Aquaman #63 by Fred Hembeck

Check out this beautiful recreation of Jim Aparo's cover to Aquaman #63 by the one and only Fred Hembeck! This was submitted by our newest F.O.A.M. member, Jim Bal, who commissioned it from Fred because it was the first Aquaman comic Jim ever read. Other than it being the final issue of the series (*sniff*), not a bad place to start!

Thanks Jim, and welcome to F.O.A.M.!

Comic Shop News by Hembeck

 

You all know how much I love my Hembeck, so when he draws Aquaman it's extra good. Kudos to Comic Shop News for tapping him to do the cover for their Christmas Special!

I grew up reading Fred's stuff, and one of the things he regularly did was mix characters from different companies, something almost never seen in the "real" comics of the time. That tradition continues here, with Superman, Wonder Woman, and the Sea King mixing with Wolverine and...Medusa?!? Sure, why not? It's Hembeck!

(h/t: F.O.A.M.er Rick Duncan)

Aquaman by Fred Hembeck

Everyone who has read this blog for a while knows I love the word of Fred Hembeck. I grew up reading his stuff, and while I took superheroes and their stories very seriously, I also enjoyed Fred do his thing, taking jabs at these self-same characters, sometimes within the very same book!

Apparently Shrine Correspondent Russell Burbage was a fan too. After he saw Fred say that he didn't like Aquaman all that much, Russell wrote him a fan letter saying that he was a huge Aquaman fan! Fred responded with the above sketch, and the letter below:

Russell Burbage: Spreading the word of Aquaman for over thirty years!

Aquaman Art Gallery: Fred Hembeck

I loves me some Hembeck, and I always will. Looks like Arthur is about to get sucker-punched by Namor, who is probably still angry over the whole DC vs. Marvel thing!

You can get yourself a Hembeck original like this on his eBay store!

Aquaman Art Gallery: Fred Hembeck

This awesome shot of the Aqua-Family is by the legendary Fred Hembeck, one of my all-time favorites!

Fred does original illustrations on sketchcards and sells them on eBay, covering every character in comics (and TV, and movies, and...) imaginable. Go check out his eBay sellers page and buy, buy, buy!

Hembeck Strip

I came across this Hembeck strip--one I had never seen before!--in some old DC comic that I have since forgotten. But it features Aquaman, something I always enjoy!

I've said it before, I'll say it again--I'd love it if DC hired Fred again to do his patented thing in their books again.

The Flash Vs. Hostess Ads by Hembeck

This brilliant one-page strip first ran in Hembeck #1, Fred's first collection of his material, published in 1980 (click to see a bigger version).

Like I mentioned with yesterday's strip, I loved Fred's conceit that the various DC and Marvel heroes were just your average Working Joes, and even though they were superheroes didn't mean they didn't have annoying stuff to deal with.

Also, as a kid reading this strip for the first time, this idea of the Hostess ads being a sort of separate entity really blew my mind--and the idea that the villains were so lame that the heroes were worried they'd show up in the regular comics was equally revelatory.

Aquaman doesn't appear in this strip, but The Flash touches on some of the marital strife he suffered from making Mera do one of the Hostess ads without him.

I always did wonder why Mera did her own ad...


I hope you enjoyed Hembeck Week, as I did. I've always loved Fred's work, and kicking off the week with a brand-new Hembeck strip is one of the most fun things I've ever had the opportunity to run here.

And remember, you can buy the giant Hembeck Omnibus book here. Tell 'em The Aquaman Shrine sent you!

Hembeck Strip

Another one of Fred's original strips, done for DC's Daily Planet feature page back in the day (like yesterday's, this recolored version is courtesy the awesome Hembeck Files site).

As a kid, one of the things that drew me the most to Fred's work was the idea of the various DC heroes as working stiffs--guys who were employed, in some fashion, as Comic Book Heroes, which came with its own set of problems and annoyances, as does any job.

In a post-Superman: The Movie world, I could see why Aquaman would be feeling a tad jealous, as he does here...

Hembeck Strip

One of Fred's original strips, done for DC's Daily Planet feature page back in the day (this recolored version is courtesy the awesome Hembeck Files site).

