Dig these glorious splash pages from John Byrne's all-too-short run (issues 11-15, November 1976-July 1977) as penciler of The Champions, Groove-ophiles! Inks by "Baby-face" Bob Layton and "Mighty" Mike Esposito.
We are the Champions!! Of the WWWoorrlldd!! Oh sorry, had another awesome flash back! Man Byrne was in his superstar statsis then huh? He was AWESOME on the Champions. I loved this team, especially,Hercules & Ghost Rider. I was totally bummed when the book was canceled! GGRRR!! I wanted BG to be on the team, would have loved to see Luke Cage/Powerman, Iron Fist, Moon Knight,the Falcon, Paladin, The Beast,the Sub-Mariner's niece Namorita, the Sub-Mariner, Nova the human rocket, the 3-D man, Qusar join the team. This team was way under rated. Man I wish Marvel would have kept them going , just relocated them to Chicago!
I remember these issues! I thought Byrne looked great inked by Layton, but I seem to recall reading somewhere that Byrne himself actively disliked Layton's inks. Can't remember the source however.
I believe Byrne's complaints about Layton's inking came in an early issue of The Comics Journal soon after their teaming on the Incredible Hulk annual that guest-starred the Angel and Iceman, Karen. I thought they looked great together, too, myself.
Mike, like you, I really, really dug the Champs. I thought Black Goliath should've been a member (as did Tony Isabella who created the group as Angel, Iceman, and BG). I loved the issue with Hawkeye and thought he'd have been a cool member, as well.
Special thanks to Mike's Amazing World of Comics and Grand Comics Database for being such fantastic resources for covers, dates, creator info, etc. Thou art treasures true!
Note to "The Man": All images are presumed copyright by the respective copyright holders and are presented here as fair use under applicable laws, man! If you hold the copyright to a work I've posted and would like me to remove it, just drop me an e-mail and it's gone, baby, gone.
All other commentary and insanity copyright GroovyAge, Ltd.
As for the rest of ya, the purpose of this blog is to (re)introduce you to the great comics of the 1970s. If you like what you see, do what I do--go to a comics shop, bookstore, e-Bay or whatever and BUY YOUR OWN!
We are the Champions!! Of the WWWoorrlldd!! Oh sorry, had another awesome flash back! Man Byrne was in his superstar statsis then huh? He was AWESOME on the Champions. I loved this team, especially,Hercules & Ghost Rider. I was totally bummed when the book was canceled! GGRRR!! I wanted BG to be on the team, would have loved to see Luke Cage/Powerman, Iron Fist, Moon Knight,the Falcon, Paladin, The Beast,the Sub-Mariner's niece Namorita, the Sub-Mariner, Nova the human rocket, the 3-D man, Qusar join the team. This team was way under rated. Man I wish Marvel would have kept them going , just relocated them to Chicago!
ReplyDeleteI remember these issues! I thought Byrne looked great inked by Layton, but I seem to recall reading somewhere that Byrne himself actively disliked Layton's inks. Can't remember the source however.
ReplyDeleteI believe Byrne's complaints about Layton's inking came in an early issue of The Comics Journal soon after their teaming on the Incredible Hulk annual that guest-starred the Angel and Iceman, Karen. I thought they looked great together, too, myself.
ReplyDeleteMike, like you, I really, really dug the Champs. I thought Black Goliath should've been a member (as did Tony Isabella who created the group as Angel, Iceman, and BG). I loved the issue with Hawkeye and thought he'd have been a cool member, as well.