Stan Goldberg

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For the United States Tax Court judge, see Stanley Goldberg.
Stan Goldberg
Born 1932
New York City
Nationality American
Area(s) Penciler, Inker
Pseudonym(s) Stan G.

Stan Goldberg a.k.a. Stan G. (born 1932 [1], in New York City) is an American comic book artist best known for his work as a flagship artist of Archie Comics and as a Marvel Comics' 1960s colorist, who helped design the original color schemes of Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four and other major characters.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Archie Meets the Punisher (Aug. 1994). The Marvel version, with identical content but a different cover, was titled The Punisher Meets Archie. Cover art by Goldberg & Henry Scarpelli.
Archie Meets the Punisher (Aug. 1994). The Marvel version, with identical content but a different cover, was titled The Punisher Meets Archie. Cover art by Goldberg & Henry Scarpelli.

[edit] Early life and career

Stan Goldberg was born on May 5, 1932, and began work in the comics field in 1949 as a staff colorist for Marvel's 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, working under Jon D'Agostino. Two years later, Goldberg became the coloring-department manager. In that capacity, he states on his official Web site, he "colored not just interiors, but also every cover the rest of the decade" for Timely's successor, Atlas Comics. Additionally, Goldberg drew stories for Atlas' horror comics (including "The Cave of Death" in Marvel Tales #109, Oct. 1952) and other titles.

[edit] The Silver Age

Goldberg went freelance in 1958, and also enrolled in New York City's School of Visual Arts to study TV storyboarding. As Atlas segued into Marvel, Goldberg began freelance-coloring the company's comic books through the mid-1960s, working with such artists as Steve Ditko and Jack Kirby to create the color designs for such characters as Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, the Hulk and others during what historians call the Silver Age of comic books. Other Marvel colorists of that era — all of whom, like Goldberg, worked uncredited at that time — included George Roussos, Marie Severin, and, on his own work only, writer-artist Jim Steranko.

As a penciler and inker, Goldberg found his niche drawing in the house style established by Dan DeCarlo for the various Marvel titles starring the slapsticky Millie the Model. Goldberg also drew her in a more serious style during Millie's 1963-67 iteration as a romantic-adventure star, and likewise exhibit a more grounded style on the teen romantic comedy series Patsy Walker. He would eventually co-plot these humor stories with writer and Marvel Comics editor Stan Lee.

Some Marvel humor stories with art credited to Sol Brodsky may have been Goldberg's work. As comics historian Mark Evanier notes:

“ ...there were quite a few issues of Millie the Model and other teen comics signed by Sol Brodsky or 'Solly B.' Brodsky was the firm's production manager and an occasional inker, and he did ink a few of the Millie stories that bear his credit. But they were all at least pencilled by Stan Goldberg. At the time, Stan was doing occasional work for the Archie Comics people, and they didn't like to see their artists drawing in that style for other publishers. So when Stan drew teen comics for Marvel, they put Brodsky's name on them in the hope that the Archie editors wouldn't know it was him.[2] ”

Goldberg stopped freelancing for Marvel in 1969,[3] and for three years drew the DC Comics teen titles Date with Debbie, Swing with Scooter and Binky. Shortly afterward he began a decades-long association with Archie Comics, joining Dan DeCarlo, Henry Scarpelli and other artists in drawing the house-style misadventures of Archie, Betty, Veronica, Jughead and the rest of the Riverdale High teens. Goldberg's work has appeared across the line, including in the flagship series, Archie — for which Goldberg has been the primary artist from at least the mid-1990s through mid-2006 — as well as in issues of Archie and Me, Betty, Betty and Me, Everything's Archie, Life with Archie, Archie's Pals 'n' Gals, Archie at Riverdale High, Laugh, Pep, Sabrina The Teenage Witch, the 1986 educational one-shot Archie's Ham Radio Adventure, and the 1990 TV movie tie-in To Riverdale and Back Again.

In 1994, Goldberg was chosen to pencil Archie Comics' portion of the unique intercompany crossover Archie Meets the Punisher, a one-shot in which the gritty, homicidal Marvel vigilante finds himself pursuing an Archie Andrews look-alike into bucolic Riverdale. From 1975 until 1980, Goldberg drew the Archie Sunday newspaper comic strip. He also penciled a six-page Betty story "I'll Take Manhattan", published Aug. 17, 2003, in The New York Times' Fashion of the Times magazine supplement.

His later comics work includes issues of DC's funny-animal superhero series Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew in the early 1980s, and the Jewish-themed children's comic book Mendy and the Golem.

[edit] Other work

In addition to comic-book illustration and coloring, Goldberg drew gag cartoons for men's magazines and did advertising art including a billboard for No Cal Soda.[4]

[edit] Awards and honors

Goldberg won a Comic-Con International Inkpot Award in 1994. The previous year at that fan convention, he was the subject of panel "Spotlight on Stan Goldberg", conducted July 17, 2003.

[edit] Quotes

Goldberg on the Atlas Comics staff: "I was in the Bullpen with a lot of well-known artists who worked up there at that time. We had our Bullpen up there until about 1958 or '59. [sic; the Bullpen staff was let go in 1957] The guys ... who actually worked nine-to-five and put in a regular day, and not the freelance guys who'd come in a drop off their work ... were almost a hall of fame group of people. There was John Severin. Bill Everett. Carl Burgos. There was the all-time great Joe Maneely.... We all worked together, all the colorists and correction guys, the letterers and artists. ... We had a great time".[5]

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Though the Lambiek Comiclopedia gives 1933, Goldberg's capsule autobiography at the National Cartoonists Society Web site gives 1932.
  2. ^ POV Online (column): "Why did some artists working for Marvel in the sixties use phony names?" by Mark Evanier
  3. ^ Though Goldberg's official Web site says 1968, his Marvel work appears as late as Mad About Millie #6 (Dec. 1969) and Chili #10 (Feb. 1970), and his first known DC work is Date with Debbi #14 (April 1971)
  4. ^ Marvel Bullpen Bulletins: "More Mirthful, Monumental, Mind-Staggering Memoranda from Your Marvel Madmen!" (March 1966 issues, including Thor #126: "Stan G., our curly-haired, mustachioed demon artist/colorist has just drawn an ad for one of the biggest soft-drink companies. (Its initials are No-Cal!) If you're in the Times Square area, you can see it on the biggest billboard in sight".
  5. ^ Adelaide Comics and Books: Stan Goldberg interview

[edit] References