Did You Know a Black Artist Penciled the FIRST Graphic Novel from a Comics Publisher?

Graphic Novels are the standard format for innovative storytelling today...

The complete presentation of the first graphic novel!

But "back in the day", as they say, it was an untried concept!
Written by Arnold Drake and Leslie Waller (as "Drake Waller"), illustrated by penciler Matt Baker and and inker Ray Osrin, the digest-sized 1950 one-shot from St John Publications is a pulpish "film noir" tale at its' coolest!

Dark Horse Comics (which published a high-quality reprint available below) explained it thusly...

In 1950, writers Arnold Drake and Leslie Waller, both attending college on the G.I. Bill, envisioned a sophisticated, novel-length comic tailored to their peers. Collaborating with comics art master Matt Baker, known for singularly defining the genre of "good girl art" on titles such as Phantom Lady, they crafted a film-noir inspired masterwork of romance, intrigue, and moral relativity. When cynical newspaperman Hal Weber reunites with old flame Rust Masson, he finds the beguiling widow of a mining magnate willing to do anything to undermine the local political machine--her only opponent for total control of Copper City!

Though not specifically-mentioned, penciler Matt Baker was one of the few Black artists of both comic books' Golden and Silver Ages!
It Rhymes with Lust was the basis of our 2017 Summer Blogathon spanning several RetroBlogs!
Start at True Love Comics Tales and experience not only comics history, but Black history as well!

Note: The thanks of a grateful nation go to Kracalactaka, who found the scans of the St John first edition in the wilds of the internet, cleaned them up, and made them available!

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It Rhymes with Lust

Deluxe Reprint Edition

Friday Fun CALVIN: Marvel's First African-American Humor Character!

The Black Panther was not the first Black Marvel character to get a cover-featured series!

He wasn't even the second!

He was the third!

First was Luke Cage, who received his own title...

...and was the star of his own Netflix series!

Note: Though the series has ended, two of the stars have gone on to headline new CBS series!

Simone Missick (Misty Knight) on All Rise and Mike Colter (Luke Cage) on Evil!
Plus Rosario Dawson (Claire Temple/Night Nurse) is appearing on The Mandalorian!

The second character was...

WHO???

Several months before Prince T'Challa took over a reprint book, Jungle Action, and began a memorable series that served as part of the plot of the billion-dollar blockbuster movie...

...this character took over another reprint book and began a series that nobody remembers!

[You can read every never-reprinted tale featuring Calvin and his buddies HERE!]

What makes the strip even more fascinating, beyond the vaudeville-level humor, is the identity of the writer-artist behind it!

"Kevin Banks" was not a pseudonym for an already-established creative, but an editorial staffer at Marvel in the early 1970s who received his "big break" with this strip!
Trivia: Kevin was the first (and so far, only) Marvel creator to have a head shot illustration on an on-going series!

Even the ever-amazing comics researcher Nick Caputo could find little about the mysterious Mr Banks, as seen HERE.
What did Banks did after working at Marvel?
Did he work in advertising?
Become an art instructor?
Switch careers and become an accountant or fireman?
We may never know the answer...

Baker Reading Room OUT OF THIS WORLD "Spymaster"

With a cover by Dick Giordano...

...and interiors by Matt Baker, this never-reprinted tale from 1959 has a moral that'll be lost on most of the readers of 2021!

If retold in the cynical, dog-eat-dog world of 2021, the "big chain" drugstore would be welcomed with open arms since its' prices would be lower, the little drugstore would be driven out of business, and the Earth would fall under alien control...

An ironic lesson in lost morality originally-published in Charlton's Out of This World #14 (1959) by writer Joe Gill, penciler Matt Baker and inker Vince Colletta.
We're giving artist Matt Baker his own "Reading Room" during Black History Month to showcase his amazing illustrating versatility!

Horror, war, romance, sci-fi, crime...there was nothing he couldn't draw!
One of the few Black artists of the Golden and Silver Ages, Matt drew only one Black character in his own strip...Voodah, whom he co-created.
you can read his premiere adventure HERE!

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Matt Baker

Art of Glamour

Monday Madness AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY in A Tale Twice-Told!

What do this comic...

...and this comic...

...have in common...besides both being published as a joint project by Marvel Comics and the American Cancer Society?

Here's the inside covers from both books...

1982

1998

Figure it out?

Here's one more comparison...the back covers from both books...

1982

1998

Isn't it odd Luke seems to have forgotten cigar-smoking Nick Fury and Ben (the Thing) Grimm?

The answer is...it's the exact same comic script (including word balloons and captions), just illustrated by two different art teams a decade apart!

(OK, to be fair, the text in the block Cage is lifting is different..but that's the only thing, and it's not story-related!)

