TOP 10 # 4 - Prince vs Prince! SUBBY # 59 !

What can I say about this one. It has two of my favorite Marvel heroes going toe to toe blow for blow!

I was in second grade when I came across this comic book. A friend had it in class one day and I had to have it. I made believe I had no interest in it and I befriended the kid. just so I can see what other comic book goodies he had. I went to his house to play catch and we'd throw the foot ball around and then his Mother made us some lunch and then we played with our MEGO action figures on his swing set and then I'd go home. I kept this up for a couple of months all the while coveting his comic book.

THEN one day I went to his house and I had some baseball cards with me. I did not like nor did I collect baseball cards how I wound up with the cards I don't remember but in my little stack of about 40 cards wrapped up with a rubber band was a TOM SEAVER, NY METS card

and he wanted it. He needed it and he begged and pleaded and wanted to trade anything for it.

So I made a deal with him. I gave him all the cards for all his comics. In that pile was the much sought after and coveted SUB MARINER number 59! There were also a bunch of other great comics too. Legion , Spidey , Cap , Sgt Fury , Avengers , Bat man and so on. I definately got the better bargain in the trade in my opinion.

The kids name was Jimmy and he moved to Florida soon after. But not before managing to get that comic book! It was a great story too!

Cover by Bill Everett...I do believe it's a Gene Colon and Bill Everett. Not really sure of the penciller...but those inks...That's WILD BILL!

TOP 10 - # 5 ....SGT. ROCK - 1976

In my early days as a comic book collector I used to look at the art intently mesmerised by the use of pen and ink. When I found WAR comics and SGT ROCK it added a new element to comic books I'd never seen before.

It was about a year and a half after we'd moved from Roosevelt NY to Bayshore. I had not yet ventured out on my bike to go find comic books! ONE day I had developed the nerve. I headed up to a little strip mall that had an ASSOCIATED super market.

I remembered those beatings I had gotten from the neighborhood kids when I lived in Roosevelt and I was cautious as I headed off to the store with my allowance. I was in a new town and I made it to the store without any altercations. I went in. BEHOLD!!! A spinner rack loaded with comics....WOW...this selection was better than the candy store back in Roosevelt.

So I spun the rack...hmm...what to buy? What's this? SGT ROCK!!! RED WHITE AND BLUE!!! ARMY COMICS!!! I discovered a new brand of comic. This comic book represents my independance and it also represents a time in my life where things were new....free from oppression...free from bullies and FREE to go where I want when I want and not worry about getting trounced. It was a simple time of life for me. This cover was drawn by the master .... JOE KUBERT!

TOP 10 Favorite covers # 6 THE BAT-WITCH

This particular comic book I got from that very same flea market that I mention in the prior post. My Dad bought this for me for a buck! I love the whole idea that Supes sets Bat's up because he's jealous of a girl! That's too funny.

Then there is the scene where they run into an old ancestor of Bruce's. Then somebody asked them why they're dressed up in those outfits and they cleverly make up that they're actors and the " S " stands for Shakespeare. Corny but clever writing...that's why I love comics!

This here cover I believe is a NEAL ADAMS.

If I am wrong and anyone knows for sure and can confirm please tell me. It would be greatly appreciated.

Cover by NEAL ADAMS.

MY TOP 10 number 7 - " Special Marvel edition # 3 "

Actually a reprinting of the cover of "Journey into Mystery # 123 "

I am not really sure if it's a redrawn cover or if it's been cut and pasted but you can see the differences in the art...the floating heads are now framed in circles and the stones in the foreground have shifted a bit...the cape has been drawn very differently and THOR'S mighty right foot isn't covered by rubble but JACK KIRBY really smashed this one out of the park.

This is one of the first comic books I remember buying from the old BAY SHORE flea market.

