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

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

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

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THE BEST IN COMICS AND LEGO MAGAZINES!

ALTER EGO #105

ALTER EGO #106

ALTER EGO #107

ALTER EGO #108

DRAW! #22

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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KIRBY COLLECTOR #59

BRICKJOURNAL #17

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

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

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

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

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™

Volume 3, No. 3 Winter 1999/2000 Editor

Contents

Roy Thomas

Associate Editor

With One Magic Word (Well… Maybe Two). . . . . 2

Bill Schelly

Design & Layout

Writer/Editorial celebrating the 60th anniversary of the World’s Mightiest Mortal

Jon B. Cooke/ GREAT SWAMP GRAPHICS

“Let Their Past Be Their Past!” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Consulting Editors

Alex Ross on the Shazam! series that almost was—with more unpublished art than you can shake a lightning bolt at!

John Morrow Jon B. Cooke

Captain Marvel’s Mouthpiece. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Mr. Monster introduces a little-known 1953 interview with Fawcett’s greatest writer, Otto Binder! (With afterwords by Michael T. Gilbert and Roy Thomas)

FCA Editor P.C. Hamerlinck

The Cheese Stands Accused . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Contributing Editor Michael T. Gilbert

Legal eagle Bob Ingersoll’s guided tour of the decade-long courtroom battle between Captain Marvel and You-know-who!

Editors Emeritus

“The Power of Jerry Ordway!” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Jerry G. Bails, Ronn Foss, Biljo White, Mike Friedrich

Rare and unpublished art from DC’s acclaimed Shazam! series of the 1990s— with commentary by Jerry himself!

Cover Artists

FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America) #62 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Alex Ross, Bill Everett (w/Carl Burgos)

Cover Color Alex Ross, Tom Ziuko

Mailing Crew

P.C. Hamerlinck presents a double-size edition of FCA!

“We Didn’t Know... It Was the Golden Age!” (FCA) . . . . . . . 30 The latest installment of artist Marc Swayze’s tales of the 1940s—from C.C. Beck to Bing Crosby to the Copacabana!

Russ Garwood, D. Hambone, Glen Musial, Ed Stelli, Pat Varker

The Real Captain Marvel (FCA) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

And Special Thanks to:

The Jack Binder Shop Days (FCA) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Illustrated essay by Cap’s co-creator, Charles Clarence Beck!

Interview with artist Nat Champlin about the famous comic shop (no, not that kind) that created art and stories for Fawcett!

Marty Arbunich

Glen Johnson

Dick Ayers

Gil Kane

Mike W. Barr

Jon B. Knutson

Dennis Beaulieu

G.B. Love

Blake Bell

Albert Moy

An art-studded photo-essay, courtesy of editor Ginny Provisiero, of her decade as a Golden Age editor!

Howard Bender

Dave Manak

Marvel (Family) Memories... and Kurt Schaffenberger (FCA) . . . 46

Jerry Boyd

Gregory Mahfuz

Jack Burnley

Ginny Provisiero

Dave Hunt writes about his friendship with the artist who was equally at home with Captain Marvel and with Lois Lane!

Bill DuBay

John Adkins Richardson

Special Marvel Mystery Comics Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . Flip Us!

Nat & Mildred Champlin

Alex Ross

Jerry DeFuccio

Marie Severin

Helen de la Ree

Joe Simon

Steve Ditko

Robin Snyder

Wendy Everett

Marc Swayze

Keif Fromm

Kurt Schaffenberger

Ron Goulart Martin L. Greim Ron Harris Dave Hunt

Kathy Voglesong Mike Vosburg Len Wein

“My Years with Fawcett Were Happy Years!” (FCA) . . . . . . . . 42

Our thunderstruck thanks to Alex Ross for giving us permission to print his powerful yet humorous illustration of Captain Marvel and his unfortunate sparring partners as our main cover this time. This artwork has never before been printed in color; even the black-&-white version has not been widely seen. As for who those guys are that Cap just mopped up the floor with: We’ll swear on a stack of Whiz Comics that we never saw any of ’em before in our lives! [All characters ©1999 their respective copyright holders.] Alter EgoTM is published quarterly 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@oburg.net. Send subscription funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial offices. Single issues: $5.95 ($7.00 Canada, $9.00 elsewhere). Four-issue subscriptions: $20 US, $27 Canada, $37 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. Alter and Captain Ego ©1999 Biljo White. Aquaman, Billy Batson, Bizarro, Bulletgirl, Bulletman, Captain Marvel, Captain Marvel Junior, Hoppy the Marvel Bunny, Mary Marvel, Captain Nazi, Ibis, Isis, Justice League of America, King Kull, Lobo, Mr. Scarlet, Pinky, Robin, Sandman, Shazam, Sivana, Spy Smasher, Superboy, Superman, Taia, Wonder Woman ©1999 DC Comics Inc.; Angel, Bucky, Captain America, Daredevil, Defender, Dr. Doom, Dr. Strange, Fantastic Four, Fin, Ghost Rider, Georgie, Hulk, Human Torch, Iron Man, Jimmy Jupiter, Marvel Boy, Namorita, Patriot, Prince Byrrah, Punisher, Rockman, Spider-Man, Sub-Mariner, Super Rabbit, Terry Vance, Thing, Toro, Vagabond, Venom, Venus, Vision, Whizzer, Wolverine ©1999 Marvel Characters, Inc.; Wonder Man ©1999 Bruns Publishing; Little Ug-Li, Trudy ©1999 Marc D. Swayze. Mr. Monster © Michael T. Gilbert. Nyoka ©1999 Bill Black. Miracleman, Spawn © Todd McFarlane Productions, Inc. Predator, Pinhead © their respective copyright holders. Printed in Canada. FIRST PRINTING

Writer/Editorial

With One Magic Word

(Well... Maybe Two!)

his edition of Alter Ego is the Marvel issue—in more ways than one!

heroes of Fawcett Comics, with at least twenty pages in that issue going to FCA itself.

For, as year, century, and millennium all draw to a close in a dead heat, 1999 represents the sixtieth anniversary of several epochal events, at least in comic book terms.

Looking at A/E V3#3, I doubt if Paul will find much to complain about, for Captain Marvel and company have take over exactly 50% of the issue, and the FCA section runs a score of pages!

Some of these, such as the creation by Bob Kane and Bill Finger of Batman, have already been widely celebrated—in A/E Vol. 2, #5, piggybacked with Comic Book Artist #5, among many other places.

And what pages they are! I was as thrilled as any reader could be when Paul’s package arrived bearing photos of two Fawcett stalwarts who meant a lot to me both personally and professionally (Otto Binder and Wendell Crowley), as well as images of many another Fawcett regular. I was filled with regret both because I couldn’t be at the party celebrating Ginny Provisiero’s ten years as a Fawcett editor in 1953—and because I knew, as she and the other party-goers could not, that there would never be even an eleventh anniversary party. My ever-abiding interest in the Second World War was stirred by Marc Swayze’s always wellwritten reminiscences. (Marc is one of the greatest treasures in FCA, Alter Ego, or any other magazine about comics!)

Of arguably equal importance, however, was the debut in mid-1939 (with October or November cover dates, in different editions) of Marvel Comics #1, which with its second issue became Marvel Mystery Comics—no apparent relation to Marvel Mystery Oil—and would I love to learn how that automotive product got its name! Only a couple of months later— certainly no later than autumn of ’39—came the equally explosive origin of Captain Marvel in the first issue of Whiz Comics (even though the indicia said “#2,” and the numbering wasn’t straightened out until #5). The combination of Captain Marvel and the heroes who debuted in Marvel Comics #1 (The Human Torch and The Sub-Mariner, who else?) were to challenge National/ DC’s leadership of the field for the rest of the decade, even if DC eventually came out the winner, with the aid of an army of lawyers and ever-changing public tastes.

This issue’s format likewise finally gave me a chance to reprint a splendid little 1953 newspaper interview with my friend and mentor Otto Binder—and to gain additional insights about it from Michael T. Gilbert, and even the interviewer’s gracious widow.

The “Flip Section” of this issue of A/E deals with Namor, Torch, and their creators and successors. Let’s talk for just a minute about Captain Marvel.

No magic word—the kid just put on a mask! One of many comic book characters partly inspired by Captain Marvel was the super-hero called Alter Ego (see here with his young alter ego, Rob Lindsay), published by First Comics in 1986. This Ron Harris art is an early conceptual drawing of the heroes who have become two of our new mag's marvelous mascots.[Alter Ego hero and Rob Lindsay ©1999 Roy Thomas & Ron Harris.]

I say “just a minute” since I’m determined that this writer/editorial take up no more than a page, even with an illustration on it—because there’s so much Cap-related excitement crammed into this issue that even our new 100-page size (achieved unheralded last time with V3#2) can barely contain it.

When FCA editor/publisher P.C. Hamerlinck suggested that his magazine become a regular part of A/E, rather than let previously-seen FCA articles and art be reprinted in these pages, I promised him that no less than one out of every four issues would be 50% devoted to the

And of course it was the icing on the four-color cake to find myself able to present rare, often never-published Shazam! artwork by Alex Ross and Jerry Ordway, two of the most talented artists on the comic book scene today.

Enough! Turn the page and prepare to enter the wondrous universe of the World’s Mightiest Mortal—spanning an era from 1939 until the day after tomorrow!

“Let Their Past Be Their Past!” Alex Ross Conducts a Walking Tour of His Early-’90s Marvel Family Project—Revealing Awesome, Previously-unglimpsed Work! by Roy Thomas

lex Ross is, of course, one of the true phenomena on the contemporary comics scene—perhaps the one artist who has successfully married the super-hero and the art of painted storytelling (as opposed to merely covers).

I personally, for instance, am far from convinced that paintings and comics of any kind are generally a good marriage; the two often seem to me as if they are merely staying together “for the sake of the kids.” But when Alex Ross does it, it works. Thus, when FCA editor P.C. Hamerlinck and I were discussing possibilities for the first Captain Marvel-related cover on an issue of Alter Ego, Vol. 3, and Paul said he thought Alex Ross (whom I have

The Marvel Family— Cap, Mary, and Jr.— as visualized in 1991 by Alex Ross. See text on following pages for whom he used as models for this thunderous trio. [Art ©1999 Alex Ross; Marvel Family ©1999 DC Comics Inc.]

“Let Their Past Be Their Past!”

never met, so far as I know) might have some Cap color art, my ears perked up. Paul told me Ross had been working on a Shazam! project in the early 1990s, while Jerry Ordway was preparing his own then-future (and recently cancelled) DC series starring the Big Red Cheese. Paul had been given permission to utilize one such painting as the cover of FCA #59, and one or two of Alex’s preliminary line-drawings had been printed in a Midwestern comic shop’s catalog—but that was about it. Soon I was speaking by phone with Alex Ross, who was gracious, friendly, and encouraging. He even sent me unpublished artwork of the Fawcett heroes which he had done at that time. Alex also agreed to talk with me about his abortive project. Unfortunately, I was unable to utilize my tape recorder that day, so I had to resort to taking notes. Still, I hope I caught enough of what he had to say to prove of interest to readers of A/E and FCA.

Thus, without further ado, A/E presents the Shazam! art of Alex Ross, with commentary by Alex as quoted and paraphrased by Yours Truly: Circa 1991-1992, while waiting for approval by Marvel of the Marvels series he and Kurt Busiek had proposed, Alex took a look at DC’s heroes, to see which ones he might especially like to draw and paint. He almost immediately thought, he says, of the Marvel Family, which at that time hadn’t been around in a regular series for several years. He knew, naturally, that fellow artist Jerry Ordway had begun work on his Shazam! graphic novel. In fact, pieces of art from it had been shown at comics conventions for some time. But the graphic novel still seemed far from completion, so Alex began work on his own version of the mighty Marvels of comics’ Golden Age.

Alex Ross on His Marvel Family Project

Alex’s idea, which had no connection whatever with Ordway’s, was for a limited series— a reintroduction and revamping of old stories and themes—“enriching the original stories,” as he phrased it to me on the phone on October 6, 1999. He didn’t particularly want it to be “a ’90s book.” When it came to people to use as models for his version of the Marvel Family: Having read in the 1970s tabloid-size reprint of Whiz Comics #2 about how Captain Marvel himself might have been based on young Fred MacMurray (who already by

1939 had costarred in films with Carole Lombard, Bing Crosby, and other top talent), Alex used that affable-appearing actor as the model for his Cap. (Though it’s long since been known that the infamous movie dream sequence of Fred MacMurray flying came out well after Whiz #2 went on sale in autumn of ’39, he might still have been utilized by original artist C.C. Beck as the basis of Cap’s face. But was he?)

“Let Their Past Be Their Past!”

For Mary Marvel’s “look” he chose supermodel Kathy Ireland, who had what Alex saw as “a classic Captain Marvel type face, with upturned nose and strong jaw, and thick, dramatically-arched eyebrows” as if she could well be related to his version of the World’s Mightiest Mortal.

Alex Ross on His Marvel Family Project He felt that Michael Gray, who had played Billy Batson on the Shazam! TV show in the ’70s, had always looked to him like Freddy Freeman, so he used him as the basis for his Captain Marvel Jr.

“Let Their Past Be Their Past!”

Musing that perhaps the Marvels should be re-designed for a new audience, after the failure of their 1970s revival series, Alex “played around with their costumes.” He thus veered off in several “different directions” while designing their colorful garb. For instance, he felt Mary’s skirt dated her, so he gave his version a “tunic one-piece,” which he felt was a “more timeless” approach. He believed Mary Marvel would work well in this “sexier, older, updated version.” Art ©1999 Alex Ross. Mary Marvel ©1999 DC Comics, Inc.

“If I could work in a sense of the Egyptian roots of the Shazam mythos— as if Captain Marvel were of Egyptian descent,” he says, he felt he would improve the uniqueness of the characters, further differentiating them from Superman and other super-heroes. He even tried a bandaged, “mummified” look for one version of Captain Marvel Jr., as a way to keep Junior’s blue from becoming too “dominating.” He was, as he says, “looking for something different.” “In retrospect,” however, he says he found that, especially in conjunction with Cap Jr., “all the tinkering was pretty much unsatisfactory, so I went back to the Mac Raboy look.” This meant that Cap Jr. would look only twelve or thirteen years old, as he had in the early, Mac Raboy-drawn Captain Marvel Jr. stories. (In the late ’40s and after, a period with which Alex was less familiar, artists such as Ben Thompson drew Jr. looking in mid- or even upper-teens.) “It’s tough,” he says, “to make the old super-heroes look like they belong in the ’90s.” He feels, for instance, that “the Golden-Age Robin doesn’t work today,” though it worked for the “more innocent” 1940s. He found the Raboy version of Junior “tough enough”— a kid, but one with “phenomenal powers.” Art ©1999 Alex Ross. Captain Marvel Jr.©1999 DC Comics, Inc.

Alex Ross on His Indeed, Alex would like one day to paint a cover with the feel of a classic Raboy cover of Master Comics or Captain Marvel Jr. from the early-to-mid-1940s. He prepared these two pencil roughs as an experiment.

Marvel Family Project

In the case of Cap, he remembered the button flap on his costume in the earliest issues of Whiz, and wanted to bring that back. In some drawings he gave Cap “a slight ponytail and/or high boots.”

He also felt then—and feels just as strongly now—that the trimming of the Marvels’ costumes should look as though they are “made of gold.” He wanted to “leave yellow behind—make the costume red and gold, and much more realistic.” (Of course, the Fawcett comics never said Cap’s costume was trimmed in “yellow”; that was merely the closest comic book coloring could come to “gold” in those days. Indeed, there was evidently much more of a “golden” look to the trimming in the black-&-white 1941 Adventures of Captain Marvel movie serial starring Tom Tyler [see circle inset above].) Art ©1999 Alex Ross. The Marvel Family ©1999 DC Comics, Inc.

“Let Their Past Be Their Past!” Ross worked out a justification for the relative size of the three members of the Marvel Family: “This was my estimation of all three characters seen at their mature height, when they’re in their transformed forms... so it showed a difference of thought [about] the classic form, where Billy changed into an adult, and they didn’t. Captain Marvel got to be 6'3"-6'4"—but Junior and Mary, though the same age, are simply less tall.” Alex also feels that, when brought back in the early ’70s, Billy should have been seen to have “grown up in the meantime”—i.e., since the cancellation of the Fawcett comics line in 1953. He felt things would have worked better with the Marvel Family if DC had “let their past be their past.” “Don’t nullify it,” he says, but treat their 1940s-50s stories as things that had happened to them, years before. The 1970s Shazam! TV show had been Alex’s first exposure to Captain Marvel, followed by DC’s Shazam! comic with its reprints of Fawcett material. He liked both of them, and understood from the start that Cap had longago origins.

Alex wanted to start out with Shazam as a “young wizard, like the Champion character [that writer E. Nelson Bridwell and artist Don Newton] created for the Shazam! book, then show Shazam’s evolution. Basically, the wizard would be ‘a Marvel himself!’” Here’s Ross’ idea of what the first cover of his series should have looked like—old Shazam superimposed over a figure of Captain Marvel. (And one of these days, we plan with his permission to reproduce it in color, just the way it was rendered!) Art ©1999 Alex Ross. Captain Marvel, Shazam ©1999 DC Comics, Inc.

Alex Ross on His Marvel Family Project

Since both hero Bulletman and villain Captain Nazi were parts of the origin of Captain Marvel Jr. in Master Comics #21 (Dec. 1941), Alex wanted to find a way to include them in his vision, as well. In fact, as can be seen from these two prelims of a re-working of that famous Master cover, it’s one of those he’d like to paint in his own style. He did a modest redesign of Bulletman, influenced somewhat by the G.I. Joe-related “Bulletman, the Human Bullet” doll which appeared in the 1970s—and which was advertised in Marvel and DC comics. That Bulletman had had silver arms as well as a silver headpiece. Alex liked Bulletman’s jodhpurs and high boots, so he kept those.

Captain Nazi, to Alex, “looks like Marvelman, the character who was published in America as Miracleman.” Alex had just finished reading some Miracleman comics and wanted to do a send-up of it. He wanted to show that Captain Marvel was “completely different from what Miracleman would do in a situation written by Alan Moore”—that Cap had “strength of character.” He confesses that concept was meant as “a sort of slam” at Miracleman. In fact, early in the Kingdom Come graphic novel he did later with writer Mark Waid, Ross put Superman in the same sort of situation that Miracleman had once gotten into—“but,” he says, “Captain Marvel would never have ripped Kid Miracleman’s head from his shoulders” as Miracleman did there. That was more Captain Nazi’s style!

“Let Their Past Be Their Past!”

Alex feels that, if an artist like Neal Adams had been hired to draw one of the various “re-starts” of the Shazam! book, either in the early 1970s or afterward (such as the Shazam! A New Beginning four-issue series This Writer did in 1986), it “would have worked,” and “been better than trying to capture the old feeling.” Captain Marvel fans, of course, have been arguing this point ever since the 1970s, with some aficionados of the original C.C. Beck version condemning the ones done in later years by Rich Buckler, Alan Weiss, John Byrne, Tom Mandrake, and even Don Newton. Such fans have taken a similar tack toward the stories, whenever they get less “whimsical” and more “mainstream” than the classic Otto Binder approach of the 1940s.

(Note that here Captain Marvel Jr. has a black lightning bolt on his chest. Alex figures this was “just an experiment”; he doesn’t specifically remember the black bolt.)

Although Jerry Ordway’s graphic novel and follow-up series were long a-borning, Alex says he eventually realized that, under DC’s policy, Jerry’s work would have “priority,” and his own series, if done, would have had to fall in line with what was done there. Alex understood the policy and appreciated Jerry’s work, but preferred to let his own project lapse. Today, however, with Ordway’s acclaimed Shazam! series a thing of the (recent) past after nearly fifty issues, Alex has revived talks with DC about doing his own take on the Marvel Family, in one format or another. But until (and unless) that becomes a reality, we have these exquisite pieces of artwork to ponder. Shazam!

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt presents—Captain Marvel’s Mouthpiece!

The layout of this February 7, 1953 article from the Bergen Evening Record Week-end Magazine Section has been slightly rearranged to fit our format. Nothing has been omitted. [Captain Marvel ©1999 DC Comics, Inc.]

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt presents—

Left: “From Binder’s script, later edited, the artist draws this page for the current issue of Captain Marvel.”

Captain Marvel’s Mouthpiece!

Afterword by Michael T. Gilbert When Roy Thomas originally brought “Captain Marvel’s Mouthpiece” to my attention, it really caught me by surprise. Intelligent media coverage on the comic book field is always hard to find—but it was almost unheard-of in the 1950s. 1953 in particular was the apex of anti-comic-book sentiment, fueled by the half-truths and misinformation of Dr. Fredric Wertham’s best-selling book The Seduction of the Innocent. Having taken the good doctor’s anti-comics screed at face value, the public at large was far more likely to burn a comic than to praise it. Therefore it was almost shocking to find a newspaper story from 1953 that not only gave a positive spin to the field, but actually got the facts right. “Captain Marvel’s Mouthpiece” does that, while Otto’s rocket icon providing a few extra surprises along the way.

as it appeared on his personal letterhead.

The surprises start in the first paragraph, with the listing of Otto Binder’s exact home address. I don’t know how common this breach of privacy was in the early ’50s, but it would be unheard-of today. Maybe times were a little more innocent back then! Later the writer also names some of Binder’s fellow Captain Marvel cronies and their hometowns. I was surprised to discover that many of the Fawcett staff were friends and neighbors. Such personal tidbits gave the story—and the company—a warm, human feel. It’s nice to think of C.C. Beck, Bill Ward, or Kurt Schaffenberger stopping by Otto’s place to play cards or share a beer. (And even if the author did leave the “c” out of Schaffenberger’s name, I can forgive him. After all, Schaffenberger’s a lot harder to spell than Ward, Beck, or Binder!) Spelling aside, “Captain Marvel’s Mouthpiece” provides an accurate snapshot of the comic field circa 1953. Binder discusses his work methods, his weekly commutes to the city to meet with his editor, etc. Also, rather than ignoring the comics controversy brewing at the time, the article tackles it head-on. To his credit, Binder addresses the subject and makes a convincing defense of the comics industry.

The author of the article, Gerry de la Ree, was a sports writer for the Bergen Evening Record. According to Jerry Bails’ indispensable Who’s Who of American Comic Books, de la Ree was also briefly employed doing fillers for Fawcett Publications in 1941. Perhaps that’s where he first met Otto Binder. In any case, his knowledge of the field—and of Captain Marvel specifically—made him the perfect interviewer. In later years de la Ree eventually retired from the paper and went on to edit collections of science-fiction art, including two Virgil Finley books in the 1970s. Reading “Captain Marvel’s Mouthpiece” almost fifty years after the fact, I was struck by a couple of sad ironies. The story originally appeared in the Bergen Evening Record’s Week-end Magazine section on February 7, 1953. At the time, Fawcett (and Captain Marvel) were still flying high. By the end of that same year, the company’s comics line crashed—a victim of declining sales (thank you, Dr. Wertham!) and a protracted lawsuit with arch-rival DC. In late 1953 the final comic featuring Captain Marvel hit the stands, and a wonderful era ended. Otto survived, however, working first for EC Comics, and later (irony of ironies!) for DC. If only he knew!

A late-1940s or early ’50s comic-size Christmas card. Otto said this was a “sample of the yearly Xmas greeting Fawcetts sent to their `family of artists and writers.’ The names are those of editors of various books—Crowley, the Marvel group— Mercedes Shull, the Marvels, romance, westerns—Roy Ald, romance, westerns—Ginny, all types as a general editor’s aide—Bob, fix-up artist—The others, various aides in the comics production set-up. This represents I think the major staff during the years from 1942-50, with several names left out for some unknown reason....” [Marvel Family characters ©1999 DC Comics Inc.; Nyoka ©1999 Bill Black; Captain Midnight ©1999 Ovaltine.]

Sadder still was the fate of Binder’s four-month-old daughter Mary, mentioned in the article. In 1967, 15-year-old Mary was killed by a car backing out of a parking lot. Otto never fully recovered from his loss.

Throughout his career, he alternated between scripting comics and writing popular science-fiction novels. When Mary was born, Otto named his daughter after Mary Marvel. After daughter Mary’s death, the comics he wrote became a sad reminder of his loss. As a result, Binder quit the field in 1969, spending his remaining years writing science-fiction novels and science-fact articles. He died in 1974, leaving behind a legacy of warm, memorable stories. [One final note: We’re always looking for rare and unusual comic book articles from the Golden and Silver Ages. If you have any you’d like to share with us, please send copies to: Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt, P.O. Box 11421, Eugene, OR 97440. Thanks!] This vignette of Otto Binder surrounded by his Captain Marvel Adventures and Marvel Family comics appeared in the preceding article.

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt presents—

...And a Post-Fawcett Footnote From Ye Editor Some pieces just don’t seem to want to end nicely and neatly, and this section on “Captain Marvel’s Mouthpiece” is one of them. First, I feel I should expand slightly upon the way I came in possession of the newspaper article. I was sent it by Otto Binder himself, in 1963 or ’64, at approximately the same time he mailed me a mountain of other material—including numerous photos, unpublished Fawcett scripts and synopses; samples by C.C. Beck and himself of daily comic strips featuring Mr. Tawky Tawny (the talking tiger from later Captain Marvel stories) and two other humorous heroes; undrawn scripts for one or two daily strip ideas of his; copies of some Superman daily strips he had written (drawn by Curt Swan, I believe); etc. (See the 1997 Best of Alter Ego trade paperback, now virtually out of print, for some of the photos and synopses, as well as the daily Mr. Tawny strips.) Originally I planned for the newspaper interview to be reprinted in FCA, but when I re-launched Alter Ego, P.C. Hamerlinck generously released me from my obligation. And when Michael T. Gilbert said he’d love to feature the article in his “Comic Crypt” segment of A/E, I figured, why not? Michael became intrigued by the article, and decided to try to track down Gerry de la Ree. When he got hold of a phone number, however, he suggested I make the call instead; so I did. I wound up having a very pleasant conversation with Mrs. Helen de la Ree, who unfortunately informed me that Gerry had passed away in the past year or so. I sent her a copy of Alter Ego Vol. 3, #1, and shortly afterward received the following e-mail, which I think may be of interest:

How did he get in here? After the untimely demise of Captain Marvel, Otto wrote for DC for the first time. By 1958 he was scripting the Superman comic strip, which was drawn by Curt Swan (though credited to Wayne Boring). Superman ©1999 DC Comics, Inc.

—Captain Marvel’s Mouthpiece!

Advertise In Alter Ego!

Dear Mr. Thomas: Upon my return from a rare trip out of town, I found Alter Ego awaiting me. Thank you so much for sending it. It seems quite informative for those who are interested in the comic field…. I am very pleased that you will reprint my late husband’s article about Otto Binder. We were friends of Otto and Ione [Otto’s wife, also long deceased], who were very friendly and warm people. I am so sorry that tragedy tore their lives asunder. Gerry wasn’t a big fan of comics and was only interested in them for their relationship to his first love, sciencefiction and fantasy. It was his association with Manly Wade Wellman that gave Gerry the opportunity to write the Capt. Marvel yarns. They both lived in Westwood, NJ, and became acquainted. Helen de la Ree To bring things full circle, Paul Hamerlinck and/or I hope to talk further with Mrs. de la Ree soon, to see if she has any memories of Fawcett Publications in the 1940s that she’d care to share with us in a future issue. Meanwhile, this 1953 interview with Otto Binder remains precisely what Michael says it is: intelligent, giving a positive spin to the thenbeleaguered comic book field, and getting its facts right. You can’t hardly get that kind no more... and never could.

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The Cheese Stands Accused!

The Cheese Stands Accused! A Look at the Superman/Captain Marvel Litigation by Bob Ingersoll

I. IT’S A WONDER, MAN! If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and flattery will get you nowhere, then there was a time when Superman was going nowhere fast. Soon after that first day in 1938 when the Man of Tomorrow appeared in Action Comics #1 and reshaped an industry in his image, everybody was scrambling to be the first to be second. Every comic book company wanted to put out its own version of Superman. The winner of this rather dubious derby was Bruns Publishing. Bruns had a comic book division known as Fox Comics, after publisher Victor Fox, and in May of 1939 Fox Comics released Wonder Comics #1, a magazine which featured the first appearance of Wonder Man. (The artist of Wonder Man was one “Will Rensie,” a name that should be familiar to all, even without resorting to a road trip to Mr. Mxyzptlk’s Fifth Dimensional land of Zrrrf. In other words, spell the last name backward, dummy.) Wonder Man was a colorful hero who had a civilian secret identity; wore a skintight costume under his street clothes; had super-strength, super-speed, flight (or something very close to it), and invulnerability; and tended to rip open steel doors, bounce bullets off his chest, leap between buildings, and generally make the world safe for the girl next door.

