Your 84th Co(s)mic ComicBook B'Cast: Kraven's Last Hunt.

The year was 1987 when Marvel Comics released a storyline that ran across the Spider-Man titles from Amazing Spider-Man to Peter Parker The Spectacular Spider-Man to Web of Spider-Man.
The storyline was called Kraven's Last Hunt sometimes called Fearful Symmetry. It was originally supposed to be featured in Peter Parker The Spectacular Spider-Man but it was later decided that it would run for six issues in total across the the three Spidey titles.
In 1987, comicbook fans got their news about the favorite titles and characters through magazines and newsletters. I don't believe we had the internet at the time. I had heard about this storyline and without checking,  I assumed that this six issue storyline will be in the Amazing Spider-Man. Boy was I wrong. I sure could have used the internet back then.
Well I asked a store to set aside the issue of the Amazing Spider-Man for me, thinking that I would be able to to read the whole 6 issues of the storyline.
Boy was I ever wrong.
I found that I had two out of the six issues and only found out later and the other four parts were published in the other Spidey titles.
It would be a long while before I read the whole story and I did so when I got the trade paperback. I never did buy all the six issues of this storyline.
But I was thankful that at least I got to read the whole story.
Kraven's Last Hunt was written by J. M. DeMatteis and featuring some stunning artwork by Mike Zeck and Bob McLeod.
Apart from from Spidey, Mary Jane, Kraven of course, this storyline also featured a character that DeMatteis and Mike Zeck had created called Vermin.
Now I'm not reviewing Kraven's Last Hunt and I am not going to critique it either.
As usual I am going to share the beautiful artwork by the artists involved, Mike Zeck and Bob McLeod. So here we go, the covers from all the Spider-Man titles.

Part One: The Coffin.Web of Spider-Man #31

Part Two: Crawling. The Amazing Spider-Man # 293

Part 3: Descent.  Peter Parker The Spectacular Spider-Man # 131

Part 4: Resurrection.  Web of Spider-Man #32.

Part 5: Thunder The Amazing Spider-Man # 294

Part 6: Ascending. Peter Parker The Spectacular Spider-Man # 132. The Conclusion.
There you have it, the six issues that made up the story called Kraven's Last Hunt.  Beautifully drawn by Mike Zeck and Bob McLeod.
Hope you enjoyed this little trip down Memory Lane and if you have not read this storyline, do yourself a favour and go find it. Trust me, you'll enjoy it.
Comics like these are few and far in between these days. The perfect combination of a great story arc, artwork and colors all working together to tell you a memorable story called Kraven's Last Hunt.
Thanks for stopping by. See you next time comic fan.
Take care.

Your 83rd Co(s)mic ComicBook B'Cast: Barry Windsor-Smith and Weapon X.

Okay, it's probably no surprise to anyone that for this edition of the B'CAST, I'll be talking about Weapon X (as the title says it all), the 13 part story which appeared in Marvel Comics Presents # 72 to # 84 from March to September of 1991. It was written and beautifully illustrated by Barry Windsor-Smith.

Yep, Weapon X  by Barry Windsor-Smith. This was the story of Wolverine or Logan before he became....well Wolverine I guess.  Remember the days when Marvel kept Logan's origins a mystery and they kept adding on more stories about his past? Who was he really?  A soldier?  A mercenary?  Where did he get his claws? The stories were endless. Of course many years later Marvel would reveal Logan's origins but back in the old days, there were so many stories, theories and memory wipes and implants.
It seemed that each write would add on or take away what they like or didn't like when it came to Logan's life story.  Often times, it would be confusing but for me, there was one origin story that I always liked and for me, this was canon. Weapon X by Barry Windsor-Smith.
Now I'm not going to review the story as some of you maybe have not read Weapon X.  So I won't spoil it for you.  What I have in mind is to share the beautiful artwork of Windsor-Smith and let me tell you, I love what he did on Weapon X.

