New month, new calendar. Here’s the Classic Marvel Blacklight Posters calendar for this month, with art by John Buscema and Joe Sinnott.

Splash page from the last story in Strange Tales no. 82 (Mar 1961) by Don Heck.

Splash page from the second story in Strange Tales no. 82 (Mar 1961) by Steve Ditko. What a page!

Chapter 2 splash page from the first story in Strange Tales no. 82 (Mar 1961) by Jack Kirby with Dick Ayers.

Chapter 1 splash page from the first story in Strange Tales no. 82 (Mar 1961) by Jack Kirby with Dick Ayers.

Strange Tales no. 82 (Mar 1961) cover by Jack Kirby with Dick Ayers. No that’s not Taboo, that’s “IT”.

This feels important to share on Trans Visability day. For anyone who wonders what we feel when dysphoria hits us hard, this pretty much sums it up 🏳️‍⚧️ Repost will have the next story Thx to @realmarkrez.bsky.social for posting this last week. Follow him if you like old comic covers and splash pages

Splash page from the last story in Tales To Astonish no. 13 (Nov 1960) by Don Heck.

Splash page from the third story in Tales To Astonish no. 13 (Nov 1960) by Steve Ditko.

Splash page from the second story in Tales To Astonish no. 13 (Nov 1960) by Jack Kirby with Steve Ditko. It’s always a bonus when you find there’s a second Kirby story in one of these old monster books, but it’s even more special when you see it’s inked by Ditko!

Splash page from the first story in Tales To Astonish no. 13 (Nov 1960) by Jack Kirby with Dick Ayers.

Tales To Astonish no. 13 (Nov 1960) cover by Jack Kirby with Steve Ditko. The debut of Groot! (He had a lot more to say back in those days 😉)

As are we who get to listen to the fruits of your labor!

Splash page from Tales Of Suspense no. 12 (Nov 1960) by Don Heck.

Splash page from Tales Of Suspense no. 12 (Nov 1960) by former EC and Blackhawk artist, the great Reed Crandall.

Steve Ditko knocks it out of the park once again on this splash page from Tales Of Suspense no. 12 (Nov 1960).

Splash page from Tales Of Suspense no. 12 (Nov 1960) by Jack Kirby with Dick Ayers.

Tales Of Suspense no. (Nov 1960) cover by Jack Kirby with George Klein.

Splash page from Strange Tales no. 77 (Oct 1960) by Paul Reinman.

I love this splash page from Strange Tales no. 77 (Oct 1960) by Steve Ditko. He was definitely firing on all cylinders in this era. p.s. Master Khan next appears in the Iron Fist story in Marvel Premiere no. 24 (Sept 1975).

Rather excellent splash page from Strange Tales no. 77 (Oct 1960) by Don Heck.

Opening splash page from Strange Tales no. 77 (Oct 1960) by Jack Kirby with Dick Ayers. It looks like the same exact drawing as the cover, with a few minor differences, plus different coloring. Not sure why they would have done that, unless there was a deadline crunch maybe.

Strange Tales no. 77 (Oct 1960) cover by Jack Kirby with Dick Ayers.

Splash page from Tales Of Suspense no. 9 (May 1960) by Don Heck. Always underrated, the great Don Heck! Love his artwork, especially in this era.

Splash page from Tales Of Suspense no. 9 (May 1960) by Steve Ditko. This guy might be right. What a page, though! 🤩

Splash page from Tales Of Suspense no. 9 (May 1960) by John Forte, probably best known for a long run as artist on the Legion of Superheroes.

Splash page from Tales Of Suspense no. 9 (May 1960) by Doug Wildey (probably best known as the creator of Jonny Quest). Chondu would later appear as a foe of The Defenders in the 1970s.

Check out the lyric video for our new single. Album will be out on May 1st. Recorded by the late great Steve Albini! youtu.be/YKVyILbTk7A

Splash page from Tales Of Suspense no. 9 (May 1960) by Jack Kirby with Dick Ayers.

