Gold Key Flash Gordon

One of my first exposures to Flash Gordon were these cool comics Gold Key put out in the late 1970's. I loved the painted covers and these books would jump out at me when I saw them in three packs at the local Woolworth's. As a Star Wars fan, I was interested in anything space and Flash certainly didn't disappoint. These were two of my favorite covers. The first one was from #24 from July, 1979. Artist unknown.



This gem is from #25, September, 1979.



They also adapted the great movie which came out a couple of years later. Unfortunately they couldn't adapt the great Queen score.



The next con I go to I need to find some more of these 70's greats.

Meeting Sergio

I had a great time yesterday at the MO-KAN Comics Conspiracy. Meeting Sergio Aragones and Mark Evanier was a wonderful experience. I got a few things signed like Evanier's fantastic new book on Jack Kirby, which is a must have if you like the King of Comics. Sergio did a quick Groo sketch for me in my sketchbook and also did a little self portrait in another book he signed for me.



All in all it was a good con and hopefully these guys will make a return trip sometime soon.

MO-KAN Comics Conspiracy

It's that time of year again. This Saturday and Sunday, KC's oldest continually running comic convention is back. This years edition of the MO-KAN Comics Conspiracy will feature the complete creative team of the classic humor comic Groo The Wanderer.



Creator and artist Sergio Aragones, writer Mark Evanier, letterer Stan Sakai, and colorist Tom Luth will make a rare appearance together. It'll be great to meet Sergio and Mark. I've enjoyed Sergio's work for years and Mark's great website www.newsfromme.com is a must read for me every day. It'll be a fun weekend and if you're in the KC area, it's worth the trip.

1976 DC Calendar

Some of my most prized comic book related items in my collection are the mid 1970's DC calendars. I was really happy to get these a few years ago. I thought I'd post images from these periodcally. All the art on the 1976 calendar was by Neal Adams and Dick Giordano. I posted all the pics on my Flickr site but I'll just post my favorites here. My favorite is the February image of my favorite hero Superman.



I also dig this cool Flash drawing representing March.



And since it was the bicentennial, this image from July pretty much sums up the DC of 1976.



I'll post images from the 1977 and 78 calendars later on.

Hawkman #16

I've been recently digging through my Silver Age DC's and came across some of these great Murphy Anderson Hawkman stories. This one, from November, 1966, is a good example of the science-fiction style that Julie Schwartz was bringing to DC at the time. Gardner Fox wrote the script and it was typical Fox, very talky and full of descriptions of what was going on. I like Fox's work but sometimes it's a little hard to read. The best part about this book is Murphy Anderson's fantastic art. Joe Kubert is the quintesential Hawkman artist but Murphy brought his own great style to the character and made it his own. I highly recommend this series, even with the go go checks on this cover. DC was really hip and groovy then. Cover pencils and inks by Anderson.

DC Megos

I thought I'd post some pics of the DC Megos I have. Can't let the Marvel heroes have all the fun!



The removable cowl Batman was a great figure with a cool head sculpt. He was only produced the first couple of years. Another favorite was Green Arrow, who many consider the best Mego produced.



Here are some more favorites. I think readers of this blog will recognize who they are. Megos were a great representation of super heroes at the time.





I just recently picked up a nice Superman at a toy show a couple of weeks ago. Here he is with another classic Mego who actually had super powers, if you consider drawing chicks with a snap of the fingers a super power.

Marvel Megos

One of the coolest things about the 1970's were the Mego World's Greatest Superheroes action figure line. Heroes who I never thought would have an action figure had one during this time. The line started with mostly DC heroes but by the mid '70's Marvel brought out most of the main heroes like Spidey and the FF. My favorite Mego of all time was Thor.



He was fantastic. The likeness and costuming were spot on. Another favorite was Captain America and his trusty sidekick The Falcon.



There were a lot of great Megos. This commercial showcases all the greats. It's probably my favorite toy commercial of all time.



Also check out the Mego Museum, the ultimate site for all things Mego. Be prepared to spend a lot of time there.