Alter Ego #20 by TwoMorrows Publishing

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No. 20

Okay, Axis— Here We Come!

January 2003

Still More

TITANS of

TIMELY/ MARVEL! Featuring AVISON • BERG • BURGOS • the BROTHERS BUSCEMA COCKRUM • DESCHAMPS • EVANS • EVERETT • GANTZ HOOVER • KANE • KEEFE • KIRBY • KLEIN • KUPPERBERG MILGROM • RAYMOND • ROBBINS • RYAN • SAHLE • SEKOWSKY SHORES • SIMON • STREETER • VOSBURG • WILLIAMSON & OTHERS

in new & vintage artwork as annotated by AMASH • GILBERT • THOMAS • TOTH

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(NOW WITH 16 COLOR PAGES!) “AllInterview Issue”! Part 2 of an exclusive STEVE ENGLEHART interview (continued from ALTER EGO #103)! “Pro2Pro” interviews between SIMONSON & LARSEN, MOENCH & WEIN, and comics letterers KLEIN & CHIANG. Plus JOHN OSTRANDER, MICHAEL USLAN, and longtime DC color artist ADRIENNE ROY! Cover by Englehart collaborator MARSHALL ROGERS!

“Gods!” Takes an in-depth look at WALTER SIMONSON’s Thor, the Thunder God in the Bronze Age, “Pro2Pro” interview with TOM DeFALCO and RON FRENZ, Hercules: Prince of Power, Moondragon, Three Ways to End the New Gods Saga, exclusive interview with fantasy writer MICHAEL MOORCOCK, art and commentary by GERRY CONWAY, JACK KIRBY, BOB LAYTON, and more, with a swingin’ Thor cover by SIMONSON!

“Liberated Ladies” eyeing female characters that broke barriers in the Bronze Age: Big Barda, Valkyrie, Ms. Marvel, Phoenix, Savage She-Hulk, and the sword-wielding Starfire. Plus a “Pro2Pro” interview with JILL THOMPSON, GAIL SIMONE, and BARBARA KESEL, art and commentary by JOHN BYRNE, GEORGE PEREZ, JACK KIRBY, MIKE VOSBURG, and more, with a new cover by BRUCE TIMM!

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THE BEST IN COMICS AND LEGO MAGAZINES!

ALTER EGO #105

ALTER EGO #106

ALTER EGO #107

ALTER EGO #108

DRAW! #22

See comic art and script BEFORE and AFTER the Comics Code changes, with art by SIMON & KIRBY, DITKO, BUSCEMA, SINNOTT, GOULD, COLE, STERANKO, KRIGSTEIN, O’NEIL, GLANZMAN, ORLANDO, WILLIAMSON, HEATH, and others! Plus: FCA, Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt, BILL SCHELLY, JIM AMASH interviews Timely/Atlas artist CAL MASSEY, and a new cover by JOSH MEDORS!

DICK GIORDANO through the 1960s—from freelance years and Charlton “Action-Heroes” to his first stint at DC! Art by DITKO, APARO, BOYETTE, MORISI, McLAUGHLIN, GIL KANE, and others, Dick’s final convention panel with STEVE SKEATES and ROY THOMAS, JIM AMASH interviews Charlton artist TONY TALLARICO, FCA with MARC SWAYZE and ROY ALD, MR. MONSTER’S COMIC CRYPT, BILL SCHELLY, GIORDANO cover, and more!

Big BATMAN issue, with an unused Golden Age cover by DICK SPRANG! SHEL DORF interviews SPRANG and JIM MOONEY, with rare and unseen Batman art by BOB KANE, JERRY ROBINSON, WIN MORTIMER, SHELLY MOLDOFF, CHARLES PARIS, and others! Part II of the TONY TALLARICO interview by JIM AMASH! Plus FCA, MR. MONSTER’S COMIC CRYPT, BILL SCHELLY, and more!

1970s Bullpenner WARREN REECE talks about Marvel Comics and working with EVERETT, BURGOS, ROMITA, STAN LEE, MARIE SEVERIN, ADAMS, FRIEDRICH, ROY THOMAS, and others, with rare art! DEWEY CASSELL spotlights Golden Age artist MIKE PEPPE, with art by TOTH, ANDRU, TUSKA, CELARDO, & LUBBERS, plus FCA, MR. MONSTER, BILL SCHELLY, cover by EVERETT & BURGOS, and more!

Interview with inker SCOTT WILLIAMS from his days at Marvel and Image to his work with JIM LEE, and PATRICK OLIFFE demos how he produces Spider-Girl, Mighty Samson, and digital comics. Also, MIKE MANLEY and BRET BLEVINS’ “Comic Art Bootcamp”, a “Rough Critique” of a newcomer’s work by BOB McLEOD, art supply reviews by “Crusty Critic” JAMAR NICHOLAS, and more!

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LEE & KIRBY: THE WONDER YEARS (KIRBY COLLECTOR #58)

Special double-size book examines the first decade of the FANTASTIC FOUR, and the events that put into motion the Marvel Age of Comics! New interviews with STAN LEE, FLO STEINBERG, MARK EVANIER, JOE SINNOTT, and others, with a wealth of historical information and Kirby artwork!

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KIRBY COLLECTOR #59

BRICKJOURNAL #17

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BRICKJOURNAL #19

“Kirby Vault!” Rarities from the “King” of comics: Personal correspondence, private photos, collages, rare Marvelmania art, bootleg album covers, sketches, transcript of a 1969 VISIT TO THE KIRBY HOME (where Jack answers the questions YOU’D ask in ‘69), MARK EVANIER, pencil art from the FOURTH WORLD, CAPTAIN AMERICA, MACHINE MAN, SILVER SURFER GRAPHIC NOVEL, and more!

LEGO SPACE WAR issue! A STARFIGHTER BUILDING LESSON by Peter Reid, WHY SPACE MARINES ARE SO POPULAR by Mark Stafford, a trip behind the scenes of LEGO’S NEW ALIEN CONQUEST SETS that hit store shelves earlier this year, plus JARED K. BURKS’ column on MINIFIGURE CUSTOMIZATION, building tips, event reports, our step-by-step “YOU CAN BUILD IT” INSTRUCTIONS, and more!

Go to Japan with articles on two JAPANESE LEGO FAN EVENTS, plus take a look at JAPAN’S SACRED LEGO LAND, Nasu Highland Park—the site of the BrickFan events and a pilgrimage site for many Japanese LEGO fans. Also, a feature on JAPAN’S TV CHAMPIONSHIP OF LEGO, a look at the CLICKBRICK LEGO SHOPS in Japan, plus how to get into TECHNIC BUILDING, LEGO EDUCATION, and more!

LEGO EVENTS ISSUE covering our own BRICKMAGIC FESTIVAL, BRICKWORLD, BRICKFAIR, BRICKCON, plus other events outside the US. There’s full event details, plus interviews with the winners of the BRICKMAGIC CHALLENGE competition, complete with instructions to build award winning models. Also JARED K. BURKS’ regular column on minifigure customizing, building tips, and more!

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Vol. 3, No. 20 / January 2003

™

Editor Roy Thomas

Associate Editors Bill Schelly Jim Amash

Design & Layout Christopher Day

Consulting Editors John Morrow Jon B. Cooke

FCA Editor P.C. Hamerlinck

Comic Crypt Editor Michael T. Gilbert

Editors Emeritus Jerry Bails (founder) Ronn Foss, Biljo White, Mike Friedrich

Production Assistant Eric Nolen-Weathington

Cover Artists Bill Schelly & Friends Al Milgrom

Covers Colorist Tom Ziuko

And Special Thanks to: Bob Almond Murphy Anderson Sergio Aragonés David Armstrong Brian Ashmore Mark Austin Joe Azzato Mike W. Barr Terry Beatty Blake Bell Al Bigley Al Bradford Mike Burkey Mike Costa Craig Delich David Delich Bob Deschamps Daren Dillinger Shel Dorf Shelton Drum Jean-Jacques Dzialowski Tim Easterday Don Ensign Tom Fagan Ron Flick Ron Frantz Keif Fromm Mark Gamble David G. Hamilton Eric Wolfe Hanson Bill Harris Dave Hoover Tom Horvitz Steve Hurley Bob Justice Dave Kaler Jim Keefe Knut R. Knutsen Alan Kupperberg Harry Lampert

Dan Makara Scott M. Martin Dave Medinnus Al Milgrom The Guys at The Mint Sheldon Moldoff Fred Mommsen Brian K. Morris Mart & Carrie Nodell Tiffany Nodell Michelle Nolan Kevin O’Neill Jerry Ordway Bill Pearson John G. Pierce Rich Rubenfeld Paul Ryan Fred Schneider Carole Seuling Joe Simon Joe Sinnott Rick Stasi Carrie Strong Marc Swayze Daniel Tesmoingt Joel Thingvall Dann Thomas Alex Toth Jim Vadeboncoeur Ellen Vartanoff Irene Vartanoff Michael J. Vassallo James Warren Len Wein Rick Weingroff Stephen Wheeler Marv Wolfman Andy Yanchus Pat Yanchus

Contents Writer/Editorial: Invaders of the Lost Art! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 World War II Forever (But Only in Comic Books)!. . . . . . . . . . 3 Roy Thomas’ skeleton key to The Invaders—its origins and homage heroes & villains. Who Is Bob Deschamps...? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Jim Amash interviews a little-known but fascinating staff artist about Marvel’s Golden Age. “A Great Mix of Unique Cartoonists...” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 The legendary Alex Toth on a few other comics legends and non-legends you should know about. Flash Gordon Relaunched . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Michael T. Gilbert on Flash Gordon by Jim Keefe, Al Williamson, George Evans—and himself! re: [comments & corrections] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Spotlight On The 1965 New York Comicon . . . . . . . . . Flip Us! About Our Cover: Al Milgrom has long been one of Marvel's bright lights as artist and even editor (remember Marvel Fanfare?)—so we invited him to draw this issue's Timely/Marvel cover, as a combination homage/parody of a fairly familiar 1940 non-Timely/Marvel image. By the way, art collectors—Al is currently selling the original artwork (as well as a few other choice vintage and commission pieces) and can be reached at <EditoriAl4@aol.com> or via a letter (with other stamped envelopes enclosed) sent to Roy, which he'll forward. [Art ©2003 Al Milgrom; Angel, Blazing Skull, Vision, Whizzer, Sub-Mariner, Captain America, Human Torch, & Miss America TM & ©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.] Above: By coincidence, at the very same time, Scott M. Martin had commissioned longtime Marvel artist Paul Ryan (Fantastic Four, Avengers West Coast, et al.) and inker Bob Almond to draw a distinctly similar piece for his collection, only featuring a straight “Invaders” cast (minus Toro). Thanks to all three for letting us print it. Oh, and you can visit The Bob Almond Inkwell for news, original art, inking commissions, and more at <www.almondink.com>. [Art ©2003 Paul Ryan & Bob Almond; Invaders TM & ©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.] Alter EgoTM is published monthly by TwoMorrows, 1812 Park Drive, Raleigh, NC 27605, USA. Phone: (919) 833-8092. Roy Thomas, Editor. John Morrow, Publisher. Alter Ego Editorial Offices: Rt. 3, Box 468, St. Matthews, SC 29135, USA. Fax: (803) 826-6501; e-mail: roydann@ntinet.com. Send subscription funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial offices. Single issues: $8 ($10 Canada, $11 elsewhere). Twelve-issue subscriptions: $60 US, $120 Canada, $132 elsewhere. 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 Canada. FIRST PRINTING.

Title writer/editorial

There were only about fifty issues, all-told, in various series, but lots of folks I run into at comics conventions seem to remember The Invaders with a fair amount of fondness. But then, to see someone who has a nostalgic/historical love for that series, I really only have to look in a mirror. There are lots of reasons I could think of, I suppose, that the 42 issues of 1970s Invaders, its ’77 Annual, two “Liberty Legion” issues of Marvel Premiere, one Marvel Two-inOne Annual, that mag’s following monthly issue (again with the Legion), What If? #4, and the four-issue 1994 Invaders series might be recalled with affection. It might be the sparkling stories and rousing repartee, but I doubt that’s it, hard as I worked at writing and editing those comics in two different decades.

Yeah, I kinda suspect that’s it. But all that art by the likes of Kirby, Kane, Robbins, Everett, Burgos, Avison, Hoover, Kupperberg, and other stalwarts whose wares you’ll see on display on our next ten pages or so didn’t exactly hurt. Flip ahead (as well as backward) in this section, and see if you don’t agree. Some of the art on display dates back to 1940—much is reproduced from photocopies of the original art for the first time ever—and a couple of specimens were drawn especially for this issue of Alter Ego.

According to Dave Medinnus, the Golden Age Marvel Squad (GAMS) are fans of Timely stories that take place before the events of Fantastic Four #1, whether originally published before 1961 or retroactively placed there within continuity—and of modern appearances of those comics’ heroes and their legacy. The GAMS make their home at the Golden Age Marvel Squad Message Board at <http://members5.boardhost.com/GAMS/>. Their logo art, seen above, is by artist Erik Wolfe Hanson. Nice, huh? [Art ©2003 Eric Wolfe Hanson; Invaders TM & ©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

It might be the awesome artwork by a number of top-flight artists over the years—but even that can’t be more than a part of the answer. Or it might be because The Invaders filled, albeit only retroactively, a need—a desire—a craving by super-group fans—the kind of folks who like the Justice Society and the Justice League and the Marvel Family and even the Seven Soldiers of Victory—to see several of the greatest heroes of comics’ Golden Age together in non-stop action, in a way they never had been during the actual World War II years, and only twice afterward, in All Winners Comics #19 and #21.

When it comes to the legacy of Timely/Marvel’s Golden Age— everybody wants to get into the act!

And that includes 1940s Timely staff artist Bob Deschamps, and Jim Amash, who interviewed him. We think you’ll find the time you spend with them in this issue one of your most enjoyable experiences yet between the flipped covers of A/E.

All this, plus Alex Toth and Michael T. Gilbert and a couple of nice surprises in our prodigal “re:” section—including a snazzy recent Captain America sketch by none other than the red-white-and-blue hero’s co-creator, Joe Simon!

Submit Something To Alter Ego! Alter Ego is on the lookout for items that can be utilized in upcoming issues: • Convention Sketches and Program Books • Unpublished Artwork • Original Scripts (the older the better!) • Photos • Unpublished Interviews • Little-seen Fanzine Material We’re also interested in articles, article ideas, or any other suggestions... and we pay off in FREE COPIES of A/E. (If you’re already an A/E subscriber, we’ll extend your subscription.) Contact: Roy Thomas, Editor Rt. 3, Box 468 St. Matthews, SC 29135 Fax: (803)826-6501 • E-mail: roydann@ntinet.com

Submission Guidelines Submit artwork in one of these forms (in order of preference): 1) Clear color or black-&-white photocopies. 2) Scanned images—300ppi TIF (preferred) or JPEG (on Zip or floppy disk). 3) Originals (carefully packed and insured). Submit text in one of these forms: 1) E-mail (ASCII text attachments preferred) to: roydann@ntinet.com (NEW) 2) An ASCII or “plain text” file, supplied on floppy disk. 3) Typed, xeroxed, or laser printed pages.

Our cup runneth over—and hopefully, you’ll feel that yours does, too. Bestest,

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The Invaders

A Skeleton Key to the Roots of the 1970s Invaders—and Its Heroes and Villains by Roy Thomas [PREFACE: In Alter Ego, Vol. 2, #2 (Summer 1999), I wrote about The Invaders, which I developed for Marvel in the mid-1970s as what some (not I) would call the first fullout “retro” comic book—if only because the Lee-Kirby retellings of Golden Age Captain America tales in the 1960s never took up more than half of Tales of Suspense. However, because in ’99 A/E was only an addendum to Jon B. Cooke’s fledgling Comic Book Artist, I squeezed all I had to say about my WWII super-group into three pages—clearly inadequate to do justice to either the concept, the artists involved, or the book’s 1940s roots, let alone all three! [Though CBA #2 itself is long since out of print, that article is currently available in the TwoMorrows trade paperback Alter Ego: The Comic Book Artist Collection (see ad elsewhere in this issue), with six pages of additional material, including penciled versions of covers and art by Frank Robbins, Jack Kirby, and Dave Hoover. That relieves me of having to repeat here much of the info (or any of the art) that was in the earlier piece. Still, more backstory on The Invaders may be of interest to Golden, Silver, and Bronze Age enthusiasts alike, so here goes—this time with a concentration on the heroes and villains of the series, and their sources—often the comics characters of another company or era! —Roy.]

Okay, Axis... The Invaders started out as something of a lark... in an Avengers storyline to which they were only incidental. At this late stage, I’ve no idea which came first: the idea of Kang the Conqueror playing “cosmic chess” against a new creation I christened The Grand-Master, or the notion of parodying DC’s Justice League. I do recall quite clearly the related occasion that led to Marvel’s Squadron Sinister, and thereby the better-known Squadron Supreme... and, by a slightly less direct route, to The Invaders. At a 1969 party in Manhattan hosted by my first wife Jean

and myself, then-comics writer Mike Friedrich suggested to colleagues Dennis O’Neil and me that, since Denny was currently scripting Justice League of America and I was writing The Avengers for Marvel—two books with distinctly similar franchises—we ought to find a way to do a crossover between the two. Since a “real” meeting of the two groups was out of the question at that time, with Superman vs. Spider-Man still half a decade in the future, Mike’s idea was for the two of us to do it surreptitiously, with each creating a super-villain team which would be the rough equivalent of the hero group the other was writing. With a pair of stiff drinks in hand, Denny and I enthusiastically agreed, and a scheme was hatched. It would have to be kept under the table, of course, because neither DC’s powers-that-be nor Stan Lee was likely The first hundred issues or so of The Avengers were reprinted a few years back in handsome 8 1/2" x 6" b&w volumes by Planeta/Forum in Spain, seven issues to a book. The 1969 clash between the Avengers and the proto-Invaders made the cover of Los Vengadores, Vol. 12. Script by Roy Thomas, art by Sal Buscema & Sam Grainger. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

World War II Forever the Nazi-occupied Paris of 1941. For purposes of differentiation, I had Namor drawn in his old lackluster black-with-yellow-stripes swim trunks, which couldn’t hold a candle to the scaly pair he’d sported since the mid-’50s... and had Cap wielding his original shield, previously seen only once, in ’41’s Captain America Comics #1. It was just a throwaway issue, a fun thing to do. Little did I realize what would come from it, half a decade down the line. But that’s more of that Nimzovich connection again. That chess grandmaster and the late Joseph Heller, author of Catch-22, have probably influenced my professional life more than any other non-comics artisans.

...Here We Come! In the piece reprinted in Alter Ego: The Comic Book Artist Collection I told how, in 1974-75, soon after stepping down as Marvel’s editor-in-chief in favor of a writer/editor contract, I talked Stan Lee into letting me develop a new mag called The Invaders, to co-star Timely/Marvel’s “Big Three” 1940s super-heroes and their kid sidekicks during World War II, with the action beginning a few weeks after Pearl Harbor. Frank Robbins was suggested as penciler, which was fine by me, though I signed on Vince Colletta as the original inker to bring Frank’s work a wee bit closer to the kind of artwork Marvel’s readers expected.

Al Avision’s cover for All Winners Comics #4 (Spring 1942) was the inspiration for the Frank Robbins/John Romita cover for Giant-size Invaders #1-andonly, which can be seen in various stages in Alter Ego: The CBA Collection. According to The Mint’s 2002 Millennium Catalog, Avison did the above re-creation of the 1942 scene circa 1980, and it is “the sole re-creation by Avison known to exist at this time.” To find out more about The Mint’s auctions, phone toll-free at (866) 355-4591 or e-mail <JayParrino.com>. [Art ©2003 estate of Al Avison; heroes TM & ©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

to sympathize with our fannish scheme, any more than they’d have felt it worthwhile at that stage to discuss economic terms for having an actual JLA-Avengers crossover like the one that is finally happening now, twenty years after I was involved with the original one that got torpedoed in the 1980s. Out of the aforementioned party confab, I suspect, was born the Kang/Grand-Master chess match, which ran from The Avengers #69-71 (Oct.-Dec. 1969). After all, I needed a venue for the battle, and as a chessplayer since the eighth grade, I often tend to think in terms of the Royal Game. (In fact, I’ve often stated that much of my career in comics was based on principles I gleaned from grandmaster Aron Nimzovich’s 1930 chess classic My System, but that’s another article.) This isn’t the place to go into the creation of the Squadron Sinister. Suffice it to say that I drew costumed sketches of the four original members (Hyperion, Nighthawk, Dr. Spectrum, and a latter-day Whizzer) as a guide for penciler Sal Buscema, and that things went so well I followed up later with the Squadron Supreme. Denny, alas, never figured out a way to get around JLA editor Julius Schwartz with a fullscale homage/parody, so he settled for having Batman hit a crook with a C.A.-shield-like trashcan lid, plus a few other such physical bits, in a JLA fight scene... and few contemporary readers were ever aware of our cunning plan. Pity. Since a chess match consists of more than one game, though, I needed another opponent for The Avengers to face in a subsequent issue, so for Avengers #71 I dredged up the Golden Age incarnations of The Human Torch, Captain America, and Sub-Mariner and plopped them down in

Among vintage b&w photostats available to Marvel by the mid-’70s was this splash page from Marvel Mystery Comics #8 (June 1940), which showcased the first clash between Sub-Mariner and The Human Torch—with Bill Everett and Carl Burgos each drawing his own hero in the other’s story. The “Torch” side of the battle was reprinted in the 1997 trade paperback The Golden Age of Marvel (Vol. 1). A page or two is missing from the “Namor” stats, alas, so it hasn’t yet been reprinted from them. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

(But Only in Comic Books!)

Atlantean Emperor appears to die in this story but was alive in comics published in the 1950s and since. But hey, we all know how ephemeral death is in comic books. To paraphrase a possum named Pogo: “It ain’t nohow permanent.” I’d doubtless have had to split some stories over two issues, to fill precisely twenty pages of future editions with old tales. But, as it turned out, that first issue (cover-dated June 1975) wasn’t even on the stands yet when, for reasons likewise unknown to me, the decision was made to convert the comic to the 25¢ size and price, with the very next ish. Naturally, it wouldn’t make sense to have a 32-pager called Giant-size Invaders, would it? I could roll with the punches, and besides, I got a second #1 out of the deal! But, sadly, I lost the chance to re-present the 1940s stories, except occasionally when the Dreaded Deadline Doom loomed. Fortunately, the photostats we’d found stuck around, partly in my hands, partly in Marvel’s, and became the basis of the two 1990s Golden Age of Marvel trade paperbacks and that nifty at-long-last Marvel Mystery Comics #1 which editor Tom Brevoort put together in 1999. (And if you haven’t picked up all three of these publications from Bud Plant or elsewhere, you’re no Golden Age fan by my reckoning!) But onward....

Yes, Master...

Ah, if only we’d had original-art photocopies like the one above to reprint from back in the late ’60s, sez Roy! The actual art to this Simon & Kirby splash from Captain America #6 (Sept. 1941) is, according to The Mint’s 2002 catalog, “one of only two known in existence at this time.” When this tale was reprinted in Fantasy Masterpieces #6 (Dec. 1966) from poorly-retouched art photostatted from the actual mags, the Comics Code forced Marvel to totally eliminate Fang’s gigantic head out of whose gaping, sharp-toothed maw Cap and Bucky were emerging, substituting the de-fanged circle art below it. They had to lose the strapped-down gal, too! Praise be to Uncle Sam that Marvel gorgeously reprinted all ten S&K issues in more recent years! How about more collections of Golden Age Timely material, guys? [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

(Frank Springer would ably assume the inking chores with the eighth issue.) For reasons unknown to me, then or now, it was decided the comic would debut as Giant-size Invaders #1, a 64-page bimonthly (instead of a 32-pager) selling for the hefty sum of 50¢, instead of the current 25¢. I was not unhappy about this pre-publication mutation, since it enabled me to showcase stories from ’40s Timely Comics as backups. On earlier trips to the Marvel warehouse, production manager John Verpoorten and I had unearthed photostats of a number of complete and semi-complete Golden Age tales, which I was eager to see back in print... the more so since the restoration work on old stories we had reprinted a few years earlier in Fantasy Masterpieces/Marvel Superheroes had been mediocre at best. I chose a dilly to shoehorn into that first issue: a 20-page Bill Everett saga from Sub-Mariner #1 (Spring 1941). I simply added an identifying intro on the splash—and a footnote to cover the fact that the proto-

In my earlier article, after covering the birth of The Invaders, I skipped to simply touching on a few “bullet highlights” in the series. This time around, I’d like to concentrate on one particular angle in some detail. One of the aspects of Invaders I most enjoyed was co-creating new villains and heroes, and egging on penciler Frank Robbins—a true talent who came in trailing clouds of glory from his years drawing the Johnny Hazard newspaper strip, topped off by excellent recent “Batman” work for the Distinguished Competition—to design them. Only occasionally (e.g., Union Jack) did I set pen to paper myself to design a character. With others, I just gave a vague general description or merely described what the hero/villain could do and left the rest to Frank. He invariably came through like a champ. Besides, he was even more of a World War II buff than I was, and he reveled in throwing in authentic background details which would have caused most artists (especially the younger ones, who often blanched at the mere thought of having to do actual R*E*S*E*A*R*C*H) to freeze up or try to fake it. Just paging through my bound volumes of The Invaders reminds me of the circumstances under which some of the villains and heroes were either revived or created, or at least recalls a relevant anecdote or two. First off, I believe that, pretty much from the get-go, I planned to have The Invaders encounter Axis super-types who were equivalents of either Marvel or DC heroes. I never even tried hard to hide what I was doing.

World War II Forever DC hero when we introduced U-Man (as in U-boat, the short term for German submarines). Though seven feet tall and a blue Atlantean, his telepathic power of sub-sea creatures was the giveaway that he was at least partly inspired by DC’s Aquaman, who had come along a couple of years after Prince Namor.

A nice Robbins/Colletta action panel with Master Man from Giant-size Invaders #1—with a bit too much wordage, Roy admits. It was just so darn much fun adding dialogue to those Robbins pencils that he got carried away! [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

The villain in Giant-size #1, for instance, was Master Man. Given Hitler’s ranting about the Germans and/or Aryans being a “master race,” there could be no better name for the ultimate Nazi than that of the early but short-lived Fawcett hero, Master Man, who had been far more of a Superman copyright infringement than Captain Marvel ever was. Just as Adolf himself had scarcely fit the official Nazi vision of the blond übermensch (German for “overman” or “superman”), neither did Wilhelm Lohmer—named after the pathetic hero Willie Lohman in Walter Miller’s classic play Death of a Salesman— until he was subjected to a reverse-engineered version of the experiment that had produced Captain America. For that reason, I resisted the temptation to turn this Master Man into a counterpart of the Man of Steel, and made him instead the distorted mirror image of the Star-Spangled (future) Avenger. Years later, in the WWII-set comic The Young All-Stars, I would develop a similar Nazi nasty for DC. His name? Übermensch, of course.

In #5, with Rich Buckler and Dick Ayers as guest pencilers, The Red Skull popped up—but, with Frank Robbins drawing three related issues of The Invaders and Marvel Premiere, Skull mostly became the excuse to throw together a second, more Home Front-oriented team, The Liberty Legion, composed of lesser Timely heroes of the ’40s and utilizing a name I had coined for no less than three groups I had made up in my fannish days. The original Whizzer and Miss America of that team, in particular, would play an important part in future Invaders, not least because they had also been members of Timely’s actual (if shortlived) post-WWII hero assemblage, the All Winners Squad.

(Incidentally, I can also tell from a last-minute footnote in Giant-size #1-and-only that fellow Marvel scribe Len Wein and I both coined the name “Psyphon” for a siphoning device for comics published in that same month, albeit with different spellings—Len’s was in The Incredible Hulk—so I covered the duplication in a caption. It was also there that I reconciled the “Dr. Reinstein” of Captain America Comics #1 and the “Dr. Erskine” of Stan and Jack’s re-telling of Cap’s origin in Tales of Suspense #63; I always got a kick out of doing stuff like that. But alas, I’ll never forgive myself for misquoting a key word in FDR’s speech to Congress on December 8, 1941, by having him refer to “a day which will live in infamy.” The phrase is often mis-stated that way, but the actual word should have been “date.”)

Gods and Monsters For the next storyline—which got broken into two parts for Invaders #1-2 of the 32-page comic—I utilized Nazified versions of the gods of Richard Wagner’s Ring Cycle of operas, a theme to which I would return more than once. I had recently attended all four operas at New York’s Lincoln Center, one of them with artist/friend Gil Kane as my guest. Later, Gil and I would adapt The Ring of the Nibelung far more authentically for DC in a late-1980s series and trade paperback, which was happily reprinted in 1997 by a company called ExPress. With #3-4 Frank and I did our first homage/parody of a

Our heroes’ first filmic glimpse of U-Man—Üntersee-Man—in Invaders #3 (Nov. 1975) revealed he was basically a “Dark Aquaman.” Repro’d from a photocopy of the original Robbins/ Colletta art, courtesy of artist Al Bigley. Script by Roy Thomas. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

(But Only in Comic Books!)

drip over into an issue of the monthly Two-in-One, as well. I used other old comic-hero ideas in that story. The Nazi aviator Skyshark was a combination of the 1940s Hillman flyboy Sky Wolf and Quality’s Blackhawk—with a touch of General Chennault’s famed Flying Tigers thrown into the mix. I don’t recall whether it was my idea or Sal Buscema’s to give him a curly mustache—but I think that was a mistake. Then it was time for another takeoff on a Marvel character—so, in issue #13, enter The Golem! A couple of years earlier, someone (probably Stan) had suggested the “Golem” feature which was briefly spotlighted in Strange Tales, but I wanted to devise a Golem who arose specifically from the plight of the Warsaw Ghetto Jews during the Second World War. He would be a rough equivalent of The Hulk— who himself probably had Golem elements from the start, since his co-creators Stan Lee and Jack Kirby were Jewish. Herb Trimpe and I

Roy used a looming 1976 deadline as an excuse to reprint this story from Captain America #22 (Jan. 1945), possibly drawn by Al Avison & Al Gabrielle (or Syd Shores?), in Invaders #10. It’s repro’d here from the 1960s small-run Canadian reprint Captain George Presents..., which utilized photostats sent north during the WWII years. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

In Invaders #7 came Baron Blood. At the time, I was unaware there had ever been a horror movie of that name. It just seemed a natural, part continuation of Morbius, the Living Vampire whom Gil Kane and I had created for Amazing Spider-Man #101-102—and part parody of Batman, with his playboy/foppish English lord background. For that issue I designed Union Jack, a sort of English Captain America with a World War I backstory, and even tossed in a tantalizing shot of Union Jack and several other throwaway WWI costumed heroes, to project Marvel’s super-hero lineage a generation farther into the past—even ringing in Gary Friedrich and Herb Trimpe’s masked-aviator creation, The Phantom Eagle. #11-12 introduced a second English addition to The Invaders—Spitfire, a name I deemed ideal for one who gained her fiery speed-powers from a transfusion of The Human Torch’s synthetic blood (with a bad-guy called The Blue Bullet tossed in for good measure—a nod to Fawcett’s Golden Age Bulletman, natch). The historical Spitfire, of course, is legendary as Great Britain’s foremost fighter plane during the 1940 aerial Battle of Britain, even though the more numerous Hurricanes were the workhorses of that crucial campaign. Marvel’s Spitfire has had a long life—almost too long a life, I sometime think, when I see what others have done with her since. Around that same time—while The Invaders were gueststarring in 1976’s Fantastic Four Annual #11, which (by an amazing coincidence) I also wrote—I brought back my beloved Liberty Legion in a Marvel Two-in-One Annual which would

Jack Kirby drew a number of Invaders covers in the ’70s, the pencils of several of which are on view either in Alter Ego: The CBA Collection or in The Jack Kirby Collector #29 (Aug. 2000), both available from TwoMorrows. This inked cover for Marvel Two-in-One #20 (Oct. 1977), repro’d from photocopies of the autographed original art, features Whizzer, Miss America, Patriot, and Blue Diamond watching The Thing duke it out with Master Man, U-Man, and Skyshark! [©2003 Marvel Characters.]

World War II Forever In the 2nd issue of the four-part 1994 Invaders series, artist Dave Hoover recapped events in the ’70s Invaders #11 & 13 which spotlighted The Blue Bullet and The Golem. Story by Roy Thomas. Repro’d from photocopies of the original pencils, courtesy of Dave. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

places, so we’ll stick to that. The Hyena and The Shark were dragged in from post-WWII issues of The Human Torch and Sub-Mariner, and given wartime roots—while Agent Axis was actually a wartime Boy Commandos baddie (and thus a DC character!) which Jack Kirby had mistakenly inserted into a couple of dream-sequence panels of his “Captain America” pencils back in Tales of Suspense #82 (Oct. 1966). The name had long intrigued me, so I devised a new, Timely/Marvel Agent Axis who was a weird amalgam of German, Italian, and Japanese. (The original Agent, I believe, had turned out to be a female Nazi in disguise.) In the Annual I seized the opportunity to work had even made Ol’ Greenskin a substitute Golem back in The Incredible Hulk #134 (Dec. 1970). I tossed in a couple of other elements from Golden Age comics, as well—a Nazi villain called alternately “The Face” (the name of a Columbia hero created by Gardner Fox and artist Mart Bailey in the early ’40s) and “Half-Face” (after a Nazi villain in “Sky Wolf” stories in Hillman’s Air Fighters Comics). Robbins did a particularly nice job on the character... and, with a bit of input from my friend Ed Summer, who owned the Supersnipe comics store on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, we came up with a Golem worth bringing back in the 1994 Invaders mini-series.

Fans and Old Favorites Issues #14-15 saw the creation of yet another wartime supergroup—The Crusaders. I seem to recall that fellow writer Tony Isabella and I planned to do our own under-the-table intercompany crossover between Marvel and DC, with both our groups called “The Crusaders” and reflecting World War II super-heroes. The mostly-British Crusaders that Frank and I designed all had Golden Age lineages: The Spirit of ’76, the group’s token American, clearly based on Nedor’s Fighting Yank—Dyna-Mite, a Doll Man type utilizing the name of a 1940s DC kid sidekick I’d later write into The Young AllStars—Ghost Girl, a name if not concept inspired by Victor Fox’s Phantom Lady—Captain Wings, a monicker and aviator look taken from Fiction House’s Wings Comics pilot wedded to Hawkman-like powers—Tommy Lightning, a Cockney Shock Gibson—and Thunderfist, an answer to Quality’s Human Bomb. For some reason, Frank did some of his moodiest drawing for this storyline. About this time I received the welcome assignment to write and edit an Invaders Annual for 1977, an issue which deserves an article all to itself, since for it I assembled artists who had drawn Cap, Namor, and the Torch back in the 1940s. But here we’re talking about heroes and villains roped in from other The Crusaders à la Robbins & Springer, with RT dialogue, from Invaders #16. See The Jack Kirby Collector #29 for Kirby's cover pencils for #15. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

(But Only in Comic Books!)

feature I’d dreamed up called “The Outcasts,” which dealt with a group of survivors from the Battle of the Alamo (that tale had wound up being drawn by Tom Sutton). Now I decided to make up a soldier who had been a comic book artist in civilian life, and use him in a couple of issues of Invaders. With due permission I named the soldier-artist Biljo White, after the talented 1960s fan-artist who had launched the fanzine Batmania and had been art editor on my three 1964-65 issues of the original Alter Ego. I even got Biljo, then a fireman in Columbia, Missouri, to pencil (and even sign!) a comic-book-page-within-a-page in issue #16, featuring Major Victory—which, amazingly, had been the name of an actual Golden Age comics hero. Major Victory himself never appeared in the storyline, but “Biljo White” did. In fact, he was even drawn by Gil Kane on the cover of Invaders #18, which concluded the story arc. (The real Biljo, who still receives each issue of A/E, had seen military service abroad during the more peaceable mid-1950s.) This storyline, which eventually stretched over #16-21, also saw the introduction of another homage/parody of a DC character, this time mostly just in terms of her name. Yes, I said “her”—for #17 introduced

The Robbins/Springer version of the Avengers/Invaders clash, from the 1977 Invaders Annual. Despite Yellowjacket’s dialogue re-run from Avengers #71, Roy made it clear elsewhere in the story that this encounter actually happened in ’42. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

in the Invaders’ side of the fight between Timely’s Big Three and a trio of Avengers which had been seen back in Avengers #71. But man, it wasn’t easy getting Cap his first shield back at just the right moment— and it was even harder to get Namor into his original swim gear! A number of readers claimed to enjoy the surprise they got when The Vision, Yellowjacket, and Black Panther showed up in what I had now changed from 1941 to 1942 Occupied Paris. In Invaders #16 (May ’77), penciled by Jim Mooney, another artist who had been around since the Golden Age, I tried something a bit different. I’d long hoped to find a spot for some work by my old fandom buddies Biljo White, Ronn Foss, and Richard “Grass” Green in Marvel Comics, but had had very limited success. Ronn had penciled a short greeting-cards feature in our parody comic Not Brand Echh, and I still have a letter or two Grass and I exchanged about the possibility of his drawing a western

In 1944-45 Harry “A” Chesler published three issues of Major Victory Comics, made up of nice Charles Sultan art from 1941-42 issues of Dynamic Comics and Yankee Comics. For Invaders #16 (May ’77), A/E editor emeritus Biljo White penciled a page-within-a-page of a made-up Major Victory; Mooney, Springer, and Thomas did the rest. [Invaders page ©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.; Major Victory cover ©2003 the respective copyright holder.]

World War II Forever

Warrior Woman, an obvious appellation which came to me as I was rolling over the phrase “Wonder Woman” on my tongue. Dressed in leather and brandishing a whip, she was in some ways more closely related to Marvel publisher Martin Goodman’s pulpish “men’s magazines”—what Harvey Kurtzman used to call “men’s sweat” mags—than to anything in comics. She made a perfect mate for Master Man, who appeared prominently (as did Adolf Hitler himself) in the multipart story. I had always Gil Kane penciled the cover of Invaders #17, half-wanted which was inked by Joe Sinnott and Master Man to featured the “leather lady” Nazi. be a more [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.] formidable foe for The Invaders, and now I had the additional motivation of making him a match for Warrior Woman, so I utilized this saga to mutate Willie Lohmer to Superman-class in terms of powers. I tossed in Stan Lee’s early ’40s creation The Destroyer, as well, but he wasn’t a “new” character.

but a story set in 1942 was hardly the time or place. With Invaders #23 & #25 I returned to my own roots, in a sense. The story was set in Egypt, as British and German forces, under Montgomery and Rommel (“The Desert Fox”), battled back and forth across the sandy face of North Africa. The second comic book script I’d ever written, back in early ’65, had been for Charlton’s pre-Ditko Blue Beetle series; in it, that strangely many-lived old Fox Comics hero had been tied in with the Egypt of the pharaohs. Having had a chance in 1964 to go into the field of Egyptology myself (if I could have afforded the schooling at the University of Chicago), it was perhaps inevitable that I would eventually rope in a World War II equivalent of that Blue Beetle. I made our “Scarlet Scarab” not a dyed-in-the-camel’s-wool Nazi, but rather an Egyptian nationalist who was the “deadly enemy of any and all who would grind the Black Land beneath their conquering

For some reason which may or may not have been my fault—though it was certainly my responsibility—the final chapter of the story had to be split between #20-21. But at least that gave me a chance to work into #20 the first-ever reprinting of the 8-page version of the origin of The SubMariner which had appeared in the 1939 black-&-white movie theatre giveaway comic Motion Picture Funnies Weekly #1 (a copy of which had only recently been unearthed) and which had been expanded by four pages when it was reprinted (in color!) in the first issue of Marvel Comics later that year. The art photostats for this Bill Everett tale-of-tales had been sent to me years before by collector Robert Wiener. And since Invaders #21 contained the rump-end of the main story, I used that space (and some of those warehouse photostats) to run a 10-page “Sub-Mariner” from Marvel Mystery Comics #10 (Aug. 1940). Golden Age fans have long since added both Invaders issues to their library.

Minorities at War In #22 I re-told the origin of Toro in the context of a larger story which brought in a female foe. Like The Hyena and The Shark in the Annual, though, Asbestos Lady was in truth a post-WWII creation, who had first appeared in The Human Torch #27 (Summer 1947). Given what we now know about asbestos, I always figured she should ultimately come to a sad end—and indeed, did someone tell me that had been done since, somewhere-orother? It was too obvious a notion not to be picked up on,

Gil Kane’s cover for #25, inked (‘twould seem) by Frank Giacoia, featured The Invaders’ answer to the first 1960s Blue Beetle. Repro’d from photocopies of the original art, courtesy of Daniel Tesmoingt of Belgium. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

(But Only in Comic Books!)

heel.” I meant him to be a guy who, as soon as the British had been expelled from the Nile region, would have started fighting the Germans.

Help Is on the Way

Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on your point of view, I again had to interrupt the continuity of The Invaders in the middle of a continued story by tossing in a reprint to buy time. Behind a nice Gil Kane/Frank Giacoia cover in #24 was presented the first friendly team-up of The Human Torch and The Sub-Mariner, taken from those ever-handy vintage photostats, this time from Marvel Mystery Comics #17 (March 1941). Even after omitting #24’s letters page, I had to chop off the tale’s final, wrap-up page. Happily, the story was rereprinted—in its entirety this time—in the first volume of The Golden Age of Marvel.

Invaders #29-30 were scripted by my friend Don Glut, with whom I hung out in my early days after moving to Los Angeles in mid-1976. His work at Gold Key on titles he had created such as Dagar the Invincible and Dr. Spektor had dried up—while I was dipping a tentative toe into the turbulent Hollywood waters of movies and TV (as well as squiring a lovely redhead named Danette) and was finding it difficult to put in as many hours writing comics as before, though I still edited all the issues and usually generated at least the general story concept.

Girl was a Nisei—i.e., an American citizen born of two Japanese parents living in this country.

In Invaders #32-33 I rung in Marvel’s version of Thor. In issues #1-2, the alien who called himself “Donner” had been based on the German/Teutonic version of a thunder god, but this time I was using the Norse/Lee & Kirby rendition, in a story which involved Adolf Hitler and his bête noire, Soviet premier Josef Stalin. Given Der Führer’s fascination with the Ring operas and his oft-quoted statement that he felt Richard Wagner “wrote his divine music as echoes from another world,” the surprise is perhaps not that I dragged Thor out of timeless Asgard into the Götterdämmerung of World War II—but that I waited more than thirty issues to do it! (And yeah, I wrote this one all by myself.)

In this case, I devised a Nazi called Komtur, the Teutonic Knight, Over the course of #26based on historical infor28, I more or less reconstimation gained from tuted another Timely reading the anti-German group of the 1940s— “Justice Society” story in Simon & Kirby’s Young 1945’s All-Star Comics Allies, who had their own #24, and turned it over to title for several years. That Don, who ran with it. kid gang had consisted of “Dinosaur Don,” a lay Bucky, Toro, and several expert on dinosauria, non-super-powered Dracula, and youngsters, including (I’m Frankenstein, followed sad to admit) an abysmally that story with his own stereotyped Africanconcoction, “Heil American called, er, Frankenstein!” in issue Whitewash. The new and, #31. (After #28, alas, I hope, improved grouping Frank Robbins had opted I christened The Kid to leave the comics field Commandos—after that and was soon painting selfsame Simon & Kirby’s away down in Mexico, “Boy Commandos,” where he would live for natch. It consisted of the rest of his life. Alan Bucky, Toro, The Human The splash of the Torch/Namor team-up drawn by Burgos and Everett for Marvel Mystery Kupperberg, Chic Stone, Top, and Golden Girl. Comics #17, repro’d from a photostat of the original art. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.] and a few other artists Both of the latter names took up the slack, but had belonged to Timely heroes in the ’40s, but these were brand-new Frank was sorely missed. Fortunately, Frank Springer remained as inker characters. I thought it high time minorities were represented in the for a time.) WWII super-hero world, so the Top was African-American, and Golden

Actually, I never did intend to do much with The Kid Commandos. I created the group, as much as anything, to give me a handy way to get rid of Bucky and Toro by sending them off with the new kids in town, so I could concentrate on the adult heroes. Like Stan Lee, I had never really cared for youthful sidekicks. Better far, I thought, to bring Union Jack and Spitfire to America and involve them in The Invaders’ adventures.

World War II Forever down the road, it would often seem to me as if comics writers made no attempt whatsoever to avoid the use of similar names over and over... assuming they noticed that’s what they were doing.) With #38-39, scripted by Don Glut from my “concept,” as it says in the credits, Merrano the U-Man returned—and the new villainess, Lady Lotus, was not really a tip of the hat to any other heroine or bad girl, at Marvel, DC, or elsewhere. After a return bout with Baron Blood in #40, and the teaming up of the Baron, U-Man, Master Man, and Warrior Woman as the “Super-Axis” group in the 48-page #41, with script by Don and art by Alan Kupperberg and Chic Stone, the Invaders series came to an end. As a final fillip, Don got my okay to bring another old Timely baddie, The Yellow Claw, into #41’s final panel, though his face and form were hidden by an umbrella and raincoat. This was intended as a harbinger of the future, since four issues of The Yellow Claw would be published in the latter 1950s, during the days when the Red Menace got intertwined with the century-old myth of the Yellow Peril. As for The Invaders—the mag was laid to rest, to be resurrected briefly in a four-issue series in 1994 which I wrote and Dave Hoover most ably penciled. In that one, we turned half a dozen non-Timely 1940s super-heroes into Nazi super-villains, as I explained in the text pages at the time... but that, too, is another story. For Yours Truly, The Invaders was always, despite its World Just for fun, 1970s Invaders artist Alan Kupperberg recently penciled-and-inked this fantasy cover to a potential clash of The Invaders and the All-Star Squadron that Roy Thomas was destined to develop for DC a few years later. Thanks a zillion, Alan! [Art ©2003 Alan Kupperberg; Invaders TM & ©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.; All-Star Squadron/JSA TM & ©2003 DC Comics.]

After guest-starring The Destroyer in #34, I replaced Union Jack and Spitfire with The Whizzer and Miss America, feeling it was time I did more with Timely’s original heroes—and American ones, at that. I had on my shelf pages for what had once been intended as the first issue of an actual Liberty Legion comic. Penciled by Don Heck, who had drawn the Legion’s earlier Marvel Premiere outings, this art was now sandwiched between work penciled by Alan Kupperberg as most of The Invaders #35, in a story that would also take up #36-37—with a few more leftover Heck pages utilized in #38. More closely related to this article’s stated theme, however, was the super-powered Nazi menace introduced in those issues— The Iron Cross, who was very much the Third Reich’s equivalent of the early, bulky Iron Man. The true Iron Cross, of course, was a major military decoration in the Germany of that era, so I swallowed my usual reluctance to use a word (“iron”) in the name of the new villain that was already part of the name of the hero he reflected. (On a related note, I remember how long and hard I thought before I proposed to Stan a new kung fu hero called Iron Fist, since Marvel already had Iron Man. A few years

(But Only in Comic Books!)

