Going from May 1970 back to May 1948: Though Basil Wolverton had been in the comics industry about ten years by the time he drew this cover for Powerhouse Pepper #2, this was only his third cover (to my knowledge). His second cover was for Powerhouse Pepper #1, which was published five years prior (cover dated January 1943). In the meantime, Wolverton had been writing and drawing the feature for a variety of Timely’s humor books, and Timely gave it another shot as their humor books began to take over from their superhero books. Perhaps they thought Wolverton’s recent appearances in Li’l Abner (with Lena the Hyena) and Life magazine would help sales this time around, but the revived series only lasted four issues.
For April on my custom calendar, I went with a giant monster of sorts..from Astonishing Tales #23 (April 1974) by Gil Kane and Mike Esposito.
I'm guessing I've posted this one before (apologies), but this is the first time I've posted my actual copy. This one is in considerably better condition than that rag of a Spidey upstream...or some issues still upcoming...but by this point I was a sophisticated 9-year-old... ;)
Going from May 1970 back to May 1948: Though Basil Wolverton had been in the comics industry about ten years by the time he drew this cover for Powerhouse Pepper #2, this was only his third cover (to my knowledge). ...
My exposure to Basil Wolverton was, of course, in Plop, which I bought quite religiously early on. Appealed to the same funny bone as Wacky Packages for me at that time, I suppose....
This one, from September-October 1973, also features "(Marginals)" by Sergio Aragonés, per GCD.
June 1948: This isn't really the best cover of the month, but I find it rather interesting. The drawing is very good, but not quite great, and I can find no verification as to who drew it. I think it may be early Dan Decarlo work as he began transitioning towards the style we're all familiar with, as this looks somewhere between his early 1947 Millie the Model work I've seen by him and the Millie the Model work of the ’50s where his style was well developed. It doesn’t look like any other Timely artist I know of. It’s certainly not Morris Weiss, who was a regular artist on Tessie—it's too good.
Can I just say, I'd dearly love to purchase @RobAnderson 's fantastic custom calendar.
Ha, thanks! It was a heckuva lot of fun to do, but sharing it is turning out to be fun, too! ;-)
@nweathington Love that fun cover, and seeing all these I've never seen. I need to spend more time with the non-Marvel Gerber cover volumes, if they're even in there!
If I was building my own custom-made comic book calendar, this would definitely be my January page. I'm sure it's been posted here before, but repetition is the sign of an outstanding cover as far as I'm concerned. Plastic Man #1, December 1966. Artwork by Gil Kane.
During the war years, you really only saw this kind of undress in the damsel in distress covers of the superhero, war, and sci-fi comics. But from late 1946 through 1947, a wave of good girl art (with artists like Matt Baker and Jack Kamen riding high atop the wave) hit the industry. A subgenre of that was the “career girl” humor books, of which Tessie the Typist was part. They were aimed at both women (for the romantic aspects of the humor) and young men (who liked to ogle the female leads). Timely had a bunch of these books, and this Tessie cover was pretty typical of the imagery used, though it's better drawn than most. Lots of bikinis, lots of skirts and tight blouses. Millie the Model emerged as the top of that pile once Dan Decarlo became the main artist in 1948. I'm sure I'll post some of those down the road.
For May 2016 in my custom calendar, I went with another "well-loved rag" from my collection, Silver Surfer #15 (April 1970) by Marie Severin and Joe Sinnott...another comic left to the tender mercies of my five-year-old self.
Baffling Mysteries #8. Ace Magazines. Date: May 1952. Pencils: “Ace” Baker, Inks: “Ace” Baker. "Ace" could be a pseudonym. I defer to nweathington's superior knowledge.
Baffling Mysteries #8. Ace Magazines. Date: May 1952. Pencils: “Ace” Baker, Inks: “Ace” Baker. "Ace" could be a pseudonym. I defer to nweathington's superior knowledge.
Okay, I'll try to keep this brief. “Ace” Baker was a placeholder name given to an unidentified artist who appeared to have worked for Ace Magazines (a pulp and comic publisher from 1940-56) from late 1949 or so until the company folded in 1956. The “Ace” in the name, obviously, stands for Ace Magazines. The “Baker” in the name stands for Matt Baker, because this unidentified artist has similar qualities in their artwork, and many thought it to be Matt Baker’s work.
However, at the time I was working on a Matt Baker book, we found out that Baker had helped his friend and main inker at the time, Frank Giusto, get work at Ace, and may have even done some layouts for him to help him out, since Giusto often worked at Baker's apartment. And so Jim Vadeboncoeur Jr., who has every Ace comic and had been investigating the matter for years, and the rest of us working on the book came to the agreement that “Ace” Baker is almost certainly Frank Giusto.
And I held of on the Christmas covers until we were in the "12 days..." time frame. Please don't feel constrained to carry that theme with me. I plan to post one a day until Christmas. But I enjoy everyone's contributions here in addition to the talented artists that created these covers.
However, at the time I was working on a Matt Baker book, we found out that Baker had helped his friend and main inker at the time, Frank Giusto, get work at Ace, and may have even done some layouts for him to help him out, since Giusto often worked at Baker's apartment. And so Jim Vadeboncoeur Jr., who has every Ace comic and had been investigating the matter for years, and the rest of us working on the book came to the agreement that “Ace” Baker is almost certainly Frank Giusto.
