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Post by Icctrombone on May 15, 2022 6:07:47 GMT -5
I don't know if you can call Mike Baron underrated, but he created Nexus, Badger and had a great run on Punisher and the Wally best Flash. I would buy anything he does.
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Post by kirby101 on May 15, 2022 9:08:46 GMT -5
Jesse Santos. A Filipino artist who worked mainly for Gold Key and not the Big Two. Perhaps why he is underrated. He could paint great covers and did pencil and ink interiors in a scratchy pen line style that was full of spirit. His two best known books were Dr. Spektor and Dagar the Invincible. He often worked with Don Glut.
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Post by kirby101 on May 15, 2022 9:11:31 GMT -5
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Post by Cei-U! on May 15, 2022 11:05:23 GMT -5
Good gravy, where do I begin? I've run across a ton of artists who were active in the Golden Age but have been largely forgotten because they either didn't work on super-heroes or didn't stay in comics past the '40s. Here's a quick, random sampling (I don't have time to post art, sorry):
Harry Parkhurst's specialty was westerns (Fawcett's Golden Arrow, Quality's Hopalong Cassidy), which he drew in a rugged, atmospheric illustrative style, but he also did the undersea fantasy Neptina for Worth Publishing.
George Storm had been a comic strip artist in the '20s and '30s but is best remembered today for co-creating AA's The Whip, but his real masterpiece was Buzzy, DC's first entry in the teen humor genre that was much funnier than anything Archie had to offer.
I've raved about George Carlson plenty of late so I won't elaborate here.
George Marcoux was the creator of Street & Smith's Supersnipe, a very funny series about a comic-loving preadolescent's fantasy life as a super-hero, which he illustrated with great warmth and a snazzy pen line.
Bill Vigoda, younger brother of actor Abe, was THE Archie artist from 1944 through the end of the decade.
Harold DeLay was a mainstay of the Funnies, Inc studio, a former pulp illustrator whose best work was probably on Novelty Press' Edison Bell, Boy Inventor.
Dick Briefer's Frankenstein is one of the most delightful humor series you'll ever encounter, and his other work is nothing to sneeze at either. His satirical time travel strip Yankee Longago was a highlight of Boy Comics.
More later as I think of them.
Cei-U! I summon the forgoten titans!
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Post by codystarbuck on May 15, 2022 19:26:15 GMT -5
Good gravy, where do I begin? I've run across a ton of artists who were active in the Golden Age but have been largely forgotten because they either didn't work on super-heroes or didn't stay in comics past the '40s. Here's a quick, random sampling (I don't have time to post art, sorry): Harry Parkhurst's specialty was westerns (Fawcett's Golden Arrow, Quality's Hopalong Cassidy), which he drew in a rugged, atmospheric illustrative style, but he also did the undersea fantasy Neptina for Worth Publishing. George Storm had been a comic strip artist in the '20s and '30s but is best remembered today for co-creating AA's The Whip, but his real masterpiece was Buzzy, DC's first entry in the teen humor genre that was much funnier than anything Archie had to offer. I've raved about George Carlson plenty of late so I won't elaborate here. George Marcoux was the creator of Street & Smith's Supersnipe, a very funny series about a comic-loving preadolescent's fantasy life as a super-hero, which he illustrated with great warmth and a snazzy pen line. Bill Vigoda, younger brother of actor Abe, was THE Archie artist from 1944 through the end of the decade. Harold DeLay was a mainstay of the Funnies, Inc studio, a former pulp illustrator whose best work was probably on Novelty Press' Edison Bell, Boy Inventor. Dick Briefer's Frankenstein is one of the most delightful humor series you'll ever encounter, and his other work is nothing to sneeze at either. His satirical time travel strip Yankee Longago was a highlight of Boy Comics. More later as I think of them. Cei-U! I summon the forgoten titans! Carlson had acclaim beyond comics, though, as the cover illustrator for Gone With the Wind. Harlan Ellison used to sing his praises, though, as did some of the other major Golden Age collector names. Same with Briefer. Today's fandom, though, you are quite right that they are ignorant of them. If we want to stick in the Golden Age, ad Alex Kotzky, who worked for Quality, DC, and Ziff-Davis; but found greater acclaim when he created the newspaper soap opera Apartment 3-G. I knew his work there (our local paper carried it, when I was a kid); but, it was years before I saw some of his comic book work. You could also add Pete Morisi, for both the Golden and Silver Age. He worked for a bunch of the smaller publishers, in the late 40s and early 50s, as well as doing westerns & horror/suspense, for Timely/Atlas. His real stand-out there was Johnny Dynamite, for Comic Media, in 1953. His Peter Cannon, The Thunderbolt is one of the more underrated of the Charlton Action hero line. Very similar to Dan Spiegle and Alex Toth, in terms of being a natural visual storyteller, but without the big flash panels of some of the better known artists.
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Post by kirby101 on May 16, 2022 20:23:30 GMT -5
I saw this cover in the association game thread. I never heard of John Rosenberger, but he is now one of my underrated artists.
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Post by Cei-U! on May 17, 2022 5:15:25 GMT -5
Rosenberger was the artist who took over Archie's The Fly (and co-created Fly Girl) after Kirby and before Reinman. He also drew Adventures of The Jaguar.
Cei-U! I summon the Flit!
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Post by MDG on May 17, 2022 8:47:14 GMT -5
Rosenberger was the artist who took over Archie's The Fly (and co-created Fly Girl) after Kirby and before Reinman. He also drew Adventures of The Jaguar. Cei-U! I summon the Flit! His work on The Fly is very well drawn, though like many comic artists at the time, he brought excellent figure drawing and composition to ridiculous situations and maintained a "straight face."
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Post by Mister Spaceman on May 17, 2022 13:21:42 GMT -5
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Post by DubipR on May 17, 2022 13:50:55 GMT -5
Dan Barry His work on Flash Gordon is underrated and so darn good. While his brother Sy gets a little more accolades, his work on Flash and in comics is great. Best artist that I've ever seen draw horses too. Underrated artist of the female form. Gray Morrow Still gets overlooked as a great artist. Could do every genre and do it well. Detailed art, good colorist too.
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Post by Deleted on May 17, 2022 13:58:43 GMT -5
I discovered the Kurtzman Berry (and Frazetta) Flash Gordon stuff when I ran across the Fantagraphics collection while at university. Amazing stuff. And Gray Morrow probably sits just outside my top 10 list and probably would have made it in if I didn't include the two strip creators (Raymond & Canniff) in my top 10.
-M
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Post by majestic on May 18, 2022 19:54:15 GMT -5
Jose Luis Garcia Lopez. Yes I know he is well regarded but his influence on DC in the 70s is not recognized enough IMO.
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Post by Mister Spaceman on May 18, 2022 20:22:10 GMT -5
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Post by berkley on May 18, 2022 21:34:20 GMT -5
What are the first two Alex Nino pieces from - were they just one-off illustrations or part of a story or stories of some kind?
I had been thinking about adding Nino and Gray Morrow myself but wasn't sure if they qualified as under-rated. They probably do, though, so good call .
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Post by Mister Spaceman on May 18, 2022 21:46:04 GMT -5
What are the first two Alex Nino pieces from - were they just one-off illustrations or part of a story or stories of some kind? I had been thinking about adding Nino and Gray Morrow myself but wasn't sure if they qualified as under-rated. They probably do, though, so good call . I don't know the story behind the first image. The second image is from a 1979 Heavy Metal calendar.
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