The first year's worth of stories in this series, along with the two others below, are some of my favorite superhero comics, ever. This is when I went all-in with superheroes, and comic in general, and going back to re-read those early stories always puts me in a good mood.
[ My apologies that I posted the following cover maybe a year or so ago as part of my custom calendar for 2016...I'm trying to be complete in my little countdown here... ]
My #8 oldest comic (that was bought off the stands for me before the age of 5)...
Silver Surfer #15, on stands 2/24/70 Pencils: Marie Severin Inks: Joe Sinnott
This one has interior art by John Buscema/Dan Adkins. To say I read this into rags is almost an understatement. Most of the interior pages have significant damage, most of the interior isn't even attached anymore by the staples, the splash page is literally in two pieces, IIRC....and yet I'd never let this one go. Definitely one of my most beloved childhood comics....
The signature is cut off, but this cover was penciled and inked by the late, great Eduardo Barreto. A super-nice guy, and an underrated talent who left us much too soon.
That Seven Soldiers of Victory story-line was great. I don't have #100, but I do have #101 and #102 in my collection. One of the most poignant moments of my young comic reading career was when the team discovered that Red Tornado had left to sacrifice himself to save the world and they found his "goodbye note" to them.
(Uh ... guess I should have labeled that with a "SPOILER ALERT!" Sorry, guys!)
This was not the published cover. The editor of the title accidentally ordered covers from both Michael T. Gilbert, who drew the above image, and Ed Hannigan. They went with Hannigan’s cover (inked by Dick Giordano, see below), but used Michael’s image as a splash page intro to his Spectre story inside. Of course, that meant that the splash page Michael had already drawn had to be scrapped. At least he was paid for it.
Again, my apologies that I posted the following cover maybe a year or so ago...I'm trying to be complete in my little countdown here...and believe this is the last repeat. ]
My #7 oldest comic (that was bought off the stands for me before the age of 5)...
Amazing Spider-Man #84, on stands 2/17/70 Pencils & Inks: John Romita, Sr.
We talked previously about how dynamic this action cover is. And it was the first part of a two-parter. I somehow managed to get the second part (which was my #10 comic, as posted upstream)...despite the vagaries of buying off the spinner rack in those days. This is apparently the earliest Spider-Man comic I owned, and almost certainly selected (or selected for me) because I so loved the old Spider-Man cartoon in syndication/re-runs at that time. I'm fairly certain that cartoon was my intro to Spider-Man. ("Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider can...")
Kirby was in Europe during the last half of 1944, but he built up a stockpile of cover images—many just layouts—to keep his books going for a time while he was gone, and this cover for Boy Commandos #9 (Winter 1944) is one of those. The inks are by Joe Simon, but the colors are also by Kirby. The flat coloring of the foreground heroes, combined with the natural coloring of the middle ground and dramatic coloring of the background give the cover a sense of depth, almost an animation-style 3-D effect, I really like.
Of the eight or nine covers that carried the Simon and Kirby signature in 1945, this cover to Adventure Comics #97 (Apr.-May 1945) might be the only one Kirby actually penciled.
Kirby was honorably discharged in July of 1946 and before long he and his long-time partner Joe Simon were back at it creating new characters. Stuntman only lasted two issues, but there was more to come. Kirby inked, and probably colored, the cover to Stuntman #1 (Apr.-May 1946) himself. And, yes, each issue’s cover was designed to look like a book turned at an angle.
What an amazing cover! You have the 3D effect, and the imagery is incredible. The "Rising Sun" coming up as the Japanese soldier surrender to the GIs. Your eyes are drawn to the surrender, not the soldiers.
Only 30 more years until he creates the Eternals and the New Gods.
Your eyes are drawn to the surrender, not the soldiers.
Yep. Not just the red rays of the rising sun, but the non-competitive blue guns of the Commandos and even the plant in the bottom left corner all push the eye to the Japanese soldiers. That’s how you use color to tell a story, folks.
Comments
[ My apologies that I posted the following cover maybe a year or so ago as part of my custom calendar for 2016...I'm trying to be complete in my little countdown here... ]
My #8 oldest comic (that was bought off the stands for me before the age of 5)...
Silver Surfer #15, on stands 2/24/70
Pencils: Marie Severin
Inks: Joe Sinnott
This one has interior art by John Buscema/Dan Adkins. To say I read this into rags is almost an understatement. Most of the interior pages have significant damage, most of the interior isn't even attached anymore by the staples, the splash page is literally in two pieces, IIRC....and yet I'd never let this one go. Definitely one of my most beloved childhood comics....
Art by Owen Fitzgerald.
August 1972
Cover Artist Nick Cardy
(Uh ... guess I should have labeled that with a "SPOILER ALERT!" Sorry, guys!)
The published cover by Hannigan and Giordano:
My #7 oldest comic (that was bought off the stands for me before the age of 5)...
Amazing Spider-Man #84, on stands 2/17/70
Pencils & Inks: John Romita, Sr.
We talked previously about how dynamic this action cover is. And it was the first part of a two-parter. I somehow managed to get the second part (which was my #10 comic, as posted upstream)...despite the vagaries of buying off the spinner rack in those days. This is apparently the earliest Spider-Man comic I owned, and almost certainly selected (or selected for me) because I so loved the old Spider-Man cartoon in syndication/re-runs at that time. I'm fairly certain that cartoon was my intro to Spider-Man. ("Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider can...")
My original copy, in tatters, of course.
Only 30 more years until he creates the Eternals and the New Gods.
Another 20 years until he draws