We are continuing with the wonderful stores from Amazing Adventures #4 (Jul-Aug 1951); originally published by Ziff-Davis. "Mutineers of Ganymede!" is beautifully illustrated by a sure-fire combo of classic artists, Dan Barry & Murphy Anderson. This was one of the specific tales that prompted me to run the entire Amazing Adventures series in the Catacombs. Just looking at stuff like this drives home the sad fact that too damn many current artists - even some of the most celebrated - lack basic composition skills. I don't at all mean that newer fanboy artists can't draw, but their "storytelling" talents are built primarily around selling a single page of splash panel-style art - post-production, of course.
Look at this lush story by Barry & Anderson. Every...single...panel is a self-contained gem that effectively moves the reader on to the next one; plus each page has a clear beginning, middle and end. This simple feat is lost on most of todays illustrators and don't even get me started on what passes for writing (yes, I'm talking about guys like you Bendis).
The second feature today is the text filler, "Written on the Rocks." Be here next Saturday for further golden age edification (and thanks for stopping by).
1 comment:
Yes, I concur about your observation on composition. Murphy Anderson et al studied the works of Alex Raymond, Milt Caniff, Roy Crane and others to get their story telling chops.
And yes, a lot of contemporary artists leave the viewer confused about where to look. Maybe you could start an 'Alex Toth School of Composition'!
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