Number 1551: The “undiscovered” master

This Rocketman story is from Chesler’s Scoop Comics #2 (1942), credited by the Grand Comics Database to Arthur Pinajian. Pinajian, an old-time comic book artist working with the Funnies, Inc, studio, also drew features such as Madam Fatal and Invisible Justice for Quality Comics.

I’ve been waiting to show work by Pinajian, because he figured in a big art story a couple of years ago. A decorated war veteran, he lived with his sister after the war. He painted landscapes and stored them in their house. He asked that they be disposed of in the county landfill after his death. A relative refused to let the paintings be hauled away, and had them examined by an art historian, Peter Hastings Falk. Falk pronounced Pinajian a brilliant abstract landscape artist, heretofore “undiscovered.” The story made some national news programs on television and in newspapers. At the time the story broke Pinajian, who died in 1999, had been dead for over a decade. As soon as I saw his name I knew that as a comics fan I felt I knew more of Art Pinajian’s early work than all of the art community who pronounced him an unknown, eccentric genius.

Although I knew some of his backstory from his days in comics, the story of his landscapes is one of those tales of some poor artist slaving away in obscurity, starving in a garret. Never recognized in life, suddenly revered in death.* You can read a story about it here.

*There is a similar story of another artist, photographer Vivian Maier. Hundreds of thousands of her photographic negatives were discovered in a storage locker after her death, and rescued by a man who recognized her genius. Her work was completely unknown in life, based on her own preference. She never sought fame, but toiled at her photography as a hobby while working as a nanny. A documentary has been made, and a website set up in her name has her story.

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Some of Pinajian’s early comic book work, featuring Madam Fatal. I showed these stories in 2010. Click on the thumbnail:

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Number 927


Rocketman's two careers


Zip-Jet was a short-lived, two-issue series published by St. John in 1953. Zip-Jet was "Tech" Carson, who had invented the Zip-Jet rocket engine, hence his name. But in his original incarnation he was Rocketman, featured in mid-1940s issues of Punch Comics, a Harry "A" Chesler publication. He wasn't a scientist in those days, but a lawyer named Cal Martin. In the earlier version his partner, Rocketgirl, was his secretary.

The Rocketman stories appeared in the mid-'40s. The Grand Comics Database doesn't know for sure, but attributes the pencil artwork to Al Plastino-with-a-question-mark.

What's interesting to me about the whole thing is that when published by St. John the stories were re-written. I've scanned two versions of the same story: the Rocketman story is from Punch Comics #14, 1946, and the Zip-Jet version from Zip-Jet #1, 1953. You can see the differences for yourself, and maybe you'll agree the newer version is better. It makes more sense to me to have a rocket engine invented by a scientist rather than a lawyer, for instance.

The third story I've scanned is from Zip-Jet #2. I don't have the Rocketman version of the story. To add to the general confusion, "The Fantastic Brain Destroyers" was featured on the cover of Zip-Jet #1, but not published until the next issue.

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Number 887


Star Ranger #1


Dave Miller, to whom I salaam deeply in thanks, provided scans for a recent acquisition of his, Star Ranger #1. He found a coverless copy and agreed to scan it for me so I can show it to you. Star Ranger #1, dated February, 1937, is the first Western comic, but also significant because it is a platinum age comic book using original material, while many comics were still doing reprints of newspaper comics.

Some of the artwork is very good, but some is crude, some of the stories even cruder. There are racist depictions of Mexicans and at least one ugly page of caricatured black people. For those I apologize, with the excuse that it was the way things were done in those days, without regard to any offense they might cause.

I have reduced the size of Dave's scans, but essentially left them alone so you can see the comic as he bought it, as it survived 74 years until it came into his possession. The cover I took from the Heritage Auctions site.

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