War II setting, a giant stage on which almost any kind of drama could be played—or any type of homage be paid to the heroes and/or villains of yesteryear or the day after tomorrow. It was all, as I had said in the credits box of Invaders #1, “fun, fun, fun”! [ROY THOMAS has written and edited comics, especially for Marvel and DC, since 1965, and counts his WWII-era comics The Invaders and All-Star Squadron among his alltime favorite assignments... but then, why shouldn't he, since he basically assigned them to himself? Just as he means to get back to his ongoing history of All-Star Squadron next issue, he plans to deal with more aspects of Invaders in future months, as well, and would welcome both suggestions as to aspects of the mag to spotlight and photocopies or scans of any original artwork from those 50-plus comics that any reader may have lying around.]

(Above:) Some of the most fun Roy had in the ’90s was working with artist Dave Hoover on an Invaders limited series. In #2’s splash, Miss America literally falls by an Invaders confab (that’s The Thin Man in the background). (At right:) #3 revived Jack Kirby’s 1940s rendition of The Vision, in an homage to John Buscema’s classic Avengers #57 cover, with The Blazing Skull added to the mix. The cover is repro’d from the original art, from Roy’s collection. Thanks to Dave Hoover. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Monthly! Edited and published by Robin Snyder

Write to: Robin Snyder, 2284 Yew St. Rd. #B6, Bellingham, WA 98226-8899

Bob Deschamps

An Interview with a Little-known but Fascinating Staff Artist of Marvel’s Golden Age! Interview Conducted & Transcribed by Jim Amash

“I Started as an Office Boy”

[INTERVIEWER’S NOTE: JIM AMASH: There’s precious What? You say you never little information around heard of Bob Deschamps? regarding your comic book Don’t be ashamed. Neither had career, which is why I was I—nor had I seen any biograsurprised when Dave Gantz phical information listed for told me about you. You must him anywhere, not even in not have signed your comic Jerry Bails’ indispensable book work. Who’s Who in American BOB DESCHAMPS: Well, I Comic Books! I didn’t even started at Timely Comics as a know he’d worked in comics, messenger/office boy. Gary till former Timely staffer Dave Keller lived on my block in Gantz (whom I interviewed Forest Hills and I showed him for A/E #13—thanks, Dave!) A rousing photo of some of the Berndt Toast Gang, 1994! (L. to r.:) Al Jaffee, some of my work. He said then and now a top cartoonist for Mad magazine (and a longtime Timely staffer told me about him. One reason there was an opening for an himself!)... Bob Deschamps, in his advertising days... and Art Cummings, he’s so unknown is that he cartoonist for Penthouse. Photo courtesy of Bob Deschamps. office boy at Timely Comics. I never signed his name to any of said I’d be interested in that, the many comics stories he and that’s how I got started at Timely. inked. It’s too bad we can’t distribute audio copies of our interview. If we did, Robert Gabriel Deschamps would have you crying as well Every night I would go home and practice penciling and inking, then as laughing at his stories (as I did several times in the course of intertake the work to the office for criticism from people who worked there. viewing him). Nobody has ever made me laugh more than Bob did as Eventually, I took some stuff in to Stan Lee, who liked it and said, he regaled me with great personal yarns about working at Timely in “Okay. Monday morning you start here as a staff inker.” I jumped up the 1940s. Thanks to him, we can give you a sense of what it was like and down and started running out of the office, and Stan yelled, “Wait! to do so; and we can all learn more about some of these people who Come back here. Where are you going?” I was just so damn happy, and fashioned dreams for millions of children—and maybe a few adults, too. Pardon me while I go get another hanky. —Jim.]

If the Mike Sekowsky-penciled page at left from Cowboy Romances #3 (March 1950) was inked by Bob Deschamps, even he couldn’t identify it at this late date— but Bob did sign some of his later advertising work, which was agented by Gerald & Culen Rapp, Inc., of New York. Timely expert Dr. Michael J. Vassallo, who provided copies of most of the comic art attributed to Deschamps for this article, believes that artist did indeed ink the page. [Cowboy Romances art ©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.; advertising art ©2003 the respective copyright holder.]

16 Stan asked, “How much are you making now?” I said I was making $24 a week and he said, “Starting Monday, it’ll be $48 a week.” So I jumped up and down some more. [laughs] This was shortly after World War II, in 1945. After a while, I got a raise to $55 a week. Everybody had to produce two pages a day, but since I was so new in the business, Stan said I only had to do one page or a page and a half. If I could do two pages, fine. Stan never jumped on me. I was new at the game, but the stuff I was doing was professional quality. I learned to do thick and thin lines with a brush. People like Al Sulman and Gary Keller helped teach me. Eventually, I got to a page and half a day, but years later, when I was working for Dell Publishing, I was whipping stuff out like crazy. People there would say, “How do you do it so fast?” JA: Was Vince Fago still editing when you started? DESCHAMPS: Vince Fago was leaving his editorial position because Stan was coming back. [NOTE: Fago held down Stan Lee’s job while Lee was in the service from 1942-45. See A/E #11.]

Who Is Bob Deschamps... hair a little and she giggled and walked down the hall. This guy across the hall was working in the stock room and he invited me in, and this was the very teacher I had looked forward to seeing. He said, “Put up your fists. You put up your fists and mess my hair up and I’ll knock you into the ground!” I said, “Jesus! I don’t want to study with this guy.” So finally, I left Grover Cleveland, bent to my father’s wishes, and went to a vocational school. I was there for some time and nothing was working out at all. It was a place where the police came in every day and locked somebody up for burglary or some other thing. So I quit school altogether. Years later, I was in the Navy and someone suggested that I take my high school equivalency exam, which I did. The man said I did great on the exam and told me to take the college equivalency tests. I took a bunch of those tests and got two years’ college equivalency credit.

While I was there, I was doing training aids and was sent to C.I.C. [Combat Intelligence Center] School out in Glenview, Illinois. I was getting familiar with the place and noticed that the school had all their officers JA: So you got the job as an there and was only working with office boy hoping to break in as lecturers, and I’m thinking they an artist? Mike Sekowsky, who’d be noted in the 1960s as the original artist on should have training aides for Justice League of America, was a Timely mainstay on virtually all genres this stuff. I went to see the man DESCHAMPS: Yeah. I never in the 1940s. This splash is from Human Torch #32 (Sept. 1948), by which time who was running the school and went to art school, though I Sun Girl had replaced Toro as the Torch’s sidekick. Inker unknown. Thanks to Mike asked him why he didn’t have Costa & Blake Bell. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.] wanted to, because my parents training aides for these people. were very much against it. My He said, “It’s all classified and father was a licensed plumber and he wanted me to take over his secret.” I told him I could do it. He said, “Really?” and gave me a business. I didn’t have much interest in that, because we didn’t get along problem dealing with radar vectors and so on, and I illustrated radar too well on the job. Father and son routines don’t always work out. signals. JA: I’ve seen instances of that. By the way, when and where were you The head of the school said they were great and asked me who I was born? working for. I told him and he said, “Okay. Now you’re working for me.” From then on, I was up in the drafting room, doing visual aids. DESCHAMPS: November 26, 1928, in New York City. I had a sister Flop charts and things like that. who was five years older than me, but she passed away about seven years ago. In grade school, I asked my art teacher about an art school This was during the Korean War. When Harry Truman brought about that I could go to. She recommended Washington Irving High School the draft, I didn’t want to get drafted into the Navy, so I joined the and I applied there. I was rejected because it was an all-girls school. Naval Reserve at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn. I got into a P.B.Y. squadron, which I loved very much, and became a plane captain on JA: [laughs] So much the better! P.B.Y.s. P.B.Y. 5-A is a consolidated flying boat—an amphibious flying DESCHAMPS: It would have been. My father didn’t look into it boat with twin engines. It was used for search-and-rescue and some whatsoever, and I switched and went to Grover Cleveland for a couple bombings and things like that. It was designed in the 1930s and was still of years. They were supposed to have a decent teacher there. I was in the being used. I had tried to enlist in World War II but was too young. A hall one day as a monitor when one of the girls I knew walked down the few of us went to Grand Central Station to sign up and the man there hall and we chatted for a moment or two. When she left, I fluffed up her said, “Kid, bring your mother back here.” So that didn’t work out.

...And Why Is He Saying All Those Crazy Things About Timely?

badly that he was throwing all this stuff away. Gary was also kind of a “supply sergeant.” He’d hand out WinsorNewton brushes, pencils, etc. He was a pretty tough guy to get a new brush from. You had to prove like crazy you were out of the old brush. Gary wasn’t a bad guy, but I heard other people, like Mike Sekowsky, say he was a spy for Stan Lee. I never thought he was a spy. Mike was a rather convoluted person, too. JA: Was Keller an older man? DESCHAMPS: Yes. He was married and had a son who might have been in the service. Either he or his son had a 1928 Dodge, if you can imagine that. And I bought it from him. It was the first car I ever owned. A friend and I used to go bar hopping and we’d meet a woman in a bar and tell her we had a car. She’d ask what kind of car was it and we’d try to be very sophisticated and say it was a “Frère Dodgée,” which in French means Dodge Brothers. [laughs] Frankly, Ye Editor has always been cracked up by the caption to this Dave Berg caricature of Al Sulman, from Stan Lee’s 1947 mini-tome Secrets behind the Comics. What precisely is a “personal associate of Stan Lee”? But if Roy’s so smart, how come he never asked Al, all those years back in the ’70s when they played poker together one Friday night a month? [©2003 Stan Lee.]

About This Guy “Gary Keller”... JA: You sound like a brave man to me. Getting back to your earlier days, you’ve told me you went to vocational school before you started at Timely, and then you met Gary Keller. What can you tell me about him? DESCHAMPS: He built a mechanical silkscreen machine. Silk screening was always done by hand, but he built this mechanism that he had in his basement. Gary never progressed any further with it, but he showed me how it worked, and it worked great. He should have gotten a patent on it and done something with it, but he never did. Gary assisted Vince Fago, and when Stan Lee came back, Gary became his assistant. He was more into production and not editing. He was their cover colorist. His wife was freelance-lettering for us, and the other letterers got annoyed with her because she could only letter in italics [laughter] Gary and I got along okay and used to go to work together. He wasn’t very talkative. When Al Jaffee got out of the service, he became a tenant of Gary’s, and that’s when I met Al Jaffee. He was still in uniform at the time. The three of us used to take the Long Island Railroad in to Penn Station and walk to the Timely offices, which were in the Empire State Building. There was a stock room at Timely, and I went in there one day. Timely had housed all the art for their pulp magazines in this room, and there were all these great dry brush illustrations there. I saw Gary throwing the stuff out and I said, “But all this stuff is great.” And he said, “Nah. It’s all junk.” I felt rather

JA: [laughs] Very smooth. How long were you an office boy?

DESCHAMPS: A little over two months. As I said, I’d go home every night and work on my art. When penciled pages were rejected for whatever reason, Al Sulman and Gary Keller gave them to me and I went home and practiced on them. That’s how I got into the inking business. Al Sulman also worked in the magazine department. He was writing an advice column, which was purported to be written by a woman. But he had his hand in the comics, too, and that’s why he was able to give me pages to do those samples.

JA: That’s interesting, because some people have described Timely to me as being a comic company that just bought pages by the pound. It’s amazing to me that there were rejected pages. DESCHAMPS: Well, occasionally somebody would reject something, or maybe the story had been changed so there were unused pages lying around.

“We Were Paid in Cash” JA: As an office boy, what were your duties? DESCHAMPS: I was a messenger. I used to have to ride the Third Avenue El down to Beaver Street to deliver stuff there, and also to 366 Madison Avenue. Also, I was the coffee go-getter. I’d take orders for lunch and run down to 33rd Street and bring back sandwiches. And other little office-boy things. I remember a woman named Sylvia, who was the paymaster. On payday, people would line up and she’d hand out checks or cash. JA: It’s amazing that you were paid in cash. DESCHAMPS: Yes. At one time, we were paid in cash. I still remember their telephone number: Bryant 9-5890. That was because there were two twin sisters at the reception window and they would call on me to deliver things and they also ran the switchboard. Every Frank Carin, too, was caricatured in time they answered the phone, they’d say, Secrets behind the Comics. Whether or not he drew this super-early atomic “5890.” It stuck in my head. bomb story starring Mighty Mouse that appeared in Terry-toons #39 (Dec. 1945), he advised Bob Deschamps to avoid the Mouse That Soared at Paul Terry’s animation studio. [Caricature ©2003 Stan Lee; Mighty Mouse TM & ©2003 the respective copyright holder.]

JA: What floor were the Timely offices on? DESCHAMPS: The 14th. JA: Did your job involve taking art to the engravers for publication?

Who Is Bob Deschamps...

DESCHAMPS: No. The only time I did that was when I was inking Mighty Mouse over Frank Carino’s pencils. The art was being reproduced up in Meridian, Connecticut, for the Terry-toons Studios, and for some reason or other, the art was getting there late. So I became an office boy again and was told to deliver the work there. Frank Carino told me, “Don’t ever work for Terry-toons. You’ll go blind working on those animated cells.”

But it reached a point after a few years where, every Friday, someone would get fired. And then, finally, Stan Lee called everybody in and let the whole staff go. So everyone worked on a freelance basis after that.

While I was at Terry-toons later, somebody asked me who did this art, and I said I had done the inking over Frank Carino. He said, “How would you like to do the same thing for us?” I said, “No, thanks.”

DESCHAMPS: Probably. I can tell you some of the crazy things that went on there.

JA: Carino had previously worked there, right? DESCHAMPS: Yes. For some reason, he changed his name to Carin. JA: I was told his wife asked him to drop the “o” in Carino, so he shortened it to Carin. DESCHAMPS: Something like that, yes. Then it went around the office and people started singing, “Carina. Carina. Like an office cleana.” There were always gags going around the office. It was a helluva fun place to work in. I learned a lot just working there and it was very good.

JA: That was in February of 1950, wasn’t it?

“Crazy Things That Went On There” JA: Please do. DESCHAMPS: Dave Berg was like a Boy Scout. He wanted to work in the room we were in and squeezed his table into that little room with his taboret and a tobacco jar and eight to ten pipes around that humidor. He would tell crazy stories that were like Boy Scout activities, like he was building a boat out of some junk. It was a great endeavor for him. Murray Postel was an inker there, and he found that he could annoy the hell out of Dave Berg by coming in on Monday morning and telling him incest stories about him with his mother and sister. Dave Berg met a Polish woman who became his girlfriend. He asked Ed Winiarski if he knew a romantic poem that he could recite to his girlfriend’s parents. So Winny wrote this poem in Polish, and I can only remember the first few lines, which were, “Strata crova, strata voo.” Dave memorized the poem, and one Monday he came into work and was mad as hell because the poem started, “First, the big cow sh*t and then the little cow sh*t.” I pulled some crap on Dave, too. While he was in Stan Lee’s office with a story he had written and penciled, I emptied his humidor and put some pencil shavings in there. Apparently Stan had said, “Wonderful job,” and Dave came back in the room, singing, “Oh, smoking’s a pleasure,” while he loaded up his pipe with the pencil shavings. He lit the pipe and the damn thing went off like a rocket. Some other great little stories: Al Jaffee got a Mason jar and soldered two little tubes into the cap of the Mason jar. He told me what his plan was, and I got two little rubber hoses and my football pump. We drilled a little hole through a metal partition that had glass on top that you couldn’t see through and metal on the bottom and slid the tubes through the hole. We filled this jar with moldy, stinky cheese, and every once in a while, we’d give a few pumps of this stuff in there to the other side. The people working in there smelled this and said, “Someone broke wind in here. It’s disgusting!” That went on for quite some time.

The late great Dave Berg, who for many years drew one of Mad’s most popular features (“The Lighter Side of...”), cut his eyeteeth on features like this “Frankie” story from Georgie #23 (July 1949). Thanks to Doc Vassallo for both the photocopy and the (admittedly tentative) artist identification. Yeah, we know we printed this self-caricature of Dave’s back in A/E V3#7, but consider this our subtle way of reminding you that, before he concentrated on humor, in the early 1940s he had drawn “Captain Marvel” tales and covers for Fawcett. [Frankie art ©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.; caricature ©estate of Dave Berg.]

It used to get very warm in the Empire State Building because there was no air-conditioning. I would use Talcum powder on my hands so I could move them easier across the page while inking. I was out of the room one day. When I came back, Mike Sekowsky, who sat alongside of my table, was complaining about how hot it was, saying, “Oh, geez, it’s hot in here. Hey, Bob, aren’t you hot? You must be sweating all over the place.” I was sweating all over the place, so I took my Talcum powder and raised my arm to put some on me. But they had taken the Talcum bottle and filled it with water. I got soaked. There were gags played on everybody.

...And Why Is He Saying All Those Crazy Things About Timely?

Martin Goodman used to play poker with us at lunch sometimes. There were several guys playing and we’d take out a drawing table, flatten it out, and sit around and play nickeland-dime poker. Murray Postel and I went out one day and bought turtleneck shirts. We brought them back to the office and all the guys loved these shirts, particularly the poker players. The next day we all had these shirts on and Martin Goodman comes in and sees these shirts and said, “Tomorrow, I’ll get one of these shirts, too, and we’ll all sit and play poker with these shirts on.”

children and then she left him, got a divorce, and moved back to Washington State, taking the children with her. Mike asked me to go out there with him and help him kidnap his children, which I was not in favor of doing.

So Goodman left, and after he was gone, we all decided to put on white shirts and ties to look very formal. Goodman comes in the next day wearing his turtleneck shirt and saw us at the table dressed formally, and he got kind of annoyed at that because he was being left out of the group. There were all sorts of crazy things going on.

I’ll tell you one drinking story about him. We used to go the Russell bar on Park Avenue on Friday’s with a few other staffers for lunch. One time, Mike introduced me to martinis. A few of the staffers went back to work and we had one martini after another and before we knew it, it was five o’clock and Mike was drunk as a skunk. I walked him up to Grand Central Station, put him on the train, went home, and got in my car and drove to my favorite saloon for another martini.

Eventually, Mike moved to California to work for HannaBarbera, and Bob Singer was his boss—a friend of mine (I met him years later when I moved to California). Bob said that Mike was a terrible guy and difficult to get along with.

JA: What was Martin Goodman like? DESCHAMPS: He was not a bad guy. I didn’t have too much to do with him. He had this big front office and when I was an office boy, I’d see him two or three times, delivering things to and for him.

The next day, my car broke down and I walked up to a place on Queens Boulevard where there was an orchestra and dancing. I thought that was a good place to meet people and I ordered a martini. I drank about half of it and that was it! I had to leave. I started to walk home through Forest Hills Gardens and went to sleep there. I woke up about one a.m. I was lying on somebody’s lawn and it had snowed while I slept. I was covered with snow, got up, and saw a big silhouette of myself on the grass where there was no snow.

JA: I had never heard of him playing poker with the staffers before. I was under the assumption that Goodman didn’t associate with the help that much. DESCHAMPS: Well, he did a couple of times. Rob Solomon, who was a relative of Goodman’s, used to play poker with us, too. When I was an office boy, Robbie used to have me deliver things. He wasn’t a bad guy, and he shared an office with Frank Torpey. From what I understood about Torpey, he was the man who got Goodman’s magazines on the newsstands. JA: I have the impression that Robbie Solomon wasn’t liked by everyone.

“Mike Sekowsky and I” DESCHAMPS: I don’t know about that. I got along fine with most everybody. Mike Sekowsky and I became very good friends. We used to go down to Greenwich Village and have parties with people down there. It wasn’t until years later that I found out how anti-Semitic he was. I got so angry at him and asked him, “How can you make those remarks? How can you do that? You dated all these Jewish women.” He said, “I just wanted to sleep with them.” I had to break off the friendship. You’ve heard stories about him, haven’t you? JA: Yes, but I never heard he was anti-Semitic. DESCHAMPS: Well, that was many years after we worked together. He married Joanne Latta and she also lived in Forest Hills, so we’d take the subway home together once in a while. She was a very nice person, and for some reason or other she married Mike. They had a couple of

Monday morning came and Mike didn’t show up for work. He was bent over the whole weekend and finally showed up for work on Tuesday. On Wednesday, he went back to the Russell bar and the bartender said, “You guys have the record for drinking martinis. You each had seventeen martinis.” Remember, I had gone to my favorite bar afterwards and had another one, so that was eighteen for me. I had started another one but it knocked me out! Mike came back on Thursday and told me that we had drunk seventeen martinis. He was cursing at me, “You S.O.B.! You must have a wooden leg. How could you drink so much?” [laughs] Now, I was only seventeen when I started working at Timely. There was a bar in the Empire State Building, and on Fridays a few people would go down and have a drink or two there. The bartender knew us all, as did the woman who brought us hors-d’oeuvres. It came around to my birthday and somebody bought me a drink and everybody starts shouting “Happy Birthday!” The bartender said, “Oh, it’s your birthday. How old are you now?” I said, “Eighteen.” He said, “You’ve been coming here for a year now!” Eighteen was the legal age for drinking at that time in New York. [laughs] JA: Wasn’t Sekowsky considered one of the top artists at Timely? DESCHAMPS: He was. Mike was a terrific artist and very fast. He could do animated, teenage, and adventure stuff. He could do it all! His

Who Is Bob Deschamps...

Pals Mike Sekowsky (above right) and inker George Klein (left) were caricatured together in some of Timely’s mid-’40s humor comics—but that was before they had a falling-out over a female! This panel detail with incomplete balloons (which identify the participants) was sent by Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr.— while the splash of the earlier Sekowsky-Klein collaboration “Black Widow” from U.S.A. Comics #5 (Summer 1942) is signed by both artists. Thanks to Mark Austin of Acme Comics in Greensboro, North Carolina, for the latter scan. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

pencils were kind of loose. I inked some of his work. He liked my inks over his romance work. One of the things Mike said to me was that, “You’re only as good as your swipe file.” He had a swipe file, but I never saw him use it. Apparently, it was all etched in his head to begin with. I remember one year when the new Oldsmobiles came out and Syd Shores drew one in a “Captain America” story. He was so proud that he could draw that car and make it look like that Oldsmobile. He used his swipe file. Mike discovered a television art instructor in New Hope, Pennsylvania, so we went to visit him. We did some painting there. Mike had bought a Chevy convertible and we drove there in it. I had just bought my second car, which was a Pontiac convertible, and I drove us there on our next visit. Mike was annoyed because I now had a better car than he did. Mike had an ego. He had gotten a big scar across his forehead and for some reason other people admired this scar, which I didn’t understand. Dave Gantz can tell you about that. JA: Dave said Sekowsky fell out of a car and his hair got caught in the spokes of the tire, pulling out some of his hair. DESCHAMPS: Women dug him because he had this scar on head. Crazy, hey? JA: Do you remember his dating Violet Barclay? DESCHAMPS: Yes, and there was a conflict there between Mike and George Klein because Violet had dated both men, so they didn’t get along. They were not on speaking terms. George Klein lived in the same apartment building as Chris Rule. They were several floors apart. I liked Chris. He was nice guy who had once been a fashion illustrator for the Hearst newspapers. But his style went out of vogue and he couldn’t get work, so he switched to comic books in order to make a living. He used to get bombed once in a while, and Chris and his wife would have a fight in which one or both of them would throw their silverware out the window. The building janitor would find this silverware and, knowing who it belonged to, would bring it back to the Rules’ apartment. This was a common occurrence. JA: Would you agree that Rule looked like Santa Claus? DESCHAMPS: Oh, yes. He was rotund as can be, with white hair. If he put a beard on he’d have looked just like Santa Claus. And he may have done that on several occasions. Chris Rule may well have inked this dramatic Sekowsky splash from My Own Romance #14 (June 1950)—but even Doc V., who provided photocopies and ID, can’t be certain. Why didn’t more artists sneak their initials into their artwork? (Answer: they didn’t care!) [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

JA: Dave Gantz described him as a “man about town.” Would you agree with that? DESCHAMPS: Somewhat, yes. He went to very nice restaurants. Once,

...And Why Is He Saying All Those Crazy Things About Timely? he mentioned a particular restaurant that was very nice, so I took a date there. We sat down, the waiter brought the menus. I ordered a drink and looked at the menu. Then, I discovered I didn’t have enough money to buy dinner and it was very embarrassing because we had to get up and leave the restaurant. Very embarrassing. JA: I heard there was a time when Rule was always in need of money. DESCHAMPS: I don’t know about that. He lived in a rather nice apartment. At one time, he apparently did have a lot of money and lost it. Perhaps it was a situation of having too much at one time and not as much later. JA: What do you remember about George Klein? DESCHAMPS: He was penciling a number of features, including Nellie The Nurse and Millie The Model, as was Frank Carin. I was inking some of those stories. George was a very quiet, pleasant guy. When something bad happened, he’d say, “That’s not very neighborly.” That stuck in my mind for years and when something bad happened, I’d say, “That’s not very neighborly, you know.”

21 Bellman penciled and inked his own stuff. His parents owned a bakery in Brooklyn and, in virtually every story he drew, he’d sneak in a mention for Bellman’s Bakery. But he had a bit of a tragedy. He suffered from Bell’s Palsy and his whole face was lopsided. Now, in the early days of television, the sets had a giant magnifying glass in front of the screen. He came into the office with it one day and walked around the place, holding up the magnifying glass in front of his face to make it look more distorted. JA: He obviously wasn’t insecure about his problem. Or maybe it was his way of turning tragedy into comedy. DESCHAMPS: Something like that, yes. Another fellow who worked there was Leon Winick. When everybody was fired by Stan in 1950, Leon started working for Elliot Caplin at Toby Press on westerns and other genres. I started inking for him then. Elliot Caplin was Al Capp’s brother.

Eventually, we got a syndicated newspaper strip. Gill Fox was drawing Jeanie; Selma Diamond George was a nice-looking, tall For much of the hero’s 1941-49 run, after first Simon & Kirby and wrote and created man. But there was a big “to-do” then Al Avison departed Timely for greener pastures (in every sense it. Gill Fox decided between George and Mike Sekowsky of the word), Syd Shores was the major Captain America artist. to quit the strip because George dated Violet Barclay Blake Bell, who sent this art-scan from C.A. #65 (1948), says that and Leon took it after Mike did. That broke up their issue is one of his favorites. The caricature of Syd Shores is from over. I was inking it Stan Lee’s Secrets behind the Comics. We’ve printed some of these friendship. for him, emulating Dave Berg caricatures before, but you can’t improve on perfection. Gill Fox’s style, using a crow quill There was another little story about [C.A. art ©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.; caricature ©2003 Stan Lee.] and a brush for deep shadows. That Violet Barclay. She was an inker, also. went on for a year or so before Selma Diamond decided to drop the Magic Markers came out about that time and Mike was doodling with strip. them on the other side of his penciled pages. The stuff he drew was pornographic. Violet Barclay was going home on the subway and In the meantime, Leon was having trouble. I would go to his house to looking at the pages, and people on the subway saw those drawings on pick the work up and he was suffering from depression. Sometimes the the backside. She turned the pages over and was shocked at what she work wasn’t penciled and I started doing the penciling and inking on it. saw. She got angry as hell at Mike for giving her these pages with those I’d take the work to the Herald-Tribune Syndicate where Harold drawings on the back. [laughs] Violet was a rather attractive lady with Straubling was the editor. I knew him from Timely Comics. dark hair, and kind of a tall person. I didn’t know her very well. JA: Mike Sekowsky wasn’t well liked by the other staffers, was he? DESCHAMPS: There were a number of people who did not get along with him.

“Tragedy into Comedy” DESCHAMPS: Did anyone ever mention Al Bellman to you? JA: Yes. Rudy Lapick did. [See upcoming Lapick interview in A/E #22.] DESCHAMPS: Al Bellman was doing some adventure stuff in the same room with Vince Alascia, Al Sulman, Frank Carin, and Syd Shores.

When the word came out that Selma Diamond was dropping the strip, I went to Harold and said, “I’m doing the penciling and inking. I can write the strip, too.” Straubling told me, “Diamond owns it. She dropped it. Forget about it.” So that’s the way that went. Years later, I got a call from Leon, and he was in a psycho ward in King’s Park, out on Long Island. He wanted me to come out and rescue him—climb up on the roof with a rope and come down like Batman to get him out, which I couldn’t do. Leon was married to a mortician and I think that was one of things that sent him in a depression. He used to get mummified once in a while. [laughs] JA: I have to ask you this: people were always wanting you to do things. Are you a big guy?

Who Is Bob Deschamps...

DESCHAMPS: I’m six foot two, with a good build.

JA: Did you deal with Elliot Caplin much?

JA: Now I know why people wanted you to be a kidnapper and act like Batman. [laughs]

DESCHAMPS: Not at all. But I did hear stories about Al Capp, which were all second-hand. Capp had one leg and he was a performer in front of messengers: having sex with some lady on a desk while a messenger kid was hiding in a closet so he could watch. Helen Bennett told me this. She worked at Toby Press and had worked at Timely before that. She had been an editor in the magazine department and was one of the women in the room when Al Jaffee and I did the Mason jar gag.

DESCHAMPS: Yes. It was crazy. Here’s another nifty story. Joe Giella [then a Timely artist] and I would go out once in a while, and one year at Christmas time his family was having a party over in Astoria. We had a few drinks, then went over to his house. Joe’s grandfather was there and, being Italian, they had a goat’s head there. Joe introduced me to his parents and grandfather, who was a rotund man. His grandfather and I were chatting in the kitchen, and as a great gesture of friendship he offered me one of the goat’s eyes to eat. I was rather dubious about it. I had a glass of Scotch in my hand and dropped the eye into the Scotch. The grandfather became infuriated, so I took the Scotch and swallowed the whole thing in one gulp. The grandfather said [Deschamps affects an Italian accent], “Hey, Joe! You got a friend here! He’s a wonderful man here!” [laughs] JA: You have more nerve than I have. I don’t think I could have done that. DESCHAMPS: [still laughing] It wasn’t easy, but I could see the expression on the guy’s face so I figured, “What the hell?” I grew up in a family that ate all different kinds of dishes. JA: Now that I think about it, Deschamps is not a common name. DESCHAMPS: It’s French. My full name is Robert Gabriel Maurice Deschamps. I threw the Maurice in there because it was my grandfather’s name. My great grandfather was an artisan—not a well.

I met Helen years later when she worked for Time-Life. I was doing work for Life magazine, and every six weeks I went from my studio to the RCA Building for conferences with the editors. I was going to do some illustrations for a particular column, but I had to do the art right there. I couldn’t go back to my studio and work. That went on for several months, and six other cartoonists were working there, too. Then they decided to drop the thing altogether, and all six of the cartoonists were invited to Pearl’s for Chinese food. JA: When you were inking Winick for Caplin, you never went into the offices? DESCHAMPS: That’s right. I just delivered the stuff to Winick. JA: So he paid you and not Caplin? DESCHAMPS: That’s right. Some years after Timely, Leon Winick and I were working together on a strip called Sunnysides that we were trying to sell for newspaper syndication. It never really went anywhere.

JA: [laughs] You knew what I was going to say, didn’t you? DESCHAMPS: Very well! Anyway, he came over from Europe and did sculpture on the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., when they were building it. And while he was here, my grandfather was born in Washington, which automatically made him a United States citizen. They all went back to France and, many years later, my grandfather came back and became a fashion designer. So my great-grandfather was a sculptor, my grandfather was a fashion designer, my father was a plumber, and I became a cartoonist. That’s my background.

“Twenty Guys Voted on the Strip...” JA: That’s some background. Let me go back to Leon Winick for a moment. Did you meet him at Timely? DESCHAMPS: Yes. He was penciling humor features and maybe I did a little stuff with him at that time. Then the Korean War came along and I was activated into the Navy in the P.B.Y. squadron at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn. Half of the squadron went on one aircraft carrier and the other half went out on another aircraft carrier. For some reason, I was sent to Glenview, Illinois, so I was in contact with Leon and once in a while he’d send a job out to the Naval base so I could keep my hand in. I was already doing training aids by that time. Eventually he did some westerns at Toby, as I mentioned. I’d go over to his house and he’d greet me in his pajamas in the middle of the day. Dave Gantz recently told me that Winick later committed suicide.

Just so we don’t forget who’s being interviewed here, this self-caricature by Bob Deschamps was done during his years in commercial art—though we’ve placed it with a Georgie cover (#17, July 1948) which Bob might have inked. But then again, not even Doc Vassallo, who provided the scan, is certain who penciled it, and that’s usually a little easier to tell. Georgie, one of Timely’s chief entries in the pseudo-Archie sweepstakes, was one of the main comics Deschamps inked in the late ’40s. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

...And Why Is He Saying All Those Crazy Things About Timely?

When Ed Winiarski was at Timely, he thought up an idea for a strip called Chesta Minute. We worked on it at his house; he penciled and I inked and we collaborated on the writing. We got the presentation together and went to a syndicate. In those days, you could go to the syndicates and speak to somebody. You can’t do that anymore. Now, it has to be done through an agent or over a transom. I worked on several strips over the years and came close to selling one just once. The strip was called Aunt Hett. The main character was a little old lady who was doing all sorts of nifty, current things. And she had a cat who wanted to be a dog. The cat would eat dog biscuits and barked. Aunt Hett drove around in souped-up cars and hot rods. I went up the Daily News Syndicate and they said, “We like the cat. Why don’t you do something with the cat to compete with Snoopy from Peanuts?” I said, “That’s very nice. Can you put some money up front?” They said they couldn’t do that. I had worked on this stuff for so many years and never got anywhere with it, so I just walked away from it. And about a year later, Garfield came out. I had another strip idea in another place and they rather liked it and sent it out to the Herald-Tribune [Syndicate]. The guy there told me, “Twelve guys voted on the strip...” they had to have an unanimous vote... “and you missed it by one vote.” So that went down the tubes, also. JA: Oh, man! That’s frustrating. DESCHAMPS: That’s why I asked for up-front money when they wanted me to do that cat strip.

“All Those Names Are Familiar...” JA: I’d like to know more about Ed Winiarski. DESCHAMPS: Ed was married with a couple of kids in Queens, New York. He was also a bit of a gardener and he grew strawberries. He came to work one day with strawberries that were as big as golf balls. He was a good strawberry grower. JA: I have the impression that he was older than most of the other staffers. DESCHAMPS: Well, he had a family. Chris Rule was the oldest. Ed and I got along okay and he had a sense of humor good enough to write

Ed Winiarski, too, was caricatured in Stan Lee’s Secrets behind the Comics in ’47—but mostly he drew caricatures, as in the “Wanted” posters on the wall in this splash from Krazy Comics #5 (Jan. 1943), where he skewered Dave Gantz, Mike Sekowsky, Vince Fago (or is it Vince Alascia?), Don Rico, George Klein, Syd Shores, Mel Blum—and “Bobo Lee.” Could “Bobo” be Stan Lee, who was in the Army at the time, though still writing a few stories for Timely? Thanks to Doc V. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

“Strata crova, strata voo.” He did several features like Silly Seal and Ziggy Pig and Hedy Devine. He did both animated and teenage features. He did just pencils. I did some of his inking. When we were trying to sell that strip to a syndicate, we sat in the lobby with Fontaine Fox, who did the Toonerville Trolley strip. Fox was a guy who had been around for years and I wondered what was happening. Was he trying to get another syndicate job? What happened to Toonerville Trolley? I didn’t know. JA: Did Winiarski write for Timely? DESCHAMPS: He might have written some stuff. I don’t recall him writing, just penciling. JA: There are some writers I’d like to ask you about: Kin Platt, Ed Jurist, and Ernie Hart. DESCHAMPS: All those names are familiar, but I can’t place them. They must not have worked on staff. It’s easier to remember staffers because I saw them every day. Freelancers would only pop in once in a while, and I may not have seen them when they did. JA: Did Syd Shores have any editorial duties at Timely? DESCHAMPS: He worked on Captain America. When I was the office boy, there was a suspicion that Syd wore a toupee. Somebody, maybe it was Mike Sekowsky, said, “When you bring that sandwich to him, say, ‘You have to pay.’” So I went over with coffee and the sandwich and said, “You have to pay.” That might have gone over his head, if you’ll pardon the expression. [laughs] Syd was a nice guy. Once he wanted to sell his car and we talked about it, but he wanted too much money for it, so I didn’t buy it. A few weeks later, I bought Gary Keller’s son’s car, the 1928 “Frère Dodgée.” Syd was bothered by it a little.

Who Is Bob Deschamps... DESCHAMPS: I heard about it someplace. I think Dave Gantz told me that, but I’ve never even heard you snicker. JA: It’s true. I’m very quiet and reserved. [laughs harder] Now I forgot my next question. Oh, we were talking about Syd Shores. DESCHAMPS: Vince Alascia was inking Shores’ work. There was a fan in that room, and one time Vince hung his tie up on a peg of some sort. This was an oscillating fan that kept blowing his tie off the wall. After this happened a number of times, Vince got mad as hell and he was going to fix that thing. He made an effort to fix the fan and in his effort to fix it, his fingers got all chopped up. But I heard other stories about him when Timely was in the McGraw-Hill Building. People used to come back from lunch... I was not there at all... and they’d go sliding down this marble floor to the door. Somebody let the door go and Vince was sliding towards it very fast and he went through the glass door. Everything screwed up with him. Another thing was that when he was a kid, living up in the Bronx, some gangsters came by shooting somebody with machine guns. Vince dropped to the floor to get out of the way of the bullets. Another time, he came home and found his wife tied up and somebody had stolen the refrigerator. JA: Maybe the thieves were tired of their icebox? DESCHAMPS: The ice-a-box! JA: Did Alascia lose any fingers when he got caught on that fan? DESCHAMPS: No. They were just cut and bleeding. JA: People have described him as being a nervous person. DESCHAMPS: He could have been. He got so nervous about his tie falling off the wall that he tried to do something about it. But he was an all-right sort. JA: Alascia only inked adventure stuff, right?

Bucky may not have died in the latter days of World War II as per The Avengers #4 in 1963, but there were probably days when he thought he might as well have! In Captain America #65 (1948), behind this cover by Syd Shores (and probably inker Vince Alascia), Cap threw him over for a femme fatale. In the very next issue, Bucky got hospitalized by a stray bullet and was replaced by the nondescript Golden Girl for the rest of the original run. Thanks to Blake Bell & Mike Costa. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

JA: Since Shores was drawing Captain America, I’m assuming he was considered to be one of the more important artists there.

DESCHAMPS: Yes. Mostly Captain America. I remember a penciler named Bill Walton. He was in the Navy and he made stories about “Pogy, the Duty Poge.” A Duty Poge was like, your day in the barrel and you’d be buggered. So he was known as “Pogy Walton.” It didn’t really happen in the Navy, though. Sometime later, I was doing slide film art for H.D. Rose, and after a couple of weeks, “Pogy” Walton showed up on the scene. Mr. Rose had a daughter and Walton was making time with her. I found out they were going to offer

DESCHAMPS: Yes. Sekowsky would do Captain America, also, and he referred to the character as “C.A.” JA: Did Shores play cards with your group? DESCHAMPS: No. The group consisted of Mike Sekowsky, Al Jaffee, Frank Torpey, Robbie Solomon, and myself. Martin Goodman played a couple of times, and Murray Postel played occasionally, as would a few other people once in a while. Mike almost always won. JA: Really? That good, huh? DESCHAMPS: He just lucked out with poker. JA: I’m a terrible poker player. DESCHAMPS: You have to have a good poker face for that, you know. You laugh too much. [laughs] JA: How did you guess? [laughs]

Besides inking Syd Shores’ Captain America, Vince Alascia was embellishing other Timely tales, as well—including, if Doc V.’s tentative ID is correct, this Mike Sekowsky “splash” to a story in Love Romances #7 (July ’49), at a time when many of the company’s love stories tended to have splash panels that took up only the top third of the page. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

...And Why Is He Saying All Those Crazy Things About Timely? me a staff job, but Bill Walton got it because he was messing with the boss’ daughter. That was kind of annoying. Bill used to take his eighteen-inch ruler and slam it on his desk once in a while, driving Dave Berg into the ceiling. Everybody liked to tease Dave Berg. Al McLean was another staff artist. He was an oldtime cartoonist who worked with a flexible quill pen. Al and I were chess players. Once in a while, on Saturdays or after work, I’d go to his house and play chess with him. He brought a chessboard into the office, and on our lunch hour we played chess. The game would still be going on when we went back to work. The chessboard was on top of a waste can, which was by my taboret. One afternoon, he came by and sat down and was staring at the chessboard, deciding to make a move. Stan Lee came in, saw him, and said, “Al, you’re fired. Get the hell out!”

but I don’t recall her maiden name. JA: Did Harvey associate with the staffers? DESCHAMPS: Somewhat. He wasn’t in the group that drank after work. He’d drop some work off and chat with people before he left. His work was very graphic with a stark black-&-white look.

I felt slightly responsible for it and said, “Al, you shouldn’t be doing this. Get back to your work.” But he was caught at it and dumped.

Somebody else that I met at Timely was Basil Wolverton. Al Capp had run a “Lena the Hyena” contest, which Wolverton won. He did stuff like “Salesman Sid, the High Pressure Kid,” Powerhouse Pepper, and other crazy features. He was going someplace and I may have been a messenger at that time... I’m not sure. I left the Empire State Building and we were in the elevator together and took a bus uptown. We sat together and I told him how much I liked his work. He was good. He was medium built, dark curly hair, and was older than I expected him to be.

“Speaking of Mad...”

“Eight or Nine Guys...”

JA: That’s too bad. Stan didn’t put up with a lot of nonsense at work, did he? DESCHAMPS: That’s right. That’s when the time clock was put in. It was put in the hall and people would stand in line and punch in and out. People grumbled about it, but it was just a time clock. JA: I knew Dave Gantz didn’t like it, and I assumed he wasn’t the only one. DESCHAMPS: Right. We were coming in with no time clock or sign-in sheet because most everybody would be there at nine o’clock and work until five in the afternoon. We’d go out and have lunch and a drink and maybe the lunch hour would extend to an hour and a half. Maybe that’s why the time clock was put in, because some people noticed others leaving for lunch and not coming back at one. I didn’t like it either but I figured, what the hell. I was happy to be working there.

JA: Do you remember Mario Acquaviva? DESCHAMPS: Yes. He was a good guy, a lettering man. JA: Maybe you can clear something up for me. Some people remember him as a letterer and others remember that he was an inker. Did he do both? DESCHAMPS: He did both. He was a short sort of guy and an Italian. I always loved his last name. It meant “lively water.” He was a staffer, in the big room with us. He didn’t hang out after work, so I didn’t get to know him. JA: There was another letterer there named Fred Eng.

DESCHAMPS: Oh, yeah! I remember him. Fred lived in Chinatown and I either had to deliver something to him or pick something up. He lived in a three- or fourflight walk-up with very dark halls. Each of the tenants who At least this splash page from Joker Comics #13 (Dec. ’43) we know is by Dave Gantz— lived there had something ’cause he signed it over on the left, near the cork in that bottle. Let’s hear it for taking JA: What do you remember inscribed on the doors. It was credit where credit is due! Wish more guys had done it. Thanks to Doc V., yet again. about Dave Gantz from the eerie, scary type of stuff. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.] Timely years? Chinese symbols. He was a staffer in the big room. The Big Room! [laughs] DESCHAMPS: Well, he was less animated, more on the serious side. Later on, he did several newspaper strips, many children’s books, work for Mad magazine, among other things. He’s also quite a good sculptor. I’ve liked a lot of the works he’s made. His son owned a foundry where they’d cast his work in bronze. JA: Speaking of Mad, did you get to know Harvey Kurtzman when he freelanced for Timely? DESCHAMPS: I got to know him fairly well. There was a woman who worked for Al Sulman, and as a young teenager, I was attracted to her. I found out some years later, Harvey married her. Her name was Adele,

JA: Sounds ominous... like the Big House! Do you recall how many people were in that room? DESCHAMPS: The room itself was large. There were eight or nine guys in there, with a partitioned room for Al Sulman and his assistant. I was in a much smaller room with Ed Winiarski and Sekowsky, but we had the same number of people in there. It was a tight fit. JA: Another staff letterer was Artie Simek. DESCHAMPS: Oh, yes. He was a tall, thin guy. Very nice fellow. He

Who Is Bob Deschamps...

worked hard and sat between Al Bellman and Fred Eng. He didn’t play poker with us. JA: You remember Frank Giacoia? DESCHAMPS: I remember Frank. He penciled and inked and was a nice guy. Joe Giella and Frank were Italian and very good friends. Frank helped get Joe into comics. Joe particularly liked Mike Sekowsky because Joe was given an inking job penciled by Mike. Somehow, when he was in the subway, the work blew out of his hands and was crushed up by a train. Mike repenciled the job in a day and a half as a favor to Joe. Joe always remembered Mike did this big favor for him. JA: That was a nice thing to do. A great Mike Sekowsky story. He had some good points. DESCHAMPS: There were some things he did that were good, and we always got along quite well until that incident I told you about. Mike lived up in Mamaroneck, New York, and his father had power tools. Mike was using a saw and almost sliced off a couple of fingers. One finger was partly sliced off on his drawing hand. But he managed to survive that, also. JA: Do you remember Don Rico?

DESCHAMPS: Yes, I do. When I met Don, he was freelancing. He had a brother named Chester who was a boxer. A number of people went to watch him fight; that was the first boxing match I ever went to. We were sitting in the third row and Chester lost the fight. In the fight before that, two men were fighting and blood was flying all over the air. We were splattered with blood, and I never went back to a boxing match again. JA: Do you remember Bill Savage? DESCHAMPS: Yes. I don’t recall too much about him, though. Years later, I met someone at Dell Publishing who was a friend of his. They wanted me to join of group of theirs, but it turned out to be a group like the Communist Party. I wasn’t that much into politics to begin with and I wanted no part of that. Or maybe it was the Socialist Party. Who the hell knows? I was involved in the protests against the Vietnam War. I went to protests to sing out, “Hey. Hey. L.B.J.! How many kids did you kill today?” and stuff like that. JA: I don’t blame you. Do you remember Morris Weiss? DESCHAMPS: I think Morris Weiss was the fellow who, when he came into the studio, would always ask, “So how’s the family?”

JA: Did the staffers pay much attention to what the competition was doing? DESCHAMPS: Very much so. I recall taking some pages up to DC to get some other work. They looked at my work and said, “Oh, look. They’re doing vignettes at Timely.” But nothing happened there, jobwise.

“The Lighter Stuff” JA: Let’s back up a little. Was Mighty Mouse the first thing you inked for Timely? DESCHAMPS: No. I did Silly Seal and Ziggy Pig, and Georgie, among other humor features. I didn’t like doing the adventure comics. Eventually I inked romance comics, as well as Millie the Model , Hedy Devine, and Nellie the Nurse. Al Jaffee had taken over Patsy Walker from Chris Rule and also started writing it. He’d go into the men’s room for an hour or so and come out with a manuscript. His gag was, “Something’s going out, something new has to come in.” [laughs] JA: [big laughter] Why didn’t you like doing adventure comics? DESCHAMPS: I don’t know. I just liked doing the lighter stuff. I liked animation and the teenage comics. JA: How was the work assigned to you? Did they say to you, “Bob, you’re the regular inker on such and such a feature”?

Still more Mike Sekowsky (at least, we think it is!), thanks to Mike Costa and Blake Bell, from Human Torch #32 (Sept. ’48). Incidentally, Sub-Mariner’s female cousin Namora had her own comic for three issues that year. Inker unknown—matter of fact, like we said, we’re not even certain about the penciler. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

DESCHAMPS: There was a lot of switching around. Sometimes it’d be an animation story and then a teenage or romance job. I was at the point where I was doing almost anything but the adventure stuff. After a while, I was pretty regular on the Georgie stuff, but I switched around all the time. JA: Who made those those assignments? Was it Stan? DESCHAMPS: It might have been Stan or it might have been Al

...And Why Is He Saying All Those Crazy Things About Timely? Sulman. Somebody would bring me a story and say, “You’re working on this now.” JA: When you finished a job, who did you turn it in to? DESCHAMPS: Usually Gary Keller or Al Sulman. Once in a while, I got the honor to do cover finishes. That was fun. JA: Did you get a higher rate for doing covers? DESCHAMPS: No. On a freelance basis, I’d take stuff home and I got $14 a page for that. JA: Did you know Bill Everett, the creator of Sub-Mariner? DESCHAMPS: No. JA: I’ve yet to talk to any Timely staffers who worked there during the 1940s who knew him. He must not have worked on staff then.

“Have You Ever Heard of...?” JA: Why didn’t anyone sign their names to the features? Were they told not to? DESCHAMPS: They didn’t tell us not to, but we knew we weren’t supposed to sign the stories. Nobody signed anything. Once in a while, people would sneak their name in, like Al Bellman. JA: I’ve heard that sometimes they’d have several different people pencil a story and several others ink it. Do you remember that happening? DESCHAMPS: Not really. Usually, one person, like Mike Sekowsky, would pencil a ten-page story and someone else would do all the inking. There was never a situation of one person starting a story and someone else finishing it. JA: I take it that everyone left at five o’clock; there was no overtime.

DESCHAMPS: I don’t believe he did. I never met him.

DESCHAMPS: That’s true. Especially after they put that time clock in.

JA: I think Carl Burgos, the creator of The Human Torch, was not on staff then, either. Do you remember him?

JA: I still find it odd that people were occasionally paid in cash.

DESCHAMPS: The name is familiar, but I don’t remember him. When I was young, I remember seeing those comics on the stands. Captain Marvel was another one.

DESCHAMPS: Not many places do that. JA: Maybe it was for tax purposes?

JA: I knew one of the creators of Captain Marvel, C.C. Beck. He was a nice man and a curmudgeon in the best sense of the word. DESCHAMPS: You know a lot of people. JA: Well, I used to run comic book conventions, and we had a lot of guests over the years, so I got to meet a lot of people. Plus the fact that I work in the business as an inker, currently for Archie Comics.

This panel from Georgie #28 (June 1950) may or may not have been penciled by Dave Berg—but it definitely displays the “crosshatching on the back of Georgie’s head” which Bob Deschamps says Stan Lee told Berg to put there in imitation of the Archie look. A couple of issues earlier, there’s no sign of the crosshatching—and it’s gone by #29! Thanks to Doc Vassallo for the photocopy. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

DESCHAMPS: I worked for Archie, after Timely and before I started working on staff for Dell Publications. I had created a feature and went to Archie. Harry Shorten was the editor, and he and Al Fagely were also working on Super Duck. Fagely decided he didn’t want to do it any more and Shorten asked me if I wanted to work on the feature. So I started writing and penciling it for about four or five months before Fagely went to the racetrack and went totally broke so he came back and wanted to do the strip again. So I was kicked out of that. JA: What was Harry Shorten like? DESCHAMPS: He was a nice guy, but I was disappointed that he didn’t pick up the feature I had created. I can’t remember the name of it now, but it was about a little kid who had a friend and dreams about things. This feature was like Calvin and Hobbes, but I never got anywhere with it. Back when I was working for Timely, I inked the Georgie feature. That was supposed to be competition for Archie. Stan Lee came in one day while Dave Berg was working on it and told Dave, “Let’s put crosshatching on the back of Georgie’s head because that’s what Archie has.” Georgie wore a black and white sports jacket, so naturally I bought a black and white sports jacket. I looked like a racetrack tout. [laughs]

DESCHAMPS: I don’t know why it was done. I was about 17 or 18 at the time, and Chris Rule suggested that I open a checking account. There was a bank in the Empire State Building, so I took some of my cash and opened an account. The first time I wrote a check, I thought to myself, “Boy, I’m a big-time operator now. Here I am writing a check for $8!” [laughs] JA: You mentioned that Al Sulman worked in both the magazine and comics departments. Was he an assistant editor, too?

DESCHAMPS: Sulman was very much an editor, because of the fact that people wrote stories for him and he would make art assignments. He was a nice guy with a good sense of humor. JA: Dave Gantz told me that Al Jaffee edited, too.

DESCHAMPS: I don’t remember that. To my knowledge, Al was doing Pasty Walker, and as you know, he later went to Mad magazine. JA: Dave Gantz told me that Jaffee had editorial duties... and that Jaffee created “Patsy Walker.” [EDITOR’S NOTE: Actually, in Alter Ego #16, Timely researcher Michael J. Vassallo noted that the “debut artist” of the “Patsy Walker” feature in Miss America was Ruth Atkinson, not Al Jaffee. But is anyone certain Jaffee didn’t write the first “Patsy” stories?] DESCHAMPS: I didn’t know that. Al Jaffee used to do Patsy Walker; as you know, he later went to Mad magazine. Chris Rule was penciling and inking it and got annoyed when Jaffee took over the writing and penciling, leaving Rule to ink it. Dave and Al lived next door to each other for a great many years. Al had a garage built on his property and he bought a car. Fortunately, it was a convertible. He drove the car into the garage for the first time and it was such a tight squeeze that he couldn’t open the doors to get out. He had to put the roof down to

Who Is Bob Deschamps... fiddle. I went to a club one night and there was Bob Brown with his bass fiddle, having a jam session with the musicians. We had a saying about Bob, which was, “If you don’t know, Bob Brown knows.” There was a little song that also went with that saying, “He’s got a Brown ring around his nose/And it grows and grows and grows.” When someone was brownnosing Stan Lee, he was either brown-nosing or polishing his apple. Something of that nature.

climb over the back of the car to get out. Al told me the story of when he finally sold that house. He was showing somebody around it and whizzed by the garage, saying, “Wide doors. Now here’s the kitchen over here.” [laughs] Another great story about Al. He was married to a woman named Ruth and he had a brother named Harry. Harry was working in the little office that Al had. When Ruth left him, Al told me that Harry was living with him now and said, “Now I’m Ruthless and Harried.” Al had a good sense of humor.

“Martin Goodman’s Brothers”

JA: Gantz and Jaffee knew each other in high school, too. DESCHAMPS: Yes, they did. And while they were in school together, there was this girl that nobody paid attention to. A few years later, she became Miss America, but I can’t remember her name. Have you ever heard of Lin Streeter? JA: Just that he was the artist on Sun Girl and other teenage Timely comics.

JA: Did you ever have to deal with Martin Goodman’s brothers, Abe and Artie? Abe had his own publishing company, though there may have been a tie-in with Martin’s outfit? Lin Streeter, according to interviewer Jim Amash, was the artist of Sun Girl, so presumably this page Jim sent us from issue #3 (Dec. 1948) is his work. “The Mysterious Beauty,” as the mag was subtitled, lasted just three issues in her own mag, tying her with Namora, “The Sea Beauty.” But you can’t have too many King Kong homages—especially in the year Mighty Joe Young was released! [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

DESCHAMPS: Lin Streeter was married and he lived over in New Jersey. Lin was pretty much a brown-bagger, meaning he brought in his own lunch. But he’d get hungry while riding the train in and would eat his lunch before he got to the office. So some of the nice girls in the office would leave Lin a few chocolate cupcakes with cream in the middle. He’d gobble them down, and one day a couple of them were left for him to eat. But he left the room for some reason and while he was gone, we scooped all the cream out and filled it with white paint. [laughs] Lin came back in, starting eating one, and got about three quarters of the way through before he realized he had a mouthful of white paint. Lin was also very dexterous. He managed to catch a large housefly and put it in a jar. He pulled out one of his blonde hairs and he used it to help make a little flag that he attached to this fly. The flag had some sort of obscenity written on it. This fly was flying all over the office with this banner flying behind it. It was a nutty place to work! Lin also took cone-shaped paper cups, nipped the tops off, and attached fins on them. If you put the right amount of water in them and opened the window, the updraft would cause these cups to spin around in mid-air. We’d have three or four floating around the editorial offices. Another fellow who worked there was Bob Brown. He was in the Second World War and was trying to become a pilot. One day, he brought in a wonderful photograph of himself standing on an AT-6, which he had wiped out on landing. And he had his foot on the wing like he’d just shot an elephant. He had this very proud look on his face like he’d just shot this plane. I don’t believe he became a pilot, but he did become a navigator. Bob had a lot of information in his head and he also played the bass

DESCHAMPS: No. I don’t recall seeing Martin Goodman’s brothers at Timely. JA: Do you remember Bess Little?

DESCHAMPS: Yes. She was on the 73rd floor working in the magazine department. A lot of women worked on that floor. Back when I ran messages, I used to run up there, get materials from her, and take them to 366 Madison Avenue. Maybe one of Martin Goodman’s brothers was at 366 Madison? I also ran things over to 82 Beaver Street, but I didn’t know the people I took things to. JA: You never worked for Vince Fago at all, did you? DESCHAMPS: No. He would pop in once in a while. He was doing something, but I didn’t know him that well. Has anyone ever mentioned Mel Blum to you? Mel was a muscle man who was slightly deaf and had a speech impediment. My name was Bob and he couldn’t pronounce it. He would pronounce it “Boop.” I was known as Boop all over the office. Mel Blum was working on Miss America magazine as a creative director. He had a woman working with him who only had one arm, but I cannot recall her name. JA: Was it Judith Christ [pronounced with a short “i”]? DESCHAMPS: Yes. She was an older lady and worked in the same room with Mel. JA: Then she worked there for quite a while. She lettered for Timely during the Second World War. DESCHAMPS: I wasn’t aware of that. Her missing arm was like a stump, and she used to hold the page down while she was doing layouts and whatever else she was doing. JA: Was she there the entire time you worked on staff, up to when Stan let everyone go in 1950? DESCHAMPS: Yes.

...And Why Is He Saying All Those Crazy Things About Timely?

I got out of the service and started freelancing. In 1957 I heard there was an opening at Dell, and I became art director of their crossword puzzle magazines, doing all sorts of spot illustrations for their magazines.

“‘Boop’ Is Calling...” JA: What was Stan Lee like to work for? DESCHAMPS: He was the editor-in-chief and a very relaxed sort of guy. He used to paste reproduced comics up on the ceiling and lean back in his chair and look at the work. Stan and Gary Keller worked in the same room. Stan was easy to work for, and fair to people for the most part. I got along quite well with him. As you know he was related to Martin Goodman and his real name was Stanley Lieber. Stan married a woman named Joan who was a hand model. Not a full body model... just the hands. JA: Do you remember Stan playing a recorder at work? DESCHAMPS: Yes, I do. The last time I was in touch with Stan Lee was right after the X-Men movie came out. I tracked him down and the woman who answered inquired as to who I was. I said, “Tell Stan Lee that ‘Boop’ is calling.” Stan got on the phone and said, “‘Boop’?” I said, “Yes.” He asked, “What do you want?” I said I didn’t want anything. He said, “Then what are you calling for?” [laughs] We chatted a little about getting together, but he was very busy at the time. JA: When Stan let the staff go, did you ever work for them again?

I stayed there until 1963 and I remember the going-away party the staff gave me. We were in a restaurant when I heard the news that President Kennedy was assassinated. That put a dim light on everything. It was awful. A helluva sad day. I had made some appointments with various advertising agencies that day, and as I walked in the streets with my portfolio, there were bells chiming all over the place. Every church in the city had their bells ringing, sounding like a death march. I stupidly went to this one ad agency because I had an appointment. I went up to the receptionist, who was crying, and she said, “Don’t you know the President was shot? What are you doing here? Why don’t you go home?” I felt very low.

“Out of Comic Books” JA: So you were out of comic books by 1957? DESCHAMPS: Yes. I started getting into advertising work, and while I was at Dell, I managed to do some freelance work for other publishers, like Ziff-Davis. Science and Mechanics was one of their magazines, and I managed to sneak up and do some cartooning work for them.

DESCHAMPS: No. I was trying to do other stuff, and here’s another crazy thing. Murray Postel and I would get together and there was a place called Phoenix Art School. We had never gone to art school, so we applied to get in there. We had to do a self-portrait and a still life. Murray and I did them and we complimented each other’s work when we finished. We turned the works in and several weeks later, we found out we were rejected. Murray said we were rejected because we were Jewish. But I wasn’t Jewish!

Lawrence Sanders, who later wrote numerous books, was the editor of Science and Mechanics, and I did art for a column entitled “What We Need Is.” The readers of the magazine used to write to the column. Sanders would publish the letters and I’d do spot illustrations to go with what was written. He had two filing cabinets, one with booze in it and the other with glasses. Every time I went to see him, which was once a month, I’d have a drink with him.

JA: It’s interesting, considering the times and how many men had certain notions about a woman’s place, that Goodman hired so many women.

If there was anything left in the glass, he’d dump the stuff in a plant that rested on another filing cabinet. I came in one day and Lawrence said to me, “Look. This plant is almost dead. Somebody gave it water!” [laughs] He was a good guy to work for.

DESCHAMPS: There were a lot of women there, editing magazines and doing other jobs. I worked on staff at Dell Publishing for six years and there were women editors there, also. Same at Ziff-Davis. This was after

I was going up Madison Avenue one day after Lawrence left Science and Mechanics. I was standing in front of Abercrombie and Fitch, and Lawrence came whizzing by, very

A montage of some of Bob Deschamps’ amazingly detailed advertising work. [Left to right:] (a) An ad for Diet Pepsi. (b) Ebenezer Scrooge wearing a catcher’s mitt (don’t ask why!). (c) A pirate encounters a guy and gal on stilts (ditto!). Note Deschamps’ signature on the Scrooge one. [©2003 the respective copyright holders.]

Who Is Bob Deschamps...

excitedly. I asked him what was up and he said, “I sold my book. I can’t believe it!” I asked him what the name of the book was and he said, The Anderson Tapes. I said, “Good for you.” The book came out and they made a movie out of it. Since then, he’s written many, books like The First Deadly Sin and The Second Deadly Sin. Unfortunately, he passed away about two years ago. I also had a friend at Dell named Bill Weinberger. We shared space for a while. How that came about was that people at Dell urged me to put out a promotion piece. A neighbor of mine (I can’t remember his name now) ran a lettering business, so I decided to work up a promotion piece, and he let me have his mailing list, which had about 2200 names on it. I was going on vacation and gave it to this person who was to mail it out for me. I told him, “Don’t mail this out until after August something-or-other.”

It’s called a “tandem arrangement.” Then the seat ripped out. It was like I was sitting on a toilet but I managed to get back to Deer Park airport and got the seat fixed. Another time, I’m flying solo again and I heard a big “thump.” I thought perhaps a bird had smacked into the side of the plane or something. I flew back to Deer Park and landed. I was tying the plane down, and as I was tying the tail wheel down, I saw that the longaron (which is a steel-structured tubing) had rusted and broken through the fabric siding of the thing. The stupid tail could have come off. So I decided this wasn’t the plane for me. Now, I got married while in the service and my wife’s family was living in Peoria, Illinois. So every summer, we had to drive from New York to Peoria and spend the summer with my in-laws. There was a little airport nearby named Mount Holly. While I was still a student pilot, I wandered over there and talked to someone, so he checked me out in his J-3 Cub. And it was wonderful! Everything worked.

So now I’m working back at Dell and Bill Weinberger called me and said, “I got your promotional piece.” I said, “It wasn’t supposed to be mailed yet.” So I called up the number that I had for their answering service and I discovered I had 32 jobs out of that mailing. That was amazing.

He said, “Why don’t you fly down to Springfield, Illinois, and take the written test for your pilot’s license?” I had to preplan the trip because there was no radio in the plane. I called the Springfield airport and made a flight plan with them. I flew down and I got a green light to land, and while making my final approach, I saw a plane about fifteen miles out. I landed and the plane landed behind me with a bunch of F.A.A. guys in it.

I called the guy who mailed it out and he apologized. I sent out another promotional piece, and in the meantime I left Dell to become a freelancer. That’s what led me to advertising, because that was where the big money was. I was lucky at that time because advertising was mostly using photographs, but they started using spot illustrations. It got bigger and bigger and pretty soon I was doing full-page ads for various agencies. I also worked at B.B.D.&O., Young and Rubicam, as well as other Madison Avenue agencies. Bob’s poster for the Oscar-winning movie Around the

They came over and tried to tell me I cut them out of their flight pattern. I said, “I didn’t cut you out of the flight pattern. I got the green light to land.” Someone said, “Oh, really? What are you doing here?” I explained why I came and he said, “Oh... all right. I hope you pass the test.” [laughs]

I did this thing for Beef Eater Gin and World in Eighty Days was reproduced on the commercial videotape. The original poster, he says, was over four somebody said, “Why don’t you find feet long and six feet tall! [©2003 AOL Time Warner.] yourself a representative? Then you wouldn’t JA: What fascinates you about flying? have to schlep your portfolio all over the place.” This guy suggested Culen Rapp, who liked my work and took DESCHAMPS: Everything! I went from the J-3 and started renting me on right away. He became my representative, and then his son Jerry planes, like a 150 Cessna. After I got my pilot’s license, I was working came into the business. Culen died a number of years ago and Jerry was for the New York Times travel department, doing illustrations. I told still in the business. Later, Jerry switched over to computer graphics. I the travel editor about how I flew my family to Peoria, Illinois. He said, am computer-illiterate, so we parted ways. But from 1964 until about “That sounds like a good story. Why don’t you write it up, do some three years ago, we had a good association. illustrations for it, and we’ll publish it.” I wrote the article up and they JA: You told me you were a flyer. DESCHAMPS: When I was four years old, I wanted to be a cartoonist and a pilot. When I was married and living in East Northport on Long Island, around 1963, I got involved in a rifle club. One of the guys owned a J-3 Piper Cub. I asked him about it and he asked if I wanted to buy a half interest in it, so he gave me a few lessons. I decided to buy a half interest in it. I went flying with him for a few hours, but he was more interested in showing off his own flying skills so I didn’t learn much from him after ten or twelve hours of flying. Finally, I went to a flight instructor and learned more from him in two hours than I did with the other fellow. The J-3 Cub that I became a half partner in had a lot of problems. I was flying solo one day, and when you fly solo, you sit in the rear seat.

put it on the front page of the travel section of the Sunday Times and it overflowed into a few pages back. After publication, I got fan mail from all over the country. One grandmother sent me pictures of her granddaughter and wanted me to latch up with her granddaughter. I also got letters from other pilots. One humorous aspect of this story was that my wife was always nervous about fuel. I knew we had enough fuel to go from point A to point B to get to Peoria. She got so upset that we decided to land in Bloomington, Indiana, to refuel. I called Bloomington and there was a woman on the radio there and I asked what was their active runway. I wrote in the article that she had an impenetrable Southern accent. I could not understand what she was saying, and finally she said [Deschamps affects a Southern accent], “Land any damn where ya please, honey!” [laughs] That I understood! So we refueled there, and it was another

...And Why Is He Saying All Those Crazy Things About Timely?

31 trying to peddle. I put together a children’s book that I’m trying to do something with.

twenty-minute flight to Peoria. We didn’t have to stop at all. JA: What part of your art career did you like the best?

After all my surgeries, I was doing things like advertising, but in my spare time, I was trying to do something about flying. It’s called Tailspins, and I’m trying to sell that.

DESCHAMPS: I don’t know. I recently ran across some work I did when I was doing the crossword puzzle books and they looked good to me. I liked a lot of the advertising work I did, and some of the movie posters, too— for Around the World in Eighty Days, The Bad News Bears (I did two or three things for them), Fun with Dick and Jane, and Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice. They wanted the posters in color and in black-&-white; the black-&whites ran in newspapers. So I’d photostat my black-&-white art, then dry-mount it and do them in color.

I did another thing which I called Cooking With Cats. I showed it to a literary agent who loved cats and she showed it around. She told me, “They all thought it was funny as hell, but people might start cooking their cats. We can’t have that.” So I Jim Amash: “What fascinates you about flying?” changed the whole cover and Bob Deschamps: “Everything!” This photo was taken in 1999, called it Feline Fair, which didn’t when Bob was seventy—and still flying high! ’Way to go, Mr. D.! have any cat recipes. It has poetry in it, like Cat Quiche, and I have an illustration of a quiche shaped like a cat on a plate. The poem goes like this: I like the work I’ve done in the last few years best. I did six or seven full-page New York Times illustrations for the New York Botanical Isn’t it Nouveau, isn’t it Riche Here we all are, eating Cat Quiche Gardens. The art director gave me full freedom. JA: Are you retired now? DESCHAMPS: Well, I still like to work. I’ve been working on my own stuff, trying to put some gag stuff together called Geezerworld, that I’m

The cat was so dear, had nothing to fear But Cat Quiche went well with an icy cold beer. Where are the clones? Bring in the clones If we had clones, our cat would be here. [laughter]

NOW BACK IN PRINT WITH NEW MATERIAL! ™

THE COLLECTION COMIC BOOK ARTIST READERS! See the material that heralded the return of Roy Thomas’ legendary comics fanzine in the back of CBA! • Reprinting the contents of the ALTER EGO flip-sides from the long out-of-print, Eisner Award-winning COMIC BOOK ARTIST #1-5! • Over 30 PAGES of ALL-NEW FEATURES, and a special color cover by JOE KUBERT! • Rare and previously-unpublished art by JACK KIRBY, GIL KANE, JOE KUBERT, WALLY WOOD, FRANK ROBBINS, NEAL ADAMS, and others! • STEVE DITKO on the creation of SPIDER-MAN, plus a rare DITKO INTERVIEW! • ROY THOMAS on the birth of THE INVADERS, his work with NEAL ADAMS on X-MEN and the KREE-SKRULL WAR, and more!

All cha

160-page Trade Paperback • $20 US Postpaid (Canada: $22, Elsewhere: $23 Surface, $27 Airmail)

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Alex Toth

The Legendary ALEX TOTH on a Few Other Comics Legends—and Non-Legends [NOTE: Just a short note this time from Alex Toth, who has been in and around the comics industry since 1945, drawing (and occasionally writing) some of the field’s most memorable stories. —Roy.]

Two artists Toth mentions—Paul Reinman (middle left) and Irwin Hasen (above)—drew Green Lantern’s encounters with Solomon Grundy in Comic Cavalcade #13 (Winter ’45) and #24 (Dec. ’47-Jan. ’48), respectively... and Alex Toth himself drew the accompanying model sheet of the monster for Hanna-Barbera in 1978. Thanks to Al Dellinges for the latter. [Comic art ©2003 DC Comics; model sheet ©2003 Hanna-Barbera.]

“A Great Mix of Unique Cartoonists...”

[EDITORIAL P.S.: On the rest of this spread we’re proud to showcase a random sampling of the work of just a few of the talented artists Alex mentions—some of them well-known and previously seen (or soon to come!) in A/E; others virtually unknown to today’s comics readership. We’ve identified each artist—correctly, we hope—in an accompanying caption. We’ve leaned a bit heavily on super-hero art— mostly because we had so little room. Unless marked otherwise, all art is thanks to Jerry Bails. —R.]

(Above:) Between 1940-54, Dick Briefer drew first the Frankenstein Monster fighting super-heroes like Bulldog Denny in Prize Comics—then a wonderful, wacky humorous Franky— and finally a true “horror” version of Mary Shelley’s creature when EC’s mags were setting the pace. Thanks to Al Dellinges. [©2003 the respective copyright holder.]

Missing a Back Issue? Got a hole in your Mr. Monster collection? We’ll gladly e-mail you a free Mr. Monster EEEK-Mail Catalog! Just Contact Michael T. Gilbert at:

MGILBERT@EFN.ORG

For a printed version, send one dollar to Michael T. Gilbert, P.O. Box 11421, Eugene OR 97440

Comic Crypt

EC Confidential, Part 5

Flash Gordon Relaunched by Michael T. Gilbert Drawing a newspaper adventure strip isn’t the cushy job it used to be. Throughout the 1930s and ’40s, top creators like Alex Raymond, Milton Caniff, and Hal Foster were comicstrip kings—with huge readerships and salaries to match. Not any more! Nowadays, the funny guys generally get the gold and the glory. Sadly, many of the legendary classic adventure strips are long gone—victims of shrinking size, changing tastes, and syndicate apathy. Terry and The Pirates, Smilin’ Jack, and Secret Agent Corrigan have vanished from the “funny pages,” and the few remaining action strips are not in the best of health. How many fans are even aware that comic strip classics such as Tarzan, Dick Tracy, and The Phantom are still being published? Too few!

Bookends: At bottom of page, Alex Raymond’s very first Flash Gordon panels from Jan. 1934. Above, the last panel of Raymond’s final Flash strip from 3/12/44. Quite a change! [ ©2003 King Features Syndicate.]

No one knows this better than Jim Keefe. On January 21, 1996, Jim took over the Flash Gordon Sunday page for the King Features Syndicate—treading in the huge artistic footsteps of Flash Gordon creator Alex Raymond, Austin Briggs, Mac Raboy, and Dan Barry, among others. Over the decades, succeeding artists had strayed from Raymond’s original vision, but Jim decided to return Flash to his roots. “Raymond’s the high water mark,” he asserts. “He’s what you always aspire to.” Since then, the 38-year-old father of four has been drawing Flash in a detailed, illustrative style reminiscent of the early Alex Raymond strips. His scripts also owe much to those classic Flash stories. Jim officially began his professional comic career in 1989, shortly after graduating from the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art. Kubert recommended Jim for a job at King Features, where he started doing color guides for such high-profile strips as Blondie, Beetle Bailey, and Hagar the Horrible. Jim also began illustrating King’s weekly fashion column, Sew Simple—and even briefly ghosted Secret Agent Corrigan for George Evans before landing Flash. Jim (who credits John Romita, George Evans, Al Williamson, and Alex Raymond as his strongest influences) is something of an anomaly in his field. He writes, draws, colors, and even letters the Flash Gordon page without the legions of assistants most cartoonists rely on. (The Flash dailies were discontinued in 1983.)

Drawing an adventure strip is a lot of work for a fraction of the money commanded by less demanding humor strips like Beetle Bailey or Garfield. Still, there are perks. First, Jim gets paid to create new Flash Gordon strips. How cool is that? And, as one of the few remaining adventure artists, he’s part of a very select group that includes John Cullen Murphy (Big Ben Bolt, Prince Valiant), Al Williamson (Secret Agent Corrigan, Star Wars), and the late George Evans (Terry and the Pirates, Secret Agent Corrigan). Matter of fact, Jim even convinced two of these legends to lend a hand on Flash! Many comics fans are familiar with the classic artwork Al Williamson and George Evans produced for the EC comics group in the ’50s. However, few know about the Flash Gordon Sundays they ghosted for Jim decades later. More specifically, Evans illustrated a single page on 1/21/01, while Williamson drew the 11/7/99 and 7/8/01 episodes. Al Williamson, a lifelong Alex Raymond fan, has the unique distinction of having ghosted three different Raymond strips! At various times in his career he’s illustrated Rip Kirby, Flash Gordon, and Secret Agent Corrigan (originally titled Secret Agent X-9). However, Williamson’s fame as a Flash artist largely rests on a handful of superb mid-’60s stories he drew for King’s Flash Gordon comic books—stories many collectors consider to be the finest ever done in the medium.

Flash Gordon Relaunched In 1980 Williamson followed this feat with a handsome adaptation of the campy Dino de Laurentiis Flash Gordon movie for Western Publishing—and then a two-issue Flash Gordon mini-series for Marvel in 1995. Oddly enough, despite his long association with Flash Gordon, Williamson only ghosted the syndicated strip for a few weeks in the 1950s. That makes the two Al Williamson Flash Sundays on pp. 39-40 especially unique! Then there’s George Evans. Unlike Williamson, Evans had no previous experience drawing Flash Gordon. However, he was quite familiar with another Raymond creation—Secret Agent Corrigan. Williamson, who began drawing Corrigan in 1967, decided to quit in February 1980. Before he left, he recommended his old EC buddy as his replacement. It was an inspired choice, and Evans wrote and drew Corrigan for another 16 years, until finally retiring the strip in 1996. The Evans page reprinted on p. 41 is an historic crossover between Flash Gordon and Secret Agent Corrigan. Though Alex Raymond had fathered both strips in 1934, the two “brothers” had never crossed paths.

That changed when Jim Keefe wrote a Flash storyline as a tribute to both Evans and Raymond. As Jim recently stated, “A crossover seemed only natural. My homage to George was trying to pick up where he left off, with all the characters he brought to X-9.” True to his word, Jim brought the two characters together for the first time in 67 years, and even got George to draw the historic Sunday page where Flash and Corrigan first meet. That strip, published on 1/21/01, was the last time George drew Corrigan for syndication—five years after the venerable Secret Agent retired from the papers. It turned out to be a wonderful “last hurrah” for the character, mere months before George himself passed away on June 22 of that same year. Interestingly, these Evans and Williamson pages are just the latest examples of EC artists who worked on Flash. In previous Crypt installments, we explored Wally Wood’s brief stint ghosting Flash Gordon in the ’50s. At various times, fellow EC superstars Harvey Kurtzman, Frank Frazetta, Roy Krenkel, and Jack Davis also helped cartoonist Dan Barry meet his deadlines.

Below: A classic Raymond Flash Gordon page from 3/8/36.

Comic Crypt

And, to complete the EC lineup, we’re also printing a Flash Sunday strip I drew for Jim last year. Hey, don’t laugh! I may not have worked for EC, but I sure read a lot of ’em! This strip came about after I asked Jim to contribute to a George Evans memorial for the 17th issue of Comic Book Artist. We kept in touch, and months later, Jim invited me to ghost the monster-filled episode you see here. That page, my first for newspaper syndication, was published on 7/21/02.

Next two pages: The 11/7/99 Flash episode, partially penciled by Al Williamson and inked by Jim Keefe. The 7/8/01 Flash Gordon episode (opposite) was penciled and inked by Williamson. Following Pages: The George Evans-illustrated page from 1/21/01, followed by the Michael T. Gilbert Flash Gordon page of 7/21/02.

We hope you enjoy these rare Sunday pages. Jim also provided examples of his original script and layouts for comparison, plus the artist biographies he created as optional “toppers” in some papers. Color versions of the above strips (plus a special step-by-step on the 11/7/99 Williamson page) can be viewed at his website at: http://www.keefestudios.com/guest/artist.html. And to top things off, Jim even penciled this issue’s beautiful Mr. Monster/Flash Gordon intro page. Thanks a million, Jim! And now, let’s look at some art!

’Till next time…

P.S.: If you’re a fan of the old Lee-Ditko “Dr. Strange” stories, don’t miss Marvel’s new anthology title Marvel Double-shot. The 4th issue features my 11-page “Dr. Strange” tale “The Bottle Imp!” This one describes Doc’s encounter with an evil genie who traps him in his bottle! It takes place very early in Doc’s career—and it’s got a twist-ending that’s really twisted!

Below: Flash, as drawn by Jim Keefe (pictured above).

Flash Gordon Relaunched

Here’s the first Jim Keefe/Al Williamson collaboration:

(Above:) Initial layout—Keefe

(Above:) Partial pencils—Williamson

(Above:) The Finished Strip

Comic Crypt And here’s the second. His drawings of men are the embodiment of heroism. His women, strong and sensuous. Couple this with an uncanny knack for capturing an environment (from urban metropolis to alien landscape) and you have the makings for the best in fantasy illustration. From his work on the classic EC comics of the ’50s to Star Wars in the ’80s and ’90s, Al Williamson’s artwork continues to inspire and amaze.

(Above:) Rough layout sent in lieu of a full script. Artist informed to use it as a jumping-off point—not to be adhered to.

Flash Gordon Relaunched Next, here’s the Keefe/Evans joint effort:

As both writer and artist on Secret Agent Corrigan (originally Secret Agent X-9), George Evans produced 15 stellar years of one of the best adventure strips around. In a career spanning over 55 years, having worked for almost every major publisher in the industry, he has established himself as one of the comic field’s finest illustrators.

(Above:) Rough layout sent in lieu of a full script. Artist informed to use it as a jumping-off point—not to be adhered to.

Comic Crypt And finally, here’s the Keefe/Gilbert collaboration:

Today’s Flash Gordon Sunday page features a ghastly gallery of Mongonian monsters... so who better to illustrate it than Mr. Monster creator Michael T. Gilbert? Known for the versatility of his art and writing styles, Michael has worked on characters as diverse as Batman, Elric, and Donald Duck. In 1984 he breathed life into the ultimate monster-fighting hero, Mr. Monster.

(Above:) Rough layout sent in lieu of a full script. Artist informed to use it as a jumping-off point—not to be adhered to.

re:

re: [To play catch-up with our letters section,we’re gonna try to squeeze in as many missives as we can this time re issue #15, our special tribute to John Buscema. Here we go:] Fred Schneider, a partner in the legal firm of Gilman & Schneider in New York City, worked briefly at Archie Comics back in the 1960s as a young man, as he recorded an issue or three back. This time he writes: Dear Roy: As a former teacher, you will appreciate this more than anyone. My nephew, Ken Bossert, is a fifth-grade teacher in Suffolk County, New York. Recently, he gave his class an assignment to research the life of a celebrity or historical figure the student admires and write a biography of that person. One student in his class, Michael Groben, all of ten years old, chose his grandfather, who is still alive. Ken was skeptical and said it was admirable that Michael wanted to use his own grandfather, but doubted he would find much resource material about him. Was he wrong! Michael’s grandfather is Joe Simon, alive and well at 88. My nephew told Michael’s mother, Melissa Groben, Joe Simon’s daughter, of the

This 1973 drawing by Kevin O’Neill (done back when he was first starting out) was printed small in issue #8, but we wanted to display it larger! After all, how often do we get a chance to run early art of two of A/E’s mascots by a current super-star artist (and a nice guy, too—some time back he mailed Roy photocopies of original art from Mac Raboy’s early “Dr. Voodoo” feature for Fawcett, which we’ll share with you in future issues—thanks, Kevin!). But is that Captain Ego’s nemesis Tigris dressed up à la Fu Manchu? [Art ©2003 Kevin O’Neill; Alter & Capt. Ego TM & ©2003 Roy Thomas & Bill Schelly; characters created by Biljo White.]

interest that his uncle, a lawyer in NYC, still retained for comic books. As a result, in addition to presenting an original, signed sketch of Captain America to his grandson’s fifth-grade class, Joe made me the recipient of the enclosed sketch done on April 4, 2002. Knowing you as I do, I thought you might want to share it with the avid readers of Alter Ego at some time. Enjoy, as I have enjoyed the cumulative years I have spent “in your company,” as it were, reading and appreciating the poetry of both your fiction and non-fiction writing for the past forty-odd years. It’s yours to keep. Fred Schneider A Joe Simon Captain America sketch—as a gift!? Cap wouldn’t have needed to throw his mighty shield to knock Ye Editor over when he received it, Fred. Roy can’t thank you enough—and, since he doesn’t want to be greedy, here it is—alas, in black-&-white. Enjoy, one and all! Wow! Roy still can’t believe he’s got an original Joe Simon sketch of Captain America, courtesy of Fred Schneider. Thanks a zillion, Fred! There’ll be more about Joe and his monumental comics work in a near-future issue, so stay tuned! [Art ©2003 Joe Simon; Captain America TM & ©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

re: festival itself took place during the worst heat wave the city had experienced in 150 years! I thought you might like to see a copy of the finished drawing as it appeared in promotional materials and on the program leaflet. Knut R. Knutsen Norway Thanks, Knut. We’re sure that Big John was as perfect a good-will ambassador for comics as the field could have had—as long as fans weren’t put off by his “I hate comics” stance, which Ye Editor always felt was partly just a pose. Next, a note from Joltin’ Joe Sinnott—one of Marvel’s greatest inkers beginning in the mid-1960s, and one of the nicest guys in the field. Hi— I was really surprised at John [Buscema]’s comments about my inks over his works. I always felt that some of my most satisfying work was with John. We did some great Thors together! Also thought Silver Surfer #3, “Warriors 3” from Marvel Spotlight, and many of the Thors were especially good. Stan certainly liked us working together.

Next, from Knut R. Knutson in Norway, concerning a Close Encounter of the Buscema Kind: Dear Mr. Thomas, I have been an avid reader of your magazine Alter Ego since Volume 2 started in the back of Comic Book Artist, but the recent John Buscema tribute issue (#15) was a special treat. Your work, and Mr. Buscema’s, on Conan the Barbarian has proven extremely popular here in Norway over the past twenty years—and we were extremely delighted to have him as a guest of honor (alongside Sergio Aragonés and Stan Sakai) at our national comic book festival (the Raptus Festival) in September of 1999. We found Mr. Buscema to be a generous and good-humored guest, and the sense of professionalism and geniality that he and the other main guests exhibited set a standard for all of us involved in the festival to aspire to. We were saddened to hear of his illness and death, as we held him and his work in high regard. We were delighted to see (on page 18) one of Mr. Buscema’s early sketches of our 1999 festival poster. It is a singular honor to be, although indirectly and remotely, associated with the touching tributes presented in the issue. The umbrella is a joke aimed at the Norwegian audience. The festival takes place in Bergen, the largest city on our west coast, infamous for its rain—220 days of precipitation annually—though the

[comments and corrections] I’ve enclosed a sample of the stuff I’d get from John for the most part—I guess it was inevitable that much of my style would come through. I still loved him like a brother—he was great! Joe As we stated in #15-16, Joe, it wasn’t merely a multitude of comics fans who felt you were a fabulous inker for John Buscema’s pencils, but many pros, as well... starting with Stan Lee, who gave you the gig. John, who I know had nothing but the utmost respect for your work, was simply looking for someone who inked his pencils almost exactly as they were set down on the page, which, as you know, is not always what an inker is asked to do! Your issues with John are as much classics in their way as those you did with Kirby—and we’re ecstatic that, along with an upcoming Sinnott interview in The Jack Kirby Collector, another, more inclusive one is currently in the works, as well, for an early issue of Alter Ego! Next, here’s a letter from Carrie Strong, granddaughter of early Timely and Archie artist Harry Sahle, who’s been mentioned in several issues of A/E.... Dear Roy, Chris Irving has been very helpful and has gone out of his way to help me learn about my grandfather. I have issue #11 of Alter Ego. It’s a great magazine. I have a lot of my grandfather’s Candy comics, and a storyboard of Candy that was from the comic strip. I have a picture he drew of Shirley Temple, and I have a photograph of him holding a “Silver Scorpion” storyboard he was working on. I never got to meet my grandfather; he died when my dad was quite young. Most of his career has been a mystery to me up until recently. I am currently working on a tribute album of his career in comics. I remember looking through his old beat-up portfolio when I was young. It was the most fascinating thing to me. I was recently in contact with Harry’s sister, my great-aunt. Since my dad’s parents died when he was so young, he lost contact with his family.

Dear Michael, I’ve just finished reading your latest tribute to Woody, in Alter Ego #15. I’m sending this to you via the Wood List because I want to recommend everyone pick up the issue. It’s primarily devoted to the great John Buscema, who is definitely worthy of every accolade anyone can deliver. One of the finest cartoonists who ever lived, without doubt. But I didn’t know Buscema personally, so I went directly to your column. I was really moved by this article, even though I knew the facts in the case. When Woody died, I guess I thought I was his biggest fan, and that his name would be forgotten in a few years. I was wrong on both counts. Even then, 20+ years ago, we original EC fans were aging, and I know how old-fashioned those comics seem today. History records, though, and I assure you personally, they were dynamic, awe-inspiring titles in their time. But I’m reminded, almost daily, in one way or another, how important Woody really was. Others, like you, Michael, obviously rate him as high or higher than I do. Good job on that article. Here’s a little anecdote I don’t think I’ve told before: Woody ambled into the Charlton Building one day, unshaven and looking like an old bum, to be honest, to drop off some job, lettering or production work, he wanted me to do. I introduced him to my boss, George Wildman. Nick Cuti, who had been the previous assistant editor under Wildman, had always spoken reverentially about Woody, and now I seemed to have equally great respect for the guy. George couldn’t see it. To him, Woody was just another cartoonist. “Has he got you hypnotized?” George asked me, after Woody left. I guess I was, in a way. Woody could be exasperating at times, and difficult to be around. But I would have done almost anything for him, and so would Nick. Although he appeared in person to be an ordinary lowlife character, sort of like Andy Capp, George didn’t know, as Nick and I did, that Woody was a living Wizard King! Bill Pearson To which Michael T. Gilbert responded in an e-mail to Bill: “I’m very touched that my piece struck such an emotional chord with you. Naturally, I couldn’t have done it without your help in supplying art and information. And I’m doubly pleased that you didn’t find my article to be disrespectful of Wood (as you originally feared it might be!). Woody has certainly given me and many others a lot of joy and wonder through his art, and I’m happy to pay him back in whatever small way I can.

Carrie Strong <carriestrong_2000 @yahoo.com> Carrie asked that her e-mail be printed in A/E so that anyone with information about or artwork by her grandfather, Harry Sahle, can contact her. Hopefully, she’ll write about her quest in a future issue of A/E... but either way, we wish her luck. Now, here’s a note from a longtime friend of the late great Wally Wood—as well as the guy who picked up the fallen reins of Wally’s mag witzend when Mr. W. relinquished them. The note was written to Michael T. Gilbert, who has featured extensive Wood coverage in his “Comic Crypt,” and Michael forwarded it to us.

Harry Sahle in the 1940s, with a “Silver Scorpion” page. That Timely super-heroine appeared in Daring Mystery Comics #7-8 (April 1941 & January ’42) and in its successor Comedy Comics #9 (April ’42). One of those tales appears in the retro-reprint Marvel Mystery Comics #1 for December 1999. This may well be a different Silver Scorpion, though, since this lady isn’t wearing a super-hero costume—and why the heck did Sahle color the original art, anyway? For a presentation of some kind? Anybody got any ideas? Photo courtesy of Carrie Strong. [Silver Scorpion TM & ©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

“You mentioned the impact Wood’s work had on the original EC fans. I was a 2nd-generation fan, having discovered EC in 1965, when I was about 14. I was struck just as hard at the beauty and originality of the EC line at the time. And thanks in large part to the efforts of Russ Cochran and his comic book reprints, an entire new generation is out there to pick up the torch. Kinda nice to see originality and high standards rewarded!”

re: As a chessplayer since junior high, who has sometimes played postal chess under the auspices of the USCF, Roy is particularly proud and happy to have won the Federation’s award as a sort of “cover of the year.” Murphy Anderson and Shelton Drum were happy to hear the news, as well! (See accompanying illo and caption.) Ron Flick has a few thoughts about all those 1940s caricatures that appeared in Timely’s humor comics, and which we’ve featured in several issues: Roy and Jim, First of all, let me say how wonderful the two issues on the early Timely years have been. I have been a Golden Age Timely fan ever since The Invaders first appeared on the scene. I especially loved the article on the Krazy Karicatures, and want to add my two cents on the identities of those pictured on page 37, originally published in Krazy Comics #12. May I offer the theory that “Moe” is not one of the characters depicted at all. “Moe” is instead [publisher] Martin Goodman himself! In an interview with Joe Simon, published in Comic Book Marketplace #62, Joe claims that Martin Goodman’s nickname was “Moe.” Therefore, the beaked character holding the “Moe Is Unfair” sign is claiming “Moe,” or Martin Goodman, is unfair. The beaked character almost has

Actually, as we mentioned at the time, the “chessplaying Avengers” cover of Alter Ego #13 was a drawing done by Murphy Anderson (with color work by his son Murphy III) for the back cover of the program book for Shelton Drum’s 2001 Heroes Con in Charlotte, North Carolina. Murphy utilized the layout of his classic cover for Justice League of America #1 (Nov. 1960); we just changed the wording a bit for A/E. Here’s the original version, albeit only in black-&-white, alas. [Art ©2003 Murphy Anderson and Murphy Anderson III; Avengers & Loki TM & ©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Next, we go back a couple of issues further—for a strange but welcome communication from Daren Dillinger: Dear Roy: Since the cover of Alter Ego #13 had a chess theme, and as I am on the nominations committee for the Chess Journalists of America, I submitted it for consideration for our annual national awards. There was a lot of competition for the award, with all of the chess books and chess magazines being published each year. I am happy to say it has won first place. The announcement will be made officially at the U.S. Open, currently going on in New Jersey, and a follow-up news release by the U.S. Chess Federation, and published in Chess Life magazine, etc. They send out a certificate suitable for framing... no money. Perhaps the first American chess journalist was Ben Franklin. The official website where your entry is listed is <http://correspondencechess.com/cja/pr020711ej.htm>. I first started buying Alter Ego with issue #2 (the original series!), and it has always been superb in every area. Carry on! Daren Dillinger (via e-mail)

From the issue of Secret Society of Super-villains (the unpublished #16) that almost nobody’s ever seen! Batman and Mr. Terrific take on Blockbuster in these pencils by (probably) Mike Vosburg, which was printed only in the black&-white pages of the half-mythic 1978 Cancelled Comic Cavalcade. [©2003 DC Comics.]

