The San Diego Comic Fest reports Golden Age artist Allen ‘Al’ Bellman has died at the age of 95, following a short illness.
Bellman was born on June 5, 1924 in New York City, and first got involved with comics when he bought a copy of “Action Comics” #1 in 1938. Following this, Bellman was hooked on the medium and went on to study at New York City’s High School of Industrial Arts. During his time at the high school, Bellman responded to an advert in The New York Times by Timely Comics (which eventually became Marvel Comics) looking for artists.
In 1942, he started out at Timely drawing backgrounds for Syd Shores while he was working on “Captain America.” Bellman went on to work on a host of titles, including “The Patriot” and “The Human Torch.” During his career, Bellman also created a crime feature called “Let’s Play Detective,” and worked at Atlas Comics prior to the introduction of the Comics Code Authority. He continued in the comic book industry until the early 1960s when he moved to South Florida and became a member of the art department at The South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Later, Bellman became a successful photographer, but continued to make appearances at comic conventions, and maintained a personal website on his life and career.
Bellman is survived by his wife, Roz.
