DR. J, RICK BARRY, JACK DAVIS and the Classic 1970s Spalding Comics Ad
It’s NBA Finals time! Fred Van Lente takes you inside a legendary Bronze Age basketball showdown… — UPDATED 6/7/26: I’m not the biggest basketball fan in the world but I am definitely wrapped up in the New York Knicks’ startling run for their first championship in 53 years. How could I not be, New Yorker that I am? Anyway, all the ballyhoo reminded me of this groovy piece by bona fide hoops maven Fred Van Lente that first ran in September 2020. Perfect time to reprint it! Dig it! — Dan — Fred Van Lente — comics scribe, 13th Dimension contributor and all-around bon vivant — has a new one out this week that’s near and dear to his b-ball heart: The Comic Book Story of Basketball, which is exactly what the title suggests: a history of roundball in square panels. It’s a groovy trip whether your a comics reader or a hoops fan — but especially if you’re both. So on the occasion of the book’s release, Fred (Dr. F to those in the know) has put together an Eisner-worthy exploration of the greatest basketball comic in the history of mankind — the 1970s Spalding ad starring Julius Erving and Rick Barry. Dig it. — By FRED VAN LENTE Hey gang, I have a new book out today I’m very proud of, The Comic Book Story of Basketball, a fast-break history of hoops with terrific art from Joe Cooper and dazzling colors by Dave Swartz. To celebrate, I thought I’d do a panel-by-panel breakdown of the greatest basketball comic ever created until mine, the 1979 Spalding ad that graced the back cover of many a comic book when I was a kid. This one-pager is quite possibly the only reason I knew basketball existed, because as a child I was a giant nerd, not the hip, happening wordsmith I am today. The first thing that’s obvious about this ad is that it was drawn by Jack Davis, who is easily in the Top 5 or 10 G.O.A.T. comic book artists. This was the man who started out in Tales From the Crypt and Mad and went on to become one of the most recognizable commercial artists of his era. In the sports realm, for example, he drew the poster for The Bad News Bears. Is Jack...
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