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No. 12 January 2002

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See comic art and script BEFORE and AFTER the Comics Code changes, with art by SIMON & KIRBY, DITKO, BUSCEMA, SINNOTT, GOULD, COLE, STERANKO, KRIGSTEIN, O’NEIL, GLANZMAN, ORLANDO, WILLIAMSON, HEATH, and others! Plus: FCA, Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt, BILL SCHELLY, JIM AMASH interviews Timely/Atlas artist CAL MASSEY, and a new cover by JOSH MEDORS!

DICK GIORDANO through the 1960s—from freelance years and Charlton “Action-Heroes” to his first stint at DC! Art by DITKO, APARO, BOYETTE, MORISI, McLAUGHLIN, GIL KANE, and others, Dick’s final convention panel with STEVE SKEATES and ROY THOMAS, JIM AMASH interviews Charlton artist TONY TALLARICO, FCA with MARC SWAYZE and ROY ALD, MR. MONSTER’S COMIC CRYPT, BILL SCHELLY, GIORDANO cover, and more!

Big BATMAN issue, with an unused Golden Age cover by DICK SPRANG! SHEL DORF interviews SPRANG and JIM MOONEY, with rare and unseen Batman art by BOB KANE, JERRY ROBINSON, WIN MORTIMER, SHELLY MOLDOFF, CHARLES PARIS, and others! Part II of the TONY TALLARICO interview by JIM AMASH! Plus FCA, MR. MONSTER’S COMIC CRYPT, BILL SCHELLY, and more!

1970s Bullpenner WARREN REECE talks about Marvel Comics and working with EVERETT, BURGOS, ROMITA, STAN LEE, MARIE SEVERIN, ADAMS, FRIEDRICH, ROY THOMAS, and others, with rare art! DEWEY CASSELL spotlights Golden Age artist MIKE PEPPE, with art by TOTH, ANDRU, TUSKA, CELARDO, & LUBBERS, plus FCA, MR. MONSTER, BILL SCHELLY, cover by EVERETT & BURGOS, and more!

Interview with inker SCOTT WILLIAMS from his days at Marvel and Image to his work with JIM LEE, and PATRICK OLIFFE demos how he produces Spider-Girl, Mighty Samson, and digital comics. Also, MIKE MANLEY and BRET BLEVINS’ “Comic Art Bootcamp”, a “Rough Critique” of a newcomer’s work by BOB McLEOD, art supply reviews by “Crusty Critic” JAMAR NICHOLAS, and more!

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LEGO SPACE WAR issue! A STARFIGHTER BUILDING LESSON by Peter Reid, WHY SPACE MARINES ARE SO POPULAR by Mark Stafford, a trip behind the scenes of LEGO’S NEW ALIEN CONQUEST SETS that hit store shelves earlier this year, plus JARED K. BURKS’ column on MINIFIGURE CUSTOMIZATION, building tips, event reports, our step-by-step “YOU CAN BUILD IT” INSTRUCTIONS, and more!

Go to Japan with articles on two JAPANESE LEGO FAN EVENTS, plus take a look at JAPAN’S SACRED LEGO LAND, Nasu Highland Park—the site of the BrickFan events and a pilgrimage site for many Japanese LEGO fans. Also, a feature on JAPAN’S TV CHAMPIONSHIP OF LEGO, a look at the CLICKBRICK LEGO SHOPS in Japan, plus how to get into TECHNIC BUILDING, LEGO EDUCATION, and more!

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Vol. 3, No. 12 / January 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 Artists (& Colorists) Paul Reinman, Bill Ward

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

Writer/Editorial: Don’t You Know There’s a War On? . . . . . 2

And Special Thanks to: Bill Alger Darren Auck Murphy Anderson Mike W. Barr Dennis Beaulieu Bill Black Jerry K. Boyd Bob Brosch Rich Buckler Nick Cardy Alex Chun Dan Clowes Lynda Fox Cohen Gary Crowdus Ray A. Cuthbert Theresa R. Davidson Al Dellinges Shel Dorf Scott Foss Keif Fromm Will Eisner Shane Foley Gill Fox Ron Frantz Karl Gafford Marvin Giles Dick Giordano Jennifer T. Go Martin L. Greim Fred Guardineer Bob Harper Ron Harris Mark & Stephanie Heike Daniel Herman Dennis Kawicki John Kelly Jim Korkis Harry Lampert

Contents

Mitch Lee Carl Lundgren Dan Makara Joe & Nadia Mannarino Jean-Francois Massé Hugh McCann Tom McNally Brian K. Morris Roger Mortimer Eric NolenWeathington Jerry Ordway Chris Overton Jon Park Bill Pearson Richard Pryor Ethan Roberts Steven Rowe Eugene Seger Kevin Sharpe Dave Siegel Jeff Smith Robin Snyder Tim Takeuchi Joel Thingvall Dann Thomas Hames Ware Bill Warren Len Wein Marv Wolfman Ed Zeno Michael Zeno

This issue is dedicated to the memory of

Ronn Foss

There’s no Black Terror to deal with the terrorists... so we’ll have to do it!

Written Off - 9-30-49, Part II: Reconstructing Reinman . . . . . . 4 Focus on a never-before-seen “Green Lantern” story from the 1940s—and more!

That 1965 Newsweek Article: A Triptych in Prose . . . . . . . . . . 17 Bill Schelly examines a landmark media piece and its “lost” interviews.

Hail, Hail, This Time’s the Gang’s Really All Here! . . . . . . . . . . 28 Roy Thomas talks to Len Wein and Rich Buckler about All-Star Squadron.

re:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Playing catch-up, with loquacious letters & cogent corrections concerning recent issues.

FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America #71) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 P.C. Hamerlinck presents another Fawcett foray with C.C. Beck & Marc Swayze.

Gill Fox and “Quality Control” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Flip Us! About Our Cover: The cover of Comic Cavalcade #6 (Spring 1944) was either a joint effort by Paul Reinman (Green Lantern), H.G. Peter (Wonder Woman), and Martin Naydel (The Flash)—or else of an artist carefully emulating the styles of all three. This Reinman-executed version, like Bill Ward’s Blackhawk art on our flip cover, is one of the 1970s re-creations sold by Collectors Book Store in Los Angeles, and is likewise from the collection of Roy Thomas. [Art ©2002 estate of Paul Reinman; GL, Wonder Woman, & Flash © & TM DC Comics.] Above: If the caption-writer of this Reinman-drawn panel from Comic Cavalcade #15 (JuneJuly 1946) thinks that wood is GL’s “implacable enemy,” he should’ve met the DC honchos who “wrote off” several unpublished “Green Lantern” stories back in 1949! Luckily, Fate spared at least the artwork printed in this issue. [©2002 DC Comics.] 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: $8 ($10 Canada, $11 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.

writer/editorial

Don t You Know There s a War On? For all of my more than six decades of life, there has been one “date that will live in infamy,” and one only: December 7, 1941, the Sunday morning when the Japanese struck at military installations at Pearl Harbor, Honolulu. Now there’s another one. September 11, 2001. The differences between the two events loom as large as the obvious similarities. Even more Americans were killed on the more recent date— and many hundreds of visiting or resident foreigners, as well. This time, it was only three airplanes which did all the damage—and they were our planes—and commercial aircraft filled with passengers, to boot. In addition, a very small number of the enemy took direct part in the actual attack—less than two dozen. Another key difference is that, when the smoke cleared in 1941, we knew where the enemy was—in Japan, east Asia, and the Pacific (and, within a couple of days, in Occupied Europe and Africa, as well)—but we were ill-equipped to take the battle to them at once. This time, we had a lot of firepower at our disposal, and could quickly rush it nearly anywhere in the world—but we couldn’t be certain precisely where (or even to some extent who) our adversary was. As these words go to the printer in early December 2001, I—like many Americans and others around the world—still mentally relive, several times a day, the horror I felt when, circa midnight in Sidney, Australia, my wife and I woke up and turned on the TV in our hotel room, to see one of the World Trade towers aflame—only to see a second plane crash into the other one, a couple of minutes later. During the ensuing weeks, the horror remains... but another emotion has grown up alongside it in my mind.

Anger. Anger—and a desire, not so much for revenge, though that is present, too, and I’m not particularly ashamed of it—but for justice. American justice, western justice (in perhaps more than one sense of the term)—to be meted out to those who perpetrated the act. Our President said it best: “Wanted—dead or alive!” Yes, I’ve heard the arguments, whether given out by the Taliban or by well-meaners in the US or elsewhere, that America was partly if not solely to blame for what happened. After all, we helped arm those guys a decade or so ago, and did nothing while they took over a prostrate country, etc., etc., etc. Besides, there are bound to be more civilian casualties if attacks continue against the Taliban in Afghanistan, for shielding Osama bin Laden and his cohorts—so, hey, why not try sanctions or negotiations, or even just cut our losses, rather than risk getting the entire Moslem world mad at us by making it seem as if we’re warring with Islam itself? Bullsh*t. The asterisk is company policy, but you get the idea. I’ll not be the loudest person in defending everything the United States has done, God knows. We’ve made some blunders—or at least our elected or appointed representatives have, and that makes them “our” blunders, as well—and there’s no denying it. But that’s beside the point here. We may have given the forerunners of the Taliban weapons—but it was their own choice to use them against us. We didn’t put a gun (or a cardboard-cutter) to the heads of anyone— Moslem, Jew, Christian, or other—and order him to hijack an airliner filled with men, women, and children and fly it into the World Trade Center or the Pentagon.

writer/editorial That was their own idea. When you see a mad dog, you don’t stop and try to reason with it. You don’t negotiate with it, and you sure as hell don’t roll over and play dead hoping it won’t bite you (again). You kill it by any means possible, and only then do you take time for sober reflection to see what you can do to avoid more canines catching rabies in the future. Yes, there will be civilian casualties. In fact, there already have been— well over 3000, last September—and most of them have been ours. We face a cowardly enemy (and I do not use the term inadvisedly) who will not admit to what they have done—who strike at our entire population via plane crashes and whatever means they can find—who disperse their fearful army amid their own civilian population in the hope of protecting themselves from our missiles, because they know we figure the un-sophisticates of the world will deem it our fault if civilians are harmed, and no responsibility of theirs.

one, will feel that we deserve anything we get in the future. I have no way of knowing, of course, what the world situation will be when this editorial sees print in early 2002. I can only hope that America has not really changed from the “land of the free, and the home of the brave,” into what many people at home and abroad already think it is—a nation that embodies the Short Attention Span Theatre, with its populace wondering (as some homegrown commentators already were when these words were written in late October) why the war wasn’t over and done with already, since it had been six or seven weeks since the destruction of the World Trade Center, and three whole weeks since US-led coalition forces began targeting those ranged against us in Afghanistan. Three whole weeks! My God in heaven.

I was no great admirer of Richard M. Nixon—in fact, I voted against him in two Presidential elections—but in his later book The Real War he postulated that the effectiveness of a country is “force times will.” Not “force plus will,” where even a lack of will still leaves you the force—but “force times will.” And any quantity, if multiplied times nothing—equals nothing.

It took the larger part of four years from Pearl Harbor to the surrender of the Japanese imperialists in Tokyo Bay. And Great Britain had been fighting the Nazis for two years before that. The behind-thescenes plotting that climaxed on 9-11 was evidently several years in the making, as well. We should be thinking in terms not of weeks, not even of months, but, sadly, of years.

If we, by lack of will power or savvy or whatever, allow our sworn foes, these unholy holy warriors, to obfuscate and confuse not just the more backward people in the world but even ourselves, so that we are paralyzed by guilt and inaction, then we have already lost. And I, for

I want—and I have let my elected government representatives know that I want—America and its friends to win this war on terror, no matter how long it takes, no matter what it takes. I don’t want one civilian or even military casualty more—on either side—than it takes to rid the Earth of those whose twisted minds spawned the events of September 11, 2001, and of those who would shield them. But neither do I want one less casualty—on either side—than it takes to win.

Everyone deserves a

Golden Age!

Neither during World War II nor during the present conflict have there arisen any super-powered heroes to do this job for us. There is no modern-day Black Terror to stamp out the Terrorists, as he did the Nazis. There is no Batman to seek out what President Bush calls “the evil ones” in their dark caves. There is no Human Torch to roast them alive in their labyrinthine tunnels, as the newly-invented flamethrower did enemy troops who refused to surrender during the early 1940s. This war against terror and terrorists is for us to win, and us alone—or else we are not worthy to inherit the world bequeathed to us by George Washington and Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln and Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. I’d like to think we are. End of editorial.

GiVE BACK TO THE CREATORS WHO GAVE YOU YOUR DREAMS.

P.S.: It is not my intention to allow Alter Ego to become a vehicle for arguments either for or against the position taken above. I probably won’t print any letters either pro or con my stated viewpoint. However, as the magazine’s co-founder and editor, I felt readers should know where I stand, whether they agree with me or not. I’ve never been one to read an opinion poll to decide what I should think or say.

Written Off – 9-30-49

Part II by Roy Thomas

Reconstructing Reinman [Except where otherwise noted, all original-art reproductions accompanying this article are from photocopies courtesy of Marv Wolfman.] Skip ahead a bit if you’ve heard this one before (especially if you’ve read the fuller account back in A/E V3#10): In 1949 National Comics Publications, Inc. (a.k.a. DC), elected to “write off” what may have amounted to hundreds of pages of unpublished comic art and story, no doubt in order to get a one-time tax break. Many of these pages were stamped “Written Off – 9-30-49” on that date or later. Prominent among them seem to have been never-used stories from recently defunct (or totally revamped) titles such as Flash Comics, All-Flash, Comic Cavalcade, All-American Comics, Green Lantern, the stillongoing Sensation Comics, and at least one probably-completed but longshelved Justice Society of America tale (“The Will of William Wilson”) from 1945-46... in other words, the majority of the All-American line which had once been M.C. Gaines’ sister company to National/DC, and which had been purchased outright by DC circa 1945. Along with this, apparently, went at least one “Superman” story drawn in the early 1940s by the Joe Shuster studio.

enlightened DC management, beginning in the late ’60s and early ’70s in the company’s “giant” anthologies. Most of them, however, almost certainly do not exist en toto, or, if they do, the pages and panels are at the very least scattered to the winds and probably impossible for either ourselves or DC to completely reassemble. We’ve had fun trying, though, in the interests of historical scholarship—oh yeah, and because we dig the stories and art, as well.

In the second half of the 1960s, on at least two occasions, future comics writer and editor Marv Wolfman and several fellow fans were fortunate in being allowed, by production chief Sol Harrison, to cart off what amounted to hundreds of pages and demi-pages of original DC artwork from the 1940s-’60s period, much of the earlier work from the material “written off” in 1949. Under circumstances explained in full in A/E V3#2, many (but not all) of the latter pages had been cut by Marv into thirds (rows, or “tiers”), since in the 1940s most DC comics had three even rows of panels on all pages except the splash. A few of these “lost” stories have since been printed complete by a more

These Carmine Infantino-penciled panels are from an unpublished circa-1948 encounter between The Flash and The Thinker, complete with editorial notes in the margin. [Flash & Thinker © & TM 2002 DC Comics.]

Reconstructing Reinman

This penultimate page from the third, mostly-unpublished Flash vs. Rose & Thorn exploit, scripted by Robert Kanigher and drawn by Joe Kubert, previously appeared—in color—in Lois Lane #113 (Sept.-Oct. 1971). It, like other pages from this story previously printed in Alter Ego, was also seen, in black-&-white, in Robin Snyder’s The Comics. [©2002 DC Comics.]

Some of this art has seen the light of day in the newly-resurrected Alter Ego, occasionally in other magazines, as well. In the basically outof-print All-Star Companion I assembled and edited for TwoMorrows in 2000, more than a dozen pages’ worth of the unpublished mid-’40s JSA story were gathered together for the first time. And only two issues ago we printed all the art we could find (approximately six pages’ worth) from a Carmine Infantino-penciled, never-before-seen late-’40s “Flash” story, “The Garrick Curse!” This time around, we’ve attempted to reconstruct what we could of another of those “rescued” stories—a “Green Lantern” tale drawn by the late Paul Reinman (though the writer, alas, is unknown).

Reinman, who in the 1960s would ink many Jack Kirby stories for Marvel and illustrate the “Mighty Comics” material for Archie, was for a brief time in the 1940s a minor luminary at DC/AA. His “Green Lantern” work generally headlined All-American Comics from 1943-47, but also appeared occasionally in Comic Cavalcade and even in AllStar Comics, and he drew at least a cover or two for Green Lantern... though, oddly, no interior stories. Putting together all the known extant art from this tale was not unlike doing a jigsaw puzzle—which is appropriate, since it deals with a radio program called “Dr. Cypher, the Puzzle King”!

Written Off – 9-30-49

Self-portrait of artist Paul Reinman, courtesy of Al Dellinges.

Splash page of Reinman's “GL” story printed in All-American #55 (Jan. 1944)— repro'd from photocopies of the original art, courtesy of Joel Thingvall—plus PR's cover for same. For a great selection of comics from Joe's Nostalgia Zone, go on-line at <http://www.nostalgiazone.com> or drop them at line at: Nostalgia Zone, P.O. Box 6106, Minneapolis, MN 55406. [©2002 DC Comics.]

In 2000 a generous Marv Wolfman sent Ye Editor photocopies of most of the tiers of “written off” art that he’s held on to over the years. All artwork that follows, unless otherwise noted, was in that Care package from the Marvelous One.

And, by great good fortune, it included the very first panel of the Dr. Cypher story, excluding the doubtless lost 2/3-page splash. (Very, very few splashes were preserved in the 1967 rescue, since Marv would have been forced to slice them in two first, and he didn’t save many mutilated panels.) In this initial panel Alan Scott, a radio announcer in his civilian ID, introduces Dr. Cypher’s radio program... and gets a real shock...

[Alan Scott © & TM 2002 DC Comics.]

Reconstructing Reinman Apparently, the top tier of Page 2 is still “missing in action.” I say “apparently” because, on the photocopies of the next two tiers of panels Marv sent, which are clearly from Page 2, the bottom border and a little bit of art accidentally got cut off, along with the page number—but what is missing almost surely is the top 1/3 of the page.

[Alan Scott & Doiby Dickles © & TM 2002 DC Comics.]

An Aside & an Anomaly: For All-American Comics #83 (March 1947) Paul Reinman drew no less than two stories—”Green Lantern” and “Black Pirate”— but the cover and lead spot were given to reprints of Bud Fisher's once superpopular Mutt & Jeff comic strip. [©2002 DC Comics.]

Written Off – 9-30-49 This full page-worth of panels, furnished by collector Al Dellinges, is the choice of the litter artwise, since it features Green Lantern reciting his oath before his ancient lamp!

[Green Lantern & Doiby Dickles © & TM 2002 DC Comics.]

We have no way of knowing on what mission GL sends his colorful cab-driving sidekick Doiby Dickles. But the appearance on this page of both the names “Mr. Limbo” and “Dr. Cypher” helped immeasurably in tying other tiers of art definitely to this story, since often one or the other name would be mentioned in a batch of reassembled panels.

Reconstructing Reinman By chance, all panels of Page 4 were preserved, as well. In 1999 fan/collector Dan Makara graciously sent A/E what had to be the top tier, bearing the handwritten designation “AA 89,” indicating the story was once slated for All-American Comics #89. While some Silver Age aficionados disparage Reinman's work,

knowing him only as a sometime inker at Marvel and (worse still) as the artist of Archie’s “Mighty Comics” line in the late ’60s, Panel 1 shows his ability to devise good secondary characters. Each of Mr. Limbo's henchmen has an individual look... and note one of the guys at right with his fingers to his face, while the other leans nonchalantly on a piece of furniture. All this took extra time, thinking, and effort.

[Green Lantern © & TM 2002 DC Comics.]

As for the two bottom tiers, they’ve been in my personal collection for so long that I can no longer recall from whom I purchased them! Notice that, preserved in the right margin of the bottom tier, the last caption is marked to be totally re-lettered, with different dialogue.

[Green Lantern © & TM 2002 DC Comics.]

Written Off – 9-30-49

Circumstances of some sort (most likely involving wood and the back of his cranium) prevented the Emerald Gladiator from putting the kibosh on Mr. Limbo and his gang on Page 5 and ending the story early.

All the same, we do have one tier of panels, probably from the middle of the page, as identified by the presence of Limbo in his distinctive dark glasses.

[Green Lantern © & TM 2002 DC Comics.]

Aside #2: For some reason, Reinman’s work fell out of favor after 1946-47, and only one or two “GL” stories of his (obviously left over in inventory) appeared in print after that. While a fervid admirer of the great “Green Lantern” work of Alex Toth, Irwin Hasen, Carmine Infantino, and Howard Purcell after 1945, I’ve always nursed a fondness for Reinman’s version, as well, and have never fully understood why he was shunted off to minor features like “Black Pirate” and “Sargon the Sorcerer.” After a slow start circa 1943, he had developed a definite style,

at a time when the average DC artist displayed very little, and in 1946-47 would draw single “Hawkman” and “Atom” episodes in Flash and AllStar which were better than most. There’s no accounting for taste.

And, just because we happen to have the room at this point, we wanted to show you what we mean—by showcasing a sample art sequence from each of the two forementioned tales:

Reconstructing Reinman

Page 6, likewise marked for “AA 89,” continues the GL-Cyber confrontation.

[Green Lantern © & TM 2002 DC Comics.]

Here GL confronts Dr. Cypher with what must be a recording of Alan Scott’s voice over the radio, in order to make him doubt that Scott and GL are the same man—something Cyber had begun to suspect as early as Page 2. Cypher’s being tricked by a tape recording worked better in the ’40s than it would today, since back then most radio programs went out “live,” and using a tape or disk recording on the East Coast would’ve

been a rare event—thus not the first thing Cyber would think of. (Note that his final line was to be altered to read: “You tricked me!”—a more direct accusation aimed at GL.) In Panel 4 the adjective “diabolical” is crossed out on the original art, but the editorial change in the margin has been cut off. DC was reluctant to use even oblique references to the Devil in the 1940s.

Written Off – 9-30-49 The next panels we have are from the bottom of page 7. The gang is back with Mr. Limbo.

[Green Lantern & Doiby Dickles © & TM 2002 DC Comics.]

Whatever happens on Pages 8-9, the two bottom tiers of Page 10 show Limbo’s plot start to unravel. In Panel 1 the word “rats” was to be altered to “babies,” an odd change for the late ’40s—while a margin note next to Panel 4 indicates that the verb “been,” left out of the third line of GL’s balloon, should be added.

[Green Lantern & Doiby Dickles © & TM 2002 DC Comics.]

Reconstructing Reinman Page 11 is a bit of a frustration. When he mailed us other panels from this story, Dan Makara sent along an ad for Tri-State Original Art of Delaware from the Oct. 25, 1996, edition of The Comics Buyer’s Guide, which depicts a full page of Paul “Reiman” [sic] art for sale. (Apparently,

as indicated by wording in the ad, this page, too, had “AA 89” written on it.) That art was doubtless sold long ago and was not repro’d well enough in the CBG ad for easy reading. Still, let’s do the best we can, in the interest of historical completeness:

[Alan Scott/Green Lantern © & TM 2002 DC Comics.]

In Panel 1 Alan watches Cypher broadcast a vow to reveal GL’s secret identity the next day: “Dr. Cypher never fails!” In Panel 4 (trust us on this), Cypher sees Alan is wearing gloves, no doubt “to hide the brown stains on his hands”—but when Alan removes his gloves, there’s “not a speck of ink” on his hands. GL has a trick or two up his own crimson sleeve!

After changing, the Lantern baits Cypher with a puzzle: “There are three men—Alan Scott, Dr. Cypher, and Mr. Limbo. Only one is honest—yet only one is a crook! Can you solve that?” GL says the answer is that Cypher and Limbo are “one person.” In the final panel Cypher stammers, “You’re crazy! You can’t prove that!”

Written Off – 9-30-49 The last tier of the story to which we have access at present was also contributed by Dan Makara: the top two panels on Page 12, almost certainly the story’s final page. GL uses the selfsame “brown stain” to prove (though not in a court of law, of course) that Dr. Cypher and Mr. Limbo are one and the same.

[Green Lantern © & TM 2002 DC Comics.]

In the remaining few panels, GL would have taken Cypher in hand and perhaps had a bit of banter as Alan with Doiby, who by now would have completed whatever mission he was given earlier... probably playing that tape of Alan Scott’s voice over the radio.

In the 1970s Paul Reinman, who passed away some years ago, did full-color re-creations of a few of his covers, including this one of the scene from the cover of All-American #56. [Art ©2002 the estate of Paul Reinman; Green Lantern & Doiby Dickles © & TM 2002 DC Comics.]

Reconstructing Reinman And there you have it. As detective work, putting together (some of) the pieces of this particular puzzle was hardly on a par with Sherlock Holmes or even Solar Pons; but it was fun, nonetheless. As an epilogue—well, maybe we shouldn’t admit this, but until we

ran across a few Marv-supplied tiers that we’d temporarily forgotten about, we were all set to make a case for including a totally different Page 6 as part of the Cyber/Limbo story! Here it is, just to show you how tricky putting back together a split-up story can be, unless you’re lucky enough to find enough of the right pieces:

Art courtesy of Jerry G. Bails. [Green Lantern & Doiby Dickles © & TM 2002 DC Comics.]

Why did Ye Editor think this never-published (?) page, sent to us by A/E founder Jerry G. Bails, might be part of the foregoing tale, when there’s nothing in the text to connect it to the Cyber/Limbo tale? Well, you’ll notice that the hoodlum GL is slugging in Panel 1 is nearly identical to one in the other adventure—gangster cap, scarf, and all! Even the crook in the striped suit closely resembles one on Page 4 of Cyber/Limbo, except that the blacks in his hat and hatband are reversed, and here he’s wearing a bowtie and white shirt instead of a black tie and checked shirt. As Stan Lee would say: Sheesh!

Personally, Ye Editor finds this re-use of two subsidiary characters, almost line for line, in two separate stories, a charming trait. It recalls the classic movies of the ’30s and ’40s, in which many supporting actors played stock characters over and over again in films for the same studio. The two hoods mentioned above are All-American Comics’ equivalent of Elisha Cooke Jr., Jesse White, et al. Clearly, Paul Reinman was drawing a Warner Bros. type of universe!

Written Off – 9-30-49

Anyway, to wind things up before we take up this entire issue showing tiers and panels from one incomplete story to illustrate our point about the “written off” material: If someone reading this piece has additional art panels which might belong to this Cypher/Limbo story—even that page once sold by TriState—we hope he’ll share them with us. One of our hopes in all this is that one day DC will decide to print all this artwork, either in an 80page giant or perhaps as part of some future Golden Age Green Lantern Archives—probably around Volume 25! My great-great-grand-

nephews may enjoy seeing it. And if anyone mails Alter Ego a photocopy of unpublished art that probably isn’t part of this story—maybe because it was drawn by Infantino or Kubert or Arthur Peddy or Lee Elias or whoever—or maybe ’cause it features The Flash or Hawkman or The Ghost Patrol instead of Green Lantern? Well, that’s quite all right, too.

The denouement of a “Ghost Patrol” story penciled by Arthur Peddy (and probably inked by Bernard Sachs, who would embellish the first few years of Justice League of America). [Ghost Patrol © & TM DC Comics 2002.]

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People Do Their Jobs!” Comic“I LetFandom Archive

That Newsweek Article A Triptych in Prose [INTRODUCTION by Bill Schelly: 1965 was a watershed year for comicdom. 1964 had witnessed three regional fan gatherings (in Detroit, New York City, and Chicago) and the first major article on the comic fandom movement (in The New York Times); but the following year brought the first true comic book conventions, publication of The Guidebook to Comics Fandom, and a slew of articles on the hobby—including, most notably, truly national exposure in Newsweek magazine. [Entitled “Superfans and Batmaniacs,” the latter page-plus article appeared in the February 15, 1965, issue of the periodical, which boasted a circulation of over a million readers. Comics fans, alerted by the fandom grapevine, eagerly snapped up copies of the issue to see what sort of treatment their hobby received. [To say that the response was one of mild disappointment is probably the best way to characterize fans’ overall reaction. While there was no denying the giddy thrill of seeing comics depicted and discussed in national media, the article managed to get almost as many facts wrong as it did right—not the best batting average for a highlyrespected periodical.

with Phil Seuling (and possibly others) in New York City, and with a group of several Detroit fans at Jerry Bails’ home in a Michigan suburb. Of the Seuling interview, no record has come to light, though it was probably Seuling—a prominent fan and comics dealer in Brooklyn who later became a convention entrepreneur and a coestablisher of the direct sales market—who provided the magazine with the cover reproductions of five Golden Age comics which accompanied the article, as well as the notion that a copy of Action Comics #1 would sell for $100, then an astronomical sum for a mere comic book. Fan gossip at the time was that Seuling seemed to resent Bails, and that this animosity began when Newsweek mentioned Bails, Shel Dorf, and the Bails-founded fanzine Alter Ego by name, but not Seuling. [Be that as it may: It’s clear that the interview with the Detroit collectors was the primary source of information used for the article. Accordingly, we are here pleased to reprint three artifacts of 1965: the rarely-seen Newsweek article itself (with the kind permission of the publishers); the Detroit interview; plus, as an offbeat footnote, a spoof of the article which Roy Thomas wrote a few weeks later.

[It was widely known that a Newsweek reporter had met with fans in two cities:

Jerry Bails, in a photo first printed in Alter Ego [Vol 1] #5, 1963. As founder of Alter Ego and other fanzines in the early ’60s, as well as of the Academy of Comic-Book Fans and Collectors, Jerry was a seminal figure in the beginnings of comics fandom.

[First, the article itself:]

The 2-15-65 issue of Newsweek cover-featured Indonesia’s President Sukarno. What? No blurb trumpeting the comics fandom piece in its “Life and Leisure” section? Regarding upset fan reaction to the article, Don & Maggie Thompson wrote in Capa-alpha: “Now come on, people, what did you expect? What reactions have you been getting from the ‘outside’ world when you’ve talked about your hobby, anyway? Respectful interest and ‘where do I go to sign up’ reactions?” Thanks to Tom McNally & Roger Mortimer of Thomas Cooper Library, University of South Carolina. [Cover ©2001 Newsweek, Inc.]

Phil Seuling may not have been directly quoted in the Newsweek piece, but he was still a major force in 1960s-70s fandom. Here he hosts the 1969 Comic Art Convention in New York City, as seen in Alter Ego [Vol. 1] #10 in 1969-70.

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That 1965 Newsweek Article

From Newsweek, Feb. 15, 1965 ©1965 Newsweek, Inc. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission. At about the same time the Newsweek issue went on sale, Daredevil #7 (cover-dated April ’65) debuted, with Stan Lee and Wally Wood hitting their alltime high as a team with the classic DD-Sub-Mariner battle—which made headlines only on the comic’s cover. Good art and story weren’t exactly what the magazine’s stringers (or perhaps readers) wanted to know about. B-&-w photostats from an Australian reprint supplied by Shane Foley. [©2002 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

THE DETROIT INTERVIEW [Bill Schelly again. The seminal interviews which formed much of the basis of the piece in Newsweek were transcribed recently for Alter Ego by Brian K. Morris, from tapes provided to the Comic Fandom Archive by Shel Dorf. Gathered in Jerry Bails’ Detroit-area basement recreation room for this event were Jerry, Shel, Eugene Seger, Marvin Giles, Bob Brosch, Dennis Kawicki, Gary Crowdus, and Carl Lundgren. You will note that this group of active fans harbored interest in more than just comic books, which should come as no surprise, since their near-future comics conventions would be known for the next several years as the Detroit Triple Fan Fair (dealing with comics, films, and science-fiction); however, we have trimmed some of the lengthier comments which digressed from the subject of comic books and strips, in order to have room to include everything that was actually said about comic art.

HUGH McCANN: Newsweek magazine is interested in doing a story about people who collect the first editions of comic books, early movies, and that sort of thing. I got Mr. Bails’ name from an editor in New York City.

[Let’s return, then, to the evening of January 16, 1965, at the home of Jerry G. Bails, to learn exactly what was said on this historical occasion. Newsweek reporter Hugh McCann has arrived on a winter’s evening to find out what he can about the growing comic fandom movement, and why fans hold comic books and strips in such high esteem... most likely at the suggestion of DC editor Julius Schwartz:]

EUGENE SEGER: I have maintained the greatest interest, to this day, in the science-fantasy form that Buck Rogers represented, pictorially, in The Detroit News that my mother and father took back in the late ’30s and early ’40s. To try to define the appeal of these strips is not easy. The person who likes these things is probably attracted to things that are unusual or of a different nature. It may be that they’re a little advanced

JERRY BAILS: It’s our pleasure to have you here. We are a group of people who have not had the right kind of publicity in the past. Comic book readers are looked upon as a type of oddball. However, we are quite serious about our collections. We are great appreciators of the creative works of various artists and writers. McCANN: This isn’t going to be really formal. I think I’ll just ask the questions as they occur to me and hope the answers will come out as they occur to you. Eugene, you were telling me about your early interests…?

Comic Fandom Archive McCANN: When you say six issues in the old series, you mean six individual volumes? SEGER: Six separate comic books, and they were reproductions of the full-page Sunday pages from the middle-’30s period, with 64 pages in each issue. McCANN: Where do you store them? SEGER: They’re just stored in a box that is, at least, dust-tight and stored in the dark because the effect of air and light on them tends to deteriorate paper. BAILS: See, this room here is the type that I use to store mine. We put them in these polyethylene bags to keep them from the weather, and the room is kept dry and dark. SEGER: The daily strips which I have are each cut out separately and stored in oblong boxes so they really don’t take up much room. I also have one large box for the newspapers where I can store them perfectly flat.

Half of an undated Buck Rogers Sunday strip from the 1930s, the very week after the above-the-title credits for original writer Phil Nowlan and artist Dick Calkins were removed in favor of a new, bigger logo. [©2002 The Dille Family Trust.]

mentally or intellectually, and therefore become bored with things that satisfy ordinary people. McCANN: You feel, then, the type of person who would collect the first editions of comic books is the sort of person who is, intellectually, a little more advanced than average?

McCANN: Do you store the entire page or is the strip cut from it?

SEGER: No, in the case of the daily strip, just the strip. But the Sunday page, the entire sheet is stored and in some cases, whole sections of the paper that they’re in. McCANN: How often do you refer to these things? Now that you have them somewhere, how often do you make use of them?

SEGER: Yes, and [they] would probably find that in this field, or in this medium of collecting, they can perhaps get away from the ordinary things of life which, to them, just seem commonplace. In other words, they are the adventuresome type or the pioneer type. Even if they can’t do it physically, they can, at least, do it in their minds. They can read, they can draw or express themselves in composition, writing, or so on.

SEGER: Well, as little as possible, for the reason that the paper, in the case of some of these, is quite poor. Most of mine are in good shape, but the paper, in some cases, has gotten yellowed or aged prior to my getting it and so I try not to refer to it any more than I have to. But I do refer to it occasionally when I want to look up, say, reference material for other collectors.

BAILS: Along those lines, one of the activities of comic fans that might strike an interesting note is the publications that they produce. Many of them are amateur artists and writers and produce quite respectable publications.

McCANN: Does anyone else seem to specialize in any other comic book than Buck Rogers?

McCANN: You mean some of the people who collect these first editions are publishers in their own right? BAILS: Yes. They publish amateur magazines of this type, reviewing material that they collect or presenting original creative material. McCANN: Eugene, what is the earliest edition of Buck Rogers that you have? SEGER: I have the first daily strips, the first Sunday pages, and all the comic books, including some that were published in foreign languages and overseas... not all the daily strips yet, but about 80% or better, of all the dailies. All the Sunday pages I do have, all the Big Little Books, and all of the comic books, and most of what they call “ephemeral” material, except the early toys, which I do not have. McCANN: And what about the comic books themselves? SEGER: I have all the comic books. There are six in the old series and three in the second series, which were issued in the early ’50s. The old series came out around the very early 1940s. And in this past year, 1964, they issued one of a third series. It was new material and wasn’t connected with any previously published material.

SHEL DORF: I specialize in collecting the history of the Dick Tracy comics [strip] which began in 1931. Dick Tracy is unique in that it has remained on top in popularity since 1931. The past years, there have been many comic strips that have come and gone, but Dick Tracy remains on the front page of most of the Sunday newspaper sections. I first started reading Tracy in the middle ’40s. The boldness of this man’s approach appealed to me, the technique, the story content and the weird characters that he chose to portray the evil aspects of life. I suddenly found myself reading the strip and instead of throwing it away, I just put it in a drawer. And this drawer started to get pretty full, so I decided there must be some other way to handle this. So I started clipping the strips and putting Shel Dorf, circa 1965—photo taken for a Detroit-area newspaper article on “Newspaper them in scrapbook form. I Comics for Collectors.” Repro'd from Bill have been doing this for the Schelly's The Golden Age of Comic Fandom; see Hamster Press' ad elsewhere this issue.

That 1965 Newsweek Article

past twenty years. McCANN: You began, simply, by clipping them and not throwing them away? DORF: Yes, but this wasn’t enough because the strip started in ’31; I wanted to get the full continuity of the strip. I started putting ads in newspapers and writing the Tribune office to get back issues. And I was in for a pretty big surprise because I found out that, for instance, to get a back issue, a Sunday panel of 1932 or ’33, the price for back issues—and you would have to buy the whole paper—was anywhere from $2.50 a paper to, say, 75¢ a paper per daily strip. The fact that they were old and rare and the average person would just read the paper and throw it away, makes this hobby in the same category as stamp collecting. My collection still has many, many years incomplete because it’s very difficult to find these missing strips. But in the past twenty years, I would say that I have close to 80% of Chester Gould’s entire works. I think the next step in my collection is probably to put it on microfilm, as Jerry Bails has done with his collection. McCANN: Since you mentioned Jerry and his collection, I was going to go to him next.

associated with publishing fanzines, one sort of thing or another. The costumed fantasy hero is the particular interest that I have. I have fairly substantial runs of some of the titles that were the most popular during the period from 1938 to 1948, which is referred to as the “Golden Age” of comic books. McCANN: Who would some of these fantasy heroes be? Superman? BAILS: Yes, Superman… but my particular favorite was a whole group of characters known as the Justice Society of America that appeared in a magazine called All-Star Comics. That was the collection that I completed some years ago. I succeeded in buying the first two volumes of that comic book from the author of the strip. And once having completed that, I opened up my collection and began collecting other things from the same period, other companion magazines. I really went at it systematically. Then I tried to locate as many people as I could and locate dealers. There are a large number of back-issue magazine dealers around the country now. In the last three or four years, the prices on some of these magazines have really skyrocketed. I’d say World’s Fair, a magazine that introduced Superman to the public at the World’s Fair in 1939, runs about $75 now.

BAILS: I’ll take the witness chair. [laughter] McCANN: Jerry, you’re the guy I got who started this all off. BAILS: Unlike these other two fellows, I collect mostly comic magazines from the World War II period. I became interested in them as a youngster, and from about 1945 on I’ve been collecting certain titles. It wasn’t until about three or four years ago that I realized there were other people doing the same thing, and now there’s an international group of some 2000 people that are

At last! Actual talk about comic books! In later years, Superman co-creator Joe Shuster drew this sketch for collector Jim Korkis. As per article, Jerry Bails’ favorite run was All-Star Comics #1-57 from 1940-1950 (shown is a never-yetreprinted panel from #38 by Carmine Infantino and Frank Giacoia)—while the 1939 New York World’s Fair special was fetching a fast $75 in early ’65! (Recent Overstreet Price Guide values a copy of the latter in “very fine” condition at $14,300.) [Superman art ©2002 estate of Joe Shuster; Superman © & TM 2002 by DC Comics. JSA panel and NYWF cover ©2002 DC Comics.]

Comic Fandom Archive

McCANN: What would be the total number of issues in your collection? BAILS: I imagine something like 5000. Many of them are on microfilm now, so I’m trading the originals off for other things that I want. I can put many, many issues on a 100-foot roll of microfilm. I can put them in color and the microfilm is much easier to preserve.

collection of Milt Caniff’s work because of his fine art approach to the comic strip. Caniff’s work has been on display in many of the art museums. McCANN: I was not aware of this. DORF: Oh, yes. There is a select group of people who appreciate Milt Caniff as a fine artist. BAILS: I just ran across some 14th-century manuscript material with text and art wedded together, telling the Nativity story. It was very popular at that particular time when a new, cheap form of paper was made available for making manuscripts. So, really, the whole idea of wedding text and art material dates back a long, long ways.

