co-edited for a mere eight bucks a piece.)
I picked up that Infantino book several months ago, as Mr I is just about my favorite comic book artist ever, and I eagerly devoured it with great relish. Great stuff! I heartily recommend it. I wish I had a few extra bucks on hand so I could pick up a few more of the TwoMorrows series; I've particularly had my eye on the Sal Buscema book for some time.
I have to say that Sal was not one of my favorite artists when he first started appearing in Marvel books in the late 60's. In fact, I absolutely hated his work. It looked too often like a cheap copy of his brother John's work. Over the years, though, I began to mellow, and it wasn't until his run on Marvel Team-Up that I finally began seeing what a terrific storyteller he was, always hitting the right notes in his story pacing. I gradually developed an appreciation for his art and realized how wrong and short-sighted my original impressions were. (Not for the first or even the last time, either.) He wasn't the powerhouse that a lot of other Marvel artists were, but he was a solid workhorse with strong skills. And, to my knowledge, he never missed a deadline. I look forward to getting that book about him; maybe for Christmas.
Glad you liked the Infantino book, Chuck. Thanks for the kind words.
I had similar feelings about Sal’s work myself. Storytelling was definitely his strong suit. Unfortunately, during the time he was knocking out two or three books a month (!), he was doing more breakdowns than full pencils—all the linework was there, just not all the blacks—and a lot of the inkers he was saddled with just didn’t gel with his sensibilities. He would have preferred to pencil and ink, but Marvel wanted as much penciling work out of him as they could get, and he didn’t argue with them because the money was good.
Because of the vast amount of work he did, I would argue that, from the mid- to late ’70s through the mid-’80s, his work—not Kirby’s, or brother John’s, or even Romita’s—defined the look of Marvel Comics.
I'd agree with that.
He didn't often get the best inkers -- Vince Colletta jumps to mind right away -- but some of the stronger inkers, like Steve Leialoha and Klaus Janson, brought a new vitality to the art that was very appealing. I do think, though, that when he did get to do his own inking, as in his work on Spectacular Spider-Man during the early 90's, he was at his best.
He didn't often get the best inkers -- Vince Colletta jumps to mind right away -- but some of the stronger inkers, like Steve Leialoha and Klaus Janson, brought a new vitality to the art that was very appealing. I do think, though, that when he did get to do his own inking, as in his work on Spectacular Spider-Man during the early 90's, he was at his best.
Sal didn't care for Leialoha's inking. He thought Steve overpowered his work so that you couldn't see him anymore. He did like Janson though, and he loved inking Janson on Batman later on. Sal prefers inking to penciling actually, so it's no wonder he's at his best when inking his own work.
I honestly wish I did, but it's been too many years. I think the punchline was that the artist was drawing them into the back cover, breaking the fourth wall as it was, but I can't swear to it and haven't seen a repro of the full cover.
Since TC was distributed through a private channel -- Catholic schools -- there was no advertising in the book anywhere. So the back cover was sometimes used for a single gag strip, other times they would run a wrap-around, such as this one.
@Chuck_Melville heh -- that works! With my love of animals, I really got a kick out of that cover. Thanks!
Man, the recoloring job is so much better than the original. Yes, the new coloring is more realistic—the clothes, the highlights on the scorpion’s back, etc.—but in the original cover, the colorist made no distinction between the two walls in the background, which really flattens out the image. And why do the humans in the original cover have no shadows? The scorpion does. Were they removed from the original, or added in the reprint?
In the original cover, the eye is drawn first to the big areas of red. That's not where the action is. In the reprint, the scorpion stands out more, and the eye is drawn there initially. The shadows provide a sense of flow (as well as a greater sense of mystery), and the eye travels naturally from the scorpion to the hero, and on to the cowering scientists.
But the biggest improvement for me is the crop of the reprint. By removing the wide open ceiling and cropping down to just above the machinery, the scene becomes more intense. The scientists are now truly trapped in a corner with their backs against the wall. I'm betting the artist intended that crop to be there in the first place.
@nweathington Darn insightful and all true! Thanks for sharing the analysis with us all!
I need to track down that book @nweathington mentioned a while back...
