Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: golden age, lou high quality, high quality comics
Lou Fine’s iconic 1940 cowl for Hit Comics #5 from Quality Comics relies on a scene from the inside story in that situation.
Despite working on and co-creating quite a few characters now thought of obscure, Lou Fine was thought of top-of-the-line artists of the Golden Age. He was an artist that even different comedian guide greats admired, and his cowl work for publishers Fox Feature Syndicate, Fiction House, and Quality Comics continues to be extremely regarded by collectors to this present day. Will Eisner would as soon as say about Fine, “I had respect for his towering kind of draftsmanship. He was the epitome of the honest draftsman. No fakery, no razzle-dazzle — very direct, very honest in his approach,” whereas Joe Simon recalled, “My favorite artist was Lou Fine. He was also Jack Kirby‘s favorite artist. I know that Jack was a fan of and greatly influenced by Fine’s work.” Fine is credited with practically 90 covers throughout the Golden Age by GCD, with lots of them thought of iconic by fashionable collectors.
The covers of comics like Planet Comics #1, Fantastic Comics #3, and Mystery Men Comics #3 at the moment are the stuff of legend. The cowl of Hit Comics #5 that includes the Red Bee is one other highly-regarded traditional and is arguably amongst his high 3 most well-known and sought-after covers. An iconic cowl by one of the vital vital artists of the Golden Age, there is a Hit Comics #5 (Quality, 1940) CGC VG+ 4.5 Off-white pages up for public sale within the 2023 June 22 – 25 Comics & Comic Art Signature® Auction #7340 at Heritage Auctions.
The Red Bee was the creation of Toni Blum and Charles Nicholas Wojtkoski for his debut in Hit Comics #1. The character was an Oregon-based assistant district legal professional who acquired his identify from his utilization of educated bees that might be deployed from his belt buckle. Despite this unusual starting, or maybe due to it, the character has not fairly been forgotten. The Red Bee was alluded to within the 2014 comedy movie She’s Funny That Way. and likewise talked about within the current DCEU collection Stargirl. DC Comics acquired the character in 1956 with the remainder of the Quality Comics IP, though he has since entered the general public area.
Toni Blum (born Audrey Blum, January 11 1918 – 1973) started working for Eisner-Iger Studio round 1938, seemingly across the similar time as her father, artist Alex Blum, joined the studio as nicely. Blum labored in comics for Eisner-Iger Studio (and later Iger Studio) by about 1943, although actual dates and credit are considerably troublesome to find out because of the variety of pseudonyms she used. It’s additionally recognized that she nonetheless had a hand in comics as late as 1956 at Gilberton. In addition to the Red Bee, her recognized contributions embrace Zero, the Ghost Detective in Quality’s Feature Comics, Sally O’Neil Policewoman in National Comics, and Wonder Boy, additionally in National Comics. Blum married fellow Iger Studio artist William T. Bossert in 1942.
Charles Nicholas Wojtkoski (December 6, 1921 – June 21, 1985) is greatest remembered because the creator of the Blue Beetle. Wojtkoski labored for just about each main writer throughout his intensive profession which lasted 1935-1984, throughout which he contributed to a staggering 3000+ comedian books. His profession features a 23-year stint at Charlton, working with inker Vince Alascia and author Joe Gill.
Interestingly, Fine’s legendary cowl on Hit Comics #5 relies on a scene from the inside story by Blum and Wojtkoski this situation. Red Bee had been captured by criminals who have been utilizing a ship as a base of operations and who dumped his sure, unconscious physique into the waters of a close-by underwater aquarium. Contrary to what Fine implied on the duvet, Red Bee is ready to use the passing swordfish to chop by his bonds and escape the predicament.
It’s potential that Toni Blum had a hand in the subject material of this cowl, and that this was not the one well-known Lou Fine cowl by which she performed a job. An aspiring playwright, Blum was detail-oriented. According to Bossert in later years, Blum labored with artists by offering a top level view after which advising them on web page breakdowns and factors of emphasis, noting “She’d write an outline, and she’d help [the artist] break it down page-by-page. Then she would get the pages back, and she would pencil in the actual dialogue on the page. Then the lettering man would letter the dialogue. … She’d say, ‘This is supposed to be on the fifth page and you have it on the second page. You’re giving away the whole story in the beginning.’ So she had to re-do the whole story as it went along.”
Will Eisner would additionally later be aware that “Toni Blum was an in-house writer and wrote for George Tuska, Jack Kirby and Lou Fine. There were only two rooms and little in the way of secrecy. People in the studio could hear what was going on in the front office if they cared to listen.”
This all appears to indicate that Blum might have been giving Fine ideas on cowl imagery for her personal tales. As we have lately famous, Fine’s legendary cowl of Fantastic Comics #3 was based mostly on a scene drawn by Toni Blum’s father Alex Blum for Fantastic Comics #4. While the writing of that story has been tentatively attributed to Eisner, it appears potential that it was truly written by Toni Blum. By manner of distinction, Fine’s early Green Mask covers for Mystery Men Comics seem to have little to do with artist Walter Frame‘s inside tales.
The Red Bee is an obscure character elevated to gathering immortality by the duvet artistry of Lou Fine, and there is a Hit Comics #5 (Quality, 1940) CGC VG+ 4.5 Off-white pages up for public sale within the 2023 June 22 – 25 Comics & Comic Art Signature® Auction #7340 at Heritage Auctions. If you have by no means bid at Heritage Auctions earlier than, you possibly can try their FAQ on the bidding course of and associated issues.
Affiliates of Bleeding Cool purchase from and/or consign to Heritage Auctions.
Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!
Stay up-to-date and assist the positioning by following Bleeding Cool on Google News immediately!
Discussion about this post