Archie Original Art: Need Help Identifying Artists and Discussing Prices 0

[Patriot6]

On 1/27/2024 at 7:08 PM, Michael Browning said:

From the great Archie artist Dan Parent, who is an expert at figuring out who Archie artists are

Also one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet. Awesome that he was able to help. Probably one of the best guys for the job. 

[jick]

On 1/28/2024 at 8:08 AM, Michael Browning said:

From the great Archie artist Dan Parent, who is an expert at figuring out who Archie artists are:

Serve Verve is by Gus Lemoine.

Dipsy Doodle is most likely by Dexter Taylor.

Sun Fun is by Samm Schwartz.

Snack Attack is most likely by Gus Lemoine with a different inker than Serve Verve.

Real Cool Kid is by Gus Lemoine with Jon D'Agostino inks.

Spray Cans for Teens is by Samm Schwartz.

Still Life is by Gus Lemoine.

Dan couldn't ID the artists for the other pages and he said that Archie used to put test artists on some of the one pagers, so some artists may not be regulars.

 

Thank you for this! It is of much help, it seems like Gus Lemoine was the missing link in many of the art I could not identify.  However, I still have some reservations on the ID's of some artists.  But I will post them in my next post, as all the original art has arrived and I have scanned them already so I'll share here.  It is the complete issue of Jughead's Jokes 26, October 1971.

[jick]

To everyone, I just got the original pages to this issue - Jughead's Jokes 26, cover dated October 1971.

Being a "Giant Series", I have 30 interior pages of original art plus 2 pages of stats (letters page).

I am only missing 5 interior pages and the cover, but recreations of those will be my solution to complete them all - and I'll even include a house ad for good measure.   

 

[jick]

Here is the rundown and scans so far, hope you can help me out complete and correct this.  Thanks to everyone who has contributed so far!

 

p 1 - Prize Size:  Al Hartley

>draws Jughead with his crown facing down and usually with no bangs

 

p 2 - Shame Game: "Unknown Test Artist"

-Most likely a test or non-regular artist because although Jughead has the Hartley crown facing up, Ethel is drawn with two front teeth sticking out, defined and she has all-black curly hair.  There are no other examples where she has had this look.  

 

p 3 - Wet Set: "Unknown Artist A" 

-Archie's eyebrows look too thick and too close to his eyes to be identified with DeCarlo.

-Jughead's eyes on the 4th panel which look like an upside down letter "J" is drawn this way in p. 5 "Bath Wrath" and p.44 "Dipsy Doodles" so it's safe to say it's the same artist.

 

p 5 - Bath Wrath:  "Unknown Artist A"

-The drawing style of Jughead is similar to page 3 - particularly the sideburns which are just two black curves instead of waves or strands like how other artists do it.  The way the eyes are drawn are also the same as p. 44, so it is the same artist who I am calling "Unknown Artist A".

 

p 7 - Serve Verve:  Stan Goldberg inked by Jon D'Agostino

-I will have to deviate here from Dan Parent's (c/o Michael Browning) attribution of Gus Lemoine.  My explanation for Lemoine's style will be found in p. 46 "Borrow Sorrow / Deep Sleep."

-The two horizontal lines or "blush" in Betty and Veronica, the headband of Veronica, and the way the details of the ears are drawn seem to indicate Hartley although it is not Jughead with the crown facing down.  From my studying in this forum of issues owned by Joe Sinnott where he identifies the pencillers of his work, some were attributed to Stan Goldberg as early as the late 60's.  And basically, Golberg's style was similar to Hartley except that Jughead's hat was not facing down.

 

p 10 - Puzzle Page: "Unknown Artist A"

-This is probably the same artist as page 3 "Wet Set."  The tells are Jughead's side hair, the inverted "J" style his eyes are drawn, and Archie's eyebrows very close to his eyes.

