Star Studded Comics

Last updated

Star Studded Comics is the name of three comics-related publications, including a comic from the Golden Age of Comics, a comics fanzine, and a modern comic homage to the previous.

Contents

Cambridge House Publishers title

The first publication to use the name was published in 1945 by Cambridge House Publishers, and featured Captain Combat, Comandette, Red Rogue, Ghost Woman (the inspiration for the later Dark Horse Comics character, The Ghost),[ citation needed ] and several other characters.

In 1946, a comic of the same name was published in Canada by Superior Publishers Limited. Whether this was a reprint of Cambridge House's or not is uncertain. [1]

Fanzine

The second Star-Studded Comics was a fanzine that ran for 18 issues, from September 1963 to the summer of 1972. Published in the U.S. by the "Texas Trio" (Larry Herndon, Buddy Saunders, and Howard Keltner), [2] it featured early amateur superhero comics drawn or written by George R. R. Martin, [3] Grass Green, Jim Starlin, Roy Thomas, Sam Grainger, Alan Weiss, Dave Cockrum, Mike Vosburg, Biljo White, and Howard Keltner, [4] among others, and featured the early appearances of Dr. Weird, Xal-kor the Human Cat, Wildman, and The Eye. [5]

George R. R. Martin's prose story "Powerman vs. the Blue Barrier" won comic fandom's Alley Award in the amateur category. [6] Earlier, in 1963, Buddy Saunders' cover artwork for the second issue also won an Alley Award in the amateur category. [7] In 1967, the fanzine won three Alley Awards: Best All-Strip Fanzine, Best Fiction/Strip Fanzine, and Best Article on Comic Strip Material. [8]

Big Bang Comics title

The third Star Studded Comics is among the metafictional comics that tell the stories of the Big Bang Universe characters. As they featured Dr. Weird, however, this fictitious title is a clear homage to the 1960s fanzine, rather than an independent metafictional title.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Bagge</span> American cartoonist

Peter Bagge is an American cartoonist whose best-known work includes the comics Hate and Neat Stuff. His stories often use black humor and exaggerated cartooning to dramatize the reduced expectations of middle-class American youth. He won two Harvey Awards in 1991, one for best cartoonist and one for his work on Hate. In recent decades Bagge has done more fact-based comics, everything from biographies to history to comics journalism. Publishers of Bagge's articles, illustrations, and comics include suck.com, MAD Magazine, toonlet, Discover, and the Weekly World News, with the comic strip Adventures of Batboy. He has expressed his libertarian views in features for Reason.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Kubert</span> American comic book artist

Joseph Kubert was a Polish-born American comic book artist, art teacher, and founder of The Kubert School. He is best known for his work on the DC Comics characters Sgt. Rock and Hawkman. He is also known for working on his own creations, such as Tor, Son of Sinbad, and the Viking Prince, and, with writer Robin Moore, the comic strip Tales of the Green Beret. Two of Kubert's sons, Andy Kubert and Adam Kubert, themselves became recognized comic book artists, as did many of Kubert's former students, including Stephen R. Bissette, Amanda Conner, Rick Veitch, Eric Shanower, Steve Lieber, and Scott Kolins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Al Williamson</span> American cartoonist (1931–2010)

Alfonso Williamson was an American cartoonist, comic book artist and illustrator specializing in adventure, Western, science fiction and fantasy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carmine Infantino</span> American comic book artist (1925-2013)

Carmine Michael Infantino was an American comics artist and editor, primarily for DC Comics, during the late 1950s and early 1960s period known as the Silver Age of Comic Books. Among his character creations are the Black Canary and the Silver Age version of DC superhero the Flash with writer Robert Kanigher, the stretching Elongated Man with John Broome, Barbara Gordon the second Batgirl with writer Gardner Fox, Deadman with writer Arnold Drake, and Christopher Chance, the second iteration of the Human Target with Len Wein.

<i>Big Bang Comics</i> American comic book series

Big Bang Comics is an American comic book anthology series, designed to be an homage to Golden Age and Silver Age comics. Most stories in Big Bang Comics take place either on "Earth-A," during the 1960s, or on "Earth-B" during the 1940s, featuring characters such as Ultiman, Thunder Girl, and Dr. Weird.

Arnold Drake was an American comic book writer and screenwriter best known for co-creating the DC Comics characters Deadman and the Doom Patrol, and the Marvel Comics characters the Guardians of the Galaxy, among others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newspaper Enterprise Association</span> American editorial column and comic strip newspaper syndication service

The Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA) is an editorial column and comic strip newspaper syndication service based in the United States and established in 1902. The oldest syndicate still in operation, the NEA was originally a secondary news service to the Scripps Howard News Service; it later evolved into a general syndicate best known for syndicating the comic strips Alley Oop, Our Boarding House, Freckles and His Friends, The Born Loser, Frank and Ernest, and Captain Easy / Wash Tubbs; in addition to an annual Christmas comic strip. Along with United Feature Syndicate, the NEA was part of United Media from 1978 to 2011, and is now a division of Andrews McMeel Syndication. The NEA once selected college All-America teams, and presented awards in professional football and professional [NBA] basketball.

