Elmer C. Stoner

The first commercial version of Mr. Peanut created by E. C. Stoner from the competition entry of 14-year-old Antonio Gentile in 1916.

Elmer Cecil Stoner or E. C. Stoner (18971969) was an American artist who worked as a commercial illustrator. He created the art for the famous Planters mascot, Mr. Peanut, and was the first African-American artist to work in US comic books. He produced pencil art for the first issue of Detective Comics, which established DC Comics, and worked for a variety of other golden age companies such as Timely Comics, which became Marvel Comics, and Street & Smith, the publishers of Doc Savage. He was part of New York's Harlem Renaissance and subsequently moved to Greenwich Village where he was part of the artistic community and also developed property.[1][2]

He also created the short-lived comics series Blackstone, Master Magician in 1946 for EC Comics,[3] which, despite its short run, was adapted into a radio drama series, Blackstone, the Magic Detective (1948-1950).

Reception

Ron Goulart criticised Stoner's work in his Great History of Comic Books, "Stoner's drawing is the visual equivalent of fingernails scraped across a slate, and whenever he had a chance to botch the perspective, the composition, or even the inking, he did so with brio."[4]

References

  1. Ken Quattro (5 April 2010), E. C. Stoner: The Forgotten Trailblazer, The Comics Detective
  2. David Saunders (2009), E. C. Stoner, Field Guide to Wild American Pulp Artists
  3. https://www.lambiek.net/artists/s/stoner_ec.htm
  4. Ron Goulart (1986), Ron Goulart's Great History of Comic Books, p. 27, ISBN 9780809250455


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 6/4/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.