Flex Mentallo

Did I mention that Chesler has great covers So, there's a reason people don't post Chesler interiors? Interiors are a real mix, often having nothing to do with the cover. The best work is probably from the Lou Fine imitators which included Charles Sultan. My sample size is small (so BP should chime in) but the stories are pretty generic (i.e. lame) without the skill of Eisner/Cole/Everett etc or wackiness of Fletcher Hanks. Did I mention the cool covers? what splash is that from AdamSTrange? Dynamic #1? My current copy is shelled so I cant check. Some of these were reprinted by IW/Super with new covers.

I like Mystery Tales, but no more so than any other Atlas title. Not sure why there would suddenly be the demand that you describe. It's a bit like Menace used to be. They were always said to be scarce, and in demand because they tended to have a high concentration of great artwork by Everett, Heath and Maneely. I do note that the first 10 issues or so of Mystery tales seem to have nice covers, especially the Everett ones, and maybe they have proven to be somewhat scarce in higher grade - when I was collecting Altas some years back they always seemed to be harder to find than most other titles. And of course, you get a kind of inflation of demand when a couple of guys are desperate to get the only available higher grade copies. But I must admit even taking all of this into considereation some of the recent prices have shocked me. If it brings out other copies prices and demand will inevitably fall. And if more Atlas masterworkss are pending that will also have a bearing! But you probably know far more about this than I, Alan!

nothing then, something now. YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Darn - does this mean you wont be selling me your Chelsers? Double darn! But well done anyway (I suppose)

Careful, BP might scold you b/c the group shot is of a complete run! I know ... I got told when I posted my full Airboy run BP. :hail: These are sooooo fun books, esp. with the unheralded Roth art which I'm glad you showed in the other thread. Love the book above ... makes you feel more human as a collector somehow What was the last issue you got? Uh-oh. Better not tell! This is the last one I got (this time around!):

Finally got round to photographing my recently completed set of Lorna the Jungle Girl. Sorry for the poor quality image: Here are a few samples:

Looks like Leonard Starr!

..oh, and if you want an entertaining half an hour give Jim Vadeboncoeur a ring and ask him to tell you about Harry Anderson!

I think the inker is Anderson (cf "Cult of Killers", Wanted #52) I'm not sure I agree. You can see some similarities with the CL cover above. I looked at the Anderson story thanks for the reference. I don't really know much about him but looking at the story he has kind of a cross hatch look to his shading which I don't see in this particular story line. I'll have to look and see if I can see any other stories outside of Atlas that have this type of "dreamy" appearance. I understand your doubts, and I wouldnt stake my life on it either! (You know far more about baker romance than I do.) As Scrooge said, the face and hair of the woman lower left is very like Harry's work. I agree that the "Cult of Killers" story has very heavy cross-hatching. The way I read it, and I'm only speculating here, is that Anderson fitted his inks to suit Baker's romantic style. Anderson did do some work for Atlas - there are a few horror stories I've seen. He is arguably the most underrated artist of the era. (He is Jim Vadeboncoeur's favourite comic book artist) This story is my favorite romance story outside of the St. John's because of the attention to detail. If Anderson did indeed ink this, I wish he would have been able to do many more with Baker. I'll have to look up some more about Anderson. He looks like he was also a great illustrator too. I wonder why he wouldn't have just done his own pencils too? You can see that Anderson cared about what he was doing and not just cranking out the panels. He appears to have been a dedicated christian who painted religious paintings for minimum wage. Speaking as an artist myself, its clear to me that he had mastery of technique, the rendering of surfaces, anatomy and composition. As a painter he depicts an etherial. light-filled earthly paradise. His use of pencil and/or inks shows a darker sensibility however. No less masterful - but almost as though he moonlighted as a (sinful?) journeyman comic book artist (maybe to pay the bills allowing him the time to paint the religious pictures). But there is usually a darkness to his comic work, therefore well suited to Atlas horror and Wanted. Perhaps it didnt occur to his editors that he might adapt his style to romance tales? He only seems to have inked a couple of romance stories for Atlas. His powerful and stylistically distinctive use of inks is arguably a match for Baker - and he would surely have respected Baker's sensibility and understood his technique. I believe he would have sought to "fit" Baker's style, but was simply too strong an artist to subsume his own personalty completely. I'm sure it's clear to all baker lovers, that even when inked by a mediocre artist, Baker's style is too distinctive to disguise - but conversely, and with apologies for stating the obvious - it does make it difficult to be sure how much of "baker art" includes the work of lesser artists. Especially if the "lesser" artist is a Harry Anderson!

The great Harry Anderson: http://www.bpib.com/illustrat/anderson.htm http://www.atlastales.com/cr/65/n:65:z:a:o:4:d:ASC:p:1

Not anymore - just a handful of the ones I really like!! I love this cover You have a nice collection. I like how OS refuses to admit this is a Baker cover year after year. I'm astonished! What interests me about this cover is the apparent use of a wash effect in the imaginary dance scene (it doesnt look like greytone).

I think the inker is Anderson (cf "Cult of Killers", Wanted #52) I'm not sure I agree. You can see some similarities with the CL cover above. I looked at the Anderson story thanks for the reference. I don't really know much about him but looking at the story he has kind of a cross hatch look to his shading which I don't see in this particular story line. I'll have to look and see if I can see any other stories outside of Atlas that have this type of "dreamy" appearance. I understand your doubts, and I wouldnt stake my life on it either! (You know far more about baker romance than I do.) As Scrooge said, the face and hair of the woman lower left is very like Harry's work. I agree that the "Cult of Killers" story has very heavy cross-hatching. The way I read it, and I'm only speculating here, is that Anderson fitted his inks to suit Baker's romantic style. Anderson did do some work for Atlas - there are a few horror stories I've seen. He is arguably the most underrated artist of the era. (He is Jim Vadeboncoeur's favourite comic book artist)

It's a CGC 8.0 but it's not a pedigree!

I think the inker is Anderson (cf "Cult of Killers", Wanted #52)

Did he ink this one himself do you think?

Not anymore - just a handful of the ones I really like!!

More like a fast girl joke

All hail Maurice Whitman!

Stunning comic! Hard to choose between Fights and Planets!

Were-tigress! Were-tigress indeed! Here is my copy: The later issues tend to have the best content - mostly Cameron artwork, with stories to match. They can also be tricky to get especially in higher grade.

Colorful, and a great cover. Yes, also very scarce - and the lead story by Lou Cameron is a killer!

This is the nicest one I've seen of this cover. Really nice! This is one of my favorite covers. I have a beater copy of this one. Have you had it long? Thanks for sharing. I picked it up a couple of years ago. I prefer it to #8.

...another of my faves....

...anything for you Joanna!

Yes, it's more like Alfred Hitchcock! I like these "psychological" covers!