@RobAnderson, As it so happens, TwoMorrows is running a 12 Sales of Christmas from now until the end of the month. You can get my Nick Cardy: Behind the Art hardcover for a measly ten bucks. (And while you're at it, you can get the Carmine Infantino and Sal Buscema softcovers I co-edited for a mere eight bucks a piece.)
Man, I am so broke right now, but I still had to buy it. I already told my signif other that her Christmas gift to me is now on the way in the mail. She can wrap it up, and with my memory, I'll be pleasantly surprised, come the holidays! ;-)
Marvel is getting to induce new interest in their titles by giving us Marvel Now -- so I thought we'd look at when Marvel tried to go New, with the New Universe.
The New Universe was supposed to be outside of the better-known MU, later to be revealed as a parallel dimension, and prior to the White Event (a sudden blinding light that flashed in the heavens for several seconds) had no superhumans (here referred to as Paranormals) at all. The New Universe comprised initially of eight titles with new characters and concepts created by several top talent teams; the perplexing thing was that, for the most part, those talents didn't work on those books. (For instance, Justice was developed by Archie Goodwin and Walt Simonson, but Goodwin only wrote the first issue or two, and Simonson's pencil never touched a page.) I don't know why this was, and I always felt a little bit cheated by this; it felt a bit like a 'bait-and-switch' con.
The New Universe had two other quirks going for it: despite the 'superhero' quality of the eight series, there was an attempt to keep things on as realistic a level as possible. And the stories were played out in 'real' time. That is, there was a passage of time. Characters aged, and events were carefully clocked. Calendar dates were noted in the narrative boxes in all books.
Star Brand was the flagship book, written by Jim Shooter and drawn by John Romita Jr. The lead character is given an alien artifact, a tattoo, that is capable of anything. Wearing it, he can fly, lift mountains, move at enormous speed, etc. The series became a look at how a superman might actually try to function in a real world situation, and Ken, the man with the Star Brand, learned some very serious limitations: how difficult it was to fly somewhere if you didn't recognize the landscape, that stopping speeding cars is a lot trickier than it looks, and that flying to the moon takes a long time and can be kind of a boring trip.
Ken, who had up to now been a low-paid blue collar worker in a garage, and who had been pretty content with that lot in life, now also had to contend with how small his life was, how big the world actually was, and was torn over how he could best serve the world, while at the same time a victim to his own base desires.
The series, like the rest of the New Universe, suffered poor sales and underwent a 'mid-life' crisis midway through its run, and underwent a revamp at the hands of John Byrne, who changed the well-meaning hero with feet of clay into an outright selfish jerk who, while trying to actually rid himself of the Brand once and for all, accidentally vaporizes Pittsburgh and sets the tone for the impending end of the entire New Universe line.
Where Star Brand led the way with the big concepts, DP7 (shorthand for the Displaced Paranormal 7), written by Mark Gruenwald and drawn by Paul Ryan (hot off their run on the Squadron Supreme miniseries), took a look at the human side of the consequences of the new influx of Paranormals. Seven individuals come together, all with sudden unique abilities that have seriously disrupted their lives, and depend upon one another for mutual survival. The abilities are varied: a woman who sucks vitality from people by looking at them, a girl who transfers vitality back into folks with a touch, a man who cannot stand still but must constantly move at exaggerated speed, a dancer who can manipulate the force of friction, a teen-ager who sweats acid, a doctor whose body emits inky doppelgangers, and a man whose muscles grow muscles and then adds ten pounds of hair on top of that.
At first the band is on the run from an unscrupulous clinic that has a sinister purpose for all paranormals, but they soon run into others like themselves as they try to find a cure for their respective conditions, or at least the reason for why they are they way they are. The events of The Pitt throw everything into further turmoil and the band is broken up, as some die, some move on, and other get drafted into the army.
Psi-Force was another of the stronger titles, written by Steve Perry and drawn by Mark Texeira, about five teenage paranormals who were inexplicably linked to each other by their psionic powers. Apart, their powers were quite diverse, ranging from telepathy to pyrokinesis, but together, at need, they could summon up the ethereal Psi-Hawk, an entity based upon their former FBI guardian who had been killed in a gunfight. The team was not a happy gathering, though, and not only did they not all like one another, some wanted nothing to do with either the others or even their own powers. Necessity kept them together and on the run, from enemies both foreign and domestic (including the Clinic that was also pursuing the DP7), while they struggled to survive. Halfway through the series, Fabian Nicieza took over the writing reins in an attempt to raise the flagging sales, but the end was already in sight for the New Universe.
