Alter Ego #151 by TwoMorrows Publishing

Roy Thomas’ Wise Old Comics Fanzine

9.95

& GOLDEN AGE GREAT

FRANK THOMAS

by Michael T. Gilbert PLUS: The Golden & Silver Age Super-Heroes of DELL & GOLD KEY by Stuart Fischer

No.151

82658 00111

March 2018

Characters TM & © the respective owners

In the USA

Vol. 3, No. 151 / March 2018 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

Frank Thomas (colorist unknown)

With Special Thanks to: Doug Abramson Rob Allen Heidi Amash David Armstrong David Bardeen Jim Bardeen Nancy Bardeen Rod Beck Alberto Becattini Chris Beneke Ricky Terry Brisacque Aaron Caplan Cartoon Brew (blog) Mike Chomko John Cimino Comic Art Fans (website) Comic Book Plus (website) Comic Vine (website) Chet Cox Dial B for Blog (blog) Al Doshna Sean Dulaney Jim Engel Mark Evanier Stuart Fischer

Shane Foley Steven Friedt Janet Gilbert Ron Goulart Grand Comics Database (website) Jim Kealy William Lampkin Mark Lewis Art Lortie Samuel Maronie Doug Martin William Mitchell John Orlando J.C. Preas, Jr. Ken Quattro Gene Reed Al Rodriguez David Saunders Mac Schick Dan St. John Jeff Taylor Mike Tiefenbacher Dann Thomas John Workman Dr. Michael J. Vassallo John Wells Yocitrus

This issue is dedicated to the memory of

Len Wein, Rich Buckler, John Calnan, & Doug Fratz

Contents Writer/Editorial: Of Centaurs & Owls—& Others! . . . . . . . . . . 2 Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!: Frank Thomas Cartoon Scrapbook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Daughter Nancy Bardeen tells Michael T. Gilbert about the 1940s artist of The Owl & The Eye.

Those Unforgettable Super-Heroes Of Dell & Gold Key . . . 29

Stuart Fischer’s overview of icons of the comics empire & aftermath of Dell/Western— with a special preface by Mark Evanier.

My Life In Little Pieces – Part III . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 More of the “off-beat autobio” of Golden & Silver Age writing great John Broome.

Ted White On Comics – Part 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Concluding Bill Schelly’s talk with the SF fan, writer, and editor.

Tributes: Len Wein, Rich Buckler, John Calnan, & Doug Fratz . 76 re: [correspondence, comments, & corrections] . . . . . . . . . 83 FCA [Fawcett Collectors Of America] #210 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 P.C. Hamerlinck presents Mike Tiefenbacher on the Captain Marvel ©opyright ©risis.

On Our Cover: “The Eye Sees” and “The Owl” were the two major comicbook accomplishments of Golden Age artist (and writer) Frank Thomas—the first for the nearly forgotten Centaur group, the other for Dell/Western in its near-infancy… so we combined the artist and his two major four-color brainchildren (plus Billy & Bonny Bee) on our calamitous cover. See the story of the cover’s evolution on p. 83. [Art © the respective copyright holders; photo © 2018 Nancy Bardeen.] Above: Never heard of “Phantasmo, Master of the World”? Never saw a comicbook Captain Midnight in brown aviator gear before? Then you haven’t seen the early-1940s issues of Dell/Western’s The Funnies, which for a time featured both those heroes. Learn all about them in Stuart Fischer’s article on Dell, Gold Key—and then Dell again! Cover of The Funnies #57 (July 1941)—depicted by a woefully forgotten artist. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.] 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, $99 Elsewhere, $30 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. Views expressed are not necessarily those of Roy Thomas or TwoMorrows. Printed in China. ISSN: 1932-6890. FIRST PRINTING.

writer/editorial

Of Centaurs & Owls—& Others!

or Marvel? Marvel or DC?

For more than a half-century now, that has been the question. Mainly because, ever since Marvel christened itself in 1963, that has been the primary choice of flavors for those who find something particularly exhilarating and rewarding in the concept of the super-hero.

By 1963, Fawcett’s heroes had been gone for a decade… Quality’s for half that long… the Archie group’s super-heroes (except for Simon & Kirby’s contributions, circa 1959) had shown it should stick to the high-school antics it did so well… and, over the years since, newcomers like Tower and Malibu and Dark Horse never really stood a chance, whatever their characters’ virtues. In the 1940s, however, the situation was quite different. DC ruled the roost super-hero-wise pretty much from the start in 1938-39… but Marvel-precursor Timely Comics wasn’t even #2. That spot would’ve gone to Fawcett, courtesy of the original Captain Marvel and his over-extended Family… while several other hero-oriented companies like Quality and Nedor and pre-Archie MLJ were also in the running for a time. (Dell/Western actually became #1 in comicbook sales during this period, but after the early ’40s without benefit of super-heroes, unless you counted Tarzan.) Alter Ego, despite its desire to celebrate various companies and creators prior to 1975, has succumbed somewhat to the temptation to treat DC, Marvel, and (because of each issue’s FCA section) Fawcett as a Golden Age “Big Three”… because that’s how it looks in retrospect. The more so since DC long since purchased the major assets of both Fawcett and Quality. But there were other contenders for the super-hero crown in the early, frenetic days of super-hero comics, and two of them are showcased in this very issue. The first is the Centaur group (shorthand for 2-3 successive

companies), which had some of the weirdest super-heroes ever. When a fellow high school teacher first told me in 1961 about Centaur’s crazy crew of characters, I thought he was kidding! A giant flying eye that fought hoodlums? A guy who lived beneath the 1939 New York World’s Fair and emerged only to clobber criminals? Plus—an actual centaur? But the Centaur group was real—and we’re particularly proud and happy this issue that, through the good offices of Mr. Monster’s buddy Michael T. Gilbert, Nancy Bardeen is sharing the story of her father, Frank Thomas (no relation), who wrote and drew “The Eye Sees” for all of its one-year history, plus a couple of other stalwarts for that company. This has fired us up to see the in-depth story of Centaur told one of these days, though Lee Boyette made a valiant start over the course of A/E #85, 87, & 91—still available wherever A/E back issues are sold (i.e., from TwoMorrows Publishing). The second contender is Dell Comics—really the comicbookfinancing partner of Western Publishing, as Mark Evanier and Stuart Fischer explain roughly 25 pages from now—which most comics aficionados associate more with Donald Duck and Roy Rogers than with super-powered crime-fighters. And yet, for Dell & Western, the aforementioned Frank Thomas redefined “The Owl,” a hero very much in the Batman mold who usurped the covers of their Crackajack Funnies from 1940-42. And, as Stuart F. recounts over some three dozen pages, The Owl had enough company at Dell—Phantasmo, Captain Midnight, Magic Morro, The Voice, Masked Pilot, Supermind and Son, even a Marvel Man from another world—to have started a Justice Society all its own. While, in the ’60s and ’70s, Dell and Western (by then traveling separate publishing paths) launched such offbeat super-heroes as Magnus, Robot Fighter; Nukla; Dr. Solar, Man of the Atom; Werewolf; and Dr. Spektor, he of the Occult Files. Never heard of some of the above? Then get set for a treat in the next 65 pages…

Bestest,

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COMING IN APRIL

LARRY IVIE Comics Fan, Artist, Writer, & Visionary

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ics. Heroes TM & © DC Com

• Artist SANDY PLUNKETT sings the surprising praises of LARRY IVIE, who conceived (and named) DC’s Justice League of America—helped develop Tower’s T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents— wrote super-heroes for Marvel Comics—and arranged for EC art greats to illustrate the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs! With additional art by FRAZETTA • WOOD • WILLIAMSON • CRANDALL • KRENKEL • EVANS • HOGARTH • MORROW • KIRBY • GOODWIN • COLAN • TORRES • SEKOWSKY • DOOLIN • POWELL, et al.! • FCA features the Captain Marvel ©opyright ©risis, Part II—MICHAEL T. GILBERT on Victor Fox’s love comics “Sleaze-a-palooza”—BILL SCHELLY on the new, expanded edition of his memoir Sense of Wonder—& MORE!!

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Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!

Frank Thomas: The Early Years by Michael T. Gilbert

Introduction #1

n the nearly twenty years I’ve produced Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt, I’m particularly proud of having spotlighted some terrific, sadly neglected cartoonists. Fred Kelly, Abe Kanegson, Bob Powell, Pete Morisi, and Al Walker are a few of those whose personal lives were shared in these pages. These cartoonists are long gone, but their friends brothers, sisters, sons, and daughters provided rare insights, art, and photos. Today we continue that tradition with a delightful, personal scrapbook celebrating the life and career of Frank Thomas, courtesy of Frank’s daughter, Nancy Bardeen. Our thanks to the great detective work of Chris Beneke, Rod Beck, and Yocitrus for bringing Nancy to our attention. For the uninitiated, Mr. Thomas was one of comics’ earliest pioneers, having begun his comicbook career in 1939 for the Centaur Comics group. Thomas had a delightfully understated cartoony style that was quite engaging. He was also a solid writer, with a clever sense of humor. One of his most famous creations (and certainly his most bizarre!) was “The Eye.” The Eye was literally a floating eyeball that wreaked swift vengeance on various evildoers. Thomas also drew “Solarman,” “Dr. Hypno,” and “Chuck Hardy” for Centaur. Undoubtedly, the most famous of Thomas’ signature features was “The Owl,” drawn for Dell’s comicbook line back in the very early 1940s. According to author/historian Ron Goulart, cartoonist Bill Baltz first drew the avian hero, who debuted in Dell’s

Paging Dr. Hypno! (Above:) Another bizarre Frank Thomas hero—this one from Centaur/Comic Corporation of America’s Amazing-Man Comics #14 (July 1940). It’s quite likely that Thomas wrote all (or nearly all) of the super-hero work that he illustrated during the Golden Age, though that fact is not ultimately provable. [© the respective copyright holders.]

Crackajack Funnies #25 (July 1940), before moving to the company’s Popular Comics. Frank Thomas took over the strip with the second episode in Crackajack #26, drawing and (presumably) writing every subsequent Golden Age story. At Dell, Thomas also drew “Billy and Bonny Bee,” beginning with a Sept. 1942 issue, as well as the “Buddies” and “Don Bugaboo” series and a single story featuring “The Beetle in the Battle of the Bug Battalion.” He also provided scripts and layouts for such popular features as “Little Lulu,” “Andy Panda,” and “Woody Woodpecker.” Thomas left comicbooks in the early ’50s, feeling increasingly uncomfortable with the unsavory reputation with which the industry was becoming saddled.

He subsequently made a career in commercial art, editorial cartooning, and syndicated strips. His newspaper strips included Going West (later renamed Hossface Hank) and Francis the Talking Mule (which he didn’t create). Earlier strips included his unsold Dinky. In the ’50s Thomas began ghosting the popular Ferd’nand and There Oughta Be a Law series.

Frank Thomas Cartoon Scrapbook

Frank Thomas passed away in 1968 at age 54, a victim of esophageal cancer. That’s enough preamble. Now let’s see what Frank’s daughter has to say about her dad. We begin with an e-mail from Nancy, sent to me shortly after I contacted her, asking about her father.

Nancy Bardeen Remembers Dear Michael, I remember my father very well. I was born a month after Pearl Harbor, and have only a couple of memories of the war. My father’s Golden Age Comics period was over with the war. He commuted to the city from our rented house a block and a half from the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn. He had Top Secret clearance and worked as a draftsman, drawing planes for (I think) the Air Force. He was a wonderful father. Every payday he stopped by a Woolworth’s and bought some little piece of furniture for my shoebox doll house. I’d be jumping up and down, of course, as soon as he came through the front door, and he’d start searching through all his pockets for what he’d bought for me. Couldn’t find it. Oh NO! He’d LOST IT! I was going crazy. One pocket after another. (He wore suits and vests and a hat those days—lots of pockets.) FINALLY, he’d produce the item. Whew!

Rock ’Em, Sock ’Em Robots! (Above:) Frank illustrated this striking cover featuring Centaur’s Fantom of the Fair—his only work on the character—for Centaur Publications’ Amazing Mystery Funnies, Vol. 2, #11 (Nov. 1939). The masked hero (whose other identity was never revealed) lived beneath the 1939-40 New York World’s Fair grounds. After the end of 1940, Centaur continued business as the Comic Corporation of America—but for convenience’s sake, we’ll mostly refer to the company as “Centaur.” [© the respective copyright holders.]

After he hung up the hat, etc., he settled down in his chair to read the Telegram newspaper, with me in his lap to keep me out of my mother’s hair while she cooked dinner. That is how I learned to read before I went to school. (Good thing—the schools were very bad in that neighborhood at that time.) I distinctly remember the eureka moment I had when I got the idea that the “a” on the page was when you said the “a” in “a table.” He’d point to words suitable for sounding out, and so I learned to read from the World-Telegram. On bad schools…

Oh My! The Eye! How many teenage boys dreamed of peeking into a sexy lady’s boudoir as The Eye does here? From Keen Detective Funnies #18 (March 1940); the official name of the Frank Thomas-created feature was always “The Eye Sees.” The Grand Comics Database attributes the script as well as art to Thomas, though the former part of the equation must be mostly an educated guess. [© the respective copyright holders.]

When I started first grade there, I was getting picked on, big-time, so he tried to teach me to box. How you tuck your thumb inside your fist so it doesn’t get injured when you jab, how to hold your arms, look for an opening.... I can still hear my mother’s reproachful voice from the kitchen doorway, “Frank, she’s a GIRL!” Dad had graduated from a very tough high school in Erie, PA. He wasn’t the place’s standard issue of big and tough, and he had an artist’s hands, and worst of all he liked to draw.

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!

Centaur Spread #1 Is There A Doctor In The Kennel? (Left:) Early in his one and only story in Centaur’s Amazing-Man Comics #14 (July 1940), Frank Thomas’ hero Dr. Hypno transferred his mentality into his pet parrot. By story’s end, he’d pulled the same trick with a bloodhound. All art on this page is from the Comic Book Plus website. [© the respective copyright holders.]

An Eye For An Eye (Below left:) The Eye showed a vicious streak in a Thomas tale in Centaur’s Detective Eye #2 (Dec. 1940), which was reprinted from Keen Detective Funnies, Vol. 2, #12 (Dec. 1939). (Below right:) The sole “The Eye Sees” story in Detective Eye #1 (Nov. 1940), drawn by Thomas’ successor on the feature, Mark Schneider, co-starred a human hero named Jack Barrister; writer unknown. [© the respective copyright holders.]

Frank Thomas Cartoon Scrapbook

So he joined Golden Gloves and learned to box. He was a huge fight fan all his life. All through my childhood, I often fell asleep hearing the Gillette fights from the radio down in the kitchen. (When Floyd Patterson and Ingemar Johansson fought, it was a huge event at our house.) When Dad was in high school, he worked as a stringer for Ring magazine, sending fight news from Erie, where, he said, boxing was pretty big at that time. His sparring partner at the gym was a young African-American, and they became good friends. Dad often spoke about how there were two worlds—in the gym they were equal, but outside… He used to tell the story of how one day they decided to get haircuts together after workout, but neither of their barber shops would accept them together. Dad was a lifelong racial liberal, in fact, extremely tolerant of, and sympathetic to, a wide range of temperaments and ethnicities. Dad was a very good photographer. In those days, NY was a city of construction marvels—buildings, bridges, etc., and he would go out taking pictures and developed them in a closet off the kitchen that he turned into a little dark room. He had an artist’s eye for composition, texture, etc. I still have some framed 8x10 b&w prints he did. Just as sharp as the day they dried. Also still have one of his old Leicas. When I turned seven, the landlord arrived one evening and told my parents he was selling the house—we could buy it or leave. We had no money to buy it, so we were suddenly homeless. Dad

Ring Around The Hero (Above:) Frank Thomas drew the sole episode of “Solarman” for Centaur’s Wham Comics #2 (Dec. 1940). This story, like many others he did during this period, bears his byline. Sometimes comics writers didn’t sign their names to stories they wrote (the case of Bill Finger on “Batman” comes to mind)… but there’s a good chance Thomas wrote this one, as well. [© the respective copyright holders.]

Down On The Farm (Above:) Frank and his mom at the farmhouse they lived in shortly before Frank moved to New York. Nancy writes, “I’m including this photo to show his life before he left for NY. His father had been a very successful Metropolitan Life Insurance agent before inclusion in a colleague’s bankruptcy wiped the family out financially. This farm at Tillotson Corners, PA, was where they landed in the Depression. What is interesting and admirable, I think, was how Dad remained all his life a ‘glass half full’ kind of person. Always optimistic (Mom was the pessimist) and tremendously empathetic with people down on their luck.” [Photo © 2018 Nancy Bardeen.]

Bridge Over Troubled Waters (Right:) A handsome photo taken by Frank Thomas of a major New York City bridge, similar to one he drew on the cover of Crackajack Funnies #33 (March 1941), as seen at left. The entire cover can be viewed on p. 15 of this issue. [Photo © 2018 Nancy Bardeen; comic art © the respective copyright holders.]

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!

Centaur Spread #2

Eye’ve Got You Covered! (Above left:) The first (of two) covers of Centaur’s Keen Detective Funnies that showed The Eye “in action” was this one that Frank Thomas did for #18 (March 1940). Apparently His Orbness is about to rescue a victim from torture. (Above right:) Thomas’ cover for the second (and final) issue of Detective Eye (Dec. 1940) depicted The Eye only as part of the mag’s logo, with the main scene being his human pal Jack Barrister in underwater action. Well, at least that was better than the first issue, which sported a cover by Lew Glanzman not of The Eye but of the winged super-hero Airman! Thanks to the Comic Book Plus website for all art on this page. [© the respective copyright holders.]

Solarman Ran Rings Around His Opponents Since Solarman, with his Saturn-style hood, appeared only once, we figured you might as well see one good page of him in action, as drawn (and probably written) by Frank Thomas. [© the respective copyright holders.]

Frank Thomas Cartoon Scrapbook

had been homeless before; when his father lost everything in the Depression, his family was suddenly very poor. That’s why he left and came to NY with, as they say, nothing but the shirt on his back. Arriving in New York with neither money nor friends, he needed a steady job and found one as a department store window trimmer. Thinking maybe commercial art was a possible career path, he signed up for a course at the Traphagen School of Design in Manhattan. As Dad told the story years later, the art teacher there took one look at his attempt at drawing high fashion and quite flatly suggested he stick to cartooning. But Traphagen wasn’t entirely wasted. It was there he met Miss Gerry Peterson. Their courtship and marriage in the closing years of the Depression saw a burst of creative energy in which Dad found his first success in what later became known as the Golden Age of Comics. [MTG NOTE: Nancy then sent me copies of a cartoonist scrapbook dedicated to her dad, completed in 2012. We’ve adapted it in the following pages, edited slightly.]

The Hardy Boy (Above:) The premier of “‘Chuck’ Hardy,” Frank Thomas’ first comicbook work! From Centaur’s Amazing-Man Comics #5 (Sept. 1939—actually the first issue). According to his daughter, “Dad made Chuck Hardy’s girlfriend ‘Jerry Peterson’—a ploy in the courtship of Mom. I think he changed the ‘G’ to ‘J’ because it was a more commonly feminine form. He also shortened his name to Frank.” Well, his ploy worked, Nancy! [© the respective copyright holders.]

An Erie Beginning (Left:) A very young Frank Thomas in the ’30s. As the 1939 newspaper article at far left shows, he was ready to begin his very successful comicbook career. Nancy notes that “Dad had no formal art education that I know of,” and speculates that Eugene Iverd may have been a high school art teacher. [Photo © 2018 Nancy Bardeen; newspaper article © the respective copyright holders.]

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!

Leaving Home The three children of Claude Edward and Estella Davis Thomas were born roughly ten years apart. The three succeeding decades in which they came of age were, in our country’s history, vastly different ones, culturally and economically. Recently published sociological research has explored the idea that the prosperity (or lack thereof) of a period in which people come of age bears lifelong influence on their eventual educational and economic attainments. The level of initial opportunity that the national economic climate affords correlates positively with the eventual parameters of an individual’s material success. This provides an interesting framework with which to ponder the life trajectories of my father and his two siblings. The eldest, Anna Lucille, embarked on a relatively secure and prosperous path, having completed her nursing degree in the “good years” of the twenties, and married a physician.

Art Imitates Life?

Clinton, the youngest, while Frank Thomas’ daughter describes how Frank’s having the dubious fortune of prosperous father lost everything when he got graduating from high school into embroiled in a partner’s bankruptcy. Naturally, when a fictional partner proves treacherous, The Eye the Pacific Theater of World War II, delivers swift vengeance soon after this page nevertheless emerged from service from Keen Detective Funnies, Vol. 2, #12 (Dec. 1939), entitled to the benefits of the G.I. Bill. in the awesome orb’s print debut. The story was With intelligence, determination, and probably scripted as well as drawn by FT. hard work, he took full advantage of [© the respective copyright holders.] this opportunity to leverage a formal education into lifetime educational associations that afforded stimulating friendships, worldwide travel, and the satisfaction of a long life of academic service. (At this writing, Uncle Clinton is in his nineties and still going strong.) Franklyn, my father and the middle child, was also in possession of a fine intelligence and will to succeed. But for him, emerging adulthood was filtered through the demoralizing years of the Depression and the family’s removal from city life to the struggles of starting again from scratch in a little farmhouse with neither electricity nor running water at a forlorn country crossroad called Tillotson Corners. On his deathbed thirty years later, my father confided that he was proud that he had stayed there long enough to help provide his mother with an indoor bathroom. But then he left, with little more than the shirt on his back, to pursue his dream in New York City. One sunny afternoon two decades later, while we were waiting for my mother to finish researching some art history in the 42nd Street Library in Manhattan, Dad led me outside, to a shady back corner of Bryant Park and pointed to a bench. “That’s where I slept my first week in New York,” he said. “There was a Salvation Army soup kitchen a few blocks down where I ate once a day. I slept under newspapers.” Then he looked at me with fierce earnestness and added, “If you are ever cold, remember, newspapers can keep you warm.”

I was stunned by his total seriousness: survival advice to his child from a man so scarred by the deprivations of the Depression that, even in better times, he would never feel entirely secure that it couldn’t happen to us again.

Frank Thomas Cartoon Scrapbook

Be It Ever So Humble… (Above left:) Frank’s imposing boyhood home in Union City (the handwriting on the photo points out the room wherein he was born). When his father went bankrupt during the Depression, the family was eventually forced to move to an old, abandoned farm owned by a distant relative. (Above right:) The more modest Thomas house in Tillotson Corners. Financial reverses had forced Frank’s family to move from Union City to Erie, Pennsylvania, and finally to Tillotson. Their abandoned farmhouse lacked electricity and indoor plumbing. It had been fixed up a bit by the time this photo was taken. [Photos © 2018 Nancy Bardeen.]

Boy, Have We Got Opinions! (Above & right:) Frank Thomas was a versatile artist, who drew some fine editorial cartoons. Above is an early one from 1937. On the right are examples from the ’40s featuring Thomas Dewey and Franklin Roosevelt, who among other things vied for the Presidency in 1944. (Not to keep you in suspense: FDR won. In ’48 Harry Truman famously beat Dewey out for the same job.) [© the respective copyright holders.]

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!

Introduction #2: The Big Apple By Michael T. Gilbert To recap: Frank Thomas was born into a luxurious home in Union City, Pennsylvania. His father’s financial collapse forced them to move to a more modest home in Erie, and finally to a Pennsylvania “Ranch” (as they called it), lacking such niceties as indoor plumbing. Later, Frank got his first job as a store-window trimmer (dressing window dummies) at Gertz’s Department Store in Queens, NY, and also sold a few editorial cartoons on the side. He then enrolled at the Traphagen School of Design in Manhattan, where he met Miss Gerry Peterson… the future Mrs. Frank Thomas. Now Nancy talks about her dad’s life after moving to New York in the late ’30s.

Frank’s Golden Age of Comics by Nancy Bardeen Franklyn had arrived in New York a skinny farm boy armed with drive and dreams and only a high school education (in which, according to his brother Clinton’s memoir, he had shown very little interest). But during those few years until the arrival of the war, Franklyn became Frank as he metamorphosed into an increasingly self-assured comic artist, finding a serendipitous fit with a publishing period that was later known as “The Golden Age of Comics.”

Bookends! (Above left:) Little Nancy and her mom, Gerry (photographed by Frank in Nov. 1945)… and (above right) seventy years later, in 2015, Nancy and her granddaughter Eloise read a Frank Thomas “Billy and Bonny Bee” story. [Photos © 2018 Nancy Bardeen.]

Frank Thomas Cartoon Scrapbook

During this period he first shows the fertile imagination combined with tremendous capacity for technical improvement that would characterize his work for the rest of his brief life. Examining his work, we can trace a progression: the crudely executed panels of Dr. Hypno and Solarman smooth out into the more flowing energy of The Owl; hard-edged cops and robbers give way to the innocent warmth of Billy and Bonny Bee. [MTG NOTE: Nancy included the following excerpt from Ron Goulart’s Great History of Comic Books, in which he discusses her father:] “The magazine {Crackajack Funnies} finally got around to introducing a costumed crimefighter in its June 1940 Frankly Speaking! issue. He was a mysterious nighttime There were actually two cartoonists named Frank Thomas. One is featured in this edition of “Comic Crypt” and nemesis known as The Owl, and in Alter Ego—and the other (seen above) was a member of Walt Disney’s famed “Nine Old Men,” animators who his first appearance he came off like a worked on Pinocchio and other classic Disney animated features. Don’t confuse ’em! [Art TM & © 2018 Disney.] roadshow Shadow. He lurked a lot, cast his spooky shadow across the path of known better. The artist on this less than auspicious debut was Bill fleeing crooks and issued chuckling warnings like: “This is the OWL, Baltz. With the next issue the Owl got a new costume and a new Carver… and I promise you will NOT see the dawn… Ha ha ha.” It cartoonist. He went from cloak and floppy-eared sack over his head is an unbreakable law of dramatic writing, by the way, that nobody to purple tights, tunic, cape and owl-like face mask—and from Baltz can laugh in print without looking like an idiot. The Owl should have to Frank Thomas. It was a definite improvement.

Artists At Work! Frank’s wife Gerry drew this pic of the two of them at their drawing boards. Daughter Nancy says, “My mother was trained, and worked, as a fashion illustrator. Dad sometimes joined her in a life class, but Dad was really totally self-taught. It was only when I compiled this biographical material that I came to appreciate how smart he was. Every try was better than the last.” [Art © 2018 Estate of Gerry Thomas.]

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!

“Thomas, who worked in both the bigfoot and the straight adventure camps, had been languishing over at the Centaur line of comics. There he’d produced such non-winners as Chuck Hardy, Dr. Hypno, and Solarman. With the Owl he came fairly close to having a hit, and within six months his nocturnal avenger was appearing on the cover of Crackajack every issue. “Thomas’s figure work, it must be admitted, was cartoony, and his perspectives, while often ambitious, would sometimes be a shade off. Yet he brought an enthusiasm and a sense of fun to the feature. “He apparently felt at home with Dell. ‘I remember Miss Helen Meyer at Dell looked over my portfolios,’ he once recalled, ‘and sent me to Oscar Lebeck at Western Printing, then at 200 Fifth Avenue, who created, hired the artists and writers, edited, and printed the Dell Comics. Here the procedure was different than I had before experienced. Oscar was a writer and artist in his own right and recruited a good staff of freelancers, of which I was proud to be one. Oscar usually sparked the original feature idea, then called in the artist-writer he felt was best suited for it. The idea was talked over and enlarged upon, model sheets drawn up, a few pages executed and edited, then full steam ahead.’” [Book excerpt © 1986 Ron Goulart; quoted by permission.]

Whoooo? (Above:) Bill Baltz, that’s who! He drew this spooky page from the first “Owl” story, in Dell/Western’s Crackajack Funnies #25 (July 1940), the last issue before Frank Thomas took over. The only credit given on the splash panel, however, is a 1940 copyright for “R.S. Callender,” whom the GCD assumes to be the scripter... but there are other possibilities. [© the respective copyright holders.]

Oscar Lebeck

Helen Meyer

Managing editor & art director of Western's comics line, 1938-49.

Longtime president of Dell’s comics line.

What a Hoot! (Left:) The splash page of Frank Thomas’ first “Owl” story, from Crackajack Funnies #26 (Aug. 1940). He probably both wrote and drew, and he has a byline on the splash page. Thomas immediately gave The Owl a visual makeover, however, transforming him into a more suitable challenger to DC’s already-popular Batman (see p. 18). Notice, however, that a line at the top of the page still claims a copyright for “R.S. Callendar”—a credit that continued for some issues, whatever it meant. [© the respective copyright holders.]

Frank Thomas Cartoon Scrapbook

Digression: Dell Comics by Michael T. Gilbert Before we return to Nancy’s narrative, I’d like to say a few words about Dell’s super-hero comics. Dell got into the comicbook biz early on, producing its first comicbook, The Funnies, in 1929. By the late ’30s the company, in conjunction with Western Publishing, had a line of comics that included Crackajack Funnies, Popular Comics, New Funnies, Super Comics, and its Four-Color anthology comics, mostly reprinting newspaper comics strips. In the wake of Superman’s incredible popularity in the late ’30s, Dell decided to dip their toes into the super-hero waters. Soon secondstring heroes like Martan the Marvel Man, The Owl, Owl Girl, Captain Midnight, The Voice, Professor Supermind and Son, and Phantasmo began to dot Dell’s four-color landscape. These features were added to the reprint mix.

Not Bad! Frank did the self-portrait at right as a gift to his wife, “Jerry“ (aka Gerry). Michael T. added the word balloon and depicted him admiring his cover to Crackajack Funnies #33 (March 1941), seen above, which features Owl Girl and one version of their Owlplane. [Caricature © Nancy Bardeen; cover © the respective copyright holders.]

Before long, though, its super-heroes fell out of favor and Dell concentrated on other genres. They were particularly successful with Walt Disney’s Comics & Stories, Mickey Mouse, Pogo, Bugs Bunny, and similar funnyanimal comics.

Birds Of A Feather Two terrific Frank Thomas Owl covers. (Left to right:) Crackerjack Funnies #34 (April 1941) and #36 (June 1941). [© the respective copyright holders.]

Crackajack ended with issue #43 (Jan. 1942), after which The Owl moved to Dell’s Popular Comics, starting with issue #72 (Feb. 1942). Frank Thomas continued to draw “The Owl” until Popular Comics #85 (March 1943), when he traded heroes for humor. He replaced his “Owl” stories with “Buddies,” beginning in Popular #87, followed by the funny-animal strips “Don Bugaboo” and “Fatcho,” plus “The Beetle Battle” in the same title. He also drew the long-running “Billy and Bonny Bee” for Dell’s New Funnies. [Continued on. p. 18]

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!

Owl Be Seeing You

Next Up: Owl Boy? Owl Dog? By issue #33, Belle had become Owl Girl. Seen above is a chummy little page from Thomas‘ “Owl” offering in Crackajack Funnies #34 (April ’41). [© the respective copyright holders.]

Plane & Fancy In the first two pages of Thomas’ “Owl” story for Crackajack Funnies #28 (Oct. 1940), Nick Terry’s ladyfriend, “star reporter” Belle Wayne discovers his secret identity. Thanks to Comic Book Plus website for all art on this two-page spread. [© the respective copyright holders.]

