John Romita

JOHN ROMITA (John Victor Romita also known as John Romita Snr)

24 January 1930

Avengers Inking: #23

Avengers Covers: #23, 94, 102,111 114-119, 121-125, 127, 128,134-138, 141, 142, 176, 203

Romita broke into comics in 1949 with an unpublished romance story for Famous Funnies. Later he started penciling as an uncredited ghost artist for a Timely title. In 1951 Romita was drafted into the army where he produced recruitment posters. On returning to the comic-book industry he went on to draw horror, war, romance and other genres for Timely’s new incarnation, Atlas, and this included a short-lived revival of Captain America in Young Men 24-28.

Romita includes in his influences the likes of Noel Sickles, Roy Crane, Milton Caniff, and also Alex Toth, Carmine Infantino, and Jack Kirby. Romita was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2002.

In the late 1950s Romita moved to DC exclusively where he did an abundance of romance titles but in 1965 Romita returned to Marvel inking Jack Kirby’s cover and Don Heck’s penciling of The Avengers #23. Sadly, aside from covers this was his only formal Avengers assignment. Romita’s deal in returning to Marvel was to do inking only but Stan soon had him penciling first Daredevil, initially over Jack Kirby's layouts and then Amazing Spider-man replacing Steve Ditko.

Romita was increasingly required to do contribute to art corrections, touch-ups, and interact with other artists and writers. This led to Romita unofficially being regarded as Art Director, a title that would be formalised at a later date. This forced Romita to cut back on pencilling Spider-man but remained involved with ideas, plots, layouts, inking and covers. 

This role also led to Romita being behind the design of many other successful Marvel characters such as The Punisher, Luke Cage, Wolverine and Bullseye.

(It seems almost criminal to devote so few words to such a legend and influential artist as John Romita. These entries are intended as thumbnail profiles of the creators who have contributed to The Avengers. I hope at some point to present a fitting tribute to one of my all-time favourite artists.)

Wally Wood

WALLY WOOD (Wallace Allan Wood)

17 June 1927 - 02 November 1981

Avengers Inks: #20-22

Avengers Covers: #20-22

One of America’s most celebrated comic-book artists Wally Wood was heavily influenced by the likes of art styles of Alex Raymond's Flash Gordon, Milton Caniff's Terry and the Pirates, Hal Foster's Prince Valiant, Will Eisner's The Spirit.

Wood’s portfolio included covers and illustrations for Galaxy Science Fiction, gag cartoons, inking Jack Kirby’s syndicated comic strip Sky Masters of the Space Force, and an extensive range of comic book publishers including DC, Warren, Avon, Charlton, Fox, Gold Key, Harvey, King, Atlas and in 1965, co-created T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents for Tower.

In the 1960s Wood's pencilled and inked Daredevil #5-8 including creating his red uniform. Daredevil was also one of wood’s last assignments when he inked Frank Miller's cover of Daredevil #164.

Wood received many awards. He was the first inductee into the Jack Kirby Hall of Fame and later inducted into the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame. Other awards include the National Cartoonists Society, Alley Award (for penciling and inking), and Best Foreign Cartoonist Award.

For such a prolific artist, Wood contributed to only three issues of The Avengers by inking the covers and insides of issues #20 to 22.

Frank Giacoia

FRANK GIACOIA 06 July 1924 – 04 February 1988)

a.k.a Frank or Frankie Ray, Phil Zupa, Espoia (when collaborating with Mike Esposito)

Avengers Pencils: #73, 110

Avengers Inks: (as Ray) #26-29, (as Giacoia) #30, 31, 86, 87 118

Avengers Covers: #17, 19, 22, 26-30, 47, 73, 85, 101, 103, 106, 110, 120, 124, 131-133, 139, 142,-144, 147, 149, 150,159, 178

Giacoia, started his comics career on Timely’s Jack Frost from USA Comics #3 in January 1942. Over the years Giacoia worked for many comic-book publishers including Ace, Avon, Crestwood, DC, Dell, Eastern Color, Fawcett, and Harvey.

During the 1960s, Giacoia established his name as an inker at Marvel working on virtually every series including the Amazing Spider-Man newspaper strip from 1978-1981 and inking many of the Marvel heavyweights such as Kirby, Colan, Heck, and Kane.

In 1974 Giacoia was nominated for the Shazam Award for Best Inker (Dramatic Division) and Chicago’s Atlas Comics lists Giacoia as #5 in the top 20 inkers of American Comic Books.

Frank Giacoia’s primary involvement with the Avengers was inking covers starting with #17 however probably his most significant contribution was the penciling of #73 which featured the racially militant threat of the Sons of the Serpent and quite a strong focus on The Black Panther. The issue featured many interesting page and panel layouts.   

