Alter Ego #31 by TwoMorrows Publishing

SEARING SPOTLIGHT ON

DICK AYERS GOLDEN & SILVER AGE

TIMELY/MARVEL SUPER-STAR!

Plus Art & Artifacts By:

LEE • KIRBY • DITKO • BURGOS COLAN • SEVERIN • BUSCEMA & THE E.C. GANG

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No. 31

December 2003

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

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

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

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THE BEST IN COMICS AND LEGO MAGAZINES!

ALTER EGO #105

ALTER EGO #106

ALTER EGO #107

ALTER EGO #108

DRAW! #22

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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KIRBY COLLECTOR #59

BRICKJOURNAL #17

BRICKJOURNAL #18

BRICKJOURNAL #19

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

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

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

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

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Vol. 3, No. 31 / December 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 Fred Ray Dick Ayers

Cover Colorists (unknown) Tom Ziuko

DARLIN’ DICK AYERS and Friends Section

Contents

And Special Thanks to: Jack Adams Thomas C. Lammers Dick & Lindy Ayers Harry & Adele Paul Bach Lampert Bob Bailey Mike Leach Jeff Bailey Dan Makara Randall J. Barlow Nancy Maneely Dennis Beaulieu Bob Millikin Blake Bell Cynthia C. Miller Howard Bender Thomas H. Miller Bill Black Shelly Moldoff Chris Brown Brian K. Morris Gary Brown Mart & Carrie Rich Buckler Nodell Jack Burnley Dave O’Dell Sal Buscema John G. Pierce Nick Caputo Virginia Provisiero Nick Cardy Charlie Roberts R. Dewey Cassell Ethan Roberts John Coates Dorothy Shel Dorf Schaffenberger Al Dellinges Marie Severin Harlan & Susan Joe Sinnott Ellison Robin Snyder Michael T. Feldman Paul Stefanowicz Tom Field Steve Stiles Shane Foley Marc Swayze Brent Frankenhoff Greg Theakston Janet Gilbert Maggie Thompson Marvin Giles Alex Toth Jennifer T. Go Herb Trimpe Ron Harris Dann Thomas Cathy Hill Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr. Richard Howell Mark Voger Tony Isabella Dr. Michael J. Larry Ivie Vassallo Glen Johnson Delmo Walters Marc Kardell Hames Ware Mark Kausler Bill Warren

Writer/Editorial: Putting on Ayers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 “To Keep Busy as a Freelancer, You Should Have Three Accounts!” . 3 Golden/Silver Age legend Dick Ayers tells Roy Thomas & Jim Amash how he heeded that advice!

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt: Horror’s Missing Link!. . . . . . . 37 Michael T. Gilbert spotlights the horror comics that came in between EC and Creepy! The Detroit Triple Fan Fair–––and How It Came to Be! . . . . . . 43 Shel Dorf, co-founder of both that 1965 event and the San Diego Comic-Con, reveals a little-known chunk of fandom’s history.

Happy Holidays and Harlan Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Flip Us! About Our Cover: Never one to rest on his laurels, Dick Ayers composed this new cover for A/E, showcasing some of the heroes he drew for Timely/Marvel from the 1950s through the 1970s. To learn how you might purchase the original art for this illo, or have Dick draw something especially for you, see p. 36! [Art ©2003 Dick Ayers; Human Torch & Toro, SubMariner, Ghost Rider, Wyatt Earp, Two-Gun Kid, Fantastic Four, & Sgt. Fury ©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.] Above: A man for all decades! Besides co-creating and drawing the original Ghost Rider for Vin Sullivan’s Magazine Enterprises from 1949-55 (at right, in a panel of original art provided by Ethan Roberts), Dick became the first penciler of that midnight cowboy’s Marvel reincarnation in 1967 (as per the panel at left, repro’d from a photocopy of the original Ayers/Colletta art of Ghost Rider #3, 1967, provided by Mr. A. himself). Since the 1990s, he has also drawn new covers and stories of AC Comics’ own Haunted Horseman; see AC’s ad elsewhere in this issue. [Art ©2003 Dick Ayers; Haunted Horseman TM & ©2003 AC 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.

writer/editorial

Putting On Ayers Dick Ayers was the first adventure artist with whom I was ever teamed in an ongoing writing assignment in comic books—even though by fall of 1965 I was already doing two “Millie the Model” mags with Stan Goldberg, and I had previously dialogued a pair of Steve Ditko’s “Dr. Strange” stories and Gene Colan’s first “Iron Man”—before Smilin’ Stan Lee decided I should relinquish “Millie” to Denny O’Neil and script an entire hero comic every month, not just half of one.

I’ve told the story of how I became the writer of Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos before, Crom knows, but— On the evening of November 9, 1965, Marvel co-staffer Denny O’Neil and I were headed south via subway to the Lower East Side and the apartment we shared with Charlton writer David Kaler... when we were caught in the first but far from last of New York’s (and incidentally the East Coast’s) infamous blackouts. After a couple of hours in the dim glow of the subway car’s backup lights, our whole group was led along the subterranean tracks by a city worker to the 34th Street station—after which Denny, Dave, and I relaxed long into the night at the candlelighted Red Lantern restaurant in Greenwich Village, since clearly I couldn’t finish the Millie scripting I was doing. The next day we arrived at the Marvel offices to learn that Stan, setting up a candle brigade at his Long Island home, had managed to write an entire (and beautifully worded) “Tales of Asgard” story penciled by Jack Kirby, and perhaps a few more pages I’ve forgotten about. He apologized to production manager Sol Brodsky for not being able to do more. Later that day, Stan decided it was time I turned my “Millie” work (both titles) over to Denny, whom I had brought to his attention as a possible writer a few weeks earlier. So Denny inherited the last half of an easy-to-script “Millie” tale, and I was given 20 spanking-new pages of Dick Ayers pencils for Sgt. Fury #29, which picked up in the middle of a

story begun the previous issue, with Nick and Baron Strucker grimly facing off. While not previously a regular Sgt. Fury reader, I was a big admirer of Dick Ayers, and had been ever since his 1950s work on Magazine Enterprises’ Ghost Rider, The Avenger, et al.—even more so, after his turn on The Human Torch and related Atlas titles in 1954. Dick and I did some good work together over the next year, and when I moved on and my buddy Gary Friedrich took over Fury, it was not an assignment I relinquished without regret. I learned, in the course of the following interview, that some of Dick’s last Marvel work in the 1970s was when he helped me out by finishing off an issue of The Invaders, my beloved World War II opus. Dick and I just couldn’t seem to stay away from teaming up on 1940s fantasies! And I couldn’t be happier that, with Jim Amash’s help, I finally got a chance to finish the interview with Dick Ayers that we started some three years ago! Oh, yeah—and what Michael T. Gilbert and Shel Dorf have to offer this issue ain’t exactly chopped liver, either!

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

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

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Dick Ayers

“To Keep Busy As A Freelancer, You Should Have Three Accounts!” A Candid 3-Way Conversation with Golden/Silver Age Artist DICK AYERS Conducted by Roy Thomas & Jim Amash Transcribed by Brian K. Morris & Jim Amash

(Above:) Dick Ayers—flanked by recent drawings of two of his favorite subjects: the original Ghost Rider (pencil-and-ink) and Sgt. Fury (pencil). Darlin’ Dick’s still got it! [Photo ©2003 Gannett/Robert F. Rodriguez; art ©2003 Dick Ayers; Ghost Rider, Sgt. Fury, & Dum Dum TM & ©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

[INTRODUCTORY NOTE: Richard Bache Ayers (b. 1924) has been drawing comics—for Timely/Atlas/Marvel more than for any other outfit—since the post-World War II years. He penciled and inked most of his art through the mid-1950s; but, beginning in the late 1950s, he became increasingly important as an inker of Jack Kirby and other early Marvel artists. In 2000 I interviewed him about his work for Vin Sullivan’s Magazine Enterprises company for Alter Ego #10 (still available from TwoMorrows Publishing), but in the course of that rambling talk we touched on several points unrelated to M.E., so I saved those comments for a later issue. And this is it. [Recently, Jim Amash and I decided that, with Dick’s forbearance and cooperation, Jim would interview him primarily about his non-M.E. work prior to what Stan Lee dubbed “The Marvel Age of Comics,” and I’d step back in when we got to Dick’s work in the 1960s and ’70s. Even that straightforward plan, however, went astray, as Jim couldn’t resist asking him additional questions about the M.E. years, and delving into his 1970s work for Myron Fass— and I just had to query Dick about his stint drawing “The Human Torch” circa 1954. Hope you enjoy the verbal ping-pong game that follows. Oh, and unless otherwise noted, all photos and art are courtesy of the artist. —Roy.]

“I Want Comic Books!” ROY THOMAS: When did you start drawing—and when did you know you wanted to become a comic artist? DICK AYERS: Oh, golly. I joke about it, but as far back as I know, as I can remember. I was still small enough that I slept in the crib, because I didn’t grow very fast. My father had stuck some butcher paper—you know, that brown paper—along the wall beside the crib, so I could scribble on it and not ruin the wall. [laughs] And then, he was always great at reading me the funnies. My grandfather pitched in, too. I had the good fortune that my father was a railroad conductor. When he came home off the run, on which he’d be gone for three days at a time, he’d bring an armful of newspapers full of funnies from all over. So I really grew up on comics in the 1920s and 1930s. He taught me with the stick figures, and then he taught me to make them look a little different so I knew one from the other. RT: He didn’t draw himself, though?

Dick in 1929, at age five.

AYERS: No, no, no. He just had a fantastic interest in them, so he encouraged me in that type of thing. Then, when I got in the Army, I got to do a strip called Radio Ray, and that brought perks. [laughs] When I got pneumonia and was in the hospital out in Wisconsin, they

“To Keep Busy as a Freelancer, You Should Have Three Accounts!”

A marvelous montage from Dick Ayers’ War: (Clockwise:) A Radio Ray strip he did while in the service—Dick at the drawing table in 1943, sketching flight charts—and two views of “Slow Starter,” an example of the “nose art” that he “painted for the crews of their B-26 bombers of the 586th Bomb Squadron in the Ninth Air Force, in World War 2, in the Normandy Invasion,” a.k.a. D-Day. The bomber art at bottom left is titled “Homesick Angel”—and, just for perspective, we’ve tossed in a longshot of one of the B-26s he decorated.

When I got out of the service in October of ’45, I tried to get work, like a local cartoonist, editorial, newspaper job. Everywhere I went, if they had a job before, it was being held for a veteran, so I never had any jobs from high school and the Army. I couldn’t get a job in cartooning.

So I rented a room at a studio in New Rochelle, and I was going like crazy and I didn’t hit the gate. He offered me an advance, but I only took a couple hundred dollars to live on in that whole couple of months. Anyway, in March I got a phone call. He was back and he called me in to see him on St. Patrick’s Day when everybody was happy. And I went in and he had changed his mind. So I had no more Chic ’n’ Chu; and in between, I tried to sell it someplace else, and there was a paper shortage and I never could make it.

RT: But you were a veteran, too.

RT: Any explanation as to why he changed his mind?

AYERS: Yeah, but I wasn’t a veteran that had had a [cartooning] job before. So, back to art school. I went to a beautiful, nice school, a penthouse in the Flatiron Building on 23rd Street. I was there two years, learning to draw perfume bottles and such. Commercial art. And there was nobody that taught cartooning, storytelling, or anything. But one of the teachers had a date with someone—I think it was somebody from Marvel—and she told me they were looking for teenage comic strips. [laughs]

AYERS: He said it was for too old an audience. He said the books were, like Disney books and all, for 8-to-10-year-olds, and mine was for 15- or 16-year-olds or something. And I had another story I had written in which I had drawn St. Peter with a bowler hat and a walrus mustache and clog shoes and a kimono with an ascot with a diamond pin. And Oscar LeBeck said, “My God, we can’t have that!” He had changed his mind. He was away on vacation and I didn’t have any guidance. If he’d been there, he could have told me I was off in the wrong direction, that I had to make it more youthful.

gave me a private room; they even brought me my drawing table. I had more offers in the hospital. So really, this is where I said, “Gee, this is all right!” And I kept pursuing it.

I went home and I wracked my brain and I came up with Chic ’n’ Chu. It was cute, and if you read the dialogue, it’s like rap. It was hep talk, jive talk. Everything rhymed. And, by golly, I got three offers in this one day I took off from school. Oscar LeBeck up at Dell told me he would wrap a book around it. I was to have my own magazine, and I would get a royalty on every copy printed, not sold—a quarter of a cent royalty. Roy, I was in clover! He said, “We’ll sign the contract when I come back from vacation in Key West.” This is January of ’47.

I’m into comics now, and I want comic books! And I found there was a summer school at some high school in the 80s, probably Louis Stevenson. And there was a guy teaching gags, so I stuck with it. I had to go through a lot of problems with the G.I. Bill of Rights to do this type of thing. So I took the summer course and, by golly, I sold five gags that summer. We not only learned to draw; we learned to make the rounds. And then I saw a poster—Burne Hogarth was up on 89th Street, at a

Dick Ayers new school he’d started, Cartoonists and Illustrators School. [EDITOR’S NOTE: Next, Dick and Roy discussed his work for Magazine Enterprises. That part of the interview, as mentioned earlier, saw print in Alter Ego V3#10, and is not repeated here. A bit more of Dick’s 2000 interview, mostly comments on his late-1960s run on Marvel’s own version of the western Ghost Rider, has been inserted later in this piece. At this point, in mid-2003, Jim Amash phoned Dick and the two of them picked up approximately where Dick and Roy had left off, beginning with some comments by Dick about a then-upcoming show of his art, which led into reflections on his teenage years.]

“[Siegel and Shuster] Were Very Good Friends” AYERS: I’m going to have a show up in the Glenn Curtiss Museum in Hammondsport. They sent me a book by Charles Champlin, a writer for Time and Life for years, in which he writes about growing up in

the Depression was so bad that my father and mother didn’t have work, so we moved up to that God-forsaken town of Pulteney, and I loved it. I was going to Hammondsport, then I’d be bussed the ten miles to go to school, and down there I’d meet girls. I liked them but I couldn’t date them because I had no car and they lived on the other side of the lake, which was three miles wide. So that frustrated me something awful. I was always writing and drawing my own comic stories, because there was nothing to do, nowhere to go. I’d get little jobs like designing a menu for a restaurant on the lake, and like that. But I got to be 16 and I was writing away to enlist in the Merchant Marines. And when my mother saw this, she came back to White Plains and got a job, so my father had to join her. So it brought us back, and I was in heaven, right here where I had a chance. JIM AMASH: Even though Roy covered your Magazine Enterprises days in Alter Ego #10, I’d like to follow up with a few questions of my own. I know you worked for Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster on Funnyman, through them and not M.E., and I’d like to know more about them. Today, most people have this image of them as two very shy men, but at the point you worked for them, I’d like to know what they were like. They had been battling with DC over Superman properties by the time you started with them. AYERS: They were very good friends. They seemed to be relaxed in their manner, and left all discussion of Superman out of the studio. I wasn’t in the studio from 9 to 5; I was there in the afternoons and studied under Burne Hogarth at the Cartoonists and Illustrators School at night. Marvin Stein taught there, and Ernie Bache (who’s no relation to me), who worked in the studio, went there, too.

Never-before-published art from the Chic ’n’ Chu feature Dick created, wrote, and drew in 1947—a display drawing, and two pages from the story, both heavy on the jargon in the bargain! [©2003 Dick Ayers.]

Hammondsport. We went to the same high school; he’s two years younger, so I didn’t really know him. He says that Glenn Curtiss, the famous aviator, was the model for Tom Swift. Hammondsport was a town of around 1200 people. It was on the head of the lake, in a grape region, with wineries all around it. Pulteney was a town of 300 people, which were all cousins and aunts and uncles. [chuckles] And I loved it as a young boy, because I spent my summers there from the age of 8-13, with my grandparents and my uncle. We lived down here in White Plains, and they would take me up there to stay for the summer. And then, when I got to be 13,

The studio was very nice. It had a reception area, with two nice, comfortable chairs and a table. Then, there was a doorway that led to a very nice-sized room. There was a drawing table where Ernie Bache worked and another in the corner for Marvin Stein. On the other side of the room was another table where I worked. I liked that table, because it faced towards a window. There was another table behind me, where a letterer

“To Keep Busy as a Freelancer, You Should Have Three Accounts!” get them to look the way he did it. His eyes were giving him serious trouble. He wore thick glasses, which is why he didn’t have too much to say to you. It was hard for him to see much, and he didn’t want to get that focused on your work because it was so difficult for him to see.

sometimes worked. The only thing I remember about the letterer was that he had red hair; his first name could have been Al, and I remember he did some inking, too, and was very good. He never really worked in the studio, though. He might have inked one of the Funnyman stories I penciled. In the studio, Joe Shuster was focused on doing Funnyman. Once in a while, I’d interject a comment about Superman, because I was anxious to draw him someday, but never said anything about it in depth. Jerry didn’t come in the studio on a regular basis. I only remember seeing him a couple of times.

Joe was a very nice guy, and he helped get me started in comics. When he didn’t have work for me, he sent me down to Vin Sullivan. I didn’t know who Vin was then and didn’t realize the connection between Vin and Joe. Vin had been Joe’s editor at DC, the one who had greenlighted “Superman.”

I started at Hogarth’s school in late September 1947. Joe’s studio was close enough to the school that he’d come in to visit. I got to know him, and he’d sit and talk to me and criticize my work. Eventually, I bombarded him with penny postcards with pictures of Funnyman on them, and one day, he called me and asked if I’d like to do some penciling on Funnyman. That was at the end of October of ’47. JA: So the lawsuit was still going on while you worked for Siegel and Shuster. I’ve interviewed a few people who worked at Ziff-Davis for Siegel in the early 1950s, and they’ve all described him as being a disheveled-looking, lost-soul type. Was that the Jerry Siegel you saw?

JA: Were you working for them when they lost their lawsuit against DC? AYERS: I think it was still going on when I was doing Jimmy Durante, but I think they lost it when I was doing the Funnyman newspaper strip. They may have lost the lawsuit after the Funnyman comic book was canceled. I wasn’t there when they actually lost the suit; if I had, I’d have been as heartbroken as they were. (Above:) The last page of the first story Dick penciled for Siegel & Shuster’s Funnyman (#3, April 1948) at Shuster’s studio; alas, he doesn’t recall the name of the inker. (Below:) The 2-18-49 Funnyman daily strip ghost-penciled by Mr. A. [©2003 Estates of Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster.]

AYERS: No. He was always dressed in business attire. I remember visiting him when he worked at Ziff-Davis, whose offices were on a higher floor than Timely’s were at the Empire State Building. Joe would always wear a suit when he came to the school. By February of 1949, I had left the Shuster studio and was working directly for Magazine Enterprises. But Joe asked me to pencil a few Funnyman dailies. [Funnyman appeared in both a newspaper strip and the comic book for M.E.] I went to deliver it to his apartment, which was very close to Columbus Circle. His apartment was about the size of a master closet, with a bathroom off the side. He had a cot and daybed and a chair in that small room. It was sad to see how he was living. That was the last time I saw him. Later, I saw he had done some work for Charlton Comics, and I think Vince Alascia inked the story I saw. It looked very good. I could tell that the splash panel was Joe’s by the facial expressions he gave the characters. That was one thing about Joe: he’d sit down beside me, pick up my work, and hold it about six inches from his face. He always concentrated on facial expressions and spent time showing me how to

JA: Were Siegel and Shuster convinced that they were going to win that suit? AYERS: They didn’t talk that way. It just wasn’t something that they wanted to talk about. They knew they were on the way down after they lost Superman, and it was very hard on them, both emotionally and physically.

JA: Shuster wasn’t married at this time, was he? AYERS: No. I called to congratulate him when I saw that Jerry and Joe had won a settlement from DC in the 1970s. Joe told me he was getting married then. I was so happy for him. That was the first time I had talked to him since 1949. Those two guys had such hard times up until then, and deserved to be taken care of.

“Then Along Came Dr. Wertham...” JA: Exactly! Now, tell me about Marvin Stein. AYERS: The Cartoonists and Illustrators School was started by Hogarth and Sy Rhodes, and had started that September. Marvin was teaching an evening course there when I met him. Marvin was a terrific artist and a nice guy. As far as I was concerned, he was Joe Shuster’s top honcho in the studio. As I said, Ernie was working there, and they had a letterer.

Dick Ayers

7 some of the stories. [NOTE: See A/E #30.] Do you remember that name? AYERS: No. JA: Since Walter didn’t sign his name to the scripts, I figured you may not have known about him. Did anyone besides Vin Sullivan and Ray Krank work in the M.E. offices? AYERS: Well, they had two offices there, and a reception area. They had a secretary, Sally Henderson, and there were two women, whose names were Ellie and Ginny. They colored the comics and did art paste-ups.

Sally gave me advice that always stuck with me. She said, “Dick, to keep busy as a freelancer, you should have three accounts. Don’t rely just on Vin Sullivan.” So I Two tales of terror, from M.E.’s original Ghost Rider comics! These and various others were reprinted in Australian spent a long time trying to black-&-white comics some years back, and A/E enthusiast Shane Foley was kind enough to air-mail ’em to us! get three accounts, which I Thanks, mate! [©2003 the respective copyright holders.] had in my heyday. She was Marvin and Ernie mostly inked. Marvin was so good that he should have right. Then along came Dr. Wertham and there went my accounts! had books of his own. He spent most of his comic book career finishing JA: Do you remember anything about Ace Periodicals, for whom up other people’s work. you’re listed as doing comics in 1953? JA: Did Marvin do any Funnyman penciling or did he just ink? AYERS: Oh, he could have done both. He was a great inker, which I guess is why Jack Kirby had him working on his Sky Masters strip and other features when Simon and Kirby were a team. I remember Marvin penciling and inking terrific covers. I think Stein helped Frank Giacoia on the Johnny Reb strip, too. JA: Everybody helped Giacoia on that strip! I’d have worked on it if I’d been alive then. [laughs] AYERS: Frank had a problem getting the work out. He inked some of my Sgt. Fury stories and did beautiful work. I’d plead with him to do more work over my pencils, but he wasn’t able to. He’d work all night because he liked watching old movies. JA: You told Roy that Gardner Fox and Carl Memling wrote most of your Ghost Rider stories. I’ve discovered that a man named Walter Geier also wrote

The first and last pages of a terror-tale Dick Ayers drew for Charlton’s The Thing! horror comic, which ran from 1952-54. Dick feels he was “in rare form” on that title. The high page numbers are because these images, too, were taken from Oz reprints by Shane Foley. Incidentally, if Ye Editor recalls a-right, there was no visual for the host character called The Thing—whose monicker was appropriated from the classic 1950 film The Thing from Another World. Thanks to Chris Brown. [©2003 the respective copyright holders.]

“To Keep Busy as a Freelancer, You Should Have Three Accounts!”

A ghoul and his money... were soon united by various companies for commercial gain! At left is the splash of Dick’s first story for Stan Lee, for Adventure into Terror #9 (April 1952)—at center is his entry in Timely’s Astonishing #16 (Aug. 1952)—and at right his solo effort for Ace, from Web of Mystery #21 (Nov. 1953). All three dealt with eaters of the dead... or whatever vague definition comic books had of the word “ghoul” half a century ago. Gracias to Chris Brown. [Timely art ©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc; Ace art ©2003 the respective copyright holders.]

AYERS: I only did one story for them, “Ghoul’s Gold.” I don’t really remember anything about the company. JA: What do you recall about your ACG work? The editor there was Richard Hughes. AYERS: I did one horror story for them in 1954. When I delivered the job, Hughes didn’t have any more work for me, so that was it for ACG. JA: From 1953 to 1955, you worked for Charlton Comics. Was Al Fago your editor? AYERS: Yes. Charlton had offices in Manhattan then. I remember having a conference meeting with them in the Times Building. That impressed me, but that wasn’t their regular office. Their regular office was where I met Dick Giordano for the first time. Dick was just starting out there, doing art corrections and stories, and Al introduced me to him. Al Fago was a real nice guy who had a great sense of humor. He had me drawing covers... and that was when they had moved up to Derby, Connecticut. Once, Al stopped by the house and asked me to draw a cover. Al waited while I penciled and inked the cover. He was scared to death because my wife, Lindy, was pregnant at the time, and Al was afraid she’d have the baby right there. [laughs] Al’s wife Blanche worked with him. They were a team. I never went up to the offices in Connecticut, so I didn’t get close to them. I know Al spent a lot of time doing photography. JA: Charlton was known for their low wages. Do you remember how much they paid you? AYERS: I made $22 a page for pencils, inks, and lettering, which was what Stan Lee was paying me at Timely by then. I lettered the pages before I penciled them. I’d get up in the morning, do a complete page before lunch. After that, I sat down and did another page before stopping for supper. Before I went to bed, I’d letter the two pages I was going to draw the next day. It’s tough to letter first thing in the morning, you know.

“Off and Running at Timely” JA: How did you get started at Timely? AYERS: In 1949, I went to their offices. Stan Lee was on vacation, and someone there gave me an 8-page story to pencil. It was a detective feature, though I don’t remember the title, and I didn’t write it down in my records. I was paid $120—$15 a page—which was darn good money then. In fact, that’s the same rate Joe Shuster paid me. In my records, I wrote down “Manvis” instead of Timely. That was one of names under which Timely published some of their books. Manvis must have been what was written on the check. That was the last job I did for Timely until 1951. JA: Could Al Sulman have been the man who gave you this first job? AYERS: I don’t think so. I did meet Sulman once; he was an assistant editor at Timely. JA: I wonder if it could have been Don Rico, though I’m certain he wasn’t editing books in 1949. AYERS: I can’t say. Don Rico wrote the third story I drew for Timely, titled “Silence.” It was a good 4-pager. Rico wrote some terrific stories, but I’m sure I never met him. JA: After that first story you didn’t work for Timely again until 1951. What happened? AYERS: In 1951, I was needing more work. I went to Lev Gleason Publications, but didn’t get any work there. I was downtown in New York and saw the Empire State Building. I walked over to see if Stan Lee was in, but was told he was having lunch. I was going to go back to Grand Central Station, but changed my mind, gave my portfolio to the receptionist, and waited in the lobby. She came back and said, “Stan wants to see you.” I went in, and there Stan was, standing by a wire rack, which had a copy of Ghost Rider in it. Stan said, “I haven’t got anything for you today, but call me up.” I had to call him about two or three times before he gave me a story. But

Dick Ayers

Dick believes Don Rico scripted this nearly wordless gem of a 4-pager from Astonishing #14 (June 1952); shown are pp. 1 & 2. Thanks to Dr. Michael J. Vassallo, who sent us a treasure trove of Ayers art to choose from for this issue; hopefully, you’ll see it all one day, if we all live long enough! [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

coming in, so he’d have a new story ready for me. JA: You lettered all of your ’50s work for Stan, didn’t you? AYERS: Yes. The only reason I quit lettering my stories was because we went from Stan writing full scripts to working the “Marvel Way.” Since there was no dialogue when I drew the stories then, it became necessary for people like Artie Simek to do the lettering. Of course, that was in the ’60s.

“I Always Tried to Give Stan What He Wanted” JA: One of the things you’re most remembered for at Timely in the 1950s was your “Human Torch” work. Why do you think you were asked to draw the “Torch” feature, since Timely already had the Torch’s creator, Carl Burgos, on staff?

once he did, I was off and running at Timely. When I got home, I told my wife Lindy, “Well, I’m going to be working for Stan Lee.” I told her I went there at noon. She said, “At noon, I was at the church in Bronxville, praying to Saint Jude to help you get a job.” She was praying when I had changed my mind and decided to go back and talk to Stan Lee. Isn’t that something?

AYERS: I don’t know. I know Russ Heath drew the first story when Timely brought the character back. JA: Yes. Russ told me Stan Lee asked him to draw the Torch differently than he had been drawn in the 1940s. He took Stan at his word, but apparently it was too much of a change, because Russ only did that one story. Maybe Stan felt Burgos was too valuable doing covers to use him on interior stories, but then again, Burgos drew the Human Torch covers, too. Even with that, Burgos redrew your Torch figures early on, and they were pasted over your work. AYERS: I haven’t seen my Torch figure work in all these years, and since Roy has copies of some of those pages before Burgos did the paste-overs, it’ll be interesting to see what my figures looked like.

JA: The power of prayer, my friend. Were you doing the complete art and lettering for Stan at the beginning? AYERS: Yes. On the first story I had to show Stan my pencils before I did the inking. After that, he said I didn’t need to do that anymore. Stan always had a story ready for me when I brought one in. I’d telephone him a day ahead of time and tell him when I was

A page or so back we showed you the splash of Dick’s first story for Timely, so here’s a shocking electric-chair sequence from Spellbound #8 (Oct. 1952), flanked by a pair of photos: a solo snapshot from 1949, and one featuring several illustrious Timely alumni at a Christie’s art auction reception a few years back. (Left to right:) Joe Simon (co-creator of Captain America)... Joe Sinnott (classic Fantastic Four inker, interviewed in A/E #26)— Dick’s son Rich—Al Jaffee (1940s Timely artist/writer/editor, later of Mad fame, and near-future A/E interviewee)— Smilin’ Stan Lee—and Darlin’ Dick himself. So who was minding the store? Thanks to Chris Brown for the art scan. [Art ©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

“To Keep Busy as a Freelancer, You Should Have Three Accounts!” reason for it. One nice thing about Stan was that, all through the years, he always accepted what I drew. Sometimes he might have a figure statted and enlarged, but that was it. Except for one time when I drew a horror story with a ghost ship— Stan made me take that one back home. He said, “I want more pizzazz in this. More shadows, more cobwebs—make it look like a real ghost ship.” I did what Stan wanted and it turned out very good. I still own the originals to that story.

After 1955 there’d be no vampires in color comics till 1970, but Dick Ayers had drawn plenty in the early ’50s! At left is the splash of the first Ayers-drawn story also signed by Stan Lee (so probably the first he drew from a Lee script); it’s from Spellbound #7 (Sept. 1952). The slightly different Ayers-drawn take on vampirism at right is from Astonishing #21 (Jan. 1953). He was probably assisted on both tales by Ernie Bache, since Dick says that when that artist worked with him on a story, he signed only his last name to it. Thanks to Doc Vassallo for the art photocopies. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

And Stan did the same thing to me. He told me, “If you’d use your blacks a little more like Steve does, your work would be more dramatic.” Then he pointed to that Two-Gun Kid story and said, “See how you have the Two-Gun Kid jumping from the roof to his horse? The way he’s standing on the roof... he’s standing like he’s Superman.” I didn’t realize I had drawn him that way. That’s what Stan wanted— drama!

What I remember is that Stan gave me copies of what Russ Heath had done and told me to draw the stories. He didn’t tell me to copy Heath’s figure work, but that he wanted me to get the feel of the character. I used my own interpretation of how he should look and how the flames around him should be drawn. Stan was interested in dramatics; he didn’t like anything to be dull. For instance, he gave me the TwoGun Kid series, which John Severin had been doing. Stan said John’s work was too static, though we both loved his drawing. Of course, John later inked my Sgt. Fury stories. Basically, I always tried to give Stan what he wanted. JA: When did you find out that Burgos had redrawn your Human Torch figures? AYERS: When the first comic [Human Torch #36] came out. I asked Stan who drew them, and he told me it was Carl. He didn’t give me a

There’s one story I have to tell you. I was in the reception area, waiting to talk to Stan. Sitting beside me was a tall, slender fellow, who got to go in and see Stan before I did. From where I sat, I heard Stan tell him, “Now look at this guy. See how he spots his blacks? See how he makes this guy look more heroic? I want you to think like that.” It turned out that the man Stan was talking to was Steve Ditko. Stan was showing him my Two-Gun Kid stuff.

Getting back to Carl Burgos: years later, he was an editor for Myron Fass’ company. He called me up, asking me to draw horror stories. I went to see Carl and he showed me one he wanted me to do. The story had bodies being torn apart and the parts strewn all over the

Stan Lee had Carl Burgos draw new Torch and Toro figures that were pasted over many of Dick Ayers’ in The Human Torch #36 (April 1954), the first of that mag’s three “revival” issues. We reprinted the entire page 3 from its second story in Alter Ego V3#3, both with and without the paste-ons; but here are both versions of its final panel again, with Stan’s [?] pencil corrections to the Torch’s trail of flame—which Burgos didn’t follow when he redrew the Torches. Ayers’ Torch figures (above) have been covered over in the printed version (right) by Burgos. Thanks to longtime fan (and 1960s A/E contributor) Glen Johnson for the loan of the original art, from which these images were repro’d. At least one more page with Burgos re-touching exists, and will be seen in a near-future ish. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Dick Ayers him that one time. He loved his office, which overlooked lower Manhattan. He said, “Look at that view. It looks just like I’m in Europe.”

place, with eyeballs popping out everywhere. I said, “Oh no, that’s too gory for me. I like the kind of stuff I’m doing for Marvel.” Carl said, “Oh, come on and say that to Myron Fass.” Myron said to me, “Before you say ‘no,’ I want you to go see the movie The Wild Bunch. Then come back and tell this story is too gory.” I went to see the movie, came back to Fass, and said, “Okay, I’ll do it.”

JA: Getting back to your Human Torch work, Stan started accepting your Torch figures and didn’t have Burgos redraw any more of them.

JA: How long did you work for Myron Fass? And what was the company name?

AYERS: Right. Burgos only did it on a couple of stories. Once I saw what Burgos had done, I understood what Stan wanted and worked to give him that. It must have worked, because from then on, Burgos didn’t redraw my Torch figures.

AYERS: In my records, I wrote “Countrywide.” The stories appeared in their book, Eerie, and I worked for them from 1969 until 1971. I didn’t usually sign those stories, though I remember one I did, titled “I Chopped Her Head Off.” I signed it with an “A.” People have said to me, “We know that’s your work, even though you didn’t sign it.” They called me “the ‘eye-popping’ artist.” I wasn’t uncomfortable doing these stories and liked the surprise endings—it was like telling a joke. My wife asked me once, “Does drawing this work ever give you nightmares?” [laughs] I did this work when I had dry periods at Marvel, and ended up doing a lot of stories for them, at $27 a page. JA: What did you think of Carl Burgos? AYERS: I liked Carl. He was like a grizzly bear, but was a nice guy. If I ever drew a cartoon of him, I’d draw him like a Russian Bear. By the way, I didn’t meet Carl until I worked for him, but he knew my work. Myron Fass was very nice, though I only met

JA: Do you have any idea who wrote these stories?

We couldn’t come up by deadline with any of the eldritch epics Dick Ayers drew for publisher (and former comic book artist) Myron Fass; but Brian K. Morris sent us this art from the Skywald black-&-white horror mag Nightmare (June 1971 issue). Unfortunately, they spelled Dick’s last name wrong on the splash! [©2003 the respective copyright holders.]

