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No. 43
December 2004
SEASON’S GREETINGS From
GEORGE TUSKA JOE SINNOTT FRANK BRUNNER DAVE ROSS GENE COLAN JACK BENDER NICK CARDY MICHAEL T. GILBERT KELLY EVERAERT & ALEX TOTH! PLUS:
JIM AMASH
Talks with Golden Age Timely / marvel Artist
MORRIS WEISS & THE LONE RANGER’S
TOM GILL!
BONUS:
FRAZETTA, BIRO, CANIFF, RAYMOND, KELLY,
& OThers Proclaim: “We Like Ike!” X-Men TM & ©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.
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“Gods!” Takes an in-depth look at WALTER SIMONSON’s Thor, the Thunder God in the Bronze Age, “Pro2Pro” interview with TOM DeFALCO and RON FRENZ, Hercules: Prince of Power, Moondragon, Three Ways to End the New Gods Saga, exclusive interview with fantasy writer MICHAEL MOORCOCK, art and commentary by GERRY CONWAY, JACK KIRBY, BOB LAYTON, and more, with a swingin’ Thor cover by SIMONSON!
“Liberated Ladies” eyeing female characters that broke barriers in the Bronze Age: Big Barda, Valkyrie, Ms. Marvel, Phoenix, Savage She-Hulk, and the sword-wielding Starfire. Plus a “Pro2Pro” interview with JILL THOMPSON, GAIL SIMONE, and BARBARA KESEL, art and commentary by JOHN BYRNE, GEORGE PEREZ, JACK KIRBY, MIKE VOSBURG, and more, with a new cover by BRUCE TIMM!
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THE BEST IN COMICS AND LEGO MAGAZINES!
ALTER EGO #105
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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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Special double-size book examines the first decade of the FANTASTIC FOUR, and the events that put into motion the Marvel Age of Comics! New interviews with STAN LEE, FLO STEINBERG, MARK EVANIER, JOE SINNOTT, and others, with a wealth of historical information and Kirby artwork!
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KIRBY COLLECTOR #59
BRICKJOURNAL #17
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BRICKJOURNAL #19
“Kirby Vault!” Rarities from the “King” of comics: Personal correspondence, private photos, collages, rare Marvelmania art, bootleg album covers, sketches, transcript of a 1969 VISIT TO THE KIRBY HOME (where Jack answers the questions YOU’D ask in ‘69), MARK EVANIER, pencil art from the FOURTH WORLD, CAPTAIN AMERICA, MACHINE MAN, SILVER SURFER GRAPHIC NOVEL, and more!
LEGO SPACE WAR issue! A STARFIGHTER BUILDING LESSON by Peter Reid, WHY SPACE MARINES ARE SO POPULAR by Mark Stafford, a trip behind the scenes of LEGO’S NEW ALIEN CONQUEST SETS that hit store shelves earlier this year, plus JARED K. BURKS’ column on MINIFIGURE CUSTOMIZATION, building tips, event reports, our step-by-step “YOU CAN BUILD IT” INSTRUCTIONS, and more!
Go to Japan with articles on two JAPANESE LEGO FAN EVENTS, plus take a look at JAPAN’S SACRED LEGO LAND, Nasu Highland Park—the site of the BrickFan events and a pilgrimage site for many Japanese LEGO fans. Also, a feature on JAPAN’S TV CHAMPIONSHIP OF LEGO, a look at the CLICKBRICK LEGO SHOPS in Japan, plus how to get into TECHNIC BUILDING, LEGO EDUCATION, and more!
LEGO EVENTS ISSUE covering our own BRICKMAGIC FESTIVAL, BRICKWORLD, BRICKFAIR, BRICKCON, plus other events outside the US. There’s full event details, plus interviews with the winners of the BRICKMAGIC CHALLENGE competition, complete with instructions to build award winning models. Also JARED K. BURKS’ regular column on minifigure customizing, building tips, and more!
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Vol. 3, No. 43/December 2004
™
Editor
Roy Thomas
Associate Editors Bill Schelly Jim Amash
Design & Layout
Christopher Day
Consulting Editor John Morrow
FCA Editor
P.C. Hamerlinck
Comic Crypt Editor Michael T. Gilbert
Editors Emeritus
Jerry Bails (founder) Ronn Foss, Biljo White, Mike Friedrich
HAPPY HOLIDAYS Side
Production Assistant
Eric Nolen-Weathington
Cover Artists George Tuska Dave Stevens
Cover Colorists Tom Ziuko Phil Noto
And Special Thanks to: Heidi Amash Stan Lee Michael Ambrose Pablo Marcos Ger Apeldoorn Pat Mason Bob Bailey Tom Moore Jerry Beck Brian K. Morris Jack & Carol Bender Frank Motler Jerry K. Boyd Fred Patten Frank & Kisara Don Rosick Brunner Dave Ross Stan Burns Joe & Betty Sinnott Nick Cardy Dave Stevens R. Dewey Cassell Tom Stewart Bob Cherry Marc Swayze Gene & Adrienne Dann Thomas Colan Mike Thomas Kelly Everaert Alex Toth Michael Fraley George & Dorothy Stephan Friedt Tuska Janet Gilbert Michael Uslan Tom Gill Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr. Jennifer Hamerlinck Dr. Michael J. Bill Henley Vassallo Dave Herring Mort Walker Steve Herring Hames Ware Bob Hughes Morris & Blanche Weiss Al Jaffee Tom Wimbish Jeff Jatras Richard Kyle
1
1994--2004
Contents
Writer/Editorial: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Another Four-Color Christmas in Black-&-White! . . . . . . . . . . . 3 More Yuletide and Happy New Year cards sent by comics pros. “IJimDid What I Set Out in Life to Do!” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Amash talks with Golden Age (and comic strip) artist Morris Weiss. To Be Continued! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 After 6H decades in comics, artist Tom Gill tells Jim Amash he’s still going strong. Comic Crypt: “I Like Ike!”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Michael T. Gilbert showcases 1954 cartoons of President Dwight Eisenhower.
FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America) No. 102 . . . . . . . . . . . 41 P.C. Hamerlinck presents Marc Swayze and the Fawcett-into-Charlton Index. ...And All in Color for a Peso Dept. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Flip Us! About Our Cover & Above: Some time back, but a bit too late for last year’s helping of artistic holiday cheer in A/E #31, collector R. Dewey Cassell forwarded a copy of George & Dorothy Tuska’s “X-mas” card spotlighting The X-Men. While we were saving it up for this year’s edition, Dewey has virtually completed writing an entire book about George’s career, which is coming very soon from TwoMorrows—but he and the Tuskas were still content that their card become a cover for this magazine. And, just so you could see it in black-&-white as well as in color, we’ve also reproduced it above. Thanks, guys! [Art ©2004 George Tuska; X-Men ©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.] Alter EgoTM is published monthly by TwoMorrows, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614, USA. Phone: (919) 449-0344. Roy Thomas, Editor. John Morrow, Publisher. Alter Ego Editorial Offices: 32 Bluebird Trail, St. Matthews, SC 29135, USA. Fax: (803) 826-6501; e-mail: roydann@ntinet.com. Send subscription funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial offices. Single issues: $8 ($10 Canada, $11.00 elsewhere). Twelve-issue subscriptions: $60 US, $120 Canada, $132 elsewhere. All characters are © their respective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © Roy Thomas. Alter Ego is a TM of Roy & Dann Thomas. FCA is a TM of P.C. Hamerlinck. Printed in Canada. FIRST PRINTING.
writer/editorial A Stocking Full of Masked Men
2
This is such a chock-full issue that I’ve barely got room to point out its highlights—but that’s what the contents page is for, right? Actually, we didn’t need a second contents page, because, except for our letters section, our flip side is full to the brim with just one item: Fred Patten’s “¡Supermen South!”—a long, leisurely, and masterful look at the heroic comics of Mexico in the 1960s. Check it out—and a whole new world may open up for you. This side features our regular (but still always-surprising) departments— Michael T. Gilbert’s “Comic Crypt,” and P.C. Hamerlinck’s FCA—plus two info-laden, lavishly-illustrated Jim Amash interviews with veteran comic book artists who’ve been entertaining us since the 1940s: Morris Weiss from Timely/Marvel and your newspaper’s comics page, and Tom Gill, long-running artist of The Lone Ranger comic book, among other accomplishments! (And thanks to Bill Schelly for letting us delay his “Comic Fandom Archive” till next issue when we got overcrowded!) All that is coming up—plus our second annual helping of holidays cheer from a bunch of talented guys who don’t just buy their Seasons Greetings cards from Hallmark or Wal-Mart! Personally, it’s always a thrill to Dann and me when one of these turns up in our own mailbox—and we hope you feel the same when you feast your eyes on well over a dozen of ’em, all in one fell swoop! What better way is there to say— Happy Holidays! Bestest,
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44 COMING IN JANUARY ...AND JUSTICE SOCIETY FOR ALL! (Not to mention the ALL-STAR SQUADRON and INFINITY, INC.!) #
Special Issue on DC’s Golden Age Heroes—from 1940 through the ’80s! • Fabulous wraparound cover by JERRY ORDWAY! • The All-Stars of All-Star Comics—and BEYOND! Interviews with 1940s All-Star artists JOE KUBERT & IRWIN HASEN & Atom writer ARTHUR ADLER—1960s JLA/JSA/Spectre artist MURPHY ANDERSON—1980s All-Star Squadron original team RICH BUCKLER, JERRY ORDWAY, & ROY THOMAS! Five decades of JSA excitement! • Rare Golden/Silver/Bronze Age art of the JSA, All-Star Squadron, and Infinity, Inc., by the above artists, plus ALEX TOTH, CARMINE INFANTINO, MIKE SEKOWSKY, PAUL REINMAN, MARTIN NAYDEL, TODD McFARLANE, MIKE MACHLAN, RICK HOBERG, DENYS COWAN, et al.! • Special tributes to RUDY PALAIS, JOE BURESCH, & KIN PLATT by JIM AMASH & DR. MICHAEL J. VASSALLO! ©2004 DC Comics
• FCA with Fawcett artists AL DUCA & MARC SWAYZE— BILL SCHELLY on ODD, Part II—MICHAEL T. GILBERT showcases “I Like Ike!” cartoons by BOB KANE, IRV NOVICK, JERRY ROBINSON—& MORE!! Edited by ROY THOMAS
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TwoMorrows • 10407 Bedfordtown Drive • Raleigh, NC 27614 USA • 919-449-0344 • FAX: 919-449-0327 • E-mail: twomorrow@aol.com • www.twomorrows.com
Another FourColor Christmas In Black-&White! More Yuletide Cards Sent By Comics Pros [INTRO-HO-HO-HO! In last year’s Christmas issue, A/E #31, we printed some of the holiday season’s cards we and others had received from comic book artists—headed by a gorgeous Fred Ray Superman postcard from circa 1940 that had never been repro’d since. We only had room for a slightly truncated section this year, but since folks seemed to enjoy it last time, here we go again…! —Roy.]
To start off, following George Tuska’s x-cellent X-Men, what could be better than this Spider-Man card from a few years back from Joltin’ Joe & Betty Sinnott? After half a century in the field, the semi-retired Joe is still in demand—and if you’re lucky enough to see the Spider-Man Sunday strip, you can dig his inking every week! [Art ©2004 Joe Sinnott; Spider-Man TM & ©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]
Frankly (and we should be frank, since the above card comes from Roy & Dann’s friends Frank & Kisara Brunner), we’re not sure if this great drawing is of Howard the Duck—the Marvel character Frank drew to a fare-thee-well back in the 1970s—or of some other far-out fowl. But it arrived as part of a Season’s Greetings card in December 2003, so here ’tis! Check out Frank’s website at <http://www.frankbrunner.net>. Frank does some fabulous art commissions these days, and can be reached by sending a self-addressed, stamped envelope to him at 312 Kildare Court, Myrtle Beach, SC 29588. [©2004 Frank Brunner.]
Working with artist Dave Ross on Avengers West Coast back in the ’90s was a joy—and so is this 1998 holiday card featuring his hero Thrax. Oh, and the hero’s balloon here is the second part of a comment begun on the front of the card: “La Niña?!!” Learn more about Thrax at <www.daveross.com>. [©2004 Dave Ross.]
