The Mad Peck’s Influences
John Peck wasn’t prone to detailing those who influenced him in his creative life, so it can take a bit of archeological excavation and (hopefully) learned assumptions to make a determination or two. Still, there can be no doubt that cartoonist Matt Baker, widely viewed as among the very best “good girl” artists in comics — particularly in the romance genre — is a Peck favorite. Robert Crumb, perhaps the greatest of all the underground cartoonists, certainly made an impact on Peck at a formative time (and it’s important to note that Peck and Crumb exchanged letters in the early years of comix.
MATT BAKER: Clarence Matthew Baker (Dec. 10, 1921 – Aug. 11, 1959) was an American comic book artist and illustrator, best known for drawing early comics heroines such as the costumed crimefighter Phantom Lady, and romance comics. Active in the 1940s and 1950s Golden Age of comic books, he is one of the first known African-American artists to find success in the comic-book industry. He also penciled St. John Publications' digest-sized "picture novel" It Rhymes with Lust (1950), the first graphic novel despite that term not having been coined at the time.
R. CRUMB: Robert Dennis Crumb ( born August 30, 1943) is an American artist who often signs his work simply R. Crumb. His work displays a nostalgia for American folk culture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and satire of contemporary American culture. Crumb contributed to many of the seminal works of the underground comix movement in the 1960s, including being a founder of the first successful underground comix publication, Zap Comix, contributing to all 16 issues.