Ron Harris Draws!

[ronharrisdraws-blog]

MAUREEN MARINE! Young Maureen stows away on her father’s fishing boat. A Nazi submarine attacks, killing the boat’s crew. Cast adrift, the girl is saved from drowning by Father Neptune himself, who grants Maureen the ability to breathe underwater. As the only female in the kingdom of Atlantis, Maureen is drafted to replace the city’s dying Queen.

Maureen reigned for five stories, one in each issue of Rural Home’s Blue Circle Comics. She served mostly as a strategist in Atlantis’ war with the evil Miromen. Except for using sea creatures as transport, Maureen’s world is much like the surface: somehow the Atlanteans even drink toasts from glasses. The series’ main attraction is the appealing art by pulp illustrator Harold DeLay.

Want to commission a drawing of your favorite obscurity? Message me.

[ronharrisdraws-blog]

SPRING-HEELED JILL! Not a Golden Age character (1980s), but offbeat enough to warrant mention. This British costumed heroine, from Debbie magazine, operated in Victorian London. By day Jillian Smith is a typist for the Police Department. In her off hours she fights crime wearing a decidedly un-Victorian super-suit. The costume grants her enhanced vision, the power to make prodigious leaps, and the ability to scale walls. Jill was the female version of an earlier hero, Spring-Heeled Jack (originally Spring-Heeled Jackson). Jill shared Jack’s abilities, backstory, locale, and supporting characters,. However the two didn’t exist in the same universe.

While her official name was Spring-Heeled Jill, the public didn’t seem to know that. Characters in the stories usually referred to her as “The Fog Leaper.”

[ronharrisdraws-blog]

GHOST GALLERY WIP. Another page of my version of an old Fiction House story. Halfway there!

[ronharrisdraws-blog]

What, another CAT-MAN?! We’ve met Centaur’s Cat Man, the cross-dressing ex-con with a poisoned pussycat; and Holyoke/Temerson’s costumed crimefighter who teamed with a girl sidekick, Kitten. There was a third Cat-Man. This gentleman was in fact the original incarnation of the Holyoke hero.

Raised by tigers, David Wentworth inherited powers like super-strength, super-hearing, and night vision. His eyes could glow like searchlights. Best of all, he literally had nine lives. A few moments after being killed, Cat-Man would rise again and pick up where he left off. Considering that he burned through two lives in two adventures, prospects of a long-running series were dim.

As it was Cat-Man only appeared in a couple of stories before disappearing. About a year later he was re-booted into the better-known orange-suited crimebuster. This version retained the origin story but dumped the searchlight eyes and the nine lives.

Want to commission a drawing of your favorite hero? Message me.

[ronharrisdraws-blog]

AZTEC ACE KICKSTARTER NOW ACTIVE! (Yes, I know you’ve seen her before!)

Many of you remember fondly Doug Moench's eclectic time-travel saga, Aztec Ace, published by Eclipse in the 1980s. Drew Ford, editor of the U.S.S. Stevens and The Puma collections, is Kickstarting a project to reprint the entire 15-issue run in one deluxe volume. I was fortunate to do a little work on the series (finishes on one issue and inks on two more). Major art contributors included Michael Bair (then Hernandez), Nestor Redondo, and Dan Day. Doug's intricate script was an irresistible combination of science fiction, super-heroics, history, popular culture, and a good deal of wit. Time-hop over  to this link:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/922494658/aztec-ace-the-complete-collection-by-doug-moench

to check out the presentation. The campaign ends on 29 June 2018. Feel free to kick in a few bucks!

[ronharrisdraws-blog]

THE EYE! The Eye was a giant floating, talking eye which exacted justice from evildoers.  He (she? it?) warned and counseled victims while thwarting criminal enterprises. He also delivered doom-laden speeches. The Eye was able to emit paralyzing and destructive rays, move objects and negate gravity. Later in the series’ run, The Eye teamed up with detective Jack Barrister. In these stories The Eye acted strictly in an advisory capacity. Barrister became the lead character and did all the legwork.

The Eye was a creation of pioneer comics artist Frank Thomas. In issue 151 of Alter Ego magazine Michael Gilbert recounts Thomas’ career using material supplied by the artist’s daughter.

