Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,197 
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Post by Confessor on Nov 26, 2018 8:23:13 GMT -5
I've never heard of Wolfman Jack... Time for you to see American Graffiti then! Wolfman Jack is a 50s rock 'n' roll icon and American Graffiti is a great, great movie. |
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Post by brutalis on Nov 26, 2018 9:01:55 GMT -5
Oh the joys and heartaches found within Premiere and Spotlight and Feature! Missed Premiere issue 1. Had issue 2 which started my Warlock love. Thomas and Kane started something weird here which hooked my curiosity enough that I eventually searched out all of the Warlock series later on. Missed issue 3 but found a copy of #4 and liked the Windsor art is about all I can say. Missed all the rest of those Dr Strange issues.
Missed the Red Wolf Spotlight 1st issue. Missed issue 2 with Don't know Jack by Day but Wolfing it at Night but had #3 and instantly hooked with Ploog's artwork. This is where probably where my real affection for Werewolf movies and comics and books and such began.
For Feature I had that 1st Ant-Man re-appearance in issue #4 with fun Trimpe artwork and never saw any of the other Ant-Man issues. But boy did I read and draw from that one issue. Adored the idea of Pym as the trapped Shrinking Man as it reflected his earlier similar issues with his giantism in Avengers but there was much more artistically that could be done with his diminutive ant size. Really liked his adopting the nail as a "Sword" for a weapon.
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Post by mikelmidnight on Nov 26, 2018 13:28:51 GMT -5
I want to add that this was my favorite Antman costume, the white trousers and red jacket looking like a cross between a superhero and a scientific adventurer, and I wished it had stuck around longer.
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Post by brutalis on Nov 26, 2018 15:08:04 GMT -5
I want to add that this was my favorite Antman costume, the white trousers and red jacket looking like a cross between a superhero and a scientific adventurer, and I wished it had stuck around longer. Agreed! Very pulp adventurer costuming in the mold of Doc Savage is what I felt at the time and quite appropriate as Pym was always more comfortable being a scientific adventurer than being a "super" hero. |
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Post by Rob Allen on Nov 26, 2018 19:02:30 GMT -5
Like others here, Spotlight #2 made me an instant Ploog fan. I didn't know about the Eisner connection; at the time, I'd never seen any Eisner work. Warren's Spirit magazine was still two years in the future. I just saw that Ploog had a distinctive style and portrayed motion well. I had no use for stiff, generic comic art, then or now.
I wish Barry Smith had done more Dr. Strange, but at the same time I wouldn't want to miss out on Frank Brunner's run.
I actually had a dream about the Friedrich/Trimpe Ant-Man once.
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Post by MWGallaher on Nov 27, 2018 9:18:58 GMT -5
I want to add that this was my favorite Antman costume, the white trousers and red jacket looking like a cross between a superhero and a scientific adventurer, and I wished it had stuck around longer. Agreed! Very pulp adventurer costuming in the mold of Doc Savage is what I felt at the time and quite appropriate as Pym was always more comfortable being a scientific adventurer than being a "super" hero. I loved this run--it was my first exposure to Hank Pym--but while the new costume was kinda neat, I really missed him wearing the helmet. But while he lost some of that cool factor by going bare-faced, I suppose it did offer an opportunity for Trimpe to depict a lot more emotion, especially given the challenges of putting a tiny person in perspective in the scenes. It's too bad that the Marvel Essentials were running a bit shorter when Ant-Man's volume appeared. It would have been nice to get this run (and Hank's in-between solo story, and maybe his appearance in Hulk) appended to the full Tales To Astonish series. |
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Post by berkley on Nov 27, 2018 13:22:42 GMT -5
Like others here, Spotlight #2 made me an instant Ploog fan. I didn't know about the Eisner connection; at the time, I'd never seen any Eisner work. Warren's Spirit magazine was still two years in the future. I just saw that Ploog had a distinctive style and portrayed motion well. I had no use for stiff, generic comic art, then or now. I wish Barry Smith had done more Dr. Strange, but at the same time I wouldn't want to miss out on Frank Brunner's run. I actually had a dream about the Friedrich/Trimpe Ant-Man once.