Justice was the most enigmatic of the New Universe heroes. His name was Tensen, and he was a Justice Agent from another dimension and he was caught up in an intrigue between the queen he loved and served and the enemy who enslave their land. Banished to Earth, Tensen discovered enemy agents and their monstrous servant establishing a beachhead in preparation for an assault on both worlds. Armed with his power to create a psionic shield with one hand and a powerful psionic 'sword' with the other, who struggled against grave odds to defeat them.
Thing is, Tensen had it all wrong.
Archie Goodwin did an issue or two before handing the writing reins over to Steve Englehart. But in spite of the high fantasy themes, the series, like the rest of the New Universe titles, just wasn't catching fire. After a year or so, half of the New Universe line was cancelled and the remaining titles, Justice included, underwent a change of writers and direction. Enter, Peter David.
Like I said, Tensen had it wrong, and Peter David showed us how and why. Tensen was really an earthman, a government agent who had suffered a blackout during the White Event and came away with new powers and a sudden belief that he was from another dimension. In fact, he had created it all -- literally; with his own latent psionic powers. Every last trace of the other dimension faded away when he was forced to face the reality. After that, and after the tragic events of The Pitt, Justice went about on a self-imposed duty: to seek out paranormals who were misusing their gifts, and render Justice. The stories took a harder edge, and are among the best written of the New Universe titles.
Cover above by Geof Isherwood; cover below by Lee Weeks.
I was never much of a DC guy, always going for the Marvel silver age stuff for most of my comic buying golden age. I hadn't even heard of Nick Cardy before this thread. I might have to pick that book up myself. He did some great stuff, obviously.
I was never much of a DC guy, always going for the Marvel silver age stuff for most of my comic buying golden age. I hadn't even heard of Nick Cardy before this thread. I might have to pick that book up myself. He did some great stuff, obviously.
I'm always happy to see a new Cardy convert. I highly recommend you pick up the Bat Lash Showcase collection. It's some of his best and most personal work. This cover is one of his favorites, and one of the few comics he also wrote.
The New Universe comprised initially of eight titles with new characters and concepts created by several top talent teams; the perplexing thing was that, for the most part, those talents didn't work on those books. (For instance, Justice was developed by Archie Goodwin and Walt Simonson, but Goodwin only wrote the first issue or two, and Simonson's pencil never touched a page.) I don't know why this was, and I always felt a little bit cheated by this; it felt a bit like a 'bait-and-switch' con.
I'm not sure about the rest, but Archie Goodwin was too busy with Marvel’s Epic Comics imprint to write much for the New Universe. Not only was he co-editing the line, but he was also developing new characters—at Marvel’s behest—for the Shadowline Saga and coordinating the relaunch of Alien Legion. Walt was still writing Thor, his baby, and drawing X-Factor, which had the bonus of letting him work with his wife. Neither book was something he wanted to give up at that point.
The New Universe comprised initially of eight titles with new characters and concepts created by several top talent teams; the perplexing thing was that, for the most part, those talents didn't work on those books. (For instance, Justice was developed by Archie Goodwin and Walt Simonson, but Goodwin only wrote the first issue or two, and Simonson's pencil never touched a page.) I don't know why this was, and I always felt a little bit cheated by this; it felt a bit like a 'bait-and-switch' con.
I don't remember where I read this, and don't know how accurate it was, but I heard that Shooter initially intended for top talent (the initial developers) to be on the NU line. He was overruled by someone higher up, and with a lower budget they paid for whoever they could afford. Don't remember why, I imagine that they either didn't think it was going to work or because they didn't like Shooter.
@nweathington Thanks for the Showcase tip, I'll definitely keep an eye out for it. I'm a bit of a western fan so that'll be a good intro.
