Recalling Sub-Mariner's 1973 Costume! NEW "True Tales of a Young Comics Fan!" BACK ISSUE!

Here, fresh from its appearance in the panic-packed pages of BACK ISSUE magazine, comes my latest "True Tales of a Young Comics Fan" strip! This time, I tackle my take on the early-70s "disco duds" given to the once nearly-naked Sub-Mariner! I actually liked said sartorial swimwear, which made Subby look more like a swingin' 70s superhero, as opposed to a swimmer swaddled in solo sea-green swim trunks! Click below to enlarge and enjoy the laugh-loaded lunacy!

BONUS! Click below to peer at the cover of 2016's BACK ISSUE! #91 (order here), which contains the above sensational sea-soaked strip! Gee, it must be a coincidence that my work ran in the "all jerks" issue. Heh.

POW! Robin and His "Choke Hold!" Batman! 1973 Albert Bigley Art! DC Comics?!

Another journey into the vast vaults that house my childhood (child-ish?) drawings! This time, I come out with this 1973 masterpiece, whipped up by an 8-year-old me, featuring Batman's own teen sidekick, Robin! Callously cribbed from a re-issued 1967 BATMAN coloring book, here is Robin administering a very savage choke hold (while busting a few fingers in the process) to some felon or super-foe helper! Click below to enlarge, if ya must!

Above: So, the wretched robber is being apprehended in front of a rope-festooned
trap? In front of the very bank he was robbing (or is that a bank sign)? All for that
tiny bag of change he's dropping? And--Is that blood on the crooks' shirt!?

Above: The coloring book page that inspired me to craft such timeless art!

Above: Yet another inspiration for the above superhero sketch! I was so crazed
with the Aurora Robin model kit that I had to include its
chemical-splattered platform in my drawing!

The Riddler Strikes! 1973 Albert Bigley Art! DC Comics?!

Here's another gem from the treasure chest! It's my 1973 drawing of Batman's longtime super-foe, the rascally Riddler! Drawn on notebook paper (!), here is the Prince of Puzzlers, swiped shamelessly from the famous 1966 poster image (then appearing on toy packaging, lunchboxes, apparel, etc...) by Carmine Infantino! Click to enlarge, if you must!

Looks like I quit early after beginning the colored pencil stage
of this masterpiece! And, is the Riddler standing in the desert?!

BONUS! Click below to see the famed 1966 poster (featuring sterling Carmine Infantino imagery) that was my inspiration for the above artwork!

True Tales of a Young Comics Fan! "The Great 1976 Marvel Steal!" Bronze Age Mayhem!

And now for something completely different! Here is an all-new custom comic strip, detailing an emotional encounter I had in 1976 (at age 11) with a stack of (what then seemed like) very old Marvel comic books, a heap I had to own! Read about my reaction to those still-treasured comics, and my conscience-tossed final decision, in this fun and frivolous funny fumetti! Click below to enlarge!

Almost every comic Miss Serpico (yes, that was her name) had stowed in 
that rear cubby all came from late 1972! She said they once belonged to her 
brother, so he musta went on a one-month comic-buying kick...

It was actually fun trying to fit the 4-year old books into then-current (and 
fairly new to me) Marvel continuity ("There was a 1950s Captain America and 
Bucky?! The Vision has issues with the Grim Reaper? Neal Adams drew for Marvel?!)...
I had also never owned comics with the famed (and short-lived) Marvel "box design" 
covers, and loved that look then and now!

BONUS! Peer below to see the exact comics involved in the above loopy love story!

1973 Albert Bigley BATMAN Original Comic Art! "I've Found The Uderworld!" DC Comics?!

Hoo boy. Another attempt by young me, age 8, to create my own huge (over 11 by 17) custom 1973 BATMAN cover! Complete with text, price, and word balloons, here is the Caped Crusader about to enter blindly into yet another deadly trap set by the unctuous underworld! You could tell I had a certain composition in mind (obviously based on the "real" BATMAN #249, and Dick Giordano's amazing art), but then things start to rapidly fall apart! At least I added that swell bear trap, tho! Those "uderworld" types are dangerous! Click to enlarge!

Why my old address scribbled on this masterwork? Your guess is as good as mine! I think I may have wanted to send this to DC Comics for some reason, but, as they had no such fan art contests then...



