Wayne Boring

Wayne Boring (June 5, 1905 – February 20, 1987) was an American comic book artist best known for his work on Superman from the late 1940s to 1950s. He occasionally used the pseudonym Jack Harmon.

Biography

Early life and career

Boring attended the Minnesota School of Art and the Chicago Art Institute. In 1937, he began " ghosting" (drawing for hire without credit) on such comic book features as Slam Bradley and Doctor Occult for the Jerry Siegel-Joe Shuster studio. In 1938, Siegel and Shuster's character Superman was published in ''Action Comics'' #1, for the DC Comics precursor National Allied Publications, and Boring became a ghost on the soon spun off ''Superman'' comic strip, eventually becoming the credited artist.

Superman comic books

In 1942, the by-then-named National Comics hired Boring as a staff artist, teaming him as penciler the following year with inker Stan Kaye. The two would work together for nearly 20 years during a period fans and historians call the Golden Age of comic books. In 1948, following Siegel and Shuster's departure from the company over a Superman rights lawsuit, Mort Weisinger, the editor of the Superman line, brought in Boring as well as Al Plastino and Curt Swan. During this mid-1940s period, he often signed his work for rival Novelty Press's '' Blue Bolt Comics'' as Jack Harmon.

Boring's "Superman Covers Atom Bomb Test!" cover for ''Action Comics'' #101 (Oct. 1946) was an early example of nuclear weapons in popular culture. A more detailed origin story for Superman by Boring and writer Bill Finger was presented in ''Superman'' #53 (July 1948) to mark the character's tenth anniversary. Boring co-created the Fortress of Solitude in ''Action Comics'' #241 (June 1958) with writer Jerry Coleman and Bizarro World in ''Action Comics'' #263 (April 1960) with Otto Binder.

Boring was the primary Superman comic book penciller through the 1950s. Swan succeeded him the following decade, though Boring returned for sporadic guest appearances in the early 1960s and then again in late 1966 and early 1967. One critic wrote of Boring's 1950s Superman art, "Comics legend Wayne Boring played a major role in visually defining the most well known super-hero in the world during the peak of Superman's popularity." Another writer echoed, "Boring's bravura brushwork defined many of its key elements and made Superman look more powerful and imposing, now standing a heroic nine heads tall, and brought a fresh realism, a sleek sci-fi vision and a greater seriousness of tone."

Boring was let go from DC in 1967 along with many other prominent writers and artists who had made demands for health and retirement benefits. From 1968 to 1972, Boring ghosted backgrounds for Hal Foster's ''Prince Valiant'' Sunday comic strip and took over the art on writer Sam Leff's 1961–71 United Feature Syndicate strip '' Davy Jones''. Afterward, Boring drew three issues of Marvel Comics' '' Captain Marvel'', then left the field to semi-retire as a bank security guard, though he would continue to draw commissioned work. He briefly returned to DC to pencil some stories in ''All-Star Squadron Annual'' #3 (1984), ''Superman'' #402 (Dec. 1984), and ''Action Comics'' #561 and 572 (Nov. 1984 and Oct. 1985).

Boring died of a heart attack, following a brief comeback announced in one of his last published works, penciling a Golden Age Superman story written by Roy Thomas and inked by Jerry Ordway in ''Secret Origins'' vol. 2 #1 (April 1986). His final work was ''All-Star Squadron'' #64 (Dec. 1986) a recreation of ''Superman'' #19.

Awards

In 1985, DC Comics named Boring as one of the honorees in the company's 50th anniversary publication '' Fifty Who Made DC Great''.

He was posthumously inducted into the Will Eisner Hall of Fame in 2007.

Bibliography

Comics work (interior pencil art) includes:

DC Comics

*''Action Comics'' #35–36, 121, 132, 134, 137–138, 141–142, 144, 146–147, 150–152, 158–168, 171, 173–175, 178–182, 184, 186–188, 190–192, 194–196, 198–200, 202–204, 206–207, 209–211, 215–216, 218–219, 221, 223–227, 229–241, 243, 245–246, 248, 250, 257–258, 261–264, 266–268, 275–276, 342–344, 346, 348–353, 355–357, 561, 572 (1941–1967, 1984–1985)
*''Adventure Comics'' #42–43, 285 (1939, 1961)
*''All-Star Squadron'' #64, ''Annual'' #3 (1984–1986)
*''Secret Origins'' vol. 2 #1 (Superman) (1986)
*'' Showcase'' #10 (Lois Lane) (1957)
*''Silver Age 80-Page Giant'' #1 (2000)
*''Superboy'' #7 (1950)
*''Superman'' #5, 7–8, 10, 53–110, 112–115, 117, 119–122, 124–130, 132–136, 138–143, 150, 155, 189–190, 200, 229, 402 (1940–1970, 1984)
*'' Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane'' #2, 4, 6–8, 10, 13 (1958–1959)
*''Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen'' #43 (1960)
*'' Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe'' #12, 14, 18–19, 22 (1986)
*''World's Finest Comics'' #14, 35–38, 44–46, 48, 50, 52–53, 59, 62–63, 65, 68–69, 181 (1944–1968)

Marvel Comics

*''Astonishing'' #4 (1951)
*'' Captain Marvel'' #22–24 (1972–1973)
*''Creatures on the Loose'' #19 ( Gullivar Jones, Warrior of Mars) (with Gil Kane) (1972)
*''Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition'' #16, 19 (1987)
*''Thor'' #280 (1979)

References

External links

*
*
Wayne Boring
at Mike's Amazing World of Comics

at the Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boring, Wayne
1905 births
1987 deaths
20th-century American artists
American comics artists
Artists from Minnesota
DC Comics people
Golden Age comics creators
Minneapolis College of Art and Design alumni
Artists from Ridgefield, Connecticut
School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumni
Silver Age comics creators
Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame inductees