Alter Ego #172 by TwoMorrows Publishing

Roy Thomas' Barbarian-Oriented Comics Fanzine

MOON-LIT MAYHEM FROM THE ASTONISHING

ALFREDO ALCALA

$9.95

In the USA

No. 172

Voltar art TM & © Estate of Alfredo Alcala.

Nov. 2021

82658 00443 9

Vol. 3, No. 172 / November 2021 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

Don’t STEAL our Digital Editions!

Michael T. Gilbert

Editorial Honor Roll

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

Proofreaders

William J. Dowlding

Cover Artist

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With Special Thanks to: Alfredo Alcala, Jr. Christian Alcala Heidi Amash Henry Andrews Richard J. Arndt Bob Bailey Ricky Terry Brisacque Steve Bissette Bernie Bubnis Mike Burkey Nick Caputo John Cimino Pierre Comtois Chet Cox Michael Diaz Mark Evanier Shane Foley Frank Foster, Jr. Michael D. Fraley Stephan Friedt Janet Gilbert Grand Comics Database (website) Mario Guevara George Hagenauer Roger Hill

Carla Jordan Sharon Karibian Jim Kealy Tristan Lapoussière Mark Lewis Art Lortie Jim Ludwig Glenn MacKay Mike Mikulovsky Cayman Moreira Brian K. Morris Mark Muller Barry Pearl Mike Pellerito Todd Reis Larry Rippee David Roach Steven Rowe Bob Rozakis Randy Sargent David Saunders Brian Stewart Dann Thomas John Totleben Michael Vance

This issue is dedicated to the memory of

Alfredo Alcala, Victor Gorelick, & Dennis O’Neil

Contents Writer/Editorial: An Epistle From The Philippines . . . . . . . . . 2 Alfredo Alcala—Wizard With A Brush . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Richard Arndt speaks with the sons of the Philippines-born comics master.

More From That Other World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Part XVII of Golden/Silver Age writer John Broome’s 1997 memoir.

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt: The 7 Faces Of Leo Rosenbaum! . 53 Michael T. Gilbert on the various secret identities of the man called Richard E. Hughes.

Tributes To Victor Gorelick & Dennis O’Neil . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 re: [correspondence, comments, & corrections] . . . . . . . . . 67 FCA [Fawcett Collectors Of America] #231 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

P.C. Hamerlinck presents David Saunders on his pulp-artist father Norman S. at Fawcett.

On Our Cover: We certainly had an embarrassment of riches when choosing among illustrations by Alfredo Alcala for the cover of this issue of Alter Ego. We think we didn’t choose too badly, though, when we settled on this drawing of Alfredo’s sword-and-sorcery hero Voltar (created in 1963 but probably drawn here in the late 1970s or so) to represent all the goodies coming at you this time around! Thanks to Alfredo Alcala, Jr. [TM & © Estate of Alfredo Alcala.] Above: While Alfredo Alcala could handle horror, action, and humor with equal dexterity, he felt frustrated by the fact that he was so seldom given full-art chores on any U.S. super-hero comics. Here, though, he both penciled and inked the story for Captain Marvel #35 (Nov. 1974), as scripted by Steve Englehart & Mike Friedrich. Thanks to Mark Muller & Michael T. Gilbert. [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: 68 US, $103 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.

writer/editorial

Epistle From The Philippines I

’m reputed by some to have a fairly good memory for things that happened to or around me in the comicbook industry in the 1960s and ’70s. It’s a reputation, I hope, not entirely undeserved.

But I’m afraid that, when I try to recall the day and/or the circumstances of my first meeting the wonderfully talented Alfredo Alcala, I draw a blank. Most likely that’s because, when I decided one day in early 1974 that he should be the artist to ink/embellish John Buscema’s pencils on an adaptation of the Robert E. Howard story “Black Colossus” in The Savage Sword of Conan #2, Alfredo was still living in the Philippines, mailing in his work from halfway around the world—still through the studio run by his fellow artist Tony DeZuñiga. Alfredo wouldn’t move to the U.S. until two years later, dividing his work between Marvel and DC—and just about any other company that would give him an assignment. While Stan Lee (and I) usually preferred to get artists and writers we liked to do all of their work for Marvel, that approach was decidedly impractical with regard to Alfredo, because he could pencil-and-ink several pages a day, seven days a week. To keep him busy full-time, we’d have had to drop two or three other artists! I know I liked Alfredo from the day I met him, whenever that was—but of course I was already prejudiced in his favor by two years of beautiful work on “Conan” and other strips, both at Marvel and elsewhere. Because I myself relocated to Los Angeles in 1976, the same year Alfredo moved there, our paths often crossed, both in terms of work assignments and at parties. I was fascinated by his tales of carrying on a bit of freelance spying (with related spy-drawings) for the anti-Japanese underground in the Philippines during World War II. Somehow, it never really occurred to me to doubt the tales he was telling me… which is a good thing, because he was evidently telling the truth.

For a time, around 1980, he and I lived only a few blocks from each other, in south Hollywood. That proximity facilitated my offering him the art chores of the Conan the Barbarian newspaper comic strip I was writing, because we could just walk the strips back and forth. Alfredo drew two storylines before he left the strip… for reasons I can’t recall, except that I’m sure I wasn’t happy to lose him. Some of my main memories of him are from parties and such gatherings held in L.A. [See p. 36.] Alfredo was a quiet presence at such events, and my mind’s eye recalls him with a wry grin on his face… friendly, approachable, and yet a bit judging for all that. You never knew quite what was going on behind those bright, searching eyes. You hoped he liked you… because you liked him. I mostly lost touch with Alfredo after Dann and I moved to South Carolina in late 1991, though he had the larger part of a decade of life ahead of him. Somehow, he seemed one of those artists who would just go on forever. But, of course, none of us do. I’ve been wanting for years to do an Alcala issue of Alter Ego. One of his sons, Christian, and I discussed such a project a decade ago, but it didn’t quite happen then. Recently, ace interviewer Richard Arndt got in touch with his other son, Alfredo Jr., and that got the ball rolling again in earnest… with the result that this issue features interviews with both siblings. The only thing that would’ve made this issue even better? If Alfredo was still around to enjoy it!

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BLACK SUPER(& OTHER) HEROES IN AMERICAN COMICS! • Marvel-hero cover montage by KIRBY, GRAHAM, TUSKA, & COLAN! • From Voodah to Black Panther—and beyond! Awesome overview by comics historian BARRY PEARL—plus an in-depth interview with DR. WILLIAM FOSTER III, author of Looking for a Face Like Mine on the story of African-Americans in comics! • Showcasing the amazing art and creations of MATT BAKER • BILLY GRAHAM • DWAYNE McDUFFIE • BERTRAM FITZGERALD • A.C. HOLLINGSWORTH • DENYS COWAN • GRASS GREEN • GEORGE HERRIMAN • GUS LEMOINE • JACKIE ORMES • BRIAN STELFREEZE • ADOLPHE BARREAUX • ORRIN EVANS, et al.! • Plus—FCA presents NORMAN SAUNDERS, Part II—MICHAEL T. GILBERT on the 1950s Mad and its imitators—& MORE!

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Alfredo—’Twixt Voltar & Conan Which may be how Alfredo Alcala, seen here some decades ago, might have felt he spent much of his life in comics: ’twixt his 1963 Viking creation Voltar and Marvel’s 1970s90s incarnation of Conan the Cimmerian. Seen above left is his wraparound cover for the Filipino Alcala Fight Komix #3 (Aug. 6, 1963), one of Voltar’s earliest appearances, with text in the Tagalog language (scan courtesy of Alfredo Alcala, Jr.)— —while the Marvel “Conan” page was both penciled and inked by Alfredo, probably in the late 1970s, for a never-published adaptation of Robert E. Howard’s Crusader-era story “Hawks of Outremer” (scan courtesy of Michael Diaz). Curiously, Marvel did publish a Conan adaptation of “Hawks,” illustrated by Malcolm Davis with script by RT, in Savage Sword of Conan #222 (June 1994). How and why Alfredo’s version went unprinted remains a mystery, since it clearly wasn’t for reasons of quality! After RT departed Marvel in 1980, it probably just got shelved for years… and was sadly forgotten when Roy returned to SSOC a decade later. [Voltar art TM & © Estate of Alfredo Alcala; Conan page TM & © Conan Properties, LLC.]

ALFREDO ALCALA— Wizard With A Brush

Interviews With Sons ALFREDO ALCALA, JR., & CHRISTIAN ALCALA About The Philippines-Born Comics Master Conducted & Transcribed by Richard J. Arndt

Interviews With The Sons Of The Philippines-born Comics Master

NTERVIEWER’S INTRODUCTION: Alfredo Alcala was born August 23, 1925, and died on April 4, 2000 [the Internet says 4-8-2000]. He was born in the Philippines, where he worked in local comics from 1948 through at least the early 1970s. There, in 1963, he created “Voltar,” a series starring a Viking warrior, seven years before Conan was developed into a sword-&-sorcery comicbook character in the U.S.—and three years before the Cimmerian’s debut in Lancer paperbacks. In 1971 Alfredo joined the many Filipino artists recruited for DC Comics by editors Carmine Infantino and Joe Orlando through Tony DeZuñiga. His first U.S. stories appeared in 1972. His first work for Marvel, largely as an inker, was in 1974 over John Buscema’s pencils for the black-&-white title The Savage Sword of Conan. During this period, Alcala continued to work for DC as well... in 1975 co-creating the caveman series Kong the Untamed for them. In 1977 he began doing stories for Warren Publications, including a brand-new Voltar graphic novel serialized in The Rook Magazine. He also did a risqué serial called “Terra O’Hara,” written by Don Glut, for the men’s magazine Adam. In the early 1980s he drew the Star Wars and Conan newspaper strips, while also inking, penciling, or doing both on such titles as Batman, Swamp Thing, Hulk, Hawkman, Arak/ Son of Thunder, Freddy Kruger’s A Nightmare on Elm Street, Destroyer Duck, The Shadow, Hellblazer, Firestorm, Scooby-Doo, and numerous others. When comics work began to dry up in the mid-to-latter 1980s, he worked in animation for Ruby-Spears and Hanna-Barbera, alongside Jack Kirby and Steve Gerber, among others. His last comics work appeared in 1996 in one of DC’s Big Book series. This first interview with Alfredo Alcala’ s son, Alfredo Alcala, Jr., a.k.a. Alfred Alcala, who lives in Manila, took place on August 19 & 25, 2020, via a series of international video conferences….

equipment, watch where the soldiers were stationed and how their camps were organized, and then draw all that from memory when he’d get back home. He’d give the drawings to the underground resistance groups. If he’d been caught, he’d have been executed immediately. His day job during the war years was as a bootblack. After the war he did designs for reconstruction work at an ironworker’s shop. A lot of things in office buildings and churches had been destroyed during the war, and he would do design sketches for wrought-iron pieces, furniture, chandeliers, church pulpits, doors…things like that. He also worked as a carpenter and a sign painter. His first artwork for books was as an illustrator for the Philippines` Boy Scouts’ handbooks. RA: Do you know what his first professional jobs as a comics artist were? I’m assuming that this would have been comics done for the Philippine comics industry. ALCALA: My father’s first work for comics appeared in October 1948. The actual title of that comic was Bituin Komiks, which translated into English as Star Comics. Within a month he was also working for Ace Publications, at the time the biggest publisher in the country. He also worked for other publishers. RA: Do you know what kind of comic that first one was? Adventure? Romance? Anything like that? ALCALA: In the Philippines, they didn’t have specific genres. There weren’t books like Superman, about a specific character. Each comic would have five or six short stories or serial installments in them, of many different types, most only four pages long. The comics were published every two weeks. Each would have a mix of adventure, romance, sometimes adaptations of classics, as well as some reprinted comic strips. My father not only showed that he was very good at drawing comics, but he was also very fast. That let him

I. Alfredo Alcala, Jr. RICHARD ARNDT: Thank you for agreeing to this interview. First, when was your father born? ALFRED ALCALA: I’m happy to talk about my father. He was born on August 23, 1925, and he died on April 4, 2000. RA: I know his first work for American comics began appearing in 1972, but he had a long career both drawing and publishing comics in the Philippines before that date. Do you know where he got his art training? ALCALA: My father was self-taught. He was drawing in grade school. He would leave school and draw on the riverbanks. He graduated from elementary school, but being out of school too often meant that he never graduated from high school, nor was he able to go to an art school, so he was entirely self-taught. RA: Are there other people in your family who have artistic talent, or was he an anomaly? ALCALA: My son, who is fourteen years old, draws. I am an architect, which, of course, involves a great deal of drawing. RA: By the dates we’re talking about, your father would have been sixteen, or thereabouts, when the Japanese invaded and occupied the Philippines, from 1941-1945. Can you tell me about what he did during those years? ALCALA: By that time, he was out of school. He didn’t finish elementary school. During the Japanese occupation, he was actually a spy for the Filipino resistance. He had a real artist’s memory. He could see something and then draw it without having it right in front of him. During the war he would bicycle pass Japanese outposts and camps. He would observe Japanese pillboxes,

Alfredo Alcala, Jr.—a.k.a. Alfred Alcala stands before a framed but unfinished oil painting titled “Acapulco,” which his father began in 1975. Courtesy of Alfred Alcala.

Alfredo Alcala—Wizard With A Brush

work for a lot of publishers. RA: 1948 would mean your dad became a comics professional at age 23. The only title I’m aware of that he was doing in the Philippines was his own creation, “Voltar.” When did he start drawing that character? ALCALA: He started “Voltar” in Alcala Fight Komix, which came out two times a month beginning with a date of July 1963. Voltar was a Viking character my father created. My father did everything on the character—writing, pencils, inks, lettering, and publishing. In fact, he never used assistants. They weren’t as fast as he was, and he thought it diluted his work—that it wasn’t completely his any longer. RA: That July 1963 date means Voltar debuted almost exactly seven years before Conan first appeared in a U.S. comicbook, although Conan had been in print in prose magazines since 1932. You say that was a self-published comic? ALCALA: It was a company started by a group of artists who were famous at the time for their comic art. Besides my father, the people involved were Antonio (also known as Tony or Anton)

Alfredo In 1947 One of the earliest known photos of the artist, taken in the Santa Ana district of Manila, not long before he started his comics career—with his painting of American movie star Tyrone Power. Below left is one of his earliest splash pages, from Tagalog Klasiks #12 (1949)—while directly below is his cover for Bisaya Komix #10 (Feb. 16, 1953), for Ace Publications, which his son Alfred describes as the biggest comics publisher in the Philippines at that time. Thanks to Alfred Alcala. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Interviews With The Sons Of The Philippines-born Comics Master

The Coming Of Voltar This double-page spread heralded Voltar’s debut in the July 9, 1963, issue [a.k.a. #1] of Alcala Fight Komix. Script & art by Alfredo. Later, the comic’s title was altered to simply Alcala Komix. [TM & © Estate of Alfredo Alcala.]

Caravana, Amando Castrillo, Nestor and Virgilio Redondo, and Jim Fernandez, all well-known writers and artists. Their company, which published Alcala Fight Komix, among others, was called CRAF Publishing, which used the first initial of the last name of each person. It wasn’t until he created “Voltar” that his own style, the type of artwork that he also did in the United States, began to fully emerge. Before that he was heavily influenced by American illustrators like J.C. Leyendecker, Hal Foster, or Lou Fine. RA: Do you have any examples of the art he did while influenced by Lou Fine? ALCALA: Yes, but they are in pretty bad shape. They are quite old and have been attacked by termites. I cannot open them because they are badly damaged, the pages are stuck together and would fall apart into sawdust if I separated them, so I cannot show you the actual interior pages… only the covers, which he also did. RA: Even with the damage, those are actually not only great Lou Fine-influenced covers but quite stunning as well. I can see why your father gained a reputation in the Philippines. ALCALA: Here’s a comic from March 29, 1952, featuring “Ukala.” “Ukala” was his creation. He wrote and drew it. There was even a local movie adaptation made of it in either 1952 or 1953.

RA: That’s one where you can really see your father’s personal style starting to emerge. The Native American on the cover really highlights your father’s work. [NOTE: See p. 8.] ALCALA: “Ukala” is a series set in the American Southwest, during the days of the Spanish conquistadors. The character you’re referring to is an American Indian. Because of the American military bases, the Filipino comics had a fair amount of stories based on U.S. history and culture. He also drew science-fiction stories at that time, even though science-fiction was not really popular here. Mythology and history were also sources for stories. My father loved history. He created several World War II serials based on the stories of the Japanese admiral Yamamoto and on the Battle of Midway, the Graf Spee, President’s Kennedy’s PT-109, and others. RA: This is all beautiful artwork. The artwork may be 70 years old, but it’s all new if you’ve never seen it before. ALCALA: My father also drew humor for the Philippine comics, which he never had a chance to do much with in the U.S. Short one-pagers and so on. I have one page from 1949 of his that features two comedians and is called “MagKonpaareng.” They are Putak, a combo of two comedians who are buddies. RA: How big was the comics industry in the Philippines in the 1950s and 1960s? ALCALA: It was the main entertainment media. TV was very scarce, even in the cities. People had radios but not very much in

Alfredo Alcala—Wizard With A Brush

A Prince Of A Fellow (In Fact, Two Of Them!)

Like A Voltar From The Blue (Above:) Alfredo’s cover for the first issue of Alcala Fight Komix (dated July 9, 1963) gave the world its first glimpse of Voltar—but only in an inset drawing. The cover feature was a super-hero drawn in the style of early U.S. artists Lou Fine and/or Reed Crandall. Thanks to Alfred Alcala. [© the respective copyright holders.]

Many of the stories Alcala spun in Filipino comics were of princely heroes inspired by the Arabian Nights—such as (left) “Prinsipe [Prince] Amante” in Aksiyon Komiks #6 (Aug. 16, 1950) and (below) “Prinsipe Ahmad” in another title from that year. Thanks to Tristan Lapoussière & Alfred Alcala, respectively. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Interviews With The Sons Of The Philippines-born Comics Master

“Ukala” By Alcala Just as Alfredo’s “Voltar” preceded Marvel’s renditions of “Conan,” he also created his Native American hero “Ukala” in 1952 to interact with 16th-century Spanish conquistadors—three decades before he inherited the art chores on DC’s Arak/Son of Thunder title written/co-created by his earlier “Conan” collaborator Roy Thomas, wherein an Amerindian “discovered Europe” in the late 8th century. The cover directly above is for the May 23, 1953, edition of Ace’s Filipino Komiks; the art above right is from a different issue of that magazine. “Ukala” was serialized in the comics in 1952-53, and was made into a full-length feature film in ’53. Thanks to Alfred Alcala. [TM & © Estate of Alfredo Alcala.]

the way of television. So, for visual entertainment, comics were big. A billion-peso industry. There were at least twenty different comics being published every other week during the 1950s-60s. There were five separate publishing companies putting out these titles. Like I said, the average story length was four pages. By 1968 my father was the sole publisher of Alcala Fight Komix. RA: What was your dad like growing up? ALCALA: He was a champion bowler. Not a professional one, but he earned a lot of trophies. I never saw any of his bowling matches. He did a lot of scale-model work… a lot of airplanes. That also helped in his work, as he could turn the model and get different angles when he was drawing planes. He also did a scale model of the Japanese warship the Yamato. It was big—four feet long! We also had a wooden Spanish galleon ship. These models were made out of balsa wood. He had a knack for carving things. He used that skill in making repairs on chairs and things like that. He carved picture frames. He actually did that kind of carpenter work before, during,

and after the war. He played several instruments—harmonica and guitar. He liked to listen to classical music. He was also a big fan of Anton Karas’ zither song, “The Third Man Theme.” He played that a lot. Sometimes he’d work all night drawing comics. I was never allowed to touch the finished artwork, though. That was off-limits. I didn’t realize how fast he was as an artist at the time. He was my father. That was what he did. It was only years later that I realized how extremely fast he was. He could do complete artwork on eight to ten pages a day. To take a break from comics, sometimes, in the afternoons, he would do oil paintings for commissions or competitions. I actually have some of my dad’s American comics from when he was young. [NOTE: At this point, Alfred shows Richard several old Quality and DC comics… including a Blackhawk title, a comic with the Sheldon Moldoff-drawn “Hawkman,” and Red Dragon, a Smith & Street title from 1943-1944 which must have been picked up after the war ended.] RA: You’ve kept your dad’s collection now for some 45 years, so you’re the curator and preserver of these books. ALCALA: I keep as many of my dad’s works here as I can find. Dad also did war comics. [NOTE: For the record, throughout the interview, Alfred was sitting in front of a wall covered with comics, as well as stacks of them on tables and shelves in the background.] RA: The one you’re showing me is a little bio of Douglas MacArthur. I

Alfredo Alcala—Wizard With A Brush

Running The Gamut In Four Colors (Or Less) (Clockwise from top left:) The cover of a late-1963 issue of Alcala Fight Komix featured the Christmas story—while #52 (July 24, 1965) gave Alfredo a chance to draw a humorous Frankenstein monster—the cover of Alcala Komix #100 (June 28, 1967) combined crime and science-fiction— while the interior splash of Redondo Komix #6 (July 16, 1963) retold the story of the 1942 Battle of Midway. A versatile guy, no? [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Interviews With The Sons Of The Philippines-born Comics Master

think I also see a John Constantine comic behind you on the wall as well. ALCALA: Yes. Dad worked on Hellblazer for a bit in the late 1980s, as an inker. RA: Those Filipino comics you’re showing me look a bit bigger than the average American comic of the time. ALCALA: There’s a little difference in size, but not that much. They’re actually a bit shorter than American comics, but a little wider, I think. RA: Is that war comic you’re holding in your hand about the Battle of Jutland? Those look like World War I ships to me. ALCALA: It’s the story of a German ship. Sometimes the comics had color, but it would only be one color. This one’s pages inside are colored in red but no other color. It followed a sort of wash design. RA: So it’s a “two-color” comic [black & red] instead of a four-color one. Over the years it looks like the red has faded a bit, but when it was new, I suspect it looked pretty snazzy. I’ve read that your father was an editor in the Filipino comics by 1950, only two years after starting in the business. Do you know what company he was editing for?

In the Philippines the stories were usually in black-&-white, so the artwork had to be very solid. You didn’t have color to mask poor artwork. Everything had to be there--the shading, the shadows. In 1971 my father told Carmine Infantino that he could do forty pages of full artwork, or 80 pages a week of inking. RA: Eighty?!? Wow! Well, I can believe that, if you look at the number of pages he was inking every month while also penciling/inking quite a few horror stories for both DC and Marvel. And there didn’t seem to be any difference in the quality from job to job. Sometimes when an inker embellishes different pencilers’ work, the amount of embellishment changes from job to job, but not with your father. It was all incredibly detailed work. ALCALA: My father was very interested in details. RA: The first U.S. credit I see for your father is a ten-pager for Secrets of Sinister House #6 (Aug.-Sept. 1972), from a script by Sheldon Mayer. He actually had nine stories published in various DC anthology titles by the end of 1972. Or nineteen, if you include the comics between Jan.-March

ALCALA: Akfyon Komiks. The “Komix” with the “x” on the end were only used for the Redondo/Alcala comics. The rest were “Komiks,” spelled with a “ks.” RA: I know the Filipino artists were recruited for U.S. comics by a visit to your country by DC editorial director Carmine Infantino and editor Joe Orlando in 1971. They were talking to Tony DeZuñiga [pronounced Day-Zoo-NYEE-ga], who was already drawing such DC characters as “Jonah Hex,” “Doctor Thirteen,” and many mystery stories. He had a group of artists in his studio called “The Tribe”—at least that’s what they were called in the U.S.—-that he was working with. ALCALA: The Tribe was a collection of artists working in or for DeZuñiga’s studio that were competing with Neal Adams’ Crusty Bunkers. It operated much the same way. Adams, for the Crusty Bunkers, or DeZuñiga, for the Tribe, would perhaps pencil but certainly ink the major characters, while the rest of the artists would pencil or ink the secondary characters and the backgrounds. Maybe a page or two for each artist. The various Filipino artists would also do solo work on titles like Kamandi, Kong, Sgt. Rock, other titles. RA: Your dad appeared to be an extremely fast penciler and inker. I’m told that he often lettered his pages as well. How many pen & ink pages could he do in a day? ALCALA: There are two versions of how fast he was. One was a letter he wrote himself, that is in both English and Tagalog [a native Philippines language]. Quoting him directly, he says he could do eight pages a day, pencils and inks. RA: Good Lord! Eight full pages of that detailed artwork in a day?!? What about just inking? How many pages just inking could he do a day? ALCALA: More. Twice as much. This is the second version of how fast he was. He was able to work nonstop for a considerable amount of time. He could go 96 hours working without sleeping, when deadlines got close.

Battleship In The Side Pocket! Alfredo’s cover for Espesyal Komiks (= Special Comics?) #179, dated Aug. 17, 1959, was devoted to the British Royal Navy’s pursuit of Nazi Germany’s “pocket battleship” the Graf Spee during the early days of World War II. [© the respective copyright holders.]

Alfredo Alcala—Wizard With A Brush

Back In The Day (Left:) Alfredo and wife Lita Alcala. Thanks to Alfred Alcala. (Right:) Alfredo (wearing glasses) and fellow artist Tony DeZuñiga, in a photo taken in their native Philippines in the early 1960s. Seen below is the splash page of a Filipino comicbook story of that period drawn by DeZuñiga—with the “De” for some reason left out of his name. Thanks to Mike Mikulovsky for the scan. [© the respective copyright holders.]

