Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Harvey Eisenberg: The "Hanna-Barbera Man!"

Let's enjoy a whole mess of Harvey Eisenberg and his great take on the charactrers of Hanna-Barbera. Mr. Eisenberg has been called the "Carl Barks of Hanna-Barabera," and it isn't hard to see why judging by these following stories featuring HB favorites, Huckelberry Hound, Mr. Jinx W/ Pixie and Dixie (one of my favorite cartoon teams); and Yogi Bear and sidekick, Boo Boo Bear. These stories come from Four Color No. 990, May-July 1959.

14 comments:

  1. This was the first Huckleberry Hound comic book! The inside cover page introduces the characters.

    Thanks for sharing this!

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  2. Scarecrow33: If memory serves, "Badge 13 3/4" was also the first Huckleberry Hound cartoon!

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  3. Thanks for sharing. HB had some great character designs back then.

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  4. Heh. Harvey's re-doing "Huckleberry Hound Meets Wee Willie" and "Lion-Hearted Huck" and Pixie and Dixie in "Cousin Tex."

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  5. Yowp: Thanks for your HB expertise. I love all three of these cartoons, particularly "Huckleberry Hound Meets Wee Willie" I thought it was one of the funniest Hucks.

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  6. Check out YOWP! Great stuff about Hanna-Barbera cartoons!

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  7. This stuff is pure gold, Mykal!

    I just love the feeling of depth Harvey got in his pages, as well as his masterful handling of the characters. Do you know if he inked his own work?

    They truly, TRULY, don't make 'em like this anymore...

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  8. Bill: Eisenberg was so great. That depth of field you mention is so true. I look at that first splash panel in that first story - the feeling of speed, the perspective so that the car seems to be jumping off the page - all so subtle but so powerful.

    Yes, I believe he inked all his own stuff - or at least this stuff.

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  9. I would hesitate to make comparisons between Carl Barks and this. Barks was one of the all-time greatest storytellers and artists, and the only other work I'd put in the same league is Floyd Gottfredson's Mickey Mouse newspaper strips and Don Rosa's Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck miniseries. That said, this work is good fun and solidly drawn.

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  10. Debbie: No arguments here about the status of Barks, Gottfredson, or Rosa. Very, very few in comic book history can match the storytelling talent of any one of those three. All Hall-of-Fame-great. Rosa, in particular, never fails to floor me. He kind of sneaks up on you because it's hard to see his work as separate from Barks - but once it becomes something on its own in your mind - wow!

    I think it's true, though, that Eisenberg's work is identified with Hanna-Barbera material as strongly as is Barks with Disney material. For me, his work comes in a notch or two above "solid." The comic book Hall of Fame has to include him, too.

    Thanks for commenting!

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  11. You're completely right, Mykal.
    Harvey Eisenberg was more for Hanna-Barbera, so as Carl Barks was more for Disney.

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  12. Sweet! I love Hanna-Barberra stuff and these comics are really great! I especially liked the big, dopey gorilla in the first comic(he's too funny! :D)

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