The “horror story with a ghost ship” that Stan Lee made Dick take back home to add more “pizzazz” was this one from Strange Tales #98 (July 1962), of which we’ve repro’d two pages. Dick says his records show that he was paid $120 for drawing the four-pager—plus $25, which Stan paid him extra for the additional work. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

AYERS: It may have been Stan, but I’m not positive. I did draw a lot of Ed Jurist’s stories for Timely. I never met him, but his name was always familiar to me. I also drew a lot of Hank Chapman’s scripts, and Al Sulman wrote a few, too. In 1949 I had a gig where I did mock-up drawings for the Suspense TV show [based on the popular radio show. — Jim]. This was live TV. I was sitting at the Commodore Hotel bar, after I’d been looking for work and not having any luck. I was waiting for the train to come, so I could go home. This guy sitting next to me saw my portfolio and asked if I was an artist. I said I was, and he asked to see my work, which I showed him. He said, “My name is Bob Stevens, and I’m a producer-director of a TV show. You come with me.” He was the director of Suspense and was doing a story called “The Comic Strip Murders.” He wanted me to draw a comic strip that looked like Chester Gould’s Dick Tracy. In the story, the artist who’s doing the strip is giving the idea away... it’s so real that everybody reading the paper knows that this guy’s going to kill his wife. This show starred Lilli Palmer, and I went to see

“To Keep Busy as a Freelancer, You Should Have Three Accounts!” complaints from activist groups.” And once the Comics Code was in force, I wasn’t allowed to draw the Rawhide Kid with a bullwhip. I couldn’t draw Mexicans as villains, either. It went on and on. Same thing happened with Ghost Rider. Vin Sullivan told me they couldn’t use “Ghost” in the title any more. We racked our brains trying to come up with another name for him, but nothing fit—and nothing has since. Marvel’s tried other names, and so has Bill Black at AC Comics, but none of those names were better than Ghost Rider. JA: So you feel The Human Torch was canceled due to complaints and not because of low sales? By the second revival issue, Human Torch #37 (June 1954), the art—even the Torches—was pure Dick Ayers... well, maybe with a bit of help from Ernie Bache. Perhaps Bache’s participation in the art is why none of the “Torch” stories in #37 is signed? [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

them rehearse the show. One day, Bob said, “Gee, Dick. I’d like to have you as my assistant.” I thought that wasn’t too bad, since it was live TV. But I decided I liked doing comics better. I told Bob that and he understood. When I went to get the $50 for the job, his secretary said, “You should have taken that job, Dick. Look inside his office and see who’s standing there. That’s Robert Morgan, Richard’s brother, and he’s going to be something someday.” And he was: he did the movie Harper, with Paul Newman and Lauren Bacall, among other things. My wife always says, “You missed the boat, you dum-dum!” If you don’t grab the iron while it’s hot, you miss out. There’s no going back. At one point, there was a cute blonde sitting on a make-believe park bench, memorizing her lines. Bob pointed at her and said to me, “That blonde is really going to be somebody. Remember her name: Eva Marie Saint.” JA: Now you see, if you had taken that TV job, you wouldn’t be interviewed by me today. So wasn’t that worth it? [mutual laughter] Did you like drawing The Human Torch? AYERS: Yes, I did, but I lost the book because of Dr. Wertham. Stan called me up one morning, and said, “Dick, we can’t do The Human Torch anymore because of the Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos was far from the first war mag Dick Ayers ever drew! Here, clockwise, are 1953 splash pages from: War Comics #17 (March)... Battle #18 (March, its G.I.s perhaps influenced by Bill Mauldin’s WWII “Willie and Joe” cartoons)... Battle #18 (featuring a guy named Adolf)... and a series story for Young Men #22 (Aug.), only two issues before it was decided that the “young men” whose exploits it would relate would be the definitely atypical Human Torch, Captain America, and Sub-Mariner. Thanks to Doc Vassallo for the photocopies. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

AYERS: That’s right, although Marvel was able to use him again in the 1960s, of course. I hated having to

Dick Ayers

lived in. She said, “You have the characters speaking such bad English.” I said, “That’s the way they talk.” This woman taught at Bryn Mawr, which was a woman’s college and didn’t understand it.

change the Rawhide Kid, because I really enjoyed drawing that bullwhip. JA: Did you feel The Human Torch was a real change of pace for you? AYERS: No, it’s just that I enjoyed drawing him and I liked him better than the Johnny Storm version that followed. I could do more with him, because there was no Comics Code to stop us from having him throw fireballs, among other things. And I really liked his sidekick Toro.

JA: You’d think she’d have seen Durante in the movies or heard him on the radio. By the way, was there ever a time when you deviated from a writer’s script? AYERS: Remember Two-Gun Kid? His regular identity was lawyer Matt Hawk. Anytime there was a courtroom scene, I would take the sequence where someone was on a witness stand, and stretch it for four panels across a tier. Then I’d break up the word balloons to emphasize the dramatics. But I didn’t rewrite anything.

“I Was Angry” JA: Did Dr. Wertham and the Senate Investigations into comics worry you? AYERS: I was angry even before all that hit the headlines. Someone pointed out to me an article in Parents’ Magazine where they rated the comics for objectionable material. At the time, I was doing Bobby Benson’s B-Bar-B Riders for Vin Sullivan. That magazine said it was objectionable. Holy Moses! How could that feature be objectionable? Jimmy Durante was objectionable because he didn’t speak the English language properly. [mutual laughter] How could Jimmy Durante be objectionable? When I first started during the Durante comic, I showed it to the lady who was running the boarding house I

JA: Did you thumbnail your stories out first? AYERS: No. I started directly on the page. I knew how to tell a story and just started drawing. JA: The comic companies today supply their artists with paper. Was that true in the ’50s? A powerful page from “The Beast at Bay,” which shows Hitler’s end in a Berlin bunker in 1945. In panel 1, he vows to stop “the invaders”; maybe, via retroactive continuity, we should consider this a “prototype” story for the 1970s series The Invaders, in which Cap, Namor, and the Torch came face to face with Der Führer? Thanks to Doc V. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

AYERS: No, we had to supply our own paper back then. There’s a good story about that, too. The old size was 12 by 18 inches. Now, in the late ’50s, Timely was cutting our page rates. I

Surprisingly, two Ayersdrawn features for Magazine Enterprises that some folks found objectionable were the radio-based Bobby Benson’s B-Bar-B Rider, which ran from 1950-53, and Jimmy Durante, which was based on—well, Jimmy Durante. Ray Krank, who wrote the latter, was also M.E.’s editor. Thanks to Shane Foley for the b&w “Benson” splash, and to Brian K. Morris for the page which is most likely from A-1 Comics #20, the second Jimmy Durante issue under M.E.’s convoluted numbering system; actually Brian picked it up from that fine long-running magazine Cartoonist PROfiles (#59, Sept. 1983). [©2003 the respective copyright holders.]

“To Keep Busy as a Freelancer, You Should Have Three Accounts!”

went from $30 to $28 and finally to $22 a page. I was doing Rawhide Kid at the time. I said to myself, “Stan keeps cutting my rate, so I’m going to draw this story the same size it’s printed,” which was about 6H" by 10". When Stan saw the pages, he called me up and said, “I know you have to buy the paper and I can’t tell you what size to draw, but when you draw that small, it’s going to get lost at the printers.” I said, “I’ll tell you what I’ll do. I can use the bigger size paper and turn it horizontally, so I can get two pages of art on one page.” Stan said, “Great!” From then on, everything I did, until I starting inking Jack Kirby, was done at that size. I have a pile of my Wyatt Earp stories here and they were all done that size. JA: In looking over the various books you worked on at Timely, I don’t think there’s a genre you missed. AYERS: I only got to pencil one romance story, titled “When Kenny Kissed Me.” The title alone was so funny to me that it was hard to take it seriously. But Stan never gave me another one. Years later, I did ink some love stories over John Buscema’s and Gene Colan’s pencils. Stan didn’t trust me to draw love stories again. Westerns were my favorite genre. When I drew them, I lived them. In fact, I’d draw a splash panel where a gunman is walking down the street. When I finished, I’d rush into the kitchen and show it to Lindy. “Look at this! Isn’t this terrific?” She’d say, “I’ve seen you do that 10,000 times now.” [laughs] There’s just something special about westerns. I really liked doing the short horror stories. But there is something special about doing a regular series, because you develop an affinity for the lead characters. They become real to you. That’s what I liked about Sgt. Fury. JA: When Timely suspended publication in 1957, who broke the news to you?

him up. He offered me work, so I quit the greeting card company, where I had worked for about eight or nine months. Between working for Al on Atom-Age Combat and doing Wyatt Earp for Timely, I had enough work to make it through. Al paid me $15 a page and Carl Memling wrote the stories. JA: In 1957, I have you listed as doing a story for St. John Publications’ Do You Believe In Nightmares? AYERS: I never worked for St. John. What happened there was that Al Fago had some leftover inventory after he left Charlton and sold it to St. John. I was at the newsstand one day and saw my story in the book, which didn’t please me. I was upset that Al did that without telling me. JA: Did you try to get work from DC during any of your slow periods in the ’50s? AYERS: Once, when I saw Bob Kanigher, he looked at my work and said, “Stan Lee! That guy wouldn’t know an artist if he fell over one!” I came out of there and said to myself, “I’ll never deal with that guy again.” I was furious! Years later, I drew a lot of his “Unknown Soldier” stories, but luckily, I didn’t have to deal with Kanigher.

“I Didn’t Know Who Simon and Kirby Were” JA: How did you hook up with Joe Simon? AYERS: He had an office down near City Hall, and for some reason I was up there. I did some work on The Fly for Archie. That didn’t last long, and then Joe had me doing work on Sick magazine. He gave me a lot of work, but I faced stiff competition, because Jack Davis and Bob Powell were working for him, too. I couldn’t get more than one story a month on Sick.

I could have worked for Joe much earlier, had I wanted to. While I was in art school—on Fridays, instead of going to AYERS: Well, Stan never really told museums and copying paintings— me they were going to stop Stan Lee and Dick Ayers both signed this splash from Wyatt Earp #16 I went around looking for work. I publishing. He just said, “Gee, Dick, (circa 1957)—but not on the same part of the page. Repro’d from Dick’s went to see the editor at Popular I really don’t think I can give you as photocopy of the original art. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.] Mechanics, hoping to get spot much work as I used to. But illustration work. He looked at my whatever work is available will be portfolio and said, “You should be working for Simon and Kirby.” This yours.” So when there was a Wyatt Earp story to do, I got it. When was in 1946. I didn’t know who Simon and Kirby were, so the editor there was something else, I got that, too. That’s partly why I starting told me about them. I had read Boy Commandos, but never paid inking Jack Kirby’s work—Stan wanted to keep me working and that attention to who did it. Anyway, I didn’t bother to look them up. Later, was the work that was available. of course, I got to ink Jack Kirby for quite a while. Stan Lee showed him The lack of work hurt me financially. In 1958 I got a job at the my inks, so Jack asked me to ink his Sky Masters newspaper strip. Cheerful Greeting Card Company, working in the printing department. JA: What was your reaction to Kirby’s work the first time you were I was the assistant manager and they paid $80 a week, which helped me asked to ink it? feed my family. At night, I was drawing Wyatt Earp. And then Al Fago started publishing his own comics. I saw one of those comics and called

Dick Ayers

A juxtaposition of Ayers genres: horror (Adventures into Terror #21, July 1953)—sciencefiction (Journey into Unknown Worlds #24, Feb. 1954)—romance (Secret Story Romances #3, Jan. 1954—Dick’s only love-mag penciling for Timely)—war series (Combat Casey #18, Oct. 1954)— and historical war (Battle Action #14, Dec. 1954). Thanks to Doc V. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

“To Keep Busy as a Freelancer, You Should Have Three Accounts!” anything to him about it. In the long run, Stan did me a favor. Once I started drawing while I was inking with the brush, I got to enjoy it. When Jack talked to me about Sky Masters, he showed me some strips inked by Wally Wood. He said, “This is the way I want it to look.” Years later, when I saw a collection of the strips, that book showed how Wally Wood inked. He outlined the figures, then erased the pages, and then put in all the blacks and other detail. I just interpreted what Jack had drawn and made it look the way I wanted it to look. I did not want to erase all that stuff—it’d take me too long to do it. JA: But you did work for Crestwood Publications, which were publishing Simon and Kirby in the late-’40s until the mid-’50s. AYERS: Yes, but I wasn’t aware at the time that Crestwood had any connection to Simon and Kirby. I didn’t always know where my work was going to show up: sometimes I had work in Black Magic, sometimes in their other titles. I did some romance stories for Joe Simon—and later for DC, too. Joe Simon was a real nice guy to work for. When I first started working directly for Joe, he had an office (which was where I first met Angelo Torres), which was about the size of the one Magazine Enterprises had. Joe had no assistants, but did have a drawing board there in case someone needed to work in the office. Later on, Joe worked out of his home. JA: Your Harvey Comics work in the 1960s was done directly through Joe Simon, right? AYERS: Right. I had work in most of his titles: Alarming Adventures, Double Dare Adventures, and Spyman. JA: Okay. We’ll stop here and let Roy ask you about the 1960s. Dick drew a mean stagecoach in Wild Western #41 (Feb. 1955). Thanks to Doc V. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

AYERS: You want me to be real honest? I didn’t like it. It wasn’t my style of drawing. I liked my people and guns to look more realistic, but Jack’s work was what the market wanted. There was another part to it: this was the first time I inked someone else’s work. I was in my mid-30s and I was finally getting my work to look the way I wanted it to. I always tried to make my work look as good as I could. But becoming an inker was hampering my development, though there was nothing I could do about it. I had to take the work that was available. I was only making seven bucks a page to ink. I inked a Rawhide Kid just the way Jack had penciled it. Stan said, “I don’t want you to ink this like a romance story—you draw with your brush. If Jack puts in a head shot and there’s nothing behind that head, draw something in behind it. If he’s got two people standing in the middle of a panel, put in a street scene. You don’t need to pick up a pencil— use your brush.” When I went home, I muttered a few choice words about Stan, but I never said

[At this point, several weeks later, in September 2003, Roy picks up the questioning. Dick begins by mentioning his record book of work done in the 1940s and ’50s, which he still has.]

“I’ll Give You a Scoop” AYERS: This book records the whole bit of when I first met Stan on September 27, 1951. Stan told me he would send a feature shortly and that’s when I first saw him. Now, on the next day, 9/28, he told me to call Wednesday to see about a script. So okay, on October 3, in the morning, he told me to call back at 3:30. In the afternoon, he said, “Call me tomorrow.”

Dick Ayers inked Jack Kirby’s newspaper comic strip Sky Masters after Wally Wood left. Ayers drew the dailies from the week of Oct. 12, 1959, through the week of Jan. 9, 1960, as per this Oct. 14 strip. The “Wood” in the signature is writer Dick Wood. Ayers inked the Sunday strips from Sept. 8, 1959, through Jan. 24, 1960. The entire run of the strip was reprinted in the excellent volume The Complete Sky Masters of the Space Force from Greg Theakston’s Pure Imagination Publishing. The book is out of print, but Bud Plant or other sources may have a few copies. [Restored art ©2003 Pure Imagination.]

Dick Ayers

ROY THOMAS: Sounds like he was waiting for something to come in that he could give you. AYERS: Yeah. Boy, I was desperate! I called him on October 4 and he told me to pick up a 4-page script the next morning, Friday, Oct. 5. On Oct. 12, I brought in the finished story. RT: I want to ask you about something related to the three Timely/Atlas imitations of the four-color Mad that you worked on circa 1953—Crazy, Wild, and Riot. For about a year at that time, you also worked on Charlton’s Mad imitation, Eh! You even did the cover for #1. AYERS: Yes, I was very proud of that cover. Steve Allen on his Tonight Show held up that magazine and he said, “This is what comics have become.” RT: Was that good or bad? AYERS: [laughs] That was good. I’ve still got a copy of Eh! #1. I got scripts from Charlton and Marvel, but I added to them like crazy. All kinds of crazy sight gags. I loaded it.

Dick Ayers drew the covers both for Crazy #1 (Dec. 1953, the first of Timely/Atlas’ three titles that imitated EC’s four-color Mad) and for another Mad wannabe, Charlton’s Eh! #1 (also Dec. 1953). These two even had semi-identical toplines! [Crazy cover ©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.; Eh! cover ©2003 the respective copyright holders.]

I had luck at that time because I was doing so much; I finally got those three accounts I had been advised to get. And so I had Marvel, and I had Magazine Enterprises, and I had Charlton. So I got a fellow to work with me. He came to the house and we worked side-by-side— Ernie Bache. Ernie and I just thrived on that Eh! book. We had a great time. RT: You talked about your work with Ernie Bache in your Magazine Enterprises interview in Alter Ego #10. Eh! lasted seven issues. Do you know—was it sales killed the book, or did Charlton just not want to follow Mad into black-&-white? AYERS: No, I’ll give you a scoop on that. RT: That’s what we need: a fifty-year-old scoop! AYERS: Yeah. In came two guys—I haven’t said this to anybody—and Charlton gave them control of the book. And they changed the name of the book to From Here to Insanity, which was the name of one of the stories that I did in the book. Those two guys were Simon and Kirby. They got that away from us. RT: It didn’t last long, though. AYERS: No, it didn’t, and I got it right back. [laughs] I guess Al Fago must have said, “Oh, these guys will sell many books here,” or something, and so he dumped me. Well, he didn’t really dump me, because he gave me horror stories to do. But Simon and Kirby got it and somehow they couldn’t do it right. I don’t think they had the right approach. RT: Although Simon did Sick later, Simon and Kirby never really did that much real parody material together. AYERS: I worked for Joe on Sick magazine. That was a good job.

Ayers gold in them thar hills—if you’ll pardon the pun! Dick drew three of the five stories in Eh! #1—plus a one-page filler parodying popular singers—and says he’d rather do humor than even his beloved westerns! [©2003 the respective copyright holders.]

RT: So, were you working for Wild, Crazy, Riot, and Eh! all at the same time? AYERS: Yeah. I don’t know how many I did. I would have loved to do humor stuff all the time, but I could never get enough to support my

“To Keep Busy as a Freelancer, You Should Have Three Accounts!” God-blessed truck comes in, they want it emptied off. They said, “Oh, you’re staying. Here’s the truck.” I said, “**** you,” and I walked off. [laughs] And that was the end of that.

When I had told Stan I was going to work for the Post Office, he said, “Before you do that, let me send you something that you’ll ink,” because he knew I wanted to both pencil and ink. He said, “But just try this.” And he sent me a Kirby cover to Wyatt Earp that I did. And I did it just the way he had penciled it. Well, I didn’t like it, but I’d seen what Simon did over Kirby in the inking stage; they With Ernie Bache’s assistance, Dick drew both “The Wolf Man” in Crazy #5 (April 1954) and “Shylock Bones” from Wild #4 (June ’54) made it. Even Ernie —among many others for those Timely/Atlas mags and Riot. Thanks to Doc V. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.] Bache had added family. Like maybe a hundred bucks or two hundred bucks a month, blacks and half-tones to my stuff, and given it more drama. I was, “By and that wasn’t enough. And it broke my heart, because I had started golly, that’s what I’m doing with this stuff.” And I did it with the right out with Jimmy Durante at Magazine Enterprises. I had been in monster stories. my glory in that book because Jimmy had gone on adventures that took RT: You started doing a lot of monster stories over Jack, didn’t you? a whole full book. You’ve got to give Vin Sullivan credit. He did that when others were putting four or five stories into every issue. AYERS: Oh, then I got rolling on that, yeah. Whatever was available, Stan would send it. I’d call him up when I was working on my last page. RT: It was closer to Dell and its full-length stories with the Disney So then he would get one right in the mail to me, so I’d have it the next and Warner characters. But there weren’t many companies doing that morning at 7:30 by Special Delivery. with adventure stuff. AYERS: A couple of years ago, a guy up in Canada was reprinting the Eh! issues in black-&-white. Tony Isabella sent me a copy, so I contacted the Canadian. I said, “Hey, how about sending me a copy? It looks good.” He never answered me, not a word.

“I Worked Right Through” RT: Okay, so finally we get to Marvel in the late ’50s. Do you know when and how you went back in to work for Stan? They had that meltdown around ’57, ’58, where they stopped giving out work for a while. AYERS: I worked right through. Things had started getting really bad, I guess, in 1958. And still Stan kept me working. And one day, when I went in, he looked at me and he said, “Gee whiz, my uncle goes by and he doesn’t even say hello to me.” He meant Martin Goodman. And he proceeds to tell me, “You know, it’s like a ship sinking and we’re the rats. And we’ve got to get off.” So he told me, “Try to find something else.” So I came home and I called a friend that had a contact in the Post Office, and he got me a job there, a temporary. And I worked three days a week, and still Stan had me working on Wyatt Earp, so I didn’t want to do any overtime at the Post Office. Well, at the Post Office, when the

RT: It’s always amazed me how consistently good Stan was in that regard, especially when I contrast that to what the comics field became. Even if artists were freelancers and Stan had no legal obligation to them—if he had told them, “We’ll keep you busy,” then, as much as humanly possible, he’d see to it that when they finished one story, they had another right away. That seems to have gotten to be too much of a moral and ethical strain for editors in the past few decades. [laughs] AYERS: Yes. I got to where Marvel was like 80% of my time. RT: You told Jim you weren’t wild about inking Jack because his drawing was a little wild and unrealistic. Did you get fonder of it later, or just adjust to it, or what? AYERS: Oh, that was Sgt. Fury. It was mostly that, when I first started on that book, I didn’t like the idea of torn uniforms and an unkemptlooking soldier needing a shave, because I came out of the service myself. So when Stan said to pencil Fury, I was quite upset. I didn’t want to pencil it. But then I remembered from my Army days that, when I got into the Combat Zone—in other words, when I got even across the Channel from England, when I got into France—it seems things changed. The rules and regulations got lax. They didn’t care so much what you looked like.

Dick Ayers

19 Stan Lee was lavish in his praise of Ayers’ inking of Kirby’s monster stories. (Far left:) An August 1959 missive from The Man on Magazine Management stationery. (Center:) Of Dick’s inking of Jack’s “Sporr” art for Tales of Suspense #11 (Sept. 1960, despite the date written atop the art), Mr. A. writes: “Stan loved this splash page—sent me a special photocopy with heaps of praise!” He inked it in February 1960—for $7, then Timely’s going inking rate. The story was reprinted in Where Monsters Dwell #2 (Feb. 1970) and in the trade paperback Monster Masterworks. (Below:) Stan’s handwritten March 1960 note to Dick may have been a month late for Valentine’s Day, but it’s still framed on the artist’s studio wall. [Art ©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Ayers became the first inker of Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos, beginning with #1 (Sept. 1963). In #3 (Jan. ’64), as seen at left, Nick had a WWII encounter with Major Reed Richards (which was later written out of Marvel continuity); this page is repro’d from a photocopy of the original art, courtesy of pro artist Richard Howell and the Howell/Kalish Collection. Above is a recent commission sketch Dick drew of Reed as Mr. Fantastic. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

“To Keep Busy as a Freelancer, You Should Have Three Accounts!” drew nine “Torch” stories for the three published Human Torch issues—two that were in Men’s Adventures—two out of the three that were in Captain America— and all three that were used in Sub-Mariner. That’s seventeen, counting “The Un-Human!”

And so, the first thing I did in France was, I got myself a nice .45 holster. You know, a shoulder holster, like a gangster? They gave those out to the combat crews. And then I got ski socks, and I got a silk scarf to wear around my neck. The point was, you wanted to look different, so I adapted to it. I realized, my God, if we went on pass, and we came back to the barracks, we didn’t tell the guys we got one girl. We got four girls. [laughs] You really made the story big, is what I meant. Baron Munchausen. I like to think of Baron Munchausen in regards to Sgt. Fury.

AYERS: Let me look up the stuff I did in ’53 and ’54. I’ve got them separated, according to company. [Slight pause, while Dick leafs through his records.] Here’s one at the end—a “Torch” story called “Voodoo.” RT: That title doesn’t seem to fit any of the “Torch” stories published during the revival.

RT: Yeah. But, to keep things in chronological order for the moment—when you started working again for Stan in the late ’50s without much of a break, you inked a lot of Kirby, and even Ditko occasionally in what some call the “pre-hero” days—i.e., before F.F. #1. Did you ever ask Stan if you could pencil one of those giant-monster stories? You didn’t even pencil many of those five-or-so-page filler features in the backs of the monster titles. AYERS: I never wanted to at the time, because I really loved doing my westerns. I’d be doing all that inking, but Stan would always slide in a five- or six-page western for me to work on. If I penciled a backup story or two for the monster books, I don’t think they printed it.

AYERS: Now to see where I wrote in how much I got paid for it. RT: That’s the important part. [laughs] AYERS: Here we are... ’54. Okay, here’s a story called “Flame On!”— a 6-pager printed in Human Torch #3, and I got paid $192. Divided by six, that’s $32 a page. RT: You’ve got it listed as “#3” because it was the third 1950s issue. They had picked up the numbering from the ’40s. So it was published as “#38.” This 1954 Ayers-drawn story was first printed 14 years late in Marvel SuperHeroes #16 (Sept. 1968)—then reprinted in The Human Torch #8 (Nov. 1975). Sadly, though it was repro’d both times from black-&-white photostats (with the words “The Original” rendered in different fashions on the two printings), some of the art lines tended to blotch, such as the Un-Human’s scales and the Torch’s flaming face. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

RT: Well, if it got done, it probably got printed. They didn’t throw much away! [laughs]

“Human Torch #15––Oh, I Know That One!” AYERS: I found that out. You know, it was on the Internet—there was a “Human Torch” story that I did back in the ’50s that was only printed years later. RT: Oh, yeah! I didn’t realize, when I first had the story printed [in Marvel Super-Heroes #16 (Sept. 1968)] that it hadn’t been printed before. We ran across it in the warehouse along with black-&-white photostats of other stories. I just assumed it had been printed in 1954—even though I had all those issues, and could easily have checked. I think I confused it with another story or two where the Torch fought an alien monster.

AYERS: Well, I did keep track in my own way: “Human Torch #15”—that’s story #15 in the order I did them, and that’s in Korea. Oh, I know that one!

RT: You did a couple of “Torch” stories set in the Korean War. Your “Torch” stories appeared in the first three revived Sub-Mariner issues. But then, though Sub-Mariner ran seven more issues, they stopped using “Torch” stories and instead as fillers they just had stories about deep-sea divers and sharks and octopi, drawn by Meskin, Maneely, even Howie Post. They must have decided that, even though they had one or two more “Torch” stories completed, they didn’t want to run them once his own mag was canceled. So they put ’em on the shelf. Such a waste. I guess we’re lucky even one of the two survived in photostat form. Do you have a page count for that unpublished one? It was probably five. AYERS: Yeah, five.

AYERS: Yeah, it was an alien story.

RT: I wonder if they figured a “Torch ” story would drive people away from buying Sub-Mariner? [laughs] Of course, we know now that Sub-Mariner lasted longest of the revival books because of a TV deal.

RT: “The Un-Human!” In that instance, Marvel did sort-of throw a story away, or at least file it away, never intending to print it. We just happened to stumble across it more than a decade later.

AYERS: I just came to my other “collect,” where I’ve got it all typed up, just the titles, under “T” for “Timely.” I see that “Voodoo” was done for Captain America.

If that one unpublished story existed, I wonder if there were two others that you did in 1954 for a fourth issue of Human Torch. You

RT: Not for Sub-Mariner? Then they must have been planning a fourth issue of Cap when the axe fell on everything but Sub-Mariner.

Dick Ayers

the morning. I’d get there 8:30 or quarter to nine, and I would get to talk to Johnny Romita. Of course, that’s after ’65. Around ’60, it would just be Stan. RT: After a year or so, when you stopped inking F.F. was it mainly because you were busy with other things? AYERS: I never chose what I was going to do. For instance, when I was working on Sgt. Fury, I’m in there one day and Stan looks at me and says, “You know, every time you have the Howlers being picked up by a submarine to be taken back to England, you draw the same submarine captain with a beard—that I’ve been calling ‘The Skipper.’ I’m giving that guy a name—Captain Savage. And he’s going to be a book.” So here, right before my eyes, he had made him into a character with his own book. So, boy, that really made me feel good. RT: We’ll get back to Sgt. Fury. Your replacement on the F.F. was George Roussos, but by then you were doing “Human Torch” in Strange Tales, as well as westerns like Two-Gun Kid. You inked some Kirby Furys, too. At some point you must have started getting calls from [secretary] Flo Steinberg and Sol Brodsky instead of Stan directly when the phone rang. AYERS: Well, they always put me on to Stan, as I remember it. I never dealt with them as far as getting the work.

“The Drama in the Thing” RT: Anyway—now we finally get to your 1960s hero work, when you started inking, with Fantastic Four #6. It’s odd that, by #6, you were already the fourth inker, because the #1-2 were done by someone unknown (maybe Chris Rule and/or George Klein)—we now know that Sol Brodsky inked #3-4, and of course Joe Sinnott did #5. But for years lots of us thought you did those first two or even first four issues. AYERS: Yeah, people gave me credit for those for years. Some people even had me re-create those covers. RT: You’re the first inker who stuck on the book for more than two issues. Why do you think it worked out with you? AYERS: Well, I guess my touch with the brush was pretty darned dramatic. That’s what Stan was always out for, to get the drama in the thing. And I could always add to it with drawing some of the blacks in and throwing in a little bit of work on the figures so that it looked more dramatic. RT: Was Stan still pretty much handing the work out personally, before Sol Brodsky came on staff as production manager in ’64-’65? AYERS: I just got it mailed to me by Special Delivery. I only went in to the office when I really got anxious to see Stan. I would go in early in

Dick began his memorable stint inking Fantastic Four with #6 (Sept. 1962). But, though all five of the story’s chapter-splashes carried a credit for “Stan Lee and J. Kirby,” there’d be none for the hard-working inker till #9. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

“To Keep Busy as a Freelancer, You Should Have Three Accounts!” golly, my Thing looks nice. [laughs] With those chiseled blocks, I can’t figure—is he part alligator or what? RT: I always figured “rocks,” but maybe you’re right. How did you like being able to both pencil and ink the “Torch” stories in Strange Tales, instead of just penciling? AYERS: I liked inking it. But sometimes I would rather have done the Torch as he was in the ’50s, with Toro, because they had a little bit more fun in it, more slapstick. RT: One of the most notorious things you did is that “Torch” story in which The Sub-Mariner used fish powers. Did you throw that in yourself, or did Stan have that in the synopsis? That’s the story you drew in which Namor had the power to generate current like an electric eel. AYERS: Stan would just give you a synopsis and he would say, “Do this in 15 pages,” or “13 pages.” And I can’t just do a slugfest, so I think up something to do. That would be something that would bug me, like with Giant-Man. He gave me a lot of trouble. Still, I’m amazed—I mean, the collectors all like Giant-Man. They ask me to draw him. RT: They were all good characters, in varying degrees. Just because they weren’t quite the equal of The Hulk or Spidey— The bearded submarine captain identified only as “The Skipper” first appeared in Sgt. Fury #10 (Sept. 1964), the third issue penciled by Ayers (with inking by George Roussos and of course script by Stan Lee). After numerous cameos over the next few years, the Skipper gained a name (Simon Savage), a Marines commission, and a five-man fighting force in Captain Savage and His Leatherneck Raiders #1 (Jan. 1968). In the tradition of comic book heroes back then, though, he soon lost the beard. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

RT: Did you ever have to come in and work in the Bullpen— doing corrections, or something like that—back in the early ’60s? AYERS: No, no, no. [chuckles] I remember Stan had a cute saying. He would look at me and say, “You know, you’re like the girl with the curl in the middle of her forehead.” And I looked stupid, and he says, “Oh, you never heard that one? The girl with the curl in the middle of her forehead. When she was good, she was very good. And when she was bad, she was horrid.” RT: [laughs] His subtle way of saying he didn’t like something— but that, most of the time, he liked what you did. Did Stan just tell you one day that you were going to do “Human Torch” again, as a series in Strange Tales? AYERS: He just sent me the plot and I did the penciling and the inking. I just saw that new Essential Human Torch volume, and I learned something there that made my heart beat. The Plant Man story I drew was scripted by Jerry Siegel, under the name “Joe Carter.” He was one of the first guys I ever worked for, on Funnyman. I’m not happy with what I did on Funnyman, but at the time, I thought, “That was a good one, yeah!” That Essential book is mostly Kirby and me, but towards the end Carl Burgos did one and Bob Powell did a couple. RT: Somehow, Burgos and Stan didn’t seem to click when he came back that last time. Stan played him up in the credits, and Burgos even drew himself and Stan in one story. But an issue or two later he was gone. After a year or so, Stan suddenly added The Thing and the series became “Human Torch and Thing”— half of the Fantastic Four. How did you like penciling The Thing? AYERS: I hated The Thing, because I couldn’t figure out what he was made of. But when I’m looking at Essential Human Torch, by

AYERS: Yeah, like [Giant-Man foe] The Black Knight. I think I’m the guy that gave him the one-way glass in his visor, sort-of like a mirror that could blind a guy with the sunshine.

Dick Ayers

23 Germans. Another story you particularly wanted to do, and it suited my interests, too, was where they assault a secret base where the Nazis built secret weapons. At the end, Fury escapes in a prototype German jet. Sometimes the stories were my idea, sometimes they were yours. But we had a lot of fun with them. We also made up the first Nisei squadron of Japanese-American soldiers. That was [production staffer] Morrie Kuramoto’s suggestion, and I worked with him to make it reasonably accurate.

“The Sub-Mariner Must Be Stopped!” was the title of the Lee/Ayers/Reinman “Torch and Thing” story in Strange Tales #125 (Oct. 1964), reprinted in the recent Essential Human Torch, Vol. 1. But how do you stop a sub-sea sovereign who wields the power of an electric eel? Contrary to some fans’ recollections, though, ’twas actually Lee and Kirby, not Dick, who first gave Namor the ability to mimic creatures of the sea, back in Fantastic Four #9 (Dec. 1962). And did Ye Editor just dream it, or did Subby once even expand himself like a human puffer fish? That scene isn’t in ST #125. Later, Marvel policy decreed that Namor had never had such powers. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

AYERS: I just came up with one a couple years ago, when Bob Harras was the Marvel editor. He told me it would start in November of that particular year, whether it was ’99 or whatever. But Harras got let go, and they never did the book. RT: 8-10 years ago, I tried to get a Sgt. Fury book started which would have had more sciencefictional adventures, hopefully with you as the

“It Was Like Baron Munchausen” RT: You did a lot of westerns in those days. Larry Lieber wrote a lot of those, didn’t he? Did he write full-script? AYERS: Stan supplied the plots, and he or Larry wrote the stories after I did the drawing. The story in Rawhide Kid called “The Bronc Buster” was my first where Stan just gave me a synopsis, and only a very short one. I was away for the weekend, way up in New Hampshire visiting some relatives, and that’s all I could think of—how am I going to do this when I get back? But I took that little synopsis and I was able to inject it with just what you were talking about just now—something happening like getting tossed in a horse trough, or adding some stuff. So Stan would supply a plot, and then I think Larry would put in the words. RT: Did Larry ever supply you with a plot, or was it always Stan? AYERS: As far as I recall, it was Stan. Most of the time it would be on the phone. And later he got Gary Friedrich to write it. I loved Gary’s writing. But then, son of a gun, all of a sudden, Gary would only give me half a synopsis. [laughs] I’d call Sol Brodsky to find out what was up. And Sol would say, “Go ahead and write the other half of the story yourself.” RT: Would you have rather inked Sgt. Fury yourself—at least before Severin was inking it? AYERS: Actually, Stan finally let me ink it at the very end, when I was tired of it. And then Arnold Drake wrote some, which were more like science-fiction. RT: John Tartaglione inked you for a while. I remember that in November of 1965 I became the scripter of Sgt. Fury in the middle of a two-part story [#29]. You and Stan had done the first issue, and you had already penciled the second part when I was put on to dialogue it. That whole issue was Baron Strucker and Fury fighting amid the ruins of this bombed-out French town. AYERS: That two-parter came about because I loved that movie with Burt Lancaster, The Train, and I’m talking to Stan about it and he says, “Make that into a two-parter,” because he liked the idea, too. RT: I also recall that, soon after I became writer, you had a couple of ideas you really wanted to do, and they sounded good to me, so I said, “Go with it.” One of them was about the Italian Fascists. Usually, of course, the Howling Commandos were fighting the

Dick also inked some memorable “Sub-Mariner” moments, as per this Gene Colan-penciled page from Tales to Astonish #80 (June 1966, despite the “Feb.” notation at top). Script by Stan Lee. Repro’d from a photocopy of the original art, courtesy of Richard Howell and the Howell/Kalish Collection. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

“To Keep Busy as a Freelancer, You Should Have Three Accounts!” when John did it, it would be the Good Conduct Medal, but he’d help me to identify it. [chuckles] RT: And, of course, you and John drew that wonderful takeoff on Casablanca in Sgt. Fury, that we did an article about back in Alter Ego #6. AYERS: Oh, was that a heartbreaker, yes. Oh, it was beautiful. RT: At least a lot of it still exists in one form or the other. We ran quite a few panels from it. AYERS: That’s the one of the only two times I got called in to change something. Once was to come in and join Frank Giacoia and Bill Everett in finishing the inking of a Daredevil book; we worked side-by-side there, had a lot of fun, and we got that done. And the next time was for that Casablanca story. And I had to go through and change it so it didn’t look like Sydney Greenstreet or Humphrey Bogart or the others. Oh, that was terrible. All that white paint! If I’d had an electric eraser, it would have been a little easier. [See p. 26.] RT: You were something of a war comic specialist with Sgt. Fury, Capt. Savage, and also, didn’t you do the revamp of Combat Kelly? AYERS: And when I got over to—pardon the expression—DC, holy shoot, they had me doing war mags, too! RT: One photo we ran of you in A/E #10 shows you drawing “The Haunted Tank.” AYERS: Oh, yes, yes, yes. I did some of those.

