Great to be with you all again, kids! Let’s enjoy another story from the late, great Warren Kremer , who has always been in the top five or so of my favorite comic book artists of all time. As I mentioned in the last post, I believe the character and stories about Stumbo the Giant to be an example of the artist at the summit of his powers. Everything is beautifully rendered, of course, but in…
Great to be with you all again, kids! Warren Kremer was born in the Bronx in 1921. His father was a sign painter. Kremer always claimed that his steady drawing hand was his legacy, inherited from his dad. In 1948, his good friend and fellow artist, Steve Mufatti , got him at Job at Harvey Comics, where he remained for 35 years. After Harvey’s closing in in the 1980s, Mr. Kremer went to work for…
Great to be with you all again, kids! A slight diversion this afternoon, kids, from comic book stories to a grand one provided by the popular Whitman Tell-a-Tale books. These hardcover books were published from the 1940s through the 1970s by the Whitman Publishing Company and provided wonderful stories for young readers. And, much like the better remembered Little Golden Books , always provided…
Great to be with you all again, kids! Today we have the always wonderful Lynn Karp , a stalwart in kids’ comics through the Golden Age but unfortunately not so well remembered today. Like so many of his generation, Mr. Karp began his professional life as a Disney animator, working on such iconic films as “Pinocchio” and “Fantasia.” And as with so many others following the career path from studio…
So, what is the “bigfoot” cartooning style? I’ll admit off the mark that it is an expression one hears seldom these days. I have always defined it thus: Bigfoot is a style of cartooning, once predominant in comic books and comic strips, where the characters’ hands, feet, noses, all extremities, were drawn oversized and exaggerated largely for comic appeal. This style reigned supreme in the Golden…
Don R. Christensen (who signed his work Don Arr) is one of my favorite artists from the golden age of kids’ comics (among a very competitive field of beautiful work). For my money, the Golden Age of Comic Books (1938 to 1956) was the zenith of artistic quality in the kids’ comics genre. There is a reason for this, I believe: So many of Mr. Christensen’s contemporaries (Jack Bradbury, Dan Gordon,…
Today, my dear friends, we have a small treasure from Owen Fitzgerald (1916-1994). Mr. Fitzgerald began, as so many comic book artists have before and after him, as a Disney animator in the late 1930s. And, like so many others, he turned to comic book illustration to supplement income. By 1944, Fitzgerald was working for Publisher, Ned Pines comic book publications (ANC, Standard/Better/Nedor). I…
Today we have the charming work of Mel Casson (July 25, 1920-May 21, 2008), and his signature strip, “Angel,” which ran in syndication from 1953 to 1966. A little background on Mr. Casson: A child prodigy, He sold his first cartoon at the age of 17 to the Saturday Evening Post and quickly had wis work appear in the pages Esquire, The New York Time, the Ladies Home Journal and other leading…
Like so many other artists of his era, Gil Turner began his artistic career as an animator, having begun his career at Walt Disney Studios in 1933 and moving very quickly to the animation unit at several studios. Mr. Turner worked for a “Who’s Who” list of great animation studios throughout the 1940s and into the 1960’s: MGM ( Barney Bear ), Walter Lanz ( Woody Woodpecker, Chilly Willy ), UPA (…
Hi, Kids! I’ve missed you guys! Today we have a very nice Supermouse story on tap that I’m sure you’re going to enjoy. Supermouse was created in 1942 by Kin Platt , an animator who had once worked for Terrytoons. Thus comes much speculation regarding Supermouse possibly being a forerunner for the much better remembered Mighty Mouse . Supes, as he was often called, was a charming creation in his…
Today we are going to love the work of Jack Bradbury , a legend in great kids’ comics from the Golden Age! This story, featuring one of his signature characters, Tuffy the Cat , comes to us from Coo-Coo Comics No. 33 – May, 1947. Mr. Bradbury began his art career as an animator for Walt Disney Studios in 1934 around the age of 20. He worked as an “in-betweener” (the animator who creates all the…
Today is going to be a fun day! Why? Because I’m posting today an artist completely new to me (but perhaps not to some of my expert readers) making his first appearance on the Big Blog! I love it when that happens. The cartoonist in question is Dave Gerard , who worked as a magazine cartoonist ( Colliers, The Saturday Evening Post, Evening Post and others) during the 1940s and 1950s. Mr. Gerard…
