EXTRACTS: Illustrators Crime Comics Special © 2020 Book Palace Books (144 pages in full edition)

85 ABOVE & FACING PAGE: Biro, in common with many of the cartoonists he would work with, had worked at Max Fleischer’s Studios creating animation for Betty Boop and Popeye. His skill as an “all- rounder” was reflected in his ability to create distictive and engaging characters in a variety of genres including, as in these examples, ‘Disneyesque’ stories aimed at a much younger readership than the crime comics that would garner so much attention. The Foxy Grandpa artwork includes portraits of Harry Chesler (left) and Charles Biro (right) along with the eponymous Foxy Grandpa. Judge) was the youngest of three brothers, all of whom were possessed of remarkable drive and an ability to innovate. A native New Yorker, he had the advantage of a formal art training at the Brooklyn Museum School of Art, as well as the Grand Central School of Art. Blonde, good-looking and standing six foot two, Biro had the build of an athlete, and had played pro-football against the New York Giants and boxed against the 1935 Amateur Boxing Champion Lou Nova. Prior to his stint at Fleischer Studios he had worked as a sports cartoonist, and been introduced to the rudiments of animation when he worked as an animator at Ben Bergen Productions which was RKO’s animation studio. The two hit it off, and in 1937, keen to find work beyond the boundaries of Popeye and Betty Boop , secured positions at the Harry Chesler Studio, which created and packaged comic strips for the still nascent comic book industry. The studio was a hot bed of talent, with artists such as Jack Cole, George Tuska and Norman Maurer (who had accompanied Biro and Wood