CRIVENS! COMICS & STUFF!: WHAT THE -- ?! COVER GALLERY

Sunday, 29 September 2013

WHAT THE -- ?! COVER GALLERY - PART ONE...

Back in the '60s, MARVEL published a comic called NOT BRAND ECHH, which lasted for 13 issues. In the '70s, CRAZY was the order of the day (3 issues featuring reprints from NBE in the colour version of the monthly mag). If they had a humour mag going in the '80s, I wasn't paying attention, but I was wide awake in the early '90s when they released WHAT THE - - ?! - the then-modern version of what Not Brand Echh had been three decades before. (It lasted for 26 issues, though I only ever bought 21 of them.)

Anyway, here's the first of a three-part series, showcasing the zany covers of Mighty Marvel's Madcap Magazine for Mental Mutants! Got a favourite? Then be sure to share it with your fellow Crivs.

4 comments:

John Pitt said...: Look forward to seeing all these -this is the first I've heard of them ( and to think I thought nothing much happened in the 90's, comic-wise! ) We're they as funny as Not Brand Echh? I used to love NBE! in the 60's! I'm going to have to try & find them again now!; 29 September 2013 at 12:42
Anonymous said...: The first 6 or so issues of "What The" were really good with some fantastic cartooning by John Byrne and Hillary Barta in particular, and a few good strips by Fred Hembeck and even Steve Ditko if memory serves me correctly, so I would definitely recommend them to anyone interested in humour strips. However as the issues went on it seemed everyone (ie regular adventure artists) thought they could do cartooning, and, well, to be frank, they couldn't and to me it ended up a bit of a mess with most (not all) of the latter issues being very messy and average. To be fair, although Not Brand Echh is thought of by some to be a high in humour comics, looking back there was also a lot of very average work in there (with Gene Colan's cartooning to me being a real find) For some reason US humour books like these types always end up fizzling out - I missed issue 5 of "What The" which looks really good with the criminally underrated Hilary Barta, Wally Wood inspired art - McScotty; 29 September 2013 at 15:05
Mel said...: I loved "Not Brand Echh" and had hoped that Marvel would do an Essentials collection although there were not really that many stories to collect. Maybe they could couple them with "What The" to make a worthwhile volume.; 29 September 2013 at 16:22
TwoHeadedBoy said...: Never heard of this - can't stomach superheroes but love satirical comics, so it's something to be looking for (and "Not Brand Echh" is a fantastic name for a comic!).

Spider-Ham up there looks a lot like Cerebus the Aardvark. Just an observation.; 29 September 2013 at 21:36

About the artist:

From 1985 to 2000 A.D. (little joke there), I contributed to a variety of high profile comics and magazines for various companies.

For IPC/FLEETWAY/EGMONT, I freelanced as a lettering and logo artist on various weekly comics and monthly magazines, and also as a resize comic artist and spot illustrator on pocket books, summer specials and annuals.

For MARVEL U.K., BLACK LIBRARY, REDAN and USBORNE BOOKS, I again freelanced as a lettering artist, also working as a restoration artist for MARVEL U.S., restoring and re-creating certain pages of JACK KIRBY art for their MARVEL MASTERWORKS editions.

I also lettered the MARVELMAN sample pages submitted to MARVEL U.S. when they were considering acquiring the character, which - as we all now know - they DID.

Supplied comic strips, cartoons and illustrated advertisements for local business campaigns and newspaper publication on a professional basis since the age of 16. Did my first paid art job for publication at 14 or 15 for Lanarkshire Education Board.

Have also made TV appearances as a collector of memorabilia.

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Just some of the titles I worked on are:

2000 A.D. * JUDGE DREDD MEGAZINE * DICEMAN * SONIC The COMIC * JUDGE DREDD, LAWMAN Of The FUTURE * CRISIS * REVOLVER * EAGLE * TIGER * BATTLE ACTION-FORCE * BUSTER * WHIZZER & CHIPS * WHOOPEE * NIPPER * SCHOOL FUN * ACE VENTURA, PET DETECTIVE * The REAL GHOSTBUSTERS * DOCTOR WHO MAGAZINE * COUNT DUCKULA * RUGRATS * The TRANSFORMERS * DEATH'S HEAD * THUNDERCATS * GALAXY RANGERS * DRAGON'S CLAWS * SINDY * MARVEL MASTERWORKS * The TROLLS * LOADED * INFERNO * WARHAMMER * ROSE BLACK.

Copyright Notice:

Images remain the property of their respective copyright owners and are used here only for the purpose of review, promotion, and nostalgia.

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In the case of images culled from my own collection where copyright of an item isn't mine, I impose no copying restrictions on fellow bloggers.

(Although, if you don't allow copying on your own site, then you really shouldn't be copying from others, should you?)

And while you can credit this blog if you like, it's not mandatory. Who has time to make notes of every casually visited site during an idle browse of the internet?

In the case of anyone copying images of my own artwork and calligraphy, I affirm my right to be identified as the creator, and any such copying should not be for the purpose of monetary or material gain. (Unless it's mine.)

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Please also note that this blog is not sponsored by, affiliated with, or connected to, any organisation, business, or group, and is wholly independent.