Speak of the Devil!

Speak of the Devil is a six-issue series by Gilbert Hernandez of Love and Rockets fame. The story begins with a peeping tom prowling the neighborhood while wearing a devil mask. The pervert turns out to be a promising young gymnast spying on the bedroom antics of her stepmother and father. She eventually gets a male friend involved. They uncover a web of secrets they will soon wish they had not.

Love and Rockets fans will recognize some characters, but it isn’t necessary to have a history with L&R to jump on board and enjoy this unusual story. We’ve included a few pages to whet your appetite.

Collector’s Guide:
- From Speak of the Devil #1; Dark Horse, 2007.
- Collected in the Speak of the Devil Hardcover

Concrete Gallery 1: Concrete at Sea!

If you got stuck in a nearly invulnerable body with incredible strength, endurance, and eyesight, what would you do? Dress up in tights? Doubtful! No, you’d want to see the world and have adventures! In the second issue of Concrete, Chadwick’s creation tackles one of many heroic feats – swimming across the Atlantic Ocean! Of course in Concrete’s world, things never turn out like he expects… Below, you’ll see the back cover of issue #1 showing Concrete swimming among the sea life.

Collector’s Guide:
- From the back cover of Concrete #1; Dark Horse, 1987.
Full story appears in Concrete #2

- Reprinted in Complete Concrete with issues #2-10
- Reprinted in Concrete TPB #1 with #2-5
- Reprinted in Concrete Land and Sea with #2 and expanded material

Rick Griffin: Man from Utopia!

Man from Utopia is not your average comic book. Only one short piece reads like a comic. The rest of the book showcases the artwork of Rick Griffin. Interestingly, some of the pages are lettered with words composed of pure design instead of actual letters! The beetles, skulls, cosmic energy, and spermatozoa which adorned so many of Griffin’s concert posters are all here. And, perhaps because Griffin had recently converted to Christianity, several images of Jesus and the sacred heart appear.

Collector’s Guide:
- From Man From Utopia #0; 1972.

Costume or No Costume, Electro?

In the first issue of New Avengers, some very bad people charge Electro with breaking a bunch of nasty supervillains out of a high-security prison. They ask Electro, “Costume or no costume?” To which the high-voltage bad guy eagerly replies… “Costume!” Look out, Avengers – he’s going for the spandex! Art by David Finch, Danny Miki, and one of our favorite colorists Frank D’Armata; Story by Brian Michael Bendis.

Collector’s Guide:
- From New AvengersVol. 1, #1. You can also find this run in trades and hardcover.

Jack Kirby’s The Demon – First Issue!

Jason Blood – the Demon! Was there ANYTHING Jack Kirby wasn’t willing to tackle in his quest for the ultimate adventure story? NO! Let’s check out the first issue and see what happens!

Collector’s Guide:
- From Demon #1; DC Comics, 1972.
- Reprinted in Jack Kirby’s The Demon Omnibus; DC, 2008.

He Smells Like a Carnivore – Rotting Alligator Breath!

In 2012, Neil Gaiman won a long-standing court case recognizing his creator rights to the Angela character, 16 years after her first appearance in Spawn #9. But we’re not here to dicuss the legal troubles of our favorite creators – just to celebrate their awesome work!

 
While we always enjoyed the artwork in Spawn, we were never huge fans of the book. Angela, however, struck a chord with us – and we were not alone. Fans dug her so much that she starred in her own 3-issue limited series by Gaiman and artist Greg Capullo.

Today we’ll have a look at the first scene from the first issue of that series. It’s Angela’s hundred thousandth birthday. To celebrate, Heaven’s most ass-kicking huntress tracks down an alien dragon to put his fearsome head on her trophy wall.

Collector’s Guide:
- From Angela #1; Image, 1994.
- Reprinted in the Angela TPB.

Collector’s Notes: The Angela TPB does not include the first appearance of Angela by Gaiman and Todd McFarlane in Spawn #9 (reprinted in Spawn TPB #2.) Angela also appears in Curse of the Spawn #9-11 (reprinted in Curse of the Spawn TPB #3.) The Curse stories flashback to her origin.

Jack Kirby’s Atlas – First and Only Issue!

We’ve seen some scans of Jack Kirby’s only issue of Atlas floating around the web, but never the complete story. So here, in all its raging glory, is Atlas! Enjoy!

Collector’s Guide:
- From First Issue Special #1; DC Comics, 1975.