RIP The Prince Of Darkness

 I heard late last night that the legendary Ozzy Osbourne had sadly passed away. The Black Sabbath frontman had been ill for some time, so this wasn't a huge surprise, but was still upsetting. Ozzy was a larger than life character, as famous for his offstage antics, hell-raising reputation and reality TV show as for his rock 'n' roll performances. He was, however, a fine singer, a charismatic frontman and an iconic figure in rock.

Sabbath themselves were, of course, hugely influential and credited by many as the creators of the Heavy Metal genre. Ozzy left Sabbath for a while and had a very successful solo career, especially in America where they took the self-styled Prince Of Darkness to their hearts... when he wasn't causing controversy by biting the heads off live bats and suchlike. Allegedly. 

Sabbath recently played a huge, final gig in their hometown of Birmingham, supported by the likes of Metallica and Slayer - bands who owed a massive debt to Sabbath and Ozzy - and raised £140 million for local hospitals and for Parkinson's research. What a fitting, selfless end to the career of an iconic, irreplaceable character.

RIP John Michael ( "Ozzy" ) Osbourne ( 3rd December 1948 - 22 July 2025 )

RIP David Lynch

I was sad today to hear that legendary film-maker David Lynch has passed away at the age of 78.

Lynch was a true original, a visionary, a goof, an artist, a dreamer of dark celluloid dreams, and the owner of a bloody fantastic haircut. I'll have to drink a mug of damn fine coffee in his honour. And I don't drink coffee.

Christopher Priest

I was sad to hear recently that the great science fiction author, Christopher Priest, has passed away at the age of 80. Priest was one of my favourite writers and his haunting, deceptively complex novels had a profound impact on me.

His novels were disturbing, chilly views into unreliable realities: always technically brilliant, always thought-provoking. Priest made his name as a science fiction author with such novels as Fugue For A Darkening Island and Inverted World, but his fiction quickly moved on to become uncategorisable, nearer to the "mainstream" ( whatever that is ) but, paradoxically, further away from standard literary fiction with its seemingly-endless supply of navel-gazing. Priest's characters always seemed trapped in hostile landscapes, puzzles and mental mazes, always searching for meaning which proved to be slippery and contradictory.

While this all sounds a bit dry, Priest's coolly deliberate prose allowed his characters' emotional states to slowly work out on the page, especially more so in recent novels like The Separation and The Adjacent. Recurring themes of magic, illusions, split / double personalities and, above all, the unreliability of perception gave his stories an eerie, fable-like quality. At the same time, he was unafraid to tackle such current issues as terrorism, climate change and xenophobia, grounding the fantastic in our own uncertain world. The term "slipstream" could almost have been coined specifically for his illusive, allusive work.

I don't think Christopher Priest has ever received the praise and attention he really deserved, probably because of the very nature of his work, but there are certainly a lot of fans who have enjoyed puzzling over his intriguing fiction. His passing is a great loss to the literary world, but I'll leave the last words to his partner, Nina Allan:

Chris’s physical presence may have left us, but as readers we are lucky: a writer’s soul is immortal, instantly present and accessible through the stories, essays, criticism and novels they have left for us to find. As I said to Chris many times these past weeks and months, in this most important and essential of ways, he will always be with us. The work goes on.

RIP Robbie Robertson

 

I've just heard that Jaime "Robbie" Robertson, the legendary songwriter and guitarist of The Band has passed away at the age of 80. Robbie and The Band have meant so much to me since I first heard The Weight on a '60s compilation tape and wondered what this gorgeous, enigmatic music was. Robbie's greatest songs conjured up visions of misty mountain vistas and tough city streets, peopled by prospectors, hustlers, gamblers and lovers. His guitar-playing was subtle and masterful, blending rock 'n' roll grit with Soul slickness. As well as his sterling work with The Band and Bob Dylan, and his own solo career, Robbie was also a long-time musical collaborator with movie great Martin Scorsese, and also dabbled in acting himself. He was a wonderful raconteur and his eye-opening tales of the grimy ups and downs of the rock 'n' roll lifestyle were always fascinating but never judgemental.

He was truly a legend in the music business and will be greatly missed.

"I pulled into Nazareth, was feeling 'bout half past dead..."

RIP Jaime "Robbie" Robertson ( 5th July 1943 - 9th August 2023 )

Should you be interested in more of my thoughts on Robbie and The Band, you can find an old post from my 15 Albums blog here, where I witter on about The Band's classic second, self-titled album.

