The tricky thing with identifying L. B. Cole covers is that, for his Star Publications books, he is known to have taken a splash page from an interior story by another artist, use it as a cover for the book, and sign his name to it. How many times he did this, I don’t know, but I think the covers I’m posting here are really his.
As I mentioned in the first post, Star Publications was one of the publishers targeted by the U.S. Senate juvenile delinquency hearings which led to the Comics Code. Cole drew the cover of Spook #24, which was specifically mentioned in Seduction of the Innocent.
Happy birthday to René Goscinny (1926-77)! Yeah, I know. He’s a writer. But it gives me an excuse to post an Asterix cover. The cover I’m using is the first Asterix book I bought, which I bought in Germany in 1986 in the Munich airport to have something to read on the flight home. (This isn't the actual cover of my copy, which was a hardcover with a light green banner for the title at the top, but with the same image underneath.)
So, I've been away forever! (have had my head down writing and on other work), but I was so happy to see you folks still posting awesome covers on this thread! I popped in to post up a thread about a couple books I've got hitting stands, and there was this thread near the top! ;)
I'm still rotating covers on my desktop (still in "1973"), but my new thing is finding the perfect cover as wallpaper for my iPhone. Here's one I think is kinda' awesome for the iPhone...this is what I've seen for weeks when I turn on my phone...
That's from 1971 by Gil Kane & Frank Giacoia. Here's how it looks OFF the iphone:
But then you guys already know how much I love those Marvel Gil Kane covers from the 70's (and Nick Cardy over at DC during the same time period -- speaking of which, here's the one I have on my desktop today...)
I had this one when I was a kid, I don't remember a single thing about it, but I loved those freaking monsters on the cover! ;)
Anyway, seeing this thread going strong made my day!
@nweathington Some striking funny animal covers! I would have gone for those when I was a kid, for sure. (Although I wasn't born when those come out, I think.)
@Caliban you'll be happy to know I bought a packet of 2000AD's the other day. They're pricey here in the states buying in packs, but I'm really enjoying them!
@nweathington Some striking funny animal covers! I would have gone for those when I was a kid, for sure. (Although I wasn't born when those come out, I think.)
Yeah, he has a very distinctive style with the funny animals. I think part of it comes from the fact that when he was a kid, Cole loved drawing animals. He said he spent two or three years drawing almost nothing but horses. I think that shows through even in his humor work. Most definitely in his action/adventure work.
Some painted covers from his time as an editor and art director (and occasional cover artist) for Gilberton, which is where he first ended up after Star Publications folded.
After leaving Gilberton, he worked for Dell in a similar role for a time. When he left the comics industry in the mid- to late ’60s, he began painting covers for magazines like Field and Stream and Rod and Gun.
@Caliban you'll be happy to know I bought a packet of 2000AD's the other day. They're pricey here in the states buying in packs, but I'm really enjoying them!
Today’s birthday boy is Argentinian-born artist, Louis (née Luis) Cazeneuve (1908-77). Cazeneuve was drew one of Argentina’s first newspaper adventure strips, making a name for himself there before emigrating to America with his brother Arthur (née Arturo)—a fellow comic artist—in 1939. He started out in the Eisner & Iger Studio, where he drew a couple of Blue Beetle stories for Fox and little else before striking out on his own.
He formed a studio with his brother and another Eisner & Iger studiomate, and together they packaged comics for other companies much like their former employers. His first job there was co-creating Red Raven with Joe Simon for Timely. The studio’s main client, though, was Fox, where he co-created Samson, The Eagle, The Banshee, and U.S. Jones, and it was for them that he did his first covers. This cover for Weird Comics #19 (Nov. 1941) is probably Cazeneuve. If so it was his first cover.
In 1942, Cazeneuve began working almost exclusively for DC. He was most closely associated with Aquaman, The Shining Knight, and The Boy Commandos, but he drew a wide variety of characters for them (and others) until he left the comics industry in 1948.
Man, I loved those Not Brand Ecch's! I even still have a couple of those issues, the Stuporman issue included!
And I loved her collaborations with Everett -- I remember there being a slew of those in the late 60's to very early 70's, mostly the reprint and mystery books that I can recall. They had the distinctive '7Ev' signature for 'Severin-Everett'; you can see it in the Chamber Of Darkness cover on the far right, just above the cowering mustachioed man.
Man, I loved those Not Brand Ecch's! I even still have a couple of those issues, the Stuporman issue included!
Same here. I remember laughing out loud when I first saw that cover and to this very day when I want to give my LCS owner a hard time (he is a big Superman fan) I will refer to Superman as Stupor Man.
Today marks the birthday of Alfredo Alcala (1925-2000). He was probably known better as an inker here in the States, but he was a darn good penciler too. He started in the Filipino komik industry in 1948, but didn’t work for American publishers until 1972.
Most of his penciling jobs were short stories for anthology books, and he drew very few covers. He wasn’t very flashy with his pencil work—very much on the illustrative side—but he was a solid artist. I put him just outside my top five list of Filipino artists.
I loved Alcala's work, especially on the black and white magazines to which his inks lent a real pulpish air to the art. I know John Buscema was said to have hated Alcala's inks over his pencils on the Conan stories, but I loved those collaborations and thought that Alcala made them especially atmospheric.
