Category Archives: 4 DC (early)

Oversized Kirby

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Posted in 2006/07, 4 DC (early), Featured Work, Periods, Topic, z Archive.

Adventure #73
Adventure #73 (April 1942) by Jack Kirby

In my recent serial post, The Art of Joe Simon, I discussed and gave a number of examples of Joe Simon’s use of oversized figures on covers. As a rule Jack Kirby did not seem to have any interest in this sort of compositional device. But there are exceptions (and no I do not believe they prove the rule). When Simon and Kirby began to work for DC Jack did do two covers that used an oversized Manhunter (Adventure #73 and #79). Had Jack seen Joe’s use of this device and wanted to try his own hand at it? Or is is possible that Joe did the layout for these covers? In “The Jack FAQ” page 3 Mark Evanier states

During the Simon-Kirby days, Joe Simon did the bulk of the cover designs. (Jack regarded Joe as the best designer of covers the industry has ever seen, though that was by no means the only talent Joe had.)

It is not clear what Mark’s source is for the statement about Joe doing most of the cover layouts. I will decline to provide my own opinion on this issue of layouts. Beliefs are great but they should be backed up with evidence. I feel evidence that can be used to determine who did what layouts is largely lacking. We do have Simon covers from before the S&K team-up, but unfortunately we do not have Kirby covers from the same period. During the time of their collaboration we do not have credits like those that appeared during the Silver Age of comics. I do not believe that it is convincing to use covers done after the breakup as evidence for what was done prior. So as I said we seem to have a lack of evidence.

Despite the many years of Simon and Kirby collaboration to come, these two covers seem to be the only examples of Kirby drawing oversized figures on a cover. But as we saw in previous posts, Simon did return in later years to this compositional technique.

Adventure #79
Adventure #79 (October 1942) by Jack Kirby

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

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Posted in 2006/07, 4 DC (early), 6 Mainline, 7 Freelance, Harvey, Periods, Prize, Serial Posts, z Archive.

After “48 Famous Americans” S&K entered a period of abundant work mainly producing crime, horror and romance genre comics. As far as I can tell, Joe did not pencil anything during this period. I say that rather hesitantly. While working on my serial post “The End of Simon and Kirby” I reexamined a lot of S&K material. Suddenly I realize one story that I always thought as drawn by Kirby and was listed in the Jack Kirby Checklist had actually been done by Joe Simon. It seemed pretty obvious and I was quite surprised that I did not notice it before. I will discuss this story below but the point is if I had missed that work by Simon I might have missed others.

Adventure #75
Adventure #75 (June 1942) “Beware of Mr. Meek” by Jack Kirby

Fighting American #6
Fighting American #6 February 1955) “Deadly Doolittle” by Joe Simon

When we approach the end of the Simon and Kirby collaboration, work penciled by Joe reappears. However in some cases saying Joe is the artist depends on you think what makes someone the creator of a piece. In his book “The Comic Book Makers” Joe describes an incident where S&K got caught by Prize for reusing old romance art with new scripting. So far I have not found the stories that Joe is talking about. But in Fighting American #6 (February 1955) there is a story “Deadly Doolittle” that clearly was redone from “Beware of Mr. Meek” a Manhunter story from Adventure #75 (June 1942). But the FA story was not made by reworking stats from the older comic to change the uniforms, rather the entire story was redrawn. Much of this was done to remove some older layout techniques that Simon and Kirby no longer used. Early in their collaboration parts of figures would frequently extend well beyond the panel edges entering other panels. The FA story was redrawn so that things remained in their panels. But this was not done by just eliminating the parts outside of the original panels but by recomposing the panel instead. I find Simon’s touch in all of this work. It is particularly interesting to see Joe redo some of Jack’s classic socko punches. Joe tries valiantly but does not quite succeed in capturing Jack’s effect. I find a lot of Simon touch in this story and all the Kirby effects seem to be transmitted through Joe’s sensibilities.