4
More Yuletide Cards Sent By Comics Pros
Gene & Adrienne Colan get a whole page to themselves this year, with the wonderfully clever cards they’ve sent out in recent years. Gotta admit, our favorite’s the one with Drac— the character Gene drew so fantastically for years in Marvel’s Tomb of Dracula! Other than that, we’ve nothing to add—we’ll just get out of the way and let Gene the Dean say it all with his artful pen! [©2004 Gene Colan.]
Another Four-Color Christmas In Black-&-White
5
(Left:) Alley Oop’s always been a favorite of Ye Editor’s—as witness the Alley awards of the 1960s—so it was a double treat to receive this card last year from Jack and Carol Bender. For the past few years, Jack’s been drawing and co-writing (with his better half) the syndicated Alley Oop strip—keeping Oop one of the few adventure strips from the 1930s that’s still going strong! Now if we can just find the space to print the article about Oop that Jack’s written for A/E! 2005 for sure, Jack! [©2004 NEA, Inc.]
(Above:) Nick Cardy, noted Silver Age artist of Aquaman, Teen Titans, Bat Lash, et al., is another guy who’s churned out entertaining Christmas cards over the years as if it were the easiest thing in the world—to the delight of his friends. Here’s a priceless pair. Oh, and by the way, about that two-piece card directly above— the left-most 1/3 of it was designed as the front cover; you opened it and saw the other 2/3. [©2004 Nick Cardy.]
(Left:) When Janet & Michael T. Gilbert (maybe you’ve heard his name somewhere?) sent Dann & Roy this card last December, Michael wrote a note earmarking it for this year’s holiday issue—and we’re only too happy to oblige! Thanks, Mike and Janet. [©2004 Michael T. Gilbert.]
6
More Yuletide Cards Sent By Comics Pros
Crowded we may be with this Christmas-time issue, but no edition of Alter Ego is quite complete without at least a taste of Toth— Alex Toth, that is. Here’s a card created by the master comics artist some years back, and sent to us by one of his greatest fans, Al Dellinges. [©2004 Alex Toth.]
Dann and Roy mailed out this photo-card last year—of Fiasco the Llama (a.k.a. “Ol’ Blue-Eye,” since he has one blue eye and one brown) perusing some Christmas stockings tacked to a fallen tree and thinking that, as far as he’s concerned, his alleged masters came up one short! Photo by Dann Thomas.
Monthly! The Original First-Person History– published by Robin Snyder
Artist Kelly Everaert sent this card. Yeah, we thought that’d put you guys in a holiday mood. Check out his website at <http://members.shaw.ca/kelticstudios/ Keltic_Studios.htm>. [©2004 Kelly Everaert.]
HAPPY HOLIDAYS! Write to: Robin Snyder, 3745 Canterbury Lane #81, Bellingham, WA 98225-1186
7
“I Did What I Set Out In Life To Do” A Talk With Comic Book And Comic Strip Artist MORRIS WEISS Conducted & Transcribed by Jim Amash [INTERVIEWER’S NOTE: What are the odds that you’ll ever talk to a man who knew personalities as diverse as George Bridgman, Charles Dana Gibson, James Montgomery Flagg, Mickey Finn’s Lank Leonard, Joe Palooka’s Ham Fisher, Alex Raymond, Charlie Biro, and Stan Lee, among many others? Don’t bother guessing, because the odds are virtually impossible—unless you happen to know Morris Weiss. We were aware Morris had an amazing career in newspaper strips, and that he’d done comic book work, but what we didn’t know was how to boil it all down to an A/E interview that focused on comic books, as is our usual wont. Well, we didn’t bother—so you get to read about all these gents in a wide-ranging, fun, and informative interview with a gifted cartoonist and a real gentleman. Morris did terrific work in both the newspapers and in comic books, even if he doesn’t think much of his comic book work today. But we get the last word in this introduction, so Morris will have to take our compliments—and like ’em! —Jim.]
“I Was Torn Between My Love Of Illustration And Of Cartooning” JIM AMASH: There’s nothing like starting with the easy questions. When and where were you born? And what got you interested in cartooning? MORRIS WEISS: I was born in Philadelphia, August 11, 1915. I had an ability to draw and my brother had an ability to draw. I copied his drawings. I seemed to be able to draw better than most kids in school. I wanted to be an illustrator for magazines, but even in public school, I’d draw cartoons here and there. The first cartoon I had published was in junior high school, and when I was in high school, I drew cartoons for that paper, too. I followed the comics in the newspapers and the illustrations in the magazines. I was torn between my love of illustration and of cartooning. JA: What made you decide on cartooning? WEISS: That was because it was easier to get started as a cartoonist...to get a job as a cartoonist’s assistant. Illustration was a long way away because I’d have had to do a lot of studying in art schools. I went to the Art Students League when I was 25, and in 1936 I started with Lank Leonard on the Mickey Finn newspaper strip, a month after he’d launched it. I’d go to his home in Port Chester, New York, and live and work with him for half the week. The other half, I’d live at home in the Bronx. In 1940, I decided to go to the Art Students League to get some instruction in figure drawing. I studied under George Bridgman, who was the teacher for most of the illustrators of that time. Bridgman was a short Englishman, who had a habit of pulling on his suspenders. He was bald-headed and was a genius. He’d put a piece of chalk at the end of a 3-foot stick and go to work on the charcoal paper with us. He could go from “A to Z” with the human anatomy; he knew every muscle, every vein in the body, backwards and forwards, by name. I never knew anyone who had the amount of knowledge about the
A recent photo of Morris Weiss (he’s the one on the right) and Stan Lee, when Smiling Stan visited the Boca Raton Cartoon Museum—and the splash of one of the handful of “serious” comics stories Morris drew for Timely/Marvel in the old days: “The Murder Mirror,” from Marvel Tales #104 (Dec. 1951). With thanks to Dr. Michael J. Vassallo for the art scan. All photos in this article were sent by Morris. [Comic page ©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]
human figure that he did. He’d look at your drawing and the first thing he would ask for was your chamois, which was a little cloth. You’d give him your chamois and he’d wipe out your drawing. In half a minute, he’d redraw your work and show you how it should be done. He drew that quickly. JA: Was Bridgman all business, or would he lighten up occasionally? WEISS: Once in a while, he’d tell you a joke. He was all business, but he had a sense of humor. He was a very congenial man—there was nothing mean about him. He was a little on the cocky side. He wasn’t a tough critic of his students. When your work was really good, he’d just touch it up a little bit here and there, and compliment you. Once a week, he’d put his initials on someone’s drawing, which meant that student’s drawing would go into a special showcase for the best drawings of the week.
8
A Talk With Morris Weiss
As reported in this interview, two people very helpful and influential in Morris Weiss’ young life were Ed Wheelan (artist/writer/creator of Minute Movies—seen in photo at left from the early 20th century) and Harold H. Knerr (successor artist to Rudolph Dirks on The Katzenjammer Kids). Above is Wheelan’s second newspaper installment of Minute Movies, from Feb. 28, 1927, which served as a sort of “trailer” for the first comic strip “movie” to come—and below is a sketch Knerr drew on the King Features stationery on which he pennned a 1938 letter to Morris. Letter supplied by MW. [Minute Movies ©2004 the respective copyright holders; The Captain from Katzenjammer Kids TM & ©2004 King Features Syndicate.]
At that time, while I was in Bridgman’s class, there were two students that did terrific work. Their names were Bob Lubbers and Stan Drake. They were very nice guys, and before long they were drawing up sample comic book pages to show to the publishers. They showed them to me for my approval because they knew I was a professional. I couldn’t believe how poor these pages were, considering how magnificent their class drawings were. I couldn’t tell them how poor these pages were, but it didn’t take them long to get the hang of comics, and they soon got jobs. JA: Did Bridgman treat you differently because you were already a professional? WEISS: No. he had no idea about my age or career. He didn’t give special treatment to anyone, whether they were young kids or people in their 40s.
“If Morris Weiss Is Listening In…” JA: Backing up a bit, tell me how you started working for Lank Leonard. WEISS: When I was 18 and 19 years old, I visited all the cartoonists and illustrators who would see me. I asked them for original drawings, if they could spare one. Once, when I was in high school, the art class had original illustrations up on the wall, including one by James Montgomery Flagg. That’s when the bug really bit me. I met cartoonist Ed Wheelan, who was doing the Minute Movies strip, and in one of his strips he wrote, “If Morris Weiss is listening in, get in touch with Ed Wheelan.” I did, and I started lettering the strip for Ed. But I couldn’t match his lettering style, so he let me go after a week. That’s how I learned that cartoonists had assistants, so I practiced my lettering, figuring I could break into the business that way. Then I called up Harold H. Knerr, who did the Katzenjammer Kids, and asked for a chance. Up until then, Knerr had never used an assistant. I did a sample for him and became his first assistant. I lettered, filled in the black areas, drew in the stripes on the kids’ pants, and cleaned up the pages. I got $5 a Sunday page; Knerr wasn’t doing the dailies. That was pretty good money in the Depression. At the same time, I got a job with Pedro Llanuza, who took over the Joe Jinks strip from Vic Forsythe. I met Llanuza when I was making the rounds, and he asked me to be his assistant. He paid me $7 a week for working on the dailies. JA: I’ve seen Ed Wheelan’s work in early DC Comics. I’d like to hear about him. WEISS: Ed Wheelan was a great admirer of cartoonist Tad Dorgan. Ed was a good cartoonist, but he couldn’t draw straight stuff very well.
However, he could capture the flavor of the story he wanted to tell. His best work was when Nick Afonsky assisted him. After awhile, Afonsky left him to draw the Little Annie Rooney Sunday page. Wheelan’s work suffered when that happened, and with the newer, younger cartoonists coming into the business, Wheelan’s work looked old-fashioned and dated. He started losing papers and his strip died, which is why he turned to comic books. He was a very fine man, considerate and ethical, with a deep love of cartooning. I knew Ed Wheelan was having hard times, so I referred him to Frank Temerson, who was publishing comic books. [NOTE: Temerson was a partner in the Comics Magazine Company, known at various times as Tem Publishing, Holyoke Publishing, and Continental Publishing. — Jim.] He was a publisher who only respected success, so I told him Ed Wheelan was a retired cartoonist who was very well-off, but that if he could hire him, it’d be a big plus for his company. I gave him Ed’s phone number. A little later, Ed called me up to thank me and said that Temerson was starting up a new feature about a circus. That went on for a while, and then one day Ed called me up, saying, “I couldn’t carry on the charade anymore. I told him that I didn’t have anything, and was down and out when he called me.” I said, “That was a big mistake, Ed. You shouldn’t have done it.” A little while later, they got into a squabble, and Ed was let go. I felt very bad about that. Ed’s last years were not very fruitful for him, but that was the case for quite a few cartoonists. Art Helfant had the same problem; he wound up doing comic book pages, too. I liked Art very much; he was a good friend. If I’m not mistaken, he may have been one of the cartoonists who brought me into the National Cartoonists Society. He was an older man, but then, they were all older than I was. [laughs] When I think about it, I joined the National Cartoonists Society when I was 31, but all the successful cartoonists were in their 40s, 50s, and 60s. JA: How long did you work for Harold Knerr? WEISS: For about 2H years, which would have been in ’34 and ’35, and into 1936. I didn’t work at Knerr’s home. I would go to his house, pick
“I Did What I Set Out In Life To Do”
Though he doesn’t relate it in his interview with Jim Amash, this 1935 Christmas card Morris Weiss drew led to his “big break.” His mother had paid to have the struggling young cartoonist’s drawing printed, and Morris sent it to the various artists he had met—including Lank Leonard, a sports cartoonist who had just started a daily strip called Mickey Finn in April of 1936. And the rest is history. R.C. Harvey related the story in an article on Morris some time back. [©2004 Morris Weiss.]
up the page, and work on it at home. When I worked for Lank Leonard, I was still able to give Knerr that one day of work, though I stopped doing that after a short while. I recommended Leon Jason to letter for him, so Knerr wouldn’t be out an assistant. Leon later became a book publisher and ran a comic book studio. Leon called me up and said, “I hate you, Morris. No matter how good a job I do on lettering Knerr’s pages, he says, ‘It’s very good, but it’s not like Morris.’” [mutual laughter] I know that was a selfserving thing to say, but I said it because I think it’s funny.
