ACES WEEKLY Volume 16, Week 5.

In this week of our series of tributes to the late, great, Herb Trimpe,we have a biographical one from his friend, admirer, and fellow Ace, Batton Lash.

Keep ‘Em Flying, Herb!

I remember the first time I saw Herb Trimpe’s distinct style: he was the new inker on Marie Severin’s pencils for The Hulk in Tales to Astonish. My young artistic eye was still in its formative stages, but I liked what I saw– I thought Trimpe’s (rhymes with “blimpie” as the Bullpen Bulletin that heralded his arrival noted) inks lent a rough hewn to Severin’s pencils, perfect for the unpredictable, rampaging monster! Less than a year later, Herb would be taking over the penciling gig on The Hulk. That same year (1968) would introduce the one-shot, WWl era Phantom Eagle, written by Gary Friedrich and drawn by Trimpe, which I especially liked. I found out much later that Herb was an Air Force veteran and had a lifelong interest in aircraft. No wonder the art soared! I always wished Phantom Eagle got its own berth, but that was not meant to be. Herb went on to a long run on The Hulk. Herb’s style may have been more “cartoony” (and that’s a compliment!) than the other Marvel artists, but his storytelling chops were first rate. During his long tenure at Marvel, he worked on nearly every character in their ever-expanding universe, including drawing the first appearance of a short-tempered Canadian mutant called Wolverine. I really liked the way Herb spotted blacks when he inked his own work and also enjoyed the ninety-degree turn he made with his inking which showed a strong Jack Davis influence (one of Herb’s childhood favorites), in Marvel’s War is Hell title.

In the 90’s, Herb returned to college to earn a master’s degree. He was ordained a deacon in the Episcopal Diocese of New York. Comics fans remembered his work fondly and greeted him warmly when Herb appeared at various comic book conventions around the world. He was presented with San Diego Comic-Con International’s Bob Clampett award for his humanitarian work as a chaplain at the World Trade Center following the attacks on 9/11.

During 2008’s Wondercon, Mark Evanier and Carolyn Kelly invited me and my wife, Jackie Estrada, to join them, Herb, and his wife Patricia, for dinner. Jackie and I were charmed by the easygoing, modest artist and his lovely wife. Whenever I saw Herb during the convention, he would greet me with a big smile and a good-natured hello. It made me think of the bullpen sobriquet Stan Lee bestowed him during those early Marvel days: “Happy” Herb Trimpe. I could see why!

In recent years, I accepted David Lloyd’s invitation to create a new feature for Aces Weekly. I was thrilled to see I’d be on the Aces line-up with “Happy” Herb! Always the airplane enthusiast, Herb’s feature was Firehawks, his ode to the Bugatti 100P. His work showed the same unwavering passion and labor of love for the subject matter I saw so many years ago in the Phantom Eagle.

For decades, comics fans and Herb’s peers in the industry delighted in both the work and the man. Herb’s gone now, but his positive mark on comics is with us still to entertain generations to come.

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