Cockeyed #4
Cockeyed #4 (April 1956) “Guys and Dolls” by Joe Simon
Enlarged view

The last piece of worked signed jointly as Simon and Kirby is the unusual “Guys and Dolls” that appeared in the Mad-takeoff Cockeyed #4 (April 1956). This is included in the Jack Kirby Checklist, although I really cannot say why. The art looks much closer to cover work that Joe would do later for Sick then anything I have seen Jack do. Further the visual humor looks like Joe’s and does not seem to match Jack’s humor work. For me the most convincing evidence is that this works appears to have been done with an air brush. Joe Simon was a master with this tool having learned it while working for a newspaper at the beginning of his career. He would return to using it for not only the Sick covers but also for some of his advertisement work. I have seen nothing that indicates Jack had done any air brush art.

Alarming Tales #1
Alarming Tales #1 (September 1957) by Joe Simon

I doubt many would say that the figure in the flying chair and the background from the cover of Alarming Tales #1 (September 1957) were done by Jack Kirby. I clearly see Joe’s touch and believe he did this cover. But I can see why many see Kirby’s presence in the bottom part of the cover. I feel Joe did this portion also but he is swiping or mimicking Jack for parts of it. I presented a color image in a chapter of the “End of Simon and Kirby”. But the coloring makes it difficult to clearly see the figures, so above I provide a restoration of the line art. To me the lady on the left and the man looking out of his car seem to a have Kirby look to them. But the man pointing (third from right) and the man on the far right look more like the work of Simon.

Black Cat #60
Black Cat Mystic #60 (November 1957) by Joe Simon

Not long after Alarming Tales #1, Joe did a cover for Black Cat Mystic #60 (November 1957). Notice the similarity of the man with the two from the AT #1 cover.

Black Cat #60
Black Cat Mystic #60 (November 1957) “The Woman Who Discovered America 67 Years Before Columbus” by Joe Simon

Black Cat Mystic #60 has the story drawn by Joe Simon that I mentioned at the beginning of this post. This short (2 pages) story is listed in the Jack Kirby Checklist, but as I said I now disagree with that attribution. We have in this work Joe mimicking Jack quite successfully. The men have a Kirby-ish look but a careful examination of the eyebrows reveal the more simple form that Simon preferred. The woman also comes from a Kirby source, such as some of the unused covers for Black Magic #1. But the woman’s eyes give away the fact that this was Joe’s pencil work. The hand of the woman in the splash panel is not drawn the way that Kirby would have done it. I am sure some will say that some panels of the second page of the Mayans were done by Jack. But I suspect even this includes subjects that were drawn from art history sources that both Joe and Jack used.

Alarming Tales #4
Alarming Tales #4 (March 1958) by Joe Simon

Covers begin to appear at this time where Joe seems to abandon any attempt of mimicking Kirby. I provide an image of Alarming Tales #4 (March 1958) as an example. Here we find a simpler style of drawing and inking that Joe will often use from here on. Once again Joe has adopts a new style.

Art by Joe Simon, Chapter 10, A History Lesson

Art by Joe Simon, Chapter 12, Covering the Fly

Art by Joe Simon, Chapter 8, Off to War

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Posted in 2006/07, 4 DC (early), Periods, Serial Posts, z Archive.

Star Spangled #21
Star Spangled #21 (June 1943) by Jack Kirby and Joe Simon

Joe Simon and Jack Kirby seemed to have been very successful working for DC. But there was a war on and they knew that sooner or later they would be drafted. They responded by going into hyper drive, producing stories and covers that could be published while they were in the service. Art produced during this time varied widely in quality. It would also appear that a variety of inkers were used. Most of this work seemed to have been penciled by Jack Kirby. However I suspect that some of it was penciled by someone else, perhaps Simon. Maybe the best example is from the cover to Star Spangled #21 (June 1943). The main image of the Newsboy Legion has a number of touches that look very much like the work of Kirby. But the floating head of the Guardian seems to have been done by Simon, particularly with his square jaw. Unfortunately the best examples to compare it with come from after the war. As for the rest of the examples I consider of questionable attribution, with the rush job that S&K were doing and the different inkers used, perhaps it would be unwise to try to resolve these credits right now.

