Superman and John Byrne.

Every one remembers the great cover to FF 249 right? Well a popular thing with John Byrne has always been to use the same composition but in a different locale. He did a reinterpretation of FF 249 on the cover of SUPERMAN number 8 only the trounced FF were now replaced by the trounced LEGION and GLADIATOR was now replaced by Superman. BUT!!! I guess he did it for posterity or perhaps as a commission he did another reinterpretation of the famous cover only this time with SUPE'S trouncing the FF. John Byrne does beautiful work and I really loved that whole FF storyline. I also really loved BYRNES run on SUPERMAN! Making for some of my favorite comics and my favorite covers!!!

Evel Knievel # 1

This comic book came with the toy. You had to buy the whole stunt cycle set in order to get the comic. Whenever I got the set there was no comic..DAMN! But I always managed to somehow get what I wanted. A friend of mine in Elementary/Grammar school gave me his. He was not as big into comics as I nor was he as big an Evel fan...nor a big fan of Action figures. So I benefitted by his giving me the comic book. I loved that book and read it until it fell apart. Oh sure over the years I got another one and in fact buy more if I run across them. They are usually pretty cheap...5 bucks 10 bucks nothing too bad.

I also loved the ads on the back of the regular comic books available at newstands. There were about 6 in all but...these two seen here along with the comic book are my favorites

E-man by the great Joe Staton

Art by Nicola Cuti and Joe Staton.

Clip from the KILLJOY back up in E-Man #2 by Steve Ditko

I found this one day on the rack at that little card store I mention a few times here on the blog. Brought it home and read it several times through. I must have been 7 or 8 but I was compelled. It was a first issue and it said collectors item on it. I made sure to hunt out and search out the following issues. The second issue was awesome too it had a little story in the back by Steve Ditko about a character named KILLJOY. He was a little DAREDEVIL and a Little SPIDERMAN but it certainly was all DITKO baby! Those are some great CHARLTON memories...with many more in the works.

Ghostly tales...

I had this one as a kid...like to try and find it again. The scuba diver and the underwater atmosphere combined with the element of the ghost. It used to creep me out as a kid but I could not stop looking at it.

Timothy Truman's " SCOUT "

Somewhere in the editorial section of these comics put out by Eclipse comics throughout the Mid 80's there was mention of the Joe Kubert school..that's what got me going and made me decide Comic art is what I wanted to persue as a career. Now while that did not work out...along with a bazillion other things in my life...I still love comics and I still love LIFE!

#19 contained a little 45 record by Tim's band and I believe the song was called RATTLESNAKE SHAKE...if I remember correctly. Great stuff Tim is a great artist on two different fronts Music and comics. As Indie comics go...these were the best in the HISTORY of Indie comics.

My Favorite SWAMP THING covers

Batmans appearance in tis issue Solidified Swampy's rep in DC comics..the story was a great one with the dog and the overcoat and the suspense. Just a great story. The cover below for number 9 casts an iconic image as SWAMPS rises from the muck and mire ready to battle evil!

These stories drawn by Tom Yeates where Swampers meets up with Vampires and angry town folk brings us back to the days of yore when Frankenstein was chased by villagers carrying pitch forks and torches. I never missed an issue.
I love this one where he's fighting off a horde of Vampires.

This issue below was one of those comics I got from my folks when I was in the Hospital and I was astounded by Nestor Redondo's art here. I loved how he drew the big Moss man...so powerful and lumpy...
The color scheme really captured my attention...I always loved blue covers...they're Bluetiful.

You really can't go wrong when ya add a big dino to the mix. In the cover below Swamp Thing gets walloped by THRUDVANG and even further down you can't even take a bath these days without some big Gator trying to eat you.

Bernie Wrightson really freaking knows his stuff man...this cover is CREEEEE...PEEEE!

AND YOU KNOW AS WELL AS I DO..just the idea of mindless robot dogs that just want to shred you alive is a scary thought.

Tom Yeates really has a unique style...he can do beautiful , exciting , suspenseful and tragic all in one amazing drawing. I also love the way he draws ladies. Check out this babe in the yellow.

The Swamp Thing...possibly one of the greatest comic book creations ever. One of the most under rated and one of the characters that has had great success as well. When Bernie Wrightson first drew the character and did the art for the series first volumes he literally blew the roof off the comics industry. His run is one of the classics and is timeless indeed. As time went on Nestor Redondo took over the series and some of my favorite stories were produced during that time and the art to say the least was fantastic. THEN..DC renewed the character and brought him back with EERIE and Macabre stories drawn by Tom Yeates whose work reflected that of Wrightson's. ( Gonna do SWAMPY you gotta have the right guy. ) But...the character evolved still.

John Tottleban and his run raised the stakes on big green and mossie through the stratosphere and once again returned him to an even CREEPIER and more SUPERNATURAL level. These covers do not represent ALL my favorite SWAMP THING covers....because he's one of my favorites. These are more like hilights.

Will Eisner's THE SPIRIT...

