Charles+J.+Coll,+Jr

Charles J. Coll, Jr. (c) Arthur L. Lortie, 2016 Charles J. Coll, Jr. was born in April 15, 1889 in Philadelphia, Pennsyslvania, the son of Charles J. and Catherine (McVey) Coll. (many sources erroneously list his birth as 1890 because of a subtraction error -- he was 59 when he died early in 1949).

Sometimes signing his name as COLLY, he was a seasoned veteran by the time **MYRA NORTH** started, with a impressive list of credits that included the magazines **CHILD LIFE** and **COUNTRY GENTLEMAN**. He was also included in the 1924 edition of //**Who's Who in American Art.**//

His 5th grade teacher was impressed by his sketches of Santa Claus with his reindeer and urged him to pursue art as a career. His mother, upon hearing this, sent him to study at the studio of his famous cousin, Joseph Clement Coll T he latter, among other things, was the creator of the syndicated //** COLL 'S WEEKLY CARTOON ON AMERICAN SOCIETY **// (and not Charles **, ** as reported erroneously by several references, including Jerry Bails' //**Who's Who of American Comic Books**//).

Art, however, temporarily took a back seat to Charles' early interest in football, swimming, fishing and other sports -- and dancing.

He had considerable success in the latter pursuit, in fact, even being described in 1910 as " Professor Charles Coll, the well known dance instructor in Philadelphia " in a local newspaper; he taught //'modern dance'// at a studio on 38th and Market Streets in Philadelphia and was elected president of the **Philadelphia Association of Teachers of Dancing** in 1915.

With co-author Gabrielle Rosiere (//** Fortune Telling **// ; //** Etiquette **// ; //** Love Letters Made Easy **// ; //**Dreams - What They Mean to You**//; etc. ), he wrote a instructional book, **//Dancing Made Easy//**, in 1919 that proved so popular it saw an expanded edition in 1922.

The earliest art I can find by Coll is in a collaboration with artist //Frank Godwin// on a 1910 edition of **MOTHER GOOSE**. //Godwin// would later create the comic strip **CONNIE**, a popular collector's item that transitioned from the humorous adventures of a flapper and her paramours to a detective strip and, finally, to science fiction as she traveled through the solar system.

In the example below, I believe Godwin may have done the cover, but Coll signed the page on the right.



A further collaboration, **Tales the Balloonman Told**, in 1920, collected illustrations Coll, Godwin and others had done for the //"Color Supplement"// of the **//Philadelphia Public Ledger//** over the previous decade. Coll in that time frame was also providing pencil and ink drawings for syndicated text stories, including //Arthur James Hayes//' "Bob -- Of Regrets" from April 8, 1917.

At the **Ledger**, he teamed with **Ruth Plumly Thompson** during her 7 year run doing a weekly **//For Boys' and Girls'//** page. Thompson is best known for continuing the adventures of **//L. Frank Baum//**'s **The Wonderful Wizard of Oz**. The example below, by Coll, is from June 7, 1919. Many more endeavors with Thompson were to follow: **Poor Teddy - Princess White Mouse** (1920) and a series of booklets for **The Royal Baking Powder Co**., like the **Little Gingerbread Man** in 1923 and **The Prince of the Gelatin Isles** in 1926.

His first attempt at a syndicated strip was **DEB DAYS** in 1927, though he quickly ceded his duties to future pulp illustrator //**Earle K. Bergey**//.



An article promoting the debut of **MYRA NORTH** claims that a couple of his earlier efforts were called **FLAPPER FABLES** and **CAMPUS CAPERS**. I was unable to find the latter, but the first was actually a color Sunday 'column' called **FLAPPER FAIRY TALES** that illustrated Ruth Plumly Thompson verses updating famous fairy tales for the modern girl. It ran in 5 installments from April 21 to May 26, 1929.

and died January 18, 1949 in Bywood, Pennsylvania.

His 1936-41 stint on **MYRA**, also included ghosting on such strips as **ROY POWERS, EAGLE SCOUT** like others in the Philadelphia Community, including //Frank Godwin//. //Jimmy Thompson// and //Kemp Starrett//

After MYRA ended, he (and Thompson and an whole army of talented artists) moved over to the BINDER STUDIO, a major packager of comics for publishers like STREET & SMITH, FAWCETT, FEATURE, NEW FRIDAY and LEV GLEASON. His known assignments included pencils and inks on such features as BULLETMAN, CAPTAIN MIDNIGHT and a fortuitous gig at STREET & SMITH doing covers for DOC SAVAGE and multiple stories on Walter Gibson's THE SHADOW.

This led to him being named.

