Alter Ego #165 by TwoMorrows Publishing

Roy Thomas' Always-Timely Comics Fanzine

MARTIN GOODMAN PRESENTS

MARVEL COMICS (1939-1971)

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No. 165 September 2020

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Vol. 3, No. 165 / Sept. 2020 Editor

Roy Thomas

Associate Editor Jim Amash

Design & Layout

Christopher Day

Consulting Editor John Morrow

FCA Editor

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

Comic Crypt Editor

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Michael T. Gilbert Jerry G. Bails (founder) Ronn Foss, Biljo White Mike Friedrich, Bill Schelly Rob Smentek William J. Dowlding Drew Friedman

With Special Thanks to: Heidi Amash Pedro Angosto Ger Apeldoorn Bob Bailey John Benson John Brezina Ricky Terry Brisacque Frank Brunner Bernie Bubnis John Cimino Adam Cohen Maddy Cohen Comic Book Plus (website) Chet Cox Teresa R. Davidson Craig Delich Wendy Everett Justin Fairfax Shane Foley Drew Friedman Jeff Gelb Janet Gilbert Grand Comics Database (website) Gary Groth Heritage Auctions Sean Howe Maureen Jones Sharon Karibian

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Jim Kealy Mark Lewis Jim Ludwig Nancy Maneely Marvel Database (website) Harry Matetsky Robert Menzies Brian K. Morris Ron Murphy Will Murray Michelle Nolan Peter Normanton Barry Pearl Chris Petry J.C. Preas Warren Reece David Saunders Cory Sedlmeier Tara Seymour Mark Storchheim Stripper’s Guide (website) Dann Thomas Jean Thomas Mike Tiefenbacher Mark Trost Michael Uslan James Van Hise Dr. Michael J. Vassallo Derek Wilson

This issue is dedicated to the memory of

Bill Schelly & Martin Goodman

Contents

Writer/Editorial: In Remembrance Of Bill Schelly . . . . . . . . . 2 Marvel’s Founding Father—Martin Goodman . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Will Murray on Timely’s original publisher, plus addendum by Mike Tiefenbacher.

Comic Fandom Archive: Tributes To Bill Schelly . . . . . . . . . 37 Jeff Gelb introduces a celebration of the life and work of a dedicated comics historian.

From The Tomb Presents: Step Into My Parlor . . . . . . . . . . 49 Peter Normanton on the horror (and other) art of the unique Rudy Palais.

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt! The PAM Papers – Part 7 . . . . 55 Michael T. Gilbert presents more of artist Pete Morisi’s letters to Glen Johnson.

John Broome: Anna & The “King” Of Iran . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Part XII of the Golden/Silver Age comics writer’s offbeat 1998 memoir.

re: [correspondence, comments, & corrections] . . . . . . . . . 65 FCA [Fawcett Collectors Of America] #224 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 P.C. Hamerlinck’s conversation with Captain Marvel mega-collector Harry Matetsky.

On Our Cover: If you’re ever in a mood to view pictures of great comicbook creators that look even more like them than most of their photographs do, pick up a copy of Drew Friedman’s book Heroes of the Comics (2014), which is composed of portraits that manage to seem both like caricatures and photos at one and the same time. He followed it up with 2016’s More Heroes of the Comics. Amongst the many artists, writers, and editors portrayed in these two volumes is his rendition of founding Timely/ Marvel publisher Martin Goodman. Once we laid eyes on it, it was our first and only choice for the cover art for this Goodman-centered issue of Alter Ego, and we thank Drew for giving us permission to utilize it. [© Drew Friedman.] Above: Goodman’s comics were often reprinted abroad, of course. This (probably Mexican) “revista” titled Aventuras reprinted one of Human Torch creator Carl Burgos’ greatest-ever covers, originally drawn for Young Men #25 (Feb. 1954), the second issue in the mid-decade revival; scan courtesy of Ron Murphy. We’re sorry the bottom-of-page illos of Captain America and the Sub-Mariner are partly trimmed, but we printed every inch we had, honest! [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.] 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: $67 US, $101 Elsewhere, $27 Digital Only. All characters are © their respective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © Roy Thomas. Alter Ego is a TM of Roy & Dann Thomas. FCA is a TM of P.C. Hamerlinck. Printed in China. ISSN: 1932-6890. FIRST PRINTING.

In Remembrance of BILL SCHELLY 2

writer/editorial

his issue’s cover subject is Martin Goodman, and I’m very pleased to be presenting Will Murray’s coverage of the Timely/Marvel publisher, who loomed so large in the history of American comicbooks—even if he himself often told Stan Lee that he was far prouder of his “men’s-adventure” magazines, with their cover blurbs like “Hooker Heaven” and “Soft Flesh for the Nazis’ Fanged Doom,” than he ever was of Fantastic Four or Amazing Spider-Man. Still, this time around, I want to talk about my friend and colleague, Bill Schelly. Bill died of multiple myeloma last September 12th, not all that long after he’d been diagnosed with the disease. He was only 67— which may seem old to someone still covered by his/her parents’ life insurance, but is well below the national mortality average. And, over the past 2½ decades, he had become both the primary historian of the comics fandom movement that began in the early 1960s (of which he’d been a part, a few years later) and the most eminent biographer of major Golden and Silver Age figures of the comicbook world. I’ll let Jeff Gelb, the man who was perhaps Bill’s best friend, briefly relate Bill’s own biography and introduce the first few of an outpouring of tributes to him, beginning on p. 37. Here, I’ll just say a few words about the Bill Schelly I knew, liked, and respected. We first “met,” it should surprise no reader of this magazine to learn, through the U.S. mails, when, in the early 1990s, he sent me one or more of his recent publications. I had been unaware of his earlier Sense of Wonder fanzine, because by the time he launched it I was already ensconced in the world of professional comics and saw relatively few amateur offerings.

One of the items he sent me was his 1992 Ronn Foss Retrospective, which had been a part of the publication Capa-Alpha, the cooperative “comics amateur press alliance.” Mostly, I think, he wanted to see what I thought of that noted fan-artist’s claim that in the mid-1960s he had withdrawn from collaborating with me on an adaptation of Gardner Fox’s paperback novel Warrior of Llarn because he felt I’d be taking too big a slice of any money that came in from (believe it or not) possible foreign reprints. I informed Bill that I had no memory of Ronn ever raising that issue with me; all I recalled was that at some point he’d suddenly abandoned the project, so I’d turned to new correspondent Sam Grainger as his replacement. That settled, Bill and I moved on to other topics over the course of an occasional exchange of letters. A couple of years later, he told me he was writing a history of 1960s comics fandom (he tended to drop the “s” in “comics”) and asked if I’d be willing to share my memories with him, since I’d been very active therein from 1961 through 1965. I responded with an enthusiastic yes, and so began a reasonably voluminous correspondence in which I answered any of his questions that I could. At that time, Ronn, Jerry Bails, Biljo White, Larry Ivie, and so many other prominent fans from those early days were still very much amongst us; and we were all determined, I think, to help Bill’s history be as good as we—and especially he—could make it. Later, I was honored when he invited me to pen the introduction to his book. The Golden Age of Comic Fandom (1995), from his own imprint Hamster Press, did not disappoint. Oh, Bill was soon made aware he’d shortchanged a few offshoots of early fandom, but his book immediately became, and remains, the definitive work on the

COMING IN AUGUST

166

KURT SCHAFFENBERGER & ALEX ROSS (There’s More Than One Kind Of Golden Age!)

Art TM & © DC Comics.

• Fabulous Captain Marvel vs. Dr. Sivana cover by SCHAFFENBERGER! • P.C. HAMERLINCK throws twin FCA [Fawcett Collectors of America] spotlights on Golden/ Silver Age artist KURT S. (Captain Marvel, Ibis the Invincible, Marvel Family, Lois Lane) via biographer MARK VOGER & a San Diego Comic-Con panel—and on today’s ALEX ROSS (Marvels, Justice, et al.), showcasing his titanic “Echoes of Shazam!” tapestry depicting the multitude of super-heroes influenced by the original Captain Marvel as he relates the story behind that awesome artwork! • PLUS: BILL SCHELLY Tribute, Part II—MICHAEL T. GILBERT on Superman editor MORT WEISINGER—continuing JOHN BROOME’s memoir—FROM THE TOMB—& MORE!!

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In Remembrance Of Bill Schelly

subject. Except to the extent that Bill’s own later works expanded on and deepened our knowledge of that odd history. One favorable review of GACF—in Gary Groth’s Comics Journal, maybe—mentioned that the next step was for the editor/ publishers of various major early fanzines to put together “Best of” collections from their own mags. Reading that, and knowing that Bill had already set up his own publishing entity, I suggested to Bill that he and I work together on such a collection from Alter Ego, the fanzine I’d helped founder Jerry Bails start in early 1961 and had taken over in ’64. This time it was Bill’s turn to return an enthusiastic affirmative. And in 1997, not long after Bill helped orchestrate the first real Fandom Reunion in conjunction with a comics convention in Chicago, Alter Ego: The Best of the Legendary Comics Fanzine became the next offering from Hamster Press.

amount of midnight oil. Along the way, Bill realized that, however much he loved being fandom’s historian, it wouldn’t, in and of itself, lead him into the more productive writer’s life he wanted for himself. Thus, since his first book, in 1982, had been a biography of silent-movie comedian Harry Langdon, he began thinking in terms of biographies of comics pros. I believe he said that it was my suggestion that his first subject might be the estimable Otto Binder, a science-fiction and comics writer who’d been both one of the major scribes of Fawcett’s “Captain Marvel” and a sort of informal “patron saint” of my own 1964-65 incarnation of Alter Ego. Bill had never had the privilege, as I had, of meeting Otto, but he was a born (and indefatigable) researcher, and Hamster Press’ 2003 Words of Wonder was all that any admirer of “Eando Binder” could have hoped for. It quickly sold out, and was republished a few years ago.

On his end, Bill went all out for the book. When the great Silver Age DC Bill realized that the editor Julius Schwartz next step was to hook up declined to actually with a somewhat bigger sit down and write an publisher, which could introduction to it, Bill help him reach a larger taped a conversation audience. Fantagraphics’ with him and, with Julie’s Gary Groth (beginning blessing, turned the gist on p. 42) will speak to of it into an introduction his association with Bill, which the irascible “Man which began with the Joe of Two Worlds” was happy Kubert biography Man of to claim as his own. When Rock. Best was published, Julie, And then I made a Bill, and I spent some sterling contribution to hours at a San Diego con Fans Forever Bill’s career—by turning autographing copies; Bill (Left to right:) 1960s comics fans Jerry Bails, Howard Keltner, Roy T., and Bill Schelly the down a request of his. often spoke of that as a night before the Fandom Reunion in Chicago, 1997. Unfortunately, Ye Editor is now the He phoned me to suggest high point of his life. I only one of this foursome still living. Photo by Dann Thomas. that his next biography was pretty juiced that day, be about me. However, too; Julie had been both whatever any prospective publisher might’ve thought of the idea an admired editor and a major reason I entered first the world of of a Roy Thomas biography in the early 21st century, and flattered fandom, then of pro comics. as I was, I immediately threw cold water on the notion, because I Like GAFC, Bill’s and my book eventually sold out its had (have) every intention of writing my own story; and, while Bill 1000-or-so print run and would later have a second edition. And, would otherwise have been far and away my (and my wife Dann’s) in fact, a second volume, collecting still more of the “best” of the first choice to tell that particular tale, I felt that, at that time, I just 1961-78 first run of Alter Ego. couldn’t give him the kind of access and information that he would have needed. Bill continued on his own path, with several more fine fandom-related publications, including eventually Founders So he cast around for a very little bit—and wound up writing of Comic Fandom. And by 1999, when A/E became a quarterly a biography of Harvey Kurtzman, the creator of Mad, and one magazine, I invited Bill to become an every-issue contributor, of the most influential humor-writers/artists/editors of the 20th focusing on comics fandom in the 1960s through the early ’70s. Bill century. Despite the fine books he wrote after it about Little Lulu’s titled his 6-page section the “Comic Fandom Archive,” and I was John Stanley and (the equally uncooperative) James Warren, Bill’s often amazed, over the next two decades, to see how much new Kurtzman book became his magnum opus, as he was well aware. information about that period and its participants that he could Still, I have little doubt that he would have come up with other turn up, rarely really repeating himself. Besides covering those stellar biographies to write, whether about comics-related figures still active in one way or another, he tracked down fans who’d long or perhaps by returning to film, which had been the focus of his been out of touch with anyone that either of us knew… and each first book. article, each interview, added to the mosaic of an era when fandom But it was not to be. and pro comics had many intersections. After all, Marv Wolfman, Len Wein, Rich Buckler, Dan Adkins, and Dave Cockrum were just a few of the many amateurs who, like myself, made the jump from fan to pro—and, in many cases, we owed a lot of our “main chance” to the fanzines over which we had burned a considerable

I was shocked in more ways than one when I was contacted last September by Bill’s good buddy Jeff Gelb to tell me that Bill was in the hospital with cancer and that the prognosis was not good. Somehow, Jeff said, Bill seemed to believe that he had told

writer/editorial

me about his condition some time before… but I knew that was a false memory, perhaps caused by the illness. There’s no way I could have forgotten his sharing such horrendous news with me.

Fandom Archive” would arrive, had been an e-mail to congratulate him on the second edition of his memoir Sense of Wonder. I hadn’t really known (nor would I have cared) about Bill’s being gay, although I recall my late fan-mentor Jerry Bails once suggesting that possibility to me, though in a totally nonjudgmental way. We both shrugged it off. That was Bill’s business, not ours. But I was proud of him—and I know Jerry would’ve been, too, which would’ve meant even more to Bill—when he “came out” in the pages of that book, writing well and sensitively about that aspect of his life as well as of the rest.

Only a day or two later, while I was still waiting to hear how he was doing in the hospital’s care, Jeff contacted me again to tell me Bill had passed away. It felt like a kick to the gut.

Bill and I had never been super-close friends, I suppose. We didn’t really run into each other that often, although Dann and I were briefly guests in his home Sign On The Dotted Line during one late-1980s trip to Julius Schwartz, Roy, and Bill sign copies of the “Best of Alter Ego” book at the 1998 Seattle. He and I exchanged San Diego Comic-Con. Photo by Jeff Gelb. e-mails every few weeks, and Perhaps I’ll have more we talked on the phone from to say in the next issue of time to time—but mostly just when something important needed A/E, in the second installment of our tribute to him. Meanwhile, the to be discussed, never just to chat. Welcome as our conversations thing that comes most to mind is how proud I am to have been a always were to me, I’ve never really been one for talking much on colleague, a collaborator—and yes, a friend—of Bill Schelly. the phone. Bestest, One of my last communications with Bill, aside from occasionally checking about when the next installment of “Comic

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

Marvel’s Founding Father – MARTIN GOODMAN The Rise & Fall & Rise Of A Comicbook Dynasty— As Seen In Part By STAN LEE Article by Will Murray

Martin Goodman

I. Silberkleit & Goodman

arvel Comics celebrated its 80th anniversary last year. Most of the attention fell on longtime editor, writer, and (later) publisher Stan Lee, which is only right, given that it was Lee’s editorial vision more than founding publisher Martin Goodman’s business acumen that created the comicbook renaissance known as the Marvel Age of Comics, which reverberates to this day. On the occasion of Marvel’s 70th anniversary in 2009, I was asked to write a history of Marvel for an Omnibus reprinting of the earliest issues of Marvel Mystery Comics, the formative title in the long-running TimelyAtlas-Marvel empire.

(1908-1992) flanked by the cover of the first pulp magazine he ever edited (Western Supernovel, Vol. 1, #1, 1933), with cover painting by Joseph Cragin—and his first published comicbook (Marvel Comics #1, Oct. 1939), with cover by science-fiction artist Frank R. Paul. The headshot above is a detail from the famous August 14, 1942, “Bambi photo” of Timely Comics staffers and Funnies, Inc., personnel. Thanks to Will Murray for the pulp-cover scan, to the Grand Comics Database for the comics scan, and to David Saunders (www.pulpartists. com) for the pulp-artist ID. Incidentally, re the artwork by one “Joseph Cragin,” David S. informs us he has “never found any archival information that any professional artist ever worked under that name, so this painting is either by some artist using an alias or it was created by an absolute amateur.” It seems Goodman began his magazine career with a “Marvel mystery”! [Pulp cover TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders; comics cover TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

For that project, I interviewed the late Stan Lee about his employer and mentor. While a few of his quotes made it into the essay, a great many more did not. I thought that it was high time for a look at Martin Goodman as seen, at least partly, through the eyes of Stan Lee. But let’s go back to the beginning, before Timely Comics. After working in the circulation department of pulp publisher Hugo Gernsback of Amazing Stories fame, and later in the circulation

department of Eastern Distribution, Moe Goodman––to use his birth name––switched to the editorial desk after both operations collapsed during the Depression. Fledgling publisher Louis Silberkleit, whom Goodman had met at Eastern, launched his first pulp title, Western Supernovels, in 1933. The lead novel was a reprint. Newsstand Publications was the company’s name. As Silberkleit’s employee, Goodman handled both editorial and circulation matters. Why a Western? Goodman once explained, “I had read Westerns since I was a kid. I was an average reader, so we put out a book for the average reader.” This would be his long-term publishing credo.

At that time, magazines and entire chains had gone out of business. This made printers desperate to keep their unionized presses running and eager to extend credit. No doubt Silberkleit made a deal to pay the printing bill with his anticipated profits. Even in the Depression, fiction was expensive to acquire. Goodman devised an inexpensive solution. “I found that the Doubleday Doran syndicate would sell me novels for a hundred dollars apiece. Some of them had been in hard covers, some had been originally written for Collier’s at fancy prices.”

The Rise & Fall Of A Comicbook Dynasty

the company $23,000, Silberkleit had had enough. He and Goodman parted company, with Silberkleit abandoning the enterprise to launch Winford Publications, leaving Goodman to soldier on alone with the surviving pulp titles. But Newsstand was in hock to Silberkleit’s printer, W.H. Hall, which worked with Goodman to start a new company, Western Fiction. Both chains grew. Against the powerhouse pulp empires of Street & Smith, Munsey, Standard, and others, Goodman and Silberkleit were shoestring enterprises––bottom-feeders living off the bigger houses’ rejects, buying Second Serial Rights reprints, and depending on fledging writers willing to take less than a penny a word to break into the game, as well as seasoned scribes dumping their castoffs at cut rates under fictitious bylines.

Louis Silberkleit (Above:) Several years before he became the “L” in the “MLJ” company that published “The Shield,” then “Archie,” Louis Silberkleit was Martin Goodman’s boss in a pulp-magazine company—not, as stated in numerous places (including, alas, in Ye A/E Editor’s tome The Stan Lee Story), Goodman’s partner. With thanks to David Saunders. Silberkleit’s (and editor Goodman’s) first “heroic” pulp title was 1934’s The Masked Rider—starring a secret-identity cowboy who didn’t have an Indian companion named Tonto. Cover painting by Chris Schaare (1893-1980). Thanks again to David Saunders for the artist ID. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.] Near the end of 1934 (on Dec. 30th, in fact), the announcement at right of the wedding of Martin Goodman and Jean Davis appeared in The New York Times. Courtesy of Sean Howe, author of Marvel Comics: The Untold Story. [© the respective copyright holders.]

II. Goodman Goes It Alone Both rivals turned a profit. By 1938, Goodman’s line had grown to 25 titles for a combined monthly circulation of 400,000. As he infamously remarked, “Fans are not interested in quality. If you get a title that catches on, then add a few more, you’re in for a nice profit.” That was his formula for success. Average stories for the average reader. Behind the scenes, the truth was that Goodman still owed W.H. Hall’s Alfred Bernard Geiger a lot of money. He was just trying to survive. In short, he was selling slick stories to unsuspecting pulp readers! Silberkleit soon added a detective title and a few others, including his first heroic title, The Masked Rider, a copy of radio’s Lone Ranger. But it was the Great Depression. The line soon began struggling. When Newsstand’s distributor, Mutual, went belly-up in the summer of 1934, owing

One of those devouring his magazines was a voracious young reader named Stanley Martin Lieber, later to gain worldwide fame as Stan Lee. “There were many pulp mags that I read,” Stan told me. “A favorite was Doc Savage. Another was The Spider. (Nothing like Spider-Man. Just a guy with a mask who fought the bad guys.) Also, Martin’s own Ka-Zar. There were lots more, but I can’t remember the names off-hand. I loved ‘em all.” Ka-Zar was Goodman’s Tarzan knockoff. He lasted only three issues. “He [Goodman] had a very good feel of what the average

Racy Stuff! The covers of three early Goodman magazines of the non-pulpadventure, non-comics variety: Racing Digest & Guide, Vol. 1, #1 (date uncertain)… Sex Health #1 (Aug. 1937)… and his Reader’s Digest imitation Popular Digest #1 (Sept. 1939). Thanks to Dr. Michael J. Vassallo. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Marvel’s Founding Father—Martin Goodman

Maybe Ka-Zar Wasn’t Really That Great! The cover of the first of Goodman’s three issues of Ka-Zar (the official title of the third one was Ka-Zar the Great). The date of Vol. 1, #1, was October 1936; the painting was by J.W. Scott. The authorial name “Bob Byrd” was almost certainly a house pseudonym. [Ka-Zar TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Funnies assembled Marvel Comics #1 in July, with extra pages added to preexisting “Sub-Mariner” strip that had been prepared for the unreleased Motion Picture Funnies Weekly. The comic magazine’s cover was executed by science-fiction great Frank R. Paul, who painted covers for Goodman’s Marvel Science Stories. All Goodman had to do was find a suitable four-color printer. He located one in New Jersey which did process color, which Goodman believed would result in a superior-looking product. But the outfit had never printed comicbooks before. On August 31, 1939, this startlingly different comicbook debuted. Other publishers offered a single strong hero backed up by lesser features. Not Martin Goodman. He packed that first issue with a bizarre collection of superheroes, headed by a fiery non-human called The Human Torch and the equally fiery amphibian, Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner. A costumed version of The Saint, called The Angel, was included. Pulp orphan Ka-Zar and a version of the old Masked Rider, renamed The Masked Raider, helped round out the issue.

J.W. Scott

reader would like or wouldn’t like,” (1907-1987). Courtesy of Stan Lee told me. “He had read a lot. He David Saunders. was self-educated. He came from a poor family and worked his way up. He also knew good writing. But he knew it from the point of view of the average reader. He knew what would go and what wouldn’t, and he had good taste. I don’t know that he could create things himself, but if he saw something good, I think he knew it.” Shrewdly, Goodman shipped his unsold magazines to England, earning a penny apiece on 200,000 returns every month. This amounted to an extra $40,000 or thereabouts in today’s dollars every month.

One strip was dropped at the last minute. Today no one recalls its title, but it was likely jettisoned for legal reasons. Possibly it was too close to another publisher’s property, such as Superman. DC had just sued Fox’s “Wonder Man” out of existence, after all. The printing job on Marvel Comics #1 was so shoddy that Goodman canceled the book as soon as he saw a printed copy. Having no confidence in the new magazine, a cautious Goodman ordered only 80,000 copies printed, with distribution limited to the East Coast. But a check of the New York newsstands showed that it was selling! In fact, it would sell out in less than a week. What was thought to be a financial disaster had proved to be a winner. Goodman quickly reprinted the first issue and scheduled the second. It was not the first time his impulsive gut reaction to

But publishing is a volatile field. Rival publishers were constantly launching exciting new titles, crowding Goodman’s rebranded Red Circle line off the racks. As 1939 came along, he was canceling titles in order to stay afloat. There was another threat to his young empire: Under pressure from rival publishers, the Federal Trade Commission was looking into complaints that Goodman’s pulps were reprinting old stories and offering them to the public as new. There was nothing illegal about those reprints. The fact that they were unlabeled was the issue. Both Red Circle and Silberkleit’s Columbia operations were branded as the worst offenders.

III. Comicbooks Most significantly, there was a new rival in town: comicbooks. Specifically, Superman. And he was commanding reader dimes as no pulp magazine had since the advent of The Shadow back in 1931. As Superman’s sales in DC’s flagship title Action Comics steadily mounted toward a million copies a month, everyone noticed. Frank Torpey talked a reluctant Goodman into entering this booming new field by showing him “Superman” and Bill Everett’s “Amazing-Man.” Torpey worked as a salesman for a packager, Funnies, Inc., which supplied strips to emerging comic houses.

Frank Torpey The man credited with talking Goodman into publishing comicbooks— for which, it’s said, MG paid him a weekly stipend of a fast $25 for years. Another detail of the aforementioned 1942 “Bambi photo,” when Goodman took various Timely staffers and Funnies, Inc., personnel to dinner before they all went to see that new Walt Disney animated feature. If Torpey did indeed persuade Goodman to enter the comics field by showing him “Superman” and “Amazing-Man” material, it might well have been the June 1939 issue of Action Comics (#13), with its Joe Shuster cover—and Photostats of Bill Everett art and story from Amazing-Man Comics #5 (Sept. 1939)… actually the first issue, which would go on sale not long before Marvel Comics #1 itself. [Action cover TM & © DC Comics; Amazing-Man cover TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

The Rise & Fall Of A Comicbook Dynasty

A Marvel-ous Lineup (Below & opposite:) Pages from the five hero-strips in Marvel Comics #1, in the order they appeared in the mag. (L. to r.:) The Carl Burgos written-and-drawn “Human Torch” splash page… “The Angel” debut scribed and illustrated by Paul Gustavson… Bill Everett’s “Sub-Mariner” with that weird wash effect and his nimble scripting… “Masked Raider” by Al Anders (at least, that’s who comics researcher Dr. Michael J. Vassallo, who’s usually right about such things, thinks drew it)… and Ben Thompson’s splash for the first “Ka-Zar” comics story, an adaptation (possibly scripted by the artist) of the first issue of the 1936 Ka-Zar pulp. The only other comics feature in Marvel #1 was the non-continuing-character “Jungle Terror,” drawn by a pseudonymous Art Pinajian. The autographed “Torch” and “Sub-Mariner” splashes are courtesy of Warren Reece from his personal copy of the first edition of Marvel #1; the other pages were scanned from the Golden Age Marvel Comics Omnibus, Vol. 1. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Marvels An historic photo taken New Year’s Eve, 1940. (Left to right:) Paul Gustavson… Ben Thompson… Martin Goodman… and Carl Burgos. Photo courtesy of Wendy Everett—so does that maybe mean that her dad Bill was the guy who snapped the pic of the publisher and three of the other artists of Marvel Comics #1 and beyond?

preliminary sales would kill or salvage a questionable title. When Marvel Comics #1 ultimately sold out, he went back to press with a re-dated second edition of 800,000 copies. It, too, sold out, or very nearly so. The week Marvel Comics was being snapped up, Hitler marched into Poland, igniting World War II. As Europe stumbled into war, changes hit fast and hard. Soon, Americans were more interested in reading their newspapers for war news than pursuing escapist pulp magazines. Sales tumbled. Then those profitable returns shipped cheap as ballast to England were sidelined in favor of war-critical materiel. Goodman’s reliable 40 grand a month went up in smoke. Worse, money he was owed from prior sales became tied up in British banks for the duration of the war.

Marvel’s Founding Father—Martin Goodman

Bill Everett in 1939, around the time he launched “The Sub-Mariner” (not to mention “Amazing-Man”).

Pulp industry gossip had predicted that both Goodman and Silberkleit would soon fold. Silberkleit did dissolve his company in 1940, but not before starting a new publishing enterprise. His and his partners’ MLJ Publications released its first title, Blue Ribbon Comics, a month after Marvel Mystery #1. No super-heroes were included in that first issue, but sales took off anyway. By January, Silberkleit’s pulps were put on the back burner and the staff was concentrating on comicbooks. The M in MLJ stood for Maurice Coyne, who was also Goodman’s accountant. No doubt Coyne made Silberkleit aware of Marvel Comics’ stupendous sales.

The Rise & Fall Of A Comicbook Dynasty

by the low production values of issue #1 as is claimed, perhaps it was to rebrand the title without going to the trouble of retitling it. Goodman settled on a final logo with Marvel Mystery #3, borrowing the bold typography of his Marvel Science Stories pulp magazine. Goodman may have entered the pulp field at the worst possible time, but it turns out he had jumped into comics just as the industry was taking off. Everybody wanted in. Competition was so fierce that new titles folded as fast as they were issued. He could hardly have been pleased to discover that, before 1939 was over, the huge Fawcett company released its first super-hero, Captain Marvel––usurping Goodman’s unique brand, for he had also used the buzzword brand “Marvel” in several contemporary pulps. Decades later, Martin Goodman would have the last laugh. Both Daring and Mystic fell short. Goodman’s first title built around a single hero, Red Raven Comics, flopped as well. But new editor Joe Simon, along with his artist-partner Jack Kirby, created a hit with Captain America Comics by copying Louis Silberkleit’s seminal patriotic super-hero, The Shield, over in MLJ’s Pep Comics.

Why Put Off Till Tomorrow…? (Above:) The cover of Marvel Comics #1, second edition. Notice that the “Oct.” date from the first edition has been blacked out by a circle, with the “Nov.” printed above it. Thanks to the Grand Comics Database for both Marvel #1 covers.

“Martin was trying to talk me into doing a great effort on the art,” Simon recalled, “to try to get the first issue out before Hitler got killed.” [continued on p. 17]

(Right:) A house ad for the comic’s first edition, in the Oct. 1939 issue of Goodman’s Complete Detective. Thanks to Mark Trost. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

With the profits, Goodman settled his debt with W.H. Hall, but his pulp line would never again be the core of his business. Marvel Comics had saved Goodman from bankruptcy.

