I unfortunately never read his Captain American stints, there's a lot I need to catch up on. Thank God the industry has been in the crapper the last decade or so, I can catch up with collections of things I missed earlier on.
![Razz :-P](./images/smilies/icon_razz.gif)
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Zeck had lots of Punisher fans come by, but I was the only one I saw with anything MoKF related; it's quite early in his career. Zeck's lighting up like he did was the highlight of my convention day (the other was talking with Jim Shooter). It was a HUGE thrill getting to chat with him. I myself consider Mike Zeck the definitive Captain America artist--and not just because his run (done with writer J.M. DeMatteis) was during my comics-reading peak. Zeck does the raw, kinetic energy and motion kind of thing so well but the man himself is as soft spoken as they get. His work also conveys total over-the-top insanity brilliantly.ConchRepublican wrote:Very cool!
Zeck sounds like a cool guy. He's an under-rated workhorse from that time. Not a Byrne or Perez type (IMHO) but solid. I was a big fan of Master of Kung Fu as well. If only a licensing agreement could be reached with the Rohmer estate so they could be collected. It was a really good run.
Sorry you had a less-than-stellar experience with Bob Layton. I'm a huge fan of Layton's (first) run on Iron Man and the run in general has imo never been topped. Layton was the glue that kept it all together. Wait, let me just say it again: I friggin' LOVE that run on Iron Man.ConchRepublican wrote:I went to my first and only comic book convention around 1982, before it had the cool "Comic-Con" name. It was in the lobby of the Hilton I think in Grand Central Station in New York. I was about 15 (a young 15 at that), and had a chance to talk to Bob Layton for a minute. I was disappointed he left his run on Iron Man, one of my fave titles at the time. The art really dropped off when he left, and I wanted to get an idea why decided to go. I didn't get the whole business side of things at the time, but he came across as an arrogant jerk with a laughed off response. Something like "What, I was supposed to do it forever?" or something like that.
I think my one knock against Zeck were his faces, something about them never worked right for me. I remember some parts of Secret Wars being less than stellar, but that could have had to do with the scope and pressures of the project itself.Little Garwood wrote:Zeck had lots of Punisher fans come by, but I was the only one I saw with anything MoKF related; it's quite early in his career. Zeck's lighting up like he did was the highlight of my convention day (the other was talking with Jim Shooter). It was a HUGE thrill getting to chat with him. I myself consider Mike Zeck the definitive Captain America artist--and not just because his run (done with writer J.M. DeMatteis) was during my comics-reading peak. Zeck does the raw, kinetic energy and motion kind of thing so well but the man himself is as soft spoken as they get. His work also conveys total over-the-top insanity brilliantly.
Eh, no biggie. Probably saved me a lot of money in the long run.Little Garwood wrote:Sorry you had a less-than-stellar experience with Bob Layton. I'm a huge fan of Layton's (first) run on Iron Man and the run in general has imo never been topped. Layton was the glue that kept it all together. Wait, let me just say it again: I friggin' LOVE that run on Iron Man.
I had such a hard time getting past the art I dropped the title. The Stane storyline could have been decent but everything just looked strange . . the Irwin siblings, Indries Moomji . . . these people replaced Rhodey & Beth and Mrs. Arbogast?!?! I know, Rhodey moved on the wearing the armor, but it was all wrong for me . . .Little Garwood wrote:Speaking of post-Layton (first run, anyway) Iron Man, I recently picked up the Marvel Epic Collection The Enemy Within, which consists of Shell Head's adventures in Iron Man #158-177. Like you said, the art did drop off, but I'm a long-time fan of Denny O'Neil's, so for that reason alone it was worth picking up.
JRJR is another guy, what happened to him? I can't believe that's the same guy from that IM run. Some of that World War Hulk stuff was atrocious. All those flat faces, hard lines, there was no fluidity . . . and don't get me started on the Superman I've seen. It sure seems he needs a great (cough Layton cough) inker to smooth out his pencils.Little Garwood wrote:John Romita Jr. was at the con too but split before I could get him to sign the one book I brought along. He still has "Rock Star" status and looks not much older than he did thirty years ago! He must be living right.His line had a large amount of greedy (and greasy) fans with crap they wanted him to sign. He's not a huge favorite of mine but on Iron Man when accompanied by Layton's inks, JRJR was superb.