The most important attribute of Wonder Man for our purposes was that Harry Donenfeld, head honcho at Superman’s publisher Detective Comics, Inc., thought he bore too great a resemblance to Superman. In fact, Detective Comics, Inc., did more than simply notice a similarity between Wonder Man and Superman; they filed a lawsuit in the federal district court in New York City against Bruns Publishing, claiming that Bruns and Wonder Man infringed on the copyrights that DC had in Superman. The battle between these publishing houses was fought in the district trial

Kurt Schaffenberger, who’s drawn them both, tries to play peacemaker between Cap and Supes. This special illo originally appeared in The Comic Crusader #15, 1973. [With special thanks to Martin L. Greim. Art ©1999 Kurt Schaffenberger; Captain Marvel and Superman ©1999 DC Comics Inc.]

court and, well, to make a long story (as civil trials are wont to be) short, Detective Comics won. The judge ruled that Bruns and Wonder Man did indeed infringe on the Superman copyright. Of course, that didn’t end the war; Bruns appealed the trial court’s decision to the United States Court of Appeal for the Second Circuit. The decision of that case was written by Judge August Hand—and yes, that really was his name—and can be found in Volume 111 of the Federal Reporter, Second Edition, page 432. For those of you familiar with the legal profession’s shorthand form for case-citing, that would be Detective Comics, Inc., vs. Bruns, 111 F. 2d. 432 (2nd. Cir., 1940). Those of you unfamiliar with legal case-citing should remember what I just said; it will turn up again. In his decision Judge Hand acknowledged Bruns’ defense that Superman was based on the Hercules myth, that of a benevolent man of great strength who used his abilities for good, but disagreed with Bruns’ second point, that because Wonder Man was based on the same myths, he didn’t duplicate Superman. Judge Hand ruled that, despite Superman’s and Wonder Man’s joint classic origins, Superman’s stories were arrangements of incidents and literary expressions which were original and properly copyrightable. He found that incidents in Wonder Man’s stories were so similar to incidents in the copyrighted Superman stories that the Wonder Man stories infringed on the copyrights of DC’s Superman stories. Indeed, the major difference Judge Hand found between Superman

The Cheese Stands Accused!

21 did, in fact, infringe on Superman’s copyright.

and Wonder Man was that Superman’s skintight costume was mainly blue and red, while Wonder Man’s was red and yellow. As a result of Judge Hand’s ruling, Bruns Publishing could not publish any more stories which infringed on Superman’s copyright: in other words, stories in which Wonder Man did basically the same sort of thing that Superman did. Given that all Wonder Man could do was basically the same sort of thing that Superman did, that particular restriction was impossible to follow, and Wonder Man was seen no more. (Well, the Bruns Wonder Man, anyway; let’s leave Marvel’s Simon Williams out of this.)

I’ll have to accept Judge Hand’s ruling. I’ve never seen the only published Wonder Man story, so I can’t really say if he infringed on Superman’s copyright. I don’t suppose anyone of you out there would want to send me your copy of Wonder Comics #1 so I could compare? Remember, I ask this in the name of journalistic fairness, so the First Amendment commands your compliance. (Of course, I know the First Amendment doesn’t say anything of the sort, Roy. Mind your own business! I’m trying to score a $13,000 freebie here.)

II. A WHIZ OF A LAWSUIT Still, Detective Comics’ success against Bruns, Fox, and Wonder Man didn’t stop other publishers from releasing comic books with characters which DC thought were too similar to Superman. In 1940 Fawcett Publishing released Whiz Comics, which featured the Big Red Cheese—good old Fred MacMurray in skintights himself— Captain Marvel. National Comics Publications, which is what Detective Comics, Inc., was called later, thought that Captain Marvel, too, infringed on its copyrights. Buoyed by its success against Bruns, National sued Fawcett in federal district court. National’s claim against Fawcett was the same as it had been against Bruns: that Captain Marvel was, in costume, powers, appearance, and storylines, a clone of Superman. (Of course, they didn’t say “clone.”) This turned out to be a long, hard-fought lawsuit, which dragged on from the 1940s into the mid-’50s. The fact that for much of that time Captain Marvel was more popular than Superman probably didn’t help either side in trying to reach an out-of-court settlement, either. Most comics historians will tell you the suit finally ended when Fawcett signed an agreement to cease publishing Captain Marvel and his entire multi-specied family. Thus, most feel that the suit never came to a definitive conclusion. This is not exactly true. Although the case was settled out of court before a final resolution could be reached, what that resolution would have been was a foregone conclusion. What many comic historians don’t realize or remember is that in 1950, after a lengthy trial, the judge ruled that Captain Marvel

The trial judge cited Judge August Hand’s ruling in the Wonder Man case to hold that in overall concept and execution, Captain Marvel was so similar to Superman that his stories infringed on Superman’s copyright. The judge cited the same type of similarities in costume, appearance, powers, and actions as were listed in the Wonder case, as well as other points of interest, such as the facts that both Superman and Captain Marvel had as a recurring antagonist a bald mad scientist bent on conquering the world, both were reporters, and there was testimony from some Fawcett employees that they had been ordered to imitate Superman.

(Yes, I know that other Fawcett employees vehemently denied that they were ordered to imitate Superman, and even testified that they were ordered not even to look at Superman stories so as to avoid the possibility of unconscious imitation. Still, the fact remains that the original court opinion does mention the testimony of some employees who said they were ordered to imitate Superman. As I wasn’t there in that courtroom during the trial and doubt very much that any of you were, either, I’ll have to rely on the judge’s opinion as to what the testimony was and believe that at least some of the Fawcett employees testified that they copied Superman.) However, despite the fact that the trial judge ruled that Captain Marvel infringed on Superman’s copyright, Fawcett still won the trial! Why? Well, Fawcett had a two-pronged defense. It argued, first, that it did not infringe on the Superman copyright, and second, it argued in the alternative that even if it did violate the Superman copyright, National had abandoned its copyright on Superman and thus couldn’t enforce it in a court of law. (Yes, we lawyers do that sort of thing all the time—advance two contradictions simultaneously and with a straight face. It’s the second most useful thing they teach in law school, right after how to hide one’s bill-padding.) The basis for Fawcett’s argument that National had abandoned the Superman copyright was the Superman comic strip. In the 1940s National licensed the rights to a Superman newspaper strip to the McClure Syndicate. These strips were to be copyrighted under the McClure Syndicate initially, but would revert to National after six months. A Ronn Foss fanzine cartoon from The Under the license McClure Comicollector #8, Nov. 1962. In early comics produced several years’ fandom, the long-absent, “DC-abused” Cap worth of a Superman was a cause celebre. [©1999 Ronn Foss] comic strip.

The Cheese Stands Accused! in—and you remember how to read that legal case-cite form, don’t you; I warned you it was coming again—National Comics Publications vs. Fawcett Publishing, 191 F. 2d. 594 (2nd Cir., 1954).

The trial court felt that this agreement went beyond the boundaries of a simple licensing agreement, and that DC and McClure were business partners in a joint venture, each jointly responsible for the actions of the other. That was where the problem lay.

Learned Hand agreed with the trial court that Captain The McClure Syndicate was Marvel infringed on Superman’s negligent in copyrighting the copyright. “The evidence,” Hand newspaper strip stories and failed to wrote, “…leaves no possible doubt affix the correct copyright symbol— that the copying was deliberate; that familiar “c” enclosed in a circle indeed it takes scarcely more than [©] followed by the year of publica“We’ll admit that your picture of Superman battling a gigantic blue-and-green a glance at corresponding strips of tion and the name of the copyright speckled dinosaur antedates ours of Captain Marvel combatting an enormous greenSuperman and Captain Marvel, to holder—on the strips. In fact, many and-blue spotted dragon, but we have an even earlier one showing Captain Marvel fighting a tremendous bluish-green polka-dotted sea serpent, and….” assure the observer that the of the strips appeared without any plagiarism was deliberate and copyright notice of any kind! The Roy Thomas’ Shel-Silverstein-influenced cartoon in Alter Ego (Vol. 1) #7, unabashed.” However, he trial court ruled that because 1964, perhaps caught some of the flavor of the “damages” stage of the disagreed with trial court’s ruling National hadn’t taken steps to insure non-trial. [©1999 Roy Thomas] that National had abandoned its that its business partner copyrighted copyright on Superman. the newspaper stories properly, National had abandoned its copyright on Superman. Judge Hand ruled that copyright abandonment requires some overt In other words, because the McClure Syndicate didn’t copyright the Superman newspaper strip, National had given up its copyright on Superman and didn’t have it anymore, so couldn’t enforce it against Fawcett. Thus, the court ruled, even though Captain Marvel infringed on Superman’s copyright, National could not sue Fawcett for infringement. There was no longer any copyright, so there could be no copyright infringement. Naturally, National appealed. It had a major cash cow in Superman, a character who had appeared in comic books, comic strips, movies, and TV and was earning lots of money, but whose stories, because of the trial court’s ruling, were now not protected by any copyright at all. Literally anyone could publish Superman stories. Why, both Fox and Fawcett could publish Superman stories, and there wouldn’t be a thing National could do about it. National realized that if it let the decision of the trial court stand, it would be closing the barn door long after the cash cow had left. The appeal went to the Second Circuit and in 1954 Judge Learned Hand (yes, that’s August’s brother, and yes, that’s really his name, too—what I want to know is, how did Mrs. Hand know her little boys were going to become judges, so as to give them such unquestioningly judicial names?) partially reversed the trial court’s decision. This decision is reported

action by the copyright holder which makes its intent to abandon the copyright clear and unambiguous. National never manifested such an intent with regard to its copyright on Superman. Hand noted that National published all of its Superman stories in Action and Superman with a proper notice of copyright, which was a clear manifestation of National’s intent to preserve, not abandon, the Superman copyright. Judge Hand also ruled that the McClure Syndicate and National were not partners in a joint venture; McClure was nothing more than a licensee of National. Thus, National wasn’t legally bound by the failure of the syndicate to copyright the Superman strip; the licensor could not be held liable for the lapses of the licensee. All of which meant that National’s copyright on Superman was, according to Judge Hand, fully enforceable.

III. TWO SUPER-HEROES IN THE PENALTY BOX Judge Hand sent the case back to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with his ruling. As he had already ruled that Fawcett had infringed on National’s copyright, that ship had, legally speaking, sailed. Basically the remand was an order for further proceedings to determine the extent of the damage that National had suffered at the hands of Fawcett by the latter’s copyright infringement. Those further proceedings never concluded, however, as Fawcett and National settled out of court. Why did these two parties settle this time, when they had resisted a settlement through the many years of trial and appeal? The reasons for the decision were varied. In the first place, Fawcett had already lost the important question; the trial court had already ruled, and Judge Hand agreed, that Captain Marvel infringed on Superman’s copyright. That issue could not be litigated again. So the result of the new trial was a foregone conclusion: Fawcett would be found to have violated Superman’s copyright and would have to pay monetary damages. The second reason was, according to an article written by Mike Uslan (a comics writer who was also a lawyer) for Amazing World of DC Comics #15, that Judge Hand noted the trial court did not rule exactly which Captain Marvel stories infringed on which Superman stories. Judge Hand ruled that, to assess the amount of damages, there had to be a determination of the exact amount of infringement which had occurred. That, Judge Hand reasoned, would require a story-bystory comparison of all the Superman and Captain Marvel stories

The Cheese Stands Accused!

Letting bygones be bygones: Superman personally welcomed Cap into the DC Universe on the cover of Shazam! #1 (1973). Soon the two clashed in actual stories, first briefly in Justice League of America #137 (1976), then full-scale in 1978’s tabloid-size All New Collectors’ Edition Vol. 7, No. #C-58. [©1999 DC Comics Inc.; Buckler-Giordano splash photographed from original art, from the collection of R.T.]

published up to that time. What National would have to do was go through every Superman story and every Captain Marvel story to find instances in which Superman did some feat which Captain Marvel seemed to copy later, while Fawcett would have to go through every Superman and Captain Marvel story to find instances in which Superman did something that Captain Marvel had done first, to try to mitigate its damages. According to Uslan, each side prepared huge scrapbooks of stories and comparisons, which consumed both time and money—lots of it—on both sides. Okay, the time might not have mattered to these publishers. Both had low-level interns and this sort of scut work—more recent events notwithstanding—was exactly what interns were for. It was the money, the lots of money that the lawyers would charge to pore over these scrapbooks, that probably had the most influence on the two opponents. The third reason was that, by 1953, things were not rosy for comic books. Sales were slumping to all-time lows, although most companies today would probably kill for those slumped sales of forty years ago.

Fawcett decided it wasn’t worth the battle, economically speaking, to continue publishing comics at all, and closed up its comic book division—except for the licensed Dennis the Menace comics it was doing. As for the lawsuit, Fawcett settled out of court for $400,000 and an agreement not to publish Captain Marvel again… or to allow anyone else to do it.

IV. SHAZAM! A HAPPY ENDING! Almost two decades later, Fawcett agreed to let DC Comics, Inc., publish the adventures of the Marvel Family, figuring that way they would get some money out of the character and DC could hardly sue itself for copyright infringement; and the Big Red Cheese returned. In fact, he and Superman are the best of friends now. As for DC not being able to sue itself for copyright infringement— remind me to tell you about a certain record company lawsuit sometime! [Law school graduate BOB INGERSOLL, besides co-writing the novel Captain America: Liberty’s Torch with Tony Isabella, has contributed an ongoing column on comics and legalities to The Comics Buyer’s Guide.]

Moreover, comic books weren’t exactly popular in certain circles. They were being attacked in Congress and by noted psychiatrists, with one such noteworthy in the forefront. And even though we’re not sure his criticisms were Wertham damn, back then they commanded a lot of attention. A comic book censorship board was being A dozen years’ worth of Indian wrestling by Supes and Cap. Art by John Adkins Richardson for The Golden Age #7, Winter 1971. formed. [ª©1999 G.B. Love/The S.F.C.A.]

The Power of—

The Power of Jerry Ordway! Little-seen (and Never-seen) Art from the 1990s Shazam! Series Truly, our Captain Marvel cup runneth over this issue! The 1990s was, of course, the decade in which Jerry Ordway’s Power of Shazam! series ran its dazzling lifespan of just under fifty issues, following his 1994 hardcover graphic novel of the same name. For most of the regular series Jerry merely scripted the comic, leaving the art chores to Mike Manley and others, except for the beautiful covers he painted for each and every issue. Near the end, Jerry penciled the magazine, with the inking chores handled by Dick Giordano. As preparation for the graphic novel and later the monthly series, however, Jerry did a considerable amount of little-seen artwork of the World’s Mightiest Mortal— some of which has never been printed until now. Although Jerry had, months ago, generously offered Alter Ego permission to showcase that artwork, I was frankly a bit apprehensive about including it in an issue which would feature a painted cover and a mountain of Marvel Family conceptual drawings by Alex Ross, because in no way did I want it to seem that Jerry was playing “second fiddle” to Alex. It’s simply that, since Jerry had drawn that wonderful cover to A/E V3#1, I reasoned that I should wait a while before asking if he had anything we could use for a cover or interiors of our first issue spotlighting the Big Red Cheese and company. When I contacted Jerry with this mini-dilemma, however, I quickly learned I needn’t have worried. He e-mailed back: “I have no problem being in the issue with Alex! He’s my hero!” Although Jerry said he’d have to “dig around to find some good stuff,” it was only a week or two later that I was surprised and pleased to receive the following Power of Shazam!-related artwork, all of it both penciled and inked by Jerry. Thanks, buddy! At this point, I’ll bow out and let Jerry’s commentary, written in the margins of the artwork he sent, speak by and large for itself, keeping my bracketed remarks to a minimum. —R.T.

—Jerry Ordway!

“[Three drawings] done for hologram card in DC Cosmic Cards set, 1992.” [The Billy Batson art was superimposed over the art of Captain Marvel, with the Seven Deadly Sins art behind both; here we have placed the drawings side by side— followed by a combined, redrawn version which Jerry says was “used by Diamond for catalog for Previews—promoting regular series.” —R.T.] [©1999 DC Comics Inc.]

The Power of Jerry Ordway!

You know, now that we’ve printed all these exquisite drawings, it occurs to us that perhaps we’ve outsmarted ourselves. Maybe we should have held at least one or two back for future covers of issues of A/E highlighting Captain Marvel. Or does someone out there perhaps have a favorite which he/she

feels just cries out to be used as a cover anyway, since it would then be printed in color? Let us— and Jerry— know, okay? Speaking for myself, I’d love to see any of them in color, anytime!

P.C. Hamerlinck's

no. 62

Fawcett Collectors of America P.C. Hamerlinck's

Welcome to the new issue of FCA! For the 60th anniversary of Captain Marvel and Fawcett Comics, we present to you this issue a special, expanded edition of the FCA section. I hope you’ve been pleased with our coverage of the history of Fawcett Comics and related material here within the pages of Alter Ego. Roy Thomas, John Morrow, and I welcome your feedback. Write or e-mail us your comments. A new FCA website is currently under construction at Walt Grogan’s Marvel Family Web <http://shazam.imginc.com/> and will be ready soon. Enjoy the issue. —P.C. Hamerlinck editor, FCA

[From 1941 through 1953, Marcus D. Swayze was a major artist with Fawcett Publications. His ongoing professional memoirs have been an important part of FCA since issue #54 in 1996. Last issue Marc told how he visually designed the brand new Mary Marvel “Creating the original sketches of Mary Marvel and illustrating her first stories character in 1942, although the Fawcett editors meant little more to me than the satiselected to keep him primarily on faction of having been entrusted with Captain Marvel stories. Soon that responsibility.” But he’s still at it, afterward he was drafted…. thank Shazam, nearly six decades later! —PCH] Another 1990s Mary Marvel sketch by Marc Swayze. [Art ©1999 Marc Swayze; Mary Marvel ©1999 DC Comics Inc.]

Somebody had said there would be a lot of waiting at the Army Reception Center, and they were right. At Fort Oglethorpe I took along a paperback book and did a lot of reading, a lot of waiting… and a lot of thinking.

I went back over that part of my life spent as a staff artist with Fawcett Publications. Had anything been accomplished… for me… for my employers… for anybody? As far as advancement toward my personal goal was concerned—landing a contract with a newspaper syndicate—I had to chalk up a zero. Jango, the dog, and Lucky Bill, the American flyer, had both been stored away in an apartment building on West 113th Street, unfinished.

P.S.: I want to recommend to you Golden Age Men of Mystery, published by AC Comics (Paragon Publications, P.O. Box 521216, Longwood, FL 32752-1216; website: <http://members.aol.com/GAReprints/reprints.htm>), featuring excellent reprints from the Golden Age of Comics. MOM #14 is an all-Fawcett issue spotlighting Commando Yank, Minute Man, Ibis the Invincible, Bulletman, Golden Arrow, and more. Check it out!

On the other hand, I was pleased at having established myself within the Fawcett offices as a writer. There had been no rejections among the Captain Marvel scripts I had submitted. Creating the original sketches of Mary Marvel and illustrating her first stories meant little more to me than the satisfaction of having been entrusted with that responsibility. The majority of my time, of course, had been spent on Captain Marvel… doing story art steadily from my first day on the staff and cover art on an increasing basis right up to my departure for the military. Although Marc Swayze drew the story in Captain Marvel Adventures #19 (Dec. 1942) which introduced Mary Marvel—a page of which was reprinted last time—it was C.C. Beck who painted the issue’s strikingly beautiful cover. [©1999 DC Comics Inc.]

We Didn’t Know It Was The Golden Age!

Marc’s notes: “The Fort Oglethorpe Five, 1943. Trumpet: ——Pue; trombone: Arthur Sutton; drums: Rudolph (?) Henning; piano: Carl Wells; guitar: M.D. Swayze”… “We got a good sound out of that combo!” [photo courtesy of Marc Swayze]

Those efforts, I reminded myself, had begun at a time when the Mightiest of Mortals was ready for his climb to the peak of the super-hero world. All in all, I mused, there in a yard filled with Army rookies, I was comfortable with my contributions toward the success of Captain Marvel. “Marcus D. Sausage?” It was a nearby recruit. Sausage? I had heard my name mispronounced before, but this one took the cake. “Coming up!” I answered. Why argue? Before the day was out, somebody had augmented it to “Lord Brookfield Sausage,” borrowing from a meat package. From then on I was “Brookfield” to that group.

the idea you were there socially. Writing Captain Marvel was a pleasure. I knew the character, his powers, his personality. I knew Billy Batson, Mr. Morris, and the other members of the supporting cast. I knew the Fawcett editors and their requirements and preferences in assembling comic books. I wrote for kids. Even after reading that comics were the most widely read publications in the military, I still wrote for kids. Had I kept a motto before me, it would likely have been, “Keep it simple.” Get in, entertain, and get out. I did endeavor to explain and perhaps educate as we went along. For instance, in the Barracuda Bay story, I would never have begun without having Billy explain to the kids in the very first panels just what the heck a barracuda was. Conditions improved when I moved into new environments as a member of headquarters company. There was a recreational hall that one could, with a little imagination, take as a library, and the Captain Marvel writing went smoothly once the curiosity of my co-workers was satisfied.

A somewhat steady output of Captain Marvel writing that I was able to maintain in the service began while I was still in the unassigned personnel barracks. Insomnia, brought on by my inability to adjust my civilian day to the taps-toreveille schedule, may have had something to do with it. After “lights out,” I would take a schooltype composition book and pen to, of all places, the latrine, the only lighted area in the building.

The music scene brightened, too. Sgt. Wells, my piano-playing pal, had organized a combo consisting of two horns, guitar, drums, and himself on piano. We got a dandy little sound out of that group, with trumpet, trombone, and guitar in three-part front line harmony, arrangements by guess-who.

It wasn’t as bad as it may sound. That latrine was the cleanest place in the U.S. It didn’t even smell like a latrine. I did make certain to assume a gruff nature while working there. “You sure do write a lot of letters,” I would hear.

“Lord Brookfield Sausage,” center. [photo courtesy of Marc Swayze]

“You sure do crap a lot,” I would growl back, not looking up, not lifting the pen. You didn’t want those bowel and bladder visitors to get

A most memorable event, for me, occurred during basic training. I was on the rifle range when several non-coms appeared.

“The colonel wants to see you,” I was told. I fired a couple of times, then paused. “His place or mine?” I knew

Fawcett Collectors of America it was a joke. The colonel? Wants to see me? Hell, I’d only seen the man one time. I resumed my firing. Before I had finished another round, some more uniforms came up. Brass, this time. One seemed to know me. “Big show-biz guy over there. Wants to hear you play the guitar.” “Who?” I asked. “Bing Crosby.”

Bing Crosby! My favorite radio and recording star since high school days! My mother never missed The Kraft Music Hall program, and the whole family listened! That old Springfield rifle may still be lying out on the rifle range where I left it. “Change into a clean uniform first!” someone shouted after me. “Bing was easy to work with.” Bing Crosby, with Marc Swayze on guitar, 1943. [photo courtesy of Marc Swayze]

The big hall at the main gate was teeming… politicians, Army brass, radio people, newspaper people, and just people, people, people. One individual, about the only person in the place wearing sports clothes, emerged with his right hand thrust toward me. “Swayzer?” I corrected him. He got right down to business: “Let’s move over here out of the way and try a few tunes. What’s currently popular around here?” I liked the guy immediately. This was 1943. Bing was on an extemporaneous vacation, apparently touring alone, unscheduled, unannounced, playing golf usually wherever he went. A fun trip, he called it. Always the personification of relaxation, he was easy to work with and completely professional. I was pleased and flattered a few weeks later when he mentioned on a Paul Whiteman radio special my having accompanied him on several concerts before he left our region. I didn’t, as he implied, “make a guitar talk,” but it was nice to hear… and remember. Meanwhile, back at Fawcett Publications, things were happening. Rod Reed, executive editor of the comics line, left the company. Will Lieberson moved up to that position. The group of artists working under the direction of C.C. Beck was moved from the Paramount Building offices to the Continental Building in midtown New York, and Beck’s “shop” was formed. Though of interest, none of this affected my writing of Captain Marvel stories, or the editorial staff with whom I corresponded. I was never much of a pen pal and was probably at my worst as a correspondent while in the military. Somehow or other, though, I ended up with a couple of photos that bring fond memories. One is of Bob Civardi, a top-notch layout artist on Al Allard’s staff. I have said that Bob taught me to ice skate, but that’s not exactly true. He merely suggested that after work we go out to the skating rink. “Good place to

meet some girls,” he said. I didn’t know he was talking about ice skating… so I spent most of the evening gliding around on the seat of my pants. Got onto it later, though… and the girls were nice. The other photo is of Rubie Zubofski, background specialist who assisted Mac Raboy. Rubie could put more character into the drawing of a sidewalk than many artists could give a super-hero. I once asked Rubie how it was that he drew such Bob Civardi, member of Fawcett art staff, beautiful backgrounds 1941-42. [photo courtesy of Marc Swayze] and never drew figures. “Just never got around to drawing people, I guess,” he said. Wonder what became of those guys. I wonder the same about a lot of folks I knew. I guess we all do, right? There was nothing dramatic about my career in the military. A knee injury put me in a regional hospital, where conditions were such that I was able to draw up a couple of comic strip ideas I thought worthy of syndicate consideration. One featured a blonde private detective. I called that one Trudy. The other was about a youngster of some mythical, bygone age, titled Little Ug-li. Fawcett artist Rubie Zubofski “with guitar and soldier friend, about 1943.” [photo courtesy of Marc Swayze]

Eventually I was discharged from the hospital… and from the Army. In a week or so I was back in New York City, residing in a hotel in Times Square. I had picked up a script (“Mr. Scarlet,” Wow Comics #29) from Mercy Schull in the Fawcett editorial office and was drawing it in my hotel room when I received a call from C.C. Beck. There was a spare drawing table in his shop in Manhattan, he said, and I was welcome to come in and use it. I make mistakes. I try not to, and I certainly don’t intend to, but I do. And mistakes were the reason I undertook this series of reminiscences in the first place. It had been a concern of mine for some time: the errors I had read regarding matters that took place Little Ug-Li, drawn in Northington General Hospital, 1943-44. (©1999 Marc Swayze)

We Didn’t Know It Was The Golden Age! in the ‘40s and ‘50s… errors made by people I knew would never have been so careless in statements concerning history, and quotes by respectable, qualified writers of equal integrity.

“shop” owner, the art director. It was puzzling. Why a day in advance with the invitation? I had to assume it was to make certain I wore my nice clothes, shaved, and shined my shoes. And the Copa? I’d never been in the place. I learned that the “few guests” consisted of Rod Reed and a gentleman from Canada. As well as I can recall, there were a couple more, but I can’t remember who.

What grounds do I have to place my memory or knowledge of those events above theirs? Consider this: It seems that we can look back upon a brief span, like a visit, and recall details more vividly than over an extended period. It’s that way for me. Don’t the memory experts say something about that? I was in comics only about fifteen years. That’s brief, compared to the careers of many. Trudy, drawn in Northington General Hospital, 1943-44. (©1999 Marc Swayze)

Furthermore, I drew… and sketched and doodled and drew. And I made notes. And I wrote letters home to my father and to my sisters, who saved them. And I received letters steadily from two friends who were unquestionably reliable and knowledgeable, Wendell Crowley and Rod Reed. So those are my sources for the material herein… dusty notes, sketches, letters… and a memory that, believe it or not, is not so dusty. But I make mistakes. And when you see something here you don’t like, make it known. We’ll work it out… for history. When I took the Mr. Scarlet freelance job in to the editorial office, I picked up another script, a Prince Ibis (Whiz #59). Later that day, back at the Beck shop, something unusual happened. It wasn’t that Beck asked me to dinner, but the way it came about. Instead of “C’mon, let’s go eat,” as you might expect, it was more like “I’m having a few guests for dinner tomorrow evening at the Copacabana and I’d like to have you join us!” Maybe not quite that formal, but you get the idea. C.C. Beck had changed. No longer was he our rough-and-ready bass fiddle player; he was more the metropolitan businessman, the “Ibis the Invincible” story illustrated by Swayze, from Whiz Comics #59, Oct. 1944. [©1999 DC Comics Inc.]

