ALMOST The Original Spider-Man Logo

 

Spider-Man's first appearance! It was in 1962's Amazing Fantasy #15 and of course the story was written by Stan Lee and drawn by Steve Ditko. Above is a look at the original artwork to that story's splash page.

Now let's zoom in on the logo at the top of that page. 

 

 

And let's peel back a portion of that photostatted logo.

 

 Whoa! 

That's what the Spider-Man logo was going to look like until everyone came to their (Spider-) senses! The gumption to try out an offbeat look should be saluted, but I would say that that first stab at a webby logo was a little on the hideous side.

 We dodged a bullet! 

 

 

 

Jack Kirby's Sandman Goes Lucha

 

I was a big fan of The Sandman #1 by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby when it was released back in 1974!

 

These days I own the camera-ready photostat of the cover that was used in the printing process down in Sparta, Illinois, how about that! True!

 

And did you know that thirty years ago this iconic Kirby cover was the inspiration for a Sonambulo cover drawn by Javier Hernandez?  Also true!

 

 

 

Kirby! The Return of JackTober

 

October is here!

#JackTober, the month-long celebration of Jack "King" Kirby is back!

Artist Tom Scioli invites everyone to do their own Jack Kirby-related artwork all month long.

I'm planning on doing some drawing.

How about you? 

 

 

Who were Barry Jameson and Boris Zabok?

 

Barry Jameson? Boris Zabok? Who what?

Both names appear with comic book creator credits in 1970s comics.

DC's 1976 Karate Kid #2 lists Barry Jameson as the writer, but there is no such person!

Barry Jameson was a co-pseudonym of Paul Levitz and David Michelinie.

 

 

And the Robin story in 1979's Detective Comics #483 credits Boris Zabok as the colorist, but it was some kind of joke! 'Boris Zabok' is an anagram of Bob Rozakis and it is one of that gentleman's pseudonyms.

 

I wish there were more pseudonyms in modern-day comics so I wouldn't have to go digging 50 years in the past to find them for you!

 

Beethoven by 'Alex Ross'

 

Probably you didn't realize that Alex Ross ever painted a portrait of Beethoven.

Well, he didn't!

But if you take a painting of Doc Strange and ask A.I. to tweak it a bit?

Voila! 

 

 

 

 

A Jack Kirby Stageplay in Brooklyn

 

A play about the life of Jack Kirby?

That sounds great!

The original run ended last month but maybe there will be a revival.

Hooray for Jack Kirby! 

 

 

The Justice League on Water Skis

 

Superman on water skis!

Batman and Robin on water skis!

In the late 1970s, Seaworld in Orlando Florida had water shows featuring costumed DC superheroes! 

Maybe you saw the ads on the back cover of some comics back in that era.

But you'd probably like to see some video footage of the show, right?

Please look right over here!