This outstanding illustration by Michael Golden appeared on the back cover of the British reprint, Star-Lord Megazine. Nuff Said!
More Giant-Sized Star-Lord art and articles:
Claremont, Byrne & Austin’s Classic Take on Star-Lord
Berni Wrightson Star-Lord pinup
Here's a nice illustration of Thor by Mike Deodato. Back in 1995, Deodato and Warren Ellis worked on an interesting 4-issue Thor story titled WorldEngine. I always thought Deodato had a great take on this character, perhaps he will get the chance again soon. Nuff Said!
Michael Golden provided three terrific covers for Kull the Conqueror in 1984-85. My favorite cover is the one above, with the Executioner in the black and white background, providing a terrific contrast to Kull in the foreground. Golden knocks himself out drawing all the jewelry and details on Kull's cape, waist, and feet.
The cover to issue #5 is probably the least impressive, but still visually exciting.
Marvel Barbarian Revelation #1: I just noticed the Roman aqueduct in the background. Conan is set way before Roman times and Kull is set way before Conan. Man, those Atlanteans weren't so barbaric after all.
Now this cover to issue #6 explodes with both action and color. The background demon figures are all in green, allowing the three main characters to pop out. I love the expression on that babe's face as she realized her predicament.
Marvel Barbarian Revelation #2: King Kull really had much better fashion sense that Conan, didn't he? Nuff Said!
More Giant-Size Marvel Barbarians:
Michael Golden's Covers for Savage Sword of Conan Make Barbarians Quite Fashionable
I like to feature Marvel artwork, characters, or stories that are either offbeat or hard to find. I searched through over 100 Savage Sword of Conan covers looking for stuff, and noticed that most of them have the same elements:
Most of the covers could have been done for the pulp magazines in the 30s, and feature these elements against a bland background.
Enter Michael Golden.
The above 1988 cover to Savage Sword #150 is a perfect example of how he uses all those elements but does so in a stylish way. You've got Conan with a sword and a babe standing next to him, but the way they are adorned and colored makes them visually appealing.
I gotta wonder about that red-haired chick in green, though. Wouldn't it be hard to sit down with a dagger in the middle of your underwear?
The Savage Sword #117 cover features Conan in a Frazetta-like pose, but Golden details every little bit of the headdress, armor, and horse that he can. Conan's helmet and the horse's head-gear are particularly impressive.
Notice that the babe is hiding shyly behind Conan's back. Doesn't that make her more tantalizing that just spreading her out in front like a Maxim magazine cover?
Savage Sword #124 eschews the babe for a classic shot of Conan leaping in mid-air to attack an army of stooges. Don't they know those spears will just bounce off Conan's steely hide?
The Dragon-relief on the wall behind Conan is the most interesting thing about the cover, symbolizing what Conan is doing in the foreground.
Savage Sword #101 features a sea-venturing Conan encountering an angry sea-god. It's kind of a risky move, as you don't see Conan's face, and the threat of the sea-creature's tentacles is very subtle. Still, this cover is a cut above most of the Savage Sword dreck. Nuff Said!
More Giant-Sized Marvel Conan:
Neal Adams' Savage Tales Starring Conan, Ka-Zar, and Zabu, Too!
Savage Tales #2: Conan, Red Nails, all for seventy-five cents!
It's going to be a monstrous week for me. The only thing that can make it better is a week of Michael Golden covers...starting off with my favorite hell-raiser, Ghost Rider!
This 1991 cover appeared in the Doctor Strange Ghost Rider special. The interior story wasn't that great, but the cover alone justified the buck fifty. I love how Golden draws that hellcycle climbing up that mystic bridge.
Surprisingly, Doctor Strange is very small, even though he's the co-star. I am sure the editors wanted Ghost Rider to be the focal point, since his popularity was much greater. The version above was the Danny Ketch Ghost Rider.
Golden did draw the Johnny Blaze Ghost Rider 10 years earlier in this cover to Defenders 96. Blaze's hellcycle is literally ablaze in flame, which Golden details in utter delight. Doctor Strange and Daimon Hellstrom appear in the background.
Which Ghost Rider do you prefer? Ketch's bike is cooler, but Blaze's uniform, an ode to Evel Knivel, simply can't be beat. Nuff Said!
This black and white illustration of Doc by Marcos Martin recently appeared in the The Mystic Hands of Doctor Strange. Never has the Orb of Agamotto illuminated so brightly! I think Martin's use of the light source is really clever.
The Mystic Hands of Doctor Strange is a retro-cool special, designed to appeal to older fans who remember Marvel's magazine line (see Enter the Deadly Hands of Kung Fu for an example). Three solid stories, certainly better material than the recent Strange series. Nuff Said!
Pretend you are an artist working for Marvel Comics. An editor tells you about a great new mini-series titled The Punisher Armory, a Marvel Handbook style index to every weapon Frank Castle ever fondled. Your artistic challenge: draw a cover for this title, featuring the Punisher and his toys. Your mission: get the devoted Punisher fans so excited about all this hardware that they'll buy the book.