IV. Marvel Mysteries A second issue was mocked up under the title Zephyr Comics. After retitling it Marvel Mystery Comics instead, Goodman huddled with Lloyd Jacquet’s Funnies, Inc., to launch a companion title, Daring Mystery Comics, and around the same time he turned to a rival packager, the Harry “A” Chesler shop, for the contents of Mystic Comics. Both new titles were modeled after the “everything but the kitchen sink” formula of Goodman’s flagship title. No one alive recalls why Goodman had the word “Mystery” superimposed over the word “Comics” for the renamed Marvel Mystery Comics #2, but if he was as horrified

Alex Schomburg would become the Timely Comics cover artist par excellence of the World War II years.

Lightning In A Bottle—Tries #2 & 3 Alex Schomburg’s covers for the premier issues of Timely’s second and third four-color titles: Daring Mystery Comics #1 (Jan. 1940) and Mystic Comics #1 (March 1940). Note that Joe Simon’s character, The Fiery Mask, isn’t wearing his mask. The ad for Daring Mystery #7 appeared in an issue of Marvel Mystery. Thanks to the GCD, the Internet, and Mark Trost. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Marvel’s Founding Father—Martin Goodman

Sidebar 1:

Funnies, Inc., Funny Business f most of the features from Marvel Mystery Comics originated with Lloyd Jacquet’s Funnies, Inc., how did Martin Goodman come to own them in perpetuity?

Fortunately for us, key participants told us how it came to pass. It’s just a matter of assembling their accounts into a coherent chronology. Bill Everett was present at the beginning. Actually, before the start of Marvel Comics, when he joined forces with Lloyd Jacquet and John Mahon in a partnership that would soon be called Funnies, Incorporated. “We formed Funnies in an effort to go into business for ourselves, eventually to become publishers,” Everett explained. “This did not occur. We remained as an art service, and Frank Torpey, who was sort of a contact man for us, got us our first account with Martin Goodman. To the best of my knowledge, the first book that we sold was to Martin Goodman.”

By the end of 1939, Goodman started adding titles and looking for his own artists. He found one in a Funnies, Inc., artist/writer named Joe Simon. After seeing an example of Simon’s work submitted to Timely, Goodman sent word to Jacquet, requesting that the artist create a feature in the vein of The Human Torch. “[Comicbooks] were getting very popular, and they were growing,” recalled Simon. “The Human Torch and Sub-Mariner characters were making very good money for them, but Goodman was bound by Funnies, Inc. They were at 45th Street, east of him. He had very little control at the beginning.” With sales and profits mounting, Goodman set out to rectify that. Change came swiftly. “Our biggest client, as it turned out, was Martin Goodman,” Everett explained. “We produced many different comic titles for him, until about 1940, when he dropped our contract and decided to set up his own production staff, with Arthur Goodman in charge. Both Arthur and Stan Lee were just kids then, and gave us considerable trouble. I guess we were all feeling our oats at the time. We gave them trouble, too.”

It was for Funnies, Inc., that Everett had created “Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner,” a feature first printed in an unreleased comic book called Motion Pictures Funnies Weekly, which was intended for sale at movie theatres.

The transition seems to have begun late in 1940, the year Goodman started exercising more editorial control over his growing comicbook line, turning to a rival packager, Harry “A” Chesler, to fill one of his two new titles—at lower page rates, no doubt. How did that come about? Individual artists and writers began getting requests from Goodman to work for him directly. Joe Simon was one of them. Now freelancing for Victor Fox and other houses, he recalled receiving a message to call Goodman, and wondered how the publisher got his phone number.

After MPFW failed to get off the ground, Everett added four pages to Namor’s origin story and it found its way into Marvel Comics #1, where its craft-tint pages, meant for black-&-white reproduction, printed muddy. But this defect was true of the entire issue to some degree, according to Everett:

During their first meeting, Goodman offered Simon a job creating new features directly for him. As Timely Comics’ first freelance editor, Simon was in the center of this forced transition:

“Well, the first issue didn’t [work], because the printer who printed the first issue had never done a comic before. He wanted to break into the field. He just didn’t know how to handle it and slopped it up pretty badly, so it was pretty muddy. The second issue was much better. It was much cleaner.” According to surviving records, the first “Sub-Mariner” story was drawn in April 1939, with the extra pages added in July, the month Marvel Comics #1 was assembled. Paul J. Lauretta’s “American Ace” was another MPFW strip reprinted—in that case in Marvel Mystery #2.

Motion Picture Funnies Weekly While many researchers concur with Bill Everett’s recollections of the chronological order of Motion Picture Funnies Weekly #1 and Marvel Comics #1, we wanted to also call attention to an alternative view. In A/E #108, major early-Timely collector Warren Reece offered anecdotal evidence that Marvel #1 might’ve actually come out first, and that MPWF #1, behind its Fred Schwab cover, was merely reprinting the first eight pages of Wild Bill’s “Sub-Mariner” origin therefrom. Ye Editor confesses to leaning toward the former theory, but he’s open to being convinced otherwise. [© the respective copyright holders.]

“Martin was their biggest customer but then he decided to eliminate the middleman, so he hired us from Funnies, Inc., and gave us more money. And this little room on 45th Street is where we started creating new characters for Martin, or for anybody, and one of the first ones we did was Captain America. We brought him a first sketch to look at, and Martin liked it.” How did Goodman successfully wrest creative control of Funnies, Inc.’s formative super-heroes?

The Rise & Fall Of A Comicbook Dynasty

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

Morning Joe A young Joe Simon—with dialogue and wings supplied by Jim Amash & Teresa R. Davidson. [© Estate of Joe Simon.]

“Well, Goodman wanted me to make it as hard as possible on Jacquet and his staff,” Simon explained. “He wanted me to send the artwork back for corrections as often as possible. Martin didn’t want to pay Jacquet to do what he could do for a cheaper rate at Timely. Eventually it was more trouble than it was worth for Jacquet and he sold his rights to the characters, and Martin took them over.” Bill Everett confirmed this account: “All that I know is that I had a contract with Funnies, through Lloyd. Eventually, Martin decided to publish on his own. As I understand it, he bought up all the contracts that Funnies had left, including mine.” For Everett, who went into the service early in 1942, it was just as well. “Lloyd and I weren’t getting along too well at that period,” he remembered. “And there was dissension between Lloyd and John Mahon. John left, and Frank Torpey went to work for Martin.”

This was probably Martin Goodman’s first full look at Spider-Man (with or without hyphen) in the Stan Lee-written, Steve Ditkodrawn origin done for Timely’s Amazing Fantasy #15 (Sept. 1962). When the sales figures came in, he decided he hadn’t really hated the character after all! [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

And there you have it.

No doubt Torpey was the go-between Funnies scripter Mickey Spillane was referring to when he recounted, “We had a guy—I’m trying to think of his name. Anyway, he was a courier between a couple of places at that time. He would come up to me—because I always had stuff I’d hand him—and say, ‘Hey, we need a couple of short stories,’ or ‘We need a six-page story for something, and we need it right away!’…. We’d hand in this thing, and I’d get a check back, but it didn’t go through Funnies. I was working as an independent entrepreneur.” “Trouble was,” said scripter Joe Gill, “Lloyd never had the drive to publish. He was always a second-rater. Lloyd paid lousy. It was better to get direct, but sly, orders from Goodman or Curtis [Novelty] on the side.” As for Lloyd Jacquet, he soldiered on for several years before folding his art studio. But he forever hated Martin Goodman, who he felt raided his shop of its top talent and then severed all relations, leaving him high and dry.

Art by Joe St. Pierre. TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

While Joe Simon never figured out how Martin Goodman got hold of his personal telephone number, he suspected that someone at Funnies was selling the talent list information. We can take an educated guess who that was: Frank Torpey, whom Goodman hired as a reward for convincing him to enter the lucrative comics business.

Marvel’s Founding Father—Martin Goodman

Sidebar 2:

The Mystery Of The Two Angels

ne of the deepest mysteries of Marvel Comics #1 is the question of what strip was dropped at the last minute, and why?

No one alive knows. It might have been simply another feature orphaned by the failure of Motion Picture Funnies Weekly, such as Arthur Pinajian’s “Wasp,” which was repurposed for Silver Streak Comics #1. But there are other mysteries. For example, why was Bill Everett’s Sub-Mariner cover rough not approved for finalization as the cover to Marvel Comics #2, as intended? And why was Charles J. Mazoujian’s Angel illustration employed for the cover to the retitled Marvel Mystery Comics #2? Mazoujian didn’t draw “The Angel” inside the mag. Paul Gustavson originated the strip.

Playing For All The Marvels (Above left:) Frank R. Paul’s cover for Goodman’s Marvel Science Stories (Feb. 1939 issue). (Above right:) J.W. Scott’s for the newly retitled Marvel Tales (Dec. 1939), which went on sale around the same time as Marvel Mystery Comics #2. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Misremembering the title of the comic, writer William Woolfolk once recalled: “Martin Goodman published a first issue of The Human Torch that was so badly printed the Frank R. Paul dialog couldn’t be read and the colors (1884-1963). Thanks to were so murky it was hard to tell David Saunders. the hero from a villain.... Goodman was so disgusted he canceled the Human Torch character—until he discovered that the first issue had completely sold out, whereupon The Human Torch went on to become Goodman’s second most popular character, yielding only to Captain America.” That was actually Marvel Comics #1, which was printed in process color––not four-color––by a Newark printer, giving it the broader chromatic range, resulting in a different look from its competitors. During that brief interval of indecision, Goodman killed issue #2, with Everett’s cover still in the conceptual stage. Embarrassed by the poor printing, he may have decided that Marvel Comics was a tainted brand. On the other hand, mere whim might be the reason. The same month Marvel Comics changed title, Goodman’s pulp, Marvel Science Stories, became Marvel Tales. The lead story for its first issue was “The Angel from Hell,” mirroring the Angel cover to MMC #2.

A Waspish Waste

Once preliminary sales figures caused him to reconsider, Goodman must have thought a title change was in order, but continuity must also be maintained. Hence Marvel Mystery Comics. Not until issue #3 was the logo finalized. It was not quite the style of the earliest ads appearing in Goodman’s pulp, but it was close. Marvel Science Stories was the model.

Page 2 of the “Wasp” story that, as Will Murray points out, was reprinted from Funnies, Inc.’s 1939 Motion Picture Funnies Weekly #1 in Comic House’s Silver Streak Comics #1 (Dec. 1939). Could this possibly be the “super-hero” story that was reportedly dropped from Marvel Comics #1 at the last minute? Thanks to Comic Book Plus website, which unfortunately had only black-&-white scans of SSC #1. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

A surviving stat exists of Mazoujian’s cover for #2. The illustration depicts The Angel, seemingly endowed with superpowers, battling faux Nazi bombers attacking a city. It bears no masthead, only a blank space for one. Curious. As if it was not created for a specific title. It may have been a concept drawing, and not necessarily a cover image.

The Rise & Fall Of A Comicbook Dynasty

The Second Time Around (Clockwise from top left:) Bill Everett’s Sub-Mariner cover mockup for Marvel Comics #2 was never used—probably because Goodman believed The Angel would prove more popular than a pointy-eared prince in a swimsuit! Matter of fact, since The Angel would commandeer #3’s cover as well, it seems likely the publisher felt his red-andblue-clad hero would outstrip The Human Torch, to boot! Repro’d from the wonderful Marvel hardcover Timely’s Greatest: The Golden Age Sub-Mariner by Bill Everett – The Pre-War Years Omnibus. Charles J. Mazoujian’s original Angel art for what actually became the cover of Marvel Mystery Comics #2. The ashcan edition for the projected Zephyr Comics, which featured Mazoujian’s cover art with The Angel’s mustache whited out. Note that it was intended to sport a “Feb. 1940” date. Thanks to Will Murray for this and the previous scan. Mazoujian’s art, still minus mustache, was eventually utilized on the printed cover of Marvel Mystery Comics #2 (Dec. 1939). Thanks to the GCD. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

For publication, the illustration cover was modified to fit the new, redesigned Marvel Mystery Comics masthead, while The Angel’s face was redrawn to make him look younger and to

eradicate his pencil mustache. That’s a strange decision, given that, in Paul Gustavson’s “Angel” strip in that issue, the character’s mustache is intact. Despite his costume, The Angel does not possess evident

Marvel’s Founding Father—Martin Goodman

super-powers, although the earliest stories hint that he’s somehow supernatural. He’s really a costumed version of The Saint, who sometimes casts a symbolic shadow showing angel’s wings. The Saint’s stickfigure trademark sported a halo.

German bombing of Poland, it could have been written no earlier than that date.

Yet that same issue includes a second “Angel” story, a text feature only two pages long and inspired by newspaper headlines. In Saint Be Praised! it, The Angel Leslie Charteris’ famous fictional detective The inexplicably Saint was generally represented on covers by possesses a stick figure with a halo over its head… as per powers similar to this vintage cover of a British edition of The Saint magazine. [TM & © the respective trademark & Superman as he copyright holders.] defends the Polish city of Grybow against enemy bombers. These abilities include the power to leap onto the top of the highest building available, then spring to the landing gear of a plane and climb along the wing, smashing his way inside through the metal fuselage, where he crushes the skulls of the pilots.

All of these elements appear to be hastily created simply to give Marvel Mystery Comics #2 a cover “torn from the headlines.” An illustrated text story was the quickest feature producible under a tight deadline. MMC #2 went on sale on October 13, six weeks after the debut issue. The other contents would have been created in August.

Suppose that Martin Goodman, seeing encouraging preliminary sales of Marvel Comics #1, instructed Funnies, Inc., owner Lloyd Jacquet to provide an equivalent to Superman for that second issue. Using Gustavson’s Angel as a template, Mazoujian drew the original cover. Consequently, the Everett Sub-Mariner cover idea was set aside for this more topical one. Aware of the lawsuit DC Comics had successfully launched against Fox’s “Wonder Man,” perhaps Goodman hoped to slip his super-powered Angel into print under DC’s nose. Almost nobody read the text-filler stories in comicbooks. Once established, superpowers might be safely added to the regular feature.

When the bomber spins out of control, The Angel simply exits and lands lightly on the street below. When you combine all this extraordinary activity with The Angel’s blue costume, red cape, and early-Supermanesque gladiator sandals, you have a character who could easily be mistaken by children for the Man of Steel. Clearly, this was by design. The text story, “Death-Bird Squadron,” was written by David C. Cooke. The main illustration is signed C.J.M. Obviously, this is cover artist Mazoujian. Once again, The Angel lacks his customary mustache. This was the only time The Angel ever displayed super-strength and near-flight abilities––although he did a lot of extravagant leaping in his regular strip. It was also the only instance of Charles J. Mazoujian contributing to a Timely title. Speculation is risky, but it’s also fun. Marvel Comics #1 went on sale August 31. Germany attacked Poland on September 1, 1939, the very next day. Thus, we can date with confidence the creation of these images to that month. Since the story reflected the

Charles (“Chuck”) Mazoujian Courtesy of Marvel Database.

“If I Had The Wings (And Super-Powers) Of An Angel…” Charles J. Mazoujian’s illo for the text-feature about a super-powered Angel in Marvel Mystery Comics #2 (Dec. 1939). Repro’d from the big Omnibus volume. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

The Rise & Fall Of A Comicbook Dynasty

Got A Date With An Angel The cover of Goodman’s single 1941 issue of The Angel Detective, with a quite different protagonist from the one in Marvel Mystery Comics—plus a house ad (below, from another Goodman pulp) for that magazine. Thanks to Will Murray and Mark Trost. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Instead, The Angel was The Angel whether in costume or mufti. Eventually, he was given a secret identity as a private detective: Tom Holloway. And in Marvel Mystery Comics #20, Ray Gill wrote a two-page text origin story, “Tension,” which explained that the character’s prison-warden father had raised him in the isolation of his prison, allowing only various experts to tutor him. This thin tale told how the young man got his start by ingeniously saving an innocent man from the electric chair, thus earning his angelic super-hero name. It’s also hinted that The Angel is supernaturally old.

The mustache was removed from the cover and text illustration for reasons we cannot entirely fathom. No doubt the original thinking was that facial hair would distinguish The Angel from the clean-shaven Superman, and thus constitute a legal argument against plagiarism. Why remove it, then? Paul Gustavson, who both wrote and drew “The Angel,” never gave him an origin. This in itself was peculiar. Every other early Timely super-hero had one. Could this mean that Mazoujian or someone contemplated producing a strip that was never published? Maybe. But unprovable. For MMC #10 & #11, Gustavson produced a two-part story wherein The Angel discovered an underground city under the Blue Ridge Mountains inhabited by giant monsters and a four-thousandyear-old, perpetually youthful Greek maiden. Injured, his uniform torn, he receives from her the Cape of Mercury, an abbreviated orange-and-green outfit whose underarm fabric functions as wings. Bequeathed with the supernatural power of flight, The Angel defeats the monsters and a new era is poised to begin. Except that, in the next issue, The Angel is back in his familiar blue uniform and the Cape of Mercury is all but forgotten! What that dramatic interlude was all about remains one of the early mysteries of Marvel Mystery Comics… but it would have made a great origin story for the character, if only he had been given a proper one.

Reportedly, Goodman thought highly of The Angel and believed him to be potentially strong character. He coveredfeatured him several times in early issues of Marvel Mystery Comics before realizing that The Human Torch and Sub-Mariner were his true headliners, and made him a cover-featured co-star in Sub-Mariner Comics. One strip asked readers if they wanted to see The Angel in his own magazine. But that never came to pass. In 1941, Goodman’s magazine arm issued The Angel Detective, starring a pulp hero who called himself The Angel. But this was not the same character. He wore street clothes and a white domino mask, and toted a special pistol named Belshazzar. Additionally, this Angel lacked a mustache. His real name was Gabriel Wilde. Other than his heroic name and the fact that he crossed swords with a female foil named The Black Cat in his debut, Edward Ronns’ The Angel and the Totem Pole Murders, there was no similarity with Gustavson’s Angel, even though the latter also tangled with a recurring feline female crook, The Cat’s Paw, in 1941. One house ad showed the original title logo, which was The Angel, Crime Crusader. That sounds a lot like the masthead for an unpublished comicbook, not a pulp magazine. The Angel Detective lasted but one issue. Finally, there is the mystery of Zephyr Comics, which was the title of a cover mockup featuring Charles Mazoujian’s Angel cover. It’s dated February. The masthead is painted over what appears to be a printed cover or cover proof of Marvel Mystery Comics #2. It’s unclear what this was meant for, and so speculation is probably pointless.

Marvel’s Founding Father—Martin Goodman

V. Timely’s Second Editor

Joe Simon & Jack Kirby (standing and sitting, respectively), in the early days of their world-changing partnership.

Captain, My Captain…! Kirby penciled the cover of the Simon & Kirby team’s (and Timely’s) Captain America Comics #1 (March 1941). Simon probably contributed at least some of the inking, in addition to supervising—and reportedly doing the original presentation drawing of the Sentinel of Liberty. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

[continued from p. 10] A distant cousin by marriage of Goodman’s, young Stan Lee came aboard around the end of 1940, working under Simon. “Martin didn’t give me a significant amount of editorial guidance,” Simon told me. “He let me go unleashed. Possibly because he was surrounded by a bunch of relatives who were way out of their element when it came to story and art. Martin was very pleased with the way I took over his other magazines. I was very lucky to have the experience from the newspaper days.”

Timely Comics was about a year old when Lee came aboard as a go-fer, and less than one year older than that when the youngster suddenly became its editor. “All I remember was that I thought he was very happy with the way the first book [i.e., Marvel Comics #1] did,” he said. “That’s what made him decide to stay in the comicbook business. He had a fella named Frank Torpey who worked for him. Frank was a sort of jack all trades. He ran errands—just a loyal guy who was always around. I had heard it was Frank who had talked him into doing a comicbook, and because of that he was grateful and always kept him around.”

A hallmark of the early Timely titles was to pit their myriad heroes against Hitler’s Axis legions. It was topical, and it sold. Promotional material later credited Goodman with that sensational slant, but Lee disagreed. “I would guess that was probably Joe Simon or Jack Kirby’s idea, and Martin went along with it,” he said. “But that’s just a guess. I wasn’t there at the time. I’ve no way of getting inside Martin’s head at that time—or any time. But I’d guess his primary motive was the fact that he realized such stories and covers would sell well.” Lee recalled being installed as a temporary editorial replacement. Except for a hitch in the Army, he ran the comics department as editor for thirty years. But Goodman remained boss. “In those very early days, the ’40s and ’50s, he really did make most of the creative decisions,” remembered Lee. “He was a guy who felt he knew what he was doing. And he was usually right. But he was like so many men who are self-made men. They build a company by themselves. They’ve done it all. They’ve owned it from

Before long, Lee replaced Simon, when the latter and Jack Kirby jumped ship to the betterpaying (and, in Simon’s mind, more trustworthy) DC Comics. Lee, who served as Goodman’s comics editor from 1941 to 1972, remembered his former boss as “quite a gentle, quiet guy. He had a background in distribution. He had worked for some distributing companies. He had an affinity for the pulps, because he started with them.”

Stan Lee (then transitioning professionally from “Stanley Lieber”) was only a year or so older than this high school photo when he became editor of Timely Comics, upon the abrupt departure of Joe Simon. Thanks to Robert Menzies.

Martin Goodman looks over the Al Avision cover of Captain America #11 (March 1942), the first post-Simon & Kirby issue… the first one edited by young Stan Lee. Thanks to Drew Friedman.

The Rise & Fall Of A Comicbook Dynasty

A MARTIN GOODMAN Tribute, Circa 1942 Dr. Michael J. Vassallo (via Michael T. Gilbert) sent us the vintage never-before-printed special feature printed on this page and the following two. Doc V. writes of them: “The three pages were loose, discovered in a Timely funny-animal comicbook assigned to Heritage [Auctions]. Since Heritage [as per its policy] won’t divulge the consignor, it can only be assumed this was created for distribution in-house among the staff, and this is the only copy known to exist, not seen in 70 years. I’ve deduced the date to be mid-1942 because [artist] Bill King is mentioned by Stan, and King went off to war at the same time Stan did and ‘never’ returned to Timely. Additionally, the artist here, I can easily tell, is Ed Winiarski, inked by George Klein, the same time they did that other story filled with caricatures in Krazy Komics #12 [as seen in part in Alter Ego #13]. This was sort of a dry run.” We’d like to thank both Heritage Auctions and Michael J. for making us aware of this ultra-rare material. [TM & © 2020 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Marvel’s Founding Father—Martin Goodman

the beginning. Their word was law. And they reach a point where they figure, whatever I say, goes. If I have an idea, I’m gonna do it. And it’s probably right because, ‘Hey, I’m the guy who built this company.’ He always thought he was right—at everything!” The Brooklyn-born Goodman had come up the hard way. Reportedly, he dropped out of school after the fourth grade.

Uncertain what to do with his life, he hitchhiked around America during his youth, riding the rails and living in hobo camps. In this way, he became familiar with all parts of the country––information he later put to good use when marketing magazines. From a young age, periodicals fascinated him. People recalled Goodman cutting up existing titles and creating his own versions for fun.

The Rise & Fall Of A Comicbook Dynasty

Lee recalled, “If you looked at him you would say, this wasn’t a guy who led a rough-and-tumble life. He was slender and quiet, kind of classy-looking. I liked him very much. He didn’t bluster around and pull his weight. He was fun to be with. I enjoyed talking to him. He was an interesting conversationalist. He had a wry sense of humor. He loved golf. In later years, he loved to play Scrabble.”

Although Goodman was making big money through superheroes during the war, he understood he could not stay in business if he remained static. He branched out into funny animal titles, and after Louis Silberkleit’s comics line had a hit with a teen humor strip, “Archie,” he emulated MLJ by inaugurating similar titles, as well as original comedy concepts like Millie the Model. “He would make these decisions at the drop of a hat,” Stan Lee

Marvel’s Founding Father—Martin Goodman

explained. “He would say, ‘Let’s put out a new book. Let’s change this title to something else. Let’s drop this, let’s substitute this for that.’ It was always happening. He lived with the sales figures. He had those pages of sales figures in front of him all the time, and that’s what he based all his decisions on.” Vincent Fago, who replaced Stan Lee during the latter’s wartime military service, recalled, “Martin Goodman used to lie back in a big chaise lounge, and he’d look at the sales charts every day. He was counting his money. He had been a hustler who’d had a rough life and he was trying to live it up. Goodman did things the hard way, but he succeeded…. The print runs were 250,000 to 500,000 copies. Sometimes we’d put out five books a week or more. You’d see the numbers come back and could tell that Goodman was a millionaire. The comics were what gave him that chaise lounge.”

in a field that seems hot? If he found that Western comics were selling well, he made sure we were putting out Western comics. If he felt that animated-type comics, like Terry-Toons, were selling well, he wanted to be sure that we had enough animated comics. Beyond that, his primary concern was the covers. He was very insistent that the covers be done a certain way, and he was right. Back in those days, there were no real fans for certain titles, like there are today. Today, a kid will walk into a comicbook store and say, ‘Did the latest Spider-Man come in?’ Well, very few kids in those days walked into a store and said, ‘Did the latest Terry-Toons come in?’ What they would do is, they would go into a store and look at all the covers and they’d pick up the comicbook the cover of which attracted them the most. So he felt, rightly so, that the covers were very important. And I concentrated on the covers because of that.”

VI. The Goodman Business Methods Although Goodman and Silberkleit indulged in legal skirmishes from time to time—most famously over the resemblance between Captain America’s original triangular shield to The Shield’s similar body armor—Lee recalled no ongoing animosity between the rival publishers. “They were all friendly, in a way,” Stan recalled. “They weren’t enemies. That was all before me. Goodman never really discussed business with me, or things about distribution––the company as a company. All we ever talked about was the magazines we were putting out.” Periodically, Goodman tried to steal back from Fawcett some of his own thunder, launching rivals to Captain Marvel like Simon and Kirby’s “Marvel Boy,” who shared Captain Marvel’s mythological inspirations, receiving his powers from Hercules. It was one of the few super-heroes Timely bothered to trademark in the early days. The Daring Mystery cover feature was soon renamed “The Young Avenger,” shunted into the back of another title, then vanished, perhaps due to threatened legal action, while the unpowered “Black Marvel” faded away after a few years. I asked Stan Lee about this and he replied, “I believe your guess is right. Martin let Marvel Boy go because of protests by Captain Marvel. I wouldn’t stake my life on it, but I think it’s an educated guess. “We never talked much about superheroes,” Lee added, “because super-heroes were nothing special then. We had all kinds of books. Horror stories. Crime stories. Teenage stories. Animal stories. Westerns. War. Whatever he thought was the trend at the moment. In those days, he was putting everything he could get into the comics. There was no continuity. There’d be a guy in a cape or a cloak. There’d be a guy who was just a detective. There’d be Ka-Zar. He didn’t specialize at that time in super-heroes. Remember, in the very early days, he didn’t do his own strips. He bought them from a company called Funnies. “Mainly,” Lee observed, “the thing he was interested in is: Are we putting out a magazine

Marvels Black & Blue, Boy! Goodman launched a “Marvel Boy” feature in Daring Mystery Comics #6 (Sept. 1940), behind a Kirby cover inked by Simon—and a “Black Marvel” behind Alex Schomburg’s cover for Mystic Comics #5 (March 1941)— and even promoted both titles in the Marvel Tales pulp issue for April of ’41—but without much success. Did Fawcett object to the name “Marvel” being used for a character, even by the publisher of Marvel Mystery Comics? Thanks to the GCD for the cover scans, and to Mark Trost for the ad. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

The Rise & Fall Of A Comicbook Dynasty

(Super-) Help Wanted! Obviously, by 1942, Captain America was so popular—starring in his own monthly mag and in All Winners Comics, with a lead story in U.S.A. Comics soon to be added—that Goodman was placing ads in New York City newspapers to try to recruit potential artists for the feature. Remember—there was a war on! Thanks to Sean Howe. [© the respective copyright holders.]

As art director under Goodman, Lee learned how to produce viable covers with his artists. “[Goodman] felt that the covers were very important,” he noted. “They had to catch the perspective reader’s eye. He had all kinds of different theories. Have bright colors. Contrasting colors. Certain color schemes. Not too much dialogue. A big picture. Basically, whatever would catch your eye.”

Iden In Plain Sight Martin Goodman’s son Iden—or at least a character named after him—had his own comic strip on the back cover of Kid Komics #2 (Summer 1943). Writer & artist unknown—but we sure hope he got a raise! Wonder if Iden Goodman really had a dog named Scooter? Note that MG himself is depicted in the bottom-left panel. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

“We’re Looking For People Who Like To Draw”— And We Sure Found One! Captain America Comics had at least one young reader who would grow up to be a pro: Alex Toth, whose name appears sixth in a list of fifty “winners” of a “Captain America Picture Contest.” Precise issue uncertain. Thanks to Eric Toth for confirming that this was indeed his father. Alex would, among many other accomplishments, do the accompanying design drawings for a Marvel Fantastic Four TV-animation series for Hanna-Barbera. Supplied by John Cimino. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Marvel’s Founding Father—Martin Goodman

VIII. Atlas Holds Up The Globe By 1942, Timely moved from the McGraw-Hill Building to occupying a large portion of the 14th floor of the Empire State Building, and Goodman expanded into humor and other types of periodicals. After he returned from military service after the war, Lee had more autonomy and oversaw a group of sub-editors, while Goodman paid more attention to his line of men’s magazines, the surviving pulps having been folded in the late 1950s and forcing the retirement of another longtime Goodman employee, Robert O. Erisman, who had moonlighted editing and writing comicbooks during the Timely era. “When we would finish a cover of something,” Lee remembered, “I would bring it in and show it to Martin. He stayed mostly within the confinement of his executive office.” After 1949, when the Timely bullpen was disbanded, freelancers rarely met their publisher. Longtime artist Dick Ayers stated that he never encountered Goodman in the office. “I met him once, at a Christmas party. I didn’t even shake his hand.” After briefly rebranding Timely as Marvel Comics in 1949, Goodman abandoned both corporate names—and all of his surviving super-heroes. During the 1950s, horror and humor titles proliferated. But comics were slumping in sales and public acceptance. Super-heroes had become passé. Even the millionselling thorn in Goodman’s side, Captain Marvel Adventures,

Gangway! (Below:) A 1940s or early ’50s “going-away” card for Magazine Management staffer Marion Gerrick (later Cohen), courtesy of her son Adam Cohen. Not sure who she was but it looks like she was leaving town, not just the job. A bit of the card has been cut off at left; even so, here are the Timely Comics names Ye Ed spotted amidst the non-comics staffers: Syd Shores, Mike Sekowsky, Joe Giella, Frank Carin, Violet (later Valerie) Barclay, Al Sulman, Bob Deschamps, Art Simek, Chris Rule, Ed Winiarski, Allen Bellman, and Al Jaffee. Did we miss any? Artist unknown. [© the respective copyright holders.]

