Welcome back to new and improved The Vintage Inkwell Academy (TVIA). Grab your favorite drink, circle ’round the fire and tip your hat to everyone. Before we start, I want to turn your attention to some friends of ours, Comic Book Plus and The Digital Comic Museum. If you don’t know about ‘em and you’re into this type of stuff, then you need to get acquainted with them but quick. They are the best resources for FREE Platinum and Golden-Age comics, pulps and much more from all around the globe. Also, I want to extend huge thanks to Troy Hendricks for all his great behind the scenes web work when the blog and sister site Ingenuity Studios first started.
A WONDEROUS NEW WORLD IN BRILLIANT MULTI-COLOUR
I’m
your host The Ghost Man, which is a name that I did not spin up for
myself. Someone long ago gave it to me on account of some particular work I was
doing. So I thought it was appropriate and it stuck ever since. I’ll give you
more details on its origin in a future post, once I get to know you all a wee bit
better.
So,
where does my history with comic books begin? My first exposure to any comics when
I was as a very young child was from seeing a big picture of Spider-Man by John Romita in the Sunday New York Times. After excitedly questioning
my parents, they wised me up about comic books and more importantly, where to
get them. I grew up a native New Yorker on the upper West Side of the glorious
borough of Manhattan in New York City. That day I remember dropping everything
and racing down to the local candy store. After being overwhelmed at the sight
of so many epic colorful comics to choose from, I finally settled on two older
issues of Thor and Spider-Man comics, both costing 12 cents
each. I do recall loving the art, but hating the boring and inexplicable
Shakespearian dialogue in Thor and never bought any more after. It made zero sense that a Norse god would ever speak like that, much like how some
movies had Romans or Nazis ridiculously speaking with English accents.
After
these two issues, I went back for more as a brand new comic book frontier
opened up. Ever after, my brother and I ran through
shoppes, drug stores, candy stores and newsstands regularly reading, buying and
collecting issues and discovering new ones. It
was the 1970’s, and the bold coloured worlds of Marvel, DC, Charlton and Atlas offered
endless adventures. It seemed that almost every other day, there was something
brand new — some wild new hero or comic book cover that commanded your
attention. If it was interesting and compelling, I bought it and I was rarely
if ever disappointed, apart from Thor.
Anything with Steve
Ditko’s or Jack Kirby’s art in
it, I bought without thinking twice. Sometime later, we stumbled upon Phil Seuling’s comic book conventions and
there, my brother and I got to see and meet the actual artists from the comics that
we read and collected. I spent enthralled and amazed hours watching anime from
Japan and old American cartoons on-screen there. It was there I met the
legendary Will Eisner and first saw Max Fleischer’s Superman that I never even knew existed.
Typical news stand from 1975, and when I was a
young child, this is one of the main places you bought new comics. I
fondly remember buying many of these diversely creative titles. Such an overwhelming selection that you could hardly choose from them all! Sadly, this is not at all the case today.
One
day suddenly, my dad summarily banned comic books without reason from the
house, but it didn’t slow or stop me. I simply smuggled them in my socks or
stashed them in a number of clever spots until I could retrieve them. He just
didn’t get it, I HAD to have these comic books. To me, they were something
priceless, something sacred. They were my escape, my moral compass calibrator
and my how to be a hero instruction guide. Comic books were my cool uncle, my wise
teacher and my fascinating best pal who never let me down, all in one.
Those
days, you were swept up in fantastic tales unfolding in bold, vibrant color. You
were enthralled by story-lines that thrilled you and artwork that blew you away.
Magnificent page after page created by artisans dedicated to their craft. It
was truly a world of wonder that pulled you in. It gave you a cozy, homey feeling
that just made all things right, and left an impression on you that lasts forever.
Those comics fired you up and inspired you. It took the heroism that you
virtually experienced and internalised it to compel you to BECOME that very
character. You took on your version of that hero’s bravery, their righteousness
and their moral code. YOU became a defender of freedom and a protector of the
defenceless.
Since I was a child, I was absolutely captivated
by Golden-Age comics, after first learning of them in Jules
Feiffer’s The Great Comic Book Heroes (1965) and Les Daniel’s
Comix, A History of Comic Books in America (1971). No, I’m not that
old, I actually picked them up in NYC at my neighborhood bookstore years later
in the closeout section.
