"A caressing, torchy voice that enchants even the most hardened theater-goer, plus an astonishing beauty, make gorgeous Lena Horne one of the most exciting blues singers of our time. Her haunting style of singing has lifted this Brooklyn girl to the top of the nation's outstanding entertainers."
We missed a post due to illness here at the WFMU Comic Supplement, but we're back with a vengeance this week with all true-life stories of famous music and entertainment stars of yesteryear, as depicted oh-so-realistically in comic books of their day.
We've got six whole life stories to learn about so let's get right down to it; come and join us for non-fictional fun right after the jump!
Above right, the cover of Juke Box #2, which we'll be re-joining after a few stories from another book.
The cover art is by Allen Ulmer.
Now let's nip over to Famous Stars #6, Spring 1952, with a photo cover from the movie "Iron Man" (really!) starring Evelyn Keyes and Jeff Chandler.
I know you'll recognize the subjects of the next two features! First up, an unsigned but nicely-drawn piece about Gene Kelly:
And here's the back cover of that issue, with Gene-pal again:
Now we'll step back a bit to Famous Stars #4, from Ziff-Davis, the May-June 1951 number with Jane Russell and Robert Mitchum on the cover as they appeared in the film
"His Kind of Woman"...Which would be the breathing kind, I imagine.
Get ready for - Jolie! As drawn by the prolific Jim Mooney.
By the way, the single-page public service ad above right is not from that issue of Famous Stars, but some 1950s romance comic instead.
And now, just to be confusing, we will re-visit Juke Box Comics, issue #2, to learn the life stories of three very famous musical stars, as depicted in all of their garish four-color glory!
First up - Mr. Cugat, as lovingly rendered by artist Phil Berube.
Love that panel. Next on the menu - the lovely Lena Horne, as drawn by famed African-American artist A. C. Hollingsworth.
And we'll wrap up our bountiful feast of celebrities with this story of the early years of Nat "King" Cole, as drawn by Sid Greene. One thing about this series of comic books that I like is that we see African American characters treated as normally as any other lighter-skinned players, unusual in those times. That said, there are moments in the next story where Cole endures some all-too-realistic humiliations inherent to showbiz that make me wince!
Wow! Quite the cavalcade of stars!
Join us again in two weeks for a whole new batch of cool comic books dredged from the deep damp past, courtesy of the WFMU Comic Supplement, where we strive to keep bringing you high art and culture fit to fill your eyeballs.
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