When Atlas Held Up The World (Left:) This announcement of a general manager (one Arthur Marchand) for Goodman’s new, selfowned distributor, Atlas Magazines, appeared in a NYC newspaper on March 20, 1952. Wonder if those “71 magazines” counted the dozens of comics titles Timely was then publishing? (Above:) The new distributor must’ve proved profitable fairly quickly, because in a May 1953 issue of The New York Times, he was offering his house up for sale—doubtless so he could buy a bigger one! Thanks to Sean Howe for both notices. [© the respective copyright holders.]

was benched in 1953, forced out of business by Superman’s lawyers. Timely’s 1952-renamed “Atlas” comics line (which took its name, to the extent it had one, from the name of Goodman’s new self-distribution company) struggled, surviving by being prolific and following trends and the fickle public’s ever-shifting tastes for fresh novelties, with no one title dominating sales. “TV was kicking the hell out of a great number of comics,”

The Rise & Fall Of A Comicbook Dynasty

Goodman remembered. “A book like Donald Duck went from two and a quarter million monthly sale to about 200,000. You couldn’t give the animated stuff away, the Disney stuff, because of TV. TV murdered it. Because, if a kid spends Saturday morning looking at the stuff, what parent is going to give the kid another couple of dimes to buy the same thing again?” After the war, with the super-hero genre effectively dead, Goodman returned to his first passion, Westerns. Cowboys were booming on the small screen. Other publishers were minting money with Gene Autry and Roy Rogers comics. Goodman ordered Lee to start cranking out Westerns, starting with The Two-Gun Kid and the long-running Kid Colt, Outlaw. Before long, dozens of saddle-mates joined them–-most of them named “Kid.” Stan scripted many of these. “I’d been writing the old stories for years because I was the ultimate company man,” he explained. “I did what my publisher wanted because I felt that’s the way it should be––you work for somebody, you do what he says. For twenty years, I was grinding out the types of stories he wanted and I won’t apologize for them. They were good for what they were. These were Westerns: Kid Colt, Rawhide Kid, The Texas Kid, Ringo Kid, Apache Kid––he loved the name ‘Kid.’” Artist Don Rico recalled, “I went to Martin Goodman one time, and I said, ‘Look, we’re doing a whole lot of Westerns; how about instead of imagining things, let’s use the real West.’ He was excited as hell. He said, ‘What do you have in mind, what kind of a hero?’ I said, ‘How about a guy like Wyatt Earp?’ He said, ‘Who? Who would ever go for a guy with a name

like Wyatt Earp?’ When The Life and Times of Wyatt Earp was scheduled to become a prime-time television series six years later, the sheepish publisher apologized to Rico, and instructed Stan Lee to assemble a comicbook starring the legendary lawman. It beat the TV Wyatt Earp, which debuted in September 1955, to the punch by at least two months—and the comicbook adapting the TV show version by two years! The Atlas line weathered the mid-1950s better than most of Goodman’s competitors, a great many of whom went out of business. Among them were such once-top sellers as Lev Gleason’s Daredevil, Magazine Enterprises’ Ghost Rider, and Fawcett’s Captain Marvel Adventures. Goodman often flooded the market with new titles, gobbled up rack space, then canceled them wholesale and repeated the process. DC editor Jack Schiff once told me that the industry believed that Martin Goodman had destroyed the comicbook market during the early Comics Code period through his attempts to dominate the newsstands with an excess of titles. Louis Silberkleit’s pulp editor, Robert “Doc” Lowndes, had the same complaint about Goodman’s surviving pulp chain, which flooded the market with numerous short-lived titles.

Don Rico Circa 1949, as a Timely editor, he proposed a Wyatt Earp title—which took six years to materialize.

“And then came the deluge,” Lowndes complained, “not only in science-fiction, but in every other type of pulp magazine. Just about every pulp title that had existed before the war was restored, and new ones added. But the most flagrant spoiler was the publisher who had the bright idea of bringing out a new sports title every month. All those magazines (a rash of Westerns came from the same place, but not so many) were listed as bi-monthlies; actually, a few of them saw a second issue after six months. But for nearly a year, if I recall correctly, the new titles kept appearing.” The same approach led to a flood of Atlas comics in all the best-selling genres, with little innovation or experimentation.

Tell Me Wyatt…

Joe Maneely

Joe Maneely’s cover for Timely/Atlas’ Wyatt Earp #1 (Nov. 1955)—and the photo-cover (spotlighting actor Hugh O’Brian) for the first TV-authorized “Wyatt Earp” edition of Dell/Western’s Four Color (#860, Nov. 1957)—two years later! [Timely cover TM & © Marvel Characters, Inv.; Dell cover TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

(left) and writer/editor Stan Lee in 1958 with a Sunday page for their comic strip Mrs. Lyon’s Cubs, shortly before the artist’s untimely accidental death. Courtesy of daughter Nancy Maneely.

Marvel’s Founding Father—Martin Goodman

“Well, we were more-or-less a big factory,” acknowledged Lee. “Unfortunately, we weren’t really leaders, and I was so young that it never occurred to me to try to change things. There was a time when we had a staff of close to 100 people, artists and writers.” “For years,” explained veteran comics artist Gil Kane, “Timely would have three ‘units’ and they would turn out 25 Western comics, 25 love comics, and they’d run them each for about six or seven months, and they’d absolutely drown the market, and it seemed to me that then they’d just fire everybody and pull out.” “Timely publisher Martin Goodman used to close shop at the drop of a hat,” observed John Romita. “If expenses got too high, he’d say ‘the hell with it,’ and close shop.” Not all of this was Goodman’s fault, as Lee once admitted. “I used to put out extra books we didn’t even need, just to keep guys working. If there was an artist or a writer who didn’t have anything to draw, it was always so easy––you would add another book. After a while, you reach the point that you can’t keep doing that. And we had our ups and our downs all the time. There were good years and there were bad years.”

VIII. It All Comes Crashing Down Catastrophe struck in 1957. Stan Lee explained, “What happened was: Martin Goodman made one of the biggest publishing decision mistakes that was ever made. He had his own distribution company, Atlas. The books were doing fantastically. His business manager talked him into giving up Atlas and letting the American News Company distribute him. Very shortly after he did that, American went out of business. We had no distribution. Martin couldn’t go back to his own company because the wholesalers, whom the distributors sent the books to, got very angry at Martin because he had left them and gone to American. He couldn’t form his own company any more. So he had to go to Independent News, which was basically like going to larger rival DC Comics, and say: ‘Will you guys distribute me?’ They said, ‘Yeah. But only eight books a month!’” Approximately eighty Atlas titles were abruptly canceled. Sixteen titles survived, but were reduced to bi-monthly frequency. Among the casualties was a horror title, Marvel Tales––the final incarnation of his flagship title. [A/E EDITOR’S NOTE: See the end of this article for Mike Tiefenbacher’s Addendum on the circumlocutions involved in Goodman’s adjusting his publishing wishes to the new eightcomics-a-month limits imposed by Independent News.] “We used to have periods when the comicbook business hit rock bottom,” Lee recalled. “I remember once my publisher said to me, ‘Stan, we have to let the whole staff go. I’m just going to keep you, but I want you to fire everybody.’ I said, ‘I can’t do it!’ He said, ‘You better!’ And he went off to Florida, while I was given the job of firing more people than I could count.” When Lee’s younger brother Larry came aboard to help script the reduced line in 1958, he questioned Goodman about the company’s future. “When I started writing,” Lieber told me, “I said to Martin Goodman, ‘Tell me, how would you describe the comic industry?’ He said, ‘I’d call it a dying industry.’ And it was just hanging on. They’d put out these few books. Stan was there alone and he was making most of the corrections himself.”

Thereby Hangs A Tale Fred Kida’s cover for Marvel Tales #159 (Aug. 1957), the final issue of what, under its original name Marvel Comics, then Marvel Mystery Comics, had been Timely’s very first comicbook series. Thanks to the GCD. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Stan complained to artist Dick Ayers that his boss would pass by his door and not even wave. Goodman’s comicbook line was poised to go the way of Fawcett, EC, and other once-dominant companies.

IX. Out Of The Mists—Marvel! In 1961, with the arrival of The Fantastic Four and a Twilight Zone knockoff called Amazing Adult Fantasy, a tiny box bearing the cryptic letters MC began appearing on covers. Not until 1963 was the dormant name “Marvel Comics” officially revived. “I’m the guy who suggested doing it,” Lee related. “We were Atlas at the time. I said, you know, ever since we started with The Fantastic Four, The X-Men, Spider-Man, The Hulk, and Daredevil, we have a new bunch of readers. We’re like a new company. We need a new name. And I said, ‘I love the name Marvel. That was the first name you had. Why don’t we change our name to Marvel Comics?’ He didn’t understand publicity or promotion. But I felt a word like ‘Marvel’—there was so much you could do with it. You could get slogans like ‘Make Mine Marvel!’ ‘Welcome to the Marvel Age of [continued on p. 28]

The Rise & Fall Of A Comicbook Dynasty

“[Goodman] Was Really A Great Imitator” On this and the following two pages, Will Murray draws similarities between Marvel’s early heroes and pre-existing comics characters. Coincidence? You decide.

Justice League of America #1 (Oct.-Nov. 1960) & Fantastic Four #1 (Nov. 1961) We can’t be sure which JLA sales figures Goodman found out about—it could’ve been one of the three tryout issues of The Brave and the Bold—but JLA #1 proper (cover by Murphy Anderson) came out exactly one year before FF #1 (cover by Jack Kirby and probably George Klein). [TM & © DC Comics & Marvel Characters, Inc., respectively.]

Airboy Comics, Vol. 9, #8 (Sept. 1952) & The Incredible Hulk #2 (July 1962) Any real connection between Hillman Periodicals’ “Heap” of 1942-1953 and Ol’ Greenskin is a bit more debatable, but both Lee and Kirby were aware of the original comicbook swamp monster. Airboy cover by Ernest Schroeder; Hulk cover by Jack Kirby & Steve Ditko. [Airboy cover TM & copyright the copyright holder; Hulk cover TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Captain Marvel Adventures #144 (May 1953) & Amazing Spider-Man #1 (March 1963) By the time Amazing Fantasy #15, not to mention Amazing Spider-Man #1 (with its Steve Ditko cover) hit the stands, there was no longer any resemblance between the Wall-Crawler and the star of Captain Marvel Adventures #144, with its cover art by C.C. Beck… but there seems to have been some, before the Lee-Ditko “Spider-Man” concept evolved beyond a leftover, unpublished feature called “The Silver Spider.” [Shazam hero & Dr. Sivana TM & © DC Comics; ASM cover TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Marvel’s Founding Father—Martin Goodman

Superman #145 (May 1961) & Journey Into Mystery #83 (Aug. 1962) While Marvel’s Thor (cover by Jack Kirby & Joe Sinnott) had lightning-based transformational powers that may have owed something to Fawcett’s original Captain Marvel, the Shazamic super-hero was long gone from newsstands by 1962—so it’s the thunder god’s resemblance to the Man of Steel (drawn here by Curt Swan & Stan Kaye) that was more likely on Goodman’s mind—but what about those of Stan and Jack? [Superman cover TM & © DC Comics; Journey into Mystery cover TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Showcase #30 (Jan.-Feb. 1961) & Fantastic Four #4 (May 1962) The Sub-Mariner came first by a year or so, in 1939; but Aquaman beat Prince Namor to third-time-around solo-star status—and to Atlantis!—in the early ’60s. Covers respectively by Dick Dillin & Sheldon Moldoff—and by Jack Kirby & Sol Brodsky. [Showcase cover TM & © DC Comics; FF cover TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Showcase #34 (Sept.-Oct. 1961) & Tales To Astonish #35 (Sept. 1962) The Silver Age “Atom” had more in common with Quality’s Golden Age “Doll Man” than with the earlier DC Justice Society member—but this version may have influenced the birth of the “Ant-Man” series. Former cover by Gil Kane & Murphy Anderson; latter by Jack Kirby & Dick Ayers. [Showcase cover TM & © DC Comics; TTA cover TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

The Rise & Fall Of A Comicbook Dynasty

Showcase #37 (March-April 1962) & Tales Of Suspense #39 (March 1963) Perhaps Robert Kanigher’s concept “The Metal Men” was briefly popular after the series’ debut, behind a dramatic cover by Ross Andru & Mike Esposito… but Iron Man would turn out to have sturdier “legs.” Latter cover by Jack Kirby & Don Heck. [Showcase cover TM & © DC Comics; Iron Man cover TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Our Army At War #125 (Dec. 1962) & Sgt. Fury #1 (May 1963) The DC comic would eventually be retitled Sgt. Rock, after its long-running lead feature; Sgt. Fury would last for a decade, and eventually bequeath a far different Nick Fury to both comics and, even more so, to film. Former cover by Joe Kubert; latter cover by Jack Kirby & Dick Ayers. [OOAW cover TM & © DC Comics; Sgt. Fury cover TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

[continued from p. 25] Comics.’ And ‘Marvel Marches On.’ You know, things that I could use in writing editorials and the Bullpen page. I thought Marvel was a wonderful name to work with. And Martin went along with it. He said, ‘Sure. Okay, we’ll change it to Marvel.’” Curiously, Lee couldn’t recall why Goodman kept returning to the Marvel brand over the years. “He never mentioned it. I don’t remember us ever discussing the name Marvel.” This rebranding kicked off what Lee dubbed “The Marvel Age of Comics.” Lee presided over the expanding line. “By then he was pretty much leaving everything to me,” he remembered. “The thing he really loved were the slick paper magazines. He had these movie magazines and men’s adventure magazines like Stag and Male. I think he felt those were more prestigious than the pulps—and certainly more prestigious than the comics. The comics were always the stepchild of that company.” Along with artists Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, and a few others, Lee is given the lion’s share of creative credit for the seed stories

that blossomed into the modern Marvel Universe. And they deserve all credit that is due to them. But often overlooked is the savvy generalship of Martin Goodman. In military terms, Lee and the others were the officers and foot soldiers who executed the battle plans which commanding general Goodman ordered in broad terms. Just as The Fantastic Four was an innovative attempt to compete with Justice League of America––but developed around the template of an earlier hit, Jack Kirby’s Challengers of the Unknown––many of the other formative Marvel super-heroes were attempts to capitalize on the sales history of rival properties. The Incredible Hulk was calculated to cash in on the monster craze then captivating baby boomers. But it also harkened back to the old Hillman hit, “The Heap.” As originally conceived, “Spider-Man” was the story of a boy who rubs a magic ring and turns into an adult super-hero, which was essentially a takeoff on Captain Marvel. With his godlike powers, “The Mighty Thor” was an effort to create a character in the mold of Superman, without incurring the wrath of DC comics. He was also similar to Captain Marvel in his mythological roots and transformational origin.

Marvel’s Founding Father—Martin Goodman

A Good Mystery Solved? Here, accompanied by the final Lee/Kirby story page of The Fantastic Four #1 (Nov. 1961), is a note specifically related to A/E #161; but frankly, we didn’t want to wait till the “re:” section dealing with that issue rolls around. In #161, Michael Uslan, Paul Levitz, the late Ben Melnicker, and Roy Thomas exchanged e-mails concerning the possible identity of the person with whom Timely/Marvel publisher Martin Goodman might’ve played golf on a particular day in early 1961—assuming it wasn’t the boasting of DC co-publishers Irwin Donenfeld and/or Jack Liebowitz that inspired Goodman to instruct his editor Stan Lee to create a super-hero team virtually overnight to grab a few coins that otherwise might flow to DC’s new Justice League of America comic. As was discussed four issues back: Michael remembered that then-DC production head Sol Harrison had once mentioned the name of the person with whom Goodman was most likely playing golf… only neither Michael nor Paul could recall whom Harrison had named. That is, until I received this brief note from Batman filmmaker (and one-time comics writer) Michael: “Funny thing, Roy… I bought the new Alter Ego at the New York Comic Con and was reading all the golf-game pieces on the train back to New Jersey, and as I was reading it, the name of that other thus-far-nameless Independent News exec popped into my head from some reactivated brain cells somewhere: Harold Chamberlain.” So Chamberlain (see left) may be the guy without whose braggadocio there might never have been a Fantastic Four #1—not to mention nigh six decades of Marvel Comics history! Script by Stan Lee, pencils by Jack Kirby, inks (probably) by George Klein. Page scan provided by Jim Kealy.

But those characters were inspired by well-known commercial successes. Goodman reportedly had an inside track on how his rival publishers were doing, sales-wise. Just as he had heard of Justice League numbers and wanted to cash in on the new super-hero trend, a number of the earliest Marvel super-heroes were the result of this insider sales and circulation knowledge.

Harold Chamberlain in a late-1940s/early 1950s photo of the staff of Independent News Company, distributors of (and owned by) DC Comics. The full photo appeared in A/E #26.

When perennial backup DC strip “Aquaman”––a near carbon copy of Goodman’s “Sub-Mariner”––was elevated to his own magazine in 1961, it was probably not a coincidence when Prince Namor returned the following year. After DC’s revival of “The Atom” proved to be a Showcase sales success, Goodman heard about it. A similar shrinking hero, “Ant-Man,” soon surfaced in Tales to Astonish, just two months after The Atom landed in his own magazine. Another Showcase smash, “Metal Men,” astonished the industry by outselling Superman during the first half of 1962. By the end of the year, Tales of Suspense offered up “Iron Man.” And DC’s “Sgt. Rock” inevitably led to Marvel’s Sgt. Fury. The difference was that Stan Lee and his collaborators gave all of these emulative characters the distinctive Marvel touch, enabling them to outsell and outlast many of the DC super-heroes. “[Goodman] was really a great imitator,” Lee explained. “If something was selling, he would publish books like that. In fact, the reason we did The Fantastic Four—which was the first book in the Marvel line that became what it is today—is Martin heard National Comics had a book called the Justice League that was selling well, so he wanted me to come up with a bunch of characters like the Justice League—not like the Justice League, but something that was also a team of super-heroes. He felt if the Justice League is doing well, we should have a team of super-heroes. He didn’t tell me what to do.

Incidentally, re the second paragraph in the section “Out of the Mists—Marvel!”: Ye Editor has oft recounted that, sometime in late 1965 or so, Stan told him that it was Martin Goodman’s idea, not his own, to re-christen the brand as “Marvel Comics” rather than “Atlas.” Stan said that his own choice for a name had been to revive the “Atlas” monicker, but that he was glad Goodman insisted on “Marvel.” Clearly, Stan totally forgot that occurrence in later years… but Ye Ed believes the anecdote he related only two or three years after the fact is far more likely to be accurate. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

He just said, ‘Bring me a team of heroes.’ Reviving a couple of the older ones was my idea. Actually, one of them. I revived The Human Torch. Later on, I brought in Sub-Mariner and Captain America.”

Harkening back to circulation successes of the past, Goodman also found legal ways to revive abandoned trademarks and properties of the past, leading to reimagined versions of Daredevil, The Ghost Rider and, in perhaps his greatest personal triumph, his own version of Captain Marvel. Circa 1964, Steve Ditko recalled Lee telling him that Goodman directed him to revive three underutilized characters, The Hulk, Sub-Mariner, and the old pulp hero Ka-Zar. Lee gave Ditko his choice of which to work on. The artist chose the Hulk, but had he selected Ka-Zar, Tales to Astonish would have been very different and the Hulk might not have developed as he did. There is no question: During the formation of the Marvel Universe, Martin Goodman was a prime mover. Without his publishing directives, a very different population of heroes would have emerged. Goodman rejected Stan Lee’s original title for The Fantastic Four––The Fabulous Four. Even The X-Men, which was intended as another FF, might owe something to the clever publisher. Stan Lee has often told the story of presenting the X-Men concept to Goodman as “The Mutants,” only to have the publisher reject the term as unfamiliar to his target average reader. The title was changed to The X-Men, which happened to be the title of the lead novel in an issue of Star Detective Magazine Newsstand had published back in 1937. Could Goodman have remembered that unusual title and suggested it? If he didn’t, it’s quite a coincidence.

The Rise & Fall Of A Comicbook Dynasty

The Name Of The Game

Daredevil Comics #32 (Sept. 1945) & Daredevil #1 (April 1964) The split-costume, boomerang-hurling 1940s Daredevil had been a big hit for Lev Gleason Publications under editor Charles Biro, who’s credited with art on the cover at near right… while Stan Lee and Bill Everett, largely ignoring Martin Goodman’s dictum to simply revive an “abandoned trademark” character, produced a brand new hero in Marvel’s Daredevil #1, behind a Kirby/Everett cover. [Cover at left TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders; cover at right TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Dick Ayers From Marvel Tales Annual #1, 1964.

The Ghost Rider #1 ([Aug.] 1950) & Ghost Rider #1 (Feb. 1967) Whether the “hostile takeover” was Goodman’s idea or Lee’s, the Marvel revival of the Western costumed hero was visually identical to the “abandoned trademark” gunslinger once published by Vin Sullivan’s Magazine Enterprises. Well, why not? Dick Ayers drew both versions! [Cover at left © the respective copyright holders; Cover at right TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.; Ghost Rider is a trademark of Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Captain Marvel Adventures #150 (Nov. 1953) & Marvel Super-Heroes #12 (Dec. 1967) The World’s Mightiest Mortal ceased publication first time around with the C.C. Beck-covered issue at near right in 1953, as per agreement with DC Comics’ lawyers—while in 1967 Goodman pushed Stan Lee to devise a science-fictional “Captain Marvel” as a potential TV-animation property, behind a cover by Gene Colan & Frank Giacoia. Two Captain Marvels later, a female CM is a hit in the comics and a super-star on film. [Shazam hero TM & © DC Comics; MSH cover TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Marvel’s Founding Father—Martin Goodman

What’s Black-&-White—And Sometimes Red All Over? Editor Stan Lee’s early attempts to propel Marvel into the black-&-white comics field, à la Warren Publications, met with failure—failure, that is, to convince publisher Goodman to give them a chance to find a market.

John Romita as per the 1969 Fantastic Four Annual.

The b&w Spectacular Spider-Man #1 (July 1968), in order to see even a second issue (dated Nov. ’68), had to switch to color… and, with Goodman unwilling to stand up to pressure from his fellow Comics Magazine Association of America members, it became a Comics Code-approved title. Whether Goodman’s decision to cancel the mag totally after two issues was based on sales or other factors is probably unknowable at this point. (The first cover painting is by Harry Rosenbaum, from a John Romita layout—while Romita himself painted that of #2.) [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.] Savage Tales #1 (May 1971), the second black-&-white title pushed by Lee, was swiftly canceled after that single issue—in Lee’s eyes, because Goodman didn’t really want to be in the b&w business in the first place. Marvel would enter that field in a big way as soon as Stan became Marvel’s president and publisher in 1972. Cover by John Buscema. [TM & © Conan Properties International, LLC.]

When “Iron Man” debuted in Tales of Suspense, Goodman scoffed at the hero being knocked off balance by a mere filing cabinet. Artist Don Heck took the brunt of the blame on that one, but both he and scripter Larry Lieber were summarily replaced on the feature they had originated. One of Goodman’s most important decisions may have been to decline an offer for all rights to his original trio of super-heroes during the period when they were moribund. Stan Goldberg related, “I heard this story second-hand, that after the staff was let go in 1957, DC wanted to buy all of Timely’s titles. They offered around $15,000 because they wanted to own Captain America, Sub-Mariner, and The Human Torch. I think Stan may have told me this. $15,000 was a lot of money then, but Martin Goodman still had his magazines and was a millionaire. Goodman said, ‘Aw, what’s $15,000 going to mean to me? I’ll hold onto these titles. Why should I give it to them?’ This was probably the smartest thing he ever did.”

X. Milestones & Mistakes What would Marvel be today without The Human Torch, Sub-Mariner, and Captain America? Unimaginable! But Martin Goodman made his share of mistakes along the way. He thought “Spider-Man” was a terrible idea and canceled the feature after one tryout story, orphaning the story slated

John Buscema Ditto.

for Amazing Fantasy #16, only to bring him back in his own title when sales reports vindicated Lee’s hunch that the character had potential. Goodman also gave up on The Incredible Hulk after only six issues and folded the future mega-success X-Men prematurely, learning after it was too late that the Neal Adams-drawn issues had triggered a circulation boost. When the Hulk failed in his own book, Goodman considered promoting Ant-Man to his own title, for some reason believing the character to have sales potential. Or maybe he was simply following DC’s lead with The Atom. Marvel’s first foray into black-&-white magazine-sized comics, The Spectacular Spider-Man, foundered when publisher Goodman reacted too soon to preliminary sales figures. After canceling the title, he discovered that it had been a hit. He had missed a golden opportunity to exploit that market, and did much the same thing when he canceled the company’s second b&w adventure mag, Savage Tales, after just one issue—so that it was left to Stan Lee, upon becoming publisher in 1972, to bring that title back. Claiming that “rockets, ray guns, and robots” never made him any money, Goodman killed an announced science-fiction hero feature, “Starhawk,” ahead of its 1969 debut in Marvel SuperHeroes. Although he famously claimed not to read his own comics, he did occasionally intervene with story issues, complaining to an interviewer, “And why, every time there’s a problem, does the super-hero pull out a ray gun? We say, enough with the ray guns. He’s got to get out with his head.”

The Rise & Fall Of A Comicbook Dynasty

Neal Adams

Jim Steranko

at a 1971 New York comics convention. Thanks to Pedro Angosto.

as per the 1969 Fantastic Four Annual.

Marauders & Mutants Perhaps the last two truly influential artists to “join the Bullpen” (so to speak) before Goodman retired were Jim Steranko and Neal Adams. Seen here are the first pair of covers each man fully illustrated for Marvel: Strange Tales #153 (Feb. 1967) and The X-Men #56 (May 1959). [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Today, Marvel Entertainment LLC is a 21st-century multimedia empire. The spotlight most often falls on Marvel’s editor emeritus, the late Stan Lee, as it should. But Marvel truly started with one modest man, a pulp-magazine publisher named Martin Goodman, who took a chance on trying to publish something… different. “Martin was really a very smart guy, and I think a very nice guy,” asserted Lee. “I liked him. I liked being in his company. The only thing is, I wish he had been a Henry Luce, or a Walt Disney, or a Michael Eisner—a guy who wanted to build a really big business. But he was very happy having a comfortable business that allowed him to live well and in luxury. He wasn’t looking for trouble.” While Goodman appreciated Lee’s upgrading of the comicbook audience, he did not fully grasp the revolution taking place in his own offices. “I think when Stan developed the Marvel super-heroes he did a very good job,” he told The New York Times in 1971, “and he got a lot of college kids reading us. They make up a segment of our readership, but when

Dan Adkins

First “Starhawk” I See Tonight… “Starhawk” was a dystopian-future science-fiction adventure series from writer Roy Thomas and artist Dan Adkins—but when publisher Goodman saw a house ad saying that it would be coming up in the next issue of Marvel Super-Heroes (#21, July ’69), he immediately canceled the entire comic, remarking that “ray guns, and robots” had never made any money for him. The feature had to settle for its Adkins cover being printed on a 1970 issue of the company’s licensed house-fanzine Marvelmania (#3). [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Marvel’s Founding Father—Martin Goodman

you play it to them you lose the very young kids who just can’t follow the whole damn thing. We try to keep a balance. Because I read some stories sometimes and I can’t even understand them. I really can’t!” At times, Goodman seemed out of touch with his own titles. Asked why the popular space-spanning Silver Surfer failed in his own magazine, he offhandedly remarked, “I think that psychologically the potential reader didn’t care enough about surfing. So we got the thumbs down.” From the beginning of Timely Comics into the Marvel Age, Goodman believed in giving the reader as many super-heroes as possible, knowing that readers could be fickle. “I think the comicbook field suffers from the same thing TV does,” he told one journalist. “After a few years, an erosion sets in. You still maintain loyal readers, but you lose a lot more readers than you’re picking up. That’s why we have so many super-hero characters, and run super-heroes together. Even if you take two characters that are weak sellers and run them together in the same book, somehow, psychologically, the reader feels he’s getting more. You get the Avenger[s] follower and the Sub-Mariner follower. Often you see a new title do great on the first issue and then it begins to slide off….” That was the approach he took to everything from Marvel Mystery Comics to the split-books of the 1960s, such as Tales of Suspense, which offered separate “Iron Man” and “Captain America” features.