The excellent book The Great Comic Book Heroes by Jules Feiffer. This was my first exposure to the world of Golden-Age comics and their fascinating heroes.
Comix A History of Comic Books in America by Les Daniels. Another remarkable book chock full of greatness and my first introduction to both Plastic Man and The Blackhawks.
The Golden-Age comics took the medium to a whole new level and I took to it like a fish to water. My immediate favourites were Blackhawk, Plastic Man, The Spectre, Captain America, the early adventures of The Bat-Man and especially The Sub-Mariner. From there, I sought out and devoured anything that had Platinum and Golden-age comic book or old comic strip reprints. Sometimes the art was primitive, but I even loved that, as they were packed with an atmospheric, simple, earnestly driven and packed with creative imagination. They emanate a raw, organic charm, urgency and wonderment that submerged you into that era. Sometimes you’d hit a gold mine, and get your hands on a Blackhawk by Reed Crandall, a Black Condor or The Ray by Lou Fine, a Captain Marvel Jr. by Mac Raboy and be absolutely blown away by the utterly outstanding illustrative draftsmanship without par. This took the story to a whole new scale and raised the bar of the art form. Characters exploded off the page — there was mood, intensity and real drama. These published artifacts were a solace and when I read these books it felt like being near the hearth of a fireplace. It was a heroic call to a simpler time and a place where mighty heroes and justice lived and that took a hold of me.
Magnificent work from my prime illustrative influence Lou Fine on The Ray from Quality's Smash Comics #26. Feel that capture of energy, the incredible fluid acrobatic motion. All brilliantly executed with an anatomical technical expertise and definitive grasp of the figure in motion.
Lou Fine, Reed Crandall, Bill Everett and Mac Raboy are among my deepest influences, along
with a good many more for differing reasons. These four artistic titans in
particular are absolutely top shelf to me. Their phenomenal artistic rendering
has set the bar for elevating the artistic level of comics and producing
unparalleled masterpieces. Looking into the sources of their art educational
backgrounds led me to the works of Michelangelo, J.C. Leyendecker, Dean Cornwell, N.C. Wyeth, William de Leftwich Dodge and Norman Lindsay.
In my training in illustration, I
always tried to make my way to the educational wellspring of what made these
men the best of the best. I looked further into who taught and inspired them,
then acquired and bought books from which to learn their techniques. These and other brilliant comic works and cartoons, compelled me to draw from an early age. It began my long and arduous journey towards producing my own works based upon the inspiration they provided. The principles and vibrancy of the core values absorbed from those pages were instilled in me.
A short vintage cartoon to encourage artists enrolled in cartoonist course training to keep at it. To ignore detractors and ill-wishers, knowing the hard work will eventually pay off.
THE
VIRTUOUS HERO WITH THE UNBREAKABLE CODE
Solemnly as he vows upon his enemy's skull,
Christopher Walker develops the persona of The Phantom, 'The Ghost Who Walks'.
Thus he commits himself and his future offspring to act as generational soldiers
sworn into a never-ending battle against injustice and evil.
Nothing
prepared me for my first experience seeing Golden-Age characters for the first
time. It was also the Golden-Age comic books that introduced me to another
love, the pulps! As good as the comics were, they were an evolution of the pulps
that were hard, gritty, noir novelettes. The heroes there didn’t play any games,
the villains were diabolically horrific and you were drawn into their life and
death battles. The crimes were epic, twisted and fraught with sadistic menace.
With odds seemingly overwhelming, the valiant heroes fought their way to
victory with sheer determination, fortitude and resolve. They were uniquely
different, clever and bold, delivering justice in a way that bonded itself to
my core.
These
were larger than life heroes steeled with honorable and virtuous character. Men
and women who had strict codes they lived by, with ethics and morality etched
in stone. They never tolerated any forms of evil or injustice (except ignorant
racial stereotypes) and often made solemn vows to crush evil and rid the world
of it. They committed their lives to their sacred missions, fighting against
all odds to make the world a better place for the common man. They didn’t
bargain or reason with murderous psychopathic villains, they sometimes simply
and resolutely killed them. Those Lucifer infused villains were utterly
unredeemable, sick until their very end, monsters. They had to pay for their
murderous crimes and they all had it coming in spades.
