Peerless Power of Comics!

Steve Ditko’s comic book career officially began in the back pages of a romance title. Daring Love # 1 was dated September-October 1953 and likely appeared on newsstands in June or July. Ditko reportedly sold his first story earlier in the year, but that would not see publication until three to four months later ("Stretching Things",  Fantastic Fears # 5, dated January 1954). Other work that preceded "Stretching Things" included stories in Black Magic Vol 4, No 3, Strange Fantasy # 9 and background inks over Simon and Kirby in Captain 3-D # 1 (the primary inker, Mort Meskin, was an artist Ditko greatly admired and learned from). Three of those jobs were horror tales, a genre Ditko would become particularly suited to.  The cover to Daring Love # 1 was illustrated by someone Ditko was likely familiar with, Bernard Baily, a distinctive and versatile artist whose work dated back to the early days of comics. He drew stories for a variety of companies, often in horror-...

Murphy Anderson 1926-2015                                   Illustration for the 1972 San Diego Comic Convention.  Murphy Anderson's career in the field of comics was defined by solid craftsmanship. Never a flamboyant artist, his technique was modeled on cartoonists he admired and learned from, including Lou Fine, Will Eisner and Alex Raymond. His earliest efforts appeared in the pages of Fiction House circa 1944. Anderson had an affinity for science fiction related material, drawing features "Star Pirate", "Suicide Smith" and assorted illustrations for their pulp line, including Planet Stories . One of Anderson's earliest assignments at Fiction House house was on the feature "Star Pirate" in Planet Comics # 33, November 1944, taking over from veteran George Tuska (after a one issue fill-in by Joe Kubert, another youngster who would become known for his work at DC). While the art is primitive it s...

Sol Brodsky was a long time artist, inker and production man at Marvel comics. Writer/Editor Stan Lee relied on his right hand man to make sure the trains ran on time but the entrepreneurial Brodsky also worked on outside projects including the Big Boy Restaurant promotional comics and editing the initial issues of Cracked magazine. When he was offered an opportunity to co-publish/edit a line of comic books and magazines with Hershel Waldman, who had published/packaged comics in the past, he left his production job with Lee's blessing. The new venture, entitled Skywald Publishing Corp. (for Sol BrodSKY and Israel WALDman) awaited. Through his contacts in the comics industry Brodsky knew many freelancers he could offer additional work. Some came directly from Marvel, including writer Gary Friedrich; artists Dick Ayers, Don Heck, Syd Shores, John Tartaglione, Frank Giacoia, Tom Palmer and letterers Sam Rosen and Jean Izzo. One important member of that entourage was Bill Everett. Ever...