The work is by a comic book artist who I recall from the 1970s. His name was Billy Graham. Yeah, tough act to follow, right? But he had a unique style and I really dug the stories he produced for the Warren horror magazines of my youth. He was one of the better artists to work at Warren once they stopped paying the kinds of rates that kept the likes of Ditko, Williamson, Crandall, etc. at the company.
He went on to work at Marvel Comics illustrating LUKE CAGE, HERO FOR HIRE. I think he started on the title inking over George Tuska's pencils and eventually took over the book for a time. According to Wikipedia, he died in 1999. I have no idea of the cause of death. He was a very talented fellow.
I bought a painting from a thrift store of a Black grandfather giving a gift to his granddaughter. The painting was signed by "Billy Graham". I've been researching the artist off and on and the most I was able to find was Mr. Graham's comic book work. Now I found this pic on your site. I compared the signature to the painting and they are identical. I may own one of the few paintings done by Mr. Graham before he went on to his real calling as a comic book artist.
ReplyDeleteIt's quite possible. Or he may have done that after he left the comics industry. You should take some photos of it and post them.
ReplyDeleteHe had a unique style. I rarely see any of his work on the markets.