McCANN: Is it expensive to microfilm them? BAILS: The initial expense is high for the equipment, but it’s cheaper than purchasing the item itself. The item itself may run $25, $3, $5, depending on what it is. I’ve kind of pioneered the idea of microfilming comics, and interesting other collectors in that possibility. SEGER: I might mention the rather high, even exorbitant, prices among the collecting world at the present time. The price that I just saw the other day was rather shocking. A dealer listed the first issue of the Buck Rogers comic, which came out in 1940, at the unbelievable sum of $50. And I have seen Tarzan range from $35 to perhaps $75 for the first Tarzan comic book.

McCANN: Jerry, just to make sure I don’t forget to ask this, what age are you and what do you do for a living? BAILS: I’m 31 and I’m a Professor of Natural Science at Wayne Monteith College. McCANN: Ah, but this gentleman has been sitting here all the while and doing very little talking with us. [laughs] Take the hot seat. MARVIN GILES: I’m 41 years old. My name is Marvin Giles. I’m a writer. Two of the profoundest moments of my life really began one day many, many years ago, when my uncle brought to our house Tarzan. It

BAILS: Those are exceptional prices. SEGER: Prince Valiant is another one that’s very high. Of course, it’s a very well-drawn, one of the bestdrawn in the world. McCANN: Jerry, did you say that you were the president of this club, here? BAILS: It’s just getting organized. This is a local group. I was executive secretary of an international group that communicated primarily through the mails, although we’ve met in various gatherings across the country. But that group was organized a couple of years ago... the Academy of Comic Fans and Collectors, which is primarily for those interested in collecting comic magazines. DORF: I might inject something here. I have a considerable amount of Milton Caniff’s work. You could say I’m a little prouder of my

Milt Caniff hit it big first with Terry and the Pirates, later with Steve Canyon. The Terry dated 3-29-39 is from Roy Thomas’ personal collection, autographed by Caniff in 1982: “—for Roy—who grew up with these people (and with me) Regards, Milton Caniff - 10 July 1982 - San Diego.” The 1954 Canyon is from the height of the Cold War— between the Korean and Vietnam Wars (note reference to Indo-China)—and its art is finished outside panel borders, where it wouldn’t be reproduced until Kitchen Sink’s Steve Canyon 40th Anniversary Special in 1987. [Terry ©2002 Chicago Tribune-New York News Syndicate, Inc.; Canyon ©2002 Field Enterprises, Inc.]

That 1965 Newsweek Article

BAILS: I’m not publishing anything at the present time. When I was publishing a fanzine, I would get, oh, anywhere from 25 to 50 pieces of mail a day. McCANN: We better backtrack then. You did publish a magazine for a while? BAILS: I started several of the fanzines that are appearing. McCANN: That’s the name, “fanzine”? BAILS: Yeah, it means “fan magazine.” The first one that I put out was called Alter Ego. It was started in February of 1961. McCANN: What was the content?

The Newsweek article would mention this piece by “Rick Strong” (actually Roy Thomas, using a fellow teacher's name) from Alter Ego [V1] #7, 1964, Roy's first issue as editor/publisher. Art by Biljo White, based on Frank R. Paul's cover for Marvel Comics #1, 1939. [Art ©2002 Biljo White; Human Torch © & TM 2002 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

was not quite a first issue, but my mother read this strip to me and I had her read it over and over again so that I could memorize the contents of each panel. Then, on the very first issue of the comic strip Flash Gordon, I had, roughly, the same experience. Only by that time, I could do my own reading. Actually, I’m interested in the entire framework of adventure but with particular interest on the science-fiction and fantasy phase of it. My collection is extensive. I don’t know how many—I probably have 8 or 10,000 comic magazines. My newspaper comic strips begin in about 1909, with some breaks in the early years, so it continued fairly strong from the ’20s on. And I would say that my collection takes in, perhaps, 25,000 items, or more. That’s both science-fiction and the pulp magazines. McCANN: What sort of use do you make of these, Mr. Giles, from day to day?

BAILS: It was primarily nostalgia, dealing with the particular strips that I was interested in—the costumed fantasy heroes of the 1940s, primarily, although it branched out to movie serials. You see, many of these characters appeared in several media: the radio chapter plays, movie serials. So that’s what we mean when we say it’s contagious. You find yourself moving into new areas all the time. McCANN: Who published it for you and what sort of distribution or circulation did you have? BAILS: It started out on a modest scale, a couple of hundred, and ended up with a circulation of about a thousand. Finally, it was professionally photo-offset. The original process was fluid duplicators, a spirit duplicator process. Now it’s run through several issues. Someone else has taken it over and it’s photo-offset for a professional-looking magazine. McCANN: Did you pay for this yourself? BAILS: Yeah, yeah. McCANN: And did you solicit subscriptions? BAILS: Yeah, you make as many sales as you can to try to break even, but you usually lose money on it.

GILES: I keep this only for my own pleasure. I enjoy reading it, and I’m interested in a kind of analysis of this material. McCANN: One of the things I’ve been unable to discover at this is how you fellas are all roped together. I mean, are you meeting here for the first time? Have you known each other over a number of years?

BAILS: Oh no, no, no. It’s not a moneymaking project. It’s just a medium by which you can contact other people who may have something missing from your collection or you may duplicates. Let me give you an example. An Australian friend of mine just published a new comic fanzine called Down Under. By publishing it, he made contact with professionals in the comic art field in Australia. He broke in and got a large number of very interesting contacts, new sources of material, information about the strips, and so forth, and information about the pros. So the fanzine really serves as a vehicle for you to contact with people.

GILES: Most of us know each other within the city and that’s about it. BAILS: Roughly local, basically. There are a number of people like us all over the country. We keep in touch through correspondence or exchanging and trading material, buying and selling, and so on. DORF: Or maybe through advertising in magazines for material. ROBERT BROSCH: I have 700 names of collectors across the United States. McCANN: You have? BAILS: I have 2000. [laughs] McCANN: Jerry, how many pieces of mail do you receive each day?

McCANN: Did you find yourself drumming up business, stopping people in the street, saying, “Would you buy my magazine?”

McCANN: Let me see if I’ve got the general idea here. First of all, if you’re collecting a particular series, you want to get that series complete. If there are any blanks in it, you’re trying to get in touch with people who may be able to fill out the blanks. Secondly, you’re so enthused

Comic Fandom Archive

about what you’re doing that you want to get together with people of equal enthusiasm to talk about it, to kick the ideas around, to evoke a nostalgia about it. BAILS: Right. McCANN: Now, this gentleman’s name who I didn’t get, he mentioned that he had 700 names. ROBERT BROSCH: These are not comic collectors. McCANN: Well, I’ll still settle for your name. [laughs] BROSCH: Robert Brosch. McCANN: I know it’s another area, but you said you had 700 something? BROSCH: I have 700 names of collectors of movie material. The biggest media I collect is still from horror/science-fiction movies. I’m a big fan of Ray Harryhausen, who is the number-one special effects producer in the movies. I saw a few of his pictures when I was young and they just captured my interest. I was wondering why or how they could do something like this and make it look so realistic.

newsstand and see things that I couldn’t have at the time because I couldn’t afford them. So I made up my mind that when I was making my own way, I would have all of this that I wanted. I’ve been successful so far but I think it gives us something, some connecting link to our childhood, in a line to a major extent, although that’s not entirely our main reason. BAILS: That’s quite true. My own activities involve contacts with a large number of youngsters and I actually enjoy these contacts, for many of them are getting the same pleasures that I derived as a youngster. I often wonder if there isn’t some kind of special psychological class to place us all in, but I don’t know of any, because we all seem to come from varied backgrounds. One thing that is different about us, we all can enjoy ourselves with our hobbies even in isolation. Most of us have pursued this hobby for years on our own. We may have had a few contacts but the social contact is a recent development for most of us. Many people can’t enjoy their own solitude. We can do that. KAWICKI: I think the big factor is an inherent dissatisfaction with the way things are, and it’s a type of escape. Yet it’s not a type of unstable escape. It’s a type of an escape into something which is broader than our present daily spectrum of living. In western culture, people are held rather strongly by various boundaries or individual ways of thinking which are, perhaps, somewhat restricted or narrow.

[EDITOR’S NOTE: At this point the talk digresses for a few minutes concerning movies, including silent movies, after which:] DORF: I know a young student who will be a movie director someday. He has very interesting ideas. Gary, would you like to come over? CROWDUS: I would say that I have all my interest in science-fiction/fantasy films because I first became interested in these films for their content alone, and gradually my interest graduated to the technique of film, more form than content. McCANN: Have you done any formal study in this?

When this interview was taped, Julius Schwartz’ “New Look” for Batman was taking hold at DC, as per the cover of Detective #344 by Infantino and Giella, repro’d from photocopies of the original art. But it would be the campy Batman TV series, debuting nearly a year after the Newsweek article appeared, that would really make America comic-book-conscious, at least after a fashion. Note the Bob Kane autograph—on Carmine’s art! [©2002 DC Comics.]

CROWDUS: I’ve done my own study. I read a lot. But I’m engaged now in the first production of my own film, and after I finish my sophomore year I’m going to transfer to USC, where I hope to be majoring in motion pictures. [Right now] I’m going to Oakland University at Rochester. McCANN: Have you any collections in addition to your techniques? CROWDUS: I do collect stills, but not as intensive as some of the people here. It’s just a hobby. McCANN: [to Carl Lundgren] You’re still in high school, right? CARL LUNDGREN: Yes. I became a collector four or five years ago. My most extensive collections are in comic books—horror and sciencefiction comic books. About the period from 1950 to 1955, there was a company that put out horror and science-fiction comic books. It was Educational Comics or Entertaining Comics. BAILS: ECs, as they were known in the business. SEGER: To what extent does nostalgia prompt a person to collect? I know in my own case, when I was a little boy, I would go to the

BAILS: In my professional world, the amount of literature that I read is considerable. My own library of my own professional tools is extensive. I enjoy something that’s a total break with that mundane world. It doesn’t place quite the same kind of demands on me and yet I’m continually placing new kinds of demands on myself as a fan. [laughs] I suspect that I place far too many demands on myself as a fan. McCANN: You seem to have a lot of energy for exploring your avocation.

BAILS: My hobby brings new energy into my professional life. I feel professionally more confident and more energetic and more enthusiastic simply because I have something to switch to. McCANN: [to Seger] How do you feel about it? SEGER: Well, I know in my own case, I had a deep interest in this as a boy and I just never grew up. [laughs] GILES: I can be accused of that same thing. BAILS: They say that men, in our society, frequently make a total break from their childhood and usually can’t remember, and repress so much. I think, in that respect, we’re unusual in that we try not to break too many ties. I see no reason, if you enjoy something as a youngster, why you should ever lose that enjoyment. I hope I never lose that thrill. I still love to go out with my little boy and fly a kite. I don’t need my little boy as an excuse, either, to fly a kite. SEGER: I would say that it’s impossible, practically impossible, to pick up a strip or a comic magazine of a particular year—we’ll say 1944, for example—without remembering just a little bit of what you were doing

That 1965 Newsweek Article at the time, when you didn’t have quite the responsibilities of adulthood, when your mother and father took care of all of your problems. DORF: Yes, this is true. Nostalgia does have a lot to do with this collecting, especially at the beginning. Then a person’s interest branches out into different areas. As our intelligence grows, we approach these collections with different attitudes. When I go over the early panels, the early stories of Dick Tracy, I will suddenly find new things that I haven’t seen in it before that I was unconscious of. The way the people spoke in those times, the interiors of living rooms, costumes, automobiles, these old strips are almost a document of American times and change. Nostalgia is a part of it, but not all of it. BAILS: I approach my collection with certain questions, and identification of artists is one thing. Many artists are unknown or unidentified. Many times, one artist will pencil the work, another will ink the work. I still delight in discovering that someone who’s done something hasn’t received credit for it and I’ve identified an inker or a pencil artist, a new combination of penciler-inker. McCANN: Do you get skilled enough to get to the point where you could look at one and say that so-and-so did that one? BAILS: Oh, yes. LUNDGREN: It’s not difficult. BAILS: Even when they draw alike. Even when they’re attempting to “ghost” for others.

from all aspects. He has read many textbooks before he even approaches going into this area. This is his reputation—same with Hal Foster’s Prince Valiant, so that being a mass media, he feels that it is his responsibility to give his readers accurate information. BAILS: I was going to say, Shel, I don’t think there’s any question about the fact that the comic strips have a great value in teaching children how to read. I learned to read through comics. I remember when I was a youngster I was warned against reading comic books because I wouldn’t read anything else. Contrary to the fact, of course, that I’m an extensive reader. I read extensively. GILES: There’s one point I’d like to make on why people do collect. There is a historical worth in this material they’re collecting. These items need to be preserved. Somewhere in a far-distant future, people who want to know something about our times, about this part of Americana, will have the actual examples to look at, because of people like ourselves who started collecting stuff that other people were just throwing away. McCANN: You know, when you put it in the frame of Americana, you’d wonder why someone isn’t recording this on microfilm, because it is an aspect of our life. BAILS: The Library of Congress is not doing it.

[At this point there is a brief aside in which Marvin Giles mentions helping out the syndicate that owned McCANN: For example, the one Buck Rogers by supplying them I’ve often noticed myself is the with copies of 1949-50 strips of type of profiles that the Milton which they had no copies, with Caniff characters always have, regard to a court case. There is that particular square-jawed, mention of author and Arkham small-profiled type. “Prince Valiant stands awfully high, at the top as far as artistic quality goes.” House publisher August Derleth Agreed. But it’s still odd that more time is spent in the interview on comic strips having “as complete a collection of BAILS: The ears often give the than on the comic books which had generated interest in such an article. all comics [strips] as anyone in the inker away. I can always tell by [1937 art ©2002 King Features Syndicate, Inc.] world,” and of one Ernie McGee of the intricacies of the ears who the Philadelphia who also had a huge inker is. collection of comic strips—after which the reporter winds things up:] SEGER: If an artist is any good at all, he has his trademark somewhere McCANN: Oh, you guys have lots of material and I’ve lots of material, in his work. too. [laughs] More than I thought I was going to get. McCANN: What would you feel, from an artistic point, is one of the GILES: What will be the possible end product of this interview? most impressive series that’s been running over the years? BAILS: Prince Valiant stands awfully high, at the top as far as artistic quality goes. DORF: I would agree. BAILS: But then, you see, it’s not just realism that makes a strip. It’s many things combined. SEGER: Good story. BAILS: The unity of the text with art. The art doesn’t have to be realistic in style. It can have many different styles. The Dick Tracy-style art is appropriate to that kind of strip. I don’t think a more realistic style would be appropriate. It’s the choice of artistic styles. DORF: Hugh, I would like to touch briefly on something that hasn’t been said before. This is the educational value of comic strips. My prime example would be Steve Canyon. Milton Caniff has a reputation of doing extensive research. When he has a story, for instance, that has taken place in the Scottish moors, he has investigated the Scottish moors

McCANN: Newsweek is planning on doing something. This and other interviews with people like yourselves will be tossed into a hopper and out of that, they’ll create something. [End of tape.] [Bill Schelly again: That “something,” of course, proved to be the highest-profile piece on comicdom that was done during fandom’s Golden Age of the 1960s and early ’70s although the finished article drew on only scattered parts of this interview. From references in the Newsweek article, it’s clear that Bails provided McCann with copies of Alter Ego (Vol. 1) #6 and 7, both published in 1964. [To close out this special section, there follows a spoof of the Newsweek article by Roy Thomas, written in the weeks just after the original piece appeared. It was done for the Spring 1965 issue of the apa-zine CAPA-Alpha , and was reprinted in Don and Maggie Thompson’s Comic Art #6 (July 1966) The ribs at Newsweek’s expense were all made in the spirit of fun. The non-italicized introductory comments are from Roy’s original presentation:]

Comic Fandom Archive

A recent issue of Newsweek “highlighted,” shall we say, comics fandom and its publications and off-shoots. While grateful for the chance to reach this magazine’s more than one million readers (who, if we’re fortunate, have by this time literally flooded the mail department at Wayne State University), we can naturally wish that the coverage had been, let us be kind, a bit less biased. (Perhaps, however, we should thank our lucky stars it was not Time that interviewed Jerry Bails. Can’t you see it now: “Dr. Bails, no academic scribbler he, leads his maskworshipping multitudes in their search for newsstand Nirvana….” Poetic, no?) The two letters which I fired off to the magazine (after first and second thoughts, respectively) will probably raise no interest in Newsweek’s offices; but just the same, I thought it might be interesting to imagine what would happen if they would decide to do a second feature, this one as a result of an interview with yours truly as publisher of the fanzine mentioned most prominently in the article. Let’s listen for a moment, shall we, as…

it. Personally, I’ve never even seen it advertised for that much. But then, I haven’t really been looking. NW: Why not? RT: Mainly because I’m just a fan publisher, not a collector, I guess. Unless you count my Mexican comics. NW: Ah—a new angle! [mumbling] Maybe this article can be run in the “International” section. [louder] Uh, how much are these Mexican comics worth in American money apiece? RT: 8¢. NW: 8¢? [sound of pencil dropped on floor] RT: 8¢. One peso. That’s assuming, of course, you bought them in Mexico, as I did. NW: [with resurging eagerness] Ah! I suppose you made this jaunt to Mexico specifically for the purpose of buying Mexican comics and smuggling them into this country for resale at higher prices? RT: Not really. If I saw a comic and I had a peso in my pocket, I bought it. That’s all. NW: Ah, but you did resell them at a profit when you got back to the States? RT: No, not really. [trying to be helpful:] But I did give a few away, if that helps any. NW: [without enthusiasm] Thanks.

An Imaginary Tale by Roy Thomas

RT: And, of course, I had an associate of mine write an article on them.

[Sound of tape recorder being clicked on; the Newsweek reporter speaks first, followed by Roy Thomas.]

RT: Yes, it was, as a matter of fact.

NW: Ah, now we’re getting someplace. Was this a male associate?

NW: Uh, Mr. Thomas, I’ll, uh, just take a few random notes as you talk into this tape recorder—that way we’ll hear both sides of your story. Heh heh. [This homey pre-interview patter finished, he goes on more seriously.] Uh, you are the publishing editor of Alter Ego, the nation’s leading super-hero comic book fanzine?

NW: And of course you worked, uh, very closely with him on this article? RT: Well, not really too closely. He lives in California.

RT: I publish Alter Ego, yes. NW: Tell me, when did you first become a comic book fanatic? RT: Newsweek said we were fanatics; we didn’t. We’re no more fanatical than the average stamp or coin collector, and we read a lot more. NW: [over the sound of his scribbling] Hmmm… overt denial… typical of type… [more audibly] Uh, Mr. Thomas, if you’re not a fanatic, why are you willing to pay $100 for the June 1938 issue of Action Comics?

RT: Well, I don’t know of anybody who ever paid $100 for

RT: I wasn’t aware that it did. NW: What’s the matter with you? Didn’t you read the article in Newsweek, Feb. 15, 1965? RT: Oh, that. Yes, of course. I guess you’re referring to the supposedly “exotic company” at the old serial showings…. NW: Yes, that’s the bunch. How else do you account for their “slapping each other’s thighs in glee” unquote?

RT: I’m not. NW: You’re not? But it says right here—Newsweek, Feb. 15, 1965— that issue “has since become a $100 collector’s item among the country’s band of first-edition comic book fanatics.”

NW: Oh. Well, uh, getting on— why do you think that comic book fandom attracts primarily homosexuals? [sounds of frantic scribbling]

RT: Over-enthusiasm, personally. I myself don’t like serials that much. Roy (seen in a 1969 photo from A/E V1#10) really was excited about all the comics he’d picked up during sojourns in Puerto Rico and Mexico in 1963-64—especially Criollo, El Caballo Invencible (Criollo, the Invincible Horse), which starred a hero called Super-Charro. See a hopefully near-future issue of A/E for Fred Patten’s longpromised look at the Silver Age of Comics south of the border! [©2002 Editorial Argumentos. a.k.a. Edar.]

NW: Then you’ve never been to one of these “exotic” gatherings? RT: Well, I went to a showing of the Captain Marvel serial in Chicago last Christmas, if that’s what you mean. I even had a date or two while I was there.

That 1965 Newsweek Article

NW: I see. And what was his name?

RT: That’s right. C—— M——.

RT: Coreen. [sound of snapping pencil lead] Sorry.

NW: A bit hard on the teeth. Well, anyway, about his earthworm foe, Master Mind—

NW: Then you, uh, don’t know of anybody familiar with old comics who has an obsession with homosexuality?

RT: That’s Mister Mind, actually. NW: But it says right here in Newsweek, Feb. 15, 1965—

RT: Well—maybe one.

RT: Yes, but that’s a copying of a, er, typographical error in Alter Ego #6. The real name is Mister Mind.

NW: Ah-hah! [sound of scribbling] His name? RT: Wertham. Fredric C. Wertham.

NW: Oh. Anyway, about Billy Batson and his insufficient attempts to adapt and relate to the world about him….

NW: [scribbling away] W-E-R-T-H-A-M. Got it. What does he do for a living?

RT: His what?

RT: He’s a psychologist. And he writes, sort of.

NW: His chronic stuttering.

NW: I’ll look him up in our files. Does he collect comic books? RT: I, uh, think he used to. He’s advanced to the horror movies and TV stage now, though. NW: I see. And does he—or did he—read these comics he collected?

RT: He didn’t stutter. “I’m just a lonely boy, lonely and blue...” Batman and Robin were more than just pals, if the 1960s media had it right. But of course they didn’t. Art from Biljo White’s fanzine Batmania, which is mentioned in the Newsweek article and probably inspired the “Batmaniacs” part of its title. [Art ©2002 Biljo White; Batman © & TM 2002 DC Comics.]

RT: Not very carefully, I don’t think. Or maybe too carefully. I really couldn’t say.

NW: [voice rising slightly] Again I refer you to Newsweek, Feb. 15, 19— RT: Newsweek erred, to coin a phrase. They copied that from AE #7, page 24, where Billy did stutter—because he was scared stiff. He only stuttered when he was

scared—or maybe cold.

NW: To what extent do you think that reading comics warped his mind?

NW: Uh, just one more point—why do you comic cultists have this mania regarding today’s Superman with his—tee hee—”Tony Curtis forelock”? [chuckling] I liked that part.

RT: Irreparably, I’d say. But let’s talk about something else.

RT: We don’t have any mania—

NW: [sound of snickering] Touchy subject, eh?

NW: You noticed in Newsweek, of course (Feb. 15, 1965), that he doesn’t have an “S” symbol on his chest in Italy….

RT: Not especially, just boring. We went all through the Batman-andhis-young-ward-Robin bit several years ago; it’s pretty old hat now.

RT: Well, actually, I’d known that for some time before the article.

NW: Oh, yes—seems I’ve heard something somewhere about that— maybe it was in Time. We have a subscription, you know. Would you say, then, that this Batman is sort of a symbol for your comic book cult?

NW: To what do you attribute the fact that in Italy, one of the countries most influenced in the ’30s and ’40s by the modern fascist adaptation of Nietzche’s concept of the “superman,” they don’t have an “S” on his chest?

RT: Oh, yes, definitely. NW: [scribbling noisily] How?

RT: I attribute that to the fact that “Nembo Kid” doesn’t start with an “S,” I guess.

RT: We’d all like to be millionaires and own fancy sports cars.

NW: That’s not very profound.

NW: [pencil lead breaks again; sound of writing with another] Mmmm… [mumbling] Interviewee uncooperative… trying to be cute… preempting Newsweek’s prerogative… [louder] And what about this Spider-Man affair—washing his costume in lily-white suds and all—isn’t that a bit “exotic”?

RT: Neither is Newsweek. Now I really must get back to work on an article for the next Alter Ego—[sound of chair shuffling.]

RT: No. NW: What would you call it, then? RT: Clean… Are you about through? I’ve got to get to work on the next— NW: Not quite. About this Captain Marvel— RT: Er, excuse me, but we try to avoid noising that name about these days, since his old publishers objected. Copyright infringement, y’know. NW: Oh, er, of course. What do you say? RT: We say C—— M——. NW: C—— M——?

NW: Certainly, certainly. May I ask the topic of the article? RT: Of course; it’s about Robotman—a hero with a human brain inside a robot body which has the strength of a hundred men…. NW: Ah-hah! And just when did this comic book overglorification of the concept of automation begin? Are you aware that in the “Business” section of Newsweek, Nov. 18, 1964…? [Rest of tape is drowned out by sound of electric typewriter in the background.] [Our comics fandom scribe Bill Schelly has two books upcoming from his Hamster Press: Comic Fandom Reader (containing an article or two from the original 1960s run of Alter Ego), plus many other classic articles and interviews) and The Eye Collection (a trade paperback featuring a new, expanded origin of The Eye). See the full-page ad elsewhere in this issue.]

The All-Star Squadron Chronicles

Chronicles

Part III

Hail Hail Now The Gangs Really All Here!

by Roy Thomas [WRITER/EDITOR’S NOTE: We’re baaaack! Due to the wealth of contributions with which Alter Ego has been happily deluged in recent months, it’s been four issues—the larger part of a year—since we presented Part II of this ongoing series, which detailed how in late 1980, in developing the World War II-era title I had conceived for my new employer, DC Comics, I chose the Golden Age heroes who would be most strongly featured in the initial issues. Onward:]

I. Editors And Enigmas Things were proceeding apace. Several aspects of All-Star Squadron were already fairly well established in my mind. Among other things, I already knew: That my first story arc (not that I used that term then, or like it much now) would commence on Saturday, December 6, 1941—the night before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that pulled America into World War II; That it would open with most of the then-active Justice Society of America—plus honorary members Green Lantern, Flash, Wonder Woman, Superman, and Batman—being captured by time-tossed supervillains masterminded by Per Degaton, so that lessdeveloped DC stars could shine in their place; That Hawkman, Dr. Mid-Nite, and The Atom would evade Degaton’s net and join forces with several other heroes who had never been JSAers, to form the nucleus of the Squadron. Also that, just as in 1975 I had had British Prime Minister Winston Churchill give both name and mission to The Invaders over at Marvel, this time I wanted the group to be assembled and christened by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt himself. Around this time, DC finally got around to assigning an editor to All-Star Squadron.

Len Wein and I had first met not too long after I became an assistant editor at Marvel in the mid-1960s... and I’m dead certain that, whenever it happened, I met Marv Wolfman that same day. These two longtime

“Hawkman, Dr. Mid-Nite, and The Atom would evade Degaton’s net and join forces with several other heroes”—such as Robotman and Johnny Quick on this page from All-Star Squadron #2 (Oct. 1981). Repro’d from photocopies of the original Buckler-Ordway art, courtesy of Jerry Bails. [©2002 DC Comics.]

Hail, Hail, Now the Gangs Really All Here! friends were involved in various fan activities together; even their early writing assignments at DC soon afterward would be done in tandem. By 1974, as editor-in-chief, I had lured both Len and Marv over to Marvel as full-time associate editors—of the color and black-&-white comics, respectively, though Marv was basically de facto editor of the latter. I’ve been told that being my associate editor back then didn’t look like a job with a lot of room for career advancement, since most people figured I’d stay at Marvel, like, forever. Still, in point of fact, after little more than two years at the helm I opted out for a writing-and-editing contract—at which point Len suddenly found himself editor-in-chief of Marvel’s color comics, with Marv at last inheriting the black-&-whites officially. Health considerations, however, led Len to step down after half a year or so, and by the time I made the move to DC in late 1980 he was firmly ensconced there as full editor of several titles. Quite logically, the projected All-Star Squadron was added to Len’s pile. Since DC didn’t allow “writer/editors” at that stage (nor did Marvel, any longer, which is partly why I’d left), I was pleased when I learned Len would edit the book—although both Dick Giordano and I remember dimly that at one stage Dick, then a “line editor” like Len, was slated to handle All-Star and Len my planned sword-and-sorcery series. Len, however, has no recollection of ever being told he would edit the title that eventually became Arak, Son of Thunder. All three of us agree, however, that the switch in assignments made more sense, since Len had been a self-confessed “big fan” of the Justice Society ever since the JLA-JSA team-ups began in 1963, and was already editing Justice League of America—so why not its new 1940s counterpart? For his part, Dick, as he reiterated over lunch last spring in New York City, was far more enthusiastic about heroic fantasy in general than about super-heroes in particular.

The stage had been set, via this “failure to communicate,” for some real problems if Len (or Dick) and I ever found ourselves at loggerheads on the direction, plots, or dialogue of either title. Fortunately, they and I were nearly always “on the same page,” as they say. “I wouldn’t have dreamed of interfering with whatever you wanted to do with the book,” Len told me recently. While I, in turn, respected Len’s expertise, especially as a prospective sounding-board, even if I understandably felt that it was merely my duty to advise him of what I was going to write, not to ask for his consent or accept his creative input. This had nothing to do with Len, of course; I’d have felt the same whether the editor of the two new titles was he, Marv, Dick, Gerry Conway, Julie Schwartz, or anybody else. Naturally, I realize now (and did then) that, in the event of “creative differences” with my editor, I wouldn’t have had a legal leg to stand on, since, as Sam Goldwyn was reputedly fond of saying, “An oral contract isn’t worth the paper it’s written on”—and neither are oral amendments to a written one. But hey—anyone who knows me knows that would hardly have stopped me from raising serious Cain over being misled, however inadvertently. After all, it was over a less defensible misrepresentation that I was leaving Marvel—but that’s another story.

Oddly, when this photo depicting “writer/editor Len Wein in his mentor’s office” appeared in Amazing World of DC Comics #3 (Nov. 1974), Len was editor-in-chief of Marvel’s color comics! The “mentor” at left? DC legend Julius Schwartz, who else? On the verge of turning pro writer in ’67, Len drew the illo below for a 1967 New York comics convention. Thanks to Mike Friedrich. [Art ©2002 Len Wein; heroes & photo ©2002 the respective copyright holders.]

When I spoke with Len by phone last October, he confirmed another thing I suspected out loud back in A/E V3#8: Neither publisher Jenette Kahn nor editorial director Joe Orlando nor anybody else ever breathed so much as a word to him concerning the verbal promise that had been made to me before I signed a three-year writing-only contract with DC—namely that, though house editors would be assigned to both new mags I would create, their direction, storyline, and dialogue would be basically in my purview, and that the editors would merely be there to “help” me, end-quote. Len swears that no one ever so much as hinted to him of such a hands-tying agreement, and I’ve no reason to doubt his memory. I had long suspected as much.

II. “The Fault, Dear Brutus, Is Not In Our Stars...” Anyway, I threw myself into All-Star Squadron and Bloodwolf (the mag that at the last moment we would all decide, I think wisely, to retitle Arak, Son of Thunder.)

For the former I pored over my bound collection of All-Star Comics and re-read numerous vintage DC and Quality comics, both actual and on microfilm. At Marvel I had played fairly fast and loose with 1940s continuity in The Invaders, since Timely comics had never possessed the internal consistency and character history that DC and Fawcett had. However, I had definitely decided that I wanted to keep the heroes of the All-Star Squadron consistent with what they had been in the wartime mags, though hopefully with added character development, in keeping with the way I’d written X-Men, Avengers, Defenders, F.F., Invaders, et al. Since the Golden Age super-doers had been mostly two-dimensional at best, and I wanted to make them three-dimensional (or more nearly so), I decided I would find, or else develop, character traits within them on which I could build.

The All-Star Squadron Chronicles Wonder, but once I matched sign and hero, I kept the traits of that sign which I wanted and discarded any others. Before many issues had elapsed, as it happened, I would cease to refer to these charts, even in passing, but I had enjoyed making them up so much that I didn’t toss them out until only a few years ago—not long before Jon B. Cooke invited me to revive Alter Ego in the pages of Comic Book Artist, as I recall. Oh well... they were hardly major cultural artifacts. The reason I discarded some of the less desirable characters traits related to a hero’s particular astrological sign (though I believe I did utilize “indecisiveness” and one or two others from time to time, now that I stop and think about it) is that, realism to the contrary notwithstanding, I didn’t want any preexisting DC/Quality heroes to suddenly develop the proverbial “feet of clay.” The comic book super-heroes of the WWII era were heroes, as far as I was/am concerned. Throughout the new series, that “given” would lead me to walk a tightrope between trying to humanize some of the longest-established characters in comics and, at the same time, keeping them above all heroic. I never wanted them to be just guys who happened to have super-powers but were otherwise just regular joes, because that’s not how they were conceived. I admire, in varying degrees, the Watchmen-influenced series that came along during the ’80s and since, but I wasn’t interested in writing super-heroes who were sadistic or psychotic or even too neurotic— —or racist.

III. On Politically (If Not Aerodynamically) Correct Super-heroes Dealing with race in All-Star Squadron, I knew from the outset, would be one of the trickiest aspects of the book. After all, America was at war, and roughly half its enemies were of a non-Caucasian race. Neither Stan Lee nor I had ever had any qualms in Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos about calling German soldiers “krauts” or the like—though I’m even of The Preview in JLA #193 would mark the only real action Wonder Woman, Flash, and Green Lantern German descent on all sides—but racial epithets like would see in All-Star Squadron’s first few issues. Repro’d from original art, courtesy of Jerry Bails. “Japs” and unfavorable use of the term “yellow” Art by Rich Buckler and Jerry Ordway. [©2002 DC Comics.] were out. Even “Nips,” a far weaker epithet derived To that end, I even drew up astrological charts for the major heroes! from “Nippon,” the Japanese name for their nation, would raise hackles, as I’d discovered when writing Invaders a few years earlier—hackles I Not that I’m a believer in astrology. Far from it. In making these onewas interested neither in raising nor in soothing. sheet “charts,” I paid no attention whatever to any arbitrary “birthdays” for any of the JSAers, as had been given on a DC calendar. I simply Yes, I would portray what I generally called the “Imperial Japanese” wanted to make one hero a bit of a Scorpio, another would possess more as the enemy—but because they were aggressively imperialistic, not of the aspects of a Virgo—that sort of thing. But, rather than come up because they were Japanese. I cringe today when I read, in 1942’s Allwith an astrological list of traits and then shoehorn an All-Star into it, I Star Comics #12, The Atom calling a Japanese-American a “Yankee did it the other way around. Jap,” although the Mighty Mite meant it as a compliment! I deplore many aspects of “political correctness,” both current and even more so I knew, for instance, that I wanted Hawkman to be the group’s retroactive, and consider it overtly stupid to waste time decrying such original chairman, just as he had become of the JSA—though admittedly name-calling in a comic or movie of WWII vintage—even stupider to there only after both Flash and Green Lantern had been “kicked alter such a phrase in a reprint and thus to falsify history—but I upstairs” into their own titles. I forget under what astrological sign I preferred to fudge the matter in All-Star Squadron, even though it found the “leadership” qualities I was looking for for the Winged would make the dialogue a bit less realistic. (Truth to tell, DC would

Hail, Hail, Now the Gangs Really All Here! probably have vetoed at least the use of the word “Japs,” however I felt about it; but that’s neither here nor there, because company policy played no part in my decision and I never discussed the matter with anyone.)

31 assume that a “Negro” or a nisei or anyone else could just as easily find a mystic lantern or have his/her brain encased in a robot body or be given a superspeed formula? Though I hadn’t yet fleshed out the concept, the character who would debut two years later in All-Star Squadron #23 as Amazing-Man was already half-formed in the back of my mind—as was at least the germ of Tsunami, the JapaneseAmerican “supervillainess” who was destined to take a bow in #33. After all, two years earlier I had introduced a young African-American called The Human Top in The Invaders, alongside a nisei known as Golden Girl.

Racial caricatures were out, too. Most fans have seen comics covers from the war years that sport fangtoothed Japanese soldiers or super-villains frothing at the mouth, and generally looking less like another race than like another species. Nor would the more “friendly” type of caricature—à la Chop-Chop on this issue’s Blackhawk cover—be acceptable, any The shape of things to come: Ordway’s cover for issue #23—and #34’s Rick Hoberg cover more than would an inked by Jerry. (Tsunami had debuted the preceding issue.) [©2002 DC Comics.] African-American who resembled Steamboat in the early “Captain Marvel” or Whitey in Another problem I intended to deal with was the dearth of superYoung Allies. heroines (or female super-heroes, as In fact, from the outset, I some prefer to call them) in comics intended to introduce at some early from DC and Quality, which stage a few so-called “minority” basically represented my All-Star super-heroes. “gene pool.” This, I’ll admit, I did spend some time cogitating about, partly because by 1980 I already loathed many aspects of what would later become infamous as “political correctness.” After all, we’re talking 1941 here, not the early ’80s, let alone today. There were few African-Americans in positions of authority—and, more to the point for All-Star Squadron, no dark-skinned super-heroes at all in the comics of DC, Quality, or whoever! In fact, the phrase “African-American,” though it probably existed, was unknown to most of US society—and use of the term “black” would have been considered highly derogatory at that time. I decided to use the word of preference from the period: “Negroes.” If anyone, whether a reader (of any race) or DC’s higher management, protested, I was prepared to dig in my heels on that one... though, happily, I never had to.

As related previously, I had already backdated Liberty Belle’s origin to give the Squadron a female presence when Wonder Woman was captured by Degaton, and planned to make use of Hawkgirl and Quality’s Phantom Lady. But the very first “Squadron” story would also introduce Danette Reilly, her first name that of my soon-to-be wife (legally changed since to Dann). Danette, a vulcanologist, would be the sister of Rod Reilly, who as Firebrand had been the cover feature of the earliest Police Comics. The convenience of Hawaiian volcanoes for Danette to be investigating at the time of Pearl Harbor would be all the coincidence needed in a comic book for her to gain fire-oriented superpowers and become a female Firebrand who would look a lot better in Rod’s filmy blouse than he ever did.

I knew that in one sense I myself would be falsifying history by adding non-Caucasian super-heroes to the Squadron—but only in one sense. After all, in the real world there were no super-heroes of any race, color, or creed; so why not

As it turned out, Liberty Belle, Hawkgirl, and Firebrand filled the distaff bill quite adequately for the All-Star Squadron. (More on this in a later installment.)

When Roy was invited to write a 10-page story in All-Star Comics 80-Page Giant #1 in 1999, he exercised his option to use two JSAers (Green Lantern and Dr. Fate) plus Shining Knight and Firebrand from the All-Star Squadron. Repro’d from a photocopy of the pencils by Kevin Sharpe. And yes, “All-Star” was hyphenated in the book’s indicia! [©2002 DC Comics.]

The All-Star Squadron Chronicles

IV. Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Bone Of Contention To me, the first even slightly sour note in these preliminary days was having no part in choosing, or even okaying in advance, the artistic team on the magazine. This, as outlined earlier, happened partly because of the different sets of understandings which Len (as editor) and I (as writer/creator of the series) had, as a result of being given two opposing mandates by the powers-that-were. Having been told I would have considerable say in the magazine, I naturally wanted a hand in choosing the artists, and felt that was inherent in previous discussions—while Len, uninformed of such conversations, naturally felt that, as the title’s editor, such decisions were for him to make, with me needing only to be informed after the fact. In the case of penciler Rich Buckler, Len assumed (correctly) that I would agree totally with his choice; and in the case of inker Jerry Ordway, he was simply giving out an assignment which it was his to give.

kid on the block could do. Len recalls that Jerry, for his part, wouldn’t have minded doing full art chores on the mag from the start, since he was looking for penciling work as well as inking; but that wasn’t in the cards just yet. Still, all things come to him who waits... and Jerry Ordway was destined, as things would turn out, to provide the only real artistic continuity for the series’ first three years! As Rich Buckler said recently, Jerry, far more than himself or any later penciler, is identified as the artist most people think of when (and if) they think of All-Star Squadron. So, finally, all the elements were in place—and I sat down to write the plot for a 16-page Special All-Star Squadron Preview which would be inserted into an issue of Justice League of America, to introduce the readers of one popular group title to DC’s newest super-hero combo. “Okay, Axis, here we come!” Er, I mean—”All-Stars Assemble!” Well, you know what I mean. Rich, Jerry, Len, and I would have our work cut out for us.

