Gil Kane

Marvel Chillers #1, 1975 “Magic is Alive!”

Posted on by billyd75

I recently attended a small comic convention, and grabbed a few good books for a decent cost. Nothing high-end, just a couple of black and white mags, and a few key issues from the Bronze Age (well, key to me anyways). One of them being Marvel Chillers #1! This was the first appearance of a pretty important character during this era, Modred the Mystic. He would go on to plague the Avengers, and especially be a part of the Scarlet Witch’s life for a while. In this issue we see his origin, and more about the Darkhold and Wundagore Mountain!

With a number one issue like this, the cover really doesn’t need an “A” team, but it has one anyway! Artists Gil Kane (pencils), and Tom Palmer (inks) supply a fantastic cover for this one! Inside you get work from Bill Mantlo (script), Marv Wolfman (plot), Yong Montano (pencils), Ed Hannigan (pencils), John Romita Sr. (inks), Petra Goldberg (colors), Tony San Jose (letters), and Frank Giacoia (inks)! With a crew like that, this one is a can’t miss!

 

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Black Goliath #5, 1976 “Survival!”

Posted on by billyd75

The 1970’s had such an eclectic selection of comic books, that looking back, you can’t deny the place it has in history. It’s understood that without the Golden Age, and Silver Age, things wouldn’t have turned out that way, but that fact doesn’t diminish the greatness of the Bronze Age! Take for instance, the title, Black Goliath. In only five issues, it gave us a superhero of color, and one that was definitely a strong character. If you look back, that was something in short supply. The scientist, Bill Foster, was an employee of Stark Industries, and later became the scientific partner of Hank Pym. In this, the final issue of the series, Foster must do battle with a giant alien savage named Mortag! And also protect two others with no superpowers!

The story is pretty good, and with someone like Chris Claremont writing, you kind of expect it after all he’s done. The artist is the terribly underrated Keith Pollard (a guy I’ve spotlighted before on my blog). He had a good run on the Fantastic Four, and Thor, and if you check out those issues, you’ll be impressed. The colorist is Bonnie Wilford, and the letterer, Irv Watanabe. The short-lived editor, but always reliable writer, Archie Goodwin rounds out the team! Oh, and let us not forget the action packed cover by the master, Gil Kane (pencils) and another Marvel stalwart of the era, Al Milgrom (inks)!

 

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Marvel Spotlight #25, 1975 “The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad”

Posted on by billyd75

In honor of one of my favorite filmmakers (yeah, I know he was just labeled as the “special effects” guy, but get real, those movies wouldn’t exist without him), Ray Harryhausen, I’ll be taking a look at Marvel Spotlight #25 (1975)! In this issue, we see an adaptation of “The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad,” which was one of Ray’s crowning achievements, in this bloggers humble opinion. Marvel decided to put that incredible movie into comic book format, and it delivers! We join Sinbad on the high seas, then see him battle a giant Cyclops, an unbelievable, fire-breathing dragon, and even a skeleton! Any fan of this movie must own this comic book!

Marvel selected quite a solid creative team for this one, and although these creators aren’t the biggest names from that decade, anyone that cares to research them will find out that they did some phenomenal work over their careers! Writer – John Warner (Son of Satan, Rampaging Hulk), pencils & inks – Sonny Trinidad (Marvel Classics, Marvel B&W Mags), colors by Petra Goldberg, letters by Jim Novak, edited by Marv Wolfman, and cover by Gil Kane! Take a look at these awesome pages!

 

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Marvel Team-Up #19, 1973 “The Coming of Stegron The Dinosaur Man!”

Posted on by billyd75

You know, I don’t remember being a huge dinosaur enthusiast as a youth, but my son definitely is/was. He knows more facts about them than I’ll ever know or understand, and his love and knowledge of dinosaurs is something that not only fascinates me, but is utterly endearing as well. In this especially awesome issue of MTU (Marvel Team-Up #19), Spidey must journey to the Savage Land, and of course almost immediately meets up with the Lord of the Hidden Jungle, Ka-Zar! The trip ends up being a bit more complicated than Spidey wanted (of course, that Parker luck!), and we are introduced to a new villain, Stegron the Dinosaur Man!

