Frank Springer
Frank Springer | |
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Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. | |
Awards | National Cartoonists Society Reuben Award, 1973, 1977, 1981 Inkpot Award, 2004 |
Frank Springer (December 6, 1929
Biography
Early life and career
Frank Springer was born in the
I was essentially a line artist and it was through one of the freelance jobs that I learnt that George Wunder, who wrote and drew Terry and the Pirates, was looking for an assistant and I was given his number. I called him up, was hired and I stayed there for five years doing some backgrounds and foregrounds, answering his mail, coloring the Sunday strips. That was good training, watching a professional churning this stuff out, day after day, writing the synopsis, then writing the strips and so on. I loved the strips when I was growing up. I grew up on Terry and the Pirates, Flash Gordon and Prince Valiant; those were the main adventure ones. There were a lot of adventure strips at that time, Buck Rogers, Smilin’ Jack and all of that, so I leaned toward all of that rather than the gag cartoons.[3]
Leaving in 1960 to freelance again, Springer entered the comic-book industry two years later to draw Dell Comics' Brain Boy, starring a telepathic government agent, in Four Color Comics #1330 (June 1962). Springer drew the spin-off series' five-issue run of #2-6 (Sept. 1962 - Nov. 1963).[5]
Silver Age comics
During the remainder of the 1960s and early 1970s period fans and historians call the
He debuted at
After that, he found more regular work at rival
Springer additionally drew Captain Marvel #13-14 (May–June 1969) and a Hercules back-up story in Ka-Zar #1 (Aug. 1970) before concentrating on his ongoing Dell work until 1973, when that company ceased publication.[6]
Later comic books
Springer returned to draw a handful of stories for Marvel's black-and-white
He then became regular inker of Marvel's
Springer's other 1980s comics include issues of Marvel's Conan the Barbarian and the company's toy-license titles based on the properties G.I. Joe and Transformers; and, for DC, a return to the Secret Six in Action Comics Weekly, and issues of Manhunter and Green Arrow. After a brief hiatus from comics, he returned to co-ink, with Michael Weaver, Claypool Comics' Phantom of Fear City #11-12 (Feb. and May 1995). This was his last confirmed work in comics except for a single-page profile of the DC character Perry White in Superman Secret Files #1 (Jan. 1998).[6]
Miscellanea includes the
Adult satire
With the
Doonesbury comic-strip creator Garry Trudeau cited the strip as an early inspiration, saying, "[A] very heavy influence was a serial in the Sixties called 'Phoebe Zeitgeist'. ... It was an absolutely brilliant, deadpan send-up of adventure comics, but with a very edgy, modernist kind of approach. To this day, I hold virtually every panel in my brain. It's very hard not to steal from it."[10]
Springer also drew the series "Frank Fleet" for Evergreen Review from 1969 to 1970. From 1971 to 1988 he was a regular contributor to the
Comic strips and cartoons
After having assisted Wunder on Terry and the Pirates from 1955 to 1960 and then moving to comic books, Springer returned to comic strips as penciler of the
and elsewhere.In the mid-1960s, he did freelance work on the
Springer also did a small amount of uncredited penciling on the comic strip The Phantom, assisting Sy Barry, and "for a really brief period" worked with writer-artist Stan Drake on The Heart of Juliet Jones.[3] Without mentioning the strip's name, Springer said in the mid-2000s that, "I worked with Leonard Starr for some years doing part of that strip," presumably Starrs' On Stage, later titled Mary Perkins, On Stage. "Leonard always handled the figures but I’d come in once a week and do the backgrounds, pick up a check and leave."[3] He additionally did uncredited work on the comic strip Friday Foster, drawn in Spain by Jorge Longarón. "I knew the [strip's] writer [Jim Lawrence], who lived here in New Jersey, ... [and] I got a call a couple of times from Lawrence who said they hadn’t gotten the material through from Spain" and Springer was asked to fill in. "I guess over the years I did two Sunday pages, maybe three."[3]
Later years and death
In 1980, just shy of his 51st birthday, Springer ran the
Springer at one point was president of the National Cartoonists Society, and was a founding member of the Berndt Toast Gang, its Long Island chapter.[2]
Springer died on April 2, 2009, at his home in Damariscotta, Maine, of prostate cancer.[2] He was survived by his wife and five grown children: Barbara Edwards, Bill Springer, Jennifer Dills, Jon Springer, and Christopher Springer.[2] Characterizing Springer, Archie comics artist Stan Goldberg said, "Very few people could surpass him as an artist, as a gentleman, and as a true gentleman in my field. ... When you see a Frank Springer job, you know it's going to be the best job in the world".[2]
Awards
- National Cartoonists Society Reuben Award — Comic Books (Story): 1973, 1977, and 1981[17]
- Inkpot Award: 2004[18]
References
- ^ Miller, John Jackson (June 10, 2005). "Comics Industry Birthdays". Comics Buyer's Guide. Iola, Wisconsin. Archived from the original on February 18, 2011. Retrieved December 12, 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Barrios, Jennifer (April 5, 2009). "LI comics artist Frank Springer dead at 79". Newsday. Archived from the original on September 28, 2013.
