MY FAVORITE COMICS - Master of Kung Fu by Doug Moench, Mike Zeck and Gene Day

Although he died a couple of years before I was born, Bruce Lee was still going strong when I was a kid and the impact he had brought to pop culture was active. Yes, the kung-fu craziness was well on its way-out but it still lingered on in things like this unusual comic book series. Most particularly, I recall Mike Zeck's artwork. Not only had he a great level of draftsmanship, he also drew amazing action sequences (i.e. fight scenes) and, most important to me, the intense facial expressions he gave to the characters. Again, as with other comics from that era that I've mentioned here, this one had that paranoic/manic feeling that seduced me so much. Also, it had that whole evil villainous father versus noble heroic son thing that kids love so much before George Lucas attached it to his world-famous movie franchise. 

MY FAVORITE COMICS - Adam Warlock by Jim Starlin

Warlock. Adam Warlock. Jack Kirby created Him. Gil Kane transfigured him. Jim Starlin elevated him.

I wasn't familiar with neither Kirby nor Kane's versions of the character when I first came across the Jim Starlin comics, but that might have been for the better because this could just as well be an entirely new character. I clearly remember being totally mystified by Starlin's vigorous artwork and trippy stories when I first came across it. These comics had all the same qualities I had come to identify with Marvel (that strangeness, manic, hallucinogenic, almost paranoid quality that was absent from DC comics superfriends) elevated to a much higher level. To a then-seven/eight-year old kid, this was beyond superheroes. All the basic elements of the genre (the fantasy, the angst, the melodrama, the epic scale) were pumped up to another level. And then... Starlin killed Adam Warlock. The perfect ending ... if only it had been let well enough alone.

MY FAVORITE COMICS - Captain America #235-237

Everybody who dies in superhero comics eventually comes back to life... even Bucky. After all, Marvel and DC have got to keep those characters in print if they are to retain their rights. Nevertheless, when I was a kid, I didn't know better. Back then comics were still terra incognita to me and it would take me years to realize that the main driving force behind these worlds wasn't the imagination of the writers and artists behind them, but the profit generated from sensationalist cheap tricks done in order to increase revenues and please the board of shareholders. ANYWAY, back when I didn't know better, the death of Sharon Carter hit me in the gut - this was Cap's beautiful girlfriend and he had failed to save her! For an eight year old kid, this was heavy stuff... and I'm posting the cover of the original brazilian edition where I read it because I still find it awesome - it was THAT cover that convinced me to buy the magazine :-)

MY FAVORITE COMICS - Silver Surfer by John Buscema

I won't even bother to talk about the stories because I found  most of them kind of boring when I first read them and even more so now. In fact, it is a testament to how powerful and graceful John Buscema's artwork on these comics is that they still remain among my favorites despite the repetitious plots and lame villains. If you only look at these comics, they're pretty neat! I particularly like the issues with inks by Sal Buscema, imho his brother's best inker after John himself. Between these, his Avengers (inked by Tom Palmer) and some of his Thors and Conans, you can't go wrong with learning how to draw comics the marvel way (or at least what marvel used to be, not the current version).