Marvel NOW : May 1970

As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, I joined the mighty world of Marvel in late May 1970 at the age of nine courtesy of The Avengers #76. (Although comics were released with advance cover dates, shipping delays meant that here in New Zealand the titles generally hit the stands in the month of their cover date.) I had seen some Captain America and Sgt Fury merchandise elsewhere and Cap’s appearance on The Avengers cover drew my attention.

In 1970 there were no comic specialty shops and you picked up your weekly dose of Marvel at any shop that had a magazine rack. Almost all stores were supplied by importers Gordon & Gotch. Strangely not all titles seemed to find their way to New Zealand. Notable exceptions at that time were Iron Man, Silver Surfer, Captain Marvel and Sub-mariner. Also of note was that the only DC titles I recall seeing at that time were Green Lantern and The Justice League of America. Cover prices had recently risen from 12 to 15 cents US and they sold for the same in New Zealand. Annuals, specials and anthology reprint titles were generally 25 cents.

The Avengers #76 featured Thor, Iron Man, Captain America, Goliath, Vision, Black Panther and Quicksilver rescuing The Scarlet Witch from the thunderbolt hurling Arkon The Magnificent, I was immediately intoxicated with the collection of gods, kings, androids, mutants, giants, and other heroes who dared everything for Earth … and for each other.

Roy Thomas’ plot and script was captivating, full of drama, and despite these larger than life characters, very human and real. John Buscema and Tom Palmer’s artwork meshed so beautifully full of grandeur, energy, and again this remarkable believability.

Blown away with what read, I went back the following week to look for more Marvel tiles that were listed in the marvel checklist that appeared in The Avengers #76. I soon learnt that the checklists didn’t always match perfectly with the release dates and that some of the titles in the Avengers #76 checklist, were June releases. 

I did manage to pick up three 25 cent titles. Marvels Greatest Comics #27, Marvel Super-Heroes #26, and Marvel Tales #26.

It was not until a couple of months later that I realised these were anthology titles reprinting adventures from the early to mid-1960s. So, despite only discovering Marvel in May of 1970 many of the first stories that I read for each character or team actually date from 1965/66.

The FF, Daredevil and X-Men stories were all great but Steve Ditko’s dramatic three pages in Marvel Tales from Amazing Spider-man #33 where Spidey frees himself from underneath tons of machinery was absolutely brilliant. Those pages, that story remains one of my all-time favourite issues.   

At this time the writing responsibilities of Marvel’s core titles were largely shared by Stan Lee & Rot Thomas. The art was more widely shared around Jack Kirby, Gene Colan, John Buscema, John Romita, Herb Trimpe and Sal Buscema  

My Mighty Marvel Checklist:

The Avengers #76 by Roy Thomas, John Buscema & Tom Palmer

Meanwhile, elsewhere in issues cover-dated May 1970:

• Spider-man vs. The Schemer vs. The Kingpin in Amazing Spider-man #84 by Stan Lee, John Romita Snr / John Buscema & Jim Mooney
• Cap vs. The Mandarin in Captain America #125 by Stan Lee, Gene Colan & Joe Sinnott
• DD meets The Stunt-Master in Daredevil #64 by Roy Thomas, Gene Colan & Syd Shores
• The Moon landing with the FF & The Sentry in The Fantastic Four #98 by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby & Joe Sinnott
• Hulk vs. Mogol in The Incredible Hulk #127 by Roy Thomas & Herb Trimpe
• Shellhead vs. Namor in Iron Man #25 by Archie Goodwin, Johnny Craig & Sam Grainger
• The Surfer vs. Mephisto in Silver Surfer #16 by Stan Lee, John Buscema & Chic Stone
• Thor confronts Loki and Surtur in Thor #176 by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby & Vince Colletta
• Sub-Mariner #25 by Roy Thomas, John & Sal Buscema, Jim Mooney & Joe Gaudioso
• Sgt Fury and His Howling Commandos #78 by Bill Everett, Dick Ayers & John Severin

Not to Mention:

Kid Colt Outlaw #146, Mighty Marvel Western #8, Rawhide Kid #76, Ringo Kid #3, Tower of Shadows #5, Where Monsters Dwell #3, My Love #5, Millie the Model #182, Chilli #13, Homer the Happy Ghost #4, Petey #4, Chambers of Darkness #5, Our Love Story #5  

And of course:

Marvel Super Heroes #26 containing reprints of:        

Daredevil v Mr Fear in “Trapped by The Fellowship of Fear!” from Daredevil #6 by Stan Lee & Wally Wood

The X-Men graduate in “The Return of The Blob” from X-Men #7 by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby

“Where Strides The Behemoth” featuring The Hulk from Tales to Astonish #67 by Stan Lee & Steve Ditko

Marvel Tales #26 containing reprints of:

Spider-man in “The Final Chapter” from Amazing Spider-man #33 by Steve Ditko & Stan Lee

Thor vs. The Absorbing Man in “The Vengence of the Thunder God” from Journey into Mystery #115 by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby 

The Human Torch & The Thing in “Paste Pot Pete” From Strange Tales #124 by Stan Lee & Dick Ayers

Marvel NOW : Then

The Marvel NOW slogan was utilised by Marvel as part of the 2012 company reboot that followed The Avengers vs. X-Men epic. Marvel NOW epitomised the idea a fresh start to many mainstay Marvel titles including The Avengers, Thor, Captain America, Daredevil, Fantastic Four, Guardians of the Galaxy, Hulk, Iron Man, Nova, Spider-man,  Wolverine, and X-Men.

