Kurtzman developed his style through the mid- to late ’40s, and by the time he arrived at EC, where he was allowed to continue to explore his natural cartoony, design-heavy work even in EC’s more dramatic material. His first cover for EC was Two-Fisted Tales #18 (Nov.-Dec. 1950).
Kurtzman developed his style through the mid- to late ’40s, and by the time he arrived at EC, where he was allowed to continue to explore his natural cartoony, design-heavy work even in EC’s more dramatic material. His first cover for EC was Two-Fisted Tales #18 (Nov.-Dec. 1950).
Aja has really come into his own on this series. He definitely went through some growing pains on Iron Fist, but Hawkeye has looked great all the way through.
The annual cover by Javier Pulido, on the other hand, is far more compatible with Aja's.
Nothing against Aja—like I said, he’s really come into his own—but Javier Pulido’s work is simply gorgeous. I think Aja is still in the process of finding his voice, and his style will continue to change and develop. Pulido’s voice, however, is loud and clear. I’ve been in love with his stuff since his run on Catwoman back in 2003.
Kurtzman’s first war cover was also his second cover for EC, Two-Fisted Tales #19 (Jan.-Feb. 1951). Love the coloring on this one.
Wow.
The difference between this and the early one with the monstrous Jap soldier is astonishing.
Look at the heartbreaking humanity in that dead "enemy".
Incredible.
Of course, he was still in his teens when he did the first one, wasn't he?
Yeah, he was about 18 when he drew the first one. But I think the real reason for the change is because the Korean War was a much different war than World War II. In World War II it was very clear who the “villains” were, and it was easy to see them as monsters. With Korea, it was a bit murkier, and it didn’t have the same amount of support and didn’t instill that same sense of patriotic duty that World War II did.
Plus, many artists in the business has served in World War II and saw the horrors of war up close and personal. And then there was the threat of any large-scale war escalating into a nuclear conflict.
The “Make War No More” approach Kubert took as editor of DC’s war books in the ’60s had its beginnings in the EC comics of the ’50s written and edited by Kurtzman. Kurtzman purposefully stripped away all the romanticism associated with war and showed there were always two sides in any conflict.
Kurtzman’s cover for Two-Fisted Tales #20 (Mar.-Apr. 1951) makes use of the logo to depict the North Korean infiltrator as, quite literally, a “faceless” enemy. Very clever.
More than any other EC title outside of Mad, Frontline Combat was Kurtzman’s baby. He not only edited the book and wrote the stories (for this and for Two-Fisted Tales), he also took the artists to a local military base on at least one occasion so they could see the vehicles and equipment in person.
My first purchase of this past weekend’s New York Comic-Con was The Adventures of Jerry Lewis #57 (Mar.-Apr. 1960). Usually I just buy beat up reader’s copies so I can get my Bob Oksner fix on the cheap, but this copy was in really good shape and only five bucks—a steal!
Another cheap Oksner find from the NYCC was a copy (not quite as nice as the Jerry Lewis, but a good copy) of The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis #21 (Sept.-Oct. 1963). Only $3!
Another pick from the $3 boxes I found at NYCC: Dennis the Menace Giant #14 (Summer 1963), filled with 65 pages of Al Wiseman-drawn goodness, plus a few Ketcham-drawn gag panels and some extra material. This wasn’t in the best shape, but the binding was still holding up well, and that’s good enough for me.
Another Al Wiseman-filled issue of Dennis the Menace Giant (this one is #18 from the Summer of 1963) I grabbed from the $3 bin. The image below says “7th Large Printing,” but my copy says “6th Large Printing.”
My younger brother was a fan of the Dennis comics and had quite a few of these as we were growing up. I remember the travel issues -- there was one for Washington DC, too, if I remember correctly -- and they seemed to be re-released every so often during the 60's.
My younger brother was a fan of the Dennis comics and had quite a few of these as we were growing up. I remember the travel issues -- there was one for Washington DC, too, if I remember correctly -- and they seemed to be re-released every so often during the 60's.
Yes, there is a Washington, D.C., book as well. The Dennis in Hawaii stories were originally printed as Dennis the Menace Giant #6 by Pines (named for its owner, Ned Pines, who also owned Standard Comics and Nedor Publishing) with a cover date of Summer 1958. It was reprinted at least six times.
One more from the 4/$10 boxes: Inferior 5 #12, with art by Joe Orlando and Mike Esposito. In this one they fight a parody of the Avengers.
Love me some I5!
However, their footprints don't match their footwear. It's bugged me since I got that issue in the 70s.
True, but the payoff of the gag is the hole in the wall and the cliff just outside the hole. The footsteps’ only purpose is to get you from the battered-down door to the hole in the wall as quickly as possible. You aren’t meant to really look at them. I think having the footsteps match the I5’s footwear would likely make you stop and look at the footsteps and try to match them to their respective owners—and, let’s face it, Merryman’s footprints would definitely draw attention to themselves—thereby messing up the timing of the gag and weakening the real punchline.
Happy 93rd birthday to Nick Cardy! If this cover isn’t Nick’s first, it’s very close to it—Fight Comics #9 (Sept. 1940). Within three years of drawing this, Nick would be driving a tank of his own in the war.
Comments
The difference between this and the early one with the monstrous Jap soldier is astonishing.
Look at the heartbreaking humanity in that dead "enemy".
Incredible.
Of course, he was still in his teens when he did the first one, wasn't he?
Plus, many artists in the business has served in World War II and saw the horrors of war up close and personal. And then there was the threat of any large-scale war escalating into a nuclear conflict.
The “Make War No More” approach Kubert took as editor of DC’s war books in the ’60s had its beginnings in the EC comics of the ’50s written and edited by Kurtzman. Kurtzman purposefully stripped away all the romanticism associated with war and showed there were always two sides in any conflict.
However, their footprints don't match their footwear. It's bugged me since I got that issue in the 70s.