Boy Commandos #12
Boy Commandos #12 (Fall 1945) by Joe Simon

What is really needed is some reference material that can be attributed to Joe based on independent evidence. Unfortunately while Joe and Jack collaborated neither one signed their efforts except at times jointly as Simon and Kirby. The next best thing to a signature appears to be found in Boy Commandos #12 (Fall 1945). During the war there were lots of comic covers and stories that depict the Navy or the Army Air Force, but the Coast Guard got little attention. Yet for BC #12 both the cover and an inside story highlighted the Coast Guard. Joe Simon’s war time service was done in the U.S. Coast Guard. There can be little doubt that these were created when Joe was in service. Since Jack was in the Army in Europe at that time, Joe must have done the penciling. When I presented Joe with a number of Boy Commandos cover restorations, he singled out BC #12 as one he did while serving in Washington DC. Joe said he did not ink it, which is easy to believe given its odd inking, particularly in the tree stump. Even so you can get an idea about how close Joe’s Boy Commandos could be to Jack’s efforts. Still there are differences between the two, particularly in the eyebrows. Note that Joe signed this cover as done by Simon and Kirby. Joe said he knew Jack would understand. Later when returning to work from the service before Joe, Jack would return the favor.

Boy Commandos #12
Boy Commandos #12 (Fall 1945) “Coast Guard Reconnaissance” by Joe Simon

The interior feature “Coast Guard Reconnaissance” provides interesting examples of Simon’s work. Since it is not a Boy Commandos story, Joe had no reason to try to mimic Kirby.

Adventure Is My Career
Adventure Is My Career (1945) page 15 by Joe Simon

But Boys Commando #12 is not the only comic work Simon did about the Coast Guard. Joe created an entire comic book for the U.S. Coast Guard called Adventure Is My Career. Here we are on even firmer ground because Joe gets a credit line and again Jack could not have been involved. No attempt is made here to copy Kirby, and no reason that such an effort should have been made. Even so some Kirby traits show up. On page 15 Joe draws a running figure with his sole turned toward the viewer. This is a device that Jack often used, we saw it before on the cover to Champion #9. Adventure Is My Career is a comic that is rarely seen. But it gives a good idea of what Joe could do when he was away from Jack. So let me close with another page.

Adventure Is My Career
Adventure Is My Career (1945) page 7 by Joe Simon

Art by Joe Simon, Appendix 1, Champ 22 Confirmed

Art by Joe Simon, Chapter 9, American Royalty

Art by Joe Simon, Chapter 7, Glaven

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Posted in 2006/07, 4 DC (early), Harvey Covers, Periods, Serial Posts, Topic, z Archive.

There were three Harvey comics from the same period as the Jon Henri covers that I did not include in my last chapter; Champ #22 (September 1942), Speed #22 (September) and Green Hornet #8 (August). To me they always seemed to be very different and previously I did not consider them as done by Simon and Kirby. However Speed #22 is included in the Jack Kirby Checklist and I understand that recently some have attributed Champ #22 to Joe Simon. I still say these three covers are stylistically distinct from the Jon Henri covers, but I now realize I erred in not believing them as work by Joe Simon.

In a footnote to chapter 2, I mentioned providing to Joe Simon copies of my restoration of two stories from Daring Mystery #2 (February 1940). One was signed as Gregory Sykes and Joe revealed that in high school he and his friends sometimes used another name and his was Gregory G. Sykes. But the conversation did not end there. Joe also said that as a comic book artist he thought he had used three pseudonyms. He knew two of them (Jon Henri and Gregory Sykes) but could not recall the third so he felt he might have been mistaken. As Joe did not remember these Daring Mystery stories at all, he began to read them with much interest. At one point Joe stopped and chuckled, he said that in the Phantom Bullet story he had used the name Nelson Glaven for one of the characters. Nelson Glaven was the alternate name for Ned Gibman, one of his high school friends. I did not say anything, but I immediately recognized the name Glaven.

