Hey, Kids! Comics from 50 Years Ago!
January 13 & 15, 1970
Groovy Age Splash Page of the Week
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| Scorpion #1 (November 1974) |
Groovy Age Spotlight On...
Rudy Nebres!Rudy Nebres (whose birthday is January 14) is one of the great Filipino artists brought to DC Comics during the Groovy Age by publisher Carmine Infantino and editor Joe Orlando to spruce up DC's artistic line-up. Nebres' wild storytelling and lush inks made him a favorite, leading to a long career spanning the pages of most every major U.S. comicbook publisher before he eventually left comics for commercial art and storyboarding. Here's Nebres' DC debut from House of Mystery #201 (November 1972)…"The Exterminator!" written by Michael Fleisher and Maxene Fabe!
See ya next week, Groove-ophiles! Pax!
I owned Spidey 83 at one time. Great stuff! Still have #90, of course (with Doc Ock and the death of Captain Stacy).
ReplyDeleteCreepy #32 sported Frazetta's last cover for a while, and had the Harlan Ellison-Neal Adams "Rock God" tale (which I always thought had a rather abrupt ending).
Nice to see Kirby still on the FF, & I believe that's Buscema on the Avengers.
And need I mention how good the printing looked in those days?! Solid black inks inside & out, & rich cover colours --- available just about everywhere in the western world in those days, & at a remarkably affordable price point.
Those were the days!
Regards,
Chris A.
I wouldn't have guessed this was Rudy Nebres' work. It is a bit rarer than the polished inks he became famous for. Still, it is nicely drawn and in a classic Filipino style. I met him last summer at a con, and his skills are as sharp as ever. It would be great to see him in mainstream comics again.
ReplyDeleteGene Poole
Rawer, not rarer
DeleteIt would be fun to read Green Lantern 75 to see how different the tone of the story is from the monumental number 76. Is there any blurb at the end of 75 about GL/GA, or did it come as a complete surprise to the readers?
ReplyDelete- Neil
No blurb. The comic was almost cancelled, selling 164,000 copies per month in those days when anything under 200,000 was deemed a failure. Neal Adams asked Carmine Infantino to let him draw it, and with Denny O'Neil scripting & Dick Giordano inking, they made history with relevant themes in mainstream super-hero comics.
DeleteRegards,
Chris A.
Chris A. is correct--there was no blurb, only a cryptic response to letterhack Gary Skinner's missive that said, "Next issue Denny O'Neil will be Green Lantern-ing it again--with a bold new direction for the Emerald Crusader! Furthermore, there'll be an added plus with the presense (sic) of Green Arrow! We could say even more about this spirited issue of 76--but that would be giving too much away!" The answer to the next letter writer (Alan Brennert!) makes one wonder if DC even had an inkling of what was to come starting with GL #76: "Green Lantern's personality problems are as unpredictable as the writers who chronicle his career. While a permanent writer seems like an ideal idea, there ain't no such critter in our stable." Kinda makes ya go, "Hmmmm…" dunnit?
DeleteMost writers probably got bored being on the same feature and wanted fresh material. Not everyone could be like Kanigher & Kubert on Sgt. Rock for 35+ years, but even they worked in other genres as well.
DeleteRegards,
Chris A.
I like the Chaykin double page spread. Strong design, but the drawing is just *slightly* wonky in spots, but still fine. Much to be preferred over his recent digital work.
ReplyDeleteGene Poole
Groove, Scorpion #1 was cover-dated February, 1975. How did you arrive at the November, 1974 date? Is that when Chaykin drew it? It probably hit the stands in January, 1975. I don't recall Atlas having four months' lead time on their books...and within a year they were all gone.
DeleteRegards,
Chris A.
Well, Chris A., for one thing, I rely on my memory (the winter of 1974/1975 is very special to me), so there's that. ;D I know my memory can be a faulty thing, so there's the always reliable Spinner Rack at Mike's Amazing World of Comics that verifies that Scorpion's release date was, indeed, November 26, 1974. Marvel had used that large lead time on their (color comic) cover dates for quite some time and had recently been joined by DC (and, iirc, Harvey and Charlton did the same). I suppose Atlas/Seaboard saw it as the standard and joined the big two in doing the same on their covers. Any time I see "February" on a Groovy Age cover (at least from the mid-70s on to the end of the Groovy Age), I think "November."
DeleteI also met Larry Lieber at the NYC comic con last October. He was not wearing a name tag, and I was only one of three people who was at his booth. He must have wanted to be incognito, but I instantly recognized him.
DeleteGene Poole
"...three people who WERE at his booth..."
DeleteYes, I do remember some grammar!
Gene Poole
I met Rudy Nebres at a Chicago comicon in the 90s. He was a very nice man. He was not one of my favorite Filipino artists. That was reserved for DeZuniga and Alcala. Still he did a nice ink job over Cockrum for a fill-in issue of John Carter. Wish they could have been the regular art team for the title. That X-Men issue was a great teaming of Thomas, S. Buscema and Grainger. Unfortunately, it was the last new issue and the X-Men kicked around the edges of the Marvel Universe in reprints and guest appearances until being revived to much greater glory in 1976.
ReplyDelete