Like so many great artist of the late 70s and 80s (Aparo, Byrne, and Zeck to name a few), Staton cut his teeth at Charlton Comics. Charlton was the perfect environment for many young artists as the work was plentiful and the minimal editorial interference really allowed them to find their own voice. Staton's finest work at Charlton was on E-Man, collaborating with Nicol Cuti. I discussed E-Man a couple of weeks ago, so I won't repeat myself here except to say that the mixture of action, sci-fi and satire was certainly ahead of its time and Staton was the perfect artist to mix up all of these elements.

Aside from E-Man, Staton worked on countless projects at Charlton - including art on licensed properties such as Six Million Dollar Man and Space: 1999. This was all solid work, if unspectacular. Where Staton really excelled, however, was in the world of horror. During the 70s, Charlton had a plethora of horror anthologies, so Staton's work pops up all over the place. His more cartoony style really works in the horror genre, much as Jack Davis' did for EC back in the 50s. 'Film Freak' from Haunted #20 is a great example of his fine horror work at Charlton.

Eventually, Staton began to do some work for DC and this is really where he made his mark. I believe that the first book I ever owned with Joe Staton artwork was All-Star Comics #70, which is a really fun little tale featuring Star Spangled Kid and Wildcat, with a little Huntress thrown in for good measure. I was probably 5 or 6 when I read this one, so perhaps Staton's less detailed line work appealed to me, but it still looks great 30 years later. Staton works well in Earth-2 as he gives the characters a much more classic look - his Superman is a bit Wayne Boring and his Batman is a bit Dick Sprang.

Speaking of Batman, Joe Staton drew on of the finest Batman tales of ever produced (and the "Greatest Stories" folks at DC agree with me. Brave and the Bold #197, is an absolutely beautiful Earth-Two Batman story written by Alan Brennert. It's a love story, as Bruce and Selina finally open up to each other and all of the walls they've built to protect themselves come tumbling down. It really is quite touching, and a comic that should be in everyone's collection, in my less than humble opinion.

Lastly, let me mention Staton's excellent work on the Huntress strip that ran as a back-up in Wonder Woman during the early 80s. This was the rare case where the back-up was far superior to the main strip, and the only reason it was worth picking up Wonder Woman back in the day. DC finally listen to the cries of fans and published a collection of these stories a couple of years ago. For my money, the Levitz/Staton Joker arc, is as good a Joker story as you'll find.

Along with the stuff I've mentioned above, Staton also had a long, fine run on Green Lantern and was part of many key projects at DC during the 80s. He was heavily involved with First Comics, working as art directors for a number of years. These days, I believe he draws the Scooby Doo book, which seems to be a long way from the Dark Knight. I actually find it ironic that Staton has fallen out of favour when there has been shift towards a more 'animated' look in comics. If you look at Staton's Batman, you'll see that it bridges the generational gap from Dick Sprang to Bruce Timm. At least DC recognized that fact, and had Staton do some work with Paul Dini in the late 90s. Staton is a true master, who will likely always be seen as a journeyman by most fans and that's a shame.

Joe Staton Essentials: E-Man, Brave & Bold #197, Tales of the Green Lantern Corps (1981), Huntress: Dark Knight Daughter

As I noted in the comments - I'm editing this to add this page from Blackhawk #271, the only Staton page in my collection.

For my random talk about classic comics, feel free to stop by my blog: Seduction of the Indifferent

Also, feel free to drop me a line at Scottshouldbegood@yahoo.ca

41 Comments

• At November 25, 2008, SallyP wrote:

  Gosh, I do love Joe Staton. Yes, he's a bit cartoony sometimes, but it works. Also, I adore ...

• At November 25, 2008, Greg Geren wrote:

  Agreed all the way around. Joe Staton is a long-time favorite since his All-Star run.

  He is a wonderful story-teller.

• At November 25, 2008, DubipR wrote:

  I do enjoy Staton's artwork. One of my personal favorites is his Power Girl mini he did with Levitz.

• At November 25, 2008, Paul wrote:

  Loved Staton's Charleton horror work, as well as his DC superheroes. I read all of them, but was never ...

• At November 25, 2008, jccalhoun wrote:

  I'm pretty much the opposite of Paul. I love the early E-Man but pretty much can't stand any of ...

• At November 25, 2008, Graeme Burk wrote:

  I agree completely about both the Huntress and Brave and Bold 197. In fact, I think B&B 197 might be ...

• At November 25, 2008, Max wrote:

  Staton's work on the "Femme Noir" mini-series from Ape Entertainment has been really cool so far.

• At November 25, 2008, Mark Engblom wrote:

  A nice overview of Staton's career, but I'm afraid his stuff has never been my cup of tea....particularly with "serious" ...

• At November 25, 2008, kirbydotter wrote:

  Well done review.

  I'm not a fan of Joe Staton's style either. I must admit loving the retro-Batman job on ...

• At November 25, 2008, Scott wrote:

  Very good conversation here, folks. I knew that he wasn’t for everyone - but I never quite realized just how ...

• At November 25, 2008, joecab wrote:

  He's ALWAYS cartoony, but that's just the man's style. I'm surprised at how many things I liked him on, especially ...

• At November 25, 2008, Ajit wrote:

  All Star Comics was anything but a "fun little tale", Scott! It was so boring that readers complained vociferously that ...

• At November 25, 2008, b_rad wrote:

  For me Joe Staton's E-Man was a breath of fresh air in the 70's that was only rivalled by John ...

• At November 25, 2008, Mike Loughlin wrote:

  I love "The Autobiography of Bruce Wayne," and rank it as one of the best super-hero stories ever produced. Staton's ...

• At November 25, 2008, Scott wrote:

  Ajit - I couldn't disagree more. All-Star Comics #70 starts with a termination of a meeting so the gang's all ...

