Aug. 1956: Four years before DC would begin waging “The War That Time Forgot” in the pages of Star Spangled War Stories, ACG took us to “The Land That Time Forgot” courtesy of artist Ogden Whitney, who drew (pencils and inks) both the cover and 12-page feature story of Forbidden Worlds #48. Of course, the military only plays a backup role in this story, dropping an H-bomb on the island to prevent an invasion, not of dinosaurs, but the strange race of dino-riding, telepathic, mouthless people who live under the island. An odd story, but very nicely drawn by Whitney.
Whitney got his start with DC in 1939 and soon was taking over “Sandman” from Creig Flessel. In early 1940 he moved over to Columbia where he co-created with Gardner Fox the character he would be most associated with, Skyman. He also co-created Rocky Ryan, and the two characters would keep him busy until Columbia folded in 1949. Even while serving in the Phillipines during the war, Whitney managed to find a way to keep producing stories on a regular, though limited, basis.
After a brief stint at Ziff-Davis, Whitney found himself working primarily for ACG doing a little bit of everything. But that only lasted a couple of years. Soon he was also getting work from Marvel, ME, and Quality as well, eventually sticking with Quality throughout 1953 and much of 1954. But with Quality beginning to fail, Whitney then found himself almost exclusively with ACG, where he would mostly stay until the mid-’60s. More on Whitney later.
It's been a while. The next few will be late period Flash. 310 by Keith Giffeen. Dr. Fate is back up series, there's a reason Barry was killed off
The Dr. Fate backup was much better than the main feature. In fact, I bought them as back issues solely for “Dr. Fate”, most of them for $2 or less. Of course, the solo Dr. Fate series that spun out of the backup feature was that much better than the backups. And they’ll probably never collect either one.
It's been a while. The next few will be late period Flash. 310 by Keith Giffeen. Dr. Fate is back up series, there's a reason Barry was killed off
The Dr. Fate backup was much better than the main feature. In fact, I bought them solely for “Dr. Fate”, most of them for $2 or less. Of course, the solo Dr. Fate series that spun out of the backup feature was that much better than the backups. And they’ll probably never collect either one.
Absolutely. I didn't mean for that to sound like a slam against Dr fate backups, but the main story.
That issue featured the vile and despicable Colonel Computron (and the mystery surrounding his or her identity Hint no one cared. It was a rough time to be flash fan.
It's been a while. The next few will be late period Flash. 310 by Keith Giffeen. Dr. Fate is back up series, there's a reason Barry was killed off
The Dr. Fate backup was much better than the main feature. In fact, I bought them solely for “Dr. Fate”, most of them for $2 or less. Of course, the solo Dr. Fate series that spun out of the backup feature was that much better than the backups. And they’ll probably never collect either one.
Absolutely. I didn't mean for that to sound like a slam against Dr fate backups, but the main story.
That issue featured the vile and despicable Colonel Computron (and the mystery surrounding his or her identity Hint no one cared. It was a rough time to be flash fan.
Just a few issues later we get another good cover. Featuring two Heatwaves! Cover by Gil Kane & Dick Giodarno
One of the regular stories that runs through this era of flash involves one of the rogues trying to reform and someone in thier lives stealing thier gimick then going on a crime spree (happened to captain cold just a few issues previous).
It's been a while. The next few will be late period Flash. 310 by Keith Giffeen. Dr. Fate is back up series, there's a reason Barry was killed off
The Dr. Fate backup was much better than the main feature. In fact, I bought them solely for “Dr. Fate”, most of them for $2 or less. Of course, the solo Dr. Fate series that spun out of the backup feature was that much better than the backups. And they’ll probably never collect either one.
Absolutely. I didn't mean for that to sound like a slam against Dr fate backups, but the main story.
That issue featured the vile and despicable Colonel Computron (and the mystery surrounding his or her identity Hint no one cared. It was a rough time to be flash fan.
This was around the time of the "trial of the Flash" that ran for what seemed like years. Some of the most boring comics ever produced... It ended with Barry going to the future to live happily ever after, and then a month later turning up in the Crisis. Only die hard Flash fans stuck around for those years.
A little bit before. The last 50 issues are bad flash stories (with some good and not as good backups). I really think we should look at Barry's death in crisis as less heroic and more of a mercy killing.
I really feel like DC missed the boat with this era flash and especially the trial of the flash time. They could have done some really cool post Iris stories and once it was known flash was on the clock done a really awesome story instead of the trial
Just a few issues later we get another good cover. Featuring two Heatwaves! Cover by Gil Kane & Dick Giodarno
One of the regular stories that runs through this era of flash involves one of the rogues trying to reform and someone in thier lives stealing thier gimick then going on a crime spree (happened to captain cold just a few issues previous).
I’ve never really cared for Giordano’s inks over Kane. I mean, he wasn’t Kane’s worst inker or anything, but it wasn’t a match made in heaven.
Today’s entry from the DC cover-a-day calender: Batman & Robin #38 (Mar. 2015), pencils by Patrick Gleason, inks by Mick Gray. I like the attitude of the pose. It’s a nice take on the classic Superman iconography.
