Category Archives: 2008/01

Al Avison Did Not Need Any Help

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Posted in 2008/01, 4 DC (early), 5 Studio, Artists, Avison, Al, Periods, z Archive.

In my last post for The Art of Romance I discussed the question of Kirby layouts. I gave some evidence to discount the use of Kirby layouts for some of the artists. However I also gave an example where I do believe Jack did provide layouts for another unidentified artist. As that serial post progresses I hope to show that while Kirby did work up layouts to be used by some of the lesser talents, it was not a practice used with most of the comic artists that worked for S&K. This is the opposite of the conclusion one would draw based on attributions given by comic art dealers. According to the dealers Kirby provided layouts for many artists working at the time. Of those artists purportedly working from Kirby designs, perhaps none is more surprising then Al Avison. I say surprising because Avison was not even working for S&K while he was doing the work for which Kirby had supposedly provided layouts. I would have thought that fact alone would have squelched any consideration of Kirby layouts but it has not.
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Captain America #12
Captain America #12 (March 1942) “Rozzo the Rebel”, art by Al Avison

Al Avison was one of the first artists that I discussed when I started this blog almost two years ago. Those posts were about the covers that Avison did for early Harvey comics (Speed #14, Speed #15, Speed #16, and Pocket #3. At the time Al was working with Simon and Kirby in the Timely bullpen. It is apparent that Kirby greatly influenced Avison yet Al’s work was still relatively crude. This changed dramatically and seemingly instantaneously when Simon and Kirby departed Timely to begin working for DC. I can only conclude that only when S&K were no longer an intimidating presence could Avison’s talent blossom forth. Avison became the chief penciller for Captain America and did some really nice stuff. Excluding Simon and Kirby, no other golden age artist did Captain America nearly as well as Avison. Unfortunately it will probably be a number of years before any of this material ever gets reprinted in Marvel Masterworks Golden Age series. However one story drawn by Avison has been reprinted in “Marvel Visionaries: Stan Lee” (“The Red Skull’s Deadly Revenge” from Captain America #16). Both Lee and Avison were on top of their form and this is the best Captain America story that I have ever read (again excluding those by Simon and Kirby). The splash to “Rozzo the Rebel” imaged above is typical of Al’s work on Cap. The nice design shows that Al learned a thing or two from Joe Simon as well. Avison emphasis for action and exaggerated perspective (particularly with Bucky) shows Jack Kirby’s influence. Still at this point in his career his assimilation of Jack’s style is not complete enough to mistakenly suggest Kirby layouts. Al’s style is a bit cartoonier then Jack’s, but I do not say that disparagingly as I am not one who believes that the more realistic comic book art is the better it is. My primary criticism of Avison’s Captain America work is that it tends to be overwrought. This is particularly true for the inking, but that was probably done by someone else, often Sid Shore.

Captain America #19
Captain America #19 (October 1942) “On To Berlin”, pencils by Al Avison, inks by Sid Shores
Larger Image

One of the Simon and Kirby trademarks that was continued by Al Avison during his turn at Captain America was the double page splash. Avison may not have been in Simon and Kirby’s league, but he could still put together exciting splashes. What could be more thrilling then Captain America leading the invasion of Europe. Well perhaps having Captain America not only storming the beach but also rescuing an allied prisoner from torture as well. When this comic was created the invasion was almost as much a fantasy as Captain America himself. Not only had the American armed forces not yet really entered the European conflict, we had suffered some serious defeats in the Pacific theater. Even so “On To Berlin” certainly captured the American spirit at that time of crisis. I have not made a careful examination of these golden age comics, but it seems to me that Avison was the primary penciller for Captain America for 1942 after which he is replaced by Syd Shores. This is not supported by the GCD which shows Avison working throughout the war years. Frankly my policy concerning the GCD is trust but verify. Since I am not able to verify some of these attributions at this time, I am not inclined to trust them. Atlas Tales shows Avison last work on Cap has a cover date January 1943. In the past I have found Atlas Tales a more reliable source and in this case they seem to be in agreement with my own understanding. Avison’s disappearance from Timely can most likely be explained as his being drafted for service, the fate of many comic book artists at that time.

