After mostly doing adventure work for DC for his first few years there, Nick began doing a lot of short stories and covers for the mystery titles. His first DC mystery cover was for House of Secrets #6 (Sept.-Oct. 1957).
Okay, I really want to hear the gorilla's explanation for breaking into a scientist's lab. It must be a good one.
Cardy's style seems to have finally developed into what we're most familiar with by this point; this looks as good as anything he did during the late 60's and 70's. His comp works really well with that angled logo.
Okay, I really want to hear the gorilla's explanation for breaking into a scientist's lab. It must be a good one.
Cardy's style seems to have finally developed into what we're most familiar with by this point; this looks as good as anything he did during the late 60's and 70's. His comp works really well with that angled logo.
I imagine he had a stat of the logo to work with to help with the composition. And I wouldn't say he was completely developed to the point where he was from the mid-’60s on, but he was finally getting away from the Dan Barry-style inking that was the de jour at DC in the ’50s and ’60s.
In the late ’50s and very early ’60s, Nick did quite a few sci-fi stories, which were all the rage at DC during that time. Sci-fi wasn’t really Nick’s forte, but here’s a nice cover from December 1959, House of Mystery #93, with a gorgeous ink wash done by Jack Adler.
1961 marked the first time Nick drew the character he is probably best known for—Aquaman. Aquaman appeared in four issues of Showcase that year. The first issue featured stories drawn by Ramona Fradon, who had been drawing Aquaman’s adventures in Adventure Comics, with a cover by Dick Dillon and Sheldon Moldoff. But with Showcase #31, Nick took over as Aqua-artist #1, and Showcase #32 (May-June 1961) was his first Aquaman cover.
After the Aquaman stories for Showcase, Nick did two consecutive issues (covers and interiors) of one of my favorite DC Silver Age series—Rip Hunter, Time Master.
And so we come to Aquaman. The first issue was cover-dated (Jan.-Feb. 1962) and featured, of course, covers and interiors by Nick. Here’s my favorite cover from the first couple of years of the series.
Three years into his run on Aquaman, Nick was called on to draw the second appearanc of the Teen Titans for The Brave and the Bold #60 (June-July 1965). That issue also marked the debut of a new member of the team, Wonder Girl. Nick told me that he got more sketch requests for Wonder Girl than any other character, and it’s not hard to imagine why. And I don’t think he minded at all.
Three years into his run on Aquaman, Nick was called on to draw the second appearanc of the Teen Titans for The Brave and the Bold #60 (June-July 1965). That issue also marked the debut of a new member of the team, Wonder Girl. Nick told me that he got more sketch requests for Wonder Girl than any other character, and it’s not hard to imagine why. And I don’t think he minded at all.
Well, that's a Cardy cover, but he didn't draw the story in that issue. Bruno Premiani did. (Premiani, who generally did the Doom Patrol book, also drew the Titans' first appearance, which was a B&B team-up of Robin, Kid Flash and Aqualad.) Cardy took over the series with the Titans' next appearance, which was in Showcase #59.
Three years into his run on Aquaman, Nick was called on to draw the second appearanc of the Teen Titans for The Brave and the Bold #60 (June-July 1965). That issue also marked the debut of a new member of the team, Wonder Girl. Nick told me that he got more sketch requests for Wonder Girl than any other character, and it’s not hard to imagine why. And I don’t think he minded at all.
Well, that's a Cardy cover, but he didn't draw the story in that issue. Bruno Premiani did. (Premiani, who generally did the Doom Patrol book, also drew the Titans' first appearance, which was a B&B team-up of Robin, Kid Flash and Aqualad.) Cardy took over the series with the Titans' next appearance, which was in Showcase #59.
I should have taken the time to look over what I wrote. I’ve embarrassed every one on the board. There is only one person to blame for this, and that is myself. To the readers of this thread, I know I have let you down, and I can't do anything else but apologize ... and I'm so sorry. I know I have to regain your trust and your confidence.
It must have been the crack. But don't worry, I only do crack when I'm in one of my drunken stupors.
Anyway, as stated above, just a few months after their second Brave and the Bold appearance, Nick returned to the Titans not only as the cover artist, but also the interior artist with Showcase #59 (Nov.-Dec. 1965).
The design on this one is kind of interesting. Wonder Girl and Kid Flash, along with their two opponents, make a U shape that takes the eyes down the left-hand side of the page, across the cover blurb, and up the right-hand side of the page. The kid on the motorcycle leads the eye to Robin’s leg, on up to Robin’s face, where the surfboard's jetstream draws the eye down to Aqualad, and finally to the kid on the surfboard, who is looking back at the reader. Not the strongest cover ever created, but a nice solution to a tricky concept of having three different scenes in one cover image.
