tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29285333918303704222024-02-18T18:01:41.335-08:00Comic Book AtticFunnybook Attichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16945602110000563133noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2928533391830370422.post-55801765198353775902014-09-30T16:27:00.001-07:002016-08-22T07:42:30.874-07:00A Voyage Back Into the Murky Days of Comics Archaeology, Featuring Kreigh Collins<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMDRoaNsWp47SKH_A77pJYks6MG0zImA4EGqnCChyKsFa4M2hSVzAr6j4DFVOCCmOTa9hvPW7ud_g-hWPkUIJ6OPV0n6-LSQX8FvBYBTyq71anp0TAtytv4OtfpvsDSEiUgSwIiF6RT7o/s1600/MitziTeez.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMDRoaNsWp47SKH_A77pJYks6MG0zImA4EGqnCChyKsFa4M2hSVzAr6j4DFVOCCmOTa9hvPW7ud_g-hWPkUIJ6OPV0n6-LSQX8FvBYBTyq71anp0TAtytv4OtfpvsDSEiUgSwIiF6RT7o/s1600/MitziTeez.jpg" width="290" /></a></div>
This post is not about comic BOOKS, for a change. It's a means to revisit the way I conducted much of my first serious forays into comics history--via the microfilmed records of old newspapers. There is not much nostalgia in this account, because the microfilms themselves are terrible. They were a flawed way to preserve newspapers, and (though no one knew this in the 1960s and '70s), a slowly deteriorating time-bomb.<br />
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As a teenager in Tallahassee, Florida, I haunted Florida State University's Strozier Library, a godsend for its titanic air-conditioned chill and its city of books. Among its endless shelves were what passed for a good comics and cartooning section, circa 1978, forbidding rows of bound volumes of magazines, and, in its basement, fat stacks of cardboard-boxed microfilms.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM07elfTZKuQhzHpOo4vHOH_CJh2qSyA42eXkGtedSjtUPs866sOO4DQbpSW52w2it16g8VG0ycv3tmqPXeqVvbpBANdQk5V9osOvmhlYg6OsPzGEM5-qfy6cz1ogvTcZlmbuJ2ywychQ/s1600/strozier.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM07elfTZKuQhzHpOo4vHOH_CJh2qSyA42eXkGtedSjtUPs866sOO4DQbpSW52w2it16g8VG0ycv3tmqPXeqVvbpBANdQk5V9osOvmhlYg6OsPzGEM5-qfy6cz1ogvTcZlmbuJ2ywychQ/s1600/strozier.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Strozier Library, Florida State University, 1970s</td></tr>
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Huddled in the dark, squeaking the turn handle on outdated, cantankerous viewers, I explored hundreds of old newspapers, in search of comic strips I'd heard of, but never seen, and, on occasion, discovering a completely unknown cartoonist and their work.<br />
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Amidst collegiates who muddled through statistics papers and other chores of higher education, I wandered through the seven decades of newspaper comics available to me. Most of the newspapers on file were Florida-based, but the stacks also included The Chicago <i>Tribune</i>, several California dailies, Southeast, Midwest and Southwest papers, Afro-American papers, and territorial, pre-statehood Alaska editions.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-fxoeUIAmRLnwkJ1bnS4p843FLxe7tFV_Y-GNjzkC0AOUyO4NMLp3f3T9-ddkYLZiEpnSdqJ_mAk03A8lLv59lK5BN5y9hshIM_B77TxTRs6-OSThiEpHmoMg9pLbLvN9ftZC3AGUNF0/s1600/film.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="155" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-fxoeUIAmRLnwkJ1bnS4p843FLxe7tFV_Y-GNjzkC0AOUyO4NMLp3f3T9-ddkYLZiEpnSdqJ_mAk03A8lLv59lK5BN5y9hshIM_B77TxTRs6-OSThiEpHmoMg9pLbLvN9ftZC3AGUNF0/s1600/film.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Microfilm reel, c. 1978<br />
(pencil sold separately)</td></tr>
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Certain cartoonists jumped out at me, their names never mentioned in the few histories of comics I had encountered. "Elmo" by Cecil Jensen, "The Squirrel Cage" by Gene Ahern and Billy Debeck's "Bunky" became immediate favorites. (I still hold out hope for book presentations of these three great comic strips.)<br />
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I couldn't obtain these strips; I could only view them in the dark, squeak-squeak-squeaking the stubborn turnstile on the side of the viewer. The microfilm department had a printer, but the results were dreadful, given that the source material was sub-par and the clay-like, smelly mimeograph paper a poorer host.<br />
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That the comics survived, even in this debased, often distorted form, was a small miracle. The contempt shown for comics by libraries was made clear in these spools of muddy microfilm. If the Sunday edition of a paper was included, chances were everything BUT the comics section would be there. Stubborn, biased microfilmers included ad circulars, TV sections, women's magazines--none of which could have any research value, unless a person needed to know the price of hair spray in 1948, or get an ancient recipe. It felt like a spiteful act to those of us whose only reason for bothering with this ritual WAS the comics.<br />
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This experience can be had, in the comfort of your home, via the <a href="http://news.google.com/newspapers">Google News Archive</a>. Google has suspended this effort, and many of its selections are pre-comics papers, or desolate rural weeklies barren of any comics content. The excision of Sunday comics in those papers that DID run them is maddening, just as it was in the mid-to-late 1970s.<br />
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I recently revisited this ur-world to answer a minor question about a comic strip that abruptly changed course twice in a run of almost 30 years.<br />
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Its artist has remained a favorite of mine, for his nimble, vigorous style--a look and feel that suggests a marriage of Will Eisner and Bernard Krigstein, garnished with a touch of old-school book illustration. Kreigh Collins never worked in comic books, to my knowledge. He was a book illustrator and a painter, earlier in life, until an injury forced him to abandon canvas for several years.<br />
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Here's an excerpt from a biographical sketch I found online:<br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Kreigh T. (Taylor) Collins majored in art at Cincinnati (Ohio) High School. He also studied art in Cleveland (1924-1925), and in 1925 opened his own studio. He met Theresa VanderLaan, whom he married in 1929 after a year spent studying in Paris (with visits to North Africa). She became the model for characters in “Up Anchor” and “Kevin the Bold,” as well as model for many of his sketches and paintings. They moved to Chicago in 1929, where he made illustrations for an advertising agency. In the fall of 1930 the Collins family moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he again took up advertising illustration. In 1931, he and Theresa returned to Paris where he studied and first began to concentrate on landscape painting.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbdi6bEUHRebyhzZXAAxsAOpeL4x9mdJGG01Gn8p3l0dfjraQo6RTDSigTmGTQX_kI3dt72H4d0OH_So642B3UTkp1DOcNDoiQLULWH-_FRAWG01aV-MIClUhpyAjTfvM8wc0OesRrtGU/s1600/selfie.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbdi6bEUHRebyhzZXAAxsAOpeL4x9mdJGG01Gn8p3l0dfjraQo6RTDSigTmGTQX_kI3dt72H4d0OH_So642B3UTkp1DOcNDoiQLULWH-_FRAWG01aV-MIClUhpyAjTfvM8wc0OesRrtGU/s1600/selfie.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Kreigh Collins, self portrait, c. 1928</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">They returned to the United States in the midst of the Depression, but Collins did well by selling landscapes he painted while living in the small village of Leland, Michigan. He also contracted with a newspaper syndicate to illustrate the “Do You Know” series by Willis Atwell for the Michigan <i>Centennial</i>. He painted portraits in Ohio, eight murals in Dallas, Texas, and landscapes in Taos, New Mexico. All this work caught up with him and by 1937 he could no longer use his right arm to paint. He discovered that he could make line drawings by resting his elbow on the arm rest of a chair with his forearm on a drawing board. The Methodist Publishing House, which had until then bought only a few of his travel sketches, started sending him large quantities of work. He also illustrated the Informative Classroom “Teaching Pictures.” In 1941 he found he could do a small amount of painting again without pain and it was then that he must have worked on book illustrations for the John C. Winston Company of Philadelphia.</span><br />
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Alas, the Michigan <i>Centennial</i> is not on Google News, but this was likely a fact-based panel, not a comic strip proper. It was collected in book form, and surviving copies can be found in all the usual online outlets for used/rare books.<br />
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Collins illustrated several other books in the earlier 1940s, and continued this during his comic strip career. Many of these books are high-priced collector's items, and can be glimpsed on amazon, if you're so inclined. I recall seeing some of these books during my lone visit to Bill Blackbeard's staggering comics archives in 1992. My notice of, and interest in, those Collins-illustrated books assured Blackbeard that I had some grounding in comics history; the tone of our visit brightened notably after that moment.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpes1CVOM92RnZx-wM4AWC4Llu7A1VWPWqqTdXbwYtFqJoMh6q0bns3ClYXDbh3X1co3ZSYe6j5R9iqWdHPWVop-6arh5XF5ZmlDyW5sIi-DSNG8K35NQvlb1I7oL4yn_goOdWxM8KAJs/s1600/91JkuoRyY1L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpes1CVOM92RnZx-wM4AWC4Llu7A1VWPWqqTdXbwYtFqJoMh6q0bns3ClYXDbh3X1co3ZSYe6j5R9iqWdHPWVop-6arh5XF5ZmlDyW5sIi-DSNG8K35NQvlb1I7oL4yn_goOdWxM8KAJs/s1600/91JkuoRyY1L.jpg" width="211" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Book jacket illustrated by Collins</td></tr>
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How Collins got involved with <i>Mitzi McCoy</i> is yet unclear. He doesn't appear to have done any proper comics (i.e., sequential narratives in boxes with speech balloons) prior to this time. The Sunday-only strip began in the fall of 1948, and was syndicated by the Newspaper Enterprise Association. NEA had the market cornered on rural dailies and urban evening papers. Their fleet of strips, including "Alley Oop," "Wash Tubbs," "Out Our Way," "Our Boarding House" and "Vic Flint," seldom appeared in upscale papers, but were everywhere in the backwaters of the Great 48.<br />
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"Mitzi" seemed designed to appeal to a bigger market. Among its debut papers was the Pittsburgh <i>Press</i>, which accorded it much ballyhoo:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWehQKjhcrj7cwv37wTuUiQ3_qQDbMqqcP42zceftjGDS5hE4yG2nV7dxJfiruSWKzs805FnGRPLgCjvWw8kR9NMmQt_AizzKtfJ2pe6_8X_KUxBRSoJaBzBXfXcBs1ojtpMsH4sgwIWY/s1600/PittPress10021948a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWehQKjhcrj7cwv37wTuUiQ3_qQDbMqqcP42zceftjGDS5hE4yG2nV7dxJfiruSWKzs805FnGRPLgCjvWw8kR9NMmQt_AizzKtfJ2pe6_8X_KUxBRSoJaBzBXfXcBs1ojtpMsH4sgwIWY/s1600/PittPress10021948a.jpg" width="166" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgToBjR-AcYd58eQ-Qycu-RWbY0fCB26F2vO3lmfgVgVMt4EONj96RZQ8VTW1HOUWHqzeSnf-S5qscfmuYkAq1CflJOFxGS4Na3BGltOomspx_jKL4IjeLtNwZeudntek0hhZ8g-dKB9SY/s1600/PittPress10041948b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgToBjR-AcYd58eQ-Qycu-RWbY0fCB26F2vO3lmfgVgVMt4EONj96RZQ8VTW1HOUWHqzeSnf-S5qscfmuYkAq1CflJOFxGS4Na3BGltOomspx_jKL4IjeLtNwZeudntek0hhZ8g-dKB9SY/s1600/PittPress10041948b.jpg" width="145" /></a></div>
Of course, whomever microfilmed the <i>Press</i> disposed of its Sunday comics sections. What does exist, via other papers, suggests a potential not reached, and a genuinely appealing post-war comic strip idea. <i>Mitzi</i> was an attempt at a sort of Frank Capra movie in comics form.<br />
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Another Pennsylvania paper, the Reading <i>Eagle</i>, ran the strip, and its sequels, into the 1960s. This is the first episode I could find in Google News, dated 11/7/1948. It feels like a first episode, but the Pittsburgh Press' squibs date from one month earlier. Anyhow, here it is:<br />
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This strip seemingly introduces the "picturesque little town of Freedom," and its three main characters--Stub Goodman, gently cantankerous liberal small-town newspaper editor, Tim Graham, his Jimmy Stewart-esque reporter/sidekick, and Ms. McCoy, a vivacious, outspoken child of moolah (and blond bombshell). These major characters, plus a plethora of townsfolk, including cranks, crackpots and "just folks" were a potentially compelling and adaptable cast of characters. Collins' gentle, often moody artwork seems a fine visual vessel for this material. It could have been a counterpart to the quiet mood of Frank King's <i>Gasoline Alley</i>, as well.<br />
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The strip also has tacit corollaries to Eisner's Sunday-only <i>Spirit</i>. From its Abe Kanegson-ish lettering (done by cartoonist Art Sansom) to its simulacra of the Commissioner Dolan/Ellen Dolan/Denny Colt relationship, minus masks, gloves or fisticuffs, these similarities must have been sheer coincidence. There are a few action sequences in <i>Mitzi</i>, but its events are mostly hands-in-pockets, leaning-on-the-fence chit-chat between friends and neighbors.<br />
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<i>Mitzi McCoy</i> never really got a chance to develop. Its Sunday-only half-page continuity results in elided, rather rushed storytelling, in which possibly good ideas are telegraphed, never thought out, and dependent on the artwork to carry them across the finish line. It wasn't the first newspaper comic strip to waste a potentially solid concept--nor was it the last.<br />
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Despite the distaste of the <i>Press</i>' microfilmers, the paper obviously thought well of the strip. The Reading <i>Eagle, </i>which had one of the best Sunday comics sections of its time, is incomplete on Google News. The first several months of <i>McCoy</i> are spotty. To make the hunt more fun, the microfilm photographers opted to bunch several days' editions together. Thus, the Sunday paper has no comics; those are in the middle of a file that might contain Thursday through Saturday. The <i>Eagle</i>'s Sunday comics section is there, if you're willing to kill some time digging.<br />
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Weeks and months are missing, here and there, so reading a complete run of this strip (or many others) via Google News is impossible.<br />
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Though the microfilms have deteriorated (a plight eloquently described by Nicholson Baker in his controversial book <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Double-Fold-Libraries-Assault-Paper/dp/0375726217">Double Fold: Libraries and the Assault on Paper</a></i>), reducing fine linework to inchoate blobs, I was able to capture and touch up the strip's final sequence, which is notable for its out-of-left-field turn.<br />
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I've never seen an episode of <i>Mitzi</i> in newsprint form. Clippings almost never turn up for sale, and it's unlikely (but possible) that a complete run exists in printed form. Here's the opening panel of the 8/26/49 strip, from a long-ago eBay sale:<br />
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The following sequence offers a blurry but readable taster of <i>Mitzi McCoy</i>. I've done my best to balance and enhance these decayed images.<br />
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I don't believe Kreigh Collins wrote "Mitzi." The author may have been Russ Winterbotham, a SF writer who handled many NEA continuities in the later 1940s and 1950s. The anonymous trudge of the dialogue, which often seems at disconnect with Collins' charming, caricatural illustrations, sucks the life out of the events in this sequence.<br />
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Collins works to consciously imbue these talking heads with presence and life. His atmospheric efforts of the last two strips, above, though marred by time and poor reproduction, show an ambition to go beyond the typical look-and-feel of the post-war continuity strip.<br />
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None of <i>Mitzi</i>'s readership could have anticipated that its next episode was its last:<br />
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There was a precedent for this tale-telling scenario. A two-part series detailing the history of the Irish wolfhound apparently made a hit with readers and editors in July, 1949. Here's part one:<br />
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<span style="text-align: start;">Stub Goodman spun a birth-of-Christ yarn in the strip's December, 1949 sequences. Here are the first and last installments of this detour. Note Collins' self-reference in the first strip, plus Stub Goodman's preaching the gospel of comics in the next-to-last panel:</span><br />
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<span style="text-align: start;">The sequence showed Collins' affinity for historical drama--an outlet not otherwise found in a contemporary strip about small-town America. In a reverse of V. T. Hamlin's career, in which his stone-age <i>Alley Oop</i> became a history-spanning time traveler, Collins and his writer(s) took the strip back 400 years, without so much as a fare thee well to the readers of modern-day <i>Mitzi</i>,<br /><br />Mark II of the strip was called <i>Kevin the Bold</i>, and it was picked up by the Chicago Tribune from its debut episode, seen here in Murk-vision, but with a "Mitzi McCoy" logo:</span></div>
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As <i>Kevin the Bold</i>, the strip enjoyed a precipitous jump in circulation. NEA, like King Features and other earlier syndicates, offered a pre-print Sunday comics section for small-town papers too low-budget (or lazy) to bother with such things as editorial selection and four-color printing. <i>Kevin</i> was often the lead feature of the NEA ready-made. An earthy alternative to the restrained <i>Prince Valiant</i>, it was often picked up by choosier papers who couldn't afford Hal Foster's strip, or published in an area where <i>Val</i> was already claimed.<br />
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The NEA pre-made sections were shoddily printed--slightly better than the average comic book of the 1950s. The Chicago <i>Tribune'</i>s version was lovingly handled by the paper's journeymen engravers, with often-stunning results. Here's a <i>Tribune</i>-ized version of the 7/8/1951 episode, from my collection of about 100 clippings:<br />
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Collins took over authorship of <i>Kevin</i> in the mid-1950s. It continued into late 1968. The Chicago Tribune ran it until at least 1958. Thanks to NEA's captive audience market, it appeared to the end of its existence in many newspapers. After other NEA adventure strips (<i>Chris Welkin Planeteer</i>, drawn in sub-Caniff style by Art Sansom, and private-eye <i>Vic Flint</i>) bit the dust, <i>Kevin</i> soldiered on.<br />
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Almost 20 years after its first morphing, <i>Kevin</i> underwent another literal sea-change. Here is the final episode of the strip, plus the first two of its new identity as <i>Up Anchor!</i><br />
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<i>Up Anchor!</i> ran until 1973, when Collins retired from cartooning. The strip<i> </i>was semi-autobiographical. Collins and his family were avid sailors, and their adventures (and misadventures) on the water offered local color in newspapers desperate for such things.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkTVUbQvp5rsIJwbSvbXtyS6w7n7eFv43i0QTf1MBr45VpfuH2KgKOw4U_zInpnlXTJVxxK58LMJZi7rKCPzSWs9wP9ldh-zS3y9nVPSMxUFcTDrYMFNLPf9IyKNplcejQrJgfRivE1mQ/s1600/MiamiNews6121954.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkTVUbQvp5rsIJwbSvbXtyS6w7n7eFv43i0QTf1MBr45VpfuH2KgKOw4U_zInpnlXTJVxxK58LMJZi7rKCPzSWs9wP9ldh-zS3y9nVPSMxUFcTDrYMFNLPf9IyKNplcejQrJgfRivE1mQ/s1600/MiamiNews6121954.jpg" width="162" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Miami <i>News</i>, 6/12/1954</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfHMChBooW5w5fNHnDkle7VANZsSzrQTh-jZ_WuEDE7Y6EsjDB0-v759cq2r1HTPktcQWQXhd9hVQ9ADcQacm4-xVl3niTRI_eTUNhTkoovx112ddXfLP5nwyLH1B4hY5K1r6u4i1F9SY/s1600/1959article.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfHMChBooW5w5fNHnDkle7VANZsSzrQTh-jZ_WuEDE7Y6EsjDB0-v759cq2r1HTPktcQWQXhd9hVQ9ADcQacm4-xVl3niTRI_eTUNhTkoovx112ddXfLP5nwyLH1B4hY5K1r6u4i1F9SY/s1600/1959article.jpg" width="368" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">St. Petersburg<i> Independent</i>, 11/9/1959</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Park City Daily News</i>, 8/11/1960<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">The byline on this last article is of another longstanding NEA writer, Jay Heavilin, who gets credit on the later 1950s run of <i>Vic Flint</i>. Unlike the first two pieces, this is syndicate boiler-plate, but it offers a rare glimpse into the private life of a reasonably successful newspaper cartoonist, at a time when such things were isolated incidents in the press.<br /><br /><i>Kevin the Bold</i> is an entertaining comic strip, its rough-hewn look loaded with eye appeal. Like most Sunday-only continuities, it has inherent flaws (conspicuous plot telegraphing, reiteration of events that, read in large doses, becomes tiresome), but its scruffy virtues make it among my favorites of the period.<br /><br />I almost called it an obscure comic strip, but it really wasn't. In its three identities, it ran from 1948 to 1973, appeared in hundreds of newspapers, and maintained a certain vigor as most continuity strips suffered rigor mortis.<br /><br />Here is a brief obituary for Kreigh Collins, from the Rome, NY Daily <i>Sentinel</i> of 1/10/1974:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Collins' papers (including some of his artwork) were donated to the Grand Rapids Public Library. They've been partially cataloged, but if you're in that area, and wish to explore this material, it's just sitting there, probably un-noticed and untouched by staff or patrons. It makes one wonder how many cartoonists' life effects are bundled in storage in libraries, museums and other public trusts, awaiting a person or persons who can do something with them.<br /><br />Thus concludes my little traipse down memory lane. Though I fondly look back at the wonder of discovery, and of the opportunity to read and study the comic strips, big and small, of 20th century American newspapers, I have no nostalgia for the presentation. As Google News has reminded me, the microfilm versions of newspaper comics still suck, and are a rotten substitute for even the worst printed examples.<br /><br />In some instances, they're still all we've got. No one really thought this stuff would matter to anyone. Comics were just a means to sell papers and give employment to cartoonists who would, otherwise, have to work in nursing homes, or deliver bread. Today, comics matter to many more people, but many of their makers have to resort to menial jobs in order to survive. There's irony buried in there somewhere.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">--Frank M. Young</span></div>
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Frank M. Younghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04673579882180372546noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2928533391830370422.post-5304669902818929072014-03-28T15:58:00.004-07:002014-03-31T13:52:20.933-07:00Self-Reflective Screwballs: Basil Wolverton and Harvey Kurtzman Rarities from Timely's Krazy Komics<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The junkyard of mainstream comics yields a few welcome surprises, strewn amidst the toxic waste of 60+ years of lost opportunities, failed experiments and money-making assembly-line product.<br />
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Those few worthy items--a dust mote per each acre of bodily waste--keep some of us still obsessively digging, straining, and running to wash our hands as something of genuine merit is unearthed, hosed off, and examined.<br />
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The decade of shared digital comics scans on the Internet has liberated older comics from their former near-invisibility. Until, say, 2008, it was impossible for most people--save a few hard-core hoarders who had a head-start on the rest of us--to really grok how faceless and <b><i><span style="color: red;">dull</span></i></b> most American comic books really have been, since their inception.<br />