“[Kirby] Wasn’t Quite My Style of Doing Things” This splash page from Giant-Size Kid Colt #2 (April 1975) is repro’d from photocopies of the original art, courtesy of Dick Ayers. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

RT: You inked The Avengers over Jack, and then Don Heck. Was Don Heck hard or easy to ink? Were his pencils pretty tight?

artist. I’d have had the Howlers fighting guys like Baron Zemo with his death ray, Strucker’s secret weapons, jets—things like that— making it a little bit weirder. But a lot of people who read Fury liked the original version. You and Gary produced some memorable stories together. AYERS: Oh, didn’t we! Yeah.

RT: Werner got in this habit of trying to draw all five X-Men in every panel, which would then lead me into giving them all balloons, and it would get crowded.

AYERS: Well, sometimes. But once I got into it, it was like Baron Munchausen—I would accept anything, except when Arnold Drake brought in some kind of a robot. [laughs] That was too far-out.

AYERS: Oh, yes. If I put a ribbon on a guy’s chest,

RT: You also inked Werner Roth on XMen for quite a while. AYERS: He was very tight and he did a lot of stuff small—I think more like George Pérez.

RT: John Severin, I recall, didn’t like one or two of them, like when a deserter was shot by a firing squad. Did you ever have any feeling, as a veteran yourself, that anything in Sgt. Fury went over the line of what you wanted to draw?

RT: The most memorable art team of your Fury days was you and John Severin.

AYERS: Oh, I loved Don’s pencils. They were very good, yeah. I worked the same way I would work with Jack. I would just throw in some highlighting.

Darlin’ Dick (left) and Jocular John Severin (right) are summoned by Smilin’ Stan to brainstorm about the 1970 Sgt. Fury Annual, in panels from two facing pages therof (Groovy Gary Friedrich and Rascally Roy Thomas got the call, too). Art, natch, is by Ayers and Severin; script by G.F. At right, a bearded John and Dick get the drop on each other with John’s .45s in the Severin studio in Denver, Colorado, a few years back. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Dick Ayers

(Left:) Dick may feel writer Arnold Drake’s introducing a robot into a late Sgt. Fury was over the top—but the very first issue of that mag Dick ever penciled (#8, July 1964) had Captain America foe Dr. Zemo wielding a World War II death ray. (Right:) Here, in a more realistic vein, is what Dick aptly describes as: “A first! A page out of my graphic auto-biog I’m working on. This page is where I’m telling my date about landing on Omaha Beach— my Baron Munchausen way!” He says this is page 84! We hope it’s published soon—and when it is, you’ll read about it right here! [Sgt. Fury art ©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.; auto-bio page ©2003 Dick Ayers.]

AYERS: My favorite bit with you was in the D-Day Sgt. Fury Annual, where I drew the seven Howlers coming up the landing on Utah Beach. And they’re coming up the side of the mountain, and then I had drawn all of the landing, the ships. And you put in seven balloons—one from each character. [But see p. 27.] RT: Stan seemed to like that, even fifty years ago. In A/E #28 we printed some Joe Maneely covers from 1950, like one that showed a fight with a bunch of Indians, and almost everybody, including some of the Indians, is saying something. In fact, when Timely used to have one big scene on a horror cover in the early ’50s, and then 2-3 smaller scenes from the other stories inside running along the side, even the mini-scenes had word balloons. For a year or two, they’d have seven or eight word balloons on a cover. AYERS: Well, even in the ’40s, do you remember Crime Does Not Pay? RT: Oh, sure. Charlie Biro had a lot of copy on covers and inside. I suspect that’s what Timely was trying to emulate. Were there any particular pencilers that you liked or didn’t like inking? Some who were harder or easier to ink than others? AYERS: I loved inking Gene Colan’s pencils, especially some of his Captain America. Boy, those were nice. And then the love stories—oh, were they good! And, like, John Buscema’s love stories were gorgeous. RT: So those were some of the people you really liked inking? Buscema, Kirby, and Colan? AYERS: Not Kirby, no. I mean, I was relaxed with him because Stan

had told me to do it my own way, and so had Jack himself. So that wasn’t too frustrating, but it wasn’t quite my style of doing things. Now, he did a lot of things I admired: his backgrounds, a lot of stuff. But I couldn’t stand his layouts. RT: I remember you were one of the few people Jack ever mentioned by name back in the ’60s when people asked him about liking inkers of his pencils. AYERS: He told me that, too, when I was walking to the train with him, down Park Avenue. I was inking his Rawhide Kid then. RT: Were there any pencilers you disliked inking because they were just too hard, or you felt you had to add too much? AYERS: Well, I never got much of his work, but I didn’t like inking Bob Powell. I liked it when he inked his own stuff, but I didn’t like inking it. And Carl Burgos disappointed me in his storytelling. RT: So much of Powell’s style was in his inking, yet Stan had him just penciling. Not much of his style survived. AYERS: Steve Ditko is hard to ink. But once you get onto it — RT: Did Ditko do finished pencils? AYERS: No. That’s what made it hard. I’m thinking in terms of time. If I was slowed down, then I wasn’t happy. RT: John Romita said in A/E #9 that he was given the Daredevil book, you were also doing penciling samples for it.

“To Keep Busy as a Freelancer, You Should Have Three Accounts!” As lavishly detailed in Alter Ego, Vol. 3, #6, writer Gary Friedrich and penciler Dick Ayers (with the aid and abetment of inker/embellisher John Severin) prepared an issue-length story for Sgt. Fury #72 (Nov. 1969) in which his commanding officer “Happy Sam” Sawyer got involved in a sub-plot of the classic film Casablanca. Learning of this tale in the eleventh hour and understandably fearful of legal complications, editor Stan Lee insisted that all story similarities and visual likenesses be totally excised before publication, and ’twas hastily done by Dick and others. At left is a nice pre-“fixing” page from that tale we didn’t use in A/E V3#6, featuring the corrupt Vichy-French Captain Renault (Claude Raines), Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), Sam Sawyer, a few soon-to-be-changed lines from “As Times Goes By”—and even the “Sam” of “Play it again, Sam!” not-quiteaccurate-film-dialogue fame: the piano-player portrayed in the movie by Dooley Wilson. Note the margin-notes directing that glasses be put on Sam, who became “Ali” in the printed issue—though minus shades. Art is repro’d from mediocre photostats made at the time by teary-eyed Marvel staffers. [Sam Sawyer TM & ©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.; other characters & aspects of the film Casablanca TM & ©2003 the respective trademark and copyright holders.]

AYERS: Stan had started me on Daredevil. I’ve got a few of the penciled pages here. As I was getting started, in came John, and he needed work, and so Stan took me off it and gave it to him. When I saw what he did, his first Daredevil, I saw that he did a good job. [See p. 28.] RT: You did a Hulk or two, too. You just did one or two of them, I think—including the one where he was tied up in a chair, like in the real-life Black Panther trial. AYERS: Yeah, where John Severin inked. I think then Herb Trimpe picked up the book. RT: You drew that spaceman version of Captain Marvel, too, didn’t you? When he had the Saturn symbol on his chest? AYERS: Yeah. I didn’t care for that. Vinnie Colletta’s inking turned me off.

“This Is the Original Ghost Rider” RT: Vinnie inked your Ghost Rider, too, when you started it for Marvel, didn’t he? AYERS: Yeah, he’d take the drama out of it. I mean, you wrote the stuff. RT: Well, I was supposed to, but Stan wouldn’t let me, and Gary ended up doing it all. I just worked with Gary on the first plot or so. He named that Indian Flaming Star after one of Elvis’ movies. I was a big fan of Ghost Rider from when it first came out around 1949 from M.E. I loved the song, and I loved the comic book. [laughs]

Final page of Captain America #131 (Nov. 1970), with pencils by Colan, inks by Ayers, and script by Lee. Repro’d from a photocopy of the original (autographed) art courtesy of Richard Howell and the Howell/Kalish Collection. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Dick Ayers For the life of him, Roy couldn’t find a panel he’d written in the 1966 Sgt. Fury Annual (or anywhere else) that matched Dick’s description of all seven Howling Commandos each spouting his deathless dialogue as they climbed “the side of a mountain” on D-Day 1944 or at any other time in the dozen or so Fury issues the Rascally One scripted! But—at left, shot from photocopies of the original art from Sgt. Fury #11 (Oct. 1964), is an Ayers/Roussos sequence in which they are scaling a cliff while all seven yak away—only the script’s by Stan Lee, not R.T.! Thanks again to Richard Howell and the Howell/Kalish Collection. Also, for good measure, at right are two John Tartaglione-inked Ayers panels from the 1966 Annual Dick refers to: one in which a startled German soldier spots the Allied armada on the dawn horizon, just to show that Dick did indeed draw “all of the landing, the ships” —and another wherein, beneath a crushing caption, six of the Howlers are jabberin’ away on a D-Day beach, while the seventh, Gabriel Jones, blows trumpet. Roy did write that one—but he swears there was no U.S./British fleet in the background that he covered up with word balloons! [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

AYERS: Vinnie Colletta could be good, like one splash page of Kid Colt on a horse that he inked. Very good, the horse is, yeah. [See p.24.] RT: Vinnie had talent. But sometimes he’d take shortcuts, if he thought he could get away with it. AYERS: He used an eraser, yeah. RT: How did you feel about the fact that Marvel suddenly sort-of commandeered the original Ghost Rider in the late 1960s? AYERS: I was so tickled and pleased. Here I was, doing it again, and my mother-in-law, oh, she thought it was so terrific that I was doing it again. Then I read the indicia. It said Marvel owned the darn strip. Terrific! Oh, it was beautiful. Then they only did the seven issues and I went on to something else. And there was a period in the ’80s, when they had the museum in Fort Chester—the one that the cartoons were in?—and I was talking to Ron Goulart about The Ghost Rider. “Gee, I haven’t heard or seen Vin for maybe thirty years now.” “Oh, jeez, I’ll give you his phone number. Call him. He’d love to talk to you.” In the ’60s I thought Marvel owned Rex Fury and Sing Song [respectively, Ghost Rider’s alter ego and his Chinese sidekick]. But they just owned the title, and they didn’t tell me they just owned the title. Otherwise, I’d have drawn a different Ghost Rider, not the same Ghost Rider. But, we didn’t have Rex Fury or the Chinese guy any more, and these things had me scratching my head. RT: All I know is that, back in ’67 or so, Stan had really wanted the original Ghost Rider. I think he wanted him to look like the first Ghost Rider, though I doubt if he cared about Rex Fury or Sing Song. AYERS: Oh, okay. If I was making him happy.... RT: I think he wanted it partly because he had liked that book, and he thought, “Well, it’s an abandoned character”—but we couldn’t use some of the still-copyrighted material like Rex Fury, so we gave him a new secret identity.

“To Keep Busy as a Freelancer, You Should Have Three Accounts!”

Now it can be told—and seen! Here are Dick Ayers’ pencils (complete with margin notes) for page 5 of what might easily have become Daredevil #12 (Jan. 1966). Clearly, Stan had already given Dick the plot for that issue, the first after Wally Wood’s abrupt departure, when he decided instead to have John Romita—who had just returned to Marvel from DC—pencil and ink DD. Also seen here are panels from the printed Romita DD #12 which cover some of the same events. [Ayers art ©2003 Dick Ayers; printed art from Daredevil #12 ©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.; Daredevil TM & ©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

AYERS: I was so elated and happy to be drawing the thing again. But it just kind-of troubled me that it wasn’t Rex Fury and Sing Song. But if that’s the way you want it, that’s the way I do. RT: I have this vague recollection that, back when Marvel started its western Ghost Rider, they got a phone call from Vin Sullivan raising some kind of stink about it. AYERS: Well, Vin and I had lunch together a few years ago, and he said he had neglected to keep up the copyright, so Marvel was quick at that. They caught it like they caught the name “Captain Marvel.” RT: Of course, in cases like Captain Marvel and Daredevil, they made up new characters to go with old names, but I guess Stan wanted the look of the original Ghost Rider. AYERS: Look at Bill Black down there at AC Comics with The Haunted Horseman. And he just added the little nose to the mask, to make it look a little different. RT: That Ghost Rider has had so many names. Marvel called him both The Phantom Rider and The Night Rider. They didn’t want him confused with the new Ghost Rider that Gary Friedrich had made up, the guy with the flaming skull and the motorcycle.

The splash of The Incredible Hulk #153 (July 1972), penciled by Dick Ayers, is printed here from black-&-white Australian reprints provided by Shane Foley. Stan “asked” Roy to do a bit of rewriting on the controversial issue, which was inspired by the notorious real-life trial of several Black Panthers shortly before. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Dick Ayers

AYERS: I only did three stories for Marvel in ’75. One was twenty pages for Marvel Western Team-Up called “Death in the Devil’s Dungeon,” with Kid Colt. And then there was “The Revenge of Jesse James,” a seven-pager for Giant-Size Kid Colt. RT: By this stage, were you doing some work for DC? AYERS: No. At that point, I remember I walked into the little cubicle that Johnny Romita was in, and his wife Virginia was around. So I’m trying to tell him I’m not going to stay there any more, I’m quitting, getting out. And Virginia was going to start to come into the room, so I just shut the door and stood against it so she couldn’t come in. I was pretty steamed up. Well, everywhere I went, I never got any work. And so I ended up with a job as a security guard for General Foods. And I’m working there for some time, and one morning, after I’d taken my youngest son to high school, I’m reading the paper and there’s a picture of Jerry Robinson, Neal Adams, Joe Shuster, and Jerry Siegel. And they’re announcing that Warner Communications is finally recognizing Jerry and Joe, and they’re going to be getting a nice pension. I had not seen, or heard, or anything about Joe in so many years,

AYERS: They even had me do new stories of “The Phantom Rider” that appeared in reprints of what they called The Original Ghost Rider. I was doing that and I figure, by golly, the darn fools, they should tout that this is the original Ghost Rider in the back. But no, they never said that.

“That’s Not the Way It’s Supposed to Happen” RT: Did you feel frustrated, by the end of the ’60s, that you weren’t getting that much work to pencil—or, as long as you had Sgt. Fury, was that enough? AYERS: What really got me was in the 1970s, when they started the reprinting on Fury. One month would be a new story; the next month would be a reprint. On the new story I would be teamed up with Vinnie, and on the reprint the inking would be by John Severin. So I’m competing with myself! I wasn’t making enough to support myself. It was bad. I was keeping track of all that because they sent me complimentary copies. And I would send Marvel bills. I’d say, “Hey, you’re reprinting my work! Pay me!” And I never got nothing that way. [Production manager] John Verpoorten looks at me and he says, “Well, your old stuff sells as good as your new stuff.” And that’s all they were giving me, Sgt. Fury every other month. I’ve got it here in my records that almost the very last story that I got to do for Marvel was one I think you wrote. The Invaders? RT: Oh, right! Invaders #5. Rich Buckler started penciling it, then left after a few pages, and you finished the issue. It worked out pretty well.

In Marvel’s Ghost Rider #2 (April 1967), He Who Rides the Night Winds battled a western outlaw called Tarantula years before the Spider-Man foe came along, as per this page repro’d from a photocopy of the original art sent by Rich Howell from the Howell/Kalish Collection. ’Course, before too long, there’d be a new Ghost Rider, as well! Pencils by Ayers, inks by Colletta, script by Friedrich. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

“To Keep Busy as a Freelancer, You Should Have Three Accounts!” The alter ego (you should excuse the expression) of the original Magazine Enterprises Ghost Rider was Marshal Rex Fury (at left), once known as The Calico Kid—but, for legal reasons, the other identity of Marvel’s haunted horseman (and Bill Black of AC Comics should excuse that expression!) was the contemplative frontier schoolteacher Carter Slade in the two panels below them. Dick Ayers drew both versions, though Vince Colletta inked Marvel’s GR #3 (June 1967). Photocopy of original M.E. art is courtesy of collector Ethan Roberts; the Marvel panels are from Ye Editor’s bound volumes. And if you don’t know why scripter Gary Friedrich called Carter’s fellow pedagogue “Miss Brooks,” you’re a whole lot younger than he and Roy—but then, who isn’t? [M.E. art ©2003 the respective copyright holders; Marvel art ©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

since the late ’40s on Funnyman, so I called up Neal— that’s the one person I knew— and I said, “Give me Joe’s phone number. I’d like to call him and congratulate him.” Neal gave me a phone number, and he said, “By the way, I haven’t seen any of your work lately. What are you doing?” I told him I was a security guard. “Jesus!” he said. “You come in and you see me.” I went in and he said, “Now you go up to DC, and you see [production head] Sol Harrison.”

AYERS: Yup. And then we had a good one going with War Is Hell [See p. 33.]. The main character, the protagonist—in one story, he could be a nurse in World War I, even a female nurse. In another story he could be a soldier of fortune. In other words, it’d be a different person, but it would be the same guy, learning that war is hell. I think we did about three stories. Tony and I developed it a bit, because I never got to do the girl nurse. But I liked the idea that it didn’t have to be one particular sex. There was a TV show with Scott Bakula later that did the same thing.

And I took my portfolio to DC, and Sol says, “I don’t have to look at your portfolio. I know what your work looks like. I’ll go get you a script.” So I’m all happy. He goes out and then he comes back and says, “Gee, Dick, I haven’t got anything I can give you right now. Call me in two weeks.” “Oh, okay.” I report back to Neal, and Neal says, “You wait here. That’s not the way it’s supposed to happen.” He left, and when he came back, he had made an appointment for me to see [DC editor] Joe Orlando.” Joe took me in his office, shut the door, sat down, and talked to me for a while. He said, “Gee, you know, you got your head on straight. I don’t know what the hell all the talk is about. They kept saying you’re sick.” RT: I never heard that one. “Sick”? But that’s a great thing Neal did for you. AYERS: Yeah. Joe Orlando said, “I’m going to give you a book.” And he gave me Kamandi. He said, “Gee, I wish I had a western to give you.” That came later; I got some Jonah Hex and Scalphunter. I got Freedom Fighters, too. Alfredo Alcala inked some of the Kamandi. I loved his work.

“Now Don’t You Talk about Sgt. Fury!” RT: One thing I didn’t ask before—around 1970, when Sol Brodsky left Marvel to co-found Skywald with Israel Waldman, you did some work for them, didn’t you? AYERS: Yeah, I did The Sundance Kid. [See p. 32.] RT: But you didn’t do that much for Skywald, because they weren’t in business long—and a lot of their stuff was reprint, too. AYERS: But they came at a good time, oh, boy. RT: Before you left Marvel, you had also done that “It” series with [writer] Tony Isabella, which featured Jack Kirby’s Colossus character. Remember that giant?

Dick only got to pencil one Timely romance story back in the 1950s, but in Our Love Story #21 he inked one penciled by John Buscema. By then, apparently, Marvel letterers (uncredited on the romance mags) had forgotten how to spell his name! Thanks to Richard Howell and the Howell/Kalish Collection. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Dick Ayers

AYERS: Then there’s a panel I was on where—jeez, what’s his name? The old-timer that invented—over at DC, that you worked for—? RT: Julie Schwartz? AYERS: Julius Schwartz! How could I forget that name? When I was out in San Diego on the “Big Five ” war comics panel I mentioned earlier, he was sitting next to me and he whispered to me, “Now, don’t you talk about Sgt. Fury,” because this was all about DC’s main five war titles. RT: [laughs] I’m surprised Julie knew who Sgt. Fury was! You never drew any “War That Time Forgot,” stories with the dinosaurs, did you? AYERS: No, unfortunately, I didn’t. I didn’t like drawing dinosaurs, although I had fun with them a couple of times, like with my Human Torch in the 1950s.

“I’m Kept Pretty Busy for an Old Guy” RT: A couple of years ago, when you and I did the first part of this interview, you mentioned an upcoming art exhibit. Did it happen?

One of Dick Ayers’ last assignments for Marvel was The Invaders #5 (March 1976), whose first three pages had been penciled by Rich Buckler. Inks by Jim Mooney, script by Roy Thomas. Thanks to Bob Millikin. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

RT: Of course, “Deadman” had some of that first. He could take over people’s bodies, though I don’t think they had him commandeer women. That might have been a little too far-out for those days. [laughs] You also did Freedom Fighters, a group of Golden Age Quality Comics heroes.

AYERS: It did, a little over a year ago. I wouldn’t ship my art to the museum—really, a library galleria—because it was over a hundred framed pieces. So the curator came down in a station wagon with his two sons, a 300-mile round trip, and he promised me he would bring it back personally. Well, he’s up there and he had it for about two months, and what happened was, he got fired. So I had to call them up and tell them he had a contract to bring it back to me. Well, they sent it packed in big cardboard boxes, and each one weighed 150 pounds. When the stuff comes in, I’m upstairs—I work

AYERS: Yeah, I took that over from Ramona Fradon, about the seventh issue. I think I went to about #15 or so. [See p. 33.] RT: You drew the issues that had homages to the Torch, Captain America, and Sub-Mariner. Tony Isabella and I were going to parody each other’s characters, each using a group named “The Crusaders,” though Tony edited only a final panel of the DC issue in which they were introduced, then left the book to others. For some reason, of the Quality heroes, I only had Human Bomb, Phantom Lady, and Doll Man types in my Crusaders group, in The Invaders.

Once again, when he began working for DC in the latter 1970s, it was Dick’s destiny to draw a hero designed by Jack Kirby. In Kamandi #56 (March-April 1978), the Last Boy on Earth faced the usual mutated beasties; but in the page at right, inked by Alfredo Alcala, Kamandi roamed through parallel Earths—including those on which two Flashes and a renegade Johnny Quick did their super-fast thing. Both pages repro’d from photocopies of the original art provided by Dick himself. [©2003 DC Comics.]

“To Keep Busy as a Freelancer, You Should Have Three Accounts!” Turns out that Brian K. Morris, who ably transcribed the majority of this interview, is a knowledgeable Ayers fan. He reminds us that Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid—forever linked in the public mind by the classic Paul Newman/Robert Redford film—both had their own comics titles at the Israel Waldman/Sol Brodsky company Skywald from June through Sept.-Oct. of 1971. Butch Cassidy was written by Gary Friedrich, with Dick penciling a couple of its covers and Tom Sutton most of the interiors. The cover of The Sundance Kid #1 (at left) was inked by none other than John Severin. Doubtless “Jolly Solly” Brodsky, Golden Age artist who had been Stan Lee’s production manager from the mid-’60s through 1970, was responsible for hiring so many Marvel alumni at Skywald. Oddly, Brian says, Butch Cassidy #2 reprinted a “Whip Wilson” story that had originally appeared in a Timely mag circa 1950, and he sent us a scan of the splash. And indeed, Roy Thomas recalls hearing rumors in 1971 of a heated confrontation between Waldman and Martin Goodman in the Marvel publisher’s office, from which Waldman was said to have exited looking quite abashed, having reportedly been accused of using Timely reprints to which he had no rights and threatened with legal action. Brian tells us Dick Ayers also did some work in Skywald’s Sundance Kid, with John Tartaglione inking and Len Wein scripting (as per this page from #3, below right). Incidentally, Butch and Sundance were finally allowed to meet—in the third issue of Butch Cassidy. Thanks for the art and info, Brian! [Art this page ©2003 the respective copyright holders.]

in the room over the garage—and I’m starting to run down the stairs to open the door, and they just dumped these two boxes down there, and they were all smashed. Oh, and they were packed with nothing protecting the art—just stuck into garbage bags inside the boxes. You know, those Hefty bags? Oh, it was a headache! So boy, I got on the phone, and the third box came as it should have come. But to collect from the express company for that—oh, my God! The museum didn’t even insure it, so the express company only gave them a hundred bucks. They finally settled with me for about two thousand. Now, I’m dead on museums. RT: I can see why. Well, since Alter Ego’s franchise is roughly through about the mid-1970s or so, this is probably the point where we ought to quit, although obviously you’ve done a lot of work since the ’70s. But I do want to ask about what you’re doing these days in terms of artwork. I know you do commissions, either re-creations or new drawings of some of the characters you worked on. Who do you get the most requests for in commission drawings? AYERS: It goes in spurts. I get Sgt. Fury a lot. And Ghost Rider. But what surprises me is that fans ask me to do characters like Spider-Man, even though I only did a couple of comics with him. But when [my wife] Lindy gets a little bit annoyed, she says, “Don’t they realize you worked for DC, too?” Well, I have gotten requests for some Unknown Soldier drawings. I’m going along pretty good now. I’m kept pretty busy for an old guy. You know, I’ve got three great-grandchildren. One was just born in June. The great-grandchildren are the fifteenth generation of the Ayers family in the U.S.—or, not in the U.S., in “the Colonies.” The first couple of Ayerses, as man and wife, lived in Newberry, Massachusetts. They settled in 1635. Now, in 1680 —which is what, a couple of generations later—the family, two of them, came in with nine other families. They came down into Jersey in a wagon train and they

settled. And the town is named after Reverend Woodbridge, who had led them. So it’s Woodbridge, New Jersey. So now it begins, my Ayers family, in the 1700s, in New Jersey. And they got to own a hell of a lot. But then, all of a sudden, it just started to disappear, through the generations, all sold off, man-per-man, up to the Depression, and I end up with nothing. But at one point there was so much. I’d go out to Baskin Ridge, New Jersey, and my God, half the town was once owned by an Ayers. And I’ve got the indentures through the bank for all these places, and they’re like mortgages there, and it’s this old stuff. RT: Not worth too much any more. AYERS: No. Nice to have copies of the deeds, though. Oh, and you know Willard Scott, the TV weather guy? He’s putting together a book, and he wrote to me as a celebrity. He said, “The name of my book is to the effect that if I had known my grandchildren were going to be so much fun, I would have had them sooner.” It’s not that long, but it means that. And he said, “I’d appreciate it if you would write a nice, short memory of what you’ve done with your grandchild that was so much fun.” I wasn’t going to do it, but Lindy says, “You’ve got to do this!” So I sat down and I wrote about how I had taken my first grandchild, my little red-headed Lauren, on my way to deliver some work to DC. We were going to go see the Radio City Christmas Show.

Dick Ayers

Here’s an instance of what Dick means when he says, “I was competing with myself!” in his last few years at Marvel. In 1974 Marvel editor-in-chief Roy Thomas asked writer Tony Isabella to develop a new series for Dick to pencil; the result was the feature that took its name from the previously all-reprint comic in which it appeared: War Is Hell. This imaginative “origin story” from #9 (Oct. ’74)—see pages above and right—was inked by Frank Springer and scripted/co-plotted by a relative newcomer named Chris Claremont. Previous issues had consisted of reprints from Timely war mags, such as the 1951 Ayers-drawn Korean War story at left, which became the lead story in War Is Hell #1 (Jan. 1973). War Is Hell #7-8 even reprinted complete Ayers issues of Sgt. Fury! Thanks to Brian K. Morris for the scans and some of the above info. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

So in Manhattan I get into a taxi with Lauren and I say, “Lauren, look at the buildings.” And she says, “Look at the people!” And the taxi driver says, “Boy, that little girl knows what’s important!” [laughs] I hand-lettered the story, and the packager e-mailed me back, “Oh, would you do an illustration?” So I did a drawing, a profile of me drawing a super-hero at the drawing table, and lined up around me are all my grandchildren as little kids. There’s seven of them. And then Lindy sees what I’m drawing and says, “You know, I took part in that, too.” [laughs] So I made a doorway with just her in it. I don’t know if the book will be out in 2003 or 2004, but it’s the cutest thing!

Freedom Fighters #8 (May-June 1977) spotlighted The Crusaders, a resuscitated if mythical World War II super-hero group that looks... a bit familiar, somehow. Its roll call included the shield-slinging Americommando and his young ally Rusty, the sub-sea Barracuda, and the red-hot Fireball and Sparky. The latter four turned out to be transmogrified versions of recent-and-current Marvel editors-in-chief— Len Wein, Marv Wolfman, Archie Goodwin, and Roy Thomas—while Americommando was actually the villainous Silver Ghost. Pencils by Dick Ayers, inks by Jack Abel, script by Bob Rozakis. Thanks yet again to Brian K. Morris. [©2003 DC Comics.]

“To Keep Busy as a Freelancer, You Should Have Three Accounts!”

Like the Energizer Bunny, Dick Ayers never quits! Above, he gets together with three colleagues at a 2001 New York comicon. (Standing, l. to r.:) Joe Simon and Dick; (sitting, l. to r.) Irwin Hasen and Dan DeCarlo. And at left, courtesy of Cynthia Celeste Miller, sneak a peek at Dick’s spanking-new cover drawing for Omnivex, a 120-page book featuring a complete “Silver Age super-hero universe” which is due to be released in February 2004 (like, two months from now, tops!). It can be purchased for $22.95 at <www.zmangames.com>. Give the website a holler! [©2003 Z-Man Games, Inc.]

In the past decade-plus, Dick has occasionally done new art for Bill Black’s AC Comics, including new tales of a certain spectral, white-garbed western hero called “The Haunted Horseman,” as per the splash panel above from that company’s Best of the West #31 (2002); we printed another new “HH” splash in A/E V3#6’s coverage of Vin Sullivan’s Magazine Enterprises. At right is Dick’s 1991 cover (inked by Bill) for an all-new issue of Fem Force, which Dick says might be the first thing he ever did for AC. These illos prove that the Darlin’ One can still draw a sexy lady with the best of ’em! [©2003 AC Comics.]

Dick Ayers

A DICK AYERS CHECKLIST [NOTE: Thanks to Jerry G. Bails, A/E founder and editor emeritus, for providing information from the online Who’s Who in TwentiethCentury American Comic Books, which can be accessed via the Grand Comic Book Database at www.comics.org; see the GCD’s ad elsewhere in this issue. The following is an abridged version of the Who’s Who listing, some of whose information was provided directly by Ayers. Additions or corrections to this list are invited.] Full Name & Date of Birth: Richard Bache Ayers (b. 1924) (a.k.a. Airz Arby, or R.B.] Education: Art Career School (NYC); Cartoonists and Illustrators School; School of Visual Arts Influences: Milt Caniff, Burne Hogarth Teacher: Adult education 1974-76 & 1983; Guggenheim Museum 1972; Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Arts, 1977-78 Honor: National Cartoonists Society—nominated as Outstanding Comic Book Cartoonist (3 years) Syndicated Credits: Funnyman—assist ghost-penciling, 1947. MAINSTREAM U.S. COMIC BOOK CREDITS (“(a)” = full art; “(p)” = penciler; “(i)” = inker; “(w)” = writer: Ace Periodicals: horror (a) 1953 American Comics Group: horror (a) 1953 Archie Comics Publications: The Adventures of The Fly (p. 1959); Black Hood, Crusaders, The Fly, The Fox, Mantech, Original Shield, Steel Sterling, 1984; covers 1983-84 Charlton Comics (incl. precursors Charles/Levy/Frank Comunale): crime (a) 1953; Crime and Justice (a) 1954; Eh! (a) 1953-55; horror (a) 153-55 DC Comics (and affiliated companies & imprints): All about: [Weapons] (w/a) 1979; All Out War (p) 1979-80; Army at War (p) 1980; Black Eagle (p) 1979-80; Codename: Gravedigger (p) 1978-80; covers (p) 1979-84; The Deserter (p) 1978; Dr. Light (p) 1977; El Diablo (p) 1982-83; Elvira’s House of Mystery (p) 1986; fillers (a) 1978-82; Freedom Fighters (p) 1977-78; G.I. Combat (p, some i & w), 1977-79, 1981-83, 1985; Ghosts (p) 1979-83; Gravedigger (p) 197880; Haunted Tank (p/i) 1979-82; House of Mystery (p) 1981; Jonah Hex (p) 1979-84; Kamandi (p) 1976-78; Mademoiselle Marie (p) 1978, 1981; Private Life of a Tanker (a) 1977; The Ruptured Duck (p) 1980-81, Sgt. Rock (p) 1978-81; Star Spangled War Stories (p) 1977; Time Warp (p) 1980; The Unexpected (p) 1980-82; Unknown Soldier (1977-82; WeirdWar Tales (p) 1977-80; Who’s Who in the DC Universe (p) 1985; The Witching Hour (p) 1978; Women at War (p) 1977-78, Wonder Woman (p) 1978

Another “war comic” drawn (penciled, inked, and lettered) by Dick Ayers in the 1970s was Attack!—the biography of Mitsuo Fucida, “[Imperial] Japan’s number one aviator,” who took part in the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on American forces at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and eventually became a Christian convert. This comic was published in 1975 under the Spire Christian Comics banner, with a script by Al Hartley. [©2003 Fleming H. Revell Company.]

Fago Comics: Atom-Age Combat and Tense Suspense (a) 1958 Family/Crestwood/Headline/Prize: Black Magic (a) 1960-61; humor (a) 1950s-60s; romance (a) 1961; Sick (a) 1963 Harvey/Family & precursors: Alarming Adventures (a) 1962-63; Bee-Man, Jigsaw, & Spyman (a) 1966 Major Magazines & related companies: Cracked (a) 1989

Marvel/Timely: Adventure into Mystery (a) 1957; Adventures into Terror (a) 1952-54; Adventures into Weird Worlds (a) 1952, 1954; Amazing Adventures (i) 1961; The Angel (1970-71), Ant-Man (i) 196263, Astonishing (a) 1952-53, 1955-47; Avengers (i) 1963-66, 1976; Battle (a) 1953, 1955-56, 1958-59; Battle Action (a) 1954-56; Battlefield (a) 1953; Battlefront (a) 1954-57; Battleground (a) 1955-57; Battleship Burke (a) 1957; Black Rider (a) 1954; Buzz Brand (a) 1953; Captain America (i) 1965-66, 1970-71; Captain Marvel (p) 1969; Captain Savage (p) 1968-70; Chamber of Darkness (a) 1970; Cliff Mason (a) 1955; Combat Casey (a) 1957; Combat Kelly (p) 1972-73; Cookie (a) 1954; covers (a) 1954, 1959-73; Cowboy Action (a) 1955-56; A commission drawing of one of DC’s weirder war heroes. Crazy (a) 1954; Daredevil (i) 1966-67; Denny (a) 1954; Dr. Blake Bell, who sent us the scan, said it was an auction piece Droom (i) 1961; Dracula (i) 1974; Fantastic Four (i) 1961-63, at the 2001 San Diego Comic-Con. It, and lots more art, can 1981; Frontier Western (a) 1956-57; G.I. Tales (a) 1957; Ghost be seen on one of Blake’s several informative comic art Rider and Gunhawk (a) 1971; Ghost Rider (p/some i) 1967, websites, under <www.interlog.com/~ditko37/sd/ayers>. 1970-72; Giant-Man (a) 1967, 1971; Gunhawk (i) 1971; [Art © Dick Ayers; Unknown Soldier TM & ©2003 DC Comics.]

“To Keep Busy as a Freelancer, You Should Have Three Accounts!”

