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Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.89: Matt Baker
No.89: Matt Baker
Fandom has, in the last two or three decades, caught up with the immense talent that was Matt Baker – an artist who died at the age of 37, barely a year before the Silver Age of comics got into full swing. Unlike many Golden Age artists, Baker had formal training, and very quickly found work at the Iger Studio, where he inked comics that were packaged for various comic companies. Words: Andrew Colman…
Initially at Fiction House, working on jungle-themed titles such as Jumbo Comics, Baker rapidly became known as an artist who specialised in drawing realistic yet idealised women, his switch to and overhaul of Fox’s Phantom Lady proving to be an inspired move that produced a series of highly-treasured iconic covers of the glamorous super-heroine.
Baker was an anomaly in the comics industry throughout the Golden Age and 1950s, which were his best period. He was the sole African-American illustrator in this era, while his refined, subtle and precise pencils, especially for the covers of St. John Publications’ line of romance books (generally referred to in the hobby as Good Girl Art) were a standout in the genre. These titles, such as Pictorial Romances, Teen-Age Romances, Teen-Age Temptations, True-Love Pictorial, Wartime Romances, Amazing Ghost Stories (a rare foray into horror) and Diary Secrets have become hugely sought after by collectors, who rightly consider Baker to be the definitive artist of the GGA sub-genre. His work for St. John was sophisticated, nuanced and exuded depth, his beguiling illustrations of 1950s women both garish and understated. He also co-created Voodah, the first black hero in comics.
His art throughout his time at St. John was consistently superb, his later work at Marvel’s 50s iteration Atlas (on the publisher’s western, science-fiction and romance titles) more anonymous and lesser known in fandom. His art probably wouldn’t have suited the dynamics of super-hero books, but as with Joe Maneely, we’ll never know. Either way he remains a hugely influential figure with modern artists such as Dave Stevens and Adam Hughes.
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Read the first twelve entries so far here too
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.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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