Generally remembered for his Mort Meskin-drawn stories, I've a;ways preferred the Ralph Mayo version of the character. In fact, I wish Mayo had done more superheroes.
Meskin's JQ art appeals to me simply because it was frequently so weird-looking; Johnny often looked like a maniacal, grinning villain, rather than the Good Guy, and a bad guy like Dr. Clever could scare the piss out of you. But Meskin's stuff's got nothing on Mayo's flat, creepy, dead-eyed faces throughout THIS story. STOP STARING AT ME, GUYS.
But within two years of this story's original publication, Mayo's vastly improved skills would pencil one of my favorite Golden Age stories--"Tubby Watts, Efficiency Expert!" from Adventure Comics #174 (1952) and reprinted in World's Finest #224 (1974)--every page a parade of delightfully expressive mugs.
Fun! At one time I thought about having 3X29Y24A on a personalized license plate! And there was a real-life "Johnny Quick" on the Friends University Basketball team in the early 80's.
Meskin's JQ art appeals to me simply because it was frequently so weird-looking; Johnny often looked like a maniacal, grinning villain, rather than the Good Guy, and a bad guy like Dr. Clever could scare the piss out of you. But Meskin's stuff's got nothing on Mayo's flat, creepy, dead-eyed faces throughout THIS story. STOP STARING AT ME, GUYS.
ReplyDeleteBut within two years of this story's original publication, Mayo's vastly improved skills would pencil one of my favorite Golden Age stories--"Tubby Watts, Efficiency Expert!" from Adventure Comics #174 (1952) and reprinted in World's Finest #224 (1974)--every page a parade of delightfully expressive mugs.
Fun! At one time I thought about having 3X29Y24A on a personalized license plate! And there was a real-life "Johnny Quick" on the Friends University Basketball team in the early 80's.
ReplyDeleteBack in the 1990s, I used to use Johnny's magic formula as a computer password!
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