Johnny Comet, White Indian And Neal Adams

Shortly before Frank Frazetta's untimely death Vanguard Productions secured the rights to reproduce Frank's earlier comic strip and comic book work into a series of books.  Frank's long friendship with, and admiration for, Vanguard's publisher J. David Spurlock helped cement the deal.

Spurlock is a longtime fan of Frank's work and like so many others in fandom appreciates his enormous contribution to comic strips, comic books, book cover illustrations and art in general.

Many fans were inspired by Frank's work and went on to become illustrators and painters.  Such notables as Jim Steranko, Neal Adams and dozens of other working professionals owe a great debt of gratitude to Frank Frazetta's unique vision.

I first encountered Frank Frazetta's work when I picked up a copy of Ace Book's Conan series of trade paperbacks.  I had never seen such lush and dynamic cover art in my entire life.  The figures practically leaped off the cover. Everything about the covers excited me: the colors, the composition and the figures fascinated me and made me hungry for more of Frazetta's work.
From that point on I sought out his work and like so many others bought all of his Art Of Frank Frazetta oversize paperbacks.  It wasn't until later that I discovered that Frank had started out drawing funny animal comics, adventure comic book stories and several comic strips.

Vanguard Productions just recently released the fist two in a series of books that collect the early work of Frazetta.  First up is the adventure comic strip Johnny Comet that showcases some of Frank's best early work. Even in his early twenties Frazetta's trademark style of drawing was asserting itself.  Daily and Sunday strips featured lots of action, memorable characters, beautiful women, vile villains, stoic heroes and plenty of cliffhangers. 

The art is lovingly reproduced with special attention to the color Sunday strips.  Although Frazetta was on the strip only a year it would be this early work that would garner the attention of many top professionals in the industry.

The second volume in the Frank Frazetta series is the complete set of White Indian stories Frank drew as a backup strip in the Durango Kid comic book along with other war and historically based tales. 

What makes White Indian so memorable was Frank's ability to draw in a less cluttered and detailed style seen in his comic strips.  Comic books at that time were cranked out on very tight deadlines.  It is to Frank's credit that he was able to streamline his art without loosing any of its dynamic impact.

Frank's White Indian work, along with his other back up stories, allowed him to really showcase his talent at drawing a wide variety of subjects.  Was there anything he could not draw?
Both Frank Frazetta collections are printed on high-gloss, heavy paper stock that showcases his art at its best.  The ink quality and color reproduction are first rate. 

With their high gloss covers and short fold in front and back third panels (that can serve as ready-made book markers) the square bound books allow readers to look over each page without the worry of pages detaching.  Heavy page gluing (tipping) sees to that. 

Another of my all-time favorite artists is Neal Adams.  The Art Of Neal Adams, written and compiled by Adams himself, contains examples of Adams' early comic strip (Ben Casey) and comic book work, such as his breakout work for Warren, DC and Marvel Comics and his work for independent comic book titles, movie posters,(Billy Jack) book covers (Tarzan), Magazine covers (Marvel) commercial and advertising illustration (theme parks) and much more.

I once had the opportunity to talk to Mr. Adams and like his art he is bigger than life.  His energy level is astounding and his opinions never hidden.  It's no wonder he became a major player in obtaining creator rights for comic book artists and creators.

As a child of the 1960s I loved his work for both DC and Marvel Comics.  His groundbreaking visuals for Batman, Brave and Bold, Green Lantern, Spectre, Deadman, the X-Men, the Avengers, Thor and various other comic books inspired me as young man to pursue art and design.

The Art Of Neal Adams is a worthy work that expertly details the long and prolific career of Neal Adams.  More than just a cartoonist and comic book artist Neal Adams is a commercial artist, designer, illustrator and force to be reckoned with.  Kudos to Vanguard Productions for releasing such an impressive collection.