A story that has two parts (continuing in the next ish of MTU), was brought to us by Marvel super-scribe, “Lively” Len Wein! Everyone that is a fan of Marvel Comics in the Bronze Age knows of Len’s legendary contributions, and they would continue for a long time after that as well. If you’re going to have a story like this one, you need top-notch talent on the artwork, for sure. One of the all-time masters, Gil “Sugar” Kane penciled this one, and the inks of “Fearless” Frank Giacoia match up perfectly with Kane’s work. Not to be left out, are colorist Glynis Wein, and letter Dave Hunt! Sprinkle in the editorial wits of “Rascally” Roy Thomas, and you have a Bronze Age classic! Enjoy!

 

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Giant-Size Daredevil #1, 1975 “Electro, and The Emissaries of Evil”

Posted on by billyd75

As we all know, Daredevil has had some ups and downs over the years as far as sales are concerned. But honestly, the ups far outweigh the downs, especially when you look at some of the off the wall things Marvel was doing with the character during the Bronze Age. Lets face it, the creative teams changed often, and the quality suffered for a while, but personally, the crazy stories are a hoot, and should be looked at as more of a lark anyway. This was the only Giant-Size book for DD, even though most of the titles in that decade had more, and it was actually a reprint of Annual #1. The Emissaries of Evil were a rag-tag group of villains, led by Electro (also including Frog Man, Gladiator, Stilt Man, and The Matador), and offered very little trouble for Daredevil!

The story was written by Stan Lee, but the visuals told in this story, and the pin-up pages, were the real treat in this issue. Gene “The Dean” Colan, was at his best, and really gave us something to see. The inks were by John Tartaglione, who did an admirable job over Gene’s pencil work. The letters were provided by the always reliable Sam Rosen, and you know he could be counted on to get the job done! Not to be outdone, is legendary artist, Gil Kane, who provided the great cover! Enjoy!

 

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Werewolf by Night #12, 1973 “Cry Monster”

Posted on by billyd75

It’s time for some werewolf action! There are very few books that can hang with Werewolf by Night (vol. 1) in the all-time greats of horror comics from the 1970’s (The Tomb of Dracula being the best). This title started out with some fantastic creators on it. The names Ploog, Conway, Wolfman, Kane, and others, brought this character to life and gave him a world to play in, and share with other great characters from the Marvel Universe, as well.  Later (issue #20 or so), you had a different creative team take the reins, and put a spin on the book that was unexpected, but was a ton of fun! That team was Doug Moench and Don Perlin! This issue was a battle between the Werewolf by Night, Jack Russell, and a strange nemesis called “The Hangman.” This kooky guy is all sorts of crazy, and believe it or not, he’s crazy enough to keep the werewolf at bay for a while!

The creative team on this one was nothing short of spectacular. You get ‘Marvelous’ Marv Wolfman writing, Pencils by the great Gil Kane (RIP), inks by the underrated Don Perlin, Mr. Tom Orzechowski lettering, and Linda Lessmann on colors! Of course, we have Roy ‘The Boy’ Thomas editing, as was the norm in the early 1970’s. Sometimes I wonder how some of these creators from that era had time to sleep! Check out this incredible cover by John Romita! Well, without further interruption, let’s take a look at some Werewolf by Night! (Insert crazy howl here)! Enjoy!

