Monster Monday: Man-Thing by John Gallagher

Man-Thing in glorious full color...

...by a bloke named John Gallagher, who you can find on DeviantArt (thanks for the tip from Carlos Pacheco)! Nuff Said.

Monster Monday: Tomb of Dracula by John Paul Leon

John Paul Leon dropped this little illustration on Twitter a while ago, I was immediately entranced by it!

Tomb of Dracula! Some elements of both Gene Colan and Tom Palmer in there, but the Victorian house in the background and the inking details are more Leon. Whoever got this commission is lucky indeed! Nuff Said.

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! 

Nuff Said!

Monster Monday: Ghost Rider Slurpee cup

The Marvel Monsters were well represented in Marvel's Slurpee cups from 1975.  Man-Thing, Dracula, and Ghost Rider has their own cups.

Johnny Blaze was featured on his hellblazing cycle.  Now where did this image come from?  A Ghost Rider comic or an issue of Marvel Spotlight?

Neither!  It was lifted off the cover of Marvel Two-In-One #8, cover dated Mar 1975 but it probably was on the stands in Dec 1974.  The Slurpee cups were sold at 7-Eleven the spring/summer of 75.  The cover is by Gil Kane and Joe Sinnott.  Always found that one a strange tale...Ghost Rider in a Christmas story.  Nuff Said!

Monster Monday: Man-Thing by Reilly Brown

You can run into Man-Things in the most unexpected places...

This piece is by Reilly Brown, who I discovered on deviantART by searching for Man-Thing!  Nuff Said.

Monster Monday: Sci-Fi Man-Wolf covers by Gil Kane and Klaus Janson

When Spider-Man's nemesis, Man-Wolf, finally appeared in his own strip inside Creatures on the Loose, it was hard to make this character distinct from Marvel's other lycanthropian, Werewolf by Night.  David Kraft, who wrote the later issues, fixed this problem by turning Man-Wolf into a sci-fi hero.  The gem that had grafted to his chest was a ruby from another dimension, known as the Godstone.

This led to some ultra cool covers by Gil Kane and Klaus Janson!  Creatures on the Loose #35 features Man-Wolf on a runaway rocket sled--shades of Barsoom!  The blood red haze on top is terrific, I bet you could spot this cover halfway across the drugstore on the spinner rack.  The color scheme reminds me a bit of Gil Kane's Morbius cover on Fear #23.

But the action scene itself is similar to this cover from Amazing Adventures #29, which again is very John Carter like, with a sky sled plummeting downward.  Gil Kane loved the adventures of Barsoon and drew the John Carter strip, which probably led to these influences.

Creatures on the Loose #36 features Man-Wolf in a terrible spot, out in the vacuum of space.  I thought this was an ultra cool idea, having a werewolf in space, he would never turn human would he, since the moon was always in view?

Creatures on the Loose #37 was the last issue featuring the Man-Wolf (his story wrapped up in Marvel Premiere #45-46).  But this is another great idea, the creature fighting an army in anti-gravity. Nuff Said!

Monster Monday: Man-Thing by Lee Weeks

When Mondays get tough, the tough start thinking about Marvel's Man-Thing.

A great pen and ink illustration of the muck monster rambling through the swamps of Florida.  Nuff Said!

Monster Monday: Supernatural Thrillers 6 (Headless Horseman) original art and cover by Gil Kane

When Supernatural Thrillers began in 1972, it was adapting material from well known authors and classic stories.

In 1973, ST #6 featured the tale of the Headless Horseman.  A nice cover by Gil Kane highlights the action against Ichabod Crane.  The original artwork for this is a knockout!  Kane left room for the logo on top, but the way he positioned the drawing and captured the scene in action was masterful.

Here is the artwork with the cover copy pasted up.  You gotta love the mascot for this series in the upper left--a dog (or wolf?) howling at the moon.

And the cover as originally published in full color, where the horse looks demonic as well.  The interior story by Gary Friedrich and George Tuska attempted a modern take on the legend, which is why the cover blurb read He Haunts The Midnight Hills -- Today!  Nuff Said!