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A potential wealth of material awaits on such sites as <a href="http://digitalcomicmuseum.com/index.php">The Digital Comic Museum</a> and <a href="http://comicbookplus.com/?cbplus=latestuploads_l_s_0">Comic Book Plus</a>. Their scans are thoughtfully indexed by publisher, and in chronological publication order. Each day, new scans, some of them beautifully faithful to the printed source material, appear, gratis.<br />
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It's easy to take this ongoing phenom for granted. Most of this material is considered in the public domain--a stricture that removes almost all the efforts of major publishers of the 1930s through the present.<br />
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Thanks to the genuinely heroic efforts of the essential site <a href="http://morethanheroes.comlu.com/index.html">More Than Heroes: Timely-Atlas Comics</a>, we have immediate access to a conduit of hundreds of unauthorized scans of comics from the company that would eventually be known as Marvel. Its curator offers a weekly random bouquet of western, crime, teen, romance, humor, horror, SF and super-hero material, again organized by publication title and issue.<br />
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Paul Tumey and I have discussed the fascinating ups and downs of the Timely-Atlas-Marvel product here before. The company's output is the great middle-ground of American comic book history. Never a trailblazer, T-A-M was a shameless cash-in company. A trend might occur at D.C., E.C., Quality or other publishers. Before the ink was wet on the first issues of those companies' innovations, T-A-M would have a simulacra on the newsstands to sop up any leftover gravy.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwVaRQPcTm102hmJQkw7kDRDM-JCcd2cE2fvXWV22AERAczPki0cHv4K_bXCPmbqkBUiSHiQlcMUhBktG0_xKCGAR_K7j6-mCIUYlqa6-7DH0myQJfs1G4RNlk_xxFgjVtT1OSmD8b9_E/s1600/com01-fc(HA).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwVaRQPcTm102hmJQkw7kDRDM-JCcd2cE2fvXWV22AERAczPki0cHv4K_bXCPmbqkBUiSHiQlcMUhBktG0_xKCGAR_K7j6-mCIUYlqa6-7DH0myQJfs1G4RNlk_xxFgjVtT1OSmD8b9_E/s1600/com01-fc(HA).jpg" height="320" width="211" /></a><span style="text-align: center;"><br />Once said trend peaked, those cast-offs would be killed, and another topical title put in its place. This strategy helped the company tread water during the doldrums of the late 1950s, and allowed them to emerge as a major imprint in the '60s.<br /></span></div>
Among the least rewarding T-A-M titles are their humor comics. Off-kilter, butt-ugly (un)funny animals, anemic teens and irksome, violence-prone tots were their stock in trade. The company just never got the hang of humorous comics.<br />
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Certain artist-writers, looking for a place to blow off some steam, found an unlikely ally in the T-A-M (un)funny comics. Two of comics' best and most idiosyncratic creators--Basil Wolverton and Harvey Kurtzman--did stints with the company in the 1940s and '50s. Wolverton worked at T-A-M from the early 1940s 'til the mid-'50s; Kurtzman's work appears for about three years.<br />
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The cream of Kurtzman's work for T-A-M are his one-page "Hey Look!" strips. This series shows Kurtzman's development from promising tyro to master of absurd, graphically devastating metacomedy. Someday, someone will do a full-color reprint of the series, to replace the still-useful black and white (and way out-of-print) collection issued by Kitchen Sink Press in 1992.<br />
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Here's a particularly nice example of "Hey Look!" The page bristles with visual and comedic innovation, and shows the influence of "cartoon modern" sensibilities rampant in post-war animation, advertising and graphic design:<br />
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Kurtzman did a significant amount of other humor features for T-A-M--from ripoffs of "Blondie" to lively, adroit funny-animal material. <br /><br />His learning curve is impressive, despite the quality of the stories themselves. When left to his own devices as a writer-artist--as in "Hey Look!"-- the results are often brilliant.<br /><br />As a work-for-hire cartoonist, Kurtzman was professional and, like Dick Briefer, able to leave the imprint of his personality on the dullest of mundane work. But, as with Briefer, it's clear to see when Kurtzman's heart was not in his work.<br /><br />Somewhere in-between "Rusty" and "Hey Look!" falls the lone episode of "Muscles Malone," from the first issue of the second version of <i>Krazy Komics</i>, published in 1948.(cover, seen at left, is decidedly not by HK)<br /><br />
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No one would call "Muscles Malone" a narrative masterpiece. Kurtzman's cartooning, however, is eye-candy of the nth order. The vigor, aggression and expression of his posing, linework and layout--which eerily predicts the work of <i>Ren and Stimpy</i> auteur John Kricfalusi--is highly rewarding. It's much more than the slight story deserves, and it's possible Kurtzman wasn't too proud of it. He signed it with a humble HK, hidden in a blue star (part of a visual effect) on the splash page.<br />
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"Eustace Hayseed," one of several strips by Joseph Sulman that imitates Al Capp's work to a depressing degree, follows "Malone." The heart of a first-time browser immediately sinks, after the visual highs of Kurtzman's fluid foolery. Sulman, who also drew "Zatara the Magician" for D.C.'s <i>Action Comics</i> in the 1940s, was a leading agent in comics-shitmaking of the so-called Golden Age.<br />
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The sheer number of unskilled copyists of Capp, Crane, Raymond, Foster and Caniff in 1930s and '40s comics are among the medium's lowlights. Their work is a reminder that most mainstream comic book artists, past, present and future, are essentially cheerful plagiarists, brimming with enthusiasm, but with nothing personal or different to bring to the page. Their work is filler of the saddest stripe, and proof of the inherent cynicism of most comic book publishers.<br />
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"Eustace" is enough to make all but the bravest abandon hope. After a few stale pages of this bald-faced Capp-crap, it's a bracing pleasure to encounter the work of a true eccentric.<br />
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Basil Wolverton would have been familiar to T-A-M's more faithful readers, due to his long-running "Powerhouse Pepper" series, which appeared in various company humor anthologies, and in its own book--a sign of its apparent appeal and success.<br />
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Wolverton's "Pepper," a cross of Voltaire's <i>Candide</i> and E. C. Segar's <i>Popeye</i> (and seen here from the pages of 1945's <i>Joker Comics</i> #19), is shot through with a trademark linguistic quirk. Manic alliteration and internal rhymes, usually fused to a name, gives Wolverton's work a rhythm unique to the comics, period.<br />
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Self-reflective humor was another strong element of "Powerhouse," and its off-putting, utterly charming effect was seldom put to better use than in Wolverton's two efforts for the 1948 <i>Krazy Komics</i>.<br />
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As with "Hey Look!," this work shows one of the best aspects of Golden Age publisher cynicism: cartoonists with something unusual to say could express themselves loud, proud and clear--as long as their work was filler.<br />
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"Piston Pete - The Hotel Clerk" is one of Wolverton's most amusing screwball souffles. Loaded with puns, alliterations, wordplay and--most importantly--with the characters' cheerful self-awareness--this is low comedy meta-lunacy at its best. Read, McSneed...<br />
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Wolverton's mountain of chaotic-yet-droll komics seldom yielded a story as focused--and outright fun--as "Piston Pete." From the start, the reader never knows exactly where each succeeding panel will lead them.<br />
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Page nine is a hailstorm of offhanded inspiration. The first tier delivers a sub-par vaudeville joke, then assumes its reader will need a moment to laugh. If anything, the portrait of Blaine Payne, intended as a respite from the melee, proves far funnier--and more out of cloud-cuckoo-land--than anything else in the story. Capped by the author's admission that the first joke wasn't really funny, the tier is screwball gold.<br />
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Were the rest of the page filler, Wolverton could be easily forgiven. He's just warmed up. Hatch H. Hutch (of Hotch) proves his innocence to a determined cop by producing a copy of the very comic book we're reading.<br />
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Hutch points out some damning evidence of the villain's malfeasance, convinces the law, and then stops for a sidebar of gorgeous existential ponder:<br />
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<span style="text-align: start;">This sort of self-reflective humor was nothing new. Animated cartoon directors of the 1930s and '40s had gone through these motions many times before. Wolverton makes something new of a potential trope with this beautiful moment of introspection.</span></div>
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<span style="text-align: start;">Kurtzman is nowhere in sight in the next (and last) issue of <i>Krazy Komics</i>, but Wolverton wanders by with another jolt of jazzy jibberish in "Flap Flipflop - The Flying Flash."</span></div>
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This is more familiar Wolverton turf--the rough-house outdoor world of "Powerhouse Pepper," in which the environment becomes as much a character as the interchangeable sentient beings. It's no surprise that Pepper does a walk-on, on page seven, to help extricate Ice-Pick McNick from a bear-trap.<br />
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The droll parade of gags, rattling with wordplay, includes another bit of self-reference, in which Flap plugs the sub-par Timely feature "Tessie the Typist," in an apparent attempt to charm the editors.<br />
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Alas, it was a pass--<i>Krazy Komics</i> was killed without much ado. As an outlet for Wolverton's growing sense of the absurd, <i>KK</i> might have paved the way for an upswing in off-the-wall, unpredictable comic-book chaos.<br />
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Kurtzman and Wolverton were to meet again, with spectacular results, in the pages of <i>Mad</i> (in its comic-book and magazine incarnations), including the cover to its 11th issue, which remains one of the primal images of mid-century American pop culture. Could <i>Krazy Komics</i> have planted the seed of this image? If so, it probably didn't kare.<br />
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<b><span style="color: #45818e;">© 2014 Frank M. Young</span></b></div>
<br />Funnybook Attichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16945602110000563133noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2928533391830370422.post-35580062475488426112014-03-06T13:54:00.001-08:002023-10-23T13:34:59.534-07:00The Forgotten Art of Dick Briefer: Romance, Crime and Jughead... A Wildly Varied Slate (1950-52)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The remarkable career of Richard Briefer continues to compel me. His line, and sense of contour, is as seductive as those of Harvey Kurtzman, Roy Crane, Garrett Price, John Stanley or Jimmy Thompson. Yet his work is among the least-explored of the major artists who emerged in comics' alleged Golden Age.<br />
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As with my ongoing examination of the work of John Stanley (which you can explore, for several days, at www.stanleystories.blogspot.com), I find that very little was documented of Briefer's life and work. To find his comics material, I have to search through every online scan of a likely title, by a likely publisher.<br />
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A rich resource for Briefer's work was Hillman Comics. I've written about Briefer's crime comics for Hillman elsewhere on this blog. At the same time, the artist produced romance stories for the publisher's often-melancholy <i>Romantic Confessions</i> magazine.<br />
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As with the crime stories, and perhaps moreso, the romance pieces represent the tightest, most thoughtful and controlled work of Briefer's career. Those who know only his freewheeling/slapdash "Frankenstein" stories (which are prime examples of what Art Spiegelman has named "loose scrawl comics") may look on these pieces with surprise and disbelief.<br />
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Exacting artwork does not have to be lifeless, as these three romance pieces demonstrate. The soul of Briefer's loose, spontaneous way of drawing are here. They are reined in, but they never surrender their sense of animation and genuine cartooniness. This makes them stand out, even when the pages are seen at thumbnail size.<br />
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Hillman had other talented and conscientious artists--among them Bernard Krigstein, Bill Ely and Bill Draut--among a pool of cartoonists whose work was competent but dull (John Prentice, soon to abandon comic books for the syndicated <i>Rip Kirby</i> newspaper strip, is a prime example).<br />
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Briefer's work on these stories has a still-modern sensibility--an unaccountable freshness and verve that only Krigstein could equal (or better). In the interest of making these obscure, overlooked pieces more visible, I present three selections from <i>Romantic Confessions</i>--plus a coda that... well, wait 'til we get there.<br />
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Briefer often wrote his own stories. I don't know if he authored any of these pieces. He owns the visual and storytelling elements of every panel.<br />
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We'll begin with the piece from <i>Romantic Confessions</i> 10:<br />
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"What ONE Man Meant To Me..." is a hybrid of romance and crime--a compelling blend that makes the story more absorbing and fulfulling than most romance pieces. In the hands of a John Prentice, this piece might not draw much interest.<br />
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Briefer's soulful, breathing contours, so thoughtfully designed for the addition of color, and so assured in their placement of line, volume and figure, make each panel worthy of study. His sense of flow as a storyteller brings the most out of a clever-but-standard pulp fiction plotline.<br />
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"Because My Own Heart Sang..." from issue 7, is the most standard of these three pieces, but even tighter draftsmanship again heightens what, in other hands, would have just filled seven pages with commercial product.<br />
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This dense melodrama of a matchmaker who is confounded by her own meddlesome actions reads like a late 1950s Douglas Sirk Technicolor melodrama on cheap newsprint. The figure of artist Diane Tucker seems to bring Briefer's interest to life, and invests this story with an unexpected edge. The "off" ending is a nice touch--and something never otherwise seen in the romance comics genre.<br />
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The best of the three is "Why did I <u>have</u> to win?," from <i>Romantic Confessions</i> 9. This is a genuinely affecting, melancholy piece, with an unhappy ending that rings surprisingly true<br />
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The war of gender roles, though somewhat naive, has a frankness that distinguishes this piece from dozens of similar romance episodes in mid-century American comics. Briefer's intuitive, highly focused brings out levels of subtle emotion from what is essentially a melodrama. Kit's stubbornness and willfulness exist, in these 11 pages, with an intensity unusual for the comics page.<br />
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Touches of humor in the characters' body language, in all three stories, reminds us that Dick Briefer is, at heart, a cartoonist, rather than the quasi-illustrator most other romance comics artists tried to be. We impatiently leaf past the other stories in these comic magazines, but Briefer's work invites us to linger, and rewards us for our trouble.<br />
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Briefer pushed himself to excel in these stories. He may have HAD to, given the competition, and the uncertainty of the comics market in America, as the call for censorship and "clean comics" was already well underway, and attacks on the entire comics industry more common in the mainstream press.<br />
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Around the same time of these elegant, measured Hillman pieces, Briefer still found a place to let his loose scrawl roots be rubbed. In a series of "Jughead" stories for the Archie comics line, Briefer returned to the inventiveness and gentle-yet-macabre humor of his best "Frankenstein" work. This piece, from <i>Laugh Comics</i> 51, cover-dated June 1952, is obviously of Briefer's hand as a writer.<br />
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This is one of, apparently, several Briefer-created "Jughead" stories from the early 1950s. So far, this is the only one that anyone's bothered to scan and share on the Internet. I hope more of these Briefer "Jughead"s surface. If they're on par with this story, we have some delightful, expressive hidden gems to anticipate--from one of the least likely sources in the artform.<br />
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This could have easily been a "Frankenstein" story, circa 1948. As with the romance stories you just read, Briefer approaches the Archie characters with more control, but the quirks of his hand are still clearly seen. He's not too interested in staying "on-model"-- and bravo to him for staying true to his comics vision.<br />
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As I find more Dick Briefer stories, I'll share them here. In the meantime, scour online scans of Hillman Comics titles from 1949 to 1952--many which are available on Digital Comics Museum. If anyone has more scans of Briefer Archie material, please step forward and identify yourself... thanks!<br />
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<b><span style="color: #134f5c;">-- Frank M. Young, March 2014</span></b></div>
Funnybook Attichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16945602110000563133noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2928533391830370422.post-76986579802976456092011-11-20T18:07:00.001-08:002012-03-14T09:47:00.200-07:00Suicide Slum Comix: Simon and Kirby's Subversive Comics About Comics<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2TAVAmJ-XgioJQGM_FEZm3xX3JJ_nYjmnqhejuyT8cwSPhLTlFyIEhMhlC9ceSP9Xb3qmQg8kor4XRzq_PUaNnYjcRYrfV_Lz9FeTZEIwjLjOl1XkVsR0vLyuLv6x0-fECxeH8i37vFI/s1600/Newsboy+Legion+Jack+Kirby+Gabby7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2TAVAmJ-XgioJQGM_FEZm3xX3JJ_nYjmnqhejuyT8cwSPhLTlFyIEhMhlC9ceSP9Xb3qmQg8kor4XRzq_PUaNnYjcRYrfV_Lz9FeTZEIwjLjOl1XkVsR0vLyuLv6x0-fECxeH8i37vFI/s320/Newsboy+Legion+Jack+Kirby+Gabby7.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Comics are inherently playful. They can stretch time out thousands of years -- or compress 100 years into a small box. Comics' potential for playfulness is still largely untested. Looking over the extant history of the comic book, in particular, one is struck by how rarely its creators cut loose with their own medium.<br />
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Comics are hard work. From writing to penciling to inking, it's a long haul, and often a solitary slog. No matter how savvy an artist or writer may be, the inescapable task remains. A blank page must be filled with words and images. The words take much thought to write; the images take much longer to design, sketch and render. If those images are to be printed in color, the artist (or another talented person) has to choose and apply the colors. That, too, requires much time and thought.<br />
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Comics-making can be joyless work--although the endgoal is to please and captivate the reader.<br />
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The consumption of comics can be joyous, if the work itself satisfies--or confounds--reader expectations. Without a lot of hard, high-focus work, the stories themselves, good, bad or so-so, wouldn't exist for us to snarf down. As Dan Nadel sagely notes in his introductory text to the book <i>Art In Time:</i><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><i>"A worthy story... is always the difficulty of comics."</i></span></b></div><br />
Thus, mainstream Golden and Silver Age comics about the act of making comics were seldom too playful. It's as if all the hard work of creating comics--the unavoidable writing and drawing, the late-nighters and tense deadline hauls--has made them a sacred cow.<br />
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Modern comics have embraced autobiography--from the pioneering efforts of Justin Green, Robert Crumb and Harvey Pekar to modern practitioners such as Joe Matt, Seth, and even Yoshiro Tatsumi. The comic book that has received the most critical praise and attention, Art Spiegelman's <i>Maus</i>, is, in part, an autobiography--which includes scenes of the act of making comics. (Spiegelman's recent <i>MetaMaus</i> takes this duality even further.)<br />
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A medium as reflective, and as malleable, as comics begs for a playful attitude--in both creators and consumers. Comics about comics (CaCs) have the potential to unleash an antic side of its creators' psyches. Why, then, were so many earlier comics-on-comics so self-deprecating--and so unrevealing of the true nature of making comics? Is this a reflection of the low status of the comic-book artist?<br />
