Leonard B. Cole

LEONARD BRANDT COLE had worked as art director for a lithography outfit, before entering the comic book field during the Golden Age in the early 1940's. He was mainly a cover illustrator for titles like Suspense Comics and Contact Comics. In his early work, he always used basic, flat colors and produced what he called "poster color covers". Illustrating over 1500 covers, Cole drew everything from funny animals to superheroes to jungle girls and sci-fi. A science fiction fan, Cole would often slip rocket ships and ray guns onto books such as 'Captain Flight' and 'Contact Comics' which were supposed to be devoted to contemporary aviation.

As for interior artwork, Cole did pencils and/or inks on several features for Holyoke Publications, Gilberton and Farrell. Cole also published comic books through Star Publications, producing various crime, terror, jungle and romance titles in the late 1940s and 1950s. He was art director and editor at Dell Publishing in the early 1960s. He has mainly done commercial art and design from the mid 1960s onwards, working among others on audio-visuals for University Films.