Marvelmania #5 -- back cover by Mike Royer (1970)

I like my arms and legs and wasn't ready to give one up for a Kirby or Buscema Sufer, so this is the next best thing. Plus it's really freakin' cool. Marvelmania was comic-book publisher Marvel Comics' in-house fan club from 1969 to 1971. It ran six issues. Mike Royer is best known for his work inking Jack Kirby's pencils in the early 1970's and it is unusual to find a superhero image exclusively by him. This 1970 image of a cosmos spanning Silver Surfer blasting his energy bolts was used as the back cover to the fifth issue of the Marvel Comics fanzine, Marvelmania Magazine back in 1970. It is a great vintage image of one of Marvel Comics' most popular heroes, by an artist that was core to Marvel's output in the Bronze Age. This is likely one of Royer's earliest works on a Marvel character as the majority of his time in the early 1970's was with Kirby at DC Comics. This piece was executed in pencil & ink on heavy stock and overall measures 12 1/2" x 18 1/2".