1990 - Fred Hembeck's Lil Avengers

From Marvel Age #93:

The Amazing Spider-Man by Michael Golden

This piece was intended to be the cover for the Spider-Man Index by George Olshevsky, 

which was never released. 

1984 - The Last Starfighter

Cover art by Jackson Guice.

Homage cover by Dave Wachter.

Comic book ad.

Movie poster.

1978 - Some early X-Men art by John Byrne

www.byrnerobotics.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=15916

"Oh Jean, things used to be so simple, so straight forward.  I loved you... but now?"

1981 - Anatomy of a cover - Moon Knight #4

http://stlcomics.com/cover_gallery/details.php?image_id=600&sessionid=6755b38c7bf47e80dfe8100432ece089

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to my American neighbours!

I'd like to think the Vision would have done a better job cutting the turkey with his solar ray!

1981 - Anatomy of a cover - Master of Kung Fu #99

http://www.coollinesartwork.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=280057&ArtistId=586&Details=1&From=Room

1986 - Anatomy of a cover - G.I. Joe #43

http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=176076&GSub=27969

1985 - Warlodzilla Will Crush All!

Splash page from Web Of Spider-Man Annual #2

1983 - Pages from the Marvel Try-Out Book Winner Doug Hazlewood

From http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=918084&GSub=87447:

"I won the inking category of the first Official Marvel Try-Out Contest in the mid-80's. This is one of the front-and-back pages I submitted. The pages had bluelined pencils on them. I even did some extra ones that weren't really in the Inkers section. This page has Page 10 on the other side (2-for-1)."

Happy Birthday Chris Claremont

Photo from the X-Men Companion #2, 1982.

Uncanny X-Men #177 was the very first comic I had put aside for me from my local comic store’s pull list.

1990 - Unpublished Excalibur Graphic Novel

Does anyone know what happened to the Excalibur hardcover graphic novel which was announced in Marvel Age Preview #1 to ship in December 1990?

“Chris Claremont and Alan Davis continue their Excalibur collaboration with the biography of Kurt Wagner – Nightcrawler, from his birth to his rescue at the hands of Charles Xavier. We will finally learn more of the mysterious connection between Nightcrawler and Mystique!”

1981 - Bob Larkin's Power Man and Iron Fist

Bob Larkin's painted cover to Power Man and Iron Fist #75.

and here's the published version:

1984 - Doctor Who #1

Cover by Dave Gibbons

1986 - Invisible Woman sketch by Joe Sinnott

http://www.coollinesartwork.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=290759&ArtistId=593&Details=1&From=Room

1988 - Art Adams' Fantastic Four pin-up

From Marvel Fanfare #45.

1985 - Anatomy of a cover - Alpha Flight #22

http://www.coollinesartwork.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=290827&ArtistId=503&Details=1&From=Room

1982 - Anatomy of a Cover - Star Slammers Graphic Novel

 By Walt Simonson.
Found over on the Walt Simonson Appreciation Society Facebook Page.

1985 - Anatomy of a cover - Squadron Supreme #6

http://stlcomics.com/cover_gallery/details.php?image_id=607&sessionid=6755b38c7bf47e80dfe8100432ece089

What if the Dark Phoenix Saga never happened?

Back in 2009, on his forum (http://www.byrnerobotics.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=30441), John Byrne wondered what might have happened if he could have changed Claremont's mind:

I was looking at THIS, in the Gallery, and got to musing on how different Marvel history might have been if the editors and I had leaned a little harder on Chris, every time he tried to boost Jean’s power levels no matter how I drew them.

Of course, Phoenix had already happened before I came on board, but if it had not been for my complaints that she was was rapidly turning the X-Men into fifth wheels in their own book, along with Chris’ determination to keep ramping up her power, Steve Grant might never have spoken those six little words, “Why not make her a villain?”

Steve’s idea was perfectly reasonable, in context. “Power corrupts” was a not uncommon theme in Marvel comics, and as Chris had already turned Jean’s powers well past 11, the notion that “absolute power corrupts absolutely” seemed an almost organic extension. Plus, Jean as a villain brought all kinds of additional angst to the book and characters. She was a favorite of mine, and I did not really want to see her go down that path, but it seemed like she needed to be sacrificed for the good of the other characters and the title itself.

I had no idea how literal that would turn out to be!

It’s undeniable that the Dark Phoenix Saga is what pushed UNCANNY X-MEN fully into the limelight, tho it took a while for the speculators to catch up and boost sales to match. In those early days we were still pretty much selling one comic to one warm body, and our sales lay well below the likes of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN or FANTASTIC FOUR.

But what if I’d thrown my weight around a bit more? Chris handling the characters in ways I didn’t like — principally using the captions and dialog to turn scenes into something other than what we’d plotted —would eventually lead to my leaving the book and moving on to FANTASTIC FOUR. A happier place for me, as it turned out (at least at the beginning), but what might have happened if I’d been able to keep X-MEN the happy place it had been when I first arrived? If Phoenix had been kept down to just Super Marvel Girl, rather than a nascent goddess?

There would have been no Dark Phoenix, of course. No need. Scott and Jean might have continued on their romantic arc undisturbed, so no reason for Scott to leave, or to fall for Madlyne Prior. Magneto would not have been allowed to “reform” — and any suggestion of him doing so would have been preposterous after what we’d planned for 150. UNCANNY X-MEN might well have stayed “small”, growing its audience, perhaps. but just as likely staying one step ahead of the cancellation axe, as it was for most of my time on the title.

There’s even the possibility that Chris, frustrated, might have been the one who left. There were already plans afoot to give me script approval (tho this was after Dark Phoenix), and if that had happened earlier, I might have found myself both writing and drawing the book.

Which, I suspect, would not have lasted long. UNCANNY did not really become “hot” until Paul Smith came along, and that was less due to Paul’s arrival than to the buzz the book was generating out of Dark Phoenix and all that followed. If Chris had left, or been reeled in, none of that would have happened.

Howard Chaykin has said that the present state of the comicbook industry is all my fault. That I, as the “first superstar” was the one who set everything on the path that led to what we see now. Looking back on my X-MEN days, and thinking about how different things might have been, I am suddenly thinking Howard might be right!

1987 - Anatomy of a cover - Alpha Flight #50

by June Brigman, andWalt Simonson

http://www.coollinesartwork.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=290657&ArtistId=440&Details=1&From=Room

Thor Commission by the Romitas

John Romita Jr. and John Romita Sr. pin-up

homage to Kirby & Ayers Journey Into Mystery #89

1985 - Anatomy of a Cover - Secret Wars II #1

http://www.coollinesartwork.com/featured.asp?Piece=294191&Details=1&From=Room

And the rejected cover by Sal Buscema.

The Fantastic Four - Then & Now

Fantastic Four character sheet then (1982) and now (2013)

by John Byrne and Leonard Kirk

1982 - Fastner and Larson’s Wolverine from the X-Men Portfolio.