Savage Tales

Limited Collectors' Edition #C-23: "The House of Gargoyles!"

2011-10-31T23:45:00.000-07:00

Near the top of the cover on nearly any post-1955 American comic book, you will find a strange little postage stamp containing the words "Approved by the Comics Code Authority." For nearly fifty years the "C.C.A." has controlled what you are permitted to read in almost all comics distributed to America's newsstands. So what is the origin of the C.C.A., still in force today, and how did it acquire this superpower?

Back in the late 1940s, before television, 10¢ comic books were the biggest selling entertainment around, consumed by nearly all children and many adults. In this expanding market, publishers jumped onto whatever was the next bandwagon: "true" crime launched by Lev Gleason's Crime Does Not Pay; romantic confessions introduced by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby's Young Love; and the twist-ending horror story perfected in Tales from the Crypt and William Gaines' other EC titles.

But the more popular these racy genres grew, the more concerned certain Americans became about their possible harmful effects on younger readers' morals. Since they first emerged in the mid-1930s, comic books had been criticized for promoting illiteracy and even eyestrain. But after World War II, America's moral guardians became alarmed by the rise in juvenile delinquency. Rather than confront issues within society or the family, they picked on comic books, misunderstood as solely for children, as the easy scapegoat.

The case studies of leading psychiatrist Fredric Wertham provided their campaign with the vital voice of scientific authority. Treating troubled youngsters in his clinic in New York's Harlem ghetto, Dr. Wertham became convinced that reading comic books had a negative influence on every patient. As the media seized on his findings, moral panic swept the nation. Religious and civic groups blacklisted offending titles and told their members to boycott retailers who stocked them. School teachers organized mass comic book burnings. Nearly 50 cities adopted local laws banning the sale of certain titles.

The anti-comics crusade climaxed in 1954, when Wertham published his unrelenting expose of the industry, Seduction of the Innocent, and his calls for government intervention prompted three days of televised Senate Committee hearings into the links between comic books and juvenile delinquency. It was the comic's darkest hour.

Ranged against the damning testimony of Wetham and other experts, the defenses of EC Comics' William Gaines and only three other publishers failed to persuade. Although federal legislation was ruled out as contrary to freedom of the press, the pressure was on the comics industry to clean up its act.

Gaines attempted to rally his fellow publishers into opposing regulation and funding independent research and a public relations counteroffensive. But nearly all either closed down or caved in and conformed to the C.C.A., the industry's new self-regulating authority with the strictest code applied to any medium. Publishers could not get their product onto the newsstands unless they paid to submit their material for approval and removed any objectionable content. Only Dell's range and Classics Illustrateds were wholesome or educational enough not to need the C.C.A.'s stamp. Of EC's once proud line, only the satirical Mad survived by converting to a magazine.

Thanks to the Code, comics survived this attack but at a price. The market was decimated, artists exiled, content infantilized. The medium had to wait until the unregulated underground comix outrage of the late 1960s to address adult subjects again.

In 1971 and 1989, the Code was gingerly revised. It still polices the minority of comics sold from the newsstand, though most publishers now supply their comics just to specialist shops. The future of the C.C.A. looks less secure after Marvel Comics' withdrawal in 2001 of its entire line, replaced by in-house, movie-style ratings.

Still, the critics have not completely disappeared, so the industry has set up the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, just in case....

Credits

Cover: Nick Cardy
Script: Jack Oleck
Pencils: Jack Sparling
Inks: Jack Sparling

Reprinted:

from House of Mystery (DC, 1951 series) #175 (July-August 1968).

in Limited Collectors' Edition (DC, 1972 series) #C-23.
in DC Special (DC, 1968 series) #11 (March-April 1971).
in Showcase Presents: The House of Mystery (DC, 2006 series) #1.

Conan Saga #31: "Red Sonja"

2011-08-01T16:00:00.000-07:00

Download Conan Saga #31

A line on a piece of paper. Anyone can do it, but only a select few can conjure whole worlds with a few strokes of a pen. Alex Toth, certainly. Joe Kubert, for sure. The list of true illustrative geniuses however is a short one, and only those born with a silver pen in their hand are destined to rise above the rest. For over four decades now, there has been one who can be called an illustrator's illustrator. The gentleman's name is Esteban Maroto.

Born in Madrid, Spain in 1942, Esteban's career began in earnest as he apprenticed in the early 1960s under Manuel López Blanco. There, the "Adventures of the F.B.I." served as a springboard, enabling the young Maroto to create his own studio, and get involved in the burgeoning British comic market. Within a few short years, Esteban was both writing and illustrating stories that took full advantage of his outstanding abilities. Like the similar revolution that was taking place at Marvel Comics in the late sixties, the artist was becoming a bigger star than the character he was illustrating, and Maroto was on the fast track to stardom.

This story picks up where Conan Saga #8 left off in the previous post, which can be read by clicking here. With Esteban Maroto on pencils and Neal Adams on inks, it doesn't get any better than this!

Credits

Cover painting: Earl Norem
Script: Roy Thomas
Pencils: Esteban Maroto
Inks: Neal Adams & Ernie Chan (as Ernie Chua)

Reprinted:

from Savage Sword of Conan, The (Marvel, 1974 series) #1 (August 1974).

in Marvel Feature (Marvel 1975 series) #1 (November 1975).
in Savage Sword of Conan (Marvel, 1974 series) #83 (December 1982).
in Adventures of Red Sonja, The (Dynamite Entertainment, 2005 series) #1.
in Conan Saga (Marvel, 1987 series) #31 (November 1989).

Conan Saga #8: "The Song of Red Sonja"

2011-07-02T06:00:00.000-07:00

Download Conan Saga #8

Conan the Barbarian hit the newsstands in the fall of 1970. Scripts were by Roy Thomas, and the art was by transplanted British artist Barry Windsor-Smith. Although he initially worked in a variation of the Marvel house style, Smith soon developed his own approach. His work became more personal, more intricate, and demonstrated distinct pre-Raphaelite touches.

Thomas's adaptations drew much praise at the time. Smith, too, attracted attention and was soon winning awards from both his peers and his fans. He left the character in 1973 and was followed by several other artists, among them John Buscema, Ernie Chan, and Gil Kane. The shaggy hero continued for decades. The original Conan the Barbarian title ended with the 275th issue (July 1995). The black-and-white Conan Saga ended with the 97th issue (April 1995). These were followed through the late nineties by a series of Conan miniseries. While Conan seems to go on leave from time to time, there is little doubt of his eventual return.

