Category Archives: Assorted

Featured Cover, Treasure #10

Posted on November 15, 2006 by Harry

Treasure Comics #10
Treasure Comics #10 (December 1946) by Jack Kirby

I come across lists all the time; the top 100 artists, the 100 most important comic books, and so on. All listed in a nicely hierarchy with one selected as the best. I do not know how people are able to make such lists. What criteria does one use to rank one artist as #100 and another as #101 (and so be excluded from the list)? Even the selection of the best can be wroth with difficulties. Should the best comic book artist be based on who did the best work or who had the most influence on the comic books of today? It should come as no surprise who I think is the artist that did the best comic book art. Subtle hint, look at the title of this blog. However if it is influence that counts then I might wonder if Will Eisner may be more appropriate. While not denying Jack Kirby’s tremendous influence on pretty much the entire history of comics, Eisner’s graphic novels launched a whole new genre, one that has even made it into the N.Y. Times Book Review.

But even if I try to adopt a subjective viewpoint I do not find myself in an easier position. My favorite painting varies from day to day. My response to a piece of art depends as much as my mood as with the work of art. But ask me what my favorite Simon and Kirby cover is and most days I would say Treasure #10. This is a rather oddball cover for S&K. Treasure #10 comes not long after the failure of Stuntman and Boy Explorers. The publisher was Prize, Joe and Jack had done some work for them early in their career (Prize Comics #7, 8 and 9; December 1940 to February 1941). In March 1947 Simon and Kirby would launch for Prize the crime genre version of Headline Comics. Treasure #10 was used to introduce the new version of Headline. It includes a crime story (“Tomorrow’s Murder”), the earliest Simon and Kirby crime genre piece. There is an advertisement at the end of the story announcing the “bigger and better” Headline. It includes a copy for the cover for Headline #23. Both the ad and the illustrated comic indicate a January-February cover date. Headline #23 was actually cover dated March-April. Further the cover illustrated in the ad was really used for Headline #24.

Treasure Comics appeared to once have an Arabian Knight feature, it is listed on the cover for Treasure #7. However there is no such feature, or anything like the cover, in TC #10. The GCD shows Treasure #6 and #7 covers (April and June) with an Arabian theme signed by H. C. Kiefer. I am not familiar with Kiefer’s work and it would be easy to dismiss him as a inferior artist compared to Jack Kirby. But such comparisons are really unfair and uninformative. The cover for TC #7 may be a bit crude and the demons looking more goofy then threatening. But TC #6 is a rather nice cover with lots of action and a good composition. Both TC #6 and #7 covers show shields with similarities with that used by Jack for TC #10. Further TC #7 adds an unusual point to the turban, a trait shared with TC #10. This suggests that Kirby used Kiefer’s covers as a jumping off point.

What a cover Jack provides! An Arabian Knight seeks to escape with a beautiful princess. Well perhaps she may not really be a princess, but her exotic diadem suggest she is more then just a beautiful woman. The pair are faced with a swarm of adversaries intent on preventing their escape. Not your usual adversaries but a group of yellow bodied, red tailed monkeys. Not what you normally would think of as much of a challenge to our hero. But these monkeys are armed with exotic weapons and quite energetic in their attack. These are scary monkeys indeed. But not your normal scary monkeys, these wear exotic clothing and rather weird hats (how do those hats stay on?). Judging from the sculpted banister I would suspect there is a whole population of these monkeys that our desperate pair must somehow evade.

Take a look at the monkey with the knife in the center of the picture, look carefully at his feet. The big toe is on the outside of the foot contrary to what is found in either monkeys or men. I used to think that this was done by Kirby on purpose to give them an even more exotic look. But during restoring the cover I noticed that the toe is on the correct side of the foot for the two monkeys on the left. So now I guess it is just another of those errors that Kirby is so famous for.

Win A Prize #1
Win A Prize #1 (February 1955)

Simon and Kirby did not do many of this sort of swashbuckler covers. Win A Prize #1 comes to mind as one other. (I wrote about the Win A Prize comic before during my serial post on The End of Simon and Kirby). But Jack was a master of action art and seemed to create such covers almost effortlessly.

Posted in 2006/11, 5 Studio, 6 Mainline, Assorted, Featured Work, Prize, Topic, z Archive | Leave a comment

A Criminal Swipe

Posted on September 15, 2006 by Harry

Headline #56
Headline #56 (November 1952) by Marvin Stein (signed)

In 1952 Marvin Stein provided a cover for Headline. I have not said much about Stein yet in this blog. For now let me say that a 1949 photograph from the Jack Kirby Collector #25 shows him in the S&K studio. Marvin’s work also shows up in some of the studio productions from around that time and it has been reported that he did inking work for S&K. It has also been said that he was a great admirer of Jack Kirby.

