Alex Raymond - Rip Kirby - 7-3-1956

(click for larger image)  I've touted the incredible talents of Leonard Starr here on my blog in the past.  He was one of the greatest of the newspaper strip artists, as well as one of its best writers - a rare combo that made him extra special. That combination of skills, which he wielded so deftly, makes him my personal favorite.  But the king of the strip artists has to be Alex Raymond.  Raymond was not the first to adapt his art style after the advent of the polaroid camera, which allowed artists to pose real people to get better "acting", staging, and lighting effects; but he was arguably the best.  Raymond already had an incredibly beautiful inking style which he used to great effect in his earlier Flash Gordon newspaper strips.  Raymond's Flash Gordon Sunday's are a sight to behold in person; large, and filled with incredibly lush inking and dramatic lighting.  Raymond was a master with a brush and reached heights few others, if any, could achieve.  

Raymond's Rip Kirby work, though not as lush and dramatic as his Flash Gordon art, would set the bar in the newspaper strip medium and would ultimately never be surpassed.  The polaroid camera was a new tool for Raymond when the strip began in 1946, and it took him years to master its use and adapt his style accordingly.  So while some of the earlier Rip Kirby work was not on par with his Flash Gordon material, he would continue to improve dramatically right up until his tragic death in an auto accident in 1956.  In reviewing the originals, it is easy to see the steady progress Raymond made year after year.  Though the strips had far fewer brush strokes than the Flash work, he used the fewer lines to much greater effect; he was a master of "thick" and "thin".  He also had a knack for drawing beautiful women and would often employ some of the incredible lighting effects seen in his earlier Flash work, made all the more dramatic thanks to the polaroid.  Raymond was only 46 at the time of his death and many wonder what incredible work he might have continued to create had he lived, but he had already cemented his legacy as the greatest and left behind an incredible body of work.

I've owned about a dozen Raymond Rip Kirby originals, and this one is probably my favorite.  This is from Raymond's final year on the strip (the last daily he drew was 9/29/56), and only a couple of months before his death.  Raymond never stopped getting better so I consider these later strips among his best, and I really love his style at this time.  From the panel layouts, to the inking, to the close-up in panel two, this daily fires on all cylinders.