Peerless Power of Comics!

There are many famous comic strips and creators that have been justly celebrated, studied and collected: Milton Caniff ( Terry and the Pirates ); Chester Gould ( Dick Tracy ); Hal Foster ( Tarzan; Prince Valiant ); Alex Raymond ( Flash Gordon ); Harold Gray ( Little Orphan Annie ); Charles Schulz ( Peanuts ) to name but a few, but one strip sits in relative obscurity despite an extraordinary sixty-two year tenure. Why? Because that comic strip was buried inside a monthly retail magazine that catered to the Hardware business.         The cover to Forty Years with Mister Oswald, published in 1968 by the National Retail Hardware Association.  The story of Russ Johnson is fascinating on many levels. Johnson was not only a talented cartoonist, but a businessman who took over ownership of his father's Hardware store and ran the operation for decades. His first hand experiences as a store owner were the gist for many stories he devised.   In the introduction ...

If you've visited this blog in the past you won't be surprised by my fascination (some would say obsession) over editorial changes on artwork, both major and minor. This time out I'll delve into alterations on some early Marvel era Tales to Astonish covers.     Henry Pym becomes a costumed hero after his miniaturized adventure in Tales To Astonish # 27 eight months earlier. Ant-Man was the only Marvel hero to spin-off from a Pre-Hero monster story and while he would occasionally face creatures like the Scarlet Beetle, more often than not he faced - excuse the pun - down to earth criminals, thugs and delusional scientists, aided by his loyal ants. Jack Kirby pencils; Dick Ayers inks; Stan Goldberg colors and Artie Simek letters, Tales To Astonish # 35, September 1962.       When this cover was reprinted in England the original stat was used. Changes are minimal but worth pointing out. The beakers on the desk and the wall vanished, while the hoods shoes were mad...

It's no secret that Bill Everett had trouble meeting deadlines. While the credits to the Sub-Mariner story in Tales to Astonish # 87 read "Illustration:Wild Bill Everett" clearly other artists are involved. Comic book credits of earlier decades can often be deceiving due to the production method. The story would first be penciled, then lettered and sent off to the inker - or the presumed inker. The letterer would add the name that Stan Lee provided, but sometimes another inker would be substituted at the last minute after the credits were lettered. The new inker would occasionally add his own name, or someone in production might correct the credits, but there are numerous instances when the printed comic book had erroneous credits. These mistakes were sometimes acknowledged in future letter columns; other times they were forgotten and have remained in print for decades.  Over the years I've noticed the Sub-Mariner lead story in Astonish # 87 ("Moment of Truth!...

The cover to Tales of Suspense # 45 has puzzled me for some time. This time out I'll share my step by step process of investigation, deduction and conclusions. Tales of Suspense # 45, Sept 1963, lettering by Artie Simek, colors by Stan Goldberg, art by?? This cover is often cited as pencils by Jack Kirby and inks by Don Heck, and the error is understandable because it's partially correct (stay with me, they'll be a quiz at the end..) When examining this cover something bugged me. Iron Man looked like a Kirby/Heck drawing, but the figures and poses of Jack Frost, Happy and Pepper didn't.                                                       Close-up of Kirby/Heck's Iron Man. The Iron Man pose also looked awfully familiar, so I decided to go through Tales of Suspense #'s 39-44 which included all of Iron Man's stories up to that date, and I soon found...