Today’s Guest: Arlen Schumer, comic book historian, author of The Silver Age of Comic Book Art
Watch this exclusive Mr. Media interview with Arlen Schumer by clicking on the video player above!
Mr. Media is recorded live before a studio audience full of comic book fans prone to arguing because only they can determine who the best artists truly were… in the NEW new media capital of the world… St. Petersburg, Florida!
Wanna give your eyeballs a real treat?
Pick up a copy of Arlen Schumer’s The Silver Age of Comic Book Art – which was recently released in a revised edition – and turn to any page. And I mean any page.
Wherever your eyes go, they will discover a stunningly well curated tour through the DC and Marvel pop art of the 1960s — the word balloons now filled not with superhero dialogue but with fine art narrative and discussion from Schumer and the artists themselves.
ARLEN SCHUMER podcast excerpt: “Why did Gene Colan make the cut over some other artists? Gene Colan, in his short Marvel career in 1966, does pretty definitive versions of three major characters: Sub-Mariner. Iron Man and Daredevil — and you can even add his Doctor Strange — the only Doctor Strange that can be spoken about on the same level as Steve Ditko’s. And that’s high praise.”
Here’s Steve Ditko on his ethereal Doctor Strange images: “Style is not what you do, but how you handle it… Whatever I draw doesn’t have to look like anything that ever existed.”
Think The Flash looks pretty cool as depicted on The CW TV series? Check out Carmine Infantino’s take on the Scarlet Speedster in the 1960s and hear about him in the artist’s own words: “Movement – that’s what The Flash was all about, that’s what made the character! He was tough to do because of the constant speed! Every page, I’d have constant motion! Even when it was quiet, you’d need motion!”
ARLEN SCHUMER podcast excerpt: “What the book is about is me paying homage to these great artists, the period, and trying to do the only book of its type. My feeling is that this is the only way to do it because comics are words AND pictures. The fact that all history books before mine were word-heavy with little reproductions — that’s not true to what comics are themselves!”
Speaking of TV, would ABC have ever invested in “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” if Jim Steranko hadn’t made Nick Fury so damn cool?
“When I took S.H.I.E.L.D. on,” Steranko says, “Fury was simply an older version of his wartime persona: rumpled, cigar-chomping, unshaven… I cleaned him up, gave him the kinky, black leather zipsuit rippling with clips, buttons, cartridge belts, and the shoulder holster – so he could compete visually with Marvel’s superheroes. I gave him a personality and a sex life.”
I’m telling you, True Believers, you gotta get this book.
So who is Arlen Schumer? He’s a graphic designer, a comic book historian, and a member of the Society of Illustrators, one who makes his living creating comic book-style illustrations for advertising and editorial usage.
Arlen Schumer Website • Facebook • Twitter • Tumblr • YouTube • LinkedIn • Order The Silver Age of Comic Book Art from Amazon.com
The Party Authority in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland!
“Oh the pain,….the pain!” – Dr. Smith LOST IN SPACE
First off, I own a copy of the first edition of THE SILVER AGE OF COMIC ART and it’s definitely a keeper. If there is a revised edition it should be on the must buy list. Also, I completely agree with the authors logical discernment on choosing the A list and B List artists.
Now to why I’m commenting
Ouch! About 18 minutes in I have a sharp pain in my back as Dashin Don Heck is disparaged mightly! Not that he needs a defense but, to review for those who came in late, Don was the main artist at Comic Media on their horror and war line in the early 1950s. In the mid-1950s he was sought out personally by Stan Lee and hired over to be one of the main artist on the then Atlas comics line, along with a few folks you may know; Steve Ditko, Jack Kirby, Dick Ayers, Joe Sinnot, and Joe Maneely.
After the Atlas implosion in the late 1950 where Stan Lee had to lay off the staff due to low sales, when he stared back up Heck was one of the first people he called.
This began his integral involvement in what became the Marvel Age of Comics!
Don co-created Iron Man, Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Wonder Man. In the late 1960s he began to ghost the daily newspaper strip for Lee Falk, The Phantom. He was a favorite artist of Jack Kirby, John Buscema, and Neal Adams. In the1970’s he moved over to DC Comics where he worked on the marquee monthly titles of the Flash, Justice League of America and Wonder Woman for eleven years.
Persoanl taste is to each their own. But I think that quick bio proves, at least to my knowledge, that the guy can flat out draw!
Excelsior! John
Nothing but respect for a man who defends his idols, John! Thanks for taking the time to comment!
Bob, LOL. And thanks for taking my post in the spirit it was submitted. Keep up the great work. Love the programs! JC