Drew Friedman's Heroes of the Comics

On Thursday evening, I attended the opening of the  exhibition Drew Friedman's "Heroes of the Comics" at the Society of Illustrators. About half of the artist's originals portraits of comic book giants are on display in the narrow second floor gallery.

Drew Friedman just keeps getting better and better. He originally came on the scene with darkly-satirical comics of Hollywood B-listers rendered in painstakingly-stippled india ink. Now he displays mastery of a sumptuous color palette that somehow recalls the Golden Age of comic books—and there's not a stipple in sight. Friedman clearly adores the figures in his Old Jewish Comedians series, but with the comic book artists his adulation, even reverence, is now front and center. That's only fair. Unlike the comedians, many of these artists never achieved the public recognition or financial success they deserved, but they fired up the imagination of millions of young readers. The show continues through June 3.

Wally Wood

Jack Liebowitz and Harry Donenfeld

Jack Kirby

Dave Berg

Joe Simon
Chic Stone

Chic Stone

Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster

Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster

Mort Drucker

William M. Gaines, top right

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