Alter Ego #147 Preview

Roy Thomas’ OTTO-matic Comics Fanzine

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No.147 July 2017

Proudly Presenting:

The Wondrous Writings Of GOLDEN & SILVER AGE GREAT

OTTO BINDER - Starring – CAPTAIN MARVEL SUPERMAN CAPTAIN AMERICA DOLL MAN MARVEL FAMILY SUPERGIRL CAPTAIN MIDNIGHT THE HANGMAN CAPTAIN BATTLE BLACK OWL & A Zillion Others!

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Shazam heroes TM & © DC Comics; other new art © Estate of C.C. Beck.

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Vol. 3, No. 147 / September 2017 Editor

Roy Thomas

Associate Editors Bill Schelly Jim Amash

Design & Layout

Christopher Day

Consulting Editor John Morrow

FCA Editor

P.C. Hamerlinck J.T. Go (Assoc. Editor)

Comic Crypt Editor

Michael T. Gilbert

Editorial Honor Roll

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

Proofreaders

Rob Smentek William J. Dowlding

Cover Artist

C.C. Beck (probably)

Cover Colorist Tom Ziuko

With Special Thanks to: Heidi Amash Ger Apeldoorn Dave Armstrong Bob Bailey Jean Bails Shaun Clancy Comic Book Plus (website) Al Dellinges Shane Foley Stepahn Friedt Janet Gilbert Grand Comics Database (website) Jim Kealy Sean Kleefeld

Mark Lewis Art Lortie Jim Ludwig Doug Martin Will Meugniot Mark Muller Warren Reece Eric Schumacher Marc Svensson Dann Thomas Tony Thomas Steven Thompson Anthony Tollin Dr. Michael J. Vassallo Yocitrus Mike Zachary

This issue is dedicated to the memory of

Otto Binder

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Contents Writer/Editorial: On Otto-matic Pilot! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Binder’s List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 P.C. Hamerlinck (& the FCA), Bill Schelly, & Roy Thomas visually annotate Otto Binder’s mid-’60s record of his many comic book scripts written from 1939-1965.

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!: It’s An Ad, Ad, Ad, Ad World! . . . . 91 Michael T. Gilbert’s tour of some of the strangest comic book ads of all time!

On Our Cover: Collector Mike Zachary sent this drawing of the original Captain Marvel and America’s Uncle Sam to P.C. Hamerlinck, who suggested it be used as the central image of this issue’s cover. The illo was probably done, back in the wartime 1940s, by none other than Charles Clarence Beck, the talented cartoonist who was the artistic co-creator of the World’s Mightiest Mortal. We can’t be 100% sure—but it certainly matches his style, and doesn’t seem to have been done by his colleagues Pete Costanza or Marc Swayze. P.C. and his FCA cover coordinator Mark Lewis framed the two figures amid various pieces of classic Fawcett art by Beck, Bob Powell, Mac Raboy, & Kurt Schaffenberger. [This art spot & next: Shazam heroes art TM & © DC Comics; other art © the respective copyright holders.]

Above: Look familiar? Yep, it’s the very same Captain Marvel/Uncle Sam illustration used on our cover—minus Tom Ziuko’s cavortin’ coloring! We wanted you to see it in black-&-white as well as color, and the head of this contents page seemed as good a place as any! We’ve wondered if perhaps it was done as possible cover art for Captain Marvel Adventures #28 (Oct. 1943), which is also on display above, but then Fawcett had Beck draw a different angle for Cap and his Uncle instead. No way to know…!

Alter Ego TM is published 6 times a year by TwoMorrows, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614, USA. Phone: (919) 449-0344.

Roy Thomas, Editor. John Morrow, Publisher. Alter Ego Editorial Offices: 32 Bluebird Trail, St. Matthews, SC 29135, USA. Fax: (803) 826-6501; e-mail: roydann@ntinet.com. Send subscription funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial offices.

Six-issue subscriptions: $65 US, $102 Elsewhere, $29 Digital Only. 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 China. ISSN: 1932-6890.

