VISIONS OF HOPE

From the covers of the American television-listings magazine, TV GUIDE, across four decades, here are seven portraits of comedy legend, BOB HOPE – as depicted by the pens and paintbrushes of six masters of cartoon and illustration.

 

Hope's familiar features – the chin, nose, forehead and eyebrows – are brilliantly captured in caricatures by Hirschfeld, Searle. Scarfe and Davis, portraiture by Bernard Fuchs and the photo-realistic artwork by Richard Amsel.

 

 

TV GUIDE, January 26, 1957 by Al HIRSCHFELD (1903-2003)

 

 TV GUIDE, January 16, 1965 by Ronald SEARLE (1920-2011)

TV GUIDE, January 11, 1969 – Gerald SCARFE (b. 1936)

 

TV GUIDE, January 11, 1969 by Gerald SCARFE (b. 1936)

 

  TV GUIDE, April 10, 1971by Jack DAVIS (1924-2016)

 

TV GUIDE, February 28, 1976 by Bernard FUCHS [Again!] (1932-2009)

TV GUIDE, May 21, 1983 by Richard AMSEL (1947-1985)

 

"A SKULL FULL OF MUSH!"

 

A splendid piece of cover-art featuring the work of the illustrator and distinguished fine artist Daniel Bennett Schwartz (b. 1929), made for TV Guide, the US television listings-magazine. 

 

This issue (May 5-11, 1979) features an impressive double-portrait by Schwartz of James Stephens and John Houseman, stars of The Paper Chase, a law-school drama series that was a spin-off from the 1973 movie of the same name and which quickly became one of my favourite American TV shows of the late '70s and early '80s.

 

Always a fan of 'flamboyant' acting, I adored Houseman's towering reprise of his role in the original film: the domineering, curmudgeonly, sharp-tongued law tutor, Prof. Charles W. Kingsfield Jr.  "You teach yourselves the law, but I train your minds. You come in here with a skull full of MUSH; you leave thinking like a lawyer."

 

Also, to be perfectly frank, I had more than a bit of crush on Kingsfield's student, James T. Hart, played by the blonde and bespectacled James Stephens––– 

 

And there, I think, I had better stop lest I get tempted into making inappropriate jokes about legal briefs...

A 'RADIO TIMES' CHRISTMAS

Remember those days in the Twentieth Century when the arrival of the Christmas Issue (later 'Bumper Issue') of Radio Times signaled the true beginning of seasonal festivities? 

Historically, Radio Times was always a showcase for the work of some of the finest graphic and illustrative artists of the age and examples of their work is showcased in this very personal selection of classic covers from before-my-time, but by artists whose work I love – John Gilroy (he of the classic Guinness posters), Rex Whistler, Edward Ardizzone and Eric Fraser; from my childhood and adolescent years – C. Walter Hodges, J. S. Goodall, Ronald Searle, Rowland Hilder, Victor Reinganum and, again of course, Eric Fraser; and, lastly, from more recent years – the impeccable art of Tony Meeuwissen and a wonderful cavalcade of Santas and Snowmen by my friend, Mick Brownfield. 

Among the later are his Father Christmas and Dalek cover and the alternative variant Strictly Come Dancing version for families with tiny tots who were scared of Doctor Who's inter-galactic, mechanical nemesis!

 Rex Whistler, 1931

Edward Ardizzone, 1932

 

John Gilroy, 1940 

 

J. S. Goodall, 1946

Ronald Searle, 1947

 Edward Ardizzone, 1948

 

 Eric Fraser, 1949

C. Walter Hodges, 1950

 

Rowland Hilder, 1951

(inspired by The Hunters in the Snow by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1965)

 

J. S. Goodall, 1953 

 

 

Monica Walker, 1956 
  

James Hart, 1957 

Eric Fraser, 1958

 Victor Reinganum, 1959

 

Eric Fraser, 1962

 

Tony Meeuwissen, 1970

 

Mick Brownfield, 1991 

 

Mick Brownfield, 1993

 

