Alter Ego #15 Preview by TwoMorrows Publishing

Roy Thomas’ Super-Heroic Comics Fanzine

5.95

In the USA

No. 15 June 2002

TRIBUTE TO

A TITAN!

John Buscema ‘Nuff Said!

Vol. 3, No. 15 / June 2002 Editor

™

Roy Thomas

Associate Editors Bill Schelly Jim Amash

Design & Layout

Christopher Day

Consulting Editors John Morrow Jon B. Cooke

FCA Editor

P.C. Hamerlinck

Comics Crypt Editor Michael T. Gilbert

Editors Emeritus

Jerry Bails (founder) Ronn Foss, Biljo White, Mike Friedrich

Cover Artist John Buscema

Cover Colorist

Tom Ziuko (with special thanks to Susan O’Leary)

Mailing Crew

Russ Garwood, Glen Musial, Ed Stelli, Pat Varker, Loston Wallace

And Special Thanks to:

Don Andre Blake Bell Tom Bernardo Mike Burkey Mrs. Dolores Buscema John Buscema, Jr. Sal Buscema Joey Cavalieri Gene Colan Shel Dorf Patrick Dumas Jean-Jacques Dzialowski Mark Evanier John Fleskes Gil Formosa Karl Gafford Stan Goldberg Grass Green George Hagenauer Bob Hall David G. Hamilton Ron Harris Irwin Hasen Tom Horvitz Carmine Infantino John Kelly Adam Kubert Andy Kubert Joe Kubert Stan Lee Jean-Marc Lofficier Russ Maheras

Mick Martin Jim McLauchlin Brian K. Morris Dave Newton Eric Nolen-Weathington Charlie Novinskie Jerry Ordway Matthew Lage Owen & Susan O’Leary Joe Petrilak Adam Philips Bill Pearson John G. Pierce Dan Raspler John Romita Stephanie Sanderson Mrs. Dorothy Schaffenberger Marie Severin David Siegel Robin Snyder Flo Steinberg Marc Swayze Marc Svensson Dann Thomas Herb Trimpe Dr. Michael J. Vassallo Hames Ware Alan Weiss Ralph Rawson Werner Ed Zeno Mike Zeno

This issue is dedicated to the memory of:

John Buscema • Kurt Schaffenberger Henry Boltinoff • Chad Grothkopf Landon Chesney • Rich Grasso

Contents Writer/Editorial: “John Buscema Can Draw Anything You Can Get Him to Want to Draw!” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 “Mark JohnEvanier Buscema: The San Diego 2001 Interview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 talks to the artist about his love/hate affair with comics. “Drawing Was His Life!”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Sal Buscema talks to Jim Amash about his big brother.

ACTOR Is Open for Business. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 At last—an organization dedicated to helping comics creators in need! Stan Goldberg on John Buscema . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 “Stan G.” on his friendship with JB—and a memorable trip to Italy. A Few More Words about John Buscema . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Brief tributes from a handful of the artist’s fellow pros. More about Big John–––Kurt Schaffenberger–––& Others . . . Flip Us! About Our Cover: Owen O’Leary, John’s art commission representative during the last year of his life, put together this stunning montage—the artist surrounded by penciled images of some of the Marvel heroes with whom he was most associated. [Conan TM & ©2002 Conan Properties, Inc.; other heroes ©2002 Marvel Characters, Inc.] Above: A commission drawing of the Sentinel of the Spaceways, courtesy of Owen O’Leary. [Art ©2002 estate of John Buscema; Silver Surfer TM & ©2002 Marvel Characters, Inc.] Alter EgoTM is published 8 times a year by TwoMorrows, 1812 Park Drive, Raleigh, NC 27605, USA. Phone: (919) 833-8092. Roy Thomas, Editor. John Morrow, Publisher. Alter Ego Editorial Offices: Rt. 3, Box 468, St. Matthews, SC 29135, USA. Fax: (803) 826-6501; e-mail: roydann@ntinet.com. Send subscription funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial offices. Single issues: $5.95 ($7.00 Canada, $9.00 elsewhere). Eight-issue subscriptions: $40 US, $80 Canada, $88 elsewhere. All characters are © their respective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © Roy Thomas. Alter Ego is a TM of Roy & Dann Thomas. FCA is a TM of P.C. Hamerlinck. Printed in Canada. FIRST PRINTING.

John Buscema

John Buscema The San Diego

Interview

Conducted by Mark Evanier Transcribed by Brian K. Morris Interview Videotaped by Marc Svensson [INTERVIEWER’S INTRODUCTION: At last year’s Comic-Con International in San Diego, I got to spend many hours interviewing the likes of John Buscema, Marie Severin, John Romita and Gene Colan. How great is that? About the chats with Buscema, I have—of course—mixed emotions. Talking with the man is, of course, a happy memory... but why did that have to be his last public appearance? Logic tells you that everyone has to go eventually... and we should be glad that John got dragged out to San Diego where he could be interviewed, honored, applauded, and where he got to see Marie, John, Gene, and other colleagues whose friendship he treasured. Still, reviewing this transcript, I can’t help but think, “Boy, I wish I could interview John further at the next San Diego Con. And the next and the next and the next...” Just to have him around. [I must also admit to a certain amount of mixed feelings about John Buscema’s career—an ambivalence that John, it seemed to many, shared. He did an incalculable amount of work in comics, much of it on books I very much enjoyed reading... especially those done in collaboration with the editor of Alter Ego. John also drew an awful lot of comics that he didn’t especially like, doing the pencils (or layouts) for work that would be finished by folks he found incompatible, if not incompetent. It has always frustrated me that men such

John Buscema (l.) and Mark Evanier (r.) Photo courtesy of Ralph Rawson Werner.

as John Buscema were prisoners of a system, and that the system was not reconfigured to make maximum use of their talents. John was so good that, even hobbled by the process, there was still a surplus of talent in evidence. Perhaps I’m projecting, but I think he felt that frustration and that you can see some of it peeking out between the lines of what follows. —Mark Evanier.]

This fantabulous Buscema pencil-and-ink illo appeared both in black-&-white and in color (as the wraparound cover) in Sal Quartuccio’s 1978 publication The Art of John Buscema. There was a 17"x22" color print, too. If you ever run across a copy of either item, snap it up! [Art ©2002 the estate of John Buscema; super-heroes TM & ©2002 Marvel Characters, Inc.; Conan TM & ©2002 Conan Properties, Inc.]

The San Diego 2001 Interview

Two splashes penciled by John for Timely (later Marvel), from Romances of the West #2 (March 1950) and Amazing Detective Cases #3 (Nov. ’50), when he was only a year or two into his professional career. Dr. Michael J. Vassallo, who provided the copies, suspects John may also have inked “Bonnie Parker.” In the latter, clearly the waitress and counter should have been drawn on the left, the bald guy with his hands up on the right. As done, the three balloons are read in the totally wrong order! [©2002 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

[John Buscema enters the room. Mark Evanier rises to shake his hand and John takes his seat.] JOHN BUSCEMA: I’m sorry I’m late. [applause] I can’t beat that. I’m going home. [mocks rising from his seat] MARK EVANIER: When have you ever been late in your life? BUSCEMA: [smiles] All right, I ain’t getting paid for this. ME: At 4:00 we have a panel that’s listed in the program book as being about art techniques. It’s not. It’s going to be a surprise birthday party for Gene Colan. Gene is going to be 75 in a couple of

weeks, and we decided to have a party. He’s the only human being in this entire Convention Center who doesn’t know about this. He’s going to be thinking, “I’m on this stupid panel about art techniques.” [laughs] And we’re going to do about a minute or two of that, and then we’re going to bring in a cake and sing to him and talk about his career. If you see Gene, do not give away the secret. All right, let me formally begin here. To save time, I’m going to list all the Marvel Comics that this man did not draw: [general laughter] Patsy Walker; Brother Voodoo, and It, the Living Colossus. He drew just about everything else there. One time when I was up at Marvel, John was supposed to deliver a job, and he wasn’t

By the late ’50s, for the American Comics Group, John was doing polished work which heralded what was to come a few years later. These splashes are from Adventures into the Unknown #165 and Forbidden Worlds #79, respectively. Thanks to Owen O’Leary. [©2002 the respective copyright owners.]

John Buscema

there at the moment. I asked, “What time is it due?” and they said, “He’s supposed to be in at 2:00.” I said, “But it’s only, like, 1:45 now” and someone said, “We expect him to be early.” Over the years, I can’t think of how many Marvel Comics would have had blank pages or reprints, if not for this gentleman. Probably, most of you know his work from whatever you saw first. I think I was first conscious of him on The Avengers. Later on, he drew SubMariner, he drew Thor, he drew Conan the Barbarian... truly, one of the inspirational, talented men of our business, Mr. John Buscema. [applause] Have you any idea how you came to the comics you drew throughout your career? BUSCEMA: I haven’t the slightest idea. ME: At what age did you become aware that you could draw beyond the way we all draw when we’re young? BUSCEMA: I’m sorry, I don’t get that question. ME: Well, when we’re young, we all draw with crayons and we can draw a little bit. At what age did you figure out that you could draw a little better than the norm and could maybe make a career out of it? BUSCEMA: I never really felt that I could draw the way I should draw. And I’m still struggling, right up to today, really. And I always try to improve. I’m always trying to change. I’m always trying new techniques, new styles. I understand what you’re saying.

any rate. ME: But at some point, you realized that you could draw well enough to make a living. BUSCEMA: No, no, no. Again, I’m going to say no, because I believed strongly for many years, even when I was working—I felt every job I turned in, they were going to fire me. This went on for years, really. ME: [to audience] How many people here don’t buy this for a second? BUSCEMA: No, I’m serious. I’m very serious. There were times I was terrified to turn in a job. And I expected them to say, “John, what? Are you kidding us?” And I went along that way for quite a few years until, I think, I signed a contract with Marvel. And then I thought I was going to be fine, now that I had a contract. No, but seriously, I was never happy with what I’d done, right up to today. I’ve always felt that I could have done better, and someone would discover that I could do better, and they were going to fire me. ME: Most people here have probably seen the original artwork you’ve done. On the backs of the pages, there are these wonderful sketches. Don Heck once told me he thought that the more sketches there were on the back of the pages, the less interested you were in front of the pages. BUSCEMA: That’s true. ME: Maybe you weren’t satisfied with your work, but at some point, you realized that you were getting work, that you were better than, at the very least, half the people in this business. There’s some pretty awful people who get to work in this business.

ME: But at some point, you— BUSCEMA: No, no. I never reached that point. I think when I got my first job, and my first job—do I go on with this for a second? ME: Yes, yes.

BUSCEMA: Yeah, I’ve heard that.

BUSCEMA: I think it was before any of you were born. Did you ever hear of a newspaper called The Hobo News? [pause] Never heard of The Hobo News? [audience laughs] I sold two gag cartoons to them. I think I was in high school. I got four bucks for it and I was on my way to fame and fortune. That’s what I thought, at

ME: But at what point did you feel that you knew how to do this?

BUSCEMA: No, seriously. I think if anybody is really serious about their work, they’re never satisfied. They will feel like the guy who is looking at it is going to say the same thing. He’s not up to what he should be doing, and I’ve always felt that way. And many times, I have to beat a deadline and when I beat that deadline and I’ve turned it in, I expect to get a phone call. It never comes and I’m happy and I can sleep at night.

ME: One of the things that other artists have said about you many times is how naturally you could sit down and draw and it would just come out of you. You didn’t have artist’s block, and you didn’t have to sit down and do twelve pages of roughs to build up a finished page. If you sat down at the board, a finished page would come out before you stood up. Is this a correct perception? BUSCEMA: Sometimes. There were times—well, it hasn’t happened recently, but in years past there would be a page where I wanted to get a certain effect and I would spend... now, my normal day I could do three penciled pages a day. There were times I’d have a panel that would drive me up the wall and I would spend a whole day on just one panel,

Sal Buscema

“Drawing Was His Life!” SAL BUSCEMA Talks about His Big Brother JOHN Interview Conducted by Roy Thomas—2/19/02 Transcribed by Brian K. Morris [INTRODUCTORY NOTE: John Buscema’s younger brother Sal began his comics career inking for Marvel in the late 1960s, and was soon penciling, as well, inheriting The Avengers at one of the occasions when John was pulled off the title by Stan Lee. I was thrilled to work with Sal, who could keep the established look on the magazine. Later we worked together on Sub-Mariner and other titles, as well, and Sal has had successful stints penciling for both Marvel and DC. On February 19, 2002, we spoke by phone about John’s passing, which had occurred a few weeks earlier.] ROY THOMAS: I was sorry to learn that you and John had another brother pass away—only last year? SAL BUSCEMA: Yeah, our oldest brother. His name was Alfred. Al was 78 and, as they said, if you look at Al, Al was a miniature John. This is so tragic about the two, because it’s just very difficult to fathom how two guys—they weren’t at advanced years, and they were much, much younger than their years. Al, especially. I mean, this is a guy that looked like he was twelve to fifteen years younger than he actually was. Last time I saw him, he was pushing eighty. RT: When I last saw John, just about a year and a half ago, at a convention in White Plains, New York, he certainly didn’t look like

he was in his mid-seventies. BUSCEMA: No. John was a little—I won’t say he was a health nut but he really was a very—he exercised religiously, believed in weight training for cardiovascular reasons, and all that. And he tried to watch his diet, too. I know he was very, very conscious of that, and he was a very robust and extremely very strong guy. I would not have wanted to get him angry at me, let’s put it that way. [laughs] And he had a temper, too. But this is the tragedy—and, I mean, this is what life is all about—it doesn’t matter. You contract an illness and in the space of a few months—and it could be the space of a few weeks or days—you’re gone. And that’s what happened to both of them. My older brother had had earlier problems; there were some problems with his liver. He had Hepatitis C, and so on and so forth. In six months’ time, I saw

Sal Buscema in a photo printed in the program book for the 1975 Mighty Marvel Comic Convention... and a drawing he did not too many years back for a restaurant in San Diego. Alter Ego has arranged to interview Sal ere long about his own career—which sure ain’t chickenfeed! [Art ©2002 Sal Buscema; Hulk ©2002 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Talks about His Big Brother John

29 BUSCEMA: Absolutely. As a matter of fact, one of the things I pride myself on is the fact that my family is very close. RT: Well, you’re Italian, you know. [laughs] BUSCEMA: Yeah. It’s genetic, I suppose. [chuckles] Though I know of Italian families that are not. RT: One of the things that I know John said last year was that he didn’t encourage you to be a comic artist when you wanted to. He thought that you should have been an actor. Did he ever tell you this, or was this something he just told other people? BUSCEMA: I’m not sure that he encouraged me to become an actor. I suppose I had some talent in that area. As a matter of fact, I’ve been doing community theater for the last twenty years and had a great time doing it. It’s wonderful if you do it as a hobby, and people have told me, some people whose opinions I respect—I think they’re exaggerating—but they said I definitely could have been professional. But John encouraged me to be an actor? I’m not sure. RT: Well, maybe he said he thought you should have been, more than that he encouraged you.

this man reduced to a shadow of himself. And essentially, this is what happened to John, too, from what I understand. RT: Did you see John during the last few months of his life? BUSCEMA: Actually, no, I did not. I did not, and I regret that. I talked to him just before Christmas. My wife and I called together to wish him and Dolores a happy Christmas, and especially under the circumstances. And I got the impression that he was feeling pretty good. He told me he was eating a little better and that he actually gained a pound or two, and so on. And then, just a little over a week later, they called and said he’d taken a violent turn for the worse—and he was gone the next day. So I didn’t even have an opportunity to come up there. Nobody dreamed it was going to happen that quickly. Even though he was very ill, it was a real shock to all of us. RT: Were you and and John fairly close? Did you talk a fair amount on the phone?

BUSCEMA: Oh, sure. Well, yeah. As a matter of fact, that probably stems from conversations that we had, because I told him that I did not have the passion for art, and drawing in particular, that he did. I had a certain amount of talent, but it was developed with a minimal amount of effort. Where, in John’s case—I mean, this is a guy, as you know— he ate, slept, and breathed drawing. I mean, that was his life. He just had a great passion for it. I did not have that passion. I do have a passion for acting, and in that sense, I suppose, yeah, he probably said that I should have been an actor instead of an artist. Not to say that I didn’t enjoy— how do you not enjoy something that you’ve done for almost fifty years, professionally? I do enjoy it. I think the difference is that I didn’t have the passion—that’s the best word I can think of—for it that John did. RT: What, if anything, did he have to do with you coming to Marvel in the late ’60s?

BUSCEMA: Well, John and Dolores had come to visit us down here in Virginia this one weekend, and he just happened to mention—I was working for an art studio in Washington, D.C. and John had been freelancing for an art studio, a commercial advertising art studio in Manhattan. And I’ve heard several versions of this story, that Stan called John and that kind of thing. The incredible thing about it is that Stan and John bumped into each other accidentally in mid-midtown Manhattan. RT: I did not know that. BUSCEMA: Yeah, and they greeted each other and said hellos and “how you doing” and all that kind of stuff. And Stan said, “Hey, John, comic books are coming back, you know. Why don’t you consider doing some work for us?” Well, it just so happened that John hated the commute. I mean, he literally commuted five hours a day from his home in Port

Stan Goldberg

Stan Goldberg on John Buscema Jim Amash Talks with “Stan G.” about Big John—and a Memorable Italian Sojourn had a flair for the dramatic. He knew how to explode a picture and tell the greatest story in continuity. He could draw six panels on a page for an entire book and you could put any one of those panels on the cover of a magazine, and here he was using them to tell a story from beginning to end. JIM AMASH: That’s one of the things I admired most about John Buscema. He drew a great picture in every panel without sacrificing storytelling. GOLDBERG: That’s a perfect description. I saw something recently that he had inked, and John was very proud of it. He once told me that there was a time when he was penciling around 150 pages a month. They

Three American cartoonists in Lucca, Italy, 1999. (L. to r.:) John Buscema, Jose Delbo, Stan Goldberg. Stan, who provided all photos in this section, says, “We spent a lot of time together!”

[NOTE: Stan Goldberg, who for more than three decades has been a top artist for Archie Publications, began his career at Timely/Marvel in the late 1940s primarily as a colorist, later drawing Millie the Model and other titles. As Marvel’s chief colorist during much of the 1960s, he contributed to its rise that began in 1961 with the publication of Fantastic Four #1, and a long interview with him was planned for this issue before it was decided turn it into a special tribute to John Buscema. Stan has his own very special memories of this late great artist, and Jim Amash asked him about them. —R.T.] STAN GOLDBERG: John Buscema was not one of the best artists to work in comics—he was the best artist who ever drew comics. There have been a number of great comics artists, but John was better than everyone. I have a dear friend, San Kossin, who’s an award-winning illustrator. Sandy invited me over to his house for dinner one night, and some other well-know illustrators were there, too, including Barney Plotkin. I remembered that John worked for a studio many years ago and said to Barney, “I know someone who was a studio man many years ago, and he’s a terrific artist. Maybe you’ve heard of him? His name is John Buscema.” Barney said, “John Buscema? We shared a studio many years ago. He was the best artist then, and I’m sure he’s a better artist than anyone in the business today.” There was a woman there, Elaine Harwetel, who illustrated romance novels, and she remembered going to the School of Music and Art with John. She gave me her maiden name and I asked John if he remembered her. He did. It’s something that here’s someone who remembered John from high school, which goes to show how great he was when he was seventeen, eighteen years old. Even though he worked primarily in comics, that was just the tip of the iceberg in regards to what John could do. I’ve seen some of his noncomics work and it’s amazing stuff. John knew how to draw, and always

Captain America vs. Thor—doubtless duking it out for some very good reason (like, a collector commissioned it). Buscema pencil-and-ink courtesy of Owen O’Leary. [Art ©2002 estate of John Buscema; Capt. America & Thor TM & √Ω©2002 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Stan Goldberg GOLDBERG: Right. I talked to Rudy Lapick [Timely inker who now works for Archie Comics], who was in the bullpen when John started. I was coloring in a different department, so I didn’t get to know him then. Later on, John left comics and went into advertising. He tried to get work at DC once and they didn’t want to use him or couldn’t use him. I don’t think his style fit into DC at that time. They had the Curt Swan look: very slick, and every line meant something. It was very clean stuff. John was all over the place, and they didn’t want him. I remember when John came back to Marvel in the 1960s. Stan Lee was very happy. We were taking a walk one day and Stan said, “We got John Buscema now, and now we’ve got the best.” Stan knew what he had and what John could produce for him. JA: Did you ever color his work? GOLDBERG: I must have, but I don’t remember specifics. I wasn’t doing that much coloring when John came back to Marvel, so if I did, I probably did it when he worked for Timely. JA: Did you get to know John when he returned to Marvel? GOLDBERG: Not really. We were freelancers, and if we weren’t in the office on the same day, we didn’t see each other. He was raising a family and so was I. It was just a matter of doing your work and getting it done so you could go on to the next job. Sometimes you didn’t know where that next job would come from. I’ve worked on many books that seemed secure and then you’d hear that sales were slipping. If you’re doing three of them, one disappears one month, and before long, all three of them are gone. John never had that problem, because he could adapt to so many different things.

I could never figure this out until John explained to me how he did it. I said, “When you’re doing The Avengers (and they’d have five to seven members in the group, maybe more) and they are fighting all these bad guys with nuts and bolts and sticks on them, how do you remember to keep the costumes straight from page to page?” John had a notebook with drawings of all these characters so he could keep them consistent-looking. He didn’t have to go back to the earlier pages to keep them straight.

were breakdowns, but they [Marvel] could give them to a good inker who knew how to draw and interpret them. It could have been The Avengers or Captain America or even romance, which they had him do a few times. Many guys have told me that the greatest romance artist was John Buscema.

When I first got to know John, it was during the Marvel days. Sometimes I was lucky enough to be up there turning some work in, and maybe John was meeting with Roy Thomas. A couple of times we went out to lunch together with a few other guys, and then we’d go our own ways.

I’ve seen those breakdowns and seen people work on them. You couldn’t just be an embellisher. You had to know how to draw, too, in order to work on those pages. But everything you needed was there. Any artist with talent could take those pages and run with them.

When ACBA [the Academy of Comic Book Arts] was formed in the early 1970s, they had a couple of dinners, and John would say, “Let’s sit together.” That’s when I met his wife Dolores. We’d sit around and talk about getting together, but we never did. We were always busy working. Years later, we worked together on Archie Meets The Punisher. John came up to the Archie offices and we got together and talked about old times. He talked about some of the trips he went on, including a trip to Italy he just loved. They had a comics convention there.

JA: Some people did a great job and some didn’t. GOLDBERG: Yes, and that’s unfortunate. Maybe the guy who could do it wasn’t there at that time and Marvel needed someone to do it. They wanted John to do as much as possible because he could do a story better than anyone. JA: John started at Timely before you did. He started in 1948 and you came in the following year.

It wasn’t until about four years ago that we really got to be social friends. Mel Lazarus [creator of the newspaper strip Miss Peach] called me up, mentioned that a bunch of cartoonists were taking a trip to the comics festival in Italy, and asked if my wife and I wanted to go. We

Tributes

Tributes A Few More Words About John Buscema

[Roy T. here: Had we the space and inclination, we could have filled this issue with little besides tributes to John Buscema from his peers and fellow professionals. However, since we believed that such accolades would be very well represented in the pages of The Comics Buyer’s Guide, Comic Book Marketplace, The Comics Journal, and elsewhere, we decided to solicit comments from only a handful of John’s colleagues... and one or two of them sought us out, as well. Their remarks are printed here more or less in the order in which we received them.

STAN LEE I’ll try to write a few words for you this weekend if I can. Damn! John was one great artist—and one great guy! [Later, being inundated by requests for comment by DC, Marvel, and others, Stan asked if I could simply make use of the paragraphs he had written for them, and naturally I understood and concurred:]

[I awoke on the morning of Friday, January 11, 2002, to receive an e-mail telling me that John had John Buscema was far more than one of our passed away the preceding night. A bit later I sent finest comic book artists. If Michelangelo had an e-mail of my own to Stan Lee in California— elected to draw storyboards with pencil and pen, his certainly John’s most important editor and collabostyle would have been close to that of Big John’s. rator—to inform him of this sad fact, and to invite But, even more than a superb illustrator, John was him, should he wish to do so, to write a few words also a brilliant visual storyabout John. His initial teller. Thinking back on all the A late-’60s photo of Stan Lee, in front of the wall-full of Marvel covers in his office. The reaction came back at once:] Avengers and X-Men covers shown were penciled by John Buscema. Easily the most strips we had done together, I famous collaboration of Stan Lee and John Buscema was the first seventeen issues of had only to given him the The Silver Surfer in 1969-70. The above commissioned re-creation by John shows his briefest kernel of a plot and he own version of the cover of the first issue; the original had been inked by Joe Sinnott. Courtesy of Owen O’Leary. [Art ©2002 estate of John Buscema; Silver Surfer TM & ©2002 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

A Few More Words About John Buscema would flesh it out with his magnificent illustrations so beautifully that the stories almost seemed to write themselves. Happily, the legacy of artwork that my dear friend, the creative giant that was John Buscema, leaves behind, will bring wonder and enjoyment to generations of readers to come. Excelsior!

JOHN ROMITA After knowing and working with John Buscema for 35-plus years, I got to spend personal time with him in San Diego last July. With a terrible battle to face, and the petty annoyances which are common, he showed me something of the grand person he strove to hide all these years. With every right to lose his patience, he stuck it out and did his duty. All the world knows what a peerless talent he was; now we know what a man he was. He set standards for me for decades, forcing me to improve, making me a better artist, and then raised the bar for me to struggle harder to be a better man. We will not see another like John Buscema again.

GENE COLAN

CARMINE INFANTINO (via phone with Jim Amash) The first time I met John was at a comic book convention in Lucca, Italy. I was being honored there. Unfortunately, in all the years I worked in comics, I had never met John. I was shocked when I met him, because he was nothing like I thought he would be. He proved to be a warm, delightful human being and we got to be quite friendly. I was always a fan of his work and was in awe of him. The last time I saw him was this past summer at the San Diego Comics Convention. We talked about making a trip to Spain, but John wasn’t well enough to go. He’s going to be sorely missed in this business, because he was quite a talent, and you don’t replace a man like that very easily. I will miss him and the business will miss him. He was magnificent. I don’t think John really got the full appreciation he deserved. He could go in so many different directions. You know he was in advertising for many years, and his color work was unbelievable. No matter what kind of work it was, John could do it and do it better than just about anyone else. One of the things that always bothered me was that I couldn’t get

I believe it was 1946 or thereabouts when Stan Lee gave me my chance at comics. Very shortly after that, John came along and joined us all in the Bullpen. He was a natural! And I envied every line he drew. All of his art was so skillfully drawn. He never displayed any lack of confidence in his work... everything was seamless. It was not unlike John to carry on a conversation and, before it was noticed, a page was completed. These were my formative years, always trying to emulate the very best technique that I spotted in someone else’s work. John had a thick crop of jet-black hair that he gave a quick run-through when he came in to work. He reminded me always of the very cool actor Robert Mitchum. I remember him being a very fast worker. To me it was incredible how much work John could turn out in such a short time. This ability to turn out the art rapidly was not my strong point. I agonized over every line. It took me quite some time to improve on speed. Deadlines had to be met one way or another. The only option I had was to keep very late hours. I never realized the scope of John’s work till recently. A book [The John Buscema Sketchbook, from Vanguard] has just been published, revealing much of his work that went beyond comics. A good deal of the inner man quickly became obvious to me about John. The faces of people within the pages of this book told me so much that I never knew about him before. The depth of the man and his knowledge and range went so far beyond comics. He was a Michelangelo. John was the backbone of the industry. His presence and influence will continue. I idolized him. Rest in peace, dear friend.

Roy Thomas’ Barbarous Comics Fanzine

5.95

In the the USA USA In

No. 15 June 2002

SPECIAL SALUTES TO

John Buscema and

Kurt Schaffenberger

featuring: featuring:

Vol. 3, No. 15 / June 2002

™

Editor

Roy Thomas

Associate Editors Bill Schelly Jim Amash

Design & Layout

Christopher Day

Consulting Editors John Morrow Jon B. Cooke

FCA Editor

P.C. Hamerlinck

Comics Crypt Editor Michael T. Gilbert

Editors Emeritus

Jerry Bails (founder) Ronn Foss, Biljo White, Mike Friedrich

Cover Artist John Buscema

Cover Colorist

Tom Ziuko (with special thanks to Susan O’Leary)

Mailing Crew

Russ Garwood, Glen Musial, Ed Stelli, Pat Varker, Loston Wallace

And Special Thanks to:

This issue is dedicated to the memory of:

John Buscema • Kurt Schaffenberger Henry Boltinoff • Chad Grothkopf Landon Chesney • Rich Grasso

Contents re: (correspondence & corrections on past issues) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 A Timely/Atlas/Marvel special. “RoyBigThomas John”talksandabout“Roy the Boy” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 35 years of collaboration with John Buscema. Presenting Grass Green’s “Da Scavengers” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Bill Schelly on one of fandom’s finest writer/artists.

The Wizard King: Wally Wood’s Unfinished Symphony . . . . . . 31 Michael T. Gilbert on a master’s final major work, never before published. Tributes to Henry Boltinoff and Chad Grothkopf . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Two fine comic book artists remembered.

FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America) #72 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Marc Swayze—plus a special “Salute to Kurt Schaffenberger.” John Buscema: The San Diego 2001 Interview, and more . . . Flip Us! About Our Cover: This Buscema pen-and-ink has been seen before—including in Savage Sword of Conan and ads for the 1978 Conan the Barbarian newspaper strip—but Owen O’Leary suggested it as one of this issue’s covers, and we agreed it was the perfect choice. Conan—a fantasy world—and a beautiful woman: three of John’s favorite subjects in one masterful illustration! [Art ©2002 estate of John Buscema; Conan TM & ©2002 Conan Properties, Inc.] Above: Conan and a slightly different type of gorgeous female, in a commission drawing courtesy of Owen O’Leary. [Art ©2002 estate of John Buscema; Conan TM & ©2002 Conan Properties, Inc.; Red Sonja TM & ©2002 Red Sonja Properties, Inc.] Alter EgoTM is published 8 times a year by TwoMorrows, 1812 Park Drive, Raleigh, NC 27605, USA. Phone: (919) 833-8092. Roy Thomas, Editor. John Morrow, Publisher. Alter Ego Editorial Offices: Rt. 3, Box 468, St. Matthews, SC 29135, USA. Fax: (803) 826-6501; e-mail: roydann@ntinet.com. Send subscription funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial offices. Single issues: $5.95 ($7.00 Canada, $9.00 elsewhere). Eight-issue subscriptions: $40 US, $80 Canada, $88 elsewhere. All characters are © their respective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © Roy Thomas. Alter Ego is a TM of Roy & Dann Thomas. FCA is a TM of P.C. Hamerlinck. Printed in Canada. FIRST PRINTING.

“Roy The Boy”

“Big John”

“Roy The Boy”

Rascally ROY THOMAS on Three-plus Decades of Collaboration with BIG JOHN BUSCEMA So my wife and I are walking toward the exit door of the convention center when all of a sudden we hear this deep, booming voice: “Roy Thomas!” I recognize it instantly, of course, even though it’s been several years since I last heard it in person... and months, at least, since I heard it even over the phone. “Hi, John.” John and Dolores Buscema are seated at a long table we’d just passed, John signing autographs with a gruff patience on this late afternoon at a comics convention in White Plains, New York. Not certain whether they have met Dann before, I introduce them again. “I didn’t think you’d made it here,” I add. “They cancelled your panel.” “You wanna hear a story? They sent this cab to pick us up out on Long Island...” The gist of the tale is that the know-nothing cabbie got lost and drove for hours on the freeway trying to the find the right off-ramp in Westchester County. By the time first White Plains, then its convention center, was located, John had missed the one-on-one panel which was his sole scheduled event. Not that he minds, he makes sure I understand: “I wouldn’t even be here, but my grandkids told me I had to.” We talk for a few minutes about this and that, including the project John is currently drawing— though officially he’s been “retired” for a year or two— and Dann snaps a pair of photos. We say our goodbyes, expressing a hope that we run into each other again one of these days.

(Left to right:) Roy Thomas, John Buscema, and Dolores Buscema in a chance encounter at Joe Petrilak’s All Time Classic New York Comic Book Convention in June 2000. Photo by Dann Thomas.

collaborations covered well over a third of a century, John and I were never friends in the sense that I was at one time or another with Bill Everett and Gil Kane and a handful of younger professionals, mostly writers. I believe he and I liked and respected each other, but we rarely spent any time together. Even so, thinking of a John Buscema anecdote even now, as I write these words two months after his death, in my mind I can still hear his voice as it was—robust, hearty, full of life—the last time we spoke, this past fall, when I interviewed him by phone about our 1960s/70s stint on The Avengers. Somehow, although at the time we were working on a projected five-issue DC Elseworlds series titled JLA: Barbarians, it seems fitting that our last conversation dealt with The Avengers. Because that’s the way we’d started out, 35 years earlier...

In the Beginning...

And that’s the last time I saw John Buscema. As you get older, you get used to people “passing on,” as they say. You wouldn’t think you would, but you do. Although our

Now—and then! At right, one of John’s penciled concept illos for JLA: Barbarians—and a re-creation of his cover for Avengers #49 (Feb. 1968), above, which he inked the first time around, too. Commission art courtesy of Owen O’Leary. [Art above ©2002 estate of John Buscema; Avengers TM & ©2002 Marvel Characters, Inc.; “Kal-El the Barbarian” art ©2002 DC Comics.]

I don’t really recall the day John and I first met, except that it had to be in mid-1966, at Marvel’s offices at 625 Madison Avenue in Manhattan. I do remember being shown, probably by production manager Sol Brodsky rather than by Stan Lee, a page of sample illustrations John had done. I don’t even recall if they were of super-heroes or merely figure studies. I only know they

“Big John” The art in “The Missile and the Monster!” is good, even if Buscema and Esposito were not perfectly suited... but Stan felt John still wasn’t “there” yet and pressed him to take a look at Kirby’s work to see the kind of excitement he wanted. It was probably before he drew his next two “Hulks” that John was given a “Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.” 12-pager to pencil for Strange Tales #150. Stan wanted John to adjust his illustrative look to accommodate Marvel storytelling. And the best way to assure that was to have him work over Jack Kirby layouts. Jack’s layouts/breakdowns, when done for another artist to finish, contained relatively few details, being mostly concerned with the storytelling and the motion and the attitude of the characters. Which meant they were bursting with explosive action and hell-bent-for-leather storytelling. Still, any artist “tightening” those layouts had no choice but to reflect Jack’s point of view. What’s more, since Stan scripted directly from those layouts, they were already lettered by the time they were given to the “penciler,” further limiting the changes the latter could make to Jack’s work. Even if, as Jon B. Cooke told me recently, John Buscema said he erased Jack’s layouts before he started penciling, the Kirby influence would still be there. (A couple of years later, Tom Palmer would likewise erase Gene Colan’s Dr. Strange far more finished pencils before he began to ink them; but the result never looked like anything other than Gene Colan inked by Tom Palmer. Not that Tom intended it to.)

made an immediate impression of being beautifully and realistically rendered... far less “comic-booky” than anything I’d seen pass through the hallowed halls of Marvel in the year I’d been Stan’s editorial assistant, except for some of Gene Colan’s near-photographic work. I was told that this big barrel-chested guy, John Buscema, had been with Marvel back in the “old days,” when it had been Timely Comics. He’d been working in the advertising field for years, but now he wanted to get into comics again. Stan had welcomed John with open arms; he knew good drawing when he saw it as well as anybody. But “good drawing,” as such, wasn’t really what Marvel Comics was about. Marvel was about action, about drama, about excitement... and, artwise, in 1966 that meant it was pretty much “about” Jack Kirby. Stan had finally come to the reluctant conclusion that “Wild Bill” Everett, great as he was, wasn’t the right artist to go on drawing “The Incredible Hulk” in Tales to Astonish, not even over pencil layouts by Jack Kirby. An interim issue assigned to veteran Jerry Grandenetti (#82, Oct. 1966) had proved a disaster, in Stan’s mind. In fact, while the inking on that ten-pager is doubtless Bill’s, and for all I know Kirby may have laid it out, the art wound up being credited to “Almost the Whole Blamed Bullpen” (with no mention of Grandenetti or any other artist). In the final panel, beneath a drawing of Ol’ Greenskin stomping off muttering, “Free—to do—what??!” was a blurb: “...And that’s just what we’ll find out—NEXT ISSUE!” What readers found when they picked up Tales to Astonish #85 was a story credited to a new penciler—“John Buscema”—with inking by “Mickey Demeo” (longtimer Mike Esposito).

The climax of Avengers #50: Hercules vs. Typhon, as seen in glorious black-&-white in The Essential Avengers, Vol. 3. And no, Alter Ego doesn’t get anything in return for the plug; we just like to help collectors locate inexpensive copies of classic Golden and Silver Age stories. [©2002 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

“Roy The Boy” John’s “Hulk” stories in Astonish #86-87 improved as they went along... but when Gil Kane walked into the Marvel offices, willing to work under his own name this time, he got the “Hulk” assignment. And John had only drawn one Strange Tales installment, because 1966 was the second summer in a row that a young Pennsylvania artist named Jim Steranko came to a New York comics convention (and thence to Marvel) looking for work, and this time he’d gone away with the “S.H.I.E.L.D.” assignment—albeit initially over, you guessed it, Jack Kirby layouts. So what to do with the supremely talented yet still-struggling John Buscema?

Avengers Forever... If I Had My Way about It At this time Don Heck was up to his ears drawing both the monthly Avengers and the extra-length Avengers Annual #1, so John was assigned to do a couple of fill-in issues, starting with #41 (June 1967). For the first time since his return, John would be working not with Stan the Man, but with a relative newcomer—Roy the Boy (just turned 26, so not all that young, really). John and I had little personal contact in those days—just the occasional phone call with regard to some point in the written two-orthree-page synopses I sent him for most issues. But I was instantly smitten with his work, and persuaded Stan that Don should be moved over to other projects—eventually to The X-Men, which I was also scripting—so John could remain as regular Avengers penciler. Nor do I remember Stan or John ever talking with me about the possibility of John’s inking his own work; Stan clearly preferred he just

pencil. Even so, perhaps unhappy with the inking he was getting, John got Stan’s okay to ink Avengers #49-50, and they are the best-looking ones of that period. But John must have realized he’d make more money just penciling, and that was the end of his inking for quite some time. Though sales were good, I can’t say we broke any sales records with those early Avengers. At this point I could wax eloquent for page after page about the dozens of Avengers issues John and I did together through 1972, when I relinquished that title to concentrate on being Marvel’s editor-in-chief; but most such comments belong in an article about the group itself... and this one is about the Buscema/Thomas collaborations. Besides, Avengers constituted only half the work John and I were doing together at this time.