• At November 25, 2008, Matt Lazorwitz wrote:

  I have always enjoyed Staton's work, and if you do too, you should really check out, "Going Sane." It ...

• At November 25, 2008, Vincent Paul Bartilucci wrote:

  Well, Mr. Staton would definitely make my list of favorite artists! Two comments:

  1) I love the work of Neal ...

• At November 25, 2008, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  If Stanton's not popular, I'd say it's because he makes it look effortless.

  I was thinking about this the other day ...

• At November 25, 2008, Alvin wrote:

  Showcase 100, I've had my copy since I was a kid in the 70's, 60 hero's in a crisis-esque story, ...

• At November 25, 2008, Kevin Riddle wrote:

  Glad to see Staton getting some love. Being in my late-20's my only real experience with him is his mid-90's ...

• At November 25, 2008, bad_trotsky wrote:

  I read your blog its entertaining but I DEMAND you post more frequently. I want more content for free from ...

• At November 25, 2008, Cully wrote:

  Joe did some powerful inking on a stretch of the Incredible Hulk from issues #191-209. First inking over the last ...

• At November 26, 2008, fourthworlder wrote:

  I remember recognizing Staton's influence on Byrne right from the start, especially on his women.

• At November 26, 2008, DanCJ wrote:

  I've never noticed anything wrong with Staton's storytelling, but other than that I'm really not fond of his art. ...

• At November 26, 2008, Rob Postuma wrote:

  Always been a big fan and have always wondered why he wasn't bigger. I think he's just one of those ...

• At November 26, 2008, Pablo wrote:

  I think he was at his best during the Englehart run on Green Lantern (with Bruce Patterson at the inks, ...

• At November 26, 2008, Greg Geren wrote:

  I think the problem with the art on Millenium was more due to Ian Gibson's inks, which aren't bad in ...

• At November 26, 2008, comb & razor wrote:

  i'll add my voice to the chorus singing Staton's Green Lantern work as definitive--i always think of his rendition of ...

• At November 26, 2008, Llordllama wrote:

  It was Joe Staton and the Green Lantern Corps that got me into reading comics from the US (and largely ...

• At November 26, 2008, Christopher Mills wrote:

  For samples of some of Joe's work on the current FEMME NOIR miniseries (which I happen to write), check out ...

• At November 26, 2008, sgt rawk wrote:

  I loved Joe Staton's Huntress back in the day and I loved his Sprang-style Batman but Mlllenium was terrible. Worst. ...

• At November 26, 2008, stealthwise wrote:

  The favourite artist of my childhood. I always wondered what happened to him.

• At November 26, 2008, Rob Postuma wrote:

  Probably one of the things that stopped him from becoming much bigger, was the fact that he was an artist ...

• At November 26, 2008, stephen cade wrote:

  I loved his work on the revamped post Crisis Huntress reboot.

• At November 27, 2008, Ajit wrote:

  Scott, just to clarify, that wasn't just my opinion of issue 70. Here is what Paul Levitz himself wrote in ...

• At November 27, 2008, DanCJ wrote:

  Probably one of the things that stopped him from becoming much bigger, was the fact that he was an artist ...

• At November 27, 2008, Rob Postuma wrote:

  I think that those "artist/writer" guys, even if they weren't writers initially, had at least some major input into the ...

• At November 28, 2008, DanCJ wrote:

  Maybe there's something there (and admittedly I didn't have a clue Perez had written anything before Wonder Woman), but I ...

• At November 28, 2008, Rob Postuma wrote:

  Even though both Liefeld and McFarlane have seemingly fallen out of fandom uber-desires, they did get pretty big at one ...

• At November 29, 2008, Jeremy A. Patterson wrote:

  Staton also did the first issue of 'Archie's Super-Teens' iin 1994. His style is well-suited for Archie.

  He also ...

• At November 29, 2008, Rob Postuma wrote:

  For me, he'll always be the definitive Green Lantern/GL Corps artist. His run of Green Lantern was even better than ...

I'd imagine some people would see his art today and think it was too rough or even amateurish. Once you actually start to read the story and see how he is able to move the narrative along through his wonderful layouts and economic action sequences, you really get sucked into the comic.

Boyette was far more than a comic book artist, though. He was a true renaissance man dabbling in television broadcasting and filmmaking and was in his 40s when the landed in the funnybook business in the mid-60s. The bulk of his work was for Charlton, but he also contributed to DC, Warren and Skywald among others. His line work is fairly spare and his characters are often given very flat, Picasso-like faces with cat's eyes. This may seem odd at first, but once you get a feel for Boyette's way of telling a story, it all comes together.

When Dick Giordano moved to DC, he tried to salvage the faltering Blackhawk series by parachuting in Pat Boyette. Many will claim that the final two issues were the best Blackhawk stories of the Silver Age, and I won't disagree. Unfortunately, it was a case of too little too late and we never got the chance to see a long run by Boyette on the title. Boyette also drew the infamous 'Children of Doom' story at Charlton, and co-created the Peacemaker with Joe Gill. Boyette was sufficiently talented to change his style to fit the story, as could be seen with his detailed and lush work for "Death of the Wizard" in Creepy #39.

I'll be the first to admit that Boyette's style was not my thing when I first saw it, but as I dug deeper and deeper into the Charlton library, I slowly found myself falling in love with his work. I love his Phantom, but he has the distinct disadvantage of drawing it between the Aparo and Newton eras. His work on Flash Gordon, Jungle Jim and Korg, 70,000 BC was incredibly imaginative and exciting. I assume that he also designed the Mr. Bones character for Ghost Manor - my favourite of the Charlton 'hosts'.