 

p 11 - Dipsy Doodle:  Gus Lemoine

-As my annotations to p.46 "Borrow Sorrow / Deep Sleep" will establish Gus Lemoine's style, this page has the same tells.  The many strands in Jughead's side hair and the bangs sticking out that is Lemoine's signature style.

 

p 12 - Sun Fun: Samm Schwartz

-There is no argument in Samm Schwartz.

 

p 13 - Ace Place:  Gus Lemoine 

-Check out Jughead's hair strands, this is the same artist as p. 11, 36, and 46 - whose distinctive style will be established as Gus Lemoine.

 

p 14 - Blunder Wonder:  Stan Goldberg inked by Jon D'Agostino

-This was attributed as Gus Lemoine by Dan Parent c/o Michael Browning but I beg to differ.  Jughead's eyes in the first panel, and all the character ears are in the style of Stan Goldberg based on the attributions by Joe Sinnott of other work. It also seems to match Goldberg's Reggie style from this era. Jon D'Agostino's inking style is quite strong, distinctive and identifiable especially in how he inked the shine in the black hair. 

p 16 -  More Childhood Snaps: "Unknown Artist A"

-Jughead's eyes drawn as two inverted J's in the title header upper left.  Since the other panels show little Archie and Jughead, the styles are so clearly not Bob Bolling or Dexter Taylor which can be established with a simple Google search.  Hence, this also debunks the possibility of p.44 Dipsy Doodles is Dexter Taylor, even though it was Dan Parent who attributed it because it seems that based on the "inverted J" eyes and the solid rounded black Jughead sideburns, this is the same artist as pages 3,5, 10 and 44.

 

p 19 - Bright Sprite: "Unknown Artist B"

-This artist draws Jughead's hair with his bangs parted in the middle, as seen in panel 1.  This style is also the same as page 29.

 

p 20 - Jughead Says:  Gus Lemoine

-See Jughead's eyes in the upper left and hair 

 

p 21 - Boat Banners:  Gus Lemoine

-The sideburns of Veronica, with all the strands, are similar to how he draws Jughead's.  Archie's eyebrows which are inked with straight vertical lines using a finer pen (as opposed to a blob of black), is similar to page 13 that is already attributed to Lemoine.  This is also not the same artist as p.20, even though the theme are both boating, because of the differences in how the waves are inked/rendered.

 

p 22 - Puzzle Page:  Gus Lemoine

-Jughead's sidehair, and the vertical lines used in inking Archie's eyebrows - as established in other Lemoine pieces.

 

p 24 - Archie Club News - All Stats

 

p 25 - Archie Club News - All Stats

 

p 27 - Lil Jinx:  Joe Edwards

 

p 28 - Box Yocks:  "Unknown Test Artist"

-Looks very similar to p.2 "Shame Game" artist in both the linework and inking.  I use the word test artist because this style did not recur often in future Archie comics.

 

p 29 - Grid Kid:  "Unknown Artist B"

-Similar to p.19, see Jughead's bangs that are parted in the middle

 

p 30 - Snack Attack:  "Unknown Artist A"

-Check all previous annotations of "Unknown Artist A" - and why I may either disagree with Dan Parent's attribution of "Gus Lemoine and unknown inker" or that maybe that combo is actually the identity of "Unknown Artist A"

 

p 32 - Rare Pair:  Stan Goldberg

-While Dan Parent also identifies this as Gus Lemoine and Jon D'Agostino, I will disagree.  The lines, especially the details of Jughead's eyes in the second and last/sixth panels seem to indicate Hartley's signature style minus the cap facing down - which means it is probably Stan Goldberg with a unidentified inker. The inking may not be D'Agostino but perhaps someone who also worked in superhero comics.  This style is seen in the last two panels, particuarly the Hotdog outline and Jughead's mouth. 

 

p 33 - Hitch Switch - "Unknown Test Artist"

-This is not exactly the strongest example of how to draw Jughead, both in linework, inkwork, and proportions.  Even the inking of the grass and bushes are different.  This must just be a test artist or an extra or filler or someone practicing.

