When I was a kid, I had plenty of super hero images decorating my room. They were all of Marvel and DC characters, because that's pretty much all I read at that point. There was one exception though - a mini-poster of The Spirit kicking in a door. While I wasn't familiar with the character yet, there was so much energy in the Will Eisner image that I loved looking at it. Eventually I got my eyes on some Spirit stories and appreciated the character even more.
Yep! He was a brilliant artist, all right. A contemporary of Alex Toth, even! Which explains why the Eisner Awards--for comic book art excellence--were named after him.
ReplyDeleteI consider myself fortunate that I got to see a videotaped interview with him during a Connecticut Historical Society exhibit, back in the late Nineties/early 2000's, on the history of the comic publishing industry in the Nutmeg State.
The Spirit, Space Ghost, and Uncle Sam. Nothing in common you say? Pure driving force!
ReplyDeletePower of the Force!!
It's a pity you weren't able to use that same piece of art for this cover, Ross -- though the mix of images here is dead-on. It's hard to tell that this wasn't a cover for a real-world team-up somewhere along the way.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to see more of the Golden Age Mr. Terrific, by the way. Has he ever teamed with Captain America?
@Tobor: You make them sound like they should be Jedi. (Uncle Sam would probably be a dual-saber user, with one white and one blue. No red lightsaber for that guy!)
I also have a Spirit poster.
ReplyDelete@Bob Greenwade: how about Supergirl as a Jedi? Linda Danva; daughter of Bultar SWan and Joclad Danva!
ReplyDelete@Anon1033: she'd the perfect protagonist for "Starro Wars."
ReplyDeleteHere's to all the goons, thugs and henchmen everywhere. It's tough for the artists to come up with incidental characters week after week, and still make them interesting. And not too distracting while keeping them consistent thru the whole issue.
ReplyDelete@Bob Greenwade: Cy-Gor was a cyborg gorilla who was forcibly programmed with a VR simulation of the mind of Michael Konieczni. A CIA commando who tried-but-failed to publicly blow the whistle on the assassination of his friend, and commando team leader, Al Simmons (aka Spawn). And, as you might've already guessed, Cy-Gor went Frankenstein on his captors after Mike went crazy from the memories of all that betrayal.
ReplyDeleteCurrent whereabouts; unknown.
Excellent cover! Good to see the original Mr.Terrific and The Spirit is always awesome. One of those thugs looks suspiciously like J.Jonah Jameson though.
ReplyDeleteI think "Starro Wars" would be a fine title just for dropping Starro himself on Coruscant.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to see the Gold Key "Space Family Robinson" meet their near-namesakes from the Innovation version of the original LOST IN SPACE series.
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