Nifty Presents - Marvel Masterwork Pin-Ups!


I knew I had to have this book the moment I saw it advertised. The "Marvel Masterwork Pin-Ups" scattered through scores of classic Marvel comics always made me smile and sometimes impressed me beyond that. Often the posters broke the fourth wall, having the character speak directly to the reader with some bogus inscription and signature, sometimes the pieces itself was just such an impressive bit of artwork that you couldn't stop staring at it, admiring the craftsmanship of the artists.


The artist responsible for the vast majority of the posters in this book is Jack "King" Kirby followed closely by "Sturdy" Steve Ditko. "Dashing" Don Heck, "Big" John Buscema, "Jazzy" Johnny Romita, and "Genial" Gene Colan are also well represented. The book features the vast galleries of villainy featured in Fantastic Four Annuals as well as the same thing from Spider-Man Annuals. These posters in the earliest days of Marvel acted almost like pages from the handbooks which proved so popular in the 80's and beyond at both Marvel and DC. It is not too much to say that there's a delight each time you turn the page in this handsome volume.

Here's a small sampling in its original form.










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Comments

  1. RickJanuary 15, 2020 at 8:39 PM

    I love the book, but Craig left out the Western pin-ups that were running at the same time the original Masterworks were published.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rip JaggerJanuary 16, 2020 at 6:10 AM

      The cowboys were sure a key part of the mix at the time.

      Delete

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