The First Six

I read comics a few times as a kid, mostly dc stuff, but it never really fired me up until one day back in 1983 I had my mom buy me a sealed bag of three comics because I was bored. What I found in that plastic bag changed me forever. I immediately became a huge comic book fan and a huge groupie of the Marvel Universe. I so thoroughly enjoyed the marvel titles so much that I went back the next day and bought a second bag of three comics and I was off and running. I had suddenly found comics to be so creative and so immersive that its nearly indescribable to explain how my child self felt, but I guess you might say it was kinda similar to seeing Star Wars in the movie theater the first time. Pretty powerful stuff for a kid.

They funny thing is that the bagged comics were a few months behind what was actually on the shelves so there was a gap in my collection for several years until I discovered the comic book store.

But what were these six issues that had such an affect on me?

Captain America # 283

This is the one that started it all because it was this cover that got my attention. I’ve always had a fondness for Cap ever since this issue and I really loved (and still do) Mike Zeck’s art. Plus it had the Viper, see here for my love of this character.


Rom #44

What immediately blew me away with Rom was Sal Buscema’s artwork. I’d never seen anything that exploded with so much energy and yet was so emotive at the same time. I greatly enjoyed the sci-fi and horror trappings of the title and Rom was also my first experience with the “tortured” hero. Other supers talk about losing their humanity but with Rom he actually gave up his own body to fight the cosmic threat of the dire wraiths. This issue took place in Russia, and the idea of Communist Superheroes (and villains) was totally new for me and it felt representative of how a kid could interpret the bizarreness that was the cold war.


Fantastic Four #256

I think I read an issue of Fantastic Four back in the seventies, but this issue was a whole new ballgame. John Byrne was at the height of his powers and he really was doing something special with this title and as a kid I noticed. This was my first introduction to a really cosmic adventure with the FF battling in the Negative Zone. I loved the grandness that was the villain Annihilus and his “death” as he floated to through space and crashed into the barrier that separated dimensions. I swear I could actually hear his scream. I’ve been an 80’s Byrne Junkie ever since.


New Mutants #5

Before New Mutants #5 it was my belief that kid superheroes were supposed to be a joke like the wonder twins. Abruptly, with this issue, that all changed. Here was my first encounter with an X-men title and I was hooked. The characters were so well fleshed out and the team was so relatable that it almost seemed like they could be real… if just for an imaginary moment. I also really liked the international flavor of the team and I greatly enjoyed how they interacted, like a superhero Real World. This was also my first introduction to Sal Buscema’s art as he did the inking chores on this title and I’ve been a big fan of his from this time on. Plus, there’s that Viper again and this time she’s brought a friend.

Daredevil #196

Daredevil #196
I had never encountered anything like what I found in Daredevil #196. Before, I couldn't even conceive that an environment itself could really be menacing before but this issue really showed me the danger that lies in the heart of a decayed concrete jungle. It was gritty and crime hung around like old smelly socks. I had no concept of the super anti-hero before, so I had a difficult time making out if Wolverine was a supposed to be a good guy or a bad guy, but the fun part was trying to figure it out. I’ve never been a big fan of Klaus Johnson's art but it was certainly different then everything else and it suited crime story feel of comic.


And ?
I can’t remember the sixth issue! I thought I’d never forget any of these titles but for some reason one has slipped from my memory. I’ve rummaged around the Internet endlessly looking at comic covers, trying to find this lost issue of my “real” first six Marvel Comics. This lost comic book would have to be from June 1983 as all the other bagged comics had this cover date but nothng has come up in my searches so far. It’s maddening that I can recall this issue. Oh well… I just have to keep looking.


-Swinebread

Mantlo: A Life in Comics

One of the nice things about the ROM exhibit I went to last month (here) was that they had copes of the benefit project book, Mantlo: A Life in Comics. Bill Mantlo, as some of you may know, was a prolific comic book writer from the mid ‘70s to the late ‘80s. He wrote many of my favorite comics from my childhood and created several unique characters along the way. In the early ‘90s, Mantlo was hit by a car and never fully recovered from the brain injury that resulted. The purchase of this book goes toward his care.

