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Vol. 3, No. 185 Jan. 2024 Editor

Roy Thomas

Associate Editor Jim Amash

Design & Layout

Christopher Day

Consulting Editor John Morrow

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Contents

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With Special Thanks to: Heidi Amash Bob Bailey Mike W. Barr John Benson Bernie Bubnis Mark CarlsonGhost John Cimino Shaun Clancy Comic Book Plus (website) Chet Cox Wendy Everett Blanche Fago John Fahey Shane Foley Joe Frank Stephan A. Friedt Janet Gilbert J.T. Go Grand Comics Database (website) Heritage Auctions (website)

Christopher Irving Sid Jacobson Jim Kealy Jean-Marc Lofficier Mark Luebeker Dennis Mallonee Will Murray Luigi Novi Barry Pearl Pinterest (website) Bud Plant Pulpartists.com (website) Ralph Reese Dan Riba Randy Sargent David Saunders Ken Selig J. David Spurlock Dann Thomas

This issue is dedicated to the memory of

George Pérez & Everett Lee Peck

Writer/Editorial: Novelty Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Blue Bolts & Wonder Boys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 A history of the Golden Age’s Novelty Press, by Mark Carlson-Ghost.

From “Shame” To “Sham”—And Back Again! . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 John Benson looks at Harvey romance comics before & after the Comic Code.

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt! “My Life With Wood!” (Part 3) . 55 Michael T. Gilbert presents Ralph Reese, on working for and with Wally Wood.

Tributes To George Pérez & Everett Lee Peck . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 re: [correspondence, comments, & corrections] . . . . . . . . . 66 Fawcett Collectors Of America [FCA] #244 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 P.C. Hamerlinck hosts Christopher Irving on the 1942 Captain Midnight serial.

On Our Cover: One mystery left over from the Golden Age of Comics is why there weren’t more imitations of DC’s popular Justice Society of America, the main event in All-Star Comics. Maybe handling full-length group stories was simply more than most 1940s editors wanted to grapple with! Be that as it may, when we deal with a comics company’s entire line of heroes, as in this issue’s spotlight on the Curtis/Novelty output, Ye Editor often yields to the temptation to commission our resident “maskot” artist Shane Foley to render a brand-new Alter Ego cover that pays homage to a classic JSA one. In this case, the All-Star that served as inspiration is issue #14 (Dec. 1942-Jan. 1943), the first cover drawn by Joe Gallagher. As for who all those costumed cut-ups are—well, you’ll just have to read Mark Carlson-Ghost’s masterful look at Novelty to find out! Thanks to Glenn Whitmore for the colors. [Art © 2023 Shane Foley.] Above: When it comes to launching a Golden Age issue, you can’t do much better than a splash page from the team supreme of Joe Simon & Jack Kirby—in this case, from Blue Bolt, Vol. 1, #6 (Nov. 1940). And that’s just to whet your appetite for what’s to come! Thanks to Jim Kealy for the scan. [art © the respective copyright holder; Blue Bolt name is now TM of Roy & Dann Thomas.] Alter EgoTM issue 185, January 2024 (ISSN 1932-6890) is published bi-monthly by TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614, USA. Phone: (919) 449-0344. Periodicals postage paid at Raleigh, NC. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Alter Ego, c/o TwoMorrows, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614. 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: $73 US, $111 Elsewhere, $29 Digital Only. All characters are © their respective companies. All material ©their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © Roy Thomas. Alter Ego is a TM of Roy & Dann Thomas. FCA is a TM of P.C. Hamerlinck. Printed in China. FIRST PRINTING.

Article Title writer/editorial

Novelty Act t really was one, you know: a novelty act. Small “n.”

Even when I read Novelty/Curtis comics occasionally as a kid in the latter 1940s, I considered it a rather odd little lineup of magazines. Well, actually, I don’t have any real memory of buying any of its titles except its big three: Target Comics, and, more rarely, Blue Bolt and 4Most. The former was by far the one I was most likely to plunk down my hard-allowanced 10¢ for, since at least it featured the trio of costumed crime-fighters called “The Target and The Targeteers.” The other two mags, like the rest of Target, contained a variety of genres, but little that really moved me. The covers tended to feature military cadets with nondescript feature names like “Dick Cole” and “The Cadet—Featuring Kit Carter,” and I had scant interest in that kind of material. When Novelty vanished from drugstore shelves by decade’s end, I barely noticed it had gone. I did notice, however, when, around 1951, a new company called Star Comics began to come out with what even then I knew must be reprints of “The Targeteers” behind new covers. And as wingmen for Target and his two nigh-identical buddies were some characters I hadn’t seen before: Blue Bolt as a science-fictional super-hero, as opposed to the plainclothed guy I had ignored in the late-’40s comic—Sub-Zero, who seemed to me like a fresh-frozen version of Marvel’s late great Human Torch—and a quirkily drawn space opera called “Spacehawk,” whose art had a grotesque, almost amateurish look yet somehow grabbed my attention by its sheer uniqueness. And there were some truly striking covers, usually signed “L.B. Cole,” or simply “Cole.”

But, by the mid-1950s, after a couple of years of a hard right turn into all-horror-material-all-the-time that had alienated me, even Star was gone. A couple of left-over Novelty items turned up in Super reprint comics, but those were hard to find and hardly worth looking for. It wasn’t until the early ’60s, when comics fandom and I were both coming of age, that I realized Novelty had seen better days very early in its four-color life. Blue Bolt had once featured a whole run of stories of the titular hero by the fabled Simon & Kirby team. Sub-Zero (a.k.a. Sub-Zero Man) had a longer and interesting history. There’d also been a human whirligig called The Twister… a puzzling and somehow off-putting hero called White Streak from the creator of The Human Torch… and Sergeant Spook, a deceased cop who battled crime from beyond the grave. Even Target and The Targeteers seemed a bit more vital in the early tales. And Spacehawk? Well, Spacehawk had remained engagingly creepy from first to last, to the point where I was both surprised and not surprised that he didn’t stick around longer in Target. Even so, Novelty had been a strange company, one that sometimes seemed to be aimed more at parents than at the kids who actually read the comics—and in this issue of Alter Ego, Mark Carlson-Ghost analyzes the why and wherefore of that, as he examines Novelty and its parent (in every sense of the word) company Curtis Publishing. His masterful coverage finally clarified for me some of the murky mysteries of Novelty—as well as of Star and even the later Super re-reprints. Whether or not you ever gave a thought to the Novelty heroes before, we think you’ll be glad that Mark did—and that he’s set it all down so clearly, and so intriguingly, for all of us! Bestest,

COMING IN MARCH

186

Amazing Artist ANGELO TORRES!

From The Moons Of Mars To Mad Magazine!

Art © Angelo Torres

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Blue Bolts & Wonder Boys A Golden Age History of Novelty Press

by Mark Carlson-Ghost

ike a bolt out of the blue, Novelty Press caught fire. A Blue Bolt, to be specific. Joe Simon’s dynamic new hero (along with his persistent adversary, the enchanting Green Sorceress) quickly captured readers’ fancy. “Spacehawk,” “Sub-Zero Man,” and “Dick Cole, the Wonder Boy” all debuted in a single issue, a few months later. There was a palpable sense of a powerful new player in the world of comicbooks. Yet it would also be hard to find a comics company whose story has so many different roots, roots necessary to dig up in order to fully understand what followed.

A Target On Their Backs The covers of the first and final issues of Novelty’s Target Comics basically bookend Curtis Publishing’s comicbook experiment: from Vol. 1, #1 (coverdated Feb. 1940), fronted by a drawing of Bull’s-Eye Bill by Sub-Mariner creator Bill Everett (using his middle name “Blake”)—to Vol. 10, #3, a.k.a. #105 (Aug.-Sept. 1949), with a high-flying “Gary Stark” adventure highlighted by artist L.B. Cole. One or two Curtis/Novelty titles closed out with indicia that bore a “Sept.-Oct. 1949” date, and then it was all over. Thanks to the Grand Comics Database. [TM & © respective trademark & copyright holders.]

It has often been told how nearly every 1940s comicbook line, from Timely to Street & Smith and Fiction House, emerged from publishers of pulp magazines or other periodicals who lacked a certain pedigree. That said, what happens when the people behind the country’s most popular slick-paper magazine decide to enter that increasingly lucrative field?

According to David Saunders’ excellent Pulp Artists website, Lloyd Jacquet was born in 1899. He served in World War I as a radio operator, seaman second class. After the war he worked for various newspapers, including The Brooklyn Daily Eagle and The New York Evening Mail. In 1927, Jacquet linked his two abiding interests, radio and journalism, hosting a radio program entitled Going to Press. The intersection of the two fields remained a benchmark of his career well into the ’30s.

Novelty Press is the short answer, the home of Simon & Kirby’s “Blue Bolt” and Basil Wolverton’s “Spacehawk,” not to mention Carl Burgos’ “White Streak.” Yet the company’s attitude towards what it clearly considered lowbrow adventure would badly color its efforts. So would its reliance on an art shop whose product suffered a slow decline in quality over the years. Still, for a time, even before the launch of Novelty Press, Lloyd Jacquet’s Funnies, Inc., was a major force to be reckoned with.

By 1935, Jacquet’s association with The Brooklyn Daily Eagle led to his role as editor of New Fun, one of the earliest comicbooks and the first regularly published comic to feature material especially made for it. The Daily Eagle had agreed to let its presses print the new venture. Published by Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, New Fun would ultimately lead to what became National, then DC Comics. As will be seen, Jacquet was involved with some of the most significant events of comicbook history.

Lloyd Jacquet & Funnies, Inc. In the summer of 1939, Lloyd Jacquet broke away from his duties as editor of Centaur Publications to form an independent shop of artists and writers. His goal was to supply material for would-be comicbook publishers who didn’t wish to take the time and expense to establish creative staffs all their own. Given the high mortality rate of comicbook titles, Jacquet argued, utilizing Funnies, Inc., only made sense.

Having gotten a taste for publishing, Jacquet joined H.D. Cushing and Harold Hersey to form C.J.H. Publications, a shortlived pulp magazine publisher, most notable for producing one-shot text versions of Flash Gordon, Tailspin Tommy, and Dan Dunn. Returning to the world of comicbooks in 1938, Jacquet became editor of what was generally known as the Centaur Comics Group. Working with a group of talented young writers and artists, he oversaw the creation of a number of super-heroes, all in an effort to duplicate at least some of the excitement generated by a sensational new fellow named Superman. Bill Everett’s Amazing-Man was the most notable of Centaur’s new characters.

A Golden Age History Of Novelty Press

But Jacquet was ambitious and dreamt of publishing his own comicbooks. While that never quite came to pass, it did lead to his leaving Centaur to create his own art shop, which he christened First Funnies, Inc. It wasn’t long before he dropped the First. When Jacquet made the break, he took the best and the most talented Lloyd Jacquet creators working at (on extreme right in photo) had, ironically, had Centaur with him. been the first editor both of what became the National/DC line of comics in 1935 with his handling These included of New Fun #1—and of Timely’s first title, Marvel notables like Everett, Comics #1, in 1939. Seen in this New Year’s Eve Carl Burgos, and 1940 photo are Timely publisher Martin Goodman Paul Gustavson. (center) and artist Carl Burgos (left). Courtesy of Others included Ray Wendy Everett. Gill, Harold DeLay, Malcolm Kildale, and Tarpé Mills. In relatively short order, Joe Simon and Jack Kirby would work with the loosely affiliated group. In his The Comic Book Makers, Joe Simon recalled the shop’s location in an office building at 45 West 45th Street, located in a neighborhood that clearly had seen better days. The building itself had “worn, concave marble steps and a dimly lit hall” which led to Funnies, Inc.’s, two-room studio with its generic gray walls. The larger room had a few cubicles off to the side and a large ink-stained table (see p. 32 of Simon’s book). It was there that the artists who chose to work at the office plied their trade.

Funnies, Inc.’s, art director, provided the debut of Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner, Burgos the origin of The Human Torch, and Gustavson the first adventure of the two-fisted Angel. Funnies, Inc.’s, second success was the launching of Target Comics for a new company named Novelty Press. And, given the conservative instincts of its publisher, it proved to be a rather slow start at that.

Curtis Publishing & The Saturday Evening Post Curtis Publishing, the owner of Novelty Press, had been in the business of putting out magazines almost as long as Street & Smith. Cyrus H.K. Curtis, born in 1850, established himself as a savvy businessman by overseeing the creation of The Ladies’ Home Journal in 1883. A family affair, the Journal was initially edited by his wife Louisa Knapp Curtis. His next notable move was purchasing in 1897 a struggling periodical named The Saturday Evening Post. At the time, the Post had a total of two thousand subscribers. That was soon to change. In 1903, Ladies’ Home Journal became the first American magazine to reach one million subscribers. By 1917, The Saturday Evening Post passed that same benchmark. Through engaging content, striking cover illustrations, and novel distribution strategies (Curtis distributed its own magazines and utilized an army of juvenile salesmen), the Post became the nation’s most popular weekly magazine. The Country Gentleman, a periodical for farmers purchased in 1911, also took off. Cyrus Curtis died in 1933 with his publishing empire in splendid shape. The one demographic Curtis had never tried to cultivate was young readers. That all changed with the debut of Jack and Jill in 1938. Its editorial approach is worth examining, as the magazine provided a partial template for the comicbook enterprise that followed. Jack and Jill featured a mix of fairy tales and more down-to-

Jacquet, for his part, could be found in the second, smaller room, sitting behind an old but clearly cared-for desk. In an interview with Jim Amash for Alter Ego, Joe Simon recalled Jacquet as “a good guy, soft-spoken, with an air of authority about him. He was respectful, and he was respected.” His posture still reflected his military background, as did his carefully polished shoes. He also smoked a pipe. Mickey Spillane, another Funnies, Inc., alum, noted his corn-cob pipe added to his resemblance to General Douglas MacArthur. Funnies, Inc., continued to produce content for Centaur Comics. Jacquet had managed to leave the employ of Joseph Hardie, “steal” all of his talent, and still remain on relatively good terms with the publisher. That would change, given Hardie’s difficulty in paying Funnies, Inc., for its work. Jacquet’s most successful move for his new shop was his first: obtaining Timely’s Martin Goodman as a customer. Jacquet’s field man, Frank Torpey, successfully sold Goodman on the idea of using material created by Funnies, Inc., for what became Marvel Comics #1, coverdated Oct. 1939. The precise details of just how that came about are a bit muddy to this day. The important point here is that Bill Everett, doing double duty as

Cyrus H.K. Curtis (in a circa-1918 photo) and his earliest magazine success: The Ladies’ Home Journal (issue shown is dated July 1902). [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Blue Bolts & Wonder Boys

It’s no longer possible to know just who contacted whom. Perhaps Frank Torpey got wind of the new enterprise and contacted Curtis. Or maybe Curtis’ initial choice for editor, David Adams (of whom virtually nothing is known), was aware of the arrangement between Timely and Funnies, Inc., and reached out to them. In any case a connection was made and terms were set.

Going Up That Hill!

The cover of the Jack and Jill issue dated Sept. 1939. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

As mentioned earlier, Funnies, Inc., was responsible for creating material under the broad guidelines of whatever publisher they worked for. Looking at the material they produced for Novelty compared to what they provided Timely, it isn’t hard to guess the input they received from Curtis about relatively tamer content. The only trouble was that the fellows who created the likes of the Sub-Mariner and The Human Torch weren’t huge fans of tame.

White Streak & Target Comics Featured on the cover of that first issue of Target Comics (coverdated Feb. 1940) was “Bulls-Eye Bill” by Bill Everett, a modern-day cowboy of the American Southwest who operated out of Target Ranch. You see, Bulls-Eye Bill’s last name just happened to be Target, but any hope that he would be the comic’s lead hero were soon forgotten, overshadowed by Carl Burgos’ contribution.

Earth adventures of children. Its editors encouraged active reader engagement, providing regular opportunities to construct various hand-made games and other crafty creations. Paper dolls were a regular feature, as was a readers’ letter page every issue. Drawing some 18,000 letters a year, it was a template worth following. Some years later, longtime editor Ada Campbell Rose reflected on her approach for Time magazine. She said she never told her readers what to think, nor did she slant her content to please parents or teachers. Jack and Jill soon approached a circulation of half a million. The only minor drawback to the magazine was that it skewed somewhat towards girls, and its readership dropped off after the age of nine. Thus, two new goals came into focus for Curtis Publishing. The first was to come up with a publication that could attract more boys and older children in general. Relatedly, the second was to test the waters of the increasingly lucrative comicbook market. Still, they must have hesitated, comicbooks having something of a second-class reputation. Many of the companies publishing them had gotten their start in pulp magazines, for goodness sake, and often lurid ones at that. Curtis, in contrast, was at the top of the publishing heap and known for high-quality content. The solution was fairly simple. Curtis would obscure its publication of comicbooks by issuing them under the imprint of “Novelty Press.” Second, its editorial vision would lean towards less objectable material. But first Curtis needed to find people to actually write and draw the comics. And that was where Funnies, Inc., came in.

“Bull’s-Eye” Missed The Bullseye!

Bill Everett in 1939.

Bill Everett’s long “Bull’s-Eye Bill” lead-off story in Target Comics, Vol. 1, #1 (Feb. 1940) was meant to set the cowboy hero up as the title’s star—but, though Bill had spent time on a Western ranch as a youngster and the art is relatively authenticlooking, it was not to be. Script & art by Everett. Scan courtesy of Comic Book Plus website. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

A Golden Age History Of Novelty Press

At Least The Streak Wasn’t Yellow! The first two pages of “White Streak”—a.k.a. “Manowar”—set him up as yet another of Carl Burgos’ android/robot heroes, already preceded by Timely/Marvel’s Human Torch and Centaur’s Iron Skull. Thanks to Comic Book Plus. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

When two explorers encounter a strange “super robot of a new terrifying type” in South American ruins, the robot freely offers a succinct summary of his identity: “I’m the last of the servants of a dead civilization, dedicated to mete out justice to those murderers who prey on the weak, the warmongers!” When the explorers express skepticism, the robot reads a plaque which corroborates his story: “And the curse to future war mad worlds shall be as follows— complete destruction of those forces. Therefore we, the Council of Utopia, even now destroyed by war, leave as a symbol of our death warrant, ‘Manowar,’ entombed until the day the world once more is faced with death by selfishness.” Burgos’ latest creation was once again a robot/android, echoing his earlier heroes: Iron Skull for Centaur Publications and The Human Torch for Timely. Manowar, a.k.a. White Streak, is indeed a formidable entity, able to shoot electron bolts from his eyes like lightning and create electronic ladders on which he can traverse the sky. He can also manipulate his electrons to make himself invisible for brief periods. Two other features in that first issue were intriguing. “Fantastic Feature Films” by Tarpé Mills revolved around the conceit that the same troupe of actors were cast in a different film every issue. As

such, each “movie” told a different story. It was well-written and drawn by one of the industry’s early female creators. The setting of “Calling 2-R” was an ultra-modern reform school named Boy-State. Founded as a utopian experiment by a brilliant inventor named the Skipper, Boy-State is full of his advanced devices and weaponry. An ongoing threat is posed by General Z, the first captain of Boy-State gone bad. The story by Jack Warren was creative enough, but his art on the feature wasn’t up to snuff. Rounding out the new title were “Lucky Byrd, Flying Cadet,” the crusading “City Editor,” student athlete “‘Rip’ Rory,” and a revolving band of “T-Men.” While the initial product seemed to satisfy the publisher, creative tensions soon emerged between Funnies, Inc., and the folks at Novelty who critiqued their content. And no one would inspire more critical comment than Basil Wolverton.

Spacehawk Blasts Off With Target Comics #5 (June ’40), Basil Wolverton’s legendary “Spacehawk” took flight. Set in some unspecified future, Spacehawk’s origins were purposely kept in the dark. “With the coming of interplanetary

Blue Bolts & Wonder Boys

On Target

Tarpé Mills Near-future artist/ writer of the Miss Fury newspaper strip.

Rounding out the contents of Novelty’s very first comicbook, along with a couple of humor features, were (clockwise from top left): “Fantastic Feature Films,” written & illustrated by Tarpé Mills… “Calling 2R,” scripted & drawn by Jack Warren as “Alonzo Vincent”… “Lucky Byrd,” drawn by Harry Campbell… “City Editor,” art by Harold Potter… “‘Rip’ Rory,” credits unknown… and “T-Men,” script by E.F. Webster, with art by Joe Simon. Courtesy of CBP. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

A Golden Age History Of Novelty Press

Press complained that the character now looked too much like the hero of the artist’s “Space Patrol,” which was featured in rival Centaur’s Amazing Mystery Funnies. The Novelty Press editors worried the similarity might create reader confusion. Jacquet suggested a number of possible solutions to the dilemma, but that particular problem was soon solved by Centaur’s unrelated cancellation of AMF.

Spacehawk’s Dynamic Debut The first and last pages of the premier “Spacehawk” adventure, in Target Comics, Vol. 1, #5 (June 1940). The artist/writer disposes of his grotesque alien in a sequence that manages to be “cartoony” and gruesome at the same time, the particular hallmarks of Wolverton’s work from first to last. Courtesy of Comic Book Plus. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Basil Wolverton Spacehawk.”

travel, the legions of the law find it impossible to cope with the pirates, killers, and other criminals lurking in space,” Wolverton writes. “Then, apparently out of nowhere comes the superhuman enemy of crime, the mysterious

Even his face was fully obscured by a sort of stylized helmet. And, given what the aliens Spacehawk faces look like, the reader could be forgiven for wondering just what lurked beneath it. Wolverton was a master at creating grotesques. Wolverton was the rare Funnies, Inc., artist who didn’t live in New York City, mailing in his artwork from Oregon. “Basil is also by way of being an air personality,” a Target Comics text feature detailed. “Those of you who live in the Northwest may have heard his voice over stations KBAM, or KEX, over which some of Basil’s unique humor is broadcast from time to time.” Thanks to the painstaking research of Greg Sadowski, in his two-volume biography of Wolverton, we know that the bosses at Novelty Press were unhappy with his work almost from the start, at first complaining that Spacehawk’s look was overly threatening. By the third installment of “Spacehawk,” Wolverton was forced by editorial edict to remove his hero’s helmet to reveal a conventionally handsome face, an action that seriously reduced the mystery surrounding the character. And no sooner had Wolverton complied with that directive than Novelty

They Had Him Covered! Spacehawk’s one and only cover appearance—on Target Comics, Vol. 1, #7 (Aug. 1940), the first issue after Novelty’s editors had forced Wolverton to remove the hero’s ominous-looking mask. Thanks to Mark Carlson-Ghost. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Facing increasing external input from Novelty Press, Funnies, Inc., informed its writers that they would now need to submit three story synopses in advance. That way, if one of them was rejected by Novelty or required drastic changes, another would likely get the green light so print deadlines could continue to be met. Not long after, Funnies, Inc., production manager Jim Fitzsimmons informed Wolverton in particular that Funnies, Inc., would require a bank of the finished

Blue Bolts & Wonder Boys

Making A Splash In Space The exceptional first pages of two of Wolverton’s early “Spacehawk” tales—from Target Comics, Vol. 2, #6 & #7 (Aug. & Sept. 1941). Thanks to Jim Kealy. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

artwork for three installments of “Spacehawk” to prevent any problems being created by Novelty’s rejecting artwork. In September 1940, in an effort to better explain this new reality to Wolverton, Jacquet advised that the trend in comicbooks was moving towards lighter entertainment: “As you know, the parents and teachers’ associations have given the comic magazines a strong blast against horror stuff, so we have to soft pedal that some way” (Sadowski, Vol. 1, p. 162). And, in the case of Novelty Press, editors were also very sensitive to the input of their juvenile readers.

An Army Of “Associate Editors” Just as they had with Jack and Jill, the folks at Curtis/Novelty Press were interested in engaging readers and building their loyalty to the periodical in question. In that spirit, in the first issue of Target Comics, readers were offered coupons which they could collect and redeem for prizes. The coupon idea apparently never quite took off. By the end of 1940, Novelty Press actively solicited letters of comment instead. With the tenth issue of Target Comics (as would become common practice in all of their publications), the editors at Novelty Press invited readers to become “associate editors,” telling the

powers-that-be what they liked and didn’t like. They sweetened the pot by promising one dollar to every reader whose letter got published. Controlling for inflation, that single dollar would be equivalent to $20 today! At this point, it is important to note that the address to which readers sent their letters was that of Novelty Press and not Funnies, Inc. In some ways that only made sense, as it was Novelty Press that would have to write the checks. But it also set up another source of “editors” for Funnies, Inc., to please, ones whose preferences could be even more quixotic than those of the publisher.

White Streak’s Rise & Fall Novelty Press’ new and stricter approach to storytelling was also felt by Carl Burgos. Like Wolverton’s “Spacehawk,” his “White Streak” feature had a certain visceral appeal. It had also become increasingly violent. White Streak begins using his powers to fatally electrocute enemy agents without remorse—perhaps the latter emotion wasn’t wired into his circuitry. In one particularly violent installment, he kills ten different saboteurs, one or two at a time. And in Target Comics #8, Burgos introduces Dr. Death, “the most ruthless and elusive war criminal [in] the world.” Dr. Death

A Golden Age History Of Novelty Press

Nowadays They Call It “Action”! pilots a submarine with a skull and crossbones insignia and wields poisoned daggers that can burn vital tissues, turning the victim’s skin a ghastly gray. As if that wasn’t scary enough, Dr. Death appears to be seven feet tall, with green skin, stark features, and round, glass portholes for eyes. It all turns out to be a disguise, but a chilling one!

White Streak’s adventures got increasingly violent, as indicated by Carl Burgos’ cover for Target Comics, Vol. 1, #5 (June 1940)—and so did the exploits of his foe, Dr. Death, as per the above sequence from V1#9 (Oct. ’40), also drawn—and perhaps written—by Burgos. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

It was all apparently too much for the editorial censors at Novelty Press. It’s clear that Burgos was given a similar directive to the one Wolverton received. His hero undergoes “plastic surgery,” or whatever face-altering procedures robots require, in issue #10, resulting in another transition from a visually striking visage to a conventionally handsome one. White Streak also abandoned his costume, adopting the identity of a plain-clothed F.B.I. agent named Dan Sanders. He retains his electron-based powers, albeit considerably diminished. And unauthorized fatal electrocutions become a thing of the past. It was hardly a coincidence that, in the same issue in which White Streak undergoes his surgery, a reader complains in a letter that he’s “really fed up with all of the fantastic super types of characters that comic artists seem to think we kids like,” singling out White Streak as an example of the “same old tripe.” “This is a question we really want an answer on from many readers,” the Novelty Press editors reply. “You’ll note that White Streak is taming down a bit on his fantastic powers since working with the G-Men.” But Burgos seemed unwilling to entirely surrender his character’s super-hero trappings. As told in Target Comics, Vol. 2, #6, White Streak is thought to have been killed and a new hero, the costumed Red Seal, vows to continue his fight. But reports of White Streak’s demise are premature, and White Streak returns in his original android form and costume two issues later. He explains

to Red Seal: “The explosion must have thrown wire across my body and the electricity converted me into an electrical mass, keeping me in suspended animation until now.” “Wow! Some experience,” the Red Seal exclaims in something of an understatement, the two promptly becoming a team. But these new developments apparently found disfavor with the Novelty Press editors. The pair’s recorded adventures ended not long after.