1943 The Devil's Behind You by Edward Helseth (The Phidelphia Inquirer) 1943/03/21 Terror on the Island (Gold Seal Novel) in the Philadelphia Inquirer by John Ferguson 1944 CAPTAIN MIDNIGHT (pen/ink/) (FAWCETT COMICS)

1944 GIBSON STUDIO (pen/ink/art dir/) Some refer as GIBSON-COLL SHOP; may have run through '51 1944 BLACKSTONE (pen/ink/) (STREET & SMITH COMICS) 1944 MR. TWILIGHT (pen/ink/) (STREET & SMITH COMICS) 1945 CAPTAIN MIDNIGHT (pen/ink/) (FAWCETT COMICS) 1945 SHADOW, THE (pen/ink/) (STREET & SMITH COMICS 1945 GIBSON STUDIO (pen/ink/art dir/) Some refer as GIBSON-COLL SHOP; may have run through '51  1945 BLACKSTONE (pen/ink/) (STREET & SMITH COMICS)  1945 LADY IN WHITE (pen/ink/) (STREET & SMITH COMICS)  1946 CAPTAIN MIDNIGHT (pen/ink/) (FAWCETT COMICS)  1946 Covers (pen/ink/) (STREET & SMITH COMICS)

Cover in Shadow Comics (Street & Smith) #v6#9 [69] (12/1946) 1946 SHADOW, THE (pen/ink/) (STREET & SMITH COMICS) Shadow: The Crime Master! (14 pages) in Shadow Comics (Street & Smith) #v5#10 [58] (01/1946) Shadow: Uncovers the The Invisible Killer (8 pages) in Shadow Comics (Street & Smith) #v5#10 [58] (01/1946) Shadow: The Clutch of the Talon (Part 4) (14 pages) in Shadow Comics (Street & Smith) #v5#11 [59] (02/1946) Shadow: The Shadow Meets the Black Swami (8 pages) in Shadow Comics (Street & Smith) #v5#12 [60] (03/1946) Shadow: Trapped By the Talon (Part 5) (8 pages) in Shadow Comics (Street & Smith) #v5#12 [60] (03/1946) Shadow: Double Z (8 pages) in Shadow Comics (Street & Smith) #v6#1 [61] (04/1946) Shadow: The Message of Death (8 pages) in Shadow Comics (Street & Smith) #v6#1 [61] (04/1946) Shadow: The Riddle of Professor Mentalo (8 pages) in Shadow Comics (Street & Smith) #v6#2 [62] (05/1946) Shadow: The Talon's Trap (Part 6) (8 pages) in Shadow Comics (Street & Smith) #v6#2 [62] (05/1946) Shadow: The Shadow Convicts Judge Lawless (8 pages) in Shadow Comics (Street & Smith) #v6#3 [63] (06/1946) Shadow: Crime At Thunder Lake (8 pages) in Shadow Comics (Street & Smith) #v6#3 [63] (06/1946) Shadow: Death In the Crystal (8 pages) in Shadow Comics (Street & Smith) #v6#4 [64] (07/1946) Shadow: The Shadow Meets the Blur (8 pages) in Shadow Comics (Street & Smith) #v6#4 [64] (07/1946) Shadow: Trap For Crime (8 pages) in Shadow Comics (Street & Smith) #v6#4 [64] (07/1946) Shadow: The Shadow Uncovers the Harlequin (8 pages) in Shadow Comics (Street & Smith) #v6#5 [65] (08/1946) Shadow: The Cloudmaster (8 pages) in Shadow Comics (Street & Smith) #v6#5 [65] (08/1946) Shadow: Midnight Murder (8 pages) in Shadow Comics (Street & Smith) #v6#5 [65] (08/1946) Shadow: The Crucible of Death (14 pages) in Shadow Comics (Street & Smith) #v6#6 [66] (09/1946) Shadow: Landlubber's Haven (8 pages) in Shadow Comics (Street & Smith) #v6#6 [66] (09/1946) Shadow: Crime In Centralia (14 pages) in Shadow Comics (Street & Smith) #v6#7 [67] (10/1946) Shadow: Crime Among the Aztecs (14 pages) in Shadow Comics (Street & Smith) #v6#8 [68] (11/1946) Shadow: The Trail of Gold (8 pages) in Shadow Comics (Street & Smith) #v6#8 [68] (11/1946) Shadow: One Small Bier (14 pages) in Shadow Comics (Street & Smith) #v6#9 [69] (12/1946) Shadow: The Winged Dagger (8 pages) in Shadow Comics (Street & Smith) #v6#9 [69] (12/1946) 1946 GIBSON STUDIO (pen/ink/art dir/) Some refer as GIBSON-COLL SHOP; may have run through '51 1946 BLACKSTONE (pen/ink/) (STREET & SMITH COMICS) 1946 RED