70 Years of Marvel Comics

2009 - It's Marvel Comics' 70th anniversary!

This is a great little magazine, which I didn't know existed until I happened to see it on the racks in a bookstore--a 100-page(!), full-color, glossy magazine all about Marvel and its history. I had to pick it up.

Filled from cover to cover with articles and graphics, it features chronological histories of the various decades, starting in 1939 with the publication of Marvel Comics #1. In addition to these histories (breezily written), there are great little sidebars, like "70 Years of Marvel Monsters", "70 Years of Stan Catchphrases!", and a continuing feature like "70 Years of Costume Chic":

The true "Marvel Age of Comics" starts in 1961, with the publication of Fantastic Four #1. There are photos of the various Bullpen members, plus the artists who drew the stories.

There's a great article about 60s Marvel toys:

...this is a great article, and it comes with quotes from our pal, Brian Heiler. Cool! I could've read twenty more pages.

There are also features on the editors of the Marvel Masterworks series, and the Handbook to the Marvel Universe, giving us a glimpse on the inner workings of how these series are compiled.

After a section on Marvel in the 90s, there are some sketch pages from artists the magazine calls "Young Guns '09", like Marko Djurdjevic:

There are interviews with some Marvel execs (one, with Senior VP of Sales and Publishing David Gabriel, has him talking about how Marvel wants to experiment more with different formats--music to my ears), and "70 Years of Marvel Theme Songs."

The magazine ends with two Golden Age reprints, one from Marvel Mystery Comics #2 by Bill Everett:

...and the last from Captain America Comics #10, by Simon and Kirby:

I was really charmed by the inclusion of these stories, because they're clearly not the most commercial choices--nice to see instead of the umpteenth Spidey and X-Men reprints, they went with something way more Old School.

All told, a thoroughly entertaining magazine, well organized and laid out. The magazine celebrates Marvel in fine style, but also doesn't shy away from some of the more...curious decisions the company has occasionally made. It also has a nice sense of humor, making it a very fun read.

I'd love to see DC do something like this for their next anniversary!

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Well, that wraps up our week of new posts. I enjoyed digging through these musty old magazines again, and by the time you read this I will have gone to yet another comic con, so who knows? I might have some mags to talk about...

Nightmare #11 - Skywald

February 1973 - The magazines produced by Skywald have been woefully under-represented here on the blog; that's mostly due to the fact that even copies in terrible condition are going for high prices on eBay and at cons--it seems that the people that didn't buy Skywald's product at the time are now realizing what they were missing, and are rectifying that original error.

But once in a while I get lucky and find a decent-looking Skywald mag for a price I'm willing to pay, and I especially wanted to get one in here during this week of new posts.

First off--the cover: a beautiful, wonderfully nightmarish image from the artist known as "Jad". Perfectly designed and executed, it made we want to get this issue and see what was inside, like a good cover should.

The first story is "The Wetness In The Out" by Al Hewetson and Pablo Marcos:

(click to see a bigger version)

This story of a homicidal murderer on the run is told in nursery rhyme; certainly and unusual structure that works fairly well. The ending is a typically gruesome-yet-morbidly funny conclusion that always seems to work, this being no exception.

Next is "Taw!" by Ed Fedory and Borell, about some explorers who run afoul of a race of murderous snow creatures:

...another "twist" ending, well executed by artist Borrell.

There's a short feature on Lon Chaney, featuring an excellent illustration by Pablo Marcos highlighting Chaney's most famous moment from Phantom of the Opera, along with some Captain Company-esque ads for merchandise.

Next is "The Beasts of Tomb Beach!" by Wayne Howard:

This is a really unusual story, in that it ends on page four, asking you--the reader--to write in and submit what you thought Mike's dream/nightmare was! Now I want to get the later issue to see what ideas were submitted!

Next is "Where Gods Once Stood" by T.Casey Brennan and Carlos Garzon:

Set in Olympus, no less, this story stands out as a nice change of tone and setting. Well drawn by Garzon.

Next is "Corridors of Caricature" by Al Hewetson and Duran:

A bunch of people get together, for an as-yet-unknown purpose. Beautifully, precisely drawn by Duran, with one gruesome ending!

After the letters page, the setting changes once again with "Where Are The Inhabitants of Earth?", by Al Hewetson and Zesar:

Very reminiscent of the sci-fi movies of the time, featuring one man trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world. Nothing terribly new here, but still fun, and with a weird ending.

Next is "Titan Weep" by Hewetson and Marcos (the Scorsese/DeNiro of Skywald):

...a three-page(!) tale, with a lot of high-falutin' dialog, but also featuring a gross-out "twist" ending. Don't shake hands with this Titan guy, that's all I'll say.