(Things went a bit more along what I assumed were the agreed-upon lines with the sword-and-sorcery title, where I recall editor Dick Giordano conferring with me in advance concerning the possibility of teaming Ernie Colón as penciler and Tony DeZuniga as inker. I was very enthusiastic about the Colón-DeZuniga team. After all, part of the reason they were being considered was my pairing them months earlier in The Savage Sword of Conan; and Tony had been one of John Buscema’s most popular embellishers in that Marvel b-&-w mag.) So precisely how did Rich Buckler come to pencil the first few issues of All-Star Squadron, and newcomer Jerry Ordway to ink them? Rich recalls Len as simply offering him the book, and he says he enthusiastically accepted. Besides liking vintage heroes and period stories himself, Rich and I had previously collaborated on several series at Marvel, most notably The Avengers and Fantastic Four, and had always enjoyed working together. Together we had brought the 1940s stalwarts Miss America and The Whizzer into modern continuity in Giant-Size Avengers #1 (Aug. 1974). Rich had even penciled part of one issue of The Invaders (#5, to be precise). Len, for his part, doesn’t recall precisely how Rich became the penciler of choice—but penciler of choice he certainly was. Len’s choice—but one in which I happily concurred. Inking, though—that was something a wee bit different. Len decided that a (previously) fan-artist named Jerry Ordway would ink All-Star Squadron: “Jerry had been looking for pro work for some time, and I felt he was ready. I thought his tight style would pull together Rich’s pencils, and that they’d make a nice team.”

Jerry Ordway’s self-portrait from All-Star Squadron #19 (March 1983), the first issue he both penciled and inked. By #21 Superman began popping up more often—though when Jerry drew this sketch in late ’85, the World War II Man of Tomorrow was about to be rendered ex-post-facto non-existent in Crisis on Infinite Earths. Thanks to Jerry, to collector Jon Park, and to Jeff (“Not the Bone Guy”) Smith for their blessing to reproduce this “Earth-Two Superman” sketch, which was used as the cover of Jeff’s fanzine Secret Identity #1 (Spring 1996). [Art ©2002 Jerry Ordway; Superman © & TM 2002 DC Comics.]

“I was very concerned when Len told me that some new guy would be inking the book,” Rich says. “Here I was pouring my heart and soul into the pencils, and now I wasn’t sure what they’d come out looking like.”

Next: The All-Star Preview In JLA #193— Under A Microscope!

My own reaction was not dissimilar, as stated above. But both Rich and I decided, separately, to withhold judgment. Let’s see what this new

(See? We told you it would take a long time just to get to All-Star Squadron #1!)

re:

33 The “bird story” to which Lynda refers is the long-standing question of whether her parents Gardner and Lynda Fox did or did not own a pet mynah which Gardner featured as belonging to the family in the classic “The Strange Adventure That Really Happened!” in Strange Adventures #140 (May 1962)—and which later served as the inspiration for Major Mynah, a “supporting character” in The Atom, which was written and co-created, of course, by Gardner. Looks like the Fox family had some feathered friend or other for a little while, anyway—though Lynda II still recalls no mynah.

re:

(Personal note: As the owner for several years of a mynah named Spike who shrieked raucously when I played Richard Wagner’s Ring of the Nibelung opera cycle while scripting my adaptation of it for DC in the 1980s, I think I can say without fear of contradiction that, if there’d been a mynah in the Fox household, Lynda and her brother would definitely have noticed! In all fairness, though, Spike dearly loved to sing along with the swing music of Artie Shaw—not that her singing was much different from her shrieks.)

Nice mag! Hi, I’m Darren Auck, former AD at Marvel and comics freelancer. I just wanted to send you overdue compliments on Alter Ego, and your work in general. I was lucky enough to work with John Romita Sr. for a few years as his Assistant AD, and I thought your John Romita issue [#9] was fantastic. Excellent art choices throughout the issue and insightful interviews. Keep up the good work! You also paid me a huge compliment in this issue... by accident. The caricature of John and Virginia on Page 37 was from a card I drew for their “leaving the office” farewell. Thanks for running it! [EDITOR’S NOTE: Collector Jerry K. Boyd, who has supplied Alter Ego with original sketches by Infantino, Moldoff, and others, submitted this drawing of his own for our letters-section. We kinda like it, so all we’ve gotta say before moving on is that the art is ©2002 Jerry Boyd; Mary Marvel, Dr. Fate, & Spy Smasher are TM & ©2002 DC Comics; The Shield is TM & ©2002 Archie Publications; and The Fin is TM & ©2002 Marvel Characters, Inc. Now onward, beginning with a note from the daughter of Golden/Silver Age writing great Gardner F. Fox—who incidentally co-created Dr. Fate:] Dear Roy, My address is still the same, but we spend much of our time in New Hampshire, where I inherited the big Victorian Fox home. Did you know that Dad was SAR (Sons of the American Revolution), and I carry the flag for the Daughters? The bird story is coming to light. Daddy said we (Jeff and I) could have a pet. I got a little kitten from a neighbor, but Jeff insisted on a horse. Now, you’ve been to that house; it hardly has stables and riding space! Gardner and Jeff went on a camping trip with the Boy Scouts and found this ugly bird dying. Jeff decided it could be his pet and G. said OK, because he would be helping a wounded creature. The bird came home and loved Dad to pieces, but Mother didn’t like the bird. I think he destroyed something; so the bird went bye-bye somehow!

Darren Auck (via e-mail) Great to hear from you, Darren. Sorry we misidentified that caricature as being by John himself—though I see why you took our error as a compliment!

Dear Roy: For the record, the cover reprinted on Page 14 of the JLA/JSA section in Alter Ego V3#7 is actually a photocopy of a re-creation of the cover of The Flash #123 which I commissioned from Carmine Infantino years ago. It’s an excellent job, but you can distinguish it from the original by a (very) slight variation in the face of Jay Garrick. Don Thompson owned the actual original cover of #123 for years, until he sold it for $17,000. And he had the nerve to call Gardner Fox a “furniture-mover”!

Just thought you might like to know: Vin Sullivan is my brother’s godfather. The story goes that when FDR was re-elected, his wife had a miscarriage!!! All those guys (Sheldon Mayer, etc.) used to come and help Dad put my brother’s Xmas toys together. Lynda Fox Cohen (via e-mail) In the whimsical “Strange Adventure That Really Happened,” narrator/writer Gardner Fox (at left) has no idea why the “script” he just handed editor Julius Schwartz (right) is composed only of blank pages, so he phones his wife Lynda in Yonkers. Note the caged mynah in the background of the second panel, as a set-up for later world-saving action. [©2002 DC Comics.]

re:

When Gene Colan mentions in V3#6 that he “did some stuff for Fawcett Publications, based on a TV show... about this guy... who owned a Rolls-Royce, and he was sort of a private eye... it might have been in ’48 or ’49,” he is almost certainly remembering his stint on the comic book version of Burke’s Law, though that was in the ’60s and was published by Dell, not Fawcett. The FCA section mentions Rod Reed frequently. Were you aware that Reed’s “First Story” “The Case of the Dastardly Double,” was published in the October 1970 issue of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine? (Archie Goodwin’s “First Story” also appeared in the same department; puts me in pretty good company!) With regard to A/E V3#8, I especially got a kick out of “The Overextended Marvel Family,” though I would have appreciated knowing where the “Red Rube” and “Fly-Man” characters appeared. I was also pleased by the mention of Malibu’s Prime. Though I had nothing whatsoever to do with that hero’s creation, I did write him a few times and created a spin-off, an evil version called—wait for it!—“Primevil.” Heh. You’ll be interested to know that, at the original conference that spawned the Ultraverse, Prime, before his christening, was referred to as “Captain Malibu,” due to his thematic similarity to Captain Marvel, though “Captain Malibu” was never, of course, intended to be his permanent name. We all do try to keep the greats alive in our own ways, don’t we? Mike W. Barr (via e-mail) We sure do. Incidentally, Mike, “Red Rube” appeared in Zip Comics #39-47 back in 1943-44, and “Fly-man” in Spitfire #1-2 in ’41, drawn by “Sam Glanz,” a.k.a. Sam Glanzman, later a noted artist of WWII stories. Next, a missive from Bill Black, publisher of AC Comics, which reprints vintage comics and supplied us with art for our two Magazine Enterprises-oriented issues (#10-11): HI, Roy— The ME issue of A/E [V3#10] is great. Since Magazine Enterprises is my favorite comics company, I really loved it. Our AC ad printed beautifully, and the interior AC art looked very sharp! Couple of comments:

our title Femforce, which he illustrated monthly for a few years. The “Dr. F” Powell refers to [in his letter to Jerry de Fuccio] is most likely “Dr. Fung,” a character he drew at Quality circa 1939-40. I have reprinted at least one of these and have a couple more around here somewhere. AC’s Best of the West #24 is now at the printers. That means AC has published twice as many issues of that title as ME did. Also, AC has been publishing ME material longer than ME did! The Africa one-shot was the last issue of Cave Girl, which probably got zapped by the Comics Code. Cave Girl was the most salacious of the ME material, and Powell’s art was toned down considerably for Africa. Since ME worked on the inventory system, Vin Sullivan had no doubt already paid Powell for those stories and created Africa to get use out of them. Frazetta quit ME over a dispute concerning Columbia Pictures licensing Thun’da as a serial starring Buster Crabbe. I think Frank got cut out of the deal and he quit in protest. That’s why he did no more “Thun’da” stories. Bill Black AC Comics Box 521216 Longwood, FL 32752-1216 Thanks for clearing up a few points, Bill. All readers interested in access to inexpensive reprints of 1940s-50s comics from ME, Fawcett, Standard, and many other defunct companies should look up AC Comics’ ads in each issue of Alter Ego. Hey! How could you possibly do a Wally Wood issue and not acknowledge his contribution to mainstream “good girl art,” in the form of DC Comics’ Power Girl? Chuck Brouillette 655 Crescent Av. Saratonga Springs, NY 12866 Hey, we couldn’t squeeze everything in, Chuck. Besides, the original design of Power Girl was by penciler Rik Estrada, though Wally’s inking did indeed add that indefinable something.

Dick Ayers and I collaborated on several new “Haunted Horseman” stories, but the example you gave was not one of them. That was a “Ghost Rider” story from the original ME Best of the West that I reOOPS Dept. (our usual collection of inked (that’s another story). Dick and I did a corrections): color “Haunted Horseman” story in AC’s Great American Western #5—Sunset Jean-Francois Massé, who sent Michael Carson. As The Haunter, The Haunted T. Gilbert some material for our Wally Horseman continues in modern-day AC Wood coverage in V3#8, informs us from continuity. Dick drew this version of the France that we accidentally added an “e” to character, as well as new “Black Phantom” his first name, feminizing it to stories for AC. He inked the one and only “Francoise”—and left off the final accent ME western-heroes team-up story that comark, to boot. Afraid it’s been quite a few starred Durango, Redmask, Presto, and years since Roy’s high school French class. Rik Estrada’s original pencil sketches for Black Phantom, as his very first assignment Power Girl—who would be introduced in the revived And Mitch Lee has written elsewhere for AC. He and I also collaborated on a new All-Star Comics #58 (Jan.-Feb. 1976)—were printed as a (but it has reference to our Wood coverage) teaser in The Amazing World of DC Comics #6 (May 1975). “Avenger” story for AC. The ME Avenger that, at the EC Reunion at the 2000 San [©2002 DC Comics.] never had a recurring villain, but I pulled Diego Comic-Con, EC editor Al Feldstein one called The Player from a Powell story said that “a lot of Wood’s EC work was done in collaboration with and had him seeking revenge on The Avenger. He kills Roger Wright’s Martin Landau.” That’s right—the same wonderful actor whose work in old assistant, Claire, thus giving The Avenger a new cause for vengeance. recent years in such films as Crimes and Misdemeanors and Ed Wood In AC continuity, Roger Wright is Laura Wright’s (Nightveil’s) brother. has been such a delight, after work as a heavy in the likes of Arabesque In Dick’s last paragraph in your interview, he is referring to working on

re:

35 Drop us a line, if you feel so inclined! We read all letters, faxes, and e-mails—even though we can’t respond to many of them. In between putting A/E together eight times a year, Ye Editor’s gotta have time to make a living, as well: Roy Thomas/Alter Ego Rt. 3, Box 468 St. Matthews, SC 29135 Fax: (803) 826-6501 New e-mail address: <roydann@ntinet.com> (BTW, as they say on the Internet, Ye Ed is still hawking a few spare personal copies of the out-of-print Alter Ego, Vol. 3, #1, with Ordway, Hasen, Lee, Gilbert, FCA, et al., for the outrageous price of $15 per copy, postpaid—and autographed if desired. Ditto Comic Book Artist #1-5 (each with an Alter Ego section) for $15@. He even has a few sets left of Alter Ego #1-4, the color comic book series published by First Comics in 1986, with art by Ron (Crash Ryan) Harris, $20 postpaid for the four—also autographed if you like your mags defaced that way. Send checks and M.O.’s to the above address.)

Years before Tekno-Comics sent Mike Danger into the future for a several-issue run, another Spillane-created “Mike Danger” appeared in Crime Detector #3, 1954, as well as in the issue that followed. Thanks to Steve Rowe. [Art ©2002 the respective copyright holder; Mike Danger is a TM of Mickey Spillane.]

and as the hero of Space 1999. Landau’s work in comic books has long been attested, but not this particular Wally Wood connection. Re our hard-boiled Mickey Spillane interview in V3#9, Steven Rowe reminded us via e-mail that, as reported in Mike Benton’s 1993 Illustrated History of Crime Comics, two “Mike Danger” comic book stories, which had sat on the shelf since around 1946, popped up in Crime Detector #3-4 (1954) from Timor Press, supposedly illustrated by “Mike Roy and others.” By that time, of course, Spillane was already a top-selling novelist with his gritty novels featuring Mike Hammer. Our old friend Bill Warren of L.A., who visits Hawaii every year and has the colorful shirts to prove it, sent two minor corrections to our outof-print All-Star Companion: “Despite Jerry Bails’ claim, ‘koehaha’ is not a Hawaiian word; the closest word to it in Hawaiian that I’ve been able to trace is ‘ko’eha’eha,’ which means, basically, ‘sultry.’ On Page 172 you refer to Harry Wan as a ‘Hawaiian Charlie Chan.’ Actually, Charlie Chan was a Hawaiian Charlie Chan! He was the chief detective of the Honolulu police department, though, of course, he spent little time there, instead going off to Rio, Paris, the Olympics, etc.” Thanks for reminding us that Chan was Hawaiian, Bill—but Jerry didn’t mean that “koehaha” (in the problematical All-Star #36) was necessarily a real a Hawaiian word, only that it looked and would have sounded Hawaiian... which your own example underscores! Me, I still think a derivation from the Indian maiden Minnehaha in Longfellow’s epic poem Hiawatha is at least as likely, but the jury is definitely out (and probably asleep).

Couldn’t leave one of our ever-lovin’ blue-eyed mascots out of this issue, could we? In this panel from the third issue of the First comic, Alter Ego leads a whole passel of Golden Age heroes into action. [Art ©2002 Ron Harris; Alter Ego is TM & ©2002 Roy & Dann Thomas.]

Monthly! Edited and published by Robin Snyder

Write to: Robin Snyder, 2284 Yew St. Rd. #B6, Bellingham, WA 98226-8899

No. 71

In this issue:

C.C. BECK’S

on toP oF ol’ lyMPoS Plus MARC SWAYZE’S “WE DIDN’T KNOW... IT WAS THE GOLDEN AGE!”

Marc Swayze When I was doing Captain Marvel the strategy had been simple: “Put the super-hero on the cover and you’ve got the book sold.” Now it was different. There being no hero in the romance story, what’s to go on the cover that would “have the book sold”? My original opinion of the lead story position in the romance comics may have been hasty. The location of a story within the pages was not, as I had imagined, a measure of the quality of the story. Any responsible editor, I came to realize, for one thing would have arranged the contents to avoid successive similarities of themes and locales. The disappointment I had felt earlier at not seeing my art in the front of the book was unjustified.

[FCA EDITOR’S NOTE: From 1941 to 1953, Marcus D. Swayze was a top artist for Fawcett Comics, designing Mary Marvel and illustrating her earliest adventures; but he was hired primarily to illustrate “Captain Marvel” stories and covers for Whiz Comics and Captain Marvel Adventures. He also wrote many “Captain Marvel” stories, and continued to do so while in the military. Soon after leaving the service, he made an arrangement with Fawcett to work for them on a freelance basis out of his Louisiana home. There he both wrote and drew stories for “The Phantom Eagle” in Wow Comics, in addition to drawing the Flyin’ Jenny newspaper comic strip for Bell Syndicate (created by his friend and mentor Russell Keaton). After the cancellation of Wow, he did artwork for Fawcett’s romance comics. Marc Swayze’s ongoing professional memoirs have been FCA’s most popular feature since his first column appeared in issue #54 in 1996. Last issue, Marc discussed the beginning of his prolific artistic output for Fawcett’s romance line. This time, he further analyzes his romance comic work and how he adapted from adventure features to romance stories. —P.C. Hamerlinck.] The romances crept up on us unexpectedly. Away we had flown through the Golden Age with our squint-eyed heroes, slam-bang action, superhuman feats, until... without much notice... it all must have begun to fade. Suddenly we had... right in our laps... on our drawing boards... love, romance. For the serious comic book artist there was more to it than just expanding the sketch file to include flower gardens and fountains. It meant dealing with a new, female readership, new marketing strategies.

On the other hand, many newsstands made it easy for the shopper to browse. In the case of the Fawcett romance comics, little could be judged of the contents from the covers... photographed scenes unrelated to the stories. The next anticipated move of the shopper would be that she flip open the magazine to... the lead story. No question about it, the lead story was an important factor in the sale of the Fawcett comic romances. It was with some satisfaction that, after the first few stories in Sweethearts, I found my art in the lead position consistently. The same was true when they came out immediately with Life Story and the eight additional romance magazines that followed, all featuring my work. I was reminded of an editorial that told of the average reader of the slick magazines of the 1930s. She looks first, the account went, for her favorite illustrator, then for the author. “In his stories, the characters he befriended were my friends.” Rare Captain Marvel head sketches by Swayze. [Art ©2002 Marc Swayze; Capt. Marvel © & TM 2002 DC Comics.]

We Didn’t Know...

Romance, and True Confidences. I have always maintained a respect for the comic book panel, or frame. Rarely if ever have I been tempted to alter the traditional rectangle to accommodate a magnified thrust foot or fist, and never to reshape the panels into jigsaw puzzle fragments. Along about 1951 editor Roy Ald suggested that I try doing without the rectangle borders altogether. In other words, Roy proposed, illustrate each page with nothing but vignettes. Although I could think of a number of reasonable objections, I went along with the idea. A few pages were enough to convince me that, although pages limited to three or four panels might have been more appropriate, it could be done. The vignettes, from that time on, were an identifying feature of my comic romance art.

If I were asked to offer advice to a young person interested in a career in comic book art, my first words would be, “If you don’t have the imagination of a child, don’t start.” I have always felt that the great joy of my profession was in “getting to know” the characters... those people an author had pulled together to make a story. It had taken no time at all before I was feeling that Captain Marvel was somebody I knew and respected. In the stories, the characters he befriended were my friends, his foes my enemies... and I drew them that way. Mary Marvel’s first appearance in this world was on my drawing board. It was the natural thing to consider her and her pals my pals. Stepping into the shoes of Mickey Malone, The Phantom Eagle, my young buddy in Wow Comics, was easy. They even said he looked like me... or I, like him. We’re talking about empathy, the ability to feel, see, and speak from the viewpoint of... in our case, the characters in the story. Empathy: getting to know them... being among them... being one of them.

I’m glad the romance comics came my way. They restored my confidence... in my profession... in myself. Sweethearts, a million copies per issue; Life Story, 700,000. That meant that each month at least 1,700,000 readers enjoyed what had come from my old drawing board. Not a bad feeling. I couldn’t help but think back to the 1943 announcement that Captain Marvel Adventures was exceeding sales of a million copies an issue. That magazine, and Whiz Comics, included my stories, story art, and covers. Must’ve made a lot of kids happy!

Unlike in the super-hero era, where the major characters were often around issue after issue, in the romances you met them in the first panel and said goodbye in the last. “Getting to know them” had to be accomplished in a hurry. Even if you might have written the story yourself, it was in giving the characters image and life on the drawing board that you began acting out their roles. I don’t know how many artists made the move from the actionadventure comics to the romances, but I’m sure those who did experienced the need for more intensive study into the human emotions. The exaggerated expressions of the cartoon strips seemed to have been carried over onto the comic book pages of the early ’40s, making it necessary for the romance artist to alter his mental file of expressions into degrees. Instead of angry, it became how angry... sad, how sad... and so on.

Bernie McCarty, originator of the fanzine FCA, once asked me where or upon what feature or character I had spent the most time in comics. My reply was that it would fall between Captain Marvel and The Phantom Eagle. I was wrong. I didn’t even think of the romances. From 1948 to 1953 I illustrated eighty stories that appeared in ten Fawcett romance magazines. All were lettered by my sister Daisy. Most were lead stories. Of the eight Fawcett romance magazines that joined Sweethearts and Life Story, my work was found most frequently in Romantic Secrets. Some of the very early stories were in the August and September 1949 issues of Cowboy Love. Others were lead stories in Romantic Story, Sweetheart Diary, True Sweetheart Secrets, Exciting Romances, True Stories of

Marc Swayze

Occasionally the Fawcett romance comics would carry two stories from the Swayze drawing board. In Life Story #21 (Dec. 195) there were three— including one that could have fit snugly into Cowboy Love. [©2002 the respective copyright holder.]

I enjoyed illustrating the romance comics. It was much more interesting to depict a character’s expressions of emotion than the ability to fight or fly. Of course, going around wearing those expressions sometimes made the artist look stupid.

Who could ever have doubted that the artist who had drawn Mary Marvel so fetchingly in her very first story (in Captain Marvel Adventures #18, Dec. 1942) could draw appealing romance stories a few years later? [©2002 DC Comics.]

My family understood. When we gathered for a meal, and I wore a glazed expression, my wife would explain to the children, “Daddy’s not with us. He’s worried about that poor girl whose heart is broken because her sweetheart left her!” And we’d all laugh. But it was true.

[Marc Swayze’s memoirs of his days in comics will continue next issue.]

A Twilight Of The Gods

A Twilight Of The Gods C.C. Beck’s On Top of Ol’ Lympos by Ron Frantz Edited by P.C. Hamerlinck The religions of ancient Greece and Rome are extinct. The so-called divinities of Olympus have not a single worshipper among living men. They belong now not to the department of theology, but to those of literature and taste. There, they still hold their place, and will continue to hold it, for they are too closely connected with the finest productions of poetry and art, both ancient and modern, to pass into oblivion. —Thomas Bulfinch, Mythology

Arnold Toynbee, the eminent historian, wrote: “History grew out of mythology. It has been said of the Iliad that anyone who starts reading it as history will find that it is full of fiction; but anyone who starts reading it as fiction will find that it is full of history.” Mythology has endured the passing of time because the stories deal with problems that have not changed. The problems haven’t changed because people haven’t changed. The same human foibles that Homer observed 3000 years ago are as real now as they were then. Every epoch has certain outstanding characteristics that help explain what men did at the time they were written. The forms of modern literature that are familiar to us today took their beginnings from these ancient tales. The late C.C. Beck knew these things well. Beck, of course, is no stranger to most comic book fans. Best known as the Golden Age Captain Marvel’s chief artist, he left behind a legacy of wonderfully illustrated stories that have entertained millions. Beck thought of himself as a cartoonist. However, he was something more. Beck was a humorist in the classic tradition who knew how to tell a good story.

From 1939-1953 Charles Clarence Beck and the Big Red Cheese made it through 150 issues of Captain Marvel Adventures and 155 of Whiz Comics, although, alas, neither would fare as well at DC in the 1970s and since. [©2002 DC Comics.]

There are few things more difficult to write than humor. Critics and humorists have debated the subject for centuries. Theories about the composition of humor are endless. One popular belief is that the best humor is blended with pathos until the two become one, becoming a juxtaposition of laughter and tears. Some contend that the essence of good humor is that it be presented without malice or harm. One can look to the cartoons of Charles Schultz or the novels of William Saroyan as contemporary examples. These elements glisten in the artwork and writing of C.C. Beck. His stories were an ingenious mixture of hyperbole and myosis. One easily detects a sweeping grandeur in the style of writing,

For Ace Comics (and Jerry de Fuccio) in the 1980s, Beck “re-created” (i.e., penciled and inked) numerous pages of 1940s comic art, mostly by artists other than himself—e.g., “Fantomah,” Homer Fletcher’s (“Barclay Flagg’s”) flying superheroine from early issues of Fiction House’s Jungle Comics, and Lev Gleason’s epic Daredevil Battles the Claw, originally drawn by Jack Cole. [Re-created art ©2002 the estate of C.C. Beck.]

C.C. Beck’s On Top Of Ol’ Lympos

yet Beck often depicts events and situations on a smaller scale than what appears in most contemporary fiction. In light of this perspective, it seems strangely ironic that one of Beck’s last creative works has yet to be published.

I first met C.C. Beck in 1976 at a summer convention in Dallas. The convention had a great guest line-up that included Noel Neil (Lois Lane from the Superman TV series), Kirk Alyn (Superman from the movie serials), and Jackson Bostwick, who portrayed Captain Marvel on the Saturday morning TV show, Shazam! Beck invited me to sit down at his table for a chat. Talking to him in person was an experience not to be missed. He had a reputation as a curmudgeon, which, in some respects, is not without merit. Beck was inclined to peppery opinion and not everyone appreciated his sense of candor. A character sheet by Beck for On Top of Ol’ Lympos. [Art ©2002 the estate of C.C. Beck.]

Our conversation was mostly causal. We talked a bit about his sour relationship with DC Comics editor Julius Schwartz while Beck was the artist of the Shazam! comic book. To put it mildly, Beck and Schwartz wasn’t exactly a marriage made in heaven... and it was interesting to hear Beck’s story straight from him.

In addition to creating these special commissions, Beck quietly worked on several unpublished novels, including one that he also illustrated, entitled On Top of Ol’ Lympos. After Beck finished writing the book, he tried to obtain a suitable publisher. Finding no success, Beck asked Jerry de Fuccio for help.

Beck took time to talk to fans and show them his original art and realistic-looking model weapons which he had crafted from balsa wood. Most of the fans seemed to have a genuine appreciation for Beck and his work. It was a joy watching him visit with them. I remember one obnoxious fan that tried to talk him out of an original drawing. Curiously, this fellow felt entitled to such gratuities by virtue of his status as a bigname fan. Lord only knows what misguided notions rattle around in some people’s minds. My only thought is that someone was careless in his upbringing. The fan turned belligerent when Beck refused to offer it as a gift. I took great pleasure watching Beck tell the fellow where he could go. Being episodically retired from the comic book business, Beck busied himself doing special commissions for collectors. For Jerry de Fuccio alone, Beck illustrated over one hundred Golden Age cover re-creation paintings. Some of the commissions Beck did for other fans were a little bit different. I remember seeing a unique drawing Beck had done for a Tennessee collector, depicting a topless Mary Marvel dancing a striptease, while a smiling Billy Batson played the banjo and Freddy Freeman joined him on the trumpet.

As a former associate editor of Mad magazine, de Fuccio knew a lot of people in the publishing business. He shopped the Ol’ Lympos manuscript around to various book editors and publishing houses, but found no takers. Then, in January of 1987, while de Fuccio and I were working together on some of the Ace Comics titles, he sent the manuscript along to me, with the following comment: “Ron... I’ve had no success selling C.C. Beck’s novel. Would appreciate if you’d look at it, just as a courtesy. Whimsy is hard to place, I know! Maybe he can do some filler for Ace Comics. Greek gods as hillbillies.” Of course, it didn’t take much persuasion from de Fuccio to get me to read the novel. After reading the manuscript, I called Beck and told him I would like to publish it. When I mentioned that we had met ten years earlier at Dallas, I was flattered to learn that he actually remembered me. Since Beck had not seen any of the comic books I had published, he asked to see some of them. I was delighted to comply with his request and sent a batch out to him the next day. A short time later, I received the following letter from Beck: “I have looked through the comics you sent me and I am much encouraged. They seem to be closer to the original conception of comic books than the things that DC is putting out today. Their stuff is too elaborate to suit me. Most of yours retain the simple panel-by-panel approach to storytelling instead of using the jigsaw-puzzle layouts favored by many of today’s comics illustrators.” Pa and Hanimer, the novel’s hero. Evidently there was no “failure to communicate” between these two generations! [©2002 the estate of C.C. Beck.]

We talked several times on the phone over the next few weeks and reached a verbal agreement for me to publish his

A Twilight Of The Gods

43 with the following: “Many thanks for your letter of April 8th outlining your planned treatment of On Top of Ol’ Lympos. Let’s sell as many as possible. I hope we’ll go to a second edition with a greater number. The book may catch on with the college crowd, as The Hobbit did.” Now it was time for me to buckle down and get some serious work done. I sent Beck’s manuscript out for typesetting. After it was finished, I sent it along to Beck, who insisted on proofreading the pages before doing a final paste-up. On June 12, 1987, Beck returned the corrected pages. There were 119 corrections made by Beck, along with layout instructions, where, in his letter, Beck stated:

“I don’t know how much experience you have had in laying out a novel, but there has to be a lot of design to it or it will look all jammed together and unreadable. Nobody will read a book that isn’t carefully designed to appeal to the eye. Follow my manuscript whenever you can; there’s more design in than is apparent. Good design is not noticeable, but In the Golden Age and again in the early 1970s, Beck drew the Greek gods in “Captain Marvel”— lack of design is. I may be asking for a lot of though Kurt Schaffenberger did this panel from Shazam! #25 (Sept.-Oct. 1976), where they were unexpected work, but believe me, my experience has called “Elders” to match the live TV series—but in Ol' Lympos C.C. was determined to do it “right”! taught me that unless reading material is arranged to [Shazam! art ©2002 DC Comics; Ol' Lympos art ©2002 estate of C.C. Beck.] be attractive and easy on the eyes, nobody will read it. This is more important in a novel than in a comic book. However, the biggest problem I had with publishing the Ace book. We want people to read our book, don’t we?” Comics line is that it was pretty much a one-man operation. I handled almost all of the editing, sales, and production chores. It was too much By this time, we had progressed well into the marketing phase. I work for one person, and my time was usually stretched pretty thin. wrote the advertising copy solicited to the various Direct Sales distribOne of the drawbacks to the setup is that I didn’t always get things done utors, including Bud Plant, Capitol City, and Diamond. Beck, however, quickly enough to make everyone happy. For this reason, I tried to didn’t care much for the copy I had written and sent the following text, conduct as much business as possible by phone. Beck, however, insisted on my putting everything down on paper. Call it a prerequisite of doing business with him. I didn’t have any problem with his request, but it took me longer to get it done than he would have liked. Obviously Beck was getting a little impatient, which explains the following letter, dated April 11, 1987: “I am still waiting for something in written form stating what you are doing with the publishing of my story On Top of Ol’ Lympos. I spent 15 years writing Ol’ Lympos and want to know what is happening to it. Do you blame me?” Beck didn’t know that I had already mailed a letter to him that outlined all the necessary particulars. On May 2, 1987, he responded

C.C. Beck’s On Top Of Ol’ Lympos

44 asking that it be used in future advertising:

“ATTENTION, MATURE COMIC READERS: Are you looking for violence, sex, murder, incest, and perhaps a hint of perversion in your reading material? On Top of Ol’ Lympos, C.C. Beck’s new novel, has it all—and more! It even has a little nudity! How can we get away with this stuff in comics? We can’t. So we’ve put it all in a book instead! You’ll have to read about it—it’s not in the pictures. C.C.’s pictures are as bland as a Sunday school lesson—but his copy is something else. He tells us how the Greek gods all lived together on the top of a mountain called Ol’ Lympos and ate, drank, fought, loved, and enjoyed life to the hilt.”

3000 years in time and rewritten these wonderful old stories in plain, ordinary language to tell us what actually happened all those centuries ago to people who were just like us... not gods or heroes at all but real, living men, women, and children. They actually lived on top of a mountain and ate and drank and loved and fought as real people always have. “On Top of Ol’ Lympos is the story of Hanimer Asarakos, a Greek farm boy who was taken to live with the Kronson family when still a lad of thirteen. His first-person account of life among the sons and daughters and grandchildren of Kronos (the ancient god of time) will grab you, as it did me, with its opening lines and hold you right through to the last word. “It’s wilder and funnier... and far more believable... than any comic book I’ve ever read. And it’s superbly illustrated by old C.C. Himself!”

Here is an excerpt from C.C. Beck’s Foreword from the book:

In this midst of all this activity, I asked Jerry de Fuccio to write an introduction to the book. He wrote the following: “The book you are about to read is based on stories that are many centuries old; known and loved by our European ancestors, long before any of them came to the Americas. They are stories known as ‘The Classics’ and were once taught in our schools as part of the GraecoRoman culture on which our Western Civilization is based. They are wonderful stories, filled with blood and thunder and violence and sex, more vividly presented than anything found today.

“This book is not intended to be read by children or by scholars in search of facts about ancient mythology. It has not been written by a historian and it makes no claim to authenticity. It is fiction, pure and simple, and is intended to be read by those in search of exciting adventures based on some of the tales told about the gods and goddesses of Greek mythology. “When Christianity replaced the worship of the Greek and Roman gods, the ancient tales fell into disfavor and were relegated to the status of fairy tales and nursery stories. As such they were bowdlerized and emasculated beyond all recognition and were turned into silly things

“But alas! By the time of our grandfathers, these stories had become so watered-down and eviscerated with overblown scholarly-style language, hardly anyone read them any more. Misguided writers and editors had turned them into silly, meaningless fairy tales filled with all sorts of childish magic and nonsense. “One who read them, despite their silliness, was C.C. Beck, who, with Bill Parker, created the immortal Captain Marvel in 1940. Captain Marvel derived his powers from ancient Greek and Roman gods and heroes (along with the Jewish King, Solomon), and many of the Golden Age Captain Marvel stories were based on classic themes. “Blessed with a powerful imagination, C.C. Beck has now gone back Pa and Thoth. [©2002 estate of C.C. Beck.]

A Twilight Of The Gods

there is no obscene language and no dwelling on the seamier side of life which is so popular with some of today’s writers. Hanimer Asarakos, the purported author, was only thirteen years old when he began this book and you will find that he never lost his innocence.”

Perhaps you are curious why such a charming book has never been published. I am sad to say that some of the fault is mine. After investing a considerable amount of time (and money) into the production of Ol’ Lympos, unforeseen circumstances made it impossible for me to publish. All of the ingredients for successful publication were there, but the timing couldn’t have been worse. By the Summer of 1987, Ace Comics suffered from a severe cash flow problem. I had problems getting paid by some of the distributors for comics I had already published. From there, things went from bad to worse. In just a few short months, a half-dozen distributors filed for bankruptcy owing considerable sums of money to me and other publishers.

which very few could enjoy. In addition, storytellers more interested in sounding impressive and scholarly than in entertaining their listeners were telling the old tales in stilted pseudo-classical language. “All the stories in On Top of Ol’ Lympos are told by Hanimer Asarakos, a Greek farm lad who lived some 3000 years ago. His adventures with the members of an amazing family of hillbillies living on top of a mountain known as ‘Ol’ Lympos’ will stir the hearts of readers as these stories have been told and retold for 3000 years. “Readers with some knowledge of mythology will meet old friends in these stories… and those who have never studied the classics at all will learn how the members of Pa Kronson’s huge family earned their reputations which have lasted down to our time and why their names are embedded in our language today.

“Violence, sex, rape, murders, and worse are in these stories. But

Personally, I lost almost $25,000. Lacking sufficient operating capital to absorb that kind of a loss, I was forced out of business. Unfortunately, there were several worthwhile projects I had to abandon, including On Top of Ol’ Lympos. It broke my heart to tell Beck that I was not going to be able to publish his book. Beck, bless him, was very gracious. He seemed to understand my predicament. We had our last telephone conversation in October 1987. Beck asked if there was anything salvageable that could be turned over to another publisher. There wasn’t much that I could offer, but I told Beck that I would be glad to help in any way I could. I never heard from him again. Following the demise of my Ace Comics line, I went through a troubled time in my personal life. I went through a divorce and my son developed health problems that required hospitalization and extensive therapy. During that period, I lost track of many old friends.

C.C. Beck’s On Top Of Ol’ Lympos

I was saddened to find out later that Beck had passed away. Upon hearing the news I felt a strange sense of regret over things that might have been, if circumstances had been different, or there had been more time. Upon reflection, it seems tragic that On Top of Ol’ Lympos was not published during Beck’s lifetime. However, looking at matters from a historical perspective, it helps to remember that some of the greatest books ever written were published after the death of the author or under similar extenuating circumstances. Cervantes, after fighting at Lepanto and living as a prisoner in Algiers, wrote Don Quixote and died in poverty. Benvenuto Cellini was a famous goldsmith who left behind a celebrated autobiography. Nathaniel Hawthorne worked as a Salem customs house officer while preparing The Scarlet Letter. One problem that goes with authorship is that it seldom pays well. And, as it has been suggested, publication itself is often a struggle.

[Ron Frantz has been a columnist for The Buyer’s Guide for Comics Fandom and The Comics Journal, and has published articles in numerous other fanzines. In 1986-87 he was editor and publisher of Ace Comics, producing such comics as Return of the Skyman, Daredevil Battles The Claw, The Golden Age Art of Klaus Nordling, The Art of Lou Fine, The Adventures of Spencer Spook, and more, with work by Steve Ditko, Pat Boyette, Alex Toth, Joe Gill, Frank McLaughlin, and many others. Ace Comics back issues are still available; visit <http://members.aol.com/magilla445/magillaindex.html>. Frantz is the author of the book Fandom: Confidential, an insightful and straightforward look at the heroes and villains of comic book collecting during the mid-1960s to the late ’70s. For more information, e-mail <Magilla445@aol.com>. He currently resides in the scenic Ouachita Mountains area of Arkansas. New books in the works include a retrospective study entitled The Many Faces of Ellery Queen.]

The unpublished novels of C.C. Beck are in good company. However, at least for the moment, they continue to languish in obscurity.

Epilogue by P.C. Hamerlinck In late 1987 C.C. Beck sent me the manuscript for his book On Top of Ol’ Lympos. Here is an excerpt of the letter that was included with the manuscript: “I’m sending you this sample of my book On Top of Ol’ Lympos. Ace Comics was going to publish it but had to set it aside due to business reverses.

“In my book all the immorality, violence, sex, and bloodshed are still there (one chapter describes a battle in which 20,000 throats are cut in a single afternoon) but there is nothing offensive in either copy or my illustrations. Everything is implied, not brought out in grisly detail. I am sure the most blue-nosed censor won’t be able to find a single passage to delete. “Books containing sex, immorality, and bloodthirsty adventure have always been best sellers. Today’s writers don’t come near the storytellers of the ancient world in this respect. Let’s give the public what it wants…without giving it four-letter words and explicit art. “On Top of Ol' Lympos will do that, I believe. [signed] C.C. Beck

“I believe that my book would appeal to comic book lovers who are familiar with my work on Captain Marvel during the Golden Age. Regular book publishers are, today, interested only in manuscripts by notorious politicians, prostitutes, the offspring of famous people, and personalities-ofthe-moment. These publishers will not even look at a manuscript by someone like me. “I know that distribution of a book is all-important. I could publish Ol’ Lympos myself, but I would be unable by myself to get it into the hands of dealers. “Do you have any suggestions for me? I spent fifteen years writing Ol’ Lympos, and those to whom I have shown its manuscript have enjoyed reading it. You will notice that the stories of the Greek gods are filled with rape, murder, violence, etc., which is far more shocking than anything being published today.

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Vol. 3, No. 12 / January 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 Artists (& Colorists) Bill Ward, Paul Reinman

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

This issue is dedicated to the memory of

Ronn Foss

Contents Writer/Editorial: A Matter of Quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Issue overview—and a “movie moment” related to our Bill Ward cover.

Gill Fox: Quality Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Quality’s editor (1940-43) interviewed by Jim Amash—with tons of Quality artwork!

A Tribute to Ronn Foss (1939-2001). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 A fond farewell to one of Alter Ego’s earliest editors— and a swell guy.

It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Wood! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Michael T. Gilbert & Mr. Monster showcase the art that caused Wally to go away Mad!