Panel excerpt from The Bat-Man story “The Case of the Chemical Syndicate” from Detective Comics #27. The story illustrates just how merciless and resolute The early Bat-Man was in dealing with the criminal underworld.
It
was never about heroes dealing death to these demons just for the hell of it.
The stories were written to establish an iconic ideal where justice denied and
thwarted in real life, always won out by story’s end. It provided satisfaction
and relief to long suffering people and taught the youth about right and wrong.
About standing up and fighting for what’s true and right with every fiber of
your being. Readers returned again and again to see mythic and dedicated costumed
figures wage their selfless and unceasing war against crime. They were noble saviours
born of fire and grit, who challenged the wicked, delivered steadfast justice
and rescued the innocent from hardships.
To the wide-open eyes and minds of youth, these characters of principle were role models on paper. Teaching the youth to fearlessly
stand up and fight for the underdog and challenge injustice wherever you saw
it. To rise boldly and resiliently, defending the weak and oppressed with your tenacity,
talents and strength. This hero was a man of action, whose personal code of
honor and moral rectitude was his shield. This was mythic storytelling very
much on par with legendary heroic tales from the ancient world.
This panel from Blue Ribbon Comics #9 shows Mr.
Justice in action, valiantly pledging his new life to fight oppression and vanquish
injustice.
Some
heroes followed a personal moral code, which was a simple, memorable, and
effective guide they lived by. The code set an ethical standard for them, and
encouraged others to adhere and follow it through leading by example:
PULP HERO DOC SAVAGE'S CODE
“Let me strive every moment of my life to make myself better and better, to the best of my ability, that all may profit by it. Let me think of the right and lend all my assistance to those who need it, with no regard for anything but justice. Let me take what comes with a smile, without loss of courage. Let me be considerate of my country, of my fellow citizens and my associates in everything I say and do. Let me do right to all, and wrong no man.”
Pulp’s master detective Nick Carter’s was a straightforward, “Keep your mind, your body, and your conscience clean”. Impressed and inspired by both of these, I created a variation of my own years ago. I hung a printed copy at eye-level near my front entrance door to view every time I left the house each day. It was my own personal code to strive to live by and read as follows:
THE CODE OF THE GHOST MAN
Keep your mind, your body, and your conscience clean.
Let me strive every moment of my life to making myself better to surpass my abilities daily.
Let me hold fast to my code, my honour and moral rectitude.
Let me stay the course of the righteous and lend all my assistance to those who need it, with no regard for anything but justice.
May I take all my lessons and challenges with a smile, without bitterness nor loss of courage.
Let me humble myself to my place in the universe and transcend my limitations.
Grant me the capacity to realise my weaknesses and to retain the knowledge to see and judge the creeping shadow of evil.
Let me do right to the innocent and harm no one undeservingly.
THE RISE
OF THE EXTRA-ORDINARY INDIVIDUAL
An extra-ordinary individual and force of nature, the warrior known as Blade
Reading those old comics and pulps instilled
that ideal in me, as much as the old movies from the 20’s and 30’s that also
embraced that heroic ideal. There are primal influences that attract people to
this ideal, the take-charge hero without compromise; the man who sticks to
their code like a train on rails. They don’t let a depraved and defiled world corrupt
and change them. Instead, they stand
their ground and they change the
world through their words and actions.
It’s these very qualities that make
audiences gravitate to and cheer on such quintessential characters as
Wesley Snipe’s ‘Blade',
Clint
Eastwood’s ’Dirty
Harry’,
Kurt
Russell’s ’Snake
Plissken’
and Roger
Moore’s The Saint to name a very few. These heroic examples would be
what is classified as the extra-ordinary
individual, the relentless man on a mission who rises to the gravity of the
occasion. This is a man of sensational skills and outstanding talents who summons
the courage to face danger, death and adversity as a duty, when others cowardly
shrink from the task.
The extra-ordinary individual is a commanding
person whose dynamic actions promote confidence, leadership, honour and
commitment. This is a man of mystery, a paragon who electrifies the everyman
to be something greater than they are. This powerful heroic ideal charges and
amplifies the aspirations of the common man to rise up and to transcend their
limits. The extra-ordinary individual motivates the spirit, incites the will
and spurs people into action.
This is why men are drawn
to action films, as it elicits this very feeling as they are experiencing the
danger, thrills and dramatic energy. The viewer lives vicariously through the heroic
character that addresses and solves problems directly with conviction and permanence.