A difficult task? Not if your name is Michael Golden.
Golden provided the last two covers for this title, the first one appearing in issue #9 (1994), with the Punisher drawn in silhouette and adorned enough weaponry to take on an army. It's really impressive--if you overlook the fact that there's no way the Punisher could run for his life with all that shit weighing him down. I still love the cover though. I can't possibly back this up, but I would assume that Golden drew weapons that really existed. That machine gun in his right hand with the laser-sight looks particularly lethal.
The cover to issue #10 features the Punisher bearing down on the viewer, as if you were the one responsible for killing Frank Castle's family. Look at all the pockets and pouches on this outfit. I hope he's carrying a Cliff Bar in there for when hunger strikes.
Can you believe The Punisher Armory had enough material for 10 issues? It was all due to Eliot Brown, the Marvel staffer who researched every single weapon. Visit Eliot's website for some material on the Armory and other work. Nuff Said!
Some of Michael Golden's best work appeared in Marvel Fanfare, such as this gem from 1989.
Issue #47 contained a unbelievable Marvel Team-Up (and perhaps this story was originally meant for that title) between Spider-Man and the Hulk with a guest appearance by Nick Fury.
Written by Golden's Micronauts partner, Bill Mantlo, the Hulk went berserk in a mind-controlled frenzy. Golden's artwork in this story is top-notch as usual, the above two panels being a great example. You can probably get this issue very cheap at a convention! Nuff Said!
A few weeks ago, I wrote about Marvel's plan to create a black and white magazine for the Thunder God (see Thor Thursday: The Thunder God's Magazine). I believe Marvel commissioned a few stories for this format--and one of them was the story that appeared in Thor Annual #5, 1976.
Surely the greatest thing about this annual was the cover by Jack Kirby. It was worth the 50 cents just to celebrate the King's return to Marvel, after his stint at DC Comics. While not one of Kirby's most classic covers, it just felt good to see him drawing Thor again--and he was fighting Hercules!
That logo and masthead really cut down on the space available for the cover image, didn't it?
The interiors were done by John Buscema and Tony DeZuniga. Something about the art makes me think that it was designed for a larger, magazine-sized format. There is also the fact that DeZuniga did a lot of inking for Marvel's magazine line (he also inked Buscema's Conan and Jim Starlin's Thor story in Marvel Preview #10). Buscema laid out the story with plenty of grand splash pages.
This pic of Hela making a grand entrance is one example. The story by Steve Englehart is designed to introduce a new audience to the world of Thor--Asgard, Odin, etc., are all explained before the action starts. I do remember reading somewhere that this story was intended to be the first issue of a Thor black and white magazine, while the Marvel Preview #10 story by Wein and Starlin was going to be in the second issue.
You see, fellow True Believers, all of this Marvel Minutia occupies my mind on a daily basis. I should be thinking about how to become a millionaire or how to create a great software product. Instead, I wonder what made the 1970s Marvel editorial staff abort magazine projects before they started! As Hercules might say, Are Ye Mad or Merely Daft? Nuff Said!
Ever wonder what would happen if there was a Marvel-DC crossover event that was more on the romantic side? Fred Hembeck did, back in 1981 for this cover to The Comic Reader 188.
I think it's very funny--especially with Hembeck's design which makes the couples mirror images of each other. You have to wonder what other Marvel-DC swaps would work. A Hawkeye/Black Canary and Green Arrow/Mockingbird pairing might be interesting.
Check out Hembeck's website for more lovable cartoons. Nuff Said!
Another John Byrne pic to tickle your funny bone, from The Comic Reader 128 in 1976.
Howard the Duck—who was launched into his own title in 1975—gets kicked in the tail by Rog-2000. Rog-2000 was a creation of Byrne’s that appeared in the back of Charlton Comics E-Man. Far from an emotionless robot, Rog-2000 suffers from a bad case of comic-strip envy. Nuff Said!
More John Byrne Marvel Funnies:
John Byrne’s Power Man and Iron Fist…in the style of Mad Magazine’s Don Martin
Spidey Introduces the Punisher to the Electric Company.
Storm critiques Ms. Marvel's costume, courtesy of John Byrne.
When the X-Men creative team was about to change in 1977, Dave Cockrum drew this cover for The Comic Reader #145.
John Byrne introduces himself to the X-Men, who have no idea who he is or why Cockrum is missing.
I can't remember exactly, but I believe this cover appeared a few months before John Byrne's first issue of the X-Men, #108, cover dated December. I do remember feeling the loss of Cockrum on the title, but feeling like Byrne could pull it off, since he had done so well on Starlord (see Claremont, Byrne & Austin's Classic Take on Star-Lord) and Iron Fist.
It was a great way for Dave Cockrum to hand over the reins of the X-Men, a title he visually re-designed for a new era. Nuff Said!
More Marvel Funnies:
Storm critiques Ms. Marvel's costume, courtesy of John Byrne.
Red Sonja and Storm pinups by Byrne and Cockrum.