Reading this slim, but jam-packed magazine was a great stroll down memory lane. So many wonderful stories and superheroes came flooding back, Cloak and Dagger, the smart Hulk, the crossroads Hulk, ROM, Micronauts, Jack of Harts, Peter Parker the Spectacular Spiderman, Rocket Raccoon, Rawhide Kid, Champions and Iron Man. Bill Mantlo was an amazing writer and his work holds up very well by today’s standards. I’ll take his version of the Marvel Universe over what’s currently going on at the house ‘no’ ideas. Pick it up. It’s well researched and a joy to read.

An interview with the author of Mantlo: A Life in Comics, David Yurkovich, here

-Swinebread

ROMance ART, Spaceknight Love

Boy! I’m F-ing lucky. Why? because I almost missed an exhibition dedicated to one of my all time faves, ROM the Spaceknight. If I hadn’t gone out for Japanese food, if my SO hadn’t picked up a copy of the December 18th issue of the Asian Reporter, and if I hadn’t decided to skim it, I would never have read an article about Floating World Comics’ Rom Exhibition in downtown Portland. Whew! My wife and I went there today… the last day of the show. Man, I have to start paying a lot more attention to what is going on around town.

A selection of ROM art (image from Floating World Comics website)

Check out the informative Asian Reporter, article by Toni Tabora-Roberts here.

The quick rundown is that Floating World Comics’ owner, Jason Leivian, decided to put on a fundraiser for Bill Mantlo, the scribe of the ROM comic series from the 80s. A car hit Mantlo in 1992 and left him severely disabled. All proceeds from this show are going towards his care. Leivian, like so many others, loves the ROM character and felt an exhibition celebrating him was great way to honor Mantlo and give back to a creator in need.

Jason Leivian in front of many of the works on Ebay


Floating World Comics is a wonderful shop with a very diverse line of comic books, from the mainstream, to Indy, to the avant-garde. So, the venue was a perfect place for a ROM exhibition made up of artists with varied styles. Leivian did two innovative things with this show. The first was allowing artists from around the world to submit digital copies their work. This allowed Leivian to print out a limited number of high quality images for the show. Toni Tabora-Roberts dubbed this "Cyber Curating" in her article. I see a future in this. The second innovation Leivian used was a sliding scale for the digital prints. See, the first copy of any image had a low price of 5 bucks but each additional copy jumps in price by 5 dollars with the 6th print at 30 bucks. That way pieces by famous artists are balanced out with the less well-known work. The final aspect of the show was on-line auctions of ROM artwork by some of the artists featured in the show. The auctions have all closed by now and Leivian was happy to tell me that the auctions generated over $9,000.

I bought a print of Shane White's version of ROM (image from his blog here)

There were still some amazing prints available but sadly a few of the items I would have liked to get were long gone, but I’m not complaining because I might have missed the show all together and besides Leivian told me he plans on printing a limited run book that will contain all the art in show! Oh Yeah! That’s on the list.

Something that was amazing about the show for me personally was how I was drawn to the non-superhero style art. I guess there is just something universal about ROM that I never realized before. Maybe it’s his simple face that allows the viewer to add his or her own emotions character or it’s possibly ROM’s pseudo-retro, sci-fi design, I don’t know, but he seems to have a certain appeal beyond the comic book page. I was so inspired in fact that I’ve decided to whip up my own ROM artwork… and I’m not an artist. But that doesn’t matter… ROM is one of those galactic everyman characters that belong to all of us. Drawing your own ROM would make a great net meme, so why don’t you join me in creating one... …or two…

I didn't catch the name on this artist but nice work. (if you know it please leave a comment)
ROM and Starshine on Tortillas! By Mike Scheer (image from Floating World Comics site)
Guy Davis' ROM it went for big bucks on Ebay (image from Floating World Comics website)
Colleen Coover (image from Floating World Comics website)

Here’s the Link for many of the creative images from the exhibition and auction.

Make your own ROM!

-Swinebread

ROM Spaceknight... Ahhhhh ahhhhhhh...

Hey, one of the most noble if not the coolest cosmic superheroes of all time Rom, now has his own song by HB3. It's off their newly released Luminosity album. You can go to their myspace page here to listen to the whole song.

Here is the intro to HB3’s Rom Spaceknight music video.


Here is part of HB3’s Rom Spaceknight song with footage from an old Rom commercial.


-Swinebread