Alter Ego #43 Preview by TwoMorrows Publishing

PLUS:

1994--2004

5.95

In the USA

No. 43

December 2004

SEASON’S GREETINGS From

GEORGE TUSKA JOE SINNOTT FRANK BRUNNER DAVE ROSS GENE COLAN JACK BENDER NICK CARDY MICHAEL T. GILBERT KELLY EVERAERT & ALEX TOTH! PLUS:

JIM AMASH

Talks with Golden Age Timely / marvel Artist

MORRIS WEISS & THE LONE RANGER’S

TOM GILL!

BONUS:

FRAZETTA, BIRO, CANIFF, RAYMOND, KELLY,

Vol. 3, No. 43/December 2004

™

Editor

Roy Thomas

Associate Editors Bill Schelly Jim Amash

Design & Layout

Christopher Day

Consulting Editor John Morrow

FCA Editor

P.C. Hamerlinck

Comic Crypt Editor Michael T. Gilbert

Editors Emeritus

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

HAPPY HOLIDAYS Side

Production Assistant

Eric Nolen-Weathington

Cover Artists George Tuska Dave Stevens

Cover Colorists Tom Ziuko Phil Noto

And Special Thanks to: Heidi Amash Michael Ambrose Ger Apeldoorn Bob Bailey Jerry Beck Jack & Carol Bender Jerry K. Boyd Frank & Kisara Brunner Stan Burns Nick Cardy R. Dewey Cassell Bob Cherry Gene & Adrienne Colan Kelly Everaert Michael Fraley Stephan Friedt Janet Gilbert Tom Gill Jennifer Hamerlinck Bill Henley Dave Herring Steve Herring Bob Hughes Al Jaffee Jeff Jatras Richard Kyle

Stan Lee Pablo Marcos Pat Mason Tom Moore Brian K. Morris Frank Motler Fred Patten Don Rosick Dave Ross Joe & Betty Sinnott Dave Stevens Tom Stewart Marc Swayze Dann Thomas Mike Thomas Alex Toth George & Dorothy Tuska Michael Uslan Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr. Dr. Michael J. Vassallo Mort Walker Hames Ware Morris & Blanche Weiss Tom Wimbish

1994--2004

Contents

Writer/Editorial: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Another Four-Color Christmas in Black-&-White! . . . . . . . . . . . 3 More Yuletide and Happy New Year cards sent by comics pros. “IJimDid What I Set Out in Life to Do!” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Amash talks with Golden Age (and comic strip) artist Morris Weiss. To Be Continued! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 After 6H decades in comics, artist Tom Gill tells Jim Amash he’s still going strong. Comic Crypt: “I Like Ike!”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Michael T. Gilbert showcases 1954 cartoons of President Dwight Eisenhower.

FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America) No. 102 . . . . . . . . . . . 41 P.C. Hamerlinck presents Marc Swayze and the Fawcett-into-Charlton Index. ...And All in Color for a Peso Dept. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Flip Us! About Our Cover & Above: Some time back, but a bit too late for last year’s helping of artistic holiday cheer in A/E #31, collector R. Dewey Cassell forwarded a copy of George & Dorothy Tuska’s “X-mas” card spotlighting The X-Men. While we were saving it up for this year’s edition, Dewey has virtually completed writing an entire book about George’s career, which is coming very soon from TwoMorrows—but he and the Tuskas were still content that their card become a cover for this magazine. And, just so you could see it in black-&-white as well as in color, we’ve also reproduced it above. Thanks, guys! [Art ©2004 George Tuska; X-Men ©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.] Alter EgoTM is published monthly by TwoMorrows, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614, USA. Phone: (919) 449-0344. Roy Thomas, Editor. John Morrow, Publisher. Alter Ego Editorial Offices: 32 Bluebird Trail, 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: $8 ($10 Canada, $11.00 elsewhere). Twelve-issue subscriptions: $60 US, $120 Canada, $132 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.

Another FourColor Christmas In Black-&White! More Yuletide Cards Sent By Comics Pros [INTRO-HO-HO-HO! In last year’s Christmas issue, A/E #31, we printed some of the holiday season’s cards we and others had received from comic book artists—headed by a gorgeous Fred Ray Superman postcard from circa 1940 that had never been repro’d since. We only had room for a slightly truncated section this year, but since folks seemed to enjoy it last time, here we go again…! —Roy.]

To start off, following George Tuska’s x-cellent X-Men, what could be better than this Spider-Man card from a few years back from Joltin’ Joe &!Betty Sinnott? After half a century in the field, the semi-retired Joe is still in demand—and if you’re lucky enough to see the Spider-Man Sunday strip, you can dig his inking every week! [Art ©2004 Joe Sinnott; Spider-Man TM & ©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Frankly (and we should be frank, since the above card comes from Roy & Dann’s friends Frank & Kisara Brunner), we’re not sure if this great drawing is of Howard the Duck—the Marvel character Frank drew to a fare-thee-well back in the 1970s—or of some other far-out fowl. But it arrived as part of a Season’s Greetings card in December 2003, so here ’tis! Check out Frank’s website at <http://www.frankbrunner.net>. Frank does some fabulous art commissions these days, and can be reached by sending a self-addressed, stamped envelope to him at 312 Kildare Court, Myrtle Beach, SC 29588. [©2004 Frank Brunner.]

Working with artist Dave Ross on Avengers West Coast back in the ’90s was a joy—and so is this 1998 holiday card featuring his hero Thrax. Oh, and the hero’s balloon here is the second part of a comment begun on the front of the card: “La Niña?!!” Learn more about Thrax at <www.daveross.com>. [©2004 Dave Ross.]

“I Did What I Set Out In Life To Do” A Talk With Comic Book And Comic Strip Artist MORRIS WEISS Conducted & Transcribed by Jim Amash [INTERVIEWER’S NOTE: What are the odds that you’ll ever talk to a man who knew personalities as diverse as George Bridgman, Charles Dana Gibson, James Montgomery Flagg, Mickey Finn’s Lank Leonard, Joe Palooka’s Ham Fisher, Alex Raymond, Charlie Biro, and Stan Lee, among many others? Don’t bother guessing, because the odds are virtually impossible—unless you happen to know Morris Weiss. We were aware Morris had an amazing career in newspaper strips, and that he’d done comic book work, but what we didn’t know was how to boil it all down to an A/E interview that focused on comic books, as is our usual wont. Well, we didn’t bother—so you get to read about all these gents in a wide-ranging, fun, and informative interview with a gifted cartoonist and a real gentleman. Morris did terrific work in both the newspapers and in comic books, even if he doesn’t think much of his comic book work today. But we get the last word in this introduction, so Morris will have to take our compliments—and like ’em! —Jim.]

“I Was Torn Between My Love Of Illustration And Of Cartooning” JIM AMASH: There’s nothing like starting with the easy questions. When and where were you born? And what got you interested in cartooning? MORRIS WEISS: I was born in Philadelphia, August 11, 1915. I had an ability to draw and my brother had an ability to draw. I copied his drawings. I seemed to be able to draw better than most kids in school. I wanted to be an illustrator for magazines, but even in public school, I’d draw cartoons here and there. The first cartoon I had published was in junior high school, and when I was in high school, I drew cartoons for that paper, too. I followed the comics in the newspapers and the illustrations in the magazines. I was torn between my love of illustration and of cartooning. JA: What made you decide on cartooning? WEISS: That was because it was easier to get started as a cartoonist...to get a job as a cartoonist’s assistant. Illustration was a long way away because I’d have had to do a lot of studying in art schools. I went to the Art Students League when I was 25, and in 1936 I started with Lank Leonard on the Mickey Finn newspaper strip, a month after he’d launched it. I’d go to his home in Port Chester, New York, and live and work with him for half the week. The other half, I’d live at home in the Bronx. In 1940, I decided to go to the Art Students League to get some instruction in figure drawing. I studied under George Bridgman, who was the teacher for most of the illustrators of that time. Bridgman was a short Englishman, who had a habit of pulling on his suspenders. He was bald-headed and was a genius. He’d put a piece of chalk at the end of a 3-foot stick and go to work on the charcoal paper with us. He could go from “A to Z” with the human anatomy; he knew every muscle, every vein in the body, backwards and forwards, by name. I never knew anyone who had the amount of knowledge about the

A recent photo of Morris Weiss (he’s the one on the right) and Stan Lee, when Smiling Stan visited the Boca Raton Cartoon Museum—and the splash of one of the handful of “serious” comics stories Morris drew for Timely/Marvel in the old days: “The Murder Mirror,” from Marvel Tales #104 (Dec. 1951). With thanks to Dr. Michael J. Vassallo for the art scan. All photos in this article were sent by Morris. [Comic page ©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

human figure that he did. He’d look at your drawing and the first thing he would ask for was your chamois, which was a little cloth. You’d give him your chamois and he’d wipe out your drawing. In half a minute, he’d redraw your work and show you how it should be done. He drew that quickly. JA: Was Bridgman all business, or would he lighten up occasionally? WEISS: Once in a while, he’d tell you a joke. He was all business, but he had a sense of humor. He was a very congenial man—there was nothing mean about him. He was a little on the cocky side. He wasn’t a tough critic of his students. When your work was really good, he’d just touch it up a little bit here and there, and compliment you. Once a week, he’d put his initials on someone’s drawing, which meant that student’s drawing would go into a special showcase for the best drawings of the week.