Knerr told me one day that he usually brought two Sunday pages in at a time to his editor Joe Connolly at King Features. Connolly would praise Knerr’s work and say, “Even your lettering has your characteristics. Nobody else could do your lettering.”
9
JA: [laughs] When you started with Lank Leonard, what exactly were you doing on Mickey Finn? WEISS: I started off inking everything but the hands and the faces. My line was primitive and very thin, and I was being careful. But as I kept going, I became more relaxed in my line work and it got much better, which made me very comfortable with my work. I also did the lettering. The only time I did any drawing was when there was a pretty girl in the story, because Lank had been a sports cartoonist and he couldn’t draw pretty girls. He could draw cartoon girls, but not a pretty girl. One day, Lank went out to play golf. He left and I stayed to finish up my work. I couldn’t clean up the pages because Lank inked the faces and hands, so this meant I’d have to sit and wait for another three hours until he got back. I was so sure of my inking by that time that I didn’t wait for him, and inked all the faces and hands. A couple of hours later, Lank returned, went upstairs, took a shower, and came in the studio wearing a bathrobe. He sat down, asked for the strips, and saw what I had done. “You bastard! You inked all the heads!” Then he looked at the pages, and from that day on, he never inked another line on the strip. I just wasn’t going to wait for a couple of hours when I knew I could finish the job. There’s another story I should tell you. One day I was leaving Lank’s, got on the train at Port Chester, on my way to the Bronx. I was looking for a place to sit and saw a guy I recognized from pictures in the newspaper. He was William L. Shirer, the famous war correspondent for CBS News. I sat next to him and we started talking. While we were talking, I got an idea and said, “Mr. Shirer, how would you like to write a strip about a war correspondent and have me draw it? With your name on top, it’d be a sure seller.” He said, “Well, right now I’m going to be working on a big book about the Germans and the Nazi empire, but maybe a couple of friends of mine would be interested. Why don’t you talk to Eric Severeid or Elmer W. Peterson and see if they’d be interested?” When I got home, I called Eric Severeid, but he wasn’t interested. Then I called up Elmer W. Peterson, who was a war correspondent for CBS. He invited me over to his suite at the Waldorf, and we had a few cocktails. He liked the idea very much, and later sent me a script for couple of weeks of dailies. I drew them, brought them in to the McNaught Syndicate, and they liked the strip, which was titled Deedy Drake. It was all set to go, but then World War II started, and the syndicates quit taking on new strips. They needed all the room they could get to cover the war.
Morris Weiss (at far left) and Lank Leonard in the latter’s backyard in Port Chester, NY, in 1937, a year after the latter had launched Mickey Finn, which, like Bringing Up Father, starred what would now be called Irish-Americans—plus panels from a late Mickey Finn strip which was probably drawn largely by Weiss. The strip’s real star was Uncle Phil, seen drinking coffee and lighting a cigar; the title character is the young guy on the right in both panels. [Mickey Finn art ©2004 McNaught Syndicate or successors in interest.]
10
A Talk With Morris Weiss
“James Montgomery Flagg Was My Idol” JA: Before we go on talking about your career, I have to ask you about the portrait James Montgomery Flagg did of you. WEISS: Okay. First of all, James Montgomery Flagg was my idol. I just worshiped his work. I first saw it when I was about 14, in Good Housekeeping. I was amazed at how he drew... all those great lines! I got to meet a few illustrators, but not Flagg, though I knew he lived in the same apartment building Ham Fisher lived in, during the early days of Joe Palooka. But you couldn’t get to see him unless you had an appointment. After high school, I worked in the coat room of a restaurant on Broadway during the supper hour. It was winter and a customer handed me his overcoat, which was unusually heavy. I looked to see what made it so heavy and inside a pocket was a big .45. When I handed his coat back, I said, “You’re a detective.” He said, “I’m a private detective.” I asked if he could get me an unlisted phone number and he said, “Sure.” I wrote James Montgomery Flagg’s name down on a piece of paper and handed it to him. A week later, he returned to the restaurant and handed me Flagg’s phone number. I immediately ran into a phone booth and called Flagg. I told him how much I loved his work and that I had to have one of his originals. I had to! He said he just didn’t give them away. I said I had to have one and he can’t turn me down. He told me to come around tomorrow morning, and when I did, he gave me a pen-and-ink illustration, which I gave you a copy of. It is a beauty, about 20 by 30 and has been on my wall everywhere I’ve ever lived. A few months after that, Pach Brothers, who were high-class photographers, were having a showing of penciled portraits by Flagg. All the celebrities he had drawn loaned the originals to the exhibit. It was unbelievable! There were 100 to 150 of them: actors, athletes, even Presidents, dating back to Theodore Roosevelt. I called Flagg up to tell him how great they were and said, “Someday, I’d like to have enough money to pay you for a pencil portrait.” Flagg said, “You won’t have to. Call me in a week or two and whenever I have time, I’ll do one of you.” So I called him up and he said, “Where are you?” I said, “Tell me when to come and I’ll fly over!” [laughs] That’s the story of how I
By far the most famous art ever executed by James Montgomery Flagg, of course, was his ubiquitous “Uncle Sam Wants You!” poster, which saw duty in both World Wars. But he drew many another illustration, including the above one from Collier’s magazine for Aug. 13, 1932— and, as it happened, a 1934 portrait of young Morris Weiss! Flagg gifted Morris with both pieces. Thanks to Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr., for the photo. [Art ©2004 Estate of James Montgomery Flagg.]
got the pencil portrait. It took him about a half hour to draw it, and while he was doing so, told me great stories. He treated me as if I were a famous guy myself and I was just an 18-year-old kid. Over the years, I’d call him up every now and then and meet him on 57th Street and walk him back to his hotel. And one day, I saved his life. We met on 57th Street and were walking back to his hotel. He was looking at me while we were crossing Broadway and had one foot off the curb, when a car zoomed right by. I grabbed him with both hands and pulled him back on the sidewalk. I literally saved his life! He said, “You’ve just paid me back for the portrait.” JA: That’s quite a story. I’ve heard that he was a bitter man, later in his life. WEISS: He was. The last time I saw him was at Ham Fisher’s apartment. My wife Blanche and I went up. He was a very bitter man. His world had passed him by. I remember he was a prima donna, and he was so damn famous. To lose it all was something he couldn’t handle. He lived alone, and was practically blind. The great comfort to him was Everett Raymond Kinstler. He spent time with Flagg. He wasn’t bitter when I first met him. He was riding high, in his final days of glory. It was right after that when everything changed. The artists who painted like Harvey Dunn, Benton Clarke... that whole school was thrown out of work and the new school came around. Alex Ross, Coby Whitmore, and others became the new wave.
“There’s Charles Dana Gibson, And Then There Are The Rest Of Us” JA: I know this isn’t about comics, but I don’t care. I see you also met one of my favorites, Charles Dana Gibson. I have to hear about that.
At the turn of the 20th century, Charles Dana Gibson (creator of the idealized “Gibson Girl”) was one of the most celebrated illustrators in America. This cartoon is from the original Life humor magazine in 1921. Thanks to Jim V. for the photo. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]
WEISS: Okay. Again, I knew where Gibson lived. I didn’t have his phone number, so I knocked on his door and a German houseman answered. I asked to meet Mr. Gibson and he asked if I had an appointment. I said I didn’t and was told I couldn’t see Mr. Gibson without an appointment. I was told to call him up for an appointment,
“I Did What I Set Out In Life To Do”
11
so I asked for his phone number. The man said, “I can’t give out his phone number,” so that was it. I tried this three other times, figuring eventually Gibson himself would come to the door, but he never did. I did manage to get his phone number...in fact, I think I got it from the same private detective. I wrote him two letters, saying I wanted to meet him. He hand-wrote me a reply both times, saying he didn’t have time. But I had his phone number, so I called up and a lady answered the phone, saying, “This is Mrs. Gibson.” I don’t remember what I told her, but whatever it was must have been the right thing. She said, “Just a moment please.” She came back to the phone and said, “Mr. Gibson will see you at ten o’clock tomorrow morning.” This time when I knocked on the door, the houseman answered again. This time I had an appointment. Gibson was a very nice, congenial man—very pleasant. He said, “I was like you once: very ambitious.” JA: Then he was still living well, because his time had kind-of passed, too. WEISS: Yes, but apparently he was in good shape. He was busy doing portraits of his relatives, which was funny, because he was color blind. JA: Really!? WEISS: Yes. It’s a little weird. Robert Fawcett, the great illustrator, was color blind, too. So was Lank Leonard. That’s why, when you see a painting of Gibson’s, the colors look a little weird. I’ll tell you something Flagg told me about Gibson. A woman asked him if he was as good as Charles Dana Gibson. Flagg replied, “Madame, there’s Charles Dana Gibson and then there are the rest of us.” That’s the tribute he paid to Gibson. If you see Flagg’s early illustrations, you can see the unbelievable influence Gibson had on Flagg.
This pair of panels from a 1936-37 era Terry and the Pirates strip shows the influence on Milt Caniff of his good friend Noel Sickles—that is, assuming Sickles didn’t actually draw it in whole or in part, as he was helping Caniff on the strip at that time! At top left is a photo of Noel “Bud” Sickles—below it, Sickles’ painting of his good friend Milt—both from the 1930s. [Terry art ©2004 the respective copyright holders.]
JA: My illustration teacher in college assigned us to copy old illustrators. He said to me, “There’s one guy you must concentrate on,” and he showed me a drawing by Charles Dana Gibson. I’d never seen Gibson’s work before, and couldn’t believe what I was seeing. WEISS: Now you understand what it did to me! Noel Sickles once said to me, “What an advantage you had, living here in New York City. We lived in Ohio, in the sticks, but you lived right in the city where all these greats lived. We didn’t have that.”
“Caniff Said He Got His Whole Style From Sickles” JA: The “we” being Sickles and Milton Caniff. How did you meet them? WEISS: I called up Caniff when he was doing Dickie Dare, and asked him for an original. He agreed, and when I went to Tudor City, where he lived, he introduced me to Noel Sickles, who was living with him. Sickles was then doing Scorchy Smith and was unhappy. First of all, he didn’t have his strip in a New York newspaper. And he really wanted to paint, so he later moved on to illustration. Right after this was when Caniff started doing Terry and the Pirates. When I saw Terry in the newspaper, I called Caniff to wish him success, and he said I was the first person to do that. I didn’t spend much time with them, but I visited a few times. Of course, Caniff became famous and was a major influence on comic book and newspaper strip artists. I wasn’t the only one influenced by these great artists. People like Jack Kirby and Al Williamson were influenced by Gibson, Flagg, Sickles, and Caniff, too. Caniff said he got his whole style from Sickles. Caniff’s early work was strictly pen and ink work, completely different from his Terry Two drawings by Morris Weiss done in the late ’30s: a detailed illustration of movie star Douglas Fairbanks done in 1938 (later autographed to Morris by Fairbanks)—and an unsigned sketch he did for an invitation to cartoonist Lank Leonard’s bachelor dinner in 1939. He was a versatile guy, our Morris! (Art ©2004 Morris Weiss.]
12
A Talk With Morris Weiss
work. When he went to the brush, he told me it was completely because of Sickles. Caniff said he never thought he was the artist Sickles was. He had a tremendous admiration for Sickles’ work. Morris writes: “My first month in the Army, Public Relations gave this photo to the local Battle Creek newspaper”—of the artist drawing his service strip, M.P. Muffit. At right is a sequence in which Muffit “went through basic training with me at Ft. Custer, Michigan, in winter of 1944”— and at top right is Morris’ Joe Jinks daily for Jan. 25, 1944. Fight manager Joe’s the little guy with the cigar. (Note the Joe Jinks syndicate proof sheet on Morris’ drawing table in the photo.) [M.P. Muffit ©2004 Morris Weiss; Joe Jinks ©2004 United Feature Syndicate or successors in interest.]
