Cool Bronze Age Comics: 1970 to 1981

[deuce]

Nov 6, 2016 17:44:58 GMT -5 @kail said:

One of DC's brightest during the Bronze Age - Jim Aparo







...... Detective Comics #440, Adventure Comics #432 (DC Comics) • Cover art by Jim Aparo

I was an Aparo fan very early on. My mom bought me Brave and the Bold #107 when I could barely read. It would've been great if Aparo had done some work on one of Marvel's REH projects. He could've kicked ass on Solomon Kane.

That issue of Detective Comics featured the Goodwin/Simonson Manhunter. Though little-known today, he was one of the greatest characters to come out of the Bronze Age.

[mrp]

Dec 13, 2016 20:30:07 GMT -5 @kail said:

...... Worlds Unknown #7 (Marvel Comics) • Cover art by George Tuska and Vince Colletta (and John Romita)

This should have been a cool comic, but the execution just wasn't up to snuff making it a terrible disappointment. I wrote a review of it here whenI read it a couple years back (and the next issue which finishes the adaptation).

This was my reaction...

The Golden Voyage of Sinbad
(19 story pages, color)

Story: 6/10
Art: 5/10
Overall Impression: 6/10

Synopsis: Sinbad’s ship encounters a winged creature that drops a golden amulet on board when they drive the creature off. The amulet causes Sinbad to have strange dreams and fell the tug of destiny, leading him to the city of Marabia, where he is awaited by the Vizier. The Vizier asks Sinbad’s help to find a treasure based on a map unlocked by the golden amulet and its mate that the Vizier had, and to aid the city against the evil Prince Koura. Sinbad agrees and they set sail, followed by Koura’s ship and plagued by Houra’s magic.

Commentary: So I am a huge fan of Ray Harryhausen’s movies, and The Golden Voyage of Sinbad is very familiar to me, and I love the Harryhausen monsters and effects-but George Tuska and Vince Colletta do a very poor job of capturing the charm and wonder of these creatures in this adaptation. I have to cop to a strong bias against George Tuska. He is among those artists I dreaded seeing in the credits when I bought comics as a kid. His efforts here are not horrible, and I can see some of his strengths, but Colletta’s inks do him no favors. He also has to resort to the follow the arrow trick to navigate some of his page layouts, which is a bit of a pet peeve of mine.

Wein’s adaptation however, captures the wit and personality of Sinbad, however, none of the other characters stand out, which is particularly disappointing with Koura who has a mad sense of menace in the movie as portrayed by the wonderful Tom Baker of Doctor Who fame. So as an adaptation, this misses the mark, as a sword and sorcery story on its own, it is ok, but the lackluster art really handicaps the enjoyment of the issue. In other artistic hands, this could have shined, but it is what it is, and it just kind of falls flat. Passable, but nothing spectacular.

It was just too meh to be cool because of the poor craftsmanship in the comic. The movie is still a favorite of mine.

-M

[paulmc]

No cover yet but Amazon is now listing the Thomas '77 Marvel TARZAN Omnibus coming next year.

www.amazon.com/Tarzan-Buscema-Omnibus-Roy-Thomas/dp/1524100641

[deuce]

Dec 13, 2016 20:40:01 GMT -5 mrp said:

Dec 13, 2016 20:30:07 GMT -5 @kail said:

...... Worlds Unknown #7 (Marvel Comics) • Cover art by George Tuska and Vince Colletta (and John Romita)

This should have been a cool comic, but the execution just wasn't up to snuff making it a terrible disappointment. I wrote a review of it here whenI read it a couple years back (and the next issue which finishes the adaptation).

This was my reaction...

The Golden Voyage of Sinbad
(19 story pages, color)

Story: 6/10
Art: 5/10
Overall Impression: 6/10

Synopsis: Sinbad’s ship encounters a winged creature that drops a golden amulet on board when they drive the creature off. The amulet causes Sinbad to have strange dreams and fell the tug of destiny, leading him to the city of Marabia, where he is awaited by the Vizier. The Vizier asks Sinbad’s help to find a treasure based on a map unlocked by the golden amulet and its mate that the Vizier had, and to aid the city against the evil Prince Koura. Sinbad agrees and they set sail, followed by Koura’s ship and plagued by Houra’s magic.

Commentary: So I am a huge fan of Ray Harryhausen’s movies, and The Golden Voyage of Sinbad is very familiar to me, and I love the Harryhausen monsters and effects-but George Tuska and Vince Colletta do a very poor job of capturing the charm and wonder of these creatures in this adaptation. I have to cop to a strong bias against George Tuska. He is among those artists I dreaded seeing in the credits when I bought comics as a kid. His efforts here are not horrible, and I can see some of his strengths, but Colletta’s inks do him no favors. He also has to resort to the follow the arrow trick to navigate some of his page layouts, which is a bit of a pet peeve of mine.