The cover to Speed #22 was signed Glaven. I had never talked to Joe about this cover since I had already decided (incorrectly) that he did not do it. Still I always had thought it was an excellent piece of comic art and had wanted to know more about the artist. However my search for more information on Glaven always came up empty and I had concluded it was a pseudonym. Now Joe has provided the information to link him to the Glaven alias. Actually I should have known better when I previously felt that Speed #22 was the wrong style for Joe Simon. I have been saying for some time that Joe could and did adopt different styles.

Speed #22
Speed #22 (September 1942) by Joe Simon (signed Glaven)

Speed #22 is a great cover. The planes diving out of formation leading to a similarly diving Captain Freedom and then to a bomb is very effective. This sort of formal device and the more static layout it provides is not the sort of thing usually found in covers by Simon and Kirby. But Joe did experiment with different compositions from time to time and this apparently is an example of that. This cover is so different from other work by Simon that I cannot provide any drawing features to link this particular cover to Joe. However the inking is done with a brush in a manner very much like the inking of some of the Jon Henri covers, particularly the form lines on the airplanes and the boots.

Unfortunately I do not have scans for the covers of Champ #22 or Green Hornet #8. The Grand Comic Book Database (GCD) does have scans but I do not think it would be good web etiquette for me to link to the images directly so let me provide a link to the GCD. It might be easier to follow what I say if you open up some new windows and use them to get the images for Champ #22 and Green Hornet #8. Don’t worry, I’ll wait for you to get back.

Champ #22 signature
Champ #22 (September 1942) close-up of signature with close-up of Speed #22 for comparison

Unfortunately the GCD scan is has too low a resolution to clearly read it. I provide a blowup of the GCD scan and one from Speed #22 for comparison. I think Champ #22 may also been signed Glaven but it is hard to be sure. This issue is unique among the Champ covers we have examined in that the Human Meteor has replaced the Liberty Lads. The cover has the appearance of being constructed from a number of different swipes. The hooded foe in the lower right corner came from Lou Fine’s Wonderworld #7 cover. I do not have my own scan of that cover, but Comicartville does.

The lady being thrown into the pool seems unnatural. Her hair and general pose looks more like she is lying down rather then falling. I am sure she was taken from someplace. I cannot identify other swipes but that is not to say there were not any. The Human Meteor and his young sidekick both have large ears that are not quite placed on the head correctly. This unusual treatment of ears viewed from the back is also a characteristic of Jack Kirby at this time. But the anatomy and pose of the Human Meteor just does not otherwise look like Jack’s work. I am not bothered by Joe’s use of swipes, what is important is the story the cover tells. Unlike most of Joe’s covers, I am not at all clear what is supposed to be going on here. Is the Human Meteor attacking the hooded villains or trying to catch the falling woman? What type of sling-shot does the sidekick have and what is he doing with it? Have the heroes interrupted some evil ritual or did the villain push the woman into the pool as a response to the sudden appearance of the Human Meteor? It is this failure to clearly tell the story that for me makes this one of the Joe Simon’s poorer efforts.

Is the cover to Green Hornet #8 (August 1942) also by Joe? The two villains on the right are crudely done, but their cheeks and jowls remind me of the of the members of the circle on Speed #21 (except for the clown) which I have already attributed to Simon. Once again there seems to be signs of swiping. Although I cannot provide any source, the damsel in distress looks an awful lot like she was originally done by Will Eisner. Although not among my favorite Simon covers, it is an improvement over Champ #22. Here is a story that can be easily read. A crystal ball predicts a dim future for the chained woman. A fiendish pair was advancing with drawn daggers to insure the prediction would come true. That is until they were interrupted by our hero. The Green Hornet will save the day, assuming he is careful where he takes his next step. I like the touches of humor. The fiends arrive holding hands with the smaller one carrying his knife in his mouth. The cobwebs show up not only on the walls and floors, but also connects the robed figure to his staff. I guess my biggest problem with this cover is not that he swiped the figure of the woman, but that it appears that Joe changed her so little.