Owl Be Back! After Crackajack Funnies #43, “The Owl” flew over to Popular Comics with #72 (Feb. 1942), and was at least mentioned on the cover. But, several issues before his final Golden Age adventure in Popular #85 (March 1943), seen at right, he’d ditched his Batman look and reverted to a robe closer to the one he’d worn in his first episode. Frank Thomas remained the bylined artist till the end of the series—which came in #85, not in #86 as some sources say; his next comicbook appearance would be in 1967, on the heels of the Batman TV show! [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Frank Thomas Cartoon Scrapbook

Crackajack Funnies #31 (Jan. 1941) Although panels from an “Owl” tale had appeared on an earlier cover along with panels from other features, Frank Thomas’ cover for this issue was the first that truly spotlighted the hero. [© the respective copyright holders.]

Crackajack Funnies #39 (Sept. 1941) A moody nocturnal cover by FT. [© the respective copyright holders.]

Crackajack Funnies #38 (Aug. 1941) This Thomas cover looks like a tease for a very interesting “Owl” yarn! [© the respective copyright holders.]

Crackajack Funnies #41 (Nov. 1941) The last “Owl” cover signed by Frank Thomas, although the cover of #42 was probably by him as well. [© the respective copyright holders.]

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!

[Continued from p. 15] Additionally, Thomas provided scripts for “Howdy Doody,” “Andy Panda,” “Little Lulu,” “Oswald the Rabbit,” and “Woody Woodpecker” in the ’40s and ’50s. Ron Goulart discussed the Dell titles in his Great History of Comic Books: “Andy Panda, a product of the Walter Lantz animation studios, showed up in #61 (October 1941) of The Funnies while the magazine was still playing it straight, and his co-workers were Captain Midnight, Phantasmo, and Philo Vance. With the 65th issue (July 1942) the title became New Funnies, mixing Lantz characters with comedy and fantasy characters from other sources. Lantz was represented by Andy, Oswald the Rabbit, Woody Woodpecker, and Li’l Eightball. From the estate of Johnny Gruelle came both Raggedy Ann and Mr. Twee Deedle. For good measure there were reprints of Felix the Cat and the Peter Rabbit Sunday page, plus ‘Billy and Bonny Bee’ by Frank Thomas and an updated version of the venerable Brownies.” [Book excerpt ©1986 Ron Goulart; used by permission.] “Billy and Bonny Bee” ran from Dell’s New Funnies #80 (Oct. 1943) until issue #100 (June 1945), when the comics page count dropped. Nancy notes: “Dad was very interested in the Natural World. And an avid fresh water fisherman and bird watcher. Also, insects and their designs and functions fascinated him. He was not a formally religious person but saw the face of God in the beauty and function of the Natural World.”

Hey! Why Does This Cover Look So Familiar? (Above:) Frank’s Owl cover for Crackajack Funnies #40 (Oct. 1941). [© the respective copyright holders.]

Keep On Truckin’! (Left:) Panels from Thomas’ first “Owl” yarn, in Crackajack Funnies #26. Note the “Clinton Co.” sign, a tip of the hat to Frank’s brother Clinton, one of the artist’s biggest fans. Frank’s daughter notes: “When Dad was doing characters that needed a name, he used the names of real people we knew. People got a kick out of that, and it also proved he’d done the work even when his name wasn’t on it.” [© the respective copyright holders.]

Frank Thomas Cartoon Scrapbook

Frank’s Funny Animals (Left:) The cover of New Funnies #80 (Oct. 1943), with art by Dan Gormley. Andy Panda was the mag’s star, but Frank Thomas’ “Billy and Bonny Bee” made their debut in this issue! [© the respective copyright holders.]

Simply Bee-yoo-tiful! (Above:) Frank’s first “Billy and Bonny Bee” story, from New Funnies #80. [© the respective copyright holders.]

Japanese Beetle-mania Driving Him Buggy (Above:) The first “Don Bugaboo” story by “Rankfay Homastay.” Get out your Pig Latin translation book, kids! This is from Dell’s Animal Comics #4 (Aug. 1943). [© the respective copyright holders.]

(Above:) “Bumblebrain” Thomas’ “The Beetle Battle of the Bug Battalion,” from Animal Comics #6 (Dec. 1943)—complete with scary war-era Japanese beetles! [© the respective copyright holders.]

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!

And now let’s continue with Nancy’s story.

Dinky Doyle And Other Funny Stuff by Nancy Bardeen The end of the war brought Frank’s release from the daily commute to ad agency Johnson, Cushing, Nevill from our little rented house at 93 Second Street in Brooklyn, and great hope of returning to cartooning with the character of Dinky Doyle. Dad had been burning the proverbial midnight oil developing Dinky after all those long days over a Manhattan drafting table. And he came close to success with the feature, but in the end Dinky was never syndicated. I don’t know for sure why, but I wonder if Dinky was too much a character of the Depression. He was a lovable, spunky underdog and a victim of squalid circumstances. Yet victorious post-war Americans were no longer Depression underdogs, and when the post-war economy began to take off in response to pent-up domestic consumer demand and the material needs of a war-devastated world, Americans were eager to forget squalid Depression circumstances in a tidal wave of post-war prosperity. Irresistibly human as a character, and involved in absorbing adventures, Dinky nevertheless may no longer have fit the times. Many years later, Dinky underwent a reincarnation as a little cowboy, Hossface Hank, in Going West. The feature was syndicated and ran for many years in weekly newspapers in both the U.S. and several foreign countries (later under the name of Hossface Hank). Go West, Young Dinky! Frank’s comic strip Dinky, seen above, never achieved syndication. However, Dinky later inspired a different Thomas strip, Going West, which was syndicated. [© 2018 Estate of Frank Thomas.]

Go West, Ol’ Hossface! The Going West strip was later renamed Hossface Hank in honor of its most popular character. [© the respective copyright holders.]

Hossface Thomas? Nancy says, “Dad loved music. He taught himself to play the guitar. This photo comes from some promotion material for Hossface. Dad had violin lessons when he was little before the family’s financial setback. He and I used to play duets when I was in junior high school taking piano lessons. We did an awesome Mozart Rondo together!” [Photo © 2018 Nancy Bardeen.]

Frank Thomas Cartoon Scrapbook

“Hack Work!” There was still a post-war housing shortage when we had to leave our rented house in Brooklyn. Even if we could have afforded to buy it, the grimy Brooklyn waterfront provided neither safe streets nor an acceptable public school now that I was in first grade. Dad was determined to continue a career in cartooning. Mrs. Bergen, his former landlady in Queens, offered to share her home if Dad would handle man-of-the-house chores and Mom would cook dinners that would include her as family; there would be a short walk for me along safer, leafy streets to a much better public school. When my brother, John, brain-damaged at birth, was accepted at Willowbrook State School, we left Brooklyn. An upstairs bedroom in Mrs. Bergen’s big turn-of-the-century house became Frank’s studio. The effort to syndicate Dinky abandoned, Dad took on a variety of cartooning assignments he later referred to as “hack work” to pay bills while developing new feature ideas. These included:

There Oughta Be A Law There Oughta Be a Law, a long-running nationally syndicated daily strip, was drawn by its creator, Al Fagaly; but although Harry Shorten was credited with writing the gags from ideas submitted by readers, Shorten was really an editor/businessman and the “Thanks to ––” credits were pure invention. The actual gag writing was done by a succession of anonymous cartoonists, of whom Frank, around 1950, was one.

Hubba! Hubba! (Above:) Though many of the gags in the comic panel There Oughta Be a Law were supposedly based on ideas sent by readers, Nancy states that Frank Thomas and others actually wrote most of them. Art probably by Al Fagaly. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Imitation Is The Sincerest Form Of Imitation! (Above:) There Oughta Be a Law was Al Fagaly & Harry Shorten’s knockoff of Jimmy Hatlo’s popular They’ll Do It Every Time series. Hatlo’s panel began in 1929 and continued until 2008; Law ran from 1948 to 1984. Above is the cover of a 1943 David McKay-published book collection reprinting Hatlo’s strip. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

We Oughta Find An Example From 1950! (Above:) This 1953 daily “panel” of There Oughta Be a Law was probably drawn by Al Fagaly (or a ghost artist) a year or two after Thomas had moved on. Other gags over the decades were attributed to cartoonists Bill Woggon and Bill Vigoda (as if they were “civilians” who had submitted jokes)—and even to “Richard Nixon” of “Chicago, Illinois.” [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!

Ferd’nand Henning Dahl Mikkelsen (“Mik”), a Dane, created Ferd’nand in 1937. In 1955, United Features Syndicate hired Dad to do it, following Mik’s style as closely as he could. These are copies of some of Dad’s practice sketches. Dad always expressed tremendous admiration for Mik’s comic artistry. I did know quite a bit about Dad’s relationship with this syndicate and the man he worked for there. It brings to mind my father’s comments about the two cartoonists who originated Superman and how they were treated. Quitting Ferdinand was not Dad’s choice; he was terminated when he told them he had cancer. He then went to work as a technical illustrator at Perkin-Elmer in Norwalk, and even though he was quite ill, he was also working on developing new features. He was being encouraged by a good friend, Irving Phillips, who did [the comic panel] Mr. Mum.

Ghost To Ghost (Above:) Nancy Berdeen says: “Dad took the Ferd’nand job in 1956 because he wanted to swing a mortgage on a home in Connecticut, and Ferd’nand promised steadier income than freelancing.” The above character sheet, she says, is her father’s work. According to the Ferd’nand Wiki entry, its creator Henning Dahl Mikkelsen (“Mik”) moved to the US in 1946, becoming a citizen in 1954, after which he “turned the strip over to others, including Frank Thomas, for a time from 1955 until the mid-1960s. He then drew it until his death in 1982, after which Al Plastino drew it until 1989.” [Ferd’nand TM & © United Features or successors in interest.]

Who Ghost There? (Above:) Frank Thomas ghosted Mik’s Ferd’nand from 1955 to 1966, probably writing as well as drawing. This Sunday is from 1960. The strip ended in the U.S. in 2012. [TM & © 2018 United Features or successors in interest.]

Frank Thomas Cartoon Scrapbook

The Long Goodbye There were many feature ideas—Arty, Pop’s Follies (Laugh It Up with Dad), Space Mites—that Dad worked on after he was free from Ferd’nand. I think, had he been granted a longer life, that Arty was the one that would have achieved syndication. It was a versatile platform for different settings in time, place, history. It was not locked into a particular social, economic, or educational frame. Dad had always shown a special talent for lovable, human, little characters (Hossface, Aunty, Dinky Doyle, Billy and Bonny Bee). Arty showed promise to grow into one of these. And Dad had learned a lot from Ferd’nand. He had developed the secret of the best cartoonists, which is to simplify, to identify the kernel of the gag, and to omit everything else that is in the way. And with pantomime, that included the distraction of words.

How Arty! (Right:) Nancy says, “Dad was diagnosed with esophageal cancer when he was 49; he lived five more years in the hope he could beat it. And during that time he was developing features and showing them around. This was my favorite.” [© 2018 Estate of Frank Thomas.]

What Might Have Been! (left:) Two unsold newspaper strips by Thomas from the final years of his life. Follow the Wallows was about the Wallow family, aging beatniks stuck with an ambitious scientific genius son. Darn! Robinson Castaway was a humorous strip about a Robinson Crusoe type. These come from the collection of Nancy’s son, David Bardeen. [© 2018 Estate of Frank Thomas.]

Meow! (Right:) According to Nancy, “Aunty and Arabella was a strip [my father] did for years with Lloyd White for the now-defunct Cats magazine. The strip was rerun for many years after Dad died. I never knew it until I bumped into a copy of Cats in a news store. I don’t know if Mr. White was still being paid. I never was, but that was OK. I was just thrilled Dad’s little characters were still in print somewhere.” [© the respective copyright holders.]

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!

Afterwards The loss of many family members in the 1960s (Aunt Bess, Lucille, Estella, Frank, Gerry) seemed to mark an end. (Clinton, the last of his generation, remained abroad until he retired.) Several decades passed, and younger family members were busy with careers and children. But, as is often the case, enough time passed that old ideas became new; action super-hero comics were rediscovered; comics as an artistic medium lost their disreputable reputation with the birth of the graphic novel. Film joined in to celebrate the return of superheroes in bursts of digital special onscreen effects in blockbuster movies. Comics became a serious subject of study in college literature and cultural history courses. All this was accompanied by the ubiquitous rise of the personal computer, which allowed family members to easily communicate and reconnect. In addition, personal computers increasingly offered the history of, and information about, any subject to any person with computer skills and curiosity. And that described Clinton Thomas. He gets the credit for discovering Frank’s work alive and well again on the World Wide Web. In sort of a science-fiction version of dying and enjoying eternal life in cyberspace, Wikipedia, blogs, and fanzines make it happen in the world of comics. What fun to explore websites and suddenly discover Dad’s work, which can still give pleasure!

Postscript MTG again: We’re very grateful to Nancy for sharing her Dad’s Cartoon Scrapbook with us, and answering questions about this little-known comicbook pioneer. It should be noted that Nancy also made a second scrapbook devoted to her talented fashionillustrator mom. During our correspondence I asked Nancy whether her father ever discussed his super-hero comics. “You ask if Dad ever talked about his Golden Age comicbook work. No, I never knew much about this period until my Uncle Clinton contacted me about 15 years ago with info about [Ron] Goulart’s book and a couple of fan-sites he’d discovered. Seduction of the Innocent affected Dad deeply. Also, my mother didn’t really

Digression: Frank & Boxing by Nancy Bardeen For an account to advertise an Italian wine, Frank drew a series of cartoons and signed them “Tomaso.” The ads invite a footnote on Frank and boxing. His enthusiasm for this sport prompted his joining the Erie Golden Gloves in his late teens. For a while, he also worked as Eerie stringer for Ring magazine; the rest of his life he remained a passionate fan of the sport. For a skinny guy who liked art trying to navigate a tough Erie high school, perhaps boxing’s initial attraction had something to do with building courage. But while raw display of physical toughness and naked athleticism held appeal (the latter also connected to appreciating the human body as art), his personal style was neither rough nor belligerent. I think that, lacking social, financial, and educational advantages himself, Frank admired the fairness of a sport in which

A Knockout! (Above:) Frank Thomas drew this amusing Italian G & D Vermouth ad. He really knew his boxing! [© the respective copyright holders.]

like the way women were portrayed in a lot of these comics. Dad escaped to Andy Panda and Woody Woodpecker, I think. “Personal info: I was a public school French teacher, but for the last twenty years worked as a writing tutor at North Seattle College. My husband is also a teacher, physics, now retired. We have twin sons, one a lawyer and the other in journalism (business end), and two opponents were matched in weight, and given the freedom to be fairly judged on endurance, courage, and cunning earned by diligent training of natural ability. In addition, the issue of fairness and freedom had special resonance in a racially segregated America. Dad’s regular sparring partner in the Erie gym was AfricanAmerican. They were friends. Dad told the story of how one day, after a session, they concluded they both needed haircuts and headed off from the gym to get haircuts together. They were refused by both their white and black barbers. I think Dad held this up as a sort of metaphor for the tragedy of racism in America. Dad was never a racist. I can remember him one evening at the dinner table heatedly denouncing what we did at Hiroshima and Nagasaki as a racist act: “We never would have dropped an atomic bomb on Europeans, but we did on Japanese!” And I also remember the night Floyd Patterson beat Ingemar Johnansson for the world heavyweight title, because Dad was so jubilant that the one he felt was the better fighter had won. I regret Dad didn’t live to know about President Obama.

Frank Thomas Cartoon Scrapbook

granddaughters. When left to our own devices, we both usually end up in a chair, reading. We’ve also spent a fair amount of time and energy in recent years managing care for my severely disabled brother in Connecticut.“ I also asked Nancy if there was anything she could tell us about her dad’s final days: “I prefer not to share details of their last years except to say Mom and Dad both died after long struggles with cancer, which was diagnosed when I was an undergraduate. So I came home after graduating from college (1964) and lived with them, commuting to a teaching job, until they passed. Dad died July 4, 1968; Mom died September 19, 1968, both at home. They suffered terribly and never complained. They were the bravest, most thoughtful, and gentle people, and had many loyal, loving friends who stuck with them to the end.” Thanks, Nancy. And thanks to Frank’s younger brother Clinton Thomas (as of this writing, still going strong at 96!) for starting the ball rolling, and to Nancy’s son, David Bardeen, and her husband, Jim Bardeen, for providing art and scans for this article. Thanks also to comic historians Ron Goulart, Yoc, Chris Beneke, David Armstrong, Rod Beck, and David Saunders. And, most of all, to Frank Thomas for providing us all with a lifetime of wonderful comics.

“Take Your Daughter To Work” Day? (Above:) An August 1946 newspaper article, complete with photo, about Frank and 4-year-old Nancy Thomas. But, despite what it says, Dinky never appeared in newspapers. [© the respective copyright holders.]

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!

One last thing: I want to point out an incredible online Frank Thomas resource. Yoc and Chris have posted a series of four (free!!) downloadable Archives comprising every comicbook story illustrated by Frank Thomas. We’re talking over 800 pages! They include all Frank’s “Owl,” “Solarman,” “Eye,” and “Billy Bee and Bonny” stories, with excellent historical commentary by Chris Beneke and Josh P. You’ll find it at the “Archives” section of the Digital Comic Museum at: http://digitalcomicmuseum.com/index.php?cid=962 Tell ‘em Mr. Monster sent you! ’Till next time…

Frank & Gerry Thomas (Above:) Frank Thomas’ obituary appeared on July 12, 1968. He had died on July 4th. (Left:) Gerry joined her husband little more than two months later, on Sept. 19th. [© the respective copyright holders.]

Collage Days (Right:) Nancy Bardeen put together this collage of her dad’s work in 2012. “This is the introductory page of the scrapbook/biography I did on my father,” she writes. “I’m including it to show the scope of his work. The New Funnies and Woody Woodpecker he wrote in the 1950s. He sketched out the stories in pencil on 8” x 10” yellow paper for the artist. Woody and Andy and Charlie Chicken were sort of my siblings.” [Photo © 2018 Nancy Bardeen; other art © the respective copyright holders.]

Frank Thomas Cartoon Scrapbook

FRANK THOMAS Checklist [This checklist is adapted from the online edition of the Who’s Who of American Comic Books 1928-1999, established by Dr. Jerry G. Bails (see ad on p. 28). Last entries to the site were made in October 2006. Names of features that appeared both in comicbooks of that title and in other magazines as well are generally not italicized below. Key: (a) = full artist; (p) = penciler; (i) = inker; (w) = writer; (d) = daily comic strip; (S) Sunday comic strip.] Name: Frank Thomas (1914-1968) – artist, writer Syndication: All-American Football (a) 1938; Ferd’nand (ghost w) (ghost a) 1955-65 for United Feature Syndicate; Francis the Talking Mule (ghost w) c. 1952 for UFS; Going West (w)(a) 1951-54); Hossface Hank (w)(a) 1955-64 for Al Smith Service. [A/E EDITOR’S NOTE: The Who’s Who also lists Dinky (as Dinky Doyle) as a syndicated strip by FT, but according to his daughter in the foregoing article, that strip was unsold.] Comics in Other Media: cartoons (a) for Cats magazine 1985 COMICBOOKS (Mainstream U.S. Publishers) Centaur Comics Group: Chuck Hardy (w)(a) 1940; Dr. Hypno (w)

(a) c. 1939; The Eye Sees (w)(a) c. 1940; Fantom of the Fair (a)(cover only) 1940; Solarman (w)(a) c. 1940 Dell/Western Publications: Andy Panda (w) 1940s-52; Billy and Bonnie Bee (w)(a) 1942-45; Buddies (w)(a) early 1940s; Don Bugaboo and Fatcho (a) 1943; Hank and Lank (w)(a) 1942; Howdy Doody (w) 1940s; Little Lulu (w) 1940s; Little Scouts (w) 1940; Oswald the Rabbit (w) 1952; The Owl (w)(a) 1940-43; Woody Woodpecker (w) 1940s Eclipse Enterprises: Mr. Monster’s Schlock! (w)(a) reprint of The Eye Sees Marvel Comics: illustrations (a) 1940

Like Our Cover Says: “The Eye Sees The Owl”! Two examples to remind us all why Frank Thomas should be celebrated as a pioneer of the early comicbook scene, aside from any comic strip work he also did: (Left:) The Eye again shows his mean streak, in Centaur’s Keen Detective Funnies #22 (July 1940). (Right:) While this “Owl” cover for Dell/Western’s Crackajack Funnies #42 (Dec. 1941) isn’t signed, it’s almost certainly Thomas’ work—and if so, his final one for the series. #43’s cover showcased the reprinted newspaper strip Terry and the Pirates—and then Crackajack Funnies was no more, and “The Owl” took up residence in Popular Comics. All art on this page from Comic Book Plus website. [© the respective copyright holders.]

The WHO’S WHO of American Comic Books 1928-1999 Online Edition Created by Jerry G. Bails FREE – online searchable database – FREE www.bailsprojects.com – No password required

A Dracula for the postTV-Batman 1960s: Bill Fracchio & Tony Tallarico’s rendering for Dell’s Dracula #4 (March 1967). Script by D.J. Arneson. Thanks to Gene Reed for the art.[TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Art by John Romita. Captain America TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

Dell, Western, Gold Key—& Dell Again!—Part I

Dell Comics & Gold Key Comics

Answering An Incessantly Asked Question About Their Relationship

by Mark Evanier hat was the relationship between Dell Comics and Gold Key Comics?

In order to understand all this, you have to accept a slightly difference concept of a publisher’s function than the norm. Ordinarily, there are three aspects to what a comicbook publisher must deal with: 1. FINANCE: The decision of what to publish and the financial arrangements and investments to do so. 2. EDITORIAL: The creation and/or purchase of the material to be printed in those comics. This often involves buying the rights to characters owned by others. 3. PRINTING: The physical mass-reproduction of the comicbook. (There’s actually another step—DISTRIBUTION—but it can only confuse this explanation to drag that into it.)

Mark Evanier

An outfit like DC, Marvel, or Dark Horse does #1 and #2; then they hire some outside company to do #3. In the case of Dell Comics from 1938 through 1962, it was different: The Dell company did #1 and a firm called Western Printing and Lithography did #2 and #3.

Photo used on his always informative website www.newsfromme.com. Mark has been a TV and comics writer for several decades.

All of the writers who did those comics worked for Western, not for Dell. A lot of folks see Carl Barks’ work appearing all those years in comics that say “Dell” in the upper left-hand corner and they think, “Oh, Barks worked for Dell.” He did not, ever. He worked for Western, a completely separate company. And a lot of people see that all those Disney comics were printed with “Dell” in the upper left and they think, “Dell had the comicbook rights to the Disney characters.” Again, not so. Western had those rights… and the rights to the Warner Bros. characters (Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck) and the Walter Lantz characters and so many others. Western was a printing company with the editorial capacity to create the content of the comicbooks. Dell was a publishing company that did many kinds of magazines and books. They bought their comicbook line from Western.

Once or twice a year, Western’s reps would go to the Dell people will mock-ups and samples for new, proposed comics. Someone at Dell—usually their president, Helen Meyer—would “order” more comics from Western. She might say, “Okay, let’s go another twelve issues of Funnies Stuff Looney Tunes next year, six of Andy Panda… let’s The cover of The Funnies try two issues of that new Rocky and His Friends #1 (Jan. 16, 1929), by Joe thing you brought in….” And so on.

Archibald. This can be considered the very first comicbook, put out by Dell Publishing nearly a decade before it hooked up with Western Publishing. It consisted of all-new, all-original material in tabloid form; it resembled a 16-page, 10.5” x 15.5” color Sunday newspaper comics section more than a modern comicbook, though it was sold on newsstands for 36 weekly issues, till Oct. 16, 1930. With #3 the cover price rose from 10¢ to 30¢—and dropped to 5¢ from #22 to the end. [© the respective copyright holders.]

Western’s folks would scurry back to their offices (in New York and Los Angeles) and get writers and artists busy on creating the insides of those books. Later, they would print them. Dell would pay all the costs, including printing and profit for Western, and handle distribution and financing of the books. In the meantime, other divisions of Western would be using the same licenses to do projects in which Dell had no involvement—coloring books of Donald Duck, Little Golden Books of Woody Woodpecker, jigsaw puzzles of Huckleberry Hound, and so on. Comics were just a small part of what Western did.

Answering An Incessantly Asked Question

Dell was no longer telling them what to publish. A lot of comics fans make the mistake of trying to view the 40+ years of comics with the Dell logo as one continuous company. From the standpoint of financing and distribution, it was. But if ones cares more about continuity of creative staff and characters, it makes more sense to view all the Western Publishing product (Dell up until ’62, Gold Key thereafter) as one company… and the post-’62 Dell Comics as a brand-new, separate line.

Come To The Carnival! The (rarely seen) wraparound cover of 1933’s 36-page Famous Funnies: A Carnival of Comics, a collaboration between Dell and Eastern Color Printing that is more often considered by historians to be “the first true American comicbook.” It was distributed through the Woolworth five-and-dime store chain—either for free or for a sum not printed on its cover. Bud Fisher’s famous Mutt and Jeff are featured. [© the respective copyright holders.]

Dell was not Western’s only client for comicbooks; Dell had an exclusive deal for conventional newsstand-type comics, but there were other markets. For example, Western produced a comicbook called March of Comics that was one of the most widely circulated comicbooks in the history of mankind. It was a giveaway premium item—I used to get it when I was a tyke and my folks bought me shoes—and some issues reportedly were printed in quantities of five million and up. But try and find ’em today. Western produced those comics—usually using the characters they’d licensed from Disney, Warners, and others— and sold them directly to chain stores and other clients. They also produced educational comics like Donald Duck Teaches Kite Safety. Dell was not involved with any of those books. In 1962, following a dispute about money, Dell and Western parted company. Dell hired editors, writers, and artists and started a comicbook division from scratch. Western kept what was essentially the same comicbook line going, financing it themselves, putting a “Gold Key Comics” logo on covers… and making the changes they thought wise, since

Eastern Is Eastern, & Western Is Western Another Dell/Eastern Color team-up: Famous Funnies: Series 1, from early 1934— with Mutt and Jeff, Joe Palooka, et al. The editor was M.C. Gaines, later the publisher of the All-American Comics line. After this single issue, Dell and Eastern Color went their separate ways, with Eastern continuing Famous Funnies as a regular title and Dell later hitching up with Western. [© the respective copyright holders.]

The combination of Dell and Western made for what was, in its time, a much more successful comicbook publisher than most fans today realize. At a time when there was absolutely no speculator market—no one buying more than one comic, no one buying for investment purposes— they had many titles routinely selling in the millions. Comicbooks were more popular then, and Dell’s distribution was easily the most efficient in comicbook history. (One title—which through a series of All In Four Color For A Dime complicated maneuvers The first issue of the long-running Dell/ was created and printed Western Four Color title featured reprints by Western, distributed of Chester Gould’s popular Dick Tracy newspaper strip, dated Sept. 1939. This by Dell, but “published” initial Four Color series ran for 25 issues— by a company called K.K. after which a second series began with Publications—was a sales a new #1 and ran for 1331 issues! monster. Walt Disney’s [Dick Tracy TM & © the respective trademark Comics and Stories often & copyright holders.] sold over two million, sometimes three million per month. There are successful comicbook companies today that do not sell three million copies a month of all the titles they publish, combined.) In the early 1970s, both Dell and Gold Key were experiencing great problems in getting their comics distributed. Dell gave up in ’73, but Western persisted for a time, largely by distributing their comics—usually in plastic bags of three—in toy and department stores. For a year or so, most of their comics were printed in two editions… some with the Gold Key logo for the declining conventional newsstand distribution, some with a Whitman logo for the retail shops. The editions were otherwise identical. Eventually, they gave up on the newsstand market and, when demand for the Whitman editions subsequently collapsed, they ceased publishing comics altogether. ’Twas a sad end for what had once been the most successful comicbook company of all time. Mark Evanier is a veteran comics and TV writer. In comics he has especially been identified with DC’s 1980s Blackhawk comic (drawn by Dan Spiegle) and with his and Will Meugniot’s independent comicbook DNAgents. This piece first appeared on his blogsite www.newsfromme.com, and we thank Mark for his permission to reprint it.

Dell, Western, Gold Key—& Dell Again!—Part II

Those Unforgettable Super-Heroes Of DELL & GOLD KEY An Overview by Stuart Fischer

ell Comics and Gold Key’s parent corporation, Western Publishing and Lithographing Company, were partners, at least until they made the decision in 1962 to go their separate ways. It was a collaboration between two very successful companies that had begun in 1938. Let’s take a look at both companies, and at who and what they were before their collaboration began. Western Publishing and Lithographing Company was founded in 1907. One thing that helped make Western successful was its Little Golden Books series, which featured illustrated simple stories for children. In the 1930s, Western decided to get into the comicbook business and did so by striking up a partnership with Dell Comics, a unit of Dell Publishing Company.

Dell Publishing was launched in 1921 by George T. Delacorte, Jr., to publish pulp magazines, paperback books, even hardcover books. Dell became enthusiastic about the new medium of comicbooks and was involved with them from 1929 to 1974. Dell enjoyed its greatest success in the comicbook business while teamed with Western Publishing from 1938 to 1962. Western produced

The Puppy & The Publisher (Above:) One of the most famous of Western Publishing’s Little Golden Books for children is The Poky Little Puppy, first issued in 1942 and virtually never out of print since. [TM & © Western Publishing or successors in interest.] (Left:) George T. Delacorte, Jr.,

the comics that Dell would founder (and quasi-namesake) finance and distribute. It was of Dell Publishing. a beautiful and innovative collaboration, because both companies were very good at what they did, and the teaming lasted a quarter of a century.

Western was heavily into licensed product. It forged important and lasting relationships with many of the Hollywood studios, ranging from Walt Disney to Universal to Hanna-Barbera, producing comicbooks based on the studios’ television series and motion pictures. That company also had close Say Uncle! relationships with newspaper comic strip syndicates Probably the most famous such as King Features, United Features, and the Tribune hero created specifically Company, and reprinted in comicbook form such strips for Dell/Western is Uncle as Dick Tracy and Tarzan, among numerous others.

Scrooge McDuck, who was originally developed as a supporting character for “Donald Duck” stories by writer/artist (and ex-Disney animator) Carl Barks. Scrooge made the jump to his own series with Four Color #386 (March 1952), aka Uncle Scrooge in Only a Poor Old Man, and only began to appear in animated Disney shorts some decades later. All of the Barks Scrooge material, and a considerable amount by Barks’ successors, has been reprinted over the past few decades. [TM & © Disney.]

Dell and Western really were the eyes of America; they knew what America was seeing at the movies and on television and in newspapers. Any TV series or film that they believed could be profitably adapted into comicbooks, they would arrange with the rights-owner for them to translate into the comics magazines they published. The Dell/Western comics, and later those from Gold Key, were extremely faithful to the original incarnations upon which they were based. After the Dell/Western Publishing relationship ended in 1962, both companies remained in the comicbook business, only as separate entities. Dell continued to produce comics on its own until the early 1970s but did not fare as well as they had hoped and eventually opted to get out of the business. The company was still very prosperous with its book

An Overview

and magazine lines, especially their crossword puzzles; eventually Dell Publishing was sold and is now part of the huge Random House group. In 1962, Western Publishing formed its own in-house comicbook company, called Gold Key Comics, and pretty much continued in the same fashion as before with Dell, except that now they decided to create their own characters in addition to licensing from others. For the rest of the 1960s and into the ’70s, Gold Key actually did quite well with a mix of original comicbooks and licensed titles. During the Silver Age of Comics, Gold Key even produced a few reasonably successful super-heroes and related characters, such as Magnus, Robot Fighter; Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom; and Mighty Samson. It also picked up where Dell/Western had left off with Turok, Son of Stone.