JA: Who doesn’t!? Well, I guess we’d better get back to comics. You did a panel from 1940 to ’41, called It Never Fails. WEISS: Right. I started that panel for Philadelphia Ledger Syndicate called It Never Fails, but it failed after six or seven months. It wasn’t going anywhere, so I asked them to release me from my contract, which they did. They got someone else to take it over for a while. I was doing okay, but wasn’t coming up with enough good gags. I never was a good gag man; the gags didn’t hold up. I never could have done a strip like Beetle Bailey or Nancy... any strip that depended on a gag. I can come up with a gag here and there, but not on a steady basis. While I was with Lank, Sam Leff [artist Moe Leff’s brother] was working at the United Features Syndicate. He knew they needed a new artist for Joe Jinks, so he recommended me. I did a couple of samples and got the job. I did this strip the other half of the week when I wasn’t working for Lank Leonard. I stayed with Lank until a year before I went into the Army. JA: You did this strip in 1942 and ’43. When did you go into military service? WEISS: I went into the Army in January, ’44, and was discharged late in ’45. I spent one year in Battle Creek, Michigan, and one year in Newport News, Virginia. While taking the infantry course in freezing cold weather, and with machine guns blasting over my head, both of my eardrums were punctured. That kept me out of combat duty.
Morris writes: “While I was in the Army, I batted out these pages for Sparkling Stars. The fighter [on the cover] was Boxie Weaver. When I say I batted them out, I could turn out a 5-page ‘Boxie Weaver’ in one day and a half… the funny ones, more quickly than that.” “Swis,” “MWS,” and “Ink Higgins” are all pen names of Morris’ used in his Holyoke work. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]
I did draw while in the service. Even during basic training, I did a character called M.P. Muffit, which was fun to do. After basic training, I drew training aids, posters, and such. When I went to Newport News, I was the staff artist for the camp newspaper. I also did pencil portraits. JA: Some comic artists were
“I Did What I Set Out In Life To Do” able to find time to do comic book work while in the service. Did you? WEISS: Yes. For the Holyoke company, which was publishing the Blue Beetle comic book. I did a fight feature called “Boxie Weaver,” as well as “Riley and the Sergeant,” “Petey and Pop,” and “Private Plopp.” I don’t remember the editor’s name, but he was a nervous fellow, about 40 years old.
“I Did Work For A Couple Of Other Companies…” JA: How did you hook up with Holyoke? WEISS: I quit working for Lank because I didn’t want to be an assistant any more. I started doing comic books in order to enhance my income. I thought the publishers would want me because of my strip background. In some cases, they did. That’s why I started with Holyoke, though I did work for a couple of other companies, too. I also wrote all the features I mentioned, and drew a few covers, too. I worked for them until 1945. I mailed my work in, so I never went into the offices, once I went into the service. Holyoke’s offices were very small, as I recall from my pre-war visits. After the war, I also did some comic book work for Ray Hermann, who edited for Temerson. These offices were much bigger than the prewar offices. The feature was “Worthless Wiggins,” which was a take-off on the Abbie and Slats newspaper strip. Temerson was a blowhard— always trying to impress you about how important he was. He liked “Worthless Wiggins” so much that he told me he was going to make it into a movie, and that Charles Coburn would be the perfect actor for the role. I didn’t consider Temerson difficult to get along with. Ray Hermann was a very domineering young lady; she was the boss. You got the feeling that she really liked to crack the whip over the men. My relationship with her was fine, but I didn’t do much for her because I went into the service. She was very pleasant to me, a very competent and able editor. I think her job was very important to her and she worked hard. It was important to me to be a good cartoonist, so I understood her. I wanted to be very good at what I did, and so did she. [NOTE: Ms. Hermann’s first name is more often spelled “Rae,” but artist Mort Leav, who knew her well, insisted in Alter Ego a couple of years ago that she spelled it “Ray,” so that’s the way we write it
13
now. —Roy.] JA: In 1943, you’re listed as doing some house ads for Lev Gleason Publications. WEISS: That’s not correct. When I got out of the Army, I didn’t go back to the Joe Jinks strip, because Sam Leff signed a contract while I was away. To go back, I’d have had to work for Sam Leff, which I didn’t want to do. So I went to Lev Gleason and talked to the editors, Charlie Biro and Bob Wood. I came up with a new fight feature, called “Go Along Gallagher,” which they liked. I did two or three stories, and while I was doing that, I hooked up with Stan Lee at Timely. Biro and Wood were a contrast in character. Wood was an introvert, and Biro was very much an extrovert. But, as I said, I started working for Timely. They were paying me more than Biro was. I called up Biro and told him I wanted more money for the next job. He said, “We’re not going to pay you more money.” I said I wouldn’t do the feature anymore, and Biro said, “That’s okay. We can get someone else to draw it. That’s no problem.” I said, “I think that would be a problem.” He said, “How’s that?” I said, “Because I copyrighted the feature before I brought it in to you.” And he hit the ceiling! He went absolutely crazy. This had never happened to him before. A few years later, I got a call from Biro. He was very nice and said, “Morris, would you be inclined to do me a favor?” I asked him what he wanted and he said, “I’m going to be proposed for membership in the National Cartoonists Society, and I would like you not to blackball me.” I said, “Charlie, I have no ill feelings towards you. I won’t blackball you.” Charlie said, “Oh, that is so nice of you. How can I thank you?” I said, “You don’t have to do anything for me, Charlie.” Blanche said it’s one of the few times a cartoonist ever got the best of a publisher. JA: For sure! What kind of boss was Biro? Was he a criticizer? WEISS: Not to me. He never made a suggestion about my stories. I know he was very critical of other people’s work. I was getting $20 to $25 a page. I did everything except for the lettering. JA: Were there other publishers you worked for before you went into the service? WEISS: Yes. I worked for Vin Sullivan at Columbia Comic Corporation on Sparky Watts. It was just a couple of issues before I went into the service. In 1952, I did a Mickey Finn cover for him, too.
I had a couple of other experiences with Vin Sullivan. When I’d been at the Art Students League, I somehow hooked up with Sullivan, who was editing Detective Comics for DC. He needed an artist to do some of the Superman comic book stories. I turned him down because I didn’t want to go into comic books at the time. Later on, when I did want to go into comic books, I had an idea for a detective feature, which he liked. But then I decided I didn’t want to do it, so I let him keep the samples. I wanted to continue at the Art Students League because I wanted to improve my figure drawing. Vin liked my work Charlie Biro was riding high in and didn’t think that was necessary. He said, “You draw well the postwar years when Morris enough,” but I didn’t agree.
was starting out in comic books and Crime Does Not Pay was one of the hottest things on the newsstands. Whether he actually drew them or not, most of Lev Gleason’s company’s covers were signed “Charles Biro.” This copy of CDNP #75 (May 1949) was provided by Jim Amash. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]
JA: How did Sullivan find out about you when you were at the Art Students League? WEISS: I don’t recall. It’s interesting that I would get contacts from different people. One day in the late 1940s, I was called up by the editor of Classics Illustrated. He knew who I was because my name was on my work for Timely. If I didn’t put my name on the stories, Stan would. Anyway, this editor called to see if I’d do a couple of adaptations for
14
A Talk With Morris Weiss
him. I asked how much they paid and he said $25 a page. I said, “I can’t do it because I’m making a lot more than that now.” He answered, “Yeah, but we’ll give you all the work you want.” [mutual laughter] Jerry Siegel called me up once and asked if I’d draw a strip he had written. At the same time, Joe Shuster called up and asked if I’d write a strip for him to draw. I turned them both down. They did this independently of each other. I think this was in the late 1940s. JA: That must have been right after their Funnyman feature folded. That’s very interesting. WEISS: It was to me! It was strange to me. The one outfit that never contacted me was DC. I tried to get work from them. It was when I was having a hard time getting comic book work. Ham Fisher, the Joe Palooka creator, suggested I try DC Comics. I was reluctant to do so because I hadn’t been able to get work from them before. Ham said he was friends with Harry Donenfeld and would call him for me. Donenfeld’s secretary called me and I went to their offices. I don’t remember the name of the editor I was showing work to, but he said, “I want to tell you something. When This photo was taken early in Morris’ Donenfeld told me that freelancing days for Timely. By the time of you were coming in and this Weiss cover for Tessie Comics #12 (Oct. that I was to look at your 1947), the comic had dropped its “The work, I told him I’d only Typist” subtitle. Thanks to Doc Vassallo for look at your work if it was the art scan. [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.] good enough to publish. If I don’t think it’s good enough, I told him he had to leave the final say to me. Donenfeld said we were to do this as a favor to Ham Fisher. I didn’t expect anything, because I didn’t know your work. I like it, but I’m not going to hire you.” I said, “If you like my work, then why not?” He answered, “Any work I give you, I’d have to take away from my regular freelancers, some of whom have worked for me for many, many years. It would not be fair to them, for me to take work away from them and give it to you.” That was my last experience with DC.
“[Stan Lee and I] Hit it Off”
something. It’s a big offer, but you’ll need to do a few samples.” I asked what it was, and she said, “Terry and the Pirates. Caniff is leaving and going to King Features.” I said I didn’t think I’d be interested. She told me how much it would pay—and it was a lot of money. I turned it down because, #1, I’d have to switch to the brush technique, which I didn’t feel I was good at, but could do. But to turn out six dailies and a Sunday, I’d need a helluva good assistant, which would cost me a lot of money. By the time I’d get done with it, the income would be less than half of what I could make and I’d be doing an awful lot of work for that. So I turned it down, and George Wunder got the feature. So then I started knocking on the doors of comic book publishers. I went to Charlie Biro and did those stories I mentioned earlier. Then I went to Timely. Stan Lee looked at my samples and said he needed someone to draw teenage features. He gave me a Tessie the Typist script. I brought the job in and Stan said, “No, this is too straight.” He wanted the characters exaggerated more and showed me what he wanted. I went back, did it over, and Stan said, “You gave me exactly what I wanted,” and we hit it off. Stan was wonderful to me. I thought Stan was the greatest guy to work for, if you were able to give him what he wanted. I always dealt directly with Stan. He offered me a staff job right away, which I turned down. JA: You told me you were allowed to sign your work. WEISS: I didn’t in the beginning, but then he told me I could. More often than not, I didn’t sign it, but then I’d see the books in print and saw my name there. Stan wrote the Pinky Lee stories I drew and I didn’t sign those, but when they were published, I saw my name there. Stan must have been the one to put my name on the work.
JA: Now let’s talk about your Timely work for Stan Lee.
JA: Okay, that was in the 1950s, but in the ’40s, you did Margie.
WEISS: When I came out of the Army, I had a comic strip idea that had been written by Kurt Unkelbach, who was an officer on the camp paper in Newport News. Before the war, he had been a writer on soap operas. This strip was about an Amazon lady who was very beautiful, but you didn’t know she was so strong because she wasn’t muscular. She was just beautiful.
WEISS: I created Margie. Patsy Walker and the other characters I did were already going. I created two features for Stan, the other being “Ruffy Ropes.”
I had two or three weeks of the strip drawn and went to see Molly Slott, the editor at the News-Tribune Syndicate. She looked at the strip and said, “We don’t have room for a new strip, but I can offer you
WEISS: In the case of Margie, I think I approached Stan with the idea. Wendy Parker was one that Stan created and he asked me to take it over. I wrote and drew that feature.
JA: Did you tell Stan you had characters you wanted to do, or did he ask you to create new features?
“I Did What I Set Out In Life To Do”
(Left:) Margie Comics was virtually a microcosm of Timely/Marvel’s hit-and-miss approach to the field in the 1940s. When that girl-teen comic debuted with #35 in 1946, it picked up the numbering of Comedy Comics (with its funny animals—and, before that, funny humans)—which in turn had taken over the reins from Daring Mystery Comics’ super-heroes in the first eight issues in 1940-41. Seen here is Morris Weiss’ cover for Margie Comics #43 (Oct. 1948), the penultimate of its 15 issues. Thanks to Doc V. [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.] (Center:) Morris writes that his wife Blanche, seen here with him in the late 1940s, was his model for Margie. (Right:) The pair had been married during his furlough from the Army in ’44, and sent out this joint Christmas card that year—doubtless with Bing Crosby’s brand new hit “White Christmas” playing in the background. [©2004 Morris & Blanche Weiss.]
JA: You didn’t copyright Margie like you did “Go Along Gallagher,” did you? Why not? WEISS: The “Gallagher” feature was the only one I copyrighted in comic books. I did copyright some stuff for the newspaper syndicates. I don’t know why I didn’t copyright Margie. I didn’t even think about it.
“I Never Discussed Sekowsky With Anyone” JA: When you were doing Margie, did you have to submit a script to Stan for approval before commencing with the art? WEISS: No, I never had to do that on any of the features I wrote and drew for Stan. I’d just turn in a complete job when I was done, except for lettering. That was done on staff. I’ll reluctantly agree to let you print this story, even though we overrule my wife. Blanche and I were going to buy a house in Englewood, New Jersey, and I needed all the money I could get to make the down payment. I worked non-stop for two weeks and brought in the work to Stan. The check came to $1,200. I had told Stan what I was bringing in, and Stan said he’d have the check ready for me. I found this out later: Gary Keller, who worked at Timely, had the check, but before he went into Stan’s office, he flashed the check to everyone in the bullpen, and said, “This is what Weiss got for two weeks’ work.” Later on, I found out that Mike Sekowsky told people that I had come in and showed my check off to everyone. Generally speaking, if someone doesn’t like me or says something about me, it won’t bother me. But this was something that did bother me, because it wasn’t true. There’s no defense against that, because you don’t know who all he told the story to. Later on, when I was doing the Nancy comic book for Dell Publishing, I came in one time to deliver the work to editor Matt Murphy. Mike Sekowsky was sitting there talking to Murphy at the time, so I didn’t stay. Right after that, Dell terminated their dealings with me. I couldn’t get through to Matt Murphy and never worked for Dell again. JA: How long had you been working for Dell? WEISS: Not too long. I just did a few comic books for them. My relationship with them had been very good until then. The only thing I
can attribute my problem with Sekowsky to is that he was jealous of Stan Lee’s treatment of me. Before I came into the picture, he was the fair-haired boy, and maybe he felt I was taking away some of his importance. I don’t know. JA: You never had a confrontation with Sekowsky, did you? WEISS: No, I didn’t. I do know that, at the time I did my work for Biro—and I don’t think I signed the feature—Mike told Stan I was working for another outfit. Stan said, “I’ll give you all the work you want. Don’t work for them,” so I didn’t. But he knew about it because Sekowsky showed the work to him. I don’t normally tell these kinds of stories, but this did happen and it bothered me. I can tell you this: I never discussed Sekowsky with anyone and never heard any stories about him. JA: Well, Sekowsky’s personal reputation wasn’t the greatest, so hopefully you didn’t suffer too much from that sort of thing. But getting back to Timely, what do you remember about Gary Keller? WEISS: Not very much. I didn’t have to deal with him. I never met Martin Goodman, either. I would go into the bullpen and converse for a few minutes, most of the times I came in. I became friendly with a few guys. Al Jaffee was a real gentleman and very talented. I didn’t get to know him that well, but I envied his ability to write humor. Frank Carin was a very nice man and I think I brought him into the National Cartoonists Society. And I talked to Ed Winiarski, but here again, I didn’t get to know him.
“I’m Not Proud Of Any Of My Comic Book Work” JA: I see. So, you were doing Margie and Tessie the Typist and... WEISS: Well, I stopped doing Tessie the Typist when I started doing more Patsy Walker stories. I started writing Tessie , but I don’t remember at what point I did. JA: Was Stan the writer on all the ones you didn’t write? WEISS: I can’t remember, but he may have been. Stan was writing so many stories. He was unbelievably prolific at writing teenage stories. Most of the time I inked my own pencils, but when Stan wanted more work than I could produce, I would send in the pencils for someone else to ink. I did have Kurt Schaffenberger ink a couple of sets
16
A Talk With Morris Weiss quality of the work.
for me at one time—either on Patsy Walker or Wendy Parker. I remember when Stan gave me Wendy Parker. When he created the feature, he said, “You’re going to like this one, because the character’s name is Wendy Parker.” He knew my daughter’s name was Wendy.
JA: When you were writing and drawing the stories, did you write a detailed plot first?
WEISS: I’d think up a teenage story first. For instance, maybe Margie thought she was going to Big Mike Strikes Again! Flanking these Mike Sekowsky-penciled 1948 go out on a date with a football “Sub-Mariner” panels are Dave Berg’s caricatures of Sekowsky (left) and hero, so she calls off her date with Morris Weiss (right) from Stan Lee’s 1947 mini-tome Secrets behind the her regular boyfriend. Then she JA: Who wrote Wendy Parker? Comics. In this interview, Morris recounts his difficulties with the future finds out the date isn’t going to go penciler of Justice League of America. Thanks to Doc V. for the copy of the through, so now she goes back to WEISS: I don’t recall. Stan must art from Human Torch #31 (July 1948). [Sub-Mariner page ©2004 Marvel her regular boyfriend to take her to have written the early ones, since he Characters, Inc.; caricatures ©2004 Stan Lee.] the prom. But by this time, he’s created the feature. I may have already got another date for the prom... that kind of stuff. Typical written some. I know I wrote Patsy Walker and Margie. teenage stuff. JA: When you penciled for yourself, I take it your pencils were loose. I could decide story length by myself. I had carte blanche. I could WEISS: Yes, they were. That’s how I earned that big check that I turn in a 5-pager or a 6-pager...anywhere from 4 to 7 pages, depending mentioned. If I was going to stay at the drawing board for a whole day, I on whether or not my idea had enough good gags to sustain the story. could pencil five to six pages that day. Four a day I could do with ease. Stan gave me total freedom to do as I pleased, because he trusted me. But that was when I was going to ink my own stuff. And in a way, that I’ll tell you a funny story. Stan called me up one day on a Friday was good, because it would mean the inking would be nice and loose morning. He said, “Morris, we’re short one more book to get to the and have a flair. It wouldn’t look stiff. printer. We have to pay the printer for so many books and if we don’t I’ll tell you this: most of the comic book work I have done, I wish I have another comic book ready, we’ll be paying for a comic book we’re hadn’t done it. [laughs] I mean it. When I look back, most of my work not getting. How many pages have you got done now?” was crummy. I’m not proud of any of my comic book work. I said, “I have about 6 or 7 pages.” He said, “If you can come up with JA: That’s because you were doing it on the quick, right? 18 more pages by Monday, we’ll have a book. You’re the only one I know who can turn out that kind of work and it’d be okay.” WEISS: Absolutely! That‘s the way they wanted it, and they were paying me to get it done fast. So, if that’s the way they wanted it, I was going to turn it out quickly. I’m not very proud of that. I’m more proud of my Mickey Finn and Joe Palooka work.
“I’ll Tell You A Funny Story” JA: How did you get to know Kurt Schaffenberger?
I said, “I’ll tell you what I’ll do, Stan. I’ll sit at the drawing board and see what I can do. Now, if you don’t get the work, it just means it wasn’t humanly possible for me to get the work out.” Stan said, “I can ask for no more from you, Morris.” I went upstairs, took a shower, and went to the race track. I wasn’t going to kill myself. Stan never knew that until now! [mutual laughter] I called him up on Monday and told him I wasn’t able to get it done.
WEISS: We lived in Englewood, New Jersey, and he lived about fifteen minutes away, in River’s Edge. We were very good friends with Kurt and his wife Dottie. JA: So Schaffenberger inked those stories for you and not for Timely. WEISS: Yes. I tried to get Kurt work at Timely at one point, but Stan didn’t think his work was flashy enough, so he didn’t give him any scripts to draw. It wasn’t that Kurt wasn’t an excellent artist; it’s just that certain styles appeal to some editors, and it has no bearing on the (Above:) Wendy Parker was originally drawn by Chris Rule, with Morris Weiss later taking over the art chores. Here’s the latter’s cover for issue #7 (May 1954). Thanks to Doc Vassallo. (Right:) This photo, Weiss writes, is of him “with Wendy, the oldest of our four. A lawyer for the state of Colorado, she is retiring this year.” Time flies, whether or not you’re working for Timely, Morris! [Cover ©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]
JA: When you were writing the story, how much written script did you have first? WEISS: I wrote the whole script out before I drew it. One time, I wrote the story as I drew it. I couldn’t think of an idea for another sequence for a few pages on a Patsy Walker story.
“I Did What I Set Out In Life To Do” So what I did was to start drawing pictures, figuring that something would happen. JA: And did it? WEISS: I think it did. JA: Terrific! I know you weren’t on staff, but at the end of 1949, Timely fired the entire bullpen staff and started using up all the inventory they’d been accumulating. Do you remember that? WEISS: I don’t remember that. I do remember Timely’s distributor, American News (headed by a man named Morrisey), sold their trucks and went out of business, so Timely stopped publishing for a short while, but that was in 1957. Then Timely made a deal with DC Comics to distribute their books, but DC cut the number of titles that they could produce. Now, Stan wrote the stories, and my art rates were reduced. As a result, my income was cut by more than half. An interesting sidelight to this was that later on, after Lank Leonard made me an offer to join him in Florida again (with the idea of my eventually taking over Mickey Finn), I was at the race track one day with Charlie McAdam, head of the McNaught Syndicate, and he introduced me to Morrisey. I said to him, “You are the one responsible for me being in Florida, because you sold your trucks.” JA: At least you got to tell him so. Now, do you remember how much you were making a page when you started with Stan? WEISS: I believe the most I ever made per page was $44 or $46, for writing, penciling, and inking. I believe I made around $25 a page for just penciling when I started. I don’t remember what I was getting at the end. I know my income went from $24,500 a year to about $9,000 at the end. That was hard. We used to eat at Lindy’s, and Blanche and I went from eating filet mignon to corned beef sandwiches.
“We’re Digging Up My Whole Crime-Ridden History Here”
illustrated stories for Timely’s Sports Action comics: “Jackie Robinson,” “Warren Spahn,” and there may have been another sports story. Here again, I was slow at this, so I wasn’t making that much money on them. I remember how I happy I was with the splash page I did on “Jackie Robinson”—nice pen-and-ink work. JA: Did you ever ask for your original art back? WEISS: No, I never did and never wanted it. I was hoping it’d be burned afterwards. [laughs] JA: Considering the pressure Stan must have been under, between the Senate investigations into comics and Timely’s distribution problems, do you think any of that had any effect on him? WEISS: No. To his credit, Stan seemed to be the same through all of those things. He never changed, and we’ve been friends ever since. I didn’t think it depressed him. I think Stan loves the limelight—he basks in it. Stan’s very productive, but if things don’t go his way, I never knew him to sulk or be nasty or anything like that. He’s always been the same. JA: You also did romance stories for Stan. WEISS: Yes. I remember Timely said in the comics that “All these stories are true, but the names are fictitious.” Of course, I made up all the stories I did. I wasn’t crazy about doing romance stories, but if it was the only work around at the time, I’d do them. I was raising a family and needed work.
“Steve Douglas At Famous Funnies” JA: Turning away from Timely now, I want to ask you about working for Steve Douglas at Famous Funnies [officially known as the Eastern Color Printing Company, also publishing under the name Columbia Comics]. Jerry Bails’ bio of you has you doing cartoons and Westerns in the 1940s, some Heroic Comics and Movie Love work in 1950 and 1951. WEISS: I don’t think I worked for Steve Douglas in the 1940s. The only thing I remember doing was Movie Love. I probably did this work when Stan didn’t have something for me to do. Maybe that was because Timely briefly quit hiring people during the crash in ’49 that you mentioned earlier. Now, I remember a period where there were no teenage books to do, so Stan started giving me the romance stories we discussed.
JA: Let’s backtrack. From 1951 until ’54, you also did adventure, crime, and horror stories for Stan. WEISS: I did very few of those, but yes, I remember doing them. I wasn’t getting enough teenage work, so Stan would give me these so I’d have work. There was never a problem of having enough to draw; Stan could give me all that I wanted. But I couldn’t turn out straight adventure type of work very fast, so I wasn’t bringing in as much money on those stories. That’s why I didn’t do too many of them. JA: Did you write any of those? WEISS: No, I don’t remember doing that. You know, we’re digging up my whole crime-ridden history here. [laughs] It may turn out that they’ll knock on my door and arrest me. JA: Don’t worry, Morris. I’ll be right behind you... all the way from North Carolina. That’s the kind of friend I am! [Morris laughs] Did you do sports cartoons for Timely, too? WEISS: They weren’t sports cartoons. I
17
“I Got the Horse Right Here—the Name Is Paul Revere…!” Apparently Hialeah’s track photographer snapped these three guys one afternoon in the ’50s or ’60s: artist Morris Weiss, comedian Joe E. Lewis, and Charles V. McAdam, head of the McNaught Syndicate. Lewis’ life had recently been the basis of the Frank Sinatra film The Joker Is Wild.
