Scorchy Smith And The Art Of Noel Sickles [Hardcover]

Noel Sickles (Author), Bruce Canwell (Author), Dean Mullaney (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 30, 2008

Noel Sickles drew comics for three brief years, yet his groundbreaking work on the 1930s aviation adventure series Scorchy Smith is a milestone in the history of newspaper comic strips. Over the past 70 years, however, readers have seen only occasional excerpts of this seminal work. Now, IDW's Library of American Comics presents Scorchy Smith and The Art of Noel Sickles, a comprehensive, oversized volume that collects, for the first time, every Sickles Scorchy strip, from December 1933 through November 1936.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Few current comics fans know his name or work, and he drew comics for only three years, yet Sickles’ influence contradicts his obscurity. In late 1933, he took over the newspaper adventure strip Scorchy Smith, and after initially aping his predecessor’s crude style, developed a visual approach marked by chiaroscuro and cinematic techniques that would sweep the comics pages. Milton Caniff, who shared a studio with Sickles, would take the style to greater commercial success in Terry and the Pirates. As for Sickles, he abandoned comics in 1936 and devoted the remaining four decades of his career to magazine illustration, advertising, and other commercial art. This massive volume is comprised of two sections, each of which could be a separate book: a detailed biography of the artist by Bruce Canwell, accompanied by copious examples of his various kinds of work; and the complete run of Scorchy, here appearing between covers for the first time. Such lovingly lavish treatment has been accorded few cartoonists, but Sickles, despite his lack of renown, thoroughly warrants it. --Gordon Flagg

Product Details

• Hardcover: 394 pages
• Publisher: IDW Publishing (July 30, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1600102069
• ISBN-13: 978-1600102066
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 11.1 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #742,550 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Bruce Canwell is a writer and editor whose work has appeared in newspapers, magazines, comics, on-line, and in books. He is currently associate editor and lead writer for IDW Publishing's Library of American Comics imprint, which has earned multiple Eisner and Harvey Award nominations since its first release in 2007 and won Eisners in 2008, 2010, and 2011. Bruce resides in the greater Boston area and is often at Fenway Park or TD Bank Garden during Red Sox and Celtics seasons. His home is filled with books, books, and more books -- and strangely enough, he wishes he had even more time to devote to reading.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars At long last a fitting tribute to a classic illustrator, August 25, 2008

By 

M. Kreffel "Reader, Writer & Artist" (Indpls Indiana) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Scorchy Smith And The Art Of Noel Sickles (Hardcover)

Ever since discovering that Noel Sickles was Milton Caniff's inspirational, groundbreaking partner, I've been longing for someone to publish his story and experiences. I received my wish today with the arrival of Scorchy Smith and the Art of Noel Sickles. This is a massive, deluxe volume, covering almost every facet of Sickle's career. IDW reaches a new pinnacle in their collective works on the classic cartoonists and illustrators with this publication. It's chock full of illustrations from Sickle's career as an illustrator post Scorchy Smith, as well as early work.

I have the two volume set of Kitchen Sink Scorchy strips from the 1980s, and this volume outshines them completely. This is a large book, and absolutely stunning in layout, design and production.

If you have a soul and appreciation of the finest in comic strip art and classical illustration, don't hesitate another moment; order this book today! It's a sterling companion to the Terry and the Pirates series also published by IDW.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Art of Noel Sickles, September 4, 2008

By 

J. C. Cosgriff (SCHAUMBURG, IL United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Scorchy Smith And The Art Of Noel Sickles (Hardcover)

Have you ever received a book you've been looking forward to and been disappointed? Well, that defintely won't happen when you receive your copy of "Scorchy Smith and the Art of Noel Sickles"!

My first reaction when I opened up the book box was "WOW!" The book is so thick and finely produced (with coated paper and handy ribbon bookmark), that it feels substantial right out of the box.

My next reaction was "I had no idea Noel Sickles had such a body of work". The first half of the book is loaded with rare art, photos and biography, jammed with incredible illustration art you've never seen before. The second half is a (near) complete run of the classic "Scorchy Smith" comic strip, with the best reproduction yet for this amazing narrative.

Easily one of the books books on an illustrator/comic artist yet produced and a "must have" for fans of either genre. Congrats to Dean Mullaney and IDW Books for this terrific volume!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally a Quality Reprint of this Influential Comic Strip, November 21, 2008

By 

Allan Holtz (Lake County, FL) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Scorchy Smith And The Art Of Noel Sickles (Hardcover)

Noel Sickles never really had any great ambition to be a comic strip cartoonist, but nonetheless ended up being one of the most influential of the 20th century.

Scorchy Smith was an awful Associated Press aviation adventure strip penned by John Terry. Sickles called Terry the worst cartoonist ever, and he wasn't exaggerating much. When Terry became ill Sickles was given the thankless task of ghosting the strip in that horrible 'style'. Luckily for Sickles the ghosting period didn't last long, as Terry soon died. Sickles was then given free rein to experiment, and in the process he revolutionized the way adventure strips are drawn. Sickles is credited with popularizing the chiarascuro technique for adventure comic strips, a style that his buddy Milton Caniff more famously appropriated for his Terry and the Pirates. Sickles experimented endlessly in Scorchy, and this volume shows Sickles playing with various techniques, changing the look of the strip practically on a week by week basis.

Little fanfare has been given to Sickles writing talents. He famously disliked the process of writing the strip, and I expected therefore to have a hard slog reading through his entire three year stint. However, I was gratified to find that Sickles' writing was far better than I had been led to expect. His stories make good internal sense, a basic factor lacking in some highly celebrated strips, and one that keeps me from enjoying many adventure strips. His plots, according to essayist Bruce Canwell often loose adaptations of his favorite western movies, are entertaining and solid. His story pacing, especially after he became more comfortable with his assignment, is unhurried and full of little details, a refreshing change from the frenetic pace maintained by much of his competition. About the only oddity in the stories, and I'm surprised that his editors let him get away with it, is that aviation, the raison d'etre of the strip, is noticeably absent. While strips like Tailspin Tommy strictly constructed their stories around flying, Sickles' Scorchy stories rarely use the aviation angle in any meaningful way. Sometimes the only flying that happens is in the segue from one story to the next. The stories are better off, though, because the slavish imperative of sticking to genre makes strips like Tailspin Tommy quite a bore for those not fascinated by wind shear and the latest advances in de-icers.

The reproduction of the strips is miraculously excellent if I assume correctly that tearsheets had to be used as source material. The smaller papers that tended to use the Associated Press features seldom had excellent print quality, but the strips here look fantastic. Even the zipatone, very hard to reproduce well from tearsheets, is clear and sharp. I doff my Photoshopping hat to the work of the restorer on this project.

The book is a giant, weighing in at a whopping seven pounds. Not only do we get the complete Sickles run on Scorchy (plus a little of Terry and Christman to pad out story arcs) but there is an exhaustive biographical essay by Bruce Canwell. It is accompanied by an incredible array of Sickles work all the way from rare early pieces to his later commercial and fine art work. This section of the book, comprising over 130 pages, could easily have been published on its own to rave reviews from Sickles fans.