30 March 2018

Post-Groovy Heroes

...and then they came...



As the Groovy Age wound down, society turned an eye inward to reflect upon what we learned, if anything, during this time of turmoil and growth. With all the radical changes, what was the new "normal" in our world?

We've seen before that Esquire will gaze upon the comic world upon occasion, even tapping great talents like Jack Kirby to create for them. So it's not a great surprise to find them looking at comics and superheroes, and calling upon some great talents to do so. Their suggested new heroes for the new era in this month of 1972 featured creations by (in order of published pages) Berni Wrightson, Jeff Jones, Mike Ploog, Barry (no Windsor yet) Smith, Ralph Reese, and Alan Lee Weiss. Each was given one page to present their options to fill the void left



...and so it went...

pages by Berni Wrightson, Jeff Jones, Mike Ploog, Barry Windsor Smith, Ralph Reese, and Alan Lee Weiss for Esquire (1972 Mar)

2 comments:

  1. These are a lotta fun, revealing a little about each artist and his philosophy

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  2. I had wondered how much was attributable to the individual artists as opposed to editorial assignment, but what i've seen of Esquire at that time shows that the editors tended to have faith in their own decisions. Once they chose their creators, they let them create.
    So, whether reflecting their own philosophies or their reactions to society, it would seem to be their own thoughts on the page.

    Either way - yeah, it's a lot of fun finding things like this on my cultural archeology digs. Though it's kind of a constant reminder of just how much i've forgotten over the years.

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