RIP John Romita

 I was sad today to hear that the legendary John Romita Sr. had passed away at the ripe old age of 93. "Jazzy Johnny" was one of the mainstays of the Marvel universe, his smooth style an unmistakable visual roadmap to the time of the Silver and Bronze Ages. From his early days of illustrating the brief Captain America revival of the Atlas era, through his romance comics work for DC, and through to his triumphant run on Spider-Man, Romita lent a touch of class and glamour to everything he worked on. He successfully tackled the tough gigs of taking over from Jack Kirby ( Fantastic Four ) and Steve Ditko ( Spider-Man ), and brought new life and sophistication to Daredevil and Captain America. His work on dozens of comic covers, as well as Marvel's advertising and licensed products, made Romita's style "the" look of the Marvel universe for many fans. I'm going to share a few images of the great man's work from my collection, namely two of my favourite comics, the iconic Amazing Spider-Man no. 50 and the first FF comic I ever owned, Fantastic Four no. 106...

Of course, Romita was well known for drawing fantastic female characters and created the iconic look of Mary Jane Watson, Peter Parker's perennial love interest. Romita's glamorous touch transformed the angular world Ditko had originated and gave Peter and the strip a more "grown up" feel.

I've written about this issue of the FF before but it's always good to share it again. The cover artwork and many of the images inside are permanently etched into my brain, a testament to the enduring excellence of Romita's visual ability. I love the sequence below, simply done but hugely effective. And the colouring ( I'm assuming not by Romita ) is just wonderful in all its newsprint glory...

Again, Jazzy Johnny draws a beautiful Susan Richards, showing how he brought his romance comics sensibility to the super hero genre.

There are many, many wonderful tributes to this great artist out there in t'internet, so it's well worth seeking them out for more insight but I just wanted to pay my small tribute to the great man and his work.

RIP John Romita ( 24/02/1930 - 12/06/2023 )

Thanks for the years of spectacular entertainment, Jazzy John, you were truly a master of your craft.

Farewell to our Hero

A couple of days ago we said a sad final farewell to our beloved Hero. He was the most handsome, regal, slinkiest black cat ever, a Prince amongst felines. There's now a huge hole in our lives and we will miss him always.

Sleep well handsome boy, Big Mog, Mister Hero xxx

 

Richard Corben

 

I was sad to hear yesterday that the great comic book artist Richard Corben had recently passed away, following heart surgery. He first made a name for himself in the 1970s, working for various Underground comic publishers as well as for Warren magazines and Heavy Metal, and was a pioneer of the graphic novel form with the likes of Den / Neverwhere and Bloodstar. His comic strips were loud, brash and colourful, filled with brawny musclemen, over-endowed women, creepy creatures and outrageous horror. There was also a poetic, lyrical side to Corben's work which often showed through the fleshy spectacle and ultra-violence. He was a master of colour, achieving stunning chromatic effects with the limited resources of the four-colour comic. 

I thought I'd post a few examples of Corben's work from my collection. The first four images are all taken from P.R Garriock's Masters Of Comic Book Art, a wonderful book published way back in 1978 which first introduced me to Corben as well as the likes of Moebius, Druillet and Eisner. The next three images are taken from The Odd Comic World Of Richard Corben, a collection of some of his strips for Warren Publishing. Of course, Corben later went on to work for the likes of Pacific Comics and even went "mainstream" ( -ish ) for Marvel and DC but I'll always go back to the power and raw sensuality of his early material.

Absolutely beautiful artwork from one of the greats of the modern comic book who will be sadly missed.

RIP Richard Corben  -  1st October 1940 to 2nd December 2020

RIP Ranking Roger

Gutted to hear of the passing of the wonderful Ranking Roger from The Beat, one of the greatest performers this country has ever produced. A seemingly irrepressible force of nature, he will be sadly missed. Here's a photo of Roger from a Beat gig at the Gloucester Guildhall in happier times.

Love, peace and unity...

Ranking Roger ( Roger Charlery ) 21st February 1963 - 26th March 2019

"I'm sorry to say but I'm on my way..."

Pete Shelley

I was very saddened to hear last night of the passing of Pete Shelley, the lead singer, guitarist and songwriter of Buzzcocks. Shelley was one of the great pop songwriters of his time  -  the urgent, scratchy, punky sound of Buzzcocks never overshadowing his alternately heartfelt and ironic songs of teenage love and angst.

