Number 1594: There wuz giants in them thar days!

If the credits in the Grand Comics Database for Marvel’s Black Rider #8 (actually #1, 1950) are correct, then the artists who drew this story are giants of comic art. That seems appropriate since the story is called “The Mystery of the Valley of Giants.” GCD says (with their ? meaning they’re not quite sure) that the story was drawn by Syd Shores, Joe Maneely, John Severin and Russ Heath. Wow! What a crew. If you are an art spotter you can go through and see where each artist’s style pops up.

Not only are those art credits interesting, the cover photo is claimed to be Stan Lee in costume. Maybe any gun experts reading this can tell me if the pistols Stan “Black Rider” Lee is holding are real. To me they look like a set I wore circa 1952. They came with a Hopalong Cassidy outfit I got for Christmas.