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Take, for example "Cartoonist's Calamity," the nightmarish Bill Everett saga of a cartoonist's world that appeared in Timely-Atlas' <i><b>Venus #17</b></i> (Dec. 1951).<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv-9FZeDNwWcLDPiGGEG0SAix4tIuxoUu11Tfk5DAsyewVFbf2aZwYcW9W7zur_qzX93RV_soDa8mvqzpZmk7czEcF2L6UJzVkMsNTyfnSDR9XB3ORKo7iT4d1qWjthC3QeumBm-gd920/s1600/Bill+Everett+Cartoonist+Calamity.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv-9FZeDNwWcLDPiGGEG0SAix4tIuxoUu11Tfk5DAsyewVFbf2aZwYcW9W7zur_qzX93RV_soDa8mvqzpZmk7czEcF2L6UJzVkMsNTyfnSDR9XB3ORKo7iT4d1qWjthC3QeumBm-gd920/s320/Bill+Everett+Cartoonist+Calamity.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">Jimmy Rogers, the harried protagonist of this story, is one stressed-out soul, at once alienated and alienating to others. The pressures of his job as cartoon editor of Beauty magazine (the home base of the Venus universe) have turned him into a hostile, sunken-eyed abuser. (To read this Everett gem, see our earlier posting <a href="http://comicbookattic.blogspot.com/2011/04/artful-alienation-at-1950s-atlas-bill.html">here</a>.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">Speaking of Kalamities, there's the klassic E.C. fillip, "Kamen's Kalamity" (Tales From The Crypt #31- Aug/Sept 1952). E. C. published many CaC stories. They are all about the creators, and not their creations. In "Kalamity," William Gaines, Al Feldstein and Kamen, portrayed as a gentle, affable bad joke-loving goofus, appear in an in-jokey story that parodies the tropes of the E. C. horror stories while also catering to them. </span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpsuTc7hYtppJp7rxHpEunkqad4noLw8JaFFqdA7TvVEkbrE_D9mVRlEESm_kXZVFl92kAgLz3q16FTPuCPiwljsv5ZTNWEOE6ISX-1Uu2jVXZhHT4e4rT9qAAE8zSqCQx7vLlh0Pcry0/s1600/EC+Jack+Kamen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpsuTc7hYtppJp7rxHpEunkqad4noLw8JaFFqdA7TvVEkbrE_D9mVRlEESm_kXZVFl92kAgLz3q16FTPuCPiwljsv5ZTNWEOE6ISX-1Uu2jVXZhHT4e4rT9qAAE8zSqCQx7vLlh0Pcry0/s1600/EC+Jack+Kamen.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Jack Kamen, as pictured in his E. C. comics profile feature</span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqs2mWzPdoa7J1kZaFTy7Rwwf-yDpCWCL9sE4FX738eVa4TUrGZOYRudexYRuXRWFxgQeWXV7spl7HxbHmta2YSxqUxZfTDi4taY1fWSoIYC91kHeFqRi1vtuvVounDKPgZ6g5PQnqVh4/s1600/EC+Jack+Kamens+Kalamity+Calamity.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqs2mWzPdoa7J1kZaFTy7Rwwf-yDpCWCL9sE4FX738eVa4TUrGZOYRudexYRuXRWFxgQeWXV7spl7HxbHmta2YSxqUxZfTDi4taY1fWSoIYC91kHeFqRi1vtuvVounDKPgZ6g5PQnqVh4/s320/EC+Jack+Kamens+Kalamity+Calamity.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5iCM-UIltr6-95TP-tC2lPyKBQbtVuZhkTvh-X941KP7kcbQyDyXbZZ0xW85KTYncmp5UG9kFrQKAzCWC-2EDzVbrluR1g2ASC2ed6eEPHsHudJNgsL7TQI5-oNHG_2Mk1GJs4YcuiPg/s1600/EC+Jack+Kamens+Kalamity+Calamity2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5iCM-UIltr6-95TP-tC2lPyKBQbtVuZhkTvh-X941KP7kcbQyDyXbZZ0xW85KTYncmp5UG9kFrQKAzCWC-2EDzVbrluR1g2ASC2ed6eEPHsHudJNgsL7TQI5-oNHG_2Mk1GJs4YcuiPg/s320/EC+Jack+Kamens+Kalamity+Calamity2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><b>Two excerpts from "Kamen's Kalamity," showing Gaines, Feldstein and artist Kamen</b></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">Whimsical though these E. C. CaC stories are, they reveal nothing about the actual process of creating comics. The character sketches of Gaines and Feldstein, as hyperbolic worry-warts in search of a story gimmick, are amusing, but they don't offer a real picture of their work process. As can be seen by Kamen's publicity picture above, the E. C. staff were working stiffs, sleeves rolled up, cigarettes smoldering in a nearby ashtray, and butts numb from hours in front of the drawing board. The E. C. creators lavished remarkable visual--and verbal--detail on their stories. These were not laugh-happy playboys, dashing off comics stories in a festive mode. </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">One of the forgotten, longest-running CaC series was Quality Comics' <b>Pen Miller</b>, an Ellery Queen flavored riposte about a crime-solving cartoonist, The feature ran for almost all of the 1940s in <i><b>National Comics</b> </i>and then <i><b>Crack Comics</b></i>. Again, the profession of a cartoonist/comic book creator takes a back seat to something much more glamorous. The talented <b>Klaus Nordling</b> penned Pen. </span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAk19fmVUUsIGYlcbUbtYhiFZ0DlJJd-SV_jGAUAHuWW0zsczmmq6M8Jlqqy2SDsMu1huo17S0omQ24pirBMOt3ksv7s2RsURV4EInBg3LpvLtZesb3RedFmFQZMQog9kHial7G-lmfLM/s1600/Klaus+Nordling+Spanking+Sexy+Girl+Pen+Miller.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="144" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAk19fmVUUsIGYlcbUbtYhiFZ0DlJJd-SV_jGAUAHuWW0zsczmmq6M8Jlqqy2SDsMu1huo17S0omQ24pirBMOt3ksv7s2RsURV4EInBg3LpvLtZesb3RedFmFQZMQog9kHial7G-lmfLM/s320/Klaus+Nordling+Spanking+Sexy+Girl+Pen+Miller.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">Curiously Miller's cartoon style looks exactly like Nordling's. To our knowledge, Nordling never actually portrayed <i>himself</i> in his own CaCs. You can read several examples of "Pen Miller"<a href="http://allthingsger.blogspot.com/search?q=pen+miller"> here.</a></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">A considerably more autobiographical, and winning treatment of the profession of cartooning occurs in <b>Sheldon Mayer's</b> baby, <b>Scribbly</b>. This feature was even longer-running, starting in the proto-comics of the mid-1930s and lasting into the early 1950s. Like almost all of the early CaC stories, Scribbly is short on the details of the art of creating comics, but it does go a long way towards sharing the sheer love of making comics.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">Here's a sequence from the series' early years that shows Mayer's CaC feature was solidly about the adventure of being a cartoonist more than the reality.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">Another comics master who put a version of himself into his stories was Jack Cole. Starting in his earliest stories, he also captured the sheer joy of comics -- as if imagining a super-hero into existence was the sames as making him real.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
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<img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiobkVb_WdPQWGyVWBUFH8yHP3OcfbsSVGyQeZqZhiwKV9lm2ZM1xkFP9ka-3Eyfl5kik4ZgbNxkCsGu3_Yrdhq2Ls1ibuVm7Q8BWrvll4As833mateyXjOc7G0rR83AYv0vRHov1lPrkg/s400/cole_self_portrait2.png" /><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">Sadly, Cole -- like nearly everyone in the early years -- tended to portray himself as a goofus. In an early Plastic Man story, he's a stuttering, small-minded hick:</span></span><br />
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<img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgarFuh3xqJtW6xKxmCOe-7xwzWG2EbUR-rOzZXFDdm1Ozkb-IRCs7qIotwWvetZQSo5e9l7BRdjVgnPG9hmSJReoY3eaow1V8js_xcgG6bbrr1RvXW2kpG4zTYGQ7c6N-EFB7rYnx_gTU/s400/cole_self_portrait1.png" /><br />
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Cole also created two little-known stories featuring a character called Inkie; a sort of "Out of the Inkwell" cartoon come to life. This was part of a long-running series at Quality, but Cole's stories are standouts. Here's one:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg40PtgMar4FCHbFkJ_cIPtzZUaJkmsl8XYga3E2lJPzgjTzdo0QeXnQnOxMnpyQbYBZMdxVOw6tOvdvc70vJZnUQGBrXhZUHySYvhmPs1W_WYVPa3Tk_7jdYJ6MKFUDT0rHKWu_5JCBW8/s1600/Crack+34-01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg40PtgMar4FCHbFkJ_cIPtzZUaJkmsl8XYga3E2lJPzgjTzdo0QeXnQnOxMnpyQbYBZMdxVOw6tOvdvc70vJZnUQGBrXhZUHySYvhmPs1W_WYVPa3Tk_7jdYJ6MKFUDT0rHKWu_5JCBW8/s320/Crack+34-01.jpg" width="247" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3ccg6pDXgDK_EXGBrIUfLn3qTW_KeQ6E5fYSqtVv_ApBiHifLpKwwHbzHo5r8Eisn5_KKLXXCGqpyuTmVDCPjYopSNm1aCanWg_TkiCjiVznGMo1-ugphWK47upvQv-If74UNSYk_Vyo/s1600/Crack+34-07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3ccg6pDXgDK_EXGBrIUfLn3qTW_KeQ6E5fYSqtVv_ApBiHifLpKwwHbzHo5r8Eisn5_KKLXXCGqpyuTmVDCPjYopSNm1aCanWg_TkiCjiVznGMo1-ugphWK47upvQv-If74UNSYk_Vyo/s320/Crack+34-07.jpg" width="247" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCZkHByqNMoW0XtHH0H0Aru8WVeIGDOeYm3gg8pqN_OHyV5xLC562LlVqYGZqmmFu8DOLSQJ5fav5TsNpUB2EnT_dFAp8yZ4msq2iHNtHIpEfdRTOibtJ9y30XyXNfgMGdByGVuDA7zCM/s1600/Crack+34-08.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCZkHByqNMoW0XtHH0H0Aru8WVeIGDOeYm3gg8pqN_OHyV5xLC562LlVqYGZqmmFu8DOLSQJ5fav5TsNpUB2EnT_dFAp8yZ4msq2iHNtHIpEfdRTOibtJ9y30XyXNfgMGdByGVuDA7zCM/s320/Crack+34-08.jpg" width="247" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Learn more about Jack Cole's self-referential comics at <a href="http://www.colescomics.blogspot.com/">Paul Tumey's blog</a>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So far, we've exclusively discussed CaCs about cartoonists and their lives in front of--and away from--the drawing board. There is a variant CaC story, seen less often, that is far more creative, self-aware and revealing. In these story, the characters--not the creators--create the content of the stories themselves, as we observe them at work.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In these stories, the work is not polished professional stuff--it's deliberately crude, raucous and rebellious of the craft of comics. Ironically, these stories give us more of the heart and soul of their creators--which makes their relative scarcity truly regrettable.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div>John Stanley created one of the best-known examples of this CaC variant for his best-selling comic book <i>Marge's Little Lulu</i>. When<i> Lulu</i> became a regular Dell Comics series, in 1948, Stanley created a two-page text feature called "Lulus Diry." Laden with typos, X-ed out words, run-on sentences and malapropisms, Stanley's early "Diry"s featured "picturs by Lulu too"--ramshackle, sublimely childish scrawls that reveal aspects of the Lulu Moppet character that her own stories, by their objective viewpoint, could not show us. This allows us to see the character from the inside-out, in a way that most comic book stories never can.<br />
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Here is the second "Lulus Diry," from 1948:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJvPoTgctSSOXiJSy0dliLDWUqCTGfzZcAp1HbVydU0sdtV5QFajeJkB6lMmAzG__v6Vjv5k4Kvcivu1ua0jUU_FN8MYmXv9Zgwidwe0sYq-xCpAw-gqvlL38HqdQBof2vZjyenImUleU/s1600/little+Lulu+Diry2b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJvPoTgctSSOXiJSy0dliLDWUqCTGfzZcAp1HbVydU0sdtV5QFajeJkB6lMmAzG__v6Vjv5k4Kvcivu1ua0jUU_FN8MYmXv9Zgwidwe0sYq-xCpAw-gqvlL38HqdQBof2vZjyenImUleU/s320/little+Lulu+Diry2b.jpg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
The use of speech balloons, and occasional sound effects, marks "Lulus Diry" as a type of comics. The feature quickly lost its ramshackle look and feel, but continued through Stanley's tenure on the Little Lulu title. You can read more about "Lulus Diry" <a href="http://stanleystories.blogspot.com/2010/12/stanleys-texting-lulus-diry-from-marges.html">here</a> at Frank's blog, <i>Stanley Stories</i>.<br />
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Before "Lulus Diry," one of the dream teams of Golden Age comics had pioneered this approach. Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, while at DC Comics in the early 1940s, brought tremendous energy and charm to a comics imprint more known for its bland, polished product. In and of themselves, the Simon-Kirby work for DC expresses the love of creating comics. Their panels burst with energy and attitude, and their pages defy the orderly grids of <i>Superman</i> and <i>Batman</i>.<br />
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In one of their last stories for DC, Simon and Kirby directly reference the making of comics, from the flawed hands of their own characters, in a single story that shows a path comic books might have taken, but seldom did until the age of autobiographical comics.<br />
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"Cabbages and Comics," from <i>Star-Spangled Comics</i> #29 (Feb. 1944), combines the rowdy, Warner Brothers-like atmosphere of the Simon-Kirby comics world with a berserk attack on the law and order of the comic book field, circa 1944. Joe Simon's inking seems a bit berserk, itself, on the first few pages of the story, but as it continues, we see a prime example of the Simon-Kirby team at the top of their game.<br />
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In this story, the kids of the Newsboy Legion decide to create their own, hand-drawn comic book for their neighborhood of Suicide Slum. Talk about a labor of love! Each edition <i>Suicide Slum Comics</i> is individually hand-crafted by the Legion--in a remarkable anticipation of the DYI mini-comix movement that began in the 1970s.<br />
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There's nothing remotely like this elsewhere in the history of early comic books. Before we show you the story, please take a moment to savor this highly subversive burst of raw energy...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfZwQl8kwlrsEq45gr0uwUApL6Cn0XlSwHf0mgp0a1WqeFhqvZPaYNb6Wkc3_4rzGmxOnkxw3mc8Z2WIFBFPcJhwAyxhV-FD5MRwWlZZKhjMOwKRcMgUW6aWlJOty_3GrgeSqQoFRPd2w/s1600/Newsboy+Legion+Jack+Kirby+Comics+7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfZwQl8kwlrsEq45gr0uwUApL6Cn0XlSwHf0mgp0a1WqeFhqvZPaYNb6Wkc3_4rzGmxOnkxw3mc8Z2WIFBFPcJhwAyxhV-FD5MRwWlZZKhjMOwKRcMgUW6aWlJOty_3GrgeSqQoFRPd2w/s400/Newsboy+Legion+Jack+Kirby+Comics+7.jpg" width="291" /></a></div><br />
Each panel is drawn (and signed) by a member of the Newsboy Legion. Like "Lulus Diry," these intentionally primitive drawings reveal something about the consciousness of the characters. For example, the garrulous Gabby can only draw stick figures:<br />
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Big Words' frames betray his significant, erudite vocabulary, and a rudimentary understanding of foreshortening--which, in turn, reveals the hand of Jack Kirby, with a sly wink:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghIEuz_KPF8ick7JIEU5ZqkFwVqaNEqpj0eH_lFCwLrf9oXupL_qjZnVAg5V8YVNcyNlJjzb0xChk9Rn-xD-DNtg-iOM0g23FYcoPQsdq6JRrgWEzUz5R4o3AcjJcq9x8cEY_jX8oet9o/s1600/Newsboy+Legion+Jack+Kirby+BigWords.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghIEuz_KPF8ick7JIEU5ZqkFwVqaNEqpj0eH_lFCwLrf9oXupL_qjZnVAg5V8YVNcyNlJjzb0xChk9Rn-xD-DNtg-iOM0g23FYcoPQsdq6JRrgWEzUz5R4o3AcjJcq9x8cEY_jX8oet9o/s320/Newsboy+Legion+Jack+Kirby+BigWords.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Scrapper's take on comics anticipates Gary Panter by four decades:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLZw4fdOR2qZiRKdkf7OLGFuuf5hvRJszTxDitsoVn8itKxvm29XyUlHD0eU-uH2JNxnTBd9cx0Vt62nz4kuLVmp2YhTpM-nPIRf-2nPbNs218Sdghe2ZBEFoUo26J-1s0xWaXo612bPM/s1600/Newsboy+Legion+Jack+Kirby+Scrapper.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLZw4fdOR2qZiRKdkf7OLGFuuf5hvRJszTxDitsoVn8itKxvm29XyUlHD0eU-uH2JNxnTBd9cx0Vt62nz4kuLVmp2YhTpM-nPIRf-2nPbNs218Sdghe2ZBEFoUo26J-1s0xWaXo612bPM/s320/Newsboy+Legion+Jack+Kirby+Scrapper.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
And now, here is "Cabbages and Comics," including its cover image, for yez readin' enjerment...<br />
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"Cabbages and Comics" emerges from a void which immediately sealed itself for several decades. American comic-book creators, prior to the autobiographical pioneers, seemed to assume that their profession was too lowly to portray realistically. Nor were they comfortable enough to approach their trade with such lunacy as Simon and Kirby--who themselves, in the mid-1940s, reached a level of self-confidence (and star status) that few of their peers attained.<br />
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This is by no means an exhaustive survey of Comics about Comics. We feel there is much more to be said on this topic. We hope that, by opening up a dialogue on this seldom-discussed byroad of comics, we can encourage others to contribute to a deeper understanding and appreciation of this flexible, playful and reflective art form.<br />
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<div style="text-align: right;">--Paul Tumey and Frank M. Young, 2011</div><br />
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P.S.: <i>Alter Ego</i> #105 features an abridged, full-color version of our premiere <i>Comic Book Attic</i> article. Look, Ma, we're in print! You can buy the paper or digital version of this new issue <a href="http://twomorrows.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1005">here</a>.Funnybook Attichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16945602110000563133noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2928533391830370422.post-9003178105171011282011-05-28T18:18:00.001-07:002011-09-25T19:42:17.920-07:00JIMMY THOMPSON - The Greatest Comic Book Artist You Never Heard Of: The Timely Stories 1943-47<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNu_td-QwjAMYBh_3LmpL0D314AFOR_ZFzmZhneycmNfAs8P5cC9Ir0lajea3lGoVM-l23AKXGIyJzAMebxi-xOqcRqXQuBC1WYiTk2YujOzHiQoymVW62nvk87hFcwdf_Gmae7iKAgt8/s1600/Robotman_Cover%255B3%255D.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNu_td-QwjAMYBh_3LmpL0D314AFOR_ZFzmZhneycmNfAs8P5cC9Ir0lajea3lGoVM-l23AKXGIyJzAMebxi-xOqcRqXQuBC1WYiTk2YujOzHiQoymVW62nvk87hFcwdf_Gmae7iKAgt8/s400/Robotman_Cover%255B3%255D.png" width="308" /></a></div><b>ONLY 2.99</b><br />
<b>Jimmy Thompson's ROBOTMAN Volume 1</b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">A 159-page ebook of terrific reading, curated by <b>Frank Young</b>. Jimmy Thompson's first 20 Robotman stories, lovingly restored and annotated, with FREE bonus section of INDIAN LORE, Thompson's long-lost mind-blowing American Indian epic.</span><br />
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<b>Jimmy Thompson</b> was perhaps the greatest stylist in 1940s comic books, although almost nobody realizes it today.<br />
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Although he was a prolific and consistently high-quality creator, he never invented a hit superstar character, such as <b>Will Eisner</b> did with THE SPIRIT, or <b>Jack Cole</b> accomplished with PLASTIC MAN.<br />
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In 1938, when he embarked on his comic book career sometime in his 30s or 40s, Thompson was already a far more accomplished draftsman and commercial artist than most of his contemporaries in the business. Many early comic book artists were teens learning how to draw and still living at home. Thompson already had a wealth of experience ghosting newspaper comics, such as <i>Roy Powers, Eagle Scout </i>and <i>Hairsbreadth Harry,</i> and creating impressive commercial illustrations. He was a rare case of an artist coming into comic books from newspapers and syndicated strips. The dreams of most struggling comic book artists of the time were to go in the opposite direction!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbYqYUuvGjo4ZZMutaOMvnYPsbmUOYWIequzo-FrZYhS2Qv4iimNYduiDYOK9n-ThA5y4LWlNaH_pnd8K30uPrWuweSG3k2rDm4Vlu2MEpu9ACLQWULuKHj-rSrcgzJlRnj_3u-OzCsaI/s1600-h/stoodleighs%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img alt="stoodleighs" border="0" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj4mxEHH-pB5je7DiIe9aJsNHztfXSOFbeeRPyLMu4RTgPlFIlcwQkZp9vHI1u9km4T9XlwT1E_Q_zMgOpFJ99Q2ny0REj2D6IKwt-czVuTYJHz9BaGOeTNbXP6EWTDpspn52n4pNvxYw/?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline;" title="stoodleighs" width="404" /></a> <br />
<i>As seen in this rare sports cartoon (above), circa 1933, Thompson had great drawing chops when Will Eisner was still popping pimples.</i><br />
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This raises the comic book mystery: why did Jimmy Thompson – an established, successful artist – pursue a career in comic books? It could only have been for the money!<br />
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Thompson’s first comic book stories appear in David McKay’s <b><i>King Comics</i></b> and <i><b>Magic Comics</b></i>– the only original material in titles which otherwise reprinted King Features syndicated material such as MANDRAKE THE MAGICIAN and HENRY. These stories are tales of American Indians that <b>Ron Goulart</b> called “ the best Indian stories in comic book history.” Unlike the majority of the stampede of western comics that appeared ten years later, Thompson’s stories are all sensitive, informed stories told from the point of view of the Indians.<br />
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<a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-Eq1ZNChSzBc/TeGa1tL7ixI/AAAAAAAAAQk/kxcMNsXxnWU/s1600-h/RedEagleCover%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img alt="RedEagleCover" border="0" height="554" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBeYqD5r3y4_5lS0BUoiOxGDmGAiI8THCd9prnE9URomAATp-8xPNPIJl8xdU1sRVhQdE-E6h7a3p8GieUYqzOMWEJqBQch3nET8ojzLBGJVvwRBKs5I29_n6iDpPdiZFzD6DkcRQfdnM/?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline;" title="RedEagleCover" width="404" /></a><br />
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In 1938, at virtually the birth of comics, Thompson wrote and drew ‘Red Eagle,” a 76-page epic Indian story that comprised the entirety of Feature Book #16 (David McKay, 1938). This could be considered the first graphic novel. Obviously, David McKay was a huge Jimmy Thompson fan!<br />
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Thompson’s INDIAN LORE and RED MEN features (see <a href="http://johnglenntaylor.blogspot.com/2010/06/jimmy-thompsons-indian-lore.html">this post</a> at <i>Easily Mused</i> for a sample) ran until early 1943, when he abruptly changed horses in mid-stream to jump on the super-hero bandwagon. <br />
From 1943 to 1947, he created stunning hero comic book stories for Street and Smith, National (DC), and Timely (Marvel). <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnUHZN2ORR19TrnoV1xdymRccU-KrzbzZHr5ijmkcG7BEM4JAN_KhyZh870tx9Py61Qv33BRyMVZvnKHxKmyNxSsxYZWfOV72uZrsc9-85Ti1jt8xM_4eL_-vB2Te3Y1Ekz4wT2LzyaMc/s1600-h/Robotman%252520Star%252520Spangled%25252026%252520Noc%2525201943%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img alt="Robotman Star Spangled 26 Noc 1943" border="0" height="208" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/--Q_hAbvO1hg/TeGa6EaKIuI/AAAAAAAAAQw/e9RxMvvl6qE/Robotman%252520Star%252520Spangled%25252026%252520Noc%2525201943_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline;" title="Robotman Star Spangled 26 Noc 1943" width="150" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIchXZTkBLGB8dDJVBrdAMwq-mYJDAhsR42B51sgpqhc7S64zvIH_uCkrrySbEwJOZnuirW_GqiFaed0Rd1bWllJm0P_yK2-Th-k6GlG-fh2E6CPlfHgruAf8ZWdq4OUIVqOVzmdPOoBM/s1600-h/Captain%252520America%252520034%252520%252528Timely%2525201944%252529%252520048.fiche%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img alt="Captain America 034 (Timely 1944) 048.fiche" border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgApQeDOG9zVIlxkjnMc0xo8IRJnYgVFnXQ3HaUvXEC3MdxYbixtG6-P7jlVryraIQxJKKn9u3sTZO_R_VmgTYWlEmGgk68cWtKptZoiHPz2cNRIqQ655stIlTJjCyQwcoAKFPvwmPl_ik/?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px 0px 0px 20px;" title="Captain America 034 (Timely 1944) 048.fiche" width="150" /></a> <br />
It was also highly unusual, at the time, for <i>any</i> comic book creator to work for BOTH Marvel and DC, which Thompson did from mid-1943 to late 1947 (he continued to work for DC until approximately 1949). Thompson also worked for Fawcett, the third emergent leader in comics at this time, although we have yet to identify any of his work for this company. <br />
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In an effort to position themselves in the market – and probably as a natural artistic development – both DC and Marvel developed vastly different house styles in the early 1940s. DC’s output offered polished artwork and storytelling. Marvel’s books in contrast were crude and chaotic. Yet, in some ways, Marvel’s books were more powerful. Jimmy Thompson’s style did not fit into either company’s “house” aesthetic, and yet he produced hundreds of pages for both companies!<br />
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Thompson’s work, like <b>Basil Wolverton’s</b>, is stylistically unique and recognizable from a mile away. <br />
<b>Jim Steranko</b> raved about Jimmy Thompson in his 1970 book, <i><b>The Steranko History of Comics Volume 1</b></i>. Steranko – an accomplished stylist himself – wrote that Jimmy Thompson’s style looked like:<br />
<blockquote><b><span style="font-size: medium;"> “a combination of Jack Cole and Will Eisner.”</span></b> </blockquote>As if that were not high praise enough, Steranko goes on to say, <br />
<blockquote><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><i>“In fact, some of Thompson’s work topped theirs.”</i></b></span></blockquote>Like <b>Jack Cole</b>, his counterpart at Quality, Jimmy Thompson was his own one-man comic book packager, doing the penciling, inking, and lettering on the majority of his stories. Just as Jack Cole’s work has a highly distinctive look and feel, so does Thompson. <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHJUnpozD14Et2XbeMzhy2HKM8Ytvvs2GuRoi-Y7sdqQ0Vt-KryT4KYKptepph3Du2_650cRtnd_xzQsY-kT6fm7PLntawladV6SBcKHnEreTn4w-7tqtv6wVXWZG92Q7Krl2f4ImY6hs/s1600-h/Sub-Mariner_014_Fall%2525201944%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img alt="Sub-Mariner_014_Fall 1944" border="0" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0PA6KDQ7izLKQCK0USZvVBq9PbckcMEUbMUORww-M5KLmLwLnX88Fz9A0PHaiI5uu-MjD9E_weRXBNBOMoCAhx8dualwZamt9mw3hUoYhwkt6zDYf4cdJ0aMYifQF8-5lAw7cYQ9gPYA/?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline;" title="Sub-Mariner_014_Fall 1944" width="150" /></a> <a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-7TapXGp_uLU/TeGbDx-H-6I/AAAAAAAAARI/GiEmhkQN4KE/s1600-h/Robotman%252520Star%252520Spangled%25252045%252520June%25252045%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img alt="Robotman Star Spangled 45 June 45" border="0" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm7UOXJuDfxyoj3pCkVTdUms6LwutUwS6HEsJ0BZkuz_i5CbONSmNdDVvUc4-7M6C60JewZLkfwIPYLw0y694_yvjKsaqwQ3YIILEmd102F0wbJPPqtlPDXpwjrtewTPmwLkv2ZT43Eto/?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px 0px 0px 20px;" title="Robotman Star Spangled 45 June 45" width="150" /></a> <br />
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Steranko writes that “his technique was backed by good solid drawing, rendered cleanly and precisely.” Beyond his expert draftsmanship, Thompson was, in our opinion, second only to Cole and Eisner in his ability to design stunning page layouts and seamless panel sequences. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Dp8ODN34iYStFh_l-dtyizbFbllhuy7B7dm4-4n7xevARZ1BpjxQLzPDTJpuzTJakI-uAZVjZx8vOdt-sd5LoI-Nrm1BOgZX0snTSE3-ENR79X5J_LU-qGVKgoOFI1Tr6-7JbGPOcvY/s1600-h/Robotman%252520Star%252520Spangled%25252036%252520Sept%25252044%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img alt="Robotman Star Spangled 36 Sept 44" border="0" height="559" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-F6z_p1fSgUI/TeGbHCo0iJI/AAAAAAAAARU/WRpOM8ItUW8/Robotman%252520Star%252520Spangled%25252036%252520Sept%25252044_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline;" title="Robotman Star Spangled 36 Sept 44" width="397" /></a> <br />
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Sadly, unlike Cole and Eisner, who enjoyed success and recognition, Thompson’s work, after he left David McKay, never transcended the back-up stories level for DC and Timely. At DC he was often forced to create cramped 4-6 page stories that rushed by breathlessly. Timely's back-up stories were often longer than DC’s–one of the many ways the companies differentiated themselves. Thompson’s Timely work sometimes spread out to 12 pages. As well, Thompson was given the chance to draw stories featuring major characters, such as in this beautifully designed and rendered HUMAN TORCH story from Timely’s <b><i>All Select</i></b> <i><b>#9</b></i> (Fall 1945):<br />