After some movie reviews (man, the Movie Still Industry just got decimated once VCRs showed up) is "The Horror War" by Hewetson and Borell:

This is one of those stories that starts off pretty typically, and then takes the off ramp into Crazyville. Case in point: amid all the sci-fi stuff like spaceships and kids riding things calls "Weapon Birds", we have an appearance by...President Dixon!:

Not only is it weird to have the current, 1973-era President still in office during the telling of this tale (Ha! And Alan Moore thinks he's innovative!), but in one of the panels, for no apparent reason, the artist dropped in a stat of Nixon's head (Ha! And Matt Groening thinks he's...oh, never mind), making for one goofy panel. I had a hard time concentrating on the rest of the story after that.


...whew, that's a lot packed into one issue! While the various stories vary wildly in quality, you can't say Skywald didn't give you a lot of entertainment for your sixty cents.

The Superheroes Monthly Vol.1 #2 - DC/Egmont

1980 - These issues of Super Heroes Monthly first caught my eye back when I was a kid, almost entirely because of their covers--at the time (around 1985 or so), I had never seen superheroes rendered so realistically, and the various covers were just so captivating.

Since then, I've had the chance to get a hold of a couple of issues of the series, and they make for a nice package--slick covers wrapping around a selection of classic reprints from the Silver Age (mostly).

This issue's cover is by Gary Leach (I dig Batman's spooky glowing eyes!), and as the characters might suggest, this issue focuses on DC's Big Three.

First up is Wonder Woman in "Wonder Woman's Daring Deception!", from Wonder Woman #173, by Robert Kanigher, Irv Novick, and Mike Esposito:

Next is the classic two-page Superman origin sequence from Action Comics #1, followed by "The Nightmare Maker", from Superman #166, by Elliott S! Maggin, Curt Swan, and Murphy Anderson:

...and finally, we have Batman in "Legend of the Key Hook Lighthouse!" (great name!) by Denny O'Neil, Irv Novick, and Dick Giordano, from Detective Comics #414

...as usual, the cover painting is reprinted on the back cover, sans logos and cover type, Dell-style.

These books make for a really nice little package, and can be picked up super cheap on eBay (I think I bought this one for $1.50!), making them a great buy for kids just starting to read comics.

Savage Sword of Conan #27 - Marvel

March 1978 - I couldn't do a week of new b/w magazine posts and not include an issue of Savage Sword of Conan, so when I went looking for an issue to buy on eBay, I simply bought the book with the first cover that caught my eye.

And this one certainly counts--you've got Bob Larkin rendering Conan, a giant tiger, and scantily-clad lass. Click to Buy It Now!

Unfortunately, as soon as I opened the issue, I saw that this issue is the concluding chapter to a multi-issue story:

...but what the hell. Its Conan, chasing and being chased, fighting and stabbing, drinking and wenching. That's the whole point of Conan anyway!

Like most Conan stories, I get the most enjoyment seeing the variations that penciller Big John Buscema could bring to the proceedings, and there are little bits here and there where he got to experiment with tones, like in the panel below, of Conan and Balthus peering out from a cluster of jungle brush:

...and of course, Buscema was a master of delineating violence, like in this panel below, where a well-aimed arrow shot by Balthus stops a tribal savage from violating a young woman:

Finally, Conan takes on a fire demon, and the barbarian gets to see "whether a sword can harm you!":

The demon fights well, but a double-handed swipe of Conan's sword lops off its head, and that pretty much ends the discussion.

The story ends like all good Conan stories do: in a tavern, drinking.

This issue also has a bunch of bonus features, like an article on the short-lived Conan daily comic strip:

Does anyone know how long this strip ran? Has it even been collected anywhere? I don't remember my local paper every carrying it, so I'd love to see all the material in one place.

There's also an article called "Shadow of the White Wolf", about another creation of Robert Howard's, plus four pin-ups, drawn and submitted by Conan fans--a cool little feature that only the black and white mags ever seemed to try.

The Hulk! #21 - Marvel

June 1980 - This issue of The Hulk! is a bit of a change of pace. Behind a nice cover by Bob Larkin, we have "Into the Myth-Realm", courtesy writer Doug Moench and artist Bob McLeod, where the Green Goliath finds himself in a fantasy world right out of Lord of the Rings:

It opens with Bruce Banner, talking to someone (we don't see who), and he starts to talk about his...problem.

As he goes on, he begins to get sleepy...and then he finds himself falling through space, landing in a bizarre world filled with elves and dragons!

After slaying the dragon, he and the gnome escape an attack by some winged half-men with the help of some centaurs (one male, one female...making this the first Hulk story I can think of that features female nudity, even if it is in centaur form).

