MARVEL COMICS: THE UNTOLD STORY
Go to SEANHOWE.COM to purchase a copy, or to read a chapter for free.
"A WILD-RIDE ACCOUNT" —The Hollywood Reporter
"EPIC" —The New York Times
"INDISPENSABLE" —Los Angeles Times
"DEFINITIVE" —The Wall Street Journal
"SCINTILLATING" —Publishers Weekly
“FASCINATING” —GQ
"AUTHORITATIVE" —Kirkus Reviews
"GRIPPING" —Rolling Stone
"PRICELESS" —Booklist
"A MUST FOR ANY SUPERHERO OR POP-CULTURE FAN" —NY Post
"ESSENTIAL" —The Daily Beast
"A SUPERPOWERED MUST-READ" —USA Today
"REVELATORY" —The Miami Herald
"AS FULL OF COLORFUL CHARACTERS, TRAGIC REVERSALS AND UNLIKELY PLOT TWISTS AS ANY BOOK IN THE MARVEL CANON" —Newsday
twitter.com/seanhowe:
Rumors are circulating that the villain of the Guardians of the Galaxy movie will be…Ronan the Accuser.
Here’s a page from Ronan’s first appearance, in Fantastic Four #65.
Ms. Marvel #5. Preliminary by Marie Severin; Final cover by Ed Hannigan and Joe Sinnott.
MARVEL COMICS, 1962
“Stan Lee is introducing a new character in TALES OF SUSPENSE—Iron Man! This goes on sale Dec. 10th. Watch for it.
Also on sale Dec. 10th—an entire mag devoted to THE AMAZING SPIDERMAN! You won’t want to miss this one.
Stan also has a new war mag in the making—SERGEANT FURY AND HIS HOWLING COMMANDOES. This one won’t be out until March 5th, but don’t you forget it!
Starting with issue #91 of JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY, Joe Sinnott (who inked FANTASTIC FOUR #5) will be drawing The Mighty Thor. I think you are going to like his work.”
Judy Walsh sure had the inside track at Marvel Comics.
Untold Stories: Marvel Sells Stash of Original Art (by John Romita, Gil Kane, and others) for $770, 1973
“But think about the Marvel Warehouse of Original Art! Since there is some disagreement as to whom finished art truly belongs (the penciler merely pencils, the inker merely inks, the letterer letters), Marvel prudently settles the question by appropriating all.”
—Creem, April 1973
Marvel began returning current pages to artists sometime in 1974, and eventually worked retroactively back a few months, to comics cover-dated from January 1974; among the earliest issues from which art was sent back were Avengers #119 and Amazing Spider-Man #128.
But a year earlier, Marvel sold the covers to these issues, cover-dated January 1973, to the Winnipeg Art Gallery. Seven covers, plus progressive proofs and color guides for each, for a total of $770.
Back in 1986, Irene Vartanoff (who began managing artwork return in 1975) told The Comics Journal that Marvel would occasionally send artwork to exhibits. But as far as I know, this is the only evidence that exists of Marvel actually accepting money for pages of original art.
It’s unclear if the gallery still possesses the pages; nothing comes up on their inventory database. But if Rich Buckler, Joe Sinnott, Barry Smith, John Romita, Sal Buscema, or Tom Palmer happens to read this, they may want to give them a call.
UPDATE: It looks like the pages were displayed in 2006, as part of an exhibit called Funny Papers, and that—great news—the gallery then returned the works to the artists.
Giant Superhero Holiday Grab-Bag! From Marvel Treasury Edition #13, 1976. Art by Gil Kane and Joe Sinnott
Wildman!
Fantastic Four #136, July 1973. Art by John Buscema and Joe Sinnott. Words by Gerry Conway.
Captain America #122, February 1970. Art by Gene Colan and Joe Sinnott. Words by Stan Lee.
(Fantastic Four #98, May 1970. Art by Jack Kirby and Joe Sinnott. Words by Neil Armstrong and Stan Lee. Lettering by Artie Simek.)
“Here men from the planet earth first set foot upon the moon, July, 1969, A.D. We came in peace far all mankind.”
“(I Got A) Catholic Block” —Sonic Youth, 1987
“(I Got A) Catholite Block” —MODOK, 1969
Art by Gene Colan and Joe Sinnott. Words by Stan Lee. From Captain America #119.
