What do you think?
Rate this book
The Classic Pin-Up Art of Jack Cole
A collection of the rare '50s pinups that led to the artist's final gig, as Playboy 's first star cartoonist. In the rarefied realm of classic cartoon pin-up art, nobody did it better than Jack Cole. With his quirky line drawings and sensual watercolors, Cole, under Hugh Hefner's guiding hand, catapulted to stardom in the 1950s as Playboy's marquee cartoonist, a position he held until his untimely death at the age of 43. Jack Cole, most recently the subject of a book profile by Art Spiegelman and Chip Kidd ( Jack Cole and Plastic Forms Stretched To Their Limits ) has been justly celebrated as the creator of Plastic Man and an innovative comic book artist of the 1940s. Cole had sold a handful of cartoons to magazines such as Boy's Life, Colliers and Judge in the '30s and '40s, but after finishing his 14-year run on Plastic Man , he found himself back at square one in an idiom that didn't come naturally to the gag cartoon. According to Cole, his savior was the Humorama line of down-market digest magazines. This girls and gags magazine circuit proved to be the perfect training ground to regain his footing and develop his craft at single panel cartoons. While Cole may have been honing his skills as a gag writer, his ability to render the female form was already without peer. Though he signed his cartoons "Jake," Cole's exquisite line drawings and masterful use of ink-washa skill he carried over Playboy betrayed his pseudonym. In comparison to his contemporaries, however, Cole was probably Humorama 's least prolific artist. Though his images were frequently used for covers, Cole's cartoons were few and far between, with scarcely a single drawing appearing every five issues. Along with a foreword by Warner Brothers Animation designer Shane Glines, this volume collects the best of these hidden gems, including several shot from Cole's stunning original art. Most of these drawings have not seen print in more than 50 years; taken together, they provide a rare glimpse into the singular artistry of Jack Cole.
Hardcover
First published July 17, 2004
7 people are currently reading
30 people want to read
About the author
Jack Cole
158 books12 followersJack Ralph Cole was an American cartoonist best known for creating the comedic superhero Plastic Man, and his cartoons for Playboy Magazine.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 12, 2020
I came upon this randomly while searching for other books and decided to read it and um wow.
Jack Cole is certainly talented. His inkwashes and easy lines drip with sensuality. However these works are so... of their time. I haven't read something so utterly misogynistic and weirdly voyeuristic in a while. When I read this one page referring to breasts as estrogen souffles I desperately wished that male authors never had the right to write about women. It was slightly traumatising.
But I did find it an obscure but worthy collection to look at while thinking about the culture surrounding pin up art.
No book is a waste as long as you come away from it with something.
Jack Cole is certainly talented. His inkwashes and easy lines drip with sensuality. However these works are so... of their time. I haven't read something so utterly misogynistic and weirdly voyeuristic in a while. When I read this one page referring to breasts as estrogen souffles I desperately wished that male authors never had the right to write about women. It was slightly traumatising.
But I did find it an obscure but worthy collection to look at while thinking about the culture surrounding pin up art.
No book is a waste as long as you come away from it with something.
July 22, 2014
I was given this book as a gift and I can���t deny that my first thought was ���Pin-Ups? Uh, what the hell?!?��� But one of my best friends gave it to me because he thought it���d be funny and that I���d appreciate the art.
Hah. He was right. The drawings, most especially the ink wash ones, are absolutely gorgeous.
On the downside, while I found some of the cartoons and captions funny, most of them fell somewhere in the spectrum between ���silly��� and ���misogynistic and offensive��� with the majority landing at ���mostly inoffensive.��� Also, I really could have lived a full life without ever having heard women being described as ���estrogen souffl��s.��� Sadly, this was not to be.
Lovely drawings. Not my favorite genre.
Hah. He was right. The drawings, most especially the ink wash ones, are absolutely gorgeous.
On the downside, while I found some of the cartoons and captions funny, most of them fell somewhere in the spectrum between ���silly��� and ���misogynistic and offensive��� with the majority landing at ���mostly inoffensive.��� Also, I really could have lived a full life without ever having heard women being described as ���estrogen souffl��s.��� Sadly, this was not to be.
Lovely drawings. Not my favorite genre.
March 18, 2011
I was given this book as a gift and I can’t deny that my first thought was “Pin-Ups? Uh, what the hell?!?” But one of my best friends gave it to me because he thought it’d be funny and that I’d appreciate the art.
Hah. He was right. The drawings, most especially the ink wash ones, are absolutely gorgeous.
On the downside, while I found some of the cartoons and captions funny, most of them fell somewhere in the spectrum between “silly” and “misogynistic and offensive” with the majority landing at “mostly inoffensive.” Also, I really could have lived a full life without ever having heard women being described as “estrogen soufflés.” Sadly, this was not to be.
Lovely drawings. Not my favorite genre.
Hah. He was right. The drawings, most especially the ink wash ones, are absolutely gorgeous.
On the downside, while I found some of the cartoons and captions funny, most of them fell somewhere in the spectrum between “silly” and “misogynistic and offensive” with the majority landing at “mostly inoffensive.” Also, I really could have lived a full life without ever having heard women being described as “estrogen soufflés.” Sadly, this was not to be.
Lovely drawings. Not my favorite genre.
November 30, 2008
A pleasant look at a man whose work constantly amazes me. His woman have such a vitality, a zest for life, and Cole could capture (or insinuate) emotion with a few deft lines. A real talent when most artists draw for hours and never reach any character depth.
Book could have used some attribution as to where the cartoons were from, and I could have used a more in-depth look at Cole himself, but for an introductory look at the man and his cartoons, this book does a pretty good job.
And I still like to know why Jack killed himself. Idiot.
Book could have used some attribution as to where the cartoons were from, and I could have used a more in-depth look at Cole himself, but for an introductory look at the man and his cartoons, this book does a pretty good job.
And I still like to know why Jack killed himself. Idiot.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews