RKMBs Forums .::Robegories::. Comic Books Comics hero portraits

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A Michael Golden MICRONAUTS cover.
It looks like a cover, but I can't place where it was used. It's way too nice to not have appeared somewhere.

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Rog 2000, hanging out with some other Byrne-illustrated robots.

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And Byrne's playful cover for THE ART OF JOHN BYRNE.

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A modified version of Byrne's anniversary-issue cover for 236.
https://viewcomiconline.com/fantastic-four-1961-issue-236/

I love Stan Lee pictured in the background as part of the celebration.
Somehow Jack Kirby wasn't invited, despite being FF's co-creator.

In a poster Byrne did a year or so later (first as a black and white centerfold in the 1982 FANTASTIC FOUR CHRONICLES, then 2 years later released as this Marvel poster in color), Kirby is , if not visible, still given the co-credit he is due.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-...QQ/6kndMaUpl_o/s1600/ffpostercolor-1.jpg

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A pin-up portrait in the exact flavor I had in mind when starting this topic, from FANTASTIC FOUR 250.
https://viewcomiconline.com/fantastic-four-1961-issue-250/



And just a year or so later...



...this similar pin-up page, made from a Byrne cover for COMICS FEATURE 27,(Feb 1984), introducing new FF costumes, in this version made into a convention pin-up page.

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Some Byrne portraiture of his Alpha Flight characters.

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Michael Golden pin-up of the Defenders, from 1980.

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An X-Men portrait by Byrne, as painted and airbrushed by Fastner/Larson, in 1980.
From the X-Men Portfolio.
https://www.popculturesafari.com/2016/10/comic-art-marvel-comics-portfolio-art.html?spref=pi

https://pictures.abebooks.com/inventory/22658677986.jpg

https://i.pinimg.com/474x/1f/48/83/1f48831e368d0441ac02b5dcd780eb8d.jpg

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Cover for MARVEL SUPER HEROES 6, July 1991, by Arthur Adams.

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I don't feel like tracking them down right now, but I recall these pin-up pages appearing in the Kirby FF annuals.




This first pin-up looks like the FF figures from the opening splash page of FF 78, Sept 1968, only with just the FF figures, and the background removed, with a new background and text added in.
https://readcomiconline.li/Comic/Fantastic-Four-1961/Issue-78?id=27174






The original page for this second one was recenttly listed on Ebay, as a "1963 Marvelmania pin-up"

So if accurate, not printed in a Marvel comic, a pin-up page mailed out exclusively to Marvel fan club members.

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Circa 1969, here's a signed Barry Windsor-Smith Medusa pin-up page.

No idea where it saw print.

There's a lot of "A Marvel Masterwork Pin-up" pages that don't look at all familiar to me. That possibly ran in a Marvel reprint title like COLLECTORS' ITEM CLASSICS or MARVEL COMICS PRESENTS, or possibly were only available from Marvel to fans who wrote in, exclusives sent out in packages to Marvel fan club subscribers.

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EDIT : I found the source for this one.
It appeared in MARVEL COLLECTORS ITEM CLASSICS 21, June 1969,

https://readallcomics.com/marvel-collectors-item-classics-21/
( the series title changed to MARVEL'S GREATEST COMICS in issues 23-96, continuing reprints of the Lee / Kirby FF run.)

Accompanying the Barry Smith pin-up are :
reprint of a Lee and Kirby/Stone story from FF 29,
a Lee and Heck/Ayers Iron Man story from TALES OF SUSPENSE 62,
a Lee and Lieber/Roussos The Watcher story from TALES OF SUSPENSE 56,
and a Lee/Ditko Doctor Strange story from .STRANGE TALES 130.
Along with 2 more pin-ups, one by Kirby, the other by Ditko.

From 1967-1969, Barry Smith did a lot of filler pin-ups, first for Marvel's British reprint tittles in the U.K.
Then after arriving in the U.S, .did the same in Marvel's titles here.

Smith did about 20 of these filler pin-ups, before he moved on to doing covers and full stories.
https://www.comics.org/penciller/name/barry%20smith/sort/chrono/

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This one also looks like a Marvel comics fandom page.
I like the personalized signed-photo-from-Iron Man effect.
I'm guessing Kirby/Heck art.