A Talk With Morris Weiss

As reported in this interview, two people very helpful and influential in Morris Weiss’ young life were Ed Wheelan (artist/writer/creator of Minute Movies—seen in photo at left from the early 20th century) and Harold H. Knerr (successor artist to Rudolph Dirks on The Katzenjammer Kids). Above is Wheelan’s second newspaper installment of Minute Movies, from Feb. 28, 1927, which served as a sort of “trailer” for the first comic strip “movie” to come—and below is a sketch Knerr drew on the King Features stationery on which he pennned a 1938 letter to Morris. Letter supplied by MW. [Minute Movies ©2004 the respective copyright holders; The Captain from Katzenjammer Kids TM & ©2004 King Features Syndicate.]

At that time, while I was in Bridgman’s class, there were two students that did terrific work. Their names were Bob Lubbers and Stan Drake. They were very nice guys, and before long they were drawing up sample comic book pages to show to the publishers. They showed them to me for my approval because they knew I was a professional. I couldn’t believe how poor these pages were, considering how magnificent their class drawings were. I couldn’t tell them how poor these pages were, but it didn’t take them long to get the hang of comics, and they soon got jobs. JA: Did Bridgman treat you differently because you were already a professional? WEISS: No. he had no idea about my age or career. He didn’t give special treatment to anyone, whether they were young kids or people in their 40s.

“If Morris Weiss Is Listening In…” JA: Backing up a bit, tell me how you started working for Lank Leonard. WEISS: When I was 18 and 19 years old, I visited all the cartoonists and illustrators who would see me. I asked them for original drawings, if they could spare one. Once, when I was in high school, the art class had original illustrations up on the wall, including one by James Montgomery Flagg. That’s when the bug really bit me. I met cartoonist Ed Wheelan, who was doing the Minute Movies strip, and in one of his strips he wrote, “If Morris Weiss is listening in, get in touch with Ed Wheelan.” I did, and I started lettering the strip for Ed. But I couldn’t match his lettering style, so he let me go after a week. That’s how I learned that cartoonists had assistants, so I practiced my lettering, figuring I could break into the business that way. Then I called up Harold H. Knerr, who did the Katzenjammer Kids, and asked for a chance. Up until then, Knerr had never used an assistant. I did a sample for him and became his first assistant. I lettered, filled in the black areas, drew in the stripes on the kids’ pants, and cleaned up the pages. I got $5 a Sunday page; Knerr wasn’t doing the dailies. That was pretty good money in the Depression. At the same time, I got a job with Pedro Llanuza, who took over the Joe Jinks strip from Vic Forsythe. I met Llanuza when I was making the rounds, and he asked me to be his assistant. He paid me $7 a week for working on the dailies. JA: I’ve seen Ed Wheelan’s work in early DC Comics. I’d like to hear about him. WEISS: Ed Wheelan was a great admirer of cartoonist Tad Dorgan. Ed was a good cartoonist, but he couldn’t draw straight stuff very well.

However, he could capture the flavor of the story he wanted to tell. His best work was when Nick Afonsky assisted him. After awhile, Afonsky left him to draw the Little Annie Rooney Sunday page. Wheelan’s work suffered when that happened, and with the newer, younger cartoonists coming into the business, Wheelan’s work looked old-fashioned and dated. He started losing papers and his strip died, which is why he turned to comic books. He was a very fine man, considerate and ethical, with a deep love of cartooning. I knew Ed Wheelan was having hard times, so I referred him to Frank Temerson, who was publishing comic books. [NOTE: Temerson was a partner in the Comics Magazine Company, known at various times as Tem Publishing, Holyoke Publishing, and Continental Publishing. — Jim.] He was a publisher who only respected success, so I told him Ed Wheelan was a retired cartoonist who was very well-off, but that if he could hire him, it’d be a big plus for his company. I gave him Ed’s phone number. A little later, Ed called me up to thank me and said that Temerson was starting up a new feature about a circus. That went on for a while, and then one day Ed called me up, saying, “I couldn’t carry on the charade anymore. I told him that I didn’t have anything, and was down and out when he called me.” I said, “That was a big mistake, Ed. You shouldn’t have done it.” A little while later, they got into a squabble, and Ed was let go. I felt very bad about that. Ed’s last years were not very fruitful for him, but that was the case for quite a few cartoonists. Art Helfant had the same problem; he wound up doing comic book pages, too. I liked Art very much; he was a good friend. If I’m not mistaken, he may have been one of the cartoonists who brought me into the National Cartoonists Society. He was an older man, but then, they were all older than I was. [laughs] When I think about it, I joined the National Cartoonists Society when I was 31, but all the successful cartoonists were in their 40s, 50s, and 60s. JA: How long did you work for Harold Knerr? WEISS: For about 2H years, which would have been in ’34 and ’35, and into 1936. I didn’t work at Knerr’s home. I would go to his house, pick

“I Did What I Set Out In Life To Do”

Though he doesn’t relate it in his interview with Jim Amash, this 1935 Christmas card Morris Weiss drew led to his “big break.” His mother had paid to have the struggling young cartoonist’s drawing printed, and Morris sent it to the various artists he had met—including Lank Leonard, a sports cartoonist who had just started a daily strip called Mickey Finn in April of 1936. And the rest is history. R.C. Harvey related the story in an article on Morris some time back. [©2004 Morris Weiss.]

up the page, and work on it at home. When I worked for Lank Leonard, I was still able to give Knerr that one day of work, though I stopped doing that after a short while. I recommended Leon Jason to letter for him, so Knerr wouldn’t be out an assistant. Leon later became a book publisher and ran a comic book studio. Leon called me up and said, “I hate you, Morris. No matter how good a job I do on lettering Knerr’s pages, he says, ‘It’s very good, but it’s not like Morris.’” [mutual laughter] I know that was a selfserving thing to say, but I said it because I think it’s funny.

Knerr told me one day that he usually brought two Sunday pages in at a time to his editor Joe Connolly at King Features. Connolly would praise Knerr’s work and say, “Even your lettering has your characteristics. Nobody else could do your lettering.”