DC, Fawcett, and More!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Flip Us! About Our Cover: Circa the early 1970s Bill Ward was one of several Golden Age artists who began to “re-create” classic covers, some of which were sold through the Collectors Book Store on Hollywood Boulevard in L.A., including this re-do of the cover of Military Comics #29 (May 1944), currently part of Roy Thomas’ personal collection. For more about this Blackhawk battle scene, see our Writer/Editorial on the very next page. [Art ©2002 the estate of Bill Ward; Blackhawks © & TM DC Comics.] Above: Part of editor Gill Fox’s job description in the early 1940s was to illustrate many of Quality Comics’ covers—including Feature Comics #58 (July 1942), spotlighting The Doll Man. For more on Fox’s long and fantastic career, see our in-depth interview! Repro’d from photocopies of the original art, courtesy of the artist. [©2002 DC Comics; licensed characters ©2002 the respective copyright holders.] 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: $8 ($10 Canada, $11 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.

writer/editorial

A Matter Of Quality B

y sheer coincidence, this first issue of Alter Ego to be assembled after the horrific events of September 11, 2001, features a pair of covers related to World War II—and thus to an earlier “date that will live in infamy,” just as the more recent one shall and should. I’ll have a bit more to say on this subject in our “flip section,” but, right here and now: Our cover illustrations by Golden Age artists are 1970s re-creations dealing with twin aspects of WWII—the battle overseas (the Blackhawks) and the Home Front (Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, and Flash). The Paul Reinman one was chosen because the longest item in our “flip section” is a study of the extant art from a never-published “GL” story Paul drew circa 1946. Bill Ward’s re-do of the cover of Military Comics #29, for its part, is the perfect lead-in to this issue’s centerpiece: a long and rewarding interview with Gill Fox, a talented and generous man who, besides being a cartoonist ever since the late 1930s, was also the editor of Busy Arnold’s wonderful Quality Comics Group for three crucial years—1940-43.

Quality, most of whose characters are now the property of DC Comics, was a company that truly deserved its name. A perusal of the first few names listed on our cover will suffice to demonstrate that: Jack Cole, creator of Plastic Man... Reed Crandall and Lou Fine, two of the ablest draftsmen in the history of comics... Will Eisner, the genius behind The Spirit... Chuck Cuidera, who co-created Blackhawk. And the rest of the Quality Golden-Agers listed out front aren’t exactly chopped liver, either— including Bill Ward, who besides drawing “Blackhawk” tales also created the fondly remembered Torchy, who made adolescent male hearts beat just a wee bit faster during the postwar years.

join him till months later, and who knew neither much English nor anyone in the States. Dann and I were more than willing. Not long after Yoshi (as we’ll call him) moved in, he and we exchanged a few notes left in each other’s mailboxes. This allowed him to read our carefully-worded invitation to take him out to dinner, rather than forcing him to understand our speech right off the bat. His acceptance note mentioned that he loved to fly model airplanes, and had won several competitions in Japan. This gave Dann and me a smashing idea. Near the Torrance Airport a few miles away was a good restaurant with the name “Lafayette Escadrille,” where we had eaten once or twice, a year or so earlier. As the name implies (to them as knows), the place had a “World War I flying” theme, complete with a biplane out front, and lots of authentic WWI aero-decor inside. Yoshi would be able to enjoy the atmosphere as well as the food; truth to tell, we hoped that would take a bit of the pressure off both him and us to totally understand what the other was saying, as well.

If the names of Gill Fox and others on our cover are a bit less familiar to you than those of Cole, Eisner, and company—well, I never meant A/E to deal only with people with whom all readers were already familiar. Part of the joy of comics history is the joy of discovery. So I’ll get out of the way and let you revel in Jim Amash’s in-depth conversation with Gill about his own life and work, and about the colorful and talented comics stalwarts he’s known along the way.... But no—I can’t take my leave until I tell you of an incident of which I’m reminded every time I look at that Ward Blackhawk painting, hanging on a wall in my office: The time was the late 1980s. My wife Dann and I were living in a cozy hillside neighborhood in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. One day the landlord of the house next door asked Dann and me if we could make a special effort to be nice to his new renter: a young Japanese man being brought to the U.S. by his company there, whose wife couldn’t

At that point, since I had spent years writing comics set in World War II, in which, contrary to the earlier conflict, Japan and America had been deadly enemies, Dann and I set about to make our living area “offense-proof.” This consisted primarily of taking Ward’s color Blackhawk re-creation—which prominently featured a dead Japanese soldier sprawled near a fallen Rising Sun flag—off a wall. I hadn’t bought the painting because of that aspect—it was simply the only Blackhawk re-creation I’d seen to date—but I didn’t want to offend Yoshi’s sensibilities. After all, how would we have liked it if we’d entered a home in Japan and seen a blood-stained WWII American flag hanging there?

A few nights later, soon after Yoshi knocked on our door and we’d made a bit of small talk (with our guest consulting his Japanese-English dictionary every few seconds), we set off in our car for the Torrance Airport, with Dann in the back seat with Yoshi, making an attempt to explain to him the “theme” idea of the restaurant to which we were going. I drove confidently along the dark, narrow road on the airport grounds, and saw stationery lights getting brighter. I drove nearer, nearer.... And then I kept right on going, passing the restaurant. Dann’s reaction was swift: “You missed it!” (A not totally unreasonable assumption; I’d done such things from time to time, lost in thought about some comics or film plot.) “I think we should go somewhere else,” was all I could manage. This vague statement did not mollify my red-haired wife. She insisted that we turn around. There weren’t a lot of restaurants in that area, Torrance being a smallish airport compared to LAX—and besides, we had already told Yoshi where we were taking him. So okay, I turned around and headed back, my mind racing.

writer/editorial

When we’d parked the car and were walking toward the restaurant, Dann, who was still playing dutiful hostess to Yoshi, at first only halfnoticed the new sign which had replaced the one signifying “Lafayette Escadrille”—with the WWI aeroplane no longer in evidence.

rarely-seen artwork which led to his quitting Mad magazine. Neither he nor we mean any disrespect to Mad editor Al Feldstein or to talented replacement Bob Clarke by examining this crucial turning-point in Wally’s checkered career.

As we entered the restaurant, it suddenly sank in on Dann, who didn’t live much of her mental life in WWII as I did, exactly what the new name implied. The interior of the eatery had been totally redecorated... in keeping with its new name and theme:

And I would be remiss if I didn’t say a few words of my own about my late friend Ronn Foss, one of the best and earliest fan-artists of what Bill Schelly has christened “The Golden Age of Comic Fandom.” As the second editor/publisher of the first volume of Alter Ego (issues #5-6 in 1963-64), Ronn initiated a number of “firsts” in the fanzine: the first use of photos of fans as well as their art and writings... the (as Bill says later) “first amateur hero strip in a photo-offset fanzine”... the magazine’s first “mascot” (“Joy Holiday,” whom he created and drew)... the first pro interview in A/E (a by-mail affair with Joe Kubert)... the first A/E cover which featured pro artwork (part of Kubert’s cover for a 1950s issue of Tor, flanked by a vintage photo of Joe himself)... along with a more art-oriented approach in general. Together, he and founder Jerry Bails (in #1-4) were greatly influential on the style of comics fanzines since, including my own #7-9 in 1964-65.

“Doolittle’s Raiders.” I had realized the instant I’d seen the sign—and now, so did Dann— that the eatery had been rechristened and redecorated to honor the April 1, 1942, bombing run made by sixteen B-25s to drop their lethal eggs on Tokyo and four other Japanese cities—America’s first homeland retaliation since Japan’s forces had sneak-attacked Pearl Harbor four months earlier. The force had been commanded by U.S. Army Air Force Lt. Colonel “Jimmy” Doolittle, and had been styled “Doolittle’s Raiders.” As it turned out, Dann and I couldn’t have chosen a worse place to take Yoshi if we’d spent years researching the project.

Ronn and I were in constant contact via the mails during much of the first half of the 1960s, and we got along well; he was only about a year older than I, and we shared many tastes, including The first thing that stared you in the those for Kubert and Kirby. Yet I always thought face as you entered the door was a of him as older and more mature, partly because newspaper facsimile (or original?) tacked he often drew himself looking that way, puffing to a wall, with a humongous headline: away in a sophisticated manner on a pipe—and he TOKYO BOMBED! had a moustache, to boot! In the late 1960s I was able to give him a chance to draw a short feature And Reed Crandall’s art in “Blackhawk” stories was so It was as if Dann and I had moved to for Marvel’s Not Brand Echh just before it was good that it almost softened the inherent stereotyped Japan and a local host had taken us to a cancelled, and Ronn was always happy that, at racism of Chop-Chop... almost. But at least Chop was restaurant called “Pearl Harbor.” The rest one of the “good guys” during World War II! least once, he had some work printed in a pro of the place more than lived up to its new [©2002 DC Comics.] comic. (If NBE had lasted a little longer, I had theme, with torn Nipponese Rising Sun plans to work in Grass Green and Biljo White, as flags, models of B-25s—and the entire story of the raid related on the well.) I’m proud to have the original art of his Eclipse cover for A/E back of each menu. Dann and I spent much of the dinner trying to make (Vol. 1) #5, reprinted two issues back, hanging up in our gym. sure that Yoshi understood that the restaurant’s theme had changed radically since we had last been there, and he nodded and smiled a lot. Ronn and I met only once—when he was passing through St. Louis, But neither then nor in the decade-plus since have we ever had any real probably after visiting Biljo in Columbia, Missouri, on his way to Ohio. glimmering of what he thought. He stayed overnight in my apartment, and while I recall little about the The story had a happy ending of sorts. When Yoshi’s wife joined him a couple of months later, we invited them to dinner again, and they accepted. This time we took them to a seafood restaurant out on the pier at Redondo Beach, and they seemed enjoy themselves. A few months later much of the pier, including that restaurant, burned down. When Mr. and Mrs. Yoshi moved (to a different L.A.-area location) a few months later, Dann and I finally put the Blackhawk re-creation back on our wall.

occasion other than that we talked a lot and then he stayed up most of the night perusing my complete run of All-Star Comics, I’ve always been glad our friendship wasn’t entirely by mail. In recent years he kindly gave Bill Schelly and me permission to utilize anything from his two issues of Alter Ego, first in our 1997 Best of volume, then in the revived A/E itself. Besides his tribute in this issue, Bill also features—in his soon-forthcoming Hamster Press book Comic Fandom Reader—the only substantial interview Ronn ever gave (from 1992), accompanied by copious art and photos. (See the full-page notice elsewhere in this issue.)

But I’ve never looked at it since without thinking of Yoshi, “Lafayette Escadrille”—and “Doolittle’s Raiders.”

Though he drew far less in recent years, a few issues ago Ronn contributed a drawing of Joy Holiday wishing A/E a happy 40th anniversary, and his last letter to me was one that wished both the magazine and me well.

(By the way, the Gerbers’ Picto-Journal Guide to Comic Books lists the original art of the cover to Military Comics #29 as being by Alex Kotzky, not Bill Ward... but Ward definitely drew the re-creation.)

We wished you well, too, Ronn. We wish you had taken better care of yourself and that you were still with us... but we’re grateful both for your contributions to comics fandom over the years—and just for the chance to have known you.

The rest of this issue’s first half is well worth your time, as well. Michael T. Gilbert, who wrote a masterly overview of the life of the late great Wally Wood back in issue #8, returns to the subject to present the

Bestest,

LUCKY

COMING IN MARCH NOW 8 BIG TIMES A YEAR! ™

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“THE TITANS OF TIMELY/MARVEL!”

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PART II

• Great covers by JOE SIMON (Captain America) and MURPHY ANDERSON (believe it or not—the original Avengers)! • By popular demand! Big Silver Age AVENGERS Section—featuring JOHN BUSCEMA, DON HECK, GEORGE TUSKA, & ROY THOMAS. • Rare Timely art by JOE SIMON, JACK KIRBY, BILL EVERETT, CARL BURGOS, CARL PFEUFER, SYD SHORES, MIKE SEKOWSKY, VINCE FAGO, & MORE! • Golden-Age Timely interviews with DANIEL KEYES (author of Flowers for Algernon)—artist DAVE GANTZ—plus a 1974 talk with JOE SIMON, STAN LEE, & FRANK ROBBINS! • Plus—MICHAEL T. GILBERT & Mr. Monster present a pair of STAN LEE interviews—FCA with C.C. BECK, MARC SWAYZE, & MIKE MANLEY— and MORE!!

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Quality Control

Quality Control A Conversation with GILL FOX Artist, Writer, and Editor (1940-43) of Quality Comics Group Conducted and Transcribed by Jim Amash [All materials for this interview furnished by Gill Fox and/or Jim Amash, unless otherwise indicated.]

Gill Fox calls this “maybe the only photo of Busy ever seen by the public!” Left to right: Gill, his wife Helen—and Busy, which is short for Everett “Busy” Arnold, publisher of Quality Comics from the late ’30s to the very end in 1956.

[INTERVIEWER’S NOTE: Gill Fox had the amazing combination of talent and luck to be at the right place at the right time, over and over again in his long career. As editor at Quality Comics in the early 1940s he oversaw the flowering of that company’s best period of publishing. Later he worked with the agents of advertising art at the legendary Johnstone and Cushing Art Service, worked on the first Hi and Lois strips with Dik Browne, and showed a remarkable flair for cartooning, always earning the respect of his peers. A friendly, funny, giving man who has always cared deeply about his chosen profession, he has not received the attention he deserves. Hopefully, we can fix that just a bit, starting now...! —Jim.]

I. Beginnings JIM AMASH: What spurred your interest in cartooning? GILL FOX: It was survival. I come from the depths of the Depression. I knew the way it was going I’d be driving a truck. I had to make a positive decision, and it seemed to me that cartooning would be a way out. For my sixteenth birthday, my mother and father gave me the Landon Art Correspondence Course, which many of the famous artists like Jack Cole and Roy Crane had taken. Once, two other cartoonists and I took Roy Crane out to dinner in New York and questioned him about the course. Crane told us he went out to Cleveland once and found out Landon was an alcoholic. But Landon was awfully, awfully good. In the old-fashioned style. The course took about a year. If you bought the course, you paid about $7-8. If you took instruction from him, which meant every week, you’d send stuff to him and he’d correct it and send it back for an additional $20. I had to take the cheaper way, but I swore to myself that I would religiously follow it, and it worked. JA: Did you take art in school, too?

“This,” Gill says, “is my most publicized Plastic Man cover. I get constant offers from all over the U.S. to buy it.” Repro’d from a photostat of Gill Fox’s original art for the cover of Police Comics #11 (Sept. 1942). The printed color version, as reprinted (restored) in DC’s Plastic Man Archives, Vol. 1, was trimmed slightly at the bottom. [©2002 DC Comics; Spirit © & TM 2002 Will Eisner.]

FOX: Yes. Textile High School in Greenwich Village in New York had some excellent art courses, including a course in advertising; and under that was a course in cartooning. I took four years in textile design, but cut those classes to go to the advertising class. I didn’t get credit for it, but around me were some very good guys like John Stanley [future Little Lulu artist], who had gotten out a year

Gill Fox Fleischer Studios, which was in the heart of New York. In order to pick up samples for reproduction as quickly as possible, I asked a friend going to St. John’s and said, “Hey, let me do a cartoon for you, and you can put your name on it.” I did a couple of covers for St. John’s magazine and my cousin and someone else let me do the same for their high school papers. So I was able to have printed samples for a portfolio.

II. Fox at Fleischer JA: Did you get your start at Fleischer’s? FOX: That was my first job. I had enough of an art background that they hired me as an opaquer in 1936. Opaquing is simply coloring the backs of animated cartoon cells. It was easy to do. I was about twenty years old. A fascinating thing happened there. There was a good-looking man with a little moustache and this guy was good. He was about twenty years old, and his name “God, that man was good!” says Fox. These four panels from a (17-panel!) Sunday for was Burne Hogarth. He went out to lunch and put his April 17, 1938, show how George McManus played with the comic strip form in Bringing Up Father. portfolio on a rack. I took his portfolio and looked [©1938, 2002 King Features Syndicate, Inc.] through it. He came back and I told him what I had done, explaining that I’m a nut and trying to get ahead of me. You wouldn’t believe how good his work was at 16—as somewhere. Hogarth had already gotten into advertising and had done a good as most professionals today. There was one school that was better campaign about baby powder with a baby lying on the floor. I said, “I’d than ours, and that was the School of Music and Art. Alex Kotzky and love to have an original.” And he gave me that thing and I still have it. Al Jaffee went there. But he was so good that he was out of there in a week or two. [NOTE: John Stanley and [future Timely artist] Vince Alascia took an art Hogarth soon become the renowned artist of the Tarzan newspaper course that was an offshoot of the course at Textile. I was deeply strip, and later a teacher of future generations of cartoonists. —JIM.] impressed with Vince’s talent; he did great stuff for the yearbook. Years Incidentally, one of the men who caused all this interest at my high later, I went to see him and he had totally changed. I tried to get him to school was Shelly Mayer. He had gone to my high school. [NOTE: By make a move into a better kind of work, but I couldn’t get him to do it. the late ’30s Mayer had become both a cartoonist and a major editor Vince had an uninspired art career. at All-American and National/DC Comics. —JIM.] I started copying the newspaper comics when I was twelve. I was JA: Who did you know at Fleischer’s that we would know of today? totally fascinated by them. My favorite was George McManus’ Bringing Up Father. God, that man was good! He had been a trained architect. FOX: Harry Lampert, who was the co-creator of “The Flash,” was in The way he drew his figures, his stylization fascinated me. For instance, the inking department. In fact, Harry recently reminded me that we if you see a hand pointing, the wrist bends downward and the finger were two of the four guys who helped lead the strike at Fleischer’s! comes up. To this day, I’ll draw a guy pointing the way McManus did. Luckily, by that time I knew that I did not want any part of animation. I was there a year. I was promoted from opaquing to inking in about two I was about sixteen when I went over to the King Features offices in months. There were about a hundred employees there. I would have New York and asked the receptionist if I could see McManus. She said I couldn’t see anyone without an appointment. I mentioned I’d come a long way to see him, so she took me down the hall. McManus was sitting in a chair, smoking a cigar, reading a newspaper, and a guy was shining his shoes. I stood there for five minutes looking in a doorway, and she said, “Have you had enough?” Then she took me back. I loved McManus that much. He looked like Jiggs. As a kid, I wrote and drew my own stories of that strip. That training taught me to write. I’ve done a lot of gag cartoons, and that training is what a lot of people doing strips today don’t have. How to build a gag and have impact, leaving out a lot of unnecessary elements. Landon told his students, “Don’t go out there until you are ready.” A lot of guys who get syndicated are not ready, and they’re locked in to this semiprofessional style. So I followed Landon’s advice. While I was going to high school and taking the Landon course, I went to Washington Irving High School in New York City at night. They had life drawing and continuing education classes. I would go home and have dinner and then go back to New York City and take the life drawing class at night. I did that for about a year. There were others at Textile High who got out and got jobs and came back and told us about them. One of the places we were told about was

One of Gill’s co-workers at Fleischer was Harry Lampert, who in 1939-40 would co-create the original Flash. This Lampert re-creation was auctioned off at the All-Time Classic New York Comic Book Convention in White Plains, NY, in 2000. To contact Harry re commission art, etc., write him at: 2074 S.W. 17th St., Deerfield Beach, FL 33442—enclosing a stamped, self-addressed envelope. [Art ©2002 Harry Lampert; Flash © & TM DC Comics.]

Quality Control

comic books. One guy told me you could get paid $5 a page, and that was great money. I began to seek out the publishers. William Cook was one of the first ones [Comics Magazine Company, Inc.]. I wrote and drew a one-pager that ran on the inside back cover. I began to develop at that point and was hooked on the comic book. That was also my first professional writing.

become an in-betweener, had I continued. JA: Did you ever meet the Fleischer brothers? FOX: Interesting that you should ask me that. During the strike, a group of three guys charged the picket line because we were too close to the entrance. They deliberately charged our line because they wanted to bring charges against anybody who got violent. Dave Fleischer was one of those three guys, and that’s the closest I came to meeting them. Luckily, I didn’t touch him and I didn’t strike anybody. I had been on the wrestling team in high school and knew how to grab somebody. I did get arrested, but they let me go on disorderly conduct the next day. This was a deliberate attempt to demoralize us. JA: What started the strike? FOX: We were getting $17.50 a week, which was standard. We were trying for more money and better conditions. Harry Lampert thought that job was the greatest thing that ever happened. They got vacations and raises and everything else. I didn’t like the job anyway and got out of it.

Then I did movie pages for Major Nicholson [Major Malcolm WheelerNicholson] at National Comics. This was before [Harry] Donenfeld owned it. JA: Did you deal with Nicholson himself? FOX: Not at all. I dealt with Vin Sullivan and Whitney Ellsworth. They were cartoonists, and good editors. I did about 34 pages for them, though I was never paid for them. $5 apiece they owed me. They were movie personality pages and a page about a detective—a drawing of him, and some cartoons around it detailing what he did. Later, Busy Arnold told me that, if he Gill Fox, age 19, in the inking department of the Fleischer had known what I had gone through, he studio. Note the model charts on the walls. could have gotten that money for me. But I never pressed it. I never burn bridges behind me.

We were approached by a union. The gag cartoonists—the ones writing for The Saturday Evening Post, Judge, etc.—had a union behind them. That union was a little to the left. I took my future wife to a dance they ran, and there was the hammer and sickle crossed with the American flag. They took over and organized the strike. Harry and I and a couple other guys helped lead the strike. I don’t remember how long after that it was, but they closed the place down and moved to Florida. I was still out of work and I wrote them a letter down in Florida. One striker had been beaten by the police at least twice; they really worked him over. But he joined Fleischer’s and went to Florida with them. I figured to do the same thing and I wrote them a letter. They never bothered to answer it. They had wind of who I was. JA: Do you remember what cartoons you worked on at the studio?

Later, I remember [Sullivan and Ellsworth] talking about “Superman.” They couldn’t get over how Action Comics was selling, and they found out it was because of Superman. I was there when this happened. But I really wanted to get a syndicated strip and to break into Johnstone and Cushing [an advertising service]. They were big, and their advertising strips were a big deal all over the country. Creig Flessel [important early DC artist] was already working for them. As a matter of fact, I had an incident that taught me a lesson for the rest of my life. I thought that, if you freelanced for one person, that was all you were allowed to do. I don’t know where I got this idea. One day I brought work in to DC. Flessel was working there and asked me if I’m doing any other work. I said something to the effect that I got a job at Johnstone and Cushing. I thought I was covered because I wasn’t freelancing. He

FOX: Betty Boop and Popeye. They usually gave you a sequence of about 25 drawings and you inked them on celluloid, which was like inking on glass. You warmed up by using a rejected cell that had some space on it left. I have a cel here, not opaqued, with a three-quarter figure of Betty Boop, Popeye, and Bluto. They were wearing football uniforms in the background. JA: Where did you sell your first [magazine] cartoon? FOX: While I was at Fleischer’s, one of the guys in the inking department was doing sports cartoons for a magazine called Sport Eye. It was a weekly tabloid with full-size, half-page, and quarter-page sports cartoons about sporting events from the previous week. I got them to okay a quarter-page from me, and it was my first sale. It paid about ten bucks. My future wife and I went to a newsstand to get a copy, but I wasn’t in the issue.

III. DC Days JA: Where did you go after you left the Fleischer studios? FOX: Word was beginning to come in about a strange publication called

Three of DC’s pioneers—l. to r., Sheldon Moldoff, Creig Flessel, and Fred Guardineer—pose at a 1999 reunion. Shelly and Fred both had artwork (a sports page and “Zatara the Magician,” respectively) in Action Comics #1 in 1938, while Creig was one of National/DC’s top early cover artists. Photo courtesy of Dave Siegel.

Gill Fox

said, “Where are you sitting?” I said, “I’m sitting in the corner.”

felt so sorry for that woman.

Flessel said, “That’s strange. I haven’t seen you. I work there.” Well, I liked him, so I told him the truth. After that, I decided I wouldn’t lie anymore. Creig’s an awfully nice man and we are still friends to this day.

JA: What do you remember about Chesler’s personality?

IV. What Did That “A” Stand for, Anyway?

FOX: He was likable. He’d come in wearing a hat on the back on his head with a watch chain in his vest. He reminded me of a fight promoter, and he smoked a cigar. He was about 35-40 years old. He had about ten guys in his studio.

Several people ran the studio for him. One was Ken Ernst [in 1940 the first artist of Mary Worth after it ceased being Apple Mary]; he was FOX: I didn’t stay at DC long and began to get work elsewhere. Harry good and ran the studio for a couple of months. A quiet guy. Jack “A” Chesler placed an ad in The New York Times or somewhere, Binder was art director for a while, too. He never bothered us and sat up looking for artists for his studio. I went over there and he said, “Do four front doing his work. samples.” I went home and did them in a week or so and brought them in. He said, “These are fine. I can use them. How would you JA: Did all the Before Crime Does Not Pay and Mary Worth and Plastic Man, like a job?” artists Charles Biro, Ken Ernst, and Jack Cole labored in Harry “A” artists write what Chesler’s art shop. These three panels (clockwise, from Biro’s “Sgt. they drew? I asked how Boyle,” Ernst’s “Larry Steele,” and Cole’s “The Comet”) appeared much and he said, circa 1940 in comics published by MLJ, DC, and MLJ, respectively. FOX: Jack Cole “$20 a week.” My Thanks to Jerry Bails & Hames Ware. [“Sgt. Boyle” and “Comet” art did. Fred Schwab nose started ©2002 Archie Publications; “Larry Steele” art ©2002 DC Comics.] did. I wrote my bleeding, no own stuff. Most of kidding—right the artists did. But there standing in there was a writer front of his in there; I don’t desk—I was so remember who he excited about was. I had a what had syndicate strip happened! My idea, and Chesler father was a got one of the milkman and he straight illusgot $35 a week, trators to draw it. and I had a $20 I was more of a job already. I semi-straight worked for artist. This writer Chesler about a wrote it and they year. This was about 1937. used it. You couldn’t believe the people in that studio. Jack In those days you didn’t have a writer and an Cole was there. Winsor artist. The same man did both jobs. If you had 25 McCay’s son Bob was there. cartoonists syndicated, you might have one or two Frank Frollo, who had a that had a writer working with them. Comic books style like Alex Raymond’s. changed that whole thing. Charlie Biro, Bob Wood, and Paul Gustavson were I also created sports pages and Believe It or there, too. Chesler had Not-type things for Chesler. One week, I wrote about four different studios. and drew a five-page detective strip. I really floundered on it. I was still developing and I really For that twenty, I had to didn’t know how to put a strip together. It was a do five pages a week. One tremendous experience. each day. Pencils, inks, and letters. I wrote them, too. I JA: According to Who’s Who in American Comics remember working on Books, you’re listed as doing “Gill Galen,” “Gcoquille paper, the paper Man,” “Gnaw and Nibble,” “Voices in the Dark,” with a stipple. And I used to letter with a brush. I was a professional “Strange but True”.... letterer for a while. FOX: That’s mostly misinformation. I didn’t do any of those. Well, JA: Chesler had four different studios? “Strange but True” could be one of those Believe It or Not-type pages. FOX: Maybe three, at one time or another. Different staffs at different times. It gets confusing. Incidentally, Chesler took the four pages I did as samples, used them, and never paid me. Later on, when he was packaging books for Quality, he came over and Arnold came out and said to me, “He’s not supposed to be here. I’m busy. Get rid of him!” I went out and told Chesler this and he said, “You used to work for me.” I said, “Yeah. You didn’t pay me for those four pages!” Once I ran into a woman with a couple of kids, and she was crying and told me he had about 20 or 40 pages of hers and never paid her! I

JA: What were your early impressions of Jack Cole? FOX: He was about 23 years old, and he was in the raw stages of artistic development. His stuff was funny and didn’t look anything like the “Plastic Man” work he did later on. But you could see him developing right on the spot. Everybody liked Jack Cole. He was about six-footthree and thin. Tall and narrow. And he had such an inventive mind. I knew him pretty well, but we didn’t get that close. He came up to Stamford later on in the Quality days. But he wasn’t an outgoing person. He had a very pleasant personality, but he wasn’t a mixer, really.

Quality Control

JA: What do you remember about Biro and Wood? FOX: I remember when Charlie Biro and Bob Wood shared an apartment in Greenwich Village in New York. They used to brag about their escapades with women. And they told me that they painted a nude woman. I asked, “How the hell did you get her to undress?” Biro reaches under the bed and pulls out a canvas that’s about one quarter finished, with no likeness or head. But the figure was nude. “This is what we use! We let her look at it, paint in a couple of strokes, and she thinks she’s being painted.” Biro was an animator before he got into comics. He might have worked for Disney, but I’m not certain of that. At one point after I left Fleischer’s, Charlie invited me to work for him. He wanted me to do inbetweening work. I said, “Charlie, I’m not an in-betweener.” Biro gave me a scene and I told him I couldn’t do it, but I sat down and did my impression of what in-betweening was. When they saw the rushes, they discovered I had the figure walking backwards. [laughs] I said, “I told you I couldn’t do in-betweening!” But Biro was a close friend and kind of nuts. One time, we’re riding in Biro’s car and he looks over at a parked car, sees a hubcap, and says, “Hey! That has a hubcap like mine! I’m missing a hubcap!” Then, he hands me a screwdriver and says, “Go get that hubcap!” He was crazy! I remember once when Busy Arnold threw a cocktail party and Biro and Manly Wade Wellman were drinking. They got mad at each other and almost started to fight. Wellman was a big, blustery Southern gentleman! And we had to separate these two big men! I don’t remember what they were mad about. Wellman also wrote for us at Quality.

A “Human Bomb” page by artist Paul Gustavson from Police Comics, circa 1945—and a “Rusty Ryan” page he did for Feature circa 1946. The latter is repro’d from photocopies of the original art, courtesy of Jerry Bails & Hames Ware. [© & TM 2002 DC Comics.]

Many years afterwards, Cole and Alex Kotzky did this True Crime comic book and it caused a lot of trouble. That’s the book where Cole drew a man getting ready to put a needle in a woman’s eye. JA: How about Paul Gustavson? FOX: Very pleasant guy, easy to get to know. He never became a genius as an artist, but he was very professional and could do three penciledand-inked pages to your one any day. He wrote his own stuff there and for Quality. Raphael Astarita used to sit in the corner. His work was so good you knew he had to have had some training. He sat down once and did a drawing me and said, “This is what you’ll look like in twenty years.” He drew me with a bull neck and no hair. He was wrong about that, because I still have a full head of hair. JA: Who else do you remember from the studio? FOX: Ken Fitch was a writer but was in another room. Fred Schwab was there and we became friends. Bart Tumey was there. A great cartoonist. I remember he was overseas during the war, too. When guys like that work at the same place you do, they make you want to get better so you can keep up with them. He was easy to know and not too opinionated and also worked for Quality.

Gill Fox famous movie actor!” And the girls would go nuts. Biro had a good mind but he was a little nuts. He and Wood were a lot alike. Wood was a strong man. I had been on the wrestling team. We were on a break from Chesler’s and went into a men’s room and started wrestling on the tile floor. I was surprised at how strong he was. You wouldn’t know there was anything wrong with Bob until he started drinking. Once, Cole had an argument with his wife and went to New York to stay over. Wood said, “The apartment next to me is empty. Take that room.” Jack said he could hear Wood pounding on that woman all night long. That was the first indication that Wood was crazy. Wood was a good humor cartoonist. He also wrote. Wood and Biro were partners at Lev Gleason. Once I had some trouble finding work and Biro gave me a straight story to draw, which I didn’t like. I was a humor artist. I took it home and struggled with it. I asked my brother-in-law, who was a top Saturday Evening Post illustrator, to help out. He did a couple of things, but I had to change them. Illustrators are not comic book artists.

Bob Wood about to commit the crime that sent him to prison. This illustration by Dan Clowes appeared over two pages in Blab #6 (Summer 1991), hence the missing art around Wood’s raised arm. The title of the article by Monte Beauchamp and John Petrie: “Alcoholic Cartoonists.” [Art ©1991, 2002 Daniel Gillespie Clowes.]

JA: Alex Kotzky told me that Jack Cole told him about a date Cole and his wife and Bob Wood and his girlfriend had. They worked at Chesler’s at the time. Cole gets out the cab and looks back to see Wood beating up his date. FOX: Wood was strange with women. With men he had a very likable personality, but with women he was crazy. Particularly when he was drinking. He was raised in Boston in a rough neighborhood and had a lack of respect for women. You know what happened to Bob Wood. Art Spiegelman [author/artist of the Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel Maus] came up to interview me about Bob Wood. He said, “I’m writing a musical about him.” I said, “What the hell? He killed a woman with a flat-iron! You going to do that according to the beat of the music?” But other guys have told me those kind of things are common.

The last time I saw Bob Wood was at Dell Comics in the late 1950s. I was up there looking for work and in comes this guy, all pasty-faced, and I did a double take. This was three years after he had gotten sentenced for that murder. I said, “My God! Bob! What are you doing here?” He said, “I got time off for good behavior.” He was looking for work, too. Later, he was drunk and got run over by a car in New York. JA: Did you get to know Bob McCay? FOX: I got to know him pretty well. As a matter of fact, I had three originals by his father and I’ve still got one left. If you know the history of Winsor McCay, you know they were in vaudeville together. JA: A few years ago I interviewed John Belfi, and he said Bob McCay was an alcoholic and a bad artist and needed help to do his work.

JA: Wood started out as a comic book artist, right? FOX: Yes, in the first Chesler studio. I met him there. When sober, he had a sense of humor. In 1938 we did a course in cartooning that Bob McCay financed. McCay had money he inherited from his father. I don’t know what happened to that course. I completed my end of it and gave it back to them and never heard another word about it.

JA: I wonder how Belfi got the notion that McCay drank. I wish he was still alive, so I could ask him.

JA: Did Biro and Wood become friends at Chesler’s? FOX: Yes. Biro was six-foot-three and a big man. He looked like a famous actor whose name I can’t recall. We’d stand outside the building at lunchtime, and he’d start walking in front of two attractive girls. I’d look at him and say, “Hey, that’s ‘What’s-his-name’... the

FOX: I refuse to accept that Bob was an alcoholic. What had happened was, he was in the First World War and got gassed. Bob and his wife would come to my house, and he had no drinking problem that I knew of. I never saw McCay drink. It’s true he wasn’t a good artist. He imitated his father’s work. The old man was beyond a genius; he was incredible. The son really stepped into some shoes there. Bob was a happy person and a very nice man.

FOX: John’s passed away? JA: Yes. Several years ago. Martin Filchock’s “Mighty Man” appeared in Centaur’s Amazing Man and Stars and Stripes between 1939-41. Thanks to Jerry Bails & Hames Ware for this 1939 panel. [©2002 the respective copyright holder.]

FOX: Jeez. If I live long enough, I’ll be on Earth all by myself.

Quality Control JA: Well, you and my socks will still be here. So what did McCay do at Chesler’s?

because I had words with him. I don’t remember if it was because of pay or something else. I never got temperamental when I had a problem with an editor, but something happened there. Jacquet had one of the early comic book shops, too.

FOX: He did some features, including this stupid imitation of his father’s Little Nemo in Slumberland.

The office was like a big loft. I didn’t meet any artists there. But I remember Martin Filchock was there doing bigfoot cartooning. Jacquet gave me a cover to do. It was straight drawing, not cartoony. I have a proof of it here, but I’m so ashamed of it, I’d hate to show it to anyone. It’s terrible. It’s a guy diving downstairs and someone’s shooting at him.

JA: I heard that he would cut up his father’s originals and use them with his own drawings. Is it true that he sometimes gave originals of his father’s Nemo strips to editors in order to get work for himself?

JA: Well, you know we want to publish it. Telling me it’s terrible is like waving a red flag in front of a bull. It’d also give us an idea of how your work was developing. FOX: It’s funny you say that, because in the last couple of months I’ve been looking at my late sister’s work. She was a famous illustrator. I’ve decided that’s what I was supposed to be: an illustrator. In fact, I’m even working on some clip service stuff. It’s washes, but it looks like airbrush. I’m doing illustrative figures. My brother-in-law was an illustrator, and my sister Lorraine put a lot of work into it. The effort is beyond belief. Models, costumes, etc.

FOX: That’s pressing it a little far. But he could have done it without saying anything. And they’re worth a fortune now. JA: We’ve talked a little about writing. I notice you didn’t always write your own stuff.

Gill pronounces this first cover he did for Centaur “terrible,” but hey, we’ve all gotta start somewhere, right? Maybe the “Keen” in the title Keen Detective Funnies (#8, July 1938—actually the first issue) was to keep DC from suing over Detective Comics? [©2002 the respective copyright holder.]

FOX: Infrequently, I did a strip that someone else wrote. That reminds me: Working in the comic books in my mid-career, I would try to avoid getting a whole book. The deadlines were grueling and the pay was lousy. I would do a five-page filler, but I didn’t want to get any further than five pages. Some guys didn’t mind doing a whole book. But it’s hard to enjoy drawing at the deadline level of the comic book. JA: I notice that some of the artists at Chesler’s later worked for you at Quality. Your doing?

FOX: No, Busy Arnold’s. He was an educated person. He was a Brown University graduate and the publisher at Quality. A very fair, honest man. Despite the fact that he was not an artist, with no art background, he picked all those great talents. Like Jack Cole. And he went out of his way to get Lou Fine. I have to give him the credit. JA: Why did you leave the Chesler shop? FOX: He closed that particular shop down. I don’t remember exactly why; and from what I understand, he had at least two more after that. Or maybe he had one before the one I was in and maybe we were the middle studio.

V. In the Centaur Ring

Lorraine is the first woman in the Illustrators Hall of Fame. She died in 1976 and was elected to the Hall in 1979. She was six years younger than me, and I tricked her into the business. She was going to high school, and by that time I’d learned you could make a living in this business. I said to her, “I’ll do the penciling and you do the inking, so you can do a panel for the school newspaper. In a couple of months, they’ll get to depend on you.” She did five of them. So now I said, “You’re going to do the whole thing!” And she went nuts. She had no confidence. But I knew she could do it and she did. Then about three months later I came home from Connecticut and my mother said, “Go down in the cellar. You won’t believe what you see.”

I went down there. In those days we had no money. She had taken ten brown paper bags, slit them, and glued them together. It was about two feet high and ten feet long. It was like a A Fox panel from “Detective Schultz’s Luck,” drawn for Centaur circa 1938. Thanks to Jerry Bails & Hames Ware. arsonist starting a fire. I [©2002 the respective copyright holder.] couldn’t believe the dormant talent I had awakened. Because I was working and earning a living, my mother got a job cleaning houses so we could send my sister to Pratt Institute. Boy, was she good!

JA: What do you remember about Centaur Publications? Did you work there through the Chesler shop?

JA: That’s amazing, having two famous artists in the same family.

FOX: I got that work on my own. I think that was before I went to Chesler’s. Lloyd Jacquet was the editor. I worked there only briefly,

FOX: There’s a wild story that goes with it. I was living on Long Island, freelancing in comic books, and my sister was doing these highly sophisticated magazine illustrations. I said to her, “Gee, there’s a great story here.

Gill Fox

Gill and his sister Lorraine clown it up, each eyeing his/her own published work, for the 1950 article in the Long Island Press.

This crummy burlesque stuff that I do and the sophisticated stuff you do, and we’re brother and sister!” So I called the local paper and they came over and took photos of us. I’m sitting there looking at a comic book and she’s looking at Glamour. And my eyes are popping out. There’s a story in the family that my grandfather came from Naples. While my sister was going to Pratt, my mother told us about a famous artist in the family, so Lorraine told her to get the artist’s name from Grandpa. Now, Grandpa had no education or sense of humor. After my mother got back, Lorraine handed me a piece of paper from him. It said, “Botticelli.” So all through that newspaper article we called him “the revolving Botticelli,” because we figured he had to be turning over in his grave, to be related to these commercial artists! There was a great art bookstore in Westport, so I went to check out Botticelli’s work, and I saw a huge self-portrait of Botticelli in a book. Well, I’m a child of the Depression and I watch my money, but I immediately bought this coffee-table book and took it home to show my wife. I opened it up and she said, “It’s you—except for the long hair!” JA: Going from fine art to your comics career: What did you do after you left Chesler? Did you try Eisner and Iger?

FOX: I went to them before Chesler, too. I was totally raw, really bad. Either Eisner or Iger looked at the stuff and rejected me. I realized the stuff was so bad that it was amazing. Development is important. I’m still developing as an artist.

