CAPTAIN AMERICA #140 – My favorite covers: Part 1

If I could own only one piece of original art, this might be it. I can’t even imagine what the price would be. (Perhaps someone can tell me.) John Romita Sr. really knocked it out of the park on this one, in my humble opinion.

Yeah, okay, I admit that part of it is nostalgia. It was released in August of 1971, the end of summer vacation when I was 11 years old. This was no doubt a sweet spot for the fantastic adventures of costume heroes to entrance of young Minnesota farm boy.

Written by Stan Lee and interior pencils also by Romita, this issue had A LOT to like: a cool looking villain that I’d never seen before, Nick Fury on the Helicarrier, Sharon Carter (who never looked better than when drawn by Romita), Cap trying out a secret identity as a policeman, the Falcon’s “radical” girlfriend Leila (who hated cops), the Falcon in his original green-and-gold costume, and a new threat to the world destined to fall into the hands of the Gargoyle, Element X. Thrills and chills in the Mighty Marvel Manner.

And don’t miss my personal story of attending a party in Hawaii with both Stan Lee and John Romita Sr. HERE.

That’s my version of the story.

Jack Kirby vs Gene Colan … really?

Really … JACK KIRBY vs GENE COLAN in some kind of legendary “silver agey” comic book artist smackdown … really … well not really. But it is an interesting thought, you have to admit. If you want to get directly to the controversy (or non-controversy if you actually apply any critical thought to it), you’ll just have to scroll down a little bit.

But first, a tiny bit of unnecessary and probably unwanted non-comics stuff…

I’M NOT TAKING MY GLOVES OR MUZZLE OFF … BUT …

If you know me in any small way, you can probably guess where I come down politically. This is not a political blog. This is also not a personal blog, a music blog or a journalistic blog. That said, don’t be surprised if I talk briefly about my life, my daughter, Jim Croce, The Kentucky Headhunters, The Dan Band, or my degree in Mass Communications from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

I don’t really see this as a left/right, blue/red issue, but an issue regarding journalistic integrity, but you be the judge.

That said, I thought that this was a piece of information worth passing along … doing my small piece of the effort. I don’t have any plans to bore you with this kind of polarizing material very often. So if you want to pitch in and help, click the picture at the right (it is a link) … and if you’ve come for a funny book fix instead … just scroll down and away you go.

Macross, She-Dragon and The Gene Colan Project!

If you are a regular visitor here, I’m sorry it has been so long since new material appeared. Oddly, when I quit smoking recently, it lead to me changing a lot of my routine. A changed routine meant finding a new one that included writing blog entries. This has proven to be more difficult than I anticipated. I’ll continue to post as often and thoughtfully as I can … now on with the show.

 

FANATIC QUIZ QUESTION ANSWER FROM MARCH 5

The question on the table was a challenge to put five different Comico titles in the order in which they were released. I even made it easier by choosing titles that were all released in different years. Plus I included a bonus question regarding Robotech: The Macross Saga #2. So without further ado, here are the answers.

Despite good sales, there wasn't a Macross #2.

1. Grendel #1 – released May 1983

2. Elementals #1 – released November 1984

3. Robotech: The Macross Saga #2 – released April 1985

4. Night & The Enemy GN – released November 1987

5. The Maze Agency #1 – released December 1988

The interesting piece of trivia is this: there was NO Robotech: The Macross Saga #1. The first issue of the long running series from Comico was either called Super Dimension Fortress Macross or just Macross, depending on which source material you believe. I would have used the indicia from the issue to settle the argument, but I don’t own a copy. It is interesting that a licensed title would change its name between issue #1 and issue #2.

John Buscema gets some 2009 Avengers New Years love

At just a little over a month old, this fanatic blog has certainly gotten off to a great start. For those of you who enjoy the “inside baseball” stuff, we’ve had 5,971 page views since Funny Book Fanatic launched in late November. Thanks to all of you who visit and enjoy my efforts. Tell your friends. It’ll only get better from here.

John Busceman 1993

In honor of 2009, I’m going to be taking a taking a little extra time for myself. But before I go … don’t think I’ve forgotten my promise to tell the Stan Lee/John Romita Sr. story about freezing in Hawaii. I’ll get to it here in a week or so, but in the meantime there won’t be any updates on this site until the next Miscellaneous Monday (Jan. 5, 2009). So enjoy this mini-tribute to two of my favorite things about comics, John Buscema and The Mighty Avengers.