Comics News

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

Published

5 years ago

August 25, 2021

Admin

No.80: Dan DeCarlo

Dan DeCarlo is the artist who can only be described as the definitive illustrator for teen comics as well as men’s magazine cartoons – even if you’re not aware of his work, you’re still familiar with it through the thousands of stories and cartoons he drew over several decades. Words: Andrew Colman…

DeCarlo was immediately assigned the humour title Jeanie by Stan Lee, before moving on to Millie the Model, a series that became one of the longest-lasting at the publisher. He drew Millie for ten years, with the character spinning off into other titles, her tenure at what became Marvel continuing until the 1970s.

Even more significantly, it was his work at Archie Comics that would cement his place in pop culture. Having freelanced for the publisher in the early 1950s, DeCarlo quickly became synonymous with its stable of characters such as Archie, Jughead, Betty and Veronica, while also providing new ones throughout his decades long association with it. His cartoonish artwork established the “house style” for the Archie franchise, his creations (Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Josie and the Pussycats) proving to be very successful as Archie transitioned into the 60s and 70s and the era of T.V. spinoffs. He would continue to work at the publisher for many years.

He was also famous for his risqué “girlie” cartoons for the Saturday Evening Post, Argosy and Marvel publisher Martin Goodman’s Humorama, a series of digests featuring pinup art and humour. What Archie’s line of books could only hint at became somewhat more overt in these publications, but needless to say original art for these is highly valued in the marketplace, and does feature his best work. Overall, the award-winning DeCarlo was a master of the form and the best known artist in this genre, and deserves his place in fandom’s esteem.