Bruce is brought to a powerful wizard, who tells him that this is a myth realm: namely, a dimension where what are thought of as myths in Banner's world actually happen here.

Bruce then gets involved in a fight against an evil wizard named Darkshorn, who has kidnapped a beautiful princess, and has her held under a spell.

Bob McLeod does all the art here--pencils, inks, letters, and color, and its a real tour de force. His work here is exquisite, and he proves to be as adept a colorist as he is a penciller/inker. I love this subtle effect here, on the wizard's beard:

...instead of drawing in hair with ink, he uses some nice light color to give the effect. Also, on this page, the lighting on the Hulk I find quite nice:

I also like the look of annoyance on the Hulk's face. All in all, a real exceptional job by McLeod.

Banner, as Hulk, ends up rescuing the princess, and she takes a real shine to him: even though he appears a monster, she knows his heart is good. Hulk is at first dubious, then he begins to like it.

Eventually, Darkshorn is defeated, and he princess admits she does, in fact, love the Hulk, and plants a big wet one on the old lug! This causes Hulk to revert back to Banner, and just as he begins to wonder if he could stay in this world forever, he finds himself back in "our" world.

Turns out Banner was undergoing some psychoanalysis via hypnosis. Feeling he's achieved some glimmer of understanding of the Hulk, he leaves satisfied...for now.

Back in his psychiatrist's office, we see the doctor bears a striking resemblance to the beautiful princess he left behind.

After an article on Marvel's "Changeling Heroes" (Hulk, Werewolf By Night, Ghost Rider, etc.) and an unusual one-page piece about genre movies by Jeff Mundo, we have the debut of a new back-up strip: Dominic Fortune!

Fortune, by Denny O'Neil and Howard Chaykin, is a blast, featuring the fun, adventure, and nasty humor that Chaykin is known for.

The plot involves some comics printed as Nazi propaganda, and Fortune is not happy to be turned into a comic character known as The Purple Slasher. We even get to see a page of The Purple Slasher as Fortune fights the secret Nazi doing the publishing:

A really solid feature--I don't know how well it gibes with the Hulk lead, but nevertheless a lot of fun and well drawn (and colored) by Chaykin.

In addition to a Hulk pin-up by Brent Anderson and a two-page letters section, there's this subscription ad for The Hulk!:

...that's an unusual still from the Hulk TV show to use, isn't it? "Rarr!--Hulk hate being in Vegas! Two shows a night, three on Saturday!!"

Eerie #117 - Warren

Dec. 1980 - If you're going to talk about an issue of Creepy, a look at Eerie can't be far behind--its, like, the law.

Anyway, I bought this issue solely because of the beautiful cover by Enrich--its got that classic sex and death combo that horror mags did so well in the 70s.

Sadly, nothing inside really matches it, content-wise. Warren was in its post-Star Wars phase (the company's final phase, also sadly), where almost all of the horror content got shoved aside for sci-fi/fantasy material. Even the Captain Company pages feature mostly Star Wars stuff (there are ads for the Kenner figures on both inside covers).

First up is "Cagim: City of Fire" by Budd Lewis and E.R. Cruz:

...a longish story, by Warren standards (thirteen pages), about a succubus named Vivien who wants to destroy the world. Nicely drawn by Cruz, and a good story, albeit one with a kind of cheesy ending.

Next is probably the best story in the bunch, "His Brother's Keeper!" by the always-entertaining Jim Stenstrum, drawn by Neil McFeeters:

A story that leaves you wondering if what you just saw really happened, the same fix the protagonist is in. McFeeters has a Moebius-esque drawing style, which worked well with the story.

Next is "Bruce Bloodletter: The Jalopy Scam" by Cary Bates and Fernando Fernandez:

A goofy, fanciful story about a guy trying to enforce the tedious laws of the galaxy, drawn with real flair by Fernandez. I'm not familiar with his work--I would've loved to have seen him draw some DC sci-fi stuff, like Adam Strange.

Last is "Haxtur: A Time For Dying" by Victor de la Fuente:

Haxtur is a warrior who finds himself in another time, and tries to survive in this harsh new world. At sixteen pages, it kinda goes on forever, but the art is well done and the ending is a real kick in the pants.

Afterwards are the Captain Company pages, like I said above, mostly featuring Star Wars stuff (interesting to note: the one Empirial flunky figure is still called the Death Squad Commander, long after Kenner changed its name to the more neutral Death Star Commander).

All in all, not a bad issue, but that cover makes me miss the horror content all the more...

Creepy #39 - Warren

May 1971 - This issue of Creepy is blessed with a gorgeous, intriguing cover by The Man, Basil Gogos. I love that little hunchbacked guy!

