A long overdue celebration of a remarkably prolific – and criminally underappreciated — comics cover artist, born 100 years ago…
Space Family Robinson #37
I’ve known the late George Wilson’s work for about as long as I’ve been reading comics. As a kiddie fan of Lost In Space, I once got a Space Family Robinson comic since it was the closest thing to the show. The cover — that one above? By George Wilson – although I didn’t know it at the time.
In all honesty, I didn’t really become aware of the extraordinary scope of Wilson’s work until we began our monthly BRONZE AGE BONANZA feature last year, in which we pick the TOP 13 covers of a given month, 50 years before. Consistently, right there with the likes of Neal Adams, Jack Kirby, Joe Kubert, John Romita, Nick Cardy and John Buscema, are fantastic covers by George Wilson, month in and month out.
The Twilight Zone #22 — with Wilson as his own model
Wilson was amazing. And it yet it feels like only really hardcore fans – or artists – are aware of who he was. He doesn’t have a Wikipedia page or even a Facebook appreciation group and I have not been able to nail down a reliable birthdate for him. The best, albeit brief, online bio I can find for him is from the Lambiek Comiclopedia. He was, it turns out, born 100 years ago, in 1921; he died in 1999.
For some time, I’ve wanted to do a salute to his work but never felt confident enough in my knowledge. Enter fantasy painter Joe Jusko, a recurring guest columnist here at 13th Dimension, who it turns out is an enormous fan of Wilson’s artistry. So I enlisted him for 13 GLORIOUS COVERS: A GEORGE WILSON SALUTE and what follows is a superb appreciation of a great artist by a great artist:
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By JOE JUSKO
I’m known for producing a lot of paintings over fairly short spans of time. I’ve produced close to, if not more than, 500 fully realized trading-card paintings alone, all on ridiculously accelerated deadlines. Toss in the myriad magazine and book covers, posters, album and advertising art and there is a fairly large body of work in my wake.
Despite all that, I have always been astounded by the incredibly prolific career of George Wilson. His cover work for Dell/Gold Key Comics alone is staggering in not only its breadth and diversity of subject matter, but in the consistency of quality he maintained. No detail ever seemed to be overlooked or fudged.
Dark Shadows #11
Period clothes and cars and carriages and ships, as well as animals and dinosaurs of every type were all meticulously and accurately rendered. Architecture, whether historically accurate or completely made up for whatever science-fiction book he was covering was always completely believable. Likenesses, like Jonathan Frid’s Barnabas Collins were always on-point. He modeled for many of his own covers and it’s always fun to spot him.
More than all of that, though, his imagination and design sense both awe and inspire me to this day. Whether depicting a narrative scene or an ethereal montage of story elements, his covers always caught your attention, both through composition and one of the most imaginative and varied color senses I’ve ever seen.
The Twilight Zone #45
He understood his palette so well that he could play colors off each other that never should have worked, yet did every time. He could be subtle and subdued for historical subjects or psychedelically insane when required.
And he did this month after month on dozens of covers for books as wide ranging as Dark Shadows, Doctor Solar, Grimm’s Ghost Stories, M.A.R.S. Patrol, Magnus: Robot Fighter, Mighty Samson, The Phantom, Star Trek, Turok, Tarzan, Voyage to the Bottom Of The Sea, and so many more. The list is seemingly endless. Add to this his enormous catalog of paperback and magazine work and it becomes almost impossible to understand how he did it.
Tarzan #163
I’ve heard his work for Gold Key described as looking like comps for finished cover paintings, and that offends me for him. Look at any of the examples I’m including and tell me these aren’t masterfully imagined, designed and executed works of art, all done on a constant schedule that I don’t believe anyone today would even attempt to match.
He has been one of my inspirations throughout my career and I cannot fathom how no publisher has ever found him worthy of a dedicated art book. Seriously, where is The Art of George Wilson? I think someone is overlooking a best-seller and guaranteed Eisner nomination.
Here are 10 more…
Twilight Zone #43
Star Trek #19
Turok #25
Time Tunnel #1
Dr. Spektor #7
Dr. Solar, Man of the Atom #17
Magnus, Robot Fighter #13
Mighty Samson #15
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea #5
Four Color #1120
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MORE
— JOHN BUSCEMA: A Birthday Appreciation, by JOE JUSKO. Click here.
— The TOP 13 OVERSTREET PRICE GUIDE Covers Ever, by JOE JUSKO. Click here.
March 28, 2021
Those are some amazing covers. Thanks for sharing.
March 28, 2021
Wow! I had just discovered the SUPERCAR covers he did. I love the DOCTOR SOLAR covers. I had no idea he did so many different Gold Key covers. To me as a young buyer/reader it was usually disappointing that the interior art (by someone else) did not come close to the quality of the covers.
March 28, 2021
Really great covers. Great stuff
March 28, 2021
I had never heard of George Wilson before – but I had seen his work! Fantastic artist. Yeah, he should get a lot more attention and recognition than he has. That’s an amazing body of work!
March 28, 2021
I think George Wilson is my favorite cover artist of all time (maybe neck-and-neck with Joe Kubert). Everytime I mention George Wilson’s name, 95% of the time it’s a dazed response. When I mention “painted Gold Key covers,” then a light bulb goes off (or else it’s “Gold Key?”, sigh). God, his art is so amazing. I so want an Art of George Wilson book too. There is a two-page interview with him in Comic Book Artist #22 where he came across as extremely humble and sort of shocked that he had fans who would track him down.
March 28, 2021
For those who wish to read it, I’ve posted that Comic Book Artist interview on my Facebook page along with this article.
March 28, 2021
What? No Gold Key Phantom covers made the cut? I totally respect Joe Jusko’s art and his eye for good art, but IMHO at least a couple of Wilson’s covers from The Phantom series should have been included too.
March 28, 2021
I sent over a few dozen covers with the article. I had no decision in which were chosen. Thanks for the compliment on my art.
March 29, 2021
And you very likely may have even had difficulty choosing the few dozen to send, as Wilson’s painted covers were that great. But, as an aside, I must add here that a favorite piece of my collection is the large uncut, foil-embossed Phantom (Inkworks) trading card sheet by one Joe Jusko. Enjoyed the article.
March 28, 2021
Joe sent me a ton of covers and I picked 13 representative ones. Given Wilson’s body of work, inevitably some titles would be left out.
March 29, 2021
I certainly understand. My post was more about expressing my appreciation for Wilson’s Phantom covers and definitely not a complaint against the presentation. Appreciate 13th Dimension, Dan, especially in that you choose to celebrate comics and creators rather than immerse the site in industry drama as other comic news sites do.
March 28, 2021
TOTALLY agree a coffee table GW book would be amazing..but what’s the story on the copyright of all the covers? Does anyone have a contact for the Wilson estate? Any ideas as to the whereabouts of the original paintings or rough sketches etc etc. Taschen would be my choice for publisher as their art book quality is unsurpassed…
March 29, 2021
The coolest thing about those Wilson Gold Key covers, is that they almost always printed the cover art WITHOUT any text on the back cover!
April 1, 2021
This is a wonderful tribute to an artist I want to know more about, by an artist’s whose work I greatly admire as well. I would definitely buy a coffee table book of Wilson’s work.
January 2, 2022
That Occult Files of Dr. Spektor is one of the first comics I remember. I love how the jaw separates from the skull because of Spektor’s punch. Great stuff!
July 2, 2023
Wonderful!!! I remember a lot of these comics! I may have two or three! And I was brought here by a link in 13th Dimension, July 2023 talking about the new Wilson coffee table book coming out!