#Tony Mortellaro

[brevoorthistoryofcomics]

BHOC: MARVEL TALES #102

This issue of MARVEL TALES reprinted the story where the series concluded its transition from the Silver Age into the Bronze Age. The book had been there for several months already at this point, with writer Gerry Conway taking over for Stan Lee. But this was the first issue in forever not illustrated by John Romita. Romita had defined the look of Spider-Man over the preceding decade (and he’d…

[eliah]

[gameraboy2]

Mister Mystery #16 (1954), cover by Tony Mortellaro

[chernobog13]

This outfit may look silly (Sean Connery wore an almost identical costume the following year in Zardoz), but it makes perfect sense beca use the original title for the series was Male Strippers From Mars.

Meanwhile, H.G. Wells spins like a centrifuge in his grave...

[ewzzy]

BACKGROUND BY MORTELLARO

When John Romita Sr returned to Amazing Spider-Man he was busy as art director for all of Marvel so he hired an artists to fill in backgrounds for him so he could focus on the character figures. It's a common enough practice and these ghost artists tend not to make any waves. Tony Mortellaro? He snuck his name in everywhere.

Look close and you'll see that he'd only write parts of his name so you'd have to piece together multiple instances including some that only say "back" to get the full message.

Never one to hold back, on the first page of Amazing Spider-Man #122, right after Gwen Stacy got knocked off that bridge, there is "Mortellaro" in full right by her head!

If you're doing a 1970s Spider-Man pastiche please to sneak in a "BACK MORT" on a sign in there somewhere. Here's the full story from Jazzy John Romita:

[dirtyriver]

Amazing Spider-Man #109, June 1972, written by Stan Lee, original art by John Romita and Tony Mortellaro

[acmeoop]

Harry’s In Bad Shape “Amazing Spider-Man” (1973)

Original pencils by Gil Kane and final splash page by Kane, John Romita Sr., Tony Mortellaro, and David Hunt from The Amazing Spider-Man #121, published by Marvel Comics, June 1973.

[tomoleary]

Win Mortimer, Mike Esposito and Tony Mortellaro Spidey Super Stories #19 (1976)

[smbhax]

The Marvel Bullpen, from Fantastic Four Annual #7, November 1969. Roy Thomas(?) script, Al Hewetson photos, Sam Rosen letters.

"Including Stan Lee, Neal Adams, Dan Adkins, Dick Ayers, Sol Brodsky, John Buscema, Sal Buscema, Sharon Cohen, Gene Colan, Johnny Craig, Bill Everett, Gary Friedrich, Stan Goldberg, Archie Goodwin, Sam Grainger, Don Heck, Al Hewetson, Jean Izzo, Gil Kane, Jack Kirby, Morrie Kuramoto, Suzan Lane, Larry Lieber, Tony Mortellaro, Tom Palmer, Paul Reinman, John Romita, Sam Rosen, Stu Schwartzberg, John Severin, Marie Severin, Syd Shores, Artie Simek, Joe Sinnott, Jim Steranko, John Tartaglione, Jean Thomas, Roy Thomas, Herb Trimpe, George Tuska and John Verpoorten." --And Spider-Man.

[zotcomics]

Tony Mortellaro - While the Iron Was Hot (Weird Mysteries #3, February 1953).

[weirdlookindog]

Mister Mystery #7 - Aragon, 1952.

Cover art by Tony Mortellaro.

[the-spinner-rack]

BINGO! (by John Romita & Tony Mortellaro from Amazing Spider-Man #112, 1972)

[gameraboy2]

Captain America #171 (1974) Cover by John Romita and Tony Mortellaro

[brevoorthistoryofcomics]

BHOC: MARVEL TALES #79

BHOC: MARVEL TALES #79

When we left things off last week, we were talking about a pair of issues that I got in those plastic-wrapped bundles of coverless comics my local drug store had begun to sell. When this story was originally printed in the pages of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, the Comics Code Authority of the time wouldn’t approve it, since it had a subplot running through it that dealt with drug use–a plot whose…

[inky-curves]

Mister Mystery #6 (July 1952) Cover by Tony Mortellaro

[dirtyriver]

Amazing Spider-Man #109, June 1972, written by Stan Lee, original art by John Romita and Tony Mortellaro