...his wife of 52 years...
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Springer in Best, Daniel (January 10, 2008). "Looking Back with Frank Springer". 20th Century Danny Boy. Archived from the original on May 24, 2012. Retrieved 2014-03-17.
- ^ Daily News. New York City. p. 45.
- ^ Brain Boy at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original October 25, 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Frank Springer at the Grand Comics Database
- ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9.)
Writer E. Nelson Bridwell and artist Frank Springer brought together six individuals who all possessed special skills and dark secrets, and were all being blackmailed into the service of the faceless Mockingbird.
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has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - Fantagraphics Books. Archivedfrom the original on November 8, 2012.
Phoebe Zeit-Geist is a parody of exploitative porno action comics that manages to be more exploitative, pornographic and action-packed than any of the material it sends up.
- ^ Adventures of Phoebe Zeit-Geist at the Grand Comics Database
- ^ Kidd, Chip (November 11, 2010). "Doonesbury Turns 40: Garry Trudeau reflects on his days at Yale, his Pulitzer Prize-winning comic, and how he envisions it ending". Rolling Stone. p. 2 of online version. Archived from the original on January 20, 2011.
- ^ a b "Frank Springer". Lambiek Comiclopedia. March 11, 2013. Archived from the original on May 29, 2014.
- ^ Leiffer, Paul; Ware, Hames, eds. "Frank Springer". The Comic Strip Project > Who's Who of American Comic Strip Producers: Who's Who Update. Archived from the original on February 1, 2014.
{{cite web}}
:|first2=
has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) and "Rex Morgan, M.D." The Comic Strip Project. Archived from the original on February 1, 2014. - ^ Horn, Maurice, ed. (1999). The World Encyclopedia of Comics. Philadelphia: Chelsea House. pp. 722–723.
- ^ Springer, Frank, in Stroud, Bryan D. (2008). "Frank Springer interview (part 2)". The Silver Age Sage. Archived from the original on August 25, 2012. Retrieved February 6, 2009.
- ^ "Francis H. "Frank" Springer". The Lincoln County News. April 6, 2009. Archived from the original on June 14, 2014. Retrieved June 14, 2014.
He took up running in his 40s and participated in numerous 10K races. In 1980 he successfully completed the New York City marathon.
- ^ Hatcher, Greg (July 23, 2004). "CCI, Day 2: CCI Awards Golden and Silver Age Greats". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on January 6, 2010.
- ^ "Division Awards Comic Books". National Cartoonists Society. 2013. Archived from the original on December 16, 2013. Retrieved December 16, 2013.
- ^ "Inkpot Award Winners". Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac. Archived from the original on July 9, 2012.
External links
- Frank Springer Archived 2005-12-17 at the Wayback Machine at the National Cartoonists Society
- Frank Springer at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
- Frank Springer at Mike's Amazing World of Comics
- Frank Springer at the Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators
- Bails, Jerry; Ware, Hames (eds.). "Frank Springer". Who's Who of American Comic Books 1928-1999. Archived from the original on December 20, 2016.