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Mars Will Send No More

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Mars Will Send No More

Tag Archives: Gene Colan

Behind the Dreadful Door!

31 Thursday Jul 2014

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in science fiction

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Gene Colan, Marvel Comics, Strange Tales

Strange Tales 97 -  (21)

 
Collector’s Guide:
– From Strange Tales #97; Marvel, 1962.
Art by Gene Colan.

 
Strange Tales 97 -  (22)

Strange Tales 97 -  (23)

Strange Tales 97 -  (24)

Strange Tales 97 - (25)

The Day the Nazis Ruled Latveria, and Other Astonishing Tales!

13 Thursday Mar 2014

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in superhero

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Astonishing Tales, Barry Smith, Black Panther, collection, Dr. Doom, Gene Colan, Gerry Conway, Herb Trimpe, Jack Kirby, Ka-zar, Kraven, Larry Lieber, Marvel Comics, Red Skull, Roy Thomas, Stan Lee, Wally Wood

astonishing tales 1-8 ka-zar doom set (1)

Of all the glorious splash pages in Astonishing Tales #1-8, this one of the Red Skull turning Latveria into Nazi Nation cracks us up the most. It’s so wrong in so many ways. Red Skull, what were you thinking? Do you have ANY idea what Dr. Doom is going to do to you when he gets home? And why does the decor look like a high-school assembly?

But let’s start at the beginning. Long before we used the controversial picture above to sell the set on eBay, Jack Kirby kicked off Astonishing Tales #1 in 1970 with a Ka-Zar story.

astonishing tales 1-8 ka-zar doom set (4)
astonishing tales 1-8 ka-zar doom set (5)

Ka-zar versus Kraven sounds like a manly jungle free-for-all, but the tale lacks substance. Each issue, however, provided two stories, and the second one features Dr. Doom. Roy Thomas teams up with artist Wally Wood for several issues of unique stories in the Dr. Doom archives.

astonishing tales 1-8 ka-zar doom set (6)

After Stan & Jack wrap up the Kraven story, Gerry Conway and Barry Smith tell what may be the greatest Ka-zar story of all time. X-men fans may recall Garokk the Sun God from the days of Chris Claremont and John Byrne’s run. Byrne & Claremont’s tale, one of our favorites, has its roots in the pages of Astonishing Tales. Barry Smith renders the Savage Land and its inhabitants like never before or since. Conway’s tale is so awesome we could almost forgive him for killing Gwen Stacy — but we won’t.

astonishing tales 1-8 ka-zar doom set (7)
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Stan’s brother Larry Lieber takes the reins from Roy Thomas to continue Doom’s adventures, which include revolution, androids, and bringing a mummy back to life. It’s a whacky mix of themes that Wally Wood renders like it’s still the golden age at EC Comics. And did we mention the Red Skull shows up while Doom is on vacation? Guess what — he turns Latveria into Nazi Nation! What an idiot.

astonishing tales 1-8 ka-zar doom set (10)
astonishing tales 1-8 ka-zar doom set (8)

Just when you are thinking that you might subscribe to a monthly title featuring Dr. Doom drawn by Wally Wood, the creative team begins changing. Gene Colan joins Gerry Conway for a pretty awesome Black Panther story, the goofy gimmick of drilling underground in Wakanda serving as an excuse for a fine character study of the opposing monarchs, Doom and T’Challa.

astonishing tales 1-8 ka-zar doom set (12)

Colan’s pencils seem to become more flowing and abstract in his next few issues of Doom. Inker Tom Palmer certainly deserves some credit for that effect, and if you’d like to see how different inkers have interpreted Colan, Comic Tropes has a great short video that will show you.

astonishing tales 1-8 ka-zar doom set (15)

Doom’s mystic battle is one of our favorite examples of Colan’s style, rendered in bold flowing areas of black ink.

astonishing tales 1-8 ka-zar doom set (16)

Herb Trimpe steps in with what seems a Frazetta-inspired pose for Ka-zar.

astonishing tales 1-8 ka-zar doom set (13)
astonishing tales 1-8 ka-zar doom set (14)

But despite these creative high points in these little-known and certainly underrated stories, they might have been too odd for the market at that time. Doom got the axe, and the book became Ka-zar’s title for more than a year beginning with the ninth issue.

Later, it would become a sort of proving ground for potential characters. Tony Isabella and Dick Ayers would give us “It!” for a few issues, and then Deathlok by Rich Buckler and Doug Moench. The Guardians of the Galaxy also make an appearance, but Marvel axed the whole title after issue #36, six years after it began.

We recently sold our ‘reader’s copies’ set of the first eight issues, but you can usually find Astonishing Tales (Marvel, 1970) in stock. Many well-worn copies exist, so prices on VG+ Marvels from this era remain relatively cheap. Just try finding VF/NM copies, though, and you will have yourself a collecting challenge!

astonishing tales 1-8 ka-zar doom set (2)
astonishing tales 1-8 ka-zar doom set (3)

Hawkeye Becomes Goliath!

05 Monday Aug 2013

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in superhero

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Avengers, Gene Colan, Goliath, Hawkeye, Roy Thomas

Avengers 064-02-03

Hawkeye has enjoyed a recent resurgence in superhero popularity thanks to Matt Fraction and David Aja. A long time ago, he gave up shooting arrows to grow really, really big. Don’t believe us? Get the scoop right here from Roy Thomas and Gene Colan. It has to do with a death ray from the sky. Go!

Collector’s Guide: From Avengers #63 and #64; Marvel, 1969.















Full Fathom Fright!

17 Monday Jun 2013

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in occult

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Eerie, Eerie Magazine, Frank Frazetta, Gene Colan, Warren

Gene Colan rocks the house with his dramatic panel layouts in this story from Eerie Magazine. Plus, it has a Frank Frazetta cover.

Are you sure you can handle the awesomeness? Fine, then — descend into the oceanic depths of horror. Don’t say we didn’t warn you!

Collector’s Guide: From Eerie Magazine #3; Warren, 1966.




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