""

More and more, though, I've found myself drawn to Pat Boyette's covers. The samples above show that he was comfortable producing both line drawn and painted covers. His images are always striking, tempting the reader to look inside. While those of you who frequent my blog know that I go a little nuts for Ditko covers; Boyette covers ain't far behind these days - especially the painted ones. If you ever stumble upon a cheap Charlton book with Boyette artwork in the bargain bins or online, do yourself a favour and give it a try.

Here are links to a couple of bio/tribute pages. I recall reading a wonderful obituary from Mark Evanier, but I can't seem to track it down online.

Lambiek Bio

Don Mangus Tribute

For more random talk about all sort of classic comics, please stop by my blog:

Seduction of the Indifferent

7 Comments

• At November 4, 2008, Dan Bailey wrote:

  Great choice. As I've noted before in the Classic Comics Forum, I was somewhat put off (like you, I see) ...

• At November 4, 2008, Andy Hajny wrote:

  Pat Boyette was never really my "cup of tea". As you state in your article, he started drawing The Phantom ...

• At November 5, 2008, Betty wrote:

  I'm looking for a comic that I use to read as a young girl in the local library. It was ...

• At November 5, 2008, Greg Hatcher wrote:

  Betty, from your description of the characters and the fact you found it in a library, I'm thinking it was ...

• At November 10, 2008, Betty wrote:

  Thank you! Greg! Do you know how long this has bugged me! When I saw the picture I remembered like ...

• At November 11, 2008, STWALLSKULL » HEY! KIDS! COMICS! : Wolverton’s Powerhouse Pepper : November 11th, 2008 wrote:

  [...] Scott’s Classic Comics Corner: Underappreciated Artist Spotlight - Pat Boyette from Comics Should Be Good! [...]

• At November 12, 2008, jason hyde wrote:

  I've actually seen Boyette's movie Dungeon of Harrow. It's completely insane, like one of those Charlton horror comics come to ...

EDITED TO ADD: Due to some log-in snafus, Scott's first piece will be Wednesday, instead.

It's time for another installment of UAS, this time feature Herb Trimpe. Trimpe was a real Marvel mainstay for those of us who devoured comics in the Bronze Age. Although mostly associated with the Incredible Hulk, he could draw everything from westerns to monster books.

I'd never call myself a huge Trimpe fan, but I've always admire his clean look which almost seemed to be the Marvel 'house' look because he worked on so many titles.

The strange thing is; I still think his best work was his first full length story - the "Phantom Eagle" from Marvel Super-Heroes #16. How many artists hit the ball completely out of the park on their first at-bat in the big leagues? Here are a couple of pages from that issue.

Trimpe also has a real knack for cover design - so many of his Hulk covers played with perspective to make them even more dynamic. Sometimes even just a slight tilting could bring a static image to life. Here's my favorite of his Hulk covers (also used for a Power Records cover, IIRC) and one of his best western covers.

It's just dazzling - it's really too bad that westerns went out of fashion because I truly believe that many artists excelled in that genre.

Trimpe definitely became the go-to guy at Marvel when they began licensing everything under the sun (see. Shogun Warriors, Godzilla and GI Joe to name but a few). Obviously Jim Shooter had faith in Trimpe, and put him on one high profile assignment after another. His versatility is indeed one of his real strengths as he really could do nice job on just about anything. You want a re-cap of Star Wars in a single page? Herb's your man.

Like so many skilled Bronze Age artists, Trimpe seemed to fall off the radar screen at Marvel. Tastes change and it's too bad that so many artists seem to be put out to pasture long before their time. He's still doing work from time to time (I believe his did a recent BPRD issue for Dark Horse) For those looking to get a taste of Herb Trimpe at this best - I highly recommend tracking down that Phantom Eagle story, his work of the latter issues of Nick Fury and his take on Ant-Man in Marvel Feature. Frugal Hulk fans know that there's a goldmine of fun Trimpe art in the Essentials volumes.

26 Comments

• At September 1, 2008, Chris Jones wrote:

  I'm not really a fan, aside from that Phantom Eagle stuff. His art always looks...lumpy, to me.

• At September 1, 2008, layne wrote:

  Hiring John Severin to ink Trimpe in the late sixties, rather than putting Jaunty John on a book of his ...

• At September 1, 2008, Agent_Torpor wrote:

  Still the greatest artist GI Joe ever had.

• At September 1, 2008, dahauk wrote:

  I always enjoyed Mr. Trimpe (rhymes with 'blimpy')..found him to be a cross of Kirby and Romita Sr. veryfound memories ...

• At September 1, 2008, jazzbo wrote:

  I've been buying the Essential Hulk books mainly for Trimpe's art. I love the issues with him and Severin together. ...

• At September 1, 2008, zuludelta wrote:

  I hated his GI Joe work when I was a kid (I much preferred Ron Wagner's clean lines) but re-reading ...

• At September 2, 2008, Grant wrote:

  The NYT piece showed Trimpe as one of the most fucked over artists in the industry. I almost cried when ...

• At September 2, 2008, E. Martín wrote:

  I love Trimpe's Hulk run. At one point he designs the composition and look of the forces asigned to the ...

• At September 2, 2008, Hannibal wrote:

  Herb! The first man ever to draw Wolverine! The Hulk artist that, so far as I am concerned, created the ...

• At September 2, 2008, T. wrote:

  You know, as a kid I used to hate Herb Trimpe's art. HATED IT.

  This article has totally turned me ...

• At September 2, 2008, Jeff Ryan wrote:

  Glad someone mentioned that he co-created, um, Wolverine. And that his Liefeldian stuff in the 90's was torture, both to ...

• At September 2, 2008, Mxyzplik wrote:

  Great pick for underappreciated artist, but a crime you didn't showcase his G.I. Joe work (which I'm probably over fond ...

• At September 2, 2008, T. wrote:

  Trimpe didn't co-create Wolverine, he just drew his first appearance. Wolverine's visual was actually created by John Romita, Sr.