All-New #13
All-New #13 (July 1946) “Crime at Floodtime”, art by Al Avison
Larger Image

Atlas Tales shows Avison returning to do work for Timely after the war. But he does not resume being the principal penciller for Captain America nor does he seem to be working exclusively for them, I think he actually did more post-war work for Harvey. Unfortunately the Harvey comics are not covered by Atlas Tales and my own resources are spotty. My impression is initially Al provided work for the Green Hornet and Boy Heroes. The image of the double page splash form All-New #13 that I show above combines both, the Green Hornet story is sandwiched between some Boy Heroes panels. I am unclear what is meant by “a radio-comic feature via television” but it did provide an excuse for a little cross-over of the two features.

All-New #15
All-New #15 (March 1947) art by Al Avison

Harvey’s All-New title suffered from the same post-war comic glut that doomed Simon and Kirby’s Stuntman and Boy Explorers. The final issue of all three would be black and white copies reduced in both size and contents. As far as I know, All-New #15 was the only time the Boy Heroes appeared on a cover. Surprising they are not present in any of the inside stories. It is Boy Heroes work like this cover that drives the suggestion of the use of Kirby layouts. Although I disagree with the conclusion I perfectly understand what it is based on. This covers has a lot of the action and exaggerated perspective that is so typical of Jack Kirby. However Kirby layouts are not the only explanation, another is simply that Avison had studied and was influenced by Jack’s style. Although parts of this particular work look very Kirby-like in layout, as an ensemble the cover suggests the influence of Alex Schomburg as well.

It is important to realize that although All-New, Stuntman and Boy Explorers were all published by Harvey, Al Avison was not working for Simon and Kirby. All-New included Joe Palooka and Green Hornet stories as well as the Boy Heroes, features that were not produced by Simon and Kirby. Nor did Al Avison’s art appear in Stuntman and Boy Explorers that were Simon and Kirby productions. Boy Heroes was part of the kid gang genre that Jack seemed so fond of, but there can be no question of any direct involvement of Joe or Jack in the creation of the Boy Heroes as they both were in military service when the feature started.

Green Hornet #35
Green Hornet #35 (September 1947) art by Al Avison

Most of the so called Kirby layouts claims are for Boy Heroes art, but Jack Kirby’s influence on Avison can also be seen in his Green Hornet work as well. The fight scene in the third panel is a great example of this. Note also the use of semicircular panels, this along with circular panels were devices that Simon and Kirby developed for Captain America but were used infrequently by S&K at the time that Avison did this art.

Unpublished Boys Heroes
Unpublished Boy Heroes, by Al Avison

Frankly although I have begun to discuss the issue of Kirby layouts and will continue to do so, I do not expect mass conversions to my way of thinking. In the case of Al Avison, Joe Simon’s art collection contains what I would describe as a smoking gun that as far as I am concerned lays this issue to rest. These are two unfinished pages of story art penciled by Avison. The one I image above is unmarked but appears to be a Boy Heroes story. Note the circular panel and a figure drawn that could be mistakenly thought to be based on a Kirby layout. The rest of the page has no art, just the panels. It would seem that Al’s working method was to initially pencil out the page as three long panels. These may then be broken up into smaller panels as the work progressed. In the image above you can see that the second tier has already been marked off as two panels while the third remains undivided. What is not found anywhere on this page are layouts of any kind. There are a few pencil marks in the second panel but these would hardly be described as layouts. I am sure Avison knew what he had begun to draw but they certainly do not represent layouts done by Kirby. As meager as these few pencillings are, the rest of the panels are completely blank.

Unpublished
Unpublished comic art, by Al Avison

I do not know what feature the other unfinished page was meant for. I do not believe it was a Boy Heroes page since the leading characters seem to be a man (Dan), a woman (Diane) and a gorilla (Bomba). It is even a better example of Kirby-like art. Dan’s slug is the most Kirby-like I have ever seen done by an artist other then Jack himself. Also some excellently done exaggerated perspective. Note Diane’s pose as she runs into the room, practically as well executed as Kirby could have done it. But once again the lower two panel tiers are completely blank, no sign of any use of layouts.

