[profh0011]

The problems with my browser (and the computer crashing repeatedly) seem to have been eliminated after that massive CD-backup project yesterday.  (11 discs worth of raw "in progress" comics scans)


So, just updated the blog again. Now have SPACE CONQUERORS! posted from the beginning in 1952 up to June 1953 (so far).


http://professorhswaybackmachine.blogspot.com/2012/04/space-conquerors-1952.html

http://professorhswaybackmachine.blogspot.com/2012/04/space-conquerors-1953.html


Story & art by AL STENZEL.


Henry

[narfstar]

good looking series

[Geo (R.I.P.)]

That was one series that I enjoyed reading as a kid.
Good job there, keep it up.

Geo

[paw broon]

I've never come across this series and I like it.  Gosh, there is a lot to get through on the link you posted, thanks.

[josemas]

Thanks for posting these Henry.

I remember reading this strip when I was in the Scouts and had a subscription to Boy's Life in the 1960s and early 1970s but haven't seen it in many years (and certainly never saw these early 1950s strips).

Best

Joe

[profh0011]

Thanks for the responses.

I got a kick out of setting up links to no less than 3 different blogs by fans of the series, as well as the Wikipedia pages for (so far) George Evans & Lou Fine.

It seems that Al Stenzel did the art at the beginning (although no one seems quite sure about this), but soon after George Evans took over. I'd suppose some of you guys are much more familiar with him that I am. As far as I know, I only have 2 comic-books in my entire collection with his art-- his 2 issues of SUPER-VILLAIN TEAM-UP (of all things!). Incredibly, I was able to recognize Evans' style, just by the way he drew faces alone!

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mBz7mFq9Juk/TwJAc0wfm0I/AAAAAAAAA8w/p7qebupex_U/s1600/SVTU+01_p13.jpg

Today I got up to 1959. I also believe I've correctly identified when Lou Fine took over the art (mid-1958). It was said in an ALTER EGO article that Fine's "advertising" work (and indeed, all the comics and ads in BOY'S LIFE were done by Johnstone & Cushing) was watered down and "generic". Another fan suggested it looked like Neal Adams' work, while I thought it looked like early Gil Kane. So it's not that I recognized Fine's work, as much as I KNEW it was no longer George Evans, who apparently was able to maintain his own style, even while working for a company who preferred all their artists to draw the same.

http://professorhswaybackmachine.blogspot.com/2012/04/space-conquerors-1958.html

I'm really dying to get to the Alden McWilliams stuff in the late 60's!

[josemas]

We have a couple samples of Lou Fine's Adam Ames comic strip from 1959-1960 in our Classic Newspaper Comic Strips section which you can look at to compare with the Space Conquerors strip.

Best

Joe

[profh0011]

Just reached a milestone in this project this morning-- the beginning of the "Galaxy One" era, which was clearly inspired to some degree by FORBIDDEN PLANET. The entire run of the strip from the beginning up to this has now been cleaned up and posted at my blog. And now I get to enjoy the part I've been really looking forward to!


http://professorhswaybackmachine.blogspot.com/2012/05/space-conquerors-1962.html


Henry

[josemas]

Cograts on the milestone, Henry.  Looking forward to seeing more of this strip.

Best

Joe

[profh0011]

I reached mid-1966 today, and I believe I've found the place where Al McWilliams took over.  The art was getting a bit "rough" and "sketchy" in places (or maybe "expressive" is a better word). Suddenly, it gets SLICKER.

What I'm still in the dark about is, several people have suggested that a number of different artists worked on it between Evans and McWilliams, and not just Lou Fine.  Virtually nothing of Fine's style is on display, most of the art tends to follow a certain "house style", and it's only subtle changes here and there that hint that different people were involved.  (I mean, one strips looks to me like Gil Kane's work, but I don't know that he ever worked for J&C.)

If anybody has any ideas based on what's posted, I'd appreciate hearing them.

[josemas]

Henry,

I agree with you that it does look like McWilliams work on these latest Space Conquerors strips. 

A number of the other 1960's strips you have posted remind me of Lou Fine's later work on the comic strip Adam Ames (1959-62) as well as that he did for Wham-O Giant Comics (1967).

Best

Joe

[profh0011]

The scans come in at around 1280 pixels wide before I process them. That's about minimum for decent result. I usually have to look at them at that size (at least) to really be able to see subtle differences in line quality.

