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Post by sharkar on Sept 16, 2010 12:49:10 GMT -5
A month or so ago Van mentioned that he started the Avengers Assemble! site back in September 1995. It's September 2010 and I want to congratulate Van on reaching this momentous 15th anniversary milestone. AA! is still the best d**n Avengers site in existence, so thank you, Van, for creating it.  (I gather AA's message board portion started in late 2005, so there's a few years to go before we celebrate the forum's 10th anniversary in 2015. Hmmm, how many of us will still be reading comics--whether on paper or online--in 2015? How many of us will still be bitching about Bendis? ;D ) |
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Post by humanbelly on Sept 16, 2010 15:39:51 GMT -5
Hmmm, how many of us will still be reading comics--whether on paper or online--in 2015? How many of us will still be bitching about Bendis? ;D ) Oh hey, let us not underestimate the ability of any of us to hold a grudge for, literally, decades! I am FULLY capable of it! Examples of transgressions I could happily wax on at length about, and still haven't forgiven (Pre-Bendis): 1) The Heroes Reborn debacle-- in spite of the fact that it was a successful (though desperate) rescue for the entirety of Marvel. 2) Alycia was really a Skrull for several years. 3) The New Universe. 4) The loss of the child-like Hulk (circa issue #292-ish). 5) It wasn't really Jean Grey that popped out of Jamaica Bay. 6) The price increase from 25 cents to 30 cents. You just have no idea how severely that effected my life when it occurred. . . ! GREAT poster page, Shar! Man, that would be terrific as a legitimate wall-hanging item. I'm thinking. . . Sal Buscema penciller, yes? VERY early on for him? The team roster would put it at around the time he was drawing the book--- around issue #70 or so? And the inker, hmm--- maybe. . . maybe Joe Sinnott? Or possibly Sal himself? Boy, and I don't remember ever seeing Jan in that particular outfit. Sheesh, what a clothes-filly! Yessir, congratulations, Van! Thanks much for adding to the quality of life for so many of us folks out here. Do we care overmuch about the lives of these beloved imaginary characters? Perhaps-- but there is no doubt that the very act of discussing them, debating about them, and involving our creative processes with them is nothing but beneficial to the way our minds work-- and in fact extends their shelf-life. (Really. It's a proven fact. No kidding--)  HB |
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Post by sharkar on Sept 19, 2010 19:20:26 GMT -5
GREAT poster page, Shar! Man, that would be terrific as a legitimate wall-hanging item. I'm thinking. . . Sal Buscema penciller, yes? VERY early on for him? The team roster would put it at around the time he was drawing the book--- around issue #70 or so? And the inker, hmm--- maybe. . . maybe Joe Sinnott? Or possibly Sal himself? Yes, this is the last panel from the story in Avengers #71. That issue's art is credited to our pal Sal and Sam Grainger (inker). I've always felt they were a great team. IMO Grainger and George Klein (who did a great job on John Buscema's pencils back in the late '60s) were inkers in the Sinnott-mold, though they were less "slick" than Sinnott. Boy, and I don't remember ever seeing Jan in that particular outfit. Sheesh, what a clothes-filly! Wow, it's funny you singled out Jan's outfit here, HB, as her "costume" in this panel had bothered me for years, ever since I first read #71 back in 1969 (when it was published). You see, within #71 itself (and throughout #69 and #70; this story spanned three issues) she's wearing a completely different outfit than what's shown in #71's final panel. In #69-71, she's clad in a mini-skirted brown plaid coatdress. Here's a couple of images of her from #71, including (on the right) a panel just 2 panels prior to #71's final panel:   So why in #71's final panel is she all of a sudden wearing a generic superhero-type costume, a green bodysuit with an orange belt and orange gloves? If you read the story you'll see there's clearly no break in the story's action that would have allowed Jan to change into this new costume. Was this just sloppiness, or a bit of artistic license, on Marvel's part? Also, look at Jan's face in the "poster"--that's not Sal's work. Anyway, this inconsistency really bothered me, until... ...Flash forward a few decades, to 2007--when here on the AA boards in fact, dlw happened to post an image that caught my attention: the cover of Marvelmania Catalog #2 (and from what I can piece together, this catalogue was published in late 1970 or early 1971 and was included as part of the Marvelmania membership kits that were sent out at that time)  Aha! Now, this image was probably the art that was originally created for #71's last page, since it includes the same group that was present at the end of in #71 and it pictures Jan in the checked outfit she wore in #71! But for whatever reason this beautiful Sal page was put aside...or misplaced...or there was a deliberate decision made not to use it for #71. Instead, another picture --the one with Jan in the typical superhero/green-orange costume--was created by Sal and used for #71's final panel (with what looks like a Jan face/hair by someone else, Romita Sr. perhaps? This may have been a last minute Romita "correction" and he may have done the whole figure, which would partly explain why she was drawn in a typical action costume). But whatever the backstory, the Jan costume discrepancy stuck out like a sore thumb, to this reader at least! Then, a bit later on, when a cover was needed for the Marvelmania catalogue (which was produced offsite, by a bunch of people including the young Mark Evanier), the Marvelmania guys had access to this unused piece of art and used it for their Marvelmania cover (even though by this time, 1970/1, neither Jan nor YJ were part of the Avengers' regular roster). EDIT: added better pics |
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Post by Shiryu on Sept 20, 2010 18:01:33 GMT -5
Exalt to Sharkar for noticing such an important event was in the air and letting us know! Wow, the internet as we know it wasn't born much earlier than 1995, AA must have been one of the first websites around!
Think how much has changed in comics over this period. We were more or less in the Image period in 1995, right? before Heroes Reborn, Busiek's run, Dissasembled, Bendis, various movies and events. Wonder where we will be in another 15 years!
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Post by sharkar on Sept 21, 2010 10:26:53 GMT -5
Exalt to Sharkar for noticing such an important event was in the air and letting us know! Thanks, Shiryu-- but it wasn't exactly hard to notice ;D , as Van splashed it all over the site's front page. As well he should have--maintaining the site for this long is quite an accomplishment! And along with Van, you deserve kudos too, since you're the one who's been efficiently moderating the AA boards for the past few years. You keep things running smoothly...so an exalt for you! |
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