I have been collecting GGA for a few years now and have slowly been organizing the various types, eras and artists into a structure which I believe will make it easier to understand the genre. I've reserved the next nine posts so I can roll out my categories, descriptions and scans. As the web provides us with exhaustive information on almost every topic I'm not going to reproduce this information, but provide links to sources. My goal is to provide a go-to place where you can easily find links to the info you need. In the long run I'd like to morph this into a website, but that is a ways down the road.

As I add new information to the first posts I'll announce what I've done in later posts. Any and all comments, ideas, criticisms and contributions are welcome. Discus your favorite artists, post scans, ask questions, etc.......and have fun.

Mike

To start off, I will list the four ways in which I have come to categorize GGA.

1) Chronological Order - Viewing GGA through time give an understanding of how it has evolved from its beginning (I am going to start in the early 1900s) until today.

2) Media Type - GGA has been used in many different ways such as comic books, newspaper strips, magazine, book and pulp covers/interiors and calendars.

3) Subject Matter - Different types of women have been portrayed, the most common being the 'girl next door', the 'femme fatale' (danger), the 'temptress' (seduction), the 'heroine', and the 'damsel in distress'.

4) Artist/Studio - This is fairly self-evident.

Using this set of criteria, we can say that the Dan DeCarlo art pictured below is a girl next door, single panel cartoon (Humorama), from the 1950s.



At first glance, the following would be classified as a Barry Smith comic book cover from the 1970s with a damsel in distress. However, after reading the story, we see that she is actually a femme fatale luring Conan to his death.



Nothing is perfect and I'm sure my thinking will change as this thread grows. Please see below for more detail and if anyone has any other ideas please post away.

Chronological Order

Here are some examples of GGA from various decades. Right now I am just using scans from my own collection, but I'll slowly expand the gallery with other iconic images and a wider range of material.


1920s

Pulps




1930s

Pulps




1940s

Pulps



Comics





1950s

Pulps



Comics






1960s

Cartoons



Comics





1970s

Comics




1980s

Comics




1990s

Comics




2000s

Comics

Media Type

Single Panel Cartoons
- Playboy, Humorama, newspaper

Comics and newspaper strips
- I'm not sure if this should be two separate categories, but I'll leave it like this for now. I've also decided to leave comic covers in this section, although they could easily be placed in the next.

Pulp/paperback covers & dust jackets
- I'm going to include interior illustrations from pulps and books here for the moment, although they may need to be split since they're mostly B&W while the covers are colour.

Pin ups & advertising
- These may need to be split at some point as well.

Subject Matter

Stay tuned

Artists/Studio

I'm not planning on discussing artists in this section, but simply providing links to other sites or names of publications with further information. Hopefully we will have discussions on artists in the thread and this list will grow.

Will Eisner
Jerry Iger
Nick Cardy
Dan Zolnerowich
Artie Saaf
Jack Kamen
Lily Renee
Fran Hopper
Joe Doolin
Charles Biro
Lee Elias
Matt Baker
Alex Schomburg
Frank Frazetta
Bob Lubbers
Bob Powell
Bill Ward
Syd Shores
Bill Woggon
John Cassone
Wally Wood
Dan DeCarlo
Carmine Infantino
Gill Kane
John Buscema
Dave Stevens
Brian Bolland
Frank Cho
Bruce Timm
Adam Hughes
Joe Jusko
J. Scott Campbell
Tim Sale
Travis Charest
Jim Lee
Jim Silke
Joe Chiodo

To be continued.....

Reference Material

I'll post here links to sites with general information on GGA and names of books on the same topic. I'll post links/publications about artists above.

I can't wait to follow this thread. Thanks for doing this. GGA is a great topic. I look forward to learning a lot.

This should be an interesting thread. Especially since I've recently been into Dave Stevens and read that he was actually friends with Betty Page. Good stuff.

+1

Between the Olympics, great weather to be outside and no air conditioning, my incentive to sit in front of the computer is very low, but I will get this thread slowly ramped up.

I am on the same page and add in the Tour de France that just ended.

I've been adding to the initial gallery of images. Hopefully I'll be able to complete that soon with a good selection of various examples of GGA from different time periods and media.

Here is a question for discussion. Many people think that this is #1 among GGA covers. I find it to be among Matt baker's poorest efforts as the girl's breast look like they are made of concrete and her right shoulder seems dislocated.



To me this doesn't even compare with his other covers such as this one.



Am I right or way off base????

I never noticed that. I always thought she had pretty eyes.

You are correct, sir!

The Phantom Lady has a very implantish look. Decades ahead of its time!

Added the beginning of a list of the best GGA artists for you to google.

I just received the new Heritage auction catalog for their upcoming Illustration auction. There are some really nice pieces in it.

I just picked up a copy of WW #199 from jazzman (thanks Claudio). Not a high grade copy but definitely a classic cover. Nice work on the list.

Completed the initial list of GGA artists.