John Powers Severin[2] was an American comic book artist noted for his distinctive work with
EC Comics, primarily on the
war comics Two-Fisted Tales and
Frontline Combat; for
Marvel Comics, especially its war and
Western comics; and for his 45-year stint with the
satiric magazine
Cracked died he was 90. He was one of the founding cartoonists of
Mad in 1952.
Severin was inducted into the
Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame in 2003.
(December 26, 1921 – February 12, 2012)
Early life
John Severin was born in
Jersey City, New Jersey, and was a teenager in
Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, New York City, when he began drawing professionally. While attending high school, he contributed cartoons to
The Hobo News, receiving payment of one dollar per cartoon. Severin recalled in 1999:
- I was sometimes selling 19 or 20 of them a week. Not every week,
naturally. But I didn't have to get a regular job to carry me through
high school. It was almost every week—not every week—but almost every
week. I didn't have to get a job. I hated to work, I'll tell you. I
didn't have to get a job then, because I was in high school.[5]
He attended the
High School of Music & Art in New York City, together with future
EC Comics and
Mad artists
Harvey Kurtzman,
Will Elder,
Al Jaffee and
Al Feldstein.
[6]
After graduating from the High School of Music & Art in 1940, he
worked as an apprentice machinist and then enlisted in the
Army, serving in the
Pacific during World War II.
[7]
Career
Early work: 1947–51
In a 1980 interview, Severin recalled his start as a professional artist:
I had decided to exhibit some paintings of mine in a High School of
Music and Art exhibition for the alumni. Charlie Stern was in charge of
it, so I went to see him at his studio. He was the "Charles" of the
Charles William Harvey Studio, the other two being William Elder and
Harvey Kurtzman. They asked me if I'd like to rent space with them
there. I did, and started working with them. When Charlie left... I
became the third man, but they didn't want to change it to John William
Harvey Studio, so they left the name... Harvey was doing comics, Willie
and Charlie were doing advertising stuff, and I just joined in... [I
did] design work, logos for toy boxes, logos for candy boxes, cards to
be included in the candy boxes.[8]
Inspired by the quick money Kurtzman would make in-between advertising assignments with one-page "Hey Look!" gags for editor
Stan Lee at
Timely Comics, Severin worked up comics samples inked by Elder. In late 1947, he recalled, the writer-artist-editor team of
Joe Simon and
Jack Kirby at
Crestwood Publications "gave us our first job."
[8]
Since it was not standard practice to credit comics creators during
this era, a comprehensive list of his early work is difficult to
ascertain. Author and historian Jim Vadeboncoeur Jr., based on Severin's
description of "a crime story about a boy and a girl who killed
somebody... I think it was their stepfather. They lived on a farm, or
out in the suburbs," believes that first Severin/Elder story was the
eight-page "The Clue of the Horoscope" in
Headline Comics #32 (
cover-dated Nov. 1948), from the Crestwood-affiliated
Prize Comics.
[8] The standard reference
Grand Comics Database has no credits for that story,
[9] and lists Severin's first confirmed work in comics as two stories published the same month: the ten-page
Boy Commandos adventure "The Triumph of William Tell" in
DC Comics'
Boy Commandos #30; and the eight-page
Western story "Grinning Hole in the Wall" in Prize Comics'
Prize Comics Western vol. 7, #5 (each Dec. 1948), both of which he
penciled and the latter of which he also
inked.
[10]
Through 1955, Severin drew a large number of stories for the latter
title and other Western series from Prize, and as penciler, he
co-created with an unknown writer the long-running
Native American feature "American Eagle" in
Prize Comics Western vol. 9, #6 (Jan. 1951), inked by his high-school classmate turned fellow pro Will Elder.
[11]
Around this time, Severin did his first confirmed work for two publishers with whom he would long be associated,
Marvel Comics and
EC Comics. For the future Marvel Comics, he penciled the seven-page
romance comic story "My Heart Had No Faith" in
Timely Comics'
Actual Romances #1 (Oct. 1949).
EC Comics
For EC Comics, he broke in with the seven-page "War Story" in
Two-Fisted Tales #19 (Feb. 1951), continuing to work in tandem with his friend Elder as his inker, notably on science fiction and war stories.
[10] Severin drew stories for both
Two-Fisted Tales and
Frontline Combat. When Kurtzman dropped the war comics to devote more time to
Mad, Severin became sole artist on
Two-Fisted Tales for four issues and scripted some stories. He also illustrated stories written by his friend
Colin Dawkins and future
Mad art director
John Putnam. Severin and Dawkins were the uncredited co-editors of
Two-Fisted Tales #36–39.
[12]
Severin and Elder eventually split as a team at EC. They both were in
the group of the five original artists who launched editor
Harvey Kurtzman's landmark
satiric comic book
Mad, along with Kurtzman,
Wally Wood and
Jack Davis.
[13] Severin appeared in nine of
Mad's first ten issues, drawing ten pieces between 1952 and 1954.