1973, which would have appeared on newsstands in 1972. 147 pages in his first seven months. All featuring his pencils and inks, and often the lettering as well. And that’s just what was published fairly early in his U.S. career. Those anthologies didn’t print all the stories done as soon as they got them. Some of those stories wouldn’t appear in print for months or even years. ALCALA: From time to time, I remember him bringing home artwork from other artists as well. He would do little bits and pieces to help them make deadlines. He wasn’t credited for those. For his early work there is a notebook, a logbook where my father listed titles, job numbers, pages, payment, and more for his early DC work. As time went on the notebook became less and less detailed, but he did the notebooks for several years. [NOTE: At this point Alfred left to get the logbook to show Arndt, soon returning with it.] RA: Oh, wow, that is very detailed. And it’s in English. He’s listing the stories as he did them—by job numbers, and not by publication. ALCALA: Like you said, his first U.S. publication was “When Is Tomorrow Yesterday?,” but I think that was the fourth or fifth story that he actually drew. The publication and order they were drawn in were never one-to-one. Some of the stories in the logbook have his completion dates listed, but not the earliest ones. RA: The dates provided do make sense, though. Infantino and Orlando came over in late 1971 to hunt for talent, and the first stories your father was delivering back to them began seeing print in the summer of 1972. ALCALA: Sadly, all of his artwork is forgotten over here in the Philippines. And this notebook is unfinished. It only goes through 1974. But it’s an historical document. For only two years, there’s a lot listed in here. He was very meticulous in the details, and it covers both DC and early Marvel work. Most of the Marvel work, early on, was inking only. RA: I noticed that he did a Pendulum Press adaptation of Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities. Was that done before or after he [Continued on p. 14]

Interviews With The Sons Of The Philippines-born Comics Master

Sidebar:

“Oh,” Alfredo nodded. “You want me to pencil, ink, and letter pages like this?”

When Alfredo Went American

“Yes.” “Well,” Alfredo explained. “That changes things.”

by Mark Evanier

“I would think so,” Orlando sniffed. “Now then… how many pages a week do you think you can do?”

[Originally published in the 5/5/00 issue of Comics Buyer’s Guide]

lcala’s transition to drawing for the American market began in the early ’70s when an intermediary arranged for a group of artists in the Philippines to sell work to DC Comics. Alfredo often told the tale of going to a hotel in Manila to show his samples to Joe Orlando, one of DC’s senior editors. [A/E EDITOR’S NOTE: As underscored by the photo below, DC editorial director Carmine Infantino was also present, and would of course have been in charge. In other details, however, Mark’s relating seems to be spot-on.] Orlando was naturally impressed with the quality of the work he was shown. He told Alfredo that DC would hire him and asked how many pages per week he could produce.

Mark Evanier

Skeptical and disbelieving, Orlando put Alfredo down for 40 pages per week. Soon after, when Alcala pages began arriving at DC at that rate, it was assumed by some that “Alfredo P. Alcala” was the joint moniker of perhaps a half-dozen hands. Not so—as anyone who later saw Alfredo sketching at a convention can attest…. Throughout [his later sojourn in Los Angeles], Alfredo was a mainstay of California comic conventions, and a mentor to many local artists. One of them, Tom Luth, sent the following for inclusion in this piece… Having worked as an assistant to Alfredo for a number of years, I had the opportunity to know him well, and see the many sides of his complex personality. He was opinionated and eccentric, witty yet serious. One seeing his initial quiet manner would not likely guess the sophistication and depth of knowledge this self-educated artist possessed.

“Forty,” said Alfredo. The editor was startled. The least exhaustible DC artist would be hard-pressed to pencil and ink ten pages in a week. Then he realized that Alfredo probably assumed he would only pencil or only ink. “No, no,” Orlando said. “We want you to do all the art… pencil, ink, even lettering.” “I see,” Alfredo muttered. “I pencil, I ink, I letter?” “Yes,” Orlando nodded. “Now, how many pages per week do you think you can do?”

The depth of observation he constantly displayed in his art was nothing short of remarkable. He would fill placemats at dinner with sketches of specific cars, planes, battleships, and celebrities, all from memory. I will miss his tales of UFOs, WWII in the Philippines, and countless other topics, as well as his great art, and of course, the man himself. On a personal note… he lived about two miles from me and, for a time, our mutual Federal Express man would automatically deposit every package with a Marvel or DC mailing label on my doorstep. This was in spite of the fact that the

“Forty,” said Alfredo. Again, the editor was startled. Obviously there was some sort of misunderstanding here. He figured that the artist before him was thinking in terms of very simple pages with only two or three panels on each and no detail. Fortunately, Orlando had brought along with him several dozen pages of original art from past DC books. He showed Alfredo pages by Neal Adams, Joe Kubert, Curt Swan, and others. “We want work like this… these many panels per page, and this detailed,” Orlando explained.

“Eighty,” said Alfredo.

Summit In Manila (Above, left to right:) Carmine Infantino, Tony DeZuñiga, and Alfredo Alcala during their meeting in the Philippines in 1971. Since Alfredo is pointing toward the picture-taker, it was quite possibly Joe Orlando—who’s seen in the 1985 color photo on the right. Thanks to Mike Mikulovsky & Bob Rozakis, respectively.

Alfredo Alcala—Wizard With A Brush

address in the “to:” space was sometimes Alfredo’s.

Alcala Is In The House!

Since Alfredo didn’t drive, I’d take those parcels over to him. He’d buzz me into the building and when I reached his door, it was ajar. I’d enter and there—in a small, cluttered apartment overflowing with art supplies, paintings, and very little that did not relate to the production of illustration—would be Alfredo. He would be hunched over a drawing board intensely laying down lines, with his perpetual cigarette befouling the air.

(Above:) Splash of one of Alfredo’s earliest artistic efforts for DC: House of Secrets #100 (Sept. 1972). Script by Jack Oleck. Thanks to Bob Bailey, who says “Rest in Peace” was the first Alcala-drawn story he ever read. [Comic page TM & © DC Comics.]

I did not mind at all that he had not gotten up to let me in. In the time he’d have spent playing host, he probably finished a whole panel of something.

(Right:) Mark Evanier also writes: “When Alfredo first came to the U.S. to live [in 1976], he had to have some guaranteed employment in order to get into the country. That came from the cartoonist Zeke Zekley, through his company Sponsored Comics. Zeke had landed the contract to produce P.S. Magazine, the magazine that Will Eisner did for a long time for the military. Zeke hired Alfredo to do most of the artwork and Don R. Christensen to do most of the writing… and that’s how Alfredo moved to Los Angeles. After a while, Zeke found that the magazine was too much trouble to produce and he decided to sell it… to Murphy Anderson, I think. That left Alfredo unemployed, and he had to scramble to find enough work (mostly from DC and Marvel) to show the government he was employed.” (L. to r. in photo taken by Mark:) Don R. Christensen, Zeke Zekley, & Alfredo Alcala.

He’d start on some topic—usually not comics; more often, politics or a new grievance about someone discriminating against him because he was a Filipino and/or a smoker. I did not always concur with his specific examples, though I do believe he was sporadically penalized because employers could not or would not wade through his imperfect—though perfectly adequate—English. I’d stay until the conversation lapsed and/or the tobacco aroma drove me away. But no matter how long I was there, Alfredo never stopped drawing. Not then, not ever. A few years ago, he suffered a stroke which slowed his pace and hampered his control. Still, he did not stop drawing. He never stopped drawing… until last Saturday. And—who knows?—maybe not even then.

Interviews With The Sons Of The Philippines-born Comics Master

Secrets Of The Sinister Ledgers The first page of one of the early-1970s ledgers Alfredo kept of stories he drew for DC—which, as luck might have it, leads off with this tale from Secrets of Sinister House #6 (Aug.-Sept. 1972), written by Sheldon Mayer. Thanks to Alfred Alcala & Bob Bailey, respectively. [TM & © DC Comics.]

[Continued from p. 11] started working for DC in 1971? Was it originally done for a Spanish or Filipino publisher or for Vince Fago’s Pendulum Press? ALCALA: I’m not sure. I was really too young. RA: The reason I asked is that I have 29 volumes of Pendulum’s black&-white adaptations, all copyrighted 1973-1974 and all illustrated by Filipino artists, apparently done some years before their artwork appeared in American comics. Fago is said to have visited the Philippines in 1970, apparently on the same kind of mission as Infantino. Your dad’s style in A Tale of Two Cities is certainly consistent with his early 1970s work. All the familiar Filipino artists are featured in the Pendulum Press books— Alex Nino, Nestor Redondo, Vic Catan, and many more. In the mid-1970s Marvel began reprinting some of them in its Marvel Classics Comics series. Aside from the lettering, I don’t think they really changed them, except to present them in color. ALCALA: I think Nestor Redondo was in charge of the art assignments. My father did a Robin Hood book as well. [NOTE: Alfredo inked Rudy Mesina on an adaptation of that story, reprinted in Marvel Classic Comics #34 (1978). Alfredo appears to have illustrated a completely new cover for that reprint.] RA: That Redondo connection sounds right, because a lot of the ones that I have were illustrated by Frank (or Francisco, as he’s credited in the books) Redondo. ALCALA: Yes, that sounds like Nestor. My dad would get one job

from Nestor while Quico [Frank] would get four. Dad’s first major Marvel work was inking John Buscema on “Conan.” [NOTE: “Black Colossus,” in The Savage Sword of Conan #2, Oct. 1974.] RA: That work was fabulous. It looked like etchings rather than pen & ink. Just amazing. ALCALA: Yes, he did have an etching style. He used it in the Philippines when he started work on “Voltar” in 1963. Voltar, the character, was actually Scandinavian—a Viking. He often wore a winged Viking helmet. The first “Voltar” comic that he did in America—Magic Carpet #1, 1977—was originally a Philippines original. The second, from The Rook [Magazine] #2-9 (Feb. 1980-June 1981) was done in the United States. RA: Most Americans became aware of Voltar when he appeared in The Rook Magazine. I know there was some comment at the time on how similar Voltar looked to Conan, but of course your father had been inking the black-&-white Conan for some time at that point. The faces on both characters were very similar, even before your father started inking Conan, from the first time Buscema started drawing Conan in 1973. However, in [U.S.] comics, Voltar is much the older character. He appeared seven full years before Barry Windsor-Smith’s version, and a good ten years before Buscema took over the character. I honestly don’t think the similarity is any big deal. ALCALA: My father was quite careful about Voltar. Nobody really saw what the character looked like until the first story was published. He did that work secretly, so it would look very new,

Alfredo Alcala—Wizard With A Brush

Classic! (Far left:) Alcala’s cover for his art-adaptation of Charles Dickens’ novel A Tale of Two Cities, done for editor Vince Fago for the 1974 Pendulum publication. That edition was republished later in the Marvel Classic Comics series. Script adaptation by Naunerle Farr. Fago had been editor of Timely Comics from 194245. Thanks to Jim Kealy. [© the respective copyright holders.] (Near left:) Cover for the 1978 Marvel Classic Comics reprinting of the Alcala-drawn Pendulum Robin Hood. Thanks to Alfred Alcala. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Get Out The Voltar! (Left:) The cover of Comics & Comix’s Magic Carpet #1 (1977)—the first appearance of Alcala’s “Voltar” in the U.S., though the material was reportedly taken from “a Philippines original.” (Right:) A “Voltar” action page from Warren Publishing’s The Rook Magazine #2 (Feb. 1980). Script by Bill Dubay. It’s easy to see why Americans thought Voltar a copy of Conan… but in truth each was a totally independent character, although the look of the 1980s Voltar had likely been influenced a bit by Alcala’s work in Savage Sword of Conan. Thanks to Jim Kealy. [Voltar TM & © Estate of Alfredo Alcala; Rook Magazine TM & © The New Comics Company.]

Interviews With The Sons Of The Philippines-born Comics Master

Fight, Fight, Fight! The cover of Alcala Fight Komix #10 (Nov. 26, 1963). Assuming that’s Voltar on the cover, he’s temporarily abandoned his trademark winged helmet for a headband. Thanks to Alfred Alcala. [TM & © Estate of Alfred Alcala.]

very fresh. He actually worked on perfecting that style for two years before the first “Voltar” story appeared. He wanted to surprise the industry. RA: I’ll bet he did just that. It’s striking, beautiful work. Quite unique for comic art, especially at the time. I don’t know of any American artists who approached the comic page in that style. None of the Filipino artists that came along with him to work in the States had that type of lush, detailed art, although Nestor Redondo’s artwork also had a considerable amount of detail, but in a different style. I did want to ask if there may have been any artistic influences on the look of Voltar when the character started in 1963. Might your dad have been influenced by Hal Foster’s Prince Valiant or Joe Kubert’s “Viking Prince”? ALCALA: Prince Valiant, certainly. There were a lot of Viking ships in that series. I don’t remember anything about a Viking Prince. RA: There really wasn’t a lot around at that time, but might your dad have been reading sword-&-sorcery novels or short stories before “Voltar” saw print? There were some in the pulp magazines. ALCALA: He might have, but not Conan. Conan was not known

here at the time. He might have read some sword-&-sorcery, but I don’t remember any titles. My dad wrote the “Voltar” stories that appeared in the Philippines. The Rook series was scripted by Bill DuBay [as “Will Richardson”], but the story was my father’s. The Magic Carpet story says Manuel Auad was the writer, but I’m not sure how the credits for that story worked out. RA: Perhaps Auad translated the story into English from a story by your father. Auad worked a fair amount with Alex Toth, and actually published three books on Toth. He also did work on Jordi Bernet and Alex Nino collections. All of that was years after the “Voltar” story, however. ALCALA: I know the Philippines stories were written by my father. He used a totally different style of art for “Voltar” than he’d been using up to that time. The Lou Fine-inspired style was set aside. The etching style was brought to the forefront. RA: You can see some of that transition in the “Spanish Conquistador”/”Ukala” stories, although he’s not fully there yet. I understand that, when “Voltar” first came out in 1963, other artists were telling your father the book couldn’t make a profit because it couldn’t be translated into the movies. Were most Filipino comics developed into movies in those days? ALCALA: Yes, home-grown movies. It’s much like today in American comics. The comics acted as a springboard to movie development. The movie companies at the time displayed no originality. They went after whatever comics were hot and made a

Alfredo Alcala—Wizard With A Brush

movie from it. What date do you have for the first “Voltar” comic? RA: I have July 9, 1963. Since they were doing two issues a month the second issue would have been dated July 23, 1963. ALCALA: I’ve got the first issue right here, and the date on it is July 30, 1963. RA: Really? Apparently, the source I was reading either had the date wrong or quoted an actual sale date, not the cover date. The source I used to determine the date of Alcala Fight Komix #1, the online website Comic Vine, has a picture of the cover of that first issue, with the July 23, 1963, date clearly visible. [INTERVIEWER’S NOTE: Unfortunately, we were having a thunderstorm over my house while this part of the interview was taking place; and while the sound was decent, the picture quality of our streaming interview had become quite blurry and I couldn’t make out the date or even really the cover illustration clearly enough to see if they were the same issue or not.] ALCALA: Something else that I don’t think many people know is that my father invented the fountain brush. To make that etching style work, he needed a brush that could deliver a long line and didn’t require him to constantly dip the brush into the ink. So he took an ordinary fountain pen, removed the handle from a Chinese brush, and pushed the ink-cartridge nib into the tip of that Chinese

It’s A Wrap! Wraparound cover for Alcala Komix #24 (June 9, 1964). Thanks to Alfred Alcala. [TM & © Estate of Alfredo Alcala.]

brush so the ink would flow constantly down through the brush hairs onto the tip of the brush. RA: That’s really innovative. If I understand this right, he pulled the plug of hair or bristles off the handle? So the ink just flowed down the brush hairs directly onto the paper? ALCALA: Yes. Inside the brush hair plug would be a short piece of bamboo where you’d put the fountain pen’s nib in. I saw him do this when I was a child, but he continued to use that homemade fountain brush when he went to the United States as well. He would remove the fountain pen ink from the cartridge and insert India ink into it. RA: As I remember India ink, when exposed to air for any length of time, tended to get turgid, gummy. Did he have to water it down to keep it flowing continuously? ALCALA: No, he didn’t use any thinner. RA: When he brought the brushes, did he prepare all them at once? He must have needed a fair number for use if he was doing that many pages a day? ALCALA: I don’t know. I just know that he used it a lot, and he did have spares ready to go, in case something went wrong with one in the middle of the night. They were disposable. When the ink in the cartridge was gone, you removed the cartridge and put a new one into the brush head.

Interviews With The Sons Of The Philippines-born Comics Master

Four From The Philippines A clockwise quartet of Alcala gems from his early years: Extra Komiks #4 (Oct. 1, 1951)… Hiwaga Komiks #36 (Feb. 13, 1952)… Espesyal #9 (Feb. 9, 1953)… and Silagran Komix #4 (date unknown). Thanks to Tristan Lapoussière. [© the respective copyright holders.]

Alfredo Alcala—Wizard With A Brush

You had to be very fast using it, because if you weren’t fast—if you paused before taking the brush off the paper—it would blot and smear on the page, ruining the artwork. Artists who tried to follow him in using the fountain brush had problems with it because it was constantly dripping. If you didn’t work fast, it would ruin the artwork. You had to move the brush quickly, make definite lines quickly. You had to have a very complete vision of what the art would look like before you put that pen to paper. You had to be thinking three steps, five steps ahead of what you were actually drawing at that moment. He didn’t patent it because he wanted other artists to follow him in using it, but they found it difficult to do that.

ALCALA: I think part of that style change may have been instructions given to him. I believe some other artist inked a page as an example and he was sent this sample and told “ink this in the Swamp Thing style.” I don’t know who the editor was at the time [INTERVIEWER’S NOTE: probably Karen Berger]... but that other artist’s work was sent with the idea that the artwork would stay as consistent as possible. Sometimes he would ink his pages rightside-up, and sometimes sideways, going up and down the panels rather than across them. He was also inking “Batman” in different books around the same time as Swamp Thing. [Continued on p. 21]

RA: How long did an improvised pen like that last? ALCALA: After three or four pages he’d need to replace the cartridge. Less if there was a lot of detail on the page. I remember that, after he arrived in the States, he would send my mother and me to Chinatown in the Philippines so we could buy as many of those particular Chinese brushes as we could find and ship them to him, because it was hard to find those brushes in the States. He wanted to use just that one particular brand of brushes. I can’t tell what the brand name was, because it was in Chinese script. We knew the correct brushes to get him, because at the end of the brush handle, at the top, there was always a red band. For DC Comics, right at the start in the 1970s, he was using the fountain brush. Later on, for [Saga of] Swamp Thing, when he was inking Steve Bissette or Rick Veitch, he was using something different. While he was in the States, Pentel put out a fountain pen that used colored dyes. He drained out the dye from the cartridge and refilled them with India ink. That worked really well for him, too. Other artists couldn’t use it, though. When Pentel stopped making the pen, he raided as many art stores as he could, trying to get a big supply of those pens before they were all gone. He even called Pentel and told them what he was doing with their fountain pens. They told him that it wasn’t possible to do what he claimed it could, that the India ink would harden and clog the cartridge; but somehow he made it work. Perhaps he did find a way to thin out the ink or something. Maybe his speed was so fast that the ink was gone from the cartridge before it could harden and clog the inside. I suppose that the inking would have looked different with this. I don’t know when exactly he started using this kind of brush adaptation, however. RA: That sounds right, because his inking on Swamp Thing was in a different style from what he’d been using on Kong the Untamed or [Savage Sword of] Conan.

“This Will Kill You!” Splash page of an Alcala-drawn story from House of Secrets #106 (March 1973); script by Jack Oleck. Thanks to Jim Kealy. [TM & © DC Comics.]

Interviews With The Sons Of The Philippines-born Comics Master

Sidebar:

Alfredo Alcala & Swamp Thing by Steve Bissette & John Totleben

Steve Bissette:

’m overjoyed to add to an Alfredo Alcala tribute. Afredo has long been due more attention and praise. I’ve long loved his work. Alfredo’s first Swampy was #30, “A Halo of Flies,” on my pencils, and he was specifically chosen for that job at John Totleben’s suggestion. John correctly cited that both he and Alfredo were of the then very-narrow Franklin Booth-inspired school of linework in American comics.

Steve Bissette It was very odd working “with” him, though, or rather, turning in pencils that Alfredo inked—we had no contact during the process and no interest in having any contact was expressed or reciprocated. My longest phone conversation with Alfredo

concerned the original art for SOTST [Saga of the Swamp Thing] #30. At the time, DC returned original art pages favoring the penciler (me) in larger quantities, with fewer going to the inker. Since I saw the inker as an equal partner in our endeavors, John Totleben and I would divvy up the pages between us equally each issue, alternating who went first with first pick. This way, we both ended up with pages we favored and neither had “claim” on those he preferred above the other artist. I called Alfredo to propose the same notion, but Alfredo simply couldn’t grasp what I was saying. My seeing him as an equal partner, deserving the same number of pages I would end up with, made no sense to him. He didn’t laugh at me—he seemed pretty humorless throughout the conversation—but it was clear he thought it foolish of me to even be suggesting I give him any consideration of any kind. “It’s just a job,” he said at one point, “another job, but this one was more work.” In fact, he made it clear that he’d prefer that I had all the pages, and that I buy them from him, plus more from other DC titles he’d inked. Since I had no money (DC paid the lowest page rates of their outfit on Swamp Thing), I couldn’t take him up on the strange offer, and we rather awkwardly ended the conversation.

“A Halo Of Flies” Two-page spread from Saga of Swamp Thing #30 (Nov. 1984) by Steve Bissette (penciler) and Alfredo Alcala (inker). Script by Alan Moore. Thanks to Brian Stewart, Jim Kealy, & Jim Ludwig. [TM & © DC Comics.]

Alfredo Alcala—Wizard With A Brush

I worked with him again, on #41, “Southern Change,” with a better handle on how to pencil for Alfredo, to play to his real strengths. Unlike when I worked with John, I didn’t know Alfredo’s preferences or predilections. For instance, I didn’t put a lot of detail into Swamp Thing’s texturing, since I knew what John would and wouldn’t do. But I had to put in twice as much work in on issues Alfredo was inking, because I couldn’t leave anything to chance. For Alfredo, I had to put everything on the page, or it wouldn’t be in the inks.

John Totleben: I’d be happy to flog the old memory cells to help you out, though my involvement/contact with Alfredo was minimal. I’d only met him once, briefly, at the San Diego Con in 1986, when Karen Berger introduced us. Unfortunately, I never had a chance to hang out with him and talk shop—at SDCC or anywhere else. I’ve always admired Alcala’s work and consider his inking over John Buscema’s pencils in Savage Sword of Conan to be among the finest work ever produced in the b&w comics magazine format. I have admired his work—and drawn no small amount of inspiration from it—during my early years of artistic development. [Continued from p. 19] RA: Yes, generally over Don Newton’s or Gene Colan’s pencils. Before we go into that: Much of his early work for DC was done on the horror or mystery tales, as well as stories for Weird War Tales. The first recurring character he did was “El Diablo” for Weird Western Tales. ALCALA: Yes, it bothered my father that he, and really nearly all of the Filipino artists, didn’t get to work much on the super-hero books. That was where the prestige was. Tony DeZuñiga was doing a Western—“Jonah Hex” in Weird Western Tales—but not much in the super-hero field. The Filipino artists simply weren’t getting the big characters, the big books. RA: That is true. The only Filipino artist I remember doing super-heroes with any consistency was Ernie Chan, who had a healthy stretch of “Batman” stories in various titles during the mid-to-late 1970s. ALCALA: My father was doing the anthologies—horror stories, war stories, Westerns, even humor in Plop!—but it took a long time for him to do a lead character. I think the first was a “Zombie” story for Tales of the Zombie. That was for Marvel, not DC, and it too was a horror magazine, one of the black-&-white titles. That was very shortly after that he started inking “Conan” for the black-&-white comic. I think it was only then that people started to take real notice of him. RA: I suspect you’re right. His inking, and I’m assuming that this was using one of the fountain pen versions, was absolutely stunning, unlike anything I’d ever seen in American comicbooks. I know John Buscema himself was not a fan of the finished art, I suspect because he liked his own inking and Alfredo’s inking was so totally unlike that, but nearly every artist I’ve talked to regarding that work has said it was just stunning work… work that was not only beautiful to look at but represented a real advancement in what you could do in comics, especially in black-&-white comics. ALCALA: It was not only different, but it really was unique. It did not look like anything else on the stands at the time. It may still look unlike anything else being done today. He didn’t destroy John Buscema’s art. You could still tell it was Buscema under the inks, but it was my father as well. I think that John Buscema thought that

Especially the Conan material and his work on other DC and Marvel projects. As to how Alfredo ended up inking Swamp Thing: After Steve’s and my first year on Swamp Thing, it became clear that, for various reasons, we could not keep up with art chores on every monthly issue and still maintain the same level of quality. So fill-in artists were needed every few issues to help take up the slack. When [editor] Karen [Berger] asked me whom I would recommend as a pinch-hitter for inking Swamp Thing, the choice was obvious. My first, and I believe, only suggestion was Alfredo Alcala. At the time, Alcala was the only artist working in mainstream comics who employed a detail-intensive/textural approach to inking similar to my own. Our styles are noticeably different, but there were many obvious similarities in our tastes and techniques, not to mention a strong appreciation for the work of Franklin Booth. I’ve very glad to see that Alter Ego is giving him the recognition and appreciation he deserves.

