[Roygbiv666]

Here's a nifty pic of Charles Moulton, H.G. Peter, Shelly Mayer, and M.C. Gaines

http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=979940&GSub=16276

[josemas]

Nice!   Thanks for posting the link, Roy.

Best

Joe

[profh0011]

Nifty. I don't think I've ever seen a photo of Harry Peter before. So that's what he looked like!  He had one of the most unique styles I've ever seen in comics.  In fact, the only artist I've ever seen whose work reminds e of his at all was John Blackburn, who did the extremly x-rated Coley Cochran stories. Considering how "kinky" the Golden Age WONDER WOMAN was, I can't help but ownder if there isn't somehow a connection there.

Does anyone else think Jeff Goldblum would be right to play Shelly Mayer in a movie?

[jimmm kelly]

Does anyone else think Jeff Goldblum would be right to play Shelly Mayer in a movie?

Except that Sheldon Mayer was about 24 years old at the time of that photograph and a movie about him would probably concentrate a lot on his early life--since he was something of a "boy wonder." Also, Jeff Goldblum is very tall whereas Mayer was rather short.

H.G. Peter was unusual among the artists working for comics at the time, because Peter was much older than the rest, while most artists were very young like Mayer (who some of the artists called the "old man" even though Shelley was only in his twenties).

Peter would have been about 61 years old in that photograph. He had already had a long career as a newspaper and magazine illustrator, before he got the Wonder Woman gig. I think that's why his art style is so very different from the typical super-hero stuff at the time. He had developed his own artistic sensibilities and was drawing according to his own instincts. Most of the other comic book artists were doing swipes and drawing upon the influence of the latest trends in comic strips.

[profh0011]

Time races by so fast these days I often forget or are unaware of how old some people are lately. I guess what I was saying was, Jeff Goldbum (as I remember him from the 70's & 80's) reminds me of Shelly Mayer. I have no idea what he even looks like lately.

I'm not surprised that Harry Peter was unusual for a comic-book artist. I suspect John Blackburn was, too (I forget what his age was, but he passed away several years back). I kinda wonder if they were inspired by similar things, or if Blackburn might have been inspired BY Peter?

But then (and several people have heatedly argued with me about this and denied it), I'm the only one I know who seems to have noticed that for most of his career, Jim Starlin's drawing style was NEARLY-IDENTICAL in every single detail to the early 1940's work of Reed Crandall.  NOT his later stuff-- I mean when he first started on BLACKHAWK.  When I saw that, in the BH Archive book, it totally blew my mind.  The similarity in style was so close, so exact, it was like all that stuff Mike Ploog did where you'd SWEAR it was by Will Eisner.  Or the way Mike Hoffman "does" Frank Frazetta.  How does anyone DO a thing like that?

[jimmm kelly]

The difference between Reed Crandall and Jim Starlin for me is that Crandall's work seems much more naturalistic, while I always felt that Starlin was lifting stuff from other artists like Crandall, so it didn't look natural to me. I liked Starlin, but it seemed to me like he had to work very hard at doing his work--and his friends had to help him out a lot to get things done by deadline. Whereas, Reed made it look really easy. 

The first time I remember seeing Jeff Goldblum in a movie was "The Big Chill"--an early 1980s movie about a group of friends who had been young adults in the late 1960s. So that always established him in my mind at that age of his character in the movie--mid to late thirties.

I've always wanted to see a movie about the late 1930s and the young guys who broke into comics at that time. It would be really cool to have young actors playing those parts. And, of course, Sheldon Moldoff's famous comic book counterpart is Scribbly.

[profh0011]

Starlin's stuff always stood out, it was "different"-- maybe even "strange" might be a good description. I guess that helped him stand out and become so noticed by fans. I've heard so many fans suggests he was "doing" this artist or that artist. I have seen hints of Kane, and of course he did half of a WARLOCK issue paying tribute to Ditko. But that BLACKHAWK thing freaked me out.  For one artist to be mimicking one other particular artist's work that that degree must take more effort perhaps than it's worth. I don't see how Mike Ploog did it with Will Eisner, or Mike Hoffman with Frank Frazetta. 

Many years back, I did a pair of stories that were very specifically tributes to Gil Kane and Steve Ditko, and they required an amount of research and work unusual for my stuff.  After, I gained a greater appreciation for Kane's work, but realized he and I were NOT only the same page at all, which probably explains why so much of his stuff rubs me the wrong way. It's a very peronal reflection of who and what he is. The surprise was how easily I slipped into doing Ditko...! Didn't see that coming at all.

In general, I've found it's much easier to develop your own style, wherever you pick up bits from here and there. What comes out on the page with the LEAST amount of work is what's really "you".

[josemas]

Mike Ploog worked as an assistant to Will Eisner early in his career so it's easy to see how he picked up Eisner's style.

When I attended the Kubert School I remember a number of assignments where we were required to work in another artist's style.  I can remember attempting to imitate such diverse artists as Bill Mauldin, Brant Parker, Pat Oilphant and Basil Wolverton (and probably some others that I am forgetting at this time).

Best

Joe