MOVIEMAKING ILLUSTRATED: THE COMICBOOK FILMBOOK, Part Four

Continuing our look through MOVIEMAKING ILLUSTRATED: THE COMICBOOK FILMBOOK, a 1973 release that explained assorted filmmaking techniques and terminology by using visual examples culled from then-recent Marvel comics. A Johnny Craig sequence from IRON MAN opens this chapter. Panels by John Buscema and Jack Kirby Some more John Buscema here. A Barry Smith CONAN sequence … Continue reading MOVIEMAKING ILLUSTRATED: THE COMICBOOK FILMBOOK, Part Four →

MOVIEMAKING ILLUSTRATED: THE COMICBOOK FILMBOOK, Part Three

Continuing on with our survey of this long-lost volume that uses examples from comic books to illustrate points of filmmaking theory. A Don Heck panel there on the lower right. Some Gene Colan here. More Gene Colan. A Steve Ditko panel on the right. A Gil Kane Spider-Man panel. More Gene Colan and a Dick … Continue reading MOVIEMAKING ILLUSTRATED: THE COMICBOOK FILMBOOK, Part Three →

MOVIEMAKING ILLUSTRATED: THE COMICBOOK FILMBOOK, Part Two

Continuing back with our look at this 1973 release that explained elements of filmmaking storytelling and composition by using visual examples selected from contemporaneous Marvel comic books. This was a volume that could be found in many an artist's drawing space during the 1970s. A sequence illustrated by Larry Lieber. Here are two sequences by … Continue reading MOVIEMAKING ILLUSTRATED: THE COMICBOOK FILMBOOK, Part Two →

MOVIEMAKING ILLUSTRATED: THE COMICBOOK FILMBOOK, Part One

Here's an interesting little book that was a fixture among comic book artists during the 1970s.MOVIEMAKING ILLUSTRATED: THE COMICBOOK FILMBOOK was co-authored by James Morrow and Murray Suid and strived to teach film storytelling by using examples from the comic book medium. They had gotten the rights from Marvel Comics to reproduce panels and sequences … Continue reading MOVIEMAKING ILLUSTRATED: THE COMICBOOK FILMBOOK, Part One →

The 1975/1976 Topps Marvel Super Hero Stickers

The first run of Topps' Marvel-themed super hero stickers had been a solid success, which meant that they decided to do another run the following year. Like the first run, these stickers came five-to-a-pack with a piece of stiff chewing gum, and each one featured the image of a Marvel hero with a quasi-comical word … Continue reading The 1975/1976 Topps Marvel Super Hero Stickers →

The 1974/1975 Topps Marvel Super Heroes Stickers

If you were a kid growing up in the 1970s, then these Topps stickers are going to be familiar to you. These things were everywhere--stuck up in all manner of places by industrious kids who bought them either because they had a love for the Marvel Super Heroes of that period, or just because they … Continue reading The 1974/1975 Topps Marvel Super Heroes Stickers →

DC SAMPLER #3

Having dedicated themselves to making strides within the new Direct Sales marketplace, an arena in which Marvel had up to this point been overwhelmingly outselling pretty much everybody, DC produced a number of issues of DC SAMPLER, an overview and preview of their line intended to be given out at comic book specialty stores across … Continue reading DC SAMPLER #3 →

When Captain America Killed a Million People

I'd heard about this story for years--I think that I first read about it in the first volume of the Steranko History of Comics when I was a kid. But I'd never been able to locate nor read it--until now. And so, I'm going to share the same opportunity with you all. It's the Captain … Continue reading When Captain America Killed a Million People →

DC SAMPLER #2

The first DC SAMPLER must have proven to be a success, because for the next couple of issues, DC did it again--producing a free comic book-sized magazine promoting all of their upcoming series. You can really see that the switch-over to what DC would become was in full swing by this point, and there's a … Continue reading DC SAMPLER #2 →

DC SAMPLER #1

By 1983, DC was on a creative upswing. The arrival of new President and Publisher Jenette Kahn had coincided with efforts to expand DC's efforts into the growing Direct Market of comic book specialty shops that had sprung up across the country. At this time, DC's fortunes on the mainstream Newsstand weren't looking all that … Continue reading DC SAMPLER #1 →