Credits

Script: Roy Thomas
Pencils: Barry Windsor-Smith
Inks: Barry Windsor-Smith

Reprinted:

from Conan the Barbarian (Marvel, 1970 series) #24 (March 1973)

In Marvel Treasury Edition (Marvel, 1974 series) #15
in Savage Sword of Conan (Marvel, 1974 series) #82
in Conan Saga (Marvel, 1987 series) #8
in Essential Conan (Marvel, 2000 series) #1

Red Sonja story continues in Conan Saga #31.

Supernatural Thrillers #3: Robert E. Howard's "The Valley of the Worm!"

2011-06-22T17:00:00.000-07:00

Download Supernatural Thrillers #3

Although his mature style made him one of the field's top professionals and has influenced many younger artists, Gil Kane was never satisfied with it. Just about every day before starting on a job, he would devote an hour or two to sketching, practicing to improve. No matter how well a story or a cover turned out, he always had the suspicion that it could have been better.

In his long career Gil Kane drew a vast amount of material. In addition to designing and drawing the Silver Age Green Lantern, he drew Hopalong Cassidy, Spider-Man, Johnny Thunder, Brain Boy, Batman, Undersea Agent, Daredevil, Teen Titans, Tomahawk, Conan, Superman, Ka-Zar, Blue Beetle, and one issue of Blue Devil. He also illustrated DC's four-issue adaptation of Wagner's Ring of Niberlung. In the 1970s and early 1980s, Kane drew two syndicated newspaper strips—Star Hawks, written by Ron Goulart, and Tarzan, with scripts by Archie Goodwin. In addition, Kane produced over seven hundred covers for Marvel and a considerable number for DC.

Born in Latvia, Kane grew up in Manhattan and entered the comics field while still in his teens. He freelanced for MLJ, assisted Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, and worked in Bernard Baily's shop. Very early in his career he signed his real name, Eli Katz, to a few of his stories, but then began trying out pen names. For a time he was Gil Stack until he finally settled on Gil Kane. Much of his early work wasn't that good. "I don't think my triumph was that I was lousy early on," he once explained, "and it wasn't until I really started to work out systems, to really question the work" that it improved.

He first worked for DC in 1947, drawing Wildcat in Sensation Comics for editor Sheldon Mayer. Long a fan of the Western genre, Kane was pleased when DC assigned him such heroes as Hoppy and Johnny Thunder. He prided himself on his ability to draw animals, especially horses in action. In 1960, DC editor Julius Schwartz selected him to bring the Green Lantern back to life. Kane was also entrusted with the updated Atom a couple of years later. In the middle 1960s, he worked on Thunder Agents for the Tower comics line headed up by Harry Shorten. Kane's style changed drastically on this assignment, moving closer to its mature form. "I began to become interested in structure, placement," he said of that period. "Everything that had to do with understanding how things worked and what they looked like underneath." Kane also inked the Tower material, something he hadn't always been able to do at DC.

He shifted to Marvel in the 1970s, turning out stories and a great many covers. Back with DC in the 1980s, he worked again on the Atom and drew some of the Superman annuals. Moving to the Los Angeles area, Kane was hired by an animation outfit, Ruby-Spears Productions, to draw character designs and presentation pieces. Slowed down by illness in his final years, he was still able to turn out work. His last drawings, covers for Legends of the DC Universe, appeared the year of his death.

Credits

Script: Roy Thomas and Gerry Conway (Adaptation); Robert E. Howard (Original Story)
Pencils: Gil Kane
Inks: Ernie Chan (as Ernie Chua)
Colors: Glynis Wein

Reprinted:

in Kull and the Barbarians (Marvel, 1975 series) #1 (May 1975).

The Best of DC Blue Ribbon Digest #11: "Bruce the Barbarian!"

2011-05-17T23:00:00.000-07:00

Download The Best of DC Blue Ribbon Digest #11

“	Vic Catan Jr (Vicatan) 1948-2004: Probably the closest of all Redondo's followers, Vicatan shared the great man's beautifully lush brush strokes but married that style to an ever-so-slightly humorous sensibility. Although his first strip to DC appeard in House of Secrets #101 in 1972, it was not until much later in the decade that he began to get any substantial commissions from that company. However, making up for lost time, he went on to contribute fully 60 strips for DC's horror and war books, including runs on Sgt. Rock and "The Mercenaries" (in GI Combat). At Warren, he drew 10 strips, primarily for 1994, which, if anything, are even more impressive than his DC period.	”
	—Comic Book Artist Magazine V2 #4

Credits

Script: J. Marc DeMatteis
Pencils and inks: Vicente Catan, Jr. (as Vicatan).

Reprinted:

from Unexpected, The (DC, 1968 series) #205 (December 1980).

in The Best of DC (DC, 1979 series) #11.
in Haunted Tales (K. G. Murray, 1973 series) #43.

Gold Key Spotlight #6: Dagar the Invincible in "Death Flies On Scarlet Wings"

2011-04-28T22:00:00.000-07:00

Download Gold Key Spotlight #6

Credits

Cover painting: Jesse Santos
Script: Don Glut
Pencils: Jesse Santos
Inks: Jesse Santos

Dagar The Invincible #17: "Madness In The Dark Fortress"

2011-04-24T23:30:00.000-07:00

Download Dagar The Invincible #17

“

There was a time when gods and demons walked the earth as men... and certain men possessed the best and worst qualities of both. A young warrior raises his sword to the heavens, his heart drumming like the thunder above... his sword flashing in the moonlight... the sword of Dagar!

”

Credits

Script: Don Glut
Pencils: Jesse Santos
Inks: Jesse Santos

Hawkmoon, The Jewel in the Skull #4: Part Four of Four

2011-03-28T06:00:00.000-07:00

Download Hawkmoon, The Jewel in the Skull #4

Hawkmoon's struggle with the empire of Granbretan was treated in The History of the Runestaff, which consists of four books ("The Jewel in the Skull", "The Mad God's Amulet", "The Sword of the Dawn", and "The Runestaff"); the setting of this tale is a post-holocaust Earth.

Hawkmoon later returned as the main character of a sequel trilogy, the Chronicles of Count Brass ("Count Brass", "The Champion of Garathorm", and "The Quest for Tanelorn") that branched out into Moorcock's Multiverse proper. The second Hawkmoon series brought the Eternal Champion cycle to a conclusion of sorts—though not exactly a finale, as subsequent Eternal Champion books show.

Hawkmoon, The Jewel in the Skull #3: Part Three of Four

2011-03-27T06:00:00.000-07:00

Download Hawkmoon, The Jewel in the Skull #3

The Runestaff is one of the major artifacts in Michael Moorcock's multiverse. The Black Sword (whose aspects in Elric's milieu are the soul-stealing swords Stormbringer and Mournblade) is another. The Black Jewel, which manifested itself in the world of Hawkmoon as the Jewel implanted in Hawkmoon's skull, is akin to the Black Sword. Another artifact, the most powerful, is the Cosmic Balance: it powers the Runestaff to produce Order. The Horn of Fate is still another artifact or power. Often artifacts are carried by the Champion Eternal. Some of the artifacts have servants.

