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Post by profh0011 on Sept 27, 2019 20:59:51 GMT -5
That close-up on page (17) does look really bad. It's odd, as all the much-smaller shots of her face look fine. At the time, it seemed to me that Pablo Marcos was better on action scenes (somehow giving them more "punch") while Jack Abel was better for "quiet" scenes (he made everything SO beautiful). I commented on this in a fan letter... and a few months later, got a real shock.
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Post by codystarbuck on Sept 28, 2019 18:47:43 GMT -5
Master of Kung Fu #46Sorry; but, kung fu beats sumo, every time! For that matter, so does karate, sambo, Greco-Roman, catch-as-catch-can, boxing, muy thai. aikido, judo, jiu-jitsu, hapkido, tae kwon do, Five Animal, kali, penjat silat, capoeira, square dancing, pillow fighting, pro wrestling, and decoupage. Creative Team: Moench & Gulacy, Pablo Marcos-inks, Joe Rosen-letters, Petra Goldberg-colors, Archie Goodwin-edits This issue is from Clive Reston's POV. Synopsis: Reston is being interrogated by someone unknown and unseen. They believe he is working for Fah Lo Suee. He recounts being knocked out on Griswold's launch. he faked being unconscious and after Fah Lo Suee ordered her thug, Chankar, to remove him, Clive popped up and launched a punch that barely phased Chankar (our sumo) and used the brief surprise to dive off the boat. A shot followed, but missed. From the shore, Chie and Leiko hear and use "Tarrant's" car to go around the lake. eston gets to shore and spots a lone car moving up th mountain, towards Griswold and FLS' destination. He ambushes it, only to find that it is Chi and Leiko. He trash talks Leiko and tells them to get moving. They catch up to the convoy, due to new snow. They come to a gorge and a rope bridge, across to a plateau, where there is an airstrip. They need to work fast to stop FLS... Chi isn't up for killing his sister. Reston pushes him and plays pity party about leiko. Chi has had enough and is close to challenging Reston to a fight, when Leiko tells them both to rein it in. Leiko then fils them in about Fu's operation in the Pacific, to locate a key to ruling the world. Inside the giant oyster was, as I predicted, one big honkin' pearl. Fu has them blow it up! They then discover a skull... The trio split, with Chi and Leiko going across the bridge, while Reston takes the car up the road, to catch the rear of the caravan. He stops before reaching it, then tries sneaking up, when Chankar sneaks up behind (somehow) and ambushes him. he whoops him, then carries his unconscious body to FLS, who whammies him with Mimosa (perfume, not brunch drink). She then tells her OE goons to draw Leiko's fire, until she runs out of ammo, then let Chankar take her alive. Leiko's weapon jams, the OE goons hit the bridge and Leiko nearly tumbles, until Chi saves her. They get across and head for a helo, when Chi runs into Chankar... Lekio follows FLS, as she takes Reston inside a building, where he is attacked by spiders, or so he believes. Chi hits Chankar low (possibly below the belt) then dumps him over the side, with a kick. Leiko draws him over and they go after Clive, with the OE dudes holding fire, for fear of hitting Leiko and facing a POd FLS. She comes into the room where Reston is, kisses him and tells him to forget. She then heads for the helo. Her goons say Chi and Leiko escaped. She departs and Reston loses his s@#$, needing her kiss to keep away the spiders. One of the OE goons, who is boarding the helo tells him to pipe down and he recognizes Leiko's voice. It pulls away and he cries like a televangelist caught in a sex scandal. Reston is left there and is later found b Griswold's MI-6 agents. It turns out that his interrogators are Tarr, Larner, and an MI-6 dude. Thoughts: lots of maneuvers, another sumo gets his diapered but kicked, and Reston secures his rep for being a whiny, crybaby, momma's boy. No wonder 00 Dad is nowhere to be seen! Fu destroyed a perfectly good pearl, about the size of a semi trailer, to get at a skull? Priorities, dude. Good issue, showing us that the daughter isn't far from the father. Oh, and we learn that she swapped spit with Smith, back in the day. As we see, the shifting viewpoints, for each chapter really adds a unique element to the saga. Once in a while, comics gave you a special POV; but, I'm not aware of one that did it across successive issues, before this. This book was so far ahead of the rest of Marvel, from a narrative standpoint.
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Post by profh0011 on Sept 28, 2019 19:13:13 GMT -5
Episodes of both "CAPTAIN SCARLET" and "THE CHAMPIONS" had pulled this stunt of having one of the heroes captured & interrogated for an entire episode, one by the baddies, the other by his own allies. I figured at the time that Moench was channeling the latter.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Sept 29, 2019 8:46:08 GMT -5
How did the pearl ever fit in that shell?
