Aug. 1946: Better known for his many comics featuring Hanna-Barbera characters, early in his career Harvey Eisenberg also drew several Dell covers and stories featuring Disney characters, such as this cover for Four Color #116. Besides the nice acting of the figures, I really like the curves of the staircase—a very nice design feature.
This particular comic contained two stories featuring such celebrities as Jimmy Durante, Edgar Bergen, Charlie McCarthy, Bob Hope, Clark Gable, and Eddie Cantor
50 years ago this month. The Fantastic Voyages of Sinbad. Great Gold Key cover. However I'm unable to track down the name of the cover artist. Perhaps @nweathington can help here. Interesting to note the different spelling of "Sindbad" on this cover.
50 years ago this month. The Fantastic Voyages of Sinbad. Great Gold Key cover. However I'm unable to track down the name of the cover artist. Perhaps @nweathington can help here. Interesting to note the different spelling of "Sindbad" on this cover.
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Looks like George Wilson, who did a ton of painted covers for Gold Key.
Oct. 1946: A lot of excellent covers this month, but I'm going to go with the great Tom McKimson and his first comic book cover, Four Color #123. McKimson was, of course, one of three brothers (Bob and Chuck were his younger brothers) who were all major players in the early days of animation. McKimson started out (along with Bob) in 1928 with Walt Disney. After a brief stop at Romer Grey (son of western author Zane Grey) Studios, he and Bob ended up at the Harman-Ising Studios in 1932, producing Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts for Warner Bros. alongside the likes of Bob Clampett.
When Harman-Ising broke off from WB over budget disputes in 1933 (taking their characters with them), the McKimsons stuck around with the newly formed Termite Terrace, and Tom joined Bob Clampett’s animation team, where he would go on to design the original Tweety Bird (with the huge feet and smaller head—the version I actually prefer) and Beaky Buzzard. The youngest brother, Charles, joined them in 1937.
In 1944, McKimson also began doing comic book work for Dell. When he left WB in 1947, he became Western Publishing’s art director, a job he kept until his retirement in 1972. But from 1947-1953, he also produced the Roy Rogers daily newspaper strip, along with his brother Charles and several assistants (including at one point Alex Toth), and co-writer Al Stoffel.
Bob McKimson, of course, is the best known of the three, and rightfully so, but Tom was an excellent artist and designer himself—plus he was a background and layout artist on perhaps my favorite Looney Tunes short of all time, “The Great Piggy Bank Robbery,” so he deserves some love.
Nov. 1946: Not a lot to choose from this month, but I like this cover for True Sports Picture Stories vol. 3, #10, and it's definitely fitting since the World Series will be starting up in a few days. I can't find any confirmation on the artist, but judging by the figures and the inking style, and the fact that I know he did some work for the title, I think Bob Powell probably drew the cover.
It's funny, this issue has a lot of what I love about comics as a medium, but very little about what I love about Master of Kung Fu in particular.
That actually makes a lot of sense. Maybe that's why it's one of the early MOKF's I picked up -- it had all the right bells & whistles for my childhood self, but I ended up sticking around for entirely different reasons in the long haul. Going to post up some faves from the Gulacy era in the next couple days to finish out the "Spotlight" posts...
A couple favorite storylines from Master of Kung Fu. I know the later stuff is great and beautiful, but I was just the right age for the Gulacy issues...
This one features Razor-Fist, mentioned on the podcast, and I think the animals belonged to Pavane, who popped up next issue. Both blew my ten-year-old mind...though I think at that age, I was more interested in Pavane's pets than her get-up.
Cover pencils by Gil Kane on this one, with inks by maybe Dan Adkins or Frank Giacoia, per GCD.
Donald Duck #26 November 1, 1952 Cover: Cark Barks
Donald Duck finally debuts in his own self-titled series. The numbering on this issue continues from the previous Four Color Comics issues. Carl Barks delivers a delightfully entertaining Halloween tale. Donald refuses to give out treats to his nephews, doling out tricks instead. A witch intervenes on their behalf, pitting her magic against Donald's stubbornness. Carl Barks parades around a cast of weird creatures to enhance his already spooky artwork. In a separate tale, Gyro Gearloose invents a "goblin foiler" for Huey, Louie and Dewey. The entire issue is elegantly drawn, but the cover is exceptional. Barks captures the essence of the holiday within an expertly designed layout. This is number 26 of 43 Donald Duck issues with Barks art and/or covers (not including reprints).
Here's some interior art:
And here is the short the comic is based on (also from 1952)
Dec. 1946: Carl Buettner drew this cover for Four Color #129, which featured the first comic book appearances of Disney’s version of Brer Rabbit and company, following on the Nov. 20, 1946, release of Disney’s controversial (even at the time) Song of the South. This issue features five of the Uncle Remus Brer Rabbit tales, two of which were animated in Song of the South. Two of the stories were drawn by Tom McKimson, with Paul Murry (pencils) and Buettner (inks) doing the others. They've each been reprinted at various points—one of the stories as recently as 1988.
The Brer Rabbit tales had actually been adapted to comics strips before, going back to a 1907 publication called Uncle Remus and Brer Rabbit, which featured several 4- and 6-page stories done in the Victorian fashion of having text under each panel of illustration—though the final story actually used word balloons. Also, Disney produced a newspaper strip called Uncle Remus and His Tales of Brer Rabbit, starting in 1945 (which ran until 1972).
Drew Murdoch was the writer of the cover-featured story. Maurice Whitman was the actual cover artist.
The book is a collection of reprinted stories from other Fiction House titles, and that cover-story, originally from Jumbo Comics #71, may have had some inking done by Matt Baker, though it’s difficult to be sure.
Chamber of Chills #8 January 1974 Cover: Ernie Chan
One of the first "horror" comics I ever owned. Wore this one out. I had no idea at the time it was just a bunch of reprinted tales from Journey into Mystery #18 and Marvel Tales #117. They were great yearns nonetheless.
Jan. 1947: I can’t find confirmation, but this cover for All Teen #20 looks to me to be one of Frank Carin’s last jobs for Timely Comics. Though the cover says #20, this was the first and only issue of All Teen, picking up from the numbering of All Winners Comics #19 and being cancelled altogether after this issue. Timely was steadily losing sales all through 1946, and they dropped many of their superhero titles in an effort to win readers with more teen comics, westerns, war comics, etc. It didn't really help in the end though.
Carin started out in animation in the early ’40s before moving to comics around 1945. He was the artist, and presumably creator, of Timely’s Georgie from issue #1 through to issue #9, which was published the same month as All Teen #20 (that’s Georgie in the checkered jacket). (Sidenote: Mike Sekowsky took over from Carin with Georgie #10.) Carin left Timely (he likely saw the writing on the wall—Timely would lay off all its artists a year later) and began doing work for Avon, though he would leave comics altogether in the mid-’50s.
Carin wasn’t one of the greats by any means, but I really like the Georgie figure in this cover. Very nice body language and expression.
Feb. 1947: This issue marks a couple of firsts. It's the first comic book cover by Jesse Marsh, who at this time only had a handful of stories under his belt, and the first appearance of Tarzan in a comic book. Marsh would go on to be the Tarzan comic book artist for the next two decades before retiring due to health issues due to diabetes.
Marsh had a truly distinct style. At times his work could look a bit clunky or unrefined, but his compositions were usually very strong and his storytelling was always clear. And at times, such as this cover for Four Color #134 where he worked in big, bold blacks, his work could shine.
Mar. 1947: Despite the “Bark’s” joke on the side of the crate, this cover is another by Carl Buettner. Barks drew the feature story for the issue, and also had a chicken farm for a few years after leaving animation for comics—or to be more precise, after leaving the L.A. climate for the drier San Jacinto climate to help with his allergies. The farm was meant to be a source of income during the transition, but Barks quickly got enough comic book work to make a living and became too busy to maintain the farm. A nice in-joke by Buettner though.
Today is the birthday of Gary Hallgren (born 28 October 1945) who (amongst other things) drew this super Tortoise and the Hare cover. Happy birthday Gary!
Comments
GCD lists it as pencils by Dave Cockrum (design); Al Milgrom (full pencils) with inks by Al Milgrom.
Yet I bought it off the stands and loved it. Probably due to the Gil Kane (pencils) and John Romita (inks) artwork on that cover.
Mary Marvel #14
July 1947
Cover: Jack Binder
For what it's worth, although the cover ties in with one of the stories, there is not a single ghost to be seen in this comic!
Black Cat #14
November 1948
Cover by Lee Elias
This particular comic contained two stories featuring such celebrities as Jimmy Durante, Edgar Bergen, Charlie McCarthy, Bob Hope, Clark Gable, and Eddie Cantor
February 1976
Pencils: Ron Wilson
Inks: Tom Palmer
The Fantastic Voyages of Sinbad. Great Gold Key cover. However I'm unable to track down the name of the cover artist. Perhaps @nweathington can help here.
Interesting to note the different spelling of "Sindbad" on this cover.
January 1952
Cover by Ken Bald
Spine-chilling tales of suspense, horror, and the supernatural—prepare yourself for Adventures into the Unknown! 52 pages in "full color"!
When Harman-Ising broke off from WB over budget disputes in 1933 (taking their characters with them), the McKimsons stuck around with the newly formed Termite Terrace, and Tom joined Bob Clampett’s animation team, where he would go on to design the original Tweety Bird (with the huge feet and smaller head—the version I actually prefer) and Beaky Buzzard. The youngest brother, Charles, joined them in 1937.
In 1944, McKimson also began doing comic book work for Dell. When he left WB in 1947, he became Western Publishing’s art director, a job he kept until his retirement in 1972. But from 1947-1953, he also produced the Roy Rogers daily newspaper strip, along with his brother Charles and several assistants (including at one point Alex Toth), and co-writer Al Stoffel.
Bob McKimson, of course, is the best known of the three, and rightfully so, but Tom was an excellent artist and designer himself—plus he was a background and layout artist on perhaps my favorite Looney Tunes short of all time, “The Great Piggy Bank Robbery,” so he deserves some love.
Does the monster count for October? ;)
August 1974 cover by Gil Kane & Tom Palmer
This one features Razor-Fist, mentioned on the podcast, and I think the animals belonged to Pavane, who popped up next issue. Both blew my ten-year-old mind...though I think at that age, I was more interested in Pavane's pets than her get-up.
Cover pencils by Gil Kane on this one, with inks by maybe Dan Adkins or Frank Giacoia, per GCD.
Here's an interior page from the next issue, #31
November 1, 1952
Cover: Cark Barks
Donald Duck finally debuts in his own self-titled series. The numbering on this issue continues from the previous Four Color Comics issues. Carl Barks delivers a delightfully entertaining Halloween tale. Donald refuses to give out treats to his nephews, doling out tricks instead. A witch intervenes on their behalf, pitting her magic against Donald's stubbornness. Carl Barks parades around a cast of weird creatures to enhance his already spooky artwork. In a separate tale, Gyro Gearloose invents a "goblin foiler" for Huey, Louie and Dewey. The entire issue is elegantly drawn, but the cover is exceptional. Barks captures the essence of the holiday within an expertly designed layout. This is number 26 of 43 Donald Duck issues with Barks art and/or covers (not including reprints).
Here's some interior art:
And here is the short the comic is based on (also from 1952)
The Brer Rabbit tales had actually been adapted to comics strips before, going back to a 1907 publication called Uncle Remus and Brer Rabbit, which featured several 4- and 6-page stories done in the Victorian fashion of having text under each panel of illustration—though the final story actually used word balloons. Also, Disney produced a newspaper strip called Uncle Remus and His Tales of Brer Rabbit, starting in 1945 (which ran until 1972).
Ghost Comics #2. Cover by Drew Murdoch
The book is a collection of reprinted stories from other Fiction House titles, and that cover-story, originally from Jumbo Comics #71, may have had some inking done by Matt Baker, though it’s difficult to be sure.
January 1974
Cover: Ernie Chan
One of the first "horror" comics I ever owned. Wore this one out. I had no idea at the time it was just a bunch of reprinted tales from Journey into Mystery #18 and Marvel Tales #117. They were great yearns nonetheless.
Carin started out in animation in the early ’40s before moving to comics around 1945. He was the artist, and presumably creator, of Timely’s Georgie from issue #1 through to issue #9, which was published the same month as All Teen #20 (that’s Georgie in the checkered jacket). (Sidenote: Mike Sekowsky took over from Carin with Georgie #10.) Carin left Timely (he likely saw the writing on the wall—Timely would lay off all its artists a year later) and began doing work for Avon, though he would leave comics altogether in the mid-’50s.
Carin wasn’t one of the greats by any means, but I really like the Georgie figure in this cover. Very nice body language and expression.
Marsh had a truly distinct style. At times his work could look a bit clunky or unrefined, but his compositions were usually very strong and his storytelling was always clear. And at times, such as this cover for Four Color #134 where he worked in big, bold blacks, his work could shine.
Cover pencils by Gil Kane. Interior page by Gulacy.
Here's an interior page...