VI. Quality Time JA: So you went from Chesler to Quality Comics? FOX: Yes. This was the latter part of 1938. I was on a bus at Lexington Avenue in New York, and I had read something about Busy Arnold. I had his building number in my mind. So we passed it and I rang the bell and got off the bus a block away. I had some samples with me. I don’t know what they were or why I had them with me. I might have been going to Lloyd Jacquet for work. I went upstairs and showed my samples to Ed Cronin, the editor. He said, “Would you like to do something for us?” I said, “Yes.” He said, ”Do you have anything in mind?” I said I had an idea for a Chinese detective; there were a lot of Chinese and Japanese detectives in the movies. His name was Wun Cloo. I did a two-page sample. They were paying $8 a page—it was a lot of money. You had about ten panels on one of those pages, so it was a lot of work, too.

On left, a Botticelli self-portrait. Gill says, “Compare eyes, chin, and jawline to my 1963 portrait,” which we’ve printed at right.

Quality Control

“The Clock,” which was done by George Brenner. JA: Brenner had done that character for William Cook, your first comic book employer. When Centaur took over, Brenner continued the feature. Chesler also printed it when he published. Did Brenner own “The Clock”? FOX: I vaguely remember Arnold telling me Brenner owned the feature. There was a chance that a syndicate wanted it, so Brenner copyrighted it. Ownership was unusual in those days. Brenner graduated from Villanova. He had been a football player. A likable Irish guy with a good sense of humor. I didn’t drink at the time, but Arnold liked the occasional cocktail. He and Arnold had a lot in common and would go out and have drinks. Brenner had a beautiful personality. He could tell a story and had some popularity, but he was a better writer than artist. JA: What was Ed Cronin like? FOX: He had been an assistant to Ham Fisher on Joe Palooka. He was about thirty. He died young of cancer. Easy to work with. A very detailoriented guy. You had to learn proofreading, and that was one of the things I did a lot of. He quit after a year or so and became the editor at Hillman when they started up. JA: Is that when you became Busy Arnold’s editor at Quality? FOX: Yes. I was at Eisner’s Tudor City studio in New York. He was in a jam, and Arnold sent me there to help. I’m doing backgrounds on The

I brought it in and Cronin said, “We’ll use it.” And he wanted me to do another one so they’d get ahead. I did and they loved it! I had a ball doing it. I was beginning to get professional at that point. I did three of those, and then I was told that Quality was going to leave New York and move to Connecticut. And Cronin said, “I’m going to need an assistant. Would you be interested?” I asked, “For how much?” He said, “$25 a week.” I said, “Great! I could get married!” So I took the job and moved to Stamford, Connecticut, on November 13, 1939. I was now an assistant editor, and Cronin began to teach me all the things I needed to know. He was drawing the covers. He was a lousy straight artist, but somebody had to draw the covers. He asked if I wanted to ink his work. I did one and said, “Do you mind it I tighten up your pencils a little?” What I was doing was changing his drawing. Cronin didn’t mind. He left me alone. I began to develop as a straight artist working on that. JA: Do you remember what that early work was? FOX: In those days, we were reprinting a lot of newspaper big-foot stuff, like Lala Palooza. The first cover I did completely on my own was of Doll Man [in Feature Comics #54]. Doll Man was holding open a pair of scissors. I took artistic license because that would’ve cut his hands. Al Bryant had done a lot of “Doll Man” interiors, and so had Reed Crandall. Eisner started that feature. We found out very early that “Doll Man” was popular, so he became the cover feature. We also had

Gill Fox

Spirit dailies and the phone rings. Eisner talks on the phone and when he gets off, he says, “Jeez, one minute you’re working for me and now I’m working for you!” He told me Busy Arnold was going to make me the editor.

from selling large printing presses. You know, the kind that take up half a city block. And I think his family had money.

Busy took me to lunch at a very nice hotel and said, “Ed’s quitting. He’s going over to another company. Would you like to be the editor? I’ll pay you $75 a week.” We’re still talking the Depression. I couldn’t believe it. I went home and my whole family couldn’t believe it, either. And I was still doing two pages a week, so I was making over a hundred bucks a week. Arnold had confidence in me.

FOX: They had practically no staff. Busy Arnold had his office and his secretary had an outer office. Ed and I worked in a great big room where the artists came in and laid their art out on big flat tables. The only art done in there was lettering and correcting. The books were mostly reprints, but that began to change when I got there. We were in the process of changing to all new material. Ed taught me how to cut up syndicate proofs of the newspaper strip reprints and rescale their size so they’d fit on a comic book page. I think I was there about three months before Eisner started to package books for Arnold.

Arnold never gave me credit, but I could tell what he thought of me by the assignments he gave me. When he called me to help out on The Spirit, I knew he thought a lot of my writing. In fact, he came in one day and said, “Eisner’s got a lot to do right now. He’s just finished a set of Spirit dailies. Can you write five weeks of an Ebony sequence? We want a humorous break after the serious stuff.” Eisner liked it so much that he wrote three more weeks of that sequence after I’d finished. Recently, I was with Will Eisner at a cartoonists’ gathering and he said to me, “Busy Arnold really thought a lot of you and your work.” As I said, Arnold never told me that himself. He was a real Yankee, and Yankees never tell you that sort of thing. They let you stand up or fall down on your own. JA: How was Quality run when you started freelancing there? FOX: Beautifully. It was small and efficiently run by Ed Cronin. Arnold knew what the hell he was doing. Incidentally, Arnold got his money

JA: Did they have an in-house staff then?

JA: Then Eisner was still partners with Jerry Iger? FOX: Yes. [laughs] I laughed because I remember an incident with Jerry Iger. I was athletic, and Iger was a little guy. There was something that I didn’t like in one of his packaged art jobs that came in, so I said to him on the telephone, “Don’t do this anymore.” And he said he’d punch me in the nose! This was long-distance, and I thought this guy was crazy! He wouldn’t have said that to me in person. Arnold and I got a big laugh out of that. Iger was not liked by too many people. Eisner was liked well enough—as a person. The problem was that Eisner and Iger paid you $5 a page, then ran across the street and sold it for more. And the word got out, so this is why people got mad at them. But Eisner was always very pleasant. And he was always a genius. Eisner left Iger and began to package books for us. And his books were always

“Doll Man” and “Espionage, Starring ‘Black Ace’” were two of the earliest features created or co-created by Will Eisner. Early Lou Fine art on the former, early Eisner on the latter—both repro’d from photocopies of the original art, courtesy of Dennis Beaulieu and Ethan Roberts, respectively, as printed in CFA-APA #47 in 1998. [©2002 the respective copyright holder.]

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15 he picked all the artists that worked for him. Writers, too. Neither Cronin nor I picked them. JA: Who was your assistant editor? FOX: I had no assistant. JA: Why did Cronin have an assistant, and not you when you took his place? FOX: No one said this to me, but Arnold and Cronin knew they were going to rapidly expand the company. So they needed someone to help out. JA: But why would Cronin need an assistant...

These Spirit daily strips, scripted by Fox, featured Ebony, who looked and talked like a Steppin Fetchit type, but had an individualized personality that went beyond racial stereotypes. [©2002 Will Eisner.]

brought in ready to print. JA: Wasn’t Eisner already supplying work for Quality? FOX: Yes. He created “Doll Man” and “Espionage,” among others. He had done “Hawks of the Seas” for someone else, but it wasn’t as good as his other stuff. “Espionage” was one of the first things Eisner did for us. Eisner did some humor stuff and was good at that, too. JA: Who dealt with the artists—you or Cronin? FOX: Neither one of us. Busy Arnold did that. Cronin might have given them page rates, but I never did that while I was an editor. Arnold always handled that. He was a very hands-on publisher, and he should get credit for all that he did.

Zully came back from WWII and went to art school for nine years on the G.I. Bill. I had met him at Fleischer’s in the inking department, and he was funny as hell. He also inked for us, but he couldn’t create. Zully would set an alarm clock and letter a page before that clock went off. It used to break us up! JA: When did Eisner begin packaging books for you at Quality? FOX: Right after we moved to Stamford, Connecticut. I don’t know quite what their deal was. Eisner did have a partnership with Arnold regarding The Spirit, but he talks about opening up a studio with his group on the same floor with Arnold. I don’t recall that and never saw

I remember the first time Arnold invited my wife and me to dinner. He had a big house in Greenwich because he had money. I came from a poor family, and my whole view of life changed when I went to that dinner. Arnold had a tremendous effect on the rest of my life. I really liked him. He was an honest and decent man. A very fair man. And he had a good sense of humor. JA: Now, let’s say Al Bryant brings in a “Doll Man” story. Does he hand it to you or Ed Cronin? FOX: He’d bring it into me. Arnold would look at it and they’d go the secretary to write a check. Arnold was great. He’d pay immediately. Arnold didn’t handle much of the physical side of putting the books together, but

FOX: ...and not me? Well, I pulled in Tony Di Preta to letter, and Zully Szenics, too. They began to help me. Zully would help check art and proofread scripts, but he mostly lettered. His wife became a letterer, too. They were married because of me. Both were Hungarian. He was living with his mother and father and I’d go up there to visit. Once, we were sitting in his room and I saw a girl passing the doorway. I said, “Who’s that?” Zully said, “That’s a girl who came from Hungary to help my mother.” I asked, “Did you ever look at her? She’s beautiful!” Well, a year later they were married. Her name was Terry, and the four of us used to vacation together.

In 1984 Will Eisner drew the self-portrait above for the program booklet of the second Acme Con in Greensboro, North Carolina, organized by interviewer Jim Amash. And, since the classic early tales of The Spirit are currently being reprinted in handsome DC Archives editions (five of ’em so far!), as a sample of Eisner’s Spirit work we’ll settle for this illo on the right, done for the 1999 MegaCon in Orlando, Florida. [©2002 Will Eisner.]

Gill Fox holding the rat’s mouth open. But it could be that, at some point, Fine could have helped create some of the characters he worked on. JA: Did Lou Fine ever do any writing? FOX: No. Like Stan Drake, Lou was in such demand as an artist that he didn’t have time to write. But he was highly intelligent and totally capable of writing. JA: Who was Harry Stein? FOX: He was one of our writers, and a good one. He was very intelligent, clean-cut, and always wore a tie. A nice man. He was one of the key Quality writers, outside of Eisner. He was a little younger than me. I’ll tell you a story about Harry Stein, and I go head to head with Will Eisner on this one. I was sitting there, and even though Arnold was the man who picked our talent, I could give ideas. One day, right before the Second World War started, I said to Harry, “What about doing a story about a wooden battleship like the U.S.S. Constitution defeating a modern battleship? How you do that is your problem.” What he did was incredible. It was an “Uncle Sam” story drawn by Lou Fine [in National Comics #18]. Stein had these wooden battleships at night circling an anchored fleet of modern battleships. They dropped a bunch of oil around those ships and lit it, defeating the modern ships. That was how Harry worked it. He did his research. What he did was name Pearl Harbor, and this book is being worked on a few months before Dec. 7, 1941, and comes out on the stands a month before the Japanese attacked us. Arnold told me that the FBI questioned him about it. But the way things were going with Roosevelt, it was almost predictable.

that. He did open a studio in Tudor City, and Arnold would send me down and I’d help Eisner on backgrounds. There’d be people in the studio working with him. JA: Who created “Blackhawk”? FOX: That came from the Eisner studio, and he had something to do with it. Chuck Cuidera was part of the studio, and he had a lot to do with the creation of that series. I can remember the first pages when they came in from the studio. Eisner was also responsible for “Uncle Sam.” JA: Did Eisner give up all his other features to concentrate on The Spirit? FOX: I think so. I don’t know how the hell he could keep that up. The Spirit in itself was a lot of work. Eisner would just have the work sent in when it was done. There were no story conferences. On occasion, when they thought it was important enough, Eisner would give Arnold a story synopsis. I know that happened several times, but I didn’t get involved in that. JA: I find it odd that they’d bypass you, the editor, on that. FOX: That was how Arnold kept control of things. But it worked. JA: Do you remember who created “The Ray” or “Black Condor”? FOX: I can’t answer that. We had writers at that time, and they could have created those characters for us. Lou Fine drew both features at the beginning and did the famous splash with the drooling rat and The Ray Another snazzy Reed Crandall page from the early 1940s—Doll Man repro’d from a photocopy of the original art. [©2002 DC Comics.]

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17 JA: Did Cole create “Death Patrol”? FOX: Yes. It’s his kind of thinking. But he didn’t stay with it too long. He went from “Death Patrol” to “Plastic Man” [in Police Comics]. They started out killing a character in every “Death Patrol” story, but Arnold got annoyed and decided to cut that out. I don’t think he liked that strip. I followed Cole and Dave Berg on that strip and wrote it, too. And what a pair of artists to keep up with! That’s pressure. JA: What were Cole’s working methods like?

FOX: He wasn’t fast and he wasn’t slow. Since he inked his own stuff, he didn’t detail all his pencils. It was quite obvious that he had an incredible mind. He Nicholas Viscardi, later and better known as Nick Cardy, was apparently one of two original brought in his stories artists on “Quicksilver” in National Comics #5 in 1940; the other, evidently, was Jack Cole, completely done. Years who is credited with the splash page above right, from a later issue. Thanks to Nick and to later, I remember him collector Michael Zeno for Nick’s 2001 sketch (above left) of the hero; and thanks to Bill Black & drawing pictures of pretty Mark Heike of AC Comics for the retouched Cole art, which appeared in Men of Mystery #23 in 2000. girls on the backs of his See AC Comics’ ad elsewhere in this issue; they do great work reprinting Golden Age art and pages. That’s how he stories, and deserve comics fans’ support. [Sketch art ©2000 Nick Cardy; retouched Quality art ©2002 developed that gorgeous, AC Comics; Quicksilver, only now as Max Mercury, © & TM 2002 DC Comics.] loose style for Playboy. At I remember telling my wife right before the attack that if Roosevelt one point, while Jack lived in Connecticut, he started selling cartoons to doesn’t shut his mouth, the Japanese are going to jump on our back! magazines. Then this story comes out. Stein didn’t name the Japanese, but he Jack must have been making a lot of money. He told me once, “I described the attacking planes as Oriental. don’t want to go to Chicago. Hefner’s after me to move, but I don’t Eisner claims this was something he want to go.” Finally, he said he was going researched and suggested. But that’s not the and said, “Hefner’s offered me so much way it was. money I couldn’t refuse.” JA: Hefner must really have liked Cole.

VII. King Cole

FOX: Yes. That reminds me of a story. In 1955 Playboy started doing well. We really knew it was going to be big. I sent in an idea for a feature called “The Haunted House of Ill Repute.” Hefner okayed four full color roughs. And you can’t believe the letters he wrote me. You could open an art school with those letters!

JA: How did “Plastic Man” get started? FOX: I remember when Jack brought in the first “Plastic Man” and we were all elated. It was something with a totally different look and thinking. Arnold recognized fairly quickly that he had a hit here. I think Jack Cole told me... I know Arnold didn’t tell me this... when “Plastic Man” started selling real well, he gave Jack a $2,500 bonus one month. Arnold did that on his own. So Jack began to make some good money. And Arnold periodically gave Jack other bonuses, too. But Jack Cole had already been working for us. He began by doing filler pages and would even do one of my characters over if I got too busy. But I was very happy because he was so talented. He did “Death Patrol” [in Military Comics] before “Plastic Man.”

I did the roughs in dyes, but Hefner wanted me to do them in oil. I had the thing sold but I couldn’t take the time to do it. I had about eight accounts and I couldn’t break in on those deadlines. And I would have had to rearrange my studio.

As fan/collector Tim Takeuchi wrote beneath this Cole illo in 1998’s CFA-APA #47: “Cole frequently caricatured portraits of himself. This one is from The Berkshire Courier in 1945.” [©2002 the estate of Jack Cole.]

I also had two kids, and every time they came in, I’d have to hide the material. I figured if I hit with this, my kids would find out. I didn’t want that to ever happen, so I let it go.

Gill Fox JA: Was Cole talkative in the studio? FOX: No. He was quiet, but had a tremendous sense of humor. Totally different in his thinking. He was softspoken. A group of us used to go bowling. My wife Helen and I (we were married in June 1940). Jack and his wife, Dorothy. Lou Fine and Mary. John Belfi, sometimes. Tony DiPreta. Zully and Terry. Alex Kotzky. We’d go to dinner and then go bowling, and possibly go back to the house. In small groups, Jack was the life of the party. That was the most pleasant time of my life. At one point, I had a pretty big apartment and the whole group was there. We decided to make a movie. Jack had a camera and the movie was about a young cartoonist. I played the lead and it took about two hours. Jack lost it years later after a big flood. About eight years ago, I was up near where he had lived. He had a big 14-room Victorian house and closed off seven of the rooms so he didn’t have to heat them. He moved up there because he liked being by himself. Anyway, I had walked into a barber shop and was sitting in the chair and saw a cartoon original on the wall behind me. I asked, “Who drew that?” The guy says, “Jack Cole.” Jack had done this caricature of himself and gave it the guy’s father. JA: What was Cole’s relationship with his wife like? FOX: They were married when they were 18. It was an intense romance and a very close marriage. They were very happy. And they had no children.

Jack Cole’s earliest work on “The India Rubber Man” has been reprinted in two Plastic Man Archives by DC, so here’s a splash from Plastic Man #15 (Jan. 1949), years after Gill Fox’s stint as editor. (At least, we’re told this is Cole’s work; the supporting characters are often the giveaways.) Thanks to Jerry Bails. And be sure to pick up a copy of the recent book Jack Cole and Plastic Man: Forms Stretched to Their Limits! from Chronicle Books, which is basically the New Yorker cover article of a couple of years back written by Art Spiegelman, with lots of vintage color art and design by Chris Kidd. [©2002 DC Comics.]

JA: Did Cole ever talk politics? Or drink? FOX: No. He was not political. Lou Fine was. We had some interesting discussions. He would take a drink, but he wasn’t really a drinker. JA: You remember any of his practical jokes? FOX: I’ve told this one before. We had a hot day in Connecticut, and worked in a big room, with two or three big windows in it. A giant horsefly came in a window. Something catches my eye and I looked up and the horsefly was flying around with a long tail of toilet paper attached to it. It had something funny lettered on it, like “Drink Pepsi Cola.”

See what we mean? When Plastic Man became a runaway hit, Alex Kotzky (left) and Jack Spranger (right) were apparently called on to draw “Plas” tales, as well. If we’re wrong in ID-ing these late-’40s splashes, we’re counting on somebody to clue us in! Thanks to Jerry Bails for the Spranger splash. [©2002 DC Comics.]

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notes Cole left that The New Yorker printed, you can see Cole was still crazy about his wife. JA: In one note, Cole says, “Please forgive me, hon.” Doesn’t sound like a man who’s fallen out of love with his wife. You think Cole loved his wife so much that he decided she’d be happier if he was out of the way? FOX: Yes. That’s what he was like. He must have discovered the affair, according to those notes. And a .22 is a hell of a small gun to use. He was alive when they found him, and he must have really suffered. He just wasn’t thinking. You know, to live through doing comic books and those deadlines, it begins to take its toll on you. There have been a lot of people with problems in this business. I had lost contact with Jack after I left Quality. I resumed it when Will Eisner took us to a club of his in the mid-1950s. We were in a cab together and Jack was just starting with Hefner. That’s when he told me about the offers Hefner was making. I think he was working for Hefner when he walked into the newspaper syndicate with his strip, Betsy and Me. Everyone raved about it. Syndicate editors told me that strip was going to get big. But when I read it, I was disappointed with the strip. When Jack killed himself, he had everything a cartoonist could want. He was the Peter Arno of Playboy and had to be making $1000 a page. You know, Cole is better recognized today than he was back then. JA: Sometimes Cole signed the filler pages “Ralph Jones.” Any idea why? FOX: Ralph was his middle name. Maybe it was a matter of pride, and he didn’t consider those features important. He probably wanted to be associated with the bigger features. And no one questioned you when you did that. For CFA-APA #47, using Jack Cole art, collector Kim Takeuchi created this great composite of the two things for which Cole is most noted: Plastic Man and those great cartoon females in Playboy’s first decade. [Original composition ©1998, 2002 Kim Takeuchi; Plastic Man © & TM 2002 DC Comics; girl art ©2002 Playboy Enterprises, Inc.]

Hefner gave a party when he opened the Playboy Club in New York. This was about a year after Jack died. I waited for an opportunity and went over and told him who I was and that I had been a very close friend of Jack Cole’s. I asked him, “What the hell happened to Jack? You got any idea?” Hefner said, “Yes. He left a note that his wife would not give to the police.” It’s my opinion that she had an affair and that did it for Jack. JA: I heard she remarried very quickly and left town. FOX: I’ve heard that from other sources and I believe it. JA: Gil Kane suggested to me that Cole was a manic-depressive. FOX: I wouldn’t say that. He was pretty normal. Jack never had an angry side that I ever noticed. I still can’t believe he killed himself. There was never an indication that he’d ever do something like that. JA: Did you like Cole’s wife? FOX: Yeah. She was harder to know than Jack was. My wife knew her pretty well, but you couldn’t get to know her as well as you might have wanted. She was a quiet person. JA: In Cole’s suicide note to Hefner, he said he couldn’t go on hurting himself and others. Do you think Cole might have neglected his wife because he was doing so much work? FOX: I’ve seen the notes, and they tie in with the idea that she had another romance. He was very busy and that could well have been part of the problem. Jack was in great demand. However, if you read the

Gill Fox too. The artists got a higher page rate for doing covers. Close to rate and a half as compared to interior art. By the way, proofing cover art was how I discovered that Busy Arnold was color blind. He was standing next to me once and he asked me, “Is this background blue or green?” Sometimes the colors got kind of harsh and this was one reason why. JA: How did trafficking of the features work? You’re doing all anthology books and the comics are 64 pages long. FOX: It was no problem. It all seemed to work out, and I’m a highly disorganized person. But Ed Cronin trained me well and I did the whole job. All the guys brought in their jobs and we went through them. It all went quietly. JA: “Firebrand” was supposed to be the star of Police Comics. You even had Reed Crandall doing the series, but it didn’t work out too well. Did Crandall write the feature?

Above: A great Lou Fine/“E. Lectron” splash from Smash Comics #19 (Feb. 1941)—and, at right, the pencil roughs by Fine aficionado Gil Kane in the late 1980s for a never-published 19-page re-telling of The Ray’s roots in DC’s Secret Origins, in collaboration with Roy Thomas. The splash rough for this sadly unprinted tale was seen in Alter Ego, Vol. 3, #4. [©2002 DC Comics.]

JA: Why didn’t Cole go into the service? FOX: Medical reasons. I remember when he was examined and he was classified 4-F.

VIII. A Few Men of Quality JA: I noticed in Crack Comics that Lou Fine signed his feature “Kenneth Lewis.” I know Kenneth was his middle name. But at some time he starts signing it “Lou Fine.” Any idea why? FOX: Lou probably heard the feature was becoming popular and decided it was to his benefit to have his name on it. JA: Why did he sign the “Ray” strip “E. Lectron”? Were people instructed to use house names? FOX: No. You know, none of these guys had any ego. So signing their work wasn’t that big a deal most of the time. JA: I’ve heard the covers were drawn smaller than the interior art. FOX: The covers were only about 10-15% over the reproduction size. We had a lot of shields and titles, so it was different than the interior pages. They were made smaller for speed. That made them easier to color, which we did by codes.

Lou Fine (on left) and Gill Fox, circa 1942, in Stamford, Connecticut.

There were some covers that we did fullsize. Lou Fine did some big ones. I did,

FOX: I don’t think so. It could be that a writer created the series and then Crandall was selected to be the artist. They’d put a key writer with a key artist.

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21 FOX: We had that system before I got there. The editors did the covers in-house. I’d do a rough and submit it to Arnold for approval. Arnold always approved the covers. JA: So that’s why Jack Cole didn’t do the early Plastic Man covers, even though he created the character. FOX: Yes. Jack had his hands full writing and drawing. He lived close to the center of town. You could walk to it. Arnold told me that Cole had missed his deadline, which was bad because he was doing the lead feature. Arnold asked me to go to Cole’s house and see what the problem was. I walked up the wooden steps, onto the porch, and rang the doorbell. There was a bay window on my right. I kept ringing the bell and nobody answered. I knocked and nobody answered. And as I turned away, I sensed someone was in that bay window watching me. I’m sure it was Jack. We were social friends and all, but he avoided me. I went back to the office and we got him on the phone and settled the deadline. He was strange that way, so he wasn’t about to do the covers. So I did those early ones. In fact, I have a thing going on with DC right now. They reprinted nine of my covers and paid me $75. JA: How did you find out that “Plastic Man” was selling Police Comics, and not “Firebrand”? FOX: Arnold had contacts and could find that stuff out. JA: Fred Guardineer did “The Mouthpiece” in Police. Any memories of him?

Some years back, Fred Guardineer re-created for Mad associate editor Jerry de Fuccio some of his “Blue Tracer” art done for Quality during the World War II years... including the composite above which depicts some of the major menaces faced by Wild Bill Dunn, Boomerang Jones, and their Blue Tracer super-vehicle. Note that Fred graciously credits the latter in part to “Bill [a.k.a. Will] Eisner’s fertile brain.” [New art ©2002 Fred Guardineer, printed from the original art courtesy of Jerry de Fuccio; Blue Tracer ©2002 the respective copyright holder.]

JA: So you’re starting up a new book with new features. Did Arnold suggest any of the characters? FOX: No. I don’t remember Arnold ever creating a feature and giving it to a writer. JA: Could it be that Jack Cole might have been asked by Arnold to create a new feature for Police Comics, and then he went home and created “Plastic Man”? FOX: I think you’re coming close to it there. Arnold selected all the features we published. JA: I notice you did the early covers on most of the comics you edited. Why was that?

Gill Fox were shocked the first time you’d see his work, it was so good. Crandall was pleasant and easy to talk to. JA: You had a feature called “Madame Fatal”—about a guy who disguises himself as an old lady to fight crime. Did anyone ever make a comment about having a cross-dressing hero in those not-so-politicallycorrect times? FOX: Art Panajian did that one. I don’t remember anyone saying anything about it. Panajian freelanced at home and mailed it in, so I never got to know him. JA: I notice that the policy of the editor doing all the covers changed. FOX: We started expanding and I got too busy. JA: What was it like doing covers while Lou Fine was doing the interiors of the same character? FOX: I never thought about it, and I would have frightened myself into total paralysis if I had. I’d have been thinking about Lou looking at that stuff. [laughs] I’m amazed that I got so far into straight stuff, because I liked doing humor more. I was doing those covers because it would have taken away the time Lou needed to do the interiors. And I think I was coming up with good covers to help sell the magazines.

IX. Fine Tuning JA: Then Lou Fine started doing covers. Your idea? FOX: That would have been Arnold’s idea. It was a smart idea.

Klaus Nordling’s cover for The Barker #2 (Winter 1946), after the hero outgrew his lead spot in Quality’s National Comics. Repro’d from photocopy of the original art, courtesy of Ray A. Cuthbert. [©2002 DC Comics.]

FOX: He was almost like a military man. A very precise person. Nicelooking guy. Even at Chesler’s, his work was far advanced. I believe he had a formal education, and he wrote his own stuff at Chesler’s and for me. JA: Johnny Devlin did humor fillers for Police and other comics. And he was the first editor Arnold had. FOX: He was a very professional cartoonist. A total pro. He had a big syndicate feature before comics and was an older man. Devlin was good friends with Arnold. I went to his funeral. JA: Who created “The Barker”? FOX: Klaus Nordling. He did the whole thing. I did the character later, covers and interiors. Nordling was a little guy. Good-looking. And involved in local theatre. He had a very vivid imagination and was a good writer. In later years I’d send some work in his direction. But if you did something for him, he’d think you wanted something back. We got to know each other socially, but he still mistrusted people. Even me. But I admired his cartooning. And he was a great guy to sit and talk to. JA: What’s the story behind the “Midnight” character Jack Cole originated? FOX: Since Eisner was going into the service, they needed a Spirit-type feature in case something happened to Eisner. That was Arnold’s idea, according to Eisner. It was for protection. JA: Why did Reed Crandall take over “The Ray”? FOX: Lou was probably getting too busy. I don’t remember how Crandall came to the company, but it was the same as Lou Fine: You Far as we can tell, the “Ray” story in #25 (Aug. 1941) was illustrated by Reed Crandall. Any disagreement out there? [©2002 DC Comics.]

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23 good money and they had a nice, big house. The children didn’t get along, so what did Lou do? He bought a house just like his and she moved in there. Lou lived with his kids and she lived with hers and they were very happy together. He solved the problem!

JA: Did anyone art-direct the costume designs of the characters? FOX: The artists usually did that, but Arnold may have made suggestions. JA: When did Lou Fine leave Eisner and work for Quality directly? FOX: Arnold went to the New York studio, and Fine was working for Eisner. He had Fine spotted. Arnold told Eisner to give him a raise. Two weeks later, Arnold asked Lou if he had gotten a raise. Lou said, “No.” Arnold said, “Come see me in Stamford.” He gave him good money and that’s when the change happened. Fine took an apartment and I got to know him socially. Kotzky was in that studio, and so was Belfi.

Lou had polio as a child and one leg was shorter than the other. He walked with a limp and wore a built-up shoe on the game leg. But Lou worked out and had a big top [torso]. I think it was to compensate for that leg. That leg had a lot to do with his ability. Lou told me that he couldn’t go out and play with the other kids, so he sat in the house and read books and learned how to draw.

JA: Fine continued to work on The Spirit, even in Connecticut. Could he have been doing that for Arnold since Eisner was in the service?

FOX: Oh, yeah. His son Elliot went to school in London. He took care of his son.

FOX: That sounds about right.

JA: You mentioned that Fine was a quiet person. If you had a problem, how did you handle it?

JA: Was Fine a good parent?

JA: You mentioned that Lou Fine was very political-minded.... FOX: Oh, yes. And so am I. I’m very conservative in my politics, and Lou was very liberal. I had so much respect and love for Lou. He was a wonderful human being, so I didn’t get too deep into political discussion with him, because Lou could get heated up. Lou was normally a very quiet guy.

FOX: Professionally? He’d talk up. He never had a problem with Arnold. Arnold was a very fair man. Gill Fox says he didn’t do this un-used “Black Condor” splash/cover and has no idea who did; the Sotheby’s art catalog for June 1998 says it was done in the early ’40s by a “[Jerry] Iger Shop Artist.” [Black Condor © & TM 2002 DC Comics.]

JA: In those days, if you were very liberal, you were considered to be a Communist.

FOX: He was. Eisner started that, but Lou eventually switched over to a regular brush. His pencils were loose with a lot of construction lines. When he inked, he’d pick out the right line and detail with the brush. He didn’t do thumbnails. Now, Cole’s pencils were a little tighter. My pencils were extremely tight.

FOX: Well, there was that problem. But Lou had a lot of common sense. I would say he was more a socialist.

JA: When Fine drew The Spirit, he drew the goofiest hat on him. FOX: We used to laugh at that. I don’t know why, he couldn’t draw that hat right. We never said anything to Lou about it, but Eisner knew.

JA: How did you meet him? FOX: I saw the first pages he sent in to us. I was completely bowled over by his ability. I told myself I had to meet him. I remember when Lou and his wife Mary came up to look for an apartment in Stamford. And my wife Helen immediately liked Mary. Mary said, “We’ve got this big apartment, and there’s so much to clean!” Helen went to the Fines’ new apartment and washed the walls for Mary. After that, Mary was crazy about Helen. We became close social friends. Mary had a heart condition and later died from it. I remember when Lou met his second wife. He liked her and I said, “Get a little more serious, then.” They got married and both already had teenage children [by previous marriages]. Lou was making

JA: Was Fine using the Japanese brushes when you met him?

JA: Kotzky and Belfi said that when they worked for Fine, he’d never criticize them for their immature work, even when they deserved it. FOX: I believe that. Lou was such a wonderful man. I get all choked up when I think about him. JA: Fine seemed more interested in drawing than storytelling.

FOX: It’s true. Eisner used to look over his shoulder and make comments about it. Lou was still developing as a storyteller. As time went on, he really sharpened that skill.

Gill Fox I was playing badminton in Garden City and I ran into a radio soap opera writer. He told me he knew about an artist who had a partner. And his guy was doing very well. I asked, “How well?” And he told me this guy had a big house and two Cadillacs. I went back to Lou and asked him what his split was with his partner. Lou said, “50-50.” I asked, “How much did you make last year?” Lou said, “Twenty thousand.” I told him to check that out, because if Mary knew about it, she’d have killed his partner. Lou’s partner was making $100,000. So the partnership didn’t last. I had to tell him the truth. Lou never got angry. He’d let Mary do that for him. Lou would get that sad smile on his face and not say anything. There was a time when Mary was not happy with Will Eisner. She said something to him once, too. JA: How long did Fine stay at Johnstone and Cushing? FOX: Two years at the most. Lou was getting their key accounts. After Fine broke up with that partner, he freelanced. I got him a job at American Bankers. The art director, Don Cronin, ran an ad in the paper looking for an artist so I went to see him. We discovered we had been in the same division together during the war. I couldn’t handle all the work and I looked around and asked, “Can you use a good straight man?” He said, “Sure.” And so I got Lou in. Cronin loved Lou and they became good friends. And, because we had been in the service together, Don loved me. Lou and his new wife went to the American Legion club with my wife and me. They staged a play and Don comes out in this new bathing suit singing “Coney Island Baby.” Lou was looking at him, then me, and started laughing. He really enjoyed that. Lou got a lot of work from

A Fine splash from “The Black Condor” in Crack Comics #17 (Oct. 1941)—and a sketch by one of Fine’s biggest fans, Murphy Anderson, who in 1987 illustrated DC’s Secret Origins #21, an homage re-telling of the hero’s first tale, with Roy Thomas scripting. Crack page repro’d from photocopies of the original art, courtesy of Dennis Beaulieu, who says it “represents Lou Fine’s art during the peak of his Japanese brush period”; the sketch is courtesy of Murph and Jim Amash. [Black Condor © & TM DC Comics; sketch art ©2002 Murphy Anderson.]

When I was doing humor illustrations for the Hearst supplement, The American Weekly, I walked in one day and saw all this black-&white art all over the place. Big name artists, too. I asked the editor, “Can you use another black-&-white illustrator?” He said he could, and in went Lou. In the first twelve weeks he did eleven illustrations. So now Lou was doing illustrations. And I was amazed at how conscious he was about texture. When he drew leather, by God, that was leather! JA: It’s amazing that Fine had that lyrical drawing style with sweeping brush lines, yet he was able to completely change from that style. He became a different artist. FOX: “Lyrical” fits that work. But by simple osmosis and progression, he moved into a better, more contemporary style. Fine was influenced by Leyendecker, Al Dorne, John R. Neill, and Henrich Kley. One day, we were sitting in Lou’s living home, and he showed me a book of Andrew Wyeth’s watercolors, then showed me his paintings. I saw ten of them and they were superior to anything you’d see around. Later, Lou worked for Johnstone and Cushing and became their top artist. Around 1950 Lou hooked up with a fast-talking artist whose name we won’t mention. They made an arrangement for a partnership.

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25 here this late?” Kotzky said, “Tell Gill what you do.” Oda said, “I work around the clock. When I stop, I go to sleep.” Oda’s family helped him letter and he did a lot of work. JA: Tony Di Preta. FOX: Tony came into the Quality studio when he was eighteen. He was very good, so we put him to work. He took the lettering off my shoulders, and he got good enough at drawing that we put him on features. Years later, I recommended him for the Rex Morgan newspaper strip, which he got. JA: Robin King. FOX: He was the son of a TV personality. Robin was one of our good inkers. JA: Elmer Wexler.

A commercial art piece by Lou Fine, courtesy of Dennis Beaulieu, who says that “the mid-1940s to late 1950s saw him dominate the field of Sunday funnies advertising strips and commercial art.” [©2002 the respective copyright holder.]

Cronin. He also had many side accounts and was probably making about thirty grand a year, which was good money back then. Lou also did a couple newspaper strips: Peter Scratch, which was written by Elliot Caplin, Al Capp’s brother, and Adam Ames. Caplin knew nothing about art. He was writing soap opera strips and I asked him if he wanted the best artist in the country. “Who is he?” I said, “Stan Drake.” I called Stan and gave him Elliot’s phone number. Elliot was impressed and asked if he wanted to work with his brother Al. Stan said, “I don’t want to be an assistant. I want a strip.” Elliot showed Stan’s work to Al, and Al said, “Don’t let this guy get away.” The next time Stan saw him, Elliot’s attitude was different and they worked up a strip. They sold it in two weeks. The strip was The Heart of Juliet Jones.

FOX: A very good straight artist from Bridgeport. He also worked for Johnstone and Cushing. Very meticulous artist. A Marine officer who was very tough. He could knock you out. He’s a house designer who can build houses. JA: Alden McWilliams.

FOX: He was very responsible and never missed his deadlines. He did a lot of beautiful work for us, pencils and inks. A very tight penciler. We always gave him war stories. He could draw ships and seas like no one else. You could almost hear the “ping” on a submarine when he drew them. He was a descendant of John Alden. A very quiet man who was a top kick in Intelligence during World War II. A week before the Americans moved into Paris, the French maquis took them underground. They went into the city that way and Alden told me, “I stood underground in the middle in Paris, and four feet over my head I saw the jackboots of the German sentries.” His ability stopped below the top and was influenced by Alex Raymond. He did the Twin Earths newspaper strip. JA: Alex Kotzky.

JA: What did Lou Fine die of? FOX: A heart attack. The family found heart drugs in the cabinet. They didn’t know he had that problem. None of us did.

X. Still More Men of Quality JA: Let’s talk about some of the people you knew at Quality. Like Al Bryant. FOX: He was a nice, quiet guy. He looked like Gregory Peck. He was good on deadlines. We were quite shocked when he had a nervous breakdown. We were based in New York then. He was gone for a couple of months and Arnold talked him into coming back to work in the studio, which was good for Al. He seemed sad but we never asked him about it. We figured that he’d be okay, but he wasn’t. Al killed himself by driving into an abutment on the Grand Central Parkway after the war. JA: Martin DeMuth. FOX: He was an older man. He lettered without ruling. It astounded me! The only guy who topped him was Ben Oda, who didn’t work for me. I remember one time stopping over to see Alex Kotzky. He worked in the attic and I went up to see him. Kotzky was like a radio. He talked while he worked. About one a.m., there’s a knock on the attic door and in comes Ben Oda. I said, “What the hell you doing Policewoman Sally O’Neill battled crime in 1941 issues of National Comics drawn by Al Bryant. Thanks to Jerry Bails. [©2002 the respective copyright holder.]

Gill Fox

FOX: A wonderful guy. The strongest character and best person I ever knew. Kotzky was the hardest worker I ever saw. A terrific artist. He worked seven days and nights a week. He was Ukrainian but was born here. He was living with his aunt and had a problem with her so he packed up and left. He never went back. He was a very good friend all my life.

JA: When did he help Kotzky? Was this near the end of his life? FOX: No. This was the first time Kotzky had problems. He was on dialysis because he had a kidney problem. He was on the machine for about a year and a half. One day the doctor walked in and said, “I’ve never seen anything like this. You’ve completely recovered.” Kotzky and Andre were both very religious men, and Andre covered for him on 3G. I don’t remember what Andre did for us, but whatever it was, it was good. He even illustrated the Bible!

JA: Did he have a problem with his parents? FOX: I don’t know what happened. He was bitter about how the Communists had treated his parents when they lived in the Ukraine. It was very apparent that he had talent, even at a young age. Kotzky had an art background. He shared a studio with Lou Fine and started out assisting him. He developed very quickly and was soon doing features like “Manhunter.” He was doing covers. Kotzky also did “Plastic Man.” He later worked for Eisner, did ad work, and then Apartment 3G. He also ghosted Steve Canyon for Milt Caniff. Kotzky was a slow worker. His wife told me, “For 35 years, he hasn’t left that attic.” He was an outgoing personality with a great sense of humor.

JA: Bob Powell. FOX: I knew him fairly well. He lived on Long Island and ran a studio. They turned out a tremendous amount of work. Powell could take command. Powell and his wife introduced me to competitive badminton. I was heavily into it for 28 years and was the state champion for my age group. He had an outgoing personality, always laughing and smiling. He did one strange thing. When Powell found out he had cancer and was dying, he called up everybody and said goodbye.

JA: Al Stahl did “Flatfoot Burns” for you, among other humor features. FOX: [laughs] Now there’s a character! Every time I mention Al, I have to smile. I met him at Fleischer’s. A maneuverer. World War II started, and because he was classified 1-A, Al knew he was going to get called into service. He didn’t want to go. I was still editor at this point, and six months after he left, Al walked into the office. I said, “I thought you were still in the service.”

