Elmer Cecil Stoner (October 20, 1897 – December 16, 1969) was an American

comics artist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and g ...

and

commercial illustrator Commercial art is the art of creative services, referring to art created for commercial purposes, primarily advertising. Commercial art uses a variety of platforms (magazines, websites, apps, television, etc.) for viewers with the intent of promo ...

. Stoner was one of the first African-American comic book artists, and is believed to have created the iconic

Mr. Peanut Mr. Peanut is the advertising logo and mascot of Planters, an American snack-food company owned by Hormel. He is depicted as an anthropomorphic peanut in its shell, wearing the formal clothing of an old-fashioned gentleman, with a top hat, mono ...

mascot. He produced pencil art for the first issue of

Detective Comics ''Detective Comics'' is an American comic book series published by Detective Comics, later shortened to DC Comics. The first volume, published from 1937 to 2011 (and later continued in 2016), is best known for introducing the superhero Batman i ...

, published by

National Comics Publications National Comics Publications, Inc. (also known as NCP or simply National) was an American comic book publishing company, and the direct predecessor of modern-day DC Comics. History The corporation was originally two companies: National Allied P ...

(the company that later became

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

), and worked for a variety of other

golden age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the ''Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages of Man, Ages, Gold being the first and the one during ...

companies such as

Timely Comics Timely Comics is the common name for the group of corporations that was the earliest comic book arm of American publisher Martin Goodman, and the entity that would evolve by the 1960s to become Marvel Comics. "Timely Publications became the name ...

Street & Smith Street & Smith or Street & Smith Publications, Inc. was a New York City publisher specializing in inexpensive paperbacks and magazines referred to as dime novels and pulp fiction. They also published comic books and sporting yearbooks. Among t ...

EC Comics Entertaining Comics, more commonly known as EC Comics, was an American publisher of comic books, which specialized in horror fiction, crime fiction, satire, military fiction, dark fantasy, and science fiction from the 1940s through the mid-195 ...

Fawcett Comics Fawcett Comics, a division of Fawcett Publications, was one of several successful comic book publishers during the Golden Age of Comic Books in the 1940s. Its most popular character was Captain Marvel, the alter ego of radio reporter Billy Bats ...

, and

Dell Comics Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1974. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium.Evanier, Mark"Wh ...

. Near the end of his life, Stoner was also a spokesman for

Gordon's Gin Gordon's is a brand of London dry gin first produced in 1769. The top markets for Gordon's are the United Kingdom, the United States and Greece. It is owned by the British spirits company Diageo. It is the world's best-selling London dry gin. G ...

Early life

Stoner was born on October 20, 1897 in

Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania Wilkes-Barre ( or ) is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, Luzerne County. Located at the center of the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it had a population of 44,328 in th ...

to Mary Alice and George W. Stoner. His mother was a pianist, and his father a church sexton at the local St. Stephen's Episcopal Church. Stoner was the eldest of the family's three children, though there were two that had died earlier. Stoner left school at 11, as was the custom in

coal town A coal town, also known as a coal camp or patch, is a type of company town or mining community established by the employer, a mining company, which imports workers to the site to work the mineral find. The company develops it and provides residen ...

s like Wilkes-Barre, but instead went to work at a

Woolworth's Woolworth, Woolworth's, or Woolworths may refer to: Businesses * F. W. Woolworth Company, the original US-based chain of "five and dime" (5¢ and 10¢) stores * Woolworths Group (United Kingdom), former operator of the Woolworths chain of shops ...

as a stocker at the behest of founder

Fred Morgan Kirby Fred Morgan Kirby (1861-1940) from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania was the founder of the F. M. Kirby & Co. 5 & 10-cent Store chain, and a philanthropist. Kirby’s company was a major rival of the much larger F. W. Woolworth & Co. and the two businesses ...

, who attended the church where Stoner's father worked. While working at Woolworth's, Stoner began to learn sign-painting, lettering, and advertising, and soon began to work as a freelance artist in the Wilkes-Barre area.