Monster Monday: The Partial Resurrection of Simon Garth, aka the Zombie!

I have expressed my love for Marvel's Tales of the Zombie a few times here before.  TOTZ, Dracula Lives, Vampire Tales, I loved all of those mags.  But the Zombie was special--a character that allowed Steve Gerber to write some really crazy stories.  And best of all, it almost seemed like a limited series, when issue #9 was published.  The lead Zombie story was titled "Simon Garth Lives Again" by Tony Isabella.  The Zombie is transformed back into a living man for 24 hours--enough time to attend his daughter's wedding--before turning back into the undead.  By the end of the tale,  Simon Garth engulfed himself with a Gris-Gris (the only thing that could destroy a Zombie) and was buried in a new grave.



I thought that was pretty final end to the Simon Garth's story.  Yet, the next issue blurb did say he would return in issue #10!  But we never got the story.  When the final issue of TOTZ appeared, editor Don McGregor wrote an editorial explaining that Gerry Conway had written and Rico Rival had drawn a 30 page story featuring all-new adventures of Garth.  But these pages got lost in the mail and were probably in Guam!  I always wondered what happened to that story; it was never published.  But I just found the pages on Heritage Comics auction site a while ago!

The opening page shows that Simon Garth is right where Papa Doc and Tony Isabella left him, buried in a graveyard.  It's been two months since the events of TOTZ #9.  Which would have been appropriate if this had appeared in issue #10--the magazine was published bi-monthly!

A team of scientists is using a "vibro-mole" to dig Garth out of his grave.  It was interesting that Conway chose to have the military-industrial complex be the agent of the Zombie's return.

On the title page "The Partial Resurrection of Simon Garth", the Zombie is lifted out of his grave.  He remains motionless, inert, deader than the usual dead guy.

But Simon Garth's body is still somewhat intact--it hasn't decomposed any further.  Which was something quite mysterious about this character.  He was attacked by giant spiders, set on fire, hacked at with an axe--yet he never lost any body parts.  This Zombie was tough.

By the fifth page we see a man retrieve a very familiar object, the medallion used to control the Zombie, being stolen from a detective's office.

I have scans of the next few pages but not the entire story.  What happens next is that the Zombie is studied by the military.  Someone goes wacko (Andrews or the guy who stole the medallion) and starts killing people.  Would love to know how Garth was reanimated.  Was this story ever published in one of the Essentials?   Nuff Said!

Monster Monday: Original Art for Giant-Size Spider-Man #5!

What does a terrifying Monday really need?  More Man-Thing!  Surely all Giant-Size fans remember this title...

Giant-Size Spider-Man #5 was notable for several reasons.  It was the first meeting between Spidey and Man-Thing, but it was also the last issue featuring an all-original story.  There was a sixth and final issue but it featured reprint material.  The Giant-Sizers were doomed to extinction.

But at least Gil Kane's cover was pretty nifty, featuring Spidey caught in-between Manny and the Lizard.  Once again a lot of stuff to draw with the only 2/3 of the space available.  Nuff Said!

Monster Monday: Infernal Man-Thing covers by Art Adams

Next month Marvel is publishing a three-issue mini-series with Steve Gerber's last Man-Thing script, a sequel to the classic "Song Cry of the Living Dead Man" that appeared in MT #12 (1974).  Who is doing the covers for this new series?

Art Adams!  A natural choice since he has done many great commissions of Manny over the years.  This is the cover to Infernal Man-Thing #1.  It reminds a bit of Mike Ploog, with the water and slime dripping down his head.

Infernal Man-Thing #2 shows the swamp creature reaching out to touch someone, probably because they are afraid!  Whosoever Knows Fear...Burns at the Man-Thing's Touch.

Infernal Man-Thing #3 shows the creature ready for action.  This is very similar to the cover for Thunderbolts #154 from last year.  Great covers for a character that is finally getting some attention here and in Jeff Parker's Thunderbolts series.  Nuff Said!

