Marvel, while beginning at the roughly the same time as DC Comics, took a more circuitous path to the modern day, with its legacy only really beginning with Fantastic Four No. 1 in 1961. But like DC, some of the gems are found in short-lived and less popular books.
Many of the items here are process posts showing recolouring. Largely utilising scans of original art, I restore art when it needs it, and re-create logos and other trade dress. Some pieces have their originally-published colour schemes reconstructed and a version with new colour.
While most pieces are of vintage material, I bring my design, colouring and production skills to commissioned art as well. Check out the Production Services page.
Marvel Treasury Edition No. 30 – X-Men Fractures by Dave Cockrum
Rarer than regular tabloids that reprinted popular material were the special editions that contained new material prepared expressly for their oversized pages.
Marvel Treasury Edition No. 29 by Severin & Tartaglione
If you were reading comics between 1975 and 1980 or so, tabloid-sized comics were a wonderful thing to find on the newsstand. Oversized with cardstock covers, they most often reprinted older material. Seeing some of your favourite stories printed big was an awesome thing to experience.
Daredevil Poster by Frank Miller & Klaus Janson
It had made Miller a star creator, first joining Daredevil as its penciller and then becoming its writer as well. Aided and abetted by Klaus Janson, the finishing inker and colourist played a larger and larger role over time as Miller's pencils became simplified layouts.
FOOM No. 9 Cover by Jim Starlin
Here's another cover to FOOM, Marvel's 1970s fan magazine. Jim Starlin was making waves at Marvel as a writer and artist with a strong interest and ability in science fiction and all matters cosmic. He began with Captain Marvel, injecting new life into that character, and by the time of this issue in 1975, he had revived and was revolutionising Adam Warlock.
FOOM No. 14 Cover by John Buscema & Tom Palmer
FOOM was the successor to the MMMS and was the fan service of the MCG. Translated for the less geeky: Friends of Ol' Marvel was the successor to the Merry Marvel Marching Society and was the fan service of the Marvel Comics Group.
The Incredible Hulk Annual No. 5 Cover by Kirby, Abel & Romita
This was the second appearance of Groot – made famous in recent years by his association with Star-Lord in the Guardians of the Galaxy films from Marvel. But 11-year-old me had wangled the price of a comic out of my mother as a way to keep me occupied while we attended my cousin's wedding.
Captain America No. 1 Cover by Joe Simon & Jack Kirby
Coming a year before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour – the event which precipitated the US's entrance into the Second World War – Captain America was created by two young Jewish New Yorkers: Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. With the Nazi government in Germany already persecuting Jews and other groups they wished to eliminate, Cap was the perfect patriotic avatar for young Americans eager to get into the war in Europe. Punching Hitler square on the jaw is an iconic depiction of the Golden Age of comics.
Iron Man No. 67 Cover by Gil Kane and Mike Esposito
I have to admit, I've never read many issues of Iron Man, but when a lady at work said her son liked Marvel more than DC, I figured ol' Shellhead would be appreciated for one of my restoration and re-colouring posts. It ended up being a fun piece to work on.
Wizard No. 10 Cover by Rob Liefeld
Rob Liefeld had started at DC, then moved on to Marvel where he co-created characters like Cable and became one of their most-popular artists. In '92, he and other artists left Marvel to form Image Comics, and Liefeld's book was Youngblood.
Wolverine No. 10 Cover by Bill Sienkiewicz
By 1989, Bill Sienkiewicz had cemented his place in comics as a creator to be watched. With early work on Moon Knight, moving on to The New Mutants, a great Dune movie adaptation, and stunning painted and collage work on Elektra: Assassin.
Amazing Spider-Man Annual No. 14 Cover by Frank Miller
A standout issue from 1980, Amazing Spider-Man Annual No. 14 was drawn by rising artist Frank Miller, inked by Tom Palmer and written by Denny O'Neil. The cover is strong and memorable and the original colour scheme is solid. Still, couldn't resist working with it.
X-Men No. 137 Cover by Byrne & Austin
It had been an incredible run, making stars of Chris Claremont, John Byrne and Terry Austin. The trio had first worked together on a memorable Star-Lord tale in Marvel Preview No. 11, but it's X-Men they're most remembered for. No. 137 is a standout issue in a standout series, and there's been controversy about it ever since it came out due to the editorial battle between the book's creative team and then-editor-in-chief Jim Shooter. The creative team wanted Phoenix to live, Shooter made sure she died.
Giant-Size Chillers No. 3 Cover by Hannigan & Wrightson
From August 1975, this was a reprint issue of horror stories wrapped in a new cover. And what a cover. The darn thing nearly leapt off the rack at you and it remains a favourite, so giving it an updated treatment was a natural thing for me to do.
