A (Comic Book) Page Out of My Past

In 1982 I was 10 years old and really getting into comic books.  I only had a handful and loved reading any the kids on my street had laying around.  I hadn't started collecting yet, I didn't really know that was an option.  Then one day at Stop N Shop, I found Team America issue 1!  Wow!  It was red, white and blue with motorcycles! I loved it!  It seemed like only a few trips later and I found issue 6!  This was like a goldmine!  It was around this time that I discovered there were 2 Comic Book Stores in the area and I could buy Back Issues! So Team America was one of the first titles I really started to collect.

You never heard of Team America? Not a big surprise, it only lasted 12 issues.  Team America started out as the Ideal toy company's plan to remarket their Evel Knievel line due to his bad publicity (punching the paparazzi before it was cool!).  They kept the colors and Stunt Cycle and asked Marvel Comics to work up a backstory, like they did with GI Joe.

I had no idea at the time but the book was really thrown together by Marvel, pretty last minute.  It got a little momentum but to a 10 year old kid, bright stories about motorcycle races and stunt shows along with fighting bad guys (even Hydra!) and a mysterious black clad member (The Marauder!) were super exciting!

The reason for this trip into my childhood is that a few weeks ago on eBay I came across a page of original artwork from Team America issue 5! Actually, I came across 6 pages, all from the same seller.  Immediately, I was interested in Page 10 and I ended up winning the auction!  I was really psyched and the seller let me know he would send my page out right away.  He also wanted to know if I would be interested in a deal for the other pages that didn't sell! 

So, I'm proud to announce that I am the current owner of 6 pages of art from Team America issue 5!  One of the very first comic books that I started collecting and I now own the original artwork drawn to make it!

I've included scans of the original pages (which are drawn at 11"x17").  The dark word balloons are due to the fact that at the time, the dialogue and captions were pasted onto the original art, so that is the glue showing through.
 

 If you search around online, there are a few interesting articles about how the Team America toys and comic book came to be. Otherwise you can just stay here and look at the awesome artwork, with me!

2012 - Dark Cranboyz!

 It's time once again for the Cranboyz to end another year long theme!

The 2102 theme, Dark Cranboyz, was inspired by the villains characters many of the Cranboyz created and played in the game DC Universe Online.  We had so much fun trashing Gotham and Metropolis we decided to keep the ball rolling and see what villain sketches we could knock out!  Now that the year is over, I put together this collection of all of the Dark Cranboyz sketches!

 

Being X-Men fans, it's no surprise that Apocalypse got 2 sketches this year!

Andy's is by Andy Bennett and Shane's is by Darryl Banks.

 

Andy Bennett is moving up in the ranks of Cranboyz sketches! 

Popa's Black Flash is also by Andy Bennett.

 

 

Shane added a couple of baddies to his G.I. Joe book!

Buzzer is by Darryl Banks and Destro is by Joe Eisma.

 

 

Juggernaut is a character that's always turned out well for the Cranboyz.

Shane's is by Ron Frenz and Andy's is by Darryl Banks.

 

 

More X-Men villains!

Andy got Scalphunter by Josh Medors and Shane got Dark Phoenix by Comfort Love.

 

 

Mega villain Thanos got two Cranboy sketches! 

Popa got his from Mike McKone and Eric's is from Darryl Banks. 

 

 

A couple of Marvel villains.

Eric got Kang from Adam Withers and Shane got Sin from Richard Cox.

 

 

Eric added two more Iron Man villains!

Goliath by Robert Atkins and Blizzard by Pat Olliffe. 

 

 

Two major bad guys for Shane's Titans book!

Dr. Light by Dave Wachter and Trigon by Daniel Govar. 

 

 

Dave picked up the classic Spider-Man viilain Man-Wolf by Bridgit Scheide.

More Spider-Man villains!

Karen got Mysterio from Shannon Gallant and Andy got Kraven from Dave Wachter and the Chameleon from Barry Kitson.

 

 

Shawn started a classic Transformers sketchbook this year!

His first sketch is the Decepticon leader, Megatron by David Hindelang.

 

Shane added some key members of the Oktober Guard to his G.I. Joe book!

Col. Brekhov by Shannon Gallant, Daina by Josh Warner, Dragonsky by Jeremy Dale and Horrorshow by Adam Withers.

 

The original Ravager by Scott McDaniel and Superboy Prime by Darryl Banks, both from Shane's Titans book.

 

Andy collected some Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle viallains!

The Shredder is from andy Bennett and the Triceraton Warrior is from KEVIN EASTMAN!

 

 

Some of Gotham City's Most Wanted!

Shawn got Two Face from Dave Wachter, Popa got Mr. Freeze by Scott McDaniel and Dave got Poison Ivy by Brendon and Brian Fraim.

It was another fun year of hitting the conventions, picking up sketches and hanging out with friends. You really can't go wrong with that combination!  These are just a small amount of the sketches we brought home, in 2012! Be sure to check out all of our Comic Art Fans galleries to see the rest of our collections!

And Happy New Year!