SPIDER-MAN! 1977 Albert Bigley SPECTACULAR Artwork!? The Vulture! Marvel Mirth!

Another big one, from my checkered past! Here is my line-for-line (!) re-creation of the cover for SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #5! Well, it was the best I could do at age 11, in early 1977! Had I not heard of straight-edges or templates then?! I had a real thing for covering covers back then, having to include every line of text, indicia, and even UPC boxes! The original cover was drawn by dandy Dave Cockrum, when the title was still fresh and exciting, at a time when the world-weary Wall-Crawler only had three regular ongoing new titles! Compare that to the mind-numbing amount of poorly-produced periodicals he headlines today! Click to enlarge, art lovers!

Go Upside Down With The Monkees! 1980 Original Art by Albert Bigley! Davy Jones?!

It's 1980. I was 15, and in 10th grade. THE MONKEES show hadn't run in syndication in my area since late 1977 (and I won't see it air regularly again until MTV famously runs it in 1986), but I still dug the group (since the early 70s), and the four LPs (and two 8-tracks) in my possession. I was just about to embark on collecting the remaining albums and fan magazines and such, due to obtaining my newly-minted driver's license (and transportation to comic conventions and pop culture dealers) in about 6 months, but, in those days before eBay and the internet, it was quite a difficult (but rewarding) job! About that time, I decided to whip up a drawing of the group, as I recalled them (no VCRs yet to record the show, but I had used my audio recorder for the 70s reruns) performing in some scenes in front of the famed "seamless rainbow" set! I also tried to remember their dress, instrument set-ups, and positions in such segments, getting almost none of those details right, all without benefit of many photos. Click to enlarge this ink-and-colored-pencil monstrosity, if you feel you must.

So, exactly what is Micky wearing?! And, is that a speaker or an amp behind Micky, or a steamer trunk?

SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN?! 1976 Albert Bigley Artwork! Kenner Toys?!

Lest you think that the mighty Marvel and DC superheroes were all I drew as a kooky kid, take a gawk at this wonderful pencil illo (by me, age 11, in 1976) of sturdy Steve Austin himself! While never a big fan to the slow and dull SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN show, I did like the art as seen in the ubiquitous mid-70s comics ads for bionic-based toys, action figures, and accessories! I even tried hard to capture the likeness of once-major actor Lee Majors, with his dull expression and ever-lifted left eyebrow! In my drawing, he looks like an over-excited peeping tom! Why this was etched onto graph paper is a mystery for the scholars of this and future ages! Click to enlarge!