In Focus Closeup Look at Artists Who Might Not Be Appreciated Too Much

[Red Oak Kid]

Alden McWilliams.

I was only dimly aware of the work of Alden McWilliams from the occasional backup stories that appeared here and there in DC comics in the 70s. And I wasn't much impressed. I think he did something for an Atlas Seaboard Police title.

But I Googled his name today and was very impressed with his lengthy resume of comic book and strip work. I was very intrigued with a SF comic strip he did in the 50s called "Twin Earths".

http://www.toonopedia.com/twinerth.htm

Anyone have any thoughts on Al McWilliams and has anyone ever seen the Twin Earths strip which seems to have been reprinted several times in comic book form?

[MDG]

When I first saw Al McWilliams art, I thought it was Al Williamson under a (pretty lame) pseudonym--a lot of similarities. I really don't remember where I first saw his work, but I knew who he was when I read the first Justice Inc. (Probably Warren--I know in retrospect he has stories in BK Tales of Mystery, and other Gold Key books, but w/o credits I wouldn't have made the connection as a kid.)

I've seen various Twin Earths strips, but never "read" it.

[benday-dot]

I mostly know Al McWilliams through his Gold Key work. I always looked forward to coming upon a GK book with his art in. I pegged it as better than average. It was always very nicely of the illustrative mode.

[dan bailey]

I have, I believe, about a half-dozen of the compendiums (compendia?) of Twin Earths dailies & one of the Sundays, & I'm keeping an eye out for those I don't have. I like McWilliams' stuff a lot, having become acquainted with it (not that I knew him by name then) in various Gold Key "mystery" titles in the late '60s.

Probably the first time I ever really noticed him by name was (assuming I'm remembering correctly here) as the artist on a pb I picked up circa the mid-'70s adapating, I believe, Bram Stoker's Dracula. Seems like it was reprinted from early issues of Creepy.

His name has come up on this forum before, of course. Others have mentioned how reminiscent his work was of Gray Morrow's; I very much concur.

[JKCarrier]

I haven't seen much of McWilliams' work, but I do have a copy of a Spider-Man storybook he did the illustrations for:

http://www.spiderfan.org/comics/reviews/spiderman_books_golden/gb_6417.html

It's really nice work, love that painted cover (and Doc Ock's expression!).

[Lone Ranger]

I like Alden McWilliams' art quite a bit.

As I've stated elsewhere - I really dug his art on Justice Inc., and thought it fit the feel of that series than Kirby's art (how's that for heresy?)

Like b-d and MDG, most of my exposure to his work has been via the Gold Key titles, as I read several of his horror/mystery stories and thought he was a good fit on Star Trek. If memory serves, he also did some Red Circle work in the mid-70s - so there's definitely a connection to Gray Morrow.

I do have an old issue of National Comics (#38) with his art - that's going way back to 1944. His artwork was quite a bit different that it looked in the 70s, but still quite attractive, fitting in with the Quality Comics house style.

[InfoBroker]

Anyone have any thoughts on Al McWilliams and has anyone ever seen the Twin Earths strip which seems to have been reprinted several times in comic book form?

Early chapters of the the Twin Earth strips were reprinted in the late 80s or early 90s in a format similar to the large EC reprint tabloids (also from the 90s).

I shall try to open up some time to scan some pages this evening.

-jb the "time is of the essence" ib -

[Red Oak Kid]

I shall try to open up some time to scan some pages this evening.

-jb the "time is of the essence" ib -

That would be nice. I knew McWilliams' comic book work had been discussed here before, but it was the info about his extensive comic strip work that prompted me to start this thread.

As the Toonapedia entry on Twin Earths pointed out, it was pretty ahead of it's time for a SF strip in 1952. It wasn't a Flash Gordon type strip with a heroic figure for the lead. But maybe it wasn't unusual for such a strip to be in newspapers. Maybe the newspaper comics sections were more diverse in those days, just as the comic book market was more diverse.

