Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.14: Alex Raymond

No.14: Alex Raymond

Perhaps more than any artist whose work intersected with comics’ golden age, Alex Raymond was the most swiped from, primarily by journeymen artists turning over pages for demanding arriviste publishers, but also by many who would go on to be leading lights in the industry as well. Effectively the template artist for science-fiction, crime, adventure and espionage comics, Raymond’s work brought style, elegance, mood and a sense of realism to the medium that would have a perennial effect and influence over the ensuing decades. Words: Andrew Colman…

After taking a course at the Grand Central School of Art in his late teens, Raymond served his apprenticeship at Hearst’s King Features, where he would assist and then ghost for artists such as Chic Young, on Blondie. After several years Raymond was considered to be the most talented artist on board at the company, and was subsequently tasked with coming up with three new strips by Hearst as competition for other newspapers’ properties. In 1934 Raymond debuted Flash Gordon as a challenger to Buck Rogers in the 25^th Century, and the strip proved to be an immediate and long-lasting success, the character quickly becoming an icon both in comics and cinema. Raymond’s artwork was already of a very high and filmic standard, and Flash Gordon was always going to be a shoo-in for the movie studios, with several classic adaptations featuring Buster Crabbe in the 1930s, while its reach continued to the 70s and 80s, with George Lucas acknowledging it as a major influence on Star Wars. Raymond’s versatility was the key here, with his virtuoso ability to illustrate action scenes, close-ups, widescreen framing, alien worlds, elaborately detailed costumes, convincing villains and claustrophobic space rockets – all key elements of science-fiction cinema.

Amongst Raymond’s other key strips was Jungle Jim (a direct counterpart to United Feature Syndicate’s Tarzan), which also was turned into a movie serial, starring, ironically, Johnny Weissmuller, who was synonymous with Tarzan during that era. There was also the Dick Tracy – ish series Secret Agent X-9, featuring writers such as Leslie Charteris and Dashiel Hammett, which was a more left field effort. However, Raymond left the strip within a year to focus on Flash Gordon.

After serving in the U.S. army towards the end of World War 2, Raymond returned home, keen to resume his career on Flash Gordon and Jungle Jim, but found that his replacements at King Features had been contracted on both strips for several years. With his wartime experiences leaving him a changed and more serious man, he was given the option to start a new strip, echoing his earlier espionage series, Rip Kirby. Raymond’s new strip, billed as the first modern detective, owed little to any predecessors however, with all fantasy and genre elements excised, his protagonist fighting crime through detection, skill and intellect. Thematically Rip Kirby existed in an all too real world, but was still a refined, glamorous figure. Raymond’s subtly excellent art here reflected this new milieu, with the artist developing a finer line and using black and white for noirish, dramatic effect.

Alex Raymond could’ve brought much more to the table but for his untimely death at the age of 46 in 1956. A man who exuded the medium and considered it an art form on a par with any other in pop culture, Raymond was one of its true pioneers, influencing masters such as Will Eisner and Frank Frazetta, innovative firebrands like Neal Adams, not to mention classic Silver Age pencillers like Gil Kane and John Buscema. The Golden and Atom Ages would’ve been quite different without his footprint, while his art has inspired many acolytes across the globe, including such key British artists as Frank Hampson, whose 1950s Dan Dare strip owed a considerable debt not just to Flash Gordon, but the working methods used by Raymond. Without question Alex Raymond was the artist’s artist, who along with contemporaries Hogarth, Foster and Canniff, laid the foundations and raised the bar for what became the American comics industry.

Here’s links through to the other entries in our 101 Greatest so far as well

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.15: Harvey Kurtzman

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.16: Walter Simonson

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.17: Russ Heath

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.18: Bill Sienkiewicz

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.19: Jack Cole

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.20: Bernie Krigstein

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.21: Graham Ingels

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.22: Al Williamson

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.23: Barry Windsor-Smith

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.24: Alex Ross

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.25: John Byrne

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.26: Mike Mignola

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.27: Basil Wolverton

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.28: Howard Chaykin

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.29: Moebius

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.30: Dave Gibbons

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.31: Creig Flessel

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.32: Milt Caniff

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.34: Burne Hogarth

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.35: LB Cole

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.37: Bill Everett

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.38: Robert Crumb

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.39: Mac Raboy

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.41: Jim Starlin

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.42: Mike Zeck

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.43: Adam Hughes

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.44: Daniel Clowes

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.45: Gene Colan

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.46: George Perez

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.47: Michael William Kaluta

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.48: Cary Nord

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.49: Frank Quitely

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.50: Mike Ploog

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.51: Johnny Craig

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.52: Darwyn Cooke

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.53: Steve Dillon

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.54: Gil Kane

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.55: Michael Zulli

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.56: John Romita

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.57: Joe Maneely

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.58: Marshall Rogers

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.59: John Severin

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.60: Alex Toth

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.61: Brian Bolland

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.62: David Mazzuchelli

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.63 Reed Crandall

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.64 Harry Anderson

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.65 Nick Cardy

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.66 Matt Wagner

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.67 Bryan Hitch

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.68 Shawn Martinbrough

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.69 Al Feldstein

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.70 Nestor Redondo

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.71 Tarpe Mills

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.72 Eduardo Risso

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.73 JH Williams III

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.74 Irv Novick

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.75 Dan Zolnerowich

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.76 Gilbert Shelton

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.77 Tommy Lee Edwards

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.78: Sean Phillips

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.79: Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.80: Dan DeCarlo

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.81: Marie Severin

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.82: John Paul Leon

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.83: Jim Lee

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.84: Denys Cowan

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.85: Ross Andru

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

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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