Initially the crime comics Headline and Justice Traps the Guilty were Simon and Kirby productions and they are listed as editors. Kirby drawn stories were frequent in these comics. All drawn covers (as opposed to the photographic covers) were done by Jack. Early in 1951 this changed. Nevin Fiddler was listed as the editor and Kirby no longer supply work for these crime titles. Marvin Stein now becomes a conspicuous artist for the crime titles. In fact Marvin draws just about all the covers and provides stories for most issues. A photo of the S&K studio of about 1951 or 1952 does not show Meskin. I conclude from all of this that S&K no longer produced the crime titles and that Marvin Stein was mostly providing work for the new editor, Nevin Fiddler.

The Headline #56 covers is signed by Marvin Stein and is in his style so there can be little question that he was the artist. The inking on the policeman whose back is turned to the viewer is reminiscent of S&K studio inking. But the rest of the cover’s inking is not particularly like that done by S&K shop. Nor does the composition seem very like covers produced by Simon and Kirby. The subject of the police using a one-way mirror to trap criminals is, as far as I know, pretty unique for crime comics of the time. The cover does not correspond to any of the interior stories.

Police Trap #6
Police Trap #6 (September 1955) by Jack Kirby

In late 1955 Charlton would publish the final issues of titles originally done by Mainline, Simon and Kirby’s own short lived publication company. One of them, Police Tray #6, appears to be a swipe from the Headline #56 cover by Stein. Police Trap #6 was one of Jack’s poorer efforts but he still seems responsible for the pencils. The inking has signs of S&K shop inking, particularly the abstract arc shadows. Hopefully by now most Kirby fans realize that Jack would swipe from time to time. His sources for the swipes were generally from photographs, paintings or illustrations. At this point in his career it was unusual for him to swipe from other comic book artists particularly from someone like Marvin Stein. Police Trap #6 only shares the unusually concept with Headline #56. The composition differs in important ways between the two, mostly due Jack’s policemen being given less of the cover and his criminals brought much more forward. Still it is surprising that Jack would the same unusual subject.

I see no reason to “defend Kirby’s honor”. Unlike some, I have no problems with swiping, as long as the swiper creates something with his own individual touch. It could be said that Jack has certainly done that with Police Trap #6. While not denying the possibility that this is another example of a Kirby swipe, I would like to offer another possible scenario. The covers published by Mainline seem much better then when the titles were done by Charlton. For whatever reasons S&K did not seem to put into the Charlton issues the same effort that they had previously done. If they were trying to do a rush job or cut corners it is very possible that they might turned to previously unused material. Perhaps the PT #6 cover might originally been made for Headline or Guilty but abandoned then because it was not quite good enough. It that is true then Marvin Stein could easily have seen it when he was working in the studio and used the idea a few years later. It would not be the only Stein swipe from Kirby. This is just a thought and I am not convinced one way or the other.

Posted in 2006/09, 5 Studio, 6 Mainline, Alternate Takes, Assorted, Periods, Prize, Topic, z Archive | Leave a comment

Joe Albistur, another forgotten comic book artist

Posted on June 7, 2006 by Harry

PT #1 The Beefer
Police Trap #1 (September 1954) “The Beefer” by Joe Albistur

I mentioned Joe Albistur briefly in Chapter 3 of my “End of Simon and Kirby” serial post. Joe is another of those forgotten comic book artists. Web searches have provided nothing in the way of real biographical information. To make matters worse, some have misread his signature and refer to him as Al Bistur. It is easy for me to resist the temptation to look down my nose at those who got his name wrong. Honest mistakes made in the study of comic book history deserve correction not criticism. Besides I have to include myself among those who have made that particular mistake.

I asked Joe Simon about Albistur. Although Simon said he felt he should remember the name, and even corrected my pronunciation, he could remember nothing about him. In a way this is not surprising. Simon worked with a lot of artists over the years and Albistur worked for the S&K studio for only a short period of time. But it was that critical time during the Mainline period. Albistur first appeared in Police Trap #1 (September 1954) and last showed in Young Romance (October 1955). During his stay with S&K Joe produced 21 stories; 6 for Police Trap, 1 for Win A Prize and 14 for the Prize romance titles (see checklist). His appearance in these particular comics, but none of the other Prize titles, is one of the reasons I am convinced that Simon and Kirby were still producing the Prize romance titles at the same time they were publishing their own comics under Mainline.

PT #4 All In A Day's Work
Police Trap #4 (March 1955) “All In A Day’s Work” by Joe Albistur

Joe Albistur shows up in S&K productions with a fully developed style, he must have worked in comics elsewhere before this. Joe does a good job in the mild type of crime genre that is supplied by Police Trap. Albistur illustrates the story well and seems comfortable with the action sequences. He excels in presenting a story in unusual situations; on the ledge of a building where a cop tries to talk someone out of suicide, or in burning building rescuing a baby. Kirby is said to have provided layouts for S&K freelancers, but the way Albistur does these stories I doubt it is true in his case.

