Dracula vs Frankenstein for the the Tomb of Dracula Omnibus #3 in 2010. Wow!
Nuff Said!
Showing posts with label Frankenstein. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Frankenstein. Show all posts
Monday, December 23, 2013
Monster Monday: Tomb of Dracula and Frankenstein by Art Adams
This nifty cover by Art Adams in 2010 slipped right by me, featuring 2 classic Marvel Monsters...
Dracula vs Frankenstein for the the Tomb of Dracula Omnibus #3 in 2010. Wow!
Dracula vs Frankenstein for the the Tomb of Dracula Omnibus #3 in 2010. Wow!
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Celebrate Halloween with the Bronze Age of Marvel Horror: Dracula, Werewolf, Frankenstein, Ghost Rider, and Son of Satan!
Halloween 2010 is finally here! My favorite holiday...somehow I feel the rest of the year is all downhill from this point. Thanksgiving, Christmas, bah, not as good in my opinion. In fact I would like to be put in suspended animation starting on November 1st. Re-animate my body after January 1st, give me a strong cup of coffee and everything will be just fine.
Here are some classic Marvel horror comic covers from the Bronze Age. No particular order, just grabbing a pack of Marvels that lurk in the dead of night.
Tomb of Dracula #26 cover by Gil Kane and Tom Palmer, from 1974. The story by Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan was part 1 of the Chimera storyline, a very good one as I recall.
Werewolf by Night #5 cover by Mike Ploog from 1973. Jack Russell's sister Lissa is held captive by a madman, who sends the Werewolf out to assassinate someone who lives in a heavily guarded compound.
The Frankenstein Monster #10 cover by John Romita from 1974. The cover is evocative of the early Frankenstein horror films and could almost be a poster. In this case, the cover was much better than the interior story, about the Monster meeting "The Last Frankenstein" who brings him over to London.
It's even better to look at the original art by John Romita to the Frankenstein Monster #10 cover. I found this over on Romitaman's website.
Ghost Rider #2 cover by Gil Kane and Joe Sinnott is frightening because you've got big bad SATAN, all red and aflame and eager to snatch up Johnny Blaze's soul. Given that groovy midriff-bearing outfit, it would be hard to deny Witch-Woman's request to Step Right Up and Shake Hands with SATAN!
John Romita also drew the cover to Marvel Spotlight #13, the second full length story featuring the Son of Satan. Who else can stop the Big Satan except for his ever rebellious son? This comic featured the origin story of Daimon Hellstrom, which made me very uncomfortable to think that anyone's Mom would sleep with the Devil. BTW, you think it is easy to design a costume for the Hellspawn? That outfit by Romita is sheer genius.
Have a great Halloween 2010! Were I made the emperor of the world, we would abolish those holidays and make them Halloween part 2 and 3. Nuff Said!
Update: Comments from my old MT blog...
Here are some classic Marvel horror comic covers from the Bronze Age. No particular order, just grabbing a pack of Marvels that lurk in the dead of night.
Tomb of Dracula #26 cover by Gil Kane and Tom Palmer, from 1974. The story by Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan was part 1 of the Chimera storyline, a very good one as I recall.
Werewolf by Night #5 cover by Mike Ploog from 1973. Jack Russell's sister Lissa is held captive by a madman, who sends the Werewolf out to assassinate someone who lives in a heavily guarded compound.
The Frankenstein Monster #10 cover by John Romita from 1974. The cover is evocative of the early Frankenstein horror films and could almost be a poster. In this case, the cover was much better than the interior story, about the Monster meeting "The Last Frankenstein" who brings him over to London.
It's even better to look at the original art by John Romita to the Frankenstein Monster #10 cover. I found this over on Romitaman's website.
Ghost Rider #2 cover by Gil Kane and Joe Sinnott is frightening because you've got big bad SATAN, all red and aflame and eager to snatch up Johnny Blaze's soul. Given that groovy midriff-bearing outfit, it would be hard to deny Witch-Woman's request to Step Right Up and Shake Hands with SATAN!
John Romita also drew the cover to Marvel Spotlight #13, the second full length story featuring the Son of Satan. Who else can stop the Big Satan except for his ever rebellious son? This comic featured the origin story of Daimon Hellstrom, which made me very uncomfortable to think that anyone's Mom would sleep with the Devil. BTW, you think it is easy to design a costume for the Hellspawn? That outfit by Romita is sheer genius.
Have a great Halloween 2010! Were I made the emperor of the world, we would abolish those holidays and make them Halloween part 2 and 3. Nuff Said!
Update: Comments from my old MT blog...
