Category Archives: 5 Studio

Art by Joe Simon, Chapter 10, A History Lesson

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Posted in 2006/07, 5 Studio, Assorted, Periods, Serial Posts, z Archive.

I would now like to discuss another piece of work where I find so much that indicates that it was drawn by Joe Simon that I just do not understand why so many still credit it to Jack Kirby. Some explain the lack of Kirby touches as due to his discomfort with portraiture. I wonder why they do not have second thoughts about this explanation? In the recent Jack Kirby Collector #46 there are some portrait examples that Jack did later along with the photographs from which they were based. Typical Kirby touches, such as in his eyebrows are easily seen. Further “48 Famous Americans” includes story panels where Jack should have been very much at ease. Given this evidence it is difficult to accept the alleged Kirby portrait discomfort as a valid explanation.

During my visits to Joe I am really interested in hearing what Joe has to say and I am not concerned about convincing him of my opinions. I therefore never expressed to Joe my belief that he was responsible for this comic. However at one point Joe stated an interest in what Jack Kirby stuff had been reprinted recently. During one visit I brought some newer Kirby reprint books. Joe did not have much to say about any of it until he came across one with some pages from “48 Famous Americans”. At that point he exclaimed with exasperation “But I did all of that, Jack had nothing to do with it”. Despite his reputation, I have not found Joe as someone who always claims credit. I have provided Joe with a lot of restored Simon and Kirby material but only occasionally does Joe say he penciled a particular piece. I offer Joe’s statement as evidence, not proof. But I feel the art itself provides all that is needed to credit Joe Simon with this work.

48 Famous Americans
48 Famous Americans (1947) by Joe Simon

Look closely at the reporter in the foxhole. To me he looks like he was done by Simon, particularly the eyes. The use of floating heads is something we have seen from Joe before. In fact I am really at a loss to point to any Kirby like features on the cover.

48 Famous Americans, Thomas A. Edison
48 Famous Americans (1947) “Thomas A. Edison” by Joe Simon

One of the benefits to doing serial posts like this one is that it gives me a chance review work that I may not have looked at for some time. I have always felt that Joe was the penciler for 48 Famous Americans. But when I reexamined the comic again for this post I was surprised about how many more indications of Simon’s touch I could find. For instance I remarked in Chapter 5 that while working together with Jack Kirby on Captain America, Joe’s discontinued his use of combining the eyebrow and the eye into a single angular formation. Well this comic shows that statement to have not been completely correct. Here Joe frequently returns to the use of angular eyes as can be seen in panels 2, 3 and 5 of the Thomas A. Edison page. In my last chapter I remarked that Joe seemed to have a tendency to draw the hero with a long face only during the time that he worked on the Duke of Broadway, the Vagabond Prince and Kid Adonis (1946). Well in the 48 Famous Americans the long square face shows up occasionally as for example in the last Edison panel.

48 Famous Americans, George Washington Carver
48 Famous Americans (1947) “George Washington Carver” by Joe Simon

George Washington Carver is another page with typical Simon features. The angular eyes show up in panels 2 and 4, the long face with a square jaw in panel 3. Although I did not have a chance to post an image of it, the skewed eyes found in the first page of the Fiery Mask story of Daring Mystery #6 (September 1940) also occurs in the first, Carver portrait panel.

48 Famous Americans, Jack Dempsey
48 Famous Americans (1947) “Jack Dempsey” by Joe Simon

We can only guess who made the choices as to which 48 Americans to include in this giveaway comic. I am sure the company that paid for this comic had something to say about including James Cash Penney. Sport figures do not play a big part in those selected. If famous sport people were going to be used, I can understand the selection of Lou (Henry Louis) Gehrig. But was Jack Dempsey really that obvious of a choice? Was it a coincidence that Joe Simon served in the Coast Guard during the war and, as shown in panel 6, Jack Dempsey did also?

I think Joe did a good job presenting the various short histories. I paricularly like Joe’s knockout punch in panel 5. But although I enjoy Joe’s story telling I often feel that Jack Kirby would have done it differently. Jack had a special affection for socko punches and did them in way that no other artist seemed able to duplicate. I like Joe’s falling Willard but I am also sure Jack would have done it very differently.

48 Famous Americans, Paul Revere
48 Famous Americans (1947) “Paul Revere” by Joe Simon

The Paul Revere page is another one that should have presented opportunities for Kirby, had he been the penciler, to provide his unique touch. But for the most part I do not find Kirby’s fingerprints here. The riding Revere of panel 5 is done really nicely, but not at all like the covers for Bullseye #2 or #4 or Boys’ Ranch #6. The only thing that reminds me of Kirby on this page, or for that matter one of the few in the entire comic, is the figure of the man with the lantern in panel 5. Frankly that is not too distinctive and I find a lot more Simon touches such as in panel 3.

48 Famous Americans, Nathan Hale
48 Famous Americans (1947) “Nathan Hale” by Joe Simon

I thought I would provide yet another page, Nathan Hale, which I would have thought would have provided Jack Kirby the chance to add his own personal vision, that is had he actually been the artist. But again although I find drawing that looks like it was done by Joe Simon, I do not find examples that indicate Jack’s involvement.

48 Famous Americans, Stephen Foster
48 Famous Americans (1947) “Stephen Foster” by Joe Simon

The socko punches are not the only Kirby trademark. Jack was also fond of expressive eyebrows. As I mentioned at the start of this post examples of Jack’s portraits provided by The Jack Kirby Collector show these Kirby eyebrows. But in 48 Famous Americans I do not find these special eyebrows. The only example I found was that of the man on the right in panel 5 of the Foster page. But I got to say this is hardly a convincing example of Kirby eyebrow. Another Kirby trait is his exaggerated perspective. One of his famous use of this occurs in depicting a hand pointing. It is one of those drawing techniques that other artists do not seem able to duplicate. The pointing hand for of the man in panel 5 is simply not drawn the way Jack would have done it.