Creation of Mr. Peanut, first marriage, move to Harlem

The Planters company sponsored a contest in 1916 to create a mascot, which 14-year old Antonio Gentile won. According to the company website, the drawing was "enhanced" by a "professional illustrator," who added the top hat, monocle, and cane. While Planters never revealed the identity of the artist who made a new version of Gentile's design. Stoner's widow Henriette noted the creation of Mr. Peanut as one of Stoner's accomplishments when submitting a questionnaire for ''Who's Who of American Comic Books''. Stoner registered in 1918 for the draft, but was not called to service due to being in school. Stoner attended the

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. While at the school, he earned a number of awards, including the school's Packard Prize (awarded for best sketches of animals at the

Philadelphia Zoo The Philadelphia Zoo, located in the Centennial District of Philadelphia on the west bank of the Schuylkill River, is the first true zoo in the United States. It was chartered by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on March 21, 1859, but its openin ...

), a

Cresson Traveling Scholarship The Cresson Traveling Scholarship, also known as the William Emlen Cresson Memorial Traveling Scholarship, is a two-year scholarship for foreign travel and/or study awarded annually to art students at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Phi ...

, and a

Prix de Rome The Prix de Rome () or Grand Prix de Rome was a French scholarship for arts students, initially for painters and sculptors, that was established in 1663 during the reign of Louis XIV of France. Winners were awarded a bursary that allowed them t ...

. Stoner married his first wife Vivienne in 1922 and moved to

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

, where his work was featured in a "Negro artist" exhibition at the Harlem branch of the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress ...

. According to the head librarian, his work was "splendidly planned and executed." The couple later moved to

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

so that Vivienne could open a gift shop, and they became "part of a tight-knit circle of African-Americans. . .and hobnobbed with the intellectual elite of the community." Stoner and Vivienne divorced sometime before 1927.

Magazine and comic book work

Stoner's first major illustrative work, a children's book named ''Mic Mac on the Track'', debuted in 1930. During this time, Stoner worked at Tower Magazines, a women-and-children-oriented series of magazines that was distributed at Woolworth's stores. This company folded in 1935, leading Stoner to freelance and begin to transition into comic art. Stoner's first foray into comics was a story in ''

'' #1, ''Speed Saunders and the River Patrol'', introducing the character Cyril "Speed" Saunders. Sources disagree about whether Stoner wrote or drew the story, and comic historians Don Markstein and Kevin Burton Smith note that since Stoner's tenure on the character was so brief (he left after the first issue), that

Gardner Fox Gardner Francis Cooper Fox (May 20, 1911 – December 24, 1986) was an American writer known best for creating numerous comic book characters for DC Comics. He is estimated to have written more than 4,000 comics stories, including 1,500 for DC ...

had potentially created the character.

Shop work

After working on ''Detective Comics'', Stoner moved between multiple comics "shops," or small workshops where artists would produce art and send it to a publisher. According to Ken Quattro, working in shops ''offered a secondary bonus for Stoner, as it provided a buffer between him and the publisher should they be reluctant to employ a black man," as Stoner was one of the first prominent black cartoonists, followed closely by

Matt Baker Matthew James Baker (born 23 December 1977) is a British television presenter. He co-presented the children's television show ''Blue Peter'' from 1999 until 2006, BBC One's ''Countryfile'' since 2009 and ''The One Show'' from 2011 to 2020, wit ...

and

Alvin Hollingsworth Alvin C. Hollingsworth (25 February 1928 – July 14, 2000),
at the Between 1940 and 1944, Stoner worked for

, where he inked some early Breeze Barton stories, at

where he worked on

Spy Smasher Spy Smasher is the name of two fictional characters appearing in comics published by Fawcett and DC Comics. The first is a superhero that was formerly owned and published by Fawcett Comics. The second is a female anti-terrorism government agent, ...

, and at

where he worked on ''Ajax the Sun Man'', a minor feature in Street and Smith's

Doc Savage Doc Savage is a fictional character of the competent man hero type, who first appeared in American pulp magazines during the 1930s and 1940s. Real name Clark Savage Jr., he is a doctor, scientist, adventurer, detective, and polymath who "rights w ...

comic. At Dell, Stoner mainly worked as a cover artist, drawing covers for anthology titles ''Popular'' and ''The Funnies'', the latter of which prominently featured the character Phantasmo, Dell's first original superhero feature, in his "clean-lined, if awkward style." However, he also pencilled some stories in