The enigmatic Warrior in Jet and Gold serves the Runestaff, as does Orland Fank of the Orkneys.

Hawkmoon, The Jewel in the Skull #2: Part Two of Four

2011-03-26T15:00:00.000-07:00

Download Hawkmoon, The Jewel in the Skull #2

Hawkmoon is sent to The Kamarg (a future version of the southern French region of Camargue) to perform reconnaissance prior to invasion. The black jewel transmits (and may record) all that Hawkmoon sees to Granbretan's capital, Londra. Temporarily freed from the curse of the jewel by The Kamarg's Protector, a grizzled warlord called Count Brass, he falls in love with the Count's daughter, Yisselda, and embarks on a quest to find and implement the will of the Runestaff, a magical item which preserves the Cosmic Balance. During his adventures, he has to collect two more magical items; the Red Amulet held by a mad god somewhere in future Ukraine, and the Sword of the Dawn, winning many battles in which he is hopelessly outnumbered, but helped by loyal companions, by mysterious allies who arrive in the nick of time, and by dissension, scheming and treachery in the ranks of his foes.

Credits:

Script: Gerry Conway
Pencils: Rafael Kayanan
Inks: Alfredo Alcala
Colors: Tom Luth
Letters: Bill Pearson

Hawkmoon, The Jewel in the Skull #1: Part One of Four

2011-03-25T16:00:00.000-07:00

Download Hawkmoon, The Jewel in the Skull #1

Dorian Hawkmoon, Duke of Köln is one of the fictional characters created by Michael Moorcock in his series of the Eternal Champion books. Hawkmoon is one of the less "problematic" characters Moorcock ever created a series around. Unlike the anti-hero Elric of Melniboné, or the alienated and tragic Corum, or the sometimes savage Erekosë, Hawkmoon is described as being very much close to an all-around "good guy," despite lacking some subtlety (or perhaps, for this very reason).

Hawkmoon is captured by the evil forces of Granbretan who implant, by means of arcane, baroque technology (devised by a caste of 'sorcerer-scientists'), a sinister black jewel in his skull.

Credits:

Original story: Michael Moorcock
Script: Gerry Conway
Pencils: Rafael Kayanan
Inks: Alfredo Alcala
Colors: Tom Luth
Letters: Bill Pearson

Wulf the Barbarian #4: "Death-Night in the Darkling Forest!"

2011-03-15T23:30:00.000-07:00

Download Wulf the Barbarian #4

Credits:

Script: Mike Friedrich
Pencils: Jim Craig
Inks: Atlas Bullpen

Wulf the Barbarian #3: "The Colossus of the Iron Citadel"

2011-03-14T12:00:00.000-07:00

Download Wulf the Barbarian #3

Credits:

Cover: Jim Craig
Script: Steve Skeates; Leo Summers
Pencils and inks: Leo Summers

Wulf the Barbarian #2: "The Beast of Famine"

2011-03-09T16:00:00.000-08:00

Download Wulf the Barbarian #2

Credits:

Cover: Pat Broderick
Script: Larry Hama
Pencils: Larry Hama
Inks: Klaus Janson and Neal Adams' Crusty Bunkers

Wulf the Barbarian #1: "Wulf the Barbarian"

2011-03-08T12:00:00.000-08:00

Download Wulf the Barbarian #1

“

'...On a nameless world in a forgotten time...' there lived a man called Wulf. Orphaned 10 years ago when his parents, the king and queen, were slain in an ambush staged by trolls in the service of an evil sorcerer, Wulf has spent the last decade training for the day he would return to claim his birthright.

After his trainer/mentor is killed by the same troll who killed his mother 10 years earlier, Wulf avenges his mother's death, reclaims his father's sword from the slain troll, and begins his long awaited trip home. As Wulf rides homeward with the intent to raise an army to raid the evil sorcerer's lair and free his hereditary kingdom, he encounters many magic-induced obstacles conjured by his foe.

”

— The Atlas Archives

Among the other comic-book barbarians at the gates in the 1970s, many of them from DC, were Beowulf, Claw the Unconquered, and Iron Wolf. Atlas also tried Iron Jaw and Wulf the Barbarian, and Gil Kane produced Blackmark in a paperback format.

Marvel Comics founder and Magazine Management publisher Martin Goodman left Marvel in 1972, having sold the company in 1968. He created Seaboard Periodicals in June 1974 to compete in a field then dominated by Marvel and DC Comics. Goodman hired Warren Publishing veteran Jeff Rovin to edit the color comic-book line, and writer-artist Larry Lieber, brother of Marvel editor-in-chief Stan Lee, as editor of Atlas' black-and-white comics magazines. Lieber later became editor of the color comics following Rovin's departure. Steve Mitchell was the comics' production manager, and John Chilly the black-and-white magazines' art director. Goodman offered an editorial position to Roy Thomas, who had recently stepped down as Marvel Comics editor-in-chief, but Thomas "didn't have any faith in his lasting it out. The field was too shaky for a new publisher."

Credits:

Cover: Larry Hama and Klaus Janson
Script: Larry Hama
Pencils: Larry Hama
Inks: Klaus Janson

Epic Illustrated #34: "Death of a Legend" (Tribute to Robert E. Howard)

2011-03-03T23:00:00.000-08:00

In 1936 Robert E. Howard, depressed over the imminent death of his mother, killed himself. He was just 30 years old. His stories of Conan, epics of adolescent fantasies and fears, were forgotten for nearly two decades. Then gradually they began coming back into print, first as hardcovers and then, with striking covers by Frank Frazetta, as paperbacks.

Conan found his widest and most enthusiastic audience in the 1970s, thanks to Roy Thomas and Marvel Comics. Thomas began as a fan and by 1970 he was an editor and writer at Marvel, concentrating on superheroes. Although he is often given sole credit for deciding to adapt Howard's barbarian to the comic-book format, artist Gil Kane maintained that he was the one who originally got Thomas and Marvel interested in experimenting with the character. At any rate, Conan the Barbarian hit the newsstands in the fall of 1970.

Credits:

Cover: Arthur Suydam
Script: Roy Thomas
Pencils and inks: Sandy Plunkett

Conan the Barbarian #71: "The Secret of Ashtoreth!"

2011-03-02T13:00:00.000-08:00

Download Conan the Barbarian v1 #71

In the fictional universe of Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian, Bêlit is a pirate queen who has a romantic relationship with Conan. She is Conan's first serious lover. She appears in Howard's Conan novelette "Queen of the Black Coast," first published in Weird Tales 23 5 (May 1934). She was selected as the fourth greatest pirate by Wired magazine's Geekdad blog.