It used to be an old GRUMMAN production hangar but when grumman sold off the buildings a roller rink made it's home in one bldg and across the highway the FLEA MARKET was a staple in BAY SHORE....until they tore it down and put up a strip mall. On that site now you'll find BEST BUY , TOY'S R US and a HOME DEPOT and a bunch of other irrelevant and superfluos stores that deserve no honorable mention.

I remember going in there and looking for old THOR and TARZAN comics and I would ask the guy...do you have any more JOE KUBERT or JACK KIRBY comics? I was 10 but I think the guy hated me because he was never very helpful. He was probably thinking..." What the heck does this brat know about JACK KIRBY? "

KIRBY was the KING..the Babe Ruth of COMIC BOOKS...MARVEL is the HOUSE that JACK KIRBY built.

Cover by...JACK KIRBY!

Number 8 - an ICONIC image

This cover by Neal Adams personifies Superman in so many ways I don't even need to explain.  Neal Adams came in to the comic book industry and took the world by storm.  His contributions to the field and to the artists and his colleagues alike go without saying.  This cover I am proud to repeat is by Neal Adams!

MY TOP 10 favorite covers number 9

This one makes my top 10 because this cover creates curiosity.  " Why is Superman so mad "  I remember seeing this on the rack and seeing Supes take up half the cover always struck me as cool.  Smashing the world between his mighty fisks of steel...it's just cool.  This cover is a Swanderson..Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson

TOP 10 favorite covers - Number TEN!

It's time...I have the very tough task of picking out my 10 top favorite covers of all time.  It's a tough call as I am easily pleased and love so very many pieces of art on the covers of  hundreds perhaps thousands of  comic books. 
  Right here coming in @ number 10 is Amazing Spider-man # 138..the reason?  ZOMBIES!!!  Spidey is overcome by a group of mind controlled college age zombies.  The creepiest villain I've ever seen the Mind worm can control people through his telekinetic powers...dozens all at one time.  A very impressive super power.  The hardest part about this is Spidey can't hurt them as they are innocent and under mind control but they're trying to rip him apart and kill him.  Great story....love it on so many levels.
Cover by Gil Kane and John Romita.

Whaling Michael Whalen Kull and the barbarians

There are 3 great reasons to like this cover !  RED SONJA , KULL and SOLOMON KANE!!!  All on one cover?  WOW!!!  Michael Whalen really put together a nice composition here involving 3 of Robert E. Howard's greatest creations on 1 cover.
cover by Michael Whalen.

KULL # 2

I was hooked.  The story was an amazing Howard adaptation with art by John Severin..Kaa naa maa lajerama!!!  Look at KULL throwing those evil snake bastards around like so much rag dolls!!!

cover by JOHN SEVERIN

SKULL the SLAYER # 1

Part John Carter and part Ka-zar SKULL the slayer was everything you'd want from an action adventure comic book. A brawny hero stronger than anyone and DINOSAURS..this cover is a KANE and CHAN!

FANTASTICAL!

NEAL "AWESOME" ADAMS

This cover might be one of my all time favorites being it's got CONAN and KA-ZAR w/ZABU.  Savage tales was one of the better Marvel b/w mags of the day.  With the great artists that regularly worked on the mag it stood out among the other mags on the racks @ the time.  Warren was still pumping out stuff on a regular basis and Marvel joined in and offered up stiff competition in the "MIGHTY MARVEL MANNER"
Cover by Neal Adams

RAWHIDE!!!!!

I had this comic as a kid...I loved western movies and the idea of western comics was not lost on me. I loved TWO GUN - KID COLT - RAWHIDE - LONE RANGER - BILLY - RINGO...I can keep on going. This particular Rawhide Kid cover sparked my imagination and made me think back to all of those fight scenes in the movies where the Hero fights the bad guy Indian who would not give up and they had to have a knife fight in a river and the Hero triumphed as his defeated opponent bobbed unmoving in the water.

This cover I do believe was drawn by Larry Lieber....Stan the Man's Brother.

included in the post is my recreation of the piece....indeed one of my favorite covers.