Stan Pitt
Encyclopedia
Stanley John Joseph Pitt (1925 - 2002), was an Australia
n cartoonist and commercial artist. Pitt was the first Australian comic book artist
to have original work published by a major American comic book
company. He often collaborated with his brother, Reginald Pitt.
Stanley Pitt was born in Rozelle, New South Wales
(an inner western suburb of Sydney), on 2 March 1925, the son of plasterer George William Pitt and his wife Ethel.
Pitt's artwork was inspired by Alex Raymond
, the creator of Flash Gordon
, particularly his method of switching from a pen to a brush. In 1942, whilst working as a milkman
he had his first professional work, Anthony Fury, published by Australian Consolidated Press
. The following year he began illustrating comics, written by Frank Ashley, for Frank Johnson Publications. These included Larry Flynn, Detective. Pitt had no art training and no opportunity to associate with other Johnson artists, like Unk White
, Carl Lyon and Jim Russell. In 1945 he produced comic strip advertisements for Colgate Palmolive, which led to Associated Newspapers placing him under contract to develop a new science fiction strip, Silver Starr (or Silver Starr in the Flameworld). Silver Starr debuted in Sydney's Sunday Sun and Guardian newspapers on 24 November 1946 and ran until November 1948, where following a dispute regarding the print size of the strip Pitt left the paper. Silver Starr was a Flash Gordon
-style comic strip based around an Australian soldier who, after serving in the Pacific Theatre during the Second World War, joined a daring expedition to the Earth’s core aboard a vessel capable of smashing through solid rock, built by the scientist Dr. Onro. Together, they discovered the mysterious 'Flame World' and rescued its rightful ruler, Queen Pristine, from the evil despot, Tarka. John Ryan in his Australian Comic anthology
, Panel by Panel, describes the strip as having story lines of average standard for this type of comic with the real attraction being the artwork.
In 1948 Pitt produced Jim Atlas and Dr Peril of Igogo as back up stories for the early issues of Captain Atom, a superhero comic by Arthur Mather published by Atlas Publications.
Pitt was then employed by John Fairfax and Sons
for their new paper, The Sun-Herald
, where he produced a new science fiction comic strip, Captain Power, the first issue appearing on 6 March 1949. Captain Power relied heavily on super-hero style costumes and gadgets for its impact. He continued to illustrate the strip until June 1950 when the pressure of other work saw him pass the strip onto Peter James. At the time Pitt commenced illustrating Yarmak-Jungle King comics, for Young's Merchandising, in November 1949, which he continued until June 1952. Yarmak was a Tarzan
imitation, with the comic illustrated by Pitt and inked at various stages by Frank and Jimmy Ashley and Paul Wheelahan, with the stories written by Frank Ashley or Pitt's younger brother, Reginald. The quality of the comic varied from issue to issue given the number of people involved in its production. Together with his brother, Reginald, he attempted to get two strips, Lemmy Caution and Mr Midnight, syndicated in the United States
, when this failed he joined Cleveland Press in 1956, where he created a new series of Silver Starr. During his time at Cleveland Press Pitt painted over 3,00 pulp fiction
covers. The two brothers then commenced work on a new comic, Gully Foyle. Gully Foyle was conceived by Reginald, based on Alfred Bester
's novel The Stars My Destination
. The brothers prepared high-quality bromides (black and white photoprints) of the sample art pages, which Stan hand-tinted using coloured inks. Several months of the comic strip were completed for syndication but it faced a legal obstacle from the producers of a planned (but never filmed) movie adaptation of The Stars My Destination, who held exclusive rights to any adaptation. No longer able to sell Gully Foyle, the Pitt brothers ended the project, leaving only a few enticing art samples that were circulated in fan magazines. As a result of his artwork on the unpublished Gully Foyle, Pitt was approached by two US companies to handle comic book work for them. Pitt then became the first Australian artist to have original material published in an United States comic book, with the publication of The Witching Hour
#14 (National Periodical Publications, Inc) and Boris Karloff
- Tales of Mystery #33 (Western Publishing
).
In 1969 the US cartoonist, Al Williamson
, arranged for Pitt to ghost an eleven week sequence of his daily strip, Secret Agent Corrigan, which was followed by a further four weeks in 1972. Pitt also provided poster illustrations for his childhood hero, Flash Gordon
.