As a native of the Hyborian nation of Shem, Bêlit is Semitic. Her name may have been taken from Bel, god of thieves in her native land. Apart from jewellery, she wears only sandals and a red silk girdle. Despite her race and her lack of clothing in the tropical sun, her skin is "ivory white."

She is described in her first appearance:

“	She turned toward Conan, her bosom heaving, her eyes flashing. Fierce fingers of wonder caught at his heart. She was slender, yet formed like a goddess: at once lithe and voluptuous. Her only garment was a broad silken girdle. Her white ivory limbs and the ivory globes of her breasts drove a beat of fierce passion through the Cimmerian's pulse, even in the panting fury of battle. Her rich black hair, black as a Stygian night, fell in rippling burnished clusters down her supple back. Her dark eyes burned on the Cimmerian.	”
	— Robert E. Howard, Queen of the Black Coast

As a pirate Bêlit ranges across the coast of Kush (Hyborian Africa) and as far north as Zingara (Hyborian Spain) aboard her ship, the Tigress. She calls herself the "Queen of the Black Coast" and her crew appear to regard her with awe.

She is described as passionate and elemental woman. She and Conan fall in love at first sight. Bêlit is, however, strongly avaricious which is described as a racial trait: "The Shemite soul finds a bright drunkenness in riches and material splendor, and the sight of this treasure might have shaken the soul of a sated emperor of Shushan." It is this that leads to her death, killed by an ancient winged ape-like creature - hanged from the yard arm of her own ship by a ruby necklace stolen from a city of the "old ones".

She temporarily returns from death, as she had vowed, to protect her lover from the same creature's attack later in the story.

"The Secret of Ashtoreth!" freely adapted from the story "The Marchers of Valhalla" by Robert E. Howard. Click here to read part I in Conan the Barbarian v1 #70.
Credits:

Cover: Gil Kane and Ernie Chan
Pencils: John Buscema
Inks: Ernie Chan

Reprinted:

in Conan le Barbare (Artima, 1979 series) #11 (February 1982).
in Conan Saga (Marvel, 1987 series) #87.

Conan the Barbarian #70: "The City in the Storm!"

2011-03-01T14:00:00.000-08:00

Download Conan the Barbarian v1 #70

With nearly eighty years in the business, Conan is the most successful barbarian going. He first set up shop in the December 1932 issue of the pulp magazine Weird Tales. Conan was the invention of Robert E. Howard, a young Texan who'd begun turning out large quantities of pulp stories while still in his teens. When he wasn't writing for the pulpwoods, he was reading them. The swords-and-sorcery facet of his work was much influenced by such authors as Harold Lamb and Talbot Mundy. Howard borrowed from both of them, though he was never able to imitate their restraint.

"As nearly as such things can be calculated, Conan flourished about 12,000 years ago," explained L. Sprague deCamp, who revised and refurbished the Conan pulp material for book publication. "In this time," according to Howard, "the western parts of the main continent were occupied by Hyborean kingdoms... Conan, a gigantic adventurer from Cimmeria, arrived as a youth in the kingdom of Zamora. For two or three years he made his living as a thief in Zamora, Corinthia and Nemedia. Growing tired of this starveling existence, he enlisted as a mercenary in the armies of Turan. For the next two years he traveled widely and refined his knowledge of archery and horsemanship." Conan had several odd jobs thereafter. He was a super-muscular, skull-splitting fellow who was fond of spending his days with lovely princesses and slave girls, or in struggling against malignant magic and sorcery. The rest of the time, he got into fights.

"The City in the Storm!" freely adapted from the story "The Marchers of Valhalla" by Robert E. Howard.

Credits:

Cover: Gil Kane and Pablo Marcos
Script: Roy Thomas
Pencils: John Buscema
Inks: Ernie Chan

Reprinted:

in Conan le Barbare (Artima, 1979 series) #11 (February 1982).
in Conan Saga (Marvel, 1987 series) #87.

On a quick note unrelated to our favorite barbarian, I have decided to change the name of this blog in order to end confusion, which was caused by the seemingly obscure tongue-in-cheek nature of the word "veeblefetzer." Besides, this moniker was my first choice anyway, but I'll retain the old URL so that saved bookmarks won't need to be changed or updated. My apologies for any inconvenience the change might cause.

Click here to read the conclusion in Conan the Barbarian v1 #71.

Crypt of Shadows #15: "My Coffin is Crowded"

2011-02-22T23:30:00.000-08:00

Download Crypt of Shadows #15

It was while using the pen name Bob Fuje in the 1940s that Bob Fujitani did some of his best, as well as some of his most gruesome, drawing in comic books. His art credits for that period include Shock Gibson, Cat-Man, The Black Condor, Hack O'Hara, Sky Wolf, The Zebra, and Hangman. He'd first worked on the latter character when assisting the earlier artist Harry Lucey. Appearing in Pep Comics, Hamgman dealt with some of the nastiest and most bloodthirsty criminals of the era. Fujitani did them all justice, especially the ones who had a tendency to drool while at their work. He was also a regular contributor to Lev Gleason's Crime Does Not Pay and contributed to the pioneering but short-lived horror comic Eerie.

Later on, using a milder and more subdued style, he drew such things as Dr. Solar. He was the first artist on a comic strip titled Judge Wright in the middle 1940s and from the middle 1960s to the middle 1980s he ghosted the Flash Gordon strip.

Script: unknown.
Pencils and inks: Bob Fujitani.

Reprinted:

from Suspense (Marvel, 1949 series) #16 (pictured inset).
in Crypt of Shadows (Marvel, 1973 series) #15 (January 1975).

Where Monsters Dwell #28: "Tough Guy"

2011-02-19T06:00:00.002-08:00

Download Where Monsters Dwell #28

The Devil Made Me Do It! Here is a short funny which I first read at my cousin Jimmy's house, who used to astound me by seemingly purchasing every single horror anthology comic book that was available on the newsstands. Needless to say, he was my favorite cousin to hang out with when we were boys. I thought that this story was hilarious and, perhaps, might even be called "politically incorrect" today. The lowdown is that Bart Nelson is too tough for the demons of hell—nothing they do to him has any effect until they come up with a rather unique idea.

While I do not know who wrote "Tough Guy" as the author is not credited, the Grand Comics Database lists John Rosenberger as the illustrator of this imaginative story.

Reprinted:

from Journey Into Unknown Worlds (Marvel, 1950 Series) #17 (April 1953).

in Where Monsters Dwell (Marvel, 1970 series) #28 (May 1974).