[comments and corrections]

to be Vince Fago, as you surmised in A/E #11. (For heaven’s sake, look at the hair!! That has to be Vince!!) It then goes to reason that the gentleman holding the “Moe Is Fair” sign would be Robbie Solomon, a relative of Martin Goodman’s! Vince “The Beak” Fago runs over Martin “Moe” with a trolley in Goodman’s office. That’s my humble opinion. Keep up the wonderful work! Ron Flick Jasper, IN Interesting thought, Ron. Any other opinions out there? Next time, the letters will mostly deal with Alter Ego #16, which showcased more of John Buscema, but also some of his Marvel Bullpen buddies, not to mention Alex Ross’ Shazam! Power of Hope and other items. Our Usual Corrections and Additions: John G. Pierce, who conducted most of the two Kurt Schaffenberger interviews we reprinted in #15, reminded us that some of the questions credited to him were actually asked by Matthew Lage (who is, at least, mentioned in the introductory paragraph). Jean-Jacques Dzialowski, the artist who contributed one of the three Silver Surfer tribute drawings to John Buscema’s memory, informs us that the Ms. Marvel-featuring page accompanying Sal B.’s interview in #15 was from Fantastic Four #306. And, reaching back to A/E #14, Stephen Wheeler (Maranatha, Brades Road, Brade’s Village, Oldbury, Sandwell, West Midlands, England B69 2EP—you gotta love those long Brit addresses!) gently chides us for failing to mention a pair of 1970s JSA appearances—in the final issue (#15, 1978) of Secret Society of Super-villains and in the follow-up story which was printed only in the rare, photocopied Cancelled Comics Cavalcade, wherein the SSS dispatch several lesser JSAers and The Freedom Fighters. [See opposite page.] Please address any A/E-related comments to: Roy Thomas/Alter Ego Rt. 3, Box 468 St. Matthews, SC 29135 Fax: (803) 826-6501 E-mail: roydann@ntinet.com

Well, MIKE “Romita-Man”BURKEY wants to buy your Amazing Spider-Man #39-297 art, as well as “any” comic book art from the ’30s to present! Check out Mike’s Web site with over 700 pictured pieces of art for sale or trade at:

www.romitaman.com or write: P.O. Box 455, Ravenna, OH 44266 PH: 330-296-2415 • e-mail: MikeBurkey@aol.com

P.S.: They’re running low, but Roy still has a few spare copies of the outof-print Alter Ego, Vol. 3, #1, with Jerry Ordway on Infinity, Inc., Golden Age JSA/Green Lantern artist Irwin Hasen, FCA, Michael T. Gilbert, the all-star 1995 Stan Lee Roast, and other goodies, for $20 per copy (sorry, but it’s no longer available at the previous price of $15). Roy also has a handful of copies of Comic Book Artist #2-4, with their own A/E sections, for $15 per issue... and a few sets of the 1986 Alter Ego color comic book by Ron Harris and himself—only $20 for all four issues. All prices above include postage, and the mags will be autographed upon request. Send checks or money orders to the address above. Sorry, but $5 extra for all foreign orders... you know why!

PLUS: PLUS: $

5.95

In the USA

No. 20 January 2003

with MARC SWAYZE • C.C. BECK

MAC RABOY • BRIAN ASHMORE

WELCOME TO THE

4 GREAT GOLDEN/SILVER AGE WRITERS– TOGETHER FOR THE FIRST (AND ONLY) TIME! Plus: MURPHY ANDERSON • JAMES WARREN • WILL ELDER • ROY THOMAS • GIL KANE E. NELSON BRIDWELL • BILL HARRIS • DAVE KALER • TOM FAGAN • BILL SCHELLY & MORE!!!

Vol. 3, No. 20 / January 2003

™

Editor Roy Thomas

Associate Editors Bill Schelly Jim Amash

Design & Layout Christopher Day

Consulting Editors John Morrow Jon B. Cooke

FCA Editor P.C. Hamerlinck

Comic Crypt Editor Michael T. Gilbert

Editors Emeritus Jerry Bails (founder) Ronn Foss, Biljo White, Mike Friedrich

Production Assistant Eric Nolen-Weathington

Cover Artists Bill Schelly & Friends Al Milgrom

Covers Colorist Tom Ziuko

Contents Writer/Editorial: It Was aVery Good Year. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 A Personal Reminiscence of Dave Kaler’s 1965 Comics Convention. A Full-service New York Comics Convention–––Hurrah! . . . . . . 5 Bill Schelly on the first “complete” comicon. Ghost Writers in the Sky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 The first-ever comicon “creators panel”: Otto Binder, Gardner Fox, Bill Finger, & Mort Weisinger. Comics & Fandom: Where Do We Go from Here?. . . . . . . . 30 1965 panel with Murphy Anderson, Gil Kane, Jim Warren, Bill Harris, Roy Thomas, et al. Con-Cave Coming?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Tom Fagan on the Batmanians and others at the KalerCon. Chatting with Dave Kaler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 The comicon-organizer talks about his three conventions and his comics career.

FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America) #79 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Marc Swayze on Captain Marvel & C.C. Beck... plus the post-WWII Captain Marvel Jr. Still More Titans of Timely/Marvel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Flip Us! About Our Cover: Bill Schelly’s always wanted to do an Alter Ego cover, and we think our associate editor—who’s also an artist of no inconsiderable talent—captured the spirit of Golden Age writers Otto Binder, Gardner Fox, Bill Finger, and Mort Weisinger (yep, Mort was a writer back then). As for the framing heroes: the C.C. Beck Captain Marvel was seen in A/E #18 (courtesy of Keif Fromm); Joe Kubert’s Hawkman is from the program book of the 1976 Boston Newcon (thanks to Fred Mommsen); the Wayne Boring Superman is from a 1950s tale reprinted in Superman from the 30’s to the 70’s; and Green Lantern is from a color illo courtesy of Mart Nodell. Thanks one and all! [Art ©2003 Bill Schelly; heroes TM & ©2003 DC Comics.] Above: The art for Neal Adams’ gorgeous wraparound cover for the DC 100-page SuperSpectacular #6 (1971), as reprinted in the program book for Phil Seuling's 1971 New York comics convention, seemed like the ideal header for this section, since, due to circumstances, the 1965 New York Comicon was way heavier on folks who’d drawn, written, and edited for DC Comics (not to mention companies whose heroes DC would later buy) than on guys from Marvel (Flo Steinberg and Roy Thomas to the contrary notwithstanding). [©2003 DC Comics.] Alter EgoTM is published monthly by TwoMorrows, 1812 Park Drive, Raleigh, NC 27605, USA. Phone: (919) 833-8092. Roy Thomas, Editor. John Morrow, Publisher. Alter Ego Editorial Offices: Rt. 3, Box 468, St. Matthews, SC 29135, USA. Fax: (803) 826-6501; e-mail: roydann@ntinet.com. Send subscription funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial offices. Single issues: $8 ($10 Canada, $11 elsewhere). Twelve-issue subscriptions: $60 US, $120 Canada, $132 elsewhere. 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 Canada. FIRST PRINTING.

Title writer/editorial

A Personal Reminiscence of Dave Kaler’s 1965 Comicon Let’s let Frank Sinatra, perhaps the premier popular singer of the 20th century, bookend this piece: “Regrets? I’ve had a few....” For example, a part of me will always be sorry I didn’t make it to (if I even heard about, in advance) Bernie Bubnis’ 1964 New York Comicon, generally considered the first real comic book convention. But at least I made it to Dave Kaler’s 1965 con the next summer. Not because I had the initiative to travel from Missouri to the Big Apple to hobnob with comics fans and pros, mind you—but because, that spring, at age 24, I’d received a job offer from Mort Weisinger at DC Comics, which the Superman line editor and I had agreed would commence in late June. By coincidence, I’d be in Manhattan for the convention. So, from one of my last checks as a high school teacher, I paid a pittance to my aunt Olivia to sew me a costume for the masquerade which would be a part of the comicon. My hero of choice? Jack Cole’s Plastic Man. Flesh-colored tights would help me achieve Plas’ “no-toe” effect. An article that fan Tom Fagan wrote for Dave’s 1966 convention, received from Andy Yanchus for partial inclusion in this issue, reminded me that, besides donning a pair of sunglasses to stand in for Plas’ goggles, I actually darkened my hair from its natural dishwater blond. (Hmmm... maybe it’s just as well that no photos of me in that outfit have survived.) Not only was it sheer coincidence I was in town for the con—there were more happy coincidences to follow.

panel that he’d spent an evening at the apartment of Batman/Green Lantern co-creator Bill Finger. I’m fairly certain that’s the same time Dave and I were at Finger’s place... though I can’t recall much about it. (Part of the reason I draw a blank, I suspect, is because I was totally caught up in being a writer/editorial assistant to Stan Lee at Marvel, to which I had jumped after two weeks at DC. Interested as I was in old comics and their history, my head was full to the brim with my day job in the selfsame field. I wish it had been otherwise.) Either before or after the convention, Jerry, his wife Sondra, and I made a joint foray to see Sammy Davis, Jr., in the Broadway musical Golden Boy. In 1961 I had envied Jerry and Sondra going to New York and seeing Richard Burton and Julie Andrews in Camelot, and An Evening with Mike Nichols and Elaine May. Now a transplanted Manhattanite myself, I was striving to make up for lost time. Comics weren’t nearly all I loved about New York!

“Kaler, left, is given comic books from a shelf by Roy Thomas as Dennis O’Neil watches.” That cutline appeared beneath this photo in the Nov. 4, 1965 edition of Newsday, a New York City area newspaper. It accompanied an article on Dave Kaler titled “Comicdom’s Cult of Collectors,” written soon after Denny joined the Marvel staff, following Roy’s mailing him the same “writer’s test” that had gotten Roy his own job there. The entire article can be seen in Bill Schelly’s acclaimed 1995 book The Golden Age of Comic Fandom—which has just gone out of print.

My second weekend in New York, early July now, I was invited for dinner at the Coney Island apartment of Phil and Carole Seuling. In letters we’d exchanged, I’d found Phil (a high school teacher and used-comics dealer) a mite brusque for my taste, but in person that trait was leavened by his intelligence and good heart... and Carole, whom I disappointed by not eating all the food she heaped in front of me, was at least equally enjoyable company.

The Comicon itself was a delight, even though it occurred during a heat wave and took place at the Hotel Broadway Central, which had seen better days (indeed, better centuries). Nowadays Carole Seuling drops by Dann’s and my South Carolina digs twice a year; she can still remember that, when you climbed the hotel’s stairs, the steps creaked beneath your feet if you walked in the center—so people tended to squeeze over against the wall, to play it safe.

Just as, in the ensuing months, Tom Fagan wrote his remembrances of the con, while fellow fan Rick Weingroff listed 57 things he recalled about it, I’ve always had a few stand-out memories of the 1965 New York Comicon. One of these, surprisingly, turned out to be not quite accurate. For decades I’ve repeated a story, related on the writers’ panel, about how a comics artist once misinterpreted a script and drew an inexplicable archer on the roof of a building—but I’ve always attributed its telling to Bill Finger, since it concerns the use of film terminology, more Finger’s métier than that of his fellow panelists Gardner Fox and Otto Binder.

Another guest that evening was Dave Kaler, the 29-year-old fan and market research worker who was putting on the convention. He and I hit it off, not least because he had tied the convention in with the Academy of Comic Book Fans and Collectors, a loosely-knit organization that Alter Ego founder Jerry Bails had launched from a suggestion of mine a few years earlier. I was temporarily ensconced at the George Washington Hotel on 23rd Street in Manhattan, Dave lived on the Lower East Side, and by the time the two of us reached “the city” via subway, he had invited me to move into his cavernous ground-floor apartment on East 2nd Street, off Avenue A. As Dave’s roomie, I got a bit more involved in the three-weeks-away comicon. But, though Fagan refers to me as “co-host,” any such title was purely honorary.

However, some months ago, Jerry Bails ran across an old reel-to-reel tape, 7" in diameter and 11⁄2 hours long on each side, which contained a recording of that historic panel (with a fan-and-pros panel on the other side), apparently made by local fan Mark Hanerfeld on behalf of the Academy. When I finally got that historic tape transferred to audiocassette, I was shocked to learn it was Fox, not Finger, who told the archer story. My confusion was caused by the fact that Finger immediately tells another tale to “top” Fox’s, and does indeed utter one (paraphrased) line I had always ascribed to him: “If you tell an artist to draw, he’ll just draw.”

Actually, though I’d be even hazier about it if not for clues in the vintage pieces that follow, the convention started earlier for some of us than for others. For instance, Jerry mentions on the first-day writers’

It was strange hearing again, for the first time in decades, voices which had been so familiar to me during my first days in New York: Gardner, who had graciously invited me to his and wife Lynda’s home in Yonkers

It Was A Very Good Year...

3 of the big July 4th comicons he was throwing by then, and he took Dann and me to lunch at the restaurant atop the World Trade Center—the only time I was ever there.

for dinner... Otto, that equally gentle soul who had hosted me at “The House That Captain Marvel Built” in Englewood, New Jersey... Mort Weisinger, whose gruff voice on tape, to my delight, failed to evoke in me the Pavlovian reaction I’d experienced during my eight days of working for him more than a third of a century before.

All this came rushing back when I saw Phil on that videotape, looking just as I always remembered him. Vital. Alive. “The way we were,” as Barbra Streisand (and Marvin Hamlisch) would say. Until I did so prior to writing this piece, I haven’t rewatched the footage in the three years since I received it. I found it too painful.

I’ve always recalled the CBS-TV crew that surged about the con, insisting that everything be done and redone for its convenience. That first day I wore a Fantastic Four t-shirt, so new a merchandising item it hadn’t yet been seen in any comics; and when the female reporter accosted me about it, I didn’t let on I worked for Marvel. Acting like the compleat fan, I gushed about how great Marvel Comics were... though none of my spiel made it onto the news, I think.

Sunday is even more of a blur. I saw snatches of some of the serials being screened, but I was preoccupied. I do recall the pros-and-fans panel that evening. I clearly remember sitting next to Creepy publisher Jim Warren, with whom I did a bit of (reasonably) good-natured sparring. At some point, when I said something he disagreed with, he pretended to bury a dagger in my back. There would be times, a few years later when Marvel entered the black-&-white comics field, when he might have wished for a real dagger, but basically my memories of Jim are good ones, renewed and invigorated when we ran into each other at a con a year or so back.

Then, in 1999, a thoughtful fan named Joe Azzato, who had been at the con (though I don’t know him personally), sent me, out of the blue, a blurred videotape he had made for me. While transferring some old home movies to video, he had recognized me on them. (Why he should have recognized me, I have no idea.) On that piece of film were recorded several minutes of slow-motion footage taken at the 1965 comicon!

It’s difficult to describe the emotions that raced Gil Kane’s pencils for a 1999 version of through me as I viewed that silent footage for the That was doubtless the day I met Gil Kane, too, one of his late-1960 concept sketches for the six-inch Silver Age Atom, which he first time. A window abruptly opened onto 1965— though all I can recall is him in the front row facing always insisted he did on his own, even if it was destined to remain open only for a few our panel and shaking his head vigorously when I without input from editor Julie Schwartz precious moments. I beheld my gawky self in that recounted the Jerry Bails/Roy Thomas version of or anyone else. See the inked illo in Alter F.F. t-shirt... and I saw the CBS reporter... though the creation of the Silver Age Atom—and his being Ego, V3#2—still available wherever back not the two of us together. Behind me was an exhibit invited to join the panel, something he was clearly issues are sold (namely, via booth, where the original of Biljo White’s Marvel itching to do. Gil would later become a friend and TwoMorrows Publishing’s house ads Family cover for Alter Ego [Vol. 1] #7 was proudly frequent collaborator, but that day we didn’t in this very mag)! [Art ©2003 estate of exchange a single word on the panel. I’m sure that pinned up for display alongside a copy of the Gil Kane; Atom TM & ©2003 DC Comics.] off-panel, too, it was just “hello/goodbye.” fanzine. At the time both were only a year old. The camera panned about, but I didn’t recognize anyone That was probably the night Dave Kaler, Will Elder, and I went pubelse, not even those I came to know better later... guys like Marv crawling through Greenwich Village, having a great good time, with Will Wolfman, Len Wein, Jim Steranko. telling lots of great stories about EC and Harvey Kurtzman that I’d give at least a finger joint to have on tape... or even just remember. And then came the clincher: A half minute or so of footage from the masquerade event that night. Suddenly, out from behind a curtain, as if landing from a great height, bounds none other than Captain Marvel—sporting a rakish beard. It’s Phil Seuling, in the costume seen in the photo on p. 7, grinning broadly and acting mock-heroic and thoroughly enjoying himself. Those few seconds of film brought a tear to my eyes, for it caused a mental instantreplay of all the good times Phil and I had shared: Friday poker games at his apartment, first on my own (later with my first wife Jean), with Carole and their daughters Gwen and Heather sitting 10-15 feet away, watching that new series Star Trek on TV; Poring over Phil’s roomful of vintage comics before and after poker sessions (buying a run of early Green Lanterns one night when I won— paying him off with the Namor/Hulk drawing Bill Everett had done for me on another when I lost); The sadness I felt when he and Carole split up; His insistence on loaning me $1000 to ease my moving to L.A. in 1976, a generous act that came out of nowhere, since I hadn’t asked him for anything; One of our last encounters, in 1978, when I was guest of honor at one

But by then, the con was over. Time for everyone to go home. For most attendees, ’twas time to put comics on the back burner and return to making a living. Me? I went back to Dave’s apartment where I slept on a mattress on the floor... but, unlike most other con-goers, the next morning I would get up and don a suit and tie and take the subway uptown to 625 Madison Avenue and walk into the Marvel offices, where I’d remove my coat, roll up my sleeves, and stand to Stan Lee’s left while he discoursed about the pages he’d dialogued that weekend and explained to production manager Sol Brodsky (who always stood on his right) the changes that had to be made to an inked story he had proofread at home. Yeah, when I woke up, I was still dreaming. I was one of the lucky ones. 1965. Back to Sinatra. On his big TV special that autumn, he would sing a new song: “It was a very good year.” And, you know, by God, it was. Bestest,

IN FEBRUARY: NOW MONTHLY!

™

SHEENA–THE IGER STUDIO–Oh, Yeah—& the

JUSTICE SOCIETY! • Two fabulous color covers—Sheena by DAVE STEVENS—and the JSA by IRWIN HASEN! • “THE IGER COMICS KINGDOM!” JAY DISBROW relates the saga of the JERRY IGER shop’s fantastic Golden Age art for Quality, Fiction House, and others! • Art & artifacts by NICK CARDY, MATT BAKER, WILL EISNER, GEORGE EVANS, MORT MESKIN, LEE ELIAS, BOB WEBB, GEORGE TUSKA, JACK KAMEN, AL FELDSTEIN, RUDY PALAIS, MAURICE WHITMAN, JACK KIRBY, & more! • Special SHEENA Section! Gorgeous illos by DAVE STEVENS, ADAM HUGHES, FRANK BRUNNER, ALEX ROSS, & TRINA ROBBINS! • JSA FOREVER! Art by CARMINE INFANTINO, IRWIN HASEN, JOE KUBERT— plus, ALEX TOTH on SHELLY MAYER, & MICHAEL T. GILBERT on GARDNER FOX! • Still more unseen art from the lost JSA epic “THE WILL OF WILLIAM WILSON!” • JERRY ORDWAY, RICH BUCKLER, & ROY THOMAS on the ALL-STAR SQUADRON! • FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America) featuring SWAYZE, BECK, and more!! Edited by ROY THOMAS • Now 108 PAGES! SUBSCRIBE NOW! Twelve Issues in the US: $60 Standard, $96 First Class (Canada: $120, Elsewhere: $132 Surface, $180 Airmail). NOTE: IF YOU PREFER A SIX-ISSUE SUB, JUST CUT THE PRICE IN HALF!

Art and charac tional Lampoon

han Wilson. Na ductions.

Here’s an ish we’ve been planning for eons: “THE COMICS OF NATIONAL LAMPOON,” the theme for CBA #24, presents a look at the great adult humor mag’s funny-book material. Behind a new GAHAN WILSON cover (plus interview) and a VAUGHN BODÉ-inspired back cover (featuring Cheech Wizard!) by his son, MARK BODÉ, we talk to NatLamp legendary art director MICHAEL GROSS, and the magazine’s many contributors, including NEAL ADAMS, FRANK SPRINGER, SEAN KELLY, SHARY FLENNEKIN, ED SUBITSKY, M.K. BROWN, B.K. TAYLOR, BOBBY LONDON, MICHEL CHOQUETTE, ALAN KUPPERBERG, and many more! So be here as we takes a renewed look at Tarzan of the Cows, Frontline Dentists, Dragula, Son O’ God, Nuts, Trots ‘n’ Bonnie, The Appletons, One Year Affair, Norman the Barbarian, and more from the Me Decade, when satire was king and NatLamp was THE place to be!

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1 The

Comic Fandom Archive Extra!

Alter Ego Revisits the First “Complete” Comicon! by Bill Schelly

Hail, hail, the gang was all there—at the Broadway Central Hotel, pictured here from a newspaper photo supplied by Bill Schelly. [Superman, Lois Lane, Supergirl, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash, Hawkman TM & ©2003 DC Comics; Thing, Captain America, & Spider-Man TM & ©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.; Fly-Man TM & ©2003 Archie Publications, Inc.; Magnus TM & ©2003 the respective copyright holder.]

With the natural focus on “firsts” that we have as collectors, I’ve always felt (and I think most fans, though not all, will agree) that the 1964 New York Comics Convention must be considered the first real comic book convention. I vote for New York over a similar gathering in Detroit that same year, because comics professionals were in attendance at the four-hour gathering in Manhattan, and not in Michigan.

But if you want to know what I really think, it’s this: everything that came before was merely a dry run for the first complete comicon (that is, what we would recognize as a true comics convention), which occurred in New York City on July 31-August 1 in 1965. Not that I plan to revise my book The Golden Age of Comic Fandom to reflect this, because it’s a decision more of the heart than the head.

A Full-Service New York Comics Convention––Hurrah!

The ’65 New York Comicon (to use a common abbreviation for a comics convention; another is “comic-con”) was the first to be officially sponsored by the grandly-titled Academy of Comic-Book Fans and Collectors. What did this mean in practical terms? Aside from the imprimatur of being given the Academy’s “seal of approval,” it brought with it the very tangible presence of one of fandom’s founders, Jerry G. Bails, Ph.D., as a panel moderator... the standing to hand out the 1964 Alley Awards as part of the program... but most important of all, it meant that the Academy’s current executive secretary, David Kaler, would organize the thing. The latter fact turned out to be quite significant, because Kaler proved to be an extremely hard-working, conscientious fellow.

room with a private bath cost $6, a double was $8. What, no air-conditioning? Much could be endured in the cause of thrift! Attendee Tom Fagan recently recalled how the hotel’s stairways looked like something right out of The Spirit, spiderwebs and all, and “the place had a real cockroach problem. Once Jim Steranko saw his room, he immediately decided to check out. When the guy at the front desk asked why, Steranko said, “I can’t stand the vermin!” Fagan felt the same way: “It was so bad, I begged Phil Seuling to let me stay with him... which I did!” Still, the infestation didn’t put a damper on Fagan’s enthusiasm. “It was so fantastic,” he said. “When I saw the big room full of comics fans, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven.”

The list of pros at the 1965 comicon was—in a word—fantastic, interestingly weighted more toward writers, editors, and publishers than artists. Maybe the fact that Registration took place on Saturday Dave Kaler was in the process of becoming morning at 9:30 a.m. in the 4th floor A convention handout/program, with art probably by a comics writer himself (for Charlton) had lobby. In all, there would be nearly 200 Dave Kaler. [Flash & Batman TM & ©2003 DC Comics.] something to do with this. Marvel Family attendees, which seemed an awful lot of scribe Otto Binder... Batman’s co-creator comics fans at the time. Margaret Gemignani, one of the few women in Bill Finger... JSA/JLA writer Gardner Fox... Superman line editor Mort fandom, was there... as were Larry Raybourne, Tom Fagan, Michael Weisinger... Jim Warren, publisher of Creepy... recent Gold Key editor Uslan, Jerry Bails, Phil Seuling, Rick Weingroff, Bill Thailing, Jim Bill Harris... artists Gil Kane, Steranko (then known as a Murphy Anderson, and Will dealer), and a trio of fans who had Elder... fresh-faced Marvel writer helped Kaler organize the event: Roy Thomas. What a line-up! Marv Wolfman, Len Wein, and

Day One: Saturday July 31st

Mark Hanerfeld. So was Roy Thomas, who for the past few weeks had been staying at Kaler’s apartment in the East Village; he escorted Stan Lee’s “gal Friday” Flo Steinberg.

Pro attendance was stellar. The choice of hotel, considerably less so. Back in its heyday—before 1900!—the Hotel Broadway Central had housed Diamond Jim Brady. By 1965 the place was a run-down, dusty shadow of its former self—a residence for winos, prostitutes, and impoverished senior citizens. Every time the subway passed, the building shook, and the cracks in the walls widened imperceptibly. In fact, the hotel would collapse, for no apparent reason, only a few years later. In its pre-collapse days, though, the hotel had one virtue: it was cheap. This was deemed of paramount importance by Kaler, whose ears had been assailed by dire warnings of low attendance if the rates weren’t rock-bottom. Comics fans then—many of them teenagers and/or college students—were always low on cash. If they had been fortunate enough to accumulate some lucre, they wanted to spend it on comics... not room rent. A single

The first item on the program was a panel on Golden Age comics, with Otto Binder, Gardner Fox, and Bill Finger, which commenced at 11:00 a.m.— or so the program booklet says. The dealers room wouldn’t be open until later, so everyone crowded into the ballroom to hear what the pros had to say. It proved to be an informative, lively, if somewhat meandering program. Partway through, before Finger showed up, Mort Weisinger was recognized in the audience and was invited to join in with his thoughts on the way writers and editors worked together at DC. Weisinger (who was widely considered to be the most difficult editor in comics) seemed somewhat fixated on the issue of “who steals from whom”... DC or Marvel? He certainly made a convincing case

Comics Fandom Archive Extra!

7 of original art.

for DC’s primacy in the field up to that point, though history shows that the scales would soon tip in favor of Marvel as the bigger seller of the two giants. [NOTE: For a full transcript of this historic panel, see p. 9.] The panel lasted about ninety minutes, and was followed by a lunch break. While most attendees dispersed, the convention “staff” and the dealers set about converting the room into one big “Comic Mart.” There were three major dealers there: Steranko, Seuling, and Thailing. Bails also had a table with items for sale or trade. Tables were designated as a trading area, where fans could informally wheel-anddeal. In the center of the room were exhibits of rare comics and original art, including art for DC covers that would be given away for the Best Costume at the Masquerade.

Michael Uslan, later a comics writer himself and a producer on the Batman films, recalls, “I can remember as vividly as if it had been yesterday... Phil Seuling striking a heroic pose as Captain Marvel, amid all these other kids in costumes, and saying dramatically, ‘It’s a bad night for evil-doers!’”

Dave Kaler helps Flo Steinberg cut the official Comicon cake. Photo courtesy of Bill Schelly.

By the time fans were admitted into the “Comic Mart,” and the official “Comicon cake” was cut, the room was already stifling. (Did we mention that New York was in the midst of a record-setting heat wave?) Kaler has stripped down to his t-shirt in the cute photo above of Flo and him and a massive cake. Now there’s a quaint notion, and maybe one that should be revived: the official concake! Bedlam reigned from mid-afternoon to the dinner hour. As with all conventions, it seems that no matter how impressive the program, there’s nothing that gets fans excited as much as a room full of rare and collectible comic books! Many of them got their first in-person glance at a copy of Action #1 or other key Golden Age issues. The noise level in the room was high. In the midst of it all, Tom Fagan later wrote, “CBSTV camera crews threaded their way through the throng, interviewing here and there and barking orders to fans to ‘Get out of the way of the camera, sonny,’ or ‘Hey, Bud, watch out for that cord.’”

Afterwards, the evening was capped with showings of the Captain America and Captain Marvel serials, which would become standard features at many of the ensuing comicons of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Fans hungry to see their heroes in live action were willing to overlook the many shortcomings of the serials, though it must be said in its favor that the production values and flying effects in Adventures of Captain Marvel are top-notch. One hopes Otto Binder stayed for the show.

Day Two: August 1st More serial action began the program on Sunday, with a noon showing of Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (minus a few middle chapters, to speed things along). The rest of the afternoon was given over to the Comic Mart, and more frantic trading and selling ensued. It was apparently during this session that a number of Batmanians (the group sponsored by Biljo White’s seminal fanzine Batmania) gathered in the “con-cave”—probably a side room—to focus especially on the adventures of the Dynamic Duo. If there was anyone in attendance who didn’t know the importance of Bill Finger’s role in the creation of the Batman mythos before this convention, all were fully informed by its end! [NOTE: See Tom Fagan’s article on pp. 40-41.]

To top off the daytime schedule, Jerry led a comic book auction— and then had to re-enact part of it at the request of the TV folks. The Costume Party/Masquerade which commenced at 7:30 p.m. was a notable success, rounding out a fabulous first day. Phil and Carole Seuling were there as Captain Marvel (with goatee) and Mary Marvel; Roy Thomas felt no compunctions about appearing in his form-fitting Plastic Man outfit; an excellent Spider-Man was in evidence; Kaler essayed Dr. Strange; Miss Gemignani played Miss America (a creation of Otto Binder’s!); Marv Wolfman was the Herbie the Fat Fury... and, by sheer coincidence, there were two Weather Wizards. Just about everyone who entered won a page

Otto Binder, who from 1941-53 scribed “Captain Marvel” and “Marvel Family” tales for Fawcett, is flanked by Carole and Phil Seuling as Mary and Cap at the 1965 Costume Party. You can see this photo in full color in Bill Schelly’s The Golden Age of Comic Fandom. Courtesy of Dave Armstrong.

After the dinner break came the presentation of the Alley Awards (the poll of the members of fandom, originated by the Academy) and a second major panel discussion. The ceremony began with David Kaler taking the microphone: “Tonight we will announce the Alley Awards for the 1964 winners. And we have many pros here, some to accept an award—which unfortunately is not here to be given.” The award statuettes, gold- and silver-painted figures of Alley Oop, had not reached the hotel in time. “But within two months, we will have an award sent to the winners,” Kaler added. “I would like to introduce all the professional people here first, and then I will announce the awards.” He paused for applause after each name: “We have Mr. Will Elder... Mr. Nelson Bridwell...

A Full-Service New York Comics Convention––Hurrah!

a brand new pro, Roy Thomas... another person breaking into the field, Len Brown... and, of course, the fabulous Flo Steinberg from Marvel. [tumultuous applause] I hope you have a special welcome for Mr. Jim Warren, publisher of Creepy comics... I also have Mr. Woody Gelman, who did ‘The Dodo and the Frog’ for many years at DC ... Mr. Bill Harris, former editor of Gold Key... Mr. Murphy Anderson... [the fans went wild] ... Mr. Larry Ivie... and, although he’s not a professional as we know them, Mr. Len Darvin of the Comics Code Authority...” [somewhat reluctant applause] Then the choices were announced, as follows: Best Adventure Hero book: Amazing Spider-Man Best Editor: Stan Lee Best Writer: Stan Lee Best Pencil Artist: Carmine Infantino Best Inking Artist: Murphy Anderson Best Short Story: “Doorway to the Unknown”—Flash #148 Best Novel:“Captain America Joins the Avengers” —Avengers #4 Best Giant Comic: Spider-Man Annual #1 Best Hero: Spider-Man Best Villain: Dr. Doom Best Group: Fantastic Four Best Character:The Thing Best Fanzine: Alter Ego #7 After the announcements, Kaler invited Flo to the podium to speak on behalf of Marvel. She said, “I thank you very much. We all do. Unfortunately, Stan couldn’t be here, as you may or may not have noticed. He does most of our writing on weekends. The books are late, so we had no choice. But we’re very grateful for the honor. Stan thinks very highly, as we all do, of fandom. And we just hope you’ll keep on enjoying our books, because we enjoy bringing them to you very, very much.”

or he would have flown in for sure... and that is Bill White. Therefore I consider the award just as much for Bill as for me.” Biljo, besides publishing and editing Batmania, was art editor of A/E V1#7-9. When the Alley speeches were over, David assembled those who were to participate in the final event of the Comicon, a symposium entitled “Comics and Fandom: Where Do We Go from Here?” Kaler moderated the panel, which consisted of Rick Weingroff and Roy Thomas (for the fan point of view), and Jim Warren, Murphy Anderson, and Bill Harris (representing the professionals’ viewpoint). Other fans and pros contributed their bits from the audience. [NOTE: See the abbreviated panel transcript beginning on pp. 30.] What emerged from this first public examination of the relationship that fandom had—if any—to the types of comic books published, was that neither the fans or pros had a very great understanding of each other. Fans didn’t realize that their views represented only a very small percentage of the readership of any given comic book; the pros could not have known that fandom would continue unabated, and that it would provide the training ground for most of the younger generation of creators who would break into the field over the next decade-plus. Still, the attempt at communication was being made, and that was enough to make the panel a success. Shortly after 9:00, the first complete comic book convention was officially over. It had been a stellar gathering of fans and pros, and provided a way for even the poorest fan to eyeball the great rare comics of the Golden Age. Now the costumes would be put away, the dealers’ boxes of rare comics would be transported back to Brooklyn, or Cleveland, or Detroit. Fans would disperse, many eventually circulating numerous photographs of the history-making event. (We only wish we had been able to garner more of them in time for this article. If anyone out there has any others....) For his part, David Kaler had completed his year as executive secretary of the Academy of Comic-Book Fans and Collectors. Now it was Paul Gambaccini’s turn at the helm. Kaler continued to organize conventions in 1966 and 1967, but soon others got into the act, as well: John Benson, with a well-done convention in 1966, and Calvin Beck with a disastrous one that same year. Then, in 1968, a new era in New York comics conventions began when Phil Seuling and associates formed a group called SCARP (The Society of Comic Art Research and Preservation) to put on the only New York Comicon of the year. SCARP would last only for that single convention, but Seuling would pick up the reins and host what would be, for a number of years, the biggest comics convention in the U.S., if not the world.

When Murphy Anderson was introduced, he said in accepting his Alley award: “Words fail me. I’m not much of a speaker, but I certainly do appreciate the honor that you have given me... and I’m sure I speak for Carmine, also. We’ll simply try to keep on giving you the very best that we have. Thank you very much.” Next, Roy Thomas said a few words about the fanzine Alley given to Alter Ego [Vol. 1] #7, which he had edited and published the previous autumn: “I have been very lucky in publishing Alter Ego, in that I have one of fandom’s most outstanding artists, a person who wanted to be here very much, but because of seniority problems [he was a fireman in Columbia, Missouri] could not be here,

Over the years, comics conventions have even been featured in comics—as per this cover for Archie #471 (May 1998), reproduced from a photocopy of the original Stan Goldberg/Henry Scarpelli art. But it all started with those New York cons back in ’64 and ’65! [©2003 Archie Comic Publications, Inc.]

Thus began a proud tradition—at the dilapidated Broadway Central Hotel, in middle of the long, hot summer of 1965.

Creators Panel

1 The 5 96

mic Co ork wY o Ne rt T w

The First-ever “Creators Panel” at a Comics Convention–––Featuring Tape Furnished by Jerry G. Bails Transcribed by Tim Easterday Edited by Roy Thomas

OTTO BINDER, GARDNER FOX, BILL FINGER, & MORT WEISINGER

The Golden Age origins of Superman, Batman, Captain Marvel, The Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, and Green Arrow, and the Silver Age origin of The Atom—all heroes co-created or (in the case of Supes and Cap) developed in a major way by the four 1965 panelists—were reprinted in the 1976 hardcover Secret Origins of the Super DC Heroes. The origins of the Silver Age versions of the 1940s heroes, which were depicted on the cover along with Wonder Woman and Plastic Man, were included, as well. Art by Neal Adams. [©2003 DC Comics.]

[INTRODUCTION: Since the closest thing to a discussion panel at the groundbreaking 1964 New York Comicon had been a chalk talk by veteran artist Tom Gill, and a few words by a non-pro Marvel “intern,” the transcript you are about to read is a noteworthy comicshistorical document. It represents probably the first “creators panel” at a comics convention—which makes it all the more remarkable that all those scheduled to appear on it were not artists, but writers. [This panel, moderated by A/E’s founder, Dr. Jerry Bails, was to feature three of the earliest and most influential comics writers—Otto Binder, major scripter of “Captain Marvel,” “Marvel Family,” and various features for Fawcett and other companies since the 1940s, and a pulp science-fiction author before that; Bill Finger, long credited as co-creator of the original “Green Lantern” and “Wildcat” and soon to be widely acknowledged as the co-creator of “Batman,” as well;

and Gardner F. Fox, co-creator of the original “Flash, “Hawkman,” “Dr. Fate,” “Justice Society of America,” “The Face,” “Skyman,” and other Golden Age features. All were still active in the field—Binder writing Mighty Samson for Western/Gold Key as well as stories for DC’s “Superman” line; Finger scribing “mystery” tales, Challengers of the Unknown, and the occasional “Batman” for DC; and Fox in demand on Justice League of America, The Atom, Hawkman, the imminent Spectre revival, et al. No gathering of more important Golden Age writers (or just comics writers, period) could have been imagined—then or now! [Unfortunately, like many of the best-laid plans of mice and supermen, this one went slightly awry. Bill Finger, notable for being perennially late on deadlines, failed to show up by the panel’s starting time. While it was in progress, “Superman” group editor

Ghost Writers In The Sky Mr. Binder how it was that he broke into the comics field. OTTO BINDER: Why don’t you call me Otto, Jerry? JB: All right. BINDER: Otherwise, I’ll call you Mr.—eh, Dr. Bails. JB: Now don’t do that! All right—Otto. Now, how was it that you broke into the comics field?

By 1973 moderator Jerry Bails, besides having launched Alter-Ego, would initiate the landmark four-volume printed edition of The Who’s Who of American Comic Books, co-edited by Hames Ware. At right is future Disney comics artist Don Rosa’s cover for 1975’s Volume 3. This photo of Bails at the 1964 “Alley Talley” fan confab, holding a copy of his Alter-Ego #4, is courtesy of Bill Schelly. [Art ©2003 Don Rosa.]

BINDER: It was along in 1939 that Harry Chesler was one of the early publishers, who had books with quite a few reprints, and he decided to have some original stories, and I started writing for him. I have no copies of those, although I understand that somebody has them around here for sale. [At this point Jerry Bails asks if people in the back of the room can hear well. Told that they cannot, he passes his mike to the soft-spoken Otto Binder and continues:]

Mort Weisinger wandered in and was invited to join the panel. Actually, he, too, had been an early comics scripter, having written the first tales of “Johnny Quick,” “Aquaman,” and “Green Arrow”— the latter pair destined to become two of the longest continuallypublished comics heroes ever—but alas, this aspect of his career was not explored, as he turned the discussion in other directions. [Happily, Bill Finger did arrive in time to participate in the latter part of the panel, even if for that reason he got less “mike time” than the others. Even so, this panel remains historic for all the above reasons— plus the fact that it is the only time these early, quintessential comic book writers appeared together! We have Jerry Bails to thank for preserving the 7-inch reel-to-reel tape of this panel over the decades, and Mark Gamble of the South Carolina Arts Commission in Columbia, SC, for transferring those tapes to audiocassettes so they could be transcribed. [I titled this piece after an old favorite song, because so much of these scripters’ major 1940s work—Finger’s “Batman,” Fox’s “Hawkman,” “JSA,” etc., and all of Binder’s and Weisinger’s comics writing—was done with no credit accompanying the stories, even in cases where the artist signed the feature. They were indeed “Ghost Writers in the Sky” of a sort—but, for this brief shining moment, they came down to Earth, to tell us what it was like, warts and all. —Roy.] JERRY BAILS: We’re very honored today to have with us two gentlemen whose work spans the entire history of the comics magazine field. Mr. Otto Binder, who, most of you are aware, was the man behind The Marvel Family—Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel, and Captain Marvel Jr.—who’s now working on the “Superman” family of books and a new book by Gold Key—Mighty Samson. We also have with us this morning Mr. Gardner Fox, with whom you are familiar as the author of The Atom, Hawkman—and who scripted the original “Flash” and “Hawkman,” the “Justice Society,” “The Face,” “The Skyman.” So both of these gentlemen can tell us this morning something about these many strips that they’ve created, and the characters, their inspirations. I’d like to begin by asking them questions, and later we’ll throw the questions open to the floor. Let me begin by asking

Otto Binder probably scripted this tale for Street & Smith’s Army & Navy Comics #2 (Aug. 1941). Though subtitled “The Astounding Man,” this Iron Munro had little in common besides his name with the science-fictional super-hero of John W. Campbell’s novel The Mightiest Machine, which had been serialized in 1935 in that same company’s Astounding sf pulp magazine. In the mid-’80s DC comic The Young All-Stars, Roy Thomas would use that name for the son of Hugo Danner, seminal super-hero of Philip Wylie’s 1930 novel Gladiator. Artist unknown; any info out there? [©2003 the respective copyright holder.]

Creators Panel

JB: What were some of the very first scripts that you wrote for Harry Chesler publications?

JB: Where did you draw your influence? What inspired you, what sort of writing did you do?

BINDER: [checking a list he has brought] The very first one I wrote was called “Dan Hastings,” in October 1939. Then there was “Scott Rand, Astounding Man,” another “Scott Rand,” and “Iron Munro.” Iron Munro was a space character. This was all in ’39. Then, through ’40, I didn’t write any more. I didn’t think the comics would last. [audience laughter]

FOX: Well, before I wrote comics, I was a lawyer, so I did draw on my legal knowledge to a certain extent, if you want to look at it that way. I always liked to write, and Vin Sullivan, who was editor of “Superman”—it was actually before “Superman” began when I started— he and I had gone to grammar school together and I had known him—I still know him—and he knew I always liked to write, so when he became editor of Detective Comics, he asked me if I’d do some writing, and this is where it’s led.

I became convinced by January of ’41, and the first story for the regular publishers, those that had all originals, was “Power Nelson” for— it was called Feature Publications then. The second one was “Vulcan” for Eastern Publications... the third, “Captain America” for Timely, and then “Captain Venture” for Fawcett, and so on and so on…

BINDER: Just out of curiosity, Gardner—in the beginning, let’s say the first year or two or three, were you on the verge of quitting constantly and then they’d raise the rates and that way we got trapped in what we’d call the “Golden Rut”? Did that happen?

JB: When was that first “Captain America” script appearing? Was it in the first issue?

FOX: Well, the first two years that I wrote comics, I also practiced law. So this was an avocation with me. I used to do it at night and on holidays, until it got to such a point when Mr. [M.C.] Gaines started his Flash Comics, that he asked me to write for him, but I felt I couldn’t carry both jobs, so I gave up the law.

BINDER: Well, it was March—it was written, these are the records— March ’41. I have copies at home, and I… JB: And each issue would appear about six months later, would it? BINDER: Yeah. Uh, do you remember when the first issue was?

JB: Was The Flash the first costumed character? No, Zatara was, was it not?

JB: [to audience] When was the first issue of Captain America? In ’41? This wouldn’t have been the very first of…

FOX: If you consider that a costume—I mean, the high hat and tails and all that sort of thing. If that’s a costume, that would be the first costumed character. Most of the ones at that time were either detectives or an adventurer. I see “Cotton Carver” down here. He was an adventurer who went all over the world and had various exciting, I hope, adventures.

BINDER: No, probably not. JB: You wrote for quite a variety of different publishers. BINDER: Yes, I’m even surprised myself how many I wrote. Gardner and I were sitting before, and we compared our—looked over our old listings—and our eyes opened up: “What, we wrote that?” You know, we’d forgotten… JB: How many strips did you both have in common, that you both wrote? None at all?

During the 1960s and early ’70s Otto Binder used his records to inform researchers like Jerry Bails of particular comics and issues he had scripted. This lead story is one of two he wrote for Captain America #15 (June 1942), five issues after originators Joe Simon and Jack Kirby split for DC. Pencils by Al Avison, inks by Syd Shores. Thanks to Mike Costa. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

BINDER: Yeah, the magicians were among the early characters. FOX: Magicians, yeah, that’s right.

JB: Otto, what are some of the first of the costumed characters that you actually originated?

GARDNER FOX: I don’t think so.

BINDER: Um, let’s see, I’ll have to go down the line here until I find one.

BINDER: No characters…

JB: How about “The Black Owl”? Was that something you originated?

JB: What were some of the strips that you first started on, Gardner? Before “The Flash,” for example. FOX: Well, I go back to March of 1938 with “Steve Malone,” who was a district attorney. That was the first story I sold DC—it wasn’t DC then—yes, it was—and that appeared in Detective Comics. This was before “Batman.” My next one, which appeared in the #2 of Action Comics, was “Zatara.” Then there was “Speed Saunders.” He was a detective character; he appeared in Detective, obviously.

BINDER: No, no, I didn’t originate that. “Mr. Scarlet” I didn’t originate, but I wrote from #2 on, and most of them from there on in. JB: I notice this is not uncommon, the fact that writers are often called in on the second story, for some reason. Is this because the artist has something to do with the writing of the first story? FOX: I think that, in those very early days, lots of times an artist like, say, Freddy Guardineer, would come in with an idea on “Zatara,” for

Ghost Writers In The Sky

For the first issue of Flash Comics (Jan. 1940) Gardner Fox and editor Shelly Mayer came up with both the title hero and “The Hawkman.” The panel from #2 (Feb. ’40) featuring the latter is by his first artist, Dennis Neville. In recent years Harry Lampert, the original “Flash” artist, has authored and illustrated award-winning, best-selling books on contract bridge, and here he combines the two interests. Harry, who does commission work, can be reached (with a stamped, self-addressed envelope, please) at 2074 S.W. 17th Drive, Deerfield Beach, FL 33442. [“Hawkman” art ©2003 DC Comics; Lampert art ©2003 Harry Lampert; Flash TM & ©2003 DC Comics.]

instance, which he may have done. He did the first one, to the best of my knowledge, because I came in on #2, which appeared in the #2 Action Comics. And they were just starting “Superman” then, obviously, in Action Comics #1.

BINDER: In those days, we worked much longer and harder hours. Well, maybe not harder hours. No, not harder hours, just longer hours. And the plotting—we were just discussing before, Gardner and I—the plotting wasn’t nearly as complex or with as much finesse in those days. It was mostly action and bringing in your villain and having excitement and danger and so forth. Whereas today, a lot of stories are pretty well-plotted. Gardner, you probably have some comments, too. There is a contrast. I can’t think of anything specific… JB: So when does the change set in? When is it that you began systematically, carefully working with the editors in the plotting of these stories?

A lot of the artists came in with an idea, the way Bob Kane came in with his idea on “Batman.” But, an artist, in most instances, is not a writer to the extent that he can turn out the stuff as often as is needed in the comic field. They have a very definite set of deadlines, which have to be met month after month after month. So, lots of times an artist would come in: Freddy Guardineer with “Zatara,” Bob Kane with “Batman.” Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster were friends— one was the writer and one was the artist, and theirs was a collaboration job. But a lot of them Otto originated, I originated. Some idea—they need another character, they want to drop something, or they were starting a new book—and they’d say, “Bring in some ideas.” This was actually how a lot of them got started, you know. BINDER: Yep. Sure. JB: Otto, would you contrast for us the way in which you worked in those days with the way you’re working now?

“The Black Owl” and “Mr. Scarlet and Pinky” were features written by Otto before he became Captain Marvel’s chief scribe. Black Owl became the cover star of Prize Comics with #7 (Dec. 1940)—while Scarlet was cover-billed in Fawcett’s Wow Comics, till Mary Marvel booted him off with #9. [“Black Owl” art ©2003 the respective copyright holder; “Mr. Scarlet” art ©2003 DC Comics.]

Creators Panel BINDER: Well, working with the editors was pretty well established right from the beginning. In fact, I think Gardner will agree that very few stories are a prime, pristine product of the writer. He doesn’t just come in with the idea and the editor says, “Okay, go ahead.” It’s discussed between the editor and the writer, and it’s quite a collaboration type thing as far as the final story goes. Although I did have quite a bit of freedom in the early days, and probably Gardner did too, on certain characters—let’s say, side characters; there the editor would pretty much let you on your own. But the more established characters— did you find that, Gardner?—are almost always the editor’s…

(Above:) 1962’s “The Strange Adventure That Really Happened!” in Strange Adventures #140 had Gardner Fox (right) and his longtime editor Julius Schwartz (left) saving the Earth from aliens, amid art by Sid Greene. Thanks to Bill Schelly. (At right:) Some of Fox and Schwartz’s most famous collaborations were the early JLA-JSA teamups which began in Justice League of America #21 (Aug. 1963). This page from that issue is repro’d from photocopies of the original Mike Sekowsky/Bernard Sachs art, courtesy of Jerry Bails. [©2003 DC Comics.]

