Thor is riding high now, thanks to the new series and the movie coming out next year.  But in the 1990s, the Thunder God needed a reboot, and got one under the Heroes Return banner.  Dan Jurgens and John Romita Jr were the creative team and the first 24 issues or so featured Romita channeling Kirby's spirit.

This promo poster by John Romita Jr and Tim Townsend was a tease at the upcoming run.  I think this must have been drawn before Jurgens came up with the story for issue one.  The man slamming the cane down to summon Thor looks like Don Blake.  Thor's mortal host in the new Jurgens series was Jake Olson, who wasn't crippled in any way.

The Jurgens/Romita run is still in my collection and I re-read them last year.  Still a great run and holds up among the best Thor runs.  Nuff Said!

Link: Thor by Dan Jurgens & John Romita Jr. - Volume 1 (Marvel Comics Heroes Return)

Marvel has been producing some Women of Marvel variant covers.  Here are three recent ones from Secret Avengers, Avengers Academy, and X-Men Legacy.

Secret Avengers #4 Valkyrie cover by Chris Bachalo.  I'm very conflicted about this cover.  The drawing itself by Bachalo is excellent.  She looks a like young wicked woman and that sword is scarred up like it's been in many battles.

The problem is that this doesn't look like a Viking woman.  She looks like one of the Gossip Girls carrying a sword way too much for her slight body weight.  Mike Deodato draws Valkyrie with some muscle and gravity.  So this cover isn't consistent with the way Valkyrie is drawn in Secret Avengers, Avengers Academy, and New Ultimates.

But it is still a nice cover and worth collecting for Bachalo fans.

Avengers Academy #3 Tigra cover by Amanda Conner.  Now I am thinking we need to see a new Tigra series with Ms. Conner on the art.

X-Men Legacy #239 Rogue cover by Terry Moore.  This cover was a total surprise and a delight!  Moore draws Rogue in the outfit from her very first appearance, Avengers Annual #10.  Nuff Said!

Dale Keown, the artist who did a fantastic Hulk run with Peter David, has drawn 2 Hulk variant covers recently, featuring both the classic Hulk and Red Hulk!

Hulk #24 is the last issue of the Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness run.  Keown's cover has the Red Hulk standing victoriously over the rubble of his last fight with Bruce Banner.

Who knew when this Hulk title launched in 2008 that the star of the book wasn't going to be Bruce Banner?  I assumed when the story wrapped up in #24 that Banner would return as the title star.  Nope, it's the Red Hulk from here on out.

It is good to see Keown cover old greenskin on Incredible Hulk #611, which be the new home for Bruce Banner and family.  This is the stronger cover of the two--and much more frightening.  Nuff Said!

Link: Incredible Hulk Visionaries - Peter David & Dale Keown, Vol. 5

Link: Incredible Hulk Visionaries - Peter David & Dale Keown, Vol. 6

You may not have time for 2 geeky blogs, it's okay, I perfectly understand.  On Giant-Size Geek (formerly known as Photon Torpedoes), we've had some great articles. Here are some of the highlights from the past 2 weeks. 

Cool art!

Black Canary by Steve Rude

Jim Lee and Scott Williams Icons Preliminary Cover & Sneak Tweet at Legion of Super-Heroes story

Adam Hughes: Scarlet Witch and a Sentinel

Good articles that almost make me appear intelligent!

DC Comics White Lantern Variant Covers Assembled and Disassembled

Ex Machina 50: Some Thoughts on The End, Jim Lee Variant Cover

Brian Bolland Zatanna DC Comics Variant Covers 1-4

Walter Simonson Batman and Manhunter Last Stand Commissions

Legion of Super-Heroes pinup by Steve Lightle, Re-mastered for the 21st Century

Wonder Woman 600 pin-up by Francis Manapul

George Perez: Wonder Woman cover from Amazing Heroes 1986

More Jack Kirby Krackling goodness!

Jack Kirby Mister Miracle cover progression: pencils to inks to color

Jack Kirby's Birthday: Amazing Heroes 100 Tribute

Jazzed about the new Amazon Kindle, with a video that shows off the display

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and the Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson

Other stuff I can't classify!

The Walking Dead: Full Comic-Con Trailer Now Released by AMC

Isn't it time to go geek?  Nuff Said!

Link: Giant-Size Geek - Astonishing Blog of Comics and Science-Fiction.

