Unpopular Golden Age Opinions Thread!

9 9

I know I'm gonna get beat up for these top 9 nominations, but

 

Weird Tales of the Future #8 is a pretty silly amateur art cover

 

Weird Mysteries #5 is an even bigger mystery as to why such a cheesy cover is so popular.

 

Mask 1??? Why?? Mask 2 is by far the better, brighter more artistic cover

 

Mister Mystery 12 .. dumb

 

Mister Mystery 11 ..Just as dumb and it doesn't help have the mystery dude in a little circle on every book.

 

Dynamic #8 would actually be the best cover ever if it weren't for the name "DYNAMIC" at the top. It throws the whole book off

 

Black Cat #50 crappy art

 

Horrific #3 Really? Who drew the cover? a 9 year old?

 

And lastly (this will probably get me banned from the forum) Crime Suspenstories 22.. There are tons of cooler EC covers than that book. I dunno, maybe if it showed guts and nerve endings dangling from her bloody stump?? Then I'd probably dig it more

oh! We should start a poll of lamest GA cover books. That'd actually be neat

 

I can agree with a lot but as far as WM5 goes: exposed brains, Baily art and a great color pallet! Inside: a great Wolverton story plus a great letter from the editor defending themselves from the oncoming CCA threat make this book a winner in my eyes!

 

 

Baily may not have been the most accomplished artist of his generation, but between his moody Spectre work, and his over the top covers for Gillmore, he's earned his place in the pantheon.

Personally, I'll take Craig and Davis over Ingels, but all of them did excellent work both on the covers and inside the various horror titles they dominated. TFTC 37 is a cool cover, but rotting animated corpses lurking in graveyards was pretty standard fare for horror books, so it's easy to see why it's overlooked.

 

It would be interesting to see a breakdown by cover theme to see how common rotting corpses were as opposed to vampires, ghosts, skeletons, or werewolves. I gravitate toward the reanimated corpses, which is why I don't really put runs together. The "classic" scary themes don't really do anything for me (except maybe vampire bats, Weird Terror 6 is one that really works). For me, it's hard to beat the corpse action on CoC 23, ToT 16, and Beware 6.

Charles Biro

 

Probably only Kirby/Simon were more prolific...man drafted A LOT of covers!

Feldstein was the greatest good girl comic artist.

 

Don't hear that much, but it's what I think. Renee was great too.

 

You're right. You don't hear that much.

 

It's a claim that's not without merit though.

 

Personally, I'll take Craig and Davis over Ingels, but all of them did excellent work both on the covers and inside the various horror titles they dominated. TFTC 37 is a cool cover, but rotting animated corpses lurking in graveyards was pretty standard fare for horror books, so it's easy to see why it's overlooked.

 

It would be interesting to see a breakdown by cover theme to see how common rotting corpses were as opposed to vampires, ghosts, skeletons, or werewolves. I gravitate toward the reanimated corpses, which is why I don't really put runs together. The "classic" scary themes don't really do anything for me (except maybe vampire bats, Weird Terror 6 is one that really works). For me, it's hard to beat the corpse action on CoC 23, ToT 16, and Beware 6.

 

Without checking I'm going to say skeletons/skulls were far and away the most popular PCH cover motif of the lot. I'm guessing rotting corpses come ahead of vampires, ghosts and werewolves, the last not being that common as I recall.

Charles Biro

 

Probably only Kirby/Simon were more prolific...man drafted A LOT of covers!

 

I love his MLJ and early Gleason covers, then they just got too busy and cluttered with word balloons.

Feldstein was the greatest good girl comic artist.

 

Don't hear that much, but it's what I think. Renee was great too.

 

You're right. You don't hear that much.

 

It's a claim that's not without merit though.

 

 

Good taste down under.

Charles Biro

 

Probably only Kirby/Simon were more prolific...man drafted A LOT of covers!

 

I love his MLJ and early Gleason covers, then they just got too busy and cluttered with word balloons.

I agree with you, and I think most people would. The shock and awe aspect of his work may have waned overtime, but ' overrated' isn't a term I think you'd hear applied to him. Zip 12 and 13 are two of the centerpieces of my collection.

Feldstein was the greatest good girl comic artist.

 

Don't hear that much, but it's what I think. Renee was great too.

 

You're right. You don't hear that much.

 

It's a claim that's not without merit though.

 

 

Good taste down under.

