Friday, September 30, 2016

Making a Splash: Marvel Comics Forty Years Ago This Month, September 1976

Ah, September 1976. Young Groove had just morphed into Teen Groove and was entering one of the best school years ever--8th grade. That has nothing to do with how cool Marvel's output was for that fab month, but Ol' Groove just had to get that off his chest. Charlie's Angels! The Muppet Show! Songs In the Key of Life! Wild Cherry! The Space Shuttle Enterprise! Nope, those things have nothing to do with Marvel's September 1976 output either, but hey, can't you see just how awesome it was to be a kid 40 years ago? Now that we have some context, dig these far-out splashes, baby!

































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11 comments:

  1. AnonymousSeptember 30, 2016 at 12:26 AM

    A big jolt of Bronze Age Bombast is just what the doctor ordered! Thanks!
    That Guardians of the Galaxy comic, even though it it turned out to be a reprint no doubt brought on by the Dreaded Deadline Doom, is a favorite of mine. Anything concerning outer space drove me nuts in 1976, when I was five.
    M.P.

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  2. keythd23September 30, 2016 at 1:24 AM

    Kirby, Colan, Perez, Byrne, Wein, Wolfman, Gulacy, Palmer, Sinnott, the Buscema Brothers, Chaykin, Kane, Cockrum. Is it any wonder that Marvel Comics from the 70s remains the high point of my 50 years of collecting?

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  3. Artur CostaSeptember 30, 2016 at 2:01 AM

    No John Buscema there. Do you know why?

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    1. Mike MikulovskySeptember 30, 2016 at 8:51 AM

      We'll John was most likely swamped doing Savage Sword of Conan. My sources, one who worked at the Marvel offices back then, Even confirmed to me what I always believed too. That John did a lot of uncredited lay outs for some of Marvel's other B & W magazines too. Inclusding the over a year late then lost for a week in the mail. The art to Marvel Preview #9 Man-God. Pages 4-50. Inked by Tony Dezuniga. Who inked a lot of John's pencils on Conan, Thor & Doc Savage. If you look at those pages closer you can see Buscema's poses & faces. On both the male & female characters strongly.

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    2. A. Sherman BarrosSeptember 30, 2016 at 2:21 PM

      Well, I feel I should know the answer (I guess either he was too tired from teaching at the Joh Buscema Comics School or on vacation), but here it goes: why?

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    3. Artur CostaOctober 3, 2016 at 5:32 PM

      I dunno... I'm just asking. It's só unusual.

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  4. keythd23September 30, 2016 at 9:18 PM

    You're right. I didn't look closely and assumed Conan was by Big John. But it's actually Val Maverick.

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  5. GrahamOctober 1, 2016 at 1:16 PM

    I didn't mind the Dreaded Deadline issues so much because with the spotty distribution going on at that time, it was really hard for me to keep up with the multi-part issues. At least with the reprints, I was usually able to get a one-and-done story, plus it helped me catch up on my Marvel history.

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  6. DoppelgängerOctober 2, 2016 at 12:09 AM

    Would love to see some of the Steel Indestructible Man series. Heard he faces a Swamp Thing wannabe and other assorted baddies like Mineral Master

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  7. AnonymousOctober 14, 2016 at 12:36 PM

    A wonderful collection of mid-70's splashes. One question though, wasn't there a Thor comic published in September 1976? I don't see it in the group above. Thanks.

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    1. The Groovy AgentOctober 14, 2016 at 7:02 PM

      Oops. It slipped past me! It's up there now--penciled AND inked by Tony DeZuniga. So this adds even more to the mystery--was John Buscema on vacation? Busy teaching?

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