Crusty Bunker, or the Crusty Bunkers, was the collective pseudonym of a group of
comic book
A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. ...
inker
The inker (sometimes credited as the finisher or embellisher) is one of the two line artists in traditional comic book production.
The penciller creates a drawing, the inker outlines, interprets, finalizes, retraces this drawing by using a penc ...
s clustered around
Neal Adams
Neal Adams (June 15, 1941 – April 28, 2022) was an American comic book artist. He was the co-founder of the graphic design studio Continuity Associates, and was a Creator ownership, creators-rights advocate who helped secure a pension and re ...
' and
Dick Giordano
Richard Joseph Giordano (; July 20, 1932 – March 27, 2010) was an American comics artist and editor whose career included introducing Charlton Comics' "Action Heroes" stable of superheroes and serving as executive editor of DC Comics.
Early li ...
's New York City-based art and design agency Continuity Studios from 1972 to 1977. The group was also occasionally credited as Ilya Hunch, Chuck Bunker, or The Goon Squad.Theakston, Greg and Nowlan, Kevin, et al., at Many Crusty Bunkers team members went on to successful individual careers in the comics industry.
History
According to former member Alan Weiss, the name "Crusty Bunker" was first coined by Adams in relation to his children: "It was like calling someone a name that wasn't really dirty. ... It didn't really mean anything, it just sounded good".
There were over 60 artists who at one time or another were Crusty Bunker members. The core group consisted of artists who rented space at Continuity or worked up front in the advertising studio itself. Continuity would get the assignment, someone with experience (usually Adams or Giordano)Netzer, Michael "The Lives and Time of Crusty Bunker", Michael Netzer Online, September 17, 2007 . Retrieved July 5, 2008. would ink the faces and main figures, then pass it around for everyone to work on it, until the whole thing was completed. Comic book titles that the collective worked on included Marvel's ''
Red Sonja
Red Sonja is a fictional sword and sorcery comic-book superheroine created by writer Roy Thomas and artist Barry Windsor-Smith for Marvel Comics in 1973, partially inspired by Robert E. Howard's character Red Sonya of Rogatino.
Marvel Comics pub ...
'' and ''
Marvel Premiere
''Marvel Premiere'' is an American comic book anthology series that was published by Marvel Comics. In concept it was a tryout book, intended to determine if a character or concept could attract enough readers to justify launching their own seri ...
Larry Hama
Larry Hama (; born June 7, 1949) is an American comic-book writer, artist, actor, and musician who has worked in the fields of entertainment and publishing since the 1960s.
During the 1970s, he was seen in minor roles on the TV shows ''M*A*S*H' ...
recounted: "If a job was incredibly late, then the Crusty Bunkers would gather together half-a-dozen to a dozen inkers and... turn out a whole book in a day or two, all under the supervision of Neal
dams
A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, ...
It was a whirl. Guys would be passing pages back and forth. Guys would be standing over boards filling in blacks upside down while somebody was rendering a face at the bottom of the page".
This period was one of transition in the comics industry, as
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery.
DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with their f ...
had been toppled from comics dominance by
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 19 ...
. In an attempt to revitalize its brand, DC made a concerted effort to entice young artists, including from this talent pool. As many of the Crusty Bunkers began getting regular comics work, they discontinued working in the group's collaborative fashion. The collective was effectively disbanded in 1977, although Adams resurrected the name for some of the comics put out by his own publishing company,
Continuity Comics
Continuity Publishing, also known as Continuity Comics, was an American independent comic book company formed by Neal Adams in 1984, publishing comics until 1994.
History
After years as a freelancer and comics art packager (with his company Co ...
, from 1985 to 1993.
Art style
Although directed (and often worked on directly) by Adams, the Crusty Bunkers inking style was not a
clone
Clone or Clones or Cloning or Cloned or The Clone may refer to:
Places
* Clones, County Fermanagh
* Clones, County Monaghan, a town in Ireland
Biology
* Clone (B-cell), a lymphocyte clone, the massive presence of which may indicate a pathologi ...
of Adams' individual work. Their early published work showed a herky-jerky, jumble of styles that revealed the work of multiple hands. Within about a year, however (in response to the demand from publishers for a homogenous look), the Crusty Bunkers had developed a true "house style", with only hints of the individual styles that the respective artists later became known for. This house style was more rough-hewn than similar work by Adams.