[dan bailey]

It wasn't a Flash Gordon type strip with a heroic figure for the lead. But maybe it wasn't unusual for such a strip to be in newspapers. Maybe the newspaper comics sections were more diverse in those days, just as the comic book market was more diverse.

Part of it may also have been the fact that UFOs in general were pretty topical at the time. (The famed sightings over Washington, DC, occurred in July '52.) Also, what were probably the first big sf movies -- The Day the Earth Stood Still & The Thing from Another World -- had come out the previous year.

[InfoBroker]

There was some editorial material in the reprints that talked about the difficulties getting Twin Earths up and running. The UFO craze of the time did help turn the tide as Dan mentions. I shall try to post some of that as well.

-jb the "unidentified non-flying" ib -

[InfoBroker]

Usually to help sell a new comic strip to newspaper, the syndicates would have the cartoonist creators develop material to be use as "ad copy" and art "drops" to appear in the papers prior to publication.

Here's the half page promotional "drop" that was used to "sell" and explain Twin Earths to the readers


http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x161/infobroker/thePitch.jpg

Here's a close up on the text material (http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x161/infobroker/TheConcept.jpg).

I also liked this drop art that appeared right here in Minnie-sew-tah.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x161/infobroker/AdSample.jpg

The first dailies broke right into the action of the main characters and the intrigue of there being a twin earth on the exact opposite side of the sun. This one dominated by females.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x161/infobroker/firstDailies.jpg
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x161/infobroker/firstDailies2.jpg

Take note with this early strip that instead of dates they are numbered sequentially. This is because, when pitching a new strip, cartoonist were required to provide the syndicates with several weeks of sample material. It could vary, but most required at least six weeks of completely finished strips (drawn, lettered and inked), another 4 to six weeks of finished pencils, and perhaps another six to 10 weeks of full scripts along with pencils roughs.

What we are seeing here is the actual presentation dailies, and since the was no known date for if and when they would be published, the numbers were in place to keep them in order as they were handled by syndicate editors.

Going forward, I will provide hyper links for most if not all the artwork. This page is going to take forever for Dan and ROK to load as it is, for which I do apologize.

Also, if you want to see 2x version of these first dailies then feel free to click here (http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x161/infobroker/1200firstDailies.jpg) and here. (http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x161/infobroker/1200firstDailies2.jpg)

I am providing those larger scans so you can study the line and brushwork in more detail. Although take that with a grain of two of newsprint textured salt. The source for these reprints is the actual printed strips and were reduced slightly for these early 1990s reprints. Not to knock what the publisher did, the quality here is very good, and not reduced as much as the Fantagraphics Peanuts strips are (my only grip about that very nice reprint series).

-jb the "WOW! Ten Bucks indeed" ib -

[InfoBroker]

The initial plot focuses on the presence of the Twin Earth, and the implication that its discovery has for our earth.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x161/infobroker/thePlotThickens.jpg

As the strip matured, the line quality became more free flowing, all though the poses still tended towards a certain amount of stiffness. It was pretty obvious when there was and wasn't photo source being used.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x161/infobroker/raymondSchool.jpg

It was also obvious that the comic art influences were heavily based on Alex Raymond and his school. For the more refined, it should be noted that the creators were reading a lot of science fiction, along with science fact articles (except for the twin earth and its position in space), at least when it came to the early, 1950s pre-manned space flights understanding of how things worked just a few miles up from the surface of the earth. Included in that influence would be a lot of visual sourcing from several Science Fiction/Fact art pioneers like Wiley Ley, Kelly Freas, Cheesley Bonestell, Fred Freeman and Rolf Klep.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x161/infobroker/spaceswim1.jpg
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x161/infobroker/spaceswim2.jpg

I found this sequence to be fascinating, fun and appealing to read even in the 1990s. While I can't prove it, I'm pretty sure the space swimming and the references to "infinity above and below were inspired by the chapter called "This Side of Infinity" written by Joseph Kaplan for the now classic Space Science book (also from 1952) called Across the Space Frontier.



-jb the "wishes he had his Wernher Von Braun metal lunch box from grade school" ib -

[InfoBroker]

Now the Sunday strips are of interest in that first, they were drawn much later (by several months I'm guessing) that the initail daily strips. Also, they run an entirely separate plot continuity from the dailies, and they wisely start right away with direct involvement in seeing the spaceship's interiors along with other aspects of the Twin Earth's advanced technologies. (It would be several weeks into the dailies before the main cast is brought aboard the space discs.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x161/infobroker/sunday1.jpg
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x161/infobroker/sunday2.jpg

As you can see (assuming you clicked the link), the viewpoint is from that of a young boy, probably 12 years or so in age. I'm guessing both of these aspects of the Sunday story line were suggested (strongly) by the syndicate editors and it was clever to do so. First it resolved immediately the desires of the readers to see inside the space ships, and by using a young boy, it provides character identification and viewpoint for young people, whose participation in reading the strips was much higher on Sunday afternoons that it was during the week.

I find the Sunday pages to no great surprise more flowing in panel layout, and style. This comic strip lasted for 11 years. I don't thing it was reprinted in its entirety by R. Susor Publications. I have 1 issue of Sundays, and issues 1,3and 4 of the dailies. Not sure why the second issue wasn't part of the set. I bought these from Bud Plant circa 1996-97 or so. If you can find them, these early episode make a great read.

-jb the "wouldn't mind a trip to this Twin Earth anytime" ib -

[Red Oak Kid]

That is awsome stuff. Thanks for all the hard work.

[Lone Ranger]

I agree with Mac. Great work JB - that stuff looks wonderful, I've never seen it before.

[InfoBroker]

That is awsome stuff. Thanks for all the hard work.

Most welcome Mac, my pleasure. I appreciate the chance (as always) to exchange comic history with you and Kimosabe and Dan and Kurt and Slam and Scott Shaw! and Sir Tim and all the other regulars who hang here. Especially when we dig deep into little known, or overly ignored gems like this comic strip.

I have a few more pages I wanted to include last night, but it got late and I was getting groggy at the keyboard. I planned to get to them this evening, but I got side-tracked by my scan of 1973-75 Marvel Bullpen Bonus Pages, looking for Steranko FOOM information. Shouldv'e only taken 15 minutes or so to browse them, but unfortunately I chose to use Conan comical books since I knew I had a solid run of that title in that timeframe, and danged if I didn't get pulled into the wonderful Thomas stories/adaptations and the beautiful artwork by John Buscema. Despite all the acclaim and admiration I have for his work, it never seems to be enough. I keep finding more points of interest, craftsmanship, and great storytelling in his work. I also feel that because of the impact that Barry Smith had on Conan, and that too had tremendous impact on me and many other fans, but it created a lot of bias towards JB's Conan work, which is a shame, because it is wonderful material. So I'm sure your figured out by now that yeppers, I got distracted and spent the bulk of this evening, over last three hours re-reading and re-admiring some wonderful Thomas/Buscema masterpieces. Nice to see these old friends again, no doubt about it.

So maybe tomorrow I shall get back to scanning a few more Twin Earths for you guys, along with some Dateline Danger material from the 70s (also by McWilliams).

Until then take a gander at this wonderful painting by Bonestell, from the previously mentioned Space Science book, Across the Space Frontier. I find these visuals totally fascinating.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x161/infobroker/bonestell.jpg


-jb the hyborian ib -

[InfoBroker]

I agree with Mac. Great work JB - that stuff looks wonderful, I've never seen it before.

The later work has highs and lows, the artwork shifts a bit and the storyline, which really was focused and had its strength in discovering space flight and the culture of the second Earth, suffered a bit once that initial fascination had been explored.

Still good stuff though, and like I mentioned to ROK, I'll add some more samples soon.