When I choose images for this blog I try to select scans that provide good examples of whatever point I am trying to make. So yes I did go through 48 Famous Americans looking for pages that looked the most like they were done by Joe Simon. But I also included pages that should have provided subjects that I would have expected Jack to shine in. But in all these Kirby favorable scenes what I find reminds me more of Joe Simon. I also looked for pages that I thought look the most like possible Kirby efforts. I did find some, besides the ones I mentioned above look at the old man in panels 2 and 3 of the Foster page. I am not saying these examples were drawn by Kirby, only that they look like they could have. Frankly considering Joe’s often use of swiping I would have expected even more Kirby-ish drawing then I actually found. To repeat what I said at the start of this chapter, I find the 48 Famous Americans to looks so consistently like the effort of Joe Simon that I really do not understand why so many people attribute it to Jack Kirby.

Art by Joe Simon, Chapter 9, American Royalty

Art by Joe Simon, Chapter 11, The Party Is Over

Art by Joe Simon, Chapter 9, American Royalty

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Posted in 2006/07, 5 Studio, Harvey, Periods, Serial Posts, z Archive.

After his military service Joe Simon rejoined Jack Kirby. But rather then just resume working for DC, the two wanted to find a better deal and produce entire comics. S&K made an agreement with Al Harvey to create two new titles, Stuntman and Boy Explorers. Jack did the penciling for the title features while back up features were penciled by artists like Bill Draut and Ken Riley. Joe Simon would also provide some additional features; the Duke of Broadway, Vagabond Prince, and Kid Adonis. Unfortunately this all happened during a post-war comic glut and both new titles would be cancelled. Boy Explorers #2 and Stuntman #3 would be sent to subscribers only and would be reduced in size as well as content. The origin story for Vagabond Prince initially meant for Boy Explorers #2 would not see print until the 80’s. Although these titles were cancelled there seems to have been some unused material left. Harvey would publish these stories about a year later in Black Cat and Green Hornet comics.

Joe Simon has always said that he drew all the stories for these three features himself. However some have attributed parts or all of some stories to Jack Kirby. For me this is another group of work that so thoroughly looks like Joe’s effort I am amazed that there is any question about it. Joe is drawing in a Kirby-like style, but I would not say he is really mimicking Jack. Simon has his own visual humor that turns up often in these stories. Features like the hero’s square jaw that we have seen before reappear here. But again I ask the reader to look for traits belonging to Joe or Jack and not to judge something as Jack’s solely because of how good a page is.

Stuntman #2
Stuntman #2 (June 1946) introduction page by Jack Kirby

There is a rather interesting page by Jack showing Stuntman asking various characters from the Duke of Broadway feature where the Duke himself was. It is therefore useful in showing how Kirby would do the Duke’s cast. As would be expected they are similar to those from the actual story, but careful examination reveals differences.

Boy Explorers #1
Boy Explorers #1 (May 1946) “The Duke of Broadway” by Joe Simon
Enlarged image

The art for double page splash seems more finished and in a different style then the rest of the story. It do not think this is because some other artist did the splash. Rather I believe Joe drew it first as a presentation piece and therefore spent more time polishing it up.

Black Cat #6
Black Cat #6 (June 1947) “Fear” by Joe Simon

I could be wrong but I feel that although early in his career Jack Kirby paid a lot of attention to what artists like Hal Foster and Alex Raymond were doing, later Jack seemed to stop looking at other comic artists. That is not to say Kirby gave up using swipes and otherwise finding sources of inspiration. Just that Jack would now turn to photos, paintings and similar fields outside sequential art. Joe Simon on the other hand did seem to keep an eye on what other comic book artists were doing. The above splash page from “Fear” (actually one of two splash pages for this same story) is an example of this. Here Joe gives response to the innovative splash pages that Will Eisner had been doing in his newspaper section comic book the Spirit. Again some have attributed this page to Kirby. But a close look at the figures indicates that this is Joe’s work.

Black Cat #7
Black Cat #7 (August 1947) “Topsy Turvy Tavern” by Joe Simon

Some of the Simon touches we saw early in his career are no longer used at this point, such as the drawing the eye and eyebrow as one angular unit. But in Captain America #1 we saw Joe draw Bucky with a sort of muzzle. In “Topsy Turvy Tavern” the Duke is accompanied with a young boy who Joe draws with the same sort of projecting lower face. Also note the running figure with his sole turned toward the reader. This is a typical Kirby trait but as we saw in our last chapter Simon has adopted it as can be seen in his work on Adventures Is My Career.

Black Cat #5
Black Cat #5 (April 1947) “My City Is No More” by Joe Simon

There are pages from “My City Is No More” that some have attributed to Kirby. Yes some of these pages are very effective and the story on a whole is a masterpiece. But when I look at the drawing of the faces and figures it pretty much looks like the work of Joe Simon. Although I cannot find examples for some of the non-figurative drawing (particular the explosions) from Simon’s prior work, I know of nothing similar from Kirby’s past either. I cannot help but be suspicious that some assign these pages to Kirby just because they look so good. But because the non-figurative drawing does not seem to provide evidence, I prefer to base my attributions on the figurative work, and that seems to have been done by Joe.

The splash page I provided above does have one of the few convincing examples of some Kirby effort in these particular features. I am sure that the floating head of the villain (extreme right) was done by Jack. Joe did the villain in the rest of the story differently, with a longer face. Was Jack stepping in to correct some problem? I have previously posted on Joe and Jack as editors and part of that post included an example of Jack touching up a panel from a Vagabond Prince story. Unfortunately it is not possible to reach a valid conclusion about this here when we are dealing with the printed results, only the original art might provide the answer. It is possible, but not at all clear, that Jack might have had a hand in the floating head of the scientist (second from the right). The other two floating heads were clearly done by Joe. In these stories Joe has a tendency to draw the hero not only with a square jaw but also a rather long face. The Duke in this story, including this floating head, is an extreme example of this. Simon drawing the hero with long faces seem to be restricted to this period and does not recur.

I have provided examples for this chapter from the Duke of Broadway stories. Stylistically the Vagabond Prince and the Kid Adonis stories are not at all different. So let me close this chapter with a page of another of America’s royalty. Note the use of oversized figures.

Black Cat #7
Black Cat #7 (August 1947) “Death Trap De Luxe” by Joe Simon

Art by Joe Simon, Chapter 8, Off to War

Art by Joe Simon, Chapter 10, A History Lesson

Strange Worlds of Your Dreams, strange indeed

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Posted in 2006/06, 5 Studio, Anthologies, Prize, Topic, z Archive.

