Careful now. Pinky the Whiz Kid was Mr. Scarlet’s son. Okay, his adopted son, but still.
I’ve sometimes wondered why DC—which acquired them from Fawcett—hasn’t done a Vertigo story set in the ’50s with them as Communist sympathizers. With their names it seems a natural.
There are a few notable birthdays today, but I'm going to go with Puerto Rican-born Golden Age artist Ruben Moreira (1922-84). Moreira didn’t have a particularly long career in comics, leaving the industry in 1962 after 20 years, but he did a fair amount of work in that time. He broke in with Quality Comics in 1942, and his first cover was for their Smash Comics #38 (Dec. 1942).
Within the year he was working for Harry “A” Chesler’s shop producing work for Fiction House, such as this cover to Jungle Comics #88 (Apr. 1947).
But the bulk of his comics work was done for DC starting in 1949. His first cover for DC was The Adventures of Alan Ladd #7 (Oct.-Nov. 1950), a title for which he did several interior stories.
Moreira became a regular in House of Mystery, My Greatest Adventure, Gang Busters, Mr. District Attorney, Tales of the Unexpected, and House of Secrets. He was also the regular artist of the “Roy Raymond, TV Detective” back-up in Detective Comics.
Mr. District Attorney - Every time this title is brought up I think it should be the coolest comic ever, but some how I just don't think it is. I love this thread, NW.
Thanks to Mr. Weathington I now have a DC pitch, think Gotham Central meets law and order featuring Mr. District Attorney (now a federal prosecutor specializing in Super Villain cases).
Mr. District Attorney - Every time this title is brought up I think it should be the coolest comic ever, but some how I just don't think it is. I love this thread, NW.
Thanks to Mr. Weathington I now have a DC pitch, think Gotham Central meets law and order featuring Mr. District Attorney (now a federal prosecutor specializing in Super Villain cases).
Ha! Thanks, @mwhitt80, and that sounds like it could be a fun comic. DC editorial may end up making it more like CSI: Miami though. Also, keep in mind that Mr. District Attorney started out in radio and later moved to TV; I'm not sure who owns the rights to it now, but it isn't DC.
Happy birthday to Bo Hampton who is 59 today. Bo is the older brother of Scott Hampton, and like Scott is mostly known for his painted work. His first professional comic book work appeared in 1980 for DC, but his first cover was for Sirius’ Greylore mini-series, for which he did covers and interior work—pencils and inks only.
He worked for several publishers, particularly Eclipse. Lost Planet was a series he both wrote and drew.
He wrote and painted an excellent adaptation of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow for Tundra in 1992.
For the Uther one-shot, Bo painted the cover and wrote and penciled the interiors. Dan Abnett (yes, he was an inker before he was a writer) was his inker.
And happy 62nd birthday to Don “the other good duck artist” Rosa. Rosa’s early work appeared in The Comics Reader. For each issue he wrote and drew a one- (sometimes two-) page strip called “Captain Kentucky,” which were later collected.
His first duck work was an Uncle Scrooge story for Walt Disney’s Uncle Scrooge #217 (July 1987), and he was off and waddling. Always popular in Europe, he gained notoriety here in the States with his serialized “Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck,” which won him an Eisner.
Unfortunately, due to a detached retina and only partially successful surgery, Rosa retired from comics in 2008.
I fondly remember the Captain Kentucky strips; I think they were reprinted in The Comic Reader, which I bought regularly back in the day. And his Life And Times Of Scrooge McDuck is one of my all-time favorites.
Happy 55th birthday to Shawn McManus! I know he doesn’t have a huge following, but I am a big fan of his work. I've mentioned this before, but it was his promotional poster for Dr. Fate that drew me into a comic shop my freshman year of college, and back into comics.
Shawn broke in with DC in 1983. His first regular series was the underrated Omega Men, which he drew from issue #25-38.
I loved, loved, loved the Dr. Fate series.
In ’92 he started working for Marvel and other publishers, as well as DC.
Over the next two or three years, his work became more Image-y (more like McFarlane, Lee, & Co.), which didn’t really work for him in my opinion, even with the series he co-created, Man Called A-X.
With the Wild Girl mini-series, he got back to what he does best.
Cover art sans type for the first issue of Wild Girl.
Monday marks the birthday of Billy Graham (1935-99). Graham entered the comics industry a little later than most. He was already in his 30s when he got work from Warren Publishing in 1969. Within a very short period of time he was made art director at Warren. But in 1972, he left to take work on Luke Cage, Hero for Hire, the first 17 issues of which he penciled and/or inked. His first cover was for the third issue.
He then teamed up with Don McGregor for a memorable run on “Black Panther” for Jungle Action, though he didn't draw any of the covers for that series. But he continued his collaboration with McGregor at Eclipse drawing the Sabre series.
He didn’t have an extensive comic book career, but he did make an impact. And I think there is something to be said for having a black artist drawing black characters for a mainstream audience.
This book just came up in an interview I’m transcribing, and I thought I’d post it. The cover art is by Nick Cardy, and the interior art by Jim Aparo—the second issue of many he drew.
