Are you a fan of Westerns? Movies, comics, novels, or history? I'm a little bit "all of the above", but I'd not characterize myself as a true aficionado. I have enjoyed some biographies of various Western personalities, and Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid and Dances With Wolves are among my favorite movies. I only read a few Marvel reprints of Two-Gun Kid, Kid Colt, and Rawhide Kid when I was a lad, and those series being collected would be a purchase I'd consider making. Today I'm featuring a genre cornucopia. Each exhibit is labeled, so enjoy the work of several masters - and perhaps some artists you've not heard of.
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| Alex Toth |
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| Mark Texeira |
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| John Buscema |
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| Russ Heath |
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| Russ Heath |
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| Fernando Fusco |
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| Joe Kubert |
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| Jose Luis Salinas |
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| Bill Black |
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| Jeff Butler |
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| Joe Maneely |
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| Jack Kirby |
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| Reed Crandall |
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| Gil Kane |
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| Frank Frazetta |
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| John Severin |
Oh my god . . .
ReplyDeleteSeveral months ago I put my Amazon Prime account on my brother's 75 inch screen TV. And since then he's watched every Poverty Row Western ever made. I wear ear plugs and headphones whenever I go into our living room so I don't have to hear that dreadful dialogue.
And now, you, my last bastion of culture, you too have turned against me . . .
. . . the horror . . . the horror
Seriously, some really good artwork there. Especially approve of the opportunity to see some of Manleey's work. A really great talent taken far too soon.
seeya
pfgavigan
Ah, westerns. Another genre that I avoided like the plague in my youth. I still don't really seek them out, unlike War, Horror (and even Romance)nowadays. Nonetheless, I have several in my collection, and like Pfg above, know good art when I see it. He mentioned Joe Maneely; he sure was a versatile chap. Nice example you share, Doug. Also love that Toth piece, and anything by Russ Heath.
ReplyDeleteOne artist not present today among your 'hall of fame': Doug Wildey. Yes, he of the Jonny Quest cartoon; Wildey did many westerns in the fifties and early sixties. Indeed, he did a highly praised western graphic novel in the 80's called "Rio". Haven't read it, but am actively seeking it out. I love his artwork; I have an example of his earlier western work in a Dell "Restless Gun" issue from about 1960.
Oh, one potentially controversial note about your gallery above Doug: in my humble opinion, the weakest example is the Kirby piece (certainly not bad, but it pales next to many of the others). Ok, I'm ready for the brickbats from the Kirby boosters; lol!
hiya,
DeleteNo brick baths from me, although the water is rather hard here in Northern Illinois. I'm a Kirby fan but not a fanatic. His best Western material was usually inked by Dick Ayers who, shall we say, was known to make more than a few adjustments to the original material.
Actually, the only time when I'm not a Kirby fan is when one of the fanatics lets loose with another barrage of "I wasn't there but I can tell you exactly what happened!"
Seeya,
pfg
PS
DeleteI saw Wildey's Rio and the follow ups at Ebay and Amazon, but give Half Price Books a look too. That's where I got my copies.
pfg
Looks like Stan Lee's handwriting in the caption on Maneely's Kid Colt cover. I know they collaborated a lot in the 1950s.
ReplyDelete