Tuesday, July 19, 2016
Decent Comics: "Dreamdancer" by Bridwell, Newton, and Schaffenberger
Can you dig it, Groove-ophiles! Not only do E. Nelson Bridell, Don Newton, and Kurt Schaffenberger give us both Captain Marvel and Mary Marvel in "Dreamdancer" (World's Finest #255, November 1978), but we also get a guest-appearance (and origins!) from two of their formerly Fawcett stable-mates, Bulletman and Bulletgirl! I always kinda dug the Bullet Duo for some reason, so Teen Groove got a particular kick from this mini-epic. Hope you enjoy it, too!
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ReplyDeleteIf you had asked me before I saw these pages whether Shaffenberger was a good choice to ink Newton (an unsung Groovy-Age artist), I'd have said no, but they worked well together. I don't know if that's the strength of Newton's pencils, Kurt's adaptability or both.
ReplyDeleteThe funny thing is I can't see the Kurt Schafferberger influence at all. He must have employed a minimalist approach to the inking.
DeleteAnother wonderful Bronze Age Shazam tale by Bridwell, Newton and Schaffenberger. Besides the guest appearances of Bulletman and Bulletgirl, artist Newton really showed how well he could draw strong beautiful women. Dreamdancer is especially cute and sexy whether in civilian or super-villain garb
ReplyDeleteI prefer the more numerous Shazam stories from his own mag. This attempt at making the Marvel's serious always felt fake.
ReplyDeleteMary Marvel in the spotlight + Don and Kurt's beautiful art = my favorite Shazam! story so far. Love those close-ups of Mary on pages 8, 11, and 13. I also like how Don used the same layout for pages 5 and 7, but drew the Dreamdancer figures twice rather than just Xeroxing them.
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