I was very sorry to hear that longtime comic book artist Sal Buscema had passed away on January 24th, just two days short of his 90th birthday. As I have written on several occasions on this blog, “Our Pal Sal,” as he was affectionately referred to by his fans, was one of my all-time favorite comic book creators.
Sal Buscema was born on January 26, 1936 in New York City. Sal was the younger brother of acclaimed comic book artist John Buscema. Enduring some harsh yet undoubtedly effective critiques from big brother John, Sal entered the comic book field in 1968, working for Marvel Comics, where he would remain for the majority of his career.
Buscema initially intended to focus on inking as his speciality, and among his earliest jobs was embellishing the pencils of his brother on the Silver Surfer series for several issues. However, Buscema soon transitioned into penciling, replacing his brother as the artist on Avengers in 1969. Avengers was undoubtedly a baptism of fire for Buscema, as it was a team book with multiple characters, requiring clear storytelling so that the action was not confused or cluttered. Buscema immediately rose to the occasion, turning in dynamic pages that were easy to read, a quality that would remain a hallmark of his for the entirety of his career.
Throughout the next three decades Buscema had lengthy runs on a number of Marvel titles, among them Captain America, Defenders, Incredible Hulk, Rom Spaceknight and Spectacular Spider-Man. Buscema was also called upon to provide fill-ins for numerous late books during the 1970s. Described as a workhorse, he never missed a deadline.
As I’ve previously recounted, it was via his work on Incredible Hulk that my seven-year-old self first discovered Buscema’s work in 1983, and I immediately became a fan. His pencils on Incredible Hulk #285 were powerful and dynamic, making a huge impression on my young mind.
I did not really get into comic books regularly until 1989, when I was 13 years old. By that point in time Buscema was doing full artwork, pencils & inks, on Spectacular Spider-Man. Paired up first with writer Gerry Conway and then with J.M. DeMatteis, Buscema did some of the very best work of his career on Spectacular, and it was a title that I followed regularly.
DeMatteis’ writing on Spectacular Spider-Man culminated in the epic issue #200 (May 1993) which saw the tragic death of Peter Parker’s longtime friend Harry Osborn at the end of the issue. DeMatteis was so impressed by the power of Buscema’s artwork & storytelling that he chose to have the two pages appear completely dialogue-free, allowing Buscema’s pictures to carry the emotional scene all on their own. I cannot think of a greater testament to Buscema’s work than that.
As the 1990s rolled around, I frequently attended comic cons, and I was able to pick up a lot of Buscema’s earlier work on Captain America and Rom Spaceknight, two other titles on which he had excelled.
After the comic book market crashed in the mid-1990s and Marvel filed for bankruptcy, Buscema went to work for DC Comics for a few years, working on a variety of titles there. On some he was providing layouts for up-and-coming artists, on others he was doing inking, and on a few stories he did full artwork. The jobs where Buscema got to illustrate Batman were, in my opinion, especially good. One of my favorites was “The Prison” in The Batman Chronicles #8 (Spring 1997) which was penciled by Buscema and written & inked by John Stanisci.
Entering the 21st Century, Buscema mostly retired from penciling, concentrating mostly on inking. He was paired with penciler Ron Frenz on a lengthy run of Spider-Girl at Marvel, among other projects.
Buscema also worked frequently with artist Guy Dorian Sr. on a variety of books. These included a short return to Rom Spaceknight, which was now being published by IDW. The work of Dorian & Buscema on Rom for IDW was definitely of a high quality, and they made an effective art team. The two continued to work together right up until Buscema’s passing.
I was fortunate enough to meet Buscema on a couple of occasions. I used to have a few pages of artwork that he did, but I regrettably had to sell them years ago to pay the bills. But I am happy that I still have the two convention sketches that I obtained from him. One was of the Green Goblin, and it can be viewed in my Spider-Man sketches blog post. The other sketch is of Captain America, and it can be seen below.
As I’ve written before, for an extremely in-depth look at Sal Buscema’s career, I highly recommend picking up the excellent book Sal Buscema: Comics’ Fast & Furious Artist, written by Jim Amash & Eric Nolen-Weathington, from TwoMorrows Publishing. The print edition is unfortunately sold out, but it is still available digitally.
In a career that lasted nearly six decades, Sal Buscema produced a huge and, more important, highly impressive body of work. I regard him as one of the finest craftsmen in mainstream comic books. In certain respects he was underrated, as he was one of those good, solid, reliable artists who the industry was heavily dependent upon for many decades. I’ll always be a fan of his work.
Marvel / DC: Deadpool / Batman is the first intercompany crossover between the Big Two in over 20 years, with Marvel publishing this initial new book. The story sees the Merc With A Mouth arriving in Gotham City to hunt down the Dark Knight. “The Dead of Knight” is written by Zeb Wells, penciled by Greg Capullo, inked by Tim Townsend, colored by Alex Sinclair, and lettered by VC’s Clayton Cowles.
As with pretty much any intercompany crossover involving Marvel and DC, the story is not especially deep or sophisticated. Pretty much the entire appeal is seeing characters from the American comic book industry’s two largest publishers appear together in the same story. To the credit of Wells, he does write a genuinely funny story that shows the rambunctious, loquacious Deadpool hamming it up in reaction to the grim, brooding, taciturn Batman. Wells also gets a fair amount of mileage out of contrasting Deadpool with fellow chaos agent the Joker, who is also possessed of a, well, distinctive sense of humor that frequently revolves around chaos & carnage.
The artwork by Capullo & Townsend is top-notch. Capullo is an industry veteran with a string of hits behind him, among them X-Force, Spawn and Batman. I’ve liked his art since he first got started doing stellar work on Quasar in the early 1990s. Townsend is one of the best inkers in the biz, always bringing solid work. They make a really good team here.
There are a number of backup stories in Deadpool / Batman of varying quality. Probably my favorite was the very cute team-up of Jeff the Land Shark and Krypto the Superdog, who are seen playing volleyball across an Arctic landscape. “Catch” is written by Kelly Thompson, drawn & colored by Gurihiru, and lettered by VC’s Joe Caramagna.
Both the Captain America & Wonder Woman and the Daredevil & Green Arrow stories are too much on the short side, and would benefit from more pages. Considering that the Rocket Raccoon & Green Lantern and the Logo (an Amalgam-type mashup of Wolverine and Lobo) are really slight stories, I’d rather those pages have been used for the Cap & WW and DD & Arrow tales. Speaking of Steve Rogers & Princess Diana, the artwork by Terry Dodson & Rachel Dodson is absolutely top-notch, another reason I wanted more pages for “The Gun & The Sword.” Over on Instagram, Dodson described working on this story as “Getting paid to draw my childhood” and it really shows in the finished work. Adam Kubert’s work on “The Red and the Green” is also very strong.
