Alter Ego #33 by TwoMorrows Publishing

THE TRIUMPH, TRAGEDY, & TALENT OF

MIKE SEKOWSKY

Featuring Art & Artifacts By:

INFANTINO •ANDERSON KANE • FRENZ •SINNOTT KURTZMAN •GILBERT BUSCEMA • DILLIN STEVENS •EVANIER SHAW! •NORMAN AMASH •PÉREZ TOTH & MORE!

1994--2004

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No. 33

February 2004

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“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!

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THE BEST IN COMICS AND LEGO MAGAZINES!

ALTER EGO #105

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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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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!

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Vol. 3, No. 33 / February 2004 Editor

Roy Thomas

Associate Editors

™

MIKE SEKOWSKY & Company Section

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

Contents

Production Assistant

Eric Nolen-Weathington

Writer/Editorial: Three Songs for Mike Sekowsky....................... 2 “Chicken Scratchings”................................................................... 3 A 1963 meeting of Sekowsky and comics fan Bernie Bubnis—in the days when many

Cover Artists Ron Frenz Joe Sinnott Sal Buscema

fans loved to hate Mike’s art!

Cover Colorists Tom Ziuko

And Special Thanks to: Lee Ames Ger Apeldoorn Mark Austin Brian H. Bailie Bob Bailey Valerie Barclay Jack Bender Chris Brown Bernie Bubnis Mike Burkey Pat Calhoun Bob Cherry Lloyd Clingman Steve Cohen Jon B. Cooke Rich Dannys Theresa R. Davidson Mike Esposito Mark Evanier Shane Foley Stephen Friedt Todd Franklin Carl Gafford Paul Gambaccini Janet Gilbert Jennifer T. Go Stan Goldberg Tom Horvitz Glen D. Johnson

John Kelly Stan & Joan Lee Mark Lewis Dennis Mallonee Nancy Maneely Joe & Nadia Mannarino Mile High Comics Matt Moring Brian K. Morris Mark Muller Will Murray Floyd Norman Don Perlin Tom Ranheim Gene Reed Paul Rivoche Trina Robbins Pat Sekowsky Scott Shaw! David Seigel Jeff E. Smith Dave Stevens Marc Swayze Greg Theakston Dann Thomas Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr. Dr. Michael J. Vassallo Mrs. Hazel White

This issue is dedicated to the memory of

Mike Sekowsky & John Tartaglione

Pat and Mike.................................................................................5 A candid interview with Pat (Mrs. Mike) Sekowsky about a talented—and troubled— cartoonist, conducted by Jim Amash.

The Mike Sekowsky Dinner.........................................................22 Four artists and writers reminisce about “Big Mike’s” years in comics and animation. Comic Crypt: The Unknown Kurtzman.....................................37 Michael T. Gilbert presents early work by the creator of Mad.

“Shelly Mayer Thumped My Thick Young Head” .....................44 Alex Toth on learning to do the job of a cartoonist. Barclay, Sekowsky, & Others Section..............................................Flip Us! About Our Cover: This issue is largely a “Mike Sekowsky Special,” and we wanted to cover both his DC and Timely/Marvel years. But rare or unpublished Sekowsky artwork with either the Justice League (his most important work) or the super-heroes he drew for Stan Lee back in the 1940s is rarer than hens’ teeth. An inspiration: Roy had met longtime Marvel artist Ron Frenz at a comics convention a year or so ago, and Ron said he’d love to pencil a cover for Alter Ego—so we bit the bullet and asked him to do not one, but two—both homages to the work of Mike Sekowsky, with a few other elements thrown in! To our delight, Ron said yes. We then lined up two first-class inkers to embellish his pencils. On this side, it’s Joltin’ Joe Sinnott—and on our flip side—but we’ll let you see who inked that cover when you turn the book (or yourself) upside down! Us—we’re happy whether standing on our feet or on our head! [Art ©2004 Ron Frenz & Joe Sinnott; JLA TM & ©2004 DC Comics.] Above: Since our theme is “Three Songs for Mike Sekowsky,” we figured we might as well start with a panel from the only Sekowsky-penciled “Inferior Five” story, in Showcase #65 (Nov.-Dec. 1966). in which that slaphappy super-group teamed up with a takeoff on Marvel’s X-Men to sing “the old school song”—with lyrics by E. Nelson Bridwell & inks by Mike Esposito. Thanks to Shane Foley for the black-&-white art copies. [©2004 DC Comics.] Alter EgoTM is published monthly by TwoMorrows, 1812 Park Drive, Raleigh, NC 27605, USA. Phone: (919) 833-8092. Roy Thomas, Editor. John Morrow, Publisher. Alter Ego Editorial Offices: Rt. 3, Box 468, St. Matthews, SC 29135, USA. Fax: (803) 826-6501; e-mail: roydann@ntinet.com. Send subscription funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial offices. Single issues: $8 ($10 Canada, $11.00 elsewhere). Twelve-issue subscriptions: $60 US, $120 Canada, $132 elsewhere. All characters are © their respective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © Roy Thomas. Alter Ego is a TM of Roy & Dann Thomas. FCA is a TM of P.C. Hamerlinck. Printed in Canada. FIRST PRINTING.

Title writer/editorial

Three Songs for Mike Sekowsky

Torch songs—because the original Human Torch was one of many, many characters he drew during his days at Timely.

There are many songs that can be sung for—and about—comic book artist Mike Sekowsky, who is largely (but, we hope, not only) remembered for his work on five dozen-plus tales of the Justice League of America.

Even sing-alongs, because four talented men who admired Mike’s comics and animation work took an evening to assemble over dinner and a tape recorder to talk and joke and reminisce about this artistic titan whom they knew in the twilight of his days.

Sad songs—because, as his widow Pat Sekowsky says in her frank interview with Jim Amash, he was often his own worst enemy, both personally and professionally, and wrestled all his life with his personal problems. Love songs—because, without prodding by Jim, two strong women who were a part of Mike’s life two decades apart wanted to speak about their deep feelings for this talented and tormented man—Pat Sekowsky on this side, and 1940s Timely inker Valerie Barclay on our flip side.

Fight songs—because Mike was a fighter, right to the end, striving to master the world of TV animation in which he found himself late in life, but determined to the last to return in triumph to the comics field that had turned its back on him.

Accompanied by all that dynamic, often gorgeous Sekowsky artwork, these songs comprise a virtual symphony of artistic accomplishment... a lasting legacy to the man who made music with his hand, his brain, and a simple graphite pencil. Bestest,

COMING IN MARCH NOW MONTHLY!

So, this issue, we sing three songs for—and about— the late great Mike Sekowsky—four, if you count Valerie Barclay’s words on our editorial-less flip side (though Ms. Barclay deals with many other subjects, as well). Her interview, in fact, covers an era that comes first chronologically in our tale.

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Three Songs For Mike Sekowsky part one

“Chicken Scratchings”

A 1964 Meeting of MIKE SEKOWSKY and a Comics Fan by Bernie Bubnis

[EDITOR’S NOTE: Keeping the three movements of our Sekowsky symphony on this side in rough chronological order, we begin with a piece more than forty years old—headed by a photo of Big Mike at work, surrounded by images of his and others’ DC work from the same era. After the initial joy of there simply being a Justice League of America comic in the early 1960s wore off, many readers became increasingly critical of Sekowsky’s penciling even on Murphy Andersoninked covers such as the one below left of JLA #32 (Dec. ’64)—

compared to the cleaner lines and more realistic approach of Murphy himself on full art (Hawkman #4, Oct.-Nov. ’64), Carmine Infantino & Joe Giella (The Flash #138, Aug. ’63), and Gil Kane & Anderson (Green Lantern #29, June ’62). Mike’s work was coming in a distant fourth with fandom—even though Justice League was selling as well as or better than the other three comics. Incidentally, all art is taken from photos of the originals appearing in 1990s Sotheby’s art-auction catalogs, and is ©2004 DC Comics.

“Chicken Scratchings”

[So how did a dyed-in-the-wool comics fan behave in 1964 when he suddenly found himself face to face interviewing an important comic book artist of whose work he had been outspokenly critical? We found out in the fanzine The Rocket’s Blast #27 (Feb. 1964), courtesy of Bernie Bubnis—a short article based on a meeting that most likely took place in mid-’63. Thanks to Bill Schelly for locating this gem, and to Bernie for giving us his blessing to reprint it. Photo courtesy of Pat Sekowsky. —Roy.] Did you ever feel you were walking into a trap from which there was no escape? Well, this is the sensation that tingled all over my body as I proceeded to visit an artist I knew was not appreciated by the majority of comic books fans. “Chicken scratchings” is what they call his style. How do you try avoiding this term when referring to his work, when you yourself feel the same way about it? Well, there is the prologue to what I was certain would be my death at the hands of a dirty-fighting pro. He greeted me at the door sporting a ragged T-shirt and a frown that aptly matched my disposition. He escorted me through the living room, where I noticed that the woman’s touch had left its mark of fashion magazines, and my curious mind began to wonder where his wife was. From some source I learned he had a wife and two kids, but they were never around when any fan visited Mike.

He told me that he was officially working on the love mags at DC when Schwartz came into the department and asked him to work on the JLA. This was reported to have caused some friction between the two editors. When I asked about covers, he said that Julie was now offering original art to fans who sent in good ideas for JLA covers. He went on to say that the group can become a little bogged down for the loss of a good idea. He then pulled out a sketch of what appeared to be somebody pulling a figure into or out of another dimension (I think this is the sketch that eventually appears as the cover for JLA #25). He seemed very pleased that he could help in some creative way with an issue he was drawing for. He says that Murph Anderson usually gets to do the covers because they take a little longer and the price the artist is paid is considerably less (just what he meant by sticking that part of the statement there escaped me). Anderson is one of the few DC artists that works there at the office—seems he has five screaming children at his home in New Jersey.

I dragged the conversation around to Joe Kubert and Hawkman (this was the time his fate was higher in the air than he will ever be). Mike explained that Schwartz didn’t like Kubert’s work because it was too sloppy, and preferred to have another artist take over the helm. It seems that, while the pros themselves like Kubert’s work, no one else seems to. This is the point a I entered his studio, to be greeted huge smile made its slow path across by typical FM-jazz and a cool air his face, and he exclaimed in joy, conditioner. He explained that he “Speaking of Kubert—how would was in the middle of a JLA story and you like some original art by Joe? would have to work while we talked. Traded off with Gil Kane for some Here is where I found that the gruff other stuff I had.” I leaped in joy as exterior Mike presented was he handed me a stack of it and I something that was merely in my The sketch which Sekowsky showed Bernie Bubnis (doubtless in late 1963) spurted out, “I can get $20 apiece imagination. He eventually turned would have been the one for the cover of Justice League of America #25 from some fans for this stuff.” At out to be a freewheeling guy that (Feb. 1964). Inks by Murphy Anderson. [©2004 DC Comics.] this point his eyes leveled off and he would answer anything that was muttered, “If I knew that, I would have kept them for myself.” presented to him, if he had the reference. The conversation seemed to draw closer to that ever-threatening question, which I popped after sneaking a look at his originals before Bernie Sachs got hold of them. They were much better than the usual “Sekowsky junk,” and that is what led me to ask, “Do you think Sachs is the one who ruins your work?” He explained that Sachs had helped him out of many a tight spot by sometime redoing panels where Mike had not found adequate time to complete the story. He was happy to have Sachs doing the inking job, because it gave him additional time to illo for other companies. Which brings about my next observation. He appears to be out for money and money alone when it comes to illustrating. He explained that his one big ambition was to crack the newspaper syndicates with a lovelorn strip, like the one of [The Heart of] Juliet Jones [popular 1960s strip by Stan Drake]. He showed the other work he had done for outside houses and still wanted to make more money. He is completely justified in his aims, but he goes a little overboard.

At that interlude I bade farewell to Mike, fearing I’d have to wrestle him over the original art. All kidding aside, Mike Sekowsky was a very friendly type of fellow, who is willing to help fandom out in any way he can. At first, he appeared to be grouchy, but that being only his exterior self, I found by digging into the real Sekowsky that he has a heart bigger than comic fandom or the comic industry will ever know. [Bernie Bubnis told A/E editor Roy Thomas by phone that, years ago, he gave up thoughts of being a pro artist and entered the doorand-window business... which apparently has been very good to him. One of these days, he promises to share with us his memories of the 1964 New York comics convention, the first comicon ever held, and which was largely his brainchild. We suspect that, in his youth, he misinterpreted a remark or two by Julie Schwartz. Bernie didn’t say what opinion, if any, he has today about the art of Mike Sekowsky.]

Three Songs For Mike Sekowsky part two

Pat and Mike

A Candid Interview with PAT (MRS. MIKE) SEKOWSKY about a Talented (and Troubled) Cartoonist Interview Conducted & Transcribed by Jim Amash [INTERVIEWER’S NOTE: The Mike Sekowsky story is a complicated one. By most accounts, he was a terrific artist with inner demons that plagued him throughout his entire life, and this interview explores this subject in some detail. Mike was one of those men who gave his life to creating comic book art and eventually found himself cast out of the industry for which he had given his artistic blood. Maybe we’ll never quite know what all his problems were, but despite them, he created an amazing body of work during his comic book days, probably never fully realizing his own importance. Special thanks goes to Josephine (Pat) Sekowsky for her honest portrait of a man she loved very much, and for her willingness to share Mike’s story with his admirers. —Jim.]

Mike was preparing to get back into comics. He always had that thought in his head, “I’m going to get back into comics!” That’s when he went to work for Daerrick Gross. Daerrick was working up a comics line of ninja and skateboard comics, and this was when I took Mike back, because he had taken ill and passed out in the street. They thought he was drunk, of course. JA: When was this? 1985? SEKOWSKY: Yes, I guess so. That sounds right. Mike was going to do this ninja thing and said, “I’m going to do it and prove to them that I can do everything.” Mike was on medication at this time, and I don’t know if he stopped drinking, because I’d go to work and leave him alone and he wasn’t bad when I got home. He knew

“His Life Was Difficult” PAT SEKOWSKY: Well, there’s no getting around the fact that Mike was an alcoholic, and it ruined his life and the lives of a lot of other people. It didn’t help make him loved by his peers, but he could be very charming, and I don’t think Scott [Shaw!] and Mark [Evanier] ever really got to see the bad side of him. Mike was very shrewd about that. JIM AMASH: Maybe so, but both Scott and Mark are very smart people and probably did know about his problem. I believe Mark mentioned it in a piece he wrote about Mike. SEKOWSKY: Well, they had to know. I mean, when they wrote about Mike’s being a diabetic and stuff; they knew he was sick. I didn’t even know about some of these things. For the last decade of his life, Mike primarily worked in animation (Scooby-Doo being one that I recall), but occasionally did comics for various places, like Hanna-Barbera’s foreign department. He did things like He-Man, Captain Carrot, and Blackhawk for DC Comics, and comic booklets. I left him about two years after he started with Hanna-Barbera, because the drinking was getting worse. Nobody knew he had diabetes at that time, and the drinking wasn’t helping matters. He’d go out with friends who drank and did other things, which Michael never did. Later on, Mike was on the rebound from some serious health problem due to his diabetes, and Scott called me. I went to the hospital, but Mike didn’t tell me about the diabetes. He got home and I helped him get a nice apartment. That’s when I started seeing him again, and

[Above left:] Josephine (Pat) Sekowsky and Mike Sekowsky, date unknown— and the Sekowsky-Sachs splash of Justice League of America #1 (Oct.-Nov. 1960), repro’d from a black-&-white photo of the original art printed in a 1990s art auction catalog. Script by Gardner Fox. [©2004 DC Comics.]

Pat and Mike

PERSONAL MEMO FROM A SEKOWSKY FAN—“ROY THE BOY” THOMAS Alter Ego’s editor, who was a Justice League of America fan from Day One, had previously admired Sekowsky’s unsigned work in Sterling’s Captain Flash, though the artist’s name was then unknown to him. It was upon perusing 1960’s JLA #1 that Roy suddenly realized the dinosaurs in the “Wonder Woman” chapter [top right]—especially the spotted ones—reminded him of those in Captain Flash #3 (May 1955) [top left], and were probably the work of the same artist. But ’twas not till JLA #2 that editor Julius Schwartz mentioned on a letters page that “the stories are illustrated by Mike Sekowsky, one of the best artists in the comics field.” (This reinforces Sekowsky’s 1963 claim to Bernie Bubnis that he had been sought out to draw the group comic.) Years later, as Marvel’s associate editor, Roy was pleased to have a hand in assigning Mike to pencil “The Inhumans”—as in the splash [above left] repro’d from a scan sent by Bob Bailey of original art from Amazing Adventures #10 (Jan. 1972)—reuniting Sekowsky with one of his best inkers, Frank Giacoia. And it was the fulfillment of a dream for Roy to script Sekowsky’s pencils on Giant-Size Super-Villain Team-Up #2 (June 1975), which was inked by Sam Grainger [center]. Somehow, though, Mike didn’t quite work out at Marvel. Still later, as a writer/editor for DC, Roy was enthusiastic about having Mike pencil a backup tale in Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew! #6 (Aug. 1982) [above right], even if the proportions of the radioactive-carrot-eating rabbit were a bit more humanoid than he and inker (and series co-creator) Scott Shaw! might have wished. [Captain Flash art ©2004 the respective copyright holders; JLA & Capt. Carrot art ©2004 DC Comics; Marvel art ©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Pat Sekowsky on Mike Sekowsky Sekowsky was apparently only filling in for absent Carmine Infantino when he penciled the first Fox-scripted “Adam Strange” story in Showcase #17 (Nov.-Dec. 1958), seen at bottom left. Even so, as Robert Shaw’s character says in Jaws: “But we delivered the bomb!” Pat S. reports that young Jack C. Harris, a future DC writer and editor, was initially impressed because Mike had drawn a “NoMan” tale for Tower’s T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents. In issue #2 (Jan. 1966) the artist penciled both “Menthor” and “T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Squad,” as per the splash at right for the latter, repro’d from a photocopy of the original art, courtesy of Steve Cohen. Oddly, Steve informs us that on the back of that page are “what might be some Gil Kane rough sketches, or someone trying to imitate Gil. There was a typical Kane up-the-nose shot there.” [See below.] So what do you say, readers? Are these pencil sketches the work of Sekowsky or Kane? At bottom right is a Sekowsky splash from Tower’s war comic, Fight the Enemy #2 (Oct. 1966). [Showcase art ©2004 DC Comics; “T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Squad” art ©2004 John Carbanaro; sketches ©2004 the respective artists.]

better than that, because I’d throw him out. He was drawing up a storm again: writing, penciling, and inking. Now, c’mon, how many people can do that? Not many, but to me, it wasn’t his best work. I think Scott has a set of that stuff, because I gave him the originals. It wasn’t printed because Mike died before he could finish the trilogy. At one point, we rushed him back to the hospital... we went twice. They operated on him and I didn’t want them to. They say, “Well, we’re going to operate on him”... so what are you going to say? You should say, “No,” so he could die in peace. Instead, he was in a coma and I couldn’t even talk to him. That’s the awful part of all of that. As far as personal things go, his life was difficult. I can’t blame Carmine [Infantino], and I can’t blame DC after all the years he worked there. They did try and try and try. But when Michael drank, he started off on plateaus. He could be very cute, then sarcastic, and then nasty. That’s why we moved around so much. He’d fight with the neighbors because he drank too much. He was a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Yet, when he worked, he’d get up in the morning and be as pleasant as you could be. I don’t know how, because I’d have a hangover if I drank that much.

Pat and Mike

Super-Sidebar You find fans of the Sekowsky-drawn Justice League in the strangest places! In his 1992 preface to DC’s JLA Archives, Vol. 1, 1960s comics fan (and now BBC-Radio broadcaster) Paul Gambaccini revealed that Salman Rushdie, author of the celebrated (and vilified) novel The Satanic Verses, had written about the JLA in a magazine article. Intrigued, Ye Editor tracked down the piece: “Is Nothing Sacred?” was later included in the Rushdie collection Imaginary Homelands: Essays and Criticisms 1981-1991, published by Granta Books. Rushdie, Paul said, was an Indian from Bombay who had come to live in Great Britain, “seeking a place in a culture to which he was an alien.” Rushdie himself wrote that “[a]mong the childhood books I devoured and kissed were large numbers of comics of a most unliterary nature.” He felt those comics’ heroes were “almost always mutants or hybrids or freaks” such as Batman, Spiderman [sic], and Aquaman, “who was half-fish,” as well as Superman, “who could easily be mistaken for a bird or a plane.” Rushdie is writing at first of “the middle 1950s,” but soon mentions that all these “hawkish law-and-order conservatives” joined forces in the Justice League of America. However, Rushdie continues, “in spite of the extreme emphasis on crime-busting, the lesson they taught children—or this child, at any rate—was the perhaps unintentionally radical truth that exceptionality was the greatest and most heroic of values; that those who were unlike the crowd were to be treasured the most lovingly; and that this exceptionality was a treasure so great and so easily misunderstood that it had to be concealed, in ordinary life, beneath what comic books called a ‘secret identity.’” He goes on to say that “Superman could not have survived without ‘mild-mannered’ Clark Kent; ‘millionaire socialite’ Bruce Wayne made possible the nocturnal activities of the Batman.” The point, as interpreted by Paul, is that Superman and Aquaman—plus two early JLAers that Rushdie didn’t mention, Wonder Woman and the Martian Manhunter—were indeed “aliens” of various sorts; even Aquaman, by then, had an Atlantean mother. If they had been accepted in their chosen country (America), Paul postulates that the future author must have asked himself: “Could the young Salman Rushdie achieve the same?” (Top:) Sekowsky/Sachs art from a b&w reprint from JLA #16 (Dec. 1962); (right:) the cover of The Official Justice League of America Index #2 (April 1986) is by George Pérez. It took nearly three issues of the latter publication, edited by Murray Ward, to cover the run of Sekowsky issues. [Quotation ©2004 Salman Rushdie; art ©2004 DC Comics.]

A nice crime-comics page penciled by Sekowsky: The Informer #5 (Dec. 1954), published by Feature Television Productions. Inker unidentified. Special thanks to collector & dealer Tom Horvitz; contact him online at trhgallery@earthlink.net or at (818) 757-0747. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

“I Met Him at Parties...” JA: I guess he had all that alcohol in his system and could recover quicker? SEKOWSKY: I suppose. I met Mike in 1966. I have a copy of a letter this kid had written him. This was a young fellow named Jack Harris from Toms River, NJ, who went up to DC. He wrote, “I didn’t think I was a fan of Mike Sekowsky’s but I’m wrong. I only met Mike Sekowsky once and that was back in 1966, when I, as a wide-eyed high school student, had an opportunity to visit the old DC Comics offices. Editor Julius Schwartz introduced me to Mike as he sat in the bullpen, penciling. I discovered later that he had drawn a ‘NoMan’ story for T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents. All my derogatory thoughts towards his art vanished as he graciously autographed my copy of the first Adam Strange Showcase comic.” And that showed the side of Mike that you liked. That was what he was like. I met him at parties during the time I was divorcing my first husband. We had a crazy

Pat Sekowsky on Mike Sekowsky

with Mike. JA: When did you marry Mike? SEKOWSKY: October of 1967. And he was fine until I saw what his drinking could do. I told myself I’d never stick out the marriage, because he could get nasty... like to Robert Deschamps. That was the night I saw him in action. We had a Christmas party and something happened and Mike drank too much. He started insulting Deschamps’ girlfriend because he thought she wasn’t good enough for Bob. Bob started out the door and I can still see his face when he said, “I’m getting out of this. You better get out, too. Don’t stay here.” I don’t know what Mike said to Bob. JA: I know that story, and I can’t blame Bob for ending the friendship. Mike must have had a lot of demons inside of him. SEKOWSKY: That’s right. You see, when I met Mike, it was after his wife left him and took their kids. That broke his heart; he loved those children. He’d had a beautiful house that he’d bought for them. They had been living in Soho, near warehouses, and one day they found a rat on the baby’s bed, so they decided to move. That was a nice house and everything looked new. I didn’t know much about this until after his wife [Joanne] left him and took the girls and Mike tried to get them back, so he could get visiting rights. Mike took a detective with him, but her parents lived in Seattle and had a lot of pull, so they got a restraining order put on him. Mike got Leslie and was going to take her with him, but Teresa was home with a cold. She was the younger one, only about four or five. He told me that, when he took Leslie back to the house, he thought, “I won’t take one without the other.” That was his good side, but he ruined everything with his drinking. But Michael could still draw, no matter what condition he was in. (Above:) Although associated in the minds of most fans with adventure comics, Sekowsky had drawn lots of humor, so he could handle both those genres, which were staples of the L.A. animation industry. This page from Showcase #65 (Oct.-Nov. 1966) starring “The Inferior Five” is repro’d from a black-&-white Australian comic, sent to us by Shane Foley. Inks by Mike Esposito, script by E. Nelson Bridwell. (Below:) When they were awake at different times, Mike would leave Pat cute little notes, such as these, strewn about or pinned up. [©2004 DC Comics.]

group. There was a bar called Jerry’s, at 53rd and Lexington, in New York City. When the girls and I left work, we’d go there and have a drink. The subway was right there, so I could get on it and go home. I didn’t see Mike there at the beginning. My first husband, Harold, was catering, and he and his brother would go there and cash their checks, so I’d meet them there at night. They’d have parties; the owner of Jerry’s was very nice, and on Sunday’s he’d close the bar and let us use it for anything we wanted. So we had a group and would cook in the back: birthday parties, wedding parties... just “get-together” parties. They’d invite people and sometimes vice-presidents of companies would come in. Someone said, “I know a nice guy who’s lonely. Let’s invite him.” I was on my way to getting a divorce by this time and Mike came in. We talked and my friends told me he was “eyeing” me. He’d just sit there very quietly and stare at you. He’d say, “Hello,” and that was it. A very quiet man. Little by little, when things got rough, we’d sit and talk and he’d listen. I’d tell him my problems and he started coming in more often. My friends said, “Ohhh... we know why he’s coming in.” [laughs] When I divorced Harold, I was staying with friends in New York. I had a good job but couldn’t find a place in New York, so I stayed

“I Got a Plane Ticket and Gave It to Him” JA: This business with the children happened before you knew him, right? SEKOWSKY: Right. Someone told me it was about five years before I met him. This was the type of man he was: he kept in touch with the girls and sent them money every month, even though he wasn’t legally required to. They used to write little notes back to him and that was the only contact he had with them the last fifteen, twenty years of his life. The only one he ever saw again was Teresa, when she came to New York, and I met her then.

Pat and Mike JA: Why do you think he drank so much?

(Above:) Mike in L.A.—at the Griffith Observatory, no less! So where’s James Dean? Photo courtesy of Pat Sekowsky. (Right:) The artist also saw stars when he drew this story for Fiction House’s Planet Comics #71 in 1953. Thanks to Bob Bailey for a scan of the original art. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

In 1978 I typed up a résumé for Mike and he sent to it a guy named Don something-or-other in California [NOTE: probably Don Rico] who worked for HannaBarbera. Mike sent him a letter and Don asked him to come out. I didn’t care what it cost, I got a plane ticket and gave it to him and told him to go. I said, “I’ll keep Teresa here... you go out.” I do things fast! Mike went out, and that’s where he met Mark Evanier and Scott Shaw! They knew his work and were glad to see him. Mark and Scott liked Mike very much, but they were young and maybe didn’t know how bad Mike could be. We’d all go out and Mike would be sober as a judge and was a different person. I think they realized that I was trying to keep Mike sober. Mike was doing Scooby-Doo and all kinds of stuff. I said, “When you sober up, let me know.” That’s when I got all these pretty cards and letters, so how do you know what the hell a guy’s doing? He was a wonderful writer... he wrote all those Wonder Woman books. I asked Teresa, “What do you want to do? You want to go out there? I’ll send you out for your twenty-first birthday, and you can stay with him for a while and make up your mind about what you want to do.” We were both going to go, and I should have done that. I had a thirtyyear job with a company and I had to make up my mind about what to do. The government screwed up my pension, and I said, “The hell with this. I’m going out to California.” I was working for a patent attorney and knew I could get a job out there. Mike wrote me and said he was working for Hanna-Barbera and had an apartment and wanted us to come out. Teresa didn’t want to stay, so she went back to Seattle. I said, “Okay, I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt.” I stayed with him for two years and decided I had to have a job. He didn’t want me to work because he was making good money. Then he started having the drinking problems again, which must have affected his work at Hanna-Barbera. It’s not like you could hide something like that. The diabetes must have set in around this time. I’d had enough and walked out after two years. He knew I was leaving. He was vicious with his mouth and knew damn well I went to my niece’s to stay. When he got drunk, he wrote nasty letters to her. The doctor said he had a chemical imbalance and put Mike on medication, which he quit taking after a while. When he was working, he was fine; he could sober up.