His last years, unfortunately, were plagued by Alzheimer’s disease, to which he succumbed in 1992. But the multi-media company he founded so long ago is larger than he could ever have imagined, combining publishing with global licensing and a powerhouse film production company bearing the Marvel brand that has now eclipsed every other brand except that of Walt Disney, which purchased them when they turned 70 a decade ago. Looking back at the legacy of Martin Goodman, Stan Lee painted a portrait of a canny and competitive but self-effacing entrepreneur. “Martin was a guy who really knew what he was doing. He was no dummy when it came to comics. He understood them as well as anybody. The only thing is, he wasn’t a very creative guy. He was really a great imitator. If something was selling, he would publish books like that. I don’t want to say that he wasn’t ambitious, but there was something lacking in his personality that made him never try to become the next Walt Disney. He seemed very happy to have a comicbook company that was making money. I used to always say to him, ‘These characters are really good. We ought to try to put ’em in the movies, or in comic strips in the newspapers, or in the early days do radio series.’ Later, I used to say, ‘We ought to put ’em on TV.’ He was never interested in that. It always frustrated me a little, because I wanted the company to grow. Especially later when we started with Spider-Man and the Hulk and the X-Men. I felt that we could be the next Walt Disney. But Martin just didn’t see it that way. One day he was offered a nice sum of money to sell the company and he very happily did. And that was the end of it.”

XI. Marvel After Martin In 1968, Martin Goodman sold Marvel Comics to Cadence Industries, but stayed on as publisher until 1972. One of his last significant decisions was to license Robert E. Howard’s prose hero Conan the Barbarian for Marvel, creating a cash cow and pioneering a new comics sub-genre. A Florida retirement was in the planning stages. But a comfortable retirement was postponed when his son Chip lost his position at Marvel later in ’72—with Stan Lee replacing him as president and publisher. Upset, Goodman soon started Atlas/Seaboard Comics, going head-to-head with his former company until lackluster sales forced him to fold the flailing operation in 1975.

Chip & Martin Goodman (left to right) at a 1966 dinner in honor of Magazine Management editor Bruce Jay Friedman, who was departing to pursue a (very successful) career as a novelist. (Coincidentally, Drew Friedman, who painted this issue’s cover, is the former’s son.) The Goodmans, père et fils, sought revenge on Marvel via their 1974-75 “Atlas-Seaboard” comics line, but it didn’t live out the year. One possible example of why it didn’t: Contrast Dick Giordano’s cover (above left) for Phoenix #1 (Jan. 1975), from a layout by Sal Amendola, with Al Milgrom’s cover (above right) for Phoenix #4 (Oct. ’75). Within the space of a few issues, the official title had been downgraded in favor of a subtitle, “The Protector,” with a change in costume as well. Both changes were almost certainly made on the basis of the first-issue sales, not giving the comic a chance to (perhaps) find its audience. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

The Rise & Fall Of A Comicbook Dynasty

Marvel-ous Martin Goodman in his later years, at his home in Palm Beach, Florida. He passed away in 1992, at a time when both speculative boom and bust were in the immediate offing at the comics empire he had founded and sold, and when Marvel’s cinematic conquests, from Blade, X-Men, and SpiderMan through the post-2008 triumphs of Marvel Studios (first on its own, then under the Disney aegis), still lay a decade or two ahead— including the 2019 film Captain Marvel (see poster at page center). But it all emanated from Goodman’s decision to publish (and name) Marvel Comics #1 in 1939, as epitomized by the 2009 tome Golden Age Marvel Comics Omnibus, Vol. 1 (image at far right). That tome collected the first dozen issues of his flagship title behind a cover painting by Jelena Kevic-Djurdjevic—which was based on Frank R. Paul’s 1939 original—which was based on Carl Burgos’ “Human Torch” story inside. Who could’ve guessed how far Goodman’s pet word “Marvel” would carry him—and those who followed in his wake? Thanks to Cory Sedlmeier for the Omnibus art ID. [Art TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.; movie poster TM & © Marvel Studios & Disney.]

Not quite. After Goodman, Marvel only grew. The most remarkable turn of events came on August 31, 2009––the 70th anniversary of the publication of Marvel Comics #1––when the Walt Disney Company acquired the multi-media company, a development that would have been inconceivable during the publisher’s lifetime. Perhaps the most satisfying development occurred a decade later. As the company neared its 80th anniversary, movies based on Marvel characters were among the top-grossers worldwide. Among them was one called… Captain Marvel.

Sources: “Big Business in Pulp Thrillers.” Literary Digest, January 23, 1937. “The Hulk Is Searching for a Place in the Sun.” Don Geringer. Palm Beach Post, January 29, 1972 “Captain America Was a Dirty Name!” (Interview with John Romita.) Jim Amash. Alter Ego, Vol. 3, #35, April 2004. “I Let People Do Their Jobs.” (Interview with Vince Fago.) Jim Amash. Alter Ego, Vol. 3, #11, November, 2001. “Jack Kirby & Don Rico.” Mysticogryfil, Vol. 1, #2, May, 1975. “The Columbia Pulps.” Robert A W Lowndes. The Pulp Era #67, May-June 1967. “Letter to Jerry DeFuccio.” Bill Everett. Robin Snyder’s History of Comics, Vol. 2, #7, July 1991.

Marvel: Five Fabulous Decades of the World’s Greatest Comics. Les Daniels, Harry N. Abrams, 1991. “Monster Master.” Will Murray. Comic Scene, Vol. 2, #52, September 1995. “Project Captain America Declassified.” Will Murray. Comic Scene, Vol. 2, #14, August 1990. “Shazam! Here Comes Captain Relevant.” Saul Braun. New York Times, May 2, 1971. “Simon Says!” (Joe Simon interview.) Jim Amash. Alter Ego #76, March 2008. “Stan Lee Looks Back.” Will Murray. Comic Scene 2000, Vol. 3, #1 Spring 2000. “’Stan Was the Prince.’ Gil Kane on Timely.” Roy Thomas. Alter Ego, Vol. 3, #3, Winter 1999-2000. “Stan Lee: It’s a Marvelous Life.” Clifford Meth and Daniel Dickholtz. Comics Scene, Vol. 2, #1, 1987. “The F.O.O.M. Interview: Stan Lee.” David Anthony Kraft, F.O.O.M. #17, March 1977. “The Goldberg Variations.” (Interview with Stan Goldberg.) Jim Amash. Alter Ego, Vol. 3, #18, October 2002. The Secret History of Marvel Comics. Blake Bell and Dr. Michael J. Vassallo, Fantagraphics Books, 2013.

Marvel’s Founding Father—Martin Goodman

Addendum:

The Marvel Title Genesis, 1957-1969 by Mike Tiefenbacher

hen Martin Goodman was finally able to arrange a new distribution deal following American News dropping magazine distribution in 1957, he was in for a rude awakening. Having been enticed to come to ANC to replace the departing Dell Comics, he had ramped up his production to 82 titles, with an output of perhaps 50 titles per month. This was not unusual for Goodman, who had had nearly 70 ongoing titles briefly in the 1952-53 years. Most of the titles were clones of each other: mystery, war, Western, romance, and humor comprised the vast majority of the line, with inventory for each genre easily used for any of the titles in each category. Independent News, of course, was owned by National Comics (DC), and in 1957 they were not about to allow Goodman the ability to crowd their own comics off the stands. They offered him the space for eight titles a month, or sixteen bi-monthlies which they would distribute over a two-month period; and Goodman, having no better options, signed the contract, which provided the usual advances for each issue to cover printing costs. In the process, he had to reduce his line down to the best-performing titles in each genre. Goodman’s final ANC-distributed issues mostly bore August and September dates, with an October issue or two. His new line, which began with issues dated November 1957 (with one October), included these titles, almost certainly representing Atlas’ best-sellers: Patsy Walker #73 (10/57), Gunsmoke Western #43 (11/57), Homer the Happy Ghost #16 (11/57), Kid Colt Outlaw #75 (11/57), Love Romances #72 (11/57), Marines in Battle #20 (11/57), Millie the Model #81 (11/57), Miss America #87 (11/57), My Own Romance #60 (11/57), Navy Combat #15 (11/57), Battle #55 (12/57), Patsy and Hedy #55 (12/57), Strange Tales #60 (12/57), Two-Gun Kid #39 (12/57), World of Fantasy #9 (12/57), and Wyatt Earp #14 (12/57). Not changing: each comic was published by one of a number of a different subsidiary publishing companies, a set-up that dated back to the 1930s and meant that the success or failure of one subsidiary didn’t affect another. As anyone who knows anything about Goodman and his line is aware, he was never reticent to maximize sales by cutting the under-performers in favor of new titles. This didn’t cease with the Independent News contract, but now he was absolutely restricted to a maximum of sixteen titles (without going to quarterlies, such as Dell was then publishing). His first cancellation was Marines in Battle, which ended with #25 (9/58), replaced by the revived Journey Into Mystery #49 (11/58); this was followed by Navy Combat #20 (10/58), replaced by Strange Worlds #1 (12/58), each published by Manvis Publications; Miss America #93 (11/58), replaced by Tales To Astonish #1 (1/59), each published by Miss America Publishing Corp.; and Homer the Happy Ghost #22 (11/58), replaced by Tales of Suspense #1 (1/59), each published by Warwick Publications. The next swaps were World of Fantasy #19 (8/59), its place taken by Kathy #1 (10/59), each published by Zenith Publishing Corp., and Strange Worlds #5 (8/59), replaced by A Date with Millie #1 (10/59). (Exchanges from here on mostly dispensed with keeping the

I’ve Got A Secret History In their 2013 hardcover The Secret History of Marvel Comics, authors Blake Bell and Dr. Michael J. Vassallo outlined the history of Martin Goodman’s pulp-magazine empire, including the artwork done for those titles by comics talents such as Simon, Kirby, Burgos, Everett, Shores, et al. [Captain America TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

subsidiary publishing company the same.) In 1960, Battle #70 (6/60) was replaced by the revived My Girl Pearl #7 (8/60). Wyatt Earp ended with #19 (6/60), to be replaced by the all-new version of Rawhide Kid #18 (8/60). Two cosmetic changes: My Own Romance ended with #76 (7/60) and was “replaced” by Teen-Age Romance #77 (9/60), retaining the numbering and the publisher, Zenith. A Date with Millie #7 (10/60) morphed into Life with Millie (12/60) for reasons known only to Goodman, continuing to be published by Male Publishing. With Journey into Mystery #60 (9/60), Tales to Astonish #11 (9/60), Strange Tales #77 (11/60), and Tales of Suspense #13 (1/61), the frequency of these four comics increased to monthly. This may well have been written into the contract, with Independent News now allowing Goodman to add two more issues per month by achieving sales targets while not actually altering the number of titles. The eight-comics-a-month dictate was beginning to ease, just a little. 1961: the original Two-Gun Kid ended with #59 (4/61), while My Girl Pearl ended with #11 (4/61); Amazing Adventures #1 (6/61), launched as a monthly, may have replaced both titles—or else the place of either one of them was taken by Linda Carter, Student Nurse #1 (9/61). The Fantastic Four #1 (11/61) was (seemingly) introduced later that year without any other title’s cancellation. Also in 11/61,

The Rise & Fall Of A Comicbook Dynasty

Masterpieces would become regular 25¢ bi-monthly series in 1966. Fantasy Masterpieces #1 (2/66) replaced Patsy Walker #124 (12/65), The Ghost Rider #1 (2/67) seems to have taken the place of Patsy and Hedy #110 (also 2/67), while [Not] Brand Echh #1 (8/67), begun as a monthly, took the place of Modeling with Millie #54 (6/67). The Ghost Rider went monthly with #4 (8/67) but ended with #7 (11/67) and was replaced by Captain Savage #1 (1/68).

First Casualty As Mike Tiefenbacher points out, the first cancellation after Goodman signed on the dotted line with Independent News was the Korean War veteran Marines in Battle (with #25, Sept. 1958), with its Carl Burgos cover—which was replaced by the return of the one-time horror comic Journey into Mystery (with #49, Dec. ’58), which had only been missing from the lineup for a little over a year. The cover of the latter was by Joe Maneely. Thanks to the Grand Comics Database. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Amazing Adventures #6 was followed by the more provocative Amazing Adult Fantasy #7 (12/61). The next year, Teen-Age Romance ended with #86 (3/62) and was replaced by The Incredible Hulk #1 (5/62), each published by Zenith. When Amazing Adult Fantasy #14 (7/61) became Amazing Fantasy (9/61), it went bi-monthly, only to be immediately canceled and replaced by the completely new version of Two-Gun Kid #60 (11/61). It was replaced on the monthly schedule when Fantastic Four #6 (9/62) went monthly. Linda Carter, Student Nurse #9 (1/63) made way for The Amazing Spider-Man #1 (3/63). Goodman altered the title again when Life with Millie #20 (12/62) became Modeling with Millie #21 (2/63). The Incredible Hulk ended with #6 (3/63), its place taken by Sgt. Fury #1 (5/63). The Amazing Spider-Man went monthly with #4 (9/63). Gunsmoke Western #77 (7/63) and Love Romances #106 (7/63) ended to make way for The Avengers #1 (9/63) and The X-Men #1 (9/63). In 1964, Kathy ended with #27 (2/64), to be replaced by Daredevil #1 (4/64). The Avengers went monthly with #6 (7/64), Sgt. Fury went monthly with #8 (9/64); and in 1965, X-Men #14 (11/65) and Daredevil #11 (12/65) were the first monthly issues of those magazines. At the very end of 1965’s cover dates, then, the roster of Marvel titles stood at seventeen, ten of which were monthlies: The Amazing Spider-Man, The Avengers, Daredevil, Fantastic Four, Journey into Mystery (soon to be renamed Thor), Strange Tales, Tales of Suspense, Tales to Astonish, The X-Men, Sgt. Fury, Kid Colt Outlaw, Rawhide Kid, Two-Gun Kid, Millie the Model, Modeling with Millie, Patsy and Hedy, and Patsy Walker. The output per month was now thirteen or fourteen issues instead of eight. The deal with Independent News apparently waived the issuance of annuals or 25¢ special issues, which appeared without any subsequent cancellations. Marvel Tales, Marvel Collectors’ Item Classics, and the soon-to-expand Fantasy

After that, beginning with Groovy #1 (3/68), there were no more fatalities required for the birth of new titles, and Marvel began an expansion that continues to this day. My guess is that Independent News knew that there was no point in restricting Marvel anymore, since their partnership would soon be ending anyway, which by this point would entail a huge loss in their profits column. Captain America, Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Sub-Mariner, Nick Fury - Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., Doctor Strange, Captain Marvel, The Spectacular Spider-Man, The Silver Surfer, and The Mighty Marvel Western were all launched in 1968, while only Tales of Suspense, Tales to Astonish, Strange Tales, Kid Colt Outlaw, and Two-Gun Kid were canceled.

That new arrangement lasted through issues dated August and September 1969; thereafter, Marvel was distributed by Curtis Circulation Company, which had been acquired by the same company that had bought out Goodman in 1968: Perfect Film and Chemical (soon to be rechristened Cadence Industries). As part of the same company, all external restrictions on expansion were removed, and Marvel would soon return to their days of pumping out 70-80 titles a month.

Substituting One Kid For Another A perhaps less astute schedule change was the dropping of Amazing Fantasy after issue #15 (Sept. 1962), the introduction of Spider-Man as cover-illustrated by Jack Kirby & Steve Ditko—and its speedy replacement by a revival of Two-Gun Kid with #60 (Nov. ’62), whose Kirby cover was inked by Dick Ayers. Oh, and technically, there was no hyphen in the indicia title of the latter—but it was always part of the logo, so what the hell. Thanks to the GCD. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

in memoriam

Tributes To BILL SCHELLY

A Very Special Edition Of “Comic Fandom Archive” Assembled & Conducted by Jeff Gelb

A/E

EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION: I am writing these words only because Jeff Gelb has done enough already, assembling and collating the remembrances of our mutual friend and comrade Bill Schelly which follow. Because I have already written about Bill in this issue’s “writer/ editorial,” in a few lines I will turn what I have termed “A Very Special Edition” of Bill’s regular Alter Ego department “Comic Fandom Archive” over to Jeff, who knew Bill far better than I did.

apply himself to creating the best possible contents. It ended with #12 in 1972. After graduating college, he worked up some sample pages for DC’s “New Talent Program.” When he was rejected (by Vince Colletta at a New York comic convention), Bill called it “a turning point” in his life. He largely abandoned comicbooks and began a multi-decade career with the U.S. Small Business Administration. He retired from that job in 2011. On the side, he became interested in writing. His first book was a biography of silent-movie comedian Harry Langdon, which was published by Scarecrow Press in 1982. He rejoined the amateur press alliance Capa-Alpha

But first I need to explain why this series of tributes to Bill do not take up even more space in this issue of A/E. It’s partly, of course, because of the recent downsizing of the magazine from 100 pages (counting covers) to 84. But it’s also because Jeff suggested to me, in a letter around the turn of this year, that perhaps, rather than trying to squeeze all the reminiscences of Bill and his life and work into one issue, it might be better to let it run for two or more issues… rather like regular episodes of “Comic Fandom Archive,” the column that Bill wrote, put together, and edited for most issues of Alter Ego since it began its third volume in 1999. I quickly concurred in that view, partly because it is a way of extending the “Archive”—and thus Bill’s at least spiritual presence in this magazine— for a little while longer… giving us a bit more time to adjust to the sense of loss in our life that I know each tribute-payer (along with many another comics or Alter Ego or simply Bill Schelly fan) is feeling. Jeff begins with a brief biography of Bill, touching briefly on the highlights of his career, and at least some of the highlights of his personal life as well… then speaks of his own memories of our lost friend… and then records the words of some of those closest to Bill….

Bill Schelly—A Brief Bio Bill Schelly was born in 1951 and grew up in Pittsburgh and Lewiston, Idaho, before moving to Seattle in 1974 after college. He got into comics fandom in 1964 when he bought Alter Ego [Vol. 1] #7 and “was blown away.” Bill’s first fanzine was called Super-Heroes Anonymous. Other fanzines followed. In 1967, he created Sense of Wonder, which he called his first attempt to seriously

Bill Schelly & Jeff Gelb palling around in 2002. (Jeff’s the one in the Fantastic Four shirt.) The fanzine art above represents their first collaboration, for the fanzine Bombshell #6 (1966): pencils by Bill, inks by Jeff. As for scripter Rick Jones, do you think he’s—nah, it couldn’t be him. Courtesy of JG. [Page © Rick Jones, Jeff Gelb, & Estate of Bill Schelly.]

A Very Special Edition Of “Comic Fandom Archive”

Bill At Age 15 at a time when his first published fanzine, Super-Heroes Anonymous #1, was already a year or so in the past, and his longer-running Sense of Wonder zine was still a year or so in the future. He drew the cover of the former; the latter cover was rendered by popular fan-artist Ronn Foss, though the “Immortal Corpse” comics series heralded thereon was written and drawn by Schelly. [Covers © Estates of Bill Schelly & Ronn Foss, respectively.]

in 1989 and started writing about comic fandom and its creators. That led to a series of self-published books through his own Hamster Press. One was a biography of comics and science-fiction writer Otto Binder (which has since been republished). In 1999 he joined the just-starting third volume of Alter Ego as associate editor, writing a series of columns on comic fandom and its members and creators from then until his passing. He worked with Fantagraphics Books to write a series of books that culminated in a one-two-three-four punch, with biographies of Joe Kubert, Harvey Kurtzman, John Stanley, and James Warren (Bill’s last completed, published work). The Kurtzman book won an Eisner Award, representing the culmination of Bill’s life as a writer and comicbook historian. Bill had a son, Jaimeson, who died of cancer at the age of 20, and a surviving daughter, Tara. Bill passed away from complications of a rare form of cancer called multiple myeloma on September 12, 2019.

Get A Life! From the beginning, Bill had a bent for biography. Bill’s first book was the 1982 Harry Langdon, about the silent-film comedian… while his first self-published full-on biography was Words of Wonder: The Life and Times of Otto Binder (2003, dealing with the important science-fiction and comicbook writer). He drew the Binder portrait on the latter cover; other cover art by Jerry Ordway. [Shazam heroes, Superman, Krypto, & Supergirl TM & © DC Comics.]

Tributes To Bill Schelly

What was evident about Bill is that every article and book that he wrote increased his skills as both a writer and a historian. He loved the entire process of writing, starting with the research. As he took on a new project, he always immersed himself in the creator’s work. If he was doing a Kubert bio, he bought literally dozens, if not hundreds, of Kubert comicbooks so that he lived inside Kubert’s head while he wrote a book about the man. Bill always pushed himself to become a better writer. He was especially pleased with the last few books that he finished: the Harvey Kurtzman, John Stanley, and James Warren bios. What always showed through in his work was his deep love for his subject matter. Comics and the other things he wrote about were personally meaningful to him.

Jaimeson & Tara Bill’s two biological children, seated with Jeff Gelb some years ago. There was nothing Bill was ever prouder of than those two kids. Photo by Bill Schelly.

Bill Schelly Tributes – An Introduction

Ironically, he left no project unfinished. He had just finished the first draft of a book covering the comicbook industry from 1945 through 1949, and he had just seen several books of his writings published through Pulp Hero Press. That made him very happy indeed, especially the publication of a novel he originally wrote as a teenager. He had some ideas about future projects, including a biography of Steve Ditko, but he had not started doing any substantial research on anything past what he had finished. So the books that have been published represent everything Bill intended

Any tribute to Bill Schelly is incomplete by definition. He touched so many lives that it would be impossible to ask everyone for their thoughts on Bill. So, as arguably his closest friend and confidant for the past 30+ years, it was no small task to whittle it down to a list of people that I thought would make the most sense. In many cases I chose personal friends over professional relationships. But I did want to include both, and hopefully I haven’t left too many people out of the mix who played a vital role in Bill’s life. If I did, I apologize and the fault is mine.

Jeff Gelb Here’s the thing about Bill Schelly: he was the best at what he did. Plain and simple. This guy knew and loved comics and he knew how to write. He also knew how to research and unearth undiscovered gems of information. In fact, I liked to call him Sherlock Schelly. Bill and I were brothers under the skin. I loved him like the brother I never had. Maybe more, because we didn’t grow up together fighting all the time. I met Bill through the wonderful world of comic fanzines way back in the early 1960s, when we both contributed to the same fanzines, sometimes within the same issues. We were both just young teenage boys back then, reveling in the opportunity to showcase our amateurish work to other young comicbook nerds. There followed decades where the fledgling friendship fell by the wayside, as we went about becoming adults (Bill’s side of that story, both tragic and triumphant, was told masterfully in his Sense of Wonder book, a must-read for all comics fans). We regrouped in the early 1990s in the pages of the Capa-Alpha amateur press alliance, and quickly re-cemented our friendship. When we finally met in person at the 1992 San Diego Comicon, we clicked immediately. There was so much about Bill that I appreciated and enjoyed, from his passion for comicbooks (creators, characters, and companies) to James Bond movies, from film noir to the fanzines of our youth. At that point Bill was just starting his career as a comicbook historian in a series of articles for his Capa-Alpha fanzines, and then in his earliest books. The rest is history, which has resulted in a rich tapestry of work that has won awards and fans worldwide.

Sense Of Wonder The cover of the much more complete second edition of Bill’s autobiography, another of the truly remarkable books Bill scribed. The book shared a title with his second fanzine. [Comic art © the respective artists.]

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for public viewing. We are very fortunate to have so many ways to enjoy Bill Schelly on the printed page, from his own books to the pages of this magazine that you are reading, which he enjoyed contributing to so much. It meant the world to him that he was able to play an intimate role in Alter Ego, because he was such a fan of comic fandom. He was really one of us. But his life was not just about comicbooks. He loved film noir, K-Pop, boy bands, James Bond (but only Ian Fleming’s version!), Boys Adventure series, and Robert E. Howard, just for starters. He was a music junkie who loved watching YouTube videos. He had favorite soap opera shows that he still watched. He was not a particularly social guy but he did have some very good friends. He could speak with them for hours about the things that interested him and the things that interested you. And he was a great listener. But overall, he was very happy to cocoon himself in his small, meticulously maintained home in a quiet Seattle suburb, writing, keeping up with e-mails and his Facebook page, and enjoying his collection of books, comicbooks, DVDs, and music. Bill was not a world traveler. His home was his world. It was well stocked with everything he loved about life. He existed for his hobbies, his creativity, and his friends. He had no bucket list that he ever shared with me regarding places he wanted to see or things he wanted to do. He was a simple man in that regard and I appreciated that about him.

If there’s a Heaven—and I sure hope there is—I can envision Bill sitting there interviewing the likes of Ian Fleming, Harvey Kurtzman, Otto Binder, and so many others about their careers and lives. I just wish I could read the books he would then produce based on those conversations.

Life’s A Beach! Bill (on right) and Jeff Gelb at the seaside a few years ago.

Bill and I saw the last two James Bond movies on opening day together and had made plans to get together to see the 25th in the series in 2020. That won’t happen now, but I know that, when I do see it, it’ll be in his honor. I’ll be the only guy in the audience with a big box of Kleenex crying at all the cool parts. Jeff Gelb is an anthologist, writer, and editor.

Maureen Jones Bill Schelly: My life-long friend, my co-parent, my hero. It was the spring of 1984, Bill was 32, I was 26, and we met at a party where I found out he and my new best friend Stephanie worked at the same company. Bill was smitten with Stephanie and would routinely pop into my social life eager to be near her. Soon he became my friend, too. In between working and partying, we were all figuring out who we were and how to navigate this world. Boyfriends came and went, girlfriends, too, until we each came to understand we weren’t straight. It was a life-changing moment when I realized I was in love with Stephanie. As we all came to understand we were gay, we went through a grieving process realizing that who we were could prevent us from creating the lives we wanted. “Could” was the operative word. It wasn’t “should,” it wasn’t “would.” Where there is a will, there is a way. He was smart, creative, responsible, and just the nicest guy… As Stephanie and I became a couple and began our lives together, we often acknowledged our desire to have children. Then one day we invited Bill over to our house and told him of this desire. Like the eager kid in class who knows the answer, his arm shot up, his hand waving wildly, and he said, “If you’re looking for a volunteer….!” That was 1989 and the AIDS epidemic was in full swing.

Watch This Space! Bill’s cover featuring DC spaceman Adam Strange and his ladyfriend Alana, drawn by the artist for the cover of a 1998 issue of Capa-Alpha, the “Comics Amateur Press Alliance” publication made up of various “fanzines” prepared and mimeographed by individual author/editors. [Characters TM & © DC Comics.]

Even though I trusted Bill completely, I needed proof that he was as responsible and honest as he seemed. True to form, Bill was always what he seemed: unpretentious, conscientious, kind, impassioned, thoughtful, dependable (and not HIV positive). We all agreed to becoming parents and created an agreement outlining our wishes. I was older, so I became pregnant first. When I gave birth to Jaimeson, Bill was there and cut the umbilical cord and I spontaneously changed Jaimeson’s middle name to Bill’s middle name, Carl. Bill was over the moon! He came by our house to visit

Tributes To Bill Schelly

Tara Seymour

Good Times Amid The Bad Two favorite photos of Bill’s of his son Jaimeson. At left, Jaimeson Jones with his girlfriend Sara; at right, Jaimeson and Bill flanking TV personality Stephen Colbert, a meeting that thrilled Jaimeson. Photos courtesy of Bill Schelly and Bernie Bubnis, respectively.

Jaimeson every day after work. Upon hearing that babies first recognize the color red, he donned a red shirt every day! This was a Bill I had not met before. Wow. He told us his heart was so full he was afraid he wouldn’t have enough love for another child. He was scared and didn’t believe me when I told him love multiplies, it doesn’t divide. Even though he was unconvinced, he actually went through with his promise to bless us with another child because, you guessed it… he had made a promise. I never did experience a broken promise by Bill—his word was his bond, and he could always be counted on. 1991: Enter Tara. 21 months after Jaimeson was born, Stephanie gave birth to a beautiful baby girl—complete with Bill’s dimples! Tara was Bill’s proof that love multiplies. Now he was over two moons! Bill’s baby pictures and Tara’s were practically identical. His adolescent pics and hers were uncannily similar. As she grows and matures, her personality keeps giving me glimpses of Bill. Stephanie, Bill, and I agreed as to the involvement Bill would have, and though we had custody of Jaimeson and Tara, Bill’s involvement was regular, hugely influential, steadfast, and fully welcomed. Above all he was the epitome of a loving father. He went to their sporting events, musical concerts, etc. He was with us every Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, Christmas, Thanksgiving, his birthday, the kids’ birthdays, etc. He always sat at the head of our table (where he belonged). My sister and brother-in-law would host regular Seahawks game parties, and Bill would come, too—not for the football, of course— for the food and family fun. As teenagers, Bill doubled down and spent more time with each kid one on one. We were/are his family.

Having Bill Schelly as a father is a privilege that I will spend my entire life attempting to fully comprehend. The memories he cultivated and the works he accomplished in his time are evidence that he served the worthiest of pursuits. A lover of art, he gave me the gift of appreciating the beauty in things like story-telling, performance, and design. So passionate was he about his craft that his contributions to the field of comics will continue to affect the world long after his leaving it behind. It is humbling to attempt to summarize the impact of his life in so few words. Despite the untraditional nature of my upbringing with Bill as my father, he nevertheless managed to instill in me the values that any good father would: responsibility, respect, love, and kindness. I recall with fondness the times spent building cardboard dollhouses for our super-hero action figures. I recall how he spoke with reverence on subjects of art, literature, and culture. I loved the times spent with him, my brother, and I watching movies like Duck Soup or Some Like It Hot. These memories will be forever cherished. I can only imagine that his life as writer was a consequence of having the purest of love for the craft of story-telling. The majestic wonder of someone being able to gently remove you from the burdens of existence. Or, perhaps more so, to give you the tools to combat the burdens of existence. He lived his life as an example for those displaced persons to have the courage to pursue their passions and love their uniqueness. I love you, Dad. I’ll miss you. Thank you for all you have given us in the time you have spent here. May your next journey be even more lovely. Tara Seymour is Bill Schelly’s daughter. See a photo of her on p 39.

