Sunday, January 29, 2012

Strange Sunday: Craig Hamilton and the Master of Mystic Arts

Dr Strange 2007 by Craig Hamilton from comicartfans

I discovered this nice Craig Hamilton illustration of Doctor Strange from his ComicArtFans gallery.  The lens flares remind me of a JJ Abrams movie.  I also featured a nifty Hamilton Silver Surfer piece a few years ago.  Nuff Said!

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Silver Surfer cover by Jack Kirby and Joe Sinnott

It is Silver Surfer Saturday here at Giant-Size Marvel.  This one is a doozy.

Silver Surfer by Jack Kirby and Joe Sinnott for JK Collector 43 2005

Silver Surfer by Jack Kirby and inked by Joltin' Joe Sinnott.  This piece appeared as the cover to Jack Kirby Collector #43 in 2005.  Visit TwoMorrows website for more stuff.  Nuff Said!

Friday, January 27, 2012

Neal Adams covers Hulk, Spider-Man, and the Punisher!

I like to think of myself as a Neal Adams expert, but somehow I missed these groovy covers he did last year for a bunch of Marvel books.

Incredible Hulk 01 2011 Neal Adams variant

The cover to Incredible Hulk #1 features ol' Greenskin bursting out of chains, an homage to Neal's Superman #233 cover?  Whatever the case may be, it looks great.

Spider-Man and FF hockey game by Neal Adams 2011

This illustration was the variant cover to Amazing Spider-Man #667, but as Agent M Loves Tacos reported, it was also a poster for the Montreal Comic Con.  Would hate to walk on the hockey rink after Johnny Storm flew by Spidey.

Amazing Spider-Man 667 variant pencils by Neal Adams 2011

Here are the pencils.  Interesting to see that the lines indicating speed and force were drawn using colors in the version above.

Punisher 1 Neal Adams Variant cover

Punisher #1 also featured the second amendment's greatest advocate, Frank Castle, spewing down justice.  Nice angle and action shot here.

Check out my article last year on Giant-Size Geek: Neal Adams Marvel Variant Covers: Captain America, Daredevil and Ghost Rider!  You don't wanna miss it, true believer!  Nuff Said.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Nick Fury, Captain America and S.H.I.E.L.D. on Jim Steranko Christmas Card

Here is the cast of Jim Steranko's 1960s Marvel Comics on a Christmas Card...

Steranko Peace Mister - Christmas Card With His Marvel Heroes

No idea what year this was created in, but you can see all the heroes from Captain America and S.H.I.E.L.D.  Nick is pretty cool with Val on his arm, but personally I think Dum Dum Dugan is even cooler.  I retrieved this one from Albert Moy on ComicArt who also has a fantastic site selling original comic artwork.  Nuff Said!

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Thing Tuesday: Evan "Doc" Shaner takes on Ben Grimm

The Thing and the FF by Evan Doc Shaner

Evan "Doc" Shaner takes a nice cartoony look at Ben Grimm and the FF in this illustration.  You can find Doc Shaner on his blog, his nice deviantART page, and on Twitter.  Nuff Said!

Monday, January 23, 2012

Monster Monday: Chamber of Chills covers by Gil Kane and Tom Palmer

In the early 70s, the Marvel Monster and Horror line expanded not only with the classic characters (Dracula, Werewolf by Night, Frankenstein, etc) but with anthology titles as well.  One of them was Chamber of Chills, which strangely enough was the title of a Harvey Horror comic back in the early 1950s. 

Chamber Of Chills 1 cover by Gil Kane 1972

The cover to the fear fraught first issue was by Gil Kane and Tom Palmer.  The big selling point for this one (besides the giant red dragon) was the adaption of Harlan Ellison's Delusion for a Dragon Slayer.  The adaption was by Gerry Conway and Craig Russell, but I read somewhere that Ellison wasn't happy with it.  Harlan, not happy with an adaption of his work?  Well, you could probably say that about anything of his that Marvel touched.

Chamber Of Chills 2 cover by Gil Kane and Tom Palmer 1972

I think the cover of issue #2 was more effective, featuring a vampire about to attack someone in a cabin.  Marvel was once again adapting a short story by another writer, Robert E. Howard, who readers already knew from Conan the Barbarian.  This story was adapted by Roy Thomas (naturally) and Gil Kane.  Nuff Said!

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Strange Sunday: Dr Strange Black Light posters

Back in the late 60s / early 70s, Marvel licensed their characters for a series of Black Light posters.  These vibrant posters sprang to life when illuminated in the glow of black light bulbs.  Many characters received the treatment, but the one hero who was featured on more posters than anyone else was Doctor Strange!

Doctor Strange and Eternity Black Light poster by Gene Colan

The best poster IMHO was the one above, featuring Doc facing off with Eternity.  Dr Strange is in his masked superhero costume, which I loved more than many of you.  This costume, the swirling madness of Eternity, and the color scheme make this image a perfect choice for a black light poster.  You have to place yourself back in that context: sitting in a Berkeley apartment, taking a little hit of whatever to expand your cosmic consciousness, playing Pink Floyd and looking at Doc under the light.  None of which I did, btw, but that was the target audience of these posters!

Dr Strange 180 1969 cover by Gene Colan

The above and below posters were taken from splash pages inside Doctor Strange 180 (1969) with artwork by Gene Colan and Tom Palmer.  There is something interesting about this particular cover.  I wanted to confirm that Gene Colan drew the cover--I was pretty sure that he did as Doc looks to be in a typical Colan pose.  However, Marvel Wikia states that the cover is collaboration between Colan and Steve Ditko!  The figure of Eternity must have been lifted from an earlier Ditko drawn comic and pasted in here.

Doctor Strange- Eternity

The opening splash page was also made into a poster. As someone else said, this looks like it was taken from a rather bad copy.  It should have been really groovy but it looks murky.

Doctor Strange

This landscape panel of Doc entering a typical Ditko landscape was also a poster.  Who was the artist?  Not Ditko or Colan, that is obvious if you are a Marvel fan.  My best guess was Dan Adkins, who drew the series in the 1960s before Colan came on board.

Dr Strange 171 1968 double page splash by Tom Palmer and Dan Adkins

The real answer is that this is from Doctor Strange #171 (1968), a rarity in that Tom Palmer (most famously known as a superb inker/colorist for most of his career) actually penciled this issue, with Dan Adkins embellishing!  Pretty cool scene and worth of a poster, they must have chosen this one because it was a double page spread.

You have to wonder what a Steve Ditko splash page would have looked like as a black light poster.  If you want to see more Marvel black light posters, please visit artist Nick Derington's page on Flickr where he has a lot of them.  Nuff Said!