Doctor Strange by Frank Miller
Frank Miller was on the rise. He was soon to take over writing Daredevil, a book he was already drawing and getting noticed for. In February 1981, this Marvel house ad appeared, announcing that he and Roger Stern were going to be the new team on Doctor Strange. But it wasn't to be. According to Roger Stern:
Giant-Size Blog Headers
Online friend Richard Guion (aka Cousin Dick) was kind enough to give this site a couple of plugs on his blogs Giant-Size Marvel and Giant-Size Geek, and I returned the favour by making new blog headers.
Marvel Comics Giant-Size Cover Template
I've rebuilt and coloured a lot of vintage comic book covers. Now, it's your turn. Here's a template for Marvel's Giant-Size comics of the mid 1970s. I'd love to see what you create in the comments below.
Marvel Preview No. 4 : Star-Lord by Gan and Wrightson
Star-Lord first appeared in Marvel Preview No. 4, cover dated January 1976. The character was named by Marv Wolfman, and Steve Englehart created the character from there. Steve Gan was the artist.
Doctor Strange (1978) DVD Cover
You have to feel for the folks over at Shout Factory. They got the rights to re-release the 1978 Doctor Strange TV movie to tie in with the release of the new feature film starring Benedict Cumberbatch. And they went to the effort to remaster it from the original film elements. That's dedication, and one of the reasons genre film and TV lovers love Shout like cinephiles love Criterion and Kino Lorber. They do things right.
Spider-Man & Daredevil Special Edition No. 1 Cover by Frank Miller
Frank Miller had completed the Daredevil run with Klaus Janson which had made him a top creator at Marvel. His next major project would be 1983's Ronin limited series.
The Original Star-Lord Covers
His mother murdered by aliens, Peter Quill wanted revenge and his only goal was to get out into space to see it through. The early Star-Lord adventures were darker in tone than what we see today. They also had some great covers by top illustrators. Here they are as originally published, and new versions as Star-Lord magazine.
The X-Men Chronicles by Dave Cockrum
From 1981, Cockrum's hand-painted cover for this one-shot fanzine.
Uncanny X-Men No. 138 Cover by Byrne & Austin
One of the iconic covers in a run of iconic covers by Byrne and Austin. With fresh type and colour by me.
The Silver Surfer by John Buscema
I ran across a really grotty copy of the late John Buscema's pencils for this page from The Silver Surfer v3 No. 110. Detailed below are the steps from inks to layout to turn it into a cover.
ROM the Space Knight by Jeff Slemons
One of the early integrations of electronic features into an action figure, the ROM action figure didn't do well in the market, but the Marvel comic lasted 75 issues and four annuals. He'll return to comics in 2016 via IDW Publishing.
Star-Lord by Byrne & Austin
Back in 1976, Marv Wolfman – then editor-in-chief for Marvel Comics – came up with the name Star-Lord and passed it on to writer Steve Englehart to flesh it out. The result appeared in Marvel Preview #4, January 1976.
The Silver Surfer by Kirby & Sinnott
From Fantastic Four No. 55, Oct 1966. Kirby's energy and Sinnott's precision are in top form as the Silver Surfer returns.
Pro! NFL Cover by John Buscema
From 1970, John Buscema does a Marvel group of characters for Pro!, an NFL official progam.
Superman vs. Spider-Man Cover by Andru, Giordano & Austin
When this came out in 1976, fans went apeshit. And rightfully so. For the first time, rivals DC and Marvel teamed up for mutual profit. Written by Gerry Conway, pencilled by Ross Andru (with some polishing by Neal Adams), figure inking by Dick Giordano and background inks by Terry Austin. It was a whole lot of fun to read.
Amazing Fantasy No. 15 Cover by Steve Ditko
For a rejected cover, it's made its rounds over the years. Steve Ditko submitted this image, but Marvel's then-publisher Martin Goodman rejected it. Gone was Ditko's downward-looking POV to be replaced by an upward-looking Kirby-pencilled version.
The Amazing Spider-Man No. 701 Cover by Steve Ditko
The Amazing Spider-Man was cancelled after issue No. 700. I'll be honest, I hadn't picked up the book since the 70s. Black costumes, clones, brand new days and all the rest just seemed like something I wanted to avoid. But you can't ignore Spider-Man. C'mon. He's SPIDER-MAN. And there were a lot of great issues I have read multiple times, and will likely read again.
Marvel Team-Up No. 4 Cover by Kane & Giacoia
I was a wee lad in the summer of 1972. I liked Spider-Man a lot. His cartoon (the 1967 series) was on TV (and still rules today). But it wasn't until Mom gave me 20¢ in the drugstore that I bought a copy of this, my first comic.