L. B. Cole (American, 1918-1995)

Creator of more than 1500 covers, brilliant wildlife artist, and pioneering comic book publisher, Leonard Brandt Cole is a towering figure in the field of comic book art. Cole began his art career as art director for a lithography company, before leaping headlong into the comic book arena in the early 1940s. Cole is renowned for the bold, flat colors, on his self-described poster color covers. He was adept at every subject, from funny animals, to superheroes, to jungle girls, but his favorite genre was science fiction. Cole was also the publisher and cover artist for Star comics. In later years he produced spectacular painted re-creations of some of his finest comic book covers...