Tuesday, October 30, 2018

Decent Comics: "Sing a Song of Sorcery!" by O'Neil and Wrightson

Dig it, Groove-ophiles! What better story to prepare us for Halloween than one with a title like "Sing a Song of Sorcery!" by Denny O'Neil and Berni Wrightson? Nightmaster's second appearance (in Showcase #83, April 1969) is loaded with mood, thanks in no small part to young Wrightson's magnificently macabre art). Author O'Neil provides him with plenty of creepy castles, evil warlock troops, flying ships, night time scenes, animated armor, and a sultry siren! It's all topped off with a fun Joe Kubert cover, too. This is a comic just made for reading under the covers with your flashlight...

Is this your copy, Rhodey?
























And just for the fun of it, here's the editorial page from this issue featuring autobiographies of O'Neil and Wrightson!

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4 comments:

  1. keythd23October 30, 2018 at 3:36 AM

    Thank God Berni Wrightson pretty quickly evolved into a much more fluid, bolder inking style. This work looks crude compared to his Swamp Thing high water mark. But I see flashes of brilliance everywhere: pages 6, 12, 16, 21, 22.
    Denny O'Neil has rightfully been lauded for his work on Superman and GL/GA. But in his more obscure work he frequently outshines his better known ones. You can see that he is having a blast in this series and is very emotionally invested in it.In looking over the covers for the past 2 issues I wish Joe Kubert had been given a crack at illustrating one issue of Nightmaster.

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  2. AnonymousOctober 30, 2018 at 12:42 PM

    Berni's birthday was on the 28th. He would have been 70 this year. We lost him too soon.

    - Bob

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  3. AnonymousNovember 4, 2018 at 1:23 PM

    Berni was barely 20 years old when he drew this, though with some uncredited assists from friends. Great stuff, though he did grow leaps and bounds in only a few short years, becoming a superstar on Swamp Thing.

    - Mike

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