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Mars Will Send No More

~ Comic books, art, poetry, and other obsessions

Mars Will Send No More

Tag Archives: Gil Kane

An Inhuman Retrospective

24 Monday Mar 2014

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in superhero

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Amazing Adventures, collection, Doug Moench, first issue, George Perez, Gil Kane, Inhumans, Jack Kirby, Jae Lee, Marvel Comics, Paul Jenkins

inhumans collection (1b)

We’ve always had a fondness for the Inhumans as characters and concepts despite the lackluster treatment they often receive in print. The Inhumans first appeared as supporting characters in the Fantastic Four when creators Stan Lee and Jack Kirby still masterminded that title together. In 1970, Kirby launched Inhumans on their own adventures in Marvel’s second attempt at an Amazing Adventures title.

inhumans collection (1a)

Marvel ran the 1961 Amazing Adventures for just half a year, its first six issues collecting some entertainingly vintage stories by Kirby and Steve Ditko, Dick Ayres, Paul Reinman, Don Heck, and Larry Leiber. You can preview many of these golden-age sci-fi and monster stories in our archives.

Beginning with a new #1 issue — something that seems a monthly event at Marvel these days — the 1970 Amazing Adventures put both the Inhumans and the Black Widow on the cover. The Black Widow stories have some wonderful John Buscema and Gene Colan artwork you can preview at Diversions of the Groovy Kind.

The Inhumans get the full Jack Kirby treatment for three issues. He writes and draws them in pretty straight-forward superhero adventures. We have the first story in our archives. Like Kirby’s Black Panther, they lack  depth but make fast-paced action stories for young readers. 1970 also gave Inhumans fans another Jack Kirby treatment of his genetically-modified heroes: the final issue of the first Silver Surfer series.

inhumans collection (1c)

Even the Mandarin appears in these Amazing Adventures, in his utterly ridiculous “Asian Villain” outfit! The Inhumans made it about sixteen issues in this format, with Roy Thomas and Neal Adams stepping up to create new stories after Kirby left. But like Thomas & Adams’ X-men, the Inhumans were doomed as a publication.

inhumans collection (1d)

Okay. Not exactly doomed. They got their own title after that! Leaving behind the anthology comic format, the Inhumans had earned their own shot as title characters. Doug Moench and George Perez launched them with Inhumans #1 in 1975. We have that first issue in our archives, too: Spawn of Alien Heat!

inhumans collection (1e)

That series showed a lot of potential, but its struggle to find its feet is almost palpable. You can find it reprinted in a hardcover format as Marvel Masterworks: Inhumans #2 from 2010, the first volume of which covers all those Amazing Adventures stories plus their origin story from Thor.

inhumans collection (1f)
inhumans collection (1g)

Marvel billed the Inhumans as “uncanny” in this series, a word they would later apply to the X-men. The “Uncanny X-men” stuck, and few readers of bronze-age Marvel recall anyone but the X-men ever being uncanny! Gil Kane moved from cover art to interior art in this series. Although his style seems rough after Perez’s smooth work, Kane delivers some truly classic 70s work in stories like “A Trip to the Doom” in issue #7.

inhumans collection (1h)
inhumans collection (1i)

In what now feels like a desperate ploy to boost sales, the Inhumans fight Hulk in their final issue. The same thing happened to Kirby’s Eternals in the mid-70s. Bad sales figures? Hulk Smash! “Let Fall the Final Fury” turns out to be the last appearance of the Inhumans in their own title for about 25 years.

inhumans collection (1j)

Despite some great guest appearances in John Byrne’s Fantastic Four in the 1980s, the Inhumans never really got a stellar treatment until Paul Jenkins and Jae Lee crafted a twelve-issue limited series for them in the 21st century. We have some of that artwork in our archives. The Inhumans live up to their potential in this compelling story, despite its reliance on the same old struggle with Maximus the Mad.

The four-issue Inhumans series by Carlos Pacheco earlier that summer had some stunning art by Ladronn. It attempted to free the Inhumans from the only two stories they ever seemed to get: the fight with Black Bolt’s mad brother, and their thing about needing to live on the moon. Pacheco stepped in and said, “Let’s shake this up a bit,” taking their conceptual struggles in the next logical plot direction.

inhumans collection (1k)

But, in the wake of the Jenkins/Lee story, Marvel decided on a “next generation” approach to the Inhumans. The book became more teen-friendly and introduced a new, younger set of Inhumans characters, some of whom we met in Jenkin’s story. This 2003 Inhumans series ran for twelve issues. It has its merits and perhaps competed at the time with Marvel’s Runaways and Exiles for a teen audience wanting teen characters. Of those three, only Runaways kept our attention, proving to be a book about teens that older audiences could appreciate, too.

inhumans collection (2)

And that, dear Martians, is why some lucky buyer overseas ended up with a stack of Inhumans comics from us! We collected those first Kirby issues, the run of their 1970s title, and the Jenkins/Lee paperback, along with some other minor Inhumans goodies from over the years. It was fun to have them all close at hand for a few years, and we did hold on to our single-issue copies of the Jenkins stories.

inhumans collection (3)

1969 Origin of Wonder Girl by Marv Wolfman!

11 Tuesday Jun 2013

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in superhero

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Donna Troy, Gil Kane, Marv Wolfman, Nick Cardy, origin, origin of wonder girl, Teen Titans, Wonder Girl

The Teen Titans series from the late 1960s is a trip. Robin saying, “Peace, baby!” to a bunch of aliens? Aqualad and his girlfriend going to a rock concert? Whoa!

