More Forbidden Worlds goodness -- another entry by Emil Gershwin -- Lair of the Vampire is from #3, also the source of the Williamson/Wood story I posted last night.
Again, I did a certain amount of clean-up to the scans to make it more presentable. My apologies for the inner spine roll that shows up on some of the pages -- but that's there in the original scans. The color registration was particularly awful on a few of these pages -- I fixed what I could under the circumstances -- but there's only so much I can do when the color is that off.
I'm loving Gerswin's compositions and linework here. His drawing style has more in common with some of the newspaper story strips of the day than most comic book artists of that period. The bold, crisp lines remind me of another favorite of mine, Ray Gotto (Ozark Ike). But I must admit, Gerswin's drawing is superior to Gotto's. It also makes me think of Edgar P. Jacobs, the Belgian cartoonist who drew the Blake & Mortimer albums (La Marque Jaune) -- Gershwin's art being right in line with the European "ligne claire" school of cartooning.
Most of the scans I'm working with come from the amazing Digital Comics Museum, where hundreds of public domain titles are available for download. Check it out and find some gems yourself!
Since this is "Read a Comic in Public Day," I suggest those of you viewing this on your laptop, iPad or other electronic device at your local coffee shop (or other public place) -- make sure to point out to those around you what a nifty comic you're reading. Then after embarrassing yourself, take solace in knowing that those other folks are the ones missing out....
2 comments:
Great stuff by Gershwin. This story seemed to be the start of a period when he was doing his best work. He seemed to just be starting his clean, thick outline look. Later stuff would seem have a finer line, and the drawings were a bit less cartoony. Both styles were good, but in different ways.
I've always admired Gershwin myself, as a greatly undervalued artist. I ran a distinctive style as a very high mark of an artist's talent, and he certainly had one.
Michael Vance
author of
Forbidden Adventures: The History of the American Comics Group
Post a Comment