Panel Discussion: The Art of Archie...

Redartz:  A little over five years ago, my first guest post appeared over at the great Bronze Age Babies blog. Little did I know where that single post would lead! Anyway, the subject of that post was a review of an Archie comic;today's topic is a long-delayed follow up to it.

 Like some of you, I've been a fan of Archie comics for many years. And for most of that time, I had no inkling of the people behind those comics- Archie Comics generally didn't credit the creators until the 1980's. And with the 'house style' intended to keep the Riverdale gang looking consistent througouht the years, determining who did what could be challenging. 

That said, there are definite differences in style among Archie's illustrators. I'm still learning about them, and thought you might enjoy a look as well. Here's a few I most enjoy.
Oh, and a few notes: we're looking at pencillers today, some of whom did their own inks. And the list isn't comprehensive, but at least it's a start. Also, credit must be given to Wikipedia and the Grand Comic Book Database, without which much of this page would be empty.


Harry Lucey

I found his work recognizable long before I knew his name. Clean lines, flawless comic timing, and a great talent for drawing physical action. Look below at Archie's reverberating jalopy, Betty and Veronica having a tug-of-war, and the gang whaling on Archie in a snowbank. Anyone who read Archie comics in the 60's and 70's will find Lucey's work familiar; he was highly prolific. As comparison, perhaps he could be considered the Jack Kirby of Archie comics.

Incidentally, I rather like his somewhat unorthodox rendition of Sabrina, What think you? 

Harry Lucey pencils, Marty Epp inks

Harry Lucey pencils, Chic Stone inks

 

Harry Lucey pencils, Marty Epp inks

Bob White

Bob White's work was commonly seen on covers and interiors of Archie comics of the 50's and into the mid 60's. Quite the illustrator, I like the detail his artwork displays. Check out the look of Veronica "Elizabeth Taylor" on the cover below. And the other covers, with the robotic jukebox and a dinosaur, feature another facet of White's work: a fondness for science fiction and fantasy. Often using aliens, monsters, robots and such, his art illustrated some of Archie's wildest adventures.

Bob White

Bob White

Bob White

Stan Goldberg

Now here's a fellow with a resume. He was all over the industry. While researching this post, I learned that Stan (Goldberg, not Lee) helped design the original color schemes for Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, and other Marvel giants. Often seen credited as a colorist, Goldberg also pencilled and inked, working for Atlas and Marvel. Some years later, he moved over to Archie comics and drew a huge number of stories from the late 60's on into the 90's.  His style was warm, comfortable and familiar to Bronze age readers everywhere.

Stan Goldberg

Samm Schwartz 

Samm was known as the "Jughead" artist, handling Juggie's book for years. But he worked on other titles as well, from the 50's to the 80's. He did take a few years off from Archie to work at  Tower Comics and DC in the mid to late 60's. 

Samm Schwartz

Dan Parent

Dan may not be known to some of you; he started for Archie in the 90's and continues to this day. He has a style well-fit to the traditional look of the Archie gang, yet also brings a more contemporary feel. He was credited with creating the first gay character in Archie comics: Kevin Keller, and has produced many fine stories (recently the fun "Archie Meets Batman 66).

Dan Parent pencils, Dan DeCarlo inks

Dan Parent pencils, Mike Esposito inks

 Al Hartley

Hartley is another artist who has 'made the rounds'. Working for Timely /Atlas in the 50's, he illustrated Patsy Walker, and did stories for some of early Marvel's horror books. He even did an issue of Thor. In the later 60's Al left Marvel and went to Archie, where he did stories for many titles.His style had a ...sweetness...almost a sparkle; lots of emotion and sentiment.  This sentimentality, and his personal conviction, led him to work at Spire Christian comics by the mid 70's. You might remember seeing "Archie's One Way" and other such books, on stands at the time.

Two points of interest: on the "Subject Matter" page, Veronica mentions the names of several boys, much to Miss Grundy's annoyance. Those names refer to some of Archie Comics' big guns: George (George Gladir), Al (Al Hartley), Marty (Marty Epp), Vince (Vince DeCarlo), Bob (Bob Bolling) and Frankie (Frank Doyle).

Then on the Archie /Veronica page, note the inks by Joltin' Joe Sinnott. Very nice.