Members included
Source:
*
Neal Adams
Neal Adams (June 15, 1941 – April 28, 2022) was an American comic book artist. He was the co-founder of the graphic design studio Continuity Associates, and was a Creator ownership, creators-rights advocate who helped secure a pension and re ...
– principal
*
Dick Giordano
Richard Joseph Giordano (; July 20, 1932 – March 27, 2010) was an American comics artist and editor whose career included introducing Charlton Comics' "Action Heroes" stable of superheroes and serving as executive editor of DC Comics.
Early li ...
– principal
*
Jack Abel
Jack Abel (July 15, 1927 – March 6, 1996) at the
Sal Amendola
Sal Amendola (born 1948, in Italy) is an Italian Americans, Italian American comics artist and teacher primarily known for his association with DC Comics.
Career
Sal Amendola graduated from the School of Visual Arts in 1969 with the school’s ...
Pat Broderick
Pat Broderick (born November 26, 1953) is an American comics artist, known for his work on the ''Micronauts'' and ''Alpha Flight'' for Marvel Comics, and ''Legion of Super-Heroes'', ''Captain Atom'' and ''Green Lantern'' for DC Comics. Broderick ...
Bob Layton
Bob Layton (born 1953) is an American comic book artist, writer, and editor. He is best known for his work on Marvel Comics titles such as ''Iron Man'' and '' Hercules'', and for co-founding Valiant Comics with Jim Shooter.
Early life
Bob Lay ...
in
*
Frank Brunner
Frank Brunner (born February 21, 1949) is an American comics artist and illustrator best known for his work at Marvel Comics in the 1970s.
Early life
Brunner attended Manhattan's High School of Art and Design. He was in the same graduating cl ...
*Rick Bryant
*
Rich Buckler
Rich may refer to:
Common uses
* Rich, an entity possessing wealth
* Rich, an intense flavor, color, sound, texture, or feeling
**Rich (wine), a descriptor in wine tasting
Places United States
* Rich, Mississippi, an unincorporated commu ...
*
Howard Chaykin
Howard Victor Chaykin (; born October 7, 1950) is an American comic book artist and writer. Chaykin's influences include his one-time employer and mentor, Gil Kane, and the mid-20th century illustrators Robert Fawcett and Al Parker.
Early lif ...
Dave Cockrum
David Emmett Cockrum (; November 11, 1943 – November 26, 2006) was an American comics artist known for his co-creation of the new X-Men characters Nightcrawler, Storm, Colossus, and Mystique, as well as the antiheroine Black Cat. Cockrum ...
*
Denys Cowan
Denys B. Cowan (born January 30, 1961) is an American comics artist, television producer, media executive and one of the co-founders of Milestone Media.
Early life
Denys Cowan was first inspired by superheroes as a child from reruns of the 1950s ...
*Joe D'Esposito
*Ed Davis
*Karin Dougherty
*
Steve Englehart
Steve Englehart (; born April 22, 1947) is an American writer of comic books and novels. He is best known for his work at Marvel Comics and DC Comics in the 1970s and 1980s. His pseudonyms have included John Harkness and Cliff Garnett.
Early lif ...
Larry Hama
Larry Hama (; born June 7, 1949) is an American comic-book writer, artist, actor, and musician who has worked in the fields of entertainment and publishing since the 1960s.
During the 1970s, he was seen in minor roles on the TV shows ''M*A*S*H' ...
*Steve Harper
*
Russ Heath
Russell Heath Jr. (September 29, 1926 – August 23, 2018), was an American artist best known for his comic book work, particularly his DC Comics war stories and his 1960s art for ''Playboy'' magazine's " Little Annie Fanny" feature. He also pro ...
*
Klaus Janson
Klaus Janson (born January 23, 1952) is a German-born American comics artist, working regularly for Marvel Comics and DC Comics and sporadically for independent companies. While he is best known as an inker, Janson has frequently worked as a pe ...
