Customer Reviews

The Classic Pin-Up Art of Jack Cole

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Fans of Jack Cole's Plastic Man should do themselves a favor and seek this book out. These one-panel gags foreshadow the work Cole would do for Playboy in the 1950's. The line art, is of course, extraordinary but his experiments with ink wash really leap off the page. Cole's gals are breathtaking. As Art Speigelman noted, "Cole's goddesses were estrogen souffles who mesmerized the ineffectual saps who lusted after them." I admit that I too was mesmerized flipping through the pages of this book. The gags are sometimes weak but Cole himself admitted that after having drawn comic books for so long he had to re-learn the art of the one-panel gag. Fortunately, this period drawing gags for the Humorama line helped him develop the talent needed to become Playboy's pre-eminent cartoonist in the early days. Alex Chun did a good job in condensing Cole's life down to a few pages. Which means more room for Cole's art!

A few things to note. The book says Quality Comics later became DC Comics, however, when Quality folded they were actually purchased by DC and absorbed into their line-up. The editorial review above states that Playboy was Cole's last professional gig before his untimely death but in actuality he created the syndicated newspaper strip Betsy and Me in the final year of his life. It was being published in nearly 50 papers at the time of his death.

I personally loved this book. I am a huge Jack Cole fan and enjoyed all of the gags in the book.

If you are a fan if gag cartoons, don't pass this up.

I wish it was in colors. Only 2 pages are printed in colors. It's sad because his color arrangement is powerful and missing in this book. Still nice to own.