Category Archives: Prentice, John

Art of Romance, Chapter 17, The Assistant

Posted June 26, 2009 in 2009/06, 5 Studio, Art of Romance, Artists, Draut, Bill, Kirby, Jack, Meskin, Mort, Periods, Prentice, John, Prize, Serial Posts, Stein, Marvin, z Archive.

(November 1951 – January 1952: Young Romance #39 – #41, Young Love #27 – #29)

Number of Romance Titles 1947 – 1953 (the period covered in this chapter is shaded in blue)

There has not been much change in what the Simon and Kirby studio was producing which were two monthly romance titles and one bimonthly horror all for Prize Comics. I believe all three titles were doing well but I will leave off explaining what is behind my belief until Chapter 20 of The Art of Romance and Chapter 3 of The Little Shop of Horrors.

Mort Meskin was really going strong during the period covered in this chapter. Joe Simon described in “The Comic Book Makers” the difficulties Mort had when he first came to work for Simon and Kirby. I do not know if someone was still marking Meskin’s pages with scribbles to get Mort over his fear of the blank page or if Mort had worked past his problems. Either way Mort did 82 romance pages; much more then any other studio artists. The second place was once again Bill Draut. Bill was not famous for his speed and there is no particular reason to believe he was faster then the average comic book artist but even so he managed to do 59 pages during this period. Jack Kirby remained in third place but with 32 pages the gap between him and Draut had widened. Jack did all the lead stories for Young Romance but that was all he did; he did draw any backup stories for Young Romance and he did nothing at all for Young Love. Jack only did a single page more then John Prentice’s 31 pages. The remaining work was done by 2 other artists discussed below (16 pages by one and 2 by the other). Marvin Stein, Vic Donahue and Ross Andru were artists present in last chapter but they do not show up in the issues covered in this post.

Young Romance #41 (January 1952) “Dangerous Companion”, art by Jack Kirby

I have a particular fondness for Kirby’s romance splashes. They may not rate high with Kirby fans today but they should. Some are his finest creations and work well as stand alone art. Unfortunately there is only one outstanding splash during this period, the one for “Dangerous Companions”. There is nothing special about the scene Jack presents. It is little more then a couple getting a marriage license. When put into words like that it sounds quite boring. I can explain some of the reasons I find this work so engaging. The high viewing angle not only lets the reader see all that is going on but makes him feel his is part of the story, like he is standing behind the counter. Each part of the composition plays its part both visually and for telling the story. The lady is quite attractive and, at least as I am concern, is proof that Kirby did draw beautiful women. With her raised eyebrow she pauses before she signs the form and seems to want to ask us, a stranger, if she is doing the right thing. All these are good and valid reasons why this splash works so well but in the end they do not fully explain it. As so often with Kirby, or any great artist, there is some magical quality that cannot be put into words but cannot be denied.

Young Romance #39 (November 1951) “Marvin’s Pearl”, art by Mort Meskin

Mort Meskin drew a lot of great art for Simon and Kirby but I have a special fondness for “Marvin’s Pearl”. Much of the credit has to go to the unknown writer. It is a light hearted tale of a pearl found in a meal and the effect it has on the people involved. However it took the Meskin’s skill to transform the script into such a delightful graphic story. I particularly like Mort’s interpretation of Marvin. Is it possible to view the splash with Marvin literally dancing with joy without raising a smile? Frankly I cannot imagine any other artist doing a better job on this story then Meskin, not even Jack Kirby.

Young Romance #41 (January 1952) “Kill Her with Kindness”, art by Mort Meskin

I often wonder if the teenage female readers of the Young Romance really appreciated such things as the splash for “Kill Her with Kindness”. They might not have enjoyed a scene of scantily clad women but I am certain Mort Meskin liked drawing it. Why else would Mort, who normally used half page splashes, devote an entire page to this beach scene? Even if the size of the splash was dictated by the script writer, Meskin certainly seems to have taken to it enthusiastically.

Young Romance #39 (November 1951) “The Wall between Us”, art by Bill Draut

Bill Draut does a confessional splash for “The Wall between Us”. Usually confessional splashes are reserved for the lead story but this is a backup story. There always is the possibility that it was originally meant to be the lead story but got switched after the art was completed. However Kirby is generally the lead story artist for Young Romance and this issue is no exception. I think Draut did a good job on the art work but there seems to be a disconnect between the image and text in the word balloon. Usually in a confessional splash they work very well together and those done by Bill are no exception. But what does washing dishes have to do with the “wall between” the couple? I wonder if the balloon text was a late, and not very successful, alteration?

Young Love #29 (January 1952) “Dumb Blonde”, art by John Prentice

John Prentice’s art is usually easy to spot. Most Simon and Kirby artists were influenced by Milton Caniff but Alex Raymond had the greatest impact on Prentice. John’s women have a more sophisticated beauty and his men a rugged sort of look and small eyes. Like most studio artist, John did his own inking which he did with a very assured hand. I have previously discussed his cloth folds are long and sweeping, and have different shapes they used by Joe or Jack. John’s brush work for hair was also distinct as can be seen in the above splash.

Young Love #29 (January 1952) “Dumb Blonde” page 8, art by Jack Kirby?

The first page of “Dumb Blonde” is typical John Prentice pencils and inks. However the rest of the story is not. Some pages look like Prentice’s inking but the brushwork seems more rushed. Other pages still look like John’s pencils but inked by another. The different look is particularly apparent on page 8 shown above. Compare the way the hair is inked on the last page with what Prentice did on the first. Further the women do not have sophisticated beauty nor the men the rugged looks typical for Prentice. But take a careful look at the man in panels 3 and 5, he looks like he was done by Jack Kirby. Yet the woman does not look like she was drawn by Jack in any of the panels. So what is going on here? The first explanation that comes to mind is that Prentice was working from Kirby layouts. However the story is graphically told in a manner so characteristic of Prentice and not in a Kirby manner at all that I think this explanation can be safely discounted.

The solution I offer is that in the last page of the story Kirby was inking over Prentice’s pencils. Some artists who ink there own work do rough pencils and do the detail work when inking. I have never seen any uninked pencils by Prentice so I cannot say if that was his working procedure. If it was then any artist inking such rough pencils would likely to impart much of their own drawing style to the finished inking; hence the Kirby look of the man in the two panels of the last page. Kirby inking another artist would be quite extraordinary. I believe that the Jack Kirby Checklist includes only three cases that were supposed to be Kirby inking another artist. When I was able to track down copies of these so called Kirby inking I was always disappointed; all of them were clearly not inked by Jack. If parts of “Dumb Blonde” were inked by Jack it would be the only case of Kirby inking another artist that I have found.

I am not sure that Kirby and Prentice were the only inkers involved either. I suspect “Dumb Blonde” was a rush job that had to meet some deadline. As such it probably got the inking treatment normally reserved for Kirby’s pencils where many of the studio artist pitched in to ink the work including Jack himself. Jack was a fantastic artist but he was a really poor ghost artist. He had trouble suppressing his own style and imitating another artist’s mannerisms. Years later Jack would try to imitate other artists in some index pages for Harvey romances. In fact one of the imitate artist was Prentice and Jack was no more successful then (Kirby Imitating John Prentice and Kirby Imitating John Prentice Again).

Young Love #28 (December 1951) “Love without Logic”, art by George Roussos

George Roussos started appearing in the romance titles in November. His appearance is not surprising but what is unusual is that it took so long for him to show up. Roussos had been appearing in Black Magic starting in February. Perhaps Joe and Jack thought that while George’s art was very suitable for horror stories it might not work so well for romance. In fact while Roussos was not particularly bad at romance art, he was not particular good at it either. Most of the romance work George did during the period covered in this chapter was for short pieces 1 to 4 pages long. He did do one regular length story called “Love without Logic”. Roussos obviously put some effort into as can be seen by all the fine crosshatching in the cityscape found in the splash. George was a frequent inker of Mort Meskin at DC during the war so it is not surprising to see Meskin’s influence on the art that Roussos did for Simon and Kirby. Not so much in the inking, although both artists had a penchant for including crosshatching done with a pen. It is the drawing that shows the influence but never to the extent that would make it difficult to distinguish the two artists. Meskin was clearly the master and Roussos the follower.

