Buried Treasure: Straight Arrow

Riding on the popularity of movie and TV Westerns of the 1950s, the daily strip Straight Arrow debuted in 1954 and only lasted around a year but was published in many American newspapers. It was unusual to have a three-part deal to get the strip published, Nabisco owned the character, Magazine Enterprises produced the feature and the Bell Syndicate distributed the strip. Artists John Belfi and Joe Certa had been drawing the bi-monthly Western comic Durango Kid for Magazine Enterprises when they were teamed with their editor Ray Krank and writer Garner Fox to create the feature. But from the beginning, it was a difficult process. First to get the Enterprises editor and writer to create a plot synopsis that was then sent to Nabisco to see if the character was properly maintained. Next it went back to Enterprises to be broken down to more specific action before passed on to the Bronx studio of Joe Certa to draw the characters and John Belfi two miles away to pencil  the backgrounds. Then the strip was sent back to Enterprises to re-check and once again to Nabisco to re-check before Belfi inked the piece and send it to the Bell Syndicate for publication in the newspapers. But since the feature had plenty of action and adventure, it is well remembered by many a baby boomer even today.

Jerry Grandenetti's "The Carrier of the Serpent"

Jerry Grandenetti was one of my favorite artists who worked for Warren Publications back in the seventies. His moody expressionistic drawings were perfectly matched for those spooky tales he created by himself or with others for the black and white magazines, Eerie, Creepy, and Vampirella. So just in time for Halloween I thought I would show this weird little tale. The one story that stood out in my mind from the rest of the pack might be his collaboration with writer T. Casey Brennen in their story "The Carrier of the Serpent" published in Eerie  #38 for February of 1972...

 

 

Unpublished Gems: Conan the Barbarian

One of Marvels most popular characters that started the "barbarian" invasion in comic anti-heroes, we were lucky to have the talented Barry Smith on the title to provide the lush illustrations. But don't take my word for it, just take a look at this unpublished cover for Marvel's Conan the Barbarian #9 from 1971. Robert E. Howard's most famous creation savagely fights as he falls in this action-packed cover from "The House of Ideas" most renowned Bronze Age title. With wonderful backgrounds as supremely detailed as the main figures themselves, you can see why Smith's art, especially his covers, are so prized by original art collectors. Thought somewhat different than the actual printed version as shown here, I imagine this was an earlier version of the piece, most likely changed at the request of the editor. Perhaps to make Conan a little larger and more centered in the image. In many ways, however, one could argue this version is clearly superior to the version that was eventually published. Incidentally this cover sold at auction back in 2003 for the grand sum of $7,590, so who knows what a cover of this caliber would cost  today eleven years later.