The Devil And Stan Lee!

I was checking out this 1975 comic book over at this link. It's a hoot of a story by Al Hartley adapting and updating the Biblical saga of Adam and Eve from Genesis. It's a curiously compelling narrative and reasonably well-crafted, as most if not all of Hartley's stuff for Spire seems to be.

But a few images really jumped out at me on the following pages when Lucifer inevitably shows up to tempt Eve. Take a look.



The Devil here looked really familiar in an odd way.


Dr. Lucifer Serpent

Stan (The Man?) Lee
Is Hartley, a former Bullpenner, saying something about his old boss? Or do we just have an unfortunate and unintended similarity here?



It reminds me of how Jack Kirby adapted his old partner into his Fourth World stories in the guise of the ultimate con-artist Funky Flashman.


The devil is in the details as they say.

What does Stan think of my speculations?


That's about right I'd reckon.

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Werewolves By Night!

Joe Maneely
Neal Adams
I did not know that the "Werewolf by Night" title was a revival of a vintage Atlas comics story highlighted by a cover drawn by Joe Maneely. I stumbled across this fact during my recent Maneely research, and frankly I cannot understand why more is not made of this. Likely it's mentioned in some issue of Werewolf by Night or Monsters Unleashed that I've forgotten about.

The similarity of the covers above by Joe Maneely and Neal Adams respectively indicate an awareness.

Jack Abel
Here's a link to the vintage story by Jack Abel, as well as an early installment of Jack Russel's saga under the lush artistry of Mike Ploog.

Reed Crandall
Also included at this link is a vivid Reed Crandall werewolf story.

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Joe Maneely Gallery!

I've been in a Joe Maneely mood lately. Here are some more great covers by the Atomic Age talent. I think if anything stands out, it's his backgrounds. They are lively and worth paying attention to. Maneely was really good.


There isn't much online about Maneely, but there is a well-crafted biographical essay on Maneely by Dr. Michael J. Vassallo detailing how key to Atlas comics Maneely really was. Here's the link. Above is a photo of Maneely from the cover of Alter Ego #28, an issue dedicated to Maneely's work.

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John's First Job!

Here's a wonderful peek into the past when government was not the enemy of the individual as so many modern commentators and rabble rousers want to shout. Government here in the shape of the Social Security Office gives help and hope to some of its citizens, making lives better.

Admittedly in this crisp story by Atlas veteran artist Joe Maneely, the America on display is lily white and has that lyrical, gleaming, and neatly trimmed look of the time as so often reflected on television. But nonetheless this bit of "propaganda" (I admit that openly and why not) does show an America living up to its ideals of crafting a society that enables all America's citizens to cleave to a life that is dignified.

So much of the modern aversion to government is wrought by ignorance, willful and otherwise, paying no heed to the infrastructure supplied by governments both small and large which allow the entrepreneurs of our modern society to accumulate their gilded eggs. They promote the myth of the rugged individual at the cost of the civil society to feather individual nests at the cost of the greater population. It's a big lie that capitalism is the source of America's relative wealth, because the truth is that a highly regulated capitalism is the source otherwise financial anarchy rules the day as we've seen all too much in the current century.

There are constant calls to unleash capitalism, and each time that roaring engine is revved up on its own there are casualties galore. Powerful engines like capitalism only work if they are harnessed in a vehicle of some quality that gives that raw power both a purpose and direction. That's what government is properly for, to give shape to a civil society.

For all that, it's a cracking well-crafted story by Maneely. It's a pity such a talent had to die so young. But since he died on a train track, I suppose that all public transportation must be indicted because of the death of this hard-working American. At least that's what the modern scare-mongers might bellow.

It's a shame all around.

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Name Of The Beast!

The success of Hank Ketcham's Dennis the Menace brought on a predictable wave of imitators, all with various and sundry names. The Atlas version dubbed "Melvin the Monster" was one. The beautiful cover above by Joe Maneely catches that Ketchamesque feel wonderfully while still maintaining a particular unique character which is distinctly Maneely.


Marvel brought out these stories in reprint at the very beginning of the Bronze Age, but for some reason changed Melvin's name to "Peter the Little Pest". I guess that name seemed less robust and so less potentially offensive. The title was even called "Petey" for one issue, a name even less vivid. (I have the lame notion somehow when I see these that they might interpreted by some archiving Marveloid someday as the boyhood adventures of Peter Parker.)


But the "Peter the Pest" name sure is less potentially toxic than what Atlas changed Melvin's name to in the last issue of the original run. Here the tyke gets called "Dexter the Demon". Yikes!



Comparing the two covers above, you can see how Melvin/Dexter/Peter changed, not only in name, but in demeanor over the decades. Somehow the idea of what kids were seems to have undergone a fundamental adjustment, shifting from threatening to cute.

UPDATE: Sleestak brought this up and I think the point is very well taken. Is this the face of Peter the Pest all grown up?


Although I find no indication of it on the official websites regarding Henry Peter Gyrich's history, I think it's a very compelling and interesting theory. His desire for secrecy might explain the myriad names associated with this past and Gyrich sure deserves the description of "Monster", "Demon", and "Pest" if any character in the Marvel Universe does.

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Mr.Wilson's Kong!

United States 1968
Perhaps my single favorite comic book of all time is the King Kong adaptation by Gold Key from 1968. Not only does it offer up my very first experience with the mighty ape way back then, long before I'd be able to see the movie. But it is rich with artwork from the Alberto Giolitti studio. To get a good look of that see this link.
Here's a glimpse.


But the real stunner on this artifact is the George Wilson cover. Wilson did many a fine cover for Gold Key during his career, but this one featuring a distinctive King Kong is perhaps the best. It's dramatic and powerful. Kong is that hybrid creature he is in the classic movie, neither a real ape nor anything truly human. Something other, and utterly savage.

The comic was reprinted by Whitman during the 70's in connection with the DeLaurentis remake. It also was reprinted overseas and south of the border.

Here is a gallery of George Wilson's artwork from across North America and Europe.

Germany
Netherlands
Norway
Sweden
Mexico
United States 1976 Large
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Conan The Revision!

This pair of images clearly demonstrate how a comic book cover is revised. The original unpublished version of the cover has all the action in the very top, and visually it's unclear what is actually happening. The published cover spreads the action out and gives us clearer views of the each individual, including the flying demon himself. The fight also seems to be higher and farther away from the tower itself.

This isn't one of Smith's greater covers, despite its intricate detail, but shows very well an artist in transition.

Here's another version of this vivid cover with more subdued coloring.


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