CARTIER, Edd

   Working name of US illustrator Edward Daniel Cartier (1914-). After graduation in 1936 from the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, EC was hired by STREET \& SMITH to work on their PULP MAGAZINES, notably The Shadow. His skills were noticed by John W. CAMPBELL Jr, who began using him in the new magazine UNKNOWN, for which EC did many black-and-white interiors from \#1 onwards and, from Dec 1939, five covers. For many readers EC's combination of whimsy and menace summed up the quality of that magazine. He quickly became very popular, perhaps because the humorous feel of his work was then so unusual in sf ILLUSTRATION. He left in 1941 to fight in WWII, was wounded in the Battle of the Bulge, and returned to illustration in 1946. Thereafter his main markets were ASTOUNDING SCIENCE-FICTION, DOC SAVAGE MAGAZINE, OTHER WORLDS and the SMALL PRESSES, like FANTASY PRESS and GNOME PRESS, which often reprinted ASF material in book form. EC later went back to college, graduated in fine arts, and left sf illustration around 1954 to work in graphic design. He will be remembered for the wit and boldness of his black-and-white work for the Street \& Smith magazines.

   JG/PN

   See also: COMICS; FANTASY.