JA: [laughs] When you started with Lank Leonard, what exactly were you doing on Mickey Finn? WEISS: I started off inking everything but the hands and the faces. My line was primitive and very thin, and I was being careful. But as I kept going, I became more relaxed in my line work and it got much better, which made me very comfortable with my work. I also did the lettering. The only time I did any drawing was when there was a pretty girl in the story, because Lank had been a sports cartoonist and he couldn’t draw pretty girls. He could draw cartoon girls, but not a pretty girl. One day, Lank went out to play golf. He left and I stayed to finish up my work. I couldn’t clean up the pages because Lank inked the faces and hands, so this meant I’d have to sit and wait for another three hours until he got back. I was so sure of my inking by that time that I didn’t wait for him, and inked all the faces and hands. A couple of hours later, Lank returned, went upstairs, took a shower, and came in the studio wearing a bathrobe. He sat down, asked for the strips, and saw what I had done. “You bastard! You inked all the heads!” Then he looked at the pages, and from that day on, he never inked another line on the strip. I just wasn’t going to wait for a couple of hours when I knew I could finish the job. There’s another story I should tell you. One day I was leaving Lank’s, got on the train at Port Chester, on my way to the Bronx. I was looking for a place to sit and saw a guy I recognized from pictures in the newspaper. He was William L. Shirer, the famous war correspondent for CBS News. I sat next to him and we started talking. While we were talking, I got an idea and said, “Mr. Shirer, how would you like to write a strip about a war correspondent and have me draw it? With your name on top, it’d be a sure seller.” He said, “Well, right now I’m going to be working on a big book about the Germans and the Nazi empire, but maybe a couple of friends of mine would be interested. Why don’t you talk to Eric Severeid or Elmer W. Peterson and see if they’d be interested?” When I got home, I called Eric Severeid, but he wasn’t interested. Then I called up Elmer W. Peterson, who was a war correspondent for CBS. He invited me over to his suite at the Waldorf, and we had a few cocktails. He liked the idea very much, and later sent me a script for couple of weeks of dailies. I drew them, brought them in to the McNaught Syndicate, and they liked the strip, which was titled Deedy Drake. It was all set to go, but then World War II started, and the syndicates quit taking on new strips. They needed all the room they could get to cover the war.

Morris Weiss (at far left) and Lank Leonard in the latter’s backyard in Port Chester, NY, in 1937, a year after the latter had launched Mickey Finn, which, like Bringing Up Father, starred what would now be called Irish-Americans—plus panels from a late Mickey Finn strip which was probably drawn largely by Weiss. The strip’s real star was Uncle Phil, seen drinking coffee and lighting a cigar; the title character is the young guy on the right in both panels. [Mickey Finn art ©2004 McNaught Syndicate or successors in interest.]

A Talk With Morris Weiss

“James Montgomery Flagg Was My Idol” JA: Before we go on talking about your career, I have to ask you about the portrait James Montgomery Flagg did of you. WEISS: Okay. First of all, James Montgomery Flagg was my idol. I just worshiped his work. I first saw it when I was about 14, in Good Housekeeping. I was amazed at how he drew... all those great lines! I got to meet a few illustrators, but not Flagg, though I knew he lived in the same apartment building Ham Fisher lived in, during the early days of Joe Palooka. But you couldn’t get to see him unless you had an appointment. After high school, I worked in the coat room of a restaurant on Broadway during the supper hour. It was winter and a customer handed me his overcoat, which was unusually heavy. I looked to see what made it so heavy and inside a pocket was a big .45. When I handed his coat back, I said, “You’re a detective.” He said, “I’m a private detective.” I asked if he could get me an unlisted phone number and he said, “Sure.” I wrote James Montgomery Flagg’s name down on a piece of paper and handed it to him. A week later, he returned to the restaurant and handed me Flagg’s phone number. I immediately ran into a phone booth and called Flagg. I told him how much I loved his work and that I had to have one of his originals. I had to! He said he just didn’t give them away. I said I had to have one and he can’t turn me down. He told me to come around tomorrow morning, and when I did, he gave me a pen-and-ink illustration, which I gave you a copy of. It is a beauty, about 20 by 30 and has been on my wall everywhere I’ve ever lived. A few months after that, Pach Brothers, who were high-class photographers, were having a showing of penciled portraits by Flagg. All the celebrities he had drawn loaned the originals to the exhibit. It was unbelievable! There were 100 to 150 of them: actors, athletes, even Presidents, dating back to Theodore Roosevelt. I called Flagg up to tell him how great they were and said, “Someday, I’d like to have enough money to pay you for a pencil portrait.” Flagg said, “You won’t have to. Call me in a week or two and whenever I have time, I’ll do one of you.” So I called him up and he said, “Where are you?” I said, “Tell me when to come and I’ll fly over!” [laughs] That’s the story of how I

By far the most famous art ever executed by James Montgomery Flagg, of course, was his ubiquitous “Uncle Sam Wants You!” poster, which saw duty in both World Wars. But he drew many another illustration, including the above one from Collier’s magazine for Aug. 13, 1932— and, as it happened, a 1934 portrait of young Morris Weiss! Flagg gifted Morris with both pieces. Thanks to Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr., for the photo. [Art ©2004 Estate of James Montgomery Flagg.]

got the pencil portrait. It took him about a half hour to draw it, and while he was doing so, told me great stories. He treated me as if I were a famous guy myself and I was just an 18-year-old kid. Over the years, I’d call him up every now and then and meet him on 57th Street and walk him back to his hotel. And one day, I saved his life. We met on 57th Street and were walking back to his hotel. He was looking at me while we were crossing Broadway and had one foot off the curb, when a car zoomed right by. I grabbed him with both hands and pulled him back on the sidewalk. I literally saved his life! He said, “You’ve just paid me back for the portrait.” JA: That’s quite a story. I’ve heard that he was a bitter man, later in his life. WEISS: He was. The last time I saw him was at Ham Fisher’s apartment. My wife Blanche and I went up. He was a very bitter man. His world had passed him by. I remember he was a prima donna, and he was so damn famous. To lose it all was something he couldn’t handle. He lived alone, and was practically blind. The great comfort to him was Everett Raymond Kinstler. He spent time with Flagg. He wasn’t bitter when I first met him. He was riding high, in his final days of glory. It was right after that when everything changed. The artists who painted like Harvey Dunn, Benton Clarke... that whole school was thrown out of work and the new school came around. Alex Ross, Coby Whitmore, and others became the new wave.

“There’s Charles Dana Gibson, And Then There Are The Rest Of Us” JA: I know this isn’t about comics, but I don’t care. I see you also met one of my favorites, Charles Dana Gibson. I have to hear about that.

At the turn of the 20th century, Charles Dana Gibson (creator of the idealized “Gibson Girl”) was one of the most celebrated illustrators in America. This cartoon is from the original Life humor magazine in 1921. Thanks to Jim V. for the photo. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

WEISS: Okay. Again, I knew where Gibson lived. I didn’t have his phone number, so I knocked on his door and a German houseman answered. I asked to meet Mr. Gibson and he asked if I had an appointment. I said I didn’t and was told I couldn’t see Mr. Gibson without an appointment. I was told to call him up for an appointment,

“To Be Continued!” After 6 H Decades In The Comics Field, Artist TOM GILL Is Still Going Strong Conducted by Jim Amash

[INTERVIEWER’S NOTE: The multifaceted career of Tom Gill is just beginning, according to Tom, and I believe him. Starting on the lowest rungs of the mailroom at The New York Daily News, Tom worked his way up to newspaper strips. He also worked for a lot of comic book companies, such as Timely, ZiffDavis, Toby Press, and, most notably, Western Publishing. For 22 years, Tom visually kept The Lone Ranger and Tonto in the saddle, always pointing their guns in the right direction. For most art fans, Tom’s Lone Ranger, done in both comic books and the newspaper strip, is the definitive version of the character. Tom also made his mark in the teaching profession, mentoring thousands of art students, many of whom went on to successful careers. It’s impossible to overestimate his influence on people’s lives, which is perhaps his greatest legacy. Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear. From out of the past come the thundering hoofbeats of the great horse Silver. Tom Gill rides again! (With apologies to Fran Striker.) —Jim.]

“Art Is Within You” TOM GILL: I’m here in my studio and ready to go, unless I start having senior moments. [laughter] JIM AMASH: Well, Tom, I hope you can remember being born. [more laughter] Or at least be able to tell me when and where. GILL: Here’s my first senior moment! No, I know the answer to that one, even if I can’t actually remember it. I was born June 3, 1913, in Winnipeg, Canada. My folks were on a business trip from New York City when I came along, unexpectedly—early. As soon as my mother was able, they came back to New York. I’m a U.S. citizen and never lived in Canada, though I’ve visited. I’ve even been to Winnipeg, where they made me an honorary citizen. I have a plaque on my wall to prove it. I was a self-taught artist. Having taught 2,600 people directly and not even counting others that I’ve taught at the School of Visual Arts and five other colleges, what I have discovered is that people like you and me have hand-eye coordination. It’s what you do with that talent that determines your future. My talent started to surface when I was about ten years old. One time, I went to Prospect Park and drew in the snow.

