Tag Archives: Art: Comics

1931.07.31 “Ching Chow”

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1931.07.31 “Ching Chow”
by Sydney Smith (1977-1935)
7.25 x 4.5 in., ink on board
Coppola Collection

Sidney Smith was the “name” partner in the team that created Ching, in 1927, because he was famous (and rich) as the man behind The Gumps, one of the most popular comics of the time. The other, Stanley Link (the “produce the content” partner), worked as his assistant, but later became known for creating the popular Tiny Tim. Smith signed the cartoon until his death, in a head-on collision, in 1935. Without a noticeable change in style, Link then began signing it, and continued to do so until his own death in 1957.

The older format for the shell, with the large “Ching Chow” at the bottom, can be seen on the blank reverse side of this cartoon, which suggests it was during the transition. The latest example of the old format being used that I have is from October 18, 1930, while the earliest example I have of the new format is July 7, 14, and now 31, 1931.  All of them are printed on the reverse side of one of the older formats.

With a round face, a long queue sticking straight up from his head and a hugely toothy grin, Ching Chow was the very epitome of a stereotyped Chinese from right about then. He imparted his wisdom-packed one-liners in the style of a fortune cookie, but sometimes with what passed at the time for a slightly more “Asian-ized” accent.

His work on “Ching Chow” is not even listed in his Wikipedia entry.

Ibis the Invincible, in “Whiz Comics” 11 (Dec 1940) p 55

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Ibis the Invincible, in “Whiz Comics” 11 (Dec 1940) p 55
by Peter (Pete) Anthony Constanza (1913-1984)
16.5 x 21.25 in., ink on board
Coppola Collection

First page from the story “The Walking Sphinx,” written and colored by Bill Parker, who also wrote and colored the early Captain Marvel stories.

Constanza is best known for his work on Fawcett Comics’ Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family during the World War II era and served as one of Captain Marvel’s longest-tenured artists (inking credits on some stories and covers in Whiz, too).

Costanza began his career at Fawcett in 1939, during writer-artist C. C. Beck’s initial planning and creation of Captain Marvel, later becoming Beck’s chief assistant on that character. In the early Whiz issues, he penciled and inked Ibis (picked up in issue 9), Golden Arrow (picked up from Beck in issue 3), Spy Smasher (also picked up from Beck in issue 3).

He stayed with Fawcett Comics until they folded in 1953 after losing an expensive and long-running lawsuit over Captain Marvel’s alleged infringement of DC Comics’ copyrighted character Superman.

Ibis the Invincible began as a feature in Whiz Comics #2 (Feb 1940) and stayed through its entire run (issue 155 in June 1953)

Ibis begins his life as Amentep, a prince of ancient Egypt who was in love with the beautiful Princess Taia of Thebes. As a young man, Amentep is given the “Ibistick,” a talisman of incredible power, by the Egyptian god Thoth, who empowers the talisman after Ibis was overthrown. 4000 years later, the mummy of Amentep returns to life in an American museum in 1940 (this was later revealed to be the work of the wizard Shazam). Now called “Ibis”, Amentep sets out in search of his beloved, eventually finding her at another museum. Seeking to adjust to this new world, Ibis uses his vast powers to become a crimefighter.

“Reimagined Marvel Pop Art Cover Box: Sub-Mariner” (2020)

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“Reimagined Marvel Pop Art Cover Box: Sub-Mariner” (2020)
by Bob Layton (1953-); colors by Shanna Layton
11 x 17, ink and watercolor on board (outline printed)
Coppola Collection

Layton started working in comics in the 1970s, famously headlining a run on Iron Man that introduced Stark’s alcoholism, Bethany Cabe, James Rhodes, and Justin Hammer. He wrote the revival of the original X-Men as X-Factor after Jean Grey’s return, and he was an architect for the Valiant Comics universe (and the company behind it).

He enjoys doing commissions, and I had thought for a while what I would want him to do for me. As a child of the 60s, I was squarely in the crosshairs of classic Marvel Comics as the phenomenon grew. Looking for the iconic corner boxes for any new issues splayed out in a wooden magazine rack at my hometown’s newsstand and variety store was a staple of my youth.

Marvel went through about a 4-month period (Sept-Dec 1965), where Stan Lee thought it was a good idea to grab the zeitgeist of the era and re-christened the name from “Marvel Comics Group” to “Marvel Pop-Art Productions.” There was a backlash and you have this memorably short run of issues with that logo.

So, here is my homage to those four months. Four reimagined corner boxes featuring Captain America, Iron Man, Hulk, and Sub-Mariner (four of the five who made up the famously done cartoons in 1966… sorry, Thor… and the headliners from Tales of Suspense and Tales to Astonish. It’s fun to have these usually small objects filling the space on a page. I selected the figures for Bob to put into his style and I wanted the figures breaching those boxes so that they were not so hemmed in, compositionally. The “Pop Art” letters were rarely colored in during those 4 months, but for these, it helps pull the vertical all the way up the page.

