Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Spider-Man vs. The Sandman! Huge 1976 Albert Bigley Comic Art! Marvel Comics?!

Dig this huge (11 by 17 inches!) pencil drawing I did at age 11, in 1976! Here we have a harried Spidey facing off against the sinister Sandman! Looks familiar, does it? That's right, I lifted it unashamedly from the cover of the then-spanking-new AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #154! I simply wanted a large poster of this cover, another stellar example of the art of the incredible John Romita Sr., and it was up to me to make that poster a reality! This gem even has tape on it, from when I had displayed it! Click to enlarge!

You can tell I really struggled with the heads and faces, wanting to capture
Romita's perfect renditions fully!  He's still the Spider-Man artist to me!


BONUS! Look below to see the actual 1976 cover that inspired my own incredible (?) re-creation!


Tuesday, November 13, 2012

It's a Bird, It's a Plane--It's SUPERMAN! 1966 Broadway Musical--On TV in 1975?! DC Comics!

Sure, we now live in a world awash with tons of multi-media versions of the famed superheroes, from big-screen films, TV shows, video games, and even musicals! But--didja know that a sensational Superman musical was mounted during the dizzying era of the 1966 BATMAN TV show? An ambitious Broadway play called IT'S A BIRD, IT'S A PLANE, IT'S SUPERMAN made waves during that "pop art" period, and it featured a host of great actors/singers involved in a high-camp extravaganza that looked to ride the coattails of the unbelievably popular live-action capers of his fellow Caped Crusader! The Supes show was re-staged in 1975, and ran as a late-night filler, starring David Wilson as the Man of Steel! Click below to take in all of the info about both the Broadway show and the TV version! 

Like most large plays and musicals, the Playbill guide for this show was gayly 
festooned with caricatures by the amazing Al Hirschfeld! Note that the play 
co-starred Jack Cassidy (David Cassidy's dad), and Linda Lavin (later to helm 
ALICE for CBS)!The above comes from the rare 1973 DC tabloid, AMAZING 
WORLD OF SUPERMAN!

I somehow missed all of this in 1975, only mere months before the debut (also 
on ABC) of two new WONDER WOMAN live-action specials! Could it have 
been the late hour in which ABC had slotted this presentation? This 
TV version also starred David Wayne ("The Mad Hatter" from BATMAN),
and Loretta Swit (from M.A.S.H.)!



You asked for it--here it is! See the 1975 broadcast of this little gem now! Just click here!

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Batgirl and Robin! 1975 Albert Bigley Original Comic Art! DC Comics?!

This time, I present a fabulous (?) full-color image, drawn by me at age 10, in 1975! Inspired by their titanic team-ups in the then-new BATMAN FAMILY comics, here is the "Dynamite Duo" themselves, Batgirl and Robin! The teaming of these two in comics was kinda exciting, as Robin had left behind his Batman-sidekick status years earlier, and (even to my young eyes) Batgirl was much easier on the eyes than her male inspiration! I had a lot to learn about male and female anatomy when I created this drawing (in colored pencils, yet), as an oddly-proportioned Batgirl appears to swoop in and lob a smoke-bomb at a gigantic dragon, thus saving the Teen Wonder! Click to enlarge!

Notice my attempt to add some sorta background, with a wrecked 
building and street, and a bystander running for cover!

BONUS: Below is the official early-70s "Batgirl" logo, created by artist Don Heck! I doubtless used this as my inspiration for the above logo seen on my 1975 "masterpiece!"