No, Brunner's Strange is probably my favourite artwork ever on the character - which is saying something since Ditko and especially Colan are among my very favourite comics artists - so I wouldn't want to lose any of the Brunner Strange. I only wish his run with Englehart had lasted longer, much as I love Colan's work on the series.
Looking at that splash page again, I'd forgotten that BWS was credited with the plot for that story. I wonder if that means he had a special feeling for the character and had this story he wanted to do, or was it just that he came up with a story idea after being assigned to the issue.
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Post by codystarbuck on Nov 28, 2018 22:34:41 GMT -5
Marvel Premiere #4 Creative Team: Archie Goodwin-writer, Barry Windsor-Smith & Frank Brunner-artists, John Costanza-letterer, Roy Thomas-plot & edits. BWS & Frank Brunner! Synopsis: Dr Strange comes home and finds he has visitors and Wong is sleeping it off. He wakes up Wong and chews him out...  Geez, what a Richard! The visitor explains that he is Ethan Stoddard and his girlfriend Beth has been researching the occult in America, especially the Thantosian Tomes and has been acting weird. Doc apologizes to Wong, does a mystical lie detector with the Eye of Agamotto, then, the next morning, he and Ethan travel to Stakesboro and look into things. Wong makes an appointment with the Ancient One and Doc consults him, via the Ethernet. Doc and Ethan bump into townspeople, who act weird and seem to have pale, almost scaly skin.  Doc checks out the local church and finds a rather disturbing altar....  set up by a fan of Blue Oyster Cult. Ethan finds Beth, she's all hissy and reptile, he runs away and finds Doc, gets all anxious, then the townspeople, who were calling outside, "Come out Ethan, come out." I didn't know he was gay! He suddenly attacks Doc, with psychic help from the townspeople and Doc is out cold, on the altar. Thoughts: The credits say "Featuring concepts created by Robert E Howard." Uh-hunh. It should read, blatant rip-off of..........  This is pure Lovecraft, straight out of stuff like Shadow over Innsmouth. REH did write some Cthulhu mythos stuff, after corresponding with Howe P Lovecraft; but, not that much and the swipes are blatant. Marvel had the rights to Howard, they didn't have the rights to Lovecraft. So, a little sleight of hand and presto, the necronomicon becomes the Thanatosian Tomes and Cthulhu becomes Slugguth. This is Roy's plot and, certainly, his field. Archie was more into crime and mystery fiction and was a bit more original in his writing (and better at attributing his sources). I think Roy wanted to do Lovecraft and couldn't get the rights, so he substituted REH. He gets called out on it in the letters column, in a couple of issues and uses the REH Cthulhu Mythos pieces as an excuse. That said, Roy swipes it well and Archie can write anything and the sense of dread that fils Lovecraft is there. What really stands out is the combined work of BWS and Frank Brunner. It doesn't get more creepy and darkly beautiful than this. Cthulhu does kind of give Dr Strange something more interesting to do, other than yet another fight with Mordo or Dormammu. That was part of what sank his previous series; repetition of villains and threats.