At the comic shop the other day, I noticed the digest sized reprint of Vampire Tales - Volume 1.  This reprint contains the first 3 issues of the Marvel magazine, in glorious black and white, the way it was originally published.  It features stories by Steve Gerber, Pablo Marcos, Don McGregor, Rich Buckler, Gerry Conway, John Romita (Sr) and Esteban Moroto!

The star of Vampire Tales was Morbius, the Living Vampire, but he didn't make on the cover of the magazine until issue #3.  This cover painting was credited to Luis Dominguez, but it also has touches of Romita, especially on the girl's face.  I suspect that Romita did a cover rough and gave it to the painter.

I loved Morbius and these stories in Vampire Tales were far more graphic than his Spider-Man appearances.  Don McGregor portrayed Morbius like a heroin addict, trying to refrain from drinking blood, then going crazy when he can't control the urge.  McGregor set up an arc of stories involving the Demon Fire cult, and the first two were drawn by Rich Buckler.  This is the splash page of the story in issue #3 and you can see Buckler's knack for innovative panel layout once again.

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Besides Morbius, you get the first two Satana stories in this volume.  The very first story was a teaser by Conway and Romita, only 4 pages long, but just perfect in execution.  Romita's design for Satana's costume is wonderful.  In the third issue it was Esteban Moroto who drew Satana.  A wonderful artist, 180 degrees different than any Marvel artist, but the first thing he did was ditch Romita's costume!  And it has been used rarely since. But the costume was resurrected a few years ago, in the Alex Ross/John Romita poster titled Mighty Marvel Heroes and Villains.

If you're a retro dude like me, or if you appreciate classic monsters with a bit of cheese, I think you'll like this reprint volume.  Nuff Said!

Link: Vampire Tales - Volume 1 on Amazon

Yesterday was Jack Kirby's birthday, which we celebrated here and on Giant-Size Geek.  I've still got a Kirby hangover, but luckily, this is not the kind of hangover that hurts.  There is a Silver Surfer cover by Kirby which is my favorite cover of all time featuring Norrin Radd: Fantastic Four #72 from 1967.

I think it's the greatest pose for the Surfer, gliding along the spaceways and blasting out bolts of cosmic energy.  The Fantastic Four aren't around to distract the viewer, even though it's their name on the masthead!  The Kirby Krackle cosmos in the background is just nifty and the red color just makes the Silver Surfer pop out in the foreground.  The Watcher is there in the background, so you just know that the Surfer is doing something vitally important for the universe.

This cover should have been a poster.  Asgard Press, are you listening?  :-)

The mind-blowing images of the Surfer didn't stop with just the cover--oh no, this interior pages had plenty of them.  Including this aerial view of the Silver Surfer flying above New York City.  It's a dynamic introduction to the Surfer's role in this story.  Notice how Kirby put a lake in the middle of the background, to allow the Surfer's body to be less obscured.

Philippe Queveau owns the original art to this piece.  I really like to Marvel (sorry for the pun) at the details of the cityscape below.  George Perez must have gotten inspired to do detailed backgrounds by pages like this one.  Joe Sinnott was the perfect inker for Kirby and this book, magic that was captured in the 1960s, never to be reproduced again.  Nuff Said!

Link: Fantastic Four Omnibus Volume 2 HC (reprints FF #31-60 in a giant-sized hardcover)

Link:  Philippe Queveau gallery at ComicArtFans.

Today is Jack Kirby's birthday.  Even though he's not around, I still like to celebrate with a big old stogie and some Kirby comics.  Well, maybe not a real cigar, but here is one classic Marvel image you will like.

This is one of the Marvelmania posters that Jack Kirby did in the late 60s, featuring Captain America, the Fantastic Four, Thor, Spider-Man, Doctor Doom and Silver Surfer.  The Jack Kirby Collector Magazine #47 had this on the cover, which is where the scan came from.

Here is the original un-colored drawing, from Tod Seisser's gallery at ComicArtFans.

For another tribute to the King, check my Amazing Heroes 100 article on Giant-Size Geek that features a few cartoons from Kevin O'Neill, William Messner-Loebs, and Scott Shaw.  Nuff Said!

Link: Tod Seisser's Gallery at ComicArtFans.

Link: TwoMorrows Publishing.

Here's a classic Jack Kirby poster from the 1960s for the fan club Marvelmania.

See the link below for more Kirby cover scans.  Nuff Said!

Link: The Mighty Thor - Volume 1 Omnibus by Stan Lee, Don Heck, Jack Kirby

Link: Thor Omnibus by J. Michael Straczynski and Olivier Coipel

Link: Tod Seisser's Gallery at ComicArtFans.