Sam Hill

 

Here is a full tone pencil commission of the Archie Comics private eye, Sam Hill, and his secretary, Moxy, in Sam’s office. Dating back to Archie Comics’ MLJ days, Sam was your standard private eye character in that Sam Spade mold that was popular  in the 1940’s. I first drew Sam in a two-part story in Archie & Friends titled “A Night In A Comic Shop,” where we resurrected a bunch of old seldom-used and long-dormant MLJ characters. Later, I had the opportunity to draw Sam once again in a couple of appearances toward the end of the Life With Archie magazine run.

This commission was done as a reward for Gisele Lagace’s Pixie Trix Comix Kickstarter campaign last year. The buyer requested a Sam Hill pin-up done in the same style as the cover I drew for Life With Archie #32 where we bypassed the inking stage and colors were added in a painterly style to create the effect and mood of an old 1940’s film noir movie poster. You can see the cover to Life With Archie #32 here:

Life With Archie Cover

 

With the pencils done, a scan of the Sam Hill piece will go off to the fabulous Anwar who will re-create that same effect used on LWA #32. I’ll post that final stage here as soon as Anwar’s done. Keep checking back here. I’m sure Anwar will do his usual fantastic job. I can’t wait to see it myself!