The Defenders by Michael Golden

A recent commission by master Michael Golden...

The Defenders!  In their classic line-up of the Big Three plus the Silver Surfer.  Nuff Said.

Spider-Man and the Arms of Doctor Octopus by Michael Golden

This illustration was circa 1982 but I bet you can't place where it was originally published...unless you lived in the Lone Star State!

Michael Golden's illustration of Spider-Man leaping over Doctor Octopus was published on the cover of the El Paso Comic Con program guide in 1982.  Great work isn't it?  Nuff Said!

Marvel Fanfare 45 pinups by John Byrne, Michael Golden, Brent Anderson, and Paul Smith

Marvel Fanfare #45 from 1988 was a special issue devoted to pinups.  Editor Al Milgrom picked some notable artists to contribute this stellar issue.  Michael Golden’s Captain America pinup here is a prime example.  How many times have you seen Cap take down Hydra agents?  Many times, but never like you see it here in Golden’s pinup.

Brent Anderson contributed this pinup featuring Ka-Zar, Shanna the She Devil, and Zabu in their native Savage Land.  Zabu is stealing the spotlight here.  I hereby declare Anderson to be the definitive artist for Zabu!

Paul Smith drew this excellent illustration of the Green Goblin flying above Manhattan on his glider.  Love the angle of this picture.

Here is the cover to Marvel Fanfare #45, featuring Al Milgrom lining up all the Marvel Universe stars (featured in this issue) for their portraits to be taken.  I’ll share some more pinups from the issue tomorrow.  Nuff Said!

Silver Surfer Saturday: Michael Golden Cosmic Powers #1

Michael Golden is one of my favorite comic book artists of all time.  I've bought and devoured two recent books on his artwork.  Since he's mostly done covers and pinups for the past ten years or so, finding Golden's work is a bit like finding a needle in a haystack.  I recently came upon this piece from a Silver Surfer mini-series in 1995, called Cosmic Powers.  Golden did this piece for the book.

Here it is in glorious black and white.  I love how Golden has positioned all-conquering Galactus, with Norrin Radd breaking down the barriers, trying to hold back his former herald from escaping.  I believe I saw this on Albert Moy's gallery on ComicArtFans.

Here is the color version.  The Marvel editors didn't use this as the cover for some reason.  But they did print it without any captions or logos.

Awesome.  This should have been a poster.  Nuff said.

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!

Michael Golden Star-Lord cover

This outstanding illustration by Michael Golden appeared on the back cover of the British reprint, Star-Lord Megazine.  Nuff Said!

Michael Golden Kull the Conqueror Covers

Michael Golden provided three terrific covers for Kull the Conqueror in 1984-85.  My favorite cover is the one above, with the Executioner in the black and white background, providing a terrific contrast to Kull in the foreground.  Golden knocks himself out drawing all the jewelry and details on Kull's cape, waist, and feet.

The cover to issue #5 is probably the least impressive, but still visually exciting. 

Marvel Barbarian Revelation #1: I just noticed the Roman aqueduct in the background.  Conan is set way before Roman times and Kull is set way before Conan.  Man, those Atlanteans weren't so barbaric after all.

Now this cover to issue #6  explodes with both action and color.  The background demon figures are all in green, allowing the three main characters to pop out.  I love the expression on that babe's face as she realized her predicament.

Marvel Barbarian Revelation #2: King Kull really had much better fashion sense that Conan, didn't he?  Nuff Said!

Michael Golden Covers for Savage Sword of Conan Make Barbarians Quite Fashionable

 

I like to feature Marvel artwork, characters, or stories that are either offbeat or hard to find.  I searched through over 100 Savage Sword of Conan covers looking for stuff, and noticed that most of them have the same elements:

1. Conan with a huge sword fighting a demon.
2. A bikini clad babe in the foreground looking at Conan in horror.  If Conan wins, he gets the babe.  Spoiler alert: Conan always wins.
3. If the editors really needed a sales boost, they put two bikini clad babes on the cover.  Or Red Sonja.

