RKMBs Forums .::Robegories::. Comic Books best artist jam and anniversary-issue comics

I've often thought of this as a category of comics I really enjoy, worthy of its own topic.

I like the idea of both a special issue out of the norm, by someone other than the usual creative team. And a wide range of stories about the same character by a wide array of artists and approaches.

I was looking at SUPERMAN 400 (October 1984) the other day, and aside from the other work, it has a fantastic 10-page story by Jim Steranko, that envisions the descendants of Superman through many generations into the future, in five beautiful double-page spreads.
You can read it online HERE



With an introduction by Ray Bradbury, and Superman stories by Al Williamson, Marshall Rogers, Frank Miller (a cool tribute to the Superman TV show!) Michael Kaluta, and Klaus Janson.

Plus a painted cover by Chaykin, and pin-up pages by Bolland, Kirby, Byrne (almost 2 years before Byrne took over the Superman titles, and a very different approach!), Simonson, Eisner, Wrightson, Ditko, Grell, Moebius, Sienkiewicz, Jerry Robinson, Leanord Starr, and a back cover by Miller.

Such an unusual assortment of artists on Superman that I pull this one out and look at it more than many other Superman issues.

Another I love is the X-MEN: HEROES FOR HOPE book, published in 1985, with some really wild writer/penciller/inker combinations.

Such as Harlan Ellison/Frank Miller/Bill Sienkiewicz on a Wolverine story!

Or how about Stephen King/Berni Wrightson/Jon Muth!
And a two-page future X-Men/Evil Mutants segment by Alan Moore/Richard Corben.

It was hit-and-miss admittedly on some of the other pages, but the hits outweighed the misses, at least for me.

I also got a kick out of a comic book being done in the spirit of the Live Aid concert, to give all profits raised to fight starvation in Ethiopia.
All packed behind a highly poster-worthy Arthur Adams cover. As a matter of fact, I purchased the 11" X 17" promotional poster of it from my local comic shop dealer!

DC released a similar HEROES AGAINST HUNGER book shortly after, but Marvel's jam benefit book was I think much better, despite a few nice pages by Neal Adams and others.

How cool!

I was looking for a larger cover image, and these guys display photos of a Wrightson book-signing appearance I was at, back in 1995!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/X-Men-Heroes-for-Hope-WOLVERINE-ROGUE-Signed-WRIGHTSON-/371062393834

I actually ordered some Wrightson prints directly from his assistant, including "Tocatta and Fugue in D-Minor" that is still framed and on my wall. I gave her money at the signing, and received it in the mail a few weeks later.
And I have several books with the same authenticity certificate card shown. Wrightson is a remarkably modest guy for such an enormous talent. I gave him the collected SWAMP THING: DARK GENESIS trade (1991 edition) for him to sign (the only collected edition at the time), and told him how much I loved those stories and how many countless times I'd re-read them, and he seemed very appreciative of that.

I never even thought to ask him to sign other books.

Actually, I found one other Wrightson signed for me, my copy of Wrightson's massive A LOOK BACK retrospective book of his career. Wrightson's assistant who you see in the photos is named on the FedEx receipt, Joy Mosier-Dubinsky, is the one who took my information and mailed me the print, about 3 weeks later. I was getting nervous, I thought till then she might have taken my cash and forgotten me. But the 17" X 27" Tocatta print is beautiful on the wall and well worth the wait.

The signature above Wrightson's on the certificate is William Vogel, (a k a, Bill Vogel) who is (or at least was) an employee and mascot of Tropic, featured prominently in much of Tropic's print advertising in the 1980's and 1990's.

The guys at Tropic used to have a number of great guest artists in the store, including George Perez, Jon Muth, Joe Jusko, Adam Hughes, Berni Wrightson, and others. One of the regulars that the owner (John) was friends with and was a frequent guest in the store was Kevin Maguire. As this 1988 cover reflects:



That's Bill Vogel on the right, cursing over a problem with his food. And on the left is Tropic co-owner (for a while anyway) Robert (seen in the Wrightson signing photos, a little heavier 7 years later), but still the same jovial guy.
There may have been more covers William "Big" Vogel appeared on, I can't recall. Maguire knew these guys well. It was a real kick for us all when this came out on the stands.

