Gus Ricca Archives

Hitting newsstands shortly after Whiz Comics #3, Slam-Bang Comics #1 is the launch of one of Fawcett Publications' earliest yet most underappreciated comic book titles.  The debut issue includes work by two of mainstream comics' most unrestrained stylists in Gus Ricca of Chesler fame and Jack Cole of Plastic Man fame, and contains a wild[...]

Underappreciated artist Gus Ricca was an accomplished magazine and book cover artist and newspaper illustrator long before he came to work in comics for Harry A Chesler, and also Chesler's art director for a period in the mid-1940s.  He often took a symbolic, interpretive approach to the subjects of his cover work, as can be[...]

What exactly is happening on this highly sought-after cover?  There's a clue to what this is all about in the stories of Dynamic Comics #11, and in cover artist Gus Ricca's history There's a Dynamic Comics #11 (Chesler, 1944) Condition: FR and many other Chesler comics up for auction in the 2022 July 3-4 Sunday[...]

Gus Ricca, born Gaspano Ignazio Ricca in 1906, was an accomplished magazine cover artist long before he came to work in comics for Harry A Chesler, Marvel, and Fawcett among others.  Ricca also became Chesler's art director in 1944.  He usually took a symbolic, interpretive approach to the subjects of his cover work, as can[...]

But the stories behind some of comics history's most famous covers are sometimes surprisingly little-known.  We've discussed examples here recently such as Frank Frazetta's cover of Creepy #4 and the captivating cover of Horrific #1.  Gus Ricca's fascinating cover for Dynamic Comics #11 is another stand-out example.  What exactly is happening on this highly sought-after[...]