 |
| Copyright MARVEL COMICS |
Here's another True Believers ish, this time reprinting The Avengers #111, available from your local comicbook shop now. And it costs only a fraction of what you'd probably pay to buy the original issue in pristine condition.
Y'know, I'm a big fan of Don Heck's artwork in general, but there's a point in his career where he went off the boil - sometime in the '70s, I'd say. His figure-work became a bit loose and 'floaty', by which I mean that his characters didn't appear to be planted firmly on the ground, or looked as if they were just on the verge of floating upwards. In his later days, Don himself blamed the inkers as the reason for any negative criticism of his work, but I think the blame lay closer to home.
Take a look at the splash page (below) for example. Anyone else see that Wanda's right leg is shorter than her left? That wasn't the inker's fault, that's the way Don drew it. Still, his '60s Iron Man and Avengers tales were a delight, so let's hope that Marvel gets around to reprinting some more of them as TBs.
This was the first US issue of the Avengers I ever purchased. If I remember correctly this was the issue where the Black Widow briefly joined the Avengers, having missed out in the mid-60s. Love the Romita/ Sinnott cover, and also Heck's splash page, whatever your reservations.
ReplyDeleteI liked Heck's pencil art during this period, although I never considered Esposito well suited to him, but someone at Marvel must have liked the combination, as Heck seemed to be partnered with Esposito a lot. Heck's inks however by the 70s left something to be desired, and I can't recall one Heck inked comic during the period that was visually satisfying for me.
Here's a question for you Kid: I recall Heck doing a lot of Batgirl around this time. Do you know whether he was working concurrently for both Marvel and DC?
Spirit of '64
I think it was around 1970 that Heck started doing work for DC (not sure if he'd done anything for them in the '50s), but he still occasionally did some work for Marvel, so it was 'sort of' concurrent.
ReplyDeleteThat splash page bothers me in different ways. Professor X seems too low in his chair to me, and Magneto's position doesn't seem right, the angle at which he's sitting seeming slightly out of perspective with the rest of the composition. The leg is the most prominent flaw though.
Heck's work was ok but by the 70s we had seen the Marvel explosion. Kirby, Colan, Steranko etc Heck's work looked pedestrian. Heck never looked better than when he was inked by Wood.
ReplyDeleteFew artists failed to look better than when they were inked by Wood, PS.
ReplyDeleteIt's not 111 it's ill ~ I got that joke from Les Dawson :D
ReplyDeleteI hope you didn't give him any money for it, CJ. If you did, you were done. Got a CTB Epic yet?
ReplyDeleteHecks Avengers work was really fun although to be honest there were a few time it was really dire ditto Iron Man but overall 2 great pieces off work. His DC Batgirl and Teen Titans were good. His work on Steele, Ka-Zar and Sub Mariner were awful. Imho still one of the greats though
ReplyDeleteUndoubtedly one of the greats, McS, but like most greats, he had his off-days. As much as I love Ditko's work (for example), most of his post-Marvel work (with the exception of his Warren and some of his Charlton) was awful. Most of them usually go off the boil in their later years.
ReplyDelete