John Totleben

my father’s inking was overpowering. If color had been added to this, he might have been right… it might have looked too muddy, especially with the poor quality of the paper and the printing at the time… but it always was intended to be seen in black-&-white. Those pages were generally on somewhat better paper. They had to be. If they were printed on the same paper as the color books, you’d have been able to see both sides of the art on one side. The art would have bled through. My father’s work always looked better in black-&-white—the depth, the tone, the shadows all look better in black-&-white. Those Showcase Presents volumes from DC that reprinted their horror stories in black-&-white show my father’s work that originally appeared in color in a black-&-white format, and I think it improves the story quite a lot. RA: Not just your father’s work. It improved nearly everyone’s work on those horror tales. Nearly every story in those Showcase Presents volumes benefited from being reprinted in black-&-white. It’s great to have those stories in both color and black-&-white. There are benefits from both versions of the same stories that completely vanish when seen in only one format. ALCALA: My father had spent many years drawing comics in the Philippines that were intended for black-&-white reproduction. I think a bit of the magic of his art was lost when color was put over his art. It went from its full strength to being somewhat muted. He often complained to me that John often left things out of the panels that needed to be in there. Some of the pages my dad was given were very loose sketches. RA: Buscema eventually switched to layouts rather than full pencils because, at that time, he was not only drawing both the color and black-&white Conan titles, but also the Fantastic Four, Thor, and any number of fill-in issues. Later, he’d be doing Tarzan as well. ALCALA: Some of those pages were full pencils, but the original ones that my dad kept were very loose pencils. There were no shades, no shadows. My dad was doing as much penciling as inking to finish those pages. There were finished pencils in some panels, but many featured just rough sketches. Not much background art. One of the pages I have of pencils, one panel is

Interviews With The Sons Of The Philippines-born Comics Master

nearly completely empty… just a light pencil sketch of an arch and a tiny figure of Conan running. My father would be expected to do complete artwork there. One of the things that had to corrected a lot was that John would put the sword in Conan’s left hand when he was righthanded. At other times, the sword would be in Conan’s right hand but the scabbard would be on the wrong side of his body. Or the scabbard would be on the correct side—the left—but Conan would also be holding the sword in his left hand. That sort of thing always had to be corrected. Sometimes the panels had to be reversed so they’d make sense. RA: You told me your father moved to the U.S in March of 1976. By that point, he’d been mailing in his artwork from the Philippines for a little over four years. ALCALA: Everything was sent by UPS. There was no problem with the mail or deadlines from my father’s side. I think some of the other artists did lose work in the mail on occasion. Sometimes the pages were found, although it took a while. Sometimes, I suppose, it

had to be redrawn. RA: Did you move to the States with him at that time, or were you even born in 1976? ALCALA: I was born in 1969. I’m 51, so I was only six when he moved. The family stayed in the Philippines. When I was growing up, we only talked by phone. Almost every day, my dad would call home and talk to my mom for an hour, then talk to us children. Sometimes the calls would last for hours. RA: He must have been missing you dreadfully. ALCALA: Sometimes it wasn’t that long. If we’d had a long talk the day before, there wouldn’t be that much to say the next night. He would tell us stories about his work and anecdotes about what was happening in the States—things he’d see in and around L.A. He lived initially in San Francisco, then in New York, and eventually in Los Angeles. He lived in the States for 34 years… from 1976 to 2000. RA: He lived in the U.S. until he passed away. Did you ever visit him in the States?

The (Second) Year Of The Bat Alcala inked Todd McFarlane’s dynamic pencils on Detective Comics #577’s “Batman – Year Two – Part 3,” cover-dated Aug. 1987. Script by Mike W. Barr. Thanks to Bob Bailey. [TM & © DC Comics.]

Alfredo Alcala—Wizard With A Brush

At The Zombie Jamboree Ball (Above:) Pencils-and-inks by Alfredo for a mid-1970s story in Tales of the Zombie (whose official indicia title, from first to last, was actually just Zombie). Alfred says that Marvel’s Simon Garth was the first “lead character” his father ever got to draw in U.S. comics—in Zombie #7 (Sept. 1974). Script by Doug Moench.Thanks to Christian Alcala. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.] (Above right:) That was hardly Alfredo’s first zombie rodeo, however— as witness this splash from an earlier Filipino comic (precise name and date unknown), with script by Pablo S. Gomez. [© the respective copyright holders.]

“Hither Came Conan The Cimmerian…” The first glimpse the waiting world had of the combined artistry of John Buscema (pencils) and Alfredo Alcala (inks) was the splash page of the 36-page adaptation of Robert E. Howard’s story “Black Colossus” in The Savage Sword of Conan #2 (Oct. 1974). Script by Roy Thomas, whose editorial decision it was to put Buscema and Alcala together—one he’s never regretted. Thanks to Barry Pearl. [TM & © Conan Properties, LLC.]

Interviews With The Sons Of The Philippines-born Comics Master

RA: Because his being in the States was taking away potential work from them? ALCALA: Yes. He hired a New York law firm to clear up the visa problems, but they never did anything for him. They just collected fees. Eventually, when he was in Los Angles, he finally got his visa back, but I was already an adult by that time and living my own life. By the time everything worked for both of us, he was already sick with the cancer that killed him. RA: That’s a real shame. ALCALA: For the first few years, every Filipino artist was doing work for DC, but by 1976 many of them were doing work for Marvel or Warren—maybe even other companies. By that time, DeZuñiga, who was DC’s initial contact person and their contractor for the Filipino artists, was shortchanging those artists. He was collecting the payments from DC but paying the artists only part of what they were owed. I don’t know if that affected my dad, because he and Tony were friends, but eventually DC took the contract away from DeZuñiga. After that, everything went through Nestor Redondo. Because of professional jealousy, Mr. Redondo was soon blocking my dad from work from that contract with DC. Nestor was the most famous artist of his family. Francisco or Quico—who was called Frank in the States—probably did more work in the States, though, because

“...Sword In Hand...” Two issues later, Buscema and Alcala were teamed again—this time on “Iron Shadows in the Moon,” in SSOC #4 (Feb. 1975). Script by Roy Thomas. During this period, Buscema was doing full pencils; before long, however, he’d resort to often submitting only penciled layouts for most stories. He would bounce back and forth between these two approaches for the rest of his long career in comics. Thanks to Barry Pearl. [TM & © Conan Properties, LLC.]

ALCALA: Just when he died. We had problems. When he moved to the States, travel visas were really hard to come by. I think people from the Philippines were sort of banned from the U.S., because of the political situation. There were a lot of tensions between the Philippines and the U.S. during that period—the Marcos were running the Philippines at the time, and they were not very popular in the U.S. “Banned” may not be the right word, but it was very hard for Filipinos to get travel visas. You could get one if you were very rich, but otherwise, not so easy. My dad managed to get one, however. RA: It’s possible, I suppose, that he had an easier time because he was a working artist, who was already doing work for several different U.S. companies by 1976. It’s even possible that one of those publishers greased the skids for him a little. ALCALA: One of the publishers in New York did help him. I’m not sure who, though. But later, when relations between the countries changed, my dad had no work visa, so he couldn’t leave the U.S. and come visit us. If he’d left, he wouldn’t have been allowed back in the U.S. And if other artists in the Philippines knew he was back in the country, they would have squealed on him.

Welcome To America! A color Conan commission drawing executed by Alfredo in 1976, the year he came to live in the United States. Thanks to comics dealer Mike Burkey; visit his site at www.romitaman.com. [Conan TM & © Conan Properties, LLC.]

Alfredo Alcala—Wizard With A Brush

ALCALA: Yes, but he was still doing DC scripts while working at Marvel. I think it was Marvel that made him the offer that got him to move to the U.S. He’d been doing “Conan” stories for about two years at that point. He was also doing work for Marvel’s Planet of the Apes titles by that time. RA: His solo work on Planet of the Apes is quite striking as well. He also did an Oz adaptation for the color tabloid books—the second novel, The Land of Oz—for Marvel.

Studio Heads (Above:) Mr. and Mrs. Alfredo Alcala, on our right, with Tony and Mary DeZuñiga, at dinner in the Philippines, in a photo dated Sept. 21, 1974. Thanks to Alfred Alcala. (Right:) Artist Nestor Redondo at a U.S. comics convention, in an undated pic—above his splash page for a Filipino comic that seems to be adapting the 1951 U.S. film rendition of the Roman-era novel Quo Vadis, which starred Robert Taylor and Deborah Kerr. [© the respective copyright holders. ]

he was drawing Sgt. Rock for so many years. When Nestor and Francisco worked together, they called themselves the Redondo Studios. The eldest of the artist brothers was Virgilo, who did a lot of work for Marvel’s black-&-white titles. My father eventually moved away from DC. He sent samples to Marvel through DeZuñiga, who’d also moved over to Marvel at that point. It only took two weeks or so and there were two jobs sent—one to my father and the other to Tony. They both transitioned over to Marvel at roughly the same time. By the time Nestor took over the DC contract, my father was already doing work for Marvel. In those days, you really worked for only one or the other. You worked for Marvel or you worked for DC, but generally not for both. Not if you wanted to get a lot of work. Warren, because they were doing black-&-white comics, wasn’t considered direct competition. [DC editor] Joe Orlando wrote a letter to my dad, wanting to know why he was working for Marvel. He thought the Filipino artists had an exclusive contract with DC, but my dad never signed that contract. RA: That exclusive contract would only have applied if he was an employee of either Tony DeZuñiga or Nestor Redondo—depending on who was the contract holder, right? Otherwise, the Filipino artists, for the most part, were essentially being farmed the work from either one or the other of the contract holders. They would have been freelancers, I would think, if that was the case. ALCALA: Right. Tony or Nestor—either one—was just the middle man. The jobs went to them and they sent them out to the artists. The artists did not work directly for either Tony or Nestor. RA: I don’t recall any non-DC stories for the first two years of Alfredo’s U.S. career. By 1974, when he started drawing for Marvel, DC probably had hundreds of published and unpublished pages from him. His work continued at DC for quite some time after that, but I suspect much of that was drawn much earlier than the DC publication date.

ALCALA: Yes, that was full art. He’d also already done several adaptations of famous novels [for Vince Fago/Pendulum Press] that Marvel later reprinted. As I mentioned, Nestor Redondo was the Filipino contract person for those books. This would have been earlier than the DC contract. 1970, I think.

Interviews With The Sons Of The Philippines-born Comics Master

RA: The Marvelous Land of Oz included a credit for Mary DeZuñiga, as the “layout supervisor.” ALCALA: She was Tony’s wife. I don’t believe she made a big contribution supervising my dad’s layouts. I never heard my father say, “It’s from Mary’s instructions.” My dad didn’t work in Tony’s shop. He was doing all of his artwork from home. [INTERVIEWER’S NOTE: For the record, Mary DeZuñiga did a lot of the running of the DeZuñiga/Tribe shop.] RA: I love Oz adaptations in comics. That entire series of novels just seems a natural source for graphic novel adaptations. I loved both of the tabloid volumes from the 1970s that Marvel or Marvel/DC put out, and I love the more recent Eric Shanower adaptations, both adapting and illustrating on his own and with Skottie Young doing the artwork. You might not think your father’s somewhat heavy style would work well with

the world of Oz, but the artwork on The Land of Oz is really quite nice. ALCALA: Dad did a lot more work in Marvel’s black-&-white titles than just Conan. He worked on “Ka-Zar,” Tales of the Zombie, and Planet of the Apes. RA: He was also doing work for Warren at around the same time. I recall him inking stories of “The Rook,” when that character was appearing in Eerie. I think we should also mention that, when we talk about the so-called “Spanish invasion” of artists in the U.S. in the early/mid-1970s, there were actually three distinct groups of Spanish-language artists, from very different parts of the world. There were the SI artists from Spain, including Esteban Maroto, Manuel Sanjulian, Luis Ruiz, and others, who did a great deal of artwork for primarily either Warren and Skywald, as well as a bit for Marvel. There were also the Filipino artists who all started, like your father, Alex Nino, Nestor Redondo, and Tony DeZuñiga, with DC, then moved on or expanded to other companies. Finally, there was the South American contingent that appeared for Skywald, Marvel, Charlton, and later for DC: Boris Vallejo, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, and Pablo Marcos were among that group. All three groups started out with basically one American comic company, then expanded throughout the American comics field, working for many companies. ALCALA: Those artists from Spain were really good. They all had very individual styles. I’m not saying anything against the Filipino or South American artists. They were very good as well but, in terms of distinctive, high-quality art, the artists from Spain were very good. RA: Many of those Spanish artists started out drawing romance comics, both in Spain and Great Britain, and they drew very pretty girls. The Filipino section also had Rudy Nebres. I liked his artwork quite a lot. ALCALA: Nebres was from the Redondo side of Filipino art. If you had the chance to look at the early-1960s Filipino artwork of Nestor Redondo and his brothers and that of Rudy Nebres, you would see the similarities. Anton Caravana was also from that school. Caravana died in an automobile accident. But they all started out with a similar style. They all looked something like Nestor Redondo. I was told a few years ago by a Filipino artist that Nestor’s style was easier to copy than my dad’s. If they copied my dad’s work, it would take up so much time that they would go hungry. My father was very fast, but it was very intricate, complex, and lush art. To copy his style took much longer than it took to copy one of the Redondo brothers. Artists just could not meet deadlines copying my dad’s work.

Recap On The Planet Of The Apes Alcala’s splash page for the adaptation of the second series film, Beneath the Planet of the Apes, in Marvel’s Planet of the Apes #7 (April 1975), recapped the denouement of the first movie. Script by Doug Moench, based on the screenplay by Paul Dehn—which in turn had been adapted from Pierre Boulle’s novel. [TM & © 20th Century Fox Film Corporation.]

RA: That not only makes sense but also explains why so many artists from the Philippines shared a similar style. Not all of them, of course—neither your father nor Alex Nino looked like anybody but themselves. Same with Tony DeZuñiga. But many of the Filipino artists did have a similar style which wasn’t seen nearly so much in the Spanish or South American artists. ALCALA: My dad and Alex Nino—they had distinct styles. You can tell one from the other. If you had an entire magazine of stories where

Alfredo Alcala—Wizard With A Brush

Oz You Like It (Above:) The Scarecrow and the Tin Man are reunited in Marvel Treasury of Oz #1 (1975), which featured a 78-page adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s The Land of Oz, his second book set in that fabulous realm. Looking on are Jack Pumpkinhead and the boy Pip (who’s actually the once and future Princess Ozma under a problematic amnesiac enchantment). Art by Alcala; script by Roy Thomas. (Right:) Photocopies of the black-&-white Alcala full art for nearly all of a similar-length version of the third Oz book, Ozma of Oz, are held by A/E’s editor, who scripted and edited all three Marvel-produced treasury Oz adaptations. Due to photocopier limitations, alas, a bit of art was trimmed at bottom and/or top on all pages. Not only does Dorothy return in Ozma; it also introduces Tik-Tok (a mechanical man) and the Hungry Tiger. Because Marvel’s contract with MGM called for all characters seen in its 1939 film The Wizard of Oz to be drawn to reflect their movie counterparts, the comicbook Cowardly Lion walked on two legs (rather than on four, as in Baum’s book); so Roy decided the Hungry Tiger should do likewise. [Art © Marvel Characters, Inc.; other aspects TM & © MGM’s successors in interest.] (Bottom right:) Alfredo’s artwork resembles less that of W.W. Denslow, original illustrator of Wizard, than that of John R. Neill, who exquisitely illustrated the following dozen or so Oz books, beginning with Land, as seen here. Incidentally, the coloring of the Scarecrow and Tin Woodman in what was printed as a black-&-white drawing is the result of a blue pen or pencil wielded by a very young Roy T. in his copy of the book. [© the respective copyright holders.]

everyone’s art looked the same, it would be boring. When the art is varied, you can develop different fans for different artists. It makes for better business for the magazine. There is a big difference between a good artist and a distinct artist. A good artist serves the story. The distinct artist pushes art forward in ways you don’t see or expect, while still serving the story. A lot of artists, unfortunately, are simply copiers of copiers. There’s nothing new in what they do. Here in the Philippines, a lot of the artists are simply copying Marvel artists from the super-hero books. They all look the same. Too cluttered. Everybody here seems to be copying Jim Lee’s art. We have one Jim Lee. To be honest, that’s enough. My dad’s artwork wasn’t a copy of anybody else’s. For him it was get the work done and make sure that it was good. RA: And your dad could tell a story. There are a lot of artists who are very talented but can’t tell a story. With those artists, each panel, each page is a separate event. Storytelling doesn’t work that way. If you have to have those little arrows to tell you where the next panel your eye is supposed to go to is, I don’t think that’s good storytelling. ALCALA: Well, sometimes you need those arrows because of art changes. If, like in the “Conan” stories, a panel had to be reversed

Interviews With The Sons Of The Philippines-born Comics Master

Giving Us The Creeps! (L. to r.:) Alcala splash pages of a story from Warren’s Eerie #99 (Feb. 1979), from a script by Nicola Cuti—and from the same company’s Creepy #125 (Feb. 1981), with story by Manuel Auad. Thanks to Michael T. Gilbert & Jim Kealy. [TM & © The New Comics Company.]

due to an error—the sword’s in the wrong hand or something else— the eye may be headed in the wrong direction because the reversed panel is now leading you in the wrong direction. An arrow may be necessary for the panel immediately after the reversed one, just to pull your eye back to where it originally was supposed to go. Too many arrows, though, is like the view from clicking the channel from one show to the next. You’re seeing it but not really following anything. That hurts the story. Back in 1975 or 1976 or so, DC offered an exclusive contract to my dad, but Marvel also offered him a contract at the same time. Marvel’s was better. Better money for more pages. The DC contract was the same money or nearly so that he was already getting from working through DeZuñiga or Redondo. In the end, he didn’t sign either contract. He just went to work for Marvel at the higher pay rate, while still working for DC.

and good, so he stayed busy. The funny thing that came from that was that Nestor Redondo was trying to ostracize my dad. My dad had, in Nestor’s mind, anyways, gone around his agency to work solo. I guess he actually had done that, at least for the DC work. The way Nestor saw it, my dad was stealing jobs from Nestor and his crew of artists. This was true even when they were both working for Warren. Nestor didn’t do as much work for Warren as my father did. RA: That’s true. Nestor himself did just a few covers and perhaps a few interior stories. The other Filipino artists did far more work for Warren than he did. Rudy Nebres, for instance, did quite a bit for Warren. Alex Nino as well. Your dad worked on inks for several “Rook” stories—he may have also inked some Carmine Infantino stories for Warren—and, of course, also did the second U.S. appearance of “Voltar” for Warren’s Rook Magazine.

RA: Well, as Russ Heath once told me, the more irons you’ve got in the fire, the better money and position in the industry you’re going to have.

ALCALA: After my dad moved to the States, DC dropped Nestor like a hot potato. For several years he had no DC work… Marvel and Warren only. One veteran artist who worked for Nestor told me that it was the same story as Tony DeZuñiga’s—that he wasn’t paying the artists’ their full payments for the artwork. Some artists supposedly got no payments at all. According to that veteran, that information got back to the DC office, so they dropped Nestor, although his brother Frank did quite a lot of Sgt. Rock work for DC. Even Marvel didn’t give Nestor much work.

ALCALA: The opportunity to work for both companies was there, so why not do it? Both companies wanted him because he was fast

RA: Nestor did do some Savage Sword of Conan covers. He also did a great underground cover for Barbarian Women Comics #1. But you’re

Alfredo Alcala—Wizard With A Brush

What’s Black & White & Green All Over? (Above:) A pulsating page from the magazine-size Rampaging Hulk #1 (June 1977), with Alcala inking the pencils of Walt Simonson, for a Doug Moench script. (Above right:) When the mag switched to color and changed its name to Hulk!, Alfredo inked Ron Wilson’s pencils for #17 (Oct. ’79). Script by Moench. Thanks to Mark Muller for both scans. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

right, Nestor’s DC work dried up rather abruptly in mid-1976. In fact, he pretty much vanishes from American comics from 1976-1980, when he returned to do seven or eight Savage Sword of Conan covers for Marvel and a number of covers for Warren’s The Rook Magazine and 1994. He doesn’t show up at DC again until 1982, and then only briefly. ALCALA: I know my father wondered why Nestor, who was really a good artist, wasn’t getting work from Marvel. He would have been a good choice for doing interiors for “Conan” in addition to those covers. I think Nestor got the cover work at Warren because my dad introduced him to the people at that company. Bill Dubay, I think, was the editor at that time.

A Green New Deal—1978 Edition Alfredo also inked some issues of the standard-size Incredible Hulk series, such as #222 (April 1978), over layouts by Jim Starlin. Script by Len Wein. Thanks to Mark Muller & Michael T. Gilbert. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Interviews With The Sons Of The Philippines-born Comics Master

RA: Now, back to your dad: he also co-created one of DC’s characters—Kong the Untamed, right? ALCALA: Yes, that was a caveman comic, written by Jack Oleck, who usually wrote short horror stories for DC. During that same period, Dad was also drawing or inking Marvel’s adaptations of some of the Planet of the Apes movies and inking Walt Simonson on the black-&-white Hulk book. [INTERVIEWER’S NOTE: As a b&w, it was first titled The Rampaging Hulk; then, when the TV series hit, it became the full-color magazine The Hulk!.] He then did a lot of inking on Ron Wilson, Gene Colan, and others when it went to color. I think he did work on some 80% of that Hulk magazine run. RA: At Marvel he actually worked on quite a few super-hero titles—more than I remembered right off the bat. Besides the ones you just mentioned, he worked on issues of Captain Marvel, Doctor Strange, Iron Man, and Ka-Zar… either inking or doing complete art pages. Of course, he also worked on a lot of Marvel’s horror and adventure titles, contributing full or inked artwork to Man-Thing, Zombie, Tarzan, Vampire Tales, even Howard the Duck. Of course, there was his huge contribution to both the color and black-&-white “Conan” titles. He appeared in 28 issues of Savage Sword of Conan, often working on stories that were 50 pages or more in length. He also contributed a lot more work to Warren than I’d thought—39 stories appearing in Creepy, Eerie, The Rook Magazine, and Vampirella, which would have likely put him in the top fifty artists for contributions to that company. ALCALA: The “Voltar” story in The Rook #2-9 is probably what people most remember about his Warren work. I think a lot of people at the time pointed out that his Voltar looked a lot like Marvel’s Conan, when, in reality, Marvel’s Conan looked a lot like Voltar.

Kong—The 8th Wonder Of The Comicbook World? Splash page of Kong the Untamed #1 (June-July 1975). Script by Oleck; art by Alcala. Alfred reportedly left the title after three issues because of problems with new Philippines studio manager Nestor Redondo. [TM & © DC Comics.]

RA: Is there still a booming Filipino comic presence in your country? ALCALA: Not any more. There is still some, but by unknown artists. Perhaps not unknown, but they have day jobs. It is not their prime occupation. Their artwork is seen and sold at conventions or for online comics. The comics industry here has really died. That is partly because publishers here got greedy. The system that worked had new comics coming out every two weeks, but in the early 1970s they increased the frequency to every week. By the 1990s issues were coming out twice a week. The public interest in comics couldn’t sustain that. Neither could the industry. How can you have good art when you are producing it so fast? The deadline for comics is always yesterday, no matter what country you are in. The public turned away and the comics industry just died. I don’t think it will ever come back here. At least, not in the way it was when my father and the other great Filipino artists were working.

RA: On a different topic, you showed me the Filipino comics that you have from your father. Do you have a large selection of your dad’s American work as well? ALCALA: I have a lot of the Conan and Swamp Thing work. RA: Am I right in thinking there were only the two “Voltar” comics published in this country? The story in Magic Carpet #1 in 1977, and the 1979-1980 story serialized in The Rook Magazine #2-9. Is that correct? ALCALA: Bill Blackbeard was the publisher for Magic Carpet, with Manuel Auad listed as the writer for the “Voltar” story. The second story in the comic, which isn’t a “Voltar” story, lists Blackbeard as the writer, with my father doing full artwork on both stories. The second “Voltar” story, from The Rook, was by DuBay, under his pen name [Will Richardson].

Alfredo Alcala—Wizard With A Brush

The Marvel Age Of Alcala (Above;) Occasionally using his middle initial in the credits, Alfredo penciled and inked such Marvel hero issues as Man-Thing #14 (Feb. 1975) and Doctor Strange #19 (Oct. 1976). Scripters were Steve Gerber on the first, Marv Wolfman on the second. Thanks to Mark Muller & Barry Pearl. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Rooked! Voltar might not be seen in this splash from his story in Warren’s The Rook Magazine #3 (June 1980), but the artwork is no less breathtaking to behold. Thanks to Michael T. Gilbert & Jim Kealy. [TM & © The New Comics Company; Voltar TM & © Estate of Alfredo Alcala.]

Interviews With The Sons Of The Philippines-born Comics Master

RA: I don’t think the second U.S. “Voltar” story has ever been collected, although it should be. It was really top-notch, both art and story. Put both “Voltar” stories together, along with some commentary about the earlier, Filipino tales by your dad and you’d have a nice volume.

RA: If the comics field fell apart in the Philippines as you say, it’s probably a good thing that you didn’t follow directly in his footsteps. You’re at least making a living as an architect. ALCALA: Not as much as you think. It’s actually a lot of headaches, dealing with the suppliers, the laborers. Every person has an attitude that you have to deal with, all at the same job sites.

ALCALA: There is a European collection of Voltar, of those two stories. It’s a black-&-white collection with a color pin-up, only a couple of years old. It’s in Spanish so I can’t read it, but it is my dad’s artwork and it’s reproduced quite well. This book, which came out in Spain last year, shows some of his watercolor and acrylic pieces. Maybe more acrylic than watercolor, I guess.

RA: I see some of your dad’s humor work beside you. I know he did work for DC’s Plop! and I’ve seen a lot of his humor work, which seems to feature chimps quite regularly.

RA: I have some French and Spanish language sets myself. Dossier Nebro, L’Echo des Savanes USA Special, Vampus, the Spanish Creepy, etc. I can’t read them, either, but the art is nice and sometimes I make up stories to go along with the artwork. If the artwork is done by a good storyteller, that’s not that hard to do.