Young Love #28 (December 1951) “Love without Logic” page 2, art by George Roussos and Jack Kirby

The second page of the story is a particularly well executed moody piece full of nighttime shadows. The Meskin influence is well indicated by the woman in panel 5. As good as the piece is look at that first panel. See how the woman raises her eyebrow and her arches her body toward the man. We cannot see his face but his whole body language speaks his desire. But look at his hand. If you have not guessed it already this was the work of Jack Kirby. Compare the trunk of the fallen tree in the foreground with the tree in the last panel. There is no question, that fallen tree was inked by Jack. Further all the foliage is inked in a quick, robust but assured manner very different from the rest of the page. While it is not that unusual to find Kirby stepping in as an art editor and fixing some part of a story it is surprising that he worked on the entire panel. Perhaps Jack was unsatisfied with the entire panel and redid it all but I would like to offer another explanation. Perhaps Jack was using the first panel to instruct George how he wanted the rest of the page to be done. If so wouldn’t you have liked to be a fly on the wall to listen to that discussion? Actually the entire story could be based on Kirby layouts; I see nothing in the story to prove that but nothing to discount it either.

Young Romance #39 (November 1951) “Let’s Talk Fashion”, art by Jim Infantino

This chapter of The Art of Romance is one of the few that I have been able to confidently identify all the artists who provided word during this period. Actually that is now true of the last chapter as well but when I wrote that post there was a single one page feature that I failed to identify then. However I had forgotten about an artist who contributed very little to Simon and Kirby productions and not much more to other comics either, Jim Infantino. Besides the single piece form the period covered by the chapter 15 I can add two other single page features by Jim with only one of them signed. Perhaps more will be found in future chapters.

Frankly the main reason Jim Infantino is of interests is because of his brother Carmine. As can be seen in the example above while he is not an incompetent artist there is little reason to give great praise for him either. The art is technically well done both pencils and inking although a bit stiff. However since this is a fashion feature and not a story there really is no way to judge how good a graphical story teller Jim was. It is interesting that these short features used typed lettering. This is very unique for Simon and Kirby productions that at this time were, these exceptions, all lettered by Ben Oda.

In one respect I was inaccurate is saying Jim contributed little to Simon and Kirby comics. Jim worked for Joe and Jack as a studio assistant. As such he probably helped in many ways with S&K productions that cannot be recognized today. In particular he almost certainly was one of the artists used to do some of inking of Jack Kirby’s pencils; at least the more minor inking steps. We see Jim in one of the rare studio photographs taken.

Joe Genalo, Joe Simon, Jack Kirby, Mort Meskin, Jim Infantino and Ben Oda. The caricatures of Marvin Stein and Jim Infantino were probably by Joe Simon.

Chapter 1, A New Genre (YR #1 – #4)
Chapter 2, Early Artists (YR #1 – #4)
Chapter 3, The Field No Longer Their’s Alone (YR #5 – #8)
Chapter 4, An Explosion of Romance (YR #9 – #12, YL #1 – #4)
Chapter 5, New Talent (YR #9 – 12, YL #1 – #4)
Chapter 6, Love on the Range (RWR #1 – #7, WL #1 – #6)
Chapter 7, More Love on the Range (RWR #1 – #7, WL #1 – #6)
Chapter 8, Kirby on the Range? (RWR #1 – #7, WL #1 – #6)
Chapter 9, More Romance (YR #13 – #16, YL #5 – #6)
Chapter 10, The Peak of the Love Glut (YR #17 – #20, YL #7 – #8)
Chapter 11, After the Glut (YR #21 – #23, YL #9 – #10)
Chapter 12, A Smaller Studio (YR #24 – #26, YL #12 – #14)
Chapter 13, Romance Bottoms Out (YR #27 – #29, YL #15 – #17)
Chapter 14, The Third Suspect (YR #30 – #32, YL #18 – #20)
Chapter 15, The Action of Romance (YR #33 – #35, YL #21 – #23)
Chapter 16, Someone Old and Someone New (YR #36 – #38, YL #24 – #26)
Chapter 17, The Assistant (YR #39 – #41, YL #27 – #29)
Chapter 18, Meskin Takes Over (YR #42 – #44, YL #30 – #32)
Chapter 19, More Artists (YR #45 – #47, YL #33 – #35)
Chapter 20, Romance Still Matters (YR #48 – #50, YL #36 – #38, YB #1)
Chapter 21, Roussos Messes Up (YR #51 – #53, YL #39 – #41, YB #2 – 3)
Chapter 22, He’s the Man (YR #54 – #56, YL #42 – #44, YB #4)
Chapter 23, New Ways of Doing Things (YR #57 – #59, YL #45 – #47, YB #5 – #6)
Chapter 24, A New Artist (YR #60 – #62, YL #48 – #50, YB #7 – #8)
Chapter 25, More New Faces (YR #63 – #65, YLe #51 – #53, YB #9 – #11)
Chapter 26, Goodbye Jack (YR #66 – #68, YL #54 – #56, YB #12 – #14)
Chapter 27, The Return of Mort (YR #69 – #71, YL #57 – #59, YB #15 – #17)
Chapter 28, A Glut of Artists (YR #72 – #74, YL #60 – #62, YB #18 & #19, IL #1 & #2)
Chapter 29, Trouble Begins (YR #75 – #77, YL #63 – #65, YB #20 – #22, IL #3 – #5)
Chapter 30, Transition (YR #78 – #80, YL #66 – #68, YBs #23 – #25, IL #6, ILY #7)
Chapter 30, Appendix (YB #23)
Chapter 31, Kirby, Kirby and More Kirby (YR #81 – #82, YL #69 – #70, YB #26 – #27)
Chapter 32, The Kirby Beat Goes On (YR #83 – #84, YL #71 – #72, YB #28 – #29)
Chapter 33, End of an Era (YR #85 – #87, YL #73, YB #30, AFL #1)
Chapter 34, A New Prize Title (YR #88 – #91, AFL #2 – #5, PL #1 – #2)
Chapter 35, Settling In ( YR #92 – #94, AFL #6 – #8, PL #3 – #5)
Appendix, J.O. Is Joe Orlando
Chapter 36, More Kirby (YR #95 – #97, AFL #9 – #11, PL #6 – #8)
Chapter 37, Some Surprises (YR #98 – #100, AFL #12 – #14, PL #9 – #11)
Chapter 38, All Things Must End (YR #101 – #103, AFL #15 – #17, PL #12 – #14)

Art of Romance, Chapter 16, Someone Old and Someone New

by Harry Mendryk

Posted June 19, 2009 in 2009/06, 5 Studio, Art of Romance, Artists, Donahue, Vic, Draut, Bill, Kirby, Jack, Meskin, Mort, Periods, Prentice, John, Prize, Serial Posts, Stein, Marvin, z Archive and tagged Andru, Bill, donahue, Draut, Jack, Joe, John, Kirby, marvin, meskin, Mort, Prentice, Ross, Simon, stein, vic

(August 1951 – October 1951: Young Romance #36 – #38, Young Love #24 – #26)

Number of Romance Titles 1947 – 1952 (the period covered in this chapter is shaded in blue)

Despite the fact that today many fans point to Boys’ Ranch as one of Simon and Kirby best efforts it was at the time a commercial failure. The last issue of Boys’ Ranch would have an August cover date. After that Joe and Jack would only be working on the two monthly romance titles and the bimonthly Black Magic all of them for Prize Comics. Young Romance entered its fourth year and I believe both romance titles were still selling very well.

Jack Kirby is legendary for the amount of work he could produce. While there were periods during the Simon and Kirby collaboration that support that legend there are other times that do not. In the previous chapter Meskin replaced Kirby as the most productive studio artist. During the period covered in this chapter Meskin has maintained the first place position but now Bill Draut has replaced Jack for the second place. For the romance titles Meskin produced 64, Draut 49, and Kirby 45 pages. Adding the work for Black Magic only increases the disparity (Meskin 78, Draut 67 and Kirby 60 pages). Mort Meskin was famous for his productivity but Bill Draut was not. The difference is all the more striking when it is considered that Meskin and Draut were doing all there own inking while Kirby was not.

Another indication of Jack’s decreased involvement in the art from this period is that Bill Draut did the lead story for Young Romance #36. While it was not unusual for the first story of Young Love to be done by artists other then Kirby, Young Romance was the flagship title and up to now Jack almost always provided the lead story. The single previous exception was for YR #12 (July 1949) and Draut was the feature artist on that occasion as well.

I cannot offer any explanation for Kirby’s decreased page production. If his time was occupied with trying to develop something new it did not come to fruition. But it must be remembered that Jack was a boss and his income depended on the how good sales were for the S&K titles not on how many pages of art he drew. His decreased output could be due to nothing more then attention to some personal issues.

Most of the rest of the romance work was done by two artists; John Prentice with 25 pages and Marvin Stein with 24 pages. Three other artists supplied single stories. Two of them will be discussed below and the third has not been identified but only provided a single page.

Young Romance #38 (October 1951) “Family Trouble”, art by Jack Kirby

While his page count has dropped the quality of Jack Kirby’s work had not suffered. He still drew great splashes and his stories were still unique compared to other studio artists (suggesting that Jack was rewriting the scripts while he was drawing them). This uniqueness was often the result of placing more action into the story, something that Kirby excelled at. But as I have pointed out before, Jack also excelled at comic book art that did not rely on action. His romance splash panels are often examples of this. The splash for “Family Trouble” uses the confessional format that is so typical of Kirby’s lead stories. The word balloon that introduces the story provides the plot of young lovers facing family disapproval but does not explain the basis of their problem other then age. Kirby presents the couple passing through a gate carrying their luggage presumable off to start their new life together. The sign on the entrance indicates they are leaving the servant’s quarters and therefore theirs is a romance that breaks the class boundary between the rich and their servants. The man seems calmed but resolved while the woman seems more resolute. At a glance this splash is nothing more the two standing figures but Jack embodies an entire story in it. Of course the viewer is expected to be enticed to read the story to get the full explanation.

Young Love #25 (September 1951) “My Old Flame”, art by Jack Kirby

Kirby’s splashes are almost always interesting but occasionally they are quite unique. Given Joe Simon’s long history of innovative designs I suspect he provided layouts for many of Jack’s covers and splashes but even if that is true it still took a genius like Kirby to make them work so well. Here while riding a train a man pauses from reading his book to reflect on a past relationship. Normally the splash would be expected to show a head shot or half figure of the former love object. Instead we are provided with just a close-up of a set of eyes seeming arising behind the man; a compositional device that is much more effective in capturing the man’s mood.

Young Romance #36 (August 1951) “Yesterday’s Romance”, art by Bill Draut

“Yesterday’s Romance” was the lead story for YR #36 that Bill did instead of Jack. It is an unusual story for any romance title because it main characters are all in their advanced years. Draut does a good job of capturing the offbeat nature of the story in his splash. The odd thing about this piece is that usually the lead story used the confessional format where the protagonist’s speech balloon tells what the story is about and provides the title. Bill has used that confessional splash before so he was aware of Simon and Kirby’s preference for using that splash format for the lead story.

Young Romance #36 (August 1951) “Married In Haste”, art by Bill Draut

While “Yesterday’s Romance” failed to make use of the confessional splash it appears in the same issue in “Married in Haste”. This suggests that “Married in Haste” was originally meant to be the lead story but its place was taken by “Yesterday’s Romance” after the art was completed. Bill does a good job with the confessional splash and as any good splash it succeeds in its roll as the story’s preview. It may not be fair but it is constructive to compare the splash for “Married in Haste” with Kirby’s “Family Trouble” (shown above). Both do well at having the splash background support the story needed although it is not clear how much of this was the result of the artist and how much came from the writer. I describe the comparison as unfair because Kirby is such a great artist the comparison will tend to make Draut’s work poorer then the excellent art it really is. But the comparison is useful because it highlights the nuanced emotions Kirby gives his characters compared to the more static ones that Draut provides. While Kirby is justly famous for the exciting action the work he did for romance pushed him to be equally adept at portraying more subtle emotions.

Young Love #24 (August 1951) “Native Wedding”, art by Mort Meskin

The splash for Meskin’s “Native Wedding” is reminiscent of the one Bruno Premiani did some time ago for YR #10 (June 1950, see chapter 11 of The Art of Romance). One obvious difference is that Meskin is uncharacteristic in his use of busy brushwork found throughout the splash. Normally this would result in the image loosing focus but somehow Mort pulls it off. Mort also takes care to make the camp fire scene occur at night providing the nearby faces shadowed from below as appropriate for the position of the fire. The dancer’s back is also appropriately shadowed.

Young Love #26 (October 1951) “Let’s Keep It Gay” page 5, art by Mort Meskin

For a couple of pages of “Let’s Keep It Gay” Meskin adopts and 2 rows by 3 columns panel layout. This results in tall narrow panels that Mort put to good use especially in the second panel of page 5. This panel layout was one that previously Leonard Starr was fond of using so one wonders if perhaps Meskin picked it up from him. Starr also used a 3 rows by 3 panel layout where he would decrease the height of two rows so that the remaining row would have similarly tall panels. Starr’s modified 3 by 3 panel layout did not seem to be one the Meskin picked up on.

I particularly like how the bottom row starts with the couple in the foreground and a TV studio as the background, then Mort comes in for a close-up without the studio background, before ending by once again pushing the couple into the background of the studio. Careful manipulation of point of view was an important aspect of Meskin’s art during this period providing his stories with what could be described as a cinematic approach.

Young Romance #38 (October 1951) “One Tragic Mistake”, art by John Prentice

John Prentice has become a regular presence in Simon and Kirby productions, especially the romance comics. In the last chapter I provided an example where Prentice seemed to be adopting some of the Studio Style inking techniques. Although it was possible it could have been Joe or Jack touching up John’s work the picket fence crosshatching (see my Inking Glossary for explanations of some of my inking terminology) my opinion was and still is that it was the work of John himself. For the splash page of “One Tragic Mistake” we find a more typical Prentice inking. Note in particular his method of doing cloth folds. They are not the spatulate or oval shape typical of Kirby but tend to be long with roughly parallel edges and with a more or less flat and sometimes slanted ends. John also has a fondness for long sweeping cloth folds. Note the inking of the man’s shoulder. At a glance this might be mistaken for a Studio Style shoulder blot but see how it appears on only one of the shoulders and is clearly integrated with the shadow on the side of the face. With Joe or Jack I am never sure if shoulder blots were meant to indicate shadows or the turn of the form but Prentice always seems quite clear with his intent.

Young Romance #38 (October 1951) “One Tragic Mistake” page 8, art by John Prentice

While the splash page to this story looks like typical Prentice inking other pages seem to be a combination of his own inking techniques and the Studio Style. Most of the cloth folds are done in Prentice’s typical brush work but note the abstract arch shadows (panels 1, 2 and 4), picket fence crosshatching (panels 3 and 4) and shoulder blot (panel 6). Only drop strings appear to be missing. Panel 6 truly has shoulder blots because they appear on both shoulders while a shadow would only be appropriate foe the man’s right side. While I am not certain that the picket fence crosshatching was not by John, the abstract arches are so untypical for Prentice that I believe this is Joe or Jack stepping to do some touching up.

Young Love #24 (August 1951) “Don’t Tell On Me” page 2, art by John Prentice

A page from another Prentice story from the same period provides a more typical example of Prentice inking. Again note the cloth folds some of which are long and sweeping and few could be called oval or spatulate in shape. There are some arching shadows that might suggest the Studio Style. But the round shape in the first panel is not abstract at all but is clearly meant to be the moon. The arc of the left side of the second panel is meant to be the entrance to an arched hallway. The shadow on the right side seems to be the light of the window falling on the darken exterior. Almost all applications of large areas of ink appear to be intended as realistic shadows. There is some picket fence crosshatching that again does not look typical of the brush work of either Kirby or Simon. However note the picket fence crosshatching of the last panel. The pure black area on the man’s left shoulder seems an appropriate shadow but then the picket fence crosshatching on the opposite side does not. Since I have found both Simon and Kirby touching up other artists works distinguishing between their efforts and that of the original artists adopting Studio Style techniques can be a difficult conundrum. In John Prentice’s case I am still undecided. The distinction becomes important when trying to detect Prentice’s hand in the inking of work by Jack Kirby. Some have suggested that John was the inker for some of Kirby’s art and he certainly is a candidate for that type of work.