Another favorite of mine is BATMAN 300 from June 1978, by David V. Reed, with art by Walt Simonson/Dick Giordano.



An out-of-continuity "imaginary" story, touted as the "Last Batman story". I liked the way they ended Batman's career by having him abandon his Batman identity to...



[SPOILERS]

...become a U.S. Senator and fight on through anti-crime legislation, rather than with his fists.

[/SPOILERS]




It makes sense, that at some point he would slow down and not be able to continue fighting crime the same way, and this gives him another way to carry on the battle. He also seems in the story to be happier, and not as driven and tormented as he was as Batman. A pleasant "last story".

I consider this to be an under-appreciated big event, that on a more modest scale details Batman's future, just as Frank Miller later did along different lines in his 1986 series THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS.

it's batman's version of whatever happened to the man of tomorrow

Batman 400.

I like Action 600 with byrne inked by perez, and the guest artists.

Uncanny 274 or 273??? where a boatload of guys pitched in...

Big Book series from Dc/Paradox....

BATMAN 400 is a favorite of mine also.
A mix of guys like Perez, Lightle, Byrne, Cullins, Sienkiewicz, Art Adams, Kubert, Steacy and Bolland. As I recall, it also had an introduction by Stephen King!

I liked those early 1980's anniversary issues because they often had not only a good representation of the current hot artists, but also had old-school Silver-Age greats like Kubert, Murphy Anderson, Curt Swan, Gil Kane and Infantino.



That captionless back cover is almost suitable for framing!




Another of my favorites that definitely ran the spectrum was DETECTIVE 500. The first story, "To Kill a Legend" by Allan Brennert and Dick Giordano made it into THE GREATEST BATMAN STORIES EVER TOLD. Published in 1981, DETECTIVE 500 was among the first of the great "artist jam" issues. Jim Aparo, Infantino, Simonson... great stuff.

Yes, it gives Batman a happier ending than just about any other "imaginary" Batman future story. Although if I wrote it, I'd have him bedding down passionately with Selina Kyle every night.


Miller's DARK KNIGHT RETURNS was out the same year as SUPERMAN: WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE MAN OF TOMORROW, so I lean toward thinking of Miller's DARK KNIGHT as the equivalent treatment of Batman. But you're right in the more upbeat conclusion of issue 300 being a better comparison to "Man of Tomorrow".

I think the best annual of all time was AMAZING SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL 1, Sept 1964, by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. With cameo appearances of just about every hero in the Marvel universe with his own title at that time crossing paths with Spider-man.
And the "Sinister Six", six of Spiderman's villains taking him on in a single story. With a poster-worthy splash panel of Spider-man fighting each of them (the Vulture, Kraven the Hunter, Mysterio, Electro, Sandman, and Doctor Octopus).



I first purchased this story reprinted in SPIDERMAN ANNUAL 6 (1969), which was actually even better in this reprint version, because it included "The Fantastic Four Meet Spiderman" (from FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL 1, 1963, by Lee/Kirby/Ditko), and Spiderman Tackles the Torch" (from AMAZING SPIDERMAN 8, Jan 1964, also Lee/Kirby/Ditko)

This book was among the first Marvel comics I read, and a fantastically fun introduction to the Marvel Universe.

I now have it also with nicer printing in the first two volumes of Marvel Masterworks collected reprints of the Lee/Ditko SPIDER-MAN run. But somehow it's more fun for me to read it in its original ANNUAL 6 form.

Has anyone here NOT read FANTASTIC FOUR ROAST (1982) by Hembeck? With pages by just about all the great regular series artists for Marvel at that time, including Byrne (FF), Brent Anderson (KA-ZAR), Romita Jr (AMAZING SPIDER-MAN), Sienkiewicz (MOON KNIGHT), Miller/Janson (DAREDEVIL), Gammill (POWERMAN/IRONFIST), Layton (IRON MAN), Gene Day (MASTER OF KUNG FU), Marshall Rogers (DOCTOR STRANGE), Alan Weiss (AVENGERS), Zeck/Beatty (CAPTAIN AMERICA) and many other great talents at the time.
Plus two exceptionally gorgeous pages by Michael Golden.