SEKOWSKY: I don’t know. I wish I could find out. I wonder what made his first wife leave once they got that house. Was he drinking then? I don’t know. Losing his children really hurt him. I tried to get him to A.A., but they told me he had to come in on his own. Mike didn’t want to go. I went to a couple of ALANON meetings to try to learn how to cope with his problems. JA: Bob Deschamps told me Mike was drinking back in the 1940s. SEKOWSKY: Then his first wife must have had enough of him. Mike had six brothers and sisters, and they’re all very nice. We’d go visit during Thanksgiving and he’d start drinking and make a mess. Half the time, I’d end up going by myself. Then we moved above his sister’s house; she had five rooms in a two-family house. I thought, “That’d be great. Mike’ll have a studio and we’ll have a guest room.” Most of the time, Mike was in the guest room because he was bombed. The only thing I know is that he had a terrible scar on his head. He was a little boy and fell out of his father’s car. The father didn’t know it and the tires rolled over Mike’s hair (he had a lot of hair) and it pulled open his scalp. His father rushed him to the hospital; he was a big Russian who drank. Mike’s mother told me, “Please stop him from drinking if you can. He’s just like his father.” Not one of the other children drank. The drinking problem must have been inherited from his father, who was an alcoholic. I used to say, “Why don’t you go to the doctor? Maybe they can help you?” I thought he might have a problem they could fix, but he wouldn’t go. He never believed he was an alcoholic, which explains the story right there. He would never say the next day that he was sorry. He’d forgotten what he’d done. JA: Forgotten because he didn’t want to talk about it or forgotten because he didn’t remember? SEKOWSKY: I don’t know. I’d have to get up and go to work, and it wasn’t easy. I don’t know how I put up with fifteen years of it, but I did. Once he got vicious, that was it. When we were in California, he started to throw things. Once, he missed me by an inch and I said, “Enough’s enough.” That’s how he was when he got angry. The neighbors in the different apartments where we lived would start banging on the walls and we’d have to move. JA: What would he be fighting with the neighbors about? SEKOWSKY: Anything. If he had enough to drink and you made too much noise, you were an s.o.b. or something worse. When he was sober,

Pat Sekowsky on Mike Sekowsky

you couldn’t curse in front of him. A doctor told me, “You can’t make him go for help. He’s got to do that on his own.” And he wouldn’t go on his own. When he got sick and I took him in, he was like a big baby. I’d come home from work and look at him. He had very pretty blue eyes and I’d just look at him, as if to say, “Okay. Have you or have you not?” I knew he was sick by then. My neighbor said, “Oh, I think he’s drinking again.” This is when he developed cirrhosis of the liver and he’d drink in the house. Getting him to the hospital was a big job, because Mike was six foot, four. They had to come and get him, put him in a wheelchair, and carry him down, with me holding a bag in front of him. He never really came to. My friends at work used to sit with me at the hospital, and they were lovely friends. They were so good to him, and he loved to see them when they came over to the house. He loved to party. When we lived in New York, we had a lot of friends. Carmine and a bunch of others would come over to the house and we had parties. Those were good times, but Michael would ruin it half the time.

“Mike Was Happiest When He Was Editing, Writing, and Drawing the New Wonder Woman” JA: Tell me a little more about his family. SEKOWSKY: They were all beautiful people. When Mike was younger, he was making good money and he used to help his family out. Mike was the eldest of the children. His father didn’t want Mike to be an artist, but Mike bought his parents a house. He was always kind-hearted. He’d help out family, friends, even strangers. He was a big tipper, and if you didn’t have much money, he’d pay the bill. He loved my girlfriends and they liked him, but they were afraid of him because of the drinking. JA: What made Mike happy? SEKOWSKY: Drawing. Mike was happiest when he was editing, writing, and drawing the new Wonder Woman. I have copies of his covers, and they were beautiful. I saw him do all that work, and he was so charming and happy at that time. But Mike always felt he had to prove something. I don’t know what he wanted to prove. JA: Well, it was his first chance at being an editor and he may have felt pressure.

“The times, they are a-changin’!” And they certainly were changing in the late ’60s! In the above page from Wonder Woman #179 (Sept.-Oct. 1968), the second of the “New Wonder Woman” issues, Diana is taught by her mentor I Ching how to make it without super-powers. Inks by Dick Giordano, script by Denny O’Neil. Thanks to Mark Muller, who sent us copies of this black-&-white art from the Australian title World’s Finest Comic Monthly #45. Love those Down Under reprints! [©2004 DC Comics.]

SEKOWSKY: Yes, but you said he was drinking in the ’40s, so I’m not sure that was it. Something was wrong back then, so why didn’t he get help? When I see the work this man had done... he could be very funny at times, while he was doing his drawings. When I see what books he did, I can’t believe how good the work was. DC sends me copies of his work when they reprint it. Love stories, a six-pager in the Atom Archives, and the Justice League Archives. The royalties for reprints are a big help to me. JA: When you met him, he was doing the Justice League. SEKOWSKY: He was finishing that series when we got together. JA: He was happy to get off of that book. Did he ever say anything to you about it? SEKOWSKY: Just that it got confusing at times. Like there was one story where Batman appeared twice in the same picture. [NOTE: Pat is doubtless referring to the time the Batman of Earth-One and the Batman of Earth-Two met. —Jim.] I think he just got tired of doing that book.

JA: He went from that to doing The Metal Men. SEKOWSKY: Yes. And I’m in one of the Wonder Woman stories, but I don’t remember which one it was. Mike originated “Jason’s Quest,” and that was the one where he got into an argument with Carmine. Mike thought Carmine was jealous of him, but I think Carmine was fed up with him. Mike insulted Carmine a lot and I can’t blame Carmine for being unhappy with Mike. JA: He insulted Carmine? SEKOWSKY: Yes, when he drank. If we had a get-together and Mike had a martini in his hand, that was it. He’d say funny things, but they were insulting things. Carmine would laugh, but he wasn’t that happy. There were a few other things, too. Mike wrote and drew the new “Supergirl” [NOTE: In Adventure Comics. —Jim.] He really tried to make that series work. JA: Mike went from being just an artist to being a writer/artist and an editor, too. How did he get the editor’s job? SEKOWSKY: I think I kept him on his toes. I’d say, “Do something

Pat and Mike

(Left:) Mike Sekowsky “was finishing [his run on JLA] when we got together,” says Pat. He was glad to leave a comic in which he had to draw so many characters. Mark Evanier once reported that, when told that his longtime successor on JLA, Dick Dillin, had passed away, Sekowsky snapped: “That book would kill anybody!” This page from JLA #11 (May 1962) is repro’d from a photocopy of the original b&w art, courtesy of Jerry G. Bails. Script by Gardner Fox. Note that Mike composed panels 2, 5, & 6 so he could draw a minimum of the eight heroes who were present—and in two of the panels, only Superman. But he didn’t always have that choice, and by #31 the JLA membership had swelled to ten! (Above:) The JLA and Justice Society split into teams in JLA #113 (Oct. 1974), with art by Dick Dillin & Dick Giordano, script by Len Wein, repro’d from photocopies of the original art, courtesy of Brian H. Bailie. That story “only” co-starred eight heroes. [©2004 DC Comics.]

with yourself. Don’t be such a smart-ass.” I don’t know exactly what happened, but Wonder Woman wasn’t doing well and he was asked to help the sales on the book, so he started drawing it. JA: Did he ask to be the editor of that book? SEKOWSKY: Yes. He wanted control. Mike told me he was offered an important position at DC, but I don’t know if I believed that. He told them that he just wanted to draw. Now, I know that, when he was younger, Stan Lee offered him a job. They went to the same high school, I think. Mike went to the School of Industrial Arts and then to Pratt Institute for two years. Mike was an editor at DC for five years and he did good work, even when he was drinking. He was at DC for 22 years. He wanted to be the editor of Wonder Woman because he didn’t want anyone to ruin his work. He said, “Nobody’s going to touch this but me!” But after the trouble with Carmine on “Jason’s Quest,” they started cutting him back on his work. He did three “Manhunter 2070” stories, too, for Showcase, and a couple of “Vigilante” backups. [NOTE: This was in Adventure Comics after the “Supergirl” series was discontinued. #426–427 were two of the issues. —Jim.]

Though writer/editor Robert Kanigher and artists Ross Andru and Mike Esposito had created “The Metal Men” for Showcase #37-40 (March-Oct. 1962), Mike Sekowsky drew some of the group’s later appearances, such as the page at left from Metal Men #37 in 1969. Around that time, he also penciled the “joke layout” for a house ad (above). The former is repro’d from a scan of the original art sent by Gene Reed; the latter is courtesy of Bob Bailey. [©2004 DC Comics.]

Pat Sekowsky on Mike Sekowsky

13 he wasn’t living that far from me. I wasn’t going to cut him completely off. Don’t ask me why. I don’t know. JA: You cared about him. SEKOWSKY: I also felt guilty. I’m just that way. I can’t throw people out. He kept using me as his hold. He could have said, “The hell with you, I don’t want you anymore.” But he never did. JA: But he had other women reject him and leave him before.

A late-1960s or early-’70s photo of artist and DC editorial director Carmine Infantino, courtesy of Pat Sekowsky—and a JLA cover (#60, Feb. 1968) penciled by Carmine and inked by Murphy Anderson. Thanks to Mike Burkey for the photocopy of the original art. [©2004 DC Comics.]

Anyway, they must have asked him to do Wonder Woman and he wanted to do all of it. I’m sure it was Carmine who gave him the editor’s job. Mike was very proud of being an editor, but his problems got the best of him. As I said, it wasn’t Carmine’s fault.

“We Didn’t Destroy Him” JA: Mike was self-destructive.

SEKOWSKY: He never did go to other women. JA: I mean before you came along. His first wife left him. He dated Valerie Barclay in the 1940s, and she broke up with him to date George Klein. SEKOWSKY: George Klein. That was another sad story. He died of cirrhosis of the liver. He was a handsome guy. He married a very nice young girl, and six months later he died. George was my friend. JA: Are you aware of the problem they had over Valerie Barclay?

SEKOWSKY: Thank you. We didn’t destroy him. We tried very, very hard. After we were separated... it wasn’t a legal separation, he always knew where I was. He’d have problems and would have to move from place to place. One New Year’s Eve, while living in California, I was getting ready to go out with my girlfriend and I got a call from Mike: “I have no place to go. Can I stay with you?” I only had a one-room apartment, but what could I say? He came over and I asked, “Where’s your stuff?” He had given it all away. He had a furnished apartment, gave everything away, and was living in his car. I let him in and I went out. He stayed with me a year and a half. I came home one day and my friend said, “He’s drinking again and scaring the hell out of the neighbors,” so I had to tell him to leave. Then I got a bigger apartment in the same place and helped him get his own place. My girlfriends were wonderful to him. We got him an apartment and fixed it up;

(Left:) A photocopy of the autographed original art to a “Vigilante” page from Adventure Comics #426 was sent by Steve Cohen. (Above:) The Sekowsky-penciled “Manhunter 2070” series ran in Showcase #91-93—after which the mag itself was cancelled, following a run of six Sekowskydrawn issues. Thanks to Gene Reed for the scans of this cover for #91 (June 1970). [©2004 DC Comics.]

Pat and Mike

“Jason’s Quest,” a try-out series in Showcase #88-90, was Mike Sekowsky’s personal favorite of his work. At least one DC staffer told people those issues had been top sellers but that there was never an ongoing Jason’s Quest title due to the enmity that arose between Mike and editorial director Carmine Infantino—a situation Carmine emphatically denies in an upcoming interview in Alter Ego. Pat Sekowsky makes it clear that she feels any trouble between the two men “wasn’t Carmine’s fault.” The covers of Showcase #88-90 (Feb.-May 1970) were provided by Bob Cherry; scans of the original art for two pages from #90 below are courtesy of Steve Cohen. [©2004 DC Comics.]

Pat Sekowsky on Mike Sekowsky SEKOWSKY: I wasn’t aware of the problem. I’d go over to George’s and he’d make me a martini. I’d say, “George, don’t make me any more martinis.” He’d make me a martini and my head would start swimming. George died in 1968. Mike and I went to his wedding, and I’m the only idiot who burst out crying at George’s funeral. [laughs] I was so embarrassed. I really liked George. He drank, but you didn’t know it. He was so perfect and neat; his books were in order... you’d open his desk drawers and everything was nicely arranged. Michael had everything in boxes. His studio was a mess. He’d say, “Nobody touches anything. I know where everything is.” We had a room full of books. He used a lot of research material. He’d rip things out of magazines and keep them in envelopes. I offered to organize everything, but he wouldn’t let me do it. All his other friends, like Dick Giordano, had everything organized. They had everything marked. Mike’s studio was full of cobwebs, with pencils on the floor. [mutual laughter] I’d go in and empty out his pencil sharpener. “Michael, can’t you empty out the pencil sharpener?” The damn thing had shavings spilling out on the floor.

15 JA: DC, in those days, was extremely conservative, in the sense that they believed in having a business attitude in the offices, which included wearing proper business clothes. You mentioned Mike still had problems during this time, but since he was working in that atmosphere, I assume he was somewhat under control at the DC offices. SEKOWSKY: He was a little better. He had to be. It was only when they got to “Jason’s Quest” that things got bad. He ended up owing DC money. Mike was paid a salary and was taking a lot of time doing his work after Wonder Woman, so he was getting paid and not producing work. That got him behind. JA: What was his schedule like while Mike was doing Wonder Woman? Was he writing and drawing at home as well as in the offices?

SEKOWSKY: Sometimes he didn’t work at all and sometimes I’d wake up in the morning and he was still at his drawing board. I’d look over at what he was doing, and if I saw circles on the page, I knew he had his head going. He was planning out what On the flip side of this issue of A/E, which spotlights an interview with Valerie he was going to draw. I’d leave Barclay in which Mike Sekowsky and George Klein are mentioned prominently, the house and when I came you’ll find more art from a Sekowsky/Klein “Black Widow” story from Timely’s JA: I find it interesting that U.S.A. Comics #5 (Summer 1942). Here, courtesy of Mark Austin, is another page home, I’d go “Oh, my God! Mike was friends with George from that hellish tale. [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.] Look at what he’s done!” and Klein, because they had a big just stare at the pages he had fight when Klein started seeing drawn. He’d stay up 36 straight hours and produce an enormous amount Valerie Barclay. Mike wanted to fight George, but George had been of work. When he finished, he’d have a couple of vodkas. If he had in the Marines and wasn’t the type of guy to mess with. But they Scotch and sodas, I didn’t mind, because they never bothered him too ended up being friends again. much. When he was working, he’d drink Scotch and soda because he knew vodka wasn’t good for him. He knew it and did it anyway! After SEKOWSKY: They never did have a fight, did they? he’d have a Scotch and soda, he’d start back to work because he hadn’t JA: No. finished his work yet. SEKOWSKY: You see, that’s the thing. In all the fights he had, he never hit anybody. Nobody ever hit him, which they should have. Mike and George were friends when I met them. Now that you’ve mentioned it, I do recall Mike telling me about Valerie and George. I guess it wasn’t that important to me to remember.

“He Liked Seeing His Name Listed as the Editor” JA: Getting back to Mike’s time as editor at DC, he obviously took that job very seriously. SEKOWSKY: Oh, yes. He liked seeing his name listed as the editor. Mike spent a lot of time in the office and always wore a blue suit when he went in. Mike loved good clothes. I didn’t understand why he always wore such good clothes in the office, because he was an artist. He’d go in, and take off his coat and work in his white shirt and tie.

JA: Do you happen to know if he wrote out a storyline before he drew the Wonder Woman stories? SEKOWSKY: I used to see him write the word balloons on the page. JA: So he’d write the story while he drew it? SEKOWSKY: Yes, although I used to have copies of scripts that they gave him. [NOTE: These are probably scripts by former writer Denny O’Neil, who had originated the “New Wonder Woman” and wrote Sekowsky’s first few Wonder Woman stories. —Jim.] I also had scripts he wrote that he submitted to DC. I’d type them up, but they weren’t Wonder Woman scripts. Mike would sit and look at a blank page and, after a while, get up and do something else. That was probably when he was planning out his stories. He never really talked much about what he was writing.

Pat and Mike JA: The scripts you were typing up may have been things like a proposal for, say, “Jason’s Quest”? SEKOWSKY: I think so. But Mike was so mad at Carmine and would curse him terribly. JA: Did he do that to Carmine’s face? SEKOWSKY: Oh, I’m sure he did, but he didn’t tell me about it. Sometimes he thought he was funny, but he wasn’t. You can’t blame Carmine for giving up on a man like that. Mike really thought he had something good going with “Jason’s Quest.” I gave a nice cover from that series to a friend of mine in New York. Mike used to get so mad at me: “I give you these things and you give them away. Why do you do that?” And he was right; I shouldn’t have done that. I gave about 50 pages away and had Mike sign them, too. That was dumb. I don’t why I gave all that work away. Mike used to show me what he was doing because he was so happy about what he was producing. He told me, “If you look closely at the books, you’ll see people you know.” He’d draw Joe Orlando, Frank Giacoia, and people like that in his stories. (Left:) Princess Diana defies her grandfather Ares, god of war, in Wonder Woman #183 (Aug. 1969), during a “Return to Paradise Island!” Pencils by Sekowsky, inks by Giordano; script by Denny O’Neil. (Below:) Pages from The Brave and the Bold #87 (Dec. 1969-Jan. 1970) in which the “New Wonder Woman” teamed up with Batman. Pencils by Sekowsky; inks by Esposito. Did Denny write this one, too? Then-DC-staffer Carl Gafford tells us that editor Murray Boltinoff announced in a letters page that it was a last-minute fill-in when another story ran behind schedule. Thanks again to Mark Muller, who culled this crisp black-&-white art from the Aussie reprints World’s Finest Comic Monthly #56 and Wonder Comic Monthly #61. [©2004 DC Comics.]

Pat Sekowsky on Mike Sekowsky

A montage of photos from circa the late 1960s or early 1970s. (Clockwise from top left:) Carmine Infantino and his right-hand man Joe Orlando... Vince Colletta on his estate... Pat Sekowsky at Colletta’s... and Aquaman/Teen Titans/Bat Lash artist Nick Cardy and colorist Tom Nicolosi (hands in pockets). Thanks to Pat Sekowsky.

“He Did It All from His Mind” JA: How social were you and Mike with his DC co-workers? SEKOWSKY: We went out a lot. Joe Orlando, Nick Cardy, Tommy Nicolosi [a DC colorist], and Frank Giacoia a few times. Vinnie Colletta, too, who lived on a big estate. And we had friends we’d meet at Friar Tuck’s and other places. We socialized with Carmine a little, and he’d come over to our house. We’d invite some of my girl friends, and single guys like Carmine. There were others but I can’t remember them all now. JA: Do you happen to know if the books Mike did at DC sold very well? SEKOWSKY: Oh, I think so. DC publicized Mike’s Wonder Woman book quite a bit. That photo of Joyce posing for Mike was a setup. Mike never had anyone pose for him. He did it all from his mind. In fact, when Mike won the Inkpot award in 1981... well, you can’t believe what I had to do to keep him sober. Scott Shaw! told me about it and I had to get Mike to the San Diego convention. Mike was driving and he was a “Wrong Way Corrigan” type of guy. That man never got a ticket and he should have been thrown in jail a hundred times, but never, never, never was he ever stopped. He was bombed a few times, too, when he drove. But he was sober when we went to the con

and almost ended up in Mexico. I said, “Mike, for Christ’s sake, get off the road and ask for directions or we’ll be in Mexico.” We finally made our way there and there was a hotel mix-up, but we finally got a room. I hadn’t told Mike he was going to get the award. We finally got to the awards dinner and someone said, “It’s Mike Sekowsky!” I said, “Michael, those young fans behind us are talking about you. Why don’t you turn around and talk to them?” And he put his head down. [laughs] That was unusual for him, but Mike didn’t go after fans. When they called his name for the award, Mike was shocked because he wasn’t expecting it. I thought, “Oh my God! He’s not going to go up there!” But he did. He went up to the stage, and I was wondering what he was going to say. He hardly said anything, and everybody gave him a standing ovation. Mike was shocked and just stood there and stared at everyone. He couldn’t believe it.

Pat says that photos released of Joyce Miller posing for Mike for Wonder Woman circa 1969-79 were just a “set-up.” However, there is a strong resemblance between the model’s pose in this photo and the drawing by Mike at right. Thanks to Pat for the photo. [Art ©2004 DC Comics.]

Sergio Aragonés was up there, doing drawings of the winners. I worried about that because every time someone drew Mike, they made him look like an egghead. People loved drawing caricatures of Mike. When Mike left the stage, he said to Julie Schwartz, “My price just went up.” [laughs] Those were the times he was just great, but he really was a very withdrawn type of person. He could be very shy.

Pat and Mike

When Sekowsky was tapped to pencil a single issue of Justice League of America in the 1980s (#240, July ’85), seventeen years after he had left the title, scripter Kurt Busiek threw in lots of JLAers (left), not to mention cameo shots of (right) The New Teen Titans, The Metal Men, and The Doom Patrol! Inks by Tom Mandrake. Thanks to Bob Cherry. [©2004 DC Comics.]

wasn’t very flattering and he wrote, “Greater Love Hath No Man.” [laughs] That was his sense of humor. He cared a lot for me, but he wouldn’t give up drinking for me. I remember, around 1980, DC asked him to draw a Justice League story and Mike was happy about it. “They want me!” But he only did one story. JA: So Mike wanted to get back into comics? SEKOWSKY: Yes, but DC didn’t really want him. He had done some work at Marvel in the 1970s, after he left DC. Everyone knew his reputation, and they all tried to get him work. I don’t know why things didn’t last, unless he started acting up with them. I used to say to him, when he got down, “If you’re so damn great, why doesn’t everyone want to keep you?” He’d just look at me and wouldn’t answer me. He knew why. JA: You know, it just might be that Mike couldn’t loosen up unless he had a drink. That would explain why he was shy and charming when he was sober and someone else when he drank. SEKOWSKY: That’s probably it. When he was sober and we went out, he’d show me off because he was so proud of me. But when he drank, he was the reverse. Mike was a very brilliant man. He did a lot of research and could read a book in an hour. That’s what relaxed him. He read paperbacks all the time. A friend would see one of those books and ask, “Didn’t anyone read this book?” Mike read so fast that it didn’t look like the book had been read. And he had all these other jobs when he wasn’t doing comics. He did ad work and storyboards, but that was part-time work. JA: When he was younger, he was into woodworking and lost part of a finger while working with power tools. SEKOWSKY: Yes, but he wasn’t doing woodwork when we were together. He had big hands, a size twelve. It was the finger next to his thumb that was damaged, and he had to relearn how to write and draw. The tip was off that finger, but his hand was so big, that if he held it down, no one would notice it.

“Everyone Knew His Reputation” JA: So reading was his main hobby. Did he ever try painting? SEKOWSKY: No, but I wanted him to. He only drew one picture of me and that was in our living room when we lived in New York. It

JA: I remember that he drew Super-Villain Team-Up for Marvel, which had the Sub-Mariner in it. That was a character he’d drawn for Marvel back in the 1940s, so it seemed like a natural fit to me. SEKOWSKY: Nobody had ever really told him how good he was. He worked for Stan Lee for many years, and Stan never let Mike know how good he was. I remember when he drew some DNAgents for Mark Evanier in the 1980s. That wasn’t a long-term thing. But Mark and Scott stayed friends with him. I remember that he briefly ghosted for Alex Kotzky on Apartment 3-G, when Alex got sick. Mike really wanted to do a newspaper strip, and though he ghosted for other artists, like on Sherlock Holmes for Frank Giacoia, and Terry and the Pirates for George Wunder, he never got a strip of his own. Near the end, when he was in the hospital, Mike asked for his drawing materials. It hurt him not to be able to draw any more. JA: Do you have a favorite memory of him? SEKOWSKY: He was very good about wanting to go out and have a good time. He loved going to big, classy restaurants and wearing beautiful suits. He always wanted me to wear beautiful clothes. He loved beautiful things and loved shopping. That was how he spent his money. He always loved holidays. I wish Mike had lived to see his work being reprinted in the DC Archives and realize how much his work was appreciated.

Pat Sekowsky on Mike Sekowsky

MIKE SEKOWSKY Checklist [NOTE: Our usual (but no less sincere) thanks to Jerry G. Bails, founder of Alter Ego, for providing information from the online Who’s Who of 20th Century American Comic Books, which can be accessed at www.nostromo.no/whoswho/. The following is an abridged version of the Who’s Who listing. Key: (a) = full art. (p) = pencils only. (i) = inks only. (w) = writer. None of the following names of comic book features are italicized, since a name may refer either to a comics title, or simply a feature in a comic, or to both.] Full Name: Michael (Mike) Sekowsky ( -1989) - artist, writer, editor. Animator: Hanna-Barbera, 1970; Marvel (Defenders of the Earth), 1986; Tom Carter, c. 1981. Did animation model sheets for De PatieFreleng Fred & Barney Meet the Thing, 1978. Feature films: comic book art for the movie Condorman, 1981. Honor: Inkpot Award (San Diego Comic-Con), 1981. KNOWN SYNDICATED CREDITS: Flash Gordon (p, ghost) 1953 (one month); (p, ghost) 1959-60; Sherlock Holmes (p, ghost), 1954-56; Apartment 3-G (p, ghost) 1969; Terry and the Pirates (no specifics) COMIC BOOKS (Alternate & Joint Publishers):

Showcase: 1956-59 [Adam Strange] (p) 1982 [GA] reprint; Faceless Creature (p) 1961-62; Falling in Love (p) 1956-66, 1968, 1972-72; Fastback (p) 1982; Foley of the Fighting 5th (p) 1950s; Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion (a) 1973; Gallery of War (p) 1973; Girls’ Love Stories (p) 1957-73; Girls’ Romances (p) 1958; Greatest Team-Up Stories Ever Told [JLA & JSA] (p) 1990 [G.A.] reprint; Green Lantern (p) 1968-69, 1983; Haunted Tank (p) 1968-69; Heart Throbs (p) 1966-68; House of Mystery (p) 1972-74, 1980; House of Secrets (p) 1972-73, 1974; Inferior Five (p) 1966-68; Jason’s Quest (w/p) 1969-70; Jimmy Olsen (p) 1973; Manhunter 2070 (w/p) 1970; Maniaks (p) 1967; Melba Manton (p) 1973; Metal Men (p/some w) 1968-70; Metamorpho and the Metal Men (p) 1966; Mystery in Space (p) 1958-61; Our Fighting Forces (p) 1955; The Phantom Stranger (w/p) 1970; Phantom Stranger (misc. backup) (p) 1953; Plop! (p) 1970s; Rip Hunter, Time Master (p) 1959; Secret Hearts (p) 1958-60, 1962-67, 1969, 1971; Secrets of Sinister House (p)

New Media Publishing: Adventure Illustrated (p) 1981; Fantasy Illustrated (p) 1982 COMIC BOOKS (Mainstream U.S. Publishers): Ace Periodicals/Ace Books: crime (p) 1950-52; horror (p) 1951-53; Kirk Mason (p) 1950; romance (p) 1950-51 & 1953; science-fantasy (p) 1952; war (p) 1952; western (p) 1951 Archie/MLJ/Red Circle/Radio: Fly Man (p) 1965; Mighty Crusaders (p) 1965-66; mystery (p) 1974; Steel Sterling (p) 1966 Better/Pines/Standard/Nedor: adventure (p) c. 1951-54; Adventures into Darkness (p) c. 1953; covers (p) 1953-54; crime (p) 1952-53; horror (p) 1952-54; Intimate Love (p) 1952-54; Joe Yank (p) 1952-54; New Romances (p) 1952-53; Popular Romance (a) 1953; romance (p) 1950-54; Thrilling Romances (a) 1953; The Unseen (p) 1952-54; war (p) 195254, western (p) 1952; Who Is Next? (p) 1953

Collector Steve Cohen, who provided us with a photocopy, says the art at top is an example of Mike Sekowsky ghosting Alex Kotzky’s newspaper strip Apartment 3-G in 1969—while the art directly above is definitely a Sekowsky-penciled September 1955 daily for the syndicated Sherlock Holmes strip officially credited to Frank Giacoia (who probably inked it). Our abject apologies for misplacing the name of the generous donor who sent us the Holmes art. [Art ©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

Charlton & precursors: Badge of Justice (a) 1955; Masked Raider (a) 1955; Ramar of the Jungle (a) 1955 DC & related imprints: Adam Strange (p) 1958-59; Atom (p) 1963, 1968; B’wana Beast (p) 1967, Bat Lash (p) 1969; Batman (p) 1974; Batman and Metamorpho (p) 1966; Batman and Plastic Man (p) 1968; Batman and Wonder Woman (w/p) 1969, Bob Kanigher’s Gallery of War (p) 1973; Blackhawk Detached Service Diary (p) 1973; Captain Carrot (p) 1982; covers (p) 1958-71; DC Silver Age Classics [Justice League of America] (p) 1992 reprint; Elongated Man (p) 1968; Essential

1972-73; Showcase (w/p) 1970; Space Museum (p) 1959; Stanley and His Monster (p) 1968; Star Hawkins (p) 1960-64; Strange Adventures (p) 1959; Supergirl (p/some w) 1970-72; Tracey Thompson (w/p) 1971; Trigger Twins (p) 1960; The Unexpected (a) 1968; The Vigilante (p) 1973; Weird War Tales (p) 1975-79; The Witching Hour (p) 1974; Wonder Woman (p/some w) 1968-72; Yankee Poodle (p) 1982; Young Love (p) 1963-66, 1969; Young Romance (p) 1963-64, 1968, 1974 Dell Publications/Comics: The Frogmen (p) 1964; King of Diamonds (p) 1962; On Stage (1962). (Other word 1962-1973?)