FOX: Yeah, that’s true. And each editor, being an individual, has his own specific ways of working with you. Certain editors are—more lenient, let’s say—than other editors. Other editors will be more realistic. For instance, Julie Schwartz is a very, what I call, a realistic editor. He has to have reasons for everything there, which have to be answered. And there are some others who are not as fussy, let’s say. So I think it’s an individual matter on the editors. I know there were certain editors—I could just mail in a plot and have it OK’d and work on it. None of these editors like that, however, were with DC. DC is, uh… JB: Looking for a word? [laughter] FOX: Yes. Let’s say they’re harder on writers… [audience laughter] BINDER: He didn’t want to use “fussy,” either.

FOX: …than some other editors I know. BINDER: There might be a DC spy in here, for all we know. JB: Either of you ever work very closely with the artist himself? Gardner? FOX: No. Never. JB: Otto? BINDER: No. Although, to a certain extent, I did with Clarence Beck

When the “Monster Society of Evil” serial began in Captain Marvel Adventures #22 (March 1943), above, Mr. Mind was only a disembodied voice talking to Captain Nazi. As late as #25, Cap flicked a worm off his shoulder, unaware (though the readers were probably figuring out by now) that it was Mr. Mind. Script by Otto Binder, art by C.C. Beck. [©2003 DC Comics.]

Ghost Writers In The Sky worm. And, well, we used it with trepidation, thinking we’d get a flood of letters criticizing it, you know, but it was just the opposite. It sparked their imaginations at the time. I doubt today it would, but… JB: What was the response when you executed Mr. Mind? BINDER: The response from the readers, you mean? JB: Yeah. BINDER: Oh, tremendous! It was, without question—it astounded us! We really didn’t expect it at all. I think that part of the reason might have been that it was getting away from a stereotype villain—Sivana and all of the other characters that were around—and just the uniqueness of that, I suppose. JB: Would you say that was the villain you had the most fun with? BINDER: Yes, quite definitely. Also, Tawky Tawny. He was fairly popular, not to the extent that Mr. Mind was, but… JB: Some of the people here may not know that Tawky Tawny was a talking tiger that had a large number of stories in which he appeared.

Considering the long-running Superman-vs.-Captain Marvel legal skirmish, you wouldn’t think the good people at Fawcett would’ve been so fond of courtroom scenes! But when Tawky Tawny made his second appearance, in Captain Marvel Adventures #82 (March 1948), the Talking Tiger was the Big Red Cheese’s defense lawyer! Script by Otto Binder, art by C.C. Beck. [©2003 DC Comics.]

on “Captain Marvel.” He lived in Jersey, too, and it was convenient for us to get together, and he also contributed quite a bit to the storyline.

BINDER: Yeah, he wasn’t chapterized as Mr. Mind was issue after issue, but he appeared regularly, and I think he—I made a final total, I haven’t got it here—I think he ran even more—28, or 30, or 31 stories, eventually. JB: Gar, which villain did you have the most fun with? FOX: Well, that’s a tough one. JB: Well, what hero, for example, did you enjoy writing? FOX: Well, I always look back with favor on The Thinker. He was an

JB: Would you tell me something about, say, the creation of some of the characters in the “Captain Marvel” strip? BINDER: Well, that’s where we had a lot of fun, especially when it came to Tawky Tawny and, well, Mr. Mind. That was the greatest fun of all because we had the idea of a mysterious voice from space. It started out... and we went on, I forget how many chapters, and… JB: This is a very famous serial that ran how many chapters? BINDER: 25, I believe, or 26. 25. JB: 25 chapters! BINDER: And all this time they kept appearing for six months or so and we were wracking our brains: “What kind of villain to bring out?” We didn’t want to bring out anything “stereotype.” And I don’t know who originated the idea—it was one of our bull sessions with probably the chief editor, and Clarence Beck, the artist, and myself. And somewhere along the line somebody said, “Well, let’s make it the most ridiculous thing…” or the most, not ridiculous, but the most, uh… FOX: Far out. BINDER: …far out, or the complete opposite of Captain Marvel. I think that was the derivation of the idea. Captain Marvel being the World’s Mightiest Mortal, the weakest thing we could think of was a

Not hard to believe The Thinker was a favorite of Gardner Fox’s! When the fastest men alive on two worlds finally met in The Flash #123 (Sept. 1961), he was one of three 1940s villains who faced them... though he wore a new “Thinking Cap” to give him a science-fictional aspect. Repro’d from photocopies of the original Infantino/Gielle art, courtesy of Mike W. Barr. [©2003 DC Comics.]

Creators Panel

The Fox by “moonlight”! The Gardner-written “Face” (art by Mart Bailey; “Michael Blake” was a house name) and “Skyman” both debuted in Columbia’s Big Shot Comics #1 (May 1940)—though the Ogden Whitney-drawn centerpiece above is from Skyman #1 (1941). The pencil layouts at right are from new tales of the airman hero drawn in 1987 none other than Steve Ditko, for Ron Frantz’ black-&-white Return of The Skyman; find out how to get a copy of the finished comic at <magilla445@aol.com> Oh, and thanks to Blake Bell for photocopies of the layouts! [©2003 the respective copyright holders; new Skyman material TM & ©2003 Ron Frantz.]

mean, I try to project his personality into the story if I can. But none of them, especially—they go too fast! JB: During the early ’40s, could you name some of the strips that you worked for, for some of the non-DC magazines, like for Columbia, for example? FOX: Uh, yes, let’s see if I can find them here. Ask Otto a question while I look, please. JB: Well, I think I can name two that I know you began on— “The Face” and “The Skyman.” FOX: Yes, yes, I see it here, all right. It was “Marvello,” “Spymaster,” “Skyman,” “Tom Kerry, D.A.”—there’s that D.A. again—“Rick Rogers”—him I forget completely, I haven’t the faintest notion of who he was or what he did or anything. [audience laughter] “Skyman”’s fine, but… JB: You’ll be surprised to find that you probably have a large fan following on that strip.

JB: He [The Thinker] was the lawyer, wasn’t he? Was he drawn on your own experience? [laughter]

FOX: But that apparently was the lineup: “Marvello,” “Spymaster,” “Skyman,” “Tom Kerry,” “Rick Rogers”—then we’re going over it again: “Marvello,” “Skyman,” “Spymaster,” “Tom Kerry,” “Rick Rogers”—“Rocky Ryan,” and then “The Face.”

FOX: Not especially, no. [laughter] I think they all—I know that when I sit down to do a story, usually, I feel kind-of inspired by the villain. I

JB: I notice there was an early story of “Sandman” that I suspect you wrote, in which a guy—

old “Flash” villain I enjoyed doing. Solomon Grundy was a good…

Ghost Writers In The Sky

FOX: Yeah, I originated “Sandman.”

won’t go into, I then turned more toward science writing, which had been my real love, anyway. The comics kind-of lured me away, so to speak. And, actually, the past 10 or 12 years I’ve done more nonfiction than fiction. And the only two outfits I do work for today are DC and just one book for Dell—Mighty Samson. The other books I did just drifted away and I never pursued or never wanted too much work there.

JB: —a character, a villain, appeared called The Face. Shortly after, your “Face” strip appeared. Did you get an inspiration from that? FOX: No. I don’t know. I see the first “Face” issue I got paid for in January of 1940. So I honestly don’t remember. This was a long time ago. JB: Well, this appeared about 1939. You had a character in the “Sandman” strip known as The Face... and I thought perhaps that that idea stuck in the back of your mind and you…

JB: Gold Key. BINDER: Gold Key, yeah. That’s right, sure—there’s a complete change there. It’s always fixed in my mind as Dell, though. It’s hard to change, you know, thoughts.

FOX: Not to my knowledge. I see here in March of ’39, I wrote a “Sandman.” I also wrote a “Sandman” in February of ’39. There’s another one in April here. So I don’t know. To be quite honest, Jerry, I couldn’t tell you whether The Face came from that villain or not. I just couldn’t say; I don’t know.

JB: I know that fans would like to be familiar with some of your non-fiction material. Would you mention some of them?

BINDER: Well, that ranges from articles in magazines like Mechanics Illustrated and JB: What do you think of the Challenge for Men and so current revival, Otto? The forth. Either regular science interest in the costumed heroes, such as—oh, let me think of a for example. few—about the laws of gravity, and so forth. And then, I’ve Although the excellent extended coverage of Gold Key's comics line in our sister mag Comic BINDER: You mean as typified done a lot of space science Book Artist #22 states that "the writers remain unknown," it's long been known by by Stan Lee’s characters or…? writing, including things for attendees of the 1965 Kalercon that 'twas scripter Otto Binder who, with artist Frank Thorne, NASA—I forgot to bring, originated Mighty Samson as a post-apocalyptical hero. Thorne, who'd later draw Korak, JB: No, your own work, too. Son of Tarzan, Red Sonja, and his own creation Ghita of Alizarr, won an award from the incidentally, the latest thing. BINDER: Well, of course, National Cartoonists Society for his work on Samson. This art is from #3 (June ’65), which They have a series called was on sale just before the con. Thanks to Bill Schelly. [©2003 Western Publishing, Inc.] “Superman” has been going NASA Facts; it’s a folder that’s on… sent to high school teachers or high schools, and it unfolds, about 8" or 10" or 12" I guess it is, and JB: Well, you have The Mighty Samson... with a lot of pictures, and it’s all the authentic data, of course, that I got from NASA. I’ve also written and had published several books—one’s BINDER: Wait—your question was the revival of what? called Careers in Space, one Victory in Space. Then others that are JB: Of the costumed heroes, the interest in the costumed heroes. purely astronomical—Planets and the Moon, and the latest is Riddles of Astronomy, which was just last year. And, well, there’s been a variety of BINDER: Yeah, in other words—well, the ones that Stan Lee has are what I call short pieces, short articles in various publications. So that the new, aren’t they? Most of his are? And so I’ll call that typical. I find it comics are—well, I’d say comics are perhaps a third of my time today. reminiscent, to a certain extent, of the good old days, because there’s more action and, let’s say, less intricate plotting, although.... I think it’s JB: Gardner, would you tell us about the material that you’re now all to the good that he uses modern language—what do you call it—I writing for other media? don’t know what kind of language you call it, rock ’n’ roll language or FOX: Well, I have done science-fiction for Paperback Library and for whatever, but modern slang, in other words. Plus the fact that the heroes Ace. I also do historical novels for Paperback, Tower, and Avon. So, kid themselves quite a bit, and I always liked humor, as you know, between the comics and that, I manage to keep busy. because I put it in “Captain Marvel.” JB: I wondered if it had changed your own role in the industry. If you found yourself being called on to create new strips that do new things with the characters. BINDER: No, actually, my work… I should explain that, since 1953, when the Marvel—when the Captain Marvel group, Fawcett group, in other words—went out of existence for a well-known reason that I

JB: About what percentage of your time do you spend writing for the comics, would you say? FOX: Two-thirds. I figure I spend… JB: So, we’ve got a whole writer here for the comics between onethird and two-thirds.

Creators Panel

Just for kicks, we’ve studded this issue’s coverage of the 1965 New York Comicon with art related to its pro guests which has appeared in convention program books in the years since, to show the continuity of traditions begun at the 1964-65 cons. E.g., witness Otto Binder’s literary ward, Captain Marvel, drawn by his original artist for the third San Diego Comic-Con (thanks to Shel Dorf)—and a 1986 sketch of Fox’s Hawkman drawn by All-Star Squadron artist Jerry Ordway at a Chicago con for collector Bob Justice; thanks to Jerry and Bob for sharing it with us. [art ©2003 C.C. Beck estate & Jerry Ordway, respectively; Captain Marvel & Hawkman TM & ©2003 DC Comics.]

BINDER: Yeah, right, right. [laughter] FOX: Well, I do find—and Otto probably finds the same thing—that the change of pace is a good thing, because you go from one form of creative work to another, so that I like to think that I don’t get stale on any one of ’em. It’s a nice change there. BINDER: Yes, definitely, Gardner. I can give somewhat of a background on that: back in, let’s say, from ’42 to ’45, that was the period of enormous expansion and the few experienced writers that were along—there just weren’t any writers in the field... the few of us that were in it, like Gardner and myself and Bill Finger and so forth, were called upon to just work day and night, and very often I’d do two or even three stories a day, practically. Sometimes we had to work all night to get out of deadline.

the audience about the effects the Comics Code has had upon your writing. Could you comment on that in any way? BINDER: Well, we’ll start with a few choice expletives first. No, I was speaking not so much about the Comics Code but the Wertham group, the Wertham syndrome. The Comics Code I think is all to the good because it did the industry good. And it’s like the same self-censorship that the movies put through. Of course, the Code is old-maidish, I think, about a lot of points, as probably all of us do. My personal feeling is that, and a lot of psychologists have said this too, that—[pause] I believe I see Mort Weisinger. Yes, Mort Weisinger, the chief editor of “Superman”—right in the back! JB: Mr. Weisinger, would you like to come forward and join the panel?

And, now I became completely involved with comics to the point where I, after a few years, I began to—you lose your taste if you eat the same thing every day. You eventually lose your taste for that. And I found it very refreshing then to switch to any other thing, non-fiction or even pulp fiction or whatever, just so it was something else. That’s a very good point.

JB: Would you like to come forward? [audience applause] We’d very much like to have an editor’s point of view here.

JB: I know that there’s probably questions in the minds of many of

[NOTE: Otto’s remark is an aside to Ye Present Editor out in the

BINDER: I think that would be a good idea.

BINDER: Hi, Roy. Hey, Roy…

Ghost Writers In The Sky

Though he’d already edited pulp magazines before he took an editorial job in comics, one of Mort Weisinger’s first assignments at DC was to create and write the earliest tales of “Johnny Quick,” “Green Arrow,” and “Aquaman”—no mean accomplishment! Here are: (a) Chad Grothkopf’s splash for the very first “JQ” outing, from More Fun Comics #71 (Sept. ’41); (b) near-future A/E interviewee Paul Norris’ splash for the first “Aquaman,” from MFC #73 (Nov. ’41); (c) page 4 from “The Silent City,” only the second “Green Arrow” story ever (!), in MFC #74 (Dec. ’41), drawn by George Papp. This amazing find is repro’d from a photocopy of the original art, as are Papp’s warm-up sketches from the back of that page. (Thanks to collector Dan Makara for sharing this historic artwork, which may well be the earliest “G.A.” story art in existence; he says there’s a pencil study of a prototype of the Arrowplane on the back, too, but it didn’t repro in the photocopy. Maybe another time....) Incidentally, the premier “Aquaman” and “Green Arrow” tales appeared in DC’s Millennium Editions reprint of More Fun #73 in 2000—while a George Papp drawing of Green Arrow which may just be the first sketch ever done of that long-lived hero is on view in the TwoMorrows trade paperback Alter Ego: The Comic Book Artist Collection. Whew! [©2003 DC Comics.]

Creators Panel audience, because, only three weeks earlier, after working for two weeks as Weisinger’s editorial assistant, I had felt oppressed by his style and had quit DC for a staff job at Marvel. Weisinger had had harsh words for me at that time, and this was Otto’s gentle way of ribbing me because he suspected I’d be feeling a bit uncomfortable at that moment. He was right. —Roy.] JB: Very glad to meet you, sir. Would you like to join us? MORT WEISINGER: Oh, no, I couldn’t… JB: We’d very much like to have you! As most of you know, Mort has edited the line of “Superman” for quite a large number of years now; I think something like twenty years, is it? Or is it longer than that? But we’d like to ask you some of these same questions. Maybe you could tell us something about the way in which the editors and the writers and artists work together, and how the editor coordinates the efforts of these people.

three artists in one issue: a Wayne Boring story, a Joe Shuster story, an Al Plastino story. These are artists who had been with us since the inception of Superman. And it also became impossible for any one writer to write ’em. Otto has always been our tower of strength, a Rock of Gibraltar for me, turning out a lot of the important “Superman” stories. And, by the same token, I depended very much on Edmond Hamilton who, a lot of you will know, is a successful science-fiction writer and a bright, very competent motion picture writer. And we also had Alfred Bester, who has climbed on from comics to television and has been inevitably successful with sciencefiction novels. And Bill Finger or Jerry Siegel still contributed. So, when you get several writers, all writing “Superman,” you get a period where stories are in the works. Each writer has to be alerted to what the other writers are doing so as not to repeat. Because, God knows, we did repeat despite our various vigilances. Unwittingly, writers always think of the same circles, just as editors do, and just as fans do, and fanzine editors, so we would get duplication.

WEISINGER: Well, I would just like to tell all of you how much I admire all the spirit that you’ve got in coming here. I think Otto Binder and Gardner, with whom I’ve been associated for about a quarter of a century, will tell you that this is very reminiscent of our days in science-fiction, where we did have a certain esprit de corps. I think what Jerry just said about how we get out the comic involves the same thing—teamwork. As you all know, “Superman” is not the product of any one man. It would be impossible! From the day that Jerry Siegel conceived of it, “Superman” was published in one magazine—Action Comics, and later in Superman—and it was possible for Jerry to write all the stories. But as the popularity of Superman became a national, an international, phenomenon, it became more and more necessary for us to expand.

But I’ve always been informal with “Superman.” I would like to have lunch with my writers, with our staff, and we were doing our lunch period briefing each other on what is going on.

When Weisinger hinted of “surprises about DC characters going to TV, which I am not at liberty to discuss at the moment,” he of course referred to the campy Batman series which would debut in January 1966... which he had told Ye Editor about a few weeks earlier. (Alas, when Roy quit DC days later, he feared it might be “insider trading” to buy National Periodicals Publications stock then trading on the New York Stock Exchange, and thus lost his chance to double $1000 from a teacher-retirement refund that was burning a hole in his pocket. When Batman hit, NPP shares doubled almost overnight. Sigh.)

Now, as to the plots, I’ll have to speak very realistically about economics—that is, how a writer makes a living. I could not ask any writer to come to me with several plots for “Superman.” I can’t say to Otto, “Otto, I want you to spend your weekend thinking up plots. Come in Monday morning and I’ll pick the best ones and those you will write. We’ll pay you for them.”

In the above 1989 convention program book illo, Ms. Tree creator Terry Beatty kudo’d Batman on his 50th anniversary—just as the Dark Knight was making a live-action feature film debut that would make him more famous than ever! Repro’d courtesy of the artist; thanks to Shel Dorf. [Art © & Ms. Tree TM & ©2003 Terry Beatty; Batman TM & ©2003 DC Comics.]

As Otto told you, there was this boom, this period of expansion, and we found “Superman” in several magazines, as you all know—in Action Comics, Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, daily syndicate, in World’s Finest, guest appearances here and there, in the Justice League—and, therefore, I think you all realize, it became impossible for any one man to supply all these stories. Physically impossible to turn ’em out as far as scripts go, physically impossible for any one artist to turn them out. Well, we did get into the phenomenon of a team which, as those of you who are sophisticated about art can realize, has its blessings and its bad points. We did have several issues of one magazine where we had

Otto is a good writer and had written a lot of wonderful novels for me when I was editor of [Thrilling] Wonder Stories, Startling Stories, and Captain Future. But if Otto will write or spend a weekend plotting and he’ll come in Monday morning and I’ll look at the first plot and say, “Well, that one was just like the one Jerry Siegel is working on, and this one is one that we have in the inventory and are going to publish two months from now, and this one, while you think it’s a good plot, and I thought so up until yesterday, we just got a new directive from the Comic Code Authority and they don’t want plots of this nature.” Well, Otto would say to me, “Well, I spent the entire weekend working on these plots and now I have to start all over again. How am I going to make a living?” (continued on p. 22)

Ghost Writers In The Sky Between 1938 and 1965, Superman had been drawn by numerous artists—and, after starting at DC in ’41, Mort Weisinger worked with every one of them! Here’s a twopage, multi-artist Man of Steel montage—and we didn’t even include cover artists Fred Ray and Sheldon Moldoff—plus you’ll have to turn back to page 4 for Kurt Schaffenberger! [All art ©2003 DC Comics.] Joe Shuster (1938)

John Sikela (1942)

Ira Yarborough (1944)

Ed Dobrotka (with John Sikela, 1942).

(Left:) Leo Nowak (1942)

Creators Panel

Jim Mooney (1962) Wayne Boring (1955)

Paul Cassidy (probably—with the Shuster studio, 1942)

Pete Riss (1946)

Curt Swan (1964)

Jack Burnley (1940)

Al Plastino (1953) Win Mortimer (circa 1950?)

Ghost Writers In The Sky

(continued from p. 19)

cally and from an entertainment standpoint. And we stand up! We are read all over the world. Superman magazine is number one in Japan, and there’s a TV show.

Well, Otto is a very valuable man to me and I don’t want him to say that. So, obviously, if he were writing articles for me, as he does for other major magazines, and the editor of Science & Mechanics doesn’t like the article, he can sell it to Popular Science or he can sell it to Popular Mechanics. Or if a man writes a fiction story for Astounding Stories or Analog and it’s rejected there, he can sell it to Amazing Stories or Galaxy or any of the other science-fiction magazines. But we do have this whole business, this whole economic factor— they’re making their livelihood. The writer has a family and responsibilities and a mortgage to pay and an installment on the TV set he has to worry about. So I found a long time ago that one way to keep my family of writers and artists—writers, mainly—happy, is to say to them, “Look, you don’t worry about the plot. I’ll worry about the plot.” And I’ll sit down, sing to the springboard and we’ll kick it around. And we’ll evolve the stories. FOX: [aside to Binder] Julie doesn’t do that. WEISINGER: Lots of times when I sit down in one of these sessions with Otto, I see Gardner Fox in the next office and say, “You got a minute? I want to try something out for you, on you.” Or I’ll try it on Julie Schwartz, or Jack Schiff, or one of our other editors, or one of our other writers. I’ll walk over to Bill Finger and say, “Kid, we have an idea. Maybe you did something like this several years ago? How does it sound to you if we added a twist this time?” Now, I find that when the writer is relieved of the responsibility of having to write a plot, to think of a plot, that would be very good but unsatisfactory for the reasons I mentioned before—and these are just a few of the reasons—he is going to feel a lot more secure in an assignment and he will be able to develop this bare skin and bones skeleton that I give him for a plot and we’ll get a fine story. Now, we are dealing with economics and we’re dealing with a commercial business. As Otto told you, during the war, he was so engaged that he had to work night and day. Well, we’ve slowed down. The stories are not as quickly written, they’re not written at that white heat—they’re not as glib, they’re more carefully plotted. We find our readers today in a space age, advanced from the Golden Age, a lot more sophisticated than they had been. A lot of them have college backgrounds and we try to produce stories that are acceptable realisti-

Bill Finger’s two most famous co-creations—1939’s Batman and 1940’s Green Lantern—in sketches by his collaborators Bob Kane and Mart Nodell (the latter with his granddaughter Tiffany), drawn for later comicons in San Diego and Charlotte, NC, respectively. Thanks to Shels Dorf & Drum. [Batman art ©2003 estate of Bob Kane; GL art ©2003 Mart Nodell; Batman & Green Lantern TM & ©2003 DC Comics.]

We’ve found more and more that we have adult readers. Many years ago, when I addressed a group of comic fans, they were young—8, 9, 10. I see every one of you here is an adult. Every one of you in here is a potential fighting man—a G.I. It’s quite revealing to me that you are typical of our audience, and I don’t think you’ll accept the fairy tale springboards that we used to have many years ago. Can I go on? I know you have a lot of things on the program… JB: Well, perhaps we’d like to have some questions from the audience?

FOX: May I say a word? A little while ago I spoke about the differences in editors. I’d like to point out the fact that Julie Schwartz doesn’t give me any springboard. [audience laughter] He shows me a cover, he says, “Write a story about it.” JB: Would you give us a run-through and show us how a story might evolve under Julie? FOX: Well, if it’s a cover story, he’ll show me a rough draft of the cover that Carmine or somebody has drawn and say, “Here it is! Give me a plot!” Fortunately, I’m lucky enough, I think most of the time, that I come up with something that I can use. But, since I do an awful lot of his writing, I really don’t run into the problem that Mort mentioned about other writers and the stories they do. While John Broome and Bill Finger will do a story for Julie, it’s not often enough that he can’t say, “Well, don’t do it about such and such,” like no Martian invasion, to coin a cliché. So that, otherwise, he’ll say, “Well, I need a Flash story of ten pages.” And sometimes, when you plot a ten-pager, there’s so much there that it turns out to be a whole book. It’s tough to plot a ten-pager. JB: Would you gentlemen like to entertain questions from the audience? FOX: Sure. BINDER: Sure. May I add just one footnote, though? I just wanted to say that Mort mentioned before—he used the term “family” of writers,

Creators Panel

artists, and editors, and that’s a very good term. I just wanted to say that DC—DC, National Comics—is a wonderful outfit to work for. They’re loyal and you can depend on them and, well, I just wanted to make that comment. Now you can go on to the questions. [NOTE: At this point Jerry is about to take questions from the floor, when he notices that Bill Finger has entered the room.] JB: Oh, Bill! Could we have a chair so we can have Bill Finger join us in this question and answer session? [applause] I’d like to take a few moments just to Since artist Irwin Hasen (with writer Bill Finger) introduce Bill to you. co-created “The Wildcat” in 1941 for Sensation The original “Green Comics #1, many hands have drawn this sometime Lantern” is a creation of JSAer, including Rick Stasi in this sketch for Craig Bill’s. Bill’s been a & David Delich’s 1977 All-Star Comics Revue. “Batman” writer from At right is a copiously-edited Finger “Wildcat” script page, apparently dated Sept. 14, 1942; the very first. He’s thanks to Joel Thingvall. [Art ©2003 Rick Stasi; created a large number Wildcat TM & ©2003 DC Comics.] of characters and has many interesting anecdotes, so please feel free to direct your questions to him and perhaps you will hear some of these stories from him. [An audience member asks a question, and Jerry repeats it.] JB: The question was, what effect the Marvel hero boom has had upon the DC magazines. Was that it? FOX: [to questioner] I couldn’t tell you, I just write. I mean, that’s enough of a job. BINDER: Yeah, I think Mort might give you a comment. FOX: You know, the people, the powers-that-be, as I say, they’re the ones who could tell you. I haven’t the faintest notion. JB: Would you like to answer that, Mort? WEISINGER: Well, I will say—when you speak about the effect, I don’t know whether you mean financial—business-like—but I’ll try to cover all the bases. First of all, we feel very friendly towards Marvel. I think a lot of you may know that our company, my company—National Periodical Publications—distributes Marvel. Therefore, we make a profit every time we sell one of their magazines. [laughter] We are very happy that you buy them. However, for the record, we are selling 7,000,000 copies of all the DC magazines and they are selling a million. So we are outselling them seven to one. [applause] Now, I think, as far as who is imitating who, I consider that a little unfair of me to talk about, because I talked to Stan Lee before coming down here, and I didn’t think I could be here because of some personal involvements at home and Stan wasn’t able to make it, so I told him I didn’t think I’d be here, and he said, “Well, if you’re not going to be here and there, I’m not going to be there.” Stan is not here to defend himself. He’s a very sweet and down-to-Earth man, so I do not want to say things about him when he’s not here to defend himself. I will tell you that I think it’s obvious. We certainly can’t fool the

readers. We certainly don’t have to tell who put out the first annual, who thought of the idea of a theme with an annual, we don’t have to tell you about which characters DC did, we don’t have to tell you which was the first company that conceived of the idea of the group of characters together, which has been one of the key things for the popularity of some magazines. And I think that, more and more, you will notice that we have not deviated from our policy, which is stories with a plot. [laughter] We like to round them out; we like to have a beginning, a middle, and an end. We started the reader’s letters department... I think that there are a lot of milestones that DC started and continues. We do have a tremendous acceptance in our characters. Superman, as you know, is in TV; he’s gonna be in color in September. There are other surprises about DC characters going to TV, which I am not at liberty to discuss at the moment. There are big things going on involving our various characters—and I would like to say, by way of closing on this point, what other comic characters are on TV or have international acceptance but the DC characters? JB: Thank you. In order to get Bill Finger into the discussion, I’d like to direct a question, and hopefully he’ll relate some of these anecdotes that led to creation of interesting characters from the strips that you’re all familiar with. I wonder, Bill, if you’d tell them the story about coming up with the name for the alter ego of Green Lantern? BILL FINGER: Oh. Can anybody hear me out there? BINDER: You gotta talk pretty close, yeah. FINGER: Yeah. Well… can you hear me? [audience member shouts something inaudible—audience laughs] Yeah. Well, actually… actually, Shelly Mayer called me into the office…

Ghost Writers In The Sky “The more things are changed, the more they stay the same!” On the left: page 1 of Gardner Fox’s script (dated Aug. 20, 1943) for a story in All-Flash #16 (Fall 1944), as heavily edited by Shelly Mayer or one of his story editors. (Roy wishes he could read what’s been crossed out, so he could judge for himself whether the wording was “improved”—or merely “changed.”) On the right: At least when Gardner’s Straight Arrow tales for Vin Sullivan’s Magazine Enterprises a few years later were translated into Portugese in Brazil, he couldn’t read what was done to his prose! Thanks to Joel Thingvall for the script page, and to John G. Pierce for the 1964 Brazilian house ad, with art by Fred Meagher. [Art ©2003 the respective copyright holder.]

instance, you had to know the characters very well. You had to go years back and know what stories had been done. As a matter of fact, we have that particular problem, because we’re always competing with ourselves, in a sense—we’re always competing with our old stories—and it takes a lot of ingenuity to come up with fresh angles to old plots because, after all, all plots are old, it’s just what you do with them that makes them fresh.

JB: [reacting to a bit of chatter in the audience] May we have quiet, please? FINGER: Actually, Shelly Mayer called me into the office and showed me this one-page drawing by this fellow Nodell, and all he had was this page written up and called him Green Lantern. So Shelly said that he wanted me to handle it and I said, “Okay.” And we needed a name for the alter ego of the hero and I looked at this thing and I thought, well, it’s a green lantern and I thought of a lamp, naturally—a magic lantern—and then I thought of Aladdin and his magic lamp, naturally. It just resolved itself that way. And then I said, “Well, let’s call him Alan Ladd.” [laughter] So, Shelly said, “No, that’s no good!” At that time there was no such actor as Alan Ladd; he hadn’t even appeared. And so I said, “Well”—I looked at—he had some books on his desk—Sir Walter Scott—and I said “Okay, Alan Scott.” He said, “Okay, that’s fine.” So I always regret that because we would’ve had all this publicity from Alan Ladd throughout the years. [laughter] However, it was turned down for being too obvious. JB: Another question from the floor? Margaret? [Fan Margaret Gemignani asks a question.] The question is, what would your advice be for the young writer who wants to break into the comics field today? Can we have Bill Finger answer that? FINGER: Well, it’s all easier, I’d say, for one reason. At one time, and I mean during the period that so many outfits closed their doors, there was a problem. If you wanted to write for National Comics, for

However, I must say that today it’s a little easier because new characters are coming out. And I don’t mean to refute Mort on this, but I would say that what Marvel has done has been a good thing for the industry, because it shook it up slightly. I have always felt that the industry was getting a little stodgy, and Stan Lee’s attitude towards dialogue, I think, is a good one, because the dialogue is youthful, it’s flip, and it’s current. It’s the kind of dialogue that you hear on television. And I think that too many years have gone by where dialogue was just expository—just dialogue written to explain something without really making the story sing, as it were. So, today, I think it’s a little easier for someone to break in as long as he’s got, or she has, some fresh ideas. That’s all that’s needed right now— fresh ideas for characters. JB: Mort? WEISINGER: I would say that one of the best stepping-stones for a new writer or artist to break into the medium is to go by way of the fanzines. I think most of your alert editors are watching them. There’s a man here, Nelson Bridwell, whom I discovered in a fan magazine, and now he’s a writer and has served as an editor. And there are other people I have found in the fanzines that I think have excellent talent, and I think the editors will watch them and will encourage their talent if they show something novel. And this doesn’t mean you have to be a writer or an artist; you can be a darned good critic. There’s many a time I’ve read Jerry Bails’ very caustic comments and very durable comments, and I wish I had him right in my office so that we could—[laughter]

Creators Panel FOX: Yeah, hit him! [more laughter] FINGER: Shh, don’t tell ’im that. WEISINGER: Incidentally, I didn’t mean to disparage Marvel’s writing at all. I was asked how they’re doing and how we’re doing and, as Bill Finger says, I do think competition is healthy, and I think they did shake up the industry, and I think we helped shake them up. The fact is that we don’t know who’s copying from who. JB: Otto or Gardner, would you like to answer that question, or should we move on to another one. Gardner? FOX: Well, my own personal advice to anybody that wants to write for the comics is they must learn to accept criticism. I mean, let’s face it, everything that you write and you turn out is not going to be perfect. You learn very early to take the criticism with the understanding that it’s offered in your own interest because we derive our—Otto gets onethird, I get two-thirds of my income, say—from the comics. So if the comics sell, this is a good thing. So that when Julie, for instance, tears one of my plots apart and says, “It’s absolutely no good and you have to start from scratch,” you start from scratch. But I mean, if you were of a temperament that couldn’t take any criticism—I’ve seen other fellows get up and walk out in certain instances. You just have to take the criticism, you know, but it’s aimed at turning out a better story. That would be my own personal advice to some new writer. JB: I remember a comment of Bill’s the other evening—Bill Finger’s—that writing for the comics was very much like writing for a medium like television. I wonder if you could expand on that point a bit, Bill? FINGER: Well, I’ve written some television scripts, and I’ve found it

very easy because it is a visual medium and, really, what you’re doing is just transposing pictures—stills, as it were—from comic books and making the stills come to life. Or, vice versa, you take stills from TV shows and put them to comics; it can be done either way. And I would say that one of the prerequisites to writing for comics is a sense of the visual. If you don’t have that, don’t even bother trying, because you have to be able to break down the panels in such a way that it’s interesting. Also, you have to describe this to the artist. Now most artists are pretty good at what they do, some are quite great, but there are times when an artist has to hurry up a page to earn a dollar, or he may be in a bad mood, he might’ve had a fight or something, who knows? And you’ve gotta kind-of goose them along a bit and you’ve got to explain to them the kind of angles you want, that sort of thing. And this is very important in comic book writing. If you don’t have that, don’t even bother trying. You’ve got to study pictures. This means when you see a movie, you’ve got to be able to break it down, almost, in your mind, into panels, or see a sequence in panels. JB: That’s something, Bill, that many people probably don’t realize— that you gentlemen write rather complete scripts describing the angle of the shot, the many details of features, which I suspect many have thought were probably the contribution of the artist. That the writer is often doing this is— FOX: In regards to the angle of the shot, I’d like to tell an amusing little thing that happened a long time ago. This was about 1941 or so. Some story I had written—the artwork was there and there was a picture of an archer on a roof firing an arrow down, and I said to Shelly, “Well, what’s he doing there? I didn’t put anything in there.” He says, “No,” he says, “but you said shoot from the roof, so the—” [laughter] That’s a true happening. That’s true.

This Otto Binder script page for the “The Red Lightning Blitz” in Captain Marvel Adventures #142 (March ’53), CM’s second clash with The Red Crusher, appeared in a 1953 newspaper article we reprinted in A/E V3#3—along with C.C. Beck’s art for that same Korean War-era page. This better copy was provided by P.C. Hamerlinck. [©2003 DC Comics.]

Ghost Writers In The Sky

FINGER: I can top you on that one! This is one on Bob Kane. This is not to deride Bob Kane, but sometimes it does happen that way. I think it was Mort’s story to have an issue in which Batman’s anniversary or birthday or something was being celebrated, and everybody was supposed to send Batman, you know, fitting tokens of esteem. And everything had to do with bats, naturally, the winged bats. And, in one scene, he’s supposed to get a stuffed bat. Well, I don’t know what happened to Bob that day, but he drew a stuffed baseball bat. [laughter] That’s a true story! And it got through!

‘Lights out for you, kid!’” And then, my other mentor, was Bill Finger…. FINGER: I didn’t use corny ones like that. [laughter] JB: I’ve never seen that in any comic.

JB: Would Mort like to comment here, too?

FINGER: You will! [laughter]

FINGER: And this has to be explained. You have to tell the artist, really, what to draw—or else, you know, he’ll just draw.

JB: Are you planning to steal it?

WEISINGER: I think, Jerry, you’ve triggered off here one of the most important facets of comic writing—that is, technique—and it seems to me that a definitive book can be written on the subject. It’s even more complex than writing a motion picture script or a TV script, because in TV and in motion pictures you have dialogue that the soundtrack picks up. Now the dialogue in a comics story, as all of you know, is words—balloons, captions—and the novice writer has to be very discreet and judicious in knowing how many words to get into the panel so that the picture can be shown, so the artist is not handcuffed. If you’re going to have three people talking, and a caption, and a thought balloon, and a sound—Boof! Bop!—where is the room for the picture? Now, many many beginners, this is their greatest mistake—they do not know how to balance the amount of dialogue judiciously for a fluid action scene.

WEISINGER: Bill taught me—he said, “You’ll be very tempted when a character like Robin or Batman hits someone, to have them say, ‘Take that!’ He says, “Well, we try to—we don’t say ‘Take that!’ anymore.” But Bill did teach me the effective use of props. In other words, if you have an action scene, have it on a railroad car and involve the high-tension wires and the traffic signals. Bill taught me that every writer should have a file of pictures. Bill has a priceless collection of wonderful pictures which will make your eyes pop out, of interesting things. He would have a whole story in pictures from a scientific magazine of a floating observatory with telescopes on it. And he would involve an entire action sequence on this floating observatory, and he made this map for the artist. He said to the artist, “In panel two, action is where I put an A on this photo-

Now, as I told you before, I had a sciencefiction background. When I was offered the job of being editor of “Superman,” which I was offered because the man who, at that time, was editor of “Superman,” Whitney Ellsworth, had been writing pulp novels for me, I was editor of a magazine called G-Men, another one called Phantom Detective. Jerry Siegel knew me; we had put out a science-fiction fan magazine together when we were youngsters. That’s how I got the job. But I didn’t know how to write comics. While the job offered more money, I was completely Greek about it. So I called up Otto Binder, who was a good friend of mine, and I said, “Otto, how do you write for the comics?” And he oversimplified it, he said, “Well, you’ve got to have action. The backbone, the spine, of every comic story is action. And it’s got to be interesting. And it’s got to have humor.” And he said, “You’re gonna have the hero hit the villain on the head with a lamp and he says,

In 1964 Ace Books published Warrior of Llarn, a popular Gardner Fox pastiche of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Martian novels, with cover and an interior illo by the great Frank Frazetta. Fox gave Roy Thomas, then a high school English teacher in St. Louis, permission to begin a comics adaptation of it, which was eventually illustrated by North Carolina commercial artist Sam Grainger. The 11-page first-and-only installment, though done in the mid-’60s, didn’t see print till the 17th issue of the fanzine Star-Studded (Summer ’71), long after both Roy and Sam had become comics pros; its double-page splash is reprinted above. Fox also wrote a paperback sequel, Thief of Llarn. [Art ©2003 the respective copyright holders.]

Creators Panel graph, and panel three is B”—and with a breakdown, a blueprint. And Bill has been an anonymous collaborator with artists for many, many years. His photographs, his files—he even went around with a camera, with several cameras, taking pictures. Of course, I think he did it so he could deduct his camera from income taxes. [laughter] So, when you are a writer in this business, you have to be a combination of photographer, artist, director, dialogue man, prop man. You know, when they wrote the television series on Superman for me, on the Coast, these were top writers with movie credits, they told me they could never write a Superman script for the comic books because, in television and movies today, the trend has been to write the master scene. You don’t, anymore, in Hollywood say, “Dolly in, long shot.” This is left to the director, and all a competent writer does today is, he writes the master scene. He makes the director look over his master scene and break it down on the set. Should this be a long shot? Should this be an overhead shot? Should this be a closeup? And you’ll find more and more the director has the imagination to translate the master scene from the writer’s typewriter to the screen.

any loss, we were compensated by the insurance company—and I could very well afford to give the same story to a new artist, another artist that we had. And I gave it to this second artist, more or less, as I say, to relieve the first artist of his mental block, and as an experiment to see if it’s the script that’s important or if it’s the artist. Well, I was amazed! When the second artist turned in the story, it was almost exactly like the first one. There wasn’t, I think, 5% deviation. It was as though the first artist had given photostats, or it was though the second artist had stolen the original art. [laughter] For years, I had always said to myself, when a story came out in which I was disappointed, I said, “Well, maybe I should’ve given it to artist Z instead of artist X.” Well, maybe I’m fortunate. Maybe this is one case where the two artists more or less overlapped each other, but it did have this development for me. I was amazed that the two were not at all digressed from each other. BINDER: Jerry, can I make a final comment? JB: Sure, Otto.

BINDER: I just wanted to make a But comics is just very, very…. final comment on—Mort has More and more the artists and the mentioned about the writers being editors depend on the writer. The very important, which is true and writer has got to visualize, as I said all that. However, we can’t do before, the ratio and proportion of without the artists. dialogue and pictures. They must JB: We’ll have a panel with also know how to freeze a scene so artists tomorrow night. that it becomes a still, and not make the mistake that a lot of writers do BINDER: I have to say that, or I’ll In the 1940s Gardner Fox scripted the exploits of all five of these superof giving you two scenes in one. never get out alive! [laughter] heroes... though Green Lantern only in “Justice Society” adventures. This Every beginner writes a script Secondly, to be a writer in the Shelly Moldoff illo appeared in the program book for WonderCon 2000 in where you have two actions comics, you don’t have to be a nut, Berkeley, California. [Art ©2003 Sheldon Moldoff; Hawkman, Batman, shown—where the hero is hitting but it helps. Spectre, Flash, Green Lantern TM & ©2003 DC Comics.] someone and firing something at the man and the man is falling or JB: All right, now we entertain unconscious saying, “Oh, he got me!” when the scene cannot be another question from the gentleman back here. [audience member shown—it had to be split into two panels. And this you learn through asks a question] The question is, how many pages of material does he trial and error. turn out to comics, as opposed to material for other media?

I think the writers that have made progress in this field are the ones that look at their script before it is edited, before it is drawn, and then compare it with the finished product and see what changes have been made. We all could learn. One of the most interesting experiences I ever had—I ran a two-part Superman story. It was a wonderful story, drawn by a top artist—I won’t mention his name. Now it so happened that the artwork, 25 pages, were lost. Maybe it was an overzealous fan who came to our office with sticky fingers. It must be a real collectors’ item. Now, I had the story scheduled. I had no way of duplicating it. However, I did have the script. The thief had fortunately left the script. Edited. It was the exact same script. Now, I didn’t think it would be fair to the artist to give him a story to redo, because I think we all have an inhibition or a mental block about doing the same job twice. So, he had been paid for the job, and we had insurance—our company didn’t suffer

FOX: Well, that’s a difficult question to pin it down to hours, because, before I start typing, I rough out the story on these long legal-sized yellow sheets in pencil. That’s necessary because, if you have ten pages to tell a story, and the story is at all involved, you’re liable to have told the story in about 13 pages and then you have to start cutting. Once that’s done—I usually do that at night when it’s quiet—I average about three pages an hour, if I’m going good. There are days when, believe me, it’s like pulling teeth to write. That takes a little longer. But I would say about three pages an hour on that. As for my straight fiction, if I’m going real good, I can maybe do four pages an hour. But it breaks down roughly about the same. There’s not too much difference in the amount of productivity. But my wife, who is sitting out there, types my straight fiction which, thank goodness, I don’t have to do after I write it, so that helps a lot.

