It's not a swipe, it's an homage

1942

1961

There is a long standing practice of pulps borrowing from comics and vice versa. Since many of the ideas were either duplicated or ran concurrently following trends in industry and popular culture, it is hard to say what came first and what followed. The line between the genres was often blurred back in the golden age of newsstands, as similar themes ran through both forms and publishers would angle for sales in the young and old market. As the pulp-industry waned artists would often duplicate their art in other mediums as variations on a theme.

The Jimmy Olsen cover has long been acknowledged as receiving inspiration from, if not being a direct swipe, of the Thrilling Wonder cover that appeared years earlier. It's an interesting theory that the generation of youths exposed to the hey-day of lurid, violent and fantastic pulp art would use similar themes later when working in comics as adults.


1942


1960

Use your own judgement, but you can probably tell the difference between something like a respectful Buckler, Giffen, or Velluto doing an homage to Kirby than the obvious swipe of a Ditko (et al) by a will-not-be-mentioned talentless hack who somehow keeps getting work.

Tags: Pulp Art Comic Book Art Homage