ROBIN WEEK: The Boy Wonder turns 85 — and PAUL KUPPERBERG pays tribute! — Welcome to ROBIN WEEK! One of the greatest heroes in comics history debuted 85 years ago, on March 6, 1940 — and we’re celebrating with a series of features saluting the Boys, Girls and Teens Wonder. For the complete index of features, click here. — By PAUL KUPPERBERG In Star Spangled Comics, kids ruled. The first issue (October 1941) hit the stands emblazoned with the heroic red, white, and blue figure of the young Star-Spangled Kid and his adult sidekick, Stripesy, created by Jerry Siegel and Howard Sherman. The Kid and Stripsey maintained their Star Spangled residence for seven years, but they were replaced as the cover feature in #7 (April 1942) by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby’s Newsboy Legion, which held the spotlight until SSC #65 (February 1947). That’s when Robin, the Boy Wonder quite literally stepped out from Batman’s shadow on the cover to launch his solo feature. Robin remained in the book until the end, #130 (July 1952), although he was forced to relinquish the cover first to Tomahawk in #95 (August 1949), and finally to Dr. Terry Thirteen, the Ghost-Breaker with #122 (November 1951). There was no stinting on the newly launched Robin strip, with scripts by co-creator Bill Finger, the most influential Batman writer of the Golden Age, and art by Win Mortimer, then one of National’s top feature and cover artists. I suppose because he was so much in demand on featured characters like Superman and Batman and a multitude of covers, Win was soon replaced, after a few fill-ins by Curt Swan and others, by the very capable Jim Mooney, who carried on till the end. Robin had been added to Batman’s world to simultaneously soften the character, give him someone to whom he can explain the plot, give the young male readers a character to identify with, and, of course, be taken hostage. Out on his own, the Boy Wonder took the lead and showed he was every bit as capable as his mentor, whether it was at finding clues at the scene of the crime, analyzing them in the lab, or punching out the bad guys who left them. The stories often revolved around other kids who found themselves or loved ones in some sort of peril that Robin...
A fourth — and final — selection! The digital illustrator and sculptor has even more Marvel mayhem for ya! Thrice in the last week we’ve run galleries of 13 fabulous, digitally sculpted portraits of Marvel in the ’70s, by Paul Harding — one of the top action-figure designers in the game. Here’s the first one, here’s the second and here’s the third. But we’re not done yet! Here’s a fourth — and final — selection. (You may even notice there are actually 14 — or 13 + 1 — illustrations). Right on. And remember — Paul doesn’t use AI: — You can check out more of Paul’s work on Instagram, X and Facebook. — MORE — The Artist Who Brings MARVEL IN THE 1970s to 3D Life — Without AI. Click here. — Dig 13 MORE Incredible MARVEL IN THE 1970s 3D Portraits by PAUL HARDING. Click here. — Dig 13 Incredible MARVEL IN THE 1970s 3D Portraits by PAUL HARDING — PART 3. Click...
A 50th ANNIVERSARY SPOTLIGHT on the beloved advertisements…
13 INCREDIBLE PORTRAITS: Digital illustrator and sculptor Paul Harding shows what actual talent looks like…
BRONZE AGE BONANZA: Big months for Kubert and Giordano! PLUS: Boris! Adams! Kirby! MORE!
