Over the years, the bizarre Headmen have achievement something of a cult following. What fans of Steve Gerber's less than photogenic group of super villains is that they have roots that go waaaay back in time. Fans of the Headmen may want to scoop up this reprint book, as it features the initial 'appearances' of the various Headmen. Dr. Arthur Nagan (Gorilla Man) is seen in a 1954 story drawn by Bob Powell. Shrunken Bones appears in Angelo Torres drawn tale from 1958 and Chondu shows up in a 1960 story drawn by Doug Wildey. How did they get from the 50s to a early 70s reprint title to being reintroduced to the Marvel Universe? Well, I can't say for sure, but I can only imagine Steve Gerber sat back on his couch one day with this issue in hand, consumed a couple of beers (or other toxins) and had a four color epiphany.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Hidden Gems: Weird Wonder Tales #7
Over the years, the bizarre Headmen have achievement something of a cult following. What fans of Steve Gerber's less than photogenic group of super villains is that they have roots that go waaaay back in time. Fans of the Headmen may want to scoop up this reprint book, as it features the initial 'appearances' of the various Headmen. Dr. Arthur Nagan (Gorilla Man) is seen in a 1954 story drawn by Bob Powell. Shrunken Bones appears in Angelo Torres drawn tale from 1958 and Chondu shows up in a 1960 story drawn by Doug Wildey. How did they get from the 50s to a early 70s reprint title to being reintroduced to the Marvel Universe? Well, I can't say for sure, but I can only imagine Steve Gerber sat back on his couch one day with this issue in hand, consumed a couple of beers (or other toxins) and had a four color epiphany.
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3 comments:
I had this issue before I foolishly traded it away for a copy of Devil Kids Starring Hot Stuff. I'll never forget that final panel with you-know-whose head attached to that you-know-whats body—I don't want to spoil the ending for anyone.
I think your speculation is not far off Scott. Gerber mentioned (in an interview or LoC page) that he grew up a fan of Atlas Marvel books, and his attraction continued as he became a pro. He said was always likely to pay more attention to Marvel's little left corner pocket of horror/monster reprint books in the 70's than he was to the more shiny and popular big titles like Spidey, FF or Avengers. Craig
Wow! I never realized that all the Headmen's original tales were collected in the same reprint issue of WEIRD WONDER TALES.
All those Bronze Age monster reprint titles were among my favorite books when I started collecting comics and, for some reasons, WEIRD WONDER TALES always seem to have the best reprints. Always my favorite series among those reprint titles.
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