The New Universe comprised initially of eight titles with new characters and concepts created by several top talent teams; the perplexing thing was that, for the most part, those talents didn't work on those books. (For instance, Justice was developed by Archie Goodwin and Walt Simonson, but Goodwin only wrote the first issue or two, and Simonson's pencil never touched a page.) I don't know why this was, and I always felt a little bit cheated by this; it felt a bit like a 'bait-and-switch' con.
I don't remember where I read this, and don't know how accurate it was, but I heard that Shooter initially intended for top talent (the initial developers) to be on the NU line. He was overruled by someone higher up, and with a lower budget they paid for whoever they could afford. Don't remember why, I imagine that they either didn't think it was going to work or because they didn't like Shooter.
(sigh) Office politics. And the readers are the ones who suffer for it. That, and nweathington's explanation, both sound about right.
I don't remember where I read this, and don't know how accurate it was, but I heard that Shooter initially intended for top talent (the initial developers) to be on the NU line. He was overruled by someone higher up, and with a lower budget they paid for whoever they could afford. Don't remember why, I imagine that they either didn't think it was going to work or because they didn't like Shooter.
I did a little research and I found an interview with Shooter that pretty much confirmed what you said. Marvel initially gave him $120,000 to set up and promote the New Universe, but as soon as it was beginning to get moving after a few months delay, Marvel withdrew $100,000, leaving only $20,000 in the budget, and making it difficult to entice any of the available top talent to the series. Shooter noted that of those who did work on the New Universe books at the outset, the two artists he worked with directly on Star Brand, penciller John Romita Jr and inker Al Williamson both volunteered to work at the lower pay rates.
The New Universe comprised initially of eight titles with new characters and concepts created by several top talent teams; the perplexing thing was that, for the most part, those talents didn't work on those books. (For instance, Justice was developed by Archie Goodwin and Walt Simonson, but Goodwin only wrote the first issue or two, and Simonson's pencil never touched a page.) I don't know why this was, and I always felt a little bit cheated by this; it felt a bit like a 'bait-and-switch' con.
I don't remember where I read this, and don't know how accurate it was, but I heard that Shooter initially intended for top talent (the initial developers) to be on the NU line. He was overruled by someone higher up, and with a lower budget they paid for whoever they could afford. Don't remember why, I imagine that they either didn't think it was going to work or because they didn't like Shooter.
@nweathington Thanks for the Showcase tip, I'll definitely keep an eye out for it. I'm a bit of a western fan so that'll be a good intro.
No problem. If you like westerns, then you'll probably like Bat Lash. It has a bit of a Maverick feel to it.
I dug out Back Issue #34, where Shooter talks about the New Universe. The budget cuts were due to Cadence Industries, Marvel’s then parent company, going private and trying to sell off Marvel and other companies it owned for a quick profit. As such, Marvel was forced to tighten its budget to make it look like a better investment for a potential buyer.
The budget cuts actually occurred before the creative teams were put together. Shooter got his best guys together, along with a couple of youngbloods, to work up ideas for New Universe, which was set to launch on the 25th anniversary of Marvel (under the name Marvel). Goodwin created four series: Nightmask, Justice, Psi-Force, and Mark Hazzard: Merc. But there was never any intention for his involvement to last much beyond what it did.
As for Star Brand, the book created and written by Shooter, Shooter and J.R. have very different takes on how J.R. came to be penciler on the book. Shooter said J.R. and Al Williams “volunteered out of the blue ... giving up time that could have been spent doing better paying work—just because they wanted to help me out.” In his Modern Masters interview, however, J.R. said, “I wasn’t threatened, but I was told, ‘This is what you should do.’ ... When the editor-in-chief tells you what to do, you should listen to what he says.” He left Uncanny X-Men to do this book, while Shooter ended up with the only then-top-tier artist in the entire New Universe line-up, so I tend to believe J.R. over Shooter.
As a side note, J.R. also said that Star Brand was based a bit on Shooter’s life. Some of the characters were based on people Shooter grew up with in Pittsburgh.
To be fair to Shooter, I should point out that if Star Brand had taken off and become a big hit, J.R. would have gotten a creator’s royalty that would have justified his leaving X-Men and accepting a lower page rate, and J.R. implied that was how Shooter convinced him to come on board. Obviously, that didn’t happen though.
