[Poztron]

I trust I won't be stepping on too many toes if I suggest that much GA art was hacked out and not especially memorable. Even art by the Eisner studio on The Spirit, for instance, fluctuated in quality depending on who was penciling or inking.

What I've enjoyed discovering in GA comics are those artists (often lesser known names) whose quirky individuality is striking. Basil Wolverton is an obvious example - his style really was unlike most of his contemporaries. Bob Powell is also a favorite of mine; I always found his people oddly ethnic in a way that I couldn't pin down - his women, for instance, always seemed to have heavy black eyebrows, even if they were blondes. Kinstler and C.A. (Charles) Voight stuck out, too. Fluid penwork that looked old-fashioned even by the 40s. And Rudy Palais' work was one of a kind, as well.

Any favorites of yours?

[narfstar]

I am not good at picking favorites. One reason is the inconsistencies and varieties. That and different storytellling for different genres. Powell was one of my favorites and I got his Strongman comics from ME. He no longer intigues me especially after seeing his Henry Brewster. I understand he had a lot of studio workers ghosting him. I do not know that Frazetta did anything that was not great. Wolverton suits some stories better than others. I have The Wolverton Bible and recommend it. So many good and so many bad with some switching from one category to the other depending on the story or inker

[jay042]

Fletcher Hanks has to go on that list. Some of his stuff, especially the Space Smith comics, are downright psychedelic. Too bad he too early for the 60's underground comics, he'd have fit right in.

[narfstar]

Early Phantomah is wild stuff

[paw broon]

Agree with narfstar on favourites.  Apart from inconsistencies, a lot depends on what you've been reading at the time and what your mood is.  Despite that, I'd usually go with Wolverton in this context.  As for Powell, I've always enjoyed his work (not seen Brewster) and I didn't realise the possibility of all those ghosts.  Never really seen him as that quirky.  Good excuse to re-read.  I'd like to suggest Bob Fujitani -in the sense that quirk means ;- artful evasion, knack, sudden twist or turn (among other meanings) and quirky can mean uncertain.  Although, if we follow this line early Irv novick and a few others could be mentioned.

[BobS]

What I've enjoyed discovering in GA comics are those artists (often lesser known names) whose quirky individuality is striking. Basil Wolverton is an obvious example - his style really was unlike most of his contemporaries. Bob Powell is also a favorite of mine; I always found his people oddly ethnic in a way that I couldn't pin down - his women, for instance, always seemed to have heavy black eyebrows, even if they were blondes. Kinstler and C.A. (Charles) Voight stuck out, too. Fluid penwork that looked old-fashioned even by the 40s. And Rudy Palais' work was one of a kind, as well.

Any favorites of yours?

I'm not familiar with Voight. What is something he did?

Wolverton is one of my favorite GA quirky artists too. I really like his Powerhouse Pepper.
I'd describe his Bible art as more looney than quirky tho. I've managed to find one of the Wolverton Bible Stories books -- want to buy the new book.

Other GA favorites including some maybe less quirky, favorites include Bob Powell, Frank Frazetta, Jack Cole, Lou Fine, Joe Gallagher, Boody Rogers, Jesse Marsh, Joe Kubert, Walt Kelly, Dan Noonan, John Stanley, C. C. Beck, Bill Everett, Reed Crandall, Sheldon Mayer, etc.

Stan Aschmeier surely qualifies as a quirky artist and I do like his DC stuff.

Bob

[Poztron]

I'm not familiar with Voight. What is something he did?

http://www.comics.org/penciller/name/charles%20voight/sort/alpha/

Most of his work seems to have been on Boom Boom Brannigan in Prize Comics.
I really like his fluid line-work, but it does seem out of step with prevalent styles of the GA era.

[Astaldo711]

Basil Wolverton is one that comes to mind. I'm basing this mostly on some art of his that I saw. Very bizarre stuff.

[bchat]

Right now, my favorite off-beat Golden Age artists are Fletcher Hanks, Dick Ryan & Art Helfant, although Helfant is less unique than Ryan or Hanks.

[JVJ]

Right now, my favorite off-beat Golden Age artists are Fletcher Hanks, Dick Ryan & Art Helfant, although Helfant is less unique than Ryan or Hanks.

RyaN was a real maniac, bchat.
What a crazy man! While I appreciate the weirdness of Hanks, I don't find him as enchanting as the rest of the world seems to do. Different strokes...

One of MY favorite weird guys is Munson Paddock - little-known, but a real eccentric stylist who worked from 1936 to 1947. Not everything attributed to him is BY him as the "Cecilia Munson" by-line was used by many other shop artists, too - especially on Chen Chang and Tex Maxon. And the Tex Maxon strips that are by him are less experimental than, say, his Smoke Carter strips and, my favorite, his Mars Mason strip in Speed #11.

(|:{>

[bchat]

Right now, my favorite off-beat Golden Age artists are Fletcher Hanks, Dick Ryan & Art Helfant, although Helfant is less unique than Ryan or Hanks.

RyaN was a real maniac, bchat.
What a crazy man!

