Western Marvel Firsts - Gunhawks!

Talk about a comic not for our times, this one might just be the one. The Gunhawks is a memorable comic for me because it was part of a memorable ad which touted not only this new western but also Man-Thing, Doc Savage and a revived Journey into Mystery.

Of those four only Man-Thing proved to have much lasting power, though truth be told Doc Savage did linger in black and white after the color comic went bust. But The Gunhawks was part of that push and the comic itself is pretty well crafted, featuring some sturdy artwork by Syd Shore and a script by Gary Friedrich. What stands out about that debut issue is the unusual relationship between Reno Jones and Kid Cassidy.

Both men fought in the Civil War, on the side of the Confederacy surprisingly enough. It seems Cassidy was the son of a plantation owner and was raised alongside Jones and the two bonded. After the war with the plantation gone they leave the South to head West. The naivete about the brutal reality of slavery is stunning and would be the cause of much consternation in the modern political environment where such apologies for the grim practice is rebuffed with just energy.

Here are the covers for the remainder of the run.

Only the debut issue has been reprinted in a volume of Marvel Firsts and frankly I doubt we'll ever see the others. Eventually Reno Jones loses Cassidy and goes it alone in an attempt to keep the title running and frankly that might've been a better idea from the beginning.

When these characters have resurfaced over the years, these bizarre notions about the nature of slavery and the South have been more directly addressed, thank goodness.

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100 Days Of The King - Day 54

Arguably the wackiest story that Stan "The Man" Lee and Jack "King" Kirby ever worked on together was the totally bizarre and utterly fascinating yarn which postulated an alternate universe in which the Fantastic Four was comprised of four different individuals, specifically members of the Marvel Bullpen itself. In a spectacle of fourth wall breakage Stan and Jack tell us about what might have happened if they along with Sol Brodsky and Flo Steinberg that become the Fab 4.

Issue number eleven of What If begins as almost all of them do with the enigmatic Watcher giving us the lowdown on the story we are about to read. Typically he describes the Marvel Universe status quo then suggests the alternative details which will trigger the narrative. In this instance cosmic rays invade the confines of the Marvel editorial offices and Stan, Jack, Flo and Sol get hit and mutate accordingly.

Here's what it looked like when Jack Kirby transmuted into his particular Thing form, or more properly from it. It's neat to see the old Kirby details on the Fab 4 again as Kirby was quite specific in his mid 70's return not to do more FF stories. He did some great covers and this issue along with this gem of a story and that makes it all the more precious. For more pages of this epic check out his link.

And it seems that all  had been forgiven (if not forgotten) since Jack presented to the world his "loving" spin on Stan's public persona in the form of Funky Flashman some years before in the pages of Mister Miracle.

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Prince Of The Deep!

This is possibly my favorite image of Prince Namor of Atlantis. Captured here in rugged glory by John Buscema's pencils and Sol Brodsky's inks is a powerful figure positively glowing with alien nobility. There is a dour haughtiness in Namor's face, not unlike I daresay the "sneer of cold command" which Shelley so beautifully encapsulated in his classic poem "Ozymandias".

Here is that cover in its raw form, perhaps even a bit more impressive really.

And here it is in an oddball reverse mode for a 1979 reprint of the great debut issue.

Here are some other great Sub-Mariner covers by Buscema and others, both in wonderful four colors and in a raw black and white state. Enjoy!

(Note the shift in position of the Namor figure. )

Here's a great Sal Buscema cover, who eschewed the the rounded dome used by his brother and instead returned Namor's slightly triangular noggin.

And here is a fantastic Gil Kane image, cropped for the then common Marvel cover design showing Subby and the Torch once again mixing it up.

The first artist who portrayed Namor when he was brought back during the Marvel Age of Comics was Jack Kirby. Here are some of his most regal images of the audacious Sea King.

And here's something special by Marie Severin with words by Roy Thomas no doubt, written in remembrance of his friend Bill Everett, the Sub-Mariner's creator who died much too young.

Some Bill Everett arriving soon.

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Star-Spangled Gamesmanship!

Love this Tales of Suspense cover showcasing an iconic Jack Kirby and Sol Brodsky Captain America figure. This story is the climax of the Sleeper trilogy  which served as a kind of bridge story moving Cap's adventures from the  World War II era into the modern. It was one of those outstanding Marvel Comics heroes cartoons. Get a look at it here.

This ad from Milton Bradley for a Captain America game makes good use of that classic Cap pose. Sprinkled around are images of game cards featuring Goliath, Wasp, Bucky, Spider-Man, Thor, Iron Man, and Marvel Girl. There's also a drawing of the box for the game, an approximate image with a Kirby feel to it.

Here's the actual box, showing a Captain America who seems smooth and slick and not much like Kirby's cap. I'm guessing Joe Sinnott might've had something to do with  it.

And here is the gameboard, a vivid yellow play space.

This game board, despite it lively color is filled with some rather random elements. In addition to valid Cap characters such as Bucky and Baron Zemo, we are given some Avengers such as Wasp, Giant-Man and Thor. Spidey is included for no particular reason, as well as X-Men baddie Lucifer and Thor's Loki and Cobra. The odd parts are the inclusion prominently of Iron Man foe The Mandarin and the Thor enemy The Destroyer. And I don't know what the "Sky Spider" is.

Clearly it appears that the makers of the game had been given access to some Marvel comics, but not necessarily just Cap comics. But it all seems in good fun.

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The One And Only Cap!

In celebration of Independence Day, here's an elegant "Marvel Masterwork Pin-Up" of Captain America by his co-creator Jack "King" Kirby with inks by Sol Brodsky.

This poster appeared in the back of The Avengers #10, a momentous issue which introduced the very important Immortus. For more on this particular issue by Stan Lee, Don Heck, and Dick Ayers, check out this link.

And here's a fantastic gallery of some of my favorite Jack Kirby Cap covers!

Have a happy holiday!

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Black And White And Red All Over!

So the producers of the next Fantastic Four movie have broken through the hype cycle with their clever casting of a black actor in the role of Johnny Storm, the Human Torch. My first thought was they might be severing the family connections which form the core of the Fab 4, but then I realized my aged pre-conceptions were showing since multi-ethnic families are hardly unknown nor even especially uncommon in the modern world. So after that sobering bit of reflection, I discover I can find no objection. What would they be?

Jack Kirby and Sol Brodsky

When first revived by Stan and Jack so very long ago, Johnny Storm was supposed to be the star of the FF, the kid with the blonde locks and the good looks who was going to be the one the boys all wanted to be and the girls all wanted to date. He was set up as a bit of heartthrob, an understandably immature teenager suddenly gifted with a amazing superpower and wild celebrity. He had his Justin Beiber moments for sure, but soon was a solid member of Marvel's flagship title.

Carl Burgos

Of course being human at all was a considerable change from the original Torch, created decades before by Carl Burgos, one of Timely's earliest superstars. Despite his android origins, that Torch too was a handsome blonde man, at least in his looks, an irony given that the Torch and his colleagues at the time were pretty seriously engaged in battling the Nazi ideals of the day. There was always a bit of a two-way oddness to those earliest comics.

Jack Kirby and Joe Sinnott

So changing the skin color of one of the more famous Marvel characters is no big thing after moving from machine to man to begin with. Clearly the producers are counting on the fact that when Johnny yells those famous words "Flame On!" all anyone in the audience will see is red, the good kind. And all they will see is green.

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