Young Love #24 (August 1951) “Left At the Alter”, art by Marvin Stein

Previously I have had mixed feelings about Marvin Stein and in particular felt his romance art was little more then adequate. Even in the last chapter I noted his presence and gave an example image but did not provide more detailed examination. However Marvin had been working hard at improving his art and although signs of improvement have been noted before now his efforts really seems to bare fruit during this period. Marvin developed a style for his crime and western work that owed much to what he learned from Jack Kirby. For that more action oriented art Stein also developed an inking style that was blunt but well controlled; a style very suitable for the genre it was used on. Neither the pencil nor inking style would be very appropriate for romance work so instead Marvin used a more refined style for both. Not only was the bold inking brush restrained but Marvin sometimes used a pen to create crosshatching. His figure drawing has improved but he still retains one of his earlier trademark tendencies to give his woman eyes that are set at an angle with each other.

Young Love #25 (September 1951) “Alice Finds Her Wonderland”, art by Marvin Stein

The splash for “Alice Finds Her Wonderland” is so special I could not resist including it. The Alice in Wonderland cast was probable requested by the script writer although the wonderland that Alice desires in the story did not include these delightful characters. Having seen much of Marvin Steins work in the romance, crime, western and horror genres it is quite a pleasure to see him so successful at a more cartoon-like drawing.

Young Romance #36 (August 1951) “Just Good Friends”, art by Vic Donahue

Vic Donahue has not made an appearance in a Simon and Kirby production for almost a year (last seen in YL #13, September 1950, see Chapter 11 of The Art of Romance). Even then I remarked that his art had been improving. Apparently that improvement has progressed so far that I almost did not recognize him in “Just Good Friends”. Even though this piece is unsigned enough of Vic’s mannerisms remain to credit Vic with this story such as the tilt he often gives the heads of females or the way he occasionally reverts to fine pen work often as simple hatching. Vic also appeared in this same month in Black Magic #6 (Chapter 2 of the Little Shop of Horrors) in a signed piece but I have to admit I did not find that work particularly appealing.

Young Love #26 (October 1951) “Polly Wants a Boy Friend”, art by Ross Andru

I am always impressed by the number of talented comic book artists that had worked for Simon and Kirby at one time or another. Some like Bill Draut, Mort Meskin and John Prentice did extended stays. Others like Leonard Starr and John Severin worked for more limited durations but provided their share of work during that time. Yet others made brief appearances and only did a few pieces for instance Bernie Krigstein and Steve Ditko. Ross Andru belongs in the last category.

I must admit that I am not that knowledgeable about Ross Andru’s history. Most fans are probably familiar with him for the work he did many years later on Amazing Spider-Man. Andru was clearly an enterprising individual who formed his own company on three occasions. The earliest was in 1951 when he and Mike Esposito created MR Publications. I am not clear exactly what the nature of this company was. Some have said it was a comic publishing company in which case Andru and Esposito were three years ahead of Simon and Kirby’s Mainline (although Al Harvey was much earlier then them all). However I have been unable to determine what comic titles they published. If MR Publications was actually producing comic books for another publisher to release then Simon and Kirby had been doing that for years (and Will Eisner doing it still earlier). MR Publications was short lived and it would be interesting to determine the timing of that company or its demise and the appearance of Andru’s in Simon and Kirby productions.

“Polly Wants a Boy Friend” is typical romance work by Andru. The sort of wistful expression with tilted head of the woman in the center of the splash panel can be found in some signed pieces from a few years later. The man in the last panel of the page was also a dead giveaway of Andru’s style. Although unsigned I have not doubt about the correct attribution of this story. My database indicates Ross will appear in a couple more Simon and Kirby romances in the near future and again under different circumstances in 1954. Considering that Andru’s earlier pieces for Joe and Jack are unsigned there is also the possibility I will find more as my reviews progress.

Little Shop of Horrors, Chapter 2, Up and Running

by Harry Mendryk

Posted May 23, 2009 in 2009/05, 5 Studio, Donahue, Vic, Draut, Bill, Kirby, Jack, Meskin, Mort, Periods, Prentice, John, Prize, z Archive and tagged Bill, Black, donahue, Draut, george, Jack, Joe, John, Kirby, Magic, meskin, Mort, Prentice, roussos, Simon, vic

(April to August 1951, Black Magic #4 – #6)

Black Magic #4 to #6 were released during the same period as Boys’ Ranch #4 to #6 (for Harvey Comics). Both titles were bimonthlies which mean that the greatest amount of work produced by the Simon and Kirby studio was for Young Romance and Young Love both of which were monthlies. This is not at all unusual for while Simon and Kirby are most famous for their superheroes most of the work they did during their collaboration was for love comics.

The period discussed in this chapter roughly corresponds with chapter 15 of my serial post The Art of Romance.

While Jack Kirby did all the covers for Black Magic (as he would throughout the first run) in terms of the number of pages drawn he was not the primary artist for Black Magic like he was in the earlier issues. That honors now went to Mort Meskin who did 37 pages compared to Jack’s 17 pages. Even Bill Draut with 18 pages of art did more then Kirby. But even Bill was not the second most prolific artist in the issues covered; surprisingly that would go to the newcomer George Roussos who did 20 pages. Vic Donahue who has been absent from Simon and Kirby productions for some months does a single 5 page story. John Prentice is new to the studio and only provides a single 7 page story. Two stories remain without attributions but one of them is a single page feature.

Black Magic #4 (April 1951) “Voodoo on Tenth Avenue”, art by Jack Kirby

Kirby has scaled back on his splash for his only large piece for Black Magic. Still even with half a page Jack could get a lot of impact. It is amazing how Kirby has managed to make the woman both beautiful and evil; no haggard witch here is just a cold and angry heart. What a text book example of the use of abstract arch shadows (see my Inking Glossary). I count 6 of them in this small splash.

Black Magic #5 (June 1951) “The World of Spirits”, art by Jack Kirby

While Kirby’s other contribution to Black Magic #4 to #6 were very short pieces one of them, “The World of Spirits” is not to be neglected. It is a small masterpiece. It is one of those cases where Jack, so famous for his action, has managed to make exciting art out of nothing more then talking heads. Part of what makes a page like the one shown above so vital is how Kirby changes the expressions in every panel. Since the characters are all past their youth Jack can push his already exaggerated eyebrows to much advantage. The inking is also superb. I am not one to automatically attribute good inking jobs to Kirby but the way the spotting is done on the white shirt in the splash and the use of bold cloth folds make me believe that at least much of the spotting was done by Jack himself. A lot of the times these very short pieces just did not seem to get the same attention from the various studio artists as they gave to the more substantial stories. But not Kirby; some of his greatest masterpieces are short stories such as this one.

Black Magic #4 (April 1951) “The Dead Don’t Really Die”, art by Mort Meskin

I am afraid I am giving short shift to Mort Meskin by only including one example despite the fact that he produced far more work then any other artist. This certainly does not reflect on the quality of the work that Mort was producing; Meskin’s Black Magic work is among the best that he ever did. I admit that Mort did some great work for DC after leaving the Simon and Kirby studio but that unfortunately was done under the severely detrimental effects of Comic Code censoring.

I have selected this particular splash page because of its unusual design. Not that the half page splash is so visually different but the fact that the splash panel is actually the first story panel. Typically splash panels are used as the comic book equivalent of a movie trailer; they provide a sort of a synopsis of the story to entice the reader. I do not remember a story splash panel being used in any prior Simon and Kirby production. The use of this device in “The Dead Don’t Really Die” is still pretty much an isolated case but it would become very typical of Simon and Kirby romance comics in the future.

Black Magic #4 (April 1951) “The Jonah”, art by Bill Draut

Black Magic seems to have given Bill Draut the confidence to draw the type of characters that had all but disappeared from his romance work. You normally would not see something like the sailor with the white hat in Bill’s love stories at this time. The splash panel is also something not to be seen in a romance work. How seedy can you get? Beat up trash cans, littered bottles and yeah I am sure that man in the background is just asking directions from the woman. Note the building on our right; the way the bricks are roughly inked as solid black is a mannerism often used by Draut.

Black Magic #5 (June 1951) “Justice for the Dead”, art by John Prentice

I am not sure why but John Prentice did not seem to do as much work for Black Magic as compared to what he did for the romance titles. It certainly is not because he did a poor job on them; quite the contrary. “Justice for the Dead” is a typical Black Magic piece but with a crime slant that shows that John would have made a great crime comic book artist. He had previously worked for Hillman so perhaps he had done some drawing in that genre there. The GCD lists Prentice as also having worked in Gang Busters and Mr. District Attorney for DC but I have not yet verified that. Years later John would do some work for Simon and Kirby’s Police Trap and later yet take over the syndication detective strip Rip Kirby. My knowledge of John Prentice work outside of the Simon and Kirby studio is sadly incomplete but I am working on rectifying that defect.

Black Magic #5 (June 1951) “The Face from The Future”, art by George Roussos

BM #3 (February) marked the earliest appearance of pencils by George Roussos in a Simon and Kirby production. Despite having two stories in that BM #5 and one in the next issue, it is odd that Roussos has not yet appeared in either Young Romance or Young Love. Since George did a lot of inking and was well known to Joe and Jack there is the possibility that he has help with inking Kirby’s work prior to this but I have seen nothing that confirms that conjecture. That Simon and Kirby both knew Roussos is indicated by a sketches both did for him in 1942 (Joe did Hitler in a zoot suite (Poking Fun at Hitler) and Jack did the Boy Commands (A Belated Happy Birthday to Jack Kirby). George also knew Mort Meskin and had inked some of Mort’s work for DC (Early Mort Meskin).

As often happens in Simon and Kirby productions, George Roussos’ splash for “The Face from the Future” uses some inking technique that seemed borrowed from the Studio Style inking. In this case we find picket fence crosshatching (Inking Glossary) on the hooded figure and a rounded shadow in the upper right corner. However it is clearly Roussos doing the inking and not Joe or Jack touching it up. While there is classical picket fence crosshatching on the right ghostly figure it changes as it proceeds to the left and becomes an inking technique not found in the Studio Style. There the shadow is built with short strokes that initially look like the pickets from the picket fence crosshatching but without the rails. The rounded shadow in the upper corner has a ragged edge that again is not typical of the way it usually is done in the Studio Style.

Black Magic #6 (August 1951) “The Girl the Earth Ate Up”, art by George Roussos

George does such a great job on the splash for “The Girl the Earth Ate Up” I could not resist including it. Do not get me wrong Roussos pencils and inking are on the crude side but his use of blacks makes it really work.

Black Magic #6 (August 1951) “A Wolf That Hummed a Nursery Rhyme”, art by Vic Donahue

Vic Donahue has not been appearing in Simon and Kirby productions for a while and this is the only work that I have assigned to him for 1951. It is an odd story and it allows Vic to draw the type of characters that would not have been appropriate for romance work. Even so I just cannot get enthusiastic about Donahue’s effort. Vic was one of the lesser talents in the Simon and Kirby studio and now that all three of the usual suspects (Bill Draut, Mort Meskin and John Prentice) are present Donahue will rarely appear again if at all (my database has no more entries for him after this one).

Black Magic #5 (June 1951) “Follow Me”, art by unidentified artist

There is one Black Magic artist from this period that I have not been able to identify but he does a nice job on “Follow Me”. Good characterization, excellent inking and good graphic story telling.

The Little Shop of Horrors, Chapter 1 (#1 – 3), Expanding Their Fields

The Art of Romance, Chapter 15, The Action of Romance

by Harry Mendryk

Posted May 15, 2009 in 2009/05, 5 Studio, Art of Romance, Artists, Draut, Bill, Kirby, Jack, Meskin, Mort, Periods, Prentice, John, Prize, Serial Posts, Simon, Joe, Stein, Marvin, z Archive and tagged Bill, Draut, Jack, Joe, John, Kirby, marvin, meskin, Mort, Prentice, Simon, stein

(May 1951 – July 1951: Young Romance #33 – #35, Young Love #21 – #23)

Number of Romance Titles 1947 – 1952 (the period covered in this chapter is shaded in blue)

Besides the two romance titles, Simon and Kirby were also producing bimonthly Black Magic (for Prize) and Boys’ Ranch (for Harvey). At this point I believe it can safely be said that Joe and Jack had little to do with the Prize crime titles. While Mort Meskin and Marvin Stein would appear in Prize comics both produced by Simon and Kirby and those that were not, they were the only artists that seemed to do so. John Severin had been another artist that worked in both the romance and crime titles but at this point the only Prize title he was working on was Prize Comics Western (also not a Simon and Kirby production).

Young Romance switched back to drawn covers for May and June (Young Love had already been using art covers). Both titles would revert to photographic covers for their July issues and would remain using photo covers until 1954. I really do not know what to make of YL consistently and YR sporadically using art covers for a period of about a year.

In a certain respect Jack Kirby was the primary studio artist during this period as in fact he was during the entire time Joe and Jack produced comics together. Except for a period in 1954 and My Date #4, Jack would provide the art for the cover of all Simon and Kirby productions that did not use a photograph. During this period Kirby would also do the lead story for all the issues of Young Romance and one for Young Love (YL #21). But if the total number of pages of art produced is used to judge who was the primary artist then Mort Meskin wins out be a large margin. For these six romance issue Jack did a total of 51 pages of art while Mort did 80. The difference is all the more striking with the knowledge that Meskin did all his own inking while Kirby did not. I will say that I feel that Meskin’s art sometimes suffers from his higher rate at producing art while Kirby always seems to provide high quality work no matter how many pages he drew. It also pays to compare Jack’s 51 pages with Bill Draut’s 36 and John Prentice’s 34 or 37 pages (the uncertainty about Prentice page count is due to the short feature “Will You Help Me?” from YL #21 which I will discuss below). Jack was still working at a high rate; it is just that Mort was even more exceptional. Marvin Stein is another contributor during this period with only 3 stories and 23 pages. There are 3 very short pieces (a total of 7 pages) that I have not been able provide artistic credits for.

Young Romance #34 (June 1951) “Old Fashioned Girl”, art by Jack Kirby

Perhaps others do not share my view, but I find Kirby’s confessional splashes powerful drawings despite their lack of action. While Kirby is generally (and quite reasonably) famous for his dynamic drawing it was a mark of his genius that he could be so effectively in such static compositions. Much of this has to do with Jack’s careful use of characterization. I have said it before but it is worth repeating, I do not agree with those who claim that Kirby did not draw beautiful women. It is true the protagonist in the splash for “Old Fashioned Girl” does not have the type of attractiveness that would be found in a beauty pageant contestant. But her frail like form has its own beauty and most importantly is totally appropriate for her antique dress style. The thing is Kirby did not draw the same women over and over but created unique individuals that were well matched to the theme of the story. The woman’s downcast eyes and the demur way she holds her hands augment the characterization. The old woman looking on and all the antique surroundings complete the picture. If all that was not enough, Jack has added a small panel that is not a story panel but another means of showing the conflict between the lady’s old fashioned ways and what was then modern society.

I feel that Jack Kirby’s romance splashes are much more interesting then the covers. I present the line art for the cover of YR #34 which is based on the “Old Fashioned Girl” story in a post above (My Two Cents). The reader can compare the two and reach their own conclusion.

Young Romance #35 (July 1951) “Temptations of a Car Hop”, art by Jack Kirby

The splash for “Temptations of a Car Hop” provides a nice contrast to the one in “Old Fashioned Girl”. The protagonist was certainly meant to represent a thoroughly modern woman, or at least what would have been modern in 1951. However 58 years later and the car-hop has disappeared a casualty of the fast food drive through. I do remember them from my younger days but none that I ever visited had such and attractive waitress wearing such a short dress.

Young Love #21 (May 1951) “All Work and No Love”, pencils by Jack Kirby inks by Marvin Stein

With all the work I am doing for Titan’s Simon and Kirby library, I have not had time to devote to investigating the various inkers of Jack Kirby’s work. Still from time to time I come across a piece that just screams a particular inker. Such is the case with “All Work and No Love”. In the splash the simplicity of the woman’s eyes and eyebrows and the slight angle they have in relation to one another leaves little doubt that Marvin Stein was involved in the inking. The same sort of eyes appears elsewhere in the story as well. Also there are some cases where the eyebrow is extended into a crease of the forehead which is a trait often found in Stein’s own art. I should point out that inking of Kirby pencils in the Simon and Kirby studio was like an assembly line with various artists taking care of different chores. So when I say Marvin Stein inked this story I am saying no more then he was the one inker of this work that I have been able to identify but there are others that I have not. In this case Marvin seems to have done the outline inking, the first step in the inking process. Note however how the spotting uses the picket fence crosshatching, drop strings and shoulder blots that are characteristics of the Studio Style inking (see my Inking Glossary for explanations of the inking terminology that I use). Stein’s inking of his own work does not use such techniques. Further Stein’s own inking was a bit rough and lacked control. It would improve greatly in future years but at this point I cannot believe he could have been the artist that did the spotting.

Young Romance #33 (May 1951) “Take a Letter, Darling” page 6, art by Mort Meskin

While I have frequently remarked how action is more often found in the romance stories Jack Kirby draws I do not want to leave the impression that action played no part in stories drawn by other studio artists. So I thought I would provide some examples. First up is a page by Mort Meskin. Meskin has his own unique and very stylized version of a slugging as can be seen in the second panel. Note in particular how the angular position of the victim’s head and how his legs are folded up beneath him. I say it is stylized both because Mort uses it over and over again and because it appears nothing like how a photograph a fight would look. I am not using the term stylized in a negative manner because I believe a comic artist job is to tell a story, not to try to produce a sequence of photorealistic images. With his technique Meskin has condensed several instants of time into one image (the victims head responding to being struck by the fist is the first instant, with the torso soon following and finally the loss of control of the legs as the effect of the knock out is completed).

Young Romance #33 (May 1951) “Not in the Act” page 8, art by Bill Draut

The second example of a fight comes from Bill Draut’s “Not in the Act”. Draut uses an interesting compositional device of presenting the fighters in depth. I am not sure where Bill got this idea but it is pretty effective. I do not believe I have seen Draut use it before so it is not as an important part of his repertoire as Meskin’s or Kirby’s more stylized slugging.

Young Love #23 (July 1951) “Cradle Robber”, art by John Prentice

The splash for “Cradle Robber” provides an example of a fight as portrayed by the more recently arrived studio artist. Actually calling it a fight is not quite correct as Prentice has chosen to present the moment just before the punch is thrown. The other thing about this splash is that it is actually a teaser as there would be no fight seen in the story. It is however the closest example of a fight that I could find by John Prentice in the period covered by this chapter.

Young Romance #35 (July 1951) “The Catskill Man-Chasers” page 8, art by Mort Meskin

Mort Meskin is famous for his use of blacks but that does not always show up in his romance art. That may in part be a result of his high rate of art production. But it may also be because for Meskin telling the story properly had become a higher priority then making interesting art. Sometimes Meskin would have the best of both worlds (story and art) as in this page from “The Catskill Man-Chasers”. For many comic artists only night scenes would get an abundance of black but here Mort uses it to make the light parts so much brighter as would be appropriate for a hot summer day by the pool. Mort also uses it in the second panel to hide in plain sight Tom, the love interest of the story. Tom’s presence in the panel is not obvious at a glance because Mort only provides a silhouette but at closer examination the pipe clearly indicates that the shadowed figure is Tom. Starting with the second panel, Meskin moves in closer and closer so that the view progresses from a crowded scene to one that focuses on just the couple. While Meskin is restricting the focus he is paradoxically increasing the use of black until in the final panel the reader can make out only a little of the faces. While Mort has obscured the features he has made the scene all the more intimate. It is a masterly orchestrated page all the more so because nobody else working for Simon and Kirby, including Kirby, worked blacks anything like this.

Young Romance #33 (May 1951) “Charity Case” page 5, art by John Prentice

Since John Prentice is a new addition to the Simon and Kirby studio it behooves me to begin to try to discredit the opinion that too many Kirby fans have that Jack supplied layouts for the various studio artists. While that is true for some of the more minor artists that Simon and Kirby occasionally used it is decidedly not true for the more common talented artists. John Prentice certainly falls in the talented group and except for a special case from years later and from outside the romance genre Prentice did not work from Kirby layouts. One piece of evidence in Prentice’s case comes from the dramatic close-ups like panel 3 in the page shown above. While Jack Kirby occasionally did close-ups they generally are not as radically cropped as Prentice often uses.

Young Love #22 (June 1951) “Cry Baby”, art by John Prentice

It was not uncommon for Studio Style inking techniques to show up in splashes of stories of the artists that otherwise were inked with other brush mannerisms. Often I suspect it was the work of Joe or Jack stepping in to touch up the art. That is not however what I judge happened to “Cry Baby”. All the major features of the studio style are present in this page if not in the splash itself; picket fence crosshatching, drop strings, abstract shadow arch and shoulder blots (see my Inking Glossary). What makes me believe this was not the work of Simon or Kirby is the way the picket fence crosshatching is done particularly on the man’s jacket. The rails are not done in the standard way of the Studio Style but match Prentice’s cloth folds. The pickets vary in both spacing and execution in ways not typical of Simon and Kirby. This leads me to believe that the spotting was actually done by Prentice himself.

Young Love #21 (May 1951) “Will You Help Me?”, art in part by John Prentice

I must admit I am uncertain what to make of “Will You Help Me?” from YL #21. The overall simplicity of the style is different then work assigned to Prentice yet the brunette has the elegant beauty so typical of John’s work. The inking of the splash panel looks like a combination of that by Prentice and another artist. The spotting of the hair is typical of Prentice’s technique but the cloth folds are not nor are the way they are arranged along the edge of her sleeve which suggests either Simon or Kirby. The inking in the first story panel all looks like it was done by Prentice. On the other hand the crosshatching in the last story panel is not typical of any of the parties considered so far. It is possible that Prentice is inking Kirby pencils but the way the brunette turns to talk to someone behind her is a common Prentice mannerism. The other possibility is that Prentice is working from Kirby layouts with which he takes liberties in some places. It could be that John did the pencils and final spotting but that the outline inking was done by someone else. At the present I am undecided except that John Prentice participated in the art in some fashion.

Young Love #23 (July 1951) “Nag, Nag, Nag”, art by Marvin Stein

I thought I would close off with an example of what Marvin Stein was doing during this period. The style is still typical of Stein’s early period but there are hints like the man in the second story panel that are typical of the style he would develop later.

The Art of Romance, Chapter 14, The Third Suspect

by Harry Mendryk

Posted May 9, 2009 in 2009/05, 5 Studio, Art of Romance, Artists, Draut, Bill, Kirby, Jack, Meskin, Mort, Periods, Prentice, John, Prize, Serial Posts, Starr, Leonard, Stein, Marvin, z Archive and tagged Bill, Draut, Jack, Joe, John, Kirby, leonard, marvin, meskin, Mort, Prentice, Simon, starr, stein

(February 1951 – April 1951: Young Romance #30 – #32, Young Love #18 – #20)

Number of Romance Titles 1947 – 1952 (the period covered in this chapter is shaded in blue)

Besides Young Romance and Young Love, Simon and Kirby were also producing Black Magic and Boys’ Ranch during this period. Jack Kirby supplied some covers for Headline and Justice Traps the Guilty so it is possible that Joe and Jack still had something to do with the Prize crime titles as well. However Kirby, Draut and Starr, artists important to the other Simon and Kirby productions, did not appear in the crime titles. That plus the lack of a Simon and Kirby production cartouche seems to indicate that Headline and Justice Traps the Guilty were no longer produced by Joe and Jack. Romance comics in general were just starting to rebound from the relative low that followed the love glut. However with more then 45 titles, romance comics were still a lucrative part of the industry. Since both Young Romance and Young Love were both monthly titles it can be presumed that they were still selling quite well.

Young Romance #31 (March 1951) “One Way to Hold Him”, art by Jack Kirby

Since Joe Simon did not do much penciling anymore, Jack Kirby was by one definition the primary artist for the studio. Jack would provide the cover art that was still appearing on Young Love (Young Romance had converted back to using photographic covers). The all important lead stories for Young Romance were all done by Kirby. At 12 to 14 pages long, Jack’s lead stories for YR were longer then the work by any other studio artist (a maximum of 9 pages). But if the primary artist is considered the one producing the greatest number of pages of art, Kirby was no longer the primary romance artists. During this period Kirby produced 55 pages of romance art while Mort Meskin did 66 pages. Jack’s work for Boys’ Ranch #3 (February) meant that for February Jack produced the greatest number of pages in the studio for all genres but by April that was no longer true and Mort would take the lead.

About three and a half years since the start of Young Romance and Kirby is still finding ways to put special interest into his romance stories. Jack could write a story without action but he certainly like to add it when possible. Who else would use the rough and tumble roller derby world to tell a love story. I often wonder how the original teenage girl readers thought of Jack’s stories but for the modern comic reader there is no question that Kirby’s romance stories are fascinating reads.