WP #2 The Handsome Brute
Win A Prize #2 (April 1955) “The Handsome Brute” by Joe Albistur

In Win A Prize #2 Joe’s contribution is a science fiction piece. Here again Albistur shows his story telling ability. But it also shows his weakness. When it comes to the part the alien reveals himself, Joe does not seem to know how to visualize him and so casts the face in shadow. Somewhat of a letdown. Of course it may have been difficult working for Jack Kirby, who is a master at this sort of thing. Black Magic had already been cancelled and Win A Prize never went past the second issue, so we never get a chance to see Albistur try his hand at this sort of thing again.

YR #77 The Big Fish
Young Romance #77 (June 1955) “The Big Fish” by Joe Albistur

It was in the romance genre that Joe Albistur did most of his work for S&K, filling in for the absent Jack Kirby. Albistur seems an odd match for the romance comics. His women do not have the clear beauty of Bill Draut, nor the sophistication of John Prentice, nor are they stylized like Mort Meskin’s. I am lost for words on how to describe Joe’s women. The best I can do is say that they have a sort of roughness that gives them an earthy look. But we do not need to accept the quality standards of a teenage girl from the 50′s. I am not sure they would have liked Joe Albistur’s work that much, but I do. Joe used some interesting composition devices, like having a panel edge cut off much of the face of the leading woman. Albistur also had an eye for gestures, like the pin ball wizard stretching his fingers. Although Joe’s women may not have a typical comic book beauty, they are done in an easily recognized style. I have little interest in a style for style sake. But I do admire an artist who develops a unique style as a way of expressing his own personal voice. That is a quality that Joe Albistur shared with the best of the S&K artists.

When Jack Kirby returned to providing work for the Prize romances he would begin to do pretty much the entire comic. Therefore Joe Albistur disappears from the Prize romance titles. Unlike Bill Draut and John Prentice, he does not show up in the Harvey romances. I suspect his work was not a good match for the Harvey house style of those romances. I have not seen any of Albistur’s post S&K work, but he does come up a few times in a search of the internet. It appears he did work for Gilberton in 1961 working in the Classics Illustrated and the World Around Us titles. In 1973 and 1974 Joe shows up in the DC titles Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion and the House of Secrets.

Joe Albistur was not as flashy as some of the more popular artists, you know someone like Jack Kirby. But at least in the work he did for S&K, he was not a run of the mill artist either. Albistur had talent and his own unique voice. He may not have been a superstar but he does not deserve the anonymity that he has fallen into.

Posted in 2006/06, 6 Mainline, Albistur, Jo, Artists, Assorted, Periods, Prize, z Archive | 2 Comments

The End of Simon & Kirby, Chapter 3, Unlikely Port In The Storm

Posted on May 18, 2006 by Harry

Bullseye #5
Bullseye #5 (April 1955) by Jack Kirby. It and Foxhole #4 were the last Mainline comics.

Previously in the end of Simon and Kirby I discussed the rise of anti-comic book sentiments and the ill timed launched of S&K’s Mainline comics. A number of publishers seemed to be having problems, including Prize for which Simon and Kirby produced some titles. In the end Mailine failed with the last comics dated April 1955.

Win A Prize #1
Win A Prize #1 (February 1955) by Jack Kirby

Two months before the last Mainline comic, Joe and Jack launched a new title Win A Prize published by Charlton. Charlton was notorious for their low page rates. There can be a couple of explanations for this choice of publisher. One explanation is that part of the idea behind Win A Prize was the giving away of prizes. The cover announces “500 free prizes, anyone can win”, and Joe Simon insists that they really did give away prizes. For a small company like Mainline this could be a problem. Not only the cost of the merchandise but the logistics of sending the prizes to the winners. But Charlton had a vertical company structure, they did everything from producing the comics, printing them and doing the distribution. They probably were the ideal outfit to handle this sort of thing. Well except for the problem of being cheap.

The second explanation for making a deal with Charlton to publish Win A Prize is that Joe and Jack might have already known that Mainline was in trouble. With decrease profits from the comics they produced for Prize, S&K may not have had enough cash to finance the launch of another title. The Mainline comics were distributed by Leader News and that company may already have seem like a poor choice. Charlton may not have paid much, but Simon and Kirby may have been desperate at this point.

Win A Prize was unique for Simon and Kirby. They had produced anthologies before but they were always genre specific. They did crime, horror and romance, but Win A Prize with just a general anthology. That sort of thing was common during the war, but I suspect it was unusual in the mid 50′s. Here is a rundown of the stories to show the sort of mix it was.

