In a triumph for good musical taste, the competition was won by a woman from Israel doing a chicken impersonation. The UK's entry came nowhere, despite the best efforts of a stage invader to make it memorable.
How very different from forty years ago when the contest was won by, erm... ...Israel.
Clearly, some things never change.
But what of the Marvel comics that bore the cover date of May 1978? Was change in store for their heroes?
Clearly not. It's another day at the office for Conan, as he and Zula fight the Devourer of the Dead to rescue Bêlit from certain doom.
Personally, I'd like to see her rescued from uncertain pronunciation because, after all these years, I still don't have a clue how to pronounce her name. Is it, "Bell-it?" Is it, "Bay-lit?" Is it, "Buh-litt?" Is it, "Bellee?" Is it, "Bailey?" I sense another controversial poll coming on.
Anyway, I confidently predict that Conan will overcome his monstrous foe, just like he always does. I am, though, intrigued by its sobriquet of, "Devourer of the dead." Doesn't that kind of describe most people? Frankly, I'd be more concerned if it ate the living.
It's the return of everyone's favourite alchemist and everyone's favourite phony demon, as the Thing sets out to stop Diablo and Darkoth.
It would appear the fight doesn't go too well for Darkoth who ends up managing to pop his clogs.
If that's a bit of a downer, the exciting news is that, if the internet's to be believed, with his final breath, Darkoth reveals his true identity and then sacrifices himself to stop Diablo.
This poses the obvious question of just who is he? Is he someone we'd know, like Willie Lumpkin? It clearly wouldn't be much of a revelation if he's someone we've never heard of before.
My memories of this one are hazy. In fact, the only thing I can recall of it is that Bruce Banner's mind transforms into the Hulk but he remains Bruce Banner physically, making him a stupid weakling, which is possibly the least aspirational thing ever.
I've no idea what happens in this one but it all looks exciting and clearly features both the Rigellians and Galactus' Punisher, so, that's got to give it some potential.
Then again, Jack of Hearts is in it, so my optimism may be unjustified.
At last, Spider-Man discovers the awesome secret of the fake Green Goblin.
But can that save him from the other fake Green Goblin?
As far as I can make out, the Iceman's been brainwashed by someone called Clark and now the Angel and Spidey need to snap him out of it before he does something they'll both regret.
Thor and Iron Man go hi-tech as they battle to flatten the orbiting computer the world knows as F.A.U.S.T.
It's the return of everyone's favourite alchemist and everyone's favourite phony demon, as the Thing sets out to stop Diablo and Darkoth.
It would appear the fight doesn't go too well for Darkoth who ends up managing to pop his clogs.
If that's a bit of a downer, the exciting news is that, if the internet's to be believed, with his final breath, Darkoth reveals his true identity and then sacrifices himself to stop Diablo.
This poses the obvious question of just who is he? Is he someone we'd know, like Willie Lumpkin? It clearly wouldn't be much of a revelation if he's someone we've never heard of before.
My memories of this one are hazy. In fact, the only thing I can recall of it is that Bruce Banner's mind transforms into the Hulk but he remains Bruce Banner physically, making him a stupid weakling, which is possibly the least aspirational thing ever.
I've no idea what happens in this one but it all looks exciting and clearly features both the Rigellians and Galactus' Punisher, so, that's got to give it some potential.
Then again, Jack of Hearts is in it, so my optimism may be unjustified.
At last, Spider-Man discovers the awesome secret of the fake Green Goblin.
But can that save him from the other fake Green Goblin?
As far as I can make out, the Iceman's been brainwashed by someone called Clark and now the Angel and Spidey need to snap him out of it before he does something they'll both regret.
Thor and Iron Man go hi-tech as they battle to flatten the orbiting computer the world knows as F.A.U.S.T.
I don't know much about the tale but I do know that its reputed to feature a cameo by virtually everyone in the entire Marvel Universe.
That has to be the most extreme example I've ever seen of that technique where the artist uses multiple images of a figure to create a sense of motion.
As for the story, it would appear that DD sets out to reunite Foggy and Debbie Harris, all while tangling with Paladin who's still out to get the Purple Man.
Ultron's getting randy again, which means the Avengers have to fight him as he tries to marry Jocasta.
Needless to say, Jocasta's having none of it and, instead, helps the Avengers put the kibosh on him.
I'm not totally sure what's going on with the Scarlet Witch on that cover, though.
I've no idea what happens in the main feature but what really matters is that the back-up strip features the debut of an awesome new hero, as Rick Jones collides with a TV screen at the Avengers Mansion, gains super-powers from it and becomes Captain Avenger.
Armed with whatever his new powers are, he defeats Baron Zemo.
Then it all turns out to have been a dream.
Really. Someone thought that was a good idea for a story.
