This came out after I had been reading Cap for about 2 years. Still one of my favorite annuals.
For me, this is one of Mike Zeck’s best jobs, both cover and interiors. Rubinstein did a nice job inking the interiors, but Beatty was his best inker. The lighting on this cover is gorgeous.
Alan is a huge Edgar Rice Burroughs/John Carter fan. Killraven was Alan’s attempt to use that style of storytelling—the pacing, the action—in the comic book format. I think he did a pretty good job of it.
In regards to this cover, in Alan’s original thumbnail sketch there was a dialogue balloon with Killraven saying, “Retreat or die!”
This came out after I had been reading Cap for about 2 years. Still one of my favorite annuals.
For me, this is one of Mike Zeck’s best jobs, both cover and interiors. Rubinstein did a nice job inking the interiors, but Beatty was his best inker. The lighting on this cover is gorgeous.
I had forgotten about that issue,until one of my cousin's sons got a two pack of cap and wolvie figures that came with reprint of it. Read it to them that night.
This was the one issue of Howard the Duck I had as a kid. I don’t remember how or why I got it, but it was definitely the wrong issue for a seven-year-old me to be introduced to Howard. This issue consisted of two-page articles with illustrations from various artists. I'm pretty sure I managed to read through the whole issue over two or three sittings, and I think I understood most of what he was saying, but it wasn’t what I was looking for in a comic as a kid. I did occasionally go back and look through the illustrations though.
Of note in this issue is the illustration that inspired the Nevada series from Vertigo.
This was the one issue of Howard the Duck I had as a kid. I don’t remember how or why I got it, but it was definitely the wrong issue for a seven-year-old me to be introduced to Howard. This issue consisted of two-page articles with illustrations from various artists. I'm pretty sure I managed to read through the whole issue over two or three sittings, and I think I understood most of what he was saying, but it wasn’t what I was looking for in a comic as a kid. I did occasionally go back and look through the illustrations though.
Of note in this issue is the illustration that inspired the Nevada series from Vertigo.
Yes it was. Re reading Nevada made me remember this issue. Neil Gaiman is the one that kept bugging Gerber about the "showgirl and the ostrich".
Has to be one of the first Dr Occult stories I ever read.Plus teh Adam Strange story has Infantino pencils.
Nice. One of many books that never have been published over here in the old world (German and French part that is!). Question: are the WATCHMEN in the book?
@John_Steed No, that was just the advertising logo that DC were running on loads of comics in 1986-7
It was also one of the ways you could tell a newstand edition from the direct distribution edition: the newstand version would have the UPC code box, and the Direct version inserted an ad into the box.
@John_Steed No, that was just the advertising logo that DC were running on loads of comics in 1986-7
It was also one of the ways you could tell a newstand edition from the direct distribution edition: the newstand version would have the UPC code box, and the Direct version inserted an ad into the box.
Yeah my copy is from the newstand. I bought Secret origins almost every month.
Always loved the heads around the edges of the covers look.
By far the best cover of that year’s crossover, which was probably my favorite of all the annual JLA/JSA crossovers. I loved the framework of heads too.
Now that I think about it, this was the first issue of All-Star Squadron I owned. Needless to say, I didn’t read the entire story until many years after the fact. That’s a bit weird considering how much I liked the JSA characters. I must not have been able to find it very often, because I only owned three issues of the entire series until I started frequenting comic shops in college. Of course, I wasn’t buying all that many comics during the ’80s either. The other two I had:
Cover by Jerry Ordway and Mike Machlan. (Ignore the UPC box, as it’s obviously been Photoshopped.)
I wrote off Stormwatch as another Wildstorm team book. But then heard one of the geeks raving about Ellis's run on the title,I think it was Rios but not sure. So this year at a con found the last 4 trades of Ellis's run. Got them for $3 each and they are a fun read. Nice mixture of political intrigue,Superhero drama and Ellis cynicism.
I wrote off Stormwatch as another Wildstorm team book. But then heard one of the geeks raving about Ellis's run on the title,I think it was Rios but not sure. So this year at a con found the last 4 trades of Ellis's run. Got them for $3 each and they are a fun read. Nice mixture of political intrigue,Superhero drama and Ellis cynicism.
I had generally skipped most of the previous Stormwatch runs precisely because Ellis was writing it. Ellis is one of those writers who seldom impresses me favorably, and I have a hard time seeing what it is that gets other readers excited; I think it may be that much-vaunted cynicism that repels me. However, I have one of the trade volumes of The Authority, and that was surprisingly good.
I think we should be giving inker Klaus Janson (for it's obviously his inking on these covers) partial credit here. Miller gives us the brilliance of his raw talent and his equally raw images, but it was Janson who did the finishes and took the burr off of the roughness of Miller's pencils.
Comments
In regards to this cover, in Alan’s original thumbnail sketch there was a dialogue balloon with Killraven saying, “Retreat or die!”
I had forgotten about that issue,until one of my cousin's sons got a two pack of cap and wolvie figures that came with reprint of it. Read it to them that night.
Gene Colan
Tom Palmer Sr.
Irv Watanabe
Of note in this issue is the illustration that inspired the Nevada series from Vertigo.
Kevin Nowlan
Has to be one of the first Dr Occult stories I ever read.Plus teh Adam Strange story has Infantino pencils.
No, that was just the advertising logo that DC were running on loads of comics in 1986-7
Yeah my copy is from the newstand. I bought Secret origins almost every month.
Joe Kubert
Always loved the heads around the edges of the covers look.
Now that I think about it, this was the first issue of All-Star Squadron I owned. Needless to say, I didn’t read the entire story until many years after the fact. That’s a bit weird considering how much I liked the JSA characters. I must not have been able to find it very often, because I only owned three issues of the entire series until I started frequenting comic shops in college. Of course, I wasn’t buying all that many comics during the ’80s either. The other two I had:
Cover by Jerry Ordway and Mike Machlan. (Ignore the UPC box, as it’s obviously been Photoshopped.)
Cover by Mike Harris and Tony DeZuniga.
Mark John Irwin
Rereading the Ellis run on Stormwatch. And this cover jumped out. Really well done homage/parody to the various ages of comics.
I need to upload a better cover scan to comicbookdb
I bought a copy this week in much better condition
Laura DePuy
Bryan Hitch
Kevin Nowlan
I wrote off Stormwatch as another Wildstorm team book. But then heard one of the geeks raving about Ellis's run on the title,I think it was Rios but not sure. So this year at a con found the last 4 trades of Ellis's run. Got them for $3 each and they are a fun read. Nice mixture of political intrigue,Superhero drama and Ellis cynicism.