Number 735
Grand Grandenetti
Jerry Grandenetti did the "Secret Files of Dr. Drew" strip for Fiction House's Rangers Comics, different enough in style and subject matter from the rest of the book that it makes us wonder why it's there in the first place. Fiction House had only a few years to live when the feature was produced, and maybe it was a way to jog interest in a fading comic book line.
"Dr. Drew," a psychic investigator, didn't last long. Only 14 episodes were created, but they are visually stunning, done closely in the Will Eisner studio style, where Grandenetti was an Eisner assistant. Apparently they were produced in studio, even using Abe Kanegson's lettering.
Jerry Grandenetti shed his Eisner-clone style and did some excellent work over the years. He had a distinctive and eccentric style which fit in perfectly with Warren's Creepy and Eerie, and I really enjoyed his stories for the DC mystery comics of the 1970s, presided over by editor Joe Orlando.
Grandenetti may have gotten a little too tricky with the top tier of panels on the last page of this Dr. Drew entry, making the action hard to decipher. Despite that, the best lesson Jerry learned from Eisner was that everything on a comic book page should be integrated into the visual storytelling, including the lettering.
I posted another Dr. Drew story, a reprint from The Monster #1 in Pappy's #571. This particular entry in the series is from Rangers Comics #52, 1950:
Wow, it seems Grandenetti is an artist full of suprises. This is such cool stuff. He certainly learned the good lessons at the master's knee, didn't he? I'd love to see more of this.
ReplyDeleteStay tuned, Mykal...I think we have a few more of these somewhere here at Pappy Central; I just have to find them.
ReplyDeletePap, at this channel, I am always tuned.
ReplyDeleteAs the biggest Grandenetti fan you'd WANT to know, I'm always delighted to see his work from any period. Thanks for putting this up!
ReplyDeleteI believe Steranko was very pissed when he discovered that the Spirit strip he'd reproduced complete in his HISTORY OF COMICS as a perfect example of Eisner's work was, in fact, entirely drawn by Grandenetti...
ReplyDeleteBeautiful! I don't have this story--and it is my fave! But I want more (greedy greedy).
ReplyDeleteIs this the complete story? I count only 5 pages and all the other Dr. Drew stories are much longer. The numbering is curious--the first page is 14, the second page is 16, third is 17, fourth is 18, fifth is 19. Why the jump from 14 to 16? Is there a missing page, or was that just an ad?
Whatever the case, THANK you very MUCH!