So Long, Sam

Friday Story Strip Day. 

I have always hoped that someday someone would put out a LOng Sam collection in the same way that Li'l Abner got collected. I have not shown a lot of this terrific series, because the storylines are so conveluted that you can hardly follow them unless you have every day. And gathering everyday takes a lot of offort. Here is al of October 1957. Not in the best quality, but at least you can try and follow it. 

In the meantime the cultural mores have shifted so much that I don't think a sexy heroinne such as Sam will be collected anytime soo. Gorgeous Bob Lubbers art or not.

 

Sampling Long Sam

Sunday Heritage Day.

As I said last week, for the forseeable future you are only going to see strips here, I have already posted about. Nwe scans, but in additaion to what I already have. Which means someday I will have to go and put them all in the right order. Long Sam is one of those strips I would love to see reprpinted and if it was possible, I would show tham all so you can read the storylines without interuption. Today I have a substantial run from 1955 and 1956, some of which will fit together with some of the others if you follow the link. Or you can just enjoy Bob Lubbers' pretty pictures.

So Long

Saturday Leftover Day.

This week we learned that Bob Lubbers, one of the most extraordinairy artists that ever lived, has passed away. Lubbers worked in comics and newspaper strip and excelled in both. I have show much of his work, bt my favorite is his ten year run on the Al Capp signed (though actually his brother Eliott wrote them) Long Sam. I am surprised to see that I haven't shown any Long Sam for three years. But that probably is because I am collecting more, so that one day I can show longer runds that you can actually read instead of just look at the pretty pictures. For this week though, looking at the pretty pictures is enough. Here are a couple of early Long Sam's from 1954.

Movie Styles

Friday Comic Book Day.

Fresh from the Digital Comics Museum comes a set of movie comics from the late forties from one of my favorite comic artists of the fifties and sixties. Bob Lubber's style has always been very attractive to me. Maybe because his brand of realism is very similar to some of the favorite French artists of my youth, most notable Albert Uderzo (of Asterix fame). He drew a semirealistic adventure strip about two fighter pilots called Tangy et Laverdure I very much enjkoyed. It blended a stark, almost Milt Caniff influenced realisme with a Disney inkline and a great sense of caricature. I see the same style in the work of Bob Lubbers, Ross Andru and even Will Eisner. Even if they are not very similar they have the same sensibillity. If I wanted to give that style a name I would call it 'caricatured realism'. You can see it in Lubbers' work on Tarzan, where it took the form of idealized realism rather than the more satirical form of his later Long Sam. In his work on the Siant, Secret Agent X-9 (as Bob Lewis) and Robin Malone, he pulled the satire back a bit. I knew he had worked for Fiction House on their pilot and jungle titles, but those stories of planes, hunters and pretty gils were always to serious for me. But apparently he also was the lead and cover artist on all four issues of Movie Comics, where you can see the full force of his talent even in his early years. If you like this, check out the books at the DCM. Each issue also has a Matt baker story and a text piece illustrator by Mike Peppe.