Gone but not forgotten : Marvel Corner Image boxes

One of the many fascinating things about comics in the 1960’s/1970s were those great little corner box images that appeared on the covers of all Marvel comic books at this time. While they have now all but faded out of existence they were at one point in time a prominent feature of any Marvel comic book - and I loved them. As time went on and the characters costumes and/or art styles changed so to did those amazing little images on the left hand corner of the comic cover so there would be various versions of Thor, Spiderman, the Avengers etc. The corner box tradition carried on for decades until the early 1990s when for the most part, they were simply and unceremoniously dropped.

f course the corner box image wasn’t just reserved for Marvels Superhero comics as they also used them for their mystery, western and humour comics. Some of their mystery /horror images were pretty cool as can be seen above.

However, it really was the Marvel superhero corner image box that attracted my attention and made me want to pick up titles that I hadn't read before just to obtain that wee image. It really was a great marketing/branding idea and one I feel played a small, but important part of Marvels success.

Although Marvel were the main proponents of the corner box image other companies also used these including Warren publishing and even Charlton.

In the late 1990’s / early 2000’s artist Joe Jusko created a series of painted cover box images based on the originals that are pretty cool and would look amazing on the cover of any modern Marvel comic book.

Bring on the Back-ups: Rog 2000

One of my true comic book joys was Charlton’s E-Man comic by Nicola Cuti and Joe Staton. Although this series only lasted for 10 issues it packed in a lot of fun during its short time on the spinner racks between October 1973 and September 1975. Apart from the obvious attraction of the lead character the comic also played host to a number of highly entertaining back up strips, the most entertaining of which was Rog 2000 drawn by the then up-and-coming comic book superstar John Byrne. Rog 2000 first appeared in the “fanzine “ CPL (Contemporary Pictorial Literature) initially as a mascot of sorts for the fanzine before progressing to his first fully fledged 6 page black and white comic strip in issue 11 of CPL (now a semi-professional fanzine). However, it wasn’t until E-Man issue 6 (January 1975) that Rog 2000 got his big break in professional comics with an 8 page back-up tale by Cuti and Byrne. Further appearances quickly followed in issues 7, 9 and 10 during which time Byrne’s art style quickly evolved into the style he would bring to Marvel a few short months later.

E-Man issue 6 - "That was no Lady" splash page

E-Man issue 7 -"Withering Heights" splash page

E-Man issue 9 - "The Wish" splash page

E-Man issue 10 -"Rog 2000 v the Sog" splash page

E-Man issue 10 was Rog 2000’s last full comic book appearance but he did appear in First comics E-Man (issue 1) in a wonderful spoof of the then popular one page Hostess cupcake adverts that appeared in many DC, Marvel ,Archie etc comics in the1980’s featuring characters like Superman , Batman ,The Hulk etc.

There were also rumours that Rog 2000 would appear as a character (called Roger) in an issue of John Byrnes She-Hulk comic with a cover (above) and a story page being produced. Sadly this never happened.

Other appearances (of sorts) by Rog 2000 have been in the IDW one-off special “Mars Attacks: Robots and Zombies” (as an alternative cover) but Rog never actually appears in the story itself.

All the Charlton strips (and the CPL issue 11 story) were collected by Pacific comics in a magazine sized black and white reprint with a nice John Byrne wrap around cover which is well worth seeking out.

Top Tens: Nick Cardy - DC’s cover king!

Looking at my collection of DC comics it has become very clear to me that I picked up many of their titles in the1970’s based firmly on the wonderful covers produced by artist extraordinaire Nick Cardy. In the 1960’s to 1970’s Nick Cardy was DC’s undisputed cover king and in that time he produced many of the companies most memorable and iconic covers. Although Cardy was best known for his work on Aquaman and the Teen Titans (covers and internal art on these particular comics) he also produced numerous other covers for DC including (but not restricted to ) the Flash, Spectre, Superman Romance, western, war and a plethora of mystery comics. Unlike many of todays "poster" based comic book covers, everyone of Cardy's covers were so well illustrated and based on the actual content of the comic that they would make any prospective purchaser want to buy the comic. Below are ten of my favourite Cardy covers:

Cover taken from DC Fandom page.

