As the countdown to the release of Big Funny continues, I'll keep posting vintage strips from the Sunday comic sections we'll be giving away (with purchase of Big Funny) at the gallery opening. First up -- the gorgeous linework of Stan Drake on The Heart of Juliet Jones. I was not a fan of the "soap opera" strips when I was a kid -- but I always stopped and looked at Drake's beautiful drawing and beautiful girls! First up is a particularly nice example.
The second Juliet Jones strip posted here looks to me as if it might be "ghosted" by a young Neal Adams. Lovely -- but clearly a different hand at work here.
One of the things that strikes me when looking through these '60s vintage comics, is the high level of craftsmanship, even in the "lesser" strips. Mary Worth, a long-running strip, has never been a huge fan favorite -- but just look at how solid the drawing is in this example! Few current newspaper strips (though there are barely any story strips left) are drawn this well.
(Update: My fellow cartoonists have confirmed what I've suspected -- this Mary Worth example seems to have been ghosted by none other than Alex Toth! )
Keep stopping by for more vintage "funnies," as the countdown to Aug. 7 continues....
