Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: fiction house, golden age

The Fiction House Covers of Joe Doolin, up for Auction

Underappreciate artist Joe Doolin produced nearly 150 covers for Fiction House 943-1950 on titles like Fight Comics, many of them classics.

Published Thu, 19 Oct 2023 13:27:07 -0500

by Mark Seifert

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Like artists such as Dan Zolnerowich, Maurice Whitman and Lily Renée, Joe Doolin (1896-1967) is another Fiction House regular whose work is vastly underappreciated today. Born in Pontiac, Illinois, Doolin attended the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts beginning around 1916, and is said to have worked as a cartoonist for a Pontiac-area newspaper in the early 1920s. In 1925, he began to get work in the pulp magazine field, beginning with Weird Tales, contributing several illustrations and two covers to the seminal pulp fiction title during 1925-1926. Doolin contributed to a number of pulp titles through the 1930s and beyond, but is best remembered by history for his work in Fiction House comic books. He created around 150 covers for Fiction House 1943-1950, many of them classics. There are a number of comic books featuring Joe Doolin art and covers up for auction in the 2023 October 19 The Fiction House Comics & Comic Art Showcase Auction #40235 at Heritage Auctions.

Joe Doolin covers on Fight Comics #35, 36 (Fiction House, 1944-1945).

Along with the work of fellow Fiction House Alex Blum, it seems apparent that Joe Doolin's work was likely influential on the work of legendary artist Matt Baker, who got his start at Fiction House via Iger Studio. Both Blum and Doolin were among Fiction House's most prolific artists as Baker was getting his start, and did the type of work for which Baker would become famous.

Of Joe Doolin's roughly 150 covers at Fiction House, the bulk came on titles Jungle Comics, Planet Comics, Fight Comics, and Rangers Comics. His peak output period of cover output came from July 1944 to June 1945. During these 12 months, he produced a total of 40 covers.