Iron Man Commission by Bob Layton

Circa 1978-1981

Sub-Mariner #8 recreation by Bob Layton

1991 - Namor The Sub-Mariner #10 by John Byrne

1986 - Anatomy of a Cover - Avengers #270 by John Buscema and Tom Palmer

1981 - Anatomy of a Cover - Amazing Spider-Man #215

Gabriel Hardman's 1980s inspired art

http://heathencomics.deviantart.com/gallery/

Here's a small sample of Gabriel Hardman's amazing art, some of his 1980s inspired stuff of course!

1981 - The Defenders Go Demonic!

By Jef Willemsen (clarmindcontrol.blogspot.com)

Most writers set out to leave their mark on whatever new book they take on. As we’ll see in this retrospective of J.M. DeMatteis’ initial arc on the Defenders, that mark was shaped like a six fingered hand. 

Ever since their inception in 1971, the Defenders had always been in flux. Not only because their membership was more eclectic than a Yoko Ono jam session, the tone of the book also tended to shift dramatically whenever a new writer came in.

From the semi-straightforward superheroics of Roy Thomas to the utterly bizarre Elf with a gun days of the late great Steve Gerber: the Defenders did it all and while this certainly proved the team’s versatility, it also found them without any convincing, long term raison d’etre. 

It took ten years and the arrival of writer J.M. DeMatteis to give the non-team a bit more focus beyond beating the baddie du jour. DeMatteis pulled this off by locking on to the slightly dark vibe the book had always exuded and running with it, while also focusing on character development.  

Consider the opening page of Defenders # 92. At first, it might seem a little silly to have Earth’s mightiest mortal playing house with a Dormammu doll in Doctor Strange’s living room. But it actually showed how well DeMatteis understood the dynamic between the Defenders. The team had been using Strange’s sanctum sanctorum as a meeting place since the early days and for the Hulk, it had literally become a sanctuary as well. Here, with no enemies to hound him, the childlike creature could finally drop his guard, showing an almost endearing vulnerability.

Its interesting to note that in an interview with this blog, author J.M. DeMatteis would later reveal that the Hulk wasn’t a character he was at all comfortable with. That’s why the green giant would ever so gently be written out of the stories. DeMatteis felt he didn’t seem to fit with his take on the team.

A character who wás a natural fit for the Defenders was the Hulk’s fellow founder Doctor Strange. In fact, as DeMatteis recalled, Strange is what got him the job in the first place. “I certainly didn’t lobby for the gig—Ed Hannigan was writing the book at the time and doing a fine job of it—so I was very surprised when I walked into Jim Shooter’s office one day and he told me I was taking over Defenders:  “Because,” he said, “I know you like Doctor Strange.”  Which is true:  I love Doctor Strange!”

Under DeMatteis, Strange quickly became more than team leader and reluctant land lord, the doctor wasn’t beyond giving his own special kind of stern pep talk. As shown here, when he interrupts Nighthawk’s lament on the sorry state of his life. He declares himself a failure as both a superhero and in his private life as millionaire playboy Kyle Richmond. In response, Doctor Strange sets him straight, just as the real action begins.

The white panel isn’t just an easy way for artist Don Perlin to meet his page rate, it’s also indicative of a problem with Eternity, the physical representative of our entire universe. As Doctor Strange learns when he goes to meet the entity: there are pieces of Eternity missing. Y’see, in order to understand himself (aka: the universe) better, he regularly breaks off pieces of himself to… well. Ehm. Let’s have him explain it.

It’s an interesting, if not slightly confusing explanation. Yes, it *is* imaginable our universe has a semblance of sentience and therefore feels completely alone because there’s nothing else like it out there.

But, let’s consider the scope here. The embodiment of everything wants to ‘learn the meaning of otherness’ by briefly functioning as part of, well, itself. And an almost microscopic part at that. Its like trying to experience humanity by being an electron inside one of the molecules that make up your toe nail. You are already part of you. What’s the new perspective to gain when you’ve been yourself all along?

Still, let’s not get too metaphysical. The problems with reality are being caused by three of Eternity’s fragments who are unwilling to relinquish their new existence. As fate would have it, they were all residing on Earth, which forces Doctor Strange to split up the team and teleport the group in smaller squads to persuade these aspects of Eternity. A tactic straight from dozens of a 60s split-and-conquer Justice League of America stories, DeMatteis took the opportunity to set up an important subplot as well.

When the Son of Satan sees a darkness in your soul, that’d be cause to worry. But the usually happy go lucky Patsy Walker seemed ever ready to ignore his warning. In retrospect, this is all major foreshadowing, but they’re too busy confronting Eternity’s aspects. Thankfully,  after the obligatory fight scenes, Nighthawk manages to convince them to rejoin the greater collective.

Issue # 93 starts with Daimon trying to warn Strange of a coming darkness, but before the doctor could investigate, Nighthawk literally drops dead. Back in Defenders # 14, he had suffered fatal injuries which Strange healed with a potent spell. Someone or something had disrupted this magic, and while Strange was able to salvage the situation and return Kyle to life, he failed to fully heal his body, leaving the acrobatic superhero paralyzed from the waist down.

Meanwhile, Hellcat is advancing her little subplot as well.

And, as if that wasn’t enough for one issue, the Defenders get called to action when longtime member Namor declares war on the surface world for the heck of it. This time, fired up by his lover, the lady Dorma. Yes, the same Dorma that had died a decade earlier saving Namor’s life. As Atlantean troops invade London, Strange hesitantly teleports the Defenders, minus Nighthawk and Clea, across the globe to deal with the situation.

Yes, Doctor Strange *has* been teleporting around an awful lot lately. Well, I’m sure he knows what he’s doing… He is the sorcerer supreme after all.

After an entertaining fight scene, Dorma stands revealed as Nebulon, the Celestial Man in disguise. This old, cross dressing Defenders foe used his shape shifting and mind control abilities to fool Namor and the Atlanteans in yet another failed attempt to conquer Earth.  He is quickly dealt with by the Sub-Mariner himself, as the issue draws to a close and the promo blurb for # 94 promises something we’ve already sensed was coming...

Be here for part II of The Defenders Go Demonic: Night of the Geriatric Gargoyle

1983 - Alpha Flight #4 unlettered pages

 http://romitaman.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=15596&ArtistId=943

http://romitaman.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=15597&ArtistId=943

1981 - Anatomy of a cover - Amazing Spider-Man #214

(http://romitaman.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=10203&ArtistId=946&Details=0&From=Room)

1984 - Mike Zeck's Namor 3 page comic

From Comics Feature - An Informal History of Comics.

1984 - Alpha Flight #16 unpublished cover

(http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=807979&GSub=90930)

Here's the original art for the issue #16:

http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=90772&GSub=5668

1984 - Prince Namor the Sub-Mariner

Prince Namor the Sub-Mariner

4 issue miniseries

September 1984 - December 1984

Writer: J.M. DeMatteis/Bob Budiansky

Penciller: Bob Budiansky 

Inker: Danny Bulanadi

Sovereign No More!

This miniseries was a mediocre effort that resulted in one thing: freeing Namor of his Atlantean responsibilities. In the aftermath, Namor rejoined the Marvel Universe without the baggage of Atlantis. Roger Stern had Namor join the Avengers. In 1990, John Byrne revamped Namor with a fresh 90s feel and succeeded in breathing new life into this golden age hero.

But back to the miniseries. An irresponsible and bored Namor learns an important lesson in responsibility. However, before he's able to act to undo his wrongs, his decisions are taken out of his hands and he's forced to abdicate the throne of Atlantis.

The plot seems a bit contrived in that each time Namor made an attempt to deal with a problem he'd be sidetracked by a subplot. Namor was never really given a chance to make his own decision and from a character perspective that really weakened the story.

Budiansky's panel layouts are awkward and the art itself is visually dull, but there are a few glimpses of good solid artwork. The panels are too cramped and are distracting with awkward point of views.

1989 – Atlantis Attacks!

In the summer of 1989, Marvel applied a similar premise to the Evolutionary War and rolled out the Atlantis Attacks annual crossover. This crossover event surpassed the previous year’s effort running through 14 annuals and calling on the talents of at least 10 writers and a horde of artists. Unfortunately, the combined talents of Steve Englehart, Roy Thomas, and John Byrne weren’t enough to save this event.

The overall story line suffered as each annual’s quality varies greatly. The plot was stretched too thin to incorporate a wide variety of heroes, from urban vigilantes, like Spider-Man, Punisher, and Daredevil, to cosmic crusaders, like Thor and the Silver Surfer.

Ghaur, the priest king of an ancient race that worshiped the elder god Set, put a deadly plan into motion that would see the return of his banished god. He collected pieces of an artifact called the Serpent Crown that would allow Set to return to the Earth. Ghaur allied himself with Attuma the warlord of the underwater realm of Atlantis and launched a full-scale attack on the surface world. The heroes repelled the invasion and realized what Ghaur planned to do. They interrupted Ghaur’s attempt to summon Set and drove the elder god of evil back into banishment.

Marvel historian Peter Sanderson weeded through twenty years of Marvel history and put together a 14-part summary of Set’s origins and the legacy of the Serpent Crown. Unlike the Evolutionary War, these annuals had short features tied-in to the ongoing series. Most of these features are forgettable, but a few stood out featuring art by Bo Hampton, Whilce Portacio, and John Byrne.

By the end of the series, Marvel realized how unmanageable the ambitious effort truly was and broke up the next year’s annual event into several mini-crossovers.

Atlantis Attacks ran through the following annuals:
- Amazing Spider-Man Annual #23
- Avengers Annual #18
- Avengers West Coast Annual #4
- Daredevil Annual #4
-Fantastic Four Annual #22
- Iron Man Annual #10
- New Mutants Annual #5
- Punisher Annual #2
- Silver Surfer Annual #2
-Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #7
-The Mighty Thor Annual #14
-Uncanny X-Men Annual #13
-Web of Spider-Man Annual #5
-X-Factor Annual #4