Tuesday, August 3, 2010

FOUR COLOR No. 573, July 1954

Both cover and interior art for this issue of Four Color is the work of Don Gunn, whose years as a Disney animator (late 1930s and early 1940s) are certainly put to lovely use here.

According to the inducks.org entry, Gunn worked for many comics companies, including Fawcett, American Comics Group, and Standard Comics; but his longest affiliation was with Western Publishing and Dell (1945 -1957) where he drew mainly Disney and Warner Brothers characters. Mr. Gunn passed away in 1972.

These last two pages are from the inside covers, both front and back. Dell often did black & white pages like these. They were done without color to save money, I imagine; but the fringe benefit for us fans is that we get a clear look at an artist's brushwork. Again - Gunn's Disney background is evident.

8 comments:

  1. Now this is some art one can really sink one's teeth into~! Wonderful textures and realistic gravity, reminiscent of woodcuts & lithographs~! Thanx for posting~!

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  2. Lysdexicuss: Excellent observations! I was struggling to explain what I loved about Gunn's art, and finally gave up. You said what I should have said!

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  3. I still don't understand how the numbering worked at Dell. But I've decided I want all 4,000 issues of 4-Color!

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  4. jeff: Much falls under the title "Four Color." Within that title - many series were included. For a glimpse of what was included, go to Grand Comic Book Database (see sidebar for Comic Book Resources) and search FOUR COLOR.

    And, yes, you should get them all!

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  5. Wow, another book I never would have picked up with some great hidden treasure inside. You know, the combination of cartoony characters with slightly more realistically rendered animals and backgrounds made me think of Jeff Smith's Bone series. (especially just glancing at the thumbnails, it really jumps out) It's so evident Smith had a huge Walt Kelly influence on his art, I sometimes completely forget his animation background.

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  6. Doug: This reminds me of Kelly, too. I hadn't thought of Smith, but now that you say it . . .!

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  7. Excellent post Mykal, this is one I've always wondered about... BEAUTIFUL art!!

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  8. Karswell: I have more Gunn in the works! It is beautiful stuff, I agree.

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