Great comic book runs: Batman by Marshall Rogers (Englehart and Wein)

As much as Neal Adams (with Denny O’Neil) defined Batman for me in the early 1970’s it has to be said that Marshall Rogers provided one of the most interesting takes on the Batman myth during his tenure on the character in Detective Comics (issues 471 – 476 written by Engleheart and issues 478/9 by Len Wein) in 1977/78. A great example of the wackiness and genius of these story’s is in the tale “The Laughing Fish” (issue 475) where the Joker infects fish with the Joker serum that provides that manic grin on their faces. The aim of what seems to be a pointless exercise is that Joker expects to be granted a trademark on his grinning fish which he thinks will make him a fortune. Of course you can’t grant a trademark on a natural resource so he kills any bureaucrats that stand in his way in obtaining this license. A great story that melds the world of the (then) modern 1970s Batman and the true madness of the Joker to the wacky original Kane-Robinson era. Other tales were just as inventive and all were all stunningly illustrated by Rogers giving a familiar yet stylised version of the characters. Sadly Marshall Rogers passed away in 2007 at the all to young age of 57 but he left us some wonderful comics and some great comic book covers.

Cover image taken from the DC Wiki page (can't believe I lost/sold/gave away my copy of this classic)

Issue 477 was a reprint of Detective Comcis issue 408 "The house that haunted Batman" by Len Wein and Neal Adams with Marshall Rogers providing a couple of intro/end pages into the story.

Music from the past: Time travel on the Pony Express

We've all experienced this, hearing a song that instantly triggers a memory. Sometimes that memory can just be a fleeting nano second recollection of where you were the first time you heard that particular tune, on other occasions the song can bring back the memory of the excitement you felt on a first date or equally a lost love (i.e. the song she dumped you to!) or indeed the bitter sweet memory of a long lost loved family member or friend. This happened to me recently when I was in Glasgow wasting time wating for my mates to arrive for our six weekly meet up (i.e. a pint and to talk rubbish). As is my norm I decided to stroll around the Forbidden Planet megastore and snort disparagingly at the new comics on sale as only a grumpy old git can do, when out of the blue the song below came on the sound system.

I think the last time that I heard this song was when it was released in 1970 but as soon as I heard the singers "grunts" at the start of the song my mind was instantly transported back to 1970 and to some friends and school mates I had at the time and hadn’t thought about in decades. The song by Johnny Johnston and the Bandwagon is very much in the bubble-gum pop mould but it is a fun upbeat tune and is pretty much the type of song I was listening to as a 10 year old in 1970's Glasgow, little knowing or caring what tomorrow would bring. Sadly Johnny Johnston passed away in 1979 at the all to young age of 35.

Seeing double: Homage , tribute or swipe covers

One of the few comic book pleasure open to this old comic book fan is when I see new comic book covers that are based upon a previous classic cover from the silver and bronze age. These are commonly referred to as either homage or tribute covers and sometimes rather cruelly as swipe covers. Personally, I like to see these when they are done properly as it’s nice to see a modern artists take on a classic cover although sadly the practice is becoming over used and is starting to feel more like a marketing ploy rather that an artists appreciation of a past cover. Some of my favourites in this genre like the above homage cover by Art Adams of Jack Kirby’s Fantastic Four issue 82 is a stunning version of a genuinely classic original cover.

The original Jack Kirby cover (above).

One of the most commonly used tribute covers has to be Flash issue 123 “Flash of two worlds” by Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson. This version by Nuno Pereira for “Archie, the married life - 10 years later” is a clever and humorous take on the classic.

The cover to Flash issue 123.

I’m not sure if its vanity when an artist pays tribute to his or her own work or if they have been specifically asked to do this. But here we see the great Neal Adams pay tribute to his own iconic Batman issue 251 cover for the first issue of the Joker.

The original cover to Batman issue 251.

One of my favourite homage covers is Donald Duck Adventures issue 11 which does an excellent job in representing the classic first issue of Mad to a new audience (and one old guy!)

Mad issue 1 by the great Harvey Kurtzman (cover taken from the Grand Comics Database).

