Number 1335: Bad batman and a crud named Krud!

The last time I showed a story by Fred Guardineer was just last month on George Washington’s birthday, for a story of a magician bringing Washington’s statue to life. Guardineer, who had drawn magician Zatara in Action Comics, seemed to have been typecast as a magician artist. Here's another, Merlin the Magician, from National Comics #21 (1942). This strip caught my eye the way it might have caught yours: the incredible logo, which foreshadows a story of giant vampire bats, and a stocky, gap-toothed costumed character who looks like a caricature of Batman.

As a bonus, I'm throwing in a Quicksilver strip Guardineer did in National Comics #39 (1944). Who could resist a story with a villain called Dr. Krud?

I've mentioned before about Guardineer’s precise ink line. In many ways it reminds me of the work of Charles Burns, whose inking is so perfect that it hardly looks like a human hand did it. I'm fascinated by artists who have such control of a brush.