Strange World of Your Dreams #3
Strange World of Your Dreams #3 (November 1952) by Jack Kirby

Your Dreams was certainly the oddest comic anthology that Simon and Kirby produced. It can be viewed as a spin off of the successful Black Magic comics that started a couple of years earlier. But its focus on the dream theme gave it a special flavor. The idea of a dream comic came from Mort Meskin, one of the few artists working for S&K who worked in the studio. Credits are printed on the first page of the comic with Simon and Kirby as the producers and Mort Meskin as associative editor. This is the only case in S&K productions where someone else is called an editor.

YD #3 The Women In The Tower
Strange World of Your Dreams #3 (November 1952) “The Women In The Tower” by Jack Kirby

The stories can be divided into three categories. The first is dream analysis, well that is how they present it. Despite the ads offering to pay for dreams, it is hard to believe that these stories portray real dreams. After all where is the one in the middle of giving a book report in front of the class you realize you are not wearing any clothes? The analysis does not look anymore authentic then the dreams, no Oedipus complex here. What is real is the opportunity for Kirby to go wild, which Jack takes full advantage of. Most of the dream analysis stories were done by Jack, and most of the stories he did in this series were dream analysis. I can only conclude that he relished this chance, he certainly makes effective use of it.

YD #3 Send Us Your Dreams
Strange World of Your Dreams #3 (November 1952) “Send Us Your Dreams” by Bill Draut

The dream analysis stories were occasionally done by other artists, including Mort Meskin and Bill Draut. As much as I admire these artists, Meskin and Draut in particular, I feel that they were not at all comfortable with this theme. Bill spent more time with the non-dream portions and little on the dream, whereas Kirby did most of the story on the dream itself. Most of these analysis stories tended to be very short, just a couple of pages long.

YD #1 The Dreaming Tower
Strange World of Your Dreams #1 (August 1952) “The Dreaming Tower” by Mort Meskin

A second story category for this anthology was fictional stories. When I provided Joe Simon with restorations of these comics, Joe commented that he must have pulled those stories from the Black Magic drawer. They are the type of story that would fit very well in a Black Magic comic. But if there truly was such a drawer full of Black Magic inventory, the ones that were selected were only those with a dream theme. Bill Draut presents a story of a man who finds himself in a perfect world, only to be told it is a dream. Despite warnings and pleadings he insists in waking the dreamer. Of course he regrets it when he succeeds (“Don’t Wake The Sleeper”, SWYD #1, August 1952). But the best of the Your Dreams fictional stories, in fact the masterpiece of the entire series, was Mort Meskin’s “The Dreaming Tower” (SWYD #1). Mort uses his blacks and manipulate his panels to build up suspense without even providing why there would be such tension. Kirby could have done the revelation panel better, but Jack could never have orchestrated the build up as masterfully as Mort.

YD #4 Romance In The Stars
Strange World of Your Dreams #4 (January 1953) “Romance In The Stars” by unidentified artist

The third and final category of story types was introduced in the final two issues (#3 and #4). It is astrology based stories. I have no idea why a comic based on dreams should include astrology also. The way the stories worked was the “characteristics” of people with a particular sign are given and then a story provided to illustrate these supposed characteristics. These stories are not the horror variety of the fictional stories of the second category. The astrology stories would generally fit pretty well in a romance comic. But they are not true romances, a better description would be comic drama.

Strange World of Your Dreams #5
Strange World of Your Dreams #5 (March 1953) by Jack Kirby

This was an oddball of a comic. It is one of the most interesting to read of all the S&K creations. But much of the interest lies in the uniqueness of a comic based on dreams. It is hard to believe that even Simon and Kirby could have maintained that interest over a long run. Still Joe and Jack were obviously aiming to try because they had the cover for the fifth issue done before the plug was pulled on this title.

Stuntman

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Posted in 2006/05, 5 Studio, Featured Work, Harvey, Periods, Topic, z Archive.

After Joe Simon returned from war service, the S&K team made a deal with Harvey Comics to produce “Stuntman” and “Boy Explorers” comics. I previously discussed the part played in these comics by Bill Draut and Ken Riley who worked on backup stories. Now I would like to go into the work done on these comics by our intrepid artist, Jack Kirby. Not surprisingly, Jack’s efforts was the core of these comics as he the penciler for Stuntman and Boy Explorers stories and covers.

Stuntman #1
Stuntman #1, April 1946

Stuntman was published first on April 1946. It has three Stuntman stories with a total of 35 pages. The first story (“Killer In The Big Top”) introduces the characters. The hero is Fred Drake, who is both a movie stuntman and the crime fighting Stuntman. Like many S&K heroes, he really isn’t a super-hero since he has no special powers. But he does wear a costume and maintain a secret identity. As so common in comics, nobody seems able to make the obvious connection between the hero Stuntman and Drake the stuntman. Drake doubles for the famous movie star Don Daring. The two are spitting images of one another, except Don wears a moustache. Don takes on the comic relief roll. Besides being a vain actor, he periodically puts on a Sherlock Holmes outfit and tries to be the detective and solve the crimes. But his detective attempts come off as the acts of a buffoon, while it is the Stuntman the real man of physical action who saves the day. The love interest is the actress Sandra Sylvan. But calling her the love interest is a little misleading. There certainly is an interest by Sandra in the hero Stuntman, but he in turn always manages to escape her advances.

S #2 Curtain Call For Death
Stuntman #2, June 1946, “Curtain Call For Death”

These stuntman stories seem pure Kirby, with the sort of quick action that Jack seems to excel at. Story lengths of 10 to 13 pages also seem the perfect length for this type of plot. Was it the fact that S&K were no longer limited by publishers like DC, or maybe they had matured as comic artists during the time they spent in wartime service. Whatever the reason Simon and Kirby were now at their peak. This peak would last for about ten years and would produce work unmatched by anyone else. It would take a collaboration between Stan Lee and Jack Kirby to match it.

S #2 The Rescue of Robin Hood
Stuntman #2, June 1946, “The Rescue of Robin Hood”

One sign that Kirby wasn’t “pulling any punches” on Stuntman was the return of the double page splash. This layout device was once an important part of S&K work on Captain America, but it was infrequently used during S&K years at DC. But the double spread would return for each Stuntman issue. But only too complete Stuntman comics would be published. A completed double page splash meant for Stuntman #3 would not see print. There was a fourth double spread apparently just in the middle of being ink when work was abruptly terminated. Stuntman is completely inked, other figures partially done and another still in the outline form.