Good afternoon, Kids! So nice to visit with you all again! Today the Big Blog will be highlighting another work from the wonderful team of painter, Norman McGary and draftsman, Hawley Pratt As was true in my last post regarding Mr. McGary, I can find virtually no bibliographic information at all. McGary and his work are listed in several art gallery online sources as an “illustrator of children’s…
Good afternoon, Kids! So nice to visit with you all again! Today, and for the next few posts, the Big Blog will be highlighting a wonderful Golden Books painter, Norman McGary . I could find out very little biographical information regarding Mr. McGary – virtually nothing, in fact. He and his work are listed in several art gallery online sources as an “illustrator of children’s books” or as an…
Good afternoon, Kids! So nice to visit with you all again! Today we have two brief but excellent examples of the action-friendly work of Milt Stein , animator and comic-book artist best known for his drawing Supermouse and other characters for Standard Comics in the 1950s. Many legendary cartoonist drew Supie, ( Al Hubbard and Jack Bradbury among others) but my favorite was Milt Stein. No one put…
Good afternoon, Kids! So nice to visit with you all again! Today we have the tried-and-true work of Mr. Bud Sagendorf , the assistant for Popeye creator E.C. Segar. Mr. Sagendorf went to work for Mr. Segar as a teenager, working for $50 a week on Thimble Theater and Sappo . Following Segar's death in 1938, Sagendorf moved to New York City and went to work for King Features developing marketing…
Good afternoon, Kids! So nice to visit with you all again! Today we have an older Harvey title, Rags Rabbit , a character introduced to compete with the Sheldon Mayer's Bo Bunny and (of course) the most famous bunny of them all, Bugs ! Rags was created by Marty Taras , whose classic, happy Harvey work we see here. Marty Taras was (like so many artists in comics in the 40s and 50s) both a…
Good afternoon, Kids! So nice to visit with you all again! It is that time of the year again, kids! I will always think of it as my favorite time of the year. So, let's keep it short but sweet: Season's Greetings and love to all! These beautiful pages are from Frisky Fables No. 10 (January 1948) done up in joyful, holiday style by kids' comics legend, Al Fago ! So, here's hoping your holiday…
Good afternoon, Kids! So nice to visit with you all again! It’s Playful Little Audrey day at the Bog Blog! Audrey has always been one of my favorite Harvey Comics characters largely because of her supporting cast of neighborhood friends. First, naturally, was Audrey’s oft-times nemesis, Melvin; closely followed by Echo, Lucritia, and Tiny. In today’s stories we find all four. These were all strong…
Good afternoon, Kids! So nice to visit with you all again! Today, let’s go for a long, multi-chapter romp with Harvey master, Warren Kremer ! Unlike so many comic book artists, Warren Kremer did not have a long and varied resume. After studying at the School of Industrial Arts in New York City, he worked briefly in pulp magazines and as a cartoonist for Ace Publications. After WWII, his friend…
Good afternoon, Kids! So nice to visit with you all again! Today, let’s go for a hayride with the Brownies, curtesy of artist, Don Gunn ! The Brownies, in case anyone was wondering, where characters (imaginary little sprites) created by Canadian artist, Palmer Cox in 1887. Dell Comics picked up the theme, and Mr. Don Gunn was the principal artist (among others) that handled their stories…
Good afternoon, Kids! So nice to visit with you all again! Today we have a companion piece to the Big Blog's last post which highlighted the work of the mysterious Holly Chambers . Why was he mysterious? Have a look at the previous post for the sad and fascinating details of Mr. Chamber's life (what little of it is known). Today we come to another story from Cosmo Cat #2 (September-October 1946)…
Good afternoon, Kids! So nice to visit with you all again! Today we have some rare work from the Golden Age of comics, Mr. Ellis Holly Chambers (both cover and story). I have not been able to find even a shred of biographic information regarding Mr. Chambers. There seems no information to be found regarding year of birth or death, birthplace, family . . . nothing. The only scrap that has been…
Good afternoon, Kids! So nice to visit with you all again! Today, making his first appearance on the Big Blog, is cartoonist Al Hartley . Before WWII, Mr. Hartley worked as a commercial artist in New York City before serving as a bomber pilot in the European theater. After the war, he went to work for Ned Pine’s Standard Comics and its imprints, Better Publications and Nedor Publishing . In 1949,…
Good afternoon, Kids! So nice to visit with you all again! I am always glad to post the work of Dan Gordon , one of my favorite cartoonists from what I think of as the golden age of kids’ comics – the mid-40s to mid-50s. Today we find Mr. Gordon at his very best, working in his prime with one of his signature characters – Cookie! Never stiff or static, his characters always move with weight and…