More Robin package art sources found

[Earth 2 Chris]

I recently bought the Showcase Presents: Robin the Boy Wonder volume, and much to my pleasant surprise, it helped me solve a few more Mego art mysteries!

I had previously discovered what I thought may be the original art source for Robin's vignette headshot on the 1979 DC 8" packages:
79 Robin source art found - Mego Talk

Turns out, I was half right. While that was indeed the source art, it originally appeared in Batman #248, 1973, 11 issues earlier than the comic I mentioned before. Here is a black and white scan from the Robin volume alongside the previous pics I posted, with card art and the reused head shot from Batman #259:






This artwork is indeed by Irv Novick, but inked by Frank McLaughlin, not Dick Giordano.

I was REALLY stoked to find the art source for the 9" Robin art found on the back of the 2nd released 12" Super Heroes. It comes from World's Finest #200 and is by Dick Dillin and Joe Giella. For some reason, I always suspected Dillin did this art. It just looked like his body posturing. They had to redraw parts of this one, but with that odd pose, I don't think there is any doubt that this is the source:




We are still looking for the source of the DC 76 card for Robin. It still looks like Irv Novick to me. If it's not in this book, it may have come from a lead Batman story he was in. I'll keep looking.

Chris

[Wee67]

Wow! Well done, Chris. Or should I say, detective.

[palitoy]

Damn, great eye Chris, as usual I might add...

[ScottA]

Nice work indeed Chris. I love any Robin information.

[The Toyroom]

Nice catch!

[Earth 2 Chris]

Wow! Well done, Chris. Or should I say, detective.

Thanks Bill. You sounded like Ra's Al Ghul just then!

I forgot to add, I'm still thinking Dick Dillin may have drawn the source for the original Superman 8" packaging art. There was even a similar pose in that World's Finest #200 (it was a Supes/Robin team-up), but not quite. He drew World's Finest (and of course JLA) for a long time, so there's a lot of books to look through.

Chris

[Meule]

I find it amazing how you keep finding these art sources, very well done Chris

[Earth 2 Chris]

One more Robin rumination:

This is something I noticed long ago, but even I tend to forget this. Robin's logo on Mego packaging stumped me for years. Where did it come from? Why didn't Mego use the more famous Robin logo originated in his solo Star-Spangled Comics run in the 40s and used clear up through the 80s?


http://www.comics.org/graphics/cover...8579_4_000.jpg

Here's where they got it. :

http://www.comics.org/graphics/cover..._000000230.jpg

Used on this first and then subsequent issues of Batman at the time. So it was the current logo at the time Mego first issued Robin:



Of course a shorter version of the solo Batman logo similar to this was used on all Mego Batman packaging as well. The classic full version first appeared here:


http://www.comics.org/graphics/cover..._000000220.jpg



Comic scans from GCD :: Home, the Grand Comic Database.

Chris

[The Toyroom]

The pics disappeared....

[sauce]

Yeah, can't see the pics in the last post.

So, did MEGO get the rights to use the images from the comics, too? Or is it standard to do that kind of image reproduction once you're making the toy? Or is this a copy/paste job that went undetected and should've caused MEGO some trouble?

[Earth 2 Chris]

Ah, I guess Grand Comic Database doesn't want you linking to them anymore. I should have given them credit. I usually do. It's a fantastic resource for comic fans.

EDIT: I fixed the links, and gave direct links underneath the covers, and credit to GCD. Hopefully this is okay.

I would guess Mego went and got the art themselves somehow, and in most cases redrew it. Or DC would have provided better art than they used. Nowadays you get style guides to use and thats pretty much it.

Chris

[ScottA]

I still can't see anything Chris.

[Captain]

I dont know if it because it was the official Mego Batman logo when I was a kid or not, but I always preferred that particular logo. Wish they would go back to it. Conversely, I prefer the older Robin logo...would look kinda neat on a modern Robin comic.

I have to ask you Chris....Do you sit down and go through piles of old comics with the intent to find the Mego source material, or do you just pick up on it as your going through your normal casual comic reading time? I have this vision of you sitting in a dark, damp basement...one 40w bulb hanging from the sealing providing the only light source. In the black background the drip-drip-drip of a leaky pipe. Sitting directly under the light is you, unshaven, and mussed up like you've been there for days pouring through mounds of old comics...looking for that one "A-Ha!" moment that makes it all worthwhile. Real Wil Eisner-ish kind of scenario.....Well, whatever you do...KEEP IT UP!

Nice work sir!

[Earth 2 Chris]

That's a cool scene you paint there, Captain!

Usually I'm leaving through an old comic, and it will hit me that I've seen the artwork before. Sometimes, it's Mego packaging, sometimes its for some other 60s or 70s merchandise. Other times, I have an idea who did the artwork (like Irv Novick and Dick Dillin in the case of the Robin art) and I look through what I have to see if I can find a match. I looked over my copy of that Robin 79 headshot for years. Same with the Lex Luthor head used on the Superman 12" packaging. It was waiting there in Superman vs. Spider-Man the whole time!

I still can't see anything Chris.

That's really weird. It's working for me. I can see them. Can you see links to click on?

Chris

[The Toyroom]

Chris,
When you click on the links,this appears in the browser:http://www.gcdpix.com/leech.png

Guess they still don't like the linking....