For Hulk, I picked the issue number and month of the appearance of his first solo comic (1 MAY). The image is from the Kirby pin-up in FF Annual #1.

For Sub-Mariner, I picked the issue number and month of the appearance of his first solo comic in the modern era (1 MAY). The image is from the John Buscema cover.

For Iron Man, I picked the issue number and month of the appearance of his appearance in Tales of Suspense (39 MAR). The image is from the Don Heck splash page in that issue (you might like to check out the monster-sized interpretation of this same page that I have from Paolo Rivera).

For Captain America, I picked the issue number and month of his re-appearance in the Avengers (4 MAR). The image is from the Kirby cover.

“Reimagined Marvel Pop Art Cover Box: Captain America” (2020)

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“Reimagined Marvel Pop Art Cover Box: Captain America” (2020)
by Bob Layton (1953-); colors by Shanna Layton
11 x 17, ink and watercolor on board (outline printed)
Coppola Collection

Layton started working in comics in the 1970s, famously headlining a run on Iron Man that introduced Stark’s alcoholism, Bethany Cabe, James Rhodes, and Justin Hammer. He wrote the revival of the original X-Men as X-Factor after Jean Grey’s return, and he was an architect for the Valiant Comics universe (and the company behind it).

He enjoys doing commissions, and I had thought for a while what I would want him to do for me. As a child of the 60s, I was squarely in the crosshairs of classic Marvel Comics as the phenomenon grew. Looking for the iconic corner boxes for any new issues splayed out in a wooden magazine rack at my hometown’s newsstand and variety store was a staple of my youth.

Marvel went through about a 4-month period (Sept-Dec 1965), where Stan Lee thought it was a good idea to grab the zeitgeist of the era and re-christened the name from “Marvel Comics Group” to “Marvel Pop-Art Productions.” There was a backlash and you have this memorably short run of issues with that logo.

So, here is my homage to those four months. Four reimagined corner boxes featuring Captain America, Iron Man, Hulk, and Sub-Mariner (four of the five who made up the famously done cartoons in 1966… sorry, Thor… and the headliners from Tales of Suspense and Tales to Astonish. It’s fun to have these usually small objects filling the space on a page. I selected the figures for Bob to put into his style and I wanted the figures breaching those boxes so that they were not so hemmed in, compositionally. The “Pop Art” letters were rarely colored in during those 4 months, but for these, it helps pull the vertical all the way up the page.

For Hulk, I picked the issue number and month of the appearance of his first solo comic (1 MAY). The image is from the Kirby pin-up in FF Annual #1.

For Sub-Mariner, I picked the issue number and month of the appearance of his first solo comic in the modern era (1 MAY). The image is from the John Buscema cover.

For Iron Man, I picked the issue number and month of the appearance of his appearance in Tales of Suspense (39 MAR). The image is from the Don Heck splash page in that issue (you might like to check out the monster-sized interpretation of this same page that I have from Paolo Rivera).

For Captain America, I picked the issue number and month of his re-appearance in the Avengers (4 MAR). The image is from the Kirby cover.

“Reimagined Marvel Pop Art Cover Box: Hulk” (2020)

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“Reimagined Marvel Pop Art Cover Box: Hulk” (2020)
by Bob Layton (1953-); colors by Shanna Layton
11 x 17, ink and watercolor on board (outline printed)
Coppola Collection

Layton started working in comics in the 1970s, famously headlining a run on Iron Man that introduced Stark’s alcoholism, Bethany Cabe, James Rhodes, and Justin Hammer. He wrote the revival of the original X-Men as X-Factor after Jean Grey’s return, and he was an architect for the Valiant Comics universe (and the company behind it).

He enjoys doing commissions, and I had thought for a while what I would want him to do for me. As a child of the 60s, I was squarely in the crosshairs of classic Marvel Comics as the phenomenon grew. Looking for the iconic corner boxes for any new issues splayed out in a wooden magazine rack at my hometown’s newsstand and variety store was a staple of my youth.

Marvel went through about a 4-month period (Sept-Dec 1965), where Stan Lee thought it was a good idea to grab the zeitgeist of the era and re-christened the name from “Marvel Comics Group” to “Marvel Pop-Art Productions.” There was a backlash and you have this memorably short run of issues with that logo.

So, here is my homage to those four months. Four reimagined corner boxes featuring Captain America, Iron Man, Hulk, and Sub-Mariner (four of the five who made up the famously done cartoons in 1966… sorry, Thor… and the headliners from Tales of Suspense and Tales to Astonish. It’s fun to have these usually small objects filling the space on a page. I selected the figures for Bob to put into his style and I wanted the figures breaching those boxes so that they were not so hemmed in, compositionally. The “Pop Art” letters were rarely colored in during those 4 months, but for these, it helps pull the vertical all the way up the page.