For that matter, I can’t remember much about the occasion. At some time during the evening I must have said something that Beck didn’t like… or Beck said something I didn’t like. I have believed that Rod Reed could have told me, or perhaps wanted me to ask, but I never did. Whatever it was, the next day Beck suggested that I “pay him a little something for the use of the drawing table” in his shop. I translated that as “Get the hell out,” so I gathered my little things and got the hell out. That was the last time C.C. Beck and I spoke or corresponded for twentyfive years. [Marc Swayze’s column will continue in the next issue of FCA.]

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The Real Captain Marvel And the Wonderful Golden Age of Comics by C. C. Beck Edited by P.C. Hamerlinck [ED. NOTE: The following is taken from FCA’s C.C. Beck essay archives. It is previously unpublished, and was written in the mid-1980s. There will be Beck material in each issue of FCA, all previously unpublished. I plan on alternating C.C.’s Captain Marvel-related articles, such as his mini-history last issue of Fawcett Comics and the Marvel Family, with his crusty, opinionated essays. This article is a bit of both. —PCH] C.M. meets C.C.— drawing by Beck, 1975. [Captain Marvel ©1999 DC Comics Inc.]

PART I. THE REAL CAPTAIN MARVEL Many books and articles about the Golden Age of Comic Books have been published in recent years, written by people who were children in the 1930s and ’40s or who were born after the Golden Age had ended. Almost without exception, the writers of these books and articles have dwelt at great length on the exploits of the great superheroes of the period, starting, of course, with Superman, and then going on to Batman, Plastic Man, Sandman, Hawkman, Bulletman, Hangman, The Arrow, The Hawk, The Claw, The Green Giant, The Blue Beetle, The White Streak, and many others now long forgotten. In Richard O’Brien’s The Golden Age of Comic Books (Ballantine, 1977), there are forty color reproductions of comic book covers, 39 of them showing costumed characters leaping, flying, fighting, destroying, glaring, snarling, or doing superhuman feats, and one showing a pleasant-faced young fellow standing with one hand on the shoulder of a young boy and smiling cheerfully at the reader (Whiz Comics #22, 1941). The pleasant-looking young fellow is, of course, Captain Marvel, the biggest-selling “...A pleasant-faced young fellow...” The cover of which C.C. Beck writes in this article belongs to Whiz Comics #22, Oct. 1941. [©1999 DC Comics Inc.]

comic character of the Golden Age, and the boy is Billy Batson, boy radio reporter whose accounts of Captain Marvel’s adventures were given in his newscasts over radio station WHIZ. Almost all writers about the Golden Age have dismissed Captain Marvel as “an obvious Superman lookalike” designed to join all the other Superman lookalikes in a frantic effort to take sales away from the Man of Steel. Why he succeeded, almost from the start, in outselling all the other comics on the stands is rather hard to explain— at least, Captain Marvel’s success has not been satisfactorily accounted for by any of the writers whose books and articles I have seen. Now, almost a half-century after Captain Marvel and Billy Batson first appeared in Whiz Comics in 1940, the reason for the success of the World’s Mightiest Mortal is becoming clear. People now in their late forties and early fifties write to me saying, “Reading Captain Marvel was like stepping into a brighter, cleaner, more cheerful and friendly world,” and “…in the Captain Marvel stories both the plots and the characters were better developed and more imaginative than in most other comics.” Some letter writers praise my style of illustrating the Captain Marvel stories, calling it

The Real Captain Marvel & The Wonderful Golden Age of Comics

“clean” and “uncluttered” and “deceptively simple” and so on, and giving me much more credit than I deserve for Captain Marvel’s success. I had started doing commercial illustration more than ten years before I found myself working on Captain Marvel, and after I had left the comic book field in 1953 I worked for many years as a commercial illustrator once more. Except for a few engravers and printers, who liked my work because it was easy to engrave and print, nobody ever paid any attention to me, and my name was so unknown that I usually had to spell it out letter by letter for the people who made out my checks in payment. My style of illustrating has been more a curse than a blessing, I have found. I am able, for some reason, to see past the surface of things to the underlying structure— or lack of structure—beneath. When a thing is cheap, shoddy, and of no value—as many commercial products are—I refuse to make a drawing of it, knowing that I’ll reveal to the world how worthless it is. This ability has not helped me in my career, needless to say. I am permanently barred from entrance at most comic publishing houses today, since their products are, as one fan has written me, “self-inflated bubbles of nothing.” When I looked at the first Captain Marvel story, which had been written by William Parker, a Fawcett editor, I knew at once that here was a story worth illustrating! It had a beginning, a carefully-constructed development of plot and characters leading to a climax and an ending, and nothing else. There was no pointless flying around and showing off, no padding, no “Look, Ma, I’m a super-hero!” Out of 72 panels, Captain Marvel appeared in 18, or C.C. Beck’s 1974 re-creation of the cover of Captain Marvel Adventures #7. one-fourth. The story was about [Captain Marvel and Sivana ©1999 DC Comics Inc.; from the collection of P.C. Hamerlinck.] Billy Batson and the ancient wizard Shazam, and told how the mad Captain Marvel and Billy took turns rescuing each other from tight scientist Sivana was thwarted in his evil attempt to silence radio stations spots; when Captain Marvel was faced with a task for which he was too all over the world. big and powerful, he changed to small, agile Billy, and vice versa. And In that first story Captain Marvel did not fly, he did not bounce bullets off his chest, he did not utter a single “Holy Moley” nor crack a joke. In succeeding issues he and Billy went into the past and the future and to other universes and they met monsters and ghosts and talking tigers and worms and dictators and presidents and evil emperors both real and fictitious.

usually, although few readers were aware of it, the stories were told by Billy, who never asked anyone to believe that Captain Marvel actually existed any more than Edgar Bergen asked audiences to believe that Charlie McCarthy was a living being or political cartoonists asked viewers to believe that Uncle Sam or their other cartoon figures were actual people.

Fawcett Collectors of America Captain Marvel’s success, and his appeal to readers now middle-aged who remember him fondly from their childhoods, was due to his being the only true comic character in a field dominated by noncomic characters who appeared in magazines advertised as “Comics” and “Funnies” and “True Tales” but which were neither comic nor funny nor true.

The super-heroes of the Golden Age had “I knew at once that here was a story worth evolved from stories of illustrating.” —C.C. Beck. Cap and Billy as per the Old West, from the first issue of Whiz. [©1999 DC Comics Inc.] the great detective stories of the past, and from science-fiction stories dating back to the nineteenth century and earlier. There had been great writers and illustrators in each of these fields in the past; but by the time comic books arrived on the scene, science-fiction, western, and detective stories had degenerated into the trashiest kind of “pulp” fiction, ground out by hack writers and illustrators. When publishers saw that collections of newspaper comic strips bound together and published as “comics” and “funnies” were sell-outs, they set their hack writers and artists to work producing imitation comic strips featuring their same old wornout heroes under new, flashy names. As the writers and artists knew nothing about cartooning or comic strip production, they simply packed a half dozen or more illustrations into each page, drew border lines around the separate drawings, and hand-lettered in the words supplied by the writers. The drawings were heavy-handed and unimaginative and the writing was serious and dull, as hack writing always is. Instead of appealing to the imagination of readers, as comic strip artists and writers do, the writers and artists of the new “comics” tried to convince readers that their characters were real people living in the real world and that they were merely reporting their actions as if they were news accounts.

When Parker and I went to work on Fawcett’s first comic book in 1939, we both saw how poorly written and illustrated the super-hero comic books were. We decided to give our readers a real comic book, drawn in comic strip style and telling an imaginative story based not on the hackneyed formula of the pulp magazines but going back to the old folk tales and myths of classic times. Captain Marvel’s attributes derived from the powers of five Greek and Roman gods and one Hebrew king, and he was called into being by the use of the magic word “SHAZAM,” not by the putting on or the taking off of a disguise. Billy Batson was the standard penniless boy hero of all children’s stories; Sivana was the evil sorcerer of folk tales, now wearing a white laboratory jacket instead of a long robe and pointed hat; Shazam was the ancient keeper of hidden lore that has appeared in stories all over the world for thousands of years. I drew Shazam to look like Moses or some other Old Testament figure on purpose, knowing that he would be instantly recognized by readers everywhere as a kindly guardian of mankind. I drew the Seven Deadly Enemies of Man to look like frightening primitive idols, the two crooks whom Captain Marvel defeated to look like a dapper confidence man and his uncouth accomplice, and Mr. Morris, the head of radio station WHIZ, to look like the typical wellfed and slightly pompous business executive. I have since been charged with having used stereotypes in my art instead of drawing realistic, lifelike characters. I have been credited by some with bringing humor into a field where it was not wanted—the field of stern-faced, humorless, inhuman characters who went around leaping over tall buildings with a single bound, fighting hordes of enemies singlehanded, and solving all problems by use of their more than human powers. I cheerfully admit that I used stereotyped figures, just as I used

An early-1980s preliminary pencil sketch by Beck for re-creation of the cover to Master Comics #21— the same cover Alex Ross was to consider re-doing a decade later. [Captain Marvel, Captain Nazi, and Bulletman ©1999 DC Comics Inc.]

The Real Captain Marvel & The Wonderful Golden Age of Comics

standard letter forms when I transcribed Parker’s words to fit within cartoon balloons and captions. Parker wrote in Standard English, not in slang or street talk; neither of us wanted to impress readers with our ability to create new word forms and distorted, hard-to-read alphabets. We both felt that readers, especially young readers, had no interest whatsoever in Literature and Art but wanted to be told stories instead. The less attention we drew to our words and pictures, the more readers could devote their attentions to the characters and plots and settings of the stories, we believed. We were right. Captain Marvel was a big hit with readers of all kinds, and within a very short time he was outselling all the super-hero comic books, because he appealed to everyone, not just to the lovers of the pulp fiction super-hero characters. The ending of World War II in 1945 marked the ending of the Golden Age of the super-hero comic books. All but a few publishers went out of business or turned their attentions to other kinds of publications. Captain Marvel hung on until 1953, when his magazines were discontinued by Fawcett as no longer profitable in a field now dominated by publications devoted to sex, violence, horror, crime, scandal, and perversion.

PART II. THE WONDERFUL GOLDEN AGE OF COMICS I have never, to the best of my recollection, longed for the good old days of my childhood or youth. They weren’t that good, and neither were the years of the Golden Age of Comic This page was drawn in 1971— prior to DC’s next-year revival of Captain Marvel in the Shazam! title! Books. That period—the late ’30s and [Captain Marvel, Billy Batson and Superman ©1999 DC Comics Inc.] early ’40s—may seem gloriously simple and primitive to people today, managed to give our readers glimpses of a better world, the world of the but it wasn’t. The world was just as complicated and irrational and imagination. Then we were swept away and forgotten like so many old, frightening then as it is today—or more so—which is why we writers worn-out relics. and artists at Fawcett created a world of the imagination in which our Would I go back and relive those golden years? No, thank you. comic characters lived and did things that we ourselves could not do. Once was enough. What young boy has not wished that he could be big and strong The good old days never existed. They were imaginary, just as enough to beat up bullies, rescue fair maidens, and bring crooks and Captain Marvel and Billy Batson and Mr. Morris and Sivana and Beautia malefactors to justice? were. They were an illusion, a dream. Billy Batson could. Today, children are given comic books that give Today the world is not more frightening and horrible than it used them nightmares. to be. It has always been frightening and horrible. There have always I feel sorry for them. been earthquakes and floods and disasters and terrible plagues and wars. We artists and writers and editors at Fawcett, for a few brief years,

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The Jack Binder Shop Days An Interview with Nat Champlin, Conducted by P.C. Hamerlinck [ED. NOTE: Nathan L. Champlin was one of the artists from the famed Jack Binder shop in Englewood, New Jersey—actually a barn next to Jack’s house which was converted into an art studio. This studio produced a huge amount of material for Fawcett Publications, including artwork for Whiz Comics in 1942 and 1943. Many of the artists left the shop in 1942, after America’s entry into World War Two, either being drafted or volunteering for the armed services. I focused our interview, conducted by mail, on Champlin’s work published by Fawcett, and on his experiences at the Binder shop before the War broke out. —PCH.] P.C. HAMERLINCK: When did you start work for Jack Binder? What were your responsibilities at the shop? Do you remember which Fawcett features you worked on? NAT CHAMPLIN: Where Beck, Swayze, Mac Raboy, and Binder did the complete job on their respective cartoons (with the possible exception of lettering), my own work was piecemeal, to say the least. In some cases I would rough out a “board” or two, and in other cases I would do a good deal more on the boards. While I did ink backgrounds and secondary figures, I did not ink Captain Marvel himself. While I did work on Captain Nat Champlin, 1994. Marvel, Golden Arrow, and Photo by Mildred Champlin. others, the Ibis boards were the ones I came closest to completing. In one way or another, we all worked on Whiz or Captain Marvel Adventures. We worked on other projects, too, for other companies. PCH: Who were some of your fellow artists in the shop, their specific duties, and your impressions of them? Was there a standardized work flow procedure at the shop? CHAMPLIN: The boards in Binder’s shop carried on the back a checkoff list as follows: Pencil Rough; Pencil Tighten - Main Figures; Pencil Tighten - Secondary Figures; Lettering; Pencil Tighten Background; Ink Main Figures; Ink Secondary Figures; Ink Background. The artist doing any one or more of these tasks would enter his initials or name opposite the appropriate blank(s).

As examples: Bill Ward did many of the rough pencil tasks; he was unbelievably fast, leaving a lot of work for the pencil tighteners who got his boards for tightening. “Memphis” Brooks was a fine figure tightener and did a good deal of work on Spy Smasher, calling it “Smy Spasher.” Jimmy Potter, among other strengths, was an outstanding background inker; he did one Captain Marvel cover—or was it the lead or first page in Whiz or Captain Marvel—that I would love to have: Marvel is in the air high above a harbor and “we” are at his eye level; below is Jimmy’s harbor spread out in all directions. (It was magnificent.) Vince Costello did the lettering, balloons, lightning blasts, and explosions. Ken Bald and Kurt Schaffenberger were among the really accomplished brush inkers.

Nat Champlin

The Jack Binder Studio (Shop)—basically a barn—with some of the Fawcett heroes whose adventures came out of it. Artwork by Kurt Schaffenberger for Amazing World of DC Comics #17 (listed in indicia as “Vol. 5, No. 16”), April 1978. The 1941 barn drawing appears to be the work of an “A. Duca.” [Art ©1999 Kurt Schaffenberger; Marvel Family, Mr. Scarlet and Pinky, Spy Smasher, Ibis and Taia, Bulletman and Bulletgirl ©1999 DC Comics Inc.]

Bob Boyajian did much work on Golden Arrow—but, as was the case with other artists, he worked on other comic boards. It goes without saying that not one of us got a byline, or credit, for the work he did.

PCH: You attended the Pratt Institute, along with other Binder shop artists such as Schaffenberger, Bald, etc. How was it that you all fell into producing comic books?

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“At work in the Binder shop, 1942. [L. to R.:] Vince Costello (letterer), Nat Champlin, ‘Memphis’ Brooks, John Westlake, Kurt Schaffenberger (standing), Jimmy Potter. In one way or another all worked on Whiz and Captain Marvel comic books—Bill Ward the fastest rougher (pencil)—& Ken Bald an inker— main characters—as examples. We worked on other projects, too.”

CHAMPLIN: The artists in the Englewood, New Jersey, shop during 1941 and 1942 were mostly Pratt graduates and knew each other quite well before going to work for Jack Binder. Then too, they had interests and competencies in addition to the comic books. “Memphis” produced heraldic coat-of-arms plates thoroughly researched and exquisitely executed. Kurt Schaffenberger painted in oils, producing in 1942 a large landscape painting for his mother. Bill Ward did a wide variety of illustration, notably his “girl art.” PCH: Were you part of the Binder baseball team? Marc Swayze told me he and the Fawcett comic staff from the Paramount Building in New York City would take on the Binder ball team during noontime breaks. CHAMPLIN: Yes, I was part of the Binder ball team, and I wasn’t a bad pitcher! We would play anyone who would come along— but mostly the Fawcett comic staff. Sometimes we’d just divide amongst

“‘Memphis’—Samuel Hamilton Brooks, 1942.”

ourselves and play against each other—all to the consternation of Jack Binder, who was unhappy when our lunch breaks were for protracted periods of time! PCH: Did you ever meet C.C. Beck? CHAMPLIN: I never did. I never got to know anyone very well from the Fawcett staff. However, I got to know Kurt Schaffenberger the best out of anyone while we were working for Binder. Kurt and I had adjoining rooms in a room rental place in New Jersey—just a few blocks from the Binders—so we got to know each other quite well. The War separated us. PCH: Where did you end up? CHAMPLIN: As one of the casualties evacuated from Anzio, April 29, 1944. I was sufficiently disabled to be retired with disability. Many of the artists left the shop in 1942, being drafted or enlisting in the Army, Navy, or Air Corps.

“Page from Ibis the Invincible in Whiz Comics #24, Nov. 1941. Art by Nat Champlin/ Jack Binder Studio.”

Nat Champlin

PCH: Do you know where some of the other artists ended up? CHAMPLIN: Bill Ward ended up on Quonset Point, Narragansett Bay, as a member of an anti-aircraft gun crew. He continued drawing during the War, sending his work in to Wendell Crowley, now at the Fawcett offices in New York. In another theater of war Jimmy Potter, too, was a casualty—fatal. He did not return. [Jerry Bails in his Who’s Who lists the artists alphabetically and in accordance with cartoons worked upon, and where and when, giving the dates of activity. It is meaningful to note that in many cases the cartoonist’s last date of activity is 1942.—PCH] PCH: What did you do after returning from the War? Did you do any more comic book work? CHAMPLIN: Many Pratt graduates returned to Pratt after the War, taking advantage of the G.I. Bill. (Jack Binder had moved his shop from Englewood, New Jersey, to Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street, the Stoeger Building.) As a returned student I freelanced, doing some photography and illustrating an English textbook for the elementary schools. I had an acclaimed exhibition at Pratt in 1945, featuring my black and white brush and ink War pictures—not very pleasant pictures, to say the least. I only did one other comic project after the War, illustrating a four-page filler story for Stan Lee at Timely Comics in 1945, called “Sir Gnat, the Dragon Slayer.” Later, I had a paperback book published of individual cartoons. However, my main interest became photography. But I’ll never forget my friends at the Binder shop and the wonderful and fun times we had producing Captain Marvel, Ibis the Invincible, and the other Fawcett heroes. Right: “Jack Binder’s 1947 cover thumbnail for Mary Marvel #14. Jack Binder had moved his shop from Englewood, New Jersey, to 5th Avenue at 42nd Street [in Manhattan].” Inset: The final cover of MM #14. [©1999 DC Comics, Inc.]

“Party at Jack Binder’s home, 1942. [Rear L. to R.:] ‘Memphis’ Brooks, Dick Ryland, Mrs. Jack Binder, Binder child, Otto Binder (Jack’s brother). [Middle L. to R.:] Ken Bald, Bob Boyajian, Bob Butts, Vic Dowd, Jack Binder. [Front Middle:] Al Dulla. [Front Right:] Kurt Schaffenberger, playing his ‘squeeze box.’”

“Binder shop baseball team, 1942. Our team: [L. to R. Rear:] Bob Boyajian, Dick Ryland, Bill Ward, Wendell Crowley, Kurt Schaffenberger, and John Westlake. [L. to R. Front:] Bob Butts, Vince Costello, Nat Champlin, Vic Dowd, Ken Bald, and Jimmy Potter. I set the camera on delayed action and jumped back into the picture.”

Fawcett Collectors of America

“My Years with Fawcett were Happy Years!” A Fawcett Photo-Essay by Virginia A. Provisiero, Fawcett Comics Editor, 1943-53 Virginia A. (“Ginny”) Provisiero was one of Fawcett Comics’ finest editors, first working for editor-in-chief Rod Reed, and soon thereafter Will Lieberson. At various times she was editor of Whiz Comics, Master Comics, Spy Smasher, Golden Arrow, Bill Boyd Western, Hopalong Cassidy, Rocky Lane Western, Tex Ritter Western, Six-Gun Heroes, This Magazine Is Haunted, and her personal favorite, Nyoka the Jungle Girl, whom she considered a strong and intelligent female role model for girl readers. I first interviewed Ginny for FCA #59 in 1998. She later shared with me the following photographs of herself and the Fawcett staff, along with some additional comments and a few artistic extras. Now it’s time for all of us to take a look back at the faces and the smiles of the talented individuals who created Fawcett comic books in the 1940s and early ’50s, courtesy of Ginny Provisiero. —P.C. Hamerlinck.

Above: “Late ’40s Fawcett Christmas party. [L. to R., front row:] Will Lieberson; myself; a female staff artist whose name I can’t remember; C.C. Beck, Otto Binder, Bruce (last name unknown—also a staff artist); Barbara Heyman. [L. to R., back row:] Kurt Schaffenberger, Ralph Carlson, Al Jetter, Wendell Crowley, Kay Woods (sp?), Bob Frankel.”

Left: “Editor Ginny Provisiero as Nyoka.” Photo taken outside on the roof of Fawcett offices—part of same session seen on the top of the next page.

Left: “Early-’50s Fawcett house ad. I enjoyed all the books I worked on. Nyoka the Jungle Girl was my favorite, as she did all the heroic things a man could do. My favorite western comic I edited was Hopalong Cassidy.” [Captain Marvel, Capt. Marvel Jr., Mary Marvel, and Hoppy ©1999 DC Comics Inc.; Nyoka ©1999 Bill Black]

Ginny Provisiero Photo-Essay

“Outside on the roof of the Fawcett offices in New York City, 1946. We had fun dressing up when we performed a skit for an advertising convention.”

Above: “Writer Dick Kraus as a singing cowboy.”

Above: “Editor-in-chief Will Lieberson as a magician.” [EDITOR’S NOTE: He looks a lot more like Zatara than like Ibis the Invincible!] Right: “Captain Marvel editor, 7-foot-tall Wendell Crowley as the World’s Mightiest Mortal.” Photo taken during same shoot, above. Below: “4/12/53. [L. to R.:] Wendell Crowley, Dagny West, and C.C. Beck. Dagny and Wendy later married. C.C. Beck was always very nice to me, as well as being a great artist. Wendell Crowley was a fine editor who loved his work and loved Captain Marvel.”

Above: “My Fawcett 10-year anniversary party—4/12/53. [L. to R.:] Will Lieberson, myself, and fellow comics editor Al Jetter. Will Lieberson became my boss after Rod Reed left.”

Above: “4/12/53. With Roger Fawcett, vice president of Fawcett Publications.”

Fawcett Collectors of America

Above: “4/12/53. Mr. and Mrs. Binder—Otto and Ione. Otto was great to work with!” [EDITOR’S NOTE: Plus, of course, the most important Captain Marvel scripter after Bill Parker created the character in 1939.] Left: Cover of Whiz Comics #76 (July 1946), edited by Virginia A. Provisiero, art by C.C. Beck. [©1999 DC Comics Inc.]

Above: “4/12/53. Fawcett art director Al Allard sneaking in a kiss on the guest of honor.”

Ginny Provisiero Photo-Essay

“4/12/53. With Fawcett Comics secretary Edna Hagen.”

Ginny writes: “My years with Fawcett were happy years. I was an editor, serious about my job, but with a sense of humor. My writers would come in with ideas, but at times they ran dry and it was up to me, as editor, to provide them with a story idea and plot. Then we would hash it out and make sure our star was the hero. “Comics were a great means of communication and an ideal way to get message to children in both pictures and words. We tried to portray our heroes as people of strong moral character, interested in their fellow man and ready to help others in trouble. “Young people need heroes to emulate, and need to know that the world does have people who care. Many times, today’s messages to children are filled with violent, non-caring heroes who cause more anxiety than fun. Comics in my day taught a lesson, but were also fun reading for kids.”

A page from “The Congo Headhunt,” from Nyoka the Jungle Girl #19 (May 1948), edited by Virginia Provisiero.

Thanks, Ginny, for sharing these added Fawcett memories with us!

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Fawcett Collectors of America

Marvel (Family) Memories... And Kurt Schaffenberger by Dave Hunt [EDITOR’S NOTE: Here, comic book inker Dave Hunt reflects on growing up reading Fawcett comics and finally getting the opportunity to work on Captain Marvel, and with one of the Marvel Family artists from the Golden Age, Kurt Schaffenberger. Check out Dave’s website http://www.eclipse.net/caveart/.]

When I was a young kid in the 1940s my father would bring home a comic book for me every Friday night. Sometimes, if I was lucky, it would be Superman, Batman, or a Donald Duck by Carl Barks. At some point, I came across Captain Marvel and The Marvel Family. I was hooked! Somehow, the cartoony house art style perfectly matched the unceasingly clever, creative storylines. Of course, anyone reading the FCA already knows the timeless, charming work that Fawcett seemed to produce so effortlessly. Roy Thomas’ article in FCA #58, 1997, about his boyhood relationship with the Fawcett books rang a bell with me. Roy is a year or two older than I, and was, incidentally, my first editor at Marvel Comics when I entered the business. Our early experiences with Cap were very similar. Roy made a subtle point about how certain panels, even details of panels, can leave indelible impressions on young minds. One panel that always gave me the creeps showed zombies screaming in pain as they fell into molten lava (Captain Marvel Adventures #141, Feb. 1953). These characters were

actually innocent dead humans reanimated by King Kull. During the ’50s, Fawcett occasionally went way over the line in its bid for the horror market. Another detail that sticks in my memory is some hairy-looking brains that Captain Marvel is inserting into duplicate Sivanas (“Plot against the Universe,” Captain Marvel Adventures #100, Sept. 1949). That book-long story has got to be one of Fawcett’s all-time best. I remember, at DC, when the late E. Nelson Bridwell was planning to reprint it in his book Shazam from the ’40s to the ’70s, I told him it was my favorite story, and I believe he said it was his, too. As I grew older, Captain Marvel had gone away somewhere; so had EC, and the Barks ducks weren’t as good as they used to be… so around my junior year in high school I put away comics as childish things. After a long, circuitous route, and working as a printer and designer, I took a job at Marvel Comics in the 1970s because I thought it would be fun.

Above: Dave Hunt’s creepy memories from “Captain Marvel Battles the Prehistoric Zombies,” Capt. Marvel Adventures #141, Feb. 1953. [Art by C.C. Beck; ©1999 DC Comics Inc.] Left: Kurt, New Jersey, May 1996—photo by Howard Bender.

Marvel (Family) Memories… and Kurt Schaffenberger

After a few great years at Marvel, I moved over to DC, where I got to work on characters I had grown up reading and was more familiar with. After a few months, I was given a story to ink by some guy named Schaffenberger. By this time I had inked work by many artists, but there was something different about this one. I liked his penciling style, and there was something strangely familiar about it. I know it sounds stupid, but it was only while inking the story that I realized where I had seen that style before, and who this fellow obviously was! Around the same time, in the early 1980s, I started inking the work of a young artist named Don Newton. We started off doing mystery stories, but soon launched into a series about the Marvel Family in World’s Finest Comics. Don’s pencils were done on a very smooth, plate finish paper, and were highly finished. All blacks, and even things like textures and folds in clothing, were completely thought out. He was a pencil wizard. There wasn’t much for me to do but enjoy embellishing as best I could. We never met face to face—all our communication was conducted by mail. At first I thought it would be neat to finally work on Captain Marvel, but the series had been “updated” into a generic super-hero, with none of the original charm. None of this was the fault of Newton, who was a fan of C.C. Beck’s original Captain Marvel. DC’s version of Captain Marvel failed again. Soon after, Newton died. That was the last time I worked on the Marvel Family. Don Newton pencils with Dave Hunt inks from the Captain Marvel—pardon us, ”Shazam!”—story in World’s Finest Comics #260. [©1999 DC Comics Inc.]

For some reason, my inking style suited Schaffenberger’s pencils very well. His work had an “old-fashioned” feel to it of which I’m very fond. For years we were virtually a team, doing countless stories about Superman and his pals. Kurt and I did the first 50+ issues of The New Adventures of Superboy together. Those were especially rewarding, because the stories often centered on the family with a kind of gentleness that reminded me of the original Superboy and of the old Marvel Family. Kurt’s pencils are tight, but he leaves some breathing room for an inker to “bring something to the work.”

Fawcett Collectors of America

Always well-dressed, his quiet dignity stood out in a business where the word “dignity” is not often the first word to come to mind. Kurt’s attitude is the same as that of all the other comic book veterans I was privileged to meet or work with: in it for the long haul, resigned to the feast-or-famine nature of the comics biz. He’d answer questions about his career—I’m sure asked everything I could think of about his old Fawcett days—but he’s not one to bubble over with stories and gossip. He’s the professional who is confident he did the best job he could. He is also an artist whose pencil evokes a magical but strangely familiar world… one which we see, sadly, less and less of these days. [At press time, Kurt Schaffenberger was in the hospital recovering from a serious digestive infection. Get well cards or letters can be sent to: The Schaffenberger Family, 65 Regent Circle, Lions Head North, Bricktown, NJ 08723.]