Ghost Writers In The Sky

JB: Marvin? [audience member and future pro Marv Wolfman asks a question, which Jerry rephrases for the tape recorder] A few years ago there was a “Superman” tale in which Curt Swan drew most of the book, but the heads, I believe, were drawn by Kurt Schaffenberger. Was there any particular reason for this? WEISINGER: A lot of readers—and I myself—prefer, in the female department, the heads of Kurt Schaffenberger. I like the way he handles Lois and Lana, the expressions of the eyes, the expressions on the mouth, a lot better than the way any other artist handles it. And, by the same token, I don’t care for Schaffenberger’s Superman as I do his other characters. I don’t like his “MXYZ” [ED. NOTE: Mr. Mxyztplk] as much as the way he is drawn by other artists. It so happened that Schaffenberger happened to be in the office at the time the story came in—it was in pencil, and I said, “It could use your touch.” And Schaffenberger said, “Why not?” He sat down, he rolled up his sleeves, and gave us the heads, and I was amazed how many readers noticed it. But I think you’ll find there’s some composite work more and more being done. Whenever I have an artist who’s a specialist in any one area, I let the readers and our magazines benefit by it. I think there have been several covers where Julie Schwartz has got a Justice League cover and wanted a Superman head or a Batman head and the top artist in that area happened to be around—he would put in his two cents, so to speak, for the general improvement. JB: That’s where that two cents came from! [laughter, relating to comics’ 2¢ price rise in 1961-62]

I just am sorry—and I take this opportunity to apologize to anyone who has written to me and I haven’t written back, because there are a number of them—but I just don’t have the time. Certain letters, I feel obligated to answer them. I do the best I can. Sometimes I just send out a postcard saying something to the effect of, “Glad I got your letter,” so on and so forth. I think it spurs you on. Well, I’ll take a little more time with this scene or that scene and I think it’s a good thing. JB: Otto? BINDER: I’d like to expand slightly on what Gardner said. Getting letters of praise, of course, is nice; even criticism is all right. The worst thing is being ignored. So we like letters! Of course, there’s two different fields. I think Gardner was talking mainly of his pulp material or, rather, his prose material, where you get letters directly because your name is there. But, in the comics, of course, we’re the great anonymous horde, the writers. We’re the unsung... something. FINGER: Something. BINDER: And, therefore, the mail is really directed to the editor and, of course, if it mentions a story of ours, then sometimes the editor will show it to us for one reason or another. But most of the mail in comics comes to the editor and is handled by him, and evaluated by him, and so forth. I think Mort will—

FINGER: Well, Mort Weisinger’s the great man for the letter department. Mort has gotten so many story ideas, suggestions, and angles on what FINGER: That’s what we got paid! stories to write from fans, which is [laughter] great. I think the letters are great. As Otto says, we are the anonymous WEISINGER: [to audience member] horde. However, I like letters for And you find this policy objectionable? another reason, because they do keep [Marv Wolfman says no, he was just you on your toes. So many of you are curious.] Though now sporting garb he donned in the later 1960s, Mort very intelligent when it comes to Weisinger’s co-creation Green Arrow is still going strong after more science and any other of the arts, so JB: May we have another question? I than six decades—as witness this cover for MegaCon 2002, held last that a writer, when he does write, see a gentleman… back there. February in Orlando, Florida. Art by Matt Wagner. [©2003 DC Comics.] does have to be quite judicious and [audience member asks a question] quite bright about the material he’s The question is, which of the books using. If we use magnetism in the wrong way, God help us, we get a that you wrote for Ace, Mr. Fox, did you spend the most time with horde of letters and that sort of thing. So it does keep us on our toes and and which did you prefer? that’s why it’s very good. FOX: Well, time-wise, I don’t think there’s really much difference in any JB: I think we probably better relieve these gentlemen, so we’ll close of them. I happen to prefer the Warrior of Llarn, because I got an awful lot of letters—complimentary, I’m happy to say—on that book. I’ve also out with the comments that Mort might like to make with this done another one each for Paperback and Ace—they haven’t come out question. yet. But it’s roughly about the same. Once you have your plot, it’s just a WEISINGER: I think letters are the heart and blood, the lifeline, of DC matter of hoping that you feel like writing—that’s about the size of it. Comics, as I see it. You have, in television and radio, your various JB: That offers another question that I’d like to address to the panel. Trendexes, your Nielsen ratings. I think we can tell long before we get our circulation reports as to how a story or an issue or a cover has gone I’d like each of them in turn to answer what their feeling is about the over from the letters. There’s a pattern. You find something that’s gone response of fans to their work, how it influences their work, whether over or something that’s been a big bomb. they enjoy it, or find it a little irritating. Would you each like to try it? Gardner? Also, too, I have an amazing respect for the level of the intelligence of our readers. Since we’ve instituted a letter department, I don’t think I FOX: Well, I think everybody enjoys getting the letters. I mean, even have ever put out any one issue where there wasn’t at least one error. when they’re critical—and there are some who are critical, justly so. But

Creators Panel [laughter] No matter how many times we go over it with a fine-tooth comb, the most obvious error in the world, whether it’s coloring or just a typographical error, or an error of fact. It reminds me of the story about The Saturday Evening Post, who have sixteen proofreaders mulling over each article and yet they make mistakes. And this does keep us on our toes, as Bill says, and it shows that the readers are damn smart. But I think the most important thing about the letters is, as Bill put his touch on—a lot of you know who’ve been up to my office—we get about, oh, I’d say, several thousand a week. Letters. My office has offered many times to have people read them for me and process them, but I take them home, put them in my attaché case every night, and I save an hour or two each evening to go over them. Because I will find all of these very unusual ideas that the writers and we editors could never think of. The fans—out of the mouths of babes come real golden nuggets. Some of the stories I’m most proud of have been suggested by fans. Covers have come in over the transom, by fans who’ve sent in a little sketch, and I said, “Why don’t we have a story based on that?” We make it our business to encourage the ones that have a flair, and we think can reach us sometimes but, every so often, we get an exact bulls-eye. Here is

a great idea or a great cover, a great springboard for an imaginary story. I think if you were to take away our letters, you’d be cutting this wonderful lifeline that I have with the outside world, which is like adrenaline in a magazine. We need it, we want more of it. JB: Well, I want to thank you gentlemen very much for patiently answering our questions. I know it’s a little warm and we’re all just a little weary, so…. If there’s anyone here, though, on the panel, that would like to say anything more, I’ll give them this opportunity. BINDER: Well, we could all give a rousing thanks. I mean… FINGER: Yeah, I would say so. BINDER: Because we do appreciate meeting fans in the interest… FINGER: That’s what I was about to say. JB: Well, then, I think we’ll close this portion of the program. Thanks very much! [applause]

Fox, Binder, Finger, Weisinger—at DC these comics giants worked on many of the super-heroes which are depicted in this classic wraparound cover art by Neal Adams, done for Superman #252 (June ’72). It was reprinted in black-&-white in Phil Seuling’s 1972 Comic Art Convention program book. Thanks to Fred Mommsen. [©2003 DC Comics.]

Comics & Fandom

The 1

96 5

Par ew Y t T ork hree C om

icon

A Panel Moderated by David A. Kaler

Transcribed by Brian K. Morris Edited by Roy Thomas

and the Frog” for DC; Gelman’s young Topps associate Len Brown, who had scripted the first two “Dynamo” stories for the then-imminent first issue of T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents; attorney Leonard Darvin, administrator of the Comics Code Authority; E. Nelson Bridwell, assistant editor on DC’s “Superman” line; and Will Elder, former EC/Mad artist then working with Harvey Kurtzman on “Little Annie Fanny” for Playboy. Various fans who would ere long be pros themselves were also in attendance, including Marv Wolfman, Len Wein, Mark Hanerfeld, Andy Yanchus, Larry Ivie, and possibly others.

[INTRODUCTION: On the afternoon of Sunday, August 1, 1965, the second and final day of what Bill Schelly’s book The Golden Age of Comic Fandom refers to as “Comicon II”— convention organizer Dave Kaler moderated a panel discussion on the relationship between the comics industry and comics fandom. Quoting GACF: “The fans and pros on the panel sparked fireworks with their candor and occasionally opposing views.” [The transcript that follows has been considerably abridged, with excised portions represented by ellipses (...). But this was perhaps the first comicon panel in which professional artists took part—three of the best, as it happened—and that fact, added to the presence of writers, editors, even publishers, not to mention the balance of fans and pros, makes it of some historic interest. This panel was recently discovered by Jerry Bails on the reverse side of the same ancient reel-to-reel tape which contained the preceding writers’ panel; it was transferred to cassettes for A/E by Mark Gamble of the South Carolina Arts Commission.

[Switching now to the present tense to increase the sense of immediacy: Kaler begins by inviting Bill Harris, who has just resigned from his post as editor of Western’s Gold Key comics line, to join the panel. He notes that Bill told him the day before that he has left comics “because he thought there was no future in them,” and he invites Harris to elaborate on that statement:]

Compared to the Broadway Central, even the old El Cortez in San Diego looked good! Gold Key stars Tarzan and Magnus, Robot Fighter, watch Red Sonja and others file into a 1977 convention, in this program-book piece by Russ Manning, who drew both heroes— and,in a photo taken at the 1965 Kalercon, Gold Key ex-editor Bill Harris (center, with pipe) chats with Creepy publisher Jim Warren (l.) and onetime DC writer/artist Woody Gelman. With thanks to Shel Dorf & (for the photo) Bill Schelly. [Art ©estate of Russ Manning; Magnus TM & ©2003 the respective copyright holder; Tarzan TM & ©2003 Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.; Red Sonja TM & ©2003 Red Sonja Properties, Inc.]

[Fanzine writers/editors/ publishers Rick Weingroff (Slam-Bang) and Roy Thomas (of Alter Ego, “Vol. 1”), the latter with only a few weeks under his belt as a pro writer and editorial assistant, were to present the fans’ point of view; while Creepy/Famous Monsters of Filmland publisher James Warren and veteran artist Murphy Anderson (“Adam Strange,” Hawkman, et al.) would voice the pros’ viewpoint. [Numerous professionals were in the audience: Otto Binder, longtime comics scripter for Fawcett, DC, etc. (see preceding panel); Gil Kane, artist/co-creator of the Silver Age Green Lantern and Atom; Woody Gelman of Topps Chewing Gum, soon-to-be publisher of Nostalgia Press and once a writer/artist of “Nutsy Squirrel” and “The Dodo

BILL HARRIS: Nobody here is really interested in what’s being done today. Everybody cares about the old stuff, which is not as good, I don’t think.... People should be more interested in what’s being done now and what’s going to be done than what has been done. Look in the back of the room and you won’t see anything newer than 1941 back there. [laughs] You won’t see anything that costs 12¢ back there.... If you kids would spend that money on the new stuff, you’d get better stuff and the future would be brighter.... And that’s why I left comics, because I don’t feel there’s enough enthusiasm for what we’re doing now.

[Kaler asks Rick Weingroff to comment on Harris’ statements.] RICK WEINGROFF: Well, I think that there is a lot of interest in the current comics, as the Alley Awards prove. There’s no category in the Alley poll for the old comics.... I think that in fanzines, there’s always an interest in the old comics, because those are the ones that most of the people weren’t born with.... I think the comic fans who are here, who are paying these prices for the old comics, don’t really represent the people like the seven-year-old who doesn’t know about comic fandom. He would not pay $12 for some of these comics, and is mainly interested

Where Do We Go From Here? in the new stuff.... HARRIS: I’ve heard a lot of kids complain that when they go over to National [DC], for instance, Mort Weisinger will tell them that they represent a thousand kids against the quarter of a million, and what good are they?.... You kids have a voice, and you don’t use it the way you should.... You’re the only people we ever hear from, and we don’t hear the right things. We don’t hear, really, what we should hear. That’s my point.

Rick Weingroff (no photo available at presstime, alas) was generally considered one of the best fan-writers of the 1960s. The fourth issue of his fanzine, from July 1965, around the time of Kaler’s con, spotlighted Dr. Fate; Slam-Bang tended to cover subjects in more depth than did most zines. [Dr. Fate TM & ©2003 DC Comics.]

DAVE KALER: Roy, would you like to say something about this?

ROY THOMAS: Yes, I definitely would.... In the very first issue of Alter-Ego... Jerry Bails wrote that AlterEgo would be dedicated to the revival of the costumed hero in comics.... The mere fact that issues only a few years old, like Fantastic Four [#1], are selling here for as much as $5 proves that there are people who are interested in the new comics, as well.... But why should someone pay 50 or 60¢ for a fanzine that discusses what happened last week in Spider-Man?....

[Thomas, Kaler, and Harris discuss distribution problems. Harris

maintains fans can be most useful by asking dealers to carry certain comics—“making a pest of yourself.” Weingroff counters by saying Marvel has doubled its sales and DC is also doing well with super-heroes, but that funny-animal readers are less likely to complain. Kaler invites Murphy Anderson to join in.]

Though evidently few photos were taken at the 1965 Comicon, here’s one of Murphy Anderson from

MURPHY a follow-up con that Dave Kaler hosted in either ’66 ANDERSON: I, or ’67. It and others from those cons used in this myself, was a fan in the issue were loaned to Roy by super-fan Mark beginning. And I still Hanerfeld not long before his untimely passing. have a big collection of books and magazines that I’ve collected as a kid. I think that fandom is of great value to the publishing field just for that reason, if no other. I certainly think that a lot of attention is paid to what the fans say.... But of course, the thing that speaks loudest to a publisher is sales. You may like a certain feature or a certain artist, and his work doesn’t sell, so what is the answer?.... Of course, as I think Mr. Harris pointed out, you can have the world’s best book, but if it doesn’t get on the stands, that it doesn’t prove a thing. [Kaler asks about the possibility of Anderson and Joe Kubert splitting the art chores on DC’s Hawkman bimonthly, with each doing some of the stories.] ANDERSON: We work for different editors, and Joe was on loan from Bob Kanigher when he did “Hawkman” the first go-round. Then, when they decided to put out Hawkman [as a regular title], he simply wasn’t available. And I mean, he’s got such a schedule that if you count the pages he does for Bob Kanigher, it’s enough to make your head swim. If he had more hands, perhaps he could do more books. [Weingroff muses on the inherent conflict between businessmen, artists, and fans, and mentions reports that Kubert’s “Hawkman” issues of The Brave and the Bold were poor sellers.]

Murphy Anderson has always been a good friend to fandom and to comics conventions, as witness these illos for a pair of 1972 cons: San Diego (John Carter of Mars) and Phil Seuling’s New York affair (Adam Strange). The former is repro’d from a photocopy of the original art courtesy of Steve Hurley; the latter from a program book provided by Fred Mommsen (with thanks to Carole Seuling). [Art ©2003 Murphy Anderson; John Carter TM &©2003 Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.; Adam Strange TM & ©2003 DC Comics.]

ANDERSON: That wouldn’t be quite fair to say that, because the sales weren’t that bad on the “Hawkman” tryouts. Otherwise, they never would have brought the book back as a regular book. But if Joe had been available, I’m sure he’d be doing Hawkman today.... And the same thing would hold true if they had something in another department that they wanted me to do. On occasion, I’ll do a cover for Jack Schiff or Murray Boltinoff. But that’s strictly why I’m on loan, and the editors are quite jealous of their artists and writers, and you

Comics & Fandom icant percentage of comic book sales: “You can march on [a wholesaler] a hundred strong and demand to have Batman at a certain newsstand, and he will throw you out of his office.” After soliciting from Comics Code administrator Len Darvin the information that 350,000,000 comics are sold a year, to readers with an average age of 8-13, Warren says that proves the “negligible” influence fandom can exert, and continues:] Science-fiction fandom, which was a very strong thing—and Otto will bear me out on this—was a great, powerful voice in publishing. But where is science-fiction publishing today? It is pretty much on the bottom of the ladder because the public, the great public, does not want science-fiction in pulp form or any form, per se. Otto, I know I’m killing you, but it’s an economic fact of life. That great big beautiful mass of science-fiction fandom—and they were powerful; they had on their board of governors Ray Bradbury, and we could go all the way on down the line—never got anywhere influencing the public, and they never will. You people won’t, either. You’ll get together once a year as long as there’s guys like Dave Kaler around to donate six months of his blood and sweat and tears. You’ll meet, you’ll exchange old comic books, you’ll buy comic books, but you will have no voice in publishing. [to Roy] You want to fight with me, sir? THOMAS: Not as much as you might imagine.

don’t see much crossing over the lines. They have, you might say, a sort of competition between one another, to try to put out the best book. And I think it’s healthy. KALER: Jim Warren, of course, will talk of publishers.... JIM WARREN: Let’s get back to the basis of the discussion, which is, “What good is fandom to publishing?”.... At the risk of being attacked, I don’t think fandom means one damn when it comes to publishing, and I’ll tell you why. As I look out on most of you—excluding the first row, who are all pros—I’m not looking at an average bunch of kids who spend 10¢ or 25¢ for a comic book. I’m looking at a group of educated, higher-mentality-than-average, literate collectors, sort of junior Woody Gelmans. And probably, when Woody was your age, he was the same. Woody is no average magazine buyer. He collects for the love of it. He’s found an art form and he collects because of his own intrinsic intelligence in being able to pick out what he wants and say, “I like this because,” or “I don’t like this because....” You collect comic books for the same reason. Now, what kind of influence do you have for the publishers? None! Don’t let any publisher ever tell you you influence him. You don’t. [to some in audience] Stop shaking your head. I’m not finished. [laughs] Now, I’ll tell you why I say this.... [Warren says comics fandom will probably never represent a signif-

The cover of Phil Seuling’s 1972 New York Comics Convention utilized the Warren heroine Vampirella, as painted by José Gonzales. Thanks to Fred Mommsen & Carole Seuling. [Vampirella TM & ©2003 Warren Publishing.]

Where Do We Go From Here?

of the letters. Incidentally, another thing I’ve noticed is that the jargon of the fanzines is beginning to show up in the comic books.... It was in the fanzines that the term “Golden Age” was coined to refer to the 1940s, the first super-hero age. You look and see how many [comics] covers and how many gags [now] contain that phrase, “Golden Age.” Look on some of these new Wonder Woman covers. Look at some of the ads in the past for some of the Superman Annuals. Look at some of Stan Lee’s books; they’ve used the term.... [Jim Warren insists “fans” are being confused with “readers” and with “letter-writers.” If Stan Lee, for instance, thought fandom was important, he “would have printed a couple of things in his magazines” about this upcoming convention. Bill Harris says that, without letters, comics editors work “in a vacuum”; he says that at Gold Key most mail on titles like Dr. Solar comes from fans—many of them suggesting giving the hero a costume, till finally Harris did so— and now, as a result of improving sales, Dr. Solar has gone bimonthly and is “one of Gold Key’s better titles.” Harris and Warren wrangle about whether these people were “fans” or merely “letter-writers.” Harris says some of them are “in this room,” and others were at the Detroit Triple Fan Fair “last week.” [Dave Kaler asks Murphy Anderson about the upcoming return of The Spectre, voted in the fans’ Alley Awards as “the character that they would most like to see revived.” Did the fans have any influence on the return of The Spectre?]

Though in the mid-1950s he had adapted several of his “Adam Link” stories from the s-f pulp Amazing for EC’s Weird Science-Fantasy, Otto Binder adapted them anew in 1965 for Warren Publications. Art both times was by Joe Orlando. Thanks to Bill Schelly. [©2003 Warren Publishing.]

ANDERSON: Well, of course they kept the name in front of Julie. There’s no question of that. But I think that primarily Julie and Irwin [Donenfeld, DC co-publisher] simply felt that he was the character that had the most potential to bring back. I don’t really believe that Irwin— and he’s the guy that has the final say-so—or [co-publisher] Jack Liebowitz are influenced by the fans. I hate to say that, but since the trend seems to be for costumed characters and supernatural characters, “The Spectre” was a natural. And I think that the success of the “Dr.

[Thomas suggests various ways of defining the term “fan,” as seen from the vantage point of his “little stormy five-week career for two different companies.” He and Warren argue whether people who buy fanzines and write letters should be counted as “fans.” At Weingroff’s prodding, Warren agrees to count fanzine buyers, many of whom would be at this convention if they didn’t live too far away. [Thomas says letters are one way fans can influence comics editors, citing as examples Julius Schwartz and Stan Lee: “Look at some of the changes that came about in Fantastic Four very quickly”... such as costumes in F.F. #3 and the return of The Sub-Mariner in #4. Roy says that Stan told him these changes were made because of fan mail, and adds that he himself had earlier been hired at DC by Mort Weisinger on the basis of his fanzine work and a handful of letters, and that E. Nelson Bridwell has a similar story. Fandom, Thomas maintains, is where the new comics pros will come from—another way fans can influence the end product. He points out Len Brown, in the front row, who is working on “a new comic that will be coming out in a few months with Wally Wood.” Bridwell, from the audience, adds:] E. NELSON BRIDWELL: I know that the readers, the letter-writers, have a lot to say about what happens. Last year, when John Forte was ill, Mort called in Jim Mooney to draw a few issues of Adventure “Legion of Super-heroes” stories, and Jim did a good job. But it was the readers, not those of the organized fandom, perhaps, but the readers of that magazine wanted Forte back. The result is that Forte is back on “Legion.” As soon as his health was good enough, he came back because

By the time of Dr. Solar, Man of the Atom #13 (May 1965), editor Bill Harris had directed the artist (identity unknown) to give the green-skinned Solar a costume to make him a more visual super-hero. Thanks to Bill Schelly. [©2003 the respective copyright holder.]

Comics & Fandom HARRIS: There are many factors when you come up with a new book.... If you have a character like Tarzan, for example, who is doing very well... you’ll want to come out with something that’ll sell as well, something like it. At the same time, you can’t copy Tarzan, because then you’d have two, and they’d kill each other. So what you do is—we did this with Otto Binder’s book, Mighty Samson, where we took what’s good about many characters and put them into one new one. And the way we knew what was good, what was making these books sell, was from the letters we got.... For example, on Turok, was it the monsters they liked, is it the fact he’s an Indian, is it the fact that he’s lost? What is it and why do they buy this book?.... Well, [chuckles] we don’t know. You find out, though, from the letters. That is why the letters are important—why these fans are important to publishers. [Rick Weingroff says fans will be more likely to be able to influence newer titles such as Mighty Samson than already-popular ones like Superman. He says that fans do “make suggestions... and the editors and publishers do seem to be listening.”] WARREN: My doorman makes suggestions to me and I listen, because one of them may be good, even though I have to go through ninety-nine that are not good.... And the reason that Jack Liebowitz and Irwin Donenfeld control their product so tightly is because they know that if they gave Mort a little bit more head, more leeway, he may destroy a million dollars of profit at the end of the year. Forry Ackerman, who is my dearest editor [on Famous Monsters of Filmland] and one of my greatest friends, came from fandom.

Fans fondly remember the Schwartz/Fox/Anderson Showcase team-ups of Starman and Black Canary, and of Dr. Fate and Hourman. On this page from issue #55 (March-April ’65), Hourman takes a back seat as Fate and Green Lantern incarcerate the monstrous Solomon Grundy. Thanks to Mike W. Barr & Tom Horvitz for photocopies of the original Anderson art. You can contact collector/dealer Tom at (818) 757-0747 or at <trhgallery@earthlink.net>. [©2003 DC Comics.]

Forry Ackerman has been dubbed The Fan, and he is the original science-fiction fan. He eats, lives, breathes, and sleeps fandom. This man has no other life but science-fiction fandom. And he felt that, if he listened to the fans in Famous Monsters, we would have a better product. And so, one awful day in October, in Hollywood, we shook hands on a pact that would last a year. I said, “All right, Forry. Editorially, you have control of this magazine for a year. You can do whatever you want to do according to the dictates of fandom, of our letters.” And he showed me hundreds of letters that called for the very thing that I didn’t want to have, ever. And so, for one year, for six issues’ worth, we did it his way. [pause] We lost $35,000. Thirty-five thousand dollars! Let that sink in. [pause] It wasn’t the loss of the money that bothered me as much as having to resurrect a weak spirit from my

Fate/Hourman” book had a big bearing on it in trying to bring it back, because The Spectre’s powers will overlap the powers of Dr. Fate. I think it’s as simple as that, although, of course, the editor is influenced, he’s got to be influenced, by what the fans write. But as for the decision of what book to put out—no, I’m afraid it’s just sales potential or the proven sales that govern which book is published. [Roy Thomas says he’ll give a specific example of an influence he believes fans had at DC:] THOMAS: This happened several years ago with The Atom, as a sixinch-high character, who was first conceived by Jerry Bails about a year before it came out. He sent [editor Julius Schwartz] a number of letters. Later, I got in on the very late stages and even sent a color drawing. But at this time, though, Julie Schwartz had already gone ahead; he’d seen a lot of potential in this idea. He had Gil Kane, I believe it was, draw up some sketches of The Atom, design a costume, and so forth. And because one person, one crummy little Ph.D., wrote one little letter, a ball was started.... [Though it isn’t on the tape, Thomas has recounted since that artist Gil Kane, sitting in the front row, shook his head vigorously during some of the foregoing remarks, mouthing words to the effect: “That’s not how it was.” A far more detailed account of the possible origin(s) of the Silver Age Atom appeared in Alter Ego, Vol. 3, #2.]

Where Do We Go From Here?

Now, I may be offending some people here when I say this, because I know that Roy here came from fandom and I think that Roy is going to make a damn good pro. Roy came from fandom, but I dare say Roy would have become a pro without fandom.... He [Roy] shakes his head—but I say that if fandom had never existed, if Roy had read comic books and there were no fanzines to edit or write to or contribute to, he would have gravitated towards New York. And of course, it’s impossible for either one of us to say. We’ll never know. Fandom, at best, makes this business a bit more pleasant. At worst, they get these high-falutin’ ideas that they know more than publishers and their editors. WOODY GELMAN: [from audience] When you see how many pros were fans originally, I think fandom offers its influence in that manner.... I think a chap like [Playboy editor/publisher Hugh] Hefner was a fan, I think you were a fan, I know I am, and Larry Ivie, there, is a fan. Len [Brown] is a fan. I think that this is its real strength. Not in trying a direct approach to either distributor or publisher. It doesn’t have any effect, I agree solidly. But when you become an editorial person or a publisher, that’s when you exert your influence. [Roy Thomas insists it was his editing/publishing of Alter Ego, plus his letter contacts with pros like Otto Binder and Julie Schwartz, that led to his entrance into the field, and thus he owes a lot to comics fandom, Jim Warren’s statements to the contrary. E. Nelson Bridwell recounts how longtime DC writer Gardner Fox told him, shortly after ENB had started working for Mort Weisinger in 1964, that he was “very glad to see somebody new coming in” to comics.

Whatever his opinions about “fans” as such, Jim Warren was always very supportive of comicons. Here’s the ad he had Ernie Colón draw for Phil Seuling’s 1969 Comic Art Convention program book. Thanks to Fred Mommsen & Carole Seuling. [©2003 Warren Publishing.]

editor, who was extremely depressed over what had happened. The fans talked to him, and he listened, and we published, and they were all wrong. We came to this conclusion and we immediately changed our format. We didn’t make back the $35,000 yet, but we’re on our way. We came to this conclusion, that the vociferous voices from the fans are great for the fans. But fans don’t give a damn about publishing. All they want is their own voice and their own attitude and opinions on the subject. Most fans have absolutely no conception of the economies of publishing.... Now, you fans—and I use that expression as a term of endearment—you have helped publishing by writing in a letter and giving a man an idea to pirate. That letter should have come with an attorney’s letter.... But when it all comes down to it, the help and the contributions that you make to publishing can be put into Mickey Mouse’s watch pocket.

[Harris says, “In order to work in comics, you have to be a fan.... People are fans, organized or not, and it’s as simple as this.” Dave Kaler sums up by saying that fandom may be a minority, but will bring “new blood” to the industry. However, he adds, “Money is an important item. Without it, we wouldn’t have any comic books, or we wouldn’t have Creepy comics or Famous Monsters of Filmland... right, Jim?”]

In 1964, as the brand new editor/publisher of the fanzine Alter Ego, Roy Thomas researches his “Marvel Family” article for the award-winning A/E (Vol. 1) #7 at the home (and with the collection) of art editor/friend Biljo White. By spring of ’65 Roy had scripted Son of Vulcan #50 (Jan. ’66) and Blue Beetle #54 (Feb.-March ’66) for Charlton; in June he flew east to become Mort Weisinger’s assistant on DC’s “Superman” line... though by the time of the Kalercon he had jumped ship to Marvel. Photo by Ruth White; Blue Beetle art by Bill Fraccio & Tony Tallarico. [Art ©2003 DC Comics.]

Comics & Fandom cally. Readers, I can’t.... A smart editor realizes the value that fans play, namely, very little.... [laughs] [There follow digressions by Kane, Thomas, Weingroff, Warren, et al., about the difference between “fans,” “readers,” and “letterwriters.”] KANE: The Marvel Group is having spectacular sales in all of their magazines, and this is obviously being supported not by fans, but by readers. But in this case, the fans also support what the Marvel magazines are doing, which means that there is no dichotomy, there’s no split in the tastes of the fans and the taste of the readers. It’s the same thing. It’s just that one is vocal and one isn’t. WARREN: I don’t really think that it’s that cut-and-dried. I think, first of all, that Marvel sales are up because the birth rate was up ten years ago. Now, you are having more comic book readers because you are having more youngsters. You are also having an increase in sales at National. And now that National’s a public company, you can read their report and find this out. If you add a hundred more readers, you’re going to add, say, 1 or 2 more fans. KANE: But National is being bought selectively now. They’re not being bought in blocs, the way they used to be. For instance, an individual magazine for the same company, for the same sort of character—one could sell and one won’t. [Thus] it seems that there is a certain amount of selectively buying things up. And it means that despite the birth rate, or anything else that comes in, one magazine is being supported and the other isn’t for the qualities that are indigenous to that magazine. [Otto Binder says a few words about science-fiction and s-f fandom which unfortunately are unintelligible on the tape.] WARREN: I got up in a science-fiction convention in Pittsburgh five years ago and I said to them, “John, the reason science-fiction is dead is they publish for fandom, and I’m not going to die publishing for you.” And I was almost stoned to death.... Fandom is a lovely thing. But it’s like a mystery....

Gil Kane’s full art for a two-Earths page from Green Lantern #52 (April ’67). Photocopy of the original art courtesy of Mike Burkey. To find out about all the goodies being sold, traded, and bought by Mike, take an online look at <www.romitaman.com>. [©2003 DC Comics.]

Pulps, of course, had their day and age, and they died, as did comics that were killed by the Comics Code. Now, there are many fans of these types of comics, which the Comics Code stopped, which I think was a good thing. If the Comics Code had not come along, it would have been

WARREN: Money is the root of all good. [laughs; applause] Can I conclude? [at Kaler’s assent] I think the fans should be heard from and not seen. [Rick Weingroff says that, often, fans’ desires are quite similar to those of non-fans. The floor is thrown open to questions. Andy Yanchus, who by the ’70s will become a colorist for Marvel, asks Warren which issues of Famous Monsters lost $35,000, and is told this happened in the 1963-64 period. Warren discourses on the “three things” an editor must protect—his ego, his professional status, and the jobs of those working for him. Many publishers, he feels, are merely “paper converters” who know how to buy the cheapest paper, etc., and don’t really care about what they publish. When Gil Kane indicates from the front row that he’d like to speak, Dave Kaler invites Kane to join the panel. He does.] GIL KANE: It’s true that it’s usually the editor who’s more interested in what the fans are saying. But it seems to me that if it’s true that the editor and the publisher are mostly [unintelligible], so is growth. That might be one reason.... My editor [Julie Schwartz] is the voice of the fan. I don’t talk to the fans, but I listen to the editor, who does. You must admit the fans do influence you through your editor. WARREN: Fans don’t; readers do.... Fans I can do without, economi-

Gil Kane (l.) and James Warren sparred at the ’65 Kalercon—and in this photo from the 1968 SCARPcon, it looks like they might be at it again! Thanks to Fred Mommsen & Carole Seuling. Incidentally, it was at the ’65 convention that Gil Kane and EC fan John Benson met, got to talking informally, and agreed to do an interview later. Out of this, at decade’s end, came the legendary Gil Kane interview which was published in 1969-70 in Alter Ego (Vol. 1) #10— against which comics interviews have been measured ever since!

Where Do We Go From Here? disaster for the entire industry. But all these fans of the old Tales From the Crypt, with all their great love, they couldn’t do anything against powers that were stronger than they were. And there are powers that exist today that are stronger than fans, financial powers. I know companies that make very fine buggy whips, but they went out of business because there was just no need for them. It was a simple law of supply-and-demand, as it is with science-fiction. And by the way, we are killing Otto by degrees as we speak this way. OTTO BINDER: No, that’s all right. [laughs] [After other queries by attendees, and remarks by Roy Thomas and Dave Kaler, another member of the audience (hereafter referred to as “FANS”) comments obliquely on the reaction of readers to a recent change of editors in a magazine published by Warren, who laughs:] WARREN: That editor was changed because of incompatibility with the publisher. It had nothing to do with the editorial content.... When they’re in our office, by the way, it’s very easy to size them up as fans. I can differentiate immediately.... There’s three things about fans that always come out. One, they think that what was done ten years ago is better than today. Second, they express this with violent opinions—switchblade knives, everything. [laughs] And third, they expect you to publish for them, and them alone.

WARREN: But not really extensively. Not every Saturday night. FAN: No. WARREN: When you do, I have a strong hunch you will stop reading comics. FAN: I don’t think so. I think the artists in the present comic books are twenty times better than stuff that was done in the ’40s, the ’30s, and the ’50s. [Crowd boos, moans, applauds] And I think it’s going to be better and better, and I think Mr. Harris over here is going to be missing out on a lot because he’s going to be leaving comics. THOMAS: Excuse me, may I just say one thing? I dated girls, too, when I could get them. [laughter] [Nelson Bridwell says there will always be a certain small percentage of readers who will remain fans as they grow older. Even some pros remain fans, himself included.] WARREN: May we ask a question of Willie Elder? Willie... one gentleman said he thought that the work that was being done nowadays was superior to the work that was done ten and twenty and thirty years ago. Now you were doing work—good work—as far as I’m concerned, great work. But of course, Willie, I’m your fan—you were doing work ten, fifteen, twenty years ago. You have anything to say about that? Do you think that comics were done better some years ago? I don’t.

FAN: I, for one, think comics are better than ten years ago. WARREN: Good. There’s hope for us, then. [Another fan says he is a “great fan of Carmine Infantino’s work,” especially his “Batman,” and he resents that the s-f comics Strange Adventures and Mystery in Space were “ruined” so that the art could be improved on the “Batman” books.] WARREN: Can I ask you a question? How old are you? FAN: Fifteen. WARREN: Do you date girls yet? FAN: Yes.

In the early 1980s Will Elder (l.) was still interacting with fans, such as Jon Estren (r.). The program book for Estren’s 1982 Dimension Convention, which spotlighted EC Comics, featured this “rare, seldom-seen piece of Will Elder artwork,” a copy of which was evidently mailed out in response to fan letters to EC back in 1953. Thanks to Fred Mommsen & Carole Seuling. [Art ©1982 William M. Gaines; ©2003 the respective copyright holders.]

Comics & Fandom

WILL ELDER: Well, I’ll tell you frankly that I hadn’t any set kind of answers. I think each one of us is defending a philosophy. Each one of us is defending our own personal tastes. And as far as twenty or thirty years ago, I felt, when I was twenty or thirty years younger, that there were some great artists around. I became fans of those artists. I think one of them’s still alive... the one who does Prince Valiant, Hal Foster... he’s still going strong as far as I’m concerned.... I don’t think he’s outlived his greatness. Another thing, too: I think we tend to remember the things that are close to us. We’ve all voiced opinions. In fact, there’s a very healthy atmosphere here, the atmosphere being that we disagree. That’s very healthy. I think that we’re all involved in our own tastes, and I hate to sound general, but there’s no pat answers, really. I think that we ought to debate.

you, I’d probably be a great artist. The thing is, there are good artists today.... The young man who stood up here and said that he didn’t think one artist was as good as another artist—that he was glad to see Bob Kane is more or less working his way out of the picture because he didn’t think much of Bob Kane’s ability or his technique or his craft. Now, that’s an opinion. There are others, I’m sure, who strongly voice they’re of the opposite [opinion]. I just think that Bob Kane being an innovator in this business in itself is quite a contribution—the fact that he innovated. I don’t even know whether he’s a good artist or not, but that’s my opinion.

WARREN: [to audience, referring to Elder] When I knew him, he was smarter than that. ELDER: Well, maybe that’s because I don’t agree with you. If I agreed with

Way back in ’71, Mad cartoonist Sergio Aragonés was already an integral feature in the San Diego Comic-Con’s program books. Thanks to Sergio and to Shel Dorf. [Art ©2003 Sergio Aragonés; Aquaman, Superman, Green Lantern, & Batman TM & ©2003 DC Comics.]

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KALER: It’s getting rather late. We could go on for hours and hours with this discussion, but I think we better just call it an evening, and say that we’re very glad that you came here and enjoyed yourself the past few days. This is not the end. The dealers will still be at their tables for a little bit. Buy books, by all means. Thank you for coming. [applause]

Con-Cave Coming?

by Tom Fagan [NOTE: Most of the following article is reprinted from the fanzine Batmania #7, 1966, provided by Bill Schelly. However, various phrases, sentences, and paragraphs have been interpolated from a second piece Tom wrote— this one for the program book of Dave Kaler’s 1966 convention; this article, which dealt with the non-Batman aspects of the convention, was provided by Andy Yanchus. Text ©2003 Tom Fagan.]

strip, would be one of the panelists present when the Con got underway a few hours hence.

The Batmanians were there! And friendships were cemented; alliances formed; nostalgic memories exchanged; plans formulated; and an idea born—The Con-Cave. It all happened at ComiCon ’65. Gotham was the place. July 31st and August 1st—the dates. Two of the hottest days of the year.

on mic Co ork ur w Y Fo Ne Part

A Look at the First KalerCon

Vintage photos of writer Tom Fagan in mufti are hard to come by; but since for many years he dressed as Batman for Halloween parades in his native Rutland, Vermont, it was no problem to find a pic of him as the Dark Knight at a late-’60s party held in conjunction with one of them. For more about these parades, and about the Marvel and DC stories they spawned for years, see Alter Ego: The Comic Book Artist Collection. The cover of Batmania #7 (Nov. 1965), wherein this piece first appeared, is by its editor/publisher, Biljo White. Photo courtesy of the late Mark Hanerfeld. [Art ©2003 Biljo White; Batman & Robin TM & ©2003 DC Comics.]

Little sleep; hasty waking, hastier packing, and the group replete with Roy Thomas attired in his Fantastic Four t-shirt set off for the Con site—Hotel Broadway Central—a setting appropriate for the story of Batman’s epic battle against the Red Monk.

If it had been a movie setting, the opening musical theme could easily have been, “Here They Come!” Comicon Chairman Dave Kaler had sent the word. “The ‘beastry’s’ open. Stay if you like; there’s not much room but we’ll make a place for you.”

Well over a hundred fans signed up in the Con guestbook. Bill Thailing, Ed Aprill, and Phil Seuling, along with Berman, were among dealers arriving to set up exhibit sales tables resplendent with Golden Age issues including Batman #1, Detective #27, and World’s Best #1.

Jerry Bails was already there. Larry Raybourne was heading up from Cleveland. Roy Thomas was to be co-host. Rick Weingroff would be on the turf. Phil Seuling and Doug Berman, cooling it in Brooklyn, would make the convention scene on the morrow.

For the man with the pocketbook, it was a dream come true. Others merely looked on wistfully. Raybourne, who in physical appearance resembles Namor somewhat, joined this writer to listen to Bill Finger as the panel got underway.

Who passes up a chance to be where the action is, pussycat? Nobody, and this writer, forsaking Batmobile (or, as it is called less respectfully by some, ‘The Bash-Mobile’), caught the Greyhound to wing out of Rutland, Vermont, and headed for the promised land of comicdom.

Finger’s comments filled in the history of Batman’s success as a continually popular comic book character. Finger related how he had scripted the first “Batman” story, working in close conjunction with Bob Kane.

To “just a country boy,” 2nd Street in Greenwich Village [actually the Lower East Side, part of which was just beginning to be called the “East Village” —Roy] is a bewildering place with its cryptic streets and shadowy alleyways—especially after midnight. But by virtue of sign language and rudimentary Puerto Rican—“Kaler’s Kave” was reached. Greetings exchanged, mead hoisted—talk of the ComiCon begun with Raybourne elsewhere. “Biljo’s sorry he’s not coming,” Roy commented, “but his vacation schedule didn’t fit in.” Others in the room agreed they wished Biljo, editor of Batmania, could be on hand. Word was that Bill Finger, a key man in the success of the “Batman”

A break for luncheon. Slow service, but a chance to talk with Finger and Otto Binder, key man in the “Marvel Family” stories. Binder recognized this writer as “the one who does articles for Batmania.” Raybourne, a master of makeup, in the meantime was conversing with Finger, showing him photos of his various makeup portrayals of Batman, Two-Face, Joker, Penguin, Robin, and others. Finger remarked on the quality of the characterizations. Back to an afternoon of dealers hawking their wares, with Batman #1 going at $60. Television crews from the Walter Cronkite CBS news show edged through the throng to record auctions and in general make the genuine fan feel less at home. They were interviewing here and there and barking orders at fans to “get out of the way of the camera, sonny!” or “Hey, bud, watch out for that cord!” A mock auction was conducted for

A Look at the First KalerCon

CBS’s benefit, with auctioneer Jerry Bails “jacking up” prices at CBS’ insistence so the outside world would presumably later learn the “true picture” of comicon via the video tube. “Why do you wear a t-shirt like that?” CBS interviewers pounced on Roy Thomas, who at the moment was a walking advertisement for the Fantastic Four. “Tell him you want to belong—to have a place in the scheme of things, Roy!” said one fan disgusted by the CBS invasion. For reasons many and varied, fandom’s mass majority of enthusiasts has remained uninformed of Comicon ’65. Many waited to savor a vicarious taste through the promised CBS television show sampling. The promise remains unfilled. Perhaps the best for CBS came to the “Con,” tongue in cheek and ready to slap on facile labels of “pop,” “boss,” and the cutie-pie cognomen of “camp.”

Rochester, NY to appear as Marvel’s Golden Age character, Miss America. To Miss Gemignani went the coveted prize of original Carmine Infantino art of Page 1 of a recent “Batman” story. An unidentified lad, young in years but with a cleverly designed Batman costume, seemed disappointed when, instead of “Batman” original art, he received a choice sampling of current “Hawkman” artwork. Carole Seuling took home original Metal Men artwork, while husband Phil was disqualified because he (understandably) refused to shave off his goatee to appear as Captain Marvel. A remainder of an evening with Captains America and Marvel serials entertainment, and this writer departed with the Seulings for Brooklyn. “Never-Never Land” had closed for the night. Sunday and Doug Berman arriving. Wonder Girl and Wonder Tot (respectively the Seuling Daughters—Heather and Gwen) had long awakened the writer. Off to the Con.

After their panel, at the hotel’s downstairs dining chamber, Otto Binder and Bill Finger The fanzine Batmania went on for years, under Rich Morrissey (and eventually a different title) after Biljo were kept busy between snatches of food being With Batmania #1 prominently on display, White bowed out—as evidenced by Al Bradford’s nice interviewed by a solemn, youngish reporter the afternoon program began. Roy Thomas cover for issue #23 (July 1977). [Art ©2003 Al Bradford; from The New Yorker magazine, who seemed Batman TM & ©2003 DC Comics.] (this time in an Avengers t-shirt) escorted the amazed that many of the fans present were not lovely and genial Flo Steinberg of the Marvel teenagers, but professors, teachers, publishers, staff, who buzzed about the hall greeting commercial artists, and college students. Later The New Yorker gave latecomers. Fans (the mechanical kind) droned on in a futile attempt to the Con a write-up. One like most New Yorker dissertations: short, dispel torrid temperatures while the more faithful fans wilted through pithy, and smug. Yet, while The New Yorker was having a laugh up its nine chapters of the serial Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe. private sleeve, its Con article was for the most part fair, rather than derogatory. Then an unexpected treat was in store. Larry Raybourne had brought Meanwhile, braving the stifling heat of the upstairs convention room, one was treated to a scene that first appeared to be mass confusion and bedlam. Wheeling and dealing time! Comic books, old and new, up for trade, bid, or barter. Money clenched in fist for issue #1 of Batman, Adventure #48 with the origin story of Hour-Man, Daredevil Battles Hitler, and comparatively recent issues such as Fantastic Four #2. Like merchants in the street markets of old, the dealers displayed longsought-after issues and coveted treasures. Some, like Don Foote, arrived with suitcases filled with comics for trade.

with him original recordings of the origins of Batman and Robin. They were technically well-done, with an album cover perfected by professional artists. Genial Mark Hanerfeld set a tape of the master record into motion, and fans listened with smiles of recognition as the dialogue faithfully recounted the beginnings of the careers of Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson. The recordings also included Raybourne’s impersonation of The Joker, and eerie laughter filled the room as “the Clown Prince of Crime” vowed, “Batman will die!” Thus a touch of Batmania was added to the convention program.

Meanwhile, other fans inspected an exhibit presided over by Comicon chairman Kaler. On display were fanzines, including Rocket’s Blast, Batmania, The Eye, and Alter Ego, among others. Original art from DC was on display beneath the six-foot poster of Spider-Man leering down on the crowd. Depending on the age level, many fans quickly forsook CBS’ “camp” carnival for the soothing relief of a Carling or Coke. Still others hastily downed an evening repast.

With Kaler moderating a panel, “Where Does Fandom Go from Here?” the Con drew to a close. But not before an idea was born!

With evening came the costume party. Even the dingy atmosphere of Hotel Broadway Central failed to diminish the color and excitement of the merry masque. Dual identities emerged for the evening, and the ballroom took on the flamboyant appearance of a meeting of the Justice Society, X-Men, and Justice League combined. Kaler was resplendent in his impersonation of Marvel’s Doctor Strange; he had easily the best costume. Thomas emerged with dyedarkened hair and wide sunglasses to portray Plastic Man. About them cavorted such familiar comic book personalities as The Fat Fury, The Flash, John Force [Magic Agent], Jane Foster [from Thor], The Man in Black Called Fate, The Atom, Mr. Fantastic, Dr. Mid-Nite, Batman, and others, including two Green Lanterns and a pair of Weather Wizards. The Seulings (Phil and Carole) as Captain Marvel and Mary Marvel took winning honors. So did Margaret Gemignani, who had journeyed from

A CON-CAVE. Why not? A centrally located place. A meeting strictly for Batmanians but open to all interested fans. Pros on hand, if possible. Showing of the Batman Columbia serials. Prizes for Batman character costuming and even a date with the Catwoman! Interested? Then join together. Make your interest shown. And maybe CON-CAVE ’66 will become reality! [NOTE: The Batmanians’ own convention never quite happened, but of course only six months after the 1965 con, the Batman TV series with Adam West debuted and became an instant hit and a national fad. It, and the much later series of big-budget Batman movies, have assured the Dark Knight a place in the super-hero firmament beyond even the wildest dreams of Biljo White, Tom Fagan, and Batfans everywhere. For more about Batman in the early days of the Rutland, Vermont, Halloween Parade which Tom also spearheaded, pick up a pair of current trade paperbacks: Bill Schelly’s Comic Fandom Reader from Hamster Press, whose ad appears elsewhere in this issue... and Roy Thomas’ Alter Ego: The Comic Book Artist Collection, from TwoMorrows Publishing.]

Chatting with Dave Kaler

1 The 5 96

mic Co ork wY e Ne rt Fiv

[INTRODUCTION: This interview was conducted in 1995 in conjunction with Bill Schelly’s acclaimed book The Golden Age of Comic Fandom, but has never before been printed in full.] BILL SCHELLY: How did you get involved in comic fandom? DAVE KALER: When I came to New York City from Florida, I got sick and I was so weak that I couldn’t read anything, so people brought me comic books. They happened to be the revival of the DC characters, and they looked so different from what I remembered as a kid... ’cause I remembered The Flash with the helmet with the wings, and this Flash had the full red suit... and I was confused about what had happened.

BILL SCHELLY Talks with the Man behind the 1965 New York Comics Convention

was happening. But none of us accomplished much with the Academy. It finally just drifted and died. SCHELLY: You must have believed in the idea of the Academy, to be willing to take over the top role in it. KALER: I think it was worthwhile. I think it was worth having... but you just couldn’t find enough people to agree about anything, like with the politics and everything else. You had the younger people coming up, and their big thing was Marvel-Marvel-Marvel. It seemed like they weren’t interested in the field of comics per se; they seemed only interested in Stan Lee and the Marvel line of comics. By that point, I was getting very tired and very aggravated about it, because I knew comics consisted of something more than Stan Lee and Marvel Comics.

So I was lucky enough to find the At Dave Kaler’s second or third con—most likely the Showcase issues, with the beginnings of the second, in 1966—Stan Lee (left) gets ready to speak, as new Flash, and the revival of the old Flash in Dave beams. As a favor to his erstwhile roomie, Roy the new Flash. And, as a result, I got... all Thomas talked Stan into showing up... though it was touch-and-go till the last second. these letters were being written [to these I left it, and Mark Hanerfeld took over comics], and they were sending out artwork with the magazines [The Comic Reader] and to people, and there was Jerry Bails’ name and everything else. He managed to cope with it. I gave him some news there was Roy Thomas’ name, and I started writing to them to get these whenever I had it, and that was it. Then the fanzine went from there to fanzines, because they started to say you could get these fanzines and Paul Levitz and some other folks. stuff. Somebody said they were going to have a meeting on the East Side one day [in 1964], and I went to that meeting, and there were like thirty or forty people, and Marvel sent some people, but DC didn’t. Flo Steinberg was there, and I knew Flo.... SCHELLY: How did you do the first comicon? KALER: They wanted someone to take over for it, ’cause the other guy didn’t want to do it again. And I took it over, and I got people like Jim Steranko... and there was a whole group of people that I knew from DC and Marvel and so forth, and I got cooperation from most of a local group... Marv Wolfman, Len Wein, all those people I knew and I hung around with. We had become friends, and we used to have meetings at Marv Wolfman’s house. In fact, Marv published a fanzine that had a story by me in it, and a story by Stephen King. The crowd all helped me put on the two or three conventions that I did. I sold tables, so I got to meet Phil Seuling and be good friends with him, and, as a result, he took it over.

