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Wednesday, May 11, 2022

Bring on the back-ups: Satana the Devils Daughter – 4 pages of John Romita magic!

In the early to mid-1970’s the popularity of superhero comics had a close rival in the guise of horror comics. At this time Marvel in particular were producing some very nice colour comics and black and white magazines featuring a plethora of horror anti-heroes including Dracula, Morbius the living Vampire, the Zombie and Blade to name a few. However, by 1975 the horror genre was for the most part starting to run out of steam so it was with little expectation that I picked up a copy of Marvel Premier issue 27 featuring Satana the Devils Daughter.
The lead story in this issue was “Deathsong” by Chris Claremont with art by The Tribe, a group of Filipino artists that included Tony DeZuniga, Alfreda Alcala and Ruby Nebres. While this wasn’t a great story the comic itself was saved by a four page classic back-up tale by Roy Thomas and John Romita which was reprinted from the second issue of Vampire Tales (1972). Below are the full 4 pages of this classic tale featuring some of John Romita's best ever artwork.
As Marvel Premier 27 reprinted this srip with dark wash that obscured the artwork I scanned the pages from my copy of Vampire Tales issue 2 (cover below) where the art is must crisper and clearer.
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9 comments:

  1. Rip JaggerMay 12, 2022 at 12:51 PM

    Those pages by "Jazzy" Johnny resonate in my imagination to this day. He drew the most exquisite women, idealized and beautiful beyond words. Not as sultry as Vampirella but more elegant. Satanna was not a character I warmed to quickly despite this outstanding entry, but I have come to appreciate her more along with most of the other monsters from this Marvel era.

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  2. McSCOTTYMay 12, 2022 at 6:02 PM

    I couldn't agree more Rip. As a kid I was a big fan of his rendition of Gwen Stacy., he just knew how to draw pretty women without them looking like a male fantasy image. Romita also drew another great black and white female based strip in Savage Tales called "Fury of the Femizons" that I will need to look out at some point .

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  3. KidMay 12, 2022 at 8:54 PM

    I hope I've got this story somewhere - in fact, I'm pretty sure I have. I think it's a reprint, but not The Superhero Women book. In fact, it might be a UK mag. Romita's pages are always a joy to look at.

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  4. McSCOTTYMay 12, 2022 at 9:31 PM

    I seem to remember this tale was reprinted in a UK Marvel comic as well Kid but I can't recall the title - perhaps a Dracula Lives etc special.

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  5. KidMay 12, 2022 at 9:49 PM

    My memory is warming up - I think it was a UK Special, perhaps called Warrior Women, McS. I'd have to dig through a cupboard to check. Might be a scan of it on the blog though.

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  6. McSCOTTYMay 12, 2022 at 10:01 PM

    Well remembered Kid. I had that comic special and I'm pretty sure after seeing the cover on google that it had the Romita Satana story in it

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  7. baggseyMay 13, 2022 at 5:19 AM

    Thanks for sharing these, McScotty. The grey colour shading really adds depth to the images. I particularly like that overview shot in the middle of page 1. I completely missed these comics back in the 70s, despite being a big fan of the DC spooky comics and Marvel's Tomb of Dracula weekly. I may now have to hunt some of these B&W magazines down.

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  8. McSCOTTYMay 13, 2022 at 10:10 AM

    I have a feeling that this tale and the equally impressive Femizons strip were collected in a Romita book . Certainly Marvel Premier issue 27 is relatively cheap still although the art isn't as clear in that issue.

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    Replies
    1. KidMay 13, 2022 at 4:00 PM

      I think they were also in one of the Origins books - The Superhero Women. The Satana one certainly was.

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