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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

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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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“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. 25 / June 2003

™

Editor Roy Thomas

Associate Editors Bill Schelly Jim Amash

Design & Layout Christopher Day

Consulting Editor John Morrow

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 Alex Toth (with Jack Cole) Bill Schelly & Friends

Cover Colorist

Contents

Writer/Editorial: “He Stretches, Shrinks, and Bends!!”. . . . . . . . . 2 Jack Cole––Artist and Enigma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Jim Amash on the creator of Plastic Man... plus a checklist by Jerry Bails & Hames Ware.

A Lonnnnnng Stretch of Tall Talent. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Alex Toth on Jack Cole—times four!

“Other Super-heroes Weren’t Like That!”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 A candid and revelatory interview with Jack Cole’s brother, Dick Cole.

Tom Ziuko

And Special Thanks to: Manuel Auad Mike W. Barr Allen Bellman John Benson Bill Black Carl E. Borg Ray Bottorff Jr. Jerry K. Boyd Steve Brumbaugh Jack Burnley Tony Cerezo Chris Claremont Shawn S. Clay Dave Cockrum Lynda Fox Cohen Dick Cole Dave Cook Teresa R. Davidson Craig Delich Al Dellinges Terry Doyle Michael Feldman Creig Flessel Gill Fox Jeff Fox Ron Frantz Paul Gambaccini Ron Goulart Martin L. Greim Ron Harris Mark & Stephanie Heike Tom Horvitz Bob Hughes Bob Koppany Alan Kupperberg Richard Kyle

JACK COLE & PLASTIC MAN Section

Kevin Lafferty Mort Leav Stan Lee Paul Levitz Linda Long Russ Maheras Dan Makara Scott M. Martin David Morefield Matt Moring Will Murray Hari Naidu Mart & Carrie Nodell Michelle Nolan Jerry Ordway Art Paul George Ramsey Ethan Roberts Trina Robbins Steven Rowe Rich Rubenfeld Julius Schwartz Bill Seay Carole Seuling David Siegel Robin Snyder J. David Spurlock Mark Stratton Marc Swayze Dann Thomas Alex Toth Mike Vosburg Hames Ware Robert Wiener Ike Wilson Andy Yanchus John Yon

This issue is dedicated to Jerry G. Bails –––and to the memory of Jack Cole and Bill Woggon

“He Could Do Anything!” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Pioneer DC artist Creig Flessel talks about his friend, Jack Cole. “I Always Considered Him to Be a Genius!”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Original Playboy art director Art Paul on Cole’s life and mysterious death.

“He Was a Very, Very Interesting Talent!”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Playboy cartoonist Bill Seay shares his memories of Jack Cole. Lost Comics Lore, Part 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Everything Will Murray needs to know about comics... he learned from the Writer’s Digest!

Bill Woggon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 A fond remembrance of the creator of Katy Keene, by Trina Robbins.

re: [comments, corrections, & correspondence] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Golden Age Section (“The Titans of Timely/Marvel,” Part II). . Flip Us! About Our Cover: In 1992 Alex Toth, one of Jack Cole’s biggest admirers among the pro ranks, drew and colored this beautiful drawing of Plastic Man for two grateful Italian fans whose names are shown on the next page. Having seen this piece printed in the acclaimed volume Toth: Black & White, edited and published by Manuel Auad, we thought it would look magnificent surrounded by a muted montage of published Cole/Plastic Man panels (at least, we hope they’re all by Cole!). And it does, don’t you think? [Toth art ©2003 Alex Toth; Plastic Man TM & ©2003 DC Comics.] Above: One of the few instances in which DC’s editors heeded Roy Thomas’ solicited advice in putting together the wonderful but sadly out-of-print 1990 hardcover The Greatest Golden Age Stories Ever Told was to include Plas’ battle with the salt-eating alien Amorpho, from 1950’s Plastic Man #21. Here are a pair of panels from that masterful tale, representative both of Jack Cole’s unique talent—and the frustrating attempt by various people for more than four decades to solve the mystery of his untimely suicide. Jack, we hardly knew ye! [©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, $11.00 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

“He Stretches, Shrinks, and Bends!!” Yep, that’s the line of copy which some unknown editor had lettered at the bottom of the cover of Plastic Man #1 in 1943. Not content with the words alone, the word “STRETCHES” was stretcccchhhhhed out with a particularly wide first “E”—“shrinks” was squeezed into a relatively narrow space—and “bends” was lettered in a flowing horizontal curve, as if it were on a roller-coaster ride. The cover blurb was the equivalent of the cover art, which depicts Plastic Man stretching his arms and legs out of the eye sockets and open mouth of a giant skull, to grab and/or punch four hapless criminals. And you want to know the great, the wonderful, the truly amazing thing about that sixty-year-old comic book cover? It’s this: in the year 2003, it and dozens of Plas-starring Police Comics and Plastic Man covers like it, plus their interior stories, are all on view in a quartet of gorgeous hardcover books, The Plastic Man Archives, from DC Comics... a total of some 800 pages! I know it sometimes must seem as if I’m shilling for the mainstream companies when I constantly call attention to DC’s Archives series, Marvel’s Essentials and Masterworks volumes, even Archie’s recent Shield book. But I’m not. It’s just that I want to do everything I can to call attention to the fact that classic Golden and Silver Age stories are on view in (relatively) inexpensive books— because, back in 1961, when Alter Ego was first published, and for decades afterward, precious little of comics’ historical heritage had been reprinted in any form whatever, let alone between hard covers or in a quality paperback edition. To me, what is available these days seems like Wonderland and Oz rolled into one—when it used to seem like a Never-Never-Land!

“Plastic Man” exploit from the beginning in 1941 through the end of 1945, with more hopefully to come, is so overwhelming that I have to think of the glass as 90% full, not 10% empty. Nowadays we’ve got the early and/or most important work of Cole... Eisner... Siegel and Shuster... Kane (Bob and Gil)... Simon & Kirby... Infantino... Kubert... Cuidera... Crandall... Everett... Burgos... Beck... Kurtzman... Feldstein... Lee... Ditko... and so many others... sitting on our bookshelves, up there with Homer and Hemingway and Heller and Hirschfeld and Herriman and others who helped shape the culture of the 20th Century, and whose influence now extends into the 21st, as well. This issue, we concentrate on one of those masters of comic art... Jack Cole... as seen by five different artists and his brother. And, thanks to those generous souls whose names appear in the “Special Thanks” section on our contents page, you can see samples of his genius, not just read about it. What’s more, if you saved your pennies or got lucky at Christmas, you can also go and read the original stories, and you can marvel, with me, that these tales have been preserved, even in imperfect form, for future generations.

The other night Dann and I were having dinner with some good friends, admittedly a few years younger than I (but then, who isn’t, these days?), and I was telling them a bit about the mysterious circumstances of Jack Cole’s suicide in 1958... about which I myself knew nothing until sometime in the 1960s. I referred to Cole It may seem odd to accompany the paean of praise to Jack Cole on this offhandedly as both a prominent page with a drawing of Plastic Man not by his creator but by ardent cartoonist for Playboy and, more admirer Alex Toth. However, there’s plenty of Cole art on display in the importantly, the creator of Plastic pages that follow, never fear! We wanted you to see this piece of art in Man. Gradually, I realized from their black-&-white as well as in color on our cover—with the names of those blank stares that neither of that couple two Italian fans emblazoned on it, as they are on the original. As for the So, with all due respect, I’ll let my had ever heard of Plas. And I felt a artist’s sentiments expressed thereon—well, maybe Jack Cole did do it longtime (and Pulitzer-winning) genuine sadness... for I honestly feel “better,” since he was, after all, the heart and soul of Plastic Man—but acquaintance Art Spiegelman complain sorry for anyone who has never Alex Toth is definitely one of the best of the hero’s latter-day interpreters, as well as a comics legend in his own right. Alex has plenty about the quality of the retouching of immersed himself in the manic to say about Cole and Plas, as well, beginning on page 10. Thanks to Jack Cole’s art in the four Plastic Man pleasures of a good “Plastic Man” tale Manuel Auad. [Art ©2003 Alex Toth; Plastic Man TM & ©2003 DC Comics.] by Jack Cole at the height of his Archives editions. He may well be powers. To me, that would be like right—and as the chief guardian of never reading The Iliad or Catch-22, never seeing Fawlty Towers or Cole’s heritage, by dint of his 1999 article in The New Yorker and its expansion into the 2001 book Jack Cole and Plastic Man: Forms King Kong or Krazy Kat or Pogo or the early four-color Mad. Stretched to Their Limits, I’ll defend to the death Art’s right to agitate A few things in this world are just this side of perfect. for better, ever-better repro of Cole’s art. I knew how he felt when I saw some rather poor restoration of Irwin Hasen’s and others’ art (left over I just mentioned eight of them. from 30-year-old reprints) in the recent hardcover that reprinted, among other stories, All-Star Comics #36. But I was still glad it was done. Bestest, And, to me, just the notion of being able to own each and every

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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

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Jack Cole

Jack Cole–Artist and Enigma Celebrations and Speculations on the Creative Genius behind “Plastic Man” seemed to be the case for his fictional friends, whether they were in the newspapers, books, movies, or radio.

by Jim Amash Rebel with a Cause —and the Cause Was Art Jack Ralph Cole realized his childhood dreams more fully than most people. He was a dreamer who was also a doer. Even at an early age, the spark of genius and creativity seems to have been within him. Was it the antics of E.C. Segar’s Thimble Theater, Rudolph Dirks’ Captain and The Kids, George McManus’ Bringing Up Father, and others, that awakened the spirit of inventiveness in Cole? Most likely, it was these influences and more, as Cole—like most children—derived invention from the world around him. To start with, his father, DeLace Cole, was a dry goods salesman who performed in variety shows around the small town of New Castle, Pennsylvania. It seems likely that Jack got the idea from his father that he, too, could perform for others, whether it be on the stage (which he did do, in school), or on paper. And where can a performer have more freedom than on paper? Jack, like his artistic heroes before him, could be stage director, sound man, writer, costume designer, actor, and cameraman... all for free, without answering to anyone. His characters could go anywhere he chose and do whatever they wanted, without parental guardians to keep them in check, and while Cole was at it, they could win him the attention and respect of his friends and family. Only the lack of drawing supplies could stand in his way. And if there were no drawing supplies, other materials worked just as nicely, since Cole was also very good with his hands. He made furniture, tapped the telephone line so he could listen to his sisters talk to their boyfriends, and published his own little newspaper, among other things. The world must have seemed wide open for whatever Cole wanted to accomplish. After all, that

Not everyone shared Cole’s enthusiasm for his ideas. His parents and teachers were more practical in their own lives, unable to understand that you can make anything happen if you try. However, there were people who admired the young man’s precociousness and undoubtedly encouraged Jack to break through the old-fashioned values of a small town. Jack also had a rebellious streak. When he couldn’t get the money to take the Landon School of Cartooning’s correspondence course, Jack secretly pocketed his lunch money, hollowed out a book, and placed homemade lunches inside, fooling his parents until he saved enough money to take the course. His newspaper, The Scoop, got him into trouble at New Castle High, as he scandalously lampooned and revealed the secrets of his classmates. The Cole family were Republicans, so Jack became a Democrat. When he couldn’t get the money to bus his way to see the 1932 Olympic Games in California, Jack took his bicycle and made the trip anyway. He didn’t get to see the games, but returned home on different bicycles as New Castle’s version of Marco Polo. As excited well-wishers waited for him outside his house, he rode into town the back way, and surprised them by being inside the house as they waited outside. He just couldn’t help putting an antic final twist on his trip.

This story from Plastic Man #21 (Jan. 1950), reprinted in the 1990 DC hardcover The Greatest Golden Age Stories Ever Told, which pits Plas against an alien who can shape-change as readily as he can, is Jack Cole at his best! But Cole himself was a mystery masquerading as an enigma... whom nobody has ever really figured out. The photo at top of the writer/artist appeared, among other places, in that 1999 issue of The New Yorker. [©2003 DC Comics.]

Dream Girl, Dream Career In 1934, Jack and his brother Bob planned a canoe trip down the Mississippi, but love interfered when Jack married his girl friend, Dorothy Mahoney. Even in marriage, Jack was unconventional. The couple eloped to New Brighton, Pennsylvania, and kept the marriage a secret for a while. The dreamer had found his dream girl. Dorothy was almost as short as Jack was tall. She was quiet and moody, but the Cole family

Artist and Enigma

As comics historian Ron Goulart wrote in Comics: The Golden Age #2 (May 1984), Cole’s “first shape-changing hero wasn’t the red-clad Plastic Man but rather an obscure chap named Mantoka,” an Amerindian who appeared in three issues of a Centaur mag. In his origin tale in Funny Pages, Vol. 4, #1 (Jan. 1940), he turned into an eagle, became a mist that passed through cell bars, and swelled to twice his normal size—and that doesn’t count setting fire to a crook’s hand and freezing a cascading flood of water. During this same Chesler-shop period, his “King Kole’s Court” appeared in comics published by three different companies! On “Mantoka” he used the pseudonym “Richard Bruce,” taken from a brother’s first and middle names; on “Kole” (which, curiously, was basically his own name) he let writer George Nagle take all the credit. [©2003 the respective copyright holder.]

seemed to like her very much. Dorothy and Jack’s relationship has been described as intense by at least one friend. Although his endeavors brought him attention, Jack himself was often shy. When Jack was happy (as he usually was), he was as happy as he could be, but his depressions were as deep as his highs were stratospheric. This dark side of Jack’s personality is substantiated by the story of Cole’s bloodying his fists punching trees after a fight with Dorothy. Another time, Jack left Dorothy to stay with cartoonist friend Bob Wood until the couple made up. Overall, the marriage seemed to be a happy one. With the help of local friends, the Coles moved to New York as Jack tried to break into the cartooning business. He finally made it when he became a shop employee of Harry “A” Chesler in 1937, joining other hopefuls Mort Meskin, Charlie Biro, Bob Wood, and Gill Fox. Cole was already lettering and writing his own material (having demonstrated that talent earlier when he wrote about his bicycle trip for Boy’s Life), honing skills that would eventually release him from the studio situation and allow him to become his own man. During his stay at Chesler’s, Cole wrote and drew “Down on the Trail,” “Mantoka,” “King Kole’s Kourt,” “Slim Pickens,” “Little Dynamite,” and several other features for Centaur Publications. In 1939, Cole left the Chesler shop and began freelancing for several companies. At Hillman Publications, he wrote and drew “The Defender.” Novelty Publications snared him just long enough for Jack to visualize “The Hi Grass Twins.” Cole spent some time at MLJ (later Archie Comic Publications), where he started revealing the wild side of his personality on features like “The Comet.” The Comet didn’t mind killing the bad guys, which was a rarity in those more innocent times. “Ima Slooth” and “Manhunters” were the other features he did there. Also at MLJ were Cole’s former Chesler mates Bob Wood and Charlie Biro. Within a short time, all three men gravitated to Your Guide Publications (also known as New Friday Publications and later as Lev Gleason Publications). For the company’s Silver Streak Comics, Cole wrote, drew, and created The Claw, Silver Streak, and Dickie Dean, Boy Inventor (for whom Cole could have been his own inspiration). According to reports, he also created the original Daredevil (although the Overstreet Price Guide states that Jack Binder drew the first story). The ensuing “Claw versus Daredevil” stories gained Cole wide attention in the comics field, and the stories themselves became legendary to

Under another pseudonym, “Ralph Johns,” Cole created Silver Streak. On this inside front cover for the 6th issue of the Lev Gleason comic of that name (cover-dated Sept. 1940), he drew not only the super-fast hero, but nearly two dozen contest winners! [©2003 the respective copyright holder.]

Jack Cole

comic book fans. Cole’s writing was fast becoming as individualistic as his drawing.

An Artist of Quality Cole’s career took a giant leap forward when he started working for Quality Comics in 1940. Starting out with humor features like “Wun Cloo” (created by editor Gill Fox, his former Chesler mate), Cole also drew “Quicksilver” and created “Death Patrol” for Military Comics #1 in 1941. The latter was an unusual feature: in each story, a member of the airborne Patrol met his final fate, flying through graphic skies drawn by Cole’s sure hand. Publisher Everett “Busy” Arnold wasn’t enamored of this feature, and neither Dave Berg nor Gill Fox, who followed Cole, was able to make a success of it. January, 1941, marked a special occasion for Cole. Smash Comics #18 debuted his new creation, “Midnight.” It was originally meant to be an imitation of Eisner’s Spirit on the orders of Busy Arnold, who wanted a similar feature in case Eisner died in World War II. As he had done to his family after his famous bicycle trip in 1932, Cole pulled a fast one on his publisher and delivered a feature resembling The Spirit in costume only. “Midnight” became an artistic wonder in which Cole played up the laughs. He began twisting the conventional page designs of the time into graphic pretzels. Midnight was more than a Spirit clone (or, as they might have said in those days, a Spirit duplicator), fighting weirder villains in stranger settings. While showing a little influence from Eisner and Lou Fine, Cole’s

Splash page to a “Midnight” story from Smash Comics #29 (Dec. 1941). Its hero was a virtual dead-ringer for Eisner’s Spirit... down to the lack of socks (his legs show pink on this splash). [©2003 DC Comics.]

figures were much more animated. Drawn in the most exaggerated positions possible, his characters moved faster than any other artist’s (with the possible exception of those of Jack Kirby and Mort Meskin). His splash pages became more original. His storytelling was as fastpaced as his characters. Cole was building up to a major achievement: Plastic Man! One day, Cole was told that Arnold was going to publish a new book called Police Comics. It is unknown whether Cole was asked to create a new feature for it, or whether he had already had one. What is known is that Cole was the sole creator of “Plastic Man,” delivering a fully written, drawn, and lettered feature for the first issue of Police. Inspired by the movie Brother Orchid, starring Edward G. Robinson and Humphrey Bogart, Cole took the idea of a crook (Bogart) fleeing to a monastery after a falling-out with other crooks (Robinson and his gang) and reforming in time to defeat the criminal organization, and incorporated it into Plastic Man’s origin. Eel O’Brian, the broken-nosed former criminal, became a force for good with his newfound stretching powers. There was just one obstacle: the lead (and cover) feature in Police was “Firebrand,” drawn by star artist Reed Crandall. It took four issues, but Arnold soon got the message that “Plastic Man” was the most popular feature in the book, and so “Plastic Man” became the lead feature and knocked “Firebrand” off the cover and into second place.

Reportedly, publisher Busy Arnold didn’t like Cole’s “Death Patrol,” with its high character-mortality rate. A black-&-white version of one of the stories was reprinted in Golden-Age Men of Mystery #20 (2000); see AC Comics’ ad elsewhere in this issue. [Retouched art ©2003 AC Comics.]

It took a few issues, but Cole reached his métier in the stretchable sleuth. “Plastic Man” began to take up more pages in the magazine as he stretched his way into the hearts of his readers. Cole managed to outdo himself in every way possible. Plastic Man was bent in a million different shapes and guises before he emerged victorious in his war against crime. Cole’s camera angles vaulted from high-altitude perspectives to worm’s-

Artist and Enigma

eye views of the city, with an occasional side trip to dreamland. Cole’s lettering was as distinctive as his drawing, adding to the expressive quality of the art. His writing was as original as his art, combining adventure with side-splitting slapstick. The Plastic Man covers were beautiful examples of poster art. Cole was able to reproduce on paper the fanciful visions that danced in his head, with stark clarity. Was there ever a more kinetically charged super-hero than Plastic Man? Cole’s villains at times became poignant studies in personality. Greed, ruthlessness, hate... all the deadly sins that evil could sow were to be found in his villains. Where else would a giant-sized villain, his legs paralyzed, walk on his hands throughout the story, destroying whatever was in his path, without looking out of place? Every once in a while, Cole created villains who really weren’t as bad as they seemed, thus gaining reader sympathy and a few laughs, too. Additional laughs were provided by Plastic Man’s sidekick, Woozy Winks. Several people have intimated that Woozy and Plastic Man were reflections of Cole’s own personality. Cole knew that his peers in the comics business admired and respected him, so it’s doubtful that he believed people saw him as a Woozy Winks type. Maybe the self-critical Cole saw himself that way. Busy Arnold certainly didn’t, though, as he consistently gave Cole sizable bonuses. In short order, “Plastic Man” became the company’s second-highest-selling super-hero, after “Blackhawk” in Military Comics. Cole’s star was as bright as the Comet character he had once drawn. He took on all the work he could, ghosting for Will Eisner on the Spirit dailies in addition to his “Plastic Man” work. He occasionally did filler features like “Burp the Twerp,” “Bob and Swab,” “Fuzzy,” and others.

Changes By this time, Jack and Dorothy had moved to Connecticut to be near Quality’s offices in Stamford. The couple became part of a social group that included Lou Fine, Gill Fox, Alex Kotzky, Tony DiPreta, and Zoltan Szenics. Everyone got along, and they spent time bowling and partying at each other’s homes. Jack bought a movie camera and recorded those times for everyone to enjoy throughout the years. The artists’ wives all became friends, even though Dorothy was considered quiet and hard to know compared to the others. Cole was like a class clown, playing practical jokes on his friends, such as the infamous dragonfly incident, in which the insect was buzzing around the room with a banner attached to its back which read, “Drink Pepsi Cola.” And God help them if Cole found a bottle of disappearing ink! But things changed as Busy Arnold moved his offices to New York City. For unknown reasons, Jack Cole was labeled 4-F and rejected from military service in World War II. Jack’s old friend and editor Gill Fox left his editorial post to fight in the war. Other friends were leaving, too, as Hitler and Tojo broke up that old gang of Jack’s. For a short while, Cole worked in the Quality offices, his desk separated from artist Mort Leav’s by a wall. The two artists placed a mirror at the top of the wall so they could see each other and communicate while working. Leav said, “When I wanted to get in touch with him, I’d click my desk lamp on and off and he’d know I wanted to talk. He did the same thing; we’d make hand signals, too. We were like a couple of kids.” The Coles eventually moved to Massachusetts. When Alex Kotzky asked Gill Fox about it, Gill replied, “That’s Jack. When he wants to be by himself, he wants to be way by himself.” In 1943, Plastic Man got his own comic and it became impossible for Cole to do all the work. Writers like Manly Wade Wellman started producing stories. Pencilers including Alex Kotzky and Jack Spranger, with inks by Robin King, John Belfi, Sam Burlockoff, and others, began imitating Cole in hopes of keeping the franchise a money-maker. Other artists started drawing the covers, often in a more realistic style, missing the entire point of the character.

We think this page from a circa 1950 issue of Plastic Man was drawn by Alex Kotzky, or maybe Jack Spranger, rather than by Jack Cole—but even Art Spiegelman says, in his book on Cole, that the former pair were “very skillful mimics,” and that “the ‘forgeries’ are sometimes as hard to spot as Plastic Man himself in disguise.” Still, though Plas disguised as a can of paint is a nice touch, the art’s lack of zaniness suggests a “ghost,” probably Kotzky, who Spiegelman says was “a worshipful friend” of Cole’s. Repro’d from a photocopy of the original art, courtesy of Ethan Roberts. [©2003 DC Comics.]

Their work was professional, but no one could duplicate the highlycharged, unique vision that was Jack Cole’s. As Gill Fox observed, “The reason why none of us was ever influenced by Cole’s work was because we knew we couldn’t match up, so why try? It was impossible to follow him. Jack was an absolute 100% original.” Before the Coles moved from Connecticut, Jack must have become restless with Quality Comics. In 1947 and ’48, he packaged several issues of True Crime Comics for Magazine Village which would eventually arouse the ire of noted comic book critic Dr. Fredric Wertham. Graphic depictions of murder, drug abuse, and the ever-popular “injury to the eye” motif were all present and accounted for in these idiosyncratic tales of evil. Jack showed the range of his artistic vision, delving deeper into the depths of human depravity than anything he’d written before. Maybe, in some ways, Cole understood those depths better than he should have? Cole was doing less and less “Plastic Man” work, seldom inking his own work and letting others do the lettering. He rarely visited the Quality offices anymore, preferring to mail his work. Cole was experiencing burnout on “Plastic Man,” probably hastened by his increasing number of cartoon sales to magazines. In the 1950s he drew several [Continued on p. 9]

SUPER-HERO SIDEBAR:

Jack Cole

The Jack Cole Checklist

Compiled by Jerry Bails & Hames Ware [NOTE: In the 1970s Jerry Bails and Hames Ware assembled, edited, and published The Who’s Who of American Comic Books. A subsequent edition is, in Jerry’s words, “linked to the GCD [the Grand Comic Book Database] and thus not unavailable to surfers. [In addition,] a Google search will lead anybody to these efforts.” Meanwhile, here, by permission, is a stripped-down version of the electronic Who’s Who entry on Jack Cole. Thanks, Jerry! Oh, and below, “w”= writer, “a”=artist... while a hyphen between years (“1945-48”) means he worked on the feature during those years, while a slash (“1945/48” means he worked on it in 1945, then again in 1948 after an apparent lapse. Hope everything else is more or less self-explanatory. —Roy.] COLE, JACK (1914-58)—artist, writer, editor a.k.a. JACK RALPH COLE; his real name was JACK, not JOHN, according to his brother Dick Pen names: RALPH JOHNS; R. JOHNSON (?), RICHARD BRUCE

Staff: Your Guide (editor, 1939-40) Freelance editor/packager: Magazine Village, 1947-49 Shop work: Chesler (w/a), 1937-39 Funnies, Inc. (a), 1940 Mainstream comic book credits: Archie/MLJ: “The Comet” (w/a) 1939; “Ima Slooth” (w?/a) 1939; “Manhunters” (w/a) 1939; “Hold That Line” (w/a) 1939; “Crime on the Run” (w/a) 1939; “King Kole’s Kourt” (w/a) 1939 Centaur (incl. Chesler 1930s/Ultem/CMC, et al.): “Down the Trail” (w/a) 1938; Funny Pages (w/a) 1937-40; Funny Picture Stories (w/a) 1937-38; “Gertie the Cashier” (w/a) 1938; Keen Detective Funnies (w/a) 1939; “King Kole’s Kourt” (w/a) 1938; “Little Dynamite” (w/a) 1939; “Nutty Fagin” (w/a) 1938; “Officer Clancy” (w/a) 1938; “Slim Pickens” (w/a) 1938; Star Rangers/Star Rangers Funnies (w/a) 1938-39 Charlton Comics: (Specifics?) (w/a) 1954 (on staff, only about 3 weeks) Chesler Publications/Dynamic: “Ima Slooth” (w/a) 1942 (reprints)

Art Education: Landon Correspondence Art Course

Eclipse Enterprises: Mr. Monster High-Octane Horror (w/a) 1986 (reprints); Mr. Monster’s True Crime (w/a) 1986 (reprints)

Staffer: American Can Factory, 1934-36

Hillman Periodicals: “The Defender” (w/a) 1940

Writer: Article with cartoons about his cross-country bicycle trip for Boy’s Life, 1935

Lev Gleason/Comic House/New Friday/Your Guide: Claw vs. Daredevil (a) 1941; “The Claw” (a) 1939-41; covers (a) 1940-41; crime stories (w/a) c. 1949; “Daredevil” (w/a) 1941; “Dickie Dean” (w/a) 1940-41; “Pirate Prince” (w/a) 1941; “Silver Streak” (w/a) 1940-41

Biographical material in: Ace Presents Daredevil, 1987; Focus on Jack Cole, 1986 book; Great Comic Book Artists, 1986; Ron Goulart’s Comics History Magazine #4, 1997; The New Yorker, April 19, 1999; Jack Cole and Plastic Man: Forms Stretched to Their Limits, 2001. Hardcover books reprinting his comics work: The Great Comic Book Heroes (Dial Press, 1965); Jack Cole and Plastic Man: Forms Stretched to Their Limits (Chronicle, 2001); Secret Origins of the Super DC Heroes (DC, 1976); Plastic Man Archives (four volumes to date).

Magazine Village: True Crime Stories (w/a) 1947-48 Major Magazines/Humor Vision/et al.: “Peewee Throttle” (w/a) 1938 Novelty/Curtis: “Hi-Grass Twins” (w/a) 1940

Quality Comics Group: All Humor (w/a) 1946; “Angles O’Day” (w/a) 1951-53; “Dan Tootin” (a) 1941-47; “The Barker” (w/a) 1944/49; “Big Brother” (a) 1947; “Blackhawk” (a) 1950; “Blimpy” (a) 1944; “Bob and Swab” (a) 1949; “Burp the Twerp” (w/a) 1944-48; covers (a) 1942-53; “Cuthbert” (a) 1946; “Death Patrol” Honors: Jack Kirby Hall of Fame (w/a) 1941; “Fuzzy” (w/a) 1946-48; Award, 1991 “Ike and Dooitt” (a) 1943; “Inkie” Syndicated credits: Betsy and Me (a) 1944; “Ken Shannon” (w/a) 1951This splash from Plastic Man #14 (Nov. 1948) depicts one of the stretchable (writer & artist), 1958 53; “Midnight” (w/a) 1941-42/45-49; sleuth’s most memorable foes, Concrete—wacky humor (having his nails The Spirit (ghost writer & “Plastic Man” (w/a) 1941-50/54; trimmed with a pneumatic drill)—and an Eisneresque logo made out of artist), 1942-43 “Poison Ivy” (a) 1945-46; bricks. Thanks to Steve Brumbaugh. [©2003 DC Comics.] “Quicksilver” (w/a) 1940-41; “Slap Cartoon contest winner: Happy Pappy” (w/a) 1943-49; “T-Man” (w/a) 1951; Web of Evil (w/a) Open Road for Boys (1931) 1952-54; “Windy Breeze” (a) 1941-c. 46; “Wun Cloo” (a) 1941-42/45-47. Gag cartoons: Boy’s Life (1938-39); True Detective (c. 1940); Judge (c. DC Comics: DC Special #14 (1971), et al. (reprints of “Plastic Man”) 1945-49); Humorama (& other Humorama mags, 1950s); Playboy (1955-58), et al. (Also various small-press reprints) Creator: Plastic Man, Midnight

Artist and Enigma

[Continued from p. 7] stories for Quality’s Web of Evil comic, allowing inkers to mutilate his pencils almost beyond recognition. It was hard to tell if he wrote those stories, because the unique essence he had brought to his earlier crime stories was not present here. Why Cole finally left Quality is a mystery. Did he have a falling out with Busy Arnold, or was he just too bored and tired to continue? He showed up at DC Comics looking for work, but was turned away. Cole spent approximately three weeks working on staff at Charlton Comics in 1954, but quit because it didn’t pay well enough. He’d had enough of comics. He was still selling cartoons to magazines, but needed more income. In 1955, New England experienced catastrophic flooding that ruined the homes of many inhabitants, the Coles included. The home movies that recorded some of the Coles’ happiest times drowned in a sea of lost opportunities and water. Nearly everything Jack and Dorothy owned was lost.

The Playboy Years Their hopes were revitalized when Jack joined the distinguished ranks of Playboy cartoonists. At last he had hit the big time! Publisher Hugh Hefner insisted that Jack move to Chicago, and reluctantly the Coles left family and friends for the unfamiliar Midwest, eventually settling down in Cary, Illinois. Through Jack’s ups and downs in the business, he never seemed to lose his sense of humor. His old friends all thought he was a sweet, happy-go-lucky, human version of Plastic Man. His new friends saw a quieter, more reserved Jack Cole than had existed in Stamford. Jack had put his whoopee cushions and disappearing ink away for good. For a while, life seemed to be good for the Coles. Jack had become a star artist for Playboy, drawing a wonderful series of black-&-white cartoons. But it was his incredible painted cartoons that made him popular. Cole always drew sexy women, but now their attributes were more obviously revealed. As always, his figure work was fluid and his women full of life and character. Much like Hefner’s centerfolds, his women were “the girl next door.” One day in 1958, Jack Cole walked into the Chicago Sun-Times and later emerged with a contract for a newspaper strip called Betsy and Me. It was a parody of married life that didn’t seem to resemble Cole’s own home life, in that Jack and Dorothy had no children as did his creation, the Tibbets. But then again, the relationship between Chester and Betsy Tibbet may have mirrored the Coles’ home life, and son Farley may have been wish fulfillment on the part of the artist. Cole’s friends were all surprised at the strip. The verbal byplay between characters was sparkling and inventive at times, but the art looked like nothing Jack had ever produced. It was minimalist, ultra-

modern 1950s drawing. Cole was trying to reinvent himself, as he had done at Playboy, in an attempt to modernize his work. Gill Fox was told by an editor friend at the New York Herald Tribune that everyone expected Betsy and Me to hit the big-time, though many of Cole’s peers were not as impressed with the strip as the syndicate was. Cole was as busy as a cartoonist could be. With Betsy and Me, Cole’s lifelong dream of doing a newspaper strip had been realized. There was even talk that Cole had sold yet another strip idea, and his friends wondered how he was going to find the time to do everything. There were only so many hours in a day, and Cole seemed to have filled most of them already.

Death—and a Mystery August 12, 1958. There was a Playboy party and Cole attended— without Dorothy, as usual. He seemed excited that night, drinking more than usual. Though no one had seen any signs of discontent in Jack, something had happened, because late the next afternoon, Jack Cole’s dreams all ended in suicide. What could have caused him to take his own life? Speculation has always centered on two of the three notes that he left behind. Cole sent a letter to Hugh Hefner, one to his wife Dorothy, and left the third beside his body. The note found by his side asked the reader to notify Cole’s wife, giving their address. He requested that the bearer of the bad news bring one of the Coles’ neighbors along, so Dorothy would have someone to lean on. At the end of the note, Jack wrote, “Please forgive me, hon.” Jack was obviously concerned with how his wife would take the news, as they had argued earlier. Mysteriously, less than an hour before Cole shot himself, he called a neighbor and told him what he’d planned. The letter Cole wrote and mailed to Hefner was more cryptic in content. Cole felt he had to absolve Hefner of any potential blame for what he had done. What made Cole think that Hefner would blame himself in any way? In Cole’s own words, Hefner was “the best guy I’ve ever worked for in all these years.” Maybe Cole cared so much for Hefner that he wasn’t leaving any chance of Hefner feeling guilty about moving the Coles to Illinois? Equally puzzling was the sentence, “I cannot go on living with myself and hurting those dear to me.” Why “those,” a plural, rather than a singular appellation? Was he hurting someone else besides Dorothy? There were no children in the marriage, or other family members living nearby. Other parts of the letter reinforce the idea that Cole still loved his wife, even as he died. He referred to her as “dear Dorothy,” trusting that she would repay whatever it was that Jack owed Hefner. Cole made a point of saying goodbye to “all the other fine folks at Playboy.” They certainly weren’t being hurt by Cole while he was alive.

Jack Cole her from the people she knew and transplanted her to a world in which she didn’t participate. Between his Playboy work and Betsy and Me, Jack had little time to spare. If the rumor is true that he was starting up still another strip, just what would that leave for Dorothy? In her despair, did she turn to another man, as many believe? Her subsequent remarriage, relocation from the Cary area, and loss of contact with those who had known her while she was married to Jack indicates that possibility.

It seems logical to believe that Cole would have written “hurting Dorothy” rather than “hurting those,” if his wife were the only one suffering. Just what did Cole do that caused enough pain to himself and others to make him think death was the only way out? Obviously, there’s no way to know; and speculation, as Playboy art director Art Paul points out later in this issue, can be very dangerous. Based on the number of times the topic was the subject of Cole’s cartoons, Art Spiegelman, in his book Jack Cole and Plastic Man: Forms Stretched to Their Limits, suggests that Cole’s problem may have been impotence. Then again, drug abuse was a recurring theme in many of Cole’s comic book stories, but no writer has suggested the possibility that Cole took drugs. Still, a creator often reveals himself in his stories, and suicide scenes frequently appear in Cole’s comic book work.

Art Spiegelman’s 1999 New Yorker article

Something definitely had Jack in a state of hyperactivity on his last night on Earth. Was it only his drinking? Had he received good news about Betsy and Me, or a new strip? Did Cole come home late and drunk, causing a fight with Dorothy? If she was having an affair, did she tell him, blaming him because he was too busy to pay attention to her? Could that have been the source of her pain, which Jack felt was his responsibility? Cole was a self-effacing, sensitive idealist who was the type, according to Gill Fox, to take the blame for things onto himself. The conjectures seem endless, without resolution.

became the basis of Chronicle Books’ 2001 There was a third letter, which Jack mailed to Jack Cole and Plastic Man: Forms Dorothy, explaining why he did what he did. This Stretched to Their Limits, which was artnote was never made public, although the coroner designed within an inch of its life by Chip read it. Gill Fox ran into Hefner a few months after Kidd. If this heavily-illustrated tome is still Cole’s death and asked him if he had any idea why It is that very lack of resolution that keeps the available, there’s never been a better Cole committed suicide. Hefner’s response was, Jack Cole story alive. His suicide casts an unforbargain for $19.95. [©2003 DC Comics.] “Dorothy had a note that she wouldn’t give to the tunate shadow on his life and career. Had he not police.” He didn’t know, either. Neither did the Cole family. As Jack’s been so well loved by his friends and family, it might not have mattered brother Dick says in his interview that follows, Dorothy apparently so much. The truth is that Jack Cole was a warm, loving man didn’t give their sibling Bob an explanation when he came to Illinois who brought joy to millions of people for the better part of immediately after Jack’s death. two decades, and smiles to the faces of those who knew him. And that is what really matters most. Perhaps Dorothy was lonely and blamed Jack for it? Jack separated

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Alex Toth

had as good a time at it than good ol’ Jack Cole! How could he not? They were his very own original pen and ink pals—his babies, creations—moving, acting, in their little worlds, in which just about anything was possible—IF you had a sense of humor—didn’t take any of it seriously—but, then, how could you? Jack Cole at once disarmed half of your critical senses by stating clearly in his simple, humorous word/picture style and continuity that: “Hey! This is a COMIC book! This is a CARTOON! And I’m a CARTOONIST! I’M having fun making up this stuff for you—so why don’t YOU have fun along with me? Enjoy!” An offer few of us kid/cartoonist-types, and the lay readership, could refuse! We jumped in with both legs, and our eyes wide open, to not miss a line, a word, of that blessed man’s good works! We so gladly accepted him on his own terms—the mark of the real talent—his work stood alone, apart, of its own, beyond comparison to any other! Jack Cole was such a welcome relief to the other overblown superjocks of other titles, books, and publishers! While we could mix up savory stews of Kirby, Fine, Meskin, Robinson, Biro, McWilliams, Nordling, Guardineer, Flessel, Christman, Beck, Briefer, Raboy, Cartier, Ray, Whitney, Ernst, Wolverton, Tuska, Kida, Borth, LeBlanc, Hasen, Sherman, Roussos—just a touch—a dash—of Cole, was needed—Eisner’s own “spirit” of that time—and more so later—increasingly took on more humorous story/art approaches which might’ve been signs of his appreciation of Cole’s funoriented stories and execution—whatever/whomever/however, etc., it gave Eisner’s “Spirit” series a mighty big plus, into the 1950s— While chasing me out of Jack Cole’s glassed-in workspace, thenQuality Comics Group A.D. George (“The Clock”/“711”) Brenner said that “Jack’s more inventive/creative/brilliant a storyteller than Caniff, Raymond, and Foster rolled into one!” My two visits there, to see/chat with/query Cole were cut dead as soon as Brenner came in the front door to find pesky me—“Mustn’t slow/stop the wheels of progress” was his line to me as he whisked me out!

