Matt Baker Archives

Robert Webb wrote and drew the lead strip, Viper Gods of Vengeance Veldt, as well as Hawk strip, The Return of Captain Claw, with Sky Girl from Matt Baker and Diogenes from Jack Kamen Heritage Auctions has a copy of Jumbo Comics #102 up for auction right now Take a look and see how high[...]

The name Matt Baker has become synonymous with beautiful women in comic book art, so it's fitting that his likely first work was on iconic jungle girl Sheena in Jumbo Comics from Fiction House.   The character created by Will Eisner, Jerry Iger, and Mort Meskin in late 1937 had become one of the most popular[...]

John comic book cover attributed to Matt Baker by a very wide margin Somewhat famously, it also seems to be a different take on his cover for Wartime Romances #17 from 1953.  Part of the end-game St John Publishing comic book era that was packaged by Al Fago, Secrets of True Love #1, Atom-Age Combat[...]

1 Hero,"  but with no apparent editorial changes — yet.  More importantly, Zoot Comics #7 featured a radical change from kid's humor comic to Good Girl title, with the debut of Rulah, Jungle Goddess by Matt Baker in an interior story, and a Jack Kamen Rulah cover. Within five months, Fox transformed a line entirely composed[...]

John, ending with two Matt Baker covers on the title.  There's a copy of one of these, Romantic Marriage #23 (St John, 1954) Condition: VG+ up for auction in the 2023 August 17 The Matt Baker Comics & Comic Art Showcase Auction #40233. Romantic Marriage #23 (St John, 1954) Despite its apparent success at Ziff-Davis, it seems that[...]

John during this era, with a large number of Matt Baker covers and stories throughout the run.  The short Pictorial Confessions run has become somewhat overlooked by comparison.  An interesting historical moment in the romance comics of the era, the debut issue featured the classic one-two punch of a Matt Baker cover paired with a[...]

Matt Baker and writer Dana Dutch might be the best creative team doing romance comics at the peak of the form during the Pre-Code era.  As quoted in the book Romance Without Tears, St John editor Irwin Stein told historian  John Benson that "they used other writers only because Dutch could not supply enough scripts." [...]

John realized they needed a different tactic.  With the final issue of Nightmare, they went in a more classic horror-suspense direction with the title and its covers: Matt Baker to the rescue.  The final issue of Nightmare looks more like a 1950s horror movie still than it does a comic book cover of the same[...]

Farrell Publication's Voodoo Annual #1 is a comic book that Pre-Code Horror collectors rarely want to part with, and it's easy to see why.  It's a scarce 100-page giant squarebound edition comic book that includes Matt Baker art from the height of the notoriously-difficult Pre-Code era.  Although the title is part of publisher Farrell Publications[...]

Legendary artist Matt Baker edged into contributing to the Quality Comics romance line at a pivotal moment in his career.  Most of his comic book output had been for publisher St John Publications 1949-1955, but his assignments for St John took an abrupt dip in early 1954.  It's likely that in the wake of the[...]

Marines taking part in more traditional war stories.  While the title became perhaps best known for its covers which were a combination of war themes and damsels in distress, the interior stories came to encompass a much wider range of stories during the WWII era and beyond.  Features like Werewolf Hunter by Lily Renée, Glory[...]

It Rhymes With Lust is the first original American graphic novel in every definition that counts.  Written by the man who would go on to create Doom Patrol, Deadman and Guardians Of The Galaxy, Arnold Drake as well as Leslie Waller using the combined pseudonym Drake Waller, with black-and-white art by Matt Baker and Ray[...]

John comic book cover attributed to Matt Baker by a very wide margin.  And somewhat famously, it seems to be a different take on his cover for Wartime Romances #17 from 1953.  Aside from the mystery behind it, Secrets of True Love #1 is an incredibly rare comic book, and this Secrets of True Love[...]

John rebounds up for auction in the 2022 August 11 The Matt Baker Showcase Auction #40190 at Heritage Auctions. All-Picture All-True Love Story #2 (St John, 1952), All-True All-Picture Police Cases #2 (St John, 1952). As told in a 1999 issue of Comic Book Marketplace, All-Picture All-True Love Story #2 came to the attention of the collecting community[...]

John realized they needed a different tactic.  With the final issue of Nightmare, they went in a more classic horror-suspense direction with the title and its covers: Matt Baker to the rescue.  The final issue of Nightmare looks more like a 1950s horror movie still than it does a comic book cover of the same[...]

Giant Comics Editions #12 Diary Secrets features one of the most iconic and infamous covers in comics history.  The Overstreet Price Guide has had it at the top of their list of top ten most valuable romance comic books for a long time.  And really, one can think of a list of perhaps hundreds of[...]

Beginning with issues cover-dated September 1945, Matt Baker's output for Fiction House dropped dramatically.  Whereas he had been contributing to nearly 40 interior pages of comic book art per month (pencils and/or inks) over the prior three months, that number dropped to an average of 14 pages per month in the months that followed.  The[...]

The short-lived title Seven Seas Comics published by Samuel "Jerry" Iger's own Universal Phoenix Feature company might be considered a turning point or level-up of sorts in the context of Matt Baker's career The series began about a year and a half after his comics debut on Sheena in Jumbo Comics, and his style had[...]

Ace Magazines' Baffling Mysteries series during the Pre-Code Horror comic book era of the early 1950s had a spectacular run of covers.

The publication of today's Marvel's Voices: Pride 2022 #1 establishes the Matt Baker House as an LGBTQIA+ Youth Centre, located in Queens, New York Matt Baker was a Golden Age comic book creator, working in the forties and fifties on comic boo strips such as Phantom Lady One of the first African-American artists to find[...]

After a seven-issue start as a funny animal title, Victor Fox company Fox Features Syndicate transformed its All Top Comics series into the kind of content it has become best known for to collectors in the decades since.  The title is best remembered today for its jungle girl-centric content featuring the likes of Rulah and[...]

Issue for issue, Fox Features Syndicate's 1947-1949 run of the title Phantom Lady is one of the most sought after titles in American vintage comics history.  It's 12 issues of gorgeously delineated covers and art from Matt Baker, Jack Kamen, and others.  Countless articles have been written about Baker and his talents — his sure-handed[...]

Jungle Girl comics can be expensive -- but we found a few from Heritage that'll get your collection started without breaking the bank!

In fact, one of the most famous pieces of good girl art can be found on Phantom Lady #17, drawn by the legendary Matt Baker — one of the few African American artists during World War 2, who is rightfully being celebrated now (though he should have been celebrated back then as well). The character, created by[...]

There's a lot one could say about artist Matt Baker He is absolutely a pioneer in the comic industry, being the first known African American comic book artist to find success in the industry Born December 10, 1921 in North Carolina, he moved to Pittsburgh, PA with his family at a young age After high[...]

It showcases the work of Matt Baker, the first black man to work in the industry, Zelda "Jackie" Ormes the first black female comic artist and Orrin C Evans, the first black comic publisher. Baker was hired in the 1940s by Eisner & Iger Studios, an all-white firm at the time and went on to work[...]