Comments
Nick Cardy
Curt Swan(pencils) & George Klein (inks)
Jack Kirby & Mike Esposito
Jack Kirby & Wally Wood
And my favorite of the bunch, by Jack Kirby & John Severin. This one I actually DID own and read a number of years later. It was one of the comics I bought for 10 cents at the flea market when I was a kid (thanks to my Dad and my Uncle's friend -- I've mentioned that experience a number of time; I still dream about that day!)
Here's a Jack Kirby & Dick Ayers cover from 1973, reprinting Journey Into Mystery #82 from 1962, with new colors...
And a Gil Kane cover, with inks by Tom Palmer, also from 1973...
On an entirely different 1973 note, here's a 100-Page Spectacular that popped up the other day. I *loved* the 100-pagers as a kid, and had this one, later lost it....but I then reacquired it a few years ago!
Cover by Nick Cardy. I continue to be amazed by my childhood lack of awareness of Nick Cardy. So many DC covers I loved from 1973 were by Nick, and I didn't even know his name at that time! (Whereas, at Marvel, I felt like I knew the creators, thanks to Stan Lee's Soapbox, etc.)
I need to track down that book @nweathington mentioned a while back...
Since TC was distributed through a private channel -- Catholic schools -- there was no advertising in the book anywhere. So the back cover was sometimes used for a single gag strip, other times they would run a wrap-around, such as this one.
In the original cover, the eye is drawn first to the big areas of red. That's not where the action is. In the reprint, the scorpion stands out more, and the eye is drawn there initially. The shadows provide a sense of flow (as well as a greater sense of mystery), and the eye travels naturally from the scorpion to the hero, and on to the cowering scientists.
But the biggest improvement for me is the crop of the reprint. By removing the wide open ceiling and cropping down to just above the machinery, the scene becomes more intense. The scientists are now truly trapped in a corner with their backs against the wall. I'm betting the artist intended that crop to be there in the first place.
I picked up that Infantino book several months ago, as Mr I is just about my favorite comic book artist ever, and I eagerly devoured it with great relish. Great stuff! I heartily recommend it. I wish I had a few extra bucks on hand so I could pick up a few more of the TwoMorrows series; I've particularly had my eye on the Sal Buscema book for some time.
I have to say that Sal was not one of my favorite artists when he first started appearing in Marvel books in the late 60's. In fact, I absolutely hated his work. It looked too often like a cheap copy of his brother John's work. Over the years, though, I began to mellow, and it wasn't until his run on Marvel Team-Up that I finally began seeing what a terrific storyteller he was, always hitting the right notes in his story pacing. I gradually developed an appreciation for his art and realized how wrong and short-sighted my original impressions were. (Not for the first or even the last time, either.) He wasn't the powerhouse that a lot of other Marvel artists were, but he was a solid workhorse with strong skills. And, to my knowledge, he never missed a deadline. I look forward to getting that book about him; maybe for Christmas.
I have to say that Sal was not one of my favorite artists when he first started appearing in Marvel books in the late 60's. In fact, I absolutely hated his work. It looked too often like a cheap copy of his brother John's work. Over the years, though, I began to mellow, and it wasn't until his run on Marvel Team-Up that I finally began seeing what a terrific storyteller he was, always hitting the right notes in his story pacing. I gradually developed an appreciation for his art and realized how wrong and short-sighted my original impressions were. (Not for the first or even the last time, either.) He wasn't the powerhouse that a lot of other Marvel artists were, but he was a solid workhorse with strong skills. And, to my knowledge, he never missed a deadline. I look forward to getting that book about him; maybe for Christmas.
Glad you liked the Infantino book, Chuck. Thanks for the kind words.
I had similar feelings about Sal’s work myself. Storytelling was definitely his strong suit. Unfortunately, during the time he was knocking out two or three books a month (!), he was doing more breakdowns than full pencils—all the linework was there, just not all the blacks—and a lot of the inkers he was saddled with just didn’t gel with his sensibilities. He would have preferred to pencil and ink, but Marvel wanted as much penciling work out of him as they could get, and he didn’t argue with them because the money was good.
Because of the vast amount of work he did, I would argue that, from the mid- to late ’70s through the mid-’80s, his work—not Kirby’s, or brother John’s, or even Romita’s—defined the look of Marvel Comics.
I had similar feelings about Sal’s work myself. Storytelling was definitely his strong suit. Unfortunately, during the time he was knocking out two or three books a month (!), he was doing more breakdowns than full pencils—all the linework was there, just not all the blacks—and a lot of the inkers he was saddled with just didn’t gel with his sensibilities. He would have preferred to pencil and ink, but Marvel wanted as much penciling work out of him as they could get, and he didn’t argue with them because the money was good.
Because of the vast amount of work he did, I would argue that, from the mid- to late ’70s through the mid-’80s, his work—not Kirby’s, or brother John’s, or even Romita’s—defined the look of Marvel Comics.
I'd agree with that.
He didn't often get the best inkers -- Vince Colletta jumps to mind right away -- but some of the stronger inkers, like Steve Leialoha and Klaus Janson, brought a new vitality to the art that was very appealing. I do think, though, that when he did get to do his own inking, as in his work on Spectacular Spider-Man during the early 90's, he was at his best.
Thanks for the tip, @nweathington
Man, I am so broke right now, but I still had to buy it. I already told my signif other that her Christmas gift to me is now on the way in the mail. She can wrap it up, and with my memory, I'll be pleasantly surprised, come the holidays! ;-)
Marvel is getting to induce new interest in their titles by giving us Marvel Now -- so I thought we'd look at when Marvel tried to go New, with the New Universe.
The New Universe was supposed to be outside of the better-known MU, later to be revealed as a parallel dimension, and prior to the White Event (a sudden blinding light that flashed in the heavens for several seconds) had no superhumans (here referred to as Paranormals) at all. The New Universe comprised initially of eight titles with new characters and concepts created by several top talent teams; the perplexing thing was that, for the most part, those talents didn't work on those books. (For instance, Justice was developed by Archie Goodwin and Walt Simonson, but Goodwin only wrote the first issue or two, and Simonson's pencil never touched a page.) I don't know why this was, and I always felt a little bit cheated by this; it felt a bit like a 'bait-and-switch' con.
The New Universe had two other quirks going for it: despite the 'superhero' quality of the eight series, there was an attempt to keep things on as realistic a level as possible. And the stories were played out in 'real' time. That is, there was a passage of time. Characters aged, and events were carefully clocked. Calendar dates were noted in the narrative boxes in all books.
Star Brand was the flagship book, written by Jim Shooter and drawn by John Romita Jr. The lead character is given an alien artifact, a tattoo, that is capable of anything. Wearing it, he can fly, lift mountains, move at enormous speed, etc. The series became a look at how a superman might actually try to function in a real world situation, and Ken, the man with the Star Brand, learned some very serious limitations: how difficult it was to fly somewhere if you didn't recognize the landscape, that stopping speeding cars is a lot trickier than it looks, and that flying to the moon takes a long time and can be kind of a boring trip.
Ken, who had up to now been a low-paid blue collar worker in a garage, and who had been pretty content with that lot in life, now also had to contend with how small his life was, how big the world actually was, and was torn over how he could best serve the world, while at the same time a victim to his own base desires.
The series, like the rest of the New Universe, suffered poor sales and underwent a 'mid-life' crisis midway through its run, and underwent a revamp at the hands of John Byrne, who changed the well-meaning hero with feet of clay into an outright selfish jerk who, while trying to actually rid himself of the Brand once and for all, accidentally vaporizes Pittsburgh and sets the tone for the impending end of the entire New Universe line.
Cover by John Romita Jr.
Where Star Brand led the way with the big concepts, DP7 (shorthand for the Displaced Paranormal 7), written by Mark Gruenwald and drawn by Paul Ryan (hot off their run on the Squadron Supreme miniseries), took a look at the human side of the consequences of the new influx of Paranormals. Seven individuals come together, all with sudden unique abilities that have seriously disrupted their lives, and depend upon one another for mutual survival. The abilities are varied: a woman who sucks vitality from people by looking at them, a girl who transfers vitality back into folks with a touch, a man who cannot stand still but must constantly move at exaggerated speed, a dancer who can manipulate the force of friction, a teen-ager who sweats acid, a doctor whose body emits inky doppelgangers, and a man whose muscles grow muscles and then adds ten pounds of hair on top of that.