The Alley Award was an American annual series of comic book fan awards, first presented in 1962 for comics published in 1961. Officially organized under the aegis of the Academy of Comic Book Arts and Sciences, the award shared close ties with the fanzine Alter Ego magazine. The Alley is the first known comic book fan award.

Jerry Gwin Bails was an American popular culturist. Known as the "Father of Comic Book Fandom," he was one of the first to approach the comic book field as a subject worthy of academic study, and was a primary force in establishing 1960s comics fandom.

Jake "Buddy" Saunders is an American author and businessman, working in the fields of comic books and science fiction.

<i>The Many Ghosts of Doctor Graves</i> American supernatural-anthology comic book

The Many Ghosts of Doctor Graves was an American supernatural-anthology comic book published by Charlton Comics, often featuring stories by writer-artist Steve Ditko. The eponymous Dr. M. T. Graves was a fictional character who hosted the stories in each issue of this title, and very occasionally took part in a tale.

William Carl Schelly was an Eisner Award-winning author who chronicled the history of comic books and comic book fandom, and wrote biographies of comic book creators, including Otto Binder, L.B. Cole, Joe Kubert, Harvey Kurtzman, John Stanley, and James Warren as well as silent film comedian Harry Langdon.

Notable events of 1967 in comics. See also List of years in comics.

Richard Edward "Grass" Green was an African American cartoonist notable for being the first black participant in both the 1960s fan art movement and the 1970s underground comics movement. In the 1960s, Green's Harvey Kurtzman-like zany, action-packed, humorous comics parodies appeared in numerous fanzines. His "outrageous" 1970s and 1980s underground work used searing humor to expose America's racism and bigotry.

<i>The Comic Reader</i> Comics news fanzine

The Comic Reader (TCR) was a comics news-fanzine published from 1961 to 1984. Debuting in the pre-direct market era, TCR was the first regularly published comics industry news fanzine, and was able to secure many contacts from within the ranks of the larger publishers. As TCR increased in popularity and influence, it was able to attract professional artist to illustrate the covers. TCR also proved to be a launching pad for aspiring comic book creators, many of whom published work in the fanzine as amateurs. Contributors from the world of fandom included founding editor Jerry Bails, key editor Paul Levitz, Paul Kupperberg, Tony Isabella, Byron Preiss, Neal Pozner, Don Rosa, Carl Gafford, and Doug Hazlewood.

<i>Rockets Blast Comicollector</i> Comics advertising fanzine

Rocket's Blast Comicollector (RBCC) was a comics advertising fanzine published from 1964 to 1983. The result of a merger with a similar publication, RBCC's purpose was to bring fans together for the purpose of adding to their comic book collections. It also proved to be a launching pad for aspiring comic book creators, many of whom corresponded and exchanged their work through RBCC, and published work in the fanzine as amateurs.

Douglas Bruce Berry was an American comic book artist who is best known as the inker of several of Jack Kirby's comic book series in the 1970s.

<i>BEM</i> (magazine) British fanzine focused on comic books

BEM, originally known as Bemusing Magazine, was a British fanzine focused on comic books which was published roughly five times a year from 1973 to 1982. The brainchild of Martin Lock, BEM featured American and British comics industry news and gossip, interviews, comic reviews, essays, columns, and comic strips. Billed as "The Comics News Fanzine," BEM eventually transitioned into a professionally produced comics magazine. As time went on, the fanzine also became more of a "strip-zine," with original comics content — some of it written by Lock — increasing year by year. Notable artistic contributors to BEM over the years included Brian Bolland, Dave Gibbons, Mike McMahon, Bryan Talbot, Chris Ash, and Dave Harwood.

Southwesterncon was a series of regional multi-genre fan conventions held annually in Texas and Oklahoma between 1966 and 1971. On a rotating basis, conventions were held in Dallas ("D-Con"), Houston ("Houstoncon"), and Oklahoma City ("Multicon"). Southwesterncon is credited with being one of the earliest ongoing comic book conventions in the United States.

Mark Hanerfeld was an American writer and editor in the comic book industry. Starting out in the world of comics fandom, Hanerfeld is most well known for co-creating Abel, the "host" of the DC Comics horror comics anthology House of Secrets, as well as being the model for the character's appearance.

References

Citations

  1. GCD :: Series
  2. Schelly, Bill (2005). The Best of Star-Studded Comics. Hamster Press. ISBN   978-0972463003.
  3. For Collectors - George R. R. Martin's Official Website
  4. Suspended Animation Comic Reviews
  5. "The Best of Star-Studded Comics" at Bud Plant Comic Art
  6. "1965 Alley Awards," Comic Book Awards Almanac. Retrieved Dec. 8, 2020.
  7. "1963 Alley Awards," Comic Book Awards Almanac. Retrieved Dec. 8, 2020.
  8. Hahn, Joel (ed.). "1967 Alley Awards". Comic Book Awards Almanac. Retrieved January 3, 2015.

Sources