My super-hero. Bill and I were always great friends, yet there were two regrets we had. One, that we didn’t have more children, and two, that we didn’t have more interests in common. Still, I adored him. I must tell you the running understatement of my life has been that Bill became the greatest gift in my life, for without him I would never have known the two greatest loves of my life, our children. Maureen Jones is the mother of Bill’s son Jaimeson and daughter Tara.

X Marx The Spot The four Marx Brothers, in a scene from their 1933 triumph Duck Soup. (L. to r.:) Zeppo, Chico, Harpo, & Groucho. [© the respective copyright holders.]

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Gary Groth I don’t remember when I met Bill Schelly, but it may have been as late as 2006, when he pitched the idea of a Joe Kubert biography to me. It may have been earlier—and we may have corresponded briefly in the 1970s, as two teenage comics fans putting out fanzines—but if we did, it would’ve been cursorily because I have no memory of it. I knew of Bill primarily as a long-time comics fan and, more recently, as the author of two books on the history of comics fandom. In my brain, he was stuck in fandom and in the past. Was he up for writing a biography of one of the great journeyman artists in the history of comicbooks? I wasn’t sure. A short history of a finite period in comics fandom is one thing, a full-scale biography of Joe Kubert is another. (I did not know he had written biographies of Harry Langdon and Otto Binder previously.) I knew Joe and respected his work, but more as a craftsman than as an artist, which valuation may have given me the confidence that Bill could do the job as well as it needed to be done; I may have thought, cynically, and possibly doing a disservice to both men, how good does a Joe Kubert biography have to be? So I threw my lot in with Bill, trusted that he would do a competent job, and told him we’d publish it. Which we did in 2008. Man of Rock was better than competent. It was, if you’ll pardon the expression, rock solid. Bill’s research methodology was first-rate, he knew mainstream comics and the period of comics that Kubert’s career traversed intimately, which gave him the foundational knowledge to dig deeper in an efficient and focused and intelligent way. Bill took on biographical subjects because they fascinated him personally, and Kubert’s career was varied enough to have gone beyond one work-for-hire assignment after another: There was his early entrepreneurship, claiming ownership of his character Tor (unusual in the 1950s), his involvement in creating 3-D comics, his self-publishing efforts with Sojourn, his creation of the Kubert School in 1976, and his later

independent graphic novel efforts (such as Fax from Sarajevo). Bill’s bio was exhaustive, respectful without being obeisant, sensitive to the historical period it chronicled. In retrospect, I think it was the best writing Bill had done up that point. I think the scope of the project brought the best out of Bill. Bill edited two more Kubert-related projects: in 2011, The Art of Joe Kubert, a coffee-table book spotlighting Kubert’s art with text by Bill that emphasized analysis over history, and in 2013, Weird Horrors and Daring Adventures, a collection of obscure comics stories Kubert did in the 1940s and 1950s. I think Bill had felt that he’d invested so much time and effort into researching Kubert’s career that he should take advantage of that knowledge by editing two companion volumes—and compensate himself for not making much money on the biography. Oddly, in a deal Joe struck with Bill, Kubert received half the royalties from the sale of his biography (I had never heard of a biographical subject receiving royalties from his biography). But Bill received all the royalties from these two books, and Kubert was, after I had exchanged e-mails negotiating with him, as he put it, “cool” with that. I was pleased that Bill could see a little more money from all the research he did on Man of Rock. It was between 2008 and 2011 when I got to know Bill, and around 2011 when Bill and I started getting closer. I think the reason for this is because he started working on his Kurtzman biography in 2011 (while he was finishing editing his second Kubert book). Bill was local—literally less than a ten-minute drive away—so he would often drop by the office—to confer with the editor or designer of his books, see proofs, or just sit and talk with me. He came in on June 6, 2011, to brainstorm about his next project. He had a few ideas, none of which I was taken with, none of which I thought would be a step up from Kubert. I told him that Harvey Kurtzman deserved a serious biography. He was a complex personality and a complex cartoonist with a fascinating career that intersected with the wider world of popular culture. It would challenge him and stretch him and I thought that’s what he needed at this point in his journalistic/ historical career. There was a coffee-table/biographical book about Kurtzman that had come out in 2009, and he was worried that the Kurtzman bio train had left the station. I told him the earlier work was more of an art book and biographically half-assed and that he could do a far better job. He said he’d think about it. It didn’t sound like he was convinced. The next day I received this e-mail from him: The reason I hadn’t considered doing a Kurtzman biography was simply that I thought it was being done. I’ll do a lot of reading about Harvey and see how my thoughts progress on doing the book. On June 17, he wrote: I’m inclining toward doing the Kurtzman biography, but I’d like to meet with you again to talk at greater length, explore the idea a bit more, and ask some questions.

Gary Groth The publisher of Fantagraphics Books—and the cover of the 2008 biography of Joe Kubert, Man of Rock, written for Fantagraphics by Bill Schelly. [Sgt. Rock, Hawkman, & The Flash TM & © DC Comics; other art © Estate of Joe Kubert.]

He came over on June 28, and after some discussion, made the decision to write Harvey Kurtzman’s bio. By August, he was forging ahead full throttle, making contacts, arranging interviews, doing preliminary research, adding to what he already knew. We kept in far closer and more frequent touch during his writing the Kurtzman bio than we ever did with his Kubert bio; I have over 400 e-mails between us with “Kurtzman” in them, most, based on the headers, about the book. He came over to the office at least twice a month to discuss his

Tributes To Bill Schelly

progress and to discuss how to navigate tricky ethical questions that often arise while writing a biography. I don’t remember a single instance where we were at loggerheads. We always talked things out thoroughly and arrived at a mutually agreed strategy. He would call me excitedly when he found a new lead or tracked down an important figure in Kurtzman’s career or connected the dots in a way no one had previously. He sent me at least two drafts of the book over the course of his writing it. I received the final manuscript on August 6, 2014, which means it took Bill almost exactly three years to research and write it. I wouldn’t be surprised if he worked on it virtually every day. It was three years well spent. I think it’s the best and most important book he wrote, and stands with the best cartoonist biographies—David Michaelis’ Schulz and Peanuts; Deirdre Blair’s Saul Steinberg; Michael Tisserand’s Krazy: George Herriman, a Life in Black and White; R.C. Harvey’s Meanwhile… It is a monumental work, full of love, dedication, scholarship. I also think his writing had improved tremendously since he had written the Kubert bio. His prose became more confident and, I have to say it, less fannish. He worked closely with Fantagraphics editor Kristy Valenti, whom he enjoyed working with, and who went over his manuscript meticulously for both content and style. Bill thought her input improved his work and he praised their working relationship to me. Harvey Kurtzman: The Man Who Created Mad and Revolutionized Humor in America is an important book. Bill went on to write one more book for us: Empire of Monsters, a biography of the comics entrepreneur James Warren. He chose Warren wisely. Kurtzman took three years to write, and I think Bill felt a heaviness over writing it—an exhilaration, too, but he knew he was writing what may stand as the definitive biography of one of the most important cartoonists of the 20th century, and he felt the moral obligation that goes along with that. He needed to take on a less imposing project, and Warren was made to order: significant in his own way, but also in a minor way. Not that Bill slacked in any way; he dove into it with the same focused energy he brought to Kurtzman, but I don’t think he felt the burden quite so much. The book is superb in the same way that Linda Davis’s Chas Addams: A Cartoonist’s Life is superb: the book’s length, depth, and tone perfectly suit its subject.

As I alluded to earlier, Bill and I shared the same debased cultural DNA: We both started off as young comics fans, addicted to super-hero comics and publishing fanzines at a young age (Bill in 1964, me in 1967). But, growing up absurdly as a comics nerd is both a blessing and a curse. It provides a temporary exit ramp from one’s adolescent woes (Bill’s were different than mine, but similar enough) as well as fueling a life-long passion, but it also has the danger of poisoning your future relationship with an art form that one wants to take seriously in adulthood. Nostalgia can be an insidious impairment of the critical faculties. I suspect Bill accepted this doubleedged patrimonial sword with greater equanimity than I did.

The Empire Strikes Back The cover of Bill’s final completed biography: the excellent Fantagrahics’ James Warren – Empire of Monsters (2019). Cover designed by Keeli McCarthy. [Uncle Creepy TM & © The New Comics Company LLC.]

Bill had retired from a civil service job in local government, and decided to spend his retirement writing about the subject he loved—comics and its creators. He did not waste time. He was— the quantity and quality of his work bears this out—incredibly disciplined and highly organized. Surely he could not have accomplished what he did if he hadn’t been. He was punctilious— not just about his work, but about his social commitments, too. I don’t think he ever missed a hard deadline. One example of his professional conscientiousness was a June 6, 2010, e-mail, which began with a perfunctory author-to-publisher progress report on the book he was currently working on, The Art of Joe Kubert; then, he segued into an explanation as to why he was getting less work done than he’d anticipated: I feel I have to explain the reason progress has been a bit slower than I figured. Gary, there’s no other way to say it, so I’ll just spit it out there: my son Jaimeson received a terminal cancer diagnosis on December 31, 2009, and the past five months have been the worst time of my life. And things are just going to get worse. He has germ cell tumors in his lungs and pelvis, and every known means of curing him has been exhausted. We are now fighting to get him the best treatment possible, to attempt to prolong his life. Realistically, I don’t know if he will live out the year.

Mad Man Bill in front of a display emphasizing his biography of Mad/EC war comics/ Trump/Humbug/Help/”Little Annie Fannie” creator Harvey Kurtzman. Bill considered this 2016 work his magnum opus. Still, who knows what else he might have written if his life had not been cut short? Thanks to Jeff Gelb.

Emotionally, Bill played things close to the vest. Note the lack of self-pity or emotional intensity. It was pretty much the facts, laid out. In fact, his son died on October 8, 2010—five months after he wrote this e-mail. He wrote something about Jamieson’s death that was so lovely I’d like to share it: My feelings of sadness and loss upon the passing of my

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son are compounded by the knowledge that his life ended too soon. That is undeniably true, but I’m reminded of something T. S. Eliot wrote: “The moment of the rose and the moment of the yew tree are of equal duration.” Meaning, a life of whatever length is a complete experience. Bill accepted this tragedy with a self-possession, at least on the few private moments we talked about it, that I surely could not have mustered. It was not exactly stoicism, but as if he’d made peace with it, and could talk about it with some distance. He once referred to himself as a “solitary guy,” and I suspect he was profoundly that, as well as a single man, in Christopher Isherwood’s sense of the phrase. He lived alone and seemed absolutely content. Yet he was also sociable.

Hitchens) and learned to enjoy the art of impersonal debate. But, the ground rules of impassioned argumentation have to be implicitly agreed to by both parties, and you need the right combination of good cheer and thick-skinnedness to pull it off. I think Bill was uncomfortable with arguments and his boiling point was a lot lower than mine. I noticed this early on and I would occasionally ratchet back the severity of my comments if I thought it would discomfort him; after all, that wasn’t my intention.

Our noir nights would start at 7:00 p.m. There were usually between four and seven people in attendance, depending on who was available. Bill would arrive every single time at 7:00 p.m. Not at 6:59 or 7:01. At 7:00 sharp. I don’t even know how he did it. Did he sit in his car until 6:59 and then walk to the front In June of 2015, I started door? The rest of the crew would hosting what I called Noir Nights. start arriving 15 or 20 or even I’d send out e-mails, negotiate the 30 minutes later. It was during date, and a group of simpatico that time, before everyone else friends would assemble at my arrived, that Bill and I would talk home. I’d cook dinner, we’d eat, about things that wouldn’t have see a noir flick, and discuss it been appropriate among a group. (and many other things) over And it was during one of these dessert. It was always (and still times that Bill opened up to me is) a convivial four or five hours. and told me about a current love Bill was a regular; in fact, he never affair. I would be remiss if I didn’t missed a single night—until the mention this in a brief sketch of most recent evening when he was Bill because I think it played a too incapacitated to attend due to central role in the last three years what we now know was more than of his life. He and Joey (not his a broken rib. I saw Bill exclusively real name) had a relationship in two places: my office and at my many years ago, which fell apart. dining room table. This is how I Bill regretted this, but moved on. truly got to know him (that and Recently, they had reconnected thousands of e-mails over the (I forget how). Joey lived on the years, mostly utilitarian). Bill was East Coast. But their love affair, a pop culture maven. His greatest and their love, reignited, long passions, I think, were comics and distance. Bill told me that they’d film—two of my great passions exchange 20 e-mails a day. They as well. He had an encyclopedic would occasionally speak on memory for second- and third-tier the phone. Joey’s circumstances “Little Lulu, I Love You-Lu Just The Same” actors and directors (the kind that made it difficult for him to be open Bill’s penultimate book project for Fantagraphics was his 2017 populate film noir). If we watched about their relationship and they biography of John Stanley, the writer/artist of the best of the Little an Anthony Mann movie, he could never met. I once asked Bill where Lulu comicbooks in the 1940s and 1950s. Oddly, Gary Groth neglects place it in the context of Mann’s he saw this going, and he said to mention it in his reminiscence of Bill. [Art TM & © the respective career, knew the movies he made trademark & copyright holders.] he didn’t know, didn’t even care before and after, and where it fit if it went anywhere farther than into his oeuvre. The movies were where it was at that moment, that often mediocre because we eschewed the masterpieces that we had he was happy with the way it was. Bill would give me updates on all seen in favor of movies we hadn’t, so it was always a crapshoot, how his relationship was going, usually unprompted, which was but, frankly, it was the company that counted, not the cinema, a little uncharacteristic of him, and while he wasn’t emotionally and we always had a good time talking about comics, film, music, demonstrative he didn’t conceal the joy he was feeling and the gossip. genuineness of the experience. Bill was as close to giddy as he ever got, and it was a pleasure to see him so happy. Bill’s aesthetic judgments could be, I thought, overly generous, whereas mine could be overly harsh. Bill did not enjoy brawling In retrospect, everyone’s life breaks down into discrete verbal debates. He tended to retreat when differences of opinion chapters. I was lucky enough to know Bill in the last chapter of reached a certain crescendo; when things got loud, he got quiet. I his life, where he transitioned from a fan to a professional, where had the feeling that when someone offered an opposing opinion he went from dabbling as a writer to making it a profession and a and was too strident or dismissive about it, he took it personally, vocation. We had the ideal publisher-author relationship, built on as if his taste was under assault. Whereas I had developed an mutual respect, supportive, and collaborative. Our friendship was imperviousness to verbal assault under the forensic tutelage—and growing, slowly, at its own comfortable pace. I’m still in denial that pummeling—of some of the most acerbic, opinionated people in he won’t swing by Fantagraphics, make a beeline for my office, comics (Burne Hogarth, Gil Kane, Alex Toth, Steve Ditko, Howard apologize for interrupting me, sit down, and chat for 30 or 40 Chaykin) and outside of comics (Artie Shaw and Christopher

Tributes To Bill Schelly

minutes, or be the first to show up at Noir Nights— 7:00 p.m. sharp. Gary Groth is the co-founder and publisher of Fantagraphics.

John Benson I became aware of Bill Schelly through his fanzine Sense of Wonder, published in the early ’70s, which especially interested me because of its extended coverage of Will Eisner. We exchanged a few letters during that period, but then had little or no contact until he wrote to me in 1994 with questions John Benson about the history of EC comics fandom in the ’50s. For the next 25 years we corresponded regularly, in a recent photo. He and Bill Schelly first traded letters related with gradually increasing frequency. We only met in to the latter’s early-1970s fanzine person once, when he came to New York in April 2010 Sense of Wonder, whose first with his son Jaimeson (who was dying of testicular issue sported Bill’s portrait of cancer and would succumb to the disease six months Will Eisner, creator of The Spirit. later). The three of us shared a meal and went to the [Cover © Estate of Bill Schelly.] Museum of Natural History. And we rarely talked on the phone unless there was a practical reason. (The last time we spoke, which, as it turned out, was about three weeks before he died, when Bill called to tell me about his diagnosis of multiple myeloma.) So our contact was primarily our frequent and broad-ranging e-mail correspondence. But through those e-mails, over the years, Bill and I became very close friends. and present. I don’t think anyone could have done a better job on Bill was a true gentleman, unpretentious and straightforward, that topic. good-hearted to his core. I can think of other adjectives that I did not know Bill in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when he describe Bill, like gracious, considerate, generous, thoughtful, and was originally active in fandom while growing up in Pittsburgh. extraordinarily open. All true, yet Bill’s unaffected directness I began collecting in 1956 at age 8 and joined fandom in 1965, the had a complexity that a string of adjectives can’t capture. His year I met my close friend Bud Plant, when he was 13 and I was autobiography Sense of Wonder reveals both that complexity and his 17 and we were both growing up in San Jose, now the heart of candid openness and I recommend it to all. Silicon Valley. Bill had become so pre-eminent as fandom’s finest Bill was eleven years younger than me. He was supposed to biographer that we both felt honored when Bill selected us for two outlive me! He was still growing, still interested in new things of the 90 profiles in his first-of-its kind original printing of his book (as some of us, alas, are not so much). I will leave it to others to The Founders of Comic Fandom (McFarland, 2010). celebrate his accomplishments as an author, but his writing had Bill, who eventually became a longtime resident of Seattle, and continually grown in stature and his Harvey Kurtzman and John I enjoyed many conversations after I returned to the Northwest in Stanley biographies, in particular, were major achievements. He 2000 to live in Bellingham, 90 miles north of Bill. He was one of the had more living to do! most caring and interesting people anyone could call a friend. He I lived my quiet life in New York City, and Bill lived his shared with me his story of his crushing experience at the 1973 New in Seattle, but somehow, even during the occasional lull in our York Comic Con (I assisted convention impresario Phil Seuling from correspondence, I would be thinking of Bill at his orderly desk in 1969-1973). It was Bill’s first year at the con and Bud’s fourth. It was that cozy little house. There was a symmetry, someone at the other where Bud and Bill met but somehow I missed Bill; the convention side of the continent who was always interested in what I had to had become so huge. I probably would not have fully grasped how say, and of whom I was always interested in what he had to say, Bill’s rejection as an artist felt. He did not yet realize he would or whose life I was always interested in, and who was interested in could become one of fandom’s great writers. Neither Bud nor I mine. That symmetry is gone, and I feel cast adrift by Bill’s death. I ever intended to write or draw for the comics. By 1970, Bud was miss him profoundly. a comics businessman and collector and I was a comics historian while holding down a fulltime job as a journalist. Thus, I was not John Benson has written about comics since 1956, in many venues, and aware for many years why Bill dropped out of fandom after the has edited several comics anthologies, the most recent being The Sincerest 1973 disappointment. Form of Parody, a collection culled from Mad comics knock-offs of the Bill shares all those emotions, and so much more, in the mid-1950s. remarkable expanded edition of his autobiography Sense of Wonder (2018). If you are devoted to comics fandom in any way, you owe Michelle Nolan it to yourself to read this amazing book. You will find so much you can identify with. Bill often asked me for comments about his book I first met Bill in the 1990s when he was doing research for his projects in the last 15 years of his life. Early on, I assured him that marvelous (and later marvelously updated) book, The Golden Age of nobody ever captured the spirit of comics fandom better than he Comic Fandom. I was part of that Golden Age and I could not have did. He also was clearly the finest biographer in comics history, been more impressed by Bill’s quest for accuracy, by his intellectual as reflected by his Eisner Award-winning biography of Harvey curiosity, and by how fascinated he seemed in comics fandom past

A Very Special Edition Of “Comic Fandom Archive”

Michelle Nolan (on left) with bookseller Bud Plant at a recent OAFcon in Norman, Oklahoma. Michelle is, among other things, the author of Love on the Racks: A History of American Romance Comics (2015, with a paperback edition in 2018), and is a recognized expert on the love-comics genre. Still, the book we’re spotlighting here is one of the ones she talks about: Bill Schelly’s 1995 The Golden Age of Comic Fandom, from his own Hamster Press… as thorough-going a history of 1960s comic fandom as you’d ever want to see. [Cover © Nils Osmar—from whom we’ll hear next time!]

version of Sense of Wonder. I admired his desire to be authentic and assured him that he would lose few friends. As I advised him, “If anyone rejects you because of the book, they aren’t people you would want to be friends with.” Nobody ever wakes up at age 14 (or whenever) and says, “I think I’m going to make my life harder by being different.” Sexual orientation and gender identity are not choices; they are part of who you are. The only choice you have is to be kind and dignified. Bill wrote or edited 22 books, and his pride of authorship shows in every one of them. I urge you to read at least some of them. I could not be prouder than to have occasionally advised him in a small way. As I said at a eulogy for Bill I gave at the 2019 Oklahoma Alliance of Fandom show, I am proud to have called Bill a friend and I will always miss him.

Kurtzman and his ground-breaking books on the likes of comics legends Joe Kubert, Otto Binder, John Stanley, and Jim Warren.

Michelle Nolan, an Inkpot Award winner at Comic-Con International, has been a comics historian and journalist for more than 50 years.

Bill knew I was not a gossip and thus felt free to bounce closely-held ideas off me. He was concerned about disclosing his identity, experiences, and emotions as a gay man in the expanded

This tribute to Bill Schelly will continue in our next issue.

comics’ first-ever

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—plus a Hyborian kingdom of bonus 1970s material!

by THOMAS & BUSCEMA

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Release date: July 15, 2020

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AL PLASTINO:

LAST SUPERMAN STANDING With a comics career dating back to 1941, including inking early issues of Captain America, AL PLASTINO was one of the last surviving penciler/inkers of his era. Laboring uncredited on SUPERMAN for two decades (1948-1968), he co-created SUPERGIRL, BRAINIAC, and the LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES, drawing those characters’ first appearances, and illustrating the initial comics story to feature KRYPTONITE. He was called upon to help maintain the DC Comics house-style by redrawing other artists’ Superman heads, most notoriously on JACK KIRBY’S JIMMY OLSEN series, much to his chagrin. His career even included working on classic daily and Sunday newspaper strips like NANCY, JOE PALOOKA, BATMAN, and others. With a Foreword by PAUL LEVITZ, this book (by EDDY ZENO, author of CURT SWAN: A LIFE IN COMICS) was completed just weeks before Al’s recent passing. In these pages, the artist remembers both his struggles and triumphs in the world of comics, cartooning and beyond. A near-century of insights shared by Al, his family, and contemporaries ALLEN BELLMAN, NICK CARDY, JOE GIELLA, AND CARMINE INFANTINO—along with successors JON BOGDANOVE, JERRY ORDWAY, AND MARK WAID—paint a layered portrait of Plastino’s life and career. And a wealth of illustrations show just how influential a figure he is in the history of comics.

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ATTENTION: FRANK BRUNNER ART FANS! Frank is now accepting art commissions for covers, splash panels, or pin-up re-creations! Also, your ideas for NEW art are welcome! Art can be pencils only, inked or full-color (painted) creation! Contact Frank directly for details and prices. (Minimum order: $500) Visit my website at: http://www.frankbrunner.net

[Conan TM & © Conan Properties International, LLC; Red Sonja TM & © Red Sonja Properties, LLC; other art © Frank Brunner.]

Previously Unpublished Brunner Artwork!

PRESENTS

…with the art of Rudy Palais by Peter Normanton A/E EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION: In Alter Ego #163, we began a new, not-quite-every-issue series by Peter Normanton, who, though dwelling in his native Britain, long edited the popular “fanzine” From the Tomb, dealing primarily with American horror comicbooks. Two Best of collections from that magazine have been published by TwoMorrows. Last time, Peter kicked things off with a bat’s-eye view of the early history of horror comics. This time around, he concentrates on a particular artist… and we’re even keeping his English spelling of words; after all, it preceded the American version. As for why there’s no “u” in “Parlor” in the title above—well, you’ll see as we roll along….

lmost every pre-Comics Code horror-comic publisher had at least one favoured artist upon whom they could call, each of them with a panache for the terror of those unholy years.

It’s fair to say that EC publisher Bill Gaines had an ample bench; amongst his fiendish cadre he could turn to Graham Ingels, Johnny Craig, and Jack Davis, safe in the assurance they would leave his dedicated readership frothing at the mouth. Elsewhere, Martin Goodman and Stan Lee at Atlas had Joe Maneely, Bill Everett, and Russ Heath plying their trade, while the ever-astute Joseph Meyers at Avon need only put out the word and Alvin Hollingsworth would be poised, brush in hand, to produce page upon page of his unearthly visions. Harvey Comics, occasionally referred to as “the poor man’s EC,” could boast an entire bullpen of artists quite suited to this heinous reign. In the thick of this gathering was the expressive rendering of Rudy Palais, an artist with an affection for the gargoyle-like creatures so often observed in his tales. Rudy, the son of a Vienna art student, was born on the 21st of March, 1912. Many years later, he would be revered as one of the most talented artists to emerge from this dark era of comicbook publishing; but, as we shall see, not every one of his editorial seniors was enamoured of his shameless disregard of convention. Long before he entered the word of four-colour comicbooks, Rudy had gained recognition as both a reliable and innovative commercial artist. Given his source of inspiration, that was hardly surprising, for as a child he had been hooked on the newspaper strips of the day, most notably The Katzenjammer Kids and Mutt and Jeff, before being exposed to the artistry of J.C. Leyendecker in the popular Saturday Evening

Maiden Flights A dynamic “Prop Powers” splash page from Quality’s National Comics #11 (May 1941), is recorded as Rudy Palais’ earliest comicbook art. He continued to experiment with his layouts for the lead story in Great Comics #3 (Jan. 1942), from Great Comics Publishing: “Futuro Kidnaps Hitler and Takes Him to Hades!” [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

From The Tomb

Post, followed soon after by the illustrative drama portrayed by Norman Rockwell. Whilst attending art school, Rudy was enrolled in the same class as the rather forthright, but then unknown, Charles Biro, for whom he would eventually work. The young Biro looked upon the eager Rudy as an obvious rival; alas, for all of his ability as an editor and writer, Biro’s skills at the drawing board would never match those of his adroit peer. Any contention between these inexperienced hopefuls would soon be set aside, however, for they left school at the worst of times to face a decade plagued by the scourge of the Great Depression, which had taken an unforgiving hold on the world’s economy, forcing tens of thousands onto the breadline. Fortune favoured Rudy. His flair caught the attention of an art studio specializing in the design of movie theatre fronts. Here he found a plentiful supply of work, painting posters for clients such as Warner Bros., allowing occasional contact with the stars of these films, amongst them Edward G Robinson and James Cagney. When his imposing twelve-foot-high painting of the head of Robinson was placed atop one cinema, someone had the idea of having smoke—steam, in this instance—billow from his pipe. A number of years later, this piece of ingenuity was used on billboards across the United States advertising cigarettes (most famously in New York City’s Times Square), employing more efficient smoke machines. All seemed well for Rudy and his colleagues, but they couldn’t have foreseen the advent of strikes across the many departments making up the Warner Bros. empire, the impact of which would make new assignments increasingly difficult to come by. Rudy wasn’t down yet; he tried his hand at semi-professional baseball before moving into advertising. Soon after Columbia Pictures proposed he return to painting posters, such was the overwhelming volume of work that he would remain in gainful employment for the coming five years. It was 1939 when Rudy took his first step into comicbooks, learning the rudiments of the trade with Harry “A” Chesler’s art shop. Unknown to Rudy, his younger brother Walter, who had been studying for the priesthood in Princeton, New Jersey, succeeded in getting him an introduction to the studio overseen by Will Eisner and Jerry Iger. Walter had been looking for a summer job,

Step Into My Parlor... With The Art Of Rudy Palais

These Covers Make A Splash— And Vice Versa

taking his artwork from studio to studio, publisher to publisher, before coming into contact with Iger. Having acquired a position as a letterer, Walter conversed with Iger about his brother’s work, prompting his new boss to invite Rudy to drop in for an informal chat. This conversation would mark the beginning of a nine-month stay with the Iger Studio, giving Rudy the opportunity to work on a variety of features, including the first five issues of Quality’s Doll Man, beginning in the autumn of 1941. At the same time his pencil-work appeared in Harvey’s Champ Comics #16 & #17, as well as exemplary contributions to each of the three issues of Great Comics, placing his earliest comicbook efforts alongside the rendering of Bob Kane, Chuck Winter, and the aspirant Reed Crandall. In the months that followed, his artistry became a regular feature in the Fiction House line, principally in Rangers Comics, Planet Comics, and Wings Comics, before he moved on to work for Everett M. “Busy” Arnold at Quality. In later years, Rudy recalled Arnold as a very reasonable kind of person, praising him for his energy as the driving force behind his organization, yet maintaining a careful distance from his team of artists, which included Lou Fine, Al Bryant, Max Elkan, Al Stahl, and Arnold’s wonder child, “Blackhawk” artist Reed Crandall, amongst its roll call. Doll Man was a formidable home for his earliest efforts, but his work also graced some of the most celebrated titles from this Golden Age of Comics: Crack Comics, Hit Comics, Feature Comics, Smash Comics, and National Comics, where he had previously made his debut as early as #11, cover-dated May 1941. This period in his career would also include a couple of memorable contributions to “Phantom Lady” in the pages of Police Comics #22 & #23; however, just as he was getting into his stride, Arnold was forced to let several of his staff go. A blow that may have been, but in less than three years Rudy had come to realize that comicbooks were definitely for him, exciting him in a way his time with both Warner and Columbia had done. So, with a view to continuing to attract more work, he readied himself to freelance from home. All too quickly, he found himself in the company of his one-time adversary from school, Charles Biro, who with Lev Gleason and Bob Wood had created one of the biggest-selling comicbooks of the age, Crime Does Not Pay.