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border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline;" title="All_Select_09_18" width="356" /></a> <a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-fUtuLmuS4yY/TeGbVNlDoCI/AAAAAAAAAR4/8v844o3rEHs/s1600-h/All_Select_09_19%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img alt="All_Select_09_19" border="0" height="559" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-D1odRfnhyuE/TeGbWJJaJCI/AAAAAAAAASA/LrEdkqCk8Hs/All_Select_09_19_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline;" title="All_Select_09_19" width="357" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSRU262XC4vxgDz8OshdF2-bKYEqkk6TupU9QlGDXc3UsB-t6BkIQy2XyhZX5g8G4MgT98vkL-SlHA5wtR3zbvAEzMwzzjqzn6IsS_LtQHM3ed7hguD2K40XlEvr57wAYhNnf2gYAPsJs/s1600-h/All_Select_09_20%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img alt="All_Select_09_20" border="0" height="559" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-qR8slR2-Bj0/TeGbYoQIpNI/AAAAAAAAASI/DQ9DYH63mgQ/All_Select_09_20_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; 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border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline;" title="All_Select_09_26" width="353" /></a><br />
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As is true for a lot of Thompson’s work for Timely, the artwork is probably better than the stories themselves (written by unidentified staffers) deserve. Thompson gives these stories his all. From sweeping, perfectly laid-out cityscapes to graphically compelling close-ups of real people with real personalities, Thompson’s stories demand the reader’s attention and respect.<br />
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Thompson realized, as did Jack Cole and Will Eisner, that the <b>text </b>in comics has an artful dimension. He employs a brilliant mix of elegant typography (usually rendered with the same tool architects of the time used, a Leroy Lettering set) and hand-drawn colophons, sound effects and emphasized words. The effect is delightful eye-candy that propels the story forward. Check it out in this Sub-Mariner story from <i><b>Marvel Mystery #54</b></i> (April, 1944)!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWHOFJKI3TOzADufTiZey0UOF9igFJIDtDkIK-v0sxkRFYFqSb0vf9P51NvcExosGGs04uHz4rFKNNGEHlBs01nE3sV3uCDdlF47EO0oYBBk1dV84i1uBuw-18Rkoq4aAdOGKzIUEOjAc/s1600-h/marvel_mystery_comics_054_15%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img alt="marvel_mystery_comics_054_15" border="0" height="559" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzm7Q5eNV8MWstK68QJF_lke2HErWCDAHrkgkoHhET7KDIKTjvVf-OdL_tvIpo699_jkbJ5j5MBRhps1UNHVoIUMfhGB9JyCtW6Udm0tPKwHz1PeZnVzAmBrNPDfdfOkImm5O0qr7SEyU/?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline;" title="marvel_mystery_comics_054_15" width="398" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTeVBvSFSWYbgqZXTZ-UvZ0gkDIcHhEIW2HBENPFgv1BKjbBY5AlQzA2W1B9JqgOhRSipt3Znr6ZiADB2olcbiQNxdBDc94GZGKHSQqViQeASQmLjgkI4tOPoO1kiSSOhb6y7IqaRkRzY/s1600-h/marvel_mystery_comics_054_16%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img alt="marvel_mystery_comics_054_16" border="0" height="559" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm-9gH1svqL968mSll-5IDNwYD4Iyj9Gl9dbujJKO9E0UQEJ7nbU_Vx0xGBt073lqh4K-oI_mEalLK_JgDDF69Cl8y-S4q6o45EHoBw1l3mymWgPaj11TyGgXfqkH6bpDoV2gd8CvFDZA/?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; 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border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline;" title="marvel_mystery_comics_054_18" width="400" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgBKNtQuFUQKQi0tQftrJLPk_LrBOxxEFvs2JTZr6eMMMqMxGKa9-VNFKGmxKBRzZfN0UonqmMwHxAjOX9mmuxSLM-z2QEPesqYuBT7FhHM-dZoa7Fd1VsamzucuDqoCi0ame4irZOaAk/s1600-h/marvel_mystery_comics_054_19%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img alt="marvel_mystery_comics_054_19" border="0" height="559" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBBGlKVny9eANfeIRB5PxKMKSHCpU5O2DwKzWH-OWui8lEsIj7AzkhyphenhyphenHHx6JD6R8qAmLvrLXh5M-riXYgeBhwTQzm8S6Aa8hsGqaOR-xosTNJfUgJ9S8BYBrw311sRRz9XdzhwCghN5UM/?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline;" title="marvel_mystery_comics_054_19" width="395" /></a> <a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-nwX0JfwJ-84/TeGcJNfHwfI/AAAAAAAAAT0/sobIDI37wGw/s1600-h/marvel_mystery_comics_054_20%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img alt="marvel_mystery_comics_054_20" border="0" height="559" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglrC3sFF64CsSY-bSXA_rLdsjQztt7erNWxJaLiPUeZxcj45Y5ysDPi0YRcMX0K0qvc4MS1j0ikFwearOk1TX19VjaX8pI193kaBsWpY_Aswd4XxfbyPlVxdKF23fF5MfsBu48Er0rWxQ/?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline;" title="marvel_mystery_comics_054_20" width="397" /></a> <a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-IEhV7Zg54Jo/TeGcOpIbBLI/AAAAAAAAAT8/uKME4MQf_Q4/s1600-h/marvel_mystery_comics_054_21%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img alt="marvel_mystery_comics_054_21" border="0" height="559" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiIVUq2h3UJy1xvgdv5H6DmVj13uUjTBny7JM6rXmqOWxWaE7s7oDj2Wve92Xrxjvqu-QLJziCa76P6lgERJFokU1ufgFZTfnjT8HXKMAVhI4BYbqEYA-c6AZubb-_oPhTIWfdLa05VB0/?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline;" title="marvel_mystery_comics_054_21" width="393" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP5cGfhYmsY02CeYIY1cjmMXMSKDq2WbTWtXGI6gvj-uZW4tkdKDZwMf5PpGRKN-StV3RwKuXWjtif0roQ-Lq07cZtiNNdevz5UnKjZOCxSwpjRYOwF2DayvUqNSH9pWaTtaxaGmEf02E/s1600-h/marvel_mystery_comics_054_22%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img alt="marvel_mystery_comics_054_22" border="0" height="559" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdnbT8JZW1Nn9bXL6z4_VefwZ2NJvQ_iii6ih4oz-jGfZzRSewZySUOxzob9X9t_pnXP8LVNPEtRuIAA3KKZwWQ7wCV27ehwXOVA5wlEXJnzHBITTyffX05oH5S9nQeuOunfQRgvXfwI8/?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline;" title="marvel_mystery_comics_054_22" width="398" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH9Wy_EtqXbHtX1fjoElMsq8WKITFlkHnI1ciCyS2YyxVB9Qb2hroZDcP3JiOzUUrgSGrKjMvqFHz2iE4JlRjD6yExxxLq5MMtc9FFTudoVP9cVRdZ74xR5ExVqRP0vZugxEu8gKYL_r8/s1600-h/marvel_mystery_comics_054_23%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img alt="marvel_mystery_comics_054_23" border="0" height="559" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSVQmWWJzEWOs8eIl8llgcHru3hnLFZi-cm49Dwnux7i1pfvkadF5-j48jkCZ6CpCLT1HEy3FUKtl6syDRb-PakjXgQhv2s_aoyVpC1tXsjoYM_lWnL4EAXvKwh5WYuaNYWkUAJzucFf0/?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline;" title="marvel_mystery_comics_054_23" width="400" /></a> <a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-fCz0LkWmjFU/TeGciFX411I/AAAAAAAAAUY/FA29UtSCG5Y/s1600-h/marvel_mystery_comics_054_24%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img alt="marvel_mystery_comics_054_24" border="0" height="559" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhODuszcB6Qz1STBxscWRqOTTkq5cgeAfXGCWSUNDXBug0gBq9bEn6SKQvLl_bCjDVuzp5iDbwQAMUvRrXLL7mhMymO6tIOwe95R0_I65qlHXHzcGNXwYbngn1V4tkt4BkmY6aU7FpDGm8/?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline;" title="marvel_mystery_comics_054_24" width="401" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGifYPMwLum5AiUGgh7FGVP1_S2xJWHvOoDqXNg_dFLHmGN3bLSaffj95amZhdHENwRhKuSQSXgWGGVdstM5-tNzMu87Ek8y3USrQ1ycTirBImoDYSxAxwPNzFeDX_eqxSaMj9nscwqeg/s1600-h/marvel_mystery_comics_054_25%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img alt="marvel_mystery_comics_054_25" border="0" height="559" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd8S1wBcLK0B5NAomcdD06xkzCAQFa7qevT83w8mFxP4-FZpZ_3oYLgtGZFvprqO71-sLB8Ng-KVY5JAKpJHR_C7WOQorwdI3JMkBKO1mr0aEEjBpISTL4UFDs7RzlidZJsG2IGGAeIE8/?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline;" title="marvel_mystery_comics_054_25" width="401" /></a> <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJAvLCl-COJtzYNm79MNoiroXIGlMfnfKEj5rZm0QAEnjujihD1Re0Y0nsOmg6PV4A_H2p2QKxVkRImkvJbTGkRYPwUJJXjITFTsmWim-9AYv-_BO_fUeVLVX0DHcQp72gnESe7u6mVgc/s1600-h/marvel_mystery_comics_054_26%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img alt="marvel_mystery_comics_054_26" border="0" height="559" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ0LkvAd-Bweq8SB242Xo5umtFKC3QRrVzJBw3X8BvdjoZ5ASTA7DJ_cSrsn18Ikk9Nk2b0vz-T-3YtGNxi-qNWN7x7wZOJ3HUo416fCOB9SEc8udWEagZoOroenG6m3h7o-_fI6W2CQI/?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline;" title="marvel_mystery_comics_054_26" width="397" /></a><br />
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As grim as this non-PC wartime story is, Thompson’s art delivers the typical Timely 12-page opus of Armageddon with unexpected humor and elegance. For instance, consider the page 10 bitch-slap, or the stunningly drawn shipworks interior on page 8, top right. It’s worth looking at this story a second time to savor its juicy visual tidbits (something many have wanted to do with Prince Namor, no doubt!). Even though Thompson did not write these – or most of his post-David-McKay work – his robust style makes him almost a co-writer, in many cases.<br />
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During the time that Thompson drew these top-tier, testosterone-driven Timely stories, he also drew the lighter, and more humorous ROBOTMAN for DC. (See Frank’s great series of articles and reprints on ROBOTMAN at Sherm Cohen’s blog, <a href="http://cartoonsnap.blogspot.com/search?q=robotman">here</a>.) <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid1fCTqzIg89aom577TMbVI0cRyUWbTv9n-TAF0IY8gK7It7FobbMwsU3F22Ob3NnXWCixdu1uHsfteQ-ZHG7LcQJC5xy3yQsa2UqSlMu-hsa9e0QfhdFx6-uHKMZkphqf57h0eveQtPs/s1600-h/Robotman%252520Star%252520Spangled%25252037%252520Oct%25252044%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img alt="Robotman Star Spangled 37 Oct 44" border="0" height="541" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOjr2EFgUaPNHpc6IbdUa_Jwj8sq4uxhX9RwOfBnROLspWuoeL5T82fg-w4VIJsQCLdkJmU5c2wPvlMNPhik3OiLZZ62pBC_ZzZv2pN2AKUQeLZK-_ExtL2QzfwtTZe2h7AlWORiv2bXI/?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline;" title="Robotman Star Spangled 37 Oct 44" width="404" /></a> <br />
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At Timely, Thompson’s ANGEL stories are perhaps the closest in feel to his ROBOTMAN work, with more emphasis on character and humor, and less on blowin’ up enemy subs! Thompson brings a kind of <b>Errol Flynn</b> panache mixed with screwball comedy to these stories. <br />
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In “The Devil’s Imposter,” from <b><i>Sub-Mariner #13</i></b> (Spring, 1944) Thompson starts out with a splash panel that gets funnier each time we look at it. The ANGEL barely notices the thug clinging to him, and doors seem to have no actual ability to restrain his heroic fun. Thompson’s manner of drawing this story takes a by-the-numbers Nazi crime story and turns in on its head, into a sly parody of super-heroes. (If you want to see Thompson draw a truly heroic figure, look at any of his Indian stories).<br />
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<a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-8DofZFdNVOc/TeGc4EIBqVI/AAAAAAAAAU8/ldnSLJtK2Dk/s1600-h/Sub-Mariner%252520Comics%252520013F%252520041%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img alt="Sub-Mariner Comics 013F 041" border="0" height="559" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCJmkR05WK_oBkIiDWScrmIKV7yWO1Hz35pBQIPDeWpz4SMacvSFJE9tj0RY_pBgMRNA7T_aJkAgRX-hWc2h-6-UfUHpvzUM-RWrEd0E6o7CbZfbwdMQNVa8IROMfZPjxVbF5qJV_7gwQ/?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline;" title="Sub-Mariner Comics 013F 041" width="367" /></a> <a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-dUCfztuFz8Q/TeGc8IskqmI/AAAAAAAAAVI/S7Yq7iFgFbY/s1600-h/Sub-Mariner%252520Comics%252520013F%252520042%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img alt="Sub-Mariner Comics 013F 042" border="0" height="559" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDDE0fJj-gPMGrzzwcKIAcfvNCWuf56MGzLZW_neJcYUafz4wSqucOscibiJ7ZX31PAvB5l4br3BlUK5wDRRqvXvrC76Behyp-yh3sg4KNCCNt82l2dEq4z0cWz05cRqcL0d3tKobEFkI/?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline;" title="Sub-Mariner Comics 013F 042" width="367" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRK9INmeHdPWCZtfkOK7TgOl0jqICecWH6yLJOJAvOKt73V8v73-fujUqubkur1mTG-bgRA4IBisIjZShmVQixe-9enSTkCY_KbDXzzotp-OD7Dub7lWP8ip5eDk2X905FFeTiI4ByP0Q/s1600-h/Sub-Mariner%252520Comics%252520013F%252520043%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img alt="Sub-Mariner Comics 013F 043" border="0" height="559" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHNVhhX7mqn8FizKVGA1QdxwjJYLeG81gnGQOIWgpdxsoMASDOCgrWeVZV-jEDGadAax3urd6HBlTM3EwChJz3XQmMvPgLRZIdDsuaOVmf5TH6SfhY32Bd-kyNf6ae6Nwpg4P91PpVkz0/?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline;" title="Sub-Mariner Comics 013F 043" width="367" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCJpU1XS1oP6ACsm0TcisRdWynpMqDeRG-VougRGKH2QL2Rk3xIEoHrweicfYM_0MUDu2YOWdilSHf_PakUJ5CFJWJ7sv59Y4bvr6U9aV-ITdNH3g543FyiUV5BMxfLzh4tK3jKR_OlzA/s1600-h/Sub-Mariner%252520Comics%252520013F%252520044%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img alt="Sub-Mariner Comics 013F 044" border="0" height="559" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCJaciOGIR0OgQE77ASGz8rnpjbDnm-MthH4RiqWJKXJSglv6JQdGM-xnpz3N0BMOhJO8R73D1tJZZ4nRyyxUmMhwq0mPWvHZx9KpFApNgqqSNOjvIHJ32yn5HFMW4cPHBIuAtKMVZz5M/?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline;" title="Sub-Mariner Comics 013F 044" width="367" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ8s3o2dVvtlPFLGSpUDhUAIo5RAEFYFzGPk_HYeFjQqAekxzAVAZGRYwyitA8Z5NyDnuPdX62Ul2kfE26gbCf8ghkU9sUB0uaNOT8uyDKpFsU7nmPMIWt8wVvUcQeImFSBQvgYlZHhJs/s1600-h/Sub-Mariner%252520Comics%252520013F%252520045%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img alt="Sub-Mariner Comics 013F 045" border="0" height="559" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4mdSV2QMi9AtNjLBVy2i1iiT6ejQ4qsVApISpo3JxzHAGvdhWBbrvXfXLnJYBYyLrLSi6gprKCx7HsCz3kDBDKTrizZPAay9xd-gZtTyC5yVkjn3uMmPT-_KW8tXtByGxdn74ZmVnw6M/?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline;" title="Sub-Mariner Comics 013F 045" width="367" /></a> <a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-bQ_enZMrSt0/TeGdOpqX-rI/AAAAAAAAAVs/RR95pTOjI78/s1600-h/Sub-Mariner%252520Comics%252520013F%252520046%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img alt="Sub-Mariner Comics 013F 046" border="0" height="559" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-zDlu_8LLhP8/TeGdPmP_WII/AAAAAAAAAVw/dcvmvYb283M/Sub-Mariner%252520Comics%252520013F%252520046_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline;" title="Sub-Mariner Comics 013F 046" width="367" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3zq7TSwnFnKg1Gn8btetK3JxTkfHLyeikmzWWF7HnB_KiEMeMmRbMn1On8i09C423RkgO9YQ4mWLBScOh659P8b4R9G0iF88lmF5O9bngDwYpbZKp-Sg5Yfupt8J4xnO4cYTY3Dk9eq8/s1600-h/Sub-Mariner%252520Comics%252520013F%252520047%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img alt="Sub-Mariner Comics 013F 047" border="0" height="559" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_5zTLaHg34lcgeHpI7c-liioiYjyYABE5TGpClQdadD_w1gUkJBRCabIPC1r5SUwLHtZO1NqWbe3oIJuwFqR4hZUwP3P0b9MoTppjgD8boTXSCXhj8hHJ6isL9DgRdygzH8xLJ0puI00/?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline;" title="Sub-Mariner Comics 013F 047" width="367" /></a> <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Kw38E6KK9hv-NaMwU1Jg9WeAThCXIK-Y_aADeosasjPBpOOy9cetUq8aQVVC9gnscCNhDVDHBguVf20O5QNEB5BvV7eJrwDeUkp3L9uQCUYZFiDzC2JmzpZ4Rbmk9tmLkll-bCBx4ko/s1600-h/Sub-Mariner%252520Comics%252520013F%252520048%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img alt="Sub-Mariner Comics 013F 048" border="0" height="559" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhIEqadXc5aIW-vBTsoFxciMcqyWEzVp335h0KLVdhEjif05mUWINHgnAvTCUnvVAeBEI2AX4qAntUeZrR1U29xoIj-WwfEEEOL9vvdbA9CpiBsR-7Xw7FdrMU642Ke348nUbnJrFSIqg/?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline;" title="Sub-Mariner Comics 013F 048" width="367" /></a><br />
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Next, here’s “The Tell-Tale Cigarette,” another ANGEL story, from the next issue of <i>Sub-Mariner</i> (#14, Summer 1944). This story is perhaps a better illustration of the fun Thompson had with this character.<br />
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<a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-Aoq5NgTIoJI/TeGdbDuy18I/AAAAAAAAAWE/9F-QxCmF8i8/s1600-h/Sub-Mariner_014F_%252528Timely-1944%252529_42%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img alt="Sub-Mariner_014F_(Timely-1944)_42" border="0" height="559" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibOK2B_zQQElaxNOQJpPqTfUznlS0QHvliSLK_zmAHXSD4YR04J9j74PG39fMzp0GxMVabYPmg-ST8ckv79Gp1TNtenPoB6PeD2WC5om3FZpeDFDBAIX91Kxbfafbt48BX-x9qN1p0vvM/?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline;" title="Sub-Mariner_014F_(Timely-1944)_42" width="388" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQY3X5l7JKYxUWVScWub2ypXudq9mFaJ-8GZQjUMYcQmuZ6GbuR2VYWli7idjyXXl3d0BkrBUPNGaA3Vl2IncPXfEpwrkbuu9F16OBV1ik_OflksRa70bO80Ay6qKwkoykEX31PYPEFzg/s1600-h/Sub-Mariner_014F_%252528Timely-1944%252529_43%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img alt="Sub-Mariner_014F_(Timely-1944)_43" border="0" height="559" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJB_AiyrS6paUUKRpNI6Bvgvdc22otSZP3AYp2AmzHJsFdlIPbAuLI4JUr_0v48xXhSI-5TY2yYKQemS57Py7J_XKSpVX-T8vCiscrLaYILlMRAvW3CoW5CWkZX2vowWuetOjqEfRpfHY/?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline;" title="Sub-Mariner_014F_(Timely-1944)_43" width="389" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcthhyphenhyphen6zmRG-Xooj4BkeAISCszaOIVqhUikN_2Fg3SI9pUlUZFb8HUfTG7wLs7E14iUiS5QKxOxbsSgYyKXyP8k8H4RIZ6akvi7vg2WvS85k0y-01YqSJmkOUS5DNqvNAkhyL066D863s/s1600-h/Sub-Mariner_014F_%252528Timely-1944%252529_44%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img alt="Sub-Mariner_014F_(Timely-1944)_44" border="0" height="559" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-zAh8HOGg9Lg/TeGdjadSPUI/AAAAAAAAAWc/y3qWuBpBWcw/Sub-Mariner_014F_%252528Timely-1944%252529_44_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline;" title="Sub-Mariner_014F_(Timely-1944)_44" width="385" /></a> <a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-cmyAD8gaqGY/TeGdmKPsnJI/AAAAAAAAAWg/NcpV3fa9pqw/s1600-h/Sub-Mariner_014F_%252528Timely-1944%252529_45%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img alt="Sub-Mariner_014F_(Timely-1944)_45" border="0" height="559" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFzysa5MnM1vDa3FEIujPLptm-Wc93vEezo9GBf4aC89m_LkKKjIbueE0v293O8sFbLSsrLVGcFbatWe68y1bWeuXkHRQuAO3vrrLYqp3tXplObodS2WX1nsIcdrZtNkwV5wGvNBScKUc/?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline;" title="Sub-Mariner_014F_(Timely-1944)_45" width="388" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga2V_PYGcaikvtPX8DKl3oKUcP-GeP2Lgsu9BBscto-i9318tnfg8x4EMJ-kqWOg558QdhEka1uaCxefbozwOjV8TGb2myWCa8jyiuLEhQK497wNNHTzdZO1lfg3jrqNHeUGie8s3_Ics/s1600-h/Sub-Mariner_014F_%252528Timely-1944%252529_46%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img alt="Sub-Mariner_014F_(Timely-1944)_46" border="0" height="559" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ4O1YSxhUj3qgLBayUUdlxQ2O3757NwfnaOdL8U2zarP4nvUtL1eEmFvpQdcbt1HnEFozOclnlKrwAyjN9CzuQrYD8_ZuvLQRGKEKCb-eg2e30UFTYOQAO24BgkHWnQVoDOduEkj3SOs/?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline;" title="Sub-Mariner_014F_(Timely-1944)_46" width="381" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZS_Wel1Gbok-oD13x_gHF_ZhnFoogUNyrUAHthO8W5eH4f_xatoIwExctrmq0N6jG8j1vvwqD42gEBuomNwqp-2rZMvsZRtqOtt8sPk7oSHI7CR7MXPaz84jofLjHKk9g_8Q888V3VGw/s1600-h/Sub-Mariner_014F_%252528Timely-1944%252529_47%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img alt="Sub-Mariner_014F_(Timely-1944)_47" border="0" height="559" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF-gxKIsNiSUp7YK_lU6k4FkKoyIoq6dapjQgkqZyueEKXup6eU_j8NtsZkcXFTgG2CaRihuGKoCN9ejuvjP4z9tTV496LrDu0ROXUP_z3dd-xdkJIZqnkbzcNVwMBA-HwHspiJLXa88M/?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline;" title="Sub-Mariner_014F_(Timely-1944)_47" width="382" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisVCccQxZ8vCgV2cyPZLPXmxXoL38ibL4CqOHiznYvUOJbpzQQB9kJXJrF_xJ5IrgCnPjwQoDxnu9Et_WP4yY91Isf3f-IczU8enAdjQ1_C-muHykwTUjWbr2ejG7a1G0y8MwqGPuRHvA/s1600-h/Sub-Mariner_014F_%252528Timely-1944%252529_48%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img alt="Sub-Mariner_014F_(Timely-1944)_48" border="0" height="559" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZDNL_vpZLimQ8sDV9ML5X9ucPMbZAlHxhg-0ZHy5hyphenhyphenM0Yc36UCIIU5p3WWL6AOZNk1MPQvugYlVkvDGBTGSMaoN9JAdPo-PydIwb0cFMUBorvxdoQnZ9YUAu6a0uAicEyOmyt076wbng/?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline;" title="Sub-Mariner_014F_(Timely-1944)_48" width="383" /></a> <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpMzdK3QrJ0lWgwX6tFsiAtRn3qIO-WsxdKoCMTgxHGnCtf4qxyB4zxeJkE6cJhzqrht-kFx7psFI8BV8Ird0wJuQikRnmU_Q0a6129kXurR2lGy31G86LoVqfgNM5pM3-T_xsUfP-d0I/s1600-h/Sub-Mariner_014F_%252528Timely-1944%252529_49%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img alt="Sub-Mariner_014F_(Timely-1944)_49" border="0" height="559" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDinXEwjdrE2SmG0mQZgInG2E0J81HG3Ub0VnXlXBbyVe_9drC4kQUMYNKMGd4_XKmEEiZN8bJfNjB138771rxZqId3cUF_zLdOjmMZsadQeqvX4dVJHkifGdD9zyI1b7XAZjc9ZRpraI/?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline;" title="Sub-Mariner_014F_(Timely-1944)_49" width="388" /></a><br />
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Page five of the above story is a strong example of the superior design Thompson brought into the infant form of comic book storytelling. <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBkoFOZ0DUXmo0X0jXTJhfIrfeE9Yoik12YH6-EN-yEs3PT34so4XttqSm63GIaXOBPfvPXXtNnmkf8G-Ku3gZwBFXLSEJpisf0HF-ymarXG-dW8ix6UjFs2qr21AGuodGclO5Jv60Px0/s1600-h/Sub-Mariner_014F_%252528Timely-1944%252529_46%25255B7%25255D.jpg"><img align="left" alt="Sub-Mariner_014F_(Timely-1944)_46" border="0" height="372" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-Pi2M9Xqhbdw/TeGd3y-_bsI/AAAAAAAAAXQ/cyj36jlnvJM/Sub-Mariner_014F_%252528Timely-1944%252529_46_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px 15px 0px 0px;" title="Sub-Mariner_014F_(Timely-1944)_46" width="254" /></a> Notice that he creates a sort of mirror on the page, where a short vertical stack of panels on the top left is reflected on the bottom right. On the other axis, he creates two open spaces void of background detail. This effect expertly highlights the action climax of the story. The poses of the characters dynamically mirror each other in opposite tension. In the top-right scenario action moves up, and in the bottom-left, figures push the energy downward.<br />
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Jimmy Thompson left Timely, it appears, around mid-to-late 1947, and mysteriously disappeared from comics after 1952. <br />
The Comics Database lists <i><b>Human Torch</b></i> <i><b>#28</b></i> (Fall 1947) as his last published work for Timely. We can only speculate on this career move. Perhaps a change in editors, location, personal situation… who knows? Thompson continued to work for National through 1950. He worked in comics a bit longer, creating non-genre pieces for Eastern Color’s titles <i><b>New Heroic</b></i> and <i><b>Juke Box Comics</b></i> and some westerns for Avon. Did Thompson pass away? Or did he, like so many other comic book masters of the time, such as Jack Cole, find a new career in another field?<br />
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The mystery remains, but so does his work. We’ll close with a stunning (and nicely scanned – thank you, scanners!) HUMAN TORCH story from DARING COMICS #12 (Summer 1945). There is <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwXNpOSI5J8Fmj35wpjlmwl8TV_5akPo3x31w7MrWhCgnUL7AiyAjyS5TDb4dboN04kZRLQPo7zYGq_8cQaRUUgPbOdkjqo5AYtWYG55zp7aUr8vFvubPU2mExPStrA6Unz6QxhxTqwa4/s1600-h/Daring%252520Comics%25252012-035%25255B7%25255D.jpg"><img align="left" alt="Daring Comics 12-035" border="0" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFKhd-QmcKvAbLGBe4wyR3prDVwUTG3R0vM-ZgLornKYeE4cW0sXEM7aPGNvn9gUjbLNri5mGFzK3WM-rHb5_A2-0OmvZITSxkOvo-P6lm5Ln8SwryiTXCLH4OXlpeJCCrlp71dB7XYGQ/?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;" title="Daring Comics 12-035" width="204" /></a>a stunning array of stylistic technique in this story. We’ll call out one, in particular, which we fondly label the “proscenium effect.”<br />
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On page five, the center panel calls attention to its central figures. Thompson places them front and center, as if they are on a stage and the reader has front row seats. This creates a delightful theatricality to the “performance” of the characters at a time when most comic book stories were influenced by the movies. In fact, this is, in some ways, the perfect Jimmy Thompson page, with the jaw-dropping art deco cityscape in panel one, the antic exaggeration of the running figure in panel three, and Thompson’s masterful placement of speech balloons and typographical elements.<br />
