Marvel At Indiana Jones

To be fair, it's really about Indiana Jones at Marvel....that is, the first three Indiana Jones movies that had Marvel adaptations of them!

Starting with a three issue limited series in September, 1981 (with a first issue cover by James Sherman, and interiors by Walt Simonson writing and John Buscema/Klaus Janson on art), America's favorite 1940s archeologist roamed the halls of Marvel, looking for adventure!

Raiders Of The Lost Ark #2 and #3 (October and November, 1981)

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Covers by Walt Simonson

Indiana Jones and the Temple Of Doom #2 and #3 (October and November, 1984)

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Covers by Butch Guice, who also drew #1

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade #1 and #2 (1989)

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Covers by Bret Blevins

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade #3 and #4 (1989)

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Covers by Bret Blevins

Marvel even followed up with the Further Adventures Of Indiana Jones, a 34 issue limited series from January 1983 to March 1986 (which were the only post-Raiders Indiana Jones adventures until Last Crusade), following along where Indy went for a time....at least until Indy moved over to Dark Horse.

Remembering Artist Mike Wieringo

Remembering artist Mike Wieringo (June 24, 1963 - August 12, 2007) on his birthday with the covers for the X-Men mini-series with Rogue (Mike, who usually signed his work as Ringo, also did the inside art....) facing off against Bella Donna in a bit of a heartbreaking tale.

Rogue #1 and #2 (January and February, 1995)

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Rogue #3 and #4 (March and April, 1995)

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Happy Father's Day Superboy 2023

Two super covers featuring Pa Kent showing us (and Superboy) how super he really is, as, along with being Father's Day, today is the day that Kal-El's rocket landed on Earth, where he was found by Jonathan and Martha Kent, who took him into their Smallville home, named him Clark Kent, and eventually shaped the boy who would become....Superman!

These two issues have two different ideas of how super Pa Kent is.  In Adventure Comics #224 (May, 1956, cover by Curt Swan and Stan Kaye), Jonathan is struck by lightning and only thinks he is super, while in Adventure Comics #289 (October, 1961, also cover by Swan/Kaye), it is a more nefarious plot by one of the men here.

Still, Pa Kent is always super!

Remembering Artist John Romita

Saluting the life of artist John Romita, Sr. (January 24, 1930 - June 12, 2023).  

Starting off with Captain America, horror and romance comics, after a brief try out on Daredevil, John was quickly moved to the Amazing Spider-Man where he made his mark on the world.

So successful on Spider-Man, John became Marvel's art director, shaping Marvel Comics for decades to come (and, after his incredibly powerful cover to Marvel Treasury Edition #1 of September, 1974, he did a few other Treasury covers, include as well, to show how epic his work could be).

Marvel Treasury #2 and #3 1974

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Marvel Treasury #5 and #8 1975

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But, the more important part, as John's work was used in more promotional items for Marvel in the 1970s...

...was the humanity he brought to his art, evidenced by this shot from the 1978 Spider-Man calendar (April), of Peter Parker and his cast outside the Coffee Bean.  

An all too short a look at the life of John Romita, Sr., but a little look at his romance comics can be found here, and even some DC work here!

A Big Tarzan Adventure

When Tarzan came to DC, it was a big thing...made that much bigger when the origin of Tarzan by Joe Kubert (adapting the work of Edgar Rice Burroughs) was reprinted in the larger than life Limited Collectors' Edition #C-22 (Fall, 1973).

Sadly, the treasury collection did have to edit pages for space (but did include a crossword puzzle, word search a "learn to draw" feature by Kubert and and a photo and biography of Joe Kubert), but here, we summarize what was contained in that oversized volume!

Tarzan #207 (April, 1972)

"The Origin Of The Ape-Man" began with Tarzan's parents, the Lord and Lady Greystoke, who were marooned in Africa by pirates.  

Making the best of it, John Clayton Sr. fashioned a home for himself and his wife, Alice, who gave birth to their son, John Jr.  Alice perished from a rare virus, and then John Sr. was killed by the great ape, Kerchak.  

Kala, a female gorilla, who had lost her own child, took John Jr. to raise as her own (with the young John later to be known as Tarzan). 

This issue also contains "Tarzan's First Christmas" which is reprinted from the newspaper series, and a John Carter Of Mars feature, "Arrival".

Tarzan #208 (May, 1972)

"A Son's Vengeance" is the next part of the Tarzan origin story.  

Tarzan grows amongst the apes, but also finds a knife which he takes as a weapon.  

He also learns to read and write from his parents journals, learning he is different from the apes.  

Tarzan's adoptive mother, Kala, is killed by Kulonga, a chief of a local tribe.  Tarzan then enacts vengeance and kills Kulonga.

This issue also contains "The Baby Of The Apes" which is reprinted from the newspaper series, and a John Carter Of Mars feature, "Prisoner Of The Tharks".

