William Overgard out West

Quite a few years ago, I purchased a batch of Australian editions of Dell Western comics.  The bad news about these particular versions is that they are all edited -- the first several pages of the stories cut to fit into a smaller page-count format -- but the good news is -- they are printed in black and white.  This allows for a clean reproduction of the linework, unobscured by the sometimes heavy handed color found in comics of the period.  I'm particularly glad I got this book in that lot -- Zane Gray's The Rustlers as drawn by William Overgard.  

When teaching in the comics program at MCAD, I used panels and pages from this book as examples of simplicity and clarity in composition and storytelling.  I've scanned a few pages to share here.  I'm knocked out by how good this work is.  Click on the images for a larger view.

Chester Gould and Dick Tracy

This wonderful autobiographical comic strip was drawn by Chet Gould for Collier's magazine in 1948.  I love every thin/thick line of this.  As always, click on the image for a larger view.

The SPACE CHILDREN!

It's  Scary Monsters time again!  Here's the wraparound cover for the seventy-third issue.  Considering the subject matter was '50s space kids, I couldn't resist going all retro-comic booky this time.  I worked the magazine's mascot, Sam Scare into the crowd of frightened kids on the back cover -- though he doesn't exactly seem scared.  I loved drawing that big globby space brain/amoeba thing!  The various elements were drawn in ink and/or pencil, and combined and colored in Photoshop. 

Now on to several commissions, more Return to Perdition pages, and packing up some artwork I've sold to collectors....

SHOCK STORIES original art and printed cards

I couldn't resist another post related to the URBAN LEGENDS and SHOCK STORIES cards.  Here are a couple shots of my original black and white line art, compared to the printed colored cards.  The art was done at 5 x 7 inches and reduced for publication.  These are both from the SHOCK set -- so there is a 3D version as well as the standard color card.  The 3D cards are the ones with the simpler "flat" color.  I told you some of these were grisly!  These two are in my "keeper file" and not among the originals I'm offering for sale.

Urban Legends and SHOCK STORIES trading cards

At long last, I have my comp box of the URBAN LEGENDS and SHOCK STORIES trading card sets I drew for Monsterwax!  This project was a long time in the making, and it's a treat to see it finally on the market.  I spent this afternoon sorting through the cards, assembling my sets by opening the packs contained in the box.  Each box contains a complete basic 50 card set of both SHOCK and UL -- as well as 3D subset cards and various extras.  I even got two of my own sketchcards back!  The original B&W line art art was also returned -- and I'll be offering up the majority of the originals for sale -- including the paintings for the wrappers.  Contact me for details on that if you're interested. 

As someone who collected trading cards when I was a kid -- way back in the 1960s, when you could get cards of The Beatles, The Outer Limits or Gomer Pyle, it's a real kick to have created the art for an entire set (two sets, really!), and to see it presented in the traditional "wax pack" manner.  Now if only each pack contained a crumbling stick of dusty pink bubble gum....

Mighty Joe Young

Dig this double-page magazine ad for Mighty Joe Young!  Enjoy, fellow stop-motion fans.

More comic strip ads

As promised, here are a pair of Fearless Fosdick Wildroot Cream Oil ads.  I'm also posting a couple Terry and the Pirates Canada Dry advertisments, a Sgt. Bilko photo comic (for Camels) and several more Li'l Abner Cream of Wheat strips.  I have MANY more Abners -- comment if you want to see them here.