Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Reading Room: GULLIVAR JONES "Wasteland on a Weirdling World"

The John Carter movie is only a week away (March 9th)...
Art by Gil Kane and Joe Sinnott
Meanwhile, we're continuing the adventures of his swashbuckling predecessor on Mars, Gullivar Jones, as we present, from Creatures on the Loose #18 (1972), the third chapter of the short-lived, never-reprinted, comic adaptation...
To be continued HERE!
Ross Andru, right before beginning his stint on Doc Savage, came on for a single issue, replacing Gil Kane, who continued to do covers.
Gerry Conway and science fiction writer George Alec Effinger take over the scripting from Roy Thomas, who plotted the story and remains as editor.
One of the major problems this series faced was only having 10 pages every two months to tell the story.
And, because it was a bi-monthly, the writers felt compelled to recap not only the previous issue, but the entire story, which ate into the page count for a given issue's tale!
Had Marvel given the series a 15-page or full-book page count to work with (or 10 pages in a monthly title), the series might have gained more of an audience.
As it is, we're already midway thru the too-brief color comics run.
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Monday, February 27, 2012

PussyCat, PussyCat, I Love You...

Mentioning Bill Everett in our recent Gullivar Jone of Mars posts reminded me of this...
...the centerfold for the one-shot 1968 PussyCat b/w magazine for which Bill also did the cover...
Everett, besides being a talented writer and illustrator, also did coloring and production work from time to time, including graytone work (usually listed as "special effects") and spot illustrations for both Marvel and Skywald's b/w magazine lines!
Truly a Renaissance man...
Plus, PussyCat will return shortly...(hey, we've been busy)!
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Sunday, February 26, 2012

Flash Gordon #7 Cover Preview

There's no Flash Gordon like a "classic" Flash Gordon.
 Have you noticed that all the attempts to "update" the character modify him so much as to be unrecognizable?
(Remember the Smallville-ized Sci-Fi, er, SyFy version? YUK!)
Thankfully, Dynamite's current series goes back to the basics, combining the best of Alex Raymond's (and successor Mac Raboy's) original strips with the movie serials, 1980 feature film, Filmation tv series, and Al Williamson's contributions in the '60s and '80s, to make a kool pastiche almost on the level of the Dini-Timm-McDuffie DC Animated universe.
Top it off with superb covers like this one for #7 by Francesco Francavilla, and it's a must-have package for high-adventure fans of all ages.
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Saturday, February 25, 2012

Design of the Week--Warrior of Barsoom

Each week, we post a limited-edition design, to be sold for exactly 7 days, then replaced with another!
This week...with a new big-budget movie based on the classic Edgar Rice Burroughs book A Princess of Mars opening in less than two weeks, now's the time to pick up a collectible t-shirt, tote bag, mini-button, or other wearable featuring kool vintage art by Burroughs mainstay Jesse Marsh to have on hand when you go to a screening, or the opening day, of John Carter (If you're reading this blog, you know you'll be in line, like me!)
Go "secret chic" with a throw blanket to lay on the cold movie theatre floor while you wait in line at the midnight show or a tote bag to carry your "forbidden" food and drink into the theatre featuring Dejah Thoris, John Carter, their Thoat, and a deadly Thark, and see how many true fans recognize it!

Friday, February 24, 2012

Reading Room: GULLIVAR JONES "River of the Dead"

The John Carter movie is only a week away (March 9th)...
Art by Gil Kane and unknown inker
Meanwhile, we're continuing the adventures of his swashbuckling predecessor on Mars, Gullivar Jones, as we present the second, never-reprinted chapter of the short-lived comic adaptation from Creatures on the Loose #17 (1972)...
To be continued...HERE!
You'll note that Sam Grainger has replaced Bill Everett as the inker.
Unfortunately, Everett's health was declining and he had to cut back on the volume of work he was doing, preferring to devote what time he had to working on his greatest creation, Prince Namor: the Sub-Mariner.
He passed away a little over a year later.
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