Iron Skull 💀- the Golden Age Reimagined

 
 

I have recently been on a Golden Age Comics kick. Specifically studying the works of Bill Everett, June Tarpé Mills, Paul Gustavson, and Carl Burgos. 

For this piece I have reimagined the Carl Burgos character of the Iron Skull first appearing in Amazing Man Comics #5 from Centaur Publishing in September of 1939.

Iron Skull was an unnamed solider injured during a World War II that lasted into the 1950s. He was rebuilt into a cyborg super solider at an Army Hospital in Chicago, one of the theaters of the war. This alternate history WWII not only went longer than the real war it also made it to the United States leaving parts of the country war torn much like Europe. 

The continuity of the series was a bit spotty, but it was set in an alternate 1970s more than ten years into reconstruction post war. Iron Skull operates like a freelance private eye/vigilante cyborg taking on high tech crimes. 

The alternate “future” timeline of 1970s America is, to me, the most interesting part of this character and the most ripe for exploration and reimagining. To this end I have created this piece recasting the Iron Skull as a 1970s action sci-fi thriller. A sort of Dirty Harry and Mad Max meets Robocop. 

For photo reference I used images from the films Johnny Got His Gun, Westworld, Dirty Harry, and THX 1138.

#pulp2pixel #fanart #publicdomainsuperheroes #goldenagecomics #comicbooks #digitalart #movieposter #johnnygothisgun #dirtyharry #thx1138 #westworld #carlburgos #ironskull #centaurpublishing

Miss Fury - A Tribute to June Tarpé Mills

Since there are so many prompt lists out there each October I like to pick and choose from each sometimes combining prompts from multiple lists/days.

For this years activities I am kicking it off with the Cartoonist Kayfabe prompt for #kayfabetober Golden Age

To represent the Golden Age of comics I am doing a tribute to one of these few female cartoonists of the Golden Age, June Tarpé Mills. While she had created characters such as the Purple Zombie, Daredevil Barry Finn, and Mann of India by far her most famous character was Miss Fury. Miss Fury (originally titled Black Fury) ran as a syndicated newspaper comic strip for April 1941 to December 1951. The strip was full of action, adventure, and romance. The strip would introduce elements of contemporary fashion design to the work as well as more progressive ideas about the roles of women in society. Particularly, Marla Drake would adopt a young boy being a single unwed mother. A fact that got a few newspapers to drop the trip.

Personally, I love her art work. I first came across it about two years ago and was blown away. Her inclusion of fashion and her rendering of the female form easily puts her in the ranks of the good girl artists of the era. Her inclusion of fashion in her work is also very clear and beautiful.

Learn more about her and her work at https://www.tarpemills.com/

#pulp2pixel #fanart #digitalart #goldenagecomics #tarpémills #tarpemills #comicart #comictrips #comicbooks #missfury #comics