And then we come to the elephant in the room. “Showdown” teams up Old Man Logan and the Batman from The Dark Knight Returns, courtesy of writer & artist Frank Miller. And it is… not good. It’s goofy, and I thought the artwork was sloppy. I will admit, I’ve never been the biggest fan of Frank Miller, but I definitely recognize that he was a talented, influential writer & illustrator back during the 1980s. However, I feel his work in the 21st Century has been a pale shadow of his former glories, and I dislike the art that he’s been producing the past several years. I feel like if anyone else other than Miller had handed in work like this, it would be roundly rejected by Marvel or DC. Okay, it’s only three pages in a giant-sized issue, but it still feels very disappointing. And, honestly, Old Man Logan & Batman: The Dark Knight Returns could have been its own full-length crossover, but the concept is just thrown away on this poorly-written, poorly-drawn short.
So, Deadpool / Batman is not a perfect package, but in spite of its flaws it’s still an enjoyable one. DC is going to be releasing their own Batman / Deadpool special in a couple of months, and I’ll probably pick that one up to see how the Distinguished Competition handles one of these new crossovers.
Comic book artist Brian Postman passed away on May 9th at the age 65. Postman had a brief career in mainstream comics in the early 1980s, penciling a handful of jobs for Marvel Comics, most notably Captain America Annual #7 (1983), Spider-Woman #47 to #50 (Dec 1982 to June 1983) and Marvel Team-Up #139 featuring Spider-Man and Nick Fury (March 1984).
Postman’s work was not flashy, but he had a good, solid style and a clear sense of storytelling to his pencils, and paired up with a quality inker his work was effective. Regrettably, he appears to have had trouble making a living in comic books, and following his brief stint at Marvel he went into storyboarding for a number of years.
As I understand it, later in life Postman did return to comics, drawing horror stories for a number of small independent publishers. It was apparent that even though he was unable to forge a career in the industry, he still loved the medium of comic books, and would return to it in whatever limited capacity he was able to.
Postman was active on social media, and he was available for commissions. Since he had penciled the last four issues of Spider-Woman, I realized he would be a good choice to do a drawing of Jessica Drew in my Avengers Assemble theme sketchbook. Brian really outdid himself, illustrating a dynamic rendition of Spider-Woman, and adding a couple of extra Avengers, namely the Hulk and Captain America, in the background. I had hoped to get another Avengers sketch from him, this time of Tigra, who appeared on the cover of Spider-Woman #49, but regrettably I never got around to asking him.
Postman came across as a good person who loved to draw. I didn’t want his passing to go unnoticed, which is why I decided to put together a brief tribute to the man. Here are a few examples of his artwork.
Captain America Annual #7 written by Peter Gillis, penciled by Brian Postman, inked by Kim DeMulder, lettered by Diana Albers and colored by Bob Sharen, published by Marvel Comics in 1983
Spider-Woman #49 cover penciled by Brian Postman and inked by Sam de la Rosa, published by Marvel Comics in April 1983
Marvel Team-Up #139, written by Cary Burkett, penciled by Brian Postman, inked by Mike Esposito, lettered by Diana Albers and colored by George Roussos, published by Marvel Comics in March 1984
Batman & Captain America was released in December 1996. It was written, drawn & lettered by John Byrne, with coloring by Patricia Mulvihill & color separations by Jamison. I wish I could find a larger image of the gorgeous wrap-around cover.
Byrne came up with the absolutely brilliant idea of having Batman & Captain America be a period piece released under DC’s Elseworlds imprint. Set in January 1945, the crossover sees the Dark Knight and the Sentinel of Liberty, along with their teen sidekicks Robin and Bucky Barnes, working to prevent the Joker and the Red Skull from stealing the atomic bomb for Nazi Germany.
I gotta admit, I love this first page where Batman and Captain America meet. Wait, is… is Batman smiling? Is that even legal?!? Seriously, though, coming out as it did in the wake of the long shadow of Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns, it was so refreshing to read a story like this one where Batman’s allowed to be cheery & upbeat.
Batman & Captain America really feels like it was a labor of love by Byrne. One of the creators to whom he dedicated this project was Golden Age Batman artist Dick Sprang. Byrne even gives us a great, sprawling splash page of our heroes in the Batcave, with an accompanying nod to Sprang (in the lower right hand corner), who drew such elaborate vistas back during his time on the series.
Batman & Captain America is notable for the scene where the Joker discovers he’s actually working with the Red Skull and reacts in outrage, declaring “I may be a criminal lunatic, but I’m an American criminal lunatic!”
I recall that I initially found this scene ridiculous. Perhaps I still remembered the time the Joker went to work for Ayatollah Khomeini? But on further reflection, it makes sense that the Golden Age version of the Joker would feel this way. The Red Skull is a Nazi, meaning he’s a fascist, a proponent of totalitarian order, whereas the Joker is the exact opposite, a force of chaos, a self-proclaimed criminal mastermind. Of course they’re not going to get along.
Batman & Captain America ends with a very sweet epilogue that Byrne credits his longtime friend & collaborator Roger Stern with conceiving. If you haven’t read this special, well, I won’t give it away, but suffice to say it’s quite a clever coda.
Speaking of Roger Stern, he is the writer of the second book I’m looking at, The Incredible Hulk vs Superman, which was released with a July 1999 cover date. Artwork is by penciler Steve Rude and inker Al Milgrom, with letters by Jim Novak and colors by Steve Oliff. Rude also contributed a painted cover.
I got my copy of The Incredible Hulk vs Superman signed by editor Glenn Greenberg. A longtime Hulk fan, Greenberg has said that working on this crossover was one of the highlights of his time at Marvel.
The Incredible Hulk vs Superman is also something of a period piece… two different periods, to be precise. All of the Marvel characters are clearly from the era immediately after the original six issue Incredible Hulk series by Lee, Kirby & Ditko that was published between 1962 and 1963, whereas the DC characters are appearing shortly after the events of Byrne’s acclaimed six issue Superman origin reboot The Man of Steel that was released in 1986.
The Incredible Hulk vs Superman sees Clark Kent in the American Southwest investigating the mysterious, monstrous Hulk. Corrupt industrialist Lex Luthor, seeking revenge on Superman, arrives and attempts to manipulate the Man of Steel and the Hulk into a conflict, in the hopes that the green goliath will destroy the Kryptonian superhero.
There’s a definite comedic aspect to The Incredible Hulk vs Superman. Rude & Milgrom’s work is very Kirby-esque, as well as having a fun, cartoony feel to it. Although written to be Byrne’s post-Crisis hero, the visual of Rude’s Superman appears to be inspired by the Max Fleischer animated shorts from the early 1940s.
Stern writes humorous sequences such as Lois Lane, in the hopes of scooping Kent, doggedly pursuing the Hulk’s teenage confidant Rick Jones, even donning the getup of a sexy hot rod girl in an attempt to catch his eye and score an interview about the jade giant.
There’s also a wacky, exaggerated scene in which, the two of them having been tricked into fighting each other by Luthor, the Hulk starts chucking the contents of a truckload of missiles at Superman.
The one weakness of The Incredible Hulk vs Superman is that it’s too short. Batman & Captain America is 64 pages long, really giving Byrne’s story room to breathe. In contrast, The Incredible Hulk vs Superman is a mere 48 pages, and as such feels a bit cramped. I really wish Stern had been given the same page count his pal Byrne had gotten two and a half years earlier. Especially since both books are the same price!
