Bill Peckmann &Comic Art &Illustration 09 Nov 2012 06:40 am
Bernard Krigstein’s “Master Race”
Bill Peckmann continues to introduce me to new and interesting artists. Here’s what he wrote abot Bernard Krigstein:
- Comic book artist Bernard Krigstein, like animation artist Fred Mogubgub, was ahead of his time. In the 1950′s, Krigstein’s page and panel designs with their distinct breakdowns set the pace for comic book art that followed later in the century.
Here from the original 1955 comic is his most reprinted story, “Master Race”. It appeared in the first issue of EC Comics’ “Impact”. It will be followed by an excellent essay/examination of that story which appeared in the EC fanzine “Squa Tront”, in 1975.
This is the cover of “Impact” No. 1 drawn by Jack Davis.
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Here is an article which appeared in the fanzine, Squa Tront in 1975:
The Squa Tront cover
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on 09 Nov 2012 at 10:40 am 1.Richard O'Connor said …
Fantagraphics published an excellent, excellent, excellent (did I mention that it was excellent) volume on Krigstein about 10 years ago.
Like your reaction here, I found it a revelation. Check it one when you have the chance.
on 09 Nov 2012 at 4:23 pm 2.the Gee said …
Page 6 of the essay, or krig16.jpg, doesn’t enlarge.
At least it doesn’t for me.
Richard, I do recall there being a renewal in interest of Krigstein not too long ago. That Fantagraphics publication likely was a reason why.
Admittedly, prior to then, the name would not have rang a bell. Though, I am sure there was a slim chance that I had seen some of his work before then. If I had, I wasn’t looking closely enough to realize how cinematic he was in his storytelling.
Though, I say that mainly based upon this story.
Earlier this year, I watched the movies “The Third Man†and “The Strangerâ€. This story is about as intense as those are and it doesn’t feel condensed. It is just enough to tell the story. Great draftsmanship. And, while I’m not a fan of narration like that in comics stories, I read it.
Comics. There’s a lot of great stuff that exists.
Thanks for sharing this.
on 09 Nov 2012 at 5:33 pm 3.Michael said …
Sorry, the Gee, it did open. Unfortunately the scan I received was small, so it couldn’t enlarge any more than it did. I’ve reworked it in photoshop and you can read it now even though the quality is a bit less than others. Not too bad a problem since it’s only type.
on 10 Nov 2012 at 12:44 am 4.the Gee said …
thanks.
I should have been clearer when I wrote that. It does open for me. It just didn’t enlarge like the other pages did. What you did fixed it. And, it is legible.
thanks again.
(and the “the†in the nickname is awkward. I should have just gone with “Gee†but if I had then I would ended up choosing “Gee Willikersâ€. Which, at the time, would have made sense…to me.
Soooooooo, “Gee†works well enough. sorry bout that.)
on 12 Nov 2012 at 3:42 pm 5.ant said …
Canonical!
on 19 Jun 2016 at 7:47 pm 6.tamara abraham said …
He fraud entry took credit for being the artist behind the man churn candidate’s book cover. ‘SY’ was the real artist.
on 19 Jun 2016 at 7:49 pm 7.tamara abraham said …
He fraudulently took credit for being the artist behind the man churian candidate’s book cover. ‘SY’ was the real artist.