Dr Strange- Marker Illo by *chriss2d on deviantART

After searching for new Doctor Strange illustrations, I finally hit paydirt after stumbling upon Chris Stevens’ gallery on deviantArt.  Chris is a wonderful artist who has done many Marvel and DC commissions.  I love his art style and the way he creates these pieces with markers is just unworldly!

This is how Doc Strange kicks back on a Sunday—reading a mystical tome and practicing incantations.  Nuff said.

Esad Ribic was the artist on Silver Surfer Requiem a few years ago, and he has also worked on a number of other Marvel mini-series (Loki, etc).  I’ve always admired his art—but I think I like these paintings even more than the Requiem series.  The Silver Surfer flying upside down—out of Earth’s atmosphere into the stars—is an awesome concept.

Now I have to admit—I was a bit fooled by the second picture.  I thought it was a separate painting, but now I realize it’s just the first painting flipped vertically.  Perhaps the colors are tweaked and the bottom is cropped.  Nuff said.

Jim Starlin did a lot of work during the first year of Rampaging Hulk magazine, featuring work with Alex Nino and with Steve Gerber's Man-Thing.  He also painted a couple of covers which are really cool.

Rampaging Hulk #5 features the Hulk's on-again off-again ally, the Sub-Mariner, who never looked more regal than in this depiction by Starlin.  Ya gotta love the nasty expression on the Hulk's face as he looks upon Namor.  Unfortunately, Starlin did not draw the story inside.

Bonus:  here's a Marvel advertisement for this issue that appeared in other black and white magazines!

Starlin's third Hulk cover painting appeared on issue #7.  I like it the least of the three, perhaps because the Hulk isn't facing the viewer as in the other covers.  Nuff said.

While I've taken shots at some issues of Rampaging Hulk magazine, if there is any one issue that you must have in your collection--surely it is issue #4.

This beautiful cover painting by Jim Starlin is your first indication that it is very special.  The Hulk, held captive on a mystical cross, while a skeleton head spews magic in the foreground.  Starlin not only did the cover, but plotted and penciled the lead story inside.  Was it inked by Al Milgrom?  Steve Leialoha?  I say thee nay, true believers!

Alex Nino was the inker for this story.  I never would have thought that Nino's inks over Starlin would work, but the combination of the two was wonderful.  You can tell that the poses and faces are essentially Starlin, but the details and the world belong to Nino.  Look at this opening splash page.  That Hulk is unmistakably a Starlin Hulk through a Nino prism.  It's like...Starlin on acid.  As if he wasn't already cosmically aware!

In the story, a wizard named Chen K'an transports the Hulk to his world, which has been overrun by demon hordes.  He needs the Hulk attain a mystical object of power called the Star of Catalax, but he finds the "Hulk smash" persona quite irritating.  Chen K'an attempts to merge this personality along with Banner's, and winds up with a wise guy "Mr. Big" Grey Hulk persona.  Years before the Peter David arc in Las Vegas, it's great fun as you see this Hulk battle demon hordes.

Starlin's layouts provided the perfect avenue for Nino to showcase his style.  Take a look at this double page spread where the Hulk and Chen K'an fight the second wave of demons.

As far as I recall, this was Alex Nino's only collaboration with a notable Marvel artist?  Check out Man-Gods From Beyond the Stars if you want more Nino.  Nuff said.

We haven't had a Monster Monday in a long while here at Giant-Size Marvel, which is a tragedy, since most Mondays are truly horrific.

This black and white pinup by Jim Starlin and Ernie Chan appeared on the inside front cover of Rampaging Hulk #7.  Last week, I took Marvel to task for having Alfredo Alcala destroy Walter Simonson's work in this same magazine.  In this particular case, having a radically different inker works quite well.  That's because Chan keeps all the Starlin elements intact (the facial expressions, the poses) intact while adding his own style.  Chan did the same while inking John Buscema on Conan.

And what the heck--isn't it cool just to see Man-Thing and the Hulk chillin' in the Florida swamp?  It beats trying to knock the snot out of each other--like they did in this Berni Wrightson cover.

Rampaging Hulk #7 (1978) also featured a brand new Man-Thing story by Steve Gerber and Jim Starlin.  This was the first full length story since the Man-Thing series terminated in issue #22 (1975).  The story is classic Gerber insanity, featuring women going wild in swamp, and Man-Thing fusing their hands together when the moment of fear arrives.

Jim Starlin's artwork, inked by Bob Wiacek, looked really nice in this black and white story.  You have to appreciate the final panel where Manny slowly sinks down into the swamp.  Was this the last Man-Thing story that Gerber ever wrote?  I think so.  Nuff said.

My big plan to do a weekly review column was too ambitious.  I haven’t reviewed a modern comic since July!  The problem is that I switched to a monthly discount comic book service.  Out of the stack that I just received, here’s what I liked the best.