As previously mentioned, Stuntman and Boy Explorers were caught in a post-war comic book glut. With the end of paper rationing, publishers and printers went wild and an over abundance of comic books hit the newstands. It was just too much, many comics would be returned without ever having been put on the racks. New comics like Stuntman didn’t get much of a chance. Only two issues of Stuntman were distributed. A third issue was sent to subscribers but it was one fourth the size of a normal comic, printed without colors, and was short in page count. Completed but as yet used work would eventually be put in Green Hornet Comics about a year later. Even so there maybe two Stuntman stories that have never been published. Unfortunately it appears that the art work for these stories is no longer together.

Unpublished Stuntman
Unpublished Stuntman

All the Stuntman stories that had been made all seem a pretty coherent group. However an ad in Stuntman #2 announced the coming of Stuntgirl and Stuntboy. I suspect that Sandra Sylvan would become Stuntgirl, but I have no idea where the boy would come from. Frankly it is hard to imagine how stories with this threesome would be like. Unfortunately we will never know.

S #2 ad
Stuntman #2, June 1946

John Prentice, usual suspect #3

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Posted 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
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.

Crime Does Pay

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Posted in 2006/05, 5 Studio, Anthologies, Periods, Prize, z Archive.

After returning from war service, Simon and Kirby made a deal with Al Harvey to produce Stuntman and Boy Explorers comics. Because of the post-war glut of comics, this venture was short lived. Both comics were cancelled but Harvey would eventually use work that was already produced in both Green Hornet and Black Cat Comics. Joe and Jack then did a variety of work for publisher Hillman, funny animals (“Earl the Rich Rabbit” and “Lockjaw the Alligator”), adventure (“The Flying Fool”), teenage humor (“My Date Comics”) and crime (for “Real Clue Crime Stories”). They did a surprisingly good job on the funny animal stories. But their efforts were probably lost on the younger audience for that type of comics and they must have realized that it was not their forte. The adventure and teen humor were more suited to their style but other publishers already dominated those areas. However the crime stories were even a better match for them and at that time it was a popular genre. The only problem was that their work for Hillman appears to have been work for hire, and they wanted something more.

Headline Comics #23

So S&K made a deal with Prize Publications to produce a crime comic for a share of the profits. This would be the first of a number of deals where Joe and Jack would do produce the artwork for the entire comic with Prize handling the printing and distribution ends. Prize already had a bi-monthly hero anthology called “Headline Comics”. Headline was a pretty good title for a crime comic and perhaps it was not doing all that well, so it was converted to crime. The expected cover date for issue #23 was delayed two months for a March 1947 crime issue. Unlike their previous deal with Harvey, initial work was pretty much a solo Simon & Kirby effort with Jack doing all the pencils. With both work for Hillman and Prize going on at the same time, this resulted in a incredible page count, over 60 pages a month (in September alone it was 139). In fact this rate is so high, and the preceding months so low, that I suspect that much of it was done well before actual publication. If that is true then Joe and Jack probably already had decided to pitch a crime comic package before working for Hillman. Joe says when they wanted to make a proposal to a publisher they would do the entire comic first. That way if a publisher liked the idea but did not want to hire them to do it they could still get it out before him by finding another publisher.

Justice Traps The Guilty #1

There are two signs that a comic was a success. One is that goes monthly and the other is that a spin-off is made. S&K’s Young Romance must have been very popular because it did both. Black Magic went monthly but never did a spin-off, unless you consider the short lived Strange World of Your Dreams as such. Headline did not go monthly, but S&K and Prize did launch Justice Traps The Guilty (October 1947). Guilty was also a bi-monthly and alternated in the schedule with Headline. If this was not enough work for Simon and Kirby, after Headline they had also been pitching the first romance comic which came out in September. This was an awful lot of work, even for Jack. But it was never the intention of S&K to do all the art themselves, so they began to field out work to other artists. For instance Bill Draut (usual suspect #1) returns with “G-Man Trap” in the first Justice Traps The Guilty. Joe and Jack had finally succeeded in going from comic book artists to comic book producers.

Headlive Comics #37

Now that the Simon and Kirby studio was up and running, Jack’s penciling efforts were generally directed to the latest launched product. At this time Kirby continued to provide the pencils for all the covers. There were some good artists working for them, but Jack was still the star. But Young Love #2 (April 1949) had the first non-Kirby cover, a photograph. Soon the other comics followed; Headline #36 (July), Young Romance #13 (September) and Justice Traps the Guilty #12 (October). The romance photographs seemed to be supplied by various agencies, but S&K had a hand in at least some of the enactments of the crime photo covers since Jack appears on Headline #37 September 1949). But photograph covers did not last long for the Prize crime comics, the last one for Guilty #17 (August 1950) and for Headline was #43 (September 1950). With the end of photo covers we have the return of Kirby covers, but not for long. Headline #45 January 1951) was the last one Jack did for that crime title. As for Justice Traps the Guilty Jack’s last cover appears on #23 (February 1951). However Guilty #20 has a cover by some other artist (probably Marvin Stein). Headline #46 has postal statement listing Nevin Fiddler as the magazine’s editor. The contents changed also since the artists normally supplying art to S&K productions started to disappear from these crime comics. It would appear that Simon and Kirby were no longer producing Headline and Justice Traps the Guilty. Both comics would have a long history after S&K, with Marvin Stein frequently doing the covers. But it just wasn’t the same.

Headline Comics #51

The First Romance Comic

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Posted in 2006/04, 5 Studio, Art of Romance, First Romance, Hillman, Periods, Prize, Serial Posts, Topic, z Archive.

I have seen some different proposals as to what was the first romance comic. It seems to me that these proposals were based on a superficial basis. If the comic title sounds good or the cover art look romantic, then it was a romance. A sort of judging the book by its cover. But a cover or title might make a teenage girl comic reader look at the issue, but it was the content that would determine if the sale would be made. To be called a romance comic, the contents must be romance. The romance genre is very recognizable, but it is the story that determines if a comic belongs to that genre not the title or cover.

