Alex Schomburg
Alex Schomburg was born in Puerto Rico, and moved to Manhattan in the
early 1920s as a teenager. Alex and three of his brothers were soon
operating a successful commercial art studio. In 1930, he had moved from
advertising to illustrating for pulps. As the 1930s ended, he discovered
comic books. Comic books only occupied him for a decade, from the late
1930s to the late 1940s. But in that decade, Schomburg drew well over
five hundred covers, an average of one a week. The usual pay rate at
that time was about sixty-five dollars per cover.
Schomburg's most memorable efforts were for Marvel (then known as Timely) in the
years just before and during World War II. He could draw 'Captain America', 'the
Human Torch', and 'Sub Mariner', singly or in a team, in the most complex
situations. His covers appeared on 'Marvel Mystery Comics', 'Human Torch',
'Sub-Mariner', 'All Winners', 'The Young Allies', and almost every other Timely
title. He also made covers for 'Thrilling Comics', 'Exciting Comics', 'Black
Terror', 'Speed Comics', 'All New', and 'The Green Hornet'.
After leaving comics in the 1950s, Schomburg devoted his time to illustrating
books and science-fiction magazines. He died in 1998.
(I borrowed most of the text above from the excellent comic-book website
http://www.lambiek.net. Check it out!)
Schomburg did a LOT of great comic covers, and the comics he did are avidly
collected (and are usually not cheap). Pictured below are only the few comics
with his artwork that I own. To see more of his comic artwork, try doing a
search in the comics section of
eBay.
