Heroes and Villains Poster by John Romita Sr and Alex Ross

Back in 2004, Alex Ross teamed up with Marvel’s classic artist John Romita Sr to produce this poster, commemorating all the characters that Romita had a hand in creating/designing for the company.  I saved a number of scans from Ross’ website that highlight key characters.

Mary Jane Watson is front and center, in her famous Face It Tiger, You Hit the Jackpot! pose.  She’s framed by Robbie Robertson (editor of the Daily Bugle) and Captain Stacy (father of Gwen).  Man-Wolf and Gibbon are here, too, but take a look at that fellow behind Robbie: The Sentry (golden age version).

The lower right corner features Wolverine, in a pose reminiscent of his first appearance in Incredible Hulk #181.  Ms. Marvel is also in this area, featuring her bikini bottom costume which made a welcome re-appearance during the Dark Reign storyline.

The left hand side features Spider-Man villains: The Kingpin, Shocker, and Rhino.  Not to mention Spidey’s extra appendages taken from Amazing Spider-Man #100!  Luke Cage is bustin’ out in his Tiara as Hero for Hire.  I was really happy to see Steve Gerber and Jim Mooney’s Omega the Unknown represented in this pantheon as well.

This panel showcases a few more offbeat characters.  Satana, the daughter of the Devil, is shown her classic Romita outfit on the left.  Namor the Sub-Mariner got a regal new costume designed by Romita (and Reed Richards) in a last ditch effort to revitalize Namor’s sales.  Misty Knight, from Iron Fist, is here, along with Spitfire from the Invaders.

I don’t have a good close up of the upper right quadrant, but take a look at the big poster scan on top of this post.  That area contains Brother Voodoo, Medusa, Mantis, Black Widow, and The Falcon’s new winged costume.  And a character from a great short story that Romita did with Stan Lee in Savage Tales, one of The Femizons!  Whoever bought this poster was very lucky indeed.  Nuff Said!

Avengers: Alex Ross Assemble Print for Comic-Con 2010

Alex Ross painted version of the Avengers, in a print titled Assemble that was published for Comic-Con 2010 at Marvel Art Works.

Ross has an uncanny knack for cherry picking my favorite eras of the Marvel Universe for his paintings.  This team, from left to right, has the key players from the Roy Thomas years:  Black Panther, Hawkeye, Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Scarlet Witch, Vision, with Giant-Man's visor looming in the background.  Nuff Said!

Link:  COMIC-CON 2010: First look at 'Avengers Assemble' painting by Alex Ross

Link:  First Look At Alex Ross' Assemble Print Featuring Marvel's Avengers

Classic Marvel: Stunning Posters by Adams, Golden, Finch, and Ross

Here are five posters featuring the Marvel Universe's greatest characters that no true believer can deny are superb!  Four of them I have featured previously, but the first one I believe is new to my site...



Arthur Adams produced the "Marvel Heroes and Villains" lithograph for Dynamic Forces.  We could easily peg these versions of Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, Avengers, X-Men, and their various villains in the mid 1960s era.  You've got Daredevil standing next to Black Widow, that edges you in the 1970 territory.  :-)



Golden drew this poster of the Marvel Universe in the 1970s.  It actually may have come out around 1980 or so--Moon Knight is featured, and he wasn't popular until the late 70s with his series starting in 1980.  But it's very 70s in spirit, with the All-New X-Men, Storm's classic costume, the Avengers (just love the Vision sinking into the ground), Black Bolt, Hulk, Doc Strange, Silver Surfer, and the Watcher on the left.  There's a few Marvel Monsters with Ghost Rider and Man-Thing.  Heck, even Ka-Zar, Luke Cage, and Captain Universe are in there.



Golden also drew this print that was featured in a 1980s Marvel Calendar.  You can immediately see the difference in this post-Secret Wars era, with Spidey's black costume, Beta Ray Bill, Grey Hulk Joe Fixit, New Mutants, Archangel, and Iron Man's armor that he donned in IM #200.  Note also the prominence of Daredevil and Elektra due to Frank Miller's work on the series.  The Punisher, another top seller, is also in the background.  Beyond the characters, the awesome sauce is the setting--the heroes in front of the Pan-Am building and crawling around the statue in front.



Alex Ross produced this cover for the Marvel Comics Encyclopedia.



This widescreen poster by David Finch, collecting all of his covers from X-Men Legacy, will be arriving in comic stores this June.  Didn't read the series, but this image is stunning.  Classic X-Men and New X-Men as bookends, with Sentinels, Hellfire Club, and Magneto sandwiched in-between.  Nuff Said!

Alex Ross Marvel Encyclopedia Cover

To close out 2009, Alex Ross’ wonderful painting for the Marvel Encyclopedia.

We’ll see all of you True Believers back here in 2010, when these heroes hopefully return to classic form.  Nuff Said!