JA: Chuck Cuidera.

He said, “I was, but I got out. I figured it out. Because of my background, they put me in the Signal Corps. You have to climb poles. So I got to the top of the pole and yelled out, “I can’t move! I’m afraid! I can’t move! I can’t come down!” They had to go up and take him down.

JA: Tex Blaisdell.

“It worked!” It was typical Al. He was a helluva cartoonist. And he’s still working! He’s kind of nuts and a lot of fun. A great cartoonist who knows how to make a buck. Anything he does is good. And he wrote his own stuff. JA: Andre LeBlanc. FOX: Now, there you got an artist. When Kotzky became ill, he jumped in and did Apartment 3G. He also did Intellectual Amos. When you met him, you couldn’t help but like him.

FOX: A great guy. Outgoing as hell. He was the major creator of “Blackhawk.” His work had more warmth to it than Crandall’s. He wasn’t too happy with Eisner, but they made up before Chuck passed away.

FOX: A good artist. He did great backgrounds. In fact, I remember Stan Drake showing me the first Juliet Jones strips, and Blaisdell did a beautiful job on the backgrounds. He was a drinker and an easy-going guy. JA: William A. Smith. FOX: He was a husky guy. Very serious person. His stuff was beautiful and his research was incredible. He went beyond all of the other artists. Smith went into illustration and became a name. JA: Bill Ward. FOX: I didn’t know him too well, but I took over his “Torchy” feature. He did some “Blackhawk” work. It amazed me he could shift from

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FOX: No, I didn't. He didn't spend much time at the offices, though Arnold sure thought a lot of him. Crandall, of course, was one of our top artists, but he kept to himself as far as I could see. I heard he liked to drink, but I never saw any indication of that in the few times I actually saw him at the Quality offices. His work was just terrific, and he helped make Blackhawk one of our best books. JA: When did Quality move back to New York? FOX: I was drafted while in Stamford and helped set the New York office up before I left. I commuted from Stamford. I started doing a two-page filler called “Poison Ivy.” It began to get hot. I remember Henry Martin [an associate of Busy Arnold] leaning on a doorjamb and saying to me, “Can you do some dailies so we can syndicate it?” It was a dream! But then I was classified 1-A for military service and had to give it up. We’d even talked about it being a comic book. The breaks in this business are very strange. Because comics weren’t considered an “essential” job, like some others were, I knew I was going to go when a national “Work or Fight” order was announced. I didn’t want to go. I quit being editor in the middle of 1943 and started working on farms in Connecticut. I did that for about six months and got in great shape. But it didn’t make any difference. I went into the Army anyway. JA: When you worked on the farm, did you continue to work for Quality? FOX: I was tired at the end of the day, but I continued to do features for Arnold. George Brenner became editor when I left. That was my suggestion, because he was tough and could handle it. He wouldn’t take any crap off anybody. John Beardsley had already started doing some editing for us but George was the main guy. Beardsley didn’t stay too long after that.

XI. You’re in the Army Now JA: I’d like to hear about your Army experiences. Even before Reed Crandall took over the “Blackhawk” art chores with Military Comics #12, co-creator Chuck Cuidera was providing beautiful Eisneresque art and splash pages, such as this one from issue #7 (Feb. 1942). The first 17 “Blackhawk” stories have recently been reprinted in Blackhawk Archives, Vol. 1—which is one of DC's most beautiful Golden Age volumes yet! [©2002 DC Comics.]

straight stuff to humor. The one thing that puzzled me was that he started doing the girly stuff for cheap men’s magazines and quit developing as an artist.

FOX: I like to anticipate... to project ahead. I didn’t know where I was going, but the deadliest thing would have been the infantry. So I carried with me some samples to show an editor, and as soon as I settled into camp in Mississippi, I inquired as to where there was a newspaper. I found out and walked in to the offices of the division newspaper, Blood and Fire. I asked, “Are you looking for a cartoonist?” and showed them my samples. A guy there said, “Yeah. I can’t believe it. We were just

Ward created, wrote, and drew “Torchy.” I took over because he was busy on other stuff. I did a lot of “Torchy,” pencils and inks. I had tried to avoid doing a whole book, but Arnold nailed me on that. Gwen Hansen wrote it for me. She was a college graduate with good bearing. Very pretty. She surprised me with all the double meanings she put into the strip. JA: Bob Fujitani. FOX: A helluvan artist. A good-looking guy. Arnold found him. Arnold was scouting football players for Brown University, saw Bob’s brother there, recruited him for the school, and got to know Bob, too. Bob worked on “Uncle Sam,” “Doll Man,” and other features for Quality. He started out working for Will Eisner’s shop but soon branched out on his own for us and other companies. Bob also did Flash Gordon for Dan Barry for a long time. [NOTE: Bob Fujitani tells us that it was actually his brother whom Arnold recruited—“for Brown University.” More about that in the upcoming Bob Fujitani interview in A/E. —JIM.] JA: You haven't spoken much about Reed Crandall. You didn't get to know him very well, did you?

Gill Fox and “Blackhawk” artist/co-creator Charles “Chuck” Cuidera (on left) met for the first time in decades a few years back; the occasion was immortalized by Dave Siegel’s camera.

Gill Fox

talking about getting a cartoonist.” I worked with them for about a year. And while there, I was given some intelligence training. A triple dose of “Torchy!” Counter-clockwise: A 1943 comic strip drawn by artist/creator (and sometime “Blackhawk” illustrator, as per this issue’s cover) Bill Ward for U.S. Army newspapers (courtesy of Alex Chun)—Ward “Torchy” art from a late-’40s Quality comic—and the Torchy #1 cover which, our interviewee says, is often identified as being by Ward, but is actually “all Gill Fox.” Of the splash page, Gill says: “This could be the first art done on ‘Torchy.’ Why? Ward was just developing his style; note the overdone folds on the male character. also, he still hadn’t developed a pattern for Torchy’s hair, using short strokes on a poorly drawn head.” Could be, but hey—it looks A-OK to us! [©2002 the respective copyright holders.]

I did a panel called Bernie Blood, and he was completely taken with women. I remember a general came in one day, looked over my shoulder, and saw that the panel I was drawing was suggestive about women. He said, “That’s good. That’s good for morale.” I felt good about that because I didn’t know how this would be received. Some of it was risque. We shipped out in December 1944, in convoy. Our division was comprised of 15,000 men, and we got to Europe in time for the Battle of the Bulge. We went into the mouth of the Mediterranean where the destroyers were. They were finally able to take out the German submarines and had taken a beating the first half of the war. The subs would knock out troop

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We were in part of the French Maginot Line during the Battle of the Bulge. It was getting hairier and hairier. I carried a rifle but was never on the front line. But I could hear the sounds of war. One of the guys on the paper with me was Paul Paris, a Philadelphia Inquirer sports writer. A real pro. He hated the Army worse than I did. We were putting a paper out, and my Bernie Blood character was now in combat. Paul said to me, “Don’t get excited, but I made a deal. I spoke to someone at Stars and Stripes, and they need a sports writer and an artist. You’re part of a package deal. I’ll take care of the details.” We went up to a spot with another division and it was bad. The guys in the division said, “If you go past this one area a quarter mile, you’ll be in open space. If you hear a machine gun going at you, gun the jeep and go as fast as you can go.” I wondered what the hell I was getting into. Paul talked to somebody, gets a jeep, and tells me, “We’re going 75 miles to Strasborg. We got a driver and we’re out of here. We’re going to be on Stars and Stripes.” However, you’re not out of it. You are still attached to that division. They can call you back if things get hairy. We went those 75 miles and the whole French Army was going in the opposite direction from Strasborg. The driver asked, “What do you want to do? If we go in there, there’ll be no one on the river.” I said, “Keep going. If we catch it, the hell with it.” So we kept going. As we got there, the civilians were trying to get out of the city. The Germans were on the other side of the river and figured they could take the city back. There was a company of MPs there, and as we came into the city, there was an old gorgeous Victorian hotel. We were immediately told to divide our equipment into two bags: “One that you can leave and one you can take with you, because we’re going to get out of here fast.” I went upstairs and had my first bath in a month. They gave me this gorgeous room and a bed and I slept. God, it was a beautiful night! I

Fox says that “Poison Ivy” was “my most popular filler page.” This one appeared in Feature Comics, circa 1943, and is repro’d from photocopies of the original art, courtesy of the artist. [©2002 the respective copyright holder.]

ships, and those things had 3000 men. We landed in Marseilles and put into the area for a couple of days. Then we were put into freight trains and shipped to the front. That’s when it began to get scary. As you moved up and saw where fighting had been, you could see the raw battlefield where dead soldiers lay. Then you’d be half a mile from the front. We were at the Rhine River. The Germans were on one side and we were on the other. About five a.m., guys would come in from patrols and give us information for our maps. One guy said, “What’s going on? We see these German planes coming over us and they don’t make a sound.” The Germans had their jets going already and it was a good thing the war was coming to an end. They’d fly in low without a sound, and the troops were puzzled. I had some intelligence training with G-2, using certain types of machines. I was assigned to the colonel of G-2 and my job was to put an acetate over a map each morning. I would mark on the map where they’d seen the jets. While I’m doing this marking, I looked at the contour of the Rhine and couldn’t believe what I was looking at. The river had a bulge and we were in that bulge, all 15,000 men. If the Germans behind us had divided their troops on the sides of the bulge, they could have cut us to ribbons. I called the Colonel and told him this. I was only a corporal but he listened to me. We got out, and in one week the Germans had taken over the town we were in. Which was exactly what I had expected would happen.

Gill Fox

could hear the machine guns in the streets, because the German patrols were coming over and firing at the MPs. Sure enough, the next morning, we went out. We had about a hundred miles to go to join Stars and Stripes in Nancy, France. We go to Patton’s MPs, and a sergeant’s sitting at his desk. A lieutenant was standing next to him. There’s five of us. Two were truck drivers for Stars and Stripes. This sergeant said to one, “Where’s your identification?” The guy pulls out his dogtags. The guy next to me was from the Armored Division in Africa and says, “I got something better than dogtags. Here’s my division’s I.D.” And he pulled out a tiny visa with a photograph. Because these were easy things for others to use, the sergeant got as white as a sheet and hands it to the lieutenant. The lieutenant said, “I’ll be right back.” He comes back in with a guy carrying a machine gun. They said, “Get against the wall and drop your weapons! You’re not fooling us!” Then we realized they thought we were Germans in American uniforms, dropped by the paratroopers behind the lines. I said to one guy, “For Christ’s sake, you can tell I’m from Brooklyn. Listen to me talk.” He said, “You were trained to talk that way.” They took one guy out and questioned him. The rest of us couldn’t move. I told Paul Paris, “They’re gonna shoot us in the morning.” And they would have! They were mad as hell. This went on from eleven p.m. until five in the morning.

Years later... it took me twenty-five years to get a syndicate contract, but I finally got one for the Side Glances panel. I wouldn’t fly, so I took the bus to Cleveland in order to sign the contract for the NEA syndicate. On the way, the bus stopped at midnight and the driver told us to take a break for a half hour. I asked where we were, and the driver said we were in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. It was the same station that guy had described in the war. I walked into the station and saw an old lady selling coffee and doughnuts. “How long you been working here?” She said, “All my life.” I said, “What was under all that brown paint?” She said, “The strangest grouting you ever saw!” I couldn’t believe it! It sounded like it was a written script! By the way, one of the reasons the guys had acted the way they did towards us was because of something the Germans would pull. The Germans would come to an American roadblock in an American jeep. And usually there was just one guy at the roadblock. If he got suspicious, the Germans would throw acid in the guy’s face and take off. So this made guys even madder at Germans. This is something you never hear about.

XII. Stars and Stripes JA: That’s incredible. How were you treated once you were on Stars and Stripes?

FOX: When you’re on Stars and Stripes, you wear a correspondent’s patch on your shoulder. It’s called They took about two or Attached Duty. You were three guys out. They didn’t practically a civilian and come to me. Finally they let you were left alone. You the guys back in and we were still in the Army, but were off the hook. I asked, they allowed you to do “What did it?” They asked your job and report what A great Reed Crandall “Blackhawk” page from Military Comics #14 (Dec. 1942), things like, how many kids repro’d from a photocopy of the original art, courtesy of Daniel Herman. Hermes Press was going on. Just like if did Bing Crosby have. They has recently reprinted a corrected version of his already-out-of-print volume Gil Kane: you were in the States. The had four intelligence officers The Art of the Comics, fixing the numerous errors put in by the printer. To find out about it, generals tried to control there. They talked to the guy phone (724) 652-0511, or e-mail <Geerherm@sgi.net>. what got reported because who started the whole thing they didn’t want certain and asked, “Where did you things told. We wouldn’t expose things, but we would print what was come from?” He said, “Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. I lived near the happening. Bill Mauldin got into all kinds of trouble with that. railroad station.” One of the officers said, “Let me have him.” He asked the guy to describe the interior of the station. The guy said, “All I can remember is that they have very strange tile. Very strange grouting.” The lieutenant said to the others, “It’s impossible that he’d be a spy. He can’t be trained to that extent.” So we were out of trouble.

If my editors found out a general was putting pressure on us, that guy would get sent to Eisenhower’s headquarters and the pressure would be taken off. In Nancy, one general happened to see that we were sleeping in beds and said, “What the hell is this? You’re in the Army! You’re going to sleep in regular issue!” And he went and got us some cots. We piled them in the lobby and didn’t use them. Immediately, the word

Quality Control went out that this guy was putting pressure on us. So we were left alone. Eisenhower was incredible! JA: What was the panel you did for Stars and Stripes? Was it Bernie Blood? FOX: No, that was just for the division paper in Mississippi. The panel I did was called Dogface, and the body was the same as Bernie Blood. I took the head off Bernie Blood and put it on Dogface and sent them in. I didn’t become as popular as Bill Mauldin [with his Willie and Joe cartoons]. What I was doing was sheer humor. Mauldin was pulling his stuff right out of what was happening. He really didn’t do gags. I have to say this about Bill Mauldin: He could have stayed safely behind the lines and do his job, but he didn’t. He was right up there with the troops. He took chances and reported what he saw. That’s why his stuff was so good. A helluva guy. I met him once, in 1947, at the National Cartoonists Society. He had a mind like a steel trap and he was young and extremely opinionated. JA: How did copies of Stars and Stripes get to the soldiers in the middle of all that fighting? FOX: There was a 400-mile front. You wouldn’t believe the trucks and jeeps we had. There was a sergeant with about 20 or 30 men who kept those jeeps running and serviced that 400-mile front. At one point, the circulation on our edition (there were four different ones) was 250,000. Those guys would sometimes drive at night and get killed because they couldn’t use their lights. They’d start up a bridge, couldn’t see the bridge was bombed out, and go off the end of the bridge.

medieval town. The streets are very narrow. And we were in a building with two-foot-thick walls with windows as high as church windows. I could hear the sound through the walls. I said, “I’m going downstairs into the cellar.” Then a shell hit an apartment house about fifty yards away. The frames and windows came down on top of me. I got up, realized I didn’t have a helmet on, and went into the cellar. We were two stories underground, and I saw a guy sitting there smoking. And I was shaking and couldn’t control it. I’d never experienced that before. The guy said, “You want a cigarette?” I didn’t smoke but I said, “Yeah.” I took the cigarette and I stopped shaking immediately and I smoked for eighteen years. From there, we put the paper out in Nancy, and then we went into Germany into Pfungstadt, which was five miles from Dahmstadt. That was where Hitler had one of his auxiliary newspapers. When one paper was bombed out, he’d use another one. We took over his facilities and were there about eight months. Well, Roosevelt died and our bosses wanted huge headlines. They realized that the German equipment didn’t have huge headlines, so we used wooden type to announce that Roosevelt had died. Then the Germans surrendered and I had to handletter the whole front page, “Americans Meet the Russians” or something like that. I left it on the board about 6:30 a.m. and went to sleep. I woke up and went to take it in and the type was gone! I asked what happened to it and found out one of the cleaning people had taken it out and burned it. I called the editor and worked all night to do another one. I really loved working on Stars and Stripes.

While going to join Stars and Stripes, we stopped at a press There was one incident at the camp in Saverne that was British, point where we took everything American, and French. There over in Germany. I was talking to must have been sixty reporters a reporter and he said, “We’ve staying around and talking. They found something. We think we began talking about the Rhine The front of the Stars and Stripes building in Pfungstadt, Germany, probably in know what it is, but we can’t Monster. You’ve seen them in the early 1945. L. to r.: Fox, Hoctor (their “interpreter”), and Paul Parris. believe it.” I asked, “What are movies. It’s a tremendous railroad you talking about?” gun that the Germans had. And guys in helmets would wind the wheels as it was being raised. It was 35 “It’s a concentration camp,” and he described it to me. “We’re going miles away and they kept it in a mountain. At night, they’d pull it out. there in the morning. You want to go along?” I said, “No, thanks. If I go, I’ll have that image in my mind the rest of my life.” And I was right. A plane would come over and you’d spot a German plane. You could It’s hard to believe human beings could have done that sort of thing. hear it. We were moving up to the front and pulled up and stopped with practically no lights. There were about six cars in the caravan, and I said JA: Didn’t the Americans take German civilians and march them to the sergeant running it, “Why’d you stop?” He said, “Listen.” I heard through the death camps to show them what had been happening? a plane and said, “So what? You can’t see it.” He said, “It’s a German plane.” I asked how he knew. He said “You can tell by the sound it makes. The motor goes ‘Vroom, vroom, vroom.’ An American plane goes ‘Vroooooooo...’ It’s steadier. So that’s a German plane above us.” Suddenly, they opened up with a thousand-pound shell and we’re in a

FOX: Yes. There was a lot of that. In fact, I walked into a theatre where they were showing films of the concentration camps. And you can’t believe the films they showed. They were much worse than anything you’ve seen on television or the movies. And I’m sitting there watching this and I turned around to see the faces of the Germans watching these films.

Gill Fox halls in Paris. We were suspicious because we had Battle Stars and weren’t being shipped home. We found out that 35% of the troops had Battle Stars. We got to talking and formed a group and made posters and called for a meeting. Army Intelligence found out about this because nothing like this had ever happened before. So they were looking for the ringleaders on Stars and Stripes. There were 800 guys in this group. And I was one of the ringleaders. These guys walked to the embassy and were screaming that they wanted to go home. Nobody was leading them, but you could spot the investigators because they were wearing trenchcoats. This was written up in Life magazine, and they even quoted some of the posters I wrote.

Everyone in the crowd stared at the screen and there was no emotion on their faces. None at all. They just had this passive look on their faces... the whole crowd! JA: Jack Kirby used to tell me war stories all the time. He had it rough in the infantry. FOX: So did Kotzky. He went through hell. He really saw action and I think it affected him for the rest of his life. He had blood pressure problems. A roommate of mine was a photographer and he told me this story: His division had a German division trapped in an area. And the Germans were fighting like hell and wouldn’t give up. My friend was standing there with the General of his division when Patton drives up. Patton gets out of the jeep and walks over the general and said, “What the hell are you doing here? Why aren’t you down there killing people?” Typical Patton. One night we joined up with the 44th Division to support them. We slept in these bombed-out houses, and the guys came to me and said, “Don’t go to sleep on the first floor. Go up to the second floor and sleep.” “Why?” I asked. They said, “If the Germans can get a tank up beside a window, they’ll fire through that window and the concussion will kill everyone in that room.” So I slept upstairs and, sure enough, the fighting started and went on all night long. I kept listening for a tank, but the Germans were weakened and didn’t come. JA: So you were in Germany when Roosevelt died? FOX: Yes. I was rooming with an old newspaper friend of mine when Roosevelt died. I ran up to the room and said, “Jeez... the President died.” My friend said, “And he died with the key to demobilization.” I said, “What do you mean by that?” He said, “We’ll be sent home now. How are they going to figure that out?” And some guys were then sent to the Pacific to fight the Japanese. Luckily, I wasn’t one of them. This brings up an interesting story. If you had enough points, they sent you home. If you had Battle Stars, you got so many points. I had two Battle Stars. Some guys had eight. I was in Paris when word got out that nobody was being sent home anymore. They claimed nobody with any Battle Stars was left. Immediately, we sent out counters to the mess

Life magazine accused the Communists of being behind this. I knew of a guy who was an American corporal, and he carried a Communist badge. He went to the meeting and told me about it. So I went to the meeting. I wanted to watch them. I’d have just as soon reported them as not report them. What got me was that the French Communists immediately took advantage of this. Because they thought something was going wrong with the American Army and they wanted to get something out of this. Later, after I was home, I was playing handball in Queens and was talking to a guy I knew had been in the war. I asked, “Where were you?” He said he was an investigator and was in Paris when the “Go Home” meetings happened. I asked, “What would you have done if you had caught one of the ringleaders?” He said, “He’d be in jail for the rest of his life.” I said, “You’re talking to one of them.” But by that time he didn’t care. JA: How long were you on Stars and Stripes? FOX: About a year and five months. I was in Paris when I heard about the atom bomb. We put out supplements. I was discharged April 1946. I was a corporal and could have been a sergeant, but I didn’t push for it. JA: Didn’t you study art while you were in Paris? FOX: Yes. I studied art at the Grand Chaumier. I got to know the French artists and decided I could take life-drawing there, which I had done before. I found out it’s the oldest art school in the world. I did that for about six months. The balustrade was built for the life class. It’s about four feet high, and the carvings in the railings were beautiful and they dated back over a hundred years.

XIII. Back Home JA: How did the war affect your outlook on life once you had returned home? FOX: I learned how to promote myself. I learned that on Stars and Stripes. I learned what buttons to press and I knew how to press them. Nobody’s going to sell you. You have to do it yourself. When I got back to the States, I said to my wife, “Let’s go up to New Hampshire.” There was a lake with a cabin and we spent the whole summer there. Then I contacted Arnold and went back to work. I created “Granny Gumshoe.” It was pretty good when I look back at it. Then Arnold began to send me more filler pages to do, and I didn’t need that much to live, so I didn’t make what I was making before. George Brenner was still editing for Arnold. Al Grenet was there, too. A very nice guy and the last editor to work at Quality. JA: Didn’t you want to edit again? FOX: No. I had enough work to do. I started “Poison Ivy” again. I did “Daffy,” a feature about a woman wrestler. And I did a story there

Quality Control

where Jack The Ripper got away by traveling in a time machine. Later, they made a movie called Time and Time Again, just like my story. It’s very close. I joined the National Cartoonists Society when I came back. Dick Wingert was part of the London staff and we became close friends. I visited Dick when we were both back in the states. We lived close by and he asked if I wanted to become a member. I said, “Yes,” and he immediately put me up for membership. This was 1947. JA: Did you get a good page rate when you came back? FOX: Yes. At one point, when I was on Stars and Stripes, I was in a German military plant. It was huge and went on for blocks. I was walking in the building on the second floor, and at the end of a long corridor I saw a guy sitting at a drawing board. He was wearing an American uniform. I could tell he was working on a comic book page. He wasn’t a young guy and I never saw him again. I asked him what was going on and he said, “I’ve got time, so I’m doing some comic book work.” I asked how much he was getting paid per page. He said, “$35!” I said, “Holy Jesus! That’s $10 more than when I left! I got to get back home.” And sure enough, that’s what they were paying. I worked for Arnold until 1951. I drew “The Barker” off of someone else’s scripts, in addition to the humor fillers I was doing. I told you about doing “Torchy” already. “Candy” was the last thing I did for Quality, and then I went on staff for Johnstone and Cushing. I’ve forgotten who created “Candy,” but I remember doing that when I was working at Johnstone and Cushing. Arnold understood when I quit. There were no bad feelings. JA: You did some work for Archie Comics, too, didn’t you? FOX: Yes, I tried to get work from them. I felt I logically belonged there, but I could never get them to take me seriously. I only did a couple of pages for them, and it wasn’t the Archie characters.

XIV. Johnstone and Cushing and Jeanie JA: Was joining Johnstone and Cushing the reason you left Quality?

One of Gill Fox’s assignments for Quality after the war was this cover for Lady Luck (formerly Smash Comics) #88 (April 1950). Repro’d from a photocopy of the original art, courtesy of Joe & Nadia Mannarino’s All Star Auctions. E-mail them at <allstarauc@aol.com> or phone (201) 652-1305. [©2002 Will Eisner.]

Gill Fox

FOX: Yes. I had always wanted to work for them, and I wanted to get out of comic books. I took me fifteen years to get work from them. Finally, Jack Cushing gave me an assignment in 1947. It was for Ford Times, a very dignified pocket-book-sized publication. I was told to do some gags. I did five roughs, and they were approved. To get them all approved was a rarity in this business, so they were very happy with me. In 1951 Cushing called me up and asked if I wanted to sit in the studio with them. That meant I was important to them. There were about ten guys who had desks there. Creig Flessel, Dik Browne, Stan Drake, and Elmer Wexler were also there. And I was finally sitting there with those guys! I found out I was second-string to Dik Browne [later the creator of the Hagar the Horrible comic strip], but you couldn’t top him, no matter how good you got. By the way, Jack Cushing’s father invented the tracer bullet. And Johnstone’s brother was a cartoonist and even wrote for the Marx Brothers. Flessel had the Campbell Beans account but needed a vacation. About once a month, they’d want some ad work. The art director came over to me and said, “Fless is on vacation and can’t do this, so we’re giving it to you.” They never told me that they thought I was that good. I did the job and you couldn’t tell that Fless didn’t do it. There were all kinds of crowd scenes and sets in it. I was very proud of it. I became so enamored of Flessel’s drawing style from doing that! He could go from humor to straight stuff and in between. I retained that in-between style and began to do clip art for a national clip service, drawing in Fless’ inbetween style. Flessel says, “What the hell’s going on? People keep asking me about this work and they think I did it.” I asked him, “Did you do that?” And then I told him it was mine! [laughs] “That comes from ghosting you. I love your stuff.” That made him take it easier. You ever see pizza boxes with the chef that holds his hand up and does the “A-OK” sign? JA: Yes. I used to run a pizza restaurant to pay for college, and we used those boxes. FOX: For fifty years they’ve used that drawing, and I wish I had a nickel for every time they printed that thing. They butchered the hell out of it over time, but I did that for the clip service in Flessel’s style. JA: Didn’t you start doing newspaper strips about this time? FOX: Yes. All my life I had wanted to do a newspaper strip. I had a tenyear run on a Sunday page for the New York News, from 1952 to 1963. It was a humor strip called Bumper to Bumper. It was about a guy who ran a gas station and lived next to it. It was mainly about automobiles. That was a beautiful deal. I did two roughs and went in to The New York Sun-News. There was an elderly woman editor there, and she was the right-hand man of Captain Joseph Patterson, who was an important man in syndication. She took it to Patterson and they ran it. I did it in

Fox writes of this sample of “custom cartoon, strip and decorative art from the studio of Gill Fox”: “The chef on most pizza boxes was originally mine.” Ironically, interviewer Jim Amash says, “I used to sell pizzas with this drawing on the box, in the early to mid-1980s!” [©2002 the respective copyright holder.]

the Ketcham style from 1952 to 1964. I did about 20-35 of them a year. At one point they asked me to do it 52 times a year. I asked them to give me a raise and a contract and they didn’t want to. So I didn’t do it 52 times a year. I also did the Jeanie strip from 1952 to 1954, before the syndicate pulled something on me. The editor was an S.O.B. and he kept requesting changes and that would put me behind. I tried to work it out with him but he kept it up. One day, Kotzky called me on the phone and said, “I’ve got a set of your Jeanies here.” I said, “What the hell are you doing with a set of my strips?” He said, “The syndicate sent them to me. They want me to do the strip.” “Do they know we’re close friends?” “No,” he said, “they have no idea.” So I quit while under contract, and the editor said, “You can’t quit. You’re under contract.” I said, “You gave out my strips and they’re supposed to be in the file. You’ve breeched the contract so there’s nothing you can do.” They gave it to Leon Winick. The editor got canned and couldn’t find a job in New York after that. By the way, Jeanie was written by Selma Diamond, who wrote for Sid Caesar and later became an actor. She was a very good writer. Since we are doing this for print, I’d like to say something here.

Quality Control

There should be a degree for cartoonists. Because we get no respect and the treatment editors hand out isn’t always good. But I don’t know how you’d work it.

hired me. I did a lot of humorous illustrations and covers for them.

I should mention that from 1955 to 1957 I was a member of the Board of Governors for the National Cartoonists Society, and during the time Dik Browne was its president. I was also their membership representative.

FOX: Dik was a very affable and highly intelligent guy. He was a heavy-set man and a wonderful guy. He had a helluva sense of humor and was a natural cartoonist. Talking to Dik Browne was like talking to Jack Cole.

JA: What else were you doing besides Johnstone and Cushing and the newspaper strips? As if you weren’t busy enough.

When I got on staff at Johnstone and Cushing and got to know Dik, it became apparent that I was in the presence of a genius. Everyone on staff knew that Dik would hit it big. But we didn’t know when and where. Then one day Dik told us he got a call from Mort Walker about a strip. We knew how successful Mort was [as creator of Beetle Bailey], and it didn’t surprise us.

JA: Tell me more about Dik Browne.

FOX: When Will Eisner had his advertising studio in the 1950s, I did the art on a National Safety booklet for him. I had to have the assignment to him the next day, so there was no time to rough anything out. I brought it in the next morning and he had an airbrush man color it. Eisner looked at it and said to me, “You see that board up there with all those jobs? From now on, you can pick any job you want from that board.” That booklet won an award!

XV. Under the Influences

JA: In your biography you listed Hank Ketcham as an influence. Considering that Dennis the Menace didn’t start until 1951, it’s amazing that you were still being influenced almost in mid-career. FOX: When you consider I worked for Johnstone and Cushing, it wasn’t unusual to be influenced by other people’s work. Johnstone and Cushing had accounts all over the United States, and those accounts would want work in different styles. You had to really be able to draw to do this. The straight artists didn’t have to switch styles, but the humor artists did. Dik Browne could do this, and he was the best. Dik taught me how to switch styles. What you had to do was purge yourself of your own style. I hadn’t gotten as far as I wanted in the art business, so I figured, “What the hell? I have to make a living.” I tried not to have a style, so I could adapt to any material I was given to do. That’s hard on the ego, but I had to make this decision. I had to purge myself of individuality. I was sitting in Arnold’s New York office when he and another editor were interviewing artists. They had put an ad for artists in The New York Times and they were coming in droves to the offices. One old guy came in with threadbare clothes and stained art samples and he made a deep impression on me. He was a professional who had a hard time finding work. He had a style that was dated, so that’s why he couldn’t find work. I told myself that this would never happen to me. JA: What about Ketcham influenced you so much? FOX: First of all, he could draw like mad! He had a very decorative look to his work, and I loved it. A small syndicate had a kid panel and asked me to take it over, to see if I could build it up. The syndicate named the strip Wilbert, and I hated the name. I made royalties above my contract, and we even got a pocket book collection out of it. I did that from 1954 to 1959 as a weekly panel. One of the side accounts I had was for a medical magazine. My name was on the masthead. The editor took a liking to my Wilbert feature and

Mort wanted to write a new strip. He and Sylvan Byck, the King Features editor, made separate lists of artists to consider for the strip and at the top of both lists was Dik Browne. Dik had done the Lipton Tea ads, and they were quite impressive. Mort and Byck had seen those ads, and I think that influenced their decision to offer Dik the strip. That’s how Hi and Lois was launched. And it didn’t take long for that strip to take off.

The Hi and Lois strip was about to begin, and Dik was doing that in addition to his Johnstone and Cushing work, plus a strip about angels for a Catholic church. Dik asked me to come over and help out, so I did. I traced the first Hi and Lois roughs onto Bristol board while Dik was doing the angels feature. Here’s an amazing thing about learning subtleties. On the page, there was a living room scene with furniture. Dik asked, “What do you think about that furniture?” I said liked it. He asked, “Does it look like another cartoonist’s furniture?” He mentioned Cliff Sterrett, who had done Polly and Her Pals in a very unique style. “Does my stuff look as individualistic as Sterrett’s?” This was how he looked at things, and this is how a cartoonist learns. Every time an account came in, you knew you weren’t going to beat Dik out. Every ten years, the Campbell Soup people were changing the look of the Campbell Soup Kids. About four of us were competing against Dik, and of course Dik got that job. Dik told me about it: “We went over to the Campbell Soup company and they had four art directors there and there was an old man sitting at a glass topped table. And under that glass were clips of all the previous versions of the Campbell Soup kids. The guy was looking at my art and I noticed he was

The late great Dik Browne and Gill Fox. With that beard, Dik even looked like his creation, Hagar the Horrible—now drawn by his son Chris.

Gill Fox

counting the eyelashes. I made sure to use the correct number of eyelashes, and you guys didn’t do that.” That was Dik Browne! Dik’s wife used to make fun of the way he dressed. He’d button his shirt wrong and she’d say, “You look like you’re melting.” JA: How about Stan Drake? FOX: He was a real character and a great artist. The best! When Stan was young, he was so handsome that a movie company gave him a screen test, and he could act, too. He could mimic people very well. We used to love to watch him do that. Stan could draw these beautiful boy-girl strips and everybody wanted him. He got so popular that he quit and opened up his own place. As Gil Kane said, “Stan could handle the 290 Guilotte pen like a rapier.” In 1964 I was working for Volk Clip Art Service in New Jersey. They were very successful. The art director there was starting his own clip service and I went with him. And I got Kotzky, Lou Fine, and Stan Drake in there. Stan said, “Look, I’ll work for you if you let me draw pretty women.” I said, “You got it.”

FOX: Oh, yes. But it was always friendly. I remember one time I got a call at a quarter till five. Cushing said to me, “Don’t leave the studio. I have something for you.” It was the Smith Brothers account, and I had finally gotten a series. I know I competed with several people, including Al Capp. Capp was doing this through his brother Elliot, not Johnstone and Cushing. I asked Elliot about it later and he said, “You know why you got it? Because you were asking $1,500 and we were asking $3,000.” The deal the company had with the artists was that you got paid 50% of what the strips paid. We all knew that they were keeping more than 50%, but no one ever complained. You got to work in their studio and use their supplies and do your own work when you weren’t working on their stuff. The understanding we had with Johnstone and Cushing was that you’d put that work aside the minute they needed you to do something for them. I thought that was very fair. And they paid well so no one thought much about the split. I worked there about four days a week. On Friday I worked at home on my own stuff. At one point I had brought in Kotzky to work there, and he was building into one of their top artists when they folded.

The first one Stan did appeared in the magazine section of The New York Times, and some guy had stolen it and never paid for it. We had sent out flyers and this pretty girl was on it and was immediately stolen. Stan’s stuff was in such demand. Stan didn’t care who he worked for. He said, “Just give me the check.” In fact, when he started inking for Valiant Comics, we were at a bar during lunch and I told him, “Look. They know you’re the best there is, and you ought to ask for the top penciler, because there will be more royalties on that book.” So he does, and six months later, he shows me a check for $21,000! That was just the royalties! I was so surprised I had to look at the check twice.

JA: Why did Johnstone and Cushing fold up in 1956? FOX: It was because the competition from television. The advertising budget went to television, and the guts of Johnstone and Cushing were the advertising comic strips. There were 90 newspapers that used the strips, and if you were in 90 papers, you had hit the top. They were in business for 35 years.

If you’re known by the company you keep...! Beginning in April 1970 an exhibition of the fine art of “some of America’s best-known cartoonists who are also painters and sculptors” was displayed in the lobby of Lever House, at Park Avenue and 53rd Street in New York City. Shown in a publicity photo with their entries are (l. to r.): Milt Caniff (Steve Canyon), Alfred Andriola (Kerry Drake), “Irma Selz, noted caricaturist and illustrator,” and Gill Fox, “originator of Side Glances.”

I was surprised when he switched to humor. He did Blondie for several years and made great money doing that strip. And when you add the money he made doing comic books, you see he was doing very well.

I’ve got to add this story. Many years ago, I wrote to Chic Young, who did Blondie, looking for work. And he was interested, but he had Alex Raymond’s brother Jim working for him. Young told me that Raymond was thinking about quitting, and that if he did quit, I’d get the job.

The arrangement there was supposed to be a 50-50 split. They were an art service, not an agency. If you got hot enough, you worked in the studio. They had about ten boards, and the top men got first call.

But it turned out you got about 20% not 50%. I was there the day they folded after 35 years in business. We had a hunch something like this would happen. I remember Creig Flessel had a long face because he had found out how much the company had been getting. He was always a happy man, and I wasn’t used to seeing him like this. Fless had been doing the Everready feature for about 15 years. As one of their top men, he was getting $350 a strip. I was making $250.

Well, Raymond never quit and worked for Chic Young for 35 years. Years later, when Stan got the job, I decided to pull a gag on Dean Young, who had written the strip since his father died. I told Stan about this in advance so he’d understand. I wrote Dean Young and told him what his father had promised me years ago. I even sent him copies of the letters his father wrote me 45 years ago.

I asked him what the trouble was. He said, “Tim Johnstone [son of the owner] told me what they had been getting for my feature all these years. They were getting over $1,500 for that feature!” I can’t figure out why they told him this.

I wrote, “I just found out Stan’s on the strip and I’ve been waiting 45 years. If I have to wait another 45 years, I will.” And Young didn’t get the joke! Young called up Stan and asked if I was crazy! Thanks to Stan, I got to meet Young and explain the joke.

JA: How nice to tell him that on his last day! I wonder why they just didn’t switch to television advertising. I guess Johnstone and Cushing were older men.

JA: Were the people on staff at Johnstone and Cushing very competitive?

FOX: Yes, they were. Neither one needed the money and they decided to call it a day. It was sad that it ended, because they had quite a history.

Fless said, “I added up how much I didn’t get all these years, and it’s ridiculous.”

Quality Control

XVI. Side Glances and Since

JA: Did you try to change the look of Side Glances?

JA: How did you get the Side Glances panel?

FOX: I was ahead of that. Three years before that, I did the last “Flick Your Bic” campaign. I did the last year of it and it was the New Yorker magazine type look. I did fifteen roughs, and eight of them were finished and used. In a discussion with Orlando Busino, who’s quite a cartoonist, he said, “Why don’t you shift that style into your strip? Make it look more like Saxon [who was a New Yorker cartoonist]?” I agreed, but then I decided not to. Once a strip declines, it’s hard to bring it back. I could have done it, but I didn’t think it would have worked. In art, every little decision you makes means so much.

FOX: I’m glad you asked that. John Fischetti [the great Pulitzer Prize-winning political cartoonist] told me about this panel called Side Glances. The cartoonist doing it was having some angina problems. They needed someone to immediately fill in since the guy was in the hospital. His name was Galbraith; he had taken it over from creator George Clark, who left it to do the strip The Neighbors. I didn’t like the style the guy was using. It was hard to get into, but I did a couple of samples. Fischetti called and said, “They liked what you did and want you to do a couple more.” I said, “Okay, but do me a favor and find out how much money is involved.” He did and I found out it was a lot more than my total freelance income. I said, “Okay.” Then I really got into it. I went to the New York Library and asked if they had clips on past Side Glances panels. They did, and I asked for a certain year. Each cartoonist has a certain high point, so I asked for the best year of the panel. I studied them and then did the work.

They offered me a certain amount of money and asked me to do it for three months. I said, “I’m going to have to drop freelance accounts and they pay well. What can you give me in return?” They guaranteed me that, if Galbraith left the strip, it was mine. I said okay. Galbraith came back and tried, but he couldn’t keep it up. So it became my panel. This was for real. I considered this to be my real big break into newspaper syndication. It meant so much to me because I’d worked all my life for this. I dropped all my freelance work and we moved up to Redding Ridge in 1962, where I live now. JA: Why did you consider Side Glances to be more of a break than the other strips you did?

It was easy, but I really wanted my own strip. Every strip I had done was in someone else’s style. That’s the easy way to get a strip. I had done 45 presentations of different strips and all were rejected. The last one I did was the best thing I had ever done, and it was rejected faster than anything I had tried before.

Panels are harder to maintain. They’re not built into the newspaper page layout and are easier to discontinue. Strips are the way to go, because it’s harder to drop a strip than a panel. You can do a panel but lay it out like a strip. Dik Browne did it on Hagar and so have others. My last strip idea was like that.