The series isn’t even close to the brilliance Marv Wolfman and George Perez would bring to the Teen Titans in the 1980s. However, we’d like to share with you this origin of Wonder Girl because it has none other than Marv Wolfman scripting it. Marv Wolfman describes the impetus for the origin of Wonder Girl on his site.

Some of these same scenes would be masterfully recreated and expanded by George Perez in one of our favorite super-hero comics of all time: New Teen Titans #38, Who is Donna Troy? In that story, Dick ‘Robin’ Grayson uncovers the mystery behind this strange scene where Donna is a helpless infant in a burning building.

Collector’s Guide: From Teen Titans #22; DC Comics, 1969. Script by Marv Wolfman; art by Gil Kane and Nick Cardy.




Dead Man’s Escape!

12 Tuesday Mar 2013

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in crime

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Adventure into Terror, Dead Man's Escape, Dry Tortugas, Fear, Gil Kane, Joe Maneely, octopus

Dude, there is no escape from this island!
“Oh yes there is.”
No, there isn’t!
“Yes there is.”
NO! There is NO Escape from Dry Tortugas Island!

Not even for a dead man…

Collector’s Guide:
– From Fear #9; Marvel. 1972. Art by Joe Maneely; Cover by Gil Kane.
– Reprinted from Adventures into Terror #11; 1952, Marvel/Atlas.

Dig this handy guide to the work of Joe Maneely at Atlas Comics and the subsequent posthumous reprints by Marvel.




Man-Thing in Marvel Two-in-One: First Issue!

14 Tuesday Aug 2012

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in first issue, superhero

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

Essential Marvel Two-in-One, Gil Kane, Man-Thing, Marvel Two-in-One, Molecule Man, Steve Gerber, Thing, Vengeance of the Molecule Man

Whatever knows fear, blogs at the touch of Man-Thing! Here he is, Marvel’s mucky monstrosity in some of our favorite swamp stories. We bet you never knew injecting yourself with chemical mutagens and fatally wrecking your car would be so much fun!

Today’s Man-Thing memoir rocks the first issue of Marvel Two-in-One starring the ever-lovin’ blue-eyed Thing. Man-Thing would next slime the pages of Marvel Two-in-One in #43.

For a review and recap of the first 100 issues of Marvel Two-in-One, see our friends at the Longbox Graveyard.

Ok, now cue the Team Up!

Collector’s Guide: From Marvel Two-In-One #1; 1974. Reprinted in black and white in Essential Marvel Two-In-One TPB #1.








Spider-man and Black Panther against Dinosaurs!

21 Saturday Jan 2012

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in dinosaur, superhero

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

Black Panther, dinosaur, Gil Kane, lizard, Marvel Team-Up, Marvel Treasury, marvel treasury edition, Roy Thomas, Spider-man

Spider-man jumps without a parachute into the Savage Land, where he and Ka-zar take on the evil Stegron and a herd of stampeding dinos! Later, the dinosaurs fly to New York to bring chaos to the streets. And who should drop in but the Black Panther?! With art by Gil Kane and a guest appearance by Dr. Curtis “The Lizard” Connors, this two-part dino extrvaganza has been one of our very favorites for as long as we can remember! Did you miss Part One of the story?

Collector’s Guide:
– From Marvel Treasury #22: The Sensational Spider-man
– Reprints Marvel Team-Up #20
– Reprinted in Essential Marvel Team-Up #1







Spider-man and Ka-zar Team Up Against Dinosaurs!

20 Friday Jan 2012

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in dinosaur, jungle, superhero

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

dinosaur, Gil Kane, Ka-zar, Len Wein, lizard, Marvel Team-Up, Marvel Treasury, marvel treasury edition, Savage Land, Spider-man, Stegron, Zabu

Spider-man jumps without a parachute into the Savage Land, where he and Ka-zar take on the evil Stegron and a herd of stampeding dinos! Later, the dinosaurs fly to New York to bring chaos to the streets. And who should drop in but the Black Panther?! With art by Gil Kane and a guest appearance by Dr. Curtis “The Lizard” Connors, this two-part dino extrvaganza has been one of our very favorites for as long as we can remember! Do you want Part Two of the story?