You'll see both versions of this tale Tuesday through Friday at our "brother" RetroBlog

Hero Histories!

Retro-Kool Christmas Collectibles!

It's time to reveal the coolest Christmas goodies ever, exclusively for your shopping pleasure! (Don't ya just love soft-sell?)

Ornaments, greeting cards, clothing, mugs, throw blankets, shopping bags, magnets, and many other items with stylish retro graphics that will make great under-the-tree gifts or stocking stuffers!

Santa Claus--the Man Himself!

Retro Kris Kringle designs that will bring back nostalgic memories of your Baby Boomer childhood!

PLUS: 

Santa Claus Conquers the Martians!

The Hardly Abominable SnowMan!

Along with St. Nick, our frosty friend is one of the most recognizable symbols of Winter and the Christmas Season!

The saga of Scrooge!  

A Christmas Carol brought to life with images from...
the very FIRST edition EVER and the 1951 movie starring Alastair Sim!
Bah, Humbug!

Christmas in the Comics!

Designs featuring famous comic characters celebrating Christmas!

Green Lama!

Fast Willie Jackson!

Edison Bell: Boy Inventor!

Two different SuperSnipe designs!

Santa's Elves on Strike!

Western Rider Rusty!

3-D Comic Christmas!

and MORE!

Happy Holiday Shopping from Atomic Kommie Comics™

Trump Reading Room UNCLE TOM'S CABIN Conclusion

Depending on your sensitivity, may be NSFW...

2nd Edition cover from 1954.

We have already seen...

While traveling on a riverboat with his new master, Tom meets a little girl named Eva, who quickly befriends him.
When Eva falls into the river, Tom dives in to save her, and her father, Augustine St. Clare, gratefully agrees to buy Tom from Haley.
Tom travels to the St Clares' home in New Orleans, where he grows increasingly close to Eva, with whom he shares a devout Christianity.
Up North, George and Eliza remain in flight from Loker and his men.
When the slavehunter attempts to capture them, George shoots him.
Eliza convinces George and the Quakers to bring the wounded Loker to the next settlement, where he can be healed.
Meanwhile, in New Orleans, St. Clare discusses slavery with his cousin Ophelia, who opposes slavery as an institution but harbors deep prejudices against blacks.
St. Clare, by contrast, feels no hostility against blacks but tolerates slavery because he feels powerless to change it.
To help Ophelia overcome her bigotry, he buys Topsy, a young black girl who was abused by her past master and arranges for Ophelia to begin educating her.
Eva grows very ill. She slowly weakens, then dies, with a vision of heaven before her.
Her death has a profound effect on everyone who knew her: Ophelia resolves to love the slaves, Topsy learns to trust and feel attached to others, and St. Clare decides to set Tom free.
However, before he can act on his decision, St. Clare is stabbed to death while trying to settle a brawl. As he dies, he at last finds God and goes to be reunited with his mother in heaven.
St. Clare’s cruel wife, Marie, decides to go against his wishes and, instead of freeing the slaves, sends them to a slave market to be sold...

Adaptation script by Evelyn Goodman (one of Classic Comics/Classics Illustrated's mainstays), art is by Rolland H Livingstone, who did only two other Classic issues; Rip Van Winkle and Headless Horseman.

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Uncle Tom's Cabin

Trump Reading Room UNCLE TOM'S CABIN Part 2

Depending on your sensitivity, may be NSFW...

First edition cover. Art by Rolland Livingstone.

We have already seen..
Running up large debts, Kentucky farmer Arthur Shelby faces the prospect of losing everything.

He raises money by selling two of his slaves, Uncle Tom (a middle-aged man with wife and children), and Harry (young son of maid Eliza), to Mr. Haley, a coarse slave trader.

When Shelby tells his wife about his agreement with Haley, she is appalled because she has promised Eliza that Shelby would not sell her son.

Eliza overhears the conversation and, after warning Uncle Tom, takes Harry and flees to the North, hoping to find freedom with her husband, George, in Canada.

Haley pursues her, but two other Shelby slaves alert Eliza to the danger.

She miraculously evades capture by crossing the half-frozen Ohio River, the boundary separating Kentucky from the North.

Haley hires a slave hunter named Loker to capture Eliza and Harry, who make their way to a Quaker settlement.

They are joined at the settlement by George, who reunites joyously with his family for the trip to Canada.

Meanwhile, Uncle Tom sadly leaves his family and travels with Haley by Mississippi riverboat to a slave market.

On the boat, Tom meets a little girl named Eva, who befriends him. 

Saturday: As if things couldn't get worse for Uncle Tom...
Enter Simon Legree!

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Uncle Tom's Cabin