If Jack Kirby was the king of comics, was Alex Schomburg the king of covers in the GA? 2 2

[Chadwick]

"I've always felt that Alex Schomburg was to comic books what Norman Rockwell was to The Saturday Evening Post"

 

 

One of my fav Xela's

 

[Cat-Man_America]

BTW, this cover art is credited to Alex Schomburg in the Chroma book with a nice 1/2 page reproduction ...

 

 

Apparently, the CGC graders weren't as confident of the cover attribution, so they left it off.

[Cat-Man_America]

"I've always felt that Alex Schomburg was to comic books what Norman Rockwell was to The Saturday Evening Post"

 

 

One of my fav Xela's

 

 

 

Awesome!

[bluechip]

Ironically, Schomburg's versatility may be one of the things that has suppressed his fame a bit. A layman could look at three Schomburgs and reasonably assume they were done by three different people. Many great artists have that versatility, but it's usually one style which stands out that people regard as their signature look. But Schomburg has several signatures looks and it may make it difficult for people to pigeonhole him

[sfcityduck]

For me, Jack Kirby was NOT a great GOLDEN AGE cover artist. And I think the dearth of examples of Kirby covers in this thread makes the point. I view his DC covers as sub-par for the publisher. And I think Schomburg was a far better Timely cover artist than Kirby.

 

Personally, I'd rate Bill Everett higher than Kirby for both early GOLDEN AGE material and late Golden Age material. I'm surprised no one has mentioned him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Cat-Man_America]

Ironically, Schomburg's versatility may be one of the things that has suppressed his fame a bit. A layman could look at three Schomburgs and reasonably assume they were done by three different people. Many great artists have that versatility, but it's usually one style which stands out that people regard as their signature look. But Schomburg has several signatures looks and it may make it difficult for people to pigeonhole him

 

Schomburg's style went through several distinctly identifiable phases as his work evolved. Sadly, he didn't routinely start signing his work until after the Daring Mystery #7 cover in early '41. Also, he may have occasionally collaborated with other artists, providing pencils or inks. In those instances, there'd be no signature and dependent upon the faithfulness of his collaborator the difference in style might not be easy to separate.

[Cat-Man_America]

For me, Jack Kirby was NOT a great GOLDEN AGE cover artist. And I think the dearth of examples of Kirby covers in this thread makes the point. I view his DC covers as sub-par for the publisher. And I think Schomburg was a far better Timely cover artist than Kirby.

 

Personally, I'd rate Bill Everett higher than Kirby for both early GOLDEN AGE material and late Golden Age material. I'm surprised no one has mentioned him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Everett was definitely a GA pioneer, but his work didn't reach maturation until he was drafted into doing covers on a regular basis for Atlas (late Timely) in the Atom Age (pre-code era) starting around 1950. The only reason I'm not emphasizing the fifties in GA is that I'd like the focus to remain on the first heroic age, before super heroes took a bow after WWII and headed for mothball-ville. I love Bill Everett's artistry, especially the interiors, but his GA cover illustration rarely rises to the high level of competency that he'd achieve later on. My (now I'll run and hide from the flying bricks)

 

[Phantalien]

I think that one of the best things since beginning on this site has been the discovery of these golden age artists whom I have never heard of and as I see examples of their work, on comics that I can never afford

 

Since I do not know too much about the artists and covers I feel like my opinion would be moot, but I will say that Alex Schomburg was probably the best artist discovery since joining the site.

 

I wish there was a book out there, like a time life series, that would focus on the art and work of a golden age artist. Volume 1 Schomburg... Volume 2 Flessel... and for a limited time you can get this Plastic Man doll all for 3 easy payments of XXXXX

 

There are books; this one is excellent, but the hardcover's a little pricey...

 

 

http://www.amazon.com/Chroma-Alex-Schomburg-Jon-Gustafson/dp/0936861002/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1441986680&sr=8-1&keywords=alex+schomburg

 

 

Ooooh you are my hero!

