JOURNEY INTO SWIPERY...

Art by Jack Kirby. JIM #83, page 8, panel 1

All artists have (or should have) a reference file.  This usually consists of a collection of photos and illustrations of just about every scene imaginable.  It can contain previous drawings by the artist and also even the artwork of others - which is why it's also called a 'swipe' file, because it provides the working illustrator with material from which he can copy if his imagination (or knowledge of the subject) is a little lacking.

It may surprise you to learn that not every artist can sit at their drawing boards and draw just about anything off the top of their head or at the drop of a hat.  Even those who seemingly do so are often drawing (pun intended) upon their experience of an earlier drawing, the subject of which they first had to meticulously research before committing to memory.

Even artists such as WALLY WOOD and JACK KIRBY occasionally swiped from illustrators who had preceded them, like HOGARTH and FOSTER.  Joltin' JOE SINNOTT, inker of many of MARVEL's top pencillers - and an illustrator of no mean accomplishment in his own right - occasionally swiped when he was performing sole drawing chores on The MIGHTY THOR back in the 1960s.

Joe drew five Thor strips for JOURNEY Into MYSTERY (#s 91, 92, 94-96) and not only swiped from Jack Kirby, but even from himself.  I thought it might be interesting to look at a few panels 'inspired' by ones in previous stories.  Some are direct copies, others have been tweaked (and flipped), but their sources are still all-too apparent.

The following examples result from a casual browse through the stories themselves and are by no means exhaustive (in fact, I've since seen one or two others), so look through the issues yourself (if you have 'em) and see which ones you can spot.

Art by Joe Sinnott. JIM #91, page 12, panel 7

Art by Joe Sinnott. JIM #94, page 12, panel 5

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Art by Jack Kirby. JIM #83, page 10, panel 7

Art by Joe Sinnott. JIM #92, page 10, panel 6

Art by Joe Sinnott. JIM #95, page 4, panel 7

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Art by Jack Kirby. JIM #85, page 6, panel 3

Art by Joe Sinnott. JIM #94, page 10, panel 2

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Art by Jack Kirby (?)/Steve Ditko. JIM #88,
page13, panel 5

Art by Joe Sinnott. JIM #91, page 1, panel 4

Art by Joe Sinnott. JIM #94, page 5, panel 7

Art by Joe Sinnott. JIM #95, page 2, panel 7

Art by Joe Sinnott. JIM #96, page 2, panel 1

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Art by Joe Sinnott. JIM #91, page 11, panel 7

Art by Joe Sinnott. JIM #95, page1, panel 6

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Art by Joe Sinnott. JIM #91, page 13, panel 3

Art by Joe Sinnott. JIM #92, page 11, panel 2

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Art by Jack Kirby. JIM #93, page 3, panel 7.
(This panel looks like a patch)

Art by Joe Sinnott. JIM #96, page 8, panel 3

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Art by Jack Kirby. JIM #86, page 12, panel 5

Art by Jack Kirby. JIM #91, page 9, panel 7

Art by Joe Sinnott. JIM #95, page 10, panel 7

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Art by Jack Kirby. JIM #86, page 11, panel 6

Art by Joe Sinnott. JIM #95 page 2, panel 3

Art by Joe Sinnott. JIM #95, page 13, panel 7

Art by Joe Sinnott. JIM #96, page 2, panel 3

MIGHTY MARVEL COVER GALLERY - PART THREE...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

Beyond my window, the swiftly swirling snow bestows its sparkling splendour upon the stark and startling scene outside.  Inside, I return to over 40 years ago to relive the heady days of my early teens, which were themselves a re-experience of an even earlier time in my boyhood.  You see, dear reader, the tales contained within the covers you see here, I'd previously perused in the pages of the ODHAMS PRESS publications known as POWER COMICS, in this specific instance the weekly periodicals entitled WHAM!, SMASH!, and POW! 

Although these stories conjured up recollections from an earlier period in my life (and the myriad associations which accompany them), I was not so over-familiar with them to be immune from a new set of memories being formed within my impressionable mind.  As I once explained, that's why I can look at certain stories from my childhood and teenage years and have two distinct sets of recollections connected to the same tales, depending on whichever particular printing of them I'm pondering at the time.

But enough of such self-indulgent musings, let's look at the goods. JIM STARLIN awes us with two simply sensational covers to The MIGHTY WORLD Of MARVEL #s 6 & 7, inked, so I believe, by JOE SINNOTT.  Issue #7's FANTASTIC FOUR adventure contained only one chapter from the cosmic quartet's first encounter with DOCTOR DOOM (from FF #5), so we were presented with a preponderance of pin-ups and puzzle pages to pad out the issue to the required page count.  Not that anyone was complaining, mind you, as they lent themselves more to the usual contents of a 'typical' British comic.  (Not that MWOM was ever really that, of course.)

Anyway, enjoy these iconic images from more than four decades in the past.  As you immerse yourself in their spell, I return to the window to again recall the snow from a long-ago, but never-forgotten period of my life which, though behind me, is ever before me.  Now beat that for a perplexing piece of paradoxical philosophical profundity.

Part Four coming soon.