The Chillingly Weird Art OF
by ROger Hill
The Chillingly Weird Art of
Matt Fox
Written by Roger Hill Design, Production, and Editing by Jon B. Cooke Published by John Morrow Cover Art by Matthew Fox Dedication To Matt’s sister, Rose Van Wees, who loved her brother dearly and cared enough to save his art for posterity. The cover is Matt Fox’s unpublished Weird Tales cover painting, circa 1953, and it is © the Matt Fox estate and EC Fan-Addict Productions. The double-page title spread image is “The Wendigo,” Famous Fantastic Mysteries [June 1944]. Editorial Package ©2023 Roger Hill and TwoMorrows Publishing. Text ©2023 Roger Hill. Copyrights & Trademarks
Weird Tales TM & © Nth Dimension Media, LLC. Adventures into Weird Worlds, Creatures on the Loose, Journey into Mystery, Journey into Unknown Worlds, Marvel Tales, Men’s Adventures, Mystery Tales, Mystic, Strange Tales, Strange Tales of Suspense, Tales of Suspense, Tales to Astonish, Uncanny Tales, and World of Fantasy TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc. Cover painting, illustrations, photos on pages 6, 11, 16, 19, 22, 29, 99, 106, 107, 111–118, 120 are © the Matt Fox estate and EC Fan-Addict Productions. “Matt Fox: The Strangest Province” introduction © Peter Normanton.
Special Thanks To those who helped with illustrations for this book: Skinner Davis, Bud Plant, Charlie Park, Stephen Fishler, Cory Sedlemeier, and Dr. Michael Vassallo.
TwoMorrows Publishing 10407 Bedfordtown Drive • Raleigh, North Carolina 27614 USA www.twomorrows.com • email: twomorrow@aol.com First Printing • June 2023 • Printed in China ISBN-13: 978-1-60549-120-2
Contents
Foreword
Introduction
Acknowledgments
An Artist’s Life
Art Gallery
Checklist
Early Pulp Art pg. 30 • Weird Tales Covers & Illos pg. 36 • Comics Gallery pg. 70 Later Work pg. 99 • Index of Authors pg. 125
Artwork © the Matt Fox estate and EC Fan-Addict Productions.
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FOREWORD
Matthew Fox, Artist D
Many years later, during an interview, Larry Lieber admitted that he struggled himself with the drawing of those stories and didn’t care at all for Fox’s embellishments over his pencils. Lieber claimed that Fox made his work look stiffer than it already was, and made it look like wood cuts, which it no doubt did, in some cases. To this day, however, those stories are remembered more by collectors for the Matt Fox inking than anything else. Comic fans have been discovering and acquiring a taste for this artist’s work for the past fifty years.
uring the early 1970s, Jerry Bails got a hold of Matt Fox’s Connecticut address and sent him the standard Who’s Who of American Comic Books questionnaire to fill out and return. Here’s what the artist wrote himself and sent back to Bails. (The parenthetical (p) and (i) indicate pencil art and inks, respectively.) MATTHEW (MATT) FOX (1906– ) Artist. Major influence: Alex Raymond; Cartoons; Adv art; Lithographs; Pulp illus; Covers of Weird Tales (oils), Color woodcuts; Water colors; Oil paintings; Etchings, Comic book credits: (p) & (i). Youthful: (1952–53) fantasy; Marvel: (1952–56) horror, s-f; (1962-63) s-f, fantasy.
Opinions vary greatly about Matt Fox’s art; you either like it or you don’t. I tend to think that most people would agree there is a certain charm about it, especially his body of work produced for Weird Tales and other pulp magazines during the 1940s to 1950s, only some of which has been reprinted in the ensuing years. Many collectors may not even be aware of Matt’s early pulp magazine contributions.
I first discovered the art of Matt Fox during the early 1960s while reading the back-up fantasy stories he had inked, over Larry Lieber’s pencils, in Marvel Comics titles, such as Journey into Mystery, Strange Tales, Tales of Suspense, and Tales to Astonish. In many cases, These stories were more appealing to me than some of the super-hero fare being offered in comics at the time. As an aspiring amateur artist myself, I soon realized just how difficult it was trying to create something with a pencil, out of my own imagination, and then inking it with a Crow Quill pen. My early attempts at art looked crude and, in some cases, overworked, and not very realistic. I couldn’t begin to form slick, quick lines like Jack Kirby or Wally Wood. My drawings had a lot of non-professional scratchings to them. In time, I became pretty good at inking those drawings and adopted the art of stipple for shading; a technique I picked up from other amateur artists at the time, including Matt Fox. I think this may be one of the reasons that I—and other young artists—were first attracted to the unusual work of Matt Fox. In those days, a lot of us wanted to be comic artists, and if we couldn’t be as good as Kirby or Wood, we could at least come close to Matt Fox’s work, right? Well, not really. After all, by that time, Matt Fox was a seasoned pro and had the dedication to stick with something he loved to do.