But the real thanks goes to ROK for starting this thread. I have several other artists that I want to cover in this thread as time permits and once we've exhausted whatever we want to discuss about McWilliams (at least for this go round anyway). Among them Stanley Pitt (whose style and approach has similarities to McWilliams), Frank Belamy (and several other British adventure artists of the 50s and 60s), Harvey Kurtzman (who while he is acknowledge as one of the masters and we have talked about him, I don't feel we have provided strong examples of his material), and I want to pull some very classical Marie Severin panels together for discussion as well. Now there's a visual storyteller that deserves far more acclaim and applause from all of us graphical story fans. *

-jb the "wandering over to his Kull comics when he really should be going to bed" ib -


* with the notable exception of the extremely perceptive (not to mention lovely & talented) dan bailey, who more than once has noted that she ranks third on his all-time favorite artists list behind only her brother, John, & Russ Heath

[dan bailey]

I want to pull some very classical Marie Severin panels together for discussion as well. Now there's a visual storyteller that deserves far more acclaim and applause from all of us graphical story fans.


"All oif us graphical story fans with the notable exception of the extremely perceptive (not to mention lovely & talented) dan bailey, who more than once has noted that she ranks third on his all-time favorite artists list behind only her brother, John, & Russ Heath," you of course meant to say. I forgive you ... this time.

Between the Severins & John & Sal Buscema, it's highly possible that the top two sibling acts in comics art history were turning out excellent work for Marvel in the late '60s & early '70s. Can anyone think of any other especially notable artist siblings? I know Gene Day's brothers, Dan & ... Dave? (does anyone know of any other three-sibling artist families?), did some pretty solid work for various indies in the '80s, but in retrospect their output really paled in comparison to his. (Not that there's any shame in paling in comparison to Gene Day, truly one of his era's greats.)

[Lone Ranger]

Can anyone think of any other especially notable artist siblings?

The Barrys (Sy and Dan) were both top-notch and I've them shortlisted as Underappreciated candidates.

[MDG]

Can anyone think of any other especially notable artist siblings?
Kim and Simon Deitch

Robert and Charles Crumb

Los Bos Hernandez

Sam and Louis Glanzman

What about Dave and Bob Wood? Or were they both writers? Did either draw? Are they even brothers?

[Graham Vingoe]

there's also Tom and Rick Veitch of course

[dan bailey]

Good mentions. Can't believe I forgot the Hernandezes (Hernandii?), in particular. The Veitches & Deitches I've always sort of confused, simply because of the similarity in surnames.

There's also of course a 3rd artistic Crumb brother, Maxon, though I don't know if he's ever done any sequential work.

[Lone Ranger]

The Cazeneuve brothers (Louis and Arthur) are two more that come to mind.

[dan bailey]

What about Dave and Bob Wood? Or were they both writers? Did either draw? Are they even brothers?

Weren't they married to each other & to Wally Wood? I blame William Moulton Marston ...

[Sir Tim Drake]

What about Dave and Bob Wood? Or were they both writers? Did either draw? Are they even brothers?

I think there was also a third brother, Dick Wood.

[MDG]

I think there was also a third brother, Dick Wood.

Which one bludgeoned a woman with an iron? Can we start another thread on comic creators who were also murderers?

[dan bailey]

Dick Wood.

Since you're the moderator & all, I guess you can get away with using that kind of language ...

[InfoBroker]

"All oif us graphical story fans with the notable exception of the extremely perceptive (not to mention lovely & talented) dan bailey, who more than once has noted that she ranks third on his all-time favorite artists list behind only her brother, John, & Russ Heath," you of course meant to say. I forgive you ... this time.

Check the footnote Dan. It's all there, including the "lovely and talented" part. You musta missed the teeny tiny print, 'cuz I would never neglect to your fantastical admiration for Marie. Without a doubt I wouldn't.

-jb the "whistles innocently" ib -

[Rob Allen]

Which one bludgeoned a woman with an iron?

That was Bob Wood. He was co-editor with Charles Biro of Lev Gleason's line of comics. After the Code and the associated hysteria sank Gleason, Bob didn't handle it very well.

[benday-dot]

And there are the Boys Binder... Otto and Jack. Every Captain Marvel fan knows Otto, but brother Jack, who left comics rather earlier on, was a very fine artist in his own right. I believe he may even have illustrated some of those Fawcett books (Mary Marvel?) scripted by his legendary sibling Otto.

