Detective #65 (July 1942), art by Jack Kirby and Jerry Robinson

I mentioned in a previous post a review of the Jack Kirby Tribute Panel that Comic Book Resources has posted (written by Jim MacQuarrie).

At the very end of the article is found:

Jerry Robinson closed the panel by recalling his participation in one of the very few collaborations that Kirby did with anyone but Joe Simon. “The only time Jack collaborated with anyone but Simon on a cover was an issue of ‘Detective Comics’ when the Boy Commandos joined the book. The cover showed Batman and the Boy Commandos shaking hands. I drew Batman and Jack drew the Commandos.”

In Love #1 (September 1954), art by Jack Kirby and John Prentice

While of course Jerry is right about his contributions to the cover of Detective #65, he is not correct about being the only artist, other then Joe Simon, to collaborate on a cover with Jack Kirby. John Prentice, one of the usual suspects of the Simon and Kirby studio, also had that honor. Jack did the foreground couple while John did the two background figures.

Jerry greeting Joe Simon at the Big Apple Con of 2006

Jerry and Joe at New York ComicCon 2008

John Prentice was the last of the usual suspects (artists that worked frequently for the S&K studio for an extended period of time). John served in the Navy during the war, in fact he was at Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attached. Afterwards he went to the Art Institute of Pittsburgh for a short time. John arrived in New York in 1947 and the GCD shows him doing work for in Airboy Comics and Gang Buster. The first work he did for the Simon & Kirby studio was Young Love #4 (August 1949). Once John started with S&K he was a frequent artist for their productions. The work he initially did for S&K was pretty good, but John progressed fairly rapidly while until he achieved his mature style which really was exceptional.

Young Love #4 (August 1949).

Joe and Jack must have thought highly of John’s work because he was an important contributor to Bullseye #1. The Bullseye origin story was divided into three chapters (”The Boy”, “The Youth” and “The Man”). Jack did all of the first chapter and the splash pages for both of the other chapters, but Prentice penciled all the rest of the story for the last two chapters. Bullseye was part of the Mainline comics, Simon and Kirby’s attempt at self publishing. But while doing Mainline S&K continued producing comics for Prize (Black Magic and the romance titles) during that time. Presumably because of his work load, Jack stopped penciling for these Prize productions. Prentice seems to have taken up some of the work for the absent Kirby because his page output jumps from an average of about 12 pages a month to about 26 during the period from March to October, the last month for Mainline comics.

Bullseye #1, “Bullseye, The Youth” (August 1954).

Like Bill Draut and Mort Meskin, John seemed to worked in all of the genre from the S&K shop. Romance genre were the most frequent stories produced by the studio and Prentice’s style was well suited for them. John was probably the most realistic artist to work for S&K. His men tend to have small eyes and long faces. John’s women are attractive, but are not what I would call glamorous, perhaps sophisticated would be a better description. For some reason Prentice never signed any of his work for Simon and Kirby. Attribution of this work to John is based on work done for the Rip Kirby strip (see below).

Young Love #45, “I Like It Here” (May 1953).

Simon and Kirby’s timing in starting their own comic publishing company, Mainline, was unfortunate because that was the period when anti-comic sediment swept the country fueled by Dr. Wertham and a Senate Investigation Committee. Many publishers felt the effects, but it was probably worst for new companies like Mainline. Mainline’s last comics were dated April 1955. John Prentice’s last work for S&K’s Prize publications was Young Love #69 February 1956. However Joe Simon did some editorial work for Harvey during this difficult period, and Prentice work there on romances until February 1957 (Hi-School Romance #60). If the GCD can be trusted, John returned to work for DC, mostly on their version of the horror genre.

Young Love #58 (June 1954).

I would like to repeat a cover that I posted earlier, In Love #1. This is one of the few covers that Kirby shared pencil duties with an artist other then Simon. The foreground couple are clearly Jack’s, but the background men were done by John Prentice. Ignoring covers with unrelated inserts, there was only one other cover that Jack shared with another penciler other then Joe during the S&K years. If you don’t know which cover I am talking about, don’t worry I’ll post it shortly.