Simon and Kirby would do the last of these Harvey cover in October (Green Hornet #9). I do not accept Green Hornet #10 as a Simon and Kirby piece. Perhaps they became too busy to do any more. S&K were very successful at DC but with the war on they knew that sooner or later they would be drafted. Joe’s solo work during this war time period will be discussed in the next chapter.

Art by Joe Simon, Chapter 6, Jon Henri

Art by Joe Simon, Appendix 1, Champ 22 Confirmed

Art by Joe Simon, Chapter 6, Jon Henri

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Posted in 2006/07, 4 DC (early), Harvey Covers, Periods, Serial Posts, Topic, z Archive.

Champ #18
Champ #18 (May 1942) by Jack Kirby (signed Jon Henri)

Starting with a cover date of April 1942 and ending in October are a series of 13 Harvey covers that were obviously done by Simon and Kirby (Speed #17 to #21 and #23; Champ #18 to #21 and #23; and Green Hornet #7 and #9). I say obvious, because they were done at the same time as S&K were producing work for DC and all this work show Simon and Kirby forging their own unique style. But none of the Harvey covers are signed by Joe or Jack. Instead some bear the signature of Jon Henri. Joe has said that he came up with this name. Henry is Joe’s middle name and he liked Jon so much that one of his son’s has it as a middle name. But the presence of the Jon Henri’s signature on some Harvey covers that clearly were penciled by Jack Kirby indicates that this name could not be a pseudonym for Joe Simon alone.

In fact the Jack Kirby Checklist and most experts and scholars credit all of these covers to Jack Kirby. I will be presenting my case for attributing some of the covers to Simon below. Previously we have seen Joe and Jack work on different pages for the same story. In doing so Joe adjusted his style to try to mimic Jack’s. But that work is of limited use to us since in the work for Harvey and DC, Simon and Kirby has already progressed well beyond what they did for Timely. Unfortunately the best comparisons to be made with work by Joe Simon is for material we have not discussed yet. So I will ask you dear reader to try to keep an open mind until I presented some of that evidence in future chapters.

Chame #19
Champ #19 (June 1942) by Joe Simon (signed Jon Henri)

I believe I can see two different artists at work among these Harvey covers. But care must be taken that we do not fall into the trap of crediting the best covers to Jack and the poorer ones to Joe. What we want to look for is differences in style and leave aside for now any value judgments. All the Champ covers in question illustrate the Liberty Lads. But how this young duo are portrayed is not consistent. For four of the five covers the Lads are depicted as young teenagers. But one one cover (Champ #19) the Liberty Lads seem to be a little younger. In my series of posting of the Harvey covers I have already examined Champ #20 and Champ #21 and you can look at those postings for their images. But here I am going to compare Champ #18 to Champ #19.

One thing to note is the exaggerated perspective used for the Japanese just hit by one of the Liberty Labs on the Champ #18 cover. Jack Kirby was the master at this almost 3D effect and although others tried to imitate Jack I do not believe I have ever seen anyone completely succeed. So when I see such a successful job as on Champ #18 (and also on Champ #20 and #23) I feel pretty confident that Jack Kirby was responsible. The one Liberty Lad about to leap on Champ #19 is not quite an exaggerated perspective (although still rather well done). But the lack of exaggerated perspective does not mean it was not done by Jack.

Star Spangled #13
Star Spangled #13 (October 1942) by Jack Kirby

The Liberty Lads on Champ #19 are not only younger they also look familiar. That is because they seemed based on Gabby and Scrapper from the Newsboy Legion. Although in the past it was generally believed that Kirby did not swipe, more recently examples of Kirby swipes have been well documented particularly by Tom Morehouse in TJKC. But why would Jack have to swipe the Liberty Lads on Champ #19 but not on the other four covers? To me the Liberty Lads swipes are more likely to be evidence of Joe’s involvement then Jack. One features that suggests Kirby is the square fist of the policeman on the far roof. Square fists are easily recognized manner used by Jack. But it is so obviously that there is little doubt that Joe Simon would see it also and it would not be hard for Joe to adopt it himself. But note the stiff, straight arm of that same policeman, that does not look like Jack’s work.