Young Romance Comics

Young Romance #1

One of the contenders for the first comic romance is Simon & Kirby’s Young Romance. The first issue is dated September 1947. The stories in it are from the start typical for romance comics. I could describe any story from the first issue and it would easily be recognized as a romance story. But because one of the other contenders is a long story, I wanted to select a longer story to provide a better comparison. I have chosen “Bride Of The Star” from In Love #1 published by Mainline Simon & Kirby’s company (September 1954). Every so often Simon and Kirby seemed to have an interest in working in a longer comic format. This story is 20 pages long and was penciled by Jack Kirby.

In Love #1

In Love #1 page

A young lady nearly gets beaned with a baseball. This becomes the first meeting between the new rookie Warren and Patty, who just happens to be the daughter of the teams owner. Romance and then marriage follows. But having the father-in-law as the teams owner brings in difficulty. Warren insists in not getting special treatment. Betty stays home as the team travels and follows her husband’s progress, or lack thereof using newspapers. Warren is not doing well as a pitcher, wants to be sent back to the minors and resents that his special relationship with the owner is the only reason he hasn’t been. Eventually Warren leaves both baseball and Patty. Sometime latter Warren returns to pick up his things. During a discussion with Patty, Warren wants to know if she still loves him. Patty says she wants to love him and it is not important that he is not a big star. But Warren has changed, before he wouldn’t accept defeat, now he was a quitter. Warren stays, the owner/father has a medical breakdown, and Warren helps Patty run the team. The team’s pitching staff all have injuries so Warren decides to step in and pitch. He declares he has kept himself in training. His pitching wins the game. Warren tells Patty that winning the game was not that important, it was winning her respect that mattered. Obviously their love has returned as the story ends with a kiss.

Kirby always seemed to have to add action to his love stories and this one is not an exception. Even so this story is a true romance. The whole story is told from Patty’s viewpoint. When Warren is on the road, we stay home with Patty. The only scenes of playing baseball are when Patty is there to cheer Warren on. In fact that cheering is every as bit important to the story as Warren’s pitching. The theme throughout the story is the ups and downs of the romance, everything else take supporting roles. There can be no doubt that this belongs in the romance genre.

My Date

My Date #1

A number of people have proposed that My Date Comics was the first romance comic. The cover date for the first issue is July 1947, two months before Young Romance #1. But let us take a look at one of the stories from My Date #1, “My Date With Swifty Chase” by our intrepid artists Simon and Kirby.

MD #1 My Date With Swifty Chase

It starts with Swifty pining over Sunny Daye, while Sunny is swooning over a photo of Humphrey Hogart, while Hollywood mogul B. O. confronts Humphrey insisting that he cannot marry the actress Chandra. We next find Swifty trying out his new jet propelled car, which ends in crash. Swifty is all right, but with his vehicle is in shambles and he has lost a means to impress Sunny. Later at the garage that he works, he is told to deliver a car to Sunny’s father. But instead of great opportunity he finds Sunny is only interested in the actor Humphrey. Back at the garage, a customer shows Swifty his disabled car, only Swifty realizes that the customer is Humphrey who turns out is on his way to marry Chandra. Humphrey needs a couple of witnesses, so Swifty goes to get Sunny. Sunny’s father overhears talk of elopement and calls the police. After the wedding Swifty then decides to take Humphrey and his new bride back to talk to Hollywood Mogul B. O. A rival for the affections of Sunny chases after them but in the end Swifty seems at last to have won over Sunny.

There can be little doubt that this is not a romance story, but instead is S&K’s take on Archie. That is it is essentially a teen humor comic. Some of the supporters of My Date as the first romance accept this, but point to one feature, “My Date”, that is an illustrated story about an unusual date that someone supposedly sent in. So let us take a look at the “My Date” feature from My Date #4. I don’t know who the artist is, but he did a great job.

MD #4 My Date

It opens in a soda shop where charismatic Harry and fumbling Bill have taken notice of the beautiful Mary. Harry gets Bill to introduce him to Mary. While Bill goes to order some sodas, Harry asks Mary to the dance. Mary says she was hoping Bill would ask her. Harry tells Mary she doesn’t have to decide now and then rushes off with her on a bus, leaving Bill behind. Bill catches up, and is about to ask Mary to go to the dance, when Harry pulls him aside and tells him that Mary has agreed to go to the dance with him (Harry). Harry suggests that Bill buy a corsage for Mary to take to the dance. Bill agrees and returns to Mary’s house with the corsage. Mary interprets the gesture as an indication that Bill wants to take Mary. Bill says he would not want to get between her and Harry. Mary gets upset with Harry’s tactics and cancels the date with him. We end with Harry finding Bill and Mary at the dance together.

Once again this is more like teen humor then a romance story. The My Date feature in the other issues are similar. My Date Comics may have a title that suggests to some that it is a romance comic, but the contents show that this series is not part of the romance genre.

Romantic Picture Novelettes

Romantic Picture Novelette

What is put forward as an even earlier contender for the first romance comic is Romantic Picture Novelettes. The title sounds like a romance and the cover art looks like a romance. The inside front cover has a photo of the “Romantic John Hodiak” and the inside back cover one of the “Romantic Alan Ladd”. The comic itself packages a story from the syndication strip called Mary Worth. Mary Worth started in 1938 and is still published today, making it the longest running continuity strip. The best description for what this strip is about it that it is a comic page soap opera. Mary Worth is an elderly, rather dowdy, lady. Although the strip carries her name, it is really about the lives of people who Mary knows. What this syndicate feature is not, however, is a romance. But with the range of story subjects in the newspaper Mary Worth strips, could Romantic Picture Novelettes be a selection of a romance story? Well the contents can be described as a picture novelette since it is 46 pages long. But is it a romance?

