"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 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.
From PLOP! volume 3, number 11 (April 1975), here’s “Ssssssssppprrrtttzzzzz,” with superlatively silly scripting by superlatively silly scribe, Steve Skeates, and art by Alex Toth:
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From My Love #23 (May 1973), here’s a tale of romance as narrated to Stan Lee and illustrated by Jim Steranko:
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Happy Valentine’s Day!
(But what a stupid ending to that story… )
BONUS LINKS:
The Simon Drax Blog: “My Heart Broke in Hollywood,” from Our Love Story (June 1970) — the first printing.
ana_lee: “My Heart Broke in Hollywood,” as reprinted in Marvel Visionaries: Jim Steranko (2002)
ALSO:
Cloud 9: The Passing of a God — here’s a notice of the death of Frazetta that includes the complete story, “Empty Heart,” from Personal Love #28 (1954) with glorious black-and-white art by the master.
AND:
From the out-of-print collection Kafka: The Execution by Leopoldo Duranona (Fantagraphics Books, 1989), here’s the title story, “The Execution,” which is based on Kafka’s original short story, “In the Penal Colony“:
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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 two more of the artist’s Kafka adaptations), click here.
Ragged Claws Network 