Pat and Mike humor (p) 1954; The Inhumans (p) 1971-72; Jack Frost (1942); Kid Colt (p) 1948-49, 1952; Love Adventures (p) 1949; mystery/occult (p) 1956; Nellie the Nurse (p) 1940s-50; Oscar [Pig and Grunty] (p) 1950; Patsy Walker (p) 1948-49; Percy (p) 1942; romance (p) 1950-53, 1974-75; Silly Seal and Ziggy Pig (p) 1940s; Speed Carter - Spaceman (p) 1954; spy (p) 1953; Strange Tales (p) 1951-53; Sub-Mariner (p) 1945-48; Sub-Mariner and Dr. Doom (p) 1975; Super Rabbit (p) 1940s; teen/family fun (p) 1946-50; Terry-Toons (a) 1946; Tessie the Typist (p) 1942-45; text illustrations (a) 1947; Two-Gun Kid (p) 1948; war (p) 1951-54; western (p) 1949-51, 1953-54, The Whizzer (p) 1941-42, Willie (p) 1946-50, Young Allies (p) 1944-45, 1947 Nesbit/Sterling: Captain Flash (p) 1954-55; covers (p) 1954-55; Surprise Adventures (p) 1955; The Tormented (p) 1954 Quality Comics: romance (p) 1951 Seaboard/Atlas: The Brute (p) 1975; horror (a) 1975; Iron Jaw (p) 1975; Lomax (p) 1975; mystery (p) 1975; Tales of Evil (p) 1975 St. John/Jubilee: fillers (p) 1954; romance (p) 1953-55

Eclipse Enterprises: DNAgents (p) 1986; Nightingale (p) 1984; Seduction of the Innocent (p) 1985 [from inventory]; Sham (p) 1984 Fawcett Publications/Comics: crime (p) 1952; horror (p) 1951-53; romance (p) 1950-53 Feature/Crestwood/Headline/Prize: romance (p) 1957-58 Fiction House: science-fantasy (a) c. 1953-55; war (a) c. 1953-55 Gilberton/Classics Illustrated: adaptations (a) 1955-57; Classics Illustrated Jr. (a) 1955-59; The World around Us (a) 1955-61

Tower Comics: covers (p) 1966-67; Dynamo (p) 1967; Fight the Enemy (p) 1966; fillers (p) 1966; Gallant Warriors (p) 1966; Lightning (p) 1966-67; Menthor (p) 1966; Noman (p) 1966: T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Squad (p) 1965-67; Undersea Agents (p) 1966; Zack Fight of the Green Berets (p) 1967

Western Publishing/Whitman/Gold Key: 55 Days at Peking (p) 1963; Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery [formerly Thriller] (p) 1963; Grimm’s Ghost Stories (p) 1972; Jet Dream (p) 1968; Lancelot Link (p) 1972; M.A.R.S. Patrol Total War (p) 1968; Man from U.N.C.L.E. (p) 1966-67; McClintock (p) 1964; Tom Morrow (p) 1966; Track Hunter (p) 1965; Twilight Zone (p) 1962-64, 1973 Ziff-Davis: G.I. Joe (p) 1950-51; Little Al of the FBI (p) 1951; romance (p) 1952; sports (p) 1951

Harvey/Family & precursors: Three Rocketeers (p) 1968 Hillman Periodicals: crime (p) 1950-51; western (p) 1951 K.K. Publications/Dell Comics (to 1962): The 3 Worlds of Gulliver (p) 1961; Around the World in 80 Days (p) 1957; Buffalo Bill Jr. (p) 1950s?; Ellery Queen (p) c. 1961; Gunsmoke (p) 1950s?; The Horse Soldiers (p) 1959; Pepe (p) 1961; Peter Gunn (p) 1960; The Rebel (p) c. 1960; Secret Chimp (p) [no date]; Solomon and Sheba (p) 1959; Super Circus (p) c. 1954-56 Lev Gleason/Comic House & precursors: [specifics?] (p) c. 1954 Marvel/Timely & related: adventure (p) 194850; All-True Crime (a) 1948; Apache Kid (p) 1950; Arrgh! (p) c. 1975-75; Black Rider (p) 1950-51; Black Widow (p) 1942; Blackstone (a) 1948; Blonde Phantom (1948); Captain America (p/i) 1944-49; cartoon/funny animals (a) 1942-46, c. 1951-56; Challenger (p) 1941-42; covers (p) 1948; Crazy (a) 1954; crime (p) 1948, 1950-53; The Destroyer (i) 1942; Gandy Goose and Sourpuss (a) 1942 [in Terry-Toons #1]; Georgie (p) 1946-48; Gunhawk (p) 1951; Gus the Gnome (p) 1942; horror (p) 1950-54; Human Torch (p) 1944-49;

A three-panel splash sequence from Justice League of America #22, in which Mike Sekowsky had to draw a total of seven JLAers and two of their aircraft. Repro’d from photocopies of the b&w Aussie reprints; thanks to Shane Foley. [©2004 DC Comics.]

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BACK ISSUES OF THE ISSUE!

Want full coverage of the JLA-JSA crossovers drawn by SEKOWSKY, DILLIN, PÉREZ, etc.? Then see how to order Alter Ego #7, on our inside front cover. And to read what Timely bullpenner DAVE GANTZ has to say about SEKOWSKY, BARCLAY, et al., pick up #13! (Actually, you'd also learn a lot from A/E #6, 11, 15, 20, 22, 28, or several others—but we don't wanna be pushy about it!)

Three Songs For Mike Sekowsky part three

The Mike Sekowsky Dinner

Four Los Angelenos Reminisce about “Big Mike’s” Years in Comics and Animation Moderated by Mark Evanier [MODERATOR’S INTRO: One of comics’ most prolific artists, Mike Sekowsky, died in 1989, far from his native New York and even farther from the comic book industry. For the last eleven years of his life, he worked primarily in animation in Los Angeles... and comics’ loss was our gain. Those of us who worked in the cartoon business welcomed him, for he was not only a terrific artist but a genuinely fascinating individual—shy but feisty, outspoken but timid, and alternately very intense and very funny. [One Tuesday night in November of 2003, four of us gathered in a restaurant in Burbank, California, to share memories of “Big Mike.” Present were cartoonist and “Oddball Comics” curator Scott Shaw!—illustrator and creator of The Rocketeer Dave Stevens—and longtime Disney and Hanna-Barbera cartoonist Floyd Norman. Oh, yeah—and I was there, too. Any excuse for a meal. All four of us had worked with Mike at H-B, and at other local enterprises, as well. After the dinner plates were cleared away, I hauled out a tape recorder and led off the proceedings.... —Mark Evanier.]

Transcribed by Brian K. Morris MARK EVANIER: We are sitting here at a restaurant, talking about our friend Mike Sekowsky, who left us some time ago. I am here with Scott Shaw!, Floyd Norman, and Dave Stevens, and we’re going to talk a little bit about Mike, and try to remember this friend of ours whose career was tragically cut short just as he was starting to get ample recognition for the work he did. I thought I would try to draw a strained analogy this evening between Mike and his artwork, because Mike’s artwork was the kind of art that, sometimes, you couldn’t warm up to immediately. A lot of people didn’t like it when they first saw it. But eventually it grew on them and they discovered the joys of Mike Sekowsky art.

Animator Floyd Norman generously drew the above fine sketch of his take on the Mike Sekowsky Dinner—but, since Big Mike was at least there in spirit, we couldn’t resist adding overhead the Sekowsky-penciled, Bernard Sachs-inked image of the Justice League, from the splash of JLA #21. (Left to right at the dinner table:) Mark Evanier, Dave Stevens, Floyd Norman, Scott Shaw! And if you have to ask who those guys are in the cloudy patch above them—boy, have you got the wrong magazine! [Bottom art ©2004 Floyd Norman; top art ©2004 DC Comics.]

And Mike was, in some ways, the same kind of person. When you first met him, he was a little standoffish, a little cold. He wouldn’t look

The Mike Sekowsky Dinner

Mike Sekowsky in the Catskills, a resort region in upstate New York —and a model sheet of The Penguin he drew for Hanna-Barbera’s Super Powers series. Photo courtesy of Pat Sekowsky; for the model sheet, thanks to Bob Bailey. [Art ©2004 DC Comics.]

23 up doing a freelance job for me on some educational film strip I was doing around that time, because I just loved the way the guy drew and I couldn’t wait to get him to do something for me besides the regular Hanna-Barbera stuff. I seemed to follow Mike around, or he followed me. We were at Disney around the same time. I know he did the comic book work on Condorman. He was supposed to do work on Roger Rabbit, but [laughs] had kind of a falling-out with Daan Jippes, so that didn’t work out. And then we all ended up at a very strange studio in Newport Beach—Tom Carter—and that’s kind-of where our story ended.

you in the eye. Still, when you got to know him, he turned out to be a pretty decent guy. All of us worked with him when he was at HannaBarbera, where he fled after he decided there was no place for him in the New York comic book community. Floyd, how close was he to your drawing table?

NORMAN: Oh, man... what were those? Super Friends, Scooby-Doo.

FLOYD NORMAN: Maybe a few desks away. He was pretty close by.

DAVE STEVENS: I know he worked on The Shmoo.

EVANIER: What was his job description at HannaBarbera?

NORMAN: The Shmoo. How about Casper and the Space Angels? That was a strange show.

NORMAN: Mike was a layout artist, but he also probably did character design. When I first met Mike, probably in the mid70’s, when a lot of the guys came out from New York, Mike, as Mark said, was a pretty scary guy, and kind of standoffish, and a big guy. But, once you got to know him, he was a pretty nice guy and we became good friends. I, maybe unlike many, fell in love with his work the first time I saw it. He even ended Floyd Norman, in a photo provided by the animator—and Sekowsky art for the Disney movie Condorman, in which a comic book writer (played by Michael Crawford) plays spy and pursues a beautiful Russian defector (played by Barbara Carrera). Thanks to Pat Sekowsky, Jim Amash, and Theresa R. Davidson for scans of the Condorman art. [Art ©2004 The Disney Company.]

EVANIER: Let’s go back to Hanna-Barbera. Any idea what shows Mike worked on?

Evanier, Shaw!, Stevens, and Norman

Mark Evanier on a San Diego Comic-Con panel (photo by Dave Siegel)—and panels of a different kind, from Justice League of America #240, Sekowsky’s only 1980s issue of the mag of which he had been the first illustrator. Of course, JLA #240 was still in the future when Mike went to work at Hanna-Barbera in the late 1970s, but he had designed the Royal Flush Gang back in the ’60s. Thanks to Bob Cherry. [JLA art ©2004 DC Comics.]

SCOTT SHAW!: I don’t think he did anything on that. I know he did some Flintstones, though. NORMAN: Yeah, a lot of Flintstones stuff. I can’t remember all that! There’s so much of it. EVANIER: My recollection is that, one day, a group of guys were sitting in my office at Hanna-Barbera. Don Rico... Rick Hoberg, I think. Scott, you may have been there. And in walks Iwao Takamoto, who at the time— what was his title at the studio? STEVENS: Creative Director. EVANIER: Creative Director. He walks in with a letter in his hand and he says, “You’re the comic book guys. I just got a letter from a guy who’s a comic book artist, who says he wants to work here. And I wonder if you’ve heard of him. His name is Mike Sekowsky.” And we all yelled, “Yes! Get him! Immediately!” Because the studio was doing Super Friends at the time and who better to draw Super Friends than Mike Sekowsky?

Once we heard that Mike was there, everybody went around to see him and you could tell that he really didn’t know how to deal with it. [chuckles] Now that I’m 52 and have worked in the business longer than I care to think about, I suddenly understand why he had that certain look on his face when we’d all come up and pay tribute to this guy. He really wasn’t sure if he was being put on or not.

I think he’d had enough bad experiences with the people in New York that it was like dealing with a wounded animal. He may not have ever dealt with people that were just admirers of his work, or if he had, it hadn’t happened in a long time. He almost seemed to be looking around to see if somebody had paid us to all come up and do this, like it was all some sort of gag. Everybody kind of had the same sort of shpiel, Some people wanted to talk about Justice League, some people wanted to talk about B’wana Beast, some people wanted to talk about Super Rabbit. I mean, it was kind of funny because the studio had just hired a lot of guys from comic books. Doug Wildey was back... Carmine Infantino had actually worked there for about two weeks until that didn’t work out... Rick Hoberg, Will Meugniot, Dave, myself...

By a strange quirk of fate, when Mike came to work at the studio, I believe the very first job they gave him was designing model sheets for The Royal Flush Gang. They were villains he had designed for the Justice League of America comic book and now they were being used on the TV show. They handed him Xeroxes of the comic book and said, “Do a model sheet of these guys,” and they didn’t realize they were handing Mike Sekowsky a Mike Sekowsky comic book to work from. They gave him a little cubicle, and I went up to meet him... and by God, there was a man sitting there sketching, and Mike Sekowsky art, just like I knew from the comics, was appearing on his drawing board. Scott, what do you remember about that time? SHAW!: I remember that we were in the old building at Hanna-Barbera. It was at 3400 Cahuenga in Hollywood, in the Cahuenga Pass, and I remember the word coming around that Mike was there. I don’t think I was there in the room you describe, Mark, but I remember I had started in the layout department not that long before.

Scott Shaw! (in a photo taken at the 1998 San Diego Comic-Con) eyes his 1980s creation Pig-Iron, a charter member of Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew! Pig-Iron’s alter ego was the 1950s DC character Peter Porkchops. Photo courtesy of David Siegel; thanks to Todd Franklin for the sketch. [Art © Scott Shaw!; Pig-Iron TM & ©2004 DC Comics.]

The Mike Sekowsky Dinner

“Some people wanted to talk about Justice League... some about B’wana Beast... some about Super Rabbit.” Mike Sekowsky drew them all at one time or another, as per this page’s montage of art from Justice League of America #1 (Nov. 1960), Showcase #67 (April 1967), and Super Rabbit #1 (1944). Well, actually, we’ve got no way of knowing if Big Mike did pencil the latter story, in which Timely’s own “Marvel bunny” is about to lower the boom on a sleeping Adolf Hitler... so we’ve also tossed in a WWII-era splash from Terry-Toons #3 (Dec. 1942) which provider Dr. Michael J. Vassallo assures us is by the team of Sekowsky (penciler) and George Klein (inker). [Super Rabbit ©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.; Gandy ©2004 the respective copyright holders.] The JLA #1 page of original art was printed thus in an All Star Auctions catalog a few years back; thanks to Joe and Nadia Mannarino, whose current ad can be viewed in this very issue. It’s only sad, of course, that Mike Sekowsky isn’t around to benefit from his latter-day popularity as a JLA icon.

EVANIER: Don Rico... SHAW!: Don Rico was there. Later on, Russ Heath. But there was a kind of resentment against all these comic book guys because, quite frankly, most of the people in animation didn’t think we really understood how to make a cartoon... and in some cases, they were absolutely right. Suddenly, with Mike there, it was like, “Well, maybe these comic book guys aren’t so bad.” He could draw so well, nobody could question whether or not being from comics was good or bad. And of course, the other guy everyone admired was Jack Kirby. One of my most bizarre memories, and it wasn’t too long after Mike arrived, was being called into a meeting by Iwao Takamoto. It was to design a presentation for a show based on the rock group Kiss. I found myself sitting between Jack Kirby and Mike Sekowsky, and it was like “What is wrong with this

For years, on the other hand, “B’wana Beast,” the masked jungle hero Mike drew in Showcase #66-67, has been right up there with “Brother Power, The Geek” as a series a speaker can mention if he wants to get a laugh. But if there’s anything ludicrous about “B’wana Beast,” it isn’t Sekowsky’s art, which compares favorably with his work on Justice League or elsewhere. Thanks to Bob Cherry for the scan of the Showcase #67 cover, which (Carl Gafford tells us) was inked by Dick Giordano—though Mark E. believes it’s Joe Giella’s work. [JLA & Showcase art ©2004 DC Comics.]

Evanier, Shaw!, Stevens, and Norman

picture?” I just couldn’t absorb the fact that they were giving all three of us the same assignment and wanted to see what each of us did. Mike did lots of development stuff and he did storyboards for a while. He mainly did character designs because it was the one thing that he inherently understood. His style was very obvious, but you could take his stuff and simplify it a little, and it would work great. He never quite understood what layouts were. He never quite grasped how storyboards had to work for film, and it was probably just because working in comics and print kind of hard-wired all this stuff into him. No matter how he tried to figure it out, he never quite got it. But the basic drawing was so good that we didn’t mind adjusting it. And Mike was fast, too. Maybe that’s something we should talk about.

figure, just a few little simple lines, and then, before you knew it, he’d have all the intricate stuff there too. And it’s like you said, he would work it out first in his head, and then never draw a false line until the thing was done. It just seemed like it was all thinkwork for him, and the drawing itself was almost effortless. There was just no work to it at all. And then he’d be done and go off and have coffee, and the rest of us would be drudging through the rest of the day. EVANIER: What show would you have been working on while you were there with him? STEVENS: A lot of the ones we mentioned: Super Friends and The Shmoo and Scooby-Doo. It was 1979; I don’t remember. There were probably a half a dozen different shows, and they would just revolve us, depending on what crew was short or late. And then we’d end up doing extra scenes for them, or boards, or characters.

EVANIER: Mike was phenomenally fast. And the amazing thing was that the drawings appeared EVANIER: Now, within the kind-of in an instant. If you gave animation business, it has been him an hour to do a drawing, he widely acknowledged that the would not spend the hour absolute master of drawing moving the pencil around the insulting cartoons on the wall is paper. He would spend 50 Floyd Norman. But Mike seems minutes, or 55 minutes, figuring to have done a pretty good job out what he was going to draw himself at times of ridiculing his and drawing these little light Sekowsky did a solid version of Jack Kirby’s ultimate villain, Darkseid, in this page co-workers and particularly his construction lines and circles, from Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen #152 (Sept. 1972), as repro’d from the Aussie employers. Would anyone care and he’d erase them. And the reprint Mighty Comic #106, courtesy of Mark Muller. [©2004 DC Comics.] to comment on this? whole thing that interested him was placement. Where are you STEVENS: Well, only because going to place everything on the page? And once he’d decided on his I’m close. I managed to salvage about, maybe, thirty or forty of these composition, if you blinked, you missed the drawing. It suddenly just drawings. And a lot of it—he would just target any one of us. But at the appeared there. same time, he would go after management and I don’t know what And there was a fellow named Bob Singer—I don't know what his title was, but it was supervisory—and he never seemed to believe that Mike was doing the drawings as fast as he did. Bob would go to Mike and tell him to do a drawing of a three-headed dragon wearing sneakers, and he’d turn away, then he’d turn back and there was the drawing of the three-headed dragon wearing sneakers. And Bob would think, “He did that a week ago. He knew I was going to ask for that, so he prepared it and had it hidden under his desk.” There were a few guys at HannaBarbera who were fast, but I don’t think anybody was fast the way Mike was in making that drawing just kind-of appear out of nowhere. Dave, by contrast, [laughs] can you give us a little total on how many scenes a week were you doing versus what Mike was doing back then? STEVENS: I probably drew, maybe, one to his sixty per day. But again—like Scott said, and I shared a cubicle with Mike for the better part of one year—I think it was the latter part of ’78 or beginning of ’79—I’d turn around and could watch these drawings happening, and he would give me a few of them. I brought some tonight. And the thing that I was just amazed by wasn’t just the speed, but just the boldness. He would put the pencil down and never erase. He’d literally outline the

happened to those. I never got any of those. I think Mike would destroy those before they got out among the staff. SHAW!: Actually, Mike probably saved his most venomous stuff for verbal presentation. [laughs] I know the way the business works, and I certainly don’t mean to imply that Mike was any kind of an angel, and I don’t want to try to debate what happened back in the earlier days, because I have no idea. I wasn’t there. But I have to say that nobody hated Carmine Infantino as much as Mike Sekowsky did. Mike would come and hang over your desk, whether you invited him there or not, after we finally broke the ice with him, and would go on and on and on. This man was probably about six foot four, his skin was bright pink. He was just this side of having the coloration of an albino. He had pink skin... and, on top of that, when Mike was a kid, he’d had a horrible accident. His head got caught under his parents’ car, and it scalped him half-way. It actually ripped his scalp and pulled it back, and they put it back in place, but he had this big jagged scar on his bald head that came down almost down to his eyes. And we didn’t know that this guy was pretty harmless, at least as far as we were concerned. It took a long time

The Mike Sekowsky Dinner

Dave Stevens, seen in the photo, was the creator/writer/artist of the already-legendary Rocketeer series of the 1980s, as per the 1991 original art (left) for the cover of the adaptation of the movie version, repro’d from a Sotheby’s art-auction catalog. Certainly one influence on Dave, freely admitted, was a trio of vintage movie serials; but perhaps he was also recalling, just a little bit, the rocket-pack-wearing hero at right named Adam Strange, first drawn by Mike Sekowsky in Showcase #17 (Nov.-Dec. 1958). Photo courtesy of Dave, from the original Eclipse Rocketeer collection. [Rocketeer art ©2004 Dave Stevens; Rocketeer TM & ©2004 The Disney Company; Adam Strange ©2004 DC Comics.]

to get used to the fact when Mike went on a screed, usually [in a gruff voice] “about some son-of-a-bitch back in New York,” often Carmine, but sometimes a lot of other people he dealt with, too, depending on (A) who he was thinking about and (B) whether he’d had any drinks at lunch. [laughs] And it was impressive to behold. He also had a particular thing: there was a young artist at HannaBarbera who really wasn’t a very good artist at the time, but was a fairly slick clean-up artist. The problem was, he was cleaning up stuff that really would never be in print, but he was cleaning it up as though it would be. And as soon as Mike would leave a drawing and go to the bathroom, or to lunch, or whatever, this guy would run over and grab the drawing off Mike’s desk and, like, try to do a clean-up of it, and turn it in. And Mike wound up just hating this guy, too. I mean, it was like if Mike liked you, he would knock himself out for you. But if he didn’t like you, it was like he wanted to drive a stake through your heart. He was not a man for being in the middle on anything, and when I hear interviews with some of the old-timers that worked with him at Timely, or other places, you could see that a lot of guys didn’t like him. You really had to get Mike to like you. Otherwise, he was a pretty scary guy. EVANIER: And yet, you also hear comments from his contemporaries that Mike was the supreme rescuer of people who were behind on deadlines. Even as a kid, reading comics, I would read a Gil Kane comic and suddenly notice that Gil Kane had turned into Mike Sekowsky for five pages. Over the years, he’d bailed out more people who were behind on their deadlines, particularly artists who were primarily inkers who had taken on a penciling assignment and found they just couldn’t do it.

Frank Giacoia would probably be the best example of that. There were dozens of cases where Frank would get a pencil job to do and he would have the artist’s equivalent of writer’s block. He would sit and stare at the blank paper long past the deadline. And finally, when the editor was beginning to stick pins in a Frank Giacoia voodoo doll, Frank would run to Mike and beg him—and Mike never turned anyone down. Mike ghosted for a dozen guys. There are stories about Mike getting kicked out of a company because an editor claimed he hated his work, and replacing him with a guy who was having Mike ghost his work for him! He just had that ability to bail people out of deadlines over and over again. One story he told me two or three times, though he was never willing or able to tell me who it was, was that an editor had come to him and said, “My book are all behind schedule. I’ve got six weeks to get them on schedule or I’m going to get fired. You’ve got to help me.” Now, anyone else would have gone to four different pencilers and four different inkers to help him. This editor went to Mike and four different inkers. And he promised Mike, “If you’ll bail me out, I’ll give you the top rate and I’ll give you all the work you want in the future.” And, while Mike would have probably done it anyway, that offer was very appealing to him, so he penciled somewhere between six and eight issues of comics in three weeks for this editor. The editor got them all inked, got on schedule, and when Mike went in to pick up a normal-paced assignment, the editor said to him, “Gee, Mike, you know, we’re trying to upgrade the look of the books and you bang it too quickly. I’d really rather not use you on these.” And as Mike told the story, he lunged for

Evanier, Shaw!, Stevens, and Norman

As Sekowsky branched out from Timely/Marvel in the early 1950s, other companies were quick to offer him work in the crime and horror field. All four of these splash pages, provided by Chris Brown, were published in 1952. (Top row:) Standard’s The Unseen #15 (with a morbid splash) and Fawcett’s Suspense Detective #2. (Bottom row:) Worlds of Fear #4 & #5. The ornate inking on “The Butcher,” by hands unknown, shows what Sekowsky’s pencils could look like when fully embellished. Kinda makes you wonder what entire issues of Justice League would have looked like inked by Murphy Anderson, who only applied his brush to covers. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

The Mike Sekowsky Dinner

Evanier: “Suddenly [I] noticed that Gil Kane had turned into Mike Sekowsky for five pages.” As veteran colorist Carl Gafford wrote to Ye Editor, Sekowsky spelled Kane on at least three issues of Green Lantern, including #4, #18, and #28. The splash page above from #18 (Jan. 1963) is Gil’s, while Mike penciled the latter half of the 12-pager (top right) over, according to Vol. 3 of the GL Archives, layouts by Gil. Inks by Joe Giella, script by John Broome. [©2004 DC Comics.]

the editor’s throat [laughs] and practically dragged him into the hall and beat him. I think Mike had a lot of those cases in his day. Sticking with Hanna-Barbera for a moment, let’s talk a little bit about the mood in the hallways, which I always thought was fascinating because you had, at that time at Hanna-Barbera, a lot of old pros intermingling with a lot of guys on their first job, as witness Dave sharing a cubicle with Mike. I remember going up there and talking to Dave Tendlar, who went back to the Crimean War in animation; and Owen Fitzgerald was there, and Jack Manning, and a lot of guys who’d been in animation since near the start. And then you had guys like Dave, and Scott, and Rick Hoberg, and a lot of guys who did funny animal stuff more, and I thought it was very interesting that in some strange way it rejuvenated Mike at bit to be in that environment. Does anyone want to tackle that? STEVENS: Well, he liked the social aspect of it, if for no other reason than because it gave him [chuckles] great material for his rude cartoons. No, I think he liked the fact that, once he got out here, he had a kind of What is so rare as a day in June? Well, a page of original art with Mike Sekowsky’s un-inked pencils runs a fairly close second! Bob Bailey kindly sent us this surprising scan of an unused version of the final page from Giant-Size Super-Villain Team-Up #2 (1968) from his personal collection. These actions were spread over two pages in the redrawn art. Unfortunately, neither Scott Shaw! nor Dave Stevens was able to provide copies of Sekowsky original art they have by presstime, but maybe later...! [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Evanier, Shaw!, Stevens, and Norman

We couldn’t go through this entire issue without running more Sekowsky work from Captain Flash, the Sterling comic which, since its four issues spanned November 1954 to July 1955, is considered by some to be the first Silver Age super-hero, preceding even “John Jones—Manhunter from Mars” in Detective Comics, and beating out the revamped Flash by more than a year. In our view, Captain Flash was, rather, the tail-end of that brief super-hero Indian summer inspired by the success of the Adventures of Superman TV show in the early ’50s, but it was still a good comic. Above, from CF #4 (July ’55), are a house ad for three Sterling mags—with all three covers penciled by Mike Sekowsky—and the splash of a tale that, in both title and theme, foreshadows the 1960s TV series The Invaders. At story’s end, it’s revealed that the aliens, when impersonating humans, can be identified only by the green palms of their hands; on the TV show, wasn’t it a crook in their little fingers, or some such nonsense? Note that on the cover of CF #2, pictured in the ad, the villain is an airborne Black Knight not unlike the later Marvel villain. The best of Cap’s foes was The Mirror Man, who entered Earth via mirrors from a silicon-based dimension. Luckily for us, Bill Black’s AC Comics has reprinted several “Captain Flash” adventures. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

a sense of community and family that he didn’t have back in New York. At least the way he talked, it sounded like he was pretty isolated, so I think he really enjoyed it, in spite of the fact that he was working on stuff he probably didn’t care about at all and just treated it as a job, and then went home and had a few [chuckles] to get rid of the memory of what he’d been working on during the day. But yeah, I think, overall, he enjoyed everybody in the layout department a lot, with the exception of one or two people that, you know—I mean, he had to have somebody to pick on, so there was usually one or two there that he could ridicule. But overall, he seemed to really thrive when he was there. And he would bring these great drawings in that he was doing at night, just, I guess, for his own amusement or for some presentation job that he didn’t tell me what it was. But one day he gave me a big, like ten-by-fifteen drawing of a pirate, you know, standing there, brandishing a sword, and in the back were all these vignettes of ships and duels, and all kinds of things. It was like a movie poster, but it was all in pencil. Really detailed—and he just gave it to me. And I said, “Gee, thanks. But it sure doesn’t look like Errol Flynn.” [laughs] And he immediately just went stone-cold on me, and he goes, “He’s a pirate, damn it! He’s French, he’s got a big nose and

no teeth. What’s the matter with you? It’s not supposed to look like Errol Flynn.” He didn’t get that I was joking. EVANIER: One of the things I found interesting about Mike’s sketches, and all the doodles and things on the wall, was that they hinted at the fact this man could have been so much more than what DC and Marvel required of him. His humor stuff was brilliant. STEVENS: He was a better humorist, I think, than a straight artist, because you saw what was inside this guy and it was hilarious. Wiggly and screwball, just— SHAW!: But that’s the other strange thing. Mike’s figures, by many people’s standards, would be considered kind-of awkward. He was known for doing a Superman that was practically as wide as he was tall. And I remember a letter in an old Justice League where somebody wrote in, praising Mike’s work because he could do a convincing job of showing someone falling down, which I thought was a very odd thing. But in a way, looking back on it, it’s true. Mike’s characters had a whole different set of physics controlling. He wasn’t like Jack Kirby, he wasn’t like a lot of the other artists prevailing, but he really knew what he was doing.

The Mike Sekowsky Dinner

And then I gave it to Shary Flenniken who did a page of kiddie porn.

But Dave’s absolutely right. He excelled at humor, but he also—if people ever looked at his romance comics, they saw that he was really into glamour art. In fact, I remember there was a particular artist who did newspaper ads for the May Company, and they’d have women in these kind-of wispy outfits, whatever they were selling. And Mike kept a good swipe file. I’m sure he’d gone through a few of them over the years, and given them away, and then started over. But I always remember that here’s this big monster of a guy, but he was going through the fashion section and razoring out drawings, just for future reference. And he really liked women and he liked drawing women, which was kind of surprising to me.

And then I made the mistake, I guess, of giving it to Mike Sekowsky. And I thought he would draw a naked Supergirl, or something of this sort in the pattern. Instead, he drew a 16-page story of the Justice League of America gang-banging Wonder Woman. [chuckles] And it was brilliant! And it was not only brilliant in terms of the artwork, but it was brilliant in the way the story was told and structured. And Mike admitted that he’d had it on his mind for years and was looking for an excuse to draw it. It was very elaborate, it was very detailed, and he probably did it in about an hour, knowing him.

STEVENS: Want to talk about your sketchbook? [laughs]

SHAW!: And then smoked a cigarette.

EVANIER: Should I tell about the sketchbook?

EVANIER: [laughs] For a while, I couldn’t get anyone else to draw in the book after it, because no one wanted to follow him. I think I had to skip a few pages to get anyone to draw—and promised them that I’d fill in so theirs wouldn’t be the next drawing after Sekowsky. But he was amazing that way, what he would do—and I think between his sketches in sketchbooks and his sketches on the wall, it was apparent that this man never got a chance to be the artist he could be. He could have been another Charles Addams or Jack Davis, he could have been a kind of cartoonist who never existed if he hadn’t had to keep taking these jobs, drawing B’wana Beast.

STEVENS: Absolutely. EVANIER: Well, we had this fad going around where everybody had a little sketchbook and they’d get everyone else to draw in it, and some people had themes. Scott’s book, I think, was all ape drawings, and Len Wein had one that was all teddy bear drawings. And when I started my book, I thought, “Well, let me see if a theme will emerge. I won’t tell anyone what to draw and I’ll see if one pops up.” Well, a theme quickly did emerge. It was “Filth.” I gave it first to Don Rico and he did a drawing of Captain America with a scantily-clad woman. Then I gave it to Will Meugniot, with whom I was working at the time, and he did a drawing of Korak, Son of Tarzan, with an even less-dressed woman.

“Mike excelled at humor [and] romance,” says Scott Shaw! In three 1967 issues of Showcase, he penciled a teenage rock group called “The Maniaks,” and had long been a regular in DC’s romance comics—and even earlier in Timely’s. Thanks to Gene Reed for the “Maniaks” splash—which, oddly, guest-stars Woody Allen—and to Doc Vassallo for art from My Own Romance #11 (March 1950). [Maniaks art ©2004 DC Comics; romance art ©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

STEVENS: Well, they were looking for speed, you know? And the sad thing that I remember—when I first started seeing his pencil work, having never seen it before, and only looking at his stuff in print under

Evanier, Shaw!, Stevens, and Norman (Far left:) In Justice League of America #56 (Sept. 1967), Sekowsky penciled (and Sid Greene inked) Wonder Woman in a bit of byplay with an evil Johnny Thunder’s Thunderbolt. Thanks to Mark Muller for the photocopy from the b&w Australian Mighty Comic Monthly #66. (Left:) During his time in L.A., Mike drew in Mark Evanier’s sketchbook an X-rated 16-pager of Wonder Woman and the male JLAers. Mark says this is “the only semiclean panel from Sekowsky’s drawing in my sketchbook... and even then, I had to crop it.” Mark also requested we mention that “this is the only piece of it I will ever allow to be printed... so don’t ask.” We appreciate this glimpse, Mark—but shouldn’t Joe Cocker at least have shown up, to sing “You Can Leave Your Tiara On”? [JLA #66 art ©2004 DC Comics; new art ©2004 Estate of Mike Sekowsky; Wonder Woman TM & ©2004 DC Comics.]

a lot of ways, just a natural draftsman that should have always inked his own work. Nobody else should have touched it for his own personality to come out, rather than to be smothered. And that was when I realized that, oh, jeez, I missed the whole point because of other people’s personalities on top of his work. It made it look clunky in the comic books. And once I got over that and realized how good he was, I Xeroxed everything that he would let me get my hands on. And I did get to see a couple of things he’d inked himself, and it was like the best of Noel Sickles’ magazine illustrations, inked and colored himself, and nobody’s ever seen it. It was like a well-kept secret, and it was a real shame.

heavy-handed inkers who weren’t really synced up to the way he drew—I had no appreciation for his work in comics at all. It was austere, it was cold, and it just didn’t appeal to me at all. And when I saw the kind of pencils he was doing, especially the stuff he was doing for his own amusement, I realized that this guy was a brother to [Alex] Toth, in

SHAW!: One of Mike’s big influences, and at least when he was doing a lot of the humor stuff—I think it became more obvious and it would surprise you, but Ronald Searle, the British caricaturist and illustrator, was a huge influence on Mike. Mike’s humor stuff had that kind of stringy, kind-of tossed-off quality that, actually, was quite, quite lovely. And there was also, when he drew for himself, a decorative, almost ornamental kind of quality of some of the little stuff he’d put in the folds, or stuff that gave a grace to his stuff that I don’t think it had under other people’s hands.

Before JLA, Sekowsky was renowned for his art for Julie Schwartz’s science-fiction comics, as per this trio of splashes from Strange Adventures: #103 (April 1959)—Mystery in Space #57 (Feb. 1960)—and a tale from S.A. #152 (May 1963) of Star Hawkins and his female robot secretary Ilda. So where’s “Space Cabbie”? Thanks to Mark Muller for the photocopies from Aussie b&w comics with titles like Five-Score Plus #22, Century Comic #48, and The Hundred Comic #87. We assume these are all mags with a hundred and/or more pages, Mark? [©2004 DC Comics.]

The Mike Sekowsky Dinner I inked quite a few things of his. I did a lot of presentation art. Mark was editing a number of comic books at Hanna-Barbera at the time, including stuff for the foreign market. For a while, I was writing stories for Mike and then inking the same stories, which was an incredible amount of fun to see what came back, because we were both writing and drawing characters that we’d never seen cartoons of. So we just did it our own way.

33 him [laughs] in Carter’s luxurious surroundings so he could impress his friends that he was working at a really classy studio now. SHAW!: I remember Mike telling me that he was going to send a batch of photos back to one of DC’s great letterers, Gaspar Saladino, because they were still on good terms and Mike wanted to show him, wow, he’d really hit the big time. The ironic thing was that he’d hit the big time with a studio that never really produced any product whatsoever! To try to go into an explanation of Tom Carter would take three more cartridges, at least, and we still wouldn’t come up with an ending. Floyd was there from the beginning and I was there about half the time, but it was like being a character in a murder mystery that somebody had stolen the last chapter out of. We have no idea who done it or even what was done.

And in fact, we did one project together, years later, with Mark, that’s still one of the most bizarre things in my portfolio. It was a show called Two on the Aisle, which never got produced, fortunately. But Mark had the people at Sid and Marty Krofft’s company hire Mike to do these presentation drawings for a show that, believe it or not, featured a live-action Tommy Smothers teamed up not with his brother, but with Sonny Bono. And it was one of these things that people kept saying, “Oh, it’s so bad, it’s Mike was somebody that I good.” And it’s like, “No, it was believe I brought in because I bad, but outrageously so.” Mike did knew he was looking for work. these giant 22 by 28 boards of these Mike, before that, had worked at lizard Sleestaks chasing Tommy and Marvel Productions when I was Sonny, who were dressed up like there. He was working on a lot of Japanese soldiers that don’t know their action-adventure shows, that World War II is over, they were doing character designs, which pot—marijuana—farmers, they were In this “Inferior Five” story (from Showcase #65) drawn by Sekowsky and they’d had a huge influx of when gay mermen [laughs], and it was all Esposito, writer E. Nelson Bridwell parodied Marvel’s X-Men. With nearly a they had all these toy-based this kind of Jack Davisy kind of dozen super-heroes floating around, Mike must have wondered if he’d shows. And typically, and unfortuthing, and I wound up getting to ink stumbled back into an issue of JLA! Thanks to Shane Foley. [©2004 DC Comics.] nately, Mike had his political and color it. But, you know, for such problems with people there. Even though he was really good, a lot of a crappy idea, these boards looked great. Mike really knocked himself times being good doesn’t necessarily mean people want to work with out on them and it was very bizarre stuff. you, at least in the Hollywood system. So I got Mike to come on board at Tom Carter’s. He started out when we were in the Burbank studio, NORMAN: Just another thought on Mike’s amazing drawing ability. and then he actually moved down to Newport Beach because he thought We had a guy at Disney that you probably already know. Milt Kahl was this was really going to be the big time. another big man, a big, scary guy who drew beautifully. And the one thing I noticed the two had in common was that you never saw them I remember it was about that time that he received his Inkpot Award draw. I never saw Milt draw anything and I never saw Mike draw at the San Diego Con, and I was actually the one that presented it to anything. They would both sit and stare at the paper, and then all of a him. And at the time, the Inkpot Award wasn’t really considered any sudden this wonderful drawing would appear. It was as though the kind of incredible honor because so many of us were jaded. It was kinddrawing was already on the paper and they just put the pencil to it and of like if you’ve attended three Comic-Cons, you’d receive an Inkpot just traced it. [laughs] Award. But Mike really felt this was important, and, not to give a commercial for the Inkpots, but one reason they’re still valuable, I think, EVANIER: Now, after Mike had been at Hanna-Barbera for a while, he is that this was the one time Mike had gotten acknowledged. At Carter’s, migrated, along with some of you guys, to another [chuckles] quote, he would put the Inkpot Award up next to his desk, hanging on the wall. “animation project,” unquote. Floyd, you want to tell us about that? It was something he was really proud of. NORMAN: That would be the Tom Carter Studio, a very strange The strange thing is, down at Carter’s, Mike was always on some animation company started in 1982 by Phil Mendez and Tom Carter. kind of either self-medication, or otherwise, and at this point I Well, after Carter and Mendez went their separate ways, a bunch of us remember he was seeing a doctor for something, we weren’t quite sure who remained with the studio moved to Newport Beach. Scott Shaw! what it was. But they put him on a medication that blissed him out to and Mike Sekowsky were two of the guys. I think we shared a room at the point where he suddenly developed an accent. [laughs] Now, Mike is the Newport Beach studio. But Tom Carter’s Newport Beach studio was totally unlike Hanna-Barbera, or any other studio that I’ve ever worked this guy, I’m sure, from a middle-European background. I think he was in. It was an incredible, [laughs] opulent, you know, tastefully probably part Polish, and who knows what else was in Mike’s blood. But suddenly, here’s Mike and he’s talking like Peter Sellers as a person decorated, incredible place that—it’s still unbelievable. But Mike was so from India. And it wasn’t just for an hour, or an afternoon, or a day. It impressed, he asked me to bring my camera in so I could photograph

Evanier, Shaw!, Stevens, and Norman A page from “The New Wonder Woman” #180 (Feb. 1969), whose mod look owed a clear debt to Diana Rigg/Emma Peel on TV’s Avengers. Script by Denny O’Neil, inks by Dick Giordano. Repro’d from a photocopy of the original art. [©2004 DC Comics.]

was at least two months that Mike suddenly [affecting an Indian accent] was talking like this and was very, very happy to be there [normal voice] and it was really eerie. It was like he was channeling Apu from the Kwik-E-Mart on The Simpsons. [laughs] But it was strange down there because, little by little, people either quit or got laid off. The studio... again, it’d be impossible to describe, but it was this type of Lord of the Flies-type environment [laughs] with a dwindling population, and people began to get weird, and on their own for a variety of reasons. I don’t remember if Mike was there to the end or not. NORMAN: I think he was. SHAW!: I think he was one of the last people. Ultimately, the Securities and Exchange Commission closed the studio. And after that, Mike wound up doing some stuff for a Kung-Fu comic. He wasn’t getting gigs and he wasn’t happy. He’d get a little thing here and there. I know he was drinking more, I know he and his wife had split up, although they were still on good terms, but I think her patience was at an end. And I think, I mean, it was kind of “alternate Mike.” Mike would piss off Mark and I’d be nice to him, and then he’d piss me off and Mark would come in and help him out. When I saw the movie Ed Wood, it really—and I’m not being funny—when I saw Ed Wood’s relationship with the failing Bela Lugosi, I kept thinking about working with Mike Sekowsky, because it’s no secret that Mike drank, and ultimately that’s what killed him. But the sad thing was he that one day you’d go, “This is going to be great.” And maybe you’d help him get a gig or you’d talk him up to somebody. And that day, he might be on, or he might be way off his game. And the days off, ultimately, stacked up more than the days on.

The Mike Sekowsky Dinner

When collector Rich Dannys ran the very early Dave Stevens Sub-Mariner drawing above in CFA-APA, he wrote that fellow collector Tom Ranheim had “dragged [it] kicking-and-screaming out of Dave’s closet” and that T.R. referred to it as “bribery material”—but in our view, everybody should only have such skeletons lurking about in his closet as Dave does! After all, Mike Sekowsky’s own version of Prince Namor (right) in Human Torch #31 (June 1948) was hardly the apex of his work—and by that time he had been in the field for the larger part of a decade. Still, Sekowsky was always the consummate pro. Thanks to both Matt Moring and Doc V. for the Timely page. [Art above ©2004 Dave Stevens; Sub-Mariner TM & ©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

But I know he was still coming up with stories and stuff, right up until the time he died. They were for kind of bottom-feeder-type publishers, but he never gave up. And he always had these big projects he wanted to do, but never got around to do them, unfortunately. After he died, his wife gave me his drawing table, which I’ve still got. It’s this little tiny thing, like a little kid. I can just imagine him hunched over it. It must have looked like he was sitting on a toy. But he was a cartoonist up to the end, I’ve gotta say that much. NORMAN: Oh, one thing that still sticks in my mind—Scott and Don Doherty and a few others of us used to have lunch on Wednesdays at a little restaurant on Ventura Boulevard—Charlie’s? Charles’—right. And I don’t think Mike ever came to lunch with us, but I remember one Wednesday he showed up and surprised us. He wanted to have lunch with us, and I remember, leaving the restaurant, headed toward the parking lot, Mike said, “You know, it was really great, having lunch with you guys.” And I believe a few days later, he was dead. It was, yeah, that close. STEVENS: That reminds me that the last time I saw him was at a CAPS [Comic Art Professional Society] meeting. I don’t remember

what the circumstances were, but it was sort of a panel discussion. Doug Wildey and me, and I forget who else. And Mike came in about halfway through the meeting, and I saw him because he’s so tall, and he’s standing all the way at the back. And I could see him kind-of squinting and looking to see who was up front, talking. And when he saw it was me, [laughs] he came right up front and sat down in the second row and was just giving me this [evileye squint] all the time.

One of A/E editor Roy Thomas’ first thrills as a comics fan in the early 1960s was when, a few months after he wrote a letter suggesting same, Justice League editor Julius Schwartz changed the art heading of “The JLA Mailroom,” starting with #9, from a longshot in The Brave and the Bold #28 to an adapted panel from JLA #5 (July 1961). In the original drawing, Green Lantern was holding up his right hand (easy as pie to draw an open letter in it); but Julie did remove GL’s feet from the table! Not that Roy recalls if Julie ever told him he got the idea from his letter—so maybe it was just another of those astonishing coincidences. Art in both cases, of course, is by Sekowsky & Sachs. [©2004 DC Comics.]

And when we were finished, he looked like he’d just come from working on something, because he had a bundle under his arm and his jacket collar was up, and he looked like he’d been taking a bus, or something, to where he’d been walking. He was all red-faced and he couldn’t stop talking, and he was so happy to see us because I hadn’t seen him in probably a year. And that was literally, I think, the last time I saw him, and I can’t

Evanier, Shaw!, Stevens, and Norman And secondly, if he had lived to come to San Diego conventions after they began to expand, he would have been surrounded by admirers and worshiped in a way that I think he never quite enjoyed in his life. He was very gratified that the younger animation artists accepted him as much, and I don’t think he ever had any real problems with other artists out here. He had problems with management, particularly when he was drinking, and he got into that vicious cycle that his drinking would cause his work to be criticized, and the criticism of his work caused him to drink more. But if he had hung in for a few more years, I think he would have really surprised us with the work he would have done, and with the way he would have become a great elder statesman of our business.

As it was, I just kind-of treasured being around the guy, because though he seemed to radiate a certain pain, underneath it, he really loved doing comics. He When former Timely/Marvel publisher Martin Goodman launched a second Atlas line in the mid-1970s (a.k.a. loved telling stories, he loved Atlas/Seaboard), Mike Sekowsky was right there, penciling the first two (of only three) issues of Hulk wannabe The Brute. Thanks to Gene Reed for the scan of the original art of the page at left from #1 (Feb. 1975), and to Stephen Friedt drawing. I think he’d come to really for the printed page at right from #2. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.] resent the fact that some of his best work had not yielded more tangible remember what year it was. It might have been right toward the end. success and more results. Nobody in the world worked for worse But I just remember him being in that up mood, and so it was a real money in comics over the years than Mike, apart from maybe a few guys happy kind of social setting to see him in for the last time. And he at Charlton. [laughs] And as we said earlier, he bailed out more people, looked like he was having a good week, as opposed to a bad week, even editors, and fellow artists with deadlines, and did the impossible. though the nose was pretty shiny. [laughs] I still think that he was one of the very few artists who ever worked EVANIER: Yeah, I think in addition to the tragedy that Mike never in comics who was physically capable of drawing the Justice League at really got a chance to be all that he could be as an artist, the timing was all, let alone making it as good a comic as it was. And later, when he did very bad, because if Mike had lived another ten years, he would have “Jason’s Quest” for DC, and lived, first of all, to see his original art going for tons of money and not Wonder Woman, and have believed what an old Justice League page goes for on eBay. “Manhunter 2070,” and some of the other comics where he was a little more in control, and often writing the stories himself, we saw that there was a very wicked, clever storyteller in there, and I think we all got robbed of that, that we didn’t have him around for longer.

Despite Wonder Woman, “Jason’s Quest,” and other solid work he did, it’s likely that Mike Sekowsky will always be remembered, above all else, for his long initial stint on the first 66 issues of Justice League of America (counting the three Brave and the Bold issues). And perhaps the “crème de la crème” of that run was issue #21, in which the Justice League first teamed up with their Earth-Two counterparts, the legendary Justice Society of America. Thanks to Shane Foley for providing photocopies of the black-&-white art from an Australian reprint. To see this and all of Sekowsky’s other fivedozen-plus issues, as well as the start of the even longer Dick Dillin run, pick up Vol. 1-8 of DC’s hardcover Justice League of America Archives. Photo of Mike in Vinnie Colletta’s pool courtesy of Pat Sekowsky. [©2004 DC Comics.]

Comic Crypt

The Unknown Kurtzman

Comic Crypt

The Unknown Kurtzman

Comic Crypt

The Unknown Kurtzman

Alex Toth

“Shelly Mayer Thumped My Thick Young Head!” ALEX TOTH on Learning to Do the Job of a Cartoonist

(Left:) One of the primo assignments given to a young Alex Toth by All-American (AA) editor Shelly Mayer circa 1947 was the art chores of the original “Green Lantern,” both in his own mag and in Comic Cavalcade and All-American Comics. Here are the dramatic splash and another dynamic page from AA #96 (April 1948). [©2004 DC Comics.]

Learning To Do The Job Of A Cartoonist

Some years later, here’s another Green Lantern—and, in a sense, another Alex Toth! At least, over the years, Alex has been constantly honing and refining his style, stripping away what he feels are nonessentials—but the old excitement is always there. Frankly, we’re not certain precisely what comic or issue this page came from—but Alex autographed the original art a decade or so back for Jim Amash, and Jim sent us a photocopy. So—wouldn’t you print it? [©2004 DC Comics.]

PLUS: PLUS:

HT TLIG O P S On

VALERIE BARCLAY MIKE SEKOWSKY

1994--2004

5.95

In the USA

No. 33

February 2004

& MORE!!

Vol. 3, No. 33 / February 2004

™

Editor

Roy Thomas

BARCLAY, SEKOWSKY, & Others Section

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 Ron Frenz (pencils) Sal Buscema (inks) Joe Sinnott (inks)

Viva Valerie! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Artist Valerie Barclay talks to Jim Amash about Timely Comics—and Mike Sekowsky!

Cover Colorists Tom Ziuko

Contents

This issue is dedicated to the memory of

Mike Sekowsky & John Tartaglione

Lost Comics Lore - Part III . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Concluding Will Murray’s look at early comic books—as reported by Writer’s Digest. Journey into Comics: Casualties of the Comics Code . . . . . . . . 22 Welcome to Pat Calhoun—and his guided tour of three Golden Age comics! The Late, Great Biljo White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 The second installment of Bill Schelly’s celebration of the life and work of Capt. Biljo. InDr. Memoriam: John Tartaglione . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Michael J. Vassallo on the passing of a veteran comics artist. Cavalcade of Comics, Featuring Don Perlin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 re: [correspondence, comments, & corrections] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America) #92 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 P.C. Hamerlinck presents Marc Swayze—and a fabulous 1954 Captain Marvel parody by Ross Andru & Mike Esposito, annotated by Roy Thomas!

Mike Sekowsky & Company Section. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Flip Us! About Our Cover: We think we pretty much said it all on our flip side, except to thank penciler Ron Frenz—and inker Sal Buscema, this time—for a great artistic salute to the titans of 1940s-50s Timely/Marvel, and in particular “Big Mike” Sekowsky. [Art © 2004 Ron Frenz & Sal Buscema; All Winners Squad TM & ©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.; Starro TM & ©2004 DC Comics.] Above: Our interview with Valerie Barclay showcases a pair of pages of the Mike Sekowskypenciled “Sub-Mariner” story from Human Torch #31 (July 1948)—and since, sadly, Mike isn’t around to help us positively ID others, here’s one more panel from that water-logged tale, courtesy of Matt Moring. [©2004 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.

Valerie Barclay

Viva Valerie! An Interview with “Glamorous Girl Inker” VALERIE (a.k.a. VIOLET) BARCLAY Conducted & Transcribed by Jim Amash

[INTERVIEWER’S INTRODUCTION: Many people who give interviews naturally tend to gloss over negative aspects of their careers. Not so with Valerie Barclay. She’s a gutsy lady, honest in her appraisals of herself and of those she knew. In the quest for more knowledge pertaining to Timely Comics in the Golden Age, I found her candor both surprising and informative. Trina Robbins briefly profiled her in Alter Ego, Vol. 3., #11, but this is the first in-depth interview with Valerie Barclay ever published. —Jim.]

Valerie Barclay in a photo taken in 1987—and her caricature (by Ken Bald? Dave Berg?) as it appeared in that 1947 Stan Lee classic, Secrets behind the Comics. She feels that it “didn’t look like me. It’s just a cartoon of a girl.” Yet, ever since, Timely/Atlas/Marvel collectors have referred to Valerie/Violet Barclay as that “glamorous girl inker”! Photo courtesy of V.B. [Art ©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

who were almost college age. And Mike Sekowsky said that he saw me in the hall and decided right then and there to marry me. I remember him walking around in a green sweater. He had a head full of thick, wavy, blonde hair. He was not that good-looking, but he was a sweet, sweet person.

“It’s Okay to Ask That”

JA: Some people liked him, some people didn’t.

JIM AMASH: I know it isn’t gentlemanly to ask this first question, so I hope you’ll forgive me. When and where were you born?

BARCLAY: He was a good man. A very good man. JA: In our first phone conversation, you asked me about Sekowsky’s later life. He had become diabetic and was a fairly heavy drinker. He had become surly and difficult in the eyes of several people who knew him then. In the last year of his life he quit drinking, but the damage was done and he passed away from diabetic complications.

VALERIE BARCLAY: It’s okay to ask that. I was born November 5, 1922, in Manhattan. JA: Where did you get your art training? BARCLAY: I went to the School of Industrial Arts with Mike Sekowsky. I met Mike at the school; we were fellow students. Later on, I studied with Jack Potter at the School of Visual Arts. And for the past thirty years I’ve been going to the Arts Students League. But I didn’t learn anything at Industrial Arts. They had English teachers teaching art. They taught us nothing. And then they had a school that was very much like the Arts Students League, where they had all these students that were goof-ups like me. These students didn’t learn anything; they didn’t want to go to school. They were like truants. One day, a truant officer took me out for coffee and said, “If you don’t go to school until you’re seventeen, they’ll send you to reform school.” So I had to go to school and went to the School of Industrial Arts. They had a lot of students

One of the earliest signed Sekowsky-drawn stories is this “Father Time” tale from Captain America #11 (Feb. 1942), written by a guy named “Neel Nats.” Wonder what ever happened to him!? Thanks to Mile High Comics. [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

BARCLAY: His being difficult was just a defensive mechanism, to protect his feelings. Mike always told me that he hated me because I always liked the pretty boys and I didn’t like him. He went with me for four years and bought me clothes, jewelry, everything. He drew these beautifully finished penciled comic book pages and he let me ink them. He did everything for me. I was just a girl lover of his, and even when I met my husband, Mike said he hated me, which meant he really didn’t.

Viva Valerie!

The dialogue in the partial-panel above, from an early-’40s Timely humor story penciled by Mike Sekowsky and inked by George Klein, even contains the names of the two colleagues; they also drew (and signed!) the “Black Widow” splash reprinted at right from U.S.A. Comics #5 (Summer 1942). Mike and George became enemies over Violet Barclay—so we’ve printed these two pieces of art even though you already saw them if you picked up A/E #20. Caricature art provided by Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr., and Dr. Michael J. Vassallo; “Black Widow” art thanks to Mark Austin of Acme Comics in Greensboro, NC—interviewer Jim Amash’s one-time boss. Small world, ain’t it? [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

I had problems and I was young, and Mike wasn’t really my type. I liked George Klein. I don’t know what George looked like when he was older, but he was attractive when he was young. JA: I know Klein died in 1969, but I don’t know what he died from.

“When I Was Young I Was a Terrible Person” BARCLAY: I didn’t know he died that long ago. Trina Robbins told me he had a heart attack. But you know, Mike was a very good human being. Everybody at Timely liked Mike. Nobody liked me, because they thought I was doing a number on him. Which was true. World War II was on and there were no men around, so I just killed time with him. Everybody, Dave Gantz

especially, picked up on that. Dave didn’t like me because when I was young I was a terrible person. An example: Mike married this girl Joanne [Latta], who was a petite little blonde. It was Christmas time and she came over to me at a big party we were having at Timely and she showed me these slippers that Mike had bought her from the Lord and Taylor department store. She was very happy and she was very proud of them But I did something I’d never do now. I’m a different person today. I said, “Oh, really?” And with that, I went over and I got this great big box. In it was a two-piece negligee, all of lace and pleated chiffon, that Mike had got from Lord and Taylor, and I said, “This is what Mike got me for Christmas.” Later, I heard she was sitting in the middle of the floor, crying and getting drunk. That was a terrible thing for me to do. I’d never do that today. And Mike used to do another thing with me. He used to look in the window at Lord and Taylor, and he’d see an outfit that he liked, then go inside and buy me the whole outfit. Mike bought me my first mink jacket; he was very kind to me, though he once tried to get me fired over my fling with George Klein. Mike went to Stan Lee and said, “Stan, I want her fired, and if she doesn’t get fired, I’m going to quit.” Well, you couldn’t ever tell Stan Lee what to do. Stan said, “Well, Mike, it’s been nice knowing you.” Stan wasn’t going to do what Mike wanted, and yet Mike “Stan Lee,” says Valerie, “was a sweetheart”—so he surely won’t mind our reprinting this oft-seen caricature of him from Secrets behind the Comics yet again—or our juxtaposing it with a nice page inked by Valerie/Violet Barclay over penciler Kin Platt in Rusty #18 (Aug. 1948). This is one of the few comics stories that even so dedicated a researcher as Doc Vassallo has definitely been able to identify as having been inked by our interviewee, in that day of quasi-anonymous styles. [Stan Lee caricature ©2004 Stan Lee; Rusty page ©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Valerie Barclay

was very valuable to him. I was no one.

to do that to Mike. I don’t think Dave particularly liked me.

JA: That tells me a lot about Stan, because he’d have made life difficult for himself if he had let his star artist go. I could put Stan in the Hall of Fame just for that.

JA: Well, as I said, I didn’t have that impression.

BARCLAY: Stan Lee was a sweetheart. Stan was as nice as a boss could be. He was a real generous leader. He used to let us all play in the morning; we all sat there and we’d pick over every magazine that was published in Manhattan and cut out all the pictures. We spent hours doing that in the morning in order to build up a swipe file for reference. Stan was the first one who got me started doing that. JA: I talked to Dave Gantz, and I sure wasn’t under the impression that he disliked you. Why do you think he disliked you?

Another George Klein caricature (top left), this time from a “Silly Seal and Ziggy Pig” tale in Krazy Komics #13 (Jan. 1944) which Jim Vadeboncoeur thinks was drawn by Dave Gantz—plus another of the “Black Widow” pages Klein and Sekowsky produced together for U.S.A. #5. They made a good team—in comics, if not in the office, once their rivalry began! (In later years George was a notable inker of “Superman” stories for some years, and was inking The Avengers and other material for Marvel when he passed away unexpectedly in 1969.) During the 1940s, as Valerie records, Dave Gantz just stayed out of the line of fire during the Sekowsky-Klein feud! The drawing at top right, from the same Krazy Komics yarn, Jim V. and others believe to be Dave caricaturing either himself, or Al Jaffee, who allegedly resembled Dave at the time. [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

“Now I Have to Get Personal”

when you started there?

BARCLAY: I remember, one time, Dave asked me, “Why do you wear artificial eyelashes?” And later on, when my husband and I were breaking up, Dave and I were working at the same place and he said to me, “ Don’t you ever get mad?” In other words, my husband was bringing his new girlfriend around to pick up work or something and Dave was there. Which embarrassed me. But I had this gorgeous husband that I was crazy about and he looked like a movie star. Unfortunately, when you marry a guy like that, other women feel the same way about him and you wind up having him cheat on you. So I left him, and maybe Dave felt sorry for me at that time. But at Timely, he didn’t like me. JA: But didn’t you tell me that Dave taught you how to ink

BARCLAY: Well, there was this incident—and now I have to get personal. George Klein came back from the Army, and I liked George. I was very attracted to him and I did not love Mike. So George took me out to The Tavern On The Green and we went dancing. I don’t know how it happened, but Dave was there with Al Jaffee and their wives. They saw George and I were dancing, and of course Mike knew about it the next morning.

BARCLAY: Dave had a command of the Windsor-Newton Series Seven Number Three brush that was beautiful. He really knew how to ink. He showed me the brush and how to use it. Dave was a very nice human being. I liked Dave Gantz.

Mike decided to make George’s life hell, which he proceeded to do. Mike invited George out into the hall for a fight once, and I think George would have probably wiped the floor with him. Mike had rheumatic fever when he was young and had a bad heart. He wasn’t in good physical shape, and George had just come back from Okinawa. But George didn’t consider me anything to fight about. George just wanted to get rid of me because Mike was making problems for him. And George liked all the guys there; he was friends with them. I was just another girl. They were his friends, including Dave Gantz, but they all put George down after that, figuring George wasn’t a nice human being

JA: How did Mike Sekowsky get you your job at Timely?

“I Was Seventeen” BARCLAY: I was seventeen, and working as a restaurant hostess at the Cafe Rouge, where you’d meet all kinds of guys. It was a wonderful job, and one day, Mike Sekowsky walked in and decided to save me from this life of degradation as a restaurant hostess. I was also helping to support my two younger brothers and my mother, who had left my father. So I needed money and was making $18 a week as a hostess. Mike said, “I’ll get you a job making $35 a week as an inker, and you can freelance over the weekend. I’ll let you ink my stuff.”

Viva Valerie!

He went to Stan Lee and got me the job. I didn’t know anything about inking. Dave Gantz taught me—just by watching him because he had marvelous control of his hand. He taught me how to hold the brush. I don’t remember if he taught me or I just watched him, but that’s how I learned.

JA: There were two people at Timely whom no staffer I’ve talked to remembers: Bill Everett and Carl Burgos.

JA: Do you remember when you got the job?

JA: One of the things I find fascinating is that Timely employed a lot of women. Were many women there when you started?

BARCLAY: I don’t remember them. I remember faces, not names. And I sort-of stayed to myself.

BARCLAY: It was Christmas of 1941. I was nineteen years old and Timely was giving a party at the Copacabana for George Klein, who was going into the Army. JA: So Stan was the editor and Timely was in the McGraw-Hill building then. BARCLAY: Yes. Just after the party was when Timely moved to the 14th floor of the Empire State Building. When I started to actually work there, we were in the Empire State Building. I made $35 a week plus my freelance work. JA: Well, it was double pay from your previous job, so you couldn’t have minded that. BARCLAY: I had a good time as a restaurant hostess; I didn’t have a good time at Timely.

This photo of Valerie Barclay during the period when she was inking for Timely Comics appeared in Trina Robbins’ splendid 2001 book The Great Women Cartoonists, published by Watson-Guptill and still available. You can order it from Trina’s website at <www.trinarobbins.com>, so there’s no excuse not to have this invaluable tome in your personal library. Photo courtesy of Trina and Valerie.

BARCLAY: There were a lot of Jewish girls working there. But they were all trying to start a union, because they felt they deserved more money. Martin Goodman and his brother-in-law, Robert Solomon, got rid of these girls because they wanted more money and they were very contemptuous of the guys. They were very progressive-thinking people and felt the company was making money, so they should make money. These girls just inked, and Timely didn’t want any unions, so they fired all those girls. But most of us felt Timely was very fair to people. I remember one Christmas when Mike got a $400 bonus. I got a two-week pay bonus, too. When I left Timely, I was making $80 a week plus my freelance work.

Few people who worked for Timely in the late 1940s or early ’50s seem to recall seeing Bill Everett or Carl Burgos around—probably because they had produced their seminal “Sub-Mariner” and “Human Torch” features through Lloyd Jacquet’s Funnies, Inc., studio, and were freelancers for several years after World War II. But Bill and Carl had been of inestimable importance to Timely from 1939-42, when they drew these pages from Sub-Mariner #1 (Spring 1941) and Human Torch #4 (ditto), respectively. Repro’d from photocopies of the original b&w art. [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Valerie Barclay JA: Did you know Harvey Kurtzman? BARCLAY: I knew of him but I didn’t know him. I don’t what Adele did at Timely. She may have been a secretary or something. I didn’t like her because she was going with George.

“Stan Reminds Me of Donald Trump” JA: You said Stan Lee was a real sweetheart. BARCLAY: Stan married a very beautiful girl while I was still at Timely. She looked like the actress Nancy Carroll, with great, big, beautiful eyes. She looked like a movie star. JA: She had been a model, from what I understand. Stan’s still married to her. Stan Lee wrote the note that accompanies this fairly recent photo of himself and Mrs. Lee. Photo courtesy of Stan & Joan Lee.

JA: When did you leave Timely? BARCLAY: In the late 1940s, because George was fooling around. He went with Adele, who later married Harvey Kurtzman. She was very pretty and she fell for George. He got tired of her and went to a girl named Mildred, and I think he married her, 16 or 18 years later, or so I heard. George didn’t go far with his girlfriends. JA: You’re the first person who’s really been able to tell me anything about George Klein. BARCLAY: I fell for George. Women fell for George, though I really can’t speak for Adele. If a girl became too much trouble, he’d drop her. One girl was just the same as another; he really played the field. George was originally from Boston, Mass. He smoked a pipe and was very attached to his mother. George was a snob. He was English and German; I’m English and Irish. He looked down on people, let’s put it that way. That was George. Mike was White Russian and loved the world.

BARCLAY: He is? Isn’t that wonderful! She was beautiful. When he was young, Stan Lee looked like Dennis Morgan, the actor. He was a handsome guy then, and I could see why he was attracted to her. Martin Goodman was his uncle, and Stan worked for him. Stan ran things very efficiently, and he didn’t have any money to interest a woman. She was interested in him for himself because he had such a nice personality. Today, Stan reminds me of Donald Trump, because they both have the same way about them. Very much in command of himself, but a nice guy. A wonderful boss. JA: So people generally got along well with Stan? BARCLAY: Stan had a room full of artists, and he let us play as long as you got your work done on time. He never bothered us. JA: When Stan went into the service, Vince Fago replaced him. BARCLAY: Vince was another nice person. A sweet man. He was another “hands-off” boss. He was the editor, but he never pushed anyone around. JA: I never met him in person, but he was probably the sweetest human being I’ve ever talked to.

JA: Did Klein’s family have a lot of money? BARCLAY: He went to Harvard, but I don’t know if he graduated. JA: Well, he had to have money to get into Harvard. So maybe that explains his view towards others? BARCLAY: I remember taking a trip up to Nantucket once. I’d never been there, but I wanted to get familiar with George’s world. But I didn’t meet his mother; I was a minor part of his life. But I cared for him. I’d see him go out at 5:00 at night and he’d take Adele with him. I got heartbroken after a while and I left Timely because I was suffering. So that’s what Timely meant to me. But I got other boyfriends. I had a gorgeous husband and I forgot about George. JA: You mentioned he was at Okinawa during the war. Do you know how that experience might have changed him? BARCLAY: He never talked to me, and I was so young that I never had an in-depth conversation with anybody at that age. I didn’t really know him; I just wound up in the sack with him.

1974 photo of the late Vince Fago, still at his drawing board at age 60— and his title page for Krazy Komics #4 (Dec. 1942). Note all the credits for publisher Martin Goodman, Stan Lee, Bill King, Mel Barry (= Mel Blum), Fago, Mike Sekowsky, Al Jaffee, Moe Worth, George Klein, and Ed Win (= Winiarksi). Thanks to Doc V. [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Viva Valerie! BARCLAY: There’s another man whose name you haven’t mentioned: Ed Winiarski. Winny was crazy. He told a story that I’ll always remember. When his wife was pregnant, he wanted to play a joke on her. He put his hands in the refrigerator ice cube department, and the light switch was right by the door. When his wife came in, he put his ice-cold hands around her throat. He was a character! He said, “I don’t understand why my wife is mad at me.” [laughs] His wife could have had a miscarriage right on the spot. But he was a delightful man. Everybody liked Winny.

7 George. I didn’t want to be around him. So it was a personal thing to me, which wouldn’t be of any interest to you.

“I Was Born Violet Barclay and I Hated That Name” JA: Generally, I avoid asking personal questions of people, but you’ve been so giving of information that you’ve brought these people alive for me. Much of what you’re offering is relevant to an understanding of the company and the people who worked there. BARCLAY: Well, this was all so many years ago. I generally don’t consider myself to be a comic book artist. I had said to people, like at my last job, that I had been a comic book artist. And I became an immediate celebrity. It’s crazy. JA: One of the reasons why there’s such an interest in you and in those times is twofold. First of all, you’re a woman, and not enough women have worked in comics. Also, there’s so little known about the people who worked in those days, because you didn’t sign your names to the stories.

JA: He was an older man, wasn’t he?

BARCLAY: He wasn’t that old. You know who was old? Chris Rule. Chris married a society woman. I remember bringing a BARCLAY: We weren’t allowed to. I boyfriend up to Timely married a man named Jerry Smith. Trina who was in the Robbins sent me some photostats of a Connecticut Social story that I had done—a love story that I Register. He jumped had penciled and inked as best as I could horses at Madison Square draw then. I was a good copyist and I Garden and showed Some of these Timely romance comics could get kinda violent! This story from used to copy Rip Kirby by Alex horses, too. He started Love Romances #11 (May 1950), which looks to have been inspired by the Raymond. It was realistic drawing, and I infamous Hatfield-McCoy Feud, was penciled by Mike Sekowsky and inked by having a delightful convertaught myself to pencil. After Timely, I Chris Rule. Thanks to Doc V. [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.] sation with Chris because got a job at DC Comics doing romance they were on the same stories. level. We were like peasants to Chris Rule. Chris acted like a homosexual Now, the name I signed on this story Trina had was “Valerie Smith.” without being a homosexual. He was very elegant. Chris and George I was born Violet Barclay and I hated that name, so I changed it many were good friends. years later to Valerie. When I worked for Timely, my name was Violet. JA: Did Chris Rule remind you of Santa Claus? But that’s how I became Valerie Smith. BARCLAY: Yes. He had white hair and was very stocky. He was very much a snob... that’s the only word I can find for him. JA: Did you remember any of Stan’s or Vince’s assistant editors? BARCLAY: No. There was Mel Blum, who was the editor of the movie magazines at Timely. They threw these big cocktail parties. I remember one at the San Moritz [Hotel], and I saw Anne Baxter (she was very tiny), Carol Landis, and Jane Withers there. Stan had invited the staff to the party. Mel Blum was a weightlifter who wore a hearing aid. He had blond, wavy hair and had lots of muscles. He said he had lost his hearing because of the exercises he did. He was a nice guy. It seemed like all the bosses were very pleasant there. That’s why we worked there. Everybody used to go down to Longchamps’, a bar in the Empire State Building, and have cocktails. When they had Christmas parties, they always had cocktails. It was a pleasant place to work. The only thing that was bad was because of the problems with

JA: Why “Valerie”? BARCLAY: I liked an actress named Valerie Hobson and thought that was a nice name, so I changed my name from Violet to Valerie. JA: Was this a legal change? BARCLAY: No. JA: When did you work at DC? BARCLAY: 1952. I freelanced there, but not for long. It was very grueling work. No matter what situation they told you to draw, it was like a motion picture. If the script said someone was jumping off the Empire State Building, I had to draw that. I wasn’t like Mike Sekowsky. You could hand Mike Sekowsky a script, and he would put it aside and proceed with the whole thing right out of his head. He had that talent. I needed 10,000 swipes just to show a hand moving. Stan Lee taught me something that stayed with me for life,

Valerie Barclay

Pages by Valerie Barclay from My Own Romance #52 (May 1956). Doc Vassallo says the two right-most faces on p. 1—and the woman’s face in panel 5 on p. 4—were either drawn by Chris Rule, or else are straight Rule swipes. He suspects the latter, as Valerie once told him about “the large swipe file she had!” [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

“You could hand Mike Sekowsky a script, and he would put it aside and proceed with the whole thing right out of his head.” Here are two pages from one of the relatively few 1940s stories identified by Doc Vassallo as having been penciled by Sekowsky; it’s from Human Torch #31. Inker unknown. Both Doc V. and Matt Moring sent scans of this July 1948 tale. [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Viva Valerie!

JA: Do you remember a woman named Judith Christ? She only had one arm.

which was the importance of using reference.

BARCLAY: Yes. She was an older woman and wouldn’t be alive today. A very pleasant woman. She kept to herself and didn’t talk much. Same as me, which is why I didn’t know lot of things that went on.

I’m a frustrated interior decorator, and I go to Sotheby’s auctions because I’m fanatical about French furniture. Sometimes, comic artists would be there and they’d be buying comics. If there were any original comic art, especially anything by Alex Raymond, they’d pay astronomical prices for them. JA: So at DC, you penciled and inked? BARCLAY: Yes.

“Mike Was an Angel” JA: It seems to me that you knew a lot about the people who worked there. BARCLAY: Mainly about Mike Sekowsky, because I was intimate with him. Mike was in love with me, in a way. When guys are very young, they fall in love in a way that they don’t fall in love later on. They put the girl up on a pedestal and she could be the biggest bitch going. They don’t see it, and that’s the way it was with Mike and me. I was seventeen when Mike first saw me. The last time he saw me, I was 29 and he had come to the apartment where my husband and I were living, though we weren’t married yet. I’d had the nerve to call him up and ask him to help me with something I was doing for DC. He sat down and was very nice about helping me with it. Afterwards, he took me to lunch and said, “You know I hate you. All you ever wanted was a good-looking man.” He didn’t feel he was good-looking because he had this scar over his temple. He’d had an automobile accident when he was young. Mike wore glasses and had tried wearing contacts but then he went back to the glasses. Pauline Loth was co-creator and regular artist of the “Miss America” feature that ran from 1943-48 in Marvel Mystery Comics #49-85, as well as in several other Timely titles. This splash is from Miss America #1 (1944). Thanks to Dennis Mallonee. [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

JA: Did you pencil at Timely? BARCLAY: They had many artists at Timely who did a wide range of styles, so I just inked. JA: What do you remember about Robert Solomon at Timely? BARCLAY: He was a nice guy, but I didn’t get to know him. He would come down and hang around and keep an eye on things. Stan Lee just left us to our own devices. Robert was into things, but I never spoke to him except to say hello or good morning. JA: Do you remember the names of some of the women who worked there? BARCLAY: I really don’t. I remember the name of the woman who worked there that Mike married, but I don’t remember what she did. Mildred, the girl George Klein took up with, was a proofreader or something. The women generally worked for the movie magazines. JA: Do you remember Pauline Loth? BARCLAY: Pauline drew “Miss America.” And then she started working for the movie magazines. On that day, she started wearing a hat and never took it off. She walked around the office with a hat, and that made her look like an executive. She was like Hedda Hopper. Bessie Little was a nice woman, a blonde who was about forty years old. She was in charge of the movie magazines. That’s when I first found out about Rock Hudson—from Bessie. I thought Rock Hudson was very handsome and said that to Bessie. She replied, “Oh, he’s a neuter.” I didn’t know what a “neuter” was, but that was the first time his sexuality was questioned, and she did it with me. She knew it very early but didn’t say he was gay. She said he was a “neuter.”

The final page from that 1942 Mike Sekowsky-George Klein “Black Widow” story. Unlike her namesake, the 1960s Natasha, the original Black Widow was very literally a hell-raiser! [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Valerie Barclay

We’re not certain Mike Sekowsky penciled any or all of the four splashes pictured on this page, but the “Blonde Phantom” one, at least, has been very tentatively ID’d as his... and anyway, they’re all nice work. The art and text in the middle of the page are from Stan Lee’s 1947 Secrets behind the Comics, which showed Sekowsky’s versions of several characters, including The Human Torch. (You can see that art bigger in A/E #6.) The “Blonde Phantom” splash is from Marvel Mystery Comics #87 (Aug. 1948), while the other three splashes are all taken from Human Torch #27 (Summer 1947). Thanks to Matt Moring. [Timely art and characters TM & ©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.; Secrets material ©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

Viva Valerie!

Mike Sekowsky was caricatured as well (by Dave Berg) in Stan Lee’s Secrets behind the Comics. The first two-page spread also shows panels he penciled for an issue of Georgie; the second shows how this Timely 1940s Archie wannabe was altered, and Sekowsky is duly credited. [Marvel art ©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc; added art & text ©2004 Stan Lee.]

He wasn’t a good-looking man, but he was distinctive-looking. Mike was tall, broad-shouldered, and slender, with that thick, blond, wavy hair and a high forehead and a large nose. And I remember when he bought his father a house with all this land, and his father, being a builder, rebuilt the whole house. JA: He sounds like he was a very generous person.

down his eyes. I’ll always remember that. I was terrible. What he saw in me, I’ll never know, but he saw something. I was married before I met Mike, but my husband’s divorce was not final. Later my mother kept asking him for the divorce papers. After that, his wife sent him divorce papers, and they were dated after our marriage. JA: So you weren’t really married.

BARCLAY: Mike was an angel. I was the problem.

BARCLAY: But I had to go to court and get an annulment. Mike paid for it and it cost $350, which I didn’t have. My husband hated him.

JA: Was Sekowsky a reader? Did he have hobbies? BARCLAY: I don’t think he had any hobbies, because he worked all week and did freelance on the weekends. He was trying to make money to help his family. I remember once when I wanted to get a frankfurter at a stand. Mike said, “Oh, please. We don’t have frankfurters on stands.” With that, he immediately took me up to Central Park South to a restaurant with violins and everything. Mike was a snob and he’d take me to the theatre all the time, and the tickets were right around the first four rows. He was generous and spent money like that.

JA: I may be able to partly explain why Sekowsky became the way he did...

JA: Was he a joke-teller?

BARCLAY: I don’t blame him. Kidnaping’s a serious offense. I never got the feeling that Mike was in love with Joanne, but I could be wrong. That’s what I remember best about Timely Comics—the boy meets girl kind of things. Like that drawing in Secrets behind the Comics. Stan put that picture in there, but it didn’t look like me. It’s just a cartoon of a girl.

BARCLAY: No. He was very serious, pleasant, and quiet. Dave Gantz could tell you how a man saw him. I heard he later became very surly and sarcastic. I think that, if that’s true, he must have been hurt, because that was his reaction to being hurt. I remember I broke up with him and we were standing on a street corner and he had tears coming

BARCLAY: Okay, because he wasn’t surly or sarcastic when I knew him. JA: I interviewed a former friend of Mike’s and he told me that he’d had children that Joanne took when she left him. She moved to Washington State, and Sekowsky asked this person to go with him and help him kidnap the children away from her. The guy said he wouldn’t get involved in such a thing.

As for what Georgie looked like later, after still another mandated change in art style—this splash from Georgie #18 (Sept. 1948) was inked by Valerie Barclay—though even Doc V., who sent it to us, is considerably less than 100% certain of the penciler, who may be Kin Platt. [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Valerie Barclay

The above tale was reprinted in the 1997 trade paperback The Golden Age of Marvel [Vol. 1], from the 1969 black-&-white Canadian publication Captain George’s Comic World, which in turn had taken the story from photostats apparently sent north of the border during World War II. The Marvel tome identified the artist as Syd Shores, and that’s all the excuse we need to print these specimen pages here. The story originally saw print in Captain America Comics #22 (Jan. 1943). [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

“I Was Lucky” JA: What do you remember about Syd Shores? BARCLAY: He was a very talented artist who did Captain America. He had another artist who worked with him who was a short, blond, Irish or English type of guy. I can’t think of his name now, but he used to take Syd Shores’ work and ink it. He had a tremendous knowledge of anatomy and would sharpen up the muscles. Syd would pencil very roughly, and this man was a strong inker who’d tighten it all up. [NOTE: Vince Alascia isn’t the man Valerie Barclay was trying to recall. Anybody know who it might be? —Jim.] This happened all the time. Some pencilers were inked by the same person every time. Some inkers are strong and can improve the work. In my case, it wouldn’t be improved. Mike just gave me very strong pencils. All I had to do was go over them. JA: Do you remember what features you worked on? BARCLAY: Mike used to do a lot of animated work, like “Ziggy Pig and Silly Seal.” I just inked the humor work, because the penciling was very simple and I was just learning how to ink. Mike would allow me to make mistakes and I got away with it. Other inkers like Dave Gantz earned their keep. I didn’t do that; I was lucky.