Transcribed by Jim Amash & Tom Wimbish Tom Gill at a 2003 San Francisco cartoonists’ seminar—flanked by a drawing of The Lone Ranger in a classic pose, and his cover for The Owl #1 (April 1967). Thanks to Tom for all photos used with this interview; the Owl cover was provided by both Stephan Friedt and Bob Cherry. [Lone Ranger TM & ©2004 Lone Ranger Television, Inc.; Owl cover ©2004 K.K. Publications or successors in interest.]

There were people looking at me and asking what I was doing, but I couldn’t really explain it to them. You know how it is: art is within you and it comes out of you. I know you’ve experienced the same thing. When I was in my teens, it came out very strong, but I didn’t know what to do with it. My cousin was very gifted, and she got me into pastels. I did pastel portraits of my friends, starting when I was fifteen. But I didn’t know what to do next. I tried several things, but during the Depression, President Roosevelt instituted the 40-hour week. That meant that The New York Daily News had an opening in their mailroom, and I got that job mostly through family connections. Since the paper used artists in their news reporting, I went there to apply, but was told that the mailroom was the only opening they had, so I took it. I knew nothing about what an artist had to do. I was ill-prepared to start an art career, which must have been obvious. This was around 1933. Being in that mailroom put me in a wonderful position. I wanted to get out of that job and be an artist, and I was already at the company. The only training I had was going to Pratt Institute for a few Saturdays when I was a teenager. I got married in 1935, and was now out of the mailroom and into the business department. But I didn’t want to be in that department: I wanted to be a cartoonist. I used to hang out on the ninth floor with the paper’s cartoonists. I knew Ed Sullivan (who was a very nice guy), Paul Gallico, and all the other writers, too. Then, one of the guys in the art department quit. He said the hell with it and went to Mexico to paint. That created an opening in the picture department, which was next to the art department. I became a clerk and then a copy boy, and finally, in 1940, I joined the art department. By the way, I was rather old to be a copy boy, but you know who Bill Gallo, the cartoonist, is? Well, 60 years ago, he was my copy boy. Once I was on staff, I became a retoucher and did all the menial little jobs that no one else wanted to do. Every year the paper ran a

Tom Gill Is Still Going Strong We started wondering why these guys were being paged on the loudspeakers at the game. Somebody called up to find out what was going on. He was told, “Don’t you know? Pearl Harbor’s been bombed!” The whole place went crazy and people ran over to me because I was the only guy who might know something about Pearl Harbor. Their first question was, “Where is Pearl Harbor?” I said I didn’t know because the man in charge of the maps wasn’t in that day. But I pulled down a map and got it ready for the paper in time to make the print deadline. It ran on page one and my name was on that map as the artist. JA: Were you in the service?

This photo taken in the mid-70s or earlier at St. Alban’s Naval Hospital on Long Island, NY, depicts (left to right): Jerry Robinson (early “Batman” artist and newspaper cartoonist of Life with Robinson, et al., interviewed in A/E #39)—Bob Dunn (artist of They’ll Do It Every Time and Little Iodine)—Otto Soglow (creator/artist of the wordless syndicated strip The Little King)—John Pierotti (artist of strips Pier-Oddities, Nutcracker U., et al.)—Milton Caniff (writer/artist of Terry and the Pirates, and, later, Steve Canyon)—and Tom Gill (nice coat, Tom!). All of these artists except Soglow and Caniff worked in comic books at one time— and of course Little King and Terry were reprinted in early comic mags.

“Countdown to Christmas,” and each day a cartoonist would draw a picture to illustrate the remaining days before the 25th. I got a chance to do a couple of those, which was how my work started getting published. The Daily News let us sign our work, bless their souls, because that was more than The New York Times did. The Chicago Tribune was a sister paper and a sister syndicate, and I got meet and spend time with some of those cartoonists. Carl Ed [pronounced with a long “e”], who did Harold Teen, taught me some tricks. Leo O’Mealia taught me and Bill Gallo some tricks. Leo was a very nice man and he’d go out of his way to help you if he knew you wanted to be a cartoonist. At this stage, I was trying very hard to learn how to draw. There was a feature called Timeless Topics. And there was M.C. Gaines, who did Bible comics. I tried to get a job with Gaines, but wasn’t good enough. One day, I brought in a black-&-white illustration and showed it around. I was told to show it to Al Polumbo, who was a retoucher. He pointed out everything wrong in that drawing. I went home and worked all night to incorporate everything he had told me. I took the drawing in to Al the next day. He looked at it, patted me on the back, and said, “Keep trying, Tommy.” [laughter] And you know what? I did the same thing the next day. This is how I learned. The Timeless Topics stuff I did was for a Catholic group. They had so little money and so little experience that they accepted the Bible stuff I did for them. JA: Tell me about the Pearl Harbor map that you did for The Daily News. GILL: It was Sunday, December 7, 1941. Newspapers were usually dead on Sundays, but since I was still new, I was working that day. We had all these maps made because the war was raging in Europe, and were printing these maps to show what was happening and where it was happening. We were listening to the Army-Navy game on the radio, and all the admirals and generals were at this game or listening to it. We started hearing things in the background like, “Major so-and-so, please report to” wherever he was told to report. Then they’d page a captain or an admiral.

GILL: No, I didn’t have to go because I was married and had a child. My number didn’t come up in the draft until much later. I worked for The Daily News all throughout the war. During the war, I got better at drawing and did comics for Curtis Publishing. They even asked me to be an editor. I said, “If I take that job, I’d have to leave the paper, and possibly move away from doing the art.”

“Pre-War Days” JA: I believe you helped Louis Silberkleit [one of the founders of MLJ, which later became Archie Comic Publications] get started in comics in 1939. I’d like to hear about that. GILL: One day, he called me up at The Daily News. I had never heard of him, but he’d seen my credits in The Daily News. He wanted to see me, so I went to see him. He said he wanted to get into comics and wanted me to do a character similar to Rin-Tin-Tin. I told him I wasn’t a very good artist, but he insisted I do it. I did a ten-page story, which I wrote, drew, and lettered for six bucks a page. When I brought it in to him, he wrote me a check for sixty bucks. I don’t think he was crazy about the work. By the time I got back to work, Silberkleit called. He said, “I just showed your work to Harry Chesler, and he said it wasn’t any good.” I said, “Lou, I told you I wasn’t any good. I’ll tell you what I’ll do. I’ll give you $30 back if you’ll give me the pages.” He agreed. We made the exchange and I never saw him again. There were no problems, and I’ve supplied several artists over the years to Archie Comics. JA: I work for them. GILL: Then you know Stan Goldberg, who’s a great guy. By the way, I even showed my work to Dr. William Marston, who created Wonder Woman. His artist, Harry G. Peter, was a nice man, too. But my work wasn’t up to their level, so I didn’t get to do “Wonder Woman.” Doctor Marston confirmed my view of women. I always thought women were far superior to what they get credit for. I think the hand that rocks the candle rules the world. Marston certainly believed in that and practiced what he preached. He believed women were far superior to men. JA: You did “K-51” for Fox Publications. GILL: Yes. Al Harvey was Fox’s editor, but he didn’t think I was good enough for them. This was during the pre-war days, and my wife was about to have a baby. Al knew that and gave me a story even though he didn’t think my work was good. While I was drawing the story, Al Harvey quit because he was very unhappy with Fox. I guess he gave me the story because he knew I needed the money and didn’t care what Fox thought about my work. After Al quit, I got a telegram from Fox— whom I never met—to come in and tell them what I was doing. They accepted the story and I got paid. JA: I have you listed as working for Fiction House in 1940.

“To Be Continued!” GILL: I have no memory of that and don’t think that’s accurate. JA: I also have you working for Centaur in 1938. GILL: I didn’t work for them.

