Offered by Warren’s Captain Company merchandising arm in 1965 as a “mystery man”/super-hero mask, I think we all know what’s really going on here. A nod’s as good as a wink to a blind bat, and all that. If only they’d solicited a Miss Whiplash outfit as a companion piece, eh?
A truly immense talent, one of the finest comics artists there ever was.
I’m too cut up to write any more right now.
He was my hero.
Image ©2010 King Features Syndicate
Blazing Combat #2, January 1966
Blazing Combat was a different kind of war mag. It wasn’t so much war-themed as anti-war themed. Editor and writer Archie Goodwin used the freedom of the non-comics code black & white format to tell stories that rammed home the horrors of war. He was matched every step of the way by a truly stellar array of artistic collaborators: Reed Crandall, Alex Toth, John Severin, Russ Heath, George Evans, Gray Morrow… And all topped off by a series of magnificent covers by Frank Frazetta.
These images — just four of them sadly — are powerful, presenting war at its most brutal. While Sgt Rock and Sgt Fury comics at that time still showed war as Boys Own adventure, full of plucky heroes shrugging off flesh wounds and torn shirts to defeat the black-hatted bad guys almost unscathed, Blazing Combat‘s covers showed miserable, dirt-encrusted soldiers dying on hellish battlefields. That these comics proved less than popular with the powers that be is perhaps not surprising…
Image copyright ©2010 J. Michael Catron
Blazing Combat #1, October 1965
With the passing of Frank Frazetta last week, I thought it was about time Gorilla Daze paid tribute to the legendary artist. Though he’s most often thought of as a cover artist, Frazetta drew comics during the 1950s. Working in a variety of genres, including westerns and adventure as well as fantasy, he drew for a number of publishers including DC, EC and Avon. It wasn’t unusual for Frazetta, Al Williamson, Angelo Torres and Roy Krenkel to collaborate on strips, routinely laying out or finishing each others work uncredited.
Frazetta soon outgrew comics, and moved on to work with Al Capp on the popular Li’l Abner newspaper strip. It was after this that he began to seriously pursue book cover commissions, making his mark most famously with covers for Conan and Tarzan in the mid-60s mass-market reprint editions. These days, the word fantasy conjures up certain (clichéd) images — those images were in no small part created by Frazetta as he came up with a whole new “language” of fantasy art.
At around the same time Frazetta returned to comics in the slightly more adult form of the black and white magazines published by James Warren. The horror-based Creepy and Eerie were soon joined by a new kind of war mag: Blazing Combat…
Image copyright ©2010 J. Michael Catron
A fine example of comics dealing with social awareness issues. Jimmy’s crippled and on crutches, which has ruled him out of playing baseball. However, not one to let a little thing like that stop him, he’s become the scorekeeper instead. So inspired, Fred finds a way to turn his lack of sporting prowess into a positive — and becomes a sports reporter instead. Those that can, do; those that can’t, report. Or something. A powerful message nonetheless. Back in the day comics were full of these kinds of one-pagers highlighting various issues of concern. This one comes from World’s Finest Comics # 102 (June 1959). Art by Bernard Bailey
©2010 the respective copyright holder
Young Romance #170, February-March 1971
I know I ran this cover not too long ago, but I have no hesitation to use it again to mark the passing of its artist, Dick Giordano. This was penciled and inked by him in late 1970 at around the time he was easing himself out of an editorial job at DC to set up an ad agency with Neal Adams.
Having worked at Charlton comics for most of the 1950s Giordano became the editor of the entire line around 1965, and set about updating the publisher’s moribund super-heroes to better compete with Stan Lee’s wildly-popular Marvel Comics. Under his sure hand, the “Action Heroes” proved a high point in the history of Charlton. When artist Steve Ditko left Charlton for DC in 1968, he recommended Giordano for an editorial job — and Giordano duly set up shop soon after. While this proved not to be a particularly happy time for him, he oversaw some well-remembered comics, and contributed some brilliant inking jobs — notably over Mike Sekowsky on Wonder Woman, and his soon-to-be business partner Neal Adams on Batman, Detective Comics and Green Lantern/Green Arrow.