Horse Operas & Space Operas Need Not Apply While a case could easily have been made for including them in this overview, it was decided not to include most cowboy or science-fiction features from Dell/Western, including even these two primo refugees from such media such as pulp magazines, radio, comic strips, movies, and TV. (Left to right:) The Lone Ranger, whose first comicbook stories were in Four Color #82 (1945 – artist unknown) & TV’s Tom Corbett, Space Cadet, who premiered comicswise in Four Color #378 (Feb. 1952); cover painting by Alden McWilliams. [Lone Ranger TM & © Lone Ranger Television, Inc., or successors in interest; Tom Corbett TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

In the licensing area, Western maintained good working relationships with the major studios such as Disney and Warner Bros., whose characters such as Donald Duck, Uncle Scrooge, Mickey Mouse, and Bugs Bunny continued to sell well. In addition, Gold Key had its eye out for TV series and motion picture properties. Along with adaptations of prime-time TV shows such as Happy Days and Adam-12… and of daytime television, such as Saturday morning cartoons and such weekday shows as Dark Shadows. The MGM and Hanna-Barbera cartoon characters also did very well for Gold Key: The Flintstones and Scooby-Doo, to mention just two. Western continued to be the eyes of America because its powers-that-were knew what Americans were viewing on television and at the movies and what they were reading in newspapers and books, and they tried to capture it all. Western also maintained its relationship with Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc., and continued to publish Tarzan and even added a spin-off title, Korak, Son of Tarzan. As they had during their partnership with Dell, Western/Gold Key remained very faithful to all of the characters they licensed. One characteristic of Gold Key (continued from Dell/Western) that set it apart from most other comics publishers is that many of its covers were painted. These made its covers stand out from the line art utilized by most of its competitors. Gold Key ceased publishing comics in the early 1980s, due to lax management, strong competition from DC and Marvel, and new companies that were emerging in the 1980s and were taking their share of the market.

Another factor in Western’s ceasing to publish comicbooks was problems with distribution. Fewer newsstands were carrying comics, and the comicbook specialty stores did not sell enough of Gold Key’s product to keep Western satisfied. Eventually, it got out of the comics business. After a few corporate takeovers, in 2001 the company was dismantled and its assets were sold off to various buyers, primarily Random House and Classic Media. Still, no one can deny the enormous impact and contributions the company made during its 94-year history. Golden Books are now being published by Random House through an imprint called Random House Golden Books, and new deals have been made by Random House and Classic Media in the past two decades or so to bring back Gold Key heroes such as Turok, Dr. Solar, and Magnus, Robot Fighter, keeping these decades-old creations alive, but in a more contemporary form. It is Dell’s and Gold Key’s super-heroes and related “action heroes” (though, with one exception, we’ve skipped Western heroes, even the mask-wearing and iconic Zorro and Lone Ranger— and we had to leave out a science-fiction entry or two as well) that are the subject of the following article. We’ll examine them, one by one, in alphabetical order….

Those Unforgettable Super-Heroes Of Dell & Gold Key

Brain Boy Dell Comics - 6 issues: Four Color #1330 (Apr.-June 1962) & Brain Boy #2-6, (July-Sept. 1962 – Sept.-Nov. 1963) Brain Boy was not your typical super-hero series—not even for Dell Comics. The so-called “Brain Boy” was actually a lad named Matt Price. While his mother was pregnant with him, his parents were in an automobile accident that killed his father. Matt was born with great mental powers, due to the automobile having smashed into an electrical tower, with results that somehow altered the mind of the unborn infant. He soon discovered he was not like other kids, having the powers of telepathy and levitation and the ability to control the minds of others. After graduating from high school, Matt was recruited by another telepath, who convinced him to join a secret government agency, where he could use his mind powers to fight the enemies of America’s freedoms. Comics are a reflection of our society, and this comicbook came out at a time when America was recovering from the “Red Scare” of the 1950s; there were many people who believed the country was in danger from Communists at home and abroad. Matt’s mission was to fight all such foes of the U.S., who were using their own telepathic agents to bring down the West. “Brain Boy” was only a code name, a nickname. Matt never did wear any kind of costume. He first appeared in Four Color #1330 in 1962. Following that, the series began with “#2” and lasted until the sixth issue.

Gil Kane

That’s Using Your Brain, Boy! Brain Boy exercises mental control over his opponents in Four Color #1330 (April-June 1962). The dusky skin tones on his part are part of a clever disguise. Script by Herb Castle; art by Gil Kane. Reproduced from the hardcover Dark Horse reprint volume. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Writer Herb Castle and artist Gil Kane created Brain Boy for his Four Color debut. Frank Springer did the artwork for the regular series. This was not a saga of super-strength or super-speed or the ability to fly, such as American comics readers had been used to. The creators attempted to portray what one could accomplish using only a greatly enhanced mind as a weapon in and of itself. Little is known about writer Herb Castle, but “Brain Boy’s” first artist, Gil Kane (1926-2000), was already noted as the original illustrator of DC’s 1960s series Green Lantern and The Atom, and would also do significant work for Marvel beginning in the mid-’60s, as well as later on the newspaper strips Star Hawks and Tarzan. Frank Springer (1929-2009) had worked from 1953-60 on the Terry and the Pirates comic strip. The regular Brain Boy series was his first assignment at Dell. Later, he would do controversial work with writer Michael O’Donoghue on Phoebe Zeitgeist for Evergreen Review magazine. He would also work for DC Comics on “Batman,” etc., and for Marvel on “S.H.I.E.L.D.,” “Spider-Woman,” et al.

Frank Springer Float Like A Butterfly… The young hero shows off his powers of levitation. Script by Herb Castle; art by Frank Springer. Thanks to Comic Book Plus website. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

An Overview

Brothers Of The Spear

Comics, a new Western imprint, published an eighteenth (reprint) issue in 1982.

Dell Comics - in Tarzan #25-131 (1951-1962); Gold Key Comics - in Tarzan #132-163 (1962-1967) and Brothers of the Spear #1-17 (1972-76); Whitman (#18, May 1982) “Brothers of the Spear” was an adventure series set in the African jungle that began as a back-up feature in Dell’s Tarzan and stayed with Gold Key after the Dell/Western Publishing agreement ended, where it continued and later ran as a separate title. The story focuses on two young men, Dan-El and Nantongo, unrelated kings in their neighboring countries, both of whose thrones had been usurped. They swear to become “brothers” and embark on adventures together, striving to win justice for the oppressed. What was so revolutionary at the time this strip appeared was that Dan-El is white (ruler of a lost white tribe in Africa), while Nantongo is black. Although Caucasians and blacks interacted in Edgar Rice Burroughs’ works, Dan-El and Nantongo fought side-by-side, as equals, bonded together by friendship, their down-to-earth thinking, and moral standards. The feature’s first few years centered on the two young men winning back their thrones. They both got married during that time, but continued to fight evil on their epic adventures—and often took their wives along. Despite being an action series, “Brothers of the Spear” is also a relationship story dealing with friendship, marriage, even morality.

In the Gold Key series, Du Bois continued as the writer, but Manning was replaced by his former employer Jesse Marsh, who provided the artwork for the first twelve issues, until he was replaced by Dan Spiegle. Scripter DuBois (1899-1993) understood adventure and action, making him a natural first for “Tarzan,” then for “Brothers.” An avid outdoorsman, he wrote over 3,000 stories for comicbooks, comic strips, Big Little Books (another major product from Western), and juvenile adventure novels. He also wrote issues of Dell’s Turok, Son of Stone and created Gold Key’s “The Jungle Twins,” a follow-up to “Brothers of the Spear” that kept Western’s hand in the jungle adventure genre. Jesse Marsh (1907-1966) was the first artist to illustrate the ape-man in the Dell/Western Tarzan comicbook series. He also illustrated Gene Autry comics for Dell, and had worked as an animator for Disney.

Gaylord Du Bois Writer from first to last of the “Brothers of the Spear” feature.

Jesse Marsh

Russ Manning took over the Tarzan comic in the 1960s, due to Marsh’s deteriorating health. He went on to make a name for himself as one of the finest artists in comics, creating Magnus, Robot Fighter for Gold Key.

Even though “Brothers” originally appeared in the back of the Tarzan comic, Western owned the newer series. It was created for 1951’s Tarzan #25 by writer Gaylord DuBois and artist Jesse Marsh, who were also the team on the “Tarzan” stories. Before long, Marsh’s assistant, Russ Manning, took over the art chores. Following the break between Dell and Western, Western gave “Brothers” its own magazine for its new Gold Key imprint. In 1972, after Western lost the “Tarzan” license to DC Comics, it launched Brothers of the Spear as a new comicbook, which ran through 1976. Whitman

Band Of Brothers (Left:) A Marsh-drawn page from the feature’s debut in Tarzan #25 (Oct. 1951). From the Cartoon Brew blog. (Right:) Manning-drawn page from Tarzan #110 (Jan.-Feb. 1959). Both pages are reproduced from hardcover Dark Horse reprint volumes. A photo of Russ Manning can be found on p. 48. [TM & © Classic Media, Inc.]

Those Unforgettable Super-Heroes Of Dell & Gold Key

Buck Rogers Gold Key Comics – one-shot (1964), as Buck Rogers; Gold Key Comics – #5-6 (Dec. 1979 & Feb. 1980) & Whitman (#7-16, April 1980 – May 1982), as Buck Rogers in the 25th Century Buck Rogers is one of the most influential heroes in the history of American popular culture, and helped revolutionize the way Americans look at outer space as a setting for storytelling in all forms of media—from pulp magazines to comic strips to comicbooks to television to movies to consumer products. It remains an active property to this day. His first appearance dates back to August 1928, when Philip Francis Nowlan wrote a story about one “Anthony Rogers” in the pulp magazine Amazing Stories. The tale was well-received, and Nowlan wrote a second story that appeared in Amazing the year after. On January 7, 1929, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century was introduced to newspapers everywhere, becoming the first science-fiction comic strip and quickly growing in popularity. The basic storyline has Buck Rogers, a former U.S. Army Air Corps officer on a mission, fall into a coma after being exposed to some leaking gas. When he finally awakens, much to his astonishment, he is in the 25th century. It was a “Rip Van Winkle” introduction, but that old fellow never lived the kind of life Buck Rogers was destined to live in the years ahead. He is soon joined by the lovely Wilma Deering and the originally somewhat sinister Dr. Huer, to face a world in which Mongol invaders have conquered the Earth. They also fight warlords, dictators, and other villains, using their intelligence and gadgets. The comic strip was officially created and supervised by John Flint Dille, president of the National Newspaper Syndicate. Dille changed the hero’s name from “Anthony” to “Buck,” assigning Nowland to write the stories and artist Dick Calkin to draw Paul S. Newman them. By coincidence, on the same day Buck Rogers started as a newspaper strip, Tarzan began as a comic strip as well. In 1964, Gold Key published a one-shot comicbook of Buck Rogers, with script by Paul S. Newman and art by Ray Bailey. By then, Buck had had plenty of exposure in all forms of media; and Western Publishing, which licensed so many major properties, figured they should give Buck a chance. But they did just one issue at that time.

Buck-ing A Trend A page drawn by Ray Bailey (in his best Caniffinfluenced style) for the 1964 Buck Rogers #1. Script by Paul S. Newman. Thanks to Art Lortie. [TM & © The Dille Trust or successors in interest.]

In 1979, however, Western/Gold Key gave Buck his own comics series (starting with “#5”) after Universal Studios had launched a weekly TV series, starring Gil Gerard. That series ran until 1982, with the “Whitman” name on most issues. The comicbook followed the version seen in the TV series.

Ray Bailey Detail of a rare 1947 photo taken by fellow comics artist Pete Tumlinson and provided by Dr. Michael J. Vassallo. See the entire pic in A/E #144.

TSR, the game company that also published comicbooks for a short time, issued its own Buck Rogers comic from 1990-91. Currently, Dynamite Entertainment is publishing a Buck Rogers comic. The Dille Family Trust, the successor to National Newspaper Syndicate of America, is the owner of the property and protects and merchandises it very well.

An Overview

Captain Midnight Dell Comics – in The Funnies #57-64 (July 1941-May 1942); Popular Comics #76-78 (June 1942-Aug. 1942) Despite its being a major property that was first introduced as a radio series in 1938, Dell did not do that much with Captain Midnight when it licensed him for comicbooks in 1941. His serialized aerial adventures were a continuing feature in issues #57-64 (July 1941-May 1942) of Dell’s The Funnies. The pencils and inks were by Dan Gormley; the scriptwriter is unknown. “Captain Midnight” relates the adventures of a U.S. Army pilot who fought some tough battles in World War I and ran an elite division in the Army Forces called the Secret Squadron. Captain Midnight fought criminals and enemy agents for America and its ideals. In 1942, his feature was moved to Popular Comics. After Dell gave up the license in 1942, Fawcett Publications took over and put out its own licensed but somewhat more super-heroic version of Captain Midnight from 1942-48 as a comicbook. They even gave him a secret identity—Captain Albright, which had been his real name on the radio series—and added such science-fictional and fantasy gimmicks as a black-light ray and underarm “glider chutes” that acted as de facto parachutes when he leaped from (or between!) airplanes.

Wait For The Midnight Hour! (Left:) Dan Gormley’s cover for The Funnies #58 (Aug. 1941), the second issue to feature radio’s “Captain Midnight.” Thanks for this scan and the next to Comic Book Plus. Several Dell “CM” episodes have been reprinted in the Dark Horse hardcover Captain Midnight, Vol. 1, which otherwise is composed of reprints of the Fawcett version. (Right:) The Captain’s last appearance in a Dell mag—from Popular Comics #78 (Aug. 1942)—with art by Robert (Bob) Jenney. Scripters unknown. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Robert Jenney We grabbed this photo off the Internet—but we think it’s the right Bob Jenney!

The successful radio program ran from 1938 to 1949, and became synonymous with such gimmicks as a Captain Midnight decoder ring (not a ring you wore around your finger, but a

circular chart of secret codes). There was also a 15-episode Captain Midnight theatrical serial produced by Columbia Pictures in 1942, and later a TV series starring Richard Webb produced by Screen Gems, then Columbia’s television arm. Ovaltine sponsored the show. Because of Ovaltine’s ownership of the property, later re-runs were forced to drop all references to “Captain Midnight” and re-name the show Jet Jackson. There was even a newspaper comic strip from the Chicago Sun Syndicate from 1942 to the end of the 1940s. On both the radio show and in the Dell series, Captain Midnight was a slightly more realistic hero-aviator. He was not super-human, but rather a man who loved to fly and who fought for the Armed Forces and for his country.

People from that era still remember “Captain Midnight”—and he is not about to be forgotten.

Those Unforgettable Super-Heroes Of Dell & Gold Key

Dagar The Invincible Gold Key Comics - #1-18 (Oct. 1972-Dec. 1976), plus #19 (1982) reprinting #1 During the 1970s, barbarians were fairly popular in comics, due to the tremendous success of Conan the Barbarian, which was the creation of Robert E. Howard and which became a comicbook at Marvel in 1970. Writer/co-creator Donald F. Glut decided to try his hand at coming up with a barbarian hero of his own, and Jesse Santos was assigned by Gold Key to illustrate his scripts. The complete official title of the comic in which Dagar appeared was Tales of Sword and Sorcery Dagar the Invincible. Dagar wasn’t technically a barbarian, but actually the scion of a fallen civilization. Still, he shared a visual look with Conan, and his stories featured elements of sword-and-sorcery set in a mythical world of wizards and primitive warriors. Donald Glut (b. 1944) worked in the comicbook and children’s television and publishing business for a considerable time and

has worked on a variety of different characters in his career. As a comicbook writer, he has worked for Marvel, DC, and Warren, as well as Gold Key. For the latter, he also created The Occult Files of Dr. Spektor and Tragg and the Sky Gods, as well as writing episodes of “Brothers of the Spear.” He pulled both Dr. Spektor and Tragg [see pp. 56 & 63] into “Dagar” adventures. As a TV writer, he worked on some of Saturday morning TV’s biggest shows during the 1970s and 1980s, including Shazam!, Spider-Man, The Transformers, The Gobots, Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, Land of the Lost, and G.I. Joe. One of his major credits was in the book-publishing business, where he wrote the best-selling 1980 novelization of The Empire Strikes Back, the second Star Wars movie. He has also written several books on the subject of dinosaurs, including The Dinosaur Dictionary and The Dinosaur encyclopedia series. Artist Santos did a lot of work for Gold Key and worked on several series originated by Don Glut, including Dagar the Invincible, Tragg, and Dr. Spektor.

Jesse Santos

Donald F. Glut The writer was interviewed in depth for Alter Ego #143.

Cloak And Dagar (Left:) Dagar battles a dragon—if he can rid himself of three wenches hanging onto his limbs—in Tales of Sword and Sorcery Dagar the Invincible #10 (Dec. 1974). (Above:) That issue’s cover. Painter unknown. [TM & © Random House, Inc.]

An Overview

Doc Savage Gold Key Comics – one-shot, 1966 The history of Doc Savage is a fascinating one, since the character has endured for more than 80 years, yet has never found great success in other forms of media and entertainment besides the written word. Still, he does have depth and a loyal following. The first Doc Savage novel-length story, The Man of Bronze, was published in a long-running series of pulp magazines, beginning in 1933, by Street & Smith Publications, which was eager to duplicate the success it was having with The Shadow. Doc was officially created by three men: publisher Henry W. Ralston, editor John L. Nanovic, and Lester Dent, the series’ main writer (though all stories were credited to a nonexistent “Kenneth Robeson”). Doc Savage magazine ran from 1933 to 1949, with a total of 181 issues put before the reading public. Doc became even more popular when a new generation of readers was introduced to him, when Bantam Books published reprints in paperback form of the 1930s-40s stories, with new covers by James Bama, a powerful artist with a realistic style that portrayed Doc as a bronze-skinned muscular powerhouse. Bantam began reprinting these adventures in 1964; they caught on and were published until all 181 had been reprinted, some of the later, shorter ones two to a volume. Clark Savage, Jr. (nicknamed “Doc”—because he holds a number of Ph.D’s), is a superior human being in terms of

Leo Dorfman

Jack Sparling Portrait or selfportrait? Probably the latter.

What’s Up, Doc? (Above:) An inside-cover black-&-white illo of Doc Savage and his five skilled aides—and (at left) a page of Doc in action from the interior. Script by Leo Dorfman; art by Jack Sparling. Thanks to Gene Reed & William Mitchell. [TM & © Advance Magazine Publishers, Inc., d/b/a Condé Nast.]

intelligence and physical perfection, trained virtually from birth to achieve his full potentialities. When not saving the world, he is an explorer, a scientist, a doctor, an inventor, and a scientific researcher. He operates out of a New York City skyscraper, high above the hustle and bustle of the streets below. When he wants to be alone, he has his own private citadel (his “Fortress of Solitude,” a phrase later appropriated by “Superman” writers) in the Arctic, to which he retreats for reflective thinking. He also has five very accomplished aides, who accompany him on his globe-trotting missions; but as the stories progressed, they figured less in the stories and Doc was seen going it alone more often. He also had a sister named Pat, who figured in some of the later adventures. Street & Smith published a Doc Savage comicbook series from 1940 through 1943, with a few exploits of his appearing in Shadow Comics. The Doc of the ’40s comicbooks had more of a super-hero feel than did the pulp character, gaining special powers from a mystic ruby. The pulp-mag Doc would have shuddered in horror at the thought! Gold Key came out with its own one-shot Doc Savage comic in 1966, adapting the novel/story The Thousand-Headed Man behind a reprinted Bama cover, with interior artwork by Jack Sparling. The scripter was “Superman” scribe Leo Dorfman. Presumably there would have been more Doc Savage comics had the issue sold well. Apparently it did not. Beginning in the early ’70s, first Marvel, then DC and others would publish series of Doc Savage comicbooks, but none has ever been a stand-out success. In 1975 there was also a lackluster Doc Savage movie produced by George Pal and starring Ron Ely.

Those Unforgettable Super-Heroes Of Dell & Gold Key

Doctor Solar, Man Of The Atom Gold Key Comics - #1-27 (Oct. 1962-April 1969); Whitman - #28-31 (April 1981-March 1982) Doctor Solar, Man of The Atom, was one of Gold Key’s most beloved action heroes. The subject matter of the comicbook actually was a little more complex than one might expect. How Dr. Phillip Solar came to be The Man of The Atom is both a story and a lesson in science. While working on an experiment, Dr. Solar became exposed to radiation when he tried to save his associate, Dr. Bentley. The latter was trying to stop an imminent meltdown of a plant that had been sabotaged by Dr. Rasp, an agent of an evil organization. Though Bentley tried to undo the damage done to this nuclear plant, he died in the process. Solar, however, survived, and soon discovered he’d gained the ability to convert his human form into energy; he was also able to fly and fire bolts of energy. Realizing he’d become a human powerhouse, he decided to hunt down the man or men behind the death of Dr. Bentley and the attack on the nuclear laboratory that killed him. The villain in the piece was one Nuro, who would become Dr. Solar’s arch-nemesis. A very clever and determined criminal, Nuro once devised a robot double of himself, called Orun; later, he even transferred his own mind into the robot, which he then christened “King Cybernoid.” Dr. Solar did not receive his costume until a few issues after the series began; but when he did, he looked radiant, pardon the pun. In this gear, his alter ego was “The Man of the Atom.” His garb was designed to shield others from the radiation that made Dr. Solar such a powerful being. When he became The Man of the Atom, Solar’s skin turned green, further separating the man from the super-hero; no one would ever suspect that Dr. Solar, genius scientist, was The Man of the Atom.

Solar Power Dr. Solar in his snappy new mask and costume, all decked out for the second story in Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom #5 (Sept. 1963)—courtesy of writer Paul S. Newman and artist Bob Fujitani. Repro’d from the first volume of Dark Horse Comics’ hardcover reprinting. [TM & © Random House, Inc.]

This Gold Key series ran for 27 issues (1962-1969). In the early 1980s, Western Publishing revived Dr. Solar with issue #28; it ran for a few issues before fading once again.

Bob Fujitani

Since the early 1990s, Dr. Solar (sometime without the Dr. part of the title) has been revived first by Valiant Comics—then by the video-game manufacturer Acclaim (which renamed Valiant as “Acclaim Comics”). After Acclaim’s bankruptcy, Dr. Solar and other former Gold Key properties were purchased by Random House, which licensed Dark Horse Comics to reprint the original Gold Key Doctor Solar and other Gold Key hero-series in hardcover. There have been other comics licenses since. Paul S. Newman (1924-1999), the writer/creator of “Dr. Solar,” rarely received in-print credit for the work he did, but was active for fifty years as a writer of comicbooks, comic strips, etc. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, he is the world’s most prolific comicbook writer, having written more than 4,100 published stories, or almost 36,000 pages… huge numbers by any stretch of the imagination, with most of his professional work being for Dell and Gold Key, though he worked for numerous other comicbook publishers as well.

This Is The Android You Want! Doc battles a murderous android in issue, #6 (Nov. 1963), with new artist Frank Bolle. [TM & © Random House, Inc.]

Frank Bolle Photo from the Comic Art Fans site. Frank didn’t just draw Doctor Solar, you know!

The original artist of the series was Bob Fujitani. The later issues were drawn by Frank Bolle and Jose Delbo. Both were veterans who had begun their careers in the 1940s.

An Overview

Dracula Dell Comics - #1-4, 6-8 (Nov. 1966-March 1967); last 3 reprint #2-4; no #5 Dracula was an attempt by Dell Comics, after its separation from Western, to take advantage of the popularity of the “Dracula” movies produced by Universal Pictures and to turn the lord of vampires into a contemporary super-hero, despite his having been portrayed since his 1897 creation as a merciless villain. The mid-1960s was a time when super-heroes and monsters had briefly taken over television, both on prime-time and on the kidvid Saturday morning schedules, with everything ranging from Superman and Batman to Frankenstein, Jr. Someone at Dell decided the “legend” of Dracula was flexible enough to be molded into something entirely different and aimed at kids. Dell’s Dracula had almost nothing in common with the original character, except for the name. After an unrelated “issue #1” devoted to re-telling the original Bram Stoker novel, Dell (starting with #2) introduces a brand new character, who has no connection to either book or films. Dell’s Dracula actually looks like a kid’s version of “Batman.”

Drac Is Back! Cover of Dell’s Dracula #2 (Nov. 1966)—and the final panel of issue #4 (March ’67), featuring his new partner Fleeta. Script by D.J. Arneson, pencils by Bill Fracchio, inks by Tony Tallarico. Photos of the writer and the inker can be seen on p. 46. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

well-known monster into a super-hero. Dell did the same thing at the same time with Frankenstein and Werewolf (see separate entries), but none of the three series met with success. Frankenstein was discontinued after #4. A few years later, the three super-hero issues were reprinted, but numbered from #6-#8. There never was a #5.

Bill Fracchio

This 20th-century heroic Dracula is a descendant of the original Count. He’s a medical-research expert, who, while working on a scientific experiment in the castle that had belonged to the Dracula family, accidentally gains super-powers that turn him into a bat-like being, with heightened hearing and vision powers. Unlike his ancestor, this Dracula uses his newly acquired powers to fight evil, clad in a purple costume with a bat-shaped gold belt buckle. He moves to America, takes on a secret identity (“Al U. Card”), and leads a double life just like any worthwhile super-hero. (“Alucard,” which is “Dracula” spelled backward, was first used as a pseudonym by Dracula himself in the 1943 Universal film Son of Dracula.) This Dracula actually becomes personable enough to attract the attentions of a young woman to whom he takes a liking; he enlists her aid in his battle to right wrongs done to others, especially those done by his own family. It was an interesting attempt by Dell to appeal to the 1960s youth market by turning

The series was written by D.J. Arneson (whose connection with it had not been known till recent years), penciled by Bill Fracchio, and inked by Tony Tallarico. The same two artists had been responsible for the mid-’60s Charlton super-hero series Blue Beetle and Son of Vulcan, and in 1966 for the blockbuster success The Great Society Comic Book.

In 2017 the Dell-conceived Dracula, Frankenstein, and Werewolf were teamed up as “The Weird Warriors” in The All-New Popular Comics #1 (July ’17), published by Indellible Comics. (“InDELLible,” get it?)

Dell Is Indellible—And Still Popular! Steven Butler’s cover for Indellible Comics’ All New Popular Comics #1 (2017), produced by A/E benefactor Jim Ludwig and others. The comic features the Dracula/Frankenstein/Werewolf trio, Phantasmo, and other public-domain heroes from the pages of the original Dell comics. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Those Unforgettable Super-Heroes Of Dell & Gold Key

Flash Gordon Dell Comics – 1942-1953 in Four Color #10, 84, 173, 190, 204, 247, 424, & 512—plus Flash Gordon #2 in 1953); Gold Key – #1 (June 1965); #19-27 (Sept. 1978-Jan. 1980); Whitman – #28-37 (March 1980-March 1982) The Flash Gordon comic strip, created by Alex Raymond, can be considered, without too much argument, the ultimate in interplanetary adventure. Pilot Flash Gordon is transported from Earth to the planet Mongo, where his arch-enemy, Ming the Merciless, rules his kingdom as a savage dictator. Flash, along with his confidantes Dale Arden and scientist Hans Zarkov, embark on an endless crusade to rid Mongo of this tyranny for the sake of humanity. King Features Syndicate brought out this classic strip as a way to compete with another space opera in the newspapers, Buck Rogers. Little did anybody expect that Flash Gordon would leap from the comics panel to be the subject of theatrical serials, a major 1980 motion picture (both serials and feature done by Universal Studios), and various television series, both live-action and cartoons, as well as licensed merchandise.

Quick As A Flash

Having been shot into orbit in 1934 (the launch of the comic strip), Flash Gordon has taken his rightful place as a classic hero who has entertained one generation after another in all areas of

Paul Norris

Paul Norris’ cover for Four Color #173 (Nov. 1947) captured much of the flavor of the Flash Gordon comic strip by Alex Raymond and Austin Briggs. He also illustrated the stories inside. [TM & © King Features Syndicate, Inc.]

entertainment. Buster Crabbe originally portrayed the handsome blond hero in the three serials; Sam Jones played him in the 1980 film. By his mid-twenties, Raymond, heralded as one of the finest artists ever to work in the comics, had launched not only Flash Gordon but its fellow comic strips Jungle Jim and Secret Agent X-9. After serving in World War II, he turned his back on his early fantasy work in favor of drawing the comic strip adventures of an urbane private detective, Rip Kirby. Flash Gordon has had an off-and-on career in comicbooks. Western Publishing reprinted the daily strips drawn by Austin Briggs irregularly in Dell’s Four Color series between 1942 and 1947; after that, the Four Color comicbooks featured new material illustrated by Paul Norris and, in one instance, by John Lehti. There was also a single Flash Gordon comic numbered “#2,” with art by Frank Thorne. Gold Key came out with a one-shot in 1965. Things changed for Flash in 1966, when King Features Syndicate formed its own comicbook division and began to publish Flash Gordon and others of its characters itself. The King Comics series ran eleven issues, ending in 1967, when the syndicate shut down its comicbook division to concentrate on newspaper syndication and character licensing. They licensed Flash Gordon to Charlton Comics, which published seven issues in 1969-1970. Afterwards, Gold Key put out Flash Gordon #19-27 (from 1978 to 1980); then Whitman Comics, successor to Gold Key, published #28-37 from 1980-82.

Just One Of Those Mings (Above:) From Gold Key’s Flash Gordon #19 (Feb. 1978)—splash page by writer John Warner & artist Carlos Garzón, a sometime assistant/ghost of Al Williamson’s. From Dark Horse’s hardcover Flash Gordon Comic Book Archives, Vol. 4. [TM & © King Features Syndicate, Inc.]

In 1988 DC Comics put out nine issues of its own licensed Flash Gordon comic; Marvel had its turn in 1995, with Al Williamson, one of the strips’ most faithful (and talented) fans, as the artist. Alas, it lasted only two issues. Aarden Entertainment came out with a Flash Gordon publication in 2008; it ran until 2009.

An Overview

This is something of a reversal of both previous and future trends in super-heroes, in that Frank wears a mask in polite society to hide who he really is, but takes off the mask when he leaps into action as a super-hero. The two people closest to Frank are his butler William, who knows his secret, and Frank’s neighbor, Miss Ann Thrope, a rather ditzy blonde who suspects his secret but has not really put all of the pieces together. She tends to act like a dunce, but, despite the somber implications of her campy name, she can be fun and out-going at times, despite having some annoying habits, like not minding her own business. As Frank Stone, a rich playboy, Frankenstein is able to mingle with people without giving away his secret identity—as a freak who is not truly human but who is far smarter and stronger than any human being and who, thanks to his creator’s good intentions, uses his powers to help right wrongs. Frankenstein’s main nemesis is Mr. Freck, a small but bothersome fellow who wants to prove to the world he’s a bigger man than his size would imply. Freck likes to get around by sitting on the shoulders of his pet gorilla, Bruto, who does everything his master tells him to, including using his great size and strength for the wrong reasons. The series was discontinued after its three super-hero issues.