At first the band is on the run from an unscrupulous clinic that has a sinister purpose for all paranormals, but they soon run into others like themselves as they try to find a cure for their respective conditions, or at least the reason for why they are they way they are. The events of The Pitt throw everything into further turmoil and the band is broken up, as some die, some move on, and other get drafted into the army.
Cover by Paul Ryan.
Psi-Force was another of the stronger titles, written by Steve Perry and drawn by Mark Texeira, about five teenage paranormals who were inexplicably linked to each other by their psionic powers. Apart, their powers were quite diverse, ranging from telepathy to pyrokinesis, but together, at need, they could summon up the ethereal Psi-Hawk, an entity based upon their former FBI guardian who had been killed in a gunfight. The team was not a happy gathering, though, and not only did they not all like one another, some wanted nothing to do with either the others or even their own powers. Necessity kept them together and on the run, from enemies both foreign and domestic (including the Clinic that was also pursuing the DP7), while they struggled to survive. Halfway through the series, Fabian Nicieza took over the writing reins in an attempt to raise the flagging sales, but the end was already in sight for the New Universe.
Justice was the most enigmatic of the New Universe heroes. His name was Tensen, and he was a Justice Agent from another dimension and he was caught up in an intrigue between the queen he loved and served and the enemy who enslave their land. Banished to Earth, Tensen discovered enemy agents and their monstrous servant establishing a beachhead in preparation for an assault on both worlds. Armed with his power to create a psionic shield with one hand and a powerful psionic 'sword' with the other, who struggled against grave odds to defeat them.
Thing is, Tensen had it all wrong.
Archie Goodwin did an issue or two before handing the writing reins over to Steve Englehart. But in spite of the high fantasy themes, the series, like the rest of the New Universe titles, just wasn't catching fire. After a year or so, half of the New Universe line was cancelled and the remaining titles, Justice included, underwent a change of writers and direction. Enter, Peter David.
Like I said, Tensen had it wrong, and Peter David showed us how and why. Tensen was really an earthman, a government agent who had suffered a blackout during the White Event and came away with new powers and a sudden belief that he was from another dimension. In fact, he had created it all -- literally; with his own latent psionic powers. Every last trace of the other dimension faded away when he was forced to face the reality. After that, and after the tragic events of The Pitt, Justice went about on a self-imposed duty: to seek out paranormals who were misusing their gifts, and render Justice. The stories took a harder edge, and are among the best written of the New Universe titles.
Cover above by Geof Isherwood; cover below by Lee Weeks.
@nweathington Thanks for the Showcase tip, I'll definitely keep an eye out for it. I'm a bit of a western fan so that'll be a good intro.
Nick Cardy
Neal Adams
I dug out Back Issue #34, where Shooter talks about the New Universe. The budget cuts were due to Cadence Industries, Marvel’s then parent company, going private and trying to sell off Marvel and other companies it owned for a quick profit. As such, Marvel was forced to tighten its budget to make it look like a better investment for a potential buyer.
The budget cuts actually occurred before the creative teams were put together. Shooter got his best guys together, along with a couple of youngbloods, to work up ideas for New Universe, which was set to launch on the 25th anniversary of Marvel (under the name Marvel). Goodwin created four series: Nightmask, Justice, Psi-Force, and Mark Hazzard: Merc. But there was never any intention for his involvement to last much beyond what it did.
As for Star Brand, the book created and written by Shooter, Shooter and J.R. have very different takes on how J.R. came to be penciler on the book. Shooter said J.R. and Al Williams “volunteered out of the blue ... giving up time that could have been spent doing better paying work—just because they wanted to help me out.” In his Modern Masters interview, however, J.R. said, “I wasn’t threatened, but I was told, ‘This is what you should do.’ ... When the editor-in-chief tells you what to do, you should listen to what he says.” He left Uncanny X-Men to do this book, while Shooter ended up with the only then-top-tier artist in the entire New Universe line-up, so I tend to believe J.R. over Shooter.
As a side note, J.R. also said that Star Brand was based a bit on Shooter’s life. Some of the characters were based on people Shooter grew up with in Pittsburgh.