If the story details on these two specials seem a bit sparse, well, that’s because neither of these is especially complex or involved. The primary purpose of both was to put some of the flagship heroes of DC and Marvel together in fun, exciting stories, and in that aspect they both succeeded admirably.
Comic book artist Mike Machlan passed away earlier this month. Machlan’s career in comic books lasted from the early 1980s to the mid 1990s. He worked primarily as an inker, although he did do the occasional penciling job. His art had a fun quality to it.
All-Star Squadron #24 written by Roy Thomas, penciled by Jerry Ordway, inked by Mike Machlan, lettered by David Cody Weiss and colored by Gene D’Angelo, published by DC Comics in August 1983
Machlan was a longtime friend of fellow artist Jerry Ordway. They were both from Wisconsin, and the two had met in the mid 1970s when they were working on fanzines and self-published comic books. Ordway broke into professional comic books first, and one of his earliest regular assignments was doing inks / finishes on All-Star Squadron. Written by Roy Thomas, All-Star Squadron featured the Justice Society and their numerous costumed allies fighting against the Axis powers during World War II.
Ordway assumed the penciling chores on All-Star Squadron with issue #19, and two months later on issue #21 (cover-dated May 1983) Machlan had joined him as the series’ inker. The two worked very well together, as can be seen by this superb splash of Batman page from All-Star Squadron #24 which evokes the character’s Golden Age origins.
All-Star Squadron #28 written by Roy Thomas, penciled by Mike Machlan and inked by Jerry Ordway, published by DC Comics in December 1983
Roy Thomas and his wife Dann devised a spin-off for All-Star Squadron. Set in the then-present of the early 1980s, Infinity Inc. would feature the sons, daughters & other successors of the JSA on Earth-Two. Other than the already-existing Power Girl and Huntress, the members of Infinity Inc. were new characters devised by Roy & Dann Thomas, Mike Machlan & Jerry Ordway. Machlan and Ordway worked closely together to design the visuals of the team members.
As Ordway recounted in Modern Masters Volume 13: Jerry Ordway, published by TwoMorrows Publishing in 2007:
“I think Jade and Obsidian were the two characters that were closest to me and to Mike, because we really had the most input on them. And there was some stuff that Mike did on his own. I don’t think I went over every one of those things, and he turned out a lot of sketches. He turned out Mr. Bones, a new Hourman, and a male version of Harlequin.”
Above is the double page promo piece by Machlan & Ordway that ran in All-Star Squadron #28 to promote the upcoming series.
Infinity Inc. #9 pencils & inks by Mike Machlan, published by DC Comics in December 1984
The initial plan was for Machlan to pencil Infinity Inc. with Ordway inking him. However, at the last minute the two artists switched roles, with Ordway penciling and Machlan inking.
Machlan did still get to pencil a few of the Infinity Inc. covers, which Ordway inked. Machlan also did the full artwork for a number of profile images of the various team members, which were published throughout the series’ run.
Continuing his account of Infinity Inc’s origins, Ordway explained:
“But then you had Fury, and then finally Silver Scarab. And I think Fury and Silver Scarab are pure Mike Machlan-channeling-Kirby kind of designs.”
Above is Machlan’s profile pic of Silver Scarab, one of the characters on which he was primary designer, which appeared in Infinity Inc. #9.
West Coast Avengers #29, written by Steve Englehart, layouts by Al Milgrom, finished by Mike Machlan, letters by Bill Oakley and colors by Gregory Wright & Bob Sharen, published by Marvel Comics in February 1988
Ordway and Machlan both departed from Infinity Inc. after the series’ first year. Machlan went on to ink Chuck Patton and George Tuska on Justice League of America, and Rafael Kayanan on The Fury of Firestorm, as well as doing a few inking jobs for First Comics.
Machlan began working for Marvel Comics in 1987, providing finishes over Al Milgrom’s layouts on West Coast Avengers beginning with issue #24. I felt Milgrom & Machlan made a solid team. One of the best examples of their collaboration was West Coast Avengers #29. “Death Run” features Moon Knight on a single-minded pursuit of Taurus, head of the Zodiac crime cartel. Machlan’s finishes really helped to enhance the intense, moody tone of writer Steve Englehart’s story.
Marvel Fanfare #41 penciled by Mike Machlan, inked by Al Milgrom and colored by Greg Wright, published by Marvel Comics in December 1988
The anthology series Marvel Fanfare that Milgrom edited frequently featured pin-up galleries that spotlighted the work of different artists. Milgrom especially enjoyed giving artists who were best known as inkers the opportunity to contribute pin-ups, enabling them to demonstrate their penciling abilities.
Marvel Fanfare #41 had a gallery of Mike Machlan pin-ups which featured various characters & events from the Silver Age. A different artist inked each piece. In an interesting reversal of their roles on West Coast Avengers, Machlan was inked by Milgrom on the pin-up of Captain America and his rogues gallery.
Avengers West Coast #50 written & penciled by John Byrne, inked by Mike Machlan, lettered by Bill Oakley and colored by Bob Sharen, published by Marvel Comics in November 1989
In 1989 John Byrne became the writer / artist on West Coast Avengers, and the series was soon re-titled Avengers West Coast in a move to make sure the book would be stocked on the shelves right next to the main Avengers series, hopefully increasing sales.
Machlan remained on Avengers West Coast for several issues, inking Byrne’s pencils. Once again, I felt Machlan did a good job, complementing Byrne’s work. Above is a page from Avengers West Coast #50 featuring the continuity-shattering meeting of the Vision and the original android Human Torch.
Amazing Spider-Man #338 written by David Michelinie, penciled by Erik Larsen, inked by Mike Machlan, lettered by Rick Parker and colorer by Bob Sharen, published by Marvel Comics in September 1990
Machlan hopped over to Amazing Spider-Man in 1990, where he was paired with penciler Erik Larsen. I’m a huge fan of Larsen’s work, and I like the quality that Machlan brought to the finished art in those days before Larsen did his own inking. Machlan remained on Amazing Spider-Man for about a year.
Following this, Machlan worked on another Spider-Man project. Once again paired with Al Milgrom, he inked the four issue Deadly Foes of Spider-Man series in 1991.
Justice Society of America #1 written by Len Strazewski, penciled by Mike Parobeck, inked by Mike Machlan, lettered by Bob Pinaha and colored by Glenn Whitmore, published by DC Comics in August 1992
Machlan also began working for DC Comics again in the early 1990s. His main assignment saw him return to the heroes of the Golden Age with the all-too short-lived Justice Society of America series that ran for 10 issues between August 1992 and May 1993. I recently blogged about this great, underrated series. Machlan was a good match for series penciler Mike Parobeck.
The mid-1990s saw a major downturn when the inflated speculator bubble finally burst. Machlan, like a number of other comic book professionals, departed the industry to find work elsewhere.
While no longer working for any of the major publishers, in recent years Machlan did commission work for private collectors. He did several great pieces for fans Michael Dunne and “Marvel Two-in-One Guy” which can be seen on Comic Art Fans.
