Bob Powell's Hulk from Tales to Astonish #74, dec 1965

Recently I asked a fellow comic fan what ever happened to Bob Powell after the Golden Age? Was he working in the 60's? 

Turns out Bob Powell did draw comics in the 60's and for Marvel no less. 

Merry Christmas from Daredevil and Paul Smith!

Merry Christmas from Daredevil and Paul Smith!

Happy 60th Birthday Michael Golden

born on Oct 1st 1955, has been one of the most influential comic artists of the last 40 years.

Here we see Michael Golden with a Marvel house add that he drew in the early 80's. 

Happy 80th birthday Billy Graham!

Billy Graham, born July 1, 1935 - died 1999, was an African-American comic-book artist best known for his work on the Marvel Comics series Luke Cage, Hero for Hire, and the Jungle Action feature, "Black Panther".

Happy 66th birthday Barry Windsor-Smith!

Barry Windsor-Smith (born Barry Smith in London, on 25 May 1949),

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You can see how much Barry Windsor Smith (depicted in a self portrait in the center) matured as an artist in these two Daredevil covers he drew 16 years apart, one done at the beginning of his career in May 1969 and the other done in his mature style in April 1985. Notice the flowing anatomy on the right and the beautiful colors vs the ridged anatomy on the left.

Barry Windsor Smith official site

Happy 110th Birthday Alex Schomburg!

Alex Schomburg 

born May 10, 1905 – died April 7, 1998

He was the preeminent World War II cover artist defining the look of all comic book covers of the time with his illustrations on most of Timely's (Marvel's) comics as well as many of Nedor's.

The great comic artist, Alex Schomburg created some of the most iconic covers of the Golden Age of comics like this 1942 cover of All Winners #7 with it's incredibly dynamic action of Timely's three main characters fighting the Japs.

Happy 57th birthday Bill Sienkiewicz!

Bill Sienkiewicz 

(pronounced sin-KEV-itch)

born May 3, 1958

Bill with some of his work.

Ultron, the ultimate Avengers adversary!

Ultron, the sentient, evil robot, is one of the Avengers greatest nemesis. He has deep ties to the Avengers with his being created by Hank Pym and in turn, creating the Vision. He has continued to plague them over the years giving us some of the most kick ass Avengers stories ever written.

Happy 89th birthday Gil Kane!

Gil Kane (April 6, 1926 – January 31, 2000), is the legendary creator who was instrumental in bringing about the Silver Age of comics with his art work on the new Green Lantern (in DC Showcase #22, Sep. 1959) and the Atom (in DC Showcase #34, Sep 1961).

Self portrait of Gil Kane with his Atom colored by yours truly. 

Happy April Fools with the clowns of comics!

Bring on the clowns!

Of coarse everyone knows the clown prince of crime, but there are many other clown themed heroes and villains throughout comics history.

Matt Kindt's Black Widow

Independent comics creator Matt Kindt who has lately had a big hit with his Mind MGMT did a cool piece for Marvel MAX' Strange Tales, a Black Widow story.

the Avengers origin by Walt Simonson!

Have you ever wondered how the Avengers first got together? Well here is the story as told by the ever energetic Walt Simonson. His art is so lively that it virtually explodes off of the page. It's a constant joy and here in this little gem from Avengers #300, Feb 1989, he retells the classic Lee/Kirby tale from Avengers #1, Sep 1963. It's a long forgotten little piece that is well worth remembering.

Happy 58th Birthday Frank Miller!

If there had to be one face to represent the Copper Age of comics (the 80's) I'd pick Frank Miller to be it. When he came on the comics scene in the late 70's he brought something that was genuinely unique, and the work he did over that decade were some of the greatest moments in comics history.

Frank Miller, who was born on January 27, 1957 and will be 58 this year, is surrounded by some of his greatest works of the 80's; Elektra  and Daredevil, Batman and Robin (Carrie Kelley) from the Dark Knight Returns, and Ronin.

Happy 109th birthday Robert E. Howard!

The Great Comic Book Heroes usually writes about comics but today we are going to celebrate the birthday of the great writer, Robert E. Howard, who is considered to be the father of Sword and Sorcery with his work on such stuff as Solomon Kane, King Kull and Conan!

Happy Birthday

Robert E. Howard!

(January 22, 1906 – June 11, 1936)

Happy Thanksgiving with Ant Man!

Turkey dinner takes on a whole new meaning when you are only 1 inch tall!

Happy 76th birthday Jim Steranko!

What can one say about Jim Steranko (born on November 5, 1938) that hasn't already been said? He is one of the greatest comics creators that has ever lived.

Here Jim Steranko is in front of many of the amazing covers he did in his short career making comics.

Though he was only in the comics business for a few short years, his influence on the medium has been profound.

The Black Widow, Hawkeye and her co-creator dashing Don Heck

The Black Widow is one of  Marvel's most interesting characters. Of all of Marvel's early female characters, the Black Widow was one of their most independent and modern superheroines. While Janet van Dyne, (the Wasp) was chasing Hank Pym (Goliath) and Sue Storm (the Invisible Girl) was having Reed Richard's baby, Natasha Romanoff (a.k.a. Black Widow) was working in international espionage for S.H.I.E.L.D. (Supreme Headquarters of International Espionage and Law-Enforcement Division) as well as being Marvel's first superheroine to get her own solo feature in Amazing Adventures. How did her character come about? Was she always so emancipated? Who were her creators? Let's take a look.

Happy Birthday Mike Mignola!

Mike Mignola who was born on September 16, 1960, has been one of the most dynamic and exciting artists, writing and drawing his Hellboy for the last 20 years...

though he wasn't always so well thought of.

Happy 97th Birthday Jack Kirby! The Marvel story.

Jack Kirby (August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994), born Jacob Kurtzberg, was one of the greatest comic creators ever. Not only did he create important comics and heroes of the Golden Age like Captain America but he revitalized the whole industry with his Marvel Comics creations of the 60's and influenced all the succeeding artist for decades afterwards.

Self portrait of Jack Kirby with many of his creations.

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