Paul Pope's 1977

Everyone has strong childhood memories; the smells; the sounds; the impressions. They come upon us unexpectedly, making the present disappear behind the impressions of yesteryear.
Here, in Paul Pope's 1977, we get a vivid glimpse inside the world of the author, with vivid details so strong that in just four pages we can see the kind of things that helped form who the artist became and what were his motivations.

from THB: Comics from Mars 2010 by Paul Pope

Doctor Strange #55 a classic by Roger Stern and Michael Golden

When Steve Ditko and Stan Lee created Doctor Strange they knocked it out of the park, so much so that it was really hard for future creators to come close to the awesomeness of it. Then Roger Stern and Michael Golden came along and brought it up a notch. Doctor Strange #55, Oct 1982, is not only one of the best Doctor Strange stories I've ever read, it's one of the best comics I've ever read.



Doctor Strange #55, Oct 1982, by Roger Stern and Michael Golden

Men in Tights - a history

When Superman first hit the scene with his blue and red tights it created a shockwave around the country that it hit off the whole superhero craze that is going on stronger than ever today with blockbuster movies like Batman and the Avengers. Before that no one had ever seen a hero in tights and cape. Where did they get the idea from?

Siegel and Shuster created a character called Superman in 1933 though it bore very little resemblance to the Superman we know. He had mental powers but had normal strength. A year later they would re-envision him into a super crime fighter.
 

Gary Panter's Jimbo

What do you get when you combine Jack Kirby, with Pablo Picasso?  You get Gary Panter's Jimbo. It’s one part Kamandi and one part Guernica. Jimbo is a fun adventure story as well as a statement on art and esthetics of our time.

Jimbo is from RAW Magazine #8: "The Graphic Aspirin for War Fever"  (September 1986)

Jimbo is a young punk who finds himself in a post-apocalyptic world of rotting ghost horses running down the street of demolished cities. In an odd way his work reflects our own world and media with it’s grotesque news stories of war and oil spills and man-made disasters. Gary Panter’s work reflects this in a fascinating, grotesquely beautiful way. It's abrasive, shocking, senseless and yet totally compelling.

Re-thinking the Copper Age of comics

Growing up reading comics in the 80’s, I have a very well rounded point of view of the comics of that time, so when I heard that people wanted to group early 70’s comics with comics from the early to mid 80’s in what would be called 'the Bronze Age of comics', something rang very false to me. It made me stop and consider the whole ‘Bronze Age of comics’ because to me 80's comics were a very different animal to comics of the 70's.

Copper Age of Comics

1978 to 1988

Some significant comics from the 80's from upper left to bottom right - Daredevil #181, Apr 82, Watchmen #1, Sep 86, American Flagg #1, Oct 83, Tales of the Teen Titans annual #3, July 84, Teen Age Mutant Ninja Turtles #1, May 84, Amazing Spider-Man #250, Mar 84, Batman; the Dark Knight Returns #1, Feb 86, the Mighty Thor #237, Nov 83, Swamp Thing #34, Mar 85

Bill Everett's Sub-Mariner

Bill Everett was a giant in the world of Golden Age comics. He was on the forefront of the superhero movement in comics and created the Sub-Mariner for Timely's Marvel Comics #1 (Oct. 1939) which was a hit and became one of Timely's most popular characters.

Happy 4th of July with John Cassaday's Captain America

"You were 19 the first time you felt this. This disbelief. This anger."

"You'd had the body almost a year. the training. You had scares."

"You'd been shot at so many times that you laughed when you found yourself staring down the barrel of a gun."



Captain America vol. 4 #4, Sep. 2002

 

On this July 4th I'd like to look at a great comic that has been forgotten;

Captain America vol. 4

by John Ney Rieber and John Cassaday

Liberatore's Batman

"Once you confront the unpleasant reality, I'm sure the nightmares will cease."

"Then they'll never end... because I can't remember!"

 

Batman

'In Dreams'



From Batman Black and White vol. 1 #3 (Aug 1996)

by Andrew Helfer and Gaetano (Tanino) Liberatore