RE-DISCOVERING ROBERT MAGUIRE

To celebrate Jim Silke's book tribute to the art of master pulp cover painter Robert Maguire, Dames, Dolls and Gun Molls, you will find below an excerpt from an interview with Maguire, published at the American Art Archives. The full article is a must-read:

"Why did I leave the paperback business? I got out ’98, ’99. They wanted the paintings to look just like photographs -- couldn’t even tell from the brush strokes. They didn’t want me to paint like me anymore. Can you imagine? By that time I was supposed to be well known, but these people (publishers) had no clue. Basically, the sales force became the most powerful element. If a book sold well, the next 4 or 5 books had to be just like it. There’s no future in that. Not every artist has a great new idea all the time, but frequently they do! And they fired the good art directors (too much money) and hired second-string art directors who didn’t have any real clout with the publisher. The good art directors could take a young artist and help mold him."

It’s impossible to imagine that publishers didn’t want Robert Maguire to paint like Robert Maguire. From the late 40s, sporadically through the sixties, and back with a vengeance from the 70s on, Maguire’s paperback covers sold books far more than the books’ authors or titles. His ability to capture a sexy girl, often holding a gun, a knife, or even a voodoo doll, is instantly obvious. His women were always intriguing, whether the world was crashing around them or whether they were in decisive control. Each is glamour-page gorgeous. But talent for curvy dames was bolstered by a knack for dramatic action, bold and exotic colors, and striking throws of hues and shadows; these enticed millions of readers to do what they were supposed to do: buy the books.

Maguire often set his women against some muted slab-gray background or low-key pattern of jagged screens, but just as often he stood them out against deathly greens, bloody reds, or morguish blues. Of course, basic black also served him well, as for what has become a signature piece, Black Opium (C.I. note: This painting is considered by many as the definitive crime noir paperback cover):

RED SONJA WALLPAPER & SKETCH GALLERY

With the rumormill spinning around an upcoming Red Sonja film, starring Rose McGowan and produced by Robert Rodriguez, Clueless Insider celebrates everyone's favorite female barbarian with her first wallpaper gallery, with a mix of vintage and new, featuring some of the horniest artists in the business. For print lovers, outstanding Red Sonja illustrations can be found in the gorgeous hard cover volume, The Art of Red Sonja. All wallpapers 1024 x 768.

The sensual books of Brandstudio Press

Time for another blatant, yet extremely well deserved plug. The fellows at Brandstudio Press, founded by our good friend Alberto Ruiz, have been doing a smashing job publishing some of the nicest illustration books available in the U.S. market today. Fans of pin-up art, fantasy comics and sexy animation will be tempted to blow their life savings collecting each hardbound volume. Their books are available at selected comic book stores and online, but the most popular ones tend to sell out faster than a Nigerian politician. To check out whatever stock they might have available, visit them at Brandstudiopress.com. In the meantime, check out some selected pictures straight out of their glossy pages here.

Dean Yeagle and Mandy

(Check out the Dean Yeagle sketches and Mandy wallpaper gallery here!)

Dean Yeagle is a wonderful cartoonist and animator, famous for his sexy Playboy gags and pin-up art. His most treasured creation is Mandy, an innocent and care-free young girl, seemingly oblivious to her sexual impact. Dean has published six books, filled with sketches and scenes capturing intimate and sensual everyday moments of Mandy's simple life: Scribblings 1, 2, and 3, One Mandy Morning, Mandy's Shorts, and The Mandy Portrait Gallery. He has even produced an instructional DVD on Designing Mandy for budding artists. Fans can drop Dean a line or order his books directly from him at dabeagle@aol.com. He will be glad to provide a list of available titles and prices.

Robert Valley: Comics on X

(Robert Valley wallpaper and sketches gallery!)

Robert Valley is comics on extasy. Hard-hitting urban sequential art. His books, Massive Swerve 1 & 2, are sexy, rugged, violent and utterly unique. His short animation film (also entitled Massive Swerve) is as close as you will get to experiencing an Ibiza rave, unless, of course, you've been to an Ibiza rave. Check out the selected art gallery here, stop by his web site and discover this insane artist. Then, go to Ibiza and see if you can come back drawing like Robert. (DISCLAIMER: Nothing in this posting shall be interpreted as implying that Mr. Valley produces art under the influence of substances other than those considered legal by both the Canadian and U.S. governments)

Heroes' artist Tim Sale

All those moody paintings featured in the TV show Heroes are the work of comic book great Tim Sale. Tim was already known to fans worldwide for his landmark collaborations with writer (and Heroes co-executive producer) Jeph Loeb. Their partnership thrives in the exploration of the mythology of some of the most iconic super heroes of Marvel and DC, creating out-of-continuity tales, often set in the characters' early years. Tim's style is unmistakable and definitely a throw-back to romantic pulp-fiction and film noir, with bold brush strokes, shadows, large cinematic panels and fluid renditions of wicked, sultry female characters. Two books, the lavishly illustrated and insightful Tim Sale Black and White, covering his life and work, and the sexy Tim Sale Pin-ups, featuring fabulous sketches of obvious nature, are now available. His best graphic novels with Jeph Loeb include Batman's The Long Halloween and Dark Victory, Catwoman's When in Rome, Spiderman Blue and Daredevil Yellow. Tim's web site is worth a long visit.

Happy 10th anniversary, Danger Girl!

(See some of my favorite J. Scott Campbell wallpapers & sketches here!)

What do you get when you cross a goat with a lizard? I have no idea. Don't care. But when you cross James Bond, Charlie's Angels, Indiana Jones and Tomb Raider, you get Danger Girl. Andy Hartnell (story) and J. Scott Campbell, an artist renowned for his curvaceous female characters and dynamic action sequences, published in 1998 their finest work to date. No one since has created a more fun, over-the-top and campy comic book in this genre. The original series ran for seven issues, followed by a number of one-shots and mini-series by other artists, along with some special editions and a gorgeous sketchbook. All the stories have been reprinted in convenient trade paperbacks, which is a good thing, considering that at this past Comicon in San Diego some 9.8, 9.9 cgc-graded* issues of the original series sold for well over $1000 (original cover price: $2,50). Beat that, Google stock.

*Sorry for the comic lingo. That means the issues were never breathed upon, nor exposed to the earth's atmosphere or sunlight by the collector who bought them.

Frank Cho's Jungle Queens

(See Frank Cho wallpapers & sketches here!)

Frank Cho is the creator of the often-censored strip Liberty Meadows, which chronicles the hijinks of a veterinarian, Looney Tunes-like talking animals and two of the most curvaceous women in comics. Don't ask. The damn thing just works. Frank's obvious gift for rendering the female figure in a way that should grant him the job of God's assistant in heaven, has led him to numerous gigs at Marvel and others. A fan of old matinee adventure pictures and pulp fiction, with a soft spot for giant monkeys and dinosaurs, Frank is at his finest drawing stories of prehistoric and barbarian ultra-women from a time where Wal-Mart hadn't made clothes so affordable and semi-nudity was the norm. His Shanna mini-series made even velociraptors look sassy. Now, our friends at Brandstudio Press have released a magnificent compilation of his best women & dinosaurs illustrations, Frank Cho's Jungle Queens, but it would appear this limited edition sold out before hitting the stands. Go to Brandstudio or Google the book and see if you can trade your first born to get your hands on a copy.