Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Diggin' Ditko: Tiger-Man #2
When last we saw John Albano/Ernie Colon's creation, Tiger-Man, he was a sort of super-powered Dirty Harry/Punisher type. With his second issue (March 1975), Tiger-Man got a new creative team, Gerry Conway and Steve Ditko, and was cast in a more traditional super-hero mold, complete with costumed super-villain. (Ironic since Conway helped create the Punisher...) Ditko's art was very good on this issue, with his wildly contorted figures crashing, smashing, and bashing their way through a slightly edgy, if slightly standard, super-hero/super-villain tussle. Oh, and Frank Giacoia's (uncredited) ink job meshes very well with Ditko's super-hero style, don'tcha think? And how 'bout a rare Frank Thorne super-hero cover to top it all off? Enjoy, Groove-ophiles!
This was one of the few Atlas one's I skipped. Not sure I ever knew Ditko did this ish. It's very good!
ReplyDeleteI still have my Atlas/Seaboard collection and I have this book! I kept them because I didn't see them being reprinted any time soon....
ReplyDeleteYes, this was the Tiger-Man I preferred......Conway and Ditko did a good job "Marvelizing" the character.
Atlas was often criticized for being too "Marvel-like" (which was to be expected with Martin Goodman in charge!), but the truth is, a lot of their books only resemble Marvel in their cover designs. Many of the interiors are not like Marvel at all and are very......strange.
Tiger Man no. 1 was like that. A very weird book. But I actually preferred it when Atlas DID emulate Marvel, and Tiger-Man.....along with The Destructor.....did the best job of that I thought. Atlas was a perfect example of the fun spirit of the 70s comics scene.....
Woah, I think that I may have new favorite Atlas character. This Tiger-Man is awsome!
ReplyDeleteI actually don't think I've ever heard of him before. It looks awesome though.
ReplyDeleteMeant to to comment on this yesterday. Tiger Man!
ReplyDeleteI have this very mag! This was the Atlas I really loved....the issues that really DID emulate Marvel. Conway and Ditko were certainly qualified to do that!
Oddly enough, despite Atlas' reputation as being a Marvel imitation (no surprise since Martin Goodman ran things for Atlas/Seaboard), very few of their comics actually resembled Marvel at all. Well, they did in their cover designs, but the interiors were often very strange. Tiger Man no. 1 was a weird book. I liked THIS Tiger Man better.
I guess it's no coincidence that my favorite Atlas titles were the most "Marvel-ized" of the Atlas lineup: "The Destructor" and "Tiger-Man!"
Glad you dug Tiger-Man #2, dudes! I s'pose that means you wouldn't mind too terribly much if a future installment of "Diggin' Ditko" includes ish #3...
ReplyDeleteAnd right on, Chris!if you're gonna "Marvel-ize" a comic, this is how to do it!