Bob Oksner

(Oct. 14, 1916 - Feb. 18, 2007, USA)

Bob Oksner is my favorite Supergirl artist, and was probably so before I started paying attention to creator credits as little of that as existed in the Silver age (1960's-70's).

To qualify that statement, I'm not throwing the net over every artist, be they penciller or inker, who has yet drawn the DC character, but the few who had at least a 24-issue run on the character in her solo titles and Action Comics, and Adventure Comics. This is a short list.

Oksner’s take on Superman’s blonde cousin was a curvaceous Sandra Dee of “Gidget” (1959) and “Tammy Tell Me True” (1961) in a red cape. Cute. Hiding behind a short brunette wig as her alter-ego of Linda Lee Danvers, she was equally as cute, arguably more so. To choose one weakness about his Supergirl art, I would have to point out what is either his inability or his disinterest in drawing flying people in stock glamour poses, often drawing the figure gliding away from the reader with arms and legs paddling widely in the air. Oksner’s best strength is how his inks elevated other artist’s pencil work.

He was involved with every stage of Supergirl’s solo career, drawing her as the feature character in Adventure Comics including many covers and in her first two solo titles (pre-Crisis) (1).

Bob Oksner’s second female comic book character of note is Angel of the very short run Angle and the Ape (DC), which also featured the talents of EC Comics and Mad Magazine artist Wally Wood.

Prior to the super-heroine work, and what brought him to the attention of DC editor, Sheldon Mayer, was his work on the mid-1940’s syndicated newspaper strip, Miss Cairo Jones (2).

Oksner drew the novelty titles Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis, Bob Hope and Dobie Gillis when DC began publishing comics based on TV sitcoms (3).

(1) http://www.comicbookdb.com/creator.php?ID=701
(2) Mark Evanier, http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2007_02_18.html#012954
(3) http://lambiek.net/artists/o/oksner_bob.htm

TAGS Apr. 8 & 9, 1993

India ink on copier paper.

The break room, where Tags go to rest their heels, grab a snack and watch a little television.

Wensdae (weasel) enjoys America's past time, which is yet more evidence of Schulz's Peanuts influence. If that as a topic wasn't obvious enough, ball player Schultz (sic) should have pushed it over handily.

Player Davis is a nod to Jim Davis, creator of newspaper strip, Garfield.

Waterson (sic) is a nod to Bill Watterson the creator of the popular Calvin and Hobbes newspaper strip.

The name of the team, "Mallards" is a not so subtle play off the "Mighty Ducks of Anaheim", the then Disney company owned NHL hockey team.

Dive!

Multi-color ball point pen ink on paper.

A sketch book drawing exploring a possible design of a scuba diving costume for Tuff-Girl.
The large, redundant emblem was conceived to be part a diving harness as a container of sorts. Also to that harness is a knife holster.

120 [m ] - Ben in the End

both: black ink on copier paper


Late in 2007, I had the opportunity, to write/storyboard the animated end-page for the new show, Ben 10 Alien Force. After the credit roll and the end, Cartoon Network Studios punctuates the show with five seconds of animation of what is their logo acting as a sort of clap board. The logo splits opens like a window, some quick animation happens, then the logo claps shut.

I guess I had a lot of ideas for five seconds of animation. In the first board, I had Ben in mid run coming to a stop before slamming/activating the watch - BOOM! Too much?

It ended up being a truck shot of a standing Ben, from a tight close up of his eyes.

New episodes of Ben 10, Alien Force airs Saturday mornings.

120 [m ] Summer Consumer Ad

Blue pencil and black roller ball ink on copier paper.


The two biggest properties on the network last year (at least by the standards of marketing and licensing push) were Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends and Ben 10. Of course, we have to tell people stuff like that, thus the function of the consumer ad.

The creative problems are these: 1) one is a comedy while the other an action show; 2) nary shall the two meet and mingle; and 3) we had one ad page.

