Sunday, January 30, 2011

Everett Raymond Kinstler's THE THING IN THE MIRROR -- and more!

Here's a big batch of Everett Raymond Kinstler work for you -- two complete stories, a cover and three of his great inside front covers. I'm too busy working to comment much -- I'll let Kinstler's art speak for itself.


















Friday, January 28, 2011

Monster memories 2011

Just turned in this wraparound cover for the upcoming 2011 edition of Monster Memories. Some of the characters on the back cover are from the vintage horror comics filling the shelves on Sam Scare's newsstand -- originally drawn by Jack Cole, Bob Powell and George Evans. The "cycloptopus" and the snakey green guy came from my own fevered mind.

The newsstand is stocked with this past year's issues of Scary Monsters and other mags from Druktenis Publishing. I filled it out with some comics and books that featured my art --- and then added dozens of vintage comics, pulps, paperbacks and collectibles. The characters and newsstand were painted with acrylics on bristol board. That image was scanned and then touched up with Photoshop. All the magazines, comics and other items on the shelves were added in Photoshop as well. There were a LOT of layers!

Click on the image below for a much larger version. Have fun checking out all the "goodies" on the shelves!

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Today's blog is brought to you by....

I've gone totally commercial today and am filling my blog with advertisements. Of course all these ads are from vintage comics and are presented for their entertainment value only. All offers are outdated, so don't try to send away for this stuff! You'd only be wasting your money. of course, maybe you would have been then, too.

I'm a man in my 50's who wants to look slimmer and feel younger -- but I think I'll pass on the free trial offer for the Chevalier!

Who exactly ever bought "salve" -- and what is the stuff anyway? These comic strip ads sure make selling it sound appealing, though.

Who doesn't want to be "hep" anyhow? Joe Bonomo was an interesting guy. Somewhere I have a signed copy of his self-published bio. Among other things, he was once a Hollywood stunt man -- and claimed to have done stunt work on Lon Chaney's "Hunchback of Notre Dame." And yes, it was his family that made the taffy!

Have a radioactive Christmas, folks!

Comics used to be chock full of offers to turn the readers into muscle-bound "he-men." What did they think we all were, skinny (or chubby) little nerds? Oh -- wait a minute....

Great cartooning here from Capt. Marvel artist C. C. Beck!

OH! I want one!

I'm sure these were the always disappointing little plastic "flats." From a nostalgic point of view, kind of cool, now. As a kid, ordering any of this stuff back then -- a big rip off!

"I'll mow ya down!"

I'm so glad they solved that mystery! Now to sell some salve and win a live pony!

Friday, January 21, 2011

King Ward's Wig!

Yes, I have other things I should be doing -- but couldn't resist posting another crazy horror comic. From the pages of This Magazine is HAUNTED #14, this is "The Wig." The Grand Comics Database lists no credits for this one -- but I'm pretty darned sure the art is by King Ward, whose wacky and weird work I've posted before -- see "Were-Spider's Doom!" These scans are a little fuzzy, but this tale is just too wild not to share!





Gene Colan and the Murderer's Mask!

From Weird Thrillers #2, 1951, it's Murderer's Mask, drawn by Gene Colan. If you're enjoying these vintage comic stories, please leave a comment. Thanks!




Thursday, January 20, 2011

Commissions! The Spirit, Green Hornet and more.

Though my schedule is a bit tight -- with 90 pages of Return to Perdition to go (and due too soon for comfort!), I have been working a few commissioned pieces into my schedule. Here we have Will Eisner's Spirit, a retro version of the Green Hornet and his great uncle, the Lone Ranger -- and, as requested by the client, a mash-up of Vampirella, and the classic Matt Baker Phantom Lady "headlights"cover. If you're interested in a commission, contact me for details through the contact link at my website.



George Evans and the Green Hands of Terror!

EC Comics great George Evans drew the tremendously weird tale, The Green Hands of Terror for Fawcett's This Magazine is HAUNTED. I love how absolutely crazy and creepy the stories in these '50s horror comics are -- and finding examples as well drawn as this one is a thrill.

As usual, I've done some clean up work on scans found on the web. In this case I've lightened the (very) tanned paper, and darkened the blacks -- making for a better presentation of the art.

If you'd like to explore the many public domain comics out there for yourself, check out the Digital Comics Museum. A word of warning, though -- be prepared to sift through a lot of junk to find the gems.