Sunday, February 04, 2007

Kirby/Bell



Back in '67 or so I was a dedicated Joe Sinnott fan as Kirby inkers go. George Bell's work looked too rough to me. Looking at it now I think his inking is perfect for Jack. Raw and faithful yet he had a definite style. There is a delicate balance of the beautiful and the grotesque. Hey, that's a good name for a sketchbook.

6 comments:

Rich Dannys said...

Someone told me that inker George Roussos and George Bell, are one-and-the-same artist.. Do you know if that's true?

I like his stuff, okay. But I do find it a bit chunky.. I think I still prefer the slicker Sinnott inks on Kirby, over this..

But as you pointed out to me: "Never say never ever again tomorrow I die!" haha

Kent B said...

In the early '60s some artists from DC were moonlighting for Stan Lee at Marvel and they used fake names, so they wouldn't get in trouble.

George Bell was George Roussos
Frank Ray was Frank Giacoa
Adam Austin was Gene Colan

There might be some others.

Jimbo said...

To Rich: I am not sure if they are the same, could be. Bell was in the army so Stan Lee credited him as Private Bell. your eyes only forever. To Kent: And Stan Lee's real name is Lieber like his brother Larry who wrote a lot of the westerns. (You already know that I assume). I never knew that was why they used fake names. Jack's name is Kurtzberg I believe.

Kent B said...

Hey, Jim

There's a book called "Tales to Astonish" that came out a few years ago, it's the history of Marvel Comics - with a lot of cool behind-the-scenes stories.

DC was trying to figure out why Marvel was starting to out-sell them in the mid-60's - they'd have executive meetings to try to analyze the "Marvel Formula" - kind of like TV executives trying to come up with the formula for the "ingredients" that will make a popular cartoon. No one figured out that it had something to do with Stan & Jack being talented guys who were working without executive oversight. (Stan ran Marvel comics out of a tiny office with a staff of 2 people - DC had a big organization with upper & middle management, and a big production staff)

Anonymous said...

ah, Dum Dum Dugan. my favorite Howling Commando ever!

Jimbo said...

To Kent: I haven't seen that book but will keep an eye out. Did go to that show of comic art at the Museum downtown a couple of years ago? It was also at the Hammer in Beverly Hills. They had Kirby, Feininger, Segar, and many other Titans of comic art on display I bought a book about Marvel that might be the one you mentioned. I'll have to dig it out - Ive forgotten the title. Thanks man.