FIRST PRINTING.

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On OTTO-Matic Pilot!

eah, that’s what I thought this issue was gonna be, all right.

Otto-matic = automatic. A snap!

I mean, after all, Bill Schelly had turned over to P.C. Hamerlinck and me scans of all 70-plus pages of the list that Golden and Silver Age writer Otto Binder had compiled in the mid-1960s (see Bill’s intro on next page)—and P.C. would supply most of the Fawcett illustrations for the sprawling FCA segment that would make up more than half of the coverage. And I had enlisted longsuffering A/E contributor Bob Bailey to send me scans from a goodly number of the Superman-related and science-fictional yarns that made up much of Binder’s post-Fawcett career at DC Comics.

All I’d have to do was track down art to spotlight Otto’s pre-Fawcett stories, edit P.C.’s drafts of captions and write my own—stick in a few ads and “Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt” (no room for a letters section this time)—and voila! This very different issue of Alter Ego would be ready to be sent to press!

Yeah, right.

Turns out that, though P.C. did indeed send loads of Fawcett scans, he hadn’t had a chance to coordinate them with the Binder pages, so there might be three art spots that should go on one particular page (where we just had room for two) and only one for another page (which also needed two). Besides, during the early part of Otto’s tenure at Fawcett, he was also writing for Timely, Anglo-American, and other companies, and we needed to showcase art from those, as well—yes, even in the FCA section—so it was down to me to come up with it.

Which meant that I was, as always, dependent on the kindness of—well, not of strangers, but of correspondents and collectors, a number of whom came through for A/E… especially Warren Reece (who else owns copies of most of the really early Timely comics and would photocopy those precious, fragile pages for me?), Jim

Ludwig, Doug Martin, Jim Kealy, Art Lortie, Stephan Friedt, Mark Muller, Dr. Michael J. Vassallo, Anthony Tollin, and several others who provided an odd scan or two. You can see my indebtedness to them—and to the online Comic Book Plus site—on many of the pages in of this issue.

So what I’m saying is, this issue of A/E turned out to be quite a bit more work than I expected. But hey, nobody ever held a gun to my head and said, “You will spend an inordinate amount of time in your later years putting out a heavily illustrated magazine about the Golden and Silver Ages of Comic Books!”

Bill, P.C., and I had agreed that Otto’s list should be published.

Otto was not only one of the greatest and most prolific writers of the original Captain Marvel… and a major contributor to the “Mort Weisinger Mythos” of the 1950s-60s “Superman” comics line… he was also one of nature’s nicest people, a gentle soul who, from the moment he discovered comics fans (like Dick and Pat Lupoff) in the early 1960s through those of us he befriended a couple of years later (Jerry Bails, Bill Spicer, and myself in particular), was unstinting of his aid and encouragement.

In addition, his exhaustive mid-’60s list of his stories was one of the things that helped jumpstart the Who’s Who of American Comic Books and today’s Grand Comics Database. If not for pros like Otto helping the above Silver Age fans and others, we wouldn’t have the plentiful digitized data that is now at the beck and call of anybody with a PC and a typing finger.

You were one of the special ones, Otto—and that’s why this issue is dedicated to you, the third patron saint of Alter Ego (along with Julius Schwartz and Gardner Fox)! Even above and beyond the stupendous stories you wrote, we wanted to honor Otto Binder— the man!

Bestest,

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OTTO BINDER’s Big Look Back

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Comic Fandom Archive

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An Introduction

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by Bill Schelly n 1960, just when Otto Binder thought he had left his comic book writing career behind, he came into contact with his first comic book fans.

“It just never occurred to me that there could be such a thing as comics fans,” he told Tom Fagan, J. Randolph Cox, and Frank Miller, when they visited him in 1973. “I knew there were sciencefiction fans and movie fans and such, but—I just assumed people read [the comics], enjoyed them for what they were, and threw them away. I was astounded when Dick Lupoff called me up and invited me to a meeting of comics fans at his house. They all knew Captain Marvel backwards and forwards.”

