The Farahpedia Volume 2

                      CHARLES CLARENCE BECK

         THE MAN WITH THE SECRET IDENTITY

 

Charles "Clarence" Beck had more copies of his illustrations printed in one month than most illustrators had printed in an entire career. While working for Fawcett Publishing in the late 1930s, he was selected to illustrate the first Captain Marvel stories. As the popularity of the character exploded, Fawcett set up Clarence and his partner Pete Costanza in there own studio where they eventually employed dozens of other artists turning out comic book art and advertising until Fawcett pulled their account in 1953. Clarence moved to Florida and became an independent free-lance illustrator. The Farahpedia reveals the full story of Clarence’s Captain Marvel affiliation from beginning to end for the first time.

 

After severing his relationship with Fawcett, very little is recorded of Clarence’s work during 1954-1969 . . . until now and The Farahpedia. Dave methodically documents Clarence’s creations, including his illustrations for his one series book, Dig Allen Space Explorer Adventure #4, using art based on his earlier attempts to break into the adult science fiction market. Dave also presents his evidence that Clarence continued to illustrate comic books throughout the 1950s using a secret identity. Dave picks up the story with Clarence’s rebirth in 1970 as an icon of the then new comic book collectors’ market, and his short return as the primary illustrator of Captain Marvel.

 

The Farahpedia includes never before seen Beck family photos, and reproduces images of Clarence’s illustrations including Clarence’s earliest known extant painting c. 1930, his pre- Captain Marvel Fawcett illustrations from 1936-1939, his adult science fiction work, Farah Attributed comic pages, Scholastic Book and other children’s book illustrations, and finally a sampling of his later works.

 

            IRENE HELEN WHILE TANDY

                          SHE DUNNIT

 

Forty years ago, Dave published an article questioning the identity of the artist of the original dust jacket art to Nancy Drew #11, The Clue of the Broken Locket. Dave now answers his own question, documenting the evidence that Irene Helen While (later Russell Tandy’s second wife) was that artist, AND in addition was probably the model for most images of Nancy Drew from volume #1, 1930, through volume #14, 1937. Irene’s profile details her most interesting life. Born of British parents working in Tsarist Russia, she received her fine art training along with the cream of Russia’s young female aristocracy. Then, after her father’s untimely death, she escaped Russia with her family at the outset of World War I. Irene lived in England, Canada and Australia, before settling in New York. First acting in silent movies, she became an illustrator for the Butterick Company where she met her boss, Russell H. Tandy, recently separated from his first wife. And the rest . . . is in The Farahpedia, Volume 2 !