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We hope to post more about Jimmy Thompson, whose work deserves to be much better known and appreciated. For now, enjoy “The Devil’s Murder-Web!”<br />
- Frank M. Young, Paul C. Tumey, and Mortimer<br />
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<i>All text copyright 2011 Frank M. Young and Paul C. Tumey</i>Funnybook Attichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16945602110000563133noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2928533391830370422.post-32369886251764789672011-04-15T20:19:00.001-07:002011-04-21T13:48:14.318-07:00Artful Alienation at 1950s Atlas: Bill Everett’s Forgotten Gems<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white">____</span> <br /> <br /><a href="file:///C:/Users/Paul/AppData/Local/Temp/WindowsLiveWriter-429641856/supfiles7CFC318/BillEverettSplashPage%5B4%5D.png"><img title="BillEverettSplashPage_thumb[2]" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="404" alt="BillEverettSplashPage_thumb[2]" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjShel_V4BGogpP_fqGTKZbxLTzCSoVdgYRkTu9Ib2z3JuHn7bpnM-3Uqz3WrsZv9CXuHV_bTQp5waB6N5owecJJnYzUgHxXmoFvQul2l53Zad9oLufhf5bB6-2QnGglJXksFEatH9cx5k/?imgmax=800" width="404" border="0" /></a> <br /> <br />Among the true lost gems of comics are the forgotten horror stories <b>Bill Everett</b> drew (and in some cases wrote) for Atlas/Time/Marvel in the 1950s. We are pleased to present three of these long unseen minor masterpieces in this first of several posts we’ll make in appreciation and analysis of Bill Everett’s work of this period. In this post, we examine the connecting theme of <b>alienation</b> that runs through a great deal of Everett’s best work. <br /> <br /><b><span style="font-size: large">OVERVIEW </span></b> <br /><b><span style="font-size: large"> <br /></span></b>To set the stage and help show that what Everett accomplished in his own quiet way was truly extraordinary, a brief overview is in order. Most would agree that Atlas/Timely/Marvel comics of the 1950s were far from innovative. Their output was the sheer opposite of publishers such as E.C., Hillman, and a few others. If a trend seemed popular, ATM (as we’ll call them, for brevity’s sake) hopped on the bandwagon with a desperate energy. <br /> <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjez9xfRfpKcZp8KBonsE1tiMO33WaTkMhF3PvRvAmNDkCwnHclNZVRgKGM1NU1_kHs1rOPPGm8W11xCYU6my1cSHj2TNLnx0Ssrfppg54S6hmZgWEU8uymqXBoIlWCN6QUIFsCUkLu_4Q/s1600-h/Atlas-Marvel-E.C.-splash-comparison_thumb%5B3%5D%5B2%5D.png"><img title="Atlas-Marvel-E.C.-splash-comparison_thumb[3]" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="326" alt="Atlas-Marvel-E.C.-splash-comparison_thumb[3]" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoNSmGyC4JPvO_OFVex5_oWIE2WrX3O3g0af3p5DHAHsKTlaSuWNgao0EPMidx8w6zJabk-5Km2N9Rz-YjwIfOlxrs0slh-cSZKgQgixFanW7xfDO2CCKuhWhRIIHkPkHKOaIzOwvaAkk/?imgmax=800" width="404" border="0" /></a> <br /> <br />A survey of ATM’s 1950s comics reveals one copy-cat effort after another—in genres from war to horror to romance to funny-animal. This cynical trend-surfing served ATM well—even during the comics recession of the later ‘50s, when the company threatened to expire. <br /> <br />ATM had no house style. Although editor <b>Stan Lee</b> was quite fond of the impressionist pen-scribbles of <b>Joe Maneely</b>—and encouraged other ATM artists to attempt the artist’s style—he allowed his stable of cartoonists to pursue their own look and feel. <br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: center"><i><b><span style="font-size: xx-small">Below: An example of the Atlas "Maneely style," as rendered by veteran artist Carl Burgos (thanks to Doc V. for the ID)</span></b></i></div> <a href="file:///C:/Users/Paul/AppData/Local/Temp/WindowsLiveWriter-429641856/supfiles7CFC318/Joe%20Maneely%20Marvel%20Tales%20cover%5B4%5D.jpg"><img title="Joe Maneely Marvel Tales cover_thumb[2]" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="559" alt="Joe Maneely Marvel Tales cover_thumb[2]" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_g2FVsN318uE/TakKj_K-tQI/AAAAAAAAAMc/gRfpo_eVEtE/Joe%20Maneely%20Marvel%20Tales%20cover_thumb%5B2%5D%5B2%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="387" border="0" /></a> <br /> <br />The freedom allowed artists at ATM in the '50s was comparable to E.C.’s pursuance of highly recognizable artist styles. However, where E.C. had a limited number of titles, and strove to fulfill a vision of the highest possible quality,  ATM had an ever-shifting army of exploitative books to be filled. Thus, their artists could pretty much do as they pleased, because there was likely little time to art direct. In fact, most of the E.C. artists wound up working at ATM in the latter 1950s, after E.C. collapsed. It’s a sure bet that ATM artists worked with open copies of E.C. comics at their elbows (as is likely today in many cases). <br /> <br />This laissez-faire attitude attracted notable stylists to ATM throughout the 1950s. <b>Gene Colan</b> was able to develop an eccentric, chiaroscuro style through sheer trial and error, spread over dozens of stories. <b>Bernard Krigstein</b> was probably less constrained at Atlas under Stan Lee’s loose editorship than he was at E.C., and turned in numerous impressive stylistic experiments (which we plan to look at at in a future post). Bizarro cartoonists such as <b>Matt Fox</b> and <b>Robert Q. Sale</b> were similarly free from constraint. <br /> <br /> <div align="center"><b><i>Below: Matt Fox Splash Panel <br />Weird Worlds 27 (March,1953)</i></b></div> <a href="file:///C:/Users/Paul/AppData/Local/Temp/WindowsLiveWriter-429641856/supfiles7CFC318/matt%20Fox%20Atlas%20Marvel%20Splash%20Page%20Alien%20Weird%20Comics%5B4%5D.jpg"><img title="matt Fox Atlas Marvel Splash Page Alien Weird Comics_thumb[2]" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="300" alt="matt Fox Atlas Marvel Splash Page Alien Weird Comics_thumb[2]" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGHkU83L-Mc0ZoOkQZr0HdPvhOei9uYd6rvXld8hWeUjtG_l3TMpQjPH5rmTsalKJAi2Bz-9UuyuS4R3fnxp0imvxvBvpu-cmZNHdRpLqQeC9zZWvR3pEft9w2eweZhI2MzWo-TFb8cQ0/?imgmax=800" width="404" border="0" /></a> <br /> <div align="center"> <br /><b><i>Below: Robert Q. Sale Splash Page <br />Menace 10 (March, 1954)</i></b></div> <a href="file:///C:/Users/Paul/AppData/Local/Temp/WindowsLiveWriter-429641856/supfiles7CFC318/Robert%20Q.%20Sale-Menace_010%5B4%5D.jpg"><img title="Robert Q. Sale-Menace_010_thumb[2]" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="559" alt="Robert Q. Sale-Menace_010_thumb[2]" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5W1V5KriNrKmysPtiOx_G8jnE3-AMDdxAKZdeKts9ytLPbnaYk-G8XjTtnoZXUxilTXUWCIeScP9e7gDr6F_F7mXXIDK5ESZ5CY4bfV4fP4IKNMhLWCHTw0TY0hYLEnGyy6Vm3sfT5yc/?imgmax=800" width="393" border="0" /></a> <br /><b><span style="font-size: x-large"></span></b> <br /> <br /><b><span style="font-size: large">ENTER BILL EVERETT </span></b> <br /><b><span style="font-size: large"> <br /></span></b> <br />The few genuinely great artists in the ATM stable had the opportunity to hone their accomplished styles—and to experiment with visual storytelling. Among the best of these artists was <b>Bill Everett</b>. Just take a look at this masterful tier from “Ghost Story,” which first appeared in <i><b>Amazing Detective Cases #13</b></i> (July, 1952). This cinematic sequence shows Everett’s sophisticated graphic draftsmanship and his uncanny ability – similar to a film director -- to select the perfect image: <br /> <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho-4gO5iOvE29-Bdwxre6pwXrpO7p9qGuU_WbwHRt4wPue0e28X0PfssSxhKnyGOvKwS636QlLDQ1pot_yMtL6QXqq_Y0rsobYxpwTtVBM8BNa6xVUJ8msXR7vePMe4RQkFiZILQIdlro/s1600-h/amazing%20detective%20cases_13_Bill%20Everett%5B2%5D.jpg"><img title="amazing detective cases_13_Bill Everett" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="189" alt="amazing detective cases_13_Bill Everett" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0cIv4caHLbi6QczWJbGBq1ExeoE4nPiAZBiYHOnENCFqaWgOmSOpAXKfq0DF9dhbnnGSDocFmXuL_jHdzEIvBG5h9oov0dMCFpEX9X-cd9shDD_VV7neE9F04igcVacTKX0if-fMy_A4/?imgmax=800" width="404" border="0" /></a> <br /> <br />Everett was a major player in the Timely-Atlas story. He was in on the ground floor of the imprint’s history. His character of Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner, gave comic books one of its first and most influential outsider characters. Namor was immediately popular. Via a series of epic book-length battles with Timely’s other early superstar, the Human Torch, Sub-Mariner soon garnered his own title, and also appeared in various Timely anthologies. <br /> <div align="center"> <br /><b><i>Below: Comics' First Great Anti-Hero – The Sub-Mariner <br /></i></b><b><i>Marvel Comics #1 (1939)</i></b></div> <p><a href="file:///C:/Users/Paul/AppData/Local/Temp/WindowsLiveWriter-429641856/supfiles7CFC318/bill%20everett%20sub-mariner%20original%20art%5B5%5D.jpg"><img title="bill everett sub-mariner original art_thumb[3]" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="337" alt="bill everett sub-mariner original art_thumb[3]" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbxdqL8vajlY8R9OxCeozF6Eifzn77tjVJVF1xhU8luV0djaF8mu7EXSlmGzODUNQJbMcphyNfXwh-Sc7rOyyg9sdcrcW5LbozCeHhlYJjsM9HWiBUbXieBrDkwbr_Qx1m7Gw3Ol49TR0/?imgmax=800" width="404" border="0" /></a> <br /> <br />Everett, like his most lauded creation, was something of an outsider as well—even though he had a considerable hand in shaping the destiny of the American comic book. His feverish, fairy-tale flavored storytelling, coupled with an art style that effortlessly slid from caricature and comedy to sleek, stylized realism, was neither fish nor fowl. As the super-hero genre conformed to an increasingly prosaic look and feel, in the 1940s, Everett’s work refused to march in step. If anything, it became more florid in its dance between cartoon and representational drawing. <br /> <br />ATM became Everett’s home base. Though he would work for other companies, he kept coming back. There, he could draw—and write—in his own chosen manner, with little or no editorial harness. <br />Everett clearly relished this freedom. Even when illustrating dirt-dumb scripts of Lee and other ATM writers, Everett put his passion and personality on every page, in every panel. <br /> <br />Everett's investiture in his 1950s work is striking. Textures, atmospheres, senses and moods vibrate from his brushline. This line could be gossamer as a spider’s web, or bold as a woodcut. Relatively realistic figures shared panel space with goggle-eyed, distorted caricatures. Visual detail could become baroque—or be pared to its essentials. <br /> <br />When Everett was able to write his own material, the stories themselves become as forceful and impressive as the artwork. <br /> <br />The theme of the alienated outsider that started with the Sub-Mariner in 1939 appears constantly in Everett’s ‘50s ATM work. Like <b>Jack Cole</b>, Everett was sometimes in the thrall of a few pet themes. These give his stories a compelling impact that, like Cole’s work for Quality Comics in the 1940s, stands out like a beacon in the comics where they appeared. <br /> <br /><b><span style="font-size: x-large"></span></b> <br /><b><span style="font-size: large">THE MEN FROM MARS (1954) </span></b> <br /><b><span style="font-size: large"> <br /></span></b>In “The Men From Mars” from <i><b>Adventures Into Weird Worlds</b></i> <i><b>#25</b></i> (January, 1954), the theme of alienation couldn’t be stronger. This mini-masterpiece pre-sages <b>Jack Finney’s</b> seminal 1955 novel, <i><b>Invasion of the Body Snatchers</b></i> (which was serialized in the Saturday Evening Post after Everett's story appeared in 1954). <br /> <br />The story – more than likely written by Bill Everett himself – also is simpatico with the early works of <b>Philip K. Dick</b>, such as <i><b>Time Out of Joint</b></i> (1959). These landmark novels filtered the post-war angst and consumerism of the 1950’s through the burgeoning genre of science fiction. Everett’s story here, does the same. <br /> <br />While the story is unsigned, it's clearly all from Everett’s hand—including the splash panel. Atlas sometimes had other artists touch up—or draw new material—for the all-important splashes. Although the opening blurb (and the story’s title) aren’t by Everett, the splash otherwise vibrates with the nervous, dense texture of his pen and brush. The monster-masked female face, at the bottom of the panel, contains some trademark sensuous Everett brush-lines. The fine pen lines of the frightened male character’s hair (and the stripes on his shirt) are also typical of his finely detailed ‘50s work. <br /> <br /> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiUZ4tyuaVNQYaaVfQzjl0srgJdv75-D72_bYz1jFpPDMmkBQ0XbXpbLQNDlGhbiB03mt-pbqxdVcWJbepqE17vMoHS9Mxr4KtC4Wgh-s2jZ5ClOSga3y-LLKh_v2deZafecyqS7qApFM/s1600-h/sty01_01_advweird_25_everett%5B2%5D.jpg"><img title="sty01_01_advweird_25_everett" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="559" alt="sty01_01_advweird_25_everett" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQcYtObg-k4034TFwljZOG6wUz1ryW0j8cCx6aHNZPJRGE63DJFcQZ4Li8NyXdi0o-M6J03x11iKOae4iChxZKvIH21-ysN1wS96VTKI2rCGZm1CbHqoL2dMrZTf8-lJjOqnuznZJf1QE/?imgmax=800" width="387" border="0" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUMZa3hMDvFWoAqRnBMf3X3BWwmSnPpohNEnqkf5Bb8M7-jyEOFokAmIlaAE8XXm0QGOBHcIBGxSkBDyGRS7i8Hu-2DiuzCDBLmTdYSdLWsvipyNEs-rGLDNceUsBK75kbyh2uuPjsy5c/s1600-h/sty01_02_advweird_25_everett%5B2%5D.jpg"><img title="sty01_02_advweird_25_everett" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="559" alt="sty01_02_advweird_25_everett" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDeo1ki19sPMrOG9lyyGce1-EXS8kqnHguNvT1DOTaW0lOA46lj0UnoxaSKLHpTnA0-mmpgTcQXHbPE3pAOJmoS4DQ_DawaaHLpWvyfpuudccw88-iEGfxyUV21kZ-GMEI71zZa3GVZ4Q/?imgmax=800" width="384" border="0" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhGxncBK388ODxN2NXlCXkjpUoLdZTEd2TxSH88XS_jb-NrcZ7H6mFVCNsL9ej-dKIliHqK0l55Ie9O89Y4EyLAUq5u5VGfiCG3M580Jc1C9IpYEL9n370kNDw9sCFfjj0NGYu5DckLEw/s1600-h/sty01_03_advweird_25_everett%5B2%5D.jpg"><img title="sty01_03_advweird_25_everett" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="559" alt="sty01_03_advweird_25_everett" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_g2FVsN318uE/TakMncKKcAI/AAAAAAAAAOU/GUz5EFspYMw/sty01_03_advweird_25_everett_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="384" border="0" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV9z435yfMurux5IurgkPk7oLucH6-lG5UDSG04-XWmNQqESWq_UA9yKtZvdC1jrLCt-XaZALC-kQQ-kj4UezqJpwt_80tonlbozBvBkE0Z6avDUEUDJbojdK3ofm9M9vABMIEQcYMJKI/s1600-h/sty01_04_advweird_25_everett%5B2%5D.jpg"><img title="sty01_04_advweird_25_everett" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="559" alt="sty01_04_advweird_25_everett" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_g2FVsN318uE/TakMrIRSGsI/AAAAAAAAAOc/lt4B2BIveqY/sty01_04_advweird_25_everett_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="385" border="0" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRTBoEUJMlWTRCmIzepN4E5qW3oPKAk63l3Y6KPMN1N1ieEyJr35zgRwe4V2an6sXlhR5EvsVtTtOAGHT9U8Y5JZor2ya39NlHZN6IM6ViLjJt6SHd3nYjdSQyJCoy4dLkJggANgvR5YA/s1600-h/sty01_05_advweird_25_everett%5B2%5D.jpg"><img title="sty01_05_advweird_25_everett" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="559" alt="sty01_05_advweird_25_everett" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjObm-PPgKw4OdWqojrU40kMjXbuTVlkuQgxZPuOgWv7tVxf-vJcjyeYaNalPcW7kNVk3oF__VU4HpVBr_w5ZZ87cPN2dH07wwCBkwrPH-evqFn6ALvee9iJ1EBrLBBKYJX2h-LNxtCLNs/?imgmax=800" width="384" border="0" /></a> <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAYgxZvnKZ8BeF7syJg27Zc7kh_YJr6biOIxXdApgPytGbk-MBKe8fK3blzkKUoTsn33Ko-0UHYVa4sM__9OJXYJV6kXRMAlaPZEglsXY1ckFHvYzQ95tMs0qM5C8cfSK6vE2NmN6Gbhs/s1600-h/sty01_06_advweird_25_everett%5B2%5D.jpg"><img title="sty01_06_advweird_25_everett" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="559" alt="sty01_06_advweird_25_everett" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnV8MOoxjVGPWWo9WZvjZyZq234Ps5pOdhshHxxsXjlUtMEqTwGUq6BJwx9M894FFSO7f4oKB6_ceq-rP_daW2p8FPc3dZv-BL84QTT7Dsy2tyQcMz5X-GluknlLMUrtqGpD8r8lWZj3k/?imgmax=800" width="369" border="0" /></a> <br /> <br />Henry Parker, the story’s protagonist, awakes one morning to find the world he knows—or thought he knew—torn asunder. His wife, neighbors and family physician aren’t human anymore.  Everywhere he looks, what he once considered humanity has become repulsive. Yet, this has suddenly become the status quo. Henry is truly alone in the world. <br /> <br />Even trusted figures—Henry’s doctor, and a troop of soldiers that appear on the last few pages—are rendered truly monstrous. Note the military figures on p.5. Everett stresses the faceless institution of the armed services. In an era of gung-ho war comics that celebrated the fightin’ men of Korea and World War II as strong individuals, these non-human soldiers are truly chilling. Everett conveys, via his graphics, a powerful sense that the institutions of society have been vanquished by monsters who don’t share his protagonist’s values—and his humanity. <br /> <br />The matter-of-fact attitude of the Martians (who, as in Finney’s novel, have appropriated the bodies and identities of human beings) contrasts with Henry’s ever-heightened freak-out. The horrifying revelation that Henry is really a Martian—but has forgotten, through his own complacency—occurs simultaneously with his shocking suicide at story’s end. <br /> <br />Produced in the last days of comics, prior to the installation of the Comics Code, “The Men From Mars” is passionate, intense and outrageous—in a way comics would soon cease to be. The very complacency that Everett’s story warns against became the status quo which strangled mainstream comics’ growth for the next decade. <br /> <br /><b><span style="font-size: large">THE TOTEM (1956) </span></b> <br /><b><span style="font-size: large"> <br /></span></b> <br />In “The Totem,” first published in <b><i>Strange Stories of Suspense #6</i></b> (December, 1956), Everett turns in a tour de force folk-horror story of cultural alienation. Unlike the high-focus imagery of “The Men From Mars,” the drawings in this story are lush, with soft brushstrokes depicting the textures of water, ice, the landscape and fur coats the characters wear. Everett's best work has a great deal more presence than the typical comic book story of this era… and that may well be because of the textural quality of Everett’s art. <br />This story – lettered by Everett -- also employs a distinctive brushed panel border technique. In an era of ruled panel borders and Leroy lettering sets, Everett fearlessly freehanded his borders and lettering with a loose, living line. The brushed panel border – used in every single panel in this story – often appears in Everett’s work. The story begins with a (literal) splash page that shows off Everett’s skill at drawing water. <br /> <br /> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWk6KEdiifkOnR_Obf7AQWjSqDErI7stl7aympXtYzG3NfygmtMAswU5UD-Sios8ETBWm8a7A9X8-7jg2azKi-dm5JF7jhYAl8O4iYO5Rq0StbqRtVbPTX3KmJ6to_GfKNGNQe0ZsUjfk/s1600-h/Strange%20Stories%20of%20Suspense%206-10%5B5%5D.jpg"><img title="Strange Stories of Suspense 6-10" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="559" alt="Strange Stories of Suspense 6-10" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKfM9HbNav3UL9K-HlQiq2AoTwjxbsutfn_-B8gu-LpbgP4LCLEpv1neNMMcZme6n_E48yjpPBzfQLXafqRoJ2U3KJt5S6E6F47omed7YgZI1QIKWcqPjahHPBUZ86COZrtHbasixTIs8/?imgmax=800" width="372" border="0" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU68TuT6ticzCQ6l1dkczKj2g3gOATas7kynh3yzdS5psgYqCvMYbWxAdL9HuoWemv26eMx4db_m1mU6qBHrBAg-D_tVAUDOMdbzHqN3Rj6VWdJfn-P3PTNocybWEcS4tUkrSyAT2MUTw/s1600-h/Strange%20Stories%20of%20Suspense%206-11%5B5%5D.jpg"><img title="Strange Stories of Suspense 6-11" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="559" alt="Strange Stories of Suspense 6-11" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAW69ynd6NQVItiX32rTxxAVculAGnTK9RXnxQ29WtbP1ArS7sMKKU6ahCG0WmZTRkz9GIeqReOAzLq3aPigXvl02lWfMIy_sBDZq8-558IhOIpshICZfXGl59pGCrsQqJlA4PDmbmFAs/?imgmax=800" width="366" border="0" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCqG8D5Cdvt-cL3Df4eHVPIWhsgmOR7xrFoAchTPnlmVxS173tktfjqOQ_RJQQB01Iovng56X7qlnMFbq849OEH6WKcONPO_WLE-LudL_m0cmihKrpRrWEeyo7FPkp8wR_KWqbIS0xpOM/s1600-h/Strange%20Stories%20of%20Suspense%206-12%5B5%5D.jpg"><img title="Strange Stories of Suspense 6-12" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="559" alt="Strange Stories of Suspense 6-12" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1LSHc_r-oEYgFlwMDRLNPyCsWMFVxd1uqZLxuwOe2B7X1goAf54wSCBffi5oLtrylWRs1IykRrwyGIdPfPmguIBtappTIMdmbNYlbmdKKgwEIssWK5NSfgBvbLdO4K4D-Wo7RXm7MGZ0/?imgmax=800" width="367" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_g2FVsN318uE/TakNDlOlS5I/AAAAAAAAAPQ/n0GvJyEPDwA/s1600-h/Strange%20Stories%20of%20Suspense%206-13%5B5%5D.jpg"><img title="Strange Stories of Suspense 6-13" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="559" alt="Strange Stories of Suspense 6-13" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_g2FVsN318uE/TakNEuj7yzI/AAAAAAAAAPY/PaOAmngg6yw/Strange%20Stories%20of%20Suspense%206-13_thumb%5B3%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="368" border="0" /></a> <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5phJWPVgxN8dClW3AHbxADRhSoMxgHiywpku4Z4NDZfjBB12gydmJjsrH0JvF10BhIVQjc44oaKQ_sdWixdqsvSG7qXJiYX56dlwIFT36DoAcvn0zRHxocQfNwx25nhJbCdd5DEr6w2A/s1600-h/Strange%20Stories%20of%20Suspense%206-14%5B5%5D.jpg"><img title="Strange Stories of Suspense 6-14" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="559" alt="Strange Stories of Suspense 6-14" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi42v9W-jH-lv5xDJAOavHVQBOYJ_CmK0upjY6kkH2412LDzYaM3JApZh4PKcrBwX7mDIdTBe2Epg8rIfJwrhCeAM687zjqjt-aLhak-8uJfs-iSXPzPtGzrwV2VdNffYy2zu3sBJ-57wM/?imgmax=800" width="368" border="0" /></a> <br /> <br />“The Totem” has the structure and feel of a fairy-tale, albeit with darker, heavier themes. It can be seen as a parable on colonialism, racism, and the sense of entitlement by the Caucasian antagonist. Everett also works in some of the fanciful mythology seen in his <i>Sub-Mariner</i> universe—the sense of a highly special culture that is hidden from the eyes of the “normal” world. <br /> <br />Al Clark, in his lust for the gold totem pole, and his lack of regard for the life, culture and well being of the native Alaskan, is caught in a nightmarish loop of ruthless self-aggrandizement. Each time he returns, he re-destroys the lone Alaskan’s igloo, steals the pole—and then finds himself (and his crew) smaller in stature, and back at square one. <br /> <br />Eventually, Al Clark shrinks to the same size as the sentient totem-pole people. In the story’s poetic-justice finale, Clark has become part of the object he once tried to possess. <br /> <br />This is more than a simple twist-of-fate E. C. type story. It’s not about revenge, as most comic book horror stories of the genre and era. “The Totem” takes into consideration the impact of different cultures on the “official” world of Caucasians. Clark, who sought to rob the native Alaskan of his cultural icon, becomes instead assimilated into the icon itself. <br /> <br />“The Totem” impresses on several levels—with its unusually thoughtful themes, with its confident, adroit visual staging, and with its inexorable narrative path. There is much more at play here than you might expect from a post-Comics Code story—or from a later ‘50s Atlas comic, period. <br /> <br />There isn’t another comics story quite like “The Totem.” Whether Everett was conscious of its heady themes or not, they give this story a haunting, convincing quality. The Comics Code did not blunt Everett’s gifts as a storyteller, commentator or graphic artist. <br /> <br /><b><span style="font-size: large">THE CARTOONIST’S CALAMITY (1951)</span></b> <br /> <br />Our final story today comes from a curious comic book that spanned the transition from 1940s Timely Comics to 1950s Atlas. <i>Venus </i>reflects the identity-crisis of the post-war American comic book. Is it a super-hero title? Romance comic? Horror and science-fiction? Or is it a light-hearted, humorous approach to mythology? <i>Venus</i> is all these things. In its 19-issue run, it bounced off the walls of many comic book genres. I’m surprised it didn’t become a Western comic for a few issues. <br /> <br />Bill Everett inherited the <i>Venus</i> title towards the end of the series’ run. He was clearly inspired by its admixture of pin-up art and anything-can-happen narratives. His fairy-tale sensibility resounds through these comics, which we can safely assume he wrote and drew. <br /> <br />One of three stories by Bill Everett in <i><b>Venus #17</b></i> (December, 1951), “The Cartoonist’s Calamity” stands out as both an astonishing exercise in style and also Everett’s own statement about alienation as it applied to the life of a comic book artist in the 1950s. <br /> <br />This playful story – written by Everett – also has a hallucinogenic aspect, with Everett using every