Al Hartley pencils, Jon D'Agostino inks

Al Hartley pencils, Joe Sinnott inks

Al Hartley

 Bob Montana

Bob Montana was Archie's creator, back in the 40's at MLJ comics. Although he didn't do any comic book work within our Bronze age, he did the Archie newspaper strip until 1975, and some of those strips were reprinted in the Archie comics of our day...

Bob Montana

Bob Bolling 

Bob started working at Archie in the 50's, most notably on "Little Archie". His stories were adventurous, touching, wild, and very clever. Some have compared Bolling's "Little Archie" to Carl Barks' work on the Disney ducks.  

Bolling has said that his favorite story is one called "The Long Walk" from Little Archie 20. I discovered this tale in one of the "Best of Archie" collections a couple of years ago, and it was instantly one of my favorite comic book stories of all time. 

By the way, Bob is still active today, doing work for the Archie digests....

Bob Bolling

Dan DeCarlo

Dan is perhaps my favorite Archie illustrator. He started out with Atlas Comics, illustrating Millie the Model, among others. He also did a fair bit of magazine illustration, of the fashion and pin-up variety. You can see that influence on the work he did at Archie, from the 50's to the 90's. Absolutely gorgeous illustration, DeCarlo essentially defined the look for the Archie crowd for decades. DeCarlo also created Josie (as in Josie and the Pussycats), and also Sabrina, the Teen age Witch.

Dan DeCarlo pencils, Rudy Lapick inks

Dan DeCarlo pencils, Rudy Lapick inks

Dan DeCarlo pencils, Rudy Lapick inks

Well, that's all I've got today. We only scratched the surface of Archie Comics, but I hope you enjoyed this brief survey. And I hope you'll share your thoughts about Archie, his art, and anything else Riverdale-relevant!

This & That: BitBA hits the C2E2 Convention!.

Redartz:  Hello again, everyone, and thanks for joining us. Today I'd like to share some thoughts and images about a pretty remarkable day. Last weekend, in Chicago, there was a comic/ pop culture convention known as C2E2 (Chicago Comics and Entertainment Expo). Also, last weekend (Sunday, specifically), was another notable event: the first face-to-face meeting between some of the folks who bring you BitBA, and also our predecessor the Bronze Age Babies. Representing the BAB was Doug, familiar to you all no doubt. He was joined by our friend and frequent commenter Charlie Horse 47. Also there were your cohosts, Martinex1 and myself. And if there's anything better than a comic convention, it's a convention in the company of friends (and how did we not get Charlie in the photo? My bad, pal; just wait until next year).

Martinex1, Doug and Redartz; as photographed by Charlie Horse 47

To give you a sense of how the day went, we have some comments by the attendees. And with no further ado, heeeeere's Doug:

Some fine wings on display

Doug:  I'd not been to C2E2 before, but was excited to check it out. As I expected, it was a massive show -- McCormick Place just allows that sort of sprawl. I had a little difficulty getting my bearings, as I'm used to the Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, IL and the way WizardWorld Chicago is generally organized. But once I finally ascertained where the back issue vendors were, I found my comfort zone.


However, it didn't take long before a severe change in my sensibilities set in. I had not been to a convention since I sold my comic book collection and quite a bit of my memorabilia over 2014-16. This time around, I did not feel any pull toward the endless rows of longboxes, nor the booths packed to the brim with Marvel Legends, Mini-mates, etc. That made me feel a little melancholy. So reduced to seeking out vendors with large collections of trade paperbacks/hardcovers, I found that there were really only a half dozen or so dealers that I spent any time with. I'd printed an inventory of my library ahead of the trip, and had an idea of what I'd buy should it present itself. I was able to come back home with six books: volumes 1 and 3 of The Batman Adventures, The "Behold the Vision" Avengers Epic Collection, the "Man Without Fear" Daredevil Epic Collection, volume 2 of the Silver Surfer Masterworks (tpb), and the Adventures of Superboy hardcover (reprinting the first 20+ appearances of the character from 1945-46). I got deals on all books below what I could get online, so felt the day was successful.

