I hate to be overly spammy but Ima copy a post of mine from elsewhere on the interwebs to accompany some new uploads. There was a little discussion on our boards re: the new St. John issue of Alter Ego and I noticed this title was missing:
Here is a comic featuring flat-out amazing art and the adventures of Abbott and Costello from fantastic golden age publisher St. John. It ran 40 issues from 1948 -1956 and there was also a 3-D special published in November of 1953. I just saw this comic for the first time recently and fell instantly in love with fantastic art work and coloring. For those of you unfamiliar with Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, here's a wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbott_and_costelloBest remembered for their "Who's on First?" routine, a classic in miscommunication, they are probably also most remembered for their films such as Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein or Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man. They both started their careers in the burlesque remnants of vaudeville and paired for the first time in 1935, Abbott as straight man and Costello as a bumbling goof. They had instant chemistry and their careers really took off in 1938 with a national radio broadcast of "Who's on First", resulting in Broadway, film, and radio contracts for the fast-rising duo. By 1942 the two were the top box office draw in America, netting $10 Million dollars between them. They remained a top 10 draw for the next 10 years and eventually had their own television show. You can check the wiki for some of the more sordid details of their personal lives, but the two undoubtedly affected generations of comedians and remain American icons. They are given writing credit for some of the stories in these comics, but I think I'd have to learn a little more about these comics before I quite buy into that one. Check out the wiki for all sorts of public domain old time radio material, still funny after all these years.
The main attraction in the comics, though, is the stunning art by Eric Peters and one-time wife Lily Renee. Peters is more famous for his work as illustrator in Collier's and The Saturday Evening Post (SCAN THESE IF YOU HAVE THEM) and Renee is most well-known for her role as a woman pioneer in the comics field and her stunning art in a tenure for Fiction House in the series The Lost World, Werewolf Hunters, and super-fox Senorita Rio. A sample of her work, the cover to Fight Comics 47 from December 1946:
Here's an awesome interview with Lily Renee conducted by Trina Robbins, one of my favorite underground artists and now comix historian:
http://www.tcj.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=466&Itemid=48I "think" she is inking Peters work in some of these early issues, and that Peters would continue on the comic after their split (with possibly other artists taking over for later issues), but I'm not certain, being pretty new to both artists. Please feel free to kick down a little knowledge on either of these artists. As we get more of these issues in, we will be able to find out all the artists that worked on the title. Overstreet mentions that Joe Kubert does a story in issue 10 I'd love to see.
A special thanks to Ontology, who scanned at least a couple of these issues, he is without a doubt one of our best goldenage scanners, scanning a varied and tasteful sampling of goldenage titles. You never know what he is gonna drop from one week to the next, but it is always great stuff. Here are all the issues scanned thus far. As always, scan em if you got em.
Abbott and Costello Comics 003 (1948-07.St. John)
Abbott and Costello Comics 006 (1949-02.St. John) c2c (Ontology)
Abbott and Costello Comics 008 (1949-08.St. John) c2c
Abbott and Costello Comics 009 (1950-02.St. John) c2c (Ontology)
Abbott And Costello Comics 013 (1951-08.St. John) c2c
Abbott and Costello Comics 002 (1948-04.St. John) (36p c2c) (Ontology).cbr
Ontology dropped this one off like a thief in the night this weekend and I didn't even get to thank him. I'd seen this cover before and absolutely love it. It might be the best in the series. This ish features "Concerning Costello" by Bud Abbott on the inside cover pages and a couple of great stories. The extendend piece is "So Near and Yet Safari" full of dazzling art, jungle dames, monkeys, savages and bufoonery and the second story is "The Case of the Idle Idol" chock full of un-pc stereotypes of the Asian menace in chinatown. A delightful issue, thanks Ontology!
#### Also, I am upping Jackie Gleason issues 3 and 4.
Enjoy, and again thanks to the scanners of all these fine golden age comics,
Darwin