In 2001 a limited edition of Gully Foyle was finally published and released. Pitt died on 2 April 2002, at the age of 77.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n cartoonist and commercial artist. Pitt was the first Australian comic book artist
Comic Book Artist
Comic Book Artist was an American magazine founded by Jon B. Cooke devoted to anecdotal histories of American comic books, with emphasis on comics published since the 1960s...
to have original work published by a major American comic book
American comic book
An American comic book is a small magazine originating in the United States and containing a narrative in the form of comics. Since 1975 the dimensions have standardized at 6 5/8" x 10 ¼" , down from 6 ¾" x 10 ¼" in the Silver Age, although larger formats appeared in the past...
company. He often collaborated with his brother, Reginald Pitt.
Stanley Pitt was born in Rozelle, New South Wales
Rozelle, New South Wales
Rozelle is a suburb in the inner west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 4 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Leichhardt....
(an inner western suburb of Sydney), on 2 March 1925, the son of plasterer George William Pitt and his wife Ethel.
Pitt's artwork was inspired by Alex Raymond
Alex Raymond
Alexander Gillespie "Alex" Raymond was an American cartoonist, best known for creating Flash Gordon for King Features in 1934...
, the creator of Flash Gordon
Flash Gordon
Flash Gordon is the hero of a science fiction adventure comic strip originally drawn by Alex Raymond. First published January 7, 1934, the strip was inspired by and created to compete with the already established Buck Rogers adventure strip. Also inspired by these series were comics such as Dash...
, particularly his method of switching from a pen to a brush. In 1942, whilst working as a milkman
Milkman
A milkman is a person, traditionally male, who delivers milk in milk bottles or cartons. Milk deliveries frequently occur in the morning and it is not uncommon for milkmen to deliver products other than milk such as eggs, cream, cheese, butter, yogurt or soft drinks...
he had his first professional work, Anthony Fury, published by Australian Consolidated Press
Australian Consolidated Press
ACP Magazines , a subsidiary of the Nine Entertainment Co., is an Australian media company. It publishes the Australian Women's Weekly and the Australian edition of Woman's Day....
. The following year he began illustrating comics, written by Frank Ashley, for Frank Johnson Publications. These included Larry Flynn, Detective. Pitt had no art training and no opportunity to associate with other Johnson artists, like Unk White
Unk White
Cecil John White , known under the penname Unk White, was an Australian cartoonist born in Auckland, New Zealand.He came to Sydney in 1922 with the artists Joe and Guy Lynch and was soon immersed in the bohemian scene there....
, Carl Lyon and Jim Russell. In 1945 he produced comic strip advertisements for Colgate Palmolive, which led to Associated Newspapers placing him under contract to develop a new science fiction strip, Silver Starr (or Silver Starr in the Flameworld). Silver Starr debuted in Sydney's Sunday Sun and Guardian newspapers on 24 November 1946 and ran until November 1948, where following a dispute regarding the print size of the strip Pitt left the paper. Silver Starr was a Flash Gordon
Flash Gordon
Flash Gordon is the hero of a science fiction adventure comic strip originally drawn by Alex Raymond. First published January 7, 1934, the strip was inspired by and created to compete with the already established Buck Rogers adventure strip. Also inspired by these series were comics such as Dash...
-style comic strip based around an Australian soldier who, after serving in the Pacific Theatre during the Second World War, joined a daring expedition to the Earth’s core aboard a vessel capable of smashing through solid rock, built by the scientist Dr. Onro. Together, they discovered the mysterious 'Flame World' and rescued its rightful ruler, Queen Pristine, from the evil despot, Tarka. John Ryan in his Australian Comic anthology
Anthology
An anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler. It may be a collection of poems, short stories, plays, songs, or excerpts...
, Panel by Panel, describes the strip as having story lines of average standard for this type of comic with the real attraction being the artwork.
In 1948 Pitt produced Jim Atlas and Dr Peril of Igogo as back up stories for the early issues of Captain Atom, a superhero comic by Arthur Mather published by Atlas Publications.
Pitt was then employed by John Fairfax and Sons
Fairfax Media
Fairfax Media Limited is one of Australia's largest diversified media companies. The group's operations include newspapers, magazines, radios and digital media operating in Australia and New Zealand. Fairfax Media was founded by the Fairfax family as John Fairfax and Sons, later to become John...
for their new paper, The Sun-Herald
The Sun-Herald
The Sun-Herald is an Australian tabloid newspaper published on Sundays in Sydney by Fairfax Media. It is the Sunday counterpart of The Sydney Morning Herald. In the 6 months to September 2005, The Sun-Herald had a circulation of 515,000...