“I Didn’t Always Know Where My Work Was Going To Appear” JA: From 1944 until ’46, I have you listed as working for Curtis Publications on Blue Bolt. GILL: I remember doing Blue Bolt, but I don’t remember much else about them. This was freelance work, and I didn’t take it as seriously as I did my newspaper work. The New York Daily News was more important to me, so any work I did for companies like Curtis or Parents’ Magazine just doesn’t stick in my mind today. I do remember that Wednesday was the day to see the editor at Curtis. JA: Jerry Bails has you listed as working for Funnies, Inc., a shop that supplied work to various comics companies. Could you have worked directly for them and not for, say, Parents’ Magazine? GILL: It’s possible. I didn’t always know where my work was going to appear, and I wasn’t worried about it. By this time, I had moved out of Brooklyn to Long Island. I got a house in Baldwin on Long Island and used an extra room upstairs for my studio. My next door neighbor had a son who liked to draw and asked if I’d look at his stuff. The son was Jimmy Christensen, who was 15 and had a paper route. I could tell that he could draw a little bit and he used to come over and watch me. After a little bit, he started doing little things around my studio. One day, I told him to give up the paper route and I’d pay him whatever he was making on that job. Well, this kid was a whiz! He worked hard and his slogan was, “Plenty of time for sleeping in the grave.” [laughter] That was just the kind of a kid that I needed! His parents moved away and one day, I got a note from him saying, “Please get me out of here.” I told him that if he could typewrite and letter in one week, he could come. He did and moved in with my wife and me. Then he was drafted into the Navy, and his job was to get our soldiers back from Europe. When the Korean War started, they took him again. JA: Why did you leave The Daily News? GILL: Because I syndicated a strip, Flower Potts, to the HeraldTribune. I did that from 1946 to 1949. It was about a cab driver and the strip was also known as Ricky Stevens. But people weren’t interested in reading about cab drivers, and the strip wasn’t carried in many papers.

and draw the story at home. To be honest, I really wrote the same story over and over again. It was always about two girls in love with the same guy or vice versa. I always gave the girl who didn’t get the guy a hard name, like Rita. The girl who got the guy had a soft name, like Alice. The format was always the same.

“Wanted: Somebody To Teach Straight Dope About Cartooning” JA: How did you get started teaching at the Cartoonists and Illustrators School? GILL: One day, while I was working on Flower Potts in my studio, my wife saw an ad in The New York Times that said, “Wanted: Somebody to teach straight dope about cartooning.” I wrote a letter to the box number and Silas Rhodes replied. Rhodes started the school with Burne Hogarth. Silas set up a time for me to talk to his class, so I did. Some of the guys in the class were older than me; they were all G.I.s who’d returned from the war. In fact, the one woman in the class had been a sergeant. They were on the G.I. Bill. Silas told me he knew I’d done a good job. “The students keep coming down to tell me how great you were and that they didn’t want me to let you go.” I told him I really enjoyed teaching the class, but didn’t have the time to do it on a regular basis. Silas said, “Well, get help!” Right away, I thought about Jimmy Christensen, so I relented and started teaching there. Actually, it wasn’t that easy. I had to be certified to teach these classes, so I took classes at a place in New York with a couple of other instructors. I had to do this every three years for 15 years. Eventually, we were no longer classified as a trade school, but were recognized on some different level: as an institute of higher learning. Once on this level, we didn’t have to do these things anymore. JA: So you started getting additional help on your comic book work. You didn’t have a shop, per se: you had assistants, correct? GILL: Correct. I worked at home and my assistants came to work there. By this time, I lived in Rockville Center, and my studio was a long front porch with a fireplace. I had two drawing tables there: one for me and one for Jimmy. The other guys preferred to work at home and bring the pages in. I broke down almost every page. Keats Petree and Bernie Case were my main assistants, along with Jimmy. Keats left me to do the Nick Halliday strip for the Chicago Sun-Times. I didn’t break down pages for them. Ted Galindo was pretty good, too; he was a local guy. A quiet man who worked for other companies. He later became a framer in an art store.

JA: From 1949 to 1953, you did romance comics for Harvey Publications. GILL: Yes. Al Harvey saw that I had discontinued my strip, so he called me up and invited me to lunch. He asked me to draw romance comics. Well, this was a big improvement from the last time we talked, which was at Victor Fox’s company. He had a woman editor, whose name I can’t remember, and she gave me assignments to do. I wrote and drew those stories. I’d give the editor a story synopsis and then write

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt! Until now, I hadn’t heard of Ike’s particular talent, which apparently refers to paintings he did as a hobby. Long story short: The National Cartoonists Society invited the President to join their ranks. And so, one fine morning in 1954, a roomful of unruly ink-slingers met over breakfast to celebrate their newest member. For his part, Ike provided a most unique dessert. Himself.

For the first time in history, a sitting President offered to pose for a gathering of newspaper, comic book, and magazine artists—encouraging them to use his distinctive features for portraits, caricatures, gag cartoons, or illustrations. I’ll let Mr. Humphrey describe the scene. “The occasion took the form of a breakfast. While the courses were being served and exchanges of talk were going on, artists had free hands with drawing paper or board, pencil or pen. When Mr. Eisenhower had concluded his formal remarks … he asked to see the drawings made of him. He smiled broadly as one after another was held up, and laughed outright at some of the gags. ‘Don’t cheat on me! I want them,’ he exclaimed.” Later, the Society collected all 95 original drawings, bound them into a large leather-bound volume, and presented it to the President. Talk about a must-have collectible! Apparently publisher Frederick Fell felt the same way. After reading about the meeting, Fell asked permission to print the cartoons in a book that would be used to promote the sales of Savings Bonds. Who could resist a patriotic pitch like that?

I Like Ike! by Michael T. Gilbert Recently, while scouring eBay for odd comic-related items, I stumbled across a 1956 oddity, President Eisenhower’s Cartoon Book. I almost skipped by it, having only a limited interest in political cartoons. But then I spotted the contributor list. Ninety-five different cartoonists were represented—including over a dozen outstanding comic book artists. I won’t name the comic book guys here, for reasons I’ll explain in a moment. But trust me, we’re talking big-name talent. First, let’s take a behind-the-scenes peek at the history of President Eisenhower’s Cartoon Book, courtesy of George Humphrey, Ike’s Secretary of the Treasury, who penned the book’s three-page introduction. As Mr. Humphrey tells it… “In June 1954, President Eisenhower met with members of the National Cartoonists Society in Washington. The Society, composed of men and women who are considered to be among the foremost exponents of the cartoonist’s art in the nation, wished to confer honorary membership upon one of the few Presidents since Thomas Jefferson who has evidenced and exercised any talents as an artist.”

We Didn’t Know... After about a decade ... and a war ... he was on my drawing board again ... in another stab at the world of newspaper comics.

By mds& (c) [Art

[FCA EDITORS NOTE: From 1941-53, Marcus D. Swayze was a top artist for Fawcett Publications. The very first Mary Marvel character sketches came from Marc’s drawing table, and he illustrated her earliest adventures, including the classic origin story, “Captain Marvel Introduces Mary Marvel (CMA No. 18, Dec. ’42); but he was primarily hired by Fawcett 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 leaving the service in 1944, he made an arrangement with Fawcett to produce art and stories for them on a freelance basis out of his Louisiana home. There he created both 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, Swayze produced artwork for Fawcett’s top-selling line of romance comics. After the company ceased publishing comics, Marc moved over to Charlton Publications, where he ended his comics career in the mid-’50s. Marc’s ongoing professional memoirs have been FCA’s most popular feature since his first column appeared in FCA #54, 1996. Last issue, Marc told of his attempts at getting a syndicated strip sold, and included samples of a strip that never quite was: Marty Guy, Private Detective – The Great Guy. This time, he writes of another one of his—and perhaps his finest—syndicated strip attempts that almost was: Jango. —P.C. Hamerlinck.] There had been dogs in comic strips before, but I remembered them as funny, cartoony dogs. I wanted a hero dog ... like in those silent movies, those Jack London adventure stories. And I really thought I could create a strip featuring a dog that would hold the interest of the newspaper reader.