ALCALA: He did a lot of humor comics here in the Philippines. I think he may have been the only serious artist from here who also did a lot of humor stories. A lot of artists, if they did funny stuff, did funny stuff only all their lives. Same for serious artists. My dad, though, did both.

You mentioned that you were an artist as well? ALCALA: I’m an architect. I think I had the ability to be an artist, but I knew I couldn’t do the same kind of artwork as my father. I just don’t think I was as good as him. As an architect, I could follow my own path. He started out drawing designs for various things— gates, windows, and so on, and in that way I guess I am following him, at least in a way.

RA: In Plop!, at least, he shared company with artists who were usually quite good at both funny stuff and drama. Sergio Aragonés was mostly known for humor, but Wallace Wood, Bernie Wrightson, Steve Ditko were good at both types of comics. I’ve seen private work by Alex Nino that was in a humorous vein, though it wasn’t meant for publication; it was sketchbook humor. I should point out though, that some of Nino’s serious work verged on a parody approach in the artwork. ALCALA: Something we’ve only touched on a bit is the large

A Chimp Off The Old Block When drawing humor, Alfredo particularly liked to utilize monkeys and chimpanzees, as per this page at left from an unidentified Filipino comic, and in the “High Noon” takeoff from a 1963 issue of Redondo Komix. Thanks to Alfred Alcala & Richard Arndt. [© the respective copyright holders.]

Alfredo Alcala—Wizard With A Brush

amount of work that my dad did on the Hulk, both in his black-&-white title and then, later on, when the black-&-white transformed into the magazine-size color book. Both on his own or inking Walt Simonson, Gene Colan, and others, he did a lot of pages for that title. RA: I think, when he was working with Simonson, that Walt was doing layouts—not full pencils—and Alfredo was completing the artwork. ALCALA: By the early 1980s, while he was also still working for Marvel and Warren, my dad was working as the inker on the “Batman” books— both Batman and Detective Comics. He inked Don Newton and Gene Colan on those books. I think he worked on both those books for nearly three continuous years. RA: He also did inking on some issues of DC’s Arak, Son of Thunder. That would likely have been over Ernie Colón’s pencils. But he did a couple of issues’ worth of full art on that title, too. ALCALA: I know he did some issues of that character, but I don’t recall any stories about that book. When I asked him during our phone calls what he was working on that day, he would just say, “I’m doing ‘Hawkman.’ I’m doing ‘Batman.’ I’m doing ‘Conan.’” Just general information. He didn’t go into a lot of detail. I know that he liked doing “Conan” stories, but he didn’t usually go into great detail on any one story. My dad was also working for an animation company by the 1980s: Ruby-Spears. He liked working for them. That was where he started inking Jack Kirby. He inked Kirby’s presentation pieces for various Ruby-Spears animated TV shows, including Thundarr the Barbarian. He worked on a Chuck Norris cartoon—Chuck Norris: Karate Kommandos. He worked on something called The Centurions. RA: Past my time watching Saturday morning cartoons, then, I guess. I think that working for Ruby-Spears, particularly on Thundarr, was where he likely came into contact with both Kirby and Steve Gerber, both of whom he worked with on Destroyer Duck.

Batman Redux Dynamic splash page penciled by McFarlane and inked by Alcala for Detective Comics #577 (Aug. 1987). Script by Mike W. Barr. Thanks to Bob Bailey. [TM & © DC Comics.]

ALCALA: That Destroyer Duck work was for free. Steve Gerber was suing Marvel over Howard the Duck, so Jack Kirby and my dad worked on that title for free as a fund-raiser to help Gerber with paying for his lawsuit. My dad did quite a few issues of that title, though, all for free. I don’t think the last two issues were with Jack Kirby. Dad also worked for Hanna-Barbara, I think, on the Super Friends show. I don’t think many people know he worked on that show. It was a surprise to me as well. I think he was doing layouts or storyboards for it.

During the time of Destroyer Duck, he was still working steadily for both Marvel and DC, as well as for Ruby-Spears, and still had time to schedule in Destroyer Duck. I think he was also drawing or inking King Kull for Marvel, as well as “Conan.” During that time—1981 or 1982—he also mentioned something called Masters of the Universe. I don’t know what that is, though. RA: Masters of the Universe was a cartoon based on a toy line from

Mattel. A lot of cartoons during the 1980s-90s were based on a company’s line of toys. He-Man and She-Ra were the heroes of that cartoon/toy line. It was, and really still is, pretty popular, at least here in the States. ALCALA: I think he did comics that were actually packaged with the Masters of the Universe toys. Little comics. I think those came out before the actual cartoon. They’re modeled a bit in style after picture books. The actual cartoon, I think, was from Filmation. DC also did some comics on those characters, but I don’t know if my dad worked on those. There were a lot of toys at that time that were adapted to comics—Micronauts, Transformers, Rom Space Knight. I actually like Rom quite a lot. That comic had really good artists on it. I remember Sal Buscema on Rom because he had the same name as his brother John. You know, my dad was also a ghost artist for Francisco Coching. Coching didn’t do any American comics, but he was very good, a legend in the Filipino comics. Dad mimicked Coching’s

Interviews With The Sons Of The Philippines-born Comics Master

Duck! Incoming! (Top, left & right:) Alcala inked Jack Kirby’s powerful pencils on both the cover and interiors of several issues of Eclipse Comics’ (and writer/creator Steve Gerber’s) Destroyer Duck, including issue #2 (Jan. 1983), to help with SG’s legal expenses in a lawsuit with Marvel. There was also a F.O.O.G. (“Friends of Old Gerber”) art portfolio for the same purpose; this black-&-white Kirby/Alcala illo was used on its mailing envelope. [Destroyer Duck TM & © Estate of Steve Gerber.]

A Masters Thesis (Below:) Two pages of a miniature 14-page storybook of the Masters of the Universe, as drawn by Alcala, and packaged with the Mattel actionfigure toys, circa 1982-83. Script reportedly written by Don Glut. There were apparently at least a dozen separate issues. Thanks to Alfred Alcala & Richard Arndt. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Alfredo Alcala—Wizard With A Brush

Francisco V. Coching was, as Alfred A. relates, a “legend in the Filipino comics,” and a powerful influence on the young Alfredo. Seen here are a 2019 stamp in the Philippines in honor of him—and a splash from his vintage feature “Indio.” Alfredo’s son says that his father often ghosted for Coching— and we can see how he could have! [© the respective copyright holders.]

I Don’t Want No Rick O’Shay Romance… A Rick O’Shay daily (7-23-77) from the first week in which Alfredo took over drawing that comic strip after originator Stan Lynde was “relieved” by the syndicate—and the strip for 7-24-77, Alcala’s first Sunday. Written by Marian J. Dern. Thanks to Al Lortie and Stephan Friedt, respectively. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Interviews With The Sons Of The Philippines-born Comics Master

Between Arak & A Hard Place (Clockwise on pp. 36-37:) When Alfredo both penciled and inked a couple of issues of Arak, Son of Thunder, he and writer Roy Thomas began one of them (#14, Oct. 1982) with the “last of the Quontaukas” viewing a tapestry that revealed his own past and future, across a four-page sequence seen atop these facing pages. (Bottom right on facing page:) To ease new penciler Adrian Gonzales into the series with #15 (Nov. ’82), RT had him draw an archetypically Conanesque bar scene as his first splash page. And Alcala’s inking/embellishing was just what the doctor (= editor) ordered! (Bottom left on facing page:) The Gonzales/Alcala cover of Arak #18 (Feb. 1983) pitted the hero against Haakon, definitely a red-headed kinsman of Robert E. Howard’s black-maned Cimmerian. [TM & © DC Comics.]

style very well. I can tell the difference between the two, but a lot of people can’t. Dad also worked on a Western comic strip for the American newspapers. Do you know Rick O’Shay? RA: Yes! That was a great cowboy strip. Stan Lynde wrote and drew it for many years, but after he left a number of different artists worked on it. One of them was your father? ALCALA: Yes. When Lynde left in 1977, my father was one of the artists to work on it for the next few years. [INTERVIEWER’S NOTE: Mel Keefer was the other.] He also did the Star Wars newspaper strips for a while—both the Sunday and daily strips. He also did some Conan and Star Trek newspaper strips. This all would have been in the late 1970s and up through the early 1980s. He also did inking on Scooby-Doo. RA: Was the Scooby-Doo work for the animated series or comicbooks? ALCALA: Comicbooks. He didn’t get credit for them because those were done for Archie, and they didn’t credit artists and writers for a very long time. He also did a history comic on one of the Apollo missions—a fact-based book. [INTERVIEWER’S NOTE: Moon Shot #1 (June 1994).]

Partners In Fantasy Roy and Alfredo, on the left, share a moment in RT’s office during a party at his and Dann’s home in Rancho Palos Verdes, CA, sometime in the 1980s. Photo by Todd Reis, who created the “3-D dioramas” lined atop the bookcase (and whose name was adapted for the alter ego of the DC hero Obsidian).

RA: I remember an odd graphic novella that was, I think, an adaptation of a paperback. A pretty gritty crime story [written by Donald Goines] that Don Glut and your dad adapted called Daddy Cool in the mid-1980s. [Continued on p. 39]

Alfredo Alcala—Wizard With A Brush

Interviews With The Sons Of The Philippines-born Comics Master

Strip For Action! (Above:) Star Wars comic strip for Sunday, Aug. 17, 1980, drawn by Alcala and written by Russ Helm. [TM & © Lucasfilm or successors in interest.] (Below:) One of the several months’ worth of Conan the Barbarian strips Alfredo drew for Marvel, commencing with this yarn with a “samurai” feel. This daily is dated Aug. 12, 1980. Script by Roy Thomas; from a story idea by Bill Warren. Both scans courtesy of Art Lortie. [TM & © Conan Properties, LLC.]

Alfredo Alcala—Wizard With A Brush

When he had his stroke, in 1991 or 1992, he switched hands from his right to his left. The work done on Ultraman and Scooby-Doo was mostly done after his stroke. He was still doing commissions right up to the end of his life, but you’ll notice a difference in the artwork. In the style of the artwork. My father didn’t die of a stroke, however, but of cancer in his bone marrow. He had also been complaining about his stomach a lot at the time. He didn’t really eat on a regular schedule. He never did. If he had a deadline, he would ignore hunger until he finished the work. He thought the stomach problem was a part of that, but it was actually a manifestation of his cancer. RA: One of the problems with doing a really good retrospective on your dad is that he was extremely prolific for a very long time and the work was split between two countries. His career spanned 42 years and covered an astounding number of characters and titles. Just doing a complete checklist would take up half of an average book. I’d like to thank you for taking so much time to do this interview with me. ALCALA: I’m happy to talk about my dad.

Alfredo 94—Apollo 12 Page by Alcala from Moon Shot: The Flight of Apollo XII #1 (June 1994), published by Pepper Pike Graphix; it was later repackaged by NASA. Scripter unknown. Thanks to Art Lortie. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

[Continued from p. 36] ALCALA: I wish I had a copy of everything my dad worked on, but so much of it was just discarded or has been damaged by time, weather, insects, rodents, or just by people using it for other purposes than reading. Comics were never intended to be a permanent thing—just something to be used and discarded. Before the war, my dad was already collecting American comics. They were easy to come by because of the American bases here in the Philippines. To save them during the war, he dug a hole in the back yard, but after the war, when he dug them back up, they had just turned into a mass of pulp. There was no plastic to put around them back then. Just metal boxes, which weren’t water tight, and so they didn’t keep out the rot. It’s very humid here and that’s very bad for paper. Especially cheap paper like that used in comics or newspapers. It discolors them and they get spots on them like age spots. Dad was still working, right up to when he passed away.

Scooby-Dooby-Do… Among other Archie Comics issues, Alfredo inked Scooby-Doo #3 (Dec. 1995) over pencils by Gordon Morison. Script by Michael Kirschenbaum. Thanks to Jim Ludwig. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Interviews With The Sons Of The Philippines-born Comics Master

II. Christian Alcala RA: Thanks for agreeing to this, Christian. What can you tell us about your father’s early life? CHRISTIAN ALCALA: He started his artistic work during World War II. He’d been drawing before that, but in World War II it was serious, real serious. During the Japanese occupation, he began doing designs for carpentry. He was also drawing, from memory, Japanese bunkers, barracks, depots and funneling that artwork to the resistance, who, in turn, passed that information on to the American bombers.

Alfredo ALCALA: His Family & His Art The splash panel of a “Ukala” tale written and drawn by Alcala, from an early-1950s issue of Pilipino Komiks, is flanked by a pair of photos. (Top center:) Alfredo himself, circa 1970s. (Below left:) His son Christian Alcala, frequent Alcala collaborator Roy Thomas, and Alfredo’s widow Lita Alcala, at a U.S. comics convention some years back. Latter photo courtesy of Christian Alcala. [“Ukala” art © the respective copyright holders.]

RA: When the war ended, what did your dad move into? I know he was doing comics by 1948, but what was he doing between 1945 and 1948? ALCALA: I believe he was working on embellishing his artistic skills. Not in comics but in architecture designs. He did a lot of that. Once he got started in comics, it wasn’t long before he was creating his own characters. One strip, “Ukala,” was based on American folklore and featured an American Indian in the early Southwest. His artwork for that strip is so beautiful! Especially for the 1950s! You know, there are some areas of the Philippines where the culture is not all that different from the Native Americans. The folklore doesn’t seem that far apart. RA: I know that “Voltar “ was your father’s own creation, and that he was a Viking. ALCALA: He was inspired by my father’s favorite comics strip, Prince Valiant. The Vikings traveled around a lot, so there were plenty of places to have adventures. If Voltar had been a Saxon or a Norman, they would have been tied to just one area, but the Vikings traveled all around Europe, into Asia Minor, North Africa, even to the Americas. Lots of places for adventures and stories. RA: Voltar really crosses the line, from being a Prince Valiant type to a sort of Conan-like character. He really could inhabit both types of worlds. ALCALA: It is striking how similar the two characters are—Voltar and Conan. Voltar’s a little thinner, dresses a little more than Conan, but physically, not that far apart. Voltar, of course, was created in 1963 for Alcala Fight Komix—his own comicbook. My father, Nestor Redondo, and four or five other artists put their resources together and put out their own comics. Self-publishers. They called their company CRAF Komixs. My father’s comic—“Voltar”—won a lot of awards, from 1963 up to 1970. He published it, edited it, wrote it, drew it, and lettered it. He did the whole book himself. He was a very fast artist. I don’t know exactly how many pages a week, but it would be in the several dozen. Not just penciling but the full art—pencils and inks. It didn’t look like just pen and ink, either. It wasn’t just fine line; it looked like brush strokes. I know

he used some sort of Chinese brush. Chinese brushes, in and of themselves, are very unique brushes, from brand to brand. But my father combined the Chinese brush with the fountain pen and that combination allowed him to do very unique inking. The inking looked like etchings! The Filipino comics industry in the 1950s-1960s published bi-weekly comics with hundreds of stories in a year. My dad was in nearly every comic. To make those deadlines he would work all night long for several days at a time. Dad usually worked at night anyways. He’d sleep in the morning, then work all afternoon and all night. When the American editors came over in 1971, Dad was one of the pioneers of the Filipino artists who went to work in the States— Tony DeZuñiga, Nestor, Quico, and Virgilio Redondo, Ernie Chan, Alex Nino, and my dad were the first group of artists to work for DC. There was another Frank, Franc Reyes, who started in that first bunch. DeZuñiga was the contact guy. He had his own studio with a lot of artists working directly for him. RA: That would have been The Tribe, right? ALCALA: Right, but my father was never a part of The Tribe. He always did his own work. No assistants like DeZuñiga had with The Tribe. My father was very interested in some of the American artists. For example, he loved [illustrator] Franklin Booth. Most of the stuff he did early on for American comics was horror stuff, but he could really do any kind of art. He was very good at caricature portraits. I don’t think people really know about that. I think he did a caricature of Roy Thomas, with Roy dressed as Conan. A very skinny Conan. Roy may have that. My father also did a lot of acrylic paintings. Oil paintings as well.

Alfredo Alcala—Wizard With A Brush

Voltar Early & Often! The Voltar action scene at left was probably drawn by Alfredo in later years for a marketed art portfolio—whose cover, which was advertised `in Marvel’s Savage Sword of Conan #37 circa 1980, is seen directly above. [TM & © Estate of Alfredo Alcala.]

Wonders & Windmills (Left:) The central caricature of Roy T. was painted by Alfredo Alcala as a birthday present in the late 1980s—and was used on the cover of Alter Ego #50. The other images are by John Buscema & Jack Kirby. And yes, Roy still has the original hanging on his wall! [Painting © Estate of Alfredo Alcala; Conan TM & © Conan Properties, LLC; Red Sonja TM & © Red Sonja Properties, Inc.; Marvel heroes TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.] (Right:) One day circa 1980, when Alfredo lived just a few blocks from Roy on the southern edge of Hollywood, Roy dropped by to pick up the latest Conan the Barbarian newspaper-strip art—and spotted this painting of Don Quixote, leaned up against some boxes. When he stopped and gazed at it a few seconds longer, he realized Alfredo had painted Cervantes’ comic hero as a centaur! When Roy tried to buy the piece, Alfredo insisted he accept it as a gift. It, too, now hangs in the Thomas home in South Carolina… although, alas, a bit of it at the edges wasn’t captured in this angled photo. Special thanks to Dann Thomas. [Art © Estate of Alfredo Alcala.]

Interviews With The Sons Of The Philippines-born Comics Master

Time Flies When You’re Having Fun! (Left:) Alcala inked this Man of Steel page from the “Superman & Batman” saga in World’s Finest Comics #321 (Nov. 1985). Batman came along later. Pencils by Jose Delbo; script by Joey Cavalieri. (Right:) Time—in this case, a pair of alternate futures—also figured into Kamandi #50 (April-May 1977), when OMAC (One-Man Army Corps) encountered the Last Boy on Earth. Script by Denny O’Neil; pencils by Dick Ayers; inks by Alfredo Alcala & Manuel Auad. Thanks to Michael T. Gilbert for both scans. [TM & © DC Comics.]

RA: He moved to the U.S. in 1976. I understand that your family did not make that move with him. I’ve heard that was at least in part due to strained relations between the Philippines and the U.S. at that time. Is that correct?

his is, I think, the only one doing something similar to what the original Oz artists were doing in the original illustrated books. Your father’s style really fits in closely with that original illustrative work from the early 1900s.

ALCALA: Oh, not so much. It was more because you could raise a family in the Philippines much more cheaply than you could in California or New York. It was also because we lived in a community of people who knew each other. Our relatives, our friends, were all in the Philippines. Everybody knew everybody! In the States, you would have known no one.

ALCALA: I agree with you. Some of those original books were beautiful. I think my father’s version of Mombi the Witch was really good. [laughs] I don’t think he actually drew Dorothy, though…

RA: You had a support system there, which you would not have had if the whole family moved to the States. ALCALA: Yeah. He’d also started working for more than one comicbook company in the States. Not just DC, but Marvel, Warren. He had already been working on “Conan” for Marvel, but moving allowed him more opportunities. More chances for work. Some of the comics back then were also big! Big treasury issues, like the Oz books. I loved those books. Even “Conan” had a few of those. So big that you could do a lot more on the page. That was something that my dad liked. RA: There’s, nowadays anyway, lots of Oz adaptations in comics, but

RA: At least, Dorothy doesn’t appear in the second novel, The Land of Oz, which is the one that your father drew the [published] adaptation for. The one your father did featured a boy named Tip, Ozma, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, Jack Pumpkinhead, the Wogglebug, the Sawhorse—and Mombi. Not a great-looking gal, but that’s OK. Your dad did a great job of drawing her. ALCALA: [laughs] I liked Jack Pumpkinhead! He was one of my favorite characters from the Oz books. He was just a pumpkin— with a Jack O’Lantern face—stuck on a stick! [laughs] He even had a wooden donkey [the Sawhorse]. I think they came to life using magic dust or something like that. My dad’s work on that is one of my favorite comics of his. RA: The irony of his work on “Conan” was that the lead “Conan” artist— John Buscema—didn’t particularly like your dad’s finished artwork over his pencils.

Alfredo Alcala—Wizard With A Brush

Savage—Sword Or Swordless! (Above:) Alfredo “al-KULL-a” also contributed finished art to the Conan-related Kull the Destroyer #17 (Oct. 1976), over pencil breakdowns by Ed Hannigan, for a Doug Moench script. [TM & © Kull Properties, LLC.] (Top right:) Alcala provided finished art over John Buscema layouts for Ka-Zar #6 (Nov. 1974), with script by Gerry Conway. But why Alfredo lettered editor Roy Thomas’ name bigger than anyone else’s is anybody’s guess; clearly, that should’ve been changed. Thanks to Barry Pearl & Mark Muller for these scans. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Conan’s Never Been To Spain… But He Kinda Likes The Hardcovers This 1980s collection of stories from Savage Sword of Conan translated into Spanish consisted of tales inked by Alcala—mostly over pencils by John Buscema. Thanks to Christian Alcala. Planeta/ Forum’s editions probaby represent the first-ever reprinting of 1970s Marvel Conan material between hard covers—with Marvel itself getting into the game in earnest in 2018, after the company regained the Conan license. [TM & © Conan Properties, LLC.]

Interviews With The Sons Of The Philippines-born Comics Master

There’s actually a large group of fans for artists like Alex Nino—his style, especially on science-fiction, is pretty popular. He did a fair amount of work in big magazines like Heavy Metal. Alex did a lot of work that was really weird. Pages that went out infinitely in time and space! [laughs] He was very unique! RA: When did you move to the U.S.? I believe you’re living in San Francisco, is that correct? ALCALA: Yeah. I first lived in L.A. I moved to the States in July 2000. Just a few weeks after my father passed away. In a way, moving here was like a tribute to him. We even had a few shows featuring my father’s work—one in the San Francisco Library, another on the U.S.S. Hornet—a World War II aircraft carrier that’s been converted into a museum in California. It’s kinda small, at least compared to the aircraft carriers of today. It was very famous in its day. It was one of the ships that picked up the astronauts from the first lunar mission.

“…In The Merry Old Land Of Oz!” Christian Alcala particularly likes his father’s portrayals of Mombi the witch, Jack Pumpkinhead, and the Sawhorse, as per this art from Marvel’s 1975 tabloid treasury The Marvelous Land of Oz (a.k.a. Marvel Treasury of Oz #1). Script by Roy Thomas. Too bad legalities make the reprinting of Land—and/or of the preceding Marvel/DC joint effort The Marvelous Wizard of Oz drawn by Buscema & DeZuñiga—exceedingly unlikely. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

ALCALA: I think that was a mistake. My dad’s inking over Buscema’s pencils for the black-&-white magazine made Conan very, very popular back then. I think the readers loved that work, regardless of what Buscema may have thought of it. I think the editor—Roy, who also wrote the book—liked it as well. The comic and the magazine were, I think, among Marvel’s best-selling books at the time. The work on those books, not just from my dad or John Buscema but other artists as well, was just beautiful. In Spain, they’ve made a collection of my father’s early “Conan” work. The text is in Spanish. That “Conan” work is very popular in Europe. The Spanish book is a big one—over 350 pages. That’s a lot of Conan! Spanish readers can, I think, order it online. I told Roy that I’d found a book in Spain with his name on it. [laughs] He was so happy. So much of my father’s work is being reprinted, but it’s nearly all the super-hero stuff, and Conan is sword-&-sorcery. So, having that book—that big book—appearing in Spain was kind of a big deal, I think. I think that people have forgotten how good the Filipino artists of the 1970s were. There was a lot of really good talent there and, in many ways, their work has been forgotten. RA: You’re right about that. There wouldn’t have been a Spanish or Filipino invasion if there hadn’t been a large quantity of good artists coming from there. ALCALA: That’s right! They called it the Filipino Invasion! [laughs] Vic Catan, E. R. Cruz, Alex Nino, Ernie Chan. All those guys. By the early 2000s those guys were scattered all over. Some went to Los Angeles. Some to Florida. Some to New York. I suggested to some of my father’s old friends that we should go to a convention as a group, remind people of the Filipino artists and all that they did in American comics.

RA: I know your dad worked for Ruby-Spears, which would have put him in contact with Jack Kirby and Steve Gerber, who also worked for that animation company at the same time your dad did.

ALCALA: I think his main work, certainly his most popular work in the animation field, was for Masters of the Universe—He-Man and She-Ra. I think he did the comics and may have worked on the actual show as well. The comics—they were actually mini-comics—were the ones that actually explained the lore of Eternia—the world that He-Man and She-Ra lived in. The shows didn’t explain all that much—just had the adventure of the day. If you wanted the background, you really had to read the mini-comics. My dad did nine or ten of them. My father was also a big fan of Shakespeare and the artists who worked on those books of his plays. A lot of people were surprised when “Voltar” came out in 1963, because it was a fantasy-based Scandinavian story coming out of the Philippines! But he got that from Prince Valiant and the Shakespearian books and artists like Maxwell Parrish and Alphonse Mucha. He liked artists where the art popped out at you! Bold art! RA: His work could certainly be included under the phase “bold art.” ALCALA: I liked “Thor,” too—you know, The Mighty Thor? All of that stuff was great stuff. The Norse mythology was also all through “Voltar.” Most people—adaptors and that—go for the Greek gods. Hercules or Herakles—however you pronounce it—those kinds of guys. The Iliad and the Odyssey. But the Norse gods had some pretty memorable stories and people in them, too. RA: Is there anything you would like to say about your father to sum up? ALCALA: I respected my father a lot. I always honored him and his work—his beautiful work. He, I think, merged Renaissance art with action art and I think that should be acknowledged and respected. Both he and his work, all of his achievements and there were a lot of them, have encouraged me to become a better person.

