A Cut From a Cover

[Steve W]

Ok, here's an idea for a fun contest. I post a section from a comic cover and you guys try and guess what cover it's from.Whoever guesses correctly, gets to post a portion of a cover themselves, and we all get to guess. It's not good form to post a very tiny part of the cover, as it makes the contest too difficult.

Here's my starter - a clue is that this particular cover (like all of mine) is from the Silver-Age.

[Dave Palmer]

Okay, here we go, Richard Dragon, Kung-Fu Fighter #9, June 1976.  From this series, Ben "Bronze Tiger" Turner and Lady Shiva are probably better known today than Richard Dragon.

[Dave Palmer]

Here's one, same general era

[Jeff of Earth-J]

The partial logo gave this one away.

[Dave Palmer]

I didn't want it to be too difficult, since Charlton may not come readily to mind.  Looks like we've covered many of the 1970s kung-fu craze comic books.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

I still haven't learned how to post a cut, so don't wait for me.

[Dave Palmer]

Similar timeframe--post Silver Age

[Dave Palmer]

Here's another cut from the same cover.

[Luke Blanchard]

The issue is Vengeance Squad #5 (Charlton). It's not a series I know: I got it by the artist, Pete Morisi. (I'll admit I thought Alex Toth first.)

[Dave Palmer]

I always liked Pete Morisi's work.  It was very clean.

Here is what Mark Evanier wrote in an obituary for PAM in 2003:

Morisi's early work in comics showed a lot of Alex Raymond influence but one day, he made a sharp turn. Reportedly, an editor told him to try and draw more like George Tuska, who was then the "star" artist in the field of crime comics. Morisi liked Tuska's work and saw that others were emulating the man, but felt it was wrong to simply appropriate someone else's style. So, the story goes, he phoned up Tuska, asked if he could imitate his approach and offered to pay a small royalty for the privilege. Tuska was so amazed that anyone had asked that he gave Morisi permission to draw like him and waived the fee. Thereafter, some of Morisi's work was so close to Tuska's in style that when they worked for the same firm, the editor got them confused.

I was being a bit sneaky hoping that folks would initially mistake the cover cut as being by someone more well known.  As with the earlier posted Yang cover by Warren Sattler, Charlton had a number of very good artists and striking covers in the mid-1970s.  

[Luke Blanchard]

Here's a new cut:

[Dave Palmer]

Not where I would expect to find Karate Kid

[Dave Palmer]

How about