Product Description

In the rarefied realm of classic cartoon pin-up art, nobody did it better than Jack Cole. With his quirky line drawings and sensual watercolours, Cole, under Hugh Hefner's guiding hand, catapulted to stardom in the 1950s as Playboy's marquee cartoonist, a position he held until his untimely death at the age of 43.

Jack Cole, most recently the subject of a book profile by Art Spiegelman and Chip Kidd (Jack Cole and Plastic Man) has been justly celebrated as the creator of Plastic Man and an innovative comic book artist of the 1940s. But after finishing his 14-year run on Plastic Man, he found himself back at square one in an idiom that didn't come naturally to him: the gag cartoon. According to Cole, his saviour was the Humorama line of down-market digest magazines. This girls and gags magazine circuit proved to be the perfect training ground to regain his footing and develop his craft at single panel cartoons. While Cole may have been honing his skills as a gag writer, his ability to render the female form was already without peer. Though he signed his cartoons "Jake," Cole's exquisite line drawings and masterful use of ink-wash-a skill he carried over to Playboy-betrayed his pseudonym.

Along with a foreword by Warner Brothers Animation designer Shane Glines, this volume collects the best of these hidden gems, including several shot from Cole's stunning original art. Most of these drawings have not seen print in more than 50 years; taken together, they provide a rare glimpse into the singular artistry of Jack Cole.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #417526 in Books
• Published on: 2004-04-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 104 pages

Review
"Cole's goddesses were estrogen souffles who mesmerized the ineffectual saps who lusted after them."

About the Author
Alex Chun lives in Los Angeles, CA with his wife and two children, and practices law in his spare time.