Month: September 2012 (page 1 of 4)

Found in the Collection: Marie Severin’s Incredible Hulk

Possibly one of the most underrated mainstream cartoonists of all time, Marie Severin took her first foray into comic book art at the age of 20 in 1949, and what followed was a groundbreaking career that would span all the way through the mid 2000s.

Marie Severin original, with co-creators Frank Giacoia and Gary Friedrich. Page 18 of ”Ring Around the Rhino!” from ”The Incredible Hulk” # 104, June 1968. From the International Museum of Cartoon Art Collection, The Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum (click to enlarge)

At her start in the 1950s for EC Comics, she was one of the only three women working for the company, including the receptionist. Marie could ink, color, pencil and letter like no other. After beginning at Marvel Comics in 1959, Severin worked on everything from The Incredible Hulk, Submariner, X-Men, The Amazing Spider-Man, Iron Man, Daredevil, and Not Brand Echh. Through Marvel‘s bankruptcy, personal health issues, the crush of the Comics Code Authority in the 50’s and the general struggle of being one of the few females in the industry during her time, Marie somehow managed to keep producing the highest quality work in the business for nearly 60 years.

We’re thrilled to have one original page by this legendary woman in our collection, shown above, as well as photostats she tinted for Roy Thomas for Kull. Long live Marie Severin!

Happy 143rd Birthday, Winsor McCay!

Tomorrow will mark the great Winsor McCay’s 143rd birthday, and as the proud home of the world’s largest public collection of McCay originals, we’re glad to give him a shout out.

Back in the infancy of our blog, we featured McCay’s Tale of the Jungle Imps and the story of how five of the fully hand-colored originals came to arrive at the Cartoon Library in 2006- the first known originals to ever resurface. However, those five breathtaking pieces are a small sampling of over 90 original McCay works that reside in our collection.

Among these, more than 20 of the original animation cels from McCay’s groundbreaking early animation from 1914, Gertie the Dinosaur, which paved the way for later animators like Walt Disney and the Fleischer brothers who would also employ lovable anthropomorphic creatures and animals as the stars of their cartoons.

Original Winsor McCay production drawing for “Gertie The Dinosaur”. From the Woody Gelman Collection, The Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum.

Original Winsor McCay production drawing for “Gertie the Dinosaur”. Gift of Mrs. Henrietta Adam Brotherton. The Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum.

Original Winsor McCay production drawing for “Gertie the Dinosaur”. Gift of Mrs. Henrietta Adam Brotherton. The Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum.

Our other McCay originals span almost the entirety of his cartooning career, including a large collection of pieces from Dream of the Rarebit Fiend, McCay’s editorial cartoons, A Pilgrim’s Progress, Hungry HenriettaLittle Sammy Sneeze and more.

McCay would use the same dinosaur character in his comic strips as well, as seen in the original below from Dino.

Winsor McCay original for “Dino”. From the Woody Gelman Collection, The Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum

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