stylistic trick in the book, and then some. Whew! This is truly a dazzling visual smorgasbord! Bill Everett’s highest level of investiture in this five-page filler story suggest that the story resonated deeply with him and was an inspiration and an invitation to let his own Id run free. <br /> <br />Jimmy Rogers, the harried protagonist of this story, is one stressed-out soul, at once alienated and alienating to others. The pressures of his job as cartoon editor of <i>Beauty</i> magazine (the home base of the <i>Venus</i> universe) have turned him into a hostile, sunken-eyed abuser. The beautiful, compassionate, goddess-come-to-earth Venus sees through his frazzled facade, and helps him overcome his inner demons. <br /> <br /> <a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_g2FVsN318uE/TakNNeqcOvI/AAAAAAAAAPk/ZSwS7mgfrMg/s1600-h/venus_017_10%5B2%5D.jpg"><img title="venus_017_10" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="559" alt="venus_017_10" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6HfpTXDF8X1tKSQqeDIH-Fh6OEB1_tNTzF7TQQuZmY27Vz9LcwFIvcBXJu9Q16KMJClQSfqK9blu6tojzdDeFVmx4koczV1wsH3RsTZJGnDL6XSvEUqVrxpDJALEq8KP52cPbbx1xSJs/?imgmax=800" width="390" border="0" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3VpoWT-QXywC042-SxNMb8P5cCYyrSY3DTaXDde9T5FjdKfPgO827QBw8wbvmWXz-FiBB6CSmO4Z8HSV1eHPq6esJ8jrf0lnCB7JnLjjC36ZshQQJ0bHk0gQ6n441Cu-Y5o87BSOqMuE/s1600-h/venus_017_11%5B2%5D.jpg"><img title="venus_017_11" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="559" alt="venus_017_11" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibwdUbQOLUzbLa71eSjXDzJrzMzhrFTWTM1nTKJy0TvkHuBHxhAph7XaY4sZiYStbSCTvBCVDNNbzfT7pxaRxDPHtB0Y2rqzjjrb_UDK6VOCz4MJej7UJmt7LkUN_oVfK4MQOL0FeLfdg/?imgmax=800" width="388" border="0" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjojZh91tp1GvjaDISU284T7Uar6BBivv9C9C9GKo7XN1WMCuvWA7z6Y7U5nHT1m2A6441GxtCmvLASCOaIkaeM7YGXm_z2sF4YPRc4pLSekOfd2QCL-uSjWhfED3MuYbFKT4vB_2BQNj8/s1600-h/venus_017_12%5B2%5D.jpg"><img title="venus_017_12" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="559" alt="venus_017_12" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJFSMrKsNSspt7di0n3S-QB7VHVdyWJLSTbP2eelnz6CdLK8nwXMqCLrII8QhzjE8APIhuq9cstNnB7QTFrsVhuLhy-3_mSKj7Ptf8a6CFwUTPdFp0EvmxPaEU5JM_m8CiSApL6W77AjY/?imgmax=800" width="393" border="0" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7Qpr3oLh4CA7B9dScbABNiqhNRvtjYrzK-ubEjh0RhsBXAw4ThBCvmxEz2Li6vfPm-uBU-keNALIReHKTgxTpbgQxuWgo8jRD5Lg0l-EEWgslcw7XHSDqdaOl7KWQYgSHjCPwNiNEXMs/s1600-h/venus_017_13%5B2%5D.jpg"><img title="venus_017_13" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="559" alt="venus_017_13" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8uG1SDQR-8fA00I5S1Ttf3sjnLEFAW8Mo106tKl_23EIfGo2vcuNEOUqfQL86rtY_BPFR6G2TDfy-hSfiQuzGfMCmZ-0QWCMa33YEQDYwm1_RqY1xZNZ3w_hE5eCoCxvXBEB6Fzb8id4/?imgmax=800" width="392" border="0" /></a> <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSfcpRT5gfhcjqQ4KPG9pt_z78vymyxOZsqECU9pIQgfBs5s3WX1_O23ZauJplZLJAI8ks16ykY_mMwcc7IcIeenVaut1fW7Z3tdJgX9IISliyR5K11ROmF7FIfQ_aMX0-KdDGgH1EkIQ/s1600-h/venus_017_14%5B2%5D.jpg"><img title="venus_017_14" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="559" alt="venus_017_14" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL6D035u8HKyohtN-HA5p0bR5WAuUHosbJ-xoGd5ZU_H-mWY-iL6QrlDG1IDIeowqAP4VDSjqtiCY9AAiZOSYK-9fS381Rp2Yh0lMNeJRziN7_ggQYQKDCwi1dbsn5DilXQ_AvV2bouck/?imgmax=800" width="395" border="0" /></a> <br /> <br />Rogers moonlights as a horror comics cartoonist, and the line between reality and his overheated imagination has been shattered. Imps of the perverse crowd around his drawing board and taunt him. They’re unlike the ghouls and brutes of typical horror comics. These leering, taunting Id-monsters interrupt Rogers' sleep, and cause his confidence and good nature to dissolve. He stands between the world of “reality” and the world of comic book horror the way Everett’s half-breed Sub-Mariner stands between two worlds. So, even in a fun trifle, Everett’s obsession with alienation drives his work to rarely achieved heights and depths. <br /> <br />It’s fascinating to see a cartoonist depict his own world within the confines of a comic book story. Jack Cole famously caricatured himself into his 1940s stories a few times (sometimes as a hare-lipped, stuttering oaf), but his creations never threatened his well-being. <br /> <br />It’s tempting to see Rogers as a stand-in for Everett. Whether that’s true or not is lost to time. “Cartoonist’s Calamity” has a pell-mell energy, full of lurid humor and grotesquerie. The first panel of p.3 depicts the rift between the real world and the realm of imagination and creation. <br /> <br />It takes an outsider to the world of cartooning—Venus herself—to provide the solution to Rogers’ ink-stained dilemma. She roughs in the figure of “The Hero,” and encourages Rogers to ink her sketch. “The Hero” bears a strong resemblance to Everett’s Sub-Mariner. He cheerfully dispatches the goblins, de-calamitizes Rogers’ life, and dutifully returns to the inkwell. <br /> <br />Rogers’ melodramatic statement that he’ll never draw horror comics again is met with Venus’ pragmatism. “Let’s get back to work,” she suggests with a smile. Rogers is no longer the prisoner of his imagination, and Venus has proved a heroic outsider. As “The Hero” cries out, on his exit, “Your ladyfriend is positively ingenious!”</p> <p> </p> <p align="left"> <strong>April, 1970: Bill Everett at a Comic Book Convention three years before his death</strong> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3irJ1M2xf5lX49GQAXmtetlUyl0kBzEL4FWRcY1e95ZgXKH-ep91ljLaCQu8Ck6A6Wqg6z7VR-vUxXq5WFtRSe2DokeXs1Pvvf0UWUSR5oBE0cd8efoTal5YbTPb0L_jxM7valuISPK8/s1600-h/Bill%20Everett%20Photo%20April%201970%5B2%5D.jpg"><img title="Bill Everett Photo April 1970" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="523" alt="Bill Everett Photo April 1970" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSXYgsHRQ1fV8DWBoHrCLoEvcklbYD_sGlqDohPQ1lAUYJ7IvS8VCJeZx3CWIHQrs8VsdtiHsJk3AXx3iseaxTyfNi0MWRpBY9SEAsJwX4juGKzfS5FAkskP0Idzl2ePofKV7cOg5XVng/?imgmax=800" width="404" border="0" /></a> <br /> <br />Bill Everett’s theme of alienation runs through a great deal of his work, from the angry, anti-hero figure of Prince Namor (The Sub-Mariner) to his many excellent short stories in the 1950s.  Surely, Everett’s fixation on this theme suggests that he saw himself as a kind of outsider, as well.  </p> <p align="left">As we hope we’ve shown you here, Bill Everett’s work certainly deserves more study and appreciation than it’s been accorded. <b>Blake Bell’s</b> recent biography of Bill Everett, <i><b>Fire and Water</b></i>, is a great place to start. In Bell’s book, we learn that Everett struggled with alcoholism and had many self-defeating patterns in his life.  Just considering his career in comic books alone, it is easy to see why Everett felt alienated. Here was a major pioneer in the form, a guy whose creative genius was a pillar of the company that became very successful, and he was treated as just another contract laborer for 30 years.</p> <p align="left"> However, towards the end of his life, Everett rose above his own problems, and became a very giving and compassionate person that felt connected to the world. He was a very strong participant in Alcoholics Anonymous, sponsoring and supporting the recovery of many others.  As Bell recounts, at his funeral  in 1973, the many people from the comic book industry that attended were astonished to discover they were hugely outnumbered by people from the AA community. Everett may have felt a profound sense of alienation in his life and career, but thankfully, at the end of his days, he found his place in the world.</p> <p align="left">Now, what the world needs are some good-quality, annotated Everett anthologies. There exist literally dozens of such stories in Everett’s little-explored 1950’s comic book work. We will, as time permits, look at more of these. But, for now, we hope you had fun rooting around in the old Comic Book Attic (sound of echoing, ominous laughter and the smell of decaying paper….) <br /> <br /><i><b>Note:</b> Be sure to check out Doc V.'s amazing article on Bill Everett's ATM romance comic book stories at his blog, Timely-Atlas-Comics: </i><a href="http://timely-atlas-comics.blogspot.com/2011/03/bill-everett-timely-romance-stories.html">http://timely-atlas-comics.blogspot.com/2011/03/bill-everett-timely-romance-stories.html</a> <br /> <br /><i>All text copyright 2011 Frank M. Young and Paul C. Tumey; thanks to Doc V. for his feedback and clarification</i></p> Funnybook Attichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16945602110000563133noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2928533391830370422.post-57245365130591939202011-03-19T10:36:00.000-07:002011-03-19T10:36:08.480-07:00The Art of Dick Briefer, Pt. 1: Air-Tight Comics Noir by Cult "Frankenstein" Artist<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It's hard to believe that one month has passed since our last posting. It's our intention to post here more often than that. Suffice to say we've both been busier than normal with work. That's a good thing...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As you may have intuited from our prior post, not every outing here will focus on outrageous/disturbing material. There is plenty of that, in the history of comic books, and we will explore those darker byways when the mood strikes us. (That said, thanks to Art Spiegelman and John Benson, another pre-code Holocaust-themed horror story has surfaced. We will publish this one very soon.)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div>Today's post is the first in what I hope to be a series on one of the most starkly individual comic book artists: Dick Briefer. His reputation largely rests on the series of slapdash, spirited <i>Frankenstein</i> stories he wrote and drew in the latter half of the 1940s.<br />
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Briefer was among the pioneers of the American comic book. As imprints such as Fiction House, Fox Comics and Lev Gleason-Comic House debuted in a soon-to-be-saturated marketplace, Briefer's story and art was a strong presence. His artwork, circa 1939-1941, compares to Basil Wolverton's and, to a lesser degree, Fletcher Hanks'.<br />
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Like Hanks and Wolverton, Briefer seems to have written his own stories, and, in doing so, pursued narrative and visual paths of a distinct peculiarity. Briefer was the finest storyteller of the three. The quiddity of his comics work assimilated better into the mainstream, despite its obvious eccentricity.<br />
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Briefer's early work shows curiosity about what a comic-book story might be, and how it might unfold. There is plenty of pulp-genre blood-and-thunder in his pre-<i>Frankenstein</i> work, all delivered at a breathless clip, and all seemingly done quickly and enthusiastically. This was standard operating procedure for a 1939 comic book artist. While much of this early comic book work seems stiff and staid, Briefer's first efforts, while undeniably crude, leap off the page with a singular energy.<br />
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Here are some sample pages from Briefer's early stories:<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY05mWxft6FyhWrbem78khD5gYJRxeSTApt7hdl6eJHnyPG2qNTN3sO-3oqthlBZLrEtx1PVXhliJHjNId3GfRAlzIpVtbZOre18htwCqiI7MPlNXH5p4bEEYVC1NrL4xZv13XO_43jog/s1600/mystery_men_03_pg11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY05mWxft6FyhWrbem78khD5gYJRxeSTApt7hdl6eJHnyPG2qNTN3sO-3oqthlBZLrEtx1PVXhliJHjNId3GfRAlzIpVtbZOre18htwCqiI7MPlNXH5p4bEEYVC1NrL4xZv13XO_43jog/s320/mystery_men_03_pg11.jpg" width="241" /></a></div>This page is from the third installment of his space-opera creation, "Rex Dexter of Mars," as published in Fox Comics' <i>Mystery Men</i> #3, 1939.<br />
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While its draftsmanship teeters between elegance and crudity, bold shapes fill his panels. The energetic sweep of his ink lines has intense eye appeal. As well, he begins to break up the standard 9 and 12-panel grid layouts of early comic books.<br />
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The "Dexter" series was notable for its main character's anti-hero status, even as the stories themselves, though full of vigor, fail to breach the pulp-flavored formulae of their genre.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-pef_5qPK0c481IFAa_51xt7ng0MnhCgxlx-UMPK2zIOqXI0bF_cyOC1X8oLMWHtgeU1JUnBl1TtsN3bJCmbuR1_g6FqrWq5SsMjIHOMQahhnQLxs9_4s2lev5TY-fSiWifgNzjZXl90/s1600/planet_01+pg07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-pef_5qPK0c481IFAa_51xt7ng0MnhCgxlx-UMPK2zIOqXI0bF_cyOC1X8oLMWHtgeU1JUnBl1TtsN3bJCmbuR1_g6FqrWq5SsMjIHOMQahhnQLxs9_4s2lev5TY-fSiWifgNzjZXl90/s320/planet_01+pg07.jpg" width="232" /></a></div><br />
More impressive is this page from the sole "Flint Baker" story Briefer contributed to the first issue of Fiction House's space-opera title, <i>Planet Comics</i>, in early 1940.<br />
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In the midst of a genre story, Briefer takes a moment to give three minor characters a moment of back story. This is a device that Jack Cole would use, to greater effect, later in the 1940s.<br />
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Few other comic-book creators attempted such cinematic devices this early in the medium's history. Though Briefer later decried his early work as primitive, it engages the reader and still remains worth studying, 70+ years after its first publication.<br />
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Briefer's work becomes more cartoony in 1941. Indeed, it seems to have been against Briefer's nature to play it too straight, visually. Such series as "Biff Bannon" for <i>Speed Comics </i>(signed as "Rem Brant") and "The Pirate Prince" for various Lev Gleason titles offer dynamic, loopy cartooning. It often seems slap-dash, with bad and great drawings in the same panels. The pressure of deadlines may account for this inconsistency, but the work remains compelling.<br />
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Here are some samples of Briefer's bolder, more cartoony style. The first is from <i>Speed Comics</i> #1, 1939; the next two are from <i>Daredevil Comics</i> #17's "Dickie Dean, Boy Inventor" and "The Pirate Prince" stories. In the latter, the villain bears a remarkable resemblance to Briefer's most popular and long-lived comic book character...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrE0CZJruylkBQzahOk9Mj9ROBVTAm70aFzZ768pNehYig8PuWWQGucnyWdKoYh1L3zJpBqbyPzLzBoo8IcXbRbgnO5YcAbtCVrx5M8O_AC1ViqOYReoAYOFcrhR9gQx9F84cPFFcyc6I/s1600/Speed_Comics_01_p055-Bif+Bannon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrE0CZJruylkBQzahOk9Mj9ROBVTAm70aFzZ768pNehYig8PuWWQGucnyWdKoYh1L3zJpBqbyPzLzBoo8IcXbRbgnO5YcAbtCVrx5M8O_AC1ViqOYReoAYOFcrhR9gQx9F84cPFFcyc6I/s320/Speed_Comics_01_p055-Bif+Bannon.jpg" width="223" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAWOafwaubK-6CX3g2PagnUTvGh_WRlK6b3MTouiDpSK9_yI9zQUlq-iVWJVvSxveI4GLqjBPh5wOSGgcdeCzgrWeTA0QDHWxSyOfMAXl0XtmRj_3ovFxRQk6kFEAktkwLsIzFsfnfzak/s1600/Daredevil017-034.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAWOafwaubK-6CX3g2PagnUTvGh_WRlK6b3MTouiDpSK9_yI9zQUlq-iVWJVvSxveI4GLqjBPh5wOSGgcdeCzgrWeTA0QDHWxSyOfMAXl0XtmRj_3ovFxRQk6kFEAktkwLsIzFsfnfzak/s320/Daredevil017-034.jpg" width="224" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHUipwlFUDJVZKeksPSVzKkP43tr-tYoW3MYwROj6WgY93JcBPTEGzKRaQ0Ad8_O4dGemCLgIUsXKEa8L28fIkCeA_pkhmEvjBuTABhQJvsO9uoBiDAWnOCeJ4tvIEz2n2RqXCEZDB-qQ/s1600/Daredevil017-050.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHUipwlFUDJVZKeksPSVzKkP43tr-tYoW3MYwROj6WgY93JcBPTEGzKRaQ0Ad8_O4dGemCLgIUsXKEa8L28fIkCeA_pkhmEvjBuTABhQJvsO9uoBiDAWnOCeJ4tvIEz2n2RqXCEZDB-qQ/s400/Daredevil017-050.jpg" width="281" /></a></div><br />
Briefer had begun his re-think of Mary Shelley's <i>Frankenstein,</i> in Prize Comics #7, 1940, in a serious-yet-quirky serial feature. Slowly but surely, the focus became softer, and more humorous. <br />
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Three opening pages, from <i>Prize</i>s 11, 45, and 68, show the remarkable about-face that this feature took throughout the 1940s:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiICMtV6aPiwM81jKso_Ibt6L5ZHKYpg9O-YLcx1qavTji40Jncg3gC76yJf4mI4tbaofLzN_9PwVOgU0QfZTlxxLqc_x8PAC2RuT-LG7f0qZtkDHA7_r363m_-yDKz-6TH3MilAoscOQo/s1600/130048289028.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiICMtV6aPiwM81jKso_Ibt6L5ZHKYpg9O-YLcx1qavTji40Jncg3gC76yJf4mI4tbaofLzN_9PwVOgU0QfZTlxxLqc_x8PAC2RuT-LG7f0qZtkDHA7_r363m_-yDKz-6TH3MilAoscOQo/s320/130048289028.jpg" width="230" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6GmxGuGZzIradHquQLpqHI9VOB9NpCpOko7Bmir4DeLMpB2Xqiq8EcSxySPWFEr5BALSaJ0BySYBoukjMqWXVaDpiulbwxAw9njE3NduYZydbXtsXNOMPfFvi02fbruv1TQfNTqivCCY/s1600/prz45p13Fr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6GmxGuGZzIradHquQLpqHI9VOB9NpCpOko7Bmir4DeLMpB2Xqiq8EcSxySPWFEr5BALSaJ0BySYBoukjMqWXVaDpiulbwxAw9njE3NduYZydbXtsXNOMPfFvi02fbruv1TQfNTqivCCY/s320/prz45p13Fr.jpg" width="232" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD0ep7qNrMywfYjSyjGb76DUybI5RT-g3Q9LBnnV-zrCPwzxlWU579-D8mzHhsjMirKBh5clb9NBlwVlV_jmF3-QNeZG-6A6ddAEzCf9jZ1DAO2e8ohuT_FZFR2yDj7nuB6UjALgTgRmI/s1600/prz68p11Frankie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD0ep7qNrMywfYjSyjGb76DUybI5RT-g3Q9LBnnV-zrCPwzxlWU579-D8mzHhsjMirKBh5clb9NBlwVlV_jmF3-QNeZG-6A6ddAEzCf9jZ1DAO2e8ohuT_FZFR2yDj7nuB6UjALgTgRmI/s320/prz68p11Frankie.jpg" width="228" /></a></div><br />
Briefer's drolly macabre "funny <i>Frankenstein</i>" is his most beloved and highly-regarded comic book work. It was his most successful series, too. In the first few post-war years, Briefer was on a roll.<br />
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His artwork became increasingly more stylized, less painstaking, and sometimes downright sloppy. From page to page, the quality of Briefer's work is in constant flux. Overall, his thick, bold lines generate an energy and verve that was otherwise sorely absent from the post-war American comic book.<br />
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The funny <i>Frankenstein</i> suddenly shut down in 1949. Like many comics publishers, Prize Comics transitioned to romance, Western and crime titles at decade's end. Thus, Briefer was forced to change his approach.<br />
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It was a jarring shift for him, and it did not come easily. This page from <i>Prize Comics Western</i> #77 (1949) shows him illustrating serious genre Western scenes with a slapstick, highly stylized touch:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoSoYJ97ftxZjH1w0B66nYOLNwM22VMT43Tv37pjP8ivirhCoFlXnRhIkH3Jb8cT88yxGmEkJU9wR79zAB6ogGDqvKJB5J5LL_EZrl8deg0r8UkTv3Y4hSmfMdwDjmLUCXL4rGHwDhE34/s1600/PrizeComicsWestern%2523077_p38.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoSoYJ97ftxZjH1w0B66nYOLNwM22VMT43Tv37pjP8ivirhCoFlXnRhIkH3Jb8cT88yxGmEkJU9wR79zAB6ogGDqvKJB5J5LL_EZrl8deg0r8UkTv3Y4hSmfMdwDjmLUCXL4rGHwDhE34/s320/PrizeComicsWestern%2523077_p38.jpg" width="230" /></a></div><br />
This cartoony fervor also spilled over into his supposedly serious work for Hillman Publications' smarter-than-average crime comics. "The Imperfect Crime!," from the November-December 1949 <i>Crime Detective Comics</i>, stands out like a hammer-smashed thumb amidst more soberly drawn pieces by Bob Powell, Sy Barry and others.<br />
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To be fair, the story has humorous trappings, but it frog-marches to a grim conclusion typical of the Hillman crime comics. It's a weird blend of bigfoot and noir, and appears to be one of a kind. (Sorry for the lousy scan of the last page.)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWML8YZBmbTyFIr2AGVI1xXiLenMKiXCLCJsfu-5KZWCaNBFFXqY1RD4IM1O6tdSDDQTfPjY6EjHbZGWdfmqt8exY2zv-mWSH-fvXx21nOsxTTuk33LVf40fo1SgOJqk83IIv0f6tEYL8/s1600/Crime030.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583782030330028194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWML8YZBmbTyFIr2AGVI1xXiLenMKiXCLCJsfu-5KZWCaNBFFXqY1RD4IM1O6tdSDDQTfPjY6EjHbZGWdfmqt8exY2zv-mWSH-fvXx21nOsxTTuk33LVf40fo1SgOJqk83IIv0f6tEYL8/s320/Crime030.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 226px;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ0iuSItpFfABfkwM-TlbrnRRHIlovxcM_yvSZ6gRon4adaCkf9bLJ58ZHVYAqKvId_6JtR8fm3qLxAOY5pootgysdXb66LldiRyllVixgD49dJFzYTdDGwhRl-rWn-8ztXGiu7FItzu8/s1600/Crime031.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583782028410178658" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ0iuSItpFfABfkwM-TlbrnRRHIlovxcM_yvSZ6gRon4adaCkf9bLJ58ZHVYAqKvId_6JtR8fm3qLxAOY5pootgysdXb66LldiRyllVixgD49dJFzYTdDGwhRl-rWn-8ztXGiu7FItzu8/s320/Crime031.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 226px;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtGc_V8awtRBqO2A9KvUGJkdzlbFTMAlLYh7tsp2q-S3FZQnS23-lokDo_ZJfkm6Fytjrc2qesZ2FtdhOh40PxaFne0aVIQ56_d5b3MTf_tywLVyIq7lu32LA00jXKHDxPj61uniF3ieM/s1600/Crime032.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583782024072841682" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtGc_V8awtRBqO2A9KvUGJkdzlbFTMAlLYh7tsp2q-S3FZQnS23-lokDo_ZJfkm6Fytjrc2qesZ2FtdhOh40PxaFne0aVIQ56_d5b3MTf_tywLVyIq7lu32LA00jXKHDxPj61uniF3ieM/s320/Crime032.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 226px;" /> </a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibKvO1G9t8dckRNC0gECGmRW7jQO5_E5-u5pIi-IkUe96gDcxxYdp8LnJ_5cnZfvjrSJDRELRXUW4CW7LQNMIkBPH_OzWwa9UK6r8hVbNRXtH7MjIPLEwt7jr3kxlQ59_QixrLReZr9Ww/s1600/Crime033.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583783362856511458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibKvO1G9t8dckRNC0gECGmRW7jQO5_E5-u5pIi-IkUe96gDcxxYdp8LnJ_5cnZfvjrSJDRELRXUW4CW7LQNMIkBPH_OzWwa9UK6r8hVbNRXtH7MjIPLEwt7jr3kxlQ59_QixrLReZr9Ww/s320/Crime033.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 226px;" /></a><br />
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Hillman rapidly matured in the early 1950s. Its stories maintained a higher standard of intelligence than its contemporaries, with the exclusion of E.C.'s crime genre pieces. Artists such as Bernard Krigstein, Bob Powell, Bill Ely, Bill Draut and Ed Moore brought thoughtful, often elegant artwork to these matter-of-fact, allegedly fact-based accounts of crime and punishment.<br />
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Briefer apparently realized (or was told) that he had to meet the standard look and feel of the artwork produced by his peers at Hillman. The result was an unprecedented tightening of his style. In startling contrast to his slap-happy work of the late 1940s, Briefer's early '50s crime comics are among the slickest, sharpest work of his career.<br />
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There is still much cartooning and caricature in his work. His figures' moods and reactions are flavored with the shorthand of a sketch artist. His rendering becomes gorgeously controlled, and makes this marriage of broad and subtle work. Hillman editor Ed Cronin seems to have encouraged his artists to draw in a contour-line style, reminiscent of book illustrations. This allowed the colorist to contribute an equal share to the overall impact.<br />
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The result is stunning, as seen in Bernard Krigstein's work for Hillman. Though the color palettes are simple, they are intelligently chosen, much like Marie Severin's color work for the E.C. titles. They demonstrate what could be achieved, despite the crappy printing, poor paper quality and chaotic color registration that marred comic books in the 1950s.<br />