[ronharrisdraws-blog]

THE SORCERESS OF ZOOM! Though this Fox Comics bad girl made 18 appearances in Weird Comics, the creators never could settle on a costume. What was a veil in one episode looked like hair in another,. Heaven knows what those things on her head were. Sometimes they looked like bananas, other times like giant almonds. The Sorceress tooled around in a cloud city called Zoom. Mostly she fought rival sorcerers for magical artifacts. However she spent a great deal of time kidnapping hunky guys  and punishing their girlfriends when they objected. In one memorable instance the poor girl was turned into a fire hydrant.

The Sorceress also liked to collect slaves, whom she alternately murdered or put to work doing things she could just as easily have done with her magic.

Have a favorite Golden Age bad girl? Message me to commission a drawing.

[ronharrisdraws-blog]

WIP: GHOST GALLERY! Finished another page of my re-imagining of a 1940s Fiction House script.

Created in Manga Studio EX5. As I learn it better, I’m becoming quite fond of this program. My only major complaint is its text handling. In Photoshop text reformats automatically as you change the proportions of a text block. In Manga Studio you must reformat text a line at a time by inserting or deleting returns and spaces.

[ronharrisdraws-blog]

TNT TODD, another early (1939) superhero from Centaur Publishing, was created by Ecuadorian-American cartoonist Victor Pazmiño. Todd began his career as an “ace G-Man.” One day he mixed T.N.T. with Magnetic X-19, producing a gas that gave him the power to blow things up. The gas also allowed him to fly.

Wearing a steel suit, he blew up gangsters and saboteurs for two episodes before vanishing. He probably blew himself up.

A later Centaur hero, T.N.T., was not related. Incidentally, TNT never appeared in color. In early Centaur titles half the interior pages were in black plus a color (usually red).  I gave him a typical Golden Age color scheme.

[ronharrisdraws-blog]

WIP GHOST GALLERY! Another page of my reimagining a Fiction House story from the 1940s. No dialogue--have to save something for the finished story.

Created in Manga Studio EX5.

[ronharrisdraws-blog]

THE BOUNCER! This odd superhero was an early creation of legendary comic book writer/editor Robert Kanigher, who hatched more than one weird concept during his long career. The Bouncer was originally a statue of the mythological character Antaeus (Anteas in the comic), sculpted by his modern-day descendant Anteas Jr. Junior shared his ancestor’s vaguely-defined superpowers, such as the ability to leap tall buildings in a single bound and to bash holes through solid rock.  Another unusual feature was that in many stories the pair were accompanied by real-life kids who had won a write-in contest.

Have your own favorite oddball hero? Message me to commission a drawing.

[ronharrisdraws-blog]

WIP: MORE GHOST GALLERY! Another page of my take on a vintage Fiction House script. Allllllmost finished (still some color to do).

[ronharrisdraws-blog]

THE ORIGINAL CAT MAN! Barton Stone takes the rap for his fellow crooks and serves twenty years in stir. During that time his wife dies in destitution while his pals thrive. Upon his release, Stone extracts vengeance. He dresses as a harmless old lady and carries a cat with poisoned claws. After murdering each of his ex-comrades The Cat Man kills off a notorious gangster and (apparently) retires from the biz.

Centaur was an early comics publisher active from 1938 to 1942. Among its oddball characters were Dr Hypno, Speed Centaur (a real centaur), TNT Todd, The Voice, The Blue Lady, and of course The Cat Man. He/She made two appearances one year before the debut of the more famous Cat Man. The artist was Tarpe “Miss Fury” Mills.

[ronharrisdraws-blog]

WORK IN PROGRESS: ROD RIAN. Rod Rian is a super-obscure space hero from the early days of Dell Comics. I did an 8-page revival for the first issue of InDELLible Comics’ Popular Comics #1. This is part of a stalled second episode.

[ronharrisdraws-blog]

WORK IN PROGRESS: GHOST GALLERY. The first page of a project in which I provide new art for a Fiction House story from the 1940s. Produced with Manga Studio 5EX.

[ronharrisdraws-blog]

BRIDGET from AZTEC ACE! I did this drawing as a premium for the upcoming Kickstarter campaign to reprint Doug Moench’s cult series from the 80s.

I’ll draw your favorite obscure character. Message me if you’'re interested in a commission.

[ronharrisdraws-blog]

CATMAN and THE KITTEN smile for the camera.

I’ll draw your favorite Golden Age obscurity. Message me if you’d like to commission a drawing.