I remember how excited I was when it was announced that Barry Windsor-Smith would be writing and drawing Weapon X.  I was however a little worried because it would be featured in Marvel Comics Presents.  It was an anthology series, released biweekly and where I live, comics were sold at the newspaper vendors. There were no shops specially for comics. Yeah it was a tough life. Anyway I was worried that I would miss out on the issues of Weapon X and true enough I was right. Delivery of comics were sporadic to say the least.  I missed out on some issues of my favorite titles and it happened to me with Weapon X.
I had to wait for a few years to finally get the collected version of Weapon X.  Once I got the trade paperback, I saw the brilliance in Windsor-Smith's work.
His writing and artless top notch. The story of Weapon X felt like I was watching a movie. The art catches you attention and the story captivates you.
Now for this edition of the B'CAST, I'm going to to share the artwork of Barry Windsor-Smith on Weapon X.  Now I don't own any of this original artwork, I wish I did.  So here we go,  in no particular order, Barry Windsor-Smith's Weapon X.

This has got to be one of the most intricately detailed piece of artwork I have ever seen. Barry Windsor-Smith is a master of his craft.

While Weapon X is essentially to me Logan's story, you find the story here is told from the Logan's perspective at the beginning and at the end. Which is unique to say the least.
I hope you enjoyed having a look at Barry Windsor-Smith's artwork on Weapon X.
Hope I didn't have any spoilers in the B'CAST. If you have not had a chance to read Weapon X, try it and I hope you'll like it.  I intend to find some time and read the trade paperback one day.  Soon.
Thanks for dropping by for the 83rd Co(s)mic ComicBook B'Cast. Drop by again next time for another edition. Until next time, SNIKT! Take Care.

Your 82nd Co(s)mic ComicBook B'Cast

Hi there Comic fans....it only took me a year to start posting again.  Only one year.  I took some time off to do other things but I never gave up on this humble blog of mine.  In that one year, I took some time to settle my work issues.  As optimistic as that sounds, I've managed to get settled in to my new work environment and it only took me a year to do.  So as you might imagine, the past year has had it's ups and downs.  I revived this blog a year ago only to get sidelined (again) but I am back (again) and I'm going to give it another shot.

What do I have this time around?  Well, It's pictures, lotsa pictures, well a few.  hope you like them.

One of my favorite covers by Joe Quesada and Jimmy Palmiotti.  I love this cover, not only because of the artwork but because of the gimmick cover.  A wraparound cover which is stunningly beautiful. X-O Manowar # 0.

Another beautiful gimmick cover by Joe Quesada.  I'm not sure who inked this but I don't believe it's Palmiotti.  Another wraparound gimmick cover, chromium cover I think it was.  Bloodshot # 0.

Recognize this cover?  Yep, this is the wraparound cover to X-Men: Prime by Bryan Hitch.  I believe this came after the conclusion of the Age Of Apocalypse Saga.  Another beautiful gimmick cover, loved this comic so much, I bought two copies.  Yeah, I was greedy back then. 

This is the wraparound cover to The Uncanny X-Men # 350 by Joe Madureira and (I think) Tim Townsend.  If I am wrong, please correct me.  Another one of those nice shiny covers.  I wish i bought another copy of this issue but I guess I didn't have enough cash with me at the time, if memory serves, this issue had a gatefold cover.  Really beautiful cover.

Remember I mentioned X-Men: age of Apocalypse?  Yep, this here is X-Men: Omega.  The conclusion to the AOA Saga.  X-Men: Omega featured a chromium wraparound cover by John Romita Jr and Klaus Janson.  Magneto and the X-Men take on Apocalypse to set things right again, to restore everything to it's proper order!
And that's it for this edition of Your Co(s)mic ComicBook B'Cast.
Thanks for dropping by and having a look at my blog.  I really appreciate it, you could have been somewhere else but you dropped by for a look and for that I thank you.  Till next time (hopefully not another year) take care, bye for now.

The 81st Co(s)mic ComicBook B'Cast: The Art of John Buscema Part 2

It's another Co(s)mic ComicBook B'Cast, glad you're here again as we take another look at the artwork of a truly talented artist by the name of John Buscema.  This time around I'm going to concentrate on his work in Fantastic Four.
When you mention the first family of Marvel Comics, a number of names come to mind, chief among them, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, Rich Buckler, George Perez, Joe Sinnott, John Romita Sr, Ross Andru, Sal Buscema, Keith Pollard, John Byrne ( I'm sure I've forgotten a lot of artists on this list, sorry about that) and who could forget John Buscema.
John was definitely one of the main pencilers on Marvel's Fantastic Four, he made the Fantastic Four unforgettable and well...Fantastic!!
John started with Fantastic Four # 107 with writer Stan Lee and inker Joe Sinnott with a story titled: And Now...The Thing.