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Post by codystarbuck on Nov 28, 2018 23:00:02 GMT -5
Marvel Spotlight #4 Creative Team: Conway-writer, Ploog-artist, Rosen-letterer, Stan-editor Synopsis: Jack finds someone creeping around the estate and jumps him. Turns out to be Carl Kolchak, looking for a story on the Darkhold and the Baron's castle, recently sold by Jack's stepfather, to a guy named Blackgar. They concoct a plan to go out to the island and Jack runs into rough seas. He gets knocked out and wakes up to find himself being shanghaied. He's brought to the castle and the Blackgars, father and creepy daughter. He gets tossed in a cell, they work on some Frankenstein monsters, he finds the Darkhold and changes. A bit of howlin', a bit of monster and old man fighting, then Jack is turned to stone by Marlene, who was always wearing sunglasses; but, took them off.  Thought: This was 1972 and the tv movie, The Night Stalker, came out in January of that year, with Darren McGavin as Carl Kolchak, a tabloid journalist investigating the serial killings of young women (many sex workers or cocktail waitresses, in Las Vegas). The film was an adaptation of the novel by Jeffrey Grant Rice, with script by Richard Matheson. That takes care of journalist Buck Cowan. The rest is a mix of Frankenstein, Eyes Without a Face (the film, not the Billy Idol song), the myth of Medusa, and a bunch of horror films. It also ends on a cliffhanger; but, does not continue in the next issue of MS. Instead, a couple of months later Jack Russell got his own series and the story wrapped up there, with Jack being freed and coming back for Round 2, with a mirror turning Marlene to stone. Decent, if unoriginal story, greatly carried by Ploog's art. Next issue; the debut of Ghost Rider! Well, the motorcycle dude, not the Dick Ayers horseman.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 28, 2018 23:42:41 GMT -5
Marvel Premiere #4Creative Team: Archie Goodwin-writer, Barry Windsor-Smith & Frank Brunner-artists, John Costanza-letterer, Roy Thomas-plot & edits. BWS & Frank Brunner! Synopsis: Dr Strange comes home and finds he has visitors and Wong is sleeping it off. He wakes up Wong and chews him out... Geez, what a Richard! The visitor explains that he is Ethan Stoddard and his girlfriend Beth has been researching the occult in America, especially the Thantosian Tomes and has been acting weird. Doc apologizes to Wong, does a mystical lie detector with the Eye of Agamotto, then, the next morning, he and Ethan travel to Stakesboro and look into things. Wong makes an appointment with the Ancient One and Doc consults him, via the Ethernet. Doc and Ethan bump into townspeople, who act weird and seem to have pale, almost scaly skin. Doc checks out the local church and finds a rather disturbing altar.... set up by a fan of Blue Oyster Cult. Ethan finds Beth, she's all hissy and reptile, he runs away and finds Doc, gets all anxious, then the townspeople, who were calling outside, "Come out Ethan, come out." I didn't know he was gay! He suddenly attacks Doc, with psychic help from the townspeople and Doc is out cold, on the altar. Thoughts: The credits say "Featuring concepts created by Robert E Howard." Uh-hunh. It should read, blatant rip-off of.......... This is pure Lovecraft, straight out of stuff like Shadow over Innsmouth. REH did write some Cthulhu mythos stuff, after corresponding with Howe P Lovecraft; but, not that much and the swipes are blatant. Marvel had the rights to Howard, they didn't have the rights to Lovecraft. So, a little sleight of hand and presto, the necronomicon becomes the Thanatosian Tomes and Cthulhu becomes Slugguth. This is Roy's plot and, certainly, his field. Archie was more into crime and mystery fiction and was a bit more original in his writing (and better at attributing his sources). I think Roy wanted to do Lovecraft and couldn't get the rights, so he substituted REH. He gets called out on it in the letters column, in a couple of issues and uses the REH Cthulhu Mythos pieces as an excuse. That said, Roy swipes it well and Archie can write anything and the sense of dread that fils Lovecraft is there. What really stands out is the combined work of BWS and Frank Brunner. It doesn't get more creepy and darkly beautiful than this. Cthulhu does kind of give Dr Strange something more interesting to do, other than yet another fight with Mordo or Dormammu. That was part of what sank his previous series; repetition of villains and threats. I think the Thantosian Tomes were more an analogue for Unaussprechlichen Kulten (aka Nameless Cults) written in the mythos by Friedrich Wilhelm Von Junzt a black book of forbidden knowledge compiled by Von Juntz after researching cults and other forbidden texts, and first introduced by REH in the Black Stone and the Bran mak Morn tale Children of the Night in 1931, and later added to his own stories by Lovecraft. Others have used the book in their stories since, including Dan Abnett and F. Paul Wilson in his book the Keep that became a movie (and D&D supplement) in the 