Most of the covers could have been done for the pulp magazines in the 30s, and feature these elements against a bland background.

Enter Michael Golden.

The above 1988 cover to Savage Sword #150 is a perfect example of how he uses all those elements but does so in a stylish way.  You've got Conan with a sword and a babe standing next to him, but the way they are adorned and colored makes them visually appealing.

I gotta wonder about that red-haired chick in green, though.  Wouldn't it be hard to sit down with a dagger in the middle of your underwear?

The Savage Sword #117 cover features Conan in a Frazetta-like pose, but Golden details every little bit of the headdress, armor, and horse that he can.  Conan's helmet and the horse's head-gear are particularly impressive.

Notice that the babe is hiding shyly behind Conan's back.  Doesn't that make her more tantalizing that just spreading her out in front like a Maxim magazine cover?

Savage Sword #124 eschews the babe for a classic shot of Conan leaping in mid-air to attack an army of stooges.  Don't they know those spears will just bounce off Conan's steely hide?

The Dragon-relief on the wall behind Conan is the most interesting thing about the cover, symbolizing what Conan is doing in the foreground.

Savage Sword #101 features a sea-venturing Conan encountering an angry sea-god.  It's kind of a risky move, as you don't see Conan's face, and the threat of the sea-creature's tentacles is very subtle.  Still, this cover is a cut above most of the Savage Sword dreck.  Nuff Said!

Monster Monday: Michael Golden Ghost Rider covers

It's going to be a monstrous week for me.  The only thing that can make it better is a week of Michael Golden covers...starting off with my favorite hell-raiser, Ghost Rider!

This 1991 cover appeared in the Doctor Strange Ghost Rider special.  The interior story wasn't that great, but the cover alone justified the buck fifty.  I love how Golden draws that hellcycle climbing up that mystic bridge.

Surprisingly, Doctor Strange is very small, even though he's the co-star.  I am sure the editors wanted Ghost Rider to be the focal point, since his popularity was much greater.  The version above was the Danny Ketch Ghost Rider.

Golden did draw the Johnny Blaze Ghost Rider 10 years earlier in this cover to Defenders 96.  Blaze's hellcycle is literally ablaze in flame, which Golden details in utter delight.  Doctor Strange and Daimon Hellstrom appear in the background.

Which Ghost Rider do you prefer?  Ketch's bike is cooler, but Blaze's uniform, an ode to Evel Knivel, simply can't be beat.  Nuff Said!

Michael Golden Draws The Punisher Armory

Pretend you are an artist working for Marvel Comics.  An editor tells you about a great new mini-series titled The Punisher Armory, a Marvel Handbook style index to every weapon Frank Castle ever fondled.  Your artistic challenge: draw a cover for this title, featuring the Punisher and his toys.  Your mission: get the devoted Punisher fans so excited about all this hardware that they'll buy the book.

A difficult task?  Not if your name is Michael Golden.

Golden provided the last two covers for this title, the first one appearing in issue #9 (1994), with the Punisher drawn in silhouette and adorned enough weaponry to take on an army.  It's really impressive--if you overlook the fact that there's no way the Punisher could run for his life with all that shit weighing him down.  I still love the cover though.  I can't possibly back this up, but I would assume that Golden drew weapons that really existed.  That machine gun in his right hand with the laser-sight looks particularly lethal.

The cover to issue #10 features the Punisher bearing down on the viewer, as if you were the one responsible for killing Frank Castle's family.  Look at all the pockets and pouches on this outfit.  I hope he's carrying a Cliff Bar in there for when hunger strikes.

Can you believe The Punisher Armory had enough material for 10 issues?  It was all due to Eliot Brown, the Marvel staffer who researched every single weapon.  Visit Eliot's website for some material on the Armory and other work.  Nuff Said!

Michael Golden Marvel Fanfare 47 wraparound cover featuring Hulk, Spider-Man and Nick Fury

Some of Michael Golden's best work appeared in Marvel Fanfare, such as this gem from 1989.



