Roger Armstrong, who died in 2007, drew for Western Publishing for five decades, rendering an impressive menagerie of Disney and Warner characters in his tenure. As can be seen in the story below, his style is beautifully relaxed and superbly composed.
Recently, friend John Kricfalusi (JohnK), expressed an interest in seeing more from this artist. I've learned so much about what makes good cartooning from John's outstanding blog that I am only too happy to oblige. This story comes from Four Color #284, July 1950. Armstrong did the cool cover as well.
thanks!
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure. I've got another Armstrong that I'll be posting soon.
DeleteI think this is my favorite Porky Pig comic book story. It's absolutely extraordinary all the way through...from the elephant in the living room in the first panel to Sylvester's unconventional mode of transportation in the last.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy Sylvester's role in the story as Porky's sidekick rather than as a scairdey-cat in those haunted house films. I also always got a kick out of the relationship between the king and queen. The best part of the story is where Porky rides against the Black Knight. As for the story as a whole, I savor the pacing, which never flags. It keeps one's interest from the first to last page.
"The Kingdom of Nowhere" is epic, classic comic book storytelling! Thanks for reminding me of this great story, and also thanks for letting readers see it who might not otherwise get a chance.
Scarecrow: It's very nice to hear someone really appreciating the script. So often I fall into the habit of virtually ignoring the actual story in my love of the artwork. And you are right! This is one heck of a great story.
ReplyDeleteRoger Armstrong is very reminded to have produced the Walt Disney's Scamp comic strip, which was carried in the newspapers from the whole world via King Features Syndicate.
ReplyDeleteThank you Mykal, you are doing a great job posting these comics.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Alex. You have a great blog and website. I love your stuff!
ReplyDeleteConsider that Western Publishing had a collection of funny animal artists that, along with Roger Armstrong, included Carl Barks, Harvey Eisenberg, Gil Turner, Tom McKimson, Vive Risto, Dick Moores, Bill Wright, John Carey, Jack Bradbury, Paul Murry, Tony Strobl, Fred Abranz, Ralph Heimdahl, Phil DeLara, Pete Alvarado, and doubtless others not coming to mind at this early hour, and you had the most amazing line of this particular type of comic books imaginable.
ReplyDeleteI’m always glad to see one of them spotlighted!
Western Publishing was the all time greatest Kids' Comics publisher by a far cry.
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