80s. Maybe not quire as well known as the Necrononimicon, but the role of the Thantosian Tomes in the Doc Strange story better fits with the role Nameless Cults plays within the Cthulhu mythos than the Necronimicon does. There's also an anthology published by Chaosium called Nameless Cults that collects Howard's mythos stories (there's 18 stories in the collection) and the Del Rey collection The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard also has most of those in it plus other horror stories by Howard. Howard didn't write a lot of mythos tales in terms of his total output, but his mythos stories offered significant contributions to the mythos overall and were often taken up and used by Lovecraft himself and other mythos writers. He was a valued member of the Lovecraft circle. That said, Rascally Roy (and later Gardner Fox) is borrowing a lot from ole HP and not just REH in this story. -M |
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Post by codystarbuck on Nov 28, 2018 23:50:02 GMT -5
Marvel Feature #7 Gil Kane cover, as Hank Pym takes on Mil Mascaras!  Creative Team: Mike friedrich-script, P Craig Russell, Dan Adkins & Mark kersey-art, Charlotte Jeter-letters, Roy Thomas-edits Synopsis: Hank and Jan are on the run from a rogue insect collector....  They run to a cliff (well, stream bank) and Jan tries flying Hank over; but gets all loopy and drops him, then gets snared in the net. Hank uses his wits to get out; but, also gets caught and gassed. he wakes up in a glass bottle...  Mil Mascaras, aka Para-Man turns up, orders Boswell 9the guy in the glasses) around and relates how he was once a boxy Volvo robot, who got turned into a sleek Maserati robot, then turned on Boswell. he wants insect powers, hence the experiments. Jan and Hank are running out of air and Hank uses his nail sword to dig into the stopper and knock the bottle off, shattering it. He busts out Jan and the run into Mil, who cuts a promo...  Jan gets messed up and Hank punctures a gas can and snares some conveniently placed matches to set it off. Hank & Jan escape and Mil rescues Boswell, then heads back inside, when the can explodes, knocking his block off like a Rock-'em/Sock-'em Robot. Then, Jan turns into a wasp woman...  Thoughts: More fun for the fun-sized heroes, though Jan is pretty useless, here. The robot bod is a rather weird design and does look rather like a bizarre luchador (if that isn't redundant). Hank's still using his brains to kick butt, which still elevates this above the norm. Sadly, no Orkie. Did he burn up in the fire? Get your hankies ready! P Craig Russell and mentor Dan Adkins (and Mark Kersey) handle the art, as Herb has departed the series. Russell will finish this out. Dan Adkins laid out the issue and Mark Kersey was another Adkins assistant, who helped with this, his only job for Marvel.
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Post by codystarbuck on Nov 29, 2018 17:00:52 GMT -5
Marvel Premiere #5 Creative Team: Gardner Fox-writer, Irv Wesley (Sam Kweskin)-pencils, Don Perlin-inks, Sam Rosen-letters, Roy Thomas-edits Synopsis: Dr Strange is chained to the altar and the reptilian townspeople are drooling...  In comes Slugguth, who looks a bit like Fin Fang Foom's baby brother (with one head) and some chick, who is the high priestess (aren't they always!). Her name is Ebora and she lives up to it, regaling us with the background of the town, as a group of fisherman nab an inverted cross, with a serpent wound around it. It turns people into reptiles, except the hot priestesses, and they desecrate the local church and prepare the way for Cthulhu.......I mean, Shuma-Gorath, to return. Doc stalls for time, gets his chains pulled free, then attacks Slugguth. He tries physically at first, then magically. he gets the upper hand and the lizard runs off, and the priestess sicks the townspeople on Doc...  Doc's magics drive them back and they bugger off. he goes down into the catacombs beneath the church to hunt Slugguth. he avoids the usual Indiana Jones traps, bats, pits of vipers, etc until he find Slugguth and round 2 starts. meanwhile, the Ancient One has been aiding Doc, to fight the barrier sapping his magic. he gets a visit from the Vishanti, who look like Andy Warhol, TIger Mask, and the Orion Slave Girl, from Star Trek....  They provide help but, AO is weakened and the barriers protecting him come down and he gets carried off by drooling nutjobs. Clea wakes from a dream, sent by Umar (Dormamu's sister), and she and Wong graba car and race to Stakesboro. With the help of the Vishanti, Doc fights off Slugguth; but, is weakend and dumped in the sea, where Ebora is waiting with a trident (not the chewing gum, either).  Thoughts: Gardner Fox gets pretty wordy, to the point of absurdity, in some of the fight scenes. It's all rather melodramatic. Irv Wesley (Sam Kweskin) provides rather poor art, which Don Perlin's inks can't really clean up, much. It's a real come down from BWS and Frank Brunner. This would have been so much cooler had they been providing the atmosphere and imagery.