Issue #47 contained a unbelievable Marvel Team-Up (and perhaps this story was originally meant for that title) between Spider-Man and the Hulk with a guest appearance by Nick Fury. 



Written by Golden's Micronauts partner, Bill Mantlo, the Hulk went berserk in a mind-controlled frenzy.  Golden's artwork in this story is top-notch as usual, the above two panels being a great example.  You can probably get this issue very cheap at a convention!  Nuff Said!

Update: Comments from my old MT blog...

2 Comments

By Sanctum Sanctorum Comix on March 20, 2010 12:09 PM

(too lazy to sign into my account.)

I remember reading an interview with Al Milgrom (It may even have been mentioned somewhere IN this very issue itself [the Editori-Al segment, perhaps?]) where he states that this tale was originally commissioned with Golden after Golden knocked the first few issues of Marvel Fanfare out of the park.

This story was meant to run soon thereafter.

However, it took Y-E-A-R-S for Golden to eventually finish it and thus it ran in this late ish.

If I'm not mistaken this anecdote is also mentioned by Golden himself in some book or DVD that I have of the man and his works (huge Golden fan right here or at least Golden of the 1980's-1990's).

~P~
PTOR

By Richard Guion on March 22, 2010 11:57 PM

Interesting story! Editori-AL did have to wait a looong time for Golden to finish didn't he? Oh well, if Golden were more prolific...
Richard

Michael Golden's Marvel Universe from the 1970s and 1980s

It's time for I Love the 70s/80s with Michael Golden!

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.

I think these two Golden masterworks are so great, Marvel could re-publish them today as posters!  Nuff said.

Marvel Swimsuits: Avengers in the Savage Land

Beginning in 1991, Marvel started publishing an annual series of Swimsuit magazines, full color pinups of heroes and villains in skimpy beach ware.  Modeled after Sports Illustrated, each issue took place in one of Marvel's fictional locations.  The first issue took place in the Savage Land.  Here's a trio of pinups from 1991 featuring the Avengers.

Captain America and Diamondback.  Although it's not signed, I believe this was drawn by Michael Golden!  The other Swimsuit issues often featured Cap in a red white and blue speedo, but this was probably the best one.  If you like that sort of thing...not that there's anything wrong with that.  Diamondback was Cap's gal pal during this period.  I have fond memories of her.  She's featured in all the other swimsuit issues as well.

Thor and Sif relaxing as Loki lurks in the background.  Drawn by Ron Frenz and Joe Sinnott.  Thank goodness that Frezy didn't draw Thor in a speedo.  Hard for me to imagine a Thunder God on the beach in a resort:  Verily, I'd like another Pina Colada.  What would Loki do?  Make it a virgin?

Here is one of the best illustrations in all these swimsuit specials: Scarlet Witch by Mike Mignola.  She's sexy without being voluptuous and Mignola's use of shadows and blacks really makes the magic seem wonderful.  Nuff said.

Strange Saturday: Michael Golden's Doctor Strange Portfolio

I used to collect artist portfolios that were published in the 1970s and 1980s.  These special items contained anywhere from 4-8 plates of special drawings/paintings from the finest comic book artists of the period.  I foolishly traded or sold these items when I needed money for college.  Big mistake!  What I would not give to still have Brent Anderson's Ka-Zar portfolio, Marshall Rogers Batman portfolio, or Will Eisner's Spirit portfolio!

The Michael Golden Doctor Strange portfolio was one of my favorites.  Here was the image on the outside envelope that contained all the plates:

Wow.  The detail on Doc is amazing, but check out how Golden renders the Orb of Agamotto! 

The Eternity plate really captures the mind-bending nature of that all-encompassing entity.

This portfolio appears to have been drawn by Golden in 1982 and published in 1983.  This was during the same period that Golden drew the legendary Doctor Strange #55 in 1982.  I kept hoping that Golden would become the regular artist on Doctor Strange.  We had read rumors of this in various fanzines, but alas, that single issue would be the only one on the regular series.

Nuff said.