Young Romance #30 (February 1951) “Different”, art by Jack Kirby

Jack Kirby was not averse to using a love story to tackle social themes as well. “Different” is not really about romance but about intolerance instead. Initially when the family moved into the neighborhood they were well received. Only after the visit of the grandparents reveals that the family’s original name had been Wilheims did the community turn against them. Love is just a background to the story of initial acceptance followed by rejection based only on the towns prejudiced perception of the family’s background.

Young Love #18 (February 1951) “Unwilling Bride”, art by Mort Meskin

As discussed above, it was during this period that for the first time Mort Meskin output exceeded Jack Kirby’s. Meskin’s art production rate is all the more remarkable considering that Mort did all his own inking while Jack’s work was mostly inked by others. I wish the original art for the splash from “Unwilling Bride” was available as I would love to know how the negative figure of the jailed man was done. The spotting looks like it was brushed with white ink but I would think it would have been difficult to work white over a black background. Would Simon and Kirby have agreed to the extra expense to make a negative stat? However it was done it provides an effective way to put an image to the troubled girl’s thoughts.

Young Romance #32 (April 1951) “Hand-Me-Down Love”, art by Bill Draut

Once again Bill Draut takes third place in the amount of work provided; 6 stories with 45 pages.

Previously Bill Draut’s splash art seemed to be in a bit of a rut; not bad but not particularly exciting. Perhaps because of his work in the new Black Magic title Draut seems to have his mojo working again. Whatever the reason Bill has some nice splashes during this period. “Hand-Me Down Love” is a confessional splash which makes me suspect that it was originally meant to be the lead story for Young Love but was moved to Young Romance instead. Since Kirby was doing all the lead stories in Young Romance Draut’s work then became one of the backup stories. Like many of Kirby’s romance splashes at the time there really is not much going on but what is presented tells a whole story. The woman’s apron identifies her as a housewife. The drab background with a wall having small flaws indicates her humble surroundings. Two photographs should be her loved ones. The man obviously would be her husband but what can be made of the woman? While the splash tells a story it purposely leaves some things unanswered to entice the viewer to read the story.

Young Romance #31 (March 1951) “The Things You’re Missing”, art by Marvin Stein

The fourth most used artist was Marvin Stein with 4 stories and 32 pages. Stein would produce some nice work for the crime titles in the future but at this point his style is a bit clumsy. Some of Marvin’s characteristic traits can be found at this earlier stage, such as the shallow depth to the face of the man in the splash. When inking his own work Stein was always a bit rough but at this point his brush also lacks the assurance he would eventually gain. Without that confidence his inking just looks as clumsy as his pencil work.

Young Romance #30 (February 1951) “Weekend For 3”, art by Leonard Starr

For whatever reason, Leonard Starr only provided a single story in the period covered in the last chapter but now he does 3 stores with 22 pages. Starr seems to have completely abandoned the tall and very narrow panels that he had previously favored. Occasionally he would divide a panel row into three panels and even more rarely extend the height slightly but the panels never become as narrow as before. For the most part now Starr adhered to a standard panel layout of 3 rows with 2 panels per row. Leonard still likes to use a vertical splash as for example “Weekend For 3”.

Young Love #18 (February 1951) “The Cave Man Type”, art by Leonard Starr

It was not just Starr’s panel layouts that were evolving. I mentioned in the Chapter 12 how Leonard had begun using a sultrier female along with the more pixie look his females previously had. In “The Cave Man Type” Starr uses what was for him a very different type of man.

My database indicates that February 1951 was when Starr would do his last work for Simon and Kirby until 1954 (and I have gone back to verify the attribution of the two 1954 pieces). But originally my database only included a single Starr work for February but with this recent review I now add two more. Considering that Starr stopped providing signatures on his later S&K work and that his style was changing I wonder if I will find more of his work when I write the next couple of chapters to this serial post?

Young Love #20 (April 1951) “Big Bertha”, art by John Prentice

“Big Bertha” from YL #20 marks the first appearance in a Simon and Kirby production of work by John Prentice. My previous short biography on John Prentice (John Prentice, Usual Suspect #3) is seriously flawed* and incomplete and I really should put together a better one. Prior to coming to work for Joe and Jack, Prentice had been working for Hillman and perhaps some other publishers as well. Prentice shared an apartment with Starr so perhaps Leonard aided John in getting work from Simon and Kirby. Most artists that worked for Simon and Kirby had adopted (directly or indirectly) aspects of Milt Caniff’s style but John was greatly influenced by Alex Raymond. So much so that when Raymond died suddenly in 1956, Prentice was able to easily take over his syndication strip Rip Kirby. John’s arrival in the S&K studio filled a significant gap created when Bruno Premiani left. Artists would come and go in Joe and Jack’s studio, but the presences of Bill Draut, Mort Meskin, John Prentice, and of course Jack Kirby meant that all Simon and Kirby productions would have a healthy and interesting combination of artists.

Young Love #19 (March 1951) “Later Then You Think”, layout by Jack Kirby

I have been able to provide attributions for all of the romance work during the period covered by this chapter with the exception of “Later Then You Think”. This looks like the work of some minor artist working from layouts provided by Jack Kirby. Normally when I describe a work as based on Kirby layouts I am uncomfortable using that term because it was obvious that what Jack had provided were very tight in some places. In this particular case that is not true; the artist style is present throughout and no parts have an overly Kirby look. The only exceptions are the photographs in the splash panel that totally look like they were done by Jack. Interestingly the entire story is inked in the Studio Style; shoulder blots, abstract shadow arches, and picket fence crosshatching are found throughout.

Footnotes:

* The most serious error in my previous post on John Prentice is my attributing to him “Two-Timer” from Young Love #4 a piece that I now questionably credit to Bruno Premiani.

Jerry Robinson at the Jack Kirby Tribute Panel

by Harry Mendryk

Posted August 22, 2008 in 2008/08, 4 DC (early), 6 Mainline, Artists, In Love, Odds & Ends, Periods, Prentice, John, Robinson, Jerry, Topic, z Archive and tagged Jack, Jerry, Joe, John, Kirby, Prentice, Robinson, Simon

Detective Comics #65
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 Robinson and Joe Simon
Jerry greeting Joe Simon at the Big Apple Con of 2006

Jerry Robinson and Joe Simon
Jerry and Joe at New York ComicCon 2008

John Prentice, usual suspect #3

by Harry Mendryk

Posted May 7, 2006 in 2006/05, 5 Studio, 6 Mainline, Artists, Assorted, In Love, Periods, Prentice, John, Prize, Prize, z Archive.

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 (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.

John Prentice Checklist

by Harry Mendryk

Posted February 1, 2006 in Artists, Checklist, Prentice, John, Prentice, John and tagged Checklist, John, Prentice


Last update: 10/11/2010

Codes:
    s:  = signed
    a:  = signed with alias
    &:  = signed Simon and Kirby
    ?:  = questionable attribution
    r:  = reprint

All For Love (Prize)
   ? 15   (v.3, n2)  Aug  1959    5p "A Perfect Man"
     16   (v.3, n3)  Oct  1959    5p "Take Me Back"
     17   (v.3, n4)  Dec  1959    5p "My Dream Rival"

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 (National/DC)
   r 6    (v.1, n6)  Nov  1974    7p "The Thirteenth Floor"- (r BM #11 Apr 1952)

Bullseye (Mainline)
     1    Aug  1954    7p "Bulls-Eye, The Youth"- (Kirby pencils splash)
     1    Aug  1954    9p "Bulls-Eye, The Man"- (Kirby pencils splash)
     2    Oct  1954    8p "Union Jack"- (Kirby pencils and inks splash)

Fighting American (Prize)
     7    Apr  1955    7p "Three Coins In The Pushcart"

First Love Illustrated (Harvey)
     34   Nov  1953    5p "Bad Girl"
   r 38   Mar  1954    5p "I Paid for My Past"
     39   Apr  1954    5p "For Love of Money"
     41   June 1954    5p "One More Time"
     42   July 1954    5p "Loveless"
     43   Aug  1954    5p "Resort Romeo"
     44   Sept 1954    5p "Cursed"
     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"
     73   Feb  1957    5p "Loveless"
     74   Mar  1957    5p "Cursed"
     75   Apr  1957    5p "Heart Of Stone"

