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Guitars in Superhero Comics
JaxUr
Posts: 547
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!!!
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!!!
Comments
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
Or this one with a Jimi Hendrix-type character:
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. :)
Zenith
http://www.linns.com/news/us-stamps/709/Guitars-on-United-States-stamps-celebrate-the-broad-range-variety-of-American-music
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?
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.
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). :)
If anyone happens to think of any other music themed heroes or villains please reply. I first thought of Pied Piper, Fiddler, Minstrel.
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
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)
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.
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.
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.