Superman comic books
In 1942, the by-then-named National Comics hired Boring as a staff artist,[4] teaming him as penciler the following year with inker Stan Kaye. The two would work together for nearly 20 years during a period fans and historians call the Golden Age of comic books. In 1948, following Siegel and Shuster's departure from the company over a Superman rights lawsuit, Mort Weisinger, the editor of the Superman line, brought in Boring as well as Al Plastino and Curt Swan. During this mid-1940s period, he often signed his work for rival Novelty Press's Blue Bolt Comics as Jack Harmon.[5]
Boring's "Superman Covers Atom Bomb Test!" cover for Action Comics #101 (Oct. 1946) was an early example of nuclear weapons in popular culture.[6] A more detailed origin story for Superman by Boring and writer Bill Finger was presented in Superman #53 (July 1948) to mark the character's tenth anniversary.[7] Boring co-created the Fortress of Solitude in Action Comics #241 (June 1958) with writer Jerry Coleman[8] and Bizarro World in Action Comics #263 (April 1960) with Otto Binder.[9]
Boring was the primary Superman comic book penciller through the 1950s. Swan succeeded him the following decade,[10] though Boring returned for sporadic guest appearances in the early 1960s and then again in late 1966 and early 1967.[11] One critic wrote of Boring's 1950s Superman art, "Comics legend Wayne Boring played a major role in visually defining the most well known super-hero in the world during the peak of Superman's popularity."[12] Another writer echoed, "Boring's bravura brushwork defined many of its key elements and made Superman look more powerful and imposing, now standing a heroic nine heads tall, and brought a fresh realism, a sleek sci-fi vision and a greater seriousness of tone."
Boring was let go from DC in 1967[13] along with many other prominent writers and artists who had made demands for health and retirement benefits.[14] From 1968 to 1972, Boring ghosted backgrounds for Hal Foster's Prince Valiant Sunday comic strip[13] and took over the art on writer Sam Leff's 1961–71 United Feature Syndicate strip Davy Jones.[15] Afterward, Boring drew three issues of Marvel Comics' Captain Marvel, then left the field to semi-retire as a bank security guard, though he would continue to draw commissioned work.[16] He briefly returned to DC to pencil some stories in All-Star Squadron Annual #3 (1984), Superman #402 (Dec. 1984), and Action Comics #561 and 572 (Nov. 1984 and Oct. 1985).
Boring died of a heart attack,[16] following a brief comeback announced in one of his last published works, penciling a Golden Age Superman story written by Roy Thomas and inked by Jerry Ordway in Secret Origins vol. 2 #1 (April 1986).[17] His final work was All-Star Squadron #64 (Dec. 1986) a recreation of Superman #19 (Nov.-Dec. 1942).[18]
