Ragged Claws Network

The W. C. Fields Book (Brooklyn: Wonderful Publishing Company, 1973) is identified in the indicia as a “special issue of Witzend (No. 9).” Witzend was an underground comics magazine launched in 1966 by E.C. legend Wallace Wood and published and edited by him until 1968, when he sold the magazine, for a buck, to Bill Pearson/Wonderful Publishing Company. Here’s the cover with Jones’s painting of W. C. Fields, which, by the way, is reprinted at a small size but sans text and in full colour on page 64 of Jones’s first solo art book, Yesterday’s Lily (Dragon’s Dream, 1980):

And here — SURPRISE! — is an extremely obscure illustration by Jeffrey Jones, published in black-and-white in National Lampoon, vol. 1, no. 23 (February 1972), along with an article entitled “The Thoughts of Chairman Fu-Manchu”; the painting has never, to my knowledge, been reprinted:

The washy, rub-out style of the “Fu-Manchu” painting, which can be accomplished most easily with oil paints but is also possible in watercolour/gouache, was state-of-the-art in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Three of the best known practitioners were Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame inductees Bernie Fuchs, Burton Silverman, and David Levine, but many others tried their hands at it, too — including Jones, apparently. To learn how to do it in watercolour, all you need is a copy of Silverman’s Breaking the Rules of Watercolor, a selection of watercolour paints and brushes, a few rolls of good-quality paper towels, a large tube of white gouache, a stack of the heaviest weight Strathmore plate bristol you can find, AND THE PATIENCE OF JOB!

BONUS CONTENT:

Here’s an album cover, not by Jeffrey Jones, with a portrait of W. C. Fields that appears likely to have been based on the same photo reference of Fields as Jones used for his painting; the accoutrements are slightly different in the two portraits, but the face, I think, is a dead giveaway:

I suppose it’s also possible that one portrait was based on the other (though it seems to me unlikely). Either way, however, Jones’s W. C. Fields genuinely looks like the kind of man who keeps a supply of stimulant handy in case he sees a snake, which he also keeps handy, while the other Fields looks like he has been living for days on nothing but food and water. Can you guess which one I like best? Wrong again. I prefer Jones’s version.

Both Vanguard Productions and Dark Horse have announced a reprint of White Indian. One will almost certainly see the light of day; the other may not.

From Dark Horse’s October solicitations:

THE CLASSIC COMICS ARCHIVES VOLUME 1: WHITE INDIAN
Frank Frazetta (A)
On sale Dec 1
FC, 200 pages
$49.99
HC, 7″ x 10″

The longest comic-book run of Frank Frazetta’s career! First appearing as a backup feature in Durango Kid in 1949, Dan Brand—known as the “White Indian”—is a colonial-era city boy whose life is marred by tragedy. When the death of his fiancée sends Brand through the wilderness on a trek to kill her murderer, he also begins a journey that will transform him into a hardened pioneer survivalist. The powerful sequential work of Frank Frazetta is in the spotlight in this collection, with all interior pages scanned from original comic-book issues and digitally cleaned.

• This collection reprints all of Frank Frazetta’s White Indian work in an affordable hardcover format!

Here’s a tiny JPEG of the Vanguard cover:

Notice how Frazetta’s name is absent from the Dark Horse cover and prominently displayed at the top of the Vanguard cover: I doubt that was simply an oversight on Dark Horse’s part… Frazetta’s name is also absent from the cover of the Dark Horse Thun’da reprint, which, btw, is available in stores now.

Anyway, here’s the news about the Vanguard Productions reprint, as reported at ICv2:

Vanguard to Release Frazetta’s ‘White Indian’
Complete Collection
Published: 07/12/2010, Last Updated: 07/13/2010 05:30am

Frazetta Management and Vanguard Productions announced that Vanguard will be releasing all of the Dan Brand/White Indian material, originally published in the 1950’s by Magazine Enterprises, as part of its new Vanguard Frazetta Classics line. White Indian represents Frazetta’s longest artistic run on a single comic feature.

The Complete White Indian Collection is Volume 2 of the Frazetta Classics line. Volume 1 will be The Complete Johnny Comet which will feature dailies reproduced from Frazetta’s own personal proofs and Sunday pages collected in color for the first time as well as a new essay by William Stout (see “Vanguard Plans Adams, Frazetta Books”). Vanguard Publisher J. David Spurlock said, “Both volumes are well into production now with more Vanguard volumes to come.”

Seems straightforward enough — except that, according to Rich Johnston at Bleeding Cool, Vanguard publisher David Spurlock has made a statement, on the record, that appears to assert Vanguard’s exclusive right to the Frazetta material:

Vanguard [writes Spurlock] will release WHITE INDIAN Vol 1 by Frazetta, and Dark Horse will do WHITE INDIAN ARCHIVES Vol 2 of all all the other White Indian material.

[More details about Spurlock's statement here from Chris Marshall, who, it turns out, is the intrepid blogger who "got it from the horse's mouth."]

Now, as far as I am aware, Dark Horse has not yet confirmed (or denied) the arrangement, though, of course, if Frazetta’s White Indian material has dropped into the public domain, it won’t matter what sort of exclusive contract Vanguard signed with Frazetta before he died, Dark Horse will be free do as they please. Truth be told, however, I really don’t know what’s going on between Vanguard and Dark Horse.

(Why Dark Horse would want to publish a Frazetta-less hardcover sequel to another publisher’s Frazetta reprint is beyond me!)

What I do know for sure, however, is that Frazetta fans will soon have at least one, and possibly two, hardcover reprints of White Indian to add to their collections within a few months. So, hooray for that!

UPDATE (added 11 August 2010):

Wherein I answer the question, “Where have I seen those covers before?”

The Dark Horse White Indian cover was the cover of White Indian #11, published in 1953:

The Vanguard was the cover of the White Indian reprint published by Pure Imagination in 1981. Here’s a scan of the copy that usually sits on a shelf, along with a lot of other books, mostly by Corben, about a metre and a half from my keyboard:

Looks like Vanguard had the drawing recoloured for the new reprint. Big mistake, IMHO. (Anyone know why they changed the redcoat into a bluecoat?)

ANOTHER UPDATE:

You’ll have to read the discussion in the comments section of this post to find out why the following is important. The full page is page one of White Indian #11:

What fun! Now I get to file this post under “Swipe, Homage, or Happenstance?“!

The cover of The Three Faces of Time, which I bought yesterday at a used book store in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, is uncredited, and no signature is visible, but it sure looks like the work of Jeffrey Jones, circa 1968-69, to me.

ABOVE: Jack Williamson, Seetee Shock (New York: Lancer, 1968), with cover by Jeffrey Jones.

ABOVE: Frank Belknap Long, The Three Faces of Time (New York: Tower, 1969), with cover by Jeffrey Jones.

And yes, Jones fans, I know my inclusion of the above comparison under the category of “Swipe, Homage, or Happenstance?” is a bit cheeky. But, hey, I don’t mean nothin’ by it. I’m just saying it’s the same pose, that’s all.

———-

UPDATE (24 July 2010):

This just in: reader Patrick Hill points out in the comments section of this post that Jones informed him ten years ago that he (Jones) swiped the pose of the main figure in Seetee Shock and The Three Faces of Time from “H₂O World,” with story by Larry Ivie and art by Al Williamson and Roy Krenkel. Here’s the ocular proof:

ABOVE: Al Williamson and Roy Krenkel (artists), first page complete, "H₂O World," Creepy #1 (1964), page 10.

ABOVE: Al Williamson and Roy Krenkel (artists), first page detail, "H₂O World," Creepy #1 (1964), page 10.

If nothing else, the above news should make Maroto fans smile.

ABOVE: Howard Pyle, An Attack on a Galleon (c. 1905).

ABOVE: Reed Crandall, cover, Piracy #3 (February-March 1955).

Piracy, indeed…

—–

See also: Swipe, Homage, or Happenstance? Pyle, Wyeth, Frazetta

Please keep in mind as you peruse this post: swipe is not the only option in the category, “Swipe, Homage, or Happenstance?” And there are other possibilities as well — visual quotation, for instance; also, parody — but if I listed them all, the category title would be far less catchy. IMHO, of course.