[dan bailey]

And a third Binder brother, Earl, frequently collaborated with Otto on sf stories (most notably the Adam Link series); the two wrote as "Eando" Binder.

The only (questionable) comics credit listed for Earl on the GCD is as a possible co-scripter with Otto on a text story in Fawcett's Beware! Terror Tales #2, which apparently was bylined Eando Binder. (Apparently, some of the pulp Eando stories were actually by Otto alone.)

[benday-dot]

And a third Binder brother, Earl, frequently collaborated with Otto on sf stories (most notably the Adam Link series); the two wrote as "Eando" Binder.

The only (questionable) comics credit listed for Earl on the GCD is as a possible co-scripter with Otto on a text story in Fawcett's Beware! Terror Tales #2, which apparently was bylined Eando Binder. (Apparently, some of the pulp Eando stories were actually by Otto alone.)

Thanks for jogging my memory Dan. I'd read that before regarding the Adam Link series, but I'd forgotten all about it until your kindly reminder here.

[LEADER DESSLOK]

If we are talking about contemporary artists, I don't have too many recommendations because I just don't read too many current super-hero books anymore (sob!). The two artists who I think don't get enough "props" are

CHRIS BACHLO- Forgive me, Chris if I thoroughly mangled the spelling of your last name. A true draughtsman who could draw beautiful women who didn't look like they were jakked on silicone!

JILL THOMPSON- Another one whose work is very beautiful but she has demonstrated that she has a thorough knowledge of storytelling-- in other words, her characters interact, they don't look like a bunch of staid photos strung together.

If we talk about underappreciated artists from the past, then I recommend:

NESTOR REDONDO- A master illustrator and very good cartoonist. His EVE from DC's treasury size THE BIBLE would have gotten me to eat a cratefull of apples!

SAL BUSCEMA- His brother may have been a better draftsman, but Sal was by far the better cartoonist. His style just kept evolving and growing. Example: whenever his brother John drew the Hulk, I just couldn't tell how big he was compared to other characters. Sal's Hulk was MASSIVE and dispatched many a foe with a single backhand!

IRV NOVICK- Neal Adams Batman was very well drawn. Period. Novick's Batman looked demonic and almost gleeful when delivering a violent karate chop!

[InfoBroker]

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x161/infobroker/logoTE.jpg

This set of pages are from volume 4 of the Daily Strips. I found them fascinating. Garry the FBI agent from the first installments, is bumping into problems dealing with a culture that has a multitude of robots to do basic chores, provide menial assistance, and most of the hard labor. Meanwhile the more abundant and dominant females provide a different type of cultural barrier for Garry to acclimate towards. All the while, the ruling forces present still more intrigue and potential problems. Sound somewhat familiar?

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x161/infobroker/omnimach1.jpg
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x161/infobroker/omnimach2.jpg
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x161/infobroker/omnimach3.jpg
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x161/infobroker/omnimach4.jpg

The problem with the Sunday pages is that I only have the one volume, so not too much time has passed since the first adventures shown before, and secondly, it was hard to choose what to include. Too many interesting storylines and very nice visuals. Hard to limit it to a couple of good samples. Maybe it's fortunate that I have but the one volume after all.

Ah here's an interesting segment, with the introduction of non-earth, non-terra, and possibly non-sol system alien...

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x161/infobroker/lateSunday1.jpg
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x161/infobroker/lateSunday2.jpg
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x161/infobroker/lateSunday3.jpg

One things for sure, that Mech-guy and me would not get along at all. I bristle and rebel whenever authority types are pushing their perceived power down my throat.

Drats, now that I've flipped through these, I have a tremendous urge to snuggle down on the couch and read through them again. There goes my plans for getting some spring chores done. Not that it matters. It's 37 degrees outside.

brrrrrrrr...

-jb the "dang this has been a loooong winter" ib -

[benday-dot]

I have to say those Twin Earths samples are gorgeous. Particulary in the more expansive Sunday pages McWilliams really shows his chops. This stuff, at least the generous glimpses you've revealed JB, approaches Sky Masters quality.