Electricmastro

Baker very much drew mouths, at least on the women, as a rounded square with no teeth lines, and doesn’t heavily shade hair if it’s long and wavy. He also draws noses as two dots, unless they’re looked at from certain angles. This all in mind, and just having looked at Jerry Bails’ Who’s Who which now makes it known to me that Baker did indeed draw covers for Fiction House from around 1947-1951, I’m willing to suggest that Baker at least drew Sheena’s face on these Jumbo covers I’ve just looked at for starters:

Joe Doolin would also be a likely candidate in regards to the majority of the cover. To differentiate him from Baker, I’ve noticed that Doolin tended to draw shaded faces with wide-eyed/bulging eyes and ears having a black circle in the middle with a line curving around it in the shape of a “C”. He also went as so far as to draw the iris in the eye, whereas Baker basically tended to have a black circle with a white dot in the middle to represent the eye.

At least 20 different publishers that were selling comics here in 1941 and 1942: Marvel Comics: Young Allies, Marvel Mystery Comics, Captain America Comics, Human Torch Comics, Sub-Mariner Comics, Daring Mystery Comics, All-Winners Comics, Mystic Comics DC Comics: World’s Finest Comics, Flash Comics, Superman, Star-Spangled Comics, More Fun Comics, Sensation Comics, Action Comics, All-American Comics, Leading Comics, Batman Archie Comics: Shield-Wizard Comics, Pep Comics, Jackpot Comics, Top Notch Comics Harvey Comics: Champ Comics Dell Comics: Super Comics, Walt Disney's Comics and Stories, War Comics, Popular Comics Fawcett Comics: Whiz Comics, Bulletman Quality Comics: Hit Comics, Military Comics, National Comics, Crack Comics Nedor Comics: Startling Comics, Exciting Comics, Real Life Comics, Thrilling Comics Fiction House: Jumbo Comics, Rangers of Freedom Comics, Wings Comics, Fight Comics, Planet Comics Lev Gleason Publications: Daredevil Comics Ace Comics: Lightning Comics, Our Flag Comics, Four Favorites Fox Comics: The Flame, The Eagle, Wonderworld Comics, V...-Comics Novelty Press/Star Publications: Target Comics United Feature Syndicate: Sparkler Comics David McKay: King Comics, Magic Comics Eastern Color Printing: Buck Rogers, Dickie Dare, Reg'lar Fellers Heroic Comics Hillman Periodicals: Victory Comics Parents' Magazine Press: True Comics Street and Smith: Shadow Comics, Doc Savage Comics Centaur Comics: Amazing Man Comics Columbia Comics: Big Shot Comics Chesler: Scoop Comics, Dynamic Comics, Yankee Comics Great Comics: Great Comics

It was pointed out to me that a helpful way to identify uncredited Golden Age comic art is by looking at the ears, because the ear is a relatively detailed part of the body that’s usually visible, assuming the character isn’t wearing anything like a hat or doesn’t have long hair covering it. I’ve found that many artists had their own way of drawing the ear, specifically the antihelix, which is often distinct like a sort of signature in of itself, and while even the same artist doesn’t draw the ear in exactly the same way every time, it’s usually consistent enough to provide a reasonably and confidently-made identification. Matt Baker’s signed covers from 1946-1949: Going by these, Baker seems to approach drawing the ears in a sort of “?” shaped pattern without the period, which at times also resembles a little more like an “S” or “7”, depending on how far away the ear is and what angle it’s being viewed from: In comparing the images to Jumbo Comics #85 (1946), I am now seeing more of a resemblance that’s consistent, along with how the entire faces of the women are drawn in general: So upon further examination, Baker may have done far more covers than I previously realized, if only in part.