First Romance Magazine (Harvey)
     25   Dec  1953    5p "Enslaved"
     26   Feb  1954    5p "Crisis"
     27   Apr  1954    5p "Revenge in My Heart"
     42   Oct  1956    5p "Take Me Away"
     43   Dec  1956    5p "Crisis"
     44   Feb  1957    5p "Revenge in my Heart"

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

Frogman (Hillman)
     1    Jan  1952    5p "Underwater Trapper"
     2    May  1952    6p "'Gator Nest Frogman"
     2    May  1952    6p "The T.N.T. Shark"
     2    May  1952    6p "The Frog Belts the Middle"

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"

Love Problems and Advice (Harvey)
     25   Jan  1954    5p "Nocturne"
     27   May  1954    5p "Without a Past"
     42   Nov  1956       [contents]
     42   Nov  1956    5p "Farm Girl In Town"
     45   May  1957    5p "The End of Love"

My Greatest Adventure (National/DC)
     5    Sept 1955       [cover]
     5    Sept 1955    8p "I Was a Jungle Ringmaster"- (text)

Pirates (Hillman)
   s 2    May  1950    7p "Cusack the Pirate"
     3    July 1950    8p "The Shetland Pirates"

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

Police Trap (Super Comics)
   r 16   **** 1964    5p "Beer Party"

Real Clue Crime Stories (Hillman)
          (v.5, n6)  Aug  1950       [cover]
          (v.5, n6)  Aug  1950    8p "Concrete Cervera"
          (v.5, n9)  Nov  1950       [cover]
          (v.7, n4)  June 1952       [cover]
          (v.7, n4)  June 1952    6p "A Napoleon Named Helen"
          (v.7, n8)  Oct  1952       [cover]

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

Western Fighters (Hillman)
   s      (v.3, n2)  Jan  1951       [cover]
          (v.3, n2)  Jan  1951    8p "Tuffy's Hidden Cannon"
          (v.3, n2)  Jan  1951    9p "Buckskin Benson"

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"
     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"
     16   (v.2, n10) June 1954    6p "How To Marry The Boss"
     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"

Young Love (Prize)
     20   (v.3, n2)  Apr  1951    8p "Big Bertha"
   ? 21   (v.3, n3)  May  1951    3p "Will You Help Me"
     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"
     42   (v.4, n12) Feb  1953    7p "The Creep"
     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"
     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"
     57   (v.6, n3)  May  1954       [cover]
     57   (v.6, n3)  May  1954    6p "A Happy Ending"
     58   (v.6, n4)  June 1954       [cover]
     58   (v.6, n4)  June 1954    6p "Perfect Lady"
     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]

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"
     39   (v.5, n3)  Nov  1951    1p "The Secret of Being Liked"- (text)
     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"
     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]
     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]
     79   (v.8, n7)  Oct  1955    6p "A Vision Of Beauty"
     98   (v.12, n2) Feb  1959    5p "Made In Heaven"
     101  (v.12, n5) Aug  1959    5p "Man In The House"

Fighting American Checklist

by Harry Mendryk

Posted January 2, 2006 in 2009/07, 6 Mainline, Artists, Comic Checklists, Fighting American, Fighting American, Kirby, Jack, Periods, Prentice, John and tagged american, Checklist, fighting

Last update: 6/7/2020

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

Fighting American (Prize)
   #1 April 1954
       (cover) 1 pg P:[Kirby] I:[Kirby]
       "Break The Spy-Ring" 10 pg P:[Kirby] I:[Kirby] Lt:[Oda]
       "Reuel Gridley" 1 pg  (text)
       "Baby Buzz Bombs" 6 pg P:[Kirby] I:[Kirby] Lt:[Oda]
       "Abracadabra" 1 pg  
       "Eagle Trap" 1 pg  (text)
       "Homer" 1 pg  
       "Duel To The Finish Line" 7 pg P:[Kirby] I:[Kirby] Lt:[Oda]
   #2 June 1954
       (cover) 1 pg P:{Kirby} I:[Kirby]
       "The League Of The Handsome Devils" 9 pg P:[Kirby] I:[Kirby] Lt:[Oda]
       "Gerard" 1 pg  
       "The Champion" 1 pg  (text)
       "Meet Doubleheader" 7 pg P:[Kirby] I:[Kirby] Lt:[Oda]
       "A Blue Note" 1 pg  (text)
       "Gerard" 1 pg  
       "City of Ghouls" 7 pg P:[Kirby] I:[Kirby & Meskin] Lt:[Oda]
   #3 August 1954  
       (cover) 1 pg P:{Kirby}  
       "The Man Who Sold Out Liberty" 6 pg P:[Kirby]  Lt:[Oda]
       "Gerard" 1 pg  
       "Stranger From Paradise" 2 pg P:[Kirby]  Lt:[Oda]
       "Hunted" 1 pg  (text)
       "Poison Ivan" 8 pg P:[Kirby]  Lt:[Oda]
       "Fast Buck" 1 pg  (text)
       "Gerard" 1 pg  
       "Z-Food" 7 pg P:[Kirby]  Lt:[Oda]
   #4 October 1954  
       (cover) 1 pg P:[Kirby]  
       "Tokyo Runaround" 8 pg P:[Kirby] I:[Kirby & Meskin?] Lt:[Oda]
       "I Am Ignorov" 1 pg P:Tomey  
       "Poor Richard" 1 pg P:Malm  
       "Homecoming: Year 3000" 9 pg P:[Kirby] I:[Kirby] Lt:[Oda]
       "Poor Richard" 1 pg P:Malm  
       "Mission Accomplished" 2 pg  (text)
       "Operation Wolf" 5 pg P:[Kirby] I:[Kirby] Lt:[Oda]
   #5 December 1954  
       (cover) 1 pg P:[Kirby]  
       "Jiseppi, The Jungle Boy" 8 pg P:[Kirby]  Lt:[Oda]
       "The Year Bender" 8 pg P:[Kirby]  Lt:[Oda?]
       "Invisible Irving" 6 pg P:[Kirby]  Lt:[Ferguson?]
   #6 February 1955  
       (cover) 1 pg P:[Kirby]  
       "Deadly Doolittle" 8 pg P:[Simon]  Lt:[Ferguson?]
       "The Making Of Fighting American" 3 pg P:[Kirby]  
       "Speedboy" 1 pg P:[Kirby]  
       "Super Khakalovitch" 10 pg P:[Kirby & Prentice]  Lt:[Ferguson?]
   #7 April 1955  
       (cover) 1 pg P:[Kirby]  
       "Sneak Of Araby" 8 pg P:[Kirby & ?]  Lt:[Ferguson?]
       "Three Coins In The Pushcart" 7 pg P:[Prentice] I:[Prentice] Lt:[Ferguson?]
       "Space-Face" 5 pg P:[Kirby] I:[Meskin] Lt:[Ferguson?]

Fighting American (Harvey)  
   #1 October 1966  
       (cover) 1 pg P:{Kirby}
       "Round Robin" 5 pg P:[Kirby]  Lt:[Ferguson?]
       "Roman Scoundrels" 8 pg P:[Kirby]  Lt:[Ferguson?]
       "Yafata's Moustache" 7 pg P:[Kirby]  Lt:[Ferguson?]

Simon and Kirby

Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, their studio, and the artists who worked for them

Category Archives: Prentice, John

Art of Romance, Chapter 17, The Assistant

Art of Romance, Chapter 16, Someone Old and Someone New

Little Shop of Horrors, Chapter 2, Up and Running

The Art of Romance, Chapter 15, The Action of Romance

The Art of Romance, Chapter 14, The Third Suspect

Jerry Robinson at the Jack Kirby Tribute Panel

John Prentice, usual suspect #3

John Prentice Checklist

Fighting American Checklist

Privacy Policy

What information do we collect?

What do we use your information for?

How do we protect your information?

Do we use cookies?

Do we disclose any information to outside parties?

Registration

Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act Compliance

Updating your personal information

Online Privacy Policy Only

Your Consent

Changes to our Privacy Policy

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

What information do we collect?

What do we use your information for?

How do we protect your information?

Do we use cookies?

Do we disclose any information to outside parties?

Registration

Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act Compliance

Updating your personal information

Online Privacy Policy Only

Your Consent

Changes to our Privacy Policy