Number 889
Ibis and Taia into the maelstrom
Despite sharing its title with the famous short story by Edgar Allan Poe, this is an Ibis the Invincible story, and Ibis has a couple of things the protagonist of Poe's story didn't have: a babe like Princess Taia and a vibrating Ibistick.
It's also illustrated by the remarkable Kurt Schaffenberger, who does his usual fabulous job, even considering the bad guys are cartoon turtles.
From Whiz Comics #99, 1948:
Schaffenberger!!! One of the very best in the business! In a bitter twist of irony, he was reviled by Capt. Marvel fans for being too realistic, then later excoriated by Superman fans for being too cartoony! What mad universe?
ReplyDeleteThanks, Pappy.
John, I first noticed Schaffenberger's work on Lois Lane in the 1950s, and as a pre-teen boy would not have bought a comic book with a woman's name in the title unless I really liked the artist.
ReplyDeleteDon't let your Ibistick start vibrating near Princess Taia, Pappy, otherwise Black Bess might have something to say!
ReplyDelete...missed it for a moment, then the delayed reaction kicked in, and I started tittering away like a school boy.
Borky, I put my Ibistick on low power. Its vibrating has been keeping me awake nights of late.
ReplyDeletePappy,
ReplyDeleteSame here (re "Lois Lane"). And certainly Kurt did well in his career. Had enough fans to have a career, and with the sweetest, crispest brush-line in comics, why not? But I got to know Kurt in the late 80's and this whole cartoony/realistic thing bothered him enough to bring it up more than once. We write so few letters these days, we forget what an impact fan mail had back then.
Thank you again.
back in the late 60's, as an impressionable teenager, I was drawn (no pun intended) to the Neal Adams school of realism, but as time goes on, I realize just what Schaffenberger, Boring, Plastino, Sprang, and Moldoff, to name but a few, brought to the medium. They are all underrated,but masters of their craft.
ReplyDeleteHa!
ReplyDelete"Ibistick" comments!
Fun but too short (er, the story, not my Ibistick)...
needed more turtle men.
John, the oldest story I've shown by Schaffenberger shows much the same style as the latest. He really didn't much change his style during his career. I'm sorry he was bothered by any kind of controversy about cartoony/realistic art. As far as I'm concerned no comic book art is "realistic" in the sense of a photo or photo realism. Well, there's Alex Ross, but offhand I can't think of anybody else.
ReplyDelete