MARVEL MASTERWORKS: KA-ZAR VOL. 4

In addition to runs on Fantastic Four and Thor, original Moon Knight scribe Doug Moench specialized in writing features outside the Marvel mainstream — including Adventure into Fear’s Morbius, Frankenstein, Inhumans, Ka-Zar: Lord of the Hidden Jungle, Master of Kung Fu, Werewolf by Night and Astonishing Tales’ Deathlok. Proving his eclectic abilities, he also wrote the full run of Godzilla, most of Shogun Warriors and stories for virtually every Marvel black-and-white magazine of the 1970s. He expanded on his Star-Lord and Weirdworld sagas in multiple anthology titles. At DC, he wrote memorable runs on Batman, Detective Comics and Legends of the Dark Knight — along with numerous Batman one-shots, cross-company crossovers and Elseworlds sagas. He further contributed such short-lived but unique series as Electric Warrior, Lords of the Ultra-Realm, Slash Maraud, Wanderers and Xenobrood.

Steve Gerber (1947-2008) first came to attention writing Defenders, in which he gave the non-team a non-traditional outlook equaled by few. In Adventure of Fear, he introduced Howard the Duck. Gerber’s other 1970s contributions included scripts for Iron Man, Sub-Mariner and more. Elsewhere, he is equally well-remembered for DC’s Phantom Zone, Eclipse’s Destroyer Duck and others.

Not a traditional super-hero artist, Val Mayerik made his mark on other Marvel Comics titles starting with Chamber of Chills’ “Brak the Barbarian” in 1973. Mayerik worked on Supernatural Thrillers, Creatures on the Loose and Conan before taking over the “Man-Thing” feature in Adventure into Fear, helping introduce Howard the Duck. Since his tenure at Marvel during the 1970s, Mayerik has produced artwork for other comic-book publishers and roleplaying-game companies.

Two-time Emmy Award-winner Bret Blevins’ early Marvel work included adaptations of films such as The Dark Crystal, Krull and The Last Starfighter. Moving into the Marvel Universe, he drew Strange Tales’ Cloak and Dagger feature, and penciled much of Louise Simonson’s New Mutants run. In 1996, he moved into TV animation, storyboarding for Batman Beyond, Justice League and New Batman/Superman Adventures. He now divides time between oil painting and freelance storyboarding.

John Buscema (1927-2002) literally wrote the book on being a Marvel artist — namely, How To Draw Comics the Marvel Way — and few were better qualified. His career dated back to the Timely/Atlas era of the late ’40s and early ’50s. Soon after beginning the Marvel Age of Comics, Stan Lee recruited Buscema from the advertising field to the Marvel Bullpen. Buscema followed a long run on Avengers with the long-anticipated first Silver Surfer series. He subsequently succeeded Jack Kirby on Fantastic Four, Thor and other titles. By the time of his retirement in 1996, Buscema had penciled nearly every Marvel title — including his personal favorite, Conan the Barbarian.