George Klein (comics)

For other people named George Klein, seeGeorge Klein (disambiguation).

George D. Klein^[1] (c. 1915^[2] or 1920^[3] – 1969) was an Americancomic book artist andcartoonist whose career stretched from the 1930s and 1940s'Golden Age of comic books until his death in 1969. He was best known as aninker forDC Comics, where he was an integral part of theSuperman family of titles from 1955 to 1968, and forMarvel Comics, where he was the generally recognized, uncredited inker onJack Kirby'spencil art for the landmark comic bookThe Fantastic Four #1.^[4]

George Klein
Klein in late 1950s or early 1960s
Born	c. 1915 or 1920
Died	1969
Nationality	American
Area(s)	Inker
Pseudonym(s)	Nick Karlton Mark Midnight^[1]
Awards	Inkwell Awards 2024 SASRA

Biography

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Early career

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Sub-Mariner Comics #5 (Spring 1942): Rare George Klein inks on one of Timely's "big three" heroes. Pencils byAl Gabriele.

Klein attended theKansas City Art Institute and New York'sCartoonists and Illustrators School.^[1] At Marvel Comics' 1940s precursor,Timely Comics, Klein was both a penciler and an inker, initially onsuperhero features. He was among the pencilers of the super-speedster theWhizzer, inAll Winners Comics #8–9 (Spring-Summer 1943). He had inked that early Marvel character, overMike Sekowsky's pencils, as early asAll Winners #3 (Winter 1941/42). Klein also worked on the charactersMiss America (inking the premiere issue in 1944), theYoung Allies, theBlack Marvel, the Golden AgeBlack Widow, the Defender, and, under the pseudonym Nick Karlton, theChallenger.^[5] Klein found himself more utilized, however, in what was called Timely's "animator" bullpen, which created such movie tie-in and originaltalking animal comics asMighty Mouse andAnimated Funny Comic-Tunes.

Because he was on staff, Klein frequently did not sign his artwork – a typical though not ironclad industry habit at the time – making it difficult to assess his Golden Age output.

In the post-war era, Klein drew for a variety of publishers. ForDC Comics, nearly ten years before teaming with pencilerCurt Swan on various Superman titles, Klein inked him on a "Boy Commandos" story inWorld's Finest Comics #21 (March–April 1946). ForAmerican Comics Group (ACG), Klein worked on suchhorror/suspense titles asAdventures into the Unknown,Forbidden Worlds, andOut of the Night. ForAtlas Comics, Marvel's 1950s iteration, Klein penciled but mostly inked stories for such comics asMarvel Tales,Sports Action,Wild Western, andSpace Squadron, for which he drew the backup feature "Blast Revere". By late in the decade he was also doing stories forPrize Comics'Black Magic.^[5]

Superman family

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Adventure Comics #360 (Sept. 1967): Klein inking pencilerCurt Swan

In 1955, Klein began his long association with penciler Curt Swan on a variety of titles inDC Comics' "Superman family", edited byMort Weisinger. Starting with uncredited but generally recognized inks over Swan inSuperboy #38 (Jan. 1955) – on a backup story featuring the Boy of Steel vs. "Public Chimp Number One!" – Klein soon took on the lead features there and inAdventure Comics, starring Superboy;Superman, starting in late 1961; and DC's flagship title,Action Comics, starring Superman, in 1962. Later in the 1960s, Klein became the chief inker onAdventure's lead feature, theLegion of Super-Heroes, by writerJim Shooter and penciler Swan,^[5] helping set the visual foundation for what would become one of DC's most popular series.

In 1968, with new art director and soon-to-be editorial directorCarmine Infantino given the mandate to revitalize DC in the wake of rival Marvel'spop-cultural and industry ascendancy,^{[citation needed]} Klein was eased out along with such other Superman-family artists asWayne Boring,Jim Mooney, andGeorge Papp, and writersOtto Binder,Edmond Hamilton, andJerry Siegel (Superman's co-creator withJoe Shuster). Klein's final DC work wasAdventure Comics #367 (May 1968).^[5]

Marvel Comics

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In 1961, pencilerJack Kirby and writer-editorStan Lee began revitalizing comics with the superhero team theFantastic Four. The team's first two issues were published without formal creator credits, in the manner of times, and their inker has never been definitively established. Before the mid-2000s and the maturity of comics scholarship, inking credit for the landmark issuesThe Fantastic Four #1–2 (Nov. 1961 – Jan. 1962) was generally attributed toDick Ayers, a frequent Kirby inker before and after. Since that time, further scholarship has given tentative credit to Klein. The standardGrand Comics Database, for example, unequivocally credits Klein as the primary inker (with possible alterations bySol Brodsky) based on the analysis of Michael Vassallo and Nick Caputo.^[6] That database credits Klein as inker for issue #2 with the caveat, "Inking often attributed to Dick Ayers and occasionally toArt Simek. The credit given reflects the current consensus."^[7] Another standard reference, the Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators, gives "George Klein?" as inker for issue #1 and "Sol Brodsky? George Klein?" for #2, with the additional note, "On the letter page ofFantastic Four (I) #272 and #281, Sol Brodsky is said to be the inker of this issue."^[8]

Daredevil #47 (Dec. 1968): Art by Gene Colan and George Klein

Regardless, Klein was working almost exclusively for DC Comics during this time, known as theSilver Age of Comic Books, until DC's 1968 shakeup (see above). Klein then became one of Marvel's most high-profile inkers in the short time before his death. He embellishedJohn Buscema on a run ofThe Avengers;Gene Colan on issues #46-49 off that penciler's signature series,Daredevil; and, in his last assignment,Jack Kirby onThor #168–169 (Sept.-Oct. 1969).^[5] Among the Silver Age issues he inked were theAvengers stories that introduced theVision,Yellowjacket, and the Clint BartonGoliath, and another with the marriage ofHenry Pym and theWasp, Janet Van Dyne; "Brother, Take My Hand" inDaredevil #47 (Dec. 1968), cited byStan Lee as one of his favorites among the comic-book stories he wrote;^{[citation needed]} and the cover and interior of one ofBarry Windsor-Smith's first U.S. comic books,Daredevil #51 (April 1969).

Death

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Klein died ofcirrhosis of theliver, six months after getting married.^[2] His death was announced in Marvel Comics' "Bullpen Bulletins" fan page appearing inFantastic Four #93 and other comics with a December 1969cover-date.

Inking style

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Former Marvel editor-in-chiefRoy Thomas, who wrote Marvel Comics'The Avengers during Klein's stint on that superhero title, described Klein's inking as "aJoe Sinnott kind of style. ... [He] could do that Sinnott style that was very popular then."^[9]

In its list of "The 20 Greatest Inkers of American Comic Books", historians at the retailer Atlas Comics (no relation to the comics publishers) listed George Klein at #17:

Most likened toMurphy Anderson, George Klein may have had an even more mannered and precise style. Klein, like Anderson (and to a lesser extent,Joe Sinnott) would create wonderful rounded shadows by dropping a well-weighted line and then creating a series of beautifully tapered feathers coming off of it, conforming to the contour of the object he was delineating. It gave those objectsvolume, and always let you subconsciously know the size, shape and form of what you were looking at. Many modern inkers miss this elementary style of 'investing' two-dimensional objects with the appearance of three dimensions. Often, their lines will be in direct opposition to forms they are supposed to define, or will throw shadows in a way which is counterintuitive to how we see them. Most of them would do well to study George Klein and simplify, simplify, simplify.^[10]