Four Short Pieces by ALEX TOTH on the “Perfect Delineator” of the “Perfect Comic Book Hero”

Damn it! Very frustrating—for kid fan/tyro/hopeful/etc.—me! 15 yr old sample-stuffed portfolio-lugger—yup—1943/44—those visits.

[NOTE: In 1987 and 1992, veteran artist Alex Toth wrote several short essays, for different people and purposes, concerning “Plastic Man” creator Jack Cole; one of these saw print in Robin Snyder’s The Comics!, while the others have not previously been printed anywhere, having either been sent sent to Ye Editor directly by Alex, or having come to Alter Ego via collector/Toth fan Jim Amash. At first we were tempted to edit out the handful of phrases or pieces of information that appeared in more than one of them; but Alex Toth’s handwritten notes have a kind of style and poetry all their own, so in the end we elected to let each separate piece of writing stand basically as it was written. We think you’ll agree with our choice, as the essays complement each other. All art & text ©2003 Alex Toth; Plastic Man TM & ©2003 DC Comics. —Roy.]

I. During his prime years of creative, inventive, free-spirited zaniness and cartooning genius (WWII and postwar years), the time of his peaking “Plastic Man” and “Midnight” series at Quality Comics Group—I don’t think any workaday comicbook cartoonist

A Lonnnnnng Stretch of Tall Talent

He was tall, neat, gracious, generous with his time, critiquing my godawful stuff—answering my inane questions, as I watched him take a No. 2 ink-loaded brush to one of his “Plas” covers—or splashes—nice control, undulating line, all that feathering, slick, “finished,” yet so essentially simple—his big bold cartoon figure shapes and action—Woozy was up to no good again and in need of Plas’s rescue—just two stretch ’n’ squash figures on a white blank background— later, a blurb and the title logo’d be fitted—still, an extremely simple, bold, posterlike cover or splash, still not sure—50 yrs ago it was!

by so doing—I’m sure it pained him to see such obvious gaffes—tho’, in truth, even with the occasional toothicklined bg/prop/etc., Jack’s own design of same excused the heavyhanded errors—again, I liken those angled bgs to the WB cartoons’ great staging of back alleys/corners/ oddshaped bldgs/windows/etc.—with eye appeal! Curious, interesting— fresh, simple—crossangling dropshadows lent interest and solidity to overlapping shapes/spatial planes of depth— Cole’s spotting of blacks, via shadows, or as solid backdrops to spot negative, open-for-color figures or props again—or just as decorative, moodsetting areas for the hell of it— seemed to work fine—until ol’ “Plas” upscaled into his own book—and its frequency increased to where Cole simply could not do it all—and it became, like “Captain Marvel” and too many other hot, getting hotter, comic book titles, an industry unto itself, geting it out—committee-produced, diverse talents miming Jack Cole, in story and art, as best they could—but, well-intentioned an effort as it was, its quality and likeness to Cole’s own interpretations deteriorated, the character was diminished by all the many hands doing it—and Cole, as I’ve heard/read it, disheartened, disillusioned, tired, ground down by the press of such feverish script/art output, left it—

Jack Cole, I’m guessing, was/had to be/showed strong evidence that he was influenced by the wild, zany, marvelous Warner Bros. animated cartoons of the times—the Jones, Avery, Clampett, McKimson teams there feeling their oats and inventing spectacular sight gags, comic timing, with first class inventive layouts and striking high/low angle compositions, and lighting effects, dropshadowlines, etc., from the background painters (keen design talents, too) who’d “plus” any scene layout given them—I’m Nope, this isn’t early Cole, but another fine cartoonist admired by thinking Jack Cole took away more Alex—none other than Klaus Nordling. In Timely’s Mystic Comics #4 than bellylaughs from his viewings of (Aug. 1940), exactly one year before Plastic Man did his first them—for all those elements were the warm-up stretches in Police Comics #1, Nordling drew “The Thin stuff of his “Plas” and “Midnight” Man,” which turned the title of the famous Dashiell Hammett series! He learnt his lessons well—as in detective novel into the cognomen of a super-hero who could make animation, with its own laws of himself ultra-thin and perform numerous Plas-style tricks. But physics, where anything was possible, somebody must not have thought much of the concept, and it His brainchildren no longer his—in Cole extended those laws to his color perished after that single story, wherein Bruce Dickson was given his the creative sense—estranged by dint pages—all in a fine sense of fun, powers at one of many Shangri-La-style Tibetan monasteries. The of business demands, bucks, to spread Thin Man returned in the 1970s and ’90s Invaders/“Liberty Legion” mischief, discovery, achieving his goals “Plastic Man” too far, thin, wide—it series. Thanks to Matt Moring. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.] in providing us more and more was a sad end—success of “Plas” fastmoving kinetic action loops, panel bringing personal failure to him—having to let go—walk away—start to panel, with incredible design skills, inventing simple solutions to anew—and he did—at Hefner’s Playboy in its heyday—where he could complex problems also of his own invention in the writing/shaping of concentrate on one thing at a time, fullcolor watercolor sexy cartoons— his storyscripts—and Cole could handle a dozen or more panels per which became yet another success for him—his style was his own, again, page and yet not confuse or obfuscate all the essentials—in pure cartoon roughedged, fresh, snappy-looking cartoons—his girls became imagery—funny! Funny! collectable items, on napkins, coasters, etc., via Playboy’s vast merchanI’m told he wrote as he simultaneously penciled—preferring that dising lines— method—(to formal scripting sans rough dummies, etc.)—which was Yet—mysteriously, sadly, tragically, rumor has it that personal Jack Kirby’s, and no doubt many others’, best method—I’ve done the problems plagued him during that time of new achievement—he ended same, with mixed results—I think it must be the best way to write his life—! comics—(and storyboards for TV/film)—for it keeps a balance twixt word and picture, start to finish, as ideas emerge along the way—of course, my way of it always ended with a helluva tight squeeze those last two pages—tying up loose ends—’cuz I needed two more than I’d been given—a sign of poor pacing/planning, yes? Yes! It was clear to me that Jack Cole had a background man (if not drawing, then certainly) inking both simple and elaborate bgs [backgrounds]—tipoff to me, my early investigations of all my artistheroes’ work, was the thicker outlines of buildings, etc., and their details—“Speedball” pen-like linework—strong, simple, bold, yes—but, too often, they overpowered Jack’s own thinner-lined inked figures up front—reversing the basic rule of near/distant lineweight relationships

—And I’ll end this remembrance—respectfully— P.S.: Whatever happened to humor, wit, fun, in our comic books, their writers, artists, editors and idea men and women? We need a balance to offset the predominance of demons, hate, filth, gore, violence, doom, death—wallowing in the stuff—so sick, warped—everyone’s at it! Ad nauseum! Why? What’s the point? It’s all such a bloody bore—and waste of human talent, time, and effort, publicly spewing such offal—in their miserable exertions, degrading our unique storytelling medium as they do! Is there a Jack Cole out there? Or an Eisner? Or LeBlanc, or Shelly Mayer? Or Henry Boltinoff? Or Dick Briefer? Or C.C. Beck and Otto Binder? Or Fred Schwab? Wolverton? Chad? Let’s seek/find/hire/help them and comic books!

Alex Toth

A single story from Police Comics #100 (June 1950), featuring the electrifying Thrilla, provides a multiplicity of great “Plas” images: a splash page featuring a palpitating prototype of “Cole’s females” later to gain fame at Playboy... Thrilla’s deadly kiss (it fries one of her own gang) and other obvious attributes... a four-panel sequence at left that’s one of Ye Editor’s favorites (the third panel’s made him laugh out loud more than once!)... and Plastic Man turning the tables on Thrilla with some smooching of his own. Cole had it all! [©2003 DC Comics.]

II.

Find Woozy Winks in this page of Toth art—but then take the time to let your eyes peruse its many other delights, as well. This artwork appeared in Robin Snyder’s The Comics! for March ’91. [Art ©2003 Alex Toth; Woozy TM & ©2003 DC Comics.]

III. [NOTE: Here’s another 1992 piece. —R.T.] They were a well-paid if not a happy crew there at “Busy” Arnold’s Quality Comics Group during the in-and-out of WWII 1940s when their talents came to a creative bubbling boiling success—rumors of $60.00-plus page rates were proven true, with Reed Crandall getting much more, commensurate with having to draw almost every “Blackhawk” character in just too many panels per page, plus the redundancy of their planes, too, in other sequences, so he did well by Quality—and vice versa—I hope all the rest did, too—. Other than he and Will Eisner, Al McWilliams, Klaus Nordling, Andre LeBlanc, Frank Borth, Fred Guardineer, Lou Fine, Bill Smith, Tex Blaisdell, Chuck Cuidera, Arnie Sultan, Vernon Henkel, Alex Kotzky, Rudy Palais, Johnny Cassone, George (the bouncer of pesky kid fans) Brenner, Bob Powell, did yeoman work for Quality to uphold its title— and Jack Cole flourished with his runaway hit creation, “Plastic Man” (and “Midnight”)—old “Plas” was a brilliant freewheeling limitless fun character/concept for stories and visuals—the stretch ’n’ squash stuff of all animated cartoon action—the Warner Bros’ fare of the ’40s being the best and zaniest film animation then extant must’ve impressed and inspired Jack Cole in producing his cartoon art for comic book format— their outrageous sight gags, and wild scene designs/action—the brilliant compositions, both complex and simple, bold use of angular

dropshadows on walls, structures, to establish depth and clarity of overlapping shapes, use of color itself, muted vs. bright, continuity action-flow through scenes—basic styling of cartoon faces and figures— ideas of all kinds—seemed to me to prod Jack Cole to do much the same in stimulating readers’ eye travel and sense of visual delight in how he jazzed-up his always inventive/innovative panel and page layouts, more and more, in depicting the impossible things his superstretchy hero could do in different scales—“Plas” could be a building, a truck, a floorlamp, 7 miles of colorful garden hose, or shrink-wrap himself around the White House—there simply was no limit to his physical forms, or to Cole’s own story/art ideas, to full utilize Plas’s abilities. “Plas” was the perfect cartoon/and comic book character/hero—and Cole was his perfect delineator! And why? Because the guy thought funny! Wrote funny! And drew funny! He made it all work because it was funny! Take that funny, silly, outrageous, anything goes element out of the mix and you lose 70% of its innate charm and delight—as soon as Plas’d become like his many imitations of the past 40-odd years, which are played “straight,” and are just mutant forms of super-heroes—he’d be as much as bore as they are. Instead, Jack Cole, who must’ve had more damn fun while producing “Plas” than any other dozen guys in the business then, did it his way—he was, after all, a genuine cartoonist, committed to having fun, making fun, for the rest of us, with his own unique blend of bigfoot gag style with its own basic economy and simplicity so vital to put over the gag, etc., with the tempered continuity semi-adventure/illustrative style established at Quality, topped-off with his superslick tightly-inked finish, Jack Cole’d put his two plus two

Alex Toth together, come up with twenty-two—and we fans/admirers/students of his brilliant craftsmanship—wouldn’t have it any other way! We loved his math skill—22, all the way! His observations of animated cartoons, the Warner Bros. stuff, if my cogitations are, in fact, correct—were 6 minutes long, at best—unless he suffered kiddies’ matinees with umpteen cartoons, of varied brands, two shoot ’em up westerns, a few serials’ episodes, some comedy live shorts, and a feature—in those 1940s, when no other access to such cartoons

was available to those outside the film industry—so Jack had to absorb all vital visual data in single viewings of such cartoons in a NYC theatre and memorize them for whatever, later, inspired use he’d put them to at his board—staring at those many blank sheets of 3-ply Bristol daring to be filled—his kinship with the idiom of animated cartooons is obvious if you know what to look for—he was a fresh, young talent, full of potential, happy, prolific, absorbing all he could and spinning it all out again in new forms of his own making to suit his own needs.

IV. This 1987 note to now-A/E associate editor Jim Amash was printed in an early-’90s issue of The Comics! The accompanying art, taken from Plastic Man #17, was reprinted in the famous all-Plastic Man DC Special #15 (Nov.Dec. 1971), which introduced many a Silver Age enthusiast to the Cole legacy. [Text ©2003 Alex Toth; art ©2003 DC Comics.]

Dick Cole

“Other Super-Heroes Weren’t Like That!” JACK COLE’s Brother, DICK COLE, in a Candid Conversation with JIM AMASH [INTERVIEWER’S NOTE: People have a way of keeping the past vibrant in human memory. One example is Jack Cole, creator of “Plastic Man” and many other comic book features. Cole’s later work at Playboy magazine introduced him to a new readership and elevated his status as an artist. Sadly, Jack Cole was never interviewed, and thus his fans missed the opportunity to hear his story as he would have told it. Fortunately for us, his youngest brother, Dick Cole, generously gave of his time and memories so that we might get a glimpse into the man who will always be remembered as a gentle human being and a terrific creative talent. —Jim.]

“A Lot of History There!” JIM AMASH: How many children did your parents have?

Samuel’s son John married Suzannah Hutchinson, who was the daughter of Anne Marbury Hutchinson, who was very famous in New England. Anne was the first women’s-libber. She didn’t believe everything the Puritans taught and was eventually excommunicated by Governor Winthrop from the Puritan Church. Her family was massacred, except for her, and she was raised by Indians for a while. She eventually married John Cole. A lot of history there. In fact, there’s a statue of Anne Marbury Hutchinson in Massachusetts. She was my seventh-great-grandmother.

Dick Cole today, juxtaposed with one of his brother Jack’s classic splash pages, from Plastic Man #19 (Sept. 1949). Even the logos were endlessly inventive... and it’s not as easy to turn a flexible hero into a boxing ring as you might imagine! Unless otherwise noted, all photos accompanying this interview are courtesy of Dick Cole. Plas page thanks to Steve Brumbaugh. [Art ©2003 DC Comics.]

DICK COLE: Six. DeLace, Jr., was born in 1908 and died in 1919. He was run over by a truck when he was eleven years old. Doris Eloise was born in 1911; she died in 1986. Jack Ralph was next; he was born in 1914 and died in 1958. Betty Jane was born in 1916 and died in 1988. Robert Vincent was born in 1919 and died in 1993. I was born in 1929 and I’m still vertical. [laughs] JA: [laughs] I’m glad to hear that. So there’s a 21-year age difference between you and your oldest brother. My family’s like that: the oldest was born in 1949 and the youngest in 1973. We got your family beat! [laughs] You told me when we set up this interview that your family is descended from William the Conqueror. That’s some history! COLE: Yes, it is. The first Cole I have a record of in America was Samuel Cole, who was born in Mersea County in Essex, England. He and his wife Anne and three children arrived in Massachusetts in June 12, 1630. They sailed from Yarmouth, England, aboard the Arabelle, which was part of Governor Winthrop’s fleet. In 1633, Samuel Cole opened the first public inn. His Three Mariners Inn was referred to in a poem by John Endicott. My cousin, down in Arkansas, did all this research. He went around New England and visited gravesites and got dates.

JA: That’s astounding history. I take it that you were born into a middle-class family. COLE: Yes. My parents’ names were DeLace and Cora Belle. My mother was a school teacher in Elmira, New York, before she married my father. She didn’t teach once she got married. My mother was a very quiet woman. A beautiful lady. My father died in 1968 and my mother died in 1954. My father’s career was mostly in the dry goods business. He was the manager of several stores throughout the years. In the late ’30s, he purchased his own store in Greenville, Pennsylvania, a small town about 25 miles from New Castle. However, it didn’t pan out, and after three years, went bankrupt in 1941. We moved back to New Castle, and at the age of sixty he started a new career. He became a State Farm agent, passed the realtor’s exam, and worked with another realtor and insurance agent. After a few short years, he opened his own agency and was very successful. He was active with State Farm for twenty years and retired at the ripe young age of eighty.

“Other Super-Heroes Weren’t Like That!”

17 JA: Your family settled down in New Castle, Pennsylvania, which isn’t that far from where I was born. Tell me a little about where you were brought up. COLE: It was a small to medium industrial town. We had a tin mill and pottery was made here; engineering companies were here, too.

The extended Cole family in a photo taken probably in the midto-late 1930s. [Left to right, standing:] Betty Jane Cole (sister); Doris Eloise Cole Thompson (sister) and her husband Don; Jack and Dorothy Cole. [Left to right, sitting:] Delace Cole (father); Dick (brother); Cora Belle Cole (mother); Robert Vincent Cole (brother). To the right is a photo of Jack’s father.

My dad was very outgoing. He was an entertainer, a song and dance man. He was in shows for the Rotary Club, the Masons, and did minstrel shows. He had his own little orchestra and went around to Veterans’ Homes and the like. They called themselves The King Cole’s Corn Crackers. Jack used to call Dad “the old publicity hound” because he was always getting his name in the paper. Dad used to send him newspaper clippings.

My career was in the military. I was full time in the National Guard and when I left, I came back to New Castle and worked for Shenango Pottery. I went back to the Guard full time as a technician for 33 years.

“You’ll Never Amount to a Damn!” JA: What are your earliest memories of Jack? I notice there was fifteen years between the two of you. COLE: Jack wasn’t home too much when I was small. He was working and going to school. When I got to school age, he was gone from the house. I can remember him building a canoe in the backyard. That was after his bicycle trip to California, which he started on July 12, 1932, right after graduation. Jack had intentions of taking a trip down the Mississippi in a canoe. In the meantime, my mother found out that Jack and Dorothy were secretly married, and she said, “Go live with your wife.” That’s why he didn’t take the canoe trip. JA: He certainly was the adventurous type. I can’t imagine riding a bicycle from New Castle to California. Of course, you couldn’t do that now, because it’s illegal to ride a bicycle on interstate roads now. Was Jack going alone on his canoe trip? COLE: I think he had a friend who was going to go along with him. JA: Why did he keep his marriage to Dorothy secret? COLE: I don’t know. Maybe he didn’t want to tell her parents right away.

One of Cole’s first lessons with the Landon School of Cartooning Correspondence Course, circa 1935, according to Ron Frantz, who provided us with it. Thanks, Ron! [©2003 the respective copyright holder.]

Jack and Dorothy “rented a great big farmhouse when they lived in Barrington, Massachusetts... about thirteen rooms, with several hundred acres, mostly forest.”

Dick Cole JA: Jack met Dorothy in high school, didn’t he? COLE: Yes. Jack went to New Castle Senior High School and graduated in June 1932. They got married in New Brighton, Pennsylvania, which is about fifteen miles from New Castle, on July 7, 1934. They were married about a month before we knew about it. JA: So she’s a part of your earliest memories, too. You didn’t know a time when he wasn’t with her. COLE: That’s right. Jack was my idol when I was growing up, and even when I was a teenager. I even took the Landon Correspondence School of Cartooning, but I didn’t have the ability that he did. I was amazed just sitting there and watching him draw. He was so fast and neat. I used to visit them every summer, when they lived in Huntington, New York, on Long Island Sound. Then they moved to Stamford, Connecticut, and they rented a great big farmhouse when they lived in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. It was a huge farmhouse, about thirteen rooms, with several hundred acres, mostly forest. It was right on the border of Connecticut. The previous owner was MacCullouch, of The Ox-Bow Incident. I was in my glory in that attic; there were all kinds of antiques in that attic. JA: He was certainly doing well at that time. Were any other family members artistic? COLE: My brother Bob had his own silkscreening business. He was designing logos and such. JA: What kind of student was Jack in school?

Jack Cole was all over the place in Blue Ribbon Comics #1 (Nov. 1939), one of MLJ’s first entries in the field. On these three strips he signed his real name; “King Kole’s Kourt” in the same issue (see p. 5), wasn’t signed by him. Unless otherwise noted, Jim Amash supplied the comic art that appears with this interview, with the scanning/e-mailing help of Teresa R. Davidson. [©2003 Archie Comic Publications, Inc.]

“Other Super-Heroes Weren’t Like That!”

With the first issue of MLJ’s Pep Comics (Jan. ’40), Jack Cole introduced the super-hero called “The Comet,” who had a splashy costume—though his main claim to distinction, detailed two issues back, was when he was killed in action in a story and his brother avenged his death as a new costumed hero, The Hangman. But by then Cole had moved on to other things. Thanks to Shawn S. Clay for the splash from Pep #3 on right. [©2003 Archie Comic Publications, Inc.]

COLE: I don’t really know. I know his chemistry teacher told him, “You’ll never amount to a damn!” [mutual laughter] Jack was the class clown. JA: I wonder if the teacher ever found out about Jack’s success? Certainly, no one ever wrote a book about that teacher. COLE: Well, he was a character himself. I had him for chemistry, too.

“He Was My Idol” JA: I guess Jack became a legend around New Castle. COLE: Yes, he was. JA: What kind of brother was he? Are the stories about him being a practical joker true?

He was quite inventive. Jack tapped the telephone line so he could listen to our sisters talk to their boyfriends. My mother had a fit because the phone company found out about it. He’d run up to the attic and pick up the earphone and listen. JA: That’s so funny! I’d have been killed if I’d tried that. Was Jack an avid reader? COLE: I don’t remember too much about that. He did read a lot of articles when I used to visit him. That’s probably where he got some of his inspirations. JA: He worked all the time, so I’d guess he read magazines more often than books. COLE: Yeah. He read magazines. He loved music. JA: Did he and Dorothy go dancing?

COLE: Yes. He was very entertaining and fun—kept you in stitches all the time. You’ve heard about the time he tied tissue paper on the [dragon]fly with the words, “Drink Pepsi Cola.” This wasn’t a practical joke, but he published a newspaper in school. It was like a scandal sheet and it almost got a kid expelled from school. Jack had to retract the story. [laughs]

COLE: Not too much, no. He listened to radio shows... we all did. He liked the standard fare: Amos and Andy, Fred Allen, and Jack Benny. He used to love listening to Poole’s Paradise, starring Bob Poole. Poole would start out in that gravelly voice, “Hey, you! Are you listening?” and go on with a bunch of corny stuff. Jack used to listen to that every day and he got me hooked on it.

When Jack was around 12 or 13 years old, he used to go to the movies, wearing a long coat. He’d squinch down in the coat, making himself appear shorter, so he could get the cheaper admission price.

And he went to movies when he had time. When Olsen and Johnson’s Hellzapoppin opened up on stage in New York, Jack went to

Dick Cole

see it several times. It was risque for its time.

COLE: I have no idea why he was 4-F.

JA: How did you feel about having your big brother drawing comics?

JA: Maybe he had flat feet or something?

COLE: It was great. He was my idol. All my friends knew about his comic book work.

COLE: He may have had flat feet, but I think he had problems with hemorrhoids. He was always sitting down working. He didn’t have a bad back.

JA: How did your parents feel about Jack doing comic books? COLE: My dad used to show them off, and my mother used to go along with it. She was happy that Jack put his talent to good use. Jack and Dot struggled a lot in the early days, going from pay to pay, and sometimes there wasn’t any pay. JA: Jack wasn’t in the service during World War II because he was classified 4-F. Do you know why?

JA: I noticed in seeing pictures that Jack wore glasses when he was older. Do you remember if he wore them when you were younger? COLE: He didn’t in his younger days. JA: He’s like me: the comic book work did it to him. Was Jack a heavy smoker? Some people told me he was, and others said he wasn’t. COLE: He smoked pretty heavily while he was drawing.

A few of the things Cole moved on to were: (a) the title feature in Lev Gleason’s Silver Streak Comics—at top is the splash from #6 (Sept. 1940)... (b) “The Claw,” the strip that introduced the original Daredevil—this is from Silver Streak #10 (May ’41)... and (c) “Quicksilver” in Quality’s National Comics, starting in #5 (Nov. ’40)—not sure if this splash is from that ish or not, though. The latter two splash pages have been retouched, with grey tones added, for printing in AC Comics’ Golden Age Greats #10 and Men of Mystery #23, respectively. [“Silver Streak” ©2003 the respective copyright holder; retouched “Claw” & “Quicksilver” art ©2003 AC Comics.]

“Other Super-Heroes Weren’t Like That!”

JA: Was he close to any of your brothers and sisters?

COLE: Not really. It was just there! He was very excited about it. He didn’t call and tell me about it, but he called my father, I imagine. I had a lot of pride in him.

COLE: As close as he was to me. We wrote letters to each other. My sister Betty and Jack were quite close.

JA: When you saw him do “Plastic Man,” did you see him work from a script or did he write it as he drew it?

JA: Did the rest of the family stay in New Castle?

COLE: I always assumed that he had a story and then drew it.

COLE: Mostly, yes. Bob moved to Michigan for a while, and my sister Betty moved when her husband went into another business, about thirty miles from here. Then, they retired and moved to Florida.

JA: Since “Plastic Man” had so much spontaneity in the stories, I always thought he made up some of it while he drew it. Was Jack a spontaneous type of person?

He worked all night, so he probably smoked the night away.

COLE: Yes.

JA: Did you have children when Jack was alive? If so, what kind of uncle was he?

JA: You said that he could be moody. Was he quick to anger?

COLE: I had two children when he was alive, but he seldom got to see them. When he came to town, he’d entertain them with drawings. They loved Uncle Jack. He loved children and he had no children of his own.

COLE: He probably held it inside, and when it came out, it came out. JA: Is it fair to say that he wore his emotions on his sleeve?

JA: Why didn’t he have children?

COLE: That sounds like Jack... yeah. If he felt something, you knew it.

COLE: I have no idea. There’s been speculation, and Art Spiegelman had his thoughts about it. I don’t agree with a lot of what he said.

JA: What did you think of Dorothy?

“Jack Could Be Moody”

Plastic Man #21 (Jan. 1950) was a landmark issue. Besides the clever cover story about a villainous mind-reader, it contained the story “Where Is Amorpho?,” mentioned earlier, which featured an alien who could almost keep up with Plas as a shape-shifter. It’s interesting that, while Cole was allowed full rein on creative “Plastic Man” logos in the stories inside, publisher Busy Arnold felt—probably rightly—that the prospective buyer had to be able to read the cover logo; hence it was an ultra-simple, block-letter affair. Thanks to Steve Brumbaugh. [©2003 DC Comics.]

JA: I didn’t either, which is why I wanted to talk to you. Jack Cole is one of my favorite artists and a cartooning influence on me. In his History of the Comics, Jim Steranko lets you know that Jack had his ups and downs.

COLE: Jack could be moody. He’d blame things on himself. Jack was the type to always take responsibility. JA: Do you know anything about the creation of “Plastic Man”? COLE: No, I don’t. JA: Jack started doing gag cartoons for magazines while he was doing “Plastic Man.” Do you think he had a burning desire to get out of comics? COLE: It was news to me when he decided to get out of comics. I was surprised, but he didn’t talk about it. But we didn’t see each other except for about once a year. JA: He had a varied career. He did comic books, gag cartoons, a newspaper strip, and of course, his Playboy work. Do you think he had a favorite career choice? COLE: Oh, yes. His life’s ambition was to do a newspaper strip, which he got when he did Betsy and Me. JA: Do you remember when you heard about the strip?

COLE: She was a very quiet girl. I liked Dorothy a lot. [At this point Dick is briefly distracted by his grandson.] My son is taking him to a movie this afternoon. He’s on his way out now. My son is a wonderful artist. He did a mural downtown, on one of the buildings, of downtown New Castle, as it appeared in 1908. It took him over 300 hours and he did it gratis. He also has his own business.

JA: Well, I retired from painting due to popular demand. [laughs] Dorothy was much shorter than Jack was, wasn’t she? COLE: Yes, as you can see in the family portrait. Jack was about six foot three.

“You Just Wonder Why” JA: How did you find out that Jack had passed away? COLE: I was at summer camp, in the National Guard, when I got a phone call from my wife. That’s how I found out. It was quite a shock... I was in shock. JA: I understand. I’ve never had to deal with something like that, and there’s no way I can imagine how you felt. I’m sure it must never leave you. COLE: No. You just wonder why. JA: Do you know why...?

Dick Cole COLE: No, it doesn’t make sense. JA: When was the last time you had talked to him? COLE: I can’t tell you, because I was married and in the service. I don’t remember the last time I’d talked to him. JA: I’m sure it devastated the family and must have stayed with everyone the rest of their lives. COLE: In a way... like I said, you don’t dwell on it constantly, because life goes on. JA: True. There’s something about his work on “Plastic Man” that makes people feel a certain kinship with Jack, especially if you’re an artist. He touched a lot of people. I’m sure you know that Jack would have been remembered, no matter how he lived or died, for his work. COLE: I do know that. He was so unique.

“We Never Heard from Her Again” JA: I hate that it seems like people, and I include myself in this, eventually seem to focus on his death. Didn’t anyone ever ask Dorothy what happened? Your brother Bob went to see her afterwards. Didn’t he ask? COLE: I don’t know. I have no idea about the contents of the letter she showed to the district attorney. They respected her privacy. JA: But you’re the one who has to live with it. It doesn’t seem fair.

Another splash, this one (as noted) from Plastic Man #25 (Sept. 1950). The publishing info was added when the story was reprinted in DC Special #14 in 1971. But is the art by Cole—or by Kotzky—or maybe Spranger? [©2003 DC Comics.]

COLE: I have no inkling. JA: Do you think anyone besides Dorothy knew what happened? COLE: Not to my knowledge. If they did, I’m sure it would have come out by this time. JA: Yeah, because your brother Bob would have told you. COLE: Yeah, because he went up there [to Cary, Illinois] after it happened. Hugh Hefner didn’t know why, either. JA: I’ve talked to a few people who knew Jack, and everyone says they would never have guessed that Jack was the type to kill himself. COLE: Yeah. JA: How do you cope with something like this? COLE: You just get over it. You have to accept it, because life moves on. JA: I hope you understand why I ask about it; it’s not morbid curiosity. When you have people like me, who grew up admiring Jack, it makes you wonder. When you’re an artist like myself, it becomes more personal. I’ve always wondered about this; it certainly wasn’t something he planned out in advance. COLE: No, it didn’t seem to be, because he didn’t even own a gun. JA: And a small caliber rifle is not something you’d think he’d use. It doesn’t make sense.

“Other Super-Heroes Weren’t Like That!”

called Eisner on it and said maybe Jack meant his father-in-law. My father never drank—maybe a little wine once in a while—and he never smoked, either. JA: How did you find out that she had remarried? COLE: Through Hugh Hefner. He was trying to locate her. I think he had some royalties or something. He found out she had remarried. JA: He never found out what happened to her, did he? COLE: No. I’m surprised he couldn’t. JA: Did he find out who she married? COLE: Well, the guy had a hardware store in Cary, Illinois. She must have moved away from there, or Hefner would have found her. Jack and Dorothy Cole’s home in Stamford, Connecticut.

COLE: I know. JA: Did anyone in your family stay in touch with Dorothy afterwards? COLE: No one. We never heard from her. After she remarried, we never heard from her again. When she came to New Castle for Jack’s funeral, she wouldn’t speak to any of us. JA: You didn’t hear from her in between the time Jack died and she remarried, either?

JA: I don’t suppose you happen to know the name of the person she married. COLE: Nope. You wonder if Jack’s lack of attention at times, because he was always working—. Was she seeing someone else? Was he in bad health? You don’t know. There’s all kinds of speculations. JA: It’s hard not to do that, though Art Spiegelman had his theories. COLE: And I made a mistake when I told Spiegelman about my Uncle Frank. He didn’t commit suicide; he attempted suicide. I corrected that through Steve Korté, editor of Spiegelman’s book, and said that I’d found out through my cousins that he attempted suicide and went to a

COLE: No. She had no contact with the Coles at all. JA: That’s puzzling, because I’d think she’d have wanted someone to lean on after what happened. COLE: You’d think so, but she didn’t. JA: Was she a strong-willed woman? COLE: She must have been. And she could be a little moody. JA: I’m under the impression that they had an intense marriage. They seemed to really love each other, but I have the feeling they could get in a good argument. COLE: I remember an argument or two when I visited them, but if they fought, they probably did it on the side. They generally got along okay. JA: Jack really seemed to adore her; you can tell it in the notes he left. A man who hates his wife doesn’t call her “Dear Dorothy” when he kills himself. And he certainly was concerned about how the news was to be broken to her. COLE: Yes. It’ll always be a puzzling thing. I’ll always wonder what happened. JA: Spiegelman printed a lot of photos in his book, Jack Cole and Plastic Man. Did Dorothy return anything to the family? COLE: I can’t tell you that. She didn’t give anything back to the family. JA: That must have hurt and puzzled everybody. COLE: It puzzled me to no end how she had no use for us. JA: Did Dorothy have any siblings? COLE: She had a sister, and her father died when I was young. He was an alcoholic. Will Eisner made the comment that he went out to dinner with Jack, and he said that he only drank milk because his father died an alcoholic. But my father was very much alive long after Jack died. I

Dick Cole when I was a kid, I used to sit around and sketch Plastic Man. He keeps showing up in my drawings, even to this day. I can’t help it, and I sure wish I’d have had a chance to do a Plastic Man comic book. Do you think there was a bit of your brother in the Plastic Man character? COLE: Absolutely. I’d say that, especially in regards to the humor of “Plastic Man.” Other superheroes were not like that! As a kid, I read other comics, like Superman and Batman, but Plastic Man was my favorite. Plastic Man was an extension of Jack’s character. You know, Jack’s inventiveness was evident even when I was a child. He once took an old drawing board and made a pinball machine out of it, with cardboard and thumbtacks. He used a pencil with rubber bands and marbles for balls and pins to hit them against. JA: That’s great. He must have had some carpentry skills.

Ironically, probably Jack Cole’s most famous individual comic book story is from True Crime Comics #2 (May 1947), a story of drugs and crime in which he drew a panel which Dr. Fredric Wertham used as his prime example of the “injury to the eye motif” in comic books, in his 1954 tome Seduction of the Innocent. Cole also did the cover of that issue. [©2003 the respective copyright holder.]

sanitarium for treatment. Spiegelman right away turned that into a family trait.

COLE: He did. He built furniture and he liked to make things. Jack could always whip up something. The main thing was that you were always laughing around Jack. He was spontaneously funny. JA: Was he into working on cars? COLE: No. JA: Did Jack sing? COLE: No. Dorothy liked to play the piano, and Jack liked to listen. JA: So a musician was the one creative thing he wasn’t?

JA: Well, now we can correct that for the record.

COLE: That’s right.

COLE: Evidently, the word didn’t get through to Art, though I still have a copy of the e-mail I sent to Steve, explaining about my Uncle Frank. Frank still has living children.

JA: I wonder why a guy as funny as Jack was didn’t go into acting or the stage.

“Plastic Man Was an Extension of Jack’s Character” JA: What did you think of Spiegelman’s book? COLE: He did an excellent job. I was thrilled by its publication. I have a few copies of it and of the New Yorker magazine where Spiegelman originally wrote about Jack. I didn’t agree with some of his ideas about Jack, though. It’s anybody’s guess about certain things. JA: What do your children and grandkids think about your brother? COLE: My grandson in Hawaii flipped out when I gave him a copy of that book. He’s not really into Jack Cole, he’s into Plastic Man. [mutual laughter] JA: You have some of your brother’s humor in you. You know, even

COLE: I don’t know. He was in a couple of high school plays. If he’d wanted to be a comedian, he could have. JA: What did his voice sound like? Was it high-pitched? COLE: He was not high-pitched. He was like myself and my dad, just a regular-sounding guy. JA: Your brother Bob went to Cary after Jack died. Steranko mentions that Jack had owned a recorder for dictating gags. Do you know what happened to it? COLE: No, I don’t, but there was nothing on the tape to indicate why Jack did what he did. JA: Well, I wasn’t thinking about that. I was thinking it’d have been nice to have a record of what Jack sounded like.

“Other Super-Heroes Weren’t Like That!”

COLE: I didn’t know about that, but you could be right. JA: Jack sure seemed to be the envy of his contemporaries. I’ve never heard anyone say a bad word about him. COLE: I don’t think you could find anyone who would, if they had any personal contact with him. He was a very caring man. JA: Gill told me about the time he went to get his haircut, and while sitting in the chair, he saw a drawing on the wall that had a familiar look to it. It was a drawing that Jack had done of the barber’s father many years ago and here it was, the 1990s, and that drawing was still on the wall. COLE: I’ll be darned. Well, Jack had a unique style. JA: He sure did, although his work on Betsy and Me was so different than what he had done before. COLE: Oh, yeah. It was a far cry from what he had been doing. I just chalked it up to another way of working. JA: What did you think of his Playboy cartoons? I think, techniquewise, they were the best things he ever did. COLE: Weren’t they? Yeah. JA: Did Jack ever talk about Hugh Hefner? COLE: When he was working for Hefner and moved to Illinois, we didn’t talk that much. I know he was pleased to work for Hefner and liked him very much. They had a hard time convincing Jack to move there, but he couldn’t pass up the money. And Hefner expressed to the family how much he thought of Jack.

(Above and right:) When horror comics became the rage in the 1950s, Cole more than rose to the challenge. In Quality’s Web of Evil #2 (Jan. ’53), he drew two stories. [©2003 the respective copyright holder.]

COLE: Yes, it would. What I’d really like to have is the home movies Jack made of the family. He owned an eight-millimeter movie camera, but everything in his house was either gotten rid of by Dorothy or whatever. She got rid of everything pertaining to Jack. JA: Did he drink? COLE: Yes, he did, but I never saw him drink to excess or anything. JA: Was Jack a people person or a loner? Or was he both? COLE: He was both. He’d go out with people who were important to him and he made you feel important. Jack liked to laugh.

“Jack Made His Own Decisions” JA: I talked to Gill Fox last night, and he wanted me to tell you that he always thought Jack was one of the few real geniuses in comics. COLE: Jack always spoke very highly of Gill, though I never met him. JA: In the Spiegelman book, there’s a page of how-to cartoons by Jack. Nobody seems to know for sure why he did that page, but Gill Fox told me that artists Bob Wood and Bob McCay, the son of Little Nemo creator Winsor McCay, were putting together a How to Draw book, but were apparently unable to sell it. Gill did a page for them, too, and all four men were in the Harry Chesler shop when that page was done. I’ll bet that’s why Jack did that page.

Dick Cole JA: Would Dorothy have pushed him to make the move, or did Jack make his own career decisions? COLE: Jack made his own decisions. JA: Considering the reputation that Playboy magazine had in those days, did your father have, for want of a better term, an interesting reaction to it?

COLE: My dad said it bordered on the obscene. [laughs] He got copies of it. He If anyone had told us back in the 1940s—or even just five thought the years ago—that Plastic Man would make the cover of The cartoons were New Yorker...! Art Spiegelman’s fabulous cover is a gem, showing the stretchable sleuth in an art museum, among funny. A lot of other artistic renderings as bizarre as he is. The 1999 article the characters in evolved into the book Jack Cole and Plastic Man: Forms the cartoons Stretched to Their Limits in 2001. [Art ©2003 Conde Nast looked like him, Publications, Inc.; Plastic Man TM & ©2003 DC Comics.] with the long pointed nose. My mom never knew about them because she died shortly after he started doing them.

drawings for me when I was a kid, but I didn’t keep them. Hindsight is 20/20. [laughs] JA: Do you have a favorite memory of Jack? COLE: Just his humor. I always looked forward to my visits with him. JA: Jack may be better remembered today than he was when he was working. How does that make you feel? COLE: It makes me feel proud to be his brother. I’d have never guessed he’d be remembered this well today. I thought he’d fade from memory, but he hasn’t. And I don’t think he will any time soon, either. The only thing I regret is that we lived in the homestead with my dad, after my mother died. We bought our home out in the country and my father didn’t want to move out here, so my other brother moved in with him. My sister-in-law destroyed all the comic books I’d left behind. That’s the regret I have, that I didn’t bring them with me. Oh, man! [laughs] I had a stack of them. JA: Have you ever seen the Plastic Man comics that have followed since Jack died? COLE: Oh, yeah... trash! Nobody could duplicate his style or humor. You know how Reader’s Digest will do an article on “the most unforgettable character”? Well, Jack was it. There’s never been anyone like him since.