, where he produced a new science fiction comic strip, Captain Power, the first issue appearing on 6 March 1949. Captain Power relied heavily on super-hero style costumes and gadgets for its impact. He continued to illustrate the strip until June 1950 when the pressure of other work saw him pass the strip onto Peter James. At the time Pitt commenced illustrating Yarmak-Jungle King comics, for Young's Merchandising, in November 1949, which he continued until June 1952. Yarmak was a Tarzan
Tarzan
Tarzan is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungles by the Mangani "great apes"; he later experiences civilization only to largely reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer...
imitation, with the comic illustrated by Pitt and inked at various stages by Frank and Jimmy Ashley and Paul Wheelahan, with the stories written by Frank Ashley or Pitt's younger brother, Reginald. The quality of the comic varied from issue to issue given the number of people involved in its production. Together with his brother, Reginald, he attempted to get two strips, Lemmy Caution and Mr Midnight, syndicated in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, when this failed he joined Cleveland Press in 1956, where he created a new series of Silver Starr. During his time at Cleveland Press Pitt painted over 3,00 pulp fiction
Pulp fiction
Pulp fiction may refer to:* pulp magazines, short stories presented in a magazine format, printed on cheaply made wood-pulp paper* Pulp Fiction, a 1994 film directed by Quentin Tarantino...
covers. The two brothers then commenced work on a new comic, Gully Foyle. Gully Foyle was conceived by Reginald, based on Alfred Bester
Alfred Bester
Alfred Bester was an American science fiction author, TV and radio scriptwriter, magazine editor and scripter for comic strips and comic books...
's novel The Stars My Destination
The Stars My Destination
The Stars My Destination is a science fiction novel by Alfred Bester. Originally serialized in Galaxy magazine in four parts beginning with the October 1956 issue, it first appeared in book form in the United Kingdom as Tiger! Tiger! – after William Blake's poem "The Tyger", the first verse...
. The brothers prepared high-quality bromides (black and white photoprints) of the sample art pages, which Stan hand-tinted using coloured inks. Several months of the comic strip were completed for syndication but it faced a legal obstacle from the producers of a planned (but never filmed) movie adaptation of The Stars My Destination, who held exclusive rights to any adaptation. No longer able to sell Gully Foyle, the Pitt brothers ended the project, leaving only a few enticing art samples that were circulated in fan magazines. As a result of his artwork on the unpublished Gully Foyle, Pitt was approached by two US companies to handle comic book work for them. Pitt then became the first Australian artist to have original material published in an United States comic book, with the publication of The Witching Hour
The Witching Hour (DC Comics)
The Witching Hour was a DC comic book horror anthology that ran from 1969 to 1978. Its tagline was "It's 12 o'clock... The Witching Hour!"...
#14 (National Periodical Publications, Inc) and Boris Karloff
Boris Karloff
William Henry Pratt , better known by his stage name Boris Karloff, was an English actor.Karloff is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein , Bride of Frankenstein , and Son of Frankenstein...
- Tales of Mystery #33 (Western Publishing
Western Publishing
Western Publishing, also known as Western Printing and Lithographing Company was a Racine, Wisconsin firm responsible for publishing the Little Golden Books. Western Publishing also produced children's books and family-related entertainment products as Golden Books Family Entertainment...
).
In 1969 the US cartoonist, Al Williamson
Al Williamson
Alfonso "Al" Williamson was an American cartoonist, comic book artist and illustrator specializing in adventure, Western and science-fiction/fantasy...
, arranged for Pitt to ghost an eleven week sequence of his daily strip, Secret Agent Corrigan, which was followed by a further four weeks in 1972. Pitt also provided poster illustrations for his childhood hero, Flash Gordon
Flash Gordon
Flash Gordon is the hero of a science fiction adventure comic strip originally drawn by Alex Raymond. First published January 7, 1934, the strip was inspired by and created to compete with the already established Buck Rogers adventure strip. Also inspired by these series were comics such as Dash...
.
In 2001 a limited edition of Gully Foyle was finally published and released. Pitt died on 2 April 2002, at the age of 77.
External links
- ACE biographical portraits: the artists behind the comic book characters: the Australian comic book exhibition, Australian comics 1930s-1990s, touring Australia during 1995/96 / edited by Annette Shiell and Ingrid Unger (1994, ISBN 0-7326-0829-5)
- SF Artist Search Engine page for Stanley Pitt