's ''War Heroes'' and ''War Comics'' series. Stoner was also briefly employed by ''Parents Magazine'', working on their long-running educational ''True Comics'' series from 1941 to 1942. Stoner also worked on the relaunched

Blue Beetle Blue Beetle is the name of three fictional superheroes who appear in a number of American comic books published by a variety of companies since 1939. The most recent of the companies to own rights to Blue Beetle is DC Comics, which bought the ri ...

title for

Fox Comics Fox Feature Syndicate (also known as Fox Comics, Fox Publications, and Bruns Publications, Inc.) was a comic book publisher from early in the period known to fans and historians as the Golden Age of Comic Books. Founded by entrepreneur Victor S. ...

near the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, providing either cover or interior work for issues #31 to #45. One of his more unique projects was as an artist for ''The Challenger'', a publication from ''Protestant Digest'' and their interfaith committee that served to counteract fascist and antisemitic propaganda. He also created the three-issue comics series ''Blackstone, Master Magician'' in 1946 for Vital Publications, which was later revived for a single issue by

(1947) followed by three issues at

(1948). Despite its short run, the EC revival was adapted into a radio drama series, ''

Blackstone, the Magic Detective ''Blackstone, the Magic Detective'' was a 15-minute radio series based on Elmer Cecil Stoner's comic book series ''Blackstone, Master Magician''. The program aired Sunday afternoons at 2:45pm on the Mutual Broadcasting System from October 3, 194 ...

,'' which ran from 1948 to 1950. After the conclusion of the comic series, Stoner illustrated at least 1 souvenir program for Harry Blackstone Sr., the namesake of the series. After the war, Stoner briefly worked on another Vital comic title, and left comics between 1951 and 1952 due to a judge refusing his request to have another Vital comic series he drew, ''Rick Kane, Space Marshal'', stopped from publication. Stoner maintained that Vital continuing to produce the title amounted to a violation of his contract. His last known work was an educational comic titled ''Deadline: The Story Behind The Headline''. In his history of the American anti-comics movement, ''The Ten-Cent Plague'', writer

David Hajdu David Hajdu (; born March 1955) is an American columnist, author and professor at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He was the music critic for ''The New Republic'' for 12 years and is music editor at ''The Nation''. Biography ...

included Stoner on a list of comics creators who never worked in comics again after the virulent criticism of comics in the early-to-mid 1950s.

Personal life and death

Outside of comics, Stoner was an "accomplished pianist" and patron of the arts, and also owned the apartment building in which he lived, at 228 W. 13th Street. According to an article in the ''

Daily Worker The ''Daily Worker'' was a newspaper published in New York City by the Communist Party USA, a formerly Comintern-affiliated organization. Publication began in 1924. While it generally reflected the prevailing views of the party, attempts were m ...

'', Stoner spent time entertaining

United Service Organizations The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...

(USO) personnel and providing them with drawing lessons, in addition to "occasionally

iving Iving may refer to: *Intravenous therapy Intravenous therapy (abbreviated as IV therapy) is a medical technique that administers fluids, medications and nutrients directly into a person's vein. The intravenous route of administration is commonly ...

art lectures as a means of improving Negro-white relations." In the late 1960s, Stoner was one of several prominent African-Americans featured in a series of ads for

. Stoner died on December 16, 1969, and had a private funeral.

Style and reception

As a classically-trained illustrator who transitioned into comic art in the middle of his life, Stoner's comic art was sometimes criticized for not matching up with other artists of the time, as relayed by Ken Quattro: "...Stoner’s work was not in the league of Eisner or Kirby or Fine. He was, after all, a middle-aged fine artist, who had only worked in advertising and magazine illustration, trying to make the jarring transition to comic books. The techniques and requirements of sequential storytelling were new to him and it was apparent."

Ron Goulart Ronald Joseph Goulart (; January 13, 1933 – January 14, 2022) was an American popular culture historian and mystery, fantasy, and science fiction author. He published novelizations and other work under various pseudonyms: Kenneth Robeson, Con ...

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."

Works

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stoner, Elmer C. 1897 births 1969 deaths 20th-century American artists People from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania American children's book illustrators American comics artists African-American comics creators African-American illustrators Artists from Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts alumni People from Harlem People from Greenwich Village Marvel Comics people Prix de Rome winners