JA: She probably wouldn’t have liked them, huh? COLE: No, I don’t think so. JA: Was your family a very religious one? COLE: Well, we were Methodist. My parents were Sunday school teachers. We were brought up pretty strictly. JA: Which is interesting considering the wild imagination your brother had. Was he mentally rebelling? COLE: Maybe. JA: Was Jack into politics? COLE: Somewhat. He was a Democrat because the rest of us were always Republicans. He was the only Democrat in the house. JA: So there was a rebellious streak in him! COLE: [laughs] Yeah.

“I Thought He’d Fade from Memory, but He Hasn’t” JA: Did Jack save any of his original work? COLE: I couldn’t tell you. JA: As a kid, you never asked for a page of “Plastic Man”? COLE: No. All his comic book work was destroyed. He did do

But let’s close with a Cole image of Plastic Man—from Police Comics #57 (Aug. 1946), with Plas and Woozy contemplating the universe. Let’s hope Jack Cole found the answers. Thanks to Steve Brumbaugh. [©2003 DC Comics.]

Creig Flessel

“He Could Do Anything!” Artist CREIG FLESSEL Talks about His Friend JACK COLE Interview Conducted by Roy Thomas [EDITOR’S NOTE: When comics historians write about the “pioneers” of the field—well, Creig Flessel was one of those guys who was there to open the door and shake the hand of most of those pioneers when they arrived on the scene, as his roots at National/DC go back to 1935—just a couple of years shy of seven decades! Creig has his own interview coming up in Alter Ego a few months from now, but in March of 2003 Roy Thomas, who had first met him at the fabulous All Time Classic New York Comic Convention in White Plains, New York, in 2000, phoned Creig up to ask him a few specific questions about his old friend Jack Cole— who had somehow not been mentioned in the already-transcribed Flessel interview. Creig graciously obliged. But before I talked with him about the creator of “Plastic Man,” I had to touch on another subject.... —Roy.]

Transcribed by Brian K. Morris

talking over his shoulder. And he never worried about deadlines. He was generally on time. But this time, he says, “Oh, tell him to go—.” RT: When was that, do you know? FLESSEL: Let’s see, I moved into the place in about 1941. That was before the war, and Jack was moving around at the time. And that was the first time I met him. We became good friends. He moved up to Connecticut, and he moved here and there, and I guess you know the story. We traveled with him on vacation trips, he and Dottie. In fact, we have an 8mm film of a trip we took with them. And I showed that to Art Spiegelman, when he came out for his interview. Creig Flessel and an unidentified fan at a 1991 comics convention—plus a humorous sketch Creig drew on a manila envelope sent to Roy Thomas. No wonder the package got to him so fast! Photo taken by Jim Amash. [Art ©2003 Creig Flessel.]

RT: For his article and then the book on Cole, yes. ROY THOMAS: Did they correct the spelling of your first name [from “Craig” to “Creig” in the paperback edition of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay] as Michael Chabon promised you he’d get them to do? CREIG FLESSEL: No, they didn’t do that. It didn’t happen. [laughs] RT: Oh, well. Good intentions. Anyway, as you know, I wanted to ask you about Jack Cole, because you knew him. I never knew him myself, only his work. I was just wondering how you met him and how well you knew him. FLESSEL: Well, when I met Jack the first time, [artist] Freddie Guardineer called me. Freddie was working for “Busy” Arnold [at Quality Comics Group], and Jack Cole had a job. But, at the time, Jack Cole was living in Huntington, right near me there. So Freddie Guardineer called, all frantic, and said that Busy Arnold said, “Where’s the job? Where’s the job?” [laughs] So I went over and Jack Cole was in a rented house, an old rented house. And down in the basement, the water was up to his ankles, leaking from the outside, in. And the water—it was like the little boy and the dike. He’d plug up one hole and it would come out of another hole. It was like a comedy. [laughs] And we were talking... he was

FLESSEL: The book and The New Yorker. And he saw the film. It’s a good film. It shows Jack very well. It’s a good record. Jack, I never worked with him. I used to see him in New York and, of course, at Dick Wood’s, and all the different—Gill Fox was a good friend, and the whole gang. But I never worked with him, I always admired his work, and he was a lot of fun, he and Dottie. And they stayed at our house, we stayed at their house. They had this place—they never mention this place up in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, on the border there. It was a big farmhouse and about twenty acres. And he sold it to—who was the guy who took over the Major Bowes Amateur Hour [radio series]? RT: Ted Mack. FLESSEL: Ted Mack, yeah. He sold it to Ted Mack just before he went out to Chicago. He sold the place and he made a good penny out of it. I remember that Major Bowes came to The Illustrators Club once and a famous opera singer did a take-off of him. Heck, they had an Amateur Hour show there at The Illustrators Club in the early days. As for Jack Cole, I have no clue to why he killed himself. I have no idea.

Creig Flessel it’s Jack Cole, or Kotzky, or Spranger imitating him, because they were trying to follow his style anyway. But Cole’s the one that really set the pace for it and created the character, and everything. FLESSEL: Yeah. RT: Is there anything else you happen to remember about him? FLESSEL: I remember he bought a camera, an 8mm camera, and he was into photography, and he took pictures of everything that happened. And he was a Renaissance man. He could do anything—write, or whatever he decided to do, he’d do. No matter what he had gotten into, he would have been a leader, and he was. RT: Yeah, it’s a shame he didn’t stick around to enjoy more of the fruits of that. Thanks very much for talking with me, Creig. FLESSEL: Thank you. And take care.

Ron Frantz’s Ace Comics title Daredevil Battles The Claw (May 1987) printed this clean version of what “vintage comics authority” Lee Boyette cited as “Jack’s first cover, out of the Chesler Shop 1937-38.” The cover date of Star Ranger #12 from Comic Magazines—or was it Ultem? or Centaur?—was May 1938. To find out about many great old-comics reprints still available, contact Ron at <Magilla445@aol.com>. [©2003 the respective copyright holder.]

RT: You probably hadn’t seen him then for a while, had you? FLESSEL: No. He came back once. We had a big party for him at The Illustrators Club. And Chuck Cuidera, and Alex Kotzky; and, oh, a half dozen guys were there. We had a party for him when he came back, when he closed up everything and went back out. But he was very devoted to his wife, and I never could figure it out. RT: People speculate different things, but that’s not our main concern. Still, it’s hard not to at least touch on it. We’re mostly interested in the fact that he was such an exceptional talent.

A nice Cole “Comet” page from MLJ’s Pep Comics #3 (April 1940). His visor and ray-powers predated those of Cyclops of The X-Men by well over two decades. Thanks to Shaw S. Clay. [©2003 Archie Comic Publications, Inc.]

FLESSEL: Yeah, he reminded me of Dik Browne [the artist/creator of Hagar the Horrible], whom I knew very well. Dik was a genius, you know. And Jack Cole was all by himself. I think he was under-appreciated. I don’t think he really got his due credit. He was breaking new furrows of the field, you know. And it was a prodigious amount of work that he did.

Monthly! Edited and published by Robin Snyder

RT: Of course, Alex Kotzky did a lot of the “Plastic Man” work later. And there was another guy... Jack Spranger. FLESSEL: I never knew Spranger. He made a big splash by being another cog in the wheel. RT: Right. Sometimes, it’s hard—I think even Artie mentioned in his article and book that sometimes it’s very difficult to be sure whether

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

Art Paul on Jack Cole

“I Always Considered Him To Be A Genius!” Playboy Art Director ART PAUL on the Life and Death of JACK COLE Interview Conducted & Transcribed by Jim Amash [INTERVIEWER’S INTRO: Art Paul was with Playboy magazine at its inception, working hand in glove with founder Hugh Hefner. He freelanced design work on the first three issues before joining the staff in 1953; he retired in 1982. A lifelong Chicagoan, Art’s influence has reached far beyond the Windy City, as the many imitators of his design work would tell you if they were being honest. And we haven’t even mentioned his contribution to the Playboy legend, which Art himself will reveal to you. Art’s observations about Jack Cole are just as cogent and the mystery surrounding their final encounter just as puzzling as Cole’s subsequent suicide. —Jim.] ART PAUL: I’ll tell you, Jim, it’s not like I saw Jack almost every day. I had some poignant times with him and always considered him to be a genius. I thought he was just an absolutely marvelous cartoonist and felt that Playboy was fortunate to have Jack working for us.

because I wasn’t getting the type of work that I was really proud of. Things were really developing; the first issue was really more like a sketchbook, but it had everything in it that we’d later use.

I designed the famous Rabbit Head symbol in 1953. I designed it Art Paul eyes Jack Cole’s wacky cover for Police Comics #71 for the first issue, although it wasn’t JIM AMASH: Tell me how you got (Oct. 1947). Thanks to Steve Brumbaugh for the cover scan. necessarily meant to be a logo at that started at Playboy. Photo by Suzanne Seed. [Art ©2003 DC Comics.] time. It was supposed to be a symbol with a dot after it to signify the end PAUL: I was freelancing for about two of each article. It wasn’t until the third issue that we actually used the years, when a mutual friend told me about Hugh Hefner. Hef was bunny on the cover, which of course is still in use today, although I looking for an illustrator for stories in his [projected] new magazine, don’t think they use it as adventurously as we had. which was called Stag Party. He came up to my office with the intention of doing illustration work, when he saw the work I had up on my walls. Some of it was work that I liked and some I hadn’t sold because the subject matter was adventurous. He looked at the stuff and asked, “Is this your work, or things you like?” I said it was some of both, so he got very interested in me as designer and art director. He asked me to commit to his new magazine. I thought the name Stag Party was a big hindrance in going too far because of the way Hef had talked about it being sophisticated and things of that nature. That name seemed to counter that. However, after some persuasion, and this took a while because I wasn’t sure I should get involved... it seemed like he might change his mind about Stag Party. And I’d never art-directed anything before, so this was a fun opportunity and I decided to go ahead and do the first issue. I was working in my own studio and Hef was working in his kitchen at home, so he’d bring material in to me because I didn’t have time to go out and track down work. However, I had to change a lot of things

JA: You were in the office when Jack Cole’s work first came in. What was the general reaction? PAUL: It was great! Hefner loved it and I loved it. Hefner really did the negotiations with him, because he had the contact. JA: Do you remember what was in that first portfolio? PAUL: Not specifically, but they were wonderful drawings. Of course, Jack was responsible for “Plastic Man.” I think Hefner knew more about him than I did. There was great, sensitive feeling inherent in Jack’s work... just beautiful. I’m sure Hefner realized Jack Cole had done “Plastic Man.” Hef was the cartoon editor. In the beginning, I think the cartoon area was his greatest strength. JA: Why do you think it was so important for Hefner to want Jack Cole to move from the Northeast to be near him?

“I Always Considered Him To Be A Genius!” JA: Do you remember when you met Jack Cole? PAUL: I don’t remember our first meeting, but I immediately got the feeling of his sensitivity. I liked his work so much, which was the important thing to me at the moment. The readers immediately hooked on to him. Jack’s work was consistent in its quality—the rendering and the ideas. The small black-&-white cartoons were delightful and funny. Everything about him was great for us. JA: What was Cole like? PAUL: He was a very nice man and shy. We were very comfortable together and he was thoughtful, but he wasn’t a verbose person. He gave me the feeling that he was a sensitive person. JA: People who knew Cole back in the 1940s remember him as a joke-teller who played practical jokes on people. But he doesn’t seem to have struck you that way. PAUL: That’s not what I remember. I’m sure we laughed together and he told jokes, especially with Hefner, but I don’t remember any details after all these years. JA: Do you think he was happy to be in Illinois? PAUL: Yes, I think he was very happy to be there. He liked us all, too. He really liked Hef. As a matter of fact, just before he committed suicide, we had a party in the office and Jack was in a state that I’d never seen before. He was drinking pretty heavily, so it seemed. I remember we started to talk because he wanted to talk to me. I said, “Great,” but then I was interrupted and never got back to him. The next day, I heard he committed suicide. It was devastating to me, because I felt maybe I could have said something the night before to change his mind about killing himself. But it probably wouldn’t have mattered. JA: I’ll bet you’ve wondered about that all your life.

Under the name “Jake,” Cole did cartoons for many companies and mags, including Humorama, founded by Timely/Marvel publisher Martin Goodman’s brother Abe. Thanks to John Yon for the great copy from the original art. [©2003 the respective copyright holder.]

PAUL: I have, I have... many times. JA: I can’t imagine living with that thought. I didn’t even know him, but I’ve wondered about it ever since I read about Cole in Steranko’s History of the Comics twenty-five years ago. I was aware of “Plastic Man” and his Playboy work even then.

PAUL: A good portion of the magazine, as you know, was made up of cartoons. We started out using Hef’s own cartoons, but he had the sense to know we needed to use other people’s work. I had to tell him that his work wasn’t meeting up to his own standards, but he already knew that. He was a gifted cartoonist and was a great admirer of Esquire and wanted to get in some of their cartoonists, which he did. I don’t know if Hefner sought Cole out or if Cole sent work to him first. Now, Shel Silverstein came up to me and I said, “Hef’s got to see this.” I knew Shel had the spark of genius in him and got him and Hef together, and Shel produced historic work for Playboy.

PAUL: Yes, and his earlier work was really the forerunner of what was to come. The understanding I had was that he was really under some kind of work stress and managed to create difficult deadlines for himself in those areas.

JA: But Cole could have done his cartoons from anywhere he wanted, so I wonder why Hefner wanted him to be close to the offices? PAUL: It was Hef’s personality more than anything else. He did that to me sometimes when I had to travel on business. He’d call me and tell me to come right back, which I’d do. I think it was just the sense that he liked to have people close to him.

JA: Was he good at meeting deadlines for Playboy?

PAUL: Yes, because he was doing a series of black-&-white cartoons for us in addition to

Art Paul on Jack Cole his color work. He knew how we felt about him. He knew he could do anything for us and it’d work out. JA: Tell me more about what Cole was like the night before he killed himself.

through in his eyes. I even remember he had a little perspiration on his face. Anyway, he really wanted to talk to me, and I was a little annoyed that I couldn’t get back to him. JA: Did he leave the party early? PAUL: I don’t know.

PAUL: He seemed to have drunk more than I’d ever seen him drink. He wasn’t normally a heavy drinker, or not that I’d ever noticed. He seemed to have an energy coming from inside himself that was unusual.

JA: Then your relationship was more of a working one rather than a personal one? PAUL: It was indeed. The relationships between me and the artists were very warm and easy. Nothing like, “I’m the boss and you’ll do what I want.” There was a mutual respect going on. JA: Was there anyone there besides Hefner that Cole was close to?

JA: Did he grab you by the shoulder and say something like, “Art, I really want to talk to you?”

PAUL: I don’t think so, because it was really only the two of us— Hefner and me. I hired someone to help me, Hefner had a secretary and then he hired a writer to help him.

PAUL: Something like that.

JA: Cole’s letter mentions a “Ray” and a “Pat.”

JA: In the photos of Cole that I’ve seen, he always seemed to have a wild look in his eyes. An old friend of his, Gill Fox, noticed that, too. PAUL: Yeah. I think he had an inner life, but you’d have to talk to his widow to know that for sure. I know he left a sad note to her, and to Hefner, too. JA: I assume that the “Art” that Cole mentions in his letter to Hefner was you. PAUL: Yes, that was me. JA: Did he ever discuss his home life with you? PAUL: No, never. He may have to Hef, but not to me. Maybe that was what he wanted to discuss with me? I have no idea. I’m not sure what he wanted to do, but I’ve had the feeling that he may have wanted to say “goodbye” to me, though I don’t think he was going to tell me he was going to kill himself. I think he wanted to talk to people he knew he was never going to see again. He’d apparently planned out his own death. JA: Apparently so, but would you say he was happy the night before? PAUL: I wouldn’t say he was happy, but he seemed energetic. I’ve had a picture of him in my mind, which I’ve had for a long time, more for the context of the event rather than the focus. I see him kind-of like... I really don’t know how many drinks he had, maybe it was only two drinks, who knows? But he had an energy and excitement inside of him that came

PAUL: Yes. Pat Mangelos. She was one of the early employees. I don’t know if they’d had any insight into Cole, though. You never can tell how people interact with each other. It was a small group in the beginning and everyone admired Jack. We did have conversations, but it’s hard to remember what all we may have talked about. Mostly, I was a great admirer of his. He was a fine artist and thinker. JA: Did you ever meet Dorothy Cole? PAUL: I may have, but I don’t remember it. We’re talking a long time ago, so it’s hard to pinpoint everything. You get the feeling in his note that he was doing this to help her. JA: I agree. I don’t know if she’s still alive, but she’d be about 89 if she was. I do know that she didn’t have any contact with Cole’s family after his death, except for when Bob Cole went to Chicago immediately following Jack’s passing. But Jack could have been hyped-up over anything that night.

When we ran the splash from a particular late-’40s issue of Plastic Man some issues ago, Roy suspected it might have been the work of Alex Kotzky or Jack Spranger. But on closer look at the interior panels, printed above, we wonder if the story might not be by Cole after all, for the zaniness and a sexy, smiling young lady were ever Jack Cole trademarks. Sorry we can’t tell what issue it’s from—Ye Editor’s copy, which he’s had for decades, is coverless, and we ran out of time to find out. [©2003 DC Comics.]

PAUL: I know. Psychiatrists say that when someone is hyped-up and plans something like suicide, there is a degree of release, to some extent. JA: Yeah, but I can’t

“I Always Considered Him To Be A Genius!” tionist, which in itself is a highpressure situation. You don’t know what could have triggered it. The reason was obviously something on a personal level.

imagine he’d come up to you and say, “Hey, Art. I’m going to kill myself tomorrow.” PAUL: I can’t see that, either. He wouldn’t do something caused by a drunken stupor. He was very serious when he said he wanted to talk to me. We always talked seriously.

JA: Cole mailed a letter to Hefner that afternoon, but you found out about it the very next day. There probably wasn’t enough time for the letter to get to Hefner. Cole had a fight with Dorothy that morning. He mailed that letter somewhere between 2:00 and 5:15 in the afternoon. He was found in his car around 6:00. I wonder if Dorothy was the one who called Hefner, because of the time it takes to deliver a letter.

JA: Bill Seay told me that people in the office thought he killed himself because his wife was having an affair. PAUL: I didn’t hear about that. The feeling I got from his letter to Hef was that he was apologizing to her for being so busy all the time and not paying attention to her.

PAUL: That’s probably what happened.

JA: That’s exactly what I’ve been thinking. And she remarried within a year or so of Cole’s death.

JA: It’s strange, because Cole called a neighbor around 5:15, apologizes for bothering him, says he’s going to kill himself, and to tell Dorothy. Maybe that was really a call for help, though it doesn’t seem likely if he wrote those letters to Hefner and to Dorothy. And he wrote a letter found by his side that ends, “Please forgive me, hon.”

PAUL: Yes. The suicide was probably a desperate act borne out of depression. JA: Do you think Cole might have got caught up in the Playboy lifestyle? PAUL: I didn’t think so. But then again, it was pretty early in Playboy’s history. It wasn’t like it is today. [laughs]

JA: Right. Cole seemed so devoted to his wife. PAUL: It could be because of that deep devotion that she was forced to look elsewhere for attention, and Jack blamed himself for it. JA: Do you remember if he was self-critical? PAUL: I don’t really know, but it’s my guess that he would be. Jack was striving for perfection, which shows in his work. JA: Is there anything in your meetings with him that comes to mind? PAUL: Not really, because he wasn’t the type of person you could criticize. There was nothing that I could add to his work, because it was all there. It’s not like other artists, where you could have them change something that works better. Nothing like that happened with Cole. JA: If there had been revisions, would he consult with you or Hefner? PAUL: With Hefner, who would then consult with me. There was nothing to consult with in regard to Jack’s work, because he knew what he was doing. He was a real professional. JA: How did you hear about his suicide? PAUL: Hef told me about it. I found out about it the very next day after the party. That’s when I remembered how urgently he wanted to talk to me. Hefner and I talked about it and we were both devastated. When you hear news like that, you trace back your contacts in order to figure out what happened. Not knowing the reason was troubling. We were all caught by surprise at the news. Here’s a guy producing a lot of great work, and making a lot of upward career moves, and suddenly, it’s over. Jack was overworking himself and was a perfec-

PAUL: That was such a drastic thing that I don’t think it was a sudden impulse.

JA: It’s impossible to tell. But I wonder if he’d had good news about his strip, Betsy and Me, and wanted to share it with you? PAUL: It’s possible. But you can make a million guesses about what happened and be way off. Conjecture can be very dangerous. Somehow you don’t think of cartoonists being so depressed. It could have been that on top of the workload he had, he might have been developing another strip of his own. JA: Do you think he was working up a new strip idea? PAUL: That was the talk. And everybody wondered how he’d find the time. JA: Maybe that’s what he wanted to talk to you about? PAUL: Oh, I don’t know. I think his suicide was planned and that he had decided to do it before he talked to me. But maybe that fight triggered it, and if so, I could be wrong about his wanting to say “goodbye” to me the night before. Jack should be remembered for the work he did. Art Spiegelman wrote about him and now you are and that’s great. It’s like a ray of light! I hadn’t seen Jack’s name mentioned anymore and I’m glad Jack is still getting attention. JA: Yes, he is. It’s a shame that he’s remembered for how he died as well as for what he accomplished. PAUL: That is a shame, because he should be remembered for his great work. People should see what he did. His work was a joy to look at and he was a great artist.

Bill Seay on Jack Cole

“He Was a Very, Very Interesting Talent!” Playboy Illustrator BILL SEAY on His Memories of JACK COLE University of Illinois at about the same time, though we didn’t know each other then. And he wanted to be a cartoonist. That was his main thing in life. Right around the time we graduated from college, Hefner self-published a magazine called That Toddlin’ Town, which had cartoons about Chicago in it. This was in the late 1940s. Hefner had some of his own cartoons in it and they were pretty good.

Interview Conducted and Transcribed by Jim Amash

[INTERVIEWER’S INTRO: Bill Seay (pronounced “see”) has had a long and fruitful cartooning career, though not in comic books. But in his time he has mingled with many of the comic book greats and is a member of the celebrated Berndt Toast Gang in New York, which has been mentioned in various JA: How did you meet Hefner? issues of Alter Ego. Because of longtime Marvel artist/colorist SEAY: I met him when I started to Stan Goldberg, who himself was work at Playboy. He okayed interviewed back in issue #18, everything and signed every check. Recent photo of Bill Seay, provided by the artist. we’re able to present Bill’s recollecHe paid very well. I was making a tions of Jack Cole, which give some dollar a minute! insight into a legendary cartoonist and into Playboy magazine at the JA: The public has a certain image of Hefner today, so I’m curious same time. Thanks to both Stan and Bill! You’re two of the good guys about what he was like before all that. in cartooning. —Jim.] JIM AMASH: What were you doing at Playboy? BILL SEAY: I was doing humorous illustrations. Art Paul was the art director, and I was working at a studio called Meyer-Borth. It was a syndicated advertising service and I was a cartoonist there. I had a drawing in the Chicago Art Director’s Club Exhibition, which Art saw, and he called me up. They had a writer named Bill Iverson, and I illustrated his articles.

SEAY: Well, he was pretty talkative. He was a very nice guy, but he’s worked at building the image people have of him today. I was living in Evanston, Illinois, at the time, and Art Paul and I got together at a parent-teachers meeting. Art said he loved Evanston. I told him he ought to move out here and Art said, “No, Hef likes us to keep the Playboy image even if we are married and have kids.” Hef started building that

JA: What was Hefner like? SEAY: Hefner was a great guy. I started working for him very early. Playboy was located in a brownstone on the North Side of Chicago, and that’s when I met Jack Cole. They moved into a five-story building East of Michigan Avenue when the magazine began to be a hot item. We had a party to celebrate the new offices, and it was the day after that when Jack killed himself. Hefner and I went to the

“He Was A Very, Very Interesting Talent!” Creig Flessel knew the Coles well. He told me that they often visited the Flessels’ home and that they took vacations together. Creig told me the story about when Jack drove a small Volkswagen. And Jack was very tall. Jack couldn’t get into the car with his hat on his head, so he put the hat on top of the car and drove off!

image early on. He set out to have that Playboy image. JA: Well, why not? SEAY: Exactly! Now he’s seventy-some years old and has three chicks on his arm. JA: Someone had to be Hugh Hefner, why not him? [laughs] SEAY: Right. [laughs]

JA: Were you in the offices when Cole’s initial submissions came in?

JA: Are you still in touch with him? SEAY: No. I haven’t been in touch with any of those people in years.

SEAY: No, I started very shortly afterwards. I know that, when they did come in, Hefner was unaware that Cole was the creator of “Plastic Man.” He just saw these beautiful watercolors and line drawings. Hefner appreciated them very much, because he did have excellent taste in art.

JA: What do you remember about that party you mentioned? SEAY: I remember Art telling me that Jack had come up to him and said, “I want to get together and have a talk with you.” And because it was a huge party, Art kind of brushed him off and said, “Yeah. I’ll see you later.” And the next day, Jack was dead. Art has wondered ever since what Jack had wanted to tell him.

When Playboy first started, Art Paul was a freelancer just out of college. He did the work on spec. Most of the early people who worked at Playboy started that way, including Cole. Hefner hired Jack the minute he saw his work. It wasn’t until Hefner got to know Cole personally that he discovered Jack’s “Plastic Man” career.

JA: Something must have happened that night. SEAY: Yeah. I had the impression that marital problems led to the suicide. JA: Many people, including other friends of Cole’s, thought his wife was having an affair.

A Cole cartoon from Playboy, Jan. 1956. It’s only a shame that, on this and the other one we printed from among the many that Cole did for Hugh Hefner, we couldn’t show them to you in the lush colors in which he painted them. Reproduced by Special Permission of Playboy magazine. Copyright ©1956, 1958, 1984, 1986 by Playboy.

SEAY: That’s the general impression all of us at Playboy had. JA: Did Cole seem happy at that party? SEAY: Yes. But it was a big party and you don’t really know if someone’s happy or sad. It was a great party. They had a separate buffet and bar and band on every floor of the building. JA: I heard Cole’s widow Dorothy remarried soon after Jack Cole killed himself. SEAY: I heard the same thing. But I don’t know what happened to her after the suicide. I don’t know who she married. She may be still alive. I had the impression that she lives in the East somewhere. But how you’d find her is something I don’t know. I don’t know anyone who was a girlfriend of hers who would have known. I never met her, and nobody at Playboy knew her.

JA: You were there when Cole moved to Illinois. What were your impressions of Cole?

SEAY: He was a very, very interesting talent and a terrific guy. We weren’t close, and I only saw him at the office. He lived in Barrington, which is now a suburb of Chicago, but back then it was way back in the boondocks. Chester Gould, who did Dick Tracy, lived out there, too. Jack didn’t spend too much time at the office. I only saw him when he brought work into the office. He wasn’t a staff artist. He dressed like an Ivy Leaguer. This was the 1950s, when everybody dressed that way. He didn’t wear a turban or anything. He seemed like an ordinary guy. He was friendly but not a good-time Charlie or a back-patter. JA: While he was there, Cole sold that newspaper strip Betsy and Me. SEAY: Yeah, that was for the Chicago Sun-Times. JA: Was anyone surprised at Cole doing that strip, because it sure was different from his Playboy work?

Bill Seay on Jack Cole

the easiest art director I ever worked with. He gave me a manuscript and the space requirements for the cartoon and he said, “Fill it up.” Then he’d give me a deadline. I was doing straight, funny illustrations. Sometimes he’d look at the drawing and say something like, “Give me a little something here in the corner.” But no art direction or layout. I picked what I thought was the funniest part of the article to draw. Hefner was great that way. We might talk it out, but that’d be all. He knew the style you worked in and expected you to do that. Cole and Shel Silverstein were the two hottest artists Playboy had. The rest of us were relatively unknown Chicago artists. Hefner wasn’t using many of the New York artists then. Leroy Neiman was doing drawings then, too. And he had been doing fashion drawings for Stevens’ Department store in Chicago. JA: What do you do these days? SEAY: I am the art director of a newspaper called the Fire Island News in Long Island. I do a weekly comic strip and a cover and other odds and ends. I’ve been doing that for fifteen years. It’s a fun career, and Fire Island is a fun place.

SEAY: The difference was more the surprise at the style switch, because everybody was working for everybody. Everyone was pleased that Cole had a new strip. JA: What was it like at Playboy when you got the news of Cole’s passing? SEAY: Total shock. Why? Why? Why? We couldn’t understand it. Cole’s widow had a note that nobody else saw. Hefner didn’t find out what had happened. I don’t think anyone did. Everyone talked about it, and there was a lot of speculation about why it happened. But there was always a feeling that there was a tragedy involved. JA: Could Cole have been the one to have an affair? SEAY: Nobody ever thought that. He was very devoted to his wife and seemed very happy. It was just a tragic thing to have happened. JA: Did Cole ever bring his wife to office parties? SEAY: I don’t ever remember meeting her, and I don’t recall her ever coming to a party. Jack always went to the parties. He wasn’t the life of the party and was just a nice person to talk to. He’d have a drink, but we all did. JA: Did Cole get to be friends with anyone besides Art Paul or Hefner? SEAY: No. I don’t think anyone else got to be a buddy of his. JA: Hefner had a reputation for art-directing his cartoonists. Would he have art-directed Jack Cole? SEAY: Hefner didn’t have many conferences. I think that Hefner was

Maybe it’s just us, but, despite the humor and skill with which Cole executed his work for Playboy—if we were the betting type, we’d wager that, in the long run, it’s for “Plastic Man” even more than for that work that he’ll be longest remembered. The main thing, though, is that Jack Cole is remembered—for he was, as Alex Toth put it so succinctly, “a lonnnnnng stretch of TALL talent!” Splash from Police Comics #64 (March 1947). Thanks to Steve Brumbaugh. [©2003 DC Comics.]

Lost Comics Lore

Lost Comics Lore Part 1: The First Installment of a Fabulous New Series by Will Murray If you sift through old magazines like Writer’s Digest long enough, you will learn things you’d suspect even God forgot about magazine publishing. During the 1930s, Writer’s Digest focused on markets for hungry pulp writers. When comic books happened, the magazine began paying attention to that market, too. Not much, but enough so if you pan through its crumbling pages, inevitably you find nuggets of pure gold. People forget that before Major Malcolm WheelerNicholson published New Fun Comics, the first regularly-published comic book featuring all-new strips instead of newspaper strip reprints, Dell released a tabloid-format prototype comic book called The Funnies direct to newsstands in 1929, which also ran original material. The first editor of The Funnies is lost to history—unless you read old Writer’s Digests. WD credits Harry Steeger as the originating editor, a claim Steeger himself made in later years—although market notices actually list a “William Vogt,” possibly a house name.

Harry Steeger was apparently the first editor of Delacorte’s The Funnies in 1929. Perhaps by the time this Aug. 30, 1930, cover by Victor E. Pazmino was published, Steeger had already moved on to pulp magazines—including The Spider; seen at right is the cover of the May 1936 issue, painted by John Newton Howitt. Thanks in part to Ron Goulart. [©2003 the respective copyright holders.]

Steeger went on in 1930 to launch Popular Publications, the pulp house responsible for The Spider, among other titles. Steeger’s Funnies replacement was Edythe Seims, who later followed him to Popular, editing Daredevil Aces and The Mysterious Wu Fang there.

The offer was signed by the company’s president, Jerome Siegel, of Cleveland, Ohio—two years before Action Comics #1! This was the ad that Wayne Boring answered. It launched his long career.

The January 1930 Writer’s Digest noted that The Funnies’ “cartoons and comic strips are usually bought from well-known artists on contract, but free-lance submissions will be inspected closely.”

You’ve probably never heard of M. Ann Young, but she was an early contender in the Superman ghost artist sweepstakes kicked off by the above ad. She writes about it rather innocently in the June 1945 WD:

Although The Funnies did not last long, it was later revived with two new Dell titles—The Comics and Popular Comics. In 1937 WD reported that pulp editor Art Lawson had charge of all three. The irony in all this is that, as Popular’s publisher, Steeger was the only major pulp guy who decided to sit out the comic book explosion of the 1940s. The decision probably cost him millions. Dell seems to have believed it owned all title to the word “Funnies” as a comic book title. In 1943 the company successfully sued Nedor over Real Funnies and Funny Funnies, stopping the former after only three issues and turning the latter into an unintended one-shot. References to the comic book field were scarce in the 1930s issues of Writer’s Digest, but this letter ran in October 1936: “Publication Enterprises Co. is in immediate need of contacting artists to work upon comic and cartoon strips. While at this time our greatest need is for artists to work upon illustration story strips, we would also be pleased to consider the work of cartoonists. “We work on a 50-50 basis, doing the continuity and selling ourself. Artists sending in samples of their work are asked to enclose envelope and return postage if they care to have their work returned. “Any artist who does good work will receive a good reception from us. This may be an opportunity for some talented beginners who have not yet had the good fortune to break into print.”

“I have read Writer’s Digest for a number of years because it is one of the best ‘tip’ magazines on the market. No, and I am not a writer, either (other than a copywriter), but chiefly an artist. “To illustrate how I have relied on Writer’s Digest for information let’s go back a few years. Back before Superman was the celebrated personage he is today, Jerry Siegal [sic] advertised in Writer’s Digest for ghost artists. I drew a few pen and ink sketches on a letter and sent it off. To my surprise, Mr. Siegal proved his interest by returning to me ‘Superman’ copy to illustrate. I rushed out looking for an Action comic in order to discover who this Superman was. Up to that point, I had not made his acquaintance. “The end to this sad story explains itself when I say that I was just a greenhorn, amateur artist then. Although the action and the proportions of my figures were not bad, my procedure was entirely unprofessional. I used the wrong paper, ink—and even mailed the sketches the wrong way. Just one good opportunity muffed by lack of art education and experience.” The happy sequel is that Young later went on to attend art school and became an art director at an advertising agency, selling the occasional cartoon along the way. But she came within a whisker of being the first woman to ghost “Superman”! Comic books were so new in the 1930s that market notices described

Will Murray

should follow the pulp forms, with plenty of fast moving action and drama. Do not send any art work, as it cannot be used. Payment is made the 15th of the month following acceptance, at one cent a word. Ken Hatch is the editor. Suite 605, 276 Fifth Avenue is the address.” Star Mystery was never published. It may hold the distinction of being the first comic book aborted before launch. Chesler’s third title, Famous Features, did not appear until later that year. Chesler must have been disappointed with the performance of his comics line, because Writer’s Digest reported the following in its October 1938 issue: “Star Ranger and Star Comics, formerly published by Mr. Chesler, have been taken over by Centaur Publications, 461 Eighth Avenue. This company publishes Little Giant Comics and Little Giant Movie Funnies, as well as some more comics. These are all art work. At present there is no market for fiction.” By 1940 the pulps were fast fading from the scene as comic books began proliferating, sucking up readers’ dimes. Writer’s Digest couldn’t help but notice this. This is from the January 1940 issue: “Fawcett Publications, 1501 Broadway, is bringing out three of the comic type magazines: Whiz Comics, Slam Bang Comics, and Master Comics. Like most magazines of the type, story sequences and cartoons are worked out in the office by staff members. The field is booming, the newsstands being thickly papered with this typically American sort of publication.” In the same issue, WD reported the rise of the MLJ comics line from the embers of their failing pulp chain: “Winford Publications (Blue Ribbon, Double-Action Group, etc.) are buying very little at present. The chief activity noticeable in the offices at 60 Hudson Street is the rush of cartooning for the group of comics which they are now publishing. But this is all done by staff workers.” After answering a help-wanted ad in a 1938 issue of Writer’s Digest, both Wayne Boring and Paul Cassidy were put to work on the Superman newspaper strip that debuted in ’39. Wayne Boring eventually moved over to comic books, where he became the Superman pace-setter from the late 1940s through the ’50s. This 1949 Boring-penciled splash page is repro’d from a photocopy of the original art; thanks to Jerry K. Boyd. But hey, Jerry—you forgot to tell us what comic it came from! And somebody else will doubtless identify the inker, whether Stan Kaye or whoever. [©2003 DC Comics.]

The Author’s Journal for July 1940 ran a plea from Prize editor M.R. Reese calling for an “idea man” to help generate plots for Prize Comics

these upstart periodicals in amusingly awkward terms. This is from January 1937: “H. A. Chesler is starting a group of illustrated magazines featuring action stories in pictures—on the order of the newspaper comics. These will be printed in four colors throughout, and the size is that of Liberty [magazine]. MacFadden is to distribute them, but that seems to be the only connection between this group and the Chesler Publications. All the art work is to be done by the staff, but Mr. Chesler will be in the market for stories of appropriate type, told in scenario forms to fit into series of twelve, eighteen, or twenty-four squares. Because of the unusual nature of the material, which must tell a story suitable for illustration, it will be necessary to study the magazines before submitting material. There are three magazines now in preparation: Star Comics will go on sale January 5th; Star Ranger will go out January 12th; and later, Star Mystery will follow, perhaps with others to come. Plots

Chesler Publications’ Star Comics (#1 was cover-dated Feb. 1937) was one of several titles which printed Jack Cole’s “King Kole’s Kourt” at one time or another. The page depicted above, though, comes from MLJ’s Blue Ribbon Comics #1, a bit later. [Star Comics art ©2003 the respective copyright holder; “King Kole’s Kourt” art ©2003 Archie Comic Publications, Inc.]

Lost Comics Lore

and the “forthcoming” Boom Comics. Evidently he never found one, because no Boom Comics ever materialized. The connection between Detective Comics and Max Gaines’ AllAmerican line is pretty well established, but from this letter in the November 1941 Writer’s Digest it would seem that, almost from the beginning, the distinction was a legal fiction—a distinction without a difference: Sir: Following is a complete list of the magazines comprising the SUPERMAN DC Comic Group. Please note that the left eight magazines are edited by Whitney Ellsworth, at 480 Lexington Avenue, New York, N.Y., and the right six by M. C. Gaines, at 225 Lafayette Street, New York, N.Y. Action Comics Adventure Comics Detective Comics More Fun Comics World’s Finest Comics Star-Spangled Comics Superman Batman

All-American Comics Flash Comics All-Flash Bi-Monthly Sensation Comics All-Star Comics Green Lantern Quarterly

As you probably know, this is the largest-selling comic group in the country, comprising about 11% of the total titles in the field and selling approximately 35% of all comic magazines sold in the United States. Our so-called “lead” features are handled by staff writers, but there is still, however, an open market for the comic strip writer who can deliver the goods— the experienced craftsman who can slant intelligently, who realizes the necessity for sincere and careful analysis of the new medium, and who is willing to give us his best.

