Most Underappreciated comic?

[KnightRandom]

What good comic do you think doesn't get enough appreciation?  I'm getting to be a big fan of the ACG horror books.  Even in the pre-code days they had an entertainingly oddball quality to them.  (I haven't read a lot of the post-code ACG stuff yet, Herbie's debut aside.)  Richard Hughes's stories had a bunch of memorably loopy high concepts.  Adventures into the Unknown #26, for instance, had a story about werewolves who eat the spirits of the dead and another with a ghost that was itself haunted by a creature from the 5th Dimension.  They also had some underrated artists like King Ward and Edvard Moritz (who drew some wonderfully moody covers for the early issues of Adventures into the Unknown).  And of course there were a handful of really beautiful stories by Al Williamson and/or Frank Frazetta.  (Am I the only one who likes Frazetta's comic book work better than his fantasy art?)

[Ami_GFX]

One I've discovered recently is Al Walker's Norge Benson from Planet Comics 12-22. The art is just gorgeous and the stories are hilarious. The artists that succeded Walker never quite got the feel for it the way Walker did.

[narfstar]

Boody Roger's Sparky Watts is appreciated, and for those who do I suggest the quicky Jim Dandy from Lev Gleason/Comic House

[Yoc]

I started a topic much like this back on GAC - 'You Gotta See This - recommended scans on DCM'
Here's my first post from it -
Hi Gang,
I was thinking today 'I bet there is a TON of fantastic scans on this site I'd never even think to check out for whatever reason.'
There should be a thread for people to point out particular favourites - artist, writers, covers, characters, anything!

Only rule - the scans have to be on DCM already - and please post a link if you know how or list the title and publisher.

So EVERYONE - PLEASE, if you've found anything on DCM that excites you enough to say 'Wow, this is great!' please post a message about it.  DCM has so many scans now we can't possibly know everything that is on the site.  I know I sure don't!

Cases in point - OtherEric's Peter Wheat books with lovely Walt Kelly art. There's also the great Basil Wolverton work in Black Diamond Western doing BingBang Buster.

I found one earlier today I didn't know about - that's coming up next!

-Yoc
Idea monkey

[Yoc]

My next recommendation -
I don't know about you guys but I grew up drooling over Dan DeCarlo's Betty and Veronica.

I was thrilled to learn not that long ago he did work for other publishers as well using his trademark style.

Today, I discovered his 'Yardbirds' and later 'Wendy the WAF' for Ziff Davis' "GI JOE".

The features appear between GI Joe v1 010 to GI Joe v2 09

[Yoc]

There were other recommendations but I don't want to step on the posters toes.  I hope they redo their posts as well -

Another from me -
Of course fans of Frazetta can find several examples of his early comics works on the site just by doing a search for 'Frazetta' on the main site.
Some recent additions were very nice - Personal Love 024, 025 and 027 from the JVJ Collection, scans by OtherEric.
Both can be found here - http://tinyurl.com/yh6ut7t

-Yoc

[OtherEric]

JVJ deserves the credit on the Personal Love issues, Yoc.  I just scanned them.

I've said this several times, but there are quite a few Romance books that deserve attention just because of the stunning art; even if you don't want to actually read the story.  We have quite a few romance books with Matt Baker art as well that are very much worth a look.

[darkmark (RIP)]

And while we're at it, how about those great Eisneresque stories of Dr. Drew in RANGERS COMICS?  They've been credited either to Jerry Grandenetti or the Eisner Shop (both are possible), and if you ain't seen 'em, you're gonna positively DROOL over them!

They / he also did two Senorita Rio stories in FIGHT that are VERY Spirit-like.  Don't remember the numbers.

[Poztron]

It has always seemed to me that Lev Gleason's Crime Does Not Pay hasn't gotten the appreciation it deserves. The title was always a target of Wertham and other critics and I just wrote it off for years as not worth checking out. But thanks to GAC and DCM, I've come to enjoy the book. Charles Biro and crew generally delivered a quality product. Yes, I wouldn't encourage an 8-year old to read the title, but I think it was really aimed at late teens and adults.

Downside: stories were often word-heavy and some of the art could be pretty stiff (I'm thinking of Guardineer, for instance). But the stories often rose to a film noir level and you can find some excellent art by Maurer, Tuska, Palais, and Fuje, among others. Check out #39 and #41 for work from both Maurer and Palais, for example.

[darkmark (RIP)]

Well, I might mention DAREDEVIL COMICS #83, in which the Little Wise Guys tackle the heinous villain, Spike Dork!

[darkmark (RIP)]

Btw, the Eisneresque Senorita Rio stories are in FIGHT COMICS #65 and 66.

[jfglade]

 The past few days I've been reading and re-reading Magazine Enterprise's "Avenger," "Strongman," and "Jet Powers" titles, and I think they are first rate material, both in terms of the writing and the artwork. It is a pity they did not catch on.

 I also think some of the short-lived backup features in various Quality titles are wonderful, and am puzzled why characters like The Voice (a 150 year old "superhero," who subsists on a "herb food" which retards his aging (he barely looks seventy) and gives him super-strength), The Ace of Space (whose origin story anticipates the silver age Green Lantern's origin story in many particulars), USA ("The Spirit of Old Glory" and an underappreciate heroine), the Scarlet Seal (who is a police detective who disguises himself as a stereotypical Tong leader), and The Whistler (a reporter who puts on mask and battles crime using his unique ability to whistle the way a ventriloquist can talk (in other words he can "throw his whistle") only lasted from four to seven episodes and then disappeared.

 I do realise there is a chance my tastes are not catholic, but I still recomend the features I have mentioned.

[OtherEric]

One group of books that can be quite interesting, if not exactly good, are the Ajax superhero books from around 1955.  Phantom Lady, Wonder Boy, Samson, Flame, and I think one or two others.  They're somewhere between Golden Age and Silver Age and they tend to get lost in the cracks.  It's a mostly forgotten superhero blip but it's interesting to note.