By the early 70s, the Comics Code was loosening up considerably, which gave us Son of Satan at Marvel and House of Mystery and The Witching Hour at DC (to name just a few examples). And the Code no longer had any teeth, which is why Stan Lee didn't ever bother with Code approval on the Spidey drug issues.
Happy July 4th everyone! How about a little Fighting Yank to celebrate? Fighting Yank was created by Richard Hughes and Jon Blummer for Startling Comics vol. 4, #1 (Sept. 1941), which featured cover art by Elmer Wexler, who would become the regular interior artist as well with the second issue. Wexler is also the creator of another patriotic hero, Miss America, who first appeared the previous month in Military Comics #1 (Aug. 1941).
The Yank continued to appear in Startling, alternating covers with Captain Future and later Pyroman, until his final appearance in issue #42 in November 1946. Startling Comics #26 (Mar. 1944), pencils and inks by Alex Schomburg.
Fighting Yank proved popular enough to get his own series which debuted in September 1942, one year after his debut. It lasted 29 issues, ending in August 1949.
Fighting Yank #6, 13, and 23, pencils and inks for each by Alex Schomburg.
I never particularly liked that post-Crisis version of Blackhawk... but I agree that the art was top-notch, and those covers were excellent. Chaykin at his best.
I’ve been at the beach all this week, and who better to draw a beach scene than Bob Oksner?
Windy and Willy first appeared in Showcase #81 before getting their own series, which lasted only four issues. Really the stories in Windy and Willy were just retouched, slightly rewritten Many Loves of Dobie Gillis stories from nine years previous. Oksner did do new covers for the series, though he recycled Dobie Gillis cover gags.
Comments
"Mr. Scarlet & Pinky"
Where's @Rainbow_Cloak when you need him?
I’ve sometimes wondered why DC—which acquired them from Fawcett—hasn’t done a Vertigo story set in the ’50s with them as Communist sympathizers. With their names it seems a natural.
Within the year he was working for Harry “A” Chesler’s shop producing work for Fiction House, such as this cover to Jungle Comics #88 (Apr. 1947).
But the bulk of his comics work was done for DC starting in 1949. His first cover for DC was The Adventures of Alan Ladd #7 (Oct.-Nov. 1950), a title for which he did several interior stories.
Moreira became a regular in House of Mystery, My Greatest Adventure, Gang Busters, Mr. District Attorney, Tales of the Unexpected, and House of Secrets. He was also the regular artist of the “Roy Raymond, TV Detective” back-up in Detective Comics.
Thanks to Mr. Weathington I now have a DC pitch, think Gotham Central meets law and order featuring Mr. District Attorney (now a federal prosecutor specializing in Super Villain cases).
He worked for several publishers, particularly Eclipse. Lost Planet was a series he both wrote and drew.
He wrote and painted an excellent adaptation of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow for Tundra in 1992.
For the Uther one-shot, Bo painted the cover and wrote and penciled the interiors. Dan Abnett (yes, he was an inker before he was a writer) was his inker.
Most people know him for his DC work though.
The Viking Prince graphic novel is quite good.
His first duck work was an Uncle Scrooge story for Walt Disney’s Uncle Scrooge #217 (July 1987), and he was off and waddling. Always popular in Europe, he gained notoriety here in the States with his serialized “Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck,” which won him an Eisner.
Unfortunately, due to a detached retina and only partially successful surgery, Rosa retired from comics in 2008.
Shawn broke in with DC in 1983. His first regular series was the underrated Omega Men, which he drew from issue #25-38.
I loved, loved, loved the Dr. Fate series.
In ’92 he started working for Marvel and other publishers, as well as DC.
Over the next two or three years, his work became more Image-y (more like McFarlane, Lee, & Co.), which didn’t really work for him in my opinion, even with the series he co-created, Man Called A-X.
With the Wild Girl mini-series, he got back to what he does best.
Cover art sans type for the first issue of Wild Girl.
He then teamed up with Don McGregor for a memorable run on “Black Panther” for Jungle Action, though he didn't draw any of the covers for that series. But he continued his collaboration with McGregor at Eclipse drawing the Sabre series.
He didn’t have an extensive comic book career, but he did make an impact. And I think there is something to be said for having a black artist drawing black characters for a mainstream audience.
And a close second:
How did those stories pass the Comics Code?
The Yank continued to appear in Startling, alternating covers with Captain Future and later Pyroman, until his final appearance in issue #42 in November 1946. Startling Comics #26 (Mar. 1944), pencils and inks by Alex Schomburg.
Fighting Yank proved popular enough to get his own series which debuted in September 1942, one year after his debut. It lasted 29 issues, ending in August 1949.
Fighting Yank #6, 13, and 23, pencils and inks for each by Alex Schomburg.
Thought I post this classic Kirby cover, if it has been posted before I apologize.
Windy and Willy first appeared in Showcase #81 before getting their own series, which lasted only four issues. Really the stories in Windy and Willy were just retouched, slightly rewritten Many Loves of Dobie Gillis stories from nine years previous. Oksner did do new covers for the series, though he recycled Dobie Gillis cover gags.
Inks by Jerry Ordway (Byrne’s best inker IMO).
Ordway's a close second for me.