The Mistress of Kung Fu Vs. Iron Sis!

In the 70's, one of my all-time favorite comics was Iron Fist. Written by Chris Claremont and drawn by John Byrne. Byrne once drew parody art of Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu and Iron Fist. It appeared on back cover of the magazine FOOM as Shang-She, Mistress of Kung Fu and Iron Sis, while Fu Manchu became Su Manchu. I loved it at the time, but disliked the color treatment, seen below. (I didn't understand printing in only two colors to save costs.) Even though it's cool in its own way, a little piece of me never accepted its crudeness. So, I decided to scratch that tiny itch and, through the magic of Photoshop (and manual labor), make a full color version! (Using the color of the times.)

Here's the original image...

And here's the front cover of Foom #9, March 1975.

Excelsior!

Spider-Man Tablecloth Art

Today I'm sharing one of my favorite pieces of art in my possession. A Spider-Man sketch by John Byrne and Mark Bagley on a piece of textured, plastic tablecover. It was a gift from friend Anna-Maria Cool.

Anna-Maria was a guest at DragonCon back in 1997. She had recently stopped drawing Barbie comics for Marvel and was currently drawing Elvira for Claypool. At some point, Mr. Byrne scribbled a ballpoint pen drawing on the table to Mr. Bagley, who then inked it with a Sharpie.

I love the fact that it's a spontaneous drawing done only for fun!

Click on the image below to clearly see the texture of the plastic tablecover. It's one of the things that make it cool.

While I'm sharing art, I'll also post some of Anna-Maria's work. This piece, which is framed and hanging on my wall, is from the profusely illustrated novel Toto of Oz, written by Gina Wickwar. Besides the beautiful illustration, I love how quirky it is as a single piece of art, taken out of context.

Okay, I can't let just one (quirky) piece of Anna-Maria's art represent her work. I'll scan in another, from the same book.

Wow, this post is all over the place with art images. Here's another one. My version of Anna-Maria herself, from Halo and Sprocket: Welcome to Humanity.

Okay. I'm done.