Frank R. Paul's Pulp Fiction Artwork.

At the end of the nineteenth century the first pulp magazines appeared in the United States. Publishing short stories and serials printed on cheap paper, these magazines would cost no more then ten cents an issue. The first magazine in this genre was Frank Munsey's 'The Argosy', first published in September 1882, it would later merge with Munsey's 'All-Story' and be renamed 'Argosy All-Story weekly'. Soon other publishers followed Munsey's example and dozens of magazines appeared, specializing in crime, western, and horror while introducing a lot of readers to a fairly new genre, science fiction. Beside the 'All-story', other notable magazines were 'Amazing Stories' and 'Weird Tales'.

Above: Frank R. Paul painting the cover of 'The Family Circle' magazine, which had an article on him in August 1938 and included this picture.

The pulps gave us many popular characters by now famous authors such as Edgar Rice Burroughs, who wrote his first 'John Carter of Mars' story for All-Story magazine in 1911 and followed with his creation of 'Tarzan' for the same magazine a year later. Johnston McKulley created 'Zorro' for the All story Weekly in 1919. Philip Francis Nowlan published his first Buck Rogers story in 'Amazing Stories' March 1929 while Robert E. Howard became a famous author after creating short stories for 'Weird Tales' magazine featuring 'Conan the Barbarian' and 'Solomon Kane' in the 1930's.

Many illustrators working for these magazines created absolutely amazing interior artwork and covers that would become iconic. Frank R. Paul (1808-1963) is without a doubt, one of the first and most influential pulp artists. Born in Austria where he studied architecture, he continued his studies in Paris, London and New York, after immigrating to the United States in 1906. In 1913 he married Rudolpha Rigelsen, who was born in Belgium and had also immigrated to the States.They moved to New Jersey where Paul started working for the 'New Jersey Journal' and was discovered by Hugo Gernsback and became the primary artist on most of his publications.

With Paul as his main artist, Gernsback published the very first science fiction magazine 'Amazing Stories' in April 1926. He had been a pioneer in radio and television broadcasts who had already started two magazines earlier, 'Modern Electrics' (in 1908) and the 'Electrical Experimenter' (in 1913) which also had some science fiction stories (the latter was retitled 'Science and Invention' in 1920). In 1929 Gernsback met Martin Goodman, who worked at the magaxzine distribution company 'Eastern Distribution' and became his client. Goodman would also become a pulp publisher himself and ran the 'Western Supernovel magazine' in 1933. It was Goodman that would eventually found 'Timely Comics', publishing it's very first issue 'Marvel Comics' with Frank R. Paul as the cover artist.

Above: Paul's cover for Timely's very first comic which featured the very first stories of 'The Human Torch' and Prince Namor aka 'The Submariner'.  After working under the 'Atlas Comics' label in the 1950's, Goodman changed the company's name after their very first comic book into 'Marvel Comics' in 1961. Below, Paul's artwork on the premier issue of Gernsback's 'Amazing Stories' in April 1926. Note the cover date on the issue has been changed from October to November 1939 making this the second printing, which sold 800.000 copies.

Below is Paul's cover for Amazing Stories February 1927, which published the first part of Edgar Rice Burroughs' story 'The Land that Time Forgot'. Prices for vintage pulp issues always skyrocket when ever a story by Burroughs appears in it. It also carried part three of H.G. Wells' 'The First men in the Moon' (written in 1901) about a journey to the Moon, which appears to be inhabited by a sophisticated extraterrestrial civilization of insect-like creatures called 'the Selenites'.

Below another one of Paul's covers, for 'Amazing Stories' August 1928, which published Philip Francis Nowlan's 'Armageddon 2419 A.D.', the very first story featuring Buck Rogers, one of the first science fiction heroes, who falls in s state of suspended animation for 492 years after being exposed to radioactive gas. He awakens in the year 2419 to learn that the Mongols have conquered the planet, wiping most of the US in several hours with disintegrator beams. Most surviving Americans live in the forests, preparing to take back their country and fight the enemy. Nowlan's stories were turned into the very first science fiction comic by the National Newspaper Syndicate and published as 'Buck Rogers in the 25th Century A.D' from January 7, 1929. These comic strips were created by Dick Calkins (1895-1962). 

Below the original piece Paul created for 'Science Wonder Stories' September 1929 which was another magazine published by Gernsback, after he lost control of 'Amazing Stories' when his company 'Experimenter Publishing' went bankrupt in 1929. His initial two new magazines 'Air Wonder Stories' and 'Science Wonder Stories' merged in 1930 to form 'Wonder Stories' while his new 'Science Wonder Quarterly' magazine was renamed to 'Wonder Quarterly'.

Below: 'Science Wonder Stories' November 1929 shows Paul's flying scaucers long before they became popular in 1945 through the newspaper reports of a crashed UFO in Roswell, New Mexico and the sightings of high speed flying objects by Arnold Palmer in June 1947.

