Tagged: mike zeck
Comic Cover of the Week: The PUNISHER’s Most Pissed OFF!!!
Hey I’m back again with some cool damn covers of yesteryear & some of the best of the 80s hands down go to The Punisher Magazine! I’m definitely going to give props to The Punisher Limited series covers from Mike Zeck as some of the best of that decade but The Punisher’s Magazine continued that tradition flawlessly and some even rival Zeck’s masterpieces. Issue number 10 features Frank at his most pissed off! Check this one out from icon Joe Jusko:
Next we get what I think is the “Clint Eastwood” Punisher again from Joe Jusko:
And lastly the first issue of the mag is like the PERFECT continuation of the Zeck limited series from the man himself! Oh how I miss me some classic Punisher!!
Comic Cover of the Week: Zeck’s Iconic Kraven The Hunter!!!
Mike Zeck in my opinion is easily one of the BEST comic book cover artists of all time! Now with the news of Spider-man’s arch nemesis Kraven the Hunter being cast with Aaron Taylor Johnson in the role, I thought it’d be the perfect time to revisit one of the classic covers of the 1980’s limited series. Check out The Amazing Spider-man #293 from 1987’s brilliant cover by Zeck. Hopefully the cinematic version of Kraven will honor not only this iconic look but also pay homage to the classic storyline. This cover truly shows just how great Zeck is with this brilliant work of art!
Totally 80’s Comic Book Cover of the Week: Destro Betrayed!!
Oh how I love me some 1980’s Mike Zeck comic book covers!! He did a ton of rad covers in the 80’s for G.I. Joe and here is easily in my opinion one of his best. Issue number 38 from 1985’s cover proves that often times keeping things simple is the best recipe for something memorable. Here we’ve got an excellent depiction of big baddie Destro as he’s facing off with Cobra’s most popular ninja badass Storm Shadow! This one is a total classic and you can feel the tension between these two iconic villains, one of my fave ‘Joe covers by one of the best comic book artists ever…
Creepy Comic Cover of the Week: The Sinister Scarecrow!
It’s October and we’re getting closer every day to Halloween 2017! That means “all things creepy” are totally on the table! Today I thought I’d post one of my favorite creepy comic covers from waaay back in my childhood (1983 to be exact), another awesome cover from the master Mike Zeck! I always loved this cover as it really resembles something straight out of an 80’s horror flick. Captain America is seen here totally defenseless, broken, chained up & being ravaged by angry crows while the legendary villain ‘The Scarecrow’ approaches! Not to mention being chained in some sort of “Freddy Kruger” type boiler room. This is such a great era of Cap, Zeck never lets down with his stunning classic cover artwork and interior penciling. This one is a great blast from the past and a perfect addition to October’s Creepy Comic Book Cover of the week! They just don’t make em’ like this anymore…
Comic Cover of the Week: Shang-Chi Meets H.P. Lovecraft!
There are certain comic book covers that just pop right off the page at you when you see ’em & Master of Kung Fu #75 is one ’em! This cool cover way back from 1979 shows again just how damn good of an artist the master Mike Zeck is! This one shows Shang-Chi doing battle with a giant fish man that looks straight out of an H.P. Lovecraft story. I love the simplicity of some covers and this one gets straight to the point with an amazing underwater struggle facing the Master of Kung Fu. There are some truly jaw dropping covers in the Master of Kung Fu comic book back catalogue & Zeck’s done a great deal of them, ah those good ol’ days…
Badger #2 Brings Back The Crazy!
The Badger has definitely returned to form in the latest second issue from Devil’s Due / 1First Comics! It’s always nice to read a solid debut these days but it means a lot when the second issue in many cases is better than the first and this is the case in the latest reboot of the legendary Badger series from creator Mike Baron. You can read my review of issue #1 right here.
Anyway the second issue brings back a more familiar feel to the cult 80’s indie icon. We’re really seeing more of a modern retelling of the origin story of Norbert Sykes, which is thus far packed with the perfect amount of that familiar Baron style of quirky comedy and a degree of realism that make this comic thus far one of my favorite recent monthly titles. I actually think the current writers of Deadpool could learn a thing or two from Baron’s tasty recipe on this title.
So what do we get this issue? Well Norbert and his buddy Ham are mysteriously released from the mental ward, partly due to Ham’s “magical” abilities as an ancient druid. Ham also purchases an old castle on the outskirts of Madison Wisconsin where the two of them plan to live. Ham however reveals he’s got a a serious problem with a powerful wizard rival none other than Russia’s Vladimir Putin. Or could Ham just be batshit cray?!
