Spies, Vixens, and Masters of Kung Fu: The Art of Paul Gulacy

Spies, Vixens, and Masters of Kung Fu

The Art of Paul Gulacy

Vanguard, 2005

Paul Gulacy (b. 1953) is an accomplished comic book and graphic artist who came to prominence in 1970s with his work in Marvel's popular title Master of Kung Fu. This book cover's Gulacy's work from the that era, as well as the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s. 

While his meticulous style meant that his output was comparatively limited compared to other artists of the era, when his art did appear in print, it was memorable then and remains so today.

'Spies, Vixens, and Masters of King Fu: The Art of Paul Gulacy' (128 pp.), featuring editing and commentary by Michael Kronenberg and J. David Spurlock, was issued in hardback and trade paperback editions in 2005 by Vanguard. 

Some of the reviewers at amazon have complained that the trade paperback edition has an easily loosened binding and this is true of the copy in my possession.......even when using a dedicated PlusTek book scanner, I had to take care in spreading the book for these scans.

The majority of the art presented in 'Spies, Vixens, and Masters of Kung Fu' is in black and white, with a color insert showcasing selected comic books contents and covers.

The book is arranged in roughly chronological order, with the opening chapters devoted to Gulacy's work on Marvel's comic Master of Kung Fu, followed by coverage of his art for the Warren's Eerie magazine, Marvel's Bizarre Adventures, and the indie comic The Grackle.

Reproducing these pieces on glassy finish, large size paper lets the reader see how well-composed these comics truly are.

Additional chapters cover Gulacy's work through the 1990s and into the 200s for DC titles like Batman. There also is coverage of the art he produced for the 1992 Dark Horse James Bond series Serpent's Tooth; according to the text commentary in 'Spies, Vixens, and Masters of King Fu', the series was instrumental in bringing about the renaissance in the James Bond franchise in the early 1990s, when the franchise was adrift following the failure of 1989's License to Kill. 

The book's closing chapters profile more recent material Gulacy has produced for a variety of publishers and collectors.

Summing up, while its binding is suffering a bit from the 16-year aging process, 'Spies, Vixens, and Masters of Kung Fu' offers a very nice showcase of Gulacy's art and undoubtedly will send fans of comic book and graphic art out searching for overlooked treasures. 

Here is where things can get rather frustrating, since not all of Gulacy's work in the 1980s and 1990s is still in print, and prospects for the reissue of titles (like Serpent's Tooth) do not look promising.......never mind the exorbitant prices the Bookjackers are requesting for used copies of these older comics and graphic novels. 

However, I'm certainly going to keep an eye out for the appearance of Gulacy's Old School publications on the shelves of used bookstores.............

The Trespasser Part One

The Trespasser
Part One
by Don McGregor (script) and Paul Gulacy (art)
from Eerie No. 103 (August 1979)

Among the better features in the pages of Eerie in the late 70s - early 80s were the collaborations between artist Paul Gulacy and writers such as Doug Moench and Don McGregor. 

I've already posted the outstanding three-part serial 'Blood and Black Satin' by Gulacy and Moench that appeared in 1980, but the three-part serial 'The Trespasser', which appeared a year earlier, also is worthy of a posting.

Although the issues of Eerie from which I'm making these scans are 35 years old, dog-eared, and wrinkled and warped, with my scans set to 300 dpi / 1 MB each, hopefully the high quality of Gulacy's art is apparent despite the compromised paper quality.  

[I suspect contemporary readers may not recognize the actor that Gulacy uses as a model for the hero.....so for the benefit of those modern-day readers, that actor is James Coburn.]

Below is Part One of 'The Trespasser'.....Parts Two and Three will be posted in successive order here at the PorPor Books Blog.

The Black Widow from Bizarre Adventures 1981

The Black Widow in 'I Got the Yo Yo, You Got the String'
by Ralph Macchio and Paul Gulacy
from Bizarre Adventures (Marvel / Curtis) No. 25, March, 1981

The March 1981, 25th issue of the Marvel / Curtis black and white comic magazine Bizarre Adventures (previously titled Marvel Preview) featured an all –female cast of 'Lethal Ladies', which included The Black Widow, 'Lady Daemon', and 'The Daughters of the Dragon'.

The Black Widow adventure, titled ‘I Got the Yo, You Got the String’, was written by Ralph Macchio. The plot, which has something to do with a double-double cross, is incoherent, but the comic features some really good artwork by Paul Gulacy, who models the Widow on Victoria Principal, who at that time in 1981 was a superstar due to her recurring role on the drama Dallas.

Gulacy also models some of the supporting characters in 'Yo Yo' on other famous actors…..and if you look carefully, he  pays homage to the op-art effects that Jim Steranko used in his 'Nick Fury Agent of SHIELD' comics from the mid-60s. 

It's all part of Gulacy's approach to illustration that makes it worth showcasing more than 30 years after it first appeared.

Sabre issue 1

'Sabre' issue 1

Eclipse Comics, August 1982

'Sabre' was first published in 1978 as a 38-page black-and-white graphic novel by Eclipse, an independent comic book publisher. The book is considered by some to be the first 'graphic novel' ever to be released, although I would argue that Gil Kane's 'Blackmark', from 1971, was actually the first work to merit the title of a graphic novel.

Sabre represented an effort by writer Don McGregor to produce material not stifled by the restrictions of the Comics Code, or the heavy hands of the senior editorial staff at the major publishers. 

In 1982, Eclipse comics released the graphic novel in issues one and two of Sabre, a newly launched, full-color comic book. 

Another 12 issues of original material followed, before the series ceased in 1985 with issue 14.

Unfortunately, as far as I'm concerned, McGregor wasted too much time presenting himself as a talented wordsmith battling the ignorance of the System, and too little time actually being a good writer. 

Much as he did with the Killraven series for Marvel, McGregor buried Paul Gulacy's exceptional artwork under turgid, overwrought prose.  Even by the standards of comic book writing of the 70s and 80s - in which prolixity was commonplace - McGregor showed a signal lack of restraint.

Still, it's worth taking a look at the 1980s run of 'Sabre', for every now and then, when McGregor allowed Gulacy's illustrations to take center stage, the book rose above and beyond the usual.

The first few pages of Sabre No. 1 introduce us to the dystopian state of the US in 2020 AD:

Here's a nice example of what Paul Gulacy could do when given a text-free page with which to work:

Unfortunately, too often Gulacy's artwork had to maneuver around large chunks of text:

My synopsis of issue two / part two of the original 'Sabre' will be posted next month.