Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: cat-man, l.b. cole

L.B. Cole's Sought-After Cat-Man Comics Covers, Up for Auction

L.B. Cole's background in commercial art and label design served him well in his distinctive approach to covers, such as on the coveted Cat-Man Comics series.

An artist who seemed to make both a science and art out of developing cover designs that would stand out on the increasingly crowded Golden Age newsstands, L.B. Cole created covers that are still highly sought-after over 80 years later.  Cole's commercial art and design background made him uniquely suited for comic book cover art. "The covers were mostly designed as posters," Cole once said. "And when I speak of the poster effect, I mean that they should be seen. If they're not seen, they're not picked up, and if they're not picked up, obviously they're not bought."  Cole's Cat-Man Comics covers are considered among his best and most sought-after work, and there are several issues of Cat-Man Comics featuring L.B. Cole covers up for auction in the 2024 September 26 – 27 Heroes of the Golden Age Comics Showcase Auction #40265 at Heritage Auctions.

About Cole's work on this title, the book Blacklight: The World of L.B. Cole notes, "It was incumbent upon him to set a good example at Continental, and he did. Cole does an even better job on Continental's leading costumed hero, Cat-Man, in late 1945 and into mid-1946. Some collectors consider Catman Comics #31 (June 1946) to be Cole's single most impressive cover of the 1940s. It depicts the hero cradling a collapsed Kitten (his female sidekick) in his arms on a snowy night, surrounded by ravenous wolves. It falls into a different category than his other angular covers, though It is true to his dictum that everything should be directed to a single point. The all-black background, dotted with falling snowflakes, makes it stand out."

L.B. Cole's development as an artist provided him with the sort of work experience that balanced artistic, commercial, and technical concerns. Born in 1918 in the Bronx, New York City, Cole went to work in his grandfather's cigar factory in the early 1930s, soon becoming interested in the label design aspect of the business. By the mid-1930s, Cole joined the art/design staff of Consolidated Lithographing Corporation, by that time the largest printer of cigar bands and boxes in the world.

That background would serve Cole well for what would come next. By 1943, Cole was working for Louis Goodman Ferstadt, whose studio provided art for a variety of publishers including DC Comics, Quality, and Ace.  The Ferstadt studio also employed Harvey Kurtzman.  Ferstadt was also a noted painter and muralist, and his comic book style is a clear influence on Cole's style.  L.B. Cole quickly came into his own as a comic book artist and would start bringing his various experience to bear on his cover work.  Of this period, he would say: "I was always oriented toward newsstand sales, and these stylized covers drew readers. There was a riot of color out there on the stands and I figured something had to be done to catch the buyer's eye. Take a look at most of the other books: they're all done in a linear technique. All of the super-heroes… were a mass of figures kicking and punching and they all looked the same."

But L.B. Cole's covers did not look the same.  They stood out among the riot of color on the newsstands, and through the course of American comic book history. There's an excellent example of this on several issues of Cat-Man Comics featuring L.B. Cole covers up for auction in the 2024 September 26 – 27 Heroes of the Golden Age Comics Showcase Auction #40265 at Heritage Auctions.

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