Matt’s work, on his own, usually dripped with horror and odd-looking characters. The editor of Weird Tales obviously thought his art weird and unique enough to be published in a magazine presenting… “weird tales.” During my lengthy research into Matt’s life and career, I discovered the artist loved to read stories of horror, fantasy, and science-fiction, and even more so, loved to illustrate them. It’s a little too easy to judge an artist’s work based on a few comic stories where he was only inking over someone’s pencils. To fully appreciate the talents of Matt Fox, one must first discover and absorb the cover paintings and interior pen-&-ink illustrations he produced for Weird Tales and other pulp magazines, before coming to comics. And then move on to Matt’s early comic book work where he began to mature even more. Only then, can one form an educated opinion about it. Hopefully this volume, and testament to his art, will enlighten you. We certainly hope so. Roger Hill November 2022
Opposite page: This self portrait of “Ze Arteest” was created especially for a printed promotional poster distributed throughout the town of Norfolk, Connecticut, in October 1975, for a special Matt Fox Halloween exhibit of his art.
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AN ARTIST’S LIFE
Out of My Head – But M
by 12, was headed in that direction. He created his own comic strip characters, first using pencil and watercolors, then later graduating to straight pen-&-ink pages in black-&-white. These were drawn in a Sunday page format on small sheets of ruled paper taken from his school tablets. Some of these pages were akin to pulp paper, and a few examples still exist today, only because his sister, Rose, saved them.
arcy Matthew Fox was born in New York City on November 8, 1906. His mother, Minnie Fox (neé Flesche), was born of Jewish ancestry in Russia in 1881 and immigrated to the United States in 1902. Matt’s father, Morris Fox, had been born in Russia in 1879 and came to America in 1900. According to the family, Minnie and Morris had met through a dating service, and as related in the 1910 New York Census, the couple was married on October 28, 1905. After the nuptials, the family settled into a small tenement apartment in the Jewish section of East Harlem. Morris worked in the garment industry.
Even at this young age, Matt demonstrated an interest in the macabre, creating a strip called “Poor Mr. Undertaker.” Later examples show the “Poor Mr.” was dropped in favor of the abbreviated title of “Undertaker.” Although the gags in these early efforts are extremely crude and old fashioned, one can recognize the devotion the young artist applied to these strips. One surviving example, dated August 5, 1921, depicts a young man who decides to become an undertaker in order to make some money. Fox drew the strip in four tiers, with each panel numbered from one to twelve, showing the young man accosting old people on the street, prematurely
Later, in 1909, a daughter named Rita (who would later prefer to be called Rose) was born. The 1915 New York Census lists Marcy’s father as a “shirt ironer,” while the Census from 1925 indicates he is a “traveling salesman.” His occupations varied widely and, according to the family, he was a highly educated man, but couldn’t seem to hold a steady job. This resulted in the Fox family constantly moving and scraping to make ends meet. Minnie Fox and her children were hopeful that things would improve, but eventually the unemployed Morris began showing a darker side with abusive behavior emerging. Morris had a violent temper, which he took out on the family, especially on young Marcy. Exploding in anger, he would aggressively force his son up against the wall and punch him in the stomach. This abuse caused Marcy severe intestinal problems for the rest of his life. During his childhood, Minnie became very sick. With a husband who didn’t believe in working much, times became even harder for the family to get by. In 1918, the Fox family moved to a cheaper apartment located at 339 East 118th Street, on Manhattan’s tough Lower East Side. At some point, Marcy started using his middle name Matthew—or just Matt—for short. As a young boy attending grade school, Matt took an immediate interest in art and, at the age of eleven, he won the Wanamaker Medal for the “Most Outstanding Art Entry” of all school-age contestants in the city of New York. He would eventually win other awards during his school years and soon discovered—and fell in love with—many of the popular newspaper comic strips of the day. He read the funnies whenever he could get access to discarded newspapers and was soon emulating his favorites with ink on paper. At some point, he decided he wanted to become a professional cartoonist and,
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not what you think. offering his services before they die. Finally, after being turned down by everyone, he hits an old man over the head with a large hammer, figuring this is the only way to provide his “undertaking” services and earn some income. Not quite yet dead, the old man retaliates by clobbering the young undertaker on the head with a large rock, then carts him off to the hospital to have them “examine his dome.” Two examples of these original strips are reproduced on this and the next page for the first time. Sometime in the early 1920s, Matt’s father’s abusive nature worsened, and Minnie could take no more. So, with help from Matt and Rose, she managed to force Morris out of the household. At first, they had problems keeping him out, but eventually found support from a local neighborhood gang called the “Society of the Black-Hand.” This Italian crime organization—also known as La Mano Nera—understood the family’s situation and, since they didn’t care for Morris to begin with, helped enforce his expulsion. Whenever spotted peering through the windows or trying to sneak back into the neighborhood to make his way home, the Black Hand would quickly expel him. After a few years of this, he finally went away for good and was never heard from again. Neither the family nor Ancestry.com can provide any information as to Morris Fox’s ultimate fate. By this time, Matt only had one year of high school under his belt and, at the age of 14, he was forced to quit school to help support the family. In a 1975 newspaper interview the artist said, “I never had any art training. I absorbed it from people in the art world. It took lots of practice and experimenting.” Matt compared himself to Winslow Homer, whom he said was “self-taught and left-handed.” With no formal training to speak of, New York wasn’t the easiest place for a self-taught artist to find work during the 1920s. Fortunately, Matt was flexible and persistent in doing odd jobs. At the age of 17, he managed to land a gig at a printing company where he learned how to set type, do paste-up work, and run a small press. His artistic interest gave him an edge doing advertising art, sign making, and lettering jobs wherever he could find them. Being the gentle and good-natured soul he was, Matt made friends easily in the printing business.
