In his many years at Harvey Comics, Warren Kremer drew every character the company offered, defined the house style, and did virtually every cover (including this one). Among a rich catalog of work, however, Stumbo the Giant - the gargantuan, gentle protector of Tinytown - is his masterpiece.
I can stare at Kremer’s pages of Stumbo until time begins to slip; the way birds fly around his knees, or the way he fans himself with an uprooted tree – giant hands alongside tiny, perfect people half a finger long. With Warren Kremer, every panel is like looking at the facets of a jewel.Fellow Harvey artist, Ernie Colón, had this to say about Kremer in a Comic Book Artist interview from June 2002: “The guy was like an architect. His drawings were so careful, so beautiful . . . The best example that I can give is when he was given the assignment for Stumbo the Giant; he just worked wonders with that strip. Such an astonishing achievement. Astonishing because here again you have an eight-panel page with a giant so big he’s using a mountain to relax on. . . . He (Kremer) is a complete master of comic book art."
Harveys are my favorites of all the kid comics. There was always something fascinating and a little disturbing about that universe.
ReplyDeleteKW: Harvey’s is the most surreal universe in comics. In a single story, we can find several historic periods represented - from medieval to modern times. It's a universe populated by demons, spirits, unicorns, kings, armored knights, door to door salesmen in business suits and bowlers, warlocks and witches, giants, imps with bat ears, mothers backing pies in modern ovens, and children playing baseball (dressed like medieval squires). The cities represented might be concrete metropolises with skyscrapers or a collection of thatched roofs (again - within the same story).
ReplyDeleteThe amazing part? It all seems natural, pleasant, and attractive.
Warner Kremer made me happy then...he makes me happy now.
ReplyDeleteJeff: A lot of the Harvey artists seem to have that ability - I think the overall tone of the company came from Kremer.
ReplyDeleteI've always been fascinated by how Kremer could keep Stumbo the same size to all the small stuff around him. Ernie C. was right to point out that WK was drawing a giant in 8 comic book panels. He had to draw everything in proportion: Stumbo to the mountains, Stumbo to the townspeople, the buildings, etc. He made it look easy but it is something the artist would have to be thinking of constantly.
ReplyDeleteHGE: Whenever I think of comic book artists that were skilled at perspective, front and center stands Warren Kremer and his masterwork, Stumbo! Just check out those hands!
ReplyDeletePost Script: For comic strip artists and persepctive, you have to go Winsor McCay for his work on Little Nemo.
ReplyDeleteThanx for posting this. My drawing skills slipped into MUD this past week and i've been a bit depressed about it. Seeing these wonderfully free and simply designed pages has reminded me: Think, Pencil, & Ink like an ANIMATOR, and all will be swell !
ReplyDeleteLysdexicuss: I am thrilled you found this post useful! I have always found Kremer insperational as well.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite Harvey Comics characters and very tough to get in good grades without shelling out.
ReplyDeleteOh, and try buying original Stumbo artwork. That's challenging too, but well worth the effort.
Chuck: You got that right, my friend! I hunted this comic for a long time. I got this issue and another of Tinytown. Man, I wold love a piece of original art from Kremer's Stumbo!
ReplyDeleteoh, i wish i could love this like you guys love this--i can see every attribute you give this. i like kremer's horror comics. but then they're silly fun, the way we see the 1950s horror comic now. they aren't GENUINELY terrifying like st*mb*. i can't bear to even type his name!
ReplyDeleteCraig: yes, the world of Harvey tinytown can be a surreal adventure! Wait! I hear him coming, and he . . . he's not . . he looks sort of angry . . . Aaaahhh!!!
ReplyDeletedon't know why Stumbo hangs around Tinytown, they're a bunch of fuddie-duddies there...
ReplyDeleteProf.: I don't know why either. You would think his great devotion to protecting Tinytown and its residence that the reasons for this would be part of his legend, but I can find no evidence of this. The very first appearance of Stumbo (in Hot Stuff No. 2), there is mention of him growing up in "Giantland"; but his reasons for moving and living against a mountain next to Tinytown are never explained. I keep searching through issues and Hot Stuff back up stories, but so far no explanation presents itself. My pet theory is that the residence of Tinytown did him a great service one day (akin to Androcles pulling the thorn from the lion's paw), and from that day forward, Stumbo became "the protector of Tinytown. Alas, there is absolutely nothing in the literature to support my theory. I wish Warren Kremer were still alive for many reasons, chief of which is I could hunt him down and quiz him on this issue.
ReplyDeleteWhat great perspective..foreshortening in the drawing also love the hands he draws...also good stories..
ReplyDeletePeter: I agree on all points. Kremer was all about perspective.
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