RPN #1 page

The veiled Senora Lisa De Leon arrives at the office of the talented Dr. Karen Ward. Lisa wants Dr. Ward to perform some mysterious treatment. Dr. Ward is reluctant but agrees when Lisa proposes to endow a charity hospital. Dr. Ward gets Mary Worth to give Lisa a room during the treatment. But Lisa makes Mary promise to reveal to no one anything about herself or her treatment. When Lisa arrives at Mary Worth’s place, others try to pry into Lisa’s affairs, but to no avail. We readers however finally get a chance to see Lisa’s face. But there is nothing noticeably remarkable about it so we are still left to wonder why she hides it under a veil all the time. Dr. Worth begins the treatment at Lisa’s room. Lisa’s face becomes bandaged, but we still are not told about the true nature of the treatment. Meanwhile a Micheal Jonesy has returned from the war with a leg injury. There is a chance meeting between Michael and the veiled Lisa in the park. Friendship follows, which blossoms into something more. Michael asks Lisa to lift her veil, but Lisa is uncertain and tells Michael to return the next day for her answer. Dr. Ward visits Lisa and the bandages finally come off. When we finally get to see her face, it turns out that she now appears much younger. The treatment was some sort of plastic surgery! Lisa meets Michael in the park, now unveiled, a romance develops, sealed so to speak, with a kiss. But Michael becomes concerned that because of his injured leg, what Lisa feels is actually pity. He agrees to go to Dr. Ward for treatment and if that is successful he will then marry Lisa. Dr. Ward and Mary Worth become concern about the age difference between Michael and Lisa. Apparently the treatment will only last about 5 years, then Lisa will appear even older. Lisa insists that both Mary and the Dr. keep her secret. Michael’s treatment is successful and they set the date to be married. Now enters a new person, an elderly gentlemen named Sabin whose marriage to Lisa was stopped many years ago by her father, but who still loves her. Business takes him to the same town as the rest of the cast. He accidentally sees Lisa, recognizes her but becomes upset because it obviously can’t be her since she is too young. During a meeting between Lisa and Sabin her secret is now revealed. Michael has overheard it all, but still wants to marry Lisa. Lisa now realizes her mistake, declines and goes off with Sabin.

So is this romance? There is a kiss in the middle of the book and the romance between Michael and Lisa is an important part of the story. But that is just it, the romance is part of, but not the central theme of the story. A lot of pages are spent in the mysterious treatment, which is only revealed half way through. More pages are spent on Mary Worth and Dr. Ward’s concerns about the age difference and their promise to keep Lisa secret. Part of the story is about the attempt of noisy neighbors to intrude on the secret. And although Lisa goes off with Sabin, there is no declaration of love from her for Sabin, nor a kiss between the two. In short, this is a soap opera no different from typical story lines from the Mary Worth newspaper syndication. It is not part of the romance genre.

There are two requirements for a comic to be considered the earliest romance. Above I dealt with one of the requirements, that the contents of the comic be stories of the romance genre. But I would also like to add a comment on the second criteria, that the comic have an early date of publication. A close examination of Romantic Picture Novelettes has failed to reveal any publication or copyright dates, in fact I could not find a copyright at all. The indice only lists the publisher, Magazine Enterprises and an address. ME was created by Vincent Sullivan and was in business from 1943 to 1958. I am sure that the dates for when the story first appeared in the newspaper syndication could be determine. But that would only provide a minimal date, there is no reason to believe that the comic was published at the same time as the newspaper story finished. Frankly I find it rather surprising that so many have sited the 1946 date for this comic without explaining where it came from. But let me make it clear, that the date of Romantic Picture Novelettes is of secondary importance. It is not the earliest romance comic because it is not a romance comic at all.

I hope the conclusion I draw is very clear. The romance comic is a very distinct genre. This was true over the many years that this particular comic form survived. When I look at My Date Comics or Romantic Picture Novelettes what I find does not match the romance genre. One is teen humor the other a pictorial soap opera. When I look at stories in Young Romance #1 I find a perfect match. A romance comic reader from the final days of romance comics, would find Young Romance #1 a bit old fashion. But they would have no trouble recognizing it for what it was, that is the first romance comic. Could My Date or Romantic Picture Novelettes be considered prototypes? Even here I have to say no, not really. The best prototype for Young Romance #1 is just what Joe Simon said they got their inspiration, romance pulp magazines. Romance pulps were very popular at that time and provided just the proper guidance for what romance readers would want.

When I googled on Mary Worth I found the results rather interesting. It is not surprising that there are a number of pages on Mary Worth. But it is a bit surprising that all these references to Mary Worth describe it as a graphic soap opera, none describe it as a romance. As for Romantic Picture Novelette I found a couple of significant references. Dan Stevenson has a list of “All the Romance Comics Ever Published (?)”. At the bottom is a special category for comics excluded because “they are not felt to be true Romance Comics”. In that list are both My Date and Romantic Picture Novelettes. There is also a blog by Raphe Cheli dedicated solely to romance comics. On September 4, 2005 he has a posting called Revisionist History. In it he discusses both My Date and Romantic Picture Novelettes and comes to the conclusion that they aren’t romance comics. (Update: For some reason the Revisionist History entry has become unstable, if you follow the link you may not get the entire post)

Why the continuing insistence that Young Romance is not the first comic? I have no good explanation. It doesn’t seem based on the opinions of scholars of romance comics. Nor is it based on an examination of the contents of the comics in question. Even the publication date for Romantic Picture Novelettes of 1946 is used without explanation.

The Art of Romance, Chapter 1, A New Genre
(Young Romance #1 – #4)

Mort Meskin, the usual suspect #2

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Posted in 2006/04, 4 DC (early), 5 Studio, 6 Mainline, Artists, Meskin, Mort, Periods, Prize, Prize, z Archive.

I gather that Mort Meskin is most famous for the work he did during the war. I’ve seen some of his Golden Lad covers and they are quite good. Because my main interest is in Simon and Kirby, I don’t have access to very much of the early Meskin material. However Mort worked at National Comics at the same time as Simon & Kirby, and fortunately some of the Adventure Comics have stories by Meskin. So I have some examples, including the splash page below (“Hitch A Wagon To The Stars”) from Adventure #82 with inking by George Roussos. Even at this time Mort had developed a reputation for being a rapid and prolific comic book artist. There is a story about Jack Kirby and Mort Meskin working side by side at DC each working on a rush job. And how their efforts resulting in a crowd gathering to watch both of them. By that time Jack was already well known, but many now began to take note of Mort’s talent.

Adventure #82 Starman
Adventure #82 (January 1943) Starman by Mort Meskin and George Roussos

Mort Meskin’s first contributions for a S&K production were some stories done with Jerry Robinson in Young Romance #6 (see below) and Justice Traps The Guilty #5 both July 1948. It appears to me that most of the penciling was done by Jerry while Mort’s contribution was largely inking.

