MORE MIRTH FROM MARIE SEVERIN! - F-F-FROGS!

I know I promised you all bunches of hilarious Marie Severin comic work...and while intentions never seem to match the actual outcome, I think it's about time to post some more Marie! So here you go!

First just look at the cover to SPOOF # 3...with a January cover date, this cover must have gone to press right after the presidential elections of 1972. It makes me wonder if Marie Severin had another version standing by that featured George McGovern as Prez had he won...the funny thing about the cover is that within months, Spiro Agnew would leave office in disgrace from bribery charges, and of course the Watergate story would also break, and we all know what happened to Richard Nixon.

Also on the cover are the rock 'n' roll leaders of that particular time-frame...let's look at them, shall we? From left to right,  there's the Jackson Five, the Osmond brothers, John Lennon is swearing in new president David Cassidy (who was just huuuge at that point) on a copy of Rolling Stone magazine, behind them watching are Yoko Ono and the rest of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones (w/Ron Wood), Elvis Presley, and I do believe that the gent in the fancy jacket is american rocker Tommy James. Another amazing caricature cover that no one else could even attempt to pull off with the apparent ease that Marie Severin had done.

Inside this issue is where we find our story, which is a satire of the horror movie 'FROGS'. Now for those of us who actually saw this fairly awful film, you will notice that the characters don't receive the usual Marie Severin caricature treatment...in fact, none of the stars of the film (Ray Milland, Sam Elliot, etc.) are featured. This is probably due to the fact that Stu Schwartzberg who wrote it also did lay-outs for Marie, and in fact she may not have even seen the film. In any case, it's a very funny look at a drearily boring film. Inked by Herb Trimpe, who had worked with Marie early on with 'The Incredible Hulk'.

Enjoy! ...and I promise more Marie Severin comics to come!

CRACKED # 1 - Bill Everett and the Atlas art connection

-click on images to enlarge-

Here you go.

In December of 1957, a new magazine hit the news-stands. 'CRACKED' would become the most successful 'MAD' competitor ever published. With a cover date of March, 1958, here is the amazing first cover! By John Severin, right? Nnnah, not quite...here's the story...
____________

...1957...Atlas (Marvel) Comics...Publisher Martin Goodman confronts editor/writer Stan Lee regarding a 'closetful of completed yet unused stories', forcing Lee to end offering freelance work, and to essentially fire the entire steady bullpen staff one by one until finally, by the end of April, the infamous 'Atlas Implosion' is in full effect. At the same time, Goodman takes a gamble by deciding to switch to a new distributor, American News Company (ANC), and when ANC shut down operations within the first months,  the 'Atlas Era' effectively came to a close. A few short years later, Stan Lee would usher in the renaissance of the 'Marvel Age of Comics', but that...is another story for another time.

Now it's the end of 1957. The core group of Atlas artist's are scrambling to find steady work. One of many new ventures they find is a new publication seeking to imitate the success of 'MAD' magazine. Publisher Robert C. Sproul hired Lee's right-hand man, artist and production manager Sol Brodsky as his new editor. Brodsky promptly hired the best of the old art staff, including: Carl Burgos, Paul Reinman, Joe Maneely, Bill Everett, Al Williamson, Ed Winniarski, Russ Heath, and, last but not least, John Severin. Severin, who had drawn for 'MAD', was offered the assignment of drawing the first cover. He drew his cover layout idea and brought it in for approval. The problem was, Sproul was not about to pay as much as 'MAD', not even close. So Severin decided to pass on completing the assignment, and close friend Bill Everett came on board to paint the first cover, using much of Severin's layout. The result is a beautiful combination of the now familiar 'cluttered, star-studded' Severin cover style and the excellent humorous artistic talents of Everett. Today we can take a look at both the original cover (above), as well as a more recent reprint of same issue (below), for comparison.
______________________

To help you make sense of all the madness (cracked-ness?), here are a few of the people and events from 1957 that the artist(s) have captured in this 'time-capsule' of a cover:
*Between 1955 and 1958 there were at least 8 recorded Antarctic expiditions, beginning with America's 'Operation Deepfreeze' led by the legendary Admiral Richard E. Byrd, who's first expidition was in 1928. Wikipedia explains : The impetus behind Operation Deep Freeze I was the International Geophysical Year 1957–58. IGY, as it was known, was a collaboration effort between forty nations to carry out earth science studies from the North Pole to the South Pole and at points in between. The United States, along with Great Britain, France, Japan, Norway, Chile, Argentina, and the U.S.S.R. agreed to go to the South Pole—the least explored area on Earth. Their goal was to advance world knowledge of Antarctic hydrography and weather systems, glacial movements, and marine life. The U.S. Navy was charged with supporting the U.S. scientists for their portion of the IGY studies.
To represent these expeditions we see a parka-clad man in a canoe...what is it he's discovering? A giant smoking penguin hitting on a mermaid! In the back of his canoe we see...


* ...a television set, complete with antenna. By the end of 1957, TV was the new technology and growing fast as the soon-to-be dominant form of media, with over 47 million TV sets in 40 million homes.


* The cold war was in full bloom...in the west (USA) we see the mushroom clouds (literally), while in the east, at the 'Atom Bombski Site' there appears to be smaller fireworks exploding instead...on the USA side we see a eye spying on us from a submarine periscope...to the north we see Santa Claus being accosted by a Soviet soldier, who in turn is foiled by a good old American cowboy, who very much resembles the comic book version of Wyatt Earp that had been drawn by both Severin and Everett at one point.


* Speaking of the cold war, on October 4th, 1957, Russia launched the first satellite into space, Sputnik 1, and the space race was on. A month later, Sputnik 2 was launched, carrying a live dog. America, fearing Russian atomic bombs dropping from the skies, quickly responded by attempting to launch our own sattelite, and in December the United States answered the Soviet challenge by launching the Vanguard. The rocket burst into flames upon launching, and the USA's satellite managed to travel only a few hundred feet at best, being thrown clear in the explosion.


* Ike was president, and here he swings his golf club and drives a ricochet shot straight into the sputnik satellite.


* We can see Cleopatra fishing off of her ship on the river Nile, and she looks like she hooked a big Roman, Marcus Antonius...okay, so...these two were not actually around in 1957...


* Just above them we see the yawning, sulphurous mouth of Hell is now exposed (naturally in communist territory), and Satan himself looks out, accompanied by his three recent inductees - Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, and Benito Mussolini. There is a pair of legs also sticking out of hell, and I like to think they belong to that 'fanner of the cold wars flame's, red-baiting, commie chasing senator Joe McCarthy, who had died earlier that year.


*  Appearing to fly out of the pits of Hell (which inevitably brings this image to mind) are a man and a woman on a motorcycle, trailing a 'Just Married' sign and a string of tin cans. The man is the 'Wild One' himself, Marlon Brando, and the woman is his new bride, Anna Kashfi, who were married on October 11th, 1957. Brando would later state that he married Kashfi only because he had gotten her pregnant. The result of that pregnancy was son Christian Brando, who shot and killed Dag Drollet, his half-sister Cheyenne's boyfriend, in 1990. Brando divorced Kashfi  in 1959.


*  The beautiful and busty Jayne Mansfield's star was on the rise. She had just released a couple of movies that helped to establish her as the next big 'sex symbol', 'The Girl Can't Help It', and 'Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?". In November of '57 she purchased the now famous 'Pink Palace', and in January of '58 she married bodybuilder Mickey Hargitay.


* I'm not 100% certain, but speaking of sex symbols, I do believe that the blonde woman in the Canadian Mountie uniform dragging behind a man with glasses to be Marilyn Monroe, and husband at the time playwright Arthur Miller...I do not understand the Canadian reference, if it even is supposed to be them. If you know who they are and I'm mistaken, please let me know.


* In the lower left we see a jet with USA markings flying, and the pilot is giving a thumbs up sign. This is Major John Glenn, who set an air speed record on July 15th, 1957. Project Bullet, the first supersonic transcontinental flight was achieved by Glenn who flew a Vought F81-U Crusader jet from California to New York in 3 hours, 23 minutes and 8.4 seconds. He later became the first American to orbit the earth, and is currently a US senator.


* Lastly, take a look at this last inside joke  --  Underneath all of the craziness, the weight of the world has crushed...the mighty 'Atlas'! (Atlas is dead - long live Atlas!)

Here is the reprint version

-click on images to enlarge-

CRACKED magazine (or mazagine, as they called it) stopped publishing in 2007. In it's place is the modern version, the updated CRACKED.com website. Click here to visit.

Thanks for dropping in! Next time, could you phone ahead first? ...I was in the shower...
More on the early days of Cracked, as well as the Atlas contributor's, in days to come!
See you then!

THE RETURN OF MELVIN? - Marie and John Severin show us how it's done

I promised you, and now it's officially really time to begin showing off some of the coolest comics ever made by our Comic Book Artist Of The Week...Marie Severin! And inking her pencils today we have another superb artist, Mr. John Severin! Hmmm...are they related in some way? Just kiddin'  -  of course they are! You already know they are one of the most talented pair of siblings ever to draw comics. You will notice a dedication to Harvey Kurtzman at the beginning of the story. Now, before Marie was drawing comics, both she and John worked for EC Comics, Marie as colorist. She also worked closely with Kurtzman, and learned a lot about comedy and timing by looking over his shoulder while he edited 'MAD'. John had worked for Kurtzman (and Bill Elder) since his discharge from the army, and joining the 'Charles William Harvey' Studio, and drew his first comic in 1947. At one point John Severin was the sole artist on the Kurtzman edited TWO-FISTED TALES, one reason being their mutual attention to details and accuracy in depicting the historical events often featured in TFT. For 'MAD', Severin had illustrated two Tarzan parodies written and layed-out in meticulous detail (as was his way) by Kurtzman -- 'Melvin Of The Apes',  and it's sequel.

Fast-forward to 1972. Marie has become Marvel's top humor illustrator, and Big John was top-'dawg' over at CRACKED magazine, where his incredible artwork was featured prominently. Brother and sister Severin were at this time working together on KULL THE CONQUEROR to rave reviews, and for this story in the 2nd issue of SPOOF, they got together to create hilarious images to add to Roy Thomas' very funny written words. In the story, Tarz, who is living with Jane in London , finds himself forced to return to the jungle, but he finds things have changed just a little bit since he left! You are going to like this one  --  my favorite thing in it? It's so hard to choose, but I love Tarz's monkey sidekick!

Check out that last panel...every actor who played Tarzan is represented there, drawn in perfect recognizable parody ( a skill which both Severins excelled at like no other artists could). I don't remember all the names, but I can recognize Elmo Lincoln, Johnny Wiessmuller, Buster Crabbe, Ron Ely, Jock Mahoney, etc...! It is so easy to take both Severin's for granted because they are able to draw these beautiful parody images so effortlessly and therfore so often, we the reader become spoiled! Wonderful stuff! Well, my stack of comics is callin'! See you next time, comic lovers!

COMIC BOOK ARTIST OF THE WEEK (and 1/2) - Marie Severin

"The humorous artwork of Marie Severin is sure to bring a smile to any face, and if it doesn't, your face must be broken."

- The APOCOLYTE Speaks

_______________________________________

Since beginning this blog ( for the past month or so) I have been trying to begin a regular 'Artist Of The Week' feature, but lightning storms and computers don't mix, my friend, so I have been forced to use my old computer (made of paperclips, chewing-gum foil, and old coffee cans) while the Geeks at that squad repaired my better computer (the fancy expensive one that got fried by one of Odin's mighty thunderbolts last month...)

So, working on a junky PC makes things a little slower (a lot slower) than one would like, therefore some of my hopes and plans have been delayed...until now! No longer does my computer run on hamster power...the good one is finally back, and it plugs right into the wall socket! Wow!

So, rather than wait another 3-4 days, I am declaring that, starting right this very moment, Marie Severin is the 1st officially featured COMIC BOOK ARTIST of the WEEK (and 1/2)!  I have a lot of cool stuff to show ya, so a week or so may be enough time! Now, let me start the way I was gonna last month  --

drum roll...................................................

[ Spotlight on! Every week the Apocolyte plans to focus on one of those creative individuals who warp the minds of so many -- the comic book creators! Lately I have been re-enjoying the work of Marie Severin, and I discovering that she has so much worthy material, that it would be better to spread the posts out all week (and 1/2) and thereby not overwelm any haphazard souls who may chance upon this old blog! ]

- The Apocolyte speaks

________________________________________________

 COMIC BOOK ARTIST OF THE WEEK 

(and 1/2)

- Marie Severin -

_________________________

“MARIE, UH, I JUST MET A GIRL NAMED MARIE, UH…”

A little over two months ago, on August 22, the talented Marie Severin celebrated her 80th birthday.