The logical evolution of this was to choose a property or defer the ad until another time. I think we went with the later.


This image actually consists of two visual metphors which I have kept re-introducing at the conceptual stages of image campaigns for the respective programs.
For Foster's, it's about imagination, so the metaphor is things coming out of Mac's head. That's not what the show is about, but to the uninitiated, it's close enough.
For Ben 10, it's a bunch of alien heroes coming out of the boy, Ben. On that show, Ben turns into one of a dozen and counting alien forms through DNA manipulation - yada, yada, yada. The metaphor works well enough.

Now that I think about it, neither our marketing nor our licensing groups has ever favored visual metaphors. They both love big character, however.

Eh, I should just give up.

120 [m ] Fostering a Feeling of Home

Digital art.

Here's something few people out side of the company will get to see: wall decoration and build-out in our 6th floor lobby.

No small amount of money is spent designing and constructing (well, the latter since the design part in handled in house) a creative work environment.

The layout of frames on the teal colored wall was designed by Jay Rogers and Shari Margolin and is applied to the wall as printed vinyl like wall paper. Themed after the show Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, the lobby area in front of the wall vinyl includes a table with chairs and a couch for casual meetings (not shown).

The last part, my bit, was a small stage on which 5-ft. character statues would stand and dimensional fireplace with faux fire. I designed the stage and fireplace and we went through a few rounds of pricing the construction.

It hasn't been built yet.

120 [m ] Get Your Billy and Mandy On

Pencil on copier paper with digital color

Because the Cartoon Network isn't humongous like the Walt Disney Company with their individual art departments in every different division (yet), our illustration gang in Atlanta gets the opportunity to work on more than trade and consumer advertisements and licensed product. Among which, we have designed dimensional things like the Cartoon Network sponsored Macy's Thanksgiving Day floats of the past three years, the Atlanta Braves' "Tooner Field" kids play area, and character "walkaround" event costumes.

Above are concepts for two such event costumes, Billy and Mandy of the popular The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy. The characters are big-headed kids. Mandy in about 2-head tall. However, big head designs aren't friendly to a costume for a 5-ft. tall actor, especially if you want the actor's hands in the character's.

Cartoon Network has been working with Scollon, by all accounts the premiere company to create such mascot costumes. The process of sharing designs and commenting on construction by way of e-mailed photos can be hit and miss. But you do what you can.

TAGS Apr. 5 & 6, 1993

Featuring: Edie (red squirrel) and Carolyn (Raccoon).

With their offerings of seasonal work shifts, themed amusement parks are generally known to be the employers of eager young students. Sometimes academic and work commitments clash. Write joke here.

Although presented here with as a female stereotype, many male college freshmen too find themselves sucked into the occasional daytime drama between classes.

Oh, Crazy Chicken, Why Are You So Tasty?

Atlanta, GA finally gets El Pollo Loco!
Technically there aren't any in "Atlanta", but at least 5 in the area: Chamblee, Lithia Springs, Lithonia, Marietta and Roswell.

Unfortunately, these are all OTP (Outside The Perimeter). If you drew circle, Atlanta would be the area inside the circle, the circle would be the 285 highway designating the "perimeter", and outside the circle would be all the various suburban communities.

Is 6 miles too far out of the way to get delicious flame-grilled chicken marinated in savory lime and spices? I got the greasy bag didn't I?

120 [m ] - Rescue Recess

a) Ben, b) 2 Blooregard poses, c) Jake, d) Tamika
All pencil on copier paper

An adjunct or supplement to the Get Animated program, is the Rescuing Recess campaign which is in response to the loss of recess time in some schools' curriculum due to budget cuts. The icon for this has been a red playground ball - conspicuously adorned with telltale logos of course.

The refresh of the visuals consisted of character silhouettes and more balls. Here are Ben (Ben 10), Blooregard Q. Kazoo (Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends), Jake Spidermonkey (My Gym Partner's a Monkey), and Tamika (Class of 3000).