Show me your Timely's and I'll show you mine. Have a Cigar... 30 30

[Cat-Man_America]

Haven't posted this cover in awhile...

Spoiler

While not credited on the label as a Schomburg cover, I'm pretty sure this is Alex's work.

It's pulp influence is clearly demonstrated, reminding me of his work on MM#3 and Mystic #1. The expression on the choked villain's face is classic.

[Primetime]

On 2/25/2023 at 12:06 AM, Cat-Man_America said:

Haven't posted this cover in awhile...

  Reveal hidden contents

While not credited on the label as a Schomburg cover, I'm pretty sure this is Alex's work.

It's pulp influence is clearly demonstrated, reminding me of his work on MM#3 and Mystic #1. The expression on the choked villain's face is classic.

It’s a Schomburg cover for sure. 

[Badger]

On 2/25/2023 at 2:06 AM, Cat-Man_America said:

Haven't posted this cover in awhile...

  Hide contents

While not credited on the label as a Schomburg cover, I'm pretty sure this is Alex's work.

It's pulp influence is clearly demonstrated, reminding me of his work on MM#3 and Mystic #1. The expression on the choked villain's face is classic.

I agree: Schomburg 

[Badger]

[Badger]

[Badger]

[Badger]

[MrBedrock]

On 2/25/2023 at 2:44 AM, Primetime said:

On 2/25/2023 at 2:06 AM, Cat-Man_America said:

Haven't posted this cover in awhile...

  Reveal hidden contents

While not credited on the label as a Schomburg cover, I'm pretty sure this is Alex's work.

It's pulp influence is clearly demonstrated, reminding me of his work on MM#3 and Mystic #1. The expression on the choked villain's face is classic.

Expand  

It’s a Schomburg cover for sure. 

Definitely Schomburg...

 

[Frisco Larson]

On 2/25/2023 at 12:29 PM, MrBedrock said:

Definitely Schomburg...

 

Definitely awesome!!!  

[MrBedrock]

[MrBedrock]

[L'Angelo Misterioso]

On 2/25/2023 at 5:56 PM, MrBedrock said:

I know I said earlier that Marvel Mystery covers were consistently good, but I have to say the ones late in the series are pretty disappointing. They feel very phoned in compared to the first 60

[sartrexpress]

Some White covers... somewhat of a rarity for Timely. 

 

Edited February 26, 2023 by sartrexpress

[Cat-Man_America]

On 2/26/2023 at 12:26 AM, sartrexpress said:

Some White covers... somewhat of a rarity for Timely. 

 

Beautiful books, Steven! 

Edited February 26, 2023 by Cat-Man_America

[Cat-Man_America]

On 2/25/2023 at 8:30 PM, L'Angelo Misterioso said:

I know I said earlier that Marvel Mystery covers were consistently good, but I have to say the ones late in the series are pretty disappointing. They feel very phoned in compared to the first 60

So, you're saying that the later issues are a bit hit and Mystery!  

I won't totally disagree, but there are some awesome Schomburg covers after 60; post war too! Here are some random classics (alas, I am a bit biased -lol)...

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[L'Angelo Misterioso]

The shift from wartime to post-war Marvel Mystery covers is so amusing. It's like "well, back to fighting petty criminals and gangsters!"

[sartrexpress]

I like all of Schomburgs work… as an artist he’s more consistent than most and invents visual excitement no matter what the subject .. although on subject matter, post war imagery did shift to crime and horror.  Not sure why Schomburg didn’t continue to create covers in PCH into the 50s . 

[Cat-Man_America]

On 2/26/2023 at 10:14 AM, L'Angelo Misterioso said:

The shift from wartime to post-war Marvel Mystery covers is so amusing. It's like "well, back to fighting petty criminals and gangsters!"

That's kinda true, although the examples provided are at least a step above petty criminals with GGA, Egyptian motif, Timely Club and murderous gangsters; that shoot-out at a rural farmhouse is a great setting. 

What Timely should've done was what they started to do, but failed to follow though on with enough conviction, ...that's develop brilliant recurring super villains to match wits with their featured heroes.  Most of the evil characters they came up with after 1945 weren't nearly as imaginative as the Red Skull, IMO. The Human Fly and Parrot weren't too bad as second banana villains against Cap & Bucky, but hardly evoked the creep-factor like DC's Joker, Riddler, Penguin or Clayface villains in Batman, much less in the league of Lex Luthor, Vandal Savage or Soloman Grundy, just to name a few more. What Timely did exceedingly well was evocative covers ...most notably by Schomburg, but also Syd Shores... featuring their best heroes in life threatening situations. 

If Timely had pushed their writers a bit more in the direction of powerful super-villains, developed these characters with creepy personal back stories and then serialized those stories to keep the momentum going, their numbers might've been stronger post-war.  

Next to Quality Comics, Timely still had some of the finest covers of the era and ...with a few exceptions... managed to avoid the campy silliness frequently cropping up on their biggest competitor DC's covers.  In the end, Martin Goodman was a numbers guy, and the handwriting on the wall suggested heroes were no longer selling well, so he followed the money, exploring prospects in the burgeoning new markets of GGA, horror, teen comedy and ...for younger comic readers... funny animal.

Worth noting, Goodman and Stan Lee did venture into the GGA market with their biggest hero titles, revisiting the market with interesting female heroes they'd explored during the war years with Tarpé Mill's Miss Fury, eventually side-lining side-kick boy heroes (Bucky and Toro) in favor of shapelier female partners ...Golden Girl for Cap, Sun Girl for HT and bolstering the lone wolf Sub-Mariner's adventures with Namora... before trying out solo femme heroes (Venus, Miss America & Sun Girl and Namora), but the problem was still developing worthy recurring antagonists to combat their heroes.   

Sorry about the length of this, ...waaaay too much caffeine! 

 

Edited February 28, 2023 by Cat-Man_America
More ale!!!

[Cat-Man_America]

On 2/26/2023 at 12:29 PM, sartrexpress said:

I like all of Schomburgs work… as an artist he’s more consistent than most and invents visual excitement no matter what the subject .. although on subject matter, post war imagery did shift to crime and horror.  Not sure why Schomburg didn’t continue to create covers in PCH into the 50s . 

Love all of Schomburg's work as well.  

In the 1950's Alex transitioned into the more lucrative painterly market you're well familiar with.

Very few artists working in comics of that era were able to do this...

Note: Although the above piece wasn't for Timely, one of the aspects of Alex's work that impresses me in his dust jackets, pulps and digest cover paintings of this era is his measured use of airbrush as a tool. It's amazing how well he manages to maintain a painterly look in these compositions.

In the past, I've struggled with whether to use airbrush in my work, the more painterly old master's approach having always been more of an inspiration. But somehow Alex managed to keep a good balance using both brush and airbrush techniques and still meet commercial deadlines.  A tremendous accomplishment for the era.

Edited February 26, 2023 by Cat-Man_America

[Frisco Larson]

I like the attempt by Timely to create super villains in the later 40s. There was a villain who had 2 stories rather early, The Black Talon. He appears in Cap #9 and inside Young Allies #2, both of which are at the very end of 1941. Perhaps my favorite later villain was Asbestos Lady, first appearing in Cap #63 (with a Parrot cover), but then getting a fantastic cover on Human Torch #27. The Shark was another villain Subby got to deal with. They all had potential, but most were introduced too late to be fully explored. I just grabbed these random images from other places. These aren't my books.