ESOTERIC COMIC ARTIST CARTOONS

In the 1940's and 1950's low page rates and late (or no) payments by unscrupulous publishers forced comic book artists to produce more work outside the industry to make ends meet. Some put their cartooning skills to work and submitted gags to the digest-sized humor magazines that were very popular at the time. Comic strip artists also turned to these "throw-aways" as a quick means to supplement their incomes.

One such outfit was Humorama which accounted for nearly two dozen titles for sale at newsstands drugstores, cigar shops and other outlets. Formed by Martin Goodman in 1938, the line was headed by Goodman's brother Abe. These books used the cheapest newsprint available and were inexpensive to print, providing an additional cash stream that led to the fountain of the Goodman publishing empire.

Virtually all of these types of magazines were aimed at men and contained ample amounts of bawdy humor, risque cartoon gags and saucy pinups that would be obviously considered sexist and misogynistic these days.

What makes the line of Humorama 'zines so remarkable is the number of excellent cartoonists that were found within their pages, many of which are highly regarded today.

The example shown here is just a sample of the esoteric treasures that can be discovered. It also provides an insight of a by-gone era that we will not likely see again.

Lower left cartoon inset by Bill Ward.

Cartoon by renowned good girl artist Bill Wenzel.

Master cartoonist Dan DeCarlo is best known for designing the Archie comics characters that we recognize today. He also co-created SABRINA, THE TEENAGE WITCH, CHERYL BLOSSOM and JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS (the character of Josie was inspired by his wife). His first comic book gig was with Timely/Atlas/Marvel where he worked under Stan Lee. DeCarlo made side money submitting cartoons such as the ones you see below to Martin Goodman's humor magazines for extra cash. True to form, Stan Lee got his cut out off the top! It's not hard to see why DeCarlo is also noted as a premier good girl artist.

Another surprise was seeing this by non other than Don Perlin. Perlin worked for a number of comic book publishers including Fox, Hillman, Stanley Morse and Charlton. He worked full-time for Marvel for nearly 15 years, drawing strips for titles such as DR. STRANGE and WEREWOLF BY NIGHT.

Based on the signature, I suspect this is by the same Jim Mooney who drew comics for DC and Marvel.

Lovers of good girl art will be familiar with Bill Ward whose unforgettable babes were seen in countless humor and men's magazines for years. He started his comic art career at the Jack Binder (brother of Earl and Otto) "comic-packaging" studio and later drew covers and stories at Quality for TORCHY and BLACKHAWK after regular artist Reed Crandall was drafted. Ward drew a sexy secret agent in the series, "The Adventures of Pussycat", and even worked on a few underground comics. Monster fans have seen his work in Globe Communications' CRACKED monster magazines, signing his name "McCartney" in these.

And perhaps the most esoteric (and strangest) of all is this from artist Joseph Krucher. Astute Monster Kids may recognize his unique style depicted here.

Born January 9, 1906, Joseph Howard Krucher studied at the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design in New York and began his career writing and illustrating for the pulps in the 1940's, including WEIRD TALES and fanzines (see below). Some of his stories were adapted into radio shows of the time. He is said to have become interested in fantasy after he saw DRACULA and FRANKENSTEIN.

In later years, Krucher's illustrations appeared in Charlton's line of monster magazines where he was billed as "The Bela Lugosi of the Brush". A portfolio of his prints was also available for sale.

Examples of Krucher's work for WEIRD TALES:

Let's not forget the cheesecake!

See more of Bill Wards' art HERE.

More to come!