On the other hand, HERE's the one that reminds me of early Gil Kane. It may not be him (it probably isn't) but see if you see what I mean. It doesn't quite look like any other strip in the run, especially panels 3 & 6.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Aj7V-LuqwaE/T6FbpezxgdI/AAAAAAAAB2w/HxZKdn1tDOY/s1600/SC+1958+12+1.jpg

[josemas]

It looks like George Evans to me.

JVJ are you out there?  Any opinions?

Best

Joe

[Geo (R.I.P.)]

Definitely George Evans art, he did the art on Space Conquerors from sometime after '56 to '60 I believe.
He worked with EC till the close down in '56.

Lou Fine art started in the late '60's and goes through to 1971 when he died.
Alden McWilliams art starts in March 1966, till October 1966.
Gray Morrow art starts in October 1966 and runs till December 1968 at least, couldn't find any more at this time when his art ended on the series.

Geo

[profh0011]

I may be way off, but the ones that were "obviously" George Evans to me were August 1953-March 1958.  After that, it looked to me as though someone else took over, starting out aping the previous stuff, but slowly evolving into something else.

It's the later stuff I'm trying to figure out now. I'm pretty sure I've nailed it as to when Al McWilliams took over, but now that i've reached 1968, the period I read way back when, the style has noticeably changed again, and suddenly, from various comments, it's become a question-- McWilliams, Morrow, or Fine (again) ?

Damned annoying that J&C almost never credited artists.

[profh0011]

Just wanted to put the word out that, as of today, I've finished the entire SPACE CONQUERORS! project at my blog.  Wow!  From 1952-72, with art by Al Stenzel, George Evans, Lou Fine, Alden McWilliams & Gray Morrow, it's been an fun ride (and not a little bit of work cleaning these up).

   
If anyone has any info about artists I'm missing, I'd appreciate it.  Several people have suggested, before I ever started this, that there may be several other artists involved, but at the moment, nobody can quite be sure, because most of them tended to work in the "Johnstone & Cushing" house style.


The beginning:
http://professorhswaybackmachine.blogspot.com/2012/04/space-conquerors-1952.html


The ending:
http://professorhswaybackmachine.blogspot.com/2012/05/space-conquerors-1972.html

   
ENJOY!

[josemas]

Thanks for the latest batch Henry.  These strips from the mid 60s to the early 70s are the ones that I remember reading in Boy's Life from my days in the scouts.

I didn't know anything about the artists then but I sure can spot McWilliams and Morrow now in the strips from that era.  It looks like Morrow came back and took over the strip again after Fine died in the early 70s.

Cool stuff!

Best

Joe

[profh0011]

I've been reading information at various blogs and such, which helped piece together who worked on the strip, but not exactly when. So many of the artists worked in the "J&C" house style, so when one took over from another, to some degree, they tried to make it look the same. Even so, some artists' styles come through anyway.

Despite my having so little George Evans in my collection, his was the easiest to spot, partly because I had 2 pages of his already at my blog (SVTU). The Lou Fine period is the hardest to I.D. Everyone who's commented has said that nothing of his style is evident in the art! And several people have suggested there may be a few other people involved in the "Lou Fine" strips. I can believe it, some of them look very different, and there's that one that keeps making me think of early Gil Kane. (Then again, considering Kane always said he was influenced most by Fine, it's possible that strip may be one where Fine's own style came thru the most.)

After reading about Al McWilliams (in the ALTER EGO article a few years back and since then), I naturally figured the stuff from '68-'69 I read way back when was his. NOPE!! It was all Gray Morrow.

In both cases where Fine took over, he tried to keep it looking like the artists he replaced (Evans, Morrow), but I could still get a sense of what was theirs, and what wasn't.  The Fine stuff was just missing the "feel" of their work. It struck me that the last batch he did, especially what I believe was the final one, look like he may have been in poor health when he did them. All of a sudden, the style changed again, and it took me a bit to figure out... HEY, WAIT A MINUTE!!!-- that Morrow had come back.

Someone at Captain Comics pointed me to a French website devoted to MARS in sci-fi. Some of their info matched mine, but a paragraph on the 2nd half of the run was completely wrong. It's nice to know that, despite what I've done being a lot of guesswork, I feel fairly secure that my info is more accurate than theirs.

Now if only I had some idea who worked on the STORIES FROM THE BIBLE series...