Gunhawks (p) 1973; Gunsmoke Western Comics (alternate and joint publishers): (a) 1956-57, 1961-63; Hercules (i) 1970; AC/Americomics: Calico Kid (a) 1992 Human Torch (a) 1954, 1962-65; (reprint); The Claw (p) 1992; covers (p) Incredible Hulk (i/some p) 1962-66, 1991-92; Femforce (p) 1991-92; Haunted 1969, 1971-72; Invaders (p) 1976; Iron Horseman (a) reprint from M.E.; Man (i) 1963-65, 1975; It, the Living Nightveil’s Cauldron of Horror (a) 1991; Colossus (a) 1973-74; Journey into Presto Kid (a) 1992 reprint; Red Devil (p) Mystery (a) 1952, 1954-56, (i) 1960-62; 1992; Tara (a) 1992; text pieces (w) 1992; Journey into Unknown Worlds (a) 1952, Thun’da (re-inked) 1989 reprint 1954-56; Justice Comics (a) 1954; Kid Colt (a) 1954-56, 1958, 1960-62, 1967, Comico: pin-ups (a) 1988; The Trouble 1975; Marines in Action (a) 1955; with Girls (i) 1989 Marines in Battle (a) 1954-58; Marvel Universe (p) 1987; Masters of the Revolutionary Comics: Joe Montana Universe (p) 1987; Matt Slade Story (a) c. 1981; Mickey Mantle (a) 1992 Gunfighter (a) 1956; Men in Action (a) Solson, et al.: [specifics unknown] 1952; Men’s Adventures (a) 1953-54; Mighty Marvel Western (a) 1972; Comics Credits (Small Press): Mystery Tales (a) 1952-55, 1957; Mystical Modern Publishing, Voltron (a) 1984-86 Tales (a) 1956-57; Mystic (a) 1952-53, 1955-56; Navy Action (a) 1955; Navy Advertising, Promotional, etc.: Tandy Combat (a) 1955, 1957; Nick Fury, Computer Whiz Kids (cover/p) 1985, 1987 Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (i) 1965; Outlaw for Radio Shack; TRS-80 Computer Whiz Although we featured one of Dick and Lindy Ayers’ Fighters (a) 1955; Outlaw Kid (a) 1956Kids (cover/p) 1984 for Radio Shack (both Christmas cards on our flip side, Dick also sent us this 2001 57, (p) 1972-73; Police Action (a) 1954; through Archie) drawing. There’s a hilarious story behind it—but it’s one Quick-Trigger Western (a) 1956-57; that’ll have to wait for another time! So—Merry Christmas! [Also various coloring and lettering credits, Rawhide Kid (p/i) 1956-58, 1960-62, [Art ©2003 Dick Ayers.] fan-trade publications, fanzines—including 1967, 1972, (a) 1960-64; Red Wolf (p) cover for Alter Ego V3#10 and #31] 1973; Ringo Kid (a) 1955-56; Rugged Action (a) 1955; Savage Tales (a) 1986; Secret Story Romances (a) 1954; Sgt. Barney Barker (a) 1954, [List updated by Dick Ayers via Jim Amash in July 2003] 1956; Sgt. Fury (p/some i/some w) 1963-74; Six-Gun Western (a) 1957; Spellbound (a) 1952-56; Strange Stories of Suspense (a) 1955-57; [Check out Dick Ayers’ e-mailing list, moderated by Paul Strange Tales (p/some i) 1952-62; Strange Tales (a) 1959; Sub-Mariner Stefanowicz, at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ayers.1] (i) 1966; Suspense (a) 1952; Tales of Suspense (i/some p) 1959-62; Tales of the Zombie (p) 1974; Tales to Astonish (i/some p) 1951-52, 1960, 1962), Thing and Human Torch (p) 1964, (a) 1965; Thor (i) 1962-63, 1992; Two-Gun Kid (p/i) 1954, 1961-68, (a) 1955, 1957, 1959; Two-Gun Western (a) 1956-57; Uncanny Tales (a) 1952-56, War Adventures (a) 1952; War Comics (a) 1953-57; War Is Hell (p) 1974; Western Kid (a) 1955; Western Outlaws (a) 1954-57; Wild Western (a) 1956-57; Wild (a) 1954; World of Fantasy (a) 1956-57; World of Mystery (a) 1956-57; Worlds Unknown (p) 1974; Wyatt Earp (a) 1957-60, X-Men (i) 1965-67 Mayfair Publications: National Crumb (a) 1975 Magazine Enterprises/Sussex: The Avenger (a) 1954; Badmen of the West (a) 1954-54; Bobby Benson (w/a) 1952-53; Calico Kid (a) 1949; covers (a) 1948-56; Cowboys and Indians (a) 1948; Funnyman (p) 1948; Ghost Rider (a) 1949-54; Jimmy Durante (a) 1948; Jolly Jim Dandy (a) 1955-57; Presto Kid (a) 1954-56; Straight Arrow (a) 1951; Western Range Book (a) 1949-50 Myron Fass/Countrywide/M.F. Enterprises, et al.: [specifics unknown at this date] Skywald: Sundance Kid (p) 1971; Wild Bunch (p) 1971 Spire Christian: Attack & covers (a) 1975 St. John/Jubilee: Do You Believe in Nightmares? (a) 1957 Stanmor, et al.: horror (a) 1950-51 Topps Comics: Bombast (a) 1993; Dracula vs. Zorro (cover) (i) 1993 Tower Comics: Menthor (p) 1968, NoMan (p) 1966 Comics in other publications: anti-drug tales for Boy’s Life, 1989, comics for adult education (w/a) 1974+

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt

“Horror’s Missing Link!” (Part 1) by Michael T. Gilbert Maybe you already know the story. Horror comics rile up censors in the early ’50s. Comic book publishers get skittish, so in 1955 they form the Comics Code. Soon things quiet down. Crime and hardcore horror comics are banned. For the next decade, fans of gruesome horror comics must settle for timid post-Code “mystery” books. ACG’s Forbidden Worlds, Marvel’s Strange Tales, or DC’s House of Mystery are a far cry from EC’s ghastly Tales from the Crypt. But when Jim Warren publishes Creepy magazine in 1964, he cracks the Code wide open. Warren sidesteps the restrictive Comics Code by targeting his new black-&-white horror comic to adults rather than kids. Within a year, he launches a companion title, Eerie, which racks up respectable sales. In the wake of Warren’s success, cheap knock-offs like Shock, Weird, and Psycho spring up like weeds around a haunted house. These magazines duplicate the format (if not the quality!) of early Warren horror magazines. Later, even Marvel gets into the act, publishing a raft of black-&white horror magazines, and some non-code super-hero and barbarian titles. Eventually, a tidal wave of black-and-white magazines, pro-zines, graphic novels, and underground comix make the Comics Code all but irrelevant. And all because of Creepy #1—the first horror comic since 1955 to defy the Code! It’s a great story. But it just isn’t true. Certainly the “the first horror comic since 1955 to defy the Comics Code” part isn’t true. Weird Mysteries, an all-but-forgotten black-&white magazine, holds that honor. Cover-dated March 1959, its first issue hit sported a handsome George Tuska cover painting and a hefty 35¢ price tag. That was quite a sum back then, but not a bad deal when you consider that the magazine had 12 comic book tales, two text stories, and a few assorted pin-ups, gags, and title pages in its 64 pages. The book starred Morgue’n the Morgue Keeper, a ghoulish horror host who introduced EC-style “snap-ending” stories starring werewolves, vampires, and even that real-life monster, Hitler!

Weird Mysteries

64 pages plus covers Cover: George Tuska Morgue’n intro (1 page): Carl Burgos “The Puzzle” (2 pages): Paul Reinman ”Change My Face” (4 pages): George Tuska “Must I Die Again?” (3 pages): Paul Reinman “From Fear To Eternity!” (4 pages): Angelo Torres “A Good Daughter“ (3 pages): Joe Orlando “The Ragman” (4 pages): George Tuska “Sick Greeting Cards” (2 pages of gags): Unknown “The Corpse Talks Back!” (6 text pages, with illo): Unknown “Strange Thirst” (4 pages): Paul Reinman “Twin Bads” (3 pages): Paul Reinman “A Shriek In The Night” (3 pages): Carl Burgos “Easy Dies It” (4 pages): Carl Burgos Cartoon (1 page): Unknown “Flip Fairy Tale” (3 pages): Paul Reinman “Capital Punishment” (4 pages): George Tuska “Over The Wall” (5 text pages): Unknown “Still Sick Man?” (1 text page of sick jokes): Unknown

“Horror’s Missing Link!”

Eerie Tales, a 48-page companion magazine, followed six months later. It was slightly more compact (8" x 10H" compared to Weird Mysteries’ 8H" x 10I"), but ten cents cheaper. Still, 25¢ for ten comic book stories was a bargain. Crime stories swiped from EC’s Shock SuspenStories and Crime SuspenStories were also part of the mix. Both titles only lasted one issue. Interestingly, Eerie Tales was credited to Hastings Associates, Inc., 24 W. 45th St., New York 36, N.Y., while Weird Mysteries has Pastime Publications, Inc., 1 Appleton St., Holyoke, Mass. listed on the indicia. Nonetheless, the two almost certainly came out of the same studio. Both titles have similar painted covers, typeset balloon-lettering, and even the same horror host—good ol’ Morgue’n! This suggests that Eerie Tales may have originally been planned as the second issue of Weird Mysteries before a last-minute title change. The production values of Weird Mysteries and Eerie Tales were minimal at best. Crooked pages and slapdash, misplaced type are the norm. The 64-page Weird Mysteries only has 44 pages of actual comic book stories. Text pieces and cartoons (possibly Cracked rejects) pad out the remaining 16 pages. One 5-page Bob Powell story was even chopped up and crudely reworked to fill 6 pages! It’s likely that Weird Mysteries was planned as a 48-page magazine and expanded at the last minute. Still, the stories are fun, and there’s some nice art inside. Weird Mysteries was aimed at a more adult audience, judging by ads for Brigitte Bardot stag-movie photos and books like The Love Life of the Modern Homo Sapiens and An Unhurried View of Erotica. The discerning reader could even order a nifty .22 caliber pistol. What fun! There are also invitations to “Learn Radio-TV Servicing,” to train as “Heavy Equipment Operating Engineers” or to “Make Your Career with Airlines!” And naturally, no true comic book would be complete without an offer to “Add 3 Inches of Solid Steel to Your Arms!” By contrast, Eerie Tales seemed to target a somewhat younger audience, with ads for a “Life Size Giant Moon Monster” and offers for “200 Toys and Games!” We’ve already noted the similarities between Weird Mysteries, Eerie Tales, and Warren’s Creepy and Eerie. This isn’t surprising, since each patterned their magazines on the old EC horror comics. All four titles featured wisecracking horror hosts and EC-style “twist-ending” stories, sometimes scripted by actual EC writers.

An uncredited Carl Wessler is believed to have rewritten some of his EC tales for Hastings/Pastime. 1954’s “My Brother’s Keeper” (Shock SuspenStories #16) became Weird Mysteries’ “Capital Punishment” five years later. Wessler’s “Food For Thought” (Crime SuspenStories #24) gets transformed into “Lower Than Hell” for Eerie Tales, and so on. Such plot-recycling wasn’t unusual. Both Wessler and fellow EC scripter Jack Oleck often rewrote their stories for companies like Crestwood in the 1950s and, decades later, for DC.

Eerie Tales

48 pages plus covers Cover: George Tuska? “The Stalker” (4 pages): Gray Morrow “The Unbeliever” (6 pages): Bob Powell “Gunk” (5 pages): George Tuska “Shocked To Death!” (3 pages): Paul Reinman “The Suckspect!” (3 pages): Bob Powell “From the Greyble To The Grave!” (5 pages): Angelo Torres “Burn!” (4 pages): Gray Morrow “Little Miss Gruesome” (5 pages): Paul Reinman “Shroud Number Nine” (4 pages): Ken Battefield “Lower Than Hell!” (4 pages): Al Williamson “Frozen Stiff” (3 text pages, “Continued Next Issue”): No art. [Please note that both Weird Mysteries and Eerie Tales lacked creator credits, so we can’t guarantee that the above listings are 100% accurate. In a few cases, some stories were retouched in-house or drawn with the help of assistants, making a positive identification difficult. Powell’s “The Suckspect” and Morrow’s “Burn” both fall into these categories. However, most had easily identifiable styles or were signed by the artist. The more questionable stories were reviewed by a panel of comic art experts including Hames Ware, Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr., and Dr. Michael J. Vassallo. Our sincere thanks for their help.]

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt

(Above:) Check out the tiny title below Angelo Torres’ Morgue’n intro illustration. Great production values, eh? Hmm! I suppose sticking the story’s title inside the banner (where it’s supposed to be!) would have been too simple! [©2003 the respective copyright holders.] (Top right and middle right:) Twice-told Tales: Carl Wessler’s EC story “Food For Thought” (Crime SuspenStories #24, Sept. 1954) becomes “Lower Than Hell” (Eerie Tales, Nov. 1959). Joe Orlando drew the original for EC (above), and Al Williamson did the later one (below).

“Horror’s Missing Link!” Continuing the EC link, Warren and Hastings both hired former EC artists Al Williamson, Angelo Torres, and Joe Orlando. Hastings’ magazines also featured several Atlas artists, including Bob Powell, Carl Burgos, Gray Morrow, Paul Reinman, and George Tuska.

Both publishers owe another huge debt to EC. All four magazines shared the same oversized black-&-white magazine format pioneered by Mad in July 1955, when Bill Gaines converted the 10¢ color comic into a 64-page 25¢ magazine. This turned out to be an exceptional stroke of good timing on EC’s part. The move to magazine size allowed Mad to escape the restrictions of the newly-formed Comics Code. EC then tried a similar end-run with their short-lived Picto-Fiction line, with less success. Though Shock Illustrated, Confessions Illustrated, and Crime Illustrated’s talented artists took full advantage of the larger black-&-white format, the books failed to sell. None of the titles lasted more than three issues, due to distribution problems, but it was a bold experiment.

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

MGILBERT@EFN.ORG

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

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt

A fourth Picto-title, Terror Illustrated, came within a bat’s bite of capturing the “first horror comic book magazine” honors. However, like Mad magazine, the Pictos weren’t technically comic books at all, but rather copiously-illustrated prose stories featuring typeset blocks of text instead of word balloons and captions. So, by default, Weird Mysteries took the title. When the Picto-Fiction books died, other teen-friendly magazines took their place. In the late ’50s, a torrent of humor and movie-monster titles flooded the market, inspired by the success of Mad magazine and classic Universal horror films newly released into syndication to local TV stations. Operating under the Shock Theater title, a number of stations in different parts of the country hired their own wisecracking horror hosts to introduce the musty movies, much as The Crypt Keeper and The Old Witch had done years earlier in the comics. Shock Theater was launched in 1957 and took off like a rocket. A year later, Forrest J. Ackerman created Warren’s Famous Monsters of Filmland to cash in on the horror craze. Forry’s formula of old horror movie stills mixed with pun-filled articles proved highly popular with the kids. A host of similar magazines followed. Less successful were the legions of Mad magazine knock-offs like Frenzy, Zany, and Panic, which generally lasted only a few issues. These, as well as the monster magazines, all had the same physical

format as Weird Mysteries and Eerie Tales. They also shared a similar “black-humor” approach to the material. Comic scholar Mike Feldman comments on their connection to Weird Mysteries and Eerie Tales: “The two horror magazines [Weird Mysteries and Eerie Tales] were almost unquestionably put together by one of those fly-bynighters who did a whole whack of Mad imitation mags in ’58-’59— there were at least half a dozen titles. They were likely putting this new project together when [disappointing] sales reports came in—and the distributors dropped them all in ’59—except for Cracked. It would probably be easy to spot which company, by comparing some of these with the two horror ones.” So who exactly was the unknown mastermind behind Weird Mysteries and Eerie Tales? Well, the surprising answer is… Yipes! Looks like we’re out of room. Talk about a shock ending! Well, don’t worry. We’ll be back next issue to reveal more weird mysteries behind… 0! See you then! Till next time…

Joe Orlando drew the page at left from “Sure-Fire Scheme” (Terror Illustrated #1) for EC in 1955–– and then followed up four years later with “A Good Daughter” for Weird Mysteries. [©2003 William Gaines Agent.]

Shel Dorf

The Detroit Triple Fan Fair —And How It Came To Be

A Fond Look Back at the Predecessor of the San Diego Comic-Con —by the Guy Who Helped Launch Both of ’Em! by Shel Dorf

[A/E EDITOR’S NOTE: In 1970 Shel Dorf and several comics fans from Southern California inaugurated the San Diego Comic-Con, which in time would dwarf all other U.S. comics conventions in size and scope. But this was only the second legendary con that he helped to found. The first had been birthed in Detroit, Michigan, five years earlier. And here, in Shel’s own words, is its story:]

Tom Altschuler and His Amazing Bookstore Nowadays, kids are born into a world where comics conventions are an established thing. It wasn’t always that way. This is how I remember it in those early days of the mid-1960s. Many comics fans are solitary souls. Reading a comic is a oneperson job. Just the creators and us. But there is a time when we learn to communicate with others of our kind.

Guide mags. Paperback books were there, too, but not many of them. There were also some movie magazines and song sheets. This was downstairs. But the forbidden area was upstairs. Only the serious spenders got to go upstairs. This top floor was where the really valuable collectibles were stored. The musty smell only added to the experience. One whole wall was covered with shelves of Big Little Books. On the floor were wooden crates with movie magazines from the 1920s and ’30s. There were stacks of Golden Age comic books, really old pulp magazines, old newspaper comic sections. Several stacks of old sheet music, extra-large movie magazines (Screen Guide was one) with plush full-color photos in rotogravure printing of favorite pin-up girls and leading men. There were stacks of Esquire magazine that had the Vargas Girls and Petty Girls fold-outs in mint condition. There were adult mags like Laff, Wink, Titter (a chick named Norma Jean Baker posed for several of those covers). We wondered how Tom got these treasures. Here’s how he did it:

It was a group of such fans that would gather at Ableman’s Detroit was a town of factory Bookstore on a Saturday in Shel Dorf (in striped shirt) and three fellow San Diego Comic-Con people workers who lived in big homes and Detroit. It was mainly a used look over some collectors’ items in a 1974 photo from the San Diego had large families. When the kids bookstore. A friendly guy named Evening Tribune, two days before that year’s con commenced. [Left grew up and left, the old folks needed to right:] Barry Alfonso—unidentified staffer—Shel—and Richard Butner. Tom Altschuler owned the place. The headline read (and I’m sure we’re all shocked at its originality): to clean out their attics before they It was huge (probably an old “Out of blue—Shazam!—it’s Comic Con!” Thanks to Shel for the photo, could sell the homes. Tom had a crew furniture store). The downstairs which was taken by Barry Fitzsimmons. (By sheer coincidence, 1974 was of casual laborers who cleaned out the had shelves of books and tables the year A/E editor Roy Thomas, then Marvel’s editor-in-chief, was a guest attics free of charge. One condition: piled high with old magazines. of honor at the con and received his Inkpot Award, sitting on the dais that Tom could keep all the old You could find copies of Liberty, with Charles Schultz on one side, and Russ Manning and Milt Caniff on magazines, books, etc., that they The Saturday Evening Post, the other. Talk about a comics fan’s heaven!) found there. It was just junk to most Look, Life, Redbook, Collier’s, people, so they quickly agreed. No etc. There were also detective, publicity in those days about how much money old comic books would mystery, and science-fiction pulp magazines. There were “men’s bring. I’m sure this was when mothers threw out their grown-up kids’ magazines,” “women’s magazines,” westerns, and over-sized Radio

The Detroit Triple Fan Fair

(often servicemen’s) comic books. Perhaps in rural places today, such deals can still be found. Who knows? But the point is that it was at Tom’s bookstore that the major players in the creation of the Detroit Triple Fan Fair found each other. On page two of the program book is a list of the early committee members and what they collected. Under my name you’ll see that I mostly collected newspaper comic strips; I also saved the comic books which were reprints of the newspaper strips, such as Super Comics, Famous Funnies, Popular Comics, King Comics, Comics on Parade, Tip-Top, etc. Several of us were introverted people who had made a world for ourselves. Never bored, always taking the path least traveled.

A Personal Journey I fit the mold perfectly. At age ten, I preferred comic books, movies, newspaper strip, movie magazines, dramatic radio, and books. Time spent in school was to be endured until I could be “I also saved the comic books which were reprints of the newspaper strips,” says Shel. Shown here are covers for back home with my hobbies. I issues from all six of the reprint comics he mentions: Super Comics #43 (Dec. 1941)—Famous Funnies #82 (May ’41)— had friends, a large family of Popular Comics #13 (Feb. ’37)—King Comics #13 (Oct. ’37)—Comics on Parade #17 (Sept. ’39)—and Tip-Top Comics #9 aunts, uncles, cousins, and a few (Jan. ’37). Some of these comic strip heroes were fickle: note that Dick Tracy and Tarzan jumped ship from one serious “crushes” on blue-eyed title to another. [All characters ©2003 their respective copyright holders.] blondes (my favorites). But in real life I was painfully shy, them back and forth until they fell apart. (No “back-boards and plastic retreating into my world of hobbies. I felt like the Ugly Duckling. bags.”) But then I began to meet other fans, and despite the competition for the same books, I realized that I was not alone! Of course, kids in those days had no money to speak of. But, by doing odd jobs, and cashing in pop and milk bottles, you could get enough to buy a few comic books. This was the early 1940s. Movies cost 15 to 25 cents. Comic books were all in color for a dime. I look in the mirror now, and a 70-year-old man looks back. But that ten-year-old kid still lives inside. I got interested in the newspaper funnies early on. I remember when Superman (a favorite comic book) suddenly appeared daily and Sunday in the Detroit News. It was a truly thrilling experience1 Since my dad paid for delivery of the paper, it was free!!! But I didn’t have the heart to throw the strips out with yesterday’s paper; instead, I clipped the strips and saved them: Dick Tracy, The Spirit, Terry and the Pirates, Red Ryder, et al. I went to the “dime stores,” bought scrapbooks and glue bottles, and began this hobby. My poor mother couldn’t figure it out: “Sheldon, why do you do that? I don’t see other children doing that!” She later learned that others did. I knew the good stuff. And I could read it over and over! Many kids in those days had cartons of comic books in the closet. Kids would swap

In the six decades I’ve been collecting, things have changed. People have become used to the idea of collecting old comics. The enormous prices some old comics bring caused people to take us seriously. But, in the early days, nobody talked price value. It was all about the art and story. Some of the comic books I enjoyed were Doll Man (Lou Fine’s figure drawing was amazing), Bulletman, Blue Beetle, Wonder Woman, Boy Comics, Daredevil (the first one, who threw a boomerang), Crime Does Not Pay, Looney Tunes, Mickey Mouse, Green Lantern, and Little Lulu. Captain Marvel Jr. had appeal for me; I guess the poor crippled newsboy got my sympathy. Years passed. I finished school. Kept collecting and eventually found Tom’s wonderful store in 1963. Among this group of comics fans, I met a few who decided to do a public event for comic book fans. They had the free use of a downtown hotel. Dealers brought their own bridge tables and set up their old comic books for sale. There was a punchbowl where Koolaid was served. It was all very informal and friendly. Some dealers and fans made money, too!

Shel Dorf

45 Comic Fandom, I learned there were at least forty important fans around the country holding meetings, printing newsletters, traveling to visit each other, and even setting their sights on becoming the next wave of professionals. At the top, of course, were Jerry Bails and Roy Thomas. I was elected chairman of the Detroit Triple Fan Fair. A job I didn’t enjoy. Remember, I was this inhibited collector. Not especially at ease with people. There were egos to deal with. There were arguments. There was fear. Where would the money come from to rent the hotel? What if nobody came? This will come as a surprise to people who have seen me in a leadership role. Believe me, I learned how to do it. But dealing with people and creating a comics convention for the public was a challenge. I learned how to build a successful comic-con. My training in advertising came in handy. I understood marketing and the importance of newspaper articles. I had a silk-screen studio in my dad’s building (I did displays for his candy business), so I made a silk-screen poster for the Triple Fan Fair (reproduced below for the first time) and put copies all around Detroit. I think attendance was about 600. We made money. Paying our bills was our greatest concern. The local used bookstores supported us, carried our advertising fliers and posters, as well. And we recommended their stores.

When Shel talks about liking Lou Fine’s art on Doll Man, he undoubtedly means the early stories of the Mighty Mite in Quality’s Feature Comics, since Fine never drew the Doll Man Quarterly itself. We don’t have one of those tales on hand, but here’s a fine Fine page from the “Black Condor” in Quality’s Crack Comics #17 (Oct. 1941), courtesy of Dennis Beaulieu—repro’d from a photocopy of the black-&-white original art. [©2003 the respective copyright holders.]

Fandoms Three A year later, we gathered at the home of Wayne State University professor Jerry Bails to be interviewed by a Newsweek magazine reporter, Hugh McCann. [NOTE: The magazine article which partially came out of this session was reprinted in full in A/E #12. — Roy.] After he left, we sat around and decided to do another “swap meet.” Only, this time, we structured it. We now had film collectors in our group. One fellow, Gary Crowdus, created The Midwest Film Society. He ran off a newsletter called Cineast (I designed his logo), and he had screenings down in his rec room. So this new con added movies. We also had a couple of science-fiction fans in the group by then. So we sat at Jerry’s and came up with the name “Detroit Triple Fan Fair.” I designed a logo for it. At that time we were an unknown group outside of Detroit. But, at the same time, in New York City, a comics convention had been done. In fact, in reading Bill Schelly’s fabulous book The Golden Age of

The Detroit Triple Fan Fair Those early days of trial and error, building comic-cons from scratch, were more important than we knew. Now comics conventions are of worldwide industry importance. New careers are started there. Big business is transacted. No one criticizes us anymore as being retarded adults. Appreciation of the art form is greater now than ever. And, after all these years, movie people are attending! That was the only area of the Detroit Triple Fan Fair that had no celebrity guests. Shel Dorf’s logo for the 1965 Detroit Triple Fan Fair (above), and Carl Lundgren’s cover for its program book (at right). [©2003 Shel Dorf & Carl Lundgren, respectively; characters TM & ©2003 the respective copyright holders.]

I actually did a program myself at the con—an inside look at a New York comics publisher. In 1964 I had visited the offices of DC (then National) Comics on Lexington Avenue in New York. I had my reel-toreel tape recorder with me. I taped an interview with Superman assistant editor E. Nelson Bridwell, full editor Julie Schwartz, and production manager Ed Eisenberg. I met Curt Swan, Joe Kubert, Gil Kane, and Carmine Infantino. A real treat. To a man, they were nice to me. Well, the next year at the 1965 Triple Fan Fair, I put my tape recorder on the stage, hooked it to the sound system, and played it for a large audience. I called the program “An In-Person Visit to the Offices of DC Comics.” It was a big hit. This was in the days before we could afford to fly in celebrity comic book artists and sci-fi writers.

Millions of dollars have been and are still being made from comic book characters. The Crow was discovered at our convention in San Diego. Stars such as Bill Mumy, Miguel Ferrer, Mark Hamill, Lou Ferrigno, etc., attend in person. Of course, Hollywood has always been a part of comics. But, after the amazing performance of Spider-Man at the boxoffice, industry people now scout new properties at comic-cons. In 1965 things were different. Us early guys paid our dues. I’m happy to have been a small part of it all. And I’ve happily gone back to being an introvert! [END NOTE: At Shel’s suggestion, Marvin Giles, another prominent player in the Detroit Triple Fan Fairs, sent his own reminiscences of the several years of that convention... but, alas, we didn’t have the space to include them here. They’ll see print in a nearfuture issue.]

In 1970 Shel and others founded the San Diego Comic-Con... which, as per the above illos drawn for its program book by Tarzan/Magnus Robot Fighter artist Russ Manning and humor cartoonist Scott Shaw!, were originally called San Diego’s Golden State Comic-Con. The circular images on the logo at left continue the three-fandoms theme of the Detroit Triple Fan Fair. [Art ©2003 Estate of Russ Manning, and ©2003 Scott Shaw!, respectively; Tarzan TM & ©2003 Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.]

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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

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HAPPY HOLIDAYS and HARLAN! Section

Contents Writer/Editorial: Deck the Halls with–––Comic Books!? . . . . . . 2 A Four-Color Christmas–––Mostly in Black-&-White . . . . . . . . 3 Holiday greetings sent out by comics pros and fans.

“And Men Shall Call Him–––Prototype!”–––Part Two . . . . . . . . . 12 Tom Lammers on the precursors and precedents of The X-Men, Dr. Strange, et al.

Ellison Marvel-Land . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 When science-fiction’s talented enfant terrible teamed up with Thomas, Buscema, Trimpe, and Buckler.

re: [comments, correspondence, & corrections]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America) #72. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 P.C. Hamerlinck presents Swayze, Schaffenberger, and humor in 1940s Captain Marvel.

Darlin’ Dick Ayers & Friends Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Flip Us! About Our Cover: Sometime circa 1941-43, National (DC) Comics mailed out Christmas postcards to—retailers? wholesalers? somebody!—which featured an all-new full-color illustration of Superman as Santa, drawn by master cover delineator Fred Ray, no less. On the day that collector Charlie Roberts sent Ye Editor a copy of that postcard, the Christmas 2003 issue of Alter Ego was born! (We showed you the actual card in #30’s next-issue ad.) But it’s set us to wondering—did DC ever commission any other Golden Age illos for use as holiday hellos outside the comics themselves? [©2003 DC Comics.] Above: Stan Lee got publisher Martin Goodman to spring for sending out season’s greetings in the mid-1960s: a letter-size illo of The Thing penciled and inked by Mirthful Marie Severin— “swiping Kirby,” she says—but very well indeed! If memory serves, they were mailed out to charter members of Stan’s first fan-club brainchild, the Merry Marvel Marching Society... but maybe other fans got them, too. Wonder how many are still kicking around out there? Cards, we mean—not fans! [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.] Alter EgoTM is published monthly by TwoMorrows, 1812 Park Drive, Raleigh, NC 27605, USA. Phone: (919) 833-8092. Roy Thomas, Editor. John Morrow, Publisher. Alter Ego Editorial Offices: Rt. 3, Box 468, St. Matthews, SC 29135, USA. Fax: (803) 826-6501; e-mail: roydann@ntinet.com. Send subscription funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial offices. Single issues: $8 ($10 Canada, $11.00 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

Deck the Halls with– Comic Books!? Just room to wish all Alter Ego readers a Merry Christmas or Happy Hanukkah or Season’s Greetings or whatever—

semblance of a private life with Dann and 200 or so beasties (admittedly, over half of them guinea pigs).

—and to take note of the fact that, with this issue, Alter Ego begins its second year as a monthly.

The best Christmas gift I received in 2002—or again this year—is the promise of continuing help and support of the guys and gals listed on the contents page every month—ranging from a whole gaggle of folks with editorial status of one type or another (Bill Schelly, Jim Amash, John Morrow, Jon B. Cooke, P.C. Hamerlinck, Michael T. Gilbert, Jerry Bails, Mike Friedrich)—to Chris Day in Chicago and Eric Nolen-Weathington at the TwoMorrows emporium in Raleigh, NC—to all the knowledgeable and generous souls to whom I so inadequately give “special thanks” every month—including most especially Dann, who I suspect still figures I’ll run out of material one of these days and be available for more yardwork.

Yes, ’twas with the December 2002 edition, with its colorful Dick Sprang and (again) Fred Ray covers, that I bit the Bullet(man) and, with the concurrence of publisher John Morrow and layout guru Chris Day, obligated myself (well, all of us, actually) to produce twelve fat issues of A/E a year—1,296 pages of wonderment. Of course, 10-15% of those pages would be taken up with ads of one kind or another, but somehow, 1000 or so pages of new material a year was still a fairly daunting prospect. It’s been worth it, even though I’ve had to perform a delicate balancing act between scheduled book projects, work on my long-delayed master’s thesis (subject: comic books and the early Cold War), the occasional pro comics assignment (forthcoming stories for Bongo Comics and Dark Horse, plus intros for DC Archives), and—oh, yes—leading at least the

Keep at it with that rake, Red. I’ll be along real soon. (Yeah, right). Bestest,

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Yuletide Cards by Comics Pros & Fans

A Four-Color Christmas

—Mostly In Black-&-White Yuletide Cards Sent by Comics Greats [INTRODUCTORY NOTE: As most of Alter Ego’s readers probably already know, many comics pros and fans create personalized Christmas or Happy-Holiday greetings around the end of each year. Here, courtesy of my own file cabinets and those of several much-appreciated fans, are a few pages’ worth of holiday cards sent by some of comics’ finest talents. The artist is identified in capital letters at the start of each caption following. —Roy.]

SHELDON “SHELLY” MOLDOFF (Above left:) It’s relatively rare to find a Christmas card sent out by an individual artist or writer that depicts a company-owned character—but, says Dan Makara, who sent us a copy, this splendid card was first mailed out in 1942 by the Golden Age artist of “Hawkman” and “The Black Pirate.” Thanks also to John Coates, who sent us a scan of it from a 1992 sending, along with the other two cards on this page. (Top right:) This 1994 card features Captain Midnight and a host of DC heroes drawn by Shelly over the years. (Right:) This space-age card was sent out a few years ago by Sheldon and his beloved Shirley. [Art ©2003 Sheldon Mayer; Captain Midnight TM & ©2003 the respective copyright holders; Hawkman, Black Pirate, Green Lantern, Batman, Robin, Flash, Catwoman, Penguin, & Bat-Mite TM & ©2003 DC Comics.]

A Four-Color Christmas––Mostly in Black-&-White

NICK CARDY Both John Coates and the artist himself sent us scans of several Christmas cards by the venerable artist of Aquaman, Teen Titans, and other quality titles. The one at top left is a triple fold-out—and the drawing of the kids next to it is from its backside! And, just for the heck of it, we’ve also tossed in a Cardy pencil sketch of late-’60s icon Bat Lash. [Art ©2003 Nick Cardy; Bat Lash TM & ©2003 DC Comics.]

Yuletide Cards by Comics Pros & Fans

Some Spectacular Santas of Christmas Past!

DICK AYERS The noted artist of Sgt. Fury, Ghost Rider, et al.—whose interview you may have noticed taking up about one-third of this issue—sent this card to Ye Ed, from himself and wife Lindy. [Art ©2003 Dick Ayers.]

ALEX TOTH (Right:) The Johnny Thunder/Green Lantern maestro himself drew this sketch on an envelope he mailed some years back to Al Dellinges, the lucky guy! Alex will be back next issue with more of his incisive comments on comic art! [Art ©2003 Alex Toth.]

A Four-Color Christmas––Mostly in Black-&-White

GEORGE EVANS The late great EC/Fiction House/etc. artist sent out cards utilizing this art in 1997 and 2000, respectively. Thanks to John Coates, who tells us that the one below was “all original art drawn on card! Not a print!” [Art ©2003 Estate of George Evans.]

JOE SINNOTT Did Joltin’ Joe forget to mention in his interview in Alter Ego #26 that he really likes the singing of Bing Crosby? Well, he also drew this White Christmas-y card in 1993. Thanks to John Coates. [Art ©2003 Joe Sinnott.]

Yuletide Cards by Comics Pros & Fans

7 BILL BLACK

A Four-Color Christmas––Mostly in Black-&-White

JOE MANEELY Nancy, the daughter of this great Timely/Atlas artist, sent us (via Dr. Michael J. Vassallo) this “Christmas card my dad inked (1950s)” for printing with the articles she and Doc V. wrote about Joe in A/E #28; but we had such an abundance of art for that issue that we decided to save this piece as a Christmas present—from Nancy, Doc, and us to you! [Art ©2003 Estate of Joe Maneely.]

Yuletide Cards by Comics Pros & Fans

KURT SCHAFFENBERGER Kurt and Dorothy S. sent out this cute Christmas card in 1997. No Superman, Lois Lane, or Marvel Family in sight—but talent will out, and Kurt was always a powerhouse of talent! Thanks to John Coates. [Art ©2003 Dorothy Schaffenberger.]

HARRY LAMPERT A 2000 card from Harry and Adele Lampert. Harry, of course, is the co-creator and original artist of The Flash back in 1939-40, and is still going strong, writing and drawing award-winning books on Contract Bridge! [Art ©2003 Harry Lampert.]

