In the olden days, the people who made your comics were all middle-aged and wore ties, except for Denny O'Neil, who wore a turtleneck. He's thinking, "Hurry up and draw me. I've got stories to write. But first let me take off my glasses for a slightly casual, candid look." I'm going to steal that pose for my author's portrait, only I'm going to hold a pipe. Why a pipe instead of glasses? Why not? Why so glum, Neal Adams? Is it because in order to fit the copy in your panel, you weren't able to draw the back of your own head? Someone just said, "Hey, Dick! Have you finished that job for Detective?" Bob Oksner looks cool; kind of a Doc Brown vibe, but snappy and not disheveled. I'd like to think his hair was really that startlingly white in real life. Henry Scarpelli later added his actor son, Glenn, to the Archie universe. Jack Adler started working at DC in 1946 and retired in 1981.
PS: Blogger wouldn't allow me to add "Denny O'Neil" to my tags. Guess I'll never write about his work again.
2 comments:
I remember seeing this ad and thinking these awards were a much bigger deal than they actually were. Surely they'd be broadcast on network television soon? I was so young then...
And yes, Bob Oksner's hair really was that white.
RIP Jack Adler.
I used to feel the same way whenever they ran something like this, or Marvel put "Winner of x Eagle Awards!" on the cover of Uncanny X-Men. "Wow! These comics must be great, otherwise they wouldn't have won these prestigious awards!"
And none of my friends seemed to care or want to join me in reading award winning literature. Bunch of naysayers.
It's sad to think those four guys on that bottom tier are gone. I'm glad O'Neil and Adams are still around-- Adams was already such a super-pro at that time, it's easy to forget he was a young turk even then! Just 30!
Great to learn about Oksner's hair. So very jealous.
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