Sept. 1956: It’s way past time I got to Mort Meskin, so here’s My Greatest Adventure #12, penciled and inked by Meskin. While cover design wasn’t Meskin’s forte, his storytelling was superb, and for a time he was hugely influential on most artists in the industry, including Steve Ditko, Joe Kubert, Carmine Infantino, Gil Kane, and even his one-time boss Jack Kirby.
After studying at the Art Students League and the Pratt Institute (both of which are still around today), Meskin broke into comics in 1938 at the Eisner & Iger Shop (during the time Jack Kirby was also there), where he drew “Sheena, Queen of the Jungle” stories for Jumbo Comics. But he wasn’t getting many penciling assignments, so in late 1939 he moved to the Harry “A” Chesler Shop where he penciled and inked the likes of “Captain Valor”, “Press Guardian”, and “Ty-Gor” for MLJ. By mid-1941 he was ready for the big-time. He got work for the better paying DC, who would be his primary client for then next several years. His first job for them was the co-creation (with Mort Weisinger) of that singing cowboy hero, the Vigilante, the character he would be most closely associated with, drawing not only the hero’s solo adventures in Action Comics, but his chapters in the “Seven Soldiers of Victory” stories for Leading Comics. Within a couple of months, Meskin also took over the “Johnny Quick” feature in More Fun Comics. And after three issues of Leading Comics (a quarterly), Meskin was taken off “Seven Soldiers of Victory” and assigned to take over “Starman” from the departing Jack Burnley.
In 1945 Meskin and Jerry Robinson (of Batman fame) left DC to form their own studio. Though they both continued doing work for DC, they also produced and packaged comics for Harvey, Standard, and a new (short-lived) publisher called Sparks, and both began teaching at the Art Students League and out of their studio. For Sparks, Meskin created Golden Lad with writer Joseph Greene, and also drew the covers and lead stories for the eponymous series. Unfortunately, it only lasted five issues. At some point around 1947, Meskin became ill and was in and out of the hospital for a period of time. Between that and their main client Sparks closing shop, the studio eventually folded.
But Joe Simon knew talent when he saw it, and he asked Meskin to join Simon and Kirby’s Crestwood shop, where Meskin remained until the shop went under in 1955 (though he also did some jobs for Atlas with Jerry Robinson on the side). It would be Meskin’s most productive period in his comic book career. Soon he would be back to working primarily for DC, changing his style and focusing less on the dynamic inking which made him famous amongst his peers, and more on his layouts and storytelling. In 1965 Meskin left comics altogether and went on to a successful 17-year career in advertising.
OK, here's a little cover challenge/game, if anyone is interested.
The game/challenge, on the collage tshirt below is...do you recognize the other covers (beyond the one I knew)? :wink:
But first an explanation....
I bought two cheap t-shirts from Target that have made me unreasonably happy. As you'll see below, one is a John Buscema (I think) pin-up.
Looks like it appeared inside something -- probably a late 60's/early 70's Annual.
What's a bit fun is there's also a "poster" version from the 70's, where Quicksilver and Spidey were removed, and Wonder Man, Vision, and Beast were pasted in! In the t-shirt, Quicksilver's still missing, but Spidey's back.
(Incidentally, the Beast is from the Gil Kane/Sinnott/Romita Alterations cover from Avengers 136, and the Vision is from the splash page to Avengers 152...)
So, here's the second "collage" tshirt....
I recognized the price box/upper-left corner instantly (though I had to double-check the number), and I believe the far lower-left bar code comes from that same cover.
Avengers #149 Per GCD: Pencils: George Pérez; John Romita (alterations) Inks: Frank Giacoia; John Romita (alterations)
The game/challenge if anyone wants to play (and is still reading)...do you recognize the other collage covers?
Ha! Cool game. I thought the Cap came from one of the Madbomb covers but it doesn't quite match. The Hawkeye was easy though: Hawkeye #3 from the 1983 four-issue miniseries.
Well, I figured if anyone knew them off the top of their head... @nweathington
;)
Believe it or not, I was pretty sure without looking that the banner at the top was from Avengers #147, and after looking through the banners around that "banner era," I'm fairly sure I was right. You have the light blue banner, the dark blue background, the yellow "Earth's Mightiest...," and the red Avengers letters. I didn't spot any others that matched. The full cover scan on GCD doesn't look like it matches, but that color doesn't match my memory! (ha) The partial cover is a better real-world color match, I think....
I guess that leaves Thor, Iron Man, and the burst cover in the upper right....
I'm pretty sure the Thor segment is from the same Avengers cover the corner box is from. They just cheated and moved it down and recolored the background.
EDIT: And as for the not-quite-the-same blues, I can put that down to bad scanning and not adjusting afterwards.
Comments
Whitney got his start with DC in 1939 and soon was taking over “Sandman” from Creig Flessel. In early 1940 he moved over to Columbia where he co-created with Gardner Fox the character he would be most associated with, Skyman. He also co-created Rocky Ryan, and the two characters would keep him busy until Columbia folded in 1949. Even while serving in the Phillipines during the war, Whitney managed to find a way to keep producing stories on a regular, though limited, basis.