*
Jeffrey Catherine Jones
Jeffrey Catherine Jones (January 10, 1944 – May 19, 2011) was an American artist whose work is best known from the late 1960s through the 2000s. Jones created the cover art for more than 150 books through 1976, as well as venturing into ...
*
Paul Kirchner
Paul Kirchner (born January 29, 1952) is an American writer and illustrator who has worked in diverse areas, from comic strips and toy design to advertising and editorial art.
Early life
Paul Kirchner was born in New Haven, Connecticut. He atte ...
*
Alan Kupperberg
Alan Kupperberg (May 18, 1953 – July 16, 2015) was an American comics artist known for working in both comic books and newspaper strips.
Early life
Alan Kupperberg was born on May 18, 1953 in New York City. He graduated from the High School o ...
*
Carl Lundgren
Carl Leonard "Lundy" Lundgren (February 16, 1880 – August 21, 1934) was an American baseball and football player and coach.
Lundgren played football and baseball for the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign and played eight seasons o ...
*
Esteban Maroto
Esteban Maroto (born 1942) is a Spanish comic book artist.
Career
Born in Madrid, he began his career in the 1960s with series like ''Cinco por infinito'', published in English by Continuity Comics as '' Zero Patrol'' (heavily retouched by e ...
Al Milgrom
Allen L. Milgrom (born March 6, 1950) is an American comic book writer, penciller, inker and editor, primarily for Marvel Comics. He is known for his 10-year run as editor of '' Marvel Fanfare''; his long involvement as writer, penciler, and inker ...
*Steve Mitchell
*Yong Montano
*Tim Moriarty
*
Gray Morrow
Dwight Graydon "Gray" Morrow (March 7, 1934 – November 6, 2001)Gray Morrow at the ...
Carl Potts
Carl Potts (born November 12, 1952) is an American comics artist, writer, teacher, and editor best known for creating the series ''Alien Legion'' for the Marvel Comics imprint Epic Comics.
Early life
Born in Oakland, California, and raised in th ...
*
Ralph Reese
Ralph Reese (born May 19, 1949) is an American artist who has illustrated for books, magazines, trading cards, comic books and comic strips, including a year drawing the ''Flash Gordon'' strip for King Features. Prolific from the 1960s to the 1 ...
Josef Rubinstein
Josef "Joe" Rubinstein (born 4 June 1958) is a comic book artist and inker, most associated with inking Marvel Comics' '' The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe'' and the 1982 four-issue ''Wolverine'' miniseries by Chris Claremont and Frank M ...
Jim Starlin
James P. Starlin (born October 9, 1949) is an American comics artist and writer. Beginning his career in the early 1970s, he is best known for space opera stories, for revamping the Marvel Comics characters Captain Marvel and Adam Warlock, a ...
*
Greg Theakston
Greg Allen Theakston (November 21, 1953 – April 22, 2019) was an American comics artist and illustrator who worked for numerous publishers. He is known for his independent publications as a comics historian under his Pure Imagination imp ...
*
Trevor Von Eeden
Trevor Von Eeden (born July 24, 1959) is a Guyanese-American comics artist, actor and writer known for his work on such titles as ''Black Lightning'', ''Batman'', '' Green Arrow'', ''Power Man and Iron Fist'', and the biographical series ''The Orig ...
Bob Wiacek
Bob Wiacek (born January 7, 1953) is an American comic book artist and writer, working primarily as an inker.
Wiacek has inked over such pencilers as Carmine Infantino on ''Star Wars'', Paul Smith and John Romita Jr. on ''The Uncanny X-Men'', Ju ...
*Gary Winnick
*
Berni Wrightson
Bernard Albert Wrightson (October 27, 1948 – March 18, 2017), sometimes credited as Bernie Wrightson, was an American artist, known for co-creating the Swamp Thing, his adaptation of the novel ''Frankenstein'' illustration work, and for his o ...
Bibliography
Source unless otherwise noted:
1970s incarnation
Atlas/Seaboard
*''Wulf the Barbarian'' #2 (1975)
Charlton
*''
Emergency!