Captain America Reborn #3 continues to amaze with Steve Rogers becoming unstuck in time while his friends and enemies try to fish his body out of the time pool.  I won’t reprint the amazing wraparound Hitch cover that you’ve all seen—but I think this alternate John Cassaday cover featuring his take on the Invaders is pretty nifty.

The Slaughterhouse Five device allows Bryan Hitch to revisit classic Marvel moments, such as the one above where Namor accidentally releases Captain America from his icy entombment.  This scene was originally presented in the classic Avengers #4 by Jack Kirby in a few panels.  Hitch opens this scene up in breathtaking cinemascope, as you can see in the above double page splash.  Ed Brubaker described his experience working with Hitch on Word Balloon (Part 2 The Brubaker Testimony Sept 2009).  Sequences such as these were supposed to last a page or two, and Hitch opened them up and added even more to the action.

The best thing about getting a monthly package is reading four issues of Amazing Spider-Man in one sitting, including ASM # 606-607, which features the return of the Black Cat.  This story by Joe Kelly is pure fun, with great execution by artist Mike McKone. One of the great things about the new Brand New Day era is seeing Peter Parker’s romantic entanglements.  Peter’s made a faux pas after sleeping with his roommate Michele, and in this story, spends the night with the Black Cat.  As a result of Mephisto’s gift (yeah I don’t call it a curse, you One New Day whiners)—Black Cat has no memory of Peter’s identity.  Since she’s more enamored with his costumed persona, they make love in the dark.  We’ll see if she made good on her promise not to look at his face while they were asleep.

Dark Reign The List Daredevil has really proved that I have to continue buying this comic now that Andy Diggle has taken over.  The idea of Matt Murdock leading the Hand is just too irresistible.  Diggle has placed him against both the Kingpin and Norman Osborne, with Bullseye and Lady Bullseye also in the mix as well.  The final splash page by Billy Tan, showing Daredevil leading the Hand (now with new hornhead-inspired ninja costumes) promises great things to come.

Not to mention this lineup of Liltin' Landmarks: 

Ghost Riders Heavens on Fire #2:  I’ve loved Jason Aaron’s Ghost Rider since he took over the series.  Any comic that features the Son of Satan (Daimon Hellstrom) teaming up with Johnny Blaze is great in my eyes.  They’ve restored a lot of Hellstrom’s classic elements—the inverted Satan symbol on his chest, his trident pitchfork, and even his hellish chariot made an appearance in the first issue.  The only thing I don’t like is that Hellstrom looks Anton LaVey (Aaron’s idea) now.  I had no idea how Johnny Blaze was going to get to heaven, but we learn how by the end of this issue: Danny Ketch has sold his soul to the Devil.  Yikes, now I gotta wait a month to see what happens.

Spider-Woman #1:  I honestly wasn’t sure Alex Maleev was the right artist for this series.  Hoo boy, was I wrong, Maleev’s art is superb.  He does the inking and coloring as well.  I have to say that Maleev’s work has never been better as a result, as you can see in the above panel, with Jessica Drew in Madripoor.  Bendis’ story is wonderfully I-Spy in the Marvel Universe, as Agent Brand from SWORD recruits Jessica to hunt down all kinds of nasty aliens lurking in the dark corners of the world.  Bendis is also interviewed on a recent Word Balloon (Part 2 The Bendis Tapes Fall Edition 2009) where he says that Maleev should always color his own work—I wholeheartedly agree!  Nuff said.

Walter Simonson hooked me as a fan for life after I read Manhunter in those terrific super-giant 100 page Detective Comics back in the 1970s.  I followed him wherever he went afterwards.  He did a Doctor Fate special, a few issues of a Metal Men revival, and later some Star Wars stories at Marvel.

I was primed for Simonson to draw a major Marvel character.  Finally in 1977, I saw this ad for a new black and white magazine titled The Rampaging Hulk.  Simonson drew this fantastic pinup featuring the Hulk in action.  It was just plain cool.  The Hulk’s face really looks monstrous, a throwback to his early days, instead of the friendly jade jawed giant that was appearing in other Marvel titles.  I love Simonson’s lines that add shadow and depth to his drawings, and I really relished the opportunity to see a full Simonson story printed in black and white.

I dared to hope that Simonson would draw the Rampaging Hulk’s lead feature.  And indeed, he would, but when I bought the first issue and flipped to the splash page, it looked like this.

It is Simonson…inked by Alfredo Alcala.  I couldn’t fathom why the editor of this magazine (John Warner) picked Alcala as the inker.  If I had been the editor, I would have tried to snap up Terry Austin or Bob Wiacek for the job.  Had they not been available, I could think of a half dozen other inkers.  Alcala’s ink washes totally dominated Simonson’s work on this series—pretty much eradicating the artist’s original style.  You can still see elements of Simonson underneath: The Hulk’s flat Frankenstein style head, the pose of his body coming at the reader, and the spaceships flying in formation in the background.

