Jungle Action #12 Cover

This was my grail: the cover to the first comic I ever purchased as a kid, back in 1974 or whenever...I forget the exact date. It doesn't look like the final published cover so I contacted Rich Buckler, sent him a scan, and asked him about it.

My letter to Mr. Buckler read:

"Dear Mr, Buckler

... I am contacting you to ask about a piece of comic book art ...This is the original art to the cover of Jungle Action #12,... The picture is significantly different from the published cover. But it is extremely similar as well. As it has your signature on it, I though you of all people could confirm whether or not this is indeed the original art from the cover..."

Mr. Buckler replied:

"Yes, that artwork is indeed the original for the cover of Jungle Action #12.

Sometimes Marvel's production department would use a photostat of the original and reposition the art to fit the cover format and lettering/logo, so that's why the difference from the printed version.

Apparently I didn't have any blank cover stock handy at the time when I drew this. That did happen sometimes. Comics were produced a lot faster and looser in the 70's--those were the best of times for me.

Thanks for the compliments. Take care & God Bless--RICH"