JA: Do you think some people might have resented you for that? BARCLAY: I think the general feeling towards me had to do with Mike. If someone liked Mike, they didn’t like me. Nobody said anything to me, but thinking back on it now, they all knew I was doing a number on Mike, which I was. JA: Did you like inking? BARCLAY: No. JA: You didn’t consider yourself to be a good inker? BARCLAY: No, not compared to the other inkers that worked at Timely. I did have an interest in penciling. The penciling paid better, and I started liking penciling when I was young. My sister used to buy storybooks, and the men all looked like Robert Taylor and the women all looked like Jean Harlow, whom I loved. I liked artists like Jon Whitcomb and Al Parker, who drew beautiful people. I wanted to draw beautiful people, so I made swipe files. My DC work is full of swipes because I wanted everybody to look good. JA: Did you compile these swipe files at Timely for office use? BARCLAY: No. They didn’t have one for office use. Everybody had their own swipe files. These were for my use, because I was learning how to do things.

Viva Valerie!

Even in the 1940s and early ’50s, Mike Sekowsky was a man for all genres! [Top row:] “Gandy” from Terry-Toons #1 (Oct. ’42), possibly inked by George Klein... “Tessie the Typist” from Joker Comics #18 (Spring ’45)... the title page from Willie #9 (Aug. ’47), with six art specimens by Mike S. and Joe Giella. (Middle row:) A possible Ant-Man “reverse prototype” from Adventures into Terror #43 (Nov. ’50)... Spy Fighters #6 (May ’51)... All-True Crime #47 (Nov. ’51). [Bottom row:] The Gunhawk #16 and Strange Tales #9 (both Aug. ’51), and Speed Carter, Spaceman #4 (March ’54), the latter inked by Jack Abel. Boy, those “mosquito men” in the final splash look like they just flitted out of a 1960s issue of Justice League of America, don’t they? Courtesy of Doc Vassallo. [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Valerie Barclay

For DC and Ace, Valerie Barclay both penciled and inked a handful of romance comics, including this tale for the latter’s Complete Love Magazine in 1954. Thanks to Trina Robbins. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

Viva Valerie!

Valerie may never have worked on any true super-hero comics, but in Rusty #18 (Aug. 1948) she inked Kin Platt’s pencils on a tale in which the teen heroine seemed to have super-strength, as per this splash and in the accompanying panels. She really didn’t, of course. [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Stan did his job very well and was very smart. JA: Several people have told me about how well people got along with each other at Timely. Were you a part of the practical jokes that were played? BARCLAY: I didn’t see much of that. Maybe the guys did with each other. I remember that there’d be talking going on all day. JA: Do you remember if you got paid in cash or check? BARCLAY: I do remember getting cash in a pay envelope.

“Painting’s What I Love to Do” JA: Why did you quit doing comics?

JA: Did you have to deal much with Martin Goodman? BARCLAY: No, but I did talk to him. He was a nice man, as I remember. But the staffers didn’t get to know him. He always dealt with Stan and didn’t talk to the artists. Stan was the one who dealt with us.

BARCLAY: Because there wasn’t any more work. Things had slowed down at all the comic companies, so I became a platinum blonde fashion model. My hair was dark, almost black. I did this for a year. I quit doing that because I didn’t make any money. Then I got a job as a waitress, and that was difficult for me because I couldn’t do the work. Psychologically it was hard, because it was a step down for me. I felt like I didn’t have any brains. Same thing when you are modeling. It’s an idiot’s job. Sometimes you just sit there waiting for your turn, sitting on

A Valerie Barclay Checklist [Thanks, as always, to Jerry G. Bails for providing the following information (which has been abridged for A/E) from Who’s Who of 20thCentury American Comic books, which can be viewed online at www.nostromo.no/whoswho/. Key: (a) = full art. (p) = pencils only. Names not in ital. may refer either to comics or features, since some characters appeared in more than one magazine.] Full Name: Violet Barclay (a.k.a. Valerie Barclay)

DC Comics: romance (a) 1952

Other Pen Name: Valerie Smith

D.S./Fast Fiction/Seaboard (50s): Exposed (i) 1949

Fashion Illustrations & paintings: 1950s-present

Lev Gleason/Comic House & precursors: Glamorous Romances (a) 1954

COMIC BOOK CREDITS (MAINSTREAM U.S. PUBLISHERS): Ace Periodicals/Ace Books: Complete Love Magazine (a) 1954 American Comics Group: (specifics unknown) (a) 1952-54 Better/Pines/Standard/Nedor: Intimate Love (a) 1952; romance (a) 1951-53; text illustrations (a) 1951-53

Marvel/Timely & related: Georgie (i) 1949; Jeanie (i) 1947-48; Nellie the Nurse (i) 1949; romance (i) 1952 & 1956; Rusty (i) 1947-48; Super Rabbit (i) c. 1942-48; Terry-Toons (i) 1946; Willie (i) 1947-48; Ziggy Pig (i) c. 1943-47 St. John/Jubilee: romance (a) 1953

Valerie Barclay

a couch wearing just a slip until it’s time to put on what you’re going to model. I hated it. After I tried waitressing, I became a restaurant hostess for several places. One time, Buddy Rogers, the actor, asked me out. He called me “Miss Astoria,” and I said, “Aren’t you married?” Rogers said he was married but that he had an understanding wife. But I wasn’t attracted to him. The problem with those jobs was that I couldn’t use my brains. In comics, you had to know how to draw in order to create something believable for the reader. I didn’t draw well, but somehow I did it. I used a lot of swipes to help me through. Alex Raymond drew properly, but I couldn’t. I can’t draw out of my head; I’m only as good as my swipe files. [laughs]

I worked for years as a fashion illustrator for several places, like Elaine Bryant and Abraham Strauss. But computers came in, and I was computer-illiterate, so they had to find other things for me to do. Usually, they were jobs that needed comic book type of art. But my swiping of other people’s work got me in trouble, and that made things more difficult, too. [See Trina Robbins’ profile of Ms. Barclay in A/E V3#11.] Eventually they let me go, and that was the end of my job. But I didn’t care, because I didn’t like doing fashion art. I wanted to paint so I retired.

I studied the work of Jim Howard, who was a great illustrator. He drew beautiful women, as did John Singer Sargent. These days, I paint re-creations of Sargent’s work, and it gives me great pleasure. I’m no John Singer Sargent, but painting’s what I love to do.

Recent photo of Violet Barclay in her New York City apartment— surrounded by images of several of her re-creations of the work of painter John Singer Sargent. Photo courtesy of Trina Robbins. Art courtesy of Valerie Barclay. [Re-creations ©2004 Valerie Barclay.]

Lost Comics Lore

Part 3: Continuing Our Look at the Early Comic Book Biz, as Witnessed in the Pages of Writer’s Digest Magazine by Will Murray [EDITOR’S NOTE: In Alter Ego #23 & 32, Will began his examination of the Golden Age comics industry as a market for would-be writers, as reported in a major trade magazine. He now moves his study into the post-World War II years in showing what the companies planned to do—and what actually came to pass—which were not always one and the same thing. —Roy.]

Hoppy sold so well he was given his own title in December 1945, along with four other new magazines. The November 1945 Writer’s Digest carried a notification of Fawcett’s postwar comics push:

The year 1946 was the beginning of a rough patch for comic book publishers. Once the war was over, the bottom dropped out of the market for comics in general and super-hero titles in particular. Fawcett Comics would suffer along with the rest of them, despite the formidable presence of Captain Marvel. Fortunately, they had already pioneered the funny-animal genre with Fawcett’s Funny Animals,

“Fawcett has definite plans for putting out 28 comic books as fast as paper and presstime permit. Of these, 12 will be monthlies. Books will be increased to 64 pages each, with two bi-monthlies at 96 pages. By December, four new comics will be out: Mary Marvel Comics, George Pal Puppetoons, Marvel Family Comics, Hoppy the Marvel Bunny— all monthlies. Captain Marvel Adventures will become a semimonthly book.”

where Hoppy the Marvel Bunny had made his auspicious debut, so they had something to fall back on that wasn’t super-heroes.

Writer’s Digest occasionally included what movie theatres then referred to as “Prevues of Coming Attractions” concerning comics companies. Here’s one “funny animal” that made the grade in his own mag, and one that didn’t, quite. Since we printed the original art for the cover of Animal Fair #1 (probably née Silly Animals) in A/E #25, here are the contents page for Hoppy the Marvel Bunny #1 (Dec. 1945) and an “Billy the Kid and Oscar” splash from Fawcett’s Funny Animals #43 (Oct. 1946). Billy, of course, was a cowboy—er, we mean, cow-goat! [Hoppy, Billy the Kid, & Oscar TM & ©2004 DC Comics.]

Writer’s Digest more, you can easily see that there is plenty of room for new talent to handle the tremendous volume of work.”

While Captain Marvel Adventures did increase frequency to every second week, and there was a temporary page increase, Fawcett’s grandiose plans never fully materialized.

The reason for the abrupt suspensions was explained by Harriet Bradfield in her regular “New York Market Letter” for WD, which, as explained in earlier segments, featured market tips for prospective writers. In subsequent columns, she wrote that, contrary to expectations, paper and presstime actually tightened after the war ended, as she wrote in March 1946:

In addition, new Fawcett editor Mercedes “Merci” Shull promised four new funny-animal titles scheduled to go to press “before December.” They were: Silly Animals, Sherlock Monk Comics, Benny Beaver Comics, Billy the Kid Comics. Of this happy quartet, only the last was actually issued as promised. Billy the Kid and Oscar was the ultimate release title. A quarterly, it debuted with a Winter 1945 cover date and lasted a measly three issues—a failure by any publishing standard. Silly Animals never appeared, but in March 1946 Fawcett released Animal Fair, which was probably Silly Animals under another name. It, too, did not go on to great success, expiring after eleven issues. Even having Captain Marvel Bunny on the cover of issue #1 [printed from the original art in the FCA section of A/E #25] didn’t save it. Interestingly enough, the 1946 Writer’s Year Book listed both Sherlock Monk and Benny Beaver Comics in their Fawcett market roundup, but added parenthetically that they were “tentative.”

“The end of paper control enormously increased the troubles of magazine publishers. Practically every office I’ve visited in the past weeks has had a sad tale to tell. And this has included many wellestablished magazines as well as newcomers.

Spy Smasher might’ve regained his own solo title after the war ended—but apparently he was so closely tied to Axis-bashing that, instead, he quickly shed his costume and secret identity and briefly fought everyday hoodlums in Whiz Comics as Crime Smasher, before vanishing completely. Ah, if only he had known about Kim Philby, Klaus Fuchs, Alger Hiss, the Rosenbergs, et al., Spy Smasher could have hung out his shingle for a whole new (cold) war! This very-marked-up page of original art (by an unidentified artist) from a wartime “Spy Smasher” tale is in the collection of Jack Bender, artist/co-writer of the Alley Oop newspaper strip. Look for a piece by Jack about comics’ first caveman in an early issue of Alter Ego. [Spy Smasher TM & ©2004 DC Comics.]

Since Sherlock Monk and Benny Beaver were characters who had been running in Fawcett’s Funny Animals, no doubt the inventory for those aborted titles was plowed right back into the anthology mag. That Fawcett was gearing up for a big postwar push is made clear by executive editor Will Lieberson in his article “Comics Is a Funny Business” in WD for January 1946, where he wrote: “Now that the restrictions on paper are at the end, comics are entering a period of expansion and development. There are a great many writers in the field now, but you can count the good ones on your typewriter fingers. (We are referring to the touch system, not the hunt and peck.) Considering that there are over 150 magazines appearing on the stands every month now, and that there will soon be

“Several of the titan publishers have been bidding for paper mills and paper jobbing houses. Whereby, smaller companies have lost out on sources of paper believed secure. And the lack of magazine printing presses is almost enough to wring tears from the sympathetic listener.

“As a consequence, many publishers who had announced plans for stepping up frequency of production on many magazines, have beat a hasty retreat.”

There was a mad postwar rush to buy paper mills by the bigger publishers in order to guarantee an unobstructed supply. Smaller publishers were squeezed out. Evidently encountering the same problem, Fawcett reluctantly shelved those two titles, and who knows how many others that were in the planning stages. Some expansion plans did go forward. Hopalong Cassidy, Nyoka the Jungle Girl, Bulletman, Ibis the Invincible, and Golden Arrow were all successfully revived. And we can speculate that, among the titles suspended during the war, Spy Smasher Comics and Minute Man Comics were probably casualties of the hitherto-unexpected 1946 Fawcett Implosion.

Lost Comics Lore The 1946 Fawcett Digest listed several other unreleased titles as if they were active. They include Commando Yank, Radar the International Policeman, Sherlock the Monk, Benny Bear and Fuzzy Bear (note variant or revised titles), as well as revivals of America’s Greatest Comics and All Hero Comics. Start-up inventory probably found safe haven in other Fawcett titles. Another comic book that might have died before it saw rack-space was promised in a letter from publisher Frank Armer in the October 1945 WD: “Sir: “We are at work on a new all-humor book which we expect to have on the newsstands in November. It will be composed of comic strips, cartoons, and prose miscellany. All the material will be general in slant, intended to attract people who follow newspaper comics and general magazine cartoons, rather than Junior and other lovers of Superman. The format will be the familiar make-up of comic books. “We want straight gag-pantomime covers, cartoons in the vein of Collier’s, strips such as Moon Mullins, The Little King, Popeye, Mr. and Mrs—these titles exemplary of flavor: we don’t want imitation.

strip characters. Other versions of Debbie Dean and Bruce Gentry were released by other publishers. No one ever did a Drago comic book. (Drago was Burne Hogarth’s short-lived newspaper strip, which lasted only a year.) Flying Fool could only be a companion title to Simon & Kirby’s Stuntman and Boy Explorers, both casualties of the 1946 paper and presstime crunch. The inventory resurfaced in 1947 issues of Hillman’s Airboy, so Simon & Kirby must have bought the characters back from Harvey. But Flying Fool apparently crashed at the last possible ditch. A house ad in Harvey’s All-New Comics #13 showed a tantalizing glimpse of the unreleased first issue’s cover. Although also advertised in All-New #13 and listed in the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide, Strange Story (June-July 1946) #1 has never surfaced. It was to have featured Bob Powell’s Man in Black Called Fate, who had debuted the year before in Harvey’s Front Page Comic Book one-shot. Presumably, the “Fate” stories which ran in All-New were leftover inventory from Strange Story, which in turn were Front Page remnants.

“In the comics field, we’ll pay high rates, and we’ll go right into good slick pay the moment that returns warrant. The editor, Chas. B. McCormack, will see artists and writers all day Wednesdays, and other days by appointment, at 480 Lexington Avenue, Room 927.”

Harvey and Fawcett weren’t the only lines gearing up to expand in 1946. Harriet Bradfield reported this in the October 1945 Writer’s Digest: “At Parents’ Institute, there are signs of expanding plans. More space has been taken. The editor of the comics has moved to an office up on the fifth floor, with lots of elbow room. Secretaries don’t have to sit on stacks of magazines now to do their typing. And the pale green, no-glare walls are delightfully easy on the eye.

Armer had been involved with DC Comics during the transitional WheelerNicholson-to-HarryDonenfeld phase, according to old notices in WD circa 1938-39. Ten years later, he was at it again. Armer, in 1945 publisher of the Trojan pulp line, never gave his project’s title, so it’s hard to say if it saw light of day or not. For the record, he was operating out of DC’s famous 1940s address. That this was an industrywide crisis is clear from other signs, as well. A letter from Leon Harvey appeared in the April 1946 issue of WD. Among the titles he cities are five that never appeared: Flying Fool Comics, Strange Story Comics, Drago Comics, Debbie Dean Comics, and Bruce Gentry Comics. The last three were obviously based on popular newspaper

“Harold C. Fields, editor of the comics, is enthusiastic because he can buy so much more material now, and is anxious to hear from writers who can do the sort of things boys of 10 to 16 years like.

As a comic book, Joe Simon & Jack Kirby’s Flying Fool crashed on takeoff... but tales of “Link Thorne, the Flying Fool” later cruised along in several issues of Hillman’s Airboy Comics. This splash for the third episode is from Vol. 4, #7. Thanks to Greg Theakston for allowing us to reprint this page from the fourth volume of his wonderful series The Complete Jack Kirby. That hardcover is out of print, though the fifth volume is due this very month, for $30 postpaid from Pure Imagination, 516 State St., Brooklyn, NY 11217. Also available is The Jack Kirby Reader, $25 postpaid. [“Flying Fool” retouched art ©2004 Pure Imagination.]

“True Aviation Picture Stories, suspended for a time, is to appear again about December first, as a monthly [...] True Comics, which has been appearing as a quarterly, will become a monthly as of the first of the year.” Two issues later, it’s announced that Parents’ Institute planned on expanding their line further,

Writer’s Digest

20 principally by reviving titles suspended due to wartime paper shortages. These included Real Hero, True Aviation Picture Stories, and Funny Book. I guess some of these titles were cursed. In December 1946, Parents’ announced that Real Heroes and Funny Book were again suspended. The postwar paper shortage was given as the reason.

time Harriet Bradfield noticed unusual activity was in the wake of the tremendous success of Simon & Kirby’s Young Romance. She wrote in the July 1942 issue:

Parents’ line never recovered from their implosion. By 1949 their various comics titles, like Polly Pigtails and Calling All Boys, were converted into magazines. Only True Comics continued, but it was taken off the newsstands and made available by subscription only. This explains all those subscription labels plastered over the 1950 True Comics covers reproduced in the Gerbers’ Photo-Journal Guide to Comic Books.

“How long it will last is anyone’s guess. And just how badly it is going to cut in on sales of love pulps and confession magazines is uppermost to many publishers.

One interesting tidbit about Parents’ Institute was the revelation that editor Kenneth Hall also wrote for one of their comics. According to the July 1947 issue, “He not only edits Jack Armstrong - the All-American Boy, but he also does the Jack Armstrong material which fills about half of the book.” Hall also started editing Calling All Boys at that time.

Next month, Bradfield recorded Timely Comics’ response to the trend:

Another mystery. This curious notice appeared in Writer’s Digest for June 1947: “Sir:

“It looks like one of those mad fads, with everyone trying to get in on the story.

“These magazines have one big appeal to the publisher—a ten cent price tag. This is no bargain, really, when compared to what either the love pulps or confession books give their readers for very little more. It is a triumph for the thin dime.”

Strange Story, too, never got told in its original form, behind this striking Bob Fujitani cover that was prepared for its first issue from Harvey Comics in 1946. But any yarns produced by Simon & Kirby’s studio for it doubtless saw print in mags with other names —possibly even at Harvey. Repro’d from an image of the original art provided by Will Murray. [Strange Story art ©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

“Official Comics, a new comic magazine, has been announced by Martin Goodman, publisher of more than five million comics a month. Official will appear on newsstands in the near future. This is in addition to the regular line. “Timely Comics, Inc. 350 Madison Ave. New York 1, N.Y.” Next month, this appeared in Harriet Bradfield’s column: “Those notes about Goodman’s new Official Comics seem to be much exaggerated. It is due in July, but according to Stan Lee, the editor, it is just another comic. If there is anything special about it, they aren’t saying so at the office....” As it turned out, the final title was Official True Crime Cases. (It was later retitled All-True Crime Cases.)

Bradfield rarely reported on Timely’s ever-changing line, but she was pretty good about tracking Stan Lee’s comings and goings, noting when he first replaced Joe Simon (February 1942), when he was inducted into the armed services to be replaced by Vince Fago (March 1943), and when he returned (March 1946) as managing editor and director of art. During World War II, in order to have sufficient paper to keep his comics going, Martin Goodman cancelled four of his five surviving pulp magazines, as reported in WD for August 1944. The comics field was largely quiet over the 1946-47 span. The next

“Two of Goodman’s comicformat books are changing point of view to include more romance. These are Miss America and Junior Miss. [...] Miss America is a split personality now. The regular comic book goes on in its usual monthly manner, with Stan Lee as editor and Joellen Murdock as associate editor. But there will be a special Miss America, a quarterly issued in the fall and edited by Joellen Murdock. It will be a separate book, selling for 15 cents, looking quite different from the comics format.”

She also took a swipe at Fox’s efforts in that field in that issue: “Many new titles have been added to the line of romance and confession comics which Fox Features are putting out. A total of fifteen in this particular field. But on the newsstands, they look like a cheap lot, hastily produced. Although they have stated that they are an open market, at the office I was told that the editors have all the writers and artists they need for the present.” Two months later, Bradfield was noting attempts to upgrade the cluttered romance comics field: “The comics continue their rapid growth, with the influx to the newsstands of the new ‘romance’ comics. Of special interest here is the appointment of Henry Lieferant to the editorship of the two Lev Gleason romance comics, Lovers’ Lane and Boy Meets Girl. Mr. Lieferant was editor for some years of the four Macfadden confession magazines, including True Story. He has many ideas about what to do with this new field, to get away from the trite follow-the-leader stuff which is flooding the stands, and to put some vitality and genuine interest into these books.” Before he launched DC Comics, Harry Donenfeld had presided over the Trojan pulp chain of “Spicy” titles, which had run girlie comic strips as early as 1934. They were still running in 1950, and led to the

Lost Comics Lore

launching of a new comic book company, according to Writer’s Digest for November 1950: “The comic sections have been dropped from the pulps at this house because they did not seem to help magazine sales. But the company is considering the comic field as a possibility. The editor, Adolphe Barreaux, has been in touch with artists who might handle comic work if there is a go-ahead signal.” Clearly there was, since WD announced the launching of Trojan Comics’ first offerings, Crime Smashers and Western Crime Busters, in January 1951. They noted that Trojan’s offices were in the Grand Central Palace Building, 480 Lexington Ave—DC’s offices at the time—but that the 125 East 46th Street side entrance was used. Frank Armer was now running this house, although the Donenfeld family is said to have had a quiet interest in the company. In the same issue, Harriet Bradfield gave this ironic and definitely optimistic report on a storm brewing on the comic book front:

Although Miss America had been a costumed super-heroine in Marvel Mystery Comics and elsewhere since #49 (Nov. 1943)—the splash above left is from MMC #53 (March 1944), with art by Pauline Loth—she quickly lost out to stories starring everyday teenagers after she got her own title in 1944. By #3 (above right), she was no longer on the cover, and after #4 she vanished from the mag entirely—although she continued to appear in other Timely comics through 1948! Thanks to Dennis Mallonee. [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

If you’re viewing a digital version of this publication, PLEASE read this plea from the publisher!

“In connection with the new crime-comics, it might be noted that the field has been investigated recently by such organizations as The National Association for Mental Health and the Senate Crime Investigating Committee. Results have spoken well for the comics. According to the testimony of child welfare and guidance experts, no child is known to have been started on the path to crime by reading comics. The comic publishers are relieved to find themselves in the clear.” Would that Bradfield’s prediction had proven true...!

Everyone deserves a

Golden Age!

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Journey Into Comics

[YE ED’S INTRO: With this issue, Alter Ego is proud to welcome to its pages Pat Calhoun, who for some years has been a well-known columnist in Comic Book Marketplace. Welcome, Pat! —Roy.]

Casualties of the Comics Code Even comic book history provides an example of how little it avails to respond to the “problem” of violence with a greater act of violence. There were other reasons—besides the moral high ground of removing a contribution to juvenile delinquency—behind the pogrom against horror comics in the mid1950s. Other companies envied the success and market share of the horror publishers, and the “newcomer” television was ready to court the reading audience by pointing its finger at the “nasty” comic books. EC’s line

Ghost Comics #11 (Summer 1954). There’s no story inside matching the cover (above)—which Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr., believes was drawn by Maurice Whitman, though he agrees with Hames Ware that the high-cheekboned female seems at least inspired by Matt Baker’s work if not actually drawn by him. Still, the cover is an effective evocation of the issue’s contents, which are a half-new, half-reprint mix. “Grab-bag” (center right), drawn by Bill Bernulis, is new, while the entry from the longrunning series “Werewolf Hunter” (far right) features a George Evans-drawn story from 1948’s Rangers Comics #18. The Eisneresque “Dr. Drew” splash page is by former Spirit assistant Jerry Grandenetti. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

Casualties of the Comics Code

Upper Air” tells of Himalayan climbers who run into an “abominable snowman,” with expressive art by Johhny Bell. In “Grab Bag,” the other original, a group of college girls buy a trunk—contents unknown—at an auction. Each finds something inside that she uses later—with fatal results. Artist Bill Benulis comes through with a graphic finale that really satisfies.

of books was one of the main targets; fortunately they avoided complete disaster by changing Mad into a black-&white “bedsheet” magazine that could bypass the censorship of the Comics Code. Some companies did perish and many others were badly wounded. A lot of good titles breathed their last in the second half of 1954; let’s salute three of them here.

The first of the two reprints is a “Werewolf Hunter” story from 1948. This was a supernatural sleuth series, elegantly rendered this time by George Evans. It’s followed by another occult detective, the superlative “Dr, Drew,” drawn in a Spirit-inspired style by Jerry Grandenetti, who had assisted Will Eisner on his weekly feature. “The Witch’s Doll” invests a basic voodoo plot with such visual pizzazz that it becomes something special.

T.T. Scott’s Fiction House had been a strong publisher all through the 1940s, with a distinctive line of comics that blended action and cheesecake, cheesecake being the display of female flesh. They had mastered this formula in pulps, as well. This “adult” stance was not destined to work well under censorious review; Fiction House’s last comics were dated Summer 1954. They also terminated their pulps; digest mags, paperback originals, TV, and (less racy) comics had taken over the market. Ghost Comics #11 was one of the company’s summer swan-songs. This issue combines excellent reprints with original stories that show Fiction House capable enough at the new style, which favored stand-alone stories over series with continuing characters. “Lords of the

(Above, and below left:) the cover and lead splash of Frankenstein #33 (Oct.-Nov. 1954). It’s terror time, as man and monster battle atop the clock tower on this typically excellent cover by the series’ auteur, Dick Briefer, capping his great 15-year run on the classic horror character—from horror to humor and back again! Another story inside (bottom right) foreshadows Little Shop of Horrors. [©2004 the respective copyright holder.]

Frankenstein’s Monster is the quintessential horror character, the walking symbol of science gone awry. At the end of World War II, humor-hungry audiences led Prize (which had been running a “Frankenstein” strip by Dick Briefer in their eponymous flagship title since 1940) to package 17 issues of a funny Frankenstein, but when the early ’50s called for horror, Briefer did a U-

Journey Into Comics

ACG’s Out of the Night #17 (Nov 1954). Ken Bald’s cover (at left) adapted Kenneth Landau’s monster from the story inside (center)—while the Bob McCarty-drawn “Fantastic Fan” was what Hit Parade fans used to know as “a Lucky Strike Extra.” [©2004 the respective copyright holder.]

turn and produced another sixteen issues in a basically grisly style with veins of black humor. #33 (Oct-Nov. 1954) was the last issue. “Death O’Clock” begins with the monster hiding out in a bell tower and befriending the little hunchback bell-ringer. And yes, Briefer cites Victor Hugo as source material. (Briefer had adapted Hugo’s Hunchback of Notre Dame for Fiction House’s Jumbo Comics, starting with #1 back in 1938.) The story is simple, but Briefer does pull off an intense image at the end that is pure comics. Sandwiched around two adequate but inconsequential fantasy yarns is “Frankenstein and the Plant,” which mixes the monster, a mad scientist, and a giant carnivorous vegetable with the expected but still enjoyable results. Briefer’s uncompromising stance—having the monster standing there ignoring the undeserving scientist’s cries for help as his devil-plant turns its mandibles on him—would certainly merit expurgation in the brave new post-Code world. So Prize abandoned the title after this issue, scaling down their comic book line. Out of the Night was the third fantasy title from the company that had pioneered the horror anthology, the American Comics Group. But it ended with #17 (Nov 1954), leaving ACG with two fantasy titles, both of which managed—albeit with more modest material—to survive another 14 years. “Terror of the Labyrinth” claimed the cover and lead slot. The story’s best feature is manic art by Kenneth Landau, whose style combines tight linework, intense emotion, and concise narrative. A group of American treasure-hunters journey to Crete to uncover riches in the ruins of the mythical Labyrinth, only to discover that the Minotaur still preys on hapless humans. Landau makes worthwhile this chestnut of “ancient monster destroyed by ancient knowledge”—no mean feat—even if his (and thus the cover’s) Minotaur bears no resemblance to the creature of legend, which was half-man, half-bull, but is simply a slithering giant reptilian. The other highlight of the issue is “The Fabulous Fan,” wherein a young woman buys an old fan at a strange curio shop. It makes the good

and evil sides of her nature engage in a dialogue, and seems to help evil gain the upper hand. Lush art by Bob McCarty helps probe the psychological depth of split personality. This issue does contain a fair amount of fluff; like many of the companies that survived the Code successfully, ACG began toning things down well in advance. The biggest piece of fluff is an 8-page fantasy/light romantic comedy, “The Professor and the Pixie,” which still has its share of corny charm. We know that horror comics ceased—yet juvenile delinquency continued to increase. And all the comics genres suffered severe setbacks—not just the “targeted” offenders. Of course, many lives were disturbed in this industry shakedown—all part of the game. The machinations of those who stood to profit from pre-Code horror’s demise merely accelerated the inevitable, but the quality of our three featured comics shows that pre-Code horror is a genre worth mourning. [More columns by Pat Calhoun will appear in upcoming issues of Alter Ego.]