Above: Paul's covers for 'Wonder Stories' August 1931 and February 1933. Below Paul's cover artwork for 'Wonder Stories' November 1934, which published Philip Barshofsky's 'One Prehistoric Night'.

 Below is his work for 'Wonder Stories' February 1935, which published Eando Binder's 'The Robot Alien's. The magazine was sold in 1936 to Beacon Publications and retitled 'Thrilling Wonder Stories', which was published until in 1955 the pulp magazine market collapsed, and it merged with their 'Startling Stories' and 'Fantastic Story' magazines for only three more issues.

Paul's cover for 'Science Fiction' magazine from June 1939. The magazine was published under many different names from March 1939 to 1943 and again between 1950 and 1960. It merged with 'Future Fiction' in October 1941 to form the 'Future Combined with Science Fiction' magazine. Inspired by author H.P. Lovecraft, editor Robert A. Lowdnes also wrote horror stories and also worked for 'Magazine of Horror', which launched several companion magazines such as 'Startling Mystery Stories', which became famous for publishing the first stories written by Stephen King.

Marvel kicks off 'Ultimate Spider-Man' Animated.

Marvel showed this week it isn't sitting still in the animation departement. While 'DC Nation' premiered on Cartoon Network last month, introducing DC's 3D animated 'Green Lantern' and 'Young Justice' (with 'Beware the Batman' still waiting behind the curtains), Disney XD kicked off the first season of Marvel's new animated series 'Ultimate Spider-Man', joining the succesful 'Avengers - Earth's Mightiest heroes' which also started off their second season.

Zapp! Spidey is still shooting his web and plenty of one-liners in downtown NYC, while J. Jonah Jameson, now head of 'DBC' (Daily Bugle Communications) TV-network is still on his case. Airing on Disney XD, the first season will consist of 26 episodes.

As expected, 'Ultimate-Spiderman' is an upbeat and modern show with fast cuts, filled with action packed scenes, without ever becoming too much for the younger viewer. Similarities with Cartoon Network's 'Ben 10' aren' t really a coincidence, as it is being produced by 'Man of Action', the creators of the succesful 'Ben 10' show, a team consisting of Steven T. Seagle, Duncan Rouleau, Joe Kelly and Joe Casey. Being a big fan of the 'Ben 10' franchise, I think their new series not only looks great, but is also really funny!

But I must say, it' s pretty weird, seeing Peter Parker back as Spider-Man in Marvel's 'Ultimate' Universe, as the character was recently killed off and traded in for the African American/Hispanic protagonist 'Miles Morales'. Marvel (now Disney) decided he would suit a 21st century audience more properly, but now turns 360 degrees for the animated series and continues down the old path with Parker, introducing a few new comic book series along the way ('Ultimate Spider-Man Adventures' #1 and 'Avengers, Earth's mightest Heroes Adventures' #1 are published this month). A bit confusing too say the least, but don't worry, Stan Lee's Peter Parker is still Spider-Man in Marvel's long lasting comic book series 'Amazing Spider-Man', which has issue #683 hitting the shops on the 18th.

Will the real Ultimate Spider-Man rise please? Left: the cover for the complimentary free issue, in stores March 28 (you all got that, right??) Right: the cover for 'Ultimate Spider-Man' #9, starring Miles Morales in a new suite as Spider-Man. Left, Parker is alive, Right, he's dead. Get it?

Above: Peter Parker, high school kid turned super hero after being bitten by a spider. Man, I've been bitten by a dog once, but I never got to wear a tight suit, chasing bad guys through the city. Guess I got shafted. Below: Parker's elderly uncle Ben may still have been killed by a street robber, his aunt May seems to have found his money stash and got some primo facial surgery. Uncle Ben is sure missing out on something!

Paul Dini and Brian Michael bendis share credits as 'creative consultant' and 'consulting producer'. Dini also wrote and produced 'Batman TAS', 'Superman TAS' and 'Batman Beyond' with Bruce Timm, while Bendis has been writing Marvel's 'Ultimate Spider-Man' comic book series since the first issue in 2000. After decades of working on DC shows, Dini now joins Marvel and is currently also working on the up and coming animated series 'Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H.', which will be available on Disney XD in 2013.

While Parker's sweetheart Mary Jane (above) is studying to become a reporter and dreams of working for Jameson, Spider-Man is contacted by super-spy Nick Fury (below) to become part of his super powered team of heroes working for S.H.I.E.L.D.

Nick Fury was first created by legendary artist Jack Kirby with writer Stan Lee in May 1963, appearing in 'Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #1' while S.H.I.E.L.D., which originally stood for 'Supreme Headquarters International Espionage Law-Enforcement Division', first appeared in 'Strange Tales' #135 in August 1965.

Nick Fury was portrayed by Samuel Jackson in every theatrical feature Marvel has released to date: 'Iron Man 1 & 2', 'Thor', 'Captain America: The First Avenger' and the upcoming 'The Avengers', which will be released theatrically on May 4. In Ultimate Spider-Man, the character is voiced by Chi McBride. Other characters from the Ultimate universe of 'The Avengers' (aka 'The Ultimates') are to appear.