• At September 2, 2008, R. J. Sterling wrote:

  It's always funny to me how people say "John Romita, Sr." I always want to correct them and say, "He's ...

• At September 2, 2008, Greg Hatcher wrote:

  Herb Trimpe is my hero. I got to meet him at San Diego six or eight years ago and we ...

• At September 2, 2008, Mike Loughlin wrote:

  Wasn't it MARIE Severin who inked Trimpe's early Hulk art, not John?

  Incredible Hulk 140, the first Jarella story, remains ...

• At September 2, 2008, Rockin' Rich wrote:

  I'm not sure if I'd agree with the statement that "Trimpe as one of the most fucked over artists ...

• At September 2, 2008, T. wrote:

  It’s always funny to me how people say “John Romita, Sr.” I always want to correct them and say, “He’s ...

• At September 2, 2008, Stephen wrote:

  "He was never referred to as “Senior” until after his son started drawing, "

  No one called Al Unser Sr. "Senior" ...

• At September 2, 2008, Cully Callaway wrote:

  Trimpe drew the difinitive Hulk. His storytelling is solid and remains so with the B.P.R.D. one-shot that recently came ...

• At September 3, 2008, Dave wrote:

  I loved his late 1969-1970 work,such as from hulk 111,121-140.They were very written as well.Absolutly hated his early 90s stuff,where ...

• At September 4, 2008, Richard wrote:

  "Wasn’t it MARIE Severin who inked Trimpe’s early Hulk art, not John? "

  Actually, Trimpe started on the series as Marie ...

• At September 13, 2008, neil wrote:

  actually, Marie did once ink a Trimpe Hulk--#190, which was a beautiful job.

• At December 24, 2008, Erik Larsen wrote:

  I grew up on Herb's Hulk. It was awesome stuff. I can't say enough good things about the man. He's ...

• At February 20, 2009, Comics Should Be Good! @ Comic Book Resources » Comic Book Legends Revealed #195 wrote:

  [...] Trimpe is a very good comic book artist, and as our own Scott has noted in the past, is ...

• At February 22, 2009, Alex Johnson wrote:

  I always enjoyed Herb's art and recently I was able to contract a commission from him. You can see it ...

What can I say about Mort Meskin? I absolutely adore his artwork. It is stylish, it is clean and it has always struck me as very dignified.

As a younger reader, I had not idea who Mort Meskin was, as I would have only encountered his artwork from time to time through reprints, but I probably wasn't paying much attention to the credits. The first time I truly recall Meskin's artwork catching my eye was in the 60 Years of DC Comics book published in the mid-90s. This picture demonstrated Meskin's technique to show Johnny Quick's speed.

I loved it! I have since come into possession of that issue (More Fun #96) and it is one of my most prized books.

Meskin's story is an interesting one, and perhaps a little bit sad. Unlike many of his contemporaries such as Kirby, Eisner and Kane, Mort Meskin's status in the comic book world seemed to diminish over time. In the 40s, Meskin was given some nice assignments at DC and really excelled on Vigilante and Johnny Quick, two back-up strips that were often better than the headliner.

I've included a couple of fine example of Meskin's artwork on both titles. The first is a splash page reprinted in the 100-Page Flash #229.

The Vigilante image is from Action Comics #77 - I just love Vig's body position in the bottom left panel.

As Meskin did some work on the Nedor superhero title with Jerry Robinson and did a lot of work through the 50s for Simon & Kirby's Crestwood titles. Take a look at the handsome page from Young Love #17.

By the mid-50s, he (like many other artists) had a tougher time landing jobs. The latter part of his career was spent back at DC and was given less than stellar assignments on for anthology titles such as House of Secrets and My Greatest Adventure (Mark Merlin is no Johnny Quick!). I have read tidbits here and there about Meskin's bad nerves and his rough relationship with Mort Weisinger at DC, but I have never read a definitive telling of that story. In some ways, it seems that this man who had so much talent and whose comic book career started with such a bang, left for the ad game in the mid-60s without much fanfare. Although respected by his peers, Meskin never achieved demigod status, and never really got to sink his teeth into a big name project.

If you compare Meskin's artwork of the early 40s to his artwork in the early 60s, you might be shocked that it is the same artist. I've included a page from House of Secrets #65 so you can compare both eras.

His 40s work (often signed Mort Morton Jr.) was full of panache, with plenty of action, interesting sound effect techniques and the splashiest of splash pages. At first glance, his 60s work seems stiff, dark and lacking in dynamism. Initially, I was turned off the 60s work, but I have come to appreciate it much more in recent years. The art is simply quieter, and Meskin seems to focus more on moving the story along. I have also read that he was now inking much of his own work (I believe Jerry Robinson and George Roussos did much of the earlier inking), and Meskin was experimenting with different techniques. Someone with more of an art background can comment on that issue. What I now feel is that Meskin' artwork was not deteriorating, but rather it was maturing. He was trying to move in a different direction, while at the same time working within DC's 'house look'. I still don't like it as much as his earlier stuff, but I find it to be quite interesting. Here's a good opinion piece by someone who prefers the later Meskin work - it includes a good samples of his artwork.http://www.meskin.net/ifoughtthecloc...lockstext.html

All in all, Meskin was one of the best - highly influential on many artists, including Jack Kirby. Unfortunately, he was never able to grow as an artist like many of his peers and his name is slowly being forgotten. If only DC would publish Archive Editions of Johnny Quick and Vigilante!

6 Comments

• At August 31, 2008, Ajit wrote:

  Meskin and (the equally underappreciated Roussos) were two of the finest artists of the Golden Age. My own favourite of ...

• At August 31, 2008, Blackjak wrote:

  Maybe they'll do a Johnny Quick archive to cash in on Speedster fever, arround the time of Flash: Rebirth....

• At September 1, 2008, Blair wrote:

  According to Blake Bell's book, he was a big influence on Steve Ditko.

• At September 1, 2008, Lynxara wrote:

  I had no idea Johnny Quick's original comics looked this great. I only knew him from his role as part ...

• At September 2, 2008, Eliot Johnson wrote:

  And let's not forget his work on Starman...

• At September 18, 2008, Steven Brower wrote:

  Hi,

  I just wanted to let folks know that I have begun a Yahoo group on Mort Meskin:

  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Mort-Meskin

  I am currently hard ...

When I asked other classics fans which artists you'd like to see featured here - one name that popped up was Frank Thorne, and I couldn't agree more.

Frank Thorne may be best known for his work on Red Sonja and his later 'Erotic Fantasy' work. What many people don't realize is that Thorne has a long and varied career - working for many publishers in almost every conceivable genre. If you love the big busts and chain mail thing, that's great - but take some time to get to know the rest of Thorne's work.

To me, Thorne takes inspiration from the likes of Frank Frazetta and Joe Kubert. His layouts are often a joy and there's a feathery touch to his pencils that is very effective.

I've tried to pick some samples of Thorne's work that from a broad range of genres from different publishers.

The first is a great action page from Korak # 47.

DC did a fine, fine job on the ERB titles and it's really too bad that they lost the license. The next page is from the short-lived Warren magazine, 1984 featuring Red Son... I mean Ghita.

Thorne also excelled at moody horror artwork, as can be seen from this interesting page from Red Circle's Sorcery #10.

Now, I love war books (almost as much as westerns) and boy was Thorne ever a great war artist!

Check out the action pack page from a Star Spangled War Stories back-up.

I just love the page lay-out, it really energized the story.

Thorne could also take a more sweeping, cinematic approach as seen in this page from a wonderful Enemy Ace vs. Balloon Buster story from Star Spangled War Stories SWS #183.

Speaking of westerns, I would have loved to have seen Thorne tackle Jonah Hex or Scalphunter in the 70s. Ah well, some things will have to remain dreams.

Keep digging through those dollar bins, you're likely to come up with an affordable gem featuring Frank Thorne soon or later.

5 Comments

• At August 30, 2008, Hannibal wrote:

  I keep hoping for a Marvel Essentials reissue of Red Sonja - Thorne's work was glorious!

• At August 30, 2008, jccalhoun wrote:

  Since Dynamite comics owns Red Sonja I'm guessing the chances of a Marvel Essentials is pretty slim. I don't ...

• At August 30, 2008, Neil C. wrote:

  Dynamite has three volumes of Red Sonja reprints, including Thorne's work.

• At August 30, 2008, Edward Liu wrote:

  The good news is that Dynamite has already reprinted 3 volumes of Marvel-era Red Sonja.

  The bad news is that the ...

• At August 31, 2008, edc wrote:

  anyone remember "ribit!"

  his freaky-ass frog warrior lady comic?

I grew up with Ross Andru's work, as he was the principal penciller on Amazing Spider-Man when I was just a young lad. Of course, Andru had worked for a long time before that and would work for a long time afterwards.

It seems that Ross Andru rarely gets mentioned when list of 'great artists' are compiled but I cannot think of many other artists who worked steadily for so many years and who felt comfortable in just about any genre. He could do war, super-hero, humor, western, dinosaurs - anything.

I occurred to me that Andru would be a good candidate when his name came up in recent interviews with Mike Esposito in Comic Book Marketplace and Howard Chaykin in Comic Book Artist. Both of them raved about his creative character designs and brilliant layouts. Obviously the bigwigs at DC liked him, g as his did about a gazillion covers for them in the late 70s and early 80s.

I honestly believe that Andru's legacy in comic would be greater had he not had the misfortune of replacing many great artists on major title (think Romita and Kane on Spider-Man and Infantino on The Flash). I think being on the wrong end of those transitions likely led to some backlash.

It is tough to compete with Ditko and Romita, but I have always felt that Andru held his own on Spider-Man. I feel that he portrayed the architecture of New York City better than any other artist to take on the web-slinger.

He gave his buildings and skyscrapers a role in the panels - they angular prominence giving a level of depth to the action which that other artists had failed to achieve. Check out these pages where he gives the reader the sense of running along the walls of buildings, puts the Statue of Liberty in the middle of the action and changes the perspective to the back of Lady Liberty's head.

It the little touches like this that made me fall in love with Mr. Andru's work.

Probably the best examples of Andru's character designs are the Metal Men, done with long time partner Mike Esposito. Here is one of my favorite covers to the first series.

The Metal Men series was about as quirky as it gets, but only provides a small hint of the kookiness that could flow from Andru's pencils.

Many comic fans may not know it, but Ross Andru was also an excellent humor cartoonist.

In fact, in the early 50s he and Mike Esposito formed their very own company, the short-lived MikeRoss Publications. Get Lost turned out to be one of the better Mad clones to emerge from the 50s, and as an infinity cover collector, I'm proud to say that I've managed to track down all three issues.

Ross Andru was a Pro's Pro, widely respected among his peer and deserve a little more recognition in the fanboy community.

21 Comments

• At August 29, 2008, T. wrote:

  WOW! That was GREAT.

  Bravo.

• At August 29, 2008, GarBut wrote:

  Get Lost was recently anthologized, complete and remastered, by a small-press company (can't remmeber the name). Cheap, too, all things ...

• At August 29, 2008, Mark Bourne wrote:

  I always loved Ross Andru's work. He did a fantastic Punisher and his run on Amazing during the original ...

• At August 29, 2008, Andrew-TLA wrote:

  Don't forget, Andru also drew that first Spider-Man/Superman crossover.

