'The Man Who Stole Immortality' (Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery #7, 1964).
Mel Crawford was a Canadian-American children's book illustrator and comic artist. He drew horror and fantasy comics for Western Publishing, but is best known for adapting various child-oriented media into beautiful children's books. Crawford was so good in adapting the graphic style of other artists that he became a much sought-after illustrator. He worked for various different film and TV companies and made books starring some of the most popular fictional characters of the 20th century, from Disney and Hanna-Barbera to Jim Henson Productions.
Cover illustrations for Golden Magazine and 'Raggedy Ann & Andy'.
Early life and career
Mel Crawford was born in 1925 in Toronto, Canada, but spent his childhood in various other provinces of the country. In 1941, he illustrated 'The Three T's' by Frank Man Harris, a children's comic about the adventures of three Canadian boys. It was published in an issue of Joke Comics by Bell Features Publications. Crawford's drawing career was briefly interrupted by World War II, as he served in the Royal Canadian Navy. After being dismissed from service, he studied art at the Royal Ontario College and moved permanently to the United States afterwards, settling in Connecticut.
'Heidi' (Dell Junior Treasury #6, 1956).
Western Publishing comics
Between 1949 and 1967, Crawford drew comic books for Western Publishing, illustrating stories with characters from different franchises, like UPA's 'Mr. Magoo' and 'Gerald McBoing-Boing', Jay Ward's 'Rocky and Bullwinkle', Johnny Gruelle's 'Raggedy Ann', L. Frank Baum's 'The Wizard of Oz', E. Roger Muir's 'Howdy Doody' and Marge Henderson's 'Little Lulu'. He also drew the back-up feature starring 'Professor Harbinger' for the 'Doctor Solar' comic book. His art appeared in such Dell/Western titles as Grimm's Ghost Stories, Doctor Solar, Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery and the Dell Junior Treasury. In the 1950s, Crawford tried working as an animator at Disney, but felt that illustrating children's books and record covers suited him better. For Disney, he published books adapting Disney feature films such as 'Alice in Wonderland' (1951) and 'Jungle Book' (1967). A versatile artist, he painted countless cartoon, comics, TV, film and other pop culture characters, from Disney's 'Uncle Scrooge', over Hanna-Barbera's 'Tom & Jerry', 'The Flintstones' and 'Magilla Gorilla', to Jim Henson's 'The Muppets'. He also designed many covers for The Golden Magazine, a magazine aimed at children.
'Rabbits Rafferty' (17 July 1980).
Assistance work, book illustrations and paintings
Crawford worked as an assistant on newspaper strips like 'Versus' by Jack Wohl (1969-1973) and 'Iffy' by Steven Amy (1971-1973), and made illustrations for First-Day Cachets in the 1970s and 1980s, illustrating (among others) children's books for 'Sesame Street'. Crawford has also made wildlife paintings for gallery exhibitions.
Rabbit's Rafferty
Dumas was the artist on newspaper features like 'Rabbits Rafferty' (King Features Syndicate, 1977-1981) and 'McCall of the Wild' (Creators Syndicate, 1988-1990), both written by Jerry Dumas. 'Rabbits Rafferty' (1968) was originally a children's novel by Dumas with illustrations by Wallace Tripp, but for the newspaper version Crawford was hired to do the job.
McCall of the Wild
Dumas also wrote the scripts for Mel Crawford's 'McCall of the Wild' (1988-1990), syndicated by the McClure Syndicate. The title was a pun on the phrase 'call of the wild' and, like it implied, all gags are set in the forest, where a young girl, Katie McCall, and her anthropomorphic pet pig, Piggins, live together. The comedy style is comparable to Dumas' previous comic strip 'Sam's Strip' (scripted by Mort Walker) in the sense that the two protagonists, McCall the girl and her pet pig Piggins, interact with fictional characters, in this case from nursery rhymes, fairy tales, novels and comics.
Recognition
In 1973, Crawford's art work received the Franklin Mint Gold Medal for 'Distinguished Watercolor Art'. The Kent Art Association bestowed him with a Grumbacher Gold Medal (1985) as "the best in show". His painting 'Summer Treasures' was a finalist in the 1990 Arts for the Parks competition.
Final years, death, legacy and influence.
In July 2000, Crawford spent two weeks in Glacier National Park in Montana as artist in residence. In the fall of 2001, he was artist in residence for three weeks at Acadia National Park in Maine. He launched his own blog in December 2006. In 2015, Crawford passed away at age 89. His charming and nostalgic drawing style received praise from several artists, including John Kricfalusi.
'Magilla Gorilla' children's book.