« We all know interspecies romance is weird. » — Tim Burton
It’s Bill Ward‘s birthday! No, not Black Sabbath’s Bill Ward — that’s on the 5th of May — save the date, as the suits say. It’s also Will Eisner’s anniversaire, but as he holds a category of his own, let’s let ol’ Bill have his turn, shall we?
Now, while most of the attention devoted to Ward (1919-1998) centres on his enormous output for Marvel founder (and Stan and Larry‘s uncle) Moe ‘Martin’ Goodman, I’m more intrigued by the brief period of his career when he truly seemed invested in his work, namely his passage at Quality Comics, where his craft rivalled that of such illustrious stablemates as Eisner, Jack Cole, Reed Crandall and Lou Fine.
While he worked on such features as Blackhawk and Doll Man, Ward clearly preferred — was it ever in doubt? — depicting beautiful women dressed to the nines, a passion most readily indulged in romance comics, a genre then in its infancy, Joe Simon and Jack Kirby having just set it on its way with 1947’s Young Romance.
This is Heart Throbs no. 1 (Aug. 1949, Quality). Ever the fetishist, Bill never could resist a well-fitted pair of opera gloves.This is Heart Throbs no. 2 (Oct. 1949, Quality). Quality’s flagship romance title, Heart Throbs lasted one hundred issues, 46 published by Quality, and an even hundred by DC (1956 to 1972) after they picked up what remained of the publisher’s assets, among them Blackhawk, Plastic Man, Doll Man, Uncle Sam, Phantom Lady, and some war (G.I. Combat) and romance titles.This is Hollywood Secrets no. 1 (Nov. 1949, Quality). An unusual colour scheme!This is Campus Loves no. 1 (Dec. 1949, Quality).This is Flaming Love no. 1 (Dec. 1949, Quality). The gloating guy is the prototypical Ward creep.This is Broadway Romances no. 1 (Jan. 1950, Quality). It’s so refreshing to see Ward devote the same level of attention to detail to background items as to the female figure and her accoutrements.This is Hollywood Secrets no. 2 (Jan. 1950, Quality).This is Love Letters no. 2 (Jan. 1950, Quality). Interesting how all these romance covers — the majority of Ward’s production in that genre — all came out within the span of a year or so.This is Secret Loves no. 2 (Jan. 1950, Quality). Ward liked his women to have tiny, needle-like digits — I mean, just compare the lovers’ respective paws!This is Torchy no. 5 (July 1950, Quality), Ward’s signature creature. With the years, as his women grew ever more buxom, his men became ever more grotesque — these are some of the archetypes, but noses got longer, legs got skinnier and shorter, bellies more bulging — until men and women in no way seemed to belong to the same species. While that device of exaggeration was a mainstay of « girlie » art, Ward took it further than just about anyone.
Over the years, things got more… pneumatic. And then some more.
One from an issue of Zip (1967, Marvel); that particular cartoon had probably been around the block a few times by then… it sure doesn’t scream ‘1967!’
Incidentally, the elaborate background textures found in Ward cartoons were achieved by a technique called rubbing, or frottage, « … a reproduction of the texture of a surface created by placing a piece of paper or similar material over the subject and then rubbing the paper with something to deposit marks, most commonly charcoal or pencil. » Not to be confused with the *other* kind of frottage, although, come to think of it, that’s also quite relevant to Ward cartoons.
One of Ward’s ‘Phone Girls’, she saw print in Snappy no. 24 (1958, Marvel)… and likely numerous times thereafter.
At his best, Ward’s women made me want to exclaim, “Hubba-hubba!” Guess that gives you an idea of my age because I believe that exclamation was put out to pasture when Reagan was in office.
It’s true that, to the past couple of generations, the words would, if anything, evoke thoughts of a bubble gum brand. That’s something, anyway. I hate to see old idioms die. https://www.hubbabubba.com/
Since I have nothing to compare it to, is Black Jack supposed to be so… chalky? From the format, I was expecting something more supple, like Juicy Fruit. But then maybe I just bought a stale pack.
It’s been fufty+ years since I had a piece of Black Jack gum. I remember its being locorice-y but if it had been chalky (which sounds ghastly), I doubt it would have lasted on the market for more than a few hours.
PS: Instead of saying “ghastly,” comic book fans should say “Ingelsy.” (At least we older fans.)
Oh definitely one from 50s/60s
Reminds me of the until recently dropped idea that super hero women dressed in one piece bathing suits could fight, charge through walls etc and not show one bruise.
On a similar note .Marvel’s Cross-Over (possibly over-done) ‘Secret Wars’ took time out to use produce an issue which was a bit of a break from the rest of the drama called ‘Secret Wars: Secret Love’ with a hark back to those days of ‘broken hearts’ writ large across the cover https://www.marvel.com/comics/issue/52479/secret_wars_secret_love_2015_1
Incidentally that classic pose of the girl-in-undies-on phone/secret diary-with legs in the air.
I recall some years back in my possible 20s (1970s) someone took the time out to see how practical that was. Volunteer models said either it was ‘impossibly uncomfortable’ or ‘Couldn’t be sustained’. Generally the opinion from real-life women…..’stupid way to spend your time’
Who's Out There? 
At his best, Ward’s women made me want to exclaim, “Hubba-hubba!” Guess that gives you an idea of my age because I believe that exclamation was put out to pasture when Reagan was in office.
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It’s true that, to the past couple of generations, the words would, if anything, evoke thoughts of a bubble gum brand. That’s something, anyway. I hate to see old idioms die. https://www.hubbabubba.com/
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I guess I might have heard about Hubba Budda gum somewhere along the way from then to now but I remember Black Jack Chewing Gum like it was yesterday!
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Ha! Funny you should say that, Neal: I had a piece of Black Jack chewing gum just yesterday! I’ve been trying to find a substitute for an old favourite, the long gone English import ‘Black Cat’ gum. (this stuff: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/01/f1/47/01f14732a7b7418837f4ce96117e14cb.jpg).
Since I have nothing to compare it to, is Black Jack supposed to be so… chalky? From the format, I was expecting something more supple, like Juicy Fruit. But then maybe I just bought a stale pack.
LikeLike
It’s been fufty+ years since I had a piece of Black Jack gum. I remember its being locorice-y but if it had been chalky (which sounds ghastly), I doubt it would have lasted on the market for more than a few hours.
PS: Instead of saying “ghastly,” comic book fans should say “Ingelsy.” (At least we older fans.)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh definitely one from 50s/60s
Reminds me of the until recently dropped idea that super hero women dressed in one piece bathing suits could fight, charge through walls etc and not show one bruise.
On a similar note .Marvel’s Cross-Over (possibly over-done) ‘Secret Wars’ took time out to use produce an issue which was a bit of a break from the rest of the drama called ‘Secret Wars: Secret Love’ with a hark back to those days of ‘broken hearts’ writ large across the cover
https://www.marvel.com/comics/issue/52479/secret_wars_secret_love_2015_1
Incidentally that classic pose of the girl-in-undies-on phone/secret diary-with legs in the air.
I recall some years back in my possible 20s (1970s) someone took the time out to see how practical that was. Volunteer models said either it was ‘impossibly uncomfortable’ or ‘Couldn’t be sustained’. Generally the opinion from real-life women…..’stupid way to spend your time’
LikeLike