Sir: Our requirements may be summed up as: Read our Pocket Comics and Speed Comics to gain working familiarity with the characters and the type of story we use. We demand strong plot, strong menace, and characters that live. Only writers living in or near New York City have any chance to write for us as most of our material is decided during editorial conferences. Alfred Harvey, Publisher, Comic Group, 67 West 44th St., New York. Lastly, Fiction House chimed in: Sir: I am very sorry but we don’t buy any free-lance material for our comic books. All the material is supplied by the office force. Fiction House, Inc., 461 Eighth Ave., New York. What the anonymous editor failed to reveal that the “office force” simply ransacked old Fiction House pulps for plots and converted them into comic scripts. A disgruntled Fiction House editor, W. Scott Peacock, later blew the whistle on the operation in an open letter published in the November 1945 WD—but was prevented from referring to the publisher by name. After deriding the Fiction House policy of reprinting old pulp stories with their titles and bylines altered, he added: “And then I found another situation. This house lifts them either by plot, or completely, and runs them in various comic books they publish. Naturally, since all rights are bought, no pay is owed to the original authors. Thus, through another publishing medium the publisher profits a second time; the author receives 0.” Peacock was especially stung by this practice. He had formerly ghosted “Ki-Gor” novels for Jungle Stories. Some of them became

Writing for this group is not a pushover affair. Inasmuch as we pay better than most pulp houses, we have attracted many established pulp fiction writers. And not even all good pulp writers make good comic writers; this is a highly specialized field, and requires ability to express story through a visual medium. Anyone who makes the mistake of “writing down” to the medium is licked before he starts. We require all the elements of a wellplotted action story; colorful locale, strong characterization, an original basic idea, tricky picture-making action, and heroes who work with their wits as well as with their weapons. The average script accepted here is edited as carefully as a magazine story, and a rewrite is the rule rather than the exception—at least until a writer has done enough scripts for us to get himself “into the groove.” Our three-man editorial board “talks” stories with writers, helping them to plot and slant, and almost never does a script go to an artist without one or more of the editors doing a polishing job on captions and dialogue. This is an open market—but a tough one. Stuff has to be definitely superior to click here. Whitney Ellsworth, Editor, Detective Comics, Inc., 480 Lexington Ave, N.Y.C. In the same issue, an upstart new comics publisher explained how things were at what later was to become Harvey Comics:

As noted back in Alter Ego #21’s feature on “The Iger Comics Kingdom” and related matters, Kaanga in Fiction House’s Jungle Comics was actually a retread of Ki-Gor, the star of the same company’s Jungle Stories. This page by an unknown artist from Jungle Comics #23 (Nov. 1941) is repro’d from a photocopy of the original art, courtesy of George Hagenauer. The pulp cover at mid-page is a relatively late entry, from the Summer 1947 issue. [Jungle Stories art ©2003 the respective copyright holder; KaAnga TM & ©2003 AC Comics.]

Will Murray

“Kaanga” strips in Jungle Comics.

similar magazines now in preparation.

The practice of buying comic book plots from one writer and feeding them to staff scripters was a common one in the early ’40s, when material was greatly in demand and writers needed to be local to New York City.

The synopses should run about 500 words, and it’s the IDEA MATERIAL in each that counts rather than its literary quality. Specifications for the characters on which the synopses are wanted are available, or the writer may refer to the characters in the magazines listed above.

From time to time, calls for plots appeared in the Writer’s Digest letters column. This, from Robert Turner, editor of the Ace line of comics, appeared in the January, 1941 issue:

We will pay $5.00 for each synopsis accepted, and will pass on it as rapidly as possible.

We are in urgent need of synopses of approximately 500 words for complete adventures of the features currently appearing in Lightning Comics and Super-Mystery Comics.

Thank you for bringing this to the attention of your interested readers and subscribers. Funnies, Incorporated Ray Gill, Continuity editor, 49 West 46th St. New York City.

These synopses should contain strong menace and considerable girl interest. Ideas should be juvenile and not too complicated, with the accent on action. Bear in mind that these synopses will be made into animated picture stories. All action and incidents should be pictorial. Payment will be a $5.00 flat rate, upon acceptance. Study magazines for type of material wanted and for special powers of different characters. Material is especially needed for Marvo the Magician, Captain Gallant, Whiz Wilson, Sky Smith, Magno, Vulcan and Flash Lightning. No war stuff is wanted.

Two years later, this letter appeared in the April 1943 issue, from a writer who profited from the above notice:

The best-known of the features created by the personnel of Lloyd Jacquet’s Funnies, Inc. (covered in detail in A/E #22), were “The Human Torch” by Carl Burgos and “The Sub-Mariner” by Bill Everett, both of which debuted in Marvel Comics #1 in 1939. Here, on one of the eight “SubMariner” pages which had previously been printed in the obscure Motion Picture Funnies Weekly, Prince Namor strikes to kill—because, as we’ll soon learn, he believes the suited divers are robots. Repro’d from beautiful photocopies of the black-&-white MPFW #1, courtesy of Robert W. Wiener. Wonder if they’ll be as gutsy in the upcoming movie? [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Four issues later, a virtually identical letter was run from the new Ace editor, Fred Gardener, only he doubled the top rate and added Volton, Black Spider, and Buckskin Blake to the list of characters needing plots. Not to be outdone, the following appeared in the next issue: Sir: We plan and execute the art narratives (sometimes called “cartoon strips” for comic magazines), for the following magazines: Marvel Comics; Target Comics; Blue Bolt Comics; Daring Comics; Mystic Comics; and several others. We are presently looking for brief synopses written to fit the lead characters in the above, and

“I want to take this opportunity to thank you for all you have done for me. After reading a series of articles in your magazine on writing for the comics, I plunged. Net result—I am now selling 90% of my short-shorts to Funnies, Inc., New York, as well as continuity. The work is pleasant and profitable, and certainly an education in itself for all who wish to write.” It was signed Justin D. Triem, a name all but lost to comics posterity. He

sometimes signed his work J. Dewey Triem. [Additional installments of Will Murray’s “Lost Comics Lore” will appear in near-future issues of Alter Ego.] [Will Murray is a professional psychic and instructor in remote viewing, as well as the author of over fifty books. His most recent novel, Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD: Empyre (2000), predicted the operational details of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on America.]

Bill Woggon

Bill Woggon (1911-2003) A Fond Remembrance by Author/Cartoonist Trina Robbins My friend, a woman of A Certain Age, was visiting me and saw the framed Katy Award I’d been given in the 1930s by the Katy Keene Fan Club. Her face lit up. “Isn’t that Katy Keene? I remember Katy Keene!” And so do most women of A Certain Age. Sometimes that was the only comic book they read. And sometimes they need a little prompting to remember the name. When they see my spinner full of old comics, their eyes get all misty. “Gee, when I was a girl, I used to read this comic about a girl,” they say. “What was her name? The beautiful movie star you could design clothes for? And she had paper dolls, too.”

“The Twiddles,” and “Nevada Jones,” in Wilbur, Suzie, Pep, and Laugh. But it was Katy Keene’s first 1945 appearance in Wilbur #5 that made history—or perhaps, herstory. The glamorous brunette movie queen, along with her paper dolls, pinups, and equally glamorous fashions, was a big hit with kids, especially girl kids. Katy got her own title in 1949, and throughout the 1950s she became her own mini-industry, with such spin-off titles as Katy Keene Fashion Book, Katy Keene Holiday Fun, Katy Keene Pinup Parade, Katy Keene Spectacular, Katy Keene Glamour, Katy Keene Charm, and Katy Keene 3-D.

Most of us were too It wasn’t only girls who young and naive to realize sent in their designs to Katy that the beautiful “readerKeene. Little John Lucas’ designed” fashions printed in father was upset when his Katy Keene comics had been son read and designed redrawn by creator Bill clothes for what he Woggon. Instead, we thought considered a “girl’s comic,” that the designers who sent but the many photos of them in were incredibly himself in cowboy outfits talented, and, despairing of that Bill Woggon included in ever drawing that well, we his comics convinced him never sent in our own that it was a boy’s comic, drawings. But braver or too. John grew up to draw smarter kids did send their Katy when Archie Comics designs to “Bossman” Bill revived her during the 1980s, Woggon at the “Woggon in response to demand from Wheels” ranch in Santa a still-vocal Katy Keene Barbara, California—designs fandom. Unfortunately, we had no photo of Bill Woggon at presstime—but here is one of his justlynot only for the movie celebrated “Katy Keene” pinup pages. Thanks, Trina. [©2003 Archie Comic Publications, Inc.] [Retired cartoonist Trina queen’s fantastic costumes, but for tail-finned cars, Robbins turned her talents horses, even space ships—and he published them. Some, like the late to feminist pop culture over ten years ago when she wrote her first Barb Rausch, Barbie artist par excellence, even earned the title of Katy book on women cartoonists, the now out-of-print A Century of Women Cartoonists. Since then, she’s written ten more books, Keene artist of the month. Others he inspired to become real designers, including one about dark goddesses (Eternally Bad) and her latest, like Betsey Johnston, Willie Smith, and Anna Sui. None of us ever forgot Tender Murderers: Women Who Kill. And she still likes to write him. about killer women cartoonists (The Great Women Cartoonists, Bill was assisting big brother Elmer on his newspaper strip Chief Watson-Guptill, 2001). You can check out Trina’s website at Wahoo (later to become Steve Roper) when Archie editor Harry <www.trinarobbins.com>.] Shorten visited the Ohio studio, saw the young cartoonist’s work, and invited him to submit filler material for the Archie comics line. He published quite a few of Bill’s submissions, such as “Dotty and Ditto,”

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41 mandates, you had better be ready to defend yourself.

re: [Unless you own a copy of Roy Thomas and Bill Schelly’s 1997 tome Alter Ego: The Best of the Legendary Comics Fanzine—and that does include 1500 or so of you, come to think of it!—you probably haven’t seen the above illo, which was artist Ron Harris’ first tentative depiction of the super-hero called Alter Ego, which was destined to appear in a four-issue 1986 mini-series from First Comics in Chicago. This piece was distributed via interstate commerce to establish copyright for the character. Today, of course, we’d have to change the reference to “25 years” to “42 years,” as well as adding the “re:” balloon! Time flies (as do super-heroes) when you’re having fun. [Art ©2003 Ron Harris; Alter Ego is a TM of Roy & Dann Thomas.] [But onward: [Last issue, we had to drop our riotous “re:” section at the last minute, so we decided to double up this time, to try to restore a five-issue lapse between a published issue of Alter Ego and printed comments/corrections thereto. Between our triple coverage of Dick Sprang, Fred Ray, and Mort Leav, as well as another topic or two, A/E #19 sure generated a Heap (sorry, Mort) of mail. Here’s some of the most intriguing of it, starting with a note from longtime pro writer and editor Mike W. Barr, creator of Camelot 3000 and Batman and the Outsiders, among other things:] Dear Roy: Playing against type, I read the “Fred Ray” half of A/E #19 first, and enjoyed it thoroughly. I regret to say I know very little about this neglected artist, and was glad to learn much more. Ditto Mort Leav. However, on the subject of Fred Ray, I would have been grateful for even a short “hero history” of Tomahawk, to parallel Ray’s career. Interestingly, I was probably the last—let’s be optimistic and say “most recent”—editor to wield the Tomahawk, when I was editing Unknown Soldier for DC in 1981 or so and the title was on its last legs. Bob Haney and Jose Delbo did a nice three-part story about the character when I was trying to broaden the base and appeal of the anthology title. (You may recall that you wrote a proposal for me concerning The Unknown Soldier as the leader of a team of WWII super-heroes which was quite different from All-Star Squadron.) The Dick Sprang half of the mag was equally enjoyable. It may be of interest to your readers to realize that the interview with Dick was edited very little—Dick spoke that clearly and concisely, expressing his well-thought-out opinion with verve. He never demanded—or wanted— unthinking obedience from his listeners, but if you challenged one of his

I also enjoyed Michael T. Gilbert’s look at the scripts and plot synopses of Gardner Fox. Documents such as these are important, if only to dispel the impression, granted credence because those quoted have outlived Fox, that he was just some kind of human tape recorder who only regurgitated the ideas of others, rather than generating thousands of ideas and characters on his own. On the subject of back issues, in A/E #14 there was some discussion over whether the JSA story in Adventure Comics #462, the death of the Earth-Two Batman, was written “Marvel style” or full script. As the guy who mailed the story out to Joe Staton in my days as a DC staffer, I can testify that it was a plot, by Paul Levitz, to which dialogue was added later. Not that that made it a better story. Also, page 24 of #14 describes “The Answer Man’s Guide to the DC Explosion” as “headed by a caricature of Paul Levitz.” That was actually The Answer Man himself, Bob Rozakis. Hmm, if an expert is “someone who knows more and more about less and less,” we’re all in danger of becoming “experts” on old comics. Which is just fine with me and, I’m sure, with you. Mike W. Barr Thanks for all the inside info, Mike... including the correction on the ID of The Answer Man. Readers will be happy to know that an article or two by Mike will be coming their way in early issues of this zine. Next we hear from Richard Kyle, who was a mainstay of the fabled fanzine Xero in the early 1960s and later published his own Wonderworld and owned one of the first true comics stores. Dear Roy, I liked Fred Ray’s art on “Tomahawk” in the old days, but I don’t believe I recognized half of his other work. (Considering Robinson’s and Burnley’s claims, I may not be alone.) Despite his great technical skill, the work lacked showmanship and drama—except for those truly striking covers—and when I look at his continuity in #19, I can see why he seldom stirred me. It is commonplace, in an artist capable of more. It suggests a bleak life for a man with a hidden gift for a richer one. You wonder why he didn’t have much regard for super-heroes and why he loved the past so well. Incidentally, it’s my recollection that the Famous Artists School didn’t come into being until after World War II (Robinson interview, second column, page 6). And I never saw the word “Japanazis” anywhere except in DC comics (first caption, page 7). It must have been coined by somebody on the DC editorial staff. As a teenager during the war, I thought it was so silly it was funny, and I can remember calling out “Stop the Japanazis!” when I took leave of my friends. To my delight, all I ever got were blank stares. Grass Green lives! The pseudo-scientific jargon he invented for that page of “Xal-Kor” on page 31 is just wonderful. Did you know he was a finalist on The Ted Mack Original Amateur Hour, a major show in early TV? Sang rock ’n’ roll and played (I think the guitar). For me, the best “Batman” stories are the ones Bob Kane had a real hand in. Yes, he was a tiresome egomaniac. Yes, he was a swipemaster.

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Yes, he was pompous. Yes, he was sort of dumb (I heard him on a daytime radio quiz show in the mid-’40s; he was an absolute ass and missed a question along the lines of “Who is buried in Grant’s Tomb?”). But in those early days, when he touched “Batman,” he made it a work of true genius. Incidentally, in the ComicsOnCDRom ad in #19, under AmazingMan, there is a mention of Lou Glanzman. Why don’t you get an interview with him—for future use, if nothing else? He drew “The Shark” for Amazing-Man Comics and worked on the post-Everett “Amazing-Man” strip, and may have something new to say. Practically everybody else at Funnies, Inc. is gone. Glanzman’s subsequent career as an artist is impressive, too. He illustrated books (in an edition of Toby Tyler, or Ten Weeks with the Circus illustrated by Glanzman, there’s a bio of him). And he painted for most of the top slicks, SatEvePost, True, National Geographic, among others. His brother Sam says he’s interested. Why not? Richard Kyle 3644 Lewis Avenue Long Beach, CA 90807-4118 In truth, Richard, we are in possession of a short interview with Lou Glanzman which we mean to print very soon... and we’d like to talk to his brother Sam, as well. Both have contributed considerably to the comic book field. More on Fred Ray’s art comes from Craig Delich, who among other things helps ID Golden Age art for DC Comics’ Archives series: Roy, I’m not sure about Jerry Robinson’s claim in Alter Ego #19 that he did the Batman and Robin figures on the cover of World’s Finest Comics #3. Jerry and Fred Ray did do some covers together for Detective and in some “Batman” stories. Ray did a few inking chores here and there. Jack Burnley pointed out time and time again the mis-identification of Fred Ray’s work as Jerry Robinson’s, especially in the Silver Age World’s Finest Archives, Vol. 1, whose covers at the back (actually by Fred Ray) are listed as Jerry Robinson’s. Jack said that Fred was very hurt by such screw-ups (and, of course, was not paid by DC, since they were ID’d as Robinson’s stuff). I’m in contact with Jack right now about the art on the cover of World’s Finest #16, listed solely as Robinson. I sent stats to Jack to look at. I believe Burnley may very well have penciled the story and Robinson (or Roussos) inked it. That art is not solely Robinson (which is much more cartoony). Jack and Jerry did collaborate on occasion. I’ll let you (and DC) know what I discover. Of course, the GCD files will need to be corrected, as well. The Gardner Fox article was very informative, particularly on

page 30, where Fox has listed “Batman” stories he supposedly wrote. All the stories listed (except “The Grade A Crimes”) are listed in GCD files as Don Cameron’s writing (credited as such by Martin O’Hearn). Maybe we need to ask Martin to re-look at those stories... but I believe Martin knows Fox’s style well enough to spot it. Maybe I’m wrong... I don’t know. Maybe Cameron rewrote the script when he was assigned to do it? There’s so much that happened back then, we’ll never be certain. We do know “The Grade A Crimes” was written by Ruth “Bunny” Lyon Kaufman, as confirmed by Jack Schiff. That’s listed by Fox... so my point is that, if Fox was wrong on this story, maybe...? Your thoughts? Craig Delich Afraid we have no first-hand knowledge of those early-’40s DC comics covers by Fred Ray, etc., Craig... but Roy has come to suspect that a number of the items Gardner Fox listed in his records were put there not because he had composed those scripts, but for some other reason. Which means that the “Batman” stories you mention are quite likely to have been written by Don Cameron, as you and Martin O’Hearn believe—and, as a matter of fact, we have an article on Ruth Lyon Kaufman and her “Batman” work coming up just a couple of issues from now. Nor did Fox necessarily write the Simon & Kirby “Sandman” story he analyzed in his record book; he probably listed it because he was studying it (since he had to write Sandman in All-Star Comics, after all) rather than as one he had scripted. None of which takes away from the phenomenal career of Gardner F. Fox, co-creator of The Flash, Hawkman, et al.... or from Michael T. Gilbert’s series on Fox’s letters. Matter of fact, if there were misassumptions such as the above, most of them were Roy’s, since he wrote the captions in which they were stated. But we’re determined to get these things right, even if it takes us a few months. Certainly one of the highlights of A/E #19 was the lengthy coverage of “Batman” artist Dick Sprang, which was lauded by nearly everyone who wrote. This letter from longtime fan, collector, and Thunder Bunny creator Marty Greim does that and more: Dear Roy, I received Alter Ego #19 today and enjoyed the Sprang piece very much. So much so that I thought I’d impart some information to you about Sprang. His very first fan interview was published in a fanzine called Comic Crusader. Issue #17, to be exact. it was a lengthy interview conducted at Sprang’s home by John Garcia.

The first fan piece of art was done for me. I thought long and hard on what I wanted him to do. I decided I’d ask him for his take on the cover of Batman #1. I thought it would probably be a great shot of Batman and Robin, à la Sprang, with the abbreviated background. I [Continued on p. 44]

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SPECIAL NOTE: One Robinson interview that of the most-discussed should be corrected. I am topics from issue #19 was enclosing a personal letter those marvelous from the late Fred Ray in Superman and Batman which he gives a complete covers generally list of his comics work. This proves that Ray attributed to Fred Ray. There were some discrepdrew the early Batman ancies between things covers that Robinson said by Golden Age claims as his work—Jerry artist Jerry Robinson only did the inks. (Batman, Atoman, etc.) Also, Robinson had in his brief interview by absolutely nothing to do Dan Makara, and statewith my first DC cover, ments made by another the [1939] World’s Fair 1940s comics star, Jack cover showing Superman, Burnley (Starman, Batman, and Robin Batman, et al.). It is not together for the first time. Alter Ego’s place (or The same is true of the policy) to take sides in Batman #9 “spotlight” such matters; in fact, cover. unlike some other mags, Jack Burnley Two great Golden Age cover artists strut their stuff! Fred Ray’s cover for Superman #18 Ye Editor would much (Sept.-Oct. 1942) and Jack Burnley’s for #19 (Nov.-Dec. 1942) are featured in glorious prefer to steer clear of Along with the letter full color in the latest (fifth) volume of DC’s Superman Archives. [©2003 DC Comics.] controversy, whenever from which the above is possible, because of his excerpted, Jack sent us the following handwritten letter to him from Fred respect for the talents of all concerned. All we can do is try to let Ray. It is undated, but the postmark on the envelope (also sent) was June everyone have his say, then let our readers judge for themselves, since 29, 1993. We’ve retyped that letter here, and repro’d Ray’s own list of hardwired proof in many areas of art and story is difficult to come by, cover credits below, albeit a bit smaller than we’d prefer. By the way, at this late date. when Ray says on the attached credit sheets he sent to Jack Burnely that But we are in receipt of a letter from artist Jack Burnley, who was interviewed at length back in the second issue of this mag—and, as forwarded by Jack, a missive from Fred Ray, as well—and we hereby present both of them, in the interests of learning more about comics history. As the old labor proverb goes: “More today than yesterday, more tomorrow than today.” First, here’s part of what Jack had to say: Dear Roy, In your last issue, there are a number of errors in the Jerry

he “saved all the covers” he did for early DC, Jack explains that Ray tore the covers off copies of the issues and pasted them down; it’s the rubber cement used to do that that discolored the (reproduced) art. Dear Jack— A pleasant surprise to hear from you—one of the “survivors.” Am enclosing a list of my old DC covers. This is correct as I saved all the covers I did at that time. This may clear up some of the confusion you spoke about. I have credited Robinson where he did the inking. [Continued on next page]

44 [Continued from previous page] I am as surprised as you over this recent surge of interest in the old comics. In spite of the salary paid—$35.00 per week (later $50.00 per week)—it was for me an invaluable training ground with guys like you and Flessel to study. I remember Whit Ellsworth telling me how impressed he was with your work. Lately I have picked up some $ from DC for reprints of Superman and Action cover—the chickens are coming home to roost! I remember your brother Ray quite well. We used to stop at a 3rd Ave. bar after work and sip brandy. Great days! By the way, I still keep in touch with Charlie Paris (in Tuscon, Arizona). I worked continually on “Tomahawk” and war stories for years after the war—then spent 20 years as art editor on two magazines, Civil War Times and American History Illustrated. Gave me a chance to [Continued from p. 42] asked that it be done in black-&-white. I also asked if he could put the Bat-signal into the picture. No gray tone or color. It took about a month and the package arrived. I opened it and was blown away. The picture on page 21 of A/E #19 is based on my original. Mine, however, has a thunderstorm raging in the background. Of course, that would be impossible, but it was put in for dramatic effect. I lent the original to the Cartoon Museum, when it was in Ryebrook, for their Batman month-long show. They used it on their promotion for the event. People who saw it went nuts over it. Tom Horvitz contacted Sprang and pleaded with him to re-create it for him. Sprang did, but it just wasn’t as good. Horvitz tried for years to get mine. He did not succeed. Sprang was quite a guy. His Civil War art is so detailed that you can see the buttons on the jackets. Sprang was a Civil War buff, and when John Garcia first met him in Arizona, he was working on a montage for a school library. Until John ran into him, no one had known his whereabouts. DC contacted me after the interview saw print, so they could send him some money they owed him for reprint material. I got to meet Dick in person on my one and only visit to the San Diego Con. I videotaped that meeting and a short interview. It was great to finally meet him in person.

re: paint a number of covers—also some pulp western magazine covers— but haven’t done much since. Produced a number of historic booklets, but only one, The Story of the Alamo, is still in print. It was a losing game financially. After paying the printer and postage, there wasn’t much left. I have been contacted frequently with [=by] a comic buff, Chas. Roberts, who asks a myriad of questions about the old days at DC. Still amazed by all this interest. Hope this finds you well. I am feeling better than I have in years. Don’t be a stranger—good to hear from you at any time. Best, Fred Ray P.S.: Many thanks for the Action covers—a good example of improvement from that early primitive effort to the last one. P.S. 32: Like you, I don’t attend these comic conventions. Try to maintain a “low profile.” horror period. Though another artist once told Jerry Bails and me that his real name was Robert Siegel, his widow told us that she’d never heard of Siege or Siegel, and that Sale was the only name she’d ever known him by... but a quick look at the BQSiege makes it clear, whatever the name, the same artist was at work! Hames Ware Nearly every Alter Ego these days features a long and information-packed letter from Hames—and that’s just how we want it, since adding to the spread of knowledge about comic books and their creators is what A/E is all about. Alas, this often leaves us with little if any room for the kind of ego-boosting letters of praise of which most mail (e- or snail-) to the magazine consists. Still, at the risk of making it seem as if the best way to get a letter printed in A/E is to criticize it—which would be a wrong assumption—here is a comment from reader Mark Stratton which brings up a few points we’d like to address: Roy,

As a longtime fan and oft-time critic of your work, I had given serious thought to dropping Alter Ego from my list of magazines that I ask the comic shop to order for me, as I was beginning to feel that as an editor you were running out of things Martin L. Greim to say and had delved into repetition. I also take exception to the constant comments In Bob Koppany’s super-rare volume The Art of Richard Thanks for the added information, Marty. about “not having enough room” for all & W. Sprang, this is listed as “a conceptual page for a You’ve got quite an art collection, we know! sundry that you as editor collected for yet ‘Who’s Who’ section in a Batman Annual.” Thanks And here are a few words from Hames to Bob and to Ike Wilson, agent for the Sprang estate. another Theme Issue. Most annoying. Ware, co-editor of the original edition of [©2003 DC Comics.] You’re not alone in doing this at Who’s Who of American Comic Books: TwoMorrows, by the way. I find it grievously offensive and unprofessional. I don’t care what you didn’t use. I Dear Roy— care about what you did. As the reader, I believe that my opinion carries Thanks so much for the new issue... especially glad to see Mort a smidge of weight with you. Leav covered! He and I corresponded fairly recently. As I think I I detest the Theme Issues. How about setting things up like a mentioned then, “Bob G. Siege” [mentioned in Leav’s memoir] was the normal publication with departments, columns, and features instead of first name used by the later Robert Q. Sale, who was prolific in the Atlas all this Theme business? You’d have better luck stretching out your

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overflowing inbox of usable material.

We hope you’ll stick with us for a nice long ride, Mark—but please note that we didn’t promise you a steering wheel.

I do like the reprints of material from other publications. Thanks for that. Wonderful stuff. I also wish you wouldn’t find it needful to personally introduce every article in the magazine.

More Additions, Corrections, and Adjustments: Craig Delich also wrote us that, on page 30 of our Dick Sprang coverage in issue #19, Charles Paris credits Cliff Young with doing “Green Lantern”— which should have been “Green Arrow.” That could’ve just been a typo rather than Paris’ actual statement; sometimes these old audiotapes get a bit fuzzy—or maybe our overworked transcribers’ ears do!

With issue #19 you did something wonderful. You shifted the focus from men in tights long enough to show us all about Fred Ray. I have recently discovered Tomahawk and still know little about the genesis of the character, but know that I like him. Finding out what I could about Fred Ray was wondrous. Fantastic! Outstanding! Good show! Thank you! More about creators like him would be grand. As you stated, trying to find “names” to put on the cover is the road to madness.... One final thought. I would like to remind you that there is more to the Golden Age & Silver Age of Comics than the “union suit” bunch. How about features on funny animals, TV tie-in comics, comics like A Date with Judy, Mr. District Attorney, Gangbusters, Big Town, and some of the others like Robin Hood Tales, to name a few.

Except for some panels from very early Sky Wolf/Heap tales in Air Fighters Comics, we thought we had used up what little store we had of Mort Leav super-hero art. But his friend Tony Cerezo supplied us with this personalized piece, even if it came from an “old stat.” [©2003 Mort Leav.]

I would really like to know more “stories behind the stories,” as a balance to the sometimes fanboyish, fawning articles about the Greats of the Golden Age, creatively speaking. There is the small matter of what they created that occasionally gets left out.

All in all, I like your efforts. You wrote one of my personal favorite titles when I was in my Golden Age (The Invaders), and that always brings a warm glow to me when I think of it. I am slowly but surely replacing my collection an issue at a time. Thanks for taking the time to read this. Look forward to more “stuff” in the future. Cheers, Mark Stratton We read (= Roy reads) every letter that comes in to A/E, by whatever means, but this one illustrates why it’s impossible to give too much weight to any one of them, even in a relatively small-circulation mag like this. Apparently, theme issues are “detest(able)”—unless we happen to cover the right theme or artist, which is “wonderful.” This is the type of conflicting, contradictory signals that caused Robby the Robot to nearly blow a fuse in the classic sf movie Forbidden Planet. Naturally, Mark, we know good and well that there’s a lot more than super-heroes to comic books. And we’re happy about that fact—honest we are. But take a gander at the title of this mag: Alter Ego. It was conceived by Jerry G. Bails in 1961 to deal with the comic book superhero, and while that narrow focus was never slavishly adhered to, the super-hero and his creators will remain our primary focus. Saying that we should do otherwise is a little like faulting Burger King because they don’t sell fried chicken (although maybe they do, these days). Sure, we’ll deal from time to time with crime, humor, etc., as you suggest. And we have. In #23, for instance, though artist John Rosenberger was featured primarily because of his work on the Archie super-heroes, the majority of his art reproduced and discussed by Roger Hill was in other genres; that issue also covered Bob Fujitani’s work on the Flash Gordon newspaper strip as well as on The Hangman and “Shock Gibson.” And the majority of the artwork shown in #21’s revised version of The Iger Comics Kingdom was non-super-heroic, as well.

In answer to our query in a caption as to where several comics series produced circa 1941 by the Fallon-Sprang Studios had appeared, sharp-eyed collector Steven Rowe informs us that “K-7, Secret Agent” and “The Scorpion” appeared in Hillman’s Miracle Comics. He couldn’t find “Speed Martin,” but says there was a “Speed Taylor” at Harvey about the same time Fallon-Sprang did “Shock Gibson” for that company—maybe the name was changed prior to publication? And Steven adds that, yes, longtime Sprang inker Charley Paris did mean inker “Steve Brodie” when he said “Alex Brodie,” because “Steve” was the nickname of Alexander Brodie.

Steve Rowe was also one of several folks (veteran pro writer Mike W. Barr was the first; another was David Morefield) who spotted an almost inexplicable oversight on Ye Editor’s part: on that un-used early’50s Batman cover we printed by artist Win Mortimer, Robin is referred to as being stuck in a “guillotine”—but of course the Boy Wonder is actually merely being held in stocks. Even so, with the kind of heat comics were getting at that time because of crime and horror comics, DC may have decided that even showing restraining stocks on a cover was a no-no. But how/why Roy managed to type “guillotine,” he has no idea! Carl E. Borg, current Central Mailer for Alpha Omega, points out that two of that apa-zine’s members were not duly acknowledged for their contributions to A/E #21. It was Ralph Ellis Miley (whose last name accidentally got left off his credit) who supplied the Jay Disbrow self-portrait, while Don Ensign, whose four-part “Captain Marvel Jr.” piece continued in #21, wasn’t listed on the contents page. Don was duly bylined on the article itself, and Miley’s full name had been given when the Disbrow art was used in A/E #14. We apologize for the omissions— but, as Carl says, at least Alpha Omega member John G. Pierce did get credit in the issue! Also, we’d like to acknowledge that the original art for several of the pieces of Alex Toth art we printed in issue #19 belongs to fellow Toth fan Dave Cook. Dave has Alex’s official blessing to publish on the Alex Toth website, which is run by web master Jeff Rose and features contributions by many Toth collectors. The artist himself has annotated much of the art there, giving fascinating “behind-the-scenes” info; Alex, Dave says, “is enjoying doing them so much that he has renamed them ‘AnnoToths.’ It works for us. Interested parties can contact Jeff for more info at <jeff.rose@iofuse.com>—and we suggest that you do, for a visual treat! For letters and comments re Alter Ego #20, turn to our flip side...!

PLUS: PLUS:

No. 25 June 2003

A 70th-BIRTHDAY TRIBUTE TO

JERRY G. BAILS

FANDOM’s FOUNDING FATHER!

ALSO IN THIS STAR-STUDDED ISSUE: ADAMS • AMASH • ANDERSON BRUNNER • BORING • BURNLEY • "CHAD" CLAREMONT • COCKRUM • EVERETT FLESSEL • GALLAGHER • GILBERT HANLEY • HARRIS • KANE • KUBERT LAY • LEAV • LEVITZ • MURRAY • NODELL NORDLING • ORDWAY • PAUL • PEDDY RAY • SEAY • SCHELLY • SCHWARTZ SEKOWSKY • SEVERIN • SPRANG STASI • SWAYZE • THOMAS • TOTH VOSBURG • WILLIAMSON • WOGGON and MORE!

5.95

In the USA

Vol. 3, No. 25 / June 2003

™

Editor Roy Thomas

Associate Editors Bill Schelly Jim Amash

Design & Layout Christopher Day

Consulting Editor John Morrow

FCA Editor P.C. Hamerlinck

HAPPY 70th, JERRY G. BAILS!

Comic Crypt Editor Michael T. Gilbert

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

Production Assistant Eric Nolen-Weathington

Cover Artists Alex Toth (with Jack Cole) Bill Schelly & Friends

Cover Colorist Tom Ziuko

This issue is dedicated to Jerry G. Bails –––and to the memory of Jack Cole and Bill Woggon

Contents

Writer/Editorial: “Jerry, You’re the Bestest!” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Jerry Bails’ Ten Building Blocks of Fandom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Bill Schelly examines ten JGB “firsts”—and that’s just from the 1960s!

The Jerry Bails/Gardner Fox Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Michael T. Gilbert looks at JGB’s correspondence with the co-creator of the JSA.

With a Little Help from His Friends. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Some of Jerry’s collaborators and correspondents on Fandom’s Founding Father. The Naming of Alter-Ego ––1961. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 What’s in a name? Jerry Bails, Ph.D., in his own words.

“Roy Writes All-Star Squadron Like He’s Just Writing It for Jerry Bails!” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Ye Editor reveals JGB’s influence on the early days of the 1980s “JSA” mag.

“IChrisTrusted His Instincts and I Hoped He Trusted Mine!”. . . . . . 26 Claremont (part 2) interviewed by Jim Amash on his X-Men work with Dave Cockrum, et al. re: [comments, corrections, & correspondence] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America) #84 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 P.C. Hamerlinck proudly presents Marc Swayze, Hames Ware, & Hoppy the Marvel Bunny!

A Toast to the Golden Age of Comic Fandom . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 A Michael T. Gilbert centerspread, dedicated to 1960s super-fans no longer with us.

Jack Cole & Plastic Man Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Flip Us! About Our Cover: Bill Schelly surrounded his finely-rendered portrait of Jerry G. Bails with a Justice Society panoply—all 18 Golden Age members, in fact. Ye Ed sent Bill plenty of 1940s art to choose from (plus the 1980s Red Tornado drawing by Shelly Mayer), and publisher John Morrow made a few last-minute tweaks, before Tom Ziuko worked his coloring wonders. Jerry was never “just” a JSA fan, despite the abundance of All-Starrelated art in this issue—but since DC asks that we not mix its heroes with those of Marvel and other companies on covers, this seemed a good a way to go. Can anybody ID all the artists? [Portrait ©2003 Bill Schelly; characters TM & ©2003 DC Comics.] Above: This Rick Stasi art was used as the back cover of Craig & David Delich’s 1977 All-Star Comics Revue. Rick, a commercial artist in Kansas City, went on to do some work for DC in the 1980s, including a “Shazam!” series with Ye Editor. [Art ©2003 Rick Stasi; Spectre, Wonder Woman, Dr. Fate, & Starman TM & ©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, $11.00 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

Jerry, You’re The Bestest! Much of this half of Alter Ego is devoted to Jerry G. Bails, Ph.D., the creator of this magazine—and, in a certain sense, of comics fandom itself. What’s more, if the fates are kind, spotting his own image on the cover surrounded by all 18 of the 1940s JSAers will be the first he’ll know of that fact. Actually, Bill Schelly and I have wanted to devote space to him for some time, but Jerry’s far too modest to be cooperative. He declined to be interviewed by Bill some months ago, feeling he had already said everything he could possibly say over the past four-plus decades. But to us, that wasn’t the point. We wanted to honor him in Alter Ego, the very first comics-fandom-related Bails brainchild. So we bided our time. Then, just two or three months before these words were written (in mid-April), I received e-mail comments from Jerry on A/E #20. That email is printed on p. 36, and it’s the final paragraph that really grabbed my attention: “By the way, you ran my birthday in the ‘Hangman’ panel on p. 33.” I turned quickly to that page and read the hero’s dialogue there: “I’d like to see your picture file of June 26, 1933!” Apparently in 1973 Jerry, when reproducing that Bob Fujitani panel via thermafax machine, dropped out a few words—which may or may not have been a particular date—and, just for a lark, substituted his birthdate. I immediately realized that, by sheer coincidence, that meant Jerry’s 70th birthday was coming up in June—and that there was just enough time to prepare some special features on him for this issue of A/E, and to obfuscate the fact by not mentioning the coverage either in Previews or in the next-issue ad in the May ish. Bill happily assayed to write about ten of Jerry’s major contributions to fandom—and the fact that he made 1965 a cut-off date, thus omitting The Who’s Who of American Comic Books and several other influential Bails publications, shows how arbitrary was Bill’s choice of the number “10.” It could have been “20”! It was left to Jerry’s other friends and admirers to fill in the details, both pre- and post-1965, and they’ve been only too pleased to do so: DC editor Julius Schwartz, Craig Delich, Paul Gambaccini, Al Dellinges, DC publisher Paul Levitz, Ray Buttorff Jr., Michael T. Gilbert, Hames Ware—and Mart Nodell, who, as Green Lantern’s major creator, represents the many Golden Age professionals grateful to Jerry for his efforts to make their work known, identified, and catalogued.

paperback Alter Ego: The Best of the Legendary Comics Fanzine, it was circa November 1960 that I wrote a letter to Flash/Green Lantern/Justice League of America editor Julie, asking among other things if DC had any old copies of the 1940-51 All-Star Comics lying around the office that it might be willing to sell cheap. Julie responded in the negative, but sent me the home address of Gardner Fox, because he knew Gardner had owned bound volumes of those comics. Besides, since Gardner then wrote JLA and had been All-Star’s original scribe, Julie figured he might enjoy hearing my kind words about those titles. As related by Michael T. Gilbert later this issue, Gardner informed me by return mail that, alas, he had sold his bound volumes some time before to a gent named Jerry Bails—and he included Jerry’s Detroit-area address, figuring that a couple of JSA-JLA fans like us might enjoy getting in touch with each other. Gardner Fox, wherever you are—thank you! Your actions, on top of Julie’s, set in motion a chain of events which led to Alter Ego, organized comics fandom, the Alley Awards, and maybe a bit more. Not that I was an equal prime-mover in any of the above, mind. Jerry took the lead, even in those areas where the original germ might have been mine, while I was mired in completing my senior college year. Even so, I’d like to think our often perfervid correspondence had some sort of catalytic effect on Jerry—not that he generally needed it! I don’t know exactly what I wrote to Jerry in November of ’60, but his quick response, which arrived in Jackson, Missouri, just two days after my twentieth birthday, has been preserved in part: “I can’t begin to tell you how happy I am to find another All-Star enthusiast after all these years. I’ve been a fan since the first Justice Society adventure appeared in All-Star Comics #3 (Winter 1941). In 1945, I began my campaign to collect all the back issues of this magazine, and in 1951, when the JSA was dropped, I began my campaign for a revival of this old favorite. Just last year, as you know, my efforts finally paid off. Now, I’m off on a new campaign—to make the Justice League of America more popular than Superman. First, I want to see the JLA published monthly; then I want to see it published in a giant edition. I hope you will join me in working for these goals.”

