Category: Cartooning

Having an Inkling

I am currently the high bidder on this Heritage Auctions item. With all three Harvey Comics leading characters — Richie Rich, Casper, and Wendy — together in the first panel of a 5-page story, how could I resist?

https://comics.ha.com/itm/original-comic-art/complete-story/warren-kremer-attributed-richie-rich-and-casper-20-a-tale-of-two-pennies-part-3-the-runaw/a/322537-47165.s

The drawings were by a Harvey Comics mainstay, Warren Kremer. The clean, simple lines, as required for Harvey’s humor titles, contrast with the publisher’s Fifties horror comics, as seen in these examples.

This unpublished cover is also attributed to Kremer, demonstrating his masterful brushwork that’s anything but simple.

I’d say this one appears more likely to be the work of Lee Elias.

Staton’s Favorite TV Station

A happy bit of news is that Joe Staton is Svengoolie’s latest featured artist.

https://metvmall.com/collections/svengoolie-artist-collection

As soon as I saw those glasses with Joe’s design, I had to have one in red and one in black. My buddy Bismo and I tried them out last Friday night.

Sven and Joe first met some years ago at a Chicago convention, as was seen on Svengoolie’s TV show. Sven mispronounced Joe’s name, leading me to wonder if his not-so-secret identity, Rich Koz, has some history with Stanton phono cartridges. 😉

Denro has one of those official Dick Tracy watch replicas. It was a birthday gift from me, and I commissioned Joe to draw a custom card to go with it.

MeTV has posted this interview with Staton.

https://metv.com/stories/exclusive-interview-comics-legend-joe-staton-dishes-on-the-superman-red-carpet-and-his-svengoolie-artist-collection-design

Denro and I first met Joe about fifty years ago. I’m not sure when I grabbed this sign from one of the Boston comic book events we attended long ago.

The View From Table #20

The Phantom comic strip, 1/1/78, drawn by Sy Barry (possibly inked by Joe Giella)

At the NCS Reuben Awards dinner, I had the pleasure of being seated with artist Joe Staton and his wife Hilarie. Also at table #20 was Boston cartoonist Dave London (no relation to Bobby). Seated next to me was an 80-something gentleman, retired from a career in advertising, whose father worked at the MIT Radiation Lab during WWII.

Sy Barry is a retired expert practitioner of the classic comic book art style I appreciate so much. He received the King Features Elzie Segar Award, in recognition of the enduring influence of his art.

Sy Barry, accepting the Elzie Segar Award at the National Cartoonists Society dinner, August 15, 2025. That’s Colleen Doran, in fashionable peach, on the left.

Sy had a humorous and very warmly received acceptance speech. He lives north of Boston, in Andover.

https://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2025/08/18/celebrating-sy/

Continue reading The View From Table #20