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Post by tarkintino on Sept 29, 2019 9:49:22 GMT -5
Some of MoKF's stories were entertaining time to time, but I never warmed up to Paul Gulacy's art; he was obviously inspired by Steranko but Gulacy's take or interpretation was rough. His best attempt at "pulling a Steranko" were found on covers, where he had the time and focus to craft a solid piece, such as the covers of: Logan's Run #6 (June, 1977): Rawhide Kid #147 (September, 1978) and Marvel Preview #24 (February, 1981) I don't know if his interiors were rushed, an inking problem, or was he better when he was dedicated to one cover.
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Post by berkley on Sept 30, 2019 17:17:15 GMT -5
I'm a huge Gulacy fan but I've never liked that Paradox cover, for some reason. Love that Rawhide Kid one, though, first time i've ever seen that one. If he'd done the interior artwork too I'd look for the back-issue.
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Post by codystarbuck on Sept 30, 2019 22:26:47 GMT -5
I'm a huge Gulacy fan but I've never liked that Paradox cover, for some reason. Love that Rawhide Kid one, though, first time i've ever seen that one. If he'd done the interior artwork too I'd look for the back-issue. Because it looks like a mash up of Logan's Run and Thank God It's Friday?
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Post by berkley on Sept 30, 2019 23:32:29 GMT -5
I'm a huge Gulacy fan but I've never liked that Paradox cover, for some reason. Love that Rawhide Kid one, though, first time i've ever seen that one. If he'd done the interior artwork too I'd look for the back-issue. Because it looks like a ma up of Logan's Run an Thank God It's Friday? Ha! -Yes, there's something cheesy about it - and was already even at the time. But I think it's more that it feels generally flat to me - flat figuratively, as in uninspired, but also literally, as in it doesn't convey the visual sense of depth it should.
Also, I think the composition is a bit messed up - the hooded skull figure (though fine in itself) and perhaps also the floating dancers, look pasted onto another painting in that they detract from the pyramidal shape that seems to have been meant to be basic structure. I say pyramidal rather than triangular because of the depth that I think is also missing - the background looks or feels as if it's at nearly the same depth as the foreground.
It also features what I think is one of his recurring weaknesses - not a debilitating weakness, IMO, because it only occurs intermittently - but anyway, a certain stiffness and an unattractive (to me) aesthetic of the human form. Could be just my personal taste, since Tarkantino and I'm sure lots of other people are fine with it.
I don't think there's any doubt that Gulacy, like many another of the younger generation of comics artists of the early 70s, struggled with deadlines and I'd even agree that this was sometimes visible in his work on the (interior) page, but for me the overall effect is so overwhelmingly positive that I overlook the occasional lapse. One of my favourite comics artists, to this day.
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Post by kirby101 on Oct 1, 2019 8:04:59 GMT -5
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Post by brutalis on Oct 1, 2019 11:36:32 GMT -5
The Logan's Run cover has wonky body positions and the heads seem too large for their bodies with very elongated necks and skinny arms/legs. Shades of the India Rubber Man Contortionist syndrome!
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Post by profh0011 on Oct 1, 2019 11:46:07 GMT -5
One of my favourite comics artists, to this day. Me, too.
I can remember when Gulacy took a break from comics for a while to study painting. I was thrilled when he came back.
Over the last several decades, I would often buy ANYTHING he worked on. I was amazed at some of the inkers who did fabulous work with him, some I might never have expected to work well over his work (like Terry Austin & Craig Russell).
2 of my all-time favorite stories from him were the multi-parters in LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT: "Prey" (the post-crisis story that "introduced" Professor Hugo Strange, and also featured Catwoman, and, one of the biggest martial arts fights he ever got to draw, in the final episode), and its sequel, "Terror" (which brought back both Strange and Catwoman, and also tossed The Scarecrow into the mix).
I only stopped buying new Gulacy comics when the writing on certain projects started to get too dark, nasty and VILE for my tastes. And some of those were "Batman"-related.
He was the one who inspired me to break my long boycott of all things Batman, when he got on the CATWOMAN series. It was absolutely baffling and mind-boggling when some time later, he was FIRED off the book, despite the editor admitting that sales had seriously GONE UP when he was on it, apparently, due to a steady stream of HATE-MAIL from certain so-called "fans". Even more ironically, was when he was kicked off right in the middle of a multi-part story, the remainder of that story was illustrated by another artist who seemed to be trying to channel Gulacy's style-- a sort of "Gulacy lite" that reminded me more than anything of when Jim Craig took over MASTER OF KUNG FU. (I had a strong suspicion it might have BEEN Jim Craig-- using a psudonym.)
For the longest time, I'd rank Gulacy as my 2nd-favorite living comics artist workin in the biz. He was only surpassed in my eyes by Steve Rude-- who, as I long suspected, had BOTH Paul Gulacy AND Jack Kirby as his biggest influences.
