Marvel Comics Archives - Ghost Clinic

April 9, 2024

Pre-Code SCI-FI HORROR Comics by SPIDER-MAN Artist JOHN Romita

Pre-Code HORROR and SCI-FI Comics by Popular Marvel SPIDER-MAN Artist JOHN Romita

Pre-code horror comics by John Romita. Romita was a very popular Spider-Man artist for Marvel Comics. John Romita Senior, born January 1930, passed away at the age of 93 in June 2023, after many decades of acclaimed work in the comics industry.
Watch the original video here.

Romita is well known for his work for Marvel Comics in the 1960’s and 1970’s doing art for notable titles like The Amazing Spider-Man, The Avengers, and Daredevil.
As an Atlas artist doing a lot of pre-code horror comics for Stan Lee, Romita ended up drawing about 200 stories for Atlas between 1951 and 1957 in all genres including horror, sci-fi, crime, jungle comics, westerns, war, and romance.
Marvel’s Masterworks volumes featuring pre-code horror comics by John Romita on sale now.

John Romita Beginnings In the Comics Industry

A graduate of the Caniff School of Art, Romita began his career at Atlas Comics ghosting stories for artists Les Zakarin in 1951. Working for Marvel in the early 1960s he started drawing Daredevil. He then followed Steve ditko on The Amazing Spider-Man his most acclaimed comic book series.

Fortunately, Marvel has reprinted many of the Atlas Comics Series in multiple volumes. These books feature pre-code art by John Romita, Sid Shores, Joe Sinnott, Russ Heath and many more. See the link on this page. Years before the Marvel superhero boom, Romita lent his young talent to Atlas pre-code horror comics. These titles include Menace, Marvel Tales, Astonishing, suspense, and Journey into Mystery.

Romita’s Atlas Pre-code Horror Comic Art

Today we’re looking at some of the Atlas horror comics titles that John Romita Drew starting in 1951 with Strange Tales number three, published October of 1951. Romita did pencils for the story The Man Who Never Was. Astonishing number seven, December of 1951, Romita did pencils and inks for “Out of my Mind.” Astonishing number 24, April of 1953, the story “Poor Wilbur,” doing both pencils and inks. In Marvel Tales number 108, August of 1952, a story called “The Guillotine.” Marvel Tales number 127, October of 1954, Romita drew a story titled “A thing of Evil.”

Menace, Mystic, and More

“Flying Saucer” was a story he rendered in Menace number six, 1953. Menace number eight October of 1953 called “The werewolf was Afraid.” In Menace number 11, 1954, he did the pencils and inks for a story called “The Robot.” Mystic number 25, December of 1953, a story titled “Vampire” with Romita supplying the pencils and inks. “Speed Carter, Spaceman” issue number one, September of 1953. He drew the story called “Venus Earth’s twin sister,” supplying the pencils and inks. In Spellbound number 13, March of 1953, Romita drew “The Dead Men.” Strange Tales number three, October of 1951 “The Man Who Never Was” pencils. Strange Tales number four December of 1951″IT,” supplying the pencils and inks.
Watch the original video.
I hope you enjoyed this look into John Romita’s pre-code horror comics period of the 1950s please like And subscribe and thanks for watching.
Romita’s pre-code horror and sci-fi comics are available through Marvel’s Masterworks volumes on sale here

March 11, 2024

Comic Book Artist JOE SINNOTT – Early Days of ATLAS Pre-Code and MARVEL Silver Age

Comic Book Artist JOE SINNOTT – Early Days of ATLAS Pre-Code and MARVEL Silver Age

HAUNTED THRILLS Video Archive Part One – JOE SINNOTT: The Early Days Working for STAN LEE at Timely/Atlas which would roll into Marvel Comics. Remembering John Severin, Marie Severin, John Buscema, Jack Kirby, John Romita, and more. Interviewed by Mike Lyddon during Albany Comic Con, 2019.
This is unedited video of the Joe Sinnott interview used in Mike T. Lyddon’s documentary HAUNTED THRILLS now playing on YT.

Joe Sinnott – “You could always fall back on the westerns and in fact the first story I ever did was a western called “The Man who Wouldn’t Die.” It was a three-page filler for one of the Western Comics. From that time on I’ve been with Stan ever since. At that time as you know June 1950 the Korean War started so naturally we started doing a lot of war books. I did so many war books we had so many titles and of course EC started it all they they put out some great books. They had some great artists like John Severn and and Wally Wood. Stan tried to duplicate what they were doing and we we turned out some good books. We had Gene Colan who did excellent work and people like that.”