That has to be the most extreme example I've ever seen of that technique where the artist uses multiple images of a figure to create a sense of motion.
As for the story, it would appear that DD sets out to reunite Foggy and Debbie Harris, all while tangling with Paladin who's still out to get the Purple Man.
Ultron's getting randy again, which means the Avengers have to fight him as he tries to marry Jocasta.
Needless to say, Jocasta's having none of it and, instead, helps the Avengers put the kibosh on him.
I'm not totally sure what's going on with the Scarlet Witch on that cover, though.
I've no idea what happens in the main feature but what really matters is that the back-up strip features the debut of an awesome new hero, as Rick Jones collides with a TV screen at the Avengers Mansion, gains super-powers from it and becomes Captain Avenger.
Armed with whatever his new powers are, he defeats Baron Zemo.
Then it all turns out to have been a dream.
Really. Someone thought that was a good idea for a story.
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22 comments:
Thanks for another awesome post Steve!
You know, oh Darkoth had himself a nice little gig for a cyborg (Android?) in the Balkans living out the mythology of a demon that comes out at night and snatches folks.
I mean, he could have had the villagers pay tribute, give him a nice old castle, and donate a few comely wenches to chill out.
I don't know what happened here.. why is he chillin with a two-bit dufus like Diablo? Who did he reveal himself to be, The Seeker from FF 144 where he was sort of teamed up with Doc Doom?
Thanks, Charlie.
I must confess there is a large hole in my knowledge when it comes to Darkoth.
Come on Steve - surely you recognized the cover of Daredevil #152 as the work of the mighty Gil Kane?
If the dynamics of the image seem more extreme than usual perhaps that was down to the inks of Klaus Janson. He really added something to Gil's work, giving it a weight and depth it didn't always have and its a pity they didn't work together more often.
Ah, the Captain Avenger back-up from Cap #221 - can't recall whether the main feature was the final part of the battle with the giant Captain America robot or the one where the Lincoln memorial statue came to life, but neither were much of an improvement.
So much for the haters that slag off Kirby's run - suddenly the Madbomb, Agron and Arnim Zola don't seem so dumb after all, eh?
-sean
Gil Kane did a lot of great work. But it seemed to be everywhere, eventually, like on every summer annual, etc. And I grew tired of it. Just seeing the covers above with his work reminds of how I really grew tire of it. However, it is quite possible that a younger bronze ager did not suffer Kane fatigue? Anyone else get Kane fatigue out there? I did.
Got to agree Gil Kane wasn't always the greatest inker of his own work Charlie, which did tend to lead to some repetition... but the right collaborator could refresh it considerably.
Along with Klaus Janson's work on Daredevil - and they did a great Black Panther together in Jungle Action #9 - see also the John Carter comics Kane drew with the brilliant Rudy Nebres.
-sean
Yeah, Charlie, I agree Gil Kane was probably a bit overused as a cover artist. I'm guessing his exaggerated style caught eyeballs at the spinner rack.
Remember D.C. comics in the '70's? All the covers were Ernie Chan, Nick Cardy, Neal Adams or Mike Grell. They caught my eye.
M.P.
Sean, I did indeed recognise the work of Gil Kane. It's just the sheer quantity of Daredevils we're given on the cover that struck me as being extreme.
Personally, I never suffered Gil Kane fatigue. He was always one of my favourite artists and I always loved to see his work.
I like Gil Kane's stuff too. There was a gracefulness about it.
And as much as it pains me to agree with Sean, notorious reprobate that I imagine him to be, I was absolutely crazy about Kirby's run on Captain America in the '70's. It made me wanna become a comic book artist.
It was my introduction to Captain America AND my introduction to Kirby. I was eight years old and I had a buddy who had several issues of that run, along with some other cool comics, and I spent hours in his room with him reading them. He refused to trade them for my Superman comics, and although I was frustrated at the time, I now see his wisdom.
As Sean mentioned, Kirby was throwing out all kinds of concepts and characters in that series. He seemed to have been aware of the perils of genetic engineering, as far as Zola goes.
You didn't hear much about that in the '70's. It was mostly Watergate, Disco and Bigfoot, from what I remember.
It was Bigfoot that I was worried about.
M.P.
I didn't appreciate Kane at the time but now he is one of my favourites, bizarre up the nose angles and all.
Never liked Gil Kane back then and still don't.
I've always pronounced Belit as Bay-leet.
KANE! KANE! KANE! KANE! KANE! KANE! KANE! KANE! Lovely KANE!! Wonderful KANE!!!!
For fluid movement action, Gil Kane was virtually untouchable back in the day. I loved everything that guy did, in both Marvel & DC. His Marvel Team-Ups had more of a "spidery" Spider-Man than most other artists. HIS COVERS ARE MASTERPIECES!!!