The Target And The Targeteers In a creative version of whack-a-mole, as soon as the folks at Novelty Press successfully saw to the toning down of Spacehawk and White Streak, other pesky super-heroes promptly popped up. Target Comics #6 introduced The Chameleon, a master of disguise only later revealed to be wealthy Pete Stockbridge. And issue #10 introduced three new costumed heroes named The Target and the Targeteers by the fraternal team of Dick and Bob Wood. With monikers like those, they immediately ascended to cover-featured status. “Orphaned at the age of 16,” the narrative informs us, “Niles Reed was left alone in the world with his older brother, Bill. A family trust fund allowed the boys to enjoy a good education. Bill took up law while Niles majored in metallurgy, the study of metals.” After his D.A. brother is killed, Niles meets two other young men (Dave Brown and Tom Foster) who have also lost loved ones to criminal violence. Niles uses his scientific know-how to create flexible, bulletproof material for the men to wear beneath their costumes. The Target dresses primarily in yellow, while two Targeteers wear mostly blue and red, respectively. All three sport bullseyes on their

Blue Bolts & Wonder Boys

Emil Gershwin

Red Seal, White Streak, & Apparently Blue Sales Figures (Above left:) The robot/android White Streak undergoes an operation to become the much more human “Dan Sanders” in Target Comics, Vol. 1, #10 (Nov. 1940)—on a page whose artwork and even lettering look more like the work of Burgos’ colleague Bill Everett than of Burgos himself. Perhaps the creator of Namor was helping out the creator of The Human Torch? (Above right:) By Vol. 2, #8 (Nov. ’41), not only had the Dan Sanders/White Streak been replaced by the generic hero Red Seal (drawn by Burgos) two issues before—but with V2#8 White Streak himself abruptly returned, in full robotic glory. However, both heroes were gone after V2#10. Script by Ray Gill; art by Emil Gershwin. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Two Many Heroes? (Left:) The disguise-master called The Chameleon made his first appearance in Target Comics, Vol. 1, #6 (July 1940), with art credited to John Junb. Writer unknown. (Right:) The Target—and his two buddies, The Targeteers— made their debut in Target Comics #10 (Nov. ’40). However, since all three of them wore identical (mostly yellow and black) costumes in that issue, neither the criminals—nor the readers— were aware that it was a trio act till the next issue. Script & art by Bob Wood as “Dick Hamilton.” Courtesy of CBP. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Bob Wood Photo courtesy of Shaun Clancy.

A Golden Age History Of Novelty Press

The Targets For Tonight! (Left:) Joe Simon’s dynamic cover for Target Comics, Vol. 1, #10 (Nov. ’40), shows that he was already well on his way to approximating the drawing style of his new partner, Jack Kirby. Thanks to Mark Carlson-Ghost. (Right:) By the next issue, V1#11, Bob Wood was rendering all three members of the team on the cover. Thanks to Michael T. Gilbert. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

chests, intent on drawing fire towards a protected area. Wood illustrated exciting, action-packed stories, presaging in some ways his work for Lev Gleason’s Crime Does Not Pay. And in a clever, two-issue crossover, a disguised Chameleon feeds information to Niles Reed and even presumes to pose as The Target. He finally reveals himself, informing the three men that he knows their secret identities but declining to say how (Target Comics, Vol. 1, #12 & Vol. 2, #1). As befits a character whose atmospherics increasingly resemble those of Batman, The Target has the beginnings of a promising rogues’ gallery: Hammerfist, with an iron ball for a right hand; Mighty Mite, the brilliant if diminutive crime syndicate boss; Dr. Time, a green-skinned master of aging; and Princess Hohohue, the raven-haired leader of a band of saboteurs. With Target Comics apparently successful in terms of sales, Novelty Press promptly ordered up a companion title. The only caveat: It was to be named by Target’s readers!

Blue Bolt’s Origins: The Hero & The Title Early in 1940, the readers of Target Comics received their first real taste of editorial power. Provided with a list of the new characters to be featured in a new comicbook, readers were asked to pick its name! Not surprisingly, they enthusiastically responded to the opportunity. “Blue Bolt, the new companion magazine to Target Comics,” a promo page proudly declared, “will go on sale April 10th. This is the magazine for which Target readers received prizes to name, and boy, it’s a honey!’ When the plane piloted by a young American named Fred Parrish is struck by lightning, a group of seemingly sinister figures carry his unconscious body to a subterranean kingdom called Deltos. There, a mildly unhinged scientist named Dr. Bertoff straps Parrish to a table. “I have captured the powers of the lightning and have chemically harnessed them in your being with the aid of my radium deposits,” the scientist informs the wakening Parrish. “With these powers, you shall lead my legions against those of the Green Sorceress.”

If I Had A Hammer…

And the Dick Tracy/ Batman-style Hammerfist definitely did—though it’s not all that visually impressive in this Bob Wood panel from the “Target and The Targeteers” story in Target Comics, Vol. 1, #11 (Dec. 1940). Maybe that was to mollify his Novelty editors? Courtesy of CBP. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Bertoff christens the soon-to-be-hero Blue Bolt, who apparently can channel his electricity through his lightning gun. Frankly, his powers are never all that clear and seem to include superior strength and occasionally flight. Jack Kirby, though not yet credited, takes over the art chores of the feature in the very next issue. Blue Bolt devotes the ensuing year working to defeat the Green Sorceress and her dreams of world domination. Empress of the neighboring land of Voltar, a.k.a. the Green Kingdom, the Green Sorceress is a remarkably

Blue Bolts & Wonder Boys

Like A Bolt From The Blue! (Above & right:) Joe Simon’s cover and splash page for Blue Bolt, Vol. 1, #1 (June 1940). But why a guy called Blue Bolt should wear a costume that employs two shades of blue—with a thunderbolt chest symbol in yellow—has always been beyond Ye Editor’s comprehension. [© the respective trademark & copyright holders; Blue Bolt name is now a TM of Roy & Dann Thomas.]

A Bolt And A Half From The Blue! Although the “Blue Bolt” splash panel in Vol. 1, #2 (July 1940) was still bylined “by Joe Simon,” it was actually being penciled at that point by his new young partner, Jack Kirby—with Joe probably provided the inking, perhaps the script. Jack also got his first shot at drawing the Green Sorceress. [© the respective trademark & copyright holders; Blue Bolt name is now a TM of Roy & Dann Thomas.]

A Golden Age History Of Novelty Press

Like Two Bolts From The Blue! With the splash page for Blue Bolt, Vol. 1, #5 (Nov. 1940), the byline finally reflected both men, and the legendary team of Joe Simon & Jack Kirby was formed—just in time for them to jump ship for the next year to Martin Goodman’s Timely Comics! Thanks to Bob Bailey for the scan. [© the respective trademark & copyright holders; Blue Bolt name is now a TM of Roy & Dann Thomas.]

can see him as an insubstantial ghost. As a spirit, Sergeant Spook can touch and otherwise impact the living, but they can’t touch him.

Later, as told in Blue Bolt #6, Sergeant Spook discovers a veritable city of ghosts, nearly all of whom seem to have been famous in their mortal lives. When needed, Sgt. Spook can enlist the help of famous ghostly residents or, as often happened, Joe Simon & Jack Kirby square off against less savory ones, (left to right) in the early 1940s. Thanks to the Pinterest site. including Jesse James, Captain Kidd, Napoleon, and the Cyclops of antiquity. As written and drawn by Malcolm Kildale, the feature is often whimsical. Nero, once unhappy with his ghostly life, is now content, allowed to light a bonfire every time he plays his fiddle.

beautiful, green-skinned woman blessed with cascading orange hair. Able to appear or disappear in a cloud of green mist, she often resorts to ancient black magic. The seemingly immortal vixen can also enslave men by merely touching them, but declines to subject a man “so strong and handsome” as Blue Bolt to mindless subservience. “Oh, why do I love one whom I must destroy?” the Sorceress laments. After ten exciting installments of slam-bang action, Blue Bolt saves the empress from death. Grateful, the Green Sorceress grants him any wish that he desires. Blue Bolt asks her to give up her dreams of domination. Thereafter, he returns to the surface world to embark upon significantly more mundane adventures. That shift in focus may have reflected yet another edict from Novelty Press. But it was also the case that Simon and Kirby were leaving Funnies, Inc., for Martin Goodman’s Timely Comics. Years later, in his autobiography, Joe Simon still expressed some lingering irritation over his time at Funnies, Inc. Lloyd Jacquet had promised he would be paid for the title of the new comicbook, given that it was based on the feature he’d created. But that payment never came.

The Charming Sergeant Spook Blue Bolt wasn’t the only super-hero introduced in that first issue. When a police sergeant is killed in a suspicious laboratory explosion, he remains on earth to undo evil, mortal or otherwise. Spook still wears his police uniform, but appears to those few who

The most notable denizen of Ghost Town, however, is Doctor Sherlock. The community’s official detective, Sherlock is empowered to pursue ghosts who illegally leave that realm. He soon becomes the hero’s first posthumous companion. Other helpful residents of Ghost Town include Robin Hood, George Washington, and Daniel Boone. Later stories have Sergeant Spook taking a poor slum kid named Jerry under his wing. Because of Jerry’s latent psychic powers, he is able to see Spook and other ghosts. Spook serves as unlikely foster parent and companion to the youth throughout the rest of his career, which spans the entire decade.

Sub-Zero & Associates Super-heroes were clearly in vogue. The Sub-Zero Man also made his Blue Bolt debut in one of the more convoluted Golden Age origin stories. S. Winslow and Larry Antonette tell the tale of a Venusian spaceship flying through an asteroid made up of frigid gases, which kills all but one of the crew. The lone survivor manages to pilot the craft to Earth. Upon disembarking, the Venusian discovers two scientists experimenting on cosmic rays. A second exposure to unusual radiation grants the alien the ability to generate cold and ice. Initially hunted by the police, Sub-Zero (the “Man” was soon dropped) becomes a legitimate super-hero in short order. And in Blue Bolt, Vol. 2, #5, he gains an ethnic sidekick typical of the era. Discovering an Eskimo boy frozen in an Arctic iceberg, Sub-Zero learns the boy’s parents drowned in frigid waters when the family fishing boat was overturned. But amazingly enough, the boy survived, immediately frozen into suspended animation. This scenario results in the boy gaining identical ice powers to those of Sub-Zero. When the hero asks the boy’s name, he replies it is difficult to pronounce in English and that Sub-Zero can call him Freezum. The boy speaks in broken English, saying “Me likeum” this or that with distressing regularity. The two are constant

Blue Bolts & Wonder Boys

A Cold Day In Hell? (Right:) Sub-Zero Man likewise premiered in Blue Bolt, Vol. 1, #1, with art by Larry Antonette and script by S. Winslow—a full year before a visually almostidentical hero, Jack Frost, made his debut at Timely/Marvel. Courtesy of CBP. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

companions from then on, both orphans after a fashion. Another feature debuting alongside “Blue Bolt,” “Sgt. Spook,” and “Sub-Zero Man” was “White Rider and His Super-Horse.” After the parents of a boy named Peter are killed in a stagecoach robbery, he stumbles into a lost valley where he is befriended by a hermit and a white horse of considerable intelligence. As the narrative explains, “because of the extreme depth of the canyon, the pull of gravity is greater, with the result that boy and horse develop to a great degree.” Returning to the surface world with Cloud, the eponymous Superhorse, Peter adopts the identity of the White Rider to bring his parents’ killer to justice. Other features included Henry Kiefer’s “Old Hawkins’ Tales,” in which the elderly narrator tells stories of famous figures of the past, and “Edison Bell,” a boy named after two great inventors. Eddie uses his latest “projects” to undo the schemes of crooks and saboteurs. Readers were then invited to make the project themselves by following how-to directions presented after the story. Created by long-time Funnies, Inc., staffer Ray Gill, the feature’s craft-oriented focus was another way the template of Jack and Jill found its way into the comicbooks.

Malcolm Kildale (Above:) Selfportrait, courtesy of David Saunder’s site pulpartists.com.

Don Rice c. 1942

Spooked! (Above:) First splash page for “Sergeant Spook,” in Blue Bolt, Vol. 1, #1 (June ’40). Art by Malcolm Kildale, who may also have written the story. (Right:) The Sarge gives his young (living) friend Jerry a bit of help from the “other side” in Blue Bolt, Vol. 7, #11 (April 1947), as drawn (and perhaps written) by Don Rico. [© the respective trademark & copyright holders; Blue Bolt name is now a TM of Roy & Dann Thomas.]

A Golden Age History Of Novelty Press

White Horse, White Rider (Right:) Panels from the “White Rider” feature in Blue Bolt, Vol. 1, #1. Artist and writer unknown. Thanks to Mark Carlson-Ghost. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Of lesser note were “Runaway Ronson,” a heroic steam engineer; “Page Parks,” air hostess; and “The Phantom Sub.” Trains, planes and submarines. Check. Last but hardly least was a hero who provided a healthy dose of fantastic action in the form of a seemingly more down-to-Earth youthful hero. With the arrival of “Dick Cole, the Wonder Boy,” the folks at Funnies, Inc., finally hit upon just the kind of feature their publisher was craving.

Dick Cole & Simba Karno Written and drawn by 29-year-old Robert “Bob” Davis, Dick Cole managed to be an appealing mix of a young Doc Savage and Frank Merriwell at Yale. When he is abandoned by his mother at the doorstep of noted scientist Professor Blair, a note attached to the infant explains that his father is dead and she is unable to support him. “I know you have developed a method of raising a child so that he will become a perfect specimen of manhood,” the note reads. “I beg you to keep him—and make him the finest man in the world!” His name, she adds almost as an afterthought, is Richard Cole. Not the most ethical of parental surrogates, Blair subjects Dick to various

Bob Davis Early-’40s newspaper photo detail.

He’s A Wonder, Boy! These two pages at right from the “Dick Cole – Wonder Boy” feature in Blue Bolt, Vol. 1, #1 (June 1940) set the tone for the feature—an almost “Doc Savage”-like beginning. Script & art by Bob Davis. In short order, “Dick Cole” would become the most popular strip in that comicbook. Thanks to Comic Book Plus & Mark Carlson-Ghost. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

injections of special vitamin serums and exposure to all manner of rays, from ultra-violet to gamma. Cole’s extraordinary intellect is also nurtured by travel abroad, including exposure to a dictatorship, so he will better appreciate democracy. As such, the 17-year-old Cole demonstrates above average strength, agility, and intelligence, but not to a super-human degree. Enrolled at Farr Military Academy, Dick is portrayed as a clean-cut, brown-haired cadet dressed in a green cadet uniform. Cole regularly uncovers criminal schemes while attending classes, regularly clashing with an unscrupulous fellow cadet named Jack Rayton. But Davis quickly evolves as a writer/artist, transforming the feature into an engaging action-packed pleasure.

Blue Bolts & Wonder Boys

Surveys conducted in Blue Bolt’s letter pages repeatedly found Dick Cole at the top of the list of favorite features. The character reached its apex of popularity with a breathless storyline in which Davis introduced Dick’s evil doppelgänger, Simba Karno. Publicity regarding Cole’s exploits prompt his “dark twin,” a brutish appearing youth with short-cut blond hair and a black unibrow, to travel to America to join Farr Academy and best him. It soon emerges that Simba is the orphaned son of two murderers. He received similar treatments to those of Dick from his adoptive scientist father, Dr. Karno. The next two issues sported banners “Round Two” and “Round Three,” letting readers know that an epic battle was underway. The battle between Dick Cole and Simba Karno carries over five issues (Blue Bolt Comics, Vol. 2, #1-5) and ranks as one the Golden Age’s best serialized stories. Ultimately recognizing the wrongness of his actions, Simba voluntarily undergoes brain surgery to overcome his evil upbringing. Even so, could Simba be trusted? Readers sure hoped so, but no one could be sure.

Double Trouble Dick Cole battles his “evil doppelgänger,” Simba Karu, on Bill Everett’s cover for Blue Bolt, Vol. 3, #1 (June 1941). Thanks to Mark Carlson-Ghost. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Echoes of Simba’s dark history continued even after his evil foster father’s death. In 4Most #2 (more on that new title shortly), it emerges that Simba has inherited a kingdom bordering Tibet in Dr. Karno’s will. And in Blue Bolt, Vol. 4, #3-4, Dick and Simba meet Jean Karno, Dr. Karno’s lovely and good-hearted daughter. It turns out that Dr. Karno, knowing his death was near and attempting to redeem himself, left a formula for a super-explosive liquid he developed for the Nazis for Jean to deliver to the Allies. If Simba’s backstory was gradually revealed, next to nothing is known of his creator’s background. At 29, Bob Davis was several years older than his peers, married but without children. In 1932, only 22, he had scored the enviable assignment of drawing the comic strip adventures of gentleman detective Philo Vance. Unfortunately for Davis, the new feature was short-lived. If Davis enjoyed any other notable successes before “Dick Cole,” there remains no record of them.

Whether Singular Or Plural—The Strip’s Still Called “The Cadet” Target Comics, Vol. 3, #4 (a.k.a. #28, June 1942), by an unknown artist, heralded the first cover appearance of the “Dick Cole”-inspired feature “The Cadet” on a Novelty cover. The Cadet in question was named Kit Carter. Courtesy of the Grand Comics Database. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

But “Dick Cole” was a success. So much so that Novelty Press quickly moved to capitalize on it, introducing a second military academy feature, simply called “The Cadet.” Debuting in Target Comics, Vol. 2, #4 (June ’41), the Cadet was Kit Carter—a younger, though decidedly less compelling version of his predecessor. Sadly, there were no evil doppelgängers to face or big-scale prison breaks to squash, just an uninspired mix of criminals, saboteurs, and academy cheats. Created by Funnies, Inc., stalwart Ray Gill, “The Cadet” would nevertheless continue as a feature for as long as Target Comics was published.

A Golden Age History Of Novelty Press

Karma Chameleons? (Left:) Bob Davis introduced a costume for The Chameleon in Blue Bolt, Vol. 2, #7 (Sept. 1941)—but it didn’t last long. (Right:) Somehow, The Chameleon’s costumed sidekick, the oddly named Kid Tyrant, as drawn by Al Fagaly, lasted longer. Thanks to Mark Carlson-Ghost. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

America needed to prepare for the worst. Uncle Sam, dressed in his typical red, white, and blue regalia, reads off the role call, as all eight heroes stand dutifully at attention. “Each one of you has some special power or ability. You can use

Bob Davis also took over the “Chameleon” feature, quickly making it his own. Davis took the focus off of the hero’s disguises, emphasizing two-fisted action instead. A sinister plastic surgeon fittingly named Dr. Knife was introduced; he turned one of his underlings into a lookalike for our hero. Davis even gave The Chameleon a costume to wear when not in disguise. One of the “associate editors” disapproved. “That uniform makes him like all the other comicbook characters of his type. It destroys all his originality,” he groused in a letter of comment. The editors at Novelty Press agreed, and said so in print. Davis dropped the costume after just two issues. But Davis’ introduction of a feisty orphan named Ragsy stuck. Four issues later, Ragsy appeared in costume as Kid Tyrant, complete with a water pistol that shot out liquid that could burn a bad guy’s eyes. As we have seen, the creators at Funnies, Inc., resisted relinquishing super-hero trappings in their stories to no avail. The Kid Tyrant costume, not to mention alter ego, disappeared just as quickly.

Uncle Sam Comes Calling Instead of a focus on fantastic costumes and powers, Novelty Press clearly had a new focus in mind. “Attention! Target Comics Characters!” Uncle Sam’s words are huge on the first page of Target’s 13th issue, cover dated March 1941. The dramatic artwork was courtesy of Ben Thompson. Pearl Harbor was still nearly a year down the road, but the publisher clearly felt

United We Stand! In Target Comics, Vol. 2, #1 (March 1941), well in advance of Pearl Harbor, the title’s heroes were “mobilized to defend America.” Cover by Ben Thompson, whose photo can be seen on p. 21. Thanks to Mark Carlson-Ghost & Michael T. Gilbert. Incidentally, this call-to-arms cover has the same date as Timely’s celebrated Captain America Comics #1, on which the Sentinel of Liberty was slugging Adolf Hitler in the jaw! [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Blue Bolts & Wonder Boys

Uncle Sam Sets Up A Target Right behind the “All-Star Comics”-style cover of Target V2#1 came a trio of pages—the inside front cover and the first two “interior” pages—which set up the new, defense-oriented Novelty mindset, all drawn by Ben Thompson; scripter unknown. But, although Spacehawk tells Uncle Sam he’s ready to “patrol the stratosphere and prevent invasion from other planets,” he still undertakes an unrelated interplanetary mission in that issue… presumably till Basil Wolverton could catch up with his bosses’ mandate. And here we’d thought that the “Spacehawk” stories all occurred in some far-flung future! Courtesy of Comic Book Plus. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

these to perform duties most useful in in the defense of our country. “America has always been ready to defend its ideals,” Sam reminds them in an unprecedented second full-page illustration. And delivers their new assignments on a third and fourth! The Target’s new mission is to unearth plots against the U.S. government, while White Streak is to stop saboteurs intent on disrupting American industry. The Chameleon is assigned to work with U.S. secret service. The Skipper, for his part, agrees to turn over any relevant new inventions to the military. Bull’s-Eye Bill is to join the U.S. Cavalry Remount Service. Karen Drake and the other actors of “Fantastic Features” are asked to “use their talents for entertainment and propaganda purposes.” Drake, attired in a Red Cross nurse’s uniform, readily agrees. Prepared for any contingency, Uncle Sam assigns Spacehawk “to patrol the stratosphere and prevent invasion from other planets.”

A Golden Age History Of Novelty Press

Blue Bolt Gets More Down (Er, We Mean Up) To Earth By Blue Bolt, Vol. 3, #3 (April 1941), the strip had been rechristened “Blue Bolt the American,” and the costumed hero left the underground realm to help the land of his birth against the Axis. By Vol. 3, #12 (May ’43), he had doffed his super-heroic costume for a U.S. uniform, though he still used the moniker “Blue Bolt,” not his birth-name of Fred Parrish. Art by Alan Mandel & Dan Barry, respectively; scripters unknown. Thanks to Comic Book Plus. [© the respective trademark & copyright holders; Blue Bolt name is now a TM of Roy & Dann Thomas.]

No such dramatic assembly was evoked over at Blue Bolt, but the practical Alan Mandel impact was largely the same. Blue Bolt Photo courtesy of Mark would soon enough enlist, surrendering his Luebeker. costume for an Army uniform. The winds of war were taking hold. It was only fitting, then, that a particularly determined hurricane was about to shake things up.

The Twister’s Turbulent Entrance The June 1941 issue of Blue Bolt (Vol. 2, #1) featured one of the more novel introductions of a new character. At the end of each story featuring Dick Cole, Sub-Zero, and Blue Bolt, that hero is assisted by a mysterious twirling wind. A fourth story reveals the wind to be Blue Bolt’s latest hero, The Twister. With a sudden twirl of his powerful arms, the Twister can disappear into a powerful tornadic funnel to pick up cars or knock over bad guys. He can also use the swirling wind to fly or shoot the air out in concentrated blasts of his “cyclone gun.” The creation of Ray Gill and Paul Gustavson, The Twister had an appealing yellow, black, and red costume, with diagonally

striped tights that created an appearance of motion even when he wasn’t twirling. His high-profile introduction was likely only possible because Gill was now writing all the characters involved.

Dan Barry The official King Features Syndicate photo, from 1952, when he was drawing the Flash Gordon comic strip.

The reality was that Funnies, Inc., was quickly losing its most established talent, many of them leaving to work for Martin Goodman’s operation. The last artwork by both Jack Kirby and Tarpé Mills appeared in issues coverdated March 1941. Efforts by Carl Burgos, Bill Everett, and Bob Wood would disappear with the August issues, and those of Paul Gustavson the month after. But the most troubling departure of all was still to come.

The Ironic Death of Bob Davis Everything was going swimmingly for Bob Davis. It certainly seemed so, anyway. His creation, Dick Cole, was quickly becoming the stand-out star of Novelty Press’ offerings. If Davis needed any confirmation of

Blue Bolts & Wonder Boys

Twistin’ The Issue Away

“The Fools! They Like Me!”

The first “Twister” splash page, from Blue Bolt, Vol. 2, #1 (June 1941), with art by Paul Gustavson & script by Ray Gill. Thanks to Jim Kealy. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Reggie Mocton was a “seemingly gay villain” in the “Dick Cole” episode in 4Most, Vol. 1, #1 (Winter 1942). Script & art by Bob Davis. Courtesy of Mark Carlson-Ghost. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

that, the introduction of Novelty Press’ third comicbook provided it.

A seemingly gay villain, at one point Reggie asks to feel Dick’s bicep, commenting admiringly that his arm is “like a rock!” Simba comments that Reggie’s something of a “queer duck” and later the villain admits that it makes him “squirm to see those wonder boys flexing their pretty muscles.” Homophobia aside, there was no denying it was an action-packed episode.

The first issue of 4Most appeared on newsstands on November 15th, 1941. The new title featured Novelty’s most Paul Gustavson & Ben Thompson popular characters, (left to right) in a partial photo taken New including The Cadet, Year’s Eve, 1940. Thompson drew the cover of Edison Bell, and The Target Comics V2#1, seen on p. 18. Courtesy of Target. But Dick Cole Wendy Everett. was the headliner, make no mistake. Not only that: the character was given 30 pages of story, allowing Davis to showcase his wild creativity. In the story Cole squares off against Reggie Mocton, a small misshapen youth with dark hair and dark glasses. Bad to the bone, Reggie grew up hating his athletic older brother and devised a way to kill him and get away with it. Through his studies of witchcraft and the occult arts, Reggie creates a potion that allows him to mentally control whomever he gives it to, including a dinosaur he brings back to life.

And while 4Most enjoyed a successful launch, a radio show featuring Dick Cole was also in the works. Recently Davis had also graduated to doing covers for Blue Bolt. And over at Timely, his Blazing Skull character was showing decided promise. Then, on the evening of November 28th, 1941, it all came to a sudden and shocking end. In Alter Ego #46, in an interview with Roy Thomas (conducted circa 1970 and first published in A/E [Vol. 1] #11 in 1978), Bill Everett remembered the events preceding the death of one of his best friends:

Turn Your Radio On! Actor Leon Janney starred in the 1942 half-hour radio series The Adventures of Dick Cole. Courtesy of Mark Carlson-Ghost.

A Golden Age History Of Novelty Press

“What made his untimely death so poignant to us was the fact that it occurred after an afternoon and evening of frolic and fun with Carl [Burgos], myself, and a couple of others from the Funnies gang.” He recalled how Bob kept calling his wife to let her know he’d be leaving soon, but his younger pals kept encouraging him to stay. Davis finally left around seven o’clock. Yonkers’ Herald Statesman provided the details of what happened next: “According to police, Mr. Davis was driving north on the parkway when his automobile veered to the left, struck a stone pillar, and somersaulted into the [Saw Mill River]…. The car landed in the water on its roof, with only the wheels exposed.” Passing motorists called the police. Firemen soon joined them. “The vehicle was so badly damaged that the firemen were unable to get in the interior of the vehicle, even after smashing the windows.” When Davis was finally able to be removed, artificial respiration was administered to no avail. He was declared dead on arrival at the hospital. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle provided fewer details, referring to the accident as “odd” and “strange.”

When Life— And Death— Imitate Art That was how it seemed when, on the evening of November 28, 1941, “Dick Cole” artist Bob Davis was involved in a fatal car accident that involved crashing into a stone pillar on a bridge, then plunging into a river. Ironically, he had recently drawn two Blue Bolt covers which together seemed almost to prophesy the tragedy—those of Vol. 2, #5, and Vol. 2, #7 (Oct. & Dec. 1941). Courtesy of Mark CarlsonGhost. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Blue Bolts & Wonder Boys

Everett explained that Davis “apparently went to sleep at the wheel of his car.” Given that drinking was surely involved, it seems a reasonable explanation. But there was another, eerie element to the deadly event, as breezily referenced in Ed Sullivan’s popular “Little Old New York” column not long after. (Yes, that Ed Sullivan.) “The Metropolitan Opera has dropped Puccini’s Madame Butterfly…. Written by an Italian, it has the Japanese heroine committing suicide.… Puccini was a fortune-teller, too! December cover for Blue Bolt Comic mag shows two men falling into a river from a bridge.… The artist, Bob Davis, was killed this last week when his car plunged into a river.” The cover in question (Blue Bolt, Vol. 2, #7) was indeed drawn by Davis, portraying Cole and Simba falling off a bridge while engaged in mortal combat. It was issued on October 8th, just a little more than a month before Davis’ death. Someone in the industry must have tipped Sullivan off regarding the seeming omen. But a person with an even better memory would have found Davis’ cover for the Blue Bolt issue two months earlier equally disturbing.

pencil in the balloons” (Gill interview, pp. 5-6). Now just 23 years old, Ray Gill was writing nearly every adventure feature that Novelty Press published, if only until a more permanent scribe could be found. Along with Fitzsimmons, Gill was also soon central to the day-to-day operations of Funnies, Inc., ultimately becoming the shop’s art editor. Meanwhile, over at Novelty Press, Stanley H. Beaman took over as editor from David Adams in the spring of 1942. Given his lack of creative credits, he likely was primarily responsible for the business end of things. It may be that Novelty’s art director Mel Cummin started around that time as well. In any case, brief but folksy bios of Funnies artists and writers began appearing on the Ye Editor’s Page, briefly supplanting reader letters. In one of those mini-bios, several paragraphs were devoted to Gill and the makeshift inventions of his brainchild, Edison Bell. “Ray Gill has written a number of ‘how-to-build’ articles for magazines,” the anonymous author of the bio noted, “edited

Were these premonitions that Davis had of his own watery death expressed through his artwork? Signs that Davis was preoccupied for months with the way he might take his own life? It seems unlikely, given his recent successes. Or just an incredibly unnerving coincidence? Whatever the case, it was a tragic death for an artist whose stories overflowed with life. Davis would never hear his creation’s adventures over the radio.

Ray Gill & A Company In Transition Bob Davis’ tragic death marked the end of an era. With the exception of Basil Wolverton, all of Funnies, Inc.’s, best known talent was now gone. With each departure there were features that needed new writers and artists to produce them. A younger generation of creators now took center stage at the Jacquet shop. Chief among these was the highly reliable Ray Gill. According to his younger brother Joe, Ray got bitten by the cartooning bug early, successfully submitting cartoons to The New York Journal. “He never went for sports or anything, it was always art.” As for how he got started with Jacquet, Joe noted, “He was in a Catholic fraternity and one of the guys in the fraternity—it might have been Jim Fitzsimmons— said to apply for a job at Funnies.” Despite his abiding interest in art, Joe Gill said his brother was primarily a writer when it came to comicbooks. “He never did any illustration, but he cartooned his scripts, which was a practice early on in the comics. You’d draw a rough stick-figure outline to indicate the action, and

The Gill-Man & Friends (Left:) A very busy 1940s trio. (Left to right:) Funnies, Inc., head Lloyd Jacquet… his right-hand man Frank Torpey… and writer Ray Gill, in a photo from a 1943 edition of The New York World-Telegram newspaper. Supplied years ago by the late Russ Cochran. (Above:) The ubiquitous Gill scripted, among many other stories, this “Sergeant Spook” outing for Blue Bolt, Vol. 4, #1 (June 1943). Art by John Jordan. Thanks to Jim Kealy. [TM & © the respective trademark and copyright owners.]

A Golden Age History Of Novelty Press

a ‘Hobby Pocketbook Series,’ taught cartooning for a while at summer school, and goes in for all kinds of hobbies. We’ve heard that he has a model train layout that would make any miniature railroad fan turn green with envy, and that he knows stamps and photography. This wide interest in all kinds of ‘how-to-make’ things is what makes his collaboration with artist [Harold] DeLay so interesting and lively.

Harold DeLay

“Yes—he’s only a young fellow, and when he and artist DeLay get their heads together there’s sure to be a brand new, exciting, and fun-to-build gadget hot off the drawing board. “The combination has worked out very well, though DeLay is old enough to be Ray’s father!” In actuality, at 66, the artist was old enough to be Gill’s grandfather. DeLay, the text added, “has been drawing for many years, and at one-time lived in China. His hobby is model-making, so what would be more ideal as a livelihood than to illustrate the wonderful ideas that Ray Gill creates? DeLay makes many of the things that he draws in Edison Bell, right on his kitchen table—and gets a lot of fun and pleasure from it.

Howard DeLay and a unique page from his “Edison Bell” story for Blue Bolt, Vol. 3, #3 (Aug. 1942)… since it introduces a young “Captain Mickey Spillane” as a lifeguard, who until recently had been a scripter for Funnies, Inc., and was then in the service. Spillane, in case you didn’t know, became one of the best-selling 1950s authors with his series of rough-hewn “Mike Hammer” detective novels. You’ll see Mickey himself, and some of his writing, in our very next art spot. Photo courtesy of David Saunders and his excellent site pulpartists.com.

Another important addition to Funnies, Inc., during this period of transition was John Jordan. Jordan’s text page bio detailed how the genial artist “entered his profession ‘the hard way’ via the newspaper route. He was a cartoonist for a number of papers, the last one being The New York Evening Journal. When the famous editor-columnist Arthur Brisbane looked around for a skillful artist to draw the well-known Sunday editorial cartoons that appeared with his column, he found John Jordan a very able interpreter of his ideas. When Brisbane died (on Christmas Day, 1936), Jordan entered this field, and has been at it ever since.”

Gorillas In The Midst

Mickey Spillane

A wild “Sergeant Spook” splash page by the team of Mickey Spillane, writer, and John Jordan, artist. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

as a young man.

The Brisbane connection is important to note, as Mel Cummin also provided the illustrations that topped all eight columns of Brisbane’s editorials from 1924 to 1935. Brisbane was very well known in the ’20s and ’30s for his high-profile role as an editor of the Evening Journal and The New York Sunday American, two jewels in the crown of the

Blue Bolts & Wonder Boys

Hearst chain of newspapers. Did Cummin and Jordan know each other? Did either of them play a role in the hiring of the other? It also must be remembered that Jacquet had a background in journalism. In 1942 Jordan took over several features recently abandoned by others, including “Sergeant Spook,” “The Cadet,” “The Target and The Targeteers,” and—with the death of Bob Davis—some “Dick Cole” stories as well. But it was Al Fagaly who seemed best able to mimic Davis’ unique style, becoming the primary artist for both “Dick Cole” and “The Chameleon.“ Sid Greene did a stint on “The Target and The Targeteers” as well. As for who was writing these brief bios of the Funnies, Inc., creators, that almost certainly was Lloyd Jacquet himself. Who else would know these fellows so well, be old enough to adopt the tone of a proud paternal figure, and feel free to comment on the success of their endeavors?

George Mandel & His Blue Bolt Besides Ray Gill, the next generation of Novelty Press creators included George Mandel, Mickey Spillane, and a raft of others. Like Everett, Burgos, and Davis, many of this set also hung out, often downing a few drinks with each other. Though calling them the next “generation” is a bit of a misnomer, as they were only a couple of years younger than the first set. Al Fagaly bridged both groups,

having been a childhood friend of Basil Wolverton in Oregon and sharing an apartment with Spillane while living in New York City. For his part, George Mandel joined the Jacquet shop early in 1941. Some of his artwork would appear in Timely comicbooks, where he drew “Black Marvel” and “The Patriot.” But, of interest here, Mandel took over the “Blue Bolt” feature after Simon and Kirby left. Handling both the writing and artwork, Mandel immediately introduced Blue Bolt’s English brother, a pilot for the R.A.F., and a new romantic interest, a reporter named Lois Blake. The very next issue, Blue Bolt takes her to see the underground kingdom and his old friend Bertoff. With Blue Bolt’s consent, Bertoff transfers some of the hero’s “atomical power” to Lois in Blue Bolt, Vol. 2, #7. For the procedure, Lois is given an identical costume except for having no helmet, and a dark blue skirt instead of leggings. What she doesn’t get is a code name. Mandel also brought back the Green Sorceress and has her team-up with Hitler. Before long she and the now super Lois get into a brawl (Blue Bolt, Vol. 3, #1-2). No stranger to female heroes, Mandel had co-created one of the earliest examples, “The Woman in Red,” with Richard Hughes at Nedor. “I was an early feminist,” Mandel declared in an interview with Jim Amash in Alter Ego #103. He credited his regard for his two sisters for his instinct to empower female characters. He also recalled talking Jacquet into letting him write, draw, ink, and letter the stories he worked on. That control allowed him the freedom to take creative liberties. “Like I’d have Blue Bolt plunge through the page. And you’d turn the page, he’s coming through on that side, and a lot happened in between.” Mandel described Jacquet as “a nice older man” who took a paternal interest in the younger men who worked for him. “Somebody must have told George Mandel that no matter what else he did as an artist, it was of paramount importance that he be well dressed at all times,” Jacquet joked in Blue Bolt, Vol. 3, #2. “Unlike most artists, George has a suit for all occasions, including payday! His sport shirts, coupled with his wavy brown hair, and his small artistically-cultivated mustache, serve as a covering for his fine, good-natured personality which we all like.” Mandel confirmed that Jacquet would give him advice about his spending habits. “As a kid, I spent all my money on clothes and nightclubs and cars.… Jacquet worried about my future,” Mandel admitted, but insisted the older man was never overbearing in that regard. Emphasizing the positive in his profile of the artist, Jacquet referenced Mandel’s interest in painting water colors, opining that he would “go far with this talent.” But presently Mandel was “headed for Camp Croft, South Carolina.” Jacquet had secured a military deferment for the artist before Pearl Harbor, but after the attack Mandel was promptly drafted. If the artist was still at the camp come fall, Jacquet wrote, “he is going to apply for the job of quarterback of the camp’s football team.”

Wonder Where The “Wonder” Went! A moody “Dick Cole” splash page illustrated by Al Fagaly, from Blue Bolt, Vol. 4, #1 (June 1943). Scripter unknown. The “Wonder Boy” subtitle had been dropped by this point. Thanks to Mark Carlson-Ghost & Jim Kealy. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Al Fagaly

Fate, however, had other things

A Golden Age History Of Novelty Press

George Mandel The late artist (and brother of fellow artist Alan Mandel) was interviewed in depth by Jim Amash in Alter Ego #103. Photo taken from the dust jacket of his first novel, Flee the Angry Strangers, in 1952.

“When I first went with Funnies, I shared an office with Ray Gill. Next to his cubicle was another, crammed with junk like Fibber McGee’s closet. I got Lloyd Jacquet’s OK to clean out the room (they thought it was impossible), in which case I could use it. One Sunday I got up there with Ray Gill’s brother Joe and we wiped the platter clean. It took the whole day, but there was a new Woodstock typewriter in there, a desk, a great chair .,.. and when I got done, everybody wanted that room for their own. No way. When the war came somebody else finally got it.” The guys sometimes wondered what exactly Jacquet did, one going so far as to suggest that he specialized in lunches. Given Novelty Press’ unending stream of suggestions—Spillane declared they “exercised editorial concept of a grand nature”—it seems likely many of those lunches were with the publisher.

The writers and artists resented Novelty’s intrusions. “We took our pleasure in screwing them,” Spillane recalled, adding embarrassing details to the artwork that would need to be edited out but which occasionally got missed! Spillane explained how the relatively poor pay offered by Funnies, Inc., prompted him to seek “direct, but on the sly, orders from Goodman or Curtis on the side.” Nor was Spillane the only one.

Increasing Tensions All Around Lois? Lois? Where Have We Heard That Name Before? Blue Bolt and his ladyfriend Lois (who had taken on some of his “atomic power”) lay low a gang of crooks who were reportedly caricatures of some of the Funnies, Inc., staff. From Blue Bolt, Vol. 2, #12 (May 1942), written & drawn by George Mandel. Courtesy of Mark Carlson-Ghost. [© the respective trademark & copyright holders; Blue Bolt name is now a TM of Roy & Dann Thomas.]

in store for Mandel. He suffered a severe head wound overseas, which would end his art career. Luckily, his writing talent emerged unscathed. Mandel went on to write several novels after the war, Flee the Angry Strangers and Into the Woods of the World among them. And despite his injuries, he lived to be 101. While Mandel could claim success as a novelist, his friend Spillane achieved recognition at a whole other level.

Launching Mickey Spillane Ray Gill hired Mickey Spillane in the fall of 1941. Spillane was a good friend of Ray’s younger brother Joe, who would go on to become Charlton’s most prolific and enduring writer. Joe had just enlisted in the Coast Guard in September and Mickey found himself at loose ends. Joe suggested he talk to Ray. He badly needed another writer on board at Funnies, and as history would prove, Spillane had some real talent in that area. But this was years before his famous, hard-boiled detective novel, I, the Jury. Mickey Spillane described his first weeks at Funnies, Inc. in an interview with Roy Thomas in Alter Ego #11:

In his two-volume biography of Basil Wolverton, Greg Sadowski notes how Funnies, Inc.. chastised Wolverton on more than one occasion for trying to deal directly with the publishers. Frustration was bubbling up in every aspect of the triangulated relationship between Novelty Press, Funnies, Inc., management, and their staff. As requested by Novelty Press, Ray Gill let Wolverton know he needed to have Spacehawk stay on Earth and cooperate with the American military. The handsome hero now foiled Axis plots, assisted by a decidedly non-grotesque, orange-skinned alien named Dork. There would be no more of Wolverton’s delightfully weird aliens. Dr. Gore, “elusive mastermind of science,” becomes Spacehawk’s arch-enemy, operating out of a secret mountain laboratory. Stories still retained some of Wolverton’s flair, but the unique flavor of the feature was greatly diminished. Nonetheless, Novelty Press’ dislike for the feature showed no signs of abating. When Wolverton submitted a synopsis involving a gas that could induce in men “a frantic desire to kill and destroy,” Novelty Press rejected it as too horrific (Sadowski, Vol. 1, p. 243). By now, it wasn’t just Wolverton feeling frustrated. Without mentioning Novelty Press by name, Funnies, Inc.. editor Fitzsimmons fumed that “a publisher is very much like a woman and constantly changing his mind. They may approve a certain type of story, but by the time you get it prepared or into the work, they will have changed their mind….” (p. 252). By November 1941, the powers-that-be at Novelty Press were rejecting not only horror and violence, but the fantastic in general. Ray Gill wrote to Wolverton, informing the artist that two out

Blue Bolts & Wonder Boys

Yes—But Is It Art? As Greg Sadowski points out in his illustrated biography Creeping Death from Neptune: The Life and Comics of Basil Wolverton – Volume One – 1909-1941: This page from Target Comics, Vol. 1, # 8 (Sept. 1940), the fourth “Spacehawk” outing, is “a prime example of the ‘fantastic and weird’ elements Novelty Press would increasingly demand Funnies Incorporated weed out of the feature.” Scan courtesy of CBP. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

of three of his recent synopses had been rejected due to “excess fantasy.” At the end of a brief letter, while encouraging Wolverton to continue submitting ideas, Gill underscored the need to accommodate publisher wishes. But, despite a constant stream of publisher criticism, Wolverton remained well-liked by Jacquet. The affection for Wolverton’s unique mix of personal qualities and talent shines through in the artist’s mini-bio in Target Comics vol. 3, #5 (July ’42): “Jolly, blond, and endowed with a terrific sense of humor, Basil Wolverton is the lad who draws those perfectly amazing characters, interstellar backgrounds, and weird-looking people from Mars in the Spacehawk feature…” The text piece also alludes to Wolverton’s “natural bent for drawing.” No matter. Early in 1942, Gill vented to Wolverton, “They’re squawking about better stories now,” bluntly adding, “Publisher has commented your stories are TRITE” (Vol. 2, p. 18). Novelty Press was now asking more humor to be worked in with the adventure. Despite Wolverton’s attempts at providing more conventional stories and art, with awkward attempts at comical asides, Fitzsimmons soon had the unpleasant task of letting the artist know the bad news. Novelty Press no longer wanted any “Spacehawk“ stories.

Heil Nitwitler! The first and last pages of Basil Wolverton’s “Spacehawk” adventure from Target Comics, Vol. 2, #9 (Nov. 1941), featured a dictator villain called “Nitwitler,” thus tying the hero more closely with events on Earth, and in the 20th century, at Novelty’s “request.” Thanks to Michael T. Gilbert. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

A Golden Age History Of Novelty Press

Gill followed up with a note wondering if Wolverton might be interested in scripting some of Novelty Press’ other features without providing the accompanying artwork. As always, Gill was in need of more writers and also wanted to help Wolverton out. But the artist doubtlessly felt slighted. He declined Gill’s offer.

in separate adventures, but in 1943 the trio is summoned to Washington. The brass determine that the men can better serve the country together. Towards the end of the War, it is increasingly clear their secret identities are no longer secret. The trio become known as The Targeteers in and out of costume.

In the December 1942 issue of Target Comics, the final “Spacehawk” story appeared. There were no aliens. No Dr. Gore. Spacehawk fakes getting shot at one point. A couple of saboteurs get punched. The story in the issue before was titled “Spacehawk and the Case of the Missing Tires.”

Even Lloyd Jacquet responded to the call of service, re-enlisting at the age of 44 as a lieutenant in the U. S. Naval Reserve aboard the U.S.S. Hermitage. His wife Mary Grace took on his oversight role at Funnies, Inc. Joe Gill recalled Grace Jacquet as “the efficient member of that family.… agreeable.… and very practical.”

If he hadn’t needed the money, Basil Wolverton might actually have been relieved.

It was also during World War II that Novelty Press decisively abandoned super-heroics. Popular culture scholar David Will notes that, from 1940 to 1941, 16 out of 22 covers featured costumed heroes. From 1942 to 1945 only 5 out of 42 did the same. White Streak was already gone. Spacehawk had followed not long after. Blue Bolt and The Targeteers largely gave up their colorful costumes. The dominant story focus of the Novelty Press became the domestic activities of boys (and to a lesser extent girls) during the war.

For the first time, Novelty Press began to rely on other studios and freelancers for some of their content. Walter Gibson and his new studio supplied the publisher with “Dick Cole” and “The Cadet” stories for a brief period in 1943 and 1944. While Funnies, Inc., continued to produce the lion’s share of material for Novelty Press, using some content from another studio was a harbinger of things to come. (See sidebar on the following two pages.)

[Continued on p. 31]

The Pet Peeve Pete Contest It may have been Novelty Press’ “associate editors” who pounded the final nail in Spacehawk’s coffin. In the December and January issues of Target and Blue Bolt Comics, the editors ran a Pet Peeve Pete’s Contest, soliciting readers’ likes and dislikes in systematic fashion. In an attempt to ensure as wide a response as possible, Novelty Press promised one lucky reader a first prize of $15 dollars (a whopping $300 in today’s dollars). The findings were illuminating. Female readers wanted a “girl heroine” to be added to the mix, and the editors promised to whip up something they would “go for in a big way.” (It didn’t happen.) Both boys and girls wanted real hero stories about America’s fighting men overseas. “Bull’s-Eye Bill” needed to revamped, they felt, and “The Cadet” could use some tougher challenges. But the most telling finding was in response to the question of what their “least liked strip” was in Target Comics. Readers’ first choice in that category was the adaptation of Jonathan Swift’s novel Gulliver’s Travels. “Spacehawk” came in second. Even the two-page text filler and stamp page received less negative feedback. There would be no last-minute resurrection. A few issues later, editors asked what readers thought of Dan’l Flannel, a Li’l Abner knockoff who just happened to be Spacehawk’s replacement. The associate editors seemed to like him just fine.

A Rush To Enlist From 1942 through the end of World War II, Target Comics, Blue Bolt, and 4Most often suffered from substandard artwork and rather sedate storytelling. Many of the second wave of creators had enlisted or were drafted. The fictional heroes of Novelty Press were on a parallel track. After Pearl Harbor, Blue Bolt feels impelled to join the Army Air Corps to “get in a few licks at Mr. Hitler!” He ultimately loses his powers and wears his costume for the last time in Blue Bolt, Vol. 3, #3. Thereafter, Blue Bolt fights the Axis menace in uniform as a conventional pilot. Lois disappears entirely. The Target and The Targeteers also enlist in 1942—each in a separate service (Niles in the Army Air Corps, Tom in the Marines, and Dave in the Navy). For a time, the heroes are featured

Taking Down The “Target” Unlike virtually all of the other Novelty super-heroes, The Target and The Targeteers survived past the ending of World War II—but Ken Battefield’s cover for Target Comics, Vol. 7, #3 (a.k.a. #69, May 1946), was the last time they were the mag’s cover stars. Courtesy of the Grand Comics Database. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Blue Bolts & Wonder Boys

A Novelty Sidebar by Will Murray

Walter Gibson & The Penn-Art Connection

n 1943, Walter B. Gibson was a very busy writer. In addition to writing two Shadow novels a month for The Shadow magazine, he was busy penning scripts for Street & Smith’s booming comicbook line, writing every adventure of “The Shadow,” as well as the “Blackstone” stories in Super-Magician Comics, and sundry others. But in January of that year, the war-time paper shortage squeezed Street & Smith even tighter, forcing them to cancel a number of comics titles and pulp magazines and to put The Shadow on a monthly schedule. Abruptly, Gibson found that there was space in his formerly frenetic schedule. He looked around to see how to fill it. Recognizing that the comicbook industry was booming, and knowing that Street & Smith was being supplied with features by the Jack Binder shop, Walter teamed up with the Street & Smith editor who handled their comics line, William J. de Grouchy, to form a similar comics packing service. Organizing a number of out-of-work artists associated with the Philadelphia Ledger Syndicate, which had abandoned producing comic strips when its parent, the Philadelphia Ledger, had gone out of business in January 1942, they inaugurated Penn-Art, which is sometimes erroneously referred to as the Gibson Shop. Ledger Syndicate business manger George Kearny ran the business side of the enterprise. “We had very unusual artists,” Gibson noted. “We had one

Walter Gibson He, William J. de Grouchy, and their Penn-Art studio produced numerous stories for Novelty (among others) during the WWII years, including for the popular features “Dick Cole” and “The Cadet.” But whether or not these two yarns were among them cannot be determined for certain. “Dick Cole” art from Blue Bolt, Vol. 4, #3 (Sept. 1943), by John Jordan; scripter unknown. “Cadet” script from Target Comics, Vol. 3, #12 (Feb. 1943), by George Kapitan, art by Al Fagaly. Courtesy of CBP. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

fellow named Russell Henderson. He did ‘Blackstone.’ There was Al Bare. Our art director was Charlie Coll. He was Jack Binder’s right-hand man. Charlie Coll was an old Ledger artist from Philadelphia. He came to New York and did a lot of comics work. So he came in handy when we needed him down in Philadelphia. Some of the artists were excellent. They were illustrators and put a real dash in the comics.” Other staff artists included Lloyd Birmingham, Frank Frollo, and Jimmy Hammon. A Philadelphia native, Gibson had enjoyed a longtime relationship with the Ledger Syndicate. During the 1920s and beyond, he produced crossword puzzles and other features for them. The Penn-Art team first provided comics material for S&S in 1943, around the time Jack Binder closed his shop, then branched out to other publishers.

A Golden Age History Of Novelty Press

Penn-Art was purely an art shop, he recalled. The strips it illustrated were drawn from scripts suppled by the editorial staff of their clients. “I didn’t do any scripts for them,” Gibson stated. “All we did was the art. And I was the copy editor.” In addition to supplying Street & Smith, Penn-Art turned out “Bulletman” for Fawcett, as well as an unknown number of strips for Novelty Press, which was being supplied by one of the major comics packagers, Lloyd Jacquet’s Funnies, Inc. “Lloyd Jacquet and his wife had a very fine establishment to do any kind of excellent art work, comics and stuff of that sort,” Gibson recounted. “Jacquet was the man that did all the comics for that outfit that the Curtis Publishing Company backed—Lloyd Jacquet. Of course, they owned The Saturday Evening Post. Well, Jacquet and Curtis back about the beginning of the war decided to publish some other stuff. They made a survey to find out what was selling and found out that comics were. So they took some of their younger editors and sent them over to New York to start a publishing company under an assumed name, so nobody knew it was Curtis. They got hold of Lloyd Jacquet. They put out various things. Oddly, I can’t remember the titles of them because I didn’t do much for them to begin with.” Among the features that Penn-Art handled for Novelty were “Dick Cole, the Wonder Boy,” “The Cadet—Featuring Kit Carter,” and others Gibson had forgotten. Dick Cole and Kit Carter were similar characters, both being orphans who ended up in

different military academies. The main difference is that Dick Cole was raised by a scientist, who reared him to be a nearly perfect physical and mental specimen of manhood before enrolling him in the fictitious Farr Military Academy. Carter went to Daunton Military Academy, a clear allusion to Virginia’s Staunton Military Academy. Dick Cole ran for years in Blue Bolt and 4Most. Kit Carter was a Target Comics character who also appeared in 4Most. Jacquet joined the U.S. Navy in 1943, but later returned to comics. During Jacquet’s wartime service, which concluded in 1946, it’s believed that his wife, Mary Grace Jacquet, ran Funnies, Inc., in his absence. The Funnies, Inc., affiliation with Novelty Press appears to have been a casualty of the war, according to Gibson, who met Jacquet in the latter 1940s . “They were no longer with Curtis,” Gibson recalled, “because during the war, Jacquet got into the government service because he was French and worked on some of the commissions over in France. So after the war he took over and began to revive the comic stuff, which was partly commercial comics and partly regular comics.” It’s not clear how long the Penn-Art shop provided its services to Novelty, but it was probably limited to the war years.

