Now as for comics, who's your favorite delineator of the Black Panther? There've been some great work over the years by many excellent artists, but for my money no one drew a more regal, powerful Panther than John Buscema--though others have come mighty close.
Below, some classic T'Challa art by Big John and disciples.
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| Top: John Buscema - Avengers #74 (1970) Bottom: Sal Buscema - Avengers #78 (1970) Inker on both: Tom Palmer
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I really enjoyed the Black Panther flick, too! And that's coming from someone who remembers the very first appearance of T'Challa (Fantastic Four #52, as I'm sure you know) when it appeared on the stands. I suppose some readers were surprised when he pulled off his mask at the end of that first story and revealed that he was (of course) an African, but I wasn't. I was used to Marvel characters like Gabe Jones in Sgt. Fury, and Steve Ditko was known to draw incidental characters who were black, as well.
ReplyDeleteHi SF! Re FF #52, I think you may be misremembering a bit. In the first few pages T'Challa's shown maskless; he's in his everyday Wakandan garb before climbing into his Black Panther costume. So pulling off his Panther mask at the end shouldn't surprise any reader. :) (It probably would have been more dramatic if events had unfolded as you described.)
DeleteI didn't read Sgt. Fury back then but I loved DC's Secret Six, which included a black lead character Dr. Durant. IIRC that he was black was not a big deal--he was just another member of the SS group.
Btw I'm loving your "Comical Wednesdays" (and other posts) at your very interesting and entertaining blog.
Well, my mistake doesn't surprise me, as I haven't read the story in about fifty years, probably since FF #56 (featuring the "new" Klaw) came out. And a lot of my memories as a nine-year-old are a bit fuzzy.
DeleteI was a big Sgt. Fury fan. My first issue was #8. It was a big thrill for me in the early '90s when I got Dick Ayers to draw three pages from one of my scripts! (I even went to his home once. Made me feel eight years old all over again!)
Glad you've been reading my blog. I had no idea you'd been visiting.
By the way, are you familiar with the Doctor Doom story from 1969'sMarvel Super-Heroes #20? The story has art by Larry Lieber (1st half) and Frank Giacoia (2nd half), and although it's been over forty years since I read it, I believe there were several Kirby swipes.
ReplyDeleteHi, SF! No, I haven't read that story or MSH issue. But it doesn't surprise me, at least about Giacoia, since he was known to use a lot of reference. For example check out his work in Avengers #73; you'll see a lot of J. Buscema images there.
DeleteFrom what I've read, Giacoia wanted to pencil a lot more but reportedly it took him a loongg time to pencil even one page--and besides he was such a superlative inker--so Stan didn't give him many chances to pencil for Marvel. So since he usually didn't pencil back then, it's understandable that when he did get the rare assignment to do so, he'd rely heavily on reference. That was considered a technique/tool that some older artists used (and some younger fans-turned-pros used it too).
I can't recall many penciling credits for him, but under his own name, and that of "Frankie Ray," I saw his inking credits constantly back in the 1960s.
DeleteGiacoia did some penciling back in the day (before published credits were commonplace); but for Silver Age Marvel Stan used him primarily as an inker, with just a couple of penciling jobs here and there. For example, in addition to Avengers #73, there was #87, which contains a flashback sequence of the Panther & Klaw from Fantastic Four #53. And it's an extremely faithful rendering of Kirby's #53 art ;)...I guess because it's a flashback.
DeleteJohn Buscema always named Giacoia as one of his favorite inkers for his (JB's) work.
Haven't seen the movie but I loved BP in the Roy Thomas-era Avengers. Buscema and Palmer were a great team then and again with Roger Stern.
ReplyDelete