I thought I knew dogs pretty well. We had always had a dog around the house when I was growing up. From the beginning my choice among the breeds was the German shepherd. I realized that the canine ability to reason varied from dog to dog, and the thought of that discouraged any urge to exaggerate Jango’s intellect. “I wanted a dignified

After getting hooked on the idea of a Jango… poised….” Drawn in dog in a comic strip, I spent a lot of spare the late 1940s by Swayze. time hours drawing dogs. Plus, studying [©2004 Marc Swayze.] photographic reproductions of the German shepherd, particularly as illustrated in reference books. I learned that, while the breed was easily identifiable as such, within the boundaries of the breed there existed a variety of distinguishing qualities ... size, for example ... and coat colors. And temperament ... like people! I wanted a dignified Jango. Tall, poised ... with a coat of pale gray and white trim. This later Jango was to benefit from better writing than its predecessor. The experience from comic book stories for Whiz Comics, Captain Marvel Adventures, and Wow Comics ... and a variety of strips prepared for syndicate presentation ... paid off ... in confidence. At the typewriter I felt I knew what I was doing. I was particularly concerned with the timing ... the pacing of the story as it moved along. I was convinced that if you could hold the reader’s interest for several issues of his daily paper, while your story advanced only a few moments, you were a writer. I worked on that. It was my opinion that a new day was with us ... a more leisurely day ... a day where, in the comic strips, human interest was replacing violent action. I tried to keep that in mind as I prepared the 3 weeks of daily strips.

So it wasn’t anything special that a dog was included in my very first attempt to prepare a “try” at the newspaper syndicates. The main character was Judi, a young girl living alone in the jungle. Lest the strip contain a continuous flow of bubbly “thought balloons,” she needed a companion to whom she could express her thoughts aloud. I gave her “Jango.”

I carried the original art to New York City, where it was shown to the major syndicates. At their request, photostatic copies of the drawings were left with several for further study. Later I was given the impression that the feature was still under consideration when my contract with the Bell Syndicate for The Great Pierre was announced.

A year or so later the dog idea was attempted again ... same dog, same name. This time both art and writing may have borne the influence of the Captain Marvel work which occupied my daytime hours. The syndicate try was interrupted when our country entered World War II. But the dog just wouldn’t go away!

Marc and an early “Jango”: “We always had a dog around the house….” Photo courtesy of Marc Swayze.

...It Was The Golden Age!

…And Then There Were None! Charlton and the Remnants of the Fawcett Comics Empire—The Index by Frank “Derby” Motler [EDITOR’S NOTE: In A/E #39, 40, & 42, we serialized Frank’s in-depth study of Charlton/CDC (Capital Distribution Co.), which during the 1950s purchased much of the inventory and copyrights of Fawcett, Toby, Mainline/Prize, and several other comics publishing companies which had left the field. Here, as the conclusion of the piece, is his exhaustive list of Charlton’s “acquisition titles,” their sources at other companies, and additional relevant information about the contents of these comics, followed by Frank’s notes on the compiling of this list. —PCH.]

This C.C. Beck cover from Captain Marvel Adventures #144 (March 1953) may well represent the way the powers-that-were at Fawcett Publications felt as their exit from the comic book industry drew nearer. They’d be out of the field before the year’s end—yet “The Stolen Shazam Powers” was and remains one of Alter Ego editor Roy Thomas’ all-time favorite “Captain Marvel” tales. Sadly, it’s never been reprinted. [Captain Marvel & Sivana TM & ©2004 DC Comics.]

Charlton (CDC): Acquisition Titles, 1953-9 Title

Issue From/

To Dates

Former Publisher/

Last Date

Atomic Mouse

#6-22

1954

1957

Fawcett

various

Badge of Justice

#22(1)

Jan-55

Fawcett

#84 Dec-83

Dec-83

Mainline

Battlefield Action Billy the Kid Billy the Kid Billy the Kid

#9-121 Nov-57 #122-153

Sep-77

#109

1954/5

Dec-76

Toby

Mar-83

Charlton

c.Jun-55 Dec-76

1977

Charlton

c.1974

Black Jack

#20-30 Nov-57

Nov-59

Charlton

n/a

Blue Beetle

#18-21 Feb-55

Aug-55

Fox

Aug-50

Remarks Hoppy cameos, various issues. See Funny Animals & note 8. Fawcett Crime Smasher, plus 1 other story. See also Crime and Justice. Kirby Foxhole reprints. From Masked Raider #8. Last Toby issue #29. 68-pp. giant #11. Series continues. Modern Promotions reprint. Featuring Rocky Lane’s horse. #22 68-pp. giant (Mar-58). Last Fox issue #60. 1st CDC Blue Beetle series, Fox reprints & some new art. Rocket Kelly #19, Joan Mason #20-21. See also Charlton Bullseye & Space Adventures.

After returning in a couple of 1954 issues of Space Adventures, The Blue Beetle got his own magazine again, starting the numbering with “#18,” which contained a mixture of Fox reprints and new art. Artist uncertain. [Blue Beetle TM & ©2004 DC Comics.]

“Hoppy,” a.k.a. Capt. Marvel Bunny, had starred in Fawcett’s Funny Animals, even before this Chad Grothkopf splash led off Hoppy the Marvel Bunny #1 (Dec. 1945) during a Fawcett post-World War II expansion that also included a monthly Marvel Family comic. At Charlton he would appear in reprints as Hoppy (or Happy) the Magic Bunny, minus the lightning bolt on his chest and with a different magic word. [Marvel Bunny TM & ©2004 DC Comics.]

Charlton And The Remnants Of The Fawcett Comics Empire––The Index

Title

Issue From/

To Dates

Last Date

Former Publisher/

Remarks

Blue Beetle

V2#1-5

Jun-64

Mar’Apr-65

Charlton

Aug-55

2nd series, all new stories.

Blue Beetle

V3#50-54

Jly-65

Feb’Mar-66

Charlton

Mar-Apr-65

3rd series, all new stories.

Blue Beetle

#1-5

Jun-67

Nov-68

Charlton

Feb-Mar-66

Blue Beetle

#1,3

1977

Charlton

Nov-68

Modern Promotions reprints.

Blue Bird Comics (most) #1-17

c.1959

c.1962

Charlton

1958-62

Reprints Charlton Li’l Genius. See note 9.

Blue Bird Comics

#1-4,10

c.1959

c.1962

Charlton

1958-62

Reprints Charlton Wild Bill Hickok. See note 9.

Blue Bird Comics

#4,5,6,8-10

c.1959

c.1962

Charlton

1958-62

Reprints Charlton Masked Raider. See note 9.

Blue Bird Comics

#7,10

c.1960

c.1961

Charlton

1959-60

Reprints Charlton Six-Gun Heroes. See note 9.

#1-3

Jun-55

Oct-55

Comic Media

Aug-54

Noodnik reprint in each. Last Superior issue #12.

Bo Brenda Starr

4th series, new Ditko art. 1st app. The Question in #1.

#13-15

Jun-55

Oct-55

Superior

Dec-49

Bullseye

#6-7

Jun-55

Aug-55

Mainline

Feb-Mar-54

Captain Gallant

#2-4

Jan-56

Sep-56

Toby

1955

Charlie Chan

#6-9

Jun-55

Mar-56

Prize

Feb-Mar-49

Jun-81

Charlton

Nov-68

Last Blue Beetle at Charlton. The Question app.

Aug-55

Comic Media & Mainline stories + new art. Bullseye app.#8.

Charlton Bullseye

Cody of the Pony Express #8-10 Oct-55

Jun-56

Charlton

Aug-55

Fawcett

1951

-54

Fawcett

Jun-53

Kirby covers/art. Becomes Code of the Pony Express. See also Gunfighters. No indicia on 1st issue, two versions exist. TV adaptation. Last Prize issue, #5. Inventory stories #6-7, Kirby cover #6, new CDC art #8-9. Becomes Zaza the Mystic.

Cowboy Love

#28-31 Dec-54

Cowboy Western

#48, 50

Spr-54

Cowboy Western

#50-58

1954

Jan-56

Avon

1956

Cowboy Western

#59-67

1955

Mar-58

Avon

May-Jun-56

Crime and Justice

#23-26 Mar-55

May-55

Fawcett

various

#23 Fawcett Crime Smasher #23. Fox, Fawcett, Ziff-Davis stories. Little Al, Ziff-Davis in #24, 26. See also Badge of Justice.

Danger

#12-14

Oct-55

Comic Media

Aug-54

Last Comic Media issue #11.

Danger and Adventure

#22(1) Feb-55

Feb-55

Fawcett

1953

Ibis The Invincible & Nyoka reprinted stories?

