Flash Gordon, Union Carbide Shill
by Jeet Heer
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
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I’m fascinated by the on-going process whereby old commercial comics are being reclaimed by revisionist critics. I’m thinking here particularly of Dan’s writings on Wally Wood and Hal Foster, not to mention the Art Out of Time/Art In Time books. I’m wondering if every journeyman artist can so easily be recuperated.
Al Williamson presents an interesting test case. On the pro side, one could argue that Williamson was to Alex Raymond what Alex Toth was to Milton Caniff and Noel Sickles. Toth took the Sickles/Caniff style and whittled it down to a powerful blunt instrument. Just so, Williamson absorbed Raymond’s already elegant line-work and refined it to the nth degree.
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