 

I met Feldstein a couple of times. He said he learned to draw women sitting next to Matt Baker at the Iger Shop.

I know I'm gonna get beat up for these top 9 nominations, but

 

Weird Tales of the Future #8 is a pretty silly amateur art cover

 

Weird Mysteries #5 is an even bigger mystery as to why such a cheesy cover is so popular.

 

Mask 1??? Why?? Mask 2 is by far the better, brighter more artistic cover

 

Mister Mystery 12 .. dumb

 

Mister Mystery 11 ..Just as dumb and it doesn't help have the mystery dude in a little circle on every book.

 

Dynamic #8 would actually be the best cover ever if it weren't for the name "DYNAMIC" at the top. It throws the whole book off

 

Black Cat #50 crappy art

 

Horrific #3 Really? Who drew the cover? a 9 year old?

 

And lastly (this will probably get me banned from the forum) Crime Suspenstories 22.. There are tons of cooler EC covers than that book. I dunno, maybe if it showed guts and nerve endings dangling from her bloody stump?? Then I'd probably dig it more

oh! We should start a poll of lamest GA cover books. That'd actually be neat

 

I wouldn't argue with you on most points, but Black Cat 50 is really a great image, and CSS 22 has such a tremendous historical value as well as being over the top. Read "10 Cent Plague" and you'll realize how that cover in particular changed the entire history of comics.

 

Oh you'll get no argument from me that those that viewed this on the stands in the 50's were probably shocked, but the art? Well, that is where we'll have to agree to disagree

 

It's not Frazetta, but it has a solid "comic art" quality to it. Elias has been compared to Caniff, and I can't disagree.

Black Cat Mystery 50 was drawn by Warren Kremer.

 

I may be wrong, but I thought the current belief is that is Lee Elias working from a Kremer layout.

If it's signed Elias then it's Elias based on a Kremer design. I don't see much reason to attribute the unsigned ones to Elias when Kremer was the primary designer and very talented in his own right.

 

GCD saye Elias for both. I see Elias in the finish, Kremer in the eyes.

According to a Heritage Auction description,

 

"Black Cat Mystery #50 (Harvey, 1954) Condition: VG+. Overstreet credits this "classic" cover to Warren Kremer; CGC credits cover to Lee Elias. Bob Powell art."

 

So I guess we'll never really know for sure.

 

Not sure if these are unpopular opinions, but let's air them and find out.

 

Sub-Mariner is a boring character. A guy in swimming trunks who swims. Why should I waste a dime on that?

 

Mr. Justice is a better character than the Spectre. More interesting back story. Much more appropriate(i.e. spooky/creepy) art by the under-appreciated Sam Cooper.

 

Superman in the '40's had a higher percentage of totally forgettable stories than just about any other major character of the time. There were a few gems, but not many.

 

S&K were good, but no better than a couple of dozen other artists of the time that don't get the same respect. Needless to say, the most unsentimental critics of the time(the editors of the publishing lines) disagreed because they either told their own artists to steal the S&K style or, if S&K had left them, to continue in their style.

 

Alex Schomburg sometimes just wasn't trying. I mean I love those MM covers where he was obviously thinking about the canvas(like 16) or where he's having fun(like 19), but what the heck is going on in a number of others(I'm looking at you All-Winners 7 and 10). They both look like he just shoved as much as he could in there without it having to make a bit of sense.

 

On the state of the hobby today, if repairs are done, but they are invisible while the book is sealed in Mylar, I don't see why they are so odious to those who are not going to break them out. How can knowing that their prize has an imperceptible flaw spoil their enjoyment of the book? If, however, you're going to break them out, I can absolutely understand their annoyance when they see an interior repair.

 

Last and not least, I'm a little uneasy when someone comes on the boards and promotes a book he or she has by stating that it has this or that quality that ties it to a key book. Now, if this is for some historical perspective, I'm all in on that. But, it sometimes seems that they are promoting something they have a financial interest in, so they can make more money on their investment. It has the painful feel of a tribute band manager promoting the fact that his lead guitarist came from the same time zone as the original musician. I don't think I've seen a discussion of this, so I'm not sure if this is a popular or unpopular opinion.

Not sure if these are unpopular opinions, but let's air them and find out.

 

Sub-Mariner is a boring character. A guy in swimming trunks who swims. Why should I waste a dime on that?

