Peerless Power of Comics!

Every once in a while its nice to write something deserving of the "Minutiae" title, and this post achieves that. A few months back my brother John, who often sends me emails when there is a question of identifying art, forwarded me something that was being advertised on Heritage Auctions. It was page 13 of Journey into Mystery # 88, an early Thor story, drawn by Kirby and inked by Dick Ayers. It's always a treat to look at original art pages, especially (for me) studying the border notes by Kirby and others, as well as Stan's production notes to Sol Brodsky. This page was particularly intriguing because it includes a panel that was changed before publication. Original art to Journey into Mystery # 88, Jan 1963, Kirby pencils;Ayers inks Close-up of Thor panel by Kirby There have been numerous instances where Stan requested art corrections or alterations, so that was no big surprise. I put the page away and intended to compare it to the original, to see why it was al

An essential component of Marvel Comics’ distinctive appearance in the 1960s was the interior and cover lettering of Artie Simek and Sam Rosen - two of the finest craftsman employed by Stan Lee. Both men had worked in the business for decades: In the 1940s Rosen lettered for Will Eisner on his seminal Spirit comic strip and produced much work for Quality comics (Blackhawk); Simek worked on staff at Timely comics, the precursor to Marvel, where he crafted many logos. He also lettered for DC in the 1950s, where his work can be seen in Tales of the Unexpected and early issues of Challengers of the Unknown. Both men brought bombast and personality to Marvel's 1960s output. Guided by Editor/Art Director Stan Lee, who helped design the different bursts, balloons, captions and sound effects that Simek and Rosen brought to life, the Marvel letterers, through Lee’s promotional extravagances, began to gain unprecedented recognition, even if they were often the punch line to countless jokes i

Since the Marvel Masterworks –Atlas Era Tales To Astonish Vol 4 comes out this week, which includes my essay on those stories (and I hope you’ll all go out and buy it, since it’s a worthwhile book. I've included a link to the Marvel Masterworks site for a better look). http://www.collectededitions.com/marvel/mm/atlas/tta/tta_mm04.html I thought it would be a good time to discuss the importance of what some consider “silly monster stories”, with little meaning in the scheme of things to the Marvel Superhero explosion. Having studied and collected these comics for many years, including the original comics in their sequential order, I’ve concluded that they very much affect the future Marvel Comics Group. In terms of plotting, creative teams and concepts they became the clay which would slowly mold itself into a new era, one that took not only elements of the monster story, but those of romance, westerns and teen humor. What Lee, Lieber, Kirby, Ditko and the rest did was transform bi

I don’t recall when I purchased my first romance comic book; it might have been Our Love Story # 5, with a Steranko story, at a convention, but eventually the stigma of a male buying romance comics dimmed, and, like my interest in other genres; western, crime, mystery - I gained an appreciation for this neglected and demeaned genre   . While it often suffers from repetitive plots, that is also the case in many genres, including the beloved superhero. Romance is important in the context of superheroes, specifically the melding of those elements into the 1960's story lines. Stan Lee incorporated aspects of the romance strip, as he did with humor and teen strips, fashioning a "new" superhero formula in the process. Young Brides # 25, Nov-Dec 1955, Prize. Kirby pencils; Simon inks, alterations? The dog in the background adds the perfect touch to the cover! ­­ Romance comics have a rich history, again tied to superheroes, due to Joe Simon and Jack Kirby's involvement. The