698 WILLIAMSON, AL
Selected Bibliography: Kaveney, Roz. Superheroes! Capes and Crusaders in Comics
and Films. New York: I. B. Tauris, 2008; Stuller, Jennifer K. Ink-stained Amazons and
Cinematic Warriors: Superwomen in Modern Mythology. New York: I. B. Tauris, 2010;
Whedon, Joss. “Introduction.” In Fray. Oregon: Dark Horse Books, 2003.
Jennifer K. Stuller
WILLIAMSON, AL (1931–). Artist Al Williamson’s clean and articulate drawing pro-
vided a touch of elegance to the sometimes crude and overwrought expressionist
style delivered by the EC (Entertaining Comics) brand of grotesque horror in the
1950s. Williamson was the youngest of EC’s stable of regular artists, and his work
was inspired by the romantic draftsmanship of Alex Raymond ( Flash Gordon ) and
Hal Foster ( Ta r z a n and Prince Valiant ). Williamson, of Colombian descent, worked in
the New York commercial art world, studied with anatomy and sequential art master,
Burne Hogarth , and performed his fi rst comic book art in Heroic Comics in 1948 at
the age of 17. Later, he took over the Flash Gordon strip from Raymond. Collector Ray
Cuthbert relates that Williamson wished to emulate Raymond’s style precisely, so he
used a lightbox to trace Raymond’s delicate fi gurative work, even though his own hand
was beautiful and clear.
Despite the typically crude and shocking appearance of ghouls, vampires , and other
monsters in EC comics, Williamson’s brand of horror was more restrained, dignifi ed,
and elevated. His work served the story and eschewed showboating. A former pub-
lisher at Marvel , Shirrel Rhoades, writes that, “it would take more than half a century
for Hollywood’s special eff ects to catch up with the dazzling visuals drawn by Wa l -
lace Wood and Al Williamson for the EC Comics’ celebrated sci-fi titles” (50). After
the extinction of EC, Williamson was employed by a host of companies in the 1950s
including Harvey, Atlas, and AGC.
Williamson distinguished himself as the artist of Flash Gordon in the 1960s, work-
ing on the daily comic strip and creating memorable Flash Gordon comic books for
King Features. Williamson’s world featured fl oating cities, sleek spacecraft, grotesque
monsters wedded to classical proportions and a strong sense of balance. Heroes, like
Flash Gordon, were always supple, erect, and placid, representing an ideal of Greek and
Renaissance humanism.
By the 1980s, Marvel Comics and George Lucas tapped Williamson to do the
Marvel Comics adaptation of Th e Empire Strikes Back from the Star Wars fi lm series.
Williamson augmented the fairytale wonder of Star Wars with a grit and realism that
provided gravity to the storyline and underscored its classicism.
Much of Williamson’s prowess in recent years has been in exceeding expectations
with ephemeral material. In the 1980s, he created a new New Mutants series with Brett
Blevins, collaborated with Jim Shooter and John Romita Jr. on Star Brand , and inked a
wide array of Marvel graphic novel covers including Cloak and Dagger , Th e Inhumans ,
and the Squadron Supreme. In his work on Spider-Man 2099 , artists Rick Leonardi
and Williamson provided a delicate sensibility that prevented the dark-age futuristic
