As a child in the late 1960’s early 1970’s I was always fascinated by the house ads that appeared in Marvel comics that seemed to offer an endless supply of merchandise featuring various Marvel characters. Of particular interest to myself were the posters of the artists that actually drew theses strips shown beavering away at their drawing boards some with representation of their characters interacting with them. Up until that point it never really occurred to me that there was a talented adult artist behind all these wonderful comics. I would spend hours looking at the miniature reproductions of some of these posters as they appeared in these half page ads, trying to get a better view of what the artist actually looked like.
The above ad appeared in various Marvel comics from around 1970 (this ad is taken from Daredevil #73) featuring 6 black and white artists self-portraits with biographies on the back for Gene Colan, John Romita, Herb Trimpe, John Buscema, Jack Kirby and Jim Steranko. However, from memory (but I could be wrong) I seem to recall an earlier ad that originally featured a Marie Severin poster that looks to have been replaced by Jim Steranko’s. Perhaps this was added as Steranko was the hot new talented at this time.
Herb Trimpe's poster was always my favourite . A fully coloured version of this poster was used as the cover to TwoMorrows book on Herbs work.
Gene Colan
John Romita. Like most of these posters this one has been repurposed several times as a poster, pin up page and/or the cover to comic art magazine.
John Buscema.
Jack Kirby - This version of the Marvelmania poster is taken from the cover of the "Jack Kirby Collector".
Jim Steranko's rather stilted offering.
Marie Severin. I seem to recall that the above art was originally used in an earlier advert for these postersin place of Jim Steranko's poster.
As noted above Jim Steranko seemed to be the hot property at this time and he produced 4 excellent posters specifically for Marvelmania.
The above poster of the Hulk was later used as the cover to FOOM issue 2. Below Spider-Man by Steranko.
I had always thought that Marvelmania was the official Marvel fan club that replaced the “Merry Marvel Marching Society” fan club, but it was actually a separate company set up by Don Wallace who licensed the use of the characters . Marvelmania operated from 1969 until 1971 and produced a plethora of merchandise including the Marvelmania fanzine, posters, superhero figurines, plastic pillows and LPs. Unfortunately the company folded in 1971 with debts and Wallace allegedly running off with any remaining cash before his creditors could catch up with him.
I was probably about seven years old when I walked into my local newsagents in Cambuslang (near Glasgow) with my pocket money firmly he...
Following on from my last post featuring some of my favourite Marvel comic book covers from 1973, I thought I would show some of DC's ...
Nearly a half-century on I still consider 1973 to be the year that cemented my destiny in becoming a lifetime comic book fan. It was a yea...
I'm with you. These little posters were fascinating insights into the magical and mysterious methods of comic book making. And Marvel's success is very much based on how Stan was able to make the talent at Marvel part of the excitement. It allowed for more personal identification with the creators and their work, making the books themselves very personal items.
ReplyDeleteThe story of Marvelmania is an all too typical one from comics history, a history filled up with con men and grifters. The very structure of how comics were manufactured was evidence of that essential swindle. A handful of savvy business types at the top mined the talent of young artists and writers and built a model which paid them little and treated them like cattle. Stan's elevation and celebration of the talent, was a crack in that edifice which ultimately made it possible for folks to make good livings in comics.
Spot on Rip , Stan and the gang did seem like folk I knew when I was younger all down to Stans wxcellent marketing and communication skills. Those adds, the bullpen pages et c pretty much made me want to invest in their work much more than other publishers, they were after all my pals!. Sadly I think publishing in general seems to attract some dodgy characters.
DeleteSteranko's poster seems more than just a tad narcissistic. Show us the heroes, Jim.
ReplyDeleteThat's exactly what I was thinking about Steranko's contribution Kid.
ReplyDeleteI concur. The Herb Trimpe offering is the most impressive. I also very much like the John Romita one.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, I like them all. Except, possibly, Jaunty Jim's.
I wasn't a fan of Mr Steranko's offering at all. But I will give him the benefit of the doubt and when he was asked to do a self portrait he took it literally .
ReplyDeleteA great set of posters, made all the more desirable for us Brits back in the 70s because they seemed utterly attainable (at least to me). The Hulk poster by Steranko was familiar because of being a FOOM cover, but looking at it now, I've only just noticed those strange figures coming out of the mist towards Hulk.
ReplyDeleteMy favourites are the Trimpe and Romita posters, by a country mile. They somehow embody a sense of fun, and evoke a strong link between the artists and the characters.
That sense of the writers and artists etc having fun was a big part of the attraction of Marvel Comic to me as a kid even although it was probably an illusion. I didn't notice those figure whitewashed from the FOOM Hulk cover until you mentioned it Ian.
ReplyDelete