Wayne Boring

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Wayne Boring
Wayne Boring by Michael Netzer
Born(1905-06-05)June 5, 1905
Minnesota, U.S.
DiedFebruary 20, 1987(1987-02-20) (aged 81)
Pompano Beach, Florida, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Area(s)Penciller, Inker
Pseudonym(s)Jack Harmon
Notable works
Action Comics
Superman
AwardsWill Eisner Hall of Fame 2007

Wayne Boring (June 5, 1905

comic book artist best known for his work on Superman from the late 1940s to 1950s. He occasionally used the pseudonym
Jack Harmon.

Biography

Early life and career

Boring attended the

National Allied Publications, and Boring became a ghost on the soon spun off Superman comic strip, eventually becoming the credited artist.[3]

Superman comic books

In 1942, the by-then-named National Comics hired Boring as a staff artist,

Blue Bolt Comics as Jack Harmon.[5]

Superboy #1 (March–April 1949). Cover art by Boring.

Boring's "Superman Covers Atom Bomb Test!" cover for Action Comics #101 (Oct. 1946) was an early example of nuclear weapons in popular culture.[6] A more detailed origin story for Superman by Boring and writer Bill Finger was presented in Superman #53 (July 1948) to mark the character's tenth anniversary.[7] Boring co-created the Fortress of Solitude in Action Comics #241 (June 1958) with writer Jerry Coleman[8] and Bizarro World in Action Comics #263 (April 1960) with Otto Binder.[9]

Boring was the primary Superman comic book penciller through the 1950s. Swan succeeded him the following decade,[10] though Boring returned for sporadic guest appearances in the early 1960s and then again in late 1966 and early 1967.[11] One critic wrote of Boring's 1950s Superman art, "Comics legend Wayne Boring played a major role in visually defining the most well known super-hero in the world during the peak of Superman's popularity."[12] Another writer echoed, "Boring's bravura brushwork defined many of its key elements and made Superman look more powerful and imposing, now standing a heroic nine heads tall, and brought a fresh realism, a sleek sci-fi vision and a greater seriousness of tone."[13]

Boring was let go from DC in 1967[13] along with many other prominent writers and artists who had made demands for health and retirement benefits.[14] From 1968 to 1972, Boring ghosted backgrounds for Hal Foster's Prince Valiant Sunday comic strip[13] and took over the art on writer Sam Leff's 1961–71 United Feature Syndicate strip Davy Jones.[15] Afterward, Boring drew three issues of Marvel Comics' Captain Marvel, then left the field to semi-retire as a bank security guard, though he would continue to draw commissioned work.[16] He briefly returned to DC to pencil some stories in All-Star Squadron Annual #3 (1984), Superman #402 (Dec. 1984), and Action Comics #561 and 572 (Nov. 1984 and Oct. 1985).[11]

Boring died of a heart attack,[16] following a brief comeback announced in one of his last published works, penciling a Golden Age Superman story written by Roy Thomas and inked by Jerry Ordway in Secret Origins vol. 2 #1 (April 1986).[17] His final work was All-Star Squadron #64 (Dec. 1986) a recreation of Superman #19.[18]

Awards

In 1985, DC Comics named Boring as one of the honorees in the company's 50th anniversary publication Fifty Who Made DC Great.[19]

He was posthumously inducted into the Will Eisner Hall of Fame in 2007.[20]

Bibliography

Comics work (interior pencil art) includes:

DC Comics

Marvel Comics

References

  1. ^ Wayne Boring at the United States Social Security Death Index via FamilySearch.org. Retrieved on February 21, 2013. Archived from the original on July 18, 2015. Gives death date only as February 1987".
  2. Fantagraphics Books
    : 23. Wayne Boring, one of the first Superman artists, died at the age of 81 on February 20 in Pompano Beach, Florida. Boring, who was born in Minnesota on June 5, 1905...
  3. ^ "Wayne Boring". Lambiek Comiclopedia. June 12, 2009. Archived from the original on October 18, 2011. Retrieved October 18, 2011.
  4. . The image of Superman that eventually became preeminent was Wayne Boring's. By 1942 the former assistant to Joe Shuster was working on his own for DC, turning out pencilled and inked pages for Action Comics and Superman.
  5. ^ Jack Harmon at the Grand Comics Database
  6. ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9. A stunning cover by Wayne Boring heralded a tale that played on the conflicted post-war zeitgeist surrounding the use of nuclear weapons. {{cite book}}: |first2= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
    )
  7. ^ Wallace "1940s" in Dolan, p. 59: "Superman's origin was retold—and slightly revamped—for this special tenth anniversary issue...Writer Bill Finger and penciller Wayne Boring related how Joe-El failed to save Krypton and sent his son to Earth."
  8. Irvine, Alex
    "1950s" in Dolan, p. 91: "Superman's Fortress of Solitude was seen for the first time. The story 'The Super-Key to Fort Superman', by writer Jerry Coleman and artist Wayne Boring, revealed the secrets of the Fortress."
  9. ^ McAvennie, Michael "1960s" in Dolan, p. 100: "Writer Otto Binder and artist Wayne Boring introduced an entire world filled with the backward beings, living amid foul, dilapidated conditions."
  10. ^ Daniels "The Superman Family Strength in Numbers", p. 118: "By 1961, Swan's new look would replace Wayne Boring's patriarchal version. Swan's Superman became definitive, and ultimately he would draw, as he says, 'more Superman stories than anybody else.'"
  11. ^ a b Wayne Boring at the Grand Comics Database
  12. ^ Vance, Michael (December 13, 2000). "Comics Legend Wayne Boring". "Suspended Animation" (column), Starland.com. Archived from the original on June 28, 2011.
  13. ^ a b c Gravett, Paul (December 2002). "Curt Swan: A Superman Walked Among Us". 3 (97). Comic Book Marketplace via PaulGravett.com. Archived from the original on July 17, 2011. Retrieved March 28, 2009. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  14. ^ Barr, Mike W. (Summer 1999). "The Madames & the Girls: The DC Writers Purge of 1968". Comic Book Artist (5). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing.
  15. ^ Agena, Eric. "Davy Jones, by Sam Leff and Al McWilliams". ComicStripFan.com. Archived from the original on October 8, 2010.
  16. ^ .
  17. ^ Manning, Matthew K. "1980s" in Dolan, p. 218: "The heroes of the DC Universe got a little more exposed thanks to the new ongoing effort Secret Origins, a title offering new interpretations to the backgrounds of some of comics' biggest icons. [Its] debut issue featur[ed] the origin of the first true super-hero – the Golden Age Superman – by writer Roy Thomas and illustrator Wayne Boring."
  18. ^ All-Star Squadron #67 at the Grand Comics Database
  19. ^ Marx, Barry, Cavalieri, Joey and Hill, Thomas (w), Petruccio, Steven (a), Marx, Barry (ed). "Wayne Boring Superman Remodeled" Fifty Who Made DC Great, p. 26 (1985). DC Comics.
  20. San Diego Comic-Con International. Archived
    from the original on March 29, 2014. Retrieved May 17, 2014.

External links

Preceded by Superman penciller
1948–1967
Succeeded by
Preceded by Action Comics penciller
1949–1961
Succeeded by
Curt Swan
Preceded by
Al Plastino
Action Comics penciller
1966–1967
Succeeded by
Curt Swan