spillred Posted December 28, 2008 Share Posted December 28, 2008 I was recently able to upgrade this issue. This is one of my favorites in the Baker romance area. So much detail. I'd really like to know what happened to all the OA for St. John. You rarely see any. Very nice. Baker was phenomenal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjpb Posted December 28, 2008 Share Posted December 28, 2008 ] That is one violent splash - wonder what issue it's from? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB-Gun Posted December 28, 2008 Share Posted December 28, 2008 ] That is one violent splash - wonder what issue it's from? That is from Fight 47. The other splashes are from Jumbo 103, Rangers 38 and Fight 54. All scans were from Goldenagecomics.co.uk I collect Baker covers and Schomburg covers. The nice think about collecting Baker is that he also did the interior art for a lot of the comics. And it is some of the best art you will ever find. But the Fiction House work is sometimes mixed with other artists it seems or the inkers change the look. Webb and Kamen also produced similar work. bb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JvR11 Posted February 17, 2009 Author Share Posted February 17, 2009 I was recently lucky enough to stumble onto this gem.. This is one of the more difficult ones to get. I'm thinking maybe because circulation was low due to it being the last one in the series? I also have a some First Love Illustrated Bakers to show, if anyone is interested? The interior is not as nice as the St. John's. He wasn't the inker. If there was one question I'd love to ask Matt Baker's family, it would be what happened to Matt towards the end? It's like his frame of mind wasn't into it anymore. I just wonder why he wasn't picked up by another comic company and why all his great work was just buried under poor ink jobs. What would you ask Matt Baker's family if you had the chance? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamstrange Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 I was recently lucky enough to stumble onto this gem.. This is one of the more difficult ones to get. I'm thinking maybe because circulation was low due to it being the last one in the series? I also have a some First Love Illustrated Bakers to show, if anyone is interested? The interior is not as nice as the St. John's. He wasn't the inker. If there was one question I'd love to ask Matt Baker's family, it would be what happened to Matt towards the end? It's like his frame of mind wasn't into it anymore. I just wonder why he wasn't picked up by another comic company and why all his great work was just buried under poor ink jobs. What would you ask Matt Baker's family if you had the chance? Very nice, though definitely not his best work. Matt was single so I'm not sure if the family would be able to answer the question. I don't recall them speaking to it as part of the Alter Ego interview. I would be interested in any Baker cover or interiors you would like to post. (thumbs u Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB-Gun Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 That is a nice cover. What was the number? I think Baker's inker made a big difference. He did such great work and needed someone to do him justice. I thought Baker's health was poor near the end of his career. bb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JvR11 Posted February 17, 2009 Author Share Posted February 17, 2009 That is a nice cover. What was the number? I think Baker's inker made a big difference. He did such great work and needed someone to do him justice. I thought Baker's health was poor near the end of his career. bb Hey BB, this is TR 45. This is the last one in the series. I agree with you about the inker's. It would be interesting to hear more about his health and mental state in the last few years. I just wonder if he ended up getting the raw end of the stick towards the end...sad really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB-Gun Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 (edited) According to the articles that are in AE 47, Matt lost a pretty good job when St. John folded. He had a heart condition according to his nephew Matt and his Half-brother Fred Robinson. His health wasn't good but he kept working and smoking and probably eating the wrong things. I don't think he did well while working for Marvel since Coletta inked a lot of his work which obscured Baker's pencils. I wonder what the art looked like when Feldstein did the inks? Perhaps that explains the Crown comics covers, or probably not. It sounds more like Baker was a victim of the times. His talent wasn't recognized by the people that made Al Capp famous and other cartoonist of the time. Even Barks spent a long time in obscurity. bb (ed: changed name to Fred, oops) Edited February 19, 2009 by BB-Gun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB-Gun Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 According to the article in AE 47, Baker's earliest work was published in Jumbo 69. bb I tried to sell this issue last year and found no takers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shiverbones Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 I was recently lucky enough to stumble onto this gem.. This is one of the more difficult ones to get. I'm thinking maybe because circulation was low due to it being the last one in the series? I also have a some First Love Illustrated Bakers to show, if anyone is interested? The interior is not as nice as the St. John's. He wasn't the inker. If there was one question I'd love to ask Matt Baker's family, it would be what happened to Matt towards the end? It's like his frame of mind wasn't into it anymore. I just wonder why he wasn't picked up by another comic company and why all his great work was just buried under poor ink jobs. What would you ask Matt Baker's family if you had the chance? What a cover! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB-Gun Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 Did Feldstein ink this story? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB-Gun Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 Feldstein was given credit for inking this cover by JVJ. I think that was a pretty good observation. Baker and Feldstein made an interesting combination. Feldstein also illustrated other stories in Crown after Baker left I think. The trees and vines look more like pure Feldstein. Voodah changed from black to white to asian and back to black during the run. Talk about confusion. bb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JvR11 Posted February 18, 2009 Author Share Posted February 18, 2009 Feldstein was given credit for inking this cover by JVJ. I think that was a pretty good observation. Baker and Feldstein made an interesting combination. Feldstein also illustrated other stories in Crown after Baker left I think. The trees and vines look more like pure Feldstein. Voodah changed from black to white to asian and back to black during the run. Talk about confusion. bb Do the interior stories look "Bakerish"? I have a Crown Comics 4 but it's slabbed. I like this cover the best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JvR11 Posted February 18, 2009 Author Share Posted February 18, 2009 I picked up this magazine off ebay a few months ago. I'd really like to get more of his illustrative work outside of comics. I know the Alter Ego article had some really cool art in it. If anyone has any of these magazines with Baker art in them, please post some! I really thing there may be a strong possibility Baker might have also done the cover since he illustrated a couple of the stories? What do you think? Baker cover too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VintageComics Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 Wow, Joanna if you would take the time to photograph every page of that story it would be terrific! If it's too much work I totally understand but that Harem story looks great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plady69 Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 Wow, Phantom Lady never looked as hot as that Harem girl! Great stuff! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VintageComics Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 Wow, Phantom Lady never looked as hot as that Harem girl! Great stuff! I was thinking that about the brunette behind her... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JvR11 Posted February 19, 2009 Author Share Posted February 19, 2009 Wow, Joanna if you would take the time to photograph every page of that story it would be terrific! If it's too much work I totally understand but that Harem story looks great! There are no other illustrations by Baker in this magazine I'd love to know if others have some other magazine illustrations by Baker. The weird thing about this, is we can all see how great his illustrations were. This was from 1957 near the end of his life when his comic illustrations didn't really have the signature Baker style. I'm thinking maybe he just preferred the illustrations where he didn't have to worry about others inking his work. Maybe, he also got paid better for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB-Gun Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 (edited) IIlustration by Baker for Girl Gangs article in Rage. I previously posted these illos by Matt Baker from Rage. I think there are a few more in the magazine. The work was good. He also did some good work for Crown but the art was a little less realistic than his romance comics and more like Skygirl. Perhaps it was the inker again. I like what Feldstein did but I am not sure about the others. Crown 7 Crown 5 Edited February 19, 2009 by BB-Gun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB-Gun Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 (edited) By the way, the Rage scans are mine and the Crown scans are from GA.UK.com Ed.: Incorrectly identified source of scans as Fury when they were actually from Rage. Edited February 19, 2009 by BB-Gun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