Suddenly... The Sub-Mariner! When Prince Namor (like The Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America, S.H.I.E.L.D., and Dr. Strange) received his own monthly mag in 1968, John was tapped to pencil it. Behind a powerful cover inked by Sol Brodsky, The Sub-Mariner #1 inaugurated a string of issues I enjoyed every bit as much as Avengers... and which John probably enjoyed slightly more, not having so many heroes to juggle. He also liked the fact that the issue was embellished by Frank Giacoia, one of his preferred inkers. For my part, I reveled to see the “Buscema touch” applied to recaps of Namor’s origin and WWII exploits, and to the events in Fantastic Four #4 that had brought Sub-Mariner into the 1960s. It was immediately apparent that John would be the ideal choice to succeed Kirby on F.F., but of course in 1968 no one was thinking in

Title Comic Fandom Archive

Presenting Grass Greens

“Da Scavengers” Introduction by Bill Schelly [In Alter Ego V3#1 we reprinted “Da Frantic Four”— Grass Green’s askew view of the early Lee & Kirby Fantastic Four, which served as Grass’ introduction to comics fandom when it appeared in The Comicollector #8 in late 1963—and earlier, in the Hamster trade paperback Alter Ego: The Best of the Legendary Comics Fanzine, we re-presented 1964’s “The Bestest League of America Meets Da Frantic Four” by Grass and Roy Thomas. Now, thanks to magnanimous Mick Martin, who published the last three issues of the fanzine Komix Illustrated—and who is co-author with Marsha Porter of the Video Movie Guide 2002 for Ballantine Books—we’re delighted to be able to publish Green’s lesser-known—but equally brilliant—parody of The Avengers, which was featured in Komix Illustrated #13, 1964.] In 1962 popular fan artist Richard “Grass” Green received a letter that rocked his world. It was from the comics artist he most idolized: Jack Kirby. Green’s admiration for Kirby was born in the early 1950s, when Grass—then a junior high student in Fort Wayne, Indiana—discovered Jack’s work in Black Magic, Captain 3-D, Fighting American, and reprints of Stuntman. Kirby was the young artist’s greatest influence as Grass developed his own prodigious drawing talents. When Green was discharged from the U.S. Air Force in the early 1960s, he began pursuing his dream to become a professional comic book artist. He was regularly haunting the newsstands in late 1961 when he saw a cover that caught his attention, not only because it was obviously by Kirby but because it featured super-heroes. Fantastic Four signaled a new type of comic book from Marvel, and since Green was primarily a super-hero fan and had enjoyed The Human Torch in his 1950s incarnation, he was thrilled with FF #1. He had an idea: write to Kirby for guidance! Why not? What did he have to lose? Green packaged up some of his artwork and penned a polite cover letter to Jack asking for his comments. He asked some questions, too, for example: “How large is the original art done?” The package was sent to Jack Kirby c/o whatever name and address Marvel was using at that time. Some of Grass’ best known creations: Wildman and Rubberoy, his personal “Grasshoppa” character, and Xal-Kor, the Human Cat—who’s returning after several decades. [©2002 Grass Green.]

Imagine the young man’s excitement when he received, after some time, a large package in the mail from Kirby. You could have knocked him over with a feather when he realized that Jack had sent him some original art from the Sky Masters comic strip! And there was a letter from Kirby, too—one which, you may be sure, Grass studied endlessly for all its nuances. We at Alter Ego are thrilled that this letter has survived after all the intervening years, and that we are able to publish it here for what may be the first time.

26 It’s really a quite remarkable missive, containing as it does the allusion to Kirby’s feeling that life is like a prize-fight, a reference that shows his acceptance that comics’ original art was not available to the artist, and the politeness and evident respect that Kirby always showed to young artists. There was even some concrete advice about how to lay out a comics page... and an unexpected gift of two originals from Jack’s Sky Masters newspaper comic strip! The last paragraph is pure gold: “If your interest in this medium is intense, I’m certain your ability will develop accordingly. Your perserverance [sic] is bound to pay off. At any rate, no matter where your endeavors lead you, please feel that I am in your corner.” Such sentiments, typed and personally signed by Jack Kirby, were of inestimable, life-changing importance to the young man with a pencil.

“Da Scavengers” Illustrated (with the 11th issue), the new “Viper” strip was the lead feature. “Da Scavengers” was likely done in early 1964 (if the elements of The Avengers that are parodied are any indication), though it didn’t appear until KI #13 early 1965. By then, editor Martin was done with fanzine publishing, though he had done himself proud, offering work by such leading lights as Alan Weiss, Mike Vosburg, and Bill Dubay, as well as Ronn and Grass. Why did Martin drop out of fandom after such a relatively brief period of involvement? “Somehow, I was lured away by rock ’n’ roll and girls,” Mick writes. “The Beatles were on The Ed Sullivan Show the night I was addressing the envelopes for #11, my first issue of KI. It only lasted for two more issues.”

But fandom had more than a fleeting impact on the young writer. He writes, “Comics fandom has been with me in spirit throughout my life. Because of Ronn, Grass, Biljo, Jerry Bails, G. B. Love (who printed my first ‘national’ writing, ‘The Fan Commentator’ in The Rocket’s Blast #16), Roy Just as Grass Green Thomas, Larry Herndon, admired and was inspired by Bill DuBay, Buddy Jack Kirby, a young fan Saunders, George R.R. named Mickey Martin was Martin, Flo Steinberg, inspired by Green and his Ernest Bache, and other friend Ronn Foss to try his kind people, I began to Art by future pro Alan Weiss graced the cover of Komix Illustrated #13. hand at writing and believe you could do [Art ©2002 Alan Weiss.] publishing. anything if you really put your mind to it. Komix Illustrated at such a crucial time in my life was Mickey (now Mick) Martin writes, “In 1964, at the age of 13, I took what gave me the courage to pursue my dreams.” over the publication of Komix Illustrated from Biljo White when he went on to [become art editor of] Alter Ego. I wanted to feature my We thank Mick for working hard (using some computer visual heroes from fandom, especially Ronn Foss and Grass Green. They were enhancement techniques) to make readable copies from the ditto-printed such enormously talented guys and their thoughtful letters gave me so pages of KI #13, some of which were so light that we all despaired for a much encouragement.” while that nothing usable could be salvaged. “Da Scavengers” was one of those wonderful artifacts of a bygone age that might have been lost Martin had actually met Ronn when he eagerly accepted Ronn’s forever without his effort. Only a very small amount of re-touching on invitation to help assemble the copies of A/E #5. Mickey begged his the part of Yours Truly was necessary to achieve the results that are, as father to take him the “epic” 45 miles from West Sacramento to Rod Serling used to say, “offered for your inspection.” Fairfield, California, for the occasion. Foss inspired him to write a script for another strip featuring Ronn’s female costumed hero The Viper (“The Plan of Spy X!”). When Mickey assumed the helm of Komix Now turn this issue of A/E SIDEWAYS for “Da Scavengers” No wonder Green’s work seemed more infused than ever with Kirbyism! And, no wonder the parody work he did for comics fandom— which he would soon discover—were so often of titles drawn by the King.

Comic Fandom Archive

[Wally Wood art ÂŠ2002 estate of Wally Wood.]

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt

The Wizard King Wally Wood’s “Unfinished Symphony” by Michael T. Gilbert

I’m sure you can spot many of Wood’s characters and scenes right out of The Wizard King. No mention of Wood in the credits.”

Wally Wood was one stubborn guy. Nowhere was this more obvious than with his efforts to bring to life the world of The Wizard King.