Stan didn’t like my first romance story, because he thought it looked too much like the teenage material. I had a problem, because I didn’t want to work for Stan unless I could give him what he wanted. So I went to see Bob Oksner, who was then one of the big-gun cartoonists for DC. Bob gave me good advice. He said, “Morris, throw away the pen and pick up the brush.” So I did, and then did a couple of romance stories for Steve Douglas, inking with a brush. When my work looked the way I thought Stan wanted it to, I went back to him and showed him the work. He said, “Hey, I’ll give you all the work you want.” That’s when I started doing romance stories for Stan.
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A Talk With Morris Weiss
Three more Timely treasures by Weiss: the splash of the story featuring Hall of Fame pitcher Warren Spahn from Sports Action #10 (Jan. 1952)—that of “Jackie Robinson,” first African-American Major League baseball player—and the (signed) cover of Miss America #55 (Sept. 1953). Thanks to Morris for the “Jackie Robinson” art, and to Doc Vassallo for the other two art scans. [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]
On the Movie Love material, I had to work from photographs and improvise the rest, which I enjoyed doing. Steve Douglas was a heavy drinker. If you wanted a good script from him, you had to be at his office in the morning. If you saw him after lunch time, he’d be out of it. Shelly Moldoff, who worked for Douglas at that time, had to deal with that, too. But even with his drinking, Steve Douglas was very easy to get along with. JA: Did Douglas pay well? And what were the offices like at Famous Funnies? WEISS: The pay was adequate, though I don’t remember what the rates were. As for the offices, Steve Douglas had his own office and the other office was for the editor above Douglas. I don’t remember his name, but he had been a syndicate salesman. He was an interesting man, who knew Ham Fisher. JA: Is this where you met Shelly Moldoff? WEISS: Around 1937, ’38, I was living in the Bronx, working for Lank Leonard, and Shelly Moldoff lived in my area. A friend of his knew me. Shelly Moldoff wanted to be a cartoonist, so he sent Shelly up to see me. That’s how we met. JA: The Movie Love stories required a lot of reference, so that must have slowed you down. WEISS: It did slow me down, and I wasn’t very happy about that, because it reduced my income, but there wasn’t much I could do about it.
“I Saw Ham [Fisher] Lying On The Sofa, Dead” JA: I know you worked on Joe Palooka for a time. I’d like to hear about Ham Fisher. WEISS: Oh, yes, the suicide. But first of all, I have to say I never worked for Ham Fisher. We were friends and he’d come over to the house when we lived in Englewood, New Jersey. One day, his wife Marilyn called me, asking if he was at my house. He wasn’t. She was
worried about him because she hadn’t heard from him. She called me back around 5:30 in the afternoon, and said she still hadn’t heard from him. I was very much concerned because he was a creature of habit, but he hadn’t called Marilyn as he always did. I got dressed, went to New York to see Marilyn, who was very upset. She told me where his office was, where he worked with his assistants, who were away at the time. The building superintendent didn’t want to let me into the office, but I talked him into opening the door for me. When I went in, I saw Ham lying on the sofa, dead. An empty bottle of pills and a note were on the table next to him. That was the only time he attempted suicide, though I know you heard differently. As a matter of fact, Blanche and I are still friends with Marilyn. She was much younger than Ham, and they’d only been married a couple of years when he died. He’d had a previous marriage and had a daughter from that marriage. He was depressed in his final years; he had ups and downs. Of course, the whole thing with Al Capp added to his problems, but that in itself is a long, long story. If you want to get into it, we can. JA: The story I have was that Capp resented Fisher because he underpaid him, and that Fisher resented Capp because Capp took the hillbilly storyline in Joe Palooka and used that to create Li’l Abner. I also heard Fisher tried to get Capp expelled from the National Cartoonists Society and doctored some Li’l Abner strips, claiming there were pornographic symbols in the art. WEISS: What Ham Fisher did was to take a lot of Li’l Abner strips that were suggestive. In one case, he cut off the end of one strip, which made it look more suggestive than others. He did not doctor any art on the strips. He made photostats of these strips and sent them out to a crime commission that was investigating pornography. He also sent them out to newspapers. The story that Ham doctored the artwork came from Al Capp, of course. Capp wanted to have Fisher expelled from the National Cartoonists Society, and Fisher was. Milton Caniff and Walt Kelly were the two prime movers of the Society, and they hated Ham, so he was expelled. That worsened Ham’s depression. But I really don’t want to go
“I Did What I Set Out In Life To Do”
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work now. I knew the trouble they were having, so I got up on the floor and proposed two things. First, we should have an ethics committee, because many times, the syndicates gave the cartoonists a rough time. Someone could go into a syndicate’s office and submit two weeks of a strip idea, but then the syndicate would ask for about two more months of samples. Then they’d bring in the work and the syndicate would turn them down, leaving the cartoonist with all that work, done for nothing. I also said we should set up a fund for indigent cartoonists: “In Hollywood, the movie actors have such a fund and a home for them to live. We need to establish a fund, so there would be money for them if they need it. We have a number of extremely wealthy cartoonists here who wouldn’t mind contributing to such a fund to help those who need help.”
During the days when they were close friends, Ham Fisher, creator of the ultra-popular boxing strip Joe Palooka, drew this picture of his hero and Morris Weiss. [Joe Palooka ©2004 McNaught Syndicate, Inc., or successors in interest.]
further with this story. It doesn’t do any good to talk about it now.
“I Met [Them] At The National Cartoonists Society” JA: I understand, so we’ll move on. You knew Vernon Greene, who worked on Bringing Up Father after George McManus passed away, and was the artist on The Shadow newspaper strip. Being a fan of both, I’d like to hear about him. WEISS: I met him at the National Cartoonists Society. We got to be friends because we lived near each other. Blanche and I knew him, his wife Rusty, and their children. They were very lovely people. I was very saddened by his death. He died of cancer while still in his 50s. When we met, he’d already done The Shadow and was doing Bringing Up Father dailies. JA: You told me off-tape to ask you about John Belfi and Carmine Infantino. WEISS: Okay. While I was working for Lank Leonard—the first time— both Belfi and Carmine were high-schoolers who wanted to show me their work. I immediately saw that they were both very talented, and I tried to be helpful to them. I got to know Belfi better, because he came over more often. I was very saddened to hear he died a few years ago. He was another sweet guy. JA: You knew Bob Oksner, too. How did you meet him? WEISS: I met him at the National Cartoonists Society, and we were neighbors in Manhattan for a while. We had the same window-cleaner. Bob Oksner was always a terrific artist. He drew beautiful girls and could draw any kind of caricature. His Jerry Lewis books, I Love Lucy, Leave It to Binky... just terrific stuff. We get together every now and then for dinner. He’s retired, but had an impressive career. JA: You knew Alex Raymond, too, didn’t you? WEISS: Yes. A wonderfully sweet man and a great newspaper strip artist. When I joined the National Cartoonists Society, we had monthly dinner meetings. There were a couple of cartoonists from an older time who couldn’t get
Milton Caniff was president of the National Cartoonists Society at the time, and Alex Raymond was the head of some committees. Rube Goldberg knocked down the idea, blaming me, calling it Communism. So I spoke to Alex Raymond about it, and Alex wrote me a letter saying I didn’t have to do anything about it, that he’d see it’d get done. Alex, without bringing it to the board, got both the ethics committee idea set up and The Milt Gross Fund for Indigent Cartoonists started. When Ernie Bushmiller died, he bequeathed one third of his estate to the Milt Gross Fund, which came to about $700,000. The Bushmillers had never had children. When he worked at the old New York World newspaper, a few cartoonists worked together there: Milt Gross, H.T. Webster, Herb Roth, and others. Milt Gross was the best man at Ernie’s wedding, so that was the reason he bequeathed that money. But it tells you about the sort of man Alex Raymond was. I can’t say the same about Rube Goldberg, who also wanted to keep women out of the Society, because then he couldn’t use his favorite four-letter words. Still, Rube Goldberg was popular among his peers and was very smart, and funny. Now, I was very good friends with Ernie Bushmiller. I remember when comedian Harold Lloyd brought Ernie and his wife Abby out to Hollywood. They lived in Lloyd’s home for one to two years, when Ernie was one of Harold Lloyd’s scriptwriters. Ernie worked in the bullpen at United Features syndicate with people like Rex Maxon, who did Tarzan. One day, he was called to the telephone. The man on the phone said, “This is Harold Lloyd”—so Ernie hung up the phone. The phone rings again, and the man said to Ernie, “I’d like to talk to you. This is Harold Lloyd.” Ernie said, “I don’t have time for nonsense. Who is this?” and he hung up again. The third time Lloyd called, he said, “Look. I’ll give you my phone number in Beverly Hills and you can call me back.” Ernie said, “You’re really Harold Lloyd?” and Lloyd assured him that he was. Lloyd loved Ernie’s Fritzi Ritz work and wanted to know if Ernie would be one of his scriptwriters. Ernie said, when he got there [Beverly Hills], Lloyd wouldn’t let him live anywhere but in his home. The first thing Ernie saw when he went inside was this gold-trimmed album with all Fritzi Ritz strips inside. The first weekend Ernie was there, Lloyd threw a party in Ernie’s honor, and Ernie told me, “You name the important movie stars, and they were there.” But Ernie couldn’t do both the strip and work for Lloyd, so he eventually came back to New York.
In the 1920s cartoonist Ernie Bushmiller took over the newspaper strip Fritzi Ritz, which over the years evolved into the long-running Nancy. [©2004 United Feature Syndicate.]
JA: I’ve one more person to ask you about: Everett Raymond Kinstler. WEISS: I only met him a few times, so I didn’t really know him. But he’s a friend of
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A Talk With Morris Weiss
In 1968, while Morris was working on Mickey Finn with creator Lank Leonard, Uncle Phil got involved in a storyline in which he encountered several oldtime (but still living) Hollywood stars. Even if you draw a blank on Patsy Ruth Miller, Chester Conklin, Benny Robin, or even the once super-popular Jack Oakie or William (Thin Man) Powell, maybe you’ve heard of early movie cowboy Ken Maynard—who, amazingly, had his own Fawcett comic from 1950-52. (Seen at top left is the cover of issue #1.) [©2004 the respective copyright holders.] (Above:) Maynard’s 1968 letter—complete with a sketch he drew—granting permission to use his likeness in Mickey Finn. (Center left:) A pair of panels from the resulting sequence. By then, Maynard’s movie horse Tarzan (yes!) had doubtless long since galloped off to that big stable in the sky. [©2004 McNaught Syndicate or its successors in interest.]
Morris says the photo at left is the last one ever taken of Lank Leonard, who’s seen (at left) with Weiss “looking over the mail—in response to asking readers if they wanted Uncle Phil to marry Minerva.” He says there were thousands of letters—and below is the Mickey Finn daily for March 5, 1970, in which the question was posed to newspaper readers. Leonard died in 1970. [Strip ©2004 McNaught Syndicate or its successors in interest.]
“I Did What I Set Out In Life To Do”
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my son Jerry. Jerry, like Kinstler, is a portrait artist. They both have done Harvard Club Presidents’ portraits for the Harvard Club in New York. They have a mutual admiration for each other.
“In A Way, It’s Nice To Be A Lazy Loafer” JA: Believe it or not, I’m near the end of my questions! [laughter] Tell me about your Joe Palooka work. WEISS: After Ham Fisher died, Moe Leff took it over, having been Ham’s #1 ghost. After a while, Moe wanted ownership of Joe Palooka, because he had a note written by Ham Fisher stating that when Ham died, Moe would own the strip. Ham owned the copyright to Joe Palooka. Moe sued the Fisher estate for ownership and lost. I think the ruling in New York State was that anything bequeathed to a person isn’t valid unless it’s notarized or in a will. They contend that anyone who doesn’t do that doesn’t mean their promise. So Moe Leff lost the strip. The McNaught Syndicate got Tony DiPreta to draw it, and they picked a writer from Chicago. I was at the races with Charley McAdam, the head of McNaught, and he told me that the strip was going downhill, but that he would offer me
In March 1991, the American Illustrators Gallery/Judy Goffman Fine Art in New York City had a triple art opening on East 77th Street: Jerry Weiss (with his series entitled “New York People”), Blanche Weiss (“Portraits”), and Morris Weiss (Mickey Finn cartoons)! Jerry, as you may have guessed, is the son of Blanche and Morris Weiss. Above are J.W.’s “Susan Reading” and Blanche’s “Marilyn Monroe.” Morris’ Mickey Finn you might’ve noticed on the preceding pages. Jerry’s website is <jerrynweiss.com> Additionally, Morris writes: “Years ago, Blanche and I formed the Miami Society for Autistic Children. Whenever we had a fund-raising cocktail party, I would ask Larry King to be our emcee. Larry never turned me down. I remember him saying, ‘Look, you appear on my radio program when I ask you.’ At one particular affair, my friend Joe Robbie appeared with three Miami Dolphins players, and my friend Angelo Dundee brought Muhammed Ali.” Wish we had room to show you the 1970 photo of King, Ali, and a footballer from the 1970 Miami News. It shows King in a suit and tie—no suspenders! [Art ©2004 the respective artists.]