The more I inked Kurt, the more I felt I was in a time warp. Aliens, places, machinery, and characters would show up which I knew I had seen thirty years before. One December evening, something really odd happened. Kurt and I were attending another DC Christmas party, but this time he brought his wife, Dot. Even before we were introduced, I already knew her: I had been seeing her for years, including (and perhaps especially) drawn in the old Fawcett comics. It was the weirdest kind of deja vu I’ve ever experienced. Kurt and I live in the same state, so we still see each other occasionally at comic conventions, and every year I get one of his home-made Christmas cards. He hasn’t changed at all since I first met him.

5.95

Roy Roy T Thomas homas’’ Legendary Legendary Comics anzine Comics F F anzine

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A 60 thAnniversary Tribute to

MARVEL COMICS

and To

BILL EVERETT S

’

SUB-MARINER and

CARL BURGOS

’

HUMAN TORCH!

GIL KANE on The Golden Age of TIMELY COMICS!

No. 3 WINTER 2000

Featuring Rare Art BY:

Dick Ayers Dave Berg Jack Burnley Steve Ditko Don Rico Marie Severin Alex Schomburg and MORE! Sub-Mariner, Hulk, Human Torch TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

THE RETRO COMICS EXPERIENCE!

Edited by MICHAEL EURY, BACK ISSUE magazine celebrates comic books of the 1970s, 1980s, and today through recurring (and rotating) departments like “Pro2Pro” (dialogue between professionals), “BackStage Pass” (behind-the-scenes of comicsbased media), “Greatest Stories Never Told” (spotlighting unrealized comics series or stories), and more!

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™

Marvel Mystery Section

Volume 3, No. 3 Winter 1999/2000

Editor Roy Thomas

Associate Editor Bill Schelly

Design & Layout Jon B. Cooke/ GREAT SWAMP GRAPHICS

Consulting Editors

Contents

John Morrow Jon B. Cooke

Fire vs. Water. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

FCA Editor

A writer/editorial about Marvel Comics #1 and the two guys who made it make a difference.

P.C. Hamerlinck

re: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Contributing Editor Michael T. Gilbert

Messages to (and from) the Editor.

Editors Emeritus

“Bill Everett Was a Friend of Mine” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Jerry G. Bails, Ronn Foss, Biljo White, Mike Friedrich

Cover Artists

Roy Thomas on the creator of The Sub-Mariner—and on the good times (and the bad) he shared with Wild Bill in the 1960s and ’70s.

Alex Ross, Bill Everett (w/Carl Burgos)

Postcards to Wendy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Cover Color

Bill Everett’s daughter saved the art-laden postcards the artist sent her in the 1950s—and now she shares them with us.

Alex Ross, Tom Ziuko

Mailing Crew Russ Garwood, D. Hambone, Glen Musial, Ed Stelli, Pat Varker

And Special Thanks to:

Carl Burgos—Marvel Mystery Man . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Focus on the creator of The Human Torch—and some of his finest art, even when it covered up somebody else’s!

“Stan Was the Prince”—Gil Kane on Timely Comics . . . . . . . 34

Marty Arbunich

Glen Johnson

Dick Ayers

Gil Kane

Mike W. Barr

Jon B. Knutson

Dennis Beaulieu

G.B. Love

It Started on Yancy Street! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Blake Bell

Albert Moy

Bill Schelly on the first and foremost Marvel fanzine of the 1960s.

Howard Bender

Dave Manak

Jerry Boyd

Gregory Mahfuz

Our Salute to Captain Marvel’s 60th Anniversary . . . . . Flip Us!

Jack Burnley

Ginny Provisiero

Bill DuBay

John Adkins Richardson

Nat & Mildred Champlin

Alex Ross

Jerry DeFuccio

Marie Severin

Helen de la Ree

Joe Simon

Steve Ditko

Robin Snyder

Wendy Everett

Marc Swayze

Keif Fromm

Kurt Schaffenberger

Ron Goulart Martin L. Greim Ron Harris Dave Hunt

Kathy Voglesong Mike Vosburg Len Wein

The Golden/Silver Age artist talks about Marvel before it was Marvel— Timely Comics in the 1940s

Our heartfelt thanks to original art dealer (and collector) Albert Moy for sending us a copy of a pencil-&-ink drawing Bill Everett did for Ye Editor back in the ’60s. See the rest of the magazine for the story behind this awesome illo. The Human Torch (a detail from Carl Burgos’ story, “The Mystery of the Disappearing Criminals,” from The Human Torch #1) was digitally manipulated into the slugfest by designer Jon B. Cooke, and the entire piece colored by Tom Ziuko. [Sub-Mariner, Hulk, and Human Torch ™&©1999 Marvel Characters, Inc.] Alter EgoTM is published quarterly 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@oburg.net. Send subscription funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial offices. Single issues: $5.95 ($7.00 Canada, $9.00 elsewhere). Four-issue subscriptions: $20 US, $27 Canada, $37 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. Alter and Captain Ego ©1999 Biljo White. Aquaman, Billy Batson, Bizarro, Bulletgirl, Bulletman, Captain Marvel, Captain Marvel Junior, Hoppy the Marvel Bunny, Mary Marvel, Captain Nazi, Ibis, Isis, Justice League of America, King Kull, Lobo, Mr. Scarlet, Pinky, Robin, Sandman, Shazam, Sivana, Spy Smasher, Superboy, Superman, Taia, Wonder Woman ©1999 DC Comics Inc.; Angel, Bucky, Captain America, Daredevil, Defender, Dr. Doom, Dr. Strange, Fantastic Four, Fin, Ghost Rider, Georgie, Hulk, Human Torch, Iron Man, Jimmy Jupiter, Marvel Boy, Namorita, Patriot, Prince Byrrah, Punisher, Rockman, Spider-Man, Sub-Mariner, Super Rabbit, Terry Vance, Thing, Toro, Vagabond, Venom, Venus, Vision, Whizzer, Wolverine ©1999 Marvel Characters, Inc.; Wonder Man ©1999 Bruns Publishing; Little Ug-Li, Trudy ©1999 Marc D. Swayze. Mr. Monster © Michael T. Gilbert. Nyoka ©1999 Bill Black. Miracleman, Spawn © Todd McFarlane Productions, Inc. Predator, Pinhead © their respective copyright holders. Printed in Canada. FIRST PRINTING

Writer/Editorial

Martin Goodman was born lucky.

nothing could happen to them.

Working backward for a moment:

(A few years ago I turned the original photostats over to Marvel. Nobody there remembered that they had them, until editor Tom Brevoort contacted me about writing an introduction to the first Golden Age of Marvel trade paperback and I told him about them; he promptly located them. Though mostly still unpublished, these pages comprise at least a few of the stories which Tom has reprinted in the two volumes printed thus far.)

In 1961 he plays a round of golf with DC’s co-publisher—Jack Liebowitz brags about the sales of Justice League of America—and, while neither Goodman nor they would probably ever have guessed it in advance, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby stand poised to do the best work of their lives and thereby salvage his entire comics company. In late 1940 Goodman wants a “patriotic” super-hero for his line, and Joe Simon (in conjunction with Jack Kirby) comes up with Captain America— who wasn’t quite the first stars-and-stripes hero, but was certainly the best. In 1939 Goodman decides he’ll branch out from pulpmagazine publishing and put out a line of comic books—and in walks Lloyd Jacquet, with a couple of guys named Carl Burgos and Bill Everett in tow. Yeah, Martin Goodman was born lucky. The one that started it all: Marvel Comics #1. Though it was officially known as Timely Comics, many readers referred to Martin Goodman’s line as “Marvel Comics.” [©1999 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

He was also born smart, in his own schlockmeister way, but that’s another story.

This issue’s story is a tale of two heroes—The Human Torch and The Sub-Mariner, created by the aforementioned Burgos and Everett for Goodman’s fledgling company which would soon become known as Timely Comics—and by the mid-1960s as Marvel Comics. I don’t have a lot of startling revelations to toss at you about either heroes or creators, so I’ll have to content myself with spinning a few personal reminiscences—both my own and those of Bill’s daughter Wendy—and with showering you with loads of Golden Age art, reproduced from black-and-white photostats of the original art which I found in a Marvel warehouse circa 1970 and hauled home so that

But this issue isn’t all about Golden Age art. There’s also some fine work done by Bill Everett in his final decade at Marvel—and by Marie Severin on a few special occasions (one of which was more sad than special)—and by one or two others. I was also fortunate to get my old friend Gil Kane to spin a few yarns and memories about Timely/Marvel back in the 1940s. We had a good time talking about those days, and we hope it shows. And, just to top things off, Bill Schelly dug into his Comics Fandom Archives and came up with the full, unfettered story of The Yancy Street Journal, the first and foremost comics fanzine ever done about Silver Age Marvel Comics. As for myself, I’m particularly happy to get a chance to write what I hope is my ultimate tribute to my colleague and sometime roommate, Bill Everett. I wish I’d had the foresight to have had someone take a photo of the two of us together, during those years from 1965 through the early ’70s when we were friends and occasional sparring-partners. But—my main regret about this issue? That Bill isn’t around to read it.

re: Letters to the Writer/Editor

well. Your presentation of my work is the best that has been published, and I appreciate it. The interview would have been more interesting to comics enthusiasts if I had fraternized with the other artists and writers of the period. I should have mentioned that the reason for this aloofness was not egotism or arrogance; it’s just that I wasn’t interested in comics at that time.

re:

As you know, comics were not highly regarded then; it was the time of Wertham’s Seduction of the Innocent, and many parents didn’t want their kids to read comic books. I had been a syndicated newspaper cartoonist and thought of comics as just an interim job until I could get back into sports cartooning. In fact, I only drew comics for seven years, and left DC in 1947 when Hearst offered me a sports job in Pittsburgh.

With this issue, I’ve decided to drop all that editorial “Ye Editor” business in the letters section. Everybody knows who’s speaking, and I feel less comfortable with that literary convention than I do at a comics convention. Besides, trying to figure out what personal pronoun to use (we? he? it?) can be a real bitch. From now on, it’s just “I/me”—or “we/us.” Now, onward… starting with a letter from Golden Age artist Marc Swayze.—R.T. Dear Roy, A while back I received an attractive book, Shazam Archives, Vol. 2. It was sent by Paul Levitz—at your suggestion, he said. Thank you. It’s an attractive book and has provided me with information, of much of which I was unaware. I had never before seen any of the early Captain Marvel material contained in the book, except possibly a part of the last story, from Whiz #20. I found the foreword by R.C. Harvey interesting, but I had to disagree with his account on a couple of points: (a) I was never an “assistant” to C.C. Beck; and (b) I did none of the Spy Smasher art in the book. The only art in Shazam Archives, Vol. 2, that I suspect to be mine is the “Crusher of Crime” title panel on page 221, and a few panels in that story. Marc D. Swayze It’s always great, Marc, to receive info straight from one of the major Fawcett artists, whose ongoing memoirs are a highlight of each FCA section of A/E. (Readers can flip this book over and see for themselves, if they haven’t already.)

The irony of it is that now comics are popular, while sports cartooning is passé. I’m only remembered for my comics (which I thought were unimportant)—my sports cartoons are forgotten, though you were kind enough to reprint some of them with the interview. Although my comics career was brief, the timing was right. The forties were the Golden Age, and I happened to be in the right place at the right time! The interview [in A/E V3#2] was taken from a taped conversation, and inevitably there were a few errors in the transcription. These are trivial and don’t affect the over-all accuracy of the script. However, fans may notice that the 1940 Action Comics cover is described as “Superman riding a lion,” when he was actually fighting a lion. Some oldtimers may remind you that Robert Ripley’s nickname was Bob, not Bill. The only errors that I would like to see corrected in a future issue are in the captions of several drawings, which are called “commission pieces.” I never drew a “commissioned piece.” Only two of my drawings were ever for sale—they were given to Christie’s for auction and were not commissioned. All of my other drawings were gifts. Jack Burnley Thanks for setting the record straight, Jack. Because you sent us a mountain of art material at the eleventh hour and we wanted to print as much of it as we could, the term “commission piece” got grafted onto it without thinking. Incidentally, there’s one error in A/E V3#2 you didn’t mention: The caption on P. 11 says the page repro’d there is the final one of your first Superman story, but in truth, it’s only the last page of your first Superman story in Action Comics; your first published tale of the Man of Steel, of course, appeared in the 1940 World’s Fair Comics, as per the interview. We look forward to other reminiscences you’ve said you may send us from time to time. And I apologize, even though you didn’t complain, for our perhaps sticking a bit too much cover copy onto the white areas of your beautiful Starman cover-drawing.

DC’s Archives series is, truly, a marvel of the age, and A/E plans soon to examine the volumes of the series to date, both their strengths and (relatively few) flaws. If you believe you’ve found a mistake or omission in the series, please let us know for inclusion ASAP. Dear Roy, Thanks for the copies of Alter Ego #2. The Starman re-creation made a colorful cover, and all of the illustrations you selected reproduced

Dear Roy,

For inclusion last time, author and comics fan Ron Goulart kindly sent us copies of this Jack Burnley “Bullet Bob” page and some “Sky Wizard” pages, both from Miracle Comics #4 (March 1941), but they got left out. So we’re tossing this one at you now. Thanks, Ron!

I never thought I’d ever get into one of these seemingly endless debates, but while reading the article on the creation of the Silver Age Atom in Alter Ego #2 (one of the pleasures of my day, I might add), I chanced upon a comment made by the much-beloved Julie Schwartz that he had continued on pg. 33

“Bill Everett Was a Friend of Mine”

A Very Personal Reminiscence of the Creator of The Sub-Mariner by Roy Thomas [INTRODUCTORY NOTE: Although there’s a fair amount of biographical and auto-biographical material below, this is definitely not an attempt at a biography of William Blake Everett. I hope that, one day, his daughter Wendy—either on her own or with someone else— will chronicle that story of soaring talent and of eventual triumph over self-imposed adversity. [This piece is simply my own hopefully ultimate take on a man who at various times in my life was admired artist-writer, sometimes troublesome roommate, good friend, and professional colleague. [Sometimes he was all four at once. [What follows is a story of success, and of failure—perhaps sometimes of my own, as well as Bill’s. [So let’s get on with it:]

PREFACE A few years back, when some new Sub-Mariner stories were published which I suspected Bill Everett would have disliked intensely, I was sorely tempted to send the writer-artist a short letter parodying a famous exchange from the 1988 Vice-Presidential debate: “I knew Bill Everett. “Bill Everett was a friend of mine. “And you, pal, are no Bill Everett.” I didn’t write that letter, of course. And it’s just as well. Because, though quite a few comics pros—including Yours Truly, more often than most—have taken a crack at writing and/or drawing the exploits of Prince Namor, none of us has ever been as good at either aspect as Bill Everett at his best was at both. Which shouldn’t really surprise us. For, as has often been noted, in one sense The Sub-Mariner was Bill Everett, right down to his facial features and reddish-brown hair color in the early issues of Marvel Mystery and other Timely comics.

I. PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS AN ANGRY YOUNG MAN The facts of Bill Everett’s colorful life aren’t always easy to come by. As his daughter Wendy told Mike Friedrich in an interview in Comic Book Artist #2, Bill had a tendency to change those “facts,” depending on whom he was talking to. She related, for instance, how her father once told an interviewer he had named a character Bob after his brother—only Wendy knew she didn’t have an “Uncle Bob.” Thus, it’s

likely that no published account of Bill’s life to date is entirely accurate. Still, call it a hunch, but I suspect that one version that comes as close to the truth as any is a letter he wrote to Jerry DeFuccio in 1961, and we thank Jerry for his blessing in quoting from it below. Bill was undoubtedly aware that the associate editor of Mad magazine was working (still is, in fact—and I hope he finishes it soon!) on the ultimate anecdotal comic book history; and for that reason Bill might have been likely to take DeFuccio’s queries a bit more seriously than most. Besides, in ’61 he hadn’t been quizzed about his life nearly as often as he would be in the following decade-plus. Here’s what Bill Everett wrote to Jerry DeFuccio on May 19, 1961:

You seem to have pegged the old comic book industry pretty well, from the few simple facts you stated in your letter. It’s true that Carl Burgos and I started in the game at its very inception, somewhere back in 1936 or ’37, when the going rate was $2.00 per page—believe it or not! I think my very first strip was “Skyrocket Steele,” but shortly after that came The Amazing-Man, which enjoyed a short but popular life. Then there was “Dirk the Demon,” and several others of short duration, whose titles I can’t even recall at this date. Of course, our biggest enterprise was “The Sub-Mariner” and Carl’s “Human Torch,” both of which carried us along successfully for many years. I was associated with Lloyd Jacquet, as you probably know, at Funnies, Inc., from about 1938 until the war, when I went into the service. The Sub-Mariner carried on at the hands of Carl Pfeufer and a few others in my absence, and it was not until late 1946 that I picked it up again. He was finally dropped as a feature title. You might recall that at Funnies we had such writers as Mickey Spillane, Ray Gill, and John Compton. Bob Wood started with us, then joined forces with Charlie Biro to produce crime comics for Lev Gleason. I guess you know what happened to Bob. Charlie, I understand, is still quite active with the National Cartoonists Society. Background: Bill’s unique signature, emulating painter’s palette and brushes.

Bill Everett circa 1939, when he was the writer-artist of Amazing Man Comics—juxtaposed with an inset of a far later drawing of The Sub-Mariner, revealing the strong resemblance between creator and creation. [Art courtesy of Dennis Beaulieu; Sub-Mariner ©1999 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Bob Davis was, indeed, one of my best friends. He met his death on his way home to Tarrytown, when he apparently went to sleep at the wheel of his car (a sedan, not a sports car) and plunged into a shallow pond off the Saw Mill River Parkway. As I recall it, he did not drown, but died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. What made his untimely death so poignant to us was the fact that it occurred after an afternoon and evening of frolic and fun with Carl, myself, and a couple of others from the Funnies gang. I remember that Bob kept calling his wife, Ruth, to tell her he’d be home shortly, and we finally persuaded him to leave about 7:00 p.m. That was the end. To go back a bit, here is a brief resume of my experience in the publishing and related fields: My first job out of school was with the Boston Herald-Traveler, on the Retail Advertising art staff—at an underwhelming salary of $12.00 per week. I quit that job when they put me on the night shift, and went to work as a draftsman for The Brooks System, civil engineers in Newton, Mass. I got fired because I refused to chauffeur one of the partners, whose rancid cigar smoke made me ill.

From there I went to Phoenix and on to L.A., job-hunting, but with no success. Finally, I returned to New York, and got a job on the Herald Tribune, once again doing retail advertising work. That job led to another, as Art Editor for Radio News magazine, Teck Publications, Inc. Teck eventually sold out to Ziff-Davis, and I went to Chicago to become Assistant Art Director to Herm Bollin. Unfortunately, Herm and I didn’t get along, and I was too big for my britches. I got canned. I came back to New York, all set to take the world by its heels—and wound up on the unemployment insurance breadline. I was still drawing compensation when I stumbled onto the comic book field, then brand new. I can’t even recall how it happened—wait… Now I remember. A fellow by the name of Walter Holze had worked with me at Teck, and when Teck sold out went with a small publisher, whose name I can’t recall. John H——, something. Anyway, Walter got in touch with me, and told me this guy was doing comics, and was I interested? I was. I was interested in anything at that point. So I went to see him, and that’s when I met Lloyd Jacquet and Carl Burgos. Later, Lloyd split with John, and offered me and a fellow by the name

“Bill Everett Was a Friend of Mine” You may know of Steve Douglas, former editor of Famous Funnies. He’s had quite a career, and would make interesting material for your book. He and I have been friends for many years. While with Lloyd and the others, I also did a great deal of work on the World’s Fair of ’41 [sic], for the Electric Utilities Corp. of New York. Interesting, but brief. Our biggest client, as it turned out, was Martin Goodman. We produced many different comic titles for him, until about 1940, when he dropped our contract and decided to set up his own production staff, with Arthur Goodman in charge. Both Arthur and Stan Lee were just kids then, and gave us considerable trouble. I guess we were all feeling our oats at that time. We gave them trouble, too. Anyway, Lloyd and I weren’t getting along too well at that period, and there was dissension between Lloyd and John Mahon. John left, and Frank Torpey went to work for Martin. Lloyd was carrying on with Jim Fitzsimmons when I left to go into the service. I married while in the army—a girl named Gwenn Randall, from Nebraska, who was working for the Ordinance Dept. in the Pentagon. I met her in ’42 when I was attending Officer Candidate School at Fort Belvoir, and married her when I returned from the European Theater in ’44. Our first child, a daughter, was born just before I was shipped out to the Pacific. I was in the Philippines when the war terminated, and returned home in February ’46.

of Max Neill a chance to go in with him and two other guys, John Mahon and Frank Torpey, on a fifty-fifty basis. We took a small loft office on 45th Street, and started an art service. One of our accounts was Martin Goodman, who was just entering the comic field. Another was Famous Funnies, Eastern Color Printing Co., for whom I did a rather successful strip called “Hydroman,” plus several one-shots.

I’d come into a little money when my great-uncle died during the war, so I sort of loafed around for a while after I got home, traveling around a bit, and finally settling in my wife’s home town, Fairbury, Nebraska. This was when I renewed my association with Martin Goodman, working by mail on a freelance basis, picking up the Sub-Mariner where I’d left off four years ago.

Things got rough about 1949, and I felt it advisable to pack up and move back to New York. I left my family (two kids by now) in Erie, Pa., with my sister and her family, and came to N.Y. by myself. I picked up comic accounts with Quality Comics, Eastern Color, and, of course, with Stan Lee. Things finally began to look good in ’50, and my family joined me (four of us lived—and worked—in one tiny room in a midtown hotel for six months!), and we eventually moved to Ridgewood, New Jersey, where I bought a small house.

“Bill Everett Was a Friend of Mine”

I guess it was about 1955 when Stan Lee called me and offered me a staff job working on a new satirical magazine to be called Snafu. I went to work for him, with John Severin and Joe Maneely, and we had a heck of a lot of fun for many months. Of course, the rag eventually died, but we stayed on, still doing comics. You probably know that Joe was killed falling off a train while on the way home after a night’s work at Timely. You must know what happened to Timely. The whole thing blew up when Martin sold out his distributing company, and went with American News, who promptly fouled him up. Anyway, the whole bunch of us were thrown out on our respective ears, and that was when I decided I’d better find another outlet for whatever talent I might have. I was most fortunate in landing a job with Norcross, specializing in humorous and “Studio” cards. Within a year, I had become Planning Director, and was pretty well situated when I heard about an opening with Rust Craft Publishers in Dedham, Mass.

I took the job, as Art Director, General Design, a year ago, and moved my family (three kids now—one sixteen, one twelve, and one eight) up here to Winchester, a lovely little town. A couple of months ago, the guy who hired me, the Corporate Creative Director, had a falling out with the management, and was canned. That left me holding the bag, under the Senior Art Director, and my head was on the block. We finally agreed to disagree, and the job terminated last week. That brings us up to date. Well, Jerry, this has been a rather long dissertation, and I sure hope I haven’t bored you. How much of what I’ve written here is pertinent to your requirements, I don’t know, but pick and choose as you like. I’ll be in New York from time to time, Jerry, and if I can do anyBill in uniform, 1940s. thing further to assist you in [Courtesy of Wendy Everett] preparing your book, I’ll be more than glad to cooperate in person. I do remember meeting and talking with you, and if we could get together again maybe I’d recall a few more items that might interest you. You might look up John Jordan, John Daly, Joey Piazza, Mike Roy, George Kapitan, and Al Grenet. There’s also a very interesting story concerning Terry Gilkisson, although you may have trouble getting it published. The era of the ten-cent comic book was a romantic and adventure-

some one, and, I hope, should make for interesting reading. There was the time, for example, when we turned out the first combination “Sub-Mariner,” “Human Torch” volume—48 pages of writing, layout, drawing, and lettering, in three days. All done in my apartment on 33rd St., with six writers, four artists, and a case of booze. Sandwiches sent in, Joey Piazza lying in the bathtub, fully clothed, writing up a storm, reams of paper littering the floor, everybody yelling at each other, neighbors complaining, the radio and record player going full blast, and the telephone ringing constantly. But we got the job done, and it sold out completely. Such things were the comic book industry made up of, and I certainly hope that you can compile enough anecdotes to make a small addition to the history of publishing. Anything more I can do to help, I’ll be more than happy to do. When he wrote the above letter, Bill, as he stated, was fresh out of a job. I assume the “Eton Paper Corporation” for which, he told me circa 1970, he had worked for four years before he and they “agreed to disagree”

“Bill Everett Was a Friend of Mine”

II. MENTION MY NAME IN ATLANTIS When, in the early 1960s, writers about comic books began to do articles about the Golden Age heroes who were slowly returning to the newsstands, in one form or another, they tended to single out Bill Everett’s aquatic avenger. The late journalist and Comics Buyers Guide co-editor Don Thompson, in the science-fiction fanzine Xero (#4, April 1961), contributed his influential essay “O.K. Axis, Here We Come!” about the Timely heroes, for the ongoing comics-related series “And All in Color for a Dime.” Despite a few factual errors, inevitable in a day when few old comics were in circulation, Don got it dead right when he referred to Namor’s “people are no damn good” attitude. (Don was, I feel, less accurate when he referred to Bill’s early-’40s stories as “hackwork, sloppy and grossly exaggerated.” Bill was a “hack” only in the sense that he wrote for money; his early work was head and shoulders above most of what was appearing in comics at the time.) In his 1965 The Great Comic Book Heroes, which reprinted a sampling of 1940s super-hero tales, even satirist/cartoonist Jules Feiffer felt it necessary to say a few more words about Namor than he had about most of the other four-color characters depicted in his book:

Bill, caricatured by colleague Marie Severin, drew the frame for Alter Ego, Vol. 1, #11 (published in 1978, five years after his death), which shows some of the major heroes he illustrated: (L. to R.:) Hydroman, Sub-Mariner, The Fin, Venus, Amazing-Man, and—Bronco Bill? [Art ©1999 Roy Thomas; Namor, Fin, and Venus © 1999 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

was the same company as “Rust Craft Publishers” above. Either that, or else he had stormed out of more jobs than he talked about! (At any rate, before long he was doing work for Cracked, the highly successful Mad imitation where his friend John Severin had also landed on his feet a few years after EC had folded.) For other inquiring minds wanting to know, Bill would sometimes add that he was born in 1917 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, but spent his school years through high school in Arizona, where he developed a love for things Western that never left him. (Remember that photo in Comic Book Artist #2 of “Wild Bill,” as Stan Lee later nicknamed him, in a cowboy hat? If you don’t, the Everett drawing on the next page should make the point.) Also in CBA #2, Wendy added the tidbit that her father “came from a 300-year-old New England family,” and that “Everett, Massachusetts, is named after his great-grandfather, who was also a president of Harvard University and became governor of Massachusetts.” She revealed he was indeed a descendant of the mystical English poet William Blake, for whom he was named. An Everett bio in Phil Seuling’s 1970 [New York] Comic Art Convention book noted that “When his family moved back to Massachusetts, he attended the Vesper George Art School [in Boston], where he decided to make a career of art.” His late-’30s job as art editor of Radio News magazine would influence him to become the first person to depict a television set in a comic book story (in Marvel Mystery #9, July 1940). And with that mention of a Sub-Mariner tale, let’s segue deftly back to pick up Bill when he was, as he sometimes described himself, “an angry young man.” For, clearly, in the early days, he took all that rage and funneled it into the hero known as “Prince Namor, The Sub-Mariner,” beginning with that first 12-pager in Marvel Comics #1.

“If Wonder Woman hated men, The Sub-Mariner went her one better. He hated everybody. He came from the lost continent of Atlantis, a place of under-sea-super-beings, some of whom looked like fish, some like you or I. Luckily the war came along, and he switched from beating up Americans to Nazis. Until then, he was well on his way to becoming the Black Muslim of comic books.” Basically on target—although Feiffer, like Thompson before him, makes the error of believing that Namor’s sub-sea race were the heirs of Atlantis. Although Bill admitted to me circa 1970 that Plato’s mythical sunken continent had helped inspire his vision of an underwater empire, “Atlantis” is never mentioned, or even implied, in any Sub-Mariner story until Stan Lee shoehorned it in in 1962’s Fantastic Four #4! Whatever issues of Sub-Mariner or Marvel Mystery Thompson and Feiffer had researched, each Dog studies drawn by Bill. [Courtesy of Wendy Everett] had clearly perused enough to get the main things right. In the early days of the feature, Namor hated all surface-men, whom he often generically called “Americans,” for their (actually accidental) destruction of his people’s city beneath the Antarctic icecap. He would soon learn that he was half-American himself, the offspring of a mating between the aquatic

“Bill Everett Was a Friend of Mine” Princess Fen and U.S. explorer Leonard MacKenzie. From almost the beginning, he would be a man divided against himself. Even before America entered what was becoming the Second World War, however, he had switched from battling “Americans” to bashing Germans. When, in the classic Human Torch #5, he spies Russian and Nazi planes dogfighting (however illogically) in the skies over his polar realm, he quickly sides with the former— doubtless because this story was written in the months just after Hitler’s forces attacked Stalin’s USSR on June 22, 1941. When I asked Bill circa 1970 whether Sub-Mariner’s switch from “general bad guy” to “Nazi-fighter and a fighter of the Japanese” bothered him, Bill said no: “This was a natural formula. You could wave the flag like crazy. Most of us were flag-wavers, and I was one of the biggest…. I was getting tired of dreaming up situations for him, and here was a built-in, readymade situation; it was a patriotic thing, and it was the thing to do.”

Bill moved on to other things, including crime stories, humor, and eventually those infamous horror comics, of which he became one of the best artists not working for EC. Four years later, on the heels of the popular Superman TV show with George Reeves, the Timely “Big Three” were briefly revived, with Bill again tapped to draw (and write, for the most part) Sub-Mariner tales in the pages of Young Men, Men’s Adventures, Human Torch, and Sub-Mariner. In the nineteen Timely/Atlas comics published between 1953 and 1955 in which Namor appeared, only two Subby stories out of some three dozen were not illustrated by Bill Everett. (Those two were drawn by Bob Powell—and very well, too, though Powell had a quite different take not only on the hero, but on his undersea race, whose males he depicted as extremely froglike.)

All his life, Bill Everett loved the West. This pen-&-ink drawing was labeled “Alec—town constable, Wickenburg, Arizona, 1930.” (Despite the date, however, this drawing was obviously not done in that year, when he would have been only thirteen.) [Art ©1999 Wendy Everett]

Bill told me he had always been interested in anything having to do with the sea: “I used to read all of [Admiral Richard] Byrd’s exploits and expeditions…. I could rattle off every camp that was ever put up there [in the Arctic]…. I muffed a beautiful opportunity—two of them. I could have gone on one Byrd expedition if I’d wanted to….”

Still, in 1942, in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor, it was the Army, not the navy, which got the services of Bill Everett—while talented if lesser lights like Carl Pfeufer, Mort Lawrence, Mike Sekowsky, and others took over the adventures of The Sub-Mariner for the Duration.

III. YOU CAN’T GO HOME AGAIN In the years immediately after the Second World War, Bill returned to writing and drawing The Sub-Mariner, only to learn that the hero he had created “had begun to change after the war, or during the war. And there were a lot of things that I didn’t like…. I was annoyed with a lot of the synopses or story ideas that I got—and I was annoyed that a lot that I submitted wasn’t accepted, were changed…. I didn’t like it much, therefore I don’t think I did my best work…. I wanted to take him back the way he was and do it my way.” Would to the gods of Atlantis that he had! For, after the War, even though often well drawn by Bill himself or by Lee Elias, The Sub-Mariner had lost something. Not only had the Nazis and Japanese been taken out of the running as foes, but neither was Namor allowed to go back to his old ways of tearing up cities out of a perhaps misplaced desire for vengeance on “the Americans.” Namor had been tamed, domesticated. Fighting smugglers and gangsters, even colorful ones such as The Shark, whom Bill created, was no substitute for Hitler’s fanatical hordes. Not even the creation (probably by Bill) of Subby’s cousin Namora, who briefly had her own comic, could arrest the decline. In 1949 Goodman discontinued Timely’s super-hero comics, and Right: An Everett Sub-Mariner splash page never reprinted since Marvel Mystery Comics #11 (Sept. 1940); reproduced from b-&-w photostats of the original art. [©1999 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

As I first learned from Bill in the late 1960s, there was a reason apart from any sales success that the 1950s Sub-Mariner comic lasted nine bimonthly issues, while the revived Human Torch and Captain America lasted only three each. It seems that Arthur Godfrey, comedian Herb Shriner, and related producers wanted to give The Sub-Mariner his own TV series—and Martin Goodman’s mother hadn’t raised any children stupid enough to believe they’d retain their interest if his comic book was discontinued.

“Bill Everett Was a Friend of Mine” learn) by Martin Goodman and edited by Stan Lee. And though I had a preference for DC and Fawcett (especially the Justice Society and Captain Marvel), the Marvel heroes were hot on their heels in my affections, because of the concepts if not always art and story. (And yes, I did call the company “Marvel,” not “Timely,” back then, because the former name often appeared on the comics’ covers. I never even heard the name “Timely” until the early 1960s!) Though the late-’40s Namor, even when written and drawn by Everett, was only a sunken shadow of the Golden Age glory I would learn about years later, there was something about him that grabbed me, even as a child. When I played at being a super-hero in the public swimming pool in Jackson, Missouri, I was always The Sub-Mariner, and never Aquaman. Not that I pronounced Namor’s epithet correctly, of course. Like many another American kid, I pronounced it “Sub-Ma-Reener,” not the correct “Sub-Mar-iner.” As Bill told me in that 1970ish interview: “I liked Coleridge’s stuff, and I particularly loved ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.’ I just thought that, this being a submarine creature, [I] could combine the two, the ‘submarine’ and ‘Mariner,’ and by hyphenating it, [it] would then become the “Sub-Mariner.” But so many kids just didn’t know what a hyphen was. They ignored the hyphen and put it all as one word and pronounced it “Submareener,” because all they could think of was a submarine.” Splash page from a Venus story by Bill. [©1999 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

But, when negotiations broke down and the producer types departed, Sub-Mariner was summarily cancelled. He was too vital a character, of course, to lie dormant forever. And when Stan Lee and Jack Kirby birthed The Fantastic Four in 1961, it was only four issues before The Sub-Mariner was back. Stan had the good sense to restore him to his “people are no damn good” persona and to make him again the deadly enemy of the human race—while Jack at once became the artist who drew the second-bestever rendition of Bill Everett’s sub-sea prince. What’s more, Bill himself would soon be back in comics—and then, whether he especially cared or not, was there any force on Earth that could keep Bill Everett and The Sub-Mariner apart? What do you think?

IV. WHAT’S IN A NAME? (OR EVEN TWO?) I can’t be certain of precisely when I first became aware of Bill Everett’s existence. He sort of sneaked up on me. The Sub-Mariner, now, is another matter. At age five or six, I discovered the Timely trio of Human Torch, Captain America, and Sub-Mariner. By 1945-46, though between them they still appeared in at least four regular magazines, they were all that remained of the dozens of gaudily-clad super-heroes who’d once paraded through the pages of comics published (as I would one day

“Bill Everett Was a Friend of Mine” And why shouldn’t they? Not only were submarines very much in the news before, during, and after World War Two; so was the word “submariner,” with the accent on the third syllable, as a term for a member of a sub’s crew. By any name, I was saddened in the late ’40s by the demise of Namor and most of his costumed ilk. So I was delighted when he, Captain America, and the Torch returned in 1953-54, as the harbingers of a brief “false spring” which presaged the super-hero revival that was still a few years away.

11 In mid-1961 I graduated from college and took a job teaching high school English in Sullivan, Missouri. I discovered that a fellow English teacher, Bob Hopkins, had both nostalgic feelings for and considerable knowledge about comic books, comic strips, and Big Little Books. When I mentioned to Bob that I loved the SubMariner art of “Bill Enereh,” it was he who first told me the true name was “Everett”—and that he had created the character. An aside: By then I had long since read Don Thompson’s “O.K. Axis” piece, briefly and on loan, but I must have missed Bill’s last name therein.

I reveled in the Torch artwork by Russ Heath, Carl Burgos, and Dick Ayers, even though only Dick signed his work in those comics.

Four years later, I moved to New York—and, two weeks after that, I was hired by Marvel Comics.

I was impressed by John Romita as Captain America artist, but was only lukewarm toward Mort Lawrence’s one Cap outing.

V. MAN-CHILD IN THE PROMISED LAND

And I was absolutely wild about Bill Everett’s Sub-Mariner, though I had mixed feelings about Bob Powell’s version of Namor, which I thought of even then as the work of a talented pinchhitter—as indeed it was. Not that I knew the name of the main Sub-Mariner artist (and writer) was “Everett,” however. No way could I read that wacky, artsy signature that graced his stories! It fascinated me from the start, but I had no inkling (nor did most people, I’d learn) that it was meant to approximate the shape of an artist’s palette, and had existed since the late ’30s. The closest I could come to the artist’s name was… “Bill Enereh.”

Within a short time of going to work for Stan Lee in July 1965, I asked production manager Sol Brodsky why Bill Everett had drawn the first issue of Daredevil a year or so earlier, and then been replaced by EC alumnus Joe Orlando. Sol’s initial reaction was to roll his eyes. He then told me that Bill had been so late with the art on #1 that it had cost Marvel a lot of money (at a time when the cover price of a comic book was only 12¢). He didn’t go into detail, and I didn’t press the point. Master pulp cover artist Alex Schomburg drew only covers for Timely’s comics during the WWII years, but in 1985 he drew this sketch of The Sub-Mariner during his first and only visit to the San Diego ComiCon. The original is 10" x 14 1/2". [Courtesy of Keif Fromm. Sub-Mariner ©1999 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

At any rate, I was saddened again when the Timely threesome left me a second time, though I was glad Namor stuck around a year longer than the others.

(By the way, it’s only this past year that a Marvel mystery about Bill’s 1950s work was resolved. Les Daniels, author of the coffee table tome Marvel: Five Fabulous Decades of the World’s Greatest Comics, had wondered aloud over the phone why, of all the Sub-Mariner stories Bill drew then, the only one not signed is the one in Young Men #26 wherein Namor takes on a dead-ringer for the Creature from the Black Lagoon—a tale reprinted in Les’ 1991 tome. We know now that that story was scripted by the late and prolific Paul S. Newman, probably because at the time Bill was trying to turn out Sub-Mariner stories for several different comics and probably needed to be spelled in the scripting area. My own guess would be that Bill resented having to work from someone else’s script, and that his protest took the form of not signing the story. That’s just the kind of thing Bill—and many another artist or writer—would have done.)

He was coming back to work

So imagine my surprise, around the turn of the year, when I was working away at my desk and I was abruptly introduced to a tall, smiling, lanky, and tousle-haired man—no less than Bill Everett. on staff at Marvel, I was informed.

I don’t recall much else about the occasion, except that I gushed briefly about his work on The Sub-Mariner. I’m sure Bill waved my comments aside, as was his wont. As it turned out, however, my association with Bill Everett was destined, from the start, to be far more than just a nodding (or even shmoozing) acquaintance in the office. For, Sol informed me that Bill lived in New England; and while he’d be going home to his family over weekends, he needed a place to stay from Monday through Thursday nights and since I had recently moved into an apartment in the heart of Greenwich Village…. Sol needed say no more. The creator of The Sub-Mariner, crashing at my place several nights a week? What else could a guy who was still officially editing a fanzine called Alter Ego say—but yes?! (Before anyone pins a medal on me, I should point out that Bill intended to pay a reasonable fee for the space, though that was hardly a prime consideration.)

“Bill Everett Was a Friend of Mine”

And so Bill Everett and I—and my friend and apartment-mate Gary Friedrich, also from Jackson, Missouri—were thrown together for the next few months. And would to God that I had had the prescience of mind to run out and buy a tape recorder and enough tape to record Wagner’s Ring Cycle a hundred times over! Our place was a “railroad apartment”—one in which the three small rooms were strung out in a straight row. How we squeezed in Bill, as well, still puzzles me, but somehow we did it. He’d sleep on the couch or the bed without complaint. Bill, of course, had limited interest in talking about the “good old days” of comics. I, not he, was the comics fan who had so recently wandered into Wonderland to encounter the likes of Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Joe Kubert, Julie Schwartz, Gardner Fox, Otto Binder—and even John Romita, 1950s Captain America artist who had returned to Marvel only two weeks after I’d started work there myself. Occasionally Bill would bring some work “home”—but our apartment was hardly conducive to working. But then, neither was his lifestyle, for he preferred to go out drinking (often with Gary) rather than sit around the apartment. I accompanied one or both on jaunts from time to time; but, having no great affection for hanging out in bars talking for hours at a time, I was in some ways the odd man out in that threesome. Bill’s return to comics, he told me circa 1970, was due to seeing Jules Feiffer’s article on 1940s comics in Playboy magazine for October If you didn’t already know the name was “Bill Everett,” could you read his signature? [From Sub-Mariner #40, June 1955; reproduced from photostats of original art. [©1999 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

1965, as a precursor of his forthcoming Great Comic Book Heroes. “It was kind of a shocker,” Bill said, “to see a whole article in Playboy about comics. They must be doing all right, you know?…. So it was worth a long shot, so I sent a wire to Stan…. The following Monday he called me up and said, ‘Come back to work,’ so I did. It was as simple as that.” Well, maybe not quite. For, when he heralded Bill’s return on the Bullpen Bulletins page for the magazines cover-dated April 1966, Stan wrote: “Remember ol’ BILL EVERETT, the Golden Age great who created SUB-MARINER, and who also did the first ish of DAREDEVIL? Bill is hankering to rejoin the bullpen again, on a permanent basis, and we’re all hoping he will! His style is as exciting as KIRBY’s, as different as DITKO’s, and as unforgettable as AUSTIN’s! More about Bill later.” (“Adam Austin” was the pseudonym used by Gene Colan at this time.) Once bitten, twice shy—and Stan’s memories of Bill’s congenital lateness and oft-unreliability probably wouldn’t let him make a verbal over-commitment to Bill, until he saw whether he was going to stick around for a while this time. Still, it was clear that Stan, like many another in the field, had a soft spot for Bill. Although the assignment was almost certainly made after Stan wrote the above Bullpen Bulletins, Bill’s first new Marvel work appeared in that same month—a ten-page Hulk chapter in Tales to Astonish #78, penciled and inked over layouts by Jack Kirby. This was Stan’s way of

“Bill Everett Was a Friend of Mine”

breaking in many new artists, of giving them a sense of the kind of excitement he wanted. A bit earlier, a returning John Romita had drawn his first Daredevil the same way. As Bill related, Stan was less than 100% happy with the faces Bill embellished over the Kirby layouts: “You notice [the Hulk looked] a little bit different in each issue because Stan kept saying, ‘Well, this issue let’s try to do him this way, make this change, make that change,’ so eventually he said, ‘Well, do him the way you want to.’ And I was doing it that way when I stopped doing him and started doing Doc Strange.” The teaming of Lee, Kirby, and Everett was clearly not entirely successful from Stan’s viewpoint, but it lasted through Astonish #83 (Sept. ’66).

VI. LOOK HOMEWARD, ANGEL By then, Bill had other ways to prove that his return had been fortuitous both for him and for Marvel. For, a couple of months earlier, Steve Ditko had walked into the Marvel office shared by Sol Brodsky, secretary Flo Steinberg, and myself—had handed Sol some artwork and spoken briefly and softly with him—and had then departed. Sol had immediately rushed into Stan’s office, to return a few minutes later and tell me Ditko had quit; he would finish his current Spider-Man and Dr. Strange jobs, but that would be it. It was the July ’66 cover-dated issues before the Bullpen Bulletins announced: “It’s hail and farewell to sturdy STEVE DITKO! SPIDERMAN #38 and STRANGE TALES #146 (both now on sale) will mark his final appearances in any Marvel mags! (Except for the numerous reprints you’ll find in our king-size issues.)” Good ol’ Stan. Even when announcing a setback, he could turn it into a plug. You gotta love ’im. John Romita was announced to replace Ditko on Amazing Spider-Man, while no new Dr. Strange artist was announced. Still, that month’s Strange Tales did indeed carry Ditko’s final Dr. Strange artwork, for the story Stan titled, “The End at Last!” In more ways than one. Everett became the first artist to succeed Steve Ditko on “Dr. Strange,” but the assignment didn’t last long. [Splash page of Strange Tales #150, Nov. 1966, repro’d from original art; © 1999 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

In 1965 the Marvel Bullpen—Marie Severin included—welcomed Bill back to the fold. In the late 1960s Marie would become a major Sub-Mariner artist herself. [Sketch courtesy of Jerry Boyd; Art ©1999 Marie Severin. Namor ©1999 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

But for Bill Everett, it was a new beginning. What’s more natural than to have Bill, one of the aces of Timely/ Atlas’ 1950s horror comics, do full art and story on the Master of the Mystic Arts, beginning with Strange Tales #147 (Aug. 1966), the very first post-Ditko issue! Stan, who had returned to dialoguing the Ditko-plotted Dr. Strange after a few tales scripted by me and then by Denny O’Neil, plotted Bill’s initial outing with him. However, by coincidence, at that time Stan took his first real vacation in years, heading south (to Florida by train, if memory serves me a-right), and he was only able to script the first five pages. So Denny dialogued the remaining five pages of “From the Nameless Nowhere Comes… KALUU!” The art was listed (by Stan, natch) as being by “Billy Everett… (Our Peerless Prestidigitator).” It was the first, and the last, time Bill would be called “Billy” in the pages of a Marvel comic. Though Bill turned in a creditable job, there were bad omens from the start. For some reason he decided that, instead of drawing a flashback sequence relating Doc’s recent clash with the dread Dormammu, he would simply paste up photostats of Ditko panels. Upon his return, Stan was less than pleased, but figured—perhaps “hoped” is a better word— that it was a one-time lapse. There are some good moments in Bill’s half dozen Dr. Strange stories. But the two of them were not exactly a marriage made in the Purple Dimension. Bill himself said circa 1970: “It was a challenge, because I tried to do Ditko-like work and that was next to impossible…. Ditko is Dr. Strange, and vice versa…. and it was very difficult, but it was fun.” Still, out of that sixty pages came Kaluu—and Umar the

“Bill Everett Was a Friend of Mine” under the ever-growing ash on the end of Wally’s eternal cigarettes—and Stan would probably have liked her to do that with Bill, as well. The drinking and the smoking seem mostly humorous now, as I gaze back on them through the prism of time and distance. Hey, it was Greenwich Village, and it was the late ’60s, and Gary and I were young, and Bill had always had Bohemian tendencies anyway. What do you want from us? Just recalling these things, let alone writing about them, brings a smile to my face. Yet how can that be, when I know deep in my gut that the years of drinking ravaged Bill’s body and left him weaker than he needed to be— and that, even more than the drinking, it was the cigarettes that would kill him only a little more than half a decade later, at the too-young age of 56? Paradox, thy name is Mankind.

VII. THE ODD COUPLE Bill’s life was touched with other tragedies in this period, as well. His wife Gwen died; and daughter Wendy feels that her early death was alcohol-related. I met Gwen Everett only once, I think, and barely remember her, except that she had an open smile and friendly manner but seemed a bit nervous. Wendy I remember better than her mother, because I spent a bit more time with her. I recall taking her, Bill, and Gary to the Playboy Club one night circa 1966 on my Key, because the Club didn’t yet have a cabaret license and one could enjoy a steak (as well as the scenery) without having to pay for a floor show.

Unrelenting, sister to Dormammu himself—and the first adventures of the Ancient One as a young man, as well. One detail that came out of Bill’s sojourn at our pad was a precise if illogical address for Dr. Strange’s eerie mansion. Bill gave it our own: 177A Bleecker Street. If I’ve said little up to this point about events outside the office between Bill and me, it’s because they’re mostly a blur to me. Oh, sure, we gabbed a lot, and we got along well, though I suspect he and Gary were on more of a compatible wavelength than he and I were. Still, sometime during this period, he told me that I reminded him of himself when he was a young man. He never made it entirely clear whether this was a compliment or an insult. I’ll admit I was somewhat put off by two of Bill’s (and Gary’s) principal pastimes: drinking and smoking. Oh, I was known to hoist a few drinks myself—and I took up smoking once or twice, briefly and (thank God) noncommittally, in the late ’60s. But I almost never inhaled. (Hmmm… that sounds familiar.) Not having those two questionable habits myself, I was less than thrilled about the drinking and smoking the other two did in our apartment. Stan, for his part, was unhappy that Bill smoked whenever they had plotting conferences in his office, as he dribbled ashes on his carpet. When chain-smoker Wally Wood had been drawing Daredevil, Flo Steinberg says her orders were to keep an ashtray ready to stick

Mostly I remember how cramped we were, each pair of us squeezed in across from the other two. I recall bringing my right hand down in a grand gesture and bouncing the blade of my steak knife up so it cut my chin slightly. When someone asked how the hell I’d done such a stupid thing, I endeavored to show them— and I cut myself again. It was a movie moment. As I said with some understatement in 1990, Bill “wasn’t exactly the most productive member of the Bullpen this time around…. But Stan, like Marvel’s publisher Martin Goodman, always had a weak spot in his heart for Bill, who’d been a part of that very first issue of Marvel Comics

Marie Severin’s original caricature of Bill for the cover of Alter Ego, Vol. 1, #11—before a photostat was altered by Bill himself and placed in his framing picture. [©1999 Roy Thomas; Sub-Mariner ©1999 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

“Bill Everett Was a Friend of Mine”

already a quarter of a century in the past.” Matter of fact, it was only a couple of years later when thenproduction manager John Verpoorten and I were walking down the hallway and ran into Mr. Goodman. (We never called him anything but “Mr. Goodman.” Some wag once reported a rumor that even his wife called him “Mr. Goodman.”) Goodman asked how Bill was doing, and John said halfjokingly that he was “making a comeback.” Goodman smiled and said, “Bill’s always making a comeback.” And walked on down the hall without another word, chuckling to himself. Bill may have made other living arrangements at some point, because I don’t positively recall his staying there at the time in 1967 when our landlord started making death threats concerning the rent and Gary and I decided it was time to move on. Our next apartment—the first time I’d ever lived in a building that had a doorman—was on East 87th Street. It was basically a living room and a tiny kitchen. I bought myself a nice heavy sofa-bed, and the place seemed roomy enough. Ere long, Gary was spending all his nights with a young woman he’d met, though he continued to pay his share of the rent so he’d have a bolthole if the relationship fell apart. Soon Bill was back. He purchased a cot and slept there. The two of us still had a basically good relationship, but his drinking, more than his smoking, had begun to get on my nerves. Once he came home with ink all over his hands, and left a black handprint on one wall. I was angry, envisioning myself as losing my security (the month’s rent paid in advance to the landlord against damage to an apartment) whenever I moved out. And I was all but livid one night circa ’67 when Bill and I planned a little bachelor party for Gary, who was about to get married. Bill had promised to do a drawing for the occasion, which could be taped on the wall. But when the rest of the partygoers arrived, there was no sign of Bill. He came in much later, without apology—and, unless my memory fails me, without a drawing, or at least without much of one. Yet, aside from those two occasions, I remember mostly just the general camaraderie between Bill and me, and that we got along just fine. I’d wind him up and he’d talk for hours about the “good old days” of comics, just like I’d always wanted him to do—with me still too dumb to have a tape recorder handy. And once, as a gift, he drew me a great picture of Namor and the Hulk in furious battle. (Some time later, while I had a temporary “mad on” at Bill about something, I used it to pay off a poker debt to my friend Phil Seuling, who’d been badgering me to sell it to him.)

realized I had no idea who Eddie Herron was. He castigated me about my lack of knowledge of the history of the field. I wonder what he’d say about today’s pros, many of whom think “ancient history” means when Frank Miller was still doing Daredevil. In mid-’67, Bill and I parted company. I moved to Brooklyn to share an apartment with my friend Len Brown, who was in product development at Topps Gum. But I suspect Bill had other resources by then. We continued, however, to have a relationship at work, and it was sometimes a stormy one. After all, I was associate editor of Marvel by ’67, and had ever-increasing responsibilities dealing with writers, artists, and production staff. Nearly everyone in the Bullpen liked Bill Everett, but we sometimes found his work habits troublesome. With Tales to Astonish #85 (Nov. 1966), Bill had begun inking Gene Colan’s pencils on the 12-page Sub-Mariner feature, while doing Dr. Strange over in Strange Tales. It was Stan’s way, I suspect, of edging Bill back into drawing the Namor feature one day.

I recall that Bill stopped short in the middle of one conversation about the old days in comics because he mentioned an editor named Eddie A late-’60s convention sketch of ol’ Greenskin. [Courtesy of Blake Bell; ©1999 Marvel Characters, Inc.] Herron—and he

Bill, like many

“Bill Everett Was a Friend of Mine”

VIII. THE RETURN OF THE NATIVE With Tales to Astonish #87, Bill took over the penciling and inking of The Sub-Mariner for the first time since 1955. I can’t honestly say that he or I or Stan thought it was a totally triumphal return, for there was a stiffness in Bill’s art now that hadn’t been there a decade-and-a-half earlier. And the knock-down, drag-out battle between Namor and Warlord Krang was not too imaginatively done. Bill’s strong point now was his inking more than his penciling. And yet, there was an integrity to Bill’s work, and Stan stuck around as writer, determined to give him a chance to prove himself. Over the next few issues, while the stiffness remained and Bill’s giant robot in #88 was straight out of a Flash Gordon serial, his strong inking very nearly carried the day. After a couple of Namor stories by Dan Adkins which I wrote, Bill returned as artist in #94, and Stan turned the writing reins over to me. Whether it was because Bill was merely “rested and ready,” or whether he responded better to my cajoling than Stan’s admonitions, I truly believe he turned in superior art jobs for the next few months. Me, I was thrilled, after all these years, to finally do a Sub-Mariner story with Bill Everett! However, after one issue I had to reluctantly turn the scripting over to newcomer Raymond Marais. A couple of issues later I was back—only now the Namor penciler was Werner Roth, with whom I had worked on The X-Men. Around this time, Bill and I had one fairly unpleasant set-to that involved the first issue of Brand Echh, which was to be sort-of Marvel’s version of the early color Mad comics, parodying both Marvel’s own super-heroes and the competition.

Together again for the first time—the Everett and Colan Sub-Mariners! A 1968 drawing by Bill Everett done for fan/collector Marty Greim. [Courtesy of Dennis Beaulieu; Namor ©1999 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

another inker, found embellishing Gene’s work difficult, because of the way Gene laid on the pencil work, though he felt Gene was a good artist. He was less than wild about the changes made to Namor’s appearance by Gene, however. Gone was the somewhat triangular head (although, Bill always claimed, he had never meant it to become as triangular as it had become under Carl Pfeufer and others after he joined the Army), replaced by an exceptionally rounded head. In addition, Bill disliked the more formal speech mode into which Stan, à la Thor, had now cast Namor, as well. He and I both cordially disliked the expression “Imperius Rex!”—although, looking back on it, I’m fonder of it now than I was then. I don’t think Bill would ever have changed his mind. In fact, I know he wouldn’t have. For, in 1968, he did a color drawing for comics fan Marty Greim which depicted both his own version of Namor, and Colan’s. It was pretty clear from the inscription that Bill much preferred his “original ‘angry young man’” to what he sometimes called “the Imperious Wreck.” And in 1970, when he did a full-page pinup for a Sub-Mariner King-Size Special which was reprinting the earliest Colan Subby stories, he took the occasion to draw Namor the way he had thirty years earlier.

