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Post by MWGallaher on Feb 16, 2017 11:40:24 GMT -5
This is really an exceptionally good comic. Don't pass up the chance to read it if you ever get one.
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Post by MWGallaher on Feb 1, 2017 19:12:53 GMT -5
Berni Wrightson, Master of the...Western???
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Post by MWGallaher on Jan 19, 2017 14:08:24 GMT -5
I can't think of any better ones, so I'm going to make a blatant display of poor sportsmanship by posting this: (Sorry, Prince Hal!) no apologies necessary,MW; this was the first cover I thought of. When I went looking for it, I also saw the other one. It was a total toss-up. Excellent choice! This pair of covers has long intrigued me. Why would two consecutive covers illustrate essentially the same scene? Given the turmoil involved in that final issue, with Ditko leaving abruptly, and part of the issue drawn by Jack Sparling, I guess that both of these covers were originally intended for the same issue. Maybe Kane's cover was commissioned for #5 because the editor didn't like Ditko's, or wasn't sure if Ditko was going to turn one in at all. Or perhaps Kane's cover was done first, hoping it would improve sales, but then Ditko objected and insisted on doing his own. Whatever the scenario, I postulate that given the cancellation, DC didn't think it was worth buying a new cover for #6, and instead used the alternate (or original) cover from #5.
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Post by MWGallaher on Jan 18, 2017 19:53:53 GMT -5
I can't think of any better ones, so I'm going to make a blatant display of poor sportsmanship by posting this: (Sorry, Prince Hal!)
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Post by MWGallaher on Jan 17, 2017 10:47:36 GMT -5
Bronze Age Brian
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Post by MWGallaher on Jan 12, 2017 19:12:00 GMT -5
This is going to be one of the toughest contest to vote for! Yeah--I spent about 20 seconds coming up with the topic, not expecting so many outstanding covers to be posted! But stairways give the artists opportunities for lots of interesting staging of the characters, they're a shortcut for establishing depth of field, and serve as a visually interesting component just as a pure element of design. So now that I think about it, it's not so surprising after all!
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Post by MWGallaher on Jan 11, 2017 22:55:11 GMT -5
He has a life , unlike * gasp* the rest of us. My life is as like the rest of yours as..umm..yours.... Well, anyway, the contest is up!
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Post by MWGallaher on Jan 11, 2017 22:29:43 GMT -5
I didn't expect a win with a Jack Sparling cover, so I didn't have a theme in mind... Hmm.. This week's theme shall be.. STAIRWAYS
The Cover Contest Constitution: - Post one, and only one, classic cover that fits the theme of the contest. - Cover must be from a published comic book or collected volume published before 11 January 2007. - Covers must be posted before voting begins. -Voting takes place on Tuesday, 17 January 2017, beginning at 12:01am PST and ending at 11:59am PST. - Vote by posting the name of the poster whose cover best fits the theme or that you simply like the most. - Put the name in bold. - The winner of the contest is the entrant with the most votes after the voting period ends. - The winner chooses the theme for the next week's contest. - If you don't think the cover fits the theme, don't vote for it; please don't post disparaging remarks about it. - If a cover is more recent than the classic time frame, kindly point it out so that the poster can choose an alternate before voting begins.