 

p 34 - Real Cool Kid - Stan Goldberg

-Jughead's mouth and eye definition lines in the second panel, and Reggie's sideburns seem to point to Hartley.  But it's missing the "blush" horizontal lines on the cheeks except for Pop Tate in the last panel.   Thus, Hartley who is not-so-Hartley is Stan Goldberg. This also looks to have been inked by a heavy handed superhero comic inker as there is more rendering that is uncommon for Archie comics.  In the fourth panel, check the shadow and feathering in Jughead's neck.  Check also the vertical lines on the table to indicate it is shiny.  Then also check the black hair and black background and the white space to separate them.  Usually that won't be necessary in Archie comics.  So perhaps this could have been inked by Joe Sinnott?

p 36 - Chap Trap:  Gus Lemoine

-Jughead's hair, Archie's eyebrows, similar artist to pages 11, 13, 38, and 46.

 

p 37 - Spray Cans For Teens:  Samm Schwartz

 

p 38 - Pic Click:  Gus Lemoine

-Jughead's hair and eyes are similar artist to pages 11, 13, 36, 42 and 46.

 

p 39 - Lil Jinx:  Joe Edwards

 

p 42 - Dive Jive:  Gus Lemoine

-Jughead's hair and Archie's eyebrow vertical inking are similar artist to pages 11, 13, 36, 38 and 46.

p 44 - Dipsy Doodles:  "Unknown Artist A"

-Jughead's side hair and inverted "J" eyes

 

p 45 - Still Life:  Gus Lemoine

-Gus Lemoine as identified by Dan Parent c/o Michael Browning and matches the styles attributed to him on pages 11, 13, 36, 38, 42, and 46

p 46 - Borrow Sorrow:  Gus Lemoine

-This is the page of all pages that definitively identifies what Gus Lemoine's style is like.  And it is most obvious by Jughead's hair from the sideburns with many strands drawn, to the bangs sticking out below his cap, to how his eyes are drawn.  This is a very recurring style in many Archie comics from this era.  However, this style of drawing Jughead does not appear in any single cover published in "The Art of Archie - The Covers (2013)".  Well, there is also no cover attributed to Gus Lemoine there.  Hence, this is his style!  Why?  Check out the second to the last panel - he slips in "Gregory Lemoine Owner" in the text.  Thus, this was probably penciled and inked by Lemoine.

 

The 1970's are the time when there were just so many Archie house artists and it was hard to identify each one.  But I guess it has always been safe to say that some artists specialize in some characters and books.  So it seems like the bulk of the Jughead's Jokes book during this time was assigned to Gus Lemoine.

Edited February 3 by jick
Put captions right below images for easier reading

[jick]

The search for the "best effort" attribution to the pages of this near-complete Jughead Jokes #26 book (1971) has led me to do a ton of research.

With all due respect to Michael Browning and his communication with Dan Parent, there might be some Gus Lemoine attributions I may disagree with but new ones I will add which was actually aided by Dan Parent's attributions. 

As I type this, there is an ongoing auction in Heritage for Archie art with some Dan DeCarlo attributions.

I have also dug up the book "The Art of Archie - The Covers" from 2013, which was edited by Victor Gorelick and Craig Yoe.  In that book, virtually most of the early 1970's covers were by Dan Decarlo. I am attaching the examples from that book I have collaged which led me to two findings I will elaborate on in a future post:

1. The cover to Jughead's Jokes # 26 (1971) is by Dan DeCarlo

2.  Gus Lemoine did not have a single published cover in that 2013 book.

So from looking at the interiors of Jughead's Jokes #26, I am able to spot art that has a distinctive style from any of the 1970's covers - so that can be attributed to Gus Lemoine.   There is also a way Jughead's hair is draw that is similar to all Dan DeCarlo art from that era, that I may be able to attribute some of the pages to Dan DeCarlo.