For Hulk, I picked the issue number and month of the appearance of his first solo comic (1 MAY). The image is from the Kirby pin-up in FF Annual #1.

For Sub-Mariner, I picked the issue number and month of the appearance of his first solo comic in the modern era (1 MAY). The image is from the John Buscema cover.

For Iron Man, I picked the issue number and month of the appearance of his appearance in Tales of Suspense (39 MAR). The image is from the Don Heck splash page in that issue (you might like to check out the monster-sized interpretation of this same page that I have from Paolo Rivera).

For Captain America, I picked the issue number and month of his re-appearance in the Avengers (4 MAR). The image is from the Kirby cover.

“Reimagined Cover Fragments: FF #1 (Sue Storm)” (2020)

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“Reimagined Cover Fragments: FF #1 (Sue Storm)” (2020)
by John K Snyder III (1961-)
5.5 x 8.5 in, ink and wash on board
Coppola Collection

Snyder wrote and drew his first project, “Fashion in Action” (Eclipse Comics), as a backup feature in Timothy Truman’s “Scout in 1985.” He also began to illustrate gallery pieces and covers for books such as Comico’s “Jonny Quest” comic book series and Alan Moore’s “Miracleman.” I noticed Snyder’s work on Matt Wagner’s “Grendel” series, when he illustrated “The God and The Devil.”

John has a lovely, classic style as a comics illustrator. I enjoy artists who enjoy interpreting the work of early 1960s Marvel, the comics of my youth. Fragmenting covers into individual compositions is an idea, and FF #1 is ideal for it.

Does anyone not recognize this image of Sue Storm (The Invisible Girl) from the cover of FF #1?

“Reimagined Cover Fragments: FF #1 (Reed Richards)” (2020)

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“Reimagined Cover Fragments: FF #1 (Reed Richards)” (2020)
by John K Snyder III (1961-)
5.5 x 8.5 in, ink and wash on board
Coppola Collection

Snyder wrote and drew his first project, “Fashion in Action” (Eclipse Comics), as a backup feature in Timothy Truman’s “Scout in 1985.” He also began to illustrate gallery pieces and covers for books such as Comico’s “Jonny Quest” comic book series and Alan Moore’s “Miracleman.” I noticed Snyder’s work on Matt Wagner’s “Grendel” series, when he illustrated “The God and The Devil.”

John has a lovely, classic style as a comics illustrator. I enjoy artists who enjoy interpreting the work of early 1960s Marvel, the comics of my youth. Fragmenting covers into individual compositions is an idea, and FF #1 is ideal for it.

Does anyone not recognize this image of Reed Richards (Mr Fantastic) from the cover of FF #1?

“Reimagined Cover Fragments: FF #1 (Ben Grimm)” (2020)

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“Reimagined Cover Fragments: FF #1 (Ben Grimm)” (2020)
by John K Snyder III (1961-)
5.5 x 8.5 in, ink and wash on board
Coppola Collection

Snyder wrote and drew his first project, “Fashion in Action” (Eclipse Comics), as a backup feature in Timothy Truman’s “Scout in 1985.” He also began to illustrate gallery pieces and covers for books such as Comico’s “Jonny Quest” comic book series and Alan Moore’s “Miracleman.” I noticed Snyder’s work on Matt Wagner’s “Grendel” series, when he illustrated “The God and The Devil.”

John has a lovely, classic style as a comics illustrator. I enjoy artists who enjoy interpreting the work of early 1960s Marvel, the comics of my youth. Fragmenting covers into individual compositions is an idea, and FF #1 is ideal for it.

Does anyone not recognize this image of Ben Grimm (The Thing) from the cover of FF #1?

“Reimagined Cover Fragments: FF #1 (Johnny Storm)” (2020)

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“Reimagined Cover Fragments: FF #1 (Johnny Storm)” (2020)
by John K Snyder III (1961-)
5.5 x 8.5 in, ink and wash on board
Coppola Collection

Snyder wrote and drew his first project, “Fashion in Action” (Eclipse Comics), as a backup feature in Timothy Truman’s “Scout in 1985.” He also began to illustrate gallery pieces and covers for books such as Comico’s “Jonny Quest” comic book series and Alan Moore’s “Miracleman.” I noticed Snyder’s work on Matt Wagner’s “Grendel” series, when he illustrated “The God and The Devil.”

John has a lovely, classic style as a comics illustrator. I enjoy artists who enjoy interpreting the work of early 1960s Marvel, the comics of my youth. Fragmenting covers into individual compositions is an idea, and FF #1 is ideal for it.

Does anyone not recognize this image of Johnny Story (The Human Torch) from the cover of FF #1?