Alfredo Alcala—Wizard With A Brush

Portrait Of The Artist With A Young Barbarian Alfredo Alcala continues to be revered by comic art fans the world round—as per this 2020 tribute portrait by Brazilian artist Cayman Moreira of Alfredo with a barbarian hero— whether it’s Conan, or just Voltar with his hat off. [© 2021 Cayman Moreira.] While Alcala worked over the decades for many comics companies, including his own, he’s perhaps best summed up by a montage of Filipino, DC, and Marvel pages: his cover for Hiwaga Komiks #73 (July 15, 1953)—the splash of Kong the Untamed #3 (Oct.-Nov. 1975), scripted by Jack Oleck & Gerry Conway—and a page from Man-Thing #14 (Feb. 1975), written by Steve Gerber. Thanks respectively to Tristan Lapoussière, Stephan Friedt, & Mark Muller. [Hiwaga page © the respective copyright holders; Kong TM & © DC Comics; Man-Thing TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Alfredo Alcala—Wizard With A Brush

Addendum:

Mario Guevara

nother great influence on my life and work was the singular talent of Alfredo Alcala. I was fortunate enough to meet my idol a few times. It was on my third trip in a row to the San Diego Comic-Con, though, that I spoke with him for the last time. I casually walked by [dealer] Phillip Yeh’s table, after I saw that Alcala’s German friend (who was always with Alcala) was there, too. I walked up close and asked where the master was. The answer was a hand signal, telling me that he was asleep. Asleep? Suddenly, someone came out from under the table. He was sleeping right there! He recognized me even though it had been over a year since we’d seen each other, and he asked me that same old question: “How’s Saturnino Herran?” I gave him that same old answer: “He passed away, master.” “What a shame.” Alcala reminded me of his time in the Philippines when they took him to all the art workshops. I wanted to go outside and smoke a cigarette, so he came with me. He understood Spanish very well but had a bit of a hard time speaking

Mario Guevera and a painted comics page from his graphic novel Gonzalo. [TM & © Mario Guevera.]

it. “Americans can’t pronounce my name very well,” I said. And while we were walking outside the building he replied: “When you work in the U.S., you will have to change your name.” “Hmmm . . . what should I call myself?” I asked. “Well, SEATEEN sounds good,” he said -- and then he explained to me what it meant and started laughing loudly. I knew he was just kidding. I kept smoking my cigarette, and we walked over the railroad tracks and down the street until we found a 7-Eleven type store. I told him I’d buy him something, and the only thing he wanted was a cold bun with sausages in it. I picked the same thing, and I only had money left for one soda, so we shared it. I sat down on the curb; there wasn’t sidewalk space around, but I didn’t mind. Alfredo kneeled in an unusual position that reminded me of the way my grandfather and the people at our ranch in my hometown would kneel.

“Black-Maned, Sullen-Eyed…” A Conan head-sketch that Alfredo drew especially for Mario. [Conan TM & © Conan Properties, LLC.]

We finished our snacks, and I offered him some soda. I asked him to tell me more about the Philippines, so he started talking about his childhood when he lived on an island close to Formosa and it was invaded by the Japanese. “So you were in the war, master?” I asked. “I was very young. I just helped a little,” he replied. “One

Interviews With The Sons Of The Philippines-born Comics Master

day an American man came up to me and asked if I wanted to help my country, and I told him I did. So when the Japanese buried land mines I would watch where they did it, remember the spots, and then run to the Americans and draw the location of each mine. I did that for a while, but one day my mom discovered what I was doing and beat me all the way into the house. I supposed that she hit me because I was putting myself in danger, but I think she only did it because she thought I was being mischievous.” People passed by and looked at us as if we were bums. They didn’t know that I was talking with Alfredo Alcala, one of the best Filipino artists and the best inker for John Buscema’s Conan work. If they had known that, they would have probably sat down on the ground as I did to listen to what he had to say.

While Alfredo was talking, he was drawing a sketch for me. Someone approached, a very well-dressed blond guy, and he sat by my side. After that, someone else joined us. The soda didn’t seem to finish, and I started smoking another cigarette. When I finished it I stood up, and my butt was numb. I told the master that I had to go. I went back to the Convention Center, and as I did, I kept looking back at the people who continued sitting and queuing around him. That was the last time I saw Alfredo. He died two years later. Mario Guevara is a comics artist from the state of Guanajuato, Mexico, who has illustrated the adventures of Solomon Kane and various comics in the U.S. and elsewhere.

Tora, Tora, Tora—Right Back Atcha! (Left:) Christian Alcala stands in front of some of his father’s framed comics work at an exhibit—either in San Francisco or aboard the U.S.S. Hornet. (Above:) It would’ve been only appropriate if this specimen of Alfredo’s cover for Redondo Komix #6 (July 16, 1963) and his splash page from Espesyal Komiks #195 (March 18, 1966) had been on display on the Hornet, since they deal with the American aerial attacks during the 1942 Battle of Midway and on the Japanese Imperial Navy’s giant flagship Yamato during the later stages of the Second World War. Thanks to Alfred Alcala. [© the respective copyright holders.]

Interviews With The Sons Of The Philippines-born Comics Master

ALFREDO ALCALA Checklist This checklist is adapted primarily from materials contained in the online Grand Comics Database. Names of features that appeared both in magazines with that title and also in other publications are generally not italicized below. Key: (p) = penciler; (i) = inker; (d) daily/Monday through Saturday newspaper comic strip; (S) Sunday newspaper comic strip. Although Alcala lettered and even colored many of the features he drew, those credits are not referenced below. Also, while he had written many of the comics he’d drawn in his native Philippines, he has no scripting credits in U.S. comics. We regret that, due to considerations of space, we were unable to print the long catalog of his Flilipino comics credits which were supplied to us by Tristan Lapoussière; perhaps we can do so at a future date. Name: Alfredo Pariñas Alcala Syndication: Conan the Barbarian (d)(S) c. 1981; Rick O’Shay (d)(S) 1977-?; Star Wars (d)(S) c. 1980 Work In TV Animation: The Centurions (1986) character design, storyboards; Chuck Norris: Karate Kommandos (1986) creative consultant; James Bond Jr. (1991) storyboards; Karate Kid (1991) position uncertain; Lazer Tag Academy (1986) creative consultant; Pirates of Dark Water (1991) storyboards; Rambo (1968) character design, storyboards; Super Friends Hour (1981) layout artist; Thundarr the Barbarian (1980) uncredited; X-Men (1993) storyboards COMICBOOKS (U.S. Mainstream Publishers): A-Plus Comics: Arik Khan (p)(i) 1991 Archie Comic Publications: Scooby-Doo (i) 1995-96 Comic Art Gallery: Barn of Fear (p)(i) 1977-78; Comics & Comix: Voltar (in Magic Carpet) 1977 DC Comics: All-Star Squadron (i) 1985-86; All-Star Western (i) 1972; America vs. the Justice Society (i) 1985; Arak, Son of Thunder (p)(i) 1982-84; Batman (i) 1982-85, 1987; The Big Book of Thugs (p)(i) 1996; The Brave and the Bold (i) 1977; Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew! (p) 1982; DC Comics Presents (p)(i) 1982; The Dreaming (p)(i) 2000; Firestorm (i) 1987; Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion (p)(i) 1973; Freedom Fighters (p) 1978; Ghosts (p)(i) 1972-75, 1977; Hawkman (i) 1985; Hellblazer (a.k.a. John Constantine, Hellblazer) (i) 1988-89, 1992, 2011, 2017; Heroes against Hunger (i) 1986; House of Mystery (p) (i) 1972-75, 1977-78; House of Secrets (p)(i) 1972-74; Infinity, Inc. (i) 1985, 1987; Kamandi (i) 1976-78; Kong the Untamed (p)(i) 1975-76; Masters of the Universe (p)(i) 1982-84; Plop! (p)(i) 1973-74; Saga of the Swamp Thing (i) 1984; Secrets of Haunted House (p)(i) 1975; Secrets of Sinister House (p)(i) 1972-73; The Shadow (i) 1987; Superman & Batman (i) 1984-86; Tarzan 1974, 1976-77; The Unexpected (p)

The Carrot In The Sticks Here, flanked by an Alcala self-caricature, is an anomaly: Alfredo penciled, and regular penciler/co-creator Scott Shaw! inked, the second issue of Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew! (April 1982). Script by Roy Thomas. Alcala was asked to do a full-art fill-in job to spell Scott—only, when Scott saw the pencils, he liked them so much he just had to ink them, so DC didn’t make up much time on the schedule after all… but it was worth it. Roy particularly loved this page, which depicted Roger (later Rodney) Rabbit still in his costume after the effects of his radioactive carrot have worn off. Don’t you just hate it when that happens? The original art for this page hangs in his and (unindicted co-plotter) Dann’s country kitchen. [TM & © DC Comics.]

(i) 1972-75, 1977, 1979; V (i) 1985; The Vigilante ( i) 1985-86; Weird Mystery Tales (p)(i) 1973-75; Weird War Tales (p)(i) 1973-77, 1979; Weird Western Tales (i) 1973, 1976; Who’s Who Update (i) 1988; Who’s Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe (p)(i) 1986; The Witching Hour (p)(i) 1972-74, 1978, 1982; World of Smallville (i) 1988; World’s Finest Comics (i) 1984-86; Young All-Stars (i) 1987, 1989

Alfredo Alcala—Wizard With A Brush

Hyborian Hues Alfredo did this Conan painting on commission in 1991, while the Cimmerian was still under license to Marvel the first time around. Thanks to Heritage Auctions—via David Roach—via Michael T. Gilbert. [Conan TM & © Conan Properties, LLC.]

Eclispse: Destroyer Duck (i) 1982-84; Ms. Tree (i) 1984 First Comics: Hawkmoon (i) 1986 Harvey: The Flintstones (p)(i) 1994; SeaQuest (i) 1994 Heavy Metal: Heavy Metal (p)(i) 1978; Ultraman (i) 1993-94 Heroic Publishing: The Adventures of Chrissie Claus (p)(i) 2010; Flare (p)(i) 1993, 2006, 2016 Holloway House: Daddy Cool (p)(i) 1984 Kitchen Sink Press: 50’s Funnies (i) 1980 Marvel Comics: Arrgh! (p)(i) 1975; Bizarre Adventures (i) 1981; Captain Marvel (p)(i) 1974; Conan (p)(i) 1974- 1984, 1988-90, 1990-95; Dazzler (i) 1981; Deadly Hands of Kung Fu (p) 1974; Doctor Strange (p)(i) 1976; Dracula (p)(i) 1974; Freddy Krueger’s A Nightmare on Elm Street (i) 1989; Ghost Rider (i) 1978; Haunt of Horror (p)(i) 1974; Howard the Duck (i) 1980-81; Hulk (i) 1977-81, 1996; Ka-Zar (i) 1975; Kull (p)(i) 1976-77; Man-Thing (i) 1975; Marvel Comics Presents (i) 1989-90; Marvel Preview 1978, 1980; Marvel Treasury of Oz (p)(i) 1975; Marvel Two-in-One (i) 1978; Monsters Unleashed (p)(i) 1974; Planet of the Apes (p)(i) 1975-76; Savage Tales (p)(i) 1974; Tales of the Zombie (p)(i) 1975; Tarzan (i) 1978; Vampire Tales (p)(i) 1974-75; Werewolf by Night (i) 1973; Zombie (p)(i) 1974-75 Now Comics: The Green Hornet (i) 1993 Pacific Comics: Silver Star (i) 1983-84; Twisted Tales (p)(i) 1982 Pepper Pike Graphix: Moon Shot: The Flight of Apollo XII (p)(i) 1994 Topps Comics: Dracula: Vlad the Impaler (p)(i) 1993

Warren Publishing: Creepy (p)(i) 1977-81; Eerie (p)(i) 1978-80; 1984/1994 (p)(i) 1978-80; The Rook Magazine (p)(i) 1979-81; Vampirella (p)(i) 1979, 1981

www.comics.org

TSR: 13: Assassin Comics Module (i) 1990-91

More From That Other World Part XVII Of JOHN BROOME’s 1997 Memoir

A/E INTRODUCTION: In the last year of his life, major Golden/Silver Age comics writer Irving Bernard (“John”) Broome wrote and published a brief and idiosyncratic autobiographical book titled My Life in Little Pieces. With the blessing of his daughter Ricky Terry Brisacque, A/E has been serializing that self-described “Offbeat Autobio,” as retyped for us by Brian K. Morris. In this chapter, JB familiarizes younger readers with the concept of the “party line” when it referred to a telephone rather than politics, and moves on into a possible brush with the supernatural about which he had written in places as diverse as The Phantom Stranger comicbook and Weird Tales magazine… all during his and wife Peggy’s post-World War II sojourn in Wingdale, in relatively rural Duchess County, New York….

he few scattered houses around us, plus our own semi-dilapidated new home, were linked in those days by a “party line.” You’d unhook your receiver to get the operator as a preliminary step in making a call, and instead find yourself kerplop tuned in to what could be another one of the parties’ highly private-type conversations. Theoretically, of course, you were supposed to hang up, wait a while, then try again, but truth will out, I’ve always been a snooper—an auditory voyeur, you might say (as well as the straight-out kind, too), and for me our primitive telephone line, in this rustic hill and dale setting, was no less than a gift from Above, often too enticing for me to resist its blandishments with any real hope of success.

above our place, saying (I quote)— “You have no heart and no soul. I’m putting you on the list with all the others!” And bang! she hung up and our party-line went dead in my hands, robbing me of what I’d thought for a moment was going to be a snoopfest bonanza, one that I almost certainly would not have been able to resist listening to—let’s face it. The Schatz house on the hill was not only above us in altitude, it also outdistanced our place a mile in propriety. Everything up there was spic-and-span. A spacious, well-kept lawn that doubled as a pasture for their one milch cow, Vicky, who roamed the greensward at will (they had no children) and with a ponderous dignity. And more than dignity. When some workers did a job on the house and left a pile of bricks standing, very neatly, alongside the house, Vicky kicked it down. When old Schatz rebuilt the pile, Vicky kicked it down again. As near as I could fathom Vicky’s milch-cow weltanschauung, it went something like this: “That ugly pile of bricks on my fine greensward wasn’t there before, so raus mit—” And after that my mot-collecting wife had a new catchword to dub anyone who hated change like the plague: Vicky the Cow.

As on this occasion. Scarcely had I put the receiver to my ear than I heard our closest neighbor, Mrs. Schatz, she who with her husband, old Schatz himself, inhabited the Teutonically-solid brick dwelling on the rise

* Mrs. Heffner. a robust widow-lady who lived alone, succeeded the Schatzes, and Vicky, on the hill, and suffered a grass fire. It wasn’t really dangerous, but maybe it could have been, for tiny Wingdale had not

John Broome Has Weird Tales To Tell The esteemed writer (seen above with wife Peggy, probably during the post-WWII days in the countryside) is flanked by Margaret Brundage’s cover painting for the legendary supernatural pulp Weird Tales (Vol. 36, #6, July 1942)—and Harry Ferman’s title illo for Broome’s short story printed therein, “The Redoubtable Horace Goppendyke.” With thanks to Ricky Terry Brisacque for the photo, and to Glenn MacKay for both pulp pages. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

More From That Other World

From Ghost To Ghost Broome wrote his fair share of supernatural-related comicbooks as well—as witness this “Sargon the Sorcerer” page drawn by Paul Reinman for Sensation Comics #71 (Nov. 1947) and the splash to a tale from The Phantom Stranger #1 (Aug.-Sept. 1952), drawn by Carmine Infantino & Joe Giella. Thanks to Michael T. Gilbert & Jim Kealy. [TM & © DC Comics.]

even a volunteer fire department. Farmer Wilfred Judson answered Heffner’s frantic party-line appeal and drove up in his car with some firefighting equipment and his two sons, Tommy and Jimmy, and they put out the blaze. Judson also delivered the mail and sold the milk produced daily by his herd of 30 or so cows, and could also be relied on to taxi you to or from the station for a modest sum. In time, his older son Tommy took over from his father and added selling insurance to the family’s varied community services. It’s possible Tommy made a stab at running for a local administrative office, but I’m not sure about that. And as for Mrs. Heffner, after the fire she remained so upset she ran into the house and ate two whole cloves of garlic, one after the other, to quiet her nerves. * To be sure, many other and quite different things happened during the years in Wingdale, such as the event that later on I learned is called an epiphany—defined in my best dictionary as “a usually sudden perception or intuitive grasp of underlying reality.” The fall of the year had arrived, the air was cool and bracing, the New England colors magnificent, and the night skies were filled with country stars when, during the course of a certain particular week, I began to sense that I was in contact with something.

It was not a feeling that is easily described, maybe no feeling is, but this one especially. Yet it was a strong, a persistent feeling, one that would not loose itself from me. I recall walking back and forth in the living room of our house on the worn carpet (pacing had long been my habit, I guess you could say I was “hell on carpets”) with the huge old chimney where in winter we sometimes burned “24-hour logs” from our own trees, as the perception grew that my very walking itself was a miracle—totally inexplicable, totally unbelievable except as such. And I looked at my fingernails, how they grew properly after being cut and that too struck me as a miracle. What’s more, these “miracles” were connected with the “contact” but I couldn’t have said how. Tentatively, I took Peggy into my confidence but was assured that the “whole business” was due to an overactive imagination. Nor did I know enough then to answer this confident dismissal by pointing out that of course the supernatural could only be contacted through the imagination, since it couldn’t possibly be seen, touched, or measured. The sequel to this particular little piece takes place in Japan decades later, where I have become fast friends with one of those wonderful far-roaming Englishmen the round Earth has been seeded with as by some archangelic—Gabrielic—Johnny Appleseed. The sense of wonder that pervaded the week in Wingdale had long since disappeared, after dwindling rapidly, when I told Professor Kenneth Woodroofe—to give my friend’s full name and much-deserved title, for white-haired Ken, a born teacher, had left behind him in the course of his wanderings through academia... America, India, and lately Japan… scores of adoring lifelong pupilfriends made over the years in tribute to his inspiring evocations

Part XVII Of John Broome’s 1997 Memoir

Japan, a love for music having been nurtured as an army chaplain’s assistant, but not W.T. Moore’s; and 2) his rashly setting out at age sixty to write this book under the midwifery of friend Ken who therefore was able to wind up his remarks a tad scornfully in this fashion:

“Painting, Music, And Writing” In the above WWII-era photo, we frankly can’t be 100% certain if John is the thin soldier standing, center, or the guy squatting on our left— but his daughter says he’s definitely in this Army group pic, and that’s good enough for us! (Left:) We’ve previously printed the few photos of JB’s paintings we had at hand, courtesy of Ricky Terry Brisacque… but here’s a Broome sketch of an unidentified structure, in an unspecified place. [© Estate of John Broome.]

of the glories of English literature—about the experience and my disappointment regarding it. What I said in sum was this:

(Below:) While John Broome was already writing professionally before World War II, he truly came into his own in the two decades afterward, primarily at DC Comics. He even worked a bit of music into this “Justice Society of America” story from All-Star Comics #41 (June-July 1948), wherein Wonder Woman and Dr. Mid-Nite tackle The Fiddler, ordinarily an antagonist of their fellow JSAer The Flash. Art by Arthur Peddy & Bernard Sachs. [TM & © DC Comics.]

“I’m not saying God spoke to me, not as the ancients were spoken to in biblical times. Yet I was made suddenly and intensely aware of the divine presence and power, and following it, I thought there had to be some change in me but there wasn’t.” (What I meant was, I still paced and my nails still grew as usual and I still had bursts of bad temper and recurring overmastering lusts that shamed me—no change at all.) Ken gave me a look a bit sharp. “Hold on,” he said, and seemed to reflect for a moment. “You took up watercoloring rather late in life, didn’t you? Certainly it was long after the war, wasn’t it?” “Mmm.” I nodded, a bit mystified. Where was he heading? The “war,” of course, was World War II. Our war, in which Ken had labored as a male nurse in an English hospital for six years (before being sent to Oxford by a grateful government as one of those cheated of college by the hostilities) and I was drafted into the army at age 30, had at first been turned into an MP and later into a chaplain’s assistant, with many a tale hanging thereby, including one I was sure was on Ken’s mind when he brought up, generously as always, my far from expert watercolors. In ‘43 on maneuvers in the Tennessee mountains—the first time this had been tried in winter by the U.S. Army—MP Pvt. Broome on guard duty at I Corps—the 2nd Army’s First Corps, but called “Eye” Corps—had been watching the Corps chaplain, Colonel Wright Tabor Moore, with whom he had been able to form one of those fleeting wartime acquaintances, painting a snowy landscape in an idle moment outside his tent, and had ventured the wistful observation that he had never been interested in painting or any of the graphic arts, and Col. Moore’s prophetic reply had been without turning from his portable easel. “You will be.” End of story, though one had to wait decades for its fulfillment. Just as one had to wait patiently for two other slow-budding developments in the life of the former MP: l) his playing recorder with a group of younger and better players in

“Painting, music, and writing, and you say there was no change in you.” I winced. Seldom had I ever been proven so decisively wrong, and never had I been so happy about it. John Broome’s memoir will continue in A/E #174.

(Above:) Michael T. doctored the poster for the film 7 Faces of Dr. Lao, imagining how it might have looked as an ACG poster starring Richard E. Hughes! [© the respective copyright holders.]

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!

The 7 Faces Of Leo Rosenbaum! by Michael T. Gilbert

t the risk of repeating myself from the preceding page: Say, readers! Anyone remember 7 Faces of Dr. Lao—the 1964 movie in which actor Tony Randall played eight different parts? Well, the comicbook equivalent would have to be the spook comics orchestrated by editor/writer Leo Rosenbaum at the American Comics Group. Like Tony, Leo also took on another identity: that of ace ACG editor and writer Richard E. Hughes. (In fact, A/E reader Steven Rowe informs us that, by 1940 or so, the latter became Rosebaum’s legal name, after which it was no longer a pen name.) As Richard E. Hughes, he wrote stories under dozens of pseudonyms. Better yet, in the late 1950s he began writing absurdly fanciful backstories to some of his nonexistent “authors” in the

Letter Rip! I have no idea who drew this classic Adventures into the Unknown letterspage banner, but it’s a beauty! [© the respective copyright holders]

letters pages of ACG’s Adventures into the Unknown, Forbidden Worlds, and later, Unknown Worlds. As a kid, reading the ACG letter columns was a fascinating experience. Hughes was notorious for sparring with fans who wrote “crank” letters complaining about the latest issues. This made for lively letters pages, and by printing negative letters, Hughes encouraged his loyal readers to write in defending their favorite stories—most of which were written by Hughes himself under a variety of names. Any given issue would find the readers praising the magnificent stories of “Zev Zimmer,” while excoriating the talentless “Bob Standish.” Hughes must have had a good laugh! So why the subterfuge? Perhaps it was just a fun game that the prolific writer played to amuse himself. Or maybe it was to disguise the fact that ACG was basically a small one-man mom and pop operation. In the late ‘50s, Hughes took this game one step further when he instituted a series of faux writer biographies in his letter pages. These were often as imaginative and amusing as the stories themselves, especially to those of us who, decades later, were in on the gag. But back in the late ‘50s and into the ‘60s, we readers took this secret backstage gossip as gospel. For our “7 Faces of Leo R.” article, we’ve chosen to mostly limit ourselves to seven of the editor’s ersatz biographical sketches (to go along with our title!). Let’s see how the series was introduced in Hughes’ “Let’s Talk It Over!” section of Adventures into the Unknown. Take it away, maestro! (Adventures into the Unknown #105, Feb. 1959:) “In this issue we’re chalking up a new first for Adventures into the Unknown. A first for us, that is. Beginning as of now, each of our stories will bear the names of both writer and artist. This is in direct response to the request of our fans, who have repeatedly asked that the people responsible for our efforts be identified. In the future, you’ll know just what author was responsible for that yarn you liked so much—or hated, as the case may be. You’ll know who the illustrator was who did that wonderful or horrible job—you pick the description! And you can write in expressing your opinion on the work of people whom you’ll never know. And remember—we want those opinions, because they’ll help us in framing just the sort of magazine which you want! Address your letter to The Editor, Adventures into the Unknown, 347 5th Avenue, New York 16, N.Y. For our part, we’ll try to help you know our staff better. Each month we’ll publish a short profile on someone being published in the current issue.

The Doctor Is In! The actual poster to the Tony Randall-staring 1964 film 7 Faces of Dr. Lao. The doctor was an ancient Chinese mystic who wove strange stories in various guises. Why wasn’t he writing for ACG? Or was he…? [© the respective copyright holders.]

“This time it’s Greg Olivetti, a brand new writer for us, and the man responsible for ‘Last of the Tree People.’ Greg looks deceptively young, but he’s got quite a career behind him. Taught to fly by a great uncle who was an early ace of World War I, he put his ability to good use over Korea, downing more than his share of enemy planes. After he left the Air Force, he tried many things—from selling insurance to prospecting for uranium. Nothing seemed to go right for him—as he

The 7 Faces Of Leo Rosenbaum!

tells it, he just couldn’t keep his mind on the thing at hand. Instead, he would daydream constantly about the adventures that he might run into that day—but they never seemed to materialize. To relieve the monotony of routine, he’d build the adventures in his mind into plots, and they seemed to come easy to him. A friend suggested that he try his hand at writing them down— and out of this came ‘Last of the Tree People,’ a fresh and exciting story that we leaped at. ‘I guess I put myself into it,’ says Greg. ‘You see, one of these days soon we’re going to get a rocket up there on the moon and I want to be on it! My story was about the sort of things a guy like me might run into up there!’ Okay, Greg, here’s luck to you— and now let’s get down to what some of our readers are saying!”

What’s In A Name? “From Your Editor—to You!” was Forbidden Worlds’ letters-page title. Personally, Michael T. says he prefers Adventures into the Unknown’s snappier “Let’s Talk It Over!” logo. Of course, since it usually consisted mostly of letters to the editor, it could also have been titled “From You—to Your Editor!” [© the respective copyright holders.]

A Korean War hero? First man on the moon? Boy, that Greg Olivetti is one tough scribe (and an even better typewriter brand!)! But it’s nothing next to our next imaginary writer! (Adventures into the Unknown #106, March 1959:) “Nice seeing all you wonderful Adventures into the Unknown fans again! We’ve been anxious to introduce to you one of the most amazing newcomers ever to have flashed across the comics magazine horizon. We’re talking about Bob Standish, the ace writer who authored ‘The Men Who Cried Monster,’ lead story of this issue. He’s really a prodigy, being only 17 years old, yet fast on his way towards becoming the best plot man in the entire comics magazine field. Hands off, all you competitors—we discovered him, staked out our claims, and aren’t going to let him get away! Here are a few facts about him. “Throughout his growing years, Bob has always been ‘different.’ The other boys on the block may have gone in for hobbies, sports, or dates—but not Bob. What he did was to read comic books—every one he could get his hands on. Why? Simply because he felt that they could tell a story, aided by effective pictures, far better than any other medium. From this, it was an easy step to saying to himself that if he

Tree’s A Crowd! “Greg Olivetti” wrote “Last of the Tree People,” and John Rosenberger drew it. From Adventures into the Unknown #105 (Feb.1959). [© the respective copyright holders.]

liked them that much, surely he could take a stab at writing them! And the rest is comic book history! But let’s let him give you the lowdown in his own words! “‘I wasn’t ever a bigshot or a tough guy,’ says Bob. ‘I had fourteen fights in my life—and I lost fourteen! So I figured that if I could never be a hero in real life, maybe I could in my imagination! Comics were a lift—they had tough guy heroes who could do all the things I couldn’t! But just between you and me, I got tired of them! I wanted to see real human beings in real plots, and I couldn’t find them. I started reading Adventures into the Unknown and Forbidden Worlds and I liked them. They had it, but not all the way. I used to write in to them suggesting the kind of stories I wanted to read, but I guess they had me pegged as a crank. Finally I figured that if I were going to see the stories I wanted, I’d have to write them myself! I wrote thirteen before I got the hang—and ever since then, they can’t turn me off!” “How do you like Bob’s ‘Men Who Cried Monster,’ readers? Write in and tell us—also, what you think of our books.”

Meet My Wife—Ms. Smith-Corona! Rare photo of ace ACG writer Greg Olivetti! Or maybe just an Olivetti M1 1916 typewriter? Only Richard E. Hughes knows for sure!

Hey, that Standish guy was some boy wonder, eh? Yeah, “Hands off, all you competitors, I’m …uh, I mean he’s too busy to work for you!” says the intrepid editor. But maybe DC or Marvel

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!

will have better luck snagging our next pretend writer… Kurato Osaki. (Adventures into the Unknown #107, April 1959:) “Readers, the chairman of this month’s meeting of Adventures into the Unknown fans will be none other that Kurato Osaki, who wrote this issue’s ‘Bridegroom For Jenny.’ Kurato, we think the folks would like to get to know you, so take over and tell them a few things about yourself! “‘Okay. I’m 24 years old, born in San Francisco of native-born parents who took me to New York shortly thereafter. I was in the 2nd grade when Pearl Harbor was bombed—and in a terrible pickle. All the kids had me figured for a Jap spy at the very least, no matter how loudly I protested that both myself and my parents were native-born, loyal Americans. I found myself doing everything strictly American that I could think of—and carrying around a stack of comic books was high on the list. Actually, I didn’t start reading them until I was a bit older, and they opened up a great new world of adventure and thrills for me. I got so fascinated that I decided to try my hand at writing a comics story myself. This was when I was ten, and it was a super-duper thriller. Was I proud when it was accepted—and covered with grief when it was printed! It turned out that they’d published it for the laughs, hamming it up plenty. I still remember how I cried with shame, and it rankled for years afterward. So much so that I decided to teach these editors a lesson. All through high school, I made a close study of comics stories and what made them tick, and when I was at college I began

Some Faces In The ACG Crowd (Above:) This blurry figure is the real Leo Rosenbaum, a.k.a. Richard E. Hughes, a.k.a. Shane O’Shea, a.k.a. Zev Zimmer, a.k.a., well, you know…. (Right:) The writer/editor really went for broke with this one! Editor Richard E. Hughes has a conference with writer Shane O’Shea, in Adventures into the Unknown #140 (April-May 1963)… with art by Chic Stone—who may well be the guy in the blue suit in panel 2. The mag had sure come a long way from “The Spirit of Frankenstein”! Thanks to Sharon Karibian. [© the respective copyright holders.]

First Runner-Up Title: 12:00 Terror! The letter column logo to Midnight Mystery! [© the respective copyright holders.]

experimenting. Rejection slips taught me a lot. I kept on because I was determined, and I finally clicked. At least I think I did. I’d like to know your opinions, readers. So please write your letters to The Editor, Adventures into the Unknown, 347 5th Avenue, New York 16, N.Y. Tell them what you think of this magazine, too—and then read what some of the fans are saying!’” Wow, now that’s what I call a convincing yarn! Clearly, Hughes didn’t discriminate when it came to his imaginary wordsmiths. The early stories only had credits, but soon they added drawings of the imaginary authors to make the fantasy more convincing. Next up: another mini-biography that packs a powerful punch… literally! (Forbidden Worlds #76, March 1959:) “Let’s start this month’s meeting of Forbidden Worlds fans by introducing one of the newest members of our family—ace writer Shane O’Shea, who authored ‘The Glittering Nightmare’ in this issue. Shane’s 26 years of age, and there’s only one thing he likes better than a good scrap—and that’s sitting down at his typewriter and searching his teeming brain for new and startling story slants for Forbidden Worlds or Adventures into the Unknown. He’s come up the hard way. The oldest of a brood of O’Sheas, he’d always wanted to be a writer, but upon the death of his dad, he was forced to seek immediate employment. He got a job driving a truck, but here his deceptively gentle appearance was against him. He got into fight after fight, and was amazed to find that he won them all with ease. But when he licked the foreman, he lost his job. A friend talked him into taking a stab at the work which he did best—namely fighting. And Shane did pretty well as a boxer. But in his spare time, he didn’t forget an early ambition—writing. He wrote a series of boxing stories, and sold five out of

The 7 Faces Of Leo Rosenbaum!

seven. This opened his eyes to the fact that he could make more money at writing than boxing—and the work was easier and painless! So maybe the ring lost a champ—but we gained one! What do you folks think of Shane O’Shea as a writer? Write and tell us—and tell us your opinion of our magazine, while you’re at it! Send your letters to The Editor, Forbidden Worlds, 347 5th Avenue, New York 16, N.Y. And now let’s present some reader opinions!” Whew! Shane sure TKO’d that job! Now let’s check out another Hughes wunderkind! (Forbidden Worlds #77, April 1959:) “Hi fans! It’s time for our monthly Forbidden Worlds get-together. The month we want you to meet Kermit Lundgren, author of ‘Safari to the Stars.’ Kermit’s a guy who was cut out to be a writer from the very first. He had quite an education, being graduated from college with high honors in science. Immediately, he turned to journalism, and began writing scientific treatises and learned papers. At a party he met and snubbed one of Forbidden Worlds’ best writers—we won’t mention names. ‘Comics writers,’ Kermit told him, ‘just don’t rate— they are nowhere!’ Our boy retorted, ‘Sour grapes! You couldn’t write a comic script if you tried—you’re strictly a longhaired guy without the imagination it takes!’ Thus challenged, Kermit set out to prove things. Very carefully he framed a story and sent it to us—and very promptly we threw it back at him. This got him sore. Promptly, we received a second story, a third, a fourth—and with equal promptness we rejected them—in each case telling him why. It turned into a challenge for Kermit—so much so that he forgot his scientific treatises and learned papers, and threw himself heart and soul into the project of proving that he could too write good comics! And gradually, we started noticing an improvement. There was more excitement in his plots. His characters were growing more human. And finally, we knew we had a writer on our hands! Since then, he’s become a steady

Sure They Didn’t Get This Title From A Fire Sale Over At ACG’s Romantic Adventures? “Kisses and Hisses” was the title of Hughes’ letters column for ACG’s Unknown Worlds.

and saluted contributor. How do you like his stuff, readers? Tell us! Address your letters to The Editor, Forbidden Worlds, 347 5th Avenue, New York 16, N.Y.—and let us know what you think of our magazine in general!” I wonder who was the ACG writer that Kermit snubbed? Zev Zimmer? Kurato Osaki? Surely not Shane O’Shea!? No, he’d have slugged the twerp! Hughes had some good advice to budding authors in most of his bios: mainly, that writers were often rejected, but the ones that made it were the ones who kept trying and trying until they got good enough to make a sale. Which is what often happened to the heroes in Hughes’ comic stories. Failure after failure, until (usually aided by the supernatural)—success! Ironically, while that advice was great for other companies, it was pretty worthless at ACG, inasmuch as Richard Hughes was their one-man writing staff! There weren’t any biographies the next couple of months, and Hughes explained why in this letter column intro. (Adventures into the Unknown #108, May 1959:) “For the last couple of months or so we’ve started this readers’ section of Adventures into the Unknown with a short biography of one of our writers or artists. But suddenly a terrible thought has struck us. Suppose you folks out there aren’t interested in the people that make this magazine! That could be—it might be just their products you go for, and not their personalities. Well, we’re going to leave that up to you. If you go for this personalized treatment, write in and tell us so. If you’re against it, register your objections. While you’re at it, tell us what you like or don’t like about our efforts. Address your letter to The Editor, Adventures into the Unknown, 347 5th Avenue, New York 16, N.Y. We’ll print your letter if space allows.” The fans must have liked the bios, as another one appeared two months later. Readers, meet egghead Brad Everson! (Forbidden Worlds #80, July 1959:) “Hi, Forbidden Worlds fans! This month’s profile concerns Brad Everson, author of ‘The Answer Machine,’ as well as many other stories you’ve read in this magazine. That’s a pen name he uses—he won’t even tell us his real name. Seems that he’s a science instructor in a Midwest college and he’s gunning for a professorship. Since he ought to be spending his time writing for scientific publications, he apparently thinks it better to conceal his true identity. The fact is that he just can’t resist magazines of the type of Forbidden Worlds and Adventures into the Unknown.

Was His Pseudonym “Big John”? One of Hughes’ letter responses. This one touted his newest artistic find, John Buscema, whose work next appeared the following issue. Wonder whatever happened to that guy! He showed such promise! From Forbidden Worlds #78 (May 1959). [© the respective copyright holders.]

“‘They’re not stuffed shirt,’ he says, ‘and they encourage pure and creative imagination. The result is sheer entertainment—which I go for!’ And we’re glad he does, since it’s given us the opportunity of presenting some first-rate Everson efforts to you readers. Brad’s just about the mildest-looking man you’re ever met. Don’t let that fool

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!

you, because he is mild! He’s only had one hairbreadth adventure in his life, and that took place in Hungary, shortly after the Second World War. “Seems he got into a disagreement with a hothead who challenged him to a duel, and poor Gender-Bender Brad didn’t even know which was Beneath the logo for the letters page in Gasp! #3 (June 1967), not long before the end of ACG, Hughes used the business end of a sword. Prudent the occasion to introduce yet another new writer—Lorna Cass—with her own blushin’ bio, which echoes some of American officials insisted on rushing the earlier ones of male scribes. She even gets her own pic! Sure, Lorna could’ve been a real, live person— him out of the country, which didn’t but we’re kinda betting she was another fabulous figment of Hughes’ fervent imagination! [© the respective sit well with Brad. Immediately upon copyright holders.] his return, he took up fencing and practiced to such good effect that Now what are we readers supposed to say to that? “Naw, I he’s now regarded as one the best swordsmen around. He’s been think Jonnie stinks. Let ‘im die in a fiery crash”? Still, you gotta trying to get a visa for a return trip to Hungary, but the Department of admit, Hughes came up with a dilly of a shock ending for this State won’t grant it—they’ve got an idea of what’s in his mind! As for phony bio. us, we’re happy that he’s here, because that gives us a chance at his stories! We’d like your opinion of his stuff, if you’re not scared of that Hughes had a real talent for writing warm stories with sword of his. Write to us, please, including any opinions you may have engaging characters—a skill reflected in his lively letter pages. on our magazine in general. Send your letter to The Editor, Forbidden Sometimes though, you might feel like you were watching the Worlds, 347 5th Avenue, New York 16, N.Y.” split-personality antics of the Three Faces of Eve. Case in point, this exchange in the letter column of Midnight Mystery, another of ACG’s Imagine the nerve of that mug… hiding behind a pen name. spooks and sci-fi magazines. Tsk! Well, let’s move on. Our next biography is guaranteed to… fracture…you. It’s about as sick an origin story as we’ve heard! (Midnight Mystery #6, Sept. 1961:) (Adventures into the Unknown #110 Aug. 1959:) “So, all you Adventures into the Unknown fans, you’d like to know about the folks who put out your favorite magazine. This month, we’ll tell you a bit about Jonathan Burns, one of whose stories you’ll find represented in this issue. The first we heard of him was when he sent in a story to us from a hospital. It was awful, and we rejected it. Six months later came a second story, from another hospital, and a year later a third, from still another hospital. Again rejects, but there wasn’t any discouraging him. More and more stories came in, each from a hospital in a different location. Finally we wrote to him and advised him to stick to his job as a hospital worker and leave the writing to the professionals. Then we got a letter that explained everything.

“Dear Editor: I just completed the reading of your March-April issue. This was the first issue of Midnight Mystery that I have seen, and I was quite pleasantly surprised. I have always read Adventures into the Unknown and Forbidden Worlds whenever I could get them and have held that they were the best in the field. And now this fine new companion magazine! I really enjoyed ‘Ivar’s Playmates.’ It was the first story of Lafcadio Lee’s that I remember reading, and I thought that it had an unusual amount of imagination and intrigue. I would rate it as No. 1 in this issue. I also enjoyed ‘The Opal of Ali Khar,’ but then I’m not surprised when Shane O’Shea turns in a very good story. I’d like to see some more stories teaming Kurato Osaki and Ogden Whitney. The combining of their two skills produced an effect that I really enjoyed! “Ronnie Gould, 520 S. Springfield, Anthony, Kan.”

“It seems that Jonathan wasn’t working in those hospitals; he was a patient in each case. It seems that at different times, he had fractured both arms, both legs, his nose, jaw, and innumerable ribs. There were also concussions and burns aplenty. Jonathan was a racing car driver and all these mishaps were risks of the trade. There’s not much to do while waiting to heal in a hospital, and Jonathan read comic magazines. He liked ours, and decided he’d try to write for us. “‘You see,’ said Jonnie ‘one of these days I’m gonna get it bad. If I’m still living, I’ll have to quit racing and I’m planning a new career. So you fellas are elected!’ What are you going to do when a guy’s got guts like that? We gave him pointers, coached him, nursed him along. Finally he clicked and he hasn’t stopped clicking since. If you think he ought to quit racing and make a full-time career out of writing comics, write and tell us. Tell us what you think of our magazine, too. Address your letter to The Editor, Forbidden Worlds, 347 5th Avenue, New York 16, N.Y.”

Hughes’ reply: “Lafcadio Lee’s a darned good writer if you sit on him—otherwise he’s apt to be careless and require a couple of rejections before he straightens out. But when he’s in the groove, he’s sure got it! On the other hand, Shane O’Shea requires practically no supervision to turn out his consistently high-quality stories. He rarely misses— but we feel that he did when it came to that ‘Opal’ yarn. Let’s just say he got it out of his system!”

Various Hues Of Hughes A 1957 Richard Hughes photo, which originally appeared accompanying this magazine’s serialization of Michael Vance’s full-length study Forbidden Adventures: The History of the American Comics Group, as serialized in Alter Ego #61-62. By all accounts, Hughes was a real sweetie. Photo courtesy of MV.

Oooooh-kay, Rich. This is me, sloooowly walking away backwards towards the door. Give my regards to Bob Standish, Kurato Osaki, Shane O’Shea, Pierre Alonzo, Brad Everson, Kermit Lundgren, Greg Olivetti, Ace Aquila, Pierce Rand, Zev Zimmer, Lafcadio Lee, and the rest of the gang. Me, I’m outta here! But before I go, here’s a choice Richard Hughes story that cartoonist Steve Bissette related in an online post on Oct. 15, 2019—courtesy of his

The 7 Faces Of Leo Rosenbaum!

The Fearsome Five! Hughes scripted and edited these five mystery titles in the 1960s: (Top row, left to right:) Ogden Whitney’s cover to Adventures into the Unknown #122 (Feb. 1961)… Kurt Schaffenberger’s covers for Forbidden Worlds #86 (April 1960) and Unknown Worlds #1 (Aug. 1960). (Bottom row, l. to r.:) Whitney’s Midnight Mystery #1 cover (Jan. 1961) and Schaffenberger’s for Gasp! #4 (Aug. 1967). Ironically, Gasp! #4 was ACG’s last gasp, as the line was discontinued with that issue. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

“Lafcadio Lee” apparently never received his own bogus bio in ACG pages, but was yet another (you should excuse the expression) alter ego of Richard Hughes/Leo Rosenbaum. This illo is from Unknown Worlds #7 (April 1961). [© the respective copyright holders.]

former teacher at the Joe Kubert school, ACG artist Hy Eisman: “Hy Eisman told us a story of delivering an art job to ACG he’d just completed, just as Hughes was typing up a page on his office typewriter. Hughes finished it up, placed it under the pages of a script on his desk (it was the final page of the script he’d just written), and without missing a beat handed it to Hy, saying something like, ‘And

I’ve just received this new story from one of our writers—it’s your new assignment, here you go!’ Hy told us Hughes wrote EVERYTHING at ACG in the 1950s/1960s, but acted like it was all from different writers. ‘We all knew it was him,’ Hy told us.” Gee, wonder who wrote Hy’s script? Hmmm. Maybe Ace Aquila? Or Zev Zimmer? Or…? Till next time…

WAGING THE TRADE (PAPERBACK) WARS!

CONAN THE BARBARIAN

THE ORIGINAL MARVEL YEARS – EPIC COLLECTION

Vol. 4 – Queen Of The Black Coast Collecting Conan the Barbarian #43-59 & Savage Sword of Conan #1

by ROY THOMAS, JOHN BUSCEMA, & MIKE PLOOG 320 Pages On Sale Dec. 1, 2021 $39.99 US/$49.99 Canada ISBN #978-1-302-92955-8

In Memoriam

Victor Gorelick (1941-2020)

Two Tributes I. The End Of An Era

by Jim Amash

rooklyn-born Victor Gorelick always knew he’d be involved with the arts one way or another. His fascination with comics and illustration led him to become a student at the School of Industrial Art (now known as the High School of Art and Design) in New York City. From there he entered the world of comicbooks. He also had a deep love for music, and played the trumpet in jazz bands for many years. At the age of seventeen, Victor started at Archie Comics in the production department, replacing Dexter Taylor (who left his staff job to become a full-time Little Archie artist). As an art assistant, Victor made corrections when necessary on the original art, e.g., fixing spelling, punctuation, and grammatical errors as well as correcting inconsistencies in the clothing of characters. His first job was removing cleavage, adjusting plunging neck lines, and removing navels on “Katy Keene” and the other female characters in that series. Penciling, inking, lettering, and coloring kept Victor very busy in the production department.

Everything’s Archie! (Above:) From left to right, artists Jon D’Agostino and Jim Amash and editor Victor Gorelick. (Lower left:) An Archie drawing by VG, from the Internet. Thanks to JA. [TM & © Archie Comic Publications, Inc.]

He served stateside in the U.S. Navy from 1960 to 1963 at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn. He continued working for Archie during this time as a production artist on his days off, in addition to being a freelance colorist. Once his stint in the Navy concluded, Victor was a full-time Archie staffer, and freelance colorist on a variety of books involving the Archie characters as well as super-heroes like The Fly, The Jaguar, and The Mighty Crusaders (credited as “Vic Torr” on some stories). He also worked on the super-hero versions of the Archie characters in the same capacity, as well as lettering various “Archie” stories and The Shadow. By the mid-’60s, Victor was art-directing under the supervision of co-publisher John Goldwater’s son Richard. He was also involved in trafficking artwork and talking to the artists and the color separators as the production coordinator. Victor told me, “Occasionally, I put my two cents in on a story, but Richard Goldwater really handled that. He bought all the stories and assigned all the artists to the stories. The only time I did any of that was when he was away.” Victor explained his expanding role at the company: “At Archie Comics, a lot of people wear different hats”. By the end of the decade, Victor was doing some editorial work, too. During this period, Victor did some freelance gag-cartooning for various publications. For Tower Publications he lettered the first “T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents” story for Wally Wood. “I think it was a four-page lead-in story. I might have lettered some other stuff for him,” he told me in 2003. In the 1970s, Victor had a hand in nearly everything that had to be done in the office. His editorial duties increased, and some of his production duties were occasionally handled by other staffers, though he continued to be the art director. In addition to the various Archie titles, Victor had a little editorial and art director’s hand in the short-lived Red Circle line in the 1970s. He also provided a bit of editorial assistance when the line was revived in 1983 starring super-heroes such as The Fly, The Comet, both versions of The Shield, Steel Sterling, Black Hood, in Blue Ribbon and Mighty Crusaders. During the 1980s and after, Victor found time to edit custom comics for several companies, including Radio Shack, the F.B.I., and Kraft General Foods. He taught cartooning at Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn, and was a member of the Board of

In Memoriam

late. He knew I wouldn’t mind. Once Victor trusted you, he trusted you completely. Not once in all those years did he call to ask when I was going to turn pages in. He trusted me with tight, sometimes near-impossible deadlines many, many times, saying, “I can always depend on you. You’re never late. You always turn in a good job. You’re a team player.” Once, I needed extra work when my furnace went out in the dead of winter. Victor said, “Don’t worry. I’ll increase your work load.” He actually doubled the number of pages I was getting. Three months later, he asked teasingly, “Are you enjoying all that extra work?” We both laughed. “Did you get your furnace paid off?” I told him I did, and thanked him. He said, “An artist in a cold house can’t keep his fingers or his wife warm.” He said it as a joke, but I knew he was concerned about my wife as well as he was about me. Though Victor was the very last of the old-school, tough, gruff, no-nonsense editors, that veneer hid a warm, caring heart. He made working for the company easy and fun. He possessed a quick wit that would have me laughing even when we were trying to be serious. In later years, Victor mellowed quite a lot, and we developed a very good friendship in addition to an already excellent working relationship. When I came to him for professional advice, Victor never hesitated to offer practical solutions. We shared lots of laughs and personal stories about our lives. We talked a lot about baseball, old-time radio, music, old movies, as well as business. We cared a lot about each other, and he was totally supportive.

Mighty Is As Mighty Does! Paul Reinman’s splash page for The Mighty Crusaders #4 (April 1966); script by Jerry Siegel—and coloring by Victor Gorelick. Thanks to Jim Amash. [TM & © Archie Comic Publications, Inc.]

Advisors at the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art. He also served as Archie’s liaison to the Comics Magazine Association of America, eventually becoming a member of their guidelines committee. When Richard Goldwater retired from full-time editing in 1984, Victor became the managing editor of Archie Comics. He won an Inkpot Award in 2008 for his comicbook contributions. In 2010, he also became a Co-President in addition to being the EditorIn-Chief at Archie. He continued in those roles until his passing on February 8, 2020. Victor Gorelick was my Archie editor for 22 years. When he hired me, he was unaware that I had already been working for Archie for two years on the Sonic the Hedgehog comicbook. He found an old portfolio of mine in his office, and when he called me the first time, he said, “You’re a hard man to get a hold of.” I told him my area code had changed since I sent that portfolio. Victor said, “It changed twice. Tell the phone company to stop doing that.” He said that in a pseudo-annoyed voice, but I started laughing, and he caved in and laughed, too. He called me after I turned in my first story, and though he liked what I did, there were a couple of things that he wanted me to do differently. When I turned in the second story, he chuckled, “I see I have an artist who follows instructions. You’ll get more work.” Most of the time, Victor didn’t give me a deadline. He knew I’d get right to work as soon as the pages came in. There were times he asked me to put aside one job to do another job that was running

Victor was a walking encyclopedia about the history of Archie Comics, and was the last man to have worked for the original owners, John Goldwater, Louis Silberkleit, and Maurice Coyne. He worked there for 62 years and loved the Archie characters as if they were living beings. He was completely devoted and fiercely loyal to the company, and likely edited more pages than anyone in the history of comicbooks. Victor certainly had the longest continuous editorial comicbook career. While he was proud of his career, I found him to be rather humble, and often self-effacing about it. Not once did I hear him brag. I knew Victor had been ill in recent times, but somehow, it seemed like he’d always pull through and be strong as always. What proved to be our last phone call was a very emotional one for the both of us. He’ll be greatly missed by all who knew him. Thank you for everything you did for me, Victor. It was my honor and privilege to work with you, and I will never forget you. Jim Amash left Fine Art and comics shop management careers to become a comicbook artist thirty years ago. He has worked for many publishers over the years, with the past 25 years being as an inker/finisher for Archie Comics. He has been an associate editor of Alter Ego for 20 years and spent much of that time interviewing comicbook creators.

