Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: , ,


Matt Baker's Sky Girl in Fiction House's Jumbo Comics, Up for Auction

Matt Baker would draw 60 Sky Girl stories for Jumbo Comics 1944-1948, and the feature is essential to understanding his artistic evolution.


Jumbo Comics #69 is widely considered as containing the first published comic book artwork from legendary artist Matt Baker.  An artist whose name has become synonymous with beautiful women in comic book art, this issue would contain two stories that Baker contributed to, Sheena and Sky Girl.  While Baker's contributions to the iconic jungle girl Sheena would be brief, Sky Girl, whose adventures had started the prior issue in Jumbo Comics #68, would be a character that he would quickly make his own.  Baker would draw 60 Sky Girl stories for Jumbo Comics 1944-1948, and the feature is essential to understanding the evolution of the artist's style in his early years.  Sky Girl contains some of the most obvious comic book cheesecake art of the Golden Age over that period, and there are several examples of comics featuring Matt Baker's work on the character which ranges from Jumbo Comics #69 to #130 up for auction in the 2023 October 19 The Fiction House Comics & Comic Art Showcase Auction #40235 at Heritage Auctions.

Matt Baker's Sky Girl from Fiction House's Fight Comics.
Matt Baker's Sky Girl from Fiction House's Fight Comics.

As noted in the essential Baker reference Matt Baker: The Art of Glamour, "Ginger's legs were the real plus in these stories. Baker drew them from every conceivable angle, in positions that were often ungainly. Deliberately so. In fact, Baker was the first comic artist who had the courage to draw a beautiful pair of legs in an unaesthetic if natural way to increase the general humorous effect. Needless to say, he was hugely successful. Baker's last 'Sky Girl' story appeared in the August 1948 issue of Jumbo.

Matt Baker contributed to over 150 stories for Fiction House according to current GCD, and his work on Sky Girl helped put him on the map early in his career.  The feature certainly helped show the comic book industry what Baker was capable of, and there are several examples of comics featuring Matt Baker's work on the character which ranges from Jumbo Comics #69 to #130 up for auction in the 2023 October 19 The Fiction House Comics & Comic Art Showcase Auction #40235 at Heritage Auctions. Bleeding Cool is doing an ongoing deep dive into the history behind Fiction House in the run-up to this auction. If you've never bid at Heritage Auctions before, you can get further information, you can check out their FAQ on the bidding process and related matters.

 

Heritage Sponsored
Affiliates of Bleeding Cool buy from and/or consign to Heritage Auctions.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!

Mark SeifertAbout Mark Seifert

Co-founder and Creative director of Bleeding Cool parent company Avatar Press since 1996. Bleeding Cool Managing Editor, tech and data wrangler, and has been with Bleeding Cool since its 2009 beginnings. Wrote extensively about the comic book industry for Wizard Magazine 1992-1996. At Avatar Press, has helped publish works by Alan Moore, George R.R. Martin, Garth Ennis, and others. Vintage paper collector, advisor to the Overstreet Price Guide Update 1991-1995.
twitterfacebook
Comments will load 20 seconds after page. Click here to load them now.