(Art images clockwise from bottom left on facing page:) The splash page of “The Case of the Love Sick Clown” in Lev Gleason’s Crime Does Not Pay #43 (Jan. 1946) shows just how much Palais had come to savour his chosen profession, drawing upon his time as a poster artist for Warner Bros. and Columbia. Similarly, “The Deacon and Mickey” crime caper “Zombie Master” in Continental’s Cat-Man Comics #29 (Aug. 1945) demonstrates a penchant for compelling poster-inspired imagery. It would have been no surprise to see him assume the role of cover artist for several of the companies from which he received commissions; at left we have his covers for Ace Magazines’ 4 Favorites #18 (May 1945), the spectacular Great’s Choice Comics #3 (April 1942), and Quality’s Feature Comics #62 (Nov. 1942). While Rudy’s background made him perfectly suited to regular cover duties, his eyes-catching sense of design only graced a handful of covers during this period. Directly below, the draughtsmanship on show in the “Phantom Lady” episode from Quality’s Police Comics #22 (Sept. 1943) exhibits an assured line, which combined with his ability to narrate the story at hand to make him a highly desirable contributor to a whole host of comics from the mid-1940s through the next decade. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders; Doll Man & Phantom Lady TM & © DC Comics.]

From The Tomb

Biro had long since forgotten their schoolboy wrangling; he was now an adept editor who showed himself to be of sound mind when he offered Rudy a place as a regular contributor to this title, commencing with issue #32’s “The Man Who Loved Murder” (March 1944), carrying on until issue #52 (June 1947). It was in the pages of Crime Does Not Pay that the style for which Palais would be remembered began to take shape, setting him apart from his contemporaries, while forcing a desperate set of criminals to perspire onto the very page, as they did all they could to evade the gradually encompassing dragnet of the local law enforcement agencies. A few years later, Johnny Craig would make similar use of this effect in the tales he rendered for EC’s crime and horror comics, but his illustrative perspiration was never quite as preposterous as that so gleefully rendered by Rudy Palais. His time working as a freelance artist during the mid-1940s continued to yield a steady stream of work, with appearances in Hillman’s Air Fighters and Clue Comics and Aviation Press’s Contact Comics, as well as a run on Ace’s Super-Mystery Comics. His spell with Super-Mystery included a series of eye-catching covers for issues Vol. 5, #2-4; Vol. 6, #2; & Vol. 8, #4 that brought to mind those joyful days spent embellishing film posters. This ever-growing workload was supplemented by a huge amount of scripts forwarded by the editorial team at Continental/Holyoke, allowing Rudy’s artwork to grace the pages of their now highly collectible Suspense Comics, Captain Aero Comics, and most significantly Cat-Man Comics, again between 1944 and 1946. Rudy derived a great sense of satisfaction from his new life as a comicbook artist, but he could never have realised that his chosen profession would keep him from the ravages of World War II. In a strange turn of fate, he was deferred upon turning up at the draft board; his newfound occupation was deemed “semi-essential,” no doubt ensuring the upkeep of his readers’ morale. From as early as 1941, when the United States entered the war, he had accepted a series of assignments for Harvey Comics, continuing to provide fully pencilled and inked pages intermittently on a number of their titles throughout the war, most notably on Champ Comics, All-New Short Story Comics, Speed Comics, and War Victory Adventures.

Gloom And “Doom” Ace Magazines took advantage of Rudy’s experience, assigning him to several of their covers; above is that of SuperMystery Comics, Vol. 5, #2 (Oct. 1945). (Far left:) His closing sequences for Harvey’s Black Cat Mystery #37 (July 1952), titled “The Clock Struck Doom,” and (near left) Witches Tales #12 (July 1952), “The Man in the Iron Mask,” were unabashedly in the gory pageant. In “Doom,” Rudy almost complies with Alfred Harvey’s rigid rules, but typically, there are a duo of offending closeups. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Step Into My Parlor... With The Art Of Rudy Palais

However, as the horror boom took a stranglehold of the newsstands, Harvey’s demands on Rudy, from the early months of 1951 through late 1952, became even greater. The style that had come to the fore while working on Crime Does Not Pay and Super-Mystery Comics now took on a macabre life of its own as the blood, sweat, and tears of Rudy’s hapless characters poured freely into this newfound domain of comicbook terror. Previously, he had been an avid listener of the radio series The Witch’s Tale; now he summoned his memories of its run from 1931 through until 1938 to torment a new assemblage of horror-crazed fans. Rudy’s creative endeavours, honed for the best part of ten years, now came to a hideous fruition in the horror premieres of Harvey’s Chamber of Chills #21 (June 1951) and Black Cat Mystery #30 (August 1951). Alfred Harvey couldn’t have asked for more, as Rudy burned the midnight oil to give both the publisher and his readers some of the most odious manifestations from this or any other period in comicbook publishing. “The Ghost of Rue Morte” was a mist-strewn finale destined to have had those lucky enough to chance upon this unhallowed baptism of Chamber Chills clamouring for more. Rudy had evolved to become a seasoned professional, yet these were still early days for him in the field of horror. As callow as he may have been, the forthcoming months would see his artistry progress to appear so much more refined, while his hapless protagonists became all the more frantic. From the early months of 1951 until the latter part of 1952, a flurry of tales flowed from the drawing board in Rudy’s apartment, finding their way into Black Cat Mystery #30-35 & #37-40, Chamber of Chills #21-22, #8, #10-12, #14, & #16, Tomb of Terror #2-3 & #5-7, Witches Tales #1-2, #4-5, #7-9, #12, & #14-17, each and every one a testament to his mastering of the macabre. It was an intense period, in which Rudy showed time and again his affinity for this unsavoury genre. Unfortunately, there were those amongst his new editors who weren’t so thrilled. He may have been patently aware of Alfred Harvey’s rules, but he chose to defy them at almost every opportunity, in particular the ones insisting that panels

Different (Brush) Strokes For Different Folks “The Ghost of the Rue de Morte” from Chamber of Chills #21 (Jan. 1954) marked Rudy Palais’ debut in Harvey’s new line of horror comics. His brush strokes are evocative of this newfound horror mood, but the best was yet to come. Comic Media certainly got the best out of him, allowing him to use the flow of panels in a way his contemporaries would have envied. The page at far right, from Weird Terror #8’s “Mirror Image,” gave him the opportunity to truly express his grasp of the genre; the cover date was Nov. 1953. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

From The Tomb

be bordered and presented in neat rows, with the figures constrained within the bounds of the panels, avoiding the use of close-ups. Anyone with even the slightest knowledge of Rudy’s approach would know he didn’t work this way. There was an insane desire in his draughtsmanship to display his characters across a succession of panels, creating the impression that each page was a composite piece. This, for some of Harvey’s less discerning readers, made the narrative appear somewhat confused, but to Rudy’s mind the energy instilled in these pages harked back to those expressive years designing the fronts for cinema going theatres and movie posters. Unfortunately, this ebullience did not rest well with Sid Jacobson, who, having recently joined Harvey’s editorial team, introduced a series of subtle changes to their line of horror comics. This revision to the company’s guidelines would see an end to Rudy’s fevered imaginings in their chilling titles. Strangely, this was not the last we were to see of Rudy at Harvey; his work would make a last hurrah in the reprints that made up the latter issues of Black Cat Mystery, Thrills of Tomorrow, and Witches Tales. While in Harvey’s employ, his penchant for horror was also engaged in a one-off tale for Atlas, “Trapped in Time” featured in Suspense #10 (Sept. 1951), although his art did appear in the company’s Private Eye #5 and Spy Fighters #4, also cover-dated Sept. 1951. Following his exit from Harvey, Comic Media procured his services after a suitably despicable tryout in the debut issue of Weird Terror (Sept. 1952). His macabre dabbling suited the hideous premise underlying the Lovecraft-styled tale “Portrait of Death” in a way few of his contemporaries ever could, leading to an emphatic series of appearances in their notorious offspring Horrific and Weird Terror, as of issue #5 of each title. The editorial attitude at Comic Media allowed Rudy to ooze his brush strokes across the page to make these titles some of the most mouth-watering of the pre-Code epoch. Trojan managed to squeeze his madness into a couple of issues of Beware, #12 (Nov. 1954) & #13 (Jan. 1955), but what appearances they turned out to be! “Step into My Parlor” from #12 remains a classic of the period. Sadly, so much of this occurred on the eve of the introduction of the Comics Code. Rudy, who had been one of the genre’s most prolific artists, now had to show restraint in the pages of Gilberton’s Classics Illustrated. That series would continue to be a home for a now toned-down Rudy Palais, but it did pay a princely $100 a week. A plentiful supply of illustrative work for the science-fiction pulps of the 1950s, such as If Worlds of Science Fiction, ensured his talent at the drawing board never went to waste. The 1960s would witness a welcome return to this chilling lore in the pages of Charlton’s The Many Ghosts of Doctor Graves and Ghostly Tales. While the constraints of the Comics Code obliged Rudy to temper the abominations so inherent to his approach, “Beyond the Grave” in Ghostly Tales #61 (June 1967) was still an unsettling piece, quite at odds with the tales on show in most of the “mystery” comics of these years. Once again he had openly challenged the conventions of the comicbook world. Rudy formally retired from comics in 1969 to spend time at his easel, his paintings latterly demanding considerable sums of money. When he departed this world in the summer months of 2004, he had finally been recognised as a horror artist with an unparalleled mastery of this macabre genre. His legacy would inspire others to experiment with their page design, broadening the horizons of the comicbook medium, to finally ensure its place as a respectable art form. Look for more From the Tomb in future issues.

Drawing Outside The (Panel) Lines Rudy’s fondness for excess never alarmed his seniors at Harvey, as can be seen in “Formula for Death” from Chamber of Chills #8 (May 1952) and in the bloodthirsty page from “Beam of Terror” from Tomb of Terror #7 (Jan. 1953). However, these close-up images, coupled with his refusal to ensure that his artwork stayed within the panels, proved a quite different matter. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

[Daredevil is now a trademark of Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Comic Crypt

The PAM Papers - Part 7

(8/15/70)

Dear Glen-

by Michael T. Gilbert

A romance script came in the mail on the last day of the deadline that I sent for Sal –– so I’m still a Charlton man. –– Sorry ––!

hen we left off last installment, Charlton had cancelled their entire super-hero line, including Pete Morisi’s signature character, Peter Cannon… Thunderbolt! By then, PAM had already quit his strip due to deadline problems. Pete was still working as a New York City police officer full time, and drawing comics on the side.

Had lunch with Dick and saw some stuff DC is turning out –– beautiful. Gray Morrow did a great job in All Star Western Presents OUTLAW. He used Dick, Gil Kane, Williamson, himself (I think), and Phil Seuling, in spot panels. Also DC’s new artist Tony DeZuniga (from the Philippines) is in the same book. Also there’s a Love –– 1970 book DC is putting out with a Gray Morrow story that was done in pencil only –– looks like it’s inked though –– but it’s good.

Upon learning that Charlton was struggling, Pete’s friend and former editor, Dick Giordano, invited him to come to DC (where Giordano had recently been hired as an editor). Writing to his fan-friend Glen D. Johnson, Pete considered his options, as he suffered the troubles of an artist working for low-rent publisher Charlton in the 1970s. His editor was Sal Gentile:

That’s about it. I can’t seem to work up any interest in the romance story I’m doing. Kind of hard after doing a ‘Graves’ that I could enjoy playing with. Got to try. Love stories is beautiful, love stories is beautiful, love stories… See Ya, Pete

(2/12/70)

Dear Glen-

Texas Rangers #79 is the ish I’d like you to see. Loco is featured as the front story, and a Kid Montana story (that was changed to suit the Texas Rangers title) is the back-story. I used the same villain in both stories, figuring they’d be printed in different books, and months apart — but Sal goofed. (The villain was taken from photos). See ya, Pete (7/18/70)

Dear Glen-

I finished the mystery story I was doing and mailed it to Sal, who promptly left for a week’s vacation –– without mailing me another script (his secretary says he forgot). I thought about our ‘DC work’ conversation, and almost called Dick, but talked myself out if it again. Maybe… next time (does that sound familiar?). So I’ve got a week off from artwork, and going crazy. By the time you get this I should be back in business. See ya, Pete (7/28/70)

Dear Glen-

I can see now that having my son and brother tag along [at the NY Seuling con] was a mistake. They were interested –– but they’re not comic people like we are. I could have spent hours going through stacks of comics that were being sold, but I breezed through that area in order to keep them entertained. Actually I saw a few books I wanted (early Rip Kirby books, in color in Spanish, badly printed, but Raymond Rip Kirbys just the same) etc. etc., but I wound up getting nothing. Next time I guess. I still haven’t gotten a script from Sal –– and I’m getting a bit annoyed –– I expected a phone call (at least) if there were any delay. If he doesn’t come through in another week –– I’m looking elsewhere, and that’s a promise. See ya, Pete

“Butchered”? PAM felt that the indicia text added to the bottom of the page, which had necessitated chopping off a bit of the art, threw off the page’s balance. Such sloppy work was typical of Charlton. From The Many Ghosts of Doctor Graves #23 (Dec. 1970). [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

The PAM Papers – Part 7

(9/25/70)

Dear Glen-

Yep, Charlton butchered the ‘Share and Share Alike’ splash page so they could fit their ownership blurb on the bottom. You know it and I know it, but the rest of the field is saying, ‘That’s pretty lousy composition.’ And… they’re right. Charlton, however, keeps butchering along, either in color, printing, or cutting up the art. I hope that ‘Innocent’ story comes out okay, too. I have Green Lantern #80 and Daredevil #70, but I didn’t read them. In any event, I’m against any use of comics for social involvement –– either pro or con, or left or right. Comics, to me, should be pure entertainment –– fun, drama, action, but always entertainment. I know that National is on a social involvement kick, hoping that enough people will relate to their characters and buy their books but in a single phrase –– I’m against it! Back to the social involvement bit –– Dick mentioned that the G.L. [Green Lantern] book wasn’t dead, but that the few remaining issues would push in that direction. All of which, to me, means that DC is getting involved with problems of our time, and they’ll stay involved… if there’s a buck to be made out of all the misery and confusion that exists. If there isn’t a buck to be made, then to hell with the war problem, black problem, student problem, etc. DC is involved alright, in bettering their bank account! That’s one of the reasons why I’ll stay with Charlton. As much as I knock them –– they’re still putting out comics –– real comics. Of course, story and art could be better (a lot better), but well… enough said. End of speech. See ya, Pete

The Hostess With The Mostest (10/18/70)

Dear Glen-

From Ghost Manor #17 (March 1971). PAM based the horror hostess, Winnie, on his wife Louise (“with –– ahem –– a little trimming…”). [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

I notice that Charlton hasn’t printed any of my stuff lately, but I’ve given up asking Sal such things. As for mystery or war stories –– I’ve decided to do it Charlton’s way. Whatever they send me, I’ll do. Evidently I can’t talk Sal into a steady thing –– something that will make the reader relate a particular artist to a particular character. I would have liked a Dr. Graves or Mr. Dedd, but as I said –– I’ve given up asking Sal such things. So, as it stands, I’ll draw Graves and Dedd one way, while Ditko and Boyette draw them their way –– doesn’t make much sense. Your letter was full of info because I didn’t know about Dick, so I called him at home and he said that one of his reasons for leaving was the Kinney Executives (who don’t know comics) butting in and telling him what to do. But all in all, he’s happy, getting all the work he wants from DC, and will start penciling soon. See ya, Pete

MTG: Giordano left DC in 1970 to go freelance as an artist. He returned to his old position in 1980, eventually becoming DC’s managing editor for a number of years. (10/31/70)

Dear Glen-

I talked Sal into sending me a Ghost Manor script ‘Don’t Tread On Me,’ and I’m sorry I did it! Lousy plot, lousy script, and it will take a lot of re-writing. Hey, did you see Ghostly Tales #84? Charlton finally gave one of my jobs some decent color and reproduction. See ya, Pete

Dear Glen-

(11/15/70)

Just finished a Winnie the Witch –– should get another script tomorrow.

Comic Crypt

The latest Ghostly Tales #17 [MTG: actually Ghost Manor #17] has another cut-up splash of mine –– I’m getting annoyed. [PAM’s wife] Lou’s ‘figure’ is Winnie with –– ahem! –– a little trimming here and there. I think by now that you’ve seen a fair amount of the ‘new look’ PAM, to give an opinion on it. Do you like the old (T-Bolt, Montana, etc.) style, or the new look? Or do they both look alike? Pete (11/20/70)

Dear Glen-

Yep, the ‘Winnie’ splash was cut up, as I mentioned in my last letter. Sal is supposed to tell his artists which story is a ‘lead’ story, so that the first page will be drawn smaller, to allow for the bottom blurb –– but he doesn’t –– so he chops up whichever first page he uses. Also I don’t think it was my best art to date –– just so-so. Okay, I’ll stick with this style and see how quickly I can improve it. I’d love some decent scripts for a change, though. Oh yeah, I finally got a war story I’ll start on tomorrow. Fightin’ Army #98 ‘The Medal I Didn’t Deserve.’ Lousy story –– but a change of pace is welcome. See ya, Pete (12/6/70)

Dear Glen-

Re: Boomerang –– If Sal, or anybody else, were interested in the strip, I’d redo the whole thing. Besides the style-change, I also (if you recall) used a Red Skull look-alike as a bad guy (before Stan re-introduced him). I couldn’t allow it to be printed the way it is. Besides, I would want to re-vamp the whole thing. New ideas, slight change in costume, new origin, etc. etc. –– but I doubt if anybody would gamble on a costume hero at this point in comic history. I really would like to update T-Bolt, though. I think that with proper care (and given enough time) I could make T-Bolt a standard –– like Superman and Batman –– or maybe even guide the strip along the old (Falk-Moore) Phantom line. If Charlton didn’t treat me so shabby when I tried to buy my own creation, I’d push hard to get them to publish T-Bolt again –– but as things stand, the more I add to the strip, in terms of better art, new ideas, better story, etc. –– the more money Charlton makes. So what to do? See ya, Pete

Dear Glen-

(4/2/71)

It’s going to be tough for Crandall to ink Conan over Barry Smith’s pencils. Smith is not a good ‘figure artist’ and Crandall is one of the best. When he starts inking, his natural ‘feel’ for good figure work is going to irritate him. Should he make changes, or just follow the lines? If he starts changing, one thing will lead to another; if he doesn’t, then anybody can ink the stuff. I hope I’m wrong, but I predict disaster. On the other hand, a strong ink style like –– say –– Joe Kubert might just get away with it. But Crandall, no. Spoke to Sal, who said comics are going to twenty and twenty-five cents (Charlton and other outfits respectively). When I hit him for a raise he said, ‘Things have been tough, etc. etc. We all know you deserve etc. etc., We won’t forget etc. etc., Even I can’t get etc. etc., Guys are starving etc. etc., You’re our best etc. etc., Maybe later etc. etc. –– all of which means no! In the meantime, my car needs shocks, I’m trying to get a diet started, my work room is a junk pile, people are still shooting at cops,

Well, At Least It Wasn’t Red! Pete worried that his unpublished Boomerang sample included a villain too similar to Captain America’s Red Skull. Kind of like this, Pete? From Peter Cannon… Thunderbolt, Vol. 3, #55 (Dec. 1966). [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

I’m still smoking too much, my boys are starting to look long at girls… and it’s raining. See ya, Pete

Dear Glen-

(4/16/71)

I can’t accept Barry Smith as a good artist and didn’t even see [picture] Crandall’s inks on Conan. Like Steranko, Smith (to my way of thinking) has some damn good ideas, but the basic drawing talent isn’t here –– yet. They both may develop –– but only time will tell. I asked Dick (about a year or two ago) what happened to the Crandall-Blackhawk deal, and he seemed quite bitter about it –– unusual for Dick. He said that he gave Crandall a free hand in everything connected with the deal. Crandall could pencil it, or pencil and ink it, change storylines –– anything –– any deadline –– and Crandall said okay. So Dick waited, waited, waited, waited and waited until Crandall sent the script back and said he wasn’t going to do it. I don’t remember the reason (if any) that was involved. Uh-huh, I knew about Warren and his rates. A while back I was

The PAM Papers – Part 7

SIDEBAR: BOOMERANG! BOOMERANG! BOOMERANG!

ete always dreamed of doing super-heroes. At various times he considered buying defunct Golden Age heroes such as Daredevil, Captain Marvel, and The Flame. When that didn’t pan out, he set to work creating his own character… Boomerang! According to his 1964 “bible” (seen at right), Boomerang was news commentator Peter Moore (not to be confused with Peter Mooreisi!), a “wise-cracking, fast-moving, devil-may care type of costumed hero.” Sounds more like a “Daredevil-may-care” hero, considering the breezy tone, similar to Marvel’s Daredevil. Stan Lee’s version had debuted in April 1964, shortly before Pete worked up his proposal. The costume (below right) is interesting, boasting a Captain Marvel cape, a sleeveless Plastic Man shirt, and T-Bolt boots! It’s unknown whether Pete ever actually pitched “Boomerang!” to Charlton. More likely, he decided to try with an even better hero he’d come up with, “Peter Cannon… Thunderbolt.” Charlton gave him the OK on that hero, and Pete completed his first “T-Bolt” story the following year. Boomerang had a wealth of gimmicks… a Boomcoil (!), Boomobile, Boomcycle, Boomray, and so on. Oddly enough, the one weapon Boomerang didn’t have was… a boomerang! True to his name, Pete’s hero returned in 1994, with a sleeker costume redesigned by PAM (see below). Pete offered it to Dark Horse and other publishers, but unfortunately it failed to sell.

Comic Crypt

seriously thinking about switching from Charlton to Warren (assuming they liked my stuff), but when I heard about the rates (and saw his books turn into girlie-girlie mags) I decided to stay with Charlton. See ya, Pete MTG: The Crandall inking job over Barry Smith that PAM mentioned sounded intriguing, but I didn’t recall seeing it. So I asked A/E’s editor Roy Thomas, who was writing and editing Conan at the time, if it ever happened. His reply: Hi Michael––

the Madman, which I then owned for some years. Roger Hill tells me a friend of his owns it now... good to know it’s still in appreciative hands. It would’ve been interesting to see how a Smith/Crandall collaboration came out. Reed was, I think, fairly slow by then, and it might not have worked to have him inking a monthly book... maybe not even for one issue... but it made a certain kind of artistic sense. I don’t remember if I discussed that inking assignment with Barry, either before or after giving it out. Best wishes, Roy

Roy Thomas (12/8/17)

No, that never happened. The assignment to Crandall probably came about when, around that time, [my first wife] Jeanie and I visited Al and Arlene Williamson down on the NY/PA border, and I met Reed for the first and only time. He was doing menial work as a janitor, I believe, but he did do that werewolf story for a Marvel b&w about then, too. He was pleasant but very quiet, subdued... probably felt beaten down by life. I don’t think he died many years afterward. That’s the trip where Al kind of twisted my arm to buy from Reed the original artwork to his cover for the Canaveral Press book Tarzan and

MTG: I followed up by asking Roy if Crandall had actually been given the assignment, but returned the job untouched, as was the case with a DC Blackhawks assignment he’d accepted a few years earlier. Roy Thomas (12/8/17)

Hi Michael—

No, I don’t recall anything about it. I’m only saying that Al may have been behind it and I may have made the offer. I don’t recall anything ever being sent to Reed, etc., so perhaps it all quickly fell apart and Reed bowed out. His health was declining at that time, as I recall. I’m simply saying that it’s not unlikely that at some point I entertained the idea of Crandall inking Conan. Roy (5/12/71)

Dear Glen-

Did you notice the NY Times section (Sunday May 2, I think) regarding the new ‘relevant look’ in comics, featuring a full color Sgt. Rock cover for openers? It mentions Stan, Carmine, Dick, Neal, Roy Thomas, Kirby, O’Neil, and how comics are combatting the race problem, Agnew, the War, the administration, etc. etc. etc. –– it all made me a little sick. I’m against any small select group speaking for the whole comics scene –– but somebody in the above mentioned group has an ‘in’ with a NY (Liberal) Times reporter –– and the rest of us will have to live with their words –– dammit. I meant to save the Times section and mail it to you –– but Lou threw it out ––which didn’t exactly make me angry. Regarding Crandall and Smith –– I’ve never considered Reed an overpowering inker. Wood is, Kubert is, but not Crandall, unless he attempts to redraw the stuff, which would be silly. See ya, Pete PS: That Times article mentions Charlton as the company that publishes Popeye and Beetle Bailey –– period. MTG: Ouch! Charlton gets no respect! As for the New York Times article, the debate between “silly” comics and “serious” comics continues to this day among comic fans. Me, I think there’s plenty of room for both! Till next time…

The Times, They Were A-Changing! Joe Kubert drew the cover to the New York Times Magazine section of May 2, 1971. Thanks to Barry Pearl. Pete hated “relevant” comics! [Sgt. Rock TM & © DC Comics; other material © New York Times or successors in interest.]

Anna & The “King” Of Iran Part XII Of Golden/Silver Age Scribe JOHN BROOME’s 1998 Memoir

A/E

EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION: We regret that, due to a few scheduling snafus plus the abrupt page-count shift (#162), it’s been four months since our previous installment of this “Offbeat Autobio,” My Life in Little Pieces. Fortunately, no one who was a reader of DC’s Julius Schwartz-edited titles The Flash and Green Lantern in the first half of the 1960s has forgotten Irving Bernard (John) Broome, who for most of the Silver Age was the major writer of both series, and was the co-creator of the 1959-plus incarnation of GL. Between the latter half of the 1940s and until he and his family moved to France in the latter 1960s, he had also scripted numerous

John Broome & Terry Broome, 1949 Daughter Terry’s notation accompanying the above photo reads: “‘Trick’ with ‘Big Da’ on Miami Beach FL Dec. 1949”. Photo probably taken by Peggy Broome. At left is the splash page of the Broome-scripted “Justice Society of America” story that would have been on sale around that time, taking up 32 pages in All-Star Comics #51 (Feb.-March 1950)—and featuring a decidedly less placid-looking body of water. Pencils by Arthur Peddy; inks by Bernard Sachs. John B. wrote All-Star #35 and #39-57 to finish off that super-team’s legendary Golden Age run. Reproduced from Ye Editor’s bound volumes. [TM & © DC Comics.]

other DC comics. His short memoir (not really a biography) has been serialized in most issues of A/E since #149, by kind permission of his daughter Ricky Terry Brisacque, as retyped by Brian K. Morris. This issue’s potpourri, like most chapters, makes no mention of anyone in the comicbook industry, but is still fascinating for its insights into the mind of one of the field’s major authorial talents.

My Aunt Anna Story This occurred during our one-time visit to my father’s old Aunt Anna’s nursing home, my father and I. I was then about ﬁfty and my father almost seventy, neither of us young any more, but Aunt Anna was really patriarchal, well over ninety, and until recently even my father hadn’t seen her for years. Reaching up, my father got his hand on my shoulder as he propelled me before the tiny white-haired, bright-green-eyed old lady in the chair. “Anna,” said my father rather proudly, “what do you think of my son?”

Part XII Of John Broome’s 1998 Memoir

Aunt Anna, who could remember me only as a small boy, craned her neck to look up at me and thought the matter over carefully before delivering her verdict. “Well,” she said ﬁnally, “I don’t think he’ll grow any more.” A P.S. to this story concerns the memory pains [mentioned earlier in the book] and especially the recurrence of growing pains. If I tell my Aunt Anna story nowadays, I’m sure to add, “But Aunt Anna may have been partly wrong. I wouldn’t grow any more, sure, but growing pains I could get again!”

Drip Writing (II) From Letters To Peggy From Japan (1979) lt is indeed odd we got colds at the same time. But mine, I’m told a Japanese kaze (cold) is most tenacious, sort of a kamikaze, you might say. But I played ping-pong anyway. Not wisely and not too well either.

Storm In The Middle East Photos of Iranian “students” storming the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and parading blindfolded American prisoners in late 1979 were still on John Broome’s mind in 1998 when he printed, in his “offbeat autobio,” a letter he’d written from Japan to his wife Peggy (in Paris) during that period.

Yesterday, I hied me to the movies and then hied me home again. The picture was something called Conversation Piece. The director was L. Visconti. I’m quite sure he died during the last year or so. I don’t know what he died of, but it could have been shame. If Burt Lancaster, the star of the above ﬁlm, is still alive, it can only be because he’s shameless. All connected with it should have been tried summarily and executed on the spot. The hostages in Iran still gnaw at me daily and I listen to the news like an addict. It’s sickening to see our great country baffled, defied, and humiliated by that gang of students, if that’s the correct term for those young terrorists. How I would have loved to see at least one country close its embassy in Tehran as a protest against the incredible seizure of the U.S. Embassy. But not one (only Mexico shut up shop but, it was clear, did so out of prudence not protest). England has at least denounced the terrorists, but France only mildly and Japan not at all. You have to understand Japan. They are absolutely incapable of acting on principle and have none. They are not wicked, far from it, but they are like a computer geared to operate so as to fulﬁll one condition: what is best for Japan. This results in a government which by our standards sets marks

Burt Lancaster may not, in JB’s view, have given his best performance in the 1974 film Conversation Piece, but he still had that movie-star smile. Ye Editor’s friend, the late Bob Greenberg, who worked in various film capacities (including as a publicist) in Hollywood in the 1980s and before, once told Roy a probably true story of walking down Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills with Lancaster one day and remarking to the actor that he was amazed no one on the street recognized him. Lancaster replied, “That’s because I haven’t got it on right now.” When Bob asked him what he meant, Lancaster changed his body stance in some subtle way, probably flashed that famous screen smile—and within seconds, Bob swore, several passersby rushed up to him wanting autographs! [Still TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

for pusillanimity that may not be equaled for centuries to come. There were cases where they quickly acceded to terrorist demands, released murderers from jail, without blinking an eye. The way Jews, for example, get worked up over “right” and “wrong” is totally foreign to the Japanese, simply not part of their makeup. If you wonder whether this fact does not sometime make at least one gaijin here feel like upchucking all he’s et for a week, well, it does. And talk about upchucking, last night I walked out of a French picture, L’Amant de Poche, which hits new lows in virtually every category of moviemaking, possibly for all time. If you get a chance to miss it, please don’t fail to do so. Although you might like it, who knows? It’s about a breasty 40-year-old prostitute (high class) and her passion for an innocent-faced 14-year-old school-boy whom she TURNS INTO A MAN—unquote. I haven’t the slightest doubt that myriads of French women would say that the picture is at least “very cute.” My final rating: definitely to puke. (My mother used to go to the movies for a good cry, but who can go for a good puke?)