I really like that cover. He was a great artist. Please keep the Cardy coming a few more days. I really am waiting on you to get to his western stuff and read some of your commentary on those.
I should have taken the time to look over what I wrote. I’ve embarrassed every one on the board. There is only one person to blame for this, and that is myself. To the readers of this thread, I know I have let you down, and I can't do anything else but apologize ... and I'm so sorry. I know I have to regain your trust and your confidence.
It must have been the crack. But don't worry, I only do crack when I'm in one of my drunken stupors.
I just took it as a momentary gaff. You're generally far more reliable with the info. Everyone has an off-moment.
I should have taken the time to look over what I wrote. I’ve embarrassed every one on the board. There is only one person to blame for this, and that is myself. To the readers of this thread, I know I have let you down, and I can't do anything else but apologize ... and I'm so sorry. I know I have to regain your trust and your confidence.
It must have been the crack. But don't worry, I only do crack when I'm in one of my drunken stupors.
I just took it as a momentary gaff. You're generally far more reliable with the info. Everyone has an off-moment.
Hey, it gave me an opportunity to paraphrase (basically I copied and pasted, then changed a couple of words) Toronto mayor Rob Ford. Everyone wins.
Before Nick got into the Teen Titans ongoing series, he did his first DC romance work—the cover and the featured 12-page interior story—for Falling in Love #79 (Nov. 1965). Nick had already done some romance work in the early ’50s for Standard, and his ability to draw lovely women seemed a natural fit for the romance genre. His romance work is often more illustrative than his typical comic book work, and this cover is a good example of that.
One thing to look for in this cover is the way Nick drew the girl's eye. Nick really enjoyed drawing eyes. I guess it was about ten years ago when my wife started to get back into drawing for a time. Nick sat down with her at Heroes Con that year and gave here a 15-20 minute lesson on his approach to drawing eyes. (She still has the sketch he did of a pair of women’s eyes—nothing else, just the eyes). You won't always see it in his comic work, except in the close-ups, but he drew the lushest eyelashes in the business.
Since Teen Titans and Aquaman were both bi-monthly books, Nick was able to continue doing covers and interiors for both books. Here’s my favorite Aquaman cover from 1966. Love the Aquababy drawing. Technically, the top of the monster's head should be showing in the foreground, as the perspective is a bit off, but I imagine Nick’s schedule was very tight at this point.
My favorite Teen Titans cover from 1967 has to be the cover for issue #11 (Sept.-Oct.). When I was six I got a reprint book (DC Super Stars #1) that featured a cropped version of this cover along with a cropped version of the cover of issue #24. It was probably this cover (along with the size—68 pages) that led me to pick it up.
Some people consider motion lines a bit of a cheat, but I think they add a lot of energy to this piece.
Comments
Cardy's style seems to have finally developed into what we're most familiar with by this point; this looks as good as anything he did during the late 60's and 70's. His comp works really well with that angled logo.
I just wanted to say how much I appreciate your posts walking us through his career. So many I've never seen before. Thank you for that.
1961 marked the first time Nick drew the character he is probably best known for—Aquaman. Aquaman appeared in four issues of Showcase that year. The first issue featured stories drawn by Ramona Fradon, who had been drawing Aquaman’s adventures in Adventure Comics, with a cover by Dick Dillon and Sheldon Moldoff. But with Showcase #31, Nick took over as Aqua-artist #1, and Showcase #32 (May-June 1961) was his first Aquaman cover.
It must have been the crack. But don't worry, I only do crack when I'm in one of my drunken stupors.
I refuse to accept that @nweathington made a legitimate "mistake". ;)
The design on this one is kind of interesting. Wonder Girl and Kid Flash, along with their two opponents, make a U shape that takes the eyes down the left-hand side of the page, across the cover blurb, and up the right-hand side of the page. The kid on the motorcycle leads the eye to Robin’s leg, on up to Robin’s face, where the surfboard's jetstream draws the eye down to Aqualad, and finally to the kid on the surfboard, who is looking back at the reader. Not the strongest cover ever created, but a nice solution to a tricky concept of having three different scenes in one cover image.
One thing to look for in this cover is the way Nick drew the girl's eye. Nick really enjoyed drawing eyes. I guess it was about ten years ago when my wife started to get back into drawing for a time. Nick sat down with her at Heroes Con that year and gave here a 15-20 minute lesson on his approach to drawing eyes. (She still has the sketch he did of a pair of women’s eyes—nothing else, just the eyes). You won't always see it in his comic work, except in the close-ups, but he drew the lushest eyelashes in the business.
Some people consider motion lines a bit of a cheat, but I think they add a lot of energy to this piece.