Unpopular Golden Age Opinions Thread! 9 9

[Robot Man]

And most of the funny animal ones as well which is really sad but OK with me!

[N e r V]

Outside of Coles use of color in comics I don’t think anything with the exception of the old Third Eye Marvel items of the early 70’s got me as interested in the use of color vs the actual artwork. Since my background was more from fine art to comics and not the other way around I’ve always been drawn to the use of color even though in most cases in comics the artist did not have control of it. Since companies understood a little bit about how certain uses of color could get stronger sales I’m a little surprised there wasn't more usage of what LB Cole was trying to do with it by others. I guess that’s at least one of the reasons his work has survived.

 

 

 

[Robot Man]

Marie Severin was one of the best colorists in comics in my opinion. Not over the top like Cole but subtle. Really created a “mood” and made the books so dramatic in a more unobtrusive way.

[adamstrange]

3 minutes ago, Robot Man said:

Marie Severin was one of the best colorists in comics in my opinion. Not over the top like Cole but subtle. Really created a “mood” and made the books so dramatic in a more unobtrusive way.

Her work during the last couple years of EC was extraordinary.  Equaled, perhaps, by a few others but not surpassed.

[N e r V]

4 minutes ago, Robot Man said:

Marie Severin was one of the best colorists in comics in my opinion. Not over the top like Cole but subtle. Really created a “mood” and made the books so dramatic in a more unobtrusive way.

I liked Steve Oliffs work too. The “pre computer coloring” era...

[N e r V]

9 minutes ago, Robot Man said:

Marie Severin was one of the best colorists in comics in my opinion. Not over the top like Cole but subtle. Really created a “mood” and made the books so dramatic in a more unobtrusive way.

 

4 minutes ago, adamstrange said:

Her work during the last couple years of EC was extraordinary.  Equaled, perhaps, by a few others but not surpassed.

Two of her cover coloring examples...

 

 

[Robot Man]

Yeah, that HOF #14 is off the hook as is these two. Look at the shading, the moonlight and the mood. Of all the EC artists, I think she did her best work on Graham Ingels's stuff.

Not so wild about a lot of her re-coloring efforts on the EC hard bounds though. The VOH #37 (guy hanging in the bell tower comes to mind).

[hufflepuffle]

Some of those EC horror Tales make me think of the Disney Haunted Mansion. Wonder if Walt was subconsciously influenced by those comics, or his staff of storyboard people for the park concept had some EC stuff. Back around 1950 weren't they? Hi, I'm new here

[Tri-Color Brian]

Robot, You nailed it.  Cole's strong point was his colors.  He couldn't draw a decent human to save his life...  But I still love most of his covers, just for the composition and the colors.

[newshane]

Here I go...

In general. non-rivet Planets have cooler covers than the rivets. 

Also, Ghost 2 > Ghost 6. 

I *really* like #1 as well. 

Edited July 11, 2019 by newshane

[Yorick]

20 hours ago, Point Five said:

Just curious: by 'swiped' you mean he used photo references? If not I guess I'm not sure what you're referring to.

 

I need to look at the publication dates, but here's an image that repeats BEYOND just Cole's work.  Pike did it better...

[N e r V]

12 minutes ago, Yorick said:

I need to look at the publication dates, but here's an image that repeats BEYOND just Cole's work.  Pike did it better...

I think they all kind of swiped this from human beings myself...

 

Theres only so many positions (standing up) and kissing someone’s face...(I know, I’ve pretty much done all of them)...

Edited July 11, 2019 by N e r V

[Mmehdy]

3 hours ago, Robot Man said:

Marie Severin was one of the best colorists in comics in my opinion. Not over the top like Cole but subtle. Really created a “mood” and made the books so dramatic in a more unobtrusive way.

 100% Agree...EC lives

[newshane]

1 hour ago, N e r V said:

Theres only so many positions (standing up) and kissing someone’s face...(I know, I’ve pretty much done all of them)...

Gratuitous post. 

 

[N e r V]

2 hours ago, newshane said:

Gratuitous post. 

 

I tried that one too. My head started hurting after about an hour though...

 

Edited July 11, 2019 by N e r V

[N e r V]

Swiping is pretty common in comics. Most fans only notice it when the artist uses a swipe from a comic publication but artists swipe from magazines, books, other fine artist works, etc...

Should I be more upset that a comic artist swiped from another one than when he swipes from another source?

Even the best artists still had deadlines to get certain things done or had “issues” on certain things and used swipes. 

It becomes a judgement call I guess on how often it happened. Dan Adkins comes to mind as someone who probably did it a bit too much though...

 

Whats sad from an artists perspective is when the swipe looks better than the original...

Edited July 12, 2019 by N e r V

[50YrsCollctngCmcs]

5 hours ago, hufflepuffle said:

Some of those EC horror Tales make me think of the Disney Haunted Mansion. Wonder if Walt was subconsciously influenced by those comics, or his staff of storyboard people for the park concept had some EC stuff. Back around 1950 weren't they? Hi, I'm new here

Rolly Crump was sort of the inspiration for the Haunted Mansion with his Museum of the Weird. Rolly had a really interesting background and was into all kinds of artwork and things; I have no doubt he would have seen the EC comics and been influenced by them though there is no way to know if the other artists who worked on Mansion were so influenced.

[Howling Mad]

It took ~20 pages for someone to argue that much of L.B. Cole's work is overrated. I agree.

[The-Collector]

15 hours ago, Robot Man said:

I have never felt that Cole was an incredible artist. I have seen some originals and they left me a little flat. What he excelled at though, was composition and color. He must have really understood marketing and how to sell product on a crowded shelf. His coloring was maybe the best in the business. And I do love his work for that reason.

I agree 100%. His composition and colouring are 1st class, but his actual draftsmanship not so much. 

[Point Five]

6 hours ago, The-Collector said:

I agree 100%. His composition and colouring are 1st class, but his actual draftsmanship not so much. 

That's fair enough. I love his covers myself but I could live with that assessment.