Golden Age Collection 22 22

[Pat Calhoun]

Supe #4 is Super-Terrific

[Theagenes]

I thought the low blow was comparing them to Hermes Press

 

I skipped this new edition since I have the complete NBM set but would still like to hear what people here thought of the edition

 

I decided to pick up the new edition, so I'm selling my run of the Foster NBM editions (vol 1 through 6) cheap. Volume 6 is the limited edition signed by Hogarth. If anyone's interested they're listed in the marketplace in the Single Series 20 thread.

[Theagenes]

Got this in today, gorgeous classic cover!

 

Nice paper too!

[sacentaur]

I thought the low blow was comparing them to Hermes Press

 

What are the issues with Hermes Press?

[Scrooge]

I thought the low blow was comparing them to Hermes Press

 

What are the issues with Hermes Press?

 

From the reprints I've seen (and it's been a while since I've looked at them), I really dislike the layouts. While IDW will run 3 dailies per page, Hermes Press will run only two per page leaving a LOT of blank on that page which means that they are not doing it to up the size considerably compared to IDW. Also, since the reprints are run in black & white, that leaves the page to look rather blah! and looks cheap to my eyes. Maybe they've gotten better but they tend to reprint material I am less interested in (though I'd like to pick up the Buck Rogers at some point).

[sacentaur]

Hermes Press will run only two per page leaving a LOT of blank on that page which means that they are not doing it to up the size considerably compared to IDW. Also, since the reprints are run in black & white, that leaves the page to look rather blah! and looks cheap to my eyes.

 

Thanks for the feedback, Michael - I do have the Buck Rogers newspaper dailies vol. 1, and the same layout issues persist.

[Theagenes]

Hermes Press will run only two per page leaving a LOT of blank on that page which means that they are not doing it to up the size considerably compared to IDW. Also, since the reprints are run in black & white, that leaves the page to look rather blah! and looks cheap to my eyes.

 

Thanks for the feedback, Michael - I do have the Buck Rogers newspaper dailies vol. 1, and the same layout issues persist.

 

Yep but they are a fun read.

[ciorac]

Got this in today, gorgeous classic cover!

 

 

It is indeed a classic. I love the early issues of Superman

[BangZoom]

Knowing my old interest in Centaurs and new interest in fanzines, I rec'd this information from D ick Swan:

 

Two of the most interesting things I've seen in comics as they relate to SF Zines were in Centaur. In the July 1939 issue of Amazing Mystery Funnies the inside front cover an article acknowledges that "Uncle Joe" has seen SF Zines done by kids and he would like other kids who have done these to send these to him. I think he was looking for talent for his Comic Company. One of the kids was John Giunta, who he hired to work for him, and there were some writers who came from the SF Zines who also started working in comics in 1940.

 

 

Here's the inside cover from Amazing Mystery Funnies 2/7:

 

 

 

More interesting even, 6 Months later in the Dec 1939 issue of AMF there is a 2-page article published in the comic written by John Giunta with a little history of the SF Zines. The one from December is an incredibly cool article, and subtitled "A New Department for Boys and Girls Who Publish Their Own Magazines", so there may be more. I would really like it if anyone can tell me about any other articles.

 

 

Sadly I currently don't have a copy of Amazing Mystery Funnies 2/12; Giunta's piece sounds fascinating if anyone can provide a scan.

 

Here you go.

 

 

 

[sacentaur]

Great stuff BZ - it's fun to read the article not only for regular content, but names mentioned too.

 

Plus an early Giunta panel!

 

Thanks much for the scan.

[BangZoom]

Hi all-

 

Over at The Beat, I just posted an essay about Jerry Siegel using a ghost writer -- something that's been rumored for years, among a few fan historians and in a CBM article in the '90s by Bob Beerbohm. But now, thanks to John L. Coker III, there is finally proof:

 

 

If you've read my new bio on Siegel and Shuster SUPER BOYS (and why not? ha) then you know I have a whole chapter devoted to Kantor, who might be the ultimate ghost in comics. I have a follow-up post on my blog here, with some art and other documents.

 

BZ and others (like that great fanzine scan above) have posted some great history here over the years, so thought it would be appropriate.

 

Thanks,

Brad

 

Brad,

 

Here is one of the letters I received from SF historian Sam Moskowitz way back when.

 

This provides some background info about the Siegel / Kantor / Kenton connection.

[BangZoom]

 

Whose birthday is tomorrow?

 

It's going to be George Roussos' birthday !

 

So, let's learn a little about him, okay?

 

 

From Wikipedia:

 

George Roussos

 

 

George Roussos (August 20, 1915 – February 19, 2000), also known under the pseudonym George Bell, was an American comic book artist best known as one of Jack Kirby's Silver Age inkers, including on landmark early issues of Marvel Comics' Fantastic Four. Over five decades, he created artwork for numerous publishers, including EC Comics, and he was a staff colorist for Marvel Comics.