In the past I have used Photoshop adjustments to bring out things that had been erased, but when I use that technique here on these two pages of art nothing surfaces. The only conclusion to be reached is that these pages were not done using layouts. If Avison could be so effective without Kirby’s help here, there is no reason to believe any of the other art he produced at this time required Kirby layouts either. Add to that the question of why Jack would provide designs for an artist who was not even working for him? Certainly Al’s earlier work on Captain America showed he did not need such help.

Horrible Mort Meskin

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Posted in 2008/01, 5 Studio, Artists, Featured Work, Harvey, Meskin, Mort, Periods, Topic, z Archive.

By 1954 Mort Meskin had been providing work for the Simon and Kirby studio for four years. Even more important then the amount of time spent was the volume of work; Mort executed more work for S&K then any other studio artist. There were even periods that Mort’s page production rates exceeded Kirby’s who was justly famous for his productivity. Mort’s contribution went beyond volume; he played an important part in the S&K classic Boys’ Ranch (1951). It was Mort who persuaded S&K to create that unusual title Strange World of Your Dreams (1952) for which he listed as an Associate Editor. 1954 was an important year for both Meskin and S&K as well. In that year Simon and Kirby would return to the superhero genre with Fighting American published by Prize. Even more important Joe and Jack would create their own comic publishing company called Mainline. Considering Meskin’s contributions in the past, it would be expected that he would play a significant role in these projects, but he did not. Mort provided no help with Fighting American and only shows up in a few initial issues of the Mainline titles. Since Mort was creating art for the Prize romances (still being produced by Simon and Kirby) his absence from the other projects is hard to explain. 1954 was of note for Mort because it marked his return to providing art for DC. This was not an exclusive arrangement, as mentioned above Mort would continue to provide work for the Prize romances. Meskin also did one work for Harvey’s Chamber of Chills.

The hero of this story is the meek and troubled Oscar Pert. He could have been happy, if only he was not oppressed by his wife, Martha. The only important thing in life for Martha was the continual depositing of money into the bank. Everything else must be sacrificed. Oscar lost his friends when he was no longer able to pay club dues. Martha would not even let him spend a little money for milk to give a stray cat. But finally Oscar devises a new means to happiness. We see him in his cellar stealing moments away from Martha, designing some project. His increased sense of contentment is noticed by all but understood by none. That is until Martha discovers his drafting ruler and pawns it off. Apparently that is the last straw because that night Martha hears a strange ticking noise coming from the cellar. She finds a box down there and when she investigates the box’s opening the trap is set. The story ends with Oscar making his own rather gruesome deposit to the bank vault.

Chamber of Chills #24
Chamber of Chills #24 (July 1954) “Credit and Loss”, art by Mort Meskin

The story was not written by Mort, but he makes the most of it. He is at the top of his form in story telling, and that means a lot because Meskin was a consummate graphic story teller. His shifts in distance and perspective are done not just to provide variation, but as a means to advance the story itself. Take the sequence that starts the tale; a panel of a broken record introduces the theme of repetition, the next panel has advances the theme with a close-up of a woman’s nagging mouth, with the final panel a more distant shot providing an introduction to the main characters of the story and their relationship.

Chamber of Chills #24
Chamber of Chills #24 (July 1954) “Credit and Loss” page 4 panel 5, art by Mort Meskin

Mort’s art is excellent, particularly the inking. The splash panels uses the S&K studio style with bold picket fence brush work (for an explanation of this term, see the Inking Glossary). The image of the skeletal hands with ledger is not a literal summation of the story but it does effectively symbolize the theme. I cannot explain what the ruled background represents, perhaps another visual reference to a financial ledger? In any case it is a pleasing pattern as if designed by Mondrian. After the splash Meskin drops using the S&K studio style and adopts his more typical inking methods. However that is a little misleading as Mort’s inking is here much more elaborate then what he had previously been using in work that he had done for Simon and Kirby. For example Meskin typically constructed eyebrows as a couple of overlapping simple brush strokes, but for close-ups in “Credit and Loss” the eyebrows are made with numerous brushstrokes that suggest the individual hairs. Instead of simple brushing for shadows on faces, here Mort provides some careful crosshatching. Meskin even seems to take much more effort with the drawing as well. The close-ups of Oscar are some of the best portrayals that Mort has ever done. The large soulful eyes and small chin suggest his submissive character. But note how in the panel I provide above how Mort subtlety reveals Oscar’s awakened spirit of resistance.

