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| Image copyright MARVEL COMICS |
Any excuse for a bit of JOHN ROMITA art, and the cover of Giant-Size AVENGERS #1 provides just that. Romita was probably the only artist (at the time) who could follow STEVE DITKO on SPIDER-MAN, and lift the mag to new heights of glory. (He was also great at pinch-hitting on The FANTASTIC FOUR after JACK KIRBY defected to DC, 'til Big JOHN BUSCEMA picked up the reins.)
John Romita - an artist's artist. 'Nuff said!
I can never understand the difference between the "Giant Size" specials and the annuals. Kid, were any of them available in the UK because I never saw any at all - I was able to buy the U.S. Marvel comics (much more easily from about 1979) and the Treasury Editions but never the Giant-Size/annuals.
ReplyDeleteMuch as I love John Buscema's Thor, that cover makes me wish Romita had had a run on the title at some point!
ReplyDeleteMr Romitas work always sparkles - love this cover.
ReplyDeleteThey were essentially the same thing, CJ, content-wise at least. The '70s 'Giant-Size' titles were regular titles, the Annuals were meant to come out every year, but didn't always. (For example, 6 Captain America 'King-Size Specials/Annuals' in 10 or so years.) Sometimes a mag was an 'Annual' one year, a 'King-Size Special' the next. The 'Giant-Size' titles were intended as ongoing regular titles, but most of them faded after several (or a few in some cases) issues. The Specials were, in the main, sold in the U.K., but perhaps were sold out before you had a chance to see them.
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That would certainly have been interesting, DD.
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When I first looked at the cover, PM, it screamed 'Romita' to me, but a couple of figures are suggestive of the way Ron Wilson positioned characters. The only credit I can find for the cover is JM, but I wonder if he perhaps inked another artist's work and revised it in places. Once Romita inked something, it tended to look like his style.