Win A Prize #1
“The Emissary” by Jack Kirby (science fiction)
“The Tragic Clown” (drama)
“That Giveaway Guy” by Jack Kirby (humor)
“Telltale Heart” (horror, adaptation of story by Edgar Allan Poe)
“War Diary” (war)

WP #1 That Giveaway Guy
Win A Prize #1, “That Giveaway Guy” by Jack Kirby

Win A Prize #2
“Bullet Ballad” by Bill Draut (western)
“Sir Cashby Of Moneyvault” by Jack Kirby (humor)
“Torpedoed” (war)
“The Handsome Brute” by Joe Albistur (science fiction)
“The Bull” (sports)

WP #2 Bullet Ballad
Win A Prize #2, Uncle Giveaway by Jack Kirby and “Bullet Ballad” by Bill Draut

They are all relative short stories, the longest is 7 pages. We have seen Bill Draut before, but also included is Joe Albistur. Joe was a relatively recent artist to work for S&K, he first appeared in Police Trap #1 (September 1954). He also did a number of romance stories taking up some of the slack left by Kirby then absent from the Prize romances. All the Win A Prize stories are really nice and I promise to highlight some of them in the future. Although I rather like Win A Prize, it did not last long, ending with issue #2 in April 1955, the same month that Mainline ended. The “hook” really wasn’t the contents, it was the prizes. With all the logistical problems these prizes brought I am sure Charlton wanted to see really good sales really quick. When they failed to materialize, the title was cancelled.

In Love #5
In Love #5 (May 1955) by Jack Kirby

In May 1955, one month after the last Mainline comics, In Love #5 would be published by Charlton. Charlton would soon print the rest of the former Mainline titles; Bullseye, Police Trap and Foxhole. But these former Mainline comics would only last a couple of issue each, the last (Police Trap #6) is dated September. But their termination may not have just been due to poor sales. I think the these Charlton issues were made using material already completed or in progress when Mainline abruptly ended. It would be better for S&K that they get low payment for this artwork from Charlton, then get nothing at all. In September Charlton would change the title of “In Love” to “I Love You”. I Love You #7 has a (rather weak) Kirby cover but the contents do not look like they were produced by Simon and Kirby. I think Charlton was just reusing the volume number, a not uncommon technique to save postal registration fees. Charlton probably assembled the contents and Simon and Kirby only supplied the cover. I Love You turned out to have a run of 115 issues for Charlton ending in December 1976.

I Love You #7
I Love You #7 (July 1955) by Jack Kirby

At the same time as Charlton was publishing the remnants of the Mainline comics, they also started to publish Charlie Chan. This was a title that Simon and Kirby originally produced for Prize. Under Prize Charlie Chan lasted 5 issues with the last one dated February 1949. In the original series Jack Kirby penciled all the covers but did not do any of the contents. In the first Charlton issue we again find Jack providing the cover but none of the contents. But I don’t believe that this cover is just unused material from the Prize run. First the inking style is more like the late shop style then what was used during the Prize version of Charlie Chan. Second, originally the Charlie Chan covers were static with the “number one son” getting ready to spring into action. On the Charlton cover the son is in the middle of jumping from one motorcycle to another. This sort of emphasis on action is more in tune with later Simon and Kirby covers. And lastly #6 cover includes Burmingham Brown. This stereotype sidekick did not appear on the Prize covers or contents but would appear on the cover to Charlie Chan #7 and #9. Although Kirby did not do any other pencils for the Charlton Charlie Chan, Simon and Kirby did produce those comics. Issue #7 has the stamp that announces “another Simon and Kirby smash hit” that was used on the late Mainline titles. Joe Simon still has color proofs to all the Charlton covers. Charlie Chan is unique for Simon and Kirby’s work with Charlton in that it lasted a full 4 issues ending in March 1956. Regardless of whether they started with unused Prize artwork, clearly S&K also produced some new material for Charlton.

Charlie Chan #6
Charlie Chan #6 (June 1955) by Jack Kirby

Charlie Chan #9
Charlie Chan #9 (December 1955) by unknown artist

Chapter 2, Problems in the Industry

Chapter 4, A Friend Provides a Helping Hand

Posted in 2006/05, 6 Mainline, Assorted, In Love, Periods, Serial Posts, z Archive | 1 Comment

John Prentice, usual suspect #3

Posted on May 7, 2006 by Harry

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.

YL #4 Two Timer
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.

B #1 The Youth
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).

YL #45 I Like It Here
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
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
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.

Posted in 2006/05, 5 Studio, 6 Mainline, Artists, Assorted, In Love, Periods, Prentice, John, Prize, Prize, z Archive | 5 Comments