Real Crime Clues

Friday Comic Book Day.

The last two weeks of the year I have taken off from work. I am waiting for some plans to go through anyway. Great to finally be abe to sit down and read a bit. Even better, last week I go tnew (digital) idues of Alter Ego, The Jack Kirby Collector and Comic Book Creator from the good folks at Twomorrows. Ever since they sent me digital copies to try out a year ago, I have been reading these excellent magazines on my Ipad. If you do notyet have a susciption and are not sure if you shoudl commit your money, go to their site and try some stuff out. You might even sart with oneof the issues of Alter Ego that have real proper articles by me, like When Jacob Met Stanley in The Jack Kirby Collector (about Jack Kirby's often confused two returns to Marvel in the late fifties) or my two parter on Mad comic book imitations for Alter Ego #86 en #91 (which inspired Fantagraphic to ask John Benson to produce a reprint book about those same imitations, without telling me of course). In this week's Alter Ego one of the main attractions is the first part of a huge reptrospective of the work of Dan Barry, who is mostly now for his work on Flash Gordon but had a whole (influential) career in comics before that. Here to ilustrate s one of those stories, from Real Clue Crime Stories.

A Criming Shame

Friday Comic Book Day.

Bit behing things here, but I'll catch up. Toay I have a couple of crime stories from the early fiftie from moonlighting artists. From 1950 and Hillman's Real Truw Crime stories come what I believe to be an early Dan Barry story (from before he became famous with Flash Gordon). Did you know he actually wanted to do a crime strip rather than a science fiction one, but couldn't sell it? Dan Barry is on eof those artists who deserve a whole lot of recognition, but he won't get it as long as DC is sitting on the copyrights. Between 1948 and 1952 Bary did loads and loads of great comic book stuff. He was one of the first to marry the slickness of Rip Kirby's Alex raymond to the quick and easy inking style of Milton Caniff. His style influenced many of the later DC artists, such as Gil Kane, Mike Sekowsky and Carmine Infantino, many of whom did a bit of ghosting on Flash Gordon here and there (although I am not sure about Infantino, there). His style, together with that of Alex Toth, laid the basis for the DC house style. But like Toth, Barry's early work can't be fully appreciated if you can't eprint the DC work he did in those erly years. All we have now for Toth is his later work (which is awsome as well and has been reprinted bu IDW in a superb series of books) and for Barry his early work for Gleason and some pieces here and there such as this one.

In 1954, Joe Kubert did a couple of quick jobs for Gleason, after his partnership with Norman Maurer fell through and before he landed at DC. I like that heavy early inkine of Kubert.

In the same issue you get Pete Morisi. Although much has been made from the likeness of his style with that of george Tuska, if you see them side by side they are immediately recognizable. As stylized as Tuska was, Morisi seems even more so.

Howard O'Donnell is in the same 'school' as Tuska and Morisi. He did not do a lot of comic book art, in fat I only know of his few pieces for Stan Lee's Timely/Atlas. But here he is, doing a very enjoyable who dunnit. Don't peek, now.