Saturday, February 23, 2013

Hidden Gems Part 2: Herb Trimpe and Bill Everett

In my last post I displayed some new material pin-ups that appeared in Marvel's reprint titles. While going through my Marvel reprints (and indexing them for the GCD) I came upon another oddity, this time in a western comic.


Outlaw Kid # 2, Oct 1970. Herb Trimpe pencils; Bill Everett inks

The Outlaw Kid was one of a number of Marvel westerns of the period. Others included the Ringo Kid, Mighty Marvel Western, Kid Colt, Two-Gun Kid, Rawhide Kid and Western Gunfighters, the latter two were the only titles then including new material (Rawhide Kid, like Sgt. Fury, then included new material every other issue. Obviously using reprints was a cost savings). At this point Marvel was reprinting a chunk of its Timely-Atlas product, not only in the westerns, but also in Where Monsters Dwell, Where Creatures Roam, L'il Kids, Our Love Story and My Love (which also featured new stories).

While going through my western reprint collection I came across a curiosity: a 2 page Outlaw Kid story that I was "certain" was pencilled and inked by Bill Everett. Doug Wildey was the primary artist on the Outlaw Kid stories of the 1950s, but Everett was also working for Atlas in the 1950s and my first inclination was to think this was a reprint from that era.    





  "One of the Outlaw Kid's Fastest Gunfights!" Herb Trimpe pencils? Or Bill Everett? Bill Everett inks (and story?), Artie Simek letters.

The page count was odd in itself. Most 1950s stories ran 4, 5 or 6 pages, with occasional 3 pagers, but this story was only two pages. The job number was also strange. The upper left side of page 1, panel one has the number 407-Z. I'm not an expert on job numbers, which were used in the production process of comics, but I do know they began with a letter first, then a three digit number, as in the reprinted Outlaw Kid story in this issue, "The Newcomers!" F-678.

My next step was to turn to my good friend Michael J. Vassallo, an expert on Timely-Atlas lore. I explained what I had found and he replied there was no such job number used in that period. He agreed it must be a new story. I sent him a scan and he confirmed that it was not a reprint.

Did I discover an unknown Everett story? The art very much resembled Everett's contemporary work. I checked on the GCD and they had Herb Trimpe credited as artist. Although I could clearly see Trimpe's figurework on the cover (which Everett also inked) I didn't detect anything that pointed to his pencils in the interior story. Everett was a very distinctive inker, but usually something noticable about the penciller remained. In this case I couldn't pick anything out. Jim Salicrup believed that Trimpe drew the story, but I remained unconvinced. Jim contacted Trimpe directly and he responded that he DID pencil the story, but there are occasions where an artist does not always recognize his own work. Trimpe was a busy artist in that period, drawing many covers and stories, so its possible he has made an error. My instinct still yells "Solo Everett", but there is no real way of knowing.    

Further research proved that production numbers were used in this period, beginning with April 1970 cover dated issues and apprently ending with Nov 1973 cover dated comics. They were not always seen on the splash pages, likely for the same reasons they did not always appear in the past - they were covered up by art or lettering. Examples concurrent with the Outlaw Kid story include Captain America # 130 (340-Z); Silver Surfer # 18 (342-Z); "Did I Make the Wrong Choice?" from My Love # 7 (362-Z); Amazing Spider-Man # 89 (375-Z) and "Gargoyle Every Night" from Chamber of Darkness # 7 (377-Z). Need I add that these are all from original stories - reprints usually included the old job numbers on the printed comic.

So, why a new two page story in the Outlaw Kid? In this period Bill Everett was doing his share of inking at Marvel, especially over Marie Severin pencils*. The month Outlaw Kid # 2 was on the stands Everett inked the covers to Iron-Man # 30; Marvel Super-Heroes # 28 and Marvel Tales # 28. Everett was also probably coloring and writing the occasional script (on Sgt. Fury). so its entirely possibly that he produced a two-page filler for the Outlaw Kid. But Marvel could just as easily have filled those pages with in-house ads, so its still a mystery why new material was included. The only other place this could have been intended for was Western Gunfighters, a 25 cent title that featured a mix of new stories and reprints.

While the reason why this short story appeared in The Outlaw Kid # 2 may be lost to time, it remains another pleasant surprise hidden in the recesses of Marvel's reprint line. I hope I'll uncover more treats in the future.

With Thanks to Jim Salicrup.



*see my earlier blog of Marie Severin and Bill Everett for more info. Studious Nick        

8 comments:

Kid said...

And I also hope you'll uncover more treats in the future, Nick. Keep up the good work.

the stiKman said...

Great find!
While the inking is surely Everett, the pencilling looks like Herb Trimpe to me.

Booksteve said...

I agree that it looks like Trimpe pencils or at least layouts. Thought so before I even embiggened the pages. Heavy Everett inks, though.

As far as your WESTERN GUNFIGHTERS theory, weren't they pretty much dealing with set characters, new and reprint, with The Outlaw Kid NOT being one of them?

Nick Caputo said...

stiKman and Steven,

I've studied those pages and don't see any signs of Trimpe. Everett was a strong inker and there may be someone's pencils underneath but I'm still thinking Everett pencils.

I agree that the Western Gunfighters theory is unlikely, but it was a place where filler material could have been used.

Grant Windsor said...

Nick, this seemed like the most appropriate place to ask. Thor 169 has always bugged me...that it’s inks are credited solely to George Klein. Pages 8-10 and 17-20 definitely do not look like Klein’s inks over Kirby. Honestly, they look like Bill Everett to me. I also have issues with pages 1, 6 and 7. I see brush strokes that more resemble Everett on those pages, though page 1 is kind of iffy. This, I believe, was Klein’s last comic prior to his death, so maybe he didn’t finish it? What do you think?

Booksteve said...

Grant, I agree with you it isn't all Klein and your theory about why he didn't finish it seems reasonable. Doesn't look like Everett to me. Verpoorten, perhaps? Tartaglione?

What say you, Nick?

Grant Windsor said...

I had thought about Verpoorten too, but there is a delicate side to some of the inking, which I don’t normally equate with Verpoorten. There are four examples that I can recall of Verpoorten inking Kirby before he left for DC (two stories, one partial story and one cover) and they don’t appear to be a great fits. It was easy to distinguish Verpoorten in Thor 179. Don’t know about Tartag, as I don’t believe he is credited with inking Kirby until Kirby returned to Marvel, but Kirby was a different artist by that point.

Nick Caputo said...

Grant and Booksteve,

Looking over those pages it appears that Klein may have begun work but did not complete the inks and I'd agree that Bill Everett completed them. I suspect he rushed those pages out but I see telltale signs of his involvement. Very good catch Grant! I'll add the Everett possibility to the GCD and credit you.