Many women find themselves attracted to these very qualities to see a man of
power engaged in a perilous, righteous fight. He is a protector who faces down
frightening consequences with unflinching daring and a commitment to victory.
Jimmy Cagney conducting one of his trademark 'calibrations' on a two-bit punk who had it coming. I could watch this clip all day.
Who
is The Ghost Man? I’m an analogue man trapped in a digital world, more at home
with Jimmy Cagney’s rowdy,
take-no-crap from anybody swagger. I kind of don’t really fit in this age, and
part of me is some reincarnation from that era. I love the 1920’s and 1930’s cinema,
especially early German silent films. Another personal favourite of mine are the
potboiler Noirs of the later years. I live for pulps of all sorts — especially
the covers, and detective novels by mystery writers Raymond Chandler, Dashiell
Hammett and Walter Mosely. Early Jazz of the 20’s and 30’s
and Country Blues speaks my language, but it’s much more than that. It’s also
the simple farm-fresh organic food, the clothes, Art Deco style, the cars and
the honest, no-nonsense, down-to-earth vitality of it all.
Back in those days, if a guy said something out
of line, you clipped him in the jaw to calibrate him and that was that. The
chump walked away with his lesson or got up to get himself a secondary tune-up,
but the bottom line was, boundaries were set. Sometimes the guy even admitted
he had it coming and then strangely turned around and respected you for setting
them straight. It was like deep down they knew they were wrong, crossed the
line and strayed way out of bounds. You had to be strong and have standards and
it wasn’t just the fellas either, women had moxie and were plenty tough too.
They had to be and these educational adjustments kept a balance and elevated principles
in society. It was always a balance between being civil and being primal, and
having guidelines of behavioural acceptance that have become degenerated and
compromised.
An example of the hard as nails gal with moxie a plenty, the no-nonsense gun moll. So popular and appealing, they actually named a pulp magazine series after them.
In
those days, you had to be both tough and resilient. The life the common man or
woman had to endure would knock-off any comfort dependent daisies of today. Can
you imagine hauling up a huge block of ice for your icebox, the prototype
refrigerator? How about loading a huge pile of coal into your basement and
shoveling it into the furnace persistently throughout the day every winter? How about
cutting an acre or more of your grass with a non-motored push mower?
Television? Nope none, but what you had was
better. It was actual social interaction with your family at breakfast and dinner
that bonded you all more closely. Entertainment was either reading or listening
to the radio dramas, which activated your imagination as you played out the
adventure stories in your head. You physically did more, enjoyed more and went
out to celebrate and grab life by the coattails. You drove yourself physically
into the world instead of waiting and whining for it to be delivered to your
door. Back then you used your wits, determination and strength to survive and
flourish. To be honest, we were all the better for it because now we’re all
becoming weak, and as soft as ice cream in a summer sun.
The Spectre swears out an oath to use his
mysterious resurrection as a weapon to fight against the wicked. Here’s another
example of a heroic character’s personal vow to destroy crime and deliver
justice.
The
point I’m getting at is these modern times now showcase depraved, morally
ambiguous anti-heroes. Disposable characters who stand for nothing, with changeable
ethics and qualities that repel, not attract. Utter degenerates are celebrated
and promoted in entertainment and media as the new role models that youth are
encouraged to emulate. A perpetual fog of grey now shadows the moral compass of
right versus wrong; confusion is fostered and chaotic lunacy is in full swing.
In
the real world, justice lies in a shallow grave, slain by criminals
masquerading as leaders and aided by accomplices in the media gleefully supporting
outright evil. Our current reality feels like Gotham just before The
Bat-Man appears, a land where corruption reigns supreme and grows like
a malignant disease. We live in a desperate, fearful land where evil festers in
the shadowy pitch of the pervading darkness. Today as yesterday, as will be tomorrow, we
watch as vile men do incredibly vile things unchecked.
The need is great to produce true heroes, both
on the page and within the hearts and minds of the world once again.
A determined vow of vengeance from the newly orphaned Bruce Wayne that produced the spark that ignited the birth of The Bat-Man. From the origin story in Detective Comics #33, brilliantly conceived by the criminally cheated young writer, Bill Finger.
See you all next time...
Special thanks to Bob Keough for his exceptional editorial assistance.