Eventually dissatisfied with the world of advertising, Giordano returned to freelancing in the late-70s, and was persuaded to return to DC full-time in 1980 as an editor. A year later he became editor-in-chief, a role he held into the 90s. In that capacity he oversaw the company’s wholesale overhaul of its characters that led to 1985′s groundbreaking Crisis on Infinite Earths, for which he inked the first few issues over George Perez’s pencils. He later inked John Byrne on the retooling of Superman in The Man of Steel mini-series.
Giordano was also instrumental in getting Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’s Watchmen project off the ground, when he convinced Moore that original characters would make for a better series — rather than the recently-bought Charlton Action Heroes.
Although Giordano went into partial retirement once he left DC in the early-90s, he continued to produce the occasional inking job, and would even pencil from time to time. One recent job was the completion of his and Roy Thomas’s adaptation of Dracula — a job begun in the 1970s.
A true giant of the comics industry, Giordano will be sorely missed.
Image ©2010 DC Comics
Bill Finger co-created Batman.
You’re not going to see him so credited in the Batman comics, nor in the Dark Knight’s appearances in other media. That honour goes to Bob Kane, the youngster tasked in 1939 with coming up with a super-character to capitalise on the success of Superman. And Kane did indeed conceive of such a character, but he realised that it wasn’t quite up to snuff, so he took his sketch to his pal Bill. And it was Finger who suggested the refinements — the pointy-eared cowl, the pointy gloves, the billowing cape, the detective angle — that we today most associate with Batman.
Kane, in accordance with his contract, got the full credit and died a wealthy playboy figure. Finger died penniless.
On his death in 1974, DC published this full-page tribute (in Amazing World of DC Comics #1) acknowledging his importance to comics, and Batman in particular, but stopping short of a full credit for co-creating the character.
While this seems quite nice and fitting, DC didn’t spend much money on it. Look at this:
Colourist Carl Gafford doctored Neal Adams’s Superman cover (from Superman #215), converting the Man of Steel into the Darknight Detective. Well, I suppose it was cheaper that commissioning a new piece of art, eh?
Finger was a great talent. A far, far greater talent than Bob Kane ever was. It seems a shame that he’s not at least as well known.
(Click on the tribute image for a better look)
©2010 DC Comics
The previously discussed comic, Star Spangled War Stories #126, wasn’t just the first to feature a medal-winning gorilla sergeant, oh no. It was also one of the first to feature DC’s latest secret weapon in the sales war with the upstart company from over the road. Whereas Stan Lee’s approach was to try to appeal to the largely untapped teenage and college audience with stories set in a recognisable city, DC decided the future of comics was checkered. While events ultimately proved them right on that score, it wasn’t in the way they intended.
Pop Art was proving a popular (see what they did there?) fad, and the opinions of the likes of Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein (curse his name every time you speak it) were being regularly sought on various topics, so DC embraced the movement and… added Go-Go Checks to the top of all its comics. Hmmm. Now, while this certainly made the line stand out from the competition — you could tell a DC comic from a mile off — it’s perhaps not the most aesthetically pleasing design. I don’t know what would’ve been: I’m sure a Campbell’s Soup can on every cover would’ve done the trick, but I daresay there might’ve been trademark problems.
DC must’ve felt they were doing something right however, as they were more than happy to trumpet:
This odd little dead end in comics evolution went on for just over a year before disappearing forever. So it was probably not the sales winner the publisher hoped for.
Mind you, even over at Marvel, Stan Lee wasn’t immune to the lure of the new art fad. For a few months in late-1965 Marvel Comics were adorned with a “Pop Art” logo just below the cover corner block.
©2010 DC Comics
As most of you will no doubt know by now, comics writer Len Wein’s house recently burnt down. Len and his family are safe, but his dog perished in the fire. Comics fandom is well known for rallying around in times of crisis, and this is one more instance. There is a new project, co-ordinated by Mark Evanier, to rebuild Wein’s comics collection.
Click on the link above to see how you can help. Go on, you know Len has been responsible for some of your favourite comics moments…
In the mid-80s to the early-90s both Marvel and DC produced comics promoting various worthy causes. Teen Titans fought drugs, as did Captain America — who also fought AIDS with the Falcon! There were anti-asthma comics, and others on the ills of bullying, etc.
This ad, which ran around 1985, provides an important message to any youngsters reading — and goes to show that comics needn’t always be frivolous.
©2008 Marvel Characters, Inc
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