Below: While Harry Osborne is working with Dr. Octopus to create an army of Spider-Man clones, Parker's school is being trashed by 'The Freightful four', which actually appear to be three, seeing Spidey already took out the first baddie in the beginning ('Trapster'). See, I told you this show was funny!

Below: What's a Marvel feature without a guest appearance by the man himself? In the new 'Ultimate Spider-Man' animated series, Stan Lee appears as the janitor at Peter Parker's high school, rescuing him after he got bullied into his locker by Flash Thompson. Guess after 'the Freightful Four' tore up the place Stan got his hands full cleaning up the place. Also, watch for a bakery in the opening sequence called 'Romita's Cake Shop'.

The voice cast for Ultimate Spider-Man includes Drake Bell as Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Steven Weber as Harry Osborne and of course J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson (he also played the part in Marvel's Sam Raimi directed trilogy) though he hasn't reprised the role for the 'Amazing Spider-Man' reboot, which will be released on July 3 starring Andrew Garfield as Spidey.

Let the battle begin: Marvel's Avengers vs. X-Men starts tomorrow.

The two biggest franchises in comics history go to war! Tomorrow Marvel will start it's latest 'clash of the titans' and this year's summer spectacle, when the prologue issue #0 of their new limited hit series 'Avengers vs. X-men' (AvX) reaches comic shops everywhere!

'Avengers vs. X-Men' is a 12-issue series, written by Brian Michael Bendis, Jason Aaron, Jonathan Hickman, Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction with art by John Romita Jr., Olivier Coipel and Adam Kubert and features a war between the New Avengers/Secret Avengers and the X-Men.

'Avengers vs. X-Men' starts with the Phoenix Force returning to Earth. It's looking for a new host who will possess all of its power, which may be the mutant teenager Hope Summers turning her into the 'Mutant Messiah'.

The X-Men, believing that the Phoenix's return means the re-emergence of the mutant species, are trying to protect and prepare Hope, while the Avengers, believing that the Phoenix's return means the destruction of the world, want to take her into protective custody before the Phoenix arrives.

In Marvel's legendary comic universe, 'The Phoenix' is among the most feared beings in all of existence. It is an immortal and mutable manifestation that has the power to cut and re-grow any part of the universe, as well as destroy it entirely, which is part of the Phoenix's purpose, to burn away the obsolete, known as 'The Judgment of the Phoenix'.

The character first appeared in 'Uncanny X-Men #101' (October 1976) and was created by Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum. In their version, it took on the form of Jean Grey.

Below: artwork for the covers of the first two issues, hitting the stores on April 4th and 18th. 'Avengers vs. X-men' was preluded by the mini series 'Avengers: X-Sanction', which took off in February and the 'X-Men: Regenesis' storyline that ran through multiple comic titles from Marvel and began in October last year. It followed the earlier 5-part 'X-men: Schism' miniseries written by Jason Aaron.

Uncanny X-Men...final issue?

In June, Marvel announced that issue #544 of their long running comic 'Uncanny X-Men' (out October 19th) would conclude the series after Adam Kubert's five part 'X-men: Schism' would tear the X-Men apart. But now it appears that Marvel will be 'regenerating' the title and introduces two new series: 'Wolverine and the X-Men' and an alternative version of 'Uncanny X-Men' (lead by Emma Frost), splitting the original series in two.

Above: cover for the last issue of the original run. Artwork by Greg Land and script by Kieron Gillen. While the current artists of the original series will continue working on the new 'Uncanny X-men #1' (out in November), writer of 'X-Men Schism' Jason Aaron will team up for the 'Wolverine and the X-men' series with artist Chris Bachalo. The first issue will be out October 26th. As you can see from the artwork for both covers beneath, the members of both teams are still cloaked. Marvel will also publish a 'X-Men: Regenesis' one-shot, penned by Gillen with artwork by Billy Tan.

While the original 'X-Men' comic book series was created by the legendary Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1963, the series changed into the 'Uncanny X-Men' in November 1980 with issue #139 with the numbering continued. Although hugely popular now, the series initially failed to succeed and was even cancelled between 1970 and 1975.

Below left: Cover for Stan Lee's first issue from September 1963 with artwork by Jack Kirby with inks by Paul Reinman. Right: The Uncanny X-Men #139 from November 1980 carried the story 'Something wicked this way comes' by Chris Claremont and John Byrnes.

The real succes for the X-Men came when Chris Claremont took on the job of writer and introduced all kinds of new characters and stories, which he continued to do for 17 years, from 1975 until 1991! A spin-off series was introduced in 1991, which was just titled 'X-Men' again. Claremont also scripted it's first issue (with artwork by Jim Lee), which is still the best-selling comic book of all time! Below: Artwork by Jim Lee (pencils) and Scott Williams (inks) for the four variant covers of 'X-Men' #1 from 1991.