Number 2558: The giant shell game

I mentioned last week that artist Nick Viscardy began his comic book career as a young man. The Wikipedia entry on Nick Viscardy a/k/a Nick Cardy (name used for comic book art) and Nick Cardi (used for illustration art) says this:

“Cardy becme the primary DC cover artist from the early to mid-1970s.

“A popular but apocryphal anecdote, told by DC editor Julius Schwartz, concerned Cardy being fired by DC editorial director Carmine Infantino for not following a cover layout, only to be rehired moments later when Schwartz praised the errant cover art. Cardy said in 2005: ‘At one of the conventions ... I said, ‘You know, Carmine, Julie Schwartz wrote something in [his autobiography] that I don't remember at all and it doesn't sound like you at all.’ And I told him the incident ... and he said, ‘That's crazy. You know I always loved your work. Gee, you were one of the best artists in the business. The guy's crazy.’ So I said, ‘Okay, come on.’ We went over to Julie Schwartz's table and we told him what our problem was. And Carmine and I said, ‘We don't remember the incident.’ So Julie said, ‘Well, it's a good story, anyway.’ [Laughs] And that was it. He let it go at that. [Laughs] He just made it up.’”

Cardy did this story for DC. Nice artwork, and he did some excellent drawings of the monsters in the story. In those days at DC it seemed to me that every comic, super hero, mystery or even some of the kids' comics, had some sorts of monsters. This issue of House of Secrets #40 (1961) is one I found in my basement in a box of all coverless comics from that era which I bought (cheap) years ago. When I flipped through them I noticed a story drawn by Nick Cardy, so I read it. The story itself is loopy...the hero goes after a girl from a myth, which is not a good place to look for girls. But the artwork is representative of Cardy’s usual good job regardless of the quirky story, which is why I am showing it.

Number 2125: Three men, a dead uncle, and a mysterious artist

Uncle Theodore was not only a maker of ingenious (and huge) toys, he was diabolical as well. From beyond the grave he directed his three nephews through various death traps to find their inheritance. Even though dead, Theodore wasn’t going to make it easy for the guys to inherit his wealth. The unanswered question was did he want them to succeed or fail? One of the characters asks that in the last panel. Readers are left with an unanswered question.

“The Riddle of Hazard Isle” is a mystery story from House of Secrets #27 (1959). Stories in the mystery anthologies from DC could be screwy, but illustrated in such a style that even the silliest story had the full illustrative treatment. Bill Ely drew the story; the writer is unknown.

Ely is something of an elusive person; there is a shortage of online information. We know that Ely drew comics from the 1930s through the 1960s. His birth year is given as 1913 and his year of death is 1993. I like Ely’s solid style. Ely took enough pride in his work that he usually signed it, even in the days when being a comic book creator meant artists and writers were anonymous unless they chose to include a signature.

If any of Ely’s relatives, children, nephews and nieces, et al., are reading this, I would appreciate them contacting me to tell me what they know about Bill Ely.

Number 1965: A right-on Halloween!

A few days ago I recalled how we comics fans of the era were impressed by the artwork of Neal Adams. We were also very impressed when Berni (now Bernie) Wrightson came on the scene. Some of the wags in fanzines were calling him "Berni Right-On."

Here are two complete stories from scans of Wrightson’s right-on original art sold by Heritage Auctions. My deep appreciation goes to Heritage.

The original Swamp Thing story was written and drawn for House of Secrets #92 (1971). The artwork was sold by Heritage in 2002 for $31,050.00. "The Monster Jar" was an unpublished story done for Web of Horror #4. It was never published because publisher Robert Sproul gave up on the title after issue #3. The 7-page story artwork was sold by Heritage in 2015 for $19,120.00.

Happy Halloween, everyone! No tricks, just treats from Pappy’s Golden Age.

Number 772


"B" is for...Bill Ely's House of Secrets


The next to last in Pappy's lame-o Plan B theme this week. Check out Sunday's blog.

Longtime comic artist Bill Ely did these well-drawn stories for DC's House of Secrets in the late 1950s. I've shown art by Ely before, a cartoonist from the earliest days of the comics, who did a lot of work for DC in the days when artists were more anonymous. After looking at his work for a while I've noticed the way he drew eyes, and mentioned before they remind me of eyes drawn by the better known George Evans.

Ely was a true professional. I first noticed his work in the 1960s. Unlike most of DC's artists of the '60s, before credits in comics became common, Ely signed a lot of his stories.

"The 20th Century Nero" is from HOS #5, July-August, 1957; "The Diamond Hands Of the Sun God" is from HOS #8, January-February, 1958; "The Face In the Mist" is from HOS #13, October, 1958.

Here's more Ely, from Pappy's #695.