3 Comments
While the inks on the Frankenstein cover are definitely by John Romita, the pencils are by the one and only Gil Kane.
Nick Caputo
Thanks for sharing!! the comics are great!
Thanks for this Richard. Great memories. Gil Kane did some lovely work on Captain Marvel, they were my favourites.
John
Saturday, October 31, 2009
A Mike Ploog Monster Mash for Halloween
What would a Marvel monster version of the Defenders look like? If Mike Ploog were drawing it, something like this nifty commission done for Leo Chuah on comicartfans.
Ghost Rider, Frankenstein, and Werewolf by Night on a moonlit night. Greatness! Nuff said.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
The Monsters of Mike Ploog: Frankenstein Covers and Character Designs
Mike Ploog brought his artistic talent to shed light on Marvel's version of the Monster of Frankenstein in 1972. Here are some of the best covers, with the original black and white art versions for comparison.
Monster of Frankenstein #2 is one of my top 10 favorite Marvel covers of all time, and perhaps my favorite Ploog cover as well. You can really feel the Monster's pain as he carries his Bride (snuffed out after a horrific rebirth by Victor Frankenstein) away from the castle. I loved this cover so much, I put a piece of light paper over it, traced it, and inked it in junior high school. There was a girl in my class who was really impressed by this: You drew that? I nodded my head. What the heck, was she gonna know who Ploog was?
There is one negative thing about the cover: that logo is one of the worst designs for a title that I've ever seen!
The original art to this piece is even more stunning, the textures and shadows are wonderful. Who is the lucky sonofagun who owns this piece? John Butler from comicartfans, unless it was sold to another person.
After Victor crushed his dream of friendship and love, the Monster gets revenge in issue #3 by murdering Elizabeth Frankenstein on her wedding night. The cover is just classic horror to the max: the Monster's rage with the full moon in the background, Elizabeth's décolletage, her expression of surprise, and the candles getting snuffed out by the sudden gush of wind. Just as Elizabeth herself will be snuffed out.
The original art to Monster of Frankenstein #3. From the collection of John Scarpone at comicartfans.
Issue #4 featured a departure from the general story of Mary Shelley's novel. The Monster winds up meeting a tribe of native aborigines who adopt him. The creature finds a home for a while--until a war with a neighboring tribe kills all of his friends.
The original art to Monster of Frankenstein #4 looks a lot more striking in black and white. If this scan is correct, Marvel flipped the cover. Notice the mountain and sky in the background--completely erased in the printed cover. Once again from John Butler's gallery. I am getting really envious of that dude.
Now here's an interesting behind the scenes look at the design of Marvel's Frankenstein Monster. This character design sketch was done by John Romita Sr. There is a note written in ink by Roy Thomas to Ploog.
Mike --
This is (the) version Stan wants to see. Please call me to discuss.
Roy
Ploog then created this Frankenstein conceptual drawing based on Romita's sketch and Roy Thomas' comments. I think I first saw this in the Essential Monster of Frankenstein a few years ago. Both of these character design pieces are from Doug Edelman on comicartfans.
Many thanks to all of the Mike Ploog fans on comicartfans for these scans. It's nice to know that many people love Ploog!
You can also view Ploog's recreation of Frankenstein Monster #6 from a post I did in Jan 2009. Nuff said.
Update: Comments from my old MT blog...
Monster of Frankenstein #2 is one of my top 10 favorite Marvel covers of all time, and perhaps my favorite Ploog cover as well. You can really feel the Monster's pain as he carries his Bride (snuffed out after a horrific rebirth by Victor Frankenstein) away from the castle. I loved this cover so much, I put a piece of light paper over it, traced it, and inked it in junior high school. There was a girl in my class who was really impressed by this: You drew that? I nodded my head. What the heck, was she gonna know who Ploog was?
There is one negative thing about the cover: that logo is one of the worst designs for a title that I've ever seen!
The original art to this piece is even more stunning, the textures and shadows are wonderful. Who is the lucky sonofagun who owns this piece? John Butler from comicartfans, unless it was sold to another person.
After Victor crushed his dream of friendship and love, the Monster gets revenge in issue #3 by murdering Elizabeth Frankenstein on her wedding night. The cover is just classic horror to the max: the Monster's rage with the full moon in the background, Elizabeth's décolletage, her expression of surprise, and the candles getting snuffed out by the sudden gush of wind. Just as Elizabeth herself will be snuffed out.
The original art to Monster of Frankenstein #3. From the collection of John Scarpone at comicartfans.
