Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.86: Paul Gustavson

No.86: Paul Gustavson

One of the cornerstones of the early Golden Age, when the new medium was beginning to find its feet, Paul Gustavson brought a raft of excellent work, characters and classic covers that were crucial and highly sought after by fans…

Starting at Chesler in 1939, a packager of comics that eventually morphed into a publisher, Gustavson rubbed shoulders with some of the leading lights of the period, notably Jack Cole, Fred Guardineer and crime comic pioneer Charles Biro. From there he moved to Funnies Inc., another packager, where he created, wrote and drew an eight page story featuring a character called The Angel, in Marvel Comics 1. While at Funnies Inc. he also supplied work for early Golden Age publisher Centaur, creating and drawing A-Man and the Arrow. His covers for the publisher, such as Amazing Man 22, 23, and Funny Pages 39 – 42 (amongst others) are classics of the era.

In 1941 Gustavson moved to another key Golden Age publisher, Quality Comics, where he produced probably his best work, creating The Human Bomb in Police Comics 1, along with Alias The Spider in Crack Comics and the Jester in Smash Comics. His art by this point had become more dynamic, ambitious and stylised, his storytelling far more professional. Along with Jack Cole, he was the main talent at Quality during the 1940s, also working on Uncle Sam, Blackhawk and Kid Eternity. He continued to work in comics until the late 1950s, having made an indelible mark on the medium.

AC

Read the first fourteen entries so far here too

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.87: George Evans

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.88: Michael Golden

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.89: Matt Baker

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.90: Todd McFarlane

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.91: Fiona Staples

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.92: Carl Barks

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.93: Carmine Infantino

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.94: Alan Davis

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.95: CC Beck

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.96: Syd Shores

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.97: Bob Fujitani

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.98: Tim Sale

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.99: Jim Aparo

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