Tag: Bronze Age

Shazam (1973)

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When superhero comics became popular again in the mid-1960s in what is now called the “Silver Age of Comic Books“, Fawcett was unable to revive Captain Marvel, having agreed to never publish the character again as part of their 1953 settlement. Looking for new properties to introduce to the DC Comics line, DC publisher Carmine Infantino decided to bring the Captain Marvel property back into print. On June 16, 1972, DC entered into an agreement with Fawcett to license the Captain Marvel and Marvel Family characters. Because Marvel Comics had by this time established Captain Marvel as a comic book trademark for their own character, created and first published in 1967, DC published their book under the name Shazam! Infantino attempted to give the Shazam! book the subtitle The Original Captain Marvel, but a cease and desist letter from Marvel Comics forced them to change the subtitle to The World’s Mightiest Mortal, starting with Shazam! #15 (December 1974). As all subsequent toys and other merchandise featuring the character have also been required to use the “Shazam!” label with little to no mention of the name “Captain Marvel”, the title became so linked to Captain Marvel that many people took to identifying the character as “Shazam” instead of “Captain Marvel”

Thor (1970’s)

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After Kirby left the title, Neal Adams penciled issues #180–181 (Sept.-Oct. 1970). John Buscema then became the regular artist the following issue. Buscema continued to draw the book almost without interruption until #278 (Dec. 1978). Lee stopped scripting soon after Kirby left, and during Buscema’s long stint on the book, the stories were mostly written by Gerry Conway, Len Wein, or Roy Thomas. Thomas continued to write the title after Buscema’s departure, working much of the time with the artist Keith Pollard; during this period Thomas integrated many elements of traditional Norse mythology into the title, with specific stories translated into comics form. Following Thomas’s tenure, Thor had a changing creative team.

In the mid-1970s, Marvel considered giving the character a second series as part of parent company Magazine Management‘s line of black-and-white comics magazines. A story written by Steve Englehart for the aborted project appeared in Thor Annual #5 (1976). A black-and-white Thor story appeared in Marvel Preview #10 (Winter 1977).

The Puma Blues (1986)

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The Puma Blues was a comic book written by Stephen Murphy and drawn by Michael Zulli. It ran from June 1986 to the beginning of 1989, stretching over 23 regular issues and a single “half-issue” minicomic.

Published first by Aardvark One International and later by Mirage Studios, the story is set around the millennium. and follows Gavia Immer, a governmental fauna agent, as he goes through an existential dilemma while watching videos his father left for him after his death.

The comic book’s detailed artwork by Michael Zulli, which focused primarily on wildlife and nature, was superposed to a loose narrative with a druggy, dreamy, new age apocalyptic atmosphere. This de-structuralizing of the main narrative increased dramatically in later issues, with the second half of the series often taking the form of illustrated prose poetry within an associative narrative.

The Sandman V1 (1970’s)

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The Sandman of the 1970s was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. Issue #1 was intended as a one-shot, but five more issues and an additional story followed. After the first issue, the stories were written by Michael Fleisher. The second and third issues were illustrated by Ernie Chua. Inks were by Kirby, Mike Royer and, in the sixth issue, Wally Wood. All covers were by Kirby, and the fourth issue noted his return to the interior artwork on the cover.

This Sandman was originally intended to be the actual Sandman of popular myth, “eternal and immortal”, despite his superhero-like appearance and adventures. The Sandman is assisted by two living nightmares named Brute and Glob, whom he releases from domed cells with the help of a magic whistle. They are nuisances who beg for release, who are intent on hand-to-hand combat, but are implied to be relatively harmless and well-intentioned once freed. Using security monitoring devices, the Sandman can enter the “Dream Stream” or the “Reality Stream” (in which he acts like the superhero he looks like), and he carries a pouch of dream dust with which he can cause anyone to sleep and dream. The Sandman’s main task is protecting children from nightmare monsters within their dreams, especially one young boy named Jed, who lives with his grandfather, Ezra Paulsen, as well as to ensure that children have an appropriate level of nightmares rather than dealing with such anxieties in real life.