YR #6 Inferior Male

Over a year later Meskin appears without Robinson as the penciler in Young Romance #16 and Real West Romances #5 both from December 1949. Once started Meskin would be frequently used not only for romance (Young Romance, Young Love, Young Brides and In Love), but also in crime (Headline, Justice Traps the Guilty and Police Trap) and horror (Black Magic).

Young Love #66

As Joe Simon tells the story in “The Comic Book Makers” initially when Mort was supplied with scripts he was unable to do the work. Joe then suggested that Mort should work in the S&K studio. Even in this environment Mort seemed to suffer from “artist’s block”. Then Joe hit on the idea of penciling some random marks on Mort’s page. No longer faced with a blank page, Mort was back to being a rapid penciler. As Joe tells the story, from then on every mourning it was someone’s responsibility to add those first random markings to Mort’s blank art boards. Mort was very prolific and did not seem to work exclusively for the S&K studio. During the period from January 1951 to January 1953 (cover dates) Mort actually produced more pages of art for the S&K studio then Jack Kirby did. Now this is not a completely fair comparison since Jack had more responsibility in the studio then just penciling. On the other hand the inking of Kirby pencils seemed to have been done by more then one hand, while as far as I can tell Meskin did all the inking for his own art at this time. Joe Simon once said about Mort’s work at the Simon & Kirby studio “He was probably the fastest, most inspired artist in the room, and certainly one of the most dependable.” Remember Jack was in that studio also, so this is no small praise.

Simon & Kirby Studio

That’s Mort “passing gas” in the center, along with Jack looking like he is about to hurl himself at the photographer. Joe looks amused by it all in the front. Jim Infantino and Ben Oda (letterer extraordinaire) are on the right but I have forgotten who that is on the left. I am not sure of the exact date for this photo, but Jim Infantino has a signed piece of work (“Let’s Talk Fashion”) in Young Romance #39 (cover date November 1951). Jim only worked for S&K for a relatively short time, so 1951 or 1952 is a good guess for the date of the photograph.

SWYD #1 The Dreaming Tower

Mort Meskin does not seem to get much attention nowadays. Even among the S&K artists he can easily be overlooked. He doesn’t have Kirby’s expressive and powerful drawing. Nor are his women as beautiful as those done by Bill Draut. Finally his comic art is not as realistic as John Prentice’s (usual suspect #3 who I will post on later). I admit when I first encountered Mort Meskin’s work I was not particularly impressed. But over time I began to realize that his strength was in his story telling. Often it is very unobtrusive. As you read Meskin’s work you may not even realize how he is manipulating what he is presenting. But if you have any doubts about how effectively he does it, take a look at the at the above page from “The Dreaming Tower” in Strange World of Your Dreams #1. The scenes he presents are rather ordinary. But the way he depicts them and his use of black gives the page an eerie effect that is just what the story needs. Kirby is one of the best story tellers, but he has never done anything like this. I am not saying that Mort was a better story teller then Jack. Just that each had their own unique approach.

By the way according to Joe, Strange World of Your Dreams owed its creation to Mort Meskin. In fact Mort is listed as an Associate Editor for the series. No other comic produced by Simon and Kirby have anyone other then Joe and Jack listed as an editor.

Sometime after the failure of S&K’s Mainline (about January 1955), the S&K studio disbanded. But I am still not sure if that happened at the same time as Mainline’s failure or if the studio lasted longer. Certainly by 1957 there was no studio since in that year Jack was doing work for DC without Joe. The last work Mort did for S&K was in Young Love #68 (cover date December 1955). Since Mort had been working in the S&K bullpen, perhaps about September 1955 marks the end of the studio also.

Mort Meskin has been nominated for the Eisner Hall of Fame this year. Although four artist will win that honor, there are some other impressive artists that were nominated (such as Jim Steranko). Fans don’t seem to talk about Meskin very much, so I despair that Mort will not receive enough votes. But if anyone deserves to belong in any comic Hall of Fame it sure would be Mort Meskin. There is an wonderful web site on him by his sons with an excellent biography. I really advise a careful visit. In particular be sure to read “The Second Comic Career of Mort Meskin” by Dylan Williams which is in the Comics section.

Ken Riley, The Forgotten Comic Book Artist

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Posted in 2006/04, 5 Studio, Artists, Harvey, Periods, Prize, Riley, Ken, z Archive.

After returning from military service, Simon and Kirby made a deal with Al Harvey to produce some comics. Jack would draw Stuntman and the Boy Explorers. Joe worked on the Duke of Broadway, Vagabond Prince and Kid Adonis. As I mentioned in a previous post, S&K created some series for Bill Draut (The Furnished Room, Calamity Jane and the Demon). They also created a series “Danny Dixon, Navy Cadet” for Boy Explorers to be done by an artist by the name of Ken Riley. Even hard core S&K scholars would probably respond with: who? Ken Riley was a Coast Guard combat artist for the war who Joe met during their joint service in Washington. But perhaps it would more accurate to call Danny Dixon an intended series as Boy Explores was one of the victims of a comic glut at that time. Only one issue was distributed to news stands. The second issue, sent to subscribers only, was very reduced in size and printed in black and white.

Boy Explorers #1

Boy Explorers #1 (May 1946) “The Lesson In Room 303”
Boy Explorers #2 (September 1946) “The Loaded Oyster Bed”
Black Cat #4 (February 1947) “The Imitation Atlas”
Black Cat #5 (April 1947) “Adventure, South American Style”
Black Cat #6 (July 1947) “The Loaded Oyster Bed” (reprint)

But Ken returned to do at least one story for Young Love #3 (June 1949) “Match Makers”. Here his work is more polished then in Danny Dixon. Since he already was a accomplished artist, this was probably because the romance format allowed him to use a more realistic approach. I think he did a real nice job of that story. Joe still has the original art for the splash page. Much of the fine inking quality was lost in the printing of the comic.

Young Love #3

apparently Riley did not stay in comics for long. Later he did some illustration work for Saturday Evening Posts, Life and National Geographic. I’ve also seen cover art for the book “The African Queen” that was said to have been done by a Ken Riley in 1949. Ken turned to fine arts and moved out west. The paintings I have seen by him are all of Native Americans.