[14]
According to accounts by both Severin and Kurtzman, the two had a
falling out over art criticisms Kurtzman made during this period. It was
Kurtzman who suggested that Severin ink with a pen as opposed to brush
inking. Though Severin eventually took this advice in his later work, he
was annoyed at Kurtzman at the time, for this and other remarks, and
refused further work with him. Kurtzman insisted on doing the layouts
for all the artists, which some resented, including Severin.
His ability to draw people of different nationalities convincingly
was highly admired by his peers, as was his eye for authentic details.
Upon Severin's death, writer
Mark Evanier remembered, "
Jack Kirby
used to say that when he had to research some historical costume or
weapon for a story, it was just as good to use a John Severin drawing as
it was to find a photo of the real thing. They don't make 'em like that
anymore."
Marvel Comics and other publishers
Following the cancellation of
EC's comic book line in the wake of the
Comics Code in the mid-1950s, Severin began working for
Atlas Comics, the 1950s forerunner of
Marvel Comics.
Sergeant Barney Barker, drawn by Severin, was Atlas' answer to
Sgt. Bilko.
[8][15]
After Atlas transitioned to become Marvel Comics in the 1960s, Severin did extensive work as
penciler,
inker or both on such series as
The Incredible Hulk,
Conan the Barbarian, and
Captain Savage.
Herb Trimpe, the primary
Hulk penciler during this period comics fans and historians call the
Silver Age of comic books,
said in 2009, "I was kind of thrilled when John Severin inked me,
because I liked his work for EC comics, and he was one of my idols."
[17] As inker, Severin teamed with penciler
Dick Ayers on an acclaimed run of the
World War II series
Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos, beginning with #44 (July 1967). In the 1970s, he collaborated with his sister, artist
Marie Severin, on Marvel's
sword and sorcery series,
King Kull.
[18]
During this time he was by far the most prolific contributor to the
satiric Cracked magazine, drawing television and movie parodies along with other features, including most of the magazine's covers.
For
Warren Publishing in the 1970s, he drew for the black-and-white comics magazines
Blazing Combat and
Creepy. Severin also contributed to
Topps' line of bubble gum
trading cards.
[19] He was one of the artists on
Joe Kubert's self-published
Sojourn series in 1977.
[20] His 1980s work for Marvel included
The 'Nam,
What The--?!, and
Semper Fi.
[21]
Circa 2000, writer
Jeff Mariotte recalled in 2002, Severin phoned
Scott Dunbier, a group editor at
DC Comics'
WildStorm imprint, "and said he was looking to do comics again" after working primarily for
Cracked
at the time. "I happened to pass by Scott's office as he hung up the
phone, and he sounded kind of awestruck as he told me that John Severin
wanted to do something with us. I said something like, 'Gee, a
Desperadoes story by Severin would be great,'" referring to Mariotte's
Western
miniseries for DC. "Scott agreed. We needed to hurry, before he was
snapped up by someone else, so I went home and worked up a proposal
overnight. We had sent him, right after that first call, copies of the
original
Desperadoes books. That was followed up by the proposal, the next day. He liked what he saw and wanted to play along."
[22] This led to Severin drawing the sequel miniseries
Desperadoes: Quiet of The Grave.
He went on to illustrate the controversial 2003 Marvel
limited series The Rawhide Kid,
[23] a lighthearted
parallel universe Western that reimagined the outlaw hero as a
kitschy
though still formidably gunslinging gay man. Severin, who had drawn the
character for Atlas in the 1950s, refuted rumors that he had not known
of the subject matter, saying at the time of the premiere issue's
release, "The Rawhide Kid is rather effeminate in this story. It may be
quite a blow to some of the old fans of Rawhide Kid. But it's a lot of
fun, and he's still a tough hombre."
[24] Also in the 2000s, Severin contributed to Marvel's
The Punisher;
DC Comics'
Suicide Squad,
American Century,
Caper, and
Bat Lash; and
Dark Horse Comics'
Conan,
B.P.R.D. and
Witchfinder.
Personal life
Severin's family members working in the publishing and entertainment fields include his sister
Marie Severin,
a comic book artist, who was the colorist for EC's comics; his son John
Severin, Jr., the head of Bubblehead Publishing; his daughter, Ruth
Larenas, a producer for that company; and his grandson, John Severin
III, a music producer and recording engineer.
[25][26][27]
Severin died at his home in
Denver,
Colorado, on February 12, 2012 at the age of 90. His wife of 60 years,
Michelina, survived him, as did his comics-artist sister Marie Severin
and six children.
[28][29]
Awards and honors
Severin was inducted into the
Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame in 2003.
With writer
Gary Friedrich and penciler
Dick Ayers, Severin's inking contributed to
Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos winning the
Alley Award for
Best War Title of 1967 and
1968.
[30][31]
He was among the winners of the
Cartoon Art Museum's 2001 Sparky Award.
[32]
His artwork was exhibited three times at the
Words & Pictures Museum in
Northampton, Massachusetts
– in the grand-opening group show (October 9, 1992 – January 5, 1993),
in the group exhibit "War No More" (May 18 – August 8, 1993) and in the
group show "Classic Comics: A Selection of Stories from EC Comics"
(December 7 – February 11, 1996).
[33]
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