Stanley John Joseph Pitt (2 March 1925 – 2 April 2002) was an Australian cartoonist and commercial artist. Pitt was the first Australian comic artist to have original work published by a major American comic book company. He often collaborated with his brother, Reginald Pitt.
Biography
Stanley Pitt was born in Rozelle, New South Wales (an inner western suburb of Sydney), on 2 March 1925, Pitt enjoyed drawing as a schoolboy and got into trouble for spending more time drawing than on his schoolwork. In 1942, whilst working as a milkman he had his first professional work, Anthony Fury, published by Australian Consolidated Press. Pitt was heavily influenced by the classic style of Alex Raymond's artwork the creator of Flash Gordon, particularly his method of switching from a pen to a brush. The following year he began illustrating comics, written by Frank Ashley, for Frank Johnson Publications. These included Larry Flynn, Detective. Pitt had no art training and no opportunity to associate with other Johnson artists, like Unk White, Carl Lyon and Jim Russell.
In 1945, he produced comic strip advertisements for Colgate Palmolive, which led to Associated Newspapers placing him under contract to develop a new science fiction strip,
Pitt was then employed by John Fairfax and Sons for their new paper, The Sun-Herald, where he produced a new science fiction comic strip, Captain Power, with the storyline provided by journalist Gerry Brown, Yarmak was a Tarzan imitation, with the comic illustrated by Pitt and inked at various stages by Frank and Jimmy Ashley and Paul Wheelahan, with the stories written by Frank Ashley or Pitt's younger brother, Reginald.
The two brothers then commenced work on a new comic, Gully Foyle. This was conceived by Reginald, based on Alfred Bester's science fiction novel The Stars My Destination.