After a brief stint at Ziff-Davis, Whitney found himself working primarily for ACG doing a little bit of everything. But that only lasted a couple of years. Soon he was also getting work from Marvel, ME, and Quality as well, eventually sticking with Quality throughout 1953 and much of 1954. But with Quality beginning to fail, Whitney then found himself almost exclusively with ACG, where he would mostly stay until the mid-’60s. More on Whitney later.
310 by Keith Giffeen. Dr. Fate is back up series, there's a reason Barry was killed off
That issue featured the vile and despicable Colonel Computron (and the mystery surrounding his or her identity Hint no one cared. It was a rough time to be flash fan.
Cover by Gil Kane & Dick Giodarno
One of the regular stories that runs through this era of flash involves one of the rogues trying to reform and someone in thier lives stealing thier gimick then going on a crime spree (happened to captain cold just a few issues previous).
I really feel like DC missed the boat with this era flash and especially the trial of the flash time. They could have done some really cool post Iris stories and once it was known flash was on the clock done a really awesome story instead of the trial
After studying at the Art Students League and the Pratt Institute (both of which are still around today), Meskin broke into comics in 1938 at the Eisner & Iger Shop (during the time Jack Kirby was also there), where he drew “Sheena, Queen of the Jungle” stories for Jumbo Comics. But he wasn’t getting many penciling assignments, so in late 1939 he moved to the Harry “A” Chesler Shop where he penciled and inked the likes of “Captain Valor”, “Press Guardian”, and “Ty-Gor” for MLJ. By mid-1941 he was ready for the big-time. He got work for the better paying DC, who would be his primary client for then next several years. His first job for them was the co-creation (with Mort Weisinger) of that singing cowboy hero, the Vigilante, the character he would be most closely associated with, drawing not only the hero’s solo adventures in Action Comics, but his chapters in the “Seven Soldiers of Victory” stories for Leading Comics. Within a couple of months, Meskin also took over the “Johnny Quick” feature in More Fun Comics. And after three issues of Leading Comics (a quarterly), Meskin was taken off “Seven Soldiers of Victory” and assigned to take over “Starman” from the departing Jack Burnley.
In 1945 Meskin and Jerry Robinson (of Batman fame) left DC to form their own studio. Though they both continued doing work for DC, they also produced and packaged comics for Harvey, Standard, and a new (short-lived) publisher called Sparks, and both began teaching at the Art Students League and out of their studio. For Sparks, Meskin created Golden Lad with writer Joseph Greene, and also drew the covers and lead stories for the eponymous series. Unfortunately, it only lasted five issues. At some point around 1947, Meskin became ill and was in and out of the hospital for a period of time. Between that and their main client Sparks closing shop, the studio eventually folded.
But Joe Simon knew talent when he saw it, and he asked Meskin to join Simon and Kirby’s Crestwood shop, where Meskin remained until the shop went under in 1955 (though he also did some jobs for Atlas with Jerry Robinson on the side). It would be Meskin’s most productive period in his comic book career. Soon he would be back to working primarily for DC, changing his style and focusing less on the dynamic inking which made him famous amongst his peers, and more on his layouts and storytelling. In 1965 Meskin left comics altogether and went on to a successful 17-year career in advertising.
Murphy Anderson and Carmine
Kneel before Grodd
Tough to find interesting late period Flash covers.
The game/challenge, on the collage tshirt below is...do you recognize the other covers (beyond the one I knew)? :wink:
But first an explanation....
I bought two cheap t-shirts from Target that have made me unreasonably happy. As you'll see below, one is a John Buscema (I think) pin-up.
Looks like it appeared inside something -- probably a late 60's/early 70's Annual.
What's a bit fun is there's also a "poster" version from the 70's, where Quicksilver and Spidey were removed, and Wonder Man, Vision, and Beast were pasted in! In the t-shirt, Quicksilver's still missing, but Spidey's back.
(Incidentally, the Beast is from the Gil Kane/Sinnott/Romita Alterations cover from Avengers 136, and the Vision is from the splash page to Avengers 152...)
So, here's the second "collage" tshirt....
I recognized the price box/upper-left corner instantly (though I had to double-check the number), and I believe the far lower-left bar code comes from that same cover.
Avengers #149
Per GCD:
Pencils: George Pérez; John Romita (alterations)
Inks: Frank Giacoia; John Romita (alterations)
The game/challenge if anyone wants to play (and is still reading)...do you recognize the other collage covers?
;)
Believe it or not, I was pretty sure without looking that the banner at the top was from Avengers #147, and after looking through the banners around that "banner era," I'm fairly sure I was right. You have the light blue banner, the dark blue background, the yellow "Earth's Mightiest...," and the red Avengers letters. I didn't spot any others that matched. The full cover scan on GCD doesn't look like it matches, but that color doesn't match my memory! (ha) The partial cover is a better real-world color match, I think....
Pencils: Rich Buckler
Inks: Dan Adkins
I guess that leaves Thor, Iron Man, and the burst cover in the upper right....
EDIT: And as for the not-quite-the-same blues, I can put that down to bad scanning and not adjusting afterwards.
I was remembering the collection that recolored that cover image: