Remembering L.B. Cole...

[telerites]

I was recently going through some old comic stuff and came across an old comic book convention program - actually my first convention. I was 16 years old and was a fairly naive comic collector. This would have in 1981.

One of the guests at the convention was LB Cole. It was his artwork that adorned the program. At the time I had no idea who Cole was. Cole would have been 63 or so years old at the time of this convention. I saw him walking the dealer's hall and recognized him from the picture of him in the program.

I nervously approached him and asked him for an autograph. He has been one the kindest men I have ever met. He asked me my name and carried on a little conversation. I remember him as having some trouble walking and standing but he took time to talk with me. He seemed so delighted that I was interested. He signed the program, with a personalized message to me. To this day, I remember that brief meeting and from that meeting have been a lifelong fan of the man. Cole died in 1995.

Since then, I have acquired many comics which reflect his covers. He was a diverse artist. See the below two links to see some of his versatility.

http://www.samuelsdesign.com/comics/lbcole_gallery.html

http://www.rtsunlimited.com/lbcolecovers.htm

This was one of those events that actually made me a devoted comic book fan. It made me want to find out more about this man and through that research I discovered a golden age of comics. It started me collecting golden age books.

So what about anyone else - any convention memories of comic professionals that have stuck with you?

[Cei-U!]

Although I've never seen any of his work firsthand, I became an L. B. Cole fan after browsing through my Photo-Journal Guide to Comic Books. He was an amazing, and amazingly versatile, artist. I'm especially enamored of his aviation covers. To my eyes, he and Alex Schomburg epitomise the "look" of Golden Age comicbook cover art.

Cei-U!
I summon the giant!

[Scott Shaw!]

I consider L. B. Cole to be the king of Oddball Comic covers, and I've featured many of 'em in my column. I never did have the opportunity to meet him in person, although my friend Ray Zone was trying to broker a deal in which I was going to purchase the original art for my all-time favorite Oddball cover, that sockeye salmon socking a bad guy in the eye on CRIMINALS ON THE RUN. (Unfortunately, the deal somehow evaporated.) In fact, last week's Oddball Comic, a bizarrely miscolored issue of POPULAR TEEN-AGERS. Check it out!

Aloha,

Scott!

[telerites]

I consider L. B. Cole to be the king of Oddball Comic covers, and I've featured many of 'em in my column. I never did have the opportunity to meet him in person, although my friend Ray Zone was trying to broker a deal in which I was going to purchase the original art for my all-time favorite Oddball cover, that sockeye salmon socking a bad guy in the eye on CRIMINALS ON THE RUN. (Unfortunately, the deal somehow evaporated.) In fact, last week's Oddball Comic, a bizarrely miscolored issue of POPULAR TEEN-AGERS. Check it out!

Aloha,

Scott!

Okay - now I've learned more about Cole. I never have seen this book. His unmistakable beautiful females in scantily clad customes appear though. But pink ink - you're right miscolored indeed.

[Lone Ranger]

I am a big fan of Cole's work as well, and have featured plenty of Cole covers at GTCC.

In terms of my collection - I only have a handful of his Star romance books, as well as Dell's Tales From the Tomb, which I purchased based on Mr. Shaw!'s recommendation. It appears that Cole fans have deep wallets as for his horror and super-hero work gets pricier each year.

There is indeed a certain quality to a Cole cover that makes it stand out from all others - I don't want to use the word 'trippy' as it almos seems like a slight. Perhaps 'layered surrealism' is more appropriate.

Those two cover galleries show a good selection of Cole's work, but tend to neglect examples of his work from other genres. Here are a few:

Funny Animals:
Frisky Fables (http://www.comics.org/coverview.lasso?id=236559&zoom=4)

Western
The Outlaws (http://www.comics.org/coverview.lasso?id=230026&zoom=4)

Humor
Unsane (http://www.comics.org/coverview.lasso?id=11378&zoom=4)

[Jeremy A. Patterson]

Even Nickelodeon recognized his genius, as his "fish-on-the-face" cover for CRIMINALS ON THE RUN was one of the five comics spotlighted in "Odd Comic Out", which appeared in the April, 2005 issue of Nickelodeon magazine (The other four comics are: The OWL #2 [from Gold Key, 1967; The TERROR TWINS steal ABE LINCOLN's head!]; STRANGE ADVENTURES #110 [The Hand From Beyond]; SPACE WESTERN #40 [from Charlton, 1952; with the gender-switched cowgirl/boy], & RICKY & DEBBIE IN SARDINELAND [A 1950s giveaway comics]!!!!!!)

In my opinion, this is the single best article that NICKELODEON magazine has ever published, & one that truly deserves a sequel!!!!!!!!!


Thanks;

J.A.P.

[Jeff O.]

I consider L. B. Cole to be the king of Oddball Comic covers, and I've featured many of 'em in my column. I never did have the opportunity to meet him in person, although my friend Ray Zone was trying to broker a deal in which I was going to purchase the original art for my all-time favorite Oddball cover, that sockeye salmon socking a bad guy in the eye on CRIMINALS ON THE RUN. (Unfortunately, the deal somehow evaporated.) In fact, last week's Oddball Comic, a bizarrely miscolored issue of POPULAR TEEN-AGERS. Check it out!


Okay - now I've learned more about Cole. I never have seen this book. His unmistakable beautiful females in scantily clad customes appear though. But pink ink - you're right miscolored indeed.


In terms of my collection - I only have a handful of his Star romance books, as well as Dell's Tales From the Tomb, which I purchased based on Mr. Shaw!'s recommendation.

L. B. COLE AT ODDBALL COMICS:

BLUE BOLT No. 104 (http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/oddball/index.cgi?date=2002-10-23)

CRIMINALS ON THE RUN Vol. 4, No. 7 (http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/oddball/index.cgi?date=2001-12-03)

CRIMINALS ON THE RUN No. 10 (http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/oddball/index.cgi?date=2001-11-22)

FRISKY ANIMALS No. 45 (http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/oddball/index.cgi?date=2003-10-24)

GUNS AGAINST GANGSTERS Vol. 1, No. 4 (http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/oddball/index.cgi?date=2001-07-20)

GUNS AGAINST GANGSTERS Vol. 1, No. 5 (http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/oddball/index.cgi?date=2003-11-21)

HOLIDAY COMICS No. 5 (http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/oddball/index.cgi?date=2000-12-25)

JEEP COMICS Vol. 2, No. 3 (http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/oddball/index.cgi?date=2001-03-14)

MY SECRET MARRIAGE No. 9 (http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/oddball/index.cgi?date=2002-08-22)

POP TEEN-AGERS No. 4 (http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/oddball/index.cgi?date=2002-05-14)

POPULAR TEEN-AGERS No. 6 (http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/oddball/index.cgi?date=2002-03-06) -- first look

POPULAR TEEN-AGERS No. 6 (http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/oddball/index.cgi?date=2006-01-27) -- second look

POPULAR TEEN-AGERS No. 10 (http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/oddball/index.cgi?date=2000-04-04)

"Robin and Dobbin in Curwood Forest" in TAFFY COMICS No. 4 (http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/oddball/index.cgi?date=2000-09-01)

TALES FROM THE TOMB No. 1 (http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/oddball/index.cgi?date=2003-05-06)

TERRORS OF THE JUNGLE No. 19 (http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/oddball/index.cgi?date=2003-05-28)

UNIVERSAL PICTURES PRESENTS DRACULA - THE MUMMY & OTHER STORIES 02-530-311 [Dell Giant] (http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/oddball/index.cgi?date=2003-10-28)

WHITE RIDER AND SUPER HORSE No. 5 (http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/oddball/index.cgi?date=2002-03-14)

[Jeff O.]

One of the guests at the convention was LB Cole....

He has been one the kindest men I have ever met....To this day, I remember that brief meeting and from that meeting have been a lifelong fan of the man. Cole died in 1995.

It's wonderful to hear of your meeting him! I was blessed to meet L. B. Cole at a New York Convention in 1990. He was on a panel discussing how to get into the comic-book industry. Before that day, I only knew of him through his name being mentioned in OVERSTREET, and his occasional cover being showcased in the PRICE GUIDE's pages or in ads in COMICS BUYER'S GUIDE. Even so, Overstreet conveyed to me something legendary about L. B. Cole's status in comics history.

He took the lead of the panel at one point, asking the audience for a show of hands as to all those who wanted to actually get into the business. He asked for those parties to stay behind at the end and come up to the long table the panelists occupied. Then we were divided into aspiring artists and aspiring writers. There were maybe over thirty people who wanted to be artists. I was one of about ten who wanted to write comics professionally. (;) I say "professionally," because I had been writing and drawing comics at home for fun and practice since I was five or six. You, too?) The artists went up to the table first. I think they stood side-by-side, perhaps in two rows, stretched out in front of the table while L. B. shared his wisdom with them. Then the artists were dismissed and the writers were called up. It was more like being at a college orientation or recruitment than at a comics convention, and it was awesome!

We gathered around Mr. Cole in a circle. I don't remember him asking too many specific questions of us, but he wanted us to know how important and how welcome good writers were to the industry. It may have been Cole the editor talking, as much as Cole the artist. It was a little like listening to the Knute Rockne of comics. I believe he made eye contact with each person, and then asked who had questions. He also said he wanted to offer himself to help each of us in the future, where he could help. He offered his home phone number, and that we should feel free to call him with questions in the future. I was amazed by his kindness and trust with people he had just met! I guess he felt kinship. Soon, the flamboyant Jim Steranko asked to talk to the prospective writers for a few minutes. If we could indeed write, Steranko promised each of us a job working for PREVUE MAGAZINE.

I was in the middle of applying to grad school at the time, figuring my schedule was about to be pretty tight for the immediate future, and didn't set up an appointment to show Mr. Steranko my writing samples or take a writing test. I probably should have at least auditioned, though I admit I didn't have a clear grasp of =ahem= just how much the racier aspects of PREVUE were increasing at the time, and I wasn't sure if this Catholic boy should be seeking his first big break with PREVUE. Steranko's challenge to the ten of us is still the biggest offer any comics professional ever gave me, apart from the gift of precious time and advice such professionals as Joe and Adam Kubert, Scott Shaw!, and L. B. Cole have graciously given me and offered to give. (Yeah, when I write this part of my autobiography, it's gotta be called "Steranko's Challenge.")

That night, I headed back to the suburbs, with L. B. Cole's phone number amidst the collectibles I bought and the freebies I gathered up from the registration table. No, I didn't lose the number, but neither can I tell you I ever called it. I know, it doesn't make sense, really. The bottom line is that I didn't want to call him to just chat, because I didn't want to intrude. After all, he said to call when we had questions. I was younger then, and besides being a little nervous about calling this big star of comics on the phone, even though he asked for calls, I thought it would be best to call him when I was actually working on something I wanted to submit. I thought then I would have concrete questions. With grad school, work, and another situation soon starting to take a lot of my time, it was quite a while before I started to get back to some serious creative writing. I came very close to calling him one night some months after the Convention, just to say hi. I should have taken that leap of faith. Maybe we could have struck up a good friendship in the twilight of his life, or at least I would've had a second memory of the man. If only I had the L. B. Cole knowledge I've gained from Oddball Comics, I would've had lots of specific questions about L. B.'s career to ask him.

Still, even from that one talk at the Convention, I feel that if I don't ever write comics, I'll be slapping L. B. Cole in the face with a fish, and slapping myself, too. I've occasionally wondered if any of the others called him, and if any of them are in comics today.

Look! Up in the sky! Is that a "blue bolt" in the heavens?!?

[telerites]

It's wonderful to hear of your meeting him! I was blessed to meet L. B. Cole at a New York Convention in 1990. He was on a panel discussing how to get into the comic-book industry. Before that day, I only knew of him through his name being mentioned in OVERSTREET, and his occasional cover being showcased in the PRICE GUIDE's pages or in ads in COMICS BUYER'S GUIDE. Even so, Overstreet conveyed to me something legendary about L. B. Cole's status in comics history....

Still, even from that one talk at the Convention, I feel that if I don't ever write comics, I'll be slapping L. B. Cole in the face with a fish, and slapping myself, too. I've occasionally wondered if any of the others called him, and if any of them are in comics today.

Look! Up in the sky! Is that a "blue bolt" in the heavens?!?

Great story and thanks for sharing. This just reinforces my opinion of Cole's sincerity and kindness.

[Jeff O.]

Great story and thanks for sharing. This just reinforces my opinion of Cole's sincerity and kindness.

You're most welcome. In the future, I'm sure I'll think of your meeting when I look back at mine.