George Perez (1954-2022)

One of the most-successful of the second wave of fans-turned-pros...

...George Perez became his generation's Jack Kirby*, producing a massive (and magnificent) body of work spanning decades and genres**, yet never losing his modesty about his accomplishments...

...or his fanboy sense of humor, as this piece, done during his run on the Logan's Run comic demonstrates!
Besides super-heroes and tv/movie adaptations, George drew almost anything he was asked to do...including the massive JLA/Avengers crossover (two different versions) and the continuity-redefining Crisis on Infinite Earths!
He even did two Beatles-themed projects...

...The Beatles Story and the unreleased-in-America Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band**!

We've presented a few of his lesser-known stories...

Frank (Dune) Herbert's thought-provoking "Occupation Force"

The post-apocalyptic "Ride the Blue Bus"

Gullivar Jones "Martian Genesis"

...and next Tuesday and Thursday we'll present a couple more rarely-seen tales illustrated by George.

*To be fair, Kirby created far more characters than Perez, who specialized in revamping/revitalizing characters!
**Curiously, though he did numerous super-hero tales involving romantic relationships, George never did an actual romance comic story!
***Sgt Pepper was released in Europe (including England) and Asia.

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder ADVENTURERS' CLUB "Whick! Whock! Whick! Whock!"

Let's end the too-brief run of this retro (even when it was published almost 50 years ago) series...

...with a story about the world's most unique timepiece as we present the final chapter of The Adventurers' Club!

This never-reprinted story from DC's Adventure Comics #430 (1973) featured a new creative team, writer Arnold Drake and artist Luis Dominguez (who had illustrated the only cover the Adventurers' Club appeared on as shown last week) and an oddly-red-headed Nelson Strong!

Though the Adventurers' Club strip ended, Nelson Strong would reappear a couple of decades later in DC's Swamp Thing #145-150 (1994-5) as a big-game hunter attempting to capture Swampy.
Nelson dies in the attempt and is briefly resurrected as an Elemental!
Bet that would've been a helluva Adventurers' Club story, eh?

Next Wednesday

A New World of Wonder!

Reading Room JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY "Orogo!! The Nightmare from Outer Space!!"

Behind this Jack Kirby-penciled/Don Heck-inked splash...

...lurks a mystery. which we'll delve into after you read the story!

When this Stan Lee-scripted, Don Heck-illustrated (except for the splash) tale was reprinted in Marvel's Fantasy Masterpieces #2 (1967), the cover played-up Heck's Cyclopean robot (and Dashin' Don himself)...

...but when it was first published in Atlas' Journey into Mystery #57 (1960)...

...and reprinted a second time in Marvel's Where Monsters Dwell #12 (1971)...

...it used the original Kirby cover that seems to be a reverse-angle of the splash page above and shows a radically-different Orogo with two eyes!

Did editor/art director Stan the Man have The King do the cover and splash and then pass the rest of the story to Heck to finish,...but, for whatever reason, didn't give Dashing Don the cover as reference for Orogo, so Heck came up with his own version of the robot...with only one eye?

There are several Atlas-era monster stories where Kirby would do splashes, then another artist would complete the tale.

Bookmark us and keep an eye out as we attempt to solve the half century-old mystery....

Monday RUSSKIE Madness JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY "Propaganda"

Today is "Victory Day" in Russia, and since Vladimir Putin will, no doubt, use...

...to claim a non-existent victory in Ukraine, this never-reprinted tale from sixty years ago about using "alternative facts" seems as timely as ever!

Note: because of racial stereotypes common to the era of publication, this may be NSFW!

This story from Atlas' Journey into Mystery #80 (1962) by plotter Stan Lee, scripter Larry Lieber, penciler Jack Kirby, and inker Dick Ayers, is a reworking of an earlier story, also called "Propaganda", from Atlas' Uncanny Tales V1N9 (1953). That one was reprinted in Marvel's Uncanny Tales V2N1 (1973) and you'll be seeing it on our "brother" RetroBlog, Seduction of the Innocent, today!

In the meantime, here's a special treat...scans of the complete original art for this tale!

Enjoy!

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Secret History of Marvel Comics:

Jack Kirby and the Moonlighting Artists at Martin Goodman's Empire

Holiday Reading Room EVERY DAY IS A HOLLY DAY "Mother's Day"

Ever wonder why Mother's Day is when it is...or even why it is?

Oddly, there's no entry in this comic for Father's Day!

(Perhaps because Father's Day wasn't made an official American holiday until 1972, decades after this comic was published in 1956!)

Why is this comic entitled "Every Day is a Holly Day" instead of "Every Day is a Holiday"?

Because it was given away to kids by grocers who sold Holly Sugar!

Illustrated by John Rosenberger, it's a unique pamphlet covering a number of American holidays, including both Lincoln and Washington's Birthdays (before they were combined into "Presidents' Day"), Flag Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and a couple of holidays we've largely abandoned...Pan-American Day and American Indian Day!

We'll be presenting the other chapters on the dates they fall upon.

Watch for them!

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Cartoon History of the United States