Welcome back, Groove-ophiles! Today's Groovy Guest-Post is by Mighty Mike Mikulovsky! Mike has already graced Groove City with several popular posts, and this'un is especially near and dear to the Mighty One's heart. Enjoy!
Like the Groovester and most of
my fellow comic junkies of the 70's, we were monster fanatics, too. I
collected every comic/monster mag, book, and model I could, especially the Marvel/Curtis b & w mags with all their top
talent pumping out great mags/characters month after month. I
remember it being an especially cold, harsh winter in December of 1974 when I
walked to one of my usual comic magazine stores. It was the only one
near me that carried all the Marvel monster b & w mags.
I was already a huge Wendigo fan from his appearances in the Hulk's
color mag (Incredible Hulk #162, #180, and #181), and I actually liked the
Wendigo back then much more than that little guy in the yellow,
blue, and black costume with those goofy claws. When I went to pick up the
latest Marvel b & w mags, I was stunned to see another beautiful
cover by Earl Norem--this one with the Wendigo--fronting Monsters Unleashed #9! To me it's one of the very best covers of
that whole line of monster mags. Check out that cover and, just for fun, the cover prelims, too!
The events of
this story take place after Incredible Hulk #181. "Snowbird in Hell" was written by the hot All-New, All-Different X-Men's Chris Claremont and drawn by Yong Montano!
I can still
remember walking home late at night in a blizzard, hearing that howling
wind in my 13 year old over-imaginative mind. You could hear the words WWWEENNNDDDIIGGOOOOO!!!
WWWeeenndddiiigggooo!!! WWWWeeennndddiigggoooo!!!
What's even greater about this story is it reveals Wendigo as a "Curse of the Elder Gods", which was for him the N'Garai.
ReplyDeleteAnd Snowbird, well who says John Byrne was behind the creation of Alpha Flight on his own;)
A fun tale and an earlier Claremont before his writing began to wrap in on itself more like itself. It's also interesting how less a monster tale this is and how much more a super hero story it is. There's nothing particularly in the story that says super hero, but the pacing, the flashbacks, and the general style is all 70s Marvel super hero.
ReplyDeleteThe B&W mags weren't always this way, but often were, which made them sort of unique in the Warren/Skywald EC throwback market (which were also great.)
Well I wouldn't call the Wendigo a hero. Much less a super one. A tragic monster yes! Like Bruce Banner a lost soul trapped in a monster's body. Having forever a bad hair day! You'd be angry 24-7 too! LOL
ReplyDeleteI forgot to add I'm also looking for the art from this story. By Yong Montano I haven't seen one page ever surface in all these decades.
The Wendigo first appeared in Hulk # 162. - Jeff Clem
ReplyDeleteFixed it. Thanx, Jeff!
ReplyDelete