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From the August, 1951 issue of <i>Real Clue Crime Stories</i>, which opens with Krigstein's "Lester of the Bowery," comes one of Dick Briefer's masterworks, the brutal and brilliantly drawn "Boxcars Dennis."<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgObn9Erqw1xgWQbdJAg9DAut69yO6JJp52aofM4AnQk4j0Y5RFgivc6LuDrLSzKsujZ30TFGVnC1BivRkXJ0HCyCgZnmaVYZnUAFbvOIJJlL8fu86etyMolCxjBuYRH9qIvbL5yXmMTYY/s1600/34.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="640" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583780880817035714" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgObn9Erqw1xgWQbdJAg9DAut69yO6JJp52aofM4AnQk4j0Y5RFgivc6LuDrLSzKsujZ30TFGVnC1BivRkXJ0HCyCgZnmaVYZnUAFbvOIJJlL8fu86etyMolCxjBuYRH9qIvbL5yXmMTYY/s640/34.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" width="449" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiwtv5TPXEOhoBk8lGDoLbQA4btXcgTdw-VEsPQDl_0W3ggV5o3Vg9ttyvrx_Zp8wMYdc4kugyGM7rSKDk2nUiEMHnDMeWozPn66BwDyBLhB08CylGkqWa_l8GstpIuGoVRZ3_FgFF-O8/s1600/35.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583780876304395186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiwtv5TPXEOhoBk8lGDoLbQA4btXcgTdw-VEsPQDl_0W3ggV5o3Vg9ttyvrx_Zp8wMYdc4kugyGM7rSKDk2nUiEMHnDMeWozPn66BwDyBLhB08CylGkqWa_l8GstpIuGoVRZ3_FgFF-O8/s320/35.jpg" style="display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 226px;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5GsPM489oASGRowWtMaXdlmCK3YTApUWHzcbbFQYnHKDhEDEqBkaCpsejwKcFd-wvcuWIYv6jmZi4t40XqysB62jisFCLB_kvlf3_P4yZU3dwY21pgLQxGBu8dtrbQ2uQoP4kG7Ar16U/s1600/36.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583780862927278370" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5GsPM489oASGRowWtMaXdlmCK3YTApUWHzcbbFQYnHKDhEDEqBkaCpsejwKcFd-wvcuWIYv6jmZi4t40XqysB62jisFCLB_kvlf3_P4yZU3dwY21pgLQxGBu8dtrbQ2uQoP4kG7Ar16U/s320/36.jpg" style="display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 225px;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3oN0rMQKvzsZlzp6ZznNxZ7P6HIcR0zgRJb2qTRbx6jXj_owRNEa225p2L7n-jMwPv5REwz9743ttCT2h3rcTlvSkBJKVsJoCR2mR2X9duMsUiqwn8Mamz_2q_pucGsW7doH3_60YxxY/s1600/37.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583780853021900818" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3oN0rMQKvzsZlzp6ZznNxZ7P6HIcR0zgRJb2qTRbx6jXj_owRNEa225p2L7n-jMwPv5REwz9743ttCT2h3rcTlvSkBJKVsJoCR2mR2X9duMsUiqwn8Mamz_2q_pucGsW7doH3_60YxxY/s320/37.jpg" style="display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 230px;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj02iosf7FzPr2bodXF6HuifjBLo3ugjIlZNzlA0S5GPJZ-YhV4M6CLrNmlhyphenhyphenIrYd2LbGbVFkwrwhYXBW-RWwDu0g9EP4d7xXlkfJlZTUvi-NYh8VAUKc5sFiFXrI1A7DwW_Lbj08h_exc/s1600/38.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583780850518595730" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj02iosf7FzPr2bodXF6HuifjBLo3ugjIlZNzlA0S5GPJZ-YhV4M6CLrNmlhyphenhyphenIrYd2LbGbVFkwrwhYXBW-RWwDu0g9EP4d7xXlkfJlZTUvi-NYh8VAUKc5sFiFXrI1A7DwW_Lbj08h_exc/s320/38.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 230px;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP45zyoCarf90DOi9WKT01UcjMD19JWf7avFrS1YfyUVjyzvEbsiU8Mz01kUDAZaJs2zDBN5GkGJK0seVtUHh0VmYZL8jcIvdD8GCxo9wUX7dM11OPRCxomHwe8DwpO-r9S3crI5kDOrA/s1600/39.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583782044888650946" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP45zyoCarf90DOi9WKT01UcjMD19JWf7avFrS1YfyUVjyzvEbsiU8Mz01kUDAZaJs2zDBN5GkGJK0seVtUHh0VmYZL8jcIvdD8GCxo9wUX7dM11OPRCxomHwe8DwpO-r9S3crI5kDOrA/s320/39.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 229px;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi39tniOnuw-6fkaY89ouXABDOGX46Ya0pjzHUCGmEgiPrdj7dPm9r8UpoJZJPC2x0GfcQI8iEgOaQKzVVjl8LF3VDH-L5sf1cF1ds3WphgxIdPo0yr6JzU-NhakXP6iqQ_IGuWsGjEQw4/s1600/40.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583782035448695730" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi39tniOnuw-6fkaY89ouXABDOGX46Ya0pjzHUCGmEgiPrdj7dPm9r8UpoJZJPC2x0GfcQI8iEgOaQKzVVjl8LF3VDH-L5sf1cF1ds3WphgxIdPo0yr6JzU-NhakXP6iqQ_IGuWsGjEQw4/s320/40.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 227px;" /></a><br />
While the writing (probably not Briefer's) succumbs to primitive symbolism too often, despite its fascinating underworld feel, "Boxcars Dennis" impresses with Briefer's sure hand.<br />
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The unexpected elegance of his figures' forms, mass and body language gives this grim story an impact beyond the limits of its script. Briefer's contour brush lines are controlled, assured but still full of life. His admixture of caricature and comic book ashcan realism is a remarkable achievement.<br />
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Some of Hillman's crime stories were close cousins of the coincidence-laden, O. Henry-inspired "suspenstories" published at E. C. Comics. "The Simple Whistle," from <i>Real Clue </i>Vol. 7, No. 12 (2/53) is a later example of Briefer's impressive, understated comics noir style for the Hillman books.<br />
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This story suggests that Briefer had been influenced by Bernard Krigstein's Hillman work. Both artists, in their time at Hillman, specialized in subtle, thoughtful panel compositions, and strove to give their human figures recognizably lifelike body language.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinuHMCRHfVUdIpYTLwXMT3fGMvtBiBTSMFVcdX3GxuBBIpmUn2JdVfOdgLxqHFplHIsdV5gFNKrwc8KIUFz1m9SAvekOSanNR69iWWxdtiREs9T7L86xEUNYFKqOCZIOzCkhZqYIIrSkY/s1600/Real+Clue+Crime+Stories+v7+12+%2528Hillman+-+Feb+1953%2529+011.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" height="400" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583783360432883042" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinuHMCRHfVUdIpYTLwXMT3fGMvtBiBTSMFVcdX3GxuBBIpmUn2JdVfOdgLxqHFplHIsdV5gFNKrwc8KIUFz1m9SAvekOSanNR69iWWxdtiREs9T7L86xEUNYFKqOCZIOzCkhZqYIIrSkY/s400/Real+Clue+Crime+Stories+v7+12+%2528Hillman+-+Feb+1953%2529+011.jpg" style="display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 234px;" width="292" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnfwas9fLwJ2hUtQNJjq7NMFmslhFvXIEiDgy2PMSSXB1bebacInLHoKGPJPNm1tVEU9X-C-KLP3-ZiBE0IgsVwL9Gu21tiMMuT5fPR_9XQzZG9YLpYbhuKqCy7APCBP-yn7TSQY4lzrU/s1600/Real+Clue+Crime+Stories+v7+12+%2528Hillman+-+Feb+1953%2529+012.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583783356767900546" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnfwas9fLwJ2hUtQNJjq7NMFmslhFvXIEiDgy2PMSSXB1bebacInLHoKGPJPNm1tVEU9X-C-KLP3-ZiBE0IgsVwL9Gu21tiMMuT5fPR_9XQzZG9YLpYbhuKqCy7APCBP-yn7TSQY4lzrU/s320/Real+Clue+Crime+Stories+v7+12+%2528Hillman+-+Feb+1953%2529+012.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 234px;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXF1zIF7x5KvJv1iXCI6ykJ5ZHJKGVeUJFudyaTW_7BHv-_XfOWXl8PdPuFnBeJ-xu8Y0jfncoa2dBVS5MsiwZivzjq59ErYxPHAmTOPIFg8SUU8lvNYrhjjYia9ME9p4u6m7qkOs97lo/s1600/Real+Clue+Crime+Stories+v7+12+%2528Hillman+-+Feb+1953%2529+013.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583783352065767410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXF1zIF7x5KvJv1iXCI6ykJ5ZHJKGVeUJFudyaTW_7BHv-_XfOWXl8PdPuFnBeJ-xu8Y0jfncoa2dBVS5MsiwZivzjq59ErYxPHAmTOPIFg8SUU8lvNYrhjjYia9ME9p4u6m7qkOs97lo/s320/Real+Clue+Crime+Stories+v7+12+%2528Hillman+-+Feb+1953%2529+013.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 234px;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNf11vgfoQvXNXErrNw3cRq-P9OF-T8RNp1Q4QGnddUMQUV3bVEHzKE1f0p5N3VP_VOQqq1_ms5XlATAn00KDjgsvIfmj18kqurLYqzXFtBtC62-Apr9Yzdp9VqYLekelLS_5Hmxk24iA/s1600/Real+Clue+Crime+Stories+v7+12+%2528Hillman+-+Feb+1953%2529+014.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583783340005422130" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNf11vgfoQvXNXErrNw3cRq-P9OF-T8RNp1Q4QGnddUMQUV3bVEHzKE1f0p5N3VP_VOQqq1_ms5XlATAn00KDjgsvIfmj18kqurLYqzXFtBtC62-Apr9Yzdp9VqYLekelLS_5Hmxk24iA/s320/Real+Clue+Crime+Stories+v7+12+%2528Hillman+-+Feb+1953%2529+014.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 234px;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCxvGEvVRVZdA_j05cpTCzE8aBEf5qf2x2phtKF4EW4mNWzM92PBlPl8Kp8ah7zA8iBrNpsMb6ai8sWlSKo2xW7riqx5O_Dwtuu1NUR28idmc843FDXJ4frOTQDla5qWxOOoq6daAvPnI/s1600/Real+Clue+Crime+Stories+v7+12+%2528Hillman+-+Feb+1953%2529+015.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583784640060436066" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCxvGEvVRVZdA_j05cpTCzE8aBEf5qf2x2phtKF4EW4mNWzM92PBlPl8Kp8ah7zA8iBrNpsMb6ai8sWlSKo2xW7riqx5O_Dwtuu1NUR28idmc843FDXJ4frOTQDla5qWxOOoq6daAvPnI/s320/Real+Clue+Crime+Stories+v7+12+%2528Hillman+-+Feb+1953%2529+015.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 234px;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0CM3WCqVOG9-kfdrpeQOf4AGdprAqgbJyfDmA7_hX_Ade-suJoWPRRP8kCh7BDR301luAV2cOJNn7EX8_qG2vkjHIzwXgWafGc_FLmep2W2VsSdjYjH5qfIzaD63x2YsltNWX4gbPCsA/s1600/Real+Clue+Crime+Stories+v7+12+%2528Hillman+-+Feb+1953%2529+016.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583784631697837394" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0CM3WCqVOG9-kfdrpeQOf4AGdprAqgbJyfDmA7_hX_Ade-suJoWPRRP8kCh7BDR301luAV2cOJNn7EX8_qG2vkjHIzwXgWafGc_FLmep2W2VsSdjYjH5qfIzaD63x2YsltNWX4gbPCsA/s320/Real+Clue+Crime+Stories+v7+12+%2528Hillman+-+Feb+1953%2529+016.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 234px;" /></a><br />
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Briefer had matured as an artist by the mid-1950s. Despite the inherent cartoony edge of his drawing, he became more versatile, and more controlled and thoughtful in his choices. <br />
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Briefer's past soon came calling. Prize Comics revived <i>Frankenstein</i>, in 1952, for another two-year run. The series' slant attempted a tone of pure horror. Briefer tried to maintain the slick, tight look of his Hillman work. By 1954, his google-eyed bigfoot cartooning sensibility had returned. His artwork of 1954 looked remarkably like his work of 1940, as seen in this cover to issue #28 of <i>Frankenstein</i>:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvwJfJc5C_2W7EblUp_WDDSCz3bkGdLjG7E18cxPPRcIR7pZOrBqYZUpHxGrj85W3SRmew7pHwhAuruZCc0KmbXQDG9996E8pwNZeFKOXylFF_ta1NFuBMJXzMP_MDHvjHNxiu-MVfdEA/s1600/frankenstein_%2528prize%2529_028_01_heritage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvwJfJc5C_2W7EblUp_WDDSCz3bkGdLjG7E18cxPPRcIR7pZOrBqYZUpHxGrj85W3SRmew7pHwhAuruZCc0KmbXQDG9996E8pwNZeFKOXylFF_ta1NFuBMJXzMP_MDHvjHNxiu-MVfdEA/s400/frankenstein_%2528prize%2529_028_01_heritage.jpg" width="277" /></a></div><br />
The loss of subtlety in Briefer's post-1953 work suggests that the finesse of "Boxcars Dennis" was not his natural inclination as an artist. This makes his achievements in the Hillman stories that much more impressive.<br />
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Regardless, Briefer's work remains outstanding--that cover, split into dynamic thirds, is impossible to ignore!<br />
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The dozen or so realistic crime narratives Briefer illustrated for Hillman are little-known, but worthy of more study and rediscovery. There is much more to explore in Dick Briefer's long, varied comic book career. We'll return to his work again on <i>Comic Book Attic</i>.Funnybook Attichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16945602110000563133noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2928533391830370422.post-84453064762614690162011-02-18T17:26:00.001-08:002011-02-19T13:10:05.879-08:00Golden Age Grunt Work: A Quality Cover Story<p></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtdn_RW4IBzNjXMC9-wHSj8GO4cmwXN03KdKeofgk7Vi8qY99LEXFWsC4sKGriGePeKDt2SprvvqCmaVfSJrDu3NcKjjoIgxXf0LPUOj7doKKNZkV_M1D9WEIDFbK3sUEhSNbMwIjI1SY/s1600-h/Police%20Comics%2011%20Plastic%20Man%20Gill%20Fox%5B5%5D.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; DISPLAY: block; FLOAT: none; MARGIN-LEFT: auto; BORDER-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-RIGHT: auto; BORDER-RIGHT: 0px" title="Police Comics 11 Plastic Man Gill Fox" border="0" alt="Police Comics 11 Plastic Man Gill Fox" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqZvKQwvZm2oDvU8Ap85TgSTTeMAb3BWc2GG8V9BL0EJKLcSytsOjofWdJC73iE2ZkksW7kz5nQzUJPWx8AZHIEBx0_2FR9Sxmj-40_glVd74Gb9jSLC_XrcDYvTcR1VGhcSGuj40BuXo/?imgmax=800" width="404" height="184" /></a> </p><p>We’re back with a fun-filled second installment of our new blog! A special thanks go out to all the folks who emailed and commented on <a href="http://comicbookattic.blogspot.com/2011/02/insanity-of-censorship-ruth-roche-and.html">our first post</a>, including <strong>Art Spiegelman</strong> (be sure to check out his insightful comments on the 1950’s horror genre and how it intersects with consumerism). We welcome your comments on this and future posts… it’s what keeps us motivated, folks!</p><p></p><p>Finding surviving golden age comic book production art is as almost rare as finding an honest politician. Quality Comics production art is rarer still, probably due to the fact that the publisher – in a career-long fit of paranoia – routinely destroyed nearly all original artwork, so that competitors could never reprint it (until scanners were invented). </p><p></p><p>Here’s three choice examples of Golden Age production art that reveal a behind-the-scenes glimpse into how comics were made in the early 1940s. These examples were smuggled out by Quality writer, artist, and editor <strong>Gill Fox</strong>, who drew and produced these covers. Fox did an enormous amount of the early Quality covers. Our thanks to the fabulous <a href="http://www.ha.com/">Heritage Auction Gallery</a> for these scans.</p><p></p><p>Thanks to Fox's squirreling-away of original art and other production artifacts, 21st-century cartoonists and comics students have an unusual opportunity to see how a production artist worked, circa 1941.</p><p><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; DISPLAY: block; FLOAT: none; MARGIN-LEFT: auto; BORDER-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-RIGHT: auto; BORDER-RIGHT: 0px" border="0" src="http://twomorrows.com/alterego/media/12gillandbusy.jpg" /></p><p>Gill Fox is shown here on the left, with his wife Helen in the middle, and Quality’s publisher <strong>Everett “Busy” Arnold</strong> on the right. If you look closely, you can see poking out of a vest pocket the scissors Arnold used to cut up countless pages of priceless comic book art. (Photo courtesy of the <a href="http://twomorrows.com/alterego/articles/12fox.html"><strong><em>Alter Ego</em></strong> website</a>)</p><p></p><p>Fox's poster-like, usually humorous cover designs are often crude, compared to his other comics work. His renditions of Doll Man and Plastic Man fall woefully short of the interior versions by <strong>Reed Crandall</strong>, <strong>Jack Cole</strong>, <strong>Al Bryant</strong>, et al.</p><p></p><p>These covers are more like circus posters than most contemporary comic books. Their bold, blunt lines, flat, primary colors and strong use of white space are a far cry from the cluttered, copy-heavy covers of Fox Comics' titles, the frenzied crowd scenes of Timely's, or the more elegant, streamlined efforts of DC Comics.</p><p></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAN_BJNxPHn5xmVHSa8fiOD_cADvhQI66kt7EMOzn8BKCzE29TwaYnH9ZA8Aq2xoR5hx2QDvAt81uRgyTvFrpN-qXzMu6dP3k1vKQwLA4MQjFOmNzzp3VGPkR_Tisi5h_sFhtxNaZEYkw/s1600-h/feature%2056%20cover%5B5%5D.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; DISPLAY: inline; BORDER-TOP: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT: 0px" title="feature 56 cover" border="0" alt="feature 56 cover" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxmw_FmFvxtOXwxKhfpJ0WNTpzQ0Lylg67kWTcgD7YcvhMw_4XJZLQsDcdhRxrRTKO7k1kyUBDZbhHjqhejOmSDD2C6bETNG0Yb2AvSBpI2dHWiQEZIEZpYIumZKyOh5AjuX8h818Q5bM/?imgmax=800" width="404" height="559" /></a> </p><p>Fox's renditions of the Quality characters could often look a little disturbed. </p><p></p><p><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">On this propaganda-enriched “Tokyo Toes” cover scene, the tiny hero bursts with glee as he gives a Japanese soldier an American hot-foot.</span></strong> </p><p></p><p>Although we only see the Japanese soldier's feet, legs and part of his rifle (note the rising sun logo on the rifle butt), the figure's pale yellow skin color tells us all we need to know.</p><p></p><p>These folks did things the hard way. So did all paste-up artists, art directors and other production personnel up to the Age of Photoshop, Quark, PageMaker and, now, InDesign. Tasks that once involved airbrushing, careful cutting of Rubylith screens, pastedowns of alignment markers and much notation can now be done by one person on one computer.</p><p></p><p>It's still hard work; it's much less tactile and time-consuming, thanks to these remarkable digital tools. It took a team of draftsmen and production workers to turn the bold inklines of a Gill Fox cover into the glossy, smeary, mass-produced pulp paper pamphlets that beckoned from the crowded news-stands of America.</p><p></p><p>Comic books rarely attempted the sophistication and subtlety accorded major newspapers like <em>The Chicago Tribune</em> which, well into the 1950s, utilized the skills of European production virtuosos. A look at an average <em>Tribune</em> Sunday comics section of the 1930s, '40s and early '50s reveals delicate shadings, gradations and airbrush-like effects which still look dazzling and elegant.</p><p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_g2FVsN318uE/TV8cMHWt8yI/AAAAAAAAAFc/o3GJJLnxUSk/s1600-h/41967_89264_1%20%281%29%5B4%5D.jpg"><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; DISPLAY: block; FLOAT: none; MARGIN-LEFT: auto; BORDER-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-RIGHT: auto; BORDER-RIGHT: 0px" title="41967_89264_1 (1)" border="0" alt="41967_89264_1 (1)" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9mU-gBbggejEcdItvTsIbetJ1JB_OICc52uJrCx-ciNvulIIzmYGNg8e0faTTEk38tDyy92jv34FKHgN_mYYOP14c6aK5dFyRm65YuydomfjYuCCY9wi8wnCQnA7eeszxlt34qe9iQOs/?imgmax=800" width="404" height="272" /></a></p><p>Gill Fox's method for coloring comics covers seems unusual, even for its era. The conception of Quality's covers differed from their competitors, as well. Their original art was drawn at a smaller-than-normal size: 8.75" by 12".</p><p>In comparison, original art for the interior stories was typically done "twice up" from the typical published size of approximately 7.5" x 10.5". All the cover elements are hand-drawn--there is no mechanical typography.</p><p></p><p align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">Of particular interest is Fox's laborious coloring method.</span></strong> </p><p align="center"></p><p align="left">He traced the elements of the original art, rather loosely, onto tissue paper, in simple, blunt pencil lines. These tracings are notated, very simply, with the desired colors. Yellow is just <em>yellow</em>—that radiant, flat process shade that still stands out, even on tired, time-worn copies of the surviving comic books.</p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmxnv22rswobObb9oubwKe0oSjGwinA-etyjpF8AcXWlzFyU4j0KnI2HZ-s_07AmRFYMPnDTRHuHeVtMFqOx9KZwaxh2EoPMYHlp2KPsj6SkS2CqkSGZ5xDK_GJr16MMaL6jz7W0Qi0Jo/s1600-h/feature-56-color-guide%5B10%5D.gif" target="_blank"><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; DISPLAY: block; FLOAT: none; MARGIN-LEFT: auto; BORDER-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-RIGHT: auto; BORDER-RIGHT: 0px" title="feature-56-color-guide" border="0" alt="feature-56-color-guide" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3HXda0yQ0fCuUie1ymy4lQSiJbiRCld_RalCw6GNzxLU7Hn-sNRBj2PJdW2gK0FsU6N3iRPH1zuCN3OyuWN6tQ544eCGuCCOlTmT_mJrn-EJOuod6yeAc3k7tfBxUP8xXb8SVDe2axwI/?imgmax=800" width="400" height="522" /></a> </p><p>As can be seen in this coloring guide for the cover of <em>Feature Comics #56</em>, Fox's simple instructions translated easily to the printing press. While there are no subtle shades, as were found on the contemporary covers of DC, Fox or Fawcett's comics, the colors achieve their desired goal. Bright, eye-catching and sharp, the Quality covers remain impressive eye-candy.</p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiZZGzF6XjhSBr_cDvkoDgzWbzebASmcSSwJFA_5hzEz83-C4SMaHcoNvZE5Qi-5poubgjbtfkxmmKYP45xJhyphenhyphenq4fwwnusOXFYy0Q63wJm61OxHoSgkeIdI8FOOnASfFURsFSEL271HdU/s1600-h/feature-56-cover-final%5B5%5D.gif" target="_blank"><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; DISPLAY: inline; BORDER-TOP: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT: 0px" title="feature-56-cover-final" border="0" alt="feature-56-cover-final" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLTp8c8a644MYm7fL0OlUnNmWHKp1AShbhaR7YPNKkjV4fb0SRXCUg4kbWUnvwWi5dKynWCZ6vOyeH0uCOx8p05QOSBYXUSReEiYzsn2_EZqAKJxQayMKBKrQy5Tl5Eiv0gQIcdkonr18/?imgmax=800" width="400" height="527" /></a> </p><p>Sidebar co-stars Mickey Finn and Lala Palooza share in Doll Man's demonic glee. Poison Ivy seems to be saying here, “Ennybody gotta spare hemeroid pillow?”</p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig8wSND0YevIH_2xE38LrEpZCdRA9NRv4jmbUb2bN5BTaynLaLaiChX5MxaCNqs09cVYtKdhavEt-xeJXEqPTNVQQdqVUlCW-IgcVjlQ769fEOJi2qMDUc3M82kJ_0UZNU8uIzoUJVQ2Y/s1600-h/feature%2058%20cover%5B5%5D.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; DISPLAY: block; FLOAT: none; MARGIN-LEFT: auto; BORDER-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-RIGHT: auto; BORDER-RIGHT: 0px" title="feature 58 cover" border="0" alt="feature 58 cover" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGr0QQLxf-yqsP1OXnTEBLzrDGWDEu-XN_XmAzU8-bOlIYw_Tgy2QQXpPMekp3EsQk5xNK3NT1PhCf63BYtMBV7GuEeg408kAzcOZbT3qTOUA4jCxXb3sujDtd7L9dWhMvXtVTRY2NYP8/?imgmax=800" width="404" height="534" /></a> </p><p>In Fox’s art for <em><strong>Feature Comics #58</strong></em>, wooden, awkward human figures dominate, with its weak gag idea beautifully rendered in Fox's precise brush lines. The speckled black area of the cash register is elegantly achieved. The published cover uses a flat cyan and a bright orange to great effect.</p><p>Some paste-up of standing elements is evident--some of the headshots of the magazine's recurring characters are re-used from previous issues. But other vignettes--and, even, the comic book's title—were redrawn from issue to issue.</p><p></p><p align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">Fox was a slick inker.</span></strong> <span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>Although the figures on these covers are all awkward, their sinuous, lush lines are tight and assured.</strong></span> </p><p align="center"></p><p align="center">Fox's forte was in humorous cartooning, but he was a professional technician--which was a true asset in designing and executing these clarion-call cover images.</p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMlhvd19z-5fJW6b3M-qb1tAB4J8im5iC1zrNADgPlx_v20k8WVZzI7cjM7lwZ21oOAy36-6iVVnMRiqT9e9_9mWDVvPq4WaaGGt9RRFCDZBrQXpJ6J2r0N004pZ91Iqucotu21U89GP0/s1600-h/feature-58-cover-colorguide%5B8%5D.gif" target="_blank"><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; DISPLAY: block; FLOAT: none; MARGIN-LEFT: auto; BORDER-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-RIGHT: auto; BORDER-RIGHT: 0px" title="feature-58-cover-colorguide" border="0" alt="feature-58-cover-colorguide" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmKlgbzmrTGGyZV0rsWUMQwVWo2zbdcUsNq8pWqJYTnsMS0DOqYvlXxgHgjg6DUEfWD8VHvTpaRDTJiyqkz-h7wZAe-QKv0-Hev8mHGWUoEXmAjOfrbYkxIEqvtYrGIMQqoNunnUhtatc/?imgmax=800" width="400" height="513" /></a> </p><p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_g2FVsN318uE/TV8cRzEH71I/AAAAAAAAAH4/gyoJH3gMdUI/s1600-h/feature-58-cover-final%5B5%5D.gif" target="_blank"><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; DISPLAY: block; FLOAT: none; MARGIN-LEFT: auto; BORDER-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-RIGHT: auto; BORDER-RIGHT: 0px" title="feature-58-cover-final" border="0" alt="feature-58-cover-final" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd5imzRLi4bST4NvX0t2YSqgHhtH-bB75ggvMg8mUUocHn2FAACkNq7Q_7BR_fwMQ7DJuQOxsWufOLP6fBlSD-nEONjPYmusvxj8o9kc2ViPQy3rmp_GiscD1mTKEliMJgS8ISTLCcF5E/?imgmax=800" width="400" height="536" /></a> </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>It's fascinating to examine the paste-ups, white-outs and production-staff scrawlings on the artwork itself. Ditto for the tattered, wrinkled color guides, with their sometimes-grotesque tracings and various notations. </p><p></p><p>These preliminary pieces were never intended to be studied or seen. They were just a means to an end--to achieve a colorful, attention-grabbing cover that competed for millions of dimes on America's news stands, magazine racks and corner stores. Most readers probably had no idea--nor any curiosity--of how these comic books were created or produced.</p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS3bKtAXdV3Br7c0RXOxH7StoVPRMRNZOXViZy8LTU0L_2Bxxk6cDDcHJoiwacAW2ngwbMhbp91m8tVYRAjokZpXH9k7WbNtEPSnbJNfyeVp8VktscVdoUSDNIsGOuYPn5OXxZojyAFBw/s1600-h/Police-11-cover-art%5B7%5D.gif" target="_blank"><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; DISPLAY: block; FLOAT: none; MARGIN-LEFT: auto; BORDER-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-RIGHT: auto; BORDER-RIGHT: 0px" title="Police-11-cover-art" border="0" alt="Police-11-cover-art" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_g2FVsN318uE/TV8cT7nkFoI/AAAAAAAAAIQ/l0LpKRN0Yvg/Police-11-cover-art_thumb%5B4%5D.gif?imgmax=800" width="404" height="523" /></a> </p><p>This historic cover is the first of the <em>Police </em>covers featuring Plastic Man that begins to capture the anarchic, comic spirit of Jack Cole’s series. Gill Fox mentioned that this was his most-requested Golden Age cover image. It's a curious scene: a tiny Plastic Man (his size here suggests Fox was still in his Doll Man mode) sprays a mouthful of chemicals into the face of an apparent bad guy. It's not clear what he's doing, or why it's considered worthy of Plastic Man's aggression. The orderly array of test tubes, Bunsen burners and bottles suggests a well-tempered, organized scientist rather than a death-ray-wielding madman.</p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE7aPHnw0Or1AAnmRU_LtMQjUqYMxX5AOiPcD2A2uongL4HlPzuHf6fu0QE44RsyyHuzP1xcNPadxOUuqjNyskK0Oeo37bih-POCb0kPAs6Q0QFrkgcK0SacF3NxatAEl-1Sq_fPaJMUk/s1600-h/Police-11-color-guide%5B5%5D.gif" target="_blank"><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; DISPLAY: block; FLOAT: none; MARGIN-LEFT: auto; BORDER-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-RIGHT: auto; BORDER-RIGHT: 0px" title="Police-11-color-guide" border="0" alt="Police-11-color-guide" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiAGpdGIU7ZImNm1bSHib3D-NJSIu4hBrTUq0dDq5YzNOMuhr997Jk7FqAy9N9Vlyo8m4Oi6_O-iY-e2BieTKe302VdWjgsiZBR6c3a48IXwBQ05PUMJYFsiInEL-zzOx53j6PWAliVlE/?imgmax=800" width="400" height="505" /></a> </p><p>Fox's woodcut-like precision, and the stiffness of his characters, makes this scene still vivid. Again, he uses the foolproof cyan and orange color scheme, with Plastic Man's primary red and daubs of process yellow for simple, effective contrast.