All The Way With BOB & RAY! 1976 "Rorshack" Spoof! Who Needs Kojak?

Ah, the 70s. One colorful issue of the young person-oriented BANANAS (school book-club-ordered) magazine yielded articles and pics on THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN, Burt Reynolds (complete with giant color fold-out poster), recycling, the 1950s SUPERMAN TV show, and--Bob & Ray?! Yep! In those days of varied subject reading material, these mags were a real collection of humor, comics, pop culture, crafts, and just plain fun! And what could be more fun than reading a wonderful transcript of Bob & Ray's own KOJAK cop show take-off, RORSHACK? Well, hearing that gut-busting spoof would be preferable, but just imagine the dry, nasally voices of B&R as you read this, and away you go! Click to enlarge, look, laugh, and love, and remember to hang by your thumbs!

The Monkees and MIKEY Dolenz?! 1977 Albert Bigley Original Art!

Ouch! Here is my own lovingly-rendered 1977 portrait of the Monkees' own dynamic drummer, Micky Dolenz! Of course, I somehow re-named him "Mikey" Dolenz, but I was 12, and my spelling skills weren't quite up to snuff, so cut me some slack! Taken from the cover of the RCA "Laurie House" Monkees 2-LP set that was offered the previous year (great set, but a dreadful and cheap cover), I managed to make Micky look like a distorted version of Chuck Woolery! Click here to see some of his bandmates from the same frenzied drawing session! Click image below to enlarge!

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!

SPIDEY SUPER STORIES?! 1974 Albert Bigley Art! Marvel Comics?!

Another vintage attempt to create my own SPIDEY SUPER STORIES cover! This time it's 1974 (I was 9), and after viewing that day's live-action (and educational) Spidey adventure on the ELECTRIC COMPANY broadcast, I went right to work trying to whomp up a cover scene that duplicated that very video adventure! The result? Spidey vs the "fearsum" Fly! As usual, I had to capture the look of a real comic cover, including all logos, text, and blurbs! See another attempt at youthful artistic wonderment here! Click to enlarge.

Try as I might, I can not find any visual images from this sensational '74 SSS episode! So, just to prove I didn't imagine it, here is the story description from Wikipedia: 

Dr. Fly (Luis Avalos), a mutated half-fly, half-human plans to turn the world's inhabitants into the same type of mutant. He disguises himself as a vendor to distribute hot dogs laced with a formula of fleas and flies. Spidey saves a customer (Jim Boyd) from eating a tainted hot dog and traps Dr. Fly in his web, but gets a ticket from a police officer (Morgan Freeman) for operating (Dr. Fly's) pushcart without a license.

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!