Will Murray

Will Murray is the author of pulp crossover novels such as Doc Savage: Skull Island, King Kong vs. Tarzan, and Tarzan, Conqueror of Mars.

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

Blue Bolts & Wonder Boys

Any Bonds Today? Speck, Spot, and Sis sell Defense Bonds—by on-sale date called War Bonds— on the cover of Target Comics, Vol. 3, #6 (a.k.a. #30, Aug. 1942). Art by Jack Warren as “Alonzo Vincent.” Courtesy of the GCD. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

[Continued from p. 28]

Shaping The Values Of Wartime Youth Novelty Press clearly made a concerted editorial effort to shape the patriotic values, thinking, and behavior of American boys and girls. Most publishers did this to varying degrees in their stories, but the comicbooks of Novelty Press had the novel advantage of longstanding letters pages to foster that effort. Novelty Press editor Stanley H. Beaman continued at the helm during this period. The only information discoverable about Beaman was a single newspaper story in 1945 about the formation of a home owners association in his Yonkers, NY, neighborhood. Serving as its vice president, the association sought to improve its quality of life and promote the “Community Welfare Fund, Red Cross, and other drives of similar nature” (The Herald Statesman, 9-26-1945, p. 8). Beaman was clearly no stranger to civic engagement, and his tenure at Novelty Press was consistent with that impression. Under Beaman’s watch, Novelty Press covers showed support for the domestic war effort in various ways. For example, Target Comics, Vol. 3, #6 (July 1942) featured Jack Warren’s “Speck, Spot, and Sis” soliciting contributions from other children to buy defense bonds and support the Red Cross. Speck, Sis (his younger sibling), and their dog Spot were rendered in an engaging, if somewhat dated style by their 56-year-old creator. Inside the comic, editors augmented the cover message by announcing a new policy. Instead of sending a check for a dollar for

“V” Is For “Very Unruly Children” (Left:) Another Victory-oriented cover among many— this one depicting young Edison Bell, as drawn by Fred Bell (presumably no relation), for Blue Bolt, Vol. 4, #3 (Oct. 1943). Courtesy of CBP. (Right:) The un-bylined cover of Target Comics, Vol. 5, #4 (Nov. 1944), mostly dispensed with new art and featured a photo of a War Bond. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

A Golden Age History Of Novelty Press

each published letter, they now would send ten 10¢ defense stamps instead. The editors also encouraged readers to include the ways they were contributing to the war effort in their letters of comment. And if all of that wasn’t enough, the issue’s back cover featured a letter from the Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau. If every boy and girl in America would buy at least one savings stamp a week, Morgenthau cajoled, they would “be lending your Uncle Sam two hundred million dollars every year. Think of all the guns, planes, and ships he could buy with that!” Target Comics, Vol. 5, #4 (Oct. ’44) went further, simply featuring a huge one-hundred-dollar war bond on the cover. The only caption: “Buy One of these Bonds TODAY!” It’s no secret that the federal government enlisted the cooperation of publishers at large in supporting such calls to action. That said, Novelty Press’s commitment to that end was more extensive than most. Nor was purchasing war bonds and stamps the only action pushed. The cover of Blue Bolt vol. 4, #3 (Oct. ’43) featured Edison Bell holding three unruly children as he stands by a sign that reads: “Leave your children at Edison Bell’s playground, a free service for Victory!” The interior “Edison Bell” story highlights the challenges faced by American mothers engaged in war work in finding day care for their kids. Edison’s female pal Pat suggests that, instead of building some new invention, he should build a playground for such kids. Soon actively engaged in child care, Edison is called a sissy by two local bullies. But Edison explains to the reader, “There isn’t a ‘sissy’ job connected with the war effort.”

drives, tending a Victory Garden, doing errands to help out adults otherwise engaged, and becoming junior air-raid wardens. In general, children were encouraged to join any of the many groups that supported such efforts. Even the summer provided no cause for slacking off, as the idea of doing summer farm work (farm laborers being in short supply) was lifted up in one “Kit Carter” story. There was also a broader educational push to foster patriotic attitudes. Target Comics began a six-issue feature “Stories of the United Nations” in 1943, detailing the war-related efforts of various allied countries. (The term “United Nations” was used by 1942 to refer to combined Allies, including the USA, UK, Soviet Union, and China; it was only after the war ended that it became the name of an international organization.) After that, the next five issues of Target Comics featured a serialized “true war” story, “18 Men and a Boat.” Over at Blue Bolt, another “true war” feature, “I Fly for Vengeance,” unfolded over four issues.

Fearless Fellers (And One Girl) In many ways, having comicbook characters actively support the war effort was just an extension of a broader desire to provide models of idealized boyhood behavior, as epitomized by the popular “Dick Cole” and “The Cadet” features. As such, Novelty Press’ adding a boy-gang feature to the mix was almost inevitable. Ray Gill and Henry Kiefer launched “Fearless Fellers” in Blue Bolt, Vol. 3, #9, in 1943. The “fellers” consisted of Chuck, the

On a lighter note, another installment of the craft-oriented feature had Ray Gill providing readers with detailed instructions for how to make a Bombing Tokyo game! As detailed by David Will, Novelty Press stories featured a variety of ways children could do their part. Actions portrayed in stories included collecting waste paper, helping with scrap

Al Plastino

“Models Of Boyhood”

Later one of the most noted “Superman” artists of the 1950s & ’60s.

Dick Cole takes on Axis leaders Hitler, Mussolini, & Tojo on Al Plastino’s cover for Blue Bolt, Vol. 4, #1 (June 1943)… and Kit Carter, The Cadet, sees action of his own on Joe Certa’s postwar cover of Target Comics, Vol. 8, #9 (aka #87, Nov. 1947). Thanks to Mark Carlson-Ghost. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Joe Certa

Blue Bolts & Wonder Boys

leader; Butch, the roughneck; Pudge, who’s overweight; and Inky, an African-American youth who speaks in unfortunate dialect. “Uh-oh!” Inky exclaims upon the gang getting caught in minor mischief, “we is sunk!” The unique twist was that Butch is actually a girl in boy’s clothing, and none of the other fellers know. She wanted to be part of the gang and was afraid the boys wouldn’t let her in as is. The deception grows more complicated in a subsequent story when the boys go to Butch’s house only to discover a girl named Betty living there instead. Thinking quickly, Betty claims to be Butch’s twin, which explains the close resemblance. She keeps up the disguise for over two years, some stories not even mentioning the fact. But in Blue Bolt, Vol. 5, #8, when a curious set of circumstances force Butch to dress in drag (as a girl!), his/her deception is uncovered. To Butch’s considerable relief, the boys prove supportive. “Any guy who can fight like that belongs in the club, even if he’s a girl,” Pudge exclaims. Inky goes one step further. “I vote we make Butch president of the Fearless Fellers Club!” By this time, Inky no longer talked in demeaning dialect. Progress was evident. If only the colorist had stopped coloring his lips in stereotypical fashion even though the line art no longer called for it.

New Blood At Novelty In 1944, Robert D. Wheeler replaced Stanley Beaman as editor of Novelty Press. As with his predecessors, little is known about Wheeler. A 1940 news story described him as an assistant sales manager at Curtis Publishing in Philadelphia, married, with a six-year daughter Barbara and a three-year-old son, Robert Jr. That he was mentioned at all was because he had rescued his son from his crib even as the roof above them burned. A good deal more is known about Mel Cummin, whose name began appearing as art director in the indicia at the same time as Wheeler’s. It’s likely he actually started some time earlier, as Jerry Bails’ “Who’s Who” has him working there in 1943. Melville “Mel” Cummin was born in 1895. A talented cartoonist and nature artist, Cummin created upscale paper dolls and cutout scenarios throughout the ’20s for the women’s magazine McCall’s. Some of these series of cutouts featured the families of early American presidents; others realistically rendered residents and buildings of imaginary villages. Cummin also did illustrations for the original humorous version of Life, as well as drawing two comic strips, Traveling in the Land of Trumble-Tree (1920-21) and Good Time Guy (1927-28). But Cummin was probably best known for the aforementioned illustrations that accompanied Arthur Brisbane’s editorials.

Henry C. Kiefer Prolific Golden Age comics artist. Thanks to David Saunders & pulpartists.com.

“Fearless Fellers” (Above:) Splash panel of the “Our Gang”/“Little Rascals”-inspired “Fearless Fellers” feature from Blue Bolt, Vol. 4, 31 (June 1943). The roughneck called Butch is seen at the right in the panel. Script by Ray Gill; art by Henry C. Kiefer. (Right:) In Blue Bolt V5#8 (May ’45), Butch was revealed to actually be a girl in disguise—and she was immediately admitted to membership. (Little Lulu would be proud.) In addition, note that Inky does not speak in stereotypical “black dialect” in either of these stories. Script by Ray Gill. Art in this one by Joe Donahoe. Courtesy of MCG. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Over time, Cummin’s profile seems to have shrunk a bit. A naturalist at heart, he introduced a new feature for newspapers in 1937 called Back to Nature, in which he illustrated various flora and fauna to accompany informative text. And throughout the ’40s, Cummin was also a leading member of the Explorers Club, an influential group whose mission was to advance the cause of scientific exploration of all kinds. Cummin’s success as an illustrator, commitment to elevating science, and experience providing craftoriented material for children all likely

A Golden Age History Of Novelty Press

made him attractive to Curtis Publishing for what they had in mind for their comicbook line. The new editorial team promptly introduced a new tool with which to educate and otherwise influence juvenile readers, boasting on covers: “Added Feature. Q’s and A’s. Look, Laugh, Learn.”

Mel Cummin

These bottom-of-the-page messages (beneath the artwork on each page) were the promised questions and answers. One asked, “What is the boiling point of water in degrees Fahrenheit?” The answer was on the adjoining page, upside down to minimize cheating. “Is Herbert Hoover Director of the F.B.I.?” another queried.

An unidentified editor boasted, “4Most always tries to bring you something new and better. Have you ever seen anything like this Q’s and A’s in any other comic books?” Readers were encouraged to write to let Novelty Press know whether the questions were proving too easy or too hard.

Mel Cummin (above center) and his “Dan’l Flannel” cover for Target Comics, Vol. 7, #1 (March 1946). The feature inside was one of a number of comicbook imitations of Al Capp’s popular newspaper strip Li’l Abner. Cummin also became art director of Novelty Comics in the mid-1940s, . [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

4Most Is 4-Warned! Although Novelty’s title 4Most isn’t mentioned till fairly late in the article, its Vol. 1, #1, issue appeared with the cover date “Winter 1942.” The comicbook was created as a showcase for its “four foremost” features—two each from Blue Bolt and Target Comics. However, 30 of its interior 64 pages were given over to a single story—an extended origin and adventure of “Dick Cole – Wonder Boy” with art by Bob Davis; scripter unknown. Thanks to the GCD & CBP. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Blue Bolts & Wonder Boys

Sid Greene

Apparently, the only photo of the artist on the Internet (or anywhere else Ye Editor has seen) is this one taken by comics fan John Fahey during a trip to DC’s offices in early 1965. It first appeared in Alter Ego [Vol. 1] #9, later that year. Roy T. sure wishes he knew the whereabouts today of John Fahey so he could thank him personally for all the use that he (and a lot of other folks) have got out of this one pic—which originally also depicted DC editor Julius Schwartz.

to be feathered. The same Dan’l Flannel whose feature replaced Spacehawk’s. Fans of Wolverton’s art might well have considered it poetic justice. As it turned out, there apparently were still some of them around. When Wolverton braved an inquiry about any further work at Novelty Press in 1944, Wheeler reiterated that the company was still turning away from fantastic material. But he reassured Wolverton “that the fellow who made Spacehawk has not been forgotten at Novelty Press, nor by many of our readers.” He offered a sliver of hope that after the war, there was a possibility that fantastic features might find a home in a comicbook devoted to such heroes (Sadowski, vol. 2, p. 61). Wheeler wasn’t just blowing smoke. After the war, Novelty Press would indeed introduce comicbooks devoted to single genres. Unfortunately for Wolverton, the fantastic wouldn’t be one of them.

Novelty Press Wartime Circulation Blue Targets A curious anomaly in 4Most #1 is the “Target and the Targeteers” story— which is the only one in which the three crime-fighters wear costumes identical down to and including color. The chainmail effect is also unique. Was this story perhaps written as one of the very first stories and then shelved, before someone at Novelty had the notion to use a different primary color for each of the heroes’ outfits? Art by Sid Greene; scripter unknown. Thanks to Jim Kealy. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Sometimes the questions related to action taking place in the actual stories. When The Targeteers are swimming towards a Japanese ship, its commander orders, “Man the portholes! Cut them down with rifle fire!” The question at the bottom of the page is: “What do you call the portholes on the starboard side of a ship?” The upside-down answer was, wait for it, “portholes.” To be fair, the questions and answers weren’t usually quite that dumb. Mixed in with the questions and answers were rhyming patriotic messages: “All the tin that you can save/Will dig the Jap a deeper grave,” one read. Still another admonished: “Don’t play hooky. It isn’t fair/Our boys don’t do it over there.” There is evidence to suggest that Mel Cummin may have been more actively involved in the production of actual content than earlier staffers at Novelty Press. What is known is that Cummin drew a cover for Target Comics, Vol. 7, #1 (March ’46). The cover illustration portrays Dan’l Flannel being tarred and soon

While the quality of content in Target Comics, Blue Bolt, and 4Most largely suffered during the war, the same could not be said of their sales. The paid circulation of Blue Bolt rose from 200,409 in 1942 to 319,000 in 1943 and to 398,000 in 1944. Sales were roughly the same (circa 400,000) the following year. The same trajectory could be seen with Target Comics: sales of 180,150 in 1942, 282,500 in 1943, 394,657 in 1944, with the same leveling off in 1945. These were solid if not spectacular wartime sales figures. It can be argued that nearly any comicbook sold decently during the war. But it also appears there was a niche market for lower key, more realistic adventure stories. Or perhaps these were comicbooks that parents who actively supervised the comicbooks their children were reading approved of. In any case, it was clear there was no incentive for the powers-that-be at Novelty Press to ask for a change in direction. That sense of stasis, even stagnation, would begin to change with the end of the war. As Robert Wheeler had hinted, Novelty Press embarked on a plan for having each of their titles be more singular in content rather than the smorgasbord of genres as had been typical in the past. In a striking change in editorial policy, Novelty Press signed off on the creation of a detective comicbook. What was even more unusual for them, they approved of the presence of an attractive female detective as well.

Crime Comes To Novelty Press While the content of Young King Cole Detective Stories was downright cautious compared to Lev Gleason’s Crime Does Not Pay, it still reflected a shift towards more colorful, action-oriented fare. A rather docile-looking fellow with glasses, Young King Cole is nonetheless an excellent athlete, adept at gymnastics, boxing, and judo. Kingston Cole, Sr., Young King’s father, leaves a detective

A Golden Age History Of Novelty Press

agency he’d established in his son’s hands upon his graduation from college. As such, our hero inherits an already assembled and highly competent team of operatives. The team includes Ursus Graham, the agency’s muscle, “Whip” Steele, the sophisticated older hand, and Iris Norland, the beautiful and cool-headed female member of the team. Dick Cole also showed up on occasion to assist his older cousin. Given that Jim Wilcox was now drawing both features, the crossover was not surprising. An older artist, now 50, Wilcox had provided illustrations for pulp magazines before breaking into comics. Young King Cole’s recurring foes are the Spade Gang, who up their criminal activity with the departure of his father. Each member wears a blue hood with his “number” displayed above the eyeholes and spade insignias where his ears would be. Only the lovely queen wears no hood, but she does seek vengeance on Ursus Graham for killing “Four,” her brother. The hooded Joker, initially unseen, directs the gang’s operations. In a unique twist, she turns out to be a middle-aged woman. Also appearing in Young King Cole was Toni Gayle. Drawn by a moonlighting Wayne Boring as “Jack Harmon,” Toni is a globe-trotting model and the daughter of a police detective named Greg Gayle. While Toni is clever enough to get out of most of the trouble she finds herself in, she can also rely on Biff Muggson, her bodyguard from Brooklyn, for some muscle when needed. The story goes that Biff was once arrested by the senior Gayle, but is now reformed and loyal to the family. Toni faces off against some challenging foes, the first being The Ape, a brutish jewel thief with simian-like features. His attempt to kill Toni’s father is what prompts her interest in crime-busting.

Other adversaries include Big Bertha, “the world’s strongest woman,” and Professor Scorpio, a master hypnotist. Boring also began drawing the adventures of “Blue Bolt, the American.” In the accompanying letters pages, female readers sang the praises of Toni Gayle, finally having the female hero they’d been promised years before. “Besides Toni being wonderful crime-fighter, she is very beautiful,” one such reader wrote. Another encouraged her to wear beautiful dresses more often. Other detective features in the new title were Dr. Doom, a pipe-smoking professor and “wily master of criminology,” and Dr. Drew. Whisper Drew is a veterinary specialist and amateur detective, known by the public as “the Zoo Man,” given his special interest in animal-related mysteries For the most part, the second generation of Funnies, Inc., creators were not around to enjoy the loosened restrictions to acceptable content. Some, like George Mandel—given events during the war—would never draw for comics again. Others like Mickey Spillane tried to do as many stories as they could while on leave, but once the war was over had other plans. In 1945, Ray Gill and Mickey Spillane unsuccessfully attempted to set up their own art shop operation. Relatedly, they encouraged Ray’s younger brother Joe to get into comicbooks after his release from the military. It wasn’t long before Joe was writing stories for Jacquet’s studio. While most of these were for Timely, Joe Gill did do some “Edison Bell” stories. Ultimately, he would end up writing for nearly every Charlton comic published in the 1950s and 1960s. It was likely sometime after Ray Gill and Mickey Spillane’s failed venture that Ray left his secure if often unrewarding role at Funnies, Inc., to work for the Archie line of comicbooks. It may have

…A Merry Young Soul! Young King Cole attempted to piggyback on the ongoing popularity of the “Dick Cole” feature by making the youthful detective a cousin of the long-running cadet hero. His adventures were considerably less hardboiled than the cover of Vol. 1, #1 (Fall 1945) by artist Jim Wilcox, who also penciled the main story, suggested. Thanks to the GCD & CBP. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Blue Bolts & Wonder Boys

that was owned by The Saturday Evening Post.”

Wayne Boring A vintage photo colorized for Eclipse’s Famous Cartoonists cards back in the 1980s.

Just which animation studio that was isn’t clear. The likely candidate would seem to be Terrytoons, which was based nearby in New Rochelle. That theory is supported by the fact that Al Fago’s brother, Vince, a funny-animal cartoonist and editor of Timely Comics for two-plus years during World War II, was producing Terrytoon comicbooks for publisher Martin Goodman. Al had even drawn some of the Terrytoon characters there. That said, I haven’t discovered any reference to The Saturday Evening Post having a financial interest in Paul Terry’s operation or any animation company, for that matter. A mystery, at least for now.

The lead feature of Frisky Fables was Al Fago’s own creation, “Neddy the Bear.” When Neddy’s mother finishes telling her son a fairy tale in the feature’s first installment, Neddy replies, “What sentiment, what pathos, what bunk!” His mother suggests he might try to be a bit more like the

Howling In A Gayle The first issue of Young King Cole also contained the exploits of model-turneddetective Toni Gayle, as penciled by early “Superman” ghost artist Wayne Boring and scripted by Robert Plate. Courtesy of the CBP. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

been Al Fagaly who helped Gill get a job writing the red-haired teen sensation. Fagaly and Archie editor Al Shorten were already friends and collaborators. The two had launched the syndicated comic strip There Oughta Be a Law in 1944, with Shorten as writer and Fagaly as artist. By 1946 both Gill and Fagaly were central to the ever-expanding Archie franchise. Gill became its head writer, according to his brother, while Fagaly drew many of the character’s stories and covers. As Novelty Press continued to expand their lineup, it would be without the help of many of Funnies, Inc.’s, most reliable talents.

Al Fago’s Funny Business Under Robert Wheeler’s watch, Novelty Press set out to create different tiers of material for juveniles of different ages. For its youngest readers they ordered up a funny-animal comicbook, a genre in which Funnies, Inc., had no experience. Al Fago (not to be confused with the above-mentioned Al Fagaly!) was brought in from the outside to see to the creation of the new title, Frisky Fables. In 1945 Al Fago was just beginning to work in comicbooks. In an Alter Ego interview with Jim Amash, Blanche Fago recalled how her husband had previously “worked for an animation studio

No, Not That Dr. Doom! The “Dr. Doom” feature was introduced in Young King Cole, Vol. 1, #2 (Nov. 1945), though no writing or drawing credits are known. Thanks to the CBP. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

A Golden Age History Of Novelty Press

Nowhere near as successful as Frisky Fables, Humdinger only lasted eight issues. But Fago would remain in his new quasi-editorial role through 1947. He would later go on to draw “Atomic Mouse” and other humorous features for Charlton Comics and, along with his brother, run a comicbook company, however briefly.

Post-War Adventuring With two comicbooks geared towards younger readers, Blue Bolt and Target Comics once again began to more singularly focus on stories of adventure. Released from military duty, Blue Bolt (his civilian name was never resurrected) becomes a reporter for Glimpses magazine, with Snap Doodle as his new pal and photographer. Blue Bolt also gains a friendly rival and romantic interest, Marge, an attractive strawberry blonde reporter working for Global Picture Syndicate.

Al Fago

1950s photo, courtesy of wife Blanche Fago.

As for The Target and The Targeteers, the trio return home and briefly work for the government as special operatives, enjoying a few globe-spanning missions. Then, released by military intelligence, the three men form The Targeteers’ Trouble-Shooting Agency to serve the public and also make ends meet. Niles remains

Frisky, Yes—Risky, No! Al Fago’s cover for Novelty’s funny-animal title Frisky Fables, Vol. 2, #4 (a.k.a. #7, July 1946). Courtesy of Mark Carlson-Ghost. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

heroes in those stories. But she also warns him not to venture into the dangerous Black Forest. If ever Neddy is tempted, he is to exclaim. “Get behind thee, Satan!” Needless to say, Neddy doesn’t follow Mom’s advice and soon regularly encounters fairy-tale figures in the woods. No further references to Satan are made. Other Fago features in Frisky Fables included “Icicle Ike,” a penguin in New York City attempting to beat the heat, and “Johnny and Woof,” the adventures of a cartoonist and his dog. Fago also utilized work by an art shop named Jason Comic Art or JCA. By 1946, Al Fago was listed in the indicia of all of Novelty Press’ comicbooks, variously designated as an art editor or art consultant. The role of Funnies, Inc., as the exclusive producer of content was over. In his new role Fago also oversaw the introduction of a second new humor title. Cover-dated June 1946. Humdinger promoted “Spec, Spot, and Sis” to lead-feature status and introduced a new character named Mickey Starlight. In stories clearly intended to educate as well as entertain, the Hermit of the Woods tells Mickey a new tale of Greek mythology every issue. In addition to joke and game pages, later issues of Humdinger featured “Vic and Ventura in Vacationland.” Their neighbor, a brilliant scientist named Mr. Quiett, took the siblings out on rides on his “secret helicopter,” which was actually a time machine.

It’s A Real Humdinger! Novelty’s Humdinger title featured various genres, as seen by this “Jack Harmon” (Wayne Boring) cover for Vol. 2, #1 (a.k.a. #17, May-June 1947). Courtesy of Mark Carlson-Ghost. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Blue Bolts & Wonder Boys

their leader, the men sharing a friendly banter throughout. They also resume wearing their costumes until the end of their recorded adventures in 1949. Two new adventure features were also introduced, “Gary Stark” and “Rick Richards.” Gary Stark is a handsome brown-haired fellow in his late teens who first appears in Target Comics, Vol. 7, #3 (May ’46), the opening installment of an ongoing serial. Employed as merchant seamen, Gary and his older mentor, Bob Carter, travel around the world in Terry and the Pirates-style adventures. In that spirit, beautiful women naturally abounded—in itself a significant shift in Novelty Press fare. There’s Panama Condon, a shapely adventurer with a French accent who often finds herself in peril. Lady Jade is a mysterious figure whom thieves seem to fear, a strawberry blonde who talks tough and smokes a cigarette. Zale Storm is a beautiful, dark-haired diamond smuggler. Written and drawn by Don Rico, Stark’s chief adversary is Arnold Komar, “a suave, charming novelist, with one eye on Panama and the other on her wealth.” As for Rick Richards, he’s the least super-heroy new super-heroic imaginable. Debuting in Blue Bolt, Vol. 7, #8 (Jan. ’47), Richards is described as a “daring young industrialist,” the head of World-Wide

Postwar Pummeling After the war, Blue Bolt became a reporter for Glimpses magazine (perhaps a standin for the popular Life?)—while The Target and the Targeteers bounced back and forth between working in and out of costume, as per these splashes from Target Comics, Vol. 9 #1 (March 1948), and Vol. 9, #3 (May ’48). “Blue Bolt” art by Gus Ricca; “Target” art in V9#3 by Ken Battefield; writers and other artists unidentified. Thanks to Jim Kealy and Comic Book Plus. [© the respective trademark & copyright holders; Blue Bolt name is now a TM of Roy & Dann Thomas.]

A Golden Age History Of Novelty Press

Checking In On Lloyd Jacquet In 1946, after three years in the military, Lloyd Jacquet returned to New York to find his art shop producing a smaller percentage of Novelty Press’ content. All the factors contributing to this aren’t clear. It may be that his wife Grace, while apparently more than competent in many ways, was unable to maintain a kind of boys’ club rapport with Novelty Press that her husband seems to have fostered. All of those lunches he attended may have been accomplishing something after all.