I was to do a parody of the Human Torch-Sub-Mariner battle back in Marvel Mystery #9 (which had recently been reprinted, after a fashion, in Fantasy Masterpieces). But the mini-conflagration that erupted around Brand Echh #1 had more to do with Stan and me, really, than with Bill, who was merely the catalyst, so this isn’t the place to tell it. Suffice it to say, in the end it was Ross Andru, not Bill, who penciled the parody. Over the next few years, as the life he’d led began to catch up with him, Bill wasn’t always able to pencil to Stan’s specifications, though his inking was generally up to snuff. Marvel began a Western anthology, and Bill was to draw one of the several features in it—“Halfbreed,” I think was the name. When the pencils were due, Bill came in with a tale that he had spilled ink all over the pages. Not believing this story for 1/1000 of an instant, I told Bill that we’d pay him for the pages if he’d bring them in. He insisted the ink had covered every square inch of the sheet of paper so that nothing was visible. We parted company, each knowing where the other stood. This was not one of the days when I felt happiest about Bill Everett. Before long, though, we were buddies again as if it had never happened. For his part, Stan was always finding ways Bill could be usefully employed by Marvel. For instance, Bill became a colorist. Silver Surfer Marie Severin again—with a giant-size “Happy Birthday” card for Bill, signed by most of the Marvel Bullpen. But don’t ask us why she signed it “1971” and production man Tony Mortellaro signed “’69”! Other signatories are “Smilin’ Stan,” Gary Friedrich, Roy Thomas, Stu Schwartzberg, Al Kurzrok, John Verpoorten, Holli Resnicoff (secretary), Jean Thomas, John Romita, and Herb Trimpe. [Sub-Mariner ©1999 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

“Bill Everett Was a Friend of Mine”

Bill probably came as close to being fired by Stan that day as he had ever come before, and closer than he would ever come again. Needless to say, he never inked another story penciled by Ross Andru. So maybe, in the end, he won just a bit, too.

IX. THE LAST HURRAH With issue #50 (June 1972), Bill Everett returned as Sub-Mariner artist for his final run of issues. This time, Stan had decided to throw caution to the wind and to let Bill pencil, ink, and write the book. Its sales had slumped, and had rarely been particularly strong, whoever the penciler was. So it was, in more ways than one, sink or swim for Sub-Mariner—and perhaps for Bill Everett, as well. We were all aware that his health was not too good. He walked with a cane now. However, some new and positive things had come into his life. He had, at last, joined Alcoholics Anonymous and had come to terms with his drinking problem, and we were all proud of him for that. He had even become something of a proselytizer for AA, bugging his former drinking buddy Gary Friedrich about giving up the hard stuff. (Gary, I’m proud to say, would do so a few years later, and he’s been in great shape ever since.) Also, Bill had a new ladyfriend, and seemed happier than I’d seen him in a long time. Little did we realize that he had less than a year to live. If this final run of Sub-Mariner issues was not a sales triumph, it was still his best work in years.

#1 (1968) was one of his initial efforts, and it was very well received.

The penciling was still a bit stiff, but Bill made up for it with an ornate inking style which made everything seem so much more real than it had just a couple of years earlier.

Inking, however, was the one area where Bill could still shine— when he would let himself do so.

His “lobster-men” in #50 were as ludicrous-looking as the ones in the 1950s film Attack of the Crab Monsters, from which they might have slithered intact—

I still vividly recall the first-ever Defenders story, in Marvel Feature #1 (cover-date Dec. 1971), which I wrote and wherein Bill was to ink Ross Andru.

—but there was Namorita.

As soon as Bill received the pencils, he began to belly-ache. For Ross was a “loose” penciler, who would put down two or more somewhat sketchy pencil lines for every one the inker was meant to embellish. Bill decided he shouldn’t have to make those decisions: “Just let him put down one line, and I’ll ink that.” But, knowing he wasn’t going to be able to get the pages re-penciled, he trudged off with the art. When he brought it back, it was a revelation. Bill had elected to ink virtually all the lines Ross had put down on paper. This gave the story a very scratchy, sketchy look. Interesting in its way, but definitely not the slick look Stan wanted for Andru’s pencils, or for a Marvel comic. If I was perplexed, Stan was livid. I don’t recall if he personally reamed Bill out about it or not—but I do know that I heard plenty about it. Stan knew that Bill knew what he was supposed to do, and had simply been too stubborn to do it. One of Bill’s delightful creations on his final stint as writer/artist on Sub-Mariner, was Prince Namor’s feisty, young cousin, Namorita. This panel detail is from issue #54 (Oct. ’72). [©1999 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

“Bill Everett Was a Friend of Mine”

Early in the story, Namor rescued a cute blonde teenager from what he assumes is drowning, and attempts to give her the kiss of life—only to have her slug him mightily and call him a “dirty old man.” The Sub-Mariner… a dirty old man? This was something new under the sub-sea sun. Namorita turned out to be the daughter of his cousin Namora from the 1940s—and to hell with what anybody else has done with her since. It doesn’t count. Namorita has, courtesy of Bill Everett, an engaging personality out of a late-’40s or 1950s teen comic—and to blazes with the speech patterns that have been imposed on her by others in later stories. And Namorita had a truly girlish figure, with a small bust—a welcome antidote to the overly busty women who seem to populate comics in everincreasing numbers—and I’ve nothing but scorn for those who later turned her into just another full-bosomed vamp, utterly indistinguishable (except for her pointed ears) from every other young woman in the medium. What Bill Everett created in Namorita, in those few issues of Sub-Mariner, proved that he still had something vital to contribute to the comics field—if only it were intelligent enough to listen. Unfortunately, time was running out for Bill, and he couldn’t keep up the pace for long. But, in truth, I don’t think it mattered all that much to him. His personal life, and his work with AA, was what really mattered to him now, and comics, even more than before, had become merely a means to an end. The amazing thing is that, amid this understandable change in attitude, he still did such wonderful work again, even for a too-brief time. All the rest of us wanted to do was to keep out of his way, and to give him a hand when and if we could.

He was a bit slow scripting on top of penciling and inking? His friend Mike Friedrich stepped in, doing his damnedest to be true to Bill’s vision of Namor and Namorita. He wasn’t ideal any longer as a cover artist? Gil Kane, John Romita, and others would do them, to free Bill to do the all-important story inside. He felt too poorly to complete an issue? Mike and young artist Alan Weiss leaped into the breach with a six-page backup story. I dug

up four-page tales from the 1950s which featured Namor and Namora as teenagers, to underscore what was happening in the front of the book. One month Mike and Dan Adkins tossed in a fill-in story, designed so Bill could pick up where he left off, when he felt strong enough. Bill surprised us all. He’d be down for what we assumed would be the count (missing the Friedrich-Adkins #56, for instance), then return full force in #57 (Jan. 1973), penciling, inking, and writing—and even drawing the cover.

“Bill Everett Was a Friend of Mine” With #61 he returned to pencil and ink the first few pages, but could manage no more. We’ll never know how much pain he felt sitting at the typewriter or drawing board, or precisely how much it cost him. We’ll never know, because he didn’t want us to know. That issue contained the last Bill Everett artwork in a Marvel comic, or anywhere else. Yet, even so, after having to skip #62, Bill was back with the “story” for #63 (July ’73). By the time it came out, completed by Steve Gerber and Sam Kweskin and his Golden Age colleague Syd Shores, Bill was dead. As Mike Friedrich put it to interviewer Jon B. Cooke in Comic Book Artist #2: “By the fall [of 1972] Bill had fallen sick…. I came to visit him in January 1973. I knew that he was dying at this point. And he went in for this operation and died in the hospital. I was told that it wasn’t the drink that killed him; it was the smoking. His lungs failed.” And where was I in all this? In a fog, I’m sorry to say. During the end of 1972 and the beginning of 1973, I was going through a painful separation from my first wife. (We would soon reconcile, but that merely postponed the inevitable for another two years.) Between that and my workload as editor-in-chief, I kept tabs on how Bill was, but I’ll confess I never summoned the courage to visit him in the hospital. Or, if I did, I don’t recall it now. I was too stressed out to be of much good to either him or to myself during this period. But when I learned that he’d passed away, on February 27, I recall how it hit me like a body blow. At that moment I’d have given anything for one last chance to shake off my own blue funk and go see him— living, breathing, if none too comfortable—in that hospital bed. But it was too late.

He even pulled a few additional rabbits out of his creative hat that issue, bringing back Venus, whom he’d drawn so successfully in the 1950s, as a supporting character. The art might be a bit cartoony, the writing a bit clunky in places—but we all wanted to see what the “Ancient Mariner,” as we jokingly called him, would do next.

It always is, at some point. There was nothing left to do but to sit down and write an announcement of his death, to be typeset inside a thick black border amid the usually cheerful Bullpen Bulletins for the comics cover-dated September 1973. I referred the readers to the pages of Sub-Mariner #65, then on sale. For it, Marie Severin had penciled—and I believe Mike Esposito had inked—a full-page final tribute to Bill Everett, for which I wrote a few lines of copy.

Me, I was just proud that my name had now begun to appear on Sub-Mariner as editor.

Bill Everett is gone, but his legacy is as fresh today as it was in 1973. The Sub-Mariner is still one of the marvels of the comic book age—still one of the greatest, and one of the best-realized, concepts in the history of the field.

Despite illness, Bill hung on. In #58 artist Sam Kweskin did layouts, with Bill contributing “story” [plot] and “art” [finished penciling and inking], with young Steve Gerber doing the dialogue. Bill even began an ambitious alien story arc.

And Marvel Comics will always trace its roots back to that first comic in 1939—

Little did we know that the advanced cover-date of #58—February 1973—would, when that time actually rolled around, be the month and year of Bill’s last day on Earth. For #59-60 Bill could contribute only the plot, plus the inking of the cover of #59. But he wouldn’t give up. He was determined to be a part of Sub-Mariner, and he kept his hand in.

—and to Bill Everett, the man who created Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner.

Postcards to Wendy

Postcards to Wendy Drawings Sent from a Father to his Daughter—Only the Father Was Bill Everett! by Roy Thomas real treasure trove, which we present along with such comments of Wendy’s—and Bill’s—as we were privy to.

s related earlier, I met Bill Everett’s effervescent daughter Wendy once or twice in the 1960s. From time to time over the years, and even more so after Alter Ego returned as part of Comic Book Artist magazine in 1998, I thought of trying to get in touch with her, to see how she was doing. But nothing ever came of it. Even Mike Friedrich, who in the late ’60s and early ’70s had been both a comics writer and a friend of hers and Bill’s, had no idea where she was.

In Comic Book Artist #2, Wendy told Mike Friedrich:

Yet it was in that same year of ’98 that Mike learned through an employee at the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco that Wendy had recently been a docent (volunteer) there. The initial result of their getting back in touch was his three-page interview with her which appeared in CBA #2, complete with several previously unpublished Everett photos and drawings (as well as Mike’s own reminiscences of his friend Bill). Through Mike, Wendy and I likewise re-established contact, and we’ve exchanged a number of chummy e-mails since. When Alter Ego spun off from CBA, I told Wendy that an early issue would feature extensive coverage of her father. She responded with the drawings on the next few pages, as well as the indicated photos and artwork from the preceding article. Wendy also told me that for 25 years she’s been in possession of some later journals of her father’s, and she hoped to present edited excerpts from them in A/E. However, she later decided they were a bit too personal, and too little related to his comics work, for her to feel A studio portrait of Bill Everett comfortable about sharing them in his early twenties. with A/E’s readers; and we [Courtesy of Wendy Everett.] respect her opinion. Still, Wendy has given us a

“Another one of the things about being the kid of an artist— and one that is so prolific and talented—is that he’d create art for us all of the time. When I was young and went to camp, every week he would send me one of those old Manila postcards and draw these fabulous cartoons that would depict what happened at home that week. So one would have a swimming pool with my brothers in it, and he’d put the dog in the middle. You know, no one in camp ever got anything like that and, of course, because they were postcards, everyone else at camp got to read [them] before I did.” Wendy sent me a total of sixteen of these hand-colored cards, all but two of which are postmarked 1956 (the other two being from 1957). Most of the cards are addressed to “Miss Wendy Everett, Camp Nokomis, Bear Island, Lakeport, New Hampshire.” Some were postmarked at New York City’s Grand Central Station. At first, since Wendy herself was on extended travels in London and Florence, Italy, and didn’t have the opportunity to write her own additional comments on the postcards as she’d hoped, I intended to print only the two or three which were at least vaguely comics-related. But then I decided, “What the hell? This is vintage artwork by Bill Everett, and if I don’t publish them, who is going to?” (Besides, Wendy can always add her own commentary in a later issue, if she wishes.) Thus, throwing caution to the winds, we present Bill Everett’s loving postcards to his young daughter, from those wonderful years 1956 and 1957.

Postcards to Wendy

June 27, 1956: Bill’s portrait of how Wendy’s two brothers (Randy and Robbie) and the family dog Boots were spending their time while she was away at camp.

July 1, 1956: A relatively rare depiction of Wendy on one of the postcards.

July 3, 1956: This is the earliest extant postcard which features Bill at the drawing board... even if he isn’t exactly working.

June 28,1956: Another way the boys whiled away the summer—they got clipped!

July 24, 1956: A self-portrait of Bill on a fishing trip.

Postcards to Wendy

August 1, 1956: Bill kept Wendy up to date on the new neighbors who had moved in while she was away.

July 11, 1956: ’Twould seem that Bill, Gwen, Randy, and Robbie were about to make a trek up to Camp Nokomis!

August 7, 1956: A bit of light verse and a scene of life at home.

August 8, 1956: Evidently “Miss Nokomis 1956” was supposed to write home every day. But what kid at camp ever did that without fail?

July 12, 1956: Were the dishes stacking up back home, waiting for Wendy to come home and wash them?

Postcards to Wendy

August 2, 1956: Today, Wendy says, she has no more knowledge than Bill did in ‘56 as to precisely why she wrote him asking him to send her a copy of his distinctive comic book signature, but evidently she did— and he obliged. Incidentally, one reason the outline of the paper Bill’s holding isn’t completed is that it and his signature were pasted onto the postcard on which the rest of the illustration was drawn.

August 6, 1956: Only a few days later, Bill sent another drawing-board cartoon.

May 5, 1957: This postcard to Wendy is addressed to “YMCA Camp Bernie, Lebanon Township, NJ.” The family is depicted all in blue, missing Wendy.

July 25, 1956: Even Boots sent his absent young mistress a 2¢ postcard!

Postcards to Wendy

August 15, 1956: Apparently Gwen Everett drove up to camp to bring Wendy home from camp.

Again quoting Wendy from CBA #2: “Every time there was a birthday, Mother’s Day, or other celebration, he would create a big card. It wasn’t just that the artwork was good; it was the writer in him, as well. He would create a funny story just out of some ‘nothing’ thing that happened at home and make it into some unbelievable creation!” About her father in general, Wendy wrote me recently: “He lived a fairly wild, privileged life. Emphasis on the wild. He was a rascal, but I loved him a lot.”

™

July 3, 1957: Wendy evidently flew to Boston by herself (whether the airline really forgot her luggage is forgotten at this late date). The postcard is addressed to Camp Nokomis, so most likely Wendy flew to Massachusetts and thence was transported to New Hampshire.

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Carl Burgos:—

Carl Burgos: Marvel Mystery Man by Roy Thomas

ill Everett and Carl Burgos.

Carl Burgos and Bill Everett.

No matter the order in which they’re listed, these two names are forever entwined in the history of comic books, because these two writers/artists’ heroes, The Human Torch and The Sub-Mariner, made their debuts in the same epoch-making first issue of Marvel Comics in the summer of 1939 (cover date: October, with a second edition published with a November cover date). To me and to many other comics aficionados, Burgos has always been the “mystery man” of the pair… simply because so few interviews with or photos of him seem to be available.

The one-page text accompanying this caricature in Human Torch #1 “revealed” how Burgos got the idea for his hero on “a beastly hot day”; see the 1990 “reprint” of Marvel Comics #1.

Indeed, it seems that, even when longtime pros do talk about him, their comments seem to be limited to a general impression, rather than to many specific memories. (Witness, for example, Gil Kane’s spare comments in his interview in this issue—or the quoted remarks below from Joe Simon.)

The biographical accounts by Jim Steranko (in the first volume of his groundbreaking The Steranko History of Comics in 1970) and by Jerry Bails in The Who’s Who of American Comic Books are still as definitive as anything gets concerning Burgos. Both Steranko and Bails had personal contact with Burgos in the 1960s, and thus got their information straight from the horse’s mouth—not that that’s always 100% reliable in the Wonderful World of Comics, or anywhere else. Burgos was born in 1917, and in his youth briefly attended the National Academy of Design. “I quit after one year,” he is quoted by Steranko as saying, “because I couldn’t learn enough.” ’Twould seem that, at age seventeen, while working for the Franklin Engraving Company, he first encountered original comic art prepared by the Harry A Chesler comic shop. By 1938 he was drawing his first strip for Chesler: “Stoney [or was it Rocky?] Dawson,” which was published by the Centaur Comics Group. Ere long he was working directly for Centaur, on such strips as “The Last Pirate,” “Air-sub DX”—and “Iron Skull,” his first herocreation, and likewise the first of numerous android heroes he would develop over the decades to come. A year later he, entrepreneur Lloyd Jacquet, and a young artist he had met at Centaur—Bill Everett—left Centaur and formed a comic shop to produce entire issues of comic books for various publishers. As Bill told me circa 1970 in an interview (published posthumously in 1978 in Alter Ego, Vol. 1, #11): “We were the nucleus of what was later to become known as Funnies, Incorporated. And one of the members of the organization was the sales manager, Frank Torpey, Talk about rare finds! This 10" x 51/2" watercolor by Carl Burgos, dated 1939—with “M.M #4” written on the back—also once featured some ling-erased lettering: “To Lloyd, Hi, I’m the New Human Torch.” Lloyd was most likely Lloyd Jacquet, head of Funnies, Inc., which produced the early issues of Marvel Mystery Comics. The original was auctioned by Sotheby’s in 1991-92, and showed a more human-looking version of the Torch which was briefly in vogue. [Human Torch ©1999 Marvel Characters, Inc. With thanks to Jerry Boyd.]

—Marvel Mystery Man!

who had a friend Martin Goodman, who was in the publishing business, and Frank talked Martin into going into publishing comics, as I recall. It was through that contact that Mr. Goodman started in the comic field and we sold him the first package deal.” This was in ’39. Goodman, of course, christened his first entry into the burgeoning new four-color field Marvel Comics, because up to this point he had published pulp magazines, one of which was titled Marvel Science Stories—and would even be called first Marvel Tales and finally Marvel Stories before it was discontinued in 1941. There has always been some puzzlement over the fact that, with its second issue, Goodman changed the comic’s title to Marvel Mystery Comics, with the word “Mystery” hand-lettered very small in a box superimposed on the word “Comics.” And, indeed, there are a lot of mysteries associated with Marvel Comics #1. To wit: 1.) Which came first—The Human Torch or The Sub-Mariner? (Some years back, that particular mystery seemed solved by the discovery of a movie theatre giveaway, Motion Picture Funnies Weekly, in whose first and only distributed issue the first eight pages of Namor’s origin appeared in black-&-white. However, there is some dispute about the matter, and since it doesn’t concern the Torch, we won’t go into it here. That way lies madness.) 2.) Was Marvel Comics #1 produced over one long, hectic weekend by Burgos, Everett, and company? (In a recent issue of Comic Book Marketplace, editor Gary Carter recalled members of Sotheby’s AACC Splash page from Human Torch #3. [©1999 Marvel Characters, Inc. All illos from HT #3 accompanying Grading Committee, a few years back, this article were reproduced from b&w photostats of the original art.] poring over a so-called “pay copy” of drawing of The Human Torch—done by pulp artist Frank R. Paul, not Marvel #1 and relating the tale of how the entire issue was put together creator Carl Burgos? in a few frantic days by Lloyd Jacquet’s gang. But when Bill Everett told me that story a time or three back in the ’60s, I got the impression— (My own theory has always been that publisher Goodman decided, rightly or wrongly—that he was talking about one of the lengthy Torchprobably correctly, that a man on fire made for a better cover than a Namor fights circa 1940-41. The AACC/CBM account also has Bill pointy-eared, wing-footed guy in swimming trunks—and that Paul, drawing away in the bathtub that weekend—a bit too “on-the-nose” already a staple on his pulp mags, would do a more commercial cover for the creator of The Sub-Mariner—when Bill wrote Jerry DeFuccio in than relative newcomer Burgos. Evidently it didn’t bother Goodman 1961 that it was writer Joey Piazza in the tub. So, unless someone comes that the Torch on his cover looked very little like the one drawn inside up with proof that it was Marvel #1 that was produced that way, I’ll by Burgos.) continue to look on the issue as unresolved, at best… though, whichever issue it was, the story is a fascinating one.) In any event, Marvel Mystery Comics endured for the next decade, through issue #92 (June 1949), after which it transmogrified into a 3.) Why did Bill Everett produce a color cover rough of Namor for horror comic called Marvel Tales. Marvel #1—a minor masterwork still in existence, and auctioned off in recent years for big bucks—and yet the actual cover ended up being a

The Torch, as everyone knows, wasn’t really human at all, but was

Carl Burgos:—

When Torchy and Namor first clashed in two stories in Marvel Mystery #8 (June 1940), Burgos drew the Torch figures in the Sub-Mariner opus, and vice versa. The Sub-Mariner story has only been reprinted (poorly) in the King-Size Special Marvel Super Heroes #1 (Oct. 1966); these two pages are reproduced from b-&-w photostats of the original art. [Art by Bill Everett and Carl Burgos; ©1999 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

another of Burgos’ beloved androids (collect ’em all). Still, he proved such a hit for Timely that he soon appeared in his own quarterly (later bimonthly) comic book, The Human Torch, which originally featured two Torch tales by Burgos and one SubMariner story by Everett. In the very first issue of Human Torch (Fall 1940), he picked up the semi-obligatory young sidekick, Toro, whose name meant “bull” in Spanish and only looks as if it might have something to do with flame. Over the next decade the Torch would likewise appear in comics like All Winners, All Select, Captain America, Mystic, Daring Mystery, and Sub-Mariner—as well as persevering in Marvel Mystery, naturally. In 1990, when Marvel was preparing its hardback quasi-reprint of Marvel Comics #1, I was asked to write a reminiscence of my friend Bill Everett—and comics legend Joe Simon was invited to pen a few words about Carl Burgos.

Joe responded with a several-page article titled “The Creator of Captain America Meets the Creator of The Human Torch.” For some reason, Marvel declined to use it— perhaps because he had put his own copyright on the title page, perhaps because they didn’t like his use of the term “creator,” perhaps for some other reason. Joe professes never to have learned why the piece wasn’t utilized. In any event, because he is readying the revised version of his and his son’s own biographical book The Comic Book Makers, Joe said he could regretfully not allow me to print that piece in full, but that I could quote liberally from his account of his first meeting, either in 1939 or 1940, with Burgos at the Funnies, Inc., offices of Lloyd Jacquet. Joe mentions that Burgos, then in his early twenties, “stood about five feet eight, was of medium build with dark, curly hair and grey horn rimmed glasses sliding down his nose.” When Joe first saw him, he was finishing up a Human Torch page—with a youthful writer named Mickey Spillane sitting next to him, banging away at a typewriter.

This detail from the b-&-w photostat of a page from Human Torch #3 shows off Toro to good advantage—at a time when he was drawn with a head size that made him look about five! Also featured is the nifty, unmistakable lettering style of Howard Ferguson! [Art by Carl Burgos; ©1999 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

—Marvel Mystery Man!

Even after a 22-page slugfest in Marvel Mystery #9, it still took this single page at the very beginning of #10 (Aug. 1940) to resolve the standoff. This may be its first reprinting in its original form, from b-&-w photostats of the artwork. [Art by Carl Burgos and Bill Everett; ©1999 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Carl Burgos:— went overseas as a rifleman, was transferred to the Signal Corps, and came back in the engineers. It sounds crazy but it could only happen to a comic book man.” While he was gone, others drew the Torch’s exploits, including his former assistant Harry Sahle, but also Mike Sekowsky, Jimmy Thompson, Don Rico, Carl Pfeufer, Syd Shores, and others—while Otto Binder and others wrote the stories. Master pulp-mag artist Alex Schomburg, of course, contributed numerous covers which had a cluttered, exciting, and dynamic look all their own; his Torch was easily the best of the Golden Age versions, building on what Burgos had created. After he returned from World War Two, Burgos returned briefly to drawing some Torch stories for Timely, then entered the advertising field. The Torch was continued by other hands until that day in 1949 when his flame was abruptly snuffed out. But the siren call of comic books must have been a strong one, because in 1953 Burgos returned to Timely when publisher Goodman and editor Stan Lee decided to revive the Torch, Sub-Mariner, and Captain America in one fell swoop, to take advantage (hopefully) of the popularity of the Superman TV show. Perhaps Burgos was still doing advertising work at this time, because, though he drew the ultra-dramatic cover of Young Men #24 (Dec. 1953) which featured the Torch, it was Russ Heath who illustrated that hero therein. Except for the splash page.

Martin Goodman clearly believed in cross-fertilization! This ad for Marvel Mystery Comics appeared in the November 1940 issues of the Timely pulp Marvel Stories, namesake of the comic book. [Art by Carl Burgos; ©1999 Marvel Characters, Inc. With thanks to Geoffrey Mahfuz.]

“Where,” Joe reports asking Burgos, “did you get the idea for The Human Torch?” “Where did you get that suit?” he says Burgos countered. Before Simon left Jacquet’s office, he had picked up an assignment—indirectly from Martin Goodman—to create a Torchlike hero. The result was “The Fiery Mask,” which ran briefly in Daring Mystery Comics. Later, in 1940-41, when Joe became Timely’s first editor, he says he worked with Burgos on “plots and ideas,” until Joe and partner Jack Kirby left Timely. He describes Burgos as “bright, creative, and fun to be with,” and says they often worked together at Burgos’ home on Long Island. The association of Simon and Burgos lasted, off and on, into the late 1950s or so, when Simon says Burgos contributed some pencil work for a new Archie Group character called The Fly. [Our thanks to Joe Simon for allowing us to quote from his article—and if anybody reading these words misses the second edition of The Comic Book Makers, then he’s no comics fan in my book.] While occasionally drawing for other publishers (creating “The White Streak” for Target Comics, for instance), Burgos remained the major Torch artist until he joined the armed services in 1942. As quoted by Steranko: “I started in the Air Force, took infantry ranger training,

Actually, most of the splash seems to be the work of Heath, whose “The Return of The Human Torch” is beyond doubt the best-drawn and most effective Torch story of all time. However, Heath’s version of the fiery hero, as seen in the rest of the nine-page story, is far more realistic than Burgos’; and editor Lee quite possibly decided he wanted the cover and splash to depict the oldstyle version, which after all had faded into limbo only four years earlier. One suspects that Burgos was asked to draw a new Torch figure to be pasted over the Heath one on the splash page, and that the assignment to draw the cover sprang from that. (For this page, see the excellent 1997 trade paperback The Golden Age of Marvel, although by an unhappy accident the Carl Burgos’ dynamic cover reproduction of this best of announced the return of The Human Human Torch stories turned Torch and friends in late 1953. out the worst in the volume.) [©1999 Marvel Characters, Inc.] Whatever the exact nature of this odd hybrid of styles, Heath never again drew a Human Torch story—and by Young Men #25, Burgos was back drawing the magazine’s fiery lead feature for the length of what turned out to be only a fiveissue run. However, Burgos was apparently not able (or willing) to commit himself to drawing as much Torch as was needed. Accordingly, relative newcomer Dick Ayers was hired to draw the three six-page titlecharacter tales in Human Torch #36 (April 1954)—as well as the Torch stories in Men’s Adventures #27-28 (May and July, 1954), when that mag, too, briefly spotlighted the Torch, Subby, and Cap.

—Marvel Mystery Man!

ABOVE: When I received this page of original art from Human Torch #36 (April 1954) on loan from collector Glen Johnson, I realized at once that new figures by Carl Burgos had been pasted onto Panels 5 and 7. The rest of the page is by Dick Ayers. ABOVE RIGHT: Carefully peeling off the Burgos art revealed the Ayers figures beneath them—although someone (possibly editor Stan Lee) had penciled new speed lines from the Torch and speedball-toss lines from Toro in the final panel. (Also, note that the Torch’s left arm is incomplete in Panel 4.) RIGHT: A look at the actual comic further revealed that by the time of publication, additional Burgos art had been pasted over Ayers’ Torch and Toro figures in Panel 4. That patch must have fallen off before Glen Johnson acquired the page. [©1999 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

However, either editor Stan or publisher Goodman seems to have decided that, in Human Torch #36, the Torches themselves should have a very definite Burgos look. Thus, Burgos was instructed to pencil and ink Torch and Toro figures which were then pasted over Ayers’ figures in virtually the entire issue! (See accompanying artwork, part of it reproduced here for the first time ever.) By subsequent issues, Ayers had convinced the powersthat-be he could handle the Torches himself, and the titlecharacter stories in the remaining two issues of the 1954 Human Torch book are entirely his work. (And quite good work, too.) As for Burgos: he drew the lead stories in Young Men #2428, a Torch five-pager in Captain America #76 (May 1954), and the cover of Men’s Adventures #27 (May ’54)—although the cover of M.A. #28 seems to be by another artist. (Just for the

Carl Burgos: Marvel Mystery Man record, Dick Ayers drew the Torch stories in both super-hero issues of Men’s Adventures— and at least one Torch story that was never printed until the late 1960s, in a Marvel reprint book!) One would have thought that, by 1954, Carl Burgos was all finished with The Human Torch. But it was not quite to be.

