Recently in Marvel Comics Category

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.

Iron Sis and Shang-She.

I don't talk about modern comics very much--there's tons of other blogs that do everyday much better than I can.  But I do get a box every month from Discount Comic Book Service, and Amazing Spider-Man is always in there.  I think one of the most talented artists working at Marvel these days is Marcos Martin. 

Marcos Martin brings a crazy, kinetic style of energy on Spider-Man that hasn't been seen since the days of Steve Ditko.  Coupled with Dan Slott's high-energy mania, this is a creator marriage made in comic-book heaven.

I was particularly bowled over by the above splash page, where Spidey is standing over a craps table.  The story title and credits are cleverly laid out along the table grid.  A very clever idea!

I really find Martin's innovative use of logos (such as the blood dripping off Spidey's masthead on issue 619) to be very much in the vein of Will Eisner.  Eisner did all kinds of things with the Spirit's logo (or logo-forms as Alan Moore called them) by shooting them with bullet holes and having all kinds of liquids dripping from them.

The cover to the forthcoming Amazing Spider-Man Annual #37 does another twist on the logo, by turning it into a neon sign.  Again, this cover seems very Eisner-like to me, with Spidey and Cap standing on different levels of a building.

You have to dig the old-fashioned shout-out to "Collector's Item Classic" here as well!

Marcos Martin has also done outstanding work on Dr Strange (The Oath mini-series with Brian K. Vaughan) and the Captain America 70th Anniversary special.  Here's the black and white version of a page where Cap addresses the troops on a WW2 aircraft carrier.

There's a cool interview with Martin over at The Beat by Michel Fiffe.  Like his fellow countryman, Carlos Pacheco, Marcos Martin appears to have respect for the creators who made these characters great.  Nuff Said!

What was hot during the Marvel Age?  The Marvel Age wasn't an era, it was a comic magazine--Marvel's way of keeping fans informed during the 1980s.  Here are some of the offbeat characters that were showcased.

Cloak and Dagger burst free of supporting character status into their own mini-series in 1983.  I always thought that both Bill Mantlo and Rick Leonardi did some of their best work ever on this title.

I remember buying a really cool Cloak and Dagger poster that Leonardi and Terry Austin drew.  Does anyone have a decent scan of that?  It was a great image and I'd like to feature it here.

The Micronauts were red-hot as well, even after Michael Golden left the series.  Jackson "Butch" Guice came along and injected new excitement into the characters.  After the X-Men became popular, it was only natural that Marvel would produce a limited series featuring the two teams getting together.

You have to love Storm's mohawk and biker-girl outfit in this one.  Wolverine's supposed to be front and center, but that mohawk is like a vortex.

I believe Arcturus (Commander) Rann is making a comeback in the current Son of Hulk mini-series.

Alpha Flight made a big splash in 1983 when it received a solo title, the first Marvel series created, written, and drawn by John Byrne (who started his Fantastic Four run around the same time).  This image was also used as a promotional poster.

Fans were excited--Alpha Flight always gave the X-Men a run for their money, and the series sold well but eventually ran out of steam.  The scene I'll always remember is the conclusion of issue #12, where Vindicator dies trying to disengage the circuitry in his costume.  That was well done, Byrne totally disrupted reader expectations with that one.  Nuff Said!

Barry Windsor-Smith first bid Marvel adieu in the 1970s after he left the Conan series.  But he returned from time to time, working on special projects, such as his contributions to Epic Illustrated.

This particular cover for the August 1981 issue, featuring a warrior about to enter a walled city, shows that Smith still retained his mastery over all things sword and sorcery.

The February 1983 cover depicts an "epic" crash landing in a lush pond and surrounding forest. 

Epic Illustrated was the Marvel Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, edited by the late legendary Archie Goodwin.  While Epic featured occasional stories of Marvel characters like Galactus and the Silver Surfer, it featured independent work by creators.  It was a first for Marvel, to publish stories where creators retained the ownership and copyright.  This paved the way for Goodwin to start the Epic line of comics, where an incredible array of creator-owned comics were published--Dreadstar, Coyote, Moonshadow, Groo, and many others.  Nuff Said!

Every comics company loves to give their heroes a new look from time to time.  During the Shooter-era of the 1980s, the Marvel heroes were re-designed with new looks and costumes.

Spider-Man: Black costume from Secret Wars, sans the symbiote.

Iron Man: Tony Stark designed this red and silver armor in Iron Man #200.

Hulk: Grey Hulk from Peter David’s tenure on the series.

Thor: Walt Simonson designed this new battle armor and let the Thunder God grow a beard.

Captain America: Steve Rogers put on this costume and became a free agent for a while.  Later on, US Agent wore this costume whenever a team needed a third-rate Captain America—like the current Mighty Avengers series.

Were these Marvel makeovers as bad as shoulder pads and mullets?  I liked the Grey Hulk the best out of this lineup.  Nuff Said!

Marvel Age Annual #1 from 1985 featured this crowded wraparound cover by Kerry Gammill.

Virtually all of Marvel's characters from this period are featured here.  Two of the wackiest are the Beyonder (on the right) in his zoot-suit from Secret Wars II and Magneto (in the middle) in his reformed period leading the X-Men.  Whoever designed that stupid new costume for Magneto with the giant "M" on his chest should have consulted Tim Gunn first.

There's one character I can't identify, in-between Colossus and Storm in the middle section.  Who the heck is that?

Can you name all of the rest?  Reply in the comments if you can.  Nuff Said!

This poster by John Buscema and Joe Sinnott for the 1975 Marvel Convention features all the stars of that era.

Not only do the big superstars look great, but so do the “B” players (Ka-Zar, Luke Cage Powerman, Shang-Chi, etc) and the Marvel monsters (Ghost Rider, Frankenstein, Dracula, etc).  There are even two licensed characters, Conan and Doc Savage.  What a diverse world the 1975 Marvel Universe was!  Nuff said!

When you think of Stan Lee (and I know you do everyday), what image do you see?  Probably the old geezer hamming it up in brief cameos from all the Marvel movies.

Here’s Stan circa 1975, from a photo taken for the first ever Mighty Marvel Comic Convention in NYC.  Stan’s really mad mod hip, with the black shirt open at the chest, the Sebring hair-do, and gold chain on his right wrist.  He would have been basking the after-glow of “Origins of Marvel Comics” which had been published a few years earlier, and gave him exposure to many media outlets.

I can smell Old Spice aftershave just by looking at this picture.  Nuff Said!