A Four-Color Christmas––Mostly in Black-&-White MARK KAUSLER & CATHY HILL This talented pair of cartoonists/animators send out great holiday greetings. The one directly below was drawn by Mark Kausler, whose character seen there is the featured player in his short cartoon It's 'The Cat'—due for release just about now, after 14 years in production; Mark recently worked on the new Looney Tunes: Back in Action movie. He's also doing some water-color painting. [Art ©2003 Mark Kausler.] The other, by Cathy Hill, the writer/artist of the late lamented Mad Raccoons comic, isn't really a Christmas card. Working from photos a few years back, she parodied the beasties on the Thomases' South Carolina spread, including (atop Shadrach the bull) Portia, the goat who actually used to hop up on Shad's back and ride around; when Roy & Dann showed photos of same to people, many assumed it was a trick photo! The angora goat wearing the white sheet, by the way, was so depicted because his name was Casper the Friendly Goat. Cathy still has for sale some delightful musical-sheet drawings of this type, featuring cavorting musical notes by Wagner, Handel, and others. Nowadays she's enjoying painting and is displaying in galleries, as well as on websites <tirageart.com> and <californiaartclub.org>; check them out, and they'll probably tell you how to contact her—or write to Alter Ego to contact her or Mark. [Art ©2003 Cathy Hill.]

MART NODELL (Above:) The original artist of the Golden Age Green Lantern, his wife Carrie, and their family sent out this card in 2002, utilizing Marty’s two most famous co-creations: GL and the Pillsbury Dough Boy! [Art ©2003 Mart Nodell; Green Lantern TM & ©2003 DC Comics; Pillsbury Doughboy TM & ©2003 the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Yuletide Cards by Comics Pros & Fans

As for A/E’s ebullient editor and his long-suffering spouse—Roy & Dann, as befits two cocreators of Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew, started sending friends a Noah’s Arkfull of animal-laden holiday greetings back in Los Angeles in the 1980s, and since ’91 have carried on the tradition from the Carolina wilds, generally with slightly larger critters. All photos taken by Dann. (The proof? All the animals have heads!) Here’s a sampling of the Thomases’ Merry Christmas menagerie:

L.A. Days! Cyrano the toco toucan helps decorate the Christmas tree. (We haven’t managed yet to teach that trick to Barbra the trumpeter hornbill.)

Muggy the hamster at home in L.A. Any guesses how Roy & Dann got him to wear the Santa hat? (No, Bill Murray, it’s not stapled on!)

...and Edgar Rice Burro (or is that the lovely Edina?) wouldn’t go anywhere near it! Shadrach the Scottish highland bull (or is that his and Shambleau’s son and heir Shadizar the Wicked?) wasn’t exactly enthralled by the notion of wearing a Santa hat...

That’s not a problem we had with Carmilla the Chi nchilla and her Christmas stocking full of corn.

Basil (the faulty llama) was just 3-4 days old in this shot.

Calhoun (a.k.a. Zula), the camera-shy German she pherd we found as a pup in the mid dle of a street, preferred to abscond with the evidence. s a willing nbush), the mallard, wa Quackers (a.k.a. Quacke ile the cap wh d han ’s he got to bite Roy participant—as long as off. and on put ng was bei

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Of Mystics, Mighty Men, and Immortals

“And Men Shall Call Him... PROTOTYPE!”—Part II

Of Mystics, Mighty Men, and Immortals

A Further Look at the Foreshadowing—or Something—of the Marvel Age of Comics by Thomas G. Lammers [EDITOR’S NOTE: The idea of “Marvel Pre-Hero Prototypes” which pre-dated and were used as models or patterns for many of the heroes and villains created in the early 1960s by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Steve Ditko originated in the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide and has ever since been disputed in various quarters. Two issues ago, with no ill will toward the Price Guide, Tom Lammers began his examination of “prototypes”—which he defines (I’m paraphrasing here) as a concept introduced so a publisher can learn if it is worth developing further, but with a new, improved, and somewhat different character. For instance, is the Lee-Kirby story “I Was a Slave of the Living Hulk!” in Journey into Mystery #62 (Nov. 1960) related in some cause-and-effect way to The Incredible Hulk #1 (May 1962)? Was the saga “The Spider Strikes!” in Journey into Mystery #73 (Oct. 1961), in which an arachnid gained gargantuan size and human intelligence, intended to find out if

comics fans might welcome a feature, less than a year later, starring your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man? Tom feels that, unless there was a clear intent on the part of the creators to test the waters with one character as a “model or pattern” for a later one, the original story was not a true “prototype,” but at most a “precursor”—a concept which preceded (and perhaps even influenced) the later effort, but which wasn’t specifically designed to lead to it. In A/E #29 Tom surveyed the Price Guide-listed “prototype” stories related to Fantastic Four, The Incredible Hulk, and The Amazing Spider-Man. This time, he continues with the other Lee-Kirby-Ditko creations introduced in Marvel Comics through 1963. Incidentally, except where otherwise noted, all art for this article was supplied by its author. —Roy.]

Everybody knows that, in Amazing Fantasy #15 (Aug. 1962), high school student Peter Parker was bitten by a recently-irradiated spider and became Spider-Man, with script by Stan Lee and art by Steve Ditko. But in A/E #29 Tom Lammers shone a spotlight on Journey into Mystery #73’s “The Spider Strikes!” nearly a year earlier—wherein an accidentally-irradiated spider became huge and malevolently brainy—in what has been perhaps ironically termed a “reverse prototype.” Two issues back, we printed the splash page from JiM #73; here, flanking art from AF #15, are pp. 2 & 3 of “The Spider Strikes!”—penciled by Jack Kirby and inked by Dick Ayers, with no writer credited—courtesy of alert A/E reader Chris Brown. (Was it Stan Lee and Larry Lieber working in tandem, as in so many monster stories in those “pre-hero”days?) For the first 21 “Spider-Man” stories at eminently affordable prices, pick up a copy of The Essential Spider-Man, Vol. 1. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

“And Men Shall Call Him... Prototype!”

Thor In Journey into Mystery #83 (Aug. 1962), handicapped physician Dr. Donald Blake discovered that, upon striking a gnarled wooden cane against the ground, he was magically transformed into Thor, the thunder god of Norse mythology, while the cane became Thor’s mighty hammer Mjolnir. The Overstreet Guide does not identify any stories as Thor prototypes; and in fact, very few pre-hero [i.e., pre-Fantastic Four #1 in 1961) stories at Martin Goodman’s comics company were inspired by mythology. However, no less than four stories are identified as containing prototypes of the very first foes Thor faced, the Stone Men of Saturn. These invaders, who arrived in a flying saucer, somewhat resemble The Thing in their craggy stone bodies, except that their heads are greatly elongated, making up a greater proportion of their overall height. [See next page.] The earliest of the supposed prototypes is found in Tales to Astonish #5 (Sep 1959), in the Kirby-penciled cover story “I Was Trapped by the Things on Easter Island!” (5 pp.). The pilot of a small aircraft, crashing on Easter Island (Rapa Nui) in the southeastern Pacific, discovers that the moai, the giant stone heads allegedly carved by the indigenous Polynesians, actually represent the upper portions of partially buried aliens! They are patiently awaiting a signal from their home planet, Lithodia Rex, to begin the invasion and conquest of the Earth. Creatures of stone are also found in the very next issue, TTA #6 (Nov. 1959). The cover story, drawn by Steve Ditko, is “I Saw the Invasion of the Stone Men” (5 pp.). There, Stone Men from deep within the Earth burst through in Times Square and bumble around for a while, seemingly oblivious to the Army’s attempts to destroy them, before returning to the Earth’s core. The third Stone Men of Saturn prototype is likewise found in Tales to Astonish, this one in #16 (Feb. 1961). “Thorr the Unbelievable” (7 pp.) is another Kirby-and-Ayers cover story inspired by the moai of Easter Island. An archaeologist and his nagging wife, digging beneath a strange statue on a newly discovered volcanic island in the South Pacific, find a chamber full of electronic circuitry. Entering it activates the statue, which rises from the ground and reveals that, like the Easter Island versions in TTA #5, it is actually a partially-buried body with only the head emerging from the soil. He is Thorr, left by alien invaders a million years earlier, to be reactivated upon their return. As might be expected, the archaeologist foils their plans of conquest, earning his wife’s respect in the process. It is ironic that this supposed Stone Men prototype bears the same basic name as the hero his descendants battled! Easter Island’s moai return for one last outing in Tales of Suspense #28 (April 1962). In the Kirby-penciled “Back from the Dead!” (6 pp.), criminal Harry Dawes flees in a stolen boat to—Easter Island. There he

Thor looks uncharacteristically relaxed (at least for a Jack Kirby drawing) on the cover of Journey into Mystery #83, as he scatters Stone Men like so many pebbles; inks by Joe Sinnott. One Timely/Marvel precursor of the thunder god, of course, is Venus, goddess of love and the star of her own comic from 1948-52, as detailed in Alter Ego #29. In this page from Venus #14 (June ’51), the immortal beauty talks to Jupiter, king of the Roman gods, just as Thor would later do with his father Odin, head honcho of the Norse pantheon—and is propelled back to Mars, where (now no longer needing a space suit) she promptly encounters a Martian, in a weird mix of fantasy and science-fiction drawn, and probably written, by Bill Everett. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

meets a strange little man who is searching for (and finds) a parchment which, when read aloud, brings the statues to life. They tell Dawes they are aliens, marooned on Earth when their spaceship developed engine trouble, and are waiting for their captain to return for them. The strange little man is, of course, their captain. In perusing these four tales, it is clear that the characters fall into two distinct categories: (1) Pacific island stone statue aliens drawn by Kirby (Tales to Astonish #5 & #16, Tales of Suspense #28), and (2) center-ofthe-Earth creatures drawn by Ditko (Tales to Astonish #6). Although the last are explicitly dubbed “Stone Men,” they clearly have little in common with Thor’s first opponents: they are not from outer space, nor are they invading the Earth with conquest in mind, nor do they physically resemble the Saturnians, lacking elongated moai-style heads. In fact, these Ditko Stone Men rather remind one of the Michelin Man® in overall shape! The stone men in the three Kirby tales do resemble the Stone Men of Saturn in their alien-invader nature and characteristic elongated heads. On the other hand, all three have been waiting for ages to invade, while

Of Mystics, Mighty Men, and Immortals was a monster, and it was no doubt deemed wise to keep monsters on the cover of a title that had previously featured such tales.

“Let him who is without a prototype cast the first stone!” [Clockwise:] Art from Tales to Astonish #5, #6, #16, and Tales of Suspense #28. Note that in TTA #16, Thorr-with-two-r’s is a stone man. Three of the four pre-Journey into Mystery #83 Stone Men types were penciled by Jack Kirby, the other drawn by Steve Ditko. Thanks to Dr. Michael J. Vassallo for the TTA #16 scan. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Thor’s opponents are newly-arrived. This point aside, one must ask whether Goodman or Lee would be so concerned about the marketability of minor antagonists (the Stone Men would not reappear for over 170 issues!) for an as-yet-undeveloped super-hero that they would testmarket the concept three times! Is it at all plausible that these stories represent an intentional effort to evaluate the profitability of comics featuring men made of stone? If so, would it not be more reasonable to interpret them as prototypes for the Fantastic Four’s Ben Grimm, the craggy Thing? The Ditko version particularly resembles Grimm in the short rounded head.

In light of all this, is it really plausible to regard these four stories as intentional try-outs of a character idea? Is it not more reasonable to suggest that they are mere precursors of what came later? If books with stone men on the cover sold reasonably well, and if some sort of monster was needed to battle the latest super-hero in his debut, is it surprising that a frequently-invoked concept from the pre-hero monster books, stone invaders from outer space, was once again pressed into service? As such, while the three Kirby stories could reasonably be considered precursors of the Stone Men from Saturn, they do not seem to be intentional prototypes. The Ditko characters, in contrast, have less claim to forerunner status, and are best considered merely a coincidence of an obvious name. Another early Thor adversary was the Lava Man (Molto), who first appears in Journey into Mystery #97 (Oct. 1963) and returns in The Avengers #5 (May 1964); both appearances were penciled by Jack Kirby. Molto, who emerges from a volcano to claim the surface world for his subterranean race, has a generally humanoid body apparently made of living lava. A very similar sort of creature appears in Tales of Suspense #7 (Jan. 1960) in “I Fought the Molten Man-Thing!” (5 pp.), unsigned, but clearly penciled by Kirby and inked by Ditko. The Molten Man-Thing likewise emerges from a volcano (in this case, on the tropical island of Napuka) and is also composed of living lava; however, he is of slightly less humanoid appearance and (except on the cover) does not speak. The most striking similarity involves the covers of the two issues; their composition is virtually identical. Both show the respective creature emerging from a short steep-sided caldera at right. At

As we attempt to understand these alleged prototypes, we must consider the possibility that Goodman or Lee may not yet have been convinced of the marketability of super-heroes. As Joseph William Marek has pointed out, Spider-Man, Thor, and Ant-Man were all registered with the U.S. copyright office on the same date, June 5, 1962.1 As such, they represent only the third Marvel super-hero appearances of the ’60s, after Fantastic Four and The Incredible Hulk. It has been logically suggested that the cover of F.F. #1 represented a compromise between the sales potential of super-heroes and the known marketability of monsters. The cover of Journey into Mystery In Tales to Astonish #16 (left) “the mighty Thorr” is already a catch-phrase to #83 may represent a conjure with—though spelled with two “r’s” and applied to an alien stone man. similar compromise. Hey, maybe Stan or Larry (or somebody) was subconsciously remembering that The F.F. had shared when, in the final panel of Journey into Mystery #83 a year and a half later (above), their first cover with the thunder god’s name was likewise spelled “Thorr”! Odin bless Marvel for leaving monsters, The Hulk that panel intact in 2001’s Essential Thor, Vol. 1! [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

“And Men Shall Call Him... Prototype!”

Ant-Man/Giant-Man

It’s déja-vu all over again, courtesy of artist Jack Kirby! On the left, the cover scene from Tales of Suspense #7—and on the right, the later one from Journey into Mystery #97. They’ll have a hot time in the old town tonight! Incidentally, “I Fought the Molten Man-Thing!” was reprinted in Monster Menace #1 (Dec. 1993). The latter mag had a great four-issue run reprinting old Kirby and Ditko monsterworks, and is worth seeking out in the back-issue bins. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

its base, tiny humans fall down in horror and gesticulate wildly. The hero (a policeman on the one hand, Thor on the other) approaches from left, with a cityscape behind him. While I cannot imagine why Goodman or Lee would want to test the sales potential of a lava creature, I do believe the Molten Man-Thing can be considered a precursor of the Lava Man, due to the numerous visual and conceptual similarities. Another Thor villain allegedly represented among the pre-hero prototypes was Mr. Hyde, who first appeared in Journey into Mystery #99 (Dec. 1963), in a story drawn by Don Heck. Unscrupulous researcher Calvin Zabo, swearing revenge on Don Blake after the doctor refuses to hire him, is inspired by the classic Robert Louis Stevenson tale to create a formula that transforms him into Mr. Hyde, a hate-filled brute with the strength of a dozen men. This concept is reputedly prefigured in “The Midnight Monster” (7 pp.), an unsigned Jack Kirby-drawn story in Journey into Mystery #79 (April 1962). Here, wealthy playboy scientist Victor Avery perfects a serum that will give eternal life to plants or animals, but only at the cost of transforming them into monsters. When a beautiful woman spurns him, he uses the formula to transform himself into the Midnight Monster, to exact his revenge on her and her new husband. Though this story makes no mention of the Stevenson tale, it clearly has much in common with it. In fact, the parallels between this story and the Thor villain are most likely due to their derivation from this common source. Though it is difficult to see the Midnight Monster as a deliberate market-test of a Jekyll-andHyde character, it probably would be fair, in light of the numerous plot parallels (regardless of their ultimate source), to regard Avery’s alter ego as a precursor of Mr. Hyde.

Ant-Man was unique among Marvel’s early ’60s superheroes: he was the only one to have a bona fide “previous existence” before his debut as a costumed adventurer. In Tales to Astonish #27 (Jan. 1962), the Kirby-and-Ayers cover story “The Man in the Ant Hill!” (7 pp.) introduces us to biochemist Henry Pym. Pym creates a shrinking serum that reduces him to the size of an insect. He stumbles into an anthill, barely managing to escape and reach the antidote needed to return him to his normal size. Frightened by his ordeal, Pym locks away the shrinking and growing formulas and vows never to use them again. But Pym does use the formula again, in the 13-page “Return of the Ant-Man” in Tales to Astonish #35 (Sept. 1962), penciled by Jack Kirby. Pym not only resurrects his shrinking/restorative formulas, he also creates a cybernetic helmet that allows him to communicate with ants, and a colorful costume to protect him from their bite. It might seem that Pym’s first appearance would count as a prototype, “an original model or pattern from which subsequent copies are made, or improved specimens developed.” After all, some elements of the character are present, but not all. Interestingly, the Overstreet Price Guide does not denote this as a prototype issue, instead calling it the first AntMan appearance! Further, if we accept intention as a key criterion of a true prototype, then the Hank Pym story in Tales to Astonish #27 fails thoroughly. Stan Lee has explicitly stated: “We never suspected it would be

In his excellent 2002 volume Classics Illustrated: A Cultural History, with Illustrations, William B. Jones, Jr., makes an excellent case for the 1943 Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the 13th issue of Classic Comics (years before the name was changed to Classics Illustrated) as the first horror comic ever—besides mentioning its being a horribly inaccurate adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s famous novella. Jack Kirby (above center) drew a somewhat handsomer transformation in Journey into Mystery #79; twenty issues later, Don Heck (directly above) reverted to an uglier Hyde as an antagonist for Thor. Even the Classic Comics version with the fangs, though, was closer to Stevenson’s original visualization of Hyde than the one in the comic and film versions of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen! Don’t get Ye Editor started! [Classic Comics art ©2003 Frawley Corporation and its exclusive licensee, First Classics, Inc., a subsidiary of Classics International Entertainment, Inc.; Marvel art ©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Of Mystics, Mighty Men, and Immortals

In Tales to Astonish #27, the drastically-shrunken Henry Pym was at the mercy of ants; when he returned in #35, he was The Man, as seen in these panels reprinted from the black-&-white Essential Astonishing Ant-Man. However, despite author Tom Lammers’ assurances that Joseph William Marek diligently “waded through a lot of copyright registration data” to get the info, paraphrased on p. 16, that Amazing Fantasy #15 and Tales to Astonish #35 (as well as Journey into Mystery #83) were registered with the U.S. copyright office on the very same date, Ye Editor (that’s Roy) knows for a fact that he bought SpiderMan’s origin off a newsstand at least one week, if not more, before Ant-Man’s came out—at least in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. The reason he’s certain of this? Stan Lee had released news of the upcoming Ant-Man series to fanzines, but had revealed nary a word about Spidey. So, when 21-year-old Roy spotted Amazing Fantasy #15 on a shelf in late spring/early summer of 1962, he remembers thinking, in effect: “‘Spider-Man’? Stan Lee must have changed his mind about ‘Ant-Man’ and decided to revamp and rename him!” ’Twas a week or more later that spying a copy of Astonish #35 made Roy realize there would now be two bug-men with similar names vying for fans’ attentions. He purchased both mags, natch (and JiM #83 on the same day as one of the others). Those copies now reside in his library of bound Marvel volumes that begin with Fantastic Four #1. Binding much of his collection in the 1960s drastically reduced its resale value, of course, but hey—the four above comics are still worth more than the 46¢ he paid for ’em, right? But—is there anyone out there who recalls actually buying the first appearances of Spidey, Ant-Man, and Thor on the very same day? If so, we’d like to hear about it. It’s hard to be 100% sure that some comics didn’t get distributed in different weeks in different parts of the country. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

anything special in any way, and promptly forgot all about it.”2 It was only later, when an increase in sales for that issue was noted, that it was decided to transform Pym into a super-hero.

(Feb. 1960). In this tale, museum curator Lynn Avery and his pal Frank travel to Africa, where they discover Grottu, an army ant that has become “the size of a bull elephant” and developed human intelligence, due to secret Communist atomic testing in the jungle. The situation here is identical to the “reverse prototype” of Spider-Man: an insect has gained human powers via radiation. No human shrinks or develops antlike abilities. Clearly, this story can be regarded as neither prototype nor precursor.

If this story, with the exact same character, was not an intentional tryout of a tiny super-hero, what then are we to make of the three stories that are identified by the Price Guide as Ant-Man prototypes? The earliest of these pre-dates the 1957 Atlas Implosion, appearing in Mystic #57 (March 1957). The plot of “Trapped in the Ant Hill!” (4 pp.), unsigned but drawn by Syd Shores, is virtually identical to the original Pym story. Dr. Perry Moore creates a shrinking serum and accidentally spills it on himself and ends up in an anthill. The sole difference is that this “ant man” discovers that ants hate humans and are attempting to grow to human size via genetic engineering! Though I cannot support its status as a prototype, this story merits recognition as a precursor of the original Hank Pym tale, due to the many plot similarities.

A more likely precursor is the “Worm Man” (5 pp.) by Steve Ditko in Strange Tales #78 (Nov. 1960). The Worm Man is a spy who is able to sneak into any facility, no matter how well guarded, because he possesses pills that shrink him to worm-size and return him to normal. This story, too, may fairly be considered a precursor to Ant-Man, embodying some of its critical elements. However, I cannot imagine it was an intentional try-out for a super-hero (or super-villain) named Worm Man.

The second of the alleged prototypes is “Grottu, King of the Insects!” (6 pp.), the Jack Kirby cover story from Strange Tales #73

In addition to these three stories, there is a fourth tale which has been regarded by some as a prototype for a related hero who never materi-

“And Men Shall Call Him... Prototype!”

It’s a small world, after all! Here are a trio of alleged Ant-Man, er, antecedents. [Clockwise:] A Syd Shores-drawn protagonist is “Trapped in the Ant Hill!” in 1957’s Mystic #57—this Kirbypenciled Strange Tales #73 “Grottu” splash is from the reprint in Strange Tales Annual #1 (1963)—Ditko drew the “Worm Man” tale in Strange Tales #78. By the way, the “Grottu” tale was also reprinted in that great trade paperback Monster Masterworks in 1989—but copies of that out-of-print opus are nearly as hard to find as earlier printings! [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

alized. The entry for Tales of Suspense #32 (Aug. 1962) in Overstreet carries the note, “‘The Man and the Beehive’ [sic] story, one month before TTA #35 (2nd Antman), came out after ‘The Man in the Ant Hill’ in TTA #27 (1/62) (1st Antman); characters from both stories were tested to see which got best fan response” The reference here is to “The Man in the Beehive!” (7 pp.), that issue’s Kirby-and-Ayers-drawn cover story. In it, a disgruntled employee attempts to rob beekeeper Lucius Farnsworth. He learns, to his regret, that Farnsworth is a mutant, with strange mental powers, including the power to alter a man’s size. The crook is shrunk to the size of a bug and is menaced by Farnsworth’s bees.

The clear implication of the Price Guide entry is that Stan Lee proffered readers two competing insect-themed prototypes: a man in an anthill and one in a beehive. Whichever got the best fan response would get his own series as a super-hero, either Ant-Man or Bee-Man. Clearly, this is nonsense, as a consideration of

17 publication dates3 will reveal. Hank Pym’s debut story was published on September 28, 1961, while Farnsworth’s did not appear until May 8, 1962. Furthermore, there simply was not enough time to gauge sales or reader response to the bee character before Pym returned less than one month later (on June 5, 1962) as the costumed AntMan. Under typical comic book production schedules, Jack Kirby certainly must have been drawing the Antman debut before the BeeMan “prototype” even appeared!

There clearly are parallels between the bee story and the first Pym tale. If this is not due to crafting two parallel test vehicles at the same time, what is the explanation? The Stan Lee anecdote mentioned above offers a clue. Tales to Astonish #27, with a tiny man menaced by insects on the cover, had been a big hit. One result of that sales spike was the decision to bring Pym back as a superhero. I would suggest that a second result was the decision to crank out another story featuring a tiny man menaced by insects—in this case, bees. If this hypothesis is correct, the alleged “bee-man prototype” is not a parallel test for the Pym character, but a derivate of it.

Tales of Suspense #32 proved that Kirby could draw bee-sized men as well as he could draw ant-sized ones; in fact, there’s a striking similarity between this cover and that of Tales to Astonish #27. (Doesn’t anybody want to go anyplace anymore?) So is “The Man in the Beehive” also a prototype and/or precursor of The X-Men? Maybe this story was intended to see if Marvel should add a Bee-Man to its Ant-Man and Spider-Man, several years before Joe Simon would introduce a hero with the former name at Harvey? [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Of Mystics, Mighty Men, and Immortals

If the Overstreet Price Guide is to be believed, Goodman or Lee was already considering such a character before the Atlas Implosion. In Uncanny Tales #52 (Feb. 1957), we find the 4-page “Inside the Iron Man,” with art by Pete Morisi. In 1984, the West is battling the East, and inventor Howard Harris creates a robot to send behind enemy lines as a spy. The robot overhears the enemy’s plans for an all-out defensive and transmits them back to the West, foiling the attack. However, when the robot is captured by the enemy, we see it is actually Harris himself inside an armored shell. The inventor is carted off to an underground cell, Two Kirby-penciled colossi—Wilbur Fiske in Strange Tales #70 and Hank (Ant-Man) Pym in Tales and the East plans its next attack, secure in the to Astonish #49. And if we had a copy of the Classics Illustrated adaptation of Alice in Wonderland knowledge that the spy threat has been lying around, we could show you a similar scene—though that one wasn’t penciled by the King. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.] neutralized. However, the planning is carried out in the presence of Harris’ armor, which on its Sales of the “Ant-Man” series apparently were not stellar, even after own transmits information about the impending attack on the West. This the addition of his gorgeous partner, the Wasp (Janet van Dyne), in Tales attack is likewise defeated, and it is revealed that the Harris inside the to Astonish #44 (June 1963). As a result, in Tales to Astonish #49 (Dec armor was, in fact, another robot, and that the real Harris was operating 1963), Pym’s size-changing powers are expanded, and he gains the ability it via remote control. As a prototype, this story has some points in its to grow beyond normal human size. In this configuration, he adopts the favor: the identical name, the ingenious inventor, the wearing of a suit of name Giant-Man. A prototype of this incarnation supposedly appears in powered armor, its creation to battle Communists. On the other hand, Strange Tales #70 (Aug 1959), in the Kirby-penciled story, “A it’s not really the inventor Giant Walks the Earth!” (5 pp.). In this story, biochemist Wilbur inside, but a man-like Fiske believes that his lack of success in life is due to his short robot, and there is no lifestature and so develops a threatening injury hanging growth serum. The serum over his head. works well... too well! He Furthermore, this Iron grows so tall that he nearly Man was built for suffocates in the rarefied air espionage rather than of the upper atmosphere! I hand-to-hand combat. In see no evidence that this was balance, one might regard a deliberate test of a giantit as something of a sized character. However, precursor, but it is difficult there is enough similarity to accept as an intentional between the two (e.g., the market-test for an panel showing Fiske bursting armored super-hero. through the roof of his house is very reminiscent of the The first supposed Iron opening panels of the first “Giant-Man” story), that it is fair to call this story a precursor of Hank Pym’s king-sized alter ego.

Iron Man In Tales of Suspense #39 (March 1963), we are introduced to weapons magnate Tony Stark, a debonair playboy millionaire. On a fact-finding trip to South Vietnam, Stark is critically injured by a Communist booby-trap: a piece of shrapnel lies perilously close to his heart. He falls into the hands of guerrilla leader Wong-Chu, who forces him to design weapons for the enemy, assisted by aged physicist Prof. Yinsen. Together, they fashion a means of revenge and salvation: a transistorized suit of iron armor for Stark, which keeps his damaged heart beating. Wearing the suit, Stark defeats the Communist guerrillas and avenges the murder of Prof. Yinsen.

(Clockwise:) Though Jack Kirby designed the superhero for editor Stan Lee, ’twas Dashin’ Don Heck who drew “Iron Man Is Born!” in 1963’s Tales of Suspense #39. This Cold War classic was preceded in 1957 by “Inside the Iron Man!” in the Pete Morisidrawn Uncanny Tales #52, on whose final page (at right) it is discovered that the gray armor was the true spy, even without a human inside—and that the “captive” Howard Harris was actually a robot, whose clothes have finally worn away while it sits in a dungeon cell—and all this in just four pages! They don’t write ’em like that anymore—but, lucky for us, Doc V. collects the comics from back when they used to! [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

“And Men Shall Call Him... Prototype!” Man prototype after the Implosion appears in Tales of Suspense #9 (May 1960), in the Don Heck-drawn story “The Return of the Living Robot!” (5 pp.). The odd thing about this designation is that the story is a sequel to another Heck story, “It Walks by Night” (6 pp.) in the previous issue (March 1960). Why is the sequel in #9 regarded as a prototype but not the original story in #8? A moot point, because the story in #9 does not even A prototype of Iron Man—or of The Incredible qualify as a good Hulk? We ran a key panel from this Strange Tales precursor. The #75 story in Ol’ Greenskin’s section of this study Living Robot, a two issues back, so here’s Don Heck’s splash page, member of a “secret even though, as Tom Lammers points out, “it order of robots,” doesn’t really convey the idea he [Albert Poole] battles an evil robot. is inside.” [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.] Both are humanlooking in outward appearance, but are gray metal beneath their clothes. Perhaps, then, this is another “reverse prototype” (though the Price Guide does not bill it as such). After all, a robot inside a human-like body would seem to be the opposite of a man inside a robot-like metal suit. As with the other reverse prototypes, it is difficult to see how it might be used to gauge potential popularity of a new character. The theme of a man within powered iron armor resurfaces in Strange Tales #75 (June 1960), in the Heck-drawn story “I Made the Hulk Live!” (5 pp.). Scientist Albert Poole, like Wilbur Fiske before him, believes his short stature prevents him from enjoying the best life has to offer. To compensate, he creates a robot 15 feet tall that he can live within and control. Because the robot is so large, Poole does not wear the armor like a suit, but rather sits in a chair to pilot it. Unfortunately, he forgets to bring the starter key with him before locking himself inside, and is trapped inside the immobile machine. This story has a bit more claim to precursor status, but scarcely seems a true prototype, despite being What? Another “Iron Man-Hulk” prototype? According to Tom, drawn by the the story drawn by Kirby and Ayers for Tales of Suspense #16 same artist doesn’t make the grade, even though the guy inside the armor who drew has a life-threatening health issue. A double-and-reverse Iron Man’s prototype, rolled into one? Note that, by p. 12, Metallo is referred to as “the invincible Hulk.” Were these ideas “in the debut and air” at Martin Goodman’s little rump of a company in the late origin. ’50s and early ’60s, or what? [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.] Interestingly,

we once again see the word “hulk” cropping up. In fact, its usage here predates the appearance of Xemnu the Living Hulk in Journey into Mystery #62 by six months. A very similar plot characterizes “The Thing Called Metallo” (13 pp.), the Kirby-and-Ayers cover story for Tales of Suspense #16 (April 1961). Escaped convict Mike Fallon, under an assumed name, volunteers to test Metallo, a larger-than-life suit of robotic armor designed to withstand atomic radiation. Fallon uses the armor for criminal gain, robbing a bank and attempting to release the prisoners at Alcatraz to gain himself an army. Before he can do so, he discovers that he is seriously ill and in need of radiation therapy. Of course, radiation cannot penetrate the armor, so he must exit to be cured. But if he does so, he will be arrested! As with the preceding one, this story seems at most a precursor of the Golden Avenger. The concept of a man within a robotic suit of armor is there, but most of the other elements of the Iron Man mythos are missing. The one exception in this case is the idea that the man inside the suit has a potentially fatal health problem, thus calling to mind Tony Stark’s ailing heart. However, it seems to serve in Fallon’s case as more of an ironic fate than as a chronic source of pathos.

Dr. Strange Without much ballyhoo, Strange Tales #110 (July 1963) introduces us to an unusual sort of super-hero, a sorcerer of the supernatural, Dr. Stephen Strange. In his subsequent origin story (#115, Dec. 1963), it is revealed that Strange was a brilliant but heartless surgeon who lost the ability to operate due to injuries suffered in an automobile accident. Desperate to cure his neurological damage, he sought out the legendary Ancient One, a mystic in the high Himalayas. Learning of the unseen

Of Mystics, Mighty Men, and Immortals prototype. Boris Grumm, an unscrupulous producer of sleazy television shows, plans to base a program on an evil 15th-century sorcerer named Sazzik. In the process, he summons forth the sorcerer, much to his regret.

The whole idea of Himalayan lamas in mysterious, idyllic mountain settings goes back at least as far as Shangri-La in James Hilton’s 1933 bestseller The Lost Horizon, which literary historian Russel B. Nye describes as “a tale of a tired, disillusioned man’s discovery of a peaceful Utopia in Tibet”—words that fit Dr. Stephen Strange and the Ancient One (as per this art from Strange Tales #115) as well as they do the characters in the novel. We kinda suspect, though, that more comic book writers, artists, and editors saw director Frank Capra’s 1937 movie version starring Ronald Colman (with Sam Jaffe as the head lama) than ever read the book! The above cover of the original British pressbook saw print in Ronald V. Borst’s wonderful 1992 volume Graven Images. Hey, you think maybe Doc Strange got his mustache from Ronald Colman rather than from Mandrake the Magician? [Dr. Strange art ©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.; pressbook art ©2003 the respective copyright holders.]

None of the foregoing seem to have much credibility as deliberate prototypes of Dr. Strange. The main theme of the series starring the LeeDitko Master of the Mystic Arts—a selfish man recruited to battle dark forces after a life-changing accident—is completely absent. Victor looks a bit like Stephen— suave, debonair, with a thin mustache—but he is a ghost,

supernatural battle between good and evil, he became the Ancient One’s disciple, training to take up the struggle. The Overstreet Guide pegs three stories as Dr. Strange prototypes, plus a fourth as a prototype of the Ancient One; not included is the homonymous but totally unrelated Iron Man villain from Tales of Suspense #41 (May 1963). The earliest of these appears in Strange Tales #79 (Dec. 1960), in the Ditko-drawn story “The Ghost of Grismore Castle!” (6 pp.). Practical joker Otis Norton bets that his pal Victor won’t spend the night in a supposedly haunted castle. Otis is confident he will win the bet, as he has booby-trapped the castle with phony spooks. However, once Victor has fled, Otis learns to his regret that the castle really is haunted! In the last panel, we see the vindicated Victor (who does bear a marked resemblance to Stephen Strange) vanishing from sight. He, too, was a ghost! An alleged prototype of Dr. Strange’s mentor, the Ancient One, appears in Don Heck’s “Somewhere Sits a Lama” (5 pp.) in Strange Tales #92 (Jan. 1962). This unnamed lama sits unmoving in a secret room in an Asian monastery, and is the sole bearer of the secret of eternal life... at least, until he can find someone to take his place! Another alleged market-test for Dr. Strange appears in Journey into Mystery #78 (March 1962). In the Jack Kirby cover story “The Sorcerer” (6 pp.), a strange young man named Aaron walks out of the Nevada desert and into the life of Lucy Scott and her father. Soon, three other strange characters appear, saying they are sorcerers and have come to return Aaron to their ranks! When Aaron refuses, a battle of magic ensues, which ends in a deadlock. Aaron is allowed to remain, but is stripped of his supernatural powers. In Tales of Suspense #32 (Aug. 1962), “Sazzik, the Sorcerer” (6 pp.), with art by Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers, is another supposed Dr. Strange

Stephen Strange wasn’t Marvel’s first Dr. Strange! That honor went to the scientific villain who fought Iron Man in Tales of Suspense #41, only two months before the Mystic Master was destined to appear in Strange Tales. Would you believe that Ye Ed (Roy Thomas) served two or three stints as the scripter of Dr. Strange, often thought about having the two Doc Stranges meet—and never got around to it!? Pencils by Jack Kirby. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

“And Men Shall Call Him... Prototype!”