By this period Joe Simon has advanced beyond the use of just two expressions that he had learned when he started comic book work (as described in The Comic Book Makers and quoted in Chapter 1 of this series of posts). But there are some expressions that Joe uses more frequently then Jack. One is having both eyebrows raising as they approach the midline. The policeman trying to climb onto the roof in Champ #19 is a good example of this eyebrow rendition.

The master criminal and his diminutive partner on Champ #19 are rather unique. To me they more represent the visual humor that Joe will later show in features like the Duke of Broadway then the type of humor Jack would do. Actually the cover as a whole seems more humorous then suspenseful.

For me Champ #19 is one of those covers that looks so much like the work of Joe Simon that I am amazed that others do not see it. If in the end you do not agree with my attribution of this cover, I doubt you will find convincing any of the other Harvey covers I credit to Joe. The next best example of Simon work would be the Speed #21 (August 1942) that I posted on recently. Here the only Kirby-like feature that I find is the clown’s pointing hand. Everything else looks like Simon’s work to me. The device of an oversized hero is something I associate with Simon more then with Kirby. We have already seen Joe use this in the Blue Beetle #2 cover. Similarly the use of floating heads I believe is more typical of Joe. The style these floating heads seem to be Joe’s, especially the square ness of the jaws.

Speed #19
Speed #19 (June 1942) by Joe Simon (signed Jon Henri)

Another candidate for Simon work is the cover for Speed #19 (June 1942). The Japanese impersonator has the peaked eyebrows that Joe seems to favor. Captain Freedom has Jack’s square fist, but as I mentioned before I do not believe this is a reliable feature for distinguishing between Joe and Jack. I find the arriving Japanese soldiers look more like Simon’s hand. But frankly although I attribute this cover to Joe, it is not with the certainty that I feel for Champ #19 or Speed #21. The only other Speed cover I suspect may have been done by Simon is Speed #23 and that is without much confidence at all. I have not yet restored that cover so I will leave my reasons for saying it was done by Joe for a future post in my Harvey cover topic.

Green Hornet #7
Green Hornet #7 (June 1942) by Jack Kirby and Joe Simon

The covers for both Green Hornet #7 and #9 seem to have been done primarily by Jack Kirby. But on GH #7 there is a floating head. Because of the mask and hat, only the eyes are visible. To me they look like they were done by Simon. It seems that enlargement and floating heads are devices used at times by Joe but not by Jack.

Some readers may have noticed that I did not include Champ #22, Speed #22 or Green Hornet #8 in my list of Simon and Kirby Harvey covers. These covers have characteristics that set them apart from the Jon Henri group. We will examine these three covers along with new information I have obtained from a recent conversation with Joe Simon in the next chapter.

Art by Joe Simon, Chapter 5, Side by Side

Art by Joe Simon, Chapter 7, Glaven

Speed #21 (August 1942)

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Posted in 2006/06, 4 DC (early), Harvey Covers, Periods, Topic, z Archive.

Speed #21
Speed #21 (August 1942) by Joe Simon

The pointing hand of the clown looks like it was done by Kirby. But only that small detail does. The Japanese, the clown, Hitler and the gangster in a small circle cluelessly looking for Captain Freedom is just the sort of visual humor I come to expect from Joe Simon. And Captain Freedom towering over them, as well as all his floating heads, seem to me to have been done by Joe’s hand. So I make Simon as the primary penciler.

It is wonderful to see all the different approaches to a cover S&K did for Harvey. But actually that was true with S&K during all their collaboration. They always seem to put great effort to make their covers stand out from the rest of the crowd on the racks.

Champ #21 (August 1942)

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Posted in 2006/06, 4 DC (early), Harvey Covers, Periods, Topic, z Archive.

