Ragged Claws Network

In the comments section of a previous post here at RCN, frequent commenter on this blog, Chris A, writes:

Just happened to see that someone posted scans of Jones’ “Harry” in glorious black and white! It originally ran in VAMPIRELLA #32 in 1974 with garish colors by Rich Corben (whose work I quite like, but this was a bad pairing), and was reprinted in a later VAMPIRELLA in black and white (which these scans came from). Enjoy!

http://atomic-surgery.blogspot.com/2009/10/harry-by-jeff-jones.html

Thanks for the link, Chris. No doubt about it: stripped of Corben’s day-glo colours, “Harry” is a real stunner!

For easy comparison, here is the colour version, which (as Chris A notes) appeared in Vampirella #32 (April 1974):

Anyone prefer the colour version?

On 05 March 2010, Glimmer Graphics, known to readers of this blog as the publisher of an ongoing series of first-rate prints and posters by Jeffrey Jones, will release Poetry (see above image), a lush new 22 x 15 inch limited-edition giclée print by Barry Windsor-Smith. Each of the 375 prints that make up the edition will be signed and numbered and will be presented in a foil-stamped linen folder with a tipped-on colour plate. The unit price is US$135, shipped and insured, and you may pay in full or with installments. To place your order, click here.

This is NOT a paid advertisement. If the money BWS makes from the print enables him to complete work on his long-awaited Monsters graphic novel, that will be payment enough. The previews on BWS’s site are gorgeous!

BONUS LINKS:

The Barry Windsor-Smith Conan Archives Volume 1 HC (Publication Date: 13 January 2010) — “now presented as they were intended, remastered using the original color palette!”

The Barry Windsor-Smith Conan Archives Volume 2 HC (Publication Date: 19 May 2010) — “The two Barry Windsor-Smith archives collect all of the historic and influential Conan the Barbarian comics drawn by Barry Windsor-Smith,” including his adaptation of Robert E. Howard’s “Red Nails”!

Here are the links, listed in order of first publication of the stories themselves:

“Toreador from Texas,” Danger Trail #2 (DC, September-October 1950).

“Too Many Suspects,” Green Lantern vol. 1, # 37 (National Comics Publications: March-April 1949), as reprinted in Detective Comics #440 (DC, April-May 1974).

“The Bandidos,” Zorro #9 (Dell, March-May 1960).

“Dangerous Competition,” The Frogmen #5 (Dell, May-July 1963).

“Vision of Evil,” Eerie #2 (Warren, March 1966).

“Eternal Hour,” The Witching Hour #1 (DC, February-March 1969).

“ComputERR,” The Witching Hour #8 (DC, May 1970).

“Mask of the Red Fox,” House of Mystery #187 (DC, July-August 1970).

“The Mark of the Witch,” The Witching Hour #11 (DC, October-November 1970).

“Bride of the Falcon,” The Sinister House of Secret Love # 3 (National Periodical Publications, March 1972).

“Black Canary,” Adventure Comics #418 (DC: April 1972) & #419 (DC, May 1972).

“Death Flies the Haunted Sky,” Detective Comics #442 (DC, August-September 1974).

“Daddy and the Pie,” Eerie #64 (Warren, March 1975), as reprinted in UFO and Alien Comix (Warren, January 1978). And if you don’t like that scan, try this one.

“Chennault Must Die!” Savage Combat Tales #2 (Atlas, April 1975).

“The Question,” The Charlton Bullseye #5 (CPL/Gang Publications, March-April 1976).

“39/74,” Witzend #10 (Bill Pearson, 1976).

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Click here for another short list of links to “Comics Stories with Art by Alex Toth” available on the Web.

Click here to visit the gallery of Ethel Hays comic strips at Hogan’s Alley.

Click the image below to visit the gallery of images at Golden Age Comic Book Stories:

In Drawing with Pen and Ink (a book which I myself own, in a later edition), Arthur Guptill writes that Flagg “draws his lines very rapidly, as may be ascertained by a glance at his illustrations, yet in spite of this rapidity thesee lines are skilfully placed. Many of his blacks are added with a brush[...]. If one of these spots seems over-black or solid to Mr. Flagg, he scratches through the ink to the surface of the paper, thus making white lines[...]. He also employs cross-hatch freely where he feels the need of it” (page 426).

Here’s a bonus scan — which I just created — that you won’t find on the Golden Age Comic Book Stories blog (as usual, please click the image to view the big version):

Oh, I can’t resist. Here’s another:

Lynd Ward’s illustrations for Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, are stunning examples of the wood engraver’s art. Nick Mullins has some great examples from the book on his site, but John Lauritsen has them all.

Above: P. 161: The monster strangles little William.

BONUS LINKS:

Lynd Ward: A Centennial Appreciation

Lynd Ward As Illustrator

Courtesy of Tor.com, an original graphic story by a talented young artist, Ms. Wesley Allsbrook:

I had pretty much the same feeling reading this piece as I had when I first read Jillian Tamaki’s City of Champions mini-comic and the shorter “comic book” edition of Skim a few years ago, i.e., this is someone to watch!

P.S. If you buy the superb Skim graphic novel from this Amazon.com link, you’ll be doing yourself a favour and Jillian herself will receive a little extra in her Amazon Associates account!

Bonus Links:

Wesley Allsbrook Illustration

Wesley’s Wallsblog

Fresh Paint: Wesley Allsbrook (interview)

“The Blood Money of Galloping Chad Burgess,” The Unseen #5 (June 1952) .

“Murder Mansion,” Adventures into Darkness #5 (August 1952).

“Alice in Terrorland,” Lost Worlds #5 (October 1952), as reprinted/recoloured in Seduction of the Innocent #1.

“The Phantom Ship,” Out of the Shadows #6 (October 1952).

“Joe Yank: Black Market Mary,” Joe Yank #5 (1952).

“The Hands of Don José,” Adventures into Darkness #9 (April 1953).

“The Corpse That Lived,” Out of the Shadows #10 (October 1953).

“Grip on Life,” The Unseen #12 (November 1953).

“Images of Sand,” Out of the Shadows #12 (March 1954), as reprinted/recoloured in Seduction of the Innocent #4.

“The Reaper,” Creepy #114 (January 1980) – story by Archie Goodwin.

Bonus link: Twenty Questions with Alex Toth.

Gratuitous link: “Barney Rooster” with fabulously fluid funny-animal art by the fabulous Frank Frazetta.

Gallery 1, Gallery 2, Gallery 3, Gallery 4, Gallery 5, Gallery 6, Gallery 7, Gallery 8, Gallery 9, Gallery 10, Gallery 11, Gallery 12, Gallery 13 and Gallery 14.