Danger and Adventure

#23 Apr-55

Apr-55

Fawcett

1953

Lance O’Casey & Nyoka reprinted stories?

Fawcett

n/a

Jun-55

From Romantic Story. Last Fawcett issue V2#11. Golden Arrow stories, last app. Whiz #153, Jun-53. See note 4 Jesse James, Tom Mix & Wild Bill Hickok stories. See notes 4 & 5. Wild Bill Hickok & Jingles stories in each,. #67 68-page giant.

Danger and Adventure #24-27

Jun-55

Feb-56

Death Valley

Jun-55

Oct-55

Comic Media

#70-73 Nov-55

Sep-55

Fawcett

Sep-51

Last Fawcett issue Don Winslow #69; see also TV Teens.

Jan-56

Apr-56

various

Ziff-Davis? inventory #16, 2x Comic Media stories #17, Don Heck art.

#14-132 May-55

Nov-76

St. John

Mar-53

Last St. John issue #12. #14-17 reprint St. John’s #2, 5, 3 & ? Baker art in each. Giant editions #25 (100 pp., Mar-58), #26 (68 pp., Aug-58).

Don Winslow

Fightin’ Army Fightin’ Marines

#7-9 #16(1)-17

Aug-54

The only human Fawcett super-hero to make an appearance in a Charlton comic—assuming you count magicians—was Ibis the Invincible, the resuscitated Egyptian who’d been a regular feature in Whiz Comics. This (probably) inventory story popped up in CDC’s Danger and Adventure #22 (Feb. 1955, actually the first issue). Nyoka also appeared in that ish, whose Ibis cover (with art picked up from the splash) was seen in Part II, in A/E #40. Thanks to Charlton Spotlight publisher Michael Ambrose. [Ibis & Taia TM & ©2004 DC Comics.]

Johnny Adventure & Mike Danger stories, unused Fawcett inventory stories with new covers. Last Comic Media issue #6.

MEXICO 1

THE GREAT SUPER-HEROES OF DURING THE U.S. SILVER AGE STARRING

1994--2004

5.95

In the USA

No. 43

December 2004

PRESENTING A GOLDEN AGE OF MEXICAN COMICS, WITH

DAVE STEVENS, FRED PATTEN, PABLO MARCOS, & HEROES

SANTO, NEUTRóN, HOMBRE INVISIBLE, EL PILOTO FANTASMA, SUPERCHARRO, & CRIOLLO, THE INVINCIBLE HORSE— NOT TO MENTION

BONUS:

MICHAEL USLAN

ON that Legendary 1961

JLA–FF GOLF GAME!

BLACKHAWK, GOLDHAWK, CONAN— & JOE KUBERT’S TOR !?

Vol. 3, No. 43/December 2004 Editor

™

Roy Thomas

Associate Editors Bill Schelly Jim Amash

Design & Layout

Christopher Day

Consulting Editor John Morrow

FCA Editor

P.C. Hamerlinck

Comic Crypt Editor Michael T. Gilbert

Editors Emeritus

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

Production Assistant

Eric Nolen-Weathington

...AND ALL IN COLOR FOR A PESO Dept.

Cover Artists Dave Stevens George Tuska

Cover Colorists Phil Noto Tom Ziuko

1994--2004

Contents

¡Supermen South! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Fred Patten’s guided tour of Mexico’s heroic comics during the U.S. Silver Age. re: [comments, correspondence, & corrections]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Happy Holidays Side! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Flip Us! About Our Cover: Two or three years back, in an issue of Comic Book Artist, editor Jon B. Cooke printed a fairly small image of the Mexican masked-wrestler hero Santo, penciled and inked by the inimitable Dave Stevens. We realized at once that a full-size, color version of it would make a great cover for this issue’s extended coverage of Mexican comic book heroes of the 1960s. So thanks to Dave for allowing us to print it! [©2004 Dave Stevens; Santo TM & ©2004 the respective trademark & copyright holders.] Above: Ever since A/E editor Roy Thomas picked up a handful of issues of Criollo el Caballo Invencible in Mexico in 1964, that comic’s real star in its heyday—Supercharro—has been his runaway favorite of all the super-heroes from south of the Rio Grande. So not much chance he’d pass up an opportunity to display one more great cover drawing of the rider of the Invincible Horse by artist Sixto Valencia Burgos! This one is from Criollo #108 (October 1964). [©2004 the respective copyright holders.] Alter EgoTM is published monthly by TwoMorrows, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614, USA. Phone: (919) 449-0344. Roy Thomas, Editor. John Morrow, Publisher. Alter Ego Editorial Offices: 32 Bluebird Trail, 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: $8 ($10 Canada, $11.00 elsewhere). Twelve-issue subscriptions: $60 US, $120 Canada, $132 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.

SOUTH! Mexican Hero Comics During The U.S. Silver Age by Fred Patten [with special thanks to Brian K. Morris for a typing assist—including all those accent marks!]

Special thanks to veteran comics artist Pablo Marcos for this powerful Avengers #1-style image of some of the very greatest of the original Mexican heroes—Santo, Neutrón, Relámpago, El Piloto Fantasma, and Supercharro riding Criollo the Invincible Horse—all set to take on Uncle Sam in the comics wars! Logo by Al Dellinges, adapted from Biljo White’s 1965 original. [Art ©2004 Pablo Marcos; heroes TM & ©2004 the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

¡Supermen South! [A/E EDITOR’S NOTE: In summer of 1964, soon after agreeing to assume the publishing and editorial duties of what in retrospect is called “Volume 1” of Alter Ego, I went on a monthlong drive through Mexico with a ladyfriend in my ’58 Chevy. While meandering between Nuevo Laredo, Monterey, Mexico City, Puebla, San Blas, Guaymas, and the Mexico/Arizona border, I added to my small collection of Mexican comic books begun the previous summer when I’d spent three weeks in Puerto Rico. I came back this time fired up with the notion of writing an article on such intriguing South of the Border super-heroes as Santo, Neutrón, Relámpago, and particularly Supercharro. While there, I’d even managed to sit through the entire movie Santo Contra Los Zombies, despite knowing virtually no Spanish (or maybe that feat was possible because I knew no Spanish). However, I quickly realized I had neither the collection nor the knowledge to do justice to the subject. [As I soon learned, however, California science-fiction/comics fan Fred Patten did. He and I had gotten in contact by mail through the Lupoffs’ fanzine Xero—or maybe through A/E or the Thompsons’ Comic Art. Fred volunteered to write such a piece—and he soon submitted a long, informative, and downright entertaining study of both Mexico’s original heroes—including several I hadn’t encountered—and its reprints and adaptations of US titles. The lattermentioned section of Fred’s article appeared in early 1965 in A/E [Vol. 1] #8, and half of the remainder in the following issue, published near the end of that year. Alas, because by then I was happily ensconced as Stan Lee’s assistant editor (call me “Houseroy”) in New York City, future issues of A/E were put on hold. Eventually, the final third of Fred’s article saw print in CAPA-Alpha in 1970; but the circulation of that first “apa-zine” devoted to comic books was only a few dozen people, as opposed to the thousand or so then-subscribers of A/E. [The part of Fred’s article dealing with Mexican reprints of US comics was itself reprinted in 1997 in Bill Schelly’s and my out-ofprint Hamster Press volume Alter Ego: The Best of the Legendary Comics Fanzine, mostly with the same art that had appeared in A/E [V1]#8. But, ever since TwoMorrows and I revived A/E as a full magazine in 1999, I’ve planned to reprint the larger portion dealing with original heroes, and Fred has been remarkably patient—not even complaining when I first featured coverage of French comics heroes (in #30) and of the Golden Age of Canadian comic books (in #36). Still, D-Day has finally come. What’s more, I decided to run Fred’s entire article, on reprints and original heroes alike, pretty much as Fred scribed it in 1964-65, plus the handful of notes he added in 1970 to the portion printed in CAPA-alpha—and, in the 11th hour, we shoehorned in a short essay he wrote in 1974 about the Mexican “Conan” comic, such as it was, which had debuted a few months after he wrote the original study. [This mid-September, I received a huge box of Mexican comic books from Fred in the mail. It contained everything really needed to illustrate the article—far beyond the handful of Mexican comics I still retain from my own summer sojourn now just over forty years in the

3 (Left:) Fred Patten as he looked in the early 1960s— well, actually, he mostly wore his Flash outfit to science-fiction conventions. Thanks to Bill Schelly. (Right:) Fred in a 1997 photo, taken by friend Stan Burns. Hey, Fred—do you still have that great hat?

past. Fred and I, too, are an incomprehensible nigh-four decades older than when he wrote the piece and I published much of it—and yet, for reasons probably neither of us could entirely explain, we still hold onto these specimens of another culture’s superheroes of yore. Nearly all the art that accompanies this article, therefore, was provided by Fred. Me, I couldn’t even find the Mexican maskedwrestler photo magazines I bought off L.A. newsstands in 1976—and I still can’t speak or read Spanish—though that hasn’t stopped me from tossing in a few personal observations and updatings when writing the captions to accompany the art, as I generally do.

