*paull*

And a real rarity... a huge oversized magazine (LIFE Magazine sized) published by Hillman Periodicals in 1939 to bring awareness of the crisis in Europe.  Brutal imagery... I can't believe this was on a newsstand.

Anyone ever see signatures in comics by any of these artists:

Matt Fox
Robert Webb
Pat Boyette
Carl Burgos
Bill Everett
Bernie Krigstein
A.C. Hollingsworth

This was a fun thread and I thought it deserved to be resurrected.  Any more unusual ones to add?

On 5/12/2023 at 12:18 PM, Robot Man said:

I have always loved Matt Fox. There are lots of Atlas interior stories. Pretty sure he did way more pulp covers than comic covers. Many are just as good and even better in some cases. 

Did he pencil and ink Atlas stories or only ink Larry Leiber?

On 5/11/2023 at 10:20 PM, sfcityduck said:

What decline?  

So many artists peaked in the 1950s.  Maybe the best example is Bill Everett!  But all the famous EC guys (Kurtzman, Frazetta, Williamson, Krigstein, Craig, etc.) were hitting highs in the late 40s and 50s at EC and elsewhere (DC, Atlas, etc.), DC guys also were hitting highs in the late 40s and 50s such as (Toth, Infantino, etc.).  Romance books had incredible art by Baker and Toth others in that time period, PCH had so many interesting artists, War was becoming a genre that mattered, and some of the storytelling innovations used in that time period were literally decades ahead of their time. The SA was a decline in art compared to a lot of what you see in the 50s.

And then there were the Ducks. Barks also hit a high point in the late 40s and 50s.  And he's on the Mt. Rushmore of Comics as a result. Timeless stories that are still inspiring tv shows today.

Superheros never went away.  Aside from DC which was constant, Atlas had new titles and a revival in 50s pre-dating the SA, Quality never stopped, Fawcett would not have stopped but for lawsuits, Harvey, Charlton and lots of cool little publishers also put out superhero books.  For me, the late 40s to mid-50s was a high point for DC, with a lot of really fun superhero stories featuring the big 3 (Superman, Batman & Robin (who was a solo star)), as well as WW, Green Arrow, Robotman, Vigilante, Shining Knight, Wildcat, Aquaman, etc.).

I don't think that Bill Everett peaked in the 1950s... I actually think he improved in the 1970s and did the best work of his career on Sub-Mariner.

On 5/11/2023 at 7:43 PM, adamstrange said:

The only cover original art that I'm aware of.

Is this yours?  Holy !@#$...  Awesome.

On 5/11/2023 at 7:01 PM, Black Bat said:

Went looking for the answer and hit the Matt Fox jackpot!  This article/blog has what looks like most of everything he ever did, except there's only one of the Atlas Lieber inking examples.  Nothing from Fox Pubs though.  

https://web.archive.org/web/20111014084148/http://goldenagecomicbookstories.blogspot.com/2009/05/matt-fox-1906-1988-all-of-his-weird.html

Includes ALL his stupendous pulp covers, including this which he reused for Chilling Tales 13:  
 

Fantastic!  Thanks... I'll check this out.  

On 5/11/2023 at 3:27 AM, Black Bat said:

Possibly my #1 all time favorite book, over the years I've bought 7,  3 of which I still have. One of the first 3 PCH books I bought at the SDCC back around 1990.  Just a fantastic issue inside and out.  The Screaming Skull is awesome, and the The Hand Of Glory is, from what I've seen, my favorite Matt Fox interior work.

And these came in the mail yesterday...

 

 

Did Fox do a lot of pre-code interiors?  His style seems to be an obvious fit for weird monster and sci-fi interior stories, but I don't recall seeing much from him.

On 5/10/2023 at 2:26 PM, Black Bat said:

I'd love to see that- big Matt Fox fan- can you give any specific issues I could search for?  His pulp covers are great also.

Me too... I love this Marvel work that he did.  I found a page with some detailed information and a bibliography.  I wonder if Larry Lieber did all those weird alien heads just for Fox. 

https://whosoutthere.ca/2020/04/03/odd-pairings-lieber-fox/

On 5/5/2023 at 6:08 PM, Robot Man said:

On that one, the first copy you could find and afford is the one to buy. Upgrade later if you get the chance…

Instead of "right copy", I should have said "affordable copy".  I would have been happy with a G or VG- copy of Beware 10 at the time.

On 5/9/2023 at 5:44 PM, Sarg said:

Matt Fox is so weird he makes Basil Wolverton look normal.

The inking that he did for interiors on guys like Larry Lieber at the tail end of his career is so stylized and weird that it's hard to make out the artist underneath.

On 5/9/2023 at 9:42 PM, Sarg said:

The Marvel/Atlas covers from 1949 are so weird. It's a shame so little is known about the artists. 

Right... some really weird and overlooked stuff.  I love the art on those books.

On 5/5/2023 at 4:06 PM, Qua-Brot said:

Just got these back today

 

All Famous Police Cases #11 is a favorite Cole of mine.  I love his attempts to do sequential storytelling on the cover, as in the case of Thrilling Crime #49.

On 5/5/2023 at 7:29 PM, Mr.Illmannered said:

Found this in a dollar bin today…

I always loved this cover.  Note, the text piece inside the book tells the story of the cover.

On 5/5/2023 at 8:41 AM, Professor K said:

 

 

 Good critique of Cat 28. I have no problem with the stereotypical portrayals in pretty much any media of that time. The way I see it they made most everyone look extreme back then. Lots of wacky stuff going on back then.  Chin Chop (I believe that's the name of the character) just doesn't fit well artistically with the rest of the cover. Stands out like a buck toothed sore thumb. I still like the cover just a little better than Catman. I'm just glad he wasn't one of the floaters on Mask 2.

 

I agree with you... the cover would have been better off not having the cartoony Chin Chop.  He does drag it down.

"buck toothed sore thumb"  LOL!!

On 5/4/2023 at 8:55 PM, Robot Man said:

Rin Tin Tin from circa 1955

How is it that no one has made Rice Honeys since?  Seems like an obvious win.

On 5/4/2023 at 12:13 PM, fishbone said:

A nice pair, now together ….

 

 

Very nice!  Cole could really draw aircraft.  

So where is Golden's "Patience is a Virue" today?  I think of that every time I see his name or work.  One of my favorite Boards threads ever!

I agree with having a plan of attack.  I like to start with looking for particular books and then back off and look for second tier stuff if I can't find any top priorities.  Good deals can be had on the last day of a show.

More advice:
Research prices on books you are looking for in advance.
Don't leave your bags laying around.  Thieves abound.
Bring something firm to put books in... .an LP mailer, etc.
Count pages in books.
Don't overpay just because it's in front of you.
Spend time looking through bins looking at books to learn about new things you didn't know existed. For instance, flip through genre sections.

On 5/4/2023 at 4:13 PM, pmpknface said:

Great plug!  I have 2 copies.  Got one for helping contribute!  

I think the Power #3 and the Catman #28 are vastly different covers.  A lot of the value around the Catman seems to have been because it was considered sooooooo scarce for such a long time (and it's pretty cool!).  With Cole books now getting the $ that they are, a lot seem to have come out of the woodwork.  I was one of the last who vastly overpaid for my CM #28 before there were 2-3 copies up for grabs at a time.    However I was able to got a sweet Power #3 in 5.5 for a steal compared to what it would go for today, so you win some / lose some.  

I also received a copy as a contributor.  It's a fantastic book!   Fans need to grab it before the prices get insane.

I agree that Catman 28 seemed to be scarcer around 10-15 years ago, but you're right, more copies have surfaced.  I really like both covers, and I'm not knocking the Catman 28... having wanted one for a long time after first seeing it in Gerber and the CBG auctions of the 90s (I have to make a thread about those).  I just prefer the Power 3.

On 5/4/2023 at 2:13 AM, Black Bat said:

I gotta go Catman here. Nice skull. The magician guy is super cool on the Power. But I just can’t look past the buck tooth china man.  Those old timey racial characters are impossible to ignore.  

Let's put it this way... our household would have a reason to be sensitive to these portrayals, and I still think Power 3 is the better cover!

I don't like the cluttered composition of Catman 28.  Strange to have Kitten facing away from the viewer and blending into the chair that is the same color.  I never understood what was behind the skull, a treasure chest?  Eliminating that and the chair would have made this cover better.

On 5/3/2023 at 11:04 PM, Professor K said:

Yeah I've pondered that age old question many a'time. What's better, Power 3 or Catman 28? Power is the most similar cover to Mask 2 so there's that, and it came out before. The colors on Power seem to tend to be more vivid than Catman at least in low to mid grades. Dr Mempisto looks a little cooler on Power and I believe it's his 1st appearance. 

Catman has a Skull with a candle. Tough call. 

 

That's similar to my take.  Like you, I prefer the face on Power over the one on Catman.  The Catman cover isn't as readable. It's kind of a cluttered composition.The candle's great... similar to Mask 1, but the color palette and inking style on Power 3 looks more like Mask 1 and 2, Contact 12, and Captain Flight 11.   Power 3 just pops out at you... and nothing beats Cole's black covers.

On 5/3/2023 at 11:50 AM, Hap Hazard said:

Looks correct

Thank you very much, @Hap Hazard!  I've owned this book for a long time and bought from a reputable dealer.  The reason that I wasn't sure about the back cover is that he was originally selling the book to me with the front cover only.  He then located the back cover before shipping the book to me.  It matches very well where it is separated at the spine and definitely looked like a match, but I wanted to make sure.  Much appreciated!