blastaar's uploads

[OtherEric]

Sparkling Stars is just one of the most oddball books I've ever seen.  It had a huge page count for the price, and the features are just semi-random at times, it seems.  It's also one of the cheapest GA titles out there; it had a bit of everything and nobody seems to want the back issues if the prices they go for is any indication.

[blastaar]

I don't think there's a single artist in the entire run that anyone but a specialist would recognize today, except maybe some early (and to me unrecognizable) Carmine Infantino and some early and dreadful Mel Lazarus (his brother Hal does a fair amount of reasonable work in the series, but he's hardly collectable).  And you're right, they're a miscellany of mostly generic features.  I like 'em myself, but then I'm something of an aficionado of third-rate filler ("The A.W. Nugent Story" is out there waiting to be written). 

Still, you can see why they'd look like a pretty good reading bargain for a dime at a time when page counts were shrinking and comics were getting overrun by ads.

[OtherEric]

I would call A. W. Nugent at LEAST 2nd tier, possibly even (very low) first.  But yeah, he's hardly the most collectible name out there.  He really was the master of the Puzzle Page filler, though!

[JVJ (RIP)]

How about Morris Weiss, blastaar?

And the Debunker artist? Now THERE'S a guy I want to identify!

Actually, since you mentioned Infantino, I'll toss in Al Ulmer and Ray Willner. They are both at Sparkling Stars and both pretty good, IMHO.

(|:{>

[blastaar]

Agreed that there's some decent work in the series.  I'd submit, though, that anyone who considers A.W. Nugent to be a big name is by definition a "specialist" (the guy doesn't even get his own Wikipedia page.)    I'm thinking of names you could toss out on a Comics Journal message board and get more than a blank stare, or that would make the e-mail blurb at Heritage Auctions.

Personally, my favorite of the bunch is the funny animal work of Ellis Chambers.  The stories themselves range from inane to not-quite-inane, but I just like the rakish air he always brings to his drawings.  I also have a soft spot for Howard Larsen, whose figures have a kind of blunt Beanie Babies look around the edges.  And yeah, "The Debunker" is one in a million--I think I prefer not knowing anything about him so I can make up stories about him in my head.  Right now I have him as quite a bit older than the comic-book-artist generation of the '40s, an alcoholic, and a somewhat cranky guy, (although I no doubt get that from the fact that he specialized in those "everything you know is wrong" true-fact features).

And I'll be doing whatever I can to bring the artistic stylings of Herman C. Browner to the attention of the discerning public.   

[OtherEric]

Fair enough.  I sometimes forget just how much I actually know about comics, compared to even the average GA collector.

I would have though AW Nugent was worth at least a small Wikipedia page; I don't know enough about him to write it myself, though.

[blastaar]

I think that's the humbling effect of research--it always feels to me like the deeper I get into a subject, what I really learn is how much I still don't know.  Then I talk to a normal person about it and they look at me like, "Wow, you actually care about this stuff, don't you?"

Somebody really needs to write "A.W. Nugent: King of Filler"--I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

And you know, JVJ, that "They're just comic books" attitude could really get you into trouble around here.  If you weren't the patron saint of online comics scanning, that is. 

[blastaar]

Inspired to edit raws by our inspiring conversation:

Just posted JVJ's Sparkling Stars #18 to the Holyoke section. c2c, 68 pages + JVJ's info.

[blastaar]

Just posted: Sparkling Stars #13, missing cf, 64 0f 68 pages + JVJ info.

[Yoc]

Thanks again B!

[blastaar]

Just added Sparkling Stars #3, c2c 68 pages +JVJ's info.

[rangerhouse]

Thanks Look great...

Odd,  Ali Babba was also in Great Comics #3 (the one with Futuro)

[blastaar]

I think in that case the "master of the gigantic genie" is called (as the title has it) "Kid" Bagdad.  The artist there is the very interesting, both in style and in his personal story, Victor Pazmiņo (signed VEP).  I happened across this a while back:

http://timtimmons.wordpress.com/2009/07/09/a-cartoonist-in-the-family/

The Sparkling Stars artist is, as usual for this feature, Harold (aka Hal or, as he signs here, Harry) Lazarus, brother of "Miss Peach" cartoonist Mel Lazarus.

[rangerhouse]

Great Info!!!

Your right Blastaar,  ......        This is a great Website.

[blastaar]

Just added to the Holyoke section: Sparkling Stars #2. c2c, 68 pages +JVJ's info.