Fans of global publishing are directed to notes from the junkyard, a thorough exploration of vintage Australian comics. It was there that I encountered the work of Hart Amos– in particular, his 1960s covers for Colossal Comic, a semi-annual repackaging of DC material.
Spiros Xenos, proprietor of notes, has written well of Amos, and spent almost the entire month of June 2007 discussing the artist. Of the Colossal covers, Xenos writes:
“Aside from the contents, the Hart Amos covers for Colossal Comic (see previous discussion on The New Amos Style re: Century #1) are one reason these comics are fondly regarded by collectors. The Amos covers typically depicted the superheroes in idyllic scenes of friendship, games and frolic. They smiled, they were jovial, clownish, prankish and even gleefully foolish. In essence, the characters played. They behaved like kids!”
More than anything, this sounds like Golden Age World’s Finest:
A few of the Colossal covers were based on World’s Finest, and the contrast between the two is pretty remarkable:
The cartoonish, almost off-model output of Amos (and his ghosts) is far more alive and appealing. Amos has everything going for him; the detail of the water and the clouds, Superman in his own boat with the mixed-up confusion blues and Robin all viking warrior, ready to body-slam his fish– what’s not to like?
Xenos further writes:
“It is difficult today not to regard the classic Amos DC-related cover as ‘nostalgic’. Or, to be uncharitable, as ‘kitsch’ or ‘camp’. I prefer to take the middle ground in this instance and settle for ‘agreeably cheesy’.”
To which I respond: No.
These are not nostalgic, nor kitsch, camp or agreeably cheesy. These are the best god damned things in the world. In that spirit, and in honor of Mr. Hart Amos, profiled here, I’ve gathered together every Colossal cover that I could find in a reasonable size. Some have been jerked from Xenos, some yanked from here and some from random sites and auctions.
In particular, I highlight the following three:
#24. A Pop Art portrait of Batman and Superman:
#19. Batman and Robin ride a Bull. Superman judges:
And #33. My favorite, clearly ghosted, and the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen:
Enjoy!
April 28th, 2008 at 5:16 am
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