Adventure, Thy Name Is Novelty! The relatively mundane exploits of Gary Stark and Rick Richards didn’t always take place in jungles, but they did in Target Comics, Vol. 8, #10 (a.k.a. #88, Dec. 1947) and Blue Bolt Vol. 7, #9 (Feb. ’47). As drawn respectively by Don Rico and Wayne Boring. Scripters unknown. Courtesy of CBP and Mark CarlsonGhost. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Industries. “Rick takes advantage of his strange physical quirk, result of an old wound—his body floods with adrenal power whenever he hears a loud noise.” An injury sustained during the war gives, Richards’ adrenal spurts that allow him to bend iron bars or tear apart thick ropes. Blond-haired, he favors suits over some outlandish costume. Exploring his various financial holdings often brings Richards into contact with criminal schemes. He appears to act from the can-do premise that prosperity, scientific advances, and social equality can co-exist and indeed nurture each other. In one story, for example, he spearheads an effort to build pre-fab housing for the poor and butts up against a violent slum lord. Like Gary Stark, Richards remains a fixture until the end of Blue Bolt’s Novelty Press run. The writer behind his stories remains unknown, though his sentiments would likely appeal to art director Mel Cummin. Wayne Boring drew his earliest adventures.

After this, Jacquet’s name largely disappears from oral accounts of the comicbook industry. Luckily for this history, Jacquet’s name can be found in a popular newspaper feature in The New York Daily News called “The Inquiring Fotographer.” Its creator, Jimmy Jemail, would solicit interesting discussion questions from readers and then ask a small group of contributors to provide their response to it. The “fotographer” part of the title was because Jemail would always include a photograph of the folks offering up their thoughts. Jacquet was one of the column’s occasional contributors.

“The Temptations Are Mostly In The City” Lloyd Jacquet’s photo appeared with some comments and opinions in a newspaper column in 1947. Courtesy of Mark Carlson-Ghost. [© the respective copyright holders.]

The two available columns with Jacquet’s thoughts offer some valuable insights into his belief system. As will be seen, it was very much in sync with that of the editors of Novelty Press. In an August 5th column in 1947, Jacquet gives his profession as “engineer” but his address as “W. 45th St.”—the location of Funnies, Inc. The question on that occasion, given the long shadow cast by Rosie the Riveter and her real-life sisters, was: “Do women need protection today?” Jacquet’s answer was no. “Women are well able to take care of themselves,” he opined, “particularly in great emergencies. That was well-demonstrated in Europe during the past war by the underground forces, and in this country by the manner in which women pitched in

Blue Bolts & Wonder Boys

and took the places of men in service.” The accompanying photo displayed a thoughtful Jacquet, sporting a jaunty-patterned bowtie. In a January 18th, 1948, installment of the feature, Jacquet addressed the question “Do you agree with Oscar Wilde that ‘Anyone can live in the country: there are no temptations there’?” “Yes,” Jacquet argued. “The temptations are mostly in the city. In rural life the people are so close to nature that the emphasis is on things that are ethical and law-abiding. Country folks are much closer to the Creator and show it in their way of life.” Jacquet’s reply is reminiscent of his counsel to George Mandel, seemingly ensnared by some of those big city temptations. Identifying his profession as publisher on this occasion, he notes his residence as Lake Luzerne, a picturesque community in upstate New York, hours away from Manhattan. As if often the case, these scattered facts, lacking in context, raise more questions than they settle. What is known is that the influence of Jacquet on the goings on at Novelty Press were clearly waning. And the arrival of one L.B. Cole only sped up the process.

Enter L.B. Cole One of the interesting aspects of the post-War Novelty Press comicbooks was their look. While the quality of their artwork was still variable, the comic pages looked particularly clean, clear of clutter. “The printing in this magazine is large and clear,” the editors boasted in a letters page, adding that all Novelty Press comicbooks “have large, clear, easy-to-read type. There are fewer words and fewer pictures in these magazines than in many others, but they are easy on the eyes. Do you vote for that?” By “fewer pictures” it appears the piece meant fewer panels, now never more than six. The woman behind the lettering of this post-War era was the wife of L.B. Cole. Utilizing the Ames tool for lettering, Cole bragged that his wife Ellen “became one of the top three letterers in the industry. Everybody wanted her to work for them….” (Boatner, A-59). It appears Ellen Cole began working for Novelty Press around 1945. According to her husband, she was influential in getting him freelance work for them in 1948. It doesn’t appear that Cole worked through Jacquet’s shop. Cole’s influence was immediate and significant. He began

Carrying Cole To New Castles (Left to right:) One-time comicbook letterer Ellen Cole (years later, in the mid-1970s)— husband Lester (“L.B.”) Cole in 1944—and L.B.’s cover for Dick Cole, Vol. 1, #3 (May 1949), which showed his mastery of the drawing of animals, along with his strong design sense. Dick Cole was a belated attempt by Novelty (now sporting a “Curtis Publishing” sigil) to devote an entire comic to its most popular character ever, but the solo title lasted only six issues. Cover courtesy of CBP. [Cover TM & © the respective trademark & copyright owners.]

providing colorful and visually striking covers at precisely the time several new and significant changes were happening in the company’s line of titles. It’s easy to wonder if Cole may even have influenced them, even though Wheeler and Cummin are still listed as the editorial powers in charge. The first change was that Dick Cole was finally awarded his own comicbook. Given his popularity, it was a logical choice. The Cadet took over his cover spot at 4Most. The more sedate-sounding Young King Cole Detective Cases became Criminals on the Run, a shift in title unimaginable even two years before. The contents remained largely the same as before, though now a true-crime story was added to the mix. The editors attempted to reassure the reader, and perhaps his/her parents, that the change was only made so that “people who have never read this magazine can look at the title and get a better idea of the kind of stories inside….” Criminals would never be glorified. It was “criminals on the run,” they declared. Whatever their claims, the publisher clearly desired to capitalize on the success of Crime Does Not Pay. A second crime title was added, Guns against Gangsters. The popular “Toni Gayle” feature was moved to the new book, as well as stories devoted to Toni’s father, Gregory Gayle, now known as “Gunmaster.” As his name suggested, Gayle was an excellent shot and an expert on firearms in general. In the launch of that new title, the editors continued to sound defensive.

A Golden Age History Of Novelty Press

Novelty Press Closes Up Shop Despite the effort of editors to thread the needle of how their crime stories were more wholesome than others, the shift in focus came at a bad time. The significant increase in crimeoriented titles on newsstands prompted a new wave of public criticism. In late 1940s, it was concern over the violence of crime comicbooks that fueled the uproar. The other reality was that post-War sales numbers were nowhere near as good as they had been. Average paid sales for Novelty Press titles in 1948 were just under 200,000, a marked decrease.

Crime Comes To Curtis—Big-Time! L.B. Cole provided the cover art for Novelty’s Criminals on the Run, Vol. 4, #1 (Sept. 1948) and Guns against Gangsters, Vol. 1, #1 (Sept.-Oct. ’48). Criminals on the Run itself had evolved just one issue earlier from Young King Cole. Thanks to CBP. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright owners.]

“Read about the Gunmaster’s perils and escapes. Learn about guns—and how they are used in the fight against crime. It’s guns against gangsters, you know—guns in the right hands—guns used only at the right time.”

Increasing controversy over the contents of comicbooks and diminishing financial returns made the decision to abandon ship a relatively easy one. The final issues of the Novelty Press’ remaining comicbooks were cover-dated September or October 1949.

In the final issue of Novelty Press’ Blue Bolt, the editors voiced their uplifting thoughts as usual, discussing the questions of “What makes Americans such ‘all-around’ people?” and “What makes

In the meantime, Toni Gayle proved popular enough with readers that editors decided to add her to the 4Most anthology of Novelty Press’ top features. In addition to doing nearly all of the company’s covers, Cole also began drawing her stories there. The parent company of Curtis now signed off on including a prominent triangle in the upper right-hand corner of every cover stating “Curtis Distributed.” It wasn’t just parents that Novelty Press worried about. It was also what comicbooks newsstands would be willing to include in already overcrowded comic sections. Novelty Press also began to have a distinctive strip run along the left side of their covers to identify the comicbook as theirs when stacked back-to-back. All of these changes have the earmarks of L.B. Cole’s savvy marketing instincts. How many were actually his ideas remains unclear, only that they closely coincided with his arrival.

When The Novelty Wears Off The covers of the final issues of 4Most (Vol. 8, #5, a.k.a. #36, Sept.-Oct. ’49) and Blue Bolt (Vol. 10, #2, a.k.a. #101, Sept.-Oct. ’49). The first is the work of L.B. Cole, the latter of Jim Wilcox. The final Target Comics cover appeared way back on p. 3. Courtesy of the GCD. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Blue Bolts & Wonder Boys

America such a great country?” There were no promises of striving to make the comicbooks better, only a tepid comment that “we hope you find Blue Bolt as interesting as the previous issues.” Among the accompanying letters was one from a newsstand worker noting that “we are more than proud to sell this fine magazine to our customers.” And a young woman remarked on the excellence of the features: “So please continue publishing your swell comic. This means so much to me….” There were none of the usual friendly editorial replies. The promise of a dollar for each published letter, still present just two months before, was nowhere to be found. A few months before their impending closure, Curtis Publishing put out word that they were interested in auctioning off their titles and inventory of stories to the highest bidder. On the table was a treasure trove of finished art and printing plates from 1940 on. Two buyers did indeed step forward. Blue Bolt came out as usual two months later, right on schedule, as did 4Most and several others. But the letters pages were gone. Long-time readers must have been bewildered, if they found their favorites at all. The comicbook titles that remained had a new distributor. Curtis had no interest in distributing comicbooks it no longer produced. And those readers who did manage to find their old favorites were likely surprised by what they found.

Bolt, Dick Cole, Criminals on the Run, Frisky Fables, and 4 Most Boys (the title of the latter was now written out as a number plus two words in the indicia on the inside front cover—and the title was also spelled Foremost Boys, smaller above the main logo) all continued to appear and on schedule. Given the new reliance on old content, the arrangement with Lloyd Jacquet’s art shop was severed. There would be no more work for Jim Wilcox on “Dick Cole,” Nina Albright on “The Cadet,” Al McWilliams on “Young King Cole,” or for any number of other creators. On the positive side of the ledger, L.B. Cole could produce covers even more evocative than before, covers only possible because Novelty Press approval was no longer needed in advance. The transition managed to be both efficient in production and haphazard in execution. Blue Bolt now featured reprinted adventures of Blue Bolt, The Target, Spacehawk, and The Chameleon. The “Blue Bolt” stories appeared without any regard to continuity. Readers might read a story of the hero in his civilian garb as a reporter, only to find in the following issue the classic Simon & Kirby version doing battle with the Green Sorceress. 4 Most Boys included a mix of Edison Bell, The Cadet, Fearless Fellers, and White Rider reruns. Sergeant Spook joined Young King Cole in Criminals on the Run. Things rarely stayed the same for long at the new company. After just two issues, Criminals on the Run became Crime Fighting Detective, which not long after that became Shock Detective Cases. White Rider and Super Horse graduated to their own title for all of three issues. Multiply such seemingly random developments a dozen times over and you have a sense of life at Star Publications. With the romance and horror genres, however, Cole couldn’t rely on already published stories and was forced to pay free-lancers for work. For horror titles like Blue Bolt Weird Tales of Terror, Ghostly Weird Stories, Spook Suspense and Mystery, and Terrors of the Jungle, Cole relied heavily on Jay Disbrow’s quirky artwork to create the horror mood he was looking for. For Spook, showing no shame, Cole used decidedly non-horrific “Sergeant Spook” stories as filler. It wasn’t long before Cole was running old reprints of characters and stories published by Victor Fox.

The Birth Of Star Publications As L.B. Cole told the story: Upon learning of the Novelty Press auction, he showed up only to find another interested party there, an old friend named Jerome “Jerry” Kramer. Kramer, a business law professor at New York University, was known primarily for having written a well-respected tax guide. Now he was looking to get into publishing, and a comicbook company seemed just the ticket. Rather than seeing themselves in competition, thus upping the ultimate purchase price, the two men decided to bid as a team. Together they bought everything that Novelty Press had to offer for the then not insignificant price of $12,000. But Cole would later estimate the value of the company’s inventory at closer to $150,000. The 30-year-old Cole became the editor and creative talent behind the new publishing venture, which was christened Star Publications. Cole and Kramer hit the ground running, not missing a beat. They did need to secure a new distributor, making arrangements with Kable News. The new publishers kept most of Novelty Press’ line-up intact, though no longer featured new stories of its trademark characters. Blue

Oddly enough, there was one Star comicbook that included new stories of an established Novelty Press character. The lead feature of School-Day Romances was Toni Gayle—not the amateur detective readers were familiar with, but a younger teen version of the character attending the Venus School of Modeling. Her somewhat bumbling suitor attended the Apollo School of Drama. His name? Butch Dykeman!

For Most Boys—And Maybe For A Few Girls, Too? 4 Most Boys #39 (March 1950) featured yet another cover by Cole—this one illustrating the feature which inside was titled “White Rider and Super Horse.” Courtesy of the GCD. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

As if that rather queer choice of name wasn’t quite enough, Toni’s last name was changed to Gay with the third issue. With issue #5, the title of the comicbook itself was changed to Popular Teen-Agers.

A Golden Age History Of Novelty Press

“Blue Ain’t The Word For The Way That I Feel…” The Star Blue Bolt began with reprints of Novelty features behind new Cole covers— but soon switched to new horror material and even a partial name change (but just on the covers). Seen on this page are issues #104 (March-April 1950), #105 (AprilMay 1950—yes, the “April” appears in two issues in a row), #110 (Aug. 1951), and #112 (Feb. 1952). For the final five issues (#120124), the title was finally changed to Ghostly Weird Stories. Courtesy of the GCD. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders; Blue Bolt name is now a TM of Roy & Dann Thomas.]

Blue Bolts & Wonder Boys

“Star” Stands For “Startling”! New horror stories drawn by L.B. Cole, Jay Disbrow, and others lay behind Cole’s covers for Star Publications’ Startling Terror Tales #13 (Dec. 1952) and Shocking Mystery Cases #53 (March 1953). Thanks to Mark Carlson-Ghost. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Teen-Age Stars Popular Teen-Agers #5 (Sept. 1950; with “Popular” shortened to just “Pop” on the cover, for some strange reason) boasted an L.B. Cole cover—and such features as “Tony Gay” (by an unknown artist) and “Ginger Bunn” drawn by Manny Stallman. Writers unidentified. Courtesy of the GCD & Mark Carlson-Ghost. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

A Golden Age History Of Novelty Press

Its unlikely many readers in 1950 picked up on this mischief perpetrated by an unknown writer and artist Norman Nodel. Michael T. Gilbert deserves kudos for showcasing a “Toni and Butch” story in his Mr. Monster’s Super Duper Special way back in 1987. There were seven with Butch Dykeman in all. It’s fun to imagine that Novelty Press’ Butch, the pre-teen girl who dressed as a boy in “Fearless Fellers,” has finally reclaimed her male identity. Adopting the new surname of Dykeman would have been just the thing to express his/her newfound freedom. Star comicbooks continued to appear and disappear with alarming regularity. While Novelty Press only published a total of nine different titles in its ten years of existence, Star Publications published over 40 different titles in just five.

As for the stories of the star players in this saga, many are well covered elsewhere. L.B. Cole, with his penchant for producing visually iconic covers, became the toast of a generation of comicbook collectors. As already noted, George Mandel and Mickey Spillane found success in writing novels. Ray Gill’s journey was considerably more circuitous. Gill left Archie Publications in 1951 after laboring in anonymity as its head writer (or at the very least one of them) for seven years. Gill wanted a byline, and bossman Harry Shorten turned him down. Upping the ante, Gill went on strike, demanding a raise. Shorten showed him the door. His replacement was the exceptionally talented Frank Doyle. There’s one last intriguing turn in Gill’s career. After leaving Archie Publications, he tried his hand at publishing, entering into a partnership with Stanley Morse in 1952. Reaching out to Basil Wolverton, Gill solicited what would turn out to be some of the artist’s last work for comicbooks.

The Rest Of The Story Star Publications issued comicbooks until November 1954, the impending Comics Code Authority taking the wind out of its sails as it had of so many other enterprises. Cole recalled how the death of his partner, Jerry Kramer, and his widow’s disinterest in continuing with comicbooks put an end to Star Publications. Even then, the Novelty Press material managed a second, even more fleeting and scrambled afterlife. Cole mentioned in a 1995 interview that, after Star went out of business, its inventory was purchased by an unnamed person. The purchaser was Israel Waldman, a publisher more willing even than Cole to slap together material.

Wolverton responded with marvelous creativity, crafting compellingly strange stories that appeared in Weird Tales of the Future, Weird Mysteries, and Mr. Mystery. But, strapped for cash due to disappointing sales, Gill had a hard time paying Wolverton for work rendered. Wolverton finally had it, largely leaving the industry for good save for scattered work for Mad magazine and a few other publications.

It was likely Waldman who was behind a group of comicbooks put out by “Accepted Publications” in 1958. Ten out twelve of these were reprints of either Novelty Press or Star comic books, utilizing the original covers and titles of the originals. Those twelve titles accounted for a meagre output of 25 individual issues.

After the collapse of his publishing venture, Ray Gill left comicbooks as well, devoting himself to creating watercolor paintings, junk sculpture, and theatrical pieces for community theatre. “Ray was multitalented,” his brother Joe recalled fondly, “but he diluted his time between all his talents” (Gill interview, pp. 5-6). Lloyd Jacquet, for his part, slowly faded into relative obscurity. He continued to provide some content for Fawcett and Classics Illustrated into the 1950s. Jacquet’s interest in the technical aspects of broadcasting remained strong, the rise of television proving to be of special interest. And a passion for the works of Jules Verne continued unabated. Lloyd’s gentle wife Grace died in 1961. Her husband followed in 1970. Seventy years of age; no one could say it wasn’t a good run.

Waldman is definitely behind I.W. or Super Comics, an even more scattershot set of comicbooks that reprinted content from over thirty publishers in 1958 and again in 1963 and 1964. This time the comicbooks were given new titles and cover art. Fewer than a dozen contained old Novelty Press content, including Top Detective Comics, Master Detective, Danger, and Daring Adventures. And then there was nothing for decades. Well-produced reprint collections finally became available of some of this material by Wolverton, Everett, and Kirby. One devoted to the work of poor Bob Davis will likely never come. Readers interested in perusing the original comicbooks are best served by websites like digitalcomicmuseum. com or ComicBookPlus.com that specialize in content from the 1940s and 1950s that is in the public domain. So that’s it, the history of Novelty Press.

Mel Cummin seems to have taken the end of Novelty Press and his position there in stride. He remained active in the Explorers’ Club for the rest of his life. In 1956, he accompanied an expedition to the Canadian Arctic to produce illustrations of the ice formations there, an artist to the end.

Super! Israel Waldman’s Super Comics line reprinted material from Novelty’s crime comics such as “Young King Cole” in Master Detective #17 (no date), behind a new cover by Ross Andru & Mike Esposito. Despite the cover blurb, “Dr. Drew, the Zoo Man” doesn’t appear in the mag. Thanks to Mark CarlsonGhost. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

As for Curtis Publishing, their brief ten-year foray into comicbooks was easily forgotten. The Saturday Evening Post continued to be an American mainstay until even the paintings of Norman Rockwell couldn’t engage a new and increasingly restless

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generation. It ceased publication in 1969, seeing periodic revivals thereafter. Nothing, though, that ever quite recaptured its old glory. Ladies’ Home Journal was sold off in 1968, surviving in other hands until 2016. Jack and Jill continues to this day. Novelty Press’ legacy, if any, may be this: the practice of cultivating loyalty in readers by welcoming their input. Bill Gaines over at EC exercised that principle to considerable success in the early 1950s through a combination of vivid content and active letter columns. And in the ’60s, Stan Lee and Marvel Comics carefully fostered a level of reader engagement that has never been duplicated before or since. Novelty Press may have been a bolt out of the blue, but its overriding lesson is clear. Treating your audience with respect never goes out of style.

Two For The Road Although “Dick Cole” was indisputably the most popular feature ever originated by the Novelty group, today’s fans of superhero action look far more favorably on the Simon & Kirby “Blue Bolt” stories, such as this final one from Blue Bolt, Vol. 1, #10 (March 1941)—or even on a Ken Battefield entry such as the “Target” tale from Target Comics, Vol. 7, #12 (Feb. 1947). Scripters unknown, alas. Thanks to Jim Kealy & Mark Carlson-Ghost, respectively. [© the respective trademark & copyright holders; Blue Bolt name is now a TM of Roy & Dann Thomas.]

References: Amash, Jim (2006). The Joe Gill interview. Charlton Spotlight, #5, pp. 2-25. Amash, Jim (2007). “We’ll Just Get It Done.” Blanche Fago on her comicbook career with the Fago brothers & Charlton Comics. Alter Ego #66, pp. 73-78. Amash, Jim (2008). “Simon Says!” Joe Simon on the comicbook biz, Jack Kirby, and a few other things. Alter Ego #76, pp. 5-52. Amash, Jim (2011). “I Come from a Very Primitive Background” An all-encompassing interview with Golden Age artist & 1950s novelist George Mandel. Alter Ego #103, pp. 29-47. Boatner, E. B. (1981). “L.B. Cole: The Man behind the Mask (and Captain Aero and Catman and… )” Robert M. Overstreet’s Comic Book Price Guide 1981-1982, pp. A-55-72. Fagaly, Al (2022). “Al Fagaly. Atlas Tales.” Retrieved from www.atlastales.comics/cr/271.

Saunders, David (2022). Lloyd Jacquet (1899-1970). Field Guide to Wild American Pulp Artists. Retrieved from pulpartists.com. Simon, Joe with Jim Simon (1990). The Comic Book Makers. New York: Crestwood Publications. Thomas, Roy (2001). “Comics Were Great!” A colorful conversation with Mickey Spillane. Alter Ego [Vol. 3] #11, pp. 33-41. Thomas, Roy (2005). “Everett on Everett.” Alter Ego #46, pp. 5-35. (reprinted from Alter Ego [Vol. 1] #11, 1978). “Up the Hill” (1948). Time, 11-8-1948. Retrieved from www. time.com/time/magazine. Wilt, David E. (2016). “Everyone Can Help, Young or Old, Large or Small: Novelty Press Mobilizes Its Readers.” The 10¢ War: Comic Books, Propaganda and World War II. Trischa Goodnow and James J. Kimble, eds., pp. 183-200. Jackson, MI: University Press of Mississippi. Wolverton, Basil (2012). Spacehawk. Seattle: Fantagraphics Books.

Moore, Scotty (1995). “L.B. Cole: Artist, Author, & Publisher.” Comic Book Marketplace #30, pp. 26-34.

Mark Carlson-Ghost is a popular-culture historian when not teaching psychology at the graduate level. Visit his eclectic website markcarlson-ghost.com. He lives in Minnesota with his husband and the indomitable Jake the cat.

Sadowski, Greg (2014). Death from Neptune: The Life and Comics of Basil Wolverton, Volume One-1909-1941. Seattle: Fantagraphics Books. Sadowski, Greg (2019). Brain Bats of Venus: The Life and Comics of Basil Wolverton, Volume Two-1942-1952. Seattle: Fantagraphics Books.

Mark Carlson-Ghost

From “Shame” To “Sham”— And Back Again!

Harvey Romance Comics— Before & After The Comics Code

by John Benson f the many little-known oddball byways to be found in the newsstand comics of the 1950s, the Harvey romance line after the implementation of the Comics Code Authority stands out.

When the Code was created at the end of 1954 and the comics industry suffered a collapse, the Harvey brothers continued their romance titles, but turned to a policy of reprints. (The reduced costs of this policy offset the presumably smaller Code-era circulation.) The changes that were made to the stories to sanitize the line sometimes produced bizarre results. To understand why these changes were so strange, it’s helpful to know the mechanics of the reprinting process. The Harveys had saved both the original art and the printing plates; thus, reprinting, even with the necessary Code changes, was very economical. Changes were made right on the original art, and new black plates were made. But the original color plates were reused, which meant that all the labor-intensive and costly stages of coloring a comic could be eliminated, from doing the mechanical separations to making new plates. Reusing the same color plates, however, imposed some significant limitations. The Harvey 32-page comics were printed as a single signature on giant web presses. For each color there were eight flats made up of four pages each, each flat resulting in a plate. (This is logical when you realize that these presses were designed to print Sunday newspaper comics: Four comics pages are equivalent to a full newspaper page.) So there were a total of 32 plates per issue, eight for each of the three colors, plus eight for black. At a certain point Harvey comics developed a standard format of five-page stories, so that ad pages came together on the same plates. This was originally done so that a block of ad pages could be prepared once and then used for different titles coming out at the same time, since ads were sold on a “block” basis for multiple titles. Flats 1, 2, and 8 were reserved for the following items: ads, texts, one-page comics stories or features, and the first page of the comic, which was used for a contents page. Flat 1 consisted of pages 1, 16, 17, and 32; flat 2 consisted of pages 2, 15, 18, and 31; and flat 8 consisted of pages 8, 9, 24, and 25. What’s left are five flats that, collectively, represent pages 3-7, 10-14, 19-23, and 26-30. The four five-page stories of the issue were spread over these remaining five four-page flats. Significantly, each flat contains pages from all four of the stories in the issue. Although originally designed to make it easy to put blocks of ads in different titles, this format worked out very well when it came to reprinting the comics with the same plates. New flats and plates could be made up for flats 1, 2, and 8, with new ads; they could even run more ads than before, by replacing the one-page features with ads. The remaining flats containing the five-page stories could remain unchanged, using the original color plates. But this process imposed two significant limitations: First, since the four stories were spread out over the remaining plates, it was only possible to reprint complete issues. This meant that, if they had an issue with

“You Must Remember This… A Kiss Is Just A Kiss…” But the post-1954 Comics Code had a far different idea of what a proper kiss was than the Harvey Comics editors and artists had had a few years earlier! Even when some of the interior contents of pre- and postCode issues might be basically the same stories, new covers were called for, in order to protect the (young) public’s morals. (Top:) Now that’s a smooch, from the cover of Hi-School Romance #24 (Dec. 1953)! (Above:) A light touch of the lips kept Code administrators Judge Murphy and/or Mrs. Guy Percy Trulock happy on that of Hi-School Romance #52 (June ’56). Both covers by Al Avison. Thanks to the Grand Comics Database. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

From “Shame” To “Sham”—And Back Again!

three mild stories and one that required lots of changes, they either had to drop the issue entirely or make the necessary major changes to the offending story. Since Harvey eventually published nearly as many Code-era reprint issues as pre-Code ones, there was pressure to reuse as many issues as possible. Consequently, some stories that were unsuited to reprinting under the Code, and which would never have been reprinted if the folks at Harvey could have picked and chosen individual stories, underwent some bizarre changes to satisfy the Code. The second limitation that using the same color plates imposed was perhaps even more significant, and was responsible for some of the more amusing changes. The changes were made right on the original art, and new black plates were made as necessary. But these changes had to match the existing color plates. Actually, in some of the earlier Code issues, Harvey ignored this problem. Realizing that the Code only saw the black-&-white corrections, they left the color plates unchanged. The resulting mismatch between the new drawings and the old color sometimes produced strange results. Either the Code caught up with this, or, more likely, the Harveys decided it looked too unprofessional, so in most issues various techniques were employed so that the changed black-&-white images were in conformity with the color plates. For example, solid black could be added to the art, covering up the area where the original color would now be inappropriate. This was the easiest solution, since it required no change to the color plates. Another possibility was to make a new, different drawing that would fit the existing color, and this resulted in some ingenious changes. Finally, if necessary, color could be removed by routing (gouging) out portions of the plates. When all else failed, a completely new drawing could be substituted for the offending panel and that panel routed out completely on all the color plates, leaving a black-&white panel. But what could not be done was adding or changing the color on the existing plates. Earlier Harvey issues were not laid out in the standard five-page-story format described above, which caused problems when reprinting with the same plates. For example, First Love Illustrated #84 was reprinted from Hi-School Romance #8, an early issue with the contents page on the inside cover and the first story starting on interior page 1. For the reprint, page 1 became a new combination of contents listing on the top third of the page, and the bottom part of the page a summary of the first two pages of the first story. Page 2 was an ad. Thus the first story was condensed by 1 1/3 pages.