Although Machlan’s career in comic books only lasted about a decade and a half, he did really good, quality work during that time. Many fans, myself included, fondly recall his art, and were saddened by the news of his death.
At the end of my last blog post I promised to look at a much more successful project to come out of editor Mike Rockwitz’s office at Marvel Comics in the early 1990s. The Invaders was a miniseries which revived the World War II era superhero team for new adventures.
Roy Thomas loves the Golden Age of comic books. Thomas was born in 1940, so he grew up reading the early adventures of the Justice Society of America from DC Comics and the various superheroes from Marvel precursor Timely Comics.
The unusual things about Timely is that, even though their heroes frequently appeared together on dynamic covers, they never actually met in the stories within, other than the occasional fight or team-up between the original android Human Torch and the hybrid anti-hero Namor the Sub-Mariner. The only exception to this was the two appearances of the All-Winners Squad in All-Winners Comics #19 and #21, which were published in late 1946 and written, respectively, by Golden Age pioneers Bill Finger and Otto Binder. Namor and the Torch were joined by Captain America, Bucky, Toro, Miss America and the Whizzer in the All-Winners Squad.
After Thomas came to work at Marvel in the mid-1960s he began to utilize the Timely characters of the 1940s in his own stories. By 1975 he hoped to revive the All-Winners Squad in a series that would be set in the early 1940s and see the team operating during World War II. Then-publisher Stan Lee disliked the All-Winners Squad name and Thomas, who himself had never been too enthusiastic about it, came up with the alternate title The Invaders, as the heroes would be invading Hitler’s Fortress Europe to liberate it.
The team made their debut in Giant-Size Invaders #1, cover-dated June 1975, in a story written & edited by Thomas and penciled by Frank Robbins. Set in late December 1941, the story saw Captain America, Namor, the Human Torch and teen sidekicks Bucky and Toro fight against the super-powered Nazi agent Master Man. At the story’s end the five heroes resolved to work together to fight against the Axis menace.
The Invaders quickly became an ongoing series, running for 41 issues between August 1975 and September 1979, with an Annual being released in the Summer of 1977. Thomas edited the entire series and wrote nearly all the issues, with Don Glut coming in to pen the last few.
Thomas left Marvel for DC Comics in 1981 and created All-Star Squadron, an even more successful superhero series set during World War II. Thomas returned to Marvel in late 1986 and within a few years he was once again writing books set during the Golden Age. His editor on the majority of these, including The Invaders miniseries, was Rockwitz.
“Generally speaking, we got along quite well. He kept coming back to me for projects. And he wouldn’t demand to know every plot twist in a story in advance, which I’d have found boring and off-putting.”
The Invaders four issue miniseries was published in early 1993. In addition to Thomas and Rockwitz, the creative team was penciler Dave Hoover, inker Brian Garvey, letterer Pat Brosseau and colorist Paul Becton, with Ian Akin stepping in as co-inker for the third issue. The cover logo was designed by Todd Klein.
The first issue of the miniseries opens on the evening of June 22, 1942, picking up shortly after the conclusion of the ongoing series. Cap, Namor and the Torch discover a Nazi u-boat in the waters of New York Harbor. To their surprise, the craft is smuggling in a quintet of super-powered Nazi agents. The Invaders are even more startled when they realize that each of the five members of the Battle Axis is actually American.
Caught off-guard, the trio of heroes are defeated and barely make their escape. They retreat to the headquarters of the home front team the Liberty Legion in Times Square, where they are reunited with the dimension-shifting Thin Man. The Invaders relate their encounter with the Battle Axis to the Thin Man. Hearing their description of the Nazis, The Thin Man, who has been keeping track of American superheroes in order to enlist them for the war effort, is shocked to realize that all five of the Battle Axis were themselves, until now, costumed crime fighters.
Elsewhere, the romantically involved Miss America and the Whizzer are walking along the East River in their civilian identities when they stumble across the Battle Axis coming ashore. The Whizzer is captured but Miss America just barely escapes. Fleeing to Liberty Legion HQ, she tells the Invaders what has happened, as well as what she overheard said by Dr. Death, the ruthless leader of the Battle Axis: the Naxi agents are heading to Los Angeles as part of “the Fuhrer’s supreme plan –to knock America out of the war!” The Invaders quickly head west in pursuit of their dangerous foes.
The Invaders miniseries was definitely enjoyable, so I’m not going to go into too much detail about the story. If you’re a fan of these characters I definitely recommend seeking out these issues for yourself, or picking up one of the collections in which it’s been reprinted.
In addition to the Invaders and Liberty Legion members, Thomas utilizes obscure superheroes Blazing Skull, Silver Scorpion and the original Vision, all of whom hadn’t appeared since the early 1940s. He also brought back a pair of characters he had co-created with Frank Robbins in The Invaders series, the Blue Bullet and the Golem.
Thomas had actually wanted to have the original Vision, who was an other-dimensional alien named Aarkus, join the Avengers way back in 1968. However editor Stan Lee instructed that Thomas have an android join the team, and so Thomas created a brand-new android Vision who was visually similar to the original. My pal Alan Stewart offered a comprehensive look at this in his retrospective on Avengers #58.
So, finally, a quarter century later, Thomas at long last had the opportunity to write the Golden Age Vision in this miniseries. Hoover’s cover to The Invaders #3 featuring the Vision is even a homage to the android Vision’s first cover appearance on Avengers #57 by John Buscema & George Klein, which in turn was inspired by the alien Vision’s introductory splash page from Marvel Mystery Comics #13 by Jack Kirby & Joe Simon in 1940.
Okay, I’ve heard of double vision, but triple?!?
The Battle Axis are also bona fide Golden Age superheroes. Thomas’ original idea was to have several obscure Timely heroes join the Nazi cause, but editor Mark Gruenwald balked at the idea. So Thomas dusted off a handful of even more obscure characters from the 1940s from other publishers who had fallen into the public domain and had them turn evil.
I thought Thomas actually made the heel-turns by the various Battle Axis members fairly plausible. In the late 1930s there were very strong isolationist feelings held by many Americans, as well as a fairly significant pro-Nazi movement in existence in the United States. Just because the country finally entered World War II in December 1941 did not mean that the people who held those beliefs would change them overnight. So it makes sense that you could have a handful of costumed vigilantes who for personal or ideological reasons would throw in with the Third Reich.
Thomas helpfully provides some detailed information on the various characters appearing in this miniseries in a trio of text pieces in the back of the first, third and fourth issues. Keep in mind that in 1993 the majority of readers would not have been alive when the original Golden Age comics came out, very little of that material had yet been reprinted by Marvel, neither had the original run of The Invaders been collected, and there was no Wikipedia. To put it in perspective, in the first piece Thomas notes that if you would like to read All-Winners Comics #19 and #2, both issues are available on microfiche!
I found Thomas’ text pieces invaluable, and I’m sure others did too. I appreciate that Thomas wrote them, and that Rockwitz encouraged him to write them rather than running ads in the spaces.