</p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHR3Xm-gisJ4lHJM5QdJdoemxXzInEjJjcn5zHOtM9axP3j0ujBeitFwC9501WXvhMPMxzJ0Sl9tUgG5zxWMRJOtftU4HsIuyWoYO8bTTKflO4YySUzHmkqAHl1ANzz3RtrWzl_VRCCIg/s1600-h/Police-11-coverfinal%5B5%5D.gif" target="_blank"><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; DISPLAY: block; FLOAT: none; MARGIN-LEFT: auto; BORDER-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-RIGHT: auto; BORDER-RIGHT: 0px" title="Police-11-coverfinal" border="0" alt="Police-11-coverfinal" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBvOUa_UQQ8qYsDEBEz20jqqPTH-Hsz2r3z29xwKpKq9QoPXFgZHGruiT6lMVtm9yKng_DlEMk-xGu-rtojaEOtEFP8Hn1Gd5FPn7M42eT1BK0YVwV5XirEUk9ffeMOA-2aa0n2kO4AHw/?imgmax=800" width="400" height="530" /></a> </p><p>Gill Fox would soon be knocked off the Quality covers by the more fluid, accomplished artwork of Jack Cole, Lou Fine and Al Bryant. Cole, in particular, was a master designer of the comic book cover. Fox's bright, primitive drawings have an appeal all their own, and his preservation of these unique artifacts from comic books’ musty history gives us a window into the work that brought this medium to its heights of popularity in the early 1940’s. </p><p><em><span style="font-size:78%;">All text copyright 2011 Frank Young & Paul Tumey</span></em></p>Funnybook Attichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16945602110000563133noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2928533391830370422.post-43183828602941395052011-02-11T19:13:00.001-08:002011-02-16T14:51:31.366-08:00The Insanity of Censorship – Ruth Roche and The Comics Code in the 1950s<div style="text-align: center"><span class="Apple-style-span"><u> <br /></u></span></div> <br /> <p class="MsoNormal"><i><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>Stories this post: <br /></span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span"><i><span>"Out of the Grave"- <b>Haunted Thrills 11 </b>(Ajax-Farrell, Sept. 1953) - Written by Ruth Roche, artist unknown</span></i></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><i><span>"Fair Exchange" - <b>Strange 5</b> (Ajax-Farrell, Jan. 1958) - Rewriter and artist unknown</span></i></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal"><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_g2FVsN318uE/TVX6nx7xBbI/AAAAAAAAADA/foUGNA96XlU/s1600-h/nazi_horror_story_cover%5B5%5D.jpg" target="_blank"><img title="nazi_horror_story_cover" style="border-top-width: 0px; display: inline; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="327" alt="nazi_horror_story_cover" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtYUTC2882Su59jjWAsbM5fV2boiEH8BxYjd2N3yyV_XTLuPnh0XP-sr2bWB5eZpUey5jXY5eftCtLZRJ1bsUEMuthF7UlzQ2KxW3S-TS9_p_gZ1qg2NSrkc-S_fR-6tSzO2OC_SQvWto/?imgmax=800" width="404" border="0" /></a></span></i></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Much has been written--and debated--about the censorship and witch hunts that plagued the comic-book industry in the 1950s. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Here, we present to you a fascinating example of the same comic book story in two forms: pre-code, and then edited for a reprinting five years later in post-comics code America. In addition, both versions are quite unusual. The pre-code story is a bizarre, dreamlike concoction of horror at the inhumanity and cruelty of the Holocaust -- a rare, unflinching stare at the "true" horror of the concentration camps in comic books of the period (the famous EC story, "Master Race," by <b>Al Feldstein</b> and <b>Bernie Krigstein</b> is another, much more well-known and considerably more artful and accomplished example). The post-code version is also unique for its sheer nuttiness and dreamlike logic breaks.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">As with video games today, '50s comics were criticized for their violence, and for their supposed bad influence on American youth. Comic books were publicly burned; newspapers and magazines ran think-pieces that excoriated the "funny books" while offering well-intended if wrong-minded social commentary.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">With the enactment of the Comics Code, in 1955, a set of harsh strictures--much harsher than those famously placed on <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Hollywood</st1:place></st1:city> in 1934--forced comic book publishers to toe the line, or go under. Distributors and news dealers, leery of public outcry, refused to sell or distribute non-Code approved comics.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">This history has been the subject of numerous essays and books. What is often overlooked, in historical studies, is the actual impact the Code had on comic book stories.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <br /></p> <p>Paul recently chanced upon a story--rather, a pair of stories--that exemplify the before and after impact of the Code's rules. It's a gruesome horror story from the infamous Ajax-Farrell imprint and its post-Code, much-altered reprint version. You can see the Comics Code Authority "seal" on the cover of the 1958 comic.</p> <p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><img style="display: inline; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/Jerry_Iger.jpg" align="left" /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">"Out of the Grave," first published in <i><b>Haunted Thrills #11</b></i>, cover-dated September, 1953, is the work of the Iger Studios. <b>Greg Sadowski</b> offers some compelling information on publisher <b>Jerry Iger </b>(left) and his partner <b>Ruth Roche</b> in his excellent book <i><b>Four-Color Fear</b></i>. Roche is listed as the editor of this comic book; I'll assume that she authored "Out of the Grave."</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p>As with Roche's other stories, this is a blend of the loony and the compelling. Its theme is brutal, even for a 1953 horror comic. The aptly-named Col. Eric Von Grimm delights in torturing, killing and hounding "the poor unfortunates who were not of the master race." The Colonel, stationed in occupied <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Italy</st1:place></st1:country-region>, sees to the slaughter of the "filthy partisans" who defy Nazi rule. He apparently lives in a cozy home with his wife, Helga, in occupied <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Italy</st1:place></st1:country-region>.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The story's intro informs us they are "a loving couple," but the Colonel's is a life of inequity. He spends each day killing upstart Italians, supervising the torments of concentration camp prisoners, and intimidating cow-towing local merchants. Yet he can't afford a new pair of boots. His current pair are worn out; they hurt his feet.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Meanwhile, status-conscious Helga demands the nice things in life, including a lampshade made of human skin. As Helga crows, "they're all the rage now." Her social nemesis, "that horrible Gretchen Smutcher," has a better human-skin lampshade than hers. "Women," reflects von Grimm as he removes his battered boots. "I'll never understand them."</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Using his grotesque jobsite percs, von Grimm acquires some "leather" for a new pair of boots, and coerces a local cobbler to make his new footgear.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">From here, "Out of the Grave" wends an increasingly nutty path to an attempted school-of-E.C. Comics shock ending. It is a typical genre piece from the peak year of horror comics. Yet, embedded in its talk of human skin and women named Smutcher is a surprising touch of humanity. Some attempt is made to show the effects of von Grimm's cruel actions on those around him. We also witness enough of his interactions with his wife to know theirs is a horribly messed-up union.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Had this story been conceived by Al Feldstein and William Gaines, over at E.C. Comics' offices, it might have been rendered even more poignant, despite the literal mechanics of its contrived surprise ending. "Out of the Grave" is more disturbing for what it tries to be than for what it is not. It's exploitation horror with an attempted heart. Ambitious and inept in concept and execution, it is nonetheless memorable.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Cut to 1958. The Comics Code has been in power for three years. The comics biz has been neutered. Gone are ghouls, gangsters, gun molls. Carnage, murder and mayhem are suggested, if at all invoked. Careers have been destroyed in the process. Surviving publishers have conformed to the Comics Code and had each story ruthlessly scrutinized.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Interior, Ajax-Farrell editorial offices:<span> </span>the decision is made to reprint stories from five years prior. Among those chosen: "Out of the Grave."</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p>With its constant sadism, slaughter, inhumanity and general affront to civil behavior, a less Code-worthy comic book story could not be found. Thus, massive alterations and re-writes befell "Out of the Grave," re-titled "Fair Exchange" for its publication in issue #5 of <i><b>Strange</b></i>, cover-dated January 1958.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">"Fair Exchange" is a different story. It is fascinating to study each of the story's six pages, in both incarnations, as an example of pre-and post-Code comic books.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Page 1: the splash panel's text introduction is completely re-written--and is more concise than that of "Out of the Grave." It's generally well-written, save for one sentence fragment. On the right side of the splash page,<span> </span>note the replacement of tortured prisoners with a hastily daubed-in bush, colored pink. It appears that Antonio, the cobbler, has awakened from a massive cotton-candy spill.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Col. von Grimm retains his name, but his methods and manners have changed dramatically. Instead of an eagerness to kill the partisan rebels, von Grimm expresses passive frustration: the naughty Italians won't behave.<span> </span>It's really quite vexing!</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The soldiers in panel 2 no longer fire their weapons. Though the Colonel still wields his rifle in panel 3, the dugout and its sitting-duck partisans are no longer there. The rifle in von Grimm's arm is now the tool of an empty gesture.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <br /></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdjLrpaaU74yYqDRrFsxu8TFQviXRGEUTtF9OmUwX9oLHcvwR3bVQasVYFHkuxz-hsmfav3sSQ99J0EySMjqVyZ2z4EfOZxFiMUIqfRPZ-MJ9k8ZBaTAFDH-_JIqzqw3dYVMga8N83snM/s1600-h/nazi_horror_story_1%5B5%5D.jpg" target="_blank"><img title="nazi_horror_story_1" style="border-top-width: 0px; display: inline; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="327" alt="nazi_horror_story_1" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy2WbM0eAJd5saFYCJjkpurLrEfb7OFDpi-qRCzF-b9rNNc_MEQObrXsI4ktiCD9maWdwoklfQMomMf7dJgRmSljOxhI0EAiWal988j_IFFcAIWyH6nTuWKq2faYdGHQbyD4C5ltxXQsw/?imgmax=800" width="404" border="0" /></a> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNy2zgW16RJ3K5ZumP3zjs2KL0FyiH6WHdstqrkIG1OJB0wmy0i2dCKUOrGIGmhwxlsrtKgKwNlkP3QS9unSFPe7c8_4N2CSBrG5yzib8Z3mTa6AWWYfLioucdSyVqDz4ZXpJKmN0B7wc/s1600-h/nazi_lampshade%5B5%5D.jpg"></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal">On page 2 (below): For starters, Helga's face has been extensively smoothed out, de-wrinkled and glamorized. This is in accord with one of the less-remembered edicts of the Comics Code. Faces that could be considered frightening or disturbing had to be toned down.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The von Grimm couple's dialogue, on this page, speaks volumes about the changes in the American comic book--and about the conformist attitudes of mainstream 1950s <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region>. Note that the lampshade is now just... a lampshade--and not a fancy one at that. As new Helga complains, "I'm sick and tired of this neighborhood... the shops are bombed or out of stocks! ...I hate our furniture, and it's time you did something about it!"</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">More tellingly, Helga has an issue with Nazi pride. “Why must everything be stamped with the swastika? ... Lately, I wish I had other labels!” Her husband patiently explains that “it really is patriotic to stamp our personal articles.” Ironically, Code censors nixed the inclusion of the swastika on the lamp shade—wrecking the re-writer’s attempts to keep it there.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">In the final two panels, Col. von Grimm muses about his wife’s desire for “imported goods,” rather than human-skin accessories. The final panel of p.2 is the first unaltered frame in this revised version. Apparently, the Code approved a man bemoaning the shoddy state of his footwear.</p> <p></p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbxsrJqv0tG_FBYgrBkWW_cRo5qq9lIR4dh3VRT9Xg5jo3jPaMn6QLRW7KYqTjKsid8rS7HnXDBQ97rKVyZ9O1pKX7lSTI5vTbrEblhQUgTi5fYHpRAuQb7HCnOedf_i56RYy-qgl5K2c/s1600-h/nazi_horror_story_2%5B5%5D.jpg" target="_blank"><img title="nazi_horror_story_2" style="border-top-width: 0px; display: inline; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="327" alt="nazi_horror_story_2" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMw49dRKg5jyL0NoaGRoH_k_wT3L3E1qI2pbSfmfi5SBcEHuls05J56Glr6PfNEjVSA9oWWE2W2kR3Yuwqvn5E-yL3Xc3O1Y9paSdomvOTDRyDDyy_6LK6BaYNzqL3TifxU5YALkxfzyU/?imgmax=800" width="404" border="0" /></a> </p> <p></p> <p>So, did the Nazis actually make lampshades from human skin? Where does this come from? Here's what <a href="http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2511/did-the-nazis-make-lampshades-out-of-human-skin">The Straight Dope website</a> has to say:</p> <p> <br /></p> <blockquote> <p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px"><span>Shortly after U.S. troops liberated the Buchenwald Nazi concentration camp in 1945, director Billy Wilder made a documentary about the camp to publicize Nazi atrocities. A widely circulated still photo from the film showed a table covered with preserved human remains, including two shrunken heads; several pieces of what appears to be tattooed skin; and an ordinary-looking table lamp. The film's narration says that among the items found was "a lampshade, made of human skin, made at the request of an SS officer's wife."</span></span></p> </blockquote> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px"> <p> <br /></p> </span> <p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px"><span class="Apple-style-span">It seems likely that Ruth Roche, or whoever wrote this story, had seen -- or at least knew about the Wilder film and the circulating photo and story. Here's the (in)famous photo of the horrific Nazi human souvenirs:</span></span></p> <p><img title="nazi_lampshade" style="border-top-width: 0px; display: block; border-left-width: 0px; float: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 10px auto; border-right-width: 0px" height="299" alt="nazi_lampshade" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvk71eGL9y2AQ4UTsflcoCPt0LtF5KWIiP3Dn5JVEheU0GbokkLRGZ3dtI8MYmhfJx0Z-GEAuzsTJ54C1rPHwEEzQeKJ7_PiJubtqXNiulF6bYwQLlr9EIAu3lVWk2L5omKESa8gi6GMI/?imgmax=800" width="370" border="0" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px"><span class="Apple-style-span"> <br /></span></span></p> <p>Page 3: The first panel is also unaltered from its 1953 incarnation. Panel 2 changes the emphasis from dead bodies to surplus boots. In both cases, the prisoners are “stupid peasants.” In ’53, they’re idiots because they refuse to die; ‘58’s citation of inanity is their lack of spare shoes.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Panel 3 is altered dramatically. Instead of von Grimm killing a prisoner, for the use of his skin, he spots a “stupid peasant” who happens to wear fine boots. Invoking the classic “seize them” line (a necessity of B-movies and other popcult detritus), von Grimm spares a life and confiscates footwear.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Angelo, the cobbler, is given a beauty makeover similar to Helga’s. Good guys have no facial blemishes in post-Code comics. von Grimm retains his shadowy furrows, as he’s the bad guy.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">In the final panel, the “er, leather” is now just boots. They look suspiciously unlike boots in the soldier’s bundle, which was unaltered from the ’53 original.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggwU1zSNzIBQ5ZVgCc3wPGVTXp_tntsssUpz0U8EsMvW92j33I7ms3yA0tO-Oi86K8CizZ2r7LGtF1GHtmH0E_2fMP98ktu7FMoEYoyJX8OkjKna4Hxwi5iv4aM5e0gnOwpUCH564ScEE/s1600-h/nazi_horror_story_3%5B4%5D.jpg" target="_blank"><img title="nazi_horror_story_3" style="border-top-width: 0px; display: inline; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="327" alt="nazi_horror_story_3" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYovPkJV_zlWKwmmzeSWg3SmUVTH9puRGppmal9spQNn1pl1gDyWe4nQHgByqYGsqkbpSQRE_rzT8wPEb1QeUYWP9YbVCd2rChucebCrepeTd5tls09InuZSaTCPuLmXAQeQ1rRQk_bt0/?imgmax=800" width="404" border="0" /></a> </p> <p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Page 4 takes on a fairy-tale aspect in the ’58 rewrite. Angelo recognizes his own handiwork, instead of seeing tell-tale tattoos on the skin of his son. Now, his emotional connection is even further removed. It’s no longer his son, but his nephew.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">As well, the rewrite’s admirably absurd new shock ending comes into play. Angelo raises his hammer in the air, still aquiver, as in ‘53’s version, but his thoughts are no longer of “a pair of boots that can strike and kill.” Now, the boots “can tick off the end of a career!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">In the final panel, Angelo’s vengeful thoughts are blotted out, as are the lines of care on his face. A hasty attempt at feathering sits above the poor cobbler’s head.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgETX7nAy2QgnbTSIjDi-lbv3NsYM0fyDsN42eRyCmTvZKqoKMyCtRe8sa8RnP4cZ9mTVy7YY90ZLL3wUu-sFpwseo8Ewx0Zb-wuEfRdIOcf6w5_TQbAJDTzNlIJwt1ep9HKptLY3tYuc8/s1600-h/nazi_horror_story_4%5B4%5D.jpg" target="_blank"><img title="nazi_horror_story_4" style="border-top-width: 0px; display: inline; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="327" alt="nazi_horror_story_4" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPg2wegpIp8HrpvhyphenhyphenanCCRRzBP8gTSAFO49avO09mzw6XEX1wTgWo1_o56VSmvDZB8gi4QUCjIX-lDVbOjke4QiNXH_IcXZE0txeBM7vGW9ZjTnZMlZGL-zglcjwiaQT_KstptPfs09DA/?imgmax=800" width="404" border="0" /></a> </p> <p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">On page 5, feces meet fan blades. Angelo is no longer rewarded with death, as in the 1953 original, but with imprisonment and deportation. In the final two panels, Angelo no longer sweats or spits. Once again, his face is shorn of blemishes as he meets a much softer fate.</p> <p></p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn6c7vZzsj8Q9py2WYffWltVxqUX3bKDsU3_Q08EvbOz0Xeka8m1QsXR-ewnHTS8IPHd1y4fhqv18cVeDnN-SDmEVtsXN4jEshbXBSNxr40LbZvbifEx6wvim_S6f-qPOzzlDlPD3YHqQ/s1600-h/nazi_horror_story_5%5B4%5D.jpg" target="_blank"><img title="nazi_horror_story_5" style="border-top-width: 0px; display: inline; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="327" alt="nazi_horror_story_5" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeUvlWcwgP7zQ16jDl2DoPf1UPa-YKOUQ3QRa4BujUhN1fRQDZ7PwzQgRsE9q2mMTcySgZNZR6k5wv5DP8AnOXSSBvfxDEbKfv1MhT94-HlTL6eOEtUXA2nX2S5UlboZMVfvekIFX9wtY/?imgmax=800" width="404" border="0" /></a> </p> <p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Page 6 sums up much of what was wrong with the Comics Code, and how it negatively impacted comic book storytelling. There is crude poetic justice in the ’53 original, with the explosives set in the Nazi emblems, which the Colonel will inevitably click together in salute to a superior. As with the other more complex ideas attempted in “Out of the Grave,” this is telegraphed, and loses much of its effectiveness.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The first three panels of this final page are unaltered—even Helga’s wrinkles remain in her panel 1 close-up.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Panel 5 is the one entirely new frame of this re-make. The artist apparently didn’t have access to earlier pages. Helga now looks like a prom queen, instead of the middle-aged harridan she has been.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What happens in the climax to “Fair Exchange” is laughable—and must have seemed so 54 years ago. One has to wonder if Michael Kuppermann travelled back in time to create the story’s conclusion. A ticking clock can be annoying, but it is just cause to end a military career?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">This absurd twist is made sorta-poetic in the story’s closing panel, in which the same un-named “friend” kneels before Antonio’s grave and muses sagely to himself. His run-on sentence is worth savoring:</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b>Who would think of the clever trick of putting a set clock in the heels of a Nazi colonel at a time it would ruin him!</b></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitMBD8aVEAg79cJeLY5k1Vd92_a7KYUkCIyW9hcsoVsf-e73QAHPXqhsm1AqQBdv380FRMCH5-Y5OC0SRX2z7AUzwJP17XxJx4ONs8Wh_vIZwqrNZ-e89EuqERb3COFEGjUJ5tt96Z-yg/s1600-h/nazi_horror_story_6%5B5%5D.jpg" target="_blank"><img title="nazi_horror_story_6" style="border-top-width: 0px; display: inline; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="327" alt="nazi_horror_story_6" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFH6Q2MQXrdosQ9Hn_TZr8awtKfKpu650GU8_6hLdE0E7ryNlrN_CCyR6hn-g8b8cme1hOcmHhJ3wHYtyact279MgYKj7su-jTJxyX7JTmKiTIJhW6S5pwvmytddDgH3ZZ0UaQPHPTeZg/?imgmax=800" width="404" border="0" /></a></p> <p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span></span>“Out of the Grave” is no masterpiece; neither is it hackwork. The writer (Roche?) grappled with larger-than-usual themes for a 1953 horror comic. He or she didn’t have the space—or the chops—to do much with these controversial themes, but it appeared they tried. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">It is inexplicable why this story was chosen for a Code-approved revision. Everything about it, in its 1953 version, is an affront to the tenets of the Code. Certainly the Iger concern had milder stories sitting in its inventory!</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Ajax-Farrell was in its last days, and, like the endtimes of the Nazi regime, thrift and re-use were of necessity. It took, perhaps, a couple of hours to re-write the story and re-tool the changes needed to the artwork. No one knew the difference, and no one cared. It was just another story, to fill the pages of just another comic book, from a publisher that would soon be history.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Fifty-four years later, the comparison of original and bowdlerized remake is fascinating as a study in censorship from a social regime that was almost as oppressive as Col. von Grimm himself.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b>P.S.: </b>Many Ajax-Farrell stories were reprinted—and gruesomely retooled—for <b>Myron Fass</b>’ super-crappy <i><b>Eerie Publications</b></i>. We didn’t have the energy or time to prowl through available scans of Eerie mags for a possible third version of this story. We can only hope that it was chosen for re-reprinting, due to its gruesome themes, and that Fass tarted the story up even further in his revision. If anyone is aware of a Fass-published third version of this story, please let us know, and we’ll add it to this post.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">This is the first of a new series of posts on <i>Comic Book Attic</i>, which will now serve as a blog for Paul Tumey and Frank Young to explore facets of the American comic-book. You may be familiar with our blogs, <i>Cole’s Comics</i> and <i>Stanley Stories</i>. They’re focused on one creator and his work. <i>Comic Book Attic</i> affords us a chance to write about—and share—other comics material, both great and effed-up, from the tattered history of the four-color medium.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">We look forward to the fun we’ll have here, and we hope you’ll enjoy our musings as well.</p> Funnybook Attichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16945602110000563133noreply@blogger.com4