Another story, a three-pager, ended on page 15, a page on the ad flat. The solution here was just to drop the last page of the story and replace it with an ad, leaving the heroine right in the middle of an embarrassing moment, with no explanation. Nearly all the Harvey Code-era romance stories have changes. This is in marked contrast to the Code-era St. John Publishing romance comics, which were also all reprints but which had virtually no Code changes at all. Of course, St. John only issued about twenty Code-era issues, so they could choose their mildest stories for reprinting. Still, there are so many changes in the Harvey comics that I wondered if they weren’t simply changing things in advance of sending the books to the Code to save time. Artist/writer Ken Selig confirms that they did indeed make changes before the Code reviewed the books. But Selig says that this was at the direction of Leon Harvey, who had decided, after the outcry and general bad publicity comics had received at the time, that the Harvey comics must henceforth be “tasteful” and completely innocuous. Selig started with Harvey Publications in 1954, just as the Code was starting up, and was the one who made the changes on the Code issues, reducing the size of “the busts on the good ladies” and making a host of other changes. Selig personally thought that the horror comics were terrible and the romance comics were far too sexy and blatant, and so he needed no encouragement to make the books innocuous. According to Selig and Sid Jacobson, Joe Simon was “editor” of the Harvey romance books during the Code era, so it was presumably Simon who rewrote the captions and balloons, or at least oversaw

“Goodbye, Cruel World—I’m Off To Join The Circus!” The angry acrobat on the cover of True Love Problems and Advice Illustrated #20 (March 1953—artist unknown) looks like he might do some serious damage to his two-timing girlfriend and her paramour—but when that story was reprinted and a new cover done for issue #41 (Sept. ’56), the Harvey folks got Jack Kirby to draw a far more light-hearted one. And this from the artist who, along with then-partner Joe Simon, had invented love comics! Thanks to the GCD. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Harvey Romance Comics—Before & After The Comics Code

only on the black plate or it would have been impossible to reprint these stories with the original color plates! Since the Harvey romance comics were modified in advance, it’s hard to determine how many of the changes in the books would actually have been imposed by the Code, though there is no question that many changes would have been required. Some changes were so routine and common that they occurred hundreds of times. First among these was the raising of necklines, usually just by adding black, as though every dress and blouse had a black strip of cloth at the top. Also common was the lengthening of hemlines. Skimpy bathing suits and underwear were made more modest. Breasts were routinely made smaller. The color from the breast’s original contour was often covered up with black, but sometimes remained visible beyond the new body-line. “Surfin’ Safari” Another change less noticeable Another pre-Code steamy kiss in the nighttime shadows, this one on the cover of First Romance Magazine #23 (Aug. without comparison to the original 1953)—and the post-Code issue #40 (June ’56), in which our young lovers go frolicking in the surf instead. Artists was in kissing scenes. Hugging unidentified. Thanks to the GCD. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.] arms were sometimes eliminated. A kiss was often subtly redrawn so that process. The routing of the color plates when necessary was that it could be interpreted as a kiss on the cheek. done at Chemical Engraving, which handled the color separations for the comics. Communication between the Harvey office and One thing that’s fascinating is the ingenuity often employed in Chemical did not seem good, with frequent routing errors on the changing the story titles. Of course, the original title could just be part of Chemical. removed from the plates and replaced with a new, black-and-white one, and that was sometimes done. But often the Harvey gremlins The Harvey pre-Code romance comics started out fairly staid would strive to retain as much of the original title lettering as but became more daring, both in story and visuals, as the run went possible, sometimes changing the meaning by changing only one on. Cynical scheming was common, such as playing up to a guy or two letters. for material gain or to ruin someone’s reputation, or playing one guy against another. The plots became franker and often featured Accompanying this article (on the following four pages) are violence, including implied or actual battery against the heroines, a few examples of changes made in the Code-era to the Harvey and the strong suggestion of real sex. Even worse, the heroines romance stories. We’ll run more in future issues of Alter Ego, were likely to experience uncontrollable passion. This shift to including examples of entirely new stories written to fit the existing franker material was intentional. The opening editorial of True Love pictures. Don’t miss “Unholy Passion” turned into “Puppy Love”! Problems and Advice Illustrated #24 (Nov. 1953) stated, “Love Problems has adopted a daringly new policy on stories and artwork [with] Thanks to Sid Jacobson and Ken Selig for responding to my questions themes that no other magazine has ever dared to print—forbidden regarding the Harvey Code process. yet true subjects long considered taboo.” Stories had titles like John Benson has written about comics since 1956, in many venues, “Raw Passion,” “Runaway Passion,” “Prisoner of Passion,” “Slave and has edited several comics anthologies for Fantagraphics, including The of Passion,” “I Couldn’t Resist Him,” “I Was Reckless,” “Out of Sincerest Form of Parody and Confessions, Control,” and “Surrender to Shame.” Romances, Secrets, and Temptations: The visuals became more racy as well, not only in terms of the Archer St. John and the St. John Romance women’s figures and clothing, but in the depiction of torrid kissing, Comics. In 1966 he put on the second the couples sometimes stretched out on a couch or a beach. The two-day comics convention ever held. His captions in some stories were hot: “When we lowered the lights, I interviews with pioneering cartoonists such couldn’t say no to him, and his kisses were like wildfire–inflaming as Harvey Kurtzman, Gil Kane, and Bernard my blood—satisfying my hunger—even as they aroused me all the Krigstein are legendary. Since 1974 he has also more.” “Don pulled me close to him—his eager lips demanding been the editor of Squa Tront, the respected mine—his eager desire overwhelming both of us.” Kisses “blazed long-running magazine about beyond control,” “spread a flame through my body,” were EC comics and their creators. “something wild, almost frightening,” “a strange thrill... leaving me weak and confused,” and causing “a fierce and consuming John Benson passion that was out of control.” It was fortunate that the text was

From “Shame” To “Sham”—And Back Again!

Baby, It’s CODE Outside! John Benson compares and contrasts pre- and post-Code versions of the same Harvey Comics romance stories—from before and after the Comics Code’s implementation at the turn of 1955. True Love Problems And Advice Illustrated #20 (March 1953) & #41 (Sept. 1956) No adjustment was too small in the story titled “A Game of Hearts”! Note that, in addition to the changes to the girls in the foreground (including removal of butt shadows), the four tiny figures barely visible in the monochrome color background have all been made more modest! Writer & artist unknown. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

First Romance Magazine #23 (Aug. 1953) & #40 (June 1956) The artist obviously was aiming to change the panel so that no change to the color plates would be needed, by completely covering the existing figures with a silhouette. But, apparently due to miscommunication, the color was removed from the panel anyway. The story was titled “I Sacrificed Happiness.” Writer & artist unidentified. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Harvey Romance Comics—Before & After The Comics Code

Hi-School Romance #24 (Dec. 1953) & #52 (June 1956) (Above:) The poor fellow in the second panel in each of the couplets above isn’t the only one to have to kiss a big black space in the Code-approved issues, but it happens twice in this story (the earlier incident isn’t shown here). In the original version of the story called “One Night of Danger,” the lady had put a stop to a necking session, and Mike had been “working out his aroused but unsatisfied passions” by speeding. The scene shown here occurs right after they had hit a pedestrian and sped away. In the Code version, the “passions” are unmentioned, but the hit-and-run incident remains, and a kiss wouldn’t be considered proper at such a time. Art by John Sink; writer unknown. It may not be visible in the reproduction here, but in the comic the girl is still a barely visible phantom because the color plates remain unchanged. The result puts one in mind of the “subliminal perception” techniques, supposedly used in advertising, that were in the news in the 1950s. Note the original text (“He kissed me viciously...I was too frightened to resist”), and that in the first panel of the later version his hands are no longer on her shoulder and waist.) [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

True Love Problems And Advice Illustrated #29 (Sept. 1954) & Romance Stories Of True Love #45 (May 1957) (Above:) A dramatic way to change the splash without making new color plates. The third panel is like one of those “Spot the Difference” puzzles in newspapers. It’s difficult to see the changes even with a magnifying glass because of the poor printing, but here’s our list: to the left the boy about to hit the boy in bed with a stick has been deleted; in the center a boy holding another boy in a head-lock is now reading a book; the man to the right with a bottle and with his head in his hands is now sitting upright, sans drink (albeit with the color from the girl’s skirt showing through his head); his overall straps have been removed (though they still remain in the blue plate); the lathing is no longer showing through the plaster; the window is not broken; and—of course—the girl’s neckline has been raised. Art by Ray Bailey; writer unknown. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

From “Shame” To “Sham”—And Back Again!

True Love Problems And Advice Illustrated #15 (May 1952) & #35 (Sept. 1955) (Above:) “Phantom Lover,” indeed! The boyfriend has totally vanished in the Code version of the story. Kissing on the neck was apparently verboten. Note that the blue has been eliminated from the disappearing man’s jacket shoulder and the remaining red and yellow from the original image now makes an odd pattern on her dress. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

First Romance Magazine #23 (Dec. 1953) & #40 (June 1956) What’s really strange here is that the fellow’s USO arm patch has been blacked out. This splash presents a scene that occurs later in the story, and the fellow is in the USO and his patch is very visible in the latter scene in the Code version. In the original he was a potential lover; in the Code version he’s just a good friend. Note the extensive changes in the costumes in panel 3. And, of course, the title, “Double Desire” had to be changed rather creatively. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Harvey Romance Comics—Before & After The Comics Code

Hi-School Romance #24 (Dec. 1953) & #52 (June 1956) John Benson says the above couplet is one of his favorites. A big black tree in the Code version changes the meaning, although if you look closely you can still see the yellow “E” lurking in the shadows. The girl’s hemline has been lowered in the splash, and in panel 3 the breasts of the girl on the left have been flattened. Note also that the fellow’s nose has been removed in a not-too-successful attempt to indicate that the girl is merely kissing him on the cheek. Note that these kids are in “school” in the original printing, but in “college” in the Code version. In the original she goes with a rich fellow to spite a class enemy (in both meanings of the word “class”). They get married in secret, but each lives at home with their respective parents, because he’s scared to tell his parents and be cut off from his allowance. Finally, she becomes pregnant, they have to tell, and he is disowned by his parents. She looks to her future: a husband with no money and no skills and “a life of struggle tied to a weakling [I] never loved. I’ve had to leave school... our baby will be born—unwanted by his father and scorned by his paternal grandparents.” A bitter ending indeed, and unusual for a romance comic. Art by Bob Powell; writer unknown. In the Code version he doesn’t want to admit to their marriage because “he’s studying to be a doctor.” The couple is still rejected by his parents, but they live happily ever after (and no child in sight). In the first version, it’s all her fault, making “Shame” a cogent title. In the revision, the phony marriage is all that’s left, making “Sham” equally apt for that version. Incidentally, in case the reader had a sudden feeling of “déjà vu all over again”: Ye Editor utilized this same pair of panels sent by John B., with similar verbiage, in a letter sections back in A/E #138. That time, however, Roy accidentally ascribed the comics to St. John Publishing, when in fact they, like everything else in John’s article, were actually produced by Harvey Comics. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

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(Above:) Mad #4 (April 1953) featured Kurtzman and Wood’s classic “Superduperman!” story. [TM & © EC Publications, Inc.]

(Right:) Reese’s tribute to Wood’s Mad comicbook work, from the October 1971 issue of The National Lampoon, in which the newer publication gleefully skewered Mad magazine. [© National Lampoon or successors in interest.]

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!

ast issue, Ralph Reese discussed working with the great comicbook artist Wally Wood, and how Woody became something of a surrogate father figure for a troubled teenager. With Wood’s help, Reese cleaned up his act and began getting work at Tower, DC, and elsewhere. Now Reese leads us into the 1970s, as he talks about National Lampoon and Web of Horror, as well as Wood’s failed attempt to produce an adult comic for Warren Publications.

My Life With Wood… (Part 3) by Ralph Reese

National Lampoon & Web of Horror “Tomb Zero”

did a few pages for the Gothic Blimp Works, the comic supplement to the East Village Other [tabloid], which Kim Deitch was then putting together. Picked up a few small jobs

Ralph illustrated this stunning splash page, likely intended for Major’s Web of Horror #4. Unfortunately, the black-&-white comic was abruptly canceled with issue #3. Long believed to have been lost, the art was recently recovered. [© Ralph Reese.]

from Topps with Wood’s help. When Eye magazine called Wood looking for an underground cartoonist, he recommended me to Michael Gross, who was then art-directing there. So, between that and still helping Woody out here and there, I was managing to survive (although I had to eat a lot of cheese sandwiches!). I think that for a time there, Wood himself was not so busy and didn’t need too much help. For a while, things got so tight I had to drop out of the field and work as a bricklayer’s helper. Then one day I got a call from Web of Horror, a Creepy/Eerie knockoff edited by Terry Bisson, who later won the Hugo award for science-fiction. Wrightson, Kaluta, Brunner… a bunch of my contemporaries were also breaking in there. We were all pretty friendly and socialized every month at Jeff Jones’ place for the First Friday gatherings, informal open houses that Jeff was kind enough to host for all the up-and-comers in the comicbook biz where we could meet and network. A young Howard Chaykin was still driving cabs and looking for work, mingling with Roy Krenkel and

Fit For A “Misfit” Ralph Reese penciled Wood’s “The Misfits” series, which Wood wrote and inked. This page is from Heroes Inc. #1 (1969). [TM & © Estate of Wally Wood.]

It Must Be A Jam, ‘Cause Jelly Don’t Shake Like That Reese panel from a 1969 East Village Other jam page. [© Ralph Reese.]

My Life With Wood! (Part 3)

Gray Morrow there… etc…. etc…. I was beginning to get my own steady work, and so, for a while, most of my contact with Woody was just occasionally stopping by to visit and chat. Once Wood had married his second wife and moved to the house in Woodmere, he just worked out of the house for a while. I wound up moving into his studio on 74th street while continuing to work for Web every month and doing some SF and Topps work on the side.

Pow! It was during this period that he made a deal with James Warren to come out with a new comic, Pow!, to be drawn, written, and edited by him. A bunch of new characters were created and a first issue was put together, but the deal came apart and Wood grew to despise Warren. Fortunately, some of those ideas were able to be recirculated, and it was not long after that that Woody hooked up with the publisher of the Overseas Weekly newspapers, which were looking for some comic strips to supplement their other offerings, to be sold at Army bases around the world. For a few weeks I commuted out to the house on Long Island to pencil an origin story for “The Misfits,” which Wood wrote and inked. He also created “Earthman” and “Dragonella” for the same publisher. Although WW seemed happy, it was obvious that he and Marilyn’s three children were having difficulties getting used to each other. After some months of this, Wood wound up moving his studio to a small office space in a nearby town, and after a while the marriage fell apart. Marilyn expected to have a husband who would be finished with his work in the afternoon and spend weekends and evenings with her and the kids. This was not Woody’s nature. He was always working. [EDITOR’S NOTE: According to J. David Spurlock, Wood married Ms. Glass in mid-1970 and they were divorced sometime around mid-1972.]

All In The Family According to Reese, Wally Wood and second wife Marilyn Glass (and Marilyn’s three children) “were having difficulties getting used to each other.” They soon separated. [© the copyright owners.]

Evicted! During this period Wood created the Cannon, Sally Forth, and Shattuck strips and did them weekly, sharing the studio in Valley Stream with Jack Abel and Syd Shores, who were both then of middle age and living in the same area. I came and visited once or twice but was mostly doing my own work. Howard Chaykin had at that time taken over some assistant duties and was also penciling the Shattuck strip. At this point Web of Horror had folded, and I got a few other mystery jobs from Dick Giordano up at DC. I brought my samples up to Warren and he offered me some work for Eerie. I took the script and drew it up, staying up all night at the end to meet the deadline. Then I left my work in the cab I took to Warren’s office because I was so overtired. It was a disaster. Warren was not sympathetic. I got evicted from my little studio. I spent a week or two crashing on Wood’s couch at the Valley Stream studio. At that time, he seemed pretty cheerful and happily married, and was still not drinking much or at all. Things were going smoothly with the Overseas Weekly strips, and he was picking up an occasional inking job or Warren job now and then on the side. It was out there in Valley Stream that he met Nick Cuti, and Nick kind of became part of the Wood entourage.

“Pow!” Went The Woody Pow! was the name of the aborted title Wood put together for Warren Publications. Above are two cover mock-ups Woody did around 1971. Some of the material eventually wound up in Warren’s 1984 magazine. [© Estate of Wally Wood.]

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!

Movin’ On… After a bit I got another apartment and we did not see a lot of each other for a while. I got busy doing Skywald stuff and was beginning to get a job here and there from Marvel and DC. Gil Kane had contacted Wood about his helping him out with some science-fiction-oriented strip he was doing and WW sent me over there instead. I guess he liked what I did, because he recommended me to Marvel to ink some of his covers. I always enjoyed working over Gil’s pencils; his drawing was sound and I felt like I was able to add a little more solidity to it with shadows and blacks. [A/E EDITOR’S NOTE: Ralph inked the entirety of Gil’s pencils for Conan the Barbarian #17, which Kane considered superb work.] My old high school friend Larry Hama got out of the Army and was living in the neighborhood. I was happy to have him come over and work with me on whatever crossed my desk, and to introduce him to everyone I knew in the comic business. We kind of became partners for a while, with Larry penciling and me inking, and did some Marvel and a lot of National Lampoon stuff together when that magazine started to get rolling. From about the fourth issue on, I/we were regular contributors. Anytime they needed someone else’s style imitated they gave it to me, at least for a couple of years there. I knew that Wood had successfully imitated other cartoonists’ styles at Mad, and in a way I felt like I was carrying on his tradition. Around this time Wood had an abortive deal to do an adult humor comic, Pow! Larry helped me with a John Carter of Mars parody for it that was never published in that title.

A Subway Sandwich (Above:) “Last Train To Laurelhurst” was the original title when this story was done for Wood’s aborted 1971 Pow! project for Warren. Script by Nick Cuti, layouts by Wood here. It was later published as “Guess Who’s Squeezing Her Now?” in Warren’s 1984 #5 magazine (Feb. 1979). Striking art by Ernie Colón and Wally Wood. [© Warren Publications or successors in interest.]

“The End”—And Then Some! (Above:) “The End,” written and drawn by Wood, was another story originally intended for Warren’s Pow! Years later it finally saw print in Warren’s 1984 #1 (June 1978). Wood’s 12-page story was completely rewritten by Warren editor Bill Dubay and chopped up into two separate stories, including “Quick Cut.” Not surprisingly, Wood hated it. And with good reason! (© respectively Estate of Wally Wood & Warren Publications or successors in interest.)

My Life With Wood! (Part 3)

Drinking Again After a while, when Wood’s marriage went bad, he moved back to the city to a little place on the West Side. By this time my own career seemed to be going pretty well and I was no longer working for him. And our relationship had changed. I had grown up and become a man, and no longer quite held him in the awe that I did when I was sixteen. And, to be honest, there were some aspects of his personality that had begun to wear on me after many years of such close association. He did tend to go on and on about the same old things… how women had betrayed him, that sort of stuff. I still loved him, but we didn’t spend a lot of time together. He was kind of down after his second marriage failed. I think that is when he might have started drinking again. He did come over to my place one night when he was behind on a deadline, and I stayed up all night helping him get it done. Not that I was that much help—he could do ten pages in the time it took me to do one. Another time, my girlfriend and I had a date to meet him at a folk music concert down at the South Street Seaport, but when he showed up he decided he would rather go off drinking with my brother. I did not think that was a good sign. Although there were flashes of inspiration in Sally Forth, I think his work began to decline around this point. By dint of repetition, it became more and more formulaic, until, in the end, it became a caricature of itself. After a while Wood moved to the Flatbush area of Brooklyn. Larry Hama was also living in Brooklyn by that time, and Wood took him on as his assistant for a spell. Larry helped to write and draw the Cannon and Sally Forth strips, along with whatever else WW was picking up at the time. The Shattuck Western strip had by that time died. I did go out there once or twice, notably to take over inking on the two strips for a week when Wood’s mother died and he had to go back to Minnesota. By this time WW was drinking fairly heavily, although he was still getting his work done and didn’t seem in too bad shape. During this period, Alan Kupperberg also went through the Wood studio/school…

And One Must Ink! Reese inked Gil Kane’s pencils on this striking cover to Iron Man #46 (May 1972). [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

I decided to take some studio space with Neal Adams and Dick Giordano at their downtown office, and Larry came along. It seemed like it might be helpful to have a place outside of home to work and network, and Neal promised us that he would give us some work on the advertising storyboards and comps that were increasingly his main source of income. So we learned to do that kind of stuff and met a lot of interesting people hanging out at the old Continuity Associates. One of the new friends was Paul Kirchner, who had just graduated from Cooper Union and was starting out in the business. We introduced Paul to Woody and then he became Wood’s assistant for a while. WW was still living and working out of Brooklyn at that time, but we saw each other occasionally, mostly when he came into Manhattan and dropped by. Neal did not always treat him with the deference that perhaps he should have, and those visits became rare.

Chips Off The Old (Wood) Block Wood assistants (l. to r.) Ralph Reese, Larry Hama, and Paul Kirchner goofing it up at the old Continuity Studios.

By this time it was obvious that WW’s drinking habits were getting the better of him and he was starting to look bad and sometimes embarrass himself in public, which made those of us who cared for him cringe; but there was no stopping him from going his

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!

own way. I remember particularly one of Phil Seuling’s Comicons where he showed up wearing one shoe. Paul Kirchner, besides being a creative artist and a funny guy to have around, was also a bit of a gun fancier, and he awoke in WW a desire to start collecting and shooting firearms. Wayne Howard had already moved to Connecticut, where Paul came from, and was another gun collector. So eventually they both moved out of New York to the New Haven area. Wood had always had a strong interest in military stuff, and was very proud of having been a Merchant Marine and then a paratrooper, so he was already sympathetic to gun culture. Since Connecticut is the gun-manufacturing center of America, obtaining firearms there was relatively easy compared to the very strict limitations in New York. Next Issue: Ralph Reese concludes his fascinating memoir. Till next time…

The WHO’S WHO of American Comic Books 1928-1999 Online Edition Created by Jerry G. Bails

The Joe Simon/Jack Kirby splash panel from Novelty’s Blue Bolt, Vol. 1, #9 (Feb. 1941). Thanks to Jim Kealy. [© the respective copyright holders; Blue Bolt name TM Roy & Dann Thomas.]

FREE – online searchable database – FREE http://www.bailsprojects.com/whoswho.aspx – No password required

Mars And/Or Bust! (Above:) “Warmonger of Mars,” a parody of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Warlord of Mars series, may have been intended for Warren’s aborted Pow! Instead, it appeared in Warren’s Creepy #87 (March 1977). Wood scripted this, with finished art by Reese. [© The New Company.]

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In Memoriam

George Pérez (June 9, 1954 – May 6, 2022)

“He Was Respected And Loved By Fellow Professionals And Fans Alike” by Stephan A. Friedt

retty much all I ever expected out of comics was page rate. You could make money doing sketches at conventions, and that could supplement your income. But page rate, and some supplement, maybe, was all I ever expected. —George Pérez

George Pérez at work, juxtaposed with his cover for The Avengers #162 (Aug. 1977). Inks by Pablo Marcos. Courtesy of the Grand Comics Database. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

We lost George Pérez to complications of pancreatic cancer. George was born in the South Bronx, New York City, to Jorgé Guzman Pérez and Luz Maria Izquierdo, both of whom were from Caguas, Puerto Rico. They met while looking for jobs and settled in New Jersey. Both George and his little brother David (b. May 1955) wanted to be artists. George started drawing at the age of five. 1973 saw George’s first professional work, as Rich Buckler’s assistant. George’s first Marvel work was a two-page satire of Deathlok in a Buckler story in Astonishing Tales #25 (August 1974). George would soon pencil Bill Mantlo’s “Sons of the Tiger” series in Deadly Hands of Kung Fu magazine. He and Mantlo would co-create “White Tiger,” Marvel’s first Puerto Rican super-hero. George’s talent for “crowd shots” would come to everyone’s attention with his run starting on The Avengers #141. George was still drawing Avengers for Marvel when he was offered the New Teen Titans at DC. George had long wanted to try his hand at Justice League of America, and this would be the perfect transition. He would team with his oft-collaborator Marv Wolfman for DC’s 1985 50th-anniversary maxi-series event, Crisis on Infinite Earths. Crisis purportedly featured every single character DC owned. George was instrumental in the 1987 reboot of the Wonder Woman franchise. Writer Greg Potter spent several months working with editor Janice Race on new concepts for the character, before being joined by Pérez. Inspired by John Byrne’s and Frank Miller’s work on refashioning Superman and Batman, George came in as the plotter and penciler of the series. He would highlight Wonder Woman’s connection to the Greek gods and discard much of her history. Pérez worked with Potter and

In Memoriam

Len Wein in the beginning, but eventually took over the full scripting chores. Later, Mindy Newell joined Pérez as co-writer for nearly a year. National Public Radio’s notice of his death noted: “Pérez’s mid-’80s reboot of Wonder Woman returned the super-heroine to her Greek mythology origins. Patty Jenkins, who directed the Wonder Woman movies, has cited Pérez’s interpretation of the character as a major influence.” George would jump back and forth between DC and Marvel, as well as working for nearly every other super-hero publisher at some time, including Pacific Comics and CrossGen. He was respected and well-loved by fellow professionals and fans alike, often being requested back at popular conventions because of his great rapport with fans. His work will be remembered for many years to come.

