Late, but worth mentioning, certainly worth marking. John Severin, one of the last of the EC greats passed away February 12th, aged 90. An stellar talent, his work featured for 60 years plus across so many genres, using many, many styles. Whether for EC with Two Fisted Tales and Frontline Combat, as one of Harvey Kurtzman’s go to art team on Mad magazine, providing a huge part of Cracked magazine’s output, right through to relatively recently with work at Dark Horse, Marvel, DC/Wildstorm, Severin’s work was always special, classic, beautiful.
There’s a full press statement from Severin’s family over at The Comics Beat, but this section, quoting Stan Lee stood out nicely:
“Long-‐time friend and former president and chairman of Marvel Comics, Stan Lee states, “He had an art style that was uniquely and distinctly his own.The minute you looked at his artwork you knew you were looking at a John Severin illustration; it could be no one else. Besides his inimitable style, there was a feeling of total authenticity to whatever he drew, whether it was a Western, a crime story, a superhero saga or a science fiction yarn. Not only was his penciling the very finest, but his inking, too, had a distinctive Severin touch that made every strip he rendered stand out like a winner”.”
Blazing Combat for EC Comics:
Varmint, written by Kurtzman, from Mad #1 1952 (Full strip here at Jeff Overturf’s blog)
Melvin, written by Kurtzman, from Mad #3 1952 (Full strip here at Jeff Overturf’s blog)
More recent Punisher work at Marvel:
And bang up to date: Feb 2011, Severin produced the art for Mignola’s Witchfinder. 89 years old. You try doing that. (Preview here at CBR)
February 18th, 2012 at 7:42 pm
“Last of the EC greats”? Next to last is more like it, since the unarguably great Jack Davis is still with us.
February 18th, 2012 at 8:31 pm
Oops. Absolutely right – changed in the main text – thanks.