The faces thing has always been a criticism and it's part of his style; I can see why some might have trouble with it. Other artists really took that and ran crazily with it in the 1990s, didn't they?ConchRepublican wrote:I think my one knock against Zeck were his faces, something about them never worked right for me. I remember some parts of Secret Wars being less than stellar, but that could have had to do with the scope and pressures of the project itself.
I really love those runs as well--I'm just finishing off the Perez issues of The Avengers now--#194-196 and thereabouts; heading towards the "troubled" Avengers #200, as well. I've never read it though I know all the back story. I was fanatically interested in the Claremont-Byrne run as a kid, which I believe I've gone on about in this thread.ConchRepublican wrote:I agree, that run they had on Iron Man is up there with my all time faves, including Perez' Avengers & Byrne's X-Men. I think the only A list villian was Doom, in the great Knightmare arc but Roxxon and Justin Hammer, man he was handled so well as the B and C list supplier, they got him all wrong in the movie. they really should have worked Taskmaster into there somehow. I also liked the Arthur Dearborn/Sunturion character, I thought there was more than could be done with him.
The O'Neil-O'Donnell run had to follow the Greatest Iron Man Run of Them All, which I'm sure didn't help a lot of fans' view of it. Kind of like how I felt about Dave Cockrum's second stint on the majority of Uncanny X-Men was a disappointment. it's tough to see Our man Stark at such a low. Rhodey does get a few comedic situations as he's adjusting to the armor, though. He also has some fine "scenes" opposite Stane.ConchRepublican wrote:I had such a hard time getting past the art I dropped the title. The Stane storyline could have been decent but everything just looked strange . . the Irwin siblings, Indries Moomji . . . these people replaced Rhodey & Beth and Mrs. Arbogast?!?! I know, Rhodey moved on the wearing the armor, but it was all wrong for me . . .
I don't know what JRJR's been up to lately (or to many of those guys we grew up reading) but Romita comes off as a "Rock star" type, at least in how the fans revere him, not in the way he himself is.ConchRepublican wrote:JRJR is another guy, what happened to him? I can't believe that's the same guy from that IM run. Some of that World War Hulk stuff was atrocious. All those flat faces, hard lines, there was no fluidity . . . and don't get me started on the Superman I've seen. It sure seems he needs a great (cough Layton cough) inker to smooth out his pencils.
Speaking of MoKF, did you see this?Little Garwood wrote:
Zeck comes across as a quiet, soft-spoken guy, and, I kid you not when I say that he flashed a smile and his eyes lit up when I asked him to sign my copy of Master of Kung Fu #82. He said "It's nice to see one of these again." He talked about artist Gene Day and recalled his MoKF inker fondly, talking about how both he and Day loved martial arts stuff and so they had that in common when they began working together. Zeck even wryly commented that Gene would do any and all work asked of him just so long as he had plenty of cigarettes, coffee, and doughnuts to fuel him, all of which Zeck pointed out, contributed to Day's early death.
I also said, without a hint of hyperbole, that he, Zeck, was the "savior" of Master of Kung Fu, as it had been on perilous artistic ground since Gulacy's departure. Zeck laughed and said, "Yeah, because the guys they had on it couldn't turn the work in on time."
I actually love the trades. There were only so many comics I could afford back on my allowance so these collections are great to fill in the gaps of great stories. Getting the back issues, while cool, makes for a storage problem, something I dealt with, badly, in my teen years. I like being able to stick them on a bookshelf as well, alongside Tolkien, Twain and Hemingway, just to see people's reactions.Little Garwood wrote:Seems I largely prefer original back issues--when prices and lack of reprints allow--of comics over their sterile trade paperback counterparts, so I've been reading some old issues of The Brave and the Bold, which are Batman team ups, and DC Comics Presents, which are Superman teamups. Even though these are comics from 1978-80, I never really read these as a kid, so they're "new" to me. Lots of fun, without all that continuity and consistency nonsense that Marvel was always fixated on.
Conch- Your old buddy Bob Layton was down in South Florida for a comic con. Naturally, I didn't go. Can't tolerate all those greedy fans wanting everything signed and "witnessed" (at ten bucks a pop) by those CGC vultures. Very few real fans go to those conventions.
Have you seen the movie Papa:Hemingway in Cuba? I caught on the flight, pretty good. Especially in comparison to the unwatchable Suicide Squad and barely viewable X-Men: Apocolypse.Little Garwood wrote:At my hacienda, Hemingway occupies three different shelves in two different rooms; big "Papa" fan here.