Random Moments from Old Comics, #2

I'm still organizing the comics in my basement. I'm going through the Marvels first. Here's a few things I've run across....

Those Aren't Enhanced? Really?
There was a fad in the early 90's of using "enhanced" covers to help sell comics. There were covers cut into shapes, covers with shiny inks or foils, covers with embossed images, and combinations of each.

Below is She-Hulk #50 (1993). The logo and "50" broach are embossed and printed in silver foil. She-Hulk's flesh is printed in green foil, but not embossed.

The layout of the cover has never made sense to me. Why would a big, blank area be the center of focus, unless the original plan was to also use emboss? I Photoshopped a version of what, I think, someone must have chickened out of doing...

John Byrne purposefully did a fun-loving, cheesecake book. I'm not sure if the above picture was the original intent or not, but it doesn't seem much tackier than what DC did with embossed silver foil in 1993 on Lobo #1.


Unreasonable request + Deadline = Short Cut
Marvel Team Annual # 4 is a light-hearted story written by Frank Miller and penciled by Herb Trimpe. It contains a full page image where Spider-Man says, "Look at them! Hundreds-- thousands of people, all screaming for our deaths!"

If Mr. Miller planned this as an entire page, I suspect he wasn't expecting to see a giant Spider-Man head filling it! Instead of showing thousands of people attacking, drawing the horror on Spider-Man's face is an effective time saver. Too bad he wears a mask.

Things We Should Never See, Part 3.
Here's Modok as seen in Marvel Team-Up #104 (1981).

Below is how we see him later in the book. Modok shouldn't have a body. Even if he's smashed out of his equipment, he just shouldn't.

It's like seeing Galactus without his helmet.

Frank Miller draws my character

Well, back in 1980. I was a fan at the Chicago Comic Convention (was that the name of it?) and was hoping I could get a drawing from John Byrne. The crowd was too dense around him and I never got close enough to ask. At least I think that was the case. My memory's a little vague about it. I do remember however that Frank Miller was sitting by himself with no one around him. He had just recently become the penciler on Daredevil. I had a portfolio of drawings and asked him if he would do a drawing of a character I had created. He was charging $15 a sketch. The results are above. (Yes, as a teenager, I was a fan of Batman and Iron Fist. Why do you ask?)

At the same convention, Joe Rubenstein inked a panel on a page I had penciled featuring a What If idea I had where Spider-Man retained his four extra arms. Seen here.

By the way, the first comic job I ever had was writing and drawing a story for DC's Talent Showcase # 18 in 1985. You may recognize the character from earlier in this post..!