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Post by MWGallaher on Jan 4, 2017 19:52:50 GMT -5
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Post by MWGallaher on Dec 23, 2016 8:37:08 GMT -5
#9: Marvel Super-Heroes (Grantray-Lawrence Animation, 1966)------Perhaps one reason I adore this is because I almost never got to see it when it was running. In Memphis, it aired on a daily cartoon show ("The Happy Hal Show") twice daily, but the Marvel Super-Heroes segments always seemed to air after I left for school or before I got home. I saw plenty of commercials, and occasionally caught an episode, and at my age (6 or 7), the "animation"--as I suppose most of us are aware, the cartoons used actual published Marvel Comics for both the stories and the artwork, barely animated via zooms, pans, and occasional moving parts--looked fine to me. These were my first exposures to these Marvel Superheroes, never having paid attention to the comic book rack (I probably wasn't allowed to even wander off over there during trips to the store, I suppose). Remembering my response to these cartoons helps me to remember the specific triggers that excited me about superheroes, triggers that were forgotten as I saw more and more of the genre. I watched Captain America to see when he "throws his mighty shield". That one bit made the entire cartoon worthwhile for me. That was part of Kirby's genius, coming up with dynamic gimmicks that a reader--or in this case, viewer--could *feel* himself doing, imagining just how satisfying it would feel to sling that thing, knock out the bad guys, and have it swoosh back into your hands! What I loved most in Thor was seeing him transform. Again, I could imagine and *feel* striking that cane against the ground, with a burst of thunder transforming me into a powerful hero! The Hulk really fascinated me. Again, the transformations were intriguing, especially in the adaptations of the Ditko issues, when Bruce would intentionally turn into the Hulk with a gamma ray projector. But I liked the off-beat weirdness, this surly monster hero who meant well but was constantly hounded. Iron Man turned me off a little, because as a tyke, I didn't like mustaches, but I did like the concept of the armor, and flying on jets was cool. I was always disappointed when a rare chance to see an episode turned out to be a "Sub-Mariner day". I couldn't imagine why anyone would want to watch this jerk swimming around in ordinary swim trunks. This colored my opinion years later, when I began to read the comics themselves, and it took a while before I really became attached to Namor. Now he's one of my favorites at Marvel, but I'm still not especially fond of the Gene Colan-drawn stories that these were adapted from. Today, I find these episodes to still have a very strong appeal. When I chance across one on youtube, I end up watching several. They covered a lot of classic Marvel territory, and would have gotten many a viewer caught up and prepared to jump into the comics. That move was still 5 or 6 years away for me, but these helped plant that seed.
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Post by MWGallaher on Dec 15, 2016 19:20:37 GMT -5
#11 Aquaman (Filmation, 1967)
Before I discovered comic books, my main exposure to "legitimate" superheroes was limited to Superman (his 50's live action show and his 60's cartoon), Adam West's Batman, and this, Filmation's Aquaman cartoons. I liked them all, but I was always drawn to the odder, less popular ideas, and so Aquaman appealed to me. I was fascinated by the idea of riding giant sea horses, of hurling "water balls", and intrigued by those sonar-beeping arcs of telepathic fish command emanating from our hero's head. Yes, the stories were trivial and forgettable, the animation was economical and repetitive, but there was enough in the visuals to really capture my attention and imagination. Thanks to this cartoon, Aquaman was the Captain Action costume I most coveted (I never got it!), and an issue of Aquaman was the first comic I tried to get my mother to buy me (she didn't, but I remembered the cover, and I finally got a copy, with interiors by the guy who'd become my favorite comics artist, Jim Aparo).
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Post by MWGallaher on Dec 1, 2016 20:25:27 GMT -5
I loved the Aquaman cartoon, even before I bought a single comic book.
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Post by MWGallaher on Oct 30, 2016 16:28:09 GMT -5
1. Swamp Thing primarily by Len Wein and Berni Wrightson --- A few months ago, on a different forum, someone asked "What was the first #1 issue of a comic book you bought?" I wasn't sure, so I went over my early purchases, and decided that it must have been Swamp Thing #1, the cover of which is shown above in its orginal art form. Those first 10 issues were magnificent, visiting classic horror concepts via the Swamp Thing's globe-trotting exploits: aliens, werewolves, "Frankenstein", Lovecraftian gods...It was clear that this comic was head and shoulders above its contemporaries. Wrightson had been doing plenty of art in DC's mystery/horror comics, but it never seemed as powerful as this: ...and what a perfect logo! Maybe the best ever! It's hard to say just why Swamp Thing hit me as one of the best comics I'd ever read, but I had longed for this one since spotting the small, early teaser ads, and I remember exactly where I spotted that first issue (the Memphis airport!). Swamp Thing was a glorious, exciting masterpiece of comics art, perfectly suited for me, the monster fan and burgeoning superhero fan. From that first issue on, I could never pass up a chance to buy a Swamp Thing comic, or watch a Swamp Thing movie or tv show. This mucky man-monster captivated me instantly, and made me a fan forever. ===
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Post by MWGallaher on Aug 23, 2016 16:03:57 GMT -5
MDG Piracy was one of my favorite ECs, and covers like that one were a big reason why!
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Post by MWGallaher on Aug 17, 2016 9:22:08 GMT -5
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