Name Elmer Stoner | Died 1969 | |
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Elmer Cecil Stoner or E. C. Stoner (1897–1969) was an American artist who worked as a commercial illustrator. He created the art for the famous Planters mascot, Mr. Peanut, and was the first African-American artist to work in US comic books. He produced pencil art for the first issue of Detective Comics, which established DC Comics, and worked for a variety of other golden age companies such as Timely Comics, which became Marvel Comics, and Street & Smith, the publishers of Doc Savage. He was part of New York's Harlem Renaissance and subsequently moved to Greenwich Village where he was part of the artistic community and also developed property.
He also created the short-lived comics series Blackstone, Master Magician in 1946 for EC Comics, which, despite its short run, was adapted into a radio drama series, Blackstone, the Magic Detective (1948-1950).
Reception
Ron Goulart criticised Stoner's work in his Great History of Comic Books, "Stoner's drawing is the visual equivalent of fingernails scraped across a slate, and whenever he had a chance to botch the perspective, the composition, or even the inking, he did so with brio."