Four proposed prototypes of Dr. Strange or the Ancient One. (Top to bottom:) Strange Tales #79... Strange Tales #92... Journey into Mystery #78... and Tales of Suspense #32, all between 1960-62. Art on the first by Ditko, on the second by Heck; the latter pair were penciled by Jack Kirby. Any of ’em particularly grab you? [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

not a sorcerer; this is best considered another of Ditko’s “visual templates.”3 Aaron is a sorcerer, but that is his sole resemblance to Dr. Strange; furthermore, he is not a human who learns sorcery from a mentor, but apparently a representative of some breed apart from mankind. In any event, he loses his powers by story’s end. Sazzik is likewise a sorcerer of a supernatural nature, not a modern human; in any case, he is evil. Even the lama who supposedly prefigures Strange’s teacher is a poor match. His sole power is eternal life, and he serves as an instrument of ironic fate rather than a mentor. Basically, all of these characters have little in common with Dr. Strange save some connection to the supernatural and sorcery. It is even difficult to accept them as legitimate precursors. Ironically, the one character who might seem to have some claim to being a Dr. Strange prototype is not mentioned as such by the Price Guide. The final story in Amazing Adventures #1 (June 1961) is “I Am the Fantastic Dr. Droom!” (5 pp.), penciled by Jack Kirby and inked by Steve Ditko. In this story, we meet Dr. Anthony Droom, an American

physician who responds to an appeal from a Tibetan lama for medical attention. After passing several tests that demonstrate his courage and devotion to duty, Dr. Droom meets his patient. The aged lama tells Droom that he has used his mystical knowledge to battle sinister occult forces for many years, but that his life is near its end. He requires a successor, a task that Droom accepts. With the lama’s disciple in tow, he sets out to battle the dark forces that menace humanity. Additional “Dr. Droom” stories appeared in issues #2 through #4 (art by Kirby and Ayers) and in #6 (art by Paul Reinman). With the title’s change to Amazing Adult Fantasy with #7 (Dec 1961), with allDitko art, the “Droom” feature was discontinued. Dr. Anthony Droom has much in common with Dr. Stephen Strange. Both are physicians; both receive supernatural powers from an aged lama in the Himalayas; both are engaged in an unseen battle against mystical forces; both are assisted by a dutiful Asian servant. There are differences, of course. Dr. Droom is always self-sacrificing, rather than being a reformed cad injured in an accident. Despite the premise laid out in his origin, Dr. Droom never actually fights supernatural menaces; there is no equivalent of Baron Mordo or Dormammu. Instead, he confronts the same sorts of worldly menaces that filled the pre-hero fantasy titles: a race of fish-men from Atlantis (#2); Zemu, a warrior from Saturn, who plots to invade Earth by posing as a stage magician running for governor (#3); a spaceship full of invading aliens (#4); and Krogg, an alien who shrinks new homes and holds them for ransom in another dimension (#6). In balance, however, it seems clear that Dr. Droom could be considered at the very least a precursor of Dr. Strange, if not an actual prototype.

Dr. Droom, drawn by Kirby and Ditko, debuted in 1961’s Amazing Adventures #1—as a physician who encounters a Tibetan lama and carries on his good work! The series didn’t last long; but, with his name changed to Dr. Druid to avoid confusion with Doc Doom, most of those stories were reprinted in the 1970s—and a few non-Droom tales were slightly redrawn to turn their heroes into Druid. Doc Druid even became an Avenger for a, er, spell. Indeed, in 1990, in Avengers Spotlight #37, Roy & Dann Thomas (with art by Bob Hall & Win Mortimer) had fun spinning a yarn that turned Dr. Druid into an actual prototype of Dr. Strange, at least within the frame of the fictional Marvel Universe! Retroactive continuity lives—and don’t let any tin-eared tomfool call it “continuity implants”! (As a footnote: by a, uh, strange coincidence, Golden Age writer Gardner Fox’s original name for his 1940 mystic DC super-hero Dr. Fate was—you guessed it—Dr. Droom!) [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Of Mystics, Mighty Men, and Immortals

Professor X and four male mutants await the arrival of Marvel Girl, in The X-Men #1 (Sept. 1963). But was Xavier foreshadowed by Linus Vermeer (top right) in 1959’s Strange Tales #69 and by Tad Carter (the above two tiers) in 1962’s Amazing Adult Fantasy #14? [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

The X-Men In The X-Men #1 (Sept. 1963), Stan Lee and Jack Kirby introduce us to a group of teenage super-heroes who are rather different from most previous ones. Instead of ordinary folks who acquired their superhuman powers in some fashion, they are simply born that way. At an elite boarding school in Westchester County, Professor Charles Xavier (Prof. X) has undertaken the training of five young mutants: The Angel (Warren Worthington III), The Beast (Hank McCoy), Cyclops (Scott “Slim” Summers), Iceman (Bobby Drake), and Marvel Girl (Jean Grey). The Overstreet Price Guide does not report any prototypes of the entire group, or of any of its teenage members. But it does list two alleged prototypes of their teacher, Prof. X. The first appears in Strange Tales #69 (June 1959) in a Kirby-drawn short, “The World That Was Lost!” (4 pp.). Linus Vermeer is a very wealthy bald man confined to a wheelchair. Except for his pointed ears, the visual resemblance to Prof. X is indeed quite striking. However, Vermeer is not a mutant with telepathic abilities, but rather an Atlantean anxious to return to his undersea home. The wheelchair is not occasioned by crippled limbs, but rather (as in the case of Superman’s Lori Lemaris) his fish-like tail! This seems more a “visual template” than anything. The second Prof. X prototype is Tad Carter, who appears in Amazing Adult Fantasy #14 (July 1962). The Ditko-drawn “The Man in the Sky” (5 pp.) is one of the few alleged prototypes scripted by Stan Lee. The teenage Carter is a mutant, due to the exposure of his father (an atomic scientist) to radiation. He has the ability to read minds and to move objects telekinetically. When he tells some of his classmates that he

can read their minds, they respond angrily, reviling him as a freak. Before they can harm him, Carter is pulled into the air by an unseen force. A voice in his head explains that there are many additional mutants in the world, who remain hidden because humanity would seek to destroy them. He will be brought to them and they will all remain in hiding until the world is ready for them. Here we see many of the themes later elaborated in The X-Men: mutation as a source of superhuman powers, the instinctive hatred and prejudice of humans against mutants, the idea that they must hide away until the world will accept them. Though there is no internal evidence that this was an intentional prototype, in many ways it is clearly a thematic precursor of the X-Men saga. In addition, two members of the X-Men’s recurring foes, the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, are also said to be represented by pre-hero prototypes. The first of these is their leader, Magneto, the master of magnetism. In Strange Tales #84 (May 1961), the cover feature, “The Wonder of the Ages!!! Magneto!” (13 pp.), penciled by Kirby and inked by Ayers, introduces us to another Magneto, Hunk Larken. Larken is a giant of a man with a good heart, but not overmuch intelligence, who volunteers to be the first man in space (a month after Yuri Gagarin’s flight). His capsule passes through a “cosmic mist of radioactive antimatter” that magnetizes him. One arm attracts things, the other repels them. Angry and confused, he runs amok, until gradually his powers diminish. I see no evidence that this was an intentional try-out of a magnetic man, but it does make a reasonable precursor. The second member is Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff), who later reformed and joined The Avengers. This supersonic runner is allegedly represented by a prototype in Strange Tales #67 (Feb. 1959). In the

“And Men Shall Call Him... Prototype!”

The Magneto of Strange Tales #84 in 1961 was named Hunk Larken (I guess we’re lucky he wasn’t named “Hulk,” too!)—while ’twas the invisibility, rather than the super-speed, of the protagonist in #67 which was considered worth playing up in the story’s title. “Magneto” splash repro’d from black-&-white photostats of the original art. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

It is interesting to note that some of these alleged prototypes combine features of two or more later characters. For example, there is the Stone Man who looks like The Thing but is called Thorr, and the Iron Man called Hulk, while one Professor X incorporates some of the powers of Marvel Girl. This seems more consistent with the view that these similarities are due to the vagaries of the creative process, rather than a deliberate program of market research. In this view, the writers and artists of Marvel Comics in the early 1960s had all sorts of ideas and concepts actively percolating in their minds, which were expressed in diverse ways, as stories demanded.

Of the 37 stories listed by the Price Guide as prototypes, I think the following eleven, covered in this issue and in Alter Ego #29, may definitely be regarded as creative precursors of subsequent characters, because they remind us of later characters in several ways: Human Torch – Strange Tales #76 Lava Man – Tales of Suspense #7 Magneto – Strange Tales #84 Kirby-penciled “I Was the Invisible Man!” (7 pp.), scientist Adam Clayton perfects the Vibra-Light. Although the title of the story suggests a Sue Storm prototype, Clayton’s device gives him the ability to run at the speed of light, far too quickly for the human eye to perceive. In this ability, he does indeed resemble the subsequent mutant, though it is an acquired rather than in-born talent. Like Quicksilver, The Invisible Man is somewhat ambiguous morally: he uses his power for good (generally), but with an eye toward parlaying it into fame and fortune. It is interesting that this comic appeared at almost exactly the same time as DC’s The Flash was rejuvenated (after four appearances in Showcase during 1956-58) with #105 (Feb.-March 1959). The story plays very much like a super-hero origin, save for the Dorian Gray ending. It is conceivable that Goodman and Lee were watching sales of their competitors’ super-speedster and contemplating a knock-off. However, there is no convincing evidence of such intent; and without it, Clayton is best regarded as a precursor.

May & Ben Parker – Strange Tales #97 Mr. Hyde – Journey into Mystery #79 Professor X – Amazing Adult Fantasy #14 Sandman – Journey into Mystery #70 Stone Men – Tales to Astonish #5, #16; Tales of Suspense #28 Toad Men – Tales to Astonish #7

The Verdict If we accept the view that a particular story can only be called a prototype if there was an explicit intent to test character concepts, then none of the alleged Marvel pre-hero prototypes seems to qualify. I can find no compelling evidence in the stories themselves that any were deliberate market tests of new ideas. Certainly, none of the stories identified by the Overstreet Price Guide carry an editorial note inviting feedback, and only two were scripted by Stan Lee. Nonetheless, some of these stories certainly do strike us as uncannily similar to subsequently-developed characters in several ways. It does seem fair to regard these as early percolations of the creative process, as evolutionary precursors or forerunners of what came later. In many cases, the similarities may be completely unintentional; an artist or writer unconsciously creates something similar to what he has created previously. Other times, as the super-hero books got underway, the creators may have consciously harked back to what had sold well in prehero times, adapting and modifying characters created for different purposes.

Paul Reinman did his own more-than-adequate rendition of Dr. Droom in Amazing Adventures #6 (Nov. 1961), which came out in late summer, not long before Fantastic Four #1. Repro’d from b&w photostats of the original art. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Of Mystics, Mighty Men, and Immortals

Of these, it was suggested in #29 that the Human Torch prototype indeed could have been a genuine attempt to gauge the market for a second Human Torch resurrection. The remainder are either villains or supporting characters. Perhaps this reflects the constraints of genres, as noted above. Given the kinds of stories published in these titles, the opportunities for characters who resemble super-heroes are few, while ordinary folk or fantastic menaces are more likely to crop up. Seven other stories feature characters who resemble later super-heroes in fewer but more substantive ways. Specifically, one or more of the central concepts or themes of that character seem prefigured in these stories. These stories may also be fairly considered to be precursors:

Ant-Man – Mystic #57, Strange Tales #78.

listed by the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide, nor to the few years preceding the debut of the new heroes, nor to the fantasy and mystery books. Perusal of a broad spectrum of Atlas and Marvel comics reveals numerous stories that would seem to have as much of a claim to “prototype” status as the ones listed by the Price Guide. Because no one has ever called these stories prototypes, I am certainly not going to do so; I’m not even going to suggest which might be considered precursors. My point is to illustrate how certain themes, concepts, and names crop up repeatedly in the history of Marvel Comics, and to suggest that this has more to do with the vagaries of the creative process than to any intentional campaign of testing future characters. In doing so, I hope to show just how specious the whole idea of pre-hero prototypes really is.

Giant-Man – Strange Tales #70 Iron Man – Uncanny Tales #52, Strange Tales #75, Tales of Suspense #16 Quicksilver – Strange Tales #67 The remainder of the canonical 37 in my opinion do not even qualify as precursors or forerunners of later characters. Most of these only resemble their supposed derivative in one way, generally name or appearance. Especially to be excluded are the so-called “reverse prototypes” (marked with an asterisk) and the stories that appeared too late to logically serve as prototypes (two asterisks). Ancient One – Strange Tales #92

Another Ant-Man? The cover story of World of Fantasy #11 (April 1958) is “Prisoner of the Fantastic Fog” (4 pp.), illustrated by Angelo Torres. Racketeer Big Sam Morgan refuses to lend money to his scientist brother Jerry to support his research. As Big Sam tries to elude a police manhunt, he is enveloped by a dense fog that shrinks him to insect size. After several harrowing adventures (none involving ants), Big Sam reverts to normal size and surrenders to police. It is only in the last panels that we learn that Jerry was working on a “cellular shrinkage vapor,” which he vented out the exhaust after Big Sam turned down his plea for funds. I guess if Grottu, King of the Insects, is an Ant-Man prototype, Big Sam is, too.

Ant-Man – Strange Tales #73*

That’s Strange...

Aunt May – Tales of Suspense #7 Dr. Doom – Tales of Suspense #31** Dr. Strange –Journey into Mystery #78, Strange Tales #79, Tales of Suspense #32 Electro – Tales of Suspense #13, Tales to Astonish #15 Hulk – Journey into Mystery #62, #66; Tales to Astonish #21

Iron Man – Tales of Suspense #9* Professor X – Strange Tales #69 Spider-Man – Journey into Mystery #73*, Uncanny Tales #26 Stone Men – Tales to Astonish #6 Thing – Strange Tales #94** Watcher – Tales of Suspense #35

Additional Prototypes? It may seem hypocritical, after exerting so much effort to denigrate the idea of pre-hero prototypes, to turn around and suggest additional ones. However, there is a point to this. Characters and stories that remind us of Silver Age superheroes or themes are by no means confined to the 37 stories

If Aaron, Victor, and Sazzik are all prototypes of the venerable Dr. Strange, I’m surprised that Swami Nasdur and Yogi Yama Nuri aren’t listed, as well. Both mystics evince a key talent of the later Sorcerer Supreme, the ability to project an “astral image.” The former gentleman appears in Mystic #58 (April 1957) in “The Swami Strikes Back!” (4 pp.) by Ed Winiarski. A pair of college students convince the swami to teach them the trick, which they then use to rob banks. Of course, the swami uses his own astral image to ensure that they are captured by the police. The latter gent uses the same talent to defeat spies in World of Fantasy #14 (Oct. 1958), in the Dick Giordano (?)-drawn cover story “The Yogi’s Secret” (4 pp., plus cover by Joe Maneely). Though neither has much else in common with the Dr. Strange mythos, neither do any of the characters identified as Dr. Strange prototypes by the Price Guide.

“And Men Shall Call Him... Prototype!”

In A/E #26 we printed the splash panel of the Joe Sinnott-drawn “The Mutants and Me” from Tales of Suspense #6 in 1959. Here’s that entire splash page, plus the final of the four pages, in which Victor Farnsworth discovers his latent powers when trapped in one of the safes his company makes. A somewhat bland story, yet four years later the company would devote an entire comics series to mutants. Someone at Timely sure liked the name “Farnsworth” for a mutant—remember that mutant “Man in the Beehive”? [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Mutants, Mutants Everywhere Any Silver Age super-hero fan who think Marvel’s first mention of mutants came with X-Men #1 is sorely mistaken. Prototypologists who point to Tad Carter in Amazing Adult Fantasy #14 (July 1962) and Lucius Farnsworth in Tales of Suspense #32 (Aug. 1962) as the first Marvel mutants would likewise be wrong. In fact, Martin Goodman published quite a number of mutant tales prior to the Atlas Implosion. The earliest mutant I have seen appears in Amazing Detective Cases #11 (March 1952), the first issue of this title after its shift from a straight crime format to the horror and fantasy genre. In the Joe Sinnott-illustrated story “The Weird Woman!” (5 pp.), Gloria tells her fiancé George Timmins that she is a mutant. An asterisked footnote explains that a mutant is “a creature that is different from others of its kind, having special characteristics or powers.” Her particular powers include the ability to pass through solid objects and to create mind-boggling illusions. She is searching for a fellow mutant to marry, so that they can raise a family which will eventually conquer and supplant Homo sapiens. In 1953, the last three issues of Man Comics featured a kid gang, Bob Brant and his Trouble Shooters, with art by Carl Hubbell. In the first two issues (#26-27), Bob and the gang have a variety of adventures involving criminals and Communists. In the final issue, #28 (Sept. 1953), we have a rather different sort of story. As “The Crawling Things!” (9

pp.) opens, the city is gripped by a wave of mysterious bank robberies. The police are stumped, because everyone in the bank dies horribly, but without a mark on them. Meanwhile, Bob and the gang are invited to a surprise party given for reclusive classmate Roger Carstairs by his doting father. Mr. Carstairs tells the boys that Roger has “always been a strange boy! And he’s been making some new friends, lately... older men... and I don’t like their looks! He needs good wholesome friends....” When Bob gets a look at one of these new pals, he realizes the man is a member of the criminal gang they faced in Man #26, led by that master of disguise, False Face! (For an abortive “reintroduction” of this villain, see Fantastic Four #10 [Jan. 1963].) When Bob and the Troubleshooters confront Roger about his poor choice of friends, the teen boasts that it is he who is behind the bank robberies. He tells the gang, “I am a super being... a new step up in man’s evolution... I have powers you petty mortals never dreamed of!” The gang’s loquacious Native American, Feathers, adds, “Roger is a mutation, a super-being, with intellectual powers far beyond our present day understanding!... Roger... has turned his mutant powers toward evil, in a world of people he despises!” Roger’s power? He can create images of big swarming insects in people’s heads. The sensation of being attacked by these horrible creepy-crawlies is more than the human mind can handle, and his victims die of sheer fright. Once a bank is cleared of potential witnesses, he sends in False Face and his gang to grab up the dough for him. Roger’s father debates killing his obviously evil son, but False Face gets him off the horns of that dilemma by obligingly gunning

Of Mystics, Mighty Men, and Immortals Mutants, mutants everywhere—yet somehow, these haven’t made it onto prototype lists yet. We can’t identify the writers of these stories, but:

(Above:) Timely’s take on mutants goes back as far as the “Weird Woman” in 1952’s Joe Sinnott-drawn Amazing Detective Cases #11 (well, at least the mag lived up to its lead-off adjective!)...

(Above:) 1953 minor heroes Bob Brant and his Trouble Shooters, with Carl Hubbell art, worked their way up from crooks to Commies to mutants over three issues of Man Comics. (Tom says Roy T. should’ve revived this group when he was Marvel’s editor-in-chief from 1972-74: “You could’ve made super-heroes out of them. In #27, they went to the moon in a rocket!”)...

(Left:) Only three mutants stood (ineffectually, as it turned out) between mankind and total destruction in 1954’s Strange Tales #31, with art by Arthur Peddy...

(Above:) And in 1955 John Forte drew a Journey into Unknown Worlds outing wherein a mutant “unites all mankind in a successful mental effort to repel [a space-alien] invader”—not unlike the climax of the 1970 tale by artist/plotter Neal Adams, inker Tom Palmer, and scripter Denny O’Neil in The X-Men #65 (left). The two panels directly above are from the middle of the story’s final page. The mutant isn’t shown, because he’s up in space, orbiting the Earth, so the art is perhaps a bit anti-climactic, but, as Tom says: “That’s as good as it gets.” [All art & story on this page ©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

“And Men Shall Call Him... Prototype!”

down the kid before making his escape.

previous decade.

More mutants appear in Strange Tales #31 (Aug. 1954), in “The Strange Ones!” (5 pp.), drawn by Arthur Peddy. As the story opens, we are told, “In all the world there were only three of them, a boy and two men... mutants! The next advanced link in the chain of man’s evolution! Within these three strange people lurked awesome powers... powers that could save the world!” These mutants sense things before they happen, avoid sickness, and, most importantly, are far more intelligent than our greatest geniuses. Their problemsolving ability is needed to bring a runaway atomic pile under control before it explodes. But the boy is “cured” via surgery and glandular extracts, one man is killed in a helicopter crash, and the other is killed by his mistrustful neighbors in the Kentucky hills, who consider him “queer” and a “witch man.” With no one who can arrest the chain reaction, all humanity is doomed.

Two-Gun Kid vs. ...The Hulk??!? It seems that Stan Lee really liked the name “Hulk”: four of the 37 prototypes described above depict characters named “Hulk.” In addition, huge creatures in Tales of Suspense #14 (Feb. 1961) and #20 (Aug. 1961) and Tales to Astonish #17 (March 1961) were also described as (though not named) “hulks.” But there was one more “Hulk” in prehero times, not mentioned by the Price Guide. In Gunsmoke Western #63 (March 1961), we find a “Two-Gun Kid” story entitled, “The Hands of the Hulk!” (6 pp.), with art by Kirby and Ayers from a Stan Lee script. In this story, the Kid faces an outsized outlaw named Hulk Hogan (wrestling fans take note!). If Xemnu and the cinematic Hulk in Tales to Astonish #21 are considered prototypes of Bruce Banner’s alter ego by virtue of their names and large hulking physiques, logically this Wild West badman must also be considered one.

Familiar themes likewise appear in Journey into Unknown Worlds #37 (Sept. This 1961 “Hulk” shared a last name with later 1955) in the John Forte story “Man Alone!” wrestler Hulk Hogan in Gunsmoke Western #63. (5 pp.). Scientist Peter King is telepathic. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.] When he reveals this ability to his old friend Fred Barrows, he explains: “Since I was a child, I knew I possessed powers other people didn’t. I was smart enough even then to cover up Considering how many prototypes of Thor’s initial menace, the Stone because I knew that mankind sometimes destroys those they cannot Men of Saturn, are recognized by the Overstreet Price Guide, it’s understand, through fear. I’m a super-human, Fred, man’s next evolusurprising that the compilers missed a “prototype” of the Fantastic tionary step upward! Perhaps there are more like me in the world. I Four’s first foes. In Marvel Tales #152 (Nov. 1956), one finds “The don’t know! But I am possessed of powers far behind [sic] the scope of Menace of the Mole-Men!” (4 pp.), with pencils by Bob Forgione and present human understanding!” King knows that all the unrest, strikes, inks by Jack Abel. These Mole-Men are a subterranean race who plan to and wars plaguing the world are caused by telepathic suggestions from invade and conquer the surface world, but are turned back by our an alien menace in space. He uses his abilities to unite all mankind in a “poison gas”—oxygen! mental effort to repel the invader. In A/E #29, I showed that the alleged Dr. Doom prototype in Tales There is even an additional mutant story in post-Implosion time, of Suspense #31 is spurious because it appeared the same month as Dr. apparently overlooked by Overstreet but noted in Alter Ego #27. In Doom’s debut in Fantastic Four #5 (July 1962). However, the Guide “The Mutants and Me!” drawn by Joe Sinnott (Tales of Suspense #6, overlooked a much earlier character, a villain actually named Dr. Doom. Nov. 1959), Henry Marsh tells his friend Vincent And unlike the “Monster in the Iron Mask,” this story was Farnsworth that there are mutants in the world, scripted by Stan Lee! In Adventures of Homer Ghost #2 “[p]eople who seem like us... but who possess (Aug 1957), in the cover story “Homer and the Robot!” (6 superior powers! Some... are able to read minds... pp.), with art by Tony DiPreta, Homer and the ghostly while others can defy gravity! They can even move right thru walls!” He says that some aren’t even More Fantastic Firsts! (Counterclockwise:) Real Mole Men from Marvel Tales #152 in 1956... Timely/Atlas’ original Dr. Doom aware they are mutants, and that those who are from 1957’s Adventures of Homer Ghost #2... and a visibility“keep their powers secret, because they know challenged Chili scaring Millie the Model in Life with Millie #11 normal men will fear and distrust them!” in mid-1961. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.] Farnsworth scoffs at the idea, until he is locked in a safe! Under this horrible stress, he finds that he can pass right through its walls... that he is a mutant! (Could he be related to Lucius Farnsworth, the mutant beekeeper in Tales of Suspense #32?)

That’s Fantastic!

All these early mutant stories contain elements we see developed fully in X-Men: mutants as the next step in evolution, mutation as a source of superhuman powers, humans’ fear and hatred of mutants, the persecution of mutants, the use of mutant abilities for good or evil. Clearly, the concepts and themes that made The X-Men a comics success were not a novel creation of the early 1960s; these ideas had been part of Marvel Comics creative repertoire for at least the

Of Mystics, Mighty Men, and Immortals gang run into a mad scientist named Doctor Doom who has created an evil robot to perpetrate crimes and take over the world. Fittingly, Zelda the Witch comments that “[h]e talks like a comic book villain!”

And finally, I said above that The Thing and Human Torch were the only members of the Fantastic Four represented among the alleged prototypes. But what would you say if I told you that there was a Marvel comic written by Stan Lee, which appeared five months before Fantastic Four #1, which contained an invisible girl named Storm, and who Millie the Model takes a fling at being Millie owed her ability to a the Marvel in a 1967 issue. Ye Editor recalls “blastoff”? Incredible, but this as being the brainstorm of his old true! In an untitled story by Missouri buddy and fellow Marvel staffer Stan Lee and Stan Goldberg Gary Friedrich, who scripted the story. Art in Life with Millie #11 (June by Ogden Whitney. [©2003 Marvel 1961), Millie the Model’s Characters, Inc.] redheaded rival Chili Storm fools with a machine invented by a Dr. Blastoff and becomes invisible! She is depicted with the same dashed line technique that Kirby used to draw Sue Storm five months later.

Super-hero Millie? Speaking of Millie the Model, we can identify one last story that actually does seem to be a prototype, albeit for a super-hero who never materialized. In Modeling with Millie #54 (June 1967) is the 6-page story “Millie the Marvel,” scripted by Gary Friedrich and drawn by Ogden Whitney. In the splash panel Millie sits reading a copy of Fantastic Four #63 (June ’67) and wondering what it would be like to have super-powers. That night, she dreams she’s a super-heroine, Millie the Marvel, with powers of flight and super-strength. In her dream, her

rival Chili Storm appears as a villain with a freeze-ray, using the name The Chill. At the end of the story we find the following appeal: “Do you want to see more of Millie the Marvel, gal? If so, don’t be shy— write and tell us what you think!” Was Marvel seriously considering the conversion of Millie’s soap operas into super-hero fare? Clearly, “girl” comics were in trouble. Though romance and teen humor had been Marvel’s backbone in 1960, with eight titles, most of these had been dropped by late 1965. Issue #54 was the final one for Modeling with Millie, while Patsy and Hedy had been dropped the preceding February. Of the girl books, only Millie the Model, Marvel’s oldest title at the time, was still being published. It would seem that Goodman and Lee were casting about for some way to revitalize comics for girls. The story “Millie the Marvel” certainly appears to have been an attempt to gauge the potential for conversion of their title to a super-heroine. One assumes the response was not overwhelming. Later that year, with #154 (Oct. 1967), Millie the Model shifted from serious romance and adventure to light-hearted teen humor and became virtually indistinguishable from competitor Archie’s books.

Conclusion So, do I think these stories should be listed as pre-hero prototypes in the next edition of the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide? No. Do I believe that any of them (except the late entry “Millie the Marvel”) represent an intentional try-out of a proposed new character? Not for a moment. Do I think they’re kind of fun? Sure! Do I think they tell us something about the creative process and about the cultural milieu in which comics are created, that ideas and concepts appear again and again? You’ve got it!

Acknowledgments I express my sincere appreciation to Randall J. Barlow, Nick Caputo, and Dave O’Dell for providing information on stories not in my collection; and to Dr. Michael J. Vassallo for identifying the artists who drew some of the unsigned stories.

Endnotes 1 Marvel Comics Group and the Silver Age of Comics website (www.angelfire.com/comics/mcg-sac/), accessed 10 March 2003. 2 Lee, S., Son of Origins of Marvel Comics (Simon and Schuster, New York, 1975), pg. 82. 3 Ditko Looked Up website (www.ditko.comics.org/ditko/visual/), accessed 5 March 2003.

Seems only fitting to close with art by the two Marvel masters who drew the majority of the alleged prototypes. Here are a pair of dynamic “Dr. Droom” panels from 1961’s Amazing Adventures #4, penciled by Kirby (with inks by Ayers), repro’d from photostats of the original art—and the very first glimpse the waiting world ever had of Dr. Strange, from 1963’s Strange Tales #110, drawn by Steve Ditko. Essential Dr. Strange, Vol. 1, reprints every “Doc-udrama” that appeared before the Sorcerer Supreme first got his own mag in ’68. ’Course, a Man named Stan also had something to do with both Droom and Strange—proof positive, if any more be needed, that in tandem Lee, Kirby, and Ditko were, to paraphrase the Bard, “the triple pillar of the world”—or at least, the 1960s Marvel Comics corner of it! [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

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Ellison Marvel-Land

Ellison Marvel-Land Science-Fiction Writer HARLAN ELLISON’s Marvel Age Masterworks —in His Own Words, This Time!

[A/E EDITOR’S PERSONAL INTRO: As mentioned in Alter Ego #18, I first became aware of Harlan Ellison in the early 1960s, in issues of Dick and Pat Lupoff’s influential science-fiction/comics fanzine Xero, where he wrote several insightful articles and reviews and was even kidded in cartoons by his fellow sf fans. Before long, of course, I became an ardent admirer of his fiction, as well, beginning with “‘Repent, Harlequin!’ Said the Ticktockman.” Harlan and I met at an early comics convention in the mid-to-late 1960s, if not before; I distinctly recall introducing him at one of these to Jim Steranko (each wanted to meet the other) while Jim was writing and drawing “S.H.I.E.L.D.” for Marvel. [Over the years, my off-and-on acquaintanceship with Harlan has been a very positive thing, in my mind. In 1970 he was kind enough to be a “guest critic” in the first Conan the Barbarian letters page and was, like his fellow reviewers, probably far too kind to that initial effort by Barry Smith and myself. In 1975 he arranged for Denny O’Neil and me to be flown from New York to Los Angeles for a UCLA symposium called, if memory serves a-right, “Ten Evenings down a Rabbit Hole”; our particular night dealt with “strange inputs” to science-fiction, of which comics were one. The two days I spent in L.A. at that time, during

which I renewed a few friendships, helped put me in the frame of mind to relocate there the next year instead of returning for a second round as Marvel’s editor-in-chief... a decision I have never regretted. I might not have done that if not for Harlan’s flying me out the year before. [Though I thus knew from the outset that Harlan was a comics enthusiast, neither he nor I recall precisely how he came to write the story-synopsis that became the basis of the first two Marvel Comics I dialogued from his plots—The Avengers #88 (May 1971) and The Incredible Hulk #140 (June ’71). In an interview in Comic Book Artist two or three years ago, he opined that perhaps Stan Lee suggested that I approach him about writing something for Marvel. Maybe so—but I suspect it was my own idea, hatched soon after I invited him to comment on Conan #1. I’ve no recollection whether I paid Harlan out of my own not-too-deep pockets for the story he sent me around the turn of 1970-71, or if I conned Marvel into paying him directly over and above my page-rate. For, what Harlan wrote was not (nor was it ever intended to be, of course) an actual comic book script, but rather a synopsis, which I would oversee being turned into pictures by artists and would then dialogue. The story proved meaty enough that

Harlan Ellison in a vintage photo—flanked by the covers of The Avengers #88 and The Incredible Hulk #140. With these issues, Harlan became perhaps the first writer of a comics story ever to have his name on Marvel covers, at least without its being paired with that of an artist. Photo courtesy of Harlan Ellison. [Avengers ©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Harlan Ellison’s Marvel Age Masterworks it was turned into two comic book issues... which may or may not have been intended from the start. [At some very early stage, Marvel’s self-produced fanzine of the day, Marvelmania, obtained permission to print Harlan’s synopsis intact. Surprisingly, it was published there in advance of the actual comics—but to the best of our knowledge it has never appeared anywhere else since—at least not legally. The anonymous writer of the introduction to the synopsis in Marvelmania #4 (1970) referred to the effort as a “forthcoming two-part Hulk story, now in the works,” so clearly that piece was prepared before I decided that the first part of the tale would become an issue of Avengers. Since I was the regular scripter of both Hulk and Avengers at the time, this hardly presented an obstacle. The intro-writer also stated that “[Harlan] was contacted some months back by our own Roy Thomas on the possibility of Ellison’s doing something for Marvel,” and that Harlan “thought that it would be interesting to publish his synopsis so that it may be compared with the finished product, which should hit the

SPLASH PANEL shows the Hulk caught between the poles of a specially-rigged trap powered by the magneto generators of Boulder Dam. He is being bombarded by millions of volts of electricity. Thunderbolt Ross and his corps of army engineers have lured the green behemoth to the dam, where they have pinned him in a barrage of current (much in the manner the Thing was killed), in hopes the assault—enough to slaughter an army of rampaging Visigoths—will stun him long enough to put him in a newly-designed crypt filled with comagas. Then, effectively immobilized, the Hulk will be transported to a testing ground where he will be kept unconscious until a cure has been effected to turn him back, once and for all, to Bruce Banner. The crypt was designed by Tony Stark and Reed Richards, working in conjunction with Professor Xavier. It’s working! Screaming in impotent rage, the Hulk struggles feebly in the grip of raw energy cascading over him. And as Mr. Fantastic and Tony Stark look on with Professor X, gauging the possibilities of finally saving Bruce Banner from the living coffin of flesh wherein he has been trapped for so many years, we cut away to: The Avengers, hot on the trail of a menace so great they cannot even speak its name without fearing dread. They are stalking through swampland... shrouded in mist, eerie, compelling... on a nameless atoll near Easter Island. Looking for a decayed ancient idol, an icon of a lost (Above:) In the interests of historical accuracy (and ’cause we kinda liked it), we used the title heading from the synopsis-printing in Marvelmania #4 for this A/E version. (Right:) The splash of Avengers #88 gave the Hulk equal billing with the mag’s titular heroes, and spelled out who wrote what in the story to come. (See blow-up of credits.) Because Harlan had apparently conceived the early part of the synopsis as an homage to H.P. Lovecraft’s tale “The Call of Cthulhu,” Roy quoted the first line of that HPL classic at the bottom left of the page. [Hulk & Hulk logo TM & ©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

stands early next year.” I was also quoted indirectly as saying I would “try to keep as much of Ellison’s description in the final product as possible, and also try to keep Ellison’s plot outline intact.” [Duh! I recall having mild reservations about the name “Syklop” for the villain, because of Cyclops in The X-Men—and the fact that in the printed comic the name begins with an added “P” suggests to me that that particular spelling was mine—but my mother didn’t raise any children dense enough to acquire the rights to a Harlan Ellison synopsis and then not use as much of his language and plotting as possible! It was a beauty of a story—and A/E layout man Chris Day provided nice art scans from the three issues in question. So let’s relive that classic tale—in its original form—with Harlan’s generous permission and forbearance—after we give its copyright info: “In the Grip of Syklop” by Harlan Ellison. Copyright ©1970 by Harlan Ellison. Renewed, ©1998 by The Kilimanjaro Corporation. All rights reserved. —Roy.]

