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Post by Mister Spaceman on Feb 15, 2019 16:01:51 GMT -5
I think I found the first mention of a creator's name on the cover of a comic book:  Percy Crosby's strip "Skippy" was collected in comic book form in February 1934. It was the fourth comic book ever published. Great find, Rob Allen! |
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Post by tarkintino on Feb 15, 2019 16:12:32 GMT -5
It's kind of cool that Kirby was used as a selling point on his return to Marvel.  …although that cover is as much about the Romita inks/touchups (on the heroes, not the Madbombed mob) as it was about Kirby. Yes, he (and Giacoia) provided the interiors, but the blurb would have led some to think the cover was all Kirby, when clearly--even if you missed the signatures--it was not. |
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Post by Farrar on Feb 15, 2019 16:15:42 GMT -5
Wally Wood is heavily touted on the cover of Daredevil #5 (1964). The blurb lauds his brilliant creative craftsmanship and calls him a "famous illustrator." Marvel really wanted to attract the Wood followers; here's another example, Avengers #20, from a bit later (1965). This one's extolling his inks.   |
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Post by Icctrombone on Feb 15, 2019 16:40:40 GMT -5
But they were right about Avengers # 20, it was beautiful.
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Post by tarkintino on Feb 15, 2019 17:14:35 GMT -5
Let's not forget the MAD novels, which routinely had creator cover credits (artists, editors and writers) from the start, and certainly was a standard practice going forward in these random samples--  |
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Post by beccabear67 on Feb 15, 2019 17:39:40 GMT -5
The old Lev Gleason comics (Crime Does Not Pay, Daredevil) had the credits on the cover, and 'Biro' signed unusually large usually too.  |
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Post by Farrar on Feb 15, 2019 18:26:35 GMT -5
Okay, so maybe not a comic book per se as much as a collection of comic strips; but I'm sure many of here have heard of Richard Outcault, the creator of the Yellow Kid comic strip. Another comic strip creation of Outcault's was Buster Brown. BB became very popular and there were collections of the comic strips, some were promotional but there were also items for sale on the stands. Some of the collections seem to have been promotions or giveaways, but there were also hardcover collections published. From what I understand Outcault managed to secure some sort of early type of creator's rights and his name was included on covers. Here's an example of a BB collection of comic strips from 1907, with Outcault's name prominently featured on the cover.  |
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Post by Mister Spaceman on Feb 15, 2019 18:31:21 GMT -5
Okay, so maybe not a comic book per se as much as a collection of comic strips; but I'm sure many of here have heard of Richard Outcault, the creator of the Yellow Kid comic strip. Another comic strip creation of Outcault's was Buster Brown. BB became very popular and there were collections of the comic strips, some were promotional but there were also items for sale on the stands. Some of the collections seem to have been promotions or giveaways, but there were also hardcover collections published. From what I understand Outcault managed to secure some sort of early type of creator's rights and his name was included on covers. Here's an example of a BB collection of comic strips from 1907, with Outcault's name prominently featured on the cover. As with Percy Crosby, another reminder that comic strip artists have historically been held in higher esteem than comic book artists. |
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Post by MDG on Feb 16, 2019 13:14:41 GMT -5
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Post by EdoBosnar on Feb 16, 2019 14:24:24 GMT -5
But Disney really didn't contribute anything to this besides his name on the cover, did he? As far as I know, he never drew or scripted any comics. |
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Post by Mister Spaceman on Feb 16, 2019 15:03:12 GMT -5
I wouldn't consider Disney's name here in terms of what I'm asking about; in fact, it's practically the opposite. Disney-the-person and Disney-the-corporation were conflated by this point (as ably indicated by the "personal" touch of "Uncle Walt's" signature serving effectively as corporate logo). Further, the Disney studios were not creator-friendly spaces (nor was the company worker-friendly in general). So a creative genius like Carl Barks labored for years in anonymity, only known by fans as "the good duck artist." Addendum: though certainly Disney's name on the front of the comic purposefully promoted the myth of Walt-as-auteur, something kids would be apt to believe. So, in that respect, his name is being used here per the terms I'm asking about. It's just that it's a lie (paging Bob Kane!). |
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Post by electricmastro on Jan 22, 2020 14:59:25 GMT -5
Jon Mayes, who signed his name on the July, 1934 cover of Famous Funnies #1.  |
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Post by Mister Spaceman on Jan 22, 2020 15:29:53 GMT -5
Jon Mayes, who signed his name on the July, 1934 cover of Famous Funnies #1. While a reader might recognize Mayes' signature, that's still not an explicit marketing tool used by the publisher to sell the book. It's tantamount to a reader recognizing the artist's style. |
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Post by MDG on Jan 22, 2020 15:54:33 GMT -5
Let's not forget the MAD novels, which routinely had creator cover credits (artists, editors and writers) from the start, and certainly was a standard practice going forward in these random samples--  |
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Post by electricmastro on Jan 22, 2020 16:36:02 GMT -5
Jon Mayes, who signed his name on the July, 1934 cover of Famous Funnies #1. While a reader might recognize Mayes' signature, that's still not an explicit marketing tool used by the publisher to sell the book. It's tantamount to a reader recognizing the artist's style. Yeah, wasn’t sure if Mayes was someone who was relatively more well-known at the time and then faded into obscurity, but I felt it was worth bringing up anyway. |
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