Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Black and White Wednesday: "Good Lord!" by Wolfman, Cockrum, and the Crusty Bunkers
It's Wednesday, Groove-ophiles! That means it's time for Ol' Groove to dust off another forgotten b&w fave from the Archives of the Awesome! Today's feature is so good it's been published (at least!) twice! Marv Wolfman and Dave Cockrum's tribute to the 1950s EC science fiction comics, "Good Lord!", was first published as a back-up in the debut ish of Marvel Preview back in late 1974/early 1975. The story was so well-received that when there was a need for a fill-in/reprint ish of MP #20 (late 1980), the story was published again, complete with an intro that identified the artists who made up the Crusty Bunkers who inked "Good Lord!" Who were they? Well, according to editor Roger Stern the Bunkers were: Neal Adams, Terry Austin, Pat Broderick, Russ Heath, and Joe Rubenstein. Now, who did what? Sterno didn't say and I haven't really tried to figure it all out, 'cause the Bunkers were wont to split up, not only pages, but individual panels. If ya wanna give identifying who did what a whirl, Groove-ophiles--knock yourselves out! To the amount of effort and dedication it would take to accomplish such a feat, Ol' Groove can only sigh..."Good Lord!"
There is NOTHING like Bronze Age science fiction -- particularly in black and white comics! Wow!
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I had never seen this before. Cockrum was a great sci-fi artist.
ReplyDeleteThe Crusty Bunkers was an interesting situation. A job would come into Neal Adams's studio, Neal would ink the parts he felt like inking (featured figures, parts of figures, whatever) then what ever was left over was left to other artists who drifted in and out of the Continuity Studio at the time. Like in this job I definitely detect Ralph Reese inking the monsters and some backgrounds, Russ Heath for sure is in there. I'm sure there are some pieces of pages that are lost to the mists of history. I just wonder how (or if) everyone who worked on this got paid. . . ; )
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting this, Groove. It was also reprinted in Marvel UK's weekly Planet of the Apes comic. I was reminded of it just the other day and was trying to remember what it was called.
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ReplyDeleteThat ending is one of those that stuck with me throughout the intervening years. Of course, one thing I noticed after reading it this time that I never would have even thought about back in those days is that a certain historical figure whose visage some believe is controversial to depict is, well, depicted. But I won't tell if you won't.
ReplyDeleteOh no, do i feel a fatwa coming on...?
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for posting this. I read my older brother's torn copy of Marvel UK's Planet of the Apes, and this story stuck in my memory for 30 years. I was telling a colleague about it just last week, and I managed to remember 'Good Lord' being a line in it. Google brought me here... A great sci-fi short story beautifully illustrated. Thanks again
ReplyDeleteI remember this from years ago.I only recently pricked it up from Amazon.Nice art,but the story is too outlandish to believe.
ReplyDeleteAs a high schooler I found this blasphemous and was appalled by the story (while still appreciating the Cockrum/Adams artwork). In my middle age as I've gone through soul searching on issues of faith, I've come to enjoy this story. Marv Wolfman sure captured the voice of EC in this homage.
ReplyDeletethis comic story, more than any other, stuck in my mind all these years. i recognized that the crusty bunkers had to be some really cool inkers, cause i recognized adams in there. the story was mature like the Warlock stories. bronze age? hell, THIS was the golden age, when truly talented artists, who were also tripped out maniacs, drew for marvel and dc. gods among men.
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