Celebrating Artist Alex Saviuk

Celebrating the birthday of artist Alex Saviuk (August 17, 1952) with a couple of his covers to Web Of Spider-Man (#47 and #48, February and March, 1989), where Spider-Man faces Hobgoblin and Demogoblin.

Celebrating Artist Chris Sprouse

Celebrating artist Chris Sprouse on his birthday (July 30, 1966) with a couple of classics...Spider-Man Classics, that is (#12 and #13, March and April, 1994)...featuring a lengthy early battle between Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus.

 

Remembering Artist John Romita

Remembering artist John Romita on his birthday (January 24, 1930 - June 12, 2023) with a couple of his covers to Amazing Spider-Man (#66 and #67, from November and December, 1968) featuring the master of illusion....Mysterio!

Celebrating Artist Adam Kubert

Celebrating the birthday of artist Adam Kubert (October 6, 1959) with 2 of his covers to Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits Of Vengeance (#5 and #6 of December, 1992 and January, 1993), featuring Ghost Rider, Johnny Blaze, Spider-Man and Venom.

The other two parts to the story didn't have covers by Adam, and were in Web Of Spider-Man.

Celebrating Artist Mark Bagley

Celebrating the birthday of artist Mark Bagley (August 7, 1957) with a trio of covers from Amazing Spider-Man....

...featuring the star, his symbiote enhanced villain, Venom (Eddie Brock), and a new introduction, serial killer Cletus Kasady, who, when merged with a symbiote, became Carnage!

Amazing Spider-Man #361 and #362 (April and May, 1992)

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Amazing Spider-Man #363 (June, 1992)

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Celebrating Artist Ed Hannigan

Celebrating the birthday of artist Ed Hannigan (August 6, 1951), who has done spectacular cover work over the years, including these covers for Spectacular Spider-Man, featuring Spider-Man and Cloak & Dagger (including their debut issue).  Cloak and Dagger were two teenagers (Tyrone Johnson and and Tandy Bowen) who got powers over darkness and light (respectively) after an injection of synthetic heroin.  The duo complemented each other, and used their newfound powers to fight crime.

Spectacular Spider-Man #64 and #69 (March and August, 1982)

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Spectacular Spider-Man #70 (September, 1982)

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Celebrating Artist Al Milgrom

Celebrating the birthday of artist Al Milgrom (March 6, 1950) with the Deadly Foes Of Spider-Man... 

...a four issue mini-series featuring the Sinister Syndicate (a group of Spider-Man foes that wouldn't be considered his most dangerous), but when banded together...the group of the Beetle, the Shocker, Boomerang, Rhino, Speed Demon and Hydro-Man...could fill a mini-series!

Deadly Foes Of Spider-Man #1 and #2 (May and June, 1991)

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Deadly Foes Of Spider-Man #3 and #4 (July and August, 1991)

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Celebrating Artist Alex Saviuk

Celebrating the birthday of artist Alex Saviuk (August 17, 1952).  Alex worked on many (oh, so many) issues of the Web Of Spider-Man....

...but, focusing here on two special issues, one where Spider-Man faces the Hulk, then, with a burst of gamma energy, Spider-Man becomes the Spider-Hulk, all in Web Of Spider-Man #69 and #70 (October and November, 1990). 

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!

Covering George Perez Spider-Man

It's absolutely AMAZING that, with his decades in the business, artist George Perez didn't get a chance to do any covers for the Amazing Spider-Man, but he did do quite a bit a Spider-Man work, including this piece for the 1978 Spider-Man calendar (October), featuring Spider-Man and his more monstrous villains, inked by Pablo Marcos!

For those that don't know, the villains are: Man-Wolf, Punisher, Morbius, Green Goblin, Stegron, Lizard, Dracula, Mysterio and the Jackal...but you knew that, right?

Still, Perez did do a couple of covers for Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man (#9 and #10, August/September 1977), when Peter teamed up with the White Tiger, inked by Frank Giacoia!

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While not issues of Amazing Spider-Man, George did do three issues of Marvel Tales, featuring reprints with Spider-Man facing the Hobgoblin (#259 - #261 in 1992, George also inked covers for a mini-series featuring the Hobgoblin, but we'll cover those later!).

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Just because it fit with the October/Halloween them, included a cover of Spider-Man Team Up (#4 in September, 1996), with Spidey and the Avengers, because George was better known for his Avengers work.

Happy Birthday Todd Nauck

Happiest of birthdays to artist Todd Nauck.

May your day not be crazy, like what Wolverine is about to do to Deadpool on this incentive cover for Crazy #1 from December, 2019!

Thanks for all the fun covers over the years...

...including stuff from Young Justice...

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More Young Justice....

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Spider-Man and friends...

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....and even Avengers and X-Men related projects!

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Spider-Man Meets The Watcher For Christmas

Peter Parker is your friendly neighborhood super-hero, going about his business before the holiday, while Uatu is a being living on the Blue Area of the moon, doing his usual business (watching). 