 

 

 



Marvel NOW Point One
featured launching point stories
for the new titles.

The "Marvel Now: Then" blogs are intended to be an occasional look at the Marvel Universe on a month-by-month basis. What was new in say June 1980. Each blog will work outwards from that month’s issue of The Avengers. I originally wanted to base these around the Marvel Checklist as it appeared in that month’s The Avengers, but these were not always accurate or consecutive. As for why the Avengers … well check out the first entry May 1970.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Avengers Movie Review - Spoiler Free

While there’s already literally hundreds on reviews of Marvel’s The Avengers available on the web here’s a Spoiler Free review for the thousands of US viewers yet to see the movie.

For me, May is Avengers Month. I bought my first Marvel comic, Avengers #76, in May 1970 and it was May 2010 that I was lucky enough to get my photo in Avengers #1 so although the movie opened here in New Zealand on April 25 I waited until May 1 before seeing the movie with most of my family. (I tried to get in with my Avengers ID. The cashier thought it was cool but I still had to pay. And I don’t begrudge a single cent of the $10.50 entry fee.)

The premise of The Avengers as a team of fictional heroes is that the team is greater than the sum of its parts and this movie is a rare example where the same is true of the cast and crew. With this movie everyone, the director, writers, actors, special effects, designers, have all hit their mark with Hawkeye precision producing a new bench-mark in action and comic book based entertainment.

Kevin Fiege, Joss Whedon and the rest of the crew have expertly delivered an Avengers tale for today that still respectfully pays homage to the 1960 comic-book origins of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes while mixing with the best elements of the Ultimate Universe version of the heroes.

For those who think they know the story from all trailers and T.V. spots, think again. There are still surprises aplenty from the very first scene through to the end and there is not a single wasted line of dialogue in the whole 142 minutes.

Contrary to the speculation that there would be no room for character development with so many big name stars and characters in the room at the same time there are many introspective conversations that progress the story and the characters.  Reprising his Tony Stark / Iron Man character Robert Downey Jr is clearly steals the show and his interactions with Pepper, Cap, Thor, Loki and Bruce Banner include many laugh-out-loud moments. Tim Hiddleston’s Loki is even more likeable as a villain than he was in Thor.

Samuel L Jackson gets the opportunity for more on-screen time and we learn more about his motivations and methods. It was very pleasing to see Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Chris Evans (Cap), Clarke Gregg (Agent Coulson) and Stellan Skarsgard (Erik Selvig) all behave in-character with their earlier appearances in the cannon of movies that culminates in The Avengers and it was like picking up the next issue of an epic limited series.

As an aside Marvel has released a limited series Avengers Prelude: Fury’s Big week that helps tie the movies together and provides some background information.

Mark Ruffulo’s portrayal of Bruce Banner differs from Eric Bana and Edward Norton but it is in a way that adds to the dynamics. Newcomer Agent Maria Hill played by Cobie Smulders has a bigger role than expected and again adds to the contemporary relationship with the Avengers in the printed medium.      

The battle scenes are well choreographed with a sense of panel-by-panel progress and the Thor / Iron Man / Captain America conflict pays obvious homage to “The Big Three” and elicit memories of Stand-Off and Avengers: Prime.

In fact every character has their chance to shine in solo action, pitted against each other, and eventually against the common foe that no single super-hero could withstand. Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow character comes out from the shadow of the big-guns and she and Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye earn their place on the team.   

There’s plenty of visual humour too especially from the Hulk and the collective gasp from the audience at the unexpected death scene is evidence of the emotional bond between characters and viewers.

I’m sure there some die-hard fans that are lamenting the lack of Hank Pym but I cannot honestly think of anything that would have made this movie better than what it was.  

In short, this is the movie equivalent of The Kree-Skrull War that no Marvel or Avengers fan should miss. Truly outstanding - cannot wait for the Blu-ray for Christmas.

And then there’s the mid-credit trailer … Avengers Assemble for Avengers 2!    

Avengers Movie Review

Okay so today, April 25, is ANZAC Day in New Zealand, similar to Memorial Day in the USA, and at midnight this morning The Avengers movie premiered at various New Zealand movie theatres. Here’s Christy Lemire review (minor spoilers only)   

Movie Review on STUFF