Aquaman didn't appear too many times in Fred's strips, and I don't recall ever seeing this one in the original comics. It sure is a kind of a grim joke, when you think about it...

Aquaman, Mera, and Namor - 2007

This is a commission that Fred has up on his website, showing that its not just Sue Richards who feels a slight tug of her heartstrings when encountering Marvel's King of the Seas.

Hey, Namor, get your own girls!

The Aqua Family in "Channel Surfing"

Feast your eyes on this, a brand-new, all-original strip by the one and only Fred Hembeck!

I am a huge fan of the work of Mr. Hembeck, and one day I got the idea of commissioning Fred to write and draw a brand-new, Aqua-centric strip for the Shrine, done in the same format as those classic "Hembeck" strips that ran in those Daily Planet feature pages, so many years ago.

Fred thankfully agreed, and within a few weeks he sent this to me, and I couldn't be happier with the result. It looks and feels like one of those strips I loved so much as a kid, complete with terrible pun at the end. (You can click the graphic to see a in-color version)

I told Fred that maybe, just maybe, if he was up for it, I'd commission him to do more of these, and it could become a sort-of regular feature here on the Shrine. If that's something you'd like to see, leave a comment and let me know!

I'm so happy to present this new strip, that I've decided all this week on the Shrine it will be "Hembeck Week", featuring more Aquaman-related Hembecky goodness. Be here, it'll be fun!

Aquaman by Hembeck

For today I thought I'd post two Aquaman-related cover re-dos by the great Fred Hembeck.

Both of these appeared in Hembeck's independently published collections of his work, the Aquaman #42 cover in Hembeck #1 and the Lois Lane #72 cover in Hembeck #5 (you can find almost all the Hembeck books on eBay for not a lot of money, and I suggest you do, they're a lot of fun and packed to the staples with gags).

It occurred to me a while back, when scanning the top piece in to post it here, that I have yet to talk about that classic issue of Aquaman on the Shrine, which is ridiculously overdue, since its cover is one of the great images of 60s comic books. So be here tomorrow where we will discover the delights that await us behind that amazing cover for Aquaman #42.

And for good measure, we'll be talking about "Lois Lane's Aquaman Tricks!" on Sunday!

Strip by Fred Hembeck - 1978

Aquaman didn't make that many appearances in those neat-o Hembeck strips that used to run in the "Daily Planet" feature in DCs of the late 70s and very early 80s; so I was always glad to see him get a chance to be drawn with those curlycue elbows.

If I ran DC, the first thing I would do is...bring the letters pages back. The second thing I would do is re-hire Fred and get him to do new strips for the books.

The Bride of Hembeck - 1980

I was inspired by a comment F.O.A.Mer Damian made yesterday on his Tiny Titan blog, about he's partially making it his mission to get the "behind-the-scenes" heroes of the DCU some more attention.

That made me think of this soliloquy by Tommy Tomorrow, from Fred Hembeck's awesome Bride of Hembeck comic he put out in 1980.

Not only does it stand as a nice tribute to all the non-headliner DC heroes, but it's a nice specific shout-out to Aquaman! Thanks Tommy, and thanks Fred!

Sketch Week II, Part 2: Fred Hembeck - 2004

Like for a lot of comics fans my age, Fred Hembeck and his cartoons were a welcome and unusual take on the world of DC Comics.

DC, unlike Marvel--who was willing to make even their villains look goofy to help sell the Marvel brand--always seemed so serious and straight-laced, so seeing Fred's irreverent take on the characters was a real breath of fresh air.

I had been to Fred's website and knew he did commissions, so I thought why not send him the book and have him do it in there directly? Fred said he would, so I nervously handed my baby over to the strangers at FedEx.

Of course, everything went smoothly, and within a week or two Fred had sent the book back to me, with this wonderfully fun piece of Arthur and Mera in the inimitable Hembeck Style. Fred also included a doodle of himself in an Aquaman costume with the inscription "Some nice stuff in here--and I really like what you did with the cover! Good luck filling it up!"

Thanks, Fred! I intend to!