Finally, in 1968, Wood published the first two chapters of The World of the Wizard King in the 4th and 5th issues of witzend, his selfpublished prozine. These were the first sections of a three-part prose story, profusely illustrated by Wood. Three years passed before he concluded that first tale in issue 8. At the end of part three Wood wrote: “This somewhat abbreviated account of the life and times of Odkin the Sly will serve as an outline for an expanded version to appear in another form and another place. Watch for it.” Years passed, and The Wizard King project seemed to vanish. It reappeared in the late ’70s when Wood started his own company. In his Woodworks newsletter he promised his fans a three-volume series of graphic novels devoted to The Wizard King. True to his word, he came out with the first volume in 1978. Three years later he published volume two. But time was running out for Wood. As described in Alter Ego, Vol. 3, #8, Wood’s addiction to work and alcohol had ruined his body. He’d suffered a series of debilitating strokes, resulting in severely impaired vision. His assistants had largely completed the second Wizard King volume––and it looked it. He was disappointed with the results and planned to take greater control in the final volume. Unfortunately, Wood died that same year and the final volume never appeared. Like most of his fans, I assumed he had died

Wood created this imaginary world of warlocks, elves, and wizards when he was a child. In The Wally Wood Sketchbook Wood stated that it was “impossible for me to say when I started to work on The Wizard King. I thought of the title King of the World... before I was 10 years old.” In time, that early prototype became the basis for Wood’s various Wizard King stories. As Wood grew up, he became an awardwinning artist for Mad, Weird Science, Daredevil, and a legion of other classic comics. But he never forgot his childhood creation. He made several attempts at selling his concepts to various comic book publishers and animation companies, with limited success. Bill Pearson recently described a meeting between animator Ralph Bakshi and Wood: “[A]t one time Ralph Bakshi spent several days at Woody’s place, and had him all fired up about a Wizard King movie Bakshi said he wanted to produce. Well, if you ever saw the eventual movie Bakshi made [Wizards, 1977],

No. 74

A SALUTE TO

SCHAFFENBERGER

Plus MARC SWAYZE’S “WE DIDN’T KNOW... IT WAS THE GOLDEN AGE!”

We Didn’t Know... It couldn’t be called an avocation or hobby. Too much work involved. In my case it was an undertaking... a mission I had assigned myself toward an end... a future for which I felt best suited. I guess most of us felt that way. When Clem, the dude ranch cowpoke, rode in from the syndicate trail and reined up at the Circle M bunkhouse, it had been nine years since my first stab at the syndicates. Nine years of feature ideas and as many major characters. Not necessarily, however, nine years of failure, though there still was no syndicate contract.

[FCA EDITORS NOTE: From 1941-53, Marcus D. Swayze was a top artist for Fawcett Comics. The very first Mary Marvel sketches came from his drawing table, and he illustrated her earliest adventures, including her origin story; but he was primarily hired to illustrate Captain Marvel stories and covers for Whiz Comics and Captain Marvel Adventures. He also wrote many Captain Marvel scripts, and continued to do so while in the military. After World War II and after illustrating two Fawcett stories, he made an arrangement with the company to produce art and stories for it on a freelance basis out of his Louisiana home. There, he created art and story for The Phantom Eagle in Wow Comics, in addition to drawing the Flyin’ Jenny newspaper strip for Bell Syndicate (created by his friend and mentor Russell Keaton). After the cancellation of Wow Comics, Swayze did artwork for Fawcett’s romance comics, and eventually ended his comics career with Charlton Publications. Marc’s ongoing professional memoirs have been FCA’s most popular feature since his first column appeared in FCA #54, 1996. Continuing from last issue, Marc reflects further on his several attempts to sell a syndicated comic strip—and finally getting a bite! —P.C. Hamerlinck.]

I don’t recall any heartaches or heartbreaks or heart-whatevers. It was all part of the game... a tough, tough game... in a league not meant for regrets. As the saying goes, if you can’t stand the heat... Before Clem there had been all those other characters... and all those backgrounds. Let’s see now... it started with a jungle girl, then a dog, then a military airman. They were followed by a blonde detective, a StoneAge kid, a big-city private eye, a piano player. With Rod Reed there was a banjo plunker, then a comic cowboy... and with Glenn Chaffin, a roving reporter. There was the Cajun comic, LeBone...

Then what? Oh yes... the dog again. The German Shepherd breed, with top billing in the movies and heroic roles in the popular Can you imagine the number of comic strip ideas, outdoor stories of the day, prepared with fervent hopes of a long-range contract, that A rare Mary Marvel sketch by Swayze, the character’s became a personal favorite at are submitted to the newspaper syndicates in a year’s time? designer and first artist. [Art c 2002 Marc Swayze; Mary an early age and has remained Marvel TM & ©2002 DC Comics.] The comics editor of King Features once remarked that so. Jango was a major the annual average would easily exceed two thousand. supporting character in my first syndicate effort and top star in the Must have taken a lot of writing and rewriting... drawing and redrawing. second. This time he would benefit from better, I hoped... at least more I know. Some were mine. experienced... writing and drawing. The feature was prepared as a daily

Kurt Schaffenberger

A Salute to Schaffenberger (Kurt P. Schaffenberger – 1920-2002 ) Edited by P.C. Hamerlinck INTRODUCTION Anyone familiar with Captain Marvel, The Marvel Family, Lois Lane, or the Superman Family needs no introduction to the awesome artwork of Kurt Schaffenberger. Born on a small farm in central Germany, he migrated with his family to the U.S. when he was seven years old and settled in the Hartford, Connecticut, area. Kurt graduated first in his high school class and, with the scholarship he earned, attended Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. From Pratt he landed a job at Jack Binder’s shop in Englewood, New Jersey. The Binder shop churned out artwork with its assembly-line-like production for the new field of comic books, with the majority of the studio’s comic output being produced for Fawcett Publications. Exactly one year to the day after graduating from Pratt, Kurt was inducted into the U.S. Army, where he remained for the next four years (three of them in Europe). Overseas, he was with the first Special Service Company, providing various kinds of morale-boosting entertainment for

the troops in England. The posters he prepared for these events brought him to the attention of a major who had run an art agency back in the States, and who was then in the process of initiating an art department for the Army. For the next two years Kurt helped produce training posters, charts, and other U.S. Army graphics. Able to speak German, he later joined the OSS and spent six months in Intelligence and counter-espionage work until his discharge as a Master Sergeant in late 1945. Returning to civilian life, Kurt gravitated back to the comics and his association with Fawcett Publications, producing legendary work in Whiz Comics, Ibis the Invincible, The Marvel Family, Captain Marvel Adventures, Master Comics, Captain Marvel Jr., and other

A Salute to...

titles with his delightful, clean style of storytelling art. After Fawcett ceased publishing comic books in 1953, he tried to re-establish himself and primarily did general art work in a small studio… all while keeping a foot in the comics field, including illustrating Soldiers of Fortune for Classics Illustrated. Kurt went on to work for American Comics Group (ACG) and various other comics companies, until Otto Binder—the prolific former Captain Marvel/Fawcett writer who later wrote for DC—recommended that he try out for DC’s upcoming Lois Lane comic book. Kurt got the job and took the once-minor character and developed her personality into something distinctive, unique, and memorable. His style was a natural for Lois Lane, and he continued to illustrate the character up until 1968, when he was assigned to draw “Supergirl” in Adventure Comics. He was a top artist at DC, and his long list of credits includes Jimmy Olsen, Superman, Superman Family, Super Friends, and, of course, Shazam!, which re-united him once again with Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family.

their appearance as set down by the already established artists. His version of Superman has long been my favorite (yes, slightly even above that of Curt Swan—no easy feat!), while his Captain Marvel rates a close second behind that of C.C. Beck. And any portrayal of Lois Lane will always be judged against the Schaffenberger standard. Did I say two? There’s a third adjective, and that is “nice.” He graciously consented to my requests for interviews, sent me (totally unsolicited) original art pieces; and, every December, the Schaffenberger family Christmas cards (which he designed) would arrive in the mail. Comicdom has lost one of its best, nicest, and too-often overlooked, talents: Mr. Kurt P. Schaffenberger.

