The celebrated Mr. K pays a BIRTHDAY SALUTE to a Golden Age great…
By PAUL KUPPERBERG
Reed Crandall (February 22, 1917 – September 13, 1982) is probably best remembered for his groundbreaking work as one of the legendary EC Comics crew of the 1950s, but for more than a decade before that and 20 years after, the Indiana-born artist created a large body of superior work for others, including Quality Comics (where he co-created Firebrand in Police Comics #1), the Eisner Studio, Atlas, Classics Illustrated, Treasure Comics, Warren Publishing, Tower Comics and DC.
A Wikipedia citation reminded me that Crandall got a call-out by fictitious artists discussing the EC Comics line in Michael Chabon’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (2000):
“They are not doing kid stuff over there. They have the top artists. They have Crandall. I know you always liked him.”
“Crandall is the top, no doubt.”
Crandall was the top. He did dozens of stories for EC, creating unforgettable visuals in every genre, from crime and horror to suspense and adventure. For Quality, he drew Uncle Sam, Doll Man, the Ray, the aforementioned Firebrand, Kid Eternity, Captain Triumph, and, of course, Blackhawk. For Marvel, his work could be found on Captain America and in scores of Western, war, horror, and adventure titles.
My first encounters with the work of Reed Crandall was in Flash Gordon #7 (King Features, July 1967) and the handful of stories he did for Wally Wood in Tower Comics’ T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, and I was soon following him in the black-and-white Warren magazines, where beginning with Creepy #1 (1964), he would continue contributing until illness forced him to stop drawing in 1974. There are those who would say those 1960s stories in Creepy, Eerie and Blazing Combat were some of Crandall’s best work. I find that hard to argue.
In addition to his work in comics, Crandall also found success as a commercial illustrator, producing artwork for advertising campaigns, book covers and movie posters, including a series of stunning cover and interior illustrations for a run of Edgar Rice Burroughs books published by Canaveral Press.
There’s so much good stuff it’s hard to know where to look, but a perusal of his work online reminded me of one particular favorite of mine, so here then… MY 13 FAVORITE REED CRANDALL BLACKHAWK COVERS:
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November 1942
April 1943
Spring 1948
June 1948
October 1948
February 1949
August 1949
November 1950
June 1951
August 1951
November 1951
September 1952
April 1953
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MORE
— 13 COVERS: A REED CRANDALL Birthday Celebration. Click here.
— INSIDE LOOK: REED CRANDALL’S EC STORIES Artist’s Edition. Click here.
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PAUL KUPPERBERG was a Silver Age fan who grew up to become a Bronze Age comic book creator, writer of Superman, the Doom Patrol, and Green Lantern, creator of Arion Lord of Atlantis, Checkmate, and Takion, and slayer of Aquababy, Archie, and Vigilante. He is the Harvey and Eisner Award nominated writer of Archie Comics’ Life with Archie, and his YA novel Kevin was nominated for a GLAAD media award and won a Scribe Award from the IAMTW. Now, as a Post-Modern Age gray eminence, Paul spends a lot of time looking back in his columns for 13th Dimension and in books such as Direct Conversations: Talks with Fellow DC Comics Bronze Age Creators and Direct Comments: Comic Book Creators in Their own Words.
You can support the Kickstarter for his latest project, Direct Creativity: The Creators Who Inspired the Creators. Click here.
February 28, 2024
The War Wheel was a cool concept.