The artwork by Dave Hoover on The Invaders really was fantastic. I was a big fan of Hoover’s work. He’d recently drawn some nice fill-in issues of Excalibur, Nick Fury and Wolverine, as well as She-Hulk and Iron Fist serials for Marvel Comics Presents. So it was definitely a pleasure to see him penciling this miniseries.
Rockwitz clearly appreciated Hoover’s work, as a year later he gave him the regular assignment of penciling Captain America. I really liked Hoover’s depiction of Cap in The Invaders, and it was nice to then have him draw the character’s monthly series, on which he also did good work.
Brian Garvey & Ian Aiken had contributed some really rich, textured inks / finishes over Sal Buscema’s pencils on Rom Spaceknight a decade before this, so I was also a fan of their work. I feel they provided very nice embellishments on The Invaders, effectively complementing Hoover’s pencils. It’s a very attractive-looking miniseries.
Hoover sadly passed away on September 4, 2011 at the much too young age of 56. I addition to enjoying his work, I met him at comic conventions a couple of times, and he seemed like a good person, so I was definitely saddened by his death.
Rockwitz was very happy with how The Invaders came out. On the text page of issue #4 he describes it as “a dream come true for me.” As Thomas later related in Alter Ego #136:
“Mike said one of the proudest things of his editorship – and he didn’t sound like he was kidding – was being able to have me do another Invaders series. I don’t know why that should be the high point of anybody’s life [chuckles] but I certainly appreciated the thought.”
There were apparently tentative plans by both Thomas & Rockwitz for further Invaders stories. In issue #4 Rockwitz mentions the Invaders would be appearing “in an upcoming Captain America mini-series due out this year” but as far as I know that project never came to fruition.
Ultimately Thomas & Rockwitz would only ever be able to do one more Invaders-related story after this. Thomas wrote a fill-in story for Captain America #423 (January 1994) which revealed the never-before seen first encounter between Cap and Namor. Pencils were by M.C. Wyman and inks by Charles Barnett III, with letters by Diana Albers and colors by Ovi Hondru. It’s another enjoyable story with gorgeous artwork.
I’ve always felt Wyman had a style reminiscent of John Buscema. That was especially the case when he was inked by Barnett, whose inking really evokes a Bronze Age feel to it. I always enjoyed seeing Barnett’s inks over various pencilers during the early to mid 1990s. Wyman & Barnett only worked together a few times, unfortunately. They made a great art team.
Roy Thomas is a good, imaginative writer, one of the architects of the modern Marvel universe, who successfully wove together the interesting yet disparate strands of the company’s early history into a rich tapestry. I’m glad that Mike Rockwitz was able to afford him so many opportunities to write new stories in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The books they produced together were a lot of fun. Rereading them 30 years later, those comics are still enjoyable.
Comic book artist Tom Palmer passed away at the age of 81 on August 18th.
Palmer started in comic books in 1968 at Marvel Comics, at the tail end of what fans generally refer to as the Silver Age. Although he initially worked as a penciler, Palmer soon transitioned into inking. He quickly established himself as one of the great inkers in the industry. In addition to his work as an inker / embellisher, Palmer was a colorist & painter. Palmer had runs on X-Men inking Neal Adams, Doctor Strange and Tomb of Dracula inking Gene Colan, Star Wars inking Walter Simonson and Ron Frenz, X-Men: The Hidden Years inking John Byrne, and Incredible Hulk inking John Romita Jr and Lee Weeks.
However, the title which I most personally associate Palmer with is Avengers. He initially inked & colored several issues in the early 1970s, first over John Buscema and then Neal Adams. Palmer returned to Avengers with issue #255 in 1985, and he remained on the book thru to issue #402 in 1996, doing inks / finishes for nearly every issue during that 12 year period. Just as Joe Sinnott had previously played a key role in defining the look of Fantastic Four for over a decade and a half via his strong, characteristic inking, so too did Palmer do the same for Avengers.
Here are some highlights from Palmer’s work on Earth’s Mightiest Heroes:
Palmer really hit the ground running on Avengers #255 (May 1985). In addition to once again doing a great job inking John Buscema, who also returned to the series with this issue, Palmer produced a stunning painted cover that spotlighted the then-current Captain Marvel, Monica Rambeau.
Another striking Avengers cover by Palmer is issue #273. The comics released by Marvel with a November 1985 cover-date marked the 25th anniversary of the debut of the Fantastic Four, and each cover had a portrait of its main character, or for the team books, one of the prominent members, surrounded by border artwork by John Romita. Avengers #273 had a portrait of the Black Knight by Palmer, who rendered the character in rich textures.
More often than not Buscema was doing loose pencil breakdowns on Avengers during the second half of the 1980s. It was Palmer’s job to produce the finished artwork, a task he did with incredible skill, rendering some very stylish, detailed pages.
This pages is from Avengers #277, the final chapter of the now-classic “Under Siege” storyline written by Roger Stern, which saw Baron Zemo form a new Masters of Evil to try to destroy the Avengers. Buscema & Palmer did great work on the final battle between Captain America and Zemo.
Buscema left Avengers with issue #300. Following a short stint by Rich Buckler, the new penciler on the series was Paul Ryan, with Palmer remaining on inks.
This amazing poster featuring most of the Avengers members up to that point in time was drawn by Ryan & Palmer. It was released in 1989, and was probably done by them around the same time as when they were working on Avengers #305 (July 1989) which contained a very similar scene.
Larry Hama had a short, underrated stint writing Avengers in the early 1990s, during which he shook up the team’s line-up and introduced some offbeat villains. Chief among these was the strange other-dimensional entities the Tetrarchs of Entropy. Ryan & Palmer certainly did an excellent job depicting those bizarre entities, as seen in issue #329 (February 1991).
Bob Harras became writer on Avengers with issue #334, and the next issue he was joined by penciler Steve Epting. Palmer remained on as inker, and for the next several years they were the creative team on the title, bringing some much-welcome stability to the book.
Palmer once again also began coloring Avengers with issue #343. He would hold the dual roles of inker and colorist on the series for the next three years. Here’s the splash page to Avengers #345 (March 1992), part of the “Operation: Galactic Storm” crossover, featuring Palmer’s inks & colors over Epting’s pencils. Left to right we have Quasar, the Eric Masterson version of Thor, the Vision and Sersi of the Eternals.
Palmer’s coloring was also on display on several Avengers covers such as this one, issue #375 (June 1994), the finale to Harras’ long-running Gatherers storyline. This great wrap-around cover, penciled by Epting and inked by Palmer, is definitely enhanced by Palmer’s vibrant coloring. I always felt Epting & Palmer did a fine job rendering the Black Knight and Sersi on Avengers, and that’s certainly on display here.
This is definitely one of my favorite Avengers covers from the 1990s. Click on the image to see the cover in all its full-sized glory!
Mike Deodato began penciling Avengers with issue #380 (November 1994). It’s interesting to see the very slick work of Deodato embellished by Palmer’s highly textured inking, but I think it worked, really making the art stand out from the various other jobs the very popular Deodato was doing at that time. Palmer also does the coloring. The two of them definitely did good work on this dynamic double page spread featuring Quicksilver and Crystal.
