Superboy -Fifties and Sixties

in the Fifties and Sixties
updated12/14/05
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As the decade shifted, Superboy's artistic mainstays continued to be John Sikela and Curt Swan. Other artists also occasionally contributed Superboy art including Wayne Boring and Al Plastino

Wayne Boring 1916-87

"Around the World With Superboy" by Wayne Boring and Win Mortimer? from Superboy 7, 1950

Al Plastino from Superboy 6 Jan-Feb 1960

Al Plastino (b. 1921) came to DC in 1948 and began drawing Superman immediately. Early on his sole contribution to Superboy was in covers. However beginning in late 1957 he began to draw stories also. One of his main contribution's to the Superman legend was drawing the very first appearance of the Legion of Super-Heroes in Adventure Comics 247 in April 1958. He continued drawing Superboy up until Mort Weisinger turned over the editing to Murray Boltinoff in 1968.

Win Mortimer (1919-97) .worked on several Superboy stories in the late 40's, as well as Superman and Batman. His primary contribution was as a cover artist, as well as drawing the Superman daily strip in the early fifties.	Win Mortimer artwork from Adventure 117.
Adventure 161 by Win Mortimer	Adventure 168 (Sept 1951) by Win Mortimer (yes, that's Lana's kid brother, Ronald)

John Sikela from Superboy 69, Dec 1958, "How Superboy Learned to Fly" by Otto Binder

John Sikela 1907-98 continued to draw Superboy stories up to 1960. Of Shuster's original ghosts, only Wayne Boring outlasted him. I'm not quite sure when he and Ed Dobrotka stopped working together . Probably before 1955. All the classic stories Sikela did in the early Silver Age appear to have be self- inked.

Creig Flessel (b.1912) one of the founding artists of DC comics, Creig did Detective Comics covers before Batman! Later he worked on the original Sandman and the Shining Knight. Despite many indexes and fanzines to the contrary, Creig never inked Curt Swan's work and contributed pencils to only a handful of Superboy stories in the late fifties. His style is much looser than most of the DC pencillers of this era and shows greater use of brushwork, a variety of line weight and a closer attention to facial expressions.

Creig Flessel from Superboy 72 "The Flying Girl of Smallville" by Jerry Coleman

Creig Flessel and Stan Kaye from from Superboy 64 "Lana Lang's Super Birthday" by Alvin Schwartz, April 1958

George Papp (1916-89) was one of the earliest artists at DC, doing fillers and cartoons in some of the early Superman issues. He co-created Green Arrow with editor Mort Weisinger and worked on that strip continuously (except for the war) until he took over Superboy from John Sikela when he retired in 1958 and continued pencilling and inking stories up until 1967. He also did an occasional Jimmy Olsen story and may have inked a few of Curt Swan's Superboy stories.

George Papp from Superboy 90 "Pete Ross's Super- Secret by Robert Bernstein, 1961

George Papp and Chic Stone from Superboy 141 "No Mercy for A Hero" by Leo Dorfman 1967

Chic Stone (1923-2000) worked on Fawcett's Captain Marvel in 1940-41 and then moved through most of the major comic book companies. He inked many of Jack Kirby's seminal efforts in the Marvel Age of comics and also worked on ACG's Nemesis and Tower's T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents. He pencilled and inked one story in Superman 203 in 1968. He inked Superboy over George Papp's pencils for about a year in 1967-8, having been brought in to give the book more of a Marvel look. He also ghosted Batman for Bob Kane about the same time for the same reason. Wally Harrington owns the original art for Superboy 141 and verified Stone's work on this issue.

In Superboy 145, Frank Springer (b. 1929) took over the inking chores over George Papp's pencils, in a special turning point issue that also saw Ma and Pa Kent rejuvenated. It was to be almost Papp's final issue, however, as DC began shuffling artists and revamping its image to try to compete with Marvel. Springer did a lot of work for Dell in the Sixties before coming to DC, where his main claims to fame was Secret Six. He also ghosted a number of newspaper strips, including On Stage and the Heart of Juliet Jones.

The Fantastic Faces by E. Nelson Bridwell, George Papp and Frank Springer
Superboy 145 March 1968

"The Stranger Who Stalked Smallville" by Frank Robbins, Bob Brown and Jack Abel
Superboy 150, September 1968

Beginning with Superboy 149 Murray Boltinoff became editor of Superboy. His stories for the most part featured credits. Bob Brown (1915-77) took over the art on the strip and ushered in a new era of artistic excellence for the Boy of Steel. His initial inker was Jack Abel (1927-96), who was also inking Curt Swan's work on the Legion of Super Heroes and providing a crisp stylishness to both features.

Brown's career with DC went back into the early fifties when he did Vigilante and later Challengers of the Unknown and Space Ranger. He spent the last years of his career doing Daredevil for Marvel.

With issue 153 Wally Wood (1927-81) took over the inks and did 8 issues. Wood had started his career with Will Eisner on the Spirit and contributed to the famed EC comics line including a long stint with Mad in the fifties. He also inked Jack Kirby's Challengers of the Unknown and Sky Masters. He redesigned Daredevil for Marvel and designed most of the characters in Tower's Thunder Agents. Etc. etc. etc....

"Challenge of the Cosmic Invaders" by Frank Robbins, Bob Brown and Wally Wood.
Superboy 153- Jan 1969

"Reform School Rebel" by Frank Robbins, Bob Brown and Mike Esposito
Superboy 163, March 1970

Mike Esposito (b. 1927) was the next inker, beginning in early 1970. Esposito had spent most of his career partnering with Ross Andru on strips like Wonder Woman and the Metal Men. Since Andru had gone to Marvel, Esposito was branching out into inking other artists, including Curt Swan's Superman.

Murphy Anderson (b 1926) took over the inks from Mike Esposito beginning with Superboy 167 and inked the series up until its completion in Superboy 197. Anderson was also inking most of Curt Swan's Superman stories at this time.

"Leave Us Or We Perish" by Frank Robbins, Bob Brown, and Murphy Anderson
from Superboy 168, September 1970

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