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Post by codystarbuck on Nov 29, 2018 17:45:53 GMT -5
Marvel Spotlight #5 Creative Team: Gary Friedrich-creator/script, Mike Ploog, John Costanza-letters, Roy Thomas-aiding and abetting, Stan Lee-edits Synopsis: It was a dark and stormy night; and, in the distance, a lone rider is seen approaching...  He witnesses some thugs kill a man and they chase him, to eliminate the witness. Fools. They corner him in an alley and he unleashes hellfire and then jumps his bike to escape. He hides his bike, as daylight approaches, and he reverts to human form...  He is Johnny Blaze, stuntrider. We get his history. His father, barton Blaze, rode in a daredevil show, with Crash Simpson. he is killed in a fiery crash. Crash adopts him and raises him with his daughter, Roxanne. Johnny and Roxanne train to be part of the show; but, wjen Johnny is 16, a bike he is riding catches fire, he steers it out of the circus tet and into a tree; but, his adoptive mother is caught in the blast and mortally injured. Johnny promises her, on her deathbed, that he won't ride in the show. He refuses to ride, as Roxanne joins her father and Crash berates him as a coward. Roxanne does, too, until she sees Johnny performing stunts on his own. She grows closer. eventually, they land a gig in Madison Square Garden (Pedro Morales and Superstar Billy Graham were busy); but, Crash only has a month to live. Johnny looks for a way to aid Crash to perform. Rather than even trying medical science or prayer, he turns right to Satan. He performs a ritual and Satan grants his wish...  Crash lives long enough to perform in the show, then dies when he lands a jump over multiple cars. Johnny goes out and makes the jump to distract the crowd, though Roxanne thinks he is showboating for personal glory. Johnny calls out Satan, who tells him to step off and comes for his soul. Roxanne shows up and blocks Satan, with her pure heart (not that pure, based on how quickly she attacks Johnny as a coward, when he won't ride, and a glory hound, when he does). Johnny is cursed, even if he doesn't fall completely under Satan's power. The next night, a headache turns into a flaming skull. Johnny flees in terror, scaring the bejeezus out of stagehands. We are then back to the present, when Johnny transforms again and rides off.  Thoughts: Classic issue; the debut of Ghost Rider! Well, the debut of a character derived from many sources. The name is taken from the Magazine Enterprises western hero, Ghost Rider, drawn by Dick Ayers. Eventually, after ME is gone, Ayers will draw the character for Marvel. They later changed his name to Night Rider (not Knightrider, which is the Hoff). The next source was the Daredevil villain, Stuntmaster (not to be confused wit Simon & Kirby's Stuntman). Gary Friedrich, when he was briefly writing the book, wanted to do a motorcycle villain, with a flaming skull). Roy suggested the idea was too good for a villain and should be its own book. He then set Mike Ploog to work on a design. The flaming skull is a point of contention; but, there was already a precedent, with the Golden Age character, the Blazing Skull. Johnny's leather jumpsuit was inspired by Elvis' leather gear, from his comeback special, with a western bib added, to invoke the original Ghost Rider, and white stripes down the sides, to make it easier to track the character, on the page. Friedrich claims the character was his sole idea, which Roy disputes and Mike Ploog disputes the origin of the flaming skull. Friedrich tried suing, when the movie was coming out and lost, badly, incurring heavy financial losses. Guess he should have paid more attention to the outcome of Gerber's suit and Marv Wolfman's, over Blade. The main problem arises from the Copyright Act of 1976. That law updated US copyright laws, requiring more specific notations and filings and was to be implemented on Jan 1, 1978. Jim Shooter took over as EIC on the first working day of january, 1978, and found, to his horror, that no one had been working on implementing the guidelines of the new law. As such, there was some belief that Marvel had failed to properly copyright many characters, especially in the 1970s. However, the courts have ruled in their favor, in later cases. This is old school horror stuff, given a modern sheen. Biker movies were all the rage, in the early 70s, with Roger Corman's Hell's Angels films, things like Born Losers (the first Billy Jack film), Easy Rider, and the stunt show of Evel Knievel. Ghost Rider taps into all of that (or swipes it; take your pick) and they struck copper, if not gold. Ghost Rider will continue for a few issues, before graduating to his own book and he will be a popular guest character in the 70s. In the 90s, he will become an annoying one and will get an Akira makeover. When it came time for a movie, though, everybody wanted the guy on the chopper! Now all we need is for Ghost Rider to meet Japan's Kamen Rider.....   Now, some better Ghost Rider music....
