Gorilla Daze

The Witching Hour #2, May 1969

Nick Cardy comes up trumps again with this unusual cover for the second issue of The Witching Hour. A number of the early covers of this series feature worm’s eye view layouts, suggesting this was some kind of attempt at a running theme. Perhaps it’s to do with the idea of witches flying the skies at night. Whatever, it’s extremely effective — and the colouring here helps immensely in creating an appropriately eerie mood, setting the scene for the mysteries to be found inside. Some of those mysteries are drawn by Alex Toth, who was something of a mainstay on The Witching Hour.

Image ©2010 DC Comics

Action Comics #428, October 1973

A prime example here of one of Wallace Wood’s 22 panels that always work: the L shape. Having the wall dominate the left hand side forces the eye to where the artist wants it to go, and frames the action. In addition, the lightly sketched in background creates a sense of depth when contrasted with the sharply defined foreground characters. Thirdly, the situation itself is so intriguing surely no casual browser could turn down the chance to take a look inside. Another cover composition masterclass from the pencil of Nick Cardy.

image ©2010 DC Comics

Aquaman #56, April 1971

The King of the Seven Seas’ first series comes to an end with this stunning Nick Cardy cover. As a character Aquaman had been in print continuously since the early-1940s (one of the few super-heroes to survive the Golden Age), usually as a back-up feature, but came into his own with this run. Cardy  pencilled the first 38-issues and was succeeded by Jim Aparo. For some reason these comics aren’t very popular and can be picked up pretty cheaply — which means a lot of people are missing out on a lot of fine work.

The cover here uses diagonals to draw the eye to the menace of the creature, and the lettering acts as a counterpoint, almost forcing the viewer to turn the page and start reading the story.

By this issue Steve Skeates was the regular scripter, and he used the title to look at environmental concerns of the day. Concerns, actually, that are still very much current in these times of dire warnings about global warming and melting polar ice caps. It was a book ahead of its time.

Image ©2010 DC Comics

All-Star Western #5, April-May 1971

A sublimly rendered Neal Adams cover adorns the fifth issue of this early-1970s revival of the 1950s comic — which itself was a continuation of All-Star Comics, the home of the Justice Society of America during the Golden Age. And, with a tangled history like that, it should come as no surprise that this title morphed into Weird Western Tales with #12.

The interior art is just as lovely: Jim Aparo contributes the main Outlaw story, while Al Weiss, inked by Dick Giordano, pencils the El Diablo back-up.

©2010 DC Comics