The Four-Color Time Machine: Dan Nadel's 'Art in Time'

Comics historian Dan Nadel, author of Art Out of Time (2006), once more plumbs the history of classic, albeit obscure and nearly forgotten comics, in Art in Time: Unknown Comic Book Adventures, 1940-1980, a hardcover collection from Abrams ComicArts. Featuring rare works by artists such as Harry Lucey (one of the lead Archie artists from the 1950’s through the 1970’s), H.G. Peter (the original Wonder Woman illustrator), comics veteran Sam Glanzman (whose Joe Kubert-esque Kona is seen here) and many others, Nadel’s book is an engrossing piece of comics archaeology that brings attention to a body of classic comics stories that may otherwise have been lost to the mists of passing time. PW Comics Week spoke with Nadel about Art in Time and the process behind his latest reclamation project for comic book antiquities.

PW Comics Week: What inspired the creation of this volume?

Dan Nadel: Well, Art Out of Time felt like a good starting point, a broad new way to look at comics. I wanted to take that approach and apply it to one particular area of the medium and see what I could find. I also felt like addressing the kinds of comics I'm most interested in right now, which all basically fall under the adventure category. This includes artists I publish via my company, PictureBox, like Mat Brinkman (Multiforce), Brian Chippendale (What Does Psycho See), Frank Santoro (Incanto), and C.F. (Powr Mastrs). I see a lot of my historical "work" as part of a larger conversation with my peers and colleagues. I mean, I discover and get enthusiastic about comics via artists and other writers. People like [cartoonist] Gary Panter have had a profound impact on my thinking. In that sense, I'm always trying to invent a history for the present.

PWCW: How did you discover the material found in the book and from where did you get the biographical information on the more obscure Golden Age creators? Where did you find the material contained in the book? Were these items from your own collection or were they recommended from outside sources?

DN: Some comics were suggested to me—Crystal Night was suggested by Matthew Thurber; Kona by Jason Miles, for example—and others were longstanding obsessions of mine, like Jesse Marsh's work or Mort Meskin's heroes. Finding it was a matter of both combing through back issue bins looking for titles I knew to be associated with artists I was interested in, and calling on friends to riffle through their collections in search of same. Plenty of people loaned me comics just for browsing. I'm a lucky guy! As for the biographical info, I spend a lot of time hunting down info in old and new fanzines and supplement that with interviews. In a lot of my research I'm standing on the shoulders of real pioneers in the area, like Richard Kyle, Ron Goulart and John Benson. Those guys are the real heroes of comics history.

PWCW: What factors determined the material’s inclusion in this volume?

DN: I was looking for work on two fronts: First, by artists who were known for other properties. Second, by artists working in popular adventure genres who may have been forgotten. Hovering over both ideas of course is the idea of an individual signature to the style: A liveliness and verve that an artist like Mort Meskin has but so few others do. I'm always interested in artists who personalize formats and genres, and whose work transcends all expectations. To me, someone like Bill Everett routinely achieved those heights, as did, in the underground "genre", Michael McMillan. These were unique talents who generated pleasurable friction as they bumped up against the rules of their genres. And finally, beyond all that, I wanted to put together a compelling book, so the way the artists would fit together certainly helped determine their inclusion.

PWCW: What was your goal in compiling this collection?

DN: I wanted to make a book that would read not just as an anthology, but also as a statement of purpose about what comics can be and how they can be treated historically. I'd like to think that there are philosophical and ethical points to be made on both counts. I also very much want to shine the spotlight on what I consider good comics to be, and that relates to the present.

PWCW: There is obviously a plethora of forgotten comics work to be researched and mined from, so are there any plans to continue this series? Taking Art Out of Time as the introductory volume, that is.

DN: I don't have any plans to at the moment. My comics energy has lately been very focused on Jack Kirby (not exactly forgotten). I'm co-curating the largest retrospective to date of his work—some 170 pages from 1940-1985—at Fumetto, opening May 1 in Lucerne, Switzerland. Beyond that, I've turned towards some work on Hal Foster and perhaps more work on Jesse Marsh and Russ Manning, not to mention my ongoing writing for the comics magazine I co-edit, comicscomicsmag.com. But you never know when the "Art in/out" series will rear its head. There's certainly more territory there.