In Love #1 (September 1954)

On September 6, 1956 Alex Raymond, the artist for the syndication strip Rip Kirby, died. Two months later Prentice took over this popular newspaper comic strip. John would do Rip Kirby until he in turned passed away in 1985. I’ve always heard how much work was involved in producing a comic strip for syndication. But the GCD continues to list comic book work by Prentice from 1957 on into the early 70’s.

Rip Kirby (5/6/58).

Well now I’ve managed to give a brief review on each of the usual suspects. But work by Draut, Meskin and Prentice is so common in S&K productions I am sure to be blogging on them from time to time. Although the usual suspects did a lot of work for the studio, there were other artists who would work for Joe and Jack for shorter periods of time. Many of these artists were quite talented, some later on would achieve fame. I’ll post on some of the other artists some other time.

Last update: 8/31/2008

Codes:
    s:  = script
    l:  = layout
    p:  = pencils
    i:  = inks
  name  = signed
 <name> = signed with an alias
 {name} = signed as Simon & Kirby
 [name] = unsigned attribution

Black Magic (Prize)
     5    (v.1, n5)  June 1951    7p "Justice For The Dead"
     7    (v.2, n1)  Oct  1951    4p "Old Tom's Window"
     8    (v.2, n2)  Dec  1951    8p "The Curse Of The Crystal Ball"
     9    (v.2, n3)  Feb  1952    3p "The Crusaders In No Man's Land"
     10   (v.2, n4)  Mar  1952    3p "Coffin For Your Wedding Day"
     11   (v.2, n5)  Apr  1952    7p "The Thirteenth Floor"
     20   (v.3, n2)  Jan  1953    5p "Crash Report"
     22   (v.3, n4)  Mar  1953    4p "Horrible Herman"

Black Magic (DC)
   r 6    (v.1, n6)  Nov  1974    7p "The Thirteenth Floor"

Bulls-Eye (Mainline)
     1    Aug  1954    8p "Bulls-Eye, The Boy"
     1    Aug  1954    6p "Bulls-Eye, The Youth"
     1    Aug  1954    8p "Bulls-Eye, The Man"
     2    Oct  1954    9p "Trial By Fire"
     2    Oct  1954    8p "Union Jack"

First Love Illustrated (Harvey)
     34   Nov  1953    5p "Bad Girl"
     41   June 1954    5p "One More Time"
     42   July 1954    5p "Loveless"
     43   Aug  1954    5p "Resort Romeo"
     67   Aug  1956    5p "Orphan Girl"
     69   Oct  1956    5p "Bedeviled"
     70   Nov  1956       [contents]
     70   Nov  1956    5p "Paid In Full"
     71   Dec  1956    5p "For Love Or Money"
     72   Jan  1957    5p "Love Not Wanted"
     74   Mar  1957    5p "Cursed"
     75   Apr  1957    5p "Heart Of Stone"

First Romance Magazine (Harvey)
     42   Oct  1956    5p "Take Me Away"
     43   Dec  1956    5p "Crisis"

Foxhole (Mainline)
     1    Oct  1954    5p "Eight Ball Hero"

Headline (Prize)
     63   (v.9, n3)  Jan  1954    8p "The Slave Peddlers"

Hi-School Romance (Harvey)
     47   Jan  1956    5p "Unhappy"
     48   Feb  1956    5p "Nocturne"
     57   Nov  1956    5p "Love Me Tonight"
     59   Jan  1957    5p "One More Time"
   r 60   Feb  1957    5p "Resort Romeo"

In Love (Mainline)
     1    Sept 1954       [cover]

Love Problems and Advice (Harvey)
     25   Jan  1954    5p "Nocturne"
     42   Nov  1956       [contents]
     42   Nov  1956    5p "Farm Girl In Town"
     45   May  1957    5p "The End of Love"

Police Trap (Mainline)
     1    Sept 1954    5p "Beer Party"
     2    Nov  1954    3p "The Hoodlum"
     2    Nov  1954    3p "The Grouch"