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Post by Rob Allen on Nov 29, 2018 17:56:04 GMT -5
Let's not forget Gary Friedrich's first motorcycling comic hero - Hell-Rider, from Skywald:  |
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Post by codystarbuck on Nov 29, 2018 18:31:46 GMT -5
Marvel Feature 8 & 9  Why 8 and 9? because of the old deadline doom. 8 is essentially a reprint, with 9 picking up the promised story, after Jan transforms into a wasp woman, at the end of last issue. Creative Team: Mike Friedrich-script, P Craig Russell and Jim Starlin-art, Jimmy Janes-inks, Roy Thomas-edits, reprint by Lee & Kirby, Heck and Simek Issue 9: Mike Friedrich-script, P Craig Russell-pencils, Frank Bolle-inks, John Costanza-letters, Ben Hunt-colors, Roy Thomas edits. Synopsis: Hank is running from wasp-woman Jan, falls off a cliff and gets knocked loopy, then recalls the origin of the Wasp, from Tales to Astonish #44 Hank meets Janet Van Dyne and her scientist father. jan is attracted to Hank. Pops Van Dyne is killed by an alien plant creature, Jan goes to hank for help, he powers her up, into the Waslp and they beat the alien and have a bunch of adventures. The issue ends with Hank awake, back running from Jan. Issue 9 has Hank using a popsicle stick as a springboard, to reach some plants, where he runs into a rat and has to fight it off. This allows jan to attack him; but, she isn't listening to Hank's safeword....  Hank runs away and locates his missing helmet and scoops it up, Tarzan-style...  Jan catches up, zaps him from behind and gets ready to add some more beatings...  Hank calls some ants to attack, Jan fights them off, while he escapes and then Jan follows. Meanwhile, Bill Foster confronts Hank's lawyer and jan's chauffeur, who seem to be in cahoots (the chauffeur is Whirlwind) and he ain't buying that it ain't murder, or that the pair are dead. he has Iron Man scan; but he finds no trace. Foster still believes they are alive. Cut back to a cornered Hank, who uses the helmet, at full power, to try to force Jan to snap out of it and it works. They recover and head for a house trailer, parked on the vacant lot, near the estate. Jan flies ahead and runs into a kitten, who swats at her...  Jan re-mutates and goes bezerk and Hank calls up his four friends..... The Ants save the day and Hank picks up Jan; then, the cat owner turns up and scoops up Hank & Jan...  Makes Para-Man look tasteful. Thoughts: .............................. It's not a great story; it's not a particularly bad one. It just sort of "is." Hank has to use pseudo-science to break Jan, which kind of loses the fun of the past and we get random threats, with the rat and the kitten. Then, we get the bizarre ending, with some guy who looks like he stepped out of an issue of the Invaders or All-Star Squadron, where he is a Japanese super-agent. I halfway expect Judomaster to turn up. Bill Foster being the only one who isn't buying Hank & Jan's deaths is a good idea; Iron Man not being convinced, after finding no evidence of their bodies, does not. Next issue is the last for this run; I hope Dr Nemesis is better than his costume.
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