Issue #4 featured a departure from the general story of Mary Shelley's novel. The Monster winds up meeting a tribe of native aborigines who adopt him. The creature finds a home for a while--until a war with a neighboring tribe kills all of his friends.
The original art to Monster of Frankenstein #4 looks a lot more striking in black and white. If this scan is correct, Marvel flipped the cover. Notice the mountain and sky in the background--completely erased in the printed cover. Once again from John Butler's gallery. I am getting really envious of that dude.
Now here's an interesting behind the scenes look at the design of Marvel's Frankenstein Monster. This character design sketch was done by John Romita Sr. There is a note written in ink by Roy Thomas to Ploog.
Mike --
This is (the) version Stan wants to see. Please call me to discuss.
Roy
Ploog then created this Frankenstein conceptual drawing based on Romita's sketch and Roy Thomas' comments. I think I first saw this in the Essential Monster of Frankenstein a few years ago. Both of these character design pieces are from Doug Edelman on comicartfans.
Many thanks to all of the Mike Ploog fans on comicartfans for these scans. It's nice to know that many people love Ploog!
You can also view Ploog's recreation of Frankenstein Monster #6 from a post I did in Jan 2009. Nuff said.
Update: Comments from my old MT blog...
4 Comments
How come THE MONSTER OF FRANKENSTEIN was cancelled and lame mutant titles continue?
If I only I knew that answer, Wade! I suspect I like comics such as Frankenstein because they are offbeat and not that popular. But they were exceedingly well drawn and written! Thanks, Richard.
Could the Monster of Frankenstein beat the Living Mummy? How come the Werewolf by Night never fought Man Wolf?
FRANKENSTEIN was very popular in Germany. It was cancelled too, with Issue No.33. But the problem was, that the german issue - only started 1 year after the US issue - was published bi-weekly instead of monthly. So they had to split the Frankenstein comic in two parts.
FRANKENSTEIN only had 9-10 pages with FRANKENSTEIN, the rest was filled with (excellent) Marvel/Atlas Horror Comics.
But it had a strong fanbase here in Germany.
Interesting is No.27, because this was a fill up story, drawn by a spanish artist, that was produced for the german market only.
Interesting is No.27, because this was a fill up story, drawn by a spanish artist, that was produced for the german market only.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Monster Mondays: Mike Ploog October 1975 Calendar piece with Frankenstein, Dracula, Werewolf by Night!
Marvel Comics started producing calendars in 1975. For the very first calendar (which I've been able to acquire recently, thanks to eBay), they tapped the best artists of that year...including Mike Ploog, who they unleashed in the month of October.
The October illustration featured the trio of monsters that Ploog had drawn in their own comics: Frankenstein, Man-Thing, and Werewolf by Night! The big bad daddy of all supernatural characters, Dracula, lorded over all of them--Ploog had drawn this character as well, when he teamed up with Jack Russell in Werewolf by Night #15.
The month of October itself is ridden with monster-sized jokes by Marvel staffers.
Oct. 4th: Man-Thing with the caption: Save the Everglades--Or Else! That scares me into taking care of the environment.
Oct. 8th-9th: Son of Satan asks pop for the hell-horse drawn chariot, but sister Santana asked for it first.
Oct. 13-15: Three nights of the full moon with Werewolf by Night. Jack Russell's eyes go left, middle, right.
Oct. 19th: Jim Starlin's birthday. Which is today, Happy Birthday Jim!
Oct. 28th-29th: Two creatures called IT! The first one was featured in Supernatural Thrillers #1, the second one was a hero who appeared briefly in Astonishing Tales.
Oct. 30th: The Halloween party in Rutland Vermont, which was featured by Roy Thomas in both Avengers and Defenders (Marvel Feature #2). Several comics creators made the trek to this party. If only we could go back in a time machine!
Many thanks to Sanctum Sanctorum Comix for providing the scans of the Marvel Calendars! Nuff said.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Monster Mondays: Ploog Recreates Frankenstein Monster #6
I recently discovered this cover recreation by Mike Ploog on Romitaman:
It's a recreation of Frankenstein Monster #6, the last issue of the series that Ploog illustrated, before moving over to Man-Thing. This is a big improvement over the original cover:
Published in 1973, it looks to me like the original cover was penciled by Ploog and retouched/inked by Romita. My guess would be that Romita wanted to portray that monster as being much more fierce and upset over his captivity. It just doesn't jibe with the rest of the cover, which is clearly drawn in Ploog's style.
The story inside is pretty decent as well--the Monster has survived 100 years after his creation and discovered Frankenstein's ancestor still lives in the area. Ploog plotted this tale in addition to providing full pencils and inks. Pure Ploog! Nuff said.
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