I remember Alcala doing a couple of surprise fill-ins on a couple of Marvel Comics (Doctor Strange and Captain Marvel), and, although they looked rushed, were still an interesting take on superhero stories, a genre I seldom saw him work on, other than inking some Batman stories.
Yeah, he stuck mostly to the fantasy and horror books. The most superhero-y he usually got was working on things like Ka-Zar, Man-Thing, Swamp Thing, or Hulk. But that fit his sensibilities best, I think. He actually became well known in the early ’60s for his creator-owned comic Voltar, which was a Viking adventure series. It won him some international attention. They were later reprinted in the Warren’s Rook magazine.
The job he did over Simonson’s breakdowns for Rampaging Hulk #1 was a pretty interesting collaboration.
Today marks the birthday of one of the greatest cartoonists to ever put brush to paper: Walt Kelly! I wish I had time for a longer post, but I’ll just have to let the artwork do the talking.
As much as I love Kelly's work, the racist caricature alongside the near-perfect likeness of the white kids is appalling.
True, but I wonder if the lips were his idea or an art director’s. This was very early in Kelly’s career, so it’s possible he was just following orders—not that that’s ever a good excuse. As the series went along, he portrayed Buckwheat as one of the smartest characters of the bunch, renamed him Bucky, and all but eliminated the stereotypical caricature elements. All of which leads me to think the racism in the caricature may not have been his preference.
True, but I wonder if the lips were his idea or an art director’s. This was very early in Kelly’s career, so it’s possible he was just following orders—not that that’s ever a good excuse. As the series went along, he portrayed Buckwheat as one of the smartest characters of the bunch, renamed him Bucky, and all but eliminated the stereotypical caricature elements. All of which leads me to think the racism in the caricature may not have been his preference.
That's good to hear.
I'd prefer to keep Mr. Kelly on a pedestal if at all possible.
Comments
1985AD Bryan Talbot
More tomorrow.
As I mentioned in the first post, Star Publications was one of the publishers targeted by the U.S. Senate juvenile delinquency hearings which led to the Comics Code. Cole drew the cover of Spook #24, which was specifically mentioned in Seduction of the Innocent.
Others of his horror covers:
I'm still rotating covers on my desktop (still in "1973"), but my new thing is finding the perfect cover as wallpaper for my iPhone. Here's one I think is kinda' awesome for the iPhone...this is what I've seen for weeks when I turn on my phone...
That's from 1971 by Gil Kane & Frank Giacoia. Here's how it looks OFF the iphone:
But then you guys already know how much I love those Marvel Gil Kane covers from the 70's (and Nick Cardy over at DC during the same time period -- speaking of which, here's the one I have on my desktop today...)
I had this one when I was a kid, I don't remember a single thing about it, but I loved those freaking monsters on the cover! ;)
Anyway, seeing this thread going strong made my day!
Getting back to L. B. Cole, it wasn’t all horror and sci-fi in the ’50s. He did a fair amount of humor work as well.
@Caliban you'll be happy to know I bought a packet of 2000AD's the other day. They're pricey here in the states buying in packs, but I'm really enjoying them!
Some painted covers from his time as an editor and art director (and occasional cover artist) for Gilberton, which is where he first ended up after Star Publications folded.
After leaving Gilberton, he worked for Dell in a similar role for a time. When he left the comics industry in the mid- to late ’60s, he began painting covers for magazines like Field and Stream and Rod and Gun.
Wow! Thanks for sharing those!
He formed a studio with his brother and another Eisner & Iger studiomate, and together they packaged comics for other companies much like their former employers. His first job there was co-creating Red Raven with Joe Simon for Timely. The studio’s main client, though, was Fox, where he co-created Samson, The Eagle, The Banshee, and U.S. Jones, and it was for them that he did his first covers. This cover for Weird Comics #19 (Nov. 1941) is probably Cazeneuve. If so it was his first cover.
In 1942, Cazeneuve began working almost exclusively for DC. He was most closely associated with Aquaman, The Shining Knight, and The Boy Commandos, but he drew a wide variety of characters for them (and others) until he left the comics industry in 1948.
Inks by Dan Adkins.
Inks by Frank Giacoia.
Inks by John Verpoorten.
Inks by Frank Giacoia.
Inks by Bill Everett.
And I loved her collaborations with Everett -- I remember there being a slew of those in the late 60's to very early 70's, mostly the reprint and mystery books that I can recall. They had the distinctive '7Ev' signature for 'Severin-Everett'; you can see it in the Chamber Of Darkness cover on the far right, just above the cowering mustachioed man.
I remember laughing out loud when I first saw that cover and to this very day when I want to give my LCS owner a hard time (he is a big Superman fan) I will refer to Superman as Stupor Man.
Most of his penciling jobs were short stories for anthology books, and he drew very few covers. He wasn’t very flashy with his pencil work—very much on the illustrative side—but he was a solid artist. I put him just outside my top five list of Filipino artists.
I remember Alcala doing a couple of surprise fill-ins on a couple of Marvel Comics (Doctor Strange and Captain Marvel), and, although they looked rushed, were still an interesting take on superhero stories, a genre I seldom saw him work on, other than inking some Batman stories.
The job he did over Simonson’s breakdowns for Rampaging Hulk #1 was a pretty interesting collaboration.
Possibly my favorite Kaluta:
One of my favorite “heads only” covers ever:
I'd prefer to keep Mr. Kelly on a pedestal if at all possible.