In the Shadow of the Atomic Age 6 6

[adamstrange]

Bottom panels of the Moriera page

 

Edited April 9, 2005 by adamstrange

[ajaxfarrell]

David, are you getting the PM's I sent you about the Atlas covers

[Scrooge]

Adam:

 

What makes you think I am still listening to you, you defensive Krigstein booster. Your parallel with Orson Welles has validity and we probably should not value quantity versus quality when it comes to art. But in keeping with Tim's (?) discussion in the General section about celebrating journeymen versus celebrating true masters in the industry, I am in the camp that because Krigstein's output was limited, one still has to wonder what, and more importantly if, higher peaks Bernard would have achieved had he stayed in the industry. A question for the ages that will never be answered. (Same with Frazetta, his later work, as praised as it is, is no indication as to how successful he could have continued to be at story-telling). Instead of recalling Welles, I liken the situation to James Dean, Natalie Wood or other such interpretors (for lack of a good US creator example in mind right now) because Welles could have had a longer career but never achieved Citizen Kane's heights again (remember The Long, Hot Summer). I will not take anything away from Krigstein's achievements but I weigh longevity and quality together (see Barks, Eisner, ...). Not arguing here but discussing this with you helps clarify my thoughts.

 

Re: Ruben Moriera is the predominant cover artist on MGA and there is much to appreciate in his cover and stories. I have the original art to a splash of his from the 50s.

 

The OA, is this anything you could actually show us? (or even a scan / picture of the printed page to this OA)

 

The Krigstein debate might be worthy of a thread at some point as I don't think his merits vis-a-vis Eisner/Barks (and others) can be examined fairly without having a longer discussion. (I'm not knocking either of those 2 guys as they are among the top of the field -- I've read and loved almost every Barks story and at least 60% of all of Eisner's output).

 

Original Art: I'm assuming at some point we'll have a thread about that and then I can try and post. (Don't start one! I'm in no hurry as I don't have a digital camera.)

 

P.S. I'm not that excited about the Natalie Wood/James Dean analogy as I don't think they were particularly revolutionary. Welles, in an artistic sense, was. If you feel that I'm over-reaching in comparing Krigstein to Welles, I would feel better with a suggestion of somewhat innovative auteur as opposed to pretty-faced actors. (But then maybe now you think I'm knocking Natalie/James!)

 

Adam,

 

1) I am all in agreement about the need for a longer discussion about Krigstein vs. Barks / Eisner. Having never been artistically trained, I am stirring the pot (never really liked this expression) to draw posters out to correct and to educate me. This is my sole purpose and baiting you generally draws insightful remarks that I relish because, thanks to you, I am getting a deeper understanding of the medium and a knowledge of which aspects to consider when discussing this field.

 

2) Not gonna start on OA thread. No worries there.

 

3) Note that in my original post I did admit that the Dean / Wood analogy was not to my liking. Here's quoting myself, acknowledging that Dean / Wood were "interpretors (for lack of a good US creator example in mind right now)" and then pointing out that my argument would be stronger should I find the name of an apt creator / author. So who died young after a very promising start of a career? Let me think some more on this unless some else can pitch in a name.

 

So from what comic issue would the panels be?

[adamstrange]

1a) The reason for avoiding the longer discussion is the time and scanning required. It's much easier if you are discussing in person with access to lots of material. Discussions like this don't work well on boards as sometimes the points you want to mark are subtle and involve a long chain of reasoning, as well as examples. It's hard (for me anyway) to write well enough so that my point comes across correctly. In person it's easier to see when you've mis-spoken or the other person is mis-understanding in a way that wasn't expected.

 

1b) I'm not artistically talented in any way, but I've always been interested in art. I don't think any of the "art" in comics approaches art done outside of comics (I haven't seen anyone I like better than Rembrandt for example). At the same time, I don't think great art is a necessary ingredient for great comic art. Comics are a verbal/visual story-telling medium and, in the end, the art must serve the story-telling. Great art might very possibly interfere with the story-telling.

 

2) Good

 

3) Don't stress yourself. I'm happy with Welles!

We can put a pause on this subject for now and come back to it in a few months where totally out of topics.

 

4) House of Mystery 38

 

BTW, I'm really annoyed at how many good topics and discussions have been going on during the last week and a half. I'm doing far too much posting because I'm really interested.

[adamstrange]

This has one of my all-time favorite Heath stories where the Golden Gladiator fights Attila the Hun.

 

Edited April 10, 2005 by adamstrange

[tth2]

Here's something different - Certainly not as romantic as Jon Juan nor as exciting as My Greatest Adventure nor as exotic as Dr. Fu Manchu or Charlie Chan which were all great books to share but I have a soft spot for the depth sensation that Bolle was able to convey on this cover.

 

 

I have noticed that I like most My Greatest Adventures covers shown here or in the 10 centers thread in SA. Who was (were) the main cover artist(s) on that series?

Scrooge, very cool cover, thanks for posting. The contrast of the purple character in the foreground against the red colored character in the background definitely heightens the sense of depth.

 

Also a little surprised about the artist. If you just showed me the purple character, I would've given odds that it was Gil Kane. The dynamic posture, depiction of his head from a 3/4 behind angle, and linework, particularly the folds in the sleeve, really seem Kane-like.

[tth2]

tth2: Al Reid = Alex Schomburg

That cover definitely does not raise him in my esteem!

[FlyingDonut]

I LOVE Millie the Model

 

[tth2]

Wow, that's a great cover!

[esquirecomics]

I LOVE Millie the Model

 

 

Hmmmm, looks familiar.

 

Remember what we discussed about disclosure.

 

[JohnBull]

Here's some more Superman silliness.

 

 

And here's a very dark Atlas book, the Circle 8 copy FWIW.

 

 

I'll be sticking some covers up on the Ditko thread in SA shortly, which would qualify for this thread, but I won't bother posting them twice on here.

[Scrooge]

Another Airboy for the night. Watch out for those bullets!

 

[JohnBull]

Very nice.

 

Here's another Superman-Mystic combo.

 

 

[Scrooge]

GP, nice Everett cover on that Mystic.

 

It had to happen eventually. I present to you American Eagle versus an american eagle. Not the best cover but I like bald eagles.

 

[adamstrange]

I think that's a little nicer cover than you give it credit for. That's Gil Kane inking Gil Kane -- didn't happen a lot but I always consider it a treat.

 

I sense another cover proof coming.

Edited April 14, 2005 by adamstrange

[adamstrange]

Edited April 13, 2005 by adamstrange

[adamstrange]

Edited April 13, 2005 by adamstrange

[RareHighGrade]

Adam, those cover proofs are great. What is the oldest one you have?

[adamstrange]

I think the color guides are especially nifty to have as it gives you the colorist' intent. I'm highly suspicious that John Severin did the coloring on at least some of these issues as he later taught his sister to do the coloring for EC.

 

The proofs are nice in that they show what came off the press -- even the best copies from a pedigree won't be able to do that. Here's the earliest one I have from PrizeWest (1951) and the scan does not do justice to the beauty of the colors. I've posted an image from GCD for comparison.

 

There are proofs going back to the 30s -- I think there were a few in Sol Harrison's possession. There are definitely ones from the 40s.

 

 

Edited April 13, 2005 by adamstrange

[Scrooge]

Adam,

 

thanks for sharing these again. And you're right the proof looks better than my copy would let on. I still need that 86. What do you think of the coloring choices on the warrior's leggings though? Oh and I do like the cover to the 117 but remember that I was following the Everett Mystic.