GA Books are "purely ugly" and the art has a "soulless emptiness" 0

[rjpb]

Oh, and y'know, to this very day I STILL don't understand the appeal of Fritzi Ritz, or Nancy and Sluggo.

 

Philistine!

[50YrsCollctngCmcs]

I remember going to my local library back in the late sixties and finding this book; when I got home I was disappointed to find out it was about comic strips and not books.

 

I do remember the first chapter discussed the Yellow Kid. That was my first exposure to that character. After reading through the chapters on the strip characters I figured I could at least end on a high note reading about my beloved comic books.

 

Not so! That last chapter was quite a disappointment. It wasn't until I found Pfeiffer's book that I got to read some interesting material. Then All in Color for a Dime and Steranko showed up; finally someone was taking this stuff seriously!

[tth2]

On the other hand, as much as I love Centaur comics... maybe the first book Waugh glanced at was this...

 

 

Man, that is some seriously hideous art.

 

Jesse Marsh, who drew the early Tarzan comics, produced similarly hideous art.

[tth2]

The thing is, Waugh's not entirely wrong. MOST comic book artists early on were failed or wannabe strip artists, either they couldn't make the cut or were still honing their skills.

 

Look at the art on titles like Flash Gordon, Tarzan, Terry and the Pirates, even Popeye (Thimble Theater) and compare 'em with the early GA stories and the comics suffer badly in comparison.

 

Which is not to say that there isn't a certain buoyant, energetic excitement in much of the early art, and of course by the end of WW2 this spankin' new art form had generated some pure geniuses on its own.

 

Artists like Lou Fine, Will Eisner, Jack Cole, Schomberg, etc can hold their heads high amongst the best of the strip field.

 

But even the most mad dog of fans have to admit there was some real crapola published in the early GA stuff.

 

 

[font:Times New Roman]I'm not sure that I agree with your views on early GA art. Sure, there was a lot of weak writing in the GA, partially because of the time constraints placed by deadlines and the page space available which limited the kind of stories that could be told. Also, the market was a younger, brasher, less adult audience than family oriented newspaper comics.

 

That said, there were lots of aspiring artists, some of whom would've made the cut with the right inspiration for a newspaper strip, others who just never got the break, but I'm persuaded by the evidence that among those who did make the cut, there was just as much mediocre art in newspaper comics.

 

Where the difference comes in is with the level of storytelling. Newspaper strip cartoonists either possessed great writing skills or they co-produced their strips with good writers who could adapt to the tight serialized visuals required of the medium.[/font]

 

Well, it's true, newspaper strips were, in general, pretty well written. Takes a good writer indeed to do a daily serial without repetition and with a hook every day. And there was limited space in the newspapers, you had to be a cut above to get a chance at a syndication deal.

 

So let's take the Big Kahuna from the era, Superman.

 

1938, just 2 years after the first original content comics, if memory serves. Failure in getting a syndication deal. First Action story was cut up and restriped newspaper dailys (Sundays? I don't recall) and even then it was as major experiment, with Supes not appearing on the cover again for several issues. Let's face it, it's amateurish.

 

Better than I could do mind you,

 

Nevertheless, it rang a distinct chord with the public, and practically singlehanded jumpstarted a brand new industry into a wild success. But that's only one story out of an anthology book, one success out of a dozen or so trial stories. I don't own an Action 1 and am unlikely to do so, barring a happy accident with a garage sale or a lotto ticket, but I've read the FFE reprint, and the rest of it is.... okay to dull.

 

Even the mediocre newspaper strips of the day were well done, professionally drawn and inked, and reproduced in a large size, all under the guiding hand of one of the big newspaper syndicates. The utter trash never saw the light of day, the syndicate editors didn't let it get printed in the first place.

 

On the other hand comics editors and printers were HOWLING for product, and would take some pretty loathsome stuff to fill the XX number of pages of content they needed, every single month, in and out.

 

If you didn't have product to print and distribute, you made no money. zero.

 

Different packaging, far different outcomes, and Waugh was correct IMO. You had to sell your funnybook pretty much with the cover alone to get the younkers to part with that precious dime, and garish catches the eye.

 

Timely sold a LOT of comics with kickarse covers and dubious content, LOL

 

[tth2]

The guy must have been looking at a Timely book when he wrote: "It seems to be an axiom in the comic-book world that color which screams, shrieks with the strongest possible discord, is good."

He definitely was.

That's why us kids, with our screaming punk music and discordant video games, laugh at the way the writer and Tim gel their blue hair and wear their pants buckled around their chest.

[Straw-Man]

The guy must have been looking at a Timely book when he wrote: "It seems to be an axiom in the comic-book world that color which screams, shrieks with the strongest possible discord, is good."

He definitely was.