Like A Horse And Carriage Love and Marriage, the old song goes, go together like a horse and carriage, but an even older saying says: You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink, which seems somehow to cast at least a ﬂicker of doubt on the first proposition. Harlem Valley State Hospital, a forbidding red-bricked mass for the mentally ill in upstate New York, was only two country miles from the small house the Broomes moved into after the war

Anna & The “King” Of Iran

“I don’t like it.” Even after going down three doubled, Dr. David’s voice would always be low and under perfect control. “You don’t like it?? But I’ve been serving you Campbell’s Tomato Soup for seven years now, ever since we ﬁrst came to this place!” “I never liked it.” “And you never said a word? In all that time, not a word of complaint!??” He shrugs. “You never asked me.” “Well!” cries Flora, always a spirited competitor at the bridge table, and an especially severe redoubler. “I THINK YOU SHOULD BE BOILED IN IT!” More of John Broome’s memoir musings in our next issue.

International Relations Although Broome records his 1979 opinion that the Japanese are/were “incapable of acting on principle,” he clearly meant that only as analysis, not as scathing criticism. He was exceedingly fond of the country in which he taught English for the last two decades of his life. Seen above is one of several paintings he produced during that time; others have appeared in earlier issues. [© Estate of John Broome.]

in 1946 (Peggy with her penchant for naming things promptly named it the Broome Closet) and some of the staff there became our friends—and our contract bridge partners—over the years that followed. In one of the undistinguished HVSH staff houses, the Greenbergs, Flora and Dr. Dave, the hospital’s chief dentist (no special conventions, a pretty straight Culbertson pair) are presently having lunch. “You’ll be glad to hear,” Flora is saying with her usual brisk cheerfulness, “I’m planning on serving Campbell’s Tomato Soup for dinner tonight.” However, her tall, somewhat stony-faced spouse shows no sign of being either glad or sorry at this announcement. (You can never tell merely by looking at him whether or not you should ﬁnesse through Dr. Dave, that’s for sure.) “I know you like Campbell’s Tomato Soup, don’t you?” Flora presses him. But still no telltale signals emerge. “What’s the matter?” demands Mrs. Dr. Dave, a bit nettled. “Are you trying to tell me you don’t like Campbell’s Tomato Soup?” But a short snort-like laugh derides her own suggestion. Finally, a barely audible reply. “No, I don’t like it.” “WHAT!?”

Moving On (Left:) The Pocket Lover is the English translation of the title of the 1978 French film L’Amant de Poche, which Broome saw and loathed. He probably didn’t like this poster for it, either. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.] (Above:) He had quit writing scripts for DC nearly a decade earlier. “The Bride Cast Two Shadows” in The Flash #194 (Feb. 1970), sampled here, was his last new tale for that series. The last of his Silver Age scripts, period, appeared the following month in Green Lantern #75. Pencils by Ross Andru; inks by Mike Esposito. Thanks to Jim Kealy & Sharon Karibian. [TM & © DC Comics.]

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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!

Golden Age artist/writer/editor NORMAN MAURER remembered by his wife JOAN, recalling BIRO’s Crime Does Not Pay, Boy Comics, Daredevil, St. John’s 3-D & THREE STOOGES comics with KUBERT, his THREE STOOGES movies (MOE was his father-inlaw!), and work for Marvel, DC, and others! Plus LARRY IVIE’s 1959 plans for a JUSTICE SOCIETY revival, JOHN BROOME, FCA, MR. MONSTER, BILL SCHELLY and more!

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All Time Classic Con continued from #148! Panels on Golden Age (CUIDERA, HASEN, SCHWARTZ [LEW & ALVIN], BOLTINOFF, LAMPERT, GILL, FLESSEL) & Silver Age Marvel, DC, & Gold Key (SEVERIN, SINNOTT, AYERS, DRAKE, ANDERSON, FRADON, SIMONSON, GREEN, BOLLE, THOMAS), plus JOHN BROOME, FCA, MR. MONSTER, & BILL SCHELLY! Unused RON WILSON/CHRIS IVY cover!

Interview with JOYE MURCHISON, assistant to Wonder Woman co-creator DR. WILLIAM MARSTON, and WW’s female scriptwriter from 1945-1948! Rare art by H.G. PETER, 1960s DC love comics writer BARBARA FRIEDLANDER, art & anecdotes by ROMITA, COLAN, JAY SCOTT PIKE, INFANTINO, WEISINGER, JULIUS SCHWARTZ, and others! Extra: FCA, JOHN BROOME, MR. MONSTER, & more!

FCA SPECIAL! Golden Age writer WILLIAM WOOLFOLK interview, and his scripting records! Art by BECK, SCHAFFENBERGER, BORING, BOB KANE, CRANDALL, KRIGSTEIN, ANDRU, JACK COLE, FINE, PETER, HEATH, PLASTINO, MOLDOFF, GRANDENETTI, and more! Plus JOHN BROOME, MR. MONSTER, BILL SCHELLY, and the 2017 STAR WARS PANEL with CHAYKIN, LIPPINCOTT, and THOMAS!

Peter Cannon–Thunderbolt writer/artist PETE MORISI talks about the creative process! Plus, read his correspondence with comics greats JACK KIRBY, JOE SIMON, AL WILLIAMSON, CHARLES BIRO, JOE GILL, GEORGE TUSKA, ROCKY MASTROSERIO, PAT MASULLI, SAL GENTILE, DICK GIORDANO, and others! Also: JOHN BROOME’s bio, FCA, MR. MONSTER, and BILL SCHELLY!

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to see Jim at a nearby booth, but he said, “I don’t care about any damn line,” and off we went to show his friend the artwork from 1946. My kids were with me and they said, “Dad, we don’t know who any of these people are, but this is pretty cool.” At Allen’s request, I sent him a copy of the “Patriot” story for his book Timely Confidential: When the Golden Age of Comics Was Young. I’m so glad you used this scan on the first page of Dr. Michael J. Vassallo’s interview, because it gives me the opportunity to say, “Thank you, Mr. Bellman, for a wonderful memory!” J.C. Preas Alas, J.C., just as this edition of A/E was going to press, we were informed that Allen Bellman had passed away, on March 9. We’ll have more to say about him in a near-future issue. He’ll be missed, for sure. Allen was a fount of memories about the 1940s in the Timely bullpen, having come to work there in 1942 and being on staff until publisher Goodman opened that perhaps-metaphorical closet in 1949 and soon laid off virtually all staffers… though of course Mr. B. continued on as a freelancer for several years after that. It was always a pleasure to hear from him, and Doc V. (Michael Vassallo) got some fresh memories and observations in #154’s interview. Allen had contributed to the Syd Shores coverage we have coming up in two issues as well. Bernie Bubnis, who’s at least as likely as not to appear in any given “re:” section, sent a few cogent comments on the four interviews related

he very first comicbook Martin Goodman ever published was, of course, Marvel Comics #1, which had an October 1939 cover date and actually went on sale that summer, not many weeks before the start of World War II in Europe. So “maskot” artist Shane Foley’s awesome homage to Frank R. Paul’s cover for that landmark issue is particularly fitting. Notice how The Human Torch’s fiery light casts its glow over Captain Ego, the super-hero Biljo White created in 1964! Great coloring, too, Shane! [Human Torch TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.; Captain Ego TM & © Roy Thomas & Estate of Bill Schelly.] Since we regrettably had to forego our letters section last time around, we’re doubling up this time. First, here are some of the more memorable missives we received on A/E #154, which cover-featured Golden Age Timely artist Allen Bellman and a trio of late Silver/early Bronze Age Marvel heroines, along with our regular dynamic departments. First, this e-mail about Allen B. from J.C. Preas, concerning an encounter he had with that venerable artist a few years ago. Dear Roy, I enjoyed the Allen Bellman cover and tribute in Alter Ego #154. I met Allen at Heroes Con in 2017, and he signed my copy of Marvel Mystery Comics #70. He said he hadn’t seen his artwork on the “Patriot” story “Through the Camera’s Eye!” for more than 70 years. He pointed to the splash page and said, “I remember this character; this was a great character,” referring to Birdie Hart. Then a tear welled up in his eye as he recalled his days at the Timely office in the Empire State Building, working alongside Bill Everett, Carl Burgos, Stan Lee, and many others. Allen insisted on showing his story to Jim Shooter. I pointed to the long line of people waiting

“Patriot” Games Another Allen Bellman-drawn page from Marvel Mystery Comics #70 (March 1946), courtesy of Jim Kealy. Scripter unknown. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

[correspondence, comments, & corrections]

to the early-’70s heroine triumvirate of The Cat, Shanna the She-Devil, and Night Nurse: Hi Roy, Re the 4 super-heroines: [Linda] Fite: Good sense of humor and a fun read. Paty [Cockrum]: The chess set she made should have its own article. Carole [Seuling]: My favorite, because she is a collector. I bought that first Steranko-covered Shanna and remember enjoying the story. Sorry I did not ever read the others. Got to correspond briefly with Carole when I was trying to hunt down a better 1965 picture of [her ex-husband] Big Phil for Ballmann’s second edition of his ’64 Comicon book. You put me in touch. Jean [Thomas]: Too bad she didn’t want to be interviewed. Guess seeing you at the Big Apple Con was enough. Kidding aside, being in the limelight professionally does intrude on one’s personal life. You are an honest guy, so you explained your break-up, even though it was none of my business. I guess if TwoMorrows pubs your autobiography, then that will be another book I will buy. The copyright articles [by Mike Tiefenbacher] have been great. Love the tongue-in-cheek credentials for the writer on page 96. Bernie Bubnis I didn’t really attempt to “explain” the breakup of Jeanie’s and my marriage, Bernie—I just related a regrettable incident concerning the dispersal of Night Nurse #4 writing assignments, because I felt readers deserved to know why she didn’t script the entirety of the final published issue. And of course, anytime she agrees to be interviewed by Alter Ego, you’ll see the end result right here. Meanwhile, readers gave an enthusiastic thumbs-up to the attention given to those three 1972 Marvel titles, their female scribes, and the artists thereof. Next, a note re “Comic Crypt”/Michael T. Gilbert’s several-issue series on the art-swiping controversy that long surrounded the late comics artist Dan Adkins, from longtime fanzine publisher James Van Hise: Roy— One Dan Adkins swipe that needs to be highlighted is one which fifty years ago we called the “Frank Frazetta super-swipe.” In the late ’60s in an SF digest (which I don’t have) is a drawing by Adkins that consists entirely of Frazetta swipes, and not obscure ones, either. The human figure in it is lifted directly from the cover of Famous Funnies #213 (1954), using the crouching Buck Rogers

Jean Thomas The Night Nurse/Spidey Super Stories scripter drops by to visit ex-husband Roy (and his mid-1960s Spider-Man costume on display prior to selling it) at the Big Apple Con in NYC on Nov. 3, 2017. Don’t worry—the two of them are just playing at being mad at each other! Photo by John Cimino.

figure. The rest of the drawing is copied directly from the large panel of the werewolf in Creepy #1, which at the time was the most well-known story Warren had published. James Van Hise Sadly, we couldn’t locate an image of that swipe online, James. Maybe somebody out there has a copy of it? Dan was good at putting disparate art swipes together to make a picture or tell a story, and he was definitely an excellent inker. Too bad his reputation is inevitably tarnished by said errors in judgment—which Ye Editor has always suspected were exacerbated by his entering the comics field working for Wally Wood on T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, since one of Wood’s favorite maxims was: “Never draw anything if you can swipe it.” P.C. Hamerlinck, editor of the FCA segment of each and every A/E, has a couple of corrections to make to captions in the issue under discussion, probably attributable to the guy who was editing him (i.e., me—Roy): Hi Roy, On page 95 of A/E #154, the Gary Frank cover detail artwork on the far right is from Justice League #0 (Nov. 2012), and was also used as cover art for a Shazam! hardcover/trade paperback collection from 2013. There was no ‘Shazam! No. 1” in that series, but I guess the caption is close enough. Also, on p. 94, a Mr. Tawny splash was included but not referenced in the caption. P.C. Hamerlinck Mea no doubt culpa, P.C. Thanks for setting the record just a wee bit straighter. “Mr. Tawny’s Diet Dangers,” by the way, appeared in Captain Marvel Adventures #121 (June 1951), with script by Otto Binder and art by C.C. Beck. Spread over issues #151-154 of this mag was Mike Tiefenbacher’s well-received study “Captain Marvel & the ©opyright ©risis” (love that name!), which discussed copyright and trademark matters connected to the Big Red Cheese and various other vintage characters and companies. Somewhere along the lines, he touched on a related hero—Marvelman, the English super-stalwart created to step into the breach in Britain in 1953, when Fawcett (as per the terms of DC’s successful lawsuit against it) canceled all “Captain Marvel”-related material. Belatedly, Mike felt a need to write a bit more about that long-running star: Dear Roy, What happened with Marvelman, as I understand it, was this: while there was no active copyright in the U.S. (I have little enough expertise in our laws, so I’m not going to claim it for Great Britain) since it was never published here, in the UK there was some contest over who owned it. While there was never a copyright notice, or even a date, in any of the eight issues of the three “Marvelman Family” titles I own from publisher L. Miller & Son, published through at least 1963, that may not matter—although I know that, unlike here, records carried notice of the year of first publication as early as the 1950s, so I’m assuming that formal notice of at least the year of publication has some legal standing. When Alan Moore and company brought it back for Warrior from Quality (UK) in 1982, it had, as you mention, been only twenty years. If that means anything in the UK. I don’t think it was L. Miller & Son who objected, however, to being cut out of the ’80s revival and whatever money was made by Eclipse with ’85’s Miracleman, but rather creator Mick Anglo, who had claimed the rights somewhere along the line. It might be splitting hairs, but I think Anglo is the only originating source mentioned in the recent Marvel reprints. By the way, in A/E #152, when you added the Heart Throbs covers to my FCA article’s chapter there, you said the artist was “unknown.” Actually, the final Quality issue cover was by Matt

re:

It’s A Marvel, Man! A color commission drawing of the UK’s Marvelman by vintage artist Roy Parker, touched up for owner Derek Wilson by Dave Golding. [Marvelman TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

love and dedication to fantasy and sci-fi are overwhelming and wonderful. Clearly, he was a very informed, smart, opinionated fan/pro of whom I’ve sadly been ignorant. Ivie’s pencil pages for proposed “Hawkman” and “JSA” stories were very tantalizing. I’m constantly playing catch-up on comicbook fans/pros/friends that we’ve already lost, so I’m very happy for A/E’s profiles of them. In the same way, reading the profile and interview of Raymond Miller reminded me of that occasional feeling I have of being invited to a really, really great party, only to get there late and find that everybody has long gone. I enjoy the late Raymond Miller’s enthusiasm, dedication, and generosity in his love of Golden Age comicbooks, and his happily sharing his love with fandom at large. Chris Petry 815 Av. H, Apt. D Westwego, LA 70094

Baker, and the first DC cover by Tony Abruzzo and Bernard Sachs. Mike Tiefenbacher Thanks for the additional information, Mike. Incidentally, you (and your fellow A/Eficionados) can read Roger Dicken’s interview with the late Mick Anglo in issue #87, still on sale wherever back issues are sold (i.e., at TwoMorrows’ website). Also re A/E #154, longtime fan and reader Craig Delich reports: “On page 7, the story ‘Glass Eye’ appeared in Marvel Tales #107, not #106.” We stand corrected, Craig! Next up in our dynamic double-feature is Alter Ego #155, whose cover star was Norman Maurer, a comic artist’s comic artist—and, as it happened, the son-in-law of Moe Howard, head honcho of the cinematic Three Stooges, whom Norm drew in a number of comicbook incarnations and later even produced and directed in feature-length films. Dealing with wife Joan Maurer’s interview and with other departments in that issue (such as Larry Ivie’s late-1950s attempts at reviving the Justice Society of America and the life of ultra-fan/artist Raymond Miller) is this e-mail from Chris Petry:

We’re always especially happy to hear from those who read Alter Ego virtually cover-to-cover, Chris, because we ourselves usually learn something new from each and every piece in an issue, and we figure that’d be true of most others as well, if they give themselves a chance. I know what you mean about sometimes feeling you’ve come to a party (or, in this case, to comics) a bit late and missed a lot of good stuff. But of course, if you’d been around earlier, you’d wind up missing some great things at the other end! I recall how often the great John Romita has said he wishes he’d come along to be a part of comics a half decade or even a full decade earlier, during its Golden Age prime—but those of us who enjoyed his art from Captain America in 1953-54 through several decades of Spider-Man work will always feel he came along at just the right time—for us, anyway!

Hi Roy, From reading Moe Howard’s autobiography and articles in Alter Ego, I’d learned of Norman Maurer’s involvement in films, the work of the Three Stooges, and, with Joe Kubert, the development of 3-D pictures for comicbooks, but I had no idea his work in all those areas was so extensive. Going through the Larry Ivie “Justice League/Justice Society” article in A/E #155, his

Tales Designed To Carry An Impact… Twice! John Benson informs us: “FYI, Carl Wessler’s story ‘Cry in Car 13,’ with the ‘quietly powerful ending,’ is a recycling of his script ‘The Travelers’ for EC’s Impact #5. (And my suspicion is that Wessler lifted the idea from some slick mag of the time.).” Norman Maurer’s rendering of the first and last pages of that tale for DC appeared in A/E #155; seen above are the same pages from EC’s Impact #5 (Nov.-Dec. 1955), as illustrated by Joe Orlando. Thanks to Jim Ludwig. [TM & © William M. Gaines Agent, Inc.]

[correspondence, comments, & corrections]

Hubba-Hubba! A sample of Norman Maurer’s short-lived 1969 Hub Capps comic strip. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Ger Apeldoorn, who among many other things writes sitcoms and the like for TV in the Netherlands, is no stranger to these pages—and he has a lot to say about the wonderful Norman Maurer: Hi Roy, I was very glad to see Norman Maurer (finally) getting some attention by way of the lovely interview with his wife Joan. I have long been a fan of his charming style, which I got to know when I worked on my article on Mad comicbook imitations for Alter Ego. I believe I called his work (with Joe Kubert) for Whack and additional parodies in The Three Stooges “the best buy” among all the imitations. Let’s hope someone gets around to doing their compatriots at St. John: Bob Bean and Carl and Jean Hubbell. After Whack, my favorite Norman Maurer work is for Happy Days 1969, which you showed in the last pages without much of an explanation. Happy Days was a short-running “newspaper strip” Maurer created for Zeke Zekly’s Sponsored Comics. I first heard of Sponsored Comics because Howard Lowery was selling lots of different originals stamped “Sponsored Comics” or “Family Comics” on eBay a couple of years ago. Then the incomparable Alan Holtz acquired a complete set of these faux Sunday comic sections, which were produced for and distributed by various California food store chains. The first issue was dated May 10, 1969, and the latest issue (#10) July 12. Each tabloid-sized issue had 16 pages, with all sorts of different half-page strips created especially for them. Alan then did a series of posts about them on his “Strippers Guide” blog, slowly

learning more about them. At first he thought Maurer might have been involved in organizing them, since he had two strips in them, Happy Days 1969 (a family strip set ten years in the future, drawn in a Dennis the Menace-like style) and Hub Capps, signed “Jay Howard” but soon affirmed to be by Maurer as well, in the same style he used for his Western strips for Stan Lee at Timely. Other artists involved in strips in that tabloid were Gill Fox, Bill Ligante, Vernon Hieck, Henry Boltinoff, Ed and Irma Nofziger, David Gantz, Howard Beckerman, and Zeke Zekley. Even Russ Manning did two strips, just like Maurer. In the end it was revealed in the comments (by Bob Foster) that Zekley was the man behind Family Comics. After not inheriting the Bringing Up Father strip [after George McManus’ passing], he went into advertising comics and sold various comicbook giveaways. Family Comics may be one of his most accomplished products, and I hope one day someone will be able to do a complete book about it. Ger Apeldoorn Thanks for filling us in about Happy Days 1969, Ger. We ourselves didn’t even realize that “1969” was a part of the title! We printed one of those strips in #155; directly above is a sample of the Sunday Hub Capps strip. Here are a couple of corrections to our Maurer piece, from reader John Brezina: Hi Roy, This is about the Norman Maurer article in A/E #155. (p. 6) Shemp Howard was born in 1895, not 1902 as stated there. On page 28 in the Artiscope cell photos, it is stated that this may be

re:

which contain letters from Bernie Bubnis. His memories of early NYC fandom are fascinating. I, too, went on those DC tours (back in 1966/67) and, while they didn’t hand out original comicbook art, they did give us original Batman dailies (by Joe Giella), a Jack Larson [Jimmy Olsen on TV] postcard, a small color reproduction of H.J. Ward’s Superman painting, and a Supermen of America button (of which I still have a few). Speaking of “re:”: As a fan of Al Kilgore’s Bullwinkle work, I’d like to chime in in regards to Mark Evanier’s letter of comment. Mark points out that the Bullwinkle cover you printed in Alter Ego #144 was not by Al Kilgore. He’s right, of course; the artist—according to Darryl Van Citter’s 2013 book The Art of Jay Ward Productions—was Mel Crawford (his Bullwinkle style is unmistakable). To these tired eyes, the only “Rocky and Bullwinkle:” comicbook story penciled by Kilgore is the epic 38-page serial found in Gold Key’s Rocky and His Fiendish Friends #1. Like Crawford’s, Kilgore’s style is unmistakable, and as it’s one of my favorite comics, I thought I’d attach a “pdf” of Al’s story. Mark Storchheim Thanks, Mark. Readers can look directly to the left for some Kilgore work on Jay Ward’s immortal characters.

A Rocky Road Artist Al Kilgore’s splash page for Dell/Western’s Rocky and His Fiendish Friends #1 (Oct. 1962); scripter unknown. Thanks to Mark Storchheim. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Moe’s only non-Stooges film appearance. Moe appeared in at least three movies sans any other Stooges: Space Master X-7 (1958) as a cab-driver; Don’t Worry We’ll Think of a Title (1966) as “Mr. Raines” (uncredited); and Doctor Death, Seeker of Souls (1973) as a volunteer in the audience. On page 19 your transcriber says that Dell published a one-shot Three Stooges comic in the mid-1940s. But nowhere can I find a 1940s Stooges comic published by Dell. I did find the Three Stooges Dell comics which began in 1959 as part of the Four Color series, which then continued with its own numbering and turned into a Gold Key book in 1962. John Brezina Thanks, John. Not sure where I (Roy) picked up the incorrect year-date for Shemp Howard’s birth (yours is apparently the correct one), but we assure you we got it from somewhere—we didn’t just make it up. Interviewer Richard Arndt’s reference to a mid-1940s Stooges one-shot was evidently an error as well… so we both stand corrected. Thanks for your fact-checking! We don’t want to accidentally put any erroneous information out there—or if we do (or someone else does, through us), we want to correct it ASAP. It’s just that, since we’re a still a bit behind on our letters columns, it takes a year and a half for us to do so. Next this missive from Mark Storchheim: Hi Roy! Just a quick note to tell you how much I enjoyed Alter Ego #155. In fact, I’ve enjoyed every issue, beginning with #9 of the original run (which I ordered from you while you still lived in Missouri). One of my favorite features is the “re:” section, especially those

Another pleasurable thing related to A/E #155 was re-establishing contact after way too many years with Maddy Cohen—or “Mimi Gold,” as we at Marvel (and later DC) knew her back in the day. In her interview with Richard Arndt, she mentioned that she believed she was the colorist (or co-colorist, with the penciler himself) of Barry Smith’s art on Conan the Barbarian #2-11; but Barry himself seems to have pointed out somewhere-or-other since that she also colored that series’ very first issue, as well as #12 & 13. I asked her about this, and here’s her response: Roy, I’ve gone through all the Conan the Barbarian issues. On the one hand, I trust Barry’s memory because this was his baby. But I look at issue #1 and it doesn’t use my signature color combos (yes, I had them), while #12 looks to me like I did the whole book. When I said I colored #2-11, it’s because I thought I remembered that the powers-that-were didn’t want me doing the first issue. Possibly Barry remembers that I did. And I didn’t think I did #12 and 13, but I do have the issues, so I still had access to Marvel. I was hazy about when I parted ways with Marvel/Barry, so I didn’t want to overstep and take credit for something I didn’t do. I think Barry has a better memory of it than I, although I am super-curious about how we colored them together. I can’t buy into that until/unless I speak with him. Here’s an ironic piece of info: the identity of Leslie Dixon. The friend who introduced me to Steranko was a classmate at NYU Film School, Ken Dixon. He’d been a fan and then a friend of Jim’s. While I was at Marvel, Ken met and married Leslie and they lived on a shoestring in an East Village walk-up. (It didn’t work out for whatever reason, and I hired Holly Resnikoff to take over.) But, for a brief moment, the incestuous world of comics brought us all together. Maddy Cohen Yeah, there were a lot of romantic entanglements and interwoven relationships in the pro comics world of that era, Maddy—probably still are, if the truth be known. In addition, there’s one correction that I personally have been waiting a year-plus to make: On page 59 of A/E #155, I worked hard at analyzing the sales reports of All-Star Comics #51-57 through All Star Western #58-68, reprinted there from the big 2010 Taschen/Paul Levitz volume on DC Comics’ history. I still stand behind my (as yet unrefuted) claim that the evidence bears out my long-held belief that changing the Justice

[correspondence, comments, & corrections]

Society’s comic into a horse opera in 1951 was more likely a mistake than the shrewd business move indicated in that tome, which refers to “the more successful Western genre.” A U G U S T

1 4 - 1 6

2 0 2 0

However, at the end of a paragraph on that page dealing with the page counts of the 18 issues published for 1950-52, I accidentally typo’d that, starting with ASW #62, that mag contained “48 pages plus covers”—when I’d meant to say that, with that issue, All Star Western dropped to 32 interior pages, the length of most present-day mainstream comics. Sorry about that… not that anybody seemed to notice but me! See? If I can correct myself, you can probably do even better! Please send your corrections, commentary, or curmudgeonly catcalls to: Roy Thomas e-mail: roydann@ntinet.com 32 Bluebird Trail St. Matthews, SC 29135

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By the way, our online Alter-Ego-Fans discussion/chat group is still cruising along handily, with news and reviews and advance info and Ye Editor’s occasional groveling requests for aid in finding art or info for Alter Ego, thanks to the efforts of Chet Cox, who rides herd on https:// groups.yahoo.com/group/alter-ego-fans. Chet tells us that Yahoo no longer has an “Add Member” tool (whatever that is), so if you experience any slight difficulty getting in, contact him at mormonyoyoman@ gmail.com and he’ll walk, maybe even trot, you through it. In addition, my manager and buddy John Cimino is still enthusiastically ramrodding what he calls The Roy Thomas Appreciation Boards (blush, blush) on Facebook. It posts photos and info about what I’m up to, at conventions as well as in comics, books, Alter Ego, or elsewhere—should anybody be interested. Give it a try!

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COMIC BOOK CREATOR #25

ALTER EGO #166

ALTER EGO #167

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FAWCETT COLLECTORS OF AMERICA (FCA) Special, with spotlights on KURT SCHAFFENBERGER (Captain Marvel, Ibis the Invincible, Marvel Family, Lois Lane), and ALEX ROSS on his awesome painting of the super-heroes influenced by the original Captain Marvel! Plus MICHAEL T. GILBERT’s “Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt” on Superman editor MORT WEISINGER, JOHN BROOME, and more! Cover by SCHAFFENBERGER!

Salute to Golden & Silver Age artist SYD SHORES as he’s remembered by daughter NANCY SHORES KARLEBACH, fellow artist ALLEN BELLMAN, DR. MICHAEL J. VASSALLO, and interviewer RICHARD ARNDT. Plus: mid-1940s “Green Turtle” artist/creator CHU HING profiled by ALEX JAY, JOHN BROOME, MICHAEL T. GILBERT and Mr. Monster on MORT WEISINGER Part Two, and more!

WENDY PINI discusses her days as Red Sonja cosplayer, & 40+ years of ELFQUEST! Plus RICHARD PINI on their 48-year marriage and creative partnership! Plus: We have the final installment of our CRAIG YOE interview! GIL KANE’s business partner LARRY KOSTER talks about their adventures together! PABLO MARCOS on his Marvel horror work, HEMBECK, and more! Cover by WENDY PINI.

TIMOTHY TRUMAN discusses his start at the Kubert School, Grimjack with writer JOHN OSTRANDER, and current collaborations with son Benjamin. SCOTT SHAW! talks about early San Diego Comic-Cons and friendship with JACK KIRBY, Captain Carrot, and Flintstones work! Also PATRICK McDONNELL’s favorite MUTTS comic book pastiches, letterer JANICE CHIANG profiled, HEMBECK, and more! TIM TRUMAN cover.