As for yours truly: I “knew” Jerry, at least via the U.S. mails, before any of the above, except to some extent Julie Schwartz. As detailed in the 1997 trade

(Left to right:) Roy Thomas, Bill Schelly, and Jerry Bails at the Fandom Reunion Luncheon, Chicago, summer 1997. Photo by Russ Maheras.

In that same package he sent me his triplicate copies (one complete, two in-) of All-Star #4-6. To a JSA fan who at that time had never seen any issue earlier than #21 and a house ad for #13 in a copy of an old Superman comic, and who had only learned of the very existence of Hourman shortly before in a Julie Schwartz letters column, the three All-Stars were a revelation. Soon afterward, I sent Jerry a boxfull of less remarkable old comics I had lying around, in an attempt to return the favor.

writer/editorial

3 Even so, I recall being shocked when he announced he was turning Alter-Ego over to fan-artist Ronn Foss, his wife, and his artist friend Grass Green (a “Triad” swiftly reduced to just Ronn). Jerry has said he didn’t suggest I take over the zine because he didn’t think that publishing a fanzine was my kind of thing— and he was probably right, in 1962. (By ’64, though, I did assume the reins of the nowunhyphenated Alter Ego when Ronn left after two fine issues, and when Biljo White changed his mind about taking it over himself.)

It turned out that, as I wrote in 1965 (see the 1997 Best of A/E volume), “we had other things in common besides our JSA/JLA interests. He, too, was a Missourian, having done most of his undergraduate work at the University of Kansas City. He had moved to Detroit just that preceding July to become Assistant Professor of Natural Science at Wayne State University.” In that pre-e-mail, even pre-fax era when phone calls were too expensive to be a common alternative, we exchanged 100 pages’ worth of letters in less than five months. Almost at once we began to develop Jerry’s notion of a 6"-high revival of The Atom—only to see such a hero added to DC’s schedule by January of ’61; whether as a result of Jerry’s prodding DC or by mere coincidence, is, I think, ultimately unknowable.

On a personal level, Jerry and I first met face to face in early ’63, when we both visited Biljo White in Columbia, The event that led inexorably to Jerry’s creating Alter Ego was the permutation of the 1940s Justice Missouri. For our second Society into the 1960s Justice League. But when the JSA itself returned in Justice League of America meeting I took a train to #21-22 in mid-1963, now that was the answer to a prayer, for him and for others! This page from #22 Detroit in November of is repro’d from a photocopy of the original Sekowsky/Sachs art, courtesy of Mike W. Barr and Tom ’63—over Thanksgiving, Horvitz. Of course, it’s also on display, in color, in the Justice League of America Archives, Vol. 3. the weekend after the [©2003 DC Comics.] assassination of President John F. Kennedy (on my 23rd birthday, as the fates would have it). We met again at a 1964 Christmas vacation fan-meet in Chicago... and for a On January 26, 1961, I received a letter from Jerry mentioning his fourth time when he came to New York City for Dave Kaler’s comics idea for a “JLA newsletter”—which internal evidence suggests he may convention in summer of ’65. By then, I was Stan Lee’s assistant editor at have told me about even earlier—and the news that he’d be in New York Marvel, and already the proud scripter of Millie the Model. the very next month, and would drop by the DC offices to try to enlist Julie Schwartz’s cooperation on that venture. By the time he returned We’ve kept in touch over the decades, though Jerry has traveled less home, he had come up with the name “Alter-ego” for a more ambitious in recent years. One particularly memorable occasion we got together in person was the Fandom Reunion Luncheon primarily arranged by Bill version of a newsletter—a “fanzine,” appropriating some of what he had Schelly at the time of the Chicago Comic-Con in summer of 1997. Then, learned from Julie about science-fiction fandom to what he had already in spring of 2002, I was invited to be a guest at the Motor City Comics planned. (More about that later in this issue.) He named me “co-editor” Convention, and my wife Dann agreed we should go to Detroit so Jerry of the zine—an honorary title if ever there was one—and asked me to and I could meet again. The three of us, and Ray Bottorff Jr., had a contribute, among other things, a Mad-style parody I was already wonderful dinner together. working on for fun, “The Bestest League of America.” On March 28 Jerry wrote me that “the final ditto [spirit duplicator] masters had been prepared on the 21-page Alter-Ego #1” (the second “e” was now capitalized). The cover was a Bestest League drawing I’d done—a spoof of the cover of The Brave and the Bold #29—traced by himself and fixed up a bit. Within days, ’twould seem, the first issue of Alter-Ego hit the mails, all 200 or more initial copies.

But now, after that on-the-fly overview, I’ll step aside and let Bill Schelly and Julie Schwartz and Michael T. Gilbert, et al., have their say about Jerry and his impact on comics fandom and even on the comics industry. I’ll be back when they’re done—to say a few words about his previously-unrevealed connection with one of my all-time favorite comic book projects, the 1980s All-Star Squadron.

And the rest, as they, is history. The unbroken history of comics fandom, from that day to this—as opposed to the short-lived EC and other proto-fandoms of an earlier day.

And now, as both Jerry and I have been signing our letters to each other since at least 1961—

Though we worked together and corresponded over the next year or so, I wasn’t always privy in advance to Jerry’s whirlwind decisions. I don’t recall knowing that The Comicollector or On the Drawing Board was being spun off from the pages of Alter-Ego much sooner than anyone else—nor did I feel I should have.

Bestest,

Title Comic Fandom Archive

I began researching the history of comic fandom in 1992, because I wanted to make sure the energetic efforts of fandom’s earliest boosters were recognized and celebrated. The occasion of Jerry Bails’ 70th birthday gives me the perfect excuse (as if I needed one!) to focus on his numerous contributions to fandom, especially in that first exciting decade—contributions I’m calling…

Jerry Bails’ Ten Building Blocks of Fandom by Bill Schelly I. Alter-Ego, with a Hyphen Since we’ll be examining these building blocks in roughly chronological order, the place to start is with the fanzine Jerry Bails founded (with the help of Roy Thomas) slightly more than 42 years ago. The initial idea was to publish a newsletter to boost the Justice League of America, who had recently been launched Jerry Bails in the 1980s—and (since we in their own comic book title. featured all eleven 1960s-70s Alter Ego After visiting with Justice covers back in ish #10) the montage League of America editor Julius cover of the 1997 collection of the best of Schwartz and writer Gardner the first volume of A/E. This 160-page Fox in New York City in trade paperback is virtually out of print, February of 1961, his projected though Bill Schelly recently stumbled upon a few spare copies; contact him The JLA Subscriber gave way to via Hamster Press. Photo courtesy of something much more ambitious: Jerry Bails and Bill Schelly. [Cover art an amateur journal devoted to ©2003 the respective copyright holders.] the revivals of the costumed heroes at DC and elsewhere, as well as historical studies of what Bails deemed “The First Heroic Age of Comics.” Its title hyphenated at first (and originally planned to be spelled with a lower-case second “e”), Alter-Ego #1 (March 1961) was sent out free to people on Jerry’s growing mailing list, compiled largely from the DC letter columns (mostly Schwartz’s) that now contained full addresses. Clearly, Bails tapped into a lot of pent-up interest in comics, and in just one year his mailing list topped 500 names. Many who had enjoyed the medium in solitude came out of the woodwork, most of them older than the eight-to-twelve-year-olds who were DC’s target audience at the time. A number of them were talented writers and artists, and soon they were contributing to Alter-Ego or starting their own fanzines. A grassroots movement arose, forming the foundation for a fandom just about comics.

At first, Jerry planned to run such ads in each issue of A/E, but it soon became clear that it couldn’t be published often enough. Thus, in September 1961, just six months after A/E debuted, he brought out The Comicollector #1, the first comics advertising fanzine. Labeled “the companion to Alter-Ego,” this 20-pager carried ads by Bails and such early stalwarts of fandom as John McGeehan, Claude Held, John Pierce, Ronn Foss, Paul Seydor, and others. The only article was a review of the first issue of The Fantastic Four, called “Four of a Kind,” by Roy Thomas, actually written for inclusion in A/E. Bails published The Comicollector for a year, then handed the reins to Ronn Foss. In 1964 it merged with Gordon Love’s Rocket’s Blast, forming the venerable RB-CC, which lasted into the 1980s.

II. The Comicollector One of the main purposes of fandom, then as now, was to bring fans together for the purpose of adding to their comic book collections. Edgar Rice Burroughs and science-fiction fans had The Fantasy Collector, which occasionally offered old comics for sale or trade, but there was a need for a publication devoted primarily to the field of comic art.

The masthead of the first issue of JGB’s Comicollector (Sept. 1961). There were few illos in the early issues.

Jerry Bails’ Ten Building Blocks of Fandom

III. On The Drawing Board/The Comic Reader

When Robert Schoenfeld took the editorial reins of The Comic Reader, he reverted back to its original name, On the Drawing Board. This is the cover to OTDB #57 (Feb. ’66). [Art ©2003 Jim Sullivan; Batman TM & ©2003 DC Comics.]

Another important spinoff from Alter-Ego was On The Drawing Board, which was devoted to blurbs and news items pertaining to upcoming events in pro comics. Because of the respect engendered by Jerry Bails, Ph.D., when he visited DC in 1961, Julie Schwartz was willing to provide such advance news, and Jerry soon developed additional sources from the other publishers.

OTDB began as a single-page news-sheet dated October 7, 1961. It was deemed #4, because Jerry counted the columns by that name from A/E #1 through 3 as the first three issues. Suddenly, fans had a way to see what was coming up on the newsstands. In some cases, they also found out the names of the writers and artists of certain features, in an era before such credits were routinely given. While there was considerable interest in developments at DC (especially the revival of Hawkman), fans also closely followed the entrance of other companies into the costumed hero sweepstakes: Archie Comics, Gold Key, Charlton, and Marvel. With #8 in March of 1962, the title became The Comic Reader. The newsletter, which was published more or less monthly, was a mainstay of fandom. After Jerry Bails, the editorial reins were picked up by Glen Johnson, and continued into the 1980s through a succession of editors, including Robert Schoenfeld, Derrill Rothermich, Mark Hanerfeld, Paul Levitz, and others.

IV. The Academy of Comic Book Fans & Collectors [The Alley Awards!] Here is a case of someone else coming up with a kernel of an idea, and Jerry being the one to run with it. In a letter to Jerry dated October 25, 1961, Roy Thomas wrote, “I just had a crazy idea and thought it might be worth something… ‘The Alter-Ego Award.’” Like the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences offering an Oscar each year for the best work in film, this award would poll fandom annually for its

Fan-artist Ronn Foss’ 1961 concept drawing of the Alley Award statuette—and a (slightly out of focus) photo of his pal Grass Green at the 1963 Alley Tally at Jerry Bails’ home, posing with Ronn’s original redwood Alley Award carving and various plaster duplications. Photo by Chuck Moss. [Art ©2003 Estate of Ronn Foss; Alley Oop TM & ©2003 NEA.]

favorite comic books in a number of categories. Bails liked the idea immediately, and soon the Alley Awards (named after Alley Oop, a further suggestion of Roy’s, because surely a caveman had to be the earliest superhero chronologically!) were established. Not that anybody ever bothered to ask the NEA Syndicate for permission to utilize V.T. Hamlin’s comic strip character as a symbol; if they had, the chances are that permission would not have been forthcoming. Bails was equally intrigued by Thomas’ mention of a nominating committee for the Alleys Besides many celebrated first-issue covers, that might be called “the in 1962 Jerry also photographed more obscure Academy.” Always looking debuts, such as this cover for Real Hit Comics for ways to emphasize the #1—a mag which isn’t listed in either The seriousness of comics fans Overstreet Price Guide or the Gerbers’ PhotoJournal Guide to Comic Books! Anybody got about their hobby, Jerry’s any idea when and by whom it was published? imagination was seized by [©2003 the respective copyright holder.] the idea of a fandom organization that would not only perpetuate the concept of comics as an art form, but would also act as a sort of umbrella for all his ideas and projects, and those of others. The Academy of Comic-Book Fans and Collectors charter, which was enthusiastically endorsed by members of fandom, stated that the Academy would conduct the Alley Awards, publish The Comic Reader, endorse a code of fair practice in the selling and trading of comic books, publish a directory of comic fans, assist in the effort to establish an annual comicon, and more. It was an ambitious agenda that was pursued with great zeal by Executive Secretary Bails. Within its first two or three years in existence, the basic aims of the Academy were met. Though helmed by others (Paul Gambaccini, David Kaler) later, interest waned and it was disbanded for lack of interest by the decade’s end. 1969 was the last year of the Alley Awards, though fan awards of some sort have been in place ever since.

Comics Fandom Archive

Of course, the tallying was just an excuse for everyone to come together to celebrate their hobby, visit with friends who had only been known through the mail, gawk at original art, make contacts with others, talk about ways to store comics, and so on. At one point, there was a surprise appearance by Rocketman—Ronn Foss in an amazingly accurate costume. Others in the group of nineteen who attended (and stayed overnight) were Don Glut, Don and Maggie Thompson, Mike Vosburg, and Grass Green.

V. Comics on Microfilm & Comic Book Cover Reproductions As a professor of science and technology at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, Jerry Bails had a technical bent that came to the fore which he conceived the idea of microfilming rare, hard-to-find Golden Age comics. These little spools and Jules Feiffer’s Great Comic Book Heroes book of 1965 were just about the only substitutes for the real thing in the middle 1960s. Those who couldn’t afford a microfilm reader could order packets of cover photographs, spanning most of the key #1 issues from the World War II era. The first photo-packet (which sold for $2) offered black-&-white reproductions measuring 2" by 3" inches of the following first issues: All Hero, All Select, All-Star, Amazing, America’s Best, Atoman, The Atomic Even in 1969, Jerry was still churning out indexes, such as this Thunderbolt, Big Three, Blue Ribbon, guide to the Justice Society’s “Earth-Two” incarnation, done for Captain America, Captain Marvel his publication The Panelologist [a term Jerry coined]. It chronicled all appearances up to that date of the JSAers in what Story Book, Captain Tootsie, Choice, he preferred to call “The Second Heroic Age” of comics. Art The Comics Magazine, Colossus, traced from Mike Sekowsky and Bernard Sachs in Justice League Crack, Crackajack Funnies, Daredevil of America #21. [Art ©2003 DC Comics.] Battles Hitler, Daring Mystery, and The Arrow. Packets “B” and “C” completed the alphabetical series. It was the closest thing to Ernie Gerber’s Photo-Journal books that fans had at the time.

VI. Comic Book Indexing In 1961, a comic book fan had no reference book to tell him what comics had been published, their contents, how many issues they ran, etc. By 1970, Bob Overstreet was able to publish a fairly complete list of published comics in his first Comic Book Price Guide. In the interim, a number of fans accomplished much of the arduous task of indexing all known comic books. Along with Howard Keltner, Raymond Miller, and Fred Von Bernewitz, Jerry Bails was a leading indexer. His first efforts were an All-Star Index and a DC Index; by the decade’s end, he had published his Collectors Guide: The First Heroic Age, a very substantial achievement that made it possible for Bob Overstreet to launch the Price Guide.

Soon after the Alley Tally came even larger fan meetings in Chicago, which helped build momentum for the 1964 New York Comicon and Detroit Triple Fan Fair. (Bails was on the organizing committee of the DTFF.)

VIII. Who’s Who in Comic Fandom & The Guidebook to Comics Fandom One of the tasks set forth in the first charter of the Academy of Comic Book Fans and Collectors was to create a fandom directory. With the help of Larry Lattanzi, Jerry accomplished this goal in the summer of 1964. Who’s Who in Comic Fandom began with “A Brief Chronology of Comic Fandom of the Sixties” and “A Brief Chronology of the Second Heroic Age of Comics” by Bails, both dated July 1, 1964. Then came the listings, which were derived from Jerry’s master mailing list, which was by now 1,600 strong. A blurb on one page reads, “Contact all fans in your area; make sure they know about the Academy; form a local Chapter; help Comic Fandom to grow!”

VII. The Alley Tally Party The first sizable gathering of comic fans occurred on March 21 and 22nd, 1964, at the home of Jerry and Sondra Bails. Fans from a number of nearby states (Nebraska, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois) converged at Jerry’s place on Karam Court in Detroit, Michigan, to tally the Alley Award ballots for 1963.

Using his “R.L.” for “Robert Lindsay” pseudonym, which came from an error in identifying him as “Robert” in a newspaper which printed one of his childhood drawings, Jerry drew the cover for the first issue of CAPA-alpha (Oct. 1964), called k-a for short; it heralded the forthcoming two-man team-up in 1965’s Showcase #55. [Dr. Fate, Hourman, Solomon Grundy TM & ©2003 DC Comics.]

Jerry was also an important contributor to The Guidebook to Comics Fandom, which came out in summer of 1965. He wrote the opening essay, “America’s Four-Color Pastime,” supplied the data for its truncated Golden Age index, and provided a standard grading system for comics that is still used today (with the exception of “Fine,” a term that did not come along until a bit later).

Jerry Bails’ Ten Building Blocks of Fandom

IX. CAPA-alpha In 1963 and 1964, new fanzines were popping up right and left. A lot of fans were infected by the “publishing bug,” many of them talented writers and artists. But, for every good fanzine, there seemed to be one or two poor ones, which were sneeringly referred to as “crud-zines.” They were crowding the field, and giving fanzines a bad name. What to do about it? Once again, Bails stepped forward with an idea: a compendium of short contributions created and printed by a roster of fifty members, with a Central Mailer charged with collating and mailing one copy to each person on the roster. Now fans could get into print and retain editorial control of their material, without publishing their own fanzine. The idea of an amateur press alliance (apa) was not new, but its application to comic fandom was. CAPA-alpha caught on, survived after Bails’ exit, and has proved the training ground for many who would go on to become professional writers or artists in the comics industry. The apa will celebrate its fortieth anniversary next year.

X. Media Spokesman Naturally, as fandom grew, local and national media caught wind of it and began assigning writers to cover the phenomenon. For a New York Times article in early 1965, which was reprinted in scores of papers across the country, Jerry was identified in full, including the fact that he was a professor at Wayne State University. Subsequently, just about every writer assigned to do a similar piece would telephone Bails, who became a sort of reluctant spokesman for fandom. (Reluctant, he said later, because he soon learned that most of what he told the reporters never saw print, only the bits about “high prices for old comics.”) Then a Newsweek stringer met with Jerry and several other Detroitarea fans and they became a primary source for the article that appeared nationally, “Bat-fans and Supermaniacs,” on February 15, 1965. (That piece was reprinted in A/E #12.)

covered other aspects of the hobby. I believe it was Jerry’s status as a Ph.D. that begged the question: “Are comics suitable reading for adults?” As a result, many of the articles (with a certain bemusement) reported fans’ conviction that comic books and strips were a legitimate art form. There you have it: a ten-point summary of the projects and contributions of Jerry G. Bails during fandom’s Golden Age. He didn’t do everything, nor would he claim to have done so, but he instigated all these aspects of fandom and got the ball rolling for others to continue. Perhaps someone else would have stepped forward if Bails hadn’t, but it’s hard to imagine anyone doing a better job. These ten building blocks were starting points, which Jerry hoped would continue without him until they reached full flower—and beyond. That was Jerry Bails’ dream. I couldn’t be happier that he’s here in 2003 to see fandom still going strong. Happy Birthday, Jerry! May there be many more! [We’re happy to report that Bill Schelly’s book on the history of comicdom, The Golden Age of Comic Fandom, is now back in print, after two sold-out editions. (It’s essentially a reprint of the Second Edition, though a number of corrections have been made.) You can purchase it on-line at www.billschelly.com, or send $20.00 in check or money order to: Hamster Press, PO Box 27471, Seattle, WA, 98125. Also available are a few recently-located copies of the trade paperback Alter Ego: The Best of the Legendary Comics Fanzine—the heavily-illustrated story of the original 196178 volume of Jerry Bails’ first fanzine creation, edited by Roy Thomas and Bill Schelly—for $20.00, postpaid.]

While it’s true that many of the articles focused on the startlingly high prices for old comics ($75 for Batman #1?! Oh my!!), a number of them quoted Jerry and others, and

Bill Schelly doesn’t mention The Who’s Who of American Comic Books, which Jerry published (with Hames Ware as co-editor) in four volumes between 1973-76—because by that time comics fandom was a going concern—but it was still a major accomplishment. The late Alan Hanley drew this great multi-character wraparound cover for the final volume. The covers for volumes 2 & 3 appeared in earlier issues of A/E; there was no art on that of volume 1. [Art ©2003 Jerry Bails; characters TM & © their respective TM & © holders.]

The Jerry Bails/Gardner Fox Letters Once bitten by the comics bug, it’s hard to recover! Since the early days of comic book fandom, many enthusiasts of the medium have worked diligently to preserve comics history and promote fandom. But few have worked longer or harder than Jerry Bails! You could say Jerry’s the “Johnny Appleseed” of comics. Besides starting Alter-Ego in 1961, in the early ’60s he helped organize the first comic book awards, published the first comics advertising fanzine— and indexed about a zillion comic books in his spare time. That obsession led to the Who’s Who of American Comic Books, which now lists credits for over 19,000 comic book creators. Jerry began this project in the 1950s, finishing in July 2001. Now that’s persistence! One of the most important contacts for Jerry in the early days—the one that, in a sense, led to Alter-Ego, the Who’s Who project, and everything else—was early comics writer Gardner Fox, co-creator of The Flash, Hawkman, Dr. Fate, Justice Society of America, and many other features. Thus, in honor of Jerry’s 70th birthday, we’d like to print a small sampling of his correspondence with Fox. As mentioned in Alter Ego #21 and other issues, Fox’s papers—which include these letters—were donated to the Special Collections at the University of Oregon in Eugene, OR—and we thank Linda Long, head of that department, as well as Gardner’s children Lynda Fox Cohen and Jeff Fox, for permission to reprint material from the Gardner Fox Archive. Unfortunately, we don’t have a copy of Jerry’s first letter to the veteran scripter, but Gardner’s response, dated July 9, 1953 (!), indicates just how early “Mr. Beals” was collecting data on comic book creators. He was a huge fan of Gardner’s All-Star Comics, and had written to him (in care of DC), hoping to buy some desired back issues. In his second letter to “Jerry” (no more “Mr. Beals” or even “Mr. Bails”), dated Aug. 26, 1953, but which we don’t have room to print in full here, Gardner apologized for not answering sooner, but said, “The summer is a bad time to catch me at anything. I am often travelling, doing research, or just plain knocking off on weekend vacations.” He announced that “I am sending you issues 5-7-8-10-18 of All Star Comics under separate cover. When I get settled for fall, I’ll do some more hunting around and hope to send you more.” He also mentioned he had written all issues of All-Star “from number 1 to number 35, roughly.” (Actually, it turned out to be #1-34—but that doesn’t count several unpublished JSA stories that we know about now.)

Admittedly, the All-Star mags in question were only about a decade old in 1953, but the mind still boggles at the thought of Fox casually tossing his copies of the comics into the mail to help out a fan! And, in fact, on Sept. 24, 1953, Fox wrote again—to say he was sending Jerry his duplicate copies of All-Star #2, 3, 4, and 6.

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt

Next, here’s the earliest letter (9/6/53) we have that was written by Jerry, who in 1953 was a student teacher. One can well imagine his glee at learning a key fact (mentioned in the first sentence) about the man with whom he was corresponding:

(Above:) Jerry was an aspiring artist long before he contacted Gardner! In 1942 he did this drawing for a Kansas City newspaper—inspired, he says, by the U.S. Savings Stamp Album that came with his first JJSA kit. The editor noted his flag had exactly 13 stripes and 48 stars—just the right number! (Right:) A JSA-influenced group created by young Jerry sometime in the ’40s: The Crime Fighters (a.k.a. Crime Destroyers), composed of The Eel, Human Fly, Mr. Victory, Dr. Psycho, The Clown, Hermes, and Scarlet Scorpion. You can probably figure out who’s who. Around this time, Jerry says, he learned the word “mutants,” which he thought was “nifty and less generic than Crime Fighters,” and used it for his heroes. But he says he “can’t find a drawing for my claim against Marvel Comics. Drat!” [©2003 Jerry Bails.]

By 1959 the student teacher was now well on his way to becoming a Ph.D. Not that that stopped his obsession with comics. The following letter shows Jerry’s continuing efforts to buy Fox’s two bound volumes of All-Star Comics—containing #1-24—which had apparently begun a year earlier, to judge by an 8/26/58 Fox letter which asks for “a chance to think over your offer. Aside from the money involved I believe you would treasure those first 24 issues as much if not more than I.” (By the way, the notation at top left, “WROTE 1/31/59,” is apparently Gardner’s note to himself, to indicate he had replied to Jerry’s letter, and when.)

The Jerry Bails/Gardner Fox Letters And here’s part of a 1/31/59 letter from Fox, or at least a mediocre carbon copy of it—which must have thrilled Jerry Bails’ 25-year-old heart:

Jerry, incidentally, wrote recently that “My original offer was $50. He raised it to $75. I jumped!” Jerry paid a whopping $3 per issue! Roy Thomas, then nearing graduation from college in Missouri, would naturally be disappointed in November 1960, at the time of his own first exchange of letters with Fox, that the writer had sold one Jerry Bails his All-Star collection nearly two years earlier. However, Fox made up for it by giving Roy Jerry’s address; and when Roy wrote to Jerry, the latter generously sent him dog-eared, semi-complete copies of issues #4-6, which were triplicates (!) Jerry now had lying around. The two JSA fans instantly hit it off, and even worked on ideas for reviving more old DC characters, such as The Atom. Ah-hah! The plot thickens! Below, Jerry thanks Fox for arranging a meeting with himself and DC editor Julie Schwartz a few days earlier, when he and his wife had been in New York, and he mentions his upcoming fanzine, “Alter-ego”! Who could have suspected we’d still be reading it forty-plus years later? (The original was handwritten on three small sheets of paper, but we’ve combined them here for easier reading.)

Gardner (above left) and editor Julius Schwartz became the heroes of the Sid Greene-drawn “The Strange Adventure That Really Happened!” in Strange Adventures #140 (May 1962)—and in Justice League of America #16 (Dec. ’62) Fox and Schwartz created an off-stage character named “Jerry Thomas”—named for Jerry Bails and Roy Thomas—who wrote and drew a story in which the JLA was destroyed! Art by Mike Sekowsky & Bernard Scahs. [©2003 DC Comics.]

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt

The following undated letter was probably written in late 1961, since the “latest issue of my fanzine” Jerry speaks of sending to Gardner has to be Alter-Ego #3, which was dated Nov. 1961. The poll Jerry refers to was the Alley Awards, the very first such fan-award event. He also mentions his newsletter, The Comic Reader, which lasted into the 1980s under various hands. (Gardner, by the way, won the 1961 Alley Award for Best Writer.)

One thing Jerry waxed enthusiastic about in a letter or two to Gardner in 1964 was the then-upcoming Dr. Fate and Hourman team-up in The Brave and the Bold #55. Here’s a 2/3-page piece of Murphy Anderson art from that classic, repro’d from a photocopy of the original art, courtesy of Mike W. Barr & Tom Horvitz. Contact dealer/collector Tom at (818) 77-0747 if you have original art for sale or trade, or want to buy. [©2003 DC Comics.]

By 1963 Jerry was still deep in research. He and a legion of similarly dedicated “panelologists” spent decades listing every known comic book creator in the U.S. Jerry’s and others’ efforts eventually led to the publication of his and Hames Ware’s Who’s Who of American Comic Books, completed in 1976. A revised 20-volume edition was finished in 2001, and can be accessed through the Grand Comics Data Base—see its ad elsewhere in this issue. Here’s a letter of Jerry’s from Oct. 15, 1963, thanking Gardner for the news that Hawkman would finally get his own comic book, after tryouts in The Brave and the Bold and a series in Mystery in Space.

Jerry (right) in 1970 with young Rich Buckler, a Detroitarea artist who did the wraparound cover for Jerry’s Collector’s Guide: The First Heroic Age and went on to become a top pro artist, a couple of years later. Photo courtesy of Bill Schelly.

The Jerry Bails/Gardner Fox Letters In an undated letter no doubt written in 1964, Jerry was still on the case. Having learned that Gardner still had his original records of his writing career, he cajoled: “I’m still anxious to have your record of stories you wrote for DC, All American, and other publishers, too, if possible. To save you the time it would take to copy these records, I could microfilm your original records if you wouldn’t mind. I could assure you of the safe return of your records, and I would hold in confidence any information you didn’t want released. My object is to give you credit for stories you wrote, for the benefit of collectors like myself. The information on your writing will appear in CAPA-alpha, a limited-circulation ‘APA-zine’ I am distributing. I already have Otto Binder’s writing record at DC and it will appear in K-a number 1. I hope to carry yours in an early issue.”

Jerry started using the “Bestest” closing by early 1961, in response to Roy Thomas’ “Bestest League of America” parody that had appeared in Alter-Ego #1-3, of course. And he was still corresponding with Fox into the 1970s, as Gardner’s comic book was winding down—and still asking for more data. What a “noodge”!

In the same letter, Jerry’s other fannish side still showed through, as he wrote, no doubt with sincerity. “I hope you will have or are writing the upcoming clash between [Solomon] Grundy and Dr. Fate and Hourman. This should be a truly delightful tale. For once it won’t be overloaded with characters, so plot and characterization should come through strong. “Bestest, Jerry”

Whew! Time sure flies when you’re writing letters! In the course of his correspondence with Gardner Fox, Jerry the student teacher obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in physics from the University of Kansas City, and then his Masters in Math, and of course his Ph.D. Dr. Jerry G. Bails then enjoyed a long, successful teaching career before finally retiring from Detroit’s Wayne State University about five years ago. Through all that, Jerry has never lost his love of comics, or his desire to share that love with all of us. And for that we all owe him a big... THANKS! Happy birthday, Jerry! We can’t wait to see what you do next! Till next time, A page from an issue of the comic that originally brought Jerry and Roy together. This photocopy of original art from The Brave and the Bold #30 (July 1960) appeared in The Who’s Who of American Comic Books, edited by Jerry and Hames Ware; art by Mike Sekowsky & Bernard Sachs, script by Gardner Fox. [©2003 DC Comics.]

[NOTE: See Michael’s centerspread homage to comics fandom on pp. 52-53 of this section.]

Jerry Bails

With A Little Help From His Friends... A Few of JERRY BAILS’ Collaborators and Correspondents Have Their Say about Fandom’s Founding Father I. Julius Schwartz [By the day in February 1961 when Jerry Bails met Julius Schwartz, fabled editor of Justice League of America, The Flash, Green Lantern, Batman, Detective Comics, Strange Adventures, Mystery in Space, et al., Julie had been editing comic books for almost exactly 17 years. Since his retirement well over a decade ago, Julie has served as a roving good-will ambassador for DC, and still goes into the office—where he retains a desk—one day a week. I asked him about his meeting with Jerry, which was so important both to Alter Ego and to comics fandom, and the result was the following mini-interview.] ROY THOMAS: Long before he came to New York, of course, Jerry was writing you letters. JULIUS SCHWARTZ: Yes. I think he won the artwork for the first issue of Justice League of America. RT: Right. The first thing I got was the Flash story with the Three Dimwits, with art by Carmine Infantino. Jerry and I were both “guest critics” in the first “Hawkman” letters page in The Brave and the Bold, too. Then, in February of 1961, he was invited to speak at Adelphi College out on Long Island, and he used that as an excuse to come to New York and meet with you and Gardner [Fox]. I was just wondering if you remember anything about that. SCHWARTZ: I know it happened, but I actually have no recollection of him sitting in a chair across from my desk and my talking to him. I may have given him a copy of Dick Lupoff’s fanzine Xero.... RT: I know you gave him copies of the first three issues, because later he sent them on to me.

SCHWARTZ: Right, and I told him about science-fiction fandom, and the rest—and it evolved—or devolved—into comic book fandom. RT: Yes. Before he came to New York, Jerry had told me about this idea he had for a “JLA Newsletter,” but after he talked to you and found out about science-fiction fandom, and Xero, that helped him metamorphose into being a bit more ambitious about it. So you helped jump-start comics fandom, whether you like it or not... just as you did science-fiction fandom in the ’30s. [laughs] I think you and he and Gardner went out to lunch. SCHWARTZ: I don’t recall. After all, that’s 42 years ago. RT: [laughs] And you don’t remember it? SCHWARTZ: You and Jerry had both been in touch with Gardner Fox, hadn’t you? RT: Yes. It was Gardner who sent me Jerry’s address in November of 1960, after you had given me Gardner’s address.... SCHWARTZ: 52 Crotty Avenue, in Yonkers. RT: Now that you remember!

With A Little Help From His Friends...

15 When I go to science-fiction conventions, I always ask audiences what’s the first thing they turn to when they buy a new issue of a science-fiction magazine—if you’re a true fan—what’s the first thing you turn to? I ask you that question. RT: The letters page?

Though Julie didn’t recall it, he and Jerry did meet a second time, evidently at DC’s offices—”circa 1971,” if Bill Schelly was correct when he sent us this photo of Neal Adams (at left), Julie, and Jerry. A couple of years earlier, Neal had drawn the cover of the Schwartz-edited JLA-JSA team-up in Justice League of America #74 (Sept. 1969). Repro’d from a photocopy of the original art. [Cover art ©2003 DC Comics.]

SCHWARTZ: How did I remember that? RT: Probably because he wrote his address on thousands of scripts you edited, for all those years. SCHWARTZ: There are things you remember, and things you want to remember and can’t.

SCHWARTZ: Many people say that. You turn to the letters page to see if your letter got printed. But that is not the first thing. If you’re a true science-fiction fan, the first thing you turn to is, what’s coming up next issue! RT: Really? I never thought about that for comics, because when I was growing up, they usually didn’t tell you what was coming up next issue. SCHWARTZ: But science-fiction magazines did. I looked to the future. I don’t care what’s happening today. What’s happening tomorrow? And that’s what I’d tell Jerry in the letters I’d write to him.

RT: What was it about Jerry that was different? After all, you must’ve gotten letters from lots of fans. Was it because he was a college professor? SCHWARTZ: When I wrote to Jerry, or when I met him, to me he was just an enthusiastic fan. I did not regard him as a “college professor.” He was just a fan—who reminded me of myself. Don’t forget, I got my start operating a science-fiction literary agency with Mort Weisinger, and that developed from the fact that we used to go up to the [sf magazine] editors, and they gave us information. So, in the same respect, you might say I’m the godfather of Jerry Bails, because what I did with Mort is exactly what Jerry did. We went out and started a fan magazine! And Bails did the same damn thing! It’s a parallel universe! RT: And he was encouraged because you promised him advance news for his newsletter, which became Alter-Ego. SCHWARTZ: Well, sure, because when I went up to the editors, I’d say, “Please let me know what’s coming up in the coming issues!”

In the early 1960s Mike Vosburg was a young Detroit fan-artist, and the return of Hawkman a cause celebre in the fanzines of the day—with Jerry Bails among a fannish foursome invited by editor Schwartz to “review” silver prints of the debut of a new Hawkman in The Brave and the Bold #34 (Feb.-March ’61). In 2002 Mike, by now a longtime comics pro, drew this powerful illo of two of his favorite Silver Age heroes, which is repro’d here from the original art. [Art ©2003 Mike Vosburg; Hawkman and Hawkgirl ©2003 DC Comics.]

Jerry Bails

II. Craig Delich [Craig Delich has taught social studies in the public school of Kansas City, Kansas, for more than three decades. Nowadays he helps identify artists of vintage published art for DC Comics, and is a member of Jerry’s advisory board for The Who’s Who of American Comic Books. And in 1977 he wrote and edited The All-Star Comics Revue, a study of the JSA that utilized both Jerry’s research and his own.] What can I say about my friend of all these many years, Jerry Bails? A man who was kind enough to answer the letter of a 14-year-old snotnosed kid asking about All-Star Comics #49 (the first All-Star I ever had and on which I had honed my reading skills), and who introduced me to the world of Alter-Ego #3, “On the Drawing Board,” and a comics fandom that he helped to create.

the mail. A man who was so kind as to invite myself (and my wife) into his home in Michigan... not once, but twice... to view his collection of memorabilia and to do research on his comic microfilms, while his wife graciously entertained mine. (And I was honored to invite Jerry and his family into my home in Kansas City when he visited his old hometown several years later.) A man who has done, and continues to do, favors, not only for me, but for many, many others... who truly loves this hobby and has endeavored to share it with fans past, present, and future. A man whom I have called friend for over 42 years... and whose friendship I still treasure. Jerry, I salute you!

III. Paul Gambaccini

[Paul Gambaccini was a prominent and knowledgeable teenage fan and letter-writer back A man who made it possible for me in the early 1960s, when he to buy my first Golden Age comic: became Jerry’s successor as the Green Lantern #20 (for $20, at that!), executive secretary of the and spurred me on to actively begin Academy of Comic Book Fans The first time Craig Delich (seen in photo) saw the JSA was the splash page collecting Golden Age books and of a coverless copy of All-Star Comics #49 (Oct.-Nov. 1949). and Collectors. He was also a share his love for them. Script by John Broome, pencils by Arthur Peddy, inks by Bernard Sachs. founding member of CAPA[©2003 DC Comics.] A man who honored the memories alpha, and wrote numerous of those early comics creators, initifanzine articles before moving on ating the Who’s Who of American Comic Books and asking me... me... to be a contributing editor of Rolling Stone magazine in the 1970s. to join its editorial staff as an expert on identifying DC Golden Age An interviewee for Alter Ego V3#16 in 2002, today Paul lives in artists. England, where he does two programs a week on the BBC—one on U.S. hit records, and the other on the “top ten” classical music A man who graciously allowed me to update his Authoritative Index recordings of the week. When Ye Editor asked him if he’d like to to All-Star Comics (once I completed my collection of All-Star) and write a few words about Jerry Bails for this issue, this e-mail came in sent out to me a Jack Burnley original and his own personal JJSA kits to reply:] photograph so they could be included in my 1977 All-Star Comics Revue... all sent to a person he did not personally know except through Hi, Roy, I’m so sorry not to have gotten back to you instantly concerning Jerry. The problem is ironic... and iconic. I am paid to give tributes to a variety of public personalities, and I do so without nervousness or embarrassment. But Jerry is more than a star to me. He is a hero. What he did as the tireless leading figure of you Fab Four of Fandom (Don and Maggie Thompson being the other pair) is one of the beautiful and decent things I have known in my life. He took something that didn’t exist outside his own mind and made it happen, and not for financial benefit.

Paul Gambaccini then and now: a pic taken around the time he was active in fandom, and his recent official “BBC-Radio 2” photo.

You would know far more than I the hours he put in. But how can there be enough hours in the day to found Alter Ego, The Comicollector, On the Drawing Board/The Comic Reader, Capaalpha, the Who’s Who, and his other publications? And that’s not to mention the Academy, the Alley Awards, and those photographic reproductions of first-issue covers! He didn’t just father the fan movement; he virtually was it, until enough of us who shared his interests could pass them on and make converts.

With A Little Help From His Friends...

One of Al Dellinges’ favorite pastimes over the years has been to do “art copies” of his favorite artists. Here, along with a photo of Al and Jerry taken a couple of decades back, is Al’s faithful rendition of a Joe Kubert Hawkman figure, circa 1946. [Hawkman TM & ©2003 DC Comics.]

It has been speculated what the comics industry would be like today, or if there would even still be one, had Jerry and the fan pioneers who followed him not existed. But I don’t need to speculate to know how much poorer my life would be, had Jerry not done what he did and sent me a sample issue of A/E. I had that wonderful Silver Age ride we all took together, and I have today not only my collection but the twenty or thirty minutes of sheer pleasure I enjoy near the end of every day savouring comic pleasures old and new. I owe him so much. As anyone would keep letters from heroes, I have retained many pieces of correspondence from Jerry from the early ’60s. It would probably shock and embarrass him to know this. But I think of this shared period in our lives as a time of great enthusiasm, love, and energy, and he was the prime mover. Jerry will be my “Executive Secretary” forever! With love and admiration, ExecSec2, Paul Gambaccini

IV. Al Dellinges [Al Dellinges was a comic book fan long before there was such a thing as “fans” during the 1930s and ’40s. Unaware of the fanzine movement in comics till the early ’70s when he became a partner in the Zine Cartoon News, he later began publishing his own zine, Near Mint. For a list of his Kubert-, Toth-, and other-artist-oriented publications, send him a stamped, self-addressed envelope at 211 Willow St., Millbrae, CA 94030—or e-mail him at manuel@auadpublishing.com. Since that’s also the e-mail address for publisher Manuel Auad, ask Manuel about his sterling publications, as well!] Any encounter with the likes of Jerry Bails can only result in a pleasurable experience. After attending the 1980 San Diego Comic-Con, Jerry, his wife Jean, and Jerry’s son spent several days with us at our home in Millbrae, just a few miles south of San Francisco. Those few days were the most delightful I’ve ever experienced. One night, Jerry told me a story about ABC-TV wanting him to appear on 60 Minutes for an interview dealing with comics, which he declined. However, he said that if he was ever asked again, he would only accept on condition that I could accompany him. Now, we had just come from dining at a Mexican restaurant and there was lots of drinking going on and I recall everybody singing “South of the Border,” so I might not have those facts exactly right, but I do remember having to wash the plates before we were able to leave the joint....

On another memorable occasion, Jerry explained to me Einstein’s theory of energy—you all know the formula, E=mc 2. This is what he told me, which I will never forget if I live to be a thousand: “c is max velocity. It just says that one gram of matter equals (3.0 x 1010) 2 ergs of energy. c 2 is a proportionality constant between two systems of units, like 1 inch = 2.54 cm.” (First-year physics!) What a guy. Anyway, that’s the way I remember it! Happy 70th, Jerry, Your ol’ pal from South of the Border, Al

V. Ray Bottorff Jr. “An Unabashed Gushy Tribute to One Hell of a Guy” [In 1990 Ray Bottorff Jr. first met Jerry Bails, who helped guide him into comic book fandom. Since then, Ray has become an associate editor for Jerry’s Who’s Who in 20th Century American Comic Books, the central mailer for APA-1 (the indexing apa), and currently the acting chairman of the board of directors for the Grand Comic-Book Database (www.comics.org). In what is left of his spare time, Ray is working on a book about comics-related mass marketsized paperbacks for which he has trademarked the term “ComicBacks.”] Most comics fans consider Jerry Bails the Father of Comic Fandom. Looking back at what he has done over the years, who would be the one to argue? So many important aspects in the history of comic fandom are directly traced to Jerry and his work. The first comic fanzine (Alter Ego). The first comic adzine (Comicollector). The first comic newszine (On the Drawing Board). He was an active part of the creation of the first Midwestern comic convention (Detroit Triple Fan Fair, and, through Shel Dorf, a direct forerunner to the San Diego Comic-Con). He helped create one of the first Midwestern comic awards (the Alleys). He created the first microfilm library of comic books (decades before MicroColor did it on microfiche). He helped with one of the first guides to comic fandom with The Guidebook to Comic Fandom (years before The Fandom Directory). He had begun to create a comic book price guide, when a man named Bob Overstreet contacted him because he was doing the same thing; Jerry’s notes became a backbone to the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide. He was a part-time comic book dealer with a sterling WSA rating. He also reworked the comic book shop work history portion of The Steranko History of Comics. His work has been a credited and uncredited source of reference in numerous books.

Jerry Bails

(Left to right:) Ray Bottorff Jr., Jerry Bails, and Roy Thomas at (or at least near) the Motor City Comics Convention, spring of 2002. Photo by Dann Thomas. (At right:) Jerry was honored as one of “Fifty Who Made DC Great” in a special publication of that name in 1985. Cartoons by Steven Petruccio. [©2003 DC Comics.]

The greatest of all his work is his Who’s Who in 20th Century American Comic Books, which grew out of his and Hames Ware’s fourvolume 1970s Who’s Who of American Comic Books. This amazing work, begun when he was a kid recording creators for his beloved “Justice Society of America” stories in spiral notebooks, has grown into one of the most comprehensive pieces of reference material available to comic fans everywhere. This work is a direct antecedent to most such reference works since, ranging from Allan Holtz’s The Stripper’s Guide to John Lent’s series of comic bibliographies to the online Grand Comic-Book Database. His tireless love for the simple joys of the comic medium has resulted in one amazing legacy. It is a debut any future comic fans can only hope to repay. In my eyes, whenever I read a bibliography in a book about comic books that does not mention the Who’s Who as source material, I will always treat the information within with a certain level of suspicion. Most comic book fans do not know this: while this might be the sum of a life for most of us, it is only a part of Jerry’s life! For close to forty years Jerry was a professor at Wayne State University in Detroit. At first his field of expertise was in physics, but he made it a goal in life to learn a new discipline every ten years. Over time, he also gained skills in the fields of mathematics, biology, sociology, conflict resolution, and anthropology (to name a few). If you have ever had a conversation with Jerry, you will know that he enjoys a strong grasp of many subjects related to the social condition of man. He also continues to want to learn more, as he is just as much an eager listener as he is a talker. That is no small feat! But isn’t that the sign of a great teacher? Jerry is also a social activist. He has been a longtime part of many activist causes, from peace and social justice to environmental awareness and action. He has championed the rights of the oppressed. He has helped engage in conflict resolution and is outspoken in the avoidance of war to solve international problems. He wrote a book on the use of pollution by the First World nations and multinational corporations to help suppress Third World nations. His “Global Village” online discussion list helps others discuss their opinions on a wide range of topics, and he is active in the Green Party of Michigan. Jerry hides neither his opinions nor his desire to see that all of humanity lives in peace and has a clean and safe world to live in. Above all of this, Jerry is a family man. Clearly, there is nothing that brings Jerry more joy than the sights and sounds of his grandchildren, even if they live thousands of miles away. The wonders of modern

technology have allowed him to receive sound clips and pictures of his happy and healthy grandkids and to watch them grow. At home, Jerry has his own Alter Ego, his wife Jean. I have rarely met two people who so complement each other. They revel in each other’s company, challenge each other’s views, keep each other on their toes, and take care of each other when ill. It is a very rare combination to see two people married so long be so clearly comfortable in each other’s company and clearly still in love with each other. We should all be so lucky. I consider myself highly fortunate to be considered a friend of Jerry’s. He is no wishy-washy friend, for he will not be afraid to challenge any preconceptions I may have on any subject. But a true and caring friend, for when I recently lost my longtime job, it was his advice that opened up new options for me that I had never considered before. For that alone I will be forever grateful. I get the feeling that I may not be the only one who has had similar experiences with Jerry. He is that kind of person, that kind of human being. I thought you should know that, too!

With A Little Help From His Friends...

Happy Birthday, Jerry!

VI. Paul Levitz [Today, Paul Levitz is president and publisher of DC Comics. But in the 1960s he was a comic book fan, and from 1971-73 he was editor and publisher of The Comic Reader, the continuation of the fanzine that Jerry Bails began as On the Drawing Board.] Paul Levitz, circa 1978-79.

I got my adult life from The Comic Reader, with apologies to an old slogan that went, “I got my job through the New York Times”... and so, in many ways, from Jerry Bails. The Comic Reader was the first fanzine to introduce me to the world of organized fandom, and my own tenure as editor of that venerable ’zine very directly led to my work at DC, which is also where I met my wife. In so many ways, his influence and his role in the creation of comics fandom and the evolution of comics themselves carved a path for me. Jerry’s respect for the people who made the comics he loved led him to be one of the first great indexers of our field, and to the audacious effort of the first Who’s Who for comics creators, which came at a significant time to give dignity and pride to two generations of creators just beginning to recover from the traumas of the ’50s crusade against comics. His seriousness and thoroughness set standards for many who followed. The tools he built decades ago are still the basis for many of their successors, and I hope he takes a bit of pride from what he’s wrought. It would be only a tiny fraction of the pride he’s helped give back to others. When he learned we were doing this special section, Mart Nodell, Green Lantern’s originator and first artist, asked that we utilize this sketch he had sent us as his and wife Carrie’s greetings to Jerry on the occasion of his 70th. For your own Nodell re-creation, contact Marty at (561) 686-4486. [©22003 Mart Nodell; Green Lantern TM & ©2003 DC Comics.]

Happy birthday, Jerry! [NOTE: For the reminiscences of yet another Bails collaborator, see Hames Ware’s article in this issue’s FCA section.]

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:

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The Naming of Alter-Ego

The Naming of Alter-Ego, 1961 by Jerry G. Bails [EDITOR’S NOTE: Over the years, from time to time I’ve asked Jerry how and why he came up with the name Alter-Ego when casting about for the name of a full-fledged fanzine, as opposed to the original JLA Subscriber newsletter he had planned. But he’s never had much to say about his thought processes at the time. So I tried again, in earnest, while surreptitiously preparing this issue’s contents, and this time I was rewarded by the following. It’s presented here because I felt that this tribute to Jerry ought to actually feature something he’s written—besides all those letters, of course. —Roy.] I don’t recall considering any options. We had discussed something I think we called a newsletter, but when “alter-ego” came to me, I thought how well it fit not only our mutual interests but also our dual identities as civilians and fans. It was as if we were donning our costumes and flying out the window. It referred as much to us as fans as it did to our all-consuming interest in costumed heroes and in the people who created them. I suspect that the name itself triggered more possibilities, which you have so clearly realized. I’ve always loved any story that deals with secret or hidden identities, even badly executed movies. There is something deeply primal for me in the notion that I am two people: Clark Kent, the civilian who presents a public persona that meets all the acceptable criteria of civil society, and my secret self that worries not what people think of me, but who is inner-directed and willing to correct injustice when I see it.

Here’s the first promo for the first volume of what became, on publication, The Who’s Who of American Comic Books. Probably prepared by Hames Ware, it was sent out with Jerry’s Collector’s Guide: The First Heroic Age in 1969. Thanks to Bill Schelly. [©2003 Jerry Bails.]

I think small children have a sense of justice/injustice that they develop but cannot act upon until they have been thoroughly socialized. By then, it is too late. They are “Clark Kent.” I would love to see a psychological study of those of us who have loved costumed heroes for as long as we can remember and those who profess to hate the genre while extolling the virtues of the medium of comics. I suspect that there is something fundamentally different about the two groups. Our group seems to remain in touch with the feeling of the child that knows two selves. The other seems to want to put one of these selves away. It has nothing to do with intellectual ability, level of creativity, ideological orientation, or emotional stability, but there must be something different about our brains that shows up somewhere else. It has to be correlated with some other behavioral characteristics, but damned if I know what they are.

Dr. Fate unmasks for his ladyfriend Inza in More Fun Comics #66 (April 1941), as re-presented in Detective Comics #439 (Feb.-March 1974). Giant-size DC mags of the late ’60s through the mid-’70s are a great source of inexpensive, readable Golden Age reprints. Script by Gardner Fox, art by Howard Sherman. [©2003 DC Comics.]

I would be disappointed to learn that our lifelong interest was just an accidental circumstances of what happened at certain stages in our lives. That wouldn’t explain to me why we didn’t put away this flight of fancy like other comics readers did. The concept of the avenging hero is as vibrant and vital to me at seventy as it was when I was seven. I wish I understood why.

All-Star Squadron Chronicles

Chronicles

Part VI

“Roy Writes All-Star Squadron Like He’s Just Writing It For Jerry Bails!”

by Roy Thomas [WRITER/EDITOR’S NOTE: Several issues of A/E, most recently #21, have dealt with “my” erstwhile DC series All-Star Squadron— mostly with the pre-development of the concept in 1980-81 and with the 16-page free “preview” that appeared in Justice League of America #193. Before moving on to All-Star Squadron #1, and in honor of birthday boy Jerry Bails, I’m devoting these pages to my correspondence with JGB during that prepublication period. —Roy.] When Jerry Bails and I first began corresponding in November 1960, put in touch with each other by JSA co-creator Gardner Fox (and indirectly by sometime JSA editor Julie Schwartz), we quickly discovered we had a number of things in common. We were both from Missouri, if from opposite sides of the state. We both enjoyed comic books and their various cousins—movie serials, radio programs, and the like. Our favorite comics artist was Joe Kubert. Our then-current favorite comics title was Justice League of America. But, head and shoulders above everything else: our all-time favorite comic book was the 1940-1951 All-Star Comics, starring the Justice Society of America. Is it any wonder we hit it off so well? Though he was thrilled for me when I received a job offer in 1965 to move to New York and work for Superman editor Mort Weisinger, he was equally supportive when, after only two weeks at DC, I decided to leave to work for Stan Lee at Marvel. Still, it must’ve been a bit of a disappointment to him, since it now seemed I would never be involved with the JLA or JSA, as we’d both hoped. Thus, while Jerry was naturally sympathetic to the trauma I was going through in 1980 when I decided I should leave Marvel after fifteen years and accept a contract at DC, I’m sure there was a side of my old friend that rejoiced at the thought that, at long last, I might get to handle the Justice Society. I shared that ambivalence. As detailed in an earlier A/E, DC publisher Jenette Kahn was indeed

A bearded Jerry Bails with Roy Thomas, at a dinner reunion held at the Motor City Comics Convention, spring of 2002; photo by Dann Thomas—and Joe Kubert’s 1981 cover done for All-Star Squadron #3. Penciler Rich Buckler insisted on doing his own cover for that issue, so Joe’s version was used later as an interior page of The Young All-Stars—and is currently on view as the gorgeous cover of the TwoMorrows trade paperback Alter Ego: The Comic Book Artist Collection. But it’s never before been printed in black-&-white, so you can see all that beautiful art unadorned! Thanks to Mike W. Barr for the great photostat. [Art ©2003 DC Comics.]

All-Star Squadron Chronicles WW-2 is ancient history. However, as the last war with full support of the public and the last one we won decisively, it may be that WW-2 will remain alive for a long time... [remembered] as a time when right and wrong seemed more clear cut.

I am extremely happy the JSA regained their youth, and that you’ll be able to use other DC heroes and create some of your own. But I won’t be the last to complain about the name change. Why bother to relate it to the JSA at all, if you are creating a new group? The people who know and care about the JSA will probably be offended by the name change, which has 17 years of tradition even in its modern incarJerry had a lower opinion of the original Atom than Roy. That hero was one of Roy’s childhood favorites, nation. Besides, “Society” and “Justice” are probably because both of them were short. This tier of apparently never-before-published mid-1940s panels infinitely more positive words than from an “Atom” story by artist Joe Gallagher is repro’d from photocopies sent by Rich Rubenfeld. “Battalion” or “Squadron”—Lord, these are [Atom TM & ©2003 DC Comics.] military words conjuring up images of 8 airmen burned on the desert, a Mi-Lai amenable to my developing a new JSA-related title. But, since the final Incident, or a Deer Hunter scene of Russian Roulette. Am I the only 1970s-revival “JSA” tale had seen print only a year earlier, and since I’d one repulsed by those words? enjoyed doing The Invaders at Marvel from 1975-79, I decided to opt for a World War II setting for the new DC series—one starring not just [NOTE: At this point Jerry suggests the roll call of All-Star #14-17 as a “them Justice guys,” but the whole panoply of DC’s super-heroes, from way to play down the honorary members who had “Earth-1 doubles,” Aquaman to Zatara, with some Quality and Fawcett characters thrown and argues for the prominent use of Sandman, Starman, and The Spectre. in for good measure! He felt that “reducing the JSA [presence] to Hawkman, Dr. Mid-Nite, and The Atom,” as I planned to do for the early issues, was “not going Recently, I looked over the smatterings of correspondence with Jerry to set well with the very readers you hope to attract by using the JSA,” that I retain from that period—and, to my surprise, I found it shed considerable additional light on what was going on behind the scenes with All-Star Squadron in 1980-81. The first letter of Jerry’s I discovered from that time was dated May 5, 1980—a response to a letter of mine—and shows I was already hard at work, at least mentally, on the new concept. My second three-year writer/editor contract with Marvel kept me tied up there till autumn. Still, while not neglecting Thor, three Conan mags, the Conan newspaper strip, and other Marvel scripting, I wanted to do whatever I legally could to make sure I hit the ground running when my new writing contract with DC kicked in. Although Jerry and I had stayed in contact for the past two decades, that May 5 letter suggests that I’d invited feedback from him re the projected All-Star Squadron mag. Below is its text, retyped and abridged from Jerry’s original, handwritten on stationery left over from when he had been furnishing information and encouragement to Craig Delich for the 1977 All-Star Comics Revue. And it proves that Jerry Bails is no yes-man, nor did I want him to be: Dear Roy, It will be most enjoyable to correspond again. For my part, I need the break from the so-called real world. It might even fire up my interest in comics again. Although I still faithfully buy them all, I have dropped reading many titles, and I’m months behind on some of the titles I do enjoy. I’m sure that if anyone can pull off a legitimate JSA revival, it will be you. I still have some qualms about the WW-2 setting and using a president—even FDR—to mobilize the team. For today’s youngsters,

All-Star Squadron Chronicles

since the latter pair were minor heroes. He made the cogent suggestion that, as per All-Star #36, The Atom ask Robotman to take his place in the JSA while Al Pratt was at college, while Johnny Thunder, who joined the Navy after Pearl Harbor, could be spelled by Johnny Quick. This would’ve allowed us to call the comic Justice Society of America or All-Star Comics, rather than All-Star Squadron. —Roy.] The most natural enemy of the JSA does appear to be the Nazis, especially Hitler; however, I would think that spies, saboteurs, terrorists, etc., would generally be more acceptable than uniformed soldiers. And don’t forget the Black Dragon Society as the counterpart to the Nazis. I wonder if overseas sales place any restriction on your use of Japanese and Germans? (Other than avoiding racism, I mean.) Did you get much mail on the Invaders on the question of the lack of criminal villains (as distinguished from war villains)? I’d hate to see you block yourself in to strictly war-related stories. The JSA was capable of spanning time and the universe, as well as the globe. They weren’t as earthbound as the Invaders/All-Winners Squad. I can just see Wonder Woman suggesting Liberty Belle for a special assignment, & suggesting she might one day become a member. (Alas!)

think what you start with is extremely important. Starting as close to the original as possible would win more readers among “older” fans, and perhaps among youngsters, too. After you’ve established yourself as loyal to tradition and a master storyteller, I suspect readers will grant you a license to change things in whatever way you want. But a series that starts by eliminating a majority of the members that readers want to see is not a very auspicious way to begin. I could be wrong, but not from what I’ve heard in the comics shop. The biggest hurdle is selling the 8-year-olds, so I’ll pay close attention to [my son] Kirk. He does tend to think ethically/politically in very polarized terms; he is extremely patriotic, he is frustrated by unrighted wrongs (real or perceived); he still idealizes war; he generally respects authority until he has repeated reasons not to; he loves fantasy; and he’s ready for the Justice Society. (Sorry, but that’s the title as long as I can hold out.) Bestest, Jerry As you can see, Jerry was far from convinced that a World War II setting, or the military-sounding name “All-Star Squadron” as opposed to a strict “Justice Society” re-revival, or my stated intention to play up heroes who had not been JSAers, were good ideas, at least partly from a sales point of view. But The Invaders had sold well for Marvel when I was paying enough attention to it, and I recall that DC, too, liked the idea of my developing some non-JSA heroes in the new book, since the 1970s JSA revival was so recent. Still, I don’t want to give DC’s personnel either blame or credit for the WWII setting and other decisions stated above. They were things I pushed for, in which DC simply acquiesced. Jerry had several excellent ideas which eventually either meshed with those I already had, or may have been the source of my notions—I can’t say which, at this late date. I did use occasional villains with no connection to the war... I utilized more JSAers in the Squadron once it had been established for a year or so... and as early as #4 I introduced The Dragon King, who was vaguely connected with the Japanese Black Dragon Society mentioned by Jerry.

Just in case anybody thinks Jerry only liked DC heroes—! His second letter reprinted herein was written on stationery prepared in conjunction with an earlier project, the Who’s Who of American Comic Books. Art by Jim Hanley? [Characters TM & ©2003 their respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Genius Jones could produce one of your great offbeat stories. I really look forward to it. If you use the 7 Soldiers [of Victory] or the Quality heroes, you’ll have a bit of trouble with continuity with their appearances in JLA. Maybe the JSA could meet the Shining Knight in a time sequence that wipes out all memory of the events.... I like the idea of using Steel and Tarantula (if you don’t use Sandman, because the costumes are almost identical—at least at one time they were). I agree that the Buckler school would be OK, or Ernie Chan.... Will you use the full 50¢ book? Bimonthly, I presume? (Hate DC’s timidity.).... I hope I haven’t seemed too negative to your ideas. I don’t know how soon you’ll actually begin putting stories down in black & white, so I voiced my thoughts hoping you’d reconsider your use of “JSA.” I

In a second JGB letter from that period, unfortunately undated (like many of Jerry’s letters) but probably written very shortly after the preceding one:

Dear Roy, I realize now your main objective is to utilize all the best Golden Age heroes controlled by DC. That’s a concept of All-Star that I can understand, and I’ve even maintained in print that DC should have handled only its top stars in All-Star; but they didn’t! But—Capt. Marvel and Plastic Man in All-Star??? I’m afraid that hits me like catsup on ice cream. I have a taste for both, but not mixed.... I think your idea of patriotic/famous meeting places for the JSA is an excellent one, though I see no reason to limit it to one spot. Seems to me, teams could rendezvous at famous spots [such as the] Empire State Building observation deck, Independence Hall, Soldiers Field (Chicago), Mt. Palomar (new in part then, if I recall correctly)... Hollywood Canteen, even the Rose Garden (assuming that’s what it was in FDR’s time). These historic sites should help your effort at realism, and offer the reader some incentive for reading about

24 “ancient history.” One bit of fantasy that might be acceptable is to have famous movie characters appear as if they really lived then. I mean characters created by Sidney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, Cagney, Bogie, etc. How far do you want to go with this reality bit? In 1943, Detroit had a bloody race riot that I’m sure prompted Gardner Fox to write AS #16. It would be hard to portray this accurately without being depressing. I seem to recall that the Statue of Liberty was open (days) during the war. In fact, wasn’t it during that time that the “arm” was closed to the public? I wonder how many people could fit in the torch? Hmm? I’m sure your stories will be fun, but your basic goal to use everyone who ran around in tights is incompatible with what I think you’ll find most readers want done with the Justice Society. They want to see the team they’ve heard so much about in all its “original” glory—that means both Spectre and Dr. Fate, Hawkman at the helm, even Johnny Thunder (whom only you could handle right).

All-Star Squadron Chronicles revival. I’ll enjoy the (gulp) A.S.S., but, oh, those initials. Bestest, Jerry Re-reading this letter, I couldn’t recall ever intending for the All-Star Squadron to convene at various “patriotic/famous meeting places.” This must be before I got the idea of having them establish a HQ in the Perisphere, which (on EarthTwo, anyway) still remained from the 1939-40 New York World’s Fair—and which wouldn’t be introduced into the mag till #19. Independence Hall and the Statue of Liberty did make early appearances in All-Star Squadron, though not as meeting places... nor did I ever get around to utilizing the humorous Genius Jones in an issue, though I toyed with the notion. In retrospect, I like Jerry’s idea of sticking “famous movie characters” played by Bogie and the like into the comic, but that could’ve entailed legal difficulties. I recall wondering if sometime I could utilize Charles Foster Kane, for instance.

I don’t consciously recall being directly influenced by Jerry’s suggestion to make use of the 1943 Detroit race riot; yet in 1984, in All-Star Squadron #38-40, I used an equally infamous 1942 example of Detroit racial unrest—the violence over the opening of the Sojourner Truth homes to AfricanAmericans who had come north to work in the city’s Liberty Belle has the singularly most unappealing war industries—as the basis of a major storyline. I costume. I hope it gets ripped up early and often. Riding never saw any paper trail on this, but I have the pants—ug! Maybe Wonder Woman can recommend hot distinct recollection that the cover of #40, which pants (or even culottes). Who says she can’t change into showed our new “Negro” super-hero Amazingsomething a little less “straight” when outside Philly? Man battling the villainous pseudo-patriot who Tarantula had no more powers than Sandman. The called himself Real American, superimposed former’s webgun was probably no more versatile than over a newspaper headline reading “RACE An early, never-before-published sketch Sandman’s wirepoon gun. Fans will, no doubt, RIOTS IN DETROIT,” got that issue banned by Jerry Ordway for his re-design of compare Tarantula with Spidey, with Tarantula in the Motor City. Even so, I was happy with Tarantula, whose new costume debuted coming out second because of his costume. I’d prefer that storyline, which was well-realized by in the letters section of All-Star Squadron seeing Sandman with a gas mask-helmet and tights—a pencilers Rick Hoberg and Richard Howell. #23 (July 1983). Jerry generously sent us blend of the old & “new” costume—much like sketches of several earlier, quite different Perhaps Jerry’s suggestion about Johnny Hillman’s Microface. Remember him? If you are one versions of the new garb, as well, which Quick being young and impulsive resonated of those who hold the opinion that full face masks hide we’ll be printing in a near-future issue. with me, as well. Though I never treated him facial features that readers want to see, let me remind Stay tuned! [Art ©2003 Jerry Ordway; as a “youngster,” he was handled as more Tarantula TM & ©2003 DC Comics.] you how attracted we both were to Hawkman. As an impulsive, maybe even hot-headed, in All-Star 8-year-old I spent hours drawing the masks of Squadron than he ever seemed in his vintage solo series. Sandman (the original), Hawkman, and the Face, and later Microface. An unusual face mask (and I count Dr. Fate’s full mask I struggled for most of the mag’s run with Liberty Belle and her among these) is one of the strongest magnets drawing a young reader costume, making various changes in it... but I’ll go into that next time. to a comic page. I’m convinced of it. And Jerry Ordway and I did re-design Tarantula, when he joined the I’m not convinced, however, that an unlimited membership is Squadron in #18, since he and the Simon & Kirby Sandman had such what makes the Legion [of Super-heroes], the Avengers or X-Men nigh-identical costumes. More about that later, too. popular today. In every case, the characters are clearly delineated. Most importantly, Jerry was perhaps right about the sheer number of Readers can distinguish the characters and identify with their heroes I wanted to bring in and out of the new group. I would attempt favorites, unlike the earlier JLA. Characters that pass in and out to finesse that by using a handful of characters as a “core Squadron,” but quickly like the Shining Knight in the recent JSA tales are a complete I was determined to keep that rotating membership of literally dozens of waste, but I know you’re aware of that. But I do fear a sense of being super-heroes. That was the keystone of my grand concept for the mag. I overwhelmed by heroes from the ’40s with no time (space) to get to wanted the group to be bigger than any member or even core of know them individually. members... and All-Star Squadron would sink or swim, depending on I’m glad you don’t get upset with my comments. You’ve got to whether I could pull it off. remember that you’ve always been my own hope of a real JSA One suggestion regarding Johnny Quick: he should be relatively young, immature, impulsive, messing up perhaps as often as he saves the day. Hawkman could be the guiding force in Johnny’s training. Hawkman should be the master warrior.

All-Star Squadron Chronicles

In a sense, perhaps it sank... but only after 67 issues (a good respectable run), or slightly more than a hundred issues if you count its Young All-Stars continuation and a handful of specials and annuals. All comic-book “ships” should stay afloat for so long... especially amid the high comics title attrition-rate of the 1980s! And if not for that damn Crisis on Infinite Earths—but I digress. Given the content of the first two Bails letters printed above, you can imagine how happy I was when I received one from Jerry dated Sept. 29, 1980, which began and read in part: Roy, You just may win me over to your conception of AllStar. I like what you’re doing, especially the weaving of a single fabric—the fantasy world of World War II. You’re a mythopoeic master. At least All-Star will be living up to its name. I’m beginning to like the idea of opening the doors up to other heroes.... As for the All-Star Squadron not being mentioned later in [postwar] All-Stars or the JLA, that doesn’t seem too hard to accept, as the JSA became the more permanent body. Who remembers the Invaders? (I do, so you have one vote.)....

Say, did you know that Robotman didn’t come along until April 1942 (cover date) and Liberty Belle not until Winter 1943? I can see Robotman just off the table in December 1941, but where’s Liberty Belle? I hope you do play up the military identities of some of the JSAers—Hawkman especially. I see him as the reincarnation of a great Egyptian warrior-prince, a master of all weapons, martial arts, etc., now (1942) learning to master the fighting machines of WWII. He should be the master strategist of the All-Stars. Shortly after the time of All-Star #13 (the first trip into space for the JSA), you’ll be able to use space villains/menaces—hopefully consistent with the description of the planets in #13. You need someone with a technology beyond the realistic level of WWII. That’s what makes Per Degaton a good choice [as the villain of the first few issues]. He should snatch out of the future lasers, particle accelerators, nuclear devices, whatever he has the imagination to use. (The planes over the West Coast, perhaps?) I don’t know how much of my ramblings you want or can put up with, but at least you know I’m excited by your letters—more so than I thought I would be. You’re free to use what you like; I have no ego-involvement with any particular idea, so you don’t have to worry if you fail to recall [later] that I suggested something you decided to use. Just write a top-notch book, and I’ll be quite happy.... Bestest, Jerry So I had managed to arouse Jerry’s enthusiasm for my concept, after all! Now, apparently after reading the first plot for the new series or at least a brief recounting of it, he, who had disliked the use of the “military” word “Squadron” in the title, was suggesting I play up the fact that the JSAers individually joined the armed services after Pearl Harbor—something I did as early as issue #5. And of course I solved the problem of Liberty Belle’s 1943 debut by simply back-dating it; I found nothing in her origin in Boy Commandos #1 which tied her to anything more than the Battle of Dunkirk in 1940... while later I did plan to have one of the butterfly-winged Venusian women from All-Star #13 smuggle herself back to Earth with Wonder

Woman and become a female Squadder named Krysalis (but by the time we got to that point, time was running out for All-Star Squadron, so I shelved that notion, and many another). I noticed, on reading this letter again after a number of years, that some of the precise ways Jerry suggests using Degaton (who had actually debuted in the 1947 All-Star #35) are utilized in Squadron #1-3—at least some of which I probably already had in mind when I decided on him as the master villain. It was startling, though, to realize that Jerry’s suggestion to have Degaton bring nuclear missiles into World War II, well in advance of the first mushroom cloud over Hiroshima, is very close to what JLA writer Gerry Conway and I did in 1982, when we scripted a five-part JLA-JSA-Squadron team-up that crossed over between Justice League of America and All-Star Squadron. By that time, I had consciously forgotten Jerry’s letter of a year or so earlier, but perhaps that’s when the seed was planted.... A few weeks later, on Oct. 17, 1980, after he had read at least an overview of the story arc for the first three issues of Squadron, still months away from hitting the newsstand, Jerry wrote a final letter about this storyline which even I cannot bring myself to print without blushing. Suffice it to say—he liked it! He really liked it! At one point in 1981-82, my friend Len Wein, at that time the able editor of the new DC comic, groused to someone: “Roy writes All-Star Squadron like he’s just writing it for Jerry Bails!” I had to smile when I heard about Len’s comment. I could understand and appreciate his point, even though he and I never quarreled about the title’s direction... but if he had seen Jerry’s earliest letters to me on the subject, he’d have realized the truth: I was indeed writing All-Star Squadron for an audience of one... But that audience was me. Well, okay... maybe I was writing for an audience of oneand-a-half. [NEXT TIME: Pearl Harbor—“The World on Fire”—and All-Star Squadron #1!]

The Men Called “X” part nine, cont’d

“I Trusted His Instincts and I Hoped He Trusted Mine!” Part 2 of Our Interview with X-Men Scribe X-traordinaire CHRIS CLAREMONT— Mostly about Working with DAVE COCKRUM that they’d have to handle it, because what’s the alternative? [laughs] The thing that gave “Dark Phoenix” [as the storyline came to be called] its power was a series of serendipitous events resulting in my being forced to think outside the box. We’d gone the whole route because she’d committed the unforgivable act of murder. Do we throw her in jail for life or do we kill her? And if we do throw her in jail, what happens next? And if we do kill her, what happens next? Out of that, came a story with a lasting, tremendous emotional punch.

Conducted and Transcribed by Jim Amash [INTRODUCTION: The first onethird of this interview with Chris Claremont was published last issue in our over-full “X-Men” special, under the title “I Was in the Right Place at the Right Time.” However, it’s been apparent to pretty much everybody for the past nigh-three decades that Chris was also the right man in that place and time, and that it was not just coincidental that he wrote The X-Men during those crucial years when it finally became a break-out hit mag and eventually Marvel’s top seller. Last time, he spoke about the revival of the comic in 1975 with artist Dave Cockrum— whose art is a major feature of both last issue and this—and how they began to develop the characters of the New X-Men. —Roy.]

If Dave and I had told that entire story, would we have come to that end? I don’t know. That was the synergy of me and John Byrne as much as me and Dave. I should say it wasn’t just me and Byrne. It was also my editors along the way, like Roger Stern, Jim Salicrup, and finally Louise Simonson. Chris Claremont in a photo from the 15th issue of Marvel’s self-published fanzine F.O.O.M. (Sept. 1976)—and a 2003 commission drawing by Dave Cockrum of Dark Phoenix. You should see it in color! To find how to purchase original art or special commissions by Dave, e-mail him at <parrotstew@in4web.com>. [Art ©2003 Dave Cockrum; Phoenix TM & ©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

The Mutant Multitude JIM AMASH: When you brought Jean back into the book, was it in your mind that she was to become The Phoenix? CHRIS CLAREMONT: Dave and I were kicking ideas back and forth. We wanted to kick one of The X-Men up to the next level, and she was it. JA: When you decided to turn her into The Phoenix, just how powerful did you intend her to be? Certainly not as powerful as she later became as Dark Phoenix? CLAREMONT: We wanted to push the envelope as far as we could. I think we were always thinking about her achieving a cosmic level. In the back of our heads was always the realization of a conflict. There had to be the dark side of the force, or else what’s the point of doing it? There has to be a confrontation. The idea in terms of Jean was like taking a character from ordinary human to sorcerer supreme in one stage, without going through Dr. Strange’s rising and advancing of the spirit. What would happen if you made one of our characters the next best thing to God? Could they handle it? Our presumption, because we were still thinking inside the box, was

Chris Claremont

JA: One character whom I thought was less welldeveloped, even though I liked him because he had the most normal face of all, was Banshee. What were your feelings about this character? CLAREMONT: Again, Banshee’s presence gave the book a measure of age. He was obviously not a kid and had been around the block a few hundred times. He had a history that Len himself had established. Part of the problem is that the more characters you have in a book—and back then, we only had seventeen pages—the more limited the amount of screen time you have. You not only have to have a number of heroes, but also an equivalent number of villains, which means that half the time you’re running two teams in the book. Comics is a shorthand medium to begin with, and when you have seven main characters in every issue, you find yourself limited to what you can establish, and how deeply you can investigate each character. Banshee had too many cool characters to compete with. There’s Nightcrawler, Colossus, and the rest. To some extent, exploring who the new guys were was more fun than playing with the old guys. Nightcrawler and Wolverine were more interesting to explore, and so was Cyclops, even. We did set up some stuff with Black Tom, Juggernaut, and the castle in Ireland, but again, it’s bouncing back and forth, trying to find the balance. Dave loved Nightcrawler as a character, therefore Nightcrawler tended to get a lot of cool face time. John Byrne loved Wolverine, therefore Wolverine started getting a lot of face time. I loved Storm—([laughs] therefore Storm got a lot of face time. We were all sort of pulling for our guys, subconsciously, if nothing else. And you’re thinking, three or four issues down the road, where am I going to go with this character? Who do we hook him up with and how do we do it? JA: How do you balance everything in the straitjacket of seventeen pages in a bimonthly book? Everybody’s got to get some screen time. CLAREMONT: That’s it. And the problem was, after the first six months, trying to balance it so we could get the Dave says this is a “rejected rough for a Nightcrawler poster.” What were they thinking? book on schedule in order to jump to a monthly status. The [Art ©2003 Dave Cockrum; Nightcrawler TM & ©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.] fact is that sales justified it within a year, and there was no hope in hell that we could get it out monthly at that for budgetary reasons, with a Tony DeZuniga-drawn story. The filler particular time. In those days, it took ten months to get final sales that became 106 had been commissioned when the book was first figures. We started racking up sales in the high 40s, into the 50s in terms started, because the consensus was that we’d sooner or later need it. We of sell-through percentage, which was extraordinary back then. And the just kept fighting and stalling not to use it, but eventually we had no sales kept going up. We knew by issue 100 that, if we could get on choice . schedule, we could go monthly. It was after a year of John being on the book that we finally did it. JA: Why didn’t you write that fill-in story? Originally, #107 was supposed to be a non-crossover over with The Legion of Super-heroes. Paul Levitz and I had gotten together and decided that I would handle the story from The X-Men’s point of view in 107, and then Paul could tell the story about the Legion coming up against these five nut cases [laughs] who look faintly like The X-Men. It’d be the same story but from different perspectives. It’d be a noncrossover crossover. But Paul was so far ahead on his schedule, and it turned out that Dave took four full months to turn out issue 107, and even then we barely made it.

CLAREMONT: Bill Mantlo wrote it, but by the time it saw print, the treatment of the characters’ personalities and the visuals were so wrong, that it needed a complete rewrite. At that particular time, Bill Mantlo was writing fill-ins for every book in the line. That was a period, ’75, ’76, when we were having major title cutbacks, and the amount of available work was very limited for writers, due to contractual obligations to Roy Thomas, Gerry Conway, Marv Wolfman, and Len Wein. We were all hurting for work, and in my case I was trying to get a regular book out, so I didn’t have a lot of time.

JA: Four months?

JA: How much thinking time were you putting into each story? Sounds like you were taking an extraordinary amount of time with each story.

