Showing posts with label New York. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New York. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Best of Reading Room BIG APPLE COMIX "Token" by Herb Trimpe

The Abraham Lincoln story scheduled for today can be found HERE.
In the early 1970s, there were a lot of underground / alternative comics...
...but this HTF 1975 one-shot was one of the koolest, if only for it's awesome lineup of big-name New York-based comics talent including:
Wally Wood (who did the amazing cover above as well as a NSFW spoof of his classic "My World" strip, plus he wrote a second strip and inked a third.)!
Al Williamson, who illustrated a NSFW strip written by Wood, illustrating a Roy Thomas-lookalike nerd thrust into a world of barbarians, nude princesses, and monsters, becoming a loincloth-wearing, sword-wielding hero!
Plus: Neal Adams, Larry Hama, Ralph Reese, Paul Kirshner, Archie Goodwin, Marie Severin, Mike Ploog, Alan Weiss, Stu Schwarzberg, Linda Fite, and Herb Trimpe.
Edited and published by Flo Steinberg (known as "Fabulous Flo" when she was Stan Lee's Gal Friday during the Silver Age), the comic was sold primarily in "head shops" and sleazy bookstores since the Direct Market was in it's infancy and there were maybe two dozen comic book shops in the entire country!
The comic was a tribute to New York City, the city we love, the city we hate, the city we love to hate and hate to love.
(Yeah, I was born and raised in NYC...Brooklyn, to be exact!)
There's lots of venting of cynicism and irritation, like the cover with commuters just standing there with an "It's always something!" attitude instead of fleeing in terror as most populaces do at the sight of giant monsters tearing up the skyline.
And then there's the gentle, poetic, side as shown by the highly-underrated Herb Trimpe's visual treat...
BTW, the object in question is a subway token.
Its' use was discontinued over a decade ago in favor of "smart cards", so there are probably readers of this blog who have never used, or even seen them.

Penciler/inker (and occasional writer) Herb Trimpe, who fell into disfavor with Marvel in the 1990s, despite trying to adapt by becoming a Rob Liefield clone, was as much a part of their Silver and Bronze Age success as the Buscema brothers, Don Heck, John Romita Sr, Dick Ayers, Frank Giacoia, Joe Sinnott, or any of the other hardworking craftsmen of the era.
He passed away a couple of days ago...another of the links to the Silver and Bronze Ages (and, according to all accounts, a heck of a nice guy) lost to eternity.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Design of the Week--the ORIGINAL Woodstock Poster!

Each week, we post a limited-edition design, to be sold for exactly 7 days, then replaced with another!
This week...
40 years ago, the ULTIMATE folk / rock music festival almost wasn't held in a field in upstate New York!
Subtitled "The Aquarian Exposition", it featured a one-time ONLY lineup of most of the greatest solo performers & groups of the era, including (incomplete list):
Richie Havens
Ravi Shankar (father of Norah Jones)
Melanie
Arlo Guthrie
Joan Baez
John Sebastian
Santana
Canned Heat
Grateful Dead
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Sly & the Family Stone
Janis Joplin & the Kozmic Blues Band
The Who
Jefferson Airplane
Joe Cocker
Country Joe & the Fish
Blood, Sweat & Tears
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
Sha-Na-Na
Jimi Hendrix
Amazing, eh?
Besides various live celebration performances commemorating the event, there's a new film about how the festival came to be--Taking Woodstock!
Over the next few weeks, Design of the Week will be hosting various Woodstock-related designs, just in time for you to go "secret chic"!
Here's the ORIGINAL poster for the festival, listing the original location, Wallkill, New York!
When the permits process fell through, the party was moved to Bethel, but the original artist was unavailable to do a revised poster, so an entirely new one was quickly created! (That's the iconic bird-guitar-hand image you're seeing everywhere now!)
The original poster was forgotten by history...until now!
We scanned one of those hard-to-find original posters and digitally-remastered it for your nostalgic pleasure!
Enjoy!
Peace!
Love!

Friday, July 24, 2009

Design of the Week: Woodstock--It's Happening AGAIN!

We've decided to introduce a new feature to our line of collectibles...Design of the Week!
Each week, we'll post a limited-edition design, to be sold for exactly 7 days, then replaced with another!
This week...
40 years ago, the ULTIMATE folk / rock music festival almost wasn't held in a field in upstate New York!
Subtitled "The Aquarian Exposition", it featured a one-time ONLY lineup of most of the greatest solo performers & groups of the era, including (incomplete list):
Richie Havens
Ravi Shankar (father of Norah Jones)
Melanie
Arlo Guthrie
Joan Baez
John Sebastian
Santana
Canned Heat
Grateful Dead
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Sly & the Family Stone
Janis Joplin & the Kozmic Blues Band
The Who
Jefferson Airplane
Joe Cocker
Country Joe & the Fish
Blood, Sweat & Tears
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
Sha-Na-Na
Jimi Hendrix
Amazing, eh?
Besides various live celebration performances commemorating the event, there's a new film about how the festival came to be--Taking Woodstock!
Over the next few weeks, Design of the Week will be hosting various Woodstock-related designs, just in time for you to go "secret chic"!
Go "groovy, man, groovy" with this kool body-painted lady who knows the meaning of "uninhibited", but in a family-friendly way!
Enjoy!
Peace!
Love!

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Design of the Week: Woodstock Music Festival

We've decided to introduce a new feature to our line of collectibles...Design of the Week!
Each Thursday, we'll post a limited-edition design, to be sold for exactly 7 days, then replaced with another!
This week...
40 years ago, the ULTIMATE folk / rock music festival almost wasn't held in a field in upstate New York!
Subtitled "The Aquarian Exposition", it featured a one-time ONLY lineup of most of the greatest solo performers & groups of the era, including (incomplete list):
Richie Havens
Ravi Shankar (father of Norah Jones)
Melanie
Arlo Guthrie
Joan Baez
John Sebastian
Santana
Canned Heat
Grateful Dead
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Sly & the Family Stone
Janis Joplin & the Kozmic Blues Band
The Who
Jefferson Airplane
Joe Cocker
Country Joe & the Fish
Blood, Sweat & Tears
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
Sha-Na-Na
Jimi Hendrix
Amazing, eh?
Besides various live celebration performances commemorating the event, there's a new film about how the festival came to be--Taking Woodstock!
Over the next few weeks, Design of the Week will be hosting various Woodstock-related designs, just in time for you to go "secret chic"!
First up, a retro psychedelic black-lite poster style design (looks great on black / dark shirts)!
Enjoy!
Peace!
Love!

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Sneak Preview: WoodStock 1969-2009

Next week we'll be unleashing several designs commemorating the 40th Anniversary of the ULTIMATE music festival--WOODSTOCK!
Here's two of them, both with a decidedly-retro look and feel.
We'll also have the FIRST promo poster, which had very limited use because it listed the original site, Walkill, instead of Bethel, where the festival was actually held!