BONUS: Peek below to peer at the inspiration for my awesome artistic endeavor! BATMAN # 249!

1973 Albert Bigley BATMAN and ROBIN Original Artwork! DC Comics?!

Hoo! Another early piece of art created by me, at age 8! Drawn (in red Flair marker?) in 1973, here is my moody version of the Dynamic Duo (in the Batcave?) in thoroughly thoughtful repose, before certainly leaping into mind-bending action! I was existing on a steady diet of afternoon reruns of the 1966 live-action BATMAN ABC-TV show, and you can see its influence in this piece! I sure had a loooooong way to go! And, what's so wrong with making your signature bigger than your subject matter in an illustration? I should bring that back! Click to enlarge!

Superman and Batman!? 1973 Albert Bigley Art! DC Comics?!

My work again! This time, it's a 1973 Superman and Batman illo I scribbled, at age 8! Dunno why I was hankering to draw the WORLD'S FINEST duo, but here they are, in full gallivantin' glory! Was this another first attempt at a collection of similar superhero drawings? A comic book cover? What exactly is Superman doing? And what's with Batman's legs? Click to enlarge and wonder why!

Star Trek MR. SPOCK 1973 Model Kit Re-Issue! AMT! Aurora! Nimoy!

Yes! Here are pics of my newly-assembled STAR TREK "Mr. Spock" figural model kit! Actually a re-issue of the famous 70s kit from both AMT and Aurora, this iconic kit was re-issued last year, using all the old molding and tooling from the original! A great kit, and one I've never made before (and I've made ALL the Aurora "Monster" kits, the "Superhero" line, and even some APES, SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN, and PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN kits)! Click all images to enlarge!

As you can see, I chose to greatly customize the base, adding tons of grit and rubble during the priming phase, as well as gradations on the rocky areas, all in an effort to make it seem as "alien" as possible... I also decided to paint the serpent a black/deep red/orange color, emerging from a deep rock pit (pebbles added from model railroad accessories helped) ...

I paid attention to high-gloss areas (Spock's hair, weapons, and boots as well as the serpent), and matte surfaces (base, Spock's pants and shirt, etc...). I hand-drew facial details, as well as Spock's shirt insignia and sleeve piping...

The kit was a lot of fun, but, based on the box art, I painted and detailed the kit to be displayed from Spock's right side, tho you can't see much of his body unless displayed from the opposite side! If I had considered this from the start, I would have turned the figure more to the right before affixing it to the base, or the serpent to the left, depending on how I wanted it displayed...Something you learn only after assembling the kit many times, and seeing how this was my first time with it...

1973 Albert Bigley BATMAN Drawing! "To The Batpoles!" Batman Shakes His Money-Maker! Bronze Age Madness!

Another big one from my checkered past! This scribbling (complete with my huge signature) features mighty Batman shimmying down the Batpole, as if he's moonlighting as a cast member of "Showgirls!" Drawn by me (when I still lived in Jersey) at age 8, and based on the then-ubiquitous BATMAN TV show afternoon reruns (hence the clear and obvious label for the Batpole), this is certainly one oddball image! Click to enlarge!

Early Spidey!

Good ol' Spidey! He was the second superhero I went crazy over, after getting hip to Batman and his wacky world of fun...Thanks to the release of the 1972 ROCKOMIC LP (advertised on local TV by the afternoon kiddie host flanked by an actor in a terrific Spidey costume), and the reruns of the 1967 SPIDER-MAN cartoon, I got into the Webhead with great interest! Once I glommed onto the current comics-wow! John Romita Sr.! Gil Kane! Ross Andru! Jim Mooney! All those great artists on the comics of the time! 

As you can see in this masterpiece from 1972 or so, I was trying to capture the famous contorted Spidey poses, with a nod toward Romita's style. I went through a (thankfully) brief period of drawing my characters with very dwarf-like statures. Looks like a child in a Spidey suit!

But, I WAS trying to add a sense of depth (note the window frame) and excitement to the drawings right from the start! I recall doodling very few images of the characters with just straight-on static poses. I somehow knew right off the bat that you HAD to draw these guys jumping, flying, leaping and backflipping through the air, hence my feeble early attempt at foreshortening here.

Also, note that my signature is almost as big as Spider-Man's whole head! Even at age 8, I was observing how the pro artists signed their work, digging the way John Romita Sr. would sorta bury his name in the drawing somewhere...