DC Does It! Pérez’s covers for the first issues of his two greatest successes, both written by Marv Wolfman: New Teen Titans #1 (Aug. 1984) and the epoch-marking Crisis on Infinite Earths #1 (April ’85) with its gorgeous wraparound cover. Courtesy of the GCD. [TM & © DC Comics.]

In Memoriam

Everett Lee Peck

(Oct. 9, 1950 – June 14, 2022)

“I Was [Always] Interested In Animation” by Stephan A. Friedt

uch of Everett Lee Peck’s illustration work is pulled together in the Lambiek Comiclopedia entry on the Internet:

“After graduation he moved to New York City and made a living as an illustrator for prestigious magazines like The New

Everett Lee Peck working on The Real Ghostbusters in the late 1980s—and his cover for the Dark Horse comic Duckman #1 (Sept. 1990). Courtesy of the GCD. [Cover TM & © Estate of Everett Lee Peck.]

Yorker, Time, Rolling Stone and Hugh Hefner’s Playboy. He also designed ads for companies like Honda and Nike. “Peck was, perhaps, best known as writer, artist, and creator of a character named “Duckman,” created in 1988, who appeared in issues #22, 29, & 31 of Dark Horse Presents, followed in 1990 by a one-shot Duckman comicbook. The star was a disgruntled, lustful anthropomorphic duck private detective named Eric T. Duckman. He was assisted by his much brighter associate, Cornfed the piglet. Duckman rarely solved a case on his own. Peck depicted his characters as underdogs in a tough, bitter, and unsympathetic world.” (https://www.lambiek.net/artists/p/peck_everett.htm) From 1994-1996 Topps Comics published nine issues of two series, with some art from Everett, but most of it from Craig Yoe Studios, Jay Lynch, and Scott Shaw!, with scripts by Stefan Petrucha. Peck started in animation as a character designer/executive design consultant on the late-1980s hit The Real Ghostbusters, where he created most of the show’s imaginative ghosts. While working at Klasky-Csupo, he wrote for the classic Nickelodeon cartoon Rugrats. Klasky-Csupo animated his most famous work, Duckman, adapting the concept into a critically acclaimed adult animated sitcom for USA Network; it ran for four seasons, from 1994 to 1997. In an interview for Animation Insider in 2016, Peck said: “Ever since I can remember as a kid I was interested in animation. My biggest influence then was Disney and Warner Bros. But I also liked anything the Fleischer studio did, and the UPA stuff. I was also quite taken with other artists who were not necessarily animators but were illustrators who occasionally lent their style to animated projects… people like Heinrich Kley, Virgil Partch, and Ronald Searle. I was also knocked out by Mad magazine, especially guys like Jack Davis, Mort Drucker, and Don Martin. Also loved Ed Roth and Basil Wolverton. All these influences led me to a career in illustration and in turn, to animation.” Everett Lee Peck was respected by his fellow artists and animators.

One contribution: The character of “Click Rush,” mentioned on page 9, was created for the pulps by our friend Lester Dent, where he was also nicknamed “The Gadget Man.” I don’t know if Dent wrote the comicbook scripts. Maybe the talking toad Bufa knows. Mike W. Barr

Thanks for the added info, Mike. Ever since Mark first contributed a study of Rural Home and related minor comics companies from the late World War II years, we’ve looked forward to his next foray into comics history—and you’ll probably be glad to know that he’s got still another one in store for us just a few short issues from now!

The “re:” section of most A/E issues tends to be well-stocked with missives from a relatively small coterie of regulars, such as Mike W. every once in a while, and, more regularly, Joe Frank (as well as a few other folks who’ve signed in below). However, that’s mainly because they’re the ones who write—and the fact that they usually have interesting and insightful things to say doesn’t hurt any. Here are Joe’s latest observations: Dear Roy,

I suspected, based on the artists cover-listed, that #176, your Street & Smith issue, would be “educational.” That is, with lots of information I didn’t know. It sure was. I’m not up on pulp magazines, radio serials, and comics from the ’30s and ’40s. The only artist’s name I even vaguely recognized was Bob Powell (from his brief mid-’60s work on “Giant-Man,” the solo Torch, and Daredevil).

y sheer coincidence, this issue’s coverage of the Curtis/Novelty comics group of the 1940s by intrepid researcher Mark CarlsonGhost coincides with a letters section that deals with an earlier article by the same writer—a historical overview of pulp publisher Street & Smith’s comicbook line from the same era. Above is Shane Foley’s Down-Under depiction of the super-hero Alter Ego (whose adventures will soon be continued by Roy Thomas & Ron Harris in a sixth issue since 1986: How’s that for perseverance?), dynamically derived from Joe Simon’s cover figure from Novelty’s Blue Bolt #3 (Aug. 1940)… and courageously colored by Randy Sargent. [Alter Ego hero TM & © Roy & Dann Thomas; costume designed by Ron Harris.]

Now on to comments and critiques of Alter Ego #176, starting with a few cogent remarks from veteran comics scribe Mike W. Barr: Hi, Roy—

Mark Carlson-Ghost’s “What The Shadow Didn’t Know!” in A/E #176 was one of the most enjoyable articles you’ve run in a long time, due mostly to his clear style and the fact that the subject matter hasn’t been done to death.

Shadow Of A Doubt Bob Powell’s splash page for Shadow Comics, Vol. 7, #9 (a.k.a. #81, Dec. 1947), featured a villainous “Kilroy,” inspired by the cartoon drawing that had sprung up all over European battlefields during the latter days of World War II. Thanks to Jim Kealy. [TM & © Advance Magazine Publishers, Inc./The Condé Nast Publications.]

re:

Though, naturally, I’d heard of The Shadow, I only really knew of him from the parody in Mad #4 (still my favorite cover of all the comic-based issues) and, years later, the O’Neil/Kaluta run on that character. Short-lived but beautifully done. Still memorable. I recognized pretty much nothing about Street & Smith, so there were some surprises and laughs. For a shocker, how about a Red Skull in Doc Savage, seven years prior to the Timely arch-villain? Also was entertained by Supersnipe, The Boy with the Most Comic Books in America. Just a few years after super-heroes made it big, how amusing that owning “the most” would make readers envious. So, still wish fulfillment, not in super-powers but in acquisitions.

The Shadow/Detective #27 comparison was an eye-opener. Did DC know at the time? Did “Bob Kane” imagine that no one would notice so much overlap of then-recent vintage? Amusing to me that if Bill Finger was the one who swiped from the earlier story, Kane, in claiming it all, put himself in a position, for once, to totally get the blame. Certainly, he had enough guilt in swiping the glass bell jar and machinery component. True, it was just a starting point. They seem to have gotten more original as time went on. Then it was contrasts with the source material. The Shadow had guns; Batman, after a misfire or two, did not. The material was so far from my time, I can’t even send a correction. Joe Frank

In that case, Joe, we can thank you for your cogent comments, and move on someone who rarely drops us a line about a particular Alter Ego, but who sells each and every issue as it comes out at BudPlant.com: Hi Roy—

Hey, I love the latest A/E on Street & Smith. I am particularly fascinated by the inside story of publishers’ machinations, and it sure satisfied! I collect most of those books, so finding out the ins and outs has been wonderful. I especially like those Bob Powell Shadows, as I’m a big fan of Powell in general already.

Am glad to see “Crocodile Queen” get some coverage… that is my favorite strip in all the material in the early Doc Savage [comics]. Courtesy of your author, I find the artist’s style quaint but very appealing. And hey, a jungle girl who controls crocodiles, what’s not to like about that? Bud Plant

Frankly, Bud, you’re just about the first person (besides Mark Carlson-Ghost, of course) who’s ever even mentioned “Crocodile Queen” to us. And we agree that crocodiles should be controlled, whether by queens or bounty hunters. Meanwhile, just to show our appreciation for your appreciation, you’ll find another “Croc Queen” splash on this very page!

My old friend Jean-Marc Lofficier, with whom (along with his wife Randy) Dann and I used to have dinner most 1980s Sundays back in Los Angeles, now dwells in his native France, where, besides himself publishing comics with Randy, he’s a regular follower of (and occasional contributor to) Alter Ego. As might be expected, he could provide some information related to the Gallic aspects of Street & Smith’s foremost hero-creation, The Shadow: Hi Roy,

I just read the “Shadow” issue. Terrific job!! There are a couple of French connections to The Shadow that went unmentioned. One is, I understand that [Walter] Gibson did credit [Gaston Leroux’s novel] Phantom of the Opera as an influence.

More interestingly, while Gibson likely did not know of it, there was the French crime-fighter Judex, introduced in the silent

What A Croc! Since Bud Plant likes the series “Astron, Crocodile Queen,” we thought we’d serve up another splash page featuring that rapturous reptile-ruler… even though we’ve no idea from which issue of Doc Savage Comics it comes, or who the writer and artist were. Still, “A thing of beauty is a joy forever,” right? [TM & © Advance Magazine Publishers, Inc./The Condé Nast Publications.]

serials by Louis Feuillade as The Mysterious Shadow in 1916 as an answer to his critics who thought he had glorified super-villains with his Fantomas and Les Vampires.

Except for the scarf and the big nose, Judex was very much like The Shadow, so much so that when the Shadow [comic] strip was published in France, the syndicate retitled it Judex to take advantage of the better-known character. I devoted a page to this on my “Cool French Comics” website. Incidentally, “judex” is Latin for a “judge”--technically, a private citizen appointed in Roman law to hear and determine a case and corresponding most nearly to a modern referee or arbitrator appointed by the court... but let’s say “judge.” Jean-Marc Lofficier

And, thanks to you, old friend, our readers can peruse a montage of “Judex”/”Shadow”-related images on the very next page!

But, just in case somebody out there in A/E-Land imagined we were going to let an issue sail by without some rhapsodic remarks from 1960s-to-today comics fan Bernie Bubnis, here he is on #176’s “Comic Crypt” installment, iconic artist John Severin, and a day at the Marvel offices back during the Mad Men decade:

[correspondence, comments, & corrections]

Hi Roy,

A/E #176 is sure jogging my memory. I’m referring to Michael T. Gilbert’s “Comic Crypt” look at John Severin’s Cracked magazine career. As a kid, my father would take me to a store that sold comicbooks around the corner from his favorite bar (the Aero Tavern, Conklin Street, Farmingdale, NY). He would give me a five-dollar bill and leave me there to pick out the comics I wanted. I liked Disney and other comics like Archie and funny-animal comicbooks. I was six years old in 1954 and this day’s visit was like none before. EC’s Two-Fisted Tales #30 beckoned me to buy it. Begged me to buy it. Controlled my attention so much that I still remember that moment like it is happening now. I could not stop staring at it. Simply, I must have redrawn every panel in that issue hundreds of times. I sure did a lousy swipe job, but from that moment on, I wanted to draw like John Severin. I never could, but years later I got to meet John in person and it was not at the Aero Tavern.

One day I decided to visit the Marvel offices. I wanted to see Flo Steinberg and was disappointed when I arrived and she told me she was going to lunch. I headed for the elevator and intended to walk over to DC. When I entered the elevator, Flo and a gentleman entered behind me. Flo was always too sweet for words, and she graciously introduced me to John Severin. I don’t remember what I mumbled, but I mumbled a lot. I was so fan-struck I think John found it very amusing—or else he was afraid my head would actually explode. I have a clouded memory of that day. I think they bought me a cup of coffee (I never drink coffee, then or now) and sent me on my way. I really screwed up that day, with not even an autograph or a sketch to show for it. I do remember that John was very cordial and paid for my coffee. I did keep that cup for a number of years after. Oh, yeah… the Gilbert piece was perfect. Bernie Bubnis

Sounds like we jumped from “Comic Crypt” to Marcel Proust in one easy lesson, Bernie. But we’re always glad to hear more stories about Fabulous Flo Steinberg—and Long John Severin, for that matter. (Besides seeing Stan, he might have been visiting his kid sister Marie, who around that time came to work in Marvel’s production department. In fact, along with production manager Sol Brodsky, back then she pretty much was Marvel’s production department!)

Sniping At The Headliner In the “Supersnipe” story in Street & Smith’s Super-Magician Comics, Vol. 1, #11 (March 1943), the young hero reads about the star of the comic, none other than the real-life “Blackstone the Magician.” Art by George Marcoux; scripter unknown. Thanks to Mark Muller. [TM & © Advance Magazine Publishers, Inc./The Condé Nast Publications.]

A few fast clips before we sail away…

Dennis Mallonee writes, re an ID at the close of the obit/tribute to Steve Perrin on p. 67 of A/E #176: “I have no idea how this error could have happened, but David Berge is the Vice President of Heroic Publishing. He has nothing to do with Chaosium.”

Out Of The Shadows (Left:) French actor René Cresté was the first actor to play the title role in the film Judex (1917). (Right:) When The Shadow comic strip was reprinted in French, it was retitled Judex because Street & Smith’s noir hero was so similar to the earlier French one. This montage introduced one of those tales. Date uncertain. Courtesy of Jean-Marc Lofficier. [Original strip TM & © as The Shadow by Advance Magazine Publishers, Inc./The Condé Nast Publications.]

In addition, regular A/E contributor Will Murray sends us kudos on Mark Carlson-Ghost’s Street & Smith article, plus this piece of information: “On page 9, the “Talking Toad” artwork is by Jack Farr.” Yeah, it had looked like his work to us, too, well, but we weren’t sure so we went with the Grand Comics Database’s listing of “artist unknown.” Did he also do the cover of Army and Navy Comics on p. 15, and/or the “Sheriff Pete Rice” splash page on p. 11?

re:

In addition, we have one personal correction and update to make:

Soon after Alter Ego #181 was released, professional photographer Luigi Novi contacted both A/E and its TwoMorrows sister publication Back Issue to point out that one photo of Neal Adams that was used in both magazines (it appears on p. 21 of A/E #181) was taken by him, but that he wasn’t credited for it. This occurred, it seems, because the picture had been posted online without attribution when I searched for “Neal Adams photos.” Naturally, it is Alter Ego’s intention to give proper provenance for any and all artwork and photos used herein, and we regret the omission of Luigi Novi’s credit.

Have a comment, correction, or just plain carping to make about this mag? Drop a line, either by U.S. mail or through cyberspace to: Roy Thomas e-mail: roydann@ntinet.com 32 Bluebird Trail St. Matthews, SC 29135 Meanwhile, if you’re interested in joining a classical-style chat group about Alter Ego and related comics matters, try the discussion/chat group https://groups.io/g/Alter-Ego-Fans. If you have trouble getting on board, please e-mail moderator Chet Cox at mormonyoyoman.com and he’ll walk you through it! Also, you might get a kick out of The Roy Thomas Appreciation Board (not that you have to appreciate RT all that much to join) run by John Cimino on Facebook. It’s a one-stop-shopping source for whatever Ye Editor is up to these days. And nights. In addition, if any convention promoter or comic shop owner would like to inquire about booking Roy T. for a future event—or just for an interview, podcast, or such like—please contact the selfsame John Cimino at johnstretch@aol.com.

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THE BEST OF SIMON & KIRBY’S

MAINLINE COMICS

by JOE SIMON & JACK KIRBY Introduction by JOHN MORROW

In 1954, industry legends JOE SIMON and JACK KIRBY founded MAINLINE PUBLICATIONS to publish their own comics during that turbulent era in comics history. The four titles—BULLSEYE, FOXHOLE, POLICE TRAP, and IN LOVE—looked to build off their reputation as hit makers in the Western, War, Crime, and Romance genres, but the 1950s backlash against comics killed any chance at success, and Mainline closed its doors just two years later. For the first time, TwoMorrows Publishing is compiling the best of Simon & Kirby’s Mainline comics work, including all of the stories with S&K art, as well as key tales with contributions by MORT MESKIN and others. After the company’s dissolution, their partnership ended with Simon leaving comics for advertising, and Kirby taking unused Mainline concepts to both DC and Marvel. This collection bridges the gap between Simon & Kirby’s peak with their 1950s romance comics, and the lows that led to Kirby’s resurgence with CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN and the early MARVEL UNIVERSE. With loving art restoration by CHRIS FAMA, and an historical overview by JOHN MORROW to put it all into perspective, the BEST OF SIMON & KIRBY’S MAINLINE COMICS presents some of the final, and finest, work Joe and Jack ever produced. NOW SHIPPING! (256-page COLOR HARDCOVER) $49.95 • ISBN: 978-1-60549-118-9

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In the 1980s, writer STEVE GERBER was embroiled in a lawsuit against MARVEL COMICS over ownership of his creation HOWARD THE DUCK. To raise funds for legal fees, Gerber asked JACK KIRBY to contribute to a benefit comic titled DESTROYER DUCK. Without hesitation, Kirby (who was in his own dispute with Marvel at the time) donated his services for the first issue, and the duo took aim at their former employer in an outrageous five-issue run. With biting satire and guns blazing, Duke “Destroyer” Duck battled the thinly veiled Godcorp (whose infamous credo was “Grab it all! Own it all! Drain it all!”), its evil leader Ned Packer and the (literally) spineless Booster Cogburn, Medea (a parody of Daredevil’s Elektra), and more! Now, all five Gerber/Kirby issues are collected—but relettered and reproduced from JACK’S UNBRIDLED, UNINKED PENCIL ART! Also included are select examples of ALFREDO ALCALA’s unique inking style over Kirby on the original issues, Gerber’s script pages, an historical Introduction by MARK EVANIER (co-editor of the original 1980s issues), and an Afterword by BUZZ DIXON (who continued the series after Gerber)! Discover all the hidden jabs you missed when DESTROYER DUCK was first published, and experience page after page of Kirby’s raw pencil art! NOW SHIPPING! (128-page COLOR HARDCOVER) $31.95 • (Digital Edition) $13.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-117-2

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CINEMATIC SUPERHEROES OF THE SERIALS: 1941–1952 by CHRISTOPHER IRVING

Hold on tight as historian CHRISTOPHER IRVING explores the origins of the first on-screen superheroes and the comic creators and film-makers who brought them to life. CLIFFHANGER! touches on the early days of the film serial, to its explosion as a juvenile medium of the 1930s and ‘40s. See how the creation of characters like SUPERMAN, CAPTAIN AMERICA, SPY SMASHER, and CAPTAIN MARVEL dovetailed with the early film adaptations. Along the way, you’ll meet the stuntmen, directors (SPENCER BENNETT, WILLIAM WITNEY, producer SAM KATZMAN), comic book creators (SIEGEL & SHUSTER, SIMON & KIRBY, BOB KANE, C.C. BECK, FRANK FRAZETTA, WILL EISNER), and actors (BUSTER CRABBE, GEORGE REEVES, LORNA GRAY, KANE RICHMOND, KIRK ALYN, DAVE O’BRIEN) who brought them to the silver screen—and how that resonates with today’s cinematic superhero universe. NOW SHIPPING! (160-page COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95 • (Digital Edition) $15.99 • ISBN: 978-1-60549-119-6

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 #176

ALTER EGO #177

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BLACK HEROES IN U.S. COMICS! Awesome overview by BARRY PEARL, from Voodah to Black Panther and beyond! Interview with DR. WILLIAM FOSTER III (author of Looking for a Face Like Mine!), art/artifacts by BAKER, GRAHAM, McDUFFIE, COWAN, GREENE, HERRIMAN, JONES, ORMES, STELFREEZE, BARREAUX, STONER—plus FCA, MICHAEL T. GILBERT, and more! Edited by ROY THOMAS.

FCA [FAWCETT COLLECTORS OF AMERICA] issue—spearheaded by feisty and informative articles by Captain Marvel co-creator C.C. BECK—plus a fabulous feature on vintage cards created in Spain and starring The Marvel Family! In addition: DR. WILLIAM FOSTER III interview (conclusion)—MICHAEL T. GILBERT on the lost art of comicbook greats—the haunting of JOHN BROOME—and more! BECK cover!

Spotlighting the artists of ROY THOMAS’ 1980s DC series ALL-STAR SQUADRON! Interviews with artists ARVELL JONES, RICHARD HOWELL, and JERRY ORDWAY, conducted by RICHARD ARNDT! Plus, the Squadron’s FINAL SECRETS, including previously unpublished art, & covers for issues that never existed! With FCA, MICHAEL T. GILBERT, and a wraparound cover by ARVELL JONES!

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ALTER EGO #178

ALTER EGO #179

ALTER EGO #180

The Golden Age comics of major pulp magazine publisher STREET & SMITH (THE SHADOW, DOC SAVAGE, RED DRAGON, SUPERSNIPE) examined in loving detail by MARK CARLSON-GHOST! Art by BOB POWELL, HOWARD NOSTRAND, and others, ANTHONY TOLLIN on “The Shadow/Batman Connection”, FCA, MICHAEL T. GILBERT, JOHN BROOME, PETER NORMANTON, and more!

Celebration of veteran artist DON PERLIN, artist of WEREWOLF BY NIGHT, THE DEFENDERS, GHOST RIDER, MOON KNIGHT, 1950s horror, and just about every other adventure genre under the fourcolor sun! Plus Golden Age artist MARCIA SNYDER—Marvel’s early variant covers— Marvelmania club and fanzine—FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America), MICHAEL T. GILBERT on Cracked Mazagine, & more!

Golden Age great EMIL GERSHWIN, artist of Starman, Spy Smasher, and ACG horror—in a super-length special MR. MONSTER’S COMIC CRYPT by MICHAEL T. GILBERT—plus a Gershwin showcase in PETER NORMANTON’s From The Tomb— even a few tidbits about relatives GEORGE and IRA GERSHWIN to top it off! Also FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America), and other surprise features!

Celebrating the 61st Anniversary of FANTASTIC FOUR #1—’cause we kinda blew right past its 60th—plus a sagacious salute to STAN LEE’s 100th birthday, with never-before-seen highlights—and to FF #1 and #2 inker GEORGE KLEIN! Spotlight on Sub-Mariner in the Bowery in FF #4—plus sensational secrets behind FF #1 and #3! Also: FCA, MICHAEL T. GILBERT, a JACK KIRBY cover, and more!

THE YOUNG ALL-STARS—the late-1980s successor to ALL-STAR SQUADRON! Interviews with first artist BRIAN MURRAY and last artist LOU MANNA—surprising insights by writer/co-creator ROY THOMAS—plus a panorama of never-seen Young All-Stars artwork! All-new cover by BRIAN MURRAY! Plus FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America), MICHAEL T. GILBERT, and beyond!

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TwoMorrows. The Future of Comics History.

ALTER EGO #181

ALTER EGO #182

ALTER EGO #183

ALTER EGO #184

Special NEAL ADAMS ISSUE, featuring indepth interviews with Neal by HOWARD CHAYKIN, BRYAN STROUD, and RICHARD ARNDT. Also: a “lost” ADAMS BRAVE & THE BOLD COVER with Batman and Green Arrow, and unseen Adams art and artifacts. Plus FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America), MICHAEL T. GILBERT in Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt, and more! Edited by ROY THOMAS. (Plus: See BACK ISSUE #143!)

An FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America) special, behind a breathtaking JERRY ORDWAY cover! Features on Uncle Marvel and the Fawcett Family by P.C. HAMERLINCK, ACG artist KENNETH LANDAU (Commander Battle and The Atomic Sub), and writer LEE GOLDSMITH (Golden Age Green Lantern, Flash, and others). Plus Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt by MICHAEL T. GILBERT, and more!

Golden/Silver/Bronze Age artist IRV NOVICK (Shield, Steel Sterling, Batman, The Flash, and DC war stories) is immortalized by JOHN COATES and DEWEY CASSELL. Interviews with Irv and family members, tributes by DENNY O’NEIL, MARK EVANIER, and PAUL LEVITZ, Irv’s involvement with painter ROY LICHTENSTEIN (who used Novick’s work in his paintings), Mr. Monster, FCA, and more!

Known as one of the finest inkers in comics history, the late TOM PALMER was also an accomplished penciler and painter, as you’ll see in an-depth interview with Palmer by ALEX GRAND and JIM THOMPSON. Learn his approach to, and thoughts on, working with NEAL ADAMS, GENE COLAN, JOHN BUSCEMA, and others who helped define the Marvel Universe. Plus Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt, FCA, and more!

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CAPTAIN MIDNIGHT The CLIFFHANGER! Chapter That Fell Off A Cliff by Christopher Irving Edited by P.C. Hamerlinck [FCA EDITOR’S INTRO: In Cliffhanger!, the rip-roaring book released this year by TwoMorrows, author Christopher Irving takes us on a thrilling journey back to the first on-screen comicbook-to-film adaptations, and a look at the comicbook and filmmaker creators who had a hand in bringing the heroes to glorious black-&-white life. From the origins of the theatrical serial to the rise of the genre in the 1930s and ’40s, individual chapters spotlight the comicbook super-heroes that appeared on Saturday matinee silver screens: Captain Marvel, Spy Smasher, Captain America, Batman, Superman, Blackhawk, and others. Part of Irving’s criteria for characters receiving their own center-stage spot in his book was that they need to have had their origins in comicbooks and not come from other forms of media. Hence, since he originated in an enormously popular radio program, Captain Midnight—brought to movie screens by Columbia Pictures in 1942—had to be excluded. Since Fawcett Publications launched their Captain Midnight comicbook series while the movie serial was still playing in theatres, we told Mr. Irving that we’d love to give his cut “Captain Midnight” chapter a home in FCA. So grab your secret decoder rings and enjoy… and when you’ve finished reading this article, order your copy of Cliffhanger! today.]

Captains Courageous (Above:) Captain Midnight, played by Dave O’Brien, looms larger than life in this movie-serial poster from 1942, painted by Glenn Cravath. Image courtesy Heritage Auctions.