Monster Monday: Bob Layton's recreation of Amazing Adventures #12

No doubt many of you remember this famous cover by Gil Kane from 1972.

Amazing Adventures #12, featuring The Beast!  Who could resist buying such a cover?  Iron Man isn't looking too healthy there on the ground and the blurb: One Avenger Dead on Arrival! is enticing.

Here is Bob Layton's recreation of this cover.  As you can see, The Beast here looks more like he did in the first issue of X-Factor, the comic that Layton co-plotted and inked in 1986.  It appears this commission was done in 1985 and in a very classy move, Layton acknowledges Kane with his signature.  Check out Bob Layton's website for more cool stuff!  Nuff Said.

Monster Monday: Chamber of Chills covers by Gil Kane and Tom Palmer

In the early 70s, the Marvel Monster and Horror line expanded not only with the classic characters (Dracula, Werewolf by Night, Frankenstein, etc) but with anthology titles as well.  One of them was Chamber of Chills, which strangely enough was the title of a Harvey Horror comic back in the early 1950s.  

The cover to the fear fraught first issue was by Gil Kane and Tom Palmer.  The big selling point for this one (besides the giant red dragon) was the adaption of Harlan Ellison's Delusion for a Dragon Slayer.  The adaption was by Gerry Conway and Craig Russell, but I read somewhere that Ellison wasn't happy with it.  Harlan, not happy with an adaption of his work?  Well, you could probably say that about anything of his that Marvel touched.

I think the cover of issue #2 was more effective, featuring a vampire about to attack someone in a cabin.  Marvel was once again adapting a short story by another writer, Robert E. Howard, who readers already knew from Conan the Barbarian.  This story was adapted by Roy Thomas (naturally) and Gil Kane.  Nuff Said!

Monster Monday: Dracula by Gene Colan and Gabriel Hardman

Hope you all have today off, if not, this little illustration may help you through a Monstrous Monday...

Dracula, pencils by Gene Colan in 2003 and inks by Gabriel Hardman in 2011.  Courtesy of Hardman's deviantART page.  Nuff Said!

Monster Monday: Morbius versus Blade!

I need a little something extra to get me going on this particular Monday.  How about this snazzy 1974 cover to Fear #24?  Morbius the Living Vampire versus Blade the Vampire Slayer!  The cover, penciled by Morbius creator Gil Kane, is classic Marvel action.  Even better, it was inked by John Romita Sr. 

Here is a scan of the original inked cover, which I found on the Gil Kane Unchained page on Facebook.  Nuff Said!

Monster Monday: The Golem!

Strange Tales is a unique title in Marvel Comics history.  It hosted many weird heroes, from Doctor Strange to Brother Voodoo.  When Brother Voodoo’s run only lasted 5 issues, there was another monster ready to take his place.

The Golem first appeared in Strange Tales #174 in 1974.  He only lasted three issues!  Strange Tales #177, with a beautiful cover by Frank Brunner, was his last appearance.  This wasn’t exactly a memorable storyline on par with other Marvel Monsters at the time.  But it did do a good job of introducing readers to the myth of the Golem, a creature made out of clay to protect the Jewish people of Prague from persecution.  We were shown how the Golem could be controlled by writing on his forehead: emeth (meaning truth) activated the Golem, while meth (death) shut it down.

The biggest contribution this comic made was to prepare me for references to Golems in other stories.  Michael Chabon’s novel The Adventures of Kavalier & Clay has a scene where Joe Kavalier escapes persecution by hiding in the coffin of the inanimate Golem of Prague.  Ted Chiang’s wonderful story Seventy Two Letters features a professor named Robert Stratton, who goes on to create new ways of creating and controlling Golems.  When I read both of these stories, it was mind blowing—at last, someone else had read Strange Tales #174!  Perhaps they did not—but I felt like my 25 cent investment here had paid off decades later.

To my surprise, The Golem has appeared in other Marvel titles over the years!  See this Wikipedia article for more details.  Nuff Said!