II. “One Of A Kind”

by Mike Pellerito

t’s very hard to find a way to begin to type a memorial for Victor Gorelick. Victor was from a different era. They just don’t make them that way anymore, and even in that crowd he stood out as one of a kind. I could start with the basic info, all of which is astounding, but I’d rather tell you a funny story first—I know that’s what Victor would want. The last month or so that Vic was in the hospital, I’d usually visit every other day. I’d text and ask if he’d want anything; the answer was usually “Just come up.” Sometimes he’d want a copy of a comic, usually to give to someone

In Memoriam

The last 10 years or so, since Jon Goldwater came to lead Archie, was the happiest I’d seen Victor. From day one of Jon showing up, Vic told me this was going to be a good thing. As Jon gave the company a much-needed shot in the arm, he gave all of us the freedom to try new ideas and push the Archie brand in new ways. Jon pointed the direction—the details were left to us to make happen. With Jon’s oversight and Victor’s guidance, we saw a brand reemergence like no other. It’s really been an amazing, one of a kind opportunity to be a part of that company renaissance— especially alongside Jon, Victor, and so many at Archie. Over the years it was such a resource to go to Vic with any situation and get his feedback—especially the tough situations. When I was torn, if he thought I was doing the right thing, it was a tremendous relief. As we added more diversity to the comics, tried new ideas, had Archie get married, oversaw the Death of Archie, launched groundbreaking horror comics, and even rebooted Archie, Betty and Veronica, Jughead, won two awards and some acclaim, and had some of the best sales the company had enjoyed in decades, having his input was invaluable. I will miss all those talks with Vic beyond belief, but I can’t express how lucky I was to have that opportunity for so many years. If you ever loved reading Archie Comics, you owe it to yourself to go grab a copy to read while enjoying a delicious cheeseburger and fries. And maybe bring a friend along, too.

Really Into His Work! A caricature of editor Victor Gorelick in a 2008 “Archie” story, penciled by Dan Parente & inked by Jim Amash. They produced it secretly, without editor VG knowing, as a surprise for his 50th anniversary at Archie. Thanks to JA. [TM & © Archie Comic Publications.]

who was particularly helpful to him there. One of the last times he texted me something different, “Yes, could you please bring me a double Whopper with cheese and some fries… the burgers here are terrible.” So we hung out eating cheeseburgers, talking about Archie and all sorts of stuff. I didn’t know it would be my last meal with him, but it was fitting because we had done exactly that so many times before. We worked together for 20 years. He hired me for the art department and, like him, I worked my way up to Co-President. For the last dozen or so years, we’d always enjoy a cheeseburger (and usually something a little more than a milk shake) for “Victoberfest” to celebrate the anniversary of his first day at Archie on October 4th, 1958. Just to put that in perspective: 1958 America didn’t have 50 states yet, no man on the moon, color TV was still new, the hula hoop had just been invented, Disneyland was only 3 years old, and most of your favorite super-heroes hadn’t been created yet. It was a few years away from “Sabrina the Teenage Witch,” “Josie and the Pussycats,” and The Archies’ hit “Sugar, Sugar.” The then-recent Archie media sensation was a radio show that had ended in 1953, decades before the classic Archie cartoons and the modern hit shows like Riverdale, Sabrina, and Katy Keene. But there through it all was Victor, who started working as a teenager himself, not much older than the Archie kids; in fact he was born the same year Archie debuted, 1941. Early on, working for Vic in the art department was a challenge. He was a tough taskmaster; everything I worked on, usually corrections on the actual art, was to be approved by him. I also remember doing things over many, many, many times until he was satisfied. A lot of it was to break in the rookie, but I always appreciated the work ethic and how seriously he took his job. At the beginning it was clearly a boss/employee relationship, and later we would butt heads quite a bit, but eventually we would become very good friends.

Once an editor for Archie’s Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, Mike Pellerito has been the company’s co-President for over a decade. He still finds time to edit various Archie comics and specials as he helps oversee and push new directions for the firm.

In Memoriam

Dennis O’Neil (1939-2020)

A Master Of “Highly Acclaimed, Socially Conscious Work”

by Stephan Friedt

ennis O‘Neil was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on May 3, 1939. Even as a child he had a fondness for comicbooks. He graduated from St. Louis University with a degree in English Literature, with emphasis on creative writing and philosophy. He spent time in the U.S. Navy, taking part in the Cuban quarantine during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. Upon leaving the Navy, Dennis worked for a newspaper in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. For it, in early 1965, he wrote two pieces on the revival of the comicbook industry; these brought him to the attention of Roy Thomas, and led, later that year, to his taking a “writer’s test” for Stan Lee at Marvel. Denny would start out on such titles as Rawhide Kid, Millie the Model, Patsy and Hedy, and two “Doctor Strange” stories in Strange Tales. His first super-hero work was on a “Captain America” story. When assignments became scarce for him at Marvel in 1966, editor Dick Giordano gave him work for a year and a half writing for Charlton Comics, where he adopted the pen name “Sergius O’Shaugnessy.” When Giordano made the jump to DC, he included Denny as one of a group of creators he took with him. At DC Dennis would work on Beware The Creeper, make controversial changes to Wonder Woman, and tackle the Justice League of America, which brought him to his highly acclaimed, socially conscious work with Neal Adams on the Green Lantern/Green Arrow series. From there, Dennis would take on “Batman,” co-creating the villain Ra’s al Ghul and his daughter Talia, as he spent a good portion of the 1970s penning memorable issues of Batman and Detective Comics. Editor Julius Schwartz brought him over to the Superman line, where he (temporarily) eliminated kryptonite. Dennis would also work with artist C.C. Beck on a revival of the original Captain Marvel under the Shazam! title, and with Michael Wm. Kaluta on a memorable run of The Shadow. 1980 found Denny back at Marvel as an editor, where he also wrote Amazing Spider-Man (1980-1981), Iron Man (1982-1986), and Daredevil (1983-1985). 1986 brought him back to DC as the editor of several Batman titles, where he would stay until 2000. During this time, he would also collaborate with Denys Cowan on The Question and again create or co-create numerous memorable characters and plot lines. Over the years, Denny would also write several novels, short stories, reviews, and plays. He wrote the Richard Dragon books under the pen name “Jim

Denny O’Neil and the “Doctor Strange” splash page from Strange Tales #146 (July 1966)—Denny’s second “Doc” script and the last to be plotted and drawn by Steve Ditko, who had left Marvel around the turn of the year. Thanks to Barry Pearl for the page scan. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

In Memoriam

Dennis” and would later bring the character to DC. In the late 1990s he taught “Writing for Comics” at the Manhattan School of Visual Arts. He also wrote for TV (the final episode of Logan’s Run) and for several animation projects. The world lost Dennis Joseph O’Neil to cardiopulmonary arrest on June 11, 2020. Denny’s wife, Marifran, had passed away in 2017. He is survived by his son, Lawrence O’Neil (writer, director, producer). He was loved by friends, fans, and colleagues and will be greatly missed.

Milestones While today it’s commonplace for the work of 1960s comics pros to see print in hardcover, these two paperbacks were a definite step up back in the day: Denny O’Neil’s 1971 paperback novel The Bite of Monsters and a softcover collection (the first of two) reprinting the Green Lantern/ Green Arrow series he had done in the early ’70s with artist Neal Adams. Thanks to Stephen Fears and Stephan Friedt, respectively. [Novel cover © the respective copyright holders; GL/GA page TM & © DC Comics.]

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encyclopedic knowledge of each that would confound even the most ardent fan. How does he do it? Does he have robot duplicates of himself, to have the time to write all these articles (including notes on 151 reprinted issues of The Shadow for Tony Tollin) as well as new Doc Savage and Tarzan novels? Anyway, the premise of “Skullduggery” was certainly intriguing, if not fully convincing. I’m not a Golden Age fan in particular, but I found Will’s article totally fascinating. I find Mr. Monster’s ongoing feature on “The Other Stan Lee’ interesting, especially considering that I’ve never given Charlie Biro a second or even first thought. Pierre Comtois You really should give Charles Biro a thought, as he was one of a handful of the most important comicbook editors in the history of the medium. As regards Will Murray’s wide-ranging studies, Pierre, you yourself know how it is: You immerse yourself up to your eyebrows in popular culture for a few decades, and you tend to pick things up. Of course, it’ll probably be impossible ever to prove or disprove Will’s thesis that DC editorial policy circa 1941, under Whitney Ellsworth, was to separate certain creators from what today would be termed their “intellectual property” by shuffling hero names and assignments around at the very beginning. But I’ll admit that—at least prior to evidence to the contrary—I (Roy) am more than half-convinced that’s precisely what took place re such characters as Tarantula, Vigilante, and quite possibly Wonder Woman… and perhaps others we don’t know about yet. (The Batman situation is, as Will points out, a far trickier proposition, but can’t be totally ruled out.) The well-documented circumstances surrounding Tarantula, in particular, were decisive for me. Of course, that’s hardly to suggest that other comics companies of that era were four-colored angels with regard to relations with creators. I myself was intrigued by Frank Foster, Jr.’s focus (though secondary to his father’s early-’30s concept drawings for a “Batman”) on a creation of his dad’s called “Aquazoo.” Remembering “Aquaman” artist/ co-creator Paul Norris’ statement that editor Ellsworth had handed him a crude sketch of a be-finned character smoking a cigar underwater and telling him to design a hero based on it, I asked Frank for more info on “Aquazoo”:

his issue’s spotlighted artist—and Ye Editor’s longtime friend and occasional neighbor—the ever-amazing Alfredo Alcala, often complained that he only rarely got an opportunity to pencil a super-hero feature for DC or Marvel. Well, at least Aussie artist Shane Foley has remedied that on this page, by utilizing one of Alfredo’s figures as the basis of the Alter Ego drawing above—and we think you’ll agree it turned out great! And Randy Sargent’s coloring ain’t half bad, either! [Alter Ego hero TM & © Roy & Dann Thomas; costume designed by Ron Harris.] This time, we present a handful of communiqués we received on Alter Ego #162, whose cover feature was Will Murray’s study of several artists who believed that early DC editors may have appropriated character names and concepts of theirs (especially Batman, Wonder Woman, and Tarantula) and handed them over to other artists and writers to develop— arguably in order to avoid disputes over trademarks and copyrights at a later date. We hear first from Pierre Comtois,. who’s authored and edited several volumes for TwoMorrows Publishing: Roy, An interesting assortment of material in Alter Ego #162. Chief among it all was “Super-Hero Skullduggery” by Will Murray. Is there any category of pop culture that Will doesn’t know all about? I’ve read pieces by him on pulps and comics demonstrating an

Dear Roy, Aquazoo was my father’s most developed character by far. He used to tell imaginative bedtime stories about Aquazoo’s adventures with all sorts of sea creatures, making them up as he went along. My mother was an accomplished secretary and would often sit by and take down the story in shorthand, to be typed out later as a chapter in a children’s book. I have a few Aquazoo drawings but suspect others have been lost. In any case, smoking a cigar would have been out of character, so I doubt he ever did that. However, no doubt when he made his rounds in New York, he showed Aquazoo [to editors] along with the rest, first in 1932, then 1937-39. Frank Foster, Jr. Interesting. The precise logistics with regard to DC editor Ellsworth are a bit tricky to pin down, since he went to work for National Allied (proto-DC) founder/publisher Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson in 1934, left DC (as Wikipedia puts it) sometime “circa 1937-38,” and returned “a couple of years later.” By that ambiguous timeline, which basically corresponds with those recorded elsewhere, it’s certainly possible Ellsworth was one of those to whom your father showed his “Batman” and “Aquazoo” samples in the latter ’30s… and that Ellsworth turned Aquazoo into Aquaman (adding the cigar on his own). But any such occurrence will probably have to remain unproven, if definitely not beyond

[correspondence comments, & corrections]

There’s Something About An Aqua(zoo)man (Left:) One of several Frank Foster drawings of his bearded creation “King Aquazoo,” a character his son believes was pitched to comics editors in the 1937-39 period. [© Frank Foster, Jr.] (Right:) Paul Norris-drawn splash page from More Fun Comics #77 (March 1942), the fifth “Aquaman” story. Script attributed to Manley Wade Wellman. There’s is no direct trail, paper or other, to indicate that DC editor (and “Aquaman” co-creator) Whitney Ellsworth was ever shown Foster’s “Aquazoo,” but it does seem likely that Foster visited DC’s offices in the late 1930s, a couple of years before the company’s 1941 explosion of super-heroes. Thanks to Jim Ludwig. [TM & © DC Comics.]

the realm of possibility. Nick Caputo has a slightly different take on the matter: Hi Roy, While Will Murray’s article was of some interest, it is hard for me to digest the premise of someone coming up with a name or drawing (be it Batman, Wonder Woman, or, in the case of Simon/ Kirby/Beck et al., Spider-Man) and feeling they were “the creator” in some fashion. At best, they may have come up with a name, sketch, etc., but the finished product would invariably have been much different from what Finger, Kane, Marston, etc., came up with. Unless DC editors took their concept, character design, and plots and stole them wholesale, the worst crime would have been that they appropriated a name without the artist’s knowledge. I can understand anyone being upset over coming up with a name like Wonder Woman and then seeing that become a huge success for DC and others, but there is absolutely no way to gauge what a Frank Foster “Batman” or a Hal Sherman “Wonder Woman” would have been like. One could argue the case that some before you yourself wanted to produce a Conan comicbook, but it was you and Barry

Smith who created a successful title. I thoroughly enjoyed Carla Jordan’s piece (and your accompanying text) on Jackson, Missouri’s tribute to you. I was particularly touched by the many family, friends, and colleagues who attended, as well as the photos of your childhood homes and looks at the Jones and Fulenweird drugstores (which reminded me of quite a few stores in the Brooklyn of my childhood). Perhaps my favorite story was the fireworks explosion. Nick Caputo Mine, too, Nick…but only in retrospect! As for the Wonder Woman/ Batman matter, I’m less inclined to let editors or companies morally (or otherwise) off the hook if and when they may have willfully “appropriated a name without the artist’s knowledge.” In the case of the early comics heroes, the character’s “name” usually went hand in glove with his “function”—the kind of hero he was to be, and what his abilities were. If one “appropriates” the name “Tarantula,” one is almost certainly going to come up with a character with spider-like abilities, so clearly more than just the name has been lifted. “Wonder Woman” may be a more generic term, but in the context of 1941 it would still have suggested to almost anyone in the comics field a female Superman. Perhaps “Vigilante” fits your analysis better… but even so, should any editor have nixed a “Vigilante” concept brought to him by Paul Norris and then almost immediately have utilized that name, even on a different character? I hold, most strongly, that he should not have. I’ve long acknowledged two “appropriations” I myself seem to have made, even if both were subconscious and thus accidental: the suggestion to Stan Lee of the name “Cage” for the African-American super-hero that he, Archie Goodwin, and I concocted one early-1970s day (a name I’d seen, I remembered later, on a list of potential hero names my friend Gil Kane had briefly shown me one day months earlier and which I had temporarily

re:

Hawking Their Wares Underground cartoonist Larry Rippee (in an e-mail forwarded to us by Comic Crypt’s Michael T. Gilbert) suggested a possible “appropriation” related to yet another DC hero. Above is the March 6, 1940, daily for the once-popular newspaper comic strip Tailspin Tommy, whose hawk-helmeted pilot—including the angle of the shot—virtually duplicates a “Hawkman” panel (seen at right) from the latter’s origin as drawn by Dennis Neville for DC/AA’s Flash Comics #1 (dated Jan. 1940, but on sale in fall of ’39). This appears to be one of those rare instances where a newspaper strip “borrowed” from a comicbook, rather than vice versa! Tailspin Tommy strip by Hal Forrest; “Hawkman” script by Gardner Fox, reproduced from DC’s hardcover Golden Age Hawkman Archives, Vol. 1 (and, sadly, only). [Hawkman panel TM & © DC Comics; Tailspin Tommy strip TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.] Oh, and here’s a bonus oddity: The penciled-in “title” of the daily, as you can read, is “The Black Hawk!”—and of course Will Eisner & Chuck Cuidera would use the name “Blackhawk” for the aviator hero they would co-create for Quality’s Military Comics #1 in 1941!

forgotten I’d seen)… and, in 1972, the name and general concept of a “Son of Satan” after my fan-friend/artist Biljo White had come up with same a decade earlier for a single fanzine story, which again I didn’t consciously recall until some time after I’d set Marvel’s “Son of Satan” in motion. In both cases, my sole but sincere defense is that I had no conscious memory whatever of either earlier usage when I suggested them to Stan. (In the case of characters such as Grim Reaper, I had definitely recalled earlier, alreadypublic-domain creations and grafted those names quite consciously onto new characters.) I don’t see any similarity between such things and the Conan situation you mention, since the Cimmerian was a pre-existing hero that Marvel merely licensed. Of course, it has to be said that Whitney Ellsworth, too, even if he had seen the elder Foster’s Batman and/or Aquazoo, might’ve forgotten both by the time their DC equivalents were conceived… and anyway, there’s never been any evidence that Ellsworth suggested the “Batman” name to young Bob Kane. What occurred in the cases of Tarantula, Vigilante, and Wonder Woman, however, complicates the matter, because it suggests a possibly conscious pattern… although Ellsworth at that time had no real connection to M.C. Gaines’ All-American comics line, which developed and published the Amazon. The rest of A/E #162 attracted comment as well, such as this from Bernie Bubnis: Hi Roy, “The Golden Bat” by Dan Hagen was fascinating. Today the world seems to be getting a lot smaller, yet still some gems like this stay hidden to us Westerners. And a positive/negative attitude about this month’s FCA. At first I did not think I was interested in “El Carim” at all… period… so I skipped its 12 pages like they weren’t even there. But, faced one day with nothing else to read, I glanced over a few pages… then all 12. Congrats to Mr. Fraley for his very interesting history of this artist, and for making me feel like a clod for not glancing sooner. Bernie Bubnis Actually, it turns out that the most informative comments birthed by A/E #162 did indeed have to do with Michael Fraley’s study/bio of

early comics artist Sven Elven that composed that issue’s FCA [Fawcett Collectors of America] section. That e-mail came from longtime comics researcher George Hagenauer, who, it turns out, has a collection of original Elven art: Hi Roy, Really enjoyed the FCA piece on Sven Elven, as I own several pieces by him and know that most of his Fawcett art still exists. Based on that, I can tell you that none of it was ever rolled for mailing [as Fraley’s article suggests]! Art that Elven did, and in fact all the art I have seen so far for early Master and Slam Bang Comics, was done on cheap, rigid eighth-inch art board that could never be rolled and kept intact. If not kept in good storage conditions, it can turn really brittle over time. While early original Fawcett art is quite common, pre-1940 DC art is incredibly scarce, so I don’t know if they used rollable Strathmore or not. I have comicbook art from Dell’s 1929 Funnies and 1936 Wow, and both used thinner board like Strathmore, so it is possible National/DC was similar. The board used by Wow and Funnies was like the board used at that time for comic strips. Because of the lower page rates, a lot of the art shops and companies in the Golden Age like Iger and Fawcett and Jacquet provided the boards to their artists—this also periodically occurred later—I have seen (and own) comic strip proposals by Joe Kubert done in 1959 on DC-printed cover stock. Likewise, far later, there were periods when First and Eclipse had their own printed boards. The boards from Fawcett don’t seem to have any printed borders or indicators [as to where the art was to be drawn] on them; even the registration marks are hand-drawn. My guess is the eighth-inch-thick board was cheaper than standard Strathmore. Until we had this discussion, it had never dawned on me that one factor in how thin the Iger shop board was (we often call it “limp board”) may have been to make it easier to ship in a tube. The Sherlock Holmes drawing by Elven may not be comic strip

[correspondence comments, & corrections]

samples. Mostly forgotten today and largely undocumented is that most newspapers up to the late 1950s ran fiction either as separate sections on Sunday or as serials/short stories run daily. Some of these were distributed like comic strips by national syndicates. A square format for the illustrations was not uncommon. I own art by George Wunder done for AP where six of the illustrations are on one board. Having text underneath was not uncommon, and mysteries like Sherlock Holmes were popular enough to often have their own weekly slot. Artists in the 1940s for Hearst included Aquaman’s Paul Norris, strip artist Neil O’Keefe, and pulp artists Ed Cartier and Frederick Blakeslee. [EDITOR’S NOTE: See A/E #168 for a sample of such art by Norris.] Many local papers bypassed syndication and created their own fiction sections using local artists to do the illustrations. I have a number of these, which are featured in the History of Mystery Museum I have created. Elven’s Sherlock Holmes art looks like either samples or possibly even published originals for newspaper serials. George Hagenauer

Thanks, Geroge! Great to learn such so much about the paper/board on which many early comics were produced. Because we knew he’d want to hear about it, FCA editor P.C. Hamerlinck and I forwarded your e-mails to article author Michael Fraley, who had this response: Thank you, Roy! I truly appreciate the feedback [from George Hagenauer]. I was paraphrasing some rather Victorian storytelling by Mrs. Elven, probably written 25 years after the fact. If the drawings were indeed rolled for mailing, then perhaps that would help pinpoint the era the story took place in—most likely the National [DC] years. As for the Sherlock samples, I always understood them to be intended for serialized text stories, though small blocks of text (like in Maxon’s Tarzan) seemed most likely. At first, I thought perhaps they were connected to Leo O’Mealia’s syndicated version of Sherlock. However, Elven’s design for the character is completely different form O’Mealia’s, so I put that notion aside. I’d love to hear more about the pages of Elven art—evidence of penciling, theories as to inking, etc. I wish he’d stayed in comics. His sketching in later years, done for his own amusement, has a maturity and strength that I wish everyone could have seen. Michael Fraley And here “Sven Elven” had previously been one of those names that I’d always dismissed as a probable pseudonym, derived from “Seven Eleven.” Wonderful to learn about the man, and the artist, behind all those early bylines! As for that very-early-’40s Fawcett art being drawn on thick, unrollable board: as the proud owner myself of original art from that very early period of “Master Man,” “Bulletman,” and “Ibis the Invincible,” I can attest to what George H. says above. A couple of short takes from letters and e-mails re #162: Comics historian Roger Hill tells us that the “unidentified artist” of the cover of Prize Comics #8 (on p. 11) was Gus Ricca, whose signature had been trimmed off the cover as printed in 1941. How does he know?: “During my Green Lama research for my recent book on Mac Raboy, I ran across a full-page Harry ‘A’ Chesler house ad in one of Chesler’s digest ‘joke’ magazines, Army Laffs, dated 1940, showing a large black-&-white image of the Prize #8 cover—and the signature ‘Ricca’ is clearly seen at the bottom. Ricca worked in the Chesler art

The Legacy Of Sven Elven (Left:) A Sven Elven “Captain Quick” page from the 100-page collection New Book of Comics #2 (Spring 1938), as reprinted from New Comics #11 (Dec. 1936). Script attributed by the Grand Comics Database to Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson. Thanks to Henry Andrews. [TM & © DC Comics.] (Right:) Sigrid MacParland, the daughter of Sven Elven, with her son Rich in December 2019—holding up copies of Alter Ego #162 and the 1970s tabloid reprint of Action Comics #1, wherein four pages of Elven’s adaptation of The Adventures of Marco Polo had appeared. Sadly, Mrs. MacParland passed away only a week later. Courtesy of Michael D. Fraley.

re:

It Was A Very Good Year? Shane Foley drew (and Randy Sargent colored) this Happy-80th-Birthday illo to Roy T. in November 2020, for inclusion in A/E #166… but it got crowded out. So here it is—just in time for Roy’s 81st! Thanks, guys! [Arak, Son of Thunder & Hawkman TM & © DC Comics; Conan TM & © Conan Properties, LLC; the Thing TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

shop for many years and provided a number of covers for Chesler’s titles Punch Comics, Dynamic Comics, and others.” Oh, and pick up Roger’s book on “Captain Marvel Jr.”/Flash Gordon artist Mac Raboy, published by TwoMorrows. It’s one of the essentials! When I asked Carla Jordan, author of the piece about “Roy Thomas Day” in #162, how I could send complimentary copies of that issue to a couple of people whose comics I’d signed that afternoon/evening in February 2019, she informed me that: “The little boy from Marble Hill [MO] is the son of Stephanie, the woman I buy ads from at the Jackson CashbookJournal. Dr. Cedric Strange is a radiologist. His wife, Lynette Strange, owns the little boutique next door.” So, rest assured, they received their copies.

SPECIAL NOTE: We’re sorry to announce that, as of this issue, proofreader Rob Smentek has told us that, due to other personal commitments, he must discontinue his work catching typos and goofs in Alter Ego and other TwoMorrows mags. Best of luck to you, Rob, and thanks for your several years of help. From now on, all errors in A/E will be blamed on your departure!

Roy Thomas e-mail: roydann@ntinet.com 32 Bluebird Trail St. Matthews, SC 29135 Meanwhile, for more exchanges of views and info, seek out https:// groups.io/g/Alter-Ego-Fans. If you can’t find it, or can’t get in to join, please give modest moderator Chet Cox a tinkle at mormonyoyoman@gmail. com and he’ll help you out! The discussion group is likely to touch on any comics-related matter, and I try to pass on a bit of advance information (along with desperate cries for help) from time to time. While, over on Facebook, you might check out what moderator/manager/ buddy John Cimino has christened The Roy Thomas Appreciation Board. John keeps it up to date on my scheduled appearances at comics conventions (remember them?), in the pages of comics, books, and magazines, and at the local WalMart. It’s interactive, informative, and fun.

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

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ALTER EGO #163

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ALTER EGO #162

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!

WILL MURRAY presents an amazing array of possible prototypes of Batman (by artist FRANK FOSTER—in 1932!)—Wonder Woman (by Star-Spangled Kid artist HAL SHERMAN)—Tarantula (by Air Wave artist LEE HARRIS), and others! Plus a rare Hal Sherman interview—MICHAEL T. GILBERT with more on artist PETE MORISI—FCA— BILL SCHELLY—JOHN BROOME—and more! Cover homage by SHANE FOLEY!