Well things get worse when a Russian enforcer breaks into the castle ready to kill, good thing Norbert Sykes has got multiple personalities, one of which is the Kung Fu ass kicker The Badger! Lastly we get a glimpse of Putin himself as he and his crew of scientists are thawing out a prehistoric mammoth in a glacier. Yeah it’s crazy shit and also a ton of fun.
I’m really happy this character is being given a chance in 2016, so far the series has great potential, I’m not a huge fan of the artwork in issue two, I personally think Badger deserves better. It looked a bit rushed, I wish they could land someone like Paul Pope or old schooler Mike Zeck as a regular on the series. Aside from that I totally dig it as a whole and will definitely be back for issue #2. Ask your local shop to carry Badger as I don’t think this series is getting enough attention!
Comic Book Cover of the Week! The New Defenders by Bill Sienkiewicz!
This particular cover way back from 1983 was one of my favorites as a kid and today it stands as a truly stellar piece of work even by today’s standards. The New Defenders were pretty awesome and you had three of the original X-men all together in the same book! It’s clear when you had Bill Sienkiewicz on a cover back in the 80’s you were gonna get something leaps and bounds ahead of the curve. I consider him along with Mike Zeck one of the best comic book cover artists of all time bar none. His cool jagged style added that extra edge to your favorite book, suddenly making them cooler than ever before. Check this one out! They just don’t make em’ like this anymore…
Comic Book Cover of the Week: Vintage Snake Eyes!
Here’s a great blast from the past, GI Joe #53, by none other than Mike Zeck! Duh! You know I am starting to think that he might be the best cover artist of the 1980’s as I’ve seen a trend of consistently posting covers by him during that era. He did a ton of super awesome GI Joe Covers back in the day. You know all of us kids back then were obsessed with Snake Eyes! This was a simple, basic but totally bad ass cover that showcased how cool the character was-proving you just can’t ever go wrong with a god damn ninja!!
What’s even more bad ass is the full picture Zeck originally drew-Check it!!
Comic Book Cover of the Week! More of Mike Zeck’s Amazing Cap Cover Art!
I personally think that the best Captain America artist of all time is hands down Mike Zeck! Pretty much his whole run on the title in the 80’s features some of the coolest Cap covers of all time, issue #276 is a great example of a great comic book cover! The perspective, the colors are all equally impressive and the comic book itself is a ton of fun! This classic cover features Cap battling some of Baron Zemo’s androids! Is there any way we can get Zeck on board for some current Cap stuff?!
Captain America’s Costume for Lease: The Falcon Joins the Growing List of Cap Wannabes!!
So it seems that ol’ Steve Rogers has got some problems again-as you all probably already know he’ll be passing the mantle of Captain America to he longtime buddy Sam Wilson, formerly The Falcon! Wilson arguably the first black superhero in mainstream comics, originally appearing in the late 1960’s and has been one of Cap’s best friends since. It seems Marvel’s trying to really shake things up there to generate new some interest, most recently, the company announced a new Thor that’d be a female version and also announced that Wolverine would be killed off in the coming months. Of course we all know, Wolverine will be back, Thor will be a man again and Steve Rogers will once again return as Cap, so really there’s nothing to lose here for Marvel, it’s not even a gamble in smallest possible way.
But Man, Steve Rogers has a rough time being Captain America in the modern age doesn’t he? Being killed off in Civil War and having Bucky become the new Cap (I LOVED the Bucky version by the way) and now his super soldier serum being taken from his body?! Dang! Now Steve will operate from behind the scenes sitting at a desk as he’s now an old fogey! Ouch!! Anyway I think it’s a cool idea and I like the fact that the Falcon stepped to the plate to make some Cap history.
From what I hear too is that Wilson won’t be giving up his wings either-a good decision. Plus a winged flying Cap is a cool idea. My question is why realistically would Wilson decide to be Cap when he’s already a legend in his own right? I guess it’d be like if Spider-man died and suddenly The Black Panther decided he was going to be the Spider-man?!
Anyway there have over the years several others who’ve taken the role of Captain America besides Steve Rogers, here’s a list of the Cap wannabes!!
My fave the Bucky Cap…
Then there’s the Isaiah Bradley, version, considered the second incarnation of Cap, he’s also black, sorry Sam …
The there’s William Naslund, also known as “The Spirit of 76”, he’s the 1950’s Cap with Fred Davis the second Bucky… Continue reading
Universal Dork 