 

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Marvel Tales #101, 1978 “The Mark of the Man-Wolf”

Posted on by billyd75

I wanted to get back to some classics from the Marvel titles Marvel Two-In-One and Marvel Team-Up, but I couldn’t stop looking at this issue of Marvel Tales. Early issues of Spidey are at a premium, so this reprint title is still pretty affordable, so grab them while you can! As I write this, I’m preparing for my trip to the Baltimore Comic Con this weekend (September 5-7). The list of creators is staggering, and I don’t know how I’ll be able to get to see all of them on Saturday. But, while there, I’m definitely going to search out more of those two other Marvel titles I mentioned, but also more issues of Marvel Tales!

Just look at the fine work by Gil Kane, John Romita Sr., Tony Mortellaro, and company! Great story by Gerry Conway as usual, too. The relationship and wild interaction between Spidey and Jameson is always funny, but throw in the Man-Wolf, and things crazy! Enjoy!

 

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Astonishing Tales #15, 1972 “And Who Will Call Him Savage?”

Posted on by billyd75

The title “Astonishing Tales”, is one of my favorites from the 1970’s! It started out with some awesome Dr. Doom stories, plus Ka-Zar too! Eventually, it became a vehicle for the gritty Deathlok! And believe me, we’ll take a look at that character real soon! This issue (as well as a few others) focuses on Ka-Zar, and his trip to the “big city”, also known as New York City. He isn’t there very long though, and he must face some gang members, and believe me, he’s in for some wild action!

When you have names like Mike Friedrich (writer), Gil Kane (pencils), Tom Sutton (inks), John Costanza (letters), and Roy Thomas (editor), you know you are getting a grade “A” comic book! To make things even better, you get a surprise appearance by Bobbi Morse, as well! She and Ka-Zar share some kind of unique bond, and actually seem to have an affection for one another. This adds a cool angle to the book that you don’t often get in the comics of this era. Do yourself a favor, and grab these issues if you can find them in the discount bins at a con. They’re well worth a couple of bucks in good condition!

 

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Comics: The 1970’s Horror Explosion! -Finale

Posted on by billyd75

As I wind down this look at some of the great horror titles in comics from the best decade of comic books (stop arguing, it is!), I wanted to give a wider variety than what I’ve posted so far in the previous three installments. There definitely must be contributions from Werewolf by Night, Monster of Frankenstein, Son of Satan, and a nod to the great black and white magazines, as well! Let us send this tribute out with a bang, and see books starring the likes of -Steve Gerber (RIP), Mike Ploog, Gil Kane (RIP), Sonny Trinidad (RIP), Billy Graham (RIP), Rico Rival, Don Perlin, Doug Moench, Gerry Conway, Gary Friedrich, Jim Steranko, Don McGregor, Tony Isabella, Jim Aparo (RIP), Carmine Infantino (RIP), Nick Cardy (RIP), Ross Andru (RIP), George Tuska (RIP), and more! Enjoy!

 

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Marvel 2-in-One #9, 1975. “When A God Goes Mad”

Posted on by billyd75

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You might think by the cover, that you’ve got the villain for this issue figured out. Well, you kind of do, but there’s a twist inside these pages, and this story couldn’t work in any other title, than Marvel 2-in-One! In this fantastic tale, we see the Puppet Master, who had been thought dead from a previous battle, as he uses his magic to take over Thor’s mind, and force him to attack the Fantastic Four. After laying a pretty bad beating on them, Thor regains his senses, and backs off. Later, the Thing finds out that the perpetrator of these foul deeds is in fact Puppet Master. Now though, we see that he has made a puppet of the Thing, and he forces he and Thor to fight. We also see that there is another helping Puppet Master achieve greater feats. The radioactive power of Radion, is helping him! Dr. Henri Sorel was originally a research physicist, but is now in the employ of Puppet Master!

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This super cool story from the 1970’s was definitely a fun ride. There is also a special guest appearance by Wundarr, as well! What else is to be expected from Chris Claremont, Steve Gerber, & Herb Trimpe? You really get a sense that guys truly enjoyed working together on this book, and in the industry as a whole! Check out that awesome cover, by none other than the fantastic Gil Kane! See you in three days!