CLAREMONT: Well, we were bimonthly, and Dave drew issue 105. 106 was a fill-in, and then there’s issue 107. That gave him four months, and we barely made the deadline with 107. John had to jump right in with issues 108, 109, and 110, because we had to burn off another fill-in,

CLAREMONT: Well, not so much, per se. Dave and I knew what we wanted to do and had no problem doing it. I don’t think it was a lot

Chris Claremont

more time-consuming then than it is now, except that I know the characters a lot better now. But I also had the advantage of working with an artist who was extremely creative in a storytelling sense. I can’t begin to tell you how valuable someone like Dave can be in the creative process, because it’s essentially two guys creating a book at the same time. It’s the situation where I could springboard ideas and Dave could do whatever he wanted with them, and come back with ideas of his own, which in turn would synergize and inspire something new in me.

stuff with it. He’d fight with swords using it. Dave understood all that. He’d find ways to pose him, perched on the backs of chairs, clinging to walls, holding a teacup in his tail. Little grace notes that helped define who and what these people are on a subliminal basis. I don’t even need to say it with text. It’s obvious. It’s there. It’s in the collective back consciousness of the reader. JA: When you got around to thinking about the interaction between the characters, one of the things you did was to have Nightcrawler and Wolverine become good friends. Why those two and not, say, Nightcrawler and Colossus, for example? CLAREMONT: Those two got along pretty good, but Nightcrawler and Wolverine were yin and yang. The most gregarious normal character versus the rock masquerading as a human being. They fit well together; it was just chemistry. Sometimes, you look at the way an artist draws characters in a group; you look at the way characters fit together in a group, and see what sparks a response in your head. You hope the response is that if it sparks a response in my head, then it’ll spark a response in the reader’s head.

Dave’s depiction of Jean in issue 97 crystallized what we wanted to do with the character. If she’d have looked like she did in issue 94, Phoenix would have never happened. She’d have been too boring and we’d have gone off in some other direction.

Cry Wolverine! CLAREMONT: (Cont’d) The interesting thing is that John Byrne’s depiction of Wolverine was a typically normal face. We hadn’t seen Wolverine’s face up until Iron Fist #15. That was sort of John’s audition for The X-Men. Dave and I were doing issue 98 at the time and he wanted to draw Wolverine with the swept-back hair and the mutton chops. I said, “Go with it! That’s it!” Dave nailed it! Boom! What Dave brought to the series was a visual sweep and an idiosyncratic and character-appropriate imagination. His Storm looks nothing like anyone else’s Storm, especially when she’s in civilian clothes, because he understood what he wanted from the character better than anyone else, in terms of what the design philosophy behind her was. He also understood and incorporated her African heritage in a way that very few subsequent artists have. A lot of artists fall back on putting her in mini skirts or slacks or cut-off jeans, so that she looks like any modern-day American woman. The problem is that she’s not, any more than Nightcrawler’s a typical American man, or Wolverine is an urban American male. They all come from different places that have to be factored into their visual presentation.

JA: In the case of Wolverine, whose idea was it to make his skeleton laced with adamantium?

In The X-Men #99 (April 1976), both his fellow mutants and the rest of the waiting world learned that Wolverine’s adamantium claws came out of his hands, not his gloves. Giant-size X-Men #1 and X-Men #94-119 are on view in The Essential X-Men, Volume 1. Script by Chris Claremont, art by Dave Cockrum (pencils) & Sam Grainger (inks). [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

To me, one of the defining moments in their presentation is in issue 100, when Jean and Storm are standing together in the shuttle. You see how much taller Storm is than Jean. Jean barely comes up to Storm’s chin, if she’s lucky. That tells you something right there about the relationships. Wolverine is short! John Buscema never quite figured out what the joke was with Wolverine, because he kept drawing him as a six-footer. And he’s not. He’s a six-foot guy squished down to five feet six. And therein lies the key to his character. He’s a short, feisty little firecracker. But you need the shortness to help define him. You need to know that when Nightcrawler stands up straight, he’s six foot two. But he never stands up straight; he’s always creeping. Therefore, you always miss the sense that he’s basically Errol Flynn. It comes as a surprise; it should come as a surprise. The tail is an integral part of his personality; he does

CLAREMONT: I don’t know. It might have been my idea, but I’m not sure. We always knew that he had unbreakable bones and that he had adamantium in his body. My thought was that he didn’t have just adamantium. His skeleton was adamantium and calcium. That part I’ll say was my idea. My recollection was that the adamantium was part of the original character that Len developed.

Again, going back to one of Stan Lee’s dictums, and to the rationale with making Wolverine’s claws come from his body and not his gloves... if Wolverine wore gloves with claws in them, then anybody could be Wolverine. Therefore, what makes him unique? Daredevil is unique. Nobody else should have his hyper-senses or be blind. Iron Man was not unique because anybody can, and has, worn the suit. It’s the suit that makes him Iron Man and not Tony Stark, so Iron Man could be Happy Hogan or Jim Rhodes. But that, in and of itself, makes him less special. Stan always figured that’s why Iron Man never struck the same chord with readers as Daredevil, or the F.F., or Spider-Man. Nobody else could be Spider-Man, only Peter Parker. Nobody else could be a mutant, except for The X-Men. I think that’s why we gave Wolverine the healing factor, because that was something that was uniquely his. It ultimately developed to the point where we wondered, if he didn’t have the skeleton, would he still be unbreakable? Would he still have claws? Finally, our conclusion was,

Chris Claremont

29 plots once he turned the penciled pages in? CLAREMONT: Oh, all the time. That’s what made it fun. I trusted his instincts and I hope he trusted mine. There were things you worked out and the reason we could work this way is because the fundamentals were already established. We both knew who these characters were. We knew how they interacted and how to pose them in a room; how to function as a group. The other challenge that many artists who draw this book don’t get is the absolute need to be able to choreograph figures in a space. What I’ve noticed in the last ten years with The X-Men is that a lot of times there are sequences of single-character panels. You very rarely see the group operating as a group in a space with a group. A lot of guys just can’t juggle that; therefore they’ll decide to focus on character “A” or character “B,” or character “C” or “L.” You come up with a nice sequence of images , but you never see the context. You never see them operating within a group or a space.

It would be like showing a battle scene with two armies, but reducing it to nothing but isolated cuts of soldiers in individual As related last issue, Binary originated as sketches Dave pinned over his desk. Chris would see such moments, never pulling back and showing us sketches and often devise characters to go with them. Dave’s first “Binary” sketch is at left, his second the whole context of the moment. Never at right. Note the name “Danvers?” written on the former, doubtless after Chris discussed with Dave showing us where the character is in space or the possibility that Carol Danvers, formerly Ms. Marvel, would become Binary. [Art ©2003 Dave Cockrum; how he relates to his colleagues, his adverBinary TM & ©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.] saries, his own situation. It just becomes isolated snapshots. What Dave could do “Yes.” It’s something obviously stirred up in the process. extraordinarily well is define characters as a group within a space and operate them as a group within a space.

“And It Was Fun!”

JA: I see. Now, it seems like you and Dave plotted together much more closely than other teams of that time period. Am I right in thinking that? CLAREMONT: I think you’d have to ask other writer/artist teams. I know Dave and I plotted pretty damn closely. And it was fun! We’d sit down, bat ideas back and forth, and Dave would sketch out a character. What people don’t realize, these days especially, is that the design for Phoenix went through about a hundred sketches. A lot of them were color variations on a theme, but Dave generated dozens of original, different design sketches for her, because we knew she was going to be an “A-list” character. We wanted her to make a tremendous impact. We wanted a character who could carry this book all by herself. We wanted a character who on the cover could make just as much an impact as Superman, and could sustain a stand-alone title. To us, that was the defining mantra to all of those characters. Who among them could we spin off into a solo title and make it work? With Jean, we had to do that from the start: Dave to me, me to Dave, and both of us to the editor, Archie Goodwin, until we got it right. That’s a process that almost never happens anymore. The exigencies of the design process... in far too many cases, you end up not knowing what the character design is until the penciler turns in the penciled pages and then, it’s too late. In a lot of cases, character concepts and designs become an exercise in damage control, rather than coming up with something that you can go forward with right off the bat, instead of fixing it later down the line. JA: How often were you surprised by something Dave added to the

Sea Change for Super-heroes JA: I know this is out of the scope of our interview, but I’m curious about the contrast between working with Dave Cockrum and working with John Byrne. Was it vastly different? CLAREMONT: Yes, because they were two different guys. Part of it was the sheer logistical mechanics. John lived 2000 miles away, and Dave was an hour away by car, so we could get together in New York City very easily. John and I could get together occasionally. I flew up to Calgary a couple of times to visit, and he came down to New York. We met halfway at a couple of conventions. A lot of our back-and-forth work was done on the phone. We didn’t have faxes or e-mail or FedEx back then. We worked in a little more isolation than Dave and I did, but we were remarkably sympatico in how we saw the characters. JA: Dave said he didn’t recall much editorial interference while working on his first run. CLAREMONT: We didn’t have much of that. There were a couple of moments with Shooter once we got past the hundredth issue, but we were extraordinarily fortunate in being left alone throughout that first run. JA: But then Dave leaves, and John Byrne comes in. And there’s more editorial interference than before. Why did that happen? CLAREMONT: Because the whole nature of the editorial structure at Marvel changed. When I started writing the book, it was me and Len

Chris Claremont

running the place. Then Len left and Gerry Conway came in for a month, blew the whole place to hell, and was replaced by Archie Goodwin. Jim Shooter had already been hired as associate editor, and he had a very different attitude, manner, and approach to managing the books. He came from a philosophy where editorial input was much more prevalent. JA: Maybe that’s because Mort Weisinger, the ultimate control freak, had been his boss at DC. CLAREMONT: Right! And Jim was one, too. In the mid-1970s, Marvel was remarkably chaotic. As an associate editor, it really pissed me off having to rewrite books on the boards. I said, “Why can’t we see the script as a script? If there are problems or confusion with continuities or mistakes, let’s just fix them before they’re lettered.” But once that camel got into the tent, all hell broke loose. The minute you start fixing things for the right reasons, like continuity mistakes or changes in policies, it’s a short step to fixing editorial mistakes. My vision of how this thing should be scripted is different than yours. It’s a short step from “Why are we fixing problems in the script stage?” to “Why can’t we see the plots first? If there’s a problem in structure or continuity or coordination, or if the story doesn’t make sense, why can’t we know about it at the easiest point to fix, i.e., the plot stage?” So over the course of those five years, that’s what happened. Gradually, more and more people were hired to be specific editors of specific books. Roger Stern, in our case, followed by Jim Salicrup. So you begin working with an editor, rather than an ephemeral editor-in-

chief. And each editor has a different perception, a different point of view and approach, different story interests... what have you.

Dark Phoenix Rising JA: I was wondering, since The X-Men had risen to the top of the sales charts, if that gave some people at Marvel more of a reason to stick their two cents in. CLAREMONT: There’s always an interest in attaching yourself to success. We increasingly became a higher-profile book, and people recognized what we were doing. The minute you get on the radar, there is a tendency to incorporate yourself into the creative process. By the same token, Roger and I had worked out the structure of the Dark Phoenix storyline from the very start. We knew Jean was going to do something awful. John’s idea was to fry the “Asparagus” people. We assumed this storyline had been cleared, and made no secret of it to Salicrup. We gave him the plots, and assumed he’d take it up to Shooter. We actually said, “We’re doing this. Is this a problem?” And we were told, “No problem. No problem,” until Shooter saw the finished book. He read the boards of issue 137 a week before it was supposed to go to the printer, and said, “No way in hell can we do this.” By then, of course, John’s already drawing 138, with Jean still alive, and I’m thinking, Oh no! Now what do we do? In this instance, Shooter felt, as editor-in-chief, issue 137 was making a moral statement about

Chris Claremont

31 something to be proud of. That it happened by accident is just one of those happy... well, look at Casablanca. I don’t mind being in that company. Can you imagine a Casablanca starring Ronald Reagan and Ann Sheridan? But it could have been! JA: The “Dark Phoenix” story is one of my all-time favorite comic book stories. CLAREMONT: It’s one of the all-time favorite Marvel Comics stories: number two on the top 100 Marvel Comic list. But, of course, the real joke is that John and I managed to top it five months later with “Days of Future Past.”

Even before the “Dark Phoenix” saga, Chris and Dave were no strangers to controversy when it came to The X-Men. When advance word got out that the two of them (and editor-in-chief/original writer Len Wein) were going to be altering the mutant lineup and making other changes in the book, they got a lot of hate mail. Here, in a classic cartoon from 1975’s F.O.O.M. #10, is Marie Severin’s take on “What the fans wanted to do to Chris Claremont, Len Wein, and Dave Cockrum for destroying the X-Men before they saw the book.” Apparently, once they saw it, most folks quickly changed their minds— and then some! Oh, and for then-editor Jim Shooter’s alternate take on the story behind “Dark Phoenix,” see our previous issue. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

crime and punishment that he felt was wrong. As editor-in-chief, he decided to tell us to fix it. That’s the job! I disagreed vehemently with the decision at the time, but time has proven him right. JA: Oh? CLAREMONT: Oh, yeah! I think bringing her back alive on a technicality would have been a mistake. The story that we ended up with was the right story. The mistake came down the line when they resurrected her. Again, that was Jim’s prerogative as editor-in-chief. These are company-owned characters, and he was the the man entrusted with the care and feeding of these characters. It was his call; it was his job. JA: If I’d have been you, I’d have wanted to punch Salicrup in the nose for not clearing it with Shooter, and giving you this monumental headache. CLAREMONT: Yeah, but it wouldn’t have changed anything. But Salicrup claims he did show it to Shooter, so it becomes a “He said, he said.” Did Shooter see it? Did Salicrup show it to him? Who the hell knows? To be blunt, it doesn’t matter. It happened, we dealt with it, we moved on. And we ended up with a great landmark story whose resonances define Marvel to this day. Look, the fact is that you currently have Grant Morrison doing a Dark Phoenix riff in New X-Men; you’ve got Mark Millar embarking on the whole Dark Phoenix saga in Ultimate X-Men. These guys are riffing off that story and for all I know, there may be hints of it in the next X-Men movie. At the premiere of the first X-Men movie, Famke Janssen, who played Jean, asked if they could do something with Dark Phoenix in the next movie. Of course, I said, “Hell, yeah!” It’s a good story, and the fact that it’s still a good story twenty years later is

The thing is that Dave and I laid a good foundation. We defined the team as characters, and John and I took it to the next level. Then, Dave had the good fortune to come back and play with them again. The thing with the book is that it was very primal and we were very free. Nobody was looking over our shoulders, except us, and I think we benefited from that.

JA: And had you and Dave had the editorial structure you have today, The X-Men wouldn’t have been the book it was. CLAREMONT: If we’d had the editorial structure then that we have today, the book wouldn’t have been greenlighted at all. It certainly wouldn’t have been allowed to grow the way it did. It still took two years to find an audience. It had to be nurtured along; we had to be patient with it. We were rushing some things and taking our time with others.

And quite frankly, The X-Men started the book fighting super-villains and then, in the next book, they’re fighting demons in the backyard. Then they’re fighting giant robots, and then they’re off to Ireland to deal with leprechauns, for God’s sakes! And suddenly... Magneto!

Just for a zane, we thought we’d reproduce Dave’s rough layout for the cover of the previous issue of Alter Ego, just as Ye Editor first saw it on his computer screen. [Art ©2003 Dave Cockrum; X-Men TM & ©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Chris Claremont CLAREMONT: Frustrating... anxiety-ridden, because when you got a good thing going, you don’t want to mess it up. But at the same time, Dave wasn’t happy. He was doing great work, but it was like pulling teeth. I think he was getting incredibly frustrated and burnt-out. Part of me wishes there’d been no need for it. I would have loved to have seen his take on the conclusion on the “Phoenix” saga, since it was his story, too. At the very least, he should have been able to close it out. It would have been very interesting to see where we would have gone after that, if we would have gone to Dark Phoenix. I would have loved to see him draw the Savage Land. [laughs] On the other hand, we’d still be a bimonthly book! [mutual laughter] That’s always the hardest part of a dynamic. You want an artist who’s like your soulmate, but you also want an artist who is your soulmate who can draw 22 pages every thirty days. That’s extraordinarily rare. The thing is, you have to find the right artist for the right book, and you have to find the right artist for the right team. I think Dave and I made a great team. The reason the book ignited the way it did was due to the effervescence that went into the creative process, translated into the finished product. Where else could I ask a guy to draw a double-page spread with space maidens going at each other hammer and tongs, around a binary star system, without worrying about describing a binary star system?

Phoenix and Storm were far from the only voluptuous females to emerge from the Cockrum pencil and brush. Here’s a mouth-watering Cockrum illustration of Lilandra of the Shi’ar, from The X-Men. [Art ©2003 Dave Cockrum; Lilandra TM & ©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Then after Magneto, they’re off to outer space, and not just outer space, but the far side of the galaxy. In the space of a dozen issues, we did nearly every conceivable genre possible, except for haunted houses and westerns. You can’t do that in a mainstream super-hero book. It’s silly, it’s humor... you can’t do humor in a drama book.

Look at the whole design of the ships. I mean... guns, for God’s sake! Guns and giant laser guns as rockets. He drew outside the whole visual box that most artists were thinking of in those days. It brought a tremendous personality to the book. I don’t think Storm could have been designed by

Unfortunately, the tendency today is to market your titles very specifically. They have to be relevant; they have to be focused. They have to be something the audience can immediately relate to. Leprechauns aren’t it.

Cockrum Cavalcade JA: I know there were teen groups before your X-Men series, including The X-Men in their previous incarnations. But your X-Men was really the first real example of exploring teenage angst, which is certainly popular on television shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Smallville. There’s a hint of it here and there in old series, but you really brought it out in your work. CLAREMONT: Yes. I always thought they were the quintessential outsiders. I always thought I was the quintessential outsider. JA: How did Dave Cockrum’s leaving the series affect you?

Two X-Men who never quite made it into print. Here are Dave’s concept drawings of Vampyre (it was decided he looked too much like Nightcrawler)... and of Nightcrawler’s projected sis, Belladonna. [©2003 Dave Cockrum.]

Chris Claremont

brilliant ideas he brought to the table. I could ask anything of Dave and have faith that I’d get it. The only wish I ever had of Dave is that he could draw 10% faster. I think what happened when he left the book was that he wanted to try to do his own stuff. To take all the passion and energy, commitment, and creativity that he was putting into The X-Men and turn it into The Futurians, and build a stable of characters that were his and not Marvel’s. I think that was the right call to make. My frustrations as a reader was that The Futurians wasn’t carried through to its full conclusion. I look at some of those characters and think, “Wow!” Some things in The Futurians derived from Egyptian mythology, culture, and history. Again, a lot of folks don’t do that sort of thing anymore. They don’t bring that variety of stylistic artistry to their work. JA: Don’t look to me for an argument. I wonder, considering how much you’ve grown as a writer since those early days, when you look back at what you did, how do you feel about those stories now? CLAREMONT: Well, I think for the most part, pretty damn good. When we were good, we were good in a timeless sense. What was good then is good today. If I was going to go back and do a rewrite, I suspect most of what I would do is cut text. Why write in ten words what can

anyone else but Dave. He brought with him this whole catalog of his own ideas and what he wanted his characters to look like. I think what a lot of people don’t realize is that many of the visual concepts that became the new X-Men in 1974... Dave had been kicking around in one form or another for years prior. A lot of his characters that came to Marvel came as fully realized entities. It wasn’t a case of someone sitting him down and saying, “Okay, design me Storm or Colossus or blah, blah, blah.” To a certain extent, that’s how I work. I love looking through an artist’s sketchbook because you never know what sketch, what character, what throw-away item will ignite that serendipitous spark, on which can turn a whole new vision of a story. And with Dave, you could do that. You could take his ideas to the next level and play with them. What was so incredibly valuable about Dave was that he could present the real-world aspects of the book—the military aspects, the clothes, the architecture and cityscapes—dead on. When we blew the dickens out of Kennedy Airport in issue 97, that was Kennedy Airport! That was a TWA plane! It wasn’t a made-up one! One character he patterned after Milton Caniff’s Steve Canyon... Colonel Michael Rossi. Dave was the kind of guy you could ask anything from, whether it was super-heroes or robots or science-fiction. Or, as I wrote five years later, Kitty’s Fairytale. Dave could give it all to you with charm, insight, passion, grace... all the adjectives you need as a writer to cope with the

Chris Claremont be said in five? The other side of it is, almost thirty years later... [laughs] thirty years later!... my vision of what an X-Men comic is, is defined by more than the writer and the penciler. If I could go back, I’d have Tom Orzechowski letter everything. He’s the letterer of my heart and always has been. As good as Joe Rosen, Annette Kawicki, and John Costanza were, they weren’t in my vision of what the book should look like. I look back at Glynnis Oliver’s colors and, as much as I love the coloring now, I think she was just brilliant. For the most part, where the stories worked, they worked... now as good as then. I did have a chance with Classic X-Men to go back and fill in some of the gaps, here and there. But that’s sort of like director’s cuts on DVDs. There was a reason why some of these things weren’t shown in the first place. For the most part, I’d like to leave well enough alone; history proved how well things worked. While I may wince at some of the infelicities of phrasing, on the other hand, those same infelicities define and hook the reader. It’s like going back and looking at Stan Lee’s stuff in the 1960s. Would I have written it that way? No, because I’m not Stan and never will be. What he wrote got me hooked, and that, to me, speaks eloquently for itself.

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re:

“Hey, Bob! Stan says hi!” Despite that slight mis-recollection, most readers seemed to agree with Jim Amash and me that Bob Deschamps—a man and name totally unknown to us and to most comics historians only a short time ago because he never signed his comics work—made one heck of an interview subject, and shed a virtual Aurora Borealis of light on life in the Golden Age. “Hey, Bob! Jim and Roy say thanks!”

Another 1940s Timely bullpenner we’ve been in touch with is Allen Bellman, who’s mentioned by Deschamps and who worked on “The Human Torch” and other strips during the WWII years. And we’re overjoyed that Dr. Michael J. Vassallo has just completed an interview with Allen which will run in a near-future issue, probably in conjunction with that of his old friend, fellow artist Sam Burlockoff. Get set for more resoundin’ revelations! In the meantime, I dropped Allen an e-mail and asked him if he had known Bob Deschamps back in his own bullpen days....

Hi, Roy, Two letters sections for the price of one—as we play catch-up! Our flip section deals with Alter Ego #19, so here we’ll cover #20, our first issue for 2003.

Hmm... on the other hand... sometimes it seems like all we have room to print in our “re:” sections is corrections to our myriad mistakes! But with 108 pages every month now, and all that artwork, and enough words squeezed onto most pages that some people (well, anyway, our old buddy Shel Dorf gave us a call) say the small type is giving ’em eyestrain, we’ve got plenty of space to get a lot of things wrong—and still get a lot more things right, we hope! Let’s start with a short note from one reasonably prominent comic book type, a guy named Stan Lee, and work our way from there. In #19, onetime Timely artist Bob Deschamps stated that Stan’s wife Joan had been a “hands model” back in Britain—i.e., someone whose hands but nothing else are photographed. Frankly, that didn’t jibe with my memories of what I’d heard or seen of the superphotogenic Mrs. Lee, so I asked The Man himself about it via e-mail....

I really did not remember Bob Deschamps, though after reading the interview with him in Alter Ego #20, he sure knew me. I can remember ’most everyone I worked with, even this young black kid by the name of Boston Brown who was the office messenger. No one, from what I have read so far, ever mentioned this young man. He was funny and was sortof our mascot. I started with Timely when they were in the McGrawHill Building, and I believe he was hired then, too. Great reading about Timely, and Deschamps remembers when I acquired the Bell’s palsy. I was sitting next to the window when we were in the Empire State Building, and at that time we did not have air-conditioning. The window was kept open, and the up-draft glass had broken and was never replaced. The wind kept blowing on my left ear, injuring the facial nerve. I never fully recovered, but it’s much better now, about a 90% recovery. I can remember one Bob Landers (or could this have been Bob Deschamps?) who sat opposite me and kept wanting to open the window; when I could not take the wind, I would close it. We had a couple of fans going all the time. I keep looking at a picture of Bob Deschamps, and very slowly it keeps coming back to me. I see this lanky kid who is our new office boy. After that I draw a blank. Allen Bellman

Hiya, Roy— Well, it was a long time ago, Allen... and you were all kinda busy at the time.

Re Joanie’s modeling days, Bob couldn’t be wronger! ’Twas a hat model that the lady was. ’Twas her beaming visage that graced the countless exotic chapeaux that launched a thousand ads. Bob may have been confused because my own hands are so incredibly photogenic that the still-powerful image of their very luster may have clouded his memory. By the way, tell the dynamic Mr. Deschamps “hello,” if you would be so kind. Stan Lee

Next, a short note from artist and Quality Comics editor Gill Fox, who was the subject of a long interview himself back in issue #12, concerning a splash page of the Quality strip “The Barker” which ran in #20.... Tracing down the stories and art of “the Golden Age of Marvel” would be even harder if not for the invaluable Timely Comic Index privately printed by Mike Nolan in summer of 1969, with a nice cover by West Coast fan Rudy Franke. Thanks to Michelle Nolan. [Art ©2003 Rudy Franke; Captain America, Human Torch, & Sub-Mariner TM & ©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Dear Roy— Mis-info notice—No. 20, Jan. 2003 Alter Ego issue—p. 33—Klaus

re:

Nordling did not “find time” to illustrate that particular splash page. That art is all Gill Fox. I did several issues of The Barker complete. Also, I did most of the Barker covers. Busy Arnold had me ghosting any semi-straight artist that was too busy. Your error is a common one; check a little closer. Fraternally, Gill Fox

Dear Roy, Thanks for the latest issue! Another fine job! But gosh, I wish P.C. [Hamerlinck] had followed up on my offer to help him out on those Fawcett art attributions. Page 51’s Greybeard panel is by August M. Froelich, the least-known of all Captain Marvel Jr.’s artists, but wellknown to Classics Illustrated fans.

We’ll take your word for it, Gill. You seem to have worked in all styles in those days, drawing covers depicting everyone from Plastic Man to Torchy! Thanks for the correction.

Also, that “Iron Munro” on page 10 is George Tuska, surely the longest continually-working comic book artist of all time, wouldn’t you agree? (By the way, this isn’t pure Tuska by any means.)

Here’s a letter that had a real effect on this issue! Our editor emeritus Jerry G. Bails, who made up the “Alter Ego” name and founded this fanzine back in 1961, doesn’t always get around to making detailed comments on each issue, but he did this time—and, in fact, his offhand comment in the final paragraph is what sparked the cover and spotlight feature of this ish....

With your keen eye, I know that you, like I, picked up on those names in the book the Devil’s imp is inscribing on the splash panel of “The Black Widow” [in the Bob Deschamps interview]. If you’ll mull it over, some of them (aside from the real ones like Helen King) seem to be fragments, or amalgams of other real comics workers: “Warren Kay”... surely Warren King; “Sterm”... surely Phil Sturm... “C. Johnstone”... Chic Stone; and, well, you see what I mean!

Dear Roy, I’m really enjoying this issue. I love the covers, especially the drawing and layout by Bill Schelly, and you did a great job making the panels and interviews visually interesting.

Hames Ware (via e-mail) Sure do, Hames. And, as usual, thanks for the info.

I know how hard you try to get accurate credits, and Doc V. is certainly the man to ask about Marvel credits. In your delight in being able to spot the Gantz signature on “Squat Car Squad” (p. 25), you overreached. Dave Gantz was Al Jaffee’s personal inker. I suspect he wanted his name seen at Marvel, so he could get better pay by working directly for Marvel. You might ask Doc, but that looks like Jaffee’s pencils, not Gantz’s. On the next page, the “Sub-Mariner” is definitely not Mike Sekowsky. Stare at Namora a while. Don’t you see Liberty Belle? That’s Chuck Winter on the pencils. I can’t spot the inker. By the way, you ran my birthday in the “Hangman” panel on p. 33. That was produced by a thermafax machine, which I used to drop the color from the comics page. I never dreamed it would be reproduced so many times. Bob Fujitani deserves much better samples of his work. I hope you have them. Jerry Bails Seeing this issue arrive in the mail, Jerry, is (hopefully) the first you knew that much of it would be devoted to you and to your impact on comics fandom (and, indirectly, even on comics themselves) on the occasion of your 70th birthday on June 26. In fact, as mentioned in our writer/editorial, it was this very e-mail which made Roy aware of the latter fact! Thanks for your ID of the “Sub-Mariner” page, which is probably correct. But when we sent Doc Vassallo—who had sent us the photocopies of that “Squat Car Squad” story in the first place, and pointed out the signature—a copy of your e-mail, he reiterated that he believes Dave Gantz did indeed pencil as well as ink it. Maybe we should send Dave himself a copy, and see what he thinks! And here’s Jerry’s fellow comics historian and co-editor, back in the 1970s, of the first edition of the Who’s Who of American Comic Books—Hames Ware. Gee, Hames, we haven’t heard from you since our letters page on the flip side of this issue!

As Jerry Bails mentions, we ran the 1942 Bob Fujitani “Hangman” panel at left, which was repro’d in the 1973 first volume of his and Hames Ware’s The Who’s Who of American Comic Books, back in A/E #20, where Jerry— who often had to retouch the art he was using there—had altered whatever date or info was originally there to his own birthdate, just as a private joke. He says “Fuje” deserves better artistic representation—and we agree, despite all the Fujitani art we ran in issue #23—so above is a splash page from Pep Comics #46 (Feb. 1944); comic supplied by Michael T. Gilbert. [©2003 Archie Comic Publications, Inc.]

re:

Dear Roy, With regard to the Wally Wood-illustrated story “Flash Gordon and the Space Pirates,” as discussed by Michael T. Gilbert in “EC Confidential, Part 4,” Michael is quite right in suspecting an Al Williamson assist with the artwork. But there’s more to this little mystery than he and Roger Hill imagine. (Sorry, David Spurlock, this 4-pager is not “all Wood.”) I’m in full agreement with Roger Hill’s assessment that Al Williamson roughed out or penciled the artwork for Wood. Furthermore, Williamson based elements of his artwork on parts of the British science-fiction strip “Dan Dare—Pilot of the Future” (Eagle comic, 1950-1969). Of the Williamson/Wood art shown on page 40 of A/E #19, the large splash panel is directly swiped from a Frank Bellamy-illustrated panel originally appearing in a 1960 episode of the “Dan Dare” adventure “Project Nimbus” (Eagle, Vol. 11, No. 15). I’m enclosing a copy of Bellamy’s artwork to confirm my contention. The bottom panel of page 40 shows Flash and a girl pirate looking down from a hillside onto a military base. This is swiped from an earlier 1956 “Dan Dare” story, “Rogue Planet” (Eagle, Vol. 7, No. 4), illustrated by the strip’s creator, Frank Hampson.

So there you have it: within the confines of a 4-page comic book story, you get Wally Wood, Al Williamson, Frank Bellamy, and Frank Hampson! Al Williamson was a fan of both Frank Bellamy and Frank Hampson’s artwork. Over the years, I’ve noticed a number of swipes, taken from these two British greats, appearing in Al’s work. Off the top of my head, the Warren stories “Kasserine Pass” (using images taken from Bellamy’s “Montgomery of Alemein”), “Thumbs Down” (from Bellamy’s “Heros the Spartan”), and “H20 World” (from Frank Hampson’s “Dan Dare”). There are other examples I could cite. I don’t consider any of this to equate to poverty-of-invention on Al’s behalf. Rather, Al was paying homage to peers he admired—a fun way to overcome design challenges posed by (then) new art jobs. Terry Doyle 5 Alexandra Grove Cheshire, WA7 5D2 England

Right you are, Terry. Roy remembers that, when he used to visit Al occasionally down on the New York-Pennsylvania border back in the early ’70s, he’d kid Mr. W. about what would happen if his Artograph machine (which allowed him to project an image of a drawing or photo onto a sheet of paper) broke down. Al would always just smile and say, “I’d have to fall back on talent.” And that’s one thing Al’s never been short on, as anyone who’s seen his rough sketches and illustrations can testify. Check out Vanguard’s Al Williamson Sketchbook, previewed at the website <creativemix.com/vanguard>. In our coverage of the 1965 New York Comicon, we threw together (at pretty much the last moment) a montage of Superman drawings by various artists, and Bob Hughes says we got one or two of them wrong... so what else is new? Subject: Alter Ego #20—Superman artists: Lovely collection of crisp black-&-white images, but you’ve got a couple of boo-boos in there. Probably the most indefensible howler is the “Jim Mooney” panel that’s actually from one of three Superman stories drawn by the amazing Dick Sprang! In fact, you’d be hardpressed to find a Mooney Superman story. Although he did a lot of “Supergirl” and Superman/Batman team-ups, I only know of one twoparter he ever drew featuring Superman: Action #315-316. To the right of that you have a “Paul Cassidy” that’s actually by Wayne Boring and an inker I’ve never been able to identify. Almost all of Cassidy’s Supermen have the cape bunched up right against Superman’s neck. The “Peter Riss” illo is by Sam Citron. Riss drew one Superman story, “Meet the Squiffles,” in Superman #22—to be featured in the next Superman Archives, should DC ever get around to printing one. The rest of them are correct.

Vanguard publisher David Spurlock says this is one of Al Williamson’s best Flash Gordon drawings ever. See lots more great A.W. stuff in Vanguard’s Al Williamson Sketchbook, if it’s still available. The e-mail address is in our answer to Terry Doyle’s letter. [Art ©2003 Al Williamson; Flash Gordon TM & ©2003 King Features Syndicate.]

You had a Superman art error in the previous issue, too. It was a World’s Finest panel credited to Dick Sprang and Stan Kaye that was actually inked by Sheldon Moldoff. Maybe you could get Jim Amash to interview Moldoff about his long career “ghosting” Bob Kane. In particular, I’ve always wondered how he went about figuring out Batman’s “New Look” [in the mid-1960s]. I mean, if you were given the assignment to pretend to be Bob Kane pretending to be Carmine Infantino, what would you do? Love the magazine. Love it, love it, love it. Bob Hughes

re:

Glad to hear it, Bob. However, we’re not so sure about that “Supergirl” panel you ID as being penciled by Dick Sprang; see pro artist Alan Kupperberg’s note in our “Additions and Corrections” at the end of this section. We took some of the IDs from a privately printed booklet on the Superman artists of a few years back, but it could have been in error about Pete Riss. Has your own ID been 100% confirmed? And exactly how does one go about positively confirming an artistic attribution, anyway?

Spike.” I was very pleased to see the layout of the Dealers Room, as it put Steranko’s tables exactly where I had remembered them. The Panel Moderated by Kaler: When you asked me if I was the “Andy” in the audience who voiced a question, I responded by saying it was possible, since I was there. In reading the transcript of the panel discussion, when I got to the part where Jim Warren says that the Famous Monsters of Filmland experiment lost $35,000, I thought to myself, “What issues were they?” Imagine my surprise and delight when I turned the page and found myself asking the same thing in print! You got it right, Roy. And, I suppose, this proves that some things never change.