 Mick Brownfield, 1993 

Mick Brownfield, 1995

 

Mick Brownfield, 1997

 

 Mick Brownfield, 2009

 

Mick Brownfield, 2009 (variant) 

 

 

THE ART OF THE COMIC-BOOK (8)

 

Living, as a child, in Chislehurst – a then-still-rural corner of Kent – I never saw copies of Tales from the Crypt and even if I had, being a kid with a highly overactive imagination, I would likely have steered clear of the Crypt-Keeper, his chums and their grim tales. Not only that, but I very much doubt if I woud have succeeded in smuggling them past my mother's eagle eye! 

 

Anyway, when I finally discovered Tales from the Crypt I embraced them for their ripe blending of the comic and the grotesque. Every issue featured cover art – sometimes lurid, often grisly, always striking – by among the best-of-the-best comic-book artists of their day. 

 

This copy (Vol. 1 # 46, February 1955) is from the pen of the legend that was Jack Davis (1924-2016) celebrated for his prolific output for Mad and other off-the-wall comics such as Cracked, Humbug and Help! as well as memorable film posters for films including It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, Viva Max! and Kelly’s Heroes.  

 

I think this particular issue of Tales from the Crypt serves as an exemplar of great comic book art: grabbing the eyeballs and sensationally begging anyone passing a news-stand to stop and buy!

THE ART OF THE COMIC-BOOK (7)

For the seventh and final issue of Marc Silvestri's Batman & The Joker: The Deadly Duo, comic-book artist 'Jock' (Mark Simpson) has created this variant cover (only 500 copies printed worldwide) that I really like for its sheer audacity in framing the Clown Prince of Crime's manic tombstone toothy grin within a bloody image based on the the Dark Knight's iconic silhouette.

Currently available at Forbidden Planet and other good comic vendors. 

THE ART OF THE COMIC-BOOK (5)

[Click images to enlarge]

To mark the beginning of Pride Month, I've chosen Travis Moore & Tamara Bonvillain's variant cover art for Superman: Son of Kal-El Issue #5 (released 9 November 2021) showing Jon Kent (son of Clark Kent, aka Superman, and Lois Lane and currently known as “the Superman of Earth,”) dramatically flying in for a passionate embrace. 

The source of Jon's attraction is a journalist: yes, like father, like son ––– except that, in Jon's case, the journo in question – social activist Jay Nakamura – is male! 

Although Jon Kent, formally presumed to be heterosexual, was not the first comic-book hero to reveal an LGBTQ+ alignment, it caused a minor sensation in the comic world – unsurprising, perhaps, since 'Superman' suddenly identifying as 'bi' was a radical departure from comic historicity. Certainly, I couldn't help pondering how I, as a closeted 10-year-old comic-reading lad, would have reacted in making such a discovery! 

The series – all too short-lived – was written by Tom Taylor and illustrated by John Timms who was responsible for the art on the pages shown below, augmented by the work of colorist, Hi-Fi, and letterer, David Sharpe.

THE ART OF THE COMIC-BOOK (3)

[Click image to enlarge]

Today's comic cover art is both brand new and over 40 years old! Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian is back with "a new tale of bravery and heroism" (and, I guess, "barbarism"!). The new comic debuts this July and the cover for Conan the Barbarian, Issue #1 (although it is sans title) reprises the glorious – and rightly – celebrated poster art for the 1982 film of the same name created by one of the all-time great veteran movie-poster artists, Renato Casaro, still working, aged 87.

Casaro's art needs no sales-pitch; as for the comic-book series, here's the Official Blurb: "Years after the battle of Venarium, a weary Conan returns to his homeland to seek rest and solitude. However, a mysterious scout rides in to warn the Cimmerians of an imminent threat on the march from the Pictish wilderness. Will Conan and his new ally be able to hold off this new horde of invaders?" 

Who knows? I doubt he'll be able to hold off the horde of comic-collectors eager to own this homage to the film that made an international star of a body-builder named Arnold Schwarzenegger!