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The early days of DAVE COCKRUM— Legion of Super-Heroes artist and co-developer of the revived mid-1970s X-Men—as revealed in art-filled letters to PAUL ALLEN and rare, previously unseen illustrations provided by wife PATY COCKRUM (including 1960s-70s drawings of Edgar Rice Burroughs heroes)! Plus FCA—MICHAEL T. GILBERT on PETE MORISI—JOHN BROOME—BILL SCHELLY, and more!

Spotlight on MIKE FRIEDRICH, DC/Marvel writer who jumpstarted the independent comics movement with Star*Reach! Art by NEAL ADAMS, GIL KANE, DICK DILLIN, IRV NOVICK, JOHN BUSCEMA, JIM STARLIN, HOWARD CHAYKIN, FRANK BRUNNER, et al.! Plus: MARK CARLSONGHOST on Rural Home Comics, FCA, and Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt! Justice League of America cover by NEAL ADAMS!

WILL MURRAY showcases original Marvel publisher (from 1939-1971) MARTIN GOODMAN, with artifacts by LEE, KIRBY, DITKO, ROMITA, MANEELY, BUSCEMA, EVERETT, BURGOS, GUSTAVSON, SCHOMBURG, COLAN, ADAMS, STERANKO, and many others! Plus FCA, Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt with more on PETE MORISI, JOHN BROOME, and a cover by DREW FRIEDMAN!

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!

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Two RICHARD ARNDT interviews revealing the wartime life of Aquaman artist/ co-creator PAUL NORRIS (with a Golden/ Silver Age art gallery)—plus the story of WILLIE ITO, who endured the WWII Japanese-American relocation centers to become a Disney & Warner Bros. animator and comics artist. Plus FCA, MICHAEL T. GILBERT, JOHN BROOME, and more, behind a NORRIS cover!

Spotlight on Groovy GARY FRIEDRICH— co-creator of Marvel’s Ghost Rider! ROY THOMAS on their six-decade friendship, wife JEAN FRIEDRICH and nephew ROBERT HIGGERSON on his later years, PETER NORMANTON on GF’s horror/ mystery comics, art by PLOOG, TRIMPE, ROMITA, THE SEVERINS, AYERS, et al.! FCA, MICHAEL T. GILBERT and Mr. Monster, and more! MIKE PLOOG cover!

JACK KIRBY is showcased cover-to-cover behind a never-before-printed Kirby cover! WILL MURRAY on Kirby’s contributions to the creation of Iron Man—FCA on his Captain Marvel/Mr. Scarlet Fawcett work—Kirby sections by MICHAEL T. GILBERT & PETER NORMANTON—Kirby in 1960s fanzines—STAN LEE’s colorful quotes about “The King”, and ROY THOMAS on being a Kirby fan (and foil)!

PAUL GUSTAVSON—Golden Age artist of The Angel, Fantom of the Fair, Arrow, Human Bomb, Jester, Plastic Man, Alias the Spider, Quicksilver, Rusty Ryan, Midnight, and others—is remembered by son TERRY GUSTAFSON, who talks in-depth to RICHARD ARNDT. Lots of lush comic art from Centaur, Timely, and (especially) Quality! Plus—FCA, MICHAEL T. GILBERT, JOHN BROOME, and more!

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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

NORMAN SAUNDERS— Fawcetteer by David Saunders

David Saunders is the son of the celebrated pulp artist Norman Saunders (1907-1989), whose life and Fawcett-related career will be explored in this issue and the next. Born in New York City in 1954, David graduated from the Kansas City Art Institute in 1975, after which he became a gallery artist in NYC. His work has been exhibited worldwide, and is in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Brooklyn Museum. He taught art at Yale, Oberlin, and RISD. In addition to his art career, David Saunders is also a pulp art historian, and has written hundreds of biographical profiles on artists for his website www.pulpartists.com. His two-part study of his artist father’s work for Fawcett Publications—before, during, and after the company’s 1940-1953 comicbook-producing era—provides both a personal and professional look at one of the foremost artists of pulp magazine (and comicbook) covers…. P.C. Hamerlinck.

Norman Saunders hard at work at Fawcett Publications, in a 1929 photo that was printed in Federal Illustrator, a monthly magazine produced by the Federal Schools art correspondence school. Since Saunders was a graduate of that institution, they proudly featured an article about his art career accomplishments. (Below left:) Saunders’ first cover illustration for Fawcett appeared on Capt. Billy’s Whiz Bang 1930 Winter Annual. (Below right:) He painted this cover for the Fawcett pre-Comics Code horror title Strange Stories from Another World #5 (Feb. 1953). Unless otherwise indicated, art accompanying this study was provided by David Saunders. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Fawcett Collectors Of America

Part I Capt. Billy & Modern Mechanics

orman Saunders was a sensational pulp artist. He also painted covers for comicbooks, paperbacks, men’sadventure magazines, and bubblegum trading cards. But before working his way to the top in each of these fields of popularculture publishing, his first training as a professional illustrator began in Minnesota in 1926, when he was hired at the age of eighteen, at Fawcett Publications, a company that was still in its formative years. The Fawcett brothers, William, Roscoe, and Roger, had the luck to strike a popular nerve in Prohibition America with a saucy joke book called Capt. Billy’s Whiz Bang. This digest-sized monthly magazine featured 80 pages of silly jokes about sex, booze, flappers, and farmers. Each issue of Whiz Bang was packed with gags, singlepanel cartoons, ribald poems, ethnic humor, and “barnyard bunk,” with a central leaf of naughty “Postcards from Paris.” This novel idea to bind the magazine with a bonus centerfold of pin-ups was the forerunner of the famed Playboy “centerfold.” The company’s founder, Wilford “Billy” Hamilton Fawcett (1883-1940), was a real live wire. He ran away from home when he was sixteen to join the Army and fight in the Spanish-American War. After his discharge, he wrote the police report for The Minneapolis Journal. During the First World War he re-enlisted and served overseas, where he wrote for Stars and Stripes, a weekly eight-page newsletter circulated for free to servicemen. Although it carried news and editorials, Captain Fawcett noticed that most soldiers were only interested in the off-color jokes and cartoons. That gave him the idea to print his own joke book. Eleven months after the armistice in 1918, Fawcett was back in Minneapolis publishing Capt. Billy’s Whiz Bang. The title came from the doughboys’ nickname for a German artillery shell that whizzed overhead and landed with a bang.

Captain Billy personally circulated Whiz Bang to local newsstands and hotels. He then gave his leftover copies to hospitalized veterans. This generous act not only saved him the cost of storing old issues; it was also good publicity for his patriotism, which he boasted about in his advertising. Within one year Whiz Bang was selling 90,000 monthly copies. One New York City publisher, Harry Donenfeld (1893-1965), was so impressed with the success of Whiz Bang that he started his own line of knock-offs, which included Pep, La Paree, Gay Parisienne, Broadway Nights, Ginger Stories, Saucy Stories, and Spicy Stories. The competition was fierce because the profits were huge. Compounding those profits was the fact that our nationwide trucking system, which handled all magazine distribution to newsstands, train stations, candy counters, and drug stores, was also shipping Prohibition booze for organized crime. Along with rum-running, distributors also handled other contraband, such as pornography, gambling tip-sheets, cure-alls, and contraceptives, all of which were advertised in the back-pages of magazines. “MEN—Save 80%! Buy your Latex Sundries, Specialties, Supplies, Novelties, etc. All personal items are mailed postpaid by us in plain sealed package. We have everything. Send for FREE illustrated mail order catalog.” Donenfeld made so much money from sales of contraceptives he named one of his publishing companies “Trojan.” Donenfeld considered his girlie magazines much classier than Whiz Bang. His editor Frank Armer (1895-1965) once described the type of stories they wanted as, “Whenever possible, avoid complete nudity of the female characters. You can have a girl strip down to her underwear, or transparent negligee or nightgown, or the thin, torn shreds of her garments, but while the girl is alive and in contact with a man, we do not want complete nudity. A nude female corpse is allowable, of course.” But while Donenfeld was constantly hounded by the vice-squad for peddling smut, Fawcett never crossed the line for indecency in the U.S. Postal Code. Donenfeld’s big-city magazines were sexier than the “hayseed humor” and “pedigreed bull” that Captain Billy published out in Minnesota,

Wilford Hamilton Fawcett – a.k.a. “Captain Billy” The founder of Fawcett Publications, in a photo taken April 3, 1935—juxtaposed with an early copy of Capt. Billy’s Whiz Bang (for May 1921), in the days before the covers sported any colors; and with C.C. Beck’s cover for Whiz Comics #2 (Jan. 1940), actually the first issue, which introduced Fawcett’s comics line and was published only shortly before Captain Billy’s passing. [Shazam hero TM & © DC Comics; other art TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Norman Saunders, Fawcetteer

where his policy on sex was typified by the following poem ... Hulda’s Plaint My golly, Olaf, vat you tank a voman’s gonna do Ven she is living vit a man dat carries on like you? Ven Ay am ironing all day, so tired Ay could veep, Ay tall you ven Ay go to bet Ay vant to go to sleep! By 1926, the monthly circulation of Whiz Bang was almost one million copies. It was a genuine reflection of America’s post-war culture. Critics saw its vulgarity as a reflection of our moral decline, but readers appreciated its frank irreverence. Whiz Bang was aimed at a small-town audience, and it remained the most popular joke book of the Roaring Twenties. It was later immortalized (anachronistically) in the lyrics of the song, “Trouble,” from the play The Music Man: “Is there a nicotine stain on his index finger? A dime novel hidden in the corn-crib? Is he starting to memorize jokes from Captain Billy’s Whiz Bang?” Success led Fawcett to expand his line of magazines beyond Whiz Bang. Captain Billy launched Fawcett’s Magazine, Smokehouse, Hooey, Jim Jam Jems, Triple-X, Battle Stories, Air Stories, Screen Secrets, Screen Book, Hollywood Magazine, Daring Detective, Startling Detective, and True Confessions. Fawcett Publications were booming in the Roaring Twenties when they first hired Norman Saunders. He was born in 1907 in northernmost Minnesota, where his father was the Game Warden for the Chippewa reservation at Lake of the Woods. When Norm was still in high school, he mailed an unsolicited gag cartoon, signed “Nifty Norm,” to Whiz Bang. When they published it, he became interested in a career as a commercial artist. He subscribed to a correspondence art school in Minneapolis that advertised in the back pages of Fawcett’s Magazine. When Norm graduated from high school in 1926 he received a scholarship to study at the Chicago Art Institute. He left home in the summer and headed south to Minneapolis, to catch a connecting train to Illinois. To kill a few hours between trains, he dropped into the offices of his mail-order art school and finally met his teacher, Walt Wilwerding (1891-1966). Walt asked him how he was fixed for money and Norm said he planned to earn his keep by doing odd jobs in Chicago before his classes began in September. Walt told him it would be easier to earn ready cash in Minneapolis. He gave him a letter of introduction and told him to apply for a summer job at Fawcett in Robbinsdale, which was just one trolley ride from downtown Minneapolis. Norm walked into the Fawcett Building with his portfolio under his arm. The art department looked like a busy newsroom filled with ace reporters. A green-visored editor rushed up to him and urgently demanded, “Are you an artist? I need a picture of Clara Bow! Can you do a goo-wash?” Norm had never heard the word before, but he said “yes” and was ushered to an empty desk. Norm

Harry Donenfeld Early and strong rival of Capt. Billy’s Whiz Bang with what became collectively known as the “spicy” pulps, as per the cover of the Oct. 1935 issue of Spicy Mystery—painted by none other than Norman Saunders, by then established in the pulp-art field! In 1938 Donenfeld took over the company that would become DC Comics, and which that spring would publish Action Comics #1, cover-featuring Joe Shuster’s most iconic drawing of Superman. From the early ’40s through 1953, Donenfeld and DC would sue Fawcett Publications (ultimately successfully) over Captain Marvel’s similarity to the Man of Tomorrow/Steel. [Action cover TM & © DC Comics; other art TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

settled down and sketched out his composition, and then discretely asked the artist next to him, “What’s a goo-wash?” He was shown to a supply room and given a set of opaque watercolors (a.k.a. “gouache”). Before he had even finished his assignment, the same harried editor had added three more “rush jobs” to his table. At five o’clock the artists started to close up shop, so Norm left, too.

Fawcett Collectors Of America

approached, Saunders was faced with one of life’s crossroads. He wondered, “Why should I go to Chicago to study to be an artist, when I can stay in Minneapolis and be an artist?” So, he decided to give up his college scholarship in exchange for on-the-job learning at Fawcett. Among his fraternity there were Allen Anderson (19081995), Reynold C. Anderson (1899-1982), Carl Barks (1901-2000), Carl Buettner (1903-1965), Paul Burns (1910-1990), Ralph Carlson (19071986), Art Klust (1906-1978), Douglas Rolfe (1895-1968), Stuart Rouse (1902-1973), Irvin “Shorty” Shope (1900-1977), and Chet Sullivan (1898-1973). Jack Smalley (1902-1951) was assistant general manager, and the junior manager was Ralph Daigh (1907-1986). Another impressive talent at Fawcett was the Technical Editor, Weston “Westy” Farmer (1903-1981). He was a real engineering genius. In those days of mechanical miracles, to have your own patent was a badge of honor, and Westy held multiple patents for planes, boats, radios, and electronics. During his first year at Fawcett’s, Norm Saunders and Ralph Daigh rented an apartment together in a boarding house, where they carried on like a typical frat house. Their place was an afterhours club for “Fawcetteers” to enjoy some “good clean fun,” which meant smoking, drinking, gambling, and sneaking girls upstairs

Bricks & Mortar An unknown artist’s sketch of Fawcett Publications’ very first office space— upstairs in a three-story brick bank building in downtown Robbinsdale, Minnesota. This drawing appeared in Fawcett’s Mechanix Illustrated (formerly Modern Mechanics) for Nov. 1968. Courtesy of P.C. Hamerlinck. [© the respective copyright holders.]

He went back to the train station and slept on a wooden bench. The next morning he went back to Fawcett’s, and put in another hard day at the same frantic pace. After one week of hectic creativity, paychecks were handed out and the editor finally realized that Norm was not on the books. When confronted with this mix-up, Norm fished out his teacher’s formal letter of introduction, while the editor laughed out loud, “Don’t worry, kid. You’re hired! Your next check will be for two weeks’ salary!” That editor was Al Allard (1904-1994). He lent Norm five bucks on account, and even let him stay at his apartment until he had to leave for Chicago. The art staff produced layouts, paste-ups, and mechanicals from photo-static proofs using razors, rulers, t-squares, boards, copy, ink, pencils, and glue. Norm worked in a well-lit room with a dozen other young men leaning over cluttered drafting tables. They were all eager for fortune and fame, but most of their work was published without signatures. The whole building was humming with the energy of interdependent deadlines. Each artist had to execute his assignment, while a troop of office boys shuffled the finished jobs through the chain of production and into print. This complex system required the artists to develop steady hands and flexible minds, while surrounded by the busy traffic of jostling co-workers. As September

Al Allard The “green-visored editor” who put Norman Saunders to work at Fawcett one day in 1926 even before he hired him—plus the (pre-Saunders) cover of the Feb.’26 issue of Capt. Billy’s Whiz Bang. The mag’s covers had gotten a bit classier and less risqué over the past couple of years, perhaps in pursuit of a bit of surface respectability. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Norman Saunders, Fawcetteer

“That Slip Of A Girl” (Left:) Early cartoons by Norman Saunders from the March 1929 issue of Capt. Billy’s Whiz Bang. His “NS” signature is visible in the upper right corner under one guy’s bowtie. (Below:) “Drippings from the Fawcett” illustration by Norman Saunders— signed “Nifty Norm” in the lower right corner—from Capt. Billy’s Whiz Bang 1931 Winter Annual. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Ralph Daigh was “junior manager” at Fawcett Publications in the mid-1920s, and, before long, Norman Saunders’ apartment-mate. By the 1940s he would rise to the post of general manager. During that decade, despite the fact that the silent-movie cowboy star had died in 1940, Tom Mix Western would be among Fawcett’s most popular comicbook titles, and Saunders would paint several covers for the magazine, beginning with #13 (Jan. 1949) and ending with the Nov. ’49 issue, #23. Thanks to the Grand Comics Database. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Weston Farmer Technical Editor at Fawcett in the early days, nicknamed “Westy.” Author David Saunders refers to him as “a real engineering genius.” P.C. Hamerlinck, who provided this photo from the May 1950 issue of Mechanix Illustrated, refers to him as a “friend/working associate/ collaborator/mentor figure to Norman Saunders during his formative years at Fawcett.” [© the respective copyright holders.]

Fawcett Collectors Of America

“Will Monster Insects Rule The World?” We’re getting chronologically a few months ahead of where this first installment ends, but here’s a gripping two-page spread by Norman Saunders from the Dec. 1930 issue of Fawcett’s Modern Mechanics— which foreshadows the grisly scene depicted at right in Saunders’ famous 1962 Mars Attacks card set produced by Topps at right. [Spread TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders; Mars Attacks card TM & © Topps Chewing Gun, Inc.]

past the landlady on the first floor. Several “Fawcetteers” were former and current students at the University of Minnesota. The college literary magazine, The Ski-U-Mah, soon included illustrations by Saunders. At the end of 1928 Fawcett produced Modern Mechanics, which was a knock-off of Popular Mechanics. It was aimed at gizmo-minded readers who sought a brighter future through the practical use of science. While working at Fawcett, Saunders did illustrations for most of their titles, but his greatest contribution was to Modern Mechanics. It was the perfect outlet for his deeply-rooted visual curiosity. He always had to figure out of how everything worked. The Science Editor at Modern Mechanics was Donald Cooley (1904-1996). He later recalled a episode of Fawcett’s high-spirited camaraderie, “I remember a trick pulled by Bud [Bernard Thompson (1905-1980), who later illustrated “Captain Marvel Jr.” stories] in the art department. Westy Farmer was forever heisting cigarettes from packages lying around on everyone’s desks. He never bought a pack, even though they were selling for two-packs-

a-quarter at that time. One day, an artist glued an open package of cigarettes to the desk. Sure enough, Westy came along and fumbled with the package. Finally he retired in embarrassment under the guffaws of all the artists.” The lively irreverence of the “Fawcetteers” was fueled by bathtub gin, sky-rocketing sales, and a wide-open mockery of old-fashioned Puritan notions typical of the Post-War generation. By 1930 the stock market had collapsed and the Great Depression threatened social unrest… and Fawcett Publications, like the rest of the country—and the world—suddenly faced brand new challenges…. To be concluded next issue.

OUR ARTISTS AT WAR The first book ever published in the US that solely examines War Comics published in America! It covers the talented writers and artists who supplied the finest, most compelling stories in the War Comics genre, which has long been neglected in the annals of comics history. Through the critical analysis of authors RICHARD J. ARNDT and STEVEN FEARS, this overlooked treasure trove is explored in-depth, finally giving it the respect it deserves! Included are pivotal series from EC COMICS (TwoFisted Tales and Frontline Combat), DC COMICS (Enemy Ace and the Big Five war books: All American Men of War, G.I. Combat, Our Fighting Forces, Our Army at War, and Star-Spangled War Stories), WARREN PUBLISHING (Blazing Combat), CHARLTON (Willy Schultz and the Iron Corporal) and more! Featuring the work of HARVEY KURTZMAN, JOHN SEVERIN, JACK DAVIS, WALLACE WOOD, JOE KUBERT, SAM GLANZMAN, JACK KIRBY, WILL ELDER, GENE COLAN, RUSS HEATH, ALEX TOTH, MORT DRUCKER, and many others. Introduction by ROY THOMAS, Foreword by WILLI FRANZ. Cover by JOE KUBERT. (160-page FULL-COLOR TRADE PAPERBACK) $27.95 • (Digital Edition) $14.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-108-0 • SHIPS FALL 2021!

JOHN SEVERIN: TWO-FISTED COMIC BOOK ARTIST A spirited biography of the EC COMICS mainstay (working with HARVEY KURTZMAN on MAD and TWO-FISTED TALES) and co-creator of Western strip AMERICAN EAGLE. Covers his 40+ year association with CRACKED magazine, his pivotal Marvel Comics work inking HERB TRIMPE on THE HULK and teaming with sister MARIE SEVERIN on KING KULL, and more! With commentary by NEAL ADAMS, RICHARD CORBEN, JOHN BYRNE, RUSS HEATH, WALTER SIMONSON, and many others. By GREG BIGA and JON B. COOKE. SHIPS WINTER 2021! (160-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95 • (Digital Edition) $14.99 • ISBN: 978-1-60549-106-6

AMERICAN TV COMIC BOOKS (1940s-1980s)

Hot on the heels of Back Issue #128, AMERICAN TV COMIC BOOKS (1940s-1980s) takes you from the small screen to the printed page, offering a fascinating and detailed year-by-year history of over 300 television shows and their 2000+ comic book adaptations across five decades. Author PETER BOSCH has spent years researching and documenting this amazing area of comics history, tracking down the well-known series (Star Trek, The Munsters) and the lesser-known shows (Captain Gallant, Pinky Lee) to present the finest look ever taken at this unique genre of comic books. Included are hundreds of full-color covers and images, plus profiles of the artists who drew TV comics: GENE COLAN, ALEX TOTH, DAN SPIEGLE, RUSS MANNING, JOHN BUSCEMA, RUSS HEATH, and many more giants of the comic book world. Whether you loved watching The Lone Ranger, Rawhide, and Zorro from the 1950s—The Andy Griffith Show, The Monkees, and The Mod Squad in the 1960s— Adam-12, Battlestar Galactica, and The Bionic Woman in the 1970s—or Alf, Fraggle Rock, and “V” in the 1980s—there’s something here for fans of TV and comics alike! (192-page FULL-COLOR TRADE PAPERBACK) $29.95 • (Digital Edition) $15.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-107-3 • SHIPS SPRING 2022!

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RETROFAN #18

STAN LEE and JACK KIRBY interviews, mysteries behind the creation of the Hulk and Magneto, ideas that needed more thought, 2019 Heroes Con panel (moderated by MARK EVANIER), a pencil art gallery, UNUSED JIMMY OLSEN #141 COVER, and more!

Our BARBARA EDEN interview will keep you forever dreaming of Jeannie! Plus: The Invaders, the BILLIE JEAN KING/BOBBY RIGGS tennis battle of the sexes, HANNABARBERA’s Saturday morning super-heroes of the Sixties, THE MONSTER TIMES fanzine, and more fun, fab features! Featuring ERNEST FARINO, ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW!, and MICHAEL EURY.

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HOLLY JOLLY

Collects all seven issues of JON B. COOKE’s little-seen fanzine, published just after the original COMIC BOOK ARTIST ended its TwoMorrows run in 2003. Interviews with GEORGE TUSKA, FRED HEMBECK, TERRY BEATTY, and FRANK BOLLE, an all-star tribute to JACK ABEL, a new feature on JACK KIRBY’s unknown 1960 baseball card art, and a 16-page full-color section!

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2021

RETROFAN #17

Dark Shadows’ Angelique, LARA PARKER, sinks her fangs into an exclusive interview. Plus: Rankin-Bass’ Mad Monster Party, Aurora Monster model kits, a chat with Aurora painter JAMES BAMA, George of the Jungle, The Haunting, Jawsmania, Drak Pack, TV dads’ jobs, and more fun, fab features! Featuring columns by FARINO, MANGELS, MURRAY, SAAVEDRA, SHAW, and MICHAEL EURY.

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COMIC BOOK CREATOR #27

1980s MARVEL LIMITED SERIES! CLAREMONT/MILLER’s Wolverine, Black Panther, Falcon, Punisher, Machine Man, Iceman, Magik, Fantastic Four vs. X-Men, Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D., Wolfpack, and more! With BOGDANOVE, COWAN, DeFALCO, DeMATTEIS, GRANT, HAMA, MILGROM, NEARY, SMITH, WINDSORSMITH, and more. Cover by JOE RUBINSTEIN. Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

STARMEN ISSUE, headlined by JAMES ROBINSON and TONY HARRIS’s Jack Knight Starman! Plus: The StarSpangled Kid, Starjammers, the 1980s Starman, and Starstruck! Featuring DAVE COCKRUM, GERRY CONWAY, ROBERT GREENBERGER, ELAINE LEE, TOM LYLE, MICHAEL Wm. KALUTA, ROGER STERN, ROY THOMAS, and more. Jack Knight Starman cover by TONY HARRIS.

Extensive PAUL GULACY retrospective by GREG BIGA that includes Paul himself, VAL MAYERIK, P. CRAIG RUSSELL, TIM TRUMAN, ROY THOMAS, and others. Plus a JOE SINNOTT MEMORIAL; BUD PLANT discusses his career as underground comix retailer, distributor, fledgling publisher of JACK KATZ’s FIRST KINGDOM, and mail-order bookseller; our regular columnists, and the latest from HEMBECK!

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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!

KIRBY COLLECTOR #82

“THE MANY WORLDS OF JACK KIRBY!” From Sub-Atomica to outer space, visit Kirby’s work from World War II, the Fourth World, and hidden worlds of Subterranea, Wakanda, Olympia, Lemuria, Atlantis, the Microverse, and others! Plus, a 2021 Kirby panel, featuring JONATHAN ROSS, NEIL GAIMAN, & MARK EVANIER, a Kirby pencil art gallery from MACHINE MAN, 2001, DEVIL DINOSAUR, & more!

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OLD GODS & NEW: KIRBY COLLECTOR #81 “KIRBY: BETA!” Jack’s experimental ideas, A FOURTH WORLD characters, series (Fighting American, COMPANION (TJKC #80) Jimmy Olsen,andKamandi, and others), early