Awesome Cover: The Avengers #57

The Vision debuts in dramatic style on the cover of The Avengers #57, by John Buscema. The decision to colour it entirely in shades of red was a bold one, but the result is startlingly effective.

Awesome Cover: Marvel 1602 #1

Every one of Scott McKowen's Marvel 1602 covers is a masterpiece, but the cover of issue one is a particular favourite. It's a shame that Scott McKowen didn't do the interior art as well.

Second Opinion: Master of Kung Fu #1 (2002)

I've had a soft spot for the Shang Chi, Master of Kung Fu, ever since my dad bought me some issues of the first series back in the early eighties, so when the classic creative team of Doug Moench and Paul Gulacy reunited for a six issue limited series I naturally picked up the first issue. I must have disliked it because I didn't bother getting the rest of the series. Maybe I was just annoyed that Shang Chi wears a black leather jacket instead of his funky red and yellow costume because it's actually a pretty enjoyable read. The plot is a little weak, but the artwork is excellent, and in many ways it feels just like the Shang Chi of old. So why didn't I like it?

Awesome Cover: The Avengers #353

The Black Knight wrestles with the reanimated corpse of his villainous predecessor on the cover of The Avengers #353, by M. C. Wyman and Tom Palmer. Unfortunately, the interior art by Wyman and Ariane Lenshoek (Ren Höek?) isn't of the same standard.

My First Comic: Hulk Comic #5

It seems appropriate that my first post should be about the first comic that I ever owned. It was a copy of Hulk Comic #5 that my cousin bought for me when I was five. In one of the stories the Black Knight and Captain Britain fight a stone giant that has been conjured by a sorcerer called Mordred. That story, and in particular the scene where the stone giant slowly sinks into quicksand, would stay with me long after the other stories had been forgotten. Unfortunately I also remember drawing a penis on the stone giant with a green felt-tip pen. My cousin wasn't very impressed.

So that was the comic that started it all. Thirty years later and I'm still reading comics, but I no longer draw penises on them.