Steve Ditko - Space Wars!

This collection from Vanguard Productions features the same vintage sci-fi yarns found in the Fantagraphic volumes. Published in 2005 this magazine-sized collection was a robust black and white resource for these earliest Ditko yarns. The reproduction is basic. Among the stories here are "Mystery Planet", "The Deadly Cargo of Spaceship 19", "The Decision", "The Gloomy One", "The Juggernauts of Jupiter", "The Secret of Captain X", and "Journey's End". Also included are later stories from the 60's such as "The Blue Men of Bantro" and "Way Out Man". There are many other yarns as well. I like the vibrant recoloring of the classic cover seen below.  There is also a brief essay by David J. Spurlock about the career of Ditko titled "Ditko's Brave New World". 

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A Frazetta Hoard!

Frank Frazetta was "The Man" when it came to fantasy paperback covers. There are many great artists who plied their trade this way, but Frazetta rose above the outstanding heard with images that seared into the imaginations of the folks who chanced upon them. He redefined Conan, he elevated Tarzan, and he gave us so many covers which are much better than the books they adorn. That said Frazetta Book Cover Art - Complete Collection Definitive Reference from Vanguard is an absolute trove of his mightiest work presented in its original environment. 

They followed that with the more recent Frazetta - World's Best Comics Cover Artist - Complete Collection Definitive Reference. This book is less impressive than the first, but it is still filled with some of the greatest of the classic images from artist. We are so familiar with Frazetta's horror work, it's nice to see other aspects get coverage. One is that several images were taken out of this book at the request of the Frazetta kids. It leaves several pages blank. 

I added The Fantastic Paintings of Frazetta also, but I must confess to being less than completely impressed. For one thing, the number of paintings included is smaller than I expected are presented in ways which make them difficult to savor thoroughly. We are given close-ups which add little but absorb valuable space in the volume. Frankly, I got the feeling this one was intentionally lean on works to create the greater need for sequels. 

I have long had in my collection the four-part series from Ballantine Books which published the vast majority of Frazetta's paintings at that time. I found the presentation in these Ballantine volumes superior to what Vanguard did with their book. 

It's difficult to resist a book called The Sensuous Frazetta, given how sexy so much of his art is by its very nature. This gives us a good look at all those statuesque dames he drew and painted, as well a choice selection of comics stories. This book has a number of bodacious insights into Frazetta's early career both outside comics and within. 

I've had a low-rent copy of ACG's Johnny Comet book for a long time and so I am familiar with the series. But seeing the work on better paper, with better printing in close to its original format was game-changing for me. This is a sleek handsome comic series, and it's not hard to see where Dave Stevens got some of his inspiration. Can't wait to jump in. 

And White Indian is new to me. I took the chance and was much impressed with these stories. Other works are included, but while such work is far from PC in the world of today, it still appears to make a rousing comic. Looking forward to reading these in the new year. 

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The Boyette Chillers!

Steve Ditko was at Charlton for two reasons, they paid promptly and they left him alone to draw his comics he liked. That combination drew many talents to Charlton, not the least of which was Pat Boyette. Boyette was a "Renaissance Man" of sorts, a maker of early radio as a performer and later television and even movies as a producer and director. His most famous movie The Dungeon of Harrow is a drive-in horror flick not without its charms. And those charms are also evident in his artwork, which was incredibly distinctive and ideal for rendering tales of gothic horror. I daresay no single comic artist of any era was better at drawing ancient castles and musty denizens of same.  A heaping helping of Boyette's most distinctive work is included in the 2003Vanguard Press volume titled The Nightstand  Chillers. 

Most of the stories had appeared earlier in an issue of Vanguard's Tales from the Edge. That material plus more to plump it up a bit makes The Nightstand Chillers a nifty read. The stories included are from a wide array of publishers Boyette worked for through the 1970's. The list includes Skywald, Atlas-Seaboard, Globe Publications, Ace and of course Charlton.

Here are the covers of the magazines and comics the stories appeared in. They range from early in his career in 1971 to the early 90's. Two of them are from the period when Charlton was doing painted covers and Boyette was perfect for that kind of presentation. Boyette, co-creator of The Peacemaker died twenty years ago now in 2000, and for some more on him there is a very nifty interview with his career in the volume or you could check out this link. 

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Drawing Swords And Swordsmen!

I don't even remember picking this up, but there it was as I unloaded a box from deep inside the the stacks of my archeological dig which passes for my collection, the John Buscema Sketchbook. I remember wanting it, looking at it, and even having it, but I don't remember actually buying it. Still there it was in all its glory from the folks at Vanguard Productions.

Alongside a gaggle of rough sketches and quick drawings and even a few finished illustrations we have an interview with "Big John" conducted by David Spurlock. He covers the entirety of his career, not with the detail one might expect in some quarters, but nicely conversational. Buscema seemed to have been in a pretty good mood and shared his history as well as his opinions. He thinks highly of Jack "King" Kirby and discusses the transition by him when Kirby jumped to DC and it was Buscema who became the central talent at Marvel. He talks candidly about how superheroes and the Marvel style bewildered him until he partook of the Kirby magic and decoded the King's style of storytelling.

He also speaks of his time on Conan and how the job slipped through his fingers because of costs in those earliest issues. He clearly states that he intentionally made Conan a more robust and even an older character when he took the reins on the comic he'd shepherd for many years to come. His vision was what he saw when he read the original Robert E. Howard stories, which he demonstrates a profound respect for. He also rejected the more refined and elegant Smith version as looking like a high school kid, which truth told he sort of did.

All of this is shared in an engaging way and all the while we are presented with copious images of vivacious women, rugged men, cowboys, swordsmen, wizards, dames, and even several pages of pirates.

I miss seeing new artwork by Buscema. He was just coming into prominence when I landed at the gates of Marveldom and I was in my primetime fanboy mode as he became the core of the company I adored throughout most of the Bronze Age. He's my favorite artist without doubt and I'm glad as I read this forgotten tome that I was able to visit with him, at least a little bit in my imagination.

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