I only saw the band play live three times over the years but each gig was memorable and a lot of fun. I first saw them when they'd only recently reformed back in 1993 at the long-gone Northwick Theatre in Worcester, then at the Stroud Subscription Rooms in 2016 ( above ) and at Bath's Komedia earlier this year.
Each gig demonstrated Buzzcocks' mastery of deceptively simple, catchy, joyous pop-punk anthems, crafted with love, anger and often just a little knowing campness. At the heart of this was Pete Shelley, a pop poet with a wry take on love, life and relationships. There really aren't many like him left...

RIP Pete and thanks for all the wonderful songs

Peter Campbell McNeish ( aka Pete Shelley ) 17th April 1955 - 6th December 2018

Farewell to The Man

As you probably know, Stan "The Man" Lee, aka Stanley Martin Lieber, has sadly passed away at the great age of 95. Stan was of course the prime mover behind the Marvel Age of Comics and had a huge impact on my life ( and millions of others ) with his story-telling, editing and publishing skills.
I really need to get my head around this before I can write a proper post but, for now, let me just say:

"Thank you Stan for all the years of wonderful stories and characters. Excelsior!"

( to be continued... )

Stanley Martin Lieber, 28th December 1922 - 12th November 2018

Steve Ditko

The major news events of this weekend may include the football World Cup, Wimbledon and London Pride but, for me, the most significant news was the sad passing of comic book legend Steve Ditko. There are countless excellent tributes to the great man on t'internet to which I can add very little, so I thought I'd post just a few Ditko images from my collection starting, of course, with his most famous co-creation, the Amazing Spider-Man.

These two early Spidey covers are among my favourites, showcasing indelible images of our wall-crawling hero fighting some of his idiosyncratic Silver Age foes. Both of these comics are a bit wrecked ( which is how I could afford to buy them! ) but that just adds to their charm for me. I love the "Spidey in darkness" image of the first cover and the instantly-recognisable Ditko cityscape and vile villain of the second. ASM #9 is the oldest Spider-Man comic I own and is a treasured possession, taped-spine and all!

Of course, Sturdy Steve's other most famous character was Stephen Strange, Master of the Mystic Arts and this issue of Strange Tales was Ditko's swan-song on the title and also featured his only cover. And what a great cover! The mind-bending, psychedelic adventures of Doctor Strange in Ditko's surreal worlds often come across as a four-colour waking dream and this image of Doc encountering the enigmatic Eternity is a splendid example.

Of course, Ditko worked for many comics publishers throughout his career, creating supernatural stories and the mighty Captain Atom for Charlton, as well as various jobs for Warren, Atlas, Pacific and Eclipse. After jumping ship from Marvel in 1968 he dreamed up some outlandish characters for the usually staid and conservative DC Comics, including The Hawk & The Dove and the outrageous chap above, The Creeper. This weird-looking misfit never set the super hero scene on fire but was a fine example of Ditko's bizarre character designs.

And, speaking of bizarre characters, during a later stint with DC in the 1970s he created the short-lived Shade The Changing Man series, packed full of his trademarked surrealism and dimension-hopping adventure. In many ways it was an attempt to recreate his 1960s weirdness which could only seem out-dated ( although the distorted architecture on the cover above seems to prefigure the likes of Inception... ) but it was fun while it lasted. And it gave us pages like the one below...

The fiercely independent and legendarily reclusive Ditko became an avid proponent of the objectivist philosophy of the likes of Ayn Rand and devoted decades to expounding these moralistic, black-or-white theories in self-published comics such as Mr. A. ( I've got a copy of that somewhere but haven't managed to dig it out. ) These almost hysterical Libertarian tracts were virtually unreadable but often the great man's sublime style shone through the tub-thumping...

Steve Ditko was indeed a unique talent whose imagination made the world a better and weirder place. He will be sadly missed.

RIP Stephen Hawking

A sad day for the universe. One of the greatest men of our time, the physicist and visionary Stephen Hawking has died at the age of 76.

Such a brave, unique and inspiring person. His loss will leave another black hole in the cosmos...

Chuck Mosley

Very sad today to hear of the passing of former Faith No More vocalist Chuck Mosley. He was one of the most memorable front men I've ever seen, a ball of energy and passion. Faith No More at the Bristol Bierkeller back in the late '80s was one of my all-time top 10 gigs. And here's a link to one of my old Favourite Gig Fridays posts about that self-same night.
Strangely enough, in the last couple of days I've been playing FNM's fantastic second album Introduce Yourself on repeat in my car, thinking about what an idiosyncratic, compelling vocalist he was, not realising he had passed away. RIP Chuck...