Ellison Marvel-Land of ancient sciences and regiments even the most advanced human scientists would call sorcery, Syklop had located a source of power, limitless power, that if he can only tap, he can save his race from eternal sleep and certain destruction. That power-source: The Hulk. Now, with the Hulk stunned, lying semi-conscious in the portal of the great machine he has used to disassemble the green giant’s atoms and reassemble them here... Syklop knows his theory was correct: the only way to uncover the secret of the Hulk’s incredible power is to compress the atoms of that green form so the molecular structure can be better studied under the analyzers of another of Syklop’s Herculean machines. But to do this, the Hulk must be reduced in size and must be shrunk and compressed. He transfers the Hulk to the other machine, and the shrinking ray begins to bathe the green behemoth in a ruby glow. Syklop knows he must be careful, and not shrink the creature too much. But even as he works his ancient science on the Hulk, the Avengers (Left:) Since Syklop/Psyklop was what sf fans call a B.E.M.—a “bug-eyed monster”—Roy asked penciler Sal Buscema to show one panel from the insectoid alien’s POV in multiple images. What? You say R.T. stole that bit from the 1950s horror flick The Fly? Never heard of it! Art by Sal B. and Jim Mooney. (Below:) Besides a stint or two on The Avengers, Sal also drew The Incredible Hulk from time to time—including penciling and inking, a few years back, this cover for what he terms a “custom comic.” Repro’d from a photocopy of the original art, sent by Sal. [Avengers, Hulk, & Abomination TM & ©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

civilization: key to a subterranean stronghold of the decimator whose very existence on the planet is more deadly than a thousand hydrogen bombs. They push onward and, finally, in the heart of the steaming night swamp they stumble on it—a statue so grotesque and monstrous it brings them to a halt. And we cut back to: The Hulk, pinned in a torrent of lightning. As the electricity takes its toll and the Hulk sinks down senseless, the great crane-machines move in, to lift him into the coma crypt. But as they lumber forward, as they wait for the instant the electricity ceases its crackling work, the Hulk suddenly become transparent, wavers in their sight, and... vanishes! Winks out of existence! Cut to the underground eyrie of a bizarre new villain, Syklop; halfhuman, half-creature of a long-dead race, he is the menace being even now stalked by the Avengers. And as we first see him, first dwell on the eldritch horror of his single bee-faceted ruby eye, his strangely-structured body, we see the Hulk suddenly appear in the crystal receiving portal of a weird machine. Syklop runs through his background and his purpose at this meaningful moment like a damned soul telling its beads for the final, agonizing time; his race had lived in the bowels of the Earth eons before even apes had walked the land. But they had fallen into disrepute with the Dark Gods they had worshipped, and they had been put to eternal sleep. For millennia they had dwelled in that starless night of empty dreams, until Syklop had been called up from slumber by the Dark Gods, who had promised him if he could tap a new source of power for their failing energy-demands, they would release his race—who would then with ease recapture the world for themselves. And so, with the aid

Harlan Ellison’s Marvel Age Masterworks

tesimal space. But to do that, he has to ravamp the ray so it will shrink him to a size larger than the size the Hulk must have now become, and bring them both back at a pre-set time. It will take time to make such changes, and while Syklop bends to his intricate chore... Return to the Hulk in that sub-atomic universe. Now he is dwarfed by the feather-topped trees, he is smaller than the diamond rocks striated with onyx, he is tinier than the lumbering, lupine beast snuffling at him through the underbrush. But he is still the Hulk. And as the saber-fanged wild wolf-thing spies him and leaps at him, the Hulk grabs at one of the protruding razor-sharp teeth, rips it loose from the creature’s mouth, and impales the wolf-thing through the throat on its own tooth. He hears the shrieks of people in terror and gives one mighty leap that carries him above the waving feather-fronds of the trees. Casting about in mid-leap, he sees a city of pink and blue stone, and from that city comes the massed sound of a populace under siege. He hurls himself through the air and lands with a crash just outside the gates of the magical little city, where he sees a rabid pack of saber-toothed wolves like the one he has just slain, attacking the walls. And he sees that the people, who are small and green and quite beautiful are ill-equipped to stave them off. He identifies with them: they are his size, they are his color, and he has no love for the wolves.

crash into the subterranean laboratory. A fight ensues, in which Syklop must struggle for his life against the massed power of the Avengers assembled. While so doing, he is unable to watch the progress of the shrinkage of the Hulk, and in mere moments the Hulk has been reduced and compressed so much, he becomes invisible, shrinks down and down and down until he is hurled into a sub-atomic, sub-molecular universe that exists in a mote of dust. Down, down, down until he emerges, gigantic in another world. And is shrunk down more and more until he stands astraddle two continents, a Colossus of Rhodes from another universe. The shrinking continues rapidly and the Hulk soon becomes smaller than the average size of a creature in this sub-molecular universe, but... Cut back to Syklop’s subterranean laboratory, where the horrorrepresentative of that sleeping race of monsters manages to reach the machine used to assemble and disassemble atoms. He turns the ray on the Avengers and they blink out of existence... appearing suddenly... with their memories wiped clean of anything even remotedly connected to Syklop... on the downtown express platform of the IRT 7th Avenue Subway... turning and looking and confused at how they got there, as... Syklop dashes to close off the shrinking ray. Realizing he has sent his one hope of success to another universe, Syklop begins making preparations to follow the Hulk to that infini-

He wades into the beasts, using his behemoth power to scatter them and frighten them. He grabs two of them by their tails and ties the tails together; then, using the wolves as a Gaucho would use a bola, he spins them overhead, around and around, finally hurling them far off across the horizon. One after another he crushes the wolves, hitting one so hard he drives him deep into the ground. Finally, when they are dispersed, the gates of the city open and the people stream out. They seem, at first, to be attacking (to the dim brain of the Hulk), but they are so lovely, so friendly, he holds his blows for a moment and they lift him to their shoulders carry him into the city, and there they make the Hulk their king! The queen, Jarella, is obviously taken with the Hulk and she orders the Pantheon of Sorcerers to devise a way by which the Hulk can learn their language. Torla, the head sorcerer, a kind of Merlinlike man, works a spell (that in this universe is science, not magic) that not only gives the Hulk the gift of speed as they speak it, but somehow clears the be-fogged brain of the

Ellison Marvel-Land

across the glass dome of the throne room. Then a monstrous hand crashes through the glass and huge fingers grab the Hulk in an unbreakable grip. He is lifted up, out of the castle, into the sky. In the grip of Syklop! As Jarella and Torla and his subjects watch in horror, King Hulk is lifted away and up and up and up. Then, in the clutch of that ghastly, eldritch creature who stands like a mountain above their land, they see Syklop laugh his terrifying laugh of triumph and... they both grow so enormous they vanish from the sub-molecular universe. Jarella is bereft of her love, and the people have lost their king. But what of the Hulk?

behemoth, and for the first time in many months he can think rationally, not as the rampaging killer he has been.

He reappears in Syklop’s laboratory, but before the monster can sedate the Hulk, the effects of Torla’s sorcery wear off, and the Hulk goes on a rampage, demolishing the lab. Then, before Syklop can stop him, he batters his way through the very walls of the underground lab, through the earth, and leaps into the sky.

For the first time in his existence, the Hulk is happy. He seems at home! These green people love him, want him, need him as their king. And for the first time a beautiful woman loves him, not Bruce Banner but him, the Hulk. Only Visis, the pretender to the throne, hates him, and plots to have him killed.

Syklop’s equipment is ruined. He must start over again, if he can. But even before he can contemplate such an alternative, one of the Dark Gods appears to him, even more terrifying in its shadowy outlines than Syklop himself. And the Dark God intones, “You have failed!”

One night the men of Visis descend on the Hulk as he sits staring out at the multi-colored star sky of this nameless little world in a dust mote. He is attacked but easily manages to drive them off, in the process grabbing one of the assassins, who tells him it is Visis behind the plot.

Syklop screams as the Dark God takes his revenge.

The Hulk calls the court in session and confronts Visis with the charges, and the assassin turns evidence against his master. Everyone expects the Hulk to kill Visis right there in the throne room. But this is a new Hulk, one whose mind has been cleared by Torla’s magic/science. And he merely orders Visis to gather his goods and his supporters and leave. He is banished. The Queen and court cheer the Hulk for his humanity, and they declare they want him to stay with them forever. The Hulk’s heart is full; for the first time he knows love and joy and... An enormous shadow falls

And what of the Hulk?

(Top:) Roy T. had a bit of harmless fun taking the names of Arthur C. Clarke and Billy Batson in vain in Hulk #140—never dreaming that, ere long, DC would license the rights to the original Captain Marvel from its old sparring-partner, Fawcett! (Above:) Happy Herb seems to have enjoyed himself, too, when drawing this inventory pin-up for Marvel Super-Heroes; we forget precisely where it was printed, but we’re sure somebody will clue us in. Repro’d from the original art, which hangs in Roy and Dann’s gym... and Herb gave the piece to Ye Ed, so pay no attention to that “Return to Herb Trimpe” notation at bottom! [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Leaping through the sky, a dim memory of happiness still fading from his fogged brain, he remembers a tiny green Queen and a time of joy. And he soars away into the distance, trying to find a place he can never find again, not even understanding that the world and the life he seeks are forever denied him, locked in a mote of dust clinging to his garments. Once again he is the homeless, brutal Hulk. [End of “The Hulk in the Grip of Syklops!”]

Harlan Ellison’s Marvel Age Masterworks

that tied it to any particular [EDITOR’S INTRO #2: For comics hero. those readers who may take this occasion to compare Harlan [I had enjoyed the story in Ellison’s foregoing synopsis with 1968, and I had long believed the story as printed, I might say that, though I, too, was and that in retrospect I have only remain a fan, friend, and admirer one major regret. Due to of the great Julie Schwartz, there deadline pressures (of my own really was no reason why the making, not his, I hasten to story should not be utilized in a add), I had to write the dialogue comic. So, sometime around the for the entire Hulk #140 start of 1972, I asked Harlan if, overnight, staying up from dusk in return for a smallish payment, till dawn. In order to forestall I could turn his synopsis into an natural drowsiness, I decided I issue of The Avengers. Harlan would find a way to work into enthusiastically concurred, and, the dialogue and captions the with minimal change (as title of every single Ellison short cognoscenti will notice), his story in his 1969 collection The adventure of a pair of superBeast That Shouted Love at the heroes became a vehicle for a Artist Steve Stiles gave us permission to use his 1968 art which graced the title Heart of the World, which of super-hero group. Rich Buckler page of “Five Dooms to Save Tomorrow” in the Thompsons’ Comic Art #7, but course had inspired my name for was assigned to pencil it, and we requested: “I hope you will mercifully point out that I was merely a pimplythe Hulk issue. This led me into faced adolescent fan boy when I did it.” Heck, we always liked it, Steve! were off. And here at last, for the a couple of convolutions I regret, Several of Steve’s back-up stories for Mark Schultz’s Xenozoic Tales from the first time since that printing in a such as having to shoehorn in a 1980s are on display in Dark Horse’s new trade paperback reprinting of the few hundred copies of Comic Art title like “Pitll Pawob”—but all early issues of XT, subtitled Volume One: After the End. Steve also e-mailed us: #7 some 35 years ago, is the story. in all, it was an enjoyable “And to think, that’s the closest I ever got to drawing Hawkman! Sob!” Thanks also to Maggie Thompson experience, and I was proud to [Art ©2003 Steve Stiles.] for her blessing to reprint the have helped bring one of synopsis, which is: “Five Dooms science-fiction’s finest stylists, albeit obliquely, into the Marvel to Save Tomorrow” by Harlan Ellison. Copyright ©1968 by Harlan Universe. To say that the two-parter was favorably received would Ellison. Renewed, ©1996 by The Kilimanjaro Corporation. All rights be a gross understatement. Jarella became a fondly-remembered reserved. —Roy.] character of the latter days of the Silver Age, and prompted a sequel or two later by other hands.

[A year or so later, I had another Brilliant Idea. In 1968, the seventh and final issue (to date) of Don & Maggie’s splendid fanzine Comic Art had printed a comic book story in synopsis form that had been written by Harlan Ellison. The Thompsons’ editorial note stated it had been “submitted to an editor of extreme ability as a plot for an established super-hero comic; it was rejected, even though the story was being given away, not sold, on the grounds that it was too adult for the average comic book reader. It is, and it would have suffered badly at the hands of the Comics Code Authority.”

Your name is Leonard Tippitt. You are a good man, a gentle man. You have led a blameless life and have never harmed a soul. But now, you find yourself responsible for the future of the Universe. You must rid the world of five persons you have never met and who have never done any harm, to you or others. You must cause...

[“However,” the Thompsons went on, “it is a good story and CA prevailed upon the author and the editor for permission to print it. (We have a somewhat more mature audience and don’t mind offending or puzzling our readers.) Permission was granted by both. The names of the characters have been changed. If you still recognize them, don’t mention it.” They noted that Ellison hoped to turn the plot into a novel, if he could ever find the time, and that it was “fully copyright in Harlan’s name.” [If even a cursory reading of the story missed the fact that Harlan had intended the synopsis for DC’s Hawkman, and that the “editor of extreme ability” in question was one Julius Schwartz, that fact was immediately made clear by the title illustration, done especially for Comic Art by Steve Stiles. However, since the names of the heroes were altered from Hawkman and Hawkgirl to “Falcon and Greywing” and Carter and Shiera Hall to “Carson and Sara Hill,” the synopsis could be printed in full without causing anyone any problems. In fact, there was relatively little in the story

Carson and Sara Hill attend a special “Grandmasters Chess Tournament” to witness the match between the famous Czechoslovakian chess master SPORADNIK and the new electronic computer NIMROD, which is alleged to be able to outmaneuver even the greatest chess strategists. The game is played with cut-crystal pieces, and it seems as though

Ellison Marvel-Land (Left:) The cover of Avengers #101 (July 1972). Art by Rich Buckler & Frank Giacoia. Wasn’t this story recently reprinted by Marvel somewhere-or-other? (Right:) The splash for “Five Dooms” by Buckler (pencils) & Dan Adkins (inks). [Avengers TM & ©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Sporadnik is winning. He moves his Queen into check position, but before Nimrod can make a counter-move, Sporadnik collapses. Carson and Sara go with the unconscious chess master to the hospital, and through his total familiarity with everything Earth-history has ever produced he is able to help the surgeons diagnose the case. Sporadnik is in an unrelievable coma produced by a rare distillate of poison produced only by the aboriginal natives living near the Iguassu Falls in the unexplored interior of Brazil. The poison was on the tip of the Queen’s tiara, the piece Sporadnik moved in the game. Yet the mystery is that only a greater chess master than Sporadnik could have known when to put the poison on the piece, for if it were placed there before the match, someone else might have fallen prey to it, and if it had been placed there during the short break Sporadnik took, the butlers who keep the playing area clean might have touched it. So it had to be someone who knew enough chess strategy, who was able to extrapolate many moves ahead, who knew precisely at what point Sporadnik would use his Queen. The only possible suspect is the great mechanical brain Nimrod, which has been returned to the electronics factory where it was constructed. Carson and Sara don their garb and Falcon adds to his personal strength a variation of the pilum, the Roman javelin. (This variation is the one used by only the most skilled Roman warriors, a spiked point on one end, a double-edged knife on the other, used by hurling it end-overend at an assailant.) They go to the electronics factory in time to see the back-plate of Nimrod unbolt itself, from within, and a short, gentle-looking man emerge. This was the mysterious one who struck down Sporadnik. But when Falcon tries to capture the man, he is stopped by the eerie glow that suddenly emanates from the man’s eyes, which causes the very blood to heat and come to a boil in the veins and arteries of Falcon’s body.

Falcon is instantly hurled into a pit on the floor, a burning anguish threatening to destroy him. Sara, grasping the situation, races to his aid and covers him with a bolt of special high-density, low-polarity plastic designed by the electronics firm for use in insulating aerospace missiles against the terrible friction-heat of atmospheric re-entry. Falcon’s metabolic system returns to normal, but the innocuous little man is gone, vanished. Who was he? We flashback to a night several days before, in the bedroom of LEONARD TIPPIT, a mild and uninteresting man who lived in the same home with his widowed mother till she died several years before, and who now merely marks his way to old age and obscurity by a routine job in an accounting office. As Tippit sleeps, suddenly the very air in the room begins to churn, and as he wakes abruptly, three visions take form. They are human, no doubt of that, but only physically in the way an orangutan is human. The three strange creatures are not even similar to one another. Yet they each speak in English, though they advise Tippit they are communicating with him telepathically, for they cannot exist in this, his time, 1964-65. They tell him they are Castellans (guards) of Possible Worlds. They explain how time is like a tree that can branch many ways, and parallel, possible worlds can run alongside, or off of, known time, which is the tap root of the tree. They explain that at these forking places in probability, objects exist that co-habit many time-lines. Sometimes it is a grain

Harlan Ellison’s Marvel Age Masterworks of sand, sometimes a lizard or a newt, sometimes a structure or a cloud formation, and—occasionally—a human being. They tell him he is one of these Time Focus objects, that he exists in the fork of many possible time-lines. This, they add, is the reason he has never been a winner or a loser, but merely someone who exists on the simplest level of supportability. For he is neither of one time nor another. Yet in his hands rests the fate of all tomorrows. They explain how time and probability can be altered: had a rabbit, completely undistinguished in any other way, been scampering across a ridge in the Alps, when Hannibal had been crossing with his elephants, and caused a stone to be dislodged, which would have rolled downhill loosening others,

causing an avalanche, burying Hannibal and his forces, the entire course of Western civilization would have been altered. It is like a pebble thrown into a brook. The concentric rings go out and out, and the ramifications of one act are incalculable, no matter how small the initial act. Yet from a vantage point in the future, the Castellans can examine all past history, and know that if a certain act had been performed at a certain juncture-point in the past, some tragedy in the present, or extrapolated tragedy in the future, could be avoided. They explain to Tippit that they, physically, cannot go back in time, but that focusing their mentalities on the “special” mentality of a FocusElement, such as Tippit, they can project their images as thought-visions. This is what they have done, to come back in time and probability, to appeal to Tippit to save all the tomorrows that ever will be. Tippit does not understand what he can do to help them, and they explain that there is a terrible war coming, in all of the possible tomorrows. It is an inescapable war and will cut across all time-lines, so serious is its inevitability. It will turn all possible tomorrows into empty, arid wastelands inhabited only by a radioactive plague that will destroy all life. Only by his acts, now, in 1964-65, can this be averted. He asks what he must do, that he will gladly be the savior of the future, and they reluctantly tell him he must destroy five people living today, now, in Tippit’s time and world. He blanches. To become a killer! No, he can’t do it, he isn’t a killer, he isn’t a monster. They tell him it is either that, or unborn billions of billions will die. They soften his predicament by telling him that by the same power they

(Above:) Nearly two years ago, collector Tom Field sent us a scan of this partly-penciled Rich Buckler page from “Five Dooms” which he had just purchased, asking: “Do you know the story behind the story of this unpublished page? Was it rejected and then redrawn for publication? Lost in the mail? Something else entirely?” Sorry, Tom—we haven’t a clue! But Roy can make an educated guess. Since the page is numbered as page 2, ’twould seem that originally Rich and/or Roy intended to have the Soviet chessmaster Sporadnik—who in the comic is a lastminute replacement for U.S. chess champion Bobby Fischer—hurry into a chamber where he is awaited by Thor and Captain America, with the other Avengers entering in panel 4. In the published version, only Hawkeye arrives late (with Sporadnik), with the lame excuse that he “got lost” in Tony Stark’s compound, making Ye Ed suspect that for some reason Rich may have penciled (or at least laid out) page 3 before he finished page 2. If so, when it was decided for some reason to have most of the Avengers already on the scene, the archer’s belated entrance kept the pacing the same. But why the change? It’s anybody’s guess! [Avengers TM & ©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Ellison Marvel-Land

use to appear before him, they can open segments of the seven-eighths of his human brain unused by men. These super-powers, they tell him, will enable him to find resources to immobilize these people without actually killing them, thus freeing him of the burden of their deaths on his hands. Even so, it is a terrible responsibility, and when they add that these five people are totally blameless, that they are good people, he becomes even more tormented. But, they add, each one of them will either marry and produce a child, who will marry and produce a child, who will perform some innocuous act, that will precipitate another act, that will inevitably result in the birth of a factor leading to the war, or do something equally as simple and harmless, that will lead to the inescapable, horrible war. Tippit is finally convinced. For the good of all mankind, for the preservation of tomorrow, he must sacrifice himself personally and perform acts that are personally repugnant to himself. They open his brain, and Tippit sets out to doom his five victims. The first is Sporadnik.

The third is the daughter of a Massai tribal chief, deep in the heart of Africa. A third time, even though Falcon employs the weapons of the Massai, Tippit succeeds, and now the slumbering count is three. The fourth victim is a composer of atonal music, a Japanese student living in Tokyo. Amid the mixed cultures of the Samurai warrior and modern neon, the Japanese boy is felled by the same inexplicable deepsleep that grips his trio of compatriots. Falcon puts up a ferocious battle, and even Greywing is struck down, as Tippit overwhelms them and claims his fourth. The fifth, and last, is a wealthy old eccentric woman living in California, a woman who spends all of her immense fortune building a huge structure of emerald stones on the grounds of her palatial mansion, so that she can leave behind a testament of beauty when she dies. It is here, even after Tippit claims her, sends her into a coma, that Falcon overcomes the tormented, driven little man with the strange, glowing eyes and the frightening mission. By use of a “mentalityretarder” he has constructed, Falcon is able to close off the newly-opened sections of Tippit’s brain. Tippit once more becomes the meek, humble little man he was before the Castellans came to him.

We return to present time, as Falcon and Sara return, defeated, to the city museum. They are told a call came in to the hospital where Sporadnik lies in a mysterious coma, and the unnamed speaker on the other end demanded to speak But even as he returns to to Falcon, saying he could help normalcy, the sky darkens, solve the puzzle of Sporadnik’s lightning and thunder flash and condition. The call was relayed to scream across the heavens, and the commissioner, who spoke to amid this heavenly holocaust, the the man, and the speaker said he visions of the three Castellans would call again in a little while, appear once more. To Falcon and when the commissioner had contacted Falcon. At that moment, Tippit. the phone rings, and the commisThey explain that Tippit does sioner listens a moment, gives the indeed coexist in the juncture of receiver to Falcon. Falcon listens the time-lines, but because they as the voice explains who Tippit is, “Five Dooms” easily lent itself to a group comic, since the super-heroes had to are unable to appear physically, it what has happened to him, and the foil several actions of the cosmically-empowered Leonard Tippitt. And who else remained for someone substantial, to replace “the Castellans (guards) of Possible Worlds” but the wondrous terrible necessity of his doing what someone alive now, to change the Watcher, who had been surreptitiously violating his hands-off rule for years in must be done. Then, desperately, future. Fantastic Four! [Avengers & Watcher TM & ©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.] the voice pleads with Falcon to stop Tippit from doing what he is The Focus-Element that driven to doing. He tells Falcon the names of the other four victims. threatens the possible worlds, they explain, was not the five victims, Then he hangs up, before the call can be traced through the complicated however. It was... electronic banks of telephone equipment. Falcon turns, shaken by what he has heard, and relates the story to the commissioner and Greywing. Tippit himself! He is puzzled and deeply troubled by the desperate voice of the mysteBecause of the massive potentiality in the time-lines, Tippit’s rious caller and by the dilemma tragic Leonard Tippit finds himself in. continued existence, no more than that, merely his existence, would have But he must try to stop Tippit. brought about the inevitable war. But there was no way for them to possess him, for them to cut him off from his time and his potential. For Falcon and Greywing fly in search of the first of the four. He is a that fact of coexistence postulated the immense, bound-up powers of his poor shoeshine boy living in the poverty of lower-level Naples. A brain, and with those towers intact, even though dormant, he was harmless child who works when he can and steals when he is hungry. untouchable. They had to find a way to get someone in Tippit’s time to But as before, though they encounter Tippit, one of his incredible mental drain off those powers. powers defeats them, and the child joins Sporadnik in unbreakable coma.

Harlan Ellison’s Marvel Age Masterworks

It was Tippit himself! The Castellans explain that Tippit is, indeed, a good man, and though he was driven to do what he did, subconsciously he could not support the terrible burden of his acts, and without his conscious mind knowing what he was doing, he had placed the call to Falcon, thus bringing about his own doom and accomplishing what the Castellans knew must be accomplished. Tippit had doomed himself, out of goodness. Tippit trails into nothingness, and there is this: “Goodbye,” the words wisp back out of nothingness. “Goodbye... and thank you....” And he is gone. When Carson Hill and Sara return to the city, they find the five dupe victims have regained consciousness and are none the worse for their long sleep. The foreign victims are being flown home by jet. Carson tells the entire incredible story to the commissioner, concluding, “Mankind will never know they owe their future to a simple, inconspicuous drab of a man who gave his eternity, that theirs would not end in flames.”

Rich Buckler and Frank Giacoia teamed up on numerous covers in the early ’70s besides that of Avengers #101. This one for Jungle Action #6 (Sept. 1973) had a cover date of September 1973. Repro’d from a photocopy of the original art, courtesy of Jeff Bailey. Thanks to Jeff Bailey. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

This, Falcon did with his “mentality-retarder.” And now, merely human once more, Tippit was open to their mental powers. Even as they tell Falcon this, terrible Leonard Tippit begins to fade from sight, to become indistinct, like a wraith, a ghost. The Castellans explain that it is a terrible thing they must do to him, that they must lock him forever in a time-statis, outside space, outside time, outside probability, where nothing can touch him, and his existence is nullified. Despite Falcon’s attempts to stop Tippit, he feels compassion for the helpless little man, and tries to arrest the vanishment, though the Castellans pled with him not to do it, that by his act he dooms all futures. The “mentality-retarder,” turned on once more, starts to bring Tippit’s powers back to him, but abruptly, Tippit himself pleads with Falcon to let the Castellans take him. “I’ve never been anything much, never been someone who mattered. Let me do this, Falcon. Please, let me at least be of service to the future. It’s all I have to offer. My life is a poor thing, but it’s all I have to give. Please!” And Falcon, torn by his desire to save the little man, and his realization that it must be, turns off the machine. Tippit, smiling for the first time in years, continues to fade from sight. It is then that Falcon recognizes the voice of the mysterious caller who had phoned him in the commissioner’s office, pleading for Falcon to stop Tippit.

A comparison of the last page of Avengers #101 with Harlan Ellison’s synopsis will show, we hope, that Roy did indeed, in “Five Dooms” as in the earlier Syklop storyline, “try to keep as much of Ellison’s description in the final product as possible, and also try to keep Ellison’s plot outline intact.” And why not? After all, the point was to have Harlan contribute to the burgeoning Marvel mythos. [Avengers TM & ©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

re:

re: Agreed, Robin. All we can do now is see what more (if anything) Joe himself may have to say about the matter. Not that it’s exactly of earthshattering import, but we like to get to the bottom of these things if we can. Maybe Joe worked through a middle-man? The other main offering in our usual two-cover “double feature” was the 2001 panel spotlighting 1948-1969 DC publisher Irwin Donenfeld, as interviewed by Mark Evanier and Robert Beerbohm (with kibitzing from longtime editor Julie Schwartz). That feature inspired collector and A/E art-contributor Bob Bailey to send us some musings about several crucial transitional phases in the life of DC Comics and Superman: Dear Roy, [Alter Ego TM & ©2003 Roy & Dann Thomas; art ©2003 Ron Harris.]

INTRO NOTE FROM ROY: Looks above as if Alter Ego, the hero created by my wife Dann and me and drawn by Ron Harris for the comic book series of that name in 1986, is in deep doo-doo! In truth, though, our marvelous mascot’s hale and hearty—and we’ll have some big news about him very soon! Meanwhile, speaking of covers—soon after our Joe Sinnott-starring 26th issue hit the mails and the comics shops, we received the following fax, along with a photocopy of the cover of The Comics Buyer’s Guide for June 2, 2000, which featured the exact same art as the cover of our July 2003 issue of A/E! In CBG the art heralded—surprise, surprise—a major article titled “Joltin’ Joe Sinnott: 50 Years of Slingin’ Ink!” The fax was from Brent Frankenhoff, managing editor of CBG, and said: Dear Roy, Like the new cover of Alter Ego #26, but it sure looked familiar.... Of course, your reproduction is better. I guess Joe forgot we had used it earlier. He was very kind and generous with art, including the “Der Bingle” sketch. Brent Frankenhoff Ulp! Roy (and apparently Joe Sinnott, who sent him the art) had totally forgotten it had been used in CBG, Brent, let alone on the cover! ’Course, there’s no legal issue involved, since it was Joe’s art and Marvel’s heroes—still, thanks to you and our old chum, co-editor Maggie Thompson, for having a sensahumor about these things. Uh—you didn’t have Darlin’ Dick Ayers draw a new CBG cover for you recently, did you? ’Cause we’ve got one of those coming up next month! Robin Snyder, editor/publisher of the quintessential monthly “firstperson history” magazine The Comics!, sent in this tidbit of info that conflicts with one of Joe Sinnott’s recollections in A/E #26: Dear Roy, I was struck by Joe Sinnott’s remembrance of meeting and working for Matt Murphy (through a relationship with Vic Perzio) on The Beatles. That comic was a 1964 Dell publication and was probably edited by Don Arneson. Murphy was executive editor of the comics division of Western Publications. I asked Matt about this and he replied that he had never heard of Perzio or Sinnott, and that he had nothing to do with that comic. Marc Swayze continues to amuse and inform and can always be relied on to tell a solid story. Robin Snyder

I’ve always been intrigued by the time period which started with the ouster of Siegel and Shuster circa 1947. That was when Mort Weisinger began to develop the background and mythos of Superman as us Silver Age fans came to know him from 1957 to 1970. I think he really started in Superman #53 with the first detailed origin (July-Aug. 1948), although Superman #61 (Nov.-Dec. 1949) really developed the Krypton we are familiar with. After adding to the legend from 1948 to 1950, all major development halted until 1958. I think this was due to the Superman TV show, and that Whit Ellsworth basically sent down an edict that this is how we are going to portray him on TV, so make no further changes. And that’s the way it was until the TV series was ending with the 195758 season. That’s when Mort re-started his unofficial makeover with Curt Swan becoming the new look for Superman in the fall 1957 issues. And beginning in early 1958 Brainiac, Kandor, and the rest of what we call the “Silver Age Superman” showed up. It’s funny when you think about it. The comic series was actually made to look more like the TV series! Jimmy Olsen became a major player in the comics for the first time due to his popularity in the TV show! Curt’s successful and realistic portrayal of Jimmy may be what led to his becoming the new “Super-look” (and cover artist) from 1957-68 (with only a few pre-emptions for Schaffenberger and later Adams). It could also be argued that Lois’ getting her tryout in the late 1957 Showcases and her own magazine in early 1958 (with Curt as cover artist, plus doing an average of one story per issue in addition to Schaffenberger for the first twenty-some issues) was a way of tying the TV series to the newly-revamped Super-series. All this stuff is past history to us now, but in 1957 and 1958 DC did not know how the sales of the comic would do without the support of the TV series, and they were trying to protect what they had! Bob Bailey Real food for thought there, Bob—and we’re interested in seeing what your fellow A/Enthusiasts think about your carefully-reasoned analysis. In addition, we have a long-delayed article by former DC and First Comics editor Mike Gold coming up next issue that contains speculation on related subjects! Issue #26 also showcased corrections and additions to the information in #21’s reprint-with-added-art of Jay Disbrow’s 1985 book The Iger Comic Kingdom. Among other things, I asked in a caption about the identity of the artist of a splash page of the Fox comic Rulah, Jungle Goddess that was depicted. Hames Ware, longtime researcher and coeditor of the 1970s Who’s Who of American Comic Books, sent this anecdotal response:

[comments, correspondence & corrections]

Dear Roy,

Roy,

Just got your letter asking for artist ID on the Rulah in A/E #26, and of course I’m always happy to oblige. There’s simply no reason that “Artist Unknown” should ever have to be in Alter Ego, what with Jim Vadeboncouer, myself, and others ready to help put names to art!

I was wondering if you knew that [Golden Age DC publisher] Harry Donenfeld appeared on an episode of the Baby Snooks radio show. He’s billed as “the discoverer of Superman,” because they just couldn’t say “creator.” Siegel and Shuster are given credit for creating Superman, and I think readers might like to read a transcript of it, if I can ever dig it out.

In the case of Rulah #25, the artist is the prolific Ken Battefield. That’s not to say that others may not have also worked on it, but that it is primarily Battefield, at least for the one panel reproduced, is a certainty. It was Battefield’s wartimeproduced art for Pines Comics that Rafael Astarita and Fred Ingels were given the task to “clean up” post-war, resulting in Ingels quickly giving it up, saying he could stand no more. Astarita was able to hold on a bit longer, and you can often see Astarita splashes reworked at Pines circa 1946-47 period. When the war and Eisner pull-out occurred, both taking most of Iger’s best people, Jerry Iger elevated and leaned hard on the best remaining people, as well as the sheer workhorses, who could be counted on to fill the books. Sometimes these two categories blurred, and Ken Battefield would be a best-case example of the latter category, where quantity of output seemed to be the chief requirement.

Also, a couple of spelling corrections: Fred “Eiger’s” name was actually spelled “Iger”—Ben “Sanger” should be “Sangor”—and the name of Dark Shadows vampire Barnabas Collins is misspelled “Barnabus” in the title of the interview with Ken Bald. In addition, I was just talking to George Gladir [co-creator of “Sabrina”] about the interview for A/E’s Halloween 2003 issue [#29], and he told me he briefly worked for the Jerry Iger shop in 1943. George erased pages, did some lettering, and delivered artwork (to Fiction House) for three months. Jim Amash Thanks, Jim. We also asked in that Iger-related piece if anyone knew if Verotik Publishing, Inc., which had published a quality collection (in color, yet!) of a number of Matt Baker-drawn Phantom Lady stories from the latter 1940s, was still in business. Paul Bach wrote to tell us that Verotik can be reached on the Internet at www.danzigverotik.com (or is there a hyphen in the middle of the “danzigverotic” part? Best try it both ways!). In fact, Paul reported that he himself had just ordered the lavish Phantom Lady book we plugged in ish #26. We repeat: snap it up!

Just hearing your comic title, “Freaks,” I would wager Battefield would’ve been given the assignment, as even his “normal” people often were Hames Ware feels that the main artist on the Rulah art we printed rendered in a way that made them appear in issue #26 was the oft-maligned Ken Battefield. Here’s a slightly freakish. But not his females! For earlier splash, from the inside front cover (which was printed in blue-&-white) of Fox’s Zoot Comics #14 (May 1948), which was the reasons unclear, though most of his male name of the comic before it was changed to Rulah. More characters seemed to suffer, Battefield Battefield, Hames? [©2003 the respective copyright holders.] was able to meet Iger’s requirements in And, if no “re:” section seems rendering the female... unless of course complete recently without an info-laden note from Hames Ware and a the female was older, ill, crazy, or what-have-you... then she, too, would few additional tidbits from Jim A., several of our luxuriating letters be rendered in the grotesque style Battefield maintained through his columns of late have boasted, as well, cogent comments from Dr. career in comics (as did Paul Gattuso, who at least was unique). Michael J. Vassallo, a.k.a. “Doc V.,” Timely/Atlas expert whose Iger was smart enough to know not to waste Matt Baker’s and Jack fabulous, in-depth study of great 1950s artist Joe Maneely was the undisKamen’s time, so more than likely, when there were the usual shop-type puted highlight of A/E #28: jobs to be done, Battefield would wind up in tandem with some of the lesser lights. That’s not to say that Baker might not render the females Dear Roy, throughout on some features. For instance, Robert Hayward Webb told Thanks to Jim Amash for presenting a great interview with Joe me that for some reason he [Webb] was just never able to draw Sheena in Sinnott. I was very happy to see how much time he spent talking about a satisfactory manner, resulting in the “Sheena” strip being drawn and Joe’s Atlas days and was glad to be able to provide nice images to illusinked by Webb and Heames (his favorite inker) or Webb solo... except trate Joe’s wonderful diversity. for Sheena herself, who would be given to one of the specialists to A comment: on page 8 Joe mentions Timely writer Ed Jurist. Jurist tackle. Of course, he also had a variety of inkers. Sometimes Ann scripted for Timely from the late 1940s up through the early to possibly Brewster inked, and when she did, I’ve noticed that she drew the Sheena mid-’50s. Jim Amash then mentions that he spotted Jurist’s name on the character. Hope this helps! credits of an episode of M*A*S*H* and Joe responds that there Hames Ware couldn’t be two names like that. Well, it turns out there was! In 1991 I helped Ed’s daughter Libby track down examples of her father’s work, We ask one question, and we get a multitude of answers and bits of sending her copies of stories penciled by Jay Scott Pike and scripted by info—and that’s exactly the ratio we like! Next, A/E associate editor Jim Ed, and even a few original comic books featuring his scripts. Libby Amash, whose interview with Joe Sinnott was a major highlight of issue then cleared up for both Jerry Bails and myself the misconception about #26, adds a few bons mots of his own related to features in that ish: her father having written for numerous television shows. He hadn’t. Another Ed Jurist had. Both died the same year, 1993, with Libby’s father being older by three years. Our Timely Ed Jurist was born July

re:

12, 1914, and died in New Jersey on May 8, 1993; the other died in Los Angeles.

and Jeffrey Mendel. Although they repeat the poker game scenario, they cite no source for the story.

