Uncle Creepy Day!

Jack Davis was born on this date in 1924. Davis was one of the field's most successful artists, making a mark at EC in its infamous heyday and moving on to become a major artist not just for comics but for movie posters and magazine covers of all kinds. I likely first encountered his work on TV Guide back in the days when such a magazine mattered. Davis also worked for Marvel and for Warren. 

Creepy #1 with that iconic cover by famed artist Jack Davis is keeper, and the inspiration for many artists over the succeeding decades.

The Warren Magazines classic was also homaged by Alex Horley when Twomorrows published their robust The Warren Companion many years ago.

Love the work of Mitch O'Connell, an artist with a bold and lively style. When I stumbled across the ad above for this book Mitch O'Connell - The World's Best Artist, I was entertained by the powerful homage to the vintage Creepy classic.

And I even found another swipe of the Davis art from a guy named Tom Neely.

Here's a nifty one from William Stout who gives a shout out to his inspiration.

And finally here is another example by Jack Davis himself, riffing on his original design, but this time putting Frankenstein's Monster front and center instead of Uncle Creepy.

A somewhat off-center rendition served as a cover to this price guide. 

Here are just some of the many great comic book covers by the late great Jack Davis.

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A Green-Skinned Gent!

(The dates for 1975 and 2025 are identical.)

The holiday season is once again upon us. This little Christmas card from the Marvel Bullpen jumped out at me (kinda' literally) and I immediately recognized the source despite the addition of the little heroes in the corner and the Santa gear (by Mirthful Marie most likely).

One of my favorite images of the Incredible Hulk is this incredible image by Jack Kirby which appeared as the front of the great sweatshirt Marvel licensed way back in its heyday.

As can be seen by this vintage ad which features the artwork of Marie Severin and images from sundry issues of Tales to Astonish. 

Here's another classic ad which gives you a look at the delightful back image for this hilarious sweatshirt. The allure for me was and is mighty, and for a mere two ninety-eight it could've been mine. I never got one, but I've always wanted one.

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Ambush Bug Day!

Keith Giffen was born on this date in 1952. Giffen was a wonderful artist who worked for Marvel in his early years in the business before shifting to DC where he and Paul Levitz breathed new life into the Legion of Super-Heroes. Giffen's style became more and more compelling over the years. For me at least his funnest if not finest contribution is the Ambush Bug. 

I picked up the Ambush Bug Showcase volume on a whim and promptly set it aside. The artwork by Keith Giffen and Bob Oksner really looked choice and I wanted to savor it a bit. I never read any of these comics (save possibly for the DC Comics Presents issues) when they first appeared, so I came to the Ambush Bug character largely ignorant of its style and content. I knew it was supposed to be funny, but that's about all I knew. I was very impressed.

Now truth told, when Ambush Bug first appeared as a low-level villain in a few issues of Superman's team-up comic he was cleverly written but hardly transformative.

He seemed to be a character in the vein of many of the classic Bat-villains, a killer with a morbid sense of humor. And if he'd stayed like that I suspect he'd be mostly forgotten by now.

But in a trio of appearances in Action Comics, the character blossomed into the antic fourth-wall breaking roustabout who went on to scratch out a few limited series in some of DC's brightest days.

If you haven't read these "adventures" then it's difficult to describe. Keith Giffen and Robert Loren Fleming have so deconstructed the superhero comic book adventure in these stories so as to undermine any attempt by a reader to extract enjoyment on that level. The only thing I can compare these Ambush Bug stories to is Monty Python's Flying Circus. The pacing felt the same and the unpredictability of page after page seemed more than anything to mimic the antic pacing of that classic comedy show.

In the first limited series we meet Ambush Bug's partner Cheeks the Toy Wonder (a plush toy and nominal inspiration for one of the earliest and most entertaining websites devoted to comics that I ever chanced upon) and having him meet up with the likes of Scabbard (from Thriller), Jonni DC (made into a chick--sort of) and most hilariously Darkseid.

What follows in the subsequent specials and limited series is more of the same, more or less. With DC, and superheroes in general getting the satirical crap beat out of them in fine form.

I found Ambush Bug a fun fun read, but for comics fanboys only I suspect.

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