Avengers #384 (March 1995) is another rare example of Palmer’s full artwork. Harras wrapped up a long-running plotline involving the ruthless machinations of the Greek gods in a genuinely heart-wrenching finale that left Hercules devastated. Palmer’s cover really captured the tragedy of Harras’ story.
All good things must come to an end. So it was with Avengers volume one, which concluded with issue #402 (September 1996) as the “Onslaught” crossover send both the Avengers and Fantastic Four over to an alternate reality for the year-long “Heroes Reborn” event. Palmer departed in style via an incredible painted cover.
I think it really speaks to Palmer’s skill as an illustrator that he does such a good job with this particular odd team line-up which had, among other things, the Wasp transformed into a humanoid insect and Thor wearing an overly-complex costume that just screamed “grim & gritty.”
This marked the end of Palmer’s regular association with the team, although he would return to the team from time to time, such as inking Will Rosado on the eight issue Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes II miniseries in 2007 and inking John Romita on several Avengers issues in 2011.
I was fortunate enough to meet Palmer on a few occasions at comic cons and store signings. He always came across as a good, polite person who made time for the fans.
The news of Tom Palmer’s death is sad. We’ve lost way too many incredible talents in such a very short time.
This summer is the 30th anniversary of one of the more, um, unusual superhero comic book stories ever told. In the summer of 1992 a seven part bi-weekly serial entitled “Man and Wolf” ran in the pages of Captain America published by Marvel Comics. However this story is much more often referred to by another name: “Capwolf.” Yes, this is the time when Captain America was turned into a werewolf.
“Man and Wolf” ran in Captain America #402 to #408, cover-dated July 1992 to October 1992. The creative team was writer Mark Gruenwald, penciler Rik Levins, inkers Danny Bulanadi, Don Hudson, Ray Kryssing & Steve Alexandrov, letterer Joe Rosen, and colorists Gina Going & George Roussos. Ralf Macchio was the editor for most of the story, with Mike Rockwitz stepping in to begin his editorial tenure with the “Man and Wolf” epilogue in #408.
Let’s set the stage: Mark Gruenwald had been writing the Captain America series since issue #307 in 1985. From my own perspective as a reader, after several years of really good, interesting storylines by Gruenwald, for the last year or so the book had really been floundering. This dip in quality seemed to occur right when Rik Levins came onboard as a penciler. I’ve written before about how disappointing I initially found Levins’ work. So, between the drop in quality in Gruenwald’s writing and my definite lack of enthusiasm in Levins’ art, my interest in the series was really flagging.
And then came “Man and Wolf.” Okay, this is going to perhaps sound weird, but I felt, even though this was a ridiculous storyline, it was actually the beginning of an uptick in quality for the series.
I’m curious what the genesis was of “Man and Wolf.” I half-suspect that it was conceived as an excuse to bring in Wolverine, Wolfsbane and Cable as guest stars. In the early 1990s the X-Men group of comic books was absolutely red-hot, insanely popular, among Marvel’s bestselling titles. In contrast, the character of Captain America was unfortunately regarded as uncool, even lame. I mean, I liked Cap a lot, but I knew I was the very much the exception among teen readers at the time. So I wonder if Gruenwald or Macchio or someone else decided to have several mutants appear to bump up sales.
As Captain America #402 opens, Steve Rogers has decided to take a leave of absence from the Avengers to search for his two missing friends: his pilot John Jameson and his girlfriend Diamondback. Cap hears about a series of “werewolf killings” in northern Massachusetts and recalls that former astronaut John Jameson was once turned into the Man-Wolf by the mystical “Moongem” he discovered on the Moon. Cap heads to Boston to enlist the aid of the mystic Doctor Druid, who himself is planning to investigate the werewolf murders. (And, wow, it’s got to be sort of a bummer for Druid that he’s “the world’s second most celebrated authority on the occult” who everyone consults with only if Doctor Strange is unavailable!)
Cap and Doctor Druid head north to the small town of Starkesboro, where they are attacked by a literal army of werewolves. It soon transpires that these werewolves are the citizens of Starkesboro, transformed by Cap’s old foe Nightshade, the “Queen of the Werewolves” whose dual fields of expertise are biochemistry and mind control. Nightshade, in turn, is working for another of Cap’s enemies, the so-called Druid, now going by the name of Dredmund (no doubt to avoid confusion with Doctor Druid). Nightshade and Dredmund are in possession of the Moongem, whose supernatural emanations are drawing other wolfen beings to Starkesboro, among them Wolverine and Wolfsbane.
Cap and Doctor Druid are both captured. Cap is transformed into a werewolf by Nightshade. Attempting to escape, “Capwolf” gets into a brutal fight with Wolverine, who has been hypnotized by Dredmund. Realizing that Nightshade is the only one who can turn him back to normal, Capwolf returns to town. Nightshade uses her pheromones to entice Capwolf into “the Pit” where all of the “disobedient” werewolves are imprisoned. The mutant lycanthrope Wolfbane from X-Factor is one of the prisoners, and she teaches Capwolf how to speak and to think more clearly in his werewolf form.
Giving one of his characteristic inspirational speeches, albeit with a lot more growling than usual, Capwolf organizes the other werewolves in the Pit and they stage an escape. Capwolf makes his way to the town church, arriving just in time to see Dredmund slit Doctor Druid’s throat. Druid’s lifeblood empowers the Moongem, enabling Dredmund to transform into the Starwolf.
Capwolf takes the fight directly to Dredmund, but he is helpless against the cosmic-powered Starwolf. The other wolves from the Pit, led by Jack Russell, Werewolf by Night, arrive and attack Dredmund’s forces.
And then Cable shows up. The gun-toting cyborg leader of X-Force has been tracking his teammate Feral, who has also been lured to Starkesboro by the Moongem. As is typical for the character from this period, Cable immediately opens fire with one of his ridiculously large automatic weapons, deadpanning “Who’s afraid of the big bad wolf?” Hoping to prevent a massacre, Capwolf leaps at Cable and the two tangle, only to be imprisoned in a giant carpet by Starwolf, leading Cable to ask “Whose mutant power is it to control carpets?”
A mysterious white-furred werewolf from the Pit rescues Doctor Druid, taking him back to Nightshade’s laboratory. The white wolf captures Nightshade and injects her with her own werewolf serum so that she will be forced to create an antidote. Druid manages to heal himself enough that he is able to break Dredmund’s control of Wolverine. Logan heads to the church, where he frees Capwolf and Cable, and the three of them join forces to defeat Starwolf.
In the epilogue Nightshade finally turns everyone back to normal. The white wolf is revealed to be none other than the missing John Jameson. Cap himself is injected with the antidote just in time to be attacked by an evil doppelganger from the then-ongoing Infinity War crossover event. Dispatching his dark duplicate, Cap summons the authorities.
John explains that as much as he liked being Cap’s pilot he needs to find his own path. Cap reluctantly accepts his resignation, letting John know there will always be a place for him with the Avengers. Fortunately Cap quickly gains a new pilot: ace daredevil Zack Moonhunter, who had been hypnotized by Dredmund to be his “werewolf wrangler.” His mind now free, Moonhunter eagerly accepts Cap’s job offer.
