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!

The Incredible Hulk and Friends and Enemies! And How! 1980 Albert Bigley Art! Marvel Comics?!

Wow. Talk about the "big one!" Dig this repugnant painting I whipped up (in 1980 at age 15) of the ever-incredible Hulk and his cast of thousands! Inspired by the work of Jim Steranko, as well as the many wrap-around panoramic paintings that adorned such books as the HULK! magazine of the day, I wanted to include every darned Hulk friend and foe in one big (18 by 30 inch) watercolored wall-busting whopper! You can see I tried to tell the Jade Giant's tale, in a left-to-right fashion starting with his origin, his main cast (General Ross, Betty, Rick, etc.), then added his early foes, characters who appeared later in his drama-drenched strip, some of his superhero pals, even slipping in a nod to the then-current HULK CBS-TV series! Oh, to be young and have this kind of time and boundless energy again... Click to enlarge!

Note the influence of actor Bill Bixby on my depiction of "Dr. Banner!" Bixby, of course,
was then portraying the good doctor on the CBS HULK TV series!

Bonus! Click below to see a pic of me, in 2013, holding up this oversized art, displaying the size of this colossal canvas!

Al Bigley, holding aloft this 1980 watercolor-and-ink poster,
elicits reactions on the streets of Detroit, Michigan!

Claw Long and Prosper--Part Two! STAR TREK! Khan! Spock!

It's been many long years since I first spotted that odd knock-off "Mr. Spock" cloth figure in one of those ubiquitous claw machines you see outside of department stores, but take a look at his newly arrived company inside those plexiglass prisons! Due to the newest STAR TREK: INTO DARKNESS flick, it looks as if Spock has been joined by Khan, Kirk, Scotty, Uhura (I think), "mirror" Spock, Klingons, and other tiny-tot TREK toy characters! Is this a dastardly plot by some evil space rapscallion? Click below to enlarge and engage!

Besides the ever-intrepid TREK crew, this machine also inexplicably featured odd knock-off
figures of Domo and a multi-colored "Patrick Star" from SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS!

WONDER WOMAN vs. the Nazis! 1975 Albert Bigley Original Art! DC Comics?!

Another bombastic blast from the past! Dig this 1975 Wonder Woman pencil drawing by me, age 10, from 1975! Obviously inspired by the then-new ABC-TV movie, THE NEW ORIGINAL WONDER WOMAN, here is the Amazing (and quite mannish) Amazon fighting high-flying Nazi felons (using her famed "Bullets and Bracelets" gimmick) in a World War Two setting! Click to enlarge!

Note the personalization in the upper left corner! Looks like I meant to give
this to my next-door neighbor of the time! But, since I still have it, that means
she somehow never took ownership of this dynamic drawing! Why she didn't
accept this fabulous masterpiece of modern art remains a mystery!


BONUS! Below is the custom logo used for the long-running ABC/CBS WONDER WOMAN TV series! You can tell it was what I had in mind (going only by memory in those pre-VCR or DVR days) when placing my own hand-drawn logo into the drawing above!

The Batboat! 1967 Aurora Model Re-Issue! Batman! DC Comics!

Wow! Here is my bulit-up version of the 2003 re-release of the fabulous original 1967 Aurora BATBOAT model kit! Click below to enlarge each image!

The gloss effect on the body of the craft was created using 
a spray gloss over the basic black/blue body! It was a real effort 
to precisely paint the red and chrome piping and the white side oval shapes!

Where's Batman? I used his figure in another Bat-vehicle, saving Robin to pilot 
this right-hand-side steered craft solo! I created new custom stickers 
for the rear fins and base! I also added plastic "flames" swiped from a Lego set!

The TV Batboat made its debut in the 1966 BATMAN theatrical film, but
wouldn't appear as an Aurora model kit until the following year!

A very fun (but challenging) model to build, one I was too young for (but always
wanted) when it debuted in the 60s!  I was very grateful for the recent re-release!

More Vintage Albert Bigley Paintings Revealed! 1979 MESSterpieces! Hulk! Dr. Strange!

It has been awhile since I threw a lingering light on my past forays into brush-and-canvas painting, but, thanks to a recent feverish rampage in my attic, here are three unearthed painted pictures from my 9th-grade past! First up: A 1980 acrylic rendering of ol' Captain America himself, based on a then-current cover of Cap's own mag! Click each image to enlarge!

My 1980 painting (above, left) and John Byrne's cover (right) for
CAPTAIN AMERICA #238! Which do you prefer? Don't answer that.

Next up is another acrylic paining, whipped up by me in late 1979! Here is Dr. Strange, looking a bit elongated and gaunt, as he casts a spell over an entranced audience! I recall creating tons of glazes for applying over the hands and circular "spell" areas! This painting was even part of a student art display event at my high school! Yow.

Are those Doc's hands, or inflated sausages on display?! The idea of
getting reference, or having somebody pose their
hands similarly for me? At that time, I thought
that would be copying and cheating!

And, finally (and mercifully,) here is a 1979 Hulk image, painted in acrylic on flat canvas board! The Hulk breaks free from a dark prison, with an image of the "Banner-to-Hulk" transformation posted overhead! You can tell I used Bill Bixby (then the star of the INCREDIBLE HULK TV series) as my inspiration for that lead face! I was also influenced by my newly-acquired FANTASTIC FOUR index, with Jim Steranko's amazing cover painting! Note Jim's almost monochromatic orange area (with the facial close-ups) on his cover below...These paintings aren't bad for a 15-year-old comic artist wannabee, but...

My 1979 painting (above, left) and Steranko's influential FF INDEX cover painting (right)!

Batman vs. The Joker! 1975 Albert Bigley Art! "Go Robin!" DC Comics?!

Enough with the e-mails and calls! I give in! Here is yet another fabulous (?) blast from my past to your present (huh?)! Dig this bombastic 1975 illo by a 10-year-old me, depicting mucho mile-high mayhem! It's Batman and Robin, launching into furious action against the Joker and his multiple minions! But--Is Batman crashing thru that tiny window in the background? What is the Joker perched upon? Why are so many people missing their legs? Why is the foreground thug shooting at the bad guys? Click to enlarge, Bat-fans!

BONUS! Look below to see my inspiration for Batman's above pose! This is the bulky box that housed the 1974 Mego "Batcave" playset, a gift I received the previous Christmas, so...

BONUS BONUS! Or, was this (below) my inspiration? Here is a panel from 1968's WORLD'S FINEST COMICS #180, drawn by Ross Andru! I had this as a back-issue then, so...Or was this '68 pose the inspiration for the '74 Mego artist, which I saw, and...Yeah.