Ken Riley did not sign his comic work. There may be more of it remaining to be identified. The only reason for attributing the above works to Ken are margin notes on some original art and discussions with Joe Simon. Ken Riley did not have much of a comic career, but it did come at a pivotal time at the start of the Simon and Kirby studio after the war. However the real reason I posted this is that his comic work has all but been forgotten. Comics find no place in the biographies of Riley that I have read. In comics histories, the only mention of Ken that I have found was in “The Mainline Comics Story: An Initial Examination” in The Jack Kirby Collector #25 written by Robert Beerbohm (unfortunately misspelling Ken’s name as Reilly). Ken truly was a forgotten comic artist, it just seems a shame for that to remain the case.

Bill Draut (usual suspect #1)

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Posted in 2006/04, 5 Studio, 6 Mainline, Artists, Draut, Bill, Harvey, In Love, Periods, Prize, z Archive.

In previous posts I mention three artists that did a lot of work for the S&K studio over a long period of time. Because of the frequent appearance in S&K productions, I often refer to them as the usual suspects. In this post I would like to write about Bill Draut, the first of the usual suspects to work for the studio. During the war Joe Simon served in the Coast Guard. Joe spent a good part of this service in Washington working as a Coast Guard artist. One of the other artist who worked with Simon was friends with Bill Draut, then in the marines. When Joe got to know Draut he told him that after the war Bill should look him up in New York. When Joe rejoined Jack Kirby after the war, they made a deal with Harvey to produce Stuntman and Boy Explorers. Bill Draut joined in this effort and his first comic book work appeared in Stuntman #1. As part of their work with Harvey, Simon and Kirby would create comic series to be done by other artists. For Bill they developed The Furnished Room, Calamity Jane, and The Demon. Unfortunately Stuntman and Boy Explorers got caught in a comic glut, and were discontinued after a very few issues. But Draut’s contribution, the Furnished Room and Calamity Jane, would reappear in other Harvey comics about a year later. They probably represent unused material from the cancelled comics.

The Furnished Room

The Furnished Room was the first to be published appearing in Stuntman #1 in April 1946 (all dates for comics are cover dates). As was pointed out by Stan Taylor, this series was a S&K’s take on the popular syndication strip Mary Worth. The Furnished Room was essentially a soap opera with an elderly dowdy lady (this series version of Mary Worth). This dowdy lady would generally play a more peripheral part in the stories. The real stories were about the people who rented rooms from her. Because of the lack of superheroes, the Furnished Room may have been a little out of place in Stuntman but the series was really well done. The Furnished Room had a short run, all done by Bill Draut:

Stuntman #1 (April 1946) “The Furnished Room”

Stundman #2 (June 1946) “Triangular Troubles”

Green Hornet #37 |(January 1948) “The Smiling Salesman”

Green Hornet #38 (March 1948) “The Furnished Room” (reprint)

Calamity Jane

For Boys Explorer S&K created Calamity Jane which Draut would draw. This series were about a hardboiled detective who happened to be a female. The source for this idea seems to have been what is now called film noire. But in those movies the detective was a man, and women just played supporting rolls. The stories are presented as told by Calamity to the artist Draut. This was another good series which unfortunately did not last long, only three stories. But there is a story by Draut in Justice Traps the Guilty #3 that appears to be a reworked Calamity Jane. The detective was now named Ruth Lang, but a supporting character (the cabbie called Hack) remained unchanged. I previously posted on editorial changes Joe Simon did on one of the Calamity Jane stories.

Boy Explorers #1 (May 1946) “The Case Of The Hapless Hackie”

Green Hornet #35 (August 1947) “The Fat Tuesday”

Green Hornet #36 (November 1947) “The Man Who Met Himself”

Justice Traps The Guilty #3 (March 1948) “My Strangest Crime Case”

The Demon

The Demon was first published in Black Cat #4 (February 1947). The full title of the series is “His Honor the Demon”. The Demon has a rather unusual origin in that the hero is a judge frustrated because the law sometimes is helpless in finding and punishing the guilty. After one such case of a murdered man, he decides to investigate on his own. At one point he wears the same costume that the murdered victim was wearing at a party when he got killed. The judge did this in an attempt flush out the murderer. After a successful conclusion to this case, the judge decides to continue his extra-legal efforts using the same costume of a red demon. Again Bill was the only artist to work on this short run series.

Black Cat #4 (February 1947) “Double Trouble”

Black Cat #5 (April 1947) “The Man Who Didn’t Know His Own Strength”

Black Cat #6 (July 1947) “The Midnight Killer” (origin story)

Black Cat #7 (August 1947) “Too Cold For Crime”

In Love #4

After those failed series, Bill Draut continued to work for the Simon & Kirby studio. Although he did provide some crime (Headline and Justice Traps The Guilty) and horror (Black Magic) work, most of the stories he did was for romance comics (Young Romance, Young Love, Young Brides and In Love). I previously posted on an unpublished Artist and Model cover that he did. His style seems very conducive to romance work. His women have beautiful eyes with simple but effective eyebrows. But Bill’s simple eyebrows seem more awkward on his men. Strong action did not seem to be Draut’s forte, but that was not an issue for the love stories. He was gifted enough of an artist and observant enough of the S&K style, that one of the covers he did (Young Brides #21) has been attributed to Jack by the Kirby Checklist.

Young Brides #21

Joe Simon has always maintained that he and Jack encouraged their artists to sign their work. Bill Draut does seem to have taken advantage of that and often added his signature to his earlier work. Later his stopped signing his material but his style is still easily recognizable. Draut does not seem as productive as the other usual suspects (Mort Meskin and John Prentice). As far as I know during his association with the S&K studio, he worked for them exclusively. When the studio disbanded in the mid 50’s Jack and Joe continued as editors for Young Romance with Kirby penciling a story in most issues. But for whatever reason, Bill Draut did not do any work for those Young Romance comics. I am not sure what Bill did in the late 50’s but he seems to have stayed in comics. When Joe Simon produced some hero comics for Harvey in the mid 60’s, Bill Draut would pencil some stories. I also know he did some work for DC at that time. His work seemed delegated to lesser profile series and I don’t think his style was very popular in the 60’s.