With the Academy, you had just too many splinter groups, and everybody wanted to do different things. You can only take so much of that before you have to get out of it. SCHELLY: How did you start working for Charlton Comics? KALER: They asked Roy [Thomas] to come and work with them, but at that time Stan Lee had found out about Roy because he had been doing some work with Mort Weisinger, and he hired him. But once Roy was at Marvel, he could only work at Marvel. He was nice enough to

SCHELLY: Were you tired of it at that point? KALER: Yeah, I guess at that point I was just not into it. I had another life and I had other things to do. I was involved with selling books, and I was going as a dealer at that point, so I was out of it as a convention organizer. It got too expensive and too time-consuming for me. Phil had all the people to help him produce it. SCHELLY: How did you become executive secretary of the Academy of Comic Book Fans and Collectors? KALER: I wanted to help out and keep it going, because I liked what

At the ’67 Kalercon—a panel featuring Dave’s New York & Long Island “support group,” his fellow members of the recently-formed fan-group called TISOS (“The Illegitimate Sons of Superman”). Left to right: Mike Friedrich (in from California—the only person in the photo not a member), Irene Vartanoff, Mark Hanerfeld, Marv Wolfman, Len Wein... and, kneeling, Eliot Wagner. Over the next few years, all the guys behind the table would work for DC, Marvel, or both. Thanks to Len and fellow TISOS members Rich Rubenfeld & Andy Yanchus for help with an ID or two. Photo by Pat Yanchus, also of TISOS.

Chatting with Dave Kaler

Dave sure got some stellar lineups for those two post-’65 cons! (Left:) A panel featuring (l. to r.): Wally Wood, former Gold Key editor Bill Harris, E. Nelson Bridwell, Kaler, and Charlton’s then-editor Dick Giordano—with Stan Lee just out of range at right. This photo got mislabeled as a “Charlton panel” with “unidentified staffers” in the otherwise outstanding Comic Book Artist #9. Gotcha, Jon B. Cooke! (Right:) In the audience, possibly at the same con: (Standing at left:) Jim Steranko. (Front row, l. to r.:) Bill Harris, Archie Goodwin, John Verpoorten. (2nd row, l. to r.:) Mike Friedrich, Roy Thomas, John and Virginia Romita. Anybody else in there we should’ve recognized?

recommend me to [Charlton editor] Dick Giordano. Charlton offered me a job up in Derby, Connecticut. But as I didn’t drive a car—and still don’t—it wasn’t feasible.

SCHELLY: What did you do for Gelman? KALER: I did editorial work for him, and I set up his library. I worked on the Flash Gordon books, the Little Nemo books, and others. And when Woody passed away, I went to work for Supersnipe [comics store] in Manhattan.

SCHELLY: You did quite a lot of writing for Charlton, didn’t you? KALER: Yes. I did Captain Atom and I did some other things... “Tiffany Sinn”... and I did some love stories. I did some other characters... some racing stories... a couple of Black Furys. I did some war stories. I only worked for Charlton for a couple of years. When Dick Giordano left, a new crew came in, and my writing assignments with them dried up. I did a few things for DC, and that was it. SCHELLY: Getting back to the comicons, how did it happen that there were two New York comicons in 1966? There had only been one in each of the prior two years. KALER: I don’t remember the specifics any more. I seem to recall that I wanted a con that would be for everybody. The word was that John Benson’s convention was an adult con, only for those people who were interested in EC and the older-type comics, and that was the big brouhaha there. Don and Maggie [Thompson] went to the Benson con; they didn’t go to both of them. Mine was still a successful con, however. We still made money... we still had a lot of people there... because I had professionals coming from DC and Marvel and Charlton and the smaller companies. SCHELLY: After your period of working for Charlton, you did some other comics work, right? KALER: Yes, but not a lot. I worked for Skywald doing a revival of “The Heap,” and after that I was out of it. I did some editing, working with Sol Brodsky. Also, I wrote a story for Warren, and Jim Warren asked me to work for him. But, in that case, I wasn’t available. SCHELLY: What were you doing in the hobby after that? KALER: I worked with selling comic books on the weekends for years with my good friend Bill Morse. We went to the conventions together, and in the 1970s we combined our collections and opened up a comic book store on Staten Island called Adventure Bound. Then we moved to Manhattan and had a small little place on Morton Street. After a few years, I got out of that to work for Nostalgia Press and Woody Gelman.

By late ’65, Dave Kaler was making a real contribution to Charlton’s Ditko-drawn Captain Atom, with the introduction of villains like Doctor Spectro—not to mention Punch and Jewelee. (Why did they change C.A.’s costume from that great yellowand-orange original? There’s no accounting for taste...!) [©2003 DC Comics.]

No. 79

We Didn’t Know...

45 You see, we didn’t prepare for it. It is doubtful that anyone kept a diary, or even rough notes, about what was going on. When the query began to bob up in later years, it was necessary to turn to the old comic books… which, providing you could lay your hands on any, frequently had much to say.

I was sorting out some ancient issues recently and ran across a story, “Captain Marvel Gets the Heir.” The art was unquestionably my own. It was a fanciful ten-pager wherein Captain Marvel found himself substituting as the butler in the mansion of wealthy old Ira Van Prooble. As one would expect, the super-hero played the role like a Broadway pro, though his dialogue was often no more than a dignified “Yes, Mawster!”

[FCA EDITORS NOTE: From 1941-53, Marcus D. Swayze was a top artist for Fawcett Comics. He designed Mary Marvel and illustrated her earliest adventures; but he was primarily hired by Fawcett Publications to illustrate Captain Marvel stories and covers for Whiz Comics and Captain Marvel Adventures. He also wrote many Captain Marvel scripts, and continued to do so while in uniform during World War II. After being discharged, he made an arrangement with Fawcett to produce material for them on a freelance basis from his Louisiana home. There he wrote and drew The Phantom Eagle for Wow Comics, and also drew the Flyin’ Jenny newspaper strip created by his friend and mentor Russell Keaton. After Wow’s cancellation, Swayze produced artwork for Fawcett’s popular romance comics, including Sweethearts and Life Story. After the company dropped its comics line, he joined Charlton Publications, where he ended his comics career in the mid-’50s. Marc’s ongoing professional memoirs have been FCA’s most popular feature since his first column appeared in FCA #54, 1996. Last issue, Marc recalled a visit by the C.C. Becks to the Swayzes’ home, when the two old colleagues leafed through ancient Fawcett comics in an attempt to determine who had drawn what. This issue Marc pores over more of his Captain Marvel work—and discovers something that will surprise longtime CM fans as much as it did Marc himself! —P.C. Hamerlinck.] “What precisely did you do in the comic books… what characters… what features… and so on?” The question, in one form or another, has for years been a standard item on the interview agenda. And it hasn’t been an easy one to answer. I wonder if all Golden Age comic-bookers had trouble with it.

It was the lead story in Captain Marvel Adventures #40. The issue was not a reprint, and its date was a surprise…October 1944. It had been my recollection that I had done no Captain Marvel work after returning from the Army, but here was evidence to the contrary. In efforts to piece together careers that began so long ago, there is always fear of unintentionally claiming the work of others. The result: a tendency to sell ourselves short. My usual answer to the what-did-you-do question concerning that period has always been “an ‘Ibis,’ a ‘Mr. Scarlet,’ and a few others.” Henceforth, it will have to include Captain Marvel. I did my first Captain Marvel story art in the Fawcett art department almost before my chair was warm… my first cover shortly thereafter. That was about mid-’41. My first writing was a need-it-tomorrow thing, and I have no idea what it was about. That’s the way it has been with writing... almost impossible to recall.

An early-1940s party at the home of Fawcett Comics editor and writer Rod Reed and his wife Tucky. That’s Reed on the left, Marc Swayze (center, on guitar), and an unknown big-band vocalist of the era. Reed’s wife titled this photo “A Lark and Two Wolves.” Photo provided by P.C. Hamerlinck.

…Unless, that is, you recognized a familiar name… or place… or phrase. There’s a copy of Captain Marvel Adventures here, #19, saved since its publication for January 1943. I like the cover, not just because I did it, but because it features three of my favorite people: Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel, and Santa Claus. [See last issue.]

Marc Swayze

In the lead story there’s a coloring blunder on page 1, where Mary Batson’s dress is red, and in the following panel, next page, blue. Perhaps of greater interest is Mary’s repeated defiance of the old hokum about never showing a blow landing. In her scraps with the bad guys, she delivers some real neat straight jabs… right to the snoot! Much like some of the other old books, the issue had a special surprise for me. In the story “Captain Marvel and the Training of Mary Marvel,” on page 3, panel 7, as Mary takes flight from a high window, her words to Billy Batson end with: “I’ll find out when I reach 186 DeSiard Street.” DeSiard Street?!! The main street in my hometown! The address? The jewelry store operated by a favorite local musician friend! The surprise? Not only had I done the lead story art, I wrote the story. I was not paid for that script, nor for any of the Captain Marvel writing I did while still a member of the art department. Nor did I expect or request payment. Since the departure of writer-editor Bill Parker, the Fawcett policy had been that all comic book writing be freelance from outside. To my way of thinking, it was a matter of ethics… you didn’t sell to the employer who paid your salary. I am curious to this day how the Captain Marvel stories I wrote during that period were recorded in the Fawcett offices… or if they were recorded at all.

The splash page from the second tale to feature Mary Marvel appeared in Captain Marvel Adventures #19 (Jan. 1943). The story’s author has long been uncertain, though Otto Binder said he wrote the script that introduced Billy and Cap’s sister in the preceding issue. Realization of the writer’s identity, says Marc, came as a real shock to him recently! [©2003 DC Comics.]

World’s Mightiest Mortal… it was work that began on the spot and escalated as time went on. And… though primarily from the drawing board, a fair amount of writing was included. On top of that, the work was usually, I repeat, all my own: layout, penciling, and inking… now and then even the lettering. Really!

I’m grateful for the chain of events that led to my being where I was at the time… at a drawing board, of course… in the Paramount Building… at Times Square… among talented, intelligent, interesting people. I respected them, and I’m convinced they respected me.

Later, in the Army, all my writing was freelance… all to Fawcett Publications… all featuring Captain Marvel. It’s quite a satisfaction to have covered the foregoing subject, because another question that I’ve had to deal with over the years has been, “Did you really do any work on Captain Marvel?” That word “really” wasn’t just thrown in for fun. Somehow, it made it all come out sounding like, “You didn’t really do any work on Captain Marvel, did you?” Not only did I really do work on the

Here’s another thing: my tenure with the feature coincided with Captain Marvel’s rise to the top of the superheroes. He was the champ. Bragging? Me? Well, if being sincerely thankful for the ability to accomplish things that I “brag” about is bragging… so be it!

I liked working on Captain Marvel. REALLY!

[Marc Swayze’s reminiscences of his Fawcett years will continue next issue.]

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Captain Marvel Jr.

Comics (wherein Junior starred in one story per month) had supervillain stories, straight crime stories, crime stories featuring lawful businessmen, juvenile crime, murder mysteries, and fantastic crime tales.

by Don Ensign Edited by P.C. Hamerlinck Part II

Sagas And Super-Villains [NOTE: Last issue Don discussed the artists of the post-World War II career of Captain Marvel Jr., who lasted (with the rest of The Marvel Family) until late 1953, when Fawcett Publications ceased production of comic books. He also discussed Junior’s origin in Whiz Comics #25 in 1941, and the personality and super-powers of the young hero, with his alter ego of Freddy Freeman, the “crippled newsboy,” and with the feature’s supporting characters. This time he deals with many of the stories and super-villains of the second half of Cap Junior’s Shazam-powered career in Master Comics and Captain Marvel Jr., though not with material that appeared in The Marvel Family. —PCH.]

Genres for Junior The post-World War II stories of Captain Marvel Jr. followed the popular genres of the period. Perhaps this is one reason Junior endured, while many other superheroes were relegated to literary limbo by their publishers. By 1949-50, instead of replacing the CMJ comic (as All-Star Comics became All-Star Western, and Captain America metamorphosed briefly into Captain America’s Weird Tales) with other genres, Fawcett adapted many of the young superhero’s stories to reflect what was currently popular. The late ’40s and early ’50s saw a surge in crime comics that depicted the world of urban crime and law enforcement. Both Captain Marvel Jr. and Master

During this same period, supernatural horror comics were having their heyday, so CMJ and Master also made forays into that field. Straight science-fiction gained some popularity, with Fawcett writers creating “Junior” stories with sci-fi themes. CMJ boasted funny (and not-so-funny) animal stories. There were split-genre stories that combined western locales with supernatural themes... and stories with themes of romance and teen humor. Some story themes in the “Captain Marvel Jr.” corpus didn’t reflect outside genres so much as they did internal company policy directives and the inclination of the editors and writers. According to the official guidelines (Fawcett Companion, p. 25), Junior’s stories “should have strong human interest plots” and stories centering on Captain Marvel Jr. himself. Also, “Fantasy lends itself to Junior stories, but it should be more serious type of fantasy than the light whimsy found in Captain Marvel.” Both humaninterest tales and fantasy (and light whimsy) were found in the post-war “CMJ” tales. And there is one last genre I’d call “inventions gone awry.” These featured tales of inventions made for benevolent purposes but which were used for malevolent schemes. While the 1942 Fawcett Comics Writer’s Guidelines suggested using Nazis and other war-related foes, it also emphasized thematic variety in the “Junior” stories. It is remarkable, by 1946, how little the greatest war in history is mentioned. The war was over—it was time to move on.

Bound and Gagged

In 1980 C.C. Beck did this preliminary sketch for a re-creation of the cover of Master Comics #23 (Feb. 1942), Cap Jr.’s first real solo story. In #22 he had helped Bulletman defeat Captain Nazi. But Junior would keep going way beyond the war’s end. [Art ©2003 estate of C.C. Beck; Cap, Cap Jr., & Shazam TM & ©2003 DC Comics.]

While there is a surprising amount of variety in themes in the “Captain Marvel Jr.” stories, there are also reoccurring formulistic “situations.” Beyond the obligatory shouting out of “Captain Marvel!” to transform Freddy into the

Sagas And Super-Villains

World’s Mightiest Boy (as he was often called—his equivalent of Cap Sr.’s “The World’s Mightiest Mortal”), there was the “bound and gagged” motif. Once Freddy summoned Junior, he usually dealt with the evildoers in the matter of a few panels. Of the 86 stories sampled, twenty use the bound-and-gagged motif. Of course, there are many riffs on this motif. A number of the bound-and-gagged stories also had Freddy being hit over the head and rendered unconscious, but others did not. Several had Freddy being knocked on the head and bound but not gagged (CMJ #65, CMJ #67). The bound-and-gagged motif was devised to lend some suspense to the stories. How would Freddy loosen his gag in time to prevent his own (and sometimes others’) imminent death by summoning his alter ego? Were these escapes credible? One problem is that the way Freddy loosens his gag sometimes seems certain to cause injury to his face and/or other body parts. In one story he is dragged face-down behind a speeding car. This loosens the gag, but amazingly the newsboy suffers no injury (CMJ #39). In several instances, fire or molten metal (CMJ #40, #94) burns his gag away, but Freddy’s face is somehow unscathed. Occasionally the un-gagging does have some plausibility. When Freddy is in danger of being run over by a train, he notices a nearby railroad spike onto which he can snag the gag (CMJ #63). Also, as he is being shoved into a giant wind machine, the terrific air currents it generates blows his gag loose just in time for him to call on Junior (CMJ #96). However, some of his gag escapes aren’t particularly likely—like hooking his gag on a sharp rock after being pushed into a pitch-black mine shaft (CMJ #38). Sometimes the writers would come up with a creative way to have Freddy bound but not gagged. In one story he develops a case of uncontrollable hiccups (CMJ #65) and is unable to call on Junior till the villain threatens to pour boiling hot water down his throat to render the newsboy mute. This literally scares the hiccups out of Freddy, and only then is he able to become Cap Junior.

Super-villains—Starting with Still Another Sivana As might be supposed, Junior Sivana, the miscreant son of the World’s Wickedest Scientist, Dr. Thaddeus Budog Sivana, was Captain Marvel Jr.’s most frequently-reoccurring super-villain. Sivana Jr. was a young, highly intelligent, but thoroughly mean-spirited geek. With the exception of his Danny Kaye-like features and wavy brown hair, he was a younger clone of his father. His defining features were his obsession to become “the Prince of the Universe” and his intense jealousy of Cap Jr. Sivana Jr. was presented as a sort of demented master chemist and inventor who could formulate sinister potions and construct destructive machines to plague mankind in general and the World’s Mightiest Boy in particular. In possibly his first appearance, in CMJ (#36), he provides “Jitterbug Pills” to teenagers, which greatly boosts their energy for dancing. The problem: they can’t stop dancing! He sends one of the parents a note saying he will provide an antidote for $50,000. During this story Sivana Jr. knocks Freddy unconscious, then binds and gags him. He forces Freddy to swallow a Jitterbug Pill, causing the lame newsboy to start dancing. The dance gyrations shake Freddy’s gag loose, and he calls for Junior, who saves the day by getting the antidote for the dance-exhausted teenagers and hauling Sivana Jr. off to reform school. Sivana Jr. vows he will escape: “You’ll hear from me again, Captain Marvel Jr.!” He does, of course. In CMJ #39, envious of Cap Jr.’s well-publicized triumphs, Junior Sivana comes up with a scheme to steal the headlines from the World’s Mightiest Boy. He claims he is reforming and “proves” it—by betraying his father, Dr. Sivana! Sivana Jr. grabs the headlines, but later springs his father from jail and plans to kill Freddy Freeman in ambush. Freddy calls Junior in time to stop a bullet aimed at him by the

Even when Brazilian comics continued Cap Jr.’s adventures with new stories ~o~ Marvel Magazine for several years after Fawcett had folded and art in Capita~ its comic-book tents, Freddy was still being bound and gagged when Junior found some lame (writer’s) excuse to change back into the newsboy. In this tale created by tracing the art of Bud Thompson, the crooks are smart enough to gag Freddy to keep him mum—then stupid enough to take off his gag to ask him a question. Note that, in Brazil, Freddy’s magic word was “Shazam!” just like Billy and Mary Batson’s—though the lightning bolt is pretty ragged! Art provided by John G. Pierce. [Captain Marvel Jr. is TM & ©2003 DC Comics.]

elder Sivana. Junior nabs the father-and-son duo and returns them to prison. When Sivana Jr. becomes frustrated by his skinny, weakling physique in Master Comics #93, he concocts a chemical formula which transforms him into a towering Goliath, dwarfing houses and trees. He goes on a thieving rampage, but soon becomes aware of a drawback caused by his huge stature: an all-consuming hunger. Marvel Jr. assists a chemist friend in making an antidote for the ravenous Sivana Jr.—then takes his normal, skinny, weakling self back to reform school. The World’s Wickedest Boy steals entire railroad trains and converts them into machine guns and cannons in another power bid before he is stopped by Cap Jr. (CMJ #63). He uses a robot to try to kill Freddy, but because of the newsboy’s kindness to the mechanical man, the latter goes against his master’s wishes (CMJ #93). The robot, Mr. Tinny, was clearly patterned after the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz movie. In CMJ #98 Sivana Jr. injects apples with an “intense hunger formula” that causes both Freddy and his alter ego to go on an uncontrollable eating binge. In “The Ghost of Sivana Jr.” (CMJ #99) he projects gigantic phantom images of himself, and indeed takes on an almost anti-Christ aura. When he is first thought dead, Cap Jr. thinks, “I haven’t caught anything but

Captain Marvel Jr. In another story, Sivana Jr. invents a Sound Scrambler that turns normal languages into unintelligible garble (CMJ #108). Once he schemes up a series of contrived public relations snafus to make the Blue Boy very unpopular, by forcing an opinion-polling agency to rig questions about Cap Junior (CMJ #110). The outcome: Junior flies into a self-imposed exile on a tropical island. But when he hears on the radio that Sivana Jr. is going to run for President, he returns and again foils the World’s Wickedest Boy’s scheme to become the Prince of the Universe.

Science Says You’re Wrong If You Believe That... Sivana Jr. wasn’t the only evil scientist to plague the World’s Mightiest Boy. A mad man of science named Professor Ernest Vorst (calling himself the Animal Master) uses a machine called the “telepathy translator” to command animals to take over the Earth (CMJ #71). When inventor Joel Potter perfects amazing devices he feels are too dangerous to let loose on the world (CMJ #62), the evil Mr. Hydro, who can turn himself into water, attempts to steal these inventions. Turns out that one of Potter’s discoveries, the “fluidizer,” a chemical which can turn body cells into fluid at will, was stolen by his assistant, who has become Hydro. After Junior defeats him, Potter smashes all his inventions to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands ever again. When a young couple is kidnapped by a man in a carriage drawn by a flying horse, who steals their valuables in CMJ #62, Cap Jr. tracks down an ex-jockey named Sneaker and his flying horse, delivering both to Officer Bellows. In “Capt. Marvel Jr. Battles the Human Dynamo” (CMJ #69), murderer Shocking McGoon survives his own electrocutions and goes on a murder spree, killing three people in cold blood with electrical discharges before the World’s Mightiest Boy short-circuits him. This was an unusually violent story for the post-war Cap Jr. Several previous super-heroes had used electricity (i.e., Shock Gibson, Pyroman), but were already in comic book limbo by the time this story was published, while Spider-Man’s foe Electro was still years in the future. Three of Junior Sivana’s most dastardly plots! The cover for the “Ghost of Sivana Jr.” in Captain Marvel Jr. #99 (July ’51) was drawn by Kurt Schaffenberger—while the cover to “The World of Babel” in CMJ #108 (April ’52) and the story art for “The World’s Most Unpopular Boy” in CMJ #110 (June ’52) are both by Bud Thompson. [©2003 DC Comics.]

petty crooks ever since Sivana Jr. disappeared! Was he the evil genius behind most of the world’s great crime rings? The nations of the world seem to be getting along better these days! Was Sivana Jr. the one who kept stirring up trouble? The world is a happier place without Sivana Jr. around! People don’t seem as worried and nervous as they used to be!”

Greybeard, the ancient crime lord, is a special case—he appears in three consecutive issues! The first story tells of a man who in 1846 is given a 99-year prison sentence (CMJ #37). He swears he will be back, even if it takes him 99 years. His hatred and bitterness keep him alive for his entire sentence, after which he—now Greybeard—takes over a gang and starts a crime spree. At the climax, he escapes Capt. Marvel Jr. by crashing through a window. In the CMJ #38 Greybeard reads about a strange case of amnesia suffered by the wife of the wealthy Otto Van Dorn. Junior ultimately

Sagas And Super-Villains thwarts the crook’s scheme and captures the ancient villain, and Mrs. Van Dorn’s memory is restored.

51 on the World’s Mightiest Boy and then deals forcefully with the evil publisher.

“The Design of Death” (CMJ #62) has The last story (CMJ #39) begins with the Cap Jr. helping a Mr. Taylor save his dress world’s oldest crook awaiting execution, design business from two unscrupulous when he reads a newspaper article about an competitors, Dunk and Ward James, who ancient Egyptian mummy found in a nearby cut up Taylor’s dresses and torch his store. town. Greybeard recalls a professor who Freddy, who is president of the newsboys’ visited his prison in 1847 and delivered a association, rallies his young colleagues to lecture about an ancient Egyptian pharaoh, help Taylor rebuild his store. Junior flies to Ramoti IV, who crossed the ocean to Paris and New York to ask leading dress “discover America”; when the Pharaoh designers to help Taylor restore his dress died, he and his treasure were buried by his selection. servants. Escaping, Greybeard copies down The evil Greybeard fought the Boy in Blue in three The World’s Mightiest Boy repeatedly the hieroglyphics inscribed on the mummy successive issues of Captain Marvel Jr. This art from issue rescues a distraught man from suicide in case. He has them translated by a leading #39 (June 1946), P.C. Hamerlinck believes, is either by A.J. “Recipe for Madness” (CMJ #63). Jennings Egyptologist, whom he shoots even as the Carrero or Bernard Baily. [©2003 DC Comics.] Fuller, a co-owner of several diamond man is trying to warn him of something. mines, constantly sees visions of jungle Junior arrives in time to hear the dying animals attacking him. His evil business partner, Beak, is projecting scientist reveal where Greybeard is going, then flies to that location, the movies of wild beasts to frighten Jennings so he’ll kill himself, so Beak Black Grotto, and changes into Freddy. Greybeard ambushes the can gain sole control of the business. newsboy, who is bound and gagged. Before Freddy can loosen his gag, the villain opens the Pharaoh’s treasure chest in the grotto—releasing a In “The Gas Racket” (CMJ #65) con man Krafty Konners concocts poison gas, which instantly kills him. “He died in a gas chamber—on the some Gas-Mor tablets (actually plain aspirin) that he claims will give day he was condemned to die! And he silenced the only ones whose fantastic gas mileage. Gas station owner Red O’Riley, deceived by a warning could have saved him!” is Junior’s concluding soliloquy. specially-built car that has a second secret gas tank, buys the pills and

Crime and Punishment Crime stories that did not involve super-villains were some of the most commonplace tales of good vs. evil within the CMJ canon. There were straight crime stories, crime stories with businessmen as victims, juvenile crime, fanciful crime tales and even a murder mystery. Captain Marvel Jr. investigates a reported “Crime Wave” (CMJ #37) in a mining town, and finds the two community police forces fighting each other while the criminals run loose. He teaches the police forces that working together is better than fighting each other, and Junior leaves knowing that the police can handle the crime wave. Freddy Freeman watches Spavini, a Houdini-like escape artist, perform an amazing escape (“The Magic Act,” CMJ #38) at the waterfront. Later he witnesses an attempted armored car robbery and summons the World’s Mightiest Boy, who stops the dazed criminals, who are under the influence of opium. In a well-plotted story which involves Freddy being hypnotized and Capt. Marvel Jr. breaking up a dope-smuggling ring, our hero becomes involved in a real-world crime problem. In a tale reminiscent of Will Eisner’s The Spirit, Killer Bane and Foxy Firth, two small-time crooks, form a partnership (“The Crook Who Couldn’t Be Caught,” CMJ #63). When Captain Marvel Jr. pursues them, the robbers flee in different directions, as he must fly off to rescue a woman trapped in a house fire. Firth, who grabbed the money, wants to keep it but fears Bane will come after him. He fails twice to get himself arrested on minor offenses so he can escape his vengeful partner. On a third attempt he succeeds in getting himself captured and jailed by Junior—only to find Bane in the next cell! Junior had captured Bane after he rescued the woman. Several stories center on honest businessmen being the victims of criminal’s plots. Thugs from “un-American” newspaper publisher J.B. Ridgeway rough up Freddy and his fellow newsboys in “Capt. Marvel Jr. Puts on the Pressure” (CMJ #40). Later Freddy and rival newspaper publisher Mr. Oakes are kidnapped and left to die in a quicksand bog. Freddy calls

sells them to his customers. Marvel Jr. catches the crooks and helps O’Riley get his money (and reputation) back. Multi-millionaire Hiram Boggs, after seeing Junior capture some criminals, hits on an idea to put some excitement into his boring life, in CMJ #94. He hires actors to impersonate gangsters and commit fake robberies. But when this comes to the attention of King Carloni, a real gangster, the mob boss shoots Boggs only moments before Marvel Jr. intervenes and catches the gangster and his henchmen. When the case comes to trial, Boggs walks in the courtroom alive—the gun Carloni used was loaded with blanks. Boggs gives up his hobby of being a pretend gangster and donates part of his wealth to fight crime. Junior’s presence is relatively minor in this story about a bored rich man. Freddy and Cap Jr. show their love of art in “The Art Gallery Theft” (MC #117). Mr. Hotchkiss, owner of a popular art gallery, is threatened by Jeb Temper, who will foreclose on his mortgage unless Hotchkiss sells him the gallery’s famous Lincoln painting. Junior campaigns to raise funds from the public to pay off the mortgage. Eventually Temper steals the painting, but is soon apprehended. Juvenile Delinquency was an issue addressed in two stories. In “Principal Draws Interest” (CMJ #40) two young bullies, Bud, a hardened delinquent, and his reluctant friend Jack try to frame the school principal out of spite for a disciplinary action. Bud even tries to kill Freddy by throwing him into the school incinerator. Sniffy, a two-bit hoodlum, tries to get young Tough Ted to join his gang in “Capt. Marvel Jr. Fights the Lure of Crime” (CMJ #71). Ted refuses and a fight ensues, with Sniffy hitting the boy from behind. Cap Jr. investigates the commotion but doesn’t find Sniffy, and Tough Ted won’t “rat” on the petty crook. Later Freddy goes with Tough Ted to his gym. Sniffy and his gang crash the gym, and Tough Ted and Junior team up to clean up on the crooks. At the end the World’s Mightiest Boy exhorts Tough Ted and his gym mates, “That is the right idea, fellows! Keep your bodies strong so you can fight crime and be good citizens.” There were numerous crime stories that had a fanciful twist. Junior devises a plan to help a businessman recover money lost in

52 gambling, by convincing two rival gangs to don medieval knights’ armor and battle each other in “Capt. Marvel Jr. & the Underworld Tournament” (CMJ #35). Cap Jr. battles 20thcentury buccaneers in an atmospheric tale called “The Pirates of 1948” (CMJ #67). In “The Smart Crook” (CMJ #69) Freddy Freeman tries to help a dumb but strong crook get an education. Junior has to intervene to stop the chaos generated in school by this budding “scholar” and his smart partner. Big Bad Baxter’s attempt to go straight is thwarted by inconsiderate drivers. In “The Loco Locomotive” (CMJ #69) he drives a train down Main Street smashing cars and trucks before the World’s Mightiest Boy halts his rampage. A crooked oil syndicate is the evil force behind an Indian uprising when the Boy in Blue visits some of Red O’Riley’s friends out west in “Capt. Marvel Jr. Fights the Menace of the Medicine Man” (CMJ #94).

Captain Marvel Jr. nephew so he is the one slain by the curse. The uncle is killed in a rockslide and the nephew survives the night. Captain Marvel Jr. proves himself to be a shrewd detective in “The Meerschaum Murders” (CMJ #70). When Freddy delivers a newspaper to the home of famed chemist Dr. Roland, he is knocked out by an unseen assailant. He revives and summons Capt. Marvel Jr., only to find Dr. Roland dead—of a heart attack, the medical examiner says, but the World’s Mightiest Boy is unconvinced. Looking for clues, Marvel Jr. finds a row of smoking pipes... in which a Meerschaum pipe is missing. Eventually this and other clues lead to a Dr. Hall, who wants sole credit for a formula for distilling gold from sea water. He, Roland, and another scientist had worked together on the formula. In the end Hall kills himself in a lab explosion that destroys all his research data. This is a murder mystery that is more typical of an early “Batman” tale, wherein Junior uses clear thinking rather than brawn to solve the crime.

Death row inmate Edward Kurt Schaffenberger—Bud Thompson—Bill Ward—Joe Certa—all were talented artists who International intrigue was Gruff obtains an ancient brought their own magic to Captain Marvel Jr. in the ’40s and ’50s. Still, the World’s largely left behind in the parchment that grants him Mightiest Boy will always be identified with the masterful artwork of his original immediate post-war years in illustrator, Mac Raboy—so it’s only fitting to end this chapter of our survey by showcasing three wishes. The first returns the cover of Master Comics #38 (May 1943), repro’d from a scan of the original art, the “Captain Marvel Jr.” him to the scene where he courtesy of Mike Burkey. This recently-rediscovered Master-piece is one of only a couple of strip. An exception is “A and his partners were Raboy’s Cap Jr. covers known to exist, so enjoy! Oh yeah, and sneak a peek at Monument of Peace” (CMJ dividing up the loot from Mike/Romita-Man’s ad elsewhere in this issue. [©2003 DC Comics.] #36). Attending the unveiling their last robbery. At that of a statue dedicated to the point Cap Jr. bursts in and World’s Mightiest Boy, Freddy bumps into an old man who also has a Gruff uses his next wish to ask that Junior had never been born, in crutch, and in the confusion Freddy accidentally picks up his crutch and “Capt Marvel Jr. Vanishes” (CMJ #96). Ultimately, because the world finds a coded note inside it. When the old man reclaims his crutch, turns so bad, Gruff must use his third wish to bring back the World’s Junior follows him to a warehouse, where he meets with a group of Mightiest Boy! spies. Junior changes into Freddy, who gets himself gagged and tied to a Small-time gangster Skinny Lurch gives a lampshade to a young boy huge clock hand. When the clock’s hand points downward, Freddy falls, in “The Seeing Eye” (MC #111). It turns out to have the ability to but manages to call out “Captain Marvel!” in time for Junior to capture foretell future events. Lurch forecasts how his upcoming criminal plans the spies. They were using a secret radio inside the base of Junior’s statue will fare, but he doesn’t look far enough to see that the World’s to transmit classified information to their homeland. (With its themes of Mightiest Boy will ruin his evil schemes. espionage and apparently German spies, this tale is probably an inventory story left over from the war years. By the time this issue Freddy delivers a newspaper to Watson Meer, who lives in a appeared, the war with Germany had been over for six to eight months.) crumbling tenement—so begins “Capt. Marvel Jr. Battles Vengeance Mountain” (CMJ #96). Meer tells Freddy he will inherit all of his family estates, if he can survive one night on Vengeance Mountain. Because of an old curse, one member of the Meer family in each generation has met a violent death there. Junior stays with Meer, protecting him from nearfatal “accidents” caused by his demented uncle, who wants to kill his

Next: The Horror! The Horror!

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Edited by ROY THOMAS

DIGITAL

The greatest ‘zine of the 1960s is back, ALL-NEW, and focusing on GOLDEN AND SILVER AGE comics and creators with NS EDITIO BLE ARTICLES, INTERVIEWS, A IL AVA NLY UNSEEN ART, P.C. Hamerlinck’s FOR O 5 FCA (Fawcett Collectors of $2.9 America, featuring the archives of C.C. BECK and recollections by Fawcett artist MARCUS SWAYZE), Michael T. Gilbert’s MR. MONSTER, and more!

EISNER AWARD WINNER for Best Comics-Related Periodical

Go online for an ULTIMATE BUNDLE, with issues at HALF-PRICE!

ALTER EGO #4

ALTER EGO #5

ALTER EGO #1

ALTER EGO #2

ALTER EGO #3

STAN LEE gets roasted by SCHWARTZ, CLAREMONT, DAVID, ROMITA, BUSCEMA, and SHOOTER, ORDWAY and THOMAS on INFINITY, INC., IRWIN HASEN interview, unseen H.G. PETER Wonder Woman pages, the original Captain Marvel and Human Torch teamup, FCA with MARC SWAYZE, “Mr. Monster”, plus plenty of rare and unpublished art!

Featuring a never-reprinted SPIRIT story by WILL EISNER, the genesis of the SILVER AGE ATOM (with GARDNER FOX, GIL KANE, and JULIE SCHWARTZ), interviews with LARRY LIEBER and Golden Age great JACK BURNLEY, BOB KANIGHER, a new Fawcett Collectors of America section with MARC SWAYZE, C.C. BECK, and more! GIL KANE and JACK BURNLEY flip-covers!

Unseen ALEX ROSS and JERRY ORDWAY Shazam! art, 1953 interview with OTTO BINDER, the SUPERMAN/CAPTAIN MARVEL LAWSUIT, GIL KANE on The Golden Age of TIMELY COMICS, FCA with SWAYZE, BECK, and SCHAFFENBERGER, rare art by AYERS, BERG, BURNLEY, DITKO, RICO, SCHOMBURG, MARIE SEVERIN and more! ALEX ROSS & BILL EVERETT covers!

(80-page magazine) SOLD OUT (Digital Edition) $2.95

(100-page magazine) $5.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

ALTER EGO #6

ALTER EGO #7

ALTER EGO #8

Interviews with KUBERT, SHELLY MOLDOFF, and HARRY LAMPERT, BOB KANIGHER, life and times of GARDNER FOX, ROY THOMAS remembers GIL KANE, a history of Flash Comics, MOEBIUS Silver Surfer sketches, MR. MONSTER, FCA section with SWAYZE, BECK, and SCHAFFENBERGER, and lots more! Dual color covers by JOE KUBERT!

Celebrating the JSA, with interviews with MART NODELL, SHELLY MAYER, GEORGE ROUSSOS, BILL BLACK, and GIL KANE, unpublished H.G. PETER Wonder Woman art, GARDNER FOX, an FCA section with MARC SWAYZE, C.C. BECK, WENDELL CROWLEY, and more! Wraparound cover by CARMINE INFANTINO and JERRY ORDWAY!

GENE COLAN interview, 1940s books on comics by STAN LEE and ROBERT KANIGHER, AYERS, SEVERIN, and ROY THOMAS on Sgt. Fury, ROY on All-Star Squadron’s Golden Age roots, FCA section with SWAYZE, BECK, and WILLIAM WOOLFOLK, JOE SIMON interview, a definitive look at MAC RABOY’S work, and more! Covers by COLAN and RABOY!

Companion to ALL-STAR COMPANION book, with a JULIE SCHWARTZ interview, guide to JLA-JSA TEAMUPS, origins of the ALL-STAR SQUADRON, FCA section with MARC SWAYZE, C.C. BECK (on his 1970s DC conflicts), DAVE BERG, BOB ROGERS, more on MAC RABOY from his son, MR. MONSTER, and more! RICH BUCKLER and C.C. BECK covers!

WALLY WOOD biography, DAN ADKINS & BILL PEARSON on Wood, TOR section with 1963 JOE KUBERT interview, ROY THOMAS on creating the ALL-STAR SQUADRON and its 1940s forebears, FCA section with SWAYZE & BECK, MR. MONSTER, JERRY ORDWAY on Shazam!, JERRY DeFUCCIO on the Golden Age, CHIC STONE remembered! ADKINS and KUBERT covers!

(100-page magazine) $5.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

(100-page magazine) SOLD OUT (Digital Edition) $2.95

(100-page magazine) $5.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

ALTER EGO #9

ALTER EGO #10

ALTER EGO #11

ALTER EGO #12

ALTER EGO #13

JOHN ROMITA interview by ROY THOMAS (with unseen art), Roy’s PROPOSED DREAM PROJECTS that never got published (with a host of great artists), MR. MONSTER on WAYNE BORING’S life after Superman, The Golden Age of Comic Fandom Panel, FCA section with GEORGE TUSKA, C.C. BECK, MARC SWAYZE, BILL MORRISON, & more! ROMITA and GIORDANO covers!

Who Created the Silver Age Flash? (with KANIGHER, INFANTINO, KUBERT, and SCHWARTZ), DICK AYERS interview (with unseen art), JOHN BROOME remembered, never-seen Golden Age Flash pages, VIN SULLIVAN Magazine Enterprises interview, FCA, interview with FRED GUARDINEER, and MR. MONSTER on WAYNE BORING! INFANTINO and AYERS covers!

Focuses on TIMELY/MARVEL (interviews and features on SYD SHORES, MICKEY SPILLANE, and VINCE FAGO), and MAGAZINE ENTERPRISES (including JOE CERTA, JOHN BELFI, FRANK BOLLE, BOB POWELL, and FRED MEAGHER), MR. MONSTER on JERRY SIEGEL, DON and MAGGIE THOMPSON interview, FCA with SWAYZE, BECK, and DON NEWTON!

DC and QUALITY COMICS focus! Quality’s GILL FOX interview, never-seen ‘40s PAUL REINMAN Green Lantern story, ROY THOMAS talks to LEN WEIN and RICH BUCKLER about ALL-STAR SQUADRON, MR. MONSTER shows what made WALLY WOOD leave MAD, FCA section with BECK & SWAYZE, & ‘65 NEWSWEEK ARTICLE on comics! REINMAN and BILL WARD covers!

1974 panel with JOE SIMON, STAN LEE, FRANK ROBBINS, and ROY THOMAS, ROY and JOHN BUSCEMA on Avengers, 1964 STAN LEE interview, tributes to DON HECK, JOHNNY CRAIG, and GRAY MORROW, Timely alums DAVID GANTZ and DANIEL KEYES, and FCA with BECK, SWAYZE, and MIKE MANLEY! Covers by MURPHY ANDERSON and JOE SIMON!

(100-page magazine) $5.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

ALTER EGO #14

ALTER EGO #15

ALTER EGO #16

ALTER EGO #17

ALTER EGO #18

A look at the 1970s JSA revival with CONWAY, LEVITZ, ESTRADA, GIFFEN, MILGROM, and STATON, JERRY ORDWAY on All-Star Squadron, tributes to CRAIG CHASE and DAN DeCARLO, “lost” 1945 issue of All-Star, 1970 interview with LEE ELIAS, MR. MONSTER on GARDNER FOX, FCA with SWAYZE, BECK, & JAY DISBROW! MIKE NASSER & MICHAEL GILBERT covers!

JOHN BUSCEMA ISSUE! BUSCEMA interview (with UNSEEN ART), reminiscences by SAL BUSCEMA, STAN LEE, INFANTINO, KUBERT, ORDWAY, FLO STEINBERG, and HERB TRIMPE, ROY THOMAS on 35 years with BIG JOHN, FCA tribute to KURT SCHAFFENBERGER, plus C.C. BECK and MARC SWAYZE, and MR. MONSTER revisits WALLY WOOD! Two BUSCEMA covers!

MARVEL BULLPEN REUNION (BUSCEMA, COLAN, ROMITA, and SEVERIN), memories of the JOHN BUSCEMA SCHOOL, FCA with ALEX ROSS, C.C. BECK, and MARC SWAYZE, tribute to CHAD GROTHKOPF, MR. MONSTER on EC COMICS with art by KURTZMAN, DAVIS, and WOOD, and more! Covers by ALEX ROSS and MARIE SEVERIN & RAMONA FRADON!

Spotlighting LOU FINE (with an overview of his career, and interviews with family members), interview with MURPHY ANDERSON about Fine, ALEX TOTH on Fine, ARNOLD DRAKE interviewed about DEADMAN and DOOM PATROL, MR. MONSTER on the non-EC work of JACK DAVIS and GEORGE EVANS, FINE and LUIS DOMINGUEZ COVERS, FCA and more!

STAN GOLDBERG interview, secrets of ‘40s Timely, art by KIRBY, DITKO, ROMITA, BUSCEMA, MANEELY, EVERETT, BURGOS, and DeCARLO, spotlight on sci-fi fanzine XERO with the LUPOFFS, OTTO BINDER, DON THOMPSON, ROY THOMAS, BILL SCHELLY, and ROGER EBERT, FCA, and MR. MONSTER on WALLY WOOD ghosting Flash Gordon! KIRBY and SWAYZE covers!

(100-page magazine) $5.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

(108-page magazine) $5.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

ALTER EGO #19

ALTER EGO #20

ALTER EGO #21

ALTER EGO #22

ALTER EGO #23

Spotlight on DICK SPRANG (profile and interview) with unseen art, rare Batman art by BOB KANE, CHARLES PARIS, SHELLY MOLDOFF, MAX ALLAN COLLINS, JIM MOONEY, CARMINE INFANTINO, and ALEX TOTH, JERRY ROBINSON interviewed about Tomahawk and 1940s cover artist FRED RAY, FCA, and MR. MONSTER on WALLY WOOD’s Flash Gordon, Part 2!

Timely/Marvel art by SEKOWSKY, SHORES, EVERETT, and BURGOS, secrets behind THE INVADERS with ROY THOMAS, KIRBY, GIL KANE, & ROBBINS, BOB DESCHAMPS interviewed, 1965 NY Comics Con review, panel with FINGER, BINDER, FOX and WEISINGER, MR. MONSTER, FCA with SWAYZE, BECK, RABOY, SCHAFFENBERGER, and more! MILGROM and SCHELLY covers!

The IGER “SHOP” examined, with art by EISNER, FINE, ANDERSON, CRANDALL, BAKER, MESKIN, CARDY, EVANS, BOB KANE, and TUSKA, “SHEENA” section with art by DAVE STEVENS & FRANK BRUNNER, ROY THOMAS on JSA & All-Star Squadron, MR. MONSTER on GARDNER FOX, UNSEEN 1946 ALL-STAR ART, FCA, and more! DAVE STEVENS and IRWIN HASEN covers!

BILL EVERETT and JOE KUBERT interviewed by NEAL ADAMS and GIL KANE in 1970, Timely art by BURGOS, SHORES, NODELL, and SEKOWSKY, RUDY LAPICK, ROY THOMAS on Sub-Mariner, with art by EVERETT, COLAN, ANDRU, BUSCEMAs, SEVERINs, and more, FCA, MR. MONSTER on WALLY WOOD at EC, ALEX TOTH, and CAPT. MIDNIGHT! EVERETT & BECK covers!

Unseen art from TWO “LOST” 1940s H.G. PETER WONDER WOMAN STORIES (and analysis of “CHARLES MOULTON” scripts), BOB FUJITANI and JOHN ROSENBERGER, VICTOR GORELICK discusses Archie and The Mighty Crusaders, with art by MORROW, BUCKLER, and REINMAN, FCA, and MR. MONSTER on WALLY WOOD! H.G. PETER and BOB FUJITANI covers!

(108-page magazine) $5.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

ALTER EGO #24

ALTER EGO #25

ALTER EGO #26

ALTER EGO #27

ALTER EGO #28

X-MEN interviews with STAN LEE, DAVE COCKRUM, CHRIS CLAREMONT, ARNOLD DRAKE, JIM SHOOTER, ROY THOMAS, and LEN WEIN, MORT MESKIN profiled by his sons and ALEX TOTH, rare art by JERRY ROBINSON, FCA with BECK, SWAYZE, and WILLIAM WOOLFOLK, MR. MONSTER, and BILL SCHELLY on Comics Fandom! MESKIN and COCKRUM covers!

JACK COLE remembered by ALEX TOTH, interview with brother DICK COLE and his PLAYBOY colleagues, CHRIS CLAREMONT on the X-Men (with more never-seen art by DAVE COCKRUM), ROY THOMAS on AllStar Squadron #1 and its ‘40s roots (with art by ORDWAY, BUCKLER, MESKIN and MOLDOFF), FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more! Covers by TOTH and SCHELLY!

JOE SINNOTT interview, IRWIN DONENFELD interview by EVANIER & SCHWARTZ, art by SHUSTER, INFANTINO, ANDERSON, and SWAN, MARK WAID analyzes the first Kryptonite story, JERRY SIEGEL and HARRY DONENFELD, JERRY IGER Shop update, ALEX TOTH, MR. MONSTER, and FCA with SWAYZE, BECK, and KEN BALD! Covers by SINNOTT and WAYNE BORING!

