Anatomy of a cover - Iceman #2

http://www.coollinesartwork.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=286875&ArtistId=586&Details=1&From=Room

1985 - Anatomy of a cover - Iceman #4

(http://www.coollinesartwork.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=169551&ArtistId=586&Details=1&From=Room)

1989 - Asgardian Wars TPB house ad

Anatomy of a cover - Nightmask #1

Here's an alternate cover by John Romita Jr. that never saw print... Not sure what the rationale was, but the published cover seem to be trying to do too much.

http://www.coollinesartwork.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=279984&ArtistId=428&Details=1&From=Room

And here's the on that saw print...

Anyone going to SDCC this weekend?

... and would be kind enough to pick up something there for me? :)

Unfortunately with some home renovations, I won't be able to make the big trip out West to attend SDCC.

And of course, there's a comic con exclusive Heroclix figure available for sale. I'm a huge Heroclix fan and would love to get my greedy little paws on it.

Please email me if you can, thanks!

Marvel Comics' October 2012 Solicitations - Some 1980s Love!

ALPHA FLIGHT CLASSIC VOL. 3 TPB 
Written by JOHN BYRNE & BILL MANTLO 
Penciled by JOHN BYRNE & MIKE MIGNOLA 

Concluding John Byrne’s legendary run! Canada’s mightiest heroes face threats of all sizes, ranging from the overweight Pink Pearl to the maniacal alchemist Diablo! And when the terrible secret of Sasquatch’s origin is revealed, Alpha Flight must battle the Great Beasts in their own realm — and pay a fearsome price! Then, Alpha Flight’s former leader, Guardian, returns from the grave — or does he? What’s he doing palling around with the villainous Omega Flight? And where does the Beyonder fit in? Finally, when Alpha Flight goes fishing in another dimension, they accidentally hook the Incredible Hulk! Will the jade giant smash the heroes beyond all repair? Only the series’ new creative team knows! It’s north-of-the-border action just the way you like it!

Collecting ALPHA FLIGHT (1983) #20-29 and INCREDIBLE HULK (1968) #313. - 280 PGS./$24.99

Not quite the 1980s, but has some great Bryne work... 


X-MEN: THE HIDDEN YEARS VOL. 2 TPB 
Written by JOHN BYRNE, STAN LEE & JACK KIRBY 
Penciled by JOHN BYRNE, JACK KIRBY, JOHN ROMITA & STEVE DITKO 

Writer/artist John Byrne’s retro take on the X-Men — set between their Silver Age series and their All-New, All-Different incarnation — comes to a calamitous conclusion! The original X-Men take on the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, mutant-controlled Sentinels, Angel’s evil uncle Burt, the long-lost Yeti, Kraven the Hunter and the mysterious mutant group the Promise — and it all concludes in a seamless “crossover” with a classic Lee/Kirby/Romita FANTASTIC FOUR tale! Plus: The original version of that FF saga, featuring the menace of Magneto and the Sub-Mariner! And the classic Atlas Era and Silver Age appearances of the Promise!

Collecting X-MEN: THE HIDDEN YEARS #13-22, FANTASTIC FOUR (1961) #102-104, and material from YELLOW CLAW #2 and AMAZING ADULT FANTASY #14. 304 PGS./$34.99

Guest Blog: A Spider-Woman for the 1980s Part 2

By Jef Willemsen  

An avid fan of Chris Claremont and Marvel comics in general, Jef Willemsen blogs about the many, many, many times Chris Claremont has resorted to mind control in his 40+ years in the business. Check out his reviews at: http://clarmindcontrol.blogspot.com

Everybody was kung fu fighting
Claremont’s fondness for the martial arts resulted in it becoming a recurring theme in many stories. While foiling a Yakuza plot, Spider-Woman fought Deathstroke and his shadow ninjas in issue #39. This earned her a spot on the crime syndicate’s hitlist. They sent the super powered assassin known as Flying Tiger after her in issue #40, who left her for dead after an ambush.

Barely surviving this confrontation, Jessica sought out a local sensei who taught her martial arts and self defense which allowed her to overcome her foe. During her time in the dojo, she discovered a disturbing secret about San Francisco police detective Sabrina ‘Bree’ Morrell.

It pays to plan ahead
Despite his reputation for improvisation and writing on the fly, Claremont had a clear vision of where he wanted the book to go. The Bree Morrell/Yakuza plot thread for instance was introduced in issue #40, and took a full year before it finally played out in issue #46 (by then the book had become bi-monthly). Yet, all the dangling storylines got neatly tied up, resulting in a satisfying pay off.


Saying goodbye
Ann Nocenti took over the book with issue #47. She prefered slightly darker, creepier stories in the style of one of Claremont’s predecessors Michael Fleischer. Sales dropped significantly and the book was fatally cancelled six months after Chris’ departure.

Apocryphal arachnid envy
Spider-Woman´s solo book ended with Jessica dying, which was quickly undone by Roger Stern in an issue of Avengers. But for some unknown reason she had lost her powers after her resurrection, forcing her to retire from superhero life. Yet, Marvel soon introduced a new Spider-Woman during the first Secret Wars who went on to become a member of Freedom Force. She was part of the team that tried to apprehend the X-men during their stay with Jessica in San Francisco and thís happened.

I can’t help but think that’s a little stab at the powers that were…

Here we go again…
Never one to let a good character languish in comics limbo, Claremont established Jessica Drew as a private eye on the rogue island of Madripoor when he started the first Wolverine soloseries. Jessica had even regained a measure of her former Spider-Woman powers, but she wouldn’t don her familiar red and gold costume until late 2004… even though, in retrospect, that was the Skrull queen Veranke posing as Spider-Woman.

“He loves you…” was the mantra all the Skrulls uttered during Secret Invasion. And yes…Chris Claremont sure loved Jessica Drew during the 1980s.