Thursday, October 3, 2013

The BAB Masthead -- A History

Doug:  I know that every now and then we just like looking at comic covers, logos, character designs, etc.  So it occurred to me that there may be some newer readers who haven't seen the evolution of the masthead that sits atop our blog.  The original inspiration to have a custom design came from our colleague the Groovy Agent, caretaker of Diversions of the Groovy Kind (a recommended daily stop for all!).  I've never been able to duplicate the professional-looking number that he displays (and indeed others he's dazzled us with through the years), but I try to take a stab at something topical for each month's comic book reviews.  It wasn't always this way, as you'll see that our first efforts were meant to merely encompass the spirit of what it meant to grow up in the Bronze Age.

We may revisit this topic, but today we'll start you off with a foray deep into the archives of the Bronze Age Babies for some of our earliest mastheads, and even a few of our more recent efforts.  Enjoy!

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15 comments:

Edo Bosnar said...

I think one of my favorites was the holiday masthead you had up a few years ago that featured several caroling heroes and a scowling Darkseid.
Otherwise, I really like the current one, with Cap slamming his shield in to Baron Blood. Great scene from a great story - I'm looking forward to your review.

david_b said...

It sparkles all our days here, Doug. I especially love the 2nd one you posted with the 7-11 cups and Megos..

We've certainly seen some rather rare stuff which is pretty cool, and Thanos's mug up at the top's always great for pure attitude.

A wonderful hallmark for a beloved daily experience, being able to chat with others each day, seemingly at a coffee shop, on a mountain top (or back in time to your childhood bedroom..) about one of your greatest joys in life.

It doesn't get better.

Karen said...

This is all Mr. D. I don't think I have made a single masthead!

He's done some nice work, hasn't he?

Anonymous said...

Nice to see these.

I love the shirtless Batman one. What a weird time picture that was. . . mask and no shirt, hairy Magnum P.I. chest. . . SEXY! ;)

I love the Marvel one with Silver Surfer at the center - and the Green Goblin one, too.

The legion of superheroes "racial issue" panel makes me groan! I have been working on a post on that issue for my own blog - well, in part about that issue because there is so little to say about it aside from the obvious.

Have you guys ever considered moving to a different platform, like Wordpress that would allow you some more play with the layout and format - and some more fancy headers?

Humanbelly said...

The back cover image from Marvel Treasury Edition #13 (Holiday Grab Bag) still remains my favorite. Was that last December?

It conveyed a surprisingly "Christmasy" feel w/out any direct iconography at all. Just New York City during a night-time snowstorm-- but I swear I could hear a celestina playing "Carol of the Bells" every time I looked at it. . .

HB

Humanbelly said...

Oops, second-favorite, I mean. My favorite is still the inverted superhero pyramid from a few months ago-- which I never was able to track down the origin of!

HB again

Doug said...

Osvaldo --

Nah, we've never looked into moving the blog. I like the template we have here, giving a nice wide reading space for our main posts. And, with the exception of the Blogger widgets that malfunction from time-to-time, I like the sidebar as it's evolved as well. I'll be honest, though -- I'm not tech-savvy enough in the graphics dept. to know how I'd use a more user-friendly site to jazz up our masthead anyway!

Hey, got a lot of Amazon love bestowed on my by the postman today. The tpb of Secret Society of Super-Villains volume 1 and the hardcover Legends of the Dark Knight: Jim Aparo volume 2 both came to my house this afternoon. Be looking for material from those tomes later on -- probably into 2014 to be honest, as we've about got our '13 reviews slotted.

Doug

The Groovy Agent said...

Thanks for the nice things you said about my "skills" creating mastheads. I love doing it, though, after my last pc crash, I've lost many of my old tools.

It makes me feel really good to know that I've inspired you folks in any way. Your blog is top of the line, class, class, and more class!

Keep it up! While I don't get to post often, I'm by here every day!

david_b said...

A comment by the star-studded Groovy Agent.., creator of another of the all-time GREAT sites..!

"Feels like Elvis himself just walked in..."

Anonymous said...

To paraphrase ol' Groove, those are some suh-weet mastheads! Doug, for a dude who ain't too tech savvy, you sure came up with some gems here! I particularly liked the first one on top and the one with the Surfer in the middle. Your basic collection of superheroes, sure, but I like the layout.

Groove baby, your enthusiasm for all things comic related blows me away; I always look forward to your posts. Like you, I don't get to post every single day, but I always make sure to check out your blog and BAB every day.

Doug - Secret Society of Super Villains? Can't wait for the reviews!


- Mike 'bring on Funky Flashman!' from Trinidad & Tobago.

redartz said...

Your mastheads make a fine lead-in to your excellent blog. How many times have they inspired me to go rooting around looking for the source image...keep up the great work!

Doc Savage said...

The inverted Marvel pyramid and the above Marvel heroes with Silver Surfer in the middle are my favorites that I recall except that they make it seem like the site is "Bronze Age Marvel Babies." Which, I guess, it mostly is, but not always.

Doug said...

"Bronze Age Marvel Babies"... except when we review comics by DC, or discuss topics where DC or other publishers come up. Or creators who worked for both companies. Yeah, I get it.

Doug

Karen said...

I'm more of a Marvel fan than a DC fan. So I'm more inclined to write about Marvel books. I don't see a problem with that.

Edo Bosnar said...

Well, my favorite component of the Bronze Age is the Urnfield culture (bite it, Tumulus fanboys!), and that never gets discussed here, but I still love the blog ... :p

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