L. B. Cole

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Leonard B. Cole is a comic book artist who worked during what is referred to as the Golden Age of Comic Books.

Before entering the comic book industry, Cole worked as art director in the lithography industry. His comic book career started in the early 1940's, mainly as a cover artist for titles such as Suspense Comics, Contact Comics, . Some of his boldest covers featured what he referred to as "poster colors", the use of primary colors, often over black backgrounds. Examples include the covers to Mask Comics #1, Contact Comics #12 and Captain Flight #11.

Over the course of his career Cole created work in a number of genres, including science fiction, romance, horror, adventure, mystery, sports and humor. An avid science fiction fan, Cole was known for slipping in sci-fi elements even when they weren't appropriate. Cited examples are rocket ships and ray guns appearing on the covers of Captain Flight Comics and Contact Comics. ^[1] Both titles were supposed to be devoted to contemporary aviation.

L.B. Cole gained further recognition when comic fandom grew in the late 1960s and through the 1970s. In 1981, he created a new painting that was featured on the cover of the 11th edition of the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide. During this same time, he began selling re-creations of his classic covers, which were available in three different sizes (1x, 1.5x and 2x).

In the early 1990s, Ernie Gerber published his two-volume Photo Journal Guide To Comic Books which featured on its covers a number of Cole's covers. As a result, the demand for Cole's work increased dramatically.