The inside cover features an installment of "Creepy's Loathsome Lore" about "The Evil Eye" (pull out an American dollar bill and check the top of the pyramid to see what we're talking about), and then the issue starts proper with "Where Satan Dwells", by Al Hewetson and Sal Trapani, starring Uncle Creepy himself!:

Not a bad story, but it seems weird to have Creepy interacting with "regular" people.

Hewetson, of course, would soon go on to start his own line of horror mags at Skywald, making him persona non grata to Jim Warren.

Next up is "C.O.D.--Collect on Death!" by Dave Wood and Dave Cockrum:

...another interesting story, and it's interesting to see it rendered in Cockrum's uber-clean style. Nice twist ending.

Third is "The Water World" by Buddy Saunders and Pablo Marcos:

...probably the best story in the issue: three guys stuck in a raft in the middle of the unforgiving ocean is a can't-miss setting for a horror story. The ending is a little goofy, but Marcos (another guy who do a lot of work over at Skywald) really pulls off the look of three guys slowly starving to death and getting more dessicated by the hour.

Next is "Death of the Wizard" by Pat Boyette:

The story didn't do that much for me (my eyes tend to glaze over when wizards start showing up), but Boyette turns in a killer art job here.

Next is "Harvest of Horror" by Phil Seuling and Frank Brunner:

...scarecrows, like clowns, are inherently spooky.

Next is "The Dragon Prow!" by Steve Skeates and Richard Bassford:

A typically fun story by Skeates, featuring a Wood-ish art job by Bassford (no wonder; Bassford worked with/for the master on several projects). Great ending.

After a two-page "Who Drew What?" feature (featuring twelve anonymous drawings by Warren regulars--including one by Warren himself!), there's "Creepy's Fan Club", and then the usual assortment of Captain Company products.

But they manage to cram in one more story, "Mad Jack's Girl" by Gary Kaufman:

...sadly, this story is typical of Warren at its low period. Not to pick on a story that's almost forty years old, but the artwork here is barely fanzine level, and its kinda sad to think this was a magazine that, not too long before, was running work by Frazetta, Craig, Ditko, Orlando, etc.

Luckily, for all of us, things got a lot better at Warren not too long after this!

Wolverine and The X-Men #2 - Marvel

It's good to be back!

Since ending this blog in October 2008, I received a good number of emails from people saying how much they enjoyed it, and miss it now that its gone.

First off, I really appreciate that--its always nice to feel wanted (blog-wise, I mean)--and secondly, I had never intended this blog to be gone forever. So when I noticed I had three or four classic b/w mags that I could write about here, I decided to pick up a couple more and make it a full week of new posts, which will run every day starting today.

No sooner did I end this blog then Marvel started to practically flood the market (was is this, the 1970s?) with magazine-sized releases. Not only did they increase the publication frequency of their Spider-Man Magazine, they started a new title, Wolverine and The X-Men Magazine, undoubtedly to coincide with movie.

They also released several magazine-sized "poster books", starring The Punisher, Wolverine, Marvel Monsters, even an Secret Invasion!-themed one. There might have even been more, it was hard keeping up with them all!

Wolverine and The X-Men (I wonder how the rest of X-Men feel about Wolverine's promotion to Tom Petty-esque billing) follows the same format as Spider-Man Magazine; namely it features two modern reprints, plus one classic story from either the Silver or the Bronze Age.

The first story is "Surprise!" by Fred Van Lente and Andrea Di Vito:

...followed by "The Bird, The Beast, and The Lizard", from the X-Men: First Class series:

After that is a two-page Wolverine pin-up by Joe Quesada, then the classic "Second Genesis" by Len Wein and Dave Cockrum, from Giant-Size X-Men #1:

But that's not all! There's also a fun Min-Marvels segment by Chris Giarusso:

Considering that these magazines are (presumably) aimed at a younger audience, I think its a great touch to have these humor segments in each issue.

I could argue that the price point--$6.99--is a little high, but considering that Marvel is producing more of these magazines (indeed, both this and Spider-Man mags are now listed as monthly publications), they must be turning at least some decent-sized profit. Maybe parents today aren't batting an eye at dropping seven bucks for a magazine for their kids.

It'll be interesting to see if any of Marvel's other future movie stars--Thor, Captain America--earn their own magazines, as well. I know I'd personally love to see a Captain America magazine, reprinting some of the amazing Brubaker/Epting run, mixed with some classic Cap stories.

Oh, one last thing: on the back cover, Marvel is running this ad:

...further solidifying my belief Marvel is aiming for a slightly younger audience, they choose their current Wonderful Wizard of Oz mini-series to promote on the back cover (speaking of different formats, wouldn't a collected edition of this series make an excellent treasury edition?).


Everyone, please come back tomorrow, where we'll take a look at some of classic b/w magazines of the past!