EC comics line Folds

“Of course later on when EC comics folded, John Severin came over and did some work for for Stan at Atlas. Al Williamson people like that that had worked for EC but EC was one of the first Comics to fold because of the comics code which came out in the early 50s. We had so many good artists, Johnny Romita for example and of course Russ Heath. He did some great westerns and Great War Stories. He did great covers.”

The great artist John Severin

“My all-time favorite was John Severn. I thought he did the best. No one could do a western or war story like he could but John was not big on superheroes. He was so versatile, look at all the crack magazine covers he did down through the years. I talked to him on the phone but I never met him never got to meet John. I knew his sister Marie very well and we did a lot of things together. Marie she was a great a great penciler she had a great sense of humor she was a great colorist. She was just a great all-around Talent and she’s not doing too well now physically. We all think a lot of her and try to keep in touch with her.”

John Romita and John Buscema

“Johnny Romita came came over from DC where he was doing a lot of romance books. He did great Romance Books. He came over probably in the early 60s and the same way with John Buscema, the greatest talent in comics. No one could draw like John Buscema. His Conan and Tarzan! He hated superheroes but he he did great stories for Thor, The Fantastic Four and and he and I worked together for many years. Some of my best stuff I feel was when I did work for John Buscema. I can’t say enough about him and of course Kirby. He was the king of comics and he was really a cartoonist whereas Buscema was an illustrator.

Jack Kirby

Jack was he was a great cartoonist and he could tell a story like no one else, especially his fantasy type work. We all know his Fantastic Four changed the whole direction of comics in the 1960s. It’s amazing if if you look at the the volume of work that that Jack did. I’m not saying he couldn’t ink but his work was not the same when he Inked it but he was a beautiful penciler and uh I never had a bit of problems with any of his stuff. Once in a great while with any any penciler you had to help them along a little bit. Stan used to give Frank and myself and Tom Palmer, people like that, young artists that were just coming into the field. Rich Buckler for example and Jim Starlin. Stan knew how to juggle his artists and look at all the great books he turned out.”

Joe Sinnott On Working For Stan Lee in the early days

“I started with Stan like I said in 1950. I did my own pencils and inks right up until about 1962. So in other words, for 12 years I did nothing but my own pencils and I ink my own work. There were westerns, war stories, horror, science fiction, romance…the whole bit. In the early 60s, Jack Kirby came over to Marvel. Stan couldn’t get us couldn’t get anyone to Ink Jack’s story and it was a monster book. He called me up and said, ‘Joe could you ink the story? It’s a short story by Jack Kirby.’ “And so I told him I thought I could so I inked Kirby’s story and he liked the combination of my ink and Kirby’s pencils. Looking back, I often say to myself, you know, maybe I changed too much of Kirby’s art but then I got back on the track and tried to Ink them just the way Jack penciled his stories because he was a great penciler.”

From the pre-code comics documentary HAUNTED THRILLS now available on Youtube.

November 26, 2018April 21, 2019

Stan Lee Pre-Code Horror Comics

One of the greatest figures in the history of comic books and American pop culture in general, Stan Lee (Dec 28, 1922 – Nov. 12, 2018) re-popularized the superhero comic genre in the early 1960’s when Marvel Comics released THE FANTASTIC FOUR (Nov. 1961) followed up quickly by THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, IRON-MAN, THE HULK, THOR and countless others.
But many people are not aware that Mr. Lee was inventing superheroes many years before Marvel’s silver age.
Timely/Atlas/Marvel Comics in the 1940’s saw Stan Lee Lee’s first superhero co-creating The Destroyer in Mystic Comics #6 (August 1941) and supplying “text filler” for Captain America comics around the same time.
But it was in the late 1940’s after the end of WW2 when superheroes were not selling as well as they once did, so Timely/Atlas publisher Martin Goodman and upcoming editor-in-chief Stan Lee quickly jumped into more crime, horror and science fiction comics to satisfy a new generation of readers.
Months before EC Comics hit the stands, Atlas/Marvel was publishing titles such as MARVEL TALES, ASTONISHING, SUSPENSE, SPELLBOUND and many others, some of them lasting through the pre-code era into the late 1950’s/60’s.
Stan Lee knew talent when he saw it, and so it’s no surprise that he gathered some of the best names in the business along with some young up and coming talent including artists Russ Heath, John Buscema, King Ward, Joe Sinnott, Gene Colan, Victor Carrabotta, Joe Maneely, George Tuska, Bill Everett, Syd Shores and countless others.
And you better believe that Stan Lee wrote many of the horror stories in these pre-code comic books, long before The Thing would shout “It’s Clobberin’ Time!”
Here we present many memorable covers to these Atlas pre-code horror comic books for your viewing pleasure and you can also watch the Stan Lee Pre-Code Comics video.