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Friday, May 23, 2008

Pinups: Bill Wenzel and Stanley Rayon's Girlie Cartoons

This post is just the tip of the iceberg... see reason number 9 on our The Top Ten Reasons To Support The A-HAA for links to more great pinup art.

Bill Wenzel and Stanley Rayon Girlie Comics
You might remember our post a few weeks back on the girlie cartoons of Jack O'Brien and Milo Kinn from the pages of Booby Traps and Nuggets. Today, we have more fun for you.

Time is a strange thing. Some parts of history are written about and analyzed endlessly and are passed down to future generations, while other aspects are totally forgotten. Sixty years downstream from when these cartoons were created, very little information about the artists who made them has survived.

BILL WENZEL

Bill Wenzel is the best known artist in this batch, working here under the pseudonym, "Candace". Fantagraphics recently published a collection of his work, and GoofButton.com posted scans from a late sixties collection of his cartoons, titled Tender Loving Care. Here, we get a rare chance to see Wenzel's rough alongside the finished ink...

Bill Wenzel and Stanley Rayon Girlie Comics
Bill Wenzel and Stanley Rayon Girlie Comics
Bill Wenzel and Stanley Rayon Girlie Comics
Bill Wenzel and Stanley Rayon Girlie Comics
Bill Wenzel and Stanley Rayon Girlie Comics
Bill Wenzel and Stanley Rayon Girlie Comics
Bill Wenzel and Stanley Rayon Girlie Comics
Bill Wenzel and Stanley Rayon Girlie Comics
Bill Wenzel and Stanley Rayon Girlie Comics
Bill Wenzel and Stanley Rayon Girlie Comics

STANLEY RAYON

All I know about Stanley Rayon was that he lived and worked in New Orleans. Does anyone have any more info on him? Although his drawings are pretty primitive, they do have that spark of fun that makes post-War girlie cartoons so appealing.

Bill Wenzel and Stanley Rayon Girlie Comics
Bill Wenzel and Stanley Rayon Girlie Comics
Bill Wenzel and Stanley Rayon Girlie Comics
Bill Wenzel and Stanley Rayon Girlie Comics
Let me know in the comments if you would like to see more of these.

If you enjoyed this post, see... Jack O'Brien and Milo Kinn's Girlie Cartoons, Eldon Dedini Part One, Part Two (video interview!) and Part Three, Jack Cole And Other Great 50s Playboy Cartoonists, Jack Cole Valentine, Little Annie Fanny Takes A Trip, Kurtzman & Elder's Little Annie Fanny, More Little Annie Fannie, Biography: Jack Davis, Early Erich Sokol Cartoons, A Passel Of Sokol, and More Sokol, Doug Sneyd and Phil Interlandi, Early Interlandi Playboy Cartoons and Meet Doug Sneyd.

Thanks
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive
.

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posted by Stephen Worth @ 4:48 PM
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2 Comments:

At 8:36 AM, Blogger Andy Norton said...

I like looking at these works from cartoonists that worked on Playboy. They really know how to do risque material in a way that isn't going over the top.

I personally found the rough drawings of Wenzel's more fascinating to look at, as they are quite entertaining works to look at in their own right.

 
At 2:40 PM, Blogger Stephen Worth said...

William Michael Wenzel was born on January 22, 1918 in New Jersey to
Hungarian immigrants, Michael and Mitzi Mayer Wenzel. His family moved to Cleveland for a short period and then back to Union, New Jersey. His father was a machinist for Public Service and his mom stayed at home with him and his younger sister, Irene. He gradutated from Union High School in 1936 and was encouraged to try for a Cooper Union scholarship by a teacher at the high school. He won and spent almost two years there when he sold his first few pieces of art and "felt he had learned all there was to learn" and quit school. He was always sorry he did not finish Cooper Union. He entered the army in the early 40's and soon after married the former Marion Moriarty also of Union, on January 22, 1943. He was stationed at Camp Shanks and worked on the camp newspaper as a staff artist. There is a book by Scott Webber called Camp Shanks and Shanks Village: A Scrapbook that displays some of his original art. He also sold his work to Army Laffs and other publications. After leaving the army, my parents settled in the town of Atlantic Highlands,on the Jersey Shore. My father and mother bought an old victorian, added heat to what had been a summer boarding house and put his art studio on the third floor. It was here that they raised two daughters and hosted get togethers with their family and friends. My father sold his work to many mens magazines and treked to New York one day a week in hopes of displaying and selling his roughs. Work was not always plentiful causing my mother to start a maternity dress store with a friend and then a hat store for women. In 1979, my parents sold their house in Atlantic Highlands and moved to Naples Florida. My father continued to send his work to publishers and had to change his style and gags to fit the times. He illustrated several books, Coffee, Tea or Me, Fly Me, How to Make a Good Airline Stewardess, Sexcapades, Dr. Sex and more. He came back to New Jersey in 1986 after being diagnosed with cancer and died in May of 1987. He was a wonderful witty man who thoroughly loved and enjoyed his family. My sister, Dorian, and I wish he and our mother Marion were still here and could see how popular his work has become. Thank you for your time, Candy Wenzel Gawler

 

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