By the way, just in case you didn’t know, Bill Schelly interviewed Sheldon A Jim Mooney panel from Action Comics #285 (Feb. 1962), the story Moldoff about his 15-year career as a in which Superman introduced Supergirl to President John F. Bob Kane “ghost” on “Batman” back in Kennedy—and then to the world—after she’d spent two or three 1999, as reprinted in the still-on-sale years as his “secret weapon.” Repro’d from a photocopy of the TwoMorrows trade paperback Alter original art; thanks to Jerry Bails & Hames Ware. [©2003 DC Comics.] Ego: The Comic Book Artist Future TISOS [The Illegitimate Collection; Shelly also spoke about that and other things back in issue #5 Sons of Superman] in Attendance: My sister Pat and I weren’t really of this volume of A/E. As for saying Stan Kaye inked that Sprang splash making contacts and forming friendships at the ’65 con. I wasn’t even from World’s Finest, again we were going by the credits in the DC sure if Marv [Wolfman] and Len [Wein] were even there (although it World’s Finest Archives volume, which may or may not have been would be hard to imagine them not attending such an event). Now, accurate. knowing that Marv was there as Herbie, the Fat Fury, an old, stray One person who attended the 1965 New York Con was Carole Seuling, then the wife of comics dealer (and future convention-thrower himself) Phil Seuling. She had this to say: Hi, Roy— Just received Alter Ego #20, which I read with great interest. It was like a trip in time. Roy, if I remember right, after one poker game ran late, you chose to sleep on the floor in the room with all the comics, rather than on a couch, which would have been more comfortable. But what did Dave Kaler mean by saying that Phil had “all those people” to put on his conventions? “All those people” were yours truly, my kids, Phil’s students, and the guys from California, who only blew in the week before the con.

memory clicked into place. I remember the costume well; it was excellent. (Marv did several terrific costumes over the years, including NoMan and Aquaman.) I now realize that I must have talked with Marv during the convention, but at the time I had no idea who he was. The Photos: Thanks for giving Pat credit for the TISOS photos on page 41. She should have gotten credit for the other three photos in Part Five, and the Dorf/Anderson picture, as well. All these photos are from the 1967 Kaler convention. As with the TISOS shot, I have all the original Polaroids and Kodak prints, so I’m 100% certain of the date. Actually, I’m a little surprised that none of the 1966 con photos worked their way into the articles, as Murphy Anderson and other pros of note

Carole Seuling Yeah, but that was more than Dave had, Carole. Anyway, they were all great cons, those ’60s shindigs, and set increasingly high standards for future comics conventions to meet. And here are some remembrances from another fan who was also at the Broadway Central Hotel in summer of ’65: future Marvel colorist Andy Yanchus: Hi, Roy, I received Alter Ego #20 earlier this week. Wow, what a time trip! The various articles on the 1965 Comicon brought back lots of memories and put many fuzzy recollections into proper perspective. I’m amazed that you were able to gather as much material on the con as you did. Ah, if only there were more photographs! While there were a few places where additional information could have been provided, I found only one major error—the photo on page 31 identifying Shel Dorf as Murphy Anderson! (More on this later.) Here are some specific observations: Convention Handout/Program: This is the sort of thing that I was scouring my collection to find, but never did. I’m glad you had that one. I’m pretty sure Bill Schelly is right in assuming Dave Kaler did the artwork. I remember him saying something about tracing “Sugar &

Here, to make up for accidentally mis-identifying Shel Dorf as Murphy Anderson in #20, is a photo of the latter at a Heroes Con in Charlotte, NC, a few years back... and a nice Superman sketch he drew twenty years ago for A/E associate editor Jim Amash. Of course, lots more art by and photos of Murphy should be coming on view right about now in R.C. Harvey’s new volume The Life and Art of Murphy Anderson from TwoMorrows. Photo by Dann Thomas.

re: appear in the earlier pictures. I can’t imagine Mark having the 1967 photos but not the 1966 batch. (As for the Dorf/Anderson mix-up, I’m sure the caption mistake wasn’t yours, and that several other people have already pointed it out. However, if additional proof is needed, check out an uncropped version of the photo with Wally Wood on the panel. Crouched in front of the table is Shel Dorf, working on an unseen tape recorder, wearing that same plaid jacket.) Andy Yanchus Sorry we didn’t (and couldn’t) give Pat due credit for most of the photos that appeared in A/E #20, Andy. When Mark Hanerfeld loaned us copies of dozens of late-’60s convention photos a few years ago, he didn’t identify photographer, subjects, or even years, leading to an error or two when Roy was working with grainy photocopies. (TwoMorrows kept scans of the photos and sent the originals back to Mark, not long before his untimely passing. Don’t know what’s happened to them since.) I’ve mailed you copies of Mark’s photos, so you and Pat can hopefully ID them for future issues—and thanks! And now, a comment anent Roy’s “Invaders” article in #20: Dear Roy: A quick thought about the conversation with Denny O’Neil you mention in your “Invaders” article. You note that Mike Friedrich suggested that you and Denny each feature the other’s super-team, reconceived and disguised as villains, in your respective books [Avengers and Justice League of America], and that while you followed through (via the Squadron Sinister), Denny never did. However, you didn’t mention that Mike himself most certainly did! Justice League of America #87 (Feb. ’71), written by Mike, features a battle royal between the JLA and the defenders of the planet Angor, namely Jack B. Quick (“not as fast as The Flash, but on the other hand he can fly short distances”), Blue Jay (“a normal man who’s discovered how to shrink to the size of a bird and gain wings”), the Silver Sorceress (“a female with extremely powerful hex-power, but unable to control it completely”), and Wandjina (“the Australian aborigine god of rain... able to control the elements”). You don’t have to be Irving Forbush to recognize those characters. Mike clearly took his own suggestion to heart! Kevin Lafferty (via e-mail)

39 He sure did, Kevin. Matter of fact, I seem to recall that Wandjina looked so much like Thor that a few Marvel feathers were slightly ruffled at the time... but since the Australian rain-god was only a one-shot character, there was no real problem. Roy didn’t mention that group in his article mainly because it had no real connection with The Invaders, being more of an Avengers takeoff. More Additions and Corrections re #20: Comics artist Alan Kupperberg pointed out that the modern stage drama Death of a Salesman was written by Arthur Miller, not Walter Miller. Ye Editor can’t figure what made him mis-type the name of the author of the science-fiction classic A Canticle for Liebowitz in place of that of the famed playwright. Alan also says (as did several other letter-writers) that the artist whose penciling is identified as Jim Mooney’s in #20’s two-page Superman spread is actually Curt Swan—though Bob Hughes felt it was penciled by Dick Sprang. Alan also feels that the late-1960s Sueulingcon photo on p. 36 which is identified as James Warren (seen with Gil Kane) isn’t Creepy’s publisher at all. Longtime comics researcher John Benson goes him one better and maintains that it’s actually Leonard Starr, former comic book artist who at that time was doing the popular comic strip On Stage—and he’s right! John also pointed out that the Will Elder drawing in #20 had appeared in his fanzine Squa Tront #7 in 1977, “so it wasn’t all that ‘rare and unseen.’” Still, we’d bet that few of A/E’s readers had seen it before, which makes it rare enough. Erstewhile A/E contributor John G. Pierce reminds us that it was he who sent us Kevin O’Neill’s 1973 drawing of our mascots Alter & Captain Ego (a fact we neglected to credit), and that the illo was originally done at the behest of Fantasy Unlimited’s editor/publisher Alan Austin to accompany one of John’s text stories about the heroes, though the art had no particular connection to the tale. “However, later on,” John says, “I wrote a story called ‘Rerun of the King’ (the source of inspiration should be obvious) which incorporated that scene.” Maybe we can print that story one of these days—only then we’d need a new illo, and Kevin may be a bit too busy these days to do one for us! And Scott M. Martin, who says he sure does miss 1970s Marvel, tells us that it was he, not Dave Medinnus, who supplied us with info on G.A.M.S. (the Golden Age Marvel Squad Message Board at <http://members5.boardhost.com/GAMS/>. Dave, for his part, owns the original Eric Wolfe Hanson artwork that appeared with the G.A.M.S. information. 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 P.S.: Only a few of Ye Editor’s personal spare copies of the outof-print Alter Ego, Vol. 3, #1, from 1999, still remain—with Roy and Jerry Ordway showing-and-telling about the early-’80s origins of Infinity, Inc. (learn where all those heroes came from that’re popping up in every second DC mag these days)—a stellar interview with Golden Age JSA/Green Lantern artist Irwin Hasen—an all-star 1995 roast of Stan Lee by his sharp-tongued peers—plus Michael T. Gilbert, FCA, Bill Schelly, a French Silver Surfer story, and more! $20 per copy postpaid—autographed by Roy if you’re in the mood. Roy also has a handful of copies of the out-of-print Comic Book Artist #2-4, each of which has its own A/E section, for $15 per issue postpaid... and a few sets of the 1986 Alter Ego comic book by Ye Ed and artist Ron Harris, only $20 for all four issues. Send checks or money orders to the address above. Sorry, but $5 extra on all foreign orders.

Everyone deserves a

Golden Age!

GiVE BACK TO THE CREATORS WHO GAVE YOU YOUR DREAMS.

BACK ISSUE OF THE ISSUE! Each month, we call your attention to a previous issue of A/E which you might wish to purchase from TwoMorrows, because it contains material related to this issue's features—because it’s a meaningful contribution to comic book history—and mainly because back issues are a neat way to make dough for work we did already! This time, it’s A/E #12, which spotlights a blockbuster interview with GILL FOX, editor of Quality Comics when Jack Cole was there doing “Plastic Man.” Also in the issue is stuff about WALLY WOOD, PAUL REINMAN, All-Star Squadron, FCA, and more! Order it today from TwoMorrows Publishing—see their ad bloc elsewhere in this mag!

HOPPY:

No. 84

THE FORGOTTEN MARVEL Plus MARC SWAYZE’S “WE DIDN’T KNOW... IT WAS THE GOLDEN AGE!” and HAMES WARE on WENDELL CROWLEY and JERRY BAILS

Marc Swayze

[FCA EDITORS NOTE: From 1941-53, Marcus D. Swayze was a top artist for Fawcett Comics. The very first Mary Marvel character sketches came from Marc’s drawing table, and he illustrated her earliest adventures, including the classic origin story in Captain Marvel Adventures #18 (Dec. ’42); but he was primarily hired by Fawcett to illustrate Captain Marvel stories and covers for Whiz Comics and CMA. He also wrote many Captain Marvel scripts, and continued to do so while in the military. After leaving the service, he made an arrangement with Fawcett to produce art and stories for them on a freelance basis out of his Louisiana home. There he both wrote and drew The Phantom Eagle for Wow Comics, in addition to drawing the Flyin’ Jenny newspaper strip for Bell Syndicate (created by his friend and mentor Russell Keaton). After the cancellation of Wow, Swayze turned out artwork for Fawcett’s top-selling line of romance comics. After the company ceased publishing comics, Marc moved over to Charlton Publications, where he ended his comics

Not long after illustrating and writing stories featuring the World’s Mightiest Mortal, Marc Swayze was doing the same for one of Mary’s earliest adventures. As revealed a few issues back, he only recently realized that he had scripted, as well as drawn, “Captain Marvel and the Training of Mary Marvel” in Captain Marvel Adventures No. 19 (Jan. 1943). [©2003 DC 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 continued to reminisce on his early days at Fawcett Publications; this time he touches upon the laughter and fun atmosphere which prevailed in the art department. —P.C. Hamerlinck.]

Fawcett Art Dept. group photo, 1941, taken right before Marc arrived on the scene—but you’ll notice a few comic book people in there, as well! (Front row, left to right:) Cary Parshall, Frank Taggert, C.C. Beck, Bob Kingett, Mac Raboy; (second row:) Russ Peterson, Al Pauly, Al Allard, Ralph Mattison, Harold Noyes, Andy Anderson, Harry Taskey; (3rd row:) Paul Pack, Fred Ripperda, Ed Hamilton, Pete Costanza, Bob Laughlin, George Duree, Ed Richtscheid, Jack Rindner. Originally published in FCA/SOB and the trade paperback Fawcett Companion, which is still available from TwoMorrows Publishing.

We Didn’t Know...

Those occasions often included members of the comics editorial department, only a door away… and some of the freelance writers who were constantly in and out of the place. It was like a big family…a big jovial family, that Fawcett gang of 1941… laughter its symbol, its trademark, its password! Nestled in a corner of the spacious art department was a peculiar structure that resembled a small, homemade phone booth, with a dark photographer cloth hanging over its doorway. To one side there was a contrivance… like an upright easel, with pulleys and cords… real weird. After I had been there a few days I managed a peek inside the booth. Nothing but stowed away art department stuff…a little dusty. The apparatus wasn’t being used. It was a projector… a crudely (I thought) but cleverly contrived arrangement that enabled the artist to trace a reduced or enlarged image projected inside the booth from an original mounted on the adjustable easel. Not much benefit to the comic booker, but must have been quite a boon to the non-comics layout artists. Once in a while in the art department you’d hear, “Goin’ down to Shay’s. Anybody need any stats?” I never had occasion to go there, but I knew from the remark that “Shay’s” was located in the building, on a lower floor, and that it was a photostat operation. That explained the old abandoned projector, rather forlorn now, sleeping away over in the corner… not without having left its mark on history, however… the history of creative graphics.

In recounting the days when all Fawcett staff artwork was carried on in a single area, I find it impossible to ignore the spirit of merriment that existed among the personnel. A group photo that appeared in FCA/SOB No. 19 (FCA newsletter #30), May/June, 1983, bore the caption “Golden Age Fawcett Artists in 1941.” Although only three among those pictured were actually involved in comic book art, in the day-to-day activities there was no distinction evident among the artists. They were the Fawcett gang. Some worked quietly. Reynold Anderson, “Andy” to everyone, maintained dignified composure under all circumstances, and Fred Ripperda, his courtly manner. On the other hand, there were Ed Hamilton, Jack Rinder, Eddie Richtercheid, Paul Pack, and others who one might have thought had been recruited from the vaudeville circuit. All in all, they were reminiscent of music combos and ball teams I had traveled our territory with back home… people who loved to laugh and loved to make others laugh. My kind of people! “C’mon, we’re eating Chinese. Wanna go?” you might hear, as lunch time neared… or “Let’s grab a quick sandwich and bowl a few frames!” If you happened to be the only comic booker along, it made no difference.

It’s not surprising that the mischievous minds of the Fawcett art department would find Shay’s not only a source of quick copies, but a source of fun. Some of the material copied, story titles slated for the confession magazines for example, made outrageous, even suggestive, but always hilarious messages when enlarged to shoulder width and affixed to the backs of unsuspecting victims. The practice had begun with the pranks being played on one another; then visitors were included, with special attention paid to those from Hollywood. It was shortly after a couple of the executives got the treatment that Fawcett art director Al Allard, by way of his bulletin board, announced it as a “growing problem that must stop… NOW!” It stopped. [Marc Swayze will be back next issue with more Marvel-ous Golden Age memories.]

WANTED: COVER RE-CREATION PAINTINGS BY

C.C. BECK contact: fca2001@yahoo.com

Hames Ware

Who Was Who At Fawcett Wendell Crowley, Jerry Bails, and Discovering the Unknowns at Fawcett Comics by Hames Ware Edited by P.C. Hamerlinck The Empty Fawcett Ever since I was ten years old, I’ve kept on-going lists of names in an old ledger my grandfather gave me. The names were those of the comic book artists whose work I had started to learn about and appreciate. I separated the pages by publishing companies... but alas, one of my favorite companies, Fawcett Publications, had very few names under it.

took the time to write back in response to a plethora of inquiry letters as to who had drawn what at a particular company. Richard Hughes of ACG was kind enough to respond, as did artists Paul Gustavson, Gill Fox, Rafael Astarita, Lou Cameron, and others. Along with these came perhaps the best surprise response of all! Since Fawcett had long since folded its comics line, I knew of no one to contact, but the first pages of some of its comics had featured a credit for longtime editor Wendell Crowley. I noted that his family lumber company, which he took over reluctantly after the demise of Fawcett Comics, had business connections in my home state.

The reason for this, I would learn a couple of decades later from Fawcett’s most popular editor, the late Wendell Crowley, was simply “company policy.” Fawcett’s top brass didn’t allow artists to sign their work, although the company had dallied a bit in the early 1940s with some tiny art credits that, for a brief time, appeared near the bottom of the first page of some features. Although I owned none of these “credited” issues at the time, I later acquired a few of them, where indeed I saw that the likes of Carl Pfeufer, Ed Ashe, Coinciding approximately with this came my growing John Jordan, and a awareness of comics fandom. In fact, right in my own backyard, few other Fawcett Michael Barrier was publishing his pioneering Funnyworld, and artists had—at he and others probably encouraged me to contact more least for a little individuals who might share my interest in cataloging and while—gotten documenting the artists of the comics. Prominent among these credits. But that was the founder of the group, Jerry Bails. was all unknown to me circa 1953, and so it was that the notes I kept on At about the same time I received a wonderful response from Fawcett artists Wendell Crowley, who was not only willing but eager to help remained pretty me learn who had drawn what at his beloved Fawcett much empty… Publications. save for the names of C.C. Beck, Pete Hames Ware at the microphone a few years back (find out why Thus, going to Jerry—with my ledgers full of names and Costanza, Chad at the end of the article)... and C.C. Beck’s cover for the Wendell credits—I was able to also promise “many more to come!”—a Grothkopf, and a Crowley-edited Captain Marvel Adventures #113 (Oct. 1950). vow which excited Jerry as much as it did me! In fact, Jerry Photo courtesy of Hames Ware. [©2003 DC Comics.] few artists whom I would pull off a marvelous coup of his own by getting Jack had cross-referBinder to provide his shop’s credits for a couple of years, enced from other companies, where they had been allowed to sign their including specifics as to which shop artist had contributed what art to work. which Fawcett strip! Suddenly my mostly empty Fawcett art credits

Turning on the Fawcett

However, the empty columns for the names of Fawcett artists would suddenly swell into the largest number in my entire ledger some fifteen years later, as two wonderful events occurred that at long last opened a floodgate of artist identifications. Living in Arkansas, I had been pretty much isolated from what I would later learn was an active and growing comics fandom. My only contacts early on came from those precious few comic professionals who

pages began to overflow, as Wendell pin-pointed (via photocopied samples I would send) who had drawn what… but with his caution that trying to unravel who’d drawn what during the Binder years would be like trying to figure out who put which bumper on which automobile that rolled off a Detroit assembly line! This would be addressed by Jerry’s having acquired Binder’s shop lists… with much of that very information we had sought after!

Who Was Who At Fawcett

Needless to say, thanks to Wendell Crowley and Jack Binder, not only did Jerry and I have the Who’s Who of American Comic Books’ biggest empty space mostly filled, but the Who’s Who itself was born! It’s safe to say—and I’m sure Jerry would agree—that the Who’s Who might never have become a reality had it not been for these two fortuitous events, particularly the encouragement and support of Wendell Crowley, who not only provided assistance at every turn, but came to visit in person when business brought him to my home state.

guy’s name, but at the Binder shop there was this bald-headed artist who used to paint different hair styles on his bald pate with India ink!… and this one is Schoffman, period... now why on earth they started farming this stuff out to Schoffman I’ll never know... look at this... it’s got no life... give me Swayze or Schaffenberger any day!!”

Wendell never bad-mouthed anyone. You could always tell when a For a brief period in the mid-1940s, Fawcett printed small (sometimes name I might throw very small) typeset art credits at the bottom of the first page of some stories. at him garnered silence; it was Here, clockwise from top right, from Master Comics #46 (Jan. 1944) are someone for whom he had less “Bulletman” by Jack Binder, “Minute Man” by Phil Bard, and “Hopalong Cassidy” by Harry (“H.V.L.”) Parkhurst... from Wow Comics #30 (Oct. ’44), than admiration. While he had “Commando Yank” by Ed Ashe... and from Wow Comics #34 (March ’45), little fondness for what he called Some of my very fondest “Mr. Scarlet and Pinky” by Harry Anderson. Which gives us a nice excuse the Schoffman Shop period at memories are of Wendell, like a to print some fine Fawcett splashes. [Hopalong Cassidy TM & ©2003 the Fawcett, he loved the work of giant, hunkered-down whooping respective copyright holder; other art ©2003 DC Comics.] Marc Swayze, Kurt Schaffenberger, crane, surrounded by the battered Bill Ward, Pete Costanza, and stacks of my old Fawcett comics many other of his old comrades. He roared with laughter at the salty and holding up first this one and then that one and saying, “This is language that he said often popped out of Clement Weisbecker: “God, drawn by Eddie Robbins... yeah... and this, this is by a little guy... I can Wendell would you look at this blankety-blank beautiful sunset I just see ’im now... Maxwell Elkan... yeah, and say, did I tell you Bill Brady painted. Is that not the blankety-blankest damn sunset you’ve ever laid only had vision in one eye... later worked over at Dell on Fairy Tale your blankety-blank eyes on?!” Parade… finished his career over there, never able to sign his work there, either... now this… this I can’t help ya with... oh, I can’t recall the

Hames Ware

Wendell absolutely considered the early years of his life in comics the best years of his all too short life, but he never lived in the past... he was fully alive in the present... it’s just that he was very grateful and savored those early years and he kept in touch with as many as he could. He told me one of their best artists was Gregor Duncan, who had drawn “Golden Arrow” and others and had been killed in WWII. What amazed me about Wendell was that he not only recalled the Fawcett stalwarts so vividly, but he also gave me names of obscure illustrators like Bob Kingett (the first “Lance O’Casey” artist) and confirmed that artist Harry Parks was actually Harry Parkhurst, who’d drawn for pulps such as Spicy Western before working on Hopalong Cassidy for Fawcett. As an older artist, Parkhurst finished out his career at Fawcett.

Words for Wendell Wendell Crowley was beloved by all who ever encountered him in the same spirit that he greeted them. The man was truly a physical giant, but his heart and life spirit were every bit as big. God bless him... and P.C. and Roy for keeping folks like Wendell alive for those who never got the opportunity to meet and know him in person!

Wendell Crowley: “...And this, this is by a little guy... Maxwell Elkan....” But then, maybe just about everybody seemed like a “little guy” to an editor who was nearly seven feet tall! “Nyoka the Jungle Girl” art from Master Comics, reprinted in AC Comics’ Jungle Girls #10, 1992. Special thanks to Bill Black. [Retouched art ©2003 AC Comics.]

I drove home in the ice and snow about 45 miles to where I lived, and a few days later another mutual friend, Jerry De Fuccio, wrote me to inform me that Wendell had died.

Scintillatin’ Sidebar About Jerry Bails Hames writes: “Jerry had been so enthused about the Who’s Who idea that he and his wife Jean drove all the way from Detroit to my childhood home of Pine Bluff, Arkansas, scooped me up, and transported me to faraway Detroit (the furthest east I’d ever been in my life... and still the furthest east I have ever been!). Once we arrived at Jerry and Jean’s, I was treated to stacks and stacks and stacks and stacks of old comic books that he had taken out for us to pore over. This trip and those comics provided great impetus for the Who’s Who. “We made, I think, a balanced team, as Jerry knew DC frontwards and backwards, while I was able to ID art for a myriad of lesser and nearly equal companies (a similar trip and visit to the legendary Henry Steel’s in Texas had provided me with an opportunity to see every Quality and Fiction House comic ever published, plus several Centaurs, perhaps the most obscure of all the early companies with multiple titles). I was blessed by both these visits to see comic books I would never have been able to see otherwise, and such experiences would not be matched until Jim

I can recall as vividly as if it were yesterday his deep rumbling voice as he leafed through my comics. I thank God for the opportunity this wonderful man gave me to have firsthand knowledge delivered unselfishly and exuberantly by one who was there and had loved every minute of it. So it’s no wonder that when the first volume of the Who’s Who came out that it was dedicated to Wendell (I wrote the tribute and Jerry happily made sure it appeared in all four volumes). It is true that it appeared posthumously, as Wendell didn’t survive the last of several heart operations he underwent, but as I have related previously to the readers of AE/FCA, it was an icy cold February night when Wendell was facing this operation that he called to say he was in Little Rock and hoped we could have a visit and so we did and as I turned to leave something told me to dispense with Jerry’s and my original intent to let him be surprised by seeing his tribute when the imminent first volume was printed, I said, “Wendell, the Who’s Who is going to be dedicated to you.” He looked up from where he was sitting and said, “Well, gee, Hames, that’s mighty nice! Thank you and thank Jerry!”

Vadeboncouer, Jr., generously shared his fabulous collection, as well. As for the Bails pilgrimage... I felt flattered that they felt what I had to offer merited their extraordinary effort to get me to their place. “Over the years we worked together, Jerry begged me to put my myriad notes and data-filled ledgers into forms that would adapt better to technicallyadvancing forms he was in the forefront of. But then, and even now, for me, the whole hobby was for fun, and if it got to be too technically controlled, I would experience lessened enthusiasm. But Jerry was patient, mostly, and endured my iconoclasm because I think he respected my abilities. Somehow we must’ve managed to do a pretty decent job, as these original four volumes continue to be utilized as primary source material for a huge number of reference books and countless articles (sometimes acknowledged, as in Roy Thomas’ Alter Ego; sometimes, alas, not); and as for me, I can never leaf back through those four volumes without recalling my visit with Jerry and Jean.

Hames (left) with Jerry, surrounded by comics, during the preparation of the first volume of The Who’s Who of American Comic Books, in Detroit, summer of ’71. Courtesy of Bill Schelly.

“I know it must make Jerry’s heart glad to know that, at long, long last, I am finally typing these words on a computer!”

Who Was Who At Fawcett The original Who’s Who, alas, is long out of print, but here’s what the tribute to Wendell said: “Dedicated to Wendell Crowley... The gentle giant who cared... About the comics he produced, about the kids who read them... and the adults they became.” [Hames Ware, noted for his co-editorship of the original Who’s Who of American Comic Books with Jerry Bails, holds a BSE degree— Henderson University, an MA in Communications—University of Arkansas, Dean’s List and NCP National Honorary Society. He has provided voice-overs for countless radio, TV, and audio/visual productions, including narrations for the Emmy-winning Precious Memories and PBS American Experience. He has also co-edited A School History, contributed regular columns and articles on animation for Animato and Funnyworld, and provided cartoons and illustrations for Graphic Story Magazine and Heroes of Hackland. He is currently collaborating with Paul Leiffer on The Comic Strip Project, which has its own web site, and with Australian cartoon voice and historian Keith Scott on a book about the cartoon-voice people of the theatrical cartoons of the 1930s to mid-’50s. Hames has also contributed to cartoon historians Graham Webb’s and Mike Barrier’s encyclopedic books on the subject, as well as to magazines and books devoted to the B-Western and serial genres.

[Hames learned how to draw by sitting beside elementary classmate Mercer Mayer, and from studying the comics. In December 2002 he was awarded the “Unsung Hero Award” by the Arkansas Library System. In the summer of 2003 he will have a collection of his cartoons and illustrations published. Hames also recently completed a national narration for the Muscular Dystrophy Association and soon, along with longtime collaborator Jim Vadeboncoeur Jr., will join the ranks of Alter Ego, highlighting lesserknown comic book artists, as well as reminiscences of personal friendships formed in the early years of fandom with Wendell Crowley (left) and Hames Ware (right) in the wonderful fans and early 1970s. Photo courtesy of Hames Ware. professionals.]

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Of Bats and Men: Of this questionnaire filled out by Batman creator (co-creator?) Bob Kane for the 1970s Who’s Who, Hames writes: “When Jerry and I began to formulate what would eventually become The Who’s Who of American Comic Books (even the title was batted around by us...should it be “Who’s Who IN...” or “Who’s Who OF...”?— we settled on the latter because to our way of thinking the former might suggest it was a compendium of comic book characters), Jerry set out some clear parameters. Because he would be This pen and ink Bob Kane Batman publishing our four volumes as well as drawing, dated 1942, was sold at collating an incredible amount of data auction through Sotheby’s in the scribbled on myriad slips of paper at his early ’90s, but even the art house felt that it was “produced probably end and residing in countless ledgers at in the ’90s.” Nice, though, huh? my end, it made only good practical [Art ©2003 Estate of Bob Kane; sense, so that he could ride herd on all Batman TM & ©2003 DC Comics.] this multitude of data from forms that would soon be pouring in from pros and fans alike, for all those forms to return to his home base. “This meant that whether I might be the originating request source (as I was for A.A. Blum, alas deceased one month before I found his address, to Max Zuckerberg), all these forms would be housed at Jerry’s. He had already amassed a huge number of DC folks, as he had been corresponding with many if not most for years... with one major exception! And herein lies the tale of how I came to retain the Bob Kane data form. “Jerry had fallen into Kane’s bad graces for having suggested that writer and Kane collaborator Bill Finger deserved more recognition for his contributions to Batman. Jerry was simply trying to give acknowledgement that was long overdue, and from all reports well deserved. Kane, for whatever reason, took umbrage at this, and at one point, incredibly, even suggested he might sue Jerry. Needless to say, Jerry, who was a big fan of Kane’s, was deeply hurt by this behavior, as all he was trying to do was to set the record straight and give an obscure and mostly forgotten ‘little guy’ the credit that was due him. And, speaking of credit, it was to Jerry’s credit that even in the face of vows of possible lawsuits, Jerry stood his ground... and later, of course, he would be proven right, and not just where Bill Finger was concerned. “But this vindication was a long way off back in the 1960s, and we had a Who’s Who to put out! And how could it be considered definitive if it lacked one of the all-time comics greats, Bob Kane? “That’s when Jerry asked if I would be the direct request source for Kane’s biographical data form for the Who’s Who. Kane had no reason to be aware of who I was, and, at that early stage, of any connection to Jerry. And so it was that I wrote directly to Kane, telling him of the Who’s Who, omitting nothing save the ‘minor’ fact that it was to be coedited and published by Jerry! Kane’s data form came directly back to me and resided at my place, so as to make things kosher. I have no idea what Kane’s reaction was when the Who’s Who finally came out and he saw his info under the covers carrying not just my name but Jerry’s, as well. But for us, and Jerry especially, Bill Finger’s listing was just as important to the Who’s Who as Kane’s, and it was in that spirit of inclusion that I believe that what we were able to do... giving acknowledgement to all the contributors to American comic books... has lived on. “Happy birthday, Jerry!” —Hames.

Hoppy

Hoppy: The Forgotten Marvel by George Ramsey Edited By P.C. Hamerlinck The World’s Mightiest Bunny The year 1942 saw the creation of one of Fawcett’s silliest yet most endearing characters, Hoppy the Marvel Bunny. Created by artist/animator Chad Grothkopf—and see Fawcett Companion, page 112, for more on Chad—Hoppy made his debut in Fawcett’s Funny Animals # 1 (Dec., 1942). Hoppy was a little pink bunny rabbit who lived in the town of Funny Animalville, along with an assortment of other funny animal characters. As revealed in the origin story from FFA #1, Hoppy was a big fan of the legendary Captain Marvel and enjoyed reading the World’s Mightiest Mortal’s adventures in the latest comics. One day he decided to emulate his hero and tried out the magic word “Shazam!” for himself. A clap of thunder and a flash of lightning later, Hoppy was transformed into Captain Marvel Bunny! Hoppy used his new powers to thwart a varied assortment of bank robbers, kidnappers, cheap thugs, con men, and various magical foes over the years to come. Captain Marvel Bunny was alternately referred to as “The Cottontail Crusader” as well as “The World’s Mightiest Bunny.” Little explanation was given for Hoppy’s ability to use the magic word “Shazam!” during his career. A frequent scenario in the first year or so of his stories in Fawcett’s Funny Animals was to have Hoppy conveniently forget his magic word, then spy a copy of a Captain Marvel Adventures

Fawcett was big on having its new heroes properly introduced to the readers! The above ad from an early-’40s comic (probably by Chad) had Captain Marvel introducing Hoppy (though, oddly, not as the Marvel Bunny) and pals —while Capt. Marvel Bunny himself appeared on the cover of (but not inside) Animal Fair #1 (March 1946); a corner is missing from the copy loaned to us by Roy Thomas. The original art for this mag comprises the interior cover of this edition of FCA, courtesy of owner R.T.; Chad signed it at a 1990s con. Sadly, Chad passed on a year or so ago. [Art ©2003 DC Comics.]

Marvel Bunny creator Chad Grothkopf and friends at the 1994 San Diego Comic-Con—and his cover for Hoppy the Marvel Bunny #5 (Sept. 1946). Left to right in the photo are: Sheldon Moldoff (Hawkman/Batman); Ron Goulart (pro writer/comics historian); Joe Kubert (Sgt. Rock/Tor/Hawkman); Paul Norris (Aquaman/ Brick Bradford), “Chad,” and fan David Siegel, who has arranged for many Golden Age pros to be guests in San Diego, and more power to ’im! [Art ©2003 DC Comics.]

comic book and remember the word just in time to become the Marvel Bunny and save the day. In Fawcett’s Funny Animals #30 (July, 1945), an explanation for Hoppy’s powers was revealed. In the story “Hoppy Meets the Wizard Bunny,” Hoppy was hit in the head and developed amnesia. Luckily, the mysterious Wizard Bunny (or Bunny Wizard, both versions are used throughout the story) was watching from his perch on a cloud, and he flew down to help Hoppy regain his memory. Obviously this ‘Wizard’ was intended to be a funny-animal version of old Shazam from the Captain Marvel saga. One panel in this story states, “Because it was he who bestowed the magic word and power upon Hoppy, the Bunny Wizard flies down to Earth to help Hoppy.” Eventually the Wizard got Hoppy to say “Shazam!” and his memory was restored, along with his abilities. To the best of my knowledge, this was the Bunny Wizard’s only appearance. The word “Shazam” apparently has a slightly different meaning for Hoppy. According to The Oz-Wonderland Wars #2 (DC Comics, 1986), Captain Marvel Bunny has the wisdom of Salamander, the strength of Hogules, the stamina of Antlers,

The Forgotten Marvel

the power of Zebreus, the courage of Abalone, and the speed of Monkury. No, you won’t find any Fawcett comics story containing this information; it’s the brainchild of the late Fawcett enthusiast E. Nelson Bridwell, who scripted most of that mini-series.

Marvel Bunny Tales Hoppy’s stories usually featured his girlfriend Millie, who, in classic Lois Lane-fashion, despised the meek Hoppy but worshiped the heroic Captain Marvel Bunny. Also like Lois, Millie had a gift for getting herself into trouble and putting herself in need of a timely rescue by her hero. Millie of course had no idea that Hoppy could become the Marvel Bunny. Hoppy’s dual life was not common knowledge. The opening paragraph of one of Hoppy’s stories from Hoppy the Marvel Bunny #3, 1946, reads: “When the magic word ‘SHAZAM’ is spoken by a timid little rabbit named Hoppy, a magic bolt of lightning strikes, thunder booms and he is transformed into a mighty flying bunny—Captain Marvel Bunny! Hoppy’s secret must never be revealed or he will lose his powers.” Variations on that paragraph turn up in other stories as well. Unlike Captain Marvel, Hoppy never had much of a recurring rouges gallery to contend with. Most of his foes were rather quickly defeated and never reappeared in stories again, with one notable exception. In Fawcett’s Funny Animals #22 (1944), Captain Marvel Bunny battled the villainous Storm King, a magical foe responsible for creating storms and who lived on a black storm cloud high in the sky. Millie accidentally found herself trapped in the Storm King’s domain when the horseshoe she was carrying was magnetically attracted to a thunderbolt from the King’s cloud and she was whisked up into the sky. Hoppy quickly yelled “Shazam!” and became the Marvel Bunny and flew to the rescue. Along the way, he asked directions from the Wind King and the Rain King. Upon arrival at the Storm King’s castle, the Cottontail Crusader discovered that Millie was locked up in a cell. Swooping to the attack, the Marvel Bunny was turned back into Hoppy by a lightning bolt hurled by the Storm King, who apparently knew Hoppy’s secret. After a brief stint in Millie’s cell, the pair managed to escape, and Hoppy tricked the Storm King into hurling another lightning bolt his way. Hoppy once again said “Shazam!” just as the bolt struck him, and he became Captain Marvel Bunny once more. He proceeded to pounce on the Storm King and forced him to promise not to mess with his magical lightning bolts anymore, and then he flew Millie back home to safety.

Hoppy never encountered the Storm King again, but eleven years later another funny animal hero would tangle with this dangerous foe: Charlton’s Atomic Mouse. In Atomic Mouse (Vol.1, #15, 1955), Atomic Mouse is forced to battle the Storm King in order to prevent the destruction of Mouseville. The Wind King and the Rain King also make cameo appearances in this story. I assume that Al Fago, creator of Atomic Mouse, was something of a fan of

Fawcett’s Funny Animals, since he patterned the cover of Atomic Mouse #15 directly after Chad Grothkopf’s cover to Fawcett’s Funny Animals #22. Another noteworthy foe appeared in Fawcett’s Funny Animals #32 (Oct.-Nov. 1945). In the lead story of that issue, Hoppy did battle with the nefarious Captain Black Bunny, who was obviously patterned after the Captain Marvel/Marvel Family foe Black Adam. Captain Black Bunny wore a black costume that was similar to Black Adam’s, though the bad bunny wore a cape like Hoppy and instead of a lightning bolt he wore a yellow flame on his chest. Unlike Black Adam, Captain Black Bunny came from deep within the earth’s core and was aided by a gang of imps. Luckily, he could only fly with the aid of trick boots, so the World’s Mightiest Bunny made short work of him.

Rabbit Transit Beginning in December of 1945 and lasting until September 1947, Hoppy graduated to his own comic book series, Hoppy the Marvel Bunny. This title ran for fifteen issues and featured several “Hoppy” stories per issue, along with a sampling of stories featuring some of his old co-stars from Fawcett’s Funny Animals. For a span of five issues (#49-54, May 1947-Oct. 1947), Hoppy made no appearances in Fawcett’s Funny Animals; these issues featured Billy the Kid and Oscar as the lead feature. Beginning with #55, Hoppy returned as Fawcett’s Funny Animals main feature and regained his place on the cover of each issue. Captain Marvel Bunny reigned supreme in the title until Fawcett’s Funny Animals #69 (February 1951), when he

Hoppy child’s clip-on tie featuring Captain Marvel Bunny, as well as a child’s t-shirt featuring the Marvel Bunny and several other characters from Fawcett’s Funny Animals. Collectors find these are almost as much fun to track down as the original comics and are usually fairly affordable.

Hoppy makes a rare cameo appearance in the story “Mary Marvel and the Asteroid Adventure” from Marvel Family #28 (Oct. 1948). Art by Jack Binder. Writer uncertain, but probably Otto Binder. [©2003 DC Comics.]

reverted to just plain, simple Hoppy. From that point on, there was no further mention of his career as Captain Marvel Bunny. No explanation was given in the stories either, but it is likely that the Marvel Bunny was nixed because of the overall decline in popularity of super-hero comics throughout the industry in the early ’50s. Hoppy retained a prominent place on the covers of Fawcett’s Funny Animals up until #72, when he was briefly supplanted by Bobby Bantam for four issues (#72-75, Aug. 1951-April 1952). In issue #80 the word “Fawcett’s” was dropped from the title, making the remaining issues simply Funny Animals. Alas, by issue #83, Fawcett was canceling all of their comic book titles. This issue marks Hoppy’s final appearance at Fawcett. Fawcett produced a surprising amount of merchandising featuring their funny animal stars, including both Hoppy and Captain Marvel Bunny. They were featured prominently on paper toys, puzzles, coloring books, pop-up books, stationary, buttons, tattoos, iron-ons, an extremely rare composition figurine (less than a dozen exist; most came back from the manufacturer with the ears broken off!), and even clothing, such as a

The death of Fawcett’s comic book line in 1953 did not spell the end for all of Fawcett’s characters. Charlton Comics acquired the rights to some of Fawcett’s comic book titles, including many of the features from Funny Animals. Charlton resumed publication of Funny Animals with #84 and continued the series until #91 (Feb. 1956). Apparently all the stories that ran in Charlton’s Funny Animals were new material, or more likely unused material left over from Fawcett. However, Hoppy was also turning up off and on in issues of Charlton’s Atomic Mouse, and all of those stories appear to be simply edited reprints of classic stories from issues of Fawcett’s Funny Animals. For example, Atomic Mouse #15 contains a story from Fawcett’s Funny Animals #63, “The Suitable Suitor.” Charlton simply removed the lightning bolt emblem from the Marvel Bunny’s (now blue) suit, changed his name to Magic Bunny, and changed his magic word to “Alizam.” He is alternately referred to in various Charlton books as “Hoppy,” “Happy,” and “Happy the Magic Bunny.” There doesn’t appear to be any particular rhyme or reason to the name changes, as they bounce back and forth between names from issue to issue. Finally, by 1956, poor little Hoppy had faded into obscurity.

Hoppy Checklist The following is a listing, in alphabetical order, of Hoppy’s known comic book appearances. His appearances at Charlton Comics, both as Hoppy and Happy, are not well documented, so this list may not be all-inclusive. Atomic Mouse (Charlton Comics) #6 (cameo on back cover), 14, 15, 17, 19, 22 (cameo on back cover) Atomic Mouse (1986) #12 DC Comics Presents #34 Fawcett’s Animal Fair #1 (cover only) Fawcett’s Funny Animals #1-48, 55-83 Funny Animals (Charlton, formerly Fawcett’s Funny Animals) #84-91 Hoppy the Marvel Bunny #1-15 Hoppy the Marvel Bunny Well Known Comics (1944 giveaway, printed in both red and blue versions) Marvel Family #28 Master Comics #91 Oz-Wonderland War #2 (cover says “War”; indicia says “Wars”) Power of Shazam! #20, 29 Tom Strong #13 X-Mas Comics #7

The Forgotten Marvel

Many Hoppy Returns of the Day

Hoppy enjoyed retirement for the next twenty-five years, until June 1981. At that time he made his triumphant return in DC Comics Presents #34. In that issue, the second written by Roy Thomas as he jumped from Marvel to DC (and coplotted by Gerry Conway, with art by Rich Buckler and Dick Giordano), Hoppy and Millie found themselves magically transported to Earth-S, the home of the Marvel Family in the DC Universe. Hoppy used his magic word to become Captain Marvel Bunny for the first time in thirty years! He briefly aided the Marvel Family and Superman against the villainy of Mr. Mind, Mr. Mxyzptlk, and King Kull, then flew Millie back home to Funny Animalville. It is worth noting that Hoppy and Millie were both depicted as white bunnies for this story, instead of their usual pink. Hoppy has turned up sporadically at DC Comics a few times over the years since then, most notably in the previously mentioned The Oz-Wonderland War #2 and in The Power of Shazam! #29. Sadly, in today’s cold dark world, the demand for funny pink bunny rabbit super-heroes appears to have diminished with time.

(Left:) When Roy Thomas moved from Marvel to DC, the first story he came up with was a two-parter that involved Superman, Captain Marvel—and, in the finale, the Marvel Bunny. Art from DC Comics Presents #34 (June 1981) by Rich Buckler & Dick Giordano. (Right:) In this panel from The Oz-Wonderland War #2 (Feb. 1986), Hoppy’s own version of that magic word finally gets an acrostic explanation, courtesy of plotter E. Nelson Bridwell (though Joey Cavalieri wrote the actual script). Art by Carol Lay. [©2003 DC Comics.]

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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

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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