Sunday, August 28, 2016

It's Jack Kirby's 99th Birthday...

...now re-read his final Marvel project, unseen by the general public since 1980...
...Marvel's first original graphic novel.
It starts as a retelling of the "Coming of Galactus" storyline from Fantastic Four #48-50, but set in a reality without any of the myriad characters that inhabit Earth and the solar system of the Marvel Universe.
No Fantastic Four.
No Watcher.
No Alicia Masters.
However, there is Norrin Radd, who becomes the Silver Surfer, as well as Shalla Bal, his true love, and their home world, Zenn-La, and of course, Galactus!
After stranding the Surfer on Earth, the story goes off on a totally-new tangent and introduces new characters, the golden Ardina (whom Galactus uses to emotionally-manipulate the Surfer), and Master of Guile, a manifestation of Galactus' "Dark Side" who advises the planet-eating alien!
It's a unique take on the character, and, as we said, the last joint project by the two guys who co-created most of the Marvel Universe!

As to how and why it came about...
According to Bill Bagnall at T'aint the Meat... It's the Humanity, the basis of the graphic novel was a never-used story for a Silver Surfer movie rock musical that would've featured Olivia Newton-John as Ardina!
Unusual note, the copyright to the graphic novel is not Marvel's, but jointly-held by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby!
As of January, 2016, it's only available as a HTF, expensive, limited-edition hardcover or paperback.
But, in the interest of historical research, we've re-presented the entire tale starting HERE.
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Saturday, August 27, 2016

Last Week on RetroBlogs...

There was only one mini-marathon, but it was a "goodie"...
...pencilled and inked by Jack (King) Kirby (whose 99th birthday is tomorrow) at Western Comics Adventures!
Sadly, next week is the finale for the RetroBlogs mini-marathons, but the festival ends with a BANG!
Check out...
Seduction of the Innocent!! as we re-present never-reprinted horror tales from the short-lived Devilina, Seaboard's attempt to beat Warren's Vamiprella at her own game in 1975!
Plus, one more World War I crossover between Hero Histories and War: Past Present and Future as we re-present the unseen-for-50-years adventure of G-8 and His Battle Aces!
Be here for the fun!

Friday, August 26, 2016

Reading Room CONQUEST "Beowolf the Mighty"

How do you liven up those boring, tired old ancient myths?
...why, turn one of the characters into a Tyrannosaurus Rex, of course!
Usually, Grendel is a demonic or ape-like beast.
Certainly, he's never been portrayed as a dinosaur before (or since)!
This 1955 one-shot from Eastern Color featured tales of real-life adventurers...except for Beowolf (which is usually spelled "Beowulf").
We don't know who the writer is so there's no way to tell if it was his/her idea or artist Bill Ely's to make Grendel a dinosaur!
BTW, Ely had a lot of experience rendering dinosaurs in sci-fi tales for almost every comics company of the 1950s and 60s, including a stint as the artist for DC's Rip Hunter: Time Master, who now leads the team on the CW's Legends of Tomorrow TV series!

Thursday, August 25, 2016

Before Mister Machine...There Was Captain Marvel (II)!

A decade before Machine Man/Mister Machine appeared on the scene...
...to fight the good fight (even when he went all to pieces)...
...another artificial man with a propensity for disassembling himself while fighting evil had an all-too brief run in the world of comics...
...and this guy had a couple of less-than-obvious connections to Marvel Comics!
Want to learn more?
Click HERE to read his origin and find out some kool background info about him!
And click HERE to see him in combat against someone who looks a lot like a certain Caped Crusader!

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Reading Room 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY "Hotline to Hades" Conclusion

...sentient robot X-51/Aaron Stack/Mister Machine has been disassembled by the Brotherhood of Hades and his brain is about to be probed by the group's leader...The Great Monitor!
Written and penciled by Jack Kirby, inked by Mike Royer, this final issue of Marvel's 2001: a Space Odyssey kicks-off the saga of Machine Man, but is not included in the current trade paperback compilation of his solo appearances due to licensing restrictions tied to the legendary MGM movie, which this series was a sequel to!

Six months later, in early 1978, Jack continued  X-51/Aaron Stack's story in the first issue of Machine Man (because "Mister Machine" was trademarked by Ideal Toys) .
Kirby would stay on the book until his contract with Marvel ended in late 1978.
The book was cancelled with #9, then, after a multi-part guest appearance in Incredible Hulk 235-237 (which placed the character firmly in the Marvel Universe), the title was revived with writer Marv Wolfman and artist Steve Ditko reimagining the character, who's become a major part of Marvel ever since!
But you can read all that stuff in the trade paperback compilation now on sale at Amazon!
Tomorrow, we'll have a look at another robot (with a Marvel comic connection) who fought evil while disassembled!
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Today!