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Post by codystarbuck on Oct 2, 2019 16:58:06 GMT -5
Master of Kung Fu #47Shang-Chi, you put your hat and mittens on right this instant, young man; or, you'll catch your death of cold! Aw, Mom, they make me look like a dork...... Creative Team: Moench & Gulacy, Pablo Marcos-inks, Joe Rosen-letters, Hugh Paley-colors, Archie Goodwin-edits. Leiko's POV, in this one. Synopsis: Leiko and Chi are in Fah Lo Suee's plane, disguised as two of her Oriental Expediters thugs. the rest have unmasked, which puts them in a difficult spot; but FLS relieves the tension by sending them to relieve the pilots. Um, shouldn't you check to see if they know how to fly a plane, autopilot or not? Anyway, they are able to check their course and radio MI-6, who connect them with the awakened Nayland Smith. he fills them in about Petrie, who is not so much being deprogrammed as reprogrammed... He sends Larner and Reston to rendezvous with Leiko and Chi, in the Arctic, while Tarr acts as backup. The plane lands at its destination, while Leiko and Chi are told to get into cold weather gear. they hesitate and are forced to unmask, revealing Leiko's face, in front of Griswold. it then turns all kung fu... L and SC run off, minus cold weather gear and get shot at and toss back a grenade. Fu is prepared for them. Meanwhile, he is at work resurrecting his ancestor, Shaka Kharn.... not to be confused with Chaka Khan.... or Shaka, king of the Zulus Larner and Reston are spotted and shot down. Leiko and Chi see it occur; but have to hide in a cave. They huddle together for "warmth" Reston and Larner survive the crash and are found by FLS and goons. Fu launches missiles in their general direction. Then, he sends out jet pack-equipped Si-Fan... Griswold panics and bolts and Fah Lo Suee shoots him dead. Chi fights jet pack assassins, while leiko links up with Reston and Larner. FLS' men are wiped out or captured and FLS is forced to join the MI-6 band. Back in London, Tarr is given some equipment by David Niven, er... Sarsfield. FLS tells Chi that Fu plans to knock the moon out of orbit to create natural disasters on Earth, then rule what's left. Oh, and Ducharme was a double agent, all along. Thoughts: Lot of James Bond stuff going on. Fah Lo Suee's men are wiped out and she is forced to join her brother, on his terms. Everyone seems resistant to cold, despite not being in Arctic gear. Ducharme is a plant, so why they needed the subterfuge of Petrie is beyond me, except as a backup. Sarsfield is named for Sax Rohmer's real name and is given David Niven's likeness. Shaka Kharn is to avoid a lawsuit. Not exactly a Chinese name, that. Fu talks to his pet bird and calls it Fleurette. In the Fu manchu novels, that is the name of Dr Petrie's daughter, fathered with Karamaneh, who had been Fu's concubine. Not sure why Karamaneh was changed to Ducharme, and al ties with Petrie were erased. i assume the latter to keep the whole Holmes & Watson thing, though Watson did marry, too. We are in full james Bond territory now, since we have Si-Fan with jet packs. All we need now is for Chi to acquire a taste for vodka.
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Post by tarkintino on Oct 2, 2019 18:09:36 GMT -5
The Logan's Run cover has wonky body positions and the heads seem too large for their bodies with very elongated necks and skinny arms/legs. Shades of the India Rubber Man Contortionist syndrome! That's just Gulacy channeling Steranko. Any number of Steranko's covers or interiors are as anatomically "off" and/or stylized as the Gulacy cover.
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Post by tarkintino on Oct 2, 2019 18:19:08 GMT -5
Master of Kung Fu #47Shang-Chi, you put your hat and mittens on right this instant, young man; or, you'll catch your death of cold! Yeah...dressed like that in the snow? He might be well-conditioned but... Niven? More like early 70s Brando... The spy trappings (specialized uniforms, jet packs, etc.) by this era--seem so mid 1960s. This issue--published in December of 1976--has elements that even 70s Bond movies sort of dropped (including The Spy Who Loved Me the Bond film in production at the time). That takes one out of the story, as its such a retro feel.
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Post by codystarbuck on Oct 2, 2019 20:27:53 GMT -5
Master of Kung Fu #47Shang-Chi, you put your hat and mittens on right this instant, young man; or, you'll catch your death of cold! Yeah...dressed like that in the snow? He might be well-conditioned but... Niven? More like early 70s Brando... The spy trappings (specialized uniforms, jet packs, etc.) by this era--seem so mid 1960s. This issue--published in December of 1976--has elements that even 70s Bond movies sort of dropped (including The Spy Who Loved Me the Bond film in production at the time). That takes one out of the story, as its such a retro feel. That's Larner, who's based on Brando. Sarsfield is a communications officer, who gives Tarr some gear...
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