Last week I grimaced over Aquaman getting shafted yet again by Captain Marvel when it came to getting his own set of DC Super Hero stamps when they were released in 1976. So while that pain still hasn't healed, I am happy to report Aquaman did appear on a couple of the stamps, like this heretofore unseen (by the Shrine, at least) shot of Arthur with his JLA pals.
This looks like the work of Dick Giordano--which makes sense--and I love how happy and "clubby" it looks. The JLA are having a mighty nice time just hanging out and chewing the fat, probably wondering where the hell Ralph is on Class Picture Day (Aquaman has his back to Green Arrow...I think there's something to that).
Both DC and Marvel released sets of collector's stamps in 1976, and thanks to the work by the likes of Neal Adams and Dick Giordano, the DC stamps are quite a beauty to behold.
I have yet to procure a full set of the stamps--they were released in several different packages, highlighting various DC stars, the ones you see above. Do you see Aquaman? No you do not. But you do see Captain Marvel...
These are the four sets of "First Day" stamps released by the USPS in 2006 on the day the DC Comics stamps were released.
First Day Stamps are canceled stamps put on envelopes, made especially for collectors. F.O.A.M.er Christopher Chance sent me these ages ago, but for whatever reason I didn't post them at the time.
As you can see, some of the art choices on the envelopes--particularly for Aquaman--are rather perplexing. Why are two of his four panels from Sword of Atlantis? I realize that these probably appeal exclusively to comics fans, but it seems odd to me that when you're celebrating the iconic nature of these eight characters, you'd use a different (and different-looking) version of Aquaman, which is bound to confuse any non die-hard fan.
As we talked about yesterday, this weekend we're showing off the USPS "Collector Panels" they released on the occasion of the DC Superhero stamps back in 2006.
F.O.A.M. member Vince Bartilucci sent them along, and as goofy as they are, I'm glad I got a chance to see them.
So click here to see the Curt Swan Aquaman Collector Panel, more Aqua History, and the second appearance of that hideous Aquaman logo.
When the U.S. Post Office released their DC Superhero stamps(official Aquaman postage! Yaaaay!), they of course knew to release all kinds of limited edition doo-dads to appeal to comics fans, since stamp collectors and comic collectors are easy marks for that kind of stuff.
I go after ready-made "collector's items" on a case by case basis, so I passed on these USPS Collector Panels when they came out.
But luckily F.O.A.M. member Vince Bartilucci didn't, and he generously sent me scans of the two panels to show off here on the Shrine. Thanks Vince!
So click here to see the Jim Aparo Aquaman Collector Panel, a brief history of the character, and the maddening inclusion of a hideous Aquaman logo.
Back in November I ran a Justice League stamp from a 1976 book of DC Comics stamps, not knowing at the time whether Aquaman had received his own.
Well, thanks to F.O.A.M. member David Kelly, I now know there was in fact an Aquaman stamp, and a fine one it is! Ah, if only I could've actually mailed letters with this!
But that wasn't the end of it! Not too long after, I received another email, from newest F.O.A.Mer Jose, sending me a pic of the entire Wonder Woman stamp book, of which the Aquaman one was part:
...sweeeet!
Those books are so cool looking, I have got to get me a few of 'em sometime. Thanks David and thanks Jose!
This is a super-cool JLA stamp from the series of DC Superhero Stamps put out in the mid-1970s(I believe Marvel put out a few sets of them as well). I don't have any of the booklets, so I don't know how many of them have Aquaman, but someone was selling a sheet of these JLA ones so I picked them up.
The art looks a little Dick Giordano-ish, but some of it looked...familiar. I couldn't quite place it until I realized it was from page two of the Super Friends treasury comic by Alex Toth: ...as you can see, the Hawkman and Elongated Man poses--and just those--are lifted from Toth's work(weird!).
And since I doubt Dick Giordano ever needed to lift someone else's art in his life, I bet this was done by someone instructed to get as close to the DC "House Style" as possible, so it ended up as a kind of Giordano/Toth hybrid.
Picking a JLA-related piece for today has a dual purpose, since today is the opening day for my new(est) blog, called JLA Satellite, all about the original JLA comic book(head over there for its Mission Statement; I won't bore you all with it here).
Why I need one more blog to add to my daily workload, I'm not sure; all I do know is when I come up with an idea for one I can't wait to start it--this one has been in the works for a while, and I figured now's a time as good as any.
Of course, there will be a lot of back-and-forth between JLA Satellite and the Shrine, since the histories of Aquaman and the JLA are so intertwined. The JLA Satellite's focus is a lot more narrow; at least for now--so was the Shrine's when I started, and yet yesterday I found myself posting pictures of me in an Aquaman costume.
With the art for the Marvel stamps now released, I thought this was a good time to highlight the beautiful ones done for DC over the summer.
Excited was not the word for when I learned I was going to be able to actually have, and use, Aquaman stamps. While the choice of cover shot is odd to me (Curt Swan was never one of the great Aquaman artists, and this particular cover looks like he's suffering from a really bad headache), the choice of Jim Aparo for the other stamp cannot be faulted. Jim always gave Aquaman a strong, heroic feel, and he was the perfect choice to represent the Sea King.
When these came out, I bought about ten sheets so I'll have nothing but DC superheroes on my mail for quite a while.
As we talked about yesterday, this weekend we're showing off the USPS "Collector Panels" they released on the occasion of the DC Superhero stamps back in 2006.
This is a super-cool JLA stamp from the series of DC Superhero Stamps put out in the mid-1970s(I believe Marvel put out a few sets of them as well). I don't have any of the booklets, so I don't know how many of them have Aquaman, but someone was selling a sheet of these JLA ones so I picked them up.
...as you can see, the Hawkman and Elongated Man poses--and just those--are lifted from Toth's work(weird!).