Homage covers are by no means a new phenomena in comic book publishing as artists have been doing this since the 1940’s (and probably even before that). One of the earliest tribute covers I can remember was the cover to Superman 147 (1961) by Curt Swan and Stan Kaye who paid homage to their own earlier Adventure Comics issue 247 (1958) cover.

The original and classic cover to Adventure Comics issue 247 (covers taken from the Grand Comics Database).

Finally, leave it to Archie comics to come up with truly clever versions of the classics. This cover for a one off issue of Archie complete with faux cover marks and creases , ripped edges and paper browning by Andrew Pepoy is based on the classic 1950’s art of Wally Wood (I think this may be specifically a tribute to issue 27 of Weird Science Fantasy).

Weird Science Fantasy issue 27 - (cover taken from the Grand Comics Database).

Sweet times: Aztecs to Thunderbirds

A big treat for kids back in the 1960’s to 1970’s was always the arrival of the ice cream van when all the kids from the street would queue up with our pocket money pennies clasped tightly in one hand as we would excitedly pick our favourite sweets or ice lollies. Most of my normal purchases were taken from the “penny tray” (jelly snakes, caramels, sherbet straws , Bazooka Joes etc) but on a Saturday my dad would give my brother and myself extra money to buy “proper” chocolate for the family to eat while we watched the Saturday film. This was a time when we only had between 2 and 4 TV channels and you only got a decent film at the weekend, usually a John Wayne western or a spy film. Some of our family favourite treats are noted below:

The Cadbury’s Aztec chocolate bar had a bit of a legendary reputation amongst the chocolate bar aficionados of the 1960s/70s. It was Cadburys attempt at competing with the Mars Bar and was available to buy from 1967 and (surprisingly to myself at least ) lasted until around 1978 when it was discontinued. The bar itself had a creamy nougat core with caramel and was covered in milk chocolate. My abiding memory of the Aztec bar apart from it being a favourite of my brothers, was of the exceptionally long (2 or 3 minute) TV advert in the late 1960s that focused on Aztecs dancing around to strange music and honouring the God of chocolate with the strap line “Cadbury’s Aztec a feast of a bar” repeated several times.

Caramac bars were pretty popular in the 1960s to the early 1970s among kids as they were relatively large, cheap and very sweet. My memory of Caramac was when it was sold in the classic black wrapper with red writing and buying them to enjoy while reading my weekly (UK) comic book purchases. Caramac is now sold in gaudy red wrappers with yellow writing which is nowhere near as cool looking as the classic black wrapper. I bought one a few year ago and it ended up in the bin after one bite as it was just too sweet for me.

Fry’s chocolate cream bars are a classic UK chocolate bar that are sold in multiple flavours. It is one of the few chocolate bars that I can still eat (my sweet tooth is no longer as active as it was). Every time I see a Frys mint chocolate bar I think of my mum who loved these and would always buy one from the ice cream van at the weekend to savour while watching the Saturday film on TV.

Cadbury’s Bar Six was a chocolate bar that I associate with cinema vending machines as these and Tiffin bars always seemed to be stocked in them. Bar Six was a creamy chocolate bar with a wafer centre and hazel nut cream centre and was really tasty. It became a big favourite of mine when I was a teenager and like Caramac I associate its purchase and consumption with my comic book purchases at the time (and for some reason Sean Connery James Bond films at the cinema).

Old Jamacia was aimed at a more mature audience and it was one of the few chocolate bars my dad enjoyed (along with a Bournville bar) . I’m not sure if it was an urban legend but I seem to recall that the original bars had way too much rum in them to legally allow them to be sold as confectionary. I do remember having a square of my dad’s bar as a 6 year old and it was quite nice, but was a bit filling for me then.

Ice lollies were also a favourite purchase of mine and Lyon’s Maid Zoom was my ice lolly of choice. Back in the 1960’s Zoom was heavily advertised along with FAB (which was aimed primarily at girls) in comics and on the TV backed by Jerry Andersons Thunderbirds, Lady Penelope (and Parker) , Joe 90 and Fireball XL 5. I still pick these up from time to time and still love them.