Dick Ayers

SGT. Fury #98, 1972 “Dugan’s Deadly Dozen!”

Posted on by billyd75

With Memorial Day in the rear-view mirror just slightly, I thought it would be cool to spotlight one of Marvel’s military comics from back in the day. None was better than the always entertaining, Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos!  This rag-tag group was always either kicking butt or making with the wise comments. Never a dull moment! In this tale, Fury is laid up, so Dugan must take charge, and whip these new guys into shape! A new class of recruits that are less than desirable need to be trained and it’s up to Dum Dum Dugan to do it! Also look for a special appearance by Nick Fury and Happy Sawyer!

This title always had great creators on it. From Roy Thomas, to Jack Kirby, and more. This issue however, is presented by the incredible team of Gary Friedrich (writer), Dick Ayers (pencils), Mike Esposito (inks), Artie Simek (letters), and John Severin (cover)! These fine creators did a copious amount of work on this title, and they really made it their own for a time. Well, sit back and relax, because this one is a real treat! Just look at the fantastic work by Ayers and Esposito!

 

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Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos #121, 1974

Posted on by billyd75

As we can still see Veterans Day (Remembrance Day also) in our rear-view mirror, I thought it would be cool to throw out a military comic, in honor of all those who have served. What better way to celebrate, than to spotlight Nick Fury and his band of brothers! If you like military comics, this is the one for you. Fury, by himself is a great character, but when you throw in the other commandos, you get a wild bunch that is very entertaining. Whether it’s Dum Dum Dugan, Pinky Pinkerton, or Gabe Jones, you get a fantastic mix of personalities in this book for sure!

In this reprint of Sgt. Fury #19 (1965), we get a solid story from Stan Lee, wonderful pencils by Dick Ayers (RIP), inks by Frank Ray (Giacoia), and letters by Sam Rosen! The original cover was by Jack ‘King’ Kirby, but this one looks to have been touched up by someone else. Dugan looks like Frank Robbins work to me personally, but take that with a grain of salt, because I’m not very good at recognizing art styles. Well, anyways, take a look at some of the finest war comics the back issue bins has to offer!

 

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A Chamber of Chills Ensemble!

Posted on by billyd75

After being thoroughly exhausted from a weekend trip and now work, I’m playing catch-up now! Instead of posting about a single issue, I thought I’d just post a good-sized helping of a horror title to whet your appetites, and get you in the Halloween mood! The title “Chamber of Chills,” has always been one that I thought had good content, with either new stories or reprinted material from the Atlas Era. The first few issues featured new material from names like Thomas, Brunner, Russell, and so forth, but eventually the book went with just all reprint stories. Not that it was a bad thing mind you, because then you got to see work by greats like Heck, Ayers, Ditko, and early Perlin, as well!

These men were masters, one and all, and the legacy they’ve left for toady’s creators to follow is nothing short of extraordinary. Some are still with us, sadly others are not,  but their incredible contributions live on in the pages of comic books just like the issues I’m about to showcase! Sit back, and relax, because you’re about to go on a journey into a very scary and chilling place!

 

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Where Monsters Dwell #2, 1970. “I Created Sporr, The Thing That Could Not Die”

Posted on by billyd75

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You know, whenever you can grab some Jack Kirby/Dick Ayers awesomeness, you need to take advantage, because gems like this aren’t stacked by the dozen everywhere. I just bought this book today at a local convention (Lehigh Valley Comic Con) for fifty cents! That’s right, half a buck for one of the best artists of all time! This is one of the fabulous reprint titles that are starting to creep up in price, so I grabbed it quick! Enjoy!