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A Byrne pin-up of Sue Storm, from FANTASTIC FOUR SPECIAL EDITION 1 (and only) May 1984.
Reprinting FF ANNUAL 1 (1963), by Lee and Kirby/Ayers, with a new wraparound cover by Byrne, plus 5 new Byrne pages added to the story, and 5 full page pin-ups after by Byrne of the FF and Namor.
Story pages are numbered on 1-17. After page 17 by Kirby/Ayers, the 5 pages inserted by Byrne have no numbers, then the Kirby/Ayers art continues with pages 19 to 37.
(Only page 18 is omitted from the original Kirby Ayers version.) NOT clearly credited in the printed 1984 issue !
In the 1984 edition, 20 additional pages of Kirby/Ayers pin-ups and bonus pages are omitted.

https://readcomiconline.li/Comic/Fantastic-Four-Special-Edition/Full?id=169370 (1984 version, with all the Byrne pages and pin-ups)

https://readallcomics.com/fantastic-four-v1-annual-001/ (the original 1963 version, for comparison)
( the main story in FF ANNUAL 1, and the 15 villain pin-ups are all reprinted in FF ANNUAL 8, Dec 1970. https://readallcomics.com/fantastic-four-v1-annual-008/ )
( the one omitted story, "The FF Meet Spider-Man", a 6-page story from FF ANNUAL 1, was reprinted in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL 6 , Nov 1969 https://readallcomics.com/amazing-spider-man-v1-annual-006/ )






"Love and kisses, Susan Richards"
from FF 238, Jan 1982
https://readallcomics.com/fantastic-four-v1-238/



And ...



Namor, just being Namor.

From FF 261, Dec 1983.
https://readallcomics.com/fantastic-four-v1-261/

The same MARVEL FANFARE 43 cover, alongside the captionless original art.

The image gains something in black and white too.

full issue at :
https://readallcomics.com/marvel-fanfare-1982-043/

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Wide-screen cine-scope Marvel heroes portraiture, courtesy of Fed Hembeck, on the wraparound cover of his one-shot FANTASTIC FOUR ROAST, May 1982.

Here's the full issue, for your reading pleasure.
https://readallcomics.com/fantastic-four-roast/


With one or more pages by each creative team doing monthly titles of each character shown in the story, such as :

Frank Miller / Klaus Janson on DAREDEVIL,
John Byrne on FF,
Gene Day on MASTER OF KUNG FU,
Bill Sienkiewicz on MOON KNIGHT,
Bob Layton on IRON MAN,
Sal Buscema on INCREDIBLE HULK,
Ron Wilson/Chic Stone on MARVEL TWO IN ONE,
Brent Anderson on KA-ZAR,
Steve Leialoha on SPIDER-WOMAN,
John Romita Jr. on AMAZING SPIDER-MAN,
Kerry Gammill / Ricardo Villamonte on POWER MAN/IRON FIST,
Marshall Rogers / Ausin on DOCTOR STRANGE,
Bob Hall and Al Weiss, from their two separate runs on AVENGERS,
Mike Zeck / John Beatty on CAPTAIN AMERICA,
Don Perlin from his long run on DEFENDERS
Dave Cockrum back on X-MEN,
plus two gorgeous pages by Michael Golden, and pages by many others.

With the whole crazy thing scripted by Fred Hembeck.
This was definitely representative of the fun spirit of Marvel at its best in this era.

There was plenty of other assorted craziness at Marvel, such as WHAT IF 34.
https://readallcomics.com/what-if-v1-034/


And "Assisant editors month" that had some other Hembeck contributions.
For me the other highlight of the fun stuff at Marvel was the artist jam and silliness in X-MEN ANNUAL 7 (1983), primarily by Chris Claremont, with art by Michael Golden, Bret Blevins, and a holy host of artist-jam penciller/inker combinations.
https://readallcomics.com/marvel-masterworks-the-uncanny-x-men-tpb-09-part-1/

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A Kirby Hulk pin-up, from FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL 1, Sept 1963
https://readallcomics.com/fantastic-four-v1-annual-001/

Also reprinted in FF ANNUAL 8, Dec 1970.

Also frequently used for ediorial pages in the 1978-1981 RAMPAGING HULK, and later just HULK, magazine.

I was recently looking through MARVEL TRIPLE ACTION 3, June 1972, and that appears to be the first place this FF pin-up appears, that omits the background from the opening page of FF 78, and adds a cloud background.
https://readallcomics.com/marvel-triple-action-v1-003/

As compared to the original FF 78 version, on page 1 :
https://readallcomics.com/fantastic-four-v1-078/



A slightly altered version of this pin-up appears in a 6-page "FF family photos" section in MARVEL'S GREATEST COMICS 29, Dec 1970 :