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Comic Book Store, 1978

Published August 19, 2013 '70s Decor/Design/Fashion , '70s Movies/TV , Big Kids Reading Comics , Comic Book Stores , Comic Books , Earl Norem , Kids Reading Comics , Magazines/Zines , Warren Publishing Leave a Comment
Comic Shop 1978

The ad, showing Vancouver’s The Comic Shop, is from The First Vancouver Catalogue. The pic on top shows rows and rows of fantasy paperbacks in the glorious heyday of fantasy paperbacks. Several editions of Conan appeared between 1966 (Lancer Books) and the early ’80s. They included Howard’s original stories and new works by contemporary authors, notably L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter.

The Marvel titles in the bigger photo are mostly obscured, but what a great look at all the magazines. Will Eisner’s Spirit, 1984, The Hulk! (formerly The Rampaging Hulk) #10 (Val Mayerik cover art), and The Savage Sword of Conan #33 (killer Earl Norem cover). On the second row, you’ll see a `Jaws vs Ape’ headline. That’s Famous Monsters of Filmland #146.

FM #146 1978

Not cover specialist Bob Larkin’s best work, and why the hell is the ape beating on Jaws, anyway? Here’s my best guess.

1976’s A*P*E (no shit, it stands for Attacking Primate MonstEr) is compellingly awful, and introduces a young Joanna Kerns (the mom in Growing Pains). RKO sued the production company for its blatant attempt to rip off Dino De Laurentiis’s 1976 King Kong remake, hence the hilarious disclaimer at the end of the trailer.

Also, listen for the very poorly edited “See giant ape defy jaw-shark!” I’m sure the narrator originally used ‘jaws’, but was forced to change it due to legal pressure from Universal Pictures. So, in true exploitation fashion, they replaced the ‘s’ by dubbing ‘shark’ over it.

***

I’m happy to report that The Comic Shop is still there. On the website’s history page, I found a bonus photo of co-founder and owner Ron Norton in 1975. You can spot several more comic magazines behind him, including Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction #1, and more fantasy and sci-fi paperbacks (Zelazny, Silverberg) in the foreground.

Comic Shop 1975

(First image via Sequential: Canadian Comics News and Culture)

(Video via TrashTrailers/YouTube)

Movie Theater Marquees: Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)

Published August 9, 2013 '70s Movies/TV , Black Hole, The , Comic Books , Make Mine Marvel , Movie Theaters/Marquees , Star Trek 2 Comments
Star Trek Marquee 1979

Photo: Gary Fong/San Francisco Chronicle, 1979

Star Trek Marquee 1979-2

Varsity Theatre, Athens, Ohio, 1979. (Photo: Larry Gassan)

Star Trek Marquee ASM #203

From Amazing Spider-Man #203, 1980. Note the Black Hole marquee in the background.

King Frat (second photo) is an Animal House hack job: frat boys stage farting contests, light farts on fire, pull down their pants and fart at girls through car windows, and similar antics involving farts (and erections). The fact that it’s sharing a marquee with Star Trek does not say much for the perception and reception of Star Trek.

(Images via the SF Chronicle, Larry Gassan/Flickr, and The Marvel Project)

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Storybooks: The Forest of Enchantment and The Treasure of Time (1983)

Published July 25, 2013 Books , Coloring/Activity Books , Comic Books , D&D , D&D Art , D&D Non-Gaming Merchandise , Earl Norem , Make Mine Marvel , Marvel Books (Imprint) 17 Comments

AD&D Forest of Enchantment

AD&D Treasure of Time

In 1983 Marvel published a series of D&D storybooks and coloring books under license from TSR. (One year later, the roles would be reversed for the Marvel Super Heroes RPG, published by TSR under license from Marvel.) I believe these are the only two storybooks. You can read The Forest of Enchantment here. The Treasure of Time is here. Both PDFs are originally from Kuronons’ D&D Goodies Collection.

They’re kid’s books, so it’s pretty juvenile stuff, and there’s no effort to introduce the concept of role-playing (unlike the 1979 AD&D Coloring Album). All but two of the characters from LJN’s first run of AD&D action figures make appearances, so the books are basically long toy commercials.

Nevertheless, they’re notable for a few reasons: Bob Stine is Goosebumps author R.L. Stine, and Jane Stine, who founded Parachute Publishing, is his wife.