With such a great piece of art it is a wonder that Mort Meskin did not do more work for Chamber of Chills. I really do not have the timing of Meskin’s non-S&K work down very well, but perhaps it is nothing more then having been returned to the better paying DC Mort felt no need to pursue work from Harvey. Joe Simon’s collection includes the complete original art for “Credit and Loss”, as well as some other art from the same Chamber of Chills issue. So maybe even at this early date Joe was giving Harvey a hand. If so, Simon was not passing onto Harvey excess S&K material, this story much more deserves being called horror then anything found in S&K’s own Black Magic. The tale goes beyond what Joe and Jack would have considered to be in good taste. Whatever the explanation for its unique status, “Credit and Loss” is a masterpiece. Unfortunately its presence in a rare comic means it has not been seen by many. Maybe someday it will get the reprint treatment it so richly deserves.

The Art of Romance, Chapter 2, Early Artists

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Posted in 2008/01, 5 Studio, Art of Romance, Artists, Draut, Bill, Kirby, Jack, Meskin, Mort, Periods, Prize, Robinson, Jerry, Serial Posts, z Archive.

(Young Romance #1 – #4)

Young Romance #1
Young Romance #1 (September), art by Jack Kirby

Simon and Kirby had a pretty consistent modus operandi for developing a new title. Basically it called for Jack Kirby providing much, if not most, of the initial art. This M.O. was adhered to with Young Romance, for the first four issues Jack drew 10 of the 20 stories. Page production rates (the number of pages of art created in a month) at the time of the release were also very high. Joe Simon has stated that before they went around to various publishers, they had already created the art for the initial issues. That way if some unscrupulous publisher liked the idea but wanted to develop it themselves, Simon and Kirby would have a head start. Therefore the high page production rates are misleading because much of the art was actually done earlier. Even so the initial art for Young Romance was rushed. Not that Jack would sacrifice drawing quality, but the inking would initially be rather simple. S&K shop inking traits such as picket fence crosshatching (see the Inking Glossary) would find limited use. The resulting inks would be reminiscent of the Austere inking style from the late fifties which developed from a similar need for increased art production. Although the inking was simpler what was done was quite beautiful, so once again quality was not sacrificed.

Young Romance #1
Young Romance #1 (September 1947) “I Was A Pick-Up”, art by Jack Kirby.

The drawing for the romance covers are generally not Jack Kirby’s finest work. Kirby’s forte was action, which was not the sort of thing appropriate for romance. Jack would compensate by using various compositional devices to keep the image visually interesting but this was not completely successful. Much of the impact these covers have is based not so much on the drawing itself as the melodrama that is being depicted. The less then graphically successful covers cannot be blamed entirely on romance genre not being conducive to Jack’s talents. Some of Kirby’s best efforts from the period can be found in romance splashes. The one for “I Was a Pick-Up”, shown above, is a great example. This splash is much more graphically interesting then the cover for the same issue. The compositions centers on the semi-reclining figure of woman. Her posture is deliberately provocative while at the same time projects her discomfort at her current predicament. Her pose is echoed in the foreground of bush and tree trunks with one of the fallen tree’s limbs repeating the lady’s bent legs. Part of the lady’s visual confinement is formed by the tree trunks, the rest is the by the arms of her not so gentleman companion and the door of the car. This composition seems so expressive and natural that is easy to overlook some logical inconsistencies. Why is the car door open? If it is for her eminent escape, why does the lady seem to lounge about as if reluctant to leave? I would say the whole point of this splash is to highlight the illogic of her situation. Part of her is fully aware that she should get out of the car but this is battled by the same temptation that lured her into becoming a “pick-up”. Although nothing explicit by today’s standards, this was steamy stuff indeed. Too proactive for a cover where it might attract the unwanted attentions of those critical of the idea of a romance comic book, but just right to attract the potential purchaser who was interested enough to open the book. Not every Kirby romance splash would be this good, but enough of them are to indicate that Kirby could do great pieces of stand alone romance art. His best romance work would just be a little too much for the cover.