On behalf of The Blog At The End Of Time I would like to extend to Marie a (belated) Happy Birthday, and all the best wishes for good health, happiness, and joy. That doesn’t even begin to repay the joy and happiness she has provided throughout her years as one of histories greatest humorous illustrators at Marvel comics.

Mirthful Marie! The First Lady Of Comics! Queen Of Comics! Sweetest Person In The World! Although I have never personally met this talented lady, The Apocolyte asserts that all of the preceding statements are true in regards to Marie Severin. I am not ashamed to say here that …I LOVE Marie Severin!! ... I... LOVE... HER!! I don’t care who knows it! (Yup! Sorry, fella, the Apocolyte likes GIRLS!) Yeah!!

As a time-traveling youth, I would do anything I had to in order to get my hands on her comics! Anything! Things I’m not proud of…things that scarred my psyche for life…but it was worth it, boy! Those are great comics! I am excited (ping! ping!) to post some wonderful examples of Marie Severin’s humorous comic covers and stories this upcoming week.


 THE ‘CUTE’ FACTOR   

When it comes to drawing something funny or cute, some artists have it, and some artists don’t. For example, Walt Kelly had it, and Bernard Bailey did not. [Disclaimer: I am not speaking of here on artistic talent, merely what I have dubbed ‘The Cute Factor’]  For example, if you look at a couple of well-known names from EC comics like Wally Wood and Joe Orlando, on the surface they have similar styles. If I remember right, Wood helped Orlando get hired at EC based on the years of penciling and inking each others work and Orlando was expected to be another ‘Wood’ for EC, and in the beginning their dramatic style was very similar. But, on the other hand, when it came to the humorous comic style required in both MAD and PANIC, Wood had it in spades, while Orlando couldn’t draw cute to save his life. Another example can be found in the world of underground comics. Looking at Robert Crumb, his art undoubtedly has that 'cute factor'. S. Clay Wilson, on the other hand, not so much.

Now let’s talk about Marie Severin.

She was certainly able to draw straight superhero action wonderfully, as she drew many of Marvel’s top titles such as the Hulk, Dr, Strange, and the Sub-Mariner, as well as drawing hundreds of covers over the years for nearly every comic title published by Marvel. Nevertheless, it was when Marvel came out with their ‘MAD’-style parody comic featuring Marvel’s own characters, “NOT BRAND ECHH” in the mid-sixties, that Marie showed the world that she owned ‘cute’ and ‘funny’. Like her brother John Severin, who used his talent for MAD and later, CRACKED, Marie was gifted with the uncanny ability to draw realistic and recognizable celebrity portraits, or parodies of the well-known stars of the day, in a way like no one else could. Almost every issue of NOT BRAND ECHH featured covers and stories by Marie, each one of her contributions being utterly charming and entertaining. Later on, Marvel would utilize her skills for another pop culture parody comic, “SPOOF”, where yet again Marie contributes lioness-share of the art and is clearly the star artist. Marie would continue to be called upon, as Marvel ventured into the black and white humor magazine market with it's publication of “CRAZY”, which also highlighted her considerable talents.

-click on images to enlarge-

NOT BRAND ECHH # 3 Cover by Marie Severin.

A hilarious take on three big names in Marvel Comics. Give yourself an extra second ...did you notice that, besides the money that's being 'laundered', there is a shirt with four sleeves, a glove with six fingers, and a pair of long-johns with three legs! Pure Marie Severin extra-loving wackiness!

-click on images to enlarge-

SPOOF # 2 . Cover art by Marie Severin.

Here she displays the amazing Severin gift for caricature.

-click on image to enlarge-

NOT BRAND ECHH # 6. Cover art by Marie Severin.

-click on image to enlarge-

NOT BRAND ECHH # 8. Cover art by Marie Severin.

-click on image to enlarge-

NOT BRAND ECHH # 9. Cover art by Marie Severin.

-click on image to enlarge-

NOT BRAND ECHH # 10. Cover art by Marie Severin.

For now in this initial post, just to whet your appetite, we're only taking a look at some of Marie Severin’s exquisite covers.  Lots more fun things coming up ALL WEEK (and 1/2)!

-click on image to enlarge-

NOT BRAND ECHH # 9. Cover art by Marie Severin.