I have also heavily edited my post right before this one - to include my attributions and my reasons for attributing them to the said artists.  Please feel free to add your own insights, comments, and objections if ever.

 

Edited February 1 by jick

[jick]

With all the examples of Dan Decarlo, it seems none of the interior pages are by Dan DeCarlo as there is a distinctive way he draws Jughead's hair, especially the sides.  But here are what I have gathered so far as examples by the artists from this issue.  What i can say is that Gus Lemoine's style is pretty clear and distinctive - and it might debunk some of Dan Parent's attributions.  But here is my photo summary.  "Unknown Artist A" can still be Gus Lemoine with a particular inker who is too lazy to ink his side hair strands.

Check the file below and it can be quite clear what the differences between the Archie artist styles are.

[jick]

I will just try to add more notes as they come along, as this thread might be a reference point for future Archie artist attributions.  I scoured through thousand of pages of digital issues of Jughead - mostly Double Digests. It seems in the past decade or so, Archie Comics worked hard in adding credits to the story, art, lettering, and colors to each story as much as possible.  But I still have these comments:

1.  Jon D'Agostino - It seems like he was the primary inker during this early 70's era of publications, and he did a good job keeping the Archie house look and some uniformity in pencillers.

2.  Malmgren - Here's a name I just came across.  His attributions are all over the place, usually with styles similar to Al Hartley and Stan Goldberg from this era.  Hence, for all my Stan Goldberg attributions above, I will have to include Malmgren as a possible penciller too.

3.  Stan Goldberg - The later day Goldberg around the 80's had a very distinctive style, specially enhanced by his primary inker Rudy Lapick.  But he did have some early 70's Archie work that looked more "house style" which I would attribute to D'Agostino's inking.  So I am not sure anymore if it is Goldberg or Malmgren, or even another artist drawing.  So these are all best guesses.

4.  Gus Lemoine - I will stand by my image above on that being the style of Gus Lemoine because he slipped in "Gregory Lemoine" in the last art page I shared above.  I have seen attributions of Lemoine in the style of "Unknown Artist A" or in that of "Stan Goldberg / Malmgren" attributions.  I will disagree with all the attributions and just limit Lemoine to that style I identified.  Also, Lemoine attributions are very very scarce - maybe only appearing once or twice in every ten digital double digest issues.

5.  Unknown Artist A - This style only appears in one page gags so that his why the style is prominent in this issue.  However, it has rarely appeared in 5 to 6 page complete stories - and when it does, it remains uncredited.  So whoever this artist is, he was primarily assigned to the short gags - and remains unidentified.  So this must have been a house artist.

6.  Dan Decarlo - There is a very distinctive style one how he draws Jughead's sideburns and side hair, and none of them appear in the interiors here so it is safe to say Dan DeCarlo was not part of this issue except for the cover.  It also seems like he was the go-to cover artist during this era.

7.  Dexter Taylor - While Michael Browning said that Dan Parent attributed some pages to Dexter Taylor, I would disagree.  He is primarily a "Little Archie" artist and it is only in that genre where he got credits in the digital editions.

Conclusion:  After scouring thousands of pages of digital editions of Jughead, I have found so many that seem wrong and all over the place.  Also there are quite a number of stories that are unidentified.  Thus, it is just all guesswork to identify Archie Artists from this era especially since it seems Jon D'Agostino was a "unifying force" to somewhat keep the art uniform - that's why his inking of Hartley, Malmgren, and Goldberg seem to mix up their styles and confuse those trying to attribute.  It is especially harder with 1-page gags like this particular issue of Jughead's Jokes because it seems editorial assigned them to many unnamed "test artists" to see their mettle.  That's why some styles of work here is lot of the best quality and never appeared in complete stories.  The only positive is that I think I have definitively identified Gus Lemoine's style.

Anyway I have already uploaded all these pieces to CAF and just tried to attribute the artists as best as I can.

https://www.comicartfans.com/galleryroom.asp?gsub=242837