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A 15% BUYER'S PREMIUM WILL BE ADDED TO THIS ITEM AT CONCLUSION OF THE AUCTION
Mike Zeck pencils/John Beatty inks; illustration; 1984; image size 9" x 11"

Sabertooth: The Last of His Kind. Pen and ink with red airbrush. Art is in excellent condition. Signed and dated by Zeck and Beatty.

Sabertooth: The Last of his Kind is the brainchild of John Fulce, created in 1978 after attending the press screening of Star Wars at the 20th Century Fox Studios. John wanted to create a new hero that comic book and movie fans could look up to and appreciate. During the 80s John worked with an agent to arrange a movie deal for Sabertooth. While studios were interested, the project was ultimately put on hold because the studios felt the character did not meet their criteria and John would not compromise his ideas to suit theirs.

During this time John owned and operated one of the top comic shops in southern California, Land of Oohs and Ahs Comics. John was also involved with fundraisers for Muscular Dystrophy, inviting many celebrity guests from the worlds of comics, Hollywood, and martial arts. Many of the guests donated art and other items for the fundraiser auction.

Many of these creators became good friends with John and over the years, they created fantastic artwork featuring Sabertooth and their own favorite characters. He has now decided to let others enjoy this stunning and unique collection of original art.

Now, with the book finished, John is ready to return to Hollywood and finish what he started. Although John's beloved wife passed away in 2022, he and his children are on track and pressing forward with this project.


Artists Information

Mike J. Zeck (born 1949) is an American comic book artist. He is best known for his work for Marvel Comics on such series as Captain America, Marvel Super-Heroes Secret Wars, Master of Kung Fu and The Punisher, as well as the “Kraven’s Last Hunt” storyline in the Spider-Man titles. He attended the Ringling School of Art in 1967 and after graduation worked at the Migrant Education Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Zeck began his comics career in 1974, doing illustration assignments for the text stories in Charlton Comics’ animated line of comics, which led to work on their horror titles. During this period, he lived briefly in the Derby, Connecticut area where Charlton was headquartered. In 1977, Zeck started working for Marvel Comics on Master of Kung Fu with writer Doug Moench. In 2010, Comics Bulletin ranked Moench and Zeck’s work on Master of Kung-Fu sixth on its list of the “Top 10 1970s Marvels.” Zeck later worked on Captain America and drew covers for G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero. Zeck illustrated the Marvel Super-Heroes Secret Wars limited series in 1984. For this series, he designed a new black-and-white costume temporarily worn by Spider-Man. The plot that developed as a result of Spider-Man’s acquisition of the costume led to the creation of the Spider-Man villain known as Venom. In 1986, Zeck collaborated with writer Steven Grant on a Punisher miniseries which was later collected as The Punisher: Circle of Blood and an original hardcover graphic novel of the character three years later. Zeck illustrated the 1987 Spider-Man storyline “Kraven’s Last Hunt” written by his former Captain America collaborator J.M. DeMatteis, which is considered to be one of the quintessential stories in Spider-Man’s history, as well as the definitive Kraven the Hunter storyline. DeMatteis remarked, “Because Mike nailed the plot elements so perfectly in his pencils - every action, every emotion, was there, clear as a bell - I didn’t have to worry about belaboring those elements in the captions or dialogue. I was free to do those interior monologues that were so important to the story. If any other artist had drawn “Kraven’s Last Hunt” ... it wouldn’t have been the same story.” In 2004, Zeck’s cover of Web of Spider-Man #32, which depicts Spider-Man escaping the grave into which he has been interred by Kraven, was recreated as a 12-inch-tall resin diorama statue by Dynamic Forces. Zeck has worked for DC Comics as well. He contributed to Who’s Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe in the mid-1980s. Zeck drew the covers for the “Ten Nights of the Beast” storyline in Batman #417–420 (March–June 1988) and these covers were later collected in a portfolio. His other credits for the publisher include; Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, Legends of the DC Universe, and covers for Deathstroke, The Terminator. In 1999, he collaborated with writer Mark Waid on The Kingdom (illustrating issue #2, with Ariel Olivetti illustrating issue #1), a sequel to Kingdom Come.

John Beatty is an American illustrator who has worked for Marvel Comics and DC Comics, primarily as an inker. Beatty spent twenty years inking titles such as Captain America, The Punisher, Secret Wars, The Nam, The Adventures of Superman, Batman, JLA, and many more.