I have recently been on a Golden Age Comics kick. Specifically studying the works of Bill Everett, June Tarpé Mills, Paul Gustavson, and Carl Burgos.
For this piece I have reimagined the Carl Burgos character of the Iron Skull first appearing in Amazing Man Comics #5 from Centaur Publishing in September of 1939.
Iron Skull was an unnamed solider injured during a World War II that lasted into the 1950s. He was rebuilt into a cyborg super solider at an Army Hospital in Chicago, one of the theaters of the war. This alternate history WWII not only went longer than the real war it also made it to the United States leaving parts of the country war torn much like Europe.
The continuity of the series was a bit spotty, but it was set in an alternate 1970s more than ten years into reconstruction post war. Iron Skull operates like a freelance private eye/vigilante cyborg taking on high tech crimes.
The alternate “future” timeline of 1970s America is, to me, the most interesting part of this character and the most ripe for exploration and reimagining. To this end I have created this piece recasting the Iron Skull as a 1970s action sci-fi thriller. A sort of Dirty Harry and Mad Max meets Robocop.
For photo reference I used images from the films Johnny Got His Gun, Westworld, Dirty Harry, and THX 1138.
#pulp2pixel #fanart #publicdomainsuperheroes #goldenagecomics #comicbooks #digitalart #movieposter #johnnygothisgun #dirtyharry #thx1138 #westworld #carlburgos #ironskull #centaurpublishing