Some time later, back in New York City at Avengers Mansion, the Falcon stops by for a team briefing. Brought up to speed by Cap about his recent activities, the Falcon agrees to join his old friend to search for the still-missing Diamondback, who readers know has been kidnapped by the brutal Crossbones and delivered into the clutches of Cap’s arch-enemy the Red Skull. To be continued!
Whew! That was quite a ride. A lot of people thought “Man and Wolf” was ridiculous, but I enjoyed it. It was a lot of fun. Re-reading it again this week, I still liked it.
I’ve heard it suggested that “Man and Wolf” could have been a much more effective story if it had been drawn by an artist such as Mike Mignola or Kelley Jones who really specialized in the horror genre. I definitely think there’s validity to this. But I do think Rik Levins did some decent work on these issues. His penciling & storytelling began to show some definite improvement over his artwork from the previous year.
(Update: I feel that the point when Levins really began to step up his game was right before this, in issue #401, which Mark D. White just covered on his excellent, insightful blog The Virtues of Captain America.)
The main inker on “Man and Wolf” was Filipino artist Danny Bulanadi. Although his inking is nowhere near as overwhelming as many of his countrymen, it is still fairly heavy. Bulanadi had already been the regular inker on Captain America when Levins came onboard. Initially I did not think the two of them made a good art team. But on “Man and Wolf” the rich, textured style of Bulanadi’s finishes really enhanced Levins’ pencils, giving the story a certain atmosphere that very much suited the supernatural elements & settings of the story.
It’s interesting to contrast the pages by Bulanadi to those done by the other inkers, which are much more of a traditional Bronze Age superhero style, and therefore not nearly as effective for this particular story. An example of this can be seen up above on the page from issue #405 featuring Capwolf fighting Wolverine, which was inked by Steve Alexandrov.
I’m not sure what it was. Perhaps Levins was hitting his stride. Or perhaps incoming editor Mike Rockwitz prodded Gruenwald to up his game. Whatever the case, the next year or so on Captain America after “Man and Wolf” concluded is one that I found really enjoyable.
I do wonder if Gruenwald might have stuck around on Captain America a bit too long, since I feel he did once again sort of run out of energy a couple of years later. But there is definitely something to be said for writing more than 100 consecutive issues of a series. Likewise, I believe Levins still hold the record for penciling the most issues of Captain America ever, having drawn the book for 36 consecutive issues, from #387 to #422.
All these years later, “Capwolf” is still remembered by readers. I think a lot of the derision has given way to bemused nostalgia. In 2015, when the Falcon had assumed the role of Captain America, he briefly turned into a new Capwolf. Several alternate reality versions of Steve Rogers as Capwolf have appeared, including in the video game LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 in 2017. And last year a Funko Pop of Capwolf was released.
So, three decades after Captain America first howled at the Moon, it looks like Capwolf is here to stay. Now if we could just get a team-up of Capwolf and Captain Americat, that would really be something!
It’s difficult to believe that it’s been 30 years since this happened. It was the Summer of 1991, and I experienced my first significant disappointment as a comic book fan. But first, a little background is necessary…
I’ve been a fan of Captain America from Marvel Comics ever since I read issue #278 and issue #291 when I was a kid. My father got me a one year subscription to the Captain America series in 1985, and I read those issues until they fell to pieces.
Captain America #378 by Ron Lim & Danny Bulanadi, one of the favorite issues of my teenage years
I was 13 years old in 1989 when I finally started reading the Captain America comic book on a monthly basis. This was when my father began taking me to the comic shop every week, so it became much easier to follow the series.
I really liked Kieron Dwyer’s pencils on Captain America. In 1989 Dwyer was still a young, up-and-coming artist, but even then you could see how much talent & potential he possessed.
A year later Dwyer was replaced as the penciler on Captain America by Ron Lim, whose work at the time I actually liked even better. Lim was the artist on the book from January 1990 to June 1991, drawing issues #366, #368 – 378, and #380 – 386. He was paired with Filipino artist Danny Bulanadi on inks. Lim’s penciling on Captain America was absolutely dynamic, and I immediately became a HUGE fan of his work.
Some of the best work by Lim & Bulanadi was on the seven part storyline “Streets of Poison” that ran bi-weekly in the summer of 1990. Written by Mark Gruenwald, it involved the Red Skull challenging the Kingpin for control of New York City’s illegal drug trade, with Cap getting caught in the crossfire. Lim & Bulanadi drew some amazing action sequences as Cap fought against Bullseye and Crossbones.
Cap versus Bullseye from Captain America #374 by Lim & Bulanadi
So I was incredibly disappointed when Lim left Captain America and was replaced by Rik Levins with issue #387, which was cover-dated July 1991. I felt there was an immediate, steep decline in quality, and I was really upset 😭😭😭
(Keep in mind I was a teenager, and we all know how melodramatic they can be about really trivial things!)
Lim’s departure also coincided with long-time Captain America scribe Mark Gruenwald writing 1991’s six part bi-weekly summer storyline “The Superia Stratagem” which involved the female supremacist Superia gathering together an army of super-powered female villains on an island sanctuary and attempting to sterilize the outside world. A number of Cap fans, myself included, feel this storyline was the moment when Gruenwald jumped the shark.
Making this story even more ridiculous was the fact that at one point Cap and his ally Paladin, to infiltrate the island, disguise themselves as women. Yes, really. Yes, it was as ridiculous as you can possibly imagine.
What a drag! That infamous scene from Captain America #391 by Rik Levins & Danny Bulanadi
Now, I honestly don’t know if “The Superia Stratagem” would have been any more readable if Lim had been penciling it instead of Levins. I just feel that Levins didn’t have the strength as an artist to pull off making it work. It’s also worth pointing out that Lim was still penciling the covers for “The Superia Stratagem” and they were actually quite good.
The differences between Ron Lim and Rik Levins always stood out for me when I compared these very similar sequences from Captain America #266 and #297, as seen below. The first is penciled by Lim, and it’s got so much energy, with Cap having this determined look and gritted teeth as he comes swinging into action. The second one is by Levins, and Cap just has this really bland, bored expression on his face, and from his body language it feels like he’s performing a gymnastics routine rather than fighting for his life.
A comparison of Ron Lim and Rik Levins penciling similar action sequences
I hope none of this comes across as disrespectful to Levins. I did eventually develop a certain appreciation for him. I think his work on Captain America improved, beginning with the very bizarre-yet-entertaining “Man & Wolf” storyline (yes, the one that brought us Capwolf, a subject for another time), and his last year & a half on Captain America was quite good.
I also later discovered Levins’ work on Femforce and Dragonfly and other AC Comics titles, and it was so much better. I think Levins’ contributions to AC Comics were much more personal for him (he created several characters and wrote a number of the stories) so there was probably a greater investment in it, whereas Captain America was just a paying gig. (And, yes, Levins’ work for AC Comics is also a subject for another future blog post.)