Around 1960 I did some work for Zeke Zekley. Zeke was a ghost for George MacManus [creator of Bringing Up Father] for 35 years, and was a great businessman. He had an advertising business in California and I did some work for him. I felt that the Sunday page layouts were boring. I had this theory that the main object of the gag should dictate the shape of the panel. An airplane would have a long horizontal panel. A gag with an elevator shaft would have vertical panels. That gave the work a unique appearance.

FOX: This was a more popular feature. The others were only in about 75 papers. Side Glances was in 500. About fifteen years into it, I realized we had never had a collection of the strip. I fired the agent I’d had and got a good agent. And he made the rounds for a whole year. But I noticed there was something he wasn’t telling me. I asked, “Why are you having trouble?” There’d been a couple other features like this, and they’d had a book or two published. I had the best writer in the country helping me write it. I wrote a couple a week, and he wrote the others. I knew the writing wasn’t the problem. The agent said to me, “It’s the look of the feature. It’s old hat, and that’s the problem. Things are changing.” And he did me the biggest favor by telling me this. We were losing papers. When I finally gave up the feature, the syndicate gave me some “good-will work” for a couple of years. It paid well and was nice.

Gill Fox day, the publisher said to me, “Hit Senator Wicker on income tax.” I said, “Why hit him? He hasn’t said anything yet.” “He will.” And boy, he was right! I’d hit him three times a week, and then he raised the income tax. Then he wouldn’t give an interview to our reporter, because he was on the same paper as me. Wicker knew about me personally. But I ended up having a problem there. There was a guy there digging the ground out from under me, and he finally got me out. What he did was, he worked for nothing. He had a fair salary for the editorial department and he was good at it. He knew how to use the computer and was a professional political cartoonist. But he was not as good as I was. I normally wouldn’t say something like that. You didn’t hear me say that about Dik Browne. You have to be objective about yourself. So this guy took his salary and then did four political cartoons a week for nothing. I knew he was trying to edge me out; he probably saw my invoices and knew what I was making. When the bean counters came in, they said, “You have two cartoonists. Get rid of one of them.” So they got rid of me because I was the one getting paid. This was in 1996. I was accustomed to office politics, and I’ve seen stuff go on, but this was the first time I’d seen that happen. JA: Where are you working now? FOX: I’m working for a twice-weekly paper called The Fairfield Citizen News. I have a great editor and I do one cartoon a week. I also did a couple of things for Craig Yoe, who was doing a magazine for Big Boy Restaurants. And I’ve done some paintings. JA: Didn’t you win a couple of awards for political cartooning?

JA: Didn’t you do some work for Boy’s Life, too? FOX: I did a lot of pages for that with Al Stenzell, who was the art director at Johnstone and Cushing. I had one incident with that. Alex Kotzky was doing a big page for them, and I passed his house and picked it up as I was going to the office. Stenzell asked me where Kotzky’s work was. I realized that I had left it standing in the subway. I jumped on a train and went back to the area where I had been. I was looking at the platforms as we passed them, and I saw it sticking out of a trashcan. I ran over and got it. It had dirty finger marks on it, and I was so lucky I found it! I’d have had to do that whole thing over! That happened one other time. I was living in Stamford and was bringing a 5- or 6-pager in. I think it was an Eisner story, and I left it on a rack on the train. I ran alongside the train and I could see the art on that rack. So I hopped in a car and... you couldn’t do this today... I raced to the next stop and got on the train and retrieved the art!

FOX: Yes. Two years in a row, in 1994 and 1995. The award I won was the Connecticut Professional Journalist Award. Notice that I won those awards and was let go the next year. JA: Do you see yourself ever retiring?

JA: How did you get into doing political cartooning? FOX: I had done it for the Paris Post during the war. This was besides my work for Stars and Stripes. John Fischetti had the job, and when he left he steered me towards the Post, and I got the job, which I did for about six months to a year. I tried to get into political cartooning after the war. But I couldn’t get the feel of it and I wasn’t satisfied. If I had broken into it then, I might have done only that for the rest of my life. For years, I wanted to work for the Connecticut Post. Finally, in 1990, it happened. They were a moderate-to-conservative paper. One

FOX: At some point I probably will. It takes me longer to do the work now. If my work ever gets to the point that I become a hazard to the editor I’m working with, I’ll quit. I like her very much and I’d never let her down. JA: I noticed you like helping other cartoonists.

FOX: I won a Legend award from the National Cartoonists Society, partly for helping people get jobs. I’ve always done this behind the scenes. If I know there’s a property somewhere that pays a fair salary, I find the right guy and help him get the job. I’ve done this about ten times. There’s one artist I helped get a job (a well-paying one) and he gets bored on the strip. I told him, “Every time you get bored, look at the check!” JA: Looking back, what work are you proudest of? FOX: My political cartoons. I’ve gotten more satisfaction from doing those than anything I’ve ever done.

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IN JANUARY: THE AWESOME ART OF ART ADAMS!

Monkeyman

CBA #17 headlines a riotous—and exhaustive—interview with the legendary ARTHUR ADAMS, delineator of such memorable series as Longshot,

& O’Brien © &

Gumby, Monkeyman & O’Brien, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, and much more. Of course, we also feature tons of both unpublished and rarely-seen work as

™ 2001 Art Ad

well as a definitive checklist. But, wait, there’s more! This ish also commemorates our FIRST ANNUAL POTPOURRI ISSUE where we present interviews with folks who just

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don’t fit a theme we’re planning. Look for interviews with the late, great artist, GEORGE ROUSSOS, on his 50+ years in comics and with GEORGE EVANS, the renowned EC aviation cartoonist who recently passed away. And we also present an

er art.

Not actual cov

exclusive talk with the legendary artist EVERETT RAYMOND KINSTLER, one of the most influential talents you perhaps never heard of! And, finally, we are honored to host a tribute to the life and art of GRAY MORROW, featuring testimonials, art and the participation of many of the industry’s greatest names. So look for our sizzlin’ 17th issue, featuring a brand-new Art Adams cover!

TwoMorrows. Bringing New Life To Comics Fandom. TwoMorrows • 1812 Park Drive • Raleigh, NC 27605 USA • 919-833-8092 • FAX: 919-833-8023 • e-mail: twomorrow@aol.com • www.twomorrows.com

Ronn Foss

A Tribute To

Ronn Foss

Fan-artist Extraordinaire and Editor Emeritus of Alter Ego by Bill Schelly On September 24th, after returning from an out-of-town trip, I found a message on my answering machine from Ronn Foss’ son Scott. Would I please call him as soon as possible? Scott and I had traded e-mails before, but this was the first time he’d contacted me by telephone. I feared bad news. When we spoke, scant moments later, my fears were realized. “Dad passed away about ten days ago,” he told me. Ronn Foss, one of my oldest friends, had died. I had reached Scott via his cell phone as he waited for a flight to Missouri. He and his sister Alex (short for Alexandra) were in line to board a plane that would take them back to the rural backwoods homestead where they had spent so many happy early years—this time to lay their father to rest. Scott explained that Ronn had apparently died of natural causes in his home in the Ozark hills near the small town of Birch Tree, Missouri, about September 14th. He and Alex had been contacted soon after, but due to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, had not been able to find a flight out until then. Scott and I only had time to exchange a few more words, and for me to wish Alex the best as well, before it was time to board. When I hung up the phone, after volunteering to write Ronn’s obituary to be released to the comics press, I must admit I was in a daze. Although the news wasn’t wholly unexpected, since Ronn’s health had been gradually deteriorating in recent years, I couldn’t really believe that he was gone. That the man who had written me hundreds of letters over the years, who had been a major inspiration for my books of fandom history, and who had recently given me a testimonial I could use

to publicize Sense of Wonder, which he had read in manuscript form—would never write another letter, would never draw another illustration, would never draw another breath… was very difficult to accept. Ronald Eugene Foss was born in Defiance, Ohio, on July 14th, 1939. His family of six (he was the eldest of four siblings, two boys and two girls) moved frequently around small farming towns in the Ronn Foss in 1985, opaquing negatives for the EC Library edition of Valor. Midwest until they settled in Fort Wayne when Ronn was finishing grade school. He was just old enough to catch the end of the first great comics era, as well as the end of the heyday of radio and Saturday afternoon movie serials. He loved them all, and created his own comics characters almost as soon as he could hold a pencil. In 1952 an important event occurred in Ronn’s young life: he met another lad who was equally interested in comics and equally talented as an artist. They first became acquainted in gym class, drawn together because they were the two skinniest kids. The other boy would become Ronn’s lifelong friend, Richard “Grass” Green. (Foss gave Green his unusual nickname.) They drew their own comic strips, created their own super-heroes, and were inseparable through the remainder of their school years. When Foss was discharged from the US Air Force in the late 1950s, and discovered comics fandom in 1961 (with the receipt of Alter Ego #2, July 1961), he immediately shared this discovery with Green. Both began doing illustrations and comic strips for the fledgling comics fanzines of the era. Ronn’s earliest published strip featured Dimension Man (co-created with Parley Holman) in Spotlite #1 in late 1961.

A 1964 self-portrait of Ronn, surrounded by most of the characters he created or drew in the comics fanzines of the early 1960s. [Eclipse © ^& TM 2002 Bill Schelly; Other characters ©2002 the estate of Ronn Foss.]

Foss was one of the most enthusiastic, energetic contributors to fanzines of the early 1960s, providing superb covers, pin-ups, illustrations and strips to dozens of early ditto fan publications, including Headline, Super Hero, Komix Illustrated, Comic Hero, Fighting Hero Comics, and Action Hero. His widely popular work was characterized by its confidence, panache, and sophistication. He was especially adept at drawing lovely women, including amateur heroes The Viper and Joy Holiday. In an era before professional comics artists would deign to contribute to fan magazines, Foss was one of the leading artists among a bevy of talented amateurs.

Ronn Foss When Jerry Bails divested himself of publishing Alter Ego and The Comicollector in the Fall of 1962, Foss was his hand-picked successor. Ronn edited and published A/E #5 and #6, and The Comicollector #7 through 12, then handed them off to Roy Thomas and Biljo White, respectively. His two issues of Alter Ego represented an early publishing peak. A/E #5 (March 1963) featured the first amateur hero strip in a photo-offset fanzine, “The Eclipse,” cocreated by Foss and Drury Moroz after their plan to revive Dr. Mid-Nite was nixed by DC Comics, then National Periodical Publications.

41 series of strips that appeared in every issue of the magazine up to his death. Grass Green, who occasionally collaborated with Foss on “Destiny,” remained a close friend all through the years. “It seemed, as time went on, we disagreed about more and more things,” Green said recently, “but it was like we were brothers. Underneath any disagreements, there was a bond that was unbreakable.” Ronn’s health had been deteriorating gradually, not due to any one cause, but to a combination of factors, including smoking all his adult life, and not having the healthiest of diets. Foss had a thin, ectomorphic physique, and had become thinner in recent years. His son Scott told me, “We had just visited him in early August, and Dad was awfully frail. But he had finally quit smoking, and was hoping to regain at least a measure of his health.” Such was not to be.

With the advent of professionallyprinted fanzines, Ronn began working in pen-and-ink more often, contributing superlative and sometimes groundbreaking comic strips to Star-Studded Comics, Fantasy Illustrated, Voice of Comicdom, The Cartoonist, Gosh Wow, and Comic Crusader. Ronn “I have no regrets at all about my moved restlessly across the United States choice in lifestyle,” Ronn told me many Ronn’s co-creation “The Eclipse” appeared originally in Alter Ego throughout the 1960s and early 1970s: [Vol. 1] #5 & #8 in 1963 and 1965. This 1965 Foss Eclipse illo, which times. “The rural life certainly isn’t for California to Ohio, back to California, has previously appeared only in Comic Crusader Storybook in the everybody… but I love it. It means a lot then to Florida, back to California again, 1970s, is reprinted here courtesy of publisher Martin L. Greim. to me to be close to nature, and the and thence to Decatur, Illinois, before [Eclipse © & TM 2002 Bill Schelly.] many varieties of flora and fauna on my deciding to settle permanently in the rustic twenty acres. It’s sometimes a foothills of the Missouri Ozarks. He and hard life, but it’s the life I chose. I wouldn’t have done it any other way.” his wife Coreen and their two young children Scott and Alexandra moved to a rustic cabin on twenty acres near the small town of Birch It is probable that he passed away in his sleep on or about September Tree in 1975. Living close to nature, and being a part of a group of 14th. His body was found several days later. “back-to-the-land” types, was just what Ronn was looking for. He stayed there for the rest of his life. (His marriage to Coreen, however, Ronn is survived by two sisters, Beverly Ann and Shirley, and a ended shortly after the move.) brother David, as well as his children Scott and Alexandra, who make their homes in the Pacific Northwest. All through the ensuing years, Foss had published more fanzines, including Dateline: Comicdom, Pandora, and Issues. In the end, How to sum up a man’s life? however, his longest running publication was Your Times X-Press, a sort of Mother Earth News for the counter-culture community in the If the measure of a man’s life is, at least in part, determined by the Ozarks. It ran just over a hundred issues, from 1975 to 1983. number of people he touched in a positive way, then Ronn Foss was any man’s equal. He marched to the beat of his own drummer, finding his When asked why he never made a concerted effort to break into greatest pleasure in family, nature, correspondence, and the creative Marvel or DC, Ronn answered (in a 1991 interview that appeared in my process. Ronn Foss Retrospective), “Perhaps I enjoy drawing too much to force it into prescribed molds, and not enough to really work at it for convenEver the skeptic, Ronn didn’t believe in an afterlife. But he will tional acceptance on a broad scale. Though neither am I content to certainly live on in the hearts and memories of the people who continually repeat myself, ever trying to do something at least a little knew him, or were lucky enough to read his stories, strips, or different, if not a lot. My reach has frequently exceeded my grasp and letters. hasn’t always been appreciated, but I honestly do keep trying. I’ll always For my part, I can only add, “Good bye, old friend.” draw, but that’s not all I’m about. Life is too multi-faceted to apply all your time and energies to a single focus.” Aside from a couple of years working for Russ Cochran in nearby West Plains, doing art and negative touch-ups on the EC reprint books, Foss made his living exclusively from commercial art assignments by mail. He had many regular clients over the years, and made enough money to get by in his humble rural lifestyle. His work was published by Last Gasp, Fantagraphics/Eros, Miller Publishing, and other alternative press outfits. As the years passed, Foss stayed close to his country home. His last out-of-state trip was a jaunt to California in 1988 to visit long-time friend and collaborator Mike Vosburg. About 1995, Foss gained an important new client: Dennis Druktenis, publisher of Scary Monsters magazine. Together they co-created the character Destiny, Vampire Mermaid, and produced the long-running

Last known photo of Ronn (circa 1999) with his son Scott in the Ozarks. Courtesy of Scott Foss.

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt

IT S A MAD MAD MAD MAD

by Michael T. Gilbert Wally Wood was one of Mad’s founding artists and one of its brightest stars. Over a period of twelve years, his uncanny ability to mimic other cartoonists made him the ideal choice to illustrate its many comic strip parodies, first in the Mad color comic, later in the 25¢ (cheap) magazine. Oddly, it was one of these comic strip take-offs that effectively ended Wood’s career at Mad. In 1964 Wally was hired to illustrate a four-page article entitled “Comics for Publications That Don’t Have Comics.” Wood handed in the finished art, as he’d done ever issue since Mad’s first. He’d never had

any trouble before, but this time was different. Wood’s lifelong battle with alcoholism was beginning to affect his work. His drinking was a continuing concern that dogged the talented and prolific artist most of his life, and it flared up again in 1964. Trouble began when Wood handed in the finished art, which he’d worked and reworked until it was thick with white-out. Worse, he had inexplicably switched the first two panels of a Little Orphan Annie parody with the second two. Wood’s editor was not pleased. For the first time in his career, Mad rejected Wood’s art. Wood was furious and promptly quit. Some claim that the rejection was just a joke that had gone terribly awry. Others say Wood was fired. Wood’s friend and helper Bill Pearson recently stated: “Woody was not fired. The art was rejected, yes, but he was expected to do it over. Instead, he called [publisher Bill] Gaines and quit. He made a mistake.” Pearson also claims Wood was tired of Mad, wanted out, and used the rejection as a handy excuse. Wood himself discussed the issue in an uncompleted autobiography, written in the late 1970s. This excerpt recently appeared in the 11th issue of The Journal of Madness for June 2001: “I was at Mad 12 years, 7 years after it stopped being a challenge and after it was not fun at all.” In the article Wood talked about “Little Wally Wood,” the idealistic, childlike part of himself, and how it related to his break with Mad: “Let me tell you about how Little Wally Wood quit Mad. I turned in a job that I’d worked day and night on, and when they picked on it, I felt entitled to throw a tantrum and quit. Much later, I saw the originals, and it hit me... I was terrible! I had worked very hard to make it bad, so I could feel justified in quitting. That kid is pretty sneaky.” While Wood may have subconsciously sabotaged the job as he claims, one can’t discount the possibility that his explanation could simply be an after-the-fact rationalization for his own poor judgment. Whatever the case, that action caused a lifelong rift between Wood and Mad. When Wood refused to re-do the strips, Mad hired cartoonist Bob Clarke to step in and take over. The redrawn version appeared in the July 1964 issue of Mad magazine under the forementioned title, as written by Frank Jacobs.

Here’s a Wood preliminary to another Mad job, sketched on the actual script page. If anyone knows where (or if!) the final version appeared, please let Michael know, as he’s been unable to track it down. Perhaps it was never published!? [Art ©2002 the estate of Wally Wood; script ©2002 the respective copyright holder.]

Clarke’s version was pleasant enough, but Wood’s many fans sorely missed his distinctive cartooning, which had appeared in virtually every issue since the first. With the exception of two pages in 1971, this was the last time

It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Wood! the artist would ever do new work for Mad. For years after, publisher Bill Gaines often asked Woody to return to Mad, but Wood’s pride made that impossible. It was the end of an era. Since hearing the above story, I’ve often wondered about the rejected art. Was it really as terrible as suggested? Since Mad never printed Wood’s version of the strips, it seemed I’d never know. As it turned out, I was wrong. Not long ago, I read a post on one of the Internet comic lists from cartoonist Bill Alger. Bill mentioned in passing that he owned the original to one of Wood’s rejected strips. I contacted him, and Bill informed me that he’d bought it a couple of years back from Bill Pearson, who had also printed four more of the rejected strips in his sales catalog. (Note: The published article had three other parodies in addition to the ones printed here. I don’t know if Wood drew versions of those, as well.) Bill Alger kindly send me scans of the five unpublished strips from Pearson’s catalog, so that I could finally see the strips myself. (Some time later Bill Pearson mailed me a copy of the actual catalog, which we have used to photograph the strips reprinted here.) To my surprise, the art was considerably better than I had been led to believe. Bill Alger agreed, noting: “...Wood strips are much better than the Clarke strips, but there’s something vaguely depressing about Wood’s art on these (especially the Peanuts strip). They’re nicely done, but I’m imagining that when Woody was working on these, he felt much like the way he drew Charlie Brown. Withered and tired. It looked like he was burned out, but he had too much talent at that point in his life to turn out crap. I’d say as light humor they fail, but as a window into the psyche of a depressed

cartoonist, I’d give all A’s!” Sad or not, the art itself is surprisingly good. It’s by no means Wood’s best work, but the cartooning is solid and well-crafted. It does the job. Yes, some of the drawings are off. The girl on the left in panel one of the Steve Canyon parody is pretty strange. But other panels, like the illo of Little Orphan Annie walking down the street, are masterful. So why were the strips rejected? The white-out and transposed panels in the Annie parody really shouldn’t have been a major issue. Corrections could easily have been made by the production department, as we’ve done for this printing. As far as the sadness in the Peanuts parody, well... Peanuts is a pretty depressing strip at times, and Wood’s art reflects this. Actually, I like the Jules Feiffer feel Wood brought to it. There may have been other factors that exacerbated the situation, such as personality clashes between Wood and editor Al Feldstein. But as for the work itself, I still think Wood’s take is superior to the printed version. Don’t take my word for it, though. We’re printing Wood’s “lost” Mad strips here along with the portions of redrawn and printed version, so that you can decide for yourself! Best wishes, Michael T. P.S.: Don’t ask me why Woody signed the Donald Duck take-off “Sy Barry.” Perhaps it was a private joke, as Sy was a real artist who worked for DC in the 1950s, drew syndicated strips such as Tarzan and The Phantom, and would occasionally “ghost” the Flash Gordon strip for his brother Dan. [Special thanks to Bill Pearson, Bill Alger, Bob Harper, John Kelly, and Chris Overton for their help.] [art ©2002 the estate of Wally Wood.]

The Wood Version

The Clarke Version

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt

The Rejected Wally Wood Version

It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Wood!

(Part of) The Published Bob Clarke Version

Wally at work in the 1970s. Courtesy of Richard Pryor.

As a bonus, here's another panel Wally drew for Hugh Hefner and Harvey Kurtzman's Trump #1 (1957) and its parody of a (non-existent) Disneyesque animated film called Hansel and Gretel. As detailed in A/E V3#8, Wood painted all the panels as if they were gorgeous full-color cartoon cels. The narration accompanying this one was: “Witch tries to roto-broil Hansel in new-fangled kitchen appliance, but Gretel pushes her onto spit instead. Kids watch, amazed, as auto-timer does her to a turn.” (Would this movie really have been that much scarier than Snow White?) Thanks to Chris Foss of Heroes & Dragons store in Columbia, South Carolina. Go online at <heroesanddragons.com> or phone (803) 731-HERO. [©2002 Playboy Enterprises, Inc.]

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt

Some Mad-style humor from Wally Wood. Bill Pearson says this Bucky Ruckus page was probably an unfinished preliminary rough, not intended for publication, but simply an exercise so that Wood could work out the logo and characters. [©2002 the estate of Wally Wood.]

Now—FLIP US for DC/Fawcett (and Newsweek)

Edited by ROY THOMAS

DIGITAL

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STAN LEE gets roasted by SCHWARTZ, CLAREMONT, DAVID, ROMITA, BUSCEMA, and SHOOTER, ORDWAY and THOMAS on INFINITY, INC., IRWIN HASEN interview, unseen H.G. PETER Wonder Woman pages, the original Captain Marvel and Human Torch teamup, FCA with MARC SWAYZE, “Mr. Monster”, plus plenty of rare and unpublished art!

Featuring a never-reprinted SPIRIT story by WILL EISNER, the genesis of the SILVER AGE ATOM (with GARDNER FOX, GIL KANE, and JULIE SCHWARTZ), interviews with LARRY LIEBER and Golden Age great JACK BURNLEY, BOB KANIGHER, a new Fawcett Collectors of America section with MARC SWAYZE, C.C. BECK, and more! GIL KANE and JACK BURNLEY flip-covers!

Unseen ALEX ROSS and JERRY ORDWAY Shazam! art, 1953 interview with OTTO BINDER, the SUPERMAN/CAPTAIN MARVEL LAWSUIT, GIL KANE on The Golden Age of TIMELY COMICS, FCA with SWAYZE, BECK, and SCHAFFENBERGER, rare art by AYERS, BERG, BURNLEY, DITKO, RICO, SCHOMBURG, MARIE SEVERIN and more! ALEX ROSS & BILL EVERETT covers!

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ALTER EGO #6

ALTER EGO #7

ALTER EGO #8

Interviews with KUBERT, SHELLY MOLDOFF, and HARRY LAMPERT, BOB KANIGHER, life and times of GARDNER FOX, ROY THOMAS remembers GIL KANE, a history of Flash Comics, MOEBIUS Silver Surfer sketches, MR. MONSTER, FCA section with SWAYZE, BECK, and SCHAFFENBERGER, and lots more! Dual color covers by JOE KUBERT!

Celebrating the JSA, with interviews with MART NODELL, SHELLY MAYER, GEORGE ROUSSOS, BILL BLACK, and GIL KANE, unpublished H.G. PETER Wonder Woman art, GARDNER FOX, an FCA section with MARC SWAYZE, C.C. BECK, WENDELL CROWLEY, and more! Wraparound cover by CARMINE INFANTINO and JERRY ORDWAY!

GENE COLAN interview, 1940s books on comics by STAN LEE and ROBERT KANIGHER, AYERS, SEVERIN, and ROY THOMAS on Sgt. Fury, ROY on All-Star Squadron’s Golden Age roots, FCA section with SWAYZE, BECK, and WILLIAM WOOLFOLK, JOE SIMON interview, a definitive look at MAC RABOY’S work, and more! Covers by COLAN and RABOY!

Companion to ALL-STAR COMPANION book, with a JULIE SCHWARTZ interview, guide to JLA-JSA TEAMUPS, origins of the ALL-STAR SQUADRON, FCA section with MARC SWAYZE, C.C. BECK (on his 1970s DC conflicts), DAVE BERG, BOB ROGERS, more on MAC RABOY from his son, MR. MONSTER, and more! RICH BUCKLER and C.C. BECK covers!

WALLY WOOD biography, DAN ADKINS & BILL PEARSON on Wood, TOR section with 1963 JOE KUBERT interview, ROY THOMAS on creating the ALL-STAR SQUADRON and its 1940s forebears, FCA section with SWAYZE & BECK, MR. MONSTER, JERRY ORDWAY on Shazam!, JERRY DeFUCCIO on the Golden Age, CHIC STONE remembered! ADKINS and KUBERT covers!

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ALTER EGO #9

ALTER EGO #10

ALTER EGO #11

ALTER EGO #12

ALTER EGO #13

JOHN ROMITA interview by ROY THOMAS (with unseen art), Roy’s PROPOSED DREAM PROJECTS that never got published (with a host of great artists), MR. MONSTER on WAYNE BORING’S life after Superman, The Golden Age of Comic Fandom Panel, FCA section with GEORGE TUSKA, C.C. BECK, MARC SWAYZE, BILL MORRISON, & more! ROMITA and GIORDANO covers!

Who Created the Silver Age Flash? (with KANIGHER, INFANTINO, KUBERT, and SCHWARTZ), DICK AYERS interview (with unseen art), JOHN BROOME remembered, never-seen Golden Age Flash pages, VIN SULLIVAN Magazine Enterprises interview, FCA, interview with FRED GUARDINEER, and MR. MONSTER on WAYNE BORING! INFANTINO and AYERS covers!

Focuses on TIMELY/MARVEL (interviews and features on SYD SHORES, MICKEY SPILLANE, and VINCE FAGO), and MAGAZINE ENTERPRISES (including JOE CERTA, JOHN BELFI, FRANK BOLLE, BOB POWELL, and FRED MEAGHER), MR. MONSTER on JERRY SIEGEL, DON and MAGGIE THOMPSON interview, FCA with SWAYZE, BECK, and DON NEWTON!

DC and QUALITY COMICS focus! Quality’s GILL FOX interview, never-seen ‘40s PAUL REINMAN Green Lantern story, ROY THOMAS talks to LEN WEIN and RICH BUCKLER about ALL-STAR SQUADRON, MR. MONSTER shows what made WALLY WOOD leave MAD, FCA section with BECK & SWAYZE, & ‘65 NEWSWEEK ARTICLE on comics! REINMAN and BILL WARD covers!

1974 panel with JOE SIMON, STAN LEE, FRANK ROBBINS, and ROY THOMAS, ROY and JOHN BUSCEMA on Avengers, 1964 STAN LEE interview, tributes to DON HECK, JOHNNY CRAIG, and GRAY MORROW, Timely alums DAVID GANTZ and DANIEL KEYES, and FCA with BECK, SWAYZE, and MIKE MANLEY! Covers by MURPHY ANDERSON and JOE SIMON!

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ALTER EGO #14

ALTER EGO #15

ALTER EGO #16

ALTER EGO #17

ALTER EGO #18

A look at the 1970s JSA revival with CONWAY, LEVITZ, ESTRADA, GIFFEN, MILGROM, and STATON, JERRY ORDWAY on All-Star Squadron, tributes to CRAIG CHASE and DAN DeCARLO, “lost” 1945 issue of All-Star, 1970 interview with LEE ELIAS, MR. MONSTER on GARDNER FOX, FCA with SWAYZE, BECK, & JAY DISBROW! MIKE NASSER & MICHAEL GILBERT covers!

JOHN BUSCEMA ISSUE! BUSCEMA interview (with UNSEEN ART), reminiscences by SAL BUSCEMA, STAN LEE, INFANTINO, KUBERT, ORDWAY, FLO STEINBERG, and HERB TRIMPE, ROY THOMAS on 35 years with BIG JOHN, FCA tribute to KURT SCHAFFENBERGER, plus C.C. BECK and MARC SWAYZE, and MR. MONSTER revisits WALLY WOOD! Two BUSCEMA covers!

MARVEL BULLPEN REUNION (BUSCEMA, COLAN, ROMITA, and SEVERIN), memories of the JOHN BUSCEMA SCHOOL, FCA with ALEX ROSS, C.C. BECK, and MARC SWAYZE, tribute to CHAD GROTHKOPF, MR. MONSTER on EC COMICS with art by KURTZMAN, DAVIS, and WOOD, and more! Covers by ALEX ROSS and MARIE SEVERIN & RAMONA FRADON!

Spotlighting LOU FINE (with an overview of his career, and interviews with family members), interview with MURPHY ANDERSON about Fine, ALEX TOTH on Fine, ARNOLD DRAKE interviewed about DEADMAN and DOOM PATROL, MR. MONSTER on the non-EC work of JACK DAVIS and GEORGE EVANS, FINE and LUIS DOMINGUEZ COVERS, FCA and more!

STAN GOLDBERG interview, secrets of ‘40s Timely, art by KIRBY, DITKO, ROMITA, BUSCEMA, MANEELY, EVERETT, BURGOS, and DeCARLO, spotlight on sci-fi fanzine XERO with the LUPOFFS, OTTO BINDER, DON THOMPSON, ROY THOMAS, BILL SCHELLY, and ROGER EBERT, FCA, and MR. MONSTER on WALLY WOOD ghosting Flash Gordon! KIRBY and SWAYZE covers!

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ALTER EGO #19

ALTER EGO #20

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ALTER EGO #23

Spotlight on DICK SPRANG (profile and interview) with unseen art, rare Batman art by BOB KANE, CHARLES PARIS, SHELLY MOLDOFF, MAX ALLAN COLLINS, JIM MOONEY, CARMINE INFANTINO, and ALEX TOTH, JERRY ROBINSON interviewed about Tomahawk and 1940s cover artist FRED RAY, FCA, and MR. MONSTER on WALLY WOOD’s Flash Gordon, Part 2!

Timely/Marvel art by SEKOWSKY, SHORES, EVERETT, and BURGOS, secrets behind THE INVADERS with ROY THOMAS, KIRBY, GIL KANE, & ROBBINS, BOB DESCHAMPS interviewed, 1965 NY Comics Con review, panel with FINGER, BINDER, FOX and WEISINGER, MR. MONSTER, FCA with SWAYZE, BECK, RABOY, SCHAFFENBERGER, and more! MILGROM and SCHELLY covers!

The IGER “SHOP” examined, with art by EISNER, FINE, ANDERSON, CRANDALL, BAKER, MESKIN, CARDY, EVANS, BOB KANE, and TUSKA, “SHEENA” section with art by DAVE STEVENS & FRANK BRUNNER, ROY THOMAS on JSA & All-Star Squadron, MR. MONSTER on GARDNER FOX, UNSEEN 1946 ALL-STAR ART, FCA, and more! DAVE STEVENS and IRWIN HASEN covers!

BILL EVERETT and JOE KUBERT interviewed by NEAL ADAMS and GIL KANE in 1970, Timely art by BURGOS, SHORES, NODELL, and SEKOWSKY, RUDY LAPICK, ROY THOMAS on Sub-Mariner, with art by EVERETT, COLAN, ANDRU, BUSCEMAs, SEVERINs, and more, FCA, MR. MONSTER on WALLY WOOD at EC, ALEX TOTH, and CAPT. MIDNIGHT! EVERETT & BECK covers!

Unseen art from TWO “LOST” 1940s H.G. PETER WONDER WOMAN STORIES (and analysis of “CHARLES MOULTON” scripts), BOB FUJITANI and JOHN ROSENBERGER, VICTOR GORELICK discusses Archie and The Mighty Crusaders, with art by MORROW, BUCKLER, and REINMAN, FCA, and MR. MONSTER on WALLY WOOD! H.G. PETER and BOB FUJITANI covers!

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ALTER EGO #24

ALTER EGO #25

ALTER EGO #26

ALTER EGO #27

ALTER EGO #28

X-MEN interviews with STAN LEE, DAVE COCKRUM, CHRIS CLAREMONT, ARNOLD DRAKE, JIM SHOOTER, ROY THOMAS, and LEN WEIN, MORT MESKIN profiled by his sons and ALEX TOTH, rare art by JERRY ROBINSON, FCA with BECK, SWAYZE, and WILLIAM WOOLFOLK, MR. MONSTER, and BILL SCHELLY on Comics Fandom! MESKIN and COCKRUM covers!

JACK COLE remembered by ALEX TOTH, interview with brother DICK COLE and his PLAYBOY colleagues, CHRIS CLAREMONT on the X-Men (with more never-seen art by DAVE COCKRUM), ROY THOMAS on AllStar Squadron #1 and its ‘40s roots (with art by ORDWAY, BUCKLER, MESKIN and MOLDOFF), FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more! Covers by TOTH and SCHELLY!

JOE SINNOTT interview, IRWIN DONENFELD interview by EVANIER & SCHWARTZ, art by SHUSTER, INFANTINO, ANDERSON, and SWAN, MARK WAID analyzes the first Kryptonite story, JERRY SIEGEL and HARRY DONENFELD, JERRY IGER Shop update, ALEX TOTH, MR. MONSTER, and FCA with SWAYZE, BECK, and KEN BALD! Covers by SINNOTT and WAYNE BORING!

VIN SULLIVAN interview about the early DC days with art by SHUSTER, MOLDOFF, FLESSEL, GUARDINEER, and BURNLEY, MR. MONSTER’s “Lost” KIRBY HULK covers, 1948 NEW YORK COMIC CON with STAN LEE, SIMON & KIRBY, JULIUS SCHWARTZ, HARVEY KURTZMAN, and ROY THOMAS, ALEX TOTH, FCA, and more! Covers by JACK BURNLEY and JACK KIRBY!

Spotlight on JOE MANEELY, with a career overview, remembrance by his daughter and tons of art, Timely/Atlas/Marvel art by ROMITA, EVERETT, SEVERIN, SHORES, KIRBY, and DITKO, STAN LEE on Maneely, LEE AMES interview, FCA with SWAYZE, ISIS, and STEVE SKEATES, MR. MONSTER, BILL SCHELLY, and more! Covers by JOE MANEELY and DON NEWTON!

(108-page magazine) $5.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

ALTER EGO #29

ALTER EGO #30

ALTER EGO #31

ALTER EGO #32

ALTER EGO #33

FRANK BRUNNER interview, BILL EVERETT’S Venus examined by TRINA ROBBINS, Classics Illustrated “What ifs”, LEE/KIRBY/DITKO Marvel prototypes, JOE MANEELY’s monsters, BILL FRACCIO interview, ALEX TOTH, MR. MONSTER, JOHN BENSON on EC, The Heap by ERNIE SCHROEDER, and FCA! Covers by FRANK BRUNNER and PETE VON SHOLLY!

ALEX ROSS on his love for the JLA, BLACKHAWK/JLA artist DICK DILLIN, the super-heroes of 1940s-1980s France (with art by STEVE RUDE, STEVE BISSETTE, LADRÖNN, and NEAL ADAMS), KIM AAMODT & WALTER GEIER on writing for SIMON & KIRBY, ALEX TOTH, MR. MONSTER, and FCA! Covers by ALEX ROSS and STEVE RUDE!

DICK AYERS on his 1950s and ‘60s work (with tons of Marvel Bullpen art), HARLAN ELLISON’s Marvel Age work examined (with art by BUCKLER, SAL BUSCEMA, and TRIMPE), STAN LEE’S Marvel Prototypes (with art by KIRBY and DITKO), Christmas cards from comics greats, MR. MONSTER, & FCA with SWAYZE and SCHAFFENBERGER! Covers by DICK AYERS and FRED RAY!

Timely artists ALLEN BELLMAN and SAM BURLOCKOFF interviewed, MART NODELL on his Timely years, rare art by BURGOS, EVERETT, and SHORES, MIKE GOLD on the Silver Age (with art by SIMON & KIRBY, SWAN, INFANTINO, KANE, and more), FCA, ALEX TOTH, BILL SCHELLY on comics fandom, and more! Covers by DICK GIORDANO and GIL KANE!

Symposium on MIKE SEKOWSKY by MARK EVANIER, SCOTT SHAW!, et al., with art by ANDERSON, INFANTINO, and others, PAT (MRS. MIKE) SEKOWSKY and inker VALERIE BARCLAY interviewed, FCA, 1950s Captain Marvel parody by ANDRU and ESPOSITO, ALEX TOTH, BILL SCHELLY, MR. MONSTER, and more! Covers by FRENZ/SINNOTT and FRENZ/BUSCEMA!

(108-page magazine) $5.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

(108-page magazine) SOLD OUT (Digital Edition) $2.95

(108-page magazine) $5.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

ALTER EGO #34

ALTER EGO #35

ALTER EGO #36

ALTER EGO #37

ALTER EGO #38

Quality Comics interviews with ALEX KOTZKY, AL GRENET, CHUCK CUIDERA, & DICK ARNOLD (son of BUSY ARNOLD), art by COLE, EISNER, FINE, WARD, DILLIN, and KANE, MICHELLE NOLAN on Blackhawk’s jump to DC, FCA, MICHAEL T. GILBERT on HARVEY KURTZMAN, & ALEX TOTH on REED CRANDALL! Covers by REED CRANDALL & CHARLES NICHOLAS!

Covers by JOHN ROMITA and AL JAFFEE! LEE, ROMITA, AYERS, HEATH, & THOMAS on the 1953-55 Timely super-hero revival, with rare art by ROMITA, AYERS, BURGOS, HEATH, EVERETT, LAWRENCE, & POWELL, AL JAFFEE on the 1940s Timely Bullpen (and MAD), FCA, ALEX TOTH on comic art, MR. MONSTER on unpublished 1950s covers, and more!

JOE SIMON on SIMON & KIRBY, CARL BURGOS, and LLOYD JACQUET, JOHN BELL on World War II Canadian heroes, MICHAEL T. GILBERT on Canadian origins of MR. MONSTER, tributes to BOB DESCHAMPS, DON LAWRENCE, & GEORGE WOODBRIDGE, FCA, ALEX TOTH, and ELMER WEXLER interview! Covers by SIMON and GILBERT & RONN SUTTON!

WILL MURRAY on the 1940 Superman “KMetal” story & PHILIP WYLIE’s GLADIATOR (with art by SHUSTER, SWAN, ADAMS, and BORING), FCA with BECK, SWAYZE, and DON NEWTON, SY BARRY interview, art by TOTH, MESKIN, INFANTINO, and ANDERSON, and MICHAEL T. GILBERT interviews AL FELDSTEIN on EC and RAY BRADBURY! Covers by C.C. BECK and WAYNE BORING!

JULIE SCHWARTZ TRIBUTE with HARLAN ELLISON, INFANTINO, ANDERSON, TOTH, KUBERT, GIELLA, GIORDANO, CARDY, LEVITZ, STAN LEE, WOLFMAN, EVANIER, & ROY THOMAS, never-seen interviews with Julie, FCA with BECK, SCHAFFENBERGER, NEWTON, COCKRUM, OKSNER, FRADON, SWAYZE, and JACKSON BOSTWICK! Covers by INFANTINO and IRWIN HASEN!

(108-page magazine) $5.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

ALTER EGO #39

ALTER EGO #40

ALTER EGO #41

ALTER EGO #42

ALTER EGO #43

Full-issue spotlight on JERRY ROBINSON, with an interview on being BOB KANE’s Batman “ghost”, creating the JOKER and ROBIN, working on VIGILANTE, GREEN HORNET, and ATOMAN, plus never-seen art by Jerry, MESKIN, ROUSSOS, RAY, KIRBY, SPRANG, DITKO, and PARIS! Plus FCA, MR. MONSTER on AL FELDSTEIN Part 2, and more! Two JERRY ROBINSON covers!

RUSS HEATH and GIL KANE interviews (with tons of unseen art), the JULIE SCHWARTZ Memorial Service with ELLISON, MOORE, GAIMAN, HASEN, O’NEIL, and LEVITZ, art by INFANTINO, ANDERSON, TOTH, NOVICK, DILLIN, SEKOWSKY, KUBERT, GIELLA, ARAGONÉS, FCA, MR. MONSTER and AL FELDSTEIN Part 3, and more! Covers by GIL KANE & RUSS HEATH!

