Friday, June 05, 2009

Add It To My Want List: Captain Savage #16

I've only read a few of the early issues of Captain Savage and His Leatherneck Raiders and was not particularly impressed. I thought Gary Friedrich's stories were pretty derivative and the art team of Dick Ayers and Syd Shores left a lot to be desired. This was a time when artwork was exploding off the page, and these stories were incredibly flat. So, having been less than thrilled by what I'd seen of the series - I never bothered keeping and eye out for later issues. That was potentially a big mistake. I recently learned that the creative teams shifted slightly over the 19 issues. Towards the end, Arnold Drake wrote a few scripts and Don Heck pencilled a few issues. John Severin also came aboard as inker and cover artist. Now, I'm a big Heck fan and for the life of me, I cannot recall a time when I saw him inked by John Severin. That combination really intrigues me so I really want to track down this book. The next issue also features the Heck/Severin team, but Gary Friendrich is back as scripter. From Doom Patrol to Little Lulu, Arnold Drake never fails to entertain - so this is the one that I want.

5 comments:

Dan Bailey said...

Y'know, until I read this just now & then checked the creator credits at Lone Star Comics, I just assumed that Severin had taken over the inks about midway through the run, rather than only 4 ishes from the end. I guess, though, that merely reflects my deep esteem for #10, which he did ink, & which I remember listing as something like my 6th favorite comic in the inaugural 12 Days of Christmas (though we had only 10 that first time around ...) thread on the Classics Forum.

Makes me wonder why he handled that one, rather than Shores. (I agree that the Ayers/Shores team was, umm, sort of utilitarian, though not enough so to keep me from buying all the ishes as they came out, starting with #2.)

Scott M said...

Dan - how is the Heck/Severin team? Is it worth tracking down?

You're the biggest Severin expert I know - has he inked Heck elsewhere?

Booksteve said...

The earliy issues with the creation of Hydra were quite good, actually!

Dan Bailey said...

Well, duh. I've kept forgetting to drag down my Sgt. Fury/Capt. Savage short box so I can eyeball the art. (The only excuse I can come up with is that it's in the far corner of a shelf in one of my bedroom closets [both contain far more comics than clothes ... it's pretty obvious where my priorities lie, I suppose], rather than as the centerpiece of the shrine it ought to occupy, especially since it's the only box containing series that are *not* in chronological order -- that is, normally I'd follow Fury with whatever series Marvel came out with immediately after it.)

To answer your other question, though -- if Severin ever inked Heck anywhere else, I'm not aware of it.

Dan Bailey said...

*Finally* dug into the box in question ... In any event, one interesting thing about this one is that I'd swear on a stack of Sgt. Furys that Syd Shores inked the splash & possibly pages 2 or 3 as well (& if it wasn't him on 2 & 3, there's a decent chance it was someone besides Severin). After that, Severin's typically overpowering inks take over -- there's very little evidence of Heck's pencils to be found.