The Cover to Fantastic Four # 107 by John Buscema and Joe Sinnott and below the pages from this issue.

Let's take a look at the covers and interior artwork of John Buscema and his collaborators on Fantastic Four.

The cover to Fantastic Four # 112 by John Buscema and Frank Giacoia.  This issue was titled: Battle of The Behemoths!

 Here's more of John Buscema on Fantastic Four.

Fantastic Four by John Buscema and his frequent collaborator, Joe Sinnott.  This is a beautiful piece.
Thanks for dropping by for this edition of The Co(s)mic ComicBook B'Cast for the art of John Buscema on the Fantastic Four, this is just a small sample of his work on this one title, there are more beautiful covers and pages by this talented artists and that's what I'll be sharing with you on the next edition of the B'Cast.
Oh hey before I forget, A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and yours, take care.

The 80th Co(s)mic ComicBook B'Cast: WOW!! The Art of George Perez!

Welcome to the 80th Co(s)mic ComicBook B'Cast.  Wow, my 80th post. Thanks for your support, I personally never thought that this blog of mine would even reach 20 posts let alone 80.  It's been quite a strange journey, I've had to stop and restart this blog of mine a few times, I'm hoping to keep this going for as long as I can.  Okay on to the B'Cast and this time around is a look at the Art of George Perez.

His name is George Perez.  A truly talented artist and writer.  He's known for his intricate artwork on titles like The Avengers, Teen Titans, Wonder Woman and list goes on and on.  He started out in comics as the assistant to Rich Buckler and made his professional debut in a comics called Astonishing Tales # 25.

He soon became a Marvel regular.  he worked with writer Bill Mantlo on Sons Of The Tiger from Deadly Hands of Kung-Fu magazine. Here's a fun fact I didn't know about Perez.  He and Mantlo co-created the character White Tiger who was Marvel's first Puerto Rican Superhero.

Perez would later move on to other titles like Creatures On The Loose, Man-Wolf, The Inhumans, Fantastic Four and more.  He came to prominence on The Avengers with Issue # 141.

Here's a look at George Perez and his run on The Avengers.

Sometime in 1980, while he was still drawing The Avengers for Marvel Comics, Perez began working for their rival DC Comics. Offered the art chores for the launch of The New Teen Titans with Marv Wolfman.

George Perez and Marv Wolfman created some truly memorable story arcs during their run on this title.  While this offer to draw The New Teen Titans was something that proved to be a good choice for Perez, he really wanted to be the artist on a different title. The real incentive for Perez was the opportunity to draw Justice League of America.  This was Perez's ambition which "seemed like a natural progress after drawing The Avengers.  Here's a look at the cover from Justice League of America by George Perez, starting with issue # 184

This is just a small collection of Perez's covers on JLA.  While his run on JLA was popular with fans, it was his run on the New Teen Titans that his career really took off. This incarnation of the Titans was intended to be DC's answer to Marvel's increasingly popular X-Men.  The New Teen Titans was a sure fire hit.  Perez and Wolfman had struck gold.

It was during this time that Perez's artwork, his layouts, details, and faces improved enormously during his four years on the book, making him one of the most popular artists in comics even to this day.

Perez would later took a leave of absence from The New Teen Titans to concentrate on a project with Marv Wolfman in 1984, a project for DC Comics' 50th Anniversary celebration called Crisis On Infinite Earths but that's a story for a future edition of the B'Cast.  Will I have more on George Perez, you bet! There's still Wonder Woman to cover, there's Infinity Gauntlet, War Of The Gods and let's not forget JLA Vs The Avengers and more.....oh so much more.  Thanks for joining me for this, the 80th Edition of The Co(s)mic ComicBook B'Cast where we took a look at the Art of George Perez.
I'll see you again for the next edition of the B'Cast, until then, take care.