Young Romance #1
Young Romance #1 (September 1947) “Suspicious Bridegroom”, art by Bill Draut.

Kirby did not pencil all the art for the initial issues of Young Romance. Of the first 20 stories, Kirby did 10 while Bill Draut provided 7. Draut had met Joe Simon in Washington during the war and had accepted Joe’s invitation to join them in New York. Bill was a talented artist but had no previous comic book experience. Even so Draut did some nice work for Simon and Kirby in titles they developed for Harvey in 1946 (Boys Explorers and Stuntman). Although some work by Bill Draut was published after that, it was all stuff left over from that quickly scrapped S&K Harvey line. One wonders what Bill did between that attempt and his appearance in Young Romance over a year later. From YR #1 on until the closing of the studio, Bill Draut would be a consistent presence in Simon and Kirby productions.

Draut was relative new to comic book work, but that did not stop him from trying to be innovating. A good example is the splash page for “Suspicious Bridegroom” shown above. The layering of the caption box and two images over a bicolor background is very effective. Particularly with the way the panel for one of the images is skewed and casts a shadow. The woman is very attractive but seems directed more to appeal to a man then a teenage girl reader. It was not unusual for Bill to present “cheesy” images of woman in his earlier efforts in the romance genre.

Young Romance #1
Young Romance #1 (September 1947) “Suspicious Bridegroom” page 7, art by Bill Draut.

Not all of Draut’s attempts at being innovation were successful. On the top of the splash page for “Suspicious Bridegroom” we find the declaration:

YOU CAN LIVE THIS TRUE STORY… A NEW TECHNIQUE IN COMICS!

The announced technique, showing up in much of the story, consists of providing the images as if view through someone’s eyes. Well that is what it was meant to be but actually it looks like a view from some sort of bizarre binoculars, what with the circular views surrounded by irregular folds (eyelids?) and numerous eyelashes. Frankly the technique is not very effective since it puts a severe limit on what can be shown in a panel. Worse yet it is actually kind of creepy and that casts a chilling effect on was meant to be a romantic scene in the fourth panel. Fortunately this innovation was not to be repeated in future work by Bill Draut or any other artist working for Simon and Kirby. Even though it was a failure, you still have to admire the daring of the attempt.

Young Romance #3
Young Romance #3 (January 1948) “Love or a Career?”, art by Jerry Robinson and Mort Meskin.

In YR #3 (“Love or a Career?”) and YR #4 (“I Love You, Frank Gerard”) are stories by another artists, or more correctly a pair of artists, Jerry Robinson and Mort Meskin. These two works are unsigned but in the same style as signed work done a few months later (see my post on the cover for My Date #4). I have not seen enough of either artist’s earlier work to be confident about how the two artists collaborated, but my suspicion is that most of the pencils were done by Robinson and Meskin did most of the inking. I am not sure how Simon and Kirby met Jerry Robinson, but Meskin was well known from the time that S&K worked for DC. There is a story of both Kirby and Meskin facing deadlines and ending up in the DC bullpen on adjacent drawing tables. Each was intent on getting their own jobs done while other artists gathered to watch two of the industries greatest and most prolific artists racing away. I have not come across any comments from Jack Kirby about Meskin, but Joe has repeatedly expressed his admiration for Mort’s work.

Now that I have introduced most of the artists from the first four issues of Young Romance, this seems to appropriate time to address a subject that I have avoided in the past, that is the question of Kirby layouts. This is a claim that many people have declared about work done by the various artists who worked for the Simon and Kirby studio. Unfortunately the use of Kirby layouts is not the only possible explanation for other artists doing Kirby-like work. Many admired Jack’s artistry so it is not surprising that they would imitate or even swipe from Kirby. From time to time Jack would also assume the job of art editor and fix up the work from other artists prior to publication (for example). One of the criteria I use to distinguish Kirby layouts from things like swipes and art editing is consistency throughout the story. Swiping and art editing will be limited to a few panels here or there, not to the entire story. But if Kirby is truly providing a layout it would be expected that he would do so for the entire story. As for distinguishing a Kirby layout from a Kirby imitator it is necessary to compare the work in question to the layouts found in contemporary Kirby stories. It is expected that Kirby would provide layouts similar to those of his own stories. While it is possible that Kirby might provide simpler layouts, it is not creditable that he would introduce techniques into a layout that he would not use himself.

