When mudballs collide

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Pages from Giant-Size Man-Thing #1, written by Steve Gerber and drawn by Mike Ploog. Man-Thing is one of my favorite series (hell, favorite in general) and this was near the peak from one of the amazing creative teams ever. Man-Thing was done decently by others later, but it was no comparison to the quirky observation of Gerber and the cute-but-creepy art of Mike Ploog, let alone both of them in a great package. The entire issue can be read in Essential Man-Thing.

And yes, I have to finally write my review of that damn book. I'm feeling more confident and perspective of it,(particularly with Gerber's death) so hopefully soon.

Thicker than Blood-Mike Ploog

And now for the main course

Some covers

This is from a comic book coming out this year (2007) and I can't believe how good this looks. THIS is what Mike Ploog should be doing, not that those Abazad mis-mash diaries. Even better, the final product has the great Simon Bisley coloring. I urge you to go out and buy this book. I know I will. Now, will somebody please put him in a room with Steve Gerber and his new ideas for Man-Thing?!?

Note: This post is purely to express admiration for Mike Ploog. Any copyright infringement or other harmful activity is unintended. If there is a problem, please let me know immediately, and I shall sort out the problem/comply post-haste.

Mike Ploog Sketch-Lone Wolf and Cub

I wonder who inked this, it looks a bit different from the normal Ploog drawing. Hmm, still good.

And here's the finished version.

Art of Monster Brain

Another Sweet blog.

http://monsterbrains.blogspot.com/

Some favorite sections:

Mike Ploog

Basil Wolverton

Heavy Metal Magazine-Water and Power (by Mike Ploog)

Big Apple Comic # 1-The Silent Minority (by Mike Ploog)

An open letter to John K.

This is in response to this post(http://johnkstuff.blogspot.com/2007/07/detour-on-character-observation-vs.html), and I am saying it here because I don't have a blog( yet, and I don't want to make a crappy one just to post).[Editor's note: Aug 2007: I do have a blog and I like it. Thanks for the motivation John and Steve).

John,
Great post, you hit the nail right on the head concerning superheroes and what Lee did to make them interesting. I will also agree that many writers today are too uptight about fantasy characters, trying to be respectable rather than fun.
Happily however, there is a medium. And his name is Steve Gerber. Gerber happens to be one of my favorite writers ever, and for specific reasons. First off, he is an incredible idea man who comes up with interesting concepts that fit and appeal to artists. He never talks down to them, quite the opposite in fact. This is why he has worked with some of the best artists ever (Mike Ploog, Gene Colan, and Val Mayerick). He also never talks down to the audience, trusting they will be more than capable of understanding his stories.

But most important (to me) he is ambitious enough to work in realistic situations but professional enough to maintain the ingredients that make a good comic book interesting. The character Man-thing is a perfect example; in the series he broached the Vietnam war, the search for immortally, and racism. And yet he still gave what plenty of what us guys love, over the top violence. Man-thing smashed and bashed quite a bit, even more than the hulk at times. The series is also a prime example of Gerber’s intellectual surrealism, similar to the stuff exhibited by the Fleischers.The point being that you can have your pie and eat it, it just takes a good deal of talent. That and love of the medium and recognizing it for what it is, which Gerber has, and many unfortunately don’t.

[All artwork above by Mike Ploog, who with Gerber created some of the best (and fun) comics of all time.]

Brighten up your day with Mike Ploog

That black kid drawing is perfect.

Heavy Metal Magazine [Classic Galleries]

Something to show until better (i.e real) posts come up. There are a variety of images to enjoy but I picked some from the artist I was looking for: Mike Ploog. Enjoy!

http://www.metaltv.com/page.cfm?id=866&refpage=1014#link
[Click the weeks at the bottom]

Planet of the Ploog [with Apes! ....and a intro]

Above image by Bob Larkin

Like many of the popular films of the seventies, Planet of The Apes was adapted into a comic book, with somewhat typical results. Since Marvel was the biggest company by far then they were given the license, and soon made a tidy profit from it. But that is not why this post is here. The real reason is the original material based on Apes. More specifically, to see the almighty Mike Ploog drawing some fucking awesome pictures. Like almost everything* he has drawn Ploog excels with shading, realistic cartoony characters, and solid framing. Unfortunately he left the series for some reason, but I have included the remaining issues for story (not that it matters, Moench never truly finished the story). Enjoy!

Note: These issues from a fan site, which reprinted the Marvel Uk comics, which were themselves a reprint of the American Magazine. As a result of the change from big magazine to relatively smaller comic some fudging was done. Hence the reason there are some awkward transition titles with the same chapter. The guidelines I am following is the magazines, and adhere to the original order as much as possible. But, unfortunately, you may also note a panel that doesn't much the other drawings and is usually quite crappy. Ignore this, and continue to see Ploog's beautiful work.

Also, fuck Marvel UK, for spreading the stories across several disparate issues; it drove me insane to search through 100+ issues to find the good stuff. As a result the site still (as of this date) haven't posted all of the story chapters (everything Ploog is here though). Hopefully they will be later

* Particularly Man-thing, which was recently reprinted in the Essential Line and is an unbelievable collection (at a bargain too). Review/praise forthcoming (especially since the damn Apes organizing nightmare is over).