True Bride-To-Be Romances (Harvey)
     16   Feb  1956    5p "Anniversary Present"
     19   Aug  1956    5p "No More Tomorrows"
     20   Oct  1956    5p "Homecoming"

Young Brides (Prize)
     2    (v.1, n2)  Nov  1952    7p "Give And Take"
     4    (v.1, n4)  Mar  1953    8p "Stop At Nothing"
     5    (v.1, n5)  May  1953    5p "Stepchild"
     5    (v.1, n5)  May  1953    4p "Too Young To Be Married"
     8    (v.2, n2)  Oct  1953    6p "Little Helpmate"
     9    (v.2, n3)  Nov  1953    6p "Love Thief"
     10   (v.2, n4)  Dec  1953    6p "My Mistake, Lady"
     12   (v.2, n6)  Feb  1954    6p "Nightmare Honeymoon"
     13   (v.2, n7)  Mar  1954    4p "The Other Woman"
     13   (v.2, n7)  Mar  1954    6p "Revenge With Kisses"
     14   (v.2, n8)  Apr  1954       [cover]
     14   (v.2, n8)  Apr  1954    6p "Half A Wife"
     14   (v.2, n8)  Apr  1954    7p "Take Me As I Am"
     14   (v.2, n8)  Apr  1954    6p "Crazy Streak"
     15   (v.2, n9)  May  1954       [cover]
     15   (v.2, n9)  May  1954    6p "Dancing Doll"
     15   (v.2, n9)  May  1954    6p "Lavender And Old Lies"
     16   (v.2, n10) June 1954    6p "How To Marry The Boss"
     16   (v.2, n10) June 1954    7p "Born Bad"
     17   (v.2, n11) July 1954       [cover]
     17   (v.2, n11) July 1954    6p "Thrill Wedding"
     18   (v.2, n12) Sept 1954    6p "Sister Of The Bride"
     19   (v.3, n1)  Nov  1954    6p "Taste For Thrills"
     20   (v.3, n2)  Jan  1955    5p "My Heart's Torment"
     21   (v.3, n3)  Mar  1955    7p "Bad Impression"
     22   (v.3, n4)  May  1955    6p "Trail's End"

Young Love (Prize)
     20   (v.3, n2)  Apr  1951    8p "Big Bertha"
     22   (v.3, n4)  June 1951    8p "Cry Baby"
     23   (v.3, n5)  July 1951    8p "Cradle Robber"
     24   (v.3, n6)  Aug  1951    8p "Don't Tell On Me"
     27   (v.3, n9)  Nov  1951    7p "Save Me, Lose Me"
     29   (v.3, n11) Jan  1952    8p "Dumb Blonde"
     30   (v.3, n12) Feb  1952    9p "Learn To Love"
     31   (v.4, n1)  Mar  1952    8p "House Of Your Dreams"
     34   (v.4, n4)  June 1952    9p "Left-Over Love"
     35   (v.4, n5)  July 1952    8p "The Lonely"
     37   (v.4, n7)  Sept 1952    7p "Tell Your Fortune"
     38   (v.4, n8)  Oct  1952    7p "Jay's Protege"
     40   (v.4, n10) Dec  1952    7p "In Hot Water"
     41   (v.4, n11) Jan  1953    5p "Part Time Charmer"
     43   (v.5, n1)  Mar  1953    7p "Girl Friday"
     45   (v.5, n3)  May  1953    6p "I Like It Here"
     47   (v.5, n5)  July 1953    6p "The Web We Weave"
     48   (v.5, n6)  Aug  1953    4p "How Can You Pretend About Love"
     49   (v.5, n7)  Sept 1953    6p "Ghost Of His First Love"
     50   (v.5, n8)  Oct  1953    6p "Miss Puritan"
     51   (v.5, n9)  Nov  1953    7p "Speed"
     53   (v.5, n11) Jan  1954    6p "Sweet Talking Man"
     54   (v.5, n12) Feb  1954    6p "I'll Make You Pay"
     55   (v.6, n1)  Mar  1954       [cover]
     55   (v.6, n1)  Mar  1954    6p "Bad Penny"
     56   (v.6, n2)  Apr  1954    6p "Stage Door Johnny"
     57   (v.6, n3)  May  1954       [cover]
     57   (v.6, n3)  May  1954    6p "A Happy Ending"
     57   (v.6, n3)  May  1954    4p "Hurry Up Marriage"
     58   (v.6, n4)  June 1954       [cover]
     58   (v.6, n4)  June 1954    6p "Perfect Lady"
     59   (v.6, n5)  July 1954       [cover]
     59   (v.6, n5)  July 1954    6p "Neglected Wife"
     60   (v.6, n6)  Aug  1954       [cover]
     60   (v.6, n6)  Aug  1954    6p "I'll Tell On You"
     62   (v.6, n8)  Oct  1954       [cover]
     66   (v.6, n12) Aug  1955    6p "Till The End Of Time"
     68   (v.7, n2)  Dec  1955    7p "The Language Of Love"

