Artist of the Day - DAN DECARLO

This Dan DeCarlo book is amazing. Dan DeCarlo is best known for his 40+ years of work on Archie comics. However his pin-up cartoons of the 50s and 60s are absolutely amazing and boast a naughty sense of humour that you wouldn't expect when looking at the Archie-like characters. (there is also a surprising amount of nudity and near-nudity in his early work) These are selections from the old Humorama girlie magazine (1956-1963) which apparently featured Betty Page photography and other famous artists doing one panel strips, such as the creator of Plastic Man, Jack Cole, Bill Wenzel, and those by DeCarlo which were often penned by Stan "the Man" Lee. This book is third in a series from Fantagraphics celebrating these artists' pin-up work. (the preceding two were The Classic Pin-Up Art of Jack Cole, and The Glamour Girls of Bill Ward.)

Unfortunately a rights issue over Josie and the Pussycats emerged around the time of the film adaptation and DeCarlo was fired by the company he helped to create and give visual identity to. He died not long after from a heart attack at the age of 82, in 2001.

Samples from the shown Dan DeCarlo book above can be found here.

Classified under: Dan DeCarlo,comics,art