Wein’s adaptation however, captures the wit and personality of Sinbad, however, none of the other characters stand out, which is particularly disappointing with Koura who has a mad sense of menace in the movie as portrayed by the wonderful Tom Baker of Doctor Who fame. So as an adaptation, this misses the mark, as a sword and sorcery story on its own, it is ok, but the lackluster art really handicaps the enjoyment of the issue. In other artistic hands, this could have shined, but it is what it is, and it just kind of falls flat. Passable, but nothing spectacular.

It was just too meh to be cool because of the poor craftsmanship in the comic. The movie is still a favorite of mine.

-M

I agree that Tuska was an underwhelming artist. To me, he was kind of the "Poor Man's Sal Buscema". Considering that Sal was basically the "Don Perlin of the '70s"...   

Was there a comic adaptation of "Eye of the Tiger"? Stan Lee had already run off Jim Steranko before either movie came out. Check out this "Eye of the Tiger" artwork from Steranko's Mediascene and weep for what might have been...

[mrp]

Jan 3, 2017 18:34:18 GMT -5 @kail said:

...... Marvel Super Special #21 (Marvel Comics) • Cover art by Renato Casaro

It's a cool comic but wasn't published until 1982 (August cover date) so just after the period this thread covers.


A few more covers from the Bronze Age...

Steranko on Shanna the She-Devil...



Gray Morrow on Chilling Adventures in Sorcery/Red Circle Sorcery...









and I loved the painted cover son these Gold Key Flash Gordon comics...











-M

[deuce]

Jan 4, 2017 2:05:19 GMT -5 mrp said:

and I loved the painted cover son these Gold Key Flash Gordon comics...





-M

Ol' Flash is looking a lot like Kirk Douglas right there.

[deuce]

Dagar the Invincible by Don Glut and Jesse Santos had a few interesting moments, but I always got more chuckles than thrills out of the tales. Check out that anatomically correct elephant!


www.amazon.com/Dagar-Invincible-Archives-Dark-Horse/dp/1595828184

[deuce]

We haven't visited Ol' Groove in a long time. Here's a great post looking back at the grooviest DC covers from the summer of '76!

diversionsofthegroovykind.blogspot.com/2011/06/summer-of-76-grooviest-covers-of-all_07.html

[deuce]

Atlas/Seaboard Comics exploded on the scene in the mid-'70s and then quickly died. They had some interesting comics (darker than usual for the '70s) and some great creators.

www.atlasarchives.com/articles/history.html

[paulmc]

No cover yet, but Ploog's PLANET OF THE APES are being collected and re-released.

Planet of the Apes Archive Vol. 1: Terror on the Planet of the Apes
www.amazon.com/dp/1608869903

[deuce]

Feb 7, 2017 12:21:05 GMT -5 paulmc said:

No cover yet, but Ploog's PLANET OF THE APES are being collected and re-released.

Planet of the Apes Archive Vol. 1: Terror on the Planet of the Apes
www.amazon.com/dp/1608869903

Outstanding!  Those issues will also have been written by the one-and-only Doug Moench.  

[deuce]

Oct 15, 2016 21:41:28 GMT -5 deuce said:

How we've gone 5 pages without Jack Kirby's completely GONZO Kamandi comic, I don't know.  BTW, I'm a proud citizen of the Gorilla Communes and, yes, we are keeping a close eye on the Tiger Empire. Very close.

An excellent intro/write-up on Kamandi:


medleyana.com/2017/01/19/introducing-the-kamandi-challenge/

[deuce]

RIP, Bernie.

Swamp Thing #9, 1974

[deuce]

DC's Beowulf comic had an incoherent storyline, thanks to the scripting of Michael Uslan, who has stated he hates sword and sorcery. However, some of the Villamonte art was outstanding. Here's a review of #6:


comicsalliance.com/bizarro-back-issues-beowulf-1975/

[lordyam]

Mar 23, 2017 11:20:32 GMT -5 deuce said:

DC's Beowulf comic had an incoherent storyline, thanks to the scripting of Michael Uslan, who has stated he hates sword and sorcery. However, some of the Villamonte art was outstanding. Here's a review of #6:


comicsalliance.com/bizarro-back-issues-beowulf-1975/

I never got this. Why the fuck would you assign a writer who hates the subject he's writing about?