Marvel Funnies: 1970s Marvel Bullpen as the X-Men
Marvel Funnies: Marie Severin Roasts Wein, Cockrum, Claremont Over New X-Men
The Comic Reader featured a couple of good Doctor Strange covers during the 1970s…
This one by Frank Brunner in 1974 appeared during the period Marvel re-launched Doc in his own comic. Brunner and Steve Englehart took Doctor Strange and Clea to new heights of cosmic consciousness.
Here’s one by Kerry Gammill in 1978. Gammill penciled once issue of Doctor Strange, issue #46, in 1981. In this pic, Doc is once again entering new doorways of Ditko consciousness! Nuff Said!
A couple of Silver Age Thor covers today, from The Comic Reader…
Here’s a 1975 cover (Comic Reader 115) that showcases not only why Joe Sinnott was a great inker—he was a damn good artist as well! Sinnott inked many issues of Thor, though ironically, he never inked Kirby on this title. What would have happened if all those Vinnie Colletta issues were done by Sinnott instead?
Uh-oh, I’ve just made myself a target for the Colletta Club.
Rich Buckler did this 1972 cover for The Comic Reader 1972. Buckler during this period was the perfect second-generation Marvel artist, combining the best of Kirby and Buscema in his work. Thor must be fighting one of the High Evolutionary’s creatures in this pic…perhaps the Man-Beast?
Have a great Thor Thursday and skip the trip to Valhalla. Nuff Said!
More on Rich Buckler:
Thing Tuesdays: Rich Buckler's Foom Thing
Giant-Size Superstars #1 and the wildest Thing vs Hulk match ever!
More on Joe Sinnott:
Marvel Swimsuits: Avengers in the Savage Land
Thing Tuesdays: Jim Starlin's Hulk and Thing, Funnier than Lewis and Martin!
Here's a big laugh courtesy of John Byrne, from The Comic Reader 143, circa 1977. It was around this period when Iron Fist was set to become Luke Cage's best buddy--and share the masthead when Power Man was re-titled Power Man and Iron Fist with issue #50. Claremont and Byrne were the creators behind this odd couple pairing.
The signature reads: John Byrne, from an idea by Roger Stern, with apologies to Don Martin. Don Martin was one of the premiere artists from Mad Magazine, who drew funny characters with elongated features. Why not take a visit to the Don Martin Shrine today? Nuff Said!
More John Byrne Marvel Funnies:
Spidey Introduces the Punisher to the Electric Company.
Storm critiques Ms. Marvel's costume, courtesy of John Byrne.
Captain America hurls his might shield in this 1982 cover to The Comic Reader #204 by Bill Sienkiewicz (in his Neal Adams period) and Bob Layton. You must YIELD! Nuff Said!
Beginning...a week of covers from one of the most famous fanzines of all time: The Comic Reader!
Launched by Paul Levitz in the 1960s, and later published by Street Enterprises, TCR was a prime source of insider news on the comics world.
TCR was a digest-sized mag published in black and white for the first few years. The magazine switched to color covers after the first 100 issues, and they were often able to snag superstar artists to draw them...like this Ghost Rider cover to issue 154 by Jim Starlin. This cover references a story that Starlin wrote and drew for Ghost Rider #35 (1979), titled "Death Race". I've often wondered if this image was a rejected cover that Starlin had intended for that issue. Nuff Said!
This classic Silver Surfer image is by Jack (King) Kirby, inked by superstar Al Gordon. Gordon took on this inking challenge for a class he was teaching in the bay area. The colored version on the right was done by John Heebink.
Al Gordon has worked on so many comics; Justice League, Legion of Super-Heroes, Wildstar are but a few. You can see a list of his accomplishments on Comic Book DB.
Want another take on this theme? Check out the Craig Hamilton Silver Surfer pinup. Nuff Said!
Today’s nifty Doctor Strange pinup is by Will Simpson—does anyone know the source? This came to me via James Sime’s Twitter, where he wrote: My favorite comic character's most iconic images are of him hanging out at the house w/ his gal + his books. Love it.
I totally agree, James! Check out my previous post on Isotope Comics to see James’ store and his ultra-cool Doc Strange costume. Nuff Said!
Here's a super-heroine long overdue for a comeback: the Scarlet Witch. These two drawings can remind us why she is a great character...
Neal Adams did this pencil and ink drawing of Wanda conjuring up a spell. If you go to the Neal Adams website, click on his store to find more sketches for sale. 
Gene Colan did a brilliant pencil drawing of the Scarlet Witch fighting a pair of nasty serpents in this 2001 commission. Check out Colan's site for more!
I'm hoping that the Scarlet Witch will return in one of the new Avengers titles coming in June. Could she be one of the Secret Avengers? Nuff Said!
Neal Adams hasn't drawn the X-Men too many times since he left the series way back when. He got a chance to revisit the characters in this 1997 cover to X-Men Wildcats The Silver Age.
According to Bleeding Cool, Adams may be drawing a Wolverine limited series for Marvel. That would be fantastic! Nuff Said!
