Three of my all-time favorite covers from DC are the three Showcase comics covers by Joe Kubert featuring Nightmaster. Aside from these tasty images, Kubert had nothing else to do with the character who is sometimes mentioned as the first sword and sorcery character in comics (not true but more on that tomorrow).
(Jerry Grandenetti)
The story written by Denny O'Neil. in the debut issue was drawn by the painfully overlooked Jerry Grandenetti and the last two issues of the singular trilogy are famously drawn by an up-and-coming Berni Wrightson, still a raw talent learning his craft on the job before our very eyes. You can read all three Nightmaster Showcase adventures here, here, and here.
(Berni Wrightson)
For the record Denny O'Neil wrote all three issues. But I did find one a Mile High and it came yesterday along with some other treasures. This morning for the first time ever, I was able to read the Nightmaster saga all the way through. It held up pretty well. This is sometimes called the first Sword and Sorcery comic book. That's not true, but it does precede the wave of S&S prompted by success of Marvel's Conan the Barbarian. With Conan, Kull, Thongor, Gullivar, Dagar, Ironjaw, Wulf, and a wave of others hitting the stands in the Bronze Age and beyond, the Nightmaster was forgotten.
(More Berni Wrightson)
The story is a bit more whimsical than I recollect, with a sense of irony clearly inspired by Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and Grey Mouser, who would soon enough get their own DC title. But it was neat heady blend of Tolkien and Burroughs and Leiber with a smidge of Howard tossed into the brew. Good stuff, not as full-bodied as most barbarian heroes, but neatly modern still after all these decades.
I'd love to see these reprinted, but now that I have the originals at last, I don't really need that.
Here's Nightmaster as rendered by Wrightson for a fanzine. The promised series featuring the character did not materialize. In fact after this three-part story, the character vanished for many years until surfacing in the pages of Animal Man and later Swamp Thing. Eventually he became part of DC's magical team Shadowpact and even rated a one-shot comic of his own which sported a new Wrightson cover.
But for the most part, Nightmaster is what he always was, a weird blend of superhero and sword and sorcery, a could'a been comic book character. But those are still some blockbuster Kubert covers.
Here's Nightmaster as rendered by Wrightson for a fanzine. The promised series featuring the character did not materialize. In fact after this three-part story, the character vanished for many years until surfacing in the pages of Animal Man and later Swamp Thing. Eventually he became part of DC's magical team Shadowpact and even rated a one-shot comic of his own which sported a new Wrightson cover.
But for the most part, Nightmaster is what he always was, a weird blend of superhero and sword and sorcery, a could'a been comic book character. But those are still some blockbuster Kubert covers.
This post is dedicated to the late Berni Wrightson.
This Post is a Revised Dojo Classic.
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Now you're gonna make me go dig in my long boxes for these issues of Nightmaster!
ReplyDeleteIt's things like these books which make hesitate getting rid of my single book collection. I rarely read them, but every now and again it's the only way to find something. How these important books have never been reprinted is beyond me. Important as the first S&S books for DC proper and work by O'Neil and Wrightson to boot.
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