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Post by MWGallaher on Jun 30, 2017 14:40:13 GMT -5
I've really grown to appreciate Oksner's work--it's some of the most gorgeous art in the late silver age at DC (or, really, anywhere at that time). As with Cardy, though, I find a lot of his cover work on the 70s well-drawn but just blah! I agree. His later cover work lacked backgrounds. I believe most of his covers with blank backgrounds were from when Ernie Chan (a.k.a. Ernie Chua) was DC's art director. He was drawing 50% or more of the covers for a while, and almost certainly providing layouts for most of the others, including Oksner's. That Superman #293 cover posted earlier is a good example. It's got the blank background that's the hallmark of Chan's cover designs, and the figures look way more like Chan's than Oksner's. |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jun 30, 2017 15:03:27 GMT -5
Duel. Dagnabbit. Maybe it's a dual...two of us flailing at each other with bricks.
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Post by Prince Hal on Jun 30, 2017 15:18:50 GMT -5
Duel. Dagnabbit. Maybe it's a dual...two of us flailing at each other with bricks. The court well understands, my friend. |
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Post by tarkintino on Jul 2, 2017 8:20:09 GMT -5
One of the artists that I really liked as a kid was Bob Oksner. As an adult I feel he gets overlooked. He had a long career in comics drawing everything from superheroes to humor to TV adaptions to comic strips (I Love Lucy, Dondi, Soozi). He started at Marvel (Timely) in the early 40's but jumped to DC in the late 40's where he spent most of his career.
His comic strip Soozi:
  Sometimes, the most versatile artist is the one who can move from one style to another, instead of the one with one fixed, hard style. Oksner fits the bill here, as he was just at home with traditional romance comic art as he was with DC's Archie rip-off titles (and contrary to some thinking, classic Archie art is not easy to replicate). Oksner was fated to never be one of the breakout, explosive artist, but he could handle nearly any title. He deserved greater recognition for that. |
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Post by MDG on Jul 2, 2017 8:30:28 GMT -5
Actually, Oksner's work on Binky, etc., wasn't really in Archie style:  When DC decided to go full-Archie, they brought in Stan Goldberg:  |
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Post by Cei-U! on Jul 2, 2017 9:20:28 GMT -5
I'm a big Bob Oksner fan, but I don't really have anything to add to what previous posters already said except for two quick notes:
1. Technically, he didn't start out at Marvel/Timely but as a staff artist with Funnies, Inc., his work appearing in that packaging service's other clients' lines in the early '40s as well.
2. He's among my favorite Curt Swan inkers, right up there with Ray Burnley and George Klein.
Cei-U!
I summon the Oksner mystique!
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Post by tarkintino on Jul 2, 2017 15:20:14 GMT -5
Actually, Oksner's work on Binky, etc., wasn't really in Archie style: I think the profiles of his characters' faces were very inspired by the softer, more "cartoony" look of Archie artist such as Dan DeCarlo, though filtered through Oksner's own style. Come to think of it, before Binky, or titles such as Jerry Lewis, did any other DC comic use this style at all? |
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Post by Rob Allen on Jul 3, 2017 13:21:56 GMT -5
I first encountered Oksner in the period when he was Curt Swan's primary inker (he was between Anderson and Blaisdell). It took a few years for me to realize that Oksner wasn't primarily an inker. Always liked his work, but I always wondered why his family stuck with 'Oksner' instead of changing the spelling to 'Oxner'.
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Post by Prince Hal on Jul 3, 2017 15:17:06 GMT -5
Actually, Oksner's work on Binky, etc., wasn't really in Archie style: I think the profiles of his characters' faces were very inspired by the softer, more "cartoony" look of Archie artist such as Dan DeCarlo, though filtered through Oksner's own style. Come to think of it, before Binky, or titles such as Jerry Lewis, did any other DC comic use this style at all?    |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 3, 2017 16:19:06 GMT -5
Prince Hal, Here's Howie is my favorite example of Bob Oksner art ... these books are gems. Binky is another favorite of mine and my Grandfather had a whole stack of them and they were gone when we went to collect them ... my Grandmother burned them. I was so sad when she did this.
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Post by Prince Hal on Jul 3, 2017 16:21:10 GMT -5
Prince Hal , Here's Howie is my favorite example of Bob Oksner art ... these books are gems. Binky is another favorite of mine and my Grandfather had a whole stack of them and they were gone when we went to collect them ... my Grandmother burned them. I was so sad when she did this. Another comic book horror story! >sigh< |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 3, 2017 16:25:49 GMT -5
Prince Hal , Here's Howie is my favorite example of Bob Oksner art ... these books are gems. Binky is another favorite of mine and my Grandfather had a whole stack of them and they were gone when we went to collect them ... my Grandmother burned them. I was so sad when she did this. Another comic book horror story! >sigh< |
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