I noticed Ryan's work simply because his style differs so greatly from the other GA artists at the time (mid-late 30s), it kind of forced me to dwell on it for a while.  The posing of his characters isn't spectacular, but the more I see of his work, the more I like it.  It's entertaining to read and makes for a nice change of pace compared to other GA creators.

While I appreciate the weirdness of Hanks, I don't find him as enchanting as the rest of the world seems to do. Different strokes...

To each their own ...

I see too many people "liking" Hanks' work because they think it's "terrible", the "so bad it's good" crowd.  I'm not one of those people, although my opinion of him at first glance was different than it is now.  Hanks' work does have a weird quality to it, and his style evolved quickly over the year-and-a-half that he worked in comics.  His Tabu and early Stardust & Fantomah stories have some nice detail work in it, if you can look past his figure-drawing, which I feel some people don't.  His later work has a "get it done" feel, as it seems Hanks probably figured-out that dropping details (mostly drawing fewer backgrounds) made the job easier & quicker for him.  It's hard not to notice that in a lot of his stories, the faces of his heroes was exactly the same in every panel they appeared in throughout a single story, so he had some sort of trick he used.

Speaking of Fantomah, the opening panel on a few of those stories have a nice face-shot of the heroine, something most people tend to overlook when talking about Hanks.

One of MY favorite weird guys is Munson Paddock - little-known, but a real eccentric stylist who worked from 1936 to 1947. Not everything attributed to him is BY him as the "Cecilia Munson" by-line was used by many other shop artists, too - especially on Chen Chang and Tex Maxon. And the Tex Maxon strips that are by him are less experimental than, say, his Smoke Carter strips and, my favorite, his Mars Mason strip in Speed #11.

(|:{>

I saw the Mars Mason story in Speed Comics 11 (but didn't read it) and it's definitely different visually.  Is that the Mars Mason story that's his or did he do more?

[JVJ]

Ryan has that naive almost perfunctory craziness to his work that seems "cute" at first glance but has a sustained zaniness that Will Elder must have certainly studied. The stories, often just double-page gag spreads, are nothing deep, but just fun and often very funny - in that MAD sort of way.

Hanks was a primitive, visceral artist whose sensibilities never registered with me. I read the entire reprint book to see what I might have missed and ended up with a deeper appreciation for his uniqueness, but no greater love for the product.

The Mars Mason story is his only work in Speed #11 - I think. I don't have access to my comics or data cards right now, and am relying (reluctantly) on the GCD for even the issue #. According to GCD he did the strip in earlier issues, too, but I simply can't check now. Sorry.

Peace, Jim (|:{>

[JVJ]

Looking at a few other Speed issues with Mars Mason, bchat, I'm struck again by just HOW different Paddock was from any of the other artists in those issues of Speed and, in fact, in any comics of the era. Wild, extravagant, bold and exotic in an otherwise fairly tame and constrained medium. The stories, as with most GA scripts - I'm sad to say, are mundane, but the art is simply glorious.

Peace, Jim (|:{>

BTW, Poztron, Mr. Kinstler painted the portrait that I use here. If you haven't already seen it, you should check out the book we wrote together.

[bchat]

Thanks for the added info on Munson Paddock.  I skimmed through the Mars Mason stories and they definitely stand-out from everything else in the early Speed Comics issues.

[phabox]

For my money the great JACK COLE was in a league of his own, especialy considering he also wrote most of his stuff.

Some of those early Police Comics 'Plastic Man' episodes are just so spaced out.

-Nigel

[narfstar]

the great JACK COLE was in a league of his own, especialy considering he also wrote most of his stuff.

Goes without saying - but you can say it anyway 

[Marconero]

Hold on, hold on, I'm not able to copy and paste these names and links fast enough! Great!!! Mars Mason is terrific (The Munsun Paddock stuff), I never really heard much about him. Wolverton is a classic, I've loved his stuff for years and years. I was familiar with Jack Cole as a name, but now that I've been researching his art and know that he wrote a lot of his work too, I think I have a new favorite to add to the list. Thanks all!

[Robb_K]

I would list Boody Rogers, Basil Wolverton, Jim Tyer, and Holly Chambers.  All four of them were wild, psychadelic, and very non-conventional.  Had they been around during the late 1960s and early 1970s, they'd have led the way in the underground movement, along with Robert Crumb.  They all could have worked for E.C. and "Mad Magazine" without needing to change their style.  Chambers was known for being a druggy, and his funny animal comics looked the part.  Wolverton's artwork looked like he was high when drawing.  Rogers' art looks like he was trying too hard to LOOK like he was on drugs.  But his wild ideas were way-way out, and things a "normal" person would never think of.  Frazetta also had a little of that in his funny animal work at times.  Cecil Jensen, who wrote The newspaper strip, "Elmo", had pretty wild ideas in his sense of humour, having his main character outrageously honest and blunt, but also outrageously stupid.  The way everyone in the strip reacted to him was extremely unexpected.

[Electricmastro]

Munson Paddock

[Electricmastro]

Marv Levy, whose art can be a bit crude, but has a quirkiness to it that still resonated with me (Key Comics #4, May 1946):