• At August 30, 2008, jazzbo wrote:

  I gotta say I disagree with this entry. Not because Rodd Andru isn't great, but I guess I didn't think ...

• At August 30, 2008, jazzbo wrote:

  Ross Andru is pretty great, too. Especially when teamed up with his previously unheard of brother "Rodd."

• At August 30, 2008, Hannibal wrote:

  I also grew up with Ross Andru's excellent Spider-Man artwork; it's his meticulously researched vision of New York which still ...

• At August 30, 2008, Bill Gladman wrote:

  It's hard to think of Spider-Man and not think of Ross Andru. It may be true that during his run ...

• At August 30, 2008, Andrew Brown wrote:

  To this day, when I think of peter parker, in my mind he looks like the Ross Andru version. maybe ...

• At August 30, 2008, Guido wrote:

  My first (and to the day almost only) contact with Andru's work is the Superman/Spider-Man crossover. I was a teenager ...

• At August 30, 2008, Hannibal wrote:

  The Spider-Man / Superman Treasury Edition was one of the highlights of the '70's and had a great Andru cover, ...

• At August 30, 2008, Tyson wrote:

  I really like Andru's page layouts, backgrounds, and action, but I've always thought he was terrible at drawing facial expressions. ...

• At August 30, 2008, Alan Coil wrote:

  jazzbo's typo of Rodd Andru instead of Ross Andru reminded me of the time I saw a review where a ...

• At August 30, 2008, dhole wrote:

  He's the artist I associate with my formative Spider-Man years, reading Marvel Tales reprints of his work. I agree that ...

• At August 30, 2008, Jack Norris wrote:

  Love Ross Andru; he was the artist on the first issue of Spider-Man I ever bought and throughout most of ...

• At August 30, 2008, Greg Geren wrote:

  I loved the Ross Andru Spider-Man as well. Even though it was before my time, I have more recently ...

• At August 30, 2008, mr. clam wrote:

  The first comic I ever bought was a Ross Andru Spider-Man. The second comic I bought was shown above, with ...

• At August 31, 2008, Dalarsco wrote:

  My first comics were by Ross Andru. When I was very young my Dad was at a book sale ...

• At September 1, 2008, "O" the Humanatee! wrote:

  Ross Andru's does have all the virtues Scott describes - but it always seemed bizarre to me that a professional ...

• At November 25, 2008, tachyonblade wrote:

  For me, and I know this is saying a lot, Ross Andru's Spiderman IS Spiderman. I had a subscription during ...

• At July 11, 2009, jalrod wrote:

  Andru hooked me. My first comic was ASM 133 followed by ASM 136. Andru became and still is my definitive ...

We are back with another edition of the Underappreciated Artist Spotlight. This time, let's focus on a man who might not be well known to those fans who do not venture outside of the capes and tights genre.

Doug Wildey is probably best known for creating Johnny Quest (a DVD that I love more than any other), but he also provided quality artwork to a number of different companies.

Like many artists of his generation, Wildey's early work seems inspired by Caniff (not a bad thing!), but over time his pencils really matured and he developed a very distinctive style. There is a real confident lushness to his artwork, especially when he is providing the inks as well.

I was a late comer to the Wildey Appreciation Society, but I try to get my hands on anything he's ever worked on. If you need a good jumping off point for Wildey art, look no further than Rio (or the Rio sequels).

It may be the best western I've ever read and the painted artwork is a thing of beauty.

I'm lucky enough to own a piece of Doug Wildey original art - it's a page from the late 50s Harvey horror title, Alarming Tales. I just love it - but if someone ever wanted to trade for a Rio page (heh, heh!).

Aside from the Rio work, other inexpensive options for checking out Doug Wildey's artwork include Comico's Johnny Quest Classics from the late 80s, and the Outlaw Kid reprint book from Marvel published in the 70s. That will give you a sense of Wildey's mastery of the craft.

I often wish he'd done more work in mainstream comics, and I would have loved to see him tackle a WW2-era Captain America or Unknown Soldier. He also would have been a perfect fit for Sandman Mystery Theatre.

Here are some more examples of Wildey's work from a variety of genres:

1. Daring Confessions #8 (Youthful, 1953)

This is very early stuff - you can see a lot of Caniff in there, but he is showing that he is interesting is experimenting with layout.

2. Outlaw Kid #18 (Atlas, 1957)

This is just a typical page from Outlaw Kid - showing a mixture of dialogue and action. By this stage, Wildey's had come into his own style and his work on this title was spectacular (became a long-running Marvel reprint titles in the 70s). I like his use of silhouettes (something his friend and colleague Alex Toth excelled at). In his western work, Wildey was very good at showing tough guy facial expressions like a sneer or scowl.

3. Nightmare #5 (Skywald, 1971)

Who knows how Wildey ended up contributing to the Skywald line, but they are lucky he did. This page shows his innovative layouts - I really like the free flowing panel borders. The black and white really enables his pencils to jump off the page.

4. Tarzan #180 (Gold Key, 1968)

It's not easy following in the steps of the likes of Foster, Hogarth and Manning but I truly believe that Wildey did a superb job on Tarzan during his short tenure on the strip. He did not copy anyone else's style, and really put his own stamp on the strip. This page is from Lost in Pellucidar storyline and it showcases Wildey's ability to mix jungle action with prehistoric fantasy. You know you are dealing with a strong artist when in the midst of all of this action; the strongest panel is the close-up on the woman's face.

I could include more, but this should provide everyone with a taste of what Doug Wildey had to offer.

13 Comments

• At August 28, 2008, Zack Smith wrote:

  Wildey was indeed a master. I didn't know he did comics until a story in HARLAN ELLISON'S DREAM CORRIDOR ...

• At August 28, 2008, DBish wrote:

  ^^^ I liked Turbo Teen as a kid; USA Cartoon Express.

