OT: Bob Powell (Continued)

[Geezil]

For anybody else here who recalls the long-ago GAC thread that turned at one point from Willard Bowsky's legendary malcontented behavior to Bob Powell's (http://twomorrows.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=55&products_id=414) legendary malcontented behavior, note that the link at left will get you to a synopsis of the current issue of Alter Ego magazine. It's got a pretty thorough overview of Powell's comics career, from the early 1940s through his 1966-67 swan song to the medium, the dreaded "Henry Brewster" (scroll down here for a sample). (http://www.misterkitty.org/extras/stupidcovers/stupidcomics12.html) And your nearest full-service comics shop can likely get you a copy if you'd rather not wait for the mails. :D Check it out!

[lonesome-lenny]

I know this is totally OT, this post, but "Henry Brewster" is a TERRIFIC comic book! Powell appears to have written the comic, as well, and it's filled with unique narrative touches and very dry humor. It's a really overlooked gem from the mid-'60s.

I'm curious to see this "Alter Ego" with its article on Powell's behavior. Thanks for the tip.

[Geezil]

I know this is totally OT, this post, but "Henry Brewster" is a TERRIFIC comic book! Powell appears to have written the comic, as well, and it's filled with unique narrative touches and very dry humor. It's a really overlooked gem from the mid-'60s.

I'm curious to see this "Alter Ego" with its article on Powell's behavior. Thanks for the tip.

You're very welcome. And BTW, I was only funnin' about that "dreaded" bit (it seemed to go best with the mood of the Web page to which that paragraph linked next, and which site I have no direct connection with whatsoever)! ;) Full disclosure, then: I once owned all seven issues of "Henry Brewster" and enjoyed reading them too. Even No. 7, in which Secret Agent Syndrome took its full hold on the cast of characters (for good or ill), and which, as we now know, provided the final cap to Powell's career.

Also, just to be totally clear, the current magazine doesn't dwell more than a tiny bit on Powell's behavior, happily focusing instead on the highest points of his entire body of comics and comics-related work.

[lonesome-lenny]

...just to be totally clear, the current magazine doesn't dwell more than a tiny bit on Powell's behavior, happily focusing instead on the highest points of his entire body of comics and comics-related work.

I'm glad to know that! It has become fashionable to lionize cartoonists for their personality quirks (Jack Cole, Wally Wood, etc), which does a dis-service to the work they left behind.

Bob Powell did great work in comics for 30-odd years. I once owned a copy of the 1939 WONDER COMICS #1, publ. by Fox, which also had early stories by Eisner and Bob Kane in it. It had a neat-looking Bob Powell story--the earliest signed work of his I've ever seen.

I particularly like Powell's '50s material. He was at the top of his form then, with tremendous draftsmanship and storytelling skills to the fore.

A nifty Bob Powell comic that can be had for a reasonable sum is his 1951 MAJOR INAPAK THE SPACE ACE giveaway. It's beautifully rendered and a lot of fun to peruse.

I only have two of the HENRY BREWSTERs, and I've always got my eyes out for the others...