- Matt Baker (artist)
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Matt Baker 
Baker and publisher Archer St. John
at Grauman's Chinese Theatre (undated)Born Clarence Matthew Baker
December 10, 1921Died August 11, 1959 (aged 37) Nationality American Area(s) Penciller Pseudonym(s) Matt Barkerino Notable works Phantom Lady Clarence Matthew Baker (December 10, 1921 – August 11, 1959)[1] was an American comic book artist best known for the costumed crimefighter Phantom Lady. As comic books' first known African-American artist,[citation needed] Baker was active as early as the 1930s and '40s Golden Age of comic books. He also penciled an early form of graphic novel, St. John Publications' digest-sized "picture novel" It Rhymes with Lust (1950). His specialty was good girl art, a comics and cartooning subgenre.
Baker was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2009.[2]
Contents
Biography
Early years
Baker was born in Forsyth County, North Carolina,[3] and raised in Homestead, Pennsylvania, a steel mill town on the Monongahela River near Pittsburgh. He was educated at Cooper Union in New York City, and was later hired by the Iger Studio. Eisner & Inger was one of the 1940s packagers who provided outsourced comics on demand for publishers entering the new medium. Through Iger, Baker did work for publishers including St. John, Fiction House, Fox Comics and Quality Comics. In later years, he independently teamed with inker Jon D'Agostino under the pseudonym Matt Bakerino[citation needed] at Charlton Comics.
Phantom Lady
Phantom Lady #17 (April 1948). This Baker cover appeared in the book Seduction of the Innocent.
The character Phantom Lady, created by Arthur Peddy, had originated in 1941 as a Quality Comics feature supplied by the Iger Studio. Cartoonist Frank Borth later took over the art. After Quality dropped the feature, which had appeared in Police Comics #1-23 (Aug. 1941 – Oct. 1943), Iger supplied it to Fox Comics, which had requested a sexy costumed adventuress.[citation needed] Baker redesigned the character into her best-known incarnation (see image above). This version (generally but unconfirmably credited to writer Ruth Roche) debuted in Fox's Phantom Lady #13 (Aug. 1947), the premiere issue after taking over the numbering of the canceled comic Wotalife; the title ran through issue #23 (April 1949). Baker's Phantom Lady also appeared as a backup feature in All Top Comics #9-16 (Jan. 1948 – March 1949).[4]
Other work
His other artwork for comic books includes the light-humor military title Canteen Kate, as well as stories in the suspense anthology Tales of The Mysterious Traveler; the comedic-adventure feature "Sky Girl" in Fiction House's Jumbo Comics, with originals and later reprints running from #69-139 (Nov. 1944 - Dec. 1952); the jungle adventure "Tiger Girl"; "Flamingo", "South Sea Girl", "Glory Forbes", "Kayo Kirby"; and "Risks Unlimited". Baker illustrated Lorna Doone for Classic Comics in December 1946, his one and only contribution to the well-known series.[5] In 1948, Matt Baker contributed the cover art to The Saint #4 published by Avon. He is the generally credited but unconfirmed artist for Fox's Rulah, Jungle Goddess #17–27 (Aug. 1948 - June 1949, title's complete run after having taken over the numbering of the defunct Zoot Comics). He also produced Flamingo as a syndicated comic strip from 1952 through 1954.
Later work and death
Baker later did several romance and other titles for St. John Publications, and afterward freelanced for Atlas Comics, the 1950s forerunner of Marvel Comics, beginning with a five-page anthological story generally if unconfirmably credited to writer-editor Stan Lee, in the omnibus title Gunsmoke Western #32 (Dec. 1955). At some point during this period, working through artist Vince Colletta's studio, Baker went on to draw stories for Atlas' Western Outlaws, Quick Trigger Action, Frontier Western, and Wild Western; more prolifically for the company's romance comics Love Romances, My Own Romance, and Teen-Age Romance; and one story each for the supernatural/science fiction anthologies Strange Tales, World of Fantasy, and Tales to Astonish ("I Fell to the Center of the Earth!" in issue #2, March 1959, reprinted in the book Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Tales to Astonish, ISBN 0-7851-1889-6) Baker also supplied artwork for the Dell Movie Classic edition of King Richard and the Crusaders.[6]
His last known work (generally credited but unconfirmed) is the first page of the six-page story "Happily Ever After" in Atlas/Marvel's Love Romances #90 (Nov. 1960). His last known confirmed work is the six-page "I Gave Up the Man I Love!" in the company's My Own Romance #73 (Jan. 1960).
He died in August 1959 of a heart attack.[7]
Awards
Baker was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2009.[2]
References
- ^ Matt Baker at the Lambiek Comiclopedia
- ^ a b "2009 Eisner Award winners". Comic-Con.org. http://www.comic-con.org/cci/cci_eisners_09win.shtml. Retrieved 2011-01-14.
- ^ M. Keith Booker. Encyclopedia of Comic Books and Graphic Novels, Volume 1, ABC-CLIO (2010), Pg. 45.
- ^ Phantom Lady at Don Markstein's Toonopedia
- ^ William B. Jones, Jr., Classics Illustrated: A Cultural History, with Illustrations (Jefferson, NC, and London: McFarland & Co., Inc., 2002), p. 44.
- ^ Jones, Classics Illustrated: A Cultural History, p. 45.
- ^ Duin, Steve, and Mike Richardson. Comics Between the Panels, Dark Horse Comics, 1998. page #?
External links
- Strickler, Dave. Syndicated Comic Strips and Artists, 1924-1995: The Complete Index. Cambria, California: Comics Access, 1995. ISBN 0-9700077-0-1
- Black Superhero Hype: Matt Baker
- Grand Comics Database
- Matt Baker artwork at American Art Archives web site
Categories:- American comics artists
- 1959 deaths
- 1921 births
- African American artists
- African American comics creators
- Golden Age comics creators
- Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame inductees
- People from North Carolina
- People from Forsyth County, North Carolina
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