I’ve never been a big Alcala fan anyway.  I always cringed whenever he worked on Tales of the Zombie and other Marvel magazines.

I remember thinking this was all a mistake made to meet a rushed deadline, and that by issue 2, Marvel would find a better inker.  Nope, there was Alcala in the second issue and the third one as well.  Simonson moved on after issue 3 and Keith Pollard took over.

To be fair, we can’t know how tight Simonson’s original pencils were to begin with.  I think I recall reading somewhere that he drew layouts. I will always look back at this as a tragically missed opportunity.  Nuff said.

The highlight for the entire run of Marvel's Planet of the Apes magazine was the spectacular series, Terror on the Planet of the Apes.  Written by Doug Moench (from an initial idea by Gerry Conway) and drawn by one of my favorite artists, Mike Ploog, it was as close to a sequel to the final movie (Battle) that I would ever get.

You can place Terror a generation after the events in Battle for the Planet of the Apes.  Apes and Humans are living somewhat peacefully together, with racial tensions always simmering beneath the surface.  The Lawgiver keeps them together through his sermons and wisdom.  Jason (a human) and Alex (a chimpanzee) are best friends. 

When the Lawgiver decides to take a vacation in the Forbidden Zone, the Gorilla general Brutus throws their lives, as well as Ape City, into turmoil.  He has a band of masked Gorillas (somewhat like the Ku Klux Klan) who terrorize humans.  They beat up Alex's father (for being a human sympathizer) and murder Jason's family.  Jason swears revenge, but Alex isn't so sure.

By the end of the first chapter, Alex is convinced of Brutus' conspiracy.  He helps Jason escape prison and the two are on the run for their lives.  Brutus has convinced people that Jason has murdered his wife.  Just like the TV show the Fugitive, the pair would spend the next year on the run throughout the wild world of the Apes.

In the Forbidden Zone, Jason and Alex rescue the Lawgiver, with Brutus' army right behind them.  The mutants in the Forbidden Zone are led by a trio of giant brains encased in glass spheres--a great gag that I've seen repeated in many other stories.

Mike Ploog was the perfect artist to draw this series.  He excelled at drawing fantasy adventures and he was great at drawing the facial expressions on the Apes.  But I think the sheer amount of detail and the publishing schedule got to him after a while.  Ploog's artwork was reproduced in full pencils without any inks in issues 4, 6, and 8.  Terror began skipping issues as well, and it was a crapshoot as to whether the serial would be appear each month.  Terror appeared in POTA 1-4, 6, 8, 11, 13, 14, 19, 20, 23, 26, 27, 28. 

Ploog's last chapter would appear in issue 19, where he was inked by Tom Sutton.  After that, Sutton did a few chapters, and Herb Trimpe drew the remaining ones.

Even though the reproduction was not as advanced as today--I thought Ploog's pencil art was amazing.  Perhaps because I had never seen comic art before it was inked!  But take a look at the quiet scene of this boat on a lake.  The reflection in the water, the detail on the jungle surrounding the shore.  It's sublime.

Moench and Ploog created many different Ape cultures within this series.  Jason and Alex encountered Gunpowder Julius' band of riverboat Apes, a Davy Crockett inspired version of this world.  In issue 6, the riverboat Apes met a band of gypsy Apes--which included a breathtaking human gal called Malaguena.

Malaguena was the kind of liberated gal who could sleep with both apes and humans.  When we first meet her, she's with the Grimaldi the gypsy chimpanzee.  She becomes Jason's girlfriend after he kills Grimaldi in a knife fight.  Then she winds up with Alex!

As you can see here in this panel, Jason's ape-prejudice is always present, erupting in moments of physical violence.  You Dirty Stinking Crazy Ape!! 

While Terror in the Planet of the Apes appeared in the Marvel magazine until the end of the run, for me the series came to a logical conclusion in issue 11.  All the plot threads of the first storyline were neatly wrapped up.  Jason, Alexander, and the Lawgiver returned to Ape City and revealed the truth about Brutus' treachery.  The discord between humans and apes is put to rest after another Lawgiver sermon.  Brutus' last ditch attempt to murder the Lawgiver and take over Ape City is upset. 

The Lawgiver banishes Brutus from Ape City forever--and this sends Jason into a fury.  He won't settle for anything less than the death penalty.  He attacks Alex with racial slurs and violence, abandons Malaguena, and storms off in search of Brutus.  On the last panel, Alex speculates about his friendship with Jason:  "Maybe we never were friends...and can never be friends.  Maybe we were just too afraid to hate each other."

I still own many of the POTA magazines with the Ploog and Moench stories.  Here's a question for you, readers:  was Terror on the Planet of the Apes ever collected in a trade?  Nuff said.