Frankenstein Dell Comics – #1-4 (Sept. 1966-March 1967) Dell Comics brought the famous monster creation to life as a comicbook, but with a twist… again with D.J. Arneson as writer and Bill Fracchio and Tony Tallarico as artists. Despite retaining certain similarities to the book and motion picture, Dell followed up its first-issue adaptation of the 1931 Universal film (with art by Bob Jenney) with an off-the-wall attempt to turn Frankenstein into a super-hero at the same time it was doing the same with two other concepts inspired by Universal Studios properties, Dracula and Werewolf. Dell’s Frankenstein unfolds in 1866, where the creature is created by a reclusive scientist referred to as “The Doctor.” The latter gives his brainchild great brilliance and great physical strength… but then the monster lies dormant for over a hundred years, beneath the ruins of the castle where his creator had lived. Upon awakening when a lightning bolt strikes, Frankenstein realizes he does not look like a normal human being, due to his great size and green face-color, and he does not want to walk among men as he is, for fear that he might be attacked. (Why was his natural face colored green, but not his bare arms? Nobody ever said.) He dons a mask to hide his true features and gives himself the name Frank Stone, an idea that he gets when he sees a piece of stone lying about with the name, “Frank” on it. He befriends a man who’s been involved in a traffic accident: Henry Knickerbocker, millionaire philanthropist and, even more important, a former friend and business partner of Frank Stone’s creator. After Henry dies, Frank Stone inherits his vast fortune, which allows him to live well and to fight crime. When Frank goes into action against injustice, he dons a scarlet-colored costume and takes off his mask, revealing his true features.

Fracchio & Tallarico Meet Frankenstein Bill & Tony’s cover for Frankenstein #3 (Dec. 1966)—and a bestial battle page from #4 (March 1967). [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Those Unforgettable Super-Heroes Of Dell & Gold Key

The Green Hornet Dell Comics – Four Color #496 (Sept. 1953); Gold Key Comics – #1-3 (Feb. 1967-Aug. 1967) Dell Comics published a one-shot issue (#496) in its omnibus title Four Color series that starred the classic masked detective, The Green Hornet, in 1953. Originally created by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker, The Green Hornet became a media sensation, starting on radio in the mid-1930s. The basic concept is simple: A crusader for justice leads a double life, as many other crimefighters have done and still do, both before and after him; and both lives are fascinating, due to sharp characterization and good story-telling. The Green Hornet is actually Britt Reid, a newspaper publisher. As a result of his vocation, he is among the first to get news of any and all types of injustice and has the resources to deal with it. But printing what goes on in the world is not nearly enough for Reid. Instead of being content with just doing his job as a newspaper mogul, he dons a mask, hat, and trenchcoat and goes out to battle the bad guys as The Green Hornet, armed with a gas gun. He is assisted by his close aide and chauffeur, Kato, a well-trained master of martial arts; together, they are unstoppable. They travel to work in a powerful dark limousine they call the Black Beauty, often accompanied by the radio series’ theme music, Rimsky-Korsakov’s “The Flight of the Bumblebee.” Apparently a bumblebee was as close as the radio folks could get to find music about a hornet. By the time Dell published its single Green Hornet issue, written by Paul S. Newman and illustrated by Frank Thorne, he actually had a somewhat sporadic comicbook past that dated back to December 1940, when the hero was published first by Helnit Comics, then by Harvey Comics. The Golden Age team supreme of Joe Simon & Jack Kirby was heavily invested in the Harvey version during the post-World War II years. Fourteen years after the Dell version, the Western/Gold Key Green Hornet was a three-issue series, based on the prime-time TV series. (Which itself was a spinoff, by some of the same people, who had made Batman a TV and pop-culture phenomenon in early 1966. The two heroes even met, in a small-screen crossover that carried over to both their shows.) The Hornet TV show spawned media and licensing interest.

Who Stepped On A Hornet’s Nest? No one seems quite sure who painted the dynamic cover of Four Color #496 (Sept. 1953), the Green Hornet one-shot—but the interior art was by Frank Thorne. A/E’s editor remembers being thrilled to buy it off the newsstand in 1953—and disappointed when there was no follow-up issue. [TM & © the respective copyright holders.]

After a short-lived Gold Key series based on the TV program, the masked detective did not see comicbook print until the late 1980s and early ’90s, when Now Comics brought him back in new adventures. Now even put out a short-lived Kato comicbook, since a young Bruce Lee had played the role in the 1960s TV series. Dynamite Comics has come out with yet another Green Hornet comicbook (in 2010).

Frank Thorne and one of his luscious models, after he had moved on to drawing first Marvel’s Red Sonja, then writing and drawing his own Iron Devil, Moonshine McJuggs, et al.

George Trendle and Fran Striker, who created “The Green Hornet,” were also the creators of “The Lone Ranger,” another great fictional character who got his start on radio and proceeded to other forms of entertainment and licensing. In fact, Britt Reid is revealed at one point in the radio series to be the descendant of Dan Reid, a youth who palled around with the Ranger for years.

An Overview

The Jungle Twins Gold Key Comics – #1-17 (April 1972-Nov. 1975) plus #18, reprinting #1 (May 1982) This comicbook series is Gold Key’s own creation. Its readers would have a hard time not comparing it to an earlier Gold Key series, “The Brothers of the Spear,” which began life in the Tarzan title. The Jungle Twins are indeed twin brothers, Tono and Kono. Though of European origin, they were raised by an African chief, who taught them survival skills. In the jungle, that type of education is needed, and the two lads did not disappoint. They embark upon one wilderness adventure after another as they try to help those in need, while also protecting each other. It was later revealed that Tono and Kono were of royal descent, having been born of parents who were the rulers of a (fictional) European land called Glockenberg. Strangely, the tribe with which they adventure is called the Wokandis… apparently no relation to the earlier and more famous Wakanda who were introduced, along with their leader T’Challa the Black Panther, in 1966 issues of Marvel’s Fantastic Four. Gold Key launched The Jungle Twins after they lost the rights to the Edgar Rice Burroughs characters, which was Gold Key’s way of saying that, even without Tarzan, Korak, or “Brothers of the Spear,” they wanted to keep a foot in the jungle-adventure genre.

Two For The Show The cover of Jungle Twins #1 (April 1972), illustrated by Dan Spiegle—and the issue’s splash page by Gaylord Du Bois (writer) and Paul Norris (artist). Thanks to Mark Evanier, the Grand Comics Database, and Michael T. Gilbert, respectively. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Dan Spiegle

Jungle adventure and wilderness veteran Gaylord Du Bois wrote this series. A publisher could not have picked anybody more qualified for this type of story, because Mr. Du Bois had decades of experience writing Tarzan, “Brothers of the Spear,” and Turok, Son of Stone (see separate entries), and this new adventure was just what the witch-doctor ordered.

The interior art was by Paul Norris, who seems at one time or another to have drawn virtually every major comic strip adventurer that Dell/Western licensed—and who drew the first “Aquaman” stories for DC Comics in the early 1940s.

Those Unforgettable Super-Heroes Of Dell & Gold Key

At The Korak Of Dawn Morris Gollub’s cover for the first issue of the comic that was officially named Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Korak, Son of Tarzan (cover-dated Jan. 1964)—and Russ Manning’s splash page for same. In the initial panel, scripter Gaylord Du Bois bridged the gap from the character “Boy,” played in 1940s Tarzan movies by Johnny Sheffield, to Tarzan’s natural son Jack, known to the apes as Korak the Killer. The interior art is from Dark Horse’s hardcover Korak, Son of Tarzan, Vol. 1. [TM & © Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.]

After being published for eight years by Gold Key, Korak, like the other Burroughs characters, left Western Publishing for DC Comics—but Tarzan’s son did not last as long at the new licensee as the original ape-man did.

Korak, Son Of Tarzan Gold Key Comics – #1-45 (Jan. 1964-Jan. 1972) Western’s second most popular Edgar Rice Burroughs franchise was in good hands, due to the fine artwork that brought out the primitive lifestyle of the hero and those who surrounded him. Korak was the son of the ape-man and his wife Jane Porter Greystoke. As in the case of his sire, Korak’s stories revolved around his life as an adventurer living in the jungle, where he confronted problems imposed by both beasts and humans. Russ Manning once again proved how talented an artist he really was, by applying fast-moving and clarified images like those he would soon apply to the main Tarzan comicbook series. The stories were by the seemingly ubiquitous Gaylord Du Bois.

Morris “Mo” Gollub painted covers for Tarzan, Korak, and other Western comics. According to the website michaelbarrier.com, he’d become a Disney animator in 1937 and worked, among other things, on the 1942 Bambi feature. He was later a producer on the Stanley Kubrick film Dr. Strangelove, as detailed in Alter Ego #51.

There really was not that much difference between Tarzan and Korak as characters: Korak was basically just a younger version of the older Burroughs creation. Chances are that, not too late in his career, Burroughs may have wondered if he had erred in writing The Son of Tarzan as only the fourth book in the prose series, since having a child made Tarzan (and Jane) seem older—especially when Korak and his own wife Miriam likewise had a son, making Tarzan a grandfather! Korak might not have been as tough as Tarzan, or as gifted in terms of his ability to communicate with the apes and other animals; but he did follow in his father’s footsteps and proved that he had heart and believed in humanity.

An Overview

Lobo Dell Comics – #1-2 (Dec. 1965 & Oct. 1966) Although Lobo is not technically a super-hero, he is indeed a hero—and because this comicbook character is so unique, we’re listing him here. Lobo is a Western comicbook that first came out in 1965, making its title hero the first African-American character to have a comic magazine of his own. He was not a recurring character anywhere else, nor was he a secondary character in another character’s title. He was the main attraction; and even though he is not very well known, he nevertheless has taken his rightful place in the history of comicbooks. Created by writer D.J. Arneson and artist Tony Tallarico, Lobo is an example of Dell Comics taking a huge chance in publishing this character in a title all his own. Despite the fact that America was on the verge of tremendous social and political change at the time Lobo was published, the country was still not quite “there” yet in terms of the acceptance of a black hero starring in his own comic marketed basically to Caucasians. Tallarico had an idea that was certainly revolutionary for its time, and brought it to the attention of D.J. Arneson. Arneson, in turn, took the idea to Dell’s editor-in-chief, Helen Meyer—she loved it, and Dell published the comicbook. It is reported that Dell printed about 200,000 copies of Lobo. But, to its dismay, bundles of the comics were returned unopened. Apparently, many sellers were uncomfortable about selling a comicbook that featured a black man as the title character. Because of that resistance, the comicbook was done for. Reportedly, Dell sold only about 10,000 or 15,000 copies, which for the 1960s, and for Dell, was almost nothing. Dell should be complimented for its ground-breaking decision to publish a character of an ethnic minority. Even though the comicbook did not reach an audience, it did make history by coming out in the 1960s. Although there had been numerous black cowboys, mostly ex-slaves, in the post-Civil War West, how many of them were ever written about—let alone starring in their own comicbook?

Lobo Means “Wolf”—As In “Lone” Tallarico’s cover for Lobo #1 (Dec. 1965)—and a dramatic page from the interior. Script by D.J. Arneson. Thanks to Rob Allen. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Lobo was a gun-slinger, wrongfully accused of a crime he did not commit. As such, he had to fight both bad guys and good, for many would not give this black man the benefit of the doubt. No one knew his full name. He was called “Lobo” (Spanish for “wolf”) because, after he defeated a villain, he would leave his very special calling card: a gold coin imprinted with the image of a wolf accompanied by the letter “L.” In 2006 Tallarico was given an award by the Temple University College of Arts and Science. Its Pioneer Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Comics and Books Industries was in recognition of his creating the first African-American character to headline his own comicbook.

Tony Tallarico

D.J. Arneson

Those Unforgettable Super-Heroes Of Dell & Gold Key

Magic Morro Dell Comics – Super Comics #21, 22, 25, 26, 28, 38, 56-58 (between Feb. 1940-July 1943); Little Orphan Annie (two unnumbered issues in 1941) Magic Morro, whose real name was Jack Morrow, was a magician. He had true magic powers and lived a very isolated life, only coming into contact with his fellow man when he rushed to the aid of someone in trouble. He lived on a secluded jungle island. These jungles, though generally quiet, had their range of problems, from wild animals to tribes that were aggressively territorial—to those men who would come to the island, either on purpose to see what it contained, or by accident because of poor navigation or adverse weather conditions. His principal companions were Oomla, a native of the island, and Hector, a lion.

“Magic Morro” appeared in nine non-consecutive issues of Dell’s popular Super Comics, which was a beautiful 64-page comicbook that primarily featured reprints of comic strips such as Dick Tracy and others. Even though there are few people who have ever heard of Magic Morro, his first appearance will cost a collector at least $450. His stories were also included in two unnumbered 1941 issues of Dell’s Little Orphan Annie. Magic Morro was basically a combination of Lee Falk’s two seminal comic strip creations, Mandrake the Magician and The Phantom.

The feature was drawn by Ken Ernst, who would soon move on to greater heights as the artist of the popular comic strip Mary Worth. The scripter is unknown, as is the case with so many Golden Age stories.

…Till It Be Morro “Magic Morro” began life as a Tarzanic/super-heroic feature, as per the cover and action page from Super Comics #25 (June 1940). Later, after he embraced the way of civilization, he wore more clothes, as on the cover of Super #34 (March 1941). Art by Ken Ernst; scripter unknown. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Ken Ernst

An Overview

Magnus, Robot Fighter Gold Key Comics - #1-46 (Feb. 1963-Jan. 1977); also appeared as back-up feature in Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom #29-31 (1981-1982) Magnus is the creation of Russ Manning, a popular and respected artist and writer. The first issue was cover-dated February 1963, and is one of Gold Key’s first original super-hero characters. In the year 4000 A.D., Magnus is a valiant human warrior in the usual futuristic setting, whose primary mission is to battle rogue and evil robots. He also encounters hostile pirates and aliens in his battle to protect humanity from its enemies. The standard plot in “Magnus” stories involved the hero fighting for a world he never made, in an era when the human race depended on robots. Manning’s theme was that human beings should not rely on any other living creature or machine but on themselves and their fellow humankind. Robots had been created to be men’s servants, but by a quirk of fate had become man’s deadliest enemy. The setting is the radiation-ravaged fictional city of North Am, an urban area roughly the size of the North American continent. The villainous police chief has imposed a totalitarian regime on citizens, enforced by the robots that he and his underlings control.

Russ Manning

Magnus was raised by a robot named 1A—whose very name implies he might be the first (or best) robot in a manufactured line. Surprisingly, 1A has emotions and is capable of caring for those outside his own kind. He has taken Magnus under his wing. Another major character in the series is Leeja Clane, the pristine love interest. Her and Magnus’ relationship underlines what it means to be truly human. The emphasis in the comic is less on action (though there is plenty of that) than the theme of man against robot. Magnus, because of his special training from 1A, is able to defeat his robot foes by out-fighting and/or out-thinking them. Russ Manning was influenced by Tarzan, and the story of Magnus does offer certain parallels to Edgar Rice Burroughs’ primeval hero. Magnus was not raised by his human parents, but by a robot, just as Tarzan was raised by apes. Magnus, too, lives in a world other than the one that he was born into. After drawing (and briefly writing) Magnus, Manning (1929-1981) went on to draw the Tarzan comics for Gold Key. Other Magnus writers include Robert

Wasn’t The Future Wonderful? Cover painter George Wilson worked from a sketch by interior artist Russ Manning to complete the cover of Magnus, Robot Fighter #1 (Feb. 1963). Seen above is an action page in that first issue, in which Magnus rescues Leeja Clane from menacing “polrobs” (police robots). The cover is repro’d from the GCD, the page from Dark Horse’s hardcover Russ Manning’s Magnus, Robot Fighter, Vol. 1. To date, Dark Horse has produced three beautiful volumes of these archives, but it is to be hoped that it will eventually reprint the later, non-Manning issues as well. [TM & © Random House, Inc.]

Schaefer, Eric Freiwald, Don Christiansen, and Herb Castle. Later pencilers of the hero included Dan Spiegle, Paul Norris, and Frank Bolle. Mike Royer inked some of the later issues. Magnus was reasonably popular from 1963 to 1977, though some of the series consisted of reprints. Manning drew only about one-third to one-half of the stories. Eventually, due to falling sales, Gold Key canceled the comic. Gold Key brought “Magnus” back in the early 1980s as a back-up feature in Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom, but it lasted only for three issues there. In the 1990s, Magnus, Robot Fighter was re-introduced to the comics world by Valiant Comics (later, Acclaim Comics) and featured the character in a more contemporary manner for a new generation of readers, and others have continued that revival. Dark Horse Comics has reprinted the original Gold Key stories in three hardcover volumes.

Those Unforgettable Super-Heroes Of Dell & Gold Key

Mandrake The Magician Dell Comics - Four Color #752 (Nov. 1956) Created by Lee Falk (also the man behind The Phantom), Mandrake the Magician is one of the earliest adventure comic strips appearing in newspapers. Prior to his appearance in Four Color #752 in 1956, in stories scripted by Paul S. Newman & Robert McClintock (from a plot reportedly written by and drawn by Falk) and illustrated by Stan Campbell, Mandrake had appeared in comicbook form in Magic Comics (David McKay Publications) and in Big Little Books (Western Publishing) in the 1930s and ’40s. Always very well-dressed, usually in a black suit and black top hat, Mandrake is both a gentleman and a good judge of character and certainly knows how to get out of a squeeze. Originally he was a real magician, but before long that aspect of his character was altered, and instead he was merely a super-hypnotist, who “gestured hypnotically” and made people see what he wanted them to see. He was accompanied and helped by his powerful aide, the brown-skinned Lothar.

Lee Falk & Phil Davis (left to right)—the creator/writer and original comic strip artist of Mandrake the Magician.

comicbook at that time. Years later, Marvel put out a limited comicbook series, updating the character somewhat. There have been a number of movie and television adaptations over the years. But the character’s biggest success was in the newspapers; over the years, he became something of a household word, because people love magic and Lee Falk created a magician who held the public’s interest, with magic being used not only for entertainment but also to help those in need.

Writer/creator Lee Falk (April 28, 1911 – March 13, 1999) worked on the strip from the beginning almost to his death. Phil Davis, the strip’s artist, was on board almost from the beginning and stayed with it until he died in 1964. King Comics, the comicbook publishing arm of King Features Syndicate during part of the 1960s, put out a Mandrake the Magician

Take It Like A Mandrake! The cover of Four Color #752 (1956), painted by George Wilson—and an interior page of Mandrake “gesturing hypnotically” by writer Paul S. Newman and artist Stan Campbell. Thanks to Alberto Becattini & Gene Reed. [TM & © King Features Syndicate, Inc.]

An Overview

Martan The Marvel Man Dell Comics - Popular Comics #46-71 (Dec. 1939-Jan. 1942) This series was created for Popular Comics by writer G. Ellerbrock and artist William Kent. At least, those are the names that are bylined on its first few episodes. Martan and his wife Vana are inhabitants of the futuristic planet Antaclea who, not unlike Jor-El and Lara of Krypton before them, keep a close eye on a distant world called Earth. And why not? They observe it going through the same disastrous cycle of war that Antaclea itself survived, hundreds of years earlier—and they’re determined to spare its inhabitants the horrors their sphere once knew. So they take a fast rocketship there and are soon attending a performance at a local theatre—when it’s announced that Martians have invaded the Earth—like an Orson Welles fantasy come to life! At that juncture, the series could have been retitled “Martan vs. the Martians.” From this point on, Martan and Vana are embroiled in Earth’s attempt to survive the (very real) Martian assault. They even share Antaclean technology with Earth’s military and eventually they capture the Supreme Three who rule the Martians. After that, the benevolent alien husband and wife turn their attention to battling the aggressive Earth nation of Eurasia—almost precisely a decade before George Orwell would use that name for his U.S.S.R. stand-in in his novel 1984.

A bit later, they also defeated the dreaded White Spheres of Saturn. That particular struggle took them far off into deep space— and since that’s the point at which the not-too-popular Popular series ended, we have no way of knowing if they ever returned to Earth.

He’s A Marvel, Man! (Left:) By his second appearance in Popular Comics (#47, Jan. 1940), “Martan the Marvel Man” had become the cover feature, with art by interior artist William Kent. G. Ellerbrock was the credited writer inside. (Above:) In this later episode, drawn by E.C. Stoner, the logo just read “The Marvel Man.” (Below:) The final panels of the very last “Marvel Man” story, in Popular #71 (Jan. 1942). Guess the kiddies never did learn if Martan and the Lizard People managed to undo regime change on Polaris. The art looks like Stoner, but art & script credits are uncertain. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Those Unforgettable Super-Heroes Of Dell & Gold Key

The Masked Pilot Dell Comics - Popular Comics #44-71 (Oct. 1939-Jan. 1942) Even before it temporarily acquired rights to adapt and continue the new Captain Midnight radio series, Dell/Western launched a similar feature of its own in Popular Comics #44 (Oct. 1939). Drawn and quite possibly written by Bob Jenney, “The Masked Pilot” was more successful than such original heroic Dell features as “Martan the Marvel Man” and “Professor Supermind and Son,” lasting for more than two years in an era when an aviator was still looked on as an adventurer, not as a “bus driver in the sky.” One of his main opponents was The Black Phantom, another flyboy, but garbed in dark duds. In reality, however, there was no particular reason for this particular pilot to wear the full face-mask he displayed. His true civilian identity was never given, nor was his unmasked visage ever shown in the series. He did attend a lecture once unmasked (so as not to attract attention), but the reader was never even told which of the various faces in the crowd was his.

Who Was That Masked Pilot? (Clockwise:) “The Masked Pilot” solo-starred on a Popular Comics cover only twice—for his debut in #44 (Oct. 1939; artist unknown) and two issues later on #46 (Dec. ’39; art by Al McWilliams), although the latter really only featured the aircraft of his nemesis, The Black Phantom. The interior page from Popular #46 was drawn by Bob Jenney; scripter unknown. Thanks to the GCD and Comic Book Plus. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

But then, why did the Lone Ranger wear a mask, years after any possible rationalization for it was long gone? Because it made him a mysterious figure, that’s why.

Alden McWilliams

Jenney also worked for DC (“Gary Hawkes” in 1938-39), Centaur (“Guy Falcon”), Quality (“711”), et al. He even drew “Captain Midnight” when Dell/Western licensed that character— as well as such other Dell series as “Stratosphere Jim,” “New Flying Fortress,” and “Sky Hawk”—maybe the editors felt he had a flair for this aviation thing. Jenney went on to have an artistic career both in and outside comicbooks through at least 1968, when he drew a story for a Warren horror black-&-white.

Can’t Get Enough? (Left:) For the ultimate examination of these great Dell and Gold Key heroes—as well as numerous others from DC, Marvel, Harvey, and other 1960s publishers—be sure to pick up a copy of Michael Eury’s new book Hero-A-Go-Go, available now at bookstores and comics shops worldwide, on Amazon.com, and directly from TwoMorrows at www.twomorrows.com.

An Overview

Mighty Samson Gold Key Comics – #1-31 (July 1964-March 1976); Whitman – #32 (April 1982) Mighty Samson was an original comicbook creation for Western Publishing Company’s Gold Key imprint. Created in 1964 and lasting until 1976, with a final Whitman reprint issue in 1982, the magazine had a rather irregular publishing history. Despite its title, the series had nothing to do with the original Samson legend as portrayed in the Bible. The comicbook hero was a barbarian who wandered a devastated and ravaged Earth after a nuclear war had left the world a dying place in the indeterminate future. Mighty Samson is a mutant of great size, stature, and strength. He uses the latter only for his own survival and to aid those in need. Early in the series, he loses an eye to a creature that is a cross between a bear and a lion, which he kills in self-defense. He skins the beast and wears his hide. He is brought back to health by the beauteous Sharmaine. Her father Mindor is a very intelligent man who has figured out part of what transpired in the 20th century to cause this mutated world by analyzing certain artifacts. Bright Mindor may be, but the full solution is not forthcoming, and the story has the powerful, tragic Samson confront problems of survival in a hostile world that seem to offer little hope of a brighter future. A rather depressing

Mighty Is As Mighty Does! (Right:) Mo Gollub’s cover for Mighty Samson #1 (July 1964). (Below left:) Our one-eyed hero battles a huge tentacled gorilla in issue #3 (Sept. 1965), with script by Otto Binder and art by Frank Thorne. [TM & © Random House, Inc.]

atmosphere for a comicbook, but one that has been used before and since in tales of science-fiction. The men who created stories for Mighty Samson were all substantial professionals in their own right. Otto Binder (1911-1974), once a science-fiction writer for pulp magazines, is best remembered for his work on the 1940-1953 “Captain Marvel,” whose best-selling comicbook adventures were published by Fawcett Publications; but he also did work during that period and later for Timely (Marvel), Quality, MLJ, DC, et al. For DC he wrote particularly for “Superman,” “Supergirl,” and the earliest “Legion of Super-Heroes.” Frank Thorne, the original artist behind Mighty Samson, is best known for his work on Red Sonja, the Robert E. Howard creation published in the 1970s by Marvel Comics. Since then he has written and drawn Ghita of Alizarr for Fantagraphics Books and Lann for the fantasy magazine Heavy Metal, as well as Moonshine McJuggs for Playboy magazine. Early in his career, he worked on the Perry Mason newspaper comic strip for King Features Syndicate and drew such Dell comics as The Green Hornet, Flash Gordon, Jungle Jim, and others. Jack Sparling (June 21, 1916 – February 15, 1997), who came on board a little later, had earlier done a lot of work in the comic strip field, including Hap Hopper, Washington Correspondent in the early 1940s and, beginning in 1943, on Claire Voyant. He also drew comicbooks at one time or another for various companies.

Otto Binder in a photo that appeared in Alter Ego [Vol. 1] #7 in 1964—only a few months after he scripted Mighty Samson #1.

Jack Abel (July 15, 1927 – March 6, 1996), another later Mighty Samson artist, had done work for DC, Marvel, and other firms on some very significant series—including the very first Wolverine appearance (over Herb Trimpe pencils) in The Incredible Hulk #181 (Nov. 1974).

Those Unforgettable Super-Heroes Of Dell & Gold Key

realization eventually dawns upon them: Neutro does not have a brain.

Neutro Dell Comics – #1 (Jan. 1967) Neutro was something of a laughing stock of a super-hero; and, whether it was intended to be or not, the character’s origin is humorous enough. That story postulates that about 1000 years ago, a flying saucer flew over a quiet Mid-Western area and littered space junk all over the place. The litter is actually crates of disassembled machine parts; and it is not until 1967 (when this comicbook was published) that two scientists discover the crates and go through the contents to see what it is that they have found.

His lacking a brain means that whoever is in charge of Neutro has to do his thinking for him. Neutro does not have a sense of right and wrong; so, whoever is at his controls can essentially make him do what he or she wants. This bothers the two builders of Neutro, who realize that they had better stay close to their powerhouse robot—for, if he were ever to fall into the wrong hands, the whole world would suffer. Needless to say, because this comic lasted only one issue, the world will never know the fate of Neutro.

They are able to put the pieces together and create a huge, 12-foot-tall, blue-colored steel robot called Neutro—and a super-hero is born, courtesy of writer D.J. Arneson and artist Jack Sparling.

This comicbook was somewhat similar to the Hanna-Barbera television cartoon Frankenstein, Jr., which was the story of a huge super-powered robot who resembled Frankenstein and whose master was a boy who had his creation use his great powers for the good of mankind.

The scientists are very proud of themselves and are very proud of their creation, which they hope can save the world. Neutro is powerful and can do things that no one else can, but a startling

Neutro, though very short-lived, was good for a laugh. Dell was trying to cash in on the super-hero craze that was hitting the pop culture of the 1960s. Obviously, they missed the mark with this one.

Put It Into Neutro! Splash and an action page from Neutro #1 (June 1967). Script by D.J. Arneson, art by Jack Sparling. Thanks to Michael T. Gilbert & Gene Reed, respectively. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

An Overview

Nukla Dell Comics – #1-4 (Sept. 1965-Dec. 1966) Nukla was a rather colorful super-hero, who fit the mold for a 1960s comicbook crusader. “Nukla” is actually short for “nuclear-powered being,” as this character has the ability to make his body become invisible and immaterial; in phantom form, he can fire lethal bolts of energy that cause nuclear explosions. He has the power to fly at the speed of light, as well as to regenerate himself. Though he can fly under his own steam, Nukla nevertheless has a U-2 spy plane, which he can dematerialize and rematerialize whenever it suits him. The aircraft allows him to conserve energy. Besides, in his other identity, he is Matthew Gibbs, a good-looking CIA spy and pilot. He became Nukla quite by accident. He was flying over Communist China in his spy plane when he was fired on and vaporized in the ensuing nuclear explosion. Lucky for Matthew, he not only survived the attack in a fantastic way, but was able to maintain his human consciousness in his atomized state and to slowly re-form back to his normal human state—this time, with tremendous nuclear powers. He is reborn as a human powerhouse, working for CIA section chief Jim Clarke.

Nukla Power The cover of Nukla #1 (Oct.-Dec. 1965), as penciled by Dick Giordano and inked by Sal Trapani—and Steve Ditko’s splash page for #4 (Sept. 1966). [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Dove—and for Charlton’s Captain Atom and Blue Beetle, later published by DC. Gil Kane, who also loaned his vast talent to this book, is noted particularly for his work on the 1960s Green Lantern and The Atom for DC, and Amazing Spider-Man for Marvel, and as a pioneer in the field of graphic novels.

Nukla uses his vast powers to help preserve freedom and to fight America’s enemies, such as Baron Von Zee and Captain Whale. Though the 1960s were a time of college campus unrest, it was still an era when anti-Communist feeling manifested itself on television and in motion pictures. Nukla represented a politically conservative POV in his efforts to defeat anti-American individuals for the CIA. Joe Gill (July 13, 1919 – Dec. 17, 2006) was an accomplished writer who worked for a number of publishing companies, particularly Charlton, where he co-created Captain Atom, Judo Master, and The Peacemaker. Uncredited penciler Dick Giordano and his brother-in-law/ inker Sal Trapani also worked for DC and other companies over the years. Giordano was managing editor of DC for some time in the 1980s, and was one of comics’ most respected inkers. Though Steve Ditko illustrated the final issue of this series, he’s better remembered for Amazing Spider-Man and “Doctor Strange,” for his DC series The Creeper and The Hawk and The

Joe Gill

Dick Giordano

Sal Trapani

in the 1940s

probably in the 1950s or early ’60s. Courtesy of Jon B. Cooke.

at an ACBA dinner in 1973. See the whole spread in A/E #143.

Steve Ditko From the Dial B for Blog blog.

Those Unforgettable Super-Heroes Of Dell & Gold Key

The Occult Files Of Dr. Spektor Gold Key Comics – #1-24 (April 1973-Feb. 1977) & #25 (May 1982), plus Gold Key Spotlight #8 (Aug. 1977), and (earliest of all) in several editions of Mystery Comics Digest Dr. Spektor is a detective who investigates matters concerning the occult and possesses no super-human powers. His publication history is a little involved, but Donald Glut and Dan Spiegle created the character in 1972, and he first appeared in Gold Key’s Mystery Comics Digest #5, dated July 1972. A fitting place for such a hero to be introduced, since he was created to get involved in mysteries, fantastic or not. Later, he was given his own title, which ran for 25 issues, from April 1973 to May 1982 (the final issue was actually a reprint of issue #1); but he did not “die” even after his series was canceled. He then appeared in a few issues of another Gold Key anthology title, Spine-Tingling Tales, where he was a host of sorts, much as Rod Serling was the host in the TV series The Twilight Zone. “Dr. Spektor” also appeared in yet another Gold Key anthology title, the eighth issue of Gold Key Spotlight.

A Spektor Is Haunting Western! (Above:) Jesse Santos’ cover painting for the first issue of The Occult Files of Dr. Spektor (April 1973)—and yes, the word was spelled “Dr.” in the indicia, and “Doctor” on the covers. (Above right:) Splash page of issue #15 (Aug. 1975). Art by Santos; script by Don Glut. (Right:) Dr. Spektor faces a were-owl in issue #22 (Oct. 1976)—as a Glut/Santos prelude to a guest appearance by the costumed hero The Owl, as seen in A/E #143. (For lots more about Dr. Spektor, see that issue.) Thanks to Steven Friedt. [TM & © Random House, Inc.]

His full name is Dr. Adam Spektor. He is a very intelligent and methodical investigator.

He deals with werewolves, vampires, mummies, and other creatures of the occult and is aided by Lakota Rainflower, his Sioux Indian secretary, and a few others who occasionally drop in for an adventure into the outré. Later in the series, Spektor actually becomes a werewolf, and in that form has great strength and near-invulnerability. Unusually for werewolves, he proves capable of recovering from a silver bullet, which is generally lethal to any loup-garou. After reverting back to his normal self, he continues to investigate the supernatural, showing his determination to help make the world a safer place.

The Occult Files of Dr. Spektor was created by writer Glut, and mostly handled by himself and artist Jesse Santos, the same team who, during this period, also developed Dagar the Invincible and Tragg and the Sky Gods for Gold Key. Glut considers Dr. Spektor his favorite of his comicbook co-creations.

An Overview

Owl Be Seeing You! (Above:) You saw beaucoup “Owl” art by Frank Thomas earlier this issue, so here’s Tom Gill’s cover for Gold Key’s The Owl #1 (April 1967). (Right:) Splash page from Gold Key’s The Owl #2 (1968), scripted by Jerry Siegel and drawn by Tom Gill. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

The Owl Dell Comics – Crackajack Funnies #25-43 (July 1940-Jan. 1942); Popular Comics #72-85 (Feb. 1942-March 1943); Gold Key Comics #1-2 (April 1967 & April 1968). The Owl and his partner Owl Girl were covered in considerable detail in the first article in this issue of Alter Ego, which deals with their main artist/writer, Frank Thomas. They enjoyed a three-year career, in two different Dell titles, in the first half of the 1940s. In the 1960s, Gold Key Comics revived them in a two-issue run, portraying them in a style that was almost a parody of The Owl’s Golden Age incarnation, in an effort to cash in on the camp craze of inaugurated by the 1966+ prime-time Batman television series—and on the resurgent popularity of the DC and Marvel super-heroes. In the 1970s, The Owl made a minor comeback, but only as a supporting character/ guest star in issue #22 of Gold Key’s The Occult Files of Dr. Spektor.

The Owl has no super- powers, another similarity he shares with Batman; instead, he has superior fighting skills and a very good understanding of sophisticated gadgets that enable him to fight crime effectively. He has his Owlmobile, which he uses to get around in style and in haste, and which also has the power to fly like the bird after which it’s named. He also possesses a cape that gives him the ability to glide gracefully through the air; when in flight, he does look like a human owl. He also has a hand-held device he refers to as a “black light,” which casts a beam of darkness. The Owl is aided by his friend and sidekick, Owl Girl, who is secretly Belle Wayne (no relationship to Bruce Wayne), a newspaper reporter who formally becomes his partner after she discovered his secret.

Jerry Siegel In the 1930s, of course, he’d been the writer/ co-creator of “Superman.”

In 1999 his adventures were reprinted in black-&-white in Men of Mystery Comics, published by AC Comics—and new tales were related in 2008 in Project Superpowers, from Dynamite Entertainment. The Owl is actually quite similar to Batman in several ways, only not as deadly serious as the Dark Knight has become in recent years. His real identity is Nick Terry, a police detective. He decided to become The Owl so he could protect his hometown of Yorktown from those who would destroy it, without the usual legal red tape that often gets in the way in the pursuit of criminals.

Tom Gill

“The Owl” is an original Dell Comics creation with a rather erratic publishing history, but it has never been completely forgotten.

Frank Thomas, principal 1940s artist of “The Owl,” worked on Dell’s numerous licensed titles, including Andy Panda, Little Lulu, and Woody Woodpecker. He also drew for Centaur Publications, where he created the series “The Eye” and “Solarman” (not to be confused with the character with the same name created by David Oliphant and later published by Marvel). Thomas also worked in the field of comics strips in the 1940s and 1950s.

Those Unforgettable Super-Heroes Of Dell & Gold Key

Phantasmo, The Master Of The World Dell Comics – The Funnies #45-64 (July 1940-May 1942) “Phantasmo, the Master of the World”—a rather striking name for such an almost-forgotten character, but certainly one with a history. The series made its debut in The Funnies #45 (July 1940), during the year or two after “Superman” and “Batman” first appeared, and well before even “Captain America.” He was Dell Comics’ first original super-hero feature, co-created by African-American artist E.C. Stoner. Phantasmo, as it was revealed, had spent 25 years in Tibet, where he had been taught by lamas the mysteries of the body and mind. Through sheer will power and concentration, he was able to separate his ethereal spirit from his physical body, thus creating a second presence. In his spirit form, he could fight wars, fly through the sky, expand his size, turn invisible or partly invisible, or materialize as a force that was able to move mountains. Returning to his homeland, America, he used his powers to help mankind. Upon his arrival in New York, he took on the identity of Phil Anson and met a young bellhop, Whizzer McGee, who would become his junior assistant and bodyguard. Why did such a powerful figure need a bodyguard? Well, Phantasmo had one major weakness: When he willed himself into a deep trance to free his spirit self, his physical body lay in a lifeless state, and if anything were to happen to his body, it meant instant disaster for Phantasmo. The loyal Whizzer did his best… and it wasn’t easy.

Phantasmo-gorical! Phantasmo could probably have held even DC’s Spectre to a standstill. In fact, the Dell supernatural hero appeared exactly six months after the star of More Fun Comics. Coincidence? You decide. Here are E.C. Stoner’s cover for The Funnies #46 (Aug. 1940), and a page from #58 (Aug. ’41) in which Phantasmo displays his powers. Scripter unknown. Thanks to the GCD and Comic Book Plus. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

During the trance state of mind, he had to rely upon young Whizzer to watch over his body and guard it from harm until he returned from solving various menaces that threatened the world. Whizzer’s job was tough, for Phil Anson, whose extra-sensory vision could observe trouble anywhere in the world, often went into a trance in full public view. From all outward signs, it did appear that Whizzer had a corpse on his hands, but he always explained to passers-by that looks could be deceiving. Between 1939 and 1941, Dell also published a series of 24 black-&-white full-length comicbook editions that were devoted to a single feature. Issue #18 was the only edition to feature “Phantasmo” (it was made up of stories reprinted from The Funnies).

E.C. Stoner Read lots more about this early AfricanAmerican comicbook artist in Alter Ego #118. Photo courtesy of Ken Quattro. [© the respective copyright holders.]

Phantasmo was like Superman—perhaps even more so like that other Jerry Siegel DC creation, The Spectre—in that his powers were truly awesome. He even looked a bit like those two Siegel heroes, in that he did not sport a mask and wore a cape and shorts. Though there are few people still around who ever read “Phantasmo” fresh off the newsstand, one should not overlook the price that is attached to this rare comicbook character. His first issue is currently worth over $1500.

An Overview

Prince Valiant Dell Comics – Four Color #567 (June 1954), #650 (Sept. 1955), #699 (April 1956), #719 (Aug. 1956), #788 (April 1957), #849 (Dec. 1957), & #900 (May 1958) Harold R. (Hal) Foster, the man who had drawn the first-ever Tarzan comic strip in 1929, created Prince Valiant as the hero of a truly epic comic strip… an historical saga that portrays the lives of knights and the hardship of barbaric times. The setting for the strip is supposed to be the 5th century; however, this is the 5th century of Arthurian legend (which is actually based upon a medieval era at least half a millennium later). Despite its haphazard approach to historical truth, Prince Valiant is among the most respected and popular comic strips in the history of the medium. In the beginning of the strip, “Val” is a Nordic prince who becomes a knight of the Round Table. As times goes by, he is seen maturing. He becomes stronger, both in terms of knowing how to handle a sword and a horse, and in standing up for justice and truth. When Foster (1892-1982) was developing this strip, while simultaneous drawing the Tarzan feature, it was originally going to be titled Derek, Son of Thane. The title later changed to Prince Arn (now the name of Valiant’s son). King Features Syndicate re-named

A Prince Of A Fellow (Clockwise from above:) The Prince Valiant covers of Four Color #567 (June 1954) and #719 (Aug. 1956)—and an interior page from one of the Dell issues illustrated by Bob Fujitani and probably written by Paul S. Newman. The cover of #567 features a photo of actor Robert Wagner, who portrayed Val in the 1954 movie, while that of #719 was painted by Sam Savitt. [TM & © King Features Syndicate, Inc.]

the strip Prince Valiant. In 1937, the feature began in newspapers, and the rest is history. Unlike most comic strips, this one eschews the use of word balloons; even the dialogue in delivered as part of the captions. As the strip grew in popularity, it has been reprinted or adapted in many different forms over the decades, including in books and in comicbooks. The Foster strips were reprinted by Ace Comics and King Comics, but Dell did something totally different with the concept. The primary motivation for Dell’s launching a Prince Valiant comicbook was the 1954 feature film adaptation from 20th Century Fox, which starred Robert Wagner as young Val (and James Mason as an evil, secret-identitied Black Knight). That film was adapted as the first of the Dell issues, based on the screenplay by Dudley Michaels. Dell actually created new stories for its Prince Valiant and inserted the hero in its Four Color comicbook series, though it never gave him his own title. The artwork for all these sporadic issues was done by Bob Fujitani; the first several and the last one were scripted by Paul S. Newman, while the writer of the middle issues is unidentified. Prince Valiant has always seemed to have been born to be in newspapers; and that is where he still is even today, continued by other hands years after Foster’s death.

Those Unforgettable Super-Heroes Of Dell & Gold Key

Professor Supermind And Son Dell Comics - Popular Comics #60-71 (Feb. 1941-Jan. 1942) “Professor Supermind and Son” was a relatively short-lived series born of a bold concept: What if a comics company took the already-iconic name “Superman,” altered it slightly into “Supermind,” and—probably to protect against lawsuits from National/DC as much as anything else—posited a brainiac father who gives his son super-powers via science. In some ways, the notion not only finessed “Superman”—it also stood the Fawcett Publications’ already-popular “Captain Marvel” on its head, since now the controlling factor in an ultrapowered super-hero was not a boy but an old man, beard and all! “Supermind” (real name: Professor Warren) first appeared in Popular Comics #60 (Feb. 1941). He built an energy machine that gave his son Dan strength, flight, and invulnerability—sound familiar? Armed with these attributes—and his father’s inventions besides—Dan Warren battled both Nazis and crooks. Prof. Supermind and Son’s greatest power, perhaps, may have been the ability to fly under the radar of National/DC’s lawyers. Despite being featured prominently by name on several Popular covers, the series was allowed to quietly expire after an even dozen adventures—without ever having been sued by the company that was already giving Fawcett a hard time! The artist of both the interior stories and the Supermind cover was Maurice Kushaba, about whom little is known. The writer is unidentified.

It’s A Bird… It’s A Plane… It’s Supermind! No, Actually, His Son Is The One Who Flies! Artist Maurice Kushaba drew the cover and interiors for the “Professor Supermind and Son” feature that began in Popular Comics #60 (Feb. 1941). Pictured are the first and last pages of that initial adventure. Scripter unknown. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

An Overview

Superheroes Dell Comics - #1-4 (Jan. 1967-June 1967) An amusing series that combines some science-fiction with crime-fighting action, the super-heroes here are a quartet of kids: Tom, Don, Reb, and Polly. One day these four teens visit a wax museum and discover there four super-powered androids. Amused by what they see, the young people are unaware that the androids are not just wax figures, but are actually fully operational—and, when the kids’ attention is on the exhibit, the unexpected and the fantastic happens: A powerful atomic feedback strikes the room containing the four kids and the androids—and, to their astonishment, the teens find that their minds have been transferred to the bodies of the androids! Now the kids are in control of the androids and assume the roles of super-heroes, which is what the androids were designed to be. The four androids are: El—garbed in a colorful blue and yellow costume, and gifted with the power to shoot laser bolts… Hy—dressed in a bright red costume, and firing hypersonic blasts… Crispy—wearing a somewhat conservative blue costume, with freezing powers… and Polymer Poly—all decked out in a purple costume, with the power of flight and resistance to heat. The four youngsters soon learn that they can make their minds

The Title Says It All! (Counterclockwise from bottom right:) Sal Trapani’s cover and splash page for Superheroes #1 (Jan. 1967)… and the splash of #3 (May ’67). Writer unknown. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

enter and leave the android bodies at will. In between exploits, they leave the android shells in an abandoned opera house, and, when they need to go into action, they shift their minds into the bodies of the androids. Though the comicbook is titled Superheroes (one word in the indicia; written as two on the covers and thus taking up two lines with its logo), the group are known as “The Fab Four” when they confront such villains as Mr. Mod, Mr. Nutt, Johnny Boom-Boom, and The Clown”—all of whom have personalities and abilities that complement their namesakes. Dell might have considered using a more original name for the team than the “Fab Four,” because that moniker was also used by the Beatles and even by Marvel’s Fantastic Four. However, they tried to be cool while doing their good deeds, and their powers were something to behold, making them a force to be reckoned with. The feature was drawn, from first to last, by Sal Trapani. The writer is unidentified.

Those Unforgettable Super-Heroes Of Dell & Gold Key

Tarzan Dell Comics: Four Color (#134 and #161, both 1947), Tarzan #1-131 (Jan.-Feb. 1948-July-Aug. 1962), plus Annuals, etc.; Gold Key Comics – Tarzan #132-206 (1962-1972) One of Western Publishing’s great success stories was the comics it published of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ hero Tarzan, first in conjunction with Dell, then through Gold Key Comics, in a collaboration that lasted 25 years. Burroughs’ jungle lord had first seen print under the title Tarzan of the Apes as a novel in the pulp magazine Argosy All-Story in 1912; it was published as a book in 1914. Quickly, Tarzan became a household name in additional novels, movies, comic strips, comicbooks, radio, television (both live-action and animated), toys, and other licensed merchandise. The Tarzan comic strip began in 1929, with art first by Harold R. Foster. The first Tarzan comicbook (a one-shot reprint of the origin strips) followed later that same year. The earliest ongoing Tarzan comicbook appearances were likewise reprints of the strips, a few pages each issue in the United Features titles Tip Top, Comics on Parade, and Sparkler. (See A/E #126 for detailed coverage of Tarzan and other ERB heroes in both comic strips and comicbooks.) When Tarzan first came to Western Publishing in the late ’30s and early ’40s, it was in the form of text stories and another one-shot reprinting of Foster strips. His Dell debut in new comicbook stories came in 1947, in its long-running showcase title, Four Color, after which the company gave Tarzan his own title in 1948, beginning with #1. When Dell and Western went their separate ways in 1962, Western kept the rights and continued its Tarzan where the Dell series left off, from #132. Some exceptionally fine artists worked on Western’s Tarzan, including Jesse Marsh, Russ Manning (formerly

of Magnus, Robot Fighter), and Doug Wildey, the latter especially noted for his work on TV’s Jonny Quest. Nearly all the stories in the Dell and Gold Key series were written by Gaylord Du Bois. The Dell issues consisted of original stories; during the Gold Key years, along with new stories, several of the Tarzan novels were adapted. In 1972, Western lost the ERB license to DC Comics, which took over Tarzan with #207, with art and story primarily by Joe Kubert; that lasted till #258, in 1977. In the latter year, Marvel acquired the rights and launched its Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle with a new #1. Marvel’s comic was first handled by artist John Buscema and writer/editor Roy Thomas. Marvel’s Tarzan concluded in 1979. After that, it was not until 1996 that another Tarzan comicbook series was begun, from Dark Horse Comics, where, in addition to more standard adventures, the ape-man encountered Batman, Superman, the movies’ Predator, etc., as well as such ERB creations as John Carter of Mars and Carson of Venus. Dark Horse has also reprinted more than a dozen volumes of the Western Tarzan comicbooks by Du Bois, Marsh, Manning, and others.

Me Tarzan—You Comicbook Buyer! (Counterclockwise swinging from top right vine:) Jesse Marsh’s cover for the second Dell/Western ape-man offering, Tarzan and the Fires of Tohr, aka Four Color #161 (Aug. 1947)—a page by the same artist for Tarzan #9 (May-June ’49)—and a Russ Manning-drawn page from #156 (Feb. ’66), which adapted Edgar Rice Burroughs’ novel The Return of Tarzan and introduced La, high priestess of Opar. The scripter of both interior pages was, of course, Gaylord Du Bois. Thanks to the GCD, the Internet, and the Dark Horse hardcover Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan: The Russ Manning Years, Vol. 1. [TM & © Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.]

An Overview

Tiger Girl Gold Key Comics – #1 (Sept. 1968) Even though the very name “Tiger Girl” sounds corny by today’s standards, the basic concept is reasonable enough, as are the intentions of the comic. Lily Taylor, a sexy and charming circus performer for the Dingaling and South Circus, is Tiger Girl. Like most super-heroes, she has a double identity and must keep her secret safe, because things could get ugly if ever anybody was clever enough to figure out who she really is. Using her superior acrobatic skills, Lily puts on her mask and costume to fight the bad guys as Tiger Girl. She does not have any true super-powers, but is able to defend herself and others by dazzling even the trickiest of criminals with her skills and reflexes. She is accompanied on her missions by her sidekick—an actual tiger named Kitten. The two have a very special relationship and can communicate with each other through an ESP link. Kitten does everything that Tiger Girl tells him to do. What makes this character noteworthy is that she is the creation of writer Jerry Siegel, the co-creator (with artist Joe Shuster) of “Superman.” Unfortunately, Tiger Girl lasted only for one issue. She was not given enough time to collect an audience, but she did have impact just the same, if not when she was published in 1968, then at least in retrospect. 1968 was a very tumultuous year for America. The Vietnam War was raging, from Asia to Berkeley, California, and points east. Women’s liberation was in the early stages of turning into a social phenomenon, and drugs were taking their toll not only in crime statistics, but also in the way that people accept breaking the law. Whether or not Jerry Siegel may have been willing to admit it, Tiger Girl was an attempt to show the world that women can be super-heroes, too, and that it was not an occupation that was reserved only for Wonder Woman or Supergirl.

Tiger Girl’s acrobatic skills were important, but even with a scary costume and an even scarier tiger at her side, it took courage and commitment for her to fight crime. She made her mark, brief as it was. Jack Sparling, who drew Tiger Girl, was an artist who worked at a lot of different companies and on a lot of different series. He drew for Marvel, DC, Dell, Gold Key, and Harvey. He labored on such characters as The Creeper, Blackhawk, Challengers of the Hold That Tiger, Girl! Unknown, Green Jack Sparling’s cover and two pages from Tiger Lantern, The Secret Girl #1-and-only (Sept. 1968), with script by Six, Plastic Man, Jerry Siegel. [TM & © the respective trademark & The X-Men. He also copyright holders.] illustrated various anthology titles, including mystery tales and romance stories.

Those Unforgettable Super-Heroes Of Dell & Gold Key

Tragg And The Sky Gods Gold Key Comics – Mystery Comics Digest #3 (1972) & #9 (1973); Tragg and the Sky Gods #1-8 (June 1975-Feb. 1977); Whitman – #9 (May 1982) Tragg and the Sky Gods, like many of the Gold Key series of the 1970s, was a rather short-lived comicbook and was published sporadically during its time. It nevertheless offered an off-beat kind of adventure and action. “Tragg” first appeared in Gold Key’s Mystery Comics Digest #3, published for April 1972; he next popped up in MCD #9 (Jan. 1973). A series followed—Tragg and the Sky Gods—in 1975. Yet, as has been proven time and time again, just because a series is cancelled, that doesn’t necessarily mean the death of a character, and so in the case of Tragg, who was resurrected in another Gold Key anthology title, Gold Key Spotlight #9 (Sept. 1977). Whitman Comics, another imprint of Western Publishing and the successor to Gold Key Comics, reprinted Tragg #1 in May 1982 and numbered it #9. Writer/creator Donald Glut combined science-fiction and prehistoric fact (and legend) to offer a controversial idea as to the true origin of mankind. A group of advanced aliens come to earth in the very distant past and encounter the Neanderthals. They experiment on the Neanderthals and subsequently produce two Cro-Magnons, who become Tragg and his mate Lorn. Tragg and Lorn would essentially be Adam and Eve, and this rather imaginative take on that tale seemed underplayed in what was a very creative idea for a basic storyline. Glut liked to experiment with science-fiction and very old myths about man and how he came to be, and this is very evident in Tragg. The idea of man having come from apes by now is almost universally accepted, but the idea that man actually is the creation of an alien race who just happened to drop in on our wonderful Earth and experimented on a race to induce what would eventually become modern man is both imaginative and frightening at the same time. One of the major inspirations for “Tragg,” of course, was the popularity of Erich von Däniken’s 1968 book Chariots of the Gods?, which postulated that

outer-space aliens had landed on Earth in primitive times and had given rise to legends of gods. The art was by Jesse Santos, who also worked on Glut’s The Occult Files of Dr. Spektor and Dagar the Invincible. In the long run, Tragg and the Sky Gods did not have enough appeal to become a truly popular comicbook series. Yet, looking back, Don Glut, Jesse Santos, and Gold Key are to be complimented for what they accomplished.

Tragg Races Jesse Santos’ cover and pages from Tragg and the Sky Gods #1 (June 1975), juxtaposing cavemen, dinosaurs, and aliens. Script by Donald F. Glut. Thanks to Gene Reed. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

An Overview

Turok, Son Of Stone Dell Comics – Four Color #596 (Dec. 1954) & #656 (Oct. 1955); Turok, Son of Stone #3-29 (March-May 1956-Sept.-Nov. 1962); Gold Key Comics – #30-125 (Dec. 1962-Jan. 1980); Whitman – #126-130 (March 1981-April 1982) Turok, Son of Stone is Western Publishing’s most successful original adventure hero—and indeed, one of the most enduring comicbook series ever. It is in dispute who actually created Turok; but it can be said that there were three writers, Gaylord Du Bois, Paul S. Newman, and Matthew H. Murphy who contributed the most to the development of the character and who are most responsible for the success the concept has enjoyed. The first issue was drawn by Rex Maxon, who had been the first artist of the Tarzan newspaper comic strip after Hal Foster’s original brief stint. Later illustrators included Bob Correa, Ray Bailey, Jack Abel, Vince Alascia, Bob Fujitani, Giovanni Ticci, and, perhaps most memorably, Alberto Giolitti. Turok is not a super-hero, but he is a hero of a different kind. Primitive, at times savage, he nevertheless has a sense of justice which keeps him going and which is of help to those in need. He is a pre-Columbian Native American, who, with his younger brother Andar, finds himself trapped in an isolated valley that is inhabited by dinosaurs and cavemen. Stories revolve around Turok and Andar’s attempts to get out of this horrifying valley, their wits and skills and courage put to the test every moment. The world in which they are entrapped is the ultimate nightmare background for a thrilling continuing adventure, filled with terrifying creatures that no man really has a chance of defeating, at least not on the beasts’ terms. There is a real quest here—the quest for home and freedom—one that has been seen before, and certainly after, Turok made his first appearance in print. Du Bois, an avid outdoorsman, had visited the Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico; and the valley in which Turok and Andar are trapped is a reflection of what he saw there—with dinosaurs and primeval humans tossed into the mix. When Western Publishing Company was active, Turok was published first by Dell; then by Gold Key (after the relationship between Western and Dell ended); then, very briefly, by Whitman Comics, another Western imprint. Paul S. Newman took over the writing of Turok after Du Bois left. Turok and Andar aged a bit over the years, but were always portrayed as young men on a challenging mission.

Rex Maxon

In the 1990s, Valiant Comics brought in 1971. Turok back, along with several other Western Publishing characters. The concept was altered to give Turok more contemporary appeal. Reportedly, Turok, Dinosaur Hunter sold very well. Acclaim Entertainment, which later took over Valiant, continued Turok in print and also made him into a successful video game and animated DVD, among other things.

Turok Discovers Oil—65 Million Years Early! The cover of Turok’s debut in Four Color #596 (Dec. 1954) was painted by Robert C. Susor; the first issue (scripted, of course, by Gaylord Du Bois) was drawn by Rex Maxon. [TM & © Random House, Inc.]

Those Unforgettable Super-Heroes Of Dell & Gold Key

The Voice, The Invisible Detective Dell Comics: Popular Comics #53-75 (July 1940-May 1942) Want to be a success as a private detective? Maybe invisibility would help! Jim Brant, a New York City private eye, donned an outfit made out of transparent cellulose in his never-ending battle (well, actually, it lasted 23 issues) against injustice. It turned him into The Voice, the Invisible Detective, and was surely an agreeable alternative to such pesky problems that limited the police, such as a search warrant or wiretap permit. His costume wasn’t his own invention, though. It had been created by Professor Bert Wilson, and worked by being bombarded in advance with “sigma rays.” However, it had a built-in limitation: it granted invisibility only for 24 hours at a time. After that, Jim Brant had to remove the garb, treat it with sigma rays anew, and put it on all over again. Still, a small price to pay, surely, for being able to walk about unseen. All you had to worry about was dogs and tripwires. His chief allies were the Professor and his faithful secretary, Curly Rand. The artist (and probable writer) was Jim Chambers, who had already cut his eyeteeth on the “Crimson Avenger” feature in DC’s Detective Comics. The Crimson, as he was called, was the first masked crimefighter to appear in the pages of Detective. But he was soon knocked off the covers (and out of favor) by the second secretidentity crimebuster to pop up in Detective—we forget his name.

Jim Chambers

Finding Your Voice (Clockwise from above left:) Jim Chambers drew the cover of Popular Comics #53 (July 1940)—the only one on which The Voice appeared—as well as the stories from the first one in #53 through the last one in #75 (May 1942), where the bad-ass babe is straight out of Milt Caniff’s Terry and the Pirates. The Voice was swiftly knocked off the covers by the radio adaptation feature Gang Busters. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

An Overview

Werewolf Dell Comics – #1-3 (Dec. 1966-April 1967) This title was Dell’s third attempt to cash in on the popularity of Universal Studios’ monsters (the other two, of course, being Dracula and Frankenstein; see their entries) and to combine them with the spy genre, which was very popular during the 1960s with the movies’ James Bond and TV’s Man from U.N.C.L.E., and with the super-hero genre after the debut of TV’s Batman. Once again, this third monster series was scripted by D.J. Arneson, penciled by Bill Fracchio, and inked by Tony Tallarico. This Werewolf actually has very little in common with Universal’s Wolf Man in terms of the story or lead figure. In the film The Wolf Man, Lawrence Talbot (Lon Chaney, Jr.) becomes the tragic victim of an attack by a werewolf, and is transformed during full moons into a Wolf Man; later appearances in such movies as Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein kept the character alive for years. Other werewolves appearing decades after, both in film and on television, had obvious links to what was established by Universal’s The Wolf Man. The alter ego of Dell Comics’ more generically titled Werewolf was USAF pilot Major Wiley Wolf (we kid you not), who crashes into the Canadian wilderness while flying an experimental aircraft. Elements of Tarzan—and Kipling’s Jungle Book—are tossed in when Wolf is befriended by a group of wolves. One in particular he names “Thor”; it becomes his ally and sidekick. Somehow, Wiley adopts the characteristics of a werewolf, which apparently helps him communicate better with wolves—and vice versa.

I, Werewolf The title hero and his wolf Thor on the cover and an action page from Werewolf #1 (Dec. 1966), drawn by Bill Fracchio & Tony Tallarico. Script by D.J. Arneson. Thanks to the GCD for the cover and to Gene Reed for the interior page. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

He also has some memory loss after the accident, but slowly regains his memory and returns to civilization after six months. He soon takes advantage of his enemies not knowing what has happened to him by shifting from the Air Force to the CIA. Code-named “Werewolf,” he becomes the sole agent in the CIA’s secret division, Top Priority Unit One. Hypnotic treatments enable him to mentally alter his face to disguise himself; he can also become nearly invisible and is virtually impervious to bullets. In addition, he’s given highly advanced gadgets, not unlike those seen in 1960s Bond and U.N.C.L.E. outings. And Thor is always with him. When not fighting enemy agents, Wiley resides at an isolated mountaintop retreat until called into action, usually by his contact Judy Bowmann, a pretty blonde. She keeps a low profile, spending most of her time in an underwater tunnel operated by the CIA. The adventures in this comicbook are formulaic, but, like Dell’s Dracula and Frankenstein, Werewolf was an interesting combination of super-hero and horror motifs—something that wouldn’t be fully experimented with by Marvel and DC until the Comics Code was relaxed in the early 1970s. Dell, of course, was able to publish its trio of mags several years earlier, since it was never a signatory of the Code.

Those Unforgettable Super-Heroes Of Dell & Gold Key

“Z” Is For “Zorro” A trio of comics covers depicting the original masked/costumed hero: his comicbook debut in Four Color #228 (May 1949), with art by Bill Ely… an anonymously painted cover for Four Color #732 (1956), the last pre-Disney cover… and a photo of actor Guy Williams in the midnight-dark outfit for Walt Disney’s Zorro #8 (Dec. 1959-Jan. 1960). Thanks to the Grand Comics Database. [First two covers TM & © Zorro Productions, Inc.; last cover © Disney and/or Zorro Productions, Inc.]

Zorro Dell Comics – Four Color #228, 425, 497, 538, 574, 617, 732 (194956); also #882, 920, 933, 960, 933, 960, 976, 1037 (1957-59); also Walt Disney’s Zorro #8-15 (1960-61) The first shall be last—but the last was the first! Because Zorro is the granddaddy of them all. Superman—Batman (especially Batman)—Captain America— Captain Marvel—yes, even Wonder Woman. Every one of them, and all the Black Terrors and Fighting Americans and Spider-Men in between—owes a debt to Zorro. Or, more particularly, to his creator, Johnston McCulley. It was McCulley who first dreamed up the masked, dark-clad, rapier-wielding precursor of all the other secret-identity (and, indirectly, post-secret-identity) costumed heroes who have been the backbone of the comicbook industry, and more lately of the high-budget films based on them. His story “The Curse of Capistrano” appeared in a 1919 issue of the pulp magazine All-Story Weekly, and was an instant smash—even if, at story’s end, Zorro (whose name means “The Fox” in Spanish) revealed his true identity to one and all. (A fact ignored in McCulley’s various sequels.) That story became the basis of the 1920 movie The Mark of Zorro, which starred Douglas Fairbanks. Because it reached so much larger an audience than the pulp version, Zorro, and thus the secretidentity/masked adventurer tradition, probably owes even more to film than it does to the written word. Only fitting, since, from the beginning, Zorro has been most at home in a visual medium, whether galloping on his stallion (variously named Tornado, Tempest, Phantom, or whatever) or athletically wielding his rapier or bullwhip.

Zorro was, in “reality,” Don Diego de la Vega, who pretends to be a listless fop, the ancestor of Bruce Wayne and of all the Clark Kents and Diana Princes and Peter Parkers that have inhabited the four-color landscape ever since. The stories were set in the pueblo of Mexican-ruled California in first few decades of the 19th century. Dell/Western licensed the rights to the character in 1949 and brought out seven issues over the next equal number of years, with art originally by Bill Ely. In 1957, however, the Walt Disney corporation launched its own TV incarnation of the hero, which lasted through 1959. From then on, beginning with Four Color #882 in ’57, Dell’s rendition was the official Disney version, and featured photos of TV portrayer Guy Williams on the cover. Behind a mask, of course. While several artists drew the Dell Zorro, both pre-Disney and Disney, the ones illustrated by Alex Toth in 1960-61 are considered the cream of the crop. In recent years, a Zorro comicbook has been published first by Topps, and currently by Dynamite.

Stuart Fischer

After working at a big advertising agency, a major studio, and a respected talent agency, Stuart Fischer operated as a television agent representing writers, producers, and literary properties for all media and for licensing. Later, he became a full-time writer and has written books that include Kids’ TV: The First 25 Years and The Hanna-Barbera Story. He has also created The Man-O-Saurs, which originated as a comicbook and is now a children’s book.

My Life In Little Pieces – Part III

Continuing The “Offbeat Autobio” Of Golden/Silver Age Writer JOHN BROOME A/E EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION: In Alter Ego #149-150 we commenced our serialization of this 1998 memoir by Irving Bernard (John) Broome, noted for his Golden Age comicbook scripting but even more so for his writing of DC’s Silver Age Flash and Green Lantern. He was the original co-creating scribe of the latter, under his friend and editor Julius Schwartz. Our thanks to John’s daughter, Ricky Terry Brisacque, for permission to reprint her father’s short book; thanks to Brian K. Morris for retyping it for us. Here, following his previous remarks concerning his wife Peggy, some of the peculiarities of living in Japan (where he taught English for the last two decades of his life), and his love of the English language, Broome takes time to reminisce about his feelings about Man’s Best Friend….

dogs. At that time, we were living in a sparsely populated country area in New York State. On the two-mile walk to the village, every dog along the way had to retreat to kennel or house as we went by. If they persisted in sticking their nose outdoors, Bunk charged them and drove them inside. He would clean up each place carefully, sometimes including chickens, before proceeding on to the next house that might be on that road a distance away. I don’t believe Bunk hated those fellow creatures he attacked: it was just that, considering his extraction, he thought that ﬁghting was the best way of showing strong mutual respect.

A Prayer A dog for walking A friend for talking A child for laughter And God hereafter l once met a man on the street and stopped to admire his dog. “Yes,” said the man, looking down at his pet, “he’s a nice dog. He’s a good dog.” Then raising his eyes to meet mine, he said evenly, “He’s a pest.”

Dogs Like People Dogs like people are different the world over. Not only so but in national characteristics, dogs take after their masters to a marked degree. The dogs of Ireland are very good-natured. They will walk up to an utter stranger, wagging their tails. Almost, they seem to be asking you to step in and have a drink with them, or to come sit down in the parlor for a nice chat. I once had an Irish Kerry Blue Terrier. Bunk was his name (after Bunk Johnson, the early jazz trumpeter). These dogs are bred for pit-ﬁghting in Ireland and Bunk, you might say, was well-bred. He was a big black dog with a chest like John L. Sullivan’s. He loved people, slobbered over them. But he was sheer misery on other

Twin Team-Ups (Left:) John Broome (on our left) with 1980s DC writer and editor Mike W. Barr, at the 1998 San Diego Comic-Con. Courtesy of MWB. (Above:) The Flash guest-starred in Green Lantern #13 (June 1962)—script by Broome, pencils by Gil Kane, inks by Joe Giella. Broome, of course, was the major Silver Age scripter of both heroes, though Robert Kanigher had scripted the origin of the second Flash. Thanks to Doug Martin. [TM & © DC Comics.]

John Broome Memoir—Continued

which could make life momentarily easier for them—one chap I remember had donned a species of ragged khaki uniform and appointed himself guardian of parked cars, in the zocolo of Cuernvaca, claiming a modest reward each time a shopper returned to ﬁnd his or her vehicle still there and miraculously intact. But—you might care to inquire—what about Japanese dogs? Well, I’ve noticed in my years in Japan that the dogs there do a lot of barking, but the puzzling thing seems to be that only gaijins living nearby hear the racket they make. To all appearances, their Japanese owners and the neighbors as well don’t hear the noise at all. I’ve mulled over this anomaly for a long time, but I confess myself stumped. Confucius is reputed to have said that it was not until his 62nd year that he was able to get his ears to obey him. But l can hardly believe that the mass of ordinary Japanese citizens can have attained such an elevated degree of satori as to be able to select from the multiplicity of sounds around them only just what they want to hear. So there must be another answer and perhaps it lies in an area suggested by the experience of an acquaintance, a young English teacher here in Tokyo who was waked up every morning at 5 AM by the ear-splitting vocalizations of the dog next door. At length, this chap couldn’t stand it any longer and one morning a little after ﬁve, he knocked on his neighbor’s door and when a sleepy-eyed Japanese in night clothes appeared our man registered his complaint. “Can’t something be done about your dog?” he asked after carefully excusing himself and bowing politely. “He’s driving me crazy.”

Going To The Dogs (Above:) John Broome did a lot of writing about dogs for DC Comics, since he was a major scripter for its long-running (and long-titled) series The Adventures of Rex the Wonder Dog. Here, appropriate for an article that mentions “the canines of Mexico,” is a splash panel featuring Rex and some hostile resurrected Aztecs (or so it seems), in Rex #14 (March-April 1954). Pencils by Gil Kane, inks by Bernard Sachs. Thanks to Jim Kealy. [TM & © DC Comics.] (Right:) They may call it an “Irish Kerry Blue Terrier”—but a lot of them are black. They don’t really look as tough as Broome describes them, but we’ll take his word for it!

And take Bali, for instance. There is something strangely demonic about this island. The grotesque, diabolically ecstatic statues that abound on bridges and temple grounds, the astonishing mass dances like the famous Monkey Dance that I saw in Ubud; all give the impression of a deity-inﬂamed society a touch off its rocker. And the dogs? Well, they are absolutely demented, xenophobic— hydrophobic! Screaming, howling, roaring, writhing at the first glimpse of an oncoming stranger, they made one visitor conclude that here, indeed, was dire need for a mass on-the-spot exorcism. The contrast between the Bali dogs and the canines of Mexico encountered a couple of decades earlier could hardly be greater. Listless, dispirited, drooping hounds in infinite numbers, the dogs of Mexico struck one as panhandlers to the manner born. Eking a precarious livelihood from tourists on the basis of their deeply mournful eyes and mangy befrazzled coats, they were, these four-footed sad sacks, the canine counterparts of the small-fry bureaucrats of the land who—at least it was that way then—kept one eye ever open for mordida, the extra, the tip, the petty bribe

The Japanese man looked at him with the utmost sympathy and understanding. “I know,” he nodded, sighing sadly. “He bothers me, too.” And that, one must report, was that. Finally, as one small salt-and-peppery specimen of American dog, I’d like to present Smoky. This was before the era of Bunk in our lives and I used to walk the two miles to the village from our place alone almost every day. Smoky would spy me from near the porch of his house and with a bloodcurdling yell—half screamer bomb and half war whoop—would head for me on the dead run. He would snap at my ankles and pants legs, frothing with hatred and a well-nigh unbearable distaste for my person. He made my life so miserable that I began to think I either had to brain him with a piece of fence or stop walking that road, except there was no other road. Sometimes when I came along he seemed asleep on his porch and I’d try to slip past without waking him, but old Smoky never slept, he only bided his time waiting for me (I’m sure I was the high point of his day). I’d be pussyfooting along on the macadam and one of his ears would stir, then stiffen to full alert, and one eye would bolt open. Instantly he’d scramble up—explode would be more accurate—and fly down at me yelling blue murder. Although the situation looked hopeless, I somehow conceived the notion I might make friends with Smoky. In the beginning, this was as farfetched an idea as a covenant between Israel and Syria, say, but little by little, over a period of weeks, we actually reached a stage where he allowed me to pet him, to my considerable relief.

My Life In Little Pieces—Part III

Yes, things were better after that, but as it turned out, my new friend could not entirely abandon himself to our friendship. Each day I’d stoop and pet him and he’d purr, making a vibration like a propeller plane. But then suddenly, a furious snarl would burst out of him, to be succeeded at once by more powerful purring, then again by another venomous snarl, so that as I stroked his tough frizzy little hide, old Smoky would go “Purr-r. . . . snarr-r-r … Purr-r … Snarr-r-r –” almost continuously, like there was something seriously wrong with his motor. He was indomitable, though. When Bunk came along, Smoky took on the big dog without a moment’s hesitation, got chawed up in the process, and only then retired to the safety of his porch to lick his wounds and try to ﬁgure out what happened. He lost some of his steam after that and in the days and months that followed was never really the old Smoky, the old cocksure, bellicose, the old American Smoky ever again. John Broome’s “offbeat auto” will continue next issue.

Every Chimp Has His Day! The author describes a battle between two species of dogs—so, for contrast, we’re presenting this splash from the “Detective Chimp” story in The Adventures of Rex the Wonder Dog #12 (Nov.-Dec. 1953), in which the shamus chimpanzee rescues a somewhat larger relative. Script by JB, pencils by Irwin Hasen, inks by Joe Giella. Thanks to Jim Kealy. [TM & © DC Comics.]

TED WHITE On Comics – Part 5 In Which The SF Editor & Writer Talks About Editing Heavy Metal, & More! Introduction

by Bill Schelly

orn in 1938, Ted White was a central figure in science-fiction fandom and fanzine publishing since he was a teenager, ultimately winning a Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer in 1968. Beginning in the 1960s, he wrote or co-wrote over a dozen SF novels, such as The Jewels of Elsewhen (1967), No Time like Tomorrow (1969), and Trouble on Project Ceres (1971). In Part 1, Ted filled us in on his boyhood as a comicbook fan and collector. In Part 2, he told of meeting noted EC fans Fred von Bernewitz, Bhob Stewart, and Larry Stark. In Part 3, he discussed visiting the EC offices and writing his chapter for the “All in Color for a Dime” series in the fanzine Xero. In Part 4, he reminisced about interviewing Stan Lee and writing the paperback novel Captain America: The Great American Gold Steal. In this, the final segment of my long interview with Ted, he relates how he became editor of Heavy Metal magazine, and the story

of his successful year at the helm of the popular publication. The interview took place by telephone in November 2014. This portion was transcribed by Sean Dulaney and Yours Truly. Special thanks to John Workman for the scans from Heavy Metal. (He worked as art director of the magazine from 1977 to 1984.) BS: Did your move from New York in 1970 end a lot of your comics involvement for the time being, until you got back into it with Heavy Metal?

White Space Ted White at PulpFest 2016 in Columbus, Ohio, at which he was Guest of Honor— and the cover of the first issue he edited of the color comics magazine Heavy Metal: Vol. 3, #8 (Dec. 1979). Cover art by Richard Lon Cohen & John Townley. Photograph by William Lampkin. Special thanks to Mike Chomko of PulpFest. [Cover TM & © respective trademark & copyright holders.]

WHITE: When I moved from New York, I was editing Amazing and Fantastic [SF magazines], which I continued to edit from ’68 to ’78. It really didn’t matter where I lived in order to do that. But I lost a lot of the social contacts that I’d had in New York. Not that I didn’t keep some of them up by phone and by mail, but it wasn’t the same. BS: You moved back to Falls Church, right? WHITE: Yeah. My first child was born on August 28th of 1970. I didn’t want my daughter growing up in New York City. BS: What’s her name? WHITE: Officially, it’s Ariel, but we always called her “Kit.” BS: Okay. Let’s skip ahead to Heavy Metal. How did you get involved with Heavy Metal? What was that experience like for you? WHITE: Weird. Actually, it was the best job I’ve ever had, the job for which I, myself personally, am most suited… most talented for. On that level, it was utterly great. But there was all the politics behind the scenes, which was a whole lot less than great. BS: What aspects were you most suited for?

WHITE: Let me build up to that. The way I got the job was kind of weird. One day in 1979, the phone rang. On the other end of the phone was a man named Len Mogel, who started talking to me about, possibly, a position at Heavy Metal as one of its editors. I got

The SF Editor & Writer Talks About Editing Heavy Metal

very excited about this. He told me that I had been recommended for this by somebody that I knew quite well, an editor at Pocket Books, Dave Hartwell. I’d known Dave since the ’60s as a sciencefiction fan. He was a close friend of another friend of mine, a guy named Paul Williams, who is now deceased. Paul was big in music and published a number of books. In any event, I guess Len knew Dave because Pocket Books, or Simon & Schuster who owned Pocket Books, was doing the Heavy Metal books—which are what we would call graphic albums, I guess. So he asked Dave for a recommendation for what he was looking for with the magazine and Dave recommended me. Subsequently, they asked me to send them my résumé and anything like that. As it happened, I had been writing a column for a semi-pro zine called Thrust. One installment of that column was all about the new Heavy Metal magazine, which was a year old or so when I wrote the column. So I clipped a copy of that column and sent it along with my résumé to them. Then I went up to New York City and met with Len and Julian Weber, who was the president of the company. We had a very amicable meeting and I was effectively hired then, but what I found out was that they weren’t just hiring me to be a text editor or somebody who would edit some subsection of the magazine, but they were hiring me to be the editor in charge of the magazine, which I felt much better about. BS: Did you have to move back to New York? WHITE: Yes and no. I lived in New York Monday through Friday, and I lived down here in Virginia on my weekends. I commuted by Metroliner or Amtrak. I initially sort of sublet part of a friend’s apartment, but that got old very quickly. Around the beginning of 1980—I moved there in August of 1979—so around 1980 I got an apartment of my own. A little studio apartment on 72nd Street. I was there for the rest of the time I was [at Heavy Metal]. I might say that Animal House really revived Matty Simmons’ [the owner of Heavy Metal and National Lampoon] fortunes. Here’s another little sidebar. When the creators of National Lampoon set out to do the magazine, they had previously, of course, done an issue of the Harvard Lampoon; once a year, Harvard Lampoon would

Cast Party During Ted White’s tenure as editor of Heavy Metal, John Workman (on left) was art director. The only photo we could find of White and Workman together from this time is from the Japanese magazine Young Jump, c. 1980. An unidentified Japanese fan was visiting the HM offices. Courtesy of John Workman, whose only copy was a Xerox made from the magazine. [© the respective copyright holders.]

publish a newsstand issue, and they had had Matty Simmons—who was not a major publisher at that time, but was a publisher—they had him do their Harvard Lampoon. So they knew him, and for that reason, they did not want to go to him to do the magazine, but they couldn’t find anybody else that wanted to publish it. So eventually they settled on Matty. And they had a contract with Matty that said, after five years Matty would buy them out. The five-year period came and Matty bought them all out, and at that point, National Lampoon changed fairly drastically. Until then, they had never run any real advertisements. They were all fake ads. But at that point, Matty started selling real ads and they started losing circulation. That magazine had sold over a million copies an issue, but by the time I came on the scene in ’79, it had been down to below 250,000 And when Animal House came out, it went back up to about 750,000. So Animal House was really important for Simmons. John Workman and I were a very solid working team. John’s a great guy, an excellent art director, and a pleasure to work with. I’d never met him before I began working there, but we became friends very quickly, because he had a really good attitude. One of the first things that I did was to re-design the magazine, and I re-designed it with John. I said, “Here’s the basic concept,” and laid it out for him, and then I said, “Once we get the basic concept down to where we’re happy with it, then we start to play with it. We start to work the variations on it.” All of this was just, like, candy for John. This is just what he wanted to hear. This gave him something creative to do. BS: Because he was doing the production work. WHITE: Yeah, he was the art director, and putting the magazine physically together, and doing a great job of it. Him and his brother. At that time, John lived out on Staten Island. I used to go out there once in a while to have dinner with him. But at any rate, John and I were very solid. We worked together as a very good team. BS: Overall, how would you characterize the experience of putting the magazine together? WHITE: It was great. It was absolutely great. See, there are certain things that I am good at. One of them is, I am good at creating magazines. After my first issues started coming out, people like, say, Robert Sheckley, who was an editor at Omni, and Robin Snelson, who was editing Future Life—people like that were coming up to me and telling me what a huge improvement I had done to the magazine, because now it didn’t feel like a scrapbook anymore. It felt like a coherent magazine. There are a whole lot of challenges involved in putting an actual issue together. They’re on all kinds of different levels, and you have to reconcile them all. One level is that you have black-&-white signatures, and you have color signatures, so certain pages can only use black-&-white strips, or text. That was another thing. When they originally hired me, they were thinking of having a text section in the magazine. They wanted to have more text. They thought that would make it more of a magazine. I didn’t want to have a separate text section, although that’s what they went to when I left. I wanted to integrate the text with the comics, and if you look at my issues, that’s how it was done. Okay, so we had the black-&-white versus color considerations, and they’re very specific. The signatures are inflexible.

Ted White On Comics—Part 5

Heavy Metal Meets Heavy Metal In Heavy Metal, Vol. 4, #7 (Oct. 1980), a rock-themed issue, Ted White teamed with comics artist Ernie Colón on this “Let It Be” strip. Cover art by Carol Donner. [TM & © respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Another element was that we had all this contracted material from Metal Hurlant [the French comics magazine which had been the original inspiration for Heavy Metal years earlier]. At one point, we were having problems with them, so we went and bought a whole lot more material from [their French rival] Pilote magazine. Suddenly we were committed to 110% material in an issue, which was impossible. I had to reconcile that as best as I could.

as the high point of the magazine, and he wanted to re-create that. BS: “Those were the halcyon days….”

Then I wanted to buy fresh, new, American material, and did, whenever I could, and that had to be worked in. Then there was the case of how you pace material. Some stories had to start on left-hand side pages [because] they had double spreads, plus others could easily start on a right-hand page, some stories were even numbers of pages, some were odd numbers of pages, some stories were light and humorous, and some were really heavy. The object was not to clump all the stories of one kind in the magazine. So you had all these different things to reconcile. And I did it. Every issue. I was really pleased with how it was working out. Another aspect was meeting with artists and writers, and working with them. And doing things like the special rock issue. I was able to get people into that issue who hadn’t been in Heavy Metal before. Just in general, it was an ideal job. I was working with people that I really felt good about working with, both the people at the magazine and the artists and writers. I was ideally suited to be editing a magazine where I was dealing equally with both art and text. And of course, I brought in the columnists. I brought in Bhob Stewart, and Lou Stathis and all those people who wrote really good columns. I heard at one point that, when Kevin Eastman was publishing Heavy Metal in the early 2000s, he saw my issues, my year, the 1980 issues basically,

WHITE: Yeah, and I thought, “Why didn’t he just hire me?” Then

Skulls & Spacemen Covers of Heavy Metal, Vol. 3 #10 (Feb. 1980) by Patrick Couratin & Vol. 4, #6 (Sept. 1980) by Robert Adragna. [TM & © respective trademark & copyright holders.]

The SF Editor & Writer Talks About Editing Heavy Metal

he could have all of that! [laughs]

BS: The potential of comics is really unlimited if they can be done right.

BS: Well, I guess he wasn’t smart enough to do that. In terms of looking at comics in general, do you feel that comics are an equal to prose fiction as an art form? Do you feel they’re sort of inferior because they rely on pictures more….? Or how would you characterize the potential of the comics medium?

WHITE: Yeah, they can give us things like A Contract with God, or Maus, You know, really worthwhile stuff. I am not that much drawn to most contemporary comics, partly because they’re expensive, partly because they’re no longer ubiquitous so I don’t run into them very much.

WHITE: I don’t think most comics are as well-written as good prose, but I don’t think that’s what they’re about. I don’t compare comics and prose. I think they’re two entirely different things. It’s like saying, “Is this apple a better orange than an orange?” The whole thing is unique to comics if they’re being done right. It’s the continuity between panels. It’s the motion and movement from panel to panel that makes comics unique. Comics are not illustrated stories. People who try to treat them as illustrated stories mess up.

BS: They’re in bookstores like Barnes and Noble, although not the individual comics, but in square-bound collections and graphic novels. But there’s a whole category in Barnes and Noble for comics, which, when you consider the stigma of comics after Wertham, and the Code, that comics could only be for young children….

BS: The EC Picto-Fiction magazines…. WHITE: Yeah, the Picto-Fictions didn’t work, and for that matter, I never felt that Prince Valiant worked all that well, either, for the same reason. It’s too static. There’s no real panel-to-panel continuity. It’s just little illustrated paragraphs. BS: Harvey Kurtzman was a master at the panel-to-panel thing. WHITE: Oh, he and Will Eisner are, I think, the two peaks of comics continuity. Not that others haven’t been almost or equally good, but they’re the ones who did it first and best.

WHITE: Oh, lemme tell ya, they’ve always been that way. That was the prevailing attitude through the ’30s and ’40s: that comics were trash. Everybody believed this! Even the people who enjoyed them believed they were trash. That’s why, of the millions and millions of comics that were sold during World War II, only 3-4%, maybe, have survived. All the others were thrown away! Trashed, after they were read. BS: But the comics before Wertham had a much larger adult readership. WHITE: Oh, well, this was an unacknowledged fact. From World War II on…. G.I.s, from WWII on, were reading comicbooks and pulp magazines interchangeably, because it didn’t matter what they were; they were something to take their minds off the foxhole they were in, for a few moments. You had the Lev Gleason [crime]

“Sixteen And Vanilla” The above-titled Ted White short story was originally published in Vertex – The Magazine of Science Fiction in June 1974. It was adapted for Heavy Metal, Vol. 6, #2 (May 1982) by David Bishchoff, with art by Val Lakey and color by Artifact. Scans courtesy of John Workman. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Ted White On Comics—Part 5

comics in the ’40s, and you had EC when they came along. But, I told you what the typical EC reader turned out to be: the crayon-scrawling eight-year-old. Well, they probably weren’t eight, they were probably twelve. They weren’t adults. They might have been physically adults, but they weren’t emotionally and mentally adults.

them in drug stores or candy stores. The average kid is never exposed to comicbooks now. Never sees them, doesn’t grow up with them. I assume that the typical comics reader today is an adolescent, not a child. I assume this because the contents of these comics has wildly exaggerated female anatomy, and there’s an overtone of sexuality that didn’t used to exist in comics.

BS: Would you agree that’s changed to a great degree now, with Sandman, and—

BS: [laughs] I’m trying to find something upbeat to talk about to end this, and I’m not succeeding!

WHITE: I have no idea, because I don’t know who reads comics any more. I think it’s a tiny minority of the population. I mean, when I was a kid, every kid I knew read comicbooks, without exception. Now, I don’t know any kids who read comics. My granddaughter, who is fourteen, she doesn’t read comics. And what are the circulations of comics like these days? 100,000 copies is a best seller. That used to be grounds to discontinue a title. BS: There are comics with a circulation of just 20,000 copies that are considered successful now. WHITE: Comics have become a niche, specialized market. You can only buy them in comics stores. You can’t buy

WHITE: [laughs] Well, you’ll have to edit it and see what you can do. BS: I’ll do my best. Thanks for talking with me, Ted. I’ve really enjoyed it. WHITE: I’m glad you’re the one who interviewed me, Bill.

Out On A High Note The cover of the last issue of Heavy Metal edited by Ted White: Vol. 4, #8 (Nov. 1980). Art by Hajie Sorayama. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Bill Schelly’s latest book is John Stanley: Giving Life to Little Lulu (Fantagraphics Books). It includes both Bill’s full biography of the talented Mr. Stanley, and a cornucopia of over 300 illustrations, nearly all in color. His biographies of Otto Binder, Joe Kubert, and Harvey Kurtzman are also still in print. Own them all!

Celebrate the life of John Stanley, one of America’s greatest storytellers! “I would pile up all our blankets and stay awake till quite late reading Little Lulu comics and listening to Bob Dylan.” — Patti Smith “Little Lulu had incredible stories. I still read those Little Lulu comics from the late ‘40s, early ‘50s and they’re great.” — R. Crumb “[Stanley was] the most consistently funny cartoonist to work in the comic book medium.” – Fred Hembeck

John Stanley: Giving Life to Little Lulu by Bill Schelly

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Len Wein

in memoriam to the end of that month. Not only did Len make it to the end of that month; he outlived Mark by a decade or two.

(1948-2017) “A Great Guy Of Infinite Good Spirit” by Mark Evanier (blogged Sunday, Sept. 10, 2017)

omicbook writer-editor Len Wein died this morning and it feels so odd to type those words, even though I’ve known for a long time I would have to.

Len was a friend of mine—at times, a very good friend—for darn close to half a century. I can tell you exactly where and when we first met in person: It was in the hallway outside [editor] Julius Schwartz’s office in the DC Comics offices back at 909 Third Avenue in July of 1970. So 47 years and two months… but we’d corresponded by mail (paper mail) for a year or two before that. We got along famously from the start, never quarreled, and had many adventures together. I will probably spend the next week or two here [on my blog] remembering stories I can tell here and several I can’t. Len dying… that does not come as a shock. In those 47 years and change, I must have heard a dozen times that Len was at death’s door, and even before we met, there were times when his friends expected it to happen soon. I remember one day around 1975, our mutual friend Mark Hanerfeld phoned me to tell, in great seriousness, that Len was gravely ill and could not possibly make it

The last few times I saw him—the last at Comic-Con, the time before that in a hospital—he looked like it could happen any minute. I guess I’d gotten it into my head that, no matter how bad it looked for Len, he’d bounce back. He always did, until this morning, he didn’t. He was 69, I believe. He was, of course, the writer who was responsible for co-creating many popular characters, including Swamp Thing, The Human Target, Wolverine, and many of The X-Men. I was also impressed with what he did with others’ characters, such as Batman and Superman and Spider-Man and most of the major ones. If you read any of them, you know how well he could spin a story and think of clever things no one had thought of before. I feel like I should tell you more of the personal side of the guy…. The personal side was that he was a great guy of infinite good spirit. The two of us could sit and talk and laugh for hours, and I find it hard to imagine that he couldn’t do that with anyone. We’d talk about comics. We’d talk about friends. We’d talk about the world. We’d talk about “guy” things. For I-don’t-know-how-many years, Len needed to spend several hours of an evening, several times a week, on a dialysis machine. There was a clinic not far form me, and sometimes he’d call and ask me to come by and keep him company. If I could, I would… and I’d see the other patients there wondering why we were laughing and trying to outdo each other with hoary jokes. Only Len could make dialysis seem fun. He was enormously devoted to his wife Chris and vice-versa. She took great care of him, especially when he was in need of great care. Sometimes you resent when a buddy gets married because now he has less time for you. Seeing how well they functioned together, I didn’t resent that one bit. She made him real happy, and I really liked Len being happy. Mark Evanier is a TV and comics writer. This piece was taken from his valuable blog www.newsfromme.com, and is reprinted with his permission.

Len Wein flanked by his two most famous co-creations: Swamp Thing (drawn by Bernie Wrightson for Swamp Thing #4, April-May 1973) and Wolverine (penciled by Herb Trimpe and inked by Jack Abel for the final panel of The Incredible Hulk #180, Nov. 1974). Thanks to Barry Pearl for the latter scan. Photo, from Mark Evanier’s blog, by Bruce Guthrie. [comics pages TM & © DC Comics & Marvel Characters, Inc., respectively.]

in memoriam

Rich Buckler (1949-2017) “Rich’s Fans Brought Home An Experience!” by John Orlando

n these times when we’re losing so many creatives, it never gets easier. Rich Buckler, author, painter of surrealism, comic book artist, publisher, teacher, and friend to many, left us on May 19, 2017. His prolific catalog of credits is as impressive as was his good nature. His support of the comics community, whether of fans, colleagues, or aspiring artists and writers, was legendary. Besides being a greatly talented artist, he was even more: a Real Human Being. Rich was a patient, capable, and willing teacher to his art students, a wise and motivated/motivating mentor to his interns, and a wonderfully challenging, yet encouraging, taskmaster to his roster of studio artists. Rich’s passion for the medium began during childhood in his native Michigan, as an avid patron of the local newsstand. At fourteen, he ventured into comics-fanzine publishing, having obtained a ditto printer and saddle-stitch stapler, and distributing the fruits of his labor both through the mail and by hand, locally, to an ever-growing readership base. By 1969-1970, he was running the Detroit Triple Fan Fair comic convention with originator Robert Brosch. His first assignment with a major publisher came while still in his teens, for King Comics’ Flash Gordon #10, penciling the 4-page historical feature “Freedom Fighters: Washington

Just Two Of Those Things! Portrait of the artist as a young Rich Buckler—and his cover for Fantastic Four #162 (Aug. 1975), inked by Joe Sinnott. While some critics chided him for hewing some of his art so close to that of FF co-creator Jack Kirby, Rich never needed to trace or even look at The King’s work in order to “channel” him—and nobody ever drew as powerfully Kirbyesque a representation of Benjamin J. Grimm as Rich Buckler! On this cover, he did it twice! [Cover TM & ©Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Rich Buckler in his later years, flanked by his cyborg creation Deathlok—probably his proudest accomplishment. Rich was interviewed in A/E #141. [Deathlok TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Attacks Trenton” (1967). Upon moving to New York City to be closer to the industry, Rich drew “Rose and the Thorn” stories in Superman’s Girlfriend, Lois Lane #117–121 (Dec. 1971–April 1972). By 1973 he was penciling the “Black Panther” series in Jungle Action #6–8 for Marvel, with writer Don McGregor. In 1974 he reached a personal milestone when he began a two-year penciling run on Fantastic Four with editor/writer Roy Thomas. During his FF tenure, Rich’s tireless imagination birthed his wonderfully infamous cyborg “Deathlok,” on which he worked with writer Doug Moench. Their anti-hero debuted in Astonishing Tales #25 (Aug. 1974). Rich’s prolific credits and credentials, too numerous to fully list here, are highlighted by such accomplishments as his collaboration with writer Gerry Conway on “Superman vs. Shazam!” (All-New Collectors’ Edition #C-58, April 1978), the newspaper comic strip The Incredible Hulk in 1979, the World War II super-hero team All-Star Squadron (with writer Thomas), and the revival of Archie Comics’ Red Circle line of heroes in The Mighty Crusaders, with writer Cary Burkett (1983-84). In 1985, Rich returned to Marvel to produce the “Death of Jean DeWolff” storyline in The Spectacular Spider-Man with writer Peter David. He created and produced the popular Underground-tinged Reagan’s Raiders for Solson Publications in 1987, followed by numerous projects for various publishers. By the late 1990s, his insatiable thirst to create visual phenomena led him to the strange world of surrealistic oil painting, at which he excelled, adding “Accomplished Fine Artist” to his lengthy résumé. Since this work is impossible to describe without hyperbole, I’ll simply urge you to view it at www.richbuckler.com. Few can boast an art career such as Rich Buckler’s. Fewer still managed theirs with such proficiency, flair, and cinematic impact. As one turns the pages of a Rich Buckler comic, one’s brain cannot help but perceive movement, sounds, voices. His page designs never came across as a series of static stills or spot illustrations in support of the writer’s words. The art was as symbiotic with the script as in any quality film. For a nominal cover price, Rich’s fans brought home an experience, rather than pastime reading material. The only consolation in this loss is that he left us a vast living legacy by way of the thousands of pages he penciled, which we may consider a gift from his very soul. We will miss you, Rich. Your visions are eternal. John Orlando broke into comics as Rich Buckler’s penciling assistant in 1994, and has gone on to create several creator-owned comicbook properties.

Edited by ROY THOMAS The first and greatest “hero-zine”—ALL-NEW, focusing on GOLDEN AND SILVER AGE comics and creators with ARTICLES, INTERVIEWS, UNSEEN ART, P.C. Hamerlinck’s FCA [Fawcett Collectors of America], MICHAEL T. GILBERT in Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt, BILL SCHELLY’S Comic Fandom Archive, and more!

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JIM AMASH interviews ROY THOMAS about his 1990s work on Conan, the stillborn Marvel/Excelsior line launched by STAN LEE, writing for Cross Plains, Topps, DC, and others! Art by KAYANAN, BUSCEMA, MAROTO, GIORDANO, ST. AUBIN, DITKO, SIMONSON, MIGNOLA, LARK, KIRBY, CORBEN, SALE, SCHULTZ, LIGHTLE, McKEEVER, BENDIS, and more! Cover by RAFAEL KAYANAN!

Golden Age great IRWIN HASEN spotlight, adapted from DAN MAKARA’s film documentary on Hasen, the 1940s artist of the Justice Society, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Wildcat, Cat-Man, and numerous other classic heroes—and, for 30 years, the artist of the famous DONDI newspaper strip! Bonus art by his buddies JOE KUBERT, ALEX TOTH, CARMINE INFANTINO, and SHELLY MAYER!

From Detroit to Deathlok, we cover the career of artist RICH BUCKLER: Fantastic Four, The Avengers, Black Panther, Ka-Zar, Dracula, Morbius, a zillion Marvel covers—Batman, Hawkman, and other DC stars—Creepy and Eerie horror—and that’s just in the first half of the 1970s! Plus Mr. Monster, BILL SCHELLY, FCA, and comics expert HAMES WARE on fabulous Golden Age artist RAFAEL ASTARITA!

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DAVID SIEGEL talks to RICHARD ARNDT about how, from 1991-2005, he brought the greatest artists of the Golden Age to the San Diego Comic-Con! With art and artifacts by FRADON, GIELLA, MOLDOFF, LAMPERT, CUIDERA, FLESSEL, NORRIS, SULLIVAN, NOVICK, SCHAFFENBERGER, GROTHKOPF, and others! Plus how writer JOHN BROOME got to the Con, Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt, FCA, and more!

DON GLUT discusses his early years as comic book writer for Marvel, Warren, and Gold Key, with art by SANTOS, MAROTO, CHAN, NEBRES, KUPPERBERG, TUSKA, TRIMPE, SAL BUSCEMA, and others! Also, SAL AMENDOLA and ROY THOMAS on the 1970s professional Academy of Comic Book Arts, founded by STAN LEE and CARMINE INFANTINO! Plus Mr. Monster, FCA, BILL SCHELLY, and more!

MARK CARLSON documents 1940s-50s ACE COMICS (with super-heroes Magno & Davey, Lash Lightning, The Raven, Unknown Soldier, Captain Courageous, Vulcan, and others)! Art by KURTZMAN, MOONEY, BERG, L.B. COLE, PALAIS, and more. Plus: RICHARD ARNDT’s interview with BILL HARRIS (1960s-70s editor of Gold Key and King Comics), FCA, Comic Crypt, and Comic Fandom Archive.

40 years after the debut of Marvel’s STAR WARS #1, its writer/editor ROY THOMAS tells RICHARD ARNDT the story behind that landmark comic, plus interviews with artists HOWARD CHAYKIN, RICK HOBERG, and BILL WRAY. Also: MR. MONSTER looks at “Jazz in Comics” with MICHAEL T. GILBERT—the finale of BILL SCHELLY’s salute to G.B. LOVE—FCA— and more! CHAYKIN cover.

DOUG MOENCH in the 1970s at Warren and Marvel (Master of Kung Fu, Planet of the Apes, Deathlok, Werewolf by Night, Morbius, Moon Knight, Ka-Zar, Weirdworld)! Art by BUSCEMA, GULACY, PLOOG, BUCKLER, ZECK, DAY, PERLIN, & HEATH! MICHAEL T. GILBERT on EC’s oddball “variant covers”—FCA—and a neverpublished Golden Age super-hero story by MARV LEVY! Cover by PAUL GULACY!

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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 a C.C. BECK cover!

Relive JOE PETRILAK’s All-Time Classic NY Comic Book Convention—the greatest Golden & Silver Age con ever assembled! Panels, art & photos featuring INFANTINO, KUBERT, 3 SCHWARTZES, NODELL, HASEN, GIELLA, CUIDERA, BOLTINOFF, BUSCEMA, AYERS, SINNOTT, [MARIE] SEVERIN, GOULART, THOMAS, and a host of others! Plus FCA, GILBERT, SCHELLY, and RUSS RAINBOLT’s 60-ft. comics mural!

Showcases GIL KANE, with an incisive and free-wheeling interview conducted in the 1990s by DANIEL HERMAN for his 2001 book Gil Kane: The Art of the Comics—plus other surprise features centered around the artistic co-creator of the Silver Age Green Lantern and The Atom! Also: FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America), MICHAEL T. GILBERT, and BILL SCHELLY! Cover by GIL KANE, JOE GIELLA, and MARIE SEVERIN!

STAN LEE’s 95th birthday! Rare 1980s LEE interview by WILL MURRAY—GER APELDOORN on Stan’s non-Marvel writing in the 1950s—STAN LEE/ROY THOMAS e-mails of the 21st century—and more special features than you could shake Irving Forbush at! Also FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America), BILL SCHELLY, and MICHAEL T. GILBERT! Colorful Marvel multi-hero cover by Big JOHN BUSCEMA!

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in memoriam

John Calnan (1932-2016) “An ‘Editors’ Favorite’” by Gene Reed

ohn Calnan (b. Feb. 26, 1932 – d. Dec. 27, 2016) was educated at the School of Visual Arts, where one of his instructors was former “Batman” artist Jerry Robinson. He began his art career in comicbooks, switched to advertising for a period, then went back to comics. His first comicbook work was inking Tom Gill’s pencils on The Lone Ranger. Following that, he did some work for Classics Illustrated and went on to become an advertising art director and a TV producer for ad agencies. One of his co-workers put him in touch with some editors at DC Comics in 1966, and Calnan began doing occasional war and romance stories. Except for three tales drawn for Treasure Chest Comics in 1960 and one story done for Gold Key, the Grand Comics Database has no entries for his non-DC Comics work.

John Calnan

I first encountered and two DC splash pages—one published, John Calnan’s artwork one un-: Our Fighting Forces #110 (Nov.in 1970 in The Unexpected Dec. 1967), and a “Johnny Peril” page #118. At first glance, I featuring the hero created by Howard Purcell in the 1940s and briefly revived by thought it was a Curt DC in the ’60s. Thanks to Gene Reed for all Swan job, because of scans. [TM & © DC Comics.] Murphy Anderson’s heavy inks. Editor Murray Boltinoff identified Calnan as the penciler in the letter column of that issue. I didn’t realize I had seen his artwork several years earlier in DC’s war comics. Calnan’s work began appearing with regularity, mostly in Murray Boltinoff’s titles: Action Comics, The Unexpected, and The Witching Hour. He usually inked his own pencils, something that was becoming a rarity in the 1970s. His pencils were always solid, his story-telling top-notch. When he inked someone else’s pencils, his inks put a realistic finish on the work, probably due to his years in advertising. His talent was put to good use in the 1970s and 1980s, especially when DC increased their number of story pages per comic and instituted their Dollar Comics line. Although he primarily drew back-up features during this time, most of his work featured DC’s main characters. Many of his stories appeared in reprint collections in the 1990s and early 2000s. At least one story he drew, “Chain of Fury,” featuring Johnny Peril, was never published. Scripted by George Kashdan and inked by Vince Colletta, it was “written off” for tax purposes in the late 1970s. Calnan may not have been a fan favorite, but he was evidently an “editors’ favorite,” judging from the amount of solid work he produced.

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in memoriam

Doug Fratz

(1952-2016) Publisher Of Comicology & Noted Science-Fiction Reviewer by Bill Schelly

oug (D. Douglas) Fratz, best known in the comics community for his fanzine Comicology (1968–1972), died at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring, Maryland, on Sept. 27, 2016. Fratz, 63, worked for more than 35 years as an environmental scientist, serving as Vice President of Scientific and Technical Affairs for the Consumer Specialty Products Association in Washington, DC, a trade association representing the formulated consumer products industry. He managed corporate advocacy efforts with government regulators on aerosol and air quality issues. Doug got involved in comic fandom in 1966, and published several well-known comics fanzines in the late 1960s and early 1970s, including Comicology, Potpourri, and CriFanAc. In the mid-’70s he was a columnist in The Nostalgia Journal, soon to be

retitled The Comics Journal. In 1976 he published The Best of Comicology, with material from all six issues of the zine, including work by Bernie Wrightson, Dave Cockrum, Alan J. Hanley, Vaughn Bodé, and others. He featured “Metropolis Mailbog,” a satire of Mort Weisinger’s Superman letter columns of the early 1960s by Yours Truly and Marshall Lanz.

Doug Fratz holding a copy of Comicology #1 (Feb. 1968), with its cover by Mike Roberts— while below is Robert L. Kline’s cover for The Best of Comicology (1976), which reprinted highlights from the fanzine’s six issues. Photo by Aaron Caplan. Fanzine cover courtesy of Bill Schelly. [Kline art © Robert L. Kline.]`

He was probably better known for his activity in sciencefiction fandom, as a book reviewer who most recently wrote for The New York Review of Science Fiction. He reviewed books and wrote about science-fiction for more than 35 years, with work appearing in Science Fiction Age, Science Fiction Eye, Fantasy Review, The Washington Post, and other venues, including his own literary magazine, Quantum Science Fiction & Fantasy Review (formerly Thrust). He founded Thrust as the science-fiction magazine of the University of Maryland, and continued it as a semiprofessional magazine after graduation. As publisher and editor of Thrust/Quantum (1973-1993), he was nominated for five Hugo Awards. He attended numerous science-fiction conventions from 1968 on, and appeared on more than one hundred panels and other program items. I met Doug at the 2011 Fandom Reunion at Comic-Con International in San Diego. He and I spent a couple of hours reminiscing about fandom in the 1960s and 1970s, and brought each other up to date on our lives. As I expected from our correspondence and his fanzines, Doug was a highly intelligent, friendly fellow, who was easy to talk to about just about any fannish topic. One of the last things he wrote before his untimely passing was a review of my Otto Binder: The Life and Work of a Comic Book and Science Fiction Visionary. Doug was born in Oakland, Maryland, and grew up in Accident, Maryland. He received his B.S. degree in chemistry from the University of Maryland in 1974, and his M.S. degree in Environmental Science from the George Washington University in 1983. He is survived by his wife Naomi and his adult children Alex and Erica.

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The Eye, by Frank Thomas (from Detective Eye #2 (Dec. 1940).

by ROY THOMAS & PABLO MARCOS

[Captain Ego TM & © Roy Thomas & Bill Schelly; created by Biljo White; other art in illo © Shane Foley.] I (Roy) was pleased to be able to present in Alter Ego #140 a text-with-illos version of the “soundtrack” of Dan Makara’s sadly unseen documentary on Golden Age and Dondi artist Irwin Hasen, not least because Irwin and I had become friends of a sort over three decades, mostly from running into each other at comics conventions and from correspondence beginning in the early 1980s when he drew several re-creations of his All-Star Comics covers for me (he told me I was his very first commission customer for them). But what’s equally interesting about the e-mails we received on #140 is that nearly all the writers reported personal encounters, always pleasant, with the man who was Dondi. Case in point: J.C. Preas, Jr.: Dear Roy: A big “THANK YOU” to Dan Makara for making his film Irwin: A New York City Story the most interesting documentary never seen (now we know why). Thanks also to Sean Dulaney for the transcription and to you for including it in Alter Ego #140 (loved the cover!!). It’s unfortunate that Irwin Hasen isn’t a marquee name to most of today’s fans. His comic book career having ended in the 1950s is certainly the reason. But his work shows he should be remembered with the likes of Infantino, Kubert, and Toth, among others.

y total coincidence, Shane Foley, our awesome Australian artist-in-residence (figuratively speaking, of course), chose the same “Owl” cover from Dell/Western’s Golden Age Crackajack Funnies as the basis of this issue’s “maskot” illo that publisher John Morrow and I agreed on for this issue’s cover image. But then, that was probably one of artist Frank Thomas’ best covers. Great minds apparently think alike. So do ours. See bottom of page for more on this issue’s cover.

And remembering Irwin is exactly what Dan Makara has done with this fine tribute. Just look at Hasen’s All-American, All-Star, and Green Lantern art for proof of his amazing talent. The man could draw, tell stories, and compose covers, elements sorely lacking today. Interesting to find that Irwin is likely the cover artist of All-Star Comics #36 instead of Winslow Mortimer; thanks for that new bit of information, Roy. No wonder you consider All-Star #33-41 to be the high tide of the JSA, most with Hasen covers and artwork! Makes us wonder what contributions he would have made to the Silver Age if he’d stuck with comicbooks, and if DC had stuck

Progress In The Arts? Thought you might enjoy seeing this issue’s cover as a work in progress. (Left to right:) Michael T. Gilbert’s first take on a possible cover (the “Batman” text at top is just a place-holder for the actual text, of course)… and, to the right, two takes worked up at MTG’s suggestion by his solitary-named correspondent Yocitrus, one of which in particular, as you can probably tell, helped Ye Editor and publisher John Morrow come to the decision to go with (a) a single Owl cover image, (b) a photo of Frank Thomas, (c) an “Eye” masthead, and (d) a pair of FT’s Golden Age logos. Thanks, guys! It took all four of us—plus, naturally, Frank T.! [© the respective copyright holders.]

[correspondence, comments, & corrections]

Amen to that, J.C. Whether it was hawking his wares at a table, or wheeling his one-time editor (and now friend) Julius Schwartz around at cons while they bantered back and forth, Irwin was a delight. And a far, far more important and talented artist than he ever gave himself credit for. Incidentally, Al Rodriguez points out that, back in my interview with him in A/E V1#1 (1999), Irwin said that the name “Dondi” came from the kid being “a dondi little boy.”

They Were All Americans! While Irwin Hasen’s work would continue to appear in DC comics for another few years, his final “Green Lantern” assignment in All-American Comics came in #102 (Oct. 1948)—with inks by Bob Oksner and a script attributed to John Broome—behind a dramatic “Johnny Thunder” cover by Irwin’s #1 fan, Alex Toth. With #103, the mag’s name would be changed to All-American Western; but even that wouldn’t last, and within a year or two it would become All-American Men of War. “GL” splash from Roy T.’s personal collection; cover courtesy of the Grand Comics Database. [TM & © DC Comics.]

with him. He obviously could adapt his “cartoony” approach, as seen in his Strange Adventures #47 splash and much of his Dondi work. I visited with Irwin many times at Heroes Con in Charlotte [NC] and found him delightful. My wife Kendall and I once bought him a drink at the Westin Hotel bar after convention hours. What a thrill to hear him talk of his good friend Shelly Mayer and so many of the early DC artists, writers, and editors. He fondly remembered the Golden Age, but he was quick to tell us that drawing comics was simply a job, and the pay was not good. Great work on the documentary, Dan! What a pleasure to learn more about Irwin Hasen, co-creator of Wildcat and Dondi, and top artist of Green Lantern and the Justice Society. He was truly a character who will be missed! J.C. Preas, Jr. 5995 Scotford Ct. Roanoke, VA 24018

Next, a comment from Dan St. John on that issue’s cover, which was a Shane Foley reconstruction-with-differences of Irwin’s 1947 cover for All-Star Comics #37. Dear Roy: The cover on A/E #140 is great! Wish we could see that JSA adventure in the comics! A “well-executed adaptation illo,” indeed! (I’ve always liked the Injustice Society—both of them. With The Joker and Luthor added, it would have been even more fun.) It’s extremely frustrating to me that DC won’t hire you and someone like Bruce Timm (or, at one time, Darwyn Cooke) to do new stories of the JSA! With All-Star Comics never having been a monthly, you could write many of the JSA’s adventures that happened in the months in between the All-Star issues (#3-57). Dan St. John Not likely to happen, Dan… not in this day and age. Still, between All-Star Squadron, Young All-Stars, America vs. the Justice Society, The Last Days of the Justice Society, Secret Origins, Infinity, Inc., Jonni Thunder a.k.a. Thunderbolt, and The Crimson Avenger, I had more than my fair share of enjoyment from DC’s Golden Age heroes—and I hope they feel they were well served by the artists and me, as well. Here’s a piece of info from sometime comics pro Sam Maronie, whom I seem to remember as bumping into at airports from time to time back in my early NYC days…. Hello, Roy! I got to know Irwin well over the years. He was a fabulous man—one of the last of the true giants!

re:

Nota bene: The photo of Irwin and Carmine [Infantino] on page 6 of #140 was not taken at any New York convention. It was taken by me in 2000 or 2001 at a release party for Carmine’s then-new coffee table book. The location was St. Louis, at one of the local Warner Bros. stores. That being said… Are you familiar with my book Tripping through Pop Culture? [NOTE: Sam then gives one of those lonnnng “https:” addresses, but apparently you can find it on www.amazon.com.] It’s a walk through my professional career in movies and comics, featuring my encounters with comics celebs like Kirby, Lee, etc., early conventions I attended, and featuring my great vintage photos of cons and comics folks. One chapter, I talk about people who influenced my career; a good part of that chapter I talk about you and how kind you were to me when I was getting started as a writer. I hope you will find the time to check it out and perhaps give the book a plug in Alter Ego. Samuel Maronie Sorry, Sam… can’t see any way I could find the space to allow a mention of your book Tripping through Pop Culture in A/E. Wish I could! Darn! Love the following personal anecdote about Irwin Hasen from Rob Smentek. And if that name seems vaguely familiar—well, you’ve seen it on the contents pages of most issues of Alter Ego for some time now, since he’s one of our two peerless proofreaders…. Roy: A Hasen story: A pal went to SVA [the School of Visual Arts] in New York and had Irwin as a teacher. One day, Hasen saw a student with chewing tobacco and asked if he could try it. Unfortunately, he had a violent allergic reaction and fell to the floor. Tony (my pal) broke out laughing, admittedly inappropriately. The following class, Irwin came and informed everyone that Tony was the only true cartoonist in the room, since he had found the humor in the incident. Rob Smentek Sounds just like Irwin, Rob! Several fans also hailed the completion of Bill Schelly’s coverage of the late G.B. Love—and a couple, like Doug Abramson, also had a few kind words (and errata) to record about Mr. Monster’s interview with Wallace McPherson, the 1940s fan who seems to have sent MJL the notion for the super-hero called Ace of Spades…. Mr. Thomas, I thoroughly enjoyed the transcribed Wallace McPherson interview in Mr. Gilbert’s “Mr. Monster” section in A/E #140, but I did notice two uncharacteristic errors that you and Mr. Gilbert might consider fixing, if the article is ever reprinted. The first is on page 47, where the address is given as “AA78 Bancroft, San Diego, CA”; it’s correctly given on page 48, “4478 Bancroft Street, San Diego, CA.” The second error is in the transcription, also on page 48. While Mr. McPherson is talking about his comicbook trading as a child, it says the shops where he did his comicbook trading as a child were located on “Elkahorn Blvd.” Since he lived in the Normal Heights area, Mr. McPherson most likely said “El Cajon Blvd.,” the main east-west corridor through town in those pre-Internet days. Doug Abramson You’re probably right about “El Cajon Blvd.,” Doug. Not having dwelt in L.A., Michael T. probably misheard that Spanish street-name. In addition, reader Mac Schick pointed out that “the name at the top of the ‘coupon’ on page 49 was ‘Joe Higgins’—the name of the 1960s secret

Coming Up Aces! Regular letter-scribe Jeff Taylor writes: “I was fascinated by Michael T. Gilbert’s revealing how the old MLJ character Black Jack may actually have been suggested to/stolen by the company via a letter sent by interviewee Wallace McPherson. Oddly enough, there actually was a yellow-clad superhero called the Ace of Spades published during the same period, although he was published in Italy under the name ‘Asso di Picche’ [= Italian for ‘Ace of Spades’]. Created by artist Hugo Pratt of Corto Maltese fame and published between 1945 and 1947, this Phantom/Batman-style crimefighter was actually reporter Gary Peters, who fought the forces of evil with help of his girlfriend Deanna Farrel, his Kato-style Chinese assistant Prince Wang, and, apparently, a short-lived Robin-style sidekick named Gimmy.” Above, courtesy of Jeff, is a cover featuring the post-WWII Italian version—though we’re not 100% certain that particular drawing is by a young Hugo Pratt. We should point out, though, Jeff, that, in the interview conducted by Shaun Clancy, Wallace says it’s quite possible that MLJ tried to contact him about his “Ace of Spades” character, but that he and his family moved around that time, so that any letter they sent to him might never have reached him. And we can’t rule out the possibility of pure coincidence, although that seems a bit less likely, given the similarity of the costume designs on top of the name. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

identity of the Siegel/Reinman Mighty Comics character The Shield.” True, Doug—but Joe Higgins goes back to the very first “Shield” story, in 1940’s Pep Comics #1! That’s about it for this issue’s “re:” section. Send all comments and critiques to: e-mail: roydann@ntinet.com Roy Thomas 32 Bluebird Trail St. Matthews, SC 29135 P.S.: The Alter-Ego-Fans e-mail list is still going strong. Subscribers will learn past, present, and future topics of A/E articles and occasionally have the chance (you lucky dog, you!) to scan a page or three from their comics collections to help Roy T. illustrate upcoming articles—in exchange for a comp copy of A/E, natch! Just visit http:/ groups.yahoo.com/group/alter-ego-fans. Yahoo Groups has, however, eradicated its “Add Member” tool, so if you find it won’t let you in, please contact our genial moderator, Chet Cox, at mormonyoyoman@gmail. com and he’ll walk you through it. He’s that kind of guy. Also, over on Facebook, where I never quite make it myself, collector, dealer, and con-expediter John Cimino currently handles what he has christened (blush!) “The Roy Thomas Appreciation Boards” to discuss RT’s current, past, and upcoming work (including Alter Ego), convention appearances, personal thoughts about this or that, etc. John says it’s “fully interactive”—whatever that means! Try both of the above—you might like ’em!

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Fawcett Publications & Its Complicated Legal Legacy – Part I by Mike Tiefenbacher

sales—felt considerable consternation at the slow boil of contempt FCA EDITOR’S NOTE: They have saved the world a hundred times comicbooks were receiving from parents concerning violent and over… but an even greater challenge for super-heroes has been facing sexual content in what was perceived as a children’s medium, at often-dubious copyright and trademark plights ever since the birth of the contentious Senate hearings led by Estes Kefauver, and perhaps the comicbook industry in the 1930s. Notably, any discourse attempting most tellingly, at the amount of money they were paying lawyers to to comprehend the original Captain Marvel’s complicated copyright litigate the lawsuit National/DC had filed against their flagship title complexities, in particular, usually concludes in a convoluted clutter fourteen years earlier—and decided Fawcett Publications didn’t of confusion and uncertainty. In this first installment of a three-part need to be in the comicbook business anymore. presentation, comics historian Mike Tifenbacher courageously steps By the point at which it ceased, the forward to investigate and, God willing, Fawcett line had, in the space of one bring clarity to these ponderous legalities Slow Death Funnies year, shrunk from 26 titles (in issues surrounding the World’s Mightiest Mortal The death of Fawcett Publications’ Marvel Family was so dated March 1953, released in January) and many other characters caught in similar gradual that it was almost like organ failure. First to go to 22 in March, 12 in May, 11 in July, mucky predicaments battled not by the was Master Comics (#133, April 1953; cover art by Kurt eight in September, and just five in heroes themselves, but by politicians, judges, Schaffenberger), then Captain Marvel Jr. (#119, June, November. and attorneys. —P.C. Hamerlinck 1953; art by Bud Thompson), followed by Whiz Comics

t would have been so much easier all around if they hadn’t waited twenty years to do it.

Sometime in 1953, Fawcett Publications executives looked at their

(#155, June 1953; main art by Schaffenberger), Captain Marvel Adventures (#150, Nov. 1953; art by C.C. Beck) and finally, the entire Marvel Family (#89, Jan. 1954; art by Schaffenberger). The covers of CMJr #119 and Marvel Family #89 have always seemed so perfect as “last-issue covers” that they seem almost to have been designed specifically for that purpose… but they probably weren’t. [Shazam heroes TM & © DC Comics.]

Its horror, crime, and romance lines, for reasons probably having to do with a desire not to tarnish the main line with the censorship controversies surrounding those genres, not only were never listed in the masthead

Summer Re-runs You’d think that long-established non-Shazam-endowed Fawcett stars would’ve populated Charlton’s comics, after that company bought them… but such sightings turned out to be rare birds, indeed. Whiz Comics refugee Ibis the Invincible made one cover appearance (Danger and Adventure #22, Feb. 1955), as did Lance O’Casey (D&A #23, April 1955). Master Comics and solo comic star Nyoka had a respectable Charlton run of 15 issues (debuting with Zoo Funnies #8, Oct.Nov. 1954), but she was licensed from Republic Pictures. More prevalent were reprints of non-series fare such as Negro Romance (#4, May 1955), really just a second printing of Fawcett’s #2 from August 1950 with a new cover replacing the original photo. Nearly all reprints of other companies’ stories ceased in ’55 when the Charlton plant in Derby, Connecticut, was flooded and virtually all original and Photostatic artwork was lost. [Ibis TM & © DC Comics; Nyoka TM & © Bill Black; other art © the respective copyright holders.]

printed in every Fawcett comic, or in the group’s house ads, but by this time, were not even labeled “A Fawcett Publication” on their covers. The Marvel family of titles, likely still the sales leaders of the line, had died off incrementally during the year: Master Comics ended in February with #133, Captain Marvel Jr. in April with #119, Whiz Comics likewise in April with #155, Captain Marvel Adventures in September with #150, and The Marvel Family in November with #89. Aside from the last-named title, the only other Fawcett comics to reach November were three Westerns (Lash LaRue Western, Rocky Lane Western, and Tex Ritter Western) and Funny Animals (whose resident, Hoppy, had ceased being “The Marvel Bunny” at the end of 1950). This precipitous fall in the space of one year was probably attributable to Fawcett using up completed inventory after it decided to end the line, rather than being cancellation decisions based on sales. But Fawcett undoubtedly knew the value of their trademarks, their titles, and their second-class mailing permits. The familyowned company’s decision to cease publishing comics must have been made early enough that, when they did end it all, two other publishers could step in to continue some of its still-commercial titles without a long absence from the stands. One of them was just down the road from their Greenwich headquarters, a mere 35 miles to the northeast in Derby: fellow Connecticut-based resident Charlton Comics. Charlton was a shoestring operation with sales which were undoubtedly a fraction of Fawcett’s, and product that even Charlton must’ve known was inferior to theirs. It was so eager to take advantage of the Fawcett connection that, in addition to picking up ongoing 1953 titles Funny Animals, Gabby Hayes Western, Lash LaRue Western, Monte Hale Western, Nyoka the Jungle Girl, Rocky Lane Western, Romantic Secrets, Romantic Story, Six-Gun Heroes, Strange Suspense Stories, Sweetheart Diary, Sweethearts, Tex Ritter Western, and This Magazine is Haunted, it also brought back Cowboy Western, Don Winslow of the Navy, I Love You, Negro Romance, and Young Eagle (and adopted the Fawcett-style masthead listing on page 1 of their 1954 issues as well).

Notable among these continuations is the fact that, with the exception of Funny Animals and Young Eagle, none of these titles featured any Fawcett characters. There were several Fawcett-owned properties that did make the jump to Charlton, albeit in other titles: TV Teens featured several issues of “Ozzie and Babs” reprints… both “Ibis the Invincible” and “Lance O’Casey” reprints were featured in Danger and Adventure, and Lance also showed up in Don Winslow, Terry and the Pirates, and TV Teens… “Golden Arrow” appeared in a Range Busters reprint and in new stories in Cowboy Western… and “Crime Smasher” (the successor to “Spy Smasher”) appeared in issues of Badge of Justice and Crime and Justice. Reprints starring Republic Pictures’ “Nyoka” appeared in Zoo Funnies before her adventures went all-new and the title was changed to Nyoka the Jungle Girl. New “Young Eagle” adventures appeared in Davy Crockett, Cowboy Western, Wyatt Earp, and Texas Rangers in Action… while new “Hoppy” stories were also done after the reprints (some of which were retitled “Happy the Magic Bunny”) had ceased. Some “Hoppy”/“Happy” stories filled out Charlton’s “Atomic” funnyanimal line: Atomic Mouse, Atomic Rabbit, and Atomic Bunny. Aside from Rocky Lane, Lash LaRue, Gabby Hayes, and Tex Ritter, reprints also included some miscellaneous Western, crime, and science-fiction/horror stuff (Down with Crime reprints in Crime and Justice, and the movie adaptation of Destination Moon in Space Adventures, which was reprinted twice in two years!). Even the use of Dr. Death, the narrator of This Magazine Is Haunted, was a temp job, replaced by Dr. Haunt when the Comics Code was instituted in 1955. By mid-1958, though, no further reprints of Fawcett stories appeared, and no Fawcett-owned characters were appearing—with a single exception, which may have been due to an oversight. Fawcett’s Hot Rod Comics was too close in title to Charlton’s own ongoing title, Hot Rods and Racing Cars, which had been launched the same month, for them to continue that title. Charlton apparently coveted Fawcett’s ongoing series “Clint Curtis” from Hot Rod Comics enough to add it to their own Hot Rods title. But, after a

FCA [Fawcett Collectors Of America]

America’s Longest Speedway Of all the comics genres, one of the least represented was the car comic. Fawcett and Charlton, oddly enough, each launched its own similarly-titled specimen in the same month: November 1951. Fawcett’s had a star character, Clint Curtis, shown at far left on Hot Rod Comics #6 (Dec. 1952), with art probably by Bob Powell.

Fawcett reprint in 1954, Clint remained on the bench until 1959, when, out of the blue, Charlton made him the lead feature, continuing all the way to the final issue of Hot Rods and Racing Cars in 1974. My theory is that both Charlton and Fawcett forgot he had originated as a Fawcett character— because, while Charlton undoubtedly bought title-rights outright, they almost certainly were only leasing the rights for the few Fawcett-owned characters they did publish. It’s likely that the movie-cowboy rights (plus Nyoka and Don Winslow) were negotiated down to levels Charlton could afford commensurate with their lower sales, while Fawcett wasn’t willing to make that adjustment for their own characters. Had Charlton truly owned rights to the Fawcett catalogue, does anyone believe that, when the super-hero craze hit its fever pitch in 1964 and all Charlton launched was Blue Beetle, they’d have neglected to revive Bulletman, Ibis, Mr. Scarlet, Minute-Man, or any of Fawcett’s non-Marvel-family super-hero pantheon? However, Charlton wasn’t the only company to acquire a Fawcett title in the sell-off of its comics line. Although it, too, was a licensed-character comic which involved no transfer of money between the companies, DC’s Hopalong Cassidy followed directly from the Fawcett series, continuing the numbering, utilizing the secondclass rights, and featuring the Fawcett-designed logo and cover format. If you view the cover gallery on the Grand Comics Database, the changeover is nearly imperceptible except for the addition of the DC bullet in the left-hand corner, plus Ira Schnapp’s hand-lettering replacing Fawcett’s typeset blurbs. Since the gap between Fawcett’s last issue and DC’s first is a mere two months, (and some of Charlton’s issues have no gap at all between their first issues and Fawcett’s last), both Charlton and DC had to have known pretty early in 1953 that Fawcett was leaving the field. (An aside: As it turned out, Fawcett’s departure from comicbooks was short-lived. When Ned Pines closed down the comics department of his Nedor/Better/Standard company in 1959, Fawcett was right there to pick up the Dennis the Menace line of comics by buying out its packager,

When Charlton acquired some of Fawcett’s titles, Clint made a brief reprint showing in Hot Rods and Racing Cars (#16, June 1954), then disappeared until 1959 when he inexplicably reappeared in #42 (Oct. 1959), after which he continued his career in all manner of wheeled racers (hot rods, stocks, formula one, even bikes) through every issue thereafter till the title’s end, #120 (June 1974), represented at near left by Jack Keller’s original art, courtesy of Heritage Auctions. Quite an impressive run for a leftover Fawcett character—actually longer than Fawcett’s original run as a comics publisher! [© the respective copyright holders.]

Hallden Publications, and making it a subsidiary of Fawcett; and, by 1962, the Fawcett name was again right back on the covers of current comics, lasting through 1977.) But to get back to the set-up: the situation in 1953 propels us into the fascinating fantasy world of publishing-company conjecture. While all of this was happening, did the Fawcetts ever consider selling the Marvel family of characters to DC-National Comics, the

Taking License DC acquired the license to Fawcett’s best-selling Western, Hopalong Cassidy, from Bill Boyd (who portrayed him in movies and on TV and who owned the rights to the character and films), and Hoppy’s readers may never even have noticed. Here are Fawcett’s final issue, #85 (Nov. 1953), and DC’s first, #86 (Feb. 1954). Two decades later, this perceived Fawcett-DC connection was commonly misread as meaning that DC had acquired the rights to Fawcett characters (notably, Captain Marvel) in 1953. They had not. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

sole publisher in the world that could have continued the line with no threat of legal ramifications? Did they ever approach Harry Donenfeld and Jack Liebowitz and offer them what I would imagine were five still-viable comicbook titles with all attendant mailing rights, accompanied by the added discount resulting from being the only publishers who could touch them? Or was the animosity that a 14-year-old lawsuit builds up between litigants so great that neither party would even consider it? On the Fawcetts’ part, from a business standpoint it would have meant getting something for their property instead of simply the tax write-off they probably were able to claim. On DC’s part, it would have meant admitting that Captain Marvel had some value as a character, though it probably also came at exactly the wrong time for DC to consider it a good investment: a period of sharp downturn in the sales of super-hero comics (Quality had just cancelled Doll Man, and would soon cease doing new Plastic Man stories, while an abortive attempt to revive the genre at Timely/ Marvel, Farrell, Magazine Enterprises, and Harvey was still months away) and, with the winding down of the Korean War, decreased sales to G.I.s to fill their downtime. Since I’ve never read of any negotiations between Fawcett and Donenfeld and Liebowitz, comics history was written quite differently than it could have been. But just imagine what might have happened had it occurred. Let’s say that DC had purchased in full the rights to do Captain Marvel Adventures #156, Captain Marvel Jr. #120, The Marvel Family #90, and Whiz Comics #156 onward. (Master Comics had little more to it than Captain Marvel Jr. at the end, and probably wouldn’t have made sense to continue; and at that stage, nobody would have even thought of including any of the long-discontinued heroes like Bulletman.) DC’s publishers and its executive editor Whitney Ellsworth might have looked at what they had and decided that Mort Weisinger was the man who should oversee the characters, in a way paralleling his successful direction of the Superman/Superboy characters. (Editorial staff rarely transferred with titles, but it’s at least conceivable that Wendell Crowley might have been available, if DC felt a need to hire more experienced help.) The added workload, though lightened by assistant editors Murray Boltinoff and George Kashdan, would probably have precluded the addition of the two TV-inspired Superman spin-offs of a Jimmy Olsen title later that year, and Lois Lane in ’58. Otto Binder, of course, had worked for DC before and might well have continued as main “Captain Marvel” author, but writers with Fawcett/Marvel experience who were DC regulars— John Broome, Bill Finger, France Herron, Joe Millard, Bob Kanigher,

Vas Ist Das “Shazoom”? (Left:) Superman had introduced Captain Marvel to DC readers on the cover of its Shazam! #1 (see p. 96)—and the two heroes had later battled it out in #30 (July-Aug. 1977), courtesy of Dr. Sivana. If, as Mike T. speculates, DC had purchased the Marvel Family in 1954 and continued its adventures, this scene might’ve occurred two decades sooner! Art by Kurt Schaffenberger, the only artist (beside Pete Costanza) who by then had already drawn a considerable number of stories starring both the Man of Steel and the World’s Mightiest Mortal. Thanks to the Grand Comics Database. [TM & © DC Comics.] (Above:) Probably not by coincidence, EC’s Mad #4 (April-May 1953) had seen two parodic versions of the heroes clash in the classic “Superduperman!,” written & laid out by Harvey Kurtzman and drawn by Wally Wood—considered by many to be one of the greatest comicbook stories of all time. Repro’d from the DC hardcover Mad Archives, Vol. 1. [TM & © E.C. Publications, Inc.]

and Bill Woolfolk—could also have been enlisted. The Marvel Family artists working for Fawcett who eventually migrated to DC—Kurt Schaffenberger, Joe Certa, C.C. Beck, and Pete Costanza (who’d left Fawcett several years earlier)—can believably be imagined continuing to work for DC without interruption, as might Bud Thompson and Marc Swayze, and any number of similarly at-large ex-employees of Fawcett. And Sheldon Moldoff, not yet occupied ghosting Batman for Bob Kane, had also drawn “Captain Marvel Jr.” (Though it happened later, historical precedent was created when DC acquired the license to do Jackie Gleason and the Honeymooners in 1956, and retained as artist Mike Roy, who had drawn four issues of Jackie Gleason for St. John Publishing the year before. Similarly, when Blackhawk made the jump from Quality to DC that same year, DC hired longtime Blackhawk artists Dick Dillin and Chuck Cuidera to draw it. So the idea that creators might have come along with the franchise isn’t any kind of leap.) So let’s say that, without a pause in publication, DC continues the Marvel family line: Other than obviating a need for solo Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane comics to occupy Weisinger’s time, the presence of a DC Captain Marvel in 1954 changes everything. Suddenly, a Showcase introduction of a new Flash series doesn’t seem like a big risk, nor does there seem like such a huge super-hero drop-off around 1955

FCA [Fawcett Collectors Of America]

pair who didn’t have their own solo comic, Aquaman or Martian Manhunter (whose own personal history might have been changed due to Cap’s presence, making him less the Superman parallel that Julius Schwartz and Gardner Fox considered him to be). And certainly The Teen Titans would have featured Captain Marvel Jr., if not Mary Marvel. And, perhaps the biggest effect of all: Timely/ Marvel Comics would have needed to look for a different name to call their new wave of super-hero titles. With its flagship title that staked its right to the name (Marvel Comics/Marvel Mystery Comics/ Marvel Tales) having been discontinued in 1957 with the Atlas implosion, it would have made DC the company more likely to win any kind of trademark lawsuit over the name “Marvel”! (Another aside: Would Gomer Pyle’s TV writers have given Jim Nabors the “Shazam!” catch phrase if it were still being used in a then-current comic and not just sound like a quaint old-timey phrase used by a bumpkin? Perhaps—but far more people would have then recognized its origins, and it might not have birthed today’s “Shazam” music recognition software, and the subsequent TV spin-off series—though of course there’s no way to protect a trademarked word if the product is not the same; see Kryptonite Locks, launched in 1971.) But, alas, we awaken from our dream to find that none of that happened. The Batson and Freeman kids disappeared from comics, and the whole of the comicbook world seemed the poorer for it. A generation grew up with only vague memories of their names and appearances. Older collectors remembered the heroes and the comics with the nostalgia one holds for that which they’ll never see again. And the super-hero revival of 1964 only made things worse.

DC’s Marvel Family Circa 1954? What would a DC version of The Marvel Family have looked like had Donenfeld & Liebowitz acquired the rights to do so in 1954? That alternateEarth premise was the basis for this fanciful stab at an era-specific DC giant, Shazam! and The Shazam Family! Annual #1 (Sept. 2002). While both idea and execution are terrific, the detail specifics are a bit off for 1954: The first DC Annual wouldn’t actually appear till 1960’s Superman Annual #1, and a 1954 version would’ve probably been 100 pages rather than 80—the lettering in the DC bullet would’ve been all black in 1954—the Comics Code seal wouldn’t appear till 1955, and this one is about 20% the size it would’ve been that year—and of course, there’d been no reason to retitle the comic Shazam! Still, the idea was irresistible. Art by C.C. Beck, originally drawn for the cover of Captain Marvel Adventures #18 (Dec. 1942). [Shazam heroes TM & © DC Comics.]

that the wave of 1959 revivals seems like such a sea change. Plastic Man might not have seemed like a huge gamble for DC to continue when they bought the rights to the Quality line in 1957. With Mary Marvel around, would the creation of Supergirl (long thought by fans to have been partially inspired by Mary) have occurred earlier than it did (1959)—or perhaps not at all? Still, given the expansion of the Batman family with Bathound (1955) and Batwoman (1956), Supergirl would seem to have been a no-brainer. While it seems less obvious that a regular series that teamed former rivals Superman and Captain Marvel (in America’s Greatest Comics, paralleling World’s Finest’s format with Batman) would have been launched, there’s no doubt the two would meet regularly and that Captain Marvel would certainly become a charter member of the Justice League of America, perhaps taking the place of one of the

The ‘60s was a unique decade in the comics world in so many ways, not the least of it the degree to which nostalgia played a role. Virtually all of what constituted the Silver Age was based on communal déjà vu: a racial memory of the Golden Age, made all the more ironic in that the majority of the audience experiencing it hadn’t even been born when it happened. All of what we knew about the so-called Golden Age was learned in the early fanzines, or from the letter columns in the comics themselves, which alluded to long-gone glorious heroes and comics that we couldn’t even hope to find ourselves except in the attics of older friends, siblings, or cousins. Usually, the sum total of our knowledge was the names, powers, and a vague idea of what the characters looked like. But that was still enough to make us all thrill at the very notion that these characters had existed at a time before us, like the mythology we were learning in school, but contemporary. So we ate it up when new versions of The Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, and The Atom, an updated Justice Society now known as the Justice League, a new Human Torch, a revived Sub-Mariner, and a thawed-out Captain America were launched— and were positively mesmerized by the actual revival of the original Justice Society members. There were many more to follow: Blue Beetle, Plastic Man, the Golden Age heroes from MLJ including The Shield, Black Hood, The Comet, The Web, and Steel Sterling, the return of The Phantom, Flash Gordon, and Mandrake to comicbooks, reprints of The Black Cat, The Spirit, and Fighting American…and one other hero, insignificant in many ways, but most pertinent to this narrative: Former 1940s and ’50s comics artist Myron Fass had become a publisher; and in 1965, noticing that the trademarks of many Golden Age characters had fallen into the public domain (and perhaps having seen Stan Lee doing the same thing with Daredevil, The Thing, Quicksilver, Dr. Strange, Sandman, and a host of others at the new and successful Marvel Comics), he decided to revive the Captain Marvel name using a new character (created by Human

Torch creator Carl Burgos—like the original Torch, the new Captain Marvel was an android) whose only resemblance to the original was the name of his kid sidekick (“Billy Baxton”) and his use of magic words (“Split” and “Xam” instead of “Shazam”)—along with villains with familiar-sounding names like Plastic Man, Doll Man, Dr. Fate, Atom-Jaw, and The Bat. Fass at least had the intelligence to know the difference between trademark (the name a product is called) and copyright (the concept behind the product including its intricate details, otherwise known as intellectual property), and the laws governing same before he published. His comics, apart from the use of the above-named characters’ actual names, were all quite legal, as those trademarks had fallen out of use, and he did not infringe (very much) on Fawcett’s actual intellectual property rights, as this Captain Marvel did not look or act like the original. The minimum term covered by trademark law lasts as long as it is used—but can be extended by defending it against infringement, which can be done when the owner of the trademark believes that it will be used again. DC—which has vigorously defended its trademarks since the company began (viz., the Captain Marvel lawsuit)—was able to enjoin Fass from using Plastic Man (who became Elasticman) and Doll Man (Tinyman) prior to publishing the heroes themselves despite having purchased them from Quality in 1957, Dr. Fate (who’d been revived in 1963 and had just co-starred in Showcase), and The Bat (way too close to Batman, and soon renamed The Ray—ironically enough, another DC property via Quality) using nothing more than cease-anddesist letters. However, it would take Marvel Comics to put a permanent halt to Fass’ series.

laws treat comicbook characters. I’ve never found any hard evidence that the Fawcetts ever formally agreed to cease publishing the Marvel family of titles, though it’s certainly plausible that they did so, in order to convince DC to end its lawsuit against them. The fact that their overseas reprints (notably the UK-published versions of Captain Marvel Adventures, Captain Marvel Jr., and The Marvel Family, soon to be replaced by their British-originated analogs Marvelman, Young Marvelman, and Marvelman Family) also ceased in early 1954 seems to indicate that they had done so. However, Fawcett must have felt that there was some value to their copyrights on the original stories (thus, in 1965, Jules Feiffer’s landmark anthology The Great Comic Book Heroes reprinted only the splash page of the “Captain Marvel” origin story from Whiz Comics #2, apparently limited to that because of Fawcett’s settlement with DC, though Fawcett still retained the copyrights). So, when the original copyrights began to expire, Fawcett was right there to renew them, at a fee of $4 per issue, presumably beginning with Whiz Comics #2 (actually the first issue, as everyone here is aware). That much has to be presumed at this point, since the published records for 1939 renewals in the Catalog of Copyright Entries 1967 volume don’t include #2 (Feb. 1940, issued in Dec. 1939), as it appears that Fawcett didn’t file the renewals until the following May (#3, 4, 5, the second 5, and 6 were registered within two weeks of each other in late May and June of 1967), too late to appear in 1966’s annual volume. This could indicate a problem with #2’s

Wait—Marvel Comics? Not Fawcett? According to a November 11, 1967, article in the Wall Street Journal newspaper (which was reprinted in full in Alter Ego #23), Marvel publisher Martin Goodman saw that Fass had been publishing a Captain Marvel comic and offered to buy the title from him for $8000. When Fass didn’t accept the offer, Marvel published its own version of “Captain Marvel.” Fass sued for trademark infringement, but Marvel’s attorneys were able to convince a judge that their “Marvel Comics” trademark superseded his, and in 1968 Marvel was awarded the trademark rights to “Captain Marvel,” putting an end to Fass’ hero with issue #5 (Captain Marvel Presents The Terrible Five #1 having been published the summer before, this was actually Fass’ sixth issue) and setting up a copyright/trademark conflict that persists to this day—in addition to generating some big questions about how copyright

A “Split!” Personality Myron Fass, who’d drawn four stories for Fawcett in the early 1950s, published an ersatz version of Captain Marvel in 1966 that would be totally forgotten if its impact weren’t being felt even today. Correctly reading the rules regarding trademarks, Fass revived only the name for Captain Marvel #1 (April ’66), while also resurrecting a new version of Plastic Man (which DC quickly put a stop to). For the fifth and penultimate issue in the series, Captain Marvel vs. The Terrible 5 (Sept. 1967), Fass was still doing it, with new versions of The Destroyer, The Ray, and even a baddie called Tarzac (though he seems more like Aquaman or Sub-Mariner than Tarzan). The word “villain” is even misspelled on the cover. Who’d have thought it would be Marvel Comics that put Fass out of business? Art by Carl Burgos. [© the respective copyright holders; Captain Marvel is a TM of Marvel Characters, Inc.]

FCA [Fawcett Collectors Of America]

contains a single renewal for Captain Marvel Adventures #6, and none thereafter. Perhaps, for some reason, Fawcett’s attorneys recommended only renewing the first six issues of each title. In any event, the direct result of the Marvel v. Fass lawsuit was Marvel Super-Heroes #12 (cover-dated Dec. 1967), which introduced Stan Lee’s Kree-starship captain Mar-Vell as the new Captain Marvel, who was soon awarded his own title, dated May 1968. The writing on the wall may have given Fawcett a reason to decide that renewing their copyrights was a meaningless waste of money, since there was no chance that anyone could publish the comicbook without the trademark rights.

Marvels Of The Universe The immediate result of Myron Fass’ lawsuit against Marvel Comics was the after-the-fact establishment of a Marvel trademark in Marvel Super-Heroes #12 (Dec. 1967); cover art by Gene Colan & Frank Giacoia. Created by Stan Lee and penciler Colan, Captain Mar-Vell, of the malevolent alien Kree Empire, would betray his heritage by empathizing with humanity in the tradition of The Silver Surfer, becoming an Earthbound super-hero. He was awarded his own series during Marvel’s 1968 expansion, but lackluster sales by Captain Marvel #17 (Oct. 1969) prompted a radically altered version from writer Roy Thomas and penciler Gil Kane in which Mar-Vell gained super-powers but could only remain on Earth for three-hour periods by swapping places with young Rick Jones in the Negative Zone, while retaining mental communication between them—a science-fictional riff on the Captain Marvel-Billy Batson relationship, and a template for DC’s later Firestorm. Issue #17 inks were by Dan Adkins. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

original registration, because it also does not appear in the original 1939 volume. However, neither does DC’s Flash Comics #1, which, thanks to the renewal in 1967, we know was registered November 20, 1939—or Fiction House’s Fight Comics #1, for that matter. The text at the bottom of every page in those ’60s volumes explicitly states: “These entries may not reflect the complete Copyright Office record pertaining to a specific work. Contact the U.S. Copyright Office for information about any records that may exist.” Sadly, although online searches for unpublished record information can be ordered from the Copyright Office, the charge is $200 an hour (even if the search yields no results at all), with a minimum two-hour search per order. Alternatively, you can visit the Library of Congress personally and search their card catalogue by hand for free. As I’m in Wisconsin, I’m not liable to get a chance to do so. In any case, renewals for Whiz Comics #7-13 are also missing from the 1967 volume, which may or may not have resulted from a similar group of late renewals (the 28-year copyright term begins on the date of the original registration of each issue) as well. The same situation seems to have affected the 1941 Captain Marvel Adventures, which only shows renewals for #3, 4, and 5; and there are no renewals of 1941 issues of Whiz Comics in the 1968 book. The logic for this is baffling all these years later. You would not renew later issues and skip earlier ones if you have six to eight months left until the earlier issues expire, so the presumption is that the published records are not complete. But then, the 1969 volume

Well, hold on a minute. Never reckon without considering the power of super-hero fandom! Despite what anybody thought of the new Captain Marvel—and by #17, it became evident that fans had not embraced the Lee conception of the character, as a new Roy Thomas-conceived version that mirrored the Billy Batson/Captain Marvel relationship, utilizing former Captain America sidekick Rick Jones, replaced it—the affection for the original Fawcett version continued unabated.

In late 1967, original DC publishers Harry Donenfeld and Jack Liebowitz sold their shares in the company to Kinney National Service, and erstwhile mainstay artist Carmine Infantino was soon named editorial director. He quickly got rid of many veterans and replaced them with new writers and artists who, almost without exception, had climbed up the fan ranks to get there; so it was no coincidence that he was being lobbied to sate some of the fan nostalgia, which had never been stronger. First, he pulled DC’s Quality Comics Golden Age super-hero properties out of mothballs (contacting Everett Arnold to confirm that DC had the right to do so), with longtime comics fan E. Nelson Bridwell selecting reprints of “Plastic Man,” “Phantom Lady,” “Quicksilver,” “Kid Eternity,” “Black Condor,” “The Ray,” “Doll Man,” and “Blackhawk” (all appearing in ’71-’72), not long before Len Wein assembled a group of them to appear in a Justice League/Justice Society crossover story as the Freedom Fighters (’73). In 1972, Infantino also acquired the rights for DC to do its version of Tarzan—who himself had been the subject of a publicdomain supposition by comics publisher Charlton in 1964, leading to the latter company’s quickly-sued Jungle Tales of Tarzan. In ’73 Infantino would do the same for The Shadow. (Thankfully, no such copyright issues exist for The Shadow.) But, between those properties, in news announced at the July 1972 New York Comics Convention, Carmine did what Harry and Jack should have done twenty years earlier: he acquired Captain Marvel from Fawcett!

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Quality Will Out! The transition between Quality Comics and DC Comics was seamless in at least the case of Blackhawk, which continued to be penciled by Dick Dillin and inked by Chuck Cuidera for over a decade. Quality’s Blackhawk #107 (Dec. 1956) and DC’s Blackhawk #108 (Jan. 1957) differed mainly in that the DC version immediately got rid of Communist adversaries in favor of super-criminal types. A bit trickier was Quality’s Plastic Man, who transitioned from tongue-in-cheek adventure stories, albeit reprints by this time, in which the comic relief was provided by Woozy Winks (who isn’t depicted on Dick Dillin’s cover for Plastic Man #64, Nov. 1956), to DC’s revival (Plastic Man #1, Nov.Dec. 1966), in which everything was played for laughs (albeit attractively, via Gil Kane). The time gap between other major Quality heroes and their DC revivals was much greater, such as the one between Doll Man #47 (Oct. 1953) and Justice League of America #107 (Aug.-Sept. 1972), in which the World’s Mightiest Mite and some of his Quality colleagues returned. Doll Man artist unknown; JLA cover by Nick Cardy. [Blackhawk, Plastic Man, & Doll Man are trademarks of DC Comics; covers of DC issues TM & © DC Comics.]

FCA [Fawcett Collectors Of America]

With One Magic Word… (Above:) Attendees of the July 1-5, 1972, Phil Seuling-run New York Comicon (popularly known as Seulingcon) were given multiple handouts in their convention package, among them a flier on paper in black-&-white (if memory serves, since it was reproduced in The Menomonee Falls Gazette at the time) mysteriously announcing “Shazam Is Coming!” with DC’s name on it. While that version seems to have eluded any online sources, between early July and December 1972, DC had time to produce a die-cut color badge which was reproduced in 2008’s DC Vault (Martin Pasko, The Running Press). There’s also actually a real pin-back version of the badge; where and why they were created is an unsolved mystery, since ads featuring this image began running in the comics themselves that summer. (Right:) The cover of Shazam! #1 (Feb. 1973), on which Superman welcomed Captain Marvel to his new DC mag, was one that most 30-and-older readers had thought they’d never see! Captain Marvel figure by co-creator C.C. Beck; Superman by Nick Cardy, with a Murphy Anderson fix on the hero’s head. [TM & © DC Comics.]

Initially, fandom wondered how this could possibly work. There already was a Captain Marvel title coming out from DC’s biggest competitor. Then it was learned that, instead of a revival of Captain Marvel Adventures, the “Shazam Is Coming” legend on the convention handout actually foreshadowed the new trademark. While the formal title of the new DC comic was simply Shazam!, the rather unwieldy masthead would initially read: With One Magic Word... Shazam! The Original Captain Marvel. For the first 14 issues (Feb. 1973 through Sept.-Oct. 1974), that compromise seemed easy to swallow. After all, he was still Captain Marvel in the interior of the comic.

WHERE EVERYTHING OLD IS COOL AGAIN!

But Marvel Comics soon became dissatisfied with even that, and the renegotiated terms now prohibited any mention of Cap on the covers, in the logo or otherwise. From #15 through #35 (May-June 1978), “The Original Captain Marvel” was replaced by “The World’s Mightiest Mortal.” NEXT ISSUE: The Mystery Of The Old ©opyright Office! Mike Tiefenbacher used to use his bully pulpit just like this in The Menomonee Falls Gazette and Guardian, and then in The Comic Reader (197184), back in the days when fans were fans, comics cost less than a dollar, and dinosaurs strode the earth. He worked briefly in the ’80s as a writer and artist for DC, Marvel, Eclipse/ICG, and Spotlight Comics, as well as whatever other fanzines that would have him.

Special thanks to John Wells of the Grand Comics Database for providing many of the images for this article.

NEW MAGAZINE FROM TWOMORROWS BLASTING OFF SUMMER 2018

ALTER EGO #153

ALTER EGO #154

COMIC BOOK CREATOR #16

COMIC BOOK CREATOR #17

BRICKJOURNAL #50

Remembering Fabulous FLO STEINBERG, Stan Lee’s gal Friday during the Marvel Age of Comics—with anecdotes and essays by pros and friends who knew and loved her! Rare Marvel art, Flo’s successor ROBIN GREEN interviewed by RICHARD ARNDT about her time at Marvel, and Robin’s 1971 article on Marvel for ROLLING STONE magazine! Plus FCA, MICHAEL T. GILBERT, BILL SCHELLY, and more!

ALLEN BELLMAN (1940s Timely artist) interviewed by DR. MICHAEL J. VASSALLO, with art by SHORES, BURGOS, BRODSKY, SEKOWSKY, EVERETT, & JAFFEE. Plus Marvel’s ’70s heroines: LINDA FITE & PATY COCKRUM on The Cat, CAROLE SEULING on Shanna the She-Devil, & ROY THOMAS on Night Nurse—with art by SEVERIN, FRADON, ANDRU, and more! With FCA, MR. MONSTER, BILL SCHELLY, and more!

A look at 75 years of Archie Comics’ characters and titles, from Archie and his pals ‘n gals to the mighty MLJ heroes of yesteryear and today’s “Dark Circle”! Also: Careerspanning interviews with The Fox’s DEAN HASPIEL and Kevin Keller’s cartoonist DAN PARENT, who both jam on our exclusive cover depicting a face-off between humor and heroes. Plus our usual features, including the hilarious FRED HEMBECK!

The legacy and influence of WALLACE WOOD, with a comprehensive essay about Woody’s career, extended interview with Wood assistant RALPH REESE (artist for Marvel’s horror comics, National Lampoon, and underground), a long chat with cover artist HILARY BARTA (Marvel inker, Plastic Man and America’s Best artist with ALAN MOORE), plus our usual columns, features, and the humor of HEMBECK!

Special double-size BOOK! Photo editor GEOFF GRAY talks to JOE MENO about the beginnings of BrickJournal, TORMOD ASKILDSEN of the LEGO GROUP interviewed, how the fan community has grown in 10 years, and the best builders of the past 50 issues! Plus: Minifigure customizing with JARED K. BURKS’, step-by-step “You Can Build It” instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, BrickNerd’s DIY Fan Art, & more!

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BACK ISSUE #106

JACK KIRBY CHECKLIST: CENTENNIAL EDITION

BACK ISSUE #103

BACK ISSUE #104

BACK ISSUE #105

ALL-STAR EDITORS ISSUE! Past and present editors reveal “How I Beat the Dreaded Deadline Doom”! Plus: ARCHIE GOODWIN and MARK GRUENWALD retrospectives, E. NELSON BRIDWELL interview, DIANA SCHUTZ interview, ALLAN ASHERMAN revisits DC’s ’70s editorial department, Marvel Assistant Editors’ Month, and a history of PERRY WHITE! With an unpublished 1981 Captain America cover by MIKE ZECK!

FOURTH WORLD AFTER KIRBY! Return(s) of the New Gods, Why Can’t Mister Miracle Escape Cancellation?, the Forever People, MIKE MIGNOLA’s unrealized New Gods animated movie, Fourth World in Hollywood, and an all-star lineup, including the work of JOHN BYRNE, PARIS CULLINS, J. M. DeMATTEIS, MARK EVANIER, MICHAEL GOLDEN, RICK HOBERG, WALTER SIMONSON, and more. STEVE RUDE cover!

DEADLY HANDS ISSUE! Histories of Iron Fist, Master of Kung Fu, Yang, the Bronze Tiger, Hands of the Dragon, NEAL ADAMS’ Armor, Marvel’s Deadly Hands of Kung Fu mag, & Hong Kong Phooey! Plus Muhammad Ali in toons and toys. Featuring JOHN BYRNE, CHRIS CLAREMONT, STEVE ENGLEHART, PAUL GULACY, LARRY HAMA, DOUG MOENCH, DENNY O’NEIL, JIM STARLIN, & others. Classic EARL NOREM cover!

GOLDEN AGE IN BRONZE! ’70s Justice Society revival with two Pro2Pro interviews: All-Star Squadron’s ROY THOMAS, JERRY ORDWAY, and ARVELL JONES (with a bonus RICK HOBERG interview), and The Spectre’s JOHN OSTRANDER and TOM MANDRAKE. Plus: Liberty Legion, Air Wave, Jonni Thunder, Crimson Avenger, and the Spectre revival of ’87! WOOD, COLAN, CONWAY, GIFFEN, GIORDANO, & more!

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This final, fully-updated, definitive edition clocks in at DOUBLE the length of the 2008 “Gold Edition”, in a new 256-page Limited Edition Hardcover (only 1000 copies) listing every release up to Jack’s 100th birthday! Detailed listings of all of Kirby’s published work, reprints, magazines, books, foreign editions, newspaper strips, fine art and collages, fanzines, essays, interviews, portfolios, posters, radio and TV appearances, and even Jack’s unpublished work! (256-page Ltd. Ed. Hardcover) $34.95 Ships April 2018

TwoMorrows. The Future of Comics History.

DRAW #34

DRAW #35

KIRBY COLLECTOR #73

KIRBY COLLECTOR #74

GREG HILDEBRANDT (of the Hildebrandt Brothers) reveals his working methods, BRAD WALKER (Aquaman, Guardians of the Galaxy, Birds of Prey, Legends of the Dark Knight) gives a how-to interview and demo, regular columnist JERRY ORDWAY, JAMAR NICHOLAS reviews the latest art supplies, and BRET BLEVINS and Draw! editor MIKE MANLEY’s Comic Art Bootcamp!

Fantasy/sci-fi illustrator DONATO GIANCOLA (Game of Thrones) demos his artistic process, GEORGE PRATT (Enemy Ace: War Idyll, Batman: Harvest Breed) discusses his work as comic book artist, illustrator, fine artist, and teacher, Crusty Critic JAMAR NICHOLAS, JERRY ORDWAY’S regular column, and MIKE MANLEY and BRET BLEVINS’ “Comic Art Bootcamp.” Mature Readers Only.

ONE-SHOTS! Kirby’s best (and worst) short spurts on his wildest concepts: ANIMATION IDEAS, DINGBATS, JUSTICE INC., MANHUNTER, ATLAS, PRISONER, and more! Plus MARK EVANIER and our other regular panelists, rare Kirby interview, panels from the 2017 Kirby Centennial celebration, pencil art galleries, and some one-shot surprises! BIG BARDA #1 cover finishes by MIKE ROYER!

FUTUREPAST! Kirby’s “World That Was” from Caveman days to the Wild West, and his “World That’s Here” of Jack’s visions of the future that became reality! TWO COVERS: Bullseye inked by BILL WRAY, and Jack’s unseen Tiger 21 concept art! Plus: interview with ROY THOMAS about Jack, rare Kirby interview, MARK EVANIER moderating the biggest Kirby Tribute Panel of all time, pencil art galleries, and more!

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(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $4.95 • Summer 2018

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(100-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $5.95 • Ships May 2018

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It’s

GROOVY, baby!

Follow-up to Mark Voger’s smash hit MONSTER MASH!

From WOODSTOCK to “THE BANANA SPLITS,” from “SGT. PEPPER” to “H.R. PUFNSTUF,” from ALTAMONT to “THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY,” GROOVY is a far-out trip to the era of lava lamps and love beads. This profusely illustrated HARDCOVER BOOK, in PSYCHEDELIC COLOR, features interviews with icons of grooviness such as PETER MAX, BRIAN WILSON, PETER FONDA, MELANIE, DAVID CASSIDY, members of the JEFFERSON AIRPLANE, CREAM, THE DOORS, THE COWSILLS and VANILLA FUDGE; and cast members of groovy TV shows like “THE MONKEES,” “LAUGH-IN” and “THE BRADY BUNCH.” GROOVY revisits the era’s ROCK FESTIVALS, MOVIES, ART—even COMICS and CARTOONS, from the 1968 ‘mod’ WONDER WOMAN to R. CRUMB. A color-saturated pop-culture history written and designed by MARK VOGER (author of the acclaimed book MONSTER MASH), GROOVY is one trip that doesn’t require dangerous chemicals!

(192-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95 • ISBN: 978-1-60549-080-9 • DIGITAL EDITION: $15.95

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