The only thing holding him back was his health. Besides the abuse suffered at the hands of his father, Matt also suffered from colitis, a crippling disease that eventually caused damage to his legs and body, which kept the lad out of sports during his school years. Although he was tall, with decent good looks, and appeared to be healthy, the malady had a damaging effect on his physical form for the rest of his life. Walking became a labored and restricted effort, and just trying to get around New York City became a painful experience. He could not ride in a car or a subway without experiencing great pain.
Opposite page: Nascent art by Matt Fox. This page: Even before his teenage years, “Marcy” was determined to become a comic strip cartoonist.
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Matt Fox Art Gallery
Original art, “Mission from Arcturus,” Science Fiction Quarterly #10 [Spring 1943]. (One of the few surviving pulp illustration originals by Fox.)
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“The Devil’s Pocket,” Astonishing Stories #3 [June 1940].
“Phantom from Space,” Super Science Stories #1 [Mar. 1940].
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Fox Chilling Comics Gallery
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#13 Cover art, Chilling Tales
[Dec. 1952].
“The Hand of Glory,” Chilling Tales #13 [Dec. 1952].
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Castle of Frankenstein column header illustrations [1966–67].
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Photograph © the Matt Fox estate and EC Fan-Addict Productions.
The artist at his Norfolk Public Library Halloween-themed art exhibition, in October 1975.
Matt Fox Checklist COMICS Journey into Unknown Worlds #19 [ June 1953] “Beelzebub”—5 pages
Adventures into Terror #19 [May 1953] “Meet the Bride”—5 pages
Journey into Unknown Worlds #21 [Aug. 1953] “The Dead of Winter”—5 pages
Adventures into Terror #25 [Nov. 1953] “The Terrible Trophy”—5 pages
Journey into Unknown Worlds #22 [Sept. 1953] “Too Timid to Live”—5 pages, inks over Forte
Adventures into Weird Worlds #10 [Sept. 1952] “Down in the Cellar”—5 pages
Marvel Tales #159 [Aug. 1957] “Behind the Iron Gate!”—3 pages
Adventures into Weird Worlds #21 [Aug. 1953] “Romanov’s Rumour”—5 pages, inks over John Forte
Men’s Adventures #23 [Sept. 1953] “The Thief ”—5 pages
Adventures into Weird Worlds #27 [Mar. 1954] “The Thieves”—4 pages
Mystery Tales #12 [May 1953] “Never Say Die”—4 pages
Astonishing #23 [Mar. 1953] “The Woman in Black”—4 pages, inks over unknown artist
Mystery Tales #21 [Sept. 1954] “Hate”—4 pages
Chilling Tales #13 (first comic-book work) [Dec. 1952] “The Hand of Glory”—cover and 7 pages
Mystery Tales #22 [Oct. 1954] “The Tiny Coffin”—cover and 4 pages
Chilling Tales #15 [Apr. 1953] Cover
Mystic #24 [Oct. 1953] “The Stranger from Space”—4 pages, inks over Gil Kane
Chilling Tales #17 [Oct. 1953] Cover
Spellbound #16 [Aug. 1953] “Only a Rose!”—5 pages
Journey into Mystery #49 [Nov. 1958] “The World-Destroyers”—3 pages Journey into Mystery #93 [June 1963] “The Man Who Wouldn’t Die!”—5 pgs., inks over Larry Lieber Journey into Mystery #98 [Nov. 1963] “The Purple Planet!”—5 pages, inks over Lieber Journey into Mystery #99 [Dec. 1963] “Stroom’s Strange Solution!”—5 pages, inks over Lieber Journey into Mystery #100 [Jan. 1964] “The Unreal!”—5 pages, inks over Lieber Journey into Mystery #101 [Feb. 1964] “The Enemies!”—5 pages, inks over Lieber Journey into Mystery #102 [Mar. 1964] “The Menace!”—5 pages, inks over Lieber Journey into Unknown Worlds #18 [May 1953] “Dugan and the Dummy”—5 pages
Strange Stories of Suspense #16 [Aug. 1957] “The Missing Sun”—3 pages Strange Tales #18 [May 1953] “Witch Hunt!”—5 pages Strange Tales #22 [Sept. 1953] “Too Good to be True!”—4 pages, inks over Forte Strange Tales #110 [July 1963] “We Search the Stars”—5 pages, inks over Lieber Strange Tales #111 [Aug. 1963] “Beware the Machine”—5 pages, inks over Lieber Strange Tales #113 [Oct. 1963] “The Search for Shanng”—5 pages, inks over Lieber Tales of Suspense #42 [ June 1963] “Escape into Space”—5 pages, inks over Lieber
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