L. B. Cole
Creator of more than 1500 covers, brilliant wildlife artist, expert on human anatomy, and pioneering comic book publisher... Leonard Brandt Cole is a true legend!
L. B. Cole had worked as art director for a lithography outfit, before entering the comic book field in the early 1940's. In his early work, he usually used basic, flat colors and produced what he called "poster color covers". Cole once said he estimated that he'd drawn something like 1500 covers. He drew everything from funny animals to superheroes to jungle girls, but his favorite subject matter was science-fiction. Cole was also the publisher and cover artist for Star comics. After leaving the field of comics he published non-comic magazines and painted natural, realistic covers for those publications.
I have to admit that many of Cole's best and most famous covers are not represented here. (Because they're very rare and I can't afford them!) This in no way is meant to be any kind of comprehensive gallery of L.B. Cole's work. Instead it is just an overview of all his covers that I have in my collection, plus a few thoughfully provided by a fellow fan. If you're interested in more information about this amazing artist, I encourage you to dig up a copy of Comic Book Marketplace #30 on eBay or somewhere; it has a very informative interview with Cole.
