Never fear, Ol' Groove'll get around to sharing the non-Astonishing Tales Deathlok covers one of these fine decades...
Friday, April 8, 2016
The Grooviest Covers of All Time: Deathlok!
Check it out, Groove-ophiles! As much as Ol' Groove digs Deathlok the Demolisher (brainchild of Rich Buckler, natch), for some reason I've never run the oh-so-cool covers from his original series in Astonishing Tales! Where here they come, baby! Pencils by Buckler (except #31 which was penciled by Ed Hannigan) with inks by a great line-up of inkers including Buckler, Klaus Janson, Bernie Wrightson, and Dan Adkins...masterpieces all! (But Ol' Groove has his favorites. Which are yours?)
Never fear, Ol' Groove'll get around to sharing the non-Astonishing Tales Deathlok covers one of these fine decades...
Never fear, Ol' Groove'll get around to sharing the non-Astonishing Tales Deathlok covers one of these fine decades...
Buckler really knocked these out of the ballpark. These are some of the finest and in some cases most memorable (issue #s 25, 26, 36) of the 1970s. It's a pity Marvel used the only one not by Buckler (#31) to feature on the cover of the complete collection book, but damned if that isn't an outstanding and iconic image as well...
ReplyDeleteOh how I loved discovering these books again later in life. I know I had issue 27 as a kid and I always read my comics as a kid on rainy days when I could not go outside. I wonder how many times I read it and I actually got rid of a few of my books at a second hand store and that was one of them and still regret getting rid of those books.
ReplyDeleteI looked up the artist for the cover of issue 31 and one of them is Bernie Wrightson himself and when looking at it, I'm surprised I didn't figure that out his style is most certainly there. Ed Hannigan and Gaspar Saladino are also credited for the cover. Did my homework for this post.
Thanks for the memories Groove, looking at those covers sure put a smile on my face.
Shane G.
Issues 33 - 35 are hallmarks in comic book artistry. Buckler/Janson really knocked themselves out for those 3 (further enhanced by Klaus' great coloring). As I told Klaus at the 2014 Emerald City Comicon, I consider Astonishing Tales # 33 the single greatest inking job in the history of comics (Quite a statement coming from a Tom Palmer worshipper. I also place issue # 34 in the top ten covers of all time).
ReplyDeleteGot to agree that Deathlok looked a lot better with issue 33. Its a pity Klaus Janson didn't ink 36; no offence to Buckler, as I've always liked that cover, but more of the depth and atmosphere of the previous three issues would have been welcome.
ReplyDeleteThat Hannigan/Wrightson cover is great too. The one that first grabbed by attention and pulled me in...
Thanks, Mr Groove, enjoyed this one.
-sean
What a great series of covers. 36 is one of my all time favorites. I stared at that silhouette and images for a long time as a kid. It's been homaged a few times. This book was probably a bit ahead of its time.
ReplyDelete