Favourite covers: Justice League of America issue 67

The first time I saw the above comic ( cover by the wonderful Neal Adams) was back in 1968/69 when my brother swapped it for 2 Batman comics ( a regular activity back in the day was swapping comics). It has remained one of my favourite covers ( and comics) since that day.

This issue featured the stories that introduced the Atom, Green Arrow and Hawkman to the JLA from issues 4, 14 and 31 by Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowsky.

Bring on the Back ups ; Avenjerks Assemble!

I first read this story in a friends copy of the "Avengers - King Size Special" issue 2 in the late 1960's. At this time I had no idea or interest, in who the people in the strip were but I do remember enjoying the silyness of the art. I had totally forgotten all about this strip until I was given a copy of "Marvel Visionaries: John Buscema" for Christmas where this was reprinted. As soon as I saw this I was immediatly reminded of that day when my pal Alan let me read this tale before quickly asking for his comic back. I don't think I had time to read the main Avengers story a that time ("And time The Rushing River.." by Stan Lee and Don Heck) but this was a fun back up tale that I actually enjoyed reading more now than I did when I was a kid.

Cover of "Avengers - King Size Special" issue 2, 1968 - taken from the Grand Comics Database

Cover to the "Marvel Visionaries: John Buscema" book.

My Famous Firsts: Conan the Barbarian issue 26

As I have mentioned many times before 1973 was my favourite year for comic books. Every month the spinner racks seemed to bulge with amazing new comics book and one of my very favourites was the above issue of Marvels “Conan the Barbarian” (above cover by John Romita, John Buscema and Ernie Chua). I was 13 years old and was on what was to become a legendary comic book finding weekend holiday break with my family to Blackpool when I came across this comic book (along with “Kull the Conqueror” issue 9) in a market stall. My knowledge of Conan up until this point was restricted to those enticing half page adverts that appeared in Marvel comics, to say they whetted my appetite to find a Conan comic was an understatement, and what an action packed issue to become my first introduction to Conan the Barbarian. Below are some pages from this excellent issue:

Although I didn’t know it at the time this issue marked the end of the ongoing saga of the “War of the Tarim” which had spanned several issues and featured the art of nine artists and one writer, Roy Thomas. In this issue “The Hour of the Griffin!”, Roy was joined by artists John Buscema, who had just taken over the job of penciller from the legendary Barry Windsor-Smith with issue 25 , and inker Ernie Chau (later called Ernie Chan).Buscema would of course go on to make Conan his (and Roys) own.

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Below are a couple of those "enticing" house ads that appeared in Marvel comics in the 1970's for Conan.

Favourite Comics: Astonishing Tales issue 25: Deathlok the Demolisher

To say that I was excited when I first saw the above cover to Astonishing tales issues 25 by Rich Buckler and Klaus Janson would have been a massive understatement. I was 14 going on 15 years old at the time and was looking for a different type of comic from the traditional superhero, something that was more gritty and I found that in this issue featuring Rich Buckler and Doug Moench’s reanimated cybernetic character. Even the name “Demolisher” screamed excitement and originality to me.

In hindsight of course I probably overestimated the originality of the character as Deathlok owed a great deal to other pop-culture trends including Mary Shelly’s “Frankenstein”, the 1970’s horror revival, the violent dystopian SF novels of the pulp era and the cybernetics of the then hit TV show “The Six Million Dollar Man” (based on Martin Caidin’s “Cyborg” novels). But at the time (and even now looking back) there was a lot to like about these early tales of Colonel Luther Manning who loses his humanity in a post-apocalyptic science experiment and finds himself trapped in a nightmare amalgam of flesh and circuitry.

The 2 pages below featured an interview between Roy Thomas and Rich Buckler and Doug Moench on the creation of Deathlok, which just added to the excitment of the comic. This issue also contained a fun 2 pages cartoon strip written by Doug Moench with some of George Perez's eariest Marvel art (inked by Mike Esposito)

While Doug Moench’s early scripts were insightful in highlighting the struggle between Manning and his cybernetic onboard computer the stories seemed to lose their appeal as the series progressed unable to hold onto the promise of the first issue. With Astonishing Tales issue 36 the Deathlok series (and Astonishing Tales itself) ceased publication leaving Deathlok’s appearances to that of a team up guest star.