What Earthshaking cosmic events bring these two together (under a cover by Ed Hannigan and Al Milgrom)?

Small Miracles

In Marvel Team-Up #127 (March, 1983) by J. M. DeMatteis, Kerry Gammill and Mike Esposito, Peter is getting his gifts ready for Aunt May and the old folks that live with her at the home.  Everyone seems to be in the Christmas mood except for Arthur Chekov, who was waiting for his granddaughter, Bette to show up.  Peter is now concerned, but gets a big blast to his Spider-Sense, heading outside.  

There, a sudden snowstorm isolates him from the home, and he finds himself in his Spider-Man outfit, confronted by a large, bald, silent alien (Uatu), who hands him a gem, with an image of Bette.  Now, motivated to find Bette, Spider-Man begins a search for the young lady, while the Watcher watches from the Blue Area of the moon.  

Finding her address, Spider-Man arrives to a crime scene, which worries him.  This demoralizes Peter, who then meets with Captain America (who had many team-ups with Spidey before....and after), who inspires Peter to keep at it.  Peter does find Bette, who, thanks to a dishonest boyfriend, is in trouble with drug dealers, and she is shot.  Peter, thinking he will be unable to save her, yells his displeasure to the world, and is answered with a silent appearance of the Watcher.  

Still hearing nothing from him, Peter hurls the gem the Watcher gave him at the silent alien, which breaks, healing the girl enough for Peter to get Bette to a hospital.  There, she reunites with her grandfather, and Peter can say a silent thanks to the alien who helped save her.  

On the moon, Uatu reflects on this event, hoping it is insignificant enough not to be noticed by his brethren, who have a strict policy of non-interference....and how sad that they couldn't even be bothered to help someone on Christmas.

Perez Marvel Holiday Special

George Perez has contributed a lot of art to Marvel over the decades, but he hasn't done too many Christmas based drawings....at least until the Marvel Holiday Special of 1994.

Made that much more special, as it also has a rare drawing of Spider-Man, and even X-Men Iceman and Wolverine (though George did draw a lot of the Beast when he was an Avenger).

Sad that he didn't doing anything inside, but the stories are: Beast/Iceman by Kurt Busiek, James Fry and Neil Vokes; Captain America by John Ostrander and Tom Mandrake; the Thing by Gregory Wright and Mike Manley; Silver Surfer by J. M. DeMatteis, Mindy Newell, Rick Leonardi and Al Williamson; Spider-Man by Karl Bollers and Gray Morrow and the X-Men featuring Wolverine by Karl Bollers and Sal Buscema as the Marvel heroes get ready for Christmas.

 

Remembering Steve Lightle

Remembering artist Steve Lightle (November 19, 1959 - January 8, 2021) who passed away this morning.  

Known mostly for his work at DC Comics, on Legion of Super-Heroes, Doom Patrol and the Flash, Steve also worked at Marvel, doing Spider-Man and Classic X-Men covers, as well as odds and ends of work all over for both companies and even his own independent work. 

Below is a sample of some of his covers.  He will be missed.

 

 

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Happy World Photography Day 2020

Usually, Peter Parker would be the first to celebrate World Photography Day.  After all, he's made plenty of money photographing his alter-ego, Spider-Man, for Daily Bugle.

But, this time, the tables have turned....and Peter is caught in a precarious position, and he's not so happy with a picture....as shown on this rare photo cover for Amazing Spider-Man #262 (March, 1985...cover photo by Eliot R. Brown, with Scott Leva as Spider-Man).

 

Trade Secret

In the story by Bob Layton,  sleazy photographer D. J. Jones gets the shot of a lifetime, catching Peter Parker in mid-change at the airport.  Spider-Man, in trying to hunt him down (as D.J. tries to sell the picture), realizes he still has a responsibility to help Jones...and does.  

Spidey does save his secret identity, by using the power of fear (and some acting) to convince Jones to give up the film.

Wonder Woman At The Movies Almost

Today was suppose to have been the premiere of the second Wonder Woman movie....but, unfortunately, that will have to wait until August.

Back in the day, Wonder Woman went to the movies, and faced a dinosaur that came out of the screen in Wonder Woman #64 (February, 1964) under a cover by Irwin Hasen, and story by Robert Kanigher and Harry Peter.

Talk about the ultimate in 3-D!

Wonder Woman isn't the only hero to have faced dinosaurs.  Batman did....


...even made one of them a trophy in his Batcave!  (and, hey, why not a marathon of the 1966 Batman TV show to keep you busy this weekend?)

If you need some folks who've faced horrible menaces in their movies with friends...



...how about taking a look at these books, where Spider-Man teamed up with some other folks who have had movies, like Dracula and Doc Savage?
 

Or, just chill out with Superman...


...as he stops Bizarro from harassing an actor playing Frankenstein?

Try these and a few other comics, and August and the Wonder Woman movie will be here in no time! 

We won't keep you hanging on for too long...