As for the art, Earl Norem did the interior work for The Forest of Enchantment, and Marie Severin did the cover and designed the book. She also illustrated The Treasure of Time. Severin was a colorist at EC until the notorious publisher was run out of town by the Comics Code. She worked for Marvel—as colorist, inker, and penciler—from 1959 until the early ’90s. She is one of the most well-respected artists in the comics field.

Famously, Severin was directed to soften the facial expression of the Hulk on one of the most innovative covers in Marvel’s history: The Hulk King Size Special #1 (1968). See both versions here. The artist who made the Green Guy too savage for public consumption? Jim Steranko.

Kid Visiting Marvel Comics Headquarters, 1983

Published July 24, 2013 Comic Books , Make Mine Marvel , Stan "The Man" Leave a Comment

Stan Lee 1983

Gulp.

(Photo via JHU Comic Books)

The Art of Earl Norem: The Rampaging Hulk #9 (1978) and Marvel Preview #22 (1980)

Published July 24, 2013 Comic Books , Curtis Magazines , Earl Norem , Make Mine Marvel 1 Comment

Norem Rampaging Hulk #9

Norem Rampaging Hulk #9-2

Norem Marvel Preview #22

Norem Marvel Preview #22-2

A decorated World War II veteran, Earl Norem got his start in men’s action-adventure magazines and worked steadily in that genre throughout the ’50s and ’60s. He broke into comics in the mid-’70s, doing a large number of memorable covers for Marvel’s Curtis Magazines, including Savage Sword of Conan and The Rampaging Hulk.

Norem was a major contributor to the Marvel Books imprint from 1982 to 1986 (The Amazing Spider-Man, The Transformers, G.I. Joe), elevated the Masters of the Universe image in a slew of books and magazines, and painted the covers for a Choose Your Own Adventure-style book series called Wizards, Warriors & You (1984 – 1986). I think he also did some package art for G.I. Joe. I’m trying to track down the details.

I’ll be posting Norem’s art on an ongoing basis. He deserves the attention.

Fantastic Films #27 (January, 1982): Interview with Jim Steranko

Published July 18, 2013 '80s Movies/TV , Blade Runner , Comic Books , Fantastic Films , Jim Steranko , Magazines/Zines , Outland , Raiders of the Lost Ark , Sci-Fi Movies/TV 4 Comments

FF #27 FC

FF #27 TOC

FF #27 pg. 50

FF #27 pg. 51

FF #27 pg. 52

FF #27 pg. 53

FF #27 pg. 62

Comics and illustration genius Jim Steranko on his Raiders of the Lost Ark pre-production art:

The first Raiders painting I did established the character of Indiana Jones. There was really no actor discussed at this point, at least not with me […]

I got a note from George’s [Lucas] secretary describing Indiana Jones, which said that Indy should have a jacket like George wears. That was the only instruction. Fortunately, I knew what kind of jacket George wears. It all worked out very well. I perceived Indiana Jones as a cross between Doc Savage and Humphrey Bogart […]

The definitive image appears on Kenner’s 1981 Raiders of the Lost Ark Game.

Raiders Board Game

Steranko’s Outland adaptation was serialized in Heavy Metal from June, 1981 through January, 1982. You can read the first few pages here.

The movie it’s based on, written and directed by Peter Hyams (Capricorn One, 2010), is generally dismissed as a heavy-handed retelling of High Noon (1952). That’s a mistake. As Steranko says, “[Outland] struck me as being the first noir science fiction film, somewhat in the ‘Chandleresque’ vein.” The film also verges on cyberpunk, and it came out a year before Blade Runner.

It’s fitting that Steranko, deeply influenced by the pulps, also did the cover for the Marvel Super Special Blade Runner cover.

Marvel Blade Runner

Neal Adams and Mike Grell, 1977

Published June 25, 2013 Comic Books , Conventions (Cons)/Trade Shows , DC Had Its Moments 1 Comment

Adams Grell 1977

A couple of good-looking, talented fellows at the Chicago Comic Con. Look out for those collars!

What the hell, here’s Adams’ run of House of Mystery covers from ’77. (#252 is my favorite.)

HOM #251 1977

HOM #252 1977

HOM #253 1977

HOM #254 1977

 

And here are a few splash pages from Grell’s Warlord from late ’77 and early ’78.

Warlord #8

Warlord #9

Warlord #10

Warlord #10-2

Warlord #10-3

(Images via Sword and Planet Books and Comics, eBay, and Diversions of the Groovy Kind)

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