Tarzan #209 (June, 1972)

"A Mate For The Ape-Man" introduces Jane Porter to the series.  

More pirates put Jane and her father's party a shore.  Tarzan battles this ape rival, Terkoz, banishing him from his tribe.  

Tarzan protects the Porter party from the jungle threats, meeting William Clayton, and slowly falling in love with Jane.  

Terkoz observes this, and takes Jane to humiliate Tarzan, with Tarzan chasing after, killing Terkoz to save Jane.

This issue also contains "Fight For Life" which is reprinted from the newspaper series, and a John Carter Of Mars feature, "A Fair Captive From The Sky".

Tarzan #210 (July, 1972)

"Civilization" concludes the adaptation of Burroughs' original Tarzan novel with a full length feature, with Jane, her father and William Clayton being marooned on the African coast to be rescued by Tarzan.  Eventually, the lot heads to America, with Tarzan learning French from Lt. Paul D'Arnot, who also finds Tarzan's parents' journals.  Tarzan heads to Baltimore to reunite with Jane, but learns she is engaged to Clayton.  D'Arnot uses the journals to find out Tarzan's history, and telegrams him this (learning that Clayton is Tarzan's cousin), but Tarzan keeps this to himself to insure Jane's happiness.

DC also had a second Edition of Tarzan, reprinting more of Kubert's work, as well as 52 issues of the lord of the jungle.

Covering Perez Wonder Woman

To be fair, this article is only going to cover the covers artist George Perez (June 9, 1954 to May 6, 2022) did pre-Crisis...but there were these two!

Wonder Woman #283 (September, 1981) and Wonder Woman #284 (October, 1981) were the two, and, along with featuring Wonder Woman's battles with the Red Dragon, they had the Earth-2 Huntress feature, which had her battle with the Earth-2 Joker and a team up with the grown up Robin!

True, Perez did more Wonder Woman art even before the events of the Crisis On Infinite Earths, such as her appearances in the Justice League Of America, or helping out Donna Troy in the New Teen Titans...

...face it, no one drew teams like George Perez!!!

Perez even drew a piece used on the interior cover of Wonder Woman #300 (presented here in color, from Wonder Woman's second series third issue, later recolored by Tom Smith), as well as featuring her in Crisis On Infinite Earths (featuring a variety of characters).

Of course, George's reboot of Wonder Woman is fondly remembered, and one day will get much more extensive coverage as well.  

Time Tunnel Comics

One would think that a series about time travel might take more time on the comic book racks, but the Time Tunnel only lasted for two issues back in the 1960s.  

But, they and the series they were based on deserve a little love here.

Irwin Allen's time travel epic, the Time Tunnel, airing from September 9, 1966 to April 7, 1967 (with 30 episodes), featuring the bold adventure of the United States experiments in time, with a secret base in 1968 Arizona, where with scientists Tony Newman and Doug Phillips being lost in time, transitioning from era to era, all under the watchful eyes of the Project Tic-Toc base of Lt. General Heywood Kirk, Dr. Raymond Swain and Dr. Ann McGregor.

As this was going on, Gold Key released two comic books based on the series, both with multiple stories per issue, featuring Tony and Doug having more adventures, with painted covers by George Wilson, and interior stories by Paul S. Newman and art by Tom Gill.

Time Tunnel #1 (February, 1967)

The first issue, with three stories, have Tony and Doug trying to prevent Lincoln's assassination in "The Assassins", "The Lion Or The Volcano?" which find the duo dealing with the Vesuvius eruption in Pompeii, and "Mars Countdown", wherein the scientists are trapped on a rocket headed for Mars.

All stories that echo episodes of the series, but that are slightly different....still, a pretty impressive cover, even if the logo was a little generic!

Time Tunnel #2 (July, 1967)

The second issue, featuring two stories, expands the plot a little, as Tony and Doug end up in the future, dealing with time traveler there who were planning to go back in time to help the Nazis win World War II by interfering with D-Day (though they didn't meet Sgt. Rock or Fury), and then, in "The Captives", they end up in between a battle between General Custer and the Indians.

A little more for Tony and Doug to do, but, sadly, the comic, not unlike the TV series that inspired it, was doomed to too short a season, with readers still wondering if Tony and Doug got home.

Both of these stories were collected in the Hermes Press tradepaperback in 2009 (where they got the TV logo on it), along with articles about the series in general, and the pin ups of stars James Darren and Robert Colbert (Tony and Doug).

Happy Doughnut Day 2023

It's not art but I know what I like...words that Jughead Jones could use, after checking out this art exhibit with Betty and Veronica on this cover to Jughead's Double Digest #2 (December, 1989) by Dan DeCarlo and Jim DeCarlo, as he plans to go to Donut World...which is appropriate, as today is National Doughnut Day!