A very fun story, surprisingly coherent for an artist-jam type book, with nice pages by just about everyone involved.

JUSTICE LEAGUE 200 was a great special issue by George Perez, with chapters by most of the Silver Age greats like Joe Kubert, Dick Giordano, Carmine Infantino, and then-newcomer Brian Bolland. This was in the same tradition of many DC special anniversary issues of the time, with a good story, and a great line-up of artists that spanned the era of the title's existence. Although Kubert and Infantino had never drawn JLA up to that point, at least not in their own book.

Perez also did a mini-portfolio around the same time, a dozen or so decorative 4" X 6" postcard-size individual sketches of each JLA character, that I occasionally see on E-bay.
Here's the Zatanna one:




That may or may not have been part of JLA's 200th anniversary celebration. Another bonus was that Perez was the regular artist on JLA (with a few breaks) from 184-200, and covers for about 10 issues after.
So issue 200 was something of a grand finale to Perez's run.

JLA (at least in the period I was reading it) was among Gerry Conway's better written series. He seemed to have a great sense of the characters and their 20 years (up till then) of continuity.

While it lasts, I see the complete Perez card set on Ebay. It was published in 1984, about 2 years after Perez's JLA run ended.
http://www.vaultcollectibles.com/2016/07/07/george-perez-signed-justice-league-post-card-set/




By my account, the $50.00 offering price is prohibitively high.
But it's a relatively scarce item, so that may or may not be a fair price for it.

Pig Iron listed ACTION 600 earlier, and I just ran across it again, and I think it was one of the last really memorable anniversary issues.

http://www.12comic.com/issue.jsp?id=1902270228079c89&cu=305

The predictable but pleasant romance between Superman and Wonder Woman by Byrne and Perez was a great open.

The Mignola story with Superman and Man-bat was also beautifully illustrated and atmospheric. From a point where Mignola had just reached his prime. Some really beautiful pages.

I wonder how many remember SUPERMAN ANNUAL 11, by Moore and Gibbons, that began their collaboration at DC, and culminated in WATCHMEN shortly after.

Isn't that one of the most famous Superman stories ever?

In the 1980's it was.
I haven't heard anything about it in a very long time. It certainly deserves to be one of the most famous.


In support of your point, it has been reprinted quite a few times:

• The Greatest Superman Stories Ever Told (DC, 1987 series, tpb) #1 (1987)
• The Greatest Superman Stories Ever Told (DC, 1987 series, hc) ([November] 1987)
• Across the Universe: The DC Universe Stories of Alan Moore (DC, 2003 series) ([June] 2003)
• DC Universe: The Stories of Alan Moore (DC, 2006 series) ([January] 2006)
• Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? The Deluxe Edition (DC, 2009 series, hardcover) ([July] 2009)
• Superman: A Celebration of 75 Years (DC, 2013 series) ([November] 2013)
• Superman vs. Mongul (DC, 2013 series) ([December] 2013)

Plus foreign language reprint editions.

I was just over at mycomicshop.com looking at a SUPERMAN ANNUAL issue, and was quite surprised at the value listed on that Alan Moore/Gibbons issue. $70.00 in mint!

And that's an issue that is not hard to find in another format. For an issue published in a relatively recent era, that's pretty high. And ridiculously higher in a CGC graded case.

So I guess that settles that it's a very famous issue. I always thought it was vastly overshadowed by their later WATCHMEN series.
I was wrong.

A breathtaking wraparound cover from 1977 by Neal Adams, for the LIMITED COLLECTORS' EDITION C-51 special BATMAN issue, collecting for the first time the O'Neil/Adams/Giordano R'as Al Ghul stories from BATMAN 232, and 242-244. (Although for space reasons, BATMAN 245 and 240, and 236 were not included as they were in later collections.)

I remember staring at that wraparound cover for a very long time when I first purchased it.