[sfcityduck]

 

Everett was definitely a GA pioneer, but his work didn't reach maturation until he was drafted into doing covers on a regular basis for Atlas (late Timely) in the Atom Age (pre-code era) starting around 1950. The only reason I'm not emphasizing the fifties in GA is that I'd like the focus to remain on the first heroic age, before super heroes took a bow after WWII and headed for mothball-ville. I love Bill Everett's artistry, especially the interiors, but his GA cover illustration rarely rises to the high level of competency that he'd achieve later on. My (now I'll run and hide from the flying bricks)

 

Fair enough, it's your thread and I'll play by your rules. And I'm with you in placing Schomburg above Kirby. I'd put Cole, Raboy, and Fine, all mentioned above, before Kirby. Indeed, I'd say that titles like Star Spangled Comics never looked better than after Kirby stopped doing the covers. Kirby did a lot of classic covers in the SA, but in the GA? Not so much.

[Cat-Man_America]

 

Everett was definitely a GA pioneer, but his work didn't reach maturation until he was drafted into doing covers on a regular basis for Atlas (late Timely) in the Atom Age (pre-code era) starting around 1950. The only reason I'm not emphasizing the fifties in GA is that I'd like the focus to remain on the first heroic age, before super heroes took a bow after WWII and headed for mothball-ville. I love Bill Everett's artistry, especially the interiors, but his GA cover illustration rarely rises to the high level of competency that he'd achieve later on. My (now I'll run and hide from the flying bricks)

 

Fair enough, it's your thread and I'll play by your rules. And I'm with you in placing Schomburg above Kirby. I'd put Cole, Raboy, and Fine, all mentioned above, before Kirby. Indeed, I'd say that titles like Star Spangled Comics never looked better than after Kirby stopped doing the covers. Kirby did a lot of classic covers in the SA, but in the GA? Not so much.

 

I don't want to limit discussion, and I am a fan of Everett's work. I just think a lot of his best cover work was produced after the GA, when superheroes weren't in vogue...

 

 

Also, I'm a bigger fan of Jack Kirby's GA art than his mid-60's style. Over time his drawing got blockier as his SA work for Marvel (and later, DC) evolved.

Of course a lot of folks prefer his later work. He was indeed prolific and his maturing style is uniquely identifiable, but this is the Kirby style that I prefer...

 

 

While Kirby's GA covers often have a somewhat sketchier look, they benefit from strong composition and interesting perspectives (perhaps influenced by Orson Welles' Citizen Kane which was in wide release around this time).

[Roger66]

The rediscovery of Alex Schomburg covers helped get me back into collecting comics after a long hiatus. Years ago I found this amazing personal letter for sale on eBay. I wanted to share it here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Primetime]

The rediscovery of Alex Schomburg covers helped get me back into collecting comics after a long hiatus. Years ago I found this amazing personal letter for sale on eBay. I wanted to share it here.

 

 

 

 

 

(thumbs u

[Bronty]

 

Everett was definitely a GA pioneer, but his work didn't reach maturation until he was drafted into doing covers on a regular basis for Atlas (late Timely) in the Atom Age (pre-code era) starting around 1950. The only reason I'm not emphasizing the fifties in GA is that I'd like the focus to remain on the first heroic age, before super heroes took a bow after WWII and headed for mothball-ville. I love Bill Everett's artistry, especially the interiors, but his GA cover illustration rarely rises to the high level of competency that he'd achieve later on. My (now I'll run and hide from the flying bricks)

 

Fair enough, it's your thread and I'll play by your rules. And I'm with you in placing Schomburg above Kirby. I'd put Cole, Raboy, and Fine, all mentioned above, before Kirby. Indeed, I'd say that titles like Star Spangled Comics never looked better than after Kirby stopped doing the covers. Kirby did a lot of classic covers in the SA, but in the GA? Not so much.

 

I don't want to limit discussion, and I am a fan of Everett's work. I just think a lot of his best cover work was produced after the GA, when superheroes weren't in vogue...

 

 

Also, I'm a bigger fan of Jack Kirby's GA art than his mid-60's style. Over time his drawing got blockier as his SA work for Marvel (and later, DC) evolved.

Of course a lot of folks prefer his later work. He was indeed prolific and his maturing style is uniquely identifiable, but this is the Kirby style that I prefer...

 

 

While Kirby's GA covers often have a somewhat sketchier look, they benefit from strong composition and interesting perspectives (perhaps influenced by Orson Welles' Citizen Kane which was in wide release around this time).

 

Not a fan of the USA cover, but he did do some excellent and more finely rendered as you say covers like the Red Raven you showed, Marvel Mystery 12, Mystic 7, etc

 

That said I agree with the conclusion. He was a very good GA cover artist, but not at the very top notch. His body of cover work in the more appealing of his early styles was too small.

 

 

[Cat-Man_America]

 

Everett was definitely a GA pioneer, but his work didn't reach maturation until he was drafted into doing covers on a regular basis for Atlas (late Timely) in the Atom Age (pre-code era) starting around 1950. The only reason I'm not emphasizing the fifties in GA is that I'd like the focus to remain on the first heroic age, before super heroes took a bow after WWII and headed for mothball-ville. I love Bill Everett's artistry, especially the interiors, but his GA cover illustration rarely rises to the high level of competency that he'd achieve later on. My (now I'll run and hide from the flying bricks)

 

Fair enough, it's your thread and I'll play by your rules. And I'm with you in placing Schomburg above Kirby. I'd put Cole, Raboy, and Fine, all mentioned above, before Kirby. Indeed, I'd say that titles like Star Spangled Comics never looked better than after Kirby stopped doing the covers. Kirby did a lot of classic covers in the SA, but in the GA? Not so much.

 

I don't want to limit discussion, and I am a fan of Everett's work. I just think a lot of his best cover work was produced after the GA, when superheroes weren't in vogue...

 

 

Also, I'm a bigger fan of Jack Kirby's GA art than his mid-60's style. Over time his drawing got blockier as his SA work for Marvel (and later, DC) evolved.

Of course a lot of folks prefer his later work. He was indeed prolific and his maturing style is uniquely identifiable, but this is the Kirby style that I prefer...

 

 

While Kirby's GA covers often have a somewhat sketchier look, they benefit from strong composition and interesting perspectives (perhaps influenced by Orson Welles' Citizen Kane which was in wide release around this time).

 

Not a fan of the USA cover, but he did do some excellent and more finely rendered as you say covers like the Red Raven you showed, Marvel Mystery 12, Mystic 7, etc

 

That said I agree with the conclusion. He was a very good GA cover artist, but not at the very top notch. His body of cover work in the more appealing of his early styles was too small.

 

 

 

Kirby's work changed somewhat after moving from Timely over to DC as the publisher's policies for garish/violent content at DC were more restrictive. Stylistically, his body of work throughout the 40's and through most of the fifties was pretty consistent and very dynamic. Kirby's anatomical drawing was often sub-par, but he made up for it with excellent composition, fluid movement and scenes with strong symbolic or emotional content (either in the context of tension or action).

 

As a team S&K seem to have been motivated by establishing themselves as a fast and dependable turnkey operation. It would allow them to run their own work for hire art shop later on (when they worked for Prize and others, creating packaged projects and sharing the profits). They did quite well until the CCA, declining sales and distribution issues put so many publishers OOB. After their partnership dissolved Kirby started farming out projects to both DC and Marvel (SA), where he was both favored and disrespected by his publishers while Joe Simon was pretty well set due to his investments.

 

Alex Schomburg was the epitome of a top gun, work for hire, commercial cover artist. He did some interior work, but not a lot and he isn't known for it. While he's more often thought of as Timely's go-to cover guy, he worked without contract for a number of publishers during and after the war. At the same time he worked in comics he was doing other commercial cover work (including the spiritualist covers Dr. Love posted as examples earlier). It's worth noting that Alex's dependability to meet tight comic deadlines must have rivaled Jack Kirby's as both artists were in high demand.

 

As more lucrative opportunities opened up in the pulp and digest market Alex switched gears, becoming one of the most sought after SF cover artists of the 1950's & 60's. It's with the SF market where his airbrush work really took flight. If I'm not mistaken Alex was one of the first World Science-Fiction convention Hugo Award winners for his art when the prizes were founded in the early 50's.

[jimbo_707]

Schomburg was the American Idol of GA -- "Hey, this looks good. Do it again... 600 times."

That view might annoy some, but I think there's some truth to it, at least when it comes to Schomburg's later work. I'd rank his early pulp-like covers very high, but many of his later Timely covers start to look alike. MM#46 is a notable exception. His Better/Nedor covers did not receive the same level of attention to detail; most of those are mediocre compared to his Timely work. I think I'd classify those as "pot-boilers."

[cousin itt]

Did Schomburg ever do a DC cover?

[Vision75]

Schomburg was the American Idol of GA -- "Hey, this looks good. Do it again... 600 times."

That few might annoy some, but I think there's some truth to it, at least when it comes to Schomburg's later work. I'd rank his early pulp-like covers very high, but many of his later Timely covers start to look alike. MM#46 is a notable exception. His Better/Nedor covers did not receive the same level of attention to detail; most of those are mediocre compared to his Timely work. I think I'd classify those as "pot-boilers."

 

Some of Alex's mid-40's work was redundant, no doubt. That said, his late 40s work was fresh and imaginative. His airbrushed covers - particularly Startling 49,50, Exciting 60, 61, and 66 - amaze.

Edited October 2, 2015 by Vision75

[Cat-Man_America]

Did Schomburg ever do a DC cover?

 

To my knowledge, no. Alex was known primarily for his action-packed covers. DC focused on interiors, covers were almost an afterthought.

 

Schomburg was the American Idol of GA -- "Hey, this looks good. Do it again... 600 times."

That few might annoy some, but I think there's some truth to it, at least when it comes to Schomburg's later work. I'd rank his early pulp-like covers very high, but many of his later Timely covers start to look alike. MM#46 is a notable exception. His Better/Nedor covers did not receive the same level of attention to detail; most of those are mediocre compared to his Timely work. I think I'd classify those as "pot-boilers."

 

Some of Alex's mid-40's work was redundant, no doubt. That said, his late 40s work was fresh and imaginative. His airbrushed covers - particularly Startling 49,50, Exciting 60, 61, and 66 - amaze.

 

What amazes me is how Schomburg avoided redundancy as much as he did. Even with the similarity of some wartime battle scenes and character poses, most of his covers don't copy one another. OTOH, Alex frequently stylized his characters to convey rage and those open mouthed warriors do have similar facial expressions.

 

It would be interesting to compose an accurate in-depth checklist of how many covers he produced (total) for Timely, Better/Nedor, Harvey, Continental, etc., while taking on other commercial, non-comic related assignments.

[Electricmastro]

I really do think that L. B. Cole’s usual approach of having the color black be as prominent as primary colors made for the most effective covers. They just tend to be so colorfully dark, that they can give off multiple emotions.

 

Edited January 29, 2020 by Electricmastro

[Cat-Man_America]

Very fond of LB Cole’s covers.  He was prolific as well, especially in consideration of his output after the war.  As with Alex Schomburg, LB Cole worked for several publishers.  Cole definitely has an identifiable style that stands apart from many of his peers.  While not translating well to pulps, digests and hardcovers LB certainly has to be considered next to Alex along with Jack (Kirby) for the prodigious number of covers he produced along with the range.of subject matter.  

If Cole’s technique has any shortcomings that might be critically nit-picked it was his over-reliance on primary colors in a woodblock-like style.  His compositions have very little blending or shading.  That said, LB Cole’s draftsmanship was exemplary.and the starkness of his style is one of the things that really sets it apart.

In the final analysis both Cole and Schomburg tended to compose busier covers when working in ink, but rarely to ill effect.  Alex’s work always seemed to have more depth and room for color gradation while never failing to focus on a specific center of interest.  LB’s covers, by contrast, are denser and darker overall, often with more diffuse centers of interest.