L.B. Cole, who was born Leonard Cohen in the Bronx, New York, ended his formal education when he was 13 years old. That was when he dropped out of school and went to work in his uncle’s cigar factory. It was while working in the factory that Cole first noticed all of the work that went into designing the labels and the packages of his grandfather’s cigars. This was the start of an interest in illustration that would lead to L.B. Cole becoming one of the busiest and most prolific artists of both the pulps and the Golden Age of Comics.
Cole left his grandfather’s factory in 1936 and, at the age of 16, joined the art staff of the company the designed the factory’s cigar box labels. Cole spent three years working as an apprentice and learning the ins and outs of graphic design. By the time that Cole turned 21, he had already begun his career as a commercial artist.
Cole apparently did his first paperback covers in 1942, for Phoenix Press. He would go on to work in both the paperback and the comic book industry, dabbling in every genre and making a name for himself with his bold and colorful work. Cole even briefly made the transition from artist to publisher when, in 1949, he founded Star Publications. L.B. Cole was also one of the few commercial artists of the era to sign his name to almost all of his covers.
Cole worked regularly through the mid-60s. After his retirement, he was rediscovered by collectors and continued to contribute occasional illustrations to fan publications. After his death in 1995, Cole was posthumously inducted into the Will Eisner Hall of Fame.
Here’s some of his work:
