Ask most people, and they’ll tell you Stan Lee is the oldest person working in comics today. It’s a sensible guess, as Stan “the Man” recently turned 94 years old. But I’m here to tell you, Stan is not the oldest professional working in comics. Nope, that honor goes to artist Ken Bald, who, according to Newsarama, has just been named by Guinness World Records as the “oldest artist to illustrate a comic book cover” for his 2015 Contest of Champions #2 cover for Marvel Comics, which he drew at the age of 95.
This is breaking the record previously held by the late Joe Simon, the artist best known for co-creating Captain America with Jack Kirby back in 1940. This is the now 96-year-old Bald’s second Guinness honor, following a previous record as “oldest comic book artist.” In a statement, Bald said “At 96 years old, you’d never think you’d be setting any world records, let alone setting two. Both records have been a great thrill for me.”
If you love what you do, you never work a day in your life. At 96 Ken Bald proves this to be true https://t.co/4IQkkAXX60 #MondayMotivation pic.twitter.com/h0sM0bA2vM
— GuinnessWorldRecords (@GWR) May 8, 2017
Guinness World Records adjudicator Alex Angert added, “It is an honor to present Ken with this tremendous achievement that is a testament to his passion to the comic book industry and his skills in illustrating timeless and beloved comic book stories.”
Bald was born in New York City in 1920, and is maybe best known for illustrating TV tie-in strips like Dark Shadows and Dr. Kildare. His very first comics work was in 1943’s Captain America Comics #32. Among the characters that Bald co-created for Marvel were Namora and Sun Girl, While those characters don’t get much love these days, Namora was the mother and main visual inspiration for longtime New Warriors character Namorita, who is still around today.
You can check out Bald’s full record-breaking cover art for Contest of Champions down below in our gallery.
Which old school classic comic book artist is your personal favorite, and who do you wish was still working today? Leave us your thoughts down below in the comments.
Images: Marvel Comics
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