magazine Archives - Page 6 of 10 - AnimationResources.org - Serving the Online Animation Community AnimationResources.org

Archive for the ‘magazine’ Category

Monday, July 11th, 2022

Magazine Cartoons: Jack Davis (1924-2016)

Jack Davis was a cartoonist from a very early age. His first published work appeared in Tip Top Comics in 1936. He was twelve years old at the time. In 1949, he packed up and moved from Atlanta to New York City, where he was hired by EC Comics to draw for The Vault of Horror and Two-Fisted Tales. At EC, Davis met Harvey Kurtzman, who liked his work and used him in Mad magazine. Kurtzman and Davis also worked together on Little Annie Fanny in Playboy.

Davis went on to become one of the most sought-after illustrators and caricaturists in America. His caricatures of public figures appeared on the covers of Time magazine and TV Guide, as well as record covers, movie posters and bubble gum cards. Davis is currently one of the best-known and recognizable cartoonists in the world.

Here is an early Davis story from Mad magazine that shows his immense talents at their absolute best. Every panel of this comic is drop-dead brilliant!

KANE KEEN
Mad Magazine 1953

Many thanks to the talented cartoonist, Amir Avni for contributing the copy of "Son of Mad" from which this great story was scanned. Also thanks to the stalwart archive supporter Eric Graf for lending us record covers from his extensive collection to digitize.

Stephen Worth
Director
Animation Resources

This posting is part of the online Encyclopedia of Cartooning under the subject heading, Magazine Cartoons.

Jack Davis: Drawing American Pop Culture: A Career Retrospective is a gigantic career-spanning retrospective, between whose hard covers resides the greatest collection— in terms of both quantity and quality— of Jack Davis’ work ever assembled! It includes work from every stage of his long and varied career. Much of the material has been scanned directly from original art, showing the painterly brush strokes and pen work. Many illustrations are accompanied by preliminary drawings that demonstrate the evolution of Davis’ drawing process. Recommended!

Posted in caricature, illustration, jack davis, mad, magazine | Comments Off on Magazine Cartoons: Jack Davis (1924-2016)

Tuesday, June 28th, 2022

Pinups: Al Moore Girls From Esquire

Esquire magazine was one of the top publications of its time. It was to the first half of the 20th century what Playboy was to the last half. The pinups of George Petty and Alberto Varga made the magazine famous. Al Moore painted the Esquire girls and the annual calendar in the late 40s and early 50s. I’m sorry to say, I don’t know much about him. His fame has been eclipsed by his predecessors. But his wide eyed blondes have a lot of charm. Here are a couple of fold-outs from the pages of Esquire and the 1950 Esquire calendar…

And here as an added bonus is the 1946 Esquire Pocket Calendar by Alberto Varga (Before he got the "s" at the end of his name…)

Stephen Worth
Director
Animation Resources

This posting is part of the online Encyclopedia of Cartooning under the subject heading, Magazine Cartoons.

Posted in esquire, magazine, pinups | Comments Off on Pinups: Al Moore Girls From Esquire

Monday, June 27th, 2022

Pinups: Girl Cartoons From "Booby Traps" and "Nuggets"

Sometimes I think I must have the best job in the world…

Today some nice folks who had Googled up this website stopped by to offer us some material to digitize that they had rescued from a relative’s garage. They had a laundry basket full of 1940s magazines and a big stack of original inks from a 1947 girlie cartoon magazine, colorfully titled Booby Traps and Nuggets. My jaw hit the floor when I started going through the artwork. Here is a part of cartooning history that has been largely overlooked- especially by me. But not any more!

The artwork is quickly executed and sometimes a bit funky… and for good reason. On the back of each ink is the amount the cartoonist was paid for his work. The prices range from $3 to $5. You would have to work pretty doggone fast to make a living at that rate! I have to admit, I don’t know much about these artists. So I’m going to present them a couple at a time with the little I do know and see if any of you readers out there can help fill in the blanks about their careers.

JACK O’BRIEN

Jack O’Brien lived in Los Angeles, and this photograph shows him with his daughter, Suzanne. In the 1960s, O’Brien drew the Sad Sack comic books, he came up with a beatnik character named "Cool Cat", and he created the G.I. Juniors line of comics for Harvey. If you know anything else about O’Brien, please post to the comments below.

MILO KINN

All I know about Milo Kinn is that he lived in Seattle, Washington. I’m guessing he was married, (based on the pretty dingle ball curtains!) and it’s clear that he didn’t mind drawing the exact same pretty girl profile over and over. In fact, he seems to have a lot more fun with the "broads" than he does with the "babes". Anyone have any more details on him?

BILL WENZEL

Bill Wenzel is the best known artist in this batch, working here under the pseudonym, "Candace". Fantagraphics recently published a collection of his work, and GoofButton.com posted scans from a late sixties collection of his cartoons, titled Tender Loving Care. Here, we get a rare chance to see Wenzel’s rough alongside the finished ink…

STANLEY RAYON

All I know about Stanley Rayon was that he lived and worked in New Orleans. Does anyone have any more info on him? Although his drawings are pretty primitive, they do have that spark of fun that makes post-War girlie cartoons so appealing.