Saturday, August 13, 2005

ACE Books vs. The Question

I'm a big fan of the art that appears in the genres of pulps, noir, SF and Horror. While searching for unique art, one day I came across this cover...

All I could think of when I saw it was this guy...

ACE books published Stamped For Death in 1958, almost a decade before Steve Ditko first had the Question appear in Charlton's Blue Beetle #1. I won't say Ditko was influenced by the ACE book cover, that would be ridiculous. The inspiration for the Question could be anything from pulling a good idea out of thin air, to Ditko deciding he doesn't feel like drawing his usual twisted into death rictus, pop-eyed expressions on characters for 23 pages a month.
Faceless characters in fiction are an old and popular idea...

Dick Tracy squared off against The Blank in the 1930's...

This guy appeared in Idiot Boy Monthly...
God, according to Jack Chick, as he appeared 5000 years ago...
Some Guy doing the perp-walk (It's fiction because he's being framed by The Man)...

Mr. Potatohead, from 1952...
Don't forget this crew member from 1960's era Star Trek!

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