Frank Giacoia

Captain America #197 (May, 1976)

Posted on by Alan Stewart

Last October, at the end of our post concerning Captain America #193 (Jan., 1976) — a comic which, you’ll remember, featured the return of artist/writer/editor Jack “King” Kirby to the star-spangled hero he’d co-created with Joe Simon back in 1940 — your humble blogger invited you all to return in May, 2026 to see how the eight-issue, Bicentennial-themed storyline that had kicked off therein would turn out.  Four months later, however, I’ve come to the realization that trying to cover seven chapters’ worth of Kirby’s epic in a single go would likely result in a post of such length as to try the patience of even the most indulgent followers of this blog — and so, I’ve decided to break up the remainder of our “Madbomb” coverage into two posts, the first of which is presented here.  (Of course, given that this piece is still aiming to hit the high points of four individual comics, it’s still likely to be a pretty long read… though not quite as much of an imposition on your time as our originally planned Captain America #200 mega-post would have been, so at least there’s that.)  Read More

Astonishing Tales #34 (March, 1976)

Posted on by Alan Stewart

As regular readers of this blog might recall, we ended our October post about Astonishing Tales #33 with the observation that with that issue, Marvel Comics seemed to have finally found a solid creative team for “Deathlok the Demolisher”, with the feature’s primary creator, plotter, and artist Rich Buckler now supported by Bill Mantlo as scripter and Klaus Janson as inker and colorist.  Meanwhile, Buckler’s frequently meandering plotline seemed to have found some new forward momentum as well.  Was it possible that this series — which, to be sure, had still generally been entertaining in (mostly) bi-monthly doses, where one might simply enjoy the gritty atmosphere and violent action without being overly concerned with the incoherence of the overall story arc — was finally on the verge of realizing its considerable potential?  Read More

Avengers #144 (February, 1976)

Posted on by Alan Stewart

As regular readers of this blog may have noticed, I tend not to talk very much about the covers of the half-century-old comics we discuss here; unless they’re really strikingly good, my tendency is simply to note who drew them — to the extent that that’s known, anyway — and then move on.  (And just this week, in writing about Defenders #32, I forgot to do even that much; my thanks to reader Ben Herman for stepping into the breach.)  But I’m going to make an exception this time, simply to express my disappointment with this particular job by Gil Kane and Frank Giacoia.  While there are aspects of the composition that work well, the central figure of Hellcat — a significant new character (OK, technically a new combination of two pre-existing characters) whom readers are seeing here for the very first time — is almost painfully awkward, at least to my eyes.  Kane was a great talent, but among the very many (probably too many) covers he cranked out for Marvel in the 1970s, it stands to reason that there’d be at least a few clunkers; and for me, this is one of them.  (Naturally, your mileage may vary.)  Read More

Doctor Strange #12 (February, 1976)

Posted on by Alan Stewart

Four months ago, we took a look at Doctor Strange #10, which presented the first chapter in writer Steve Englehart and artist Gene Colan’s latest (as of July, 1975) four-part saga of the Sorcerer Supreme — this one involving our hero’s attempt to prevent the awesome cosmic entity Eternity from destroying the Earth.  Naturally, that story had continued in the next bi-monthly issue of the series; but since we didn’t manage to fit a full post about Doctor Strange #11 into our September blogging schedule, we’ll need to cover its main events before moving on to the specific comic whose name and cover you see at the top of this post.  If you’re a regular reader, you already know how this goes… and if you’re not, I’m sure you’ll figure it out as we roll along.  Read More

Avengers #143 (January, 1976)

Posted on by Alan Stewart

The cover of this issue, pencilled by Gil Kane and inked by Frank Giacoia (and maybe Mike Esposito), might fairly be called a bit misleading.  Sure, the Avengers fight a big scaly monster inside, but not these Avengers — Captain America, Iron Man, the Beast, the Vision, and the Scarlet Witch — who, setting aside the whole monster business, show up for only two of the story’s nineteen pages, besides.  On the other hand, the promises made by the cover’s blurbs are right on the money: these five Avengers do indeed “break loose” from the confinement we saw them trapped in back in Avengers #142; plus, this issue also features “the final battle against the power of Kang!” — or, at least, a final battle, since, then as now, nothing lasts forever in Marvel superhero comics.  Read More

Defenders #31 (January, 1976)

Posted on by Alan Stewart

Back in Defenders #21 (Mar., 1975), which was published ten months prior to the comic book we’ll be discussing today, writer Steve Gerber had introduced Marvel Comics readers to a new alliance of would-be world-conquering villains called the Headmen — or, if you prefer, reintroduced them, as all three of these bad guys — Dr. Nagan, Jerry Morgan, and Chondu the Mystic — had been plucked from a trio of one-off, completely unrelated comic book stories of the late 1950’s and early ’60s (recently, and randomly, reprinted together in Weird Wonder Tales #7 [Dec., 1974]), before being set to collectively become a major new adversary for Marvel’s premier non-team.  Read More

Captain America #193 (January, 1976)

Posted on by Alan Stewart

In July, 1975, Marvel Comics readers who turned to the Bullpen Bulletins page running in that month’s books were greeted by the following banner headline:

Assuming you weren’t a Marvelite of especially recent vintage, “‘Nuff said!” was pretty much on the money, at least in regards to the identity of “The King”.  In the context of Marvel comics — and maybe of American comics, period — there was only one person that phrase could possibly be referring to.  Still, if any confirmation was needed, it was immediately forthcoming via the latest edition of publisher Stan Lee’s monthly column:  Read More

All-Star Comics #58 (Jan.-Feb., 1976)

Posted on by Alan Stewart

In October, 1975 — just a little less than a quarter-century since their last headlining appearance in All-Star Comics #57 (Feb.-Mar., 1951), and about half that time since their revival in Flash #137 (Jun., 1963) — the Justice Society of America finally returned to newsstands in their own book.  The premiere superhero team, not just of DC Comics but of all comics, was at last back in full force, ready to reclaim its former glory.

And it had Marvel Comics to thank for the opportunity.  Read More

Avengers #142 (December, 1975)

Posted on by Alan Stewart

Last month we took a look at Avengers #141, which, as regular readers of this blog will remember, ended with three time-travelers — the founding Avenger named Thor, the would-be Avenger known as Moondragon, and their temporary ally, Immortus — touching down in the American West of 1873, just in time to be startled by someone coming up behind them… a someone, or someones, whom our travelers could see, but whose identities remained unknown to us readers…

…at least until the cover of the next issue — the subject of today’s post — where the illustration by Gil Kane and Frank Giacoia (with a likely assist from John Romita) rather gives the game away ahead of the book’s opening splash page…  Read More