VIN SULLIVAN interview about the early DC days with art by SHUSTER, MOLDOFF, FLESSEL, GUARDINEER, and BURNLEY, MR. MONSTER’s “Lost” KIRBY HULK covers, 1948 NEW YORK COMIC CON with STAN LEE, SIMON & KIRBY, JULIUS SCHWARTZ, HARVEY KURTZMAN, and ROY THOMAS, ALEX TOTH, FCA, and more! Covers by JACK BURNLEY and JACK KIRBY!

Spotlight on JOE MANEELY, with a career overview, remembrance by his daughter and tons of art, Timely/Atlas/Marvel art by ROMITA, EVERETT, SEVERIN, SHORES, KIRBY, and DITKO, STAN LEE on Maneely, LEE AMES interview, FCA with SWAYZE, ISIS, and STEVE SKEATES, MR. MONSTER, BILL SCHELLY, and more! Covers by JOE MANEELY and DON NEWTON!

(108-page magazine) $5.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

ALTER EGO #29

ALTER EGO #30

ALTER EGO #31

ALTER EGO #32

ALTER EGO #33

FRANK BRUNNER interview, BILL EVERETT’S Venus examined by TRINA ROBBINS, Classics Illustrated “What ifs”, LEE/KIRBY/DITKO Marvel prototypes, JOE MANEELY’s monsters, BILL FRACCIO interview, ALEX TOTH, MR. MONSTER, JOHN BENSON on EC, The Heap by ERNIE SCHROEDER, and FCA! Covers by FRANK BRUNNER and PETE VON SHOLLY!

ALEX ROSS on his love for the JLA, BLACKHAWK/JLA artist DICK DILLIN, the super-heroes of 1940s-1980s France (with art by STEVE RUDE, STEVE BISSETTE, LADRÖNN, and NEAL ADAMS), KIM AAMODT & WALTER GEIER on writing for SIMON & KIRBY, ALEX TOTH, MR. MONSTER, and FCA! Covers by ALEX ROSS and STEVE RUDE!

DICK AYERS on his 1950s and ‘60s work (with tons of Marvel Bullpen art), HARLAN ELLISON’s Marvel Age work examined (with art by BUCKLER, SAL BUSCEMA, and TRIMPE), STAN LEE’S Marvel Prototypes (with art by KIRBY and DITKO), Christmas cards from comics greats, MR. MONSTER, & FCA with SWAYZE and SCHAFFENBERGER! Covers by DICK AYERS and FRED RAY!

Timely artists ALLEN BELLMAN and SAM BURLOCKOFF interviewed, MART NODELL on his Timely years, rare art by BURGOS, EVERETT, and SHORES, MIKE GOLD on the Silver Age (with art by SIMON & KIRBY, SWAN, INFANTINO, KANE, and more), FCA, ALEX TOTH, BILL SCHELLY on comics fandom, and more! Covers by DICK GIORDANO and GIL KANE!

Symposium on MIKE SEKOWSKY by MARK EVANIER, SCOTT SHAW!, et al., with art by ANDERSON, INFANTINO, and others, PAT (MRS. MIKE) SEKOWSKY and inker VALERIE BARCLAY interviewed, FCA, 1950s Captain Marvel parody by ANDRU and ESPOSITO, ALEX TOTH, BILL SCHELLY, MR. MONSTER, and more! Covers by FRENZ/SINNOTT and FRENZ/BUSCEMA!

(108-page magazine) $5.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

(108-page magazine) SOLD OUT (Digital Edition) $2.95

(108-page magazine) $5.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

ALTER EGO #34

ALTER EGO #35

ALTER EGO #36

ALTER EGO #37

ALTER EGO #38

Quality Comics interviews with ALEX KOTZKY, AL GRENET, CHUCK CUIDERA, & DICK ARNOLD (son of BUSY ARNOLD), art by COLE, EISNER, FINE, WARD, DILLIN, and KANE, MICHELLE NOLAN on Blackhawk’s jump to DC, FCA, MICHAEL T. GILBERT on HARVEY KURTZMAN, & ALEX TOTH on REED CRANDALL! Covers by REED CRANDALL & CHARLES NICHOLAS!

Covers by JOHN ROMITA and AL JAFFEE! LEE, ROMITA, AYERS, HEATH, & THOMAS on the 1953-55 Timely super-hero revival, with rare art by ROMITA, AYERS, BURGOS, HEATH, EVERETT, LAWRENCE, & POWELL, AL JAFFEE on the 1940s Timely Bullpen (and MAD), FCA, ALEX TOTH on comic art, MR. MONSTER on unpublished 1950s covers, and more!

JOE SIMON on SIMON & KIRBY, CARL BURGOS, and LLOYD JACQUET, JOHN BELL on World War II Canadian heroes, MICHAEL T. GILBERT on Canadian origins of MR. MONSTER, tributes to BOB DESCHAMPS, DON LAWRENCE, & GEORGE WOODBRIDGE, FCA, ALEX TOTH, and ELMER WEXLER interview! Covers by SIMON and GILBERT & RONN SUTTON!

WILL MURRAY on the 1940 Superman “KMetal” story & PHILIP WYLIE’s GLADIATOR (with art by SHUSTER, SWAN, ADAMS, and BORING), FCA with BECK, SWAYZE, and DON NEWTON, SY BARRY interview, art by TOTH, MESKIN, INFANTINO, and ANDERSON, and MICHAEL T. GILBERT interviews AL FELDSTEIN on EC and RAY BRADBURY! Covers by C.C. BECK and WAYNE BORING!

JULIE SCHWARTZ TRIBUTE with HARLAN ELLISON, INFANTINO, ANDERSON, TOTH, KUBERT, GIELLA, GIORDANO, CARDY, LEVITZ, STAN LEE, WOLFMAN, EVANIER, & ROY THOMAS, never-seen interviews with Julie, FCA with BECK, SCHAFFENBERGER, NEWTON, COCKRUM, OKSNER, FRADON, SWAYZE, and JACKSON BOSTWICK! Covers by INFANTINO and IRWIN HASEN!

(108-page magazine) $5.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

ALTER EGO #39

ALTER EGO #40

ALTER EGO #41

ALTER EGO #42

ALTER EGO #43

Full-issue spotlight on JERRY ROBINSON, with an interview on being BOB KANE’s Batman “ghost”, creating the JOKER and ROBIN, working on VIGILANTE, GREEN HORNET, and ATOMAN, plus never-seen art by Jerry, MESKIN, ROUSSOS, RAY, KIRBY, SPRANG, DITKO, and PARIS! Plus FCA, MR. MONSTER on AL FELDSTEIN Part 2, and more! Two JERRY ROBINSON covers!

RUSS HEATH and GIL KANE interviews (with tons of unseen art), the JULIE SCHWARTZ Memorial Service with ELLISON, MOORE, GAIMAN, HASEN, O’NEIL, and LEVITZ, art by INFANTINO, ANDERSON, TOTH, NOVICK, DILLIN, SEKOWSKY, KUBERT, GIELLA, ARAGONÉS, FCA, MR. MONSTER and AL FELDSTEIN Part 3, and more! Covers by GIL KANE & RUSS HEATH!

Halloween issue! BERNIE WRIGHTSON on his 1970s FRANKENSTEIN, DICK BRIEFER’S monster, the campy 1960s Frankie, art by KALUTA, BAILY, MANEELY, PLOOG, KUBERT, BRUNNER, BORING, OKSNER, TUSKA, CRANDALL, and SUTTON, FCA #100, EMILIO SQUEGLIO interview, ALEX TOTH, MICHAEL T. GILBERT, and more! Covers by WRIGHTSON & MARC SWAYZE!

A celebration of DON HECK, WERNER ROTH, and PAUL REINMAN, rare art by KIRBY, DITKO, and AYERS, Hillman and Ziff-Davis remembered by Heap artist ERNIE SCHROEDER, HERB ROGOFF, and WALTER LITTMAN, FCA with MARC SWAYZE, MR. MONSTER, BILL SCHELLY, and ALEX TOTH! Covers by FASTNER & LARSON and ERNIE SCHROEDER!

Yuletide art by WOOD, SINNOTT, CARDY, BRUNNER, TOTH, NODELL, and others, interviews with Golden Age artists TOM GILL (Lone Ranger) and MORRIS WEISS, exploring 1960s Mexican comics, FCA with MARC SWAYZE and C.C. BECK, MR. MONSTER, ALEX TOTH, BILL SCHELLY on comics fandom, and more! Flip covers by GEORGE TUSKA and DAVE STEVENS!

(108-page magazine) $5.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

ALTER EGO #44

ALTER EGO #45

ALTER EGO #46

ALTER EGO #47

ALTER EGO #48

JSA/All-Star Squadron/Infinity Inc. special! Interviews with KUBERT, HASEN, ANDERSON, ORDWAY, BUCKLER, THOMAS, 1940s Atom writer ARTHUR ADLER, art by TOTH, SEKOWSKY, HASEN, MACHLAN, OKSNER, and INFANTINO, FCA, and MR. MONSTER’S “I Like Ike!” cartoons by BOB KANE, INFANTINO, OKSNER, and BIRO! Wraparound ORDWAY cover!

Interviews with Sandman artist CREIG FLESSEL and ‘40s creator BERT CHRISTMAN, MICHAEL CHABON on researching his Pulitzer-winning novel Kavalier & Clay, art by EISNER, KANE, KIRBY, and AYERS, FCA with MARC SWAYZE and C.C. BECK, OTTO BINDER’s “lost” Jon Jarl story, MR. MONSTER, BILL SCHELLY on comics fandom, and ALEX TOTH! CREIG FLESSEL cover!

The VERY BEST of the 1960s-70s ALTER EGO! 1969 BILL EVERETT interview, art by BURGOS, GUSTAVSON, SIMON & KIRBY, and others, 1960s gems by DITKO, E. NELSON BRIDWELL, JERRY BAILS, and ROY THOMAS, LOU GLANZMAN interview, tributes to IRV NOVICK and CHRIS REEVE, MR. MONSTER, FCA, TOTH, and more! Cover by EVERETT and MARIE SEVERIN!

Spotlights MATT BAKER, Golden Age cheesecake artist of PHANTOM LADY! Career overview, interviews with BAKER’s half-brother and nephew, art from AL FELDSTEIN, VINCE COLLETTA, ARTHUR PEDDY, JACK KAMEN and others, FCA, BILL SCHELLY talks to comic-book-seller (and fan) BUD PLANT, MR. MONSTER on missing AL WILLIAMSON art, and ALEX TOTH!

WILL EISNER discusses Eisner & Iger’s Shop and BUSY ARNOLD’s ‘40s Quality Comics, art by FINE, CRANDALL, COLE, POWELL, and CARDY, EISNER tributes by STAN LEE, GENE COLAN, & others, interviews with ‘40s Quality artist VERN HENKEL and CHUCK MAZOUJIAN, FCA, MR. MONSTER on EISNER’s Wonder Man, ALEX TOTH, and more with BUD PLANT! EISNER cover!

(100-page magazine) SOLD OUT (Digital Edition) $2.95

(100-page magazine) $5.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

ALTER EGO #49

ALTER EGO #50

ALTER EGO #51

ALTER EGO #52

ALTER EGO #53

Spotlights CARL BURGOS! Interview with daughter SUE BURGOS, art by BURGOS, BILL EVERETT, MIKE SEKOWSKY, ED ASCHE, and DICK AYERS, unused 1941 Timely cover layouts, the 1957 Atlas Implosion examined, MANNY STALLMAN, FCA, MR. MONSTER and more! New cover by MARK SPARACIO, from an unused 1941 layout by CARL BURGOS!

ROY THOMAS covers his 40-YEAR career in comics (AVENGERS, X-MEN, CONAN, ALL-STAR SQUADRON, INFINITY INC.), with ADAMS, BUSCEMA, COLAN, DITKO, GIL KANE, KIRBY, STAN LEE, ORDWAY, PÉREZ, ROMITA, and many others! Also FCA, & MR. MONSTER on ROY’s letters to GARDNER FOX! Flip-covers by BUSCEMA/ KIRBY/ALCALA and JERRY ORDWAY!

Golden Age Batman artist/BOB KANE ghost LEW SAYRE SCHWARTZ interviewed, Batman art by JERRY ROBINSON, DICK SPRANG, SHELDON MOLDOFF, WIN MORTIMER, JIM MOONEY, and others, the Golden and Silver Ages of AUSTRALIAN SUPER-HEROES, Mad artist DAVE BERG interviewed, FCA, MR. MONSTER on WILL EISNER, BILL SCHELLY, and more!

JOE GIELLA on the Silver Age at DC, the Golden Age at Marvel, and JULIE SCHWARTZ, with rare art by INFANTINO, GIL KANE, SEKOWSKY, SWAN, DILLIN, MOLDOFF, GIACOIA, SCHAFFENBERGER, and others, JAY SCOTT PIKE on STAN LEE and CHARLES BIRO, MARTIN THALL interview, ALEX TOTH, MR. MONSTER, BILL SCHELLY, and more! GIELLA cover!

GIORDANO and THOMAS on STOKER’S DRACULA, never-seen DICK BRIEFER Frankenstein strip, MIKE ESPOSITO on his work with ROSS ANDRU, art by COLAN, WRIGHTSON, MIGNOLA, BRUNNER, BISSETTE, KALUTA, HEATH, MANEELY, EVERETT, DITKO, FCA with MARC SWAYZE, BILL SCHELLY, ALEX TOTH, and MR. MONSTER! Cover by GIORDANO!

(100-page magazine) $5.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

(100-page magazine) $6.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

ALTER EGO #54

ALTER EGO #55

ALTER EGO #56

ALTER EGO #57

ALTER EGO #58

MIKE ESPOSITO on DC and Marvel, ROBERT KANIGHER on the creation of Metal Men and Sgt. Rock (with comments by JOE KUBERT and BOB HANEY), art by ANDRU, INFANTINO, KIRBY, SEVERIN, WINDSOR-SMITH, ROMITA, BUSCEMA, TRIMPE, GIL KANE, and others, plus FCA, ALEX TOTH, BILL SCHELLY, MR. MONSTER, and more! ESPOSITO cover!

JACK and OTTO BINDER, KEN BALD, VIC DOWD, and BOB BOYAJIAN interviewed, FCA with SWAYZE and EMILIO SQUEGLIO, rare art by BECK, WARD, & SCHAFFENBERGER, Christmas Cards from CRANDALL, SINNOTT, HEATH, MOONEY, and CARDY, 1943 Pin-Up Calendar (with ‘40s movie stars as superheroines), ALEX TOTH, more! ALEX ROSS and ALEX WRIGHT covers!

Interviews with Superman creators SIEGEL & SHUSTER, Golden/Silver Age DC production guru JACK ADLER interviewed, NEAL ADAMS and radio/TV iconoclast (and comics fan) HOWARD STERN on Adler and his amazing career, art by CURT SWAN, WAYNE BORING, and AL PLASTINO, plus FCA, MR. MONSTER, ALEX TOTH, and more! NEAL ADAMS cover!

Issue-by-issue index of Timely/Atlas superhero stories by MICHELLE NOLAN, art by SIMON & KIRBY, EVERETT, BURGOS, ROMITA, AYERS, HEATH, SEKOWSKY, SHORES, SCHOMBURG, MANEELY, and SEVERIN, GENE COLAN and ALLEN BELLMAN on 1940s Timely super-heroes, FCA, MR. MONSTER, and BILL SCHELLY! Cover by JACK KIRBY and PETE VON SHOLLY!

GERRY CONWAY and ROY THOMAS on their ‘80s screenplay for “The X-Men Movie That Never Was!”with art by COCKRUM, ADAMS, BUSCEMA, BYRNE, GIL KANE, KIRBY, HECK, and LIEBER, Atlas artist VIC CARRABOTTA interview, ALLEN BELLMAN on 1940s Timely bullpen, FCA, 1966 panel on 1950s EC Comics, and MR. MONSTER! MARK SPARACIO/GIL KANE cover!

(100-page magazine) $6.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

ALTER EGO #59

ALTER EGO #60

ALTER EGO #61

ALTER EGO #62

ALTER EGO #63

Special issue on Batman and Superman in the Golden and Silver Ages, featuring a new ARTHUR SUYDAM interview, NEAL ADAMS on DC in the 1960s-1970s, SHELLY MOLDOFF, AL PLASTINO, Golden Age artist FRAN (Doll Man) MATERA interviewed, SIEGEL & SHUSTER, RUSS MANNING, FCA, MR. MONSTER, SUYDAM cover, and more!

Celebrates 50 years since SHOWCASE #4! FLASH interviews with SCHWARTZ, KANIGHER, INFANTINO, KUBERT, and BROOME, Golden Age artist TONY DiPRETA, 1966 panel with NORDLING, BINDER, and LARRY IVIE, FCA, MR. MONSTER, never-before-published color Flash cover by CARMINE INFANTINO, and more!

History of the AMERICAN COMICS GROUP (1946 to 1967)—including its roots in the Golden Age SANGOR ART SHOP and STANDARD/NEDOR comics! Art by MESKIN, ROBINSON, WILLIAMSON, FRAZETTA, SCHAFFENBERGER, & BUSCEMA, ACG writer/editor RICHARD HUGHES, plus AL HARTLEY interviewed, FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more! GIORDANO cover!

HAPPY HAUNTED HALLOWEEN ISSUE, featuring: MIKE PLOOG and RUDY PALAIS on their horror-comics work! AL WILLIAMSON on his work for the American Comics Group—plus more on ACG horror comics! Rare DICK BRIEFER Frankenstein strips! Plus FCA, MR. MONSTER, BILL SCHELLY on the 1966 KalerCon, a new PLOOG cover—and more!

Tribute to ALEX TOTH! Never-before-seen interview with tons of TOTH art, including sketches he sent to friends! Articles about Toth by TERRY AUSTIN, JIM AMASH, SY BARRY, JOE KUBERT, LOU SAYRE SCHWARTZ, IRWIN HASEN, JOHN WORKMAN, and others! Plus illustrated Christmas cards by comics pros, FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more!

(100-page magazine) $6.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

ALTER EGO #64

ALTER EGO #65

ALTER EGO #66

ALTER EGO #67

ALTER EGO #68

Fawcett Favorites! Issue-by-issue analysis of BINDER & BECK’s 1943-45 “The Monster Society of Evil!” serial, double-size FCA section with MARC SWAYZE, EMILIO SQUEGLIO, C.C. BECK, MAC RABOY, and others! Interview with MARTIN FILCHOCK, Golden Age artist for Centaur Comics! Plus MR. MONSTER, DON NEWTON cover, plus a FREE 1943 MARVEL CALENDAR!

NICK CARDY interviewed on his Golden & Silver Age work (with CARDY art), plus art by WILL EISNER, NEAL ADAMS, CARMINE INFANTINO, JIM APARO, RAMONA FRADON, CURT SWAN, MIKE SEKOWSKY, and others, tributes to ERNIE SCHROEDER and DAVE COCKRUM, FCA with MARC SWAYZE, MICHAEL T. GILBERT and MR. MONSTER, new CARDY COVER, and more!

Spotlight on BOB POWELL, the artist who drew Daredevil, Sub-Mariner, Sheena, The Avenger, The Hulk, Giant-Man, and others, plus art by WALLY WOOD, HOWARD NOSTRAND, DICK AYERS, SIMON & KIRBY, MARTIN GOODMAN’s Magazine Management, and others! FCA with MARC SWAYZE and C.C. BECK, MICHAEL T. GILBERT and MR. MONSTER, and more!

Interview with BOB OKSNER, artist of Supergirl, Jimmy Olsen, Lois Lane, Angel and the Ape, Leave It to Binky, Shazam!, and more, plus art and artifacts by SHELLY MAYER, IRWIN HASEN, LEE ELIAS, C.C. BECK, CARMINE INFANTINO, GIL KANE, JULIE SCHWARTZ, etc., FCA with MARC SWAYZE & C.C. BECK, MICHAEL T. GILBERT on BOB POWELL Part II, and more!

Tribute to JERRY BAILS—Father of Comics Fandom and founder of Alter Ego! Cover by GEORGE PÉREZ, plus art by JOE KUBERT, CARMINE INFANTINO, GIL KANE, DICK DILLIN, MIKE SEKOWSKY, JERRY ORDWAY, JOE STATON, JACK KIRBY, and others! Plus STEVE DITKO’s notes to STAN LEE for a 1965 Dr. Strange story! And ROY reveals secrets behind Marvel’s STAR WARS comic!

(100-page magazine) $6.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

ALTER EGO #69

ALTER EGO #70

ALTER EGO #71

ALTER EGO #72

ALTER EGO #73

PAUL NORRIS drew AQUAMAN first, in 1941—and RAMONA FRADON was the hero’s ultimate Golden Age artist. But both drew other things as well, and both are interviewed in this landmark issue—along with a pocket history of Aquaman! Plus FCA, MICHAEL T. GILBERT, and more! Cover painted by JOHN WATSON, from a breathtaking illo by RAMONA FRADON!

Spotlight on ROY THOMAS’ 1970s stint as Marvel’s editor-in-chief and major writer, plus art and reminiscences of GIL KANE, BOTH BUSCEMAS, ADAMS, ROMITA, CHAYKIN, BRUNNER, PLOOG, EVERETT, WRIGHTSON, PÉREZ, ROBBINS, BARRY SMITH, STAN LEE and others, FCA, MR. MONSTER, a new GENE COLAN cover, plus an homage to artist LILY RENÉE!

Represents THE GREAT CANADIAN COMIC BOOKS, the long out-of-print 1970s book by MICHAEL HIRSH and PATRICK LOUBERT, with rare art of such heroes as Mr. Monster, Nelvana, Thunderfist, and others, plus new INVADERS art by JOHN BYRNE, MIKE GRELL, RON LIM, and more, plus a new cover by GEORGE FREEMAN, from a layout by JACK KIRBY!

SCOTT SHAW! and ROY THOMAS on the creation of Captain Carrot, art & artifacts by RICK HOBERG, STAN GOLDBERG, MIKE SEKOWSKY, JOHN COSTANZA, E. NELSON BRIDWELL, CAROL LAY, and others, interview with DICK ROCKWELL, Golden Age artist and 36-year ghost artist on MILTON CANIFF’s Steve Canyon! Plus FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more!

FRANK BRUNNER on drawing Dr. Strange, interviews with CHARLES BIRO and his daughters, interview with publisher ROBERT GERSON about his 1970s horror comic Reality, art by BERNIE WRIGHTSON, GRAHAM INGELS, HOWARD CHAYKIN, MICHAEL W. KALUTA, JEFF JONES, and others FCA, MR. MONSTER, a FREE DRAW! #15! PREVIEW, and more!

(100-page magazine) $6.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

ALTER EGO #74

ALTER EGO #75

ALTER EGO #76

ALTER EGO #77

ALTER EGO #78

STAN LEE SPECIAL in honor of his 85th birthday, with a cover by JACK KIRBY, classic (and virtually unseen) interviews with Stan, tributes, and tons of rare and unseen art by KIRBY, ROMITA, the brothers BUSCEMA, DITKO, COLAN, HECK, AYERS, MANEELY, SHORES, EVERETT, BURGOS, KANE, the SEVERIN siblings—plus FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more!

FAWCETT FESTIVAL—with an ALEX ROSS cover! Double-size FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America) with P.C. HAMERLINCK on the many “Captains Marvel” over the years, unseen Shazam! proposal by ALEX ROSS, C.C. BECK on “The Death of a Legend!”, MARC SWAYZE, interview with Golden Age artist MARV LEVY, MR. MONSTER, and more!

JOE SIMON SPECIAL! In-depth SIMON interview by JIM AMASH, with neverbefore-revealed secrets behind the creation of Captain America, Fighting American, Stuntman, Adventures of The Fly, Sick magazine and more, art by JACK KIRBY, BOB POWELL, AL WILLIAMSON, JERRY GRANDENETTI, GEORGE TUSKA, and others, FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more!

ST. JOHN ISSUE! Golden Age Tor cover by JOE KUBERT, KEN QUATTRO relates the full legend of St. John Publishing, art by KUBERT, NORMAN MAURER, MATT BAKER, LILY RENEE, BOB LUBBERS, RUBEN MOREIRA, RALPH MAYO, AL FAGO, special reminiscences of ARNOLD DRAKE, Golden Age artist TOM SAWYER interviewed, and more!

DAVE COCKRUM TRIBUTE! Great rare XMen cover, Cockrum tributes from contemporaries and colleagues, and an interview with PATY COCKRUM on Dave’s life and legacy on The Legion of Super-Heroes, The X-Men, Star-Jammers, & more! Plus an interview with 1950s Timely/Marvel artist MARION SITTON on his own incredible career and his Golden Age contemporaries!

(100-page magazine) $6.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

ALTER EGO #79

ALTER EGO #80

ALTER EGO #81

ALTER EGO #82

ALTER EGO #83

SUPERMAN & HIS CREATORS! New cover by MICHAEL GOLDEN, exclusive and revealing interview with JOE SHUSTER’s sister, JEAN SHUSTER PEAVEY—LOU CAMERON interview—STEVE GERBER tribute—DWIGHT DECKER on the Man of Steel & Hitler’s Third Reich—plus art by WAYNE BORING, CURT SWAN, NEAL ADAMS, GIL KANE, and others!

SWORD-AND-SORCERY COMICS! Learn about Crom the Barbarian, Viking Prince, Nightmaster, Kull, Red Sonja, Solomon Kane, Bran Mak Morn, Fafhrd and Gray Mouser, Beowulf, Warlord, Dagar the Invincible, and more, with art by FRAZETTA, SMITH, BUSCEMA, KANE, WRIGHTSON, PLOOG, THORNE, BRUNNER, LOU CAMERON Part II, and more! Cover by RAFAEL KAYANAN!

New FRANK BRUNNER Man-Thing cover, a look at the late-’60s horror comic WEB OF HORROR with early work by BRUNNER, WRIGHTSON, WINDSOR-SMITH, SIMONSON, & CHAYKIN, interview with comics & fine artist EVERETT RAYMOND KINTSLER, ROY THOMAS’ 1971 origin synopsis for the FIRST MAN-THING STORY, plus FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more!

MLJ ISSUE! Golden Age MLJ index illustrated with vintage images of The Shield, Hangman, Mr. Justice, Black Hood, by IRV NOVICK, JACK COLE, CHARLES BIRO, MORT MESKIN, GIL KANE, & others—behind a marvelous MLJ-heroes cover by BOB McLEOD! Plus interviews with IRV NOVICK and JOE EDWARDS, FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more!

SWORD & SORCERY PART 2! Cover by ARTHUR SUYDAM, with a focus on Conan the Barbarian by ROY THOMAS and WILL MURRAY, a look at WALLY WOOD’s Marvel sword-&-sorcery work, the Black Knight examined, plus JOE EDWARDS interview Part 2, FCA, MICHAEL T. GILBERT and MR. MONSTER, and more!

(100-page magazine) $6.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

ALTER EGO #84

ALTER EGO #85

ALTER EGO #86

ALTER EGO #87

ALTER EGO #88

Unseen JIM APARO cover, STEVE SKEATES discusses his early comics work, art & artifacts by ADKINS, APARO, ARAGONÉS, BOYETTE, DITKO, GIORDANO, KANE, KELLER, MORISI, ORLANDO, SEKOWSKY, STONE, THOMAS, WOOD, and the great WARREN SAVIN! Plus writer CHARLES SINCLAIR on his partnership with Batman co-creator BILL FINGER, FCA, and more!

Captain Marvel and Superman’s battles explored (in cosmic space, candy stores, and in court), RICH BUCKLER on Captain Marvel, plus an in-depth interview with Golden Age great LILY RENÉE, overview of CENTAUR COMICS (home of BILL EVERETT’s Amazing-Man and others), FCA, MR. MONSTER, new RICH BUCKLER cover, and more!

Spotlighting the Frantic Four-Color MAD WANNABES of 1953-55 that copied HARVEY KURTZMAN’S EC smash (see Captain Marble, Mighty Moose, Drag-ula, Prince Scallion, and more) with art by SIMON & KIRBY, KUBERT & MAURER, ANDRU & ESPOSITO, EVERETT, COLAN, and many others, plus Part 1 of a talk with Golden/ Silver Age artist FRANK BOLLE, and more!

The sensational 1954-1963 saga of Great Britain’s MARVELMAN (decades before he metamorphosed into Miracleman), plus an interview with writer/artist/co-creator MICK ANGLO, and rare Marvelman/ Miracleman work by ALAN DAVIS, ALAN MOORE, a new RICK VEITCH cover, plus FRANK BOLLE, Part 2, FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more!

First-ever in-depth look at National/DC’s founder MAJOR MALCOLM WHEELERNICHOLSON, and pioneers WHITNEY ELLSWORTH and CREIG FLESSEL, with rare art and artifacts by SIEGEL & SHUSTER, BOB KANE, CURT SWAN, GARDNER FOX, SHELDON MOLDOFF, and others, focus on DC advisor DR. LAURETTA BENDER, FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more!

(100-page magazine) $6.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

ALTER EGO #89

ALTER EGO #90

ALTER EGO #91

ALTER EGO #92

ALTER EGO #93

HARVEY COMICS’ PRE-CODE HORROR MAGS OF THE 1950s! Interviews with SID JACOBSON, WARREN KREMER, and HOWARD NOSTRAND, plus Harvey artist KEN SELIG talks to JIM AMASH! MR. MONSTER presents the wit and wisdom (and worse) of DR. FREDRIC WERTHAM, plus FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America) with C.C. BECK & MARC SWAYZE, & more! SIMON & KIRBY and NOSTRAND cover!

BIG MARVEL ISSUE! Salutes to legends SINNOTT and AYERS—plus STAN LEE, TUSKA, EVERETT, MARTIN GOODMAN, and others! A look at the “Marvel SuperHeroes” TV animation of 1966! 1940s Timely writer and editor LEON LAZARUS interviewed by JIM AMASH! Plus FCA, MR. MONSTER, the 1960s fandom creations of STEVE GERBER, and more! JACK KIRBY holiday cover!

FAWCETT FESTIVAL! Big FCA section with Golden Age artists MARC SWAYZE & EMILIO SQUEGLIO! Plus JERRY ORDWAY on researching The Power of Shazam, Part II of “The MAD Four-Color Wannabes of the 1950s,” more on DR. LAURETTA BENDER and the teenage creations of STEVE GERBER, artist JACK KATZ spills Golden Age secrets to JIM AMASH, and more! New cover by ORDWAY and SQUEGLIO!

SWORD-AND-SORCERY, PART 3! DC’s Sword of Sorcery by O’NEIL, CHAYKIN, & SIMONSON and Claw by MICHELINIE & CHAN, Hercules by GLANZMAN, Dagar by GLUT & SANTOS, Marvel S&S art by BUSCEMA, CHAN, KAYANAN, WRIGHTSON, et al., and JACK KATZ on his classic First Kingdom! Plus FCA, MR. MONSTER, STEVE GERBER’s fan-creations (part 3), and more! Cover by RAFAEL KAYANAN!

(NOW WITH 16 COLOR PAGES!) “EarthTwo—1961 to 1985!” with rare art by INFANTINO, GIL KANE, ANDERSON, DELBO, ANDRU, BUCKLER, APARO, GRANDENETTI, and DILLIN, interview with Golden/Silver Age DC editor GEORGE KASHDAN, plus MICHAEL T. GILBERT and MR. MONSTER, STEVE GERBER, FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America), and a new cover by INFANTINO and AMASH!

(100-page magazine) $6.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

(84-page magazine with COLOR) $7.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

ALTER EGO #94

ALTER EGO #95

ALTER EGO #96

ALTER EGO #97

ALTER EGO #98

“Earth-Two Companion, Part II!” More on the 1963-1985 series that changed comics forever! The Huntress, Power Girl, Dr. Fate, Freedom Fighters, and more, with art by ADAMS, APARO, AYERS, BUCKLER, GIFFEN, INFANTINO, KANE, NOVICK, SCHAFFENBERGER, SIMONSON, STATON, SWAN, TUSKA, our GEORGE KASHDAN interview Part 2, FCA, and more! STATON & GIORDANO cover!

Marvel’s NOT BRAND ECHH madcap parody mag from 1967-69, examined with rare art & artifacts by ANDRU, COLAN, BUSCEMA, DRAKE, EVERETT, FRIEDRICH, KIRBY, LEE, the SEVERIN siblings, SPRINGER, SUTTON, THOMAS, TRIMPE, and more, GEORGE KASHDAN interview conclusion, FCA, MICHAEL T. GILBERT and MR. MONSTER, and more! Cover by MARIE SEVERIN!

Focus on Archie’s 1960s MIGHTY CRUSADERS, with vintage art and artifacts by JERRY SIEGEL, PAUL REINMAN, SIMON & KIRBY, JOHN ROSENBERGER, tributes to the Mighty Crusaders by BOB FUJITANE, GEORGE TUSKA, BOB LAYTON, and others! Interview with MELL LAZARUS, FCA, MICHAEL T. GILBERT and Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt, and more! Cover by MIKE MACHLAN!

The NON-EC HORROR COMICS OF THE 1950s! From Menace and House of Mystery to The Thing!, we present vintage art and artifacts by EVERETT, BRIEFER, DITKO, MANEELY, COLAN , MESKIN, MOLDOFF, HEATH, POWELL, COLE, SIMON & KIRBY, FUJITANI, and others, plus FCA , MR. MONSTER and more, behind a creepy, eerie cover by BILL EVERETT!

Spotlight on Superman’s first editor WHITNEY ELLSWORTH, longtime Kryptoeditor MORT WEISINGER remembered by his daughter, an interview with Superman writer ALVIN SCHWARTZ, tributes to FRANK FRAZETTA and AL WILLIAMSON, art by JOE SHUSTER, WAYNE BORING, CURT SWAN, and NEAL ADAMS, plus MR. MONSTER, FCA, and a new cover by JERRY ORDWAY!

(84-page magazine with COLOR) $7.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

ALTER EGO: CENTENNIAL (AE #100)

ALTER EGO #99

GEORGE TUSKA showcase issue on his career at Lev Gleason, Marvel, and in comics strips through the early 1970s—CRIME DOES NOT PAY, BUCK ROGERS, IRON MAN, AVENGERS, HERO FOR HIRE, & more! Plus interviews with Golden Age artist BILL BOSSERT and fan-artist RUDY FRANKE, MR. MONSTER’S COMIC CRYPT, FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America), and more! (84-page magazine with COLOR) $7.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

ALTER EGO: CENTENNIAL is a celebration of 100 issues, and 50 years, of ALTER EGO, Roy Thomas’ legendary super-hero fanzine. It’s a double-size triple-threat BOOK, with twice as many pages as the regular magazine, plus special features just for this anniversary edition! Behind a RICH BUCKLER/JERRY ORDWAY JSA cover, ALTER EGO celebrates its 100th issue and the 50th anniversary of A/E (Vol. 1) #1 in 1961—as ROY THOMAS is interviewed by JIM AMASH about the 1980s at DC! Learn secrets behind ALL-STAR SQUADRON—INFINITY, INC.—ARAK, SON OF THUNDER—CAPTAIN CARROT—JONNI THUNDER, a.k.a. THUNDERBOLT— YOUNG ALL-STARS—SHAZAM!—RING OF THE NIBELUNG—and more! With rare art and artifacts by GEORGE PÉREZ, TODD McFARLANE, RICH BUCKLER, JERRY ORDWAY, MIKE MACHLAN, GIL KANE, GENE COLAN, DICK GIORDANO, ALFREDO ALCALA, TONY DEZUNIGA, ERNIE COLÓN, STAN GOLDBERG, SCOTT SHAW!, ROSS ANDRU, and many more! Plus special anniversary editions of Alter Ego staples MR. MONSTER’S COMIC CRYPT, FAWCETT COLLECTORS OF AMERICA (FCA)—and ALEX WRIGHT’s amazing color collection of 1940s DC pinup babes! Edited by ROY THOMAS. (NOTE: This book takes the place of ALTER EGO #100, and counts as TWO issues toward your subscription.) (160-page trade paperback with COLOR) $19.95 (Digital Edition) $5.95 • ISBN: 9781605490311 Diamond Order Code: JAN111351

ALTER EGO #101

Fox Comics of the 1940s with art by FINE, BAKER, SIMON, KIRBY, TUSKA, FLETCHER HANKS, ALEX BLUM, and others! “Superman vs. Wonder Man” starring EISNER, IGER, SIEGEL, LIEBERSON, MAYER, DONENFELD, and VICTOR FOX! Plus, Part I of an interview with JACK MENDELSOHN, plus FCA, MR. MONSTER’S COMIC CRYPT, and new cover by Marvel artist DAVE WILLIAMS!

NEW!

(84-page magazine with COLOR) $7.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

ALTER EGO #102

ALTER EGO #103

ALTER EGO #104

ALTER EGO: THE CBA COLLECTION

Spotlight on Green Lantern creators MART NODELL and BILL FINGER in the 1940s, and JOHN BROOME, GIL KANE, and JULIUS SCHWARTZ in 1959! Rare GL artwork by INFANTINO, REINMAN, HASEN, NEAL ADAMS, and others! Plus JACK MENDELSOHN Part II, FCA, MR. MONSTER’S COMIC CRYPT, and new cover by GIL KANE & TERRY AUSTIN, and MART NODELL!

The early career of comics writer STEVE ENGLEHART: Defenders, Captain America, Master of Kung Fu, The Beast, Mantis, and more, with rare art and artifacts by SAL BUSCEMA, STARLIN, SUTTON, HECK, BROWN, and others. Plus, JIM AMASH interviews early artist GEORGE MANDEL (Captain Midnight, The Woman in Red, Blue Bolt, Black Marvel, etc.), FCA, MR. MONSTER’S COMIC CRYPT, and more!

Celebrates the 50th anniversary of FANTASTIC FOUR #1 and the birth of Marvel Comics! New, never-before-published STAN LEE interview, art and artifacts by KIRBY, DITKO, SINNOTT, AYERS, THOMAS, and secrets behind the Marvel Mythos! Also: JIM AMASH interviews 1940s Timely editor AL SULMAN, FCA, MR. MONSTER’S COMIC CRYPT, and a new cover by FRENZ and SINNOTT!

Compiles the ALTER EGO flip-sides from COMIC BOOK ARTIST #1-5, plus 30 NEW PAGES of features & art! All-new rare and previously-unpublished art by JACK KIRBY, GIL KANE, JOE KUBERT, WALLY WOOD, FRANK ROBBINS, NEAL ADAMS, & others, ROY THOMAS on X-MEN, AVENGERS/ KREE-SKRULL WAR, INVADERS, and more! Cover by JOE KUBERT!

(84-page magazine with COLOR) $7.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

(160-page trade paperback) SOLD OUT (Digital Edition) $4.95

HUMOR MAGAZINES (BUNDLE ALL THREE FOR JUST $14.95)

ALTER EGO:

BEST OF THE LEGENDARY COMICS FANZINE

Collects the original 11 issues of JERRY BAILS and ROY THOMAS’ ALTER EGO fanzine (from 1961-78), with contributions from JACK KIRBY, STEVE DITKO, WALLY WOOD, JOHN BUSCEMA, MARIE SEVERIN, BILL EVERETT, RUSS MANNING, CURT SWAN, and others—and illustrated interviews with GIL KANE, BILL EVERETT, & JOE KUBERT! Plus major articles on the JUSTICE SOCIETY, the MARVEL FAMILY, the MLJ HEROES, and more! Edited by ROY THOMAS and BILL SCHELLY with an introduction by JULIE SCHWARTZ. (192-page trade paperback) $21.95 ISBN: 9781893905887 Diamond Order Code: DEC073946

COMIC BOOK NERD

PETE VON SHOLLY’s side-splitting parody of the fan press, including our own mags! Experience the magic(?) of such publications as WHIZZER, the COMICS URINAL, ULTRA EGO, COMICS BUYER’S GUISE, BAGGED ISSUE!, SCRAWL!, COMIC BOOK ARTISTE, and more, as we unabashedly poke fun at ourselves, our competitors, and you, our loyal readers! It’s a first issue, collector’s item, double-bag, slab-worthy, speculator’s special sure to rub even the thickest-skinned fanboy the wrong way! (64-page COLOR magazine) $8.95 • (Digital Edition) $2.95

CRAZY HIP GROOVY GO-GO WAY OUT MONSTERS #29 & #32

PETE VON SHOLLY’s spoofs of monster mags will have you laughing your pants off— right after you soil them from sheer terror! This RETRO MONSTER MOVIE MAGAZINE is a laugh riot lampoon of those GREAT (and absolutely abominable) mags of the 1950s and ‘60s, replete with fake letters-to-the-editor, phony ads for worthless, wacky stuff, stills from imaginary films as bad as any that were really made, interviews with their “creators,” and much more! Relive your misspent youth (and misspent allowance) as you dig the hilarious photos, ads, and articles skewering OUR FAVORITE THINGS of the past! Get our first issue (#29!), the sequel (#32!), or both!

DIEDGITIIOTANSL E

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(48-page magazines) $5.95 EACH • (Digital Editions) $1.95 EACH

These sold-out books are now available again in DIGITAL EDITIONS:

NEW!

MR. MONSTER, VOL. 0

TRUE BRIT

DICK GIORDANO: CHANGING COMICS, ONE DAY AT A TIME

Collects hard-to-find Mr. Monster stories from A-1, CRACK-A-BOOM! and DARK HORSE PRESENTS (many in COLOR for the first time) plus over 30 pages of ALLNEW MR. MONSTER art and stories! Can your sanity survive our Lee/Kirby monster spoof by MICHAEL T. GILBERT and MARK MARTIN, or the long-lost 1933 Mr. Monster newspaper strip? Or the terrifying TRENCHER/MR. MONSTER slug-fest, drawn by KEITH GIFFEN and MICHAEL T. GILBERT?! Read at your own risk!

GEORGE KHOURY’s definitive book on the rich history of British Comics Artists, their influence on the US, and how they have revolutionized the way comics are seen and perceived! It features breathtaking art, intimate photographs, and in-depth interviews with BRIAN BOLLAND, ALAN DAVIS, DAVE GIBBONS, KEVIN O’NEILL, DAVID LLOYD, DAVE McKEAN, BRYAN HITCH, BARRY WINDSOR-SMITH and other fine gents! Sporting a new JUDGE DREDD cover by BRIAN BOLLAND!

MICHAEL EURY’s biography of comics’ most prominent and affable personality! It covers his career as illustrator, inker, and editor—peppered with DICK’S PERSONAL REFLECTIONS—and is illustrated with RARE AND UNSEEN comics, merchandising, and advertising art! Plus: an extensive index of his published work, comments and tributes by NEAL ADAMS, DENNIS O’NEIL, TERRY AUSTIN, PAUL LEVITZ, MARV WOLFMAN, JULIUS SCHWARTZ, JIM APARO and others, a Foreword by NEAL ADAMS, and an Afterword by PAUL LEVITZ!

(136-page Digital Edition with COLOR) $4.95

(204-page Digital Edition with COLOR) $6.95

(176-page Digital Edition with COLOR) $5.95

SECRETS IN THE SHADOWS: GENE COLAN

TOM FIELD’s amazing COLAN retrospective, with rare drawings, photos, and art from his 60-year career, and a comprehensive overview of Gene’s glory days at Marvel Comics! MARV WOLFMAN, DON McGREGOR and other writers share script samples and anecdotes of their Colan collaborations, while TOM PALMER, STEVE LEIALOHA and others show how they approached inking Colan’s famously nuanced penciled pages! Plus: a NEW PORTFOLIO of never-seen collaborations between Gene and masters such as BYRNE, KALUTA and PÉREZ, and all-new artwork created just for this book! (192-page Digital Edition with COLOR) $6.95

ART OF GEORGE TUSKA

A comprehensive look at GEORGE TUSKA’S personal and professional life, including early work at the Eisner-Iger shop, producing controversial crime comics of the 1950s, and his tenure with Marvel and DC Comics, as well as independent publishers. Includes extensive coverage of his work on IRON MAN, X-MEN, HULK, JUSTICE LEAGUE, TEEN TITANS, BATMAN, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS, and others, a gallery of commission art and a thorough index of his work, original art, photos, sketches, unpublished art, interviews and anecdotes from his peers and fans, plus the very personal and reflective words of George himself! Written by DEWEY CASSELL. (128-page Digital Edition) $4.95

OTHER BOOKS FROM TWOMORROWS PUBLISHING

PENCILER, PUBLISHER, PROVOCATEUR

COMICS’ FAST & FURIOUS ARTIST

THE ART OF GLAMOUR

MATT BAKER

EXTRAORDINARY WORKS OF ALAN MOORE

Shines a light on the life and career of the artistic and publishing visionary of DC Comics!

Explores the life and career of one of Marvel Comics’ most recognizable and dependable artists!

Biography of the talented master of 1940s “Good Girl” art, complete with color story reprints!

Definitive biography of the Watchmen writer, in a new, expanded edition!

(224-page trade paperback) $26.95

(176-page trade paperback with COLOR) $26.95

(192-page hardcover with COLOR) $39.95

(240-page trade paperback) $29.95

QUALITY COMPANION

BATCAVE COMPANION

ALL- STAR COMPANION

AGE OF TV HEROES

The first dedicated book about the Golden Age publisher that spawned the modern-day “Freedom Fighters”, Plastic Man, and the Blackhawks!

Unlocks the secrets of Batman’s Silver and Bronze Ages, following the Dark Knight’s progression from 1960s camp to 1970s creature of the night!

Roy Thomas has four volumes documenting the history of ALL-STAR COMICS, the JUSTICE SOCIETY, INFINITY, INC., and more!

(256-page trade paperback with COLOR) $31.95

(240-page trade paperback) $26.95

(224-page trade paperbacks) $24.95

Examining the history of the live-action television adventures of everyone’s favorite comic book heroes, featuring the in-depth stories of the shows’ actors and behind-the-scenes players!

CARMINE INFANTINO

SAL BUSCEMA

(192-page full-color hardcover) $39.95

MARVEL COMICS

An issue-by-issue field guide to the pop culture phenomenon of LEE, KIRBY, DITKO, and others, from the company’s fumbling beginnings to the full maturity of its wild, colorful, offbeat grandiosity!

IN THE 1960s

(224-page trade paperback) $27.95

MODERN MASTERS

HOW TO CREATE COMICS

Covers how Stan Lee went from writer to publisher, Jack Kirby left (and returned), Roy Thomas rose as editor, and a new wave of writers and artists came in!

20+ volumes with in-depth interviews, plus extensive galleries of rare and unseen art from the artist’s files!

(224-page trade paperback) $27.95

Shows step-by-step how to develop a new comic, from script and art, to printing and distribution!

(128-page trade paperbacks) $14.95 each

(108-page trade paperback) $15.95

IN THE 1970s

A BOOK SERIES DEVOTED TO THE BEST OF TODAY’S ARTISTS

FROM SCRIPT TO PRINT

FOR A FREE COLOR CATALOG, CALL, WRITE, E-MAIL, OR LOG ONTO www.twomorrows.com

TwoMorrows—A New Day For Comics Fandom! TwoMorrows Publishing • 10407 Bedfordtown Drive • Raleigh, NC 27614 USA • 919-449-0344 • FAX: 919-449-0327 E-mail: twomorrow@aol.com • Visit us on the Web at www.twomorrows.com