''Emergency!'' is an American action-adventure medical drama
A medical drama is a television show or film in which events center upon a hospital, an ambulance staff, or any medical environment. Most recent medical drama (film and television) ...
Mr. Miracle
Mister Miracle (Scott Free) is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He first appeared in ''Mister Miracle'' #1 (April 1971) and was created by Jack Kirby.
Publication history
Mister Miracle debuted in ...
Conan the Barbarian
Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian) is a fictional sword and sorcery hero who originated in pulp magazines and has since been adapted to books, comics, films (including '' Conan the Barbarian'' and '' Conan the Destroyer'') ...
Deadly Hands of Kung-Fu
''The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu'' was an American black-and-white martial arts comics magazine published by Magazine Management, a corporate sibling of Marvel Comics. A total of 33 issues were published from 1974 to 1977, plus one special edition. ...
Grand Comics Database
The Grand Comics Database (GCD) is an Internet-based project to build a database of comic book information through user contributions. The GCD project catalogues information on creator credits, story details, reprints, and other information useful ...
. Retrieved September 1, 2008.
*''
Dracula Lives
''Dracula Lives!'' was an American black-and-white horror comics magazine published by Magazine Management, a corporate sibling of Marvel Comics. The series ran 13 issues and one '' Super Annual'' from 1973 to 1975, and starred the Marvel version o ...
Iron Man
Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby. The charact ...
Marvel Premiere
''Marvel Premiere'' is an American comic book anthology series that was published by Marvel Comics. In concept it was a tryout book, intended to determine if a character or concept could attract enough readers to justify launching their own seri ...
'' #10, 12–13 (1973–74)
*''
Marvel Preview
''Marvel Preview'' is a black-and-white comics magazine published by Magazine Management for fourteen issues and the affiliated Marvel Comics Group for ten issues. The final issue additionally carried the imprint Marvel Magazines Group.
Publica ...
'' #1 (1975)
*''
Marvel Treasury Edition
''Marvel Treasury Edition'' is an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics from 1974 to 1981. It usually featured reprints of previously published stories but a few issues contained new material. The series was published in an oversi ...
Power Man Power Man may refer to:
* Luke Cage, a Marvel Comics superhero, originally called Power Man
* Erik Josten, a Marvel supervillain later known as Smuggler, Goliath and Atlas
* Victor Alvarez, the current Power Man introduced in the mini-series ''Shad ...
'' #31 (1976)
*''
Savage Sword of Conan
''The Savage Sword of Conan'' was a black-and-white magazine-format comic book series published beginning in 1974 by Curtis Magazines, an imprint of American company Marvel Comics, and then later by Marvel itself. ''Savage Sword of Conan'' starre ...
'' #2–3 (1974)
*''
Savage Tales
''Savage Tales'' is the title of three American comics series. Two were black-and-white comics- magazine anthologies published by Marvel Comics, and the other a color comic book anthology published by Dynamite Entertainment.
Publication history ...
Ms. Mystic
Ms. Mystic is a fictional comic book Superhero#Female superheroes, superheroine created by comic book artist/writers Neal Adams and Michael Netzer. The character's first full appearance was in ''Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers'' #3 (March ...
'' #5 (1990)
*''
Ms. Mystic
Ms. Mystic is a fictional comic book Superhero#Female superheroes, superheroine created by comic book artist/writers Neal Adams and Michael Netzer. The character's first full appearance was in ''Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers'' #3 (March ...
Harry "A" Chesler
Harry Chesler (January 12, 1897, or January 12, 1898 (sources differ) – December 1981),Harr ...
*
Eisner & Iger
Eisner & Iger was a comic book "packager" that produced comics on demand for publishers entering the new medium during the late-1930s and 1940s period fans and historians call the Golden Age of Comic Books. Many of comic books' most significant c ...
Comics Bulletin
Comics Bulletin was a daily website covering the American comic-book industry.
History Silver Bullet Comicbooks
The site was founded in January 2000 as Silver Bullet Comicbooks by its New Zealand-based publisher/editor Jason Brice.
During thi ...