In 1961, as everybody knows, a second Human Torch—a teenage Golden Age pulp-and-comics cover artist Alex actual human being, Schomburg drew this pencil-and-ink 10” x 14 this time—debuted in 1/2” image during his first and only visit to The Fantastic Four #1, the San Diego ComiCon in summer of 1985. the initial title of what [Human Torch and Toro ©1999 Marvel would become the Characters, Inc.; courtesy of Keif Fromm] Marvel Comics Group. By Strange Tales #101 (Jan. 1963), this new Torch was headlining one of the Ωcompany’s anthology titles, with penciling chores generally seesawing back and forth between Jack Kirby and the forementioned Dick Ayers. A couple of years later, in Strange Tales #123 (August 1964), Stan Lee’s credits abruptly announced that the Torch story that issue was “illustrated by: CARL BURGOS (who was the first to draw THE TORCH ‘way back in the Golden Age of Comics!).” The story, however, had none of Burgos’ distinctive look, perhaps because it was inked by Ayers rather than by Burgos himself. Somehow, by this point, Burgos no longer had the look which Lee and Goodman wanted for their flaming hero, and by next issue Ayers had taken over full art chores again. Burgos penciled a Giant-Man tale or two for Marvel, but that didn’t take, either. Burgos himself went on to work on a series of lacklustre black-&white horror comics and the truly awful android Captain Marvel of 1966—and, soon afterward, to sue Marvel over ownership of the Torch, in a case that was evidently settled out of court. (More about that in a near-future issue.) But Burgos never again drew the Torch or anything else for Marvel Comics…. Not that he couldn’t have, mind you. In 1977, as writer/editor of The Invaders, I was putting together the first (and, as it turned out, the only) Invaders Annual, and to no

one’s great surprise I decided on a Justice Society format, with the first and last (i.e., team) chapters drawn by regular artists Frank Robbins and Frank Springer, and the solo-hero exploits in the middle illustrated by artists who had done those very heroes back in the 1940s. I lined up Lee Elias, who had briefly been the Great White Hope of Sub-Mariner circa 1946-47, and Don Rico, who had drawn Captain America occasionally during that same period. And I even got hold of Carl Burgos’ phone number and called him—evidently while he was working in Europe somewhere. I had never met Burgos, but had always wanted to, the more so since Bill Everett and I had been friends. He agreed to draw the six-page Torch chapter in the Annual, but later changed his mind at the last minute. So I never got to feature a Burgos-drawn Human Torch in The Invaders, nor did I ever get to meet or work with the character’s creator. (Fortunately, cover artist Alex Schomburg agreed to draw the Torch chapter, which became one of his exceedingly rare interior art jobs.) And so the reunion of Carl Burgos and the Human Torch didn’t quite take place. But I did my best. And, as long as there’s a Human Torch—any Human Torch, anywhere in comics or on any screen, large or small—Carl Burgos’ legacy will live on. For the Torch really was what he was called in that fanciful text filler ’way back in Human Torch #1: Burgos and Ayers—together again! The splash “Carl Burgos’ Hot Idea”!

re: Letters to the Writer/Editor

re: continued from pg. 3

originated the idea of Wonder Woman twirling her lasso around her to switch outfits. Wrong. It was my idea. I introduced the concept in a story called “The Man Who Mastered Women,” which appeared in Wonder Woman #212, July, 1974, during my unexpectedly short (all of one issue) run as the regular scripter for WW once the title fell into Julie’s hands. I even used the old Batman villain, The Cavalier, as her first foe.

Len Wein tells us he created the lasso transformation for Wonder Woman technique (later used regularly on the TV series). This Curt Swan/Tex Blaisdell panel is from Len’s scripting job in W.W. #212, 1974, featuring the trick. [©1999 DC Comics, Inc.]

Not to sell Julie’s many fine contributions to my work short, I readily agree Julie did indeed suggest I find some interesting way for the Amazon princess to change from mufti into her costume, but the specific idea of the lasso was mine. I was actually thrilled when the Wonder Woman TV series several years later used a version of my bit (although adjusting it so that she did the spinning, instead of the lasso) to affect the change.

Normally, I’d just let an oversight like this pass without comment, as I have numerous times over the years, but recently my beloved wife Christine and best bud Marv Wolfman have been pestering me that I owe something or another to posterity. Hence this quick missive. Len Wein Don’t know if you exactly “owe” anything to posterity, Len—after all, wasn’t it Bogey who once quipped, “The only thing I owe my public is a good performance”?—but we want to hear all reasonable sides of every comic book anecdote or legend, if we can. Only thus will we ever make more than a feeble stab at finding out the truth about anything. And now that the floodgates have been opened, at least a crack, it would be great to hear a first-person narrative of almost any kind from the co-creator of Swamp Thing and many another character at DC, Marvel, and elsewhere! Dear Roy, The coolest thing about working as designer of Alter Ego is I get to read this great magazine first—it feels like the best of comics history is delivered right to my door via Fed Ex and I’m just delighted to be a part of this new Golden Age of fandom! Thanks for the work, R.T., and I appreciate the new insights you’re bringing to comics history. Anyway, while I diligently laid out the last issue, I was amazed at the revelation about the first two Wonder Woman stories and wonder (no pun intended) if the story in All-Star Comics #8 was rushed into print to secure trademark on the heroine’s name because of the Wonder Man litigation taking place between DC and Victor Fox/Braun at the time. For DC to go to such expense as adding an eight-page signature to a comic seems one important business decision. Perhaps Bob Ingersoll knows…? I also wanted to say I was the culprit who wrongly assumed Jack Burnley’s recent re-creations, etc., were “commissioned pieces,” as well as the caption author who called the syndicated strip Two-Face by the misnomer, “Harvey Dent.” [Reader John Moores tells us the correct name for the newspaper Two-Face was “Harvey Apollo.”—R.T.] Sometimes I pitch in to “help” you in the rush to put an issue to bed, Roy, and sometimes I’m no help at all! My apologies to Mr. Burnley. As always, it’s a pleasure working with you, Mr. T! I’m done, so it’s back to work! Jon B. Cooke

33 The pleasure is mutual, Jon! Please don’t apologize for the couple of minor mistakes you accidentally inserted into A/E V3#2 as you made a Herculean effort to keep things moving under a tight deadline. For each minuscule error, you add several things which make the magazine better! In A/E Vol. 2, #5, for instance, you came up with, and tossed in just the right spot, a penciled Gene Colan “Captain Marvel” page from Marvel Super-Heroes #13. And we won’t even talk about how you miraculously managed to get my super-detailed, profusely-illustrated “Splitting the Atom” article in V3#2 into a mere ten or so pages, without omitting any art of importance.

Meanwhile, you may be right about DC/AA rushing that first “Wonder Woman” story into print in All-Star #8 at least partly to forestall someone else inaugurating a character with that marvelous “natural” of a name for a female Superman. I’ll admit, I’d never really considered the connection between the name of Braun/Fox’s “Wonder Man” and DC/AA’s “Wonder Woman” before. Even though I still wonder why M.C. Gaines didn’t find a way to squeeze her name onto that All-Star cover, the fact remains that right under the WW logo on that first splash are the words “Trade Mark Application Pending”— something Gaines and Donenfeld never did for the name of the Justice Society, the lead feature in the book! Putting her origin in All-Star only gained DC/AA a few weeks at most—but for all we know, Gaines may have considered that short span of time crucial. Remember how Fawcett lost out in the race to call its first comic Flash Comics…. CORRECTIONS: Unavoidably, a few errors crept into A/E V3#2, partly because there were a few items which, for various reasons, I didn’t get a chance to proofread until it was too late to make any changes. By far the worst error, however, was one I should have caught but missed. My two-page article “Hark, the Herald Tribune Sings!” as printed begins, “By the start of 1996….” That should have been “1966,” of course, as the rest of the material re the return of Will Eisner’s Spirit makes clear.

Also, in Will Murray’s piece on the origins of Sky Wizard, I accidentally typed “Tony Field” as the pseudonym of Miracle Comics editor Anatole France Feldman; his actual pen name was the less-farafield “Tony Feldman.” Don’t know how that happened. (Also, while this does not refer to an error in V3#2, Will Murray and Jerry Bails now seem to agree that the name of the author of that Writers Digest article, and the co-creator of Sky Wizard, was “Emile C. Schnurmacher,” not “Schurmacher.”) Compared to those, the other errors in V3#2 I know about as #3 goes to press were quite minor. But did anybody besides Gil Kane and me notice that, on the cover, a part of the palm of Gil’s hand accidentally got colored green? But that’s just my nature: “the world’s most imperfect perfectionist.” Mostly, I was just thrilled by the great job everyone did on A/E Vol. 3, #2. Well, maybe this issue we’ve got everything exactly perfect. Yeah, right. Let us know what you thought of V3#3’s coverage of Captain Marvel and the early Torch and Sub-Mariner and their creators, okay? Please send all bouquets and brickbats to: ROY THOMAS Rt. 3, Box 468, St. Matthews, SC 29135. Fax: (803) 826-6501. E-mail: roydann@oburg.net

“Stan Was the Prince…”—

“Stan Was The Prince...” Gil Kane on Timely Comics The Golden/Silver Age Artist Talks about Marvel Before It Was Marvel! Interview Conducted & Edited by Roy Thomas Transcribed by Jon B. Knutson [INTERVIEWER/EDITOR’S NOTE: Ever since his keynote speech at a Phil Seuling comics convention in New York and his first major interview, in the pages Early 1940s Timely logo. of Alter Ego (Vol. 1) #10, both in the late 1960s, artist Gil Kane has been widely recognized as one of the most outspoken and articulate of comic book professionals. Recently Ye Editor, who has been proud to call him both collaborator and friend for some thirty years and counting, suggested to Gil that they conduct a series of interview/conversations, each

focusing on a different specific subject, Late ’40s logo (used spottily). company, or period, which would give him a chance to reminisce about his experiences in different areas over the years. [Gil graciously concurred with this plan, and this past Summer we spoke by phone for over an hour on the ostensible topic of “Timely in the 1940s.” To no one’s great surprise (least of all ours), the actual subjects discussed ranged far and wide, and occasionally were only dragged back to the topic at hand with great difficulty. Conversation relating to nonTimely topics, which ran the gamut from All-American Comics to Ziff-Davis, will see print in the near future, most likely with additional material added. For the purpose of this issue’s coverage of Marvel Comics #1, mostly it’s the parts of the conversation dealing with Timely that have been retained—but even there, other comments have often been kept to give the piece context. [Since Gil—like myself, as questioner—was acting from memory, I later checked a few facts out with A/E’s ever-generous founder, Jerry G. Bails, afterward often referred to by his initials “JGB.” I’ve presented that information in italicized notes between brackets, where appropriate. Now, awaaay we go… and I hope you have as much fun reading this interview as I had doing it with Gil.—R.T.] ROY THOMAS: For a couple of years there, Gil—’43, ’44—you worked for Timely. GIL KANE: Yes. Mostly, I was hired by Don Rico. Norman Podhoretz worked there too. I think his son is an editor at the New York Post now. [The son] started out as a liberal, and later he and this guy Bill Kristol became the leaders of neo-conservatism. At that time Stan was the editor, but it was Rico who was the line manager, handed out assignments, made criticism and everything else, and just provided stuff. RT: Stan didn’t go into the Service until ’44 or so, did he, because he was, after all, still pretty young. KANE: He must’ve gone in around ’43. Stan is three years older than I am, so he would have been in the available range, and I know he went overseas to England. Vince Fago took over as editor. The thing is, in those days they used to hand out pages at such volume! Not compared to nowadays, but they were equipped for what they had to do. So they used to hand us two or three pages at a time for inking or penciling. Somehow or another, they sequenced it all in. A mid-’40s house ad for Marvel Mystery Comics—though that’s not 100% clear from the copy. [©1999 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

—Gil Kane on Timely Comics RT: They must’ve kept meticulous, careful records so they’d know where everything was. KANE: You’d meet a lot of people, and it’s just a day-by-day thing. Mort Lawrence was one of the artists in Bernie Bailey’s shop. In fact, he took over The Sub-Mariner. And this friend of mine, Clem—I can’t think of his second name—took over Captain America. You needed more than one guy to do Captain America stories at that time, but Clem was the lead artist, and when I would come in on furloughs, he would give me some pages to bring down, Captain America pages. Occasionally I would come in, and I once got a Captain America story from Harry Shorten. [NOTE: JGB tells us “Clem” must be Clem Weisbecker, who worked at Marvel circa 1942-44, though his specific assignments aren’t known. He also lists Mort Lawrence as a Sub-Mariner artist only from 1944-47, so perhaps that 1942-43 Namor was Carl Pfeufer! —R.T.] RT: Where was Timely located when you came to work there? KANE: They were in the Empire State Building by that time, and they were doing a lot of animation. Chad [Grothkopf] had started there. He and Stan started the funny animals. RT: Chad also did the Hoppy the Marvel Bunny stories for Fawcett at that time. Hoppy came before Timely’s Super Rabbit. KANE: Yes. The Marvel Bunny became very big for a while. It was Stan who wrote the first funny animal material at Timely, and Chad who drew it. RT: Super Rabbit was a very big character for a time. KANE: I remember. As a matter of fact, Mike Sekowsky was working with us there, and there was a guy named Kin Platt, who ultimately went into children’s books. They had a couple of good guys—like George Klein—and they were all kept very busy. They had an enormous output—enormous for that time. You have to realize that they weren’t equipped to turn out a hundred books a month, but they were busy. Al Jaffee worked there… Dave Gantz… RT: You came there just about the time the funny animal work was competing with the super-heroes. KANE: Yeah. Ultimately the different companies began to specialize. But Marvel never let go of their animation, through the end of the war. George Klein and the rest of these guys developed techniques that were really appropriate for it. Sekowsky got to be a better penciler with what he learned from Simon and Kirby influences—you know, more “teenage decorative” stuff. His stuff was always decorative. I remember, ultimately, immediately after the war, Frank Giacoia came out of the service, and he and Sekowsky did some teenage stuff, some Patsy Walker, and all of that stuff began. So they were generating all sorts of possibilities. The only thing is that the super-heroes started failing. RT: [Artist/editor] Vince Fago said in Les Daniels’ Marvel book that Sekowsky “drew as if it just rolled out of his fingers.” Was he always that facile? KANE: Yeah. As a matter of fact, Mike

was making $10,000, $11,000 a year. That was a lot of money then. RT: He seems to have been almost the ultimate adaptable artist. First he was a good (and fast) super-hero artist—then he went to funny animals, and became a major star there—and then teenage comics. No matter what came along, Sekowsky was right there, ready to adapt his style to it. KANE: He had a great natural facility. It was crisp as hell, it had an abstract quality. Even what he couldn’t draw well, he drew attractively. That’s a big thing, you know. Most guys who didn’t draw well or think well didn’t draw attractively, either. There was a crispness, always something very appealing, about Sekowsky’s work. He was a very bright guy. Toward the end, in the ’70s, A rare 1970s sketch by the late Don Rico, he started to have problems, who at various times was both a Captain probably because there was a America artist and a Timely editor. certain intuitive quality to In 1976 he, Sergio Aragones, and Mark his work, and ultimately his Evanier co-founded the Comic Art Professionals Society in Los Angeles. intuition failed him. He [©1999 Marvel Characters,Inc.] couldn’t elaborate a picture, he couldn’t do vistas; there was a whole range of things he couldn’t do, and the things that he could do weren’t as useful to him any more. It’s a situation where we’re in there for a while—sometimes we have a passion to go on, even to challenge—even though there’s no possible way of winning.

Chad Grothkopf’s Hoppy the Marvel Bunny debuted in Fawcett’s Funny Animals #1 (Dec. 1942); his and Stan Lee’s Super Rabbit hard on its heels in Comedy Comics #14 (March 1943). [Marvel Bunny ©1999 DC Comics Inc.; Super Rabbit ©1999 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

“Stan Was the Prince…”—

RT: So we’re all existential comic-book people, like Sisyphus—pushing that rock up the hill even though he knows in advance that as soon as he gets it to the top it’s going to roll right back down over him and he’ll have to start all over? KANE: Right. It’s tough making some sort of meaningful connection, where ultimately you finish up—or else you step away, and realize, “Jesus, life was hell.” RT: A cheerful note. Another artist at Timely then was Lou Ferstadt….

KANE: Right. As a matter of fact, it would end up with Stan pasting and cutting in the production department…. RT: Stan used to tell me that Goodman would order him to fire everybody, and then Goodman himself would take off down to Florida and play golf while Stan was telling everyone they were fired. He said he never relished that. KANE: It just went on like that, in and out. But, little by little, DC began to build a more substantial line than the other companies.

KANE: During that time, before I RT: After the funny-animal boom went into the service, I worked with Left-to-right: Timely staffer/future Madman Dave Berg’s take on fellowlargely ended in the mid-’40s, Harvey Kurtzman, for Louis future-Madman Al Jaffee and artist Syd Shores. These and numerous other the funny teenagers began, and Ferstadt. At DC, Ferstadt took over art spots accompanying this interview are from Stan Lee’s legendary Timely got onto the Archie drawing The Flash from E.E. 100-page 1947 book Secrets behind the Comics, which was sold via mail bandwagon. Hibbard. He hired several people, through ads placed in Timely’s mags. Our thanks for the loan of the copy go and Harvey was one of them. out to comics writer Mike W. Barr. [Art ©1999 Stan Lee] KANE: Right. That’s why Harvey did The Flash, but Harvey Mike Sekowsky was able to find was also doing Mr. Risk for Ace, work then. I think he was doing animation, and on top of that, Harvey had an interpretation of Jack Kirby that was absolutely sensational. RT: I want to go back to 1939 for a minute, since this is the sixtieth RT: Hard to imagine! KANE: It was just terrific, it was irresistible. But Ace was a little sh*tty outfit, and I think we got smoked. I wasn’t much good, but I think Harvey got shaken down a couple of times. In other words, he did jobs that were supposedly “rejected,” and then he’d have to take less money for them. That’s the way it was. There was plenty of work; it just didn’t pay anything. It was all three, four, or five dollars a page—if you were lucky. RT: Did you refer to the company as “Timely” then? That name wasn’t on many covers. KANE: They were Timely. It was a corporate name. The titles themselves exceeded the corporate identity. After the War, none of the straight stuff was selling, and the teenage stuff like Patsy Walker and the animation material seemed to be going, but it seemed to be like a very bad time. It was ’46 or so before the field began to pull itself together. One of the things that salvaged the field was the western. The companies started running westerns along with their regular fare, like Airboy or whatever. Gave them a number of titles, kept the number of the titles up. But it was very hard to get work, and the amount and quality of art was so distinct from book to book and from company to company that you could identify the company through the look of the material. RT: You mean like the movie studios of the time, as opposed to today. KANE: Yeah, right. For years, Timely would have three “units,” and they would turn out 25 western comics, 25 love comics, and they’d run them each for about six or seven months, until they’d absolutely drown the market, and it seemed to me that then they’d just fire everybody and pull out. RT: Sort of a “strip-mining” approach. Left: Mike Sekowsky caricatured by Dave Berg. Right: This page from the 1947 Secrets behind the Comics underscores Mike Sekowsky’s versatility. [©1999 Stan Lee]

anniversary of Marvel Comics #1. You were a kid when Marvel #1 came out with Sub-Mariner and The Human Torch. I just wondered what you thought of them at the time. KANE: My bedroom was being painted a light color of blue when I got the first issue of Marvel Comics. I remember reading it on the bed, and

—Gil Kane on Timely Comics

it was really exciting. They immediately succeeded. Soon the rallying cry was to have Sub-Mariner and the Torch battle each other every issue. The rest of the early work was supplied by that comics shop…. RT: Lloyd Jacquet and Funnies, Incorporated? KANE: Yeah. That outfit’s work would appear in Timely comics on a regular basis—one story a month by Paul Gustavson, one by this artist, one by that, etc. One of the nice things about DC then was that there was a predictability, as opposed to Timely. Every month at DC you’d find new adventures of “Spy” or whatever, even though there was change happening all the time. RT: I’d like to get your reminiscences of Timely’s editorial system in the 1940s. You said that when you went to work there in 1943, Stan was still there. What was his editorial system like? Who were the people who worked under him? KANE: Stan was the prince. He came in, and he was like a movie star. I once saw him in jodhpurs in Central Park. He was a nice-looking young guy, about 19 or 20. But the hard worker was Don Rico. Don was getting out the stuff, he was assigning the stuff. There was Ed Winiarski, who ended up as I remember in some sort of institution as a guard. There was Syd Shores, who had some sort of incredible sense of his own importance. He would hold out his hands and say, “These hands are holding up Timely Comics!” RT: But he wasn’t an editor. KANE: No, but he drew Captain America, their top seller for years. RT: So you’re saying Don Rico did the majority of the day-to-day editorial work at that time? KANE: He did the hiring, the firing, and the assigning. He produced very little art or writing. Stan did most of the writing, and there must have been other writers there, as well. Mickey Spillane was there all the time. The thing was, it was very loose, and I would say everything was going well. It wasn’t until after the War when everything hit the fan, and they saw that they were actually going to lose money, or were losing money, and they just stopped dead in their tracks. At DC, I would assume, they had too many licensing commitments to even consider it. RT: Why did Vince Fago become the editor when Stan went into the service, and not Don Rico? KANE: I think Don had also gone into the service. So Fago was picked.

Above: One ominous Captain America declares his conviction of victory in this Sentinels of Liberty house ad featuring art by Syd Shores and glorious calligraphy by Howard Ferguson—the letterer whose work epitomized the Timely “look” of the 1940s. [©1999 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

He was just handing out two or three pages of work at a time; the whole thing was just to get the work out. The problem was getting paper, due to wartime restrictions. I remember some of the different artists: Al Jaffee, Mike Sekowsky, George Klein. Klein and Sekowsky worked all through the War, and they were also kept on after the War. Some of the other guys were let go. RT: One of the strips you’re listed as working on at Timely in the early ’40s has an interesting, familiar name: “Red Hawk.” I presume it wasn’t a super-hero, or the Edgar Rice Burroughs character that you and I used to talk about adapting together back in the early 1970s. [NOTE: JGB tells me Red Hawk was an aviator feature which appeared only once, in Kid Comics #3, Fall 1943. —R.T.] KANE: I have no idea what the Timely Red Hawk was! I know the western stuff had started coming out by ’43, and I would be given stuff—like a six-page gangster story, or else I’d be given a western. The whole point is, they would bear down. All of a sudden they’d say, “Okay, romance is hot,” or “Westerns are hot, and that’s what we’re going to do.” Then they’d turn out 25 each in our Blue Unit, and in our Red Unit. They would wait until a trend became apparent, and then they would drown the trend in about three to six months. I don’t even think it would ever last six months.

RT: One of the few trends that did last a while was the super-hero. But by the time you reached Timely in ’43, the only things really making a splash for Timely were Captain America, Human Torch, and

“Stan Was the Prince…”—

Sub-Mariner. Everything else had gone by the wayside, or was at most a backup. KANE: These were the annuity strips. I remember when Mort Lawrence got Sub-Mariner, he quit working in Bernie Bailey’s shop, and he did Sub-Mariner for the rest of the War.

Whether Al Fago, Timely’s third editor-in-chief (1942-1945, after Joe Simon and the first of Stan Lee’s two stints) drew this page in Super Rabbit #1, he still got a castle named after him! [©1999 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

RT: Maybe he did some of the work that some of us thought was done by Carl Pfeufer, who was another Sub-Mariner artist. I thought Pfeufer was the main guy to take over from Bill Everett. KANE: Pfeufer’s stuff was quite different from Lawrence’s. At the end of the War, new companies came up. There was this big blonde, I forget her name…. a woman publisher. [NOTE: JGB says this was Rae Herman, who also used the pen names “Ray Hermann” and “Ray Mann.” —R.T.] Continental Comics—that was the name of the company. She was the secretary, and ultimately she became the publisher. She turned out a couple of comic books for a while, and she was paying a pretty good rate. People started to leave Timely because they were dropping their super-hero stuff; they went over there, and they were doing teenage books. Lev Gleason’s Boy Comics and Daredevil became the biggest-selling books in comics for about three years. The thing is, you could keep busy, but you had to have a connection. If you weren’t fitted into something, you could sort of go bouncing around. I remember being with Dan Barry and Mort Meskin at a

restaurant, and they were telling me they were going to form a union. But my generation was too stupid to do anything except get deeper and deeper into the situation. None of us had the kind of focus that people like Alex Toth would have. Giacoia and I were ballplayers; we ran around. Carmine was the closest thing to a steady worker that I knew personally. Even Kubert didn’t work regularly. But on the other hand, Alex did lectures, life posing… he was 18 years old, for chrissake! He was only a year or two younger than we were, but we weren’t smart enough to do that; we were just kids growing up. RT: So you count yourself as kind of a “second generation” comics person in a sense, because you came in a couple of years after the Everetts, the Burgoses, the Kirbys?

KANE: No, I came at the end of the first generation. I did The Shield for MLJ in 1942. I had a bad time during 1943 in the different places. Work sort of eroded; I guess it might have been the paper situation. I wasn’t all that good, but that’s when Carmine and I started to cling to each other and do work together as partners. It didn’t strike me then, but I look back now and I realize I wasn’t serious about what I wanted to be. I mean serious serious! Alex was serious. Most of the guys I knew were just guys competing openly, and evolving and developing, but without any kind of formal training or formal pressure that could have generated much better work and accelerated all of us in our situations. That didn’t happen to most of us. Occasionally you’d see someone as put-together as Alex Toth…

—Gil Kane on Timely Comics people who gave themselves over to a job, and would just make sudden leaps in quality from one job to another, simply because of the effort they put in. Frank Frazetta was one of those. Frazetta would work, but mostly what he did was attend school. Still, when he did comic book work, he’d just plunge himself totally into it, none of the casual approach that most of us had. That’s the thing that separated most of us in the early years. A lot of guys understood the value of cloaking themselves in some formal techniques and training—and a lot of other guys just copied from other comic book artists.

RT: Did you ever meet Alex Schomberg, who did all those exciting, busy covers for Timely in the ’40s? KANE: It seems to me I recall meeting him. Of course, I was only 16 at the time, and these guys were veterans of pulp-magazine illustration. RT: You talk about being so raw then, but what can you expect when you’re 16 years old? You can’t expect to be a finished artist at that time. KANE: That’s true. Everything is a lesson learned. I remember that they played a practical joke on me. It was one of the great jokes at Timely. There was this guy named Vince Alacia—the main inker on Captain America for years. A nice guy. When I started working up there, Mike Sekowsky was always trouble. He told me that Vince was a syphilitic, and that I mustn’t let him touch my towels. And then they started telling me he was a homosexual, as well.

RT: Talking about copying other comic book artists: the first strip, along with Captain America and Red Hawk that you’re listed as doing was The Vision. That strip is often credited to both Joe and Jack, but I wonder if it wasn’t more just Kirby by himself. KANE: It was Kirby by himself. Not only was he fast, he was excellent. I mean, that stuff was just gorgeous; you couldn’t take your eyes off it.

Once, I was in the production room and all of a sudden Ed Winiarski takes the cigarettes, strips down the paper from them, and acts like he’s going to swallow the tobacco. Sitting directly behind him is Syd Shores, who takes his giant T-square and slams it on his table and says, “Cut that out, Ed! Cut that out!” And Ed starts sniffing and peeling off his shoes. It was a whole elaborate charade, you know—I thought I was in a nuthouse!

RT: How much Visions do you think you did? A few stories?