It’s weird, because a lot of Fiction House’s covers end up looking the same, or at least very similar, to me. That being said, and now that you brought it to my attention, I’m definitely willing to believe this is a Matt Baker cover:

Favorite interior art from Lev Gleason: Jack Cole (Silver Streak Comics #7, January 1941): Jerry Robinson (Daredevil Comics #2, August 1941): Don Rico (Capt. Battle Comics #2, Fall 1941): Jack Binder (Capt. Battle Comics #2, Fall 1941): Bill Everett (Silver Streak Comics #20, April 1942): Charles Biro (Daredevil Comics #10, May 1942): Bob Montana (Daredevil Comics #11, June 1942): Alan Mandel (Crime Does Not Pay #27, May 1943): Rudy Palais (Crime Does Not Pay #43, January 1946): Jack Alderman (Crime Does Not Pay #49, January 1947): Norman Maurer (Boy Comics #80, August 1952): Alex Toth (Crime and Punishment #66, March 1954):

Matt Baker apparently didn’t draw any covers for Fiction House despite having drawn for them from the mid-1940s to the early 1950s, but there is this nice Tiger Girl art from Fight Comics #39 and 43 (1945-1946): This piece from Jungle Comics #104 (August, 1948) might be my most favorite of his:

An idea of what Fiction House’s art is like beyond their great covers: Al Walker (Planet Comics #14, September 1941): Dan Zolnerowich (Fight Comics #15, October 1941): Joe Doolin (Rangers of Freedom Comics #2, December 1941): Pagsilang Isip (Fight Comics #16, December 1941): Rudy Palais (Jungle Comics #30, June 1942): Arthur Peddy (Jumbo Comics #50, April 1943): Bob Lubbers (Wings Comics #35, July 1943): Graham Ingels (Wings Comics #42, February 1944): Ruben Moreira (Wings Comics #43, March 1944): Lily Renee (Rangers Comics #18, August 1944): George Tuska (Rangers Comics #21, February 1945): Ted Brodie-Mack (Rangers Comics #23, June 1945): Lee Elias (Wings Comics #59, July 1945): Rafael Astarita (Wings Comics #67, March 1946): Chester Martin (Planet Comics #44, September 1946): Fran Hopper (Jungle Comics #86, February 1947): Murphy Anderson (Planet Comics #47, March 1947): Charles Sultan (Rangers Comics #34, April 1947): Jack Kamen (Jumbo Comics #102, August 1947): George Evans (Wings Comics #96, August 1948): Matt Baker (Jungle Comics #104, August 1948): Frank Fermonetti (Wings Comics #101, January 1949): Giovanni Benvenuti (Rangers Comics #46, April 1949): Alvin Hollingsworth (Wings Comics #105, May 1949): Kurt Caesar (Wings Comics #106, June 1949): Jerry Grandenetti (Rangers Comics #50, December 1949): Enrico Bagnoli (Rangers Comics #58, April 1951): Robert Webb (Jumbo Comics #147, May 1951): Maurice Whitman (Jungle Comics #148, April 1952): John Belcastro (Wings Comics #120, Summer 1953):

Super-Magician covers which I haven’t seen listed as Charles Coll covers despite his signature being present:

Palais’ interior art I’ve favorited in recent times: Jungle Comics #30 (June, 1942): Contact Comics #5 (March, 1945): Captain Aero Comics #24 (November, 1945): Crime Does Not Pay #43 (January, 1946): Four Favorites #21 (January, 1946): Horrific #7 (September, 1953):

Powell was also pretty prolific in terms of the publishers he worked for back in the day: Marvel Harvey Dell Charlton Fawcett Quality St. John Fiction House Lev Gleason Magazine Enterprises Fox Hillman Parents' Magazine Press Street and Smith Toby Press Ziff-Davis Holyoke And various smaller comic book publishers as well.

The original Shadow Comics definitely felt it had various ways of making an interesting cover compared to something like Alex Schomburg’s covers and Fiction House covers, which I think are quite a bit more liable of being accused of having covers that are too similar despite how well-drawn they are otherwise. Street and Smith’s comics in general seem to fall in that middle category between comics that are very well-known and comics that are so obscure that people feel they need to point them out more, despite how relatively well-known the Shadow was and is today. It probably doesn’t help that Street and Smith’s comics are believed to not be in public domain, so they aren’t shared around as much for people to browse through.

Individual stories in Street and Smith comics would get as high as about 25 pages long throughout their time publishing comics, with an occasional page count as high as about 40 early on, so I presume that one penciler who was assigned with one such story would get paid quite a bit.

Yep, right here:

Of the many pieces of art I’ve looked at from Golden Age publishers that are small and not-as-small, I’ve come to think that Rudy Palais is perhaps the most underappreciated comic book artist of his time, with how distinct and impactful his art was regardless of the genre. Bob Powell definitely deserves more appreciation though.

First took notice of Powell for his Red Hawk art from Straight Arrow, which I quite liked:

Nice art too: Elmer Stoner (Shadow Comics #v1#1, January 1940): Jack Farr (Shadow Comics #v1#7, November 1940): Bob McCay (Shadow Comics #v2#4, May 1942): Jack Binder (Super-Magician Comics #v1#5, May 1942): Vernon Greene (Shadow Comics #v2#4, May 1942): August Froehlich (Shadow Comics #v3#4, July 1943): Al Bare (Shadow Comics #v3#7, October 1943): James Hammon (Super-Magician Comics #v2#6, October 1943): Charles Coll (Shadow Comics #v3#8, November 1943): John Meditz (Super-Magician Comics #v2#9, January 1944): Harry Hoffman (Shadow Comics #v8#7, October 1948): Bob Powell (Shadow Comics #v9#4, July 1949):

Paris, France (circa 1949): Mexico City, Mexico (circa 1952):

Western art by horse enthusiast Sam Savitt: Fiction House (Rangers Comics, 1942):

From Shadow Comics #67 (October, 1946):

Al Bare (Shadow Comics #41, August 1944):

Yeah, quite a bit of buried treasure I found in my browsings done out of curiosity. I’ve definitely grown to appreciate some artists more over time like Rudy Palais, Harry Anderson, and John Giunta. Palais in particular deserving far more recognition than simply having been DC’s Dr. Mid-Nite artist for a brief time.

Lev Gleason Publications: Jack Cole (Silver Streak Comics #7, January 1941): Jerry Robinson (Daredevil Comics #2, August 1941): Don Rico (Capt. Battle Comics #2, Fall 1941): Jack Binder (Capt. Battle Comics #2, Fall 1941): Bill Everett (Silver Streak Comics #20, April 1942): Charles Biro (Daredevil Comics #10, May 1942): Bob Montana (Daredevil Comics #11, June 1942): Alan Mandel (Crime Does Not Pay #27, May 1943): Rudy Palais (Crime Does Not Pay #43, January 1946): Jack Alderman (Crime Does Not Pay #49, January 1947): Norman Maurer (Boy Comics #80, August 1952): Alex Toth (Crime and Punishment #66, March 1954):

Magazine Enterprises: Charles Quinlan (The American Air Forces #1, 1944): Fred Guardineer (Manhunt #5, February 1948): Paul Parker (Trail Colt #2, December 1949): Frank Bolle (Tim Holt #22, February 1951): Fred Meagher (Straight Arrow #13, May 1951): Joe Certa (Charles Starrett as the Durango Kid #13, October 1951): Al Williamson (Jet Powers #4, 1951): DickAyers (Tim Holt #31, August 1952): Frank Frazetta (Thun'da, King of the Congo #1, 1952): Bob Powell (Straight Arrow #36, May 1954):

Ace Comics: Art Saaf (Our Flag Comics #1, August 1941): Bruce Currie (Our Flag Comics #2, October 1941): Lou Ferstadt (Four Favorites #12, November 1943): Warren Kremer (Super-Mystery Comics #v5#3, December 1945): Rudy Palais (Four Favorites #21, January 1946): King Ward (Western Adventures #2, December 1948): Ken Rice (World War III #1, March 1952): Jim McLaughlin (The Beyond #22, September 1953): Lou Cameron (Web of Mystery #24, May 1954): Sy Grudko (Web of Mystery #27, November 1954):