The Comics Rack

Inka Dinka Doo

   In the 1970s, both Marvel and DC used the services of "The Crusty Bunkers" as inkers on some of their books (I remember it primarily on Conan). As the inking credit continued to appear in comics, I believe it was Marvel who eventually revealed that the main Crusty Bunkers were Neal Adams and Dick Giordano, who contracted the inking work to help keep their staff of artists, or anyone who rented space, busy at their advertising agency, Continuity Associates (Adams later used this same concept to produce his Continuity Comics). Looking back over comics of this time, one can easily see where Adams and Giordano inked either the main figures or faces, however the remaining Crusty Bunkers simply recede into an amorphous house style and the actual artists involved have always remained a mystery of sorts.
   What sparked this memory was an interview with artist Ned Sonntag in issue #1590 of Comics Buyer's Guide. In the interview, Sonntag relates a visit he made to the loft studio that was shared by Berni Wrightson, Mike Kaluta, Jeff Jones and Barry Smith. Sonntag makes a passing reference to how the four artists were called, "the Crusty Bunkers." Whether this is a mis-remembrance on Sonntag's part or something more, I hesitate to guess. If Wrightson et al were a part of the Crusty Bunkers, then we may have a new chapter in comic's history that has never been documented (the names of these four artists is never mentioned in conjunction with the "Bunkers"). This might also provide a link between the four artists and Adams that has never before been mentioned. Not that this is any big deal, but it does lead to some interesting speculation.