Here is another of John Buscema's excellent solo jobs for Dell Comics of the 1950s. THE VIKINGS was a popular movie in 1958, and while Buscema didn't try to capture any of the actors' likenesses (probably since he was just given a script written from the screenplay long before the movie was released), his dynamic artwork is perfect for the material. As he showed a couple of decades later in CONAN, Buscema had a way with sword swinging heroes and beautiful girls, both of which he gets to show in this Dell Movie Classic.In March we featured another Dell Movie Classic by Buscema, THE SEVENTH VOYAGE OF SINBAD.
Many thanks to the anonymous scanner who posted THE VIKINGS online. By Odin, internet scans are there for the plundering!
THE VIKINGS Copyright © 1958 Kirk Douglas Productions
The only think I had against these series was that the coloring was too simplistic, too bold. It was just not needed to use so many primary colors.
ReplyDeleteCheers!
Steven G. Willis
XOWComics.com
Once the artwork left the artist's hands, even if he put instructions to the colorist in the margins, he could only cross his fingers that the job would end up looking halfway decent. After his job was done he was at the mercy of the production people.
ReplyDeleteShades of Hal Foster! Wow, Buscema was the man. I will always believe he was the best artist in the Marvel Bullpen. The colors are a bit "stained glass", but still - WOW, look at how Buscema draws water on page 14 and 15. Great post! I have to find some of Buscema's Dell work for my Kids' blog.
ReplyDeletewho inked this? do you think it was buscema himself? looks a bit like colletta to me...Great book! Great find! I'd never heard of it--thought i knew them all! I'm delighted to find that there are still big surprises to be found! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteBuscema not only didn't bother with drawing likenesses of the actors, he neglected to use the film's plot. The story here is totally different!
ReplyDeleteBack when this was done, it wasn't possible to get much subtlety in the color. And color just wasn't considered to be that important. Most comics were simply colored by coloring all the main character the assigned colors and adding whatever background color popped them. Few artists did their own color. This was basically the style of the times. But I really don't think it harms John's great pencils.
ReplyDeleteI tend to agree. The colors in this comic seem garish, but as with most collectors who've read comic books for years know, you just look beyond the colors at the artwork.
ReplyDeleteYou had to pay for actor's likenesses, which would have made the book prohibitively expensive to produce. Company decision, not Buscema's. Neither was the script.
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