Number 1674: Severin and Kurtzman beat us to the draw

It’s Christmas Eve! Thanks for checking in, even though you might be taking a quick break from wrapping presents or preparing for Christmas festivities. Take a few minutes to upwrap your present from Pappy, two stories drawn by John Severin and Harvey Kurtzman from Prize Comics Western #79 (1950). Both of those much admired talents would later make their mark as comics immortals with their work for EC Comics. Severin usually worked with Will (then Bill) Elder as an inker (see the story below the Severin/Kurtzman collaborations).

Black Bull was a masked character, and it seems there was no shortage of masked six-gun totin', quick-draw heroes in those days. In this case Black Bull is accompanied by his butler, Egbert, and his secret identity is as the son of a wealthy man.

Enjoy!

Severin, Elder and Abe Lincoln

As mentioned in the comments above, Severin’s usual inker in the forties and early fifties was Will Elder. “Severin and Elder” jobs are found many times in Prize Comics Western, and EC science fiction comics. I do not know how many love stories the pair worked on, but this three-page story of the romance of Abraham Lincoln and Ann Rutledge not only shows Severin’s mastery of time and place, but also likenesses. Elder and Severin separated professionally, but for a time their beautifully crafted stories were on display in comics that may have been otherwise indistinguishable from their many competitors.

For decades there has been a dispute over how involved Lincoln and Rutledge were. After Lincoln’s death stories came out about Rutledge being the love of his life, and when she died he was profoundly affected. Some historians dispute the details, and you can read an interesting scholarly work on the subject in this article by Lewis Gannett for the Journal of Abraham Lincoln.

From Standard’s Thrilling Romances #8 (1950):