A recent offering, GREEN ARROW 80th ANNIVERSARY 100-PAGE SPECTACULAR
https://viewcomiconline.com/green-arrow-80th-anniversary-100-page-super-spectacular-tpb/

I honestly have absolutely no enthusiasm for the current generation of comics writers and artists, but here's a modern contribution to the type of artist jam issues I started this topic to discuss, and a cross section of writers and artists currently working for DC.
The highlights for me are the Mike Grell story, and the concluding tribute to the recently departed Dennis O'Neil, written by his son.

.

Reviewing the already listed anniversary issues, using an online comics library, here are scans of the entire issues you can read online :



DETECTIVE 400 (the first Man-bat story, by Frank Robbins and Neal Adams. It continues and concludes in issues 402 and 407. And an O'Neil/ Gil Kane Batgirl backup story) June 1970
https://viewcomiconline.com/detective-comics-v1-0400/

DETECTIVE COMICS 450 (a favorite of mine, a very pulp-hero-ish BAtman story by Elliot Maggin and Wallt Simonson. And a modest Robin backup by Rozakis/Milgrom/Austin.) August 1975
https://viewcomiconline.com/detective-comics-v1-0450/

DETECTIVE COMICS 500, with stories by Brennert/Giordano, Barr/Garcia-lopez, Wein/ Aparo, Wein/Simonson, Gibson/Yeates, Levitz/Kubert, and Bates/Infantino/Bob Smith. March 1981
https://viewcomiconline.com/detective-comics-v1-0500/

DETECTIVE COMICS 598-600 (highlighted by a 3-part story by Sam Hamm who wrote the Batman movie screenplay, with Denys Cowan/Giordano art, and tribute editorials and pin-up pages by a massive collection of writers and artists. 599 is a regular issue, 598 and 600 are 80-page issues. March, April and May 1989.
https://viewcomiconline.com/detective-comics-v1-0600/

That kind of gives a sampling of how an anniversary issue evolved from just being a special story in a regular-size issue, to becoming a gigantic artist-jam tribute event.


And...

LIMITED COLLECTORS' EDITION C-51 (BATMAN vs. Ra's Al Ghul) by Dennis O'Neil, Neal Adams/Dick Giordano. 1977, reprintin O'Neil, Adams and Novick wok from BATMAN 232, and 242-244.
https://viewcomiconline.com/limited-collectors-edition-issue-51/


BATMAN 300 by David V. Reed, and Walt Simonson/Dick Giordano, the "Last Batman Story" June 1978
https://viewcomiconline.com/batman-v1-300/

BATMAN 400, by Moench, Lightle, Perez, Cullins, Sienkiewicz, Arthur Adams, Sutton, Leialoha, Kubert, Steacy, Leonardi, and Bolland. October 1986
https://viewcomiconline.com/batman-v1-400/



SUPERMAN 400 by Bates and Al Williamson, Miller, Rogers, Kaluta, Pini, Janson, and Steranko . October 1984
https://viewcomiconline.com/superman-v1-400/

SUPERMAN ANNUAL 11, by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. (1985)
https://viewcomiconline.com/superman-v1-annual-011/



ACTION COMICS 600, by Byrne/Perez, Schaffenberger/Ordway, Byrne/Giordano/Beatty, Stern/Swan/Anderson, and Byrne/Mignola. May 1988
https://viewcomiconline.com/action-comics-1938-issue-600/



JLA 200. by Conway, Perez / Breeding. With chapters by Broderick/Terry Austin, Jim Aparo, Dick Giordano, Gil Kane, Carmine Infantino/Frank Giacoia, Brian Bolland, and Joe Kubert. March 1982
https://viewcomiconline.com/justice-league-of-america-1960-issue-200/


FANTASTIC FOUR ROAST Hembeck, Golden, Byrne, Miller, Sienkiewicz, Layton, and pretty much every Marvel artist of that era. April 1982.
https://viewcomiconline.com/fantastic-four-roast-full/



AMAZING SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL 1 (Sept 1964). My vote for the singe best annual ever published, particularly of the 1960's Marvel period.
https://viewcomiconline.com/amazing-spider-man-v1-annual-001/

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL 6 (1969) r ANNUAL 1, with additional Kirby/Ditko stories from FF ANNUAL 1, and AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 8
https://viewcomiconline.com/amazing-spider-man-v1-annual-006/