It's Time To Go Out Trick-Or-Treating!

It's Halloween and trick-or-treaters may appear in some very unlikely places!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Here are a couple of my favorite Halloween-themed Pink Panther covers I did for Novaro/Western Publishing way back in the 1980s:

Happy Holidays!

Christmas is just around the corner but I don't want to miss the opportunity to wish all my family and friends a great Yuletide and happy New Year in advance!

 

THE DIGITAL MAGIC

In an effort to convert my comic book covers from the 70s and 80s into digital files, I've tried a number of apps and Photoshop has been the one that works better for me. I am not going to attempt digitizing my entire output from those years but a few samples of selected issues will have to do for now!

You will appreciate below the difference between the original source material and the cleaned-up version.

                                             BEFORE                                                  AFTER

            BEFORE                                                     AFTER              

ROD SERLING, THE MASTER OF TV SUSPENSE AND FANTASY

This is the cover of the first TWILIGHT ZONE comic I ever bought. It was back in 1962 and I had been a fan of the TV show from its premiere in 1959 until it was canceled in 1964. The issue in question was the first published under the Gold Key label after Dell Publishing Co. ended its partnership with Western Publishing.

I bought almost every issue of TZ up until the early 70s and I still keep most of them in my collection. The quality of the stories and artwork varied, with the earlier ones being the best all around. 

These are some of my favorite issues:

There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension

as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between

light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit

of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of

imagination. It is an area which we call "The Twilight Zone".-Rod Serling

ROD SERLING

(1924-1975)

On WIKIPEDIA:

Rod Serling

More of my PINK PANTHER & ROAD RUNNER comic covers from Novaro Publishing Co.

I started working at Novaro Publishing co., (which was one of Western Publishing Company's licencees) back in 1972.  My creation, EL MAFIOSO NICK (Mobster Nick) appeared under the DOMINGOS ALEGRES (Happy Sundays) banner and was one of four weekly rotating titles.
It lasted just 6 issues and was replaced by something else, but it helped me get the job of filling out additional issues of THE PINK PANTHER and BEEP BEEP, THE ROAD RUNNER, created for the Hispanic market.  All in all, I wrote and did the artwork for 156 Pink Panther issues and about the same for the Road Runner until 1985, when Novaro abruptly shut down production and vanished.

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I've posted many of these covers before on this blog and here are a few more samples of my work during those golden years of comic book history.

                                                  BEEP BEEP THE ROAD RUNNER

                      

                         

                 

                        

                                                                  THE PINK PANTHER

                               

THE PINK PANTHER SHOW

On September 6, 1969, Friz Freleng and David H. DePatie produced THE PINK PANTHER SHOW, which was a half-hour compilation of the Pink Panther theatrical cartoons and later became a showcase for subsequent made-for-TV cartoons.

It ran on NBC until September 2, 1978 when it changed networks and became THE ALL NEW PINK PANTHER SHOW.  Today, we celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the series' debut.

I enjoyed this first series a lot and, since I began doing the PINK PANTHER comic books for overseas distribution in Spanish, I felt I had a special bond with the character.

In celebration of THE PINK PANTHER SHOW's 50th Anniversary, I'd like to remember some of my Pink Panther covers during that period.

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You can read all about the Pink Panther story in this excellent book by Mark Arnold:

https://www.amazon.com/Think-Pink-DePatie-Freleng-Mark-Arnold/dp/1593931697

And here's the very first PINK PANTHER cartoon, released December 18, 1964.