  Anyways, I've only been familiar with WIldey's work on Jonny ...

• At August 28, 2008, Michael Hoskin wrote:

  Huh, the Nightmare art seems very different than what I'm used to from Wildey - kind of a Gene Colan ...

• At August 28, 2008, Andrew Collins wrote:

  I never realized his career stretched that far back. My familiarity with Wildey comes from reading a lot of Comico ...

• At August 28, 2008, GarBut wrote:

  Starring Tom Selleck as RIO... Good call, a great artist, very under-rated.

• At August 28, 2008, Mike Loughlin wrote:

  Love the Harlan Ellison adaptation- my first exposure to Wildey's work, as well.

• At August 28, 2008, John Trumbull wrote:

  This is shaping up to be a great series -- Doug Wildey is another one of my favorites! I'm ...

• At August 28, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  PS to Brian/Scott — It’s spelled JONNY Quest. No “H”.

  In Canada, there's an H.

  Yeah, that's the ticket!

• At August 28, 2008, Pól Rua wrote:

  Doug Wildey - Oh HELL yes!

  Nice call, Scott.

• At August 29, 2008, sterg wrote:

  Great choice, Brian!

  Plus, did you know Wildey was the model for Peevy in Dave Stevens' Rocketeer comics?

• At August 29, 2008, Blackjak wrote:

  "Plus, did you know Wildey was the model for Peevy in Dave Stevens’ Rocketeer comics?"

  Now that's cool!

• At August 29, 2008, Lynxara wrote:

  I must chime in to say that I also saw tons of reruns of Turbo Teen as a kid via ...

• At September 8, 2008, xurxo wrote:

  Cuando era niño en Argentina, creía que "Hanna Barbera" era una señora muy cool, que contaba unas historias que ...

Dan Spiegle rarely gets mentioned among the funnybook greats, but over recent years I've noticed a real trend towards a greater appreciation of what he brought to the 4 Color world.

My first exposure to Spiegle work was likely Gold Key's Space Family Robinson #42, but I really started to notice him as an arist (not knowing his name, just style) with the Nemesis back-ups in Brave and the Bold. Let me get this out of the way - I was not a fan. I thought it was all very ugly and amateurish. I was young, what can I say?

Over time, I really grew to enjoy his work. He manages to infuse the page with a lot of life and is a master storyteller. His characters all seem real, and he draws the best thugs in the game. What surprised me most while trying to compile art for this thread was how incredible he was at drawing background scenery and landscapes.

His 80s Blackhawk run is my favorite - although I love every Korak story I see.

Here are some examples of his art. The first is a wordless page from Crossfire.

It is beautifully constructed. I'd love to see Mark Evanier's script for that page (paging Mr. Evanier.... Mr. Mark Evanier).

The next page is from the Archie Comics Groupʼs Red Circle title, the Black Hood.

This page could almost be wordless, as the story moves along beautifully and the emotions etched on the faces tell the story. It is downright Tothian. Perfect storytelling.

Finally, hereʼs a gorgeous double page splash from an early 70s issue of Star Spangled War Stories.

You can see just how committed Spiegle is to totally engaging the reader and immersing them in the setting.

If you're not convinced, take another look at Spiegle work (Blackhawk, Space Family Robinson and Korak can be found for peanuts) and just let this master tell you a story.

15 Comments

• At August 27, 2008, Blackjak wrote:

  I absolutely loved Crossfire! I am annoyed now that the DNAgents reprint is in B&W... And presumably any Crossfire ...

• At August 27, 2008, Rockin' Rich wrote:

  Dan was awesome and his work with Evanier really sang!

• At August 27, 2008, Chris Dingsdale wrote:

  Totally in agreement! Dan is criminally underated and should be regarded as a true great of the industry. I'll wager ...

• At August 27, 2008, Matt Bird wrote:

  I just re-read the great revival of "The Secret Six" that ran in Action Comics Weekly. Great Spiegle work ...

• At August 27, 2008, Mike Z wrote:

  Can we get some of these focusing on Golden Age artists?

  I've got a list around here somewhere...

• At August 27, 2008, Cass wrote:

  I've never seen his work before, but man does this look good.

• At August 27, 2008, Tony Nichols wrote:

  Yeah... his Blackhawk run in the 80's... definitely the best portrayal of that group ever done (thanks to him, ...

• At August 27, 2008, John Trumbull wrote:

  Spiegle is truly wonderful. He's been one of my favorites for years. Nobody can draw REAL people like ...

• At August 27, 2008, Andrew Collins wrote:

  I'd love to read his run on Blackhawk, I've heard nothing but good things about it, and yet I've never ...

• At August 27, 2008, jazzbo wrote:

  One of the first comics I owned was Blackhawk #252, which I loved as a kid. I recently went back ...

• At August 27, 2008, Aaron Kashtan wrote:

  Dan Spiegle is one of the greatest artists in the history of American comics. He deserves to be elected to ...

• At August 27, 2008, stephen cade wrote:

  I remember his old Gold Key stuff mostly. He did some good work for DC with Secret Six in ...

• At August 28, 2008, Dalarsco wrote:

  Holy crap is that awesome!

• At August 28, 2008, Pól Rua wrote:

  Oh yeah, Spiegle's work really highlights the shortcomings in a lot of modern artists' work.

  It's not enough to be able ...

• At February 7, 2009, Gene Hamm wrote:

  I learned to draw from pouring over Dan Spiegle comics in the 50's and 60's. Back then he drew ...

I was invited to hop aboard the good ship CSBG to help everyone see the goodness in old funnybooks.

I thought a good way to get started is to post a week long series of Underappreciated Artist Spotlights. The purpose of these spotlights is to shine some light on a creator who may not be mentioned in the same breath as a Kirby or Adams, but who nonetheless has made a real mark in the comic book business.