Tales Of Suspense no. 9 (May 1960) cover by Jack Kirby with Dick Ayers. This title lasted 99 issues, before Captain America took over and assumed its numbering for a very lengthy run. The first 38 issues are monsters and scifi, and then Iron Man debuted in issue 39. Cap joined him in issue 59.

Top Shelf Friday time, what's a comic in your collection that you love? ❤️ This week, the first* appearance of Zemo, from Sgt. Fury no. 8, with its cover by Jack Kirby. *It’s actually tied for first appearance with Avengers no. 6 - they were both released on the same day!

Splash page from the last story in Strange Worlds no. 4 (June 1959) by John Buscema.

Splash page from the fourth story in Strange Worlds no. 4 (June 1959) by Al Williamson with an inking assist from Roy Krenkel.

Splash page from the third story in Strange Worlds no. 4 (June 1959) by Paul Reinman.

Splash page from the second story in Strange Worlds no. 4 (June 1959) by Steve Ditko.

Splash page from the first story in Strange Worlds no. 4 (June 1959) by Joe Sinnott.

Strange Worlds no. 4 (June 1959) cover; Pencils: Jack Kirby, Inks: Christopher Rule, Colors: Stan Goldberg, Letters: Artie Simek. This is such a great cover! Kirby was a lot more versatile than he’s sometimes given credit, and his main love was science fiction.

Splash page from the last story in Strange Worlds no. 3 (Apr 1959) by Jack Kirby, inks by Christopher Rule. This comic is cut weird - some pages have the art continuing all the way to the edge of the paper, while others go into the gutter. Anyway, two Kirby stories in one issue! Yayyyy!

Splash page from the fourth story in Strange Worlds no. 3 (Apr 1959) by John Buscema. Always a treat to see early examples of Big John Buscema’s work in these old Atlas comics.

Splash page from the third story in Strange Worlds no. 3 (Apr 1959) by Jack Kirby, inks by Christopher Rule. Nice inks by Rule, who doesn’t often get mentioned as one of Kirby’s great inkers, but I think his stuff is really good. Stan Goldberg’s colors and Artie Simek’s letters are great, too.

Splash page from the second story in Strange Worlds no. 3 (Apr 1959) by Joe Sinnott. Before he was known as a top inker, Sinnott was a top artist. War, Western, Horror, Scifi… he could do it all.

Opening page from the first story in Strange Worlds no. 3 (Apr 1959) by Steve Ditko.

Strange Worlds no. 3 (Apr 1959) cover; Pencils: Jack Kirby, Inks: Christopher Rule, Colors: Stan Goldberg, Letters: Artie Simek. This series debuted the same month as Tales To Astonish and Tales Of Suspense. Unlike those two long-running titles, this one only lasted five issues.

Splash page from the last story in The Double Life Of Private Strong no. 2 (Aug 1959) art by Jack Kirby, script possibly by Kirby or Joe Simon. I think this was the last superhero story Kirby worked on until Fantastic Four no. 1 two years later.

Double page splash from the third story in The Double Life Of Private Strong no. 2 (Aug 1959), art by George Tuska, script and inks possibly by Joe Simon.

Splash page from the second story in The Double Life Of Private Strong no. 2 (Aug 1959), art by George Tuska, script possibly by Joe Simon. Seems weird that they have the story titled as The Shield here for the first time, partway through the 2nd issue.

Splash page from the first story in The Double Life Of Private Strong no. 2 (Aug 1959). Pencils by Al Williamson and Larry Ivie, inks (and possibly script) by Joe Simon. Only one Kirby-illustrated story in this issue, but some decent art by other hands, too.

Hey, the second single from our new album is out! It’s one of my favorites from the album, which will be released on May 1. Check it out. youtu.be/-mapFgzMPRc?...

The Double Life Of Private Strong no. 2 (Aug 1959) cover by Jack Kirby. This a more interesting cover than the first issue, I think. But on both covers, I really like the film strip border. If you look closely, it tells a perfectly choreographed story, almost like a storyboard for a cartoon.

Splash page from the last story in The Double Life Of Private Strong no. 1 (June 1959) art by Jack Kirby, inker unknown, script possibly by Kirby or Joe Simon.