Fact is, I’m not sure which of the above images was published first. Lioness Watching Cabin is included in Frank Frazetta: Book Three (New York: Bantam Books, 1979), but no date is given. Ditko’s story “The Teddy Bear,” however, was published in Amazing Adventures, vol. 1, no. 3, in August 1961.

UPDATE:

With the help of a reader, Clayton, I now have a rough date for “Lioness Watching Cabin,” which, it turns out, is one of the few completed illustrations from a re-do of a Wally Wood illustrated story, “Came the Dawn,” written by Al Feldstein, that Frazetta worked on, but didn’t finish, for the unpublished Shock Illustrated #4, which, had it been published, would have appeared in 1956. Frazetta’s artwork was featured early last year on Mr. Door Tree’s Golden Age Comic Book Stories blog, which I regularly visit and highly recommend to anyone who might be reading this message. Here’s the link to Mr. Door Tree’s post that includes Wally Wood’s original illumination of Feldstein’s script along with Frazetta’s abandoned re-vision.

All of which means we can now say with some certainty that Frazetta’s “Lioness Watching Cabin” illustration was produced before the mountain lion watching tent comic panel by Ditko.

I’m not a big fan of Norman Rockwell, but as I was browsing through an old romance comic, what to my wondering eyes should appear but more fodder for an irregular feature here at RCN entitled “Swipe, Homage, or Happenstance?”

The story, “Powerhouse of Deceit!,” from Dream of Love #9, is uncredited, but GCD identifies the penciller and inker as Myron Fass. The comic was published in 1958, but the story, apparently, is a reprint from Great Lover Romances #3, Toby Press, 1951 series.

(Hey, trivia fans! Do you know who was art director and comics editor at Toby Press in 1951? Here’s a hint: I mentioned it in a previous post. That’s right: it was none other than the creator of the comic strips “Miss Peach” and “Momma,” Mell Lazarus, though I think he still spelled his first name “Mel” at that time.)

Norman Rockwell’s famous illustration, Strictly a Sharpshooter, is from 1941.

This story from Epic Illustrated #27 (December 1984) not only is “dedicated to the memory of Roy G. Krenkel” but also includes a lovely tribute to Jeffrey Jones, whose girl sculpture — see also below — according to comic-book creator, film-maker, and friend of Al Williams, Kevin VanHook, typically sat behind Williams at his drawing board around the time the story was created. Also, in the comments section of this post, regular participant on this site, Chris A, astutely points out that Williamson based the character of Kirth on Stewart Granger (1913 – 1993), a British actor with whose work I myself am almost entirely unfamiliar. Williamson has made Kirth’s nose somwhat shorter and more rounded than Granger’s, but Granger is definitely Williamson’s model here. Enjoy!

Continuing my little tribute to Al Williamson here at RCN, here is a story from the farewell issue (#34 [February 1986]) of Epic Illustrated, with story by Archie Goodwin and art by Al Williamson. The story includes both an homage to Frederic Leighton’s Perseus and Andromeda (1891) and a swipe from an, at the time “Out of Phase” was published, 35-year-old publicity photo of Sophia Loren (see comments for additional details — thanks, Chris A!), both of which I’ve included, dear reader, just because I think you might enjoy seeing them:

BONUS LINKS:

Golden Age Comic Book Stories: Al Williamson: March 21, 1931 ~ June 12, 2010, posted by Mr. Door Tree — includes the story “Food for Thought” from Incredible Science Fiction #32 (Nov.-Dec. 1955), with suitably incredible art by Al Williamson and Roy Krenkel

Mr. Media: Mark Schultz on Al Williamson’s Flash Gordon: A Lifelong Vision of the Heroic, interview by Bob Andelman

Here’s one that’s rather funny — mainly due to the timing! In Eerie #126 (November 1981), on page 19, in the bottom right-hand corner, you’ll find an advertisement for the 1982 Frazetta Calendar. And, IN THE VERY SAME ISSUE, you’ll find a 12-page story called “Korsar,” with art by Esteban Maroto, which runs from page 35 to page 46. Now, take a look at page 9, panel 3 of the Maroto-illustrated story (Eerie page 43), paying special attention to the composition, the landscape, and the group of figures led by the fellow carrying the woman on his shoulder, on the left-hand side of the panel.

For your convenience, I’ve included both pages below, along with a slightly larger, colour version of the cover of the 1982 Frazetta Calendar:

See it?

The first page here is by Esteban Maroto. It is from a story called “Idi and Me,” written by Bill DuBay, that first appeared in issue #4 of the Warren magazine, 1984, way back in 1978. And though the script is junk, it’s an attractive page. Only problem is, all of the female figures are very clearly swiped from Jeffrey Jones’s celebrated comic strip, Idyl, which ran in National Lampoon from 1972 to 1975. See below for the ocular proof:

For those who haven’t read 1984 #4, which would be almost everyone, the woman in the DuBay-penned “Idi and Me” is the brutal dictator, Idi Amin, whose chromosomes have been jumbled, just for laughs, by the American “Department of Dirty Tricks” (DDT), thereby turning “the former gorilla-faced leader of Uganda into this heavenly image of white Anglo-Saxon femininity,” Idi, who nonetheless retains a male psychology and sex drive and is thus seeking an operation to change back into a man. (And the final line/moral of the story? “I guess no matter what form you’re in… the world just isn’t ready for Idi Amin!”) All of which seems very odd, given Jeffrey Catherine Jones’s own difficult journey; however, the story did appear way back in 1978, as I noted above, which is about 20 years, more or less, before Jones decided to take definite steps become a woman. So what’s going on here? Seems most likely to me that it’s just a coincidence — though if it isn’t, if DuBay is taking a shot at Jones’s sexuality based on industry rumours, private confidences, or whatever, it’s an incredibly crude commentary! I mean, why would DuBay have done it, and why on earth would Maroto have participated? It doesn’t make sense to me, though, of course, even if the sex-change theme is a coincidence, it doesn’t mean that the story of Idi wasn’t intended, in part, as a parody of Jones’s Idyl. That would certainly explain the blatant swipes, except that Maroto has swiped from Jones (and others) before. So maybe the simple answer is that Jones’s work on Idyl was so skillful, so sensitive, so gorgeous, and — perhaps it seemed to Maroto — so obscure, that it was ripe for the swiping… or not… because the fact is, I’m not sure what to think…

Anyone have any ideas?

Pictures of hands holding Valentine’s Day hearts are a dime a dozen; pictures of hands holding actual hearts are far more dear.

I almost included the cover to Green Day’s American Idiot (2004) in this post, but I have since decided it isn’t quite the same idea.

As I was a-wanderin’ the Web for pleasure, I spied an illustration I thought looked familiar…

If it’s an homage, then Smith should be delighted someone recognized the reference, right?

BONUS LINK:

Adrian Smith, Illustrator

Frazetta’s obvious borrowing from Pyle has been pointed out many times in the past; however, I’ve never seen anyone add Wyeth’s painting to the mix (although surely someone has, the line of influence being so clear). Now, of the three galleon paintings, it seems obvious to me that Pyle’s original effort is not only the first but also the best of the three. It’s the best composed; it’s the most expressively painted; it’s the most dramatic. No wonder Wyeth and Frazetta (who seems to me to have borrowed as much from Wyeth’s galleon as from Pyle’s) were enthralled by Pyle’s Attack on a Galleon. It’s a masterpiece. And which of the remaining two galleon paintings is the weakest, Wyeth’s picturesque, chocolate-box cliché or Frazetta’s virtuosic but underdeveloped pastiche? You decide…

Perhaps I need a fourth category, like, oh, I don’t know, maybe… BLATANT RIPOFF!

P.S. If you’re wondering whether Sirota’s novel is worth reading, you might want to check out the capsule review in Forgotten Ages #21 by Morgan Holmes. It’s the third review under the heading “Son of Bad Sword & Sorcery.”

BONUS LINK:

Frazetta Thinks – Dave Winiewicz explores the genesis, through a series of four sketches by Frank Frazetta, of the “death scene” from Frazetta’s Kubla Khan portfolio.