But the best part of the day was spending it with three like-minded friends. Some might think it odd to call a person you've never laid eyes on a "friend", but I'll say that right from the minute Redartz pulled up at my house last Sunday morning there was a familiarity, a collegiality forged over the past three or four years that melted away any apprehensions that might have existed -- and that sense continued once we arrived at our point of final departure and met Martinex and Charlie Horse in person. Socially, the entire day was easy; it was rewarding, fun, mentally stimulating, and on and on. We've already discussed turning this into some form of tradition!

And now, Charlie Horse 47 shares a convention tale:


Charlie Horse 47: I was enjoying my time perusing the books at Basement Comics’ booth and spied a nice copy of Police Comics # 40 (Plastic Man w/ cover and stories by the genius Jack Cole) that was reasonably priced.  I asked the dealer if I could open the book and inspect it and he said, “Sure!”  Then he said, “Wait, that’s a ‘Chop Collection’ book. “ He then proceeded to explain… 

Cap, with an incredible shield

Chop was a young lad whose mother only allowed him to have “X” number of comic books.  She would count his comics to make sure he never had more than “X” and only the same “X.”  (The dealer thinks Mom did this to ensure Chop focused on studies or whatever kids did in the 1940s.)  Well Chop, being a clever lad, figured out a way to beat mom’s quota system.  He very carefully took the "X" comics apart, keeping the covers. He would then secretly acquire new comics, disassemble them, and re-staple their pages into the "X" covers.  (Yep – the dealer had to tell me that twice to ensure I understood what I heard.)

So, there was no telling what was actually inside… presumably some Plastic Man, perhaps from #40, and other stories from other comics.  

The dealer then told me how he had a Chop Collection copy of (Punch #12) that had a picture of a skull on the cover and he had sold it for $4,000 in Poor condition.  Though the cover looked great, the contents were uncertain, so he sold it as “Poor” condition.  (Presumably the innards weren’t from Action # 1 or Detective #27, lol.)

Chop did a great job “copy/pasting” 1940s style, LOL. 

 Martinex1: I couldn't agree more that it was just fun hanging out with "old" friends.  There is a great ability in the BitBA comments for participants' personalities  to shine through.  So it was good to finally meet some of the group, and put faces to the commentary.  We had plenty of time as the parking gods were not smiling on us and we probably spent an extra hour in transit as we toured the city looking for a spot.  Topics rapidly rattled off and included everything from job friendly college degrees to security screenings to nudist colony landmarks to the UK Dennis the Menace to the merits of swiping.  It was kind of like a month of BitBA crammed into a morning commute.

I enjoyed walking the floor and particularly looking at the original comic art.  While I didn't purchase any pieces, we did see some wonderful Perez Avengers covers, Kirby art from Kamandi and a page from Avengers #1, and a Colan Daredevil cover.  Seeing those in their original state was a highlight.

I picked up some random book.  For my sons I grabbed Sonic the Hedgehog, Little Archie, and a Jughead Digest and I am happy to report they dove into and plowed through them.  They seemed to get a kick out of the story in which it is revealed that Jughead's real name is Forsythe.

 

For myself, I picked up  few floppies including an old Gold Key Mission Impossible and a Charlton Judo Master.  I enjoyed watching Dan Parent sketch and ink the Jughead images for the guys  And I arranged for a commission from Jeffrey Moy to reimagine the cover from Legionnaires #61 to be delivered later.  The best cosplay costumes I saw included the Black Panther, Mr. Freeze, and a gang of Disney characters.

All in all a great day.  I am glad we got together...but I have to say I don't know how people attend for three days straight.  That has to be tiring.

Redartz:  I started the day with an early drive, but that was quickly forgotten upon the warm welcome Doug offered! It was a treat to see his 'stash' in person. And another treat was soon to follow, when we met up with Martinex1 and Charlie Horse 47 (and the fine breakfast Marti had prepared for us all). Indeed, the highlight of the day for me was, really, all day long- enjoying the company of these fine gents. The conversation was rich, wide ranging and entertaining; and full of comic lore. As Doug noted, the camaraderie was instantaneous. Anyone would have thought it was a meeting of four old school chums. And it may as well have been; it seemed as though I'd known them all for years. The witty, friendly voices behind years of posts and  comments were the same I'd known, the only difference was that now there were smiling faces and audible laughter to go along with them!

These two stepped right off the CW...