That's why us kids, with our screaming punk music and discordant video games, laugh at the way the writer and Tim gel their blue hair and wear their pants buckled around their chest.

 

 

blb, this is the proper way to respond to a humorous jab---SOOO much better than a 2,000 word missive that sends people searching for knitting needles to stick into their eyes.

[montrealfilmguy]

You know, in the french newpapers here in Quebec.

 

We still gets comic strips of Blondie.In french.

 

That's some legacy.

 

 

[143ksk]

Oh, and y'know, to this very day I STILL don't understand the appeal of Fritzi Ritz, or Nancy and Sluggo.

 

Philistine!

 

Fritzi Ritz, and later Nancy, were outstanding strips in the '30s and early '40s. Pick up one of the very early compilations such as Single Series 5 or Comics on Parade 32 and check it out.

[Bookery]

On the other hand, as much as I love Centaur comics... maybe the first book Waugh glanced at was this...

 

 

Man, that is some seriously hideous art.

 

Jesse Marsh, who drew the early Tarzan comics, produced similarly hideous art.

 

You know, when you walk into the Annual Super-Heroes Reunion, and standing around the hall are Superman, Batman, The Human Torch, Wonder Woman, Iron Man, The Hulk, etc.... and you stroll up and announce "Hey, how's it going guys!? I'm The Ermine!", you're pretty much just demanding a butt-kicking.

 

 

[catrick339]

Oh, and y'know, to this very day I STILL don't understand the appeal of Fritzi Ritz, or Nancy and Sluggo.

 

Philistine!

 

Fritzi Ritz, and later Nancy, were outstanding strips in the '30s and early '40s. Pick up one of the very early compilations such as Single Series 5 or Comics on Parade 32 and check it out.

 

Well, I had to assume I was missing SOMETHING, it must've had some good entertainment content at one time or another, or it wouldn't have gotten a syndicate deal. By the time I was reading Nancy in the newspapers in the 60's and early 70's it was plain ol' whitebread boring. But then so was Blondie, and Hi and Lois, and Lolly, etc etc.

 

Heh, the first time I read a compilation of vintage strips of The Phantom I was knocked right out of my socks. Ditto Alley Oop, Terry and the Pirates, Buz Sawyer, etc etc.

[MusterMark]

Oh, and y'know, to this very day I STILL don't understand the appeal of Fritzi Ritz, or Nancy and Sluggo.

 

Philistine!

 

Fritzi Ritz, and later Nancy, were outstanding strips in the '30s and early '40s. Pick up one of the very early compilations such as Single Series 5 or Comics on Parade 32 and check it out.

 

Well, I had to assume I was missing SOMETHING, it must've had some good entertainment content at one time or another, or it wouldn't have gotten a syndicate deal. By the time I was reading Nancy in the newspapers in the 60's and early 70's it was plain ol' whitebread boring. But then so was Blondie, and Hi and Lois, and Lolly, etc etc.

 

Heh, the first time I read a compilation of vintage strips of The Phantom I was knocked right out of my socks. Ditto Alley Oop, Terry and the Pirates, Buz Sawyer, etc etc.

 

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

I love Nancy and Sluggo, and Blondie. Etc.

I even like The Ermine art - it is nostalgic of a bygone era and cool.

I see much to appreciate.

[generic user]

to be honest, I can see how it might have looked like anyone with a pencil could get a job in comics

 

[Electricmastro]

I suppose it doesn’t help that World War II drafted away many considerably talented artists and that the artists that did stay behind were often rushed to meet deadlines in the relatively new, yet demanding comic book industry. That said, I definitely feel there was art that gives me the impression that considerable effort was put into it regardless of what the circumstances were, not just covers, but interior art as well, like Harold DeLay’s work from Blue Circle Comics.

[Bronty]

Deleted 

Edited July 3, 2020 by Bronty

[Ameri]

On 4/13/2013 at 4:37 PM, Bookery said:

On the other hand, as much as I love Centaur comics... maybe the first book Waugh glanced at was this...

 

 

 

Interesting, George Filchock was Martin Filchock's dad. Martin had a long career in comics at Centaur, etc...

[pemart1966]

On 4/13/2013 at 8:58 PM, mrmyst said:

The war decimated Timely's staff, and the books suffered for it. IMHO, the best Timelys are pre-1943.

You're not just whistlin' Dixie...

[pemart1966]

On 4/14/2013 at 12:24 PM, montrealfilmguy said:

You know, in the french newpapers here in Quebec.

 

We still gets comic strips of Blondie.In french.

 

That's some legacy.

 

 

I hope that they're better in french than they are in english.  

[Electricmastro]

And then you have artists like Mac Raboy taking interiors to a whole other level (Green Lama #7, January 1946).