 

Mr. Justice is a better character than the Spectre. More interesting back story. Much more appropriate(i.e. spooky/creepy) art by the under-appreciated Sam Cooper.

 

Superman in the '40's had a higher percentage of totally forgettable stories than just about any other major character of the time. There were a few gems, but not many.

 

S&K were good, but no better than a couple of dozen other artists of the time that don't get the same respect. Needless to say, the most unsentimental critics of the time(the editors of the publishing lines) disagreed because they either told their own artists to steal the S&K style or, if S&K had left them, to continue in their style.

 

Alex Schomburg sometimes just wasn't trying. I mean I love those MM covers where he was obviously thinking about the canvas(like 16) or where he's having fun(like 19), but what the heck is going on in a number of others(I'm looking at you All-Winners 7 and 10). They both look like he just shoved as much as he could in there without it having to make a bit of sense.

 

On the state of the hobby today, if repairs are done, but they are invisible while the book is sealed in Mylar, I don't see why they are so odious to those who are not going to break them out. How can knowing that their prize has an imperceptible flaw spoil their enjoyment of the book? If, however, you're going to break them out, I can absolutely understand their annoyance when they see an interior repair.

 

Last and not least, I'm a little uneasy when someone comes on the boards and promotes a book he or she has by stating that it has this or that quality that ties it to a key book. Now, if this is for some historical perspective, I'm all in on that. But, it sometimes seems that they are promoting something they have a financial interest in, so they can make more money on their investment. It has the painful feel of a tribute band manager promoting the fact that his lead guitarist came from the same time zone as the original musician. I don't think I've seen a discussion of this, so I'm not sure if this is a popular or unpopular opinion.

Agree with you about Subby, absent the great Schomburg covers and Everett art, he's a bore, and I've found few Superman stories from any Era worth reading.

 

I actually think restored books are better off raw, where you don't have a label distracting from their appeal.

Not sure if these are unpopular opinions, but let's air them and find out.

 

Sub-Mariner is a boring character. A guy in swimming trunks who swims. Why should I waste a dime on that?

 

Agree with you about Subby, absent the great Schomburg covers and Everett art, he's a bore, and I've found few Superman stories from any Era worth reading.

 

I actually think restored books are better off raw, where you don't have a label distracting from their appeal.

 

For me, Sub-Mariner is probably the single most interesting character of the Golden Age. One of the major issues of our times is the way civilization has exploited and destroyed the natural world, including the oceans, and Subby was a champion of the oceans. He might have been the first comic book anti-hero. I find many of the covers from the Sub-mariner run somewhat boring, but the character is anything but.

Not sure if these are unpopular opinions, but let's air them and find out.

 

Sub-Mariner is a boring character. A guy in swimming trunks who swims. Why should I waste a dime on that?

 

Agree with you about Subby, absent the great Schomburg covers and Everett art, he's a bore, and I've found few Superman stories from any Era worth reading.

 

I actually think restored books are better off raw, where you don't have a label distracting from their appeal.

 

For me, Sub-Mariner is probably the single most interesting character of the Golden Age. One of the major issues of our times is the way civilization has exploited and destroyed the natural world, including the oceans, and Subby was a champion of the oceans. He might have been the first comic book anti-hero. I find many of the covers from the Sub-mariner run somewhat boring, but the character is anything but.

 

Conceptually I'm with you - he was distinctly an anti-hero in the early stories, but the idea was little explored beyond the basic Subby shows up to wreak havoc storylines.

this thread has been good for revealing boardies whose judgment you never want to find yourself in a position of reliance on.

+1

 

A thread tainted by unorthodox viewpoints and, to many, shockingly-poor taste.

I'm a big PCH fan but think Mister Mystery 12 is waaay overated.

Just a roughly drawn oversized eye and a hot poker.

Not a big fan of this cover, sorry!

 

yeah, it's a cool cover, but not one of the all time PCH classics IMHO.

 

 

For me It's Crypt of Terror #17. I need this book for my EC collection and it can get pricey in higher grades. I know it's a key issue, but it is one of my least favorite EC covers.

 

.....get a coverless copy GOD BLESS....

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

 

I may just get a VG-F and call it DONE.

Edited July 27, 2016 by vaultkeeper

I have long been of the opinion that everyone on the boards should give me their golden age comics. This opinion has proven very unpopular.

I have long been of the opinion that everyone on the boards should give me their golden age comics. This opinion has proven very unpopular.

 

What's your address again?