Ghost Rider #4: "Death Stalks the Demolition Derby"

2011-02-13T23:00:00.000-08:00

Probably the only comic-book hero inspired by the once popular crooner Vaughn Monroe, the original Ghost Rider first galloped onto the scene as a backup feature in ME's Tim Holt #11 in 1949. In reality he was Rex Fury, a federal marshal in the Old West who dressed up in a luminous white outfit that included a glowing cape and Stetson. Eventually he added a skull mask to his ensemble, and the sight of him mounted on his glowing white stallion was sufficient to scare even hardened owl-hoots out of their wits.

Marvel proved that bikers were more popular than cowboys with their next version of Ghost Rider. In 1973 they introduced a contemporary Ghost Rider who rode a motorcycle. Johnny Blaze was a clean-cut, blonde young cyclist who became the unwilling host of a spirit named Zarathos. When Zarathos was in ascendancy, the hapless Johnny turned into a demon biker with a blazing skull instead of a head. When in this mode, much like the Hulk, he didn't take any crap from anybody. More successful than any prior Ghost Rider, he survived for eighty-one issues until the spring of 1983.

Script: Gary Friedrich
Pencils: Jim Mooney
Inks: Vince Colletta

Reprinted:

in Original Ghost Rider, The (Marvel, 1992 series) #12 (June 1993).
in ESSENTIAL GHOST RIDER (Marvel, 2005 series) Vol. 1 (September 2005).

Saga of the Swamp Thing #33: "Abandoned Houses"

2011-01-28T23:30:00.000-08:00

Download Swamp Thing v2 #33

The most successful animated compost heap in comics, Swamp Thing first emerged from the bog in the summer of 1972 to make his muddy debut in DC's Swamp Thing #1. Len Wein was the writer and Berni Wrightson, a disciple of both Frank Frazetta and Graham "Ghastly" Ingels, was the artist.

The folk belief in spontaneous generation, the notion that a living organism can form from nonliving matter, is many centuries old. It became a favorite of comic books from the 1940s onward, providing such Swamp Thing precursors as the Heap and Solomon Grundy and such contemporaries as Marvel's Man-Thing.

An earlier prototype had appeared in House of Secrets in the summer of 1971. Revamped, he became Swamp Thing and got his own book a year later. Never a major hit despite two movies and a television series, he has managed to hold on in comics. Wein and Wrightson concocted sentimental horror tales about a scientist who was transformed into a muck-encrusted horror after being doused by chemicals when his bayou lab was destroyed by criminals. Swamp Thing was a caring monster, and Wein's scripts worked at being touching, even philosophical, but the real attraction of the early issues was the spidery, vaguely disturbing Wrightson artwork.

Another series devoted to the forlorn bayou monster began in 1982 as Saga of the Swamp Thing and later became simply Swamp Thing. The team of Alan Moore and Steve Bissette, who worked on the newer version, earned the title considerable attention. That second series ended in 1996, and Swamp Thing returned under the Vertigo banner for twenty issues from 2000 to 2001. Mike Kaluta provided some of the drawing.

Script: Alan Moore/Len Wein
Pencils and inks: Ron Randall/Berni Wrightson

Reprinted:

from House of Secrets (DC, 1969 series) #92 (Pictured inset).
in Essential Vertigo: Swamp Thing (DC, 1996 series) #14.
in Saga of the Swamp Thing (DC, 2009 series) #2.

Book of the Dead #2: "Man-Thing!"

2011-01-27T20:00:00.000-08:00

“

Welcome to the continuing saga of the undead. BOOK OF THE DEAD stars people who by all means should be dead, but thanks to Marvel Comics are fated to shamble through our pulpy pages endlessly.

The proceding Man-Thing tale marks the muck monster's first foray into four-color fright. After premiering in the black-and-white Marvel magazine, SAVAGE TALES #1, in May 1971 (as re-presented last issue), Manny slimed his way into the regular comics with this story in FEAR #10 (October 1972), the same month DC's Swamp Thing got his own title. Artist Gray Morrow had illustrated Man-Thing's first appearance and pencilled the second episode as well, which recaps the monster's origin. Gray is no stranger to Frankenstein's Monster, either. He painted this issue's new cover and in the past has done movie posters and book covers featuring the Doctor's creation. Gray really got into this cover... literally. He posed for the cover with his daughter playing the doomed bride of the monster.

For comic fanatics, the name Howard Chaykin is a familiar one. Howie inked this Man-Thing tale when he was just starting out professionally and went on to do projects such as STAR WARS, American Flagg, The Shadow and, recently for the Epic Heavy Hitters line, MIDNIGHT MEN, all to much acclaim.

So until BOOK OF THE DEAD comes alive again next month, remember in the un-mortal words of a famous reanimated corpse... 'We belong DEAD!'

—Mort Todd, January 1994

”

Script: Gerry Conway
Pencils: Gray Morrow
Inks: Howard Chaykin

Reprinted:

from Fear #10 (Oct 1972) (Pictured inset).
in Book of the Dead (Marvel, 1993 series) #2 January 1994.
in Essential Man-Thing (Marvel, 2006 series) #1.

Book of the Dead #1: "The Origin of the Man-Thing"

2011-01-26T23:00:00.000-08:00

The inspiration for Swamp Thing, Man-Thing, and other walking compost piles, the Heap emerged from the muck in the third issue of Air Fighters Comics (December 1942) as the antagonist in a yarn about an aviator known as Sky Wolf. After a couple more skirmishes with Sky Wolf, who wore a white wolf's head as a hat while in the air, the Heap was eventually promoted to a feature of his own. That occurred in the thirty-second issue (October 1946). By then the magazine was calling itself Airboy Comics. The Heap remained until the final issue in 1952. Sky Wolf, on the other hand, had been grounded in 1947.

Harry Stein was the scriptwriter who first invented the Heap, Mort Leav was the artist who first brought him to life visually. It seems that during World War I a German flying ace named Baron Emmelman had crashed in a lonely swamp and been seriously injured. Instead of dying, his body merged with the vegetation, and he eventually became "a fantastic HEAP that is neither animal nor man." An ambiguous fellow, when the Heap finally left the swamp he tended to be anti-Nazi. And by the time he starred in a feature of his own he'd mellowed a great deal. He wandered from place to place, becoming involved in the lives of assorted people and usually helping them out of their problems and predicaments before shambling on. A sort of vegetarian Fugitive.

Script: Roy Thomas and Gerry Conway
Pencils, inks and letters: Gray Morrow

Reprinted:

from Savage Tales (Marvel, 1971 series) #1 (May 1971). (Pictured below).
in Monsters Unleashed (Marvel, 1973 series) #3 (November 1973).
in Book of the Dead (Marvel, 1993 series) #1 (December 1993).
in Essential Man-Thing (Marvel, 2006 series) #1.

