Jack Hearne painted the covers for Random House hardback T3I books #20 - #27 and provided the internal illustrations for titless #18 - #27. An internet search will come up with lots of various books and magazines for which he provided artwork.
In Alter Ego #55, December 2005, Jim Amash interviewed cartoonist/illustrator, Vic Dowd. About 1/2 way through the interview, after being asked about many different illustrators who worked for Jack Binder's studio in the 1940's, Vic Dowd suddenly says: "Let me ask YOU a question. Have you ever come across the name Jack Hearne?
JA: Yes, he's on my list of Binder employees.
DOWD: I asked because Jack used to be a good friend of mine and I wondered what ever happened to him. I know he became a very good illustrator. He lived in Westport, when my wife and I moved up here. But then he got divorced and moved away, and I lost all contact with him. I'd love to know if he's alive and where he lives if he's alive.
JA: Well, if he is alive, maybe I'll get lucky and find him. Or perhaps someone reading this may know and contact us. I sure hope so, anyway.
DOWD: Same here. He was a working illustrator and was a year behind me at Pratt (note by Seth: Vic Dowd was born in 1920 and so Hearne would presumably have been born in 1921, give or take). We didn't really touch base until after the war. He wasn't at Binder's while I was there, but he once mentioned to me that he had worked there. Jack was a terrific all-around illustrator. He kept busy and made good money because he could do a whole variety of things, from a full-color, complicated industrial illustration to pen-and-ink illustrations. He could paint, too. Jack was the total package. I really admired his work.
JA: What else do you remember about him?
DOWD: He was partially deaf in one ear, which probably kept him out of the service. He was a tall fellow who married a lady he met at Pratt, but that didn't last too long. I know he eventually
remarried. After the war, when I was doing more commercial work, we'd occasionally get together. He was working for the cheaper men's magazines. You remember ARGOSY? Well, he was working for the ARGOSY knock-offs, though I don't remember the names of them. I worked for similar magazines through Stan Lee, though Stan was not the art director. I did oil paintings and watercolor illustrations for Timely's men's magazines. Jack...did that kind of stuff. Jack could draw anything without research. The rest of us were using models and photographs, but not Jack. He then went on to do high-powered commercial illustrations for the major companies, for which he was handsomely paid. And he was a very nice guy. I really liked him.
Seth: While the above interview contains several photos of various illustrators mentioned by Dowd, none, unfortunely, are of Jack Hearne. We'll get one some day, along with more info, you can bet!
My thanks to Rob Zumstein for providing a link which led me to the magazine containing the above article/interview.
Jack Hearne's youngest son, John Hearne, shares more information about his father HERE.