Kirby uses an unusual layout for some of his splashes. It consists of a half splash along with a figure or just the head with a speech balloon that serves the place of title caption. The splash from “I Was a Pick-Up” shown earlier is an example of this layout. This layout is not used by any other artist in the first four issues. However it is not the only splash layout used by Kirby either. Careful examination shows that it is only used on for the first story in the comic. So although it is very distinctive layout, the fact that the other artists do not use it does not prove their stories were not done using Kirby layouts. Although I call this a Kirby layout I might be more accurate to ascribing it to Simon and Kirby. Both Joe and Jack have said that Joe did layouts for some covers and splashes. Did Joe consistently provide layouts? Was Joe providing layouts for Jack only early in their collaboration? At this point I do not have really firm answers for these questions. It does seem to me that many of the splashes and covers have emphasis on design found in work that Joe did prior to working with Jack and would continue to use after they broke up. However this fondness for certain types of designs disappears from Jacks work once he split from Joe. Therefore I am inclined to feel Joe provided some layout guidance to many of Jack’s covers and splashes. However nothing in the layout of Jack stories seem unique to his period of partnership with Joe, so I believe that the story layouts at this stage are Kirby’s alone.

As I previously mentioned, Bill Draut did some interesting designs for some of his splash pages in these early Young Romance issues. He used tilted panels in two of his splashes, a device that does not appear in any Kirby drawn splash from the same comics. Draut also would occasionally introduce a “sexy” or “cheesy” pose; this is something Jack was not seen to do. Bill Draut would develop his own way of telling a story which is only beginning to appear in these early romance works. Still the story layouts that he uses for these first issues of Young Romance only occasionally, if at all, remind one of Kirby. So I would conclude that there are no Kirby layouts under the Bill Draut pencils in the first four issues of Young Romance. Actually this is a conclusion that I have reached for all of Bill Draut’s work for S&K.

The opening splash panel is generally used to as a sort of comic book equivalent of a movie trailer. That is it provides a sort of condensation of what the story will be about. However the splash panel normally is not actually part of the story itself. Sometimes the entire first page is given over to the splash. Five splashes by Kirby and two by Draut from the first twenty stories are full page splashes. I am not sure that much can be deduced from the use of full page splashes, except perhaps that Kirby was more prone to use them then the other artists. Often the first page would be a combination of a splash panel and one or two story panels, and how they are laid out is informative. Kirby’s next most frequent first page arrangement, with three cases, places a single story panel in the lower right corner. That layout is not used by any of the other Young Romance artists. The other arrangement that Jack used was to restrict the splash panel to the top of the page, and provide two story panels below. This is the most common arrangement in the first four issues; Kirby did it twice, Draut five times and another artist also used it once, for a total of eight out of twenty stories. Another possible layout is for the splash panel to occupy the left while the two story panels are placed on the right. That arrangement was not used by either Kirby or Draut in the first YR comics but is used for both stories provided by Jerry Robinson and Mort Meskin. To me this strongly suggests that Jack did not provide layouts to Robinson and Meskin.

Young Romance #3
Young Romance #3 (January 1948) “Love or a Career?” page 7 panel 1, art by Jerry Robinson and Mort Meskin

As was the case with Bill Draut, the way that Robinson and Meskin present the story is not consistently like what Kirby did. One exception that might be made is provided in the above panel. Jack Kirby was justly famous for his use of exaggerated perspective. The way the man holds his hand out toward the view does remind one of Jack’s techniques. In my opinion Robinson and Meskin are not as successful in their effort as Kirby would have been, so I do not think this would be an example of Kirby stepping in as an art editor. Although Kirby did have a fondness for this sort of difficult perspective, he did not use it, or anything like it, in any of the stories that he drew for YR #1 through #4. If Jack did not use it for his own drawings, I do not think it would be likely that he would use it in layouts for other artists at that same time. Therefore I conclude that this panel is an example of Robinson and Meskin being influenced by Kirby and it is not based on Kirby layouts.