Sgt. Rock Special #1: "Another Time, Another Place"

2011-01-25T23:00:00.001-08:00

Download Sgt. Rock Special #1

Created by DC's resident war correspondent, Robert Kanigher, and drawn by Joe Kubert, Sgt. Rock as we know him first went into battle in Our Army at War #81 (April 1959).

The stories were set during World War II and Sgt. Frank Rock was topkick of a platoon called Easy Co., also known as "the Combat Happy Joes of Easy." He and his men did the majority of their fighting in the European Theater of Operations. Kanigher's idea of combat owed as much to movies and John Wayne as it did to research, and Rock's gang had the same colorful mix of men as might've been found in an MGM epic of a decade or so earlier. Among the personnel were Wildman, Bulldozer, Ice Cream Soldier, and Jackie Johnson, a black. Kanigher fudged on Johnson, giving Rock the only integrated platoon in World War II.

The adventures were gritty, grim, sentimental, and full of Technicolor heroics. The sergeant related most of the battle reports himself—"Here's a war story that'll tear at your heart... or my name ain't Sgt. Rock." Kubert did a commendable job of illustrating the Easy tales. Russ Heath also drew the feature. The sergeant's name eventually began appearing on the covers in larger and larger letters. Finally, with issue #302 (March 1977), the magazine was retitled simply Sgt. Rock. It held on longer than any other war comic, surrendering at last in the summer of 1998. The sergeant re-upped for the Sgt. Rock Special that reprinted his earlier combat adventures for a twenty-one issue run from 1988 to 1992.

Script: Bob Haney
Pencils and inks: Neal Adams
Colors: Tatjana Wood

Reprinted:

from Our Army at War (DC, 1952 series) #240 (January 1972) (Pictured inset).

in DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest (DC, 1980 series) #12 (August 1981).
in Sgt. Rock Special (DC, 1988 series) #1 (1988).

Strange Sports Stories #2: "Tall in the Saddle!"

2011-01-24T23:00:00.000-08:00

Download Strange Sports Stories #2

Curtis Douglas Swan studied art at the Pratt Institute and was a staff artist on Stars & Stripes during World War II. After the war, he signed on with DC and remained there from then on. His early work, on such features as The Boy Commandos and Tommy Tomorrow, was stiff and rather bland. Gradually, however, Swan developed an effective and forceful style. He first drew Superman in 1951, remaining with him until 1986. He returned in 1988 to draw him for three more years. He worked on other characters while with DC, but Superman remained his favorite.

In his final years personal problems curtailed his production in comics.

Script: Frank Robbins
Pencils: Curt Swan
Inks: Murphy Anderson

Plop! #10: "The Secret Origin of Grooble Man!"

2011-01-23T22:00:00.000-08:00

Download Plop! #10

A man who has turned doodling into fine art, and a very profitable art as well, Sergio Aragonés first came to prominence in the early 1960s through the pages of Mad. Or rather in the margins of those pages, where his tiny doodled figures were to be seen circumnavigating the page in such a lively way that they often seemed much funnier than the material they were framing. Aragonés soon moved up from the marginal notes and in the early 1980s created Groo.

Born in Spain and raised in Mexico, he migrated to America in 1962. "When I found out how much cartoonists made in the United States," he has explained, "that was that." He was soon gainfully employed employed at Mad. By 1967 Aragonés had added DC to his client list. Besides being a frequent contributor to Plop, he had a hand in scripting Angel and the Ape and Bat Lash.

An outgoing and amusing fellow, one who studied mime as well as architecture in school, he's also had a show-biz career, having appeared, for example, on television in the final season of Laugh-In.

In addition to the long-lasting barbarian spoof, Groo, which is scripted by his friend Mark Evanier, Aragonés has in recent years turned out a variety of other projects. One such, put forth in 1999, was Fan Boy. Written by Evanier, the miniseries kidded a typical obsessive comics fan and had Aragonés working in tandem with such serious artists as Gil Kane, Dick Sprang, and Mike Grell. Mad editor Nick Meglin has said of Aragonés, "He never loses sight of the fact that he is a humorist, an attitude that, perhaps more than any other single fact, is responsible for his great success."

Special surprise: a rarely seen Groo the Wanderer story by Sergio Aragonés:

A spoof of Conan and all similarly inclined comic-book barbarians, Groo the Wanderer, who looked as though he might have stepped out of the pages of Mad, began his sword-wielding career late in 1982 in a twelve-issue run from Pacific Comics. The pudgy barbarian stayed longest with Marvel. From 1985 to 1995 there were 120 Marvel issues of Groo the Wanderer. Since then both Image and Dark Horse have published miniseries. Artwork by the highly productive doodler Sergio Aragonés, scripts by Mark Evanier.

Credits

Script: Sergio Aragones (co-plot) and Mark Evanier (co-plot & dialogue)
Pencils: Sergio Aragones
Inks: Sergio Aragones
Colors: Tom Luth
Letters: Stan Sakai

Reprinted:

in Groo Chronicles, The (Marvel, 1989 series) #2

Green Lantern #188: "Mogo Doesn't Socialize"

2011-01-19T19:00:00.000-08:00

Download Green Lantern v2 #188

Another British artist who made a name for himself in American comics, Dave Gibbons's first major attention-getting work was DC's twelve-part Watchmen series, which hit the stands in the summer of 1986. By then, Gibbons had been working, by mail for the most part, for DC for four years and drawing such dependable heroes as Batman, Superman, and the Green Lantern. It was Watchmen, however, with scripts by Alan Moore, that won him a much larger audience, considerable attention from his peers, glowing reviews in both fanzines and mainstream publications, and a variety of awards. For English comics Gibbons had done artwork for such titles as 2000 A.D. and Dr. Who.

Working in his assured illustrative style, Gibbons has continued contributing to American comics. One of his more ambitious projects in the early and middle 1990s was drawing the Give Me Liberty series of graphic novels published by Dark Horse and scripted by Frank Miller. Set in the near future, they deal with an American turned fascist and have an African-American woman named Martha Washington as the main focal character. Once again Gibbons did an impressive job in depicting an alternate world.

More recently he drew the Green Lantern issues in DC's Just Imagine series, bringing to life Stan Lee's take on the character. Working with such writers as Alan Moore and Frank Miller has apparently had an effect on Gibbons, and he has been doing some writing of late. He's scripted a World's Finest Batman and Superman team-up, drawn by Steve Rude, and worked with artist Andy Kubert on Batman Versus Predator.

