Gigantor

Marc Basile fills us in on the story behind his latest pièce de résistance…“Around the time Jack came back to Marvel they wanted to get it’s hands into animation and toy licensing, so they started up the Micronauts, Godzilla and Shogun Warrior titles. One such title, Gigantor, was to be done by Jack, but it didn’t pan out . Not one to throw away an idea, Jack used the concept as inspiration for Machine Man a few years later.”

Original cover art by Jack Kirby and Mike Royer.

6 thoughts on “Gigantor

  1. John Coyne

    Great cover art! Gigantor was always one of my favorite cartoons when I was a kid. Although, always seeing it in black and white, I always imagined him gray than blue!
    Kirby would have rocked this space aged series!
    John, NY

    Reply
  2. John S.

    Hey Marc, cool cover! Besides the obvious Kirby cues, your art has a bit of a Herb Trimpe flavor, which I guess is appropriate, since Happy Herb did so many licensed comics for Marvel back in the day. Is that back story about Marvel wanting Kirby to do a Gigantor comic actually true, or did you just make it up as a fun explanation for the creation of this cover?

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  3. Marc Basile

    Pure fantasy John. My mind works in weird ways. And yes, I did research some Trimpe as well. He was another fantastic artist that had a profound influence on me, I just wish
    Marvel didn’t force him to change his style.

    Reply
  4. Marc Basile

    I had a conversation with him via telephone back in ’98 and he told me when he was doing Fantastic Four Unlimited, Jim Shooter was constantly criticizing his style; as a lark he started mimicking Rob Liefield and the powers that be couldn’t stop kissing his feet.

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  5. John S.

    That’s so sad…but not surprising. Marvel editors have never done much to endear themselves to their older artists. I think John Buscema was one of the few “old-time” pencillers who didn’t get pushed out by those idiots. Comics are a disgraceful business in a lot of ways, and I believe the industry as we’ve known it for the last thirty years is TRULY on the verge of extinction this time — a well-deserved fate, too, in my opinion.

    Reply

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