Young Romance #2
Young Romance #2 (November 1947) “Dangerous Romance”, by unidentified artist

Normally I do not associate the use of floating heads with Kirby’s covers or splashes. They were not used extensively by Kirby during the S&K period and became extremely rare after he left Joe. Simon on the other had used them on some of his covers done early in his career as well as after the split-up. Whether it is another suggestion that Joe may have been involved in laying out some of the splashes, or that Jack may have just adopted if for a period, but the use of floating heads becomes frequent in the initial Young Romance comics. Five out of ten Kirby splashes use floating heads; on the other hand this device is not used in any of the stories by Draut or Robinson and Meskin. This is another suggestion that Jack did not provide those artists with layouts. But the design technique does show up in the story “Dangerous Romance” in Young Romance #2. The story layout is similar to that Kirby would use for his own work, and this similarity is found throughout the story. The inking also seems to mimic S&K studio style. Note the abstract arc shadow in the splash, and something akin to should blots are sometimes used in the story (see the Inking Glossary for explanation of these terms). Even the penciling is reminiscent of Jack’s work. I do not believe this is an example of a heavy handed inker working over Kirby pencils. As far as I know no one has ever attributed the drawing of this story to Jack. So the conclusion I reach is that this is an example of an artist working from Kirby layouts and trying, not very successfully, to mimic Kirby as close as he was able. Unfortunately I have no idea who the artist was.

Young Romance #1
Young Romance #1 (September 1947) “Summer Song” page 6, art by Jack Kirby and an unidentified artist.

There was a time in the past that I did not believe “Summer Song” was penciled by Jack Kirby. I found that pages such as the one imaged above deviated in ways that could not be explained by some heavy handed inker. Christopher Harder (a fine S&K scholar) pointed out to me that the art seem to progress from very much like Kirby’s work in the beginning followed by work that looked less and less like Jack’s. You can see what he means be comparing the above image with another from early in the story that I provided last week in the first chapter of this serial post. I remained perplexed about the attribution of this story until one day Joe Simon showed me an article from a Marvel publication. I deeply regret not borrowing it, because I have not yet come across it again in Joe’s collection. It was an interview with an artist, I am sure it was either Joe Sinnott or John Romita. What I do remember clearly was one part where the artist describes approaching Simon and Kirby about a position they had open. The artist described the work as an in-betweener. He went on to say that Jack would draw the story pretty tightly to begin with and then get much looser and close it with some more tight pencils. The hired artist would then tighten up all in between pages and ink the whole thing. This would allow Jack to work more quickly and yet maintain some control over the final results. (Incidentally the artist interviewed said that S&K provided him with samples to work on to show how well he could do the work, but that he never followed through with it). When I read that interview I realized he was describing exactly what had been done in “Summer Song”. In fact when I reexamined the final page of the story it did look more Kirby-like then those done in the middle. It would not be accurate to call such an arrangement as Kirby layouts, Jack contribution was too much for that. Nor would it be correct to describe the other artists as just the inker, for he did much more then just ink Jack’s pencils. So I have decided to attribute the work to both artists. Unfortunately once again I have no idea who the second artist was. In The Complete Jack Kirby, Greg Theakston attributes the inking of this story to Charles Nicolas but gives no explanation how he came that that conclusion.

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

The Art of Romance, Chapter 1, A New Genre

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Posted in 2008/01, 5 Studio, Art of Romance, Periods, Prize, Serial Posts, z Archive.