Credits for Tales of the Green Lantern Corps back-up story:

Script: Alan Moore
Pencils and inks: Dave Gibbons
Colors: Tony Tollin
Letters: Dave Gibbons

Reprinted:

in Best of DC, The (DC, 1979 series) #71 (April 1986)
in Across the Universe: The DC Universe Stories of Alan Moore (DC, 2003 series) #nn
in DC Universe: The Stories of Alan Moore (DC, 2006 series) #nn

Doc Stearn...Mr. Monster #3: "Case of the Recalcitrant Refuse"

2011-01-06T19:00:00.000-08:00

Download Doc Stearn... Mr. Monster v1 #3

Mr. Monster chronicles the adventures of Doc Stearn, a man who tangles with any and every type of occult menace. Michael T. Gilbert is responsible for the art and usually the story, too, but Alan Moore guest writes this issue and a Steve Bissette cover rounds out the entire magazine.

"Now... let's get out there and blast those subhuman vermin to bloody gobbets!"

Case of the Recalcitrant Refuse
Script: Alan Moore
Pencils: Michael T Gilbert
Inks: Michael T Gilbert and William F Loebs

Basil Wolverton is one of the few comic book artists whose work can legitimately be called unique. Although he created such serious adventure features as Spacehawk, he's best remembered for such non-serious and nonsensical inventions as Powerhouse Pepper, Mystic Moot and his Magic Snoot, and the grotesqueries he later drew for Mad and Plop!

One of the major appeals of Wolverton's space opera was the artwork. He was very good at gadgets, especially the kind that require lots of nuts and bolts. His spaceships had the bulk and feel of ocean liners, the control rooms were as cluttered with pipes and dials as an apartment-house basement.

Swamp Monster
Script: Basil Wolverton
Pencils and inks: Basil Wolverton

Reprinted:

from Weird Mysteries (Key Publications, 1952 series) #5.

in Doc Stearn...Mr. Monster (Eclipse, 1985 series) #3.
in Tales Too Terrible to Tell (New England Comic Press Inc, 1989 series) #9.
in Four Color Fear (Fantagraphics, 2010 series) #[nn].

Dark Horse Presents #3: "Black Cross"

2010-12-31T21:00:00.000-08:00

Download Darkhorse Presents #3

Conrad is a man branded by his actions as "Black Cross" as he fights to survive in a dystopian future rife with violence and death. The story oozes with testosterone, but it also exudes tenderness and compassion tempered with old fashioned chivalry and gallantry. If you enjoy a well-told story set during the near future, then this is the comic book for you.

Story and art: Chris Warner.

Dark Horse Presents #1: "Black Cross"

2010-12-29T23:00:00.000-08:00

Download Darkhorse Presents #1

A combination sampler and auditioning spot, Dark Horse Presents, a black-and-white comic, thrived for 157 issues from the summer of 1986 to the summer of 2000. During that time it introduced such features as Paul Chadwick's Concrete and John Byrne's The Next Men and also ran episodes of Frank Miller's Sin City, Evan Dorkin's Milk & Cheese, Mike Mignola's Hellboy, and Arthur Adams' Monkeyman & O'Brien. In addition, the monthly showcased adaptions of such movie-generated characters as the Predator and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Story and art: Chris Warner.

Dazzler #32: "Moon Lighting"

2010-12-26T23:00:00.000-08:00

Download Dazzler #32

The only disco singer who ever became a superhero, Allison Blaire was given a Marvel comic of her own early in 1981. A mutant and a reluctant law student, she was first on display in X-Men #130 (February 1980), an issue drawn by John Byrne and written by Chris Claremont. After a few more appearances with the X-bunch, she graduated to Dazzler. Her basic ability involved converting sound, especially music, into bursts of radiant light that were so intense they temporarily blinded her opponents and usually knocked them cold. In other words, she could dazzle people.

According to an article by Richard Gagnon in a 1986 issue of Amazing Heroes, "the idea to create a singer who has super-powers came not from Marvel Comics, but from Casablanca Records... The idea was to have a singer tour the country dressed as the Marvel character, thereby both the comic and the singer would gain free publicity." The project, initiated in the late 1970s, eventually produced Dazzler, but by that time the record company had long since withdrawn. Marvel continued alone and after trying the character out in X-Men launched their Dazzler title with considerable fanfare. They also offered the book for sale only in comic shops, something that could be done in the days when newsstands still handled comics. The first issue sold well.


Credits

Cover painting: Bill Sienkiewicz
Script: Jim Shooter (Co-Plotter) and Mike Carlin
Pencils: Mark Bright
Inks: Vince Colletta

Batman and the Outsiders #19: "Who's Afraid of the Big Red S?"

2010-12-25T12:00:00.000-08:00

Download Batman and the Outsiders #19

Script: Mike W. Barr
Pencils, inks and lettering: Jim Aparo

Merry Christmas!

Vampirella #1: "Goddess from the Sea"

2010-12-24T20:00:00.000-08:00

Download Vampirella #1

The Bettie Page of the vampire world, Vampirella was introduced by Warren Publishing in 1969. The Vampirella magazine, like Warren's Creepy and Eerie, was black-and-white, aimed at a somewhat older audience, and sold for fifty cents. A Frank Frazetta color cover introduced Vampi to readers, showing her in her terse crimson costume, posing with one spike-heeled foot resting on a human skull. Sci-fi maven Forrest J. Ackerman, who was editing Famous Monsters for Warren, came up with the name, and in the early issues Vampi was played for laughs. When Tom Sutton became the artist with the eighth issue things got serious. Scripts by Archie Goodwin helped convert Vampirella into a viable vampire. A typical good/bad girl, she sometimes gave in to the urge to sink her teeth into somebody's throat, but she also built a career as a sexy ghostbuster, aided by her mentor Pendragon. Vampi usually appeared in the opening story with the rest of the issue given over to assorted horror tales. The magazine ended in 1983.

Since then the virtuous vampire has been brought back to life several times and is now published by Dynamite Entertainment.

Credits

Cover painting: Frank Frazetta
Script: Don Glut
Pencils: Neal Adams
Inks:Neal Adams

Reprinted:

in Vampirella Annual (Warren, 1972 series) #1
in Eerie (Warren, 1966 series) #125

Dagar The Invincible #16: "Valley of the Dead"

2010-12-22T06:00:00.000-08:00

Download Dagar the Invincible #16

With just over ten years in the business, Dagar was a moderately successful barbarian. He first set up shop in Tales of Sword and Sorcery Dagar the Invincible #1. Dagar was the invention of writer Don Glut, a Texan who is probably best known for his novelized adaption of Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, and illustrator Jesse Santos. When Glut wasn't writing for the comic book companies, he was reading them or making amateur films, which included unauthorized adaptations of such characters as Superman, The Spirit, and Spider-Man. Glut was much influenced by such authors as Edgar Rice Burroughs and H. P. Lovecraft. The sword-and-sorcery facet of his work "must have been mostly (if not entirely) my friend Roy Thomas, because I didn’t particularly like the sword-and-sorcery genre and hadn’t really read much or even any of it, other than what was coming out then in the comic books," explains Glut, "or the occasional sword-and-sorcery story that had appeared before Marvel’s Conan book in the black-and-white comic magazines."

