Matt Baker (artist)

Matt Baker
Baker (left) and publisher Archer St. John at Grauman's Chinese Theatre (undated)
BornClarence Matthew Baker
(1921-12-10)December 10, 1921
Forsyth County, North Carolina, U.S.
DiedAugust 11, 1959(1959-08-11) (aged 37)
New York City, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Area(s)Penciller
Pseudonym(s)Matt Bakerino
Notable works
Phantom Lady

Clarence Matthew Baker[1] (December 10, 1921 – August 11, 1959[2]) 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.[3] 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.

Baker was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2009.[4] His influence can be seen in artists such as Dave Stevens and Adam Hughes.[5]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference artofglamourp36 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Matt Baker at the Lambiek Comiclopedia
  3. ^ Amash, Jim; Nolen-Weathngton, Eric, eds. (2012). "Part One: Meet Matt Baker: Baker of Cheesecake: An Appreciation of Matt Baker, Good Girl Artist Supreme". Matt Baker: The Art of Glamour (PDF). TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 36. ISBN 978-1605490328. {{cite book}}: |first2= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) Note: Artist credits were not routinely given in comic books in the 1940s, so comprehensive credits are difficult if not impossible to ascertain.
  4. ^ "2009 Eisner Award winners". Comic-Con.org. Archived from the original on 2010-08-12. Retrieved 2011-01-14.
  5. ^ Baker, Matt. Phantom Lady, Verotik, 1994, cover.