[I enjoyed re-reading “¡Supermen South!” just as much this time as when I first read it at the turn of 1965—and Fred and I both hope you’ll feel it was worth waiting for. For best results, put yourself in the proper mindset: the year is 1965 (most of the time, anyway), and Fred has buttonholed you to tell you about this very interesting phenomenon he learned about not so very long ago…! —Roy.]

Super-Heroes of the World Unite! The comic book super-hero is usually considered a uniquely American phenomenon; nor does one often see much to change this impression. The super-heroes we read about are all 100% American, from the Fantastic Four, et al., in New York to Green Lantern in “Coast City” by the blue Pacific. Is someone threatening to blow up the Eiffel Tower in Paris? The Flash will take care of it. Are the Commies getting especially active in Vietnam? Everybody from Captain America to Magicman seems to be on hand to push them back again. If there’s trouble anywhere in the world, our comics proclaim, one of our super-heroes will buzz right over to set things aright. This picture of a complete US comics monopoly is enhanced if you read the letter columns. I’m sure you’ve all seen the letter from some boy in a South Pacific nation, who has just found an isolated two-yearold copy of The Comic on his newsstand and wants to know if anybody in America will send him more issues so he won’t continue to be culturally deprived. Or the one from the American serviceman stationed abroad who’s just come across The Comic in the Base PX, and, boy, does it remind him of the good old days of comicdom! The implications are clear: the whole world would be in a mess if it weren’t for the American super-heroes, and obviously no other nation is capable of producing such Men of Might. (Though some of these foreign places manage to come up with a colorful super-villain every now and then.) Furthermore, the US seems to be the only country that publishes these comics; any copies to be found in foreign lands are either exported American issues, or, at best, sloppy reproductions of US comics in the quaint local tongue. ’Tain’t so! Granted, there are a lot of exported US comics and reprints of same. But other countries also have their own super-heroes,

Mexican Hero Comics During The U.S. Silver Age style. Indeed, La Prensa’s comics seem to be produced for sale in the United States as much as for Mexican sale. The cover price reads: “$1.00 [i.e., one peso, or 8H¢ cents in our currency] en la Rep. Mexicana; 0.10 dolares en el extranjero.” A note inside confirms that the price “in foreign lands” is in US money.

When Fred wrote in 1964-65 of The Flash saving the Eiffel Tower and Captain America showing up in Vietnam, he was referring to stories like these from Showcase #13 (April 1958) and Tales of Suspense #61 (Jan. 1965). The former was written by Robert Kanigher and drawn by Carmine Infantino (pencils) & Joe Giella (inks), while the latter— well, read the credits! [Flash panels ©2004 DC Comics; Capt. America splash ©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

who combat mad villains and natural and extraterrestrial disasters in their own right. Comic fandom has spent several years now discussing the American comic book in great detail; it’s time we broadened the field to take in the comics output of other nations. The acme of desirability would be a sort of comic book Baedeker, in which any comic fan could look up in an instant the information as to what comic books and which super-heroes are available in any given country. To commence such a project, let’s look into the comic book situation just across the Rio Grande. The Mexican super-hero and science-fiction comics can generally be divided into three broad fields: straight reprints of US comics; original comics based on American titles; and entirely original comics with their own heroes and villains. Part I, following, will discuss the first two of these fields lightly; and Part II will go into the original Mexican costume-hero comics in much greater detail. Onward, then!

Part I Norteamericano Reprints– Plus a Couple of Anomalies …And All in Color for a Peso The reprinting of US comic books in Mexico is largely in the hands of two publishing companies, both located in Mexico City. These are “Organización Editorial Novaro, S.A. de C.V.” and “Editora de Periodicos, S.C.L., ‘La Prensa.’” Of these, Novaro has by far the largest percentage of US reprints, consisting of all Mexican publication of National Periodical (DC), Gold Key, and Dell titles: super-hero, Disney, and otherwise. La Prensa has just the Marvel titles, of which they reprint only four. La Prensa’s main line is in original comics based on US titles (not always with permission to use the US characters) and completely original Mexican comics drawn in the “American” (norteamericano)

Incidentally, the peso price-tag (and yes, that “$1.00” startled me the first time I saw it, too) is unanimous on all regular Mexican comics, though the newsstands here in Los Angeles charge 15¢ apiece for them. All in all, Novaro and La Prensa take up about equal amounts of space on stands with their titles, though La Prensa doesn’t have nearly so many in the adventure-hero line. The bulk of Novaro’s super-hero comics lies in its reprints of the DC issues. These are usually reprinted six months to a year or more after their original appearance in this country, and they pretty well cover the entire DC output. The biggest difference lies in the number of titles appearing, because Novaro generally combines two or more US titles into only one Mexican title, leaning heavily toward “presentations” in the Brave and Bold and Showcase manner. Most of the DC comics edited by Mort Weisinger are reprinted under the single title of Supermán, which appears weekly. For instance: Supermán #466 (Sept. 23, 1964) is a reprint of Jimmy Olsen #71 (Sept. 1963); Supermán #467 (Sept. 30, 1964) is our Superman #170 (July 1964); Supermán #468 (Oct. 7, 1964) is Lois Lane #46 (Jan. 1964); Supermán #469 (Oct. 14, 1964) is Adventure Comics #316 (Jan. 1964); and Supermán #470 (Oct. 21, 1964) is Superboy #109 (Dec. 1963). The 80-Page Giant “annuals” appear as “Numeros Extraordinarios” and are not numbered, though they are dated. Batman, also a weekly (issue #254 is dated Jan. 21, 1965), reprints in the same way Batman, Detective Comics, and World’s Finest Comics (a holdover from when Jack Schiff edited the US version). In addition, Batman also “presents” Flash (The Flash), Linterna Verde (Green Lantern), and Campeones de la Justicia (Champions of Justice = Justice League of America). Thus, under these two weekly titles are reprinted twelve of the DC Comics. Other DC reprints are lumped together in lesser amounts. Historias Fantásticas is published on the first and 15th of every month and consists of reprints of Tales of the Unexpected, Rip Hunter, Sea Devils, and The Brave and the Bold (the issues featuring super-heroes, anyway). Marvila, a monthly, is Wonder Woman, who “presents” Showcase (the “Tommy Tomorrow” issues) and Metal Men. Relatos Fabulosos, also monthly, runs Aquaman, The Atom, and House of Secrets. Titanes Planetarios, a semi-monthly, is for some reason

¡Supermen South!

Under the omnibus title Supermán, Novaro reprinted tales of “Superman,” “Legion of Super-Heroes,” “Superboy,” “Lois Lane,” and “Jimmy Olsen.” Inside, all the DC stories list 1963 copyrights, but the Mexican comics have late-1964 print dates. In fact, most Novaro reprints depicted in this section seem to be dated a year and more after their US publication. There were ads in these issues for other DC reprints, educational comics, Daniel el Travieso (Dennis the Menace), Lorenzo y Pepita (Dagwood and Blondie), and others. [©2004 DC Comics.]

Fred has some key Batman – El Hombre Murciélago issues, featuring Batman vs. Catman—Green Lantern—The Flash (no “El Flash” in Spanish, for some reason) in his second meeting with his 1940s prototype—and Part II of the first Justice League-Justice Society get-together. These are 1963 DC stories reprinted by Novaro in 1964. [©2004 DC Comics.]