A definite improvement: Captain America #410 by Levins & Bulanadi
It’s also definitely worth noting that Levins holds the record for drawing the most consecutive issues of Captain America, having penciled #387 to #422, a total of 36 issues. That even beats out Cap’s co-creator Jack Kirby, who actually only penciled 24 consecutive issues of the series (#193 to #214 plus Annual #3 and #4, for those keeping track).
Levins passed away in June 2010 at the much too young age of 59. In retrospect, I now consider him to be a very underrated talent, as well as a consummate professional, someone who was able to turn in good, solid work month after month. The closest Levins ever came to missing a deadline was when M.C. Wyman had to pencil the second half of Captain America#414. This in comparison to all of the high-profile “hot” artists constantly dropping the ball and turning in late work in the early 1990s.
Having said all of that that, I nevertheless have to confess: All these years later I STILL keep hoping that one day Ron Lim will get asked to draw the monthly Captain America series again. He has occasionally returned to the character. Lim penciled the final issue of the “Heroes Reborn” run in 1997, and I can honestly tell you that I was absolutely thrilled when I picked up that issue and found he was the artist. More recently, in 2019 Lim drew the Avengers: Loki Unleashed special written by Roger Stern and, again, I snatched that baby off the shelves. It was so great to see Cap and the rest of the Avengers drawn by Lim once again.
Avengers: Loki Unleashed demonstrated that Ron Lim still draws an amazing Captain America
So if Marvel ever does give the assignment of drawing Captain America or Avengers to Ron Lim, yeah, I would definitely jump onboard to buy those comic books!
I actually met Ron Lim a couple of years ago at East Coast Comicon , and I had the opportunity to tell him that him leaving Captain America was the first time I ever experienced a crushing loss over a creator leaving a series. He explained that intially the plan was just for him to take a short break from Captain America so that he could finish penciling the Infinity Gauntlet miniseries after George Perez had to drop out halfway through. However, Marvel then asked Lim to pencil the follow-ups Infinity War and Infinity Crusade, so he never did have a chance to return to Captain America.
I made sure to let Lim know that as an adult I understood that from a career perspective it made perfect sense for him to move over to a high-profile project such as Infinity Gauntlet and its sequels. I think Lim found my anecdote amusing, and he seemed to appreciate the fact that I was such a huge fan of his work.
Wild Thing #1 cover by Ron Lim & Al Milgrom, signed by Lim… yes, I actually enjoyed this series!
Oh, yeah, having finally met Ron Lim at East Coast Comicon, what did I get signed by him? Was it an issue of Captain America or one of the Avengers-related books that he drew? Nope! It was Wild Thing #1. Yeah, I completely forgot to bring any of Lim’s work to the show to get signed, so I picked up Wild Thing #1 from one of the comic dealers. (I bought Wild Thing when it first came out in 1999, but those comics were among the ones that I got rid of when I sold off most of my collection several years ago.)
At that point in time, I just wanted to have Lim autograph something he drew, since I’m still a huge fan, and nowadays I care much more about creators than characters. I guess that just shows how much my priorities have changed since the Summer of 1991.
It occurs to me that this is the perfect example of how unique our experiences as fans can be. Most other readers probably didn’t do much more than blink when Lim was replaced by Levins. But for me, I was at just the right age to really connect with the combo of Gruenwald & Lim on my absolutely favorite character, and when Lim then left the book it really felt like the apple cart was turned over, so to speak. I can now understand how it was such an unsettling experience for quite a number of fans ten years before when John Byrne left X-Men, or two decades earlier when Jack Kirby quit Marvel Comics entirely. So, yeah, it’s definitely a matter of individual perspective.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic all of the major comic book conventions are cancelled. It’s unfortunate, but certainly understandable. “Con crud” is a real thing at the best of times, and any huge comic con would be a major health hazard.
I enjoy going to comic cons for the opportunity to meet creators and get their autographs on books that they worked on. Obviously that is NOT happening this year. So this summer I contacted a few creators via social media and asked if I could mail them books to get signed.
One of these creators was longtime artist Joe Giella. I reached out to him via his son Frank Giella, who I’ve known for a couple of decades. I’ve gotten a couple of things signed by Joe in the past, but I had a few others I was hoping to have him autograph, so I asked Frank if I could mail them to him to pass along to his father, and he very kindly agreed.
I sent Joe Giella a few Bronze Age comic books. I don’t have any of the really classic issues he worked on for DC Comics in the 1950s and 60s since the majority of those are out of my budget. Whatever the case, I’m happy I had the opportunity to get these books signed.
All-Star Comics #73 (July 1978) has Giella inking the pencils of Joe Staton, another artist whose work I love. The writing is by Paul Levitz. I only got into the 1970s revival of the Justice Society of America in recent years when I picked up the trade paperbacks, but I immediately became a fan. I guess I’ve always liked the JSA a bit more than the Justice League because the JSA members don’t have their own solo titles, which enables more character development to take place in their series. Also, the Earth-2 setting allowed the original JSA members to age, and to mentor a new generation of heroes, which I enjoyed.
Joe Giella began working for DC Comics in 1949, and some of the earliest characters he ever drew for them were the members of the JSA. Then in the early 1960s Giella was one of the artists on the stories that introduced the Earth-2 concept and which brought the JSA back into print for the first time in a decade. Given his historic connection to these characters, I was glad to have him autograph All-Star Comics #73.
Captain America #182 (Feb 1975) was a rare Marvel Comics job by Giella. He inked a few odd issues for Marvel during the 1970s, as well as doing full artwork on various one-off projects such as a few t-shirts and The Mighty Marvel Superheroes’ Cookbook, which was an actual thing. Here Giella is inking Frank Robbins. This was during the period following the classic “Secret Empire” storyline by Steve Englehart when a disillusioned Steve Rogers abandoned the Cap identity and became Nomad.
I know that my experience with Robbins’ work parallels a number of other readers, in that initially I disliked it, over time I gradually learned to appreciate it, and now I now really enjoy his art. I feel Robbins’ work was more suited to war and mystery and horror stories than superheroes, but even on the later genre I find there’s quite a bit to appreciate. I think Giella did a very nice job inking Robbins on this issue, and I wish they had worked together more often.
Superman Family #200 (March 1980) was a really fun “imaginary story” written by Gerry Conway. Set 20 years in the future (late 1999 to be specific) it featured Clark Kent and Lois Lane married with a teenage daughter named Laura.
There were several art teams on Superman Family #200. The portions of this issue that Giella inked were penciled by Bob Oksner, another great artist whose work I have grown to appreciate in recent years. Oksner & Giella made an effective art team. That’s another collaboration I wish we had seen occur more frequently.
Finally, here is the variant cover that Giella drew for the sixth issue of the Archie Meets Batman ‘66 miniseries published by DC and Archie Comics (March 2019). Giella is apparently the oldest living Batman artist, so I really wanted to have him sign something featuring the Dark Knight of Gotham City. This cover is a nice piece which demonstrates that Giella, now in his early 90s, is still going strong as an artist.
Thanks again to Joe Giella for autographing these books, and to his son Frank for arranging everything.
In My Not So Humble Opinion 