INTERVIEW Kurt’s cover for The Whiz Kids #3 (1980), John Pierce’s Marvel Family fanzine, from which much of this interview is taken. [Art ©2002 estate of Kurt Schaffenberger; Marvel Family TM & ©2002 DC Comics.]

Along with the newsstand comics, Kurt did a substantial amount of work in the commercial comics field primarily for Custom Comics, as well as a hugely diverse roster of freelance accounts including General Motors, the New York Police and Fire Departments, and the U.S. Air Force. In this issue of FCA, we say goodbye to our friend Kurt Schaffenberger by proudly re-presenting the following interviews conducted with Kurt by John G. Pierce and Matthew Lage, from the mid-1970s to the early ’80s. The material is excerpted from the third and final issue of Pierce’s Marvel Family-devoted fanzine The Whiz Kids, and from the British fanzine Fantasy Unlimited # 26, May 1975. Both interviews were conducted by John Pierce. —P.C. Hamerlinck

JOHN PIERCE: Besides Fawcett and DC, what other comic book companies did you work for? Any EC work?

KURT SCHAFFENBERGER: Besides Fawcett and DC, I worked for Marvel, Archie, American Comics Group, Street & Smith, Classics Illustrated, Gleason, and many others who were too small to even have their names on the door. As for EC, I started two strips for them back about 1946: “Igor the Archer,” a Russian Robin Hood, and “Diggo Do & Diggy Don’t,” a father-and-son Chinese detective team à la Charlie Chan. I’m sure they both died the horrible deaths they so richly deserved many years ago. JP: Did you find your work on Archie (1971) more or less difficult than your natural style/superhero work? Who did you work with

PREFACE by John Pierce When I think of Kurt Schaffenberger, at least two adjectives come to mind. The first is “consistent.” Looking at his work from Fawcett from the mid-’40s onward, as well as his later work on Lois Lane and the other Superman features, not to mention returning to The Marvel Family in the ’70s, one sees very little difference in style. It’s not that he didn’t improve during that time; it’s just that his art was already so good that little improvement or change was needed. His artwork never faltered; it was terrific from the beginning to the end of his career. The next adjective (plus an adverb) would be “extremely talented.” Not many artists could draw such a variety of characters in his own distinct style, while never violating

“I tried to draw Captain Marvel as much like Beck’s as I could, and then did my own thing from there on.” (L.) Beck’s Big Red Cheese, from a 1970 drawing done for fan John Ellis, and (r.) Kurt’s cover for Whiz Comics #144 (April 1952). [Beck art ©2002 estate of C.C. Beck; Whiz cover ©2002 DC Comics.]

Kurt Schaffenberger at Archie? SCHAFFENBERGER: At Archie I worked directly with Dick Goldwater and his assistant Victor Gorelick. I found doing Archie refreshingly simple compared to the exacting realism demanded by the Superman line or romance or mystery stories. I would describe my natural art style as sort of a caricatured realism. JP: During what time period did you work on “Captain America”? SCHAFFENBERGER: My work on “Captain America” was confined to inking four or five stories in early 1946.

have been influenced by the various artists I admire, men like Norman Rockwell, Lyendecker, von Schmidt among the illustrators, and Alex Raymond, Milton Caniff, and Hal Foster in the comic pages, but I have never tried to copy any of them. I admire craftsmanship in any field, be it art or plumbing, and the men I have mentioned are not only artists, but also craftsmen. The first professional job I did was inking backgrounds for a “Captain Marvel” story in the Jack Binder studio. JP: Mac Raboy drew “Captain Marvel Jr.” in a dark, serious tone. When he left the character, did the editor of Master Comics or Cap Junior’s own magazine request any of the artists to carry on the style set by Raboy?

JP: Otto Binder had said that in many instances during the ’40s and ’50s, when an artist received a story, he never read the entire script through. He just read one panel at a time, drawing the art for that panel as he went along. Did you do it that way? Was there any single comic writer whose scripts were so complex that they were hard to illustrate? SCHAFFENBERGER: I don’t believe I have ever started a story without reading the entire script. Sometimes it just wasn’t possible when things were in a rush and I would be sent a couple of pages at a time, as fast as they came from the writer’s typewriter. It’s always a risky proposition, because you can develop a situation or character in one direction and then have the last page of the script force you to make a million and one changes to conform with the conclusion of the story.

SCHAFFENBERGER: By the time I started doing “Captain Marvel Jr.,” several other artists (Bud Thompson and Joe Certa are two who come to mind) had already had a whack at him, and Raboy’s style was a thing of the past. What I did was try to adapt him so that he would fit in with the Captain Marvel and Mary Marvel style of art, as they were now all appearing together in Marvel Family stories. JP: Many people feel that, since C.C. Beck was the first and most prominent of the Captain Marvel artists, his simple, cartoony style should be the guide for the other Cap artists to follow. Did your art style prove to be a handicap in any way when drawing “Captain Marvel”?

“Comics are my living, but not my life.” Here we have both: Kurt at his drawing table, in a mid-’70s self-portrait—and a circa-1948 photo of Kurt with his daughter Susan, age ten months. This photo, given to Roy Thomas by Otto Binder in 1964, first appeared in 1997’s out-of-print Best of Alter Ego (Vol. 1, that is)... after which Roy sent the original to the Schaffenbergers, who hadn’t seen it in half a century. [Art ©2002 estate of Kurt Schaffenberger.]

JP: As a person who was there in the Golden Age, what comic book companies or company do you feel featured the best all-around artwork? Just to give an example, Otto Binder cited Quality Comics as having the best writing staff. SCHAFFENBERGER: I’ll have to pass on this question. I have honestly never followed comics that much, except those which directly affected me. In other words, if Comics Company “A” went in for such and such a style, and I was looking to land an account there, I would try to adapt my style to conform. Other than that, I never more than glanced at what the field in general is doing, either then or now. In other words, comics are my living, but not my life. JP: When did you first start drawing? Were there any of artists that you’d consider an influence to your work? Were there any particular artists whose styles you tried to copy? Do you remember what your first professional comic story was? SCHAFFENBERGER: I have been drawing pictures for as long as I can remember, even going back to before I started school. I suppose I

SCHAFFENBERGER: I don’t believe my approach was any handicap, especially when you consider that the styles that Raboy, Thompson, and Certa used on “Captain Marvel Jr,” and the style Jack Binder used on “Mary Marvel,” were totally different from Beck’s. I tried to draw Captain Marvel as much like Beck’s as I could, and then did my own thing from there on.

JP: In the many different strips that you worked on, did you use a certain “different formula” with each of them, such as adding more dark/gothic elements to a strip like “Ibis the Invincible”… or using a fresh, buoyant style with “Captain Marvel Jr.” like Raboy did? SCHAFFENBERGER: The only “formula” I have ever had was to do as good as job as I was capable of doing with each story. When a story is suppose to be humorous, I throw in a little more slapstick and caricature. When it is serious, I stick closer to realism. If the story was dark/gothic/supernatural, I would try to convey an air of mystery by using appropriate backgrounds and more blacks. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.

JP: You were with Fawcett Comics until the very end in 1953. Otto Binder, when asked about the last story for Fawcett he worked on, answered, “The last one I wrote was a 3-part Marvel Family serial involving the Sivanas. When I got the bombshell news that Fawcett were discontinuing all of their comics, I indulged in a repressive desire and wrote a parody of that serial in which each of the Marvels, in turn, is killed off—others thought it was funny, but not very.” Do you remember the day when you got the news? SCHAFFENBERGER: I remember the day well. I had just picked up a new Marvel Family script the day before from Wendell Crowley and had just finished penciling the first two pages when Wendell called me