By I was flipping through my back issue collection and fell in love with those wacky Marvel Bullpen Bulletin pages from the 1970s. Back during the time when Marvel was expanding their monthly lineup of titles, each ad seemed to make them the most important landmarks in illustrative fiction. Here are a few of my favorites...
Avengers vs Defenders: the first cross-over event! The Silver Surfer and the Vision were two of my favorite characters--it was cool to see them fight. Somehow seeing Wanda looking fearful at the Vision just increased the anxiety.
Brother Voodoo. Despite the name, I never figured out why this character never took off. He was ultra cool and had an origin just like Dr. Strange. Plus, he got to hang around with half naked voodoo priestesses.
Ka-Zar and Man-Thing. Why are these two paired together? Because Man-Thing appeared in Ka-Zar's old title, Astonishing Tales? They had one thing in common--each series was cancelled after 20-odd issues.
Planet of the Apes. Probably my favorite Marvel black and white magazine, especially the early issues featuring Mike Ploog's artwork (I'll have to make an entry on that one real soon). I was a big fan of all the Apes films and the short-lived CBS tv show. I lusted after the first issue of this magazine and just couldn't wait until I found it on the newsstand. John Romita's drawing promised that the comic would take place after Battle for the Planet of the Apes, which it did, in a way. Nuff said.
Leave a comment