Now flash forward to the 1993 Grammy Awards. In 2001 Steely Dan won four Grammy Awards, including “Album of the Year.” When Donald Fagen accepted Steely Dan’s award, he thanked his wife Libby Titus Fagen, a singer/songwriter of some note in the late 1960s and 1970s (as Libby Titus), who just happens to be Libby Jurist! The camera pans to Libby in her seat just as the show abruptly ends.

Bob Bolling, who was the creative force behind the character, told me he was unaware of where the idea came from. He was called into editor Harry Shorten’s office one day and asked to do some sketches for a Little Archie feature. He did. The concept was shown to John Goldwater, and Bob got a go for the first issue, which he wrote and penciled. It sold well over a million copies. A second issue was planned and the title put on the regular schedule. It might well be one of those comic book legends that remain uncertain, but interesting.

Doc V. She wasn’t holding a copy of Stan Lee’s 1947 book Secrets behind the Comics, was she, Doc? For, of course, that mini-tome contains artist Ken Bald’s caricature of Ed Jurist, which we reprinted in A/E V3#6.

Gary Brown 2074 Polo Gardens Drive, #206 Wellington, FL 33414 Indeed!

Here’s some info from reader Thomas H. Miller about the precise phrasing of a famous radio opening that we used as the title of our transcription of a 1940 recording that starred comedian Fred Allen, DC publisher Harry Donenfeld, and Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel:

Mike Leach, the genial gent who sent us an audio tape of the recording made by Golden Age DC publisher Harry Donenfeld for a 1940 Independent News convention, says he has since learned that the Fred Allen-Jerry Siegel segment of it was originally broadcast on Allen’s weekly radio program on October 9, 1940.

Hi Roy— Since I’ve been around since 1934, I wanted to comment on the “Up in the Sky! Look!” story in Alter Ego #26. I have been a Superman nut since way back at the beginning of same, and I have many episodes of the Superman radio show, one of my childhood “must-hears,” and the regular show began with the same “reverse” opening [as in your title and on the Donenfeld recording] for many weeks when the show originated. I listened to several hundred episodes in consecutive order only a few years ago, and that “Up in the Sky! Look!” business was very distracting until I finally got to the opening we all remember. Thomas H. Miller 414 N. Wyomissing Av. Shillington, PA 19607 You and us both, Thomas! Now—in the Irwin Donenfeld portion of #26, Mark Evanier touched on one of comics’ “urban legends,” this one concerning the mag titled Little Archie. Turns out reader Gary Brown has a little light to shed on the subject: Dear Roy,

Incidentally, also related to the Irwin Donenfeld panel/interview: through A/E reader (and knowledgeable comics researcher) Michael T. Feldman, we have recently made the acquaintance by mail of Mr. Jack Adams. Mr. Adams was an executive at Independent News from 1939-53; in the late ’50s, while working for New American Library, he helped bring that line over to IN (which was of course owned by National/DC). He kindly gave us names to go with the standing Independent News staffers who were not identified on p. 10 of issue #26. They are, from left to right: Jim Rubessa, Leo Holland, Walt Luthy, Tom Causey, Jim Jackson, John Price, Paul Hendershott, and Lou Kates. So... now we know! Thank you, sir—and thanks to Michael for sharing that information with us.

There’ll always be a Superman! Collector Ray A. Cuthbert sent this pencil drawing by longtime Man of Steel artist Curt Swan. For a real treasure trove of Swan art and info, seek out a copy of A/E contributor Eddy Zeno’s recent book Curt Swan: A Life in Comics, published by Vanguard Productions, available at creativemix.com/vanguard. [Art ©2003 Estate of Curt Swan; Superman TM & ©2003 DC Comics.]

I continue to enjoy Alter Ego and very much appreciate the fact that you’ve managed to keep it on a monthly schedule. I was pleased to see you print the entire Irwin Donenfeld interview from the San Diego Comic-Con in 2001. I attended that interview session, adeptly handled by Mark Evanier and Bob Beerbohm, and have said numerous times that I came away from that event convinced it was the very best comicsrelated interview I’ve ever seen. Donenfeld was informative, open, and, from what I could tell, told the truth as he knew it about various trends and events at DC Comics. I thought I’d reflect a bit on the question about John Goldwater being egged on during a poker game to publish a comic book about “little” Archie. I’ve asked a number of people involved with Archie Comics about that legend, and no one seems to know if it’s true or not. There are several different yet similar versions. I first heard of it in The Best of Archie (1980, Putnam), in the introduction by Michael Uslan

Furthermore, longtime DC art-spotter Delmo Walters tells us that he believes that both of the Superman public service art spots reprinted on p. 24 of the Irwin Donenfeld side of A/E #26 were drawn by Winslow Mortimer. Upon reconsideration, we tend to agree.

In closing: we don’t mind saying that we still have a few personal copies left of the out-of-print Alter Ego, Vol. 3, #1, of four years back, in which Roy Thomas and Jerry Ordway reveal the secret origins of Infinity, Inc. (i.e., Jade, Obsidian, Northwind, Hector Hall [now Dr. Fate, right?], and Nuklon, now sadly renamed Atom Smasher), 1940s GL/JSA artist Irwin Hasen is interviewed, and Stan Lee’s peer group eagerly roasts him in Chicago in 1995—all this and more, for $20 per copy, postpaid, autographed if requested.

Roy also has a handful of copies of the likewise out-of-print Comic Book Artist #2-5, each of which has its own Alter Ego section, for $15 per issue, also postpaid and autographed if desired. Sorry, but $5 extra on all out-of-U.S. orders. Please send any and all A/E-related comments to: Roy Thomas Fax: (803) 826-6301 Rt. 3, Box 468 e-mail: roydann@ntinet.com St. Matthews, SC 29135 See you in thirty, with plenty of secrets behind Golden Age Timely/Marvel Comics—and that, as Stan Lee used to make me say, is just for openers!

No. 90 HERO 2003 GETS GIRL! DEC. Our 30th Year! And Captain Marvel Jr. Gets Sivana, Jr.!

1973-2003

MARK VOG

ER’S

KURT SCHAFFENB ERGER

PLUS: YZE A W S C R A M E JOHN PIERC

BOOK

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 Mary Marvel origin story, “Captain Marvel Introduces Mary Marvel (CMA #18, Dec. ’42); but he was primarily hired by Fawcett Publications to illustrate Captain Marvel stories and covers for Whiz Comics and Captain Marvel Adventures. He also wrote many Captain Marvel scripts, and continued to do so while in the military. After leaving the service, he made an arrangement with Fawcett to produce art and stories on a freelance basis out of his Louisiana home. There he created both art and story for The Phantom Eagle in 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 produced 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 career in the mid-’50s. His ongoing professional memoirs have been FCA’s most popular feature since his first column appeared in FCA #54, 1996. Last issue, Marc revisited the period when he helped to originate Captain Marvel’s little sister, Mary Marvel. This time, he relates his fond memories of the fun and friendly (yet highly competitive) baseball games in which he participated, specifically when the Fawcett Comics crew took on the team from Jack Binder’s studio. —P.C. Hamerlinck.] “Mr. Crowley sang the hymns right along with everybody in the church! He sounded pretty good, too!” I’ve forgotten which of our children was speaking, but it

Wendell Crowley (with Otto Binder peeking through on the right). 1960s photo during a get-together of Binder shop alumni.

was about our guest of several days who had just pulled out of the driveway, bound for the airport. “That’s because he believes in taking an active part in things. Mr. Crowley isn’t one to stand back and depend on others to move things along. He joins in... merges... he’s a... participator!” I said to the kids, seeing the opportunity for one of life’s little lessons.

June, their mom, something of a participator herself, was letting me have the show... probably enjoying my struggle with the words. We were talking about Wendell Crowley, my friend since the early days at Fawcett. It was a pleasure to see that our youngsters admired and respected him as a person dedicated to whatever he was doing. To live so far away... New Jersey... Wendell came a long way to see us... almost annually. Of course the travel, “lumber business things,” somehow took him to other stops where he could “talk comics.” I suspected that, and I believe Dagny, Wendell’s wife, also suspected it. “What’s all this ‘the-ball-wasfair... the-ball-was-foul’ business that goes on when you and Mr. Crowley greet each other?” one of the kids wanted to know. The answer to that required a little thought... a little explanation. Wendell was not an employee of Fawcett Publications when I first knew him. He represented the Jack Binder comic book art studio, and in that capacity was

We Didn’t Know...

their loyal support, Rod’s reply was, “Oh, it wasn’t exactly like that. Word had come down from the Binder barn that the kegs of cold beer that had arrived would get warm if we didn’t get this game over with!” The following workday I received a phone call at the office. It was Wendell. “We’ve been thinking about that squabble at the ball game,” he began. “Charlie and I feel that an apology is in order.” His voice mellowed as he continued. “We realize argument is a traditional part of baseball... and... our little... our little...” Was Wendell breaking up?!... “Our little fuss was due simply to a silly, childish, stupid, trivial misunderstanding... yours! THE BALL WAS FOUL!” I could hear them both roaring with laughter as I hung up. I gave Wendell plenty of time to get home that evening before dialing his number. Then, when the receiver at the other end was barely off the hook, I let him have it... my aim being to damage his eardrum a bit... permanently. “THE BALL WAS FAIR!” My apology to sweet Dagny Crowley was the most humble I could muster. Wendell wasn’t home.

Charles Tomsey in a 1960s photo. (That’s Carl Pfeufer in the background.) Tomsey had drawn “The Phantom Eagle” in Wow Comics before Marc Swayze took over the feature.

seen around the Fawcett offices as much as some of our own people. It was about the time those unforgettable baseball games began... the “Binder Bunch” being our number one adversaries. On the diamond Wendell was a formidable contender. Long of arm, long of leg, from the pitcher’s mound he could stop many of our ground balls that might have gone for base hits. Another Binder warrior was Charles Tomsey. Only an inch or so short of Wendell’s height and several pounds heavier, Charlie at first base meant trouble for any team opposing them.

I lost track of Charlie Tomsey after that. Wendell and I, however, continued correspondence and visits for years, always beginning and ending each occasion with the verbal exchange that had become familiar to families and friends. In 1970 Wendell’s visit was a special treat as he had been recuperating from serious surgery that limited his travel. Before he left, I was assuring him we’d be looking forward to his next visit, when he stopped me. “I’ve been wanting to talk to you about that,” he said. “There may

The spirit of competition in those games was high... on both sides. The general feeling was that we were all out there to win! The one time Rod Reed, our editor... on the ball field, our manager, pitcher... appeared obviously peeved was when he observed one of our players moving a bit leisurely after a ball. “Let’s see a little hustle out there!” Rod grumbled. In another game, when the score was very close, I hit a line drive into right field, a good twelve feet inside the foul line. I don’t like to brag, but it was a beauty... still rolling as I rounded first and kept going. At third base my teammates were waving me on in and I headed for home plate. Crowley and Tomsey were there waiting for me. “Batter up!” said Wendell, handing me a bat. “Whaddaya mean, ‘batter up’?” I puffed. “I just hit a home run!” “That was a foul ball,” said Charlie. “Strike one!” Thus it began... the typical baseball rhubarb. First... squabbling over technicalities... reasons behind decisions... then, the shouting match... “The ball was fair!” “The ball was foul!” Heard, probably, in Pennsylvania. At the sound of footsteps I turned to see Rod and Tucky Reed trotting up. I don’t know how they accomplished it, but those two not only put out the fire, they settled the smoke... and got the game going again. When at long last I managed to convey my thanks to the Reeds for

Marc Swayze not be another visit. I’ve been advised that further surgery is absolutely necessary... and that it would be unwise to think of a 50-50 chance of success...” When I wrote to Dagny Crowley of the sorrow at our house over Wendell’s passing, her sad reply closed with: “We’d best leave it at— —the ball was—” [Marc Swayze will be back next issue with more memories of the Golden Age of Comics.]

[At left:] Mrs. Dagny Crowley’s March 8, 1970, letter to Marc Swayze after the passing of her husband, Wendell... and (ab0ve) a photo of the happy couple, at left (with chief Captain Marvel artist C.C. Beck on the right) at a ten-years-at-Fawcett anniversary party held in April 1953 for editor Ginny Provisiero. This photo, courtesy of Ginny, was previously seen in A/E V3#3.

BACK ISSUE OF THE ISSUE! Want to read the part of this issue’s DICK AYERS interview that we’d previously printed? Then send off to TwoMorrows (see info in its ad bloc) for a copy of Alter Ego V3#10, with its splendiferous section devoted to Magazine Enterprises— including Vin Sullivan, Fred Guardineer, Bob Powell, and others! The fact that the issue’s flip side is devoted to Carmine Infantino and the creation of the Silver Age Flash is just a bonus. No, no, don’t thank us. We’re just trying to help John Morrow clean out his closet!

Kurt Schaffenberger

The Artist Right Around The Corner by Mark Voger Edited by P.C. Hamerlinck [EDITOR’S NOTE: Mark Voger has written an incisive and smartly designed biography of one of the great comic book artists from the glory days of Fawcett: Kurt Schaffenberger, who passed away in 2002 at age 81. Voger, a columnist based in New Jersey, now writes about the journey that led to his new book, Hero Gets Girl! The Life and Art of Kurt Schaffenberger, available from TwoMorrows—and highly recommended by all of us here at the FCA offices! —P.C. Hamerlinck.]

had drawn Superman earlier in the ’80s and was now stumping for his independent title, Mr. Fixitt. Howard shared my jones for oldschool comics, particularly Silver Age stuff.

My relationship with Kurt Schaffenberger began, as it did for so many, as a kid reading his comic book work. I distinctly remember, in the mid-’60, being stranded at some school friend’s birthday party waiting for my parents to pick me up. As my diet that afternoon consisted of M&Ms, Coca Cola, and birthday cake, I was beginning to crash from a sugar high, when I peeked into a toy chest and spotted a tattered issue of Superman’s Girlfriend Lois Lane—(Nov. 27, 1961), to be exact. In “Lois Lane’s Super-Brain!” the plucky heroine got a cerebral jolt from a “fantastic computer that absorbs electrical brain wave impulses from the minds of brilliant people and stores them up,” an invention of a Professor Holt, who never should have left Lois alone with that machine.

“Guess who moved into town?” Howard said one day. Kurt Schaffenberger, the guy who drew Lois Lane. What luck! A comic book legend right around the corner!

Kurt Schaffenberger in 1941, the year he unwittingly entered the comic book field, and (top right) one of his classic drawings of Superman flying with Lois Lane—no doubt after rescuing her from a horrible death. Photo courtesy of Mrs. Dorothy Schaffenberger. [Art ©2003 DC Comics.]

Lois became super-smart (she could identify distant constellations and cheat at roulette by calculating mathematical permutations), but there was a catch: her hair fell out and the top of her head grew to more than double its size. When you’re trying to snare Superman as a husband, this can be a terrible disadvantage in the looks department. Young, innocent, and none-too-bright as I was, I got lost in the moment of Lois’ shock and despair when she first spotted her creepy new melon in the mirror. That memory got filed away along with all the other wonderful, but ultimately useless, pop culture milestones of my boyhood. Fast forward to 1989. I’d recently reacquired the comic book habit, and I wasn’t alone. Through some super-hero synchronicity, there was a renewed interest, nationwide, in this venerable medium. Tim Burton’s movie Batman triggered a comeback for the tights-clad detective. Comic shops, heretofore found only in big cities, were popping up in neighborhood shopping centers. I had been writing a sporadic column about comics for a daily newspaper in New Jersey. I profiled a local artist, Howard Bender, who

I called Kurt and set up an appointment to interview him at his home in Brick, New Jersey, where he’d moved from River Edge, also in NJ, earlier that year. My wife Kathy, a freelance photographer, posed Kurt in his back-porch studio for the article, which I titled, “It’s the Way He Draws His Faces.” Kurt was charming, with an easygoing manner, an understated humor. His wife Dorothy returned from an errand, and a friendship was forged that afternoon.

Before long, the “Schaffs,” the Benders (Howard and Joni), and Kathy and I became like the six Musketeers. I’m not saying we were inseparable, but every now and then we’d plan a nice evening (a dinner party or a dinner out; we would also meet up at comic book conventions and shows). Howard and I, being comic book geeks, always tried to coax Kurt into talking about the old days. Kurt didn’t share our obsession. He would always say, in his bemused way, that it was “just a job.” Once when Howard asked Kurt about artistic motivation, Kurt replied: “You think of all the bills that need to be paid, and then you go to work.” I never planned to write a biography of Kurt, but in my capacity as a columnist (one who is married to a photographer, no less) I occasionally interrogated him, and Kathy occasionally posed him. In the meantime, Howard was also interviewing Kurt, as well as nailing him down on his drawing credits from the old Fawcett days. We didn’t realize it at the time, but we were constructing the skeleton of a biography. Still, there was plenty to uncover when, years later, we got the green

The Artist Right around the Corner

A trio of Fawcett covers by Kurt Schaffenberger: Captain Marvel Jr. #80 (Dec. 1949), Whiz Comics #154 (April 1953, the penultimate issue of this title), and Master Comics #104 (June 1949). [©2003 DC Comics.]

light from TwoMorrows Publishing to produce a biography of Kurt. (The project was begun shortly before Kurt’s death at age 81 in 2002, by the way.) In the personal realm, German-born Kurt’s life was not without its drama (a bumpy courtship, a world war, some scary career dry spells, a family tragedy, and a heartbreaking decline in health). In the professional realm, we learned that Kurt was far more prolific and, indeed, important than even we had ever guessed. Just consider the facts: Kurt was active in the field for over a half century. Kurt drew Ibis the Invincible, Captain Marvel, Captain Marvel Jr. and the Marvel Family for Fawcett Publications. Most significantly, as Fawcett’s 13-year comic book reign was coming to an end, Kurt drew the covers and lead stories for the final issues of Whiz Comics and The Marvel Family, and the cover for the final issue of Master Comics. This, we submit, makes Kurt the last of the great Fawcett artists in many ways.

After Fawcett folded Captain Marvel along with its entire line of comic books, Kurt worked for almost everybody (Atlas, Classics Illustrated, EC, Premier, ACG), doing weird, sci-fi, humor, crime, romance, and adventure covers and stories.

Then came Kurt’s massive DC body of work. Kurt was the preeminent Lois Lane artist, who turned DC’s simple Superman spin-off into something romantic and operatic. He humanized Lois and gave her a discernible personality. The artist often poked fun at his own heroine when he depicted the gamut of emotions she couldn’t mask: curiosity when on the scent of a “scoop”: jealousy when Superman paid too much

Ibis the Invincible in “Death of the Cat,” originally from Whiz Comics #89 (Sept. 1947), and recently reprinted in AC Comics’ Men of Mystery #36, 2002. Art by Kurt Schaffenberger, who else? Check out AC Comics’ website at <accomics.com>, and see its ad elsewhere in this issue. [Ibis the Invincible TM & ©2003 DC Comics.]

Kurt Schaffenberger attention to rival Lana Lang; anger when confronting him about said crime; elation when wrapped in the Man of Steel’s bulging arms.

ROMITAMAN

Kurt went on to draw many “Superman,” “Supergirl,” “Shazam!” and “Superboy” stories for DC Comics through the ’80s. Finally, we came to this revelation: Kurt holds a solitary place in comics history as the only artist to draw Captain Marvel in the Fawcett days who went on to become a major Superman artist. (The word “major” is important here; this is not to denigrate Pete Costanza’s wonderful, but comparatively brief, run on Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen.) It is too late for another artist to knock Kurt from that lofty perch; it’s his and all his. This is why the Kurt Schaffenberger story needed to be told, in Hero Gets Girl! The Life and Art of Kurt Schaffenberger.

Monthly! Edited and published by Robin Snyder

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• Covers by ALEX ROSS and STEVE (Nexus) RUDE! • ALEX ROSS on his love for the JLA, and how he works! • ROY THOMAS, MICHELLE NOLAN, & WALT GROGAN on the first great days of the 1960s JLA, with awesome rare art by MIKE SEKOWSKY, DICK DILLIN, et al.! • JEAN-MARC LOFFICIER on the super-doers of 1940s-1980s France (heroes now starring in Strangers from Image)! Art by STEVE RUDE, STEPHEN BISSETTE, LADRÖNN, NEAL ADAMS, & an artistic French Foreign Legion! • Golden Age scripters KIM AAMODT & WALTER GEIER talk to JIM AMASH about writing for JOE SIMON & JACK KIRBY, Magazine Enterprises, and others! • Plus: ALEX TOTH—MICHAEL T. GILBERT—BILL SCHELLY—FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America) with MARC SWAYZE, C.C. BECK, the SHAZAM! cartoon show—& more!! Edited by ROY THOMAS • 108 PAGES • Single copies: $8 US

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Levity, Learning & Lightning Bolts

Levity, Learning & Lightning Bolts Part II: Humor and Whimsy In Captain Marvel Stories by John G. Pierce There was a time when Fawcett Publications’ Captain Marvel from the Golden Age was thought of as primarily—if not exclusively—a humorous character. Certainly, Steranko’s History of Comics, Vol. 2, in an otherwise outstanding chapter on Cap’s career, tended to leave that impression, and I’ve long had the sense (whether rightly or wrongly, I do not know) that when DC, in 1972, picked up the rights to publish The Marvel Family, the articles from Steranko’s book, of then-recent vintage, were likely in the forefront of their minds. (On the other hand, it must be noted that DC assistant editor and sometime-scribe E. Nelson Bridwell had been a Captain Marvel fan in his youth, as had DC writer Denny O’Neil.)

Edited by P.C. Hamerlinck

Typical of many humorous and/or whimsical stories in the Captain Marvel canon is the story (splash above) from Captain Marvel Adventures #43 (Feb. 1945), with art by C.C. Beck & Pete Costanza. Later 1970s-80s artistic approaches by Alan Weiss, Don Newton, Tom Mandrake, and even Jerry Ordway went in a more realistic direction, as desired by DC at the time. The display illo at right by Tom Mandrake was done to promote the four-issue Shazam! The New Beginning written by Roy & Dann Thomas in 1987, as a follow-up to the line-spanning Legends series, and was printed in the Comics Buyer’s Guide issue dated Sept. 26, 1986. A darker, grimmer cover was eventually prepared for Shazam! TNB #1, as seen in Alter Ego V3#9. [©2003 DC Comics.]

But somehow, in spite of their best efforts, the folks at DC couldn’t quite achieve the level of humor of their Fawcett predecessors, except rarely—and those occasions were probably largely the result of C.C. Beck’s determined efforts to try to improve the scripts when he illustrated them. In the end, it was two DC scripts attempting humor that Beck considered to be totally ridiculous—most notably, the “Salad Men” story from Shazam! #10 and the “Cape-Man” tale from #11—which led to Beck’s departure from DC and from comic books forever. Perhaps part of the reason was that the good folks at DC unintentionally divorced humor from the whimsical aspects of many of the old Captain Marvel tales. And most subsequent attempts to handle Captain Marvel at DC have not even made the attempt to be humorous. But in the Fawcett days, Cap’s adventures were both humorous and whimsical, as I trust that the following study will demonstrate. (Hereafter, by “whimsy,” we mean one of its dictionary definitions: “an odd or fanciful notion.”) Examples from the Golden Age are legion, but let’s first look at “Captain Marvel Goes to Nowhere” from Captain Marvel Adventures #43 (Feb. 1945). The symbolic splash panel (remember those?) showed a puzzled Cap contemplating the meaning of several road signs reading “No Place Castle Ahead,” “Welcome to Nowhere,” “Room and Meals Somewhere,” “Danger Ahead, Anywhere Beach, Thither and Yon,” and

“Going Somewhere? Stop! You’re There!”

The story involved Billy Batson’s accidental radio contact with a voice which said, “Goodbye? Goodbye? Is anybody there? Goodbye?” Once Billy was convinced that the radio message was not a hoax, he learned of another dimension, called Nowhere, which could be reached through a black hole in the sky. Captain Marvel quickly located the black hole and emerged in the Land of Nowhere. Meeting a citizen along the road, Cap inquired, “Say, pal! How do I find King Nobody?” (the person who had contacted Billy by radio). The citizen replied, “He’d be Somewhere ahead. Just keep going Anywhere and you’ll get Noplace. That’s where you’ll find him.” Cap reflected that he’d need a long rest in a sanitarium when he returned home. Some road signs led him to realize that the castle was named Noplace, so it was there that he headed, only to find the edifice under attack by warriors who shouted, “Down with Nobody! Up with No One!” Plunging into the fray, Cap said, “Here comes nothing—to use your own language!” (Some latter-day DC writers, who have insisted on portraying Captain Marvel as somewhat dimwitted, should read these old stories. Cap wasn’t slow. He picked up on the idea of talking backwards a lot quicker than Superman ever would when dealing with his own backwards-talking foils, the Bizarros, decades later. Oh well, Superman is intelligent, but he does not count the wisdom of Solomon among his

Humor and Whimsy in Captain Marvel Stories

Marvel, instantly attacked by No One’s thugs, repelled them, saying, “Goodbye—and this time I’m not talking backwards!” Once No One had been defeated, the king thanked Cap again. “You have defeated my enemy, Captain Marvel! You have saved Nowhere from No One!” To this Cap responded, “Er—let’s not go into that again!” Notice that, even in the midst of absurdities, Cap did not play the buffoon. He was heroic throughout, his heroism accented, perhaps, by being thrust into a world so far removed from his own. Both dialogue and situations provided the humor. Another very humorous tale appeared in Captain Marvel Adventures #56 (March 1946), entitled “Captain Marvel and the Golden Fleece.” If one were to categorize stories according to theme, rather than style, this one would be included in the groupings of “stories based on or taking off from classic literature,” of which there were several. (Another noted category, revived to mostly good effect by E. Nelson Bridwell in the mid-1970s for his own Captain Marvel stories, was “cityvisiting tales.”) Captain Marvel gets fleeced in CMA #56 (March 1946). Art by Beck & Costanza. [©2003 DC Comics.]

powers.) A green-garbed individual confronted Captain Marvel. “Varlet! Who are you? I’m No One! I will become the dictator of Nowhere!” “Huh?” replied Cap. “You’re No One? Well, I’m someone! Pleased to meet you!” And then he socked the invader. Finally, Captain Marvel located the king, who hailed him, “Here I am, good sir. Goodbye.” After Cap introduced himself, the king responded with, “I’m King Nobody, ruler of Noplace Castle and Provinces of Somewhere and Anywhere.” Thanking Cap for helping to defeat his enemy, No One, King Nobody said, “Come! I shall pay you nothing! Lots of nothing!” To which our hero good-naturedly replied, “That’s mighty generous of you!” (‘Nothing,’ of course, turned out to be the local currency.) From the king, Cap learned that years ago, the ancestors of the people of the land had rebelled against a tyrant king and been defeated. As punishment, they were banished by a wizard-scientist (I think we have a few of those running around today) into another dimension, the Land of Nowhere. “We are right on Earth—yet as far away as Mars, for we can’t return to the Earth dimension. That is why we called this the Land of Nowhere.” (In other words, an early comic book usage of something akin to the parallel world concept.) It was explained that the return trip through the black hole—not a black hole as we use the term today—would kill anyone. (It was safe to assume that Captain Marvel was the exception.)

In this case, Cap thought he was searching for the stolen Golden Fleece of Jason the Argonaut, only to find that what had actually been stolen was a set of Golden Fleas, a mix-up not revealed to Cap until the final panels of the tale, but known to the readers all along. The story also involved a trip to the Mediterranean and an encounter with a dogworshipping cult before he solved the problem. Captain Marvel Adventures #92 (Jan. 1949) gave readers “Captain Marvel in the Land of Limbo,” a story which might be classed as whimsy alone, though it had humorous touches. The first two panels, for instance, invited readers to “Imagine the strange events that would occur if the things we sometimes say really happened,” and gave two examples: “Don’t bother me! Drop dead!” followed by the annoying person’s keeling over. And “Gee! Dad’s so mad he hit the ceiling!”—as the angered father’s head crashes into the ceiling. The story concerned one particular idiomatic expression which did come true, as the art director of a museum found a terribly bad painting which he declared ought to “go into limbo and be forgotten forever.” Immediately, a short, bearded fellow in rather tacky clothing appeared. “I’m the collector from Limbo. I’ll take the painting.” Thinking that this

Cap inquired about the radio, whereupon King Nobody led him to their studios. (Their society was obviously the not-uncommon mixture of medieval and modern.) Cap, as he had a habit of doing, changed back to Billy (okay, so maybe he didn’t always use the wisdom of Solomon!) and made a broadcast back to Earth: “Goodbye, Earth! That’s the way the people of Nowhere say hello! Yes, folks, I’m Nowhere! Nobody is entertaining me! Captain Marvel is after No One, who wants to have all of nothing! And if you think this all sounds crazy—you ought to live here!” But of course, the fact that Captain Marvel was not on the scene was, as always, the occasion for an attack, and for Billy to be bound and gagged. As likewise happened to King Nobody. But then No One made his fatal mistake—he ordered the gags of Nobody and Billy lowered so that they might address him as dictator. Billy said his word, and Captain

Levity, Learning & Lightning Bolts

man was the junkman he had previously called, the art director gave the fellow the painting. “No, I’m from the Land of Limbo,” said the short man as he trudged away with a huge white sack on his back and the painting under his arm. “You said that painting should go into Limbo, didn’t you? So that’s where it’s going!” The director considered the “junkman” to be a “little tetched in the head”—until the real junkman showed up! What then ensued was that the collector from Limbo, having tired of taking only junk from Earth, decided to get something worthwhile for a change, so he heisted a valuable painting. Later on, he tried to steal a statue, and was followed into the Land of Limbo by Captain Marvel. However, when challenged to name what had been stolen, Cap could not do so, because “anything that passes into Limbo is forgotten.”

one segment, unknown to anyone else, Cap was taking the stuntman/actor’s place, and was to rehearse a scene which involved a heroine in a burning shack: Director: “As you rush up, you say—‘Ah, how quiet the night is!” Cap: “What? As I rush into a burning shack, I say that? Director: “Oh, wait, I had the wrong page! Oh, yes, here it is. You say—‘Keep cool, Beloved! I have come to save you!” Cap [thinking]: “It still sounds corny to me!”

Sometimes the narration of a story, rather than the story per se, The artistically-decorated captions of “Horror Hunt” in CMA #143 was used to humorous effect. One (April 1953) sported art by C.C. Beck. An odd innovation, in the last such example is “The House that year of the Golden Age career of the World’s Mightiest Mortal. Didn’t Want to be Haunted,” from [©2003 DC Comics.] CMA #128; the story was narrated by the house itself. And in CMA #143’s “Horror Hunt,” Captain Later, Cap returned to Limbo for the stolen items. The collector Marvel told the story with artistically decorated captions. For instance, produced a couple of monsters to stop him, to no avail. After having in one panel, Cap (listening to a proposition from a movie director) said restored the items to the museum, Billy explained that Captain Marvel in his narration, “You could’ve knocked me over with a feather,” while had consulted the police “blotter” where the thefts had been reported the decoration in the caption (not in the panel itself) showed Cap as before the collector returned to Limbo. being knocked over by a huge feather. In another scene, when a huge monster appeared during the filming of a movie, Cap related that “Panic This was far from the only time a Fawcett writer would rearrange swept the camera crew and they fled in terror,” while the drawing in the Nature to suit his own purposes. When “Captain Marvel Helps Station caption showed a demonic figure sweeping with a broom. When Cap WHIZ Get Color Television” in CMA #107 (April 1950)—far in reported that his eyes “bulged with disbelief,” you can imagine what the advance of many real-world stations—we learned that all color in the caption contained. world was under the control of the Color Maker, a cave-dwelling gnome. And in Whiz Comics #74 (May 1946), Cap met the real, live Or consider the situation in which a crook who was knocked upside“Old Man River.” down yelled “HELP!” the same way. [Editor’s Note: We don’t know how to produce upside-down type on a computer. Some things were If these and other occasions proved Captain Marvel’s world to be a simpler on typewriters!] little different from the Earth on which the readers lived, they probably didn’t let it bother them. Such matters were, after all, no more fantastic Or when Sivana hypnotized a bunch of hillbillies and commanded than believing that Santa Claus could cover the entire world for gift them, “Follow, follow, follow!” To which they responded, “Foller, foller, distribution in one night’s time. Certainly they were less harmful than a foller!” lot of fantasies perpetrated in entertainment today. Or the splash panel when Sivana hypnotized Cap and told him, There are many examples of humor within the Captain Marvel canon. “Now repeat after me: I am a big, stupid cheese!” Cap: “Yes, Master. Most chapters of the Monster Society of Evil serial, for instance, You are a big, stupid cheese!” contained humorous touches, many of them revolving around the And, of course, we must not forget the humor of the Mr. Tawny tales. personality and antics of Mr. Mind himself. For instance, in CMA #43’s They were mentioned in the first installment of this series for their serial chapter, a blow on the head robbed Mr. Mind of both his memory moral values, but most such stories also had humorous touches, if for no and his inherently evil nature, until a subsequent blow restored him to other reason than the incongruity of having a talking tiger involved in his usual self. In CMA #44 (chapter 23 of the serial), Mr. Mind resumed very human situations. his leadership of the Monster Society, but, due to his recent spell of amnesia, found himself unable to think up any really wicked deeds. So he decided to enroll in the School for Evil, which he himself had created. Classes offered included Murder, Ethics of Extortion, Assault and Battery, Evil (Plain), Evil (Fancy), and Advanced Arson. Naturally, Mr. Mind soon became the star pupil, but before he graduated, he had to “prove that you have learned your lessons well! You have to go out and do an evil deed!” Sometimes there were humorous touches in what were otherwise “straight,” serious stories. One example can be found in “The World’s Greatest Stuntman,” a basically serious story in which Cap helped a down-and-out former stuntman/actor to regain his self-confidence. In

From these examples (a few among the many which could be cited), we can see that humor and whimsy formed a strong part of the Captain Marvel canon, though only a part. However, unlike, say, Plastic Man, Cap did not rely constantly on humor, and the next installment in this series will examine some of his straight adventure tales. Still, as noted, humor and whimsy were part and parcel of the Captain Marvel experience. Imaginative writers such as Otto Binder, Rod Reed, William Woolfolk, and others imbued Captain Marvel’s world with an easygoing kind of charm and delight, setting it apart from all others. [Part III will appear in a near-future issue.]

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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!

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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!

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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!

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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!

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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!

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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!

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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!

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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!

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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!

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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

BL AVAILA

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

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

NEW!

MR. MONSTER, VOL. 0

TRUE BRIT

DICK GIORDANO: CHANGING COMICS, ONE DAY AT A TIME

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

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

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

(136-page Digital Edition with COLOR) $4.95

(204-page Digital Edition with COLOR) $6.95

(176-page Digital Edition with COLOR) $5.95

SECRETS IN THE SHADOWS: GENE COLAN

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

ART OF GEORGE TUSKA

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

OTHER BOOKS FROM TWOMORROWS PUBLISHING

PENCILER, PUBLISHER, PROVOCATEUR

COMICS’ FAST & FURIOUS ARTIST

THE ART OF GLAMOUR

MATT BAKER

EXTRAORDINARY WORKS OF ALAN MOORE

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

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

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

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

(224-page trade paperback) $26.95

(176-page trade paperback with COLOR) $26.95

(192-page hardcover with COLOR) $39.95

(240-page trade paperback) $29.95

QUALITY COMPANION

BATCAVE COMPANION

ALL- STAR COMPANION

AGE OF TV HEROES

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

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

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

(256-page trade paperback with COLOR) $31.95

(240-page trade paperback) $26.95

(224-page trade paperbacks) $24.95

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

CARMINE INFANTINO

SAL BUSCEMA

(192-page full-color hardcover) $39.95

MARVEL COMICS

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

IN THE 1960s

(224-page trade paperback) $27.95

MODERN MASTERS

HOW TO CREATE COMICS

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

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

(224-page trade paperback) $27.95

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

(128-page trade paperbacks) $14.95 each

(108-page trade paperback) $15.95

IN THE 1970s

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

FROM SCRIPT TO PRINT

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

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