KANE: I was like one of those Cuban vessels, just closing in to shore and docking for a moment, and then getting the hell out. I go back to the mid-1940s. I did Wildcat for Shelly Mayer at Splash page of the Sub-Mariner portion of the very first Torch-Namor battle, And the last thing I DC. It’s not that guys like from Marvel Mystery Comics #8 (June 1940), last reprinted in Marvel Super Heroes remember was they told me that Carmine and Giacoia and I (“King-Size Special!” #1, Oct. ’66). Most art by Bill Everett; Vinnie Alacia had a really big were stupid; it’s just that we Torch head by Carl Burgos. [©1999 Marvel Characters, Inc.] crush on me, and that he was were uneducated. We didn’t after me. And on the last day that come from the kind of I worked at Timely, I was standing in the McGraw-Hill Building on background that would direct you toward formal techniques. 42nd Street, waiting for the elevator, and I heard: “Gilly!” And it scared the living sh*t out of me! Would you believe I RT: Well, after all, it was just a few years after the Depression ended, didn’t know it was a practical joke for years! and there was a World War going on at the time. The combination of I was completely taken in. those two, one right after the other, would have to have some kind of effect. RT: Were Bill Everett and Carl Burgos both there part of the time you were there? I KANE: We were children of that particular position. think Burgos probably went into the RT: Did Otto Binder still write for Timely in ’43? He’s supposed to service later than Bill, who, now that I have written a few early Captain America stories for Simon and Kirby. think about it, must have gone in in ’42, just before you came to Timely. KANE: I met Otto, and I used to know the guys who used to hang around, but most of the writers didn’t hang around the production room. The only guy who did was Mickey Spillane. He was one of the chief writers for Lloyd Jacquet’s Funnies, Inc. As a matter of fact, that’s the shop that Dan Barry and John Giunta came out of.

“Stan Was the Prince…”— RT: Yes, doing Robotman, among other things. Was Al Gabrielle still doing Captain America work at the time? KANE: When I got there, Al Gabrielle was one of a trio responsible for all Timely’s Captain America work. The other two were Al Avison and Syd Shores. What happened was that Gabrielle and Avison left for Harvey Comics, and Syd Shores became the chief Captain America artist for years. RT: Don Rico drew some Captain America at that time, too, didn’t he? KANE: Rico did everything. In fact, he did a lot of work for Lev Gleason. There was so much work coming up. I mean, there would be books you never heard of—Captain Battle, or something like that, for two issues. Rico was never a terribly good artist, but he was a smart guy. The trouble was, it was always a struggle for him. He was looking for something that was appropriate for him. This is my fix on it. He never found anything that was just right for him, because he needed more hand skills. Ultimately he became a western novelist, doing cheap novels. I remember once in the ’60s we were going to see him—he had married a young woman— RT: Michele. In the 1970s and early ’80s before Don died I knew them both out in L.A. KANE: In the 1960s we all lived in New York, so Mike Sekowsky and Elaine [now Gil’s wife] and I were going to go over there and meet Rico. We walked over to this place he was living at, and the door has a note on it that says they didn’t have any money, and they just couldn’t feed us for dinner. He didn’t exactly say that, but that’s what it added up to. Below: With or without assistants, Carl Burgos definitely drew this page from Human Torch #1... [©1999 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Above: This Vision splash from a mid-’40s Marvel Mystery probably wasn’t penciled by Gil Kane—let alone Jack Kirby (with or without Joe Simon). Other possible candidates are Al Avison, Syd Shores, “D. Walters,” and “R. Patenaude.” [©1999 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

The only thing I can remember about Burgos is, he was tall, dark, and he must have been a Spanish Jew. The thing was, he was a nice guy. He was never as good an artist as some of the other guys, but he was always out there. He worked a lot for Lloyd Jacquet, in and out of his shop. Finally I used to see him doing spot drawings for the pulps. Marvel turned out some digest pulps, and that was the last I ever saw of him. Those times were hard, especially for the older guys, at least ten years older than me. You couldn’t even get into advertising. You would end up working for these small service houses, odd little services, where everything was freelance; and if you were lucky, ultimately maybe later on you’d land a berth at a commercial agency. RT: I see Harry Sahle listed as being a Human Torch artist around ’43. KANE: Sahle was Carl Burgos’ ghost. When Burgos left the Torch to go into the service, Sahle took over. RT: After the War, Jimmy Thompson drew a very cartoony Torch— a good artist, in his own humorous way. Did you know Thompson? KANE: As a matter of fact, he did a book in the early days—back in ’38 and ’39, when Ed Wheelan was still turning out “Minute Movies”— a black-&-white book called Redman, which was done like a David McKay book, and it was very popular. Ultimately he ended up at DC for a couple of years.

—Gil Kane on Timely Comics

What I’m saying is, those were tough times for a lot of comics people. It was all a question of whether you got over the fence on your skills, where you became authoritative enough to carry a burden of work. If you didn’t, my God, having all of those half-developed skills was enough to drive you nuts, because there were recessions after the War and during the ’50s, and you had to have a certain amount of luck. In fact, you always need a certain amount of luck. RT: Being good is great, but being lucky is even better. I see Carmine listed as a Human Torch artist around 1945-46. Would that have been when you and he were a team, and you just weren’t listed? KANE: In 1945 I was in the Service. In ’44 he and I worked together, and in ’46 we rejoined. I helped him do Real Romance at DC. He would do breakdowns; I would do tightening. For a while, we were sort of buddy-buddy again. He even taught me how to drive. RT: Frank Giacoia is listed around ’43 as being a Captain America artist. I assume that would be inking? KANE: Mostly, but not entirely. He would swipe everything. He had absolutely no sense of his own capacity. RT: You’d think he would have reconciled himself to being an inker, because he was a very good inker. Another Captain America artist listed is Arthur Cazeneuve.

The Timely “house style” makes it difficult to determine who drew this Sub-Mariner page featuring Namora, reproduced in Secrets behind the Comics. [Namor and Namora ©1999 Marvel Characters, Inc.; other art ©1999 Stan Lee]

KANE: He became one of the inkers during the War on Jack Kirby’s stuff. Later he became the art director over at Harvey, and worked there for years. RT: By 1942 Simon and Kirby had done their ten issues of Captain America Comics and departed for DC. Did the artists who succeeded them on Cap at Timely ever refer back to them, or did Syd Shores and the other successors think they had reinvented the wheel because Captain America kept selling for several years? KANE: Jack was considered some sort of genius. And the thing is, the level of his effort was so far above what was generally being done that there was a certain amount of proper respect at Timely for what they had done earlier. RT: Goodman—sooner than some publishers, and for a longer period than most—was still fighting World War Two in Timely’s comics, long after DC and most others had gone back to mostly cops-and-robbers stuff by ’43. The Timely heroes, even before Pearl Harbor and then for the entire length of the War, were battling the Nazis and Japanese. When you were at Timely, did you ever have the feeling that there was any real patriotic fervor, or was it all done for sales? KANE: I just thought that they were absolutely guys who were taking advantage of every moment. I mean, I don’t think they had any original ideas. RT: The Timely “house style” of the 1940s: That All Winners material I

“Stan Was the Prince…” Gil Kane on Timely Comics

sent you to identify for the Marvel reprint was sort of Jack Kirby by way of Al Avison through Syd Shores and Sekowsky and I guess Pfeufer and Mort Lawrence and the rest. They were all drawing in the same hand-me-down Kirby style, somehow. KANE: Well, you know, Jack set an absolute pattern. He was almost unstoppable. RT: Vince Fago has said that there were something like fifteen people on staff at Timely

around ’43-’44. Would these have been mostly production people as opposed to artists? KANE: I think there must have been more than that; they had a big office! They had a good portion of one floor in the Empire State Building. All the artists were on salary, except for the people who would get two pages at a time, like Carmine or somebody. RT: You were never on staff there? KANE: I was on staff for a week; but most of the people on staff were women, secretaries. They were turning out other material besides comics. Timely did extremely well for a while, they were one of the big companies— and then, because of what I saw as a Heroes? Timely had ’em! A potpourri of pages from a single issue (#4, May 1942) of USA Comics: Rockman… The Vagabond (by Win Mortimer)… The Whizzer… The Defender… and a paper recycling pitch from Timely’s biggest selling star, Captain America. [©1999 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

lack of ideas, they just absolutely collapsed. RT: It’s interesting that Timely, first because of the Torch and Sub-Mariner, then because of Simon and Kirby’s Captain America Comics a year or so later, got a head start on a lot of companies with three very popular characters. Yet, after that, they just seemed to tread water. Very soon they just became trend-followers… and inundators. KANE: In my view, they never had creative leadership until the 1960s. They were simply an imitation company that managed to take advantage of a going situation, catch the momentum, ride it for a number of years; and then, when that momentum ran out, they fell out. By comparison, I always had the feeling, right from the first time I went to DC when I was fifteen, that I was walking into a cathedral, an institution. DC built; they made plans, they started to spread out, they became distributors, they were virtually one of the biggest distributors in the country. So already they were stabilized by a certain amount of momentum… and by predictability. Timely simply milked each situation for as much money as they could—and I guess they were lucky to have been able to do that. RT: Thanks, Gil. KANE: My pleasure, my boy.

It Started on Yancy Street!

It Started on Yancy Street! Marty Arbunich, Bill DuBay, and the First 1960s Marvel Comics Fanzine by Bill Schelly INTRODUCTION

I. THE WAY IT BEGAN!

Much has been written about the part Julius Schwartz and the DC hero revivals of the late 1950s played in the formation of the comics fandom movement of the 1960s, which began with the publication of Alter Ego and Comic Art in spring of 1961.

The Yancy Street Journal, the first fanzine focused solely on the comics published by Martin Goodman (Timely, Atlas, Marvel) was the product of a friendship between two teenage comics fans with remarkable enthusiasm, energy, and talent: Marty Arbunich and Bill DuBay.

Just as important was the rise of Marvel Comics, beginning with the debut of The Fantastic Four later that same year. It wasn’t just the fact that Marvel ushered in hero revivals à la DC, with the return of The Human Torch and Sub-Mariner, but that the new characters created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, and others burst on the scene with instant appeal to the older, more articulate fans. Very likely, the comics fandom rocket would never have reached lift-off without the F.F., Spider-Man, Iron Man, et al. With Marvel taking fandom by storm, and the number of fanzines increasing exponentially in 1962 and 1963, it was merely a matter of time before a magazine devoted exclusively to the output of Stan Lee and company made the scene.

Pals since first grade, they lived in the same San Francisco neighborhood and attended the same schools. Arbunich and DuBay were among the second wave of fans to join comicdom in the wake of a spate of plugs in DC and Marvel comics letter columns. Recently, Marty and Bill reminisced about those innocent, early days of fandom.

In 1964 Bill DuBay and Marty Arbunich launched The Yancy Street Journal, fandom’s first fanzine devoted to Marvel Comics. [photo from the collection of Bill Schelly]

“I heard about it before Marty,” DuBay recalls. “I sent for a copy of Alter Ego #5. When I got that in the mail, it blew my mind. I thought, ‘Wow, there are old comic books and super-heroes! There’s more than just what meets the eye today.”

While unrelated to The Yancy Street Journal per se, this double-page spread (21” wide!) by Jack Kirby and Joe Sinnott was commissioned by the then-hip Esquire for their Sept. 1966 “College Issue,” attesting to the enormous mainstream popularity Marvel Comics were achieving. [All characters ©1999 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

It Started on— Detective #59 in mint condition. The sale of those comics made possible the purchase of the one key possession that allowed their fanzinepublishing dreams to take flight: a ditto machine. Fantasy Hero had been printed at their high school under the auspices of an indulgent instructor. With the acquisition of their own printing press, they were all set. Soon these Bay Area entrepreneurs added two more publications to accompany Fantasy Hero: Action Hero and Comic Caper. In truth, these were virtually interchangeable in terms of contents: pin-ups, brief articles, fanzine plugs, amateur strips. Considering the fact that these first efforts weren’t overly impressive, the publications were surprisingly popular. “They were incoherent,” DuBay recalls, laughing, “but people seemed to like them.” They spent a lot of time in Marty’s garage, where they set up their publishing headquarters, with ditto machine, supplies, stapler, and stamps. They gave their duplicator a real work-out, cranking out the issues. There was hardly a day, even on weekends, when Marty and Bill didn’t see each other. “We were joined at the hip at that point,” Bill says. “We were having a ball!”

II. THIS POWER UNLEASHED! What inspired them to launch a fanzine devoted to just Marvel Comics? Comics fanzines had specialized in terms of function almost from the beginning. There were advertising vehicles (Rocket’s Blast, The Comicollector), news sheets of developments in pro comics (The Comic Reader), even letter-zines (Dateline: Comicdom).

His excitement was infectious. “We would ride the bus home every day from Sacred Heart High School,” Marty remembers. “I wasn’t the comics fanatic Bill was, though I had become somewhat interested in them in grammar school. But when Bill clued me in about fanzines, I was immediately intrigued.” Arbunich already had a yen to become a journalist, and fanzines seemed an ideal training ground. DuBay was the first to enter the publishing world, with a generalinterest zine called Fantasy Hero, in the spring of 1963. “Marty looked at it and said, ‘Anyone can do this!’” Bill recounts. “I had discovered that publishing a fanzine was hard work. I thought, ‘If I can con anyone into helping me, I will.’ I immediately invited him to co-edit with me.” Thus was born the team that would become the Lee and Kirby of Bay Area fandom. While they were certainly fans of current comic books, what really excited these two enterprising teenagers was their fascination with comics of the past. “Inspired by what we read in fanzines, we began to treasurehunt for old comics,” DuBay explains. “We would regularly check out all the old bookstores in the San Francisco area.” “We were pretty lucky,” Arbunich adds. “I’ll never forget the thrill when I found a copy of an early issue of Spy Smasher. It wasn’t the value that we cared about—it was the history of it. ‘Wow, how many people have owned this copy of Spy Smasher over the years?’ What came before was always what interested us most. I thought, ‘I’d be happy just hunting for old comic books for the rest of my life.’” Their most amazing find was a stack of about a hundred copies of

1964 saw a new development: fanzines devoted exclusively (or nearly so) to one character or company. The groundbreaker was Biljo White’s Batmania, which had as its motto, “For Batman, We Accept Nothing As Impossible!” It debuted in July 1964, and became instantly popular. [See the A/E section in Comic Book Artist #3 for complete info on Batmania.] Just as Fantasy Hero had been inspired by Alter Ego, so YSJ was the Golden Gate duo’s response to Batmania. Marty freely concedes, “We got a lot of our ideas from the other publications we were receiving at the time.” When they saw White’s zine, a light bulb went on in their heads, and they instantly converted the mediocre Comic Caper to The Yancy Street Journal with the third issue. YSJ #3, which carried a full-page review of Batmania #1, saw print in August 1964—the month after the Batman zine itself! Just as Biljo inducted each reader automatically into a quasifraternal organization called The Batmanians, so the subscribers of YSJ ($1.00 for ten issues) were considered dues-paying members of the Yancy Street Gang, named after the never-seen New York youths who lived only to torment The Thing in Fantastic Four. This self-described newsletter contained a mere fourteen pages. The first issue was broken down into three sections: “The Timely Years” (actually a detailed look at Captain America #8 by Arbunich); “The Atlas Annals” (Bob Metz describing the contents of Young Men

— Yancy Street! #24); and “The Mystery of Marvel” (Marty’s mini-reviews of the latest month’s issues). While the writing was merely competent, it was the editorial policy of providing readers with information about hard-tofind older comics that put the fanzine over. Also (and it was no small thing at the time), editor Arbunich carefully proofread each issue, and the typos and grammatical errors were minimal. In its fervor, YSJ also boasted a very neat and attractive layout, due to editor Bill DuBay’s already considerable experience working with ditto masters. His unique style, which he claims was a mix of Infantino, Kubert, and Ditko, gave the issues a distinctive appearance.

45 fanzines, eventually contributing to a wide assortment, from the highprofile offset mags like Fantasy Illustrated and Star-Studded Comics to their humbler ditto brethren like Action Hero and Yancy. “I got a call from Steve one day, out of the blue, after he picked up one of our early fanzines,” DuBay recalls. Perrin was a student at a nearby state college, and became Marty and Bill’s contact on the university scene. They visited Perrin several times in order to attend campus showings of the Republic serial The Adventures of Captain Marvel. Steve was a gifted wordsmith, and they wasted no time in convincing him to write a regular column.

He chose to focus exclusively on the character whose return had electrified fandom earlier in the year: Captain America. The first installment of “Courageous Captain” compared and contrasted the new incarnation with the Cap of the glory days of World War Two. Of the new solo backup series in Tales of Suspense, he concluded, “The old Cap had plots to his stories. So far, we’ve seen him battle, for the whole ten-page story, two Spider-Man/Dr. Strange artist Steve Ditko’s drawing for #8’s cover was a YSJ groups of villains and some first. [©1999 Golden Gate Features; Dr. Strange ©1999 Marvel Characters, Inc.] Communist Viet Cong. There is no real development in the stories, just running battles. However, all is not lost….” He prescribed a solo book for Cap, where there would be room III. FOUR AGAINST THE FLOODTIDE! for supporting characters and plot development. YJS #4, devoted to The Sub-Mariner, was another slim issue. It debuted their regular “discussion column” feature, where readers could IV. THE POWER AND THE PRIDE! express their opinions on a given subject. #4 also saw the first artwork in their pages by Mike Vosburg, then editor of the popular Masquerader YSJ #5 boasted a lengthy letter column (which began with the usual fanzine, who would contribute more to the ditto issues. thank-you note from Flo Steinberg on behalf of “Stan and the gang”), as well as a discussion column (“Is the MMMS a mistake?”). One of the Other artists who jumped on board in the next few issues were names that cropped up most frequently in these early columns was that Dave Herring (best known as the chief artist of Odd magazine) and of Cathy Manfredi. Mickey Schwaberow (whose work appeared in everything from StarDuBay almost always augmented the basic purple of ditto printing with the extra colors that were available in the ditto medium—mostly red and green. Bill’s assessment of his art ability at this point is self-deprecating. “I was just a very adept thief,” he explains. But his visuals, as chief artist throughout the entire run of the fanzine, undoubtedly were a big part of the zine’s success. After all, in the ditto medium, all the artwork has to be drawn or re-drawn; there was no way to simply reproduce from the comics themselves.

Studded Comics to Sense of Wonder). With their fifth issue (11/64), Arbunich and DuBay expanded the page count to nineteen pages. It seems clear at this point that they decided Yancy should be a full-bodied fanzine, rather than merely a newsletter. (In the indicia, the official description was now “periodical.”) YSJ #5 marked the emergence of two new contributors who were already known to many in fandom: Rudy Franke and Steve Perrin. Rudy, already a grown man and working as a school teacher in the Oakland suburb of San Francisco, had been publishing Heroes’ Hangout since late 1962. When Marty and Bill became active fans, they made the trek to Franke’s home to view his impressive collection of Golden Age comics. A goodly portion of those books belonged to the Timely group, so it was natural that Rudy would be recruited to write about them in the pages of YSJ. The fact that he was also an excellent artist was an additional bonus. Steve Perrin was one of the most popular writers in the early

Doesn’t ring any bells? Perhaps you know her by the name she later adopted: Cat Yronwode. She was one of the few active females in fandom, then dubbed “femme fans.” In this issue she wrote, “Marvel seems to be disregarding completely the wishes of their fans. This will only lead downhill. Marvel, snap out of it! We are intelligent, reasonable, mature people. We are not little kids and we do not need [the MMMS].” After three issues, Yancy Street Journal was hitting its stride. Marvel Comics were out of their infancy and into their exciting adolescence, with Fantastic Four in its mid-30s, and Amazing Spider-Man just completing its first truly ambitious storyline in #17 through #19 (“Spidey Strikes Back!”). Comics from the House of Ideas were causing a sensation in fandom, and the Bay Area boys found the circulation of their periodical growing steadily. It also helped that Marty and Bill were among the more disciplined publishers, able to get issues out frequently. Arbunich recalls, “We were pretty good with deadlines. We would set them, and we were good at crunching away at it and staying up till all hours till it was done.” Many

It Started on—

amateur publishers would declare a monthly schedule, but YSJ, appearing every six or seven weeks in its first year, did better than most at living up to its publication schedule.

V. THE GRANDEUR AND THE GLORY! Yancy ushered in 1965 with two issues in rapid succession. YSJ #6 featured an article on Amazing Adventures and Amazing Adult Fantasy by Oklahoma-based fan Lee Whittlesey, as well as the first installment of a chit-chat column by the same author called “Lee’s Ramblings.” In #7 another new column was introduced: “The Yancy Street Walker” by Steve Kelez, written in a semi-humorous style from the point of view of Levram, a mysterious denizen of Yancy Street. Kelez was a local California boy who would become perhaps best known for publishing the official supplement to Batmania called The Gotham Gazette—using the Yancy ditto machine to do so! Always searching for ways to improve the magazine, Marty and Bill introduced two innovations in YSJ #8. First, it had a professionallyprinted photo-offset cover by Steve Ditko, who was very supportive of comics fandom in those early years. His inked drawing of Dr. Strange may mark the first offset cover done for a 1960s fanzine by a professional artist. Second, they kicked off a new feature that would eventually lead them to butt heads with Marvel Comics itself: “Picto-Origins,” named after the term “Picto-Fiction” used for some of EC Comics’ last and most adult publications in the mid-’50s.

What were YSJ’s Picto-Origins? According to writer/artist Bill DuBay, on page one of the first installment, they were “an entirely new concept in super-hero origin retelling! This is not a comic strip, nor is it a super-hero article!” Instead, it was a sort of combination of both: a retelling of the origin of a classic Timely or Atlas character, using lengthy captions and a few key images re-created from the original strips. The first re-told the origin of The Vision. YSJ #8 also announced the results of a poll taken of the readers to determine whether they would like to see the fanzine converted to a photo-offset newspaper, similar to the format already used by Voice of Comicdom (their sister publication, produced by DuBay alone). The vote was close, and despite the offset option losing by a small margin, they decided to go ahead and make the change with their next issue. Marty Arbunich in particular was eager to make the switch. With DuBay more and more occupied with Voice of Comicdom and other projects, the actual editing and production of Yancy Street Journal had fallen on his shoulders. Anything that could reduce the workload was welcome. With the circulation of #8 at 260 copies, the printing capacity of ditto masters had been reached; offset printing had no such limitations. Furthermore, offset printing meant no more hours cranking out the copies by hand. Since the fanzine would consist wholly of a single, folded 11" x 17" sheet, printed on both sides, no collation was needed, either. Hallelujah! Then, too, the new method would allow for better visuals. Cover reproductions could be actual photographs of the comic book, rather

Yancy Street! than laborious tracings. Photos of both pros and fans could be run. And inked artwork (like Steve Ditko’s illustration) could easily be accommodated. Marty was convinced that the readers would enthusiastically endorse the new format once they held it before their eyes. He was right. One other thing: all through these years, Arbunich’s journalistic ambitions had been growing. Now he would be able to produce Yancy Street Journal in a true, four-column newspaper format, which was a real wish fulfilled for him. The first “new look” YSJ (#9) featured a profile of Wally Wood, a new column by Marty entitled “The Bearer of the Awesome Amulet,” and a Picto-Origin of Marvel Boy. The issue offered no less than six photographs and a cartoon by Dave Herring. Marty pasted up the layouts on his own, having watched Bill put together Voice of Comicdom. True, he had to type each of the columns twice, so that he could count spaces and retype them with “justified margins,” which was a pain. But then, how could it look like a professional paper without nice, neat, justified columns? “I typed up the new Yancy Street Journal, designed it, and did the layouts,” Arbunich confirms. “I was particularly proud of the little artistic touches, like the pieces of art I’d use to fill in columns. I’d leave block areas where Bill could drop in a drawing. I’d say, ‘Bill, do something nice for this space.’” DuBay adds, “Marty was really ‘hot’ then—always so enthusiastic. He had taken charge, and I liked that. And I got to do spot illustrations. He would give me assignments. I liked the variety. Each job was different, and each was a challenge.” Gradually the first page began to actually run news, like a real newspaper. YSJ #10 (9/65) was headlined, “ROY THOMAS JOINS MARVEL BULLPEN.” The next issue headlined news that the second MMMS bulletin had been released. That issue also ran a color Christmas Greeting from Bill and Marty, as well as the Picto-Origin of Namora, the most professional-looking one yet. Also, there was a new column called “Bullpen Blockbusters” by a young California fan named Mike Friedrich. With a circulation at #11 of 350, it was clear that the new format had caught on, and Marvel fans around the globe were spreading the word about the publication.

VI. LO, THERE SHALL COME AN ENDING! Then came the crash. Yancy #12 (1/66) appeared with a huge headline blaring: “MARVEL SAYS NO PICTO-ORIGINS.” It had fallen to Stan Lee’s

new assistant Roy Thomas to deliver the bad news. Special dispensation for the feature could not be given. Picto-Origins, according to Marvel’s lawyers, was in a comic book story format, which (despite the “copyright by Timely” notice placed prominently on each one) was a legal no-no. And so this popular feature was discontinued. However, the point turned out to be moot, for YSJ #12 turned out to be the final issue. Did the imbroglio over Picto-Origins somehow spell the end of The Yancy Street Journal? No, say its two editors. It had merely run its course. In 1966 Marty and Bill were in the last half of their senior year in high school, and the distractions around them were becoming more plentiful. “I began to lose a little interest in comics, and started getting involved in the music scene in San Francisco,” Arbunich explains. Eventually he opened a record store that would last for seventeen years. Record collecting became his passion. Marty also founded two record labels. Comic book fandom became a part of the past. Bill DuBay yearned to become a comic book artist, and had his first sale (to Charlton’s Go-Go) when he was still in high school. After a stint in the military, he accepted an offer to become art director for Jim Warren (Creepy, Eerie, Vampirella). He worked for Warren for twelve years, as was covered in-depth in Comic Book Artist #4. Both Marty and Bill look back on their fanzine publishing days with fondness. They have remained close friends over the years. Today, they treasure not old comic books, but their memories of those early days of fandom. “We weren’t into the Howard Rogofsky thing of making money on comics,” DuBay points out. “It was the sharing, the friendship, the camaraderie of doing the fanzines—and the fun of hunting for old funny-books.” “It was so exciting,” Marty adds, somewhat wistfully. “It was like… the end of the world.” “We were happy,” DuBay concludes. “It was good times.” The final issue of The Yancy Street Journal. [©1999 Golden Gate Features]

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 #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

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ALTER EGO #18

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ALTER EGO #19

ALTER EGO #20

ALTER EGO #21

ALTER EGO #22

ALTER EGO #23

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

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

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

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

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

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

ALTER EGO #24

ALTER EGO #25

ALTER EGO #26

ALTER EGO #27

ALTER EGO #28

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

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

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

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

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

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

ALTER EGO #29

ALTER EGO #30

ALTER EGO #31

ALTER EGO #32

ALTER EGO #33

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ALTER EGO #34

ALTER EGO #35

ALTER EGO #36

ALTER EGO #37

ALTER EGO #38

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

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

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

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

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

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

ALTER EGO #39

ALTER EGO #40

ALTER EGO #41

ALTER EGO #42

ALTER EGO #43

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

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

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

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

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

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

ALTER EGO #44

ALTER EGO #45

ALTER EGO #46

ALTER EGO #47

ALTER EGO #48

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ALTER EGO #49

ALTER EGO #50

ALTER EGO #51

ALTER EGO #52

ALTER EGO #53

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ALTER EGO #54

ALTER EGO #55

ALTER EGO #56

ALTER EGO #57

ALTER EGO #58

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

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

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

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

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

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

ALTER EGO #59

ALTER EGO #60

ALTER EGO #61

ALTER EGO #62

ALTER EGO #63

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

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

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

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

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

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

ALTER EGO #64

ALTER EGO #65

ALTER EGO #66

ALTER EGO #67

ALTER EGO #68

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

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

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

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

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

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

ALTER EGO #69

ALTER EGO #70

ALTER EGO #71

ALTER EGO #72

ALTER EGO #73

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

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

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

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

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

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

ALTER EGO #74

ALTER EGO #75

ALTER EGO #76

ALTER EGO #77

ALTER EGO #78

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

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

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

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

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

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

ALTER EGO #79

ALTER EGO #80

ALTER EGO #81

ALTER EGO #82

ALTER EGO #83

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

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

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

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

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

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

ALTER EGO #84

ALTER EGO #85

ALTER EGO #86

ALTER EGO #87

ALTER EGO #88

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

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

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

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

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

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

ALTER EGO #89

ALTER EGO #90

ALTER EGO #91

ALTER EGO #92

ALTER EGO #93

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ALTER EGO #94

ALTER EGO #95

ALTER EGO #96

ALTER EGO #97

ALTER EGO #98

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

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

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

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

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

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

ALTER EGO: CENTENNIAL (AE #100)

ALTER EGO #99

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

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

ALTER EGO #101

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

NEW!

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

ALTER EGO #102

ALTER EGO #103

ALTER EGO #104

ALTER EGO: THE CBA COLLECTION

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

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

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

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

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

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

HUMOR MAGAZINES (BUNDLE ALL THREE FOR JUST $14.95)

ALTER EGO:

BEST OF THE LEGENDARY COMICS FANZINE

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

COMIC BOOK NERD

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

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

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

DIEDGITIIOTANSL E

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