This is a series that has run intermittently over a Classic Comics at CBR for the past 5 years so some of you may be experiencing a bit of déjà vu, but that's really just a sign of ageing.

I can't think of a better place to begin than a look at the wonderfully charming art of Ramona Fradon.

From what I remember reading in Trina Robbins' book on the history of women cartoonists, there was a long, long stretch of time (20 years?) during which Ramona Fradon and Marie Severin were the only female artists working as artists for a major comic book publisher. This was quite a decline from the 1940s, when female creators were not quite so rare.

You tend to hear a lot more 'war stories' about Marie than you do Ramona, as the antics of the Marvel Bullpen were reported on a regular basis. Ramona may not have been quite as plugged into the industry as Mirthful Marie, but she has certainly produced an impressive body of work.

What we do know is that she got her start at DC around 1950 and did some work on crime books like Mr. District Attorney and Gang Busters before getting a regular gig on the Aquaman strip. She went on to co-create Metamorpho before taking time off to raise a child. When she returned in the 70s, she worked on a variety of books, most notably Super Friends where her fluid pencils were Super Friendly for young kids. She even did some work for Marvel, including pencils on Fantastic Four #133. She left the comic book world around 1980 to take over the Brenda Starr strip (working on a female character for the first time?) until retirement in the mid 90s.

My first exposure to Ramona's work was through the Super Friends comic book in the mid to late 70s.

As I began to buy Silver Age books, I found Metamorpho to be strangely appealing (it was also available for next to nothing) and picked up quick a few of those. That title seemed different than anything else I'd seen up until that point.

Eventually, I began buying old issues of Adventure Comics and World's Finest. I absolutely loved her take on Aquaman and his whole underwater world. I know that many Aquafans tend to love either the Nick Cardy or Jim Aparo versions of Aquaman but, in my opinion, Ramona's Aquaman holds its own.

I had the pleasure of meeting Ramona a few years ago at a convention. We had a long chat discussing her time in the industry and her various projects (her time on Plastic Man in the 70s remained a favorite).

I had a copy of DC's Gangbusters #21 from 1951 and asked her to confirm that she had drawn one of the stories. She told me that she hadn't seen it in decades and that it was indeed one of her first jobs. She did a quick critique of her work, and I was impressed by how she spotted every little weakness in the artwork (it was pretty solid artwork for a new artist). I asked her to take the copy of the book home with her as her family would probably get some enjoyment of out seeing it.

I could not pass up buying two of her wonderfully rendered pencil drawings. I got the first one for my wife, as she loves manatees (we saw some on our honeymoon in Belize).

The 2nd group shot caught my eye immediately - her Blackhawk and Doctor MidNite are superb.

These photos don't do justice to the artwork.

19 Comments

• At August 26, 2008, Sijo wrote:

  I also discovered Fradon's art on Super Friends back in the 70s; it was my first American comic book series. ...

• At August 26, 2008, Colin wrote:

  Well there's two things then. I also love Ramona's work - well the stuff I've seen which is mainly Metamorpho ...

• At August 26, 2008, Dalarsco wrote:

  That is some nice work. Similar in style to JRsr.

• At August 26, 2008, Vincent Paul Bartilucci wrote:

  Ms. Fradon is indeed a great artist with which to begin this column. The Aquaman Archives should be on ...

• At August 26, 2008, brian lockhart wrote:

  I too had the pleasure of meeting Ramona a few years back at a convention in New York. I had ...

• At August 26, 2008, Richard wrote:

  One of my all-time favorite comic book stories is Metamorpho's debut appearance in the Brave and the Bold. Fradon's art ...

• At August 26, 2008, Blackjak wrote:

  I really love that manatee! The level of detail is awesome!

  Weirdly reminds me of a Brian Bolland piece...

• At August 26, 2008, SwanShadow wrote:

  Ramona Fradon is a tremendously talented artist -- a great visual storyteller. Based solely upon the one time I met ...

• At August 26, 2008, DanLarkin wrote:

  She's one of my all-time favorite artists. Those pencil drawings are gorgeous.

• At August 26, 2008, Mike Loughlin wrote:

  I love her lush line and fully-realized settings. She could do really bizarre stuff, but make it so endearing.

  Suggestions for ...

• At August 26, 2008, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  That Aquaman piece you brought is superb!

• At August 26, 2008, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  John Severin

  Does John Severin count as under appreciated?

  He's got some very vocal fans, and he's still taking jobs these days ...

• At August 26, 2008, Dave wrote:

  It's too bad she retired so early,as well as not doing much more work for marvel.

• At August 27, 2008, Journalista - the news weblog of The Comics Journal » Blog Archive » Aug. 27, 2008: Aggle aggle aggle! wrote:

  [...] Brian Cronin introduces us to the work of classic DC Comics artist Ramona [...]

• At August 27, 2008, John Platt wrote:

  Oh wow, you own the manatee picture! I saw that on the site that takes her commissions and thought it ...

• At August 27, 2008, Mike Lynch wrote:

  Brian, those are great originals. Thanks for this. I have a number of her comic books since I was the ...

• At August 27, 2008, Matthew Allison wrote:

  Thank you so much for posting this. I discovered Fradon earlier this year after starting to collect Metamorpho comics and ...

• At August 27, 2008, MarkAndrew wrote:

  Man, Ramona Fradon's the awesomest. Lots of *stuff* going on, but absolutely no wasted lines.

• At September 13, 2008, Comics Should Be Good! » The Team Up Book Post II: The Big List, Definitions, Whys and Wherefores wrote:

  [...] Frank Miller, George Perez, Jack Kirby, Neal Adams,  EC’s Johnny Craig, Steve Gerber, the under-appreciated Ramona Fradon, Alex Toth, ...