DRAGON (pen/ink/) (STREET & SMITH COMICS) 1946 ELLIMAN, ACE OF MAGIC (pen/ink/) (STREET & SMITH COMICS) 1946 DOC SAVAGE (pen/ink/) (STREET & SMITH COMICS) Doc Savage: A Most Practical Joke (6 pages) in Shadow Comics (Street & Smith) #v6#6 [66] (09/1946) Doc Savage: Pursuit of the Skull (Part 3) (8 pages) in Shadow Comics (Street & Smith) #v6#9 [69] (12/1946) 1947 CAPTAIN MIDNIGHT (pen/ink/) (FAWCETT COMICS) 1947 Covers (pen/ink/) (STREET & SMITH COMICS) Cover in Shadow Comics (Street & Smith) #v6#10 [70] (01/1947) Cover in Shadow Comics (Street & Smith) #v6#11 [71] (02/1947) Cover in Shadow Comics (Street & Smith) #v7#2 [74] (05/1947) Cover in Shadow Comics (Street & Smith) #v7#5 [77] (08/1947) Cover in Shadow Comics (Street & Smith) #v7#7 [79] (10/1947) 1947 SHADOW, THE (pen/ink/) (STREET & SMITH COMICS) Shadow: Crime At Devil's Passage (14 pages) in Shadow Comics (Street & Smith) #v6#10 [70] (01/1947) Shadow: The Voodoo Hoodoo (8 pages) in Shadow Comics (Street & Smith) #v6#10 [70] (01/1947) Shadow: The Riddle of the Black Pagoda (14 pages) in Shadow Comics (Street & Smith) #v6#11 [71] (02/1947) Shadow: The Subway Ghost (8 pages) in Shadow Comics (Street & Smith) #v6#11 [71] (02/1947) Shadow: The Riddle of the Yellow Band (14 pages) in Shadow Comics (Street & Smith) #v7#1 [73] (04/1947) Shadow: Dead Men Live (14 pages) in Shadow Comics (Street & Smith) #v7#2 [74] (05/1947) Shadow: The Six Fingers of Death (14 pages) in Shadow Comics (Street & Smith) #v7#5 [77] (08/1947) Shadow: The Flames of Death (8 pages) in Shadow Comics (Street & Smith) #v7#6 [78] (09/1947) Shadow: Crime K.O. (14 pages) in Shadow Comics (Street & Smith) #v7#7 [79] (10/1947) Shadow: Links of Crime (8 pages) in Shadow Comics (Street & Smith) #v7#7 [79] (10/1947) Shadow: The Red Death (14 pages) in Shadow Comics (Street & Smith) #v7#12 [84] (03/1948) 1947 GIBSON STUDIO (pen/ink/art dir/) Some refer as GIBSON-COLL SHOP; may have run through '51 1947 RED DRAGON (pen/ink/) (STREET & SMITH COMICS) 1947 SHADOW JR. (pen/ink/) (STREET & SMITH COMICS) Shadow, Jr.: Snake Eyes (8 pages) in Shadow Comics (Street & Smith) #v7#5 [77] (08/1947) 1947 DOC SAVAGE (pen/ink/) (STREET & SMITH COMICS) 1948 SHADOW, THE (pen/ink/) (STREET & SMITH COMICS) 1948 GIBSON STUDIO (pen/ink/art dir/) Some refer as GIBSON-COLL SHOP; may have run through '51 1948 ELLIMAN, ACE OF MAGIC (pen/ink/) (STREET & SMITH COMICS) 1948 DOC SAVAGE (pen/ink/) (STREET & SMITH COMICS)

Charles Coll Colly (1890 - ?, USA)

Charles Coll was mainly active as an illustrator during the 1920s and 1930s. He worked in advertising and for magazines like. He did syndicated features like 'Coll's Weekly Cartoon on American Society' for the North American Society. In 1927, he made a daily strip called 'Deb Days' for the Ledger Syndicate. Between 1936 and 1941, he worked with Ray Thompson on the 'Myra North, Special Nurse' newspaper strip. In the 1940s, he worked for comic books, either through the Binder Studio or through the Gibson Studio, for which he was also art director. His work appeared in Fawcett's 'Bulletman' and 'Captain Midnight', but mainly in Street & Smith' comics like 'The Shadow', 'Doc Savage', 'Red Dragon' and 'Elliman, Ace of Magic'.

The Shadow, by Charles Coll

Dancing Made Easy (1919 and 1922 edition) http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/lookupname?key=Coll%2C%20Charles%20J. ROY POWERS, EAGLE SCOUT