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BACK ISSUE #121

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BARRY WINDSOR-SMITH discusses his new graphic novel MONSTERS, its origin as a 1980s Hulk story, and its evolution into his 300-page magnum opus (includes a gallery of outtakes). Plus part two of our SCOTT SHAW! interview about HannaBarbera licensing material and work with ROY THOMAS on Captain Carrot, KEN MEYER, JR. looks at the great fanzines of 40 years ago, HEMBECK, and more!

CONAN AND THE BARBARIANS! Celebrating the 50th anniversary of ROY THOMAS and BARRY WINDSOR-SMITH’s Conan #1! The Bronze Age Barbarian Boom, Top 50 Marvel Conan stories, Marvel’s Not-Quite Conans (from Kull to Skull), Arak–Son of Thunder, Warlord action figures, GRAY MORROW’s Edge of Chaos, and Conan the Barbarian at Dark Horse Comics. With an unused WINDSOR-SMITH Conan #9 cover.

Celebrates the 40TH ANNIVERSARY of MARV WOLFMAN and GEORGE PÉREZ’s New Teen Titans, featuring a guest editorial by WOLFMAN and a PÉREZ tribute and art gallery! Plus: The New Teen Titans’ 40 GREATEST MOMENTS, the Titans in the media, hero histories of RAVEN, STARFIRE, and the PROTECTOR, and more! With a NEVER-BEFORE-PUBLISHED PÉREZ TITANS COVER from 1981!

SUPERHERO ROMANCE ISSUE! Bruce Wayne and Tony Stark’s many loves, Star Sapphire history, Bronze Age weddings, DeFALCO/ STERN Johnny Storm/Alicia Pro2Pro interview, Elongated Man and Wife, May-December romances, Supergirl’s Secret Marriage, and… Aunt May and Doc Ock?? Featuring MIKE W. BARR, CARY BATES, STEVE ENGLEHART, BOB LAYTON, DENNY O’NEIL, and many more! Cover by DAVE GIBBONS.

HORRIFIC HEROES! With Bronze Age histories of Man-Thing, the Demon, and the Creeper, Atlas/Seaboard’s horrifying heroes, and Ghost Rider (Danny Ketch) rides again! Featuring the work of CHRIS CLAREMONT, GERRY CONWAY, ERNIE COLON, MICHAEL GOLDEN, JACK KIRBY, MIKE PLOOG, JAVIER SALTARES, MARK TEXIERA, and more. Man-Thing cover by RUDY NEBRES.

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KIRBY COLLECTOR #79

OLD GODS & NEW: A FOURTH WORLD COMPANION (TJKC #80)

KIRBY COLLECTOR #78

SILVER ANNIVERSARY ISSUE! How Kirby kickstarted the Silver Age and revamped Golden Age characters for the 1960s, the Silver Surfer’s influence, pivotal decisions (good and bad) Jack made throughout his comics career, Kirby pencil art gallery, MARK EVANIER and our regular columnists, a classic 1950s story, KIRBY/STEVE RUDE cover (and deluxe silver sleeve) and more! (84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (DELUXE EDITION w/ silver sleeve) $12.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Now shipping!

See “THE BIG PICTURE” of how Kirby fits into the grand scheme of things! His creations’ lasting legacy, how his work fights illiteracy, a RARE KIRBY INTERVIEW, inconsistencies in his 1960s MARVEL WORK, editorial changes in his comics, big concepts in OMAC, best DOUBLE-PAGE SPREADS, MARK EVANIER’s 2019 Kirby Tribute Panel, PENCIL ART GALLERY, and a new cover based on OMAC #1! (84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships Fall 2020

Looks back at JACK KIRBY’s own words, as well as those of assistants MARK EVANIER and STEVE SHERMAN, inker MIKE ROYER, and publisher CARMINE INFANTINO, to show how Kirby’s epic came about, where it was going, and how he would’ve ended it before it was cancelled by DC Comics! (160-page FULL-COLOR TPB) $26.95 (Digital Edition) $14.99 • Ships Jan. 2021 ISBN: 978-1-60549-098-4

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WORLD OF TWOMORROWS

MARK VOGER’s sleigh ride through the history of Christmas! Explores movies (Miracle on 34th Street, It’s a Wonderful Life), music (White Christmas, Little St. Nick), TV (How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer), books (Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol), decor (1950s silver aluminum trees), comics (super-heroes meet Santa), and more! Featuring CHARLES M. SCHULZ, ANDY WILLIAMS and others!

Celebrate our 25th anniversary with this retrospective by publisher JOHN MORROW and Comic Book Creator magazine’s JON B. COOKE! Go behind-the-scenes with MICHAEL EURY, ROY THOMAS, GEORGE KHOURY, and a host of other TwoMorrows contributors! Introduction by MARK EVANIER, Foreword by ALEX ROSS, Afterword by PAUL LEVITZ, and a new cover by TOM McWEENEY!

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WORLD’S MIGHTIEST COLLECTOR

A Conversation With Pre-eminent Captain Marvel Connoisseur HARRY MATETSKY by P.C. Hamerlinck

ccording to mid-1940s Fawcett office memorandums, Captain Marvel Adventures and Whiz Comics had combined monthly sales tallying over 1,600,000 copies… approximately 15,000,000 kids under the age of 16, in more than 7,000 theatres in the US and Canada, had attended screenings of Republic Pictures’ 12-chapter movie serial The Adventures of Captain Marvel… and, by May of 1945, membership in the Captain Marvel Club totaled over 563,000. That’s a lot of dimes! Further testimony of the original Captain Marvel’s past popularity can be found in Abrams Comicart’s 2010 book Shazam! The Golden Age of the World’s Mightiest Mortal by Chip Kidd and Geoff Spear, in collaboration with master super-hero collector and authority Harry Matetsky—whose grand assemblage of Marvel Family memorabilia received a merited spotlight within its pages. Now, in a second softcover edition, you’ll journey into a lost world that most of us never witnessed first-hand… but Harry was there, and this is his story. —PCH. P.C. HAMERLINCK: I’m here with the world’s foremost Fawcett collector, Harry Matetsky. Harry, let’s start with a little background information. HARRY MATETSKY: I was born in New York City, on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, on December 5, 1934. I grew up in a tenement building in a poor neighborhood, but my childhood was essentially happy. Playing punchball and stickball in the street with my friends was a favorite pastime, in addition to flipping gum cards, climbing fire escapes, and swimming in the city pool. My father was a tailor by trade and my mother was a homemaker. I have one sister. PCH: When did you first become aware of Captain Marvel? Were you buying Whiz Comics and Captain Marvel Adventures off newsstands or in candy stores during the ’40s… and were you an early member of the Captain Marvel Club? HM: My adventures into the world of comicbooks began in my neighborhood candy store. At about six years of age I looked up and saw comicbooks hanging

Harry Matetsky as a high school senior (top left), ready to take on the world of publishing—and collecting… and (below) in a recent photo, in later years with the coffee table book Shazam! The Golden Age of the World’s Mightiest Mortal by Chip Kidd and Geoff Spear—published by Abrams Comicarts in 2010, and now available in a softcover edition. The volume made copious use of Harry’s collection of Marvel Family items, and is an absolute must-have for any Fawcett fan and pop culture aficionado. [Shazam hero TM & © DC Comics.]

A Conversation With Pre-eminent Captain Marvel Connoisseur Harry Matetsky

from clothespins on a rope way above me. I pleaded with my mother to buy one for me, and she asked a tall guy to lift me up so I could pick the one I wanted and pull it down. It was a copy of All-Flash #1. My next acquisition was a copy of Whiz Comics, and then came a copy of Captain Marvel. Dream Job It was then I Harry Matetsky, looking sharp during his year with discovered the Fawcett Publications - 1955. Captain Marvel Club, and I joined soon thereafter. Growing up, I began visiting every newsstand in the area to acquire more comics. Captain Marvel was my favorite. PCH: What was it about Captain Marvel that initially appealed to you? HM: I loved the humor and C.C. Beck’s artwork the most. The magical quality of Billy Batson saying “Shazam!” and becoming Captain Marvel fulfilled my own fantasy. I especially enjoyed the Mr. Mind serialization and stories with CM’s arch nemesis, Dr. Sivana. PCH: In the wake of your youth, what field did you pursue? I understand you actually worked for a brief period at Fawcett Publications. HM: After graduating high school, I attended the Cartoonists and Illustrators School (now known as the School of Visual Arts). During this period, in 1955, a close friend of mine was working at Fawcett Publications. He mentioned to me that there was an opening in their art department and encouraged me to apply —which I did. I was interviewed by the art director, Al Allard. He gave me a job for $55 a week in their “How-to” magazine department, where my friend was also working. I was an art associate, doing layouts and design.

nothing relating to comics. At Fawcett’s annual Christmas party, I did meet many writers and artists who had worked on the comics. PCH: How long were you at Fawcett? HM: I stayed at Fawcett for just one year, because I got a better job for $80 a week at Hillman Publications as art editor on their magazines. And one year later I joined McFadden Publications as assistant art director of Photoplay magazine at $110 a week. I was 21 years old. After Photoplay, I took a job at Sterling Publications, running their magazine division. I stayed at Sterling for nine years, and then I went to work for Martin Goodman, the owner of Magazine Management and Marvel Comics. I was in charge of the magazine division, but—as you might guess—I was very interested in the comics division, which led to my friendship with Stan Lee. I eventually left Magazine Management to start my own business, Captain Publications, which published movie and romance magazines. After that, I opened the Puck Gallery in Manhattan, which showcased and sold original comic art and illustration art. During this period I got to know many cartoonists, including Harvey Kurtzman, Will Eisner, Jim Steranko, Gahan Wilson, and Gary Trudeau. PCH: Was it at the time you ran the gallery that you began to focus more on building your own personal collection of comic art and memorabilia? HM: After my gallery adventure, I returned to the magazine business for ten years, then retired to devote myself full-time to my lifelong love of collecting comicbooks, original comic art, and comic-related memorabilia. In 1986, I learned that DC Comics was planning a big celebration for Superman’s 50th anniversary in 1988. So I contacted Jeanette Kahn, then-president of DC Comics, and proposed that I create and design a limited-edition coffee table book titled The Adventures of Superman Collecting. She liked the idea very much and gave me the go-ahead. I worked on the book for a year and a half and finished it in time for its release in 1988. PCH: Are Captain Marvel and the Man of Steel both equal in your collecting interests?

PCH: How would you describe Al Allard? HM: Al was a very nice guy and very accessible. However, he was on one floor and I was on another. PCH: Who else do you recall in Fawcett’s magazine department? HM: Al Jetter and Ray Gill were also in the “How-to” magazine department, and I got to know them well and liked them very much. Al Jetter had gone to the special magazine division after the comics folded. He was a great, jovial guy whom I liked and chatted with regularly. The comicbook division at Fawcett had been shut down in 1954, and various artists and editors from that department were sent to work on other magazines. PCH: While working in the Fawcett offices, did you happen to notice any “remnants” or “reminders” of their recently killed comics line, or perhaps catch any office chatter where Captain Marvel was brought up in conversation? HM: In the magazine department there was

The Other “World’s Mightiest Mortal” Harry Matetsky’s The Adventures of Superman Collecting hardcover was published in 1988. [TM & © DC Comics.]

FCA [Fawcett Collectors Of America]

HM: The Big Red Cheese is number 1, with Superman a close second. PCH: Were you aware of the DC/Fawcett litigation while it was transpiring? HM: I was a teenager when that happened and became aware of Fawcett comics’ demise somewhat after. Many more Captain Marvel products might’ve been produced if it weren’t for the lawsuit. With comics sales declining, Fawcett was still making a lot of money with their magazines and paperbacks. In retrospect, I wish it never happened. The worst thing about it is that Fawcett didn’t protect the Captain Marvel copyright [sic–he actually means “trademark”] and DC was too cheap to buy it back from Marvel when they could have! PCH: Let’s return to your love of Captain Marvel collecting. Is there an item in particular that’s a personal favorite of yours? HM: It’s very hard for me to pick any one item, since there are so many that I consider favorites. I especially love my Captain Marvel Magic Membership Card, the sheet of Fawcett Comic Stamps, my CM Club membership envelope, letter, and pinback, as well as The Adventures of Captain Marvel Chapter One movie serial poster. PCH: What do you consider the most esoteric Fawcett item in your collection? HM: One of the most unusual items I have is the Fawcett Guide from 1948, which was given to all new employees. It is a 52-page booklet describing the history and structure of the organization, its offices and departments, distribution, titles, pay scale, etc. [NOTE: We’ll take a look inside the Fawcett Guide in a future issue of FCA! —PCH.]

Tanks For The Memory! (Above:) Formerly from the Harry Matetsky collection was this original cover artwork for Whiz Comics #17 (May 1941) by C.C. Beck and Pete Costanza. Scan courtesy of Heritage Auctions. [Shazam hero TM & © DC Comics.]

PCH: In FCA #200 (AE #141) you provided scans of C.C. Beck’s previously unseen first-version cover for Captain Marvel Adventures #2 that you had once owned. What other original Fawcett artwork has found its way into your collection?

“These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things” (Above:) Young Harry Matetsky mailed in his dime to Fawcett Publications to get his Captain Marvel Magic Membership Card (with CM’s “Secret Code”), and one of these bright pinback buttons as he officially joined the growing Captain Marvel Club. (Right:) This poster for Chapter One of Republic Pictures’ The Adventures of Captain Marvel is displayed in the Matetskys’ home. The collector has loved the serial since he was a little boy who thrilled to it in the movie theatre during its original run. [Shazam hero TM & © DC Comics.]

HM: Besides the CMA #2 cover, I used to own the original cover art for America’s Greatest Comics #3 and Whiz Comics #17. I still regret giving them up. (On occasion, I traded or sold some items to earn funds for my children’s college tuition.) However, I still own a page from Captain Marvel Adventures by C.C. Beck, as well as an early “Spy Smasher” page, a “Bulletman” page, and an “Ibis” page. I also have other C.C. Beck pieces, including cover re-creations he did of Captain Marvel Adventures #4 and #18, Captain Marvel Story Book #2, and America’s Greatest Comics #1. Beck surprised me by sending an original CM/Billy Batson drawing to thank me for the many re-creations I had commissioned him to do. [NOTE: That drawing has become this issue’s FCA cover! —PCH.] By the way, there’s a little backstory behind

A Conversation With Pre-eminent Captain Marvel Connoisseur Harry Matetsky

the America’s Greatest Comics #1 re-creation. When I asked Beck to do the cover for me, he said he really didn’t want to do it! I asked him why, and he told me that he didn’t like how original cover artist Mac Raboy had Captain Marvel’s and Bulletman’s feet touching. He said it was effeminate! I pleaded with him, and he said the only way he would do it is if he separated the feet! I agreed. He made a few other remarks that shall be left unsaid! PCH: Was there ever one Captain Marvel item that was impossible for you to find, or became “the one that got away”? HM: The one item I was never able to obtain was the Captain Marvel die-cut Door Hanger. PCH: What’s the magic behind amassing such an eminent, large-scale Captain Marvel collection, and, in doing so, did you unearth any new discoveries? HM: I had the good fortune of acquiring a large number of Captain Marvel/Fawcett items when the contents of the Fawcett warehouse were sold. I was not a direct part of the Fawcett warehouse sale; my stuff was acquired from my friend Steve Geppi and other dealers. One of those items was a large file of inter-office information. There are several interesting memos that discuss a Captain Marvel ring, which was never produced because of the 20% sales tax. Another memo discusses a Captain Marvel toothbrush, which also was never made. PCH: You mentioned previously that you own the Chapter One poster from Republic Pictures’ 1941 movie serial The Adventures of Captain Marvel, starring Tom Tyler. Did you happen to go see chapters of it as a youngster when it originally ran in movie theatres? HM: Yes, I saw the Captain Marvel movie serial when I was seven

Watch Out For Those “Effeminate Feet”! America’s Greatest Comics #1. (Left:) The original cover from 1941 by Mac Raboy. (Right:) A 1981 re-creation of it by C.C. Beck hanging on the Matetskys’ wall. [Shazam hero, Spy Smasher, Bulletman, Minute-Man, & Mr. Scarlet TM & © DC Comics.]

years old, and it blew me away! I still think it’s the best serial ever made. I have in my collection lobby cards, posters, and some 8x10 publicity stills from the serial. I also have the pressbooks for the Captain Marvel and Spy Smasher serials. PCH: Reed & Associates were contracted by Fawcett to produce a handful of sharply-designed paper toys such as The 3 Famous Flying Marvels. Do you have any favorites among these paper items? HM: I have all the Reed & Associates paper toys, and my favorites are Captain Marvel’s Magic Eyes and the Captain Marvel Jr. Ski Jump. PCH: I have a Marvel Family metal figurine set from the UK, originally manufactured in the ’50s. What are some unique items from overseas that have made it into your collection? HM: For foreign country items, I am fond of my two Captain Marvel pinbacks and coloring book, both from England. PCH: The Captain Marvel Power Siren was the very first item produced by Fawcett, correct? HM: I have the Captain Marvel Power Siren display sign with the whistles still attached to it. They were the first official CM items offered by Fawcett in 1940. PCH: Your Captain Marvel collection took center stage in Abrams

FCA [Fawcett Collectors Of America]

Paper Capers Some vintage Marvel Family toys from the Matetsky collection. (Clockwise from top left:) Boys… girls… they really do fly! Faster than a speeding paper airplane were The 3 Famous Flying Marvels in this paper toy from 1945. Captain Marvel has his Magic Eyes on you with this 1944 paper toy produced by Reed & Associates of Chicago, IL, and sold by Fawcett. Captain Marvel Jr. hits the slopes in this high-flying 1944 “sensational action toy.” The artwork is a take-off on Mac Raboy’s cover for CMJr #15. [Shazam characters TM & © DC Comics.]

Comicarts’ magnificent 2010 hardcover book, Shazam! The Golden Age of the World’s Mightiest Mortal by Chip Kidd and Geoff Spear—now in a second softcover edition. The Captain Marvel “play cape” from 1948 was one of the many rare items shown in the book. I got a kick out of the disclaimer that’s printed on it: “Play cape does not possess superhuman powers.” That sounds like something Otto Binder would’ve written! It’s surprising that Fawcett didn’t produce a full CM costume for its young club members. HM: I believe the Captain Marvel “play cape” in my collection is the only one that exists, as it was a prototype of an item that was never produced. As for a CM costume for children, I have a Fawcett inter-company memo that discusses the manufacturing of the costume, which was ultimately never produced due to a wartime shortage of the required fabric. PCH: Also in the Abrams book we have some superb close-up shots of the incredibly scarce stuffed velveteen Marvel Bunny and Captain Marvel dolls. HM: I never owned the CM doll, but acquired the Marvel Bunny doll from a fellow collector. Both are very rare.

A Conversation With Pre-eminent Captain Marvel Connoisseur Harry Matetsky

Prime Premiums (Clockwise From Above:) Not quite making the cut in Abrams’ Shazam! book were these two rare British Captain Marvel pinbacks from the Matetsky collection. In this C.C. Beck-drawn ad from Master Comics #2 (April 1940), Captain Marvel was giving away his 10¢-apiece Power Siren for free! The toy was the very first Captain Marvel item to be offered by Fawcett. [Shazam hero TM & © DC Comics.] Another item from Matetsky’s collection that didn’t make it into Abrams’ Shazam! book was this lobby card from the 1950 Columbia Pictures film The Good Humor Man starring Jack Carson—as well as TV’s soon-to-be Superman, George Reeves!— and containing copious Captain Marvel Club members and paraphernalia! [The Good Humor Man TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Standing Like A Statue With the set of Kerr’s Marvel Family statuettes from 1946 (packaged in a colorful box designed by C.C. Beck), it’s an arduous endeavor to find the fragile Marvel Bunny in an unbroken condition, due to those long, long ears! Image courtesy of Heritage Auctions. [Shazam heroes TM & © DC Comics.]

FCA [Fawcett Collectors Of America]

Eye Candy After seeing C.C. Beck’s “candy store” piece in the 10th Edition of The Overstreet Price Guide (above), Harry Matetsky commissioned Captain Marvel’s original artist to paint the “candy store” piece for him—with additional Fawcett characters added—and to give the red-shirted comic-reading patron eyeglasses so that he would look more like Harry! “Beck surprised me by asking if I wanted a ‘C.C. Beck version’ of Captain Marvel Jr. or a ‘Mac Raboy version’ of Junior,” Harry recalls. “Since Raboy was, far and away, my favorite Fawcett artist, I shamelessly/ stupidly said, “MAC RABOY!” [Shazam hero & other Fawcett-related characters TM & © DC Comics; Captain Tootsie TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders; other art © Estate of C.C. Beck.]

A Conversation With Pre-eminent Captain Marvel Connoisseur Harry Matetsky

PCH: I own the Captain Marvel Jr. and Mary Marvel statuettes that were produced by the R.W. Kerr Company of Hastings, Nebraska, in 1946— packaged in a decorative box designed by C.C. Beck. I had heard from another collector that most of the Hoppy the Marvel Bunny statuettes never survived the shipping process. HM: I consider myself lucky to have a complete set of the four boxed Kerr statuettes of Captain Marvel, Captain Marvel Jr., Mary Marvel, and Hoppy the Marvel Bunny. Hoppy is almost impossible to find undamaged. The bunny’s ears are very fragile and easily broken. PCH: Do you still collect Fawcett items? Do you think there’s any hope that the original Captain Marvel will ever rise again to his former prominence?

Harry & Loved Ones (Above:) Harry Matetsky: “I met my wife when we were working for a movie-magazine company in 1966. She was an editor and I was the art director. It was when we decided to ‘retire’ in 1985 that she began her mystery-writing career [amandamatetsky.com]. We have two children: our son is an attorney and our daughter is a psychotherapist. We have two granddaughters.” (Below:) In 1981, Harry commissioned C.C. Beck to create this prodigious Captain Marvel painting using acrylics. (Beck normally used mostly Tempera paint for commissioned pieces.) “I even sent him the acrylic paints as well as the canvas board and a set of brushes,” Matetsky recalled. “I’ve always regretted trading that painting.” Scan courtesy of Heritage Auctions. [Shazam heroes TM & © DC Comics; other art © Estate of C.C. Beck.]

HM: My Fawcett collection is extensive, but I have collected—and will continue to collect—a wide variety of other super-hero-related items. I was an advisor to the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide for many years, and I still provide research and information to other related sources as well. I thoroughly enjoyed collaborating with Chip Kidd on Shazam! The Golden Age of the World’s Mightiest Mortal, published by Abrams Comicarts. In closing, let me say that I believe the Marvel Family will continue to thrill readers and movie fans for a very long time to come.

RetroFan: The Pop Culture You Grew Up With! If you love Pop Culture of the Sixties, Seventies, and Eighties, editor MICHAEL EURY’s latest magazine is just for you!

RETROFAN #11 (Now Bi-Monthly!)

Just in time for Halloween, RETROFAN #11 features interviews with Dark Shadows’ Quentin Collins, DAVID SELBY, and the niece of movie Frankenstein Glenn Strange, JULIE ANN REAMS. Plus: KOLCHAK THE NIGHT STALKER, ROD SERLING retrospective, CASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST, TV’s Adventures of Superman, Superman’s pal Jimmy Olsen, QUISP and QUAKE cereals, the Drak Pak and the Monster Squad, scratch model customs, and more fun, fab features! Featuring columns by ERNEST FARINO, ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, and SCOTT SHAW! Edited by MICHAEL EURY. (84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 • (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships October 2020

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Interviews with MeTV’s crazy creepster SVENGOOLIE and Eddie Munster himself, BUTCH PATRICK! Call on the original Saturday Morning GHOST BUSTERS, with BOB BURNS! Uncover the nutty NAUGAS! Plus: “My Life in the Twilight Zone,” “I Was a Teenage James Bond,” “My Letters to Famous People,” the ARCHIE-DOBIE GILLIS connection, Pinball Hall of Fame, Alien action figures, Rubik’s Cube & more!

With a JACLYN SMITH interview, as we reopen the Charlie’s Angels Casebook, and visit the Guinness World Records’ largest Charlie’s Angels collection. Plus: interview with LARRY STORCH, The Lone Ranger in Hollywood, The Dick Van Dyke Show, a vintage interview with Jonny Quest creator DOUG WILDEY, a visit to the Land of Oz, the ultra-rare Marvel World superhero playset, and more!

NOW BI-MONTHLY! Interviews with the ’60s grooviest family band THE COWSILLS, and TV’s coolest mom JUNE LOCKHART! Mars Attacks!, MAD Magazine in the ’70s, Flintstones turn 60, Electra Woman & Dyna Girl, Honey West, Max Headroom, Popeye Picnic, the Smiley Face fad, & more! With MICHAEL EURY, ERNEST FARINO, ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, and SCOTT SHAW!

NOW BI-MONTHLY! Interviews with ’70s’ Captain America REB BROWN, and Captain Nice (and Knight Rider’s KITT) WILLIAM DANIELS with wife BONNIE BARTLETT! Plus: Coloring Books, Fall Previews for Saturday morning cartoons, The Cyclops movie, actors behind your favorite TV commercial characters, BENNY HILL, the Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention, 8-track tapes, and more!

NOW BI-MONTHLY! Celebrating fifty years of SHAFT, interviews with FAMILY AFFAIR’s KATHY GARVER and The Brady Bunch Variety Hour’s GERI “FAKE JAN” REISCHL, ED “BIG DADDY” ROTH, rare GODZILLA merchandise, Spaghetti Westerns, Saturday morning cartoon preview specials, fake presidential candidates, Spider-Man/The Spider parallels, Stuckey’s, and more fun, fab features!

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LOU FERRIGNO interview, The Phantom in Hollywood, Filmation’s STAR TREK CARTOON, “How I Met LON CHANEY, JR.”, goofy comic Zody the Mod Rob, Mego’s rare ELASTIC HULK toy, RetroTravel to Mount Airy, NC (the real-life Mayberry), interview with BETTY LYNN (“Thelma Lou” of THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW), TOM STEWART’s eclectic House of Collectibles, and MR. MICROPHONE!

Horror-hosts ZACHERLEY, VAMPIRA, SEYMOUR, MARVIN, and an interview with our cover-featured ELVIRA! THE GROOVIE GOOLIES, BEWITCHED, THE ADDAMS FAMILY, and THE MUNSTERS! The long-buried Dinosaur Land amusement park! History of BEN COOPER HALLOWEEN COSTUMES, character lunchboxes, superhero VIEW-MASTERS, SINDY (the British Barbie), and more!

Interview with SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE director RICHARD DONNER, IRWIN ALLEN’s sci-fi universe, Saturday morning’s undersea adventures of Aquaman, horror and sci-fi zines of the Sixties and Seventies, Spider-Man and Hulk toilet paper, RetroTravel to METROPOLIS, IL (home of the Superman Celebration), SEAMONKEYS®, FUNNY FACE beverages, Superman/Batman memorabilia, & more!

Interviews with SHAZAM! TV show’s JOHN (Captain Marvel) DAVEY and MICHAEL (Billy Batson) Gray, the GREEN HORNET in Hollywood, remembering monster maker RAY HARRYHAUSEN, the way-out Santa Monica Pacific Ocean Amusement Park, a Star Trek Set Tour, SAM J. JONES on the Spirit movie pilot, British sci-fi TV classic THUNDERBIRDS, Casper & Richie Rich museum, the KING TUT fad, and more!

Interviews with MARK HAMILL & Greatest American Hero’s WILLIAM KATT! Blast off with JASON OF STAR COMMAND! Stop by the MUSEUM OF POPULAR CULTURE! Plus: “The First Time I Met Tarzan,” MAJOR MATT MASON, MOON LANDING MANIA, SNUFFY SMITH AT 100 with cartoonist JOHN ROSE, TV Dinners, Celebrity Crushes, and more fun, fab features!

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BRICKJOURNAL #65

Hollywood interviewer CHRIS MANN goes behind the scenes of TV’s sexy sitcom THREE’S COMPANY—and NANCY MORGAN RITTER, first wife of JOHN RITTER, shares stories about the TV funnyman. Plus: RICK GOLDSCHMIDT’s making of RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER, RONNIE SCHELL interview, Sheena Queen of the TV Jungle, Dr. Seuss toys, Popeye cartoons, DOCTOR WHO’s 1960s U.S. invasion, & more fun features!

Exclusive interviews with Lost in Space’s MARK GODDARD and MARTA KRISTEN, Dynomutt and Blue Falcon, Hogan’s Heroes’ BOB CRANE, a history of Wham-O’s Frisbee, Twilight Zone and other TV sci-fi anthologies, Who Created Archie Andrews?, oddities from the San Diego Zoo, lava lamps, and more with ERNEST FARINO, ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, and SCOTT SHAW! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

Holy backstage pass! See rare, behind-thescenes photos of many of your favorite Sixties TV shows! Plus: an unpublished interview with Green Hornet VAN WILLIAMS, Bigfoot on Saturday morning television, WOLFMAN JACK, The Saint, the lean years of Star Trek fandom, the WrestleFest video game, TV tie-in toys no kid would want, and more features from FARINO, MANGELS, MURRAY, SAAVEDRA, SHAW, and MICHAEL EURY.

BrickJournal celebrates the holidays with brick sculptor ZIO CHAO, takes a offbeat look at Christmas with our minifigure customizer JARED K. BURKS, and decks the halls with the holiday creations of KOEN ZWANENBURG! Plus: “AFOLs” by cartoonist GREG HYLAND, step-bystep “You Can Build It” instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, and more!

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