Collector’s Guide:
– From Marvel Treasury #22
– Reprints Marvel Team-Up #19
– Reprinted in Essential Marvel Team-Up #1








Tales of the Microverse 5

04 Sunday Dec 2011

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in science fiction

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Acroyear, Bill Mantlo, Bug, Gil Kane, Micronauts, Tales of the Microverse

Let’s take a look at all of the The Tales of the Microverse, originally presented as back up stories in the original 1970s Micronauts series.

If you missed a post, don’t mutate into an superhuman fascist who grows bodies in laboratories – Just activate your subatomic universe by clicking Micronauts Gallery.

Today we wrap up yesterday‘s story of the first incredible adventure Bug and Acroyear ever had together! Enjoy this fine tale from the mind of Bill Mantlo and the pencil of Gil Kane!



Tales of the Microverse 4

03 Saturday Dec 2011

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in science fiction

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Acroyear, Bill Mantlo, Bug, Gil Kane, Micronauts, Tales of the Microverse

Let’s take a look at all of the The Tales of the Microverse, originally presented as back up stories in the original 1970s Micronauts series.

If you missed a post, don’t mutate into an superhuman fascist who grows bodies in laboratories – Just activate your subatomic universe by clicking Micronauts Gallery.

Here we have a tale of the first spectacular meeting of Bug and Acroyear. This story by Bill Mantlo and Gil Kane is so long we are going to break it into two parts for you – so check back tomorrow or fire up your time machine – you won’t want to miss it!



With Every Conceivable Weapon at Their Disposal!

21 Monday Mar 2011

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in science fiction

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Gil Kane, John Carter, John Carter Warlord of Mars, Marv Wolfman, Ruby Nebres, White Apes

Dude, Marvel’s original John Carter Warlord of Mars series has huge four-armed apes — and dig those crazy Martian horses! We totally gotta have one.



Collector’s Guide: From John Carter Warlord of Mars #2 by Marvel Comics.

Dark Horse Comics recently collected all the original Marvel issues and three annuals in the John Carter Warlord of Mars TPB. Marv Wolfman worked on a John Carter series at DC before he did it for Marvel. That’s collected in the John Carter of Mars Weird Worlds TPB. Dynamite Entertainment has been publishing Warlord of Mars since 2010, with a number of spin-offs. Disney collected all the original novels in a three-volume Collected John Carter of Mars paperback, for a total of 2,656 pages of classic sci-fi adventure!

Click for more stories from Marv Wolfman or art by Gil Kane.

Strange World Named Green Lantern!

09 Sunday Jan 2011

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in superhero

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

DC Comics, Gil Kane, Green Lantern, Strange World Named Green Lantern, Tiger Shark

2022 Update: Way back in January 2011, this was one of the earliest posts on Mars Will Send No More — maybe even the second, after that Lizard Men ordeal. Since then, the scans I painstakingly made for it have become completely FUBAR. So, I pirated a few scans from the glorious Internet to restore this post to its full glory.

It has a special place in my heart, because one of my oldest grade-school friends sold me this issue along with a box full of others when he moved to Finland, and I have the best memories of us laughing our butts off on the school-bus, riding bikes like maniacs through the park between our suburbs, discovering the Red Hot Chili Peppers on cassette, and several more adventures I refuse to share with you.

But I will share with you this post, now restored to its complete, archival, and former glory.

Green Lantern #24 is about bridging communication gaps to make friends. Sometimes the key is just finding the right langauge and method of communication. My copy — before I sold it on eBay long after this original post appeared, but not so long ago that I didn’t grow to love it and display it on my walls — was badly beaten and re-stapled.

Anyway, Green Lantern is zipping about space one day and sees a planet that has a giant continent shaped like him. It fires yellow missiles at him. G.L. is powerless against yellow for a really goofy reason I cannot even get into right now. When he touches down, the land and water attack him. He is haunted by ghostly projections of his foes and friends.

Suddenly, a voice speaks to him from the green beam of his mighty lantern ring, using it like a radio beam to communicate.

It turns out the whole “attacking” scene was just a misunderstanding. The planet itself was trying to communicate. (The planet also re-tells all the pages I left out, but from its point of view.)

Like they do in dreams, things happen fast in the comic-book universe. One minute you’re making friends, the next minute disaster threatens the entire planet.

You gotta love a happy ending, especially after the existential angst of an organism, alone, isolated in its thoughts. This was the stuff of Camus and Hemingway. Usually we learn about literature like this from really dense, old books. Imagine how many more young students could grasp adult literary themes by learning them from an engaging and entertaining medium like comics!

Besides the cover story, Green Lantern #24 is best-known as being the first appearance of Tiger Shark. Here is the three-page origin showing how atomic disasters create super-powered evil.

All I can say is: Great origin, terrible panties. Marvel’s Tiger Shark has way better shark undies! Get a clue, dipshit!

Early G.L. issues are heavy on the psuedo-science. This issue covers molecular bonding, magnetism, atomic energy, evolution, and much more. But DC liked to include real science tidbits for kids, like this page below. I give early G.L. a thumbs up for being entertaining and educational.

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