Young Romance (Prize)
     33   (v.4, n9)  May  1951    9p "Charity Case"
     35   (v.4, n11) July 1951    9p "The Man I Married"
     37   (v.5, n1)  Sept 1951    9p "The Last Stages Of Love"
     38   (v.5, n2)  Oct  1951    8p "One Tragic Mistake"
     39   (v.5, n3)  Nov  1951    8p "Destination Love"
     40   (v.5, n4)  Dec  1951    8p "Marriage On A Shoestring"
     44   (v.5, n8)  Apr  1952   10p "Hired Girl"
     45   (v.5, n9)  May  1952    8p "Let's Call It Off"
     47   (v.5, n11) July 1952    8p "Tenement Girl"
     48   (v.5, n12) Aug  1952    7p "Martha Was A Lady"
     49   (v.6, n1)  Sept 1952    8p "Witch Girl"
     51   (v.6, n3)  Nov  1952    8p "Cheap Kisses"
     52   (v.6, n4)  Dec  1952    7p "Secretly Married"
     54   (v.6, n6)  Feb  1953    8p "Snowed In"
     55   (v.6, n7)  Mar  1953    8p "Tell It To The Judge"
     56   (v.6, n8)  Apr  1953    8p "Fight For Your Love"
     60   (v.6, n12) Aug  1953    4p "Have Faith In Me"
     61   (v.7, n1)  Sept 1953    6p "Tried And Untrue"
     62   (v.7, n2)  Oct  1953    6p "Worlds Apart"
     63   (v.7, n3)  Nov  1953    6p "Mock Marriage"
     64   (v.7, n4)  Dec  1953    6p "Unkissed Bride"
     64   (v.7, n4)  Dec  1953    6p "The Doctor Is In Love"
     65   (v.7, n5)  Jan  1954    6p "It's A Girl"
     66   (v.7, n6)  Feb  1954    6p "I Want You For Christmas"
     67   (v.7, n7)  Mar  1954       [cover]
     67   (v.7, n7)  Mar  1954    6p "Little Troublemaker"
     67   (v.7, n7)  Mar  1954    6p "Love Thy Neighbor"
     68   (v.7, n8)  Apr  1954       [cover]
     68   (v.7, n8)  Apr  1954    6p "High Class Trash"
     69   (v.7, n9)  May  1954       [cover]
     69   (v.7, n9)  May  1954    6p "A Man For Mother"
     71   (v.7, n11) July 1954       [cover]
     71   (v.7, n11) July 1954    6p "Beauty Loves The Beast"
     72   (v.7, n12) Aug  1954    6p "Home Town Scandal"
     72   (v.7, n12) Aug  1954    6p "The Irresistible Bum"
     73   (v.8, n1)  Sept 1954       [cover]
     73   (v.8, n1)  Sept 1954    6p "Girl From The Old Country"
     74   (v.8, n2)  Nov  1954       [cover]
     77   (v.8, n5)  June 1955    7p "My Husband's Keeper"
     79   (v.8, n7)  Oct  1955    6p "A Vision Of Beauty"