Random Coolness (Part 9)

More of the small details that made a BIG impression, picked at random from the cobweb-caked recesses of my comic-addled brain.

1. Corner Box Icons: Few things evoke the comics of my youth more readily than the corner cover icons of 1970's Marvel Comics. To borrow a term from the internet age, these tiny "avatars" in the corner boxes not only looked cool, but were also a clever way to grab a kid's attention on a crowded spinner rack. Their competitor DC Comics half-heartedly tried a few similar approaches, but never stuck with a design long enough to make them as effective a marketing tool as the Marvel corner icons.

2. John Romita's Hulk: Although I've always been fond of Marvel's Hulk character, he was a HUGE favorite of mine as a kid. Unfortunately, the character's primary artists during that era were Herb Trimpe and Sal Buscema...who, despite their long stints on the title, never quite nailed my ideal vision of the Jade Giant.  That honor belonged to cover artist supreme John Romita Sr., whose portrayal of the Hulk is the definitive version as far as I'm concerned.

As you can see from the head shots below, whether he pencilled and inked, or just inked over another artist (like squares 2 and 3), Romita's Hulk remained remarkably consistent or "on model" as we say in the cartooning biz.

 

Here's a few of the distinctive Romita Hulk characteristics:

A) A big, shaggy head of hair

B) A heavy brow over wide-set eyes, 

C) A compact nose with wide, flaring nostrils

D) A large upper lip area

E) Exaggerated "parenthesis" lines framing the area between the nose and mouth

F) A pronounced lower lip set above a surprisingly blunted chin

3. The S.H.I.E.L.D Helicarrier: Several years before the Death Star of Star Wars surpassed it, the mammoth S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier was probably the largest (and coolest) man-made construct in all of science fiction...or at least it was in my little corner of the cosmos (click on the image for a larger view). Built by a cooperative of scientists and industrialists (including Reed Richards and Tony Stark), the Helicarrier fuctioned as both a flying aircraft carrier and a mobile headquarters for the planet's premiere intelligence/defense agency . 

Although the design has changed a bit since its debut in Strange Tales #135 (1965), the array of gigantic helicopter rotors keeping it aloft have remained...a staggeringly impossible (yet endearing) feat of engineering that could only work in the pseudo-scientific skies of superhero comic books. In fact, even as a kid I wondered how fighter jets could land on a surface buffeted by the hurricane-force winds generated by the rotors...or how those same winds and the engine stress didn't tear apart the entire Helicarrier. However, if there's one thing I learned to do early on with superhero comics books, it was to sweep those nagging scientific objections under the rug and just enjoying the awesome spectacle of it all. The Helicarrier flew because it did. 'Nuff said!

Comments

[David Morefield]

I dug DC's "avatars," too, like Superman breaking the chains and Batman running in front of that full moon, but you're right, they were never company-wide and even Supes and Bats weren't consistent. That image of The Thing is probably my favorite shot of Ben, period.

Also, yes, the Helicarrier was cool and I think you could apply "It works because it does, 'Nuff said" to about 90% of Kirby's mechanical creations. I remember thinking the "Godzilla" comic was a dumb idea until SHIELD and the 'carrier showed up, at which point I changed my view to "Hey, this has possibilities..."

[De Baisch]

Big fan of the Helicarrier too. As awful as the Fox Nick Fury TV movie was, I did dig their take on the Helicarrier - no rotors, just big engines.

[Michael Rebain]

Of course, while DC never achieved the same icon "branding" as Marvel did, a few of us do fondly remember the "GO-GO Checks" that appeared on each comic DC issued during 1966 - 1967, supposedly as a means of distinquishing the books from those of other publishers when only the top portion was visible at the newstand.

[Comic Coverage]

Funny you should mention the go-go checks, Michael. I've been working my way through the "DC Vault" retrospective on DC history, and the go-go checks were touched upon. Apparently it was DC's response to the pop art craze of the mid-to-late-60's, though the device only lasted about a year (if that). Still, it certainly got your attention!

Okay, I think I may have to subject myself to the Hasselhoff Nick Fury movie just to check out their version of the Helicarrier. Or maybe just wait until it's inevitably shown in one of the upcoming Marvel films (I hope they don't use the lame Ultimate version...which was essentially a naval aircraft carrier with helicopter rotors.

[Pat Curley]

I think the Go-Go Checks were also added to highlight DC's connection with the Batman comics, which of course were selling like hotcakes at the time (early 1966).

[Wes C]

Yeah, I've always liked the Helicarrier too.
I always wondered how the general populace of New York and the other cities it would hover over felt about having an immense structure just floating over their heads. I mean, if that thing ever did crash - BOOM! - but like you said, comic book science... have they ever explained it's power source?

I've always like the Marvel corner boxes as well. It really gave the Marvel covers a cohesive look to match the "shared universe" feel of the books, something that DC just never seemed to get a handle on when I was growing up.

I never have really warmed to Romita Sr. though. I respect him and almost every artist I admire cites him as a pivotal influence, so I just assume it's my hang up.

[Hube]

I swear that middle [head] image of the Hulk was done by Gil Kane. But I trust 'ya, Mark! :-)

[Comic Coverage]

It was pencilled by Kane, but inked by Romita. That was my point: Even when Romita was just inking over pencils of the Hulk, it still looked like a Romita Hulk, yet still exhibiting the style of the penciller. In short, the sign of a great inker.

[Comic Coverage]

" I mean, if that thing ever did crash - BOOM! - but like you said, comic book science... have they ever explained it's power source?"

I'm sure the power source has been mentioned somewhere, though I'm personally not sure what it would be. Probably nuclear...or some sort of advanced pseudo-scientific invention of Reed Richards and Tony Stark. As for the Helicarrier crashing, it's crashed plenty of times, several of which seem to have happened over the last few years (most recently in Marvel's Secret Invasion). It's sort of Marvel's version of DC's android character Red Tornado repeatedly getting destroyed.

[Wes C]

"it's crashed plenty of times, several of which seem to have happened over the last few years"

Oops, that's what I get for not following the M.U. too closley for quite awhile. I've always liked S.H.I.E.L.D, but I never kept too close of a tab on their history for some reason - off to Wikipedia I go!

[suedenim]

I haven't been paying super-close attention to Marvel's recent Helicarrier history, but it seems like they've been messing around with its *uniqueness*, which is a mistake. Apparently they're rather fragile beasts now, but also too disposable. Blow one up, they'll just crank out more, somehow. Which is exactly wrong, IMO.

I loved the anti-Godzilla Behemoth Helicarrier, whose introduction managed to puff up both SHIELD *and* Godzilla somehow. Godzilla's such a threat that he requires a specially-designed Helicarrier to handle him (i.e., the *regular* Helicarrier, that marvel of Marvel engineering, *couldn't* handle Godzilla!)

And yet, it makes SHIELD look super-competent and cool too, because they *can* create the Behemoth.

I'm in a minority, but I actually kinda liked the Nick Fury TV movie. Allowing for the considerable limitations of being made for the walking dinosaur that is network television, it's OK, and Hasselhoff is by no means the worst thing about it. It has some clever art direction, too. Instead of going for a '60s Steranko/Ken Adam vibe (which, perhaps, the budget wouldn't have allowed for anyway), all the tech has this odd retro-'40s feel to it. Which I'm not sure how you'd *explain* exactly, but it's different and interesting.