Howard Nostrand (May 13, 1929Nostrand, Howard. "Nostrand by Nostrand", ''Graphic Story Magazine'' #16 (Summer 1974), p. 18–August 1, 1984)"Howard Nostrand Death Records,"
Mooseroots.com. Accessed Jan. 18, 2016.
at the

Lambiek Comiclopedia Galerie Lambiek is a Dutch comic book store and art gallery in Amsterdam, founded on November 8, 1968 by Kees Kousemaker (, – Bussum, ). His son Boris Kousemaker has been the owner since 2007. From 1968 to 2015, it was located in the Ke ...

was an American cartoonist and illustrator best known for his 1950s

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

stories and his 1959-60 syndicated

comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of 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 terminology#Captio ...

Bat Masterson Bartholemew William Barclay "Bat" Masterson (November 26, 1853 – October 25, 1921) was a U.S. Army scout, lawman, professional gambler, and journalist known for his exploits in the late 19th and early 20th-century American Old West. He was bo ...

'', based on the

television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

Biography

Early life

Howard Nostrand was born in

Hoboken, New Jersey Hoboken ( ; ) is a City (New Jersey), city in Hudson County, New Jersey, Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Hoboken is part of the New York metropolitan area and is the site of Hoboken Terminal, a major transportation hub. As of the ...

. In 1932, his family moved to Hempstead,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, where he graduated from high school in 1946. After working for his father's furniture construction and restoration business, painting gold leaf, scroll work and other embellishments, he attended the Art Career School. "It didn't teach very much of anything," Nostrand recalled in 1974, so "I left after one semester."

Comic books

In 1948, through one of his father's friends, Nostrand found work as an assistant to comic book artist

Bob Powell Bob Powell (né Stanley Robert Pawlowski; While gives Stanislav Pavlowsky, and gives Stanislav Pavlowsky, Bails and Ware note: "family name corrected by his son, Seth R. Powell July 2006." October 6, 1916

, who drew for

Harvey Comics Harvey Comics (also known as Harvey World Famous Comics, Harvey Publications, Harvey Comics Entertainment, Harvey Hits, Harvey Illustrated Humor, and Harvey Picture Magazines) was an American comic book publisher, founded in New York City by Alf ...

and

Fiction House Fiction House was an American publisher of pulp magazines and comic books that existed from the 1920s to the 1950s. It was founded by John B. "Jack" Kelly and John W. Glenister.Saunders, David"JACK BYRNE (1902-1972),"Field Guide to Wild American P ...

. Nostrand recalled working alongside his fellow assistants, background artist George Siefringer and "Martin Epp, who inked, lettered and helped George on backgrounds. I started out inking and then got into doing backgrounds... and then

penciling A penciller (or penciler) is an artist who works on the creation of comic books, graphic novels, and similar visual art forms, with a focus on the initial pencil illustrations. In the American comic book industry, the penciller is the first step ...

." Nostrand worked for Powell on features that included "Red Hawk" in

Magazine Enterprises Magazine Enterprises was an American comic book publishing company lasting from 1943 to 1958, which published primarily Western, humor, crime, adventure, and children's comics, with virtually no superheroes. It was founded by Vin Sullivan, an ed ...

' '' Straight Arrow'' and "Bobby Benson's B-Bar-B Riders", based on the

children's television Children's television series (or children's television shows) are Television show, television programs designed specifically for Child, children. They are typically characterised by easy-going content devoid of sensitive or adult themes and are ...

series, in the same publisher's comic book of that title, but it was the horror comics that Harvey would begin publishing in the early 1950s that would feature some of Nostrand and Powell's finest comic art. For

Fawcett Comics Fawcett Comics, a division of Fawcett Publications, was one of several successful comic book publishers during the Golden Age of Comic Books in the 1940s. Its most popular character was Captain Marvel, the alter ego of radio reporter Billy Bats ...

, he did work in ''

Hot Rod Hot rods are typically American cars that might be old, classic, or modern and that have been rebuilt or modified with large engines optimized for speed and acceleration. One definition is: "a car that's been stripped down, souped up and ma ...

Comics'', an adaptation of the 1951

John Huston John Marcellus Huston ( ; August 5, 1906 – August 28, 1987) was an American film director, screenwriter and actor. He wrote the screenplays for most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered classics. He rec ...

film ''

The Red Badge of Courage ''The Red Badge of Courage'' is an 1895 war novel by American author Stephen Crane. The novel was published on 3 October 1895. Taking place during the American Civil War, the story is about a young private of the Union Army, Henry Fleming ...

'' and "a couple of Westerns", including the movie spin-off feature "

Lash LaRue Alfred "Lash" LaRue (June 15, 1917 – May 21, 1996) was a Western motion picture star of the 1940s and 1950s. Early life and education Born Alfred LaRue in Gretna, Louisiana in 1917, he was reared in various towns throughout Louisiana, ...

". Writer and artist credits were not routinely given in comics during this time; historians cite as Nostand's first confirmed full inking work the seven-page Powell-penciled horror story "Servants of the Tomb" in Harvey's ''Witches Tales'' #6 (Nov. 1961).Howard Nostrand
at the

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 use ...

