Editora Bloch was a Brazilian publisher until the early 90's and during the course of their business they reprinted a lot of American comics from a lot of different sources. One such comic was Hercules from Charlton Comics. This vintage comic by Joe Gill and the much underappreciated Sam Glanzman was a huge hit for yours truly if not for the world at large. Those thirteen issues of the mythical strongman are large in my imagination and I've taken close looks at them here.
The cover for the second issue of Editora Bloch's Hercules run though featured a cover which seemed to draw from a different source, a rather popular one in fact. The figure of the looming monster is definitely swiped from Frank Frazetta's "Swamp Demon" painting.
The Herc figure as well as the sitting girl both seem familiar too, but I haven't yet placed those sources.
The debut issue of the comics featured a painting by some dude named "Villafuerte" (see signature) and was a montage which drew at least some inspiration from the actual debut cover of Charlton's Hercules by Sam Glanzman.
The third issue used the Glanzman artwork directly, though offering a different and rather appealing color scheme, making the artwork look rather fresh.
The red framing on this fourth issue also works to pep up the Glanzman's art making this strong composition pop out a wee bit more.
By the fifth issue we are seeing some very interesting new color combinations. I like the yellow background which contrasts nicely with the blue loincloth.
The choice of a white background here really serves this Glanzman art exceedingly well. The original alas tends to blur together undercutting the strength of the compostion. The Brazilian version works much better to my eye.
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