(Young Romance #1 – #4)

I am sure when most fans think about Simon and Kirby they have in mind titles like Captain America, Boy Commandos, Stuntman, Boys’ Ranch, Fighting American, and so on. Super heroes, kid gangs, and lots of action. No doubt about it, those were great comics. Fans, particularly the more die hard ones, also appreciate S&K take on crime (Headline, Justice Traps the Guilty, and Police Trap) and horror (Black Magic and Strange World of Your Dreams). But when fans bring up Simon & Kirby I suspect they rarely talk about the romance titles (Young Romance, Young Love, Young Brides and In Love). However to understand Joe, Jack and what they did, the romance titles really are a good place to go for two reasons. The first is that it was a whole new genre. Despite what some would have you believe, there were no prior romance comics to serve as prototypes. Joe and Jack had to figure it all out themselves. The second reason concerns how much romance work S&K did. For the period starting on September 1947 (the first issue of Young Romance) and ending with October 1956 (in November Battleground #14 came out and Jack had begun freelancing) Kirby drew 1679 romance pages (covers and stories) compared to 1652 pages for all other genre combined. During this period super heroes and kid gangs came and went but romance was pretty much a constant.

Romance pulps could have served as prototypes for romance comic plots. But comics are also a visual media and pulps could not help with that aspect. To make matters worse by the time Simon and Kirby began working on romances they had already abandoned devices they had previously used to make their pages more exciting. Largely gone were the variously shaped panels and in their place would be a pretty standard comic grid. Also the extension of figures outside of a panel into other panels was no longer done. But Kirby had shown in his crime work that he did not have to use those graphic devices to make exciting comics. However crimes stories could have a lot of action and violence, stuff that Jack excelled at. What could be done with a subject like romance?

Young Romance #1
Young Romance #1 (September 1947) ” I Was A Pick-Up” page 8, art by Jack Kirby

Well one thing Kirby did was keep the action. Well of course there could be no super heroes or kid gangs in a romance story but Jack would often include a fight. If Jack wanted variation from always having a fight he would add a sport scene or something similar to inject some action. In the first four issues of Young Romance Jack did 10 stories which have 4 fights, 3 slaps, 2 rescues, 1 swimming race and 1 suicide. The use of action is not limited to the Kirby drawn stories, in the 8 non-Kirby stories we find another fight, a fire, a ransom, a blackmail bust, and a robbery trial. Do not get the wrong idea, the stories in the early issues of YR fit the romance genre just fine. The fights and action scenes play a very small part of the plot. Like any proper romance, the story resolves around the love angle. Despite the “for the more adult readers of comics” claim of the cover, the target audience was clearly teenage girls. I cannot help wondering what those romance readers thought about the fights. Perhaps it did not bother them much since as a new genre they had not yet developed their own expectations. Regardless of whether the original readers liked the action that Kirby brought to romance, for the modern truly adult reader, Jack’s stories have special interest.

Young Romance #1
Young Romance #1 (September 1947) “Summer Song” page 2, art by Jack Kirby and unidentified artist

Fights and sports were not the only unexpected touches that Kirby used in his romances. Jack often showed the first meeting of a couple (at least for the story) with a rather physical greeting from the man towards the woman. This sort of roughhousing seems more appropriate for younger individuals than those portrayed. But perhaps Kirby was showing his savvy about the experience of the readers who were younger then the couples of the stories.

Young Romance #3
Young Romance #3 (January 1948) “Campus Outcast” page 2, art by Bill Draut

As I mentioned above, the use of action was not restricted to the Kirby stories in the early issues of Young Romance. In later issues action would remain a part in the Kirby drawn stories but would play less of a part in those done by other artists. I interpret this emphasis on action as an indication of Kirby’s involvement in the plotting of his own scripts. Further that in the earlier issues Jack also helped plot the stories for some of the other artists as well. Another indication of Kirby plotting for artists can be found in a page done by Bill Draut. The first panel of the page shown above has the same type of physical greeting that appears in some of the Kirby pages as well.

This is the beginning of a serial post Simon and Kirby romance comics. As mentioned above, Joe and Jack’s involvement in romance titles was long and fruitful. It will take a lot of posts to cover this topic adequately. I do not want to turn this blog into one on just the romance genre, so this serial post will not be as continuous as some previous ones. Instead chapters will appear from time to time, interspersed among posts on other S&K subjects. However I have not finished writing about the first few issues of Young Romance, so next week I will return with a chapter about the initial artists.

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