Backwards and forwards? Not quite, although there was one fan who did aspire to that kind of thoroughness. Enter: Jerry G. Bails.

Jerry read Dick Lupoff’s All in Color for a Dime entry titled “The Big Red Cheese” in Xero #1 in February of 1961, just as he was planning to launch a comics fanzine called Alter-Ego with help from his correspondent Roy Thomas. The Lupoff science-fiction (and pop culture) fanzine was loaned to him by DC editor Julius Schwartz during or shortly after Bails’ visit to New York City in February of that year.

One can readily imagine Jerry Bails finishing “The Big Red Cheese” and immediately wondering if there was any way to determine how many “Captain Marvel” stories had actually been written by “Eando Binder.” The fact that Otto, not “Eando,” wrote the “Captain Marvel” stories was revealed by Lupoff in Xero #3, which Schwartz had also loaned Bails. Otto had used the “Eando” pseudonym for his science-fiction writing, although his writing partnership with his brother Earl—thus, “E-and-O”—had ended in 1936. It wasn’t long before Jerry, a natural-born data collector, wanted to know who had written and drawn all the comic books from the comics era that Lupoff soon suggested should be deemed a “Golden Age.” Bails wanted to honor those creators, but one needed to identify them first. In Otto Binder, Jerry was presented with a man who was (though neither realized it at the time) likely the most prolific comic book scribe of the 1940s.

Bails wasn’t one to let the grass grow under his figurative feet, so it’s safe to assume that he quickly obtained Binder’s address from Lupoff (or Schwartz) and wrote to Otto by late 1961 or early 1962. We

Dr. Jerry G. Bails The science college prof and #1 comics fan of the 1960s—a pic taken during the Alley [Awards] Tally held at his Detroit-area home in 1964.

Photo courtesy of Jean Bails.

Otto Oscar Binder at the 1965 New York comics convention, with dealers Carole and Phil Seuling as Mary and Captain Marvel. Photo taken by Dave Armstrong.

do know that Jerry’s interest in fanzine-publishing itself waned in 1962, because he passed the editorship of Alter-Ego to popular fan-artist Ronn Foss after A/E #4 appeared in the fall of that year.

Bails’ goal of accumulating creator credits had risen to the level of obsession, and it soon became the centerpiece of his fan activity.

This led eventually to the creation of his Who’s Who in American Comic Books, co-edited by Hames Ware.

At some point early on, Otto Binder informed Bails that he had written not only many of the stories of the various members of The Marvel Family and those of other characters at Fawcett, but had also done a great deal of writing for other publishers, notably Timely, National (DC), EC, and numerous smaller houses. Hence, it’s no surprise that Bails asked Binder if he had records of those writing credits. Obtaining such information from one as prolific as Binder would be an invaluable influx of information for his files.

Two Who Made A Start Otto Binder and Jerry Bails, over the course of their mid-1960s correspondence, started the ball rolling for the amassing of comic-book-related data, which would culminate in the 4-volume 1970s print edition of Who’s Who of American Comic Books and in its current online counterpart (see ad on p. 89). Here is part of the Oct. 18, 1964, letter from Binder to Bails quoted in the main text of this introduction. Thanks to Bill Schelly.

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Comic Fandom Archive

Binder had kept track of his assignments, especially during the 1940s, in what he called his “sales records.”

This allowed him to confirm that he was paid for each story. But those records were far from complete. Also, some tales he wrote had different titles in his records from those used in the printed comic books, since editors often changed them. Fortunately, Binder had also kept copies of many of the comic books that contained his work and thus could fill in some of the gaps by going through them, issue by issue, and writing down the names of the stories that he remembered writing.

Therefore, he told Bails that he would take on the task.

The Men & The Manuscript The 70-plus sheets of Binder’s list are juxtaposed with a photo of Bill Schelly (on left) and DC editor (and OOB friend) Julius Schwartz, circa 1997.

Thanks to Bill for both.

Otto Binder created the list (seen in this issue) mostly between 1963 and 1966. In a letter to Jerry in October 1964, he wrote: I would judge that some of the stories just never will get traced down by myself, due to hard-to-get old issues or ambiguous entries among my records. However, I would estimate that my DC listings are at least 95% accurate and full, possibly 98%. (My forthcoming Fawcett listings will also be that accurate, but all else will be woefully full of blank holes as I was not terribly interested in them as compared to [Captain] Marvel & Co., and National [DC], which always received my best scripting.)

As can be seen by the changes in the way he formatted the pages, they were produced in several spates of activity, as time allowed. Ultimately, the list came to 71 pages, plus 3 pages of addenda. Bails carefully preserved the list until I told him in 2001 of my intention to write a biography of Otto Binder. At that point, he donated them to my Comic Fandom Archive, along with his correspondence with Binder and numerous other items. Since then, I’ve made copies of the pages for two or three fans.

I’m pleased that Otto Binder’s writing-credits list is now being shared with the entire readership of Alter Ego. It’s a fascinating document, and one that answers a lot of questions. It also creates questions, for those who attempt to match it up against the actual comic books, and in other ways.

However you approach it, I’m confident you’ll find lots of jumping-off points for investigations, discussion, and further datagathering. Have fun, comics fans!

Bill Schelly is, along with handling the Comic Fandom Archive in Alter Ego, the author of masterful biographies of comics geniuses Otto Binder, Joe Kubert, Harvey Kurtzman, and John Stanley.

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The Early Comics Years Of EANDO BINDER

by Roy Thomas

n January 9, 1965, Otto Binder—who by then had compiled some, but perhaps not all, of his 1939-1965 listings—sent Jerry Bails the 3-page overview printed on this page and the next two. It gave a quick bird’s-eye look at his comics career, so we felt it was worth printing up front…

Otto, 1938 Not long before he wrote his first comic book script. Thanks to Bill Schelly.

Mostly In Black-&-White For A Dime C.C. Beck (with help from staff artists, including Marc Swayze, to meet an impending deadline) provided the artwork for Otto’s first-ever “Captain Marvel” writing assignment, circa August of 1941—for the Captain Marvel Dime Action Book, a same-format rival of the Big Little Books that featured art and text on facing pages. (See at right a rare glimpse of interior pages, as well as Beck’s cover.) The Scorpion, incidentally, was “returning” from that year’s Republic movie serial The Adventures of Captain Marvel. Thanks to P.C. Hamerlinck. [Shazam hero & Billy Batson TM & © DC Comics.]

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Binder’s List—Part One

OOB’s Earliest Comics Scripts

ince Binder at first freelanced for a number of different companies, FCA editor P.C. Hamerlinck and Ye A/E Editor agreed that the latter would cover many of OOB’s early features and forays, before P.C. begins the Fawcett Collectors of America section proper. We’ve reprinted all the 70+ pages of the list except a handful of redundant ones....

“Dan Hastings” was reported by Binder as the first comic book story he ever scripted, though it was not done for “Chesler Pub[lication]s” as per his list, but rather for Harry “A” Chesler’s comics shop, which then supplied art and story for MLJ, the future Archie Comics Group. OOB gives the date as “Oct. 1939,” which may represent when he began to write it (he does refer to that as a “starting date”) or some arcane Chesler schedule or something else entirely; the actual cover date of Blue Ribbon Comics #1, which contained the above very first “Dan Hastings” tale, was Nov. 1939. Art probably by Clem Gretter. Thanks to the Comic Book Plus website (abbreviated “CBP” for the remainder of this coverage) for both scans on this page.

[TM & © Archie Comic Publications, Inc.]

“Scott Rand” Otto’ second script. On this equally science-fictional effort, he received a byline as “Eando Binder,” the name under which he’d written or co-written all his pulp fiction.

From MLJ’s Top Notch Comics #3 (Feb. 1940). Art probably by his brother Jack. Thanks to CBP. [TM & © Archie Comic Publications, Inc.]

The Early Years of Otto Binder

“Little Nemo!”

Although Robert McCay, son of the great Winsor McCay, is credited as both writer and artist of this continuation of his father’s legendary early-20th-centurty comic strip Little Nemo in Slumberland, Otto noted that he “ghosted” the script for McCay the younger in Street & Smith’s Shadow Comics, Vol. 2, #4 (May 1942). Thanks to Jim Ludwig.

[TM & © Advance Magazine Publishers Inc., d/b/a Condé Nast.]

“Bulletman” Jack Binder’s shop provided the art for this early Fawcett outing scripted

by Otto for Bulletman #3 (Jan. 1941).

Thanks to P.C. Hamerlinck. [Bulletman TM & © DC Comics.]

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Part II

OTTO BINDER’s Fawcett Universe

An Introduction To The Fawcett-Related Pages Of OOB’s Writing Records

by P.C. Hamerlinck

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ith a tobacco-less pipe planted firmly between his teeth, and clad in an interplanetary bathrobe uniform, Otto hopped into his spaceship and flew from the prose of pulps over to those colorful new pamphlets curiously called comic books. Otto’s first stop on his sojourn was at Harry “A” Chesler’s studio/comics shop. That experience was okay, but less than a year later he was already searching for something more—a prominent, friendly environment perfect for a freelancer to nurture a promising new art form and run untamed with a sprightly, unstoppable imagination. Hello, Fawcett!

Otto fine-tuned his sequential storytelling craft on such B-list adventurers as “Captain Venture,” “Mr. Scarlet,” and others (as illustrated in early pages of this issue) before finally meeting his destiny with the World’s Mightiest Mortal.

Suddenly, upon editor Ed Herron’s departure, Otto— perhaps reluctantly—accepted an editorial position at Fawcett in mid-January 1942. He now had a commute, his own desk, a

Otto In His Writing Studio, Circa 1944 When Binder sent this photo to Roy Thomas in 1964-65, he wrote: “During this era of greatest production, I did up to 200 scripts a year. Pajamas and robe represent ‘working clothes.’ I was so busy I didn’t have time to dress and go out for days at a time—no joke. When my wife was out and I answered the door for random salesmen and callers, I’m sure they thought I was a ‘kept man.’ True irony! I was working like a dog!”

secretary, and morning coffee. He traded in his bathrobe for a shirt and tie. He was at the office day after day, editing Wow Comics and other titles. But his heart wasn’t in it. He quit six months later, returning to freelancing with a mission to write better… hitting full stride, notably in the post-war years, at a wonderful, rhythmic pace (often in unison with artists C.C. Beck and Pete Costanza) where a folksy, good-natured lightheartedness prevailed in his tales… relatable (often satirical) themes reflecting our soul and humanity and the drive and purpose behind the human spirit … varied and absorbing narratives cheerfully set on limitless worlds where seemingly anything could occur at any moment, whether on a distant planet, or in the future, or within an artist’s painting, or downtown at the dry cleaners.

Captain Marvel Adventures #9 (April 1942) “Captain Marvel Saves the King” was Otto Binder’s first non-prose “Captain Marvel” comic book script, written in December of 1941, on assignment by editor Ed Herron. (See p. 5 for OOB’s listing.) Still more irony: Binder’s first “CM” outing didn’t rate a Beck art job; the artist of this tale is unknown! All art in this super-size FCA section was provided by P.C. Hamerlinck, unless otherwise noted. [Shazam hero TM & © DC Comics.]

Otto’s numbers were staggering. From 1941 to 1953, he authored 986 out of 1,743 “Captain Marvel”/“Marvel Family”-related tales— yes, over half of them. And this doesn’t count his scripts for all those other guys in capes and tights… or the cowboys… or the movie adaptations… or the supernatural stuff… or his “Jon Jarl” prose short stories used as text fillers.

Prolific, yes. But Otto wasn’t mindlessly hacking them out like a robot working on the assembly line. He was an architect with a vision, building upon and enriching a mythology whose solid foundation had been set earlier by Parker and Beck, and which

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Binder’s List—Part Two

Wow Comics #18 (Oct. 1943) “Mikado for a Day” was the published title of this Binder-written tale, whatever name (beyond “Mikado”) the writer may have originally given it. The main villain in this one was the Japanese Emperor Hirohito. Artist unknown.

Thanks to CBP for this and the following scan.

[Commando Yank TM & © DC Comics.]

Wow Comics #17 (Sept. 1943) Curiously, this “Mr. Scarlet and Pinky” yarn seems to have been scripted after the above “Commando Yank” tale.

But at least this time Fawcett’s editor kept Otto’s title: “The Golden Touch.” Rather uniquely, Mr. Scarlet’s civilian identity was an unemployed ex-district attorney, who often had trouble making ends meet for himself and his ward. Not that that stopped him from being a costumed crime-buster! Art by Jack Binder Shop.

[Mr. Scarlet & Pinky TM & © DC Comics.]

Otto Binder’s Fawcett Universe

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A Few Wartime Fawcett Extras!

Wow Comics #25 (May 1944) Otto was inspired to write this story after Fawcett received numerous letters with money from young readers who wanted to help out their “starving” heroes Mr. Scarlet and Pinky! In the script, he gently let the young readers know that their kind acts weren’t necessary… and included one of the actual letters, from Suzy Duek of Gila Bend, Arizona, who also co-starred in the story!

Art by Jack Binder. [Mr. Scarlet & Pinky TM & © DC Comics.]

Don Winslow Of The Navy #7 (Sept. 1943) Don Winslow was a hero created at the suggestion of the U.S. Navy—and proved very popular indeed for several years. Art by Edd Ashe. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Master Comics #41 (Aug. 1943) Fictional Western movie hero Hopalong Cassidy would get his own solo comic after the war, but when Otto was assigned to script his adventures in Master Comics, he couldn’t resist tossing in a bit of science-fiction— a “Time Saddle,” no less! Art by Harry (“H.V.L.”) Parkhurst.

[TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

OTTO BINDER

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The DC Years

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Part III

by Roy Thomas

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rom the 1953 demise of Fawcett’s comics department through the mid-1960s period when he was preparing these listings for Jerry Bails, Otto worked mostly for DC Comics, primarily under “Superman” line editor Mort Weisinger and science-fiction editor Julius Schwartz. But before we peruse that work, below (and on the following page, which displays Binder’s sheet) are pages from that era done for Standard and EC, and for a third DC editor (officially Whitney Ellsworth, as was also the case with Weisinger’s and Schwartz’s titles, but actually probably Jack Schiff)…

Lost Worlds #6 (Dec. 1952) For this Standard/Pines SF comic, Otto scripted “The First Man to Reach the Moon,” which was illustrated by Art Saaf. Here’s the story’s shock ending, which gave the writer yet another shot at toying around with robots. Thanks to Comic Book Plus. [© the respective copyright holders.]

Weird Science-Fantasy #27 (Jan.-Feb. 1955) OOB teams up with EC star artist Wally Wood—and editor Al Feldstein must’ve liked Otto’s title! Thanks to Tony Thomas. [TM & © William M. Gaines, Agent, Inc.]

House Of Mystery #32 (Nov. 1954) Moodily drawn for DC’s original (and always very mild-mannered) “horror” comic by Bill Ely. Thanks to Art Lortie. [TM & © DC Comics.]

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Binder’s List—Part Three

Forbidden Worlds #5 (Sept. 1952) Before Otto Binder collaborated with artist Murphy Anderson at DC Comics—then mostly known as National—they would’ve shared a byline (if any had been given) on this story in one of Standard’s two sciencefiction titles. From 1947 through 1949, Anderson had drawn the newspaper comic strip Buck Rogers, and it definitely showed in the final panel on this splash page. Thanks to the Comic Book Plus website for this and the following image. [© the respective copyright holders.]

Forbidden Worlds #7 (Jan. 1953) The woefully underrated Ross Andru penciled this OOB-scripted tale of 21st-century space warfare; inking by his longtime partner Mike Esposito.

Andru claimed never to have enjoyed a single day in the comic book industry, but you couldn’t tell it by the skill shown in his work. [© the respective copyright holders.]

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(Right:) Cheesey Jail-Jamas ad from Story Pubs.’ Love Diary #33 (Feb. 1953).

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Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!

It’s An Ad, Ad, Ad, Ad World!

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by Michael T. Gilbert

K, it’s 1954, and you’re a sweet teenage girl reading a juicy copy of Brides Romances, dreaming of the day you, too, will be a blissfully romantic bride. Suddenly you turn the page, and what do you see? Why, an ad offering an actual honest-to-God tombstone …”Direct from the Factory to You!” And all for a mere $14.95! Talk about a buzzkill!

Death Be Not Cheesy!

Now all that sweet young thing can think about is her own fleeting mortality! Ugh! The poor girl then picks up her brother’s Dead-Eye Western comic. Uh-oh. Another, uh, grave mistake!

Dear God, it’s a second ad from the Rockdale Monument Company, offering a different death-stone. But hey, this one’s even a bigger bargain. These monuments start at a mere $9.95, including shipping that huge slab of granite anywhere in the U.S. For those not feeling particularly flush, they even offer a... ahem... layaway plan. Wow! A tombstone for under ten bucks.

Nothing but the best for your future husband, or maybe even mom and dad!

Two “Monumental” Ads! (Above & right:) The first is from Quality’s Brides Romances #5, (May 1954), followed by Hillman’s Dead-Eye Western #3 (March 1949). [© the respective copyright holders.]

Don’t like gravestones? Well, how about owning your very own steam engine... Free!... courtesy of Tip Top Comics? Every kid’s dream, right? Just plunk down a buck for 24 thrilling issues of The Open Road for Boys and it’s yours. Won’t Mom be surprised?

If the idea of Tarzan and Ella Cinders selling steam engines or a tombstone advertisement in a love comic surprises you, well, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet!

A Steamy Offer!

Tip-Top Comics #20, (Dec. 1937) advertised a free steam engine to all “red-blooded he-boys”! Wow! Sign me up! [© the respective copyright holders.]

It’s An Ad, Ad, Ad, Ad World!

And then there’s that suspicious-sounding ad in Young ou Love #104, concerning the hottie bragging about making a little extra cash just by ”visiting” her friends and neighbors. She claims she’s selling Blair Beauty Aids (whatever the hell that was!), but I’m not convinced....

Slacks with a handy “magic removable crotch.” I think the editors of Quality’s Love Letters should have saved this ad in their littleknown male-oriented comic, Pervert Love, instead.

Then there’s the questionable ad in Black Magic #27 for the “Juelene System,” which promises to “Lubricate,” “Massage” and “Stimulate.” According to them, it’s just an innocent hair product.

Yeah, and I’m Stan Lee! Lee

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ALTER EGO #147

Giant-size Fawcett Collectors of America special with Golden/Silver Age writer OTTO BINDER’s personal script records and illos from his greatest series! Intros by P.C. HAMERLINCK and BILL SCHELLY, art by BECK, SIMON & KIRBY, SWAN, SCHAFFENBERGER, AVISON, BORING, MOONEY, PLASTINO, and others!

Plus MICHAEL T. GILBERT in Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt, and an unpublished C.C. BECK cover!

(100-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.95 http://twomorrows.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=98_55&products_id=1267

Sick! Sick! Sick!

(Clockwise from above:) “Big Bull Whip” from Ajax-Farrell’s Lonely Heart #9 (March 1955)… a “working girl” from DC’s YYoung oung Love #104 (July 1973)…“Removable Crotch Magic Slacks” ad From Quality’s Love Letters #6 (September 1950)… and a slippery “Lubricate” ad from Black Magic #27 (November 1953). Hmmm… [© the respective copyright holders.]

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