Nostrand left Powell in March 1952 and found work with Harvey Comics editor

Sid Jacobson Sidney Jacobson (October 20, 1929 – July 23, 2022) was an American writer who worked in the fields of children's comic books, popular music, fiction, biography, and non-fiction comics. He was managing editor and editor in chief for Harvey Comi ...

. "I think the first job I did for Harvey was a story called 'Man Germ', written by a fellow named Nat Barnett... about a trip through the interior of a person's body. Turns out this fellow as a germ, though, and the body expires. Cute."Nostrand, p. 19 Nostrand also worked on Harvey's short-lived 3-D comics, as well as on such horror titles as ''Black Cat Mystery'', ''Chamber of Chills'', ''Tomb of Terror'' and ''Witches Tales''. Since EC comics were leading the way in the horror comics genre of the day, most publishers were advising their artists to adopt a similar style and in some cases outright art swipes from ''

Tales From the Crypt Tales from the Crypt may refer to: * ''Tales from the Crypt'' (album), by American rapper C-Bo * ''Tales from the Crypt'' (comics), published by EC Comics during the 1950s ** ''Tales from the Crypt'' (film), a 1972 Amicus film starring Ralph Ric ...

'' and other comics published under the Entertaining Comics banner. Nostrand did a flawless imitation of Jack Davis and in one case completely redrew a sequence by

Wally Wood Wallace Allan Wood (June 17, 1927 – November 2, 1981) was an American comic book writer, artist and independent publisher, widely known for his work on EC Comics's titles such as ''Weird Science (comic), Weird Science'', ''Weird Fantasy'', an ...

from EC's ''

Two-Fisted Tales ''Two-Fisted Tales'' is an anthology war comic published bi-monthly by EC Comics in the early 1950s. The title originated in 1950 when Harvey Kurtzman suggested to William Gaines that they publish an adventure comic. Kurtzman became the editor ...

'' but changed the positioning and layout of every panel. Wood and other EC artists praised Nostrand's work and saw that he was talented enough not to do outright swipes, but only work influenced by other artists. With the mid-1950s slump in comic books that followed the Senate hearings on

juvenile delinquency Juvenile delinquency, also known as juvenile offending, is the act of participating in unlawful behavior younger than the statutory age of majority. These acts would be considered crimes if the individuals committing them were older. The term ...

and the creation of the

Comics Code The Comics Code Authority (CCA) was formed in 1954 by the Comics Magazine Association of America as an alternative to government regulation. The CCA enabled comic publishers to self-regulate the content of comic books in the United States. The c ...

. Nostrand turned to commercial art. In a 1974 autobiographical magazine article, he recalled: He eventually found a staff position at the New York commercial art firm Penthouse Studios (no relation to ''

Penthouse Penthouse most often refers to: *Penthouse apartment, a special apartment on the top floor of a building * ''Penthouse'' (magazine), a British-founded men's magazine *Mechanical penthouse, a floor, typically located directly under a flat-roof, tha ...

'' magazine) at Eighth Avenue and West 58th Street.

Comic strip

With writer

Ed Herron Francis Edward Herron (July 23, 1917 – September 2, 1966) was an American comic book writer and editor active in the 1940s–1960s, mainly for DC Comics. He is credited with co-creating Captain Marvel Jr. and the Red Skull, as well as such c ...

, he produced the 1959-60 syndicated

'', based on the

, on which he was assisted by artist

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 ...

. In 1975, he returned to comic books with stories for

Atlas/Seaboard Comics Atlas/Seaboard Comics is a line of comic books published by the American company Seaboard Periodicals in the 1970s. Though the line was published under the brand Atlas Comics, comic book historians and collectors refer to it as Atlas/Seaboard Com ...

(''Targitt''), and Marvel (''

Vampire Tales ''Vampire Tales'' was an American black-and-white horror comics magazine published by Magazine Management, a corporate sibling of Marvel Comics. The series ran 11 issues and one annual publication from 1973 to 1975, and featuring vampires as both ...

''), followed by more than a dozen contributions to ''

Cracked Cracked may refer to: Television * ''Cracked'' (British TV series), a 2008 British comedy-drama television series that aired on STV * ''Cracked'' (Canadian TV series), a 2013 Canadian crime drama series that aired on CBC * "Cracked", a Season 8 ( ...

''. His last recorded comics work was the back-cover gag, "Great Moments in Technology: Marcus Bulovas Invents the Wristwatch", of ''Cracked'' #172 (October 1980). In the 1980s, Nostrand returned to the EC swipe/Jack Davisesque style he had used in Harvey horror comics of the 1950s and did several parody stories for National Lampoon magazine, featuring characters like the Old Fag Hag.

Awards

Nostrand won an award in the 1960s from the American Institute of Graphic Arts for his subway poster showing a cigar-puffing gangster.

References

External links

"Potrzebie"
(blog of comics historian and book editor Bhob Stewart), "Four Color Fear", September 26, 2010
''The Best of the Harveyville Fun Times!'' by Mark Arnold
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nostrand, Howard 1929 births 1984 deaths American comic strip cartoonists American comics artists 20th-century American illustrators