Here's a delightful gallery of vintage Marvel Comics covers by a host of Bronze Age talents like "Our Pal" Sal Buscema, "Nefarious" Neal Adams, "Jazzy" John Romita, and even "Big" John Buscema himself. But as can be readily seen by the companion art, the designs for these (sometimes iconic) covers was actually the work of Bullpen superstar "Mirthful" Marie Severin, who also did the Iron Man cover herself. Whether it was a reflective scene such as the Subby cover (my favorite of this lot) or a more typical Marvel action filled scene of splendor, Marie seemed more than capable of finding a way to make the image clear and still feature the key figures. Cover art once upon a time was key to a comics success, and Marie was a huge part of that success for Mighty Marvel.
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Happy memories of Amazing Adventures and Astonishing Tales. I know I had that Iron Man issue too but no recollection of what the Monster of Death was - possibly a robot?
ReplyDeleteThat's a real guy in the Samurai outfit. The actual "Monster of Death" in that issue was a giant "robotic" dragon. That's a real fun period for Iron Man, before he got all mopey and overwrought.
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That Fantastic Four issue was a favorite of mine and I was always drawn into the issue by the cover. Thanks Marie!
ReplyDeleteI'm with you. I've always wondered what might have happened had Romita stayed on the FF. I have always thought he was a better fit than Buscema, as much as I adore Big John's work.
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These comparisons are fascinating. If I remember correctly, most of the cover art during that period went unsigned; otherwise, you'd have to wonder if Severin's name would have appeared along with the artist and inker who did the final version.
ReplyDeleteNow you've got me wondering what other cover art I've admired over the years was actually based on the work of another artist! :)
I'm wondering the same thing!
DeleteI find surprises all the time. I just found out the other day for instance that a fave Doc Strange cover featured some Ditko work I didn't realize. The internets are great!
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