 

Biography

Early life and career

 

George Roussos was born in Washington, D.C., the son of Greek-Americans William and Helen Roussos. After he and his sisters Helen and Alice were orphaned as children, George was sent to live at the Brooklyn Orphan Asylum in New York City, and attended Public School 125 in the Woodside neighborhood of Queens. Roussos was influenced by the art of cartoonist Frank Miller in the aviation comic strip Barney Baxter in the Air. Other influences included Chester Gould, Stan Kaye, Robert Fawcett and Hal Foster. "I had no schooling [in art] except the things I learned by myself," Roussos said.

 

He entered comics in 1939 as letterer of the Spanish-language version of the newspaper panel Ripley's Believe It or Not. The following year, Bob Kane and Bill Finger hired him to assist inker Jerry Robinson on Batman stories. Roussos' duties included drawing backgrounds, inking, and lettering, starting as early as Batman #2 (Summer 1940). He and Robinson would eventually leave the Kane studio to work directly for National Comics (the future DC Comics) on Batman and other characters. Roussos worked on features starring the Vigilante, Johnny Quick, Superman, and Starman. His most notable DC work was as penciller of the Detective Comics backup feature "Air Wave", on which he experimented, on at least one story, with using only shades of gray for color.

 

Comic books and comic strips

 

Other companies for which Roussos drew during the 1940s Golden Age of comic books included Marvel-precursor Timely Comics, as well as Avon Publications, Standard/Better/Nedor, Family, Fiction House, Hillman Periodicals, Lev Gleason Publications, and Spark. He also did 16 internationally distributed educational pamphlets for General Electric, receiving a World War II draft deferment to do so.[1] The survey "The 20 Greatest Inkers of American Comic Books" placed Roussos at #15, saying he "was so adept with a brush in his hand that his co-workers appointed the nickname 'Inky' to him. His style was often thick, heavy with blacks, and sported nice contrasts which complimented [ sic ] one of his prime collaborators in the '50's, Mort Meskin."

 

After a brief attempt to open an art school with colleague Mort Meskin, Roussos added comic strips to his repertoire, assisting artist Dan Barry's Flash Gordon, Charles Flanders' The Lone Ranger, Dan Heilman's Judge Parker and Sy Barry's The Phantom, and succeeding Fred Kida as artist on Judge Wright from 1947 until the strip's demise the following year. Roussos unsuccessfully pitched syndication companies his own comic strips, such as the science fiction feature 2001 A.D. in 1945, the archeology strip Azeena in 1967, and Transisto, with Batman writer Bill Finger, in the late 1960s.

 

Comic-book clients during the 1950s included that decade's Marvel precursor, Atlas Comics, along with Crestwood, EC Comics and St. John Publications. For EC he did stories in Crime SuspenStories, Tales from the Crypt, Weird Science and Weird Fantasy.

 

Silver Age Marvel

 

In the 1960s, during the period fans and historians call the Silver Age of Comic Books, Roussos gained prominence under the pseudonym George Bell[5] when he became Jack Kirby's inker on landmark early issues of Marvel Comics' superhero team title Fantastic Four. These included #21-27 (Dec. 1963 - June 1964), which featured an early Doctor Doom confrontation, the first Hulk vs. Thing battle, and fellow superhero team the Avengers. As well, Roussos had inked the Kirby covers of issues #11, 13, and 18-20. Roussos also inked the return of Captain America in Kirby's The Avengers #4 (March 1964) — the cover of which has become one of comics' most famous — as well as Kirby's Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #3-7 (Sept. 1963 - March 1964).

 

Later life and career

 

After doing some work for Warren Publishing's black-and-white horror-comics magazines in 1970 and 1971, Roussos in 1972 succeeded Marie Severin as Marvel's full-time, in-house colorist. In the early 1980s, Roussos was Marvel's cover colorist.

 

Roussos was a Renaissance man whose myriad interests included architecture, astronomy, automobiles, gardening, natural medicine, philosophy and photography. He took photographs of various Long Island estates, and his photographs at the Bayard Cutting Arboretum State Park were collected in his book, The Bayard Cutting Arboretum History.

 

Roussos died of a heart attack. He was married twice: to Viola Fink, followed by Florence Lacey (married 17 November 1980, died 1998). Roussos had three sons (William, Robert and Louis) and a daughter (Marie).

 

[BangZoom]

 

I always admired Roussos' great storytelling ability. Here is an example of one of his stories for Atlas.

 

From Adventures into Terror #13

 

 

[BangZoom]

 

 

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[BangZoom]

 

 

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[adamstrange]

Well worth posting!

 

This story shows why Roussos was an excellent inker. Look at the placement of blacks in Panel 2 of Page 1 or Panels 2 & 3 of Page 2 among many others.

 

I always admired Roussos' great storytelling ability. Here is an example of one of his stories for Atlas.

 

From Adventures into Terror #13

 

 

[Theagenes]

He is definitely an underrated talent, I'm mostly just familiar with his EC work.

 

We missed a couple of other birthdays this week. H.P. Lovecraft and Hal Foster.

 

I celebrated Foster's birthday by selling my undercopy of SS 20, since I was able to upgrade thanks to Todd (Red Fury).

 

 

[mrmyst]

Wow. Roussos sure did well, for an orphaned child. I always get a bit sad when hearing about any orphaned child, especially in those days. He must have been a strong person indeed.