Tomb of Dracula #47 (August, 1976)

Posted on by Alan Stewart

Back in March we took a look at Tomb of Dracula #45, which in addition to chronicling the first face-to-face meeting between Blade, the Vampire Slayer, and Hannibal King, the Vampire Detective (and their subsequent decision to team up against their common enemy Deacon Frost) also served as the kickoff for a major new story arc, as our titular star became acquainted with a congregation of Satan worshipers and got the brilliant idea not just to pose as their infernal Dark Lord, but to take one of their number, the lovely and mysterious Domini, in unholy matrimony.  Read More

Howard the Duck #4 (July, 1976)

Posted on by Alan Stewart

Prior to the release of today’s featured comic fifty years ago this month, only three artists had lent their pencils to delineating the adventures of Marvel Comics’ newest superstar, at least officially:  Val Mayerik, who’d drawn the character’s debut appearances in Fear #19 and Man-Thing #1; Frank Brunner, who’d illustrated the two solo strips that subsequently appeared in Giant-Size Man-Thing #4 and #5, as well as issues #1 and #2 of Howard’s self-titled series; and John Buscema, who’d done the same for the third and most recent issue.  Read More

Avengers #149 (July, 1976)

Posted on by Alan Stewart

The issue of Marvel Comics’ Avengers that we’re discussing today is the first ever of the title to have had not only its interiors, but also its cover, pencilled by artist George Pérez (though we should note for the record that John Romita is alleged to have done some touch-ups on the piece, and that the inks were provided by Frank Giacoia).  That seems quite appropriate, given that Avengers #149 also brings to a close the storyline that kicked off with Pérez’s first outing on the title, in issue #141; besides that, it’s a really attractive piece of work (especially if you’re as big a fan of the Mighty Thor as is your humble blogger)… and, of course, the first of many fine George Pérez Avengers cover to follow.  Read More

Omega the Unknown #3 (July, 1976)

Posted on by Alan Stewart

Back in December, we took a look at the first issue of Omega the Unknown — Steve Gerber and Mary Skrenes’ 1975-77 Marvel Comics series that was just as much about a seemingly “normal” 12-year-old boy named James-Michael Starling as it was about the strange visitor from another planet that gave the book its title (if not more so).

This time out, we’ll be looking at the next two installments of the bimonthly title, beginning with issue #2 — which, as you can tell from the Rich Buckler-Al Milgrom cover shown at left, featured a special guest appearance by one of Marvel’s biggest stars, the Incredible Hulk — before proceeding to #3 — which, as you can tell from the Gil Kane-Frank Giacoia cover shown above, featured Omega’s run-in with one of Marvel’s longest-active supervillains, the Spider-Man adversary known as Electro.  Read More

Astonishing Tales #36 (July, 1976)

Posted on by Alan Stewart

Rich Buckler’s cover for this issue of Astonishing Tales is one of the most striking ones he ever did for his “Deathlock the Demolisher” series, featuring a design-forward approach that clearly displays the influence of Jim Steranko (though without being a direct “lift” from any of that artist’s individual works, to the best of my knowledge).  Interestingly, although the cover’s copy announces “a new beginning” for the feature, its imagery comes almost entirely from previous episodes (among other elements, it prominently features two characters — Deathlok’s arch-foe, Major Simon Ryker, and his one-time friend, Mike Travers — who don’t appear in this issue at all).  But perhaps Buckler’s choice to look back is appropriate, as, fifty years ago this month, the 36th issue of Astonishing Tales turned out to be the last one for the title — a fact which, intentionally or not, retrospectively allows its cover to serve as a sort of commemorative piece for the entire “Deathlok” series.  Read More

Doctor Strange #16 (July, 1976)

Posted on by Alan Stewart

Back in January, we looked at Doctor Strange #13 — which, as you’ll remember, ended with our hero witnessing the recreation of a shattered Earth just one issue after having witnessed (and been the sole survivor of) the destruction of that same planet.  His new existential status as the one person in the world who knew that everyone else had been obliterated, and then replaced with perfect duplicates bearing the memories of their original, deceased selves (except for the dying-in-a-cataclysm part), clearly gave the Sorcerer Supreme a good deal to mull over.  Unfortunately, before he had much of a chance to do so, he had to deal with the menace of the Lord of Vampires, Count Dracula, in an adventure that began in Tomb of Dracula #44 and ended in issue #14 of Doc’s own series.

It’s in the immediate aftermath of that adventure that Doctor Strange #15 begins, as we find our regular creative team of writer Steve Englehart and artists Gene Colan and Tom Palmer (the latter two of whom also produced the cover) chronicling the return of a weary Stephen Strange and his manservant and friend, Wong, to their home… a return which is, alas, destined to be interrupted before they arrive at their doorstep…  Read More

Eternals #1 (July, 1976)

Posted on by Alan Stewart

By April, 1976, the return of artist/writer Jack Kirby to Marvel Comics could no longer be considered news.  His first new cover for the publisher (an Avengers illustration fronting Marvel Treasury Edition #7) had appeared the previous July, and his first new full comic book, Captain America #193, three months after that.  Still, we hadn’t seen any brand-new series concepts from Kirby yet — and, given that he had been the House of Ideas’ preeminent idea man for roughly the first decade of “the Marvel Age of Comics” (i.e., 1961-70), longtime Marvelites were eager to see what would next emerge from the protean imagination of “King” Kirby — as, of course, were virtually all the creator’s many fans, regardless of their preference for one comics publisher or another.  Read More

Warlock #13 (June, 1976)

Posted on by Alan Stewart

Back in November, we looked at Warlock #11, in which artist-writer Jim Starlin wrapped up the “Magus” storyline he’d originally initiated with his first episode of Adam Warlock’s revived feature, one full year earlier.  It was a conclusion that, among other things, had given us a glimpse of Adam’s future death by cosmic suicide, as well as setting up a future conflict between our hero and his unlikely ally against the Magus, i.e., Thanos the Mad Titan.  As we asked at that time, what was the auteur going to do for an encore?  Read More

Avengers #148 (June, 1976)

Posted on by Alan Stewart

Last month we took a look at Avengers #147, the cover of which we noted found its penciller, Rich Buckler, operating in “full Kirby mode”.  By contrast, the cover of today’s fifty-year-old comic happens to have been pencilled by Jack Kirby himself… and may I just say, ain’t nothin’ like the real King, baby.  (For the record, Mike Esposito inked this piece.)  Read More

Defenders #36 (June, 1976)

Posted on by Alan Stewart

As regular readers of this blog will be aware, we haven’t had a post about Marvel Comics’ Defenders title since we covered issue #34 back in January — which means that our continuing coverage of writer Steve Gerber and artist Sal Buscema’s “Headmen/Nebulon Saga” must resume here not with the issue whose number and cover are shown directly above, but with the one whose cover you see pictured at left.  And that Gil Kane-Mike Esposito number fronting Defenders #35 (May, 1976) is a doozy, isn’t it?  If you’ve never read this comic before, I can’t wait for you to find out who that utterly bizarre unicorn-horned, bird-claw-footed, tentacle-armed monstrosity fighting the Valkyrie really is.  Why, I bet you’ll be just as surprised as Chondu the Mystic was!  (Wait, did I just give the whole thing away?  Damn.)  Read More