One can talk about Will Eisner's work for hours. Not a lot that is bad can be said about the man as he is a masterful story teller and the art of continuity has been broken down into a science by the man. He has done several stories where there are absolutely no word balloons or captions or even eminata sound effects at all. Here in the examples below are images of issues that I have in my collection. These images are not my scans as I lifted them from the web and off ebay. But I do own these comics. I have the entire WARREN magazine run and the two HARVEY THRILLERS issues and I have several KITCHEN SINK issues and all the archives to date put out by DC comics reprinting so far anything WILL EISNER ever published. I can go on and on about how great he is for days. I can even talk about my favorite stories too. But I want you to see MY FAVORITE SPIRIT COVERS. feel free to peruse and comments are welcome.

UNCLE SAM , Super guy.

I never had this issue but I do have a poster of this cover safely stowed away for posterity. :) I don't have either of these issues either...but I love the cover on # 16...one day , one day.

I used to collect Crossgen comics and have almost the entire library and this WEIRD homage to Flaggs famous wartime poster...is intriguing. EERIE...but intriguing.

OK...I have this one...

and this one.....

This is the one I mentioned in the text posted below. Yes I have this one.

DC comics presents was a great series. They should bring it back.

This is the cover for an old magazine from the 1940's..the title speaks for itself. It is probably the reason they always had UNCLE SAM rolling up his sleeves ready to kick some major ass.

" When I was a wee bit younger I came across an issue of the Justice League of America and saw on the cover the JLA facing off against a bunch of Unknown heroes to me at the time and I was..enthralled. I soon discovered that UNCLE SAM was a comic book character as well as the actual official Macot of the USA. So I became more familiar with him and found that DC was publishing comic books in the 1970's ( The Freedom Fighters ) I have the JLA's and the FF's but the other ones....I searched the web for some of my favorite images of Ol' Sam. I hope you enjoy them."

Superman's girlfriend....Wonder Woman!!!

I'm thinking that this cover was drawn by Dick Dillin and inked by Vince Colletta....if I'm wrong please tell me and I will give proper credit. :)

Yep...I like's my Lois Lane comics yes I do....I was like 7 or 8 when I got this one. From the Luncheonette across the Highway from where I lived in Roosevelt. " Moe's " Now...I was not supposed to cross the highway but...ut was a Sunday afternoon and there were absolutely no cars...so I ran across really quickly. I got inside and I began to peruse the wall of comics they had. I saw all sorts of cool comics that I would have rather had...but having only 25 cents I had to make a decision. So I picked Lois Lane...it had Supes on the cover and a race car. lol

BUT...after a while I began to examine the art very closely and suddenly Wonder Woman was my main focus. The turn of her hip and the shape of her legs. Yeah...I know it's a drawing but I was 7 so that is the closest I had to a girlie mag. BUT I had no idea at the time why I was attracted. Now it all makes sense. This is one of my favorite covers.

EERIE!!! DAX the Damned

Not only is this one of my favorite covers but it's also one of my favorite posters. There were several EERIE repro posters put out about 25 years ago and I managed to get this particular poster. Being that I love all things BARBARIAN!! I saw it at a place in HUNTINGTON NY called "JUST KIDS NOSTALGIA" maybe 16 years ago. The artwork is by the brilliant SANJULIAN.

My favorite LONE RANGER covers

# 24

# 95

When I was about 11 my Dad took me out for a hair-cut at a flea market. This place was an old Department store in West Islip NY. It was called HAMPTONS. It was right next to KORVETTES later on that place also went under and then that place became KEY LARGO a night club that had country line dancing and live country music acts like Kenny Rogers and Willie Nelson. Then that place became CHEVY'S Bel-air cafe..a dance club that was a highly successful meat market. Like if you ever were in the mood to get laid you can go there and hump my ex-fiance...that sssslut. Anyway....When it was still an indoor Flea market My Dad took me for a hair cut there. Some dude set up a little closed in and very claustrophobic barber shop all the way in the back left rear corner of the Place. That's where I got my HULK poster I mention in an earlier post. As I told you all once before most of the comics here on this blog are moments in time frozen in my mind forever. The Gold Key reprint marked as the LONE RANGER # 24 was in the barber shop among all the magazines. I was captivated by the painted cover and would just stare at it for long periods of time. The hot air balloon the situational action occuring it was certainly a great way to spark a kids imagination. It was a while before I had ever come across another LONE RANGER book and number 95 was it. I love the way this fella painted the Ranger....he looks like Robert Culp ( rest in peace Bob ) I found # 95 at a little comic shop in Deer Park NY called the World of Fantasy ( No it was no a porn store ) They sold comics. It was more than likely my very first 10 cent book added into my collection ever. I still have these comics....and I love them. These two comics are my favorite LONE RANGER comic covers.

If anyone can clue me in to who the artists are I sure would appreciate it.

My favorite HE-MAN covers!!

George Tuska and Dick Giordano

George Tuska and Klaus Janson

Earl Norem

Artist Unknown

Here is a few pieces of work from the great George Tuska for the MASTERS of the UNIVERSE mini series put out by DC comics in the early 1980's....there was another issue that went with these 2 shown...but it's not my favorite. But I do have all these comics.

Then I had to put up the IMAGE comics MASTERS issue 1 along with a shot of the double page spread by EARL NOREM....then for good measure I stuck in a 1980's tv advert for the cartoon. That's the only one on the web I could find so it has that movie poster blurb across it.

Kinda gets in the way...just sharing with those that never saw it before. I remember seeing it before...just not certain where.