Monthly! Edited and published by Robin Snyder

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

Title Comic Fandom Archive

The Late, Great Biljo White The Second Part of A/E’s Celebration of the Life and Work of Capt. Biljo by Bill Schelly In the 1960s Biljo White’s celebrated “White House of Comics” may actually have been just a small cinder block building behind his home in Columbia, Missouri; but the mouth-watering comic book treasures it housed—complete or semi-complete Golden Age runs of Batman, Detective Comics, Captain Marvel Adventures, The Marvel Family, Military Comics, All-Star Comics, and numerous other titles—would today buy a sumptuous mansion straight out of Gone with the Wind! The photo, courtesy of Mrs. Hazel White, shows Biljo circa 1975, during his days as a firefighter. [Art ©2004 Estate of Biljo White.]

Room in Alter Ego is always at a premium, given the backlog of terrific material that Roy has amassed (with the help of dozens of comics enthusiasts around the globe, of course!). Even with our monthly schedule of 108-page issues, counting covers, there’s never enough space. Thus, a phone call from Roy to Yours Truly:

“Bill, I’m going through all the visual material you sent to accompany your tribute to Biljo White in A/E #32,” Roy said. “There’s a lot of really good stuff here.” “Yeah,” I agreed. I had sent more than my usual quota of illustrations and photographs, to give him lots to choose from. “In fact, there’s too much stuff to run in the available space,” he continued. “And I’d really like to reprint Biljo’s original ‘Alter and Capt. Ego’ strip [from A/E #7], even if I have to do it by putting two of its pages on a single page, sideways, like we did with Grass Green’s fan stories. So what would you think of continuing our tribute to Biljo into #33?” I agreed at once, since it would have been a shame not to use some of the photos and illos, especially stuff that hasn’t been widely seen. Rather than the usual text-heavy piece, the installment of the Comic Fandom Archive in A/E #33 would consist mainly of Biljo’s fanzine covers, illustrations, and photos. I would merely compose a brief introduction and info on the art materials, and offer some commentary on White’s “Alter and Capt. Ego” strip. As I hung up the phone, I was beaming ear to ear. Now we’d be able to celebrate Biljo’s life and work more extensively. And it would be fitting, since he had served as art editor of Alter Ego itself, back in its original incarnation in the 1960s. “Come to think of it,” I muttered to myself, “there are a few more cool things we might include. I wonder if I can find that photo of Chuck Moss at Biljo’s place, holding the splash page to The Brave and the Bold #34!” (P.S.: I did. See right.)

In 1964 fan-collector Chuck Moss drove all the way from Nebraska to Columbia, Missouri, to meet Biljo. Here, in the White House of Comics, he marvels over original Joe Kubert art to the return of Hawkman in The Brand and the Bold.

The Late, Great Biljo White

Only days after Ronn’s 1963 visit, Jerry and Sondra Bails dropped by from Detroit, at the same time that Roy Thomas and Linda Rahm drove over to Columbia from the St. Louis area. Here, Jerry and his first wife peruse Biljo’s copy of a rare Flash Gordon artifact in the White House of Comics, before a wall decorated with a color proof of the Silver Age Hawkman’s second appearance, and pages of original Mike Sekowsky-Bernard Sachs art from the third Justice League of America outing; all were gifts from DC editor Julius Schwartz, who sent pages out in the 1960s as a thank-you for good letters of comment. Photo by Ruthie White. Circa 1966-67, Biljo White and Roy Thomas (hiding behind the name of his pal Gary Friedrich, since Roy was then associate editor of Marvel Comics) teamed up to offer a revamped “Son of Vulcan” to Charlton, with inking by Sam Grainger. But nothing came of it. Roy suspects that the story, never finished, was never shown to Charlton editor Dick Giordano. This is the splash panel of the only completed page; the entire splash page was printed in Hamster Press’ Fandom’s Finest Comics, Vol. 1. [Art ©2004 Estates of Biljo White and Sam Grainger; Son of Vulcan TM & ©2004 DC Comics.]

Biljo did make it into comics, though—in Marvel’s The Invaders #16-18 (1977), as the name of a soldier-cartoonist who as a civilian had drawn a super-hero comic book titled Major Victory. That Biljo White even appeared on the cover of #18, penciled by Gil Kane—but writer/editor Roy and story penciler Frank Robbins forgot to free him from Hitler’s clutches at story’s end! One Robbins/Springer page from the story arc can be seen in the photo of Biljo’s wall, above—while at right is a page from Invaders #16 in which a Jim Mooney-penciled Captain America reads a “Major Victory” origin which, Roy believes, was penciled by Biljo at his old Missouri friend’s invitation; inking of the entire page is by Frank Springer. Repro’d from a photocopy of the original art, courtesy of Jeff E. Smith, to whom Biljo sold it a few years back. Photo courtesy of Hazel White. [Art ©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Comics Fandom Archive

“Alter and Captain Ego” Reprised Some of the fans active in early fandom—maybe even a majority— were almost exclusively interested in collecting old comic books, and in reading articles that gave them information about the contents of those sought-after treasures. They bought the fanzines that mainly featured such fare: G.B. Love’s Rocket’s Blast-Comicollector and his Rocket’s Blast Specials, which contained a lot about the history of various Golden Age comics, as did Robert Jennings’ Comic World, Mike Tuohey’s Super Hero, and others. Biljo White contributed to this genre of fanzine with Batmania. From its outset in 1961, Alter Ego was likewise primarily an article-zine, but its format also left room for one original comics feature in most issues. First had come Roy’s three-part “Bestest League of America” in A/E #1-3, then Ronn Foss’s Eclipse in #5, and Roy and Grass teaming up in #6 with “The Bestest League of America Meets Da Frantic Four.” Each of these was

(Above:) Circa May 1963, Biljo and Ronn Foss (partly behind Biljo) look over the original layouts to Ronn’s first issue of Alter Ego. At left is the Whites’ daughter Sunday. For economic reasons, the published A/E [Vol. 1] #5 was far smaller than the layout version seen here, having dimensions of only 8H” x 7”. It featured a profile on Biljo written by his then-wife Ruthie (who also snapped the above photo) and three drawings by Biljo for a pseudonymous article which asked the musical question: “The JLA—Overcrowded?” The illo above right was given an entire page in the issue. [Art ©2004 Estate of Biljo White; Justice League TM & ©2004 DC Comics.]

The above pencil illo for “The Blade” was done, according to the inscription, on March 9, 1952, while Biljo was stationed in Baumholder, Germany, with story by a fellow soldier. The idea was reworked in 1964 for the prominent fanzine Star-Studded Comics, produced by The Texas Trio. [©2004 Estate of Biljo White.]

Biljo White himself may not have traveled much after he got out of uniform, but his cartoon counterpart Captain Biljo did— in a pair of stories. In this one, we follow as the Cap’n attends a comicon; in the second one, he must ferret out the thief who stole his comic book collection. [Art ©2004 Estate of Biljo White.]

The Late, Great Biljo White

popular with the readers, no doubt partly because all were inspired by professional comics characters. (The Eclipse was but a thinlydisguised and admitted variation on Dr. Mid-Nite). Such proved to be the case, too, for the only strip Biljo White contributed to the first volume of A/E.

(Above and left:) A trio of previously-unprinted illustrations done by Biljo in 1961-62 to accompany a science-fiction story. Copies of this art were mailed to Roy Thomas a few years ago, but with no explanatory information attached. [©2004 Estate of Biljo White.]

“Alter and Captain Ego” in issue #7 (1964) brings some of the elements of Fawcett’s Captain Marvel to new life, though in a quite different setting. Though Alter Albright is blond, as contrasted with Billy Batson’s dark hair, both are young adolescents who summon a man-sized super-hero in times of trouble. And, from what we gather in the first and only episode written and drawn by Biljo, the powers of Captain Ego seem to roughly parallel those of the Big Red Cheese. These similarities, and the fact that White’s art style was partly inspired by that of C.C. Beck, complete the feature’s evocation of its Fawcett predecessor.

For the Nov. 1979 issue of Fire Fighter Newsletter, Biljo drew four cartoons to illustrate contests to be held at an upcoming firemen’s event, including “Extending a Hydrant Line,” “Ladder Raising and Climbing Contest,” “Chief’s Race,” and “Water Fight.” There was also mention therein of other events, including a “Coupling Contest,” but that one went mercifully un-illustrated. [Art ©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

Comics Fandom Archive

(Top row:) A few years ago, Biljo sent Roy Thomas this “see-thru cartoon” of a character he had done years ago called “See-Thru Sam,” and at some stage rechristened “Alter and His Ego.” This was done when he was art editor of the city-employee newspaper (at an unknown date), and was sent with the “Ego” illo taped to the backside of the “Alter” drawing, with both facing outward and drawn as seen here—with the “Ego” figure and logo reversed. The pages were intended to be printed on opposite sides of a page, which, when held up to the light, would let the reader see the spectral figure of Ego peeping through, eager to foul up Alter’s date with the girl whose doorbell he is ringing. A/E layout man Chris Day has painstakingly combined the images in that fashion here as the third image, seen at left. [©2004 Estate of Biljo White.]

It’s a shame Biljo never did anything more with the Alter and Captain Ego characters. Even Roy’s plans to write a Biljo-approved sequel, to be drawn by Sam Grainger, came to naught but a couple of fine illustrations, although in the 1970s John G. Pierce wrote some prose tales of the heroes which featured art spots by others. Only when I began formulating ideas for a team-up of the most prominent amateur heroes from the fanzines, in 1999, did Alter and Captain Ego finally return in a comics-style story. Heroes Vs. Hitler (Hamster Press, 2000) brought them together with The Eclipse, Dr. Weird, The Eye, The Human Cat, and Lady Scorpion, for a brand new 34-page adventure. That issue was reprinted in the 2002 volume The Eye Collection. By this time, Roy had resurrected Alter Ego, and it seemed natural that he use pre-existing illos of Alter and Capt. Ego to establish them as official mascots of the new version of A/E. Other artists such as Mark Glidden have added to the store—as did Biljo himself, before his recent passing. Plans at present for more new stories are vague, although new art spots will continue to appear as long as enthusiastic fan (or pro) artists care to create them. So, as a tribute to Biljo’s original concept, we are proud to present the origin and sole comics adventure of the duo. Turn the magazine sideways, turn the page—and enjoy...! [Art and story the following four pages ©2004 Estate of Biljo White; Alter & Capt. Ego characters TM & ©2004 Roy Thomas & Bill Schelly.]

The Late, Great Biljo White

Comics Fandom Archive

The Late, Great Biljo White

Comics Fandom Archive

In Conclusion It’s hard to overstate “Capt. Biljo’s” importance to the success of comic fandom, back in the days when it was far from clear whether the grassroots movement that had begun in 1961 would be ongoing… or a mere flash in the pop-culture pan. As if his fanzines Komix Illustrated, Batmania, The Eye, and The Stripper aren’t enough, Biljo White was a comics historian of note, a member of the Academy of Comic Book Fans and Collectors, and a contributor to many amateur publications besides his own. His “Eye” strips in Voice of Comicdom were one of its high points, and he actively supported Steve Kelez when he published The Gotham Gazette as an adjunct to Batmania. He also drew numerous covers for Rocket’s BlastComicollector, as well as G.B. Love’s Golden Age zine, and other fanzines published by the SFCA.

Fandom’s first great decade would have been a much less colorful, exciting place without the visual brilliance of this humble, unassuming man in Columbia, Missouri. In fact, even now, with his passing, a certain spark is gone from the lives of those who knew him and his work. Like we said last ish, “We miss you, Captain Biljo!” We always will.

[Many of Biljo White’s wonderful comic strips have been reprinted in books from Hamster Press. Both volumes of Fandom’s Finest Comics, as well as Labors of Love, are still available. You can find out how to order them at www.billschelly.com, or by e-mailing Bill Schelly at HamstrPres@aol.com.]

John Tartaglione

In Memoriam:

John Tartaglione (1921-2003) by Dr. Michael J. Vassallo John Tartaglione, longtime comic book inker and one of the deans of Timely-Atlas romance art, passed away in mid-November after a long battle with cancer. John’s career stretched from the Golden Age right up to the week of his death, where his inking of the Spider-Man newspaper comic strip was completed by his daughter Mary Beth. But, while long and varied, John’s career was most noted for two separate bodies of work—in the 1950s as one of the most prolific romance artists for Stan Lee’s Atlas romance line, and in the 1980s on

best-selling comic book biographies of two revered figures of the Catholic Church. What follows is a short career retrospective of this well-loved artist, and my personal recollections of his help in identifying his earliest artwork for Timely.

Photo of John Tartaglione from the program book for the 1975 Mighty Marvel Comic Convention.

John Tartaglione was born Jan. 14, 1921, and grew up in Brooklyn. Artwise, he was educated at the Pratt Institute and Traphagen School of Fashion, an experience that would one day serve him well on hundreds of vintage romance stories. His earliest comics credits place him as an assistant at Harvey Comics in the early 1940s, followed by a stint at Baily Publications on a feature called “Copy Boy.” His career through the rest of the 1940s is somewhat cloudy at present, but by 1949 he seems to be identified at Timely, where I first definitely pick him up in 1951. His earliest work there appeared in horror, adventure, and crime titles such as Adventures into Weird Worlds, Justice Comics, Young Men, Amazing Detective Cases, and Sports Action. Throughout the decade, he would also draw for such varied titles as Astonishing, Battle Action, Battlefront, Journey into Mystery, Mystery Tales, Mystic, Mystical Tales, Spellbound, Strange Stories of Suspense, Strange Tales of the Unusual, and Tales of Justice. In 1952 he began appearing in the Atlas romance comics, and it is here that he made his most definitive statement, often signing his name as “Tartag,” “Tar,” “Leone,” or “JT.” While his earlier Atlas stories were drawn in a distinctive yet traditional style, by late 1953 John’s romance stories began to take on an appearance of photographic realism, as he would occasionally use family, friends, and neighbors as models in his stories. These romance tales poured from his art hand, and he became one of the main romance artists for Atlas, drawing more than 120 stories over the next four years. While a score or more of artists drew the hundreds and hundreds of entries that populated the Atlas romance line, by 1954 there was a small handful of “regulars” who began to draw the bulk of the stories: Vince Colletta (and his various ghosts), Jay Scott Pike, Al Hartley, Ann Brewster, Tom Scheuer, and John Tartaglione. John’s stories appeared in such titles as Girl Confessions, Love Adventures, Love Romances, Love Tales, Lovers, My Love Story, My Own Romance, Secret Story Romances, Stories of Romance, True Secrets, and True Tales of Love.

In his excellent 2002 study Classics Illustrated: A Cultural History, with Illustrations, William B. Jones, Jr., refers to John Tartaglione’s 1961 artistic adaptation of Thomas Hughes’ novel Tom Brown’s School Days as “an unqualified success”—“a handsomely drawn, beautifully inked depiction” which ranks “among the most perfectly achieved issues in the Classics Illustrated catalogue.” [©2004 Frawley Corporation and its exclusive licensee, First Classics, Inc.]

When the Atlas line imploded in the spring of 1957, John had so many stories inventoried that his work would continue to appear as late as 1959; text illustrations, really panels taken from his romance stories, would appear as late as Tales of Suspense #21 (Sept. 1961) and Strange Tales #101 (Oct. 1962). He also supplemented his income by freelancing romance stories for National/DC in the 1950s. After the Atlas implosion, John’s main account was gone, so he moved over to Charlton and Gilberton, where he drew features in

John Tartaglione

Classics Illustrated Specials, Tom Brown’s Schooldays, Won by the Sword, and The World around Us. By the 1960s John was working regularly for Western’s Dell imprint, where he drew well-known features like Ben Casey, Burke’s Law, Doctor Kildare, Jason and the Argonauts, Die, Monster, Die, and historical comics tomes like John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. Another 1960s account was Pflaum’s Treasure Chest from 1963-67.

also drew children’s books, including Dungeons and Dragons and The Transformers, was a fine-art painter specializing in children’s portraits, and had syndicated credits on Apartment 3-G and in the current Spider-Man strip that he inked over pencils by Larry Lieber. John’s talent was passed on to his children, Mary Beth and John, Jr., both artists in their own right.

I want to end with some personal comments about John Tartaglione. A couple of years ago, I was indexing the entire Atlas romance line and By the mid-1960s John was back at Timely (now Marvel), providing came across a handful of unsigned stories that I suspected had been inks for the “Hulk” feature in Tales to Astonish, on Not Brand Echh, drawn by John. I called him up, explaining the problem, and he Daredevil, Captain Marvel, Nick Fury/Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., Sgt. suggested I send Fury and His them on to him for a Howling confirmation, as he Commandos, X-Men, didn’t have any of his and many western old work any longer. series. This continued Always an extremist, into the 1970s and I ended up sending ’80s, where his inks him, in photocopy graced comics as form, over 500 pages, diverse as Captain a roughly 90%America, The complete set of all his Defenders, Ghost stories for Atlas. As I Rider, Master of John Tartaglione’s most recent gig was inking Larry Lieber’s pencils on the Stan Lee-scripted suspected, John Kung Fu, Incredible Spider-Man newspaper comic strip, Monday through Saturday. The date of this daily was Nov. 11, 2003. confirmed that the Hulk, and Thor. By [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.] stories were his and the 1980s John had was surprised I had secured a staff position found these, let alone suspected they were his work. We talked quite a at Marvel in production and as a colorist. The 1980s also saw John bit about his career, and he couldn’t understand why I was so interested penciling two features that would bring him worldwide recognition: in his 1950s work, always moving the conversation back to the Mother biographies of Mother Theresa and Pope John Paul II. These books sold in the millions around the world and were translated into many different Theresa and Pope John Paul II books he had drawn. I could tell that languages, bringing John more satisfaction than anything he had ever these were the books he was most proud of. As time went on, I done in comics. continued to send him story copies as I found them, and I still have a set of them sitting here, found within the last four months and never sent. In the early 1990s he did some inking for Archie Comics and inked Joe Sinnott’s pencils on Magnum Comics’ adaptation of the life of John Tartaglione was a wonderful artist and a real gentleman. I’m baseball great Mickey Mantle. happy to have had the opportunity to talk to him in person, and the world of comic books is the poorer for his passing. Outside of the comic book industry, John did a lot of advertising art, some in comics format for Atlas Spark Plugs and the World’s Fair, as [Dr. Michael J. Vassallo is preparing a longer look at the work well as promotional religious comics for Standard Publications. John of John Tartaglione for a near-future issue of Alter Ego.]

Cavalcade of Comics

Cavalcade of Comics Charity Begins at Home—Even for Comic Book Artists by Don Perlin [EDITOR’S NOTE: I am happy to turn these two pages over to industry veteran Don Perlin, artist of Werewolf by Night in the 1970s and of many other comics over the years. —Roy.] The Cavalcade of Comics was a charitable event that took place on September 13, 2003, for the benefit of the Tourette Syndrome Association, to raise funds for and public awareness of this neurobiological disorder. My teenage grandson has been battling Tourette Syndrome for over three years, and his fighting spirit made my wife and me realize that it was time for us to get involved in a more meaningful way. It started out as a nameless one-man event (me) in a local comic book store, doing sketches and signing old comic books for donations to this worthy cause. The nagging realization that this effort would not be significant enough prompted us to consider enlarging its scope. The idea of an auction of original cartoon art came to mind, and then suggestions and ideas of all sorts came to us from many good folks. We were now on a roll! The Cavalcade of Comics raised $10,000, more than half of which came from the auction. So I sat down to write a thank-you message to the artists who took part in the Cavalcade, when I realized that I wasn’t sure what a cavalcade was. Turning to Mr. Webster for enlightenment, I discovered it meant a mounted procession, a parade of guys on horses… what did this have to do with comics or Tourette Syndrome? Something told me there was a connection and I had to find it. The task of contacting the artists and asking for their donations fell to me. I felt very hesitant about asking people to donate pieces of art that could be worth handsome sums. But, remembering the battle my grandson was waging, I managed to chuck my inhibitions and started calling. Being the chairman of the Florida Chapter of the National Cartoonists Society gave me access to cartoonists of all types, not only my comic book buddies.

Don Perlin, grandson Joshua Blomenfeld, and Rebecca Perlin.

Soon the donations of artwork came rolling in. Comic book pages, comic strip art, political cartoons, magazine illustrations, even pieces created just for this event. NOW I UNDERSTAND why “Cavalcade” was an appropriate name! I had put out a call for help to fight this dreaded disorder, and by sending their work for the auction (some even manned the tables with me doing sketches for the public), these artists were mounting up and aiding us in the battle to make Tourette Syndrome a memory. Thanks to: Tom Armstrong, Sy Barry, Bruce Beattie, John Beatty, Chase Browne, Chris Browne, Mike Carlin, Jack Cassady, Jose Delbo, Don Edwing, Hy Eisman, Jim Fern, Ed Gamble, Bob Hall, Ed Hall, Bill Janocha, Joe Kubert, Bob Layton, Dennis LeBrun, Jeff Parker, Mike Peters, Joe Quesada, Ann Sabo, Ralph Smith, Rob Smith, Jason Sobol, Dana Summers, Mort Walker and his group, George Wildman, Dean Young, and others I may have forgotten to mention. The Cavalcade of Comics has just begun its battle to help find a cure for Tourette Syndrome. The call to mount up will go out yet another time, and I hope you will join us again. Anyone interested in joining us and/or learning more about Tourette Syndrome, please contact me at: (904) 2879605, or online at dperlin@bellsouth.net.

(Artists, left to right:) Ed Hall, Jason Sobol, John Beatty, Don Edwing, Claire Edwing, Don Perlin.

Featuring Don Perlin

re:

re: This letters section is pretty much a JOE MANEELY SPECIAL! This panel and others from the classic Stan Lee/Joe Maneely story “The Raving Maniac” from Uncanny Tales #29 (April 1953) were printed in previous issues, so here we’ve altered the dialogue—just a little. By the way, this editor is probably intended as a caricature of Sometime-Smilin’ Stan. Thanks to Stan Goldberg for providing photocopies of the original art. [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

could have put together such a wonderful, comprehensive tribute to Joe Maneely—his story, both personal and professional. I felt, more than ever before, that my dad was so very special, so talented, and viewed as an exceptional artist... by people way beyond his immediate family! How can I thank you enough for giving me that fabulous burst of pride in my father’s legacy? I was not able to contain my emotions, so I risked calling my sister, although it was near midnight Eastern time. I shared my amazement and excitement with her and read passages of Michael’s article and your editorial. We cried and laughed. Some of our shared emotions were bittersweet in light of Mom’s recent death. Over the years since my father’s passing, I have seen references now and then in books and fan sites online, detailing some of his contributions to the comic art world. But nothing compares to this. Again— speaking on behalf of Joe’s daughters—thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

Not too surprisingly, most of the mail (e- and snail) that reached us re A/E #28 dealt with our coverage of artist Joe Maneely by Dr. Michael J. Vassallo, Joe’s daughter Nancy, and Timely/Marvel editor Stan Lee. So, without further ado, we begin with a letter from a fellow Timely bullpenner of Maneely’s, Stan Goldberg, known in the 1960s as Stan G.: Dear Roy... Just finished reading your latest Alter Ego. The tribute to Joe Maneely just blew my mind. It brought back so many memories of the years I spent in the Timely bullpen, remembering Joe and his untimely death. I know it’s been said hundreds of times, that if he had lived, what the comic book industry would be like today. I know my feelings... if possible, the industry would be even greater today. There was never anyone like him before and there will never be anyone like him again.

Nancy Maneely We couldn’t be more pleased by the opinion of anyone else on the issue, Nancy. The real workhorse of the piece, of course, without whom it would not have existed, was Michael J. Vassallo—“Doc V.” to his friends in fandom and online. His long and careful study of your father’s life and career, and the mountain of artwork he sent to document it (along with some photos and artwork you provided, of course), made Ye Editor’s task of choosing the correct images to use (and deciding on the words to accompany them) both easy and difficult—the latter because, for every piece of art that saw print in A/E #28, there were one or two others that couldn’t be used—at least not in that issue. We could have filled up the entire issue, instead of half of it, and we would still not have done Joe Maneely full justice. We decided, for instance, to save a Maneely-drawn

Stan Goldberg Thanks, Stan. We appreciate the high praise from one who knew Joe Maneely, and colored many of his stories. For more information about and insight into the Timely bullpen of the late 1940s and 1950s, one could do no better than to read Jim Amash’s interview with you back in A/E #18. We still get favorable comments on it. And here is what Nancy Maneely herself had to say about the issue: Roy, I want to share with you my reaction to the “Great Joe Maneely” issue of Alter Ego. I got home late last evening, and opened the mail to see this gorgeous issue about my dad! As I started to turn the pages, almost immediately the tears began to flow. (I was so annoyed, because with blurry eyes I wasn’t able to see the pages!) After a while I calmed down and started reading more. I spent the next half hour or so on a roller coaster of emotions. What a beautiful job you and Michael Vassallo did in chronicling my father’s life and work! And, being an editor myself, I could appreciate the incredibly painstaking and time-consuming work necessary to put together that fantastic issue. Quite a bit of the Joe Maneely artwork was completely new to my eyes, and the information in Michael’s article filled in so many blanks in my knowledge of his work. Wow! Michael’s sensitive words about my mother were also very touching. There I go again with the tears! All I can say is, no one else

One of Maneely’s favorite subjects, by all reports, was drawing westerns. In this early splash from Black Rider #11 (Nov. 1950), the “mystery man of the western range” is unmasked—and, in a sense, that’s just what Doc Vassallo attempted to do in his extended study of Maneely in A/E #28. Thanks to Doc for this photocopy, as well. [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

[correspondence & corrections]

Goldberg (notice that his signature is with theirs) at the time. Jim Amash Serves us right, Jim. We should’ve asked you before the issue went to press. But sometimes (usually—in fact always), as the deadline looms, things slip through the cracks. That’s why we always strongly suggest that readers closely peruse the letters section five months after a given issue goes on sale—’cause that’s generally the one that will contain updates, additions, and corrections. We try hard not to let any accidental misinformation go uncorrected, if we can help it. Now, another tidbit of info from Glen D. Johnson, who’s been an Alter Ego reader (and sometimes writer) since the 1960s: Roy, Great article on Joe Maneely. One very small mistake: Lash LaRue never made a film for Republic. He made films first for PRC, and then for Western Adventure Production. Glen D. Johnson 160 N. 600 E. St. Brigham City, UH 84302 Just goes to show you that you should never write a caption relying entirely upon memory. Of course, it has been something like fifty years since the last Saturday afternoon when Ye Ed saw a Lash LaRue movie, sitting in the end seat of the right-hand row of the Palace Theatre in Jackson, Missouri—after the cartoon(s), serial, and hopefully a “Three Stooges” short. And yeah, Roy read those Fawcett western comics, as well. It may seem a bit incestuous, this letters column, since so many whose missives appear on it have been associated with either pro comics or Alter Ego at one time or another, but we print the letters we think will be of most interest to the most readers. Now a letter from Dr. Michael J. Vassallo, author of that much-lauded Maneely retrospective: This page from the black-&-white Snafu #2 in 1956 poked fun at the staffs of fashion magazines—but who’s to say that Maneely didn’t have certain aspects of the 1950s Marvel bullpen in mind, as well? Thanks to Doc V. [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Roy, Thanks for the great job adding the visuals accompanying the Joe Maneely piece. It really needed all you used, and I couldn’t have chosen

Christmas card you sent for issue #31, our Yuletide special—and of course we utilized a few of his horror drawings in our Halloween issue before that. And there’ll be more to come—our file drawers are still bursting with Maneely masterpieces! Next, a bit of info from Will Murray, whose intriguing three-part series on lost comics lore as reported in Writer’s Digest magazine concludes this issue: Roy: Reading the new A/E. Enjoying the Maneely coverage. In re which Marvel artists might have been shunted aside if Maneely had not died, Don Heck once told me that Stan Lee called him back to Marvel specifically to fill the empty chair (so to speak) left vacant by the artist’s untimely passing. Aside from that, I also note another unreleased 1945-46 Fawcett title mentioned in the Fawcett Digest article in FCA. Will Murray Jim Amash, our amiable associate editor, whose interview with artist Lee Ames also appeared in #28, had this to say: Roy, On page 43, when you printed the card from the Timely bullpen about Nancy Maneely’s birth, you asked who the “Sal” and “Vince” were who are mentioned on it only by their first names. They were Vince Madafferi and Sal Contiera, who colored Timely comics with Stan

S’no use! We can’t get through a whole letters section re Joe Maneely without displaying a specimen of his great work on Black Knight. Matter of fact, we don’t even want to! This panel is from BK #3 (Sept. 1955), the final issue in which he did interior art. [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

re: I have no recollection that Matt Baker’s brother was an artist, or that Al Bryant’s name was other than that. Lee Ames Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us, Lee. Still, that is your name up there as a byline on the story, and since the original “Firebrand” artist starting with Police Comics #1 in 1941 was Reed Crandall, it seems odd that your name would be on a masthead of a story you didn’t draw. Still, stranger things have happened—and probably will again! And thanks, too, for all the wonderful insights you gave into the Golden Age of Comics, and your own career. Now, about that Samson and Delilah cover...!

