CC Beck's Recreations and Paintings

CC Beck's Recreations and Paintings

by Duy

CC Beck is best known as the visual creator and most important artist of Captain Marvel, the dude who says "Shazam."

He stayed in comics after Captain Marvel and his family went out of circulation in the early 50s, working, among other things, on Fatman the Human Flying Saucer, but was never able to find the same kind of success (at one point, Captain Marvel was the highest-selling superhero of the Golden Age, beating out characters like Superman and Batman).

Beck was able to supplement what he was earning via comics in the 1970s onward by doing some cover recreations and paintings. I thought I'd share some of them with you early on in this new year, especially since I haven't written about Captain Marvel in a while.

Here's a recreation of Marvel Comics #8 from 1939 (the original's on the left, the recreation's on the right). Beck had nothing to do with this original cover, and that's a pretty good recreation. (I also find it funny that at one point in time, someone thought the Angel would be a bigger draw than Namor the Sub-Mariner or the original Human Torch.)

Here's a recreation of Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #148, which was originally drawn by Carl Barks. Barks and Beck stand in very select company as some of the very few Golden Age creators I can stand to read in large doses, so I thought this was pretty appropriate.

Naturally, some of the paintings Beck would do would be Captain Marvel–related. Here's one called "Bill's Bad Dream."

Here's another called "The World's Mightiest Mortal," from 1981, the only one he did in acrylic, according to Jaime Wolf of The New Yorker.

I couldn't let this feature go without giving you this 1974 piece of the entire Marvel Family. I love how Captain Marvel, Captain Marvel Jr., and Mary Marvel are in the same piece as their alter egos Billy Batson, Freddy Freeman, and Mary Batson.

Here's one that's a little unusual in the sense that it's neither a recreation nor a situation you'd often find in a comic Beck worked on. Beck and Jerry De Fuccio wanted to give the Golden Age superheroes a happy ending, and the result is pretty charming.

Here's what Keif Fromm, who hosts this piece on Comic Art Fans, has to say about "Perpetuating the Eternal Summer of the Golden Age Heroes."

This painting is entitled: "Perpetuating The Eternal Summer Of The Golden Age Heroes" by C.C. Beck (and Jerry DeFuccio). Great, if not unusual Summer scene content depicts Heroes of the Golden-Age skinny-dipping with their costumes left behind on shore. The Heroes costumes include: The Batman, Captain Marvel, Daredevil, Captain Marvel Jr., Golden Arrow, Bulletman, Ibis the Invincible, Mandrake the Magician, Captain Midnight. and Captain America's shield leans against a tree. The tiny Captain Marvel villain, Mr. Mind the Telepathic Worm oversees all from a tree branch above. It appears that only Captain Marvel remains identifiable amongst the aforementioned skinny-dippers. (20-1/2" x 23-1/4") 

Good stuff!

You can enjoy more of CC Beck's artwork with the following books: