Underground Comix original art by the late Joel Beck.

[50 Cent #II (1st)]

This arrived today.

[suspense39]

Ha ha, nice I bought two of those myself! Congratulations!

For those who don't know: Joel Beck was a San Francisco Bay Area artist and cartoonist. His comic book, Lenny of Laredo, one of the earliest underground comic books of the 1960s, was the first underground comic book published on the West Coast.

[suspense39]

I believe these to be from the 70s, but not sure, the 60 s stuff tends to be really glued together and patch up....these are a bit more refined. Do you happen to know where and when they were published?

[50 Cent #II (1st)]

No idea where it's from, thought it might be from the California Pelican?

 

Congrats on your wins also.

 

As for first Underground published on the west coast, "Robert Ronnie Branaman" by Robert Branaman (in the Kennedy guide, as well as Momma-Daddie published by Don Donahue a few years later, and Robert was the man who introduced the two of them who together went on to print Zap Comix #1) was printed 2 years earlier in 1963 in San Francisco by Charles Plymell. Bob was a "hippie" before they new what "hippies" were according to Don and at the center of Beat movement. He was living in San Francisco and decided to publish a comic book that dealt with a character injecting a made up drug and it's mostly incoherent story around it and asked his friend Plymell to print it in 1963.

[suspense39]

http://www.comicbookdb.com/creator.php?ID=18241

 

Thanks for the info, here's al link to Joel's published work.....I'm sure its incomplete. I haven't gone through it all yet.

[50 Cent #II (1st)]

Odd, his 3 big works aren't listed, the Prophet, Marching Marvin and Lenny of Lorado.

 

[suspense39]

It's probably a list in progress.....a freind of mine has the whole marching Marvin book.

[DDDave]

Congrats on the nice Beck page. I am curious where that's from also. I had forgotten about the Pelican which as I understand it, was where Beck got his start.

The only tidbit of info I have on Beck which is not readily available on the internet comes from a bill of sale written out by Joel Beck for the sale of the entire Marchin' Marvin book to Albert Morse:

 

Jan 14, 1975

I hereby sell to Albert Morse the originals to the comic Marching Marvin Drawn by me in 1964

I shall retain the copyright -in said comic

I have recieved $200.00 today and upon delivery of the cover I shall recieve an additional $50

SIGHNED Joel Beck

 

 

[50 Cent #II (1st)]

Thanks.

Just got my first copy of Marching Marvin last week, ended up it looks like a nice copy in maybe F+ or VF-. With my Prophet, the only one I need is a Lenny (first 2 prints are extremely rare, but the 3rd print is pretty common although still pricey).

[DDDave]

I think it was Sunbury Productions that published all of those books. Do you know anything about Sunbury? All I could find seemed to imply that Beck was the only one involved. I'm not aware of any other publications either.

[Phil Howe-migration]

Sunbury Productions was a joint venture by Joel Beck and Phil Howe, his lifetime friend. Sunbury published both Lenny of Laredo and Marching Marvin as well as the first couple sets of Joel's amazing fantasy drawings.

 

A pristine copy of the green copy of Lenny of Laredo (the true very first edition) recently sold at auction for over $7,000.00 by Heritage Auctions.

[suspense39]

I'm happy to have a couple pieces by Beck, they don't show up too often, and for what an important figure in underground comix, they are rediculously underpriced.

[DDDave]

Wow, I haven't checked this thread in a year and then to see you answered my question. Thank you! So, did you publish those books with Joel Beck? I would like to hear more about the collaboration. I recently posted images of the original art for Marching Marvin on CAF.

[Phil Howe-migration]

Actually I can't remember exactly the collaboration as Joel and I met when we were ten years old and stayed pals until his untimely death. I think Joel just drew Lenny up and after seeing it I took it down to the local copy guy and the green edition was born, followed a month or so later by the orange edition.

 

With Marching Marvin it was a little bit more formal and we did a first run of about 2,500 copies with a nice cover on it. Joel was such an amazing artist! I have around 15 or so paintings he did and a couple of original fantasy drawings.

 

I miss him dearly but know he's upstairs most likely collaborating with Walt Disney.

 

Oh - I also own all of the original artwork for Lenny. Even though it was his first book it was done in the bits and pieces pastiche technique he became famous for. The cover artwork underwent some changes as it was re-published a number of times in different editions.

[DDDave]

Thanks for writing about your friendship and collaboration with Joel Beck. He really was an amazing and unique artist. One of a kind, absolutely. I recently picked up a decent copy of Marching Marvin and was pleased to see that its vivid cover inks remain undimmed by time. As you describe the Lenny artwork, so it is with the Marvin art- it's cut and pasted together to such an extent that it's sculptural.

I'm thrilled to know that the Lenny artwork is still in existence. Would you mind posting a couple of images from it sometime?

[georgehagenauer-migration]

Does any of the Bear story (fro m I think Joel becks comics and stories) exist or is available - that is the one where the hunte and their kids go bear hunting and the bears win!

[Phil Howe-migration]

I have quite a number of the Kitchen Sink collected works comix books available on the joelbeck.com website…all of them autographed by Joel himself. If you go to the website and enter the word COLLECTOR I will send you one of these unread books for $25…and I'll pay the shipping. I bought out Kitchen Sink's last inventory so all of the books are in like new shape.

 

I believe the bear story is among them…if that is the "true" story of Smokey the Bear which Joel wrote. I will check.

 

I will also open up my old files and take some pictures of the "Lenny" originals and post them.

 

Certainly glad there are still some Joel fans out there.

 

Kindest regards to all,

 

Phil

 

[Bronty]

Phil,

 

I'm not so familiar with Joel's work but I know he's well regarded, thanks for sharing and I will check out more of his work .

 

Is this the Phil Howe that is himself an artist?

[Bronty]

Thanks for writing about your friendship and collaboration with Joel Beck. He really was an amazing and unique artist. One of a kind, absolutely. I recently picked up a decent copy of Marching Marvin and was pleased to see that its vivid cover inks remain undimmed by time. As you describe the Lenny artwork, so it is with the Marvin art- it's cut and pasted together to such an extent that it's sculptural.

I'm thrilled to know that the Lenny artwork is still in existence. Would you mind posting a couple of images from it sometime?

 

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