R.I.P John Severin

I have been reading that John Severin passed away Sunday at the age of 90. Like many of the old masters of comic art, I have missed seeing new work by them; but Severin did do some recent art last year for Dark Horse. I was impressed that he could still draw in his intricately textured unique style.

Here is a short interview with him from 1975 and an example of one of his war stories. A long interview from The Comics Journal (1999) is also available online.

I have also posted scans from a few of his stories here.

Rest In Peace Mr. Severin.

Dark Rider: Goodwin/Severin

To say good-bye to winter, here is a snowy story written by Archie Goodwin and illustrated by John Severin. "Dark Rider" is from Eerie #8, from back in 1967.

I was impressed with the splash panel in this story from the first time I saw it back in 67. If you have ever been outside on a cold, windy day, with the snow blowing around, you can appreciate how well Severin has drawn this opening panel.

A Monstar is Reborn

"We Dare you to read this!" is what Cracked stated on it's cover. The magazine was a poor attempt at copy the more successful Mad Magazine. Cracked did have some nice art by the old Mad artist John Severin; but the writing in the magazine formatted comic was never very good. The writer listed for this story is George Gladir. I know his name from Archie Comic's Madhouse; and I can feel that same "just missed the mark" humor -- but still fun!




Cracked Collector's Edition: Monster House Gallery, 1979.

© Major Magazines

John Severin from Creepy # 6

Warren Publishing's Creepy # 6 was a revelation to me. Until I saw this December 1965 magazine, I had been reading mostly superhero comics, with an assortment of other genres like science fiction, westerns, war and humor. I had never even realized there were horror comic books.

The list of artists from this issue is a roster of future hall of fame greats. The variety of styles and illustration techniques were a real eye opener for me. Reed Crandall, Frank Frazetta, Roy Krenkel, Al McWilliams, Gray Morrow, Joe Orlando, John Severin, Angelo Torres, Alex Toth, and Al Williamson all did art for this issue. I had found something much more interesting than the marvel and DC superheroes.

Here is the John Severin story, written by Bill Pearson from the magazine. Enjoy another wintry tale!

© Warren Publishing Co. 1965