Heath went on to become one of the top artists for Marvel/Atlas doing war, horror, science fiction, satire...and then he went to DC and did his amazing Silver Age work. Heath also branched out, doing excellent work for Harvey Kurtzman on “Little Annie Fanny” at Playboy, then worked for National Lampoon and Jim Warren’s magazine group. As I write this Russ Heath is still with us at age 90, and I hope he is doing well now that he’s no longer a “kid.”
In 2011 I presented another early Russ Heath Western featuring Kid Colt. Just click on the thumbnail.
Nah, I don't reckon that punchin' th' marshall in th' jaw after he's decided and declared to let Kid Colt go makes any difference as to the lawman's commitment.
ReplyDeleteDamn'd stupid commitment in any case. Sometimes it's hard to see where Justice is to be found, but when man-made law is in clear conflict with Justice, it is Justice that should win, always.
As to Kid Colt, at some point it had to be the case that, if he were brought to trial with meaningful advanced notice, a few towns' worth of people would show up, demand that he be freed, and smash the jail-house if necessary.
(The country has since gone quite insane. When a law-man commits an unwarranted killing, angry mobs loot and destroy Korean-American grocery stores.)
I always wished Riss Heath had a shot at drawing Doc Savage. He would have been absolutely perfecet for that character. His Sgt. Rock reminds me a lot of Doc Savage.
ReplyDeletePappy — Remember his “Plastic Sam” in Mad comics? He didn’t copy Jack Cole’s style, but it was a riot!
ReplyDeleteNeil, I agree that Heath would have done a great job on Doc Savage. From what I remember about most comic book adaptations of Doc I think none of the artists really did Doc justice. Not in my mind, anyway.
ReplyDeleteBrad, that Plastic Sam is a classic. And Harvey Kurtzman loved it, because Heath basically inked HK's layouts.
ReplyDeleteAh, Daniel...I can't be drawn into a discussion of the justice system tonight. All I will say is I have spent my adult life minding my p's and q's so I won't draw any police or official government-type attention to me. Just getting a traffic ticket is enough to bring out paranoia.
ReplyDelete