Charles Voight (1887-1947) was an accomplished illustrator, best known in comics for his long-running humor strip Betty; seen here is a 1921 Sunday. After the end of World War II, Morris Weiss says, he and Voight were going to self-publish a line of comic books, but couldn’t get the newsprint due to postwar demand from established publishers. From a script by former Timely Comics writer Harold Straubling which Voight rewrote, Voight and Weiss drew a Three Musketeers-influenced feature called “D’Arro”—though Morris wound up doing most of it, imitating Voight’s illustrative style. Since Voight didn’t want to sign his own name to “D’Arro,” Morris says, “Charlie let me sign it ‘Anthony (his middle name) Botts (his mother’s middle name).’ Blanche and I were honored to have known this brilliant artist.” We only wish we could show you more of the story’s dozen-plus pages! Maybe sometime…! [©2004 Morris Weiss.]
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A Talk With Morris Weiss
more money to write and draw the Palooka strip than I was making on Mickey Finn. I told him I had loyalty to Lank Leonard, so I couldn’t do it. Later that day, at lunch, I said to him, “I’ll tell you what I could do. I could write the continuity,” and he agreed. For eight years, I wrote the stories. JA: You quit working for Lank Leonard in 1943, but you went back to him after your Timely work dried up. WEISS: Yes. I was ghosting comic books for Al Smith on Mutt and Jeff and helping on the Sundays. I’d also help him come up with ideas for the strip. I moved to Florida in 1960 and went back with Lank Leonard. I was inking, lettering, drawing the girls, and working with him on the stories. When Lank had a heart attack, he asked me to take over Mickey Finn. I said, “I’ll do that only if you don’t see the strip until it’s in the paper. If I’m going to write it, I want to do it my way, and it may not be the way you’d write it. It’s the only way I can do the writing.” He said that was fine with him. The last two years of his life, that’s how it worked. JA: Why did you retire?
Then, I was at someone’s house in New Jersey and was told United Features was looking for me because they wanted me to take over Ernie Bushmiller’s Nancy strip. Bushmiller had died. I said, “Don’t tell them where I am, because I don’t want to do any more strip work.” My collecting original artwork by the old illustrators was well known, and a lot of my friends wanted me to acquire paintings for them. I started devoting my time to acquiring paintings for my friends and for people who wanted to invest in that kind of work. I’ve been doing that ever since. JA: Do you miss drawing? WEISS: Well... yes and no. Sure, I miss doing it, but I don’t miss the time it’d take me away from doing nothing. [mutual laughter] In a way, it’s nice to be a lazy loafer, but it’s not productive, so what can I tell you? Blanche says I am productive because I’m collecting and selling work and going to auctions. But I’m not productive in art. I drew for 42 years, through ups and downs... a checkered background. I enjoyed what I did because I did what I set out in life to do. But I knew I had limited talent and ability, compared to Roy Crane, Billy DeBeck, Charley Voight, and others. I never kidded myself.
WEISS: I retired for two reasons. First of all, the strip was losing newspapers. Morning papers were folding, and new editors were coming in and throwing out continuity strips. It wasn’t worth the effort to continue.
WEISS: You wouldn’t win that argument.
JA: When you retired, you quit drawing altogether, didn’t you?
JA: I have a feeling I would, too. [mutual laughter]
WEISS: I did. At first, I panicked, and called up Stan Lee to see if they were publishing any humor comics. He said Marvel wasn’t, but he offered to give me straight stuff to do. I said, “No way.” Then I started thinking about it and decided maybe I didn’t want to work anymore.
WEISS: Try me sometime! You’ll see. [laughs]
JA: I could argue that with you, but if that’s how you feel, I won’t.
MORRIS WEISS Checklist [NOTE: For key to the information below, see the Checklist at the end of the Tom Gill interview, on p. 34.] Name: Morris S. Weiss [b. 1915] (artist, writer) Pen Names: Ink Higgins; M.S.W.; Swis; Wes Sirrom Education: Art Students League Member: National Cartoonists Society Syndicated Credits (Newspaper Comic Strips): It Never Fails (d) (w/a) 1940-41 panel; Joe Jinks (d) (w/a) 1942-43; Joe Palooka (w) c. 1962-70; Katzenjammer Kids (S) (letterer) 1934-36; M.F. Muffit 1944: Mickey Finn (asst w/a) 1936-43; (w/a) 1971-77; Minute Movies (asst) 1934; Mutt and Jeff (asst. a) (S) c. 1957-59 COMIC BOOK CREDITS (Mainstream US): Chicago Nite Life News/Irwin Rubin: Freshie (a) c. 1945 Columbia Comic Corporation: cover, Sparky Watts (a) 1943 Eastern Color Printing/Famous Funnies: adaptation (a) 1950-51; Heroic Comics (a) 1940; Movie Love (a) c. 1950-51 Holyoke & related: Boxie Weaver (w/a) 1944-46; covers (a) c. 1943-46; Petey and Pop (w/a) c. 1943-46; Pvt. Plopp (w/a) c. 1943-46; Riley and the Sergeant (w/a) 1943-45; Worthless Wiggins (w/a) 1944-45 K.K. Publications/Dell Comics (to 1962): Mutt and Jeff (asst a) c. 1957-58 for Al Smith; Nancy (w/a) 1950s; romance (w/a) 1950s; western (w/a) 1950s
Lev Gleason & related: Go Along Gallagher (w/a) 1946 Marvel/Timely & related: crime (a) 1951; horror (a) 195154;Margie (w/a) 194648; Miss America (w/a) c. 1948; My Own Romance (a) 1952; Patsy Walker (w/p) c. 1955-58; romance (w/a) 1950-53; Ruffy Ropes (w/a) 1946; sports (a) 1951-52; Tessie the Typist (w/a) 1946-47; Wendy Parker (w/p) c. 1953-54 Novelty/Curtis: Sgt. Spook (a) 1944 Quality Comics: Kelly Poole (a) (?) [note: Morris has no memory of doing this]
Morris Weiss’ cover for Miss America #65 (Aug. 1954). Thanks to Morris for the copy—and to Dr. Michael J. Vassallo for date info. And, since this is Alter Ego, after all, we should point out that, in later decades, Patsy Walker became Hellcat of The Avengers! [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]
United Features Syndicate: Joe Jinks (w/a) 1939
23
“To Be Continued!” After 6 H Decades In The Comics Field, Artist TOM GILL Is Still Going Strong Conducted by Jim Amash
[INTERVIEWER’S NOTE: The multifaceted career of Tom Gill is just beginning, according to Tom, and I believe him. Starting on the lowest rungs of the mailroom at The New York Daily News, Tom worked his way up to newspaper strips. He also worked for a lot of comic book companies, such as Timely, ZiffDavis, Toby Press, and, most notably, Western Publishing. For 22 years, Tom visually kept The Lone Ranger and Tonto in the saddle, always pointing their guns in the right direction. For most art fans, Tom’s Lone Ranger, done in both comic books and the newspaper strip, is the definitive version of the character. Tom also made his mark in the teaching profession, mentoring thousands of art students, many of whom went on to successful careers. It’s impossible to overestimate his influence on people’s lives, which is perhaps his greatest legacy. Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear. From out of the past come the thundering hoofbeats of the great horse Silver. Tom Gill rides again! (With apologies to Fran Striker.) —Jim.]
“Art Is Within You” TOM GILL: I’m here in my studio and ready to go, unless I start having senior moments. [laughter] JIM AMASH: Well, Tom, I hope you can remember being born. [more laughter] Or at least be able to tell me when and where. GILL: Here’s my first senior moment! No, I know the answer to that one, even if I can’t actually remember it. I was born June 3, 1913, in Winnipeg, Canada. My folks were on a business trip from New York City when I came along, unexpectedly—early. As soon as my mother was able, they came back to New York. I’m a U.S. citizen and never lived in Canada, though I’ve visited. I’ve even been to Winnipeg, where they made me an honorary citizen. I have a plaque on my wall to prove it. I was a self-taught artist. Having taught 2,600 people directly and not even counting others that I’ve taught at the School of Visual Arts and five other colleges, what I have discovered is that people like you and me have hand-eye coordination. It’s what you do with that talent that determines your future. My talent started to surface when I was about ten years old. One time, I went to Prospect Park and drew in the snow.
Transcribed by Jim Amash & Tom Wimbish Tom Gill at a 2003 San Francisco cartoonists’ seminar—flanked by a drawing of The Lone Ranger in a classic pose, and his cover for The Owl #1 (April 1967). Thanks to Tom for all photos used with this interview; the Owl cover was provided by both Stephan Friedt and Bob Cherry. [Lone Ranger TM & ©2004 Lone Ranger Television, Inc.; Owl cover ©2004 K.K. Publications or successors in interest.]
There were people looking at me and asking what I was doing, but I couldn’t really explain it to them. You know how it is: art is within you and it comes out of you. I know you’ve experienced the same thing. When I was in my teens, it came out very strong, but I didn’t know what to do with it. My cousin was very gifted, and she got me into pastels. I did pastel portraits of my friends, starting when I was fifteen. But I didn’t know what to do next. I tried several things, but during the Depression, President Roosevelt instituted the 40-hour week. That meant that The New York Daily News had an opening in their mailroom, and I got that job mostly through family connections. Since the paper used artists in their news reporting, I went there to apply, but was told that the mailroom was the only opening they had, so I took it. I knew nothing about what an artist had to do. I was ill-prepared to start an art career, which must have been obvious. This was around 1933. Being in that mailroom put me in a wonderful position. I wanted to get out of that job and be an artist, and I was already at the company. The only training I had was going to Pratt Institute for a few Saturdays when I was a teenager. I got married in 1935, and was now out of the mailroom and into the business department. But I didn’t want to be in that department: I wanted to be a cartoonist. I used to hang out on the ninth floor with the paper’s cartoonists. I knew Ed Sullivan (who was a very nice guy), Paul Gallico, and all the other writers, too. Then, one of the guys in the art department quit. He said the hell with it and went to Mexico to paint. That created an opening in the picture department, which was next to the art department. I became a clerk and then a copy boy, and finally, in 1940, I joined the art department. By the way, I was rather old to be a copy boy, but you know who Bill Gallo, the cartoonist, is? Well, 60 years ago, he was my copy boy. Once I was on staff, I became a retoucher and did all the menial little jobs that no one else wanted to do. Every year the paper ran a
24
Tom Gill Is Still Going Strong We started wondering why these guys were being paged on the loudspeakers at the game. Somebody called up to find out what was going on. He was told, “Don’t you know? Pearl Harbor’s been bombed!” The whole place went crazy and people ran over to me because I was the only guy who might know something about Pearl Harbor. Their first question was, “Where is Pearl Harbor?” I said I didn’t know because the man in charge of the maps wasn’t in that day. But I pulled down a map and got it ready for the paper in time to make the print deadline. It ran on page one and my name was on that map as the artist. JA: Were you in the service?
This photo taken in the mid-70s or earlier at St. Alban’s Naval Hospital on Long Island, NY, depicts (left to right): Jerry Robinson (early “Batman” artist and newspaper cartoonist of Life with Robinson, et al., interviewed in A/E #39)—Bob Dunn (artist of They’ll Do It Every Time and Little Iodine)—Otto Soglow (creator/artist of the wordless syndicated strip The Little King)—John Pierotti (artist of strips Pier-Oddities, Nutcracker U., et al.)—Milton Caniff (writer/artist of Terry and the Pirates, and, later, Steve Canyon)—and Tom Gill (nice coat, Tom!). All of these artists except Soglow and Caniff worked in comic books at one time— and of course Little King and Terry were reprinted in early comic mags.