Arrgh! (1974)

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Arrgh! ran for five issues between December 1974 and September 1975. Each issue of Arrgh! presented humorous horror stories, often parodies of well-known movies or TV shows. Marvel Humor in a Jugular Vein.

Dracula Lives (1970’s)

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Running concurrently with the longer-running Marvel comic Tomb of Dracula, the continuities of the two titles occasionally overlapped, with storylines weaving between the two. Most of the time, however, the stories in Dracula Lives! were stand-alone tales by various creative teams. Later issues of Dracula Lives! featured a serialized adaptation of the original Bram Stoker novel, written by Roy Thomas and drawn by Dick Giordano.

The magazine format did not fall under the purview of the Comics Code, allowing the title to feature stronger content — such as moderate profanity, partial nudity, and more graphic violence — than Marvel’s “mainstream” titles. The larger format allowed the interior artists to “stretch out” a bit more. Painted covers of the series were done by artists like Boris Vallejo, Neal Adams, and Luis Dominguez. Dracula Lives!‘ text and photo articles were mostly of the Count’s various film appearances. The title of the magazine’s letter column was “Dracula Reads!”

Blue Devil (1984)

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Blue Devil (Dan Cassidy) first appeared in a special insert published in Fury of Firestorm #24 (June 1984). That story led directly into Blue Devil #1, also cover dated June 1984. He was created by Dan Mishkin, Gary Cohn, and Paris Cullins. The Blue Devil comic book ran for 32 issues with Blue Devil later appearing as a regular character in Shadowpact that ran for 25 issues.

Dan Cassidy was working as a stuntman and special effects specialist in Hollywood when he created the Blue Devil full body suit, complete with a built in exoskeleton, specifically designed for the Blue Devil movie being produced by Verner Brothers Studios.

During filming on The Blue Devil, the demon Nebiros was accidentally unleashed from within an ancient temple and, thinking Cassidy was an actual demon, tried to drain his demonic powers with blasts of magic. Instead, the blasts permanently bonded the suit to Cassidy. This unnatural fusion of magic and technology caused Cassidy to experience unusual events and draw the attention of otherworldly beings, a condition known in occult circles as a “weirdness magnet”.

Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion (1971)

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After four issues as The Dark Mansion Of Forbidden Love, the romance angle was abandoned and the title changed to Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion. Very much in the same vein as House of Mystery and House of Secrets, Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion was “hosted” by Charity (the character debuted in issue #7).

The character of Charity later became part of the supporting cast in the Starman series and at some point after the last issue married the policeman Mason O’Dare and is pregnant with his child.

Vampire Tales (1973)

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Vampire Tales ran 11 issues cover-dated 1973 to June 1975. With sister titles including Dracula Lives, Monsters Unleashed and Tales of the Zombie, it was published by Marvel Comics‘ parent company, Magazine Management, and related corporations, under the brand emblem Marvel Monster Group. Published b-monthly, the magazine cost 75 cents.

The magazine starred Morbius the Living Vampire, in a feature written primarily by Don McGregor, with pencilers including Pablo Marcos, Rich Buckler, Tom Sutton, and Mike Vosburg, and later by writer Doug Moench, with artist Sonny Trinidad. The vampire hunter Blade starred in two stories by writer Marv Wolfman and artist Tony DeZuniga, in issues #8-9 (Dec. 1974 – Feb. 1975). Steve Gerber contributed a Morbius story to issue #1 (Aug. 1973) and a story starring Lilith, Dracula’s daughter, to issue #6 (Aug. 1974).

Issue #2 (Oct. 1973) introduced Satana, the Devil’s Daughter, in a four-page teaser by writer-editor Roy Thomas and artist John Romita Sr.; and detective Hodiah Twist and his assistant Conrad Jeavons, created by Don McGregor and penciler Carlos Garzon.

Vault of Evil (1973)

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In the early 1970s, horror was hot once again, and Marvel filled that demand with a number of titles, including  Chamber of Chills, Supernatural Thrillers, Crypt of Shadows, and Fear. Like many of these, Vault of Evil relied on reprint material from its 1950s precursor, Atlas comics.