From Adventure Comics #431 (February 1974), here’s “Is a Snerl Human?” with story by Shelly Mayer and art by Alex Toth:
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"This day's experience, set in order, none of it left ragged or lying about, all of it gathered in like treasure and finished with, set aside." –Alice Munro, "What is Remembered"
From Adventure Comics #431 (February 1974), here’s “Is a Snerl Human?” with story by Shelly Mayer and art by Alex Toth:
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From Conan the Barbarian Movie Special #1 (October 1982), here are four consecutive pages, with art both pencilled and inked by John Buscema, along with the original art for each page:
Unlike many of the inkers who were hired to embellish his pencils over the years, John Buscema never had a reputation as a gifted technician with a quill or a brush, though he did have an instantly recognizable style. His simple, vigorous brushstrokes could suggest fur and grass and hair realistically enough, but look carefully and you’ll see that very similar strokes also delineate musculature, armour, leather clothing, rocks, trees, shadows, etc., etc. Realistic details and textures were simply not Buscema’s strong suit. This was partly because the artist didn’t enjoy research — as he said in several interviews, one big reason he loved to work on Conan was because he could rely on his memory and imagination for everything — and partly because he viewed any “extra” time spent slaving over his comics work as money out of his pocket! But that’s not a bad thing, because what you do get when Buscema inks his own work is nothing less than an object lesson in basic form and gesture by a master draughtsman. And that’s more than enough.
From Lost Worlds #5 (October 1952), here’s “Alice in Terrorland,” with pencils by Alex Toth and inks by Mike Peppe:
In a previous roundup of links to stories with art by Alex Toth, I sent readers to Karswell’s “The Horrors of It All” blog, where you’ll find a copy of “Alice in Terrorland” as it was reprinted/recoloured in Seduction of the Innocent #1 (Eclipse, November 1985). For those who would care to compare the two versions, here’s that link again.
From Strange Adventures #18 (March 1952), here’s “The Girl in the Golden Flower,” with story by Robert Starr, pencils by Alex Toth, and inks by Sy Barry:
Born in 1928 in Brooklyn, New York, Bill Benulis began his career in comics in 1949 (near as I can figure) only to give it up about seven years later for the income security of a job with the post office, but his distinctive artwork, both pencils and inks, for stories like “The Voice of Doom,” Strange Tales #9 (August 1952), and, especially, “The Frightful Feet,” Strange Tales #10 (September 1952), shows that, with the right kind of encouragement, he might have been a contender! IMHO, of course…
From Apache Kid #13 (April 1955), here’s a tale of the old West with pencils and inks by Joe Kubert, who was about 28 years old at the time of publication:
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Yes, I suppose that the anonymous writer of “Pony Express” gets points for pointing out that the “Injuns!” were not simply “savages,” but I see no evidence that he knew anything about what the “red-men respected […] above all else” beyond what he might have gleaned from the old myth-enforcing Hollywood “B”-movie Westerns. It is Kubert’s artwork, alone, that makes the story worth preserving.
From Fantastic Worlds #5 (September 1952), here’s “The Invaders,” with pencils by Alex Toth and inks by Mike Peppe:
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Back on 27 March 2010 over at “Grantbridge Street and Other Adventures,” blogger Joe Bloke posted the story “Gideon Faust: Warlock at Large” by Len Wein and Howard Chaykin, as it was reprinted, in colour, in Star*Reach Classics #5. Today here at RCN, however, we’ve got the story as it originally appeared, in beautiful black-and-white, in Star*Reach #5 (3rd printing, June 1978 [1st printing, July 1976]); and here, also, is Chaykin’s original colour cover:
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The inking style here is pretty much the same as the style Chaykin used in the first issue (March 1977) of Marvel’s Star Wars series — and from where I sit, over thirty years later, it still looks fresh!
From Fantastic Worlds #5 (September 1952), here’s “Triumph over Terror,” with pencils by Alex Toth and inks by Mike Peppe:
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From the out-of-print collection Kafka: The Execution by Leopoldo Duranona (Fantagraphics Books, 1989), here’s Duranona’s adaptation of Kafka’s “A Country Doctor“:
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To view all of the stories with art (or art and script) by Duranona that I’ve posted thus far (including three more Kafka adaptations), click here.