.jpg) |
| Copyright DC COMICS and, more importantly, GOD |
'Twas on a Saturday or Sunday in April (I think) of 1983, that a pal (by prior arrangement) roped me in to wallpaper his kitchen in his house in Irvine. First, though, we shot into Glasgow, where among my purchases were DC's Limited Collectors' Edition of The Most Spectacular Stories Ever Told... From The Bible and Marvel's Francis Of Assisi comic. Between hanging wallpaper and scoffing a fish supper, I browsed through my acquisitions (after washing my hands) and was particularly pleased with the DC periodical due to the quality of the art.
Well, I say 'periodical', but although it was intended as the first in a series, no other issues ever materialised, so I assume it didn't sell as well as was hoped for. I still have my original copies of both publications, which have stood the test of time far better than me, though I haven't looked at the Marvel Francis comic in quite a few years now (at least). Back in 2012, I noticed that DC had reissued the Bible Collectors' Edition in hardback and I thought about buying it, but didn't.
Over the years I've sort of regretted that decision, and when I saw one on eBay recently, I immediately snapped it up! It arrived today (and there's a story about its delivery with which I may regale you one day) and I'm as pleased as Punch to finally own it after all those intervening years (12 to be precise). Joe Kubert gets star billing on the reissue, but I'm unsure whether he drew the whole thing, with Nestor Redondo inking the main chapters, or whether they both illustrated their own individual segments.
Whichever, it doesn't seem quite fair that Nestor's name doesn't also appear on the cover, so to redress the balance somewhat, I'm showing a couple of interior pages which bear his imprint, but none of Joe's - he's 'confined' to the covers. Any of you Crivvies ever buy this back in the day, or wasn't it your kind of 'thing'? Regardless, what do you think of Mr. Redondo's two pages below? Are you suitably impressed, or does the subject matter prevent them from ringing your bell?
Comments welcome (as if you didn't know).
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
Below: The front and back covers of my original copy, first published in 1975, but not obtained by me until 1983. I'd only ever seen it in ads prior to that point. The Francis Of Assisi mag (not shown here) was published in 1980, so I was a bit of a 'Johnny-Come-Lately' in these two instances. (Story of my life.)
.jpg)
I haven't looked at it in a long time, but I think Kubert did the cover and Redondo did the interiors. I wondered why there weren't more issues released, since Moses was on the cover, but didn't make an appearance inside, I assumed there was a sequel in the works. It was a beautiful book though...didn't realize it had been released as a hard cover.
ReplyDeleteKubert did some of the interiors, G - historical things and the like, though Redondo's art was prominent. Maybe DC got some stick from other religions and wanted to avoid the hassle, hence there being only one issue. I wonder if any more pages were produced - if so, it would be nice to see them published eventually.
ReplyDeleteI had a choice of 4 shops for my comic buying when growing up. One up the road, one down the road, one further on from that and one further still. The furthest shop was the only one that stocked DC Comics and it was a very limited selection, Superman, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, so I had very few in my collection. Something like this would have been impossible to get. Even shops in town had very few DC titles, only the main ones. It wasn't until I started going into Birmingham that I would have seen more titles but by that stage I was collecting Marvel only. Always nice to see something I haven't seen before.
ReplyDeleteAnd hopefully I'll be able to continue to show things readers haven't seen before, M - as well as things they HAVE, but want to see again. I miss the newsagents from my childhood and teenage years - today's shops don't seem to have the same charm about them.
ReplyDeleteSome lovely Redondo art in that book. I particularly liked his art on "The Story of Abraham ". Your spot on about todays newsagents, there's somthing missing from them unless it was the childish excitement we used to feel looking at new comics etc.
ReplyDeleteIt could be that, McS, but I tend to feel they just had a more enticing atmosphere. Maybe that's only childhood nostalgia on my part though.
ReplyDelete