Lee Ames, too, provided more beautiful art that we could showcase in A/E #28. At left is his cover for Avon’s adaptation of H. Rider Haggard’s classic adventure novel King Solomon’s Mines, done in the early 1950s; at right is Lee’s cover for a publication for young people, one of approximately 150 books he estimates he has illustrated. On the latter he actually received cover credit—unlike on the comic book! Thanks to Lee and to Jim Amash. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

better samples (from what I sent) myself. I want to add some corrections to some minor errors I spotted. On page 6, the discussion of Timely job numbers should read that they went from 1 to approximately 10,016 before changing to a letter prefix. On page 9, the caption accompanying the Ziff-Davis Maneely Annie Okaley one-pager refers to Kid Cowboy #2, not #1 as printed. Kudos to Jim Amash for a great interview with Lee Ames. I’m puzzled about Ames’ memory of the feature “Homer the Brave” for Stan Lee at Timely. Perhaps another reader can point this out to me, but I can’t seem to place where this was printed. Could Lee have confused Timely with another company? There was the “Homer” feature in Krazy Komix that Ed Winiarski drew, but this hails back to 1942 and morphed into “The Creeper” in 1943. I don’t think this was the feature Lee was referring to. Oh, and I’m the one who sent you that page of original art from Cracked magazine... not that I care that you credited it to Nancy. Doc V. We’ve been racking our brains trying to find a reference anywhere to a “Homer the Brave” feature ourselves, Doc. Surely some reader will remember such a singularly-named series. But if you and your fellow Timely researchers are unaware of it as a Timely feature, then surely it was done for other company. Any help out there?

Oh, and Alberto Becattini writes, re Carl Gafford’s comments in #28’s letters section, that Bob Fujitani drew only the first story in Dr. Solar #5 and that Frank Bolle drew the second: “I am [still] convinced that Fujitani penciled the second story, which Bolle inked.” Finally, just to show you that someone who hasn’t worked either in pro comics or for Alter Ego can get a letter published in this mag, here are a few cogent words from reader Lloyd Clingman:

Dear Roy, Thank you so much for finally giving Joe Maneely his due. This man was so under-appreciated for his skill and speed. I have always felt that Joe could have been one of the greatest. To lose such a gifted draftsman at such an early age in such a meaningless way is a tragedy. Just look at that artwork! Even in black and white, the scenes just leap off the page. And that feathered inking was a type that I am sure John Severin and Russ Heath made sure that they got to know better. For such a brief time in the spotlight (if you can call it that), it is obvious that he inspired a lot of artists. Can you imagine what he would have done if he had had to take over Prince Valiant? And Joe’s versatility at... well, everything! I cannot imagine an artist (with the exception of Jack Kirby—who is always the exception—Eisner, and Steranko) who could do so many styles so well. His westerns stood up to the best, his science-fiction was marvelous, his adventure second to none, and his war comics were EC quality. Another “what if”: What if Joe was hired at EC first? What would he have been able to do over there (minus cowboys and romance— unless you count A Moon, a Girl... Romance)? EC would probably have given him the exposure he needed to break out of the Atlas rut. Lloyd Clingman

Meanwhile, interviewee Lee Ames himself, upon seeing a copy of Alter Ego #28, sent this message on to Jim Amash, who forwarded it to us:

Funny, we hardly think of it as a “rut,” Lloyd, but we know what you mean.

Jim,

And that’ll have to do it for this go-round. Send all comments and corrections to:

“Firebrand” on p. 15 may well be Alex Blum’s. I really don’t believe I could have done the bottom left panel. The “Firebrand” on p. 18 seems all mine. The name “Dic Young” is one of my more reliable recollections. He looked like a more “Americanized” but sickly Henry Armetta. I can still “see” the red paperback cover of the book that I bought at Woolworth’s.

Roy Thomas/Alter Ego Rt. 3, Box 468 St. Matthews, SC 29135

Fax: (803) 826-6501 E-mail: roydann@ntinet.com

And be here next time for an issue of Quality—in more ways than one, we hope!

No. 92 February 2004

ROSS ANDRU & MIKE ESPOSITO

Lampoon Captain Marvel

Also:

Marc Swayze

We Didn’t Know... Did you ever hear of Mickey Malone, the boy who built his own plane from castaway parts and flew against the enemy in World War II? Mickey was the famed Phantom Eagle, in Wow Comics... remember? Oh, you never heard of him...? Well, anyway, whether you knew him or not, you’ll have to admit it was a pretty clever idea for a comic book feature... a kid, too young to fly legally, but an expert pilot... flying in the cause of his country. By

I didn’t know him, either, when I barged into the Fawcett comic book editorial offices in 1944—still in uniform—to say I’m back and need a script of some kind so’s to pay my hotel bill. I took a peek at the story handed me by editor Mercedes Shull and on the way out picked up a copy of Wow Comics to see who this Phantom Eagle was, and what he looked like. Mercy hadn’t been bothered by the fact that I was unfamiliar with the character.

[FCA EDITOR’S NOTE: From 1941-53, Marcus D. Swayze was a top artist for Fawcett Comics. The very first Mary Marvel character sketches came from Marc’s drawing table, and he illustrated her earliest adventures, including the classic origin story “Captain Marvel It was issue #28. Sharing the first page with the editorial credits were Introduces Mary Marvel (CMA #18, Dec. ’42); but he was primarily six crowded panels of my own work where Mary Marvel visited a hired by Fawcett to illustrate “Waste Paper Reclaiming Factory.” Captain Marvel stories and The title panel of the lead story over covers for Whiz Comics and on the next page had a nice drawing of Captain Marvel Adventures. Mary gracefully pounding an evil foe... He also wrote many and a poster reading “Who Can Defeat Captain Marvel scripts, and Mr. Question?” In the bottom margin continued to do so while in was a by-line in small type: Drawn by the military. Upon leaving Jack Binder. the service, he made an Introducing the second story in the arrangement with Fawcett 1944 Wow was a nice big logo to produce art and stories for stretching across the top of the page in the company on a freelance italicized, red, capital letters... basis out of his Louisiana PHANTOM EAGLE. The title was home. There he created both “Trouble in Tibet!” Following it was art and story for The an untitled tale featuring Mr. Scarlet Phantom Eagle in Wow and Pinky versus a diabolical “Mr. Comics, in addition to Green.” The issue was closed by a tale drawing the Flyin’ Jenny of Commando Yank assisting the newspaper strip for Bell American underground in the Syndicate (created by his Philippines. friend and mentor Russell Keaton). After the cancelNo question as to when that comic lation of Wow, Swayze book was issued. Plugs and blurbs produced artwork for promoting the U.S. war effort... Fawcett’s top-selling line of stamps, bonds, paper salvage, WAC romance comics. After the enlistment... appeared throughout its company ceased publishing pages. And why not? After all, WWII comics, Marc moved over to was still in full swing. Charlton Publications, where he ended his comics Without reading the “Tibet” story career in the mid-1950s. in detail, after flipping through the Marc’s ongoing professional memoirs have been FCA’s most popular feature since his first column appeared in FCA #54, 1996. Last issue, Marc recalled his opposition to the assembly-line system of producing comic books. This time, he looks back to when he was first assigned a Phantom Eagle story, before (Above:) Just think of all the Golden Age comics lost to World War II paper it became a regular drives! Mary Marvel art by Marc Swayze from Wow Comics #28 (Aug. 1941). assignment for him. (Right:) Mercedes Shull was already the editor of Wow when this photo was —P.C. Hamerlinck.] taken at Fawcett’s New York City offices in 1942. [Art ©2004 DC Comics.]

Marc Swayze

43 Already, however, from the writing standpoint... and also the art... I was beginning to view the feature as tempting as a big plate of barbecued spareribs! The characters themselves, likable Mickey and Jerry... their adventures... their emotions... the possibility of an endless variety of story locales... oh, boy! The art by-line with that story, “Trouble in Tibet!,” had been so damaged in production the name was not completely discernable. The work having been done at the Jack Binder studio, it was safe to assume the routed name to be that of Charley Tomsey, capable first baseman of the Binder ball team. The art was not bad at all, and it is likely that Charley was credited with it, as major member of an assembly-line team of artists. The title of the typed script received from editor Shull was “The Phantom Eagle and the Cave of the Vikings!” The action took place in wartime Norway... and involved the quest for the Golden Mace, which bore a formula for world peace. Although the story began and ended with the Phoenix Squadron present, Jerry never appeared and was only mentioned once, in the title legend. In drawing that story, I made a few changes. The yellow scarf the Phantom Eagle wore tucked so tightly underneath his jacket lapels was pulled out to contribute more freely to the action... and the chest emblem was redesigned so as to trap a stylized blue eagle within a solid black circular shape. Although there were few opportunities in the story to do so, the idea was to repeat that emblem on the wings of the Cometplane. There were other changes that I thought of as improvements, and probably would have initiated had I known that within a few weeks I would be entering into an agreement to do the Phantom Eagle as a permanent regular assignment as long as the feature and Wow Comics existed.

[Marc Swayze will be back next issue for more memories of the Phantom Eagle... and the Golden Age of Comics.]

pages it was clear that the young airfield employee, Mickey Malone, could become the famed Phantom Eagle simply by throwing off his dungarees... that his plane had a name, the “Cometplane”... that the accents of his flying friends indicated they represented different countries... that they were known as the Phoenix Squadron and flew from a secret hangar. Noticeable was Jerry, the only girl member of the group... multitalented plane designer, mechanic, pilot... and Mickey’s special friend. Jerry played a prominent role in the story at hand... enriching it with touches of humor and human interest. It was she who, on the fourth page of the story, was shown jabbing an enemy officer in the rear with a pitchfork, sneering, “Do you get the point?” And, on a previous page, with hands on hips, irritably demanding of Mickey as he solaces a frightened native, “Well ... are you going to comfort that girl all day?” There was something else. It was reasonable to assume that all those young characters were very close to the same age... especially Jerry and Mickey. Jerry, in neat, tight-fitting blue jumpsuit from head to foot, definitely suggested a healthier maturity than did the two as-round-faced cherubs in other panels. Jerry, alone, elevated the general age of the entire cast a bit... still as young teenagers, but perhaps some months older than one might have imagined. There was more to this Phantom Eagle feature than might meet the careless eye. It should be kept in mind that all this was before I settled in the South with the Phantom Eagle as a regular permanent assignment.

ATTENTION: FRANK BRUNNER ART FANS! Frank is now accepting art commissions for covers, splash panels, or pin-up re-creations! Also, your ideas for NEW art are welcome! Wolverine TM & ©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.

Art can be pencils only, inked or full-color (painted) creation! Contact Frank directly for details and prices. (Minimum order: $150) Write now (be sure to include a self-addressed stamped envelope!) and receive FREE with my reply an autographed Brunner “Star Wars Galaxy” trading card! Contact the artist at his NEW address:

FRANK BRUNNER

312 Kildare Court Myrtle Beach, SC 29588 Visit my NEW website at: http://www.frankbrunner.net

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Special FCA TitleComics Section

Captain Marble Flies Again! The Golden Age of Parody Comics Lives Anew— Courtesy of ROSS ANDRU & MIKE ESPOSITO! by Roy Thomas It will come as no secret to those who know me that two of my favorite comic books of the first half of the 1950s were—and are— Dell’s Pogo Possum and EC’s Mad #1-23. While I perused the first three issues of the latter on comics racks, I never even came close to buying one till issue #4 (April-May 1953), with “Superduperman!” and its inclusion of Captain Marbles, a parody of the Big Red Cheese. Of course, at age twelve, I was unaware of full extent of the parody, since at that time I knew no more than the rest of the general public

Previous issues of A/E showcased other panels from the justly-famed “Superduperman!” parody in Mad #4, even reminding us all what the magic word “SHAZOOM” stood for (as if any true early-Mad fan needs reminding!). Here, Supes slugs Captain Marbles—though the result will not be quite what he expects. Repro’d from the fabulous black-&-white hardcover reprints published by Russ Cochran. [©2004 E.C. Publications, Inc.]

(i.e., nothing) about the DC-vs.-Fawcett lawsuit that would end Cap’s illustrious career before the year was out—or that DC would threaten EC itself over the Wally Wood-drawn parody. I didn’t buy Mad #4 that day, because I was ambivalent about the idea of a spoof of two beloved super-heroes. It wasn’t until two months later, when I saw and purchased issue #5 because of its “Black and Blue Hawks!” tale, that I immediately went hunting for a copy of #4—which, amazingly, was still on sale at another store—and plunked down my thin dime for it, as well. From then on, I was a Maddict, to coin a phrase... but my happiest moments were reserved for parodies of the likes of Superman, Blackhawk, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Plastic Man—what Harvey Kurtzman (though I didn’t know then that he was the writer of every story in Mad) called in the latter tale, “that fast-dying race of freaks.”

The discontinued super-heroes Harvey Kurtzman mentioned in his lead-in to “Plastic Sam!” in Mad #14 (Aug. 1954) are The Flash, Sub-Mariner, and Captain Marvel (even if Harv put two “z’s” in the verb “Shazzamed”). This was certainly the first time those three characters (and, less directly, Plastic Man) had ever been mentioned in the same comic book! Russ Heath’s art followed Kurtzman’s layouts more closely than any other non-Kurtzman art that ever appeared in Mad. Interestingly, #14 also contained a Will Elderdrawn takeoff on another quasi-super-hero feature, Mandrake the Magician. From the Cochran hardcovers. [© 2004 E.C. Publications, Inc.]

And dying they were. By 1954 only the above-named costumed heroes and a few back-of-the-book super-types remained, and new ones like Captain 3-D were basically stillborn. The success of the Superman TV show starring George Reeves had spawned revivals at Timely/Atlas and Charlton, and even a few new super-heroes, but none would really make the cut until the new Flash streaked onto the scene in 1956. As a result, there were virtually no super-hero parodies in any of the many four-color Mad wannabes that had short runs between 1953-1955—not in all that litany of logos that made up a page in Mad #17 (Nov. 1954): Bughouse, Crazy, Eh!, Flip, Get Lost!, Madhouse, Panic, Riot, Wild, Whack, Nuts!—

The Golden Age of Parody Comics Lives Anew!

But wait! I said “virtually” above, because there was at least one bona fide super-hero spoof outside the pages of Mad during that period. It appeared in Nuts! #5 (also Nov. ’54), the final issue of that comic published by the Premiere Comics Group. What’s more, it was not only a lampoon of Captain Marvel—which perhaps inevitably bore a name nearly identical to Kurtzman’s version—but it was a pretty good parody.

for the earlier mag and became inventory when Mikeross Productions/New Comics folded as had so many other small companies in the aftermath of the Wertham/Kefauver bloodbath. When I contacted Mike recently about that parody (and about an extended Esposito interview Jim Amash is doing with him, also upcoming in A/E), the veteran inker positively ID’d the story as being his and Ross’ work; but he didn’t believe it had been left over from Get Lost! Mike informed me the writer of “Captain Marble Flies Again!” was one Yvonne Rae—who, he says, had done some writing for him and Ross on Get Lost! He added in an e-mail:

Small wonder, partly because, as we now know, the unsigned artists of “Captain Marble Flies Again!” were none other than penciler Ross Andru and inker Mike Esposito, two artistic partners whose MikeRoss Publications had produced the three issues of Get Lost! in the first half of 1954. (In Marvel’s Brand Echh #1 [Aug. 1967], Ross, Mike, and I would work together on the first super-hero satire I would write as a pro: “The Human Scorch versus The Sunk-Mariner,” a send-up of the Golden Age battles of the Torch and Namor. And in the mid-’70s I would arrange with Ross and Mike, both of whom by then were friends of mine, to reprint several fondlyremembered stories from Get Lost! in the short-lived Arrgh! parody comic I initiated for Marvel.)

“[Ross and I] left our publishing venture and picked up some freelance work from Yvonne Rae [of Premiere], with whom we worked on some of our projects. I believe she was the editor on the comic book. It was really great to see it again, and I would love to see the whole story printed out in your magazine. I’m sure there is no copyright at this point. That magazine went under around 1954.” So: In 1967’s Brand Echh #1 (the name wasn’t changed to Not Brand Echh till #5), writer Roy Thomas, penciler Ross Andru, and inker Mike Esposito—under his pseudonym “Mickey Demeo”—teamed up on a parody of the classic Human Torch/Sub-Mariner battles in early-’40s Timely Comics. On the final page, Chaplain America points the Human Scorch and Sunk-Mariner to an old-folks’ home, where they sit around with several other comics heroes. [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Getting back to “Captain Marble”: its art style always reminded me of stories in Get Lost! Still, I don’t recall ever asking Ross or Mike if they had drawn it, not when they came to parties at my Manhattan digs, or when Ross and I co-plotted #1 issues of Kull the Conqueror and Doc Savage, or when the three of us got together to kick around ideas for comic strips, or at the Friday poker games in which Mike and I were regulars for years. Over the decades, my prized copy of Nuts! #5 had gone lost (more likely, I sold or traded it, the more fool me); and I hadn’t seen it in years when I discussed it recently via e-mail with Ger Apeldoorn, a knowledgeable comics collector in the Netherlands—who, I hasten to add, is now writing a full-scale study of those 1950s color Mad clones for a near-future issue of Alter Ego. It was Ger who sent me art scans of the story. Ger and I wondered if, since Nuts! #5 appeared only four months after the final issue of Get Lost!, “Captain Marble” wasn’t maybe done

From 1961-65, comics stories were a mainstay of Alter Ego, Vol. 1: my own three-part parody “Bestest League of America,” followed by “Bestest League of America Meets Da Frantic Four” (the latter co-drawn by Grass Green)... two “Eclipse” tales by Ronn Foss... “Alter and Captain Ego” by Biljo White... and six previously-unprinted mid-1950s Mr. Tawny daily strips by Otto Binder and C.C. Beck. A/E, Vol. 2, in 199899, reprinted all 16 hero parodies that Len Brown, Art Spiegelman, Wally Wood, Gil Kane, and I had done for Topps Chewing Gum circa 1967.

And now, for the first time since that rare 1966 Eisner Spirit story back in our second issue, this third volume of A/E joins forces with P.C. Hamerlinck’s FCA to present a “comics section”—a six-page 1954 minor classic by Yvonne Rae, Ross Andru, and Mike Esposito, with a few lines of cogent commentary by Yours Truly at the bottom of each page, which may be of use to those readers not quite as conversant with the World’s Mightiest Mortal as P.C. and I are...!

Captain Marble Flies Again!

Great splash—even if Cap’s cape is colored yellow, instead of white, throughout the story. (Can anybody read that Germanic lettering in the splash panel?) Writer/editor Yvonne Rae did her research, since she parodies the name “Mr. Mind.” And, even as a kid, I appreciated the line about Billy and Cap’s secret identities: it never made sense to me that nobody ever noticed that one of the pair vanished amid lightning and the other appeared in the selfsame spot—not that that ever stopped me from enjoying a good “Captain Marvel” yarn! (Oh, and the Hoopers were the rating system that radio and TV lived and died by, before the Nielsens.) Incidentally, Jim Amash tells us that an episode of the 1940s/early-’50s Superman radio show featured a villain named Captain Marble. If so, d’you think someone there had a wicked sense of humor? [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

The Golden Age of Parody Comics Lives Anew!

More super-hero clichés parodied, including Superman’s changing in a phone booth. Intriguingly, the writer mentions (on purpose? by coincidence?) the Mad #4 version of Billy’s magic word—“Shazoom!”—as well as “Shmoo,” from Al Capp’s then-recent and ultra-popular creation in Li’l Abner. She even names all six “gods” whose initials make up the word “Shazam,” and uses that actual Fawcett word! (And, at age four or five, I really had thought the Fawcett hero’s name was Captain Marble—and that bullets bounced off him because he was made of marble!) [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

Captain Marble Flies Again!

Things do get a bit silly here, with a whole page devoted to Cap forgetting his super-powers, which has little to do with the basic story, though it does lampoon the fact that Captain Marvel often didn’t act as if he really possessed the wisdom of Solomon. Still, I did get a kick out of all the variations in the tale on the expression “Holy Moley!”—and Andru made a good decision in electing to emphasize Cap’s jutting chin visually. It did often seem the Cheese’s most prominent facial characteristic—along with his pug nose. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

The Golden Age of Parody Comics Lives Anew!

What can I say? The plot thickens... and what’re you doing reading all these dumb comments at the bottom of the pages instead of following the plot of the comics story? Hey, you think this is a college class or something? Long-Underwear Characters 101? Start looking at all the pictures and word balloons already, willya?... What? You still here? Jeez, what a dork!

Captain Marble Flies Again!

Amazingly, just as the actual word “Shazam!” is used, so is the name “Dr. Sivana.” Not “Savannah” like in Marv Wolfman’s Captain Marvel #22 in the early ’70s, or even “Sivanna,” whom I penciled into a Colan-drawn “Captain Marvin” spoof in 1968’s Not Brand Echh #9—but “Sivana”! Also: the gag construction in panels 3-4 is very much the kind of thing Harvey Kurtzman was doing in Mad at the time—though, admittedly, H.K.’s New York wise-ass way of writing gave his work even more panache.

The Golden Age of Parody Comics Lives Anew!

Me, I can forgive almost anything in a parody if it ends well—and the “half-change” gimmick here, since the “real” Billy Batson did often get interrupted halfway through saying “Shazam!,” is true to the material being satirized. Re-reading this story, I find myself wondering if my home for super-senior-citizens in Brand Echh #1 a decade-plus later might not have been inspired in part by panel 6 (in which the Superman takeoff is colored a disconcerting yellow-and-orange, though the Batman type’s hues are more accurate.) A Kurtzmanesque ending—even if Harvey never ended a Mad story in quite that way—to a fun tale. And kudos, just half a century late, to Yvonne Rae, Ross Andru, and Mike Esposito! Wish they’d done a few more!

Now—FLIP US for our Mike Sekowsky Section!

Edited by ROY THOMAS

DIGITAL

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

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ALTER EGO #4

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ALTER EGO #1

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ALTER EGO #3

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

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

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

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ALTER EGO #6

ALTER EGO #7

ALTER EGO #8

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

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

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

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

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

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ALTER EGO #9

ALTER EGO #10

ALTER EGO #11

ALTER EGO #12

ALTER EGO #13

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

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

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

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

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

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ALTER EGO #14

ALTER EGO #15

ALTER EGO #16

ALTER EGO #17

ALTER EGO #18

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

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

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

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

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

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ALTER EGO #19

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ALTER EGO #22

ALTER EGO #23

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

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

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

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

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

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

ALTER EGO #24

ALTER EGO #25

ALTER EGO #26

ALTER EGO #27

ALTER EGO #28

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

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

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

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

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

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

ALTER EGO #29

ALTER EGO #30

ALTER EGO #31

ALTER EGO #32

ALTER EGO #33

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ALTER EGO #34

ALTER EGO #35

ALTER EGO #36

ALTER EGO #37

ALTER EGO #38

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

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

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

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

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

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

ALTER EGO #39

ALTER EGO #40

ALTER EGO #41

ALTER EGO #42

ALTER EGO #43

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

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

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

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

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

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

ALTER EGO #44

ALTER EGO #45

ALTER EGO #46

ALTER EGO #47

ALTER EGO #48

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ALTER EGO #49

ALTER EGO #50

ALTER EGO #51

ALTER EGO #52

ALTER EGO #53

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ALTER EGO #54

ALTER EGO #55

ALTER EGO #56

ALTER EGO #57

ALTER EGO #58

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

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

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

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

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

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

ALTER EGO #59

ALTER EGO #60

ALTER EGO #61

ALTER EGO #62

ALTER EGO #63

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

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

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

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

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

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

ALTER EGO #64

ALTER EGO #65

ALTER EGO #66

ALTER EGO #67

ALTER EGO #68

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

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

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

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

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

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

ALTER EGO #69

ALTER EGO #70

ALTER EGO #71

ALTER EGO #72

ALTER EGO #73

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

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

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

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

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

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

ALTER EGO #74

ALTER EGO #75

ALTER EGO #76

ALTER EGO #77

ALTER EGO #78

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

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

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

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

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

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

ALTER EGO #79

ALTER EGO #80

ALTER EGO #81

ALTER EGO #82

ALTER EGO #83

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

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

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

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

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

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

ALTER EGO #84

ALTER EGO #85

ALTER EGO #86

ALTER EGO #87

ALTER EGO #88

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

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

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

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

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

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

ALTER EGO #89

ALTER EGO #90

ALTER EGO #91

ALTER EGO #92

ALTER EGO #93

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ALTER EGO #94

ALTER EGO #95

ALTER EGO #96

ALTER EGO #97

ALTER EGO #98

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

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

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

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

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

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

ALTER EGO: CENTENNIAL (AE #100)

ALTER EGO #99

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

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

ALTER EGO #101

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

NEW!

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

ALTER EGO #102

ALTER EGO #103

ALTER EGO #104

ALTER EGO: THE CBA COLLECTION

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

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

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

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

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

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

HUMOR MAGAZINES (BUNDLE ALL THREE FOR JUST $14.95)

ALTER EGO:

BEST OF THE LEGENDARY COMICS FANZINE

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

COMIC BOOK NERD

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

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

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

DIEDGITIIOTANSL E

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