Rich Buckler

Following the sad news of comic artist Rich Buckler's untimely death there are many excellent tributes to the man on the net so I won't attempt anything like that here, but I thought I'd just post some of my favourite pieces of his artwork. Above is the one and only issue of his creation Demon Hunter from Atlas Comics, September 1975. This was a very promising supernatural / super hero hybrid which I'm sure could have done very well in the era of Swamp Thing, Ghost Rider et al but which unfortunately disappeared along with its publisher. Buckler, never one to give up on an idea, later recycled the character as Devil Slayer for Marvel.

I've posted the two images above before ( from Fantastic Four no. 142 ) but they're worth repeating because they show Buckler at the top of his game, adapting his chameleonic style to that of Jack Kirby's quintessential Marvel idiom. And, of course, Joe Sinnott's inking helps immeasurably with that.

And here's another graet Fantastic Four cover, depicting one of THE classic Thing / Hulk smack-downs in a suitably Marvel-ous way.

I'll finish with a page of Buckler's pencils from a 1996 Captain America one-shot called The Medusa Legacy as a fine reminder that Rich Buckler was a consummate story-teller. In an age of often self-indulgent, flashy artists who were more concerned with innovative panel arrangements or cosmic spectacle, Rich Buckler was a master of continuity  -  his layouts and finished artwork always clear, concise and readable, with everything perfectly poised to further the story. This is a skill that many modern comic book artists seem to have lost but Rich Buckler had running through his veins.

RIP Rich and thanks for all the wonderful memories...

( All images above are from my own collection apart from the last one which I nicked from Twomorrows' Comic Book Artist no. 7, Feb 2000. If you're interested in 1970s Marvel this is a wonderful resource, featuring great interviews with comic creators from the time and some lovely artwork such as the piece above. Track it down, you won't regret it. )

Bernie Wrightson

I was saddened to hear today about the passing of the great comics artist, Bernie Wrightson. He was probably THE greatest post-EC Comics horror artist and his loss at the age of only 68 is a tragic blow to the comics community. His beautifully detailed and eerie artwork was one of the signature styles of the Bronze Age, often imitated, never equalled. I'm sure there are plenty of obituaries rising up from the fetid swamps of the internet today by people far more qualified than me to comment on his life, so I'll just make do with sharing some of my Wrightson collection. I'll start of course with the iconic Swamp Thing...

Swampy was probably one of the most important new DC characters of the Bronze Age. In a time when the dreaded Comics Code Authority was beginning to loosen its vice-like grip and supernatural characters began to flood the market place, the Swamp Thing strip led the way for more intelligent and innovative horror comics to make their mark. With co-creator Len Wein, Wrightson only produced ten issues of the regular comic ( as well as the "pilot" story in House Of Secrets #92 ) but what an amazing run it was! Exploring just about every classic horror theme in those ten issues, Wrightson's moody and intricate brushwork, full of shadows and grotesqueries, at times resembling antique woodcut illustrations, set the bar so high that few could follow.

( The above is one of my all-time favourite comic covers  -  a Universal monster movie reanimated in four colours )

Swampy didn't speak much, but when he did you certainly noticed...

Away from comics Wrightson was also much in demand as a book illustrator, with his beautiful work on an edition of Frankenstein being probably the greatest showcase of his skills. The illustration above and the next one feature in The Studio, the gorgeous art book put together by Wrightson with his contemporaries Barry Windsor-Smith, Mike Kaluta and Jeff Jones. You can see a far more comprehensive run-down of his Studio pieces at Pete Doree's wonderful Bronze Age of Blogs.

And just for a change here's a rare case of the artist tackling some super heroes, specifically the Hulk and the Thing in The Big Change, a collaboration with Jim Starlin...

And back to horror with Stephen King movie adaptation Creepshow:

I'll finish with Wrightson's take on Will Eisner's The Spirit, a lovely tribute from one master to another.

RIP Bernie and thanks for all the nightmares...

Soundtrack: Motorvatin' -  22 Rock And Roll Classics by Chuck Berry
( Another sad loss  -  the great showman and rock 'n' roll innovator the world lost yesterday at the age of 90 )