Pat Boyette was one of the most distinctive and individual talents ever in the world of comics. He is most famous today for Peacemaker, the hero he created with Joe Gill and the hero showcased here for the last several days. The story above for Charlton Premiere is considered his masterpiece. Written by Denny O'Neil, this is a bizarre tale of the future. It was cranked out very quickly, but between them O'Neil and Boyette captured something truly haunting.
Boyette began in radio and later in television working as an announcer, blessed as he was with a sonorously deep voice. He wrote, directed, and produced several movies including the bizarre Dungeon of Harrow. He was always an artist though and dabbled in comics eventually linking up with Charlton Comics. He became a workhorse for them, and his unusual gothic tones grace scores of comics, primarily in the horror and war categories. Below is a gallery of some of his vivid covers with some additional notes.
Ironically though I'm a big fan of Charlton, the first Pat Boyette cover I ever chanced upon was this effort for Warren's Eerie magazine. The weird stylings of Boyette left a heavy impression from the first moment I saw them.
Here are some of his weirdly gothic ghost book covers.
He drew the first covers for three of Charlton's ghost hosts in their own magazines, specifically Dr.Graves, Winnie the Witch, and Mr.Bones.
Here are some of his oddly attractive war covers.
He worked on three of the King Features licensed characters, including a very long and hotly debated run on The Phantom.
He worked on other licensed projects, including TV show adaptations like Space:1999 and most especially his lengthy run on Korg 70,000 B.C.
He even did a western or two along the way.
He followed Dick Giordano to DC where he did a couple of very memorable issues of Blackhawk at the very end of that title's run.
With the demise of Charlton he did some work on his own such as a few issues of Classics Illustrated for First Comics and his own attempt at becoming a publisher of sorts under the Wandering Star banner.
He ended up catching on where he could. He did ghostly stories for lots of small publishers, and even a history of Texas which I've never seen, but yearn for.
Pat Boyette was a massive talent, with a vision unlike any other single artist. His work is instantly recognizable and because he labored in the ghetto of Derby much overlooked by many fans today. Like so many of his peers, he excelled at material other than superheroes, and alas that puts him on a second tier for many. Not for me for sure. He's one of my idols, a guy who did it his way and did it very very well indeed.
If you would like to get more about Pat Boyette, I recommend the debut issue of Charlton Spotlight. Here's a link.
Rip Off
I always think Pat Boyette has been unfairly served over the years. I remember hearing him once described as "a bit like Alex Toth - only without the talent," which I thought was a bit harsh. I was a big fan of Boyette when I was a kid, he was amongst the first handful of artists whose work was instantly recognisable to me, and I still have a very soft spor for him in my heart.
ReplyDeletegood post.
great entry, Rip!
ReplyDeletethe naysayers can say whatever they want about Boyette, but it's a testament to his brilliance and dedication to his craft that he never sold out and stayed where he was able to keep his vision his own and not under the heavy hand of "house style" editorialization.
FIGHTIN MARINES 125 is still one of the most beautiful covers of all time.
While its clear that his inspiration came from Cannif like Toth and so many others, he like Toth took that spark and created a very distinctive style.
ReplyDeleteI agree on the Fightin' Marines cover, it was that very cover that inspired me to make the gallery. It's compelling.
Rip Off