Chame #21

While I worked on the End Of Simon & Kirby serial post I put on hold my posting on the S&K Harvey covers. But now it is time to resume that effort. I say effort not because of the writing, but the restoration of the images. These Harvey comics are not common and frequently in poor shape. But all these covers are gems and well worth the work.

This cover shows one of the Liberty Lads ejecting from a plane flown by his partner. I am not sure where the boy left the plane, it looks like a one seater. Nor is it clear why the plane had to fly upside down. The plane’s camouflage does not seem effective as the ship’s spot light has been trained on it. The bailing Liberty Lad is just about to open his parachute. It is not at all clear how he is going to attach the ship armed with only a machine gun and with no possibility of surprise. But this sort of logical analysis really is pointless with these Harvey covers, bravery trumps logic.

The bailing Liberty Lab is not in exaggerated perspective, but still seems to have the Kirby touch. So I believe Jack was the primary penciler.

Speed #20 (July 1942)

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Posted in 2006/05, 4 DC (early), Harvey Covers, Periods, Topic, z Archive.

Speed #20 

I think this is Jack’s penciling because of his typical exagerated perspective. Yet another variation of Captain Freedom’s costume. Jack Kirby was famous for his frequent failures to get costumes right. But in the case of Captain Freedom I am not sure what the correct costume is, it keeps changing even in the stories. Captain Freedom is a true superhero, he has super strength and can fly (or perhaps he is just jumping great distances). But on all the Speed covers that Jack and Joe did they both protray Harvey’s patriotic hero more normal, sort of like they did Captain America.

Green Hornet #7 (June 1942)

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Posted in 2006/05, 4 DC (early), Harvey Covers, Periods, Topic, z Archive.

Green Hornet #7

I love the way Simon and Kirby make a cover tell a story. The Green Hornet is rushing to attach a killer clown. If the clown carrying a wicked knife wasn’t enough, the lady on the lower level carries a newspaper with headlines that are hard to make out completely but clearly includes “CLOWN … CRIMINAL …”. Behind her is a fallen policeman, his gun laying at his side, clearly the Green Hornet will be taking on one tough clown. The press above is printing the front page for the latest edition declaring “DIES IN ELECTRIC CHAIR” with a picture of the clown, obviously printed ahead of time because the clown escaped before facing his execution. The Green Hornet had better be careful because this clown has nothing to loose.

The Green Hornet cover for June is a bit of a puzzle. The floating head looks like it was done by Joe Simon, The killer clown and the running Green Hornet seem to be Jack Kirby’s hand. The rest of the figures have bits of both. My take on this is that it was original penciled by Jack without the floating head. Joe added the large head and maybe touched up some other parts. Truly a joint effort. Once again signed as Jon Henri.

The inking on this cover includes irregularly patterned “hay” that we have seen before on the cover to Speed #17. When discussing that cover I noted that the same pattern appears in some of Al Avison’s work, including the splash from Pocket #1. Both Speed #17 and GH #7 covers also share some inking styles and lack the S&K shop style that appears on other Harvey covers. I now suspect that both covers were inked by the same artist and that artist may have been Al Avison.

Champ #20 (July 1942)

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Posted in 2006/05, 4 DC (early), Harvey Covers, Topic, z Archive.

Champ #20

The hits keep coming. So many of the covers that S&K did for Harvey are just amazing. But this one is another of my favorites. The exaggerated perspective in the Liberty Lads are a signature style for Jack Kirby, so he is the primary penciler. S&K literally demonize the Japanese foe. This sort of thing would not be considered politically correct today, but during that war artists worked under a different standard.

I have seen penciled on the margins of the original art that this was inked by Al Avison. But that sort of notation is suspicious. I have seen an awful lot of S&K art and only on one other page have I seen a similar annotation as to the inker of the work. I strongly suspect that these notes were made by subsequent owners or art dealers. In any case at this time Avison was at Timely working as their primary artist for Captain America. As such he was very busy and it is unlikely he would have time to do this inking.