Terry Doyle

If you ask, then you obviously haven't seen Al Harley's work on Thor in an early Journey Into Mystery. Al Hartley's awful artwork for JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY # 90 is on a par with these crappy stamps. Maybe these stamps would be of interest to Al Hartley THOR fans? Actually, the image of Thor in these stamps isn't too bad. It makes a case that these were Severin because the stamp image of Thor is similar to the big head shot Marie Severin drew for Thor 158. The Thor stamp looks as though it might have been copied from the image on the (revised) top left corner box that appeared from JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY # 114 onwards. In fact, if you care to do the research . . . you could probably locate all the original sources (copied from ) for the (badly drawn) stamp images.

If you ask, then you obviously haven't seen Al Harley's work on Thor in an early Journey Into Mystery. Al Hartley's awful artwork for JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY # 90 is on a par with these crappy stamps. Maybe these stamps would be of interest to Al Hartley THOR fans?

Thanks, Ruben!

Don't suppose you know Pete Higham?

Al Feldstein's cover art to WEIRD FANTASY # 14: My favourite Al Feldstein WEIRD FANTASY cover! First time I saw the cover to this comic-book was at a Liverpool (UK) comic mart back in the late 1970s. At the time, I was a newcomer to EC (which I'd recently discovered, then, via the East Coast Comix reprint series). Anyway, back to the story of the Liverpool comic mart . . . as I was walking around the venue (the Blucoat Chambers), I noticed one of the atendees trying to sell a bunch of 1950s EC comics to a dealer. The dealer was trying to sound unimpressed/disenterested (in an effort to low-ball on the kind of prices he was willing to pay). I quietly stepped in and politely asked the guy with the ECs if he would consider selling his comics to me. Much to the displeasure of the dealer (if looks could kill . . . ), we moved away to another part of the venue to look at the books in detail and discuss an appropriate exchange of money. All the asking prices were very reasonable and I ended up buying most of the ECs. I also arranged to purchase others the seller had at home. Amongst the selection I bought at the comic mart was WEIRD FANTASY # 14. Although EC was new to me, I'd already formed a definite preference for the Science-Fiction titles. Al Feldstein's cover art was a big pull for me, and I absolutely loved the cover image to that WF # 14 comic-book when I fist set eyes on it back at that 1970s venue! I'd grew up watching television repeats of all the old Science-Fiction movies of the 1950s - and Al's art was a perfect reflection of those times. The image, showing a group of astronauts effecting a repair on their rocket ship is highly reminiscent of George Pal's DESTINATION MOON (1950), which no doubt influenced Al's science-fiction artwork, together with Chesley Bonestell's famous space paintings. A journey beset by problems as man makes fledgling steps into the great unknown . . . Several years later, during the early 1980s, when I'd progressed my EC addiction to buying original artwork from the Russ Cochran EC art auctions, I was looking forward to the time when the cover art to WF # 14 would become available for sale. When the artwork eventually surfaced and Russ's Auction Catalog reached my doorstep, timing was bad . . . an emergency had arisen in which I needed to buy a new motorcycle; essential transportation for getting me to and from my workplace. I had to make a practical decision and in the process missed-out on a much-loved piece of art. Fast forward to nearly three decades later . . . the cover art re-surfaced for sale via Steve Ferzoco (who was offering it out on behalf of the then owner)! But by this time, the market for vintage EC artwork had skyrocketed in demand and value - and I couldn't quite raise the funds needed to meet the asking price. In recent months, the cover re-appeared for sale once again - ironically, by the auctioneer who had sold it first time round . . . Russ Cochran! Surprisingly (at least to me), the cover failed to meet its reserve price. Unfortunately I wasn't quite in a postion to compete during the auction, but after I discovered that the artwork didn't sell I e-mailed Russ to ask if we could perhaps negotiate a deal on the cover (which had been on consignment from Don Lineberger, who tragically died several months after releasing this cover from his collection.). I put forward a proposal, and a little under a week later Russ got back to me with a counter-offer (that I was more than happy to agree to). Funny things is . . . this past year I've been winding-down my collecting habits and selling off chunks of my collection to finance future plans that will have a lasting benefit for all of my family. Just when I think I'm over the addiction, something really special comes along and I know I have to make a concerted effort go for it (or face a future of regret). Nature of the beast, I guess . . . Big, big thanks to Russ Cochran and Angie Meyer (Russ's right hand person) for making this wonderful acquisition possible Also special thanks to Steve Ferzoco (who first highlighted me to the cover's availability), Dan Forman (who offered some useful advice along the way) and Paul Stephenson (who pitched-in on organizing an overseas payment). Thank you guys . . . this is a cover from a long time ago, that I've long-admired. Although I've had to shed a number of prized possessions this past year, I somehow think that this particular piece of art is destined to remain with me.

Al Feldstein's cover art to WEIRD SCIENCE # 13 (2nd issue):

Steve Ditko's cover art to CAPTAIN ATOM # 80 (3rd issue):

Liverpool. England, eh? I used to live in Anfield for the first 18 years of my life . . .

Interesting. Never saw that original thread. It is odd that such inconsistences wouldn't be noted in the first place, let alone after so long a time (even comiclink's listing failed to correct them). Of couse it makes no sense to draw characters for the first time on stamps; Though, I think the guy who says there's no way these were drawn by bullpen artist is also taking it to the extreme. Whatever failings there are in the art on some of those stamps, many are also dead on, even if they were copied from existing images. And all it takes is a look at some Marvel comcs from 1964 to see that bullpen artists very often cranked out images of marvel star characters that were not only below the quality of these but in some cases bloody awful. (I will refrain from naming names as it really isn't necessary). The most likely scenario seems to be it was a mid-60s early MMMS project that was given to Marie Severin or someone unknown and was aborted before completion. That's interesting enough, but maybe the guy who bought them either paid too much or really wanted them to be much more interesting and talked himself into it. So I'd guess that because these were offered with major discrepancies and likely overpriced that had had a lingering effect that caused them to be somewhat undervalued this time around. I'd've probably bid a bit more for the DD, Cap or Thor headshots if the descriptions hadn't contained the dodgy date. Hi I was the original lister who composed that thread. I've been off-line for quite a while and have now re-subscribed using my real name - which makes a refreshing change! Some lofty claims on behalf of any dealer who has tried to sell these stamps . . . and wishful thinking on behalf of any would-be buyers. Not suggesting they're not without interest, but artistically they're not very good - are they?