Friday, January 30, 2009
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Anti-War Pulp Art
It took me a few seconds to catch on that the uppermost layer of the archaeological site of ancient Earth battlefields being studied by the lizard scientists was radioactive slag.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Graduation Present of DEATH!
Vince Colletta, the "Go-To Guy" when you had a printing deadline in the comics biz, did some pencils of his own once upon a time. The line art for this story in My Own Romance #39 (August 1954) isn't bad and is a little more representative of what the man could do as an artist when not applying his economical touch to the pencils of other artists.
But a few of the images are a little confusing and reveal some of the issues many fans have when the subject of Colletta is brought up. I know some people that are still fuming about his inks over Kirby's Tales of Asgard work.
The odd perspective of the splash page has me thinking this love story would end up as a murder mystery. The graduate student in the panel below could just as well have been getting strangled as preparing for a kiss. This could be forgiven once you consider how scripts were done in the old days. A creator sometimes never knew what magazine the story would ultimately be published in and could draw it in such a way as to have multiple endings. There were more than a few romance stories of the era that began as a typical love tale that took an unexpected and sudden turn into the fantastic or mysterious.
Then there is this panel from the exciting conclusion.
Amy looks thrilled, doesn't she? Again, reading the entire story leads me to believe the original script or idea Colletta worked from diverged from the end result by the time the art was completed. But it was just as likely that Coletta was contacted Tuesday night and asked if he could come up with something by Friday morning and worked from the barest outline.
But a few of the images are a little confusing and reveal some of the issues many fans have when the subject of Colletta is brought up. I know some people that are still fuming about his inks over Kirby's Tales of Asgard work.
The odd perspective of the splash page has me thinking this love story would end up as a murder mystery. The graduate student in the panel below could just as well have been getting strangled as preparing for a kiss. This could be forgiven once you consider how scripts were done in the old days. A creator sometimes never knew what magazine the story would ultimately be published in and could draw it in such a way as to have multiple endings. There were more than a few romance stories of the era that began as a typical love tale that took an unexpected and sudden turn into the fantastic or mysterious.
Then there is this panel from the exciting conclusion.
Amy looks thrilled, doesn't she? Again, reading the entire story leads me to believe the original script or idea Colletta worked from diverged from the end result by the time the art was completed. But it was just as likely that Coletta was contacted Tuesday night and asked if he could come up with something by Friday morning and worked from the barest outline."Vinnie? It's Stan. I need eight pages from you. I don't know...There's a girl, see? She's leaving school and she meets a guy, he might be a bimbo. The girl doesn't know if she should give up her telephone switchboard job for marriage. I'll figure that out later."A lot of people have very little respect for the output of Vince Colletta. But one fact that needs to be taken into consideration in any critque of his work is that without him many of the classic books (and not so classic titles produced mainly to saturate the news stand with their brand) that helped create the modern comic book industry would never have made it to the printers on time or at all.
"Yeah. I'll have it to you by Thursday."
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Friday, January 23, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Why don't you just hang out a sign?
Has anyone apologized for the 70s yet?
The National Police Gazette (May 1977).
The National Police Gazette (May 1977).
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
The Human Powerhouse
Nice Steve Ditko panel of "The Human Powerhouse" defeating a horde of Lovecraftian aliens bent on infecting the planet Earth.Printed on heavy stock, this panel makes a sweet bookmark.
Strange Suspense #48 (July 1960).
Monday, January 12, 2009
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Friday, January 09, 2009
Thursday, January 08, 2009
Spirographs are scary
I don't think the creators of the Spirograph would ever have thought that the designs rendered by a children's toy could ad a touch of menace to the macabre, take the level of psychosis up another notch for the disturbing or convey the odd, alien and unfathomable to science fiction.
A 12-Course Meal Would Probably Kill You
Advertisement placed in the premiere issue of Life Magazine (November 1936).
Click the picture to make it as big as that spot on your lungs the Doctor found on the X-Ray.
I'd be surprised if anyone attending that meal made it to the New Year. Lying, lying, lying Government-enabled Corporate monsters. If only they would have gone the way of the housing market.
Click the picture to make it as big as that spot on your lungs the Doctor found on the X-Ray.Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Cleaver. Cleaver. Chop. Chop.
You may recall the tune from the Kill Bill films.
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
Monday, January 05, 2009
From the Award-Winning OGN
Copies of The Hayley Mills Story Official Movie Comic Book adaptation are available in the Hayley Mills Celebratory Complex Giftorium!You know your life is empty without a copy of your own, what are you waiting for?
