STARTLING L.B. COLE COVERS

Star Publications, Inc. was founded by artist L.B. Cole and attorney Gerhard Kramer in 1949 and lasted until 1954 after Fredric Wertham included a number of their titles in his book, "Seduction of the Innocent" which became instrumental during the United States Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency hearings held in April of that year.

The imprint specialized in crime, horror, romance and funny animal titles. Italian illustrator Bruno Premiani was the primary editor, with additional editing by Cole. Premiani would go on to co-create the Doom Patrol and Teen Titans for DC. Some of the artists that contributed work to Star were Frank Frazetta, Joe Kubert, Alvin Hollingsworth and Wallace Wood.

STARTLING TERROR TALES was published from 1952-1954. L.B. Cole drew the covers for the 13-issue run in varying styles. His most remarkable are the ones he created with bright, lurid covers and, along with the electrically-charged titling must have really made these jump off the stands.

THE HORRIBLE ENTITY

A lot of discussion about pre-Code horror comics focuses on EC (of course) and other publishers who had the talents of artists such as Lee Elias, Warren Kremer, Bob Powell, Bernard Baily and others illustrating outrageous covers and stories for them. But one artist seems to often elude those praised for their work: Jay Disbrow.

Disbrow concocted some of the most vile and hideous monsters in the pages of Star Comics' STARTLING TERROR TALES. This story appeared in their second time around with the title (Vol. 1, No. 10, August 1954) with a cover by L.B. Cole. 

In this story, a mysterious fluid morphs into something both terrifying and deadly. "Finally, it resolved itself into a horrible entity of titanic proportions, with rippling tentacles, and an extremely grotesque head protruding from its enormous mass"!

See more Jay Disbrow monstrosities HERE.

ARTIST PROFILE: L.B. COLE

Some of the most unique horror comic covers from the Pre-Code years are the result of the stylings  of the talented artist L.B. Cole. He was born Leonard "Lenny" Hildebrandt Cohen on August 28, 1918 in the Bronx, New York City. At the age of fifteen, his father changed the family name to the "less Jewish-sounding Cole, something done quite often during the time to both "Americanize" the name, as well as avoid any stigma about being Jewish.

Cole left school and went to work in his grandfather's cigar factory, where he cultivated an interest in commercial art. He landed a job at the company that manufactured his grandfather's cigar box labels and remained in the field of commercial art until 1940, when he began to paint adult paperback book covers for Phoenix Press for Harry Donenfield, future co-owner of DC Comics.

Paperback book covers by L.B. Cole [Source: Pulpartists.com].

In 1949, Cole founded Star Publications after buying the rights to the characters from Novelty Press' BLUE BOLT COMICS. Star remained in business until 1954, when the Comics Code Authority went into effect. Cole continued with his art into the 1990's until his death on December 5, 1995 at the age of 77.

Mainly a cover artist, Cole is known for creating some of the most imaginative and strangest cover images ever. Likely result of his background in commercial art, his covers are works of as much design as they are illustration. His choice of color was always highly-saturated hues, likely to draw more attention on the comic racks. Cole returned often to the theme of the Devil or devilish characters to suggest that malicious or evil intent was in store for readers.

L.B. Cole cover for 3-D Exotic Beauties (3-D Zone, 1990).

L.B. Cole undated art.

L.B. Cole undated art.

See more of L.B. Cole's work HERE.

SHOCKING MYSTERY CASES

One of the covers used in THE TRUTH ABOUT COMICS shown in the last post is SHOCKING MYSTERY CASES #58 (Star, April 1954). Overall, it's a typical crime comic of the day, promising "True Cases From Crime Files". However, the lead story diverges from the usual crime elements into the "horror-suspense" realm.

"No Harm Done . . . !" is a bizarre story by an unknown scriptwriter and artist that takes a cue from the crime/horror that EC was producing at the time and provides a twist ending -- but the explanation of what happens comes from way out in left field.

Cover art by L.B. Cole.