« Unsurprisingly, many of the fans of the era hated Stallman’s work and mocked it openly in their letters and in fanzines. Here I’ll quote editor-historian Tom Brevoort, from his own appreciation of Stallman’s Raven: “ How about having Chic Stone draw Raven in addition to Lightning?“ “ You’re using a lot of grade D artists… as for whoever draws the Raven, his art is utterly atrocious.” “ In issue #9 the art on the Raven was awful“ Judging from the letters columns, reader reaction had overwhelming been of this nature: I wouldn’t want to give too much away… read the whole shebang here!Īfter a mere five Raven episodes, Stallman was gone.
Einhorn, a fictive stand-in for legendary ‘Nazi hunter’ Simon Wiesenthal (1908-2005). 1967), wherein ice-cold Mayven takes on the assignment to eliminate Mr. A three-page sequence from the following episode, The Case of Jacob Einhorn ( T.H.U.N.D.E.R. And I *love* that Raven makes an ungodly racket when he flies, itself a great source of visual interest. Bold, dynamic, sloppy in all the right places and the right ways. Mayven, captured in the previous episode, wastes no time in making good - and memorable - her escape from the clink the opening pages from Mayven Returns ( T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Stallman had no trouble with action: another page from Raven Battles Mayven the Poet. 1966, edited by Samm Schwartz), spotlighting Mayven’s signature weapon: explosive tots. But enough of this prattle, let’s have a look! This is page two of Raven Battles Mayven the Poet ( T.H.U.N.D.E.R. He took over the character, redesigned him from stem to stern, and gave him a memorable arch-nemesis in Mayven, the Poet. 1966), the character’s sole point of interest was that he was a mercenary who, originally intending to betray T.H.U.N.D.E.R., had a change of heart.Īlong came Manny. Introduced by Steve Skeates and George Tuska in Enter the Raven ( T.H.U.N.D.E.R. cocktail is ‘Raven’ as written and illustrated by Manny Stallman (1927-97), a quintessentially eccentric delight. But my very favourite flavour in the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. A fine surprise was George Tuska‘s nimble comedic touch on the misadventures of ‘Weed’. Of course, I adore the Wally Wood material, all the more the unfailingly delicious Steve Ditko-Wood combo. Since much has been written about the history of Tower Comics (1965-1969), I’ll skip that part.
And unlike many a mail-order house, these goodies were the real deal, solid classics avidly sought after and treasured to this day.
Well, one of them does.Īs with many other choice cultural items of the era, I was first tantalised by a little volume entitled Dynamo, Man of High Camp from the back pages of Famous Monsters of Filmland, devoted to its in-house Captain Company catalogue: Warren magazine back issues, rubber masks and hands, posters, LPs, Super 8 reels, paperbacks, novelties… a veritable trove of wonders. This post has been inspired by sundry signs and omens I’ve encountered these past few days: first, a casual mention dropped by Bizarro ink stud Wayno on his blog then a fond-but-hazy recollection by a graphic designer colleague… and so this week, the agents of T.H.U.N.D.E.R. These men are highly skilled craftsmen and deserve a lot of respect. « There’s no need for some of the language that’s been thrown at some of the artists and writers.
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