Note: this was originally posted on 11/4/09, but a software glitch with a widget forces me to post this anew.

Credits

Script: Don Glut
Pencils: Jesse Santos
Inks: Jesse Santos

DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest #24: "The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of"

2010-12-20T19:00:00.000-08:00

Download DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest #24

A gifted and creative artist who never got into a stylistic rut, Alex Toth broke into comic books in 1947. Among the many great features he's drawn in his long and varied career are The Green Lantern, Rip Hunter: Time Master, The Black Canary, Zorro, Bravo for Adventure, and Torpedo 1936. Toth was also a frequent contributor to such Warren black-and-white comics as Eerie and Creepy. Active in animation as well, he worked on such TV cartoon shows as Space Angel, Space Ghost, and Super Friends. In addition, he appeared regularly in CARtoons, Drag Cartoons, and Hot Rod Cartoons.

Born in New York City, Toth sold his first work to Heroic Comics in 1947. Moving from nonfiction to superhero fantasy, he went to work for editor Sheldon Mayer at the All-American branch of DC. He became the regular artist on The Green Lantern and also drew Dr. Mid-Nite and The Atom. When GL was phased out of All-American Comics, Toth illustrated the Wild West adventures of his successor, Johnny Thunder. At this point in his development, he was somewhat under the influence of such comic-strip artists as Milton Caniff, Noel Sickles, and Frank Robbins.

Script: Marv Wolfman
Pencils and inks: Alex Toth

Reprinted:

from House of Secrets (DC, 1969 series) #83 (December 1969-January 1970).
in DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest (DC, 1980 series) #24 (August 1982).
in Showcase Presents: The House of Secrets (DC, 2008 series) #1.

Marvel Treasury Edition #8: Doctor Strange in "Eternity, Eternity"

2010-12-19T06:00:00.000-08:00

Download Marvel Treasury Edition #8

A character who combines the best qualities of Zatara and Dr. Fate, Dr. Strange began humbly as a backup character in somebody else's comic book in the early 1960s. Gradually, though, the popularity of the Master of the Mystic Arts increased, and by the late 1960s he had a title of his own. He was able, with a layoff now and then, to keep working for several decades.

Dreamed up and initially drawn by Steve Ditko, with scripts by Stan Lee, the scholarly sorcerer entered comics by way of a five-page story in Marvel's Strange Tales #110 (July 1963). Lee cited as one of his sources of inspiration the radio serial Chandu the Magician, which first aired in the early 1930s. The show, years earlier, also inspired the funny paper magician Mandrake. In the radio serial, American Frank Chandler learned the secrets of magic in the mysterious East. Similarly, the eminent and arrogant Dr. Stephen Strange found his way to India after an accident ended his medical career. There he studied with a world-class mystic known as the Ancient One.

Back in America, Dr. Strange set up shop as a sort of freelance ghostbuster. Among his frequent early opponents were Baron Mordo, a turncoat pupil of the doctor's own mentor, and Nightmare, a nasty strangler from the realm of dreams. Ditko rendered the doctor's supernatural adventures in inventive ways, assimilating some of the techniques of the psychedelic posters of the sixties.

Strange's popularity continued to grow. He became the star of Strange Tales. Then the magazine title was changed to Dr. Strange with #169 (June 1968). Except for one hiatus, that title continued until 1987. From 1988 through 1996, the magus was seen in a new title Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme.

Among the other artists and writers who contributed to the doctor's mystical saga were Frank Brunner, Gene Colan, J. M. DeMatteis, Dan Jolley, and Tony Harris.

Credits

Script: Roy Thomas
Pencils: Gene Colan
Inks: Tom Palmer

Reprinted:

from Doctor Strange (Marvel, 1968 series) #180 (May 1969), which is pictured inset.

in Marvel Treasury Edition (Marvel, 1974 series) #8 (1975) [16 pp.]
in Marvel Masterworks: Doctor Strange (Marvel, 2003 series) #4.

Batman #261: "A Christmas Peril!"

2010-12-16T21:00:00.000-08:00

Download Batman #261

Some seasonal good cheer with a reprint from the Golden Age! I loved this story when I was a kid.

Script: Don Cameron
Pencils and inks: Jerry Robinson
Colors: Ira Schnapp

Characters: Happy Hoggsby (intro, villain); Scranton Loring and his family (intro); Batman; Robin.

Reprinted:

from Batman #27 (February-March 1945) (Cover pictured inset).

in Batman #261 (March-April 1975).
in Best of DC, The (DC, 1979 series) #22.

Green Lantern #92: "The Legend of the Green Arrow!"

2010-12-15T06:00:00.000-08:00

Download Green Lantern v2 #92

Over the years, Hal Jordan appeared in assorted contexts. In the early 1970s, when DC Comics was undergoing a relevance phase, he teamed up with the Green Arrow to fight social ills. Later he worked as part of the Green Lantern Corps, along with such alternate GLs as the black John Stewart, the red-headed Guy Gardner, an alien lady named Katma Tui, a dog-faced native of the planet Bolovax Vik named Killowog, and potentially nearly 3,600 other official Green Lanterns.

Script: Denny O'Neil
Pencils and inks: Mike Grell

Green Lantern #91: "The Revenge of the Renegade!"

2010-12-14T06:00:00.000-08:00

Download Green Lantern v2 #91

Gradually, Julius Schwartz and John Broome embellished the background of their green gladiator. They invented the Guardians of the Universe, an immortal bunch who had set up the Green Lantern Corps, "a group of living beings chosen from all parts of the universe to fight evil and given rings of power."

Script: Denny O'Neil
Pencils and inks: Mike Grell

Green Lantern #90: "Those Who Worship Evil's Might!"

2010-12-13T20:00:00.000-08:00

Download Green Lantern v2 #90

Hal Jordan started doing business as the Green Lantern in 1959. Over the years it was revealed that he wasn't the only one, and there were more Green Lanterns in the universe than you could shake a stick at, over three thousand of them actually. Jordan, all by himself, was first seen in DC's Showcase #22 (October 1959). After auditioning again in the next two issues, he moved into his own title in the spring of 1960. "When the returns started coming in on the Flash and we saw we had a hit, the natural instinct was to do something similar," editor Julius Schwartz once recalled. "That's how we decided to go ahead with the Green Lantern, and I worked out the same theory of giving him a new personality, a new costume, a new everything."

Script: Denny O'Neil
Art: Mike Grell