Stanley Albert Drake (November 9, 1921 – March 10, 1997) was an American
cartoonist
A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and g ...
best known as the founding artist of the
comic strip
A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics ter ...
''
The Heart of Juliet Jones
''The Heart of Juliet Jones'' is an American comic strip series created by Elliott Caplin and drawn by Stan Drake, beginning on March 9, 1953.Brian Walker, "The Times Are A'Changin'", in Dean Mullaney, Bruce Canwell and Brian Walker, ''King of th ...
''.
Born in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, Drake worked in the back of a Dugan's Donut truck for a dollar-a-day salary while he was in high school. At the age of 17, he contributed art to ''Popular Detective'', ''Popular Sports'' and other pulps. Entering the comic book field as artist, letterer and writer, he became friends with cartoonist
Bob Lubbers
Robert Bartow Lubbers (January 10, 1922 – July 8, 2017) was an American comic strip and comic book artist best known for his work on such strips as ''Tarzan'', ''Li'l Abner'' and '' Long Sam''.
Biography
Born Robert Bartow Lubbers in 1922, he ...
, who later suggested he draw newspaper comics.
[Stan Drake official site]
He studied for two years at New York's
Art Students League
The Art Students League of New York is an art school at 215 West 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists.
Although artists may stu ...
. In the Pacific during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, he did PR work for ''
Stars and Stripes''. Returning to civilian life, he went into advertising, eventually heading a studio of 12 illustrators.
[
]
Comic strips
''Juliet Jones'', created in 1953 by Drake and writer Elliot Caplin
Elliot Caplin (December 25, 1913 - February 20, 2000) was a comic strip writer best known as the co-creator (with Stan Drake) of ''The Heart of Juliet Jones''. His name is sometimes spelled with one extra letter: Elliott A. Caplin. He was the youn ...
, was a dramatic comic drawn by Drake in a naturalistic style. Drake, whose assistants included Tex Blaisdell and Frank McLaughlin, stayed on the strip until 1989, when he was succeeded by Frank Bolle. Comic strip artist Larry Lieber
Lawrence D. Lieber (; born October 26, 1931) (Scroll down) is an American comic book artist and writer best known as co-creator of the Marvel Comics superheroes Iron Man, Thor, and Ant-Man; for his long stint both writing and drawing the Marvel ...
has said Drake was the biggest influence on his work.
In 1984, Drake replaced Mike Gersher
Mike Gersher was formerly an artist on the Blondie comic strip. He started being credited as the head artist in late December 1981, after the death of the long serving Jim Raymond. Gersher had assisted Raymond for about seventeen years, origina ...
as the artist on '' Blondie'' (written by Dean Young), and he continued drawing the strip until his death. His assistant on ''Blondie'' was Denis Lebrun
Denis Lebrun (born April 30, 1958) is a comic strip artist best known for his collaboration with Dean Young on the '' Blondie'' comic strip.
Comic strips
Born in Springfield, Massachusetts, Lebrun entered the comic strip field in 1975 with ''Rol ...
.
Fine art
He was a prolific painter and created portraits of more than 40 cartoonists, work displayed at the Comic Artist's Museum in Sarasota, Florida
Sarasota () is a city in Sarasota County, Florida, Sarasota County on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is renowned for its cultural and environmental amenities, beaches, resorts, and the Sarasota School of Architecture. The c ...
.
Graphic novels
Drake drew comic books for Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Comics'' in ...
such as ''The Pitt
''The Pitt'' is a 1987 one-shot comic book written by John Byrne and Mark Gruenwald, and illustrated by Sal Buscema and Stan Drake. It was published by Marvel Comics as part of its New Universe line. The story depicts the total destruct ...
''. Internationally, he is known for the artwork on the ''Kelly Green'' series of graphic novels about a young widow who fights crime in the manner of an action hero
An action hero (sometimes action heroine for women) is the protagonist of an action film or other form of entertainment which portrays action, adventure, and often violence. Other media in which such heroes appear include swashbuckler films, Wes ...
. This series was written by Leonard Starr
Leonard Starr (October 28, 1925 – June 30, 2015) was an American cartoonist, comic book artist, and advertising artist, best known for creating the newspaper comic strip '' On Stage'' and reviving ''Little Orphan Annie''.
Early life
Born Octob ...
. It was serialized in ''Pilote
Cover of the first ''Pilote'' issue #0
''Pilote'' () was a French comic magazine published from 1959 to 1989. Showcasing most of the major French or Belgian comics talents of its day the magazine introduced major series such as ''Astérix'', '' ...
'' magazine in black and white before being collected in color albums by the French firm Dargaud International Publishing.
An avid golfer, Drake created illustrations for ''Golf Digest
''Golf Digest'' is a monthly golf magazine published by Warner Bros. Discovery through its sports unit under its Warner Bros. Discovery Golf division. It is a generalist golf publication covering recreational golf and men's and women's competi ...
'' and the book ''The Touch System for Better Golf''.
Awards
He was recognized by the National Cartoonists Society
The National Cartoonists Society (NCS) is an organization of professional cartoonists in the United States. It presents the National Cartoonists Society Awards. The Society was born in 1946 when groups of cartoonists got together to entertain the ...
with their Story Comic Strip Award (1969, 1970, 1972) for ''The Heart of Juliet Jones'', and was awarded the Inkpot Award
The Inkpot Award is an honor bestowed annually since 1974 by Comic-Con International. It is given to professionals in the fields of comic books, comic strips, animation, science fiction, and related areas of popular culture, at CCI's annual conv ...
in 1984.Inkpot Award
/ref>
Health
Drake was a passenger during the September 1956 automobile accident that killed his fellow cartoonist Alex Raymond
Alexander Gillespie Raymond Jr. (October 2, 1909 – September 6, 1956) was an American cartoonist who was best known for creating the ''Flash Gordon'' comic strip for King Features Syndicate in 1934. The strip was subsequently adapted into many ...
, and was badly injured, with a broken shoulder which stopped him from cartooning during his recovery, and both his ears having been ripped off and needing to be surgically reattached.skull
The skull is a bone protective cavity for the brain. The skull is composed of four types of bone i.e., cranial bones, facial bones, ear ossicles and hyoid bone. However two parts are more prominent: the cranium and the mandible. In humans, th ...
did not properly fuse in infancy.[
]
References
External links
NCS Awards
*Frank McLaughlin interview, ''Comic Book Artist
A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...
'' #9 (August 2000), pp 84–88
Stan Drake Papers 1954-1971
at Syracuse University (primary source material)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Drake, Stan
1921 births
1997 deaths
American comics artists
American comic strip cartoonists
Blondie (comic strip)
Inkpot Award winners
American military personnel of World War II