Halloween issue! BERNIE WRIGHTSON on his 1970s FRANKENSTEIN, DICK BRIEFER’S monster, the campy 1960s Frankie, art by KALUTA, BAILY, MANEELY, PLOOG, KUBERT, BRUNNER, BORING, OKSNER, TUSKA, CRANDALL, and SUTTON, FCA #100, EMILIO SQUEGLIO interview, ALEX TOTH, MICHAEL T. GILBERT, and more! Covers by WRIGHTSON & MARC SWAYZE!

A celebration of DON HECK, WERNER ROTH, and PAUL REINMAN, rare art by KIRBY, DITKO, and AYERS, Hillman and Ziff-Davis remembered by Heap artist ERNIE SCHROEDER, HERB ROGOFF, and WALTER LITTMAN, FCA with MARC SWAYZE, MR. MONSTER, BILL SCHELLY, and ALEX TOTH! Covers by FASTNER & LARSON and ERNIE SCHROEDER!

Yuletide art by WOOD, SINNOTT, CARDY, BRUNNER, TOTH, NODELL, and others, interviews with Golden Age artists TOM GILL (Lone Ranger) and MORRIS WEISS, exploring 1960s Mexican comics, FCA with MARC SWAYZE and C.C. BECK, MR. MONSTER, ALEX TOTH, BILL SCHELLY on comics fandom, and more! Flip covers by GEORGE TUSKA and DAVE STEVENS!

(108-page magazine) $5.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

ALTER EGO #44

ALTER EGO #45

ALTER EGO #46

ALTER EGO #47

ALTER EGO #48

JSA/All-Star Squadron/Infinity Inc. special! Interviews with KUBERT, HASEN, ANDERSON, ORDWAY, BUCKLER, THOMAS, 1940s Atom writer ARTHUR ADLER, art by TOTH, SEKOWSKY, HASEN, MACHLAN, OKSNER, and INFANTINO, FCA, and MR. MONSTER’S “I Like Ike!” cartoons by BOB KANE, INFANTINO, OKSNER, and BIRO! Wraparound ORDWAY cover!

Interviews with Sandman artist CREIG FLESSEL and ‘40s creator BERT CHRISTMAN, MICHAEL CHABON on researching his Pulitzer-winning novel Kavalier & Clay, art by EISNER, KANE, KIRBY, and AYERS, FCA with MARC SWAYZE and C.C. BECK, OTTO BINDER’s “lost” Jon Jarl story, MR. MONSTER, BILL SCHELLY on comics fandom, and ALEX TOTH! CREIG FLESSEL cover!

The VERY BEST of the 1960s-70s ALTER EGO! 1969 BILL EVERETT interview, art by BURGOS, GUSTAVSON, SIMON & KIRBY, and others, 1960s gems by DITKO, E. NELSON BRIDWELL, JERRY BAILS, and ROY THOMAS, LOU GLANZMAN interview, tributes to IRV NOVICK and CHRIS REEVE, MR. MONSTER, FCA, TOTH, and more! Cover by EVERETT and MARIE SEVERIN!

Spotlights MATT BAKER, Golden Age cheesecake artist of PHANTOM LADY! Career overview, interviews with BAKER’s half-brother and nephew, art from AL FELDSTEIN, VINCE COLLETTA, ARTHUR PEDDY, JACK KAMEN and others, FCA, BILL SCHELLY talks to comic-book-seller (and fan) BUD PLANT, MR. MONSTER on missing AL WILLIAMSON art, and ALEX TOTH!

WILL EISNER discusses Eisner & Iger’s Shop and BUSY ARNOLD’s ‘40s Quality Comics, art by FINE, CRANDALL, COLE, POWELL, and CARDY, EISNER tributes by STAN LEE, GENE COLAN, & others, interviews with ‘40s Quality artist VERN HENKEL and CHUCK MAZOUJIAN, FCA, MR. MONSTER on EISNER’s Wonder Man, ALEX TOTH, and more with BUD PLANT! EISNER cover!

(100-page magazine) SOLD OUT (Digital Edition) $2.95

(100-page magazine) $5.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

ALTER EGO #49

ALTER EGO #50

ALTER EGO #51

ALTER EGO #52

ALTER EGO #53

Spotlights CARL BURGOS! Interview with daughter SUE BURGOS, art by BURGOS, BILL EVERETT, MIKE SEKOWSKY, ED ASCHE, and DICK AYERS, unused 1941 Timely cover layouts, the 1957 Atlas Implosion examined, MANNY STALLMAN, FCA, MR. MONSTER and more! New cover by MARK SPARACIO, from an unused 1941 layout by CARL BURGOS!

ROY THOMAS covers his 40-YEAR career in comics (AVENGERS, X-MEN, CONAN, ALL-STAR SQUADRON, INFINITY INC.), with ADAMS, BUSCEMA, COLAN, DITKO, GIL KANE, KIRBY, STAN LEE, ORDWAY, PÉREZ, ROMITA, and many others! Also FCA, & MR. MONSTER on ROY’s letters to GARDNER FOX! Flip-covers by BUSCEMA/ KIRBY/ALCALA and JERRY ORDWAY!

Golden Age Batman artist/BOB KANE ghost LEW SAYRE SCHWARTZ interviewed, Batman art by JERRY ROBINSON, DICK SPRANG, SHELDON MOLDOFF, WIN MORTIMER, JIM MOONEY, and others, the Golden and Silver Ages of AUSTRALIAN SUPER-HEROES, Mad artist DAVE BERG interviewed, FCA, MR. MONSTER on WILL EISNER, BILL SCHELLY, and more!

JOE GIELLA on the Silver Age at DC, the Golden Age at Marvel, and JULIE SCHWARTZ, with rare art by INFANTINO, GIL KANE, SEKOWSKY, SWAN, DILLIN, MOLDOFF, GIACOIA, SCHAFFENBERGER, and others, JAY SCOTT PIKE on STAN LEE and CHARLES BIRO, MARTIN THALL interview, ALEX TOTH, MR. MONSTER, BILL SCHELLY, and more! GIELLA cover!

GIORDANO and THOMAS on STOKER’S DRACULA, never-seen DICK BRIEFER Frankenstein strip, MIKE ESPOSITO on his work with ROSS ANDRU, art by COLAN, WRIGHTSON, MIGNOLA, BRUNNER, BISSETTE, KALUTA, HEATH, MANEELY, EVERETT, DITKO, FCA with MARC SWAYZE, BILL SCHELLY, ALEX TOTH, and MR. MONSTER! Cover by GIORDANO!

(100-page magazine) $5.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

(100-page magazine) $6.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

ALTER EGO #54

ALTER EGO #55

ALTER EGO #56

ALTER EGO #57

ALTER EGO #58

MIKE ESPOSITO on DC and Marvel, ROBERT KANIGHER on the creation of Metal Men and Sgt. Rock (with comments by JOE KUBERT and BOB HANEY), art by ANDRU, INFANTINO, KIRBY, SEVERIN, WINDSOR-SMITH, ROMITA, BUSCEMA, TRIMPE, GIL KANE, and others, plus FCA, ALEX TOTH, BILL SCHELLY, MR. MONSTER, and more! ESPOSITO cover!

JACK and OTTO BINDER, KEN BALD, VIC DOWD, and BOB BOYAJIAN interviewed, FCA with SWAYZE and EMILIO SQUEGLIO, rare art by BECK, WARD, & SCHAFFENBERGER, Christmas Cards from CRANDALL, SINNOTT, HEATH, MOONEY, and CARDY, 1943 Pin-Up Calendar (with ‘40s movie stars as superheroines), ALEX TOTH, more! ALEX ROSS and ALEX WRIGHT covers!

Interviews with Superman creators SIEGEL & SHUSTER, Golden/Silver Age DC production guru JACK ADLER interviewed, NEAL ADAMS and radio/TV iconoclast (and comics fan) HOWARD STERN on Adler and his amazing career, art by CURT SWAN, WAYNE BORING, and AL PLASTINO, plus FCA, MR. MONSTER, ALEX TOTH, and more! NEAL ADAMS cover!

Issue-by-issue index of Timely/Atlas superhero stories by MICHELLE NOLAN, art by SIMON & KIRBY, EVERETT, BURGOS, ROMITA, AYERS, HEATH, SEKOWSKY, SHORES, SCHOMBURG, MANEELY, and SEVERIN, GENE COLAN and ALLEN BELLMAN on 1940s Timely super-heroes, FCA, MR. MONSTER, and BILL SCHELLY! Cover by JACK KIRBY and PETE VON SHOLLY!

GERRY CONWAY and ROY THOMAS on their ‘80s screenplay for “The X-Men Movie That Never Was!”with art by COCKRUM, ADAMS, BUSCEMA, BYRNE, GIL KANE, KIRBY, HECK, and LIEBER, Atlas artist VIC CARRABOTTA interview, ALLEN BELLMAN on 1940s Timely bullpen, FCA, 1966 panel on 1950s EC Comics, and MR. MONSTER! MARK SPARACIO/GIL KANE cover!

(100-page magazine) $6.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

ALTER EGO #59

ALTER EGO #60

ALTER EGO #61

ALTER EGO #62

ALTER EGO #63

Special issue on Batman and Superman in the Golden and Silver Ages, featuring a new ARTHUR SUYDAM interview, NEAL ADAMS on DC in the 1960s-1970s, SHELLY MOLDOFF, AL PLASTINO, Golden Age artist FRAN (Doll Man) MATERA interviewed, SIEGEL & SHUSTER, RUSS MANNING, FCA, MR. MONSTER, SUYDAM cover, and more!

Celebrates 50 years since SHOWCASE #4! FLASH interviews with SCHWARTZ, KANIGHER, INFANTINO, KUBERT, and BROOME, Golden Age artist TONY DiPRETA, 1966 panel with NORDLING, BINDER, and LARRY IVIE, FCA, MR. MONSTER, never-before-published color Flash cover by CARMINE INFANTINO, and more!

History of the AMERICAN COMICS GROUP (1946 to 1967)—including its roots in the Golden Age SANGOR ART SHOP and STANDARD/NEDOR comics! Art by MESKIN, ROBINSON, WILLIAMSON, FRAZETTA, SCHAFFENBERGER, & BUSCEMA, ACG writer/editor RICHARD HUGHES, plus AL HARTLEY interviewed, FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more! GIORDANO cover!

HAPPY HAUNTED HALLOWEEN ISSUE, featuring: MIKE PLOOG and RUDY PALAIS on their horror-comics work! AL WILLIAMSON on his work for the American Comics Group—plus more on ACG horror comics! Rare DICK BRIEFER Frankenstein strips! Plus FCA, MR. MONSTER, BILL SCHELLY on the 1966 KalerCon, a new PLOOG cover—and more!

Tribute to ALEX TOTH! Never-before-seen interview with tons of TOTH art, including sketches he sent to friends! Articles about Toth by TERRY AUSTIN, JIM AMASH, SY BARRY, JOE KUBERT, LOU SAYRE SCHWARTZ, IRWIN HASEN, JOHN WORKMAN, and others! Plus illustrated Christmas cards by comics pros, FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more!

(100-page magazine) $6.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

ALTER EGO #64

ALTER EGO #65

ALTER EGO #66

ALTER EGO #67

ALTER EGO #68

Fawcett Favorites! Issue-by-issue analysis of BINDER & BECK’s 1943-45 “The Monster Society of Evil!” serial, double-size FCA section with MARC SWAYZE, EMILIO SQUEGLIO, C.C. BECK, MAC RABOY, and others! Interview with MARTIN FILCHOCK, Golden Age artist for Centaur Comics! Plus MR. MONSTER, DON NEWTON cover, plus a FREE 1943 MARVEL CALENDAR!

NICK CARDY interviewed on his Golden & Silver Age work (with CARDY art), plus art by WILL EISNER, NEAL ADAMS, CARMINE INFANTINO, JIM APARO, RAMONA FRADON, CURT SWAN, MIKE SEKOWSKY, and others, tributes to ERNIE SCHROEDER and DAVE COCKRUM, FCA with MARC SWAYZE, MICHAEL T. GILBERT and MR. MONSTER, new CARDY COVER, and more!

Spotlight on BOB POWELL, the artist who drew Daredevil, Sub-Mariner, Sheena, The Avenger, The Hulk, Giant-Man, and others, plus art by WALLY WOOD, HOWARD NOSTRAND, DICK AYERS, SIMON & KIRBY, MARTIN GOODMAN’s Magazine Management, and others! FCA with MARC SWAYZE and C.C. BECK, MICHAEL T. GILBERT and MR. MONSTER, and more!

Interview with BOB OKSNER, artist of Supergirl, Jimmy Olsen, Lois Lane, Angel and the Ape, Leave It to Binky, Shazam!, and more, plus art and artifacts by SHELLY MAYER, IRWIN HASEN, LEE ELIAS, C.C. BECK, CARMINE INFANTINO, GIL KANE, JULIE SCHWARTZ, etc., FCA with MARC SWAYZE & C.C. BECK, MICHAEL T. GILBERT on BOB POWELL Part II, and more!

Tribute to JERRY BAILS—Father of Comics Fandom and founder of Alter Ego! Cover by GEORGE PÉREZ, plus art by JOE KUBERT, CARMINE INFANTINO, GIL KANE, DICK DILLIN, MIKE SEKOWSKY, JERRY ORDWAY, JOE STATON, JACK KIRBY, and others! Plus STEVE DITKO’s notes to STAN LEE for a 1965 Dr. Strange story! And ROY reveals secrets behind Marvel’s STAR WARS comic!

(100-page magazine) $6.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

ALTER EGO #69

ALTER EGO #70

ALTER EGO #71

ALTER EGO #72

ALTER EGO #73

PAUL NORRIS drew AQUAMAN first, in 1941—and RAMONA FRADON was the hero’s ultimate Golden Age artist. But both drew other things as well, and both are interviewed in this landmark issue—along with a pocket history of Aquaman! Plus FCA, MICHAEL T. GILBERT, and more! Cover painted by JOHN WATSON, from a breathtaking illo by RAMONA FRADON!

Spotlight on ROY THOMAS’ 1970s stint as Marvel’s editor-in-chief and major writer, plus art and reminiscences of GIL KANE, BOTH BUSCEMAS, ADAMS, ROMITA, CHAYKIN, BRUNNER, PLOOG, EVERETT, WRIGHTSON, PÉREZ, ROBBINS, BARRY SMITH, STAN LEE and others, FCA, MR. MONSTER, a new GENE COLAN cover, plus an homage to artist LILY RENÉE!

Represents THE GREAT CANADIAN COMIC BOOKS, the long out-of-print 1970s book by MICHAEL HIRSH and PATRICK LOUBERT, with rare art of such heroes as Mr. Monster, Nelvana, Thunderfist, and others, plus new INVADERS art by JOHN BYRNE, MIKE GRELL, RON LIM, and more, plus a new cover by GEORGE FREEMAN, from a layout by JACK KIRBY!

SCOTT SHAW! and ROY THOMAS on the creation of Captain Carrot, art & artifacts by RICK HOBERG, STAN GOLDBERG, MIKE SEKOWSKY, JOHN COSTANZA, E. NELSON BRIDWELL, CAROL LAY, and others, interview with DICK ROCKWELL, Golden Age artist and 36-year ghost artist on MILTON CANIFF’s Steve Canyon! Plus FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more!

FRANK BRUNNER on drawing Dr. Strange, interviews with CHARLES BIRO and his daughters, interview with publisher ROBERT GERSON about his 1970s horror comic Reality, art by BERNIE WRIGHTSON, GRAHAM INGELS, HOWARD CHAYKIN, MICHAEL W. KALUTA, JEFF JONES, and others FCA, MR. MONSTER, a FREE DRAW! #15! PREVIEW, and more!

(100-page magazine) $6.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

ALTER EGO #74

ALTER EGO #75

ALTER EGO #76

ALTER EGO #77

ALTER EGO #78

STAN LEE SPECIAL in honor of his 85th birthday, with a cover by JACK KIRBY, classic (and virtually unseen) interviews with Stan, tributes, and tons of rare and unseen art by KIRBY, ROMITA, the brothers BUSCEMA, DITKO, COLAN, HECK, AYERS, MANEELY, SHORES, EVERETT, BURGOS, KANE, the SEVERIN siblings—plus FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more!

FAWCETT FESTIVAL—with an ALEX ROSS cover! Double-size FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America) with P.C. HAMERLINCK on the many “Captains Marvel” over the years, unseen Shazam! proposal by ALEX ROSS, C.C. BECK on “The Death of a Legend!”, MARC SWAYZE, interview with Golden Age artist MARV LEVY, MR. MONSTER, and more!

JOE SIMON SPECIAL! In-depth SIMON interview by JIM AMASH, with neverbefore-revealed secrets behind the creation of Captain America, Fighting American, Stuntman, Adventures of The Fly, Sick magazine and more, art by JACK KIRBY, BOB POWELL, AL WILLIAMSON, JERRY GRANDENETTI, GEORGE TUSKA, and others, FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more!

ST. JOHN ISSUE! Golden Age Tor cover by JOE KUBERT, KEN QUATTRO relates the full legend of St. John Publishing, art by KUBERT, NORMAN MAURER, MATT BAKER, LILY RENEE, BOB LUBBERS, RUBEN MOREIRA, RALPH MAYO, AL FAGO, special reminiscences of ARNOLD DRAKE, Golden Age artist TOM SAWYER interviewed, and more!

DAVE COCKRUM TRIBUTE! Great rare XMen cover, Cockrum tributes from contemporaries and colleagues, and an interview with PATY COCKRUM on Dave’s life and legacy on The Legion of Super-Heroes, The X-Men, Star-Jammers, & more! Plus an interview with 1950s Timely/Marvel artist MARION SITTON on his own incredible career and his Golden Age contemporaries!

(100-page magazine) $6.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

ALTER EGO #79

ALTER EGO #80

ALTER EGO #81

ALTER EGO #82

ALTER EGO #83

SUPERMAN & HIS CREATORS! New cover by MICHAEL GOLDEN, exclusive and revealing interview with JOE SHUSTER’s sister, JEAN SHUSTER PEAVEY—LOU CAMERON interview—STEVE GERBER tribute—DWIGHT DECKER on the Man of Steel & Hitler’s Third Reich—plus art by WAYNE BORING, CURT SWAN, NEAL ADAMS, GIL KANE, and others!

SWORD-AND-SORCERY COMICS! Learn about Crom the Barbarian, Viking Prince, Nightmaster, Kull, Red Sonja, Solomon Kane, Bran Mak Morn, Fafhrd and Gray Mouser, Beowulf, Warlord, Dagar the Invincible, and more, with art by FRAZETTA, SMITH, BUSCEMA, KANE, WRIGHTSON, PLOOG, THORNE, BRUNNER, LOU CAMERON Part II, and more! Cover by RAFAEL KAYANAN!

New FRANK BRUNNER Man-Thing cover, a look at the late-’60s horror comic WEB OF HORROR with early work by BRUNNER, WRIGHTSON, WINDSOR-SMITH, SIMONSON, & CHAYKIN, interview with comics & fine artist EVERETT RAYMOND KINTSLER, ROY THOMAS’ 1971 origin synopsis for the FIRST MAN-THING STORY, plus FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more!

MLJ ISSUE! Golden Age MLJ index illustrated with vintage images of The Shield, Hangman, Mr. Justice, Black Hood, by IRV NOVICK, JACK COLE, CHARLES BIRO, MORT MESKIN, GIL KANE, & others—behind a marvelous MLJ-heroes cover by BOB McLEOD! Plus interviews with IRV NOVICK and JOE EDWARDS, FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more!

SWORD & SORCERY PART 2! Cover by ARTHUR SUYDAM, with a focus on Conan the Barbarian by ROY THOMAS and WILL MURRAY, a look at WALLY WOOD’s Marvel sword-&-sorcery work, the Black Knight examined, plus JOE EDWARDS interview Part 2, FCA, MICHAEL T. GILBERT and MR. MONSTER, and more!

(100-page magazine) $6.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

ALTER EGO #84

ALTER EGO #85

ALTER EGO #86

ALTER EGO #87

ALTER EGO #88

Unseen JIM APARO cover, STEVE SKEATES discusses his early comics work, art & artifacts by ADKINS, APARO, ARAGONÉS, BOYETTE, DITKO, GIORDANO, KANE, KELLER, MORISI, ORLANDO, SEKOWSKY, STONE, THOMAS, WOOD, and the great WARREN SAVIN! Plus writer CHARLES SINCLAIR on his partnership with Batman co-creator BILL FINGER, FCA, and more!

Captain Marvel and Superman’s battles explored (in cosmic space, candy stores, and in court), RICH BUCKLER on Captain Marvel, plus an in-depth interview with Golden Age great LILY RENÉE, overview of CENTAUR COMICS (home of BILL EVERETT’s Amazing-Man and others), FCA, MR. MONSTER, new RICH BUCKLER cover, and more!

Spotlighting the Frantic Four-Color MAD WANNABES of 1953-55 that copied HARVEY KURTZMAN’S EC smash (see Captain Marble, Mighty Moose, Drag-ula, Prince Scallion, and more) with art by SIMON & KIRBY, KUBERT & MAURER, ANDRU & ESPOSITO, EVERETT, COLAN, and many others, plus Part 1 of a talk with Golden/ Silver Age artist FRANK BOLLE, and more!

The sensational 1954-1963 saga of Great Britain’s MARVELMAN (decades before he metamorphosed into Miracleman), plus an interview with writer/artist/co-creator MICK ANGLO, and rare Marvelman/ Miracleman work by ALAN DAVIS, ALAN MOORE, a new RICK VEITCH cover, plus FRANK BOLLE, Part 2, FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more!

First-ever in-depth look at National/DC’s founder MAJOR MALCOLM WHEELERNICHOLSON, and pioneers WHITNEY ELLSWORTH and CREIG FLESSEL, with rare art and artifacts by SIEGEL & SHUSTER, BOB KANE, CURT SWAN, GARDNER FOX, SHELDON MOLDOFF, and others, focus on DC advisor DR. LAURETTA BENDER, FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more!

(100-page magazine) $6.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

ALTER EGO #89

ALTER EGO #90

ALTER EGO #91

ALTER EGO #92

ALTER EGO #93

HARVEY COMICS’ PRE-CODE HORROR MAGS OF THE 1950s! Interviews with SID JACOBSON, WARREN KREMER, and HOWARD NOSTRAND, plus Harvey artist KEN SELIG talks to JIM AMASH! MR. MONSTER presents the wit and wisdom (and worse) of DR. FREDRIC WERTHAM, plus FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America) with C.C. BECK & MARC SWAYZE, & more! SIMON & KIRBY and NOSTRAND cover!

BIG MARVEL ISSUE! Salutes to legends SINNOTT and AYERS—plus STAN LEE, TUSKA, EVERETT, MARTIN GOODMAN, and others! A look at the “Marvel SuperHeroes” TV animation of 1966! 1940s Timely writer and editor LEON LAZARUS interviewed by JIM AMASH! Plus FCA, MR. MONSTER, the 1960s fandom creations of STEVE GERBER, and more! JACK KIRBY holiday cover!

FAWCETT FESTIVAL! Big FCA section with Golden Age artists MARC SWAYZE & EMILIO SQUEGLIO! Plus JERRY ORDWAY on researching The Power of Shazam, Part II of “The MAD Four-Color Wannabes of the 1950s,” more on DR. LAURETTA BENDER and the teenage creations of STEVE GERBER, artist JACK KATZ spills Golden Age secrets to JIM AMASH, and more! New cover by ORDWAY and SQUEGLIO!

SWORD-AND-SORCERY, PART 3! DC’s Sword of Sorcery by O’NEIL, CHAYKIN, & SIMONSON and Claw by MICHELINIE & CHAN, Hercules by GLANZMAN, Dagar by GLUT & SANTOS, Marvel S&S art by BUSCEMA, CHAN, KAYANAN, WRIGHTSON, et al., and JACK KATZ on his classic First Kingdom! Plus FCA, MR. MONSTER, STEVE GERBER’s fan-creations (part 3), and more! Cover by RAFAEL KAYANAN!

(NOW WITH 16 COLOR PAGES!) “EarthTwo—1961 to 1985!” with rare art by INFANTINO, GIL KANE, ANDERSON, DELBO, ANDRU, BUCKLER, APARO, GRANDENETTI, and DILLIN, interview with Golden/Silver Age DC editor GEORGE KASHDAN, plus MICHAEL T. GILBERT and MR. MONSTER, STEVE GERBER, FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America), and a new cover by INFANTINO and AMASH!

(100-page magazine) $6.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

(84-page magazine with COLOR) $7.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

ALTER EGO #94

ALTER EGO #95

ALTER EGO #96

ALTER EGO #97

ALTER EGO #98

“Earth-Two Companion, Part II!” More on the 1963-1985 series that changed comics forever! The Huntress, Power Girl, Dr. Fate, Freedom Fighters, and more, with art by ADAMS, APARO, AYERS, BUCKLER, GIFFEN, INFANTINO, KANE, NOVICK, SCHAFFENBERGER, SIMONSON, STATON, SWAN, TUSKA, our GEORGE KASHDAN interview Part 2, FCA, and more! STATON & GIORDANO cover!

Marvel’s NOT BRAND ECHH madcap parody mag from 1967-69, examined with rare art & artifacts by ANDRU, COLAN, BUSCEMA, DRAKE, EVERETT, FRIEDRICH, KIRBY, LEE, the SEVERIN siblings, SPRINGER, SUTTON, THOMAS, TRIMPE, and more, GEORGE KASHDAN interview conclusion, FCA, MICHAEL T. GILBERT and MR. MONSTER, and more! Cover by MARIE SEVERIN!

Focus on Archie’s 1960s MIGHTY CRUSADERS, with vintage art and artifacts by JERRY SIEGEL, PAUL REINMAN, SIMON & KIRBY, JOHN ROSENBERGER, tributes to the Mighty Crusaders by BOB FUJITANE, GEORGE TUSKA, BOB LAYTON, and others! Interview with MELL LAZARUS, FCA, MICHAEL T. GILBERT and Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt, and more! Cover by MIKE MACHLAN!

The NON-EC HORROR COMICS OF THE 1950s! From Menace and House of Mystery to The Thing!, we present vintage art and artifacts by EVERETT, BRIEFER, DITKO, MANEELY, COLAN , MESKIN, MOLDOFF, HEATH, POWELL, COLE, SIMON & KIRBY, FUJITANI, and others, plus FCA , MR. MONSTER and more, behind a creepy, eerie cover by BILL EVERETT!

Spotlight on Superman’s first editor WHITNEY ELLSWORTH, longtime Kryptoeditor MORT WEISINGER remembered by his daughter, an interview with Superman writer ALVIN SCHWARTZ, tributes to FRANK FRAZETTA and AL WILLIAMSON, art by JOE SHUSTER, WAYNE BORING, CURT SWAN, and NEAL ADAMS, plus MR. MONSTER, FCA, and a new cover by JERRY ORDWAY!

(84-page magazine with COLOR) $7.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

ALTER EGO: CENTENNIAL (AE #100)

ALTER EGO #99

GEORGE TUSKA showcase issue on his career at Lev Gleason, Marvel, and in comics strips through the early 1970s—CRIME DOES NOT PAY, BUCK ROGERS, IRON MAN, AVENGERS, HERO FOR HIRE, & more! Plus interviews with Golden Age artist BILL BOSSERT and fan-artist RUDY FRANKE, MR. MONSTER’S COMIC CRYPT, FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America), and more! (84-page magazine with COLOR) $7.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

ALTER EGO: CENTENNIAL is a celebration of 100 issues, and 50 years, of ALTER EGO, Roy Thomas’ legendary super-hero fanzine. It’s a double-size triple-threat BOOK, with twice as many pages as the regular magazine, plus special features just for this anniversary edition! Behind a RICH BUCKLER/JERRY ORDWAY JSA cover, ALTER EGO celebrates its 100th issue and the 50th anniversary of A/E (Vol. 1) #1 in 1961—as ROY THOMAS is interviewed by JIM AMASH about the 1980s at DC! Learn secrets behind ALL-STAR SQUADRON—INFINITY, INC.—ARAK, SON OF THUNDER—CAPTAIN CARROT—JONNI THUNDER, a.k.a. THUNDERBOLT— YOUNG ALL-STARS—SHAZAM!—RING OF THE NIBELUNG—and more! With rare art and artifacts by GEORGE PÉREZ, TODD McFARLANE, RICH BUCKLER, JERRY ORDWAY, MIKE MACHLAN, GIL KANE, GENE COLAN, DICK GIORDANO, ALFREDO ALCALA, TONY DEZUNIGA, ERNIE COLÓN, STAN GOLDBERG, SCOTT SHAW!, ROSS ANDRU, and many more! Plus special anniversary editions of Alter Ego staples MR. MONSTER’S COMIC CRYPT, FAWCETT COLLECTORS OF AMERICA (FCA)—and ALEX WRIGHT’s amazing color collection of 1940s DC pinup babes! Edited by ROY THOMAS. (NOTE: This book takes the place of ALTER EGO #100, and counts as TWO issues toward your subscription.) (160-page trade paperback with COLOR) $19.95 (Digital Edition) $5.95 • ISBN: 9781605490311 Diamond Order Code: JAN111351

ALTER EGO #101

Fox Comics of the 1940s with art by FINE, BAKER, SIMON, KIRBY, TUSKA, FLETCHER HANKS, ALEX BLUM, and others! “Superman vs. Wonder Man” starring EISNER, IGER, SIEGEL, LIEBERSON, MAYER, DONENFELD, and VICTOR FOX! Plus, Part I of an interview with JACK MENDELSOHN, plus FCA, MR. MONSTER’S COMIC CRYPT, and new cover by Marvel artist DAVE WILLIAMS!

NEW!

(84-page magazine with COLOR) $7.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

ALTER EGO #102

ALTER EGO #103

ALTER EGO #104

ALTER EGO: THE CBA COLLECTION

Spotlight on Green Lantern creators MART NODELL and BILL FINGER in the 1940s, and JOHN BROOME, GIL KANE, and JULIUS SCHWARTZ in 1959! Rare GL artwork by INFANTINO, REINMAN, HASEN, NEAL ADAMS, and others! Plus JACK MENDELSOHN Part II, FCA, MR. MONSTER’S COMIC CRYPT, and new cover by GIL KANE & TERRY AUSTIN, and MART NODELL!

The early career of comics writer STEVE ENGLEHART: Defenders, Captain America, Master of Kung Fu, The Beast, Mantis, and more, with rare art and artifacts by SAL BUSCEMA, STARLIN, SUTTON, HECK, BROWN, and others. Plus, JIM AMASH interviews early artist GEORGE MANDEL (Captain Midnight, The Woman in Red, Blue Bolt, Black Marvel, etc.), FCA, MR. MONSTER’S COMIC CRYPT, and more!

Celebrates the 50th anniversary of FANTASTIC FOUR #1 and the birth of Marvel Comics! New, never-before-published STAN LEE interview, art and artifacts by KIRBY, DITKO, SINNOTT, AYERS, THOMAS, and secrets behind the Marvel Mythos! Also: JIM AMASH interviews 1940s Timely editor AL SULMAN, FCA, MR. MONSTER’S COMIC CRYPT, and a new cover by FRENZ and SINNOTT!

Compiles the ALTER EGO flip-sides from COMIC BOOK ARTIST #1-5, plus 30 NEW PAGES of features & art! All-new rare and previously-unpublished art by JACK KIRBY, GIL KANE, JOE KUBERT, WALLY WOOD, FRANK ROBBINS, NEAL ADAMS, & others, ROY THOMAS on X-MEN, AVENGERS/ KREE-SKRULL WAR, INVADERS, and more! Cover by JOE KUBERT!

(84-page magazine with COLOR) $7.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

(160-page trade paperback) SOLD OUT (Digital Edition) $4.95

HUMOR MAGAZINES (BUNDLE ALL THREE FOR JUST $14.95)

ALTER EGO:

BEST OF THE LEGENDARY COMICS FANZINE

Collects the original 11 issues of JERRY BAILS and ROY THOMAS’ ALTER EGO fanzine (from 1961-78), with contributions from JACK KIRBY, STEVE DITKO, WALLY WOOD, JOHN BUSCEMA, MARIE SEVERIN, BILL EVERETT, RUSS MANNING, CURT SWAN, and others—and illustrated interviews with GIL KANE, BILL EVERETT, & JOE KUBERT! Plus major articles on the JUSTICE SOCIETY, the MARVEL FAMILY, the MLJ HEROES, and more! Edited by ROY THOMAS and BILL SCHELLY with an introduction by JULIE SCHWARTZ. (192-page trade paperback) $21.95 ISBN: 9781893905887 Diamond Order Code: DEC073946

COMIC BOOK NERD

PETE VON SHOLLY’s side-splitting parody of the fan press, including our own mags! Experience the magic(?) of such publications as WHIZZER, the COMICS URINAL, ULTRA EGO, COMICS BUYER’S GUISE, BAGGED ISSUE!, SCRAWL!, COMIC BOOK ARTISTE, and more, as we unabashedly poke fun at ourselves, our competitors, and you, our loyal readers! It’s a first issue, collector’s item, double-bag, slab-worthy, speculator’s special sure to rub even the thickest-skinned fanboy the wrong way! (64-page COLOR magazine) $8.95 • (Digital Edition) $2.95

CRAZY HIP GROOVY GO-GO WAY OUT MONSTERS #29 & #32

PETE VON SHOLLY’s spoofs of monster mags will have you laughing your pants off— right after you soil them from sheer terror! This RETRO MONSTER MOVIE MAGAZINE is a laugh riot lampoon of those GREAT (and absolutely abominable) mags of the 1950s and ‘60s, replete with fake letters-to-the-editor, phony ads for worthless, wacky stuff, stills from imaginary films as bad as any that were really made, interviews with their “creators,” and much more! Relive your misspent youth (and misspent allowance) as you dig the hilarious photos, ads, and articles skewering OUR FAVORITE THINGS of the past! Get our first issue (#29!), the sequel (#32!), or both!

DIEDGITIIOTANSL E

BL AVAILA

(48-page magazines) $5.95 EACH • (Digital Editions) $1.95 EACH

These sold-out books are now available again in DIGITAL EDITIONS:

NEW!

MR. MONSTER, VOL. 0

TRUE BRIT

DICK GIORDANO: CHANGING COMICS, ONE DAY AT A TIME

Collects hard-to-find Mr. Monster stories from A-1, CRACK-A-BOOM! and DARK HORSE PRESENTS (many in COLOR for the first time) plus over 30 pages of ALLNEW MR. MONSTER art and stories! Can your sanity survive our Lee/Kirby monster spoof by MICHAEL T. GILBERT and MARK MARTIN, or the long-lost 1933 Mr. Monster newspaper strip? Or the terrifying TRENCHER/MR. MONSTER slug-fest, drawn by KEITH GIFFEN and MICHAEL T. GILBERT?! Read at your own risk!

GEORGE KHOURY’s definitive book on the rich history of British Comics Artists, their influence on the US, and how they have revolutionized the way comics are seen and perceived! It features breathtaking art, intimate photographs, and in-depth interviews with BRIAN BOLLAND, ALAN DAVIS, DAVE GIBBONS, KEVIN O’NEILL, DAVID LLOYD, DAVE McKEAN, BRYAN HITCH, BARRY WINDSOR-SMITH and other fine gents! Sporting a new JUDGE DREDD cover by BRIAN BOLLAND!

MICHAEL EURY’s biography of comics’ most prominent and affable personality! It covers his career as illustrator, inker, and editor—peppered with DICK’S PERSONAL REFLECTIONS—and is illustrated with RARE AND UNSEEN comics, merchandising, and advertising art! Plus: an extensive index of his published work, comments and tributes by NEAL ADAMS, DENNIS O’NEIL, TERRY AUSTIN, PAUL LEVITZ, MARV WOLFMAN, JULIUS SCHWARTZ, JIM APARO and others, a Foreword by NEAL ADAMS, and an Afterword by PAUL LEVITZ!

(136-page Digital Edition with COLOR) $4.95

(204-page Digital Edition with COLOR) $6.95

(176-page Digital Edition with COLOR) $5.95

SECRETS IN THE SHADOWS: GENE COLAN

TOM FIELD’s amazing COLAN retrospective, with rare drawings, photos, and art from his 60-year career, and a comprehensive overview of Gene’s glory days at Marvel Comics! MARV WOLFMAN, DON McGREGOR and other writers share script samples and anecdotes of their Colan collaborations, while TOM PALMER, STEVE LEIALOHA and others show how they approached inking Colan’s famously nuanced penciled pages! Plus: a NEW PORTFOLIO of never-seen collaborations between Gene and masters such as BYRNE, KALUTA and PÉREZ, and all-new artwork created just for this book! (192-page Digital Edition with COLOR) $6.95

ART OF GEORGE TUSKA

A comprehensive look at GEORGE TUSKA’S personal and professional life, including early work at the Eisner-Iger shop, producing controversial crime comics of the 1950s, and his tenure with Marvel and DC Comics, as well as independent publishers. Includes extensive coverage of his work on IRON MAN, X-MEN, HULK, JUSTICE LEAGUE, TEEN TITANS, BATMAN, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS, and others, a gallery of commission art and a thorough index of his work, original art, photos, sketches, unpublished art, interviews and anecdotes from his peers and fans, plus the very personal and reflective words of George himself! Written by DEWEY CASSELL. (128-page Digital Edition) $4.95

OTHER BOOKS FROM TWOMORROWS PUBLISHING

PENCILER, PUBLISHER, PROVOCATEUR

COMICS’ FAST & FURIOUS ARTIST

THE ART OF GLAMOUR

MATT BAKER

EXTRAORDINARY WORKS OF ALAN MOORE

Shines a light on the life and career of the artistic and publishing visionary of DC Comics!

Explores the life and career of one of Marvel Comics’ most recognizable and dependable artists!

Biography of the talented master of 1940s “Good Girl” art, complete with color story reprints!

Definitive biography of the Watchmen writer, in a new, expanded edition!

(224-page trade paperback) $26.95

(176-page trade paperback with COLOR) $26.95

(192-page hardcover with COLOR) $39.95

(240-page trade paperback) $29.95

QUALITY COMPANION

BATCAVE COMPANION

ALL- STAR COMPANION

AGE OF TV HEROES

The first dedicated book about the Golden Age publisher that spawned the modern-day “Freedom Fighters”, Plastic Man, and the Blackhawks!

Unlocks the secrets of Batman’s Silver and Bronze Ages, following the Dark Knight’s progression from 1960s camp to 1970s creature of the night!

Roy Thomas has four volumes documenting the history of ALL-STAR COMICS, the JUSTICE SOCIETY, INFINITY, INC., and more!

(256-page trade paperback with COLOR) $31.95

(240-page trade paperback) $26.95

(224-page trade paperbacks) $24.95

Examining the history of the live-action television adventures of everyone’s favorite comic book heroes, featuring the in-depth stories of the shows’ actors and behind-the-scenes players!

CARMINE INFANTINO

SAL BUSCEMA

(192-page full-color hardcover) $39.95

MARVEL COMICS

An issue-by-issue field guide to the pop culture phenomenon of LEE, KIRBY, DITKO, and others, from the company’s fumbling beginnings to the full maturity of its wild, colorful, offbeat grandiosity!

IN THE 1960s

(224-page trade paperback) $27.95

MODERN MASTERS

HOW TO CREATE COMICS

Covers how Stan Lee went from writer to publisher, Jack Kirby left (and returned), Roy Thomas rose as editor, and a new wave of writers and artists came in!

20+ volumes with in-depth interviews, plus extensive galleries of rare and unseen art from the artist’s files!

(224-page trade paperback) $27.95

Shows step-by-step how to develop a new comic, from script and art, to printing and distribution!

(128-page trade paperbacks) $14.95 each

(108-page trade paperback) $15.95

IN THE 1970s

A BOOK SERIES DEVOTED TO THE BEST OF TODAY’S ARTISTS

FROM SCRIPT TO PRINT

FOR A FREE COLOR CATALOG, CALL, WRITE, E-MAIL, OR LOG ONTO www.twomorrows.com

TwoMorrows—A New Day For Comics Fandom! TwoMorrows Publishing • 10407 Bedfordtown Drive • Raleigh, NC 27614 USA • 919-449-0344 • FAX: 919-449-0327 E-mail: twomorrow@aol.com • Visit us on the Web at www.twomorrows.com