"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
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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
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COMIC BOOK ARTIST OF THE WEEK
(and 1/2)
- Marie Severin -
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“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.
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NOT BRAND ECHH # 8. Cover art by Marie Severin.
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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.