Like I stated before, tho, I really didn't need to see up characters nostrils so much. Lol. But then again, he loved perspective shots & no one else was doing "up the nose". Gene Colan would do a few. Most artists just drew nostrils with a dot or a slash.
Least they didn't draw the hairs or crusty boogers.
Just to be clear, I too enjoyed Gil's art (and I actually have an Alter Ego #149 next on my stack of "stuff to read" which is all about Gil).
I just developed Kane fatigue in the mid-70s.
I forget if it was Steve's or BitBA's blog where they featured Marvel summer annuals a few months back... like 2/3 of the covers were Gil (so it seemed).
I suspect I would have felt the same about the Kirby / Butler / Sinnot look too, had Kirby kept working and cranking it out for Marvel in the early 70s. As it was, Jack went on to do the Dingbats for DC so I did not experience the syndrome.
Steve, et al. I did watch English Premier League Darts Championship on BBC this past Thursday! I hope to give you a full report, assuming you do not block my ID, lol!
Regrettably on Mondays, it's like 24 hours x-files. I still have trouble understanding Mulder the Mumbler...
I thought it was pronounced BELL-IT.
Of course I'm from the midwest. A lot of our towns have French names, and we pronounce all of them wrong. It's kind of a flat drawl.
M.P.
It's 100% Bay-Leet, fellas. I can't remember which issue it was in, but Rascally Roy clarified it in a caption or letters page at the time, for sure.
And Darkoth was Desmond Pitt ( Whoooo??? ). He was supposedly Benjy's best friend from when he was a test pilot, even though he'd never been mentioned before and had clearly been made up the issue previous.
As for Gil, I could never get overdose either, though I understand where Charlie's coming from.
Charlton had 11 mystery / horror books, and Ditko is in nearly every issue of every one of them. That's in the hundreds, and though some of it is some of his best work, by the end he was really cranking it out.
The finer points of the pronunciation of names of fictional characters aside, I thought that "Queen of the Black Coast" was a great sword and sorcery tale, but also a terrifying horror story to boot.
An ancient, prehuman race, winged and godlike, fell prey to climate change and hubris and sunk into the lowest depths of depravity, and became pinioned demons.
The last survivor sat perched on a broken pyramid under the moon and dispatched were-heyenas to slaughter interlopers in his ghastly domain.
Pretty good story!
M.P.
Thanks for the Bêlit and Darkoth info, Pete. I suppose it does raise the question of how Rascally Roy knew how her name was pronounced. Did REH leave behind a pronunciation guide?
MP, I agree. The Queen of the Black Coast is definitely one of the more potent REH Conan tales.
Just adding another name to the list of those that think there were too many Gil Kane covers around this time.
And what was it about Sugar that made his work instantly recognisable? Don't tell me it’s nostril shots. Look at that Captain America cover. Gil Kane all the way, but I couldn’t tell you why.
Fair point, Steve, I hadn't thought of that! Maybe Roy just thought he'd end speculation and go ' This is the way I say it, so there! '
Dangermash, 'cos those are Gil Kane guns, Cap's boots are flapping in the wind the way only Gil Kane drew, and even Cap's knee is the way Gil Kane always drew running figures.
Less charitable viewers may say Gil had a repertoire of stock poses ( like what artist doesn't? ), but I'd say it's more that were things that he drew that are instantly him, and the poses are only a part of it. It's the dynamism that he deliberately adapted from Kirby, plus I think I read somewhere that Gil was a big fan of dance, and most of his characters look like dancers to me.
I'd say the big tip-off for me that an image was drawn by Gil Kane is the way he drew biceps (thin at the top end and fatter at the bottom end). I can't think of anyone else who drew them quite like that. There was also his tendency to draw clawed hands and his determined use of perspective. I'd agree with you too, Pete, about the way he drew flappy boots. No one's boots ever flapped as much as Gil's did.
As for the stock poses, I think Rich Buckler said, in a guest post, on Diversions of the Groovy Kind that he spent a short spell working for Kane and that he was the most mechanical artist he'd ever encountered. I wish he'd gone into more detail about what exactly he meant by that. It'd be interesting to get an insight into his methods.
Interesting responses. Cheers. I think like Pete says that it's a particular form of dynamism that's what I see (personally) that makes me spot straight away that something's Gil's work. I'm going to keep my eye out for floppy boots, clawed hands and and funny biceps though.
Steve’s point about perspective is an interesting one too. I think it belongs with the up the nose shots as one of Gil's compositional preferences, though, rather than something that clearly identifies the artist. Gene Colan, for example also seemed to like funny angles but I'd never confuse the two of them. And ASM #90, by the way, is a masterclass on perspective shots from funny angles.
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