And now. . .
>>>>>>>>>Terror On the Planet of the Apes

The Lawgiver (Ch. 1)
Gerry Conway; Doug Moench (Script), Mike Ploog (Pencils), Mike Ploog (Inks), ? (Letters).
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/potauk012_part1.pdf
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/potauk012_part2.pdf

Fugitives On the Planet of the Apes (Ch. 2)
Gerry Conway, Doug Moench (Script), Mike Ploog (Pencils), Mike Ploog (Inks), ? (Letters).
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/potauk013_part1.pdf
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/potauk013_part2.pdf
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/potauk013_part3.pdf

The Forbidden Zone of Forgotten Horrors (Ch. 3)
Doug Moench (Script), Mike Ploog (Pencils), Mike Ploog (Inks), ? (Letters).
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/potauk014_part1.pdf
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/potauk014_part2.pdf
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/potauk014_part3.pdf

Lick the Sky Crimson (Ch. 4)
Doug Moench (Script), Mike Ploog (Pencils), Mike Ploog (Inks), ? (Letters).
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/potauk015_part1.pdf
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/potauk015_part2.pdf

Spawn of the Mutant Pits (Ch. 5)
Doug Moench (Script), Mike Ploog (Pencils), Frank Chiaramonte (Inks), ? (Letters).
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/potauk016_part1.pdf
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/potauk016_part2.pdf

The Abomination Arena (Ch. 6)
Doug Moench (Script), Mike Ploog (Pencils), Frank Chiaramonte (Inks), ? (Letters).
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/potauk017_part1.pdf
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/potauk017_part2.pdf
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/potauk017_part3.pdf

A Riverboat Named Simian (Ch. 7)
Doug Moench (Script), Mike Ploog (Pencils), Frank Chiaramonte (Inks), ? (Letters).
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/potauk018_part1.pdf
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/potauk018_part2.pdf

Gunpowder Julius (Ch. 8)
Doug Moench (Script), Mike Ploog (Pencils), Frank Chiaramonte (Inks), ? (Letters).
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/potauk019_part1.pdf
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/potauk019_part2.pdf
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/potauk019_part3.pdf

Maleguena In a Zone Forbidden (Ch. 9)
Doug Moench (Script), Mike Ploog (Pencils), Mike Ploog (Inks), ? (Letters).
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/potauk075_part1.pdf
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/potauk075_part2.pdf

The Planet Inheritors (Ch. 10)
Doug Moench (Script), Mike Ploog (Pencils), Mike Ploog (Inks), ? (Letters).
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/potauk076_part1.pdf
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/potauk076_part2.pdf
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/potauk078_part1.pdf
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/potauk078_part2.pdf

When the Lawgiver Returns (Ch. 11)
Doug Moench (Script), Mike Ploog (Pencils), Mike Ploog (Inks), ? (Letters).
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/potauk079_part1.pdf
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/potauk079_part2.pdf
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/potauk080_part1.pdf
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/potauk080_part2.pdf

The Magick-Man's Last Gasp Purple Light Show The (Ch. 12)
Doug Moench (Script), Mike Ploog (Pencils), Mike Ploog (Inks),
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/potauk087_part1.pdf
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/potauk087_part2.pdf
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/potauk088_part1.pdf
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/potauk088_part2.pdf
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/potauk089_part1.pdf
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/potauk089_part2.pdf

Up the Nose-Tube To Monkey-Trash Ch. 13)
Doug Moench (Script), Mike Ploog (Pencils), Mike Ploog (Inks)
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/potauk090_part1.pdf
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/potauk090_part2.pdf
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/potauk091_part1.pdf
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/potauk091_part2.pdf
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/potauk092_part1.pdf
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/potauk092_part2.pdf

Demons of the Psychedrome (Ch. 14)
Doug Moench (Script), Mike Ploog (Pencils), Tom Sutton (Inks)
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/potauk093_part1.pdf
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/potauk093_part2.pdf
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/potauk094_part1.pdf
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/potauk095_part1.pdf
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/potauk095_part2.pdf

Society of the Psychedrome (Ch. 15)
Doug Moench (Script), Tom Sutton (Pencils), Tom Sutton (Inks),
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/potauk096_part1.pdf
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/potauk097_part1.pdf
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/potauk097_part2.pdf
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/potauk098_part1.pdf

Messiah of Monkey Demons (Ch. 16)
Doug Moench (Script), Tom Sutton (Pencils), Tom Sutton (Inks),
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/tmwom235_part1.pdf
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/tmwom235_part2.pdf
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/tmwom236_part1.pdf
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/tmwom236_part2.pdf

Northlands (Ch. 16)
Doug Moench (Script), Herb Trimpe (Pencils), Virgil Redondo (Inks),
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/tmwom239_part1.pdf
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/tmwom239_part2.pdf
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/tmwom240.pdf

Apes of Iron (Ch. 16)
Doug Moench (Script), Herb Trimpe (Pencils), Herb Trimpe (Inks),
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/tmwom241_part1.pdf
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/tmwom241_part2.pdf
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/tmwom242_part1.pdf
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/tmwom242_part2.pdf

Revolt of Gorilloids
Doug Moench (Script), Herb Trimpe (Pencils), Virgil Redondo (Inks),
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/tmwom243_part1.pdf
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/tmwom243_part2.pdf
http://pota.goatley.com/comics/tmwom244.pdf

more to come. . . ?