As for the show: it was pretty big, bigger than most conventions I've attended, and it was a bit disorienting (or was that simply the years?). Nevertheless, there was loads to see. Cosplayers were all around, many with remarkably made costumes. Artist's alley was full; never got over to see Neal Adams but did get a Jughead sketch from Archie artist Dan Parent. Also got to meet Don Rosa, the great talent behind some excellent Disney Duck stories (and bought a very cool Will Eisner/ Spirit parody poster from him, as well). Then went down the row further, and met Erica Henderson (artist of, among other things, Unbeatable Squirrel Girl). She was kind enough to sign the book I purchased and added a small sketch. As I try to pick up some form of original artwork at each con I attend, this show was quite fruitful in that regard.

 Of course, I also picked up a few actual vintage comics- an old Justice League, the first issue of All-Star Squadron (have never read it, but it has had many recommendations). And I re-acquired Amazing Spider-Man 135- for the cover. Yes, the cover made me buy that book again. 



One cool thing I noticed: many families were wandering around the convention floor, and many couples, many folks of all shapes and sizes. Kids, teens, young adults, older folks- it seems everyone likes to hit a con these days. That gives  me a little bit of optimism for our hobby's future. So all in all, this was one fine day...

 

 

Show and Tell: Original Comic Art!

Redartz:  Welcome to the first edition of "Show and Tell", a place where we can all share stories AND images of our favorite hobby! For our initial presentation, we will look over some examples of original comic art . Original art is a fascinating area of specialization in the world of comics: it includes anything from the actual drawn page that was used to produce a comic, to personalized sketches and illustrations from a favored creator. And of course, one appeal to original art: each piece is unique. Hence the astronomical prices some pages bring at auction! 

And now, with no further delay,here are some artworks for your inspection and appraisal. Beginning with a few pieces from the collection of our esteemed co-host Martinex1:

Jack Kirby's Fourth World

Trio #3, p. 9

Martinex1:  (Left)  this page is by John Byrne from his run on Jack Kirby's Fourth World (DC). I liked the detail of this page - the horses, the classical period garb, and all of the details.  Sometimes Byrne can be a little leaner in the background details, but not here.   There is plenty to look at.

(Right)  John Byrne is more of a minimalist on his IDW series TRIO.  I like this page for different reasons.  It is a relatively simple layout, but it has a lot of Byrne's style in the machinery and the face of the character.   

Obviously I am a John Byrne fan, so below is another page from him; this time it is from his work on Justice League: Classified (Issue #54 to be exact). It is a great page in my opinion; the rubble and overall action with the monster is distracting at first, but if you look more closely at the bottom panel, all of the JLA headliners are lightly outlined and silhouetted. I really liked that.  None of these works were very expensive.   Byrne's material from the Uncanny X-Men, Fantastic Four, and other work from earlier in his career can have astronomical prices.   But you can still get some nice pages from much of his later work at a reasonable price.   He does some beautiful commissions as well.

Justice League Classified #54, p. 19

Redartz:  Here we have Colin Bray's submission: a page by Dan Jurgens, inks by Rick Burchett. 

Colin Bray:  It's not a sought after page. In purchasing, I just wanted to see what OA looks like in the hand. Interesting to see the two editorial corrections- both to address speech balloon issues.

Justice League Vol. 2, #64, p. 12

 Redartz:  And now, a few pieces from my wall, starting with a Betty and Veronica page by Dan Parent. I'm not sure what comic this page is actually from, but hey, it's an original. Some faint dialogue is visible in pencil...

Next we have the first piece of original artwork I ever acquired: a page of the Guardians of the Galaxy by penciller Al Milgrom and inks by Terry Austin. I love the 'space frog', and the distorted images of the Guardians.

Marvel Presents #6, p.3

 

(Left)  An ink drawing of the Earth 2 Batman, by Joe Staton. I had the pleasure of meeting him at a convention years ago, and he did this marker sketch while I watched. 
(Right)  A pencil sketch of the Thing, by Ron Wilson. Another convention sketch (I try to get some piece of art at every con I attend).

Finally, a sketch of the Hulk by Walt Simonson. Walt did this sketch for me as payment for a purchase from my dealer's table at a convention waaaay back in 1975. The lined notebook paper is yellowing, but it still hangs proudly on the wall...

Hope you enjoyed this little walk through the BitBA "gallery". Look for more opportunities to "Show and Tell" in the future!