@Nweathington, I'm indebted to you for your encyclopedic knowledge. I shall convey the information to "Comic Books Plus" from where the cover originated.
@bralinator I have a holiday cover I could post if I scan it -- I was thinking about using it for December the NEXT time I do a custom calendar -- but I'm afraid I'll steal the "12 Days" thunder if it's one you already planned on using!
In the meantime, more holiday cheer via scans for my 2016 custom calendar. ;)
For July, I went with Sub-Mariner #69 (March 1974) with pencils & inks by John Romita, Sr.
@bralinator I have a holiday cover I could post if I scan it -- I was thinking about using it for December the NEXT time I do a custom calendar -- but I'm afraid I'll steal the "12 Days" thunder if it's one you already planned on using!
In the meantime, more holiday cheer via scans for my 2016 custom calendar. ;)
For July, I went with Sub-Mariner #69 (March 1974) with pencils & inks by John Romita, Sr.
Sweet cover! Love JRsr's work on Spidey. And Spidey has SEVERAL Christmas themed covers to choose from. Join the party!
Aug. 1948: This is an interesting month. Timely published ten (!) new series—one crime/mystery, two westerns, three humor, and four superhero. But what's really interesting is that each of the superhero comics featured a female lead. There was Namora and Sun Girl, each lasting only three issues; a relaunched All Winners Squad which prominently featured Blonde Phantom on the cover (with Cap, Namor, and Torch waaaay in the background) and which turned out to be a one-and-done; and Venus, an odd series that went 19 issues but ranged in tone from superhero to romance to supernatural and, at the end, full-on horror.
With the war over, the few military hero holdouts find themselves going up against or teaming up with bad girl, Dragon Lady types. Don Winslow of the Navy goes up against Singapore Sal, while Blackhawk allies himself with the beautiful Miss Fear in Blackhawk and Tigra in Modern Comics.
Meanwhile, over at DC an end of an era of sorts came with All-American Comics #100. Johnny Thunder and his trusty steed Black Lightning took over the cover and the lead story position, with a demoted Green Lantern falling to the back of the book (and with issue #103 the book would be renamed All-American Western). And I thought about going with that cover, but I couldn't resist letting Green Lantern have the last laugh in this cover for Comic Cavalcade #28 penciled by Irwin Hasen and inked by Bob Oksner.
Comments
I'm guessing I've posted this one before (apologies), but this is the first time I've posted my actual copy. This one is in considerably better condition than that rag of a Spidey upstream...or some issues still upcoming...but by this point I was a sophisticated 9-year-old... ;)
This one, from September-October 1973, also features "(Marginals)" by Sergio Aragonés, per GCD.
@nweathington Love that fun cover, and seeing all these I've never seen. I need to spend more time with the non-Marvel Gerber cover volumes, if they're even in there!
Plastic Man #1, December 1966. Artwork by Gil Kane.
Even though I was quite a bit older when this one came out, I read it so many times, it's still pretty worn out.
December 1958
Cover art by Ogden Whitney
March 1948
Cover by Lily Renée and Eric Peters
Pencils: “Ace” Baker, Inks: “Ace” Baker. "Ace" could be a pseudonym.
I defer to nweathington's superior knowledge.
The Vault of Horror #35
March 1954
Cover art by Johnny Craig
@Stevenw888 Sleestaks!! Now I have the Land of the Lost theme song stuck in my head.
And I think @bralinator has inaugurated the holiday covers...though I'm not quite done with my custom calendar posting yet. ;-)
However, at the time I was working on a Matt Baker book, we found out that Baker had helped his friend and main inker at the time, Frank Giusto, get work at Ace, and may have even done some layouts for him to help him out, since Giusto often worked at Baker's apartment. And so Jim Vadeboncoeur Jr., who has every Ace comic and had been investigating the matter for years, and the rest of us working on the book came to the agreement that “Ace” Baker is almost certainly Frank Giusto.
Great cover too.
And I held of on the Christmas covers until we were in the "12 days..." time frame. Please don't feel constrained to carry that theme with me. I plan to post one a day until Christmas. But I enjoy everyone's contributions here in addition to the talented artists that created these covers.
Peter Parker the Spectacular Spider-Man #112
March 1986
Cover art by Kyle Baker
In the meantime, more holiday cheer via scans for my 2016 custom calendar. ;)
For July, I went with Sub-Mariner #69 (March 1974) with pencils & inks by John Romita, Sr.
With the war over, the few military hero holdouts find themselves going up against or teaming up with bad girl, Dragon Lady types. Don Winslow of the Navy goes up against Singapore Sal, while Blackhawk allies himself with the beautiful Miss Fear in Blackhawk and Tigra in Modern Comics.
Meanwhile, over at DC an end of an era of sorts came with All-American Comics #100. Johnny Thunder and his trusty steed Black Lightning took over the cover and the lead story position, with a demoted Green Lantern falling to the back of the book (and with issue #103 the book would be renamed All-American Western). And I thought about going with that cover, but I couldn't resist letting Green Lantern have the last laugh in this cover for Comic Cavalcade #28 penciled by Irwin Hasen and inked by Bob Oksner.
Blue Bolt Vol 3 #7
December 1942
Cover art by Ray Gill
(I think, perhaps @nweathington can confirm?)