(Left:) The comicbook Captain Midnight #9 (June 1943) sported a beautifully drawn cover by Mac Raboy. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

aptain Midnight was a singular character with a handful of different versions of himself, each one created to make the best of whatever media he was thrown into, with little synergy between each. The good Captain first flew the airwaves as a regionally syndicated radio show on Chicago’s own WGN radio in 1938. Originally partnered with the Skelly Oil Company, Captain Midnight was picked up by Ovaltine as the new sponsor on September 30, 1940, and then syndicated on a national level. He was the creation of two writers, Robert M. Burtt and Willfred G. Moore, who had earlier created the once-successful aviator program The Air Adventures of Jimmie Allen, about a teen pilot. Captain Midnight was them taking what they’d learned from Jimmie, and making it work for a pre-World War II generation of kids. The Captain Midnight radio show was a fifteen-minute serial that played daily Monday through Friday at 5:00 PM. Midnight was former World War I ace Albright, who flew a desperate and vital mission to capture the villainous Ivan Shark. When he flew in with the captured Shark at the exact stroke of midnight,

FCA [Fawcett Collectors Of America]

Albright’s pal Major Steel declared, “To me—he will always be Captain Midnight!” A couple of decades later, the government put Captain Midnight in charge of his Special Squadron. In the lead with his plane The Sky King, Midnight’s rank was SS-1 and his crew all followed the SS rank in numbers. The Squadron included two kids, Chuck Ramsey and Joyce Ryan, as well as comic relief Ichabod “Ikky” M. Mudd, and was headed by his war buddy Steel. Midnight went after spies and saboteurs, most notably Ivan Shark (who slowly went from Russian to Japanese during wartime), heading his narcissistically named organization SHARK (Shark’s Henchmen, Assassins, Robbers, and Killers). Listeners of the program could become members of the Secret Squadron fan club sponsored by Ovaltine. Membership wasn’t gained by taking spies down, but by simply mailing in a dime with a foil seal from an Ovaltine can. Membership also didn’t get kids their own plane, but a Code-o-graph (based on Midnight’s Maguffin-like secret device that Ivan Shark and his daughter Fury were always after) and a Secret Manual. The Code-o-graph was a badge that was gold in color and, though it went through variations over the years, generally featured a number and letter substitution code that could be decoded with a wheel set in the center. The radio show’s announcer spouted out the numbers for Secret Squadron members to hastily scrawl down and decode at the end of each episode.

playing a marijuana addict. In the Captain Midnight lead role was handsome Dave O’Brien, born David Poole Fronabarger in Big Springs, Texas, on May 31, 1912. In 1936 he legally changed his name to David Barclay, but maintained the Dave O’Brien stage name. Dave kept himself busy as a stunt double and extra, mostly in Westerns, as well as modeling gigs on the side. He worked regularly in independent Westerns, such as the Texas Rangers series [Publishers Releasing Corporation], but never as the star. Dave’s most infamous role in the grand scheme of pop culture history was in 1936’s Reefer Madness (also known as Tell Your Children). In it, he plays a suited thug who introduces some nice high school kids to the wonders of marijuana and winds up getting nice girl Mary (played by his wife, Dorothy Short) killed after he assaults her. It ends with him in court, maniacally frothing at the mouth, as it’s declared that marijuana has rendered him “criminally insane” for the rest of his life. The next time O’Brien acted alongside his wife was in Captain Midnight, with Dorothy coming in as Joyce (renamed Edwards from the radio’s Ryan). Dorothy started acting with Laurel and Hardy, in their

With the success of the radio show, Captain Midnight soon took a spot in various Whitman storybooks and Better Little Books, as well as comicbooks and comic strips. The Captain featured in the Captain Midnight and the Secret Squadron book of 1941 was a gaunt chap wearing an all-black flight suit with a winged clock emblem set at midnight emblazoned on his chest. In 1941-42, Dell was the first publisher to bring Captain Midnight into comicbooks, with issues #57-64 of The Funnies and #76-78 of Popular Comics. Dell’s Captain Midnight, clad in brown leather, looked like a typical aviator hero and was slavishly adapted from the radio show’s first episodes. A Captain Midnight newspaper comic strip appeared in 1942, released by the Chicago Sun Syndicate. The strip, written by Ed Herron (1942-44) and Russ Winterbotham, and illustrated by Erwin L. Hess, ran for several years and retained all of the radio series’ major characters. The strip deviated somewhat from its source material, but ultimately far less than other media interpretations looming on the horizon. Then, Columbia produced a Captain Midnight movie serial, starring an actor once known for

“Hey, Kids—What Time Is It?” (Left:) Dave O’Brien as Captain Midnight in the 1942 serial. (Above:) A poster for the infamous 1936 movie Reefer Madness. A pre-Midnight O’Brien portraying a drug-fueled maniac is the stuff of film legend. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

The Cliffhanger Chapter That Fell Off A Cliff

The Clockwise Captains (Starting on right:) Captain Midnight with Joyce and Chuck in an Erwin L. Darwin illustration from the 1942 Whitman book Joyce of the Secret Squadron, a sequel to its Captain Midnight and the Secret Squadron book. The cover of the Captain Midnight “Better Little Book.” Here the aviator hero lands a rather stiff left uppercut on Dan Gorman’s cover for Dell/Western’s The Funnies #59 (Sept. 1941), adapted from radio scripts. Finally, a panel from an early-’40s Captain Midnight comic strip daily, drawn by Erwin L. Hess. Script probably by Ed Herron. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

FCA [Fawcett Collectors Of America]

1934 short Hollywood Party, and then fell into several supporting roles. 1938 was a high point for her, as she not only appeared in Reefer Madness but also started appearing in several Westerns with the likes of Tom [Captain Marvel] Tyler, Ken Maynard, and Johnny Mack Brown. Her Western streak continued into 1942, capped off by Captain Midnight as her only serial role. The sultry Luana Walters played the feisty and mercurial Fury Shark, daughter of the main villain Ivan Shark. Luana was signed to United Artists at age 18 in 1930, and had a small and un-billed role in Reaching for the Moon with Douglas Fairbanks. 1932 saw her first billing credit, in the Western End of the Trail. Her other roles, big and small, included a Blondie film (based on the classic comic strip) and the big-ape movie Mighty Joe Young in 1948. She had been featured in a few serials by the time Captain Midnight came along. Joseph Girard, who had been acting in film since the nineteen-teens, came in as gruff Major Steel. He had earlier appeared in The Spider serial for Columbia (based on a pulp magazine character) as well as several Westerns. Rounding out the cast were radio actor Sam Edwards as the enthusiastic Chuck, Western comic sidekick Guy Wilkerson as the deadpan Ikky Mudd, and Chuck Hamilton as Shark’s right-hand man Martel. Opening with the chime of a clock tower and a theme by composer Lee Zahler, Captain Midnight starts with a full-screen caption singing his praises as “aviation’s greatest hero… in a one-man war against crime!” White-clad aviators wreak havoc by bombing cities on the West Coast, causing panic and death everywhere. Stone-faced Major Steel, in his downtown office, is determined to get hold of the famed aviator Captain Albright to get them out of this mess. Ivan Shark, played over-the-top by James Craven, is smug and confident in his secret lair while his daughter Fury sits beside him furtively. His #7 pilot, the snarling Martel, is sent after an inventor, John Edwards, who is readying a Range Finder device, the serial’s MaGuffin that doesn’t do one thing in fifteen entire chapters. For safety, Edwards gets his daughter Joyce to deliver it to the Post Office for Captain Albright in Nevada. She gets back in time to see Martel and his pals taking off with her father and barely escapes herself. Albright, Chuck, and Ikky get the call for help in the Captain’s workshop, and he rushes off to fly from Nevada to California, despite the great fog and storms that have rolled over. Right after Albright touches down, he, Joyce and Steel wind up chasing a couple of Shark’s goons and capture one of them for questioning. Back in Steel’s office, Shark’s man refuses to answer any questions, and the Major leaves him and tells him that someone will visit him at the stroke of midnight “as judge and jury.” Captain Midnight repels down the side of the building wearing all black leather, covered in head to toe (even his face is hidden under fabric and dark goggles). Midnight gets the answers out of the man in no time, and he’s after Shark by the end of the opening chapter. We never really learn what mysterious foreign power Shark is working for, but dollars to doughnuts it involves a flag with either a swastika or a big red dot. Shark doesn’t seem to have too much other motivation, other than looking for excuses to disguise himself in outlandish ways. His worst get-up is an Arabian-themed turban and long robe that he wears when first interrogating

Midnight Ladies (Left:) Dorothy Short (Joyce Edwards). (Right:) Luana Walters (Fury Shark). [© the respective copyright holders.]

Edwards. Aside from his leading several large black men in sheik pants and turbans, no motivation behind the costume is given, and the racially insensitive get-up is gone within a few chapters. On top of the usual dangers of Shark’s gang, Midnight also gets the cops after him when Shark’s men convince them that Midnight is an air bandit, and then a murderer. The whole storyline is forgotten by the final chapters amidst a flurry of long fight scenes and car and plane crashes. Had Captain Midnight been directed by William Witney or Spencer Bennet, it would have been a more memorable serial; instead, director James Horne brought a more comedic approach. His prior experience had been with Laurel and Hardy comedies— and it shows. The under-cranking of the camera to give the appearance of the actors moving faster, and the hamming it up for the camera in exaggerated silent film poses, make Captain Midnight feel more like a throwback to The Keystone Cops than an early-’40s action serial. On top of that, the characters are either exceedingly gullible or stupid: in one scene, Shark falls for Joyce’s father to decipher a “telephone code” when he dials Joyce’s number and gives details about Shark’s hideout through the unhooked receiver, with the villain standing right next to him! Even Midnight himself can’t seem to understand why the cops are less inclined to believe a fully masked man than one in an obviously fake beard. O’Brien’s fast-talking, suave Midnight is the epitome of the hero who can constantly take punishment and keep coming back for more, with chapter after chapter of him getting knocked out, pummeled, thrown out of cars, or almost cut in two on a buzzsaw. He doesn’t just escape certain death—he survives it. Serial historian Jim Harmon once theorized that it was all the Ovaltine in Midnight’s system that had made him so tough. But, despite the utter silliness of Captain Midnight, it’s a really well-done serial that suffers from being outdated in comparison to The Adventures of Captain Marvel the year prior. The actors are all pretty top-notch, delivering their wise-guy dialogue at a double-time breakneck pace (“I’m hotter than a cannibal’s dinner!” Chuck proclaims in one chapter.) The fight scenes are poorly choreographed, subscribing to the early serial method of just having everyone take their turn to get slugged, but Midnight tends

The Cliffhanger Chapter That Fell Off A Cliff

Their Name Is Mudd! The above publicity still purports to show the Chuck and Ichabod Mudd of the Columbia serial. When this image was printed in Larry Ivie’s magazine Monsters & Heroes #5 (July 1969), it identified James Craven as Chuck (on the left), and Bryant Washburn as Ikky Mudd. But Christopher Irving lists Sam Edwards as Chuck and Guy Wilkerson as Mudd, with Craven instead playing villain Ivan Shark. Both Craven and Washburn are listed in the cast on the accompanying lobby cards, and Christopher assures us that the one for Chapter 4 shows the Captain battling Craven as Ivan Shark. [© the respective copyright holders.]

FCA [Fawcett Collectors Of America]

to get more fists on his face than anyone else. Everyone talks as if they’re in the radio show, with dialogue perfectly annunciated. They’re the best-spoken serial cast ever. After Captain Midnight, Dave O’Brien bought a 60-foot racing sailboat dubbed The White Cloud. He also co-starred in the PRC Texas Rangers series of films, appearing in 22 of them by the time he was finished. O’Brien found his footing as a writer and producer with the Pete Smith Specialities line of one-reel shorts done with director Pete Smith for MGM until they ended in 1955. Using the name David Barclay, O’Brien often starred in these farcical documentaries on a variety of absurd subjects (from dealing with noisy theatre patrons to marital life). Sixteen of them were nominated for Oscars, with two of them winning. He and Dorothy Short divorced in 1953, and he remarried a mere year after. In 1955, O’Brien joined up with comedian Red Skelton as a writer and double, an association that earned him an Emmy for outstanding writing. Dave O’Brien suffered a fatal heart attack in 1969 while out on The White Cloud. One story has it that he died in the middle of showing someone how to do a backflip, a showman to the end. He was cremated and his ashes scattered over the sea.

Hang Loose! Dave O’Brien as Captain Midnight is but one of the movie-serial heroes who adorns this early version of cover of the new TwoMorrows book Cliffhanger! by Christopher Ivy. Another art spot replaced it on the printed cover. The book is available now at www.twomorrows.com. [© TwoMorrows Publishing.]

Luana Walters wasn’t as fortunate as her one-time co-star. Her husband of nine years, actor Max Hoffman, Jr., died of an accidental overdose of sleeping pills in 1945, and she found herself back out in Hollywood the next year. The roles weren’t there for her as they had been before and, by her death in May 1965, she was relegated to

Captains Of [The Comicbook] Industry (Below:) Captain Marvel himself welcomes a fellow officer into the Fawcett fold on the cover of Captain Midnight #1 (Sept. 1942)—while a full-page ad appearing in various Fawcett comics calls attention to the company’s latest hero. Art by the Jack Binder Studio. [Shazam hero TM & © DC Comics; other art TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

The Cliffhanger Chapter That Fell Off A Cliff

working as a clerk at a Thrifty Drug Store. Fawcett Publications, publisher of Captain Marvel Adventures, was set to release a Captain Midnight comicbook while the movie serial was still running in theatres. The Fawcett comic—with #1 coverdated Sept. 30—went on sale August 19, 1942; the Captain’s first serial chapter had graced the silver screen on February 15, 1942. Writer Joe Millard once told in a Fawcett Collectors of America interview how he and Fawcett editor Wendell Crowley and possibly writer Bill Woolfolk were given private screenings of the movie serial beforehand “to get a feel for the character.” You wouldn’t think it, judging from the drastic differences between radio, serial, and comicbook versions. Fawcett’s Captain Midnight stands on the cover of his first issue, flanked by Captain Marvel himself, who declares Midnight “the greatest ace of them all!” Wearing a red flight suit,

Aliens 1 & 2 (Left:) Battling Albright in two successive issues was the alien Jagga, the Space Raider. He debuted in Captain Midnight #54 (Aug. 1947). This and the following cover by Leonard Frank. Courtesy of the Grand Comics Database. (Right) Xog strikes! Our hero faced off against that giant-faced alien adversary in CM #64 (June ’48). [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

purple gloves, boots, aviator’s cap and with his trademark winged clock insignia, he was far removed from the hero played by Dave O’Brien. Fawcett’s departure from established versions may have been an attempt by the publisher to differentiate him from dozens of generic aviator comicbook heroes. Their Captain Midnight was known by day as Captain Albright, famed inventor. Preferring to retire from crime-fighting and focus on creating inventions to benefit man, Albright was forced back into action as Captain Midnight when the Axis powers emerged as a greater threat than any he has ever faced. Ichabod Mudd was still around, and even received his own secondary feature, “Sgt. Twilight”; Chuck, Joyce, and the Secret Squadron appeared very infrequently. More than anyone else’s version, Fawcett’s Captain Midnight was bigger on the technology and gadgets: he had Blackout Bombs, a special Trouble Suit for emergencies, Gliderchutes (flying-squirrel-like projections of fabric that magically appeared between his arms and the sides of his costume when he needed to glide considerable distances through the air), and a Sub-Car.

Shark Week Even later in the Fawcett series’ run, when Captain Midnight was having mostly interplanetary adventures, he still found time for Earthly entanglements, such as with his old foe Ivan Shark, in these Dan Barry-drawn panels from “The CrossCountry Crime” in Captain Midnight #57 (Nov. 1947). [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Writers of the comicbook series included Joe Millard, Bill Woolfolk, Stanley Kauffmann, Otto Binder, and Rod Reed. Leonard Frank eventually became the title’s main artist, with Jack Binder, Ken Bald, Charlie Tomsey, Pete Riss, Dan Barry, Sheldon Moldoff, and others also handling the artwork. When World War II ended and Nazis fell out of vogue, Captain Midnight mostly began taking on science-fiction-based

FCA [Fawcett Collectors Of America]

Both the radio show and comicbook series wrapped up in the late ’40s: Fawcett’s comic finished with Captain Midnight #67 (Fall 1948), while the radio show flew off the airwaves that same year, in December. Captain Midnight’s development across media, from radio to comics to serials and then back to (eventually) television, is paralleled only by Superman. Six years after the final radio episode was aired, Screen Gems resurrected Captain Midnight for television. Starring Richard Webb in the title role, the CBS-TV series began in September of 1954, and ran for 39 episodes until January 1956. TV’s Captain Midnight led his private Secret Squadron, with the show combining jet-flying with elements of science-fiction. The only character held over from the radio show besides the Captain was Ichabod Mudd—portrayed by Sid Melton and, as in the Fawcett comicbook, largely used for comedic relief. Another regular character, developed specifically for the TV series, was Dr. Aristotle “Tut” Jones, Midnight’s resident scientist, played by actor Olan Soule, who had actually portrayed Agent Kelly on the radio program. When the television series went into syndicated reruns in 1958, Ovaltine was no longer the sponsor, which forced Screen Gems to change the title to Jet Jackson, Flying Commando, with all references to Captain Midnight re-dubbed as “Jet Jackson”—a peculiar plight for the former-famed hero who once had successfully soared through the radio airwaves, books, comics, and cliffhangers.

Goggle-Eyed Heroes Two famed aviator stars teamed up for a one-time adventure in the final issue of America’s Greatest Comics, #8 (Summer 1943). Artwork by the Jack Binder Studio; writer unknown. Captain Midnight and Spy Smasher each had their own movie serials released in 1942—the latter hero’s film being substantially better in all aspects! [Spy Smasher TM & © DC Comics; Captain Midnight TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

menaces, particularly space aliens. The most infamous was Xog, introduced in 1948’s Captain Midnight #64: Captain Midnight and Icky go off to investigate why interplanetary travel ships have been disappearing around Saturn, right around the time they notice life on the ringed planet through their telescope. Attacked by a swarm of flying aliens, Midnight and Icky land on Saturn (but don’t worry about the realities and rigors of being on another planet: the pair take “oxygen capsules” to allow them to breathe) and are captured and taken before the Saturnian ruler—Xog! Green-skinned and deformed, Xog’s body is mostly taken up by his head, with two fang-like buck teeth and eyes on the side like a fish; the crown of his body-sized noggin is capped off with a volcano top that’s ringed like his home planet. Tentacle-like arms complete the package. His army consists of gaseous beings (which is why he’s using Saturn, so he can pull them from the planet’s gas-comprised rings). The storyline continued for two more issues. Fawcett had also featured Captain Midnight in the one-shot title All Hero Comics (1943), and had teamed him up with another prominent goggled hero, Spy Smasher, in America’s Greatest Comics #8 (1943).

Midnight Mask This issue’s FCA cover artist Dan Riba also provided us with a suspenseful illustration based on Columbia Pictures’ version of Captain Midnight, displaying the lower-face mask he wore on occasion. Visit danriba.com. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

TwoMorrows 2023 www.twomorrows.com • store@twomorrows.com

THE

PACIFIC COMICS COMPANION

by STEPHAN FRIEDT & JON B. COOKE

Author STEPHAN FRIEDT shares the story of the meteoric rise of the Schanes brothers’ California-based imprint PACIFIC COMICS, which published such legends as JACK KIRBY, SERGIO ARAGONÉS, STEVE DITKO, NEAL ADAMS, MIKE GRELL, BERNIE WRIGHTSON, and DAVE STEVENS. From its groundbreaking 1981 arrival in the fledgling direct sales market, to a catastrophic, precipitous fall after only four years, THE PACIFIC COMICS COMPANION reveals the inside saga, as told to Friedt by BILL AND STEVE SCHANES, DAVID SCROGGY, and many of the creators themselves. It also focuses on the titles and the amazing array of characters they introduced to an unsuspecting world, including THE ROCKETEER, CAPTAIN VICTORY, MS. MYSTIC, GROO THE WANDERER, STARSLAYER, and many more. Written with the editorial assist of Eisner Award-winning historian JON B. COOKE, this retrospective is the most comprehensive study of an essential publisher in the development of the creator’s rights movement. Main cover illustration by DAVE STEVENS. NOW SHIPPING!

WORKING WITH DITKO by JACK C. HARRIS

WORKING WITH DITKO takes a unique and nostalgic journey through comics’ Bronze Age, as editor and writer JACK C. HARRIS recalls his numerous collaborations with legendary comics master STEVE DITKO! It features never-before-seen preliminary sketches and pencil art from Harris’ tenure working with Ditko on THE CREEPER, SHADE THE CHANGING MAN, THE ODD MAN, THE DEMON, WONDER WOMAN, LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES, THE FLY, and even Ditko’s unused redesign for BATMAN! Plus, it documents their work on numerous independent properties, and offers glimpses of original characters from Ditko’s drawing board that have never been viewed by even his most avid fans! This illustrated volume is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to experience the creative comic book process by one of the industry’s most revered creators, as seen through the eyes of one of his most frequent collaborators! NOW SHIPPING!

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THE CHILLINGLY WEIRD ART OF

MATT FOX

by ROGER HILL

MATT FOX (1906–1988) first gained notoriety for his jarring cover paintings on the pulp magazine WEIRD TALES from 1943 to 1951. His almost primitive artistry encompassed ghouls, demons, and grotesqueries of all types, evoking a disquieting horror vibe that no one since has ever matched. Fox suffered with chronic pain throughout his life, and that anguish permeated his classic 1950s cover illustrations and his lone story for CHILLING TALES, putting them at the top of all pre-code horror comic enthusiasts’ want lists. He brought his evocative storytelling skills (and an almost BASIL WOLVERTON-esque ink line over other artists) to ATLAS/MARVEL horror comics of the 1950s and ’60s, but since Fox never gave an interview, this unique creator remained largely unheralded—until now! Comic art historian ROGER HILL finally tells Fox’s life story, through an informative biographical essay, augmented with an insightful introduction by FROM THE TOMB editor PETER NORMANTON. This FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER also showcases all of the artist’s WEIRD TALES covers and interior illustrations, and a special Atlas Comics gallery with examples of his inking over GIL KANE, LARRY LIEBER, and others. Plus, there’s a wealth of other delightfully disturbing images by this grand master of horror—many previously unpublished and reproduced from his original paintings and art—sure to make an indelible imprint on a new legion of fans. NOW SHIPPING! (128-page COLOR HARDCOVER) $29.95 • (Digital Edition) $15.99 • ISBN: 978-1-60549-120-2

New from TwoMorrows!

KIRBY COLLECTOR #88

KIRBY COLLECTOR #89

ALTER EGO #186

ALTER EGO #187

BRICKJOURNAL #82

KIRBY CONSPIRACIES! Darkseid’s Fourth World palace intrigue, the too-many attempted overthrows of Odin, why Stan Lee hated Diablo, Kang contradictions, Simon & Kirby swipes, a never-reprinted S&K story, MARK EVANIER’s WonderCon 2023 Kirby Tribute Panel (with MARV WOLFMAN, PAUL S. LEVINE, and JOHN MORROW), an extensive Kirby pencil art gallery, and more!

Spotlights ANGELO TORRES, the youngest and last of the fabled EC Comics artists— who went on to a fabulous career as a horror, science-fiction, and humor artist for Timely/Marvel, Warren Publishing, and MAD magazine! It’s a lushly illustrated retrospective of his still-ongoing career— plus FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America), MICHAEL T. GILBERT in Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt, and more

Focuses on great early science-fiction author EDMUND HAMILTON, who went on to an illustrious career at DC Comics, writing Superman, Batman, and especially The Legion of Super-Heroes! Learn all about his encounters with RAY BRADBURY, MORT WEISINGER, JULIUS SCHWARTZ, et al—a panoply of titans! Plus FCA, MICHAEL T. GILBERT in Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt, and more!

Celebrating Disney’s 100th anniversary in LEGO! Disney Castles with MARTIN HARRIS and DISNEYBRICK, magical builds by JOHN RUDY and editor JOE MENO, instructions to build characters, plus: Nerding Out with BRICKNERD, AFOLs by GREG HYLAND, step-by-step “You Can Build It” instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, and Minifigure Customization with JARED K. BURKS!

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THE COLLECTORS! Fans’ quest for and purchase of Jack’s original art and comics, MARV WOLFMAN shares his (and LEN WEIN’s) interactions with Jack as fans and pros, unseen Kirby memorabilia, an extensive Kirby pencil art gallery, MARK EVANIER moderating the 2023 Kirby Tribute Panel from Comic-Con International, plus a deluxe wrap-around Kirby cover with foldout back cover flap, inked by MIKE ROYER!

BACK ISSUE #148

BACK ISSUE #149

COMIC BOOK CREATOR #32 COMIC BOOK CREATOR #33

DC SUPER-STARS OF SPACE! Adam Strange in the Bronze Age (with RICHARD BRUNING & ANDY KUBERT), From Beyond the Unknown, the Fabulous World of Krypton, Vartox, a Mongul history, the Omega Men, and more! Featuring CARY BATES, DAVE GIBBONS, DAN JURGENS, CURT SWAN, PETER J. TOMASI, MARV WOLFMAN, and more! Cover by CARMINE INFANTINO & MURPHY ANDERSON!

’80s INDIE HEROES: The American, Aztec Ace, Dynamo Joe, Evangeline, Journey, Megaton Man, Trekker, Whisper, and Zot! Featuring CHUCK DIXON, PHIL FOGLIO, STEVEN GRANT, RICH LARSON, SCOTT McCLOUD, WILLIAM MESSNER-LOEBS, DOUG MOENCH, RON RANDALL, DON SIMPSON, MARK VERHEIDEN, CHRIS WARNER & more superstar creators. Cover by NORM BREYFOGLE!

WILLIAM STOUT is interviewed about his illustration and comics work, as well as his association with DINOSAURS publisher BYRON PREISS, the visionary packager/ publisher who is also celebrated in this double-header issue. Included is the only comprehensive interview ever conducted with PREISS, plus a huge biographical essay. Also MIKE DEODATO on his early years and FRANK BORTH on Treasure Chest!

STEVE GERBER biographical essay and collaborator insights, MARY SKRENES on co-creating Omega the Unknown, helping develop Howard the Duck, VAL MAYERIK cover and interview, ROY THOMAS reveals STAN LEE’s unseen EXCELSIOR! COMICS line, LINDA SUNSHINE (editor of early hardcover super-hero collections), more with MIKE DEODATO, and the concluding segment on FRANK BORTH!

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BACK ISSUE #147

Great Hera, it’s the 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF BACK ISSUE, featuring a tribute to the late, great GEORGE PÉREZ! Wonder Woman: The George Pérez Years, Pérez’s 20 Greatest Hits of the Bronze Age, Pérez’s fanzine days, a Pérez remembrance by MARV WOLFMAN, a Wonder Woman interview with MINDY NEWELL, and more! With a stunning Wonder Woman cover by Pérez!