“Countdown to Christmas,” and each day a cartoonist would draw a picture to illustrate the remaining days before the 25th. I got a chance to do a couple of those, which was how my work started getting published. The Daily News let us sign our work, bless their souls, because that was more than The New York Times did. The Chicago Tribune was a sister paper and a sister syndicate, and I got meet and spend time with some of those cartoonists. Carl Ed [pronounced with a long “e”], who did Harold Teen, taught me some tricks. Leo O’Mealia taught me and Bill Gallo some tricks. Leo was a very nice man and he’d go out of his way to help you if he knew you wanted to be a cartoonist. At this stage, I was trying very hard to learn how to draw. There was a feature called Timeless Topics. And there was M.C. Gaines, who did Bible comics. I tried to get a job with Gaines, but wasn’t good enough. One day, I brought in a black-&-white illustration and showed it around. I was told to show it to Al Polumbo, who was a retoucher. He pointed out everything wrong in that drawing. I went home and worked all night to incorporate everything he had told me. I took the drawing in to Al the next day. He looked at it, patted me on the back, and said, “Keep trying, Tommy.” [laughter] And you know what? I did the same thing the next day. This is how I learned. The Timeless Topics stuff I did was for a Catholic group. They had so little money and so little experience that they accepted the Bible stuff I did for them. JA: Tell me about the Pearl Harbor map that you did for The Daily News. GILL: It was Sunday, December 7, 1941. Newspapers were usually dead on Sundays, but since I was still new, I was working that day. We had all these maps made because the war was raging in Europe, and were printing these maps to show what was happening and where it was happening. We were listening to the Army-Navy game on the radio, and all the admirals and generals were at this game or listening to it. We started hearing things in the background like, “Major so-and-so, please report to” wherever he was told to report. Then they’d page a captain or an admiral.
GILL: No, I didn’t have to go because I was married and had a child. My number didn’t come up in the draft until much later. I worked for The Daily News all throughout the war. During the war, I got better at drawing and did comics for Curtis Publishing. They even asked me to be an editor. I said, “If I take that job, I’d have to leave the paper, and possibly move away from doing the art.”
“Pre-War Days” JA: I believe you helped Louis Silberkleit [one of the founders of MLJ, which later became Archie Comic Publications] get started in comics in 1939. I’d like to hear about that. GILL: One day, he called me up at The Daily News. I had never heard of him, but he’d seen my credits in The Daily News. He wanted to see me, so I went to see him. He said he wanted to get into comics and wanted me to do a character similar to Rin-Tin-Tin. I told him I wasn’t a very good artist, but he insisted I do it. I did a ten-page story, which I wrote, drew, and lettered for six bucks a page. When I brought it in to him, he wrote me a check for sixty bucks. I don’t think he was crazy about the work. By the time I got back to work, Silberkleit called. He said, “I just showed your work to Harry Chesler, and he said it wasn’t any good.” I said, “Lou, I told you I wasn’t any good. I’ll tell you what I’ll do. I’ll give you $30 back if you’ll give me the pages.” He agreed. We made the exchange and I never saw him again. There were no problems, and I’ve supplied several artists over the years to Archie Comics. JA: I work for them. GILL: Then you know Stan Goldberg, who’s a great guy. By the way, I even showed my work to Dr. William Marston, who created Wonder Woman. His artist, Harry G. Peter, was a nice man, too. But my work wasn’t up to their level, so I didn’t get to do “Wonder Woman.” Doctor Marston confirmed my view of women. I always thought women were far superior to what they get credit for. I think the hand that rocks the candle rules the world. Marston certainly believed in that and practiced what he preached. He believed women were far superior to men. JA: You did “K-51” for Fox Publications. GILL: Yes. Al Harvey was Fox’s editor, but he didn’t think I was good enough for them. This was during the pre-war days, and my wife was about to have a baby. Al knew that and gave me a story even though he didn’t think my work was good. While I was drawing the story, Al Harvey quit because he was very unhappy with Fox. I guess he gave me the story because he knew I needed the money and didn’t care what Fox thought about my work. After Al quit, I got a telegram from Fox— whom I never met—to come in and tell them what I was doing. They accepted the story and I got paid. JA: I have you listed as working for Fiction House in 1940.
“To Be Continued!” GILL: I have no memory of that and don’t think that’s accurate. JA: I also have you working for Centaur in 1938. GILL: I didn’t work for them.
“I Didn’t Always Know Where My Work Was Going To Appear” JA: From 1944 until ’46, I have you listed as working for Curtis Publications on Blue Bolt. GILL: I remember doing Blue Bolt, but I don’t remember much else about them. This was freelance work, and I didn’t take it as seriously as I did my newspaper work. The New York Daily News was more important to me, so any work I did for companies like Curtis or Parents’ Magazine just doesn’t stick in my mind today. I do remember that Wednesday was the day to see the editor at Curtis. JA: Jerry Bails has you listed as working for Funnies, Inc., a shop that supplied work to various comics companies. Could you have worked directly for them and not for, say, Parents’ Magazine? GILL: It’s possible. I didn’t always know where my work was going to appear, and I wasn’t worried about it. By this time, I had moved out of Brooklyn to Long Island. I got a house in Baldwin on Long Island and used an extra room upstairs for my studio. My next door neighbor had a son who liked to draw and asked if I’d look at his stuff. The son was Jimmy Christensen, who was 15 and had a paper route. I could tell that he could draw a little bit and he used to come over and watch me. After a little bit, he started doing little things around my studio. One day, I told him to give up the paper route and I’d pay him whatever he was making on that job. Well, this kid was a whiz! He worked hard and his slogan was, “Plenty of time for sleeping in the grave.” [laughter] That was just the kind of a kid that I needed! His parents moved away and one day, I got a note from him saying, “Please get me out of here.” I told him that if he could typewrite and letter in one week, he could come. He did and moved in with my wife and me. Then he was drafted into the Navy, and his job was to get our soldiers back from Europe. When the Korean War started, they took him again. JA: Why did you leave The Daily News? GILL: Because I syndicated a strip, Flower Potts, to the HeraldTribune. I did that from 1946 to 1949. It was about a cab driver and the strip was also known as Ricky Stevens. But people weren’t interested in reading about cab drivers, and the strip wasn’t carried in many papers.
25
and draw the story at home. To be honest, I really wrote the same story over and over again. It was always about two girls in love with the same guy or vice versa. I always gave the girl who didn’t get the guy a hard name, like Rita. The girl who got the guy had a soft name, like Alice. The format was always the same.
“Wanted: Somebody To Teach Straight Dope About Cartooning” JA: How did you get started teaching at the Cartoonists and Illustrators School? GILL: One day, while I was working on Flower Potts in my studio, my wife saw an ad in The New York Times that said, “Wanted: Somebody to teach straight dope about cartooning.” I wrote a letter to the box number and Silas Rhodes replied. Rhodes started the school with Burne Hogarth. Silas set up a time for me to talk to his class, so I did. Some of the guys in the class were older than me; they were all G.I.s who’d returned from the war. In fact, the one woman in the class had been a sergeant. They were on the G.I. Bill. Silas told me he knew I’d done a good job. “The students keep coming down to tell me how great you were and that they didn’t want me to let you go.” I told him I really enjoyed teaching the class, but didn’t have the time to do it on a regular basis. Silas said, “Well, get help!” Right away, I thought about Jimmy Christensen, so I relented and started teaching there. Actually, it wasn’t that easy. I had to be certified to teach these classes, so I took classes at a place in New York with a couple of other instructors. I had to do this every three years for 15 years. Eventually, we were no longer classified as a trade school, but were recognized on some different level: as an institute of higher learning. Once on this level, we didn’t have to do these things anymore. JA: So you started getting additional help on your comic book work. You didn’t have a shop, per se: you had assistants, correct? GILL: Correct. I worked at home and my assistants came to work there. By this time, I lived in Rockville Center, and my studio was a long front porch with a fireplace. I had two drawing tables there: one for me and one for Jimmy. The other guys preferred to work at home and bring the pages in. I broke down almost every page. Keats Petree and Bernie Case were my main assistants, along with Jimmy. Keats left me to do the Nick Halliday strip for the Chicago Sun-Times. I didn’t break down pages for them. Ted Galindo was pretty good, too; he was a local guy. A quiet man who worked for other companies. He later became a framer in an art store.
JA: From 1949 to 1953, you did romance comics for Harvey Publications. GILL: Yes. Al Harvey saw that I had discontinued my strip, so he called me up and invited me to lunch. He asked me to draw romance comics. Well, this was a big improvement from the last time we talked, which was at Victor Fox’s company. He had a woman editor, whose name I can’t remember, and she gave me assignments to do. I wrote and drew those stories. I’d give the editor a story synopsis and then write
The Lone Ranger isn’t the only Western newspaper strip Tom worked on. Here’s a Hopalong Cassidy daily from circa 1954. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]
26
Tom Gill Is Still Going Strong
JA: Joe Sinnott started with you. He was a student of yours first. GILL: Yes. He was a very good student, the kind of guy who could start drawing a shoe and then draw the leg in the shoe and put the folds on the pants. Then he’d start drawing the other leg. In other words, he had the picture already in his head before he started drawing and could copy out of his head. He was great and still is great! A very sweet man. Joe’s always given me credit for starting him in the comics business. [NOTE: see our interview with Joe in A/E #26. —Jim.] Every time I see Joe, he puts his arm around me and says, “I left you too soon.” He felt bad about leaving me, but he shouldn’t have, because he was ready to fly solo. And Joe always says, “You paid me well.” A darling man! JA: He sure is. Danny Crespi, who later worked at Marvel, worked for you in 1951. GILL: Danny was a good guy. I went up to Marvel once and this guy comes out of nowhere and throws his arms around me. It was Danny Crespi! We’d lost track of each other and it was great to see him again. Danny used to come to my house on Saturdays and help out. I had others there, too. My wife Lolly was a good cook and cooked for everybody. I used to go to the train station and pick the guys up in my car. We used to have a Rob Roy before dinner. Jimmy would have one,
too, and we’d offer one to Danny. Well, he wasn’t used to that. [laughs] He told me later on, “I used to have go home to work and didn’t know where the hell I was.” [more laughter] Gill Evans lived in Rockville Center and he had a beautiful wife. They were swimmers. They worked in the chorus at Jones Beach, and I think his wife worked for [show biz entrepreneur] Billy Rose. I think Gill may have, too. Every night, they did their dance in the water. I think it was my mailman who told me about Gill. When I needed people, I really needed people. It didn’t bother me too much that they weren’t finished pros, because I could pay them an apprentice rate and teach them.
Danny Crespi, seen here in the 1975 Mighty Marvel Comic Convention program book, was a production man at Marvel during the 1970s. Why he was called “Doubtful” there, Ye Ed has no idea! He was a greathearted, friendly guy and a hard worker.
At the same time, I could fix what they did, and a lot of my time was spent fixing their work. I’d work all night to do that because the editors wanted to see the pencils in the next day. So after I did that, I’d go teach and then take the pencils to the editor. After a while, most of the editors I worked for didn’t require that of me, which made life much easier for me. A lot of the time, I’d sleep on the train while going to various places. JA: What do you recall about working for Ziff-Davis? GILL: I really don’t remember anything about my work for them.
“I Do Have A Funny Story About Stan Lee” JA: Do you remember when you first started working for Timely Comics? GILL: No, but I do have a funny story about Stan Lee. When things were slow, I’d go up there looking for work. I went up there one time in the late 1950s, and there was nobody at the desk, nobody at the window, nobody anywhere. So I called out, and then gave sort of a taxi-cab whistle, and finally I heard, from way in the back, [high, distant, muffled voice], “Whaddaya want?” I called, “Somebody back there?” And I heard, [high, distant, muffled voice], “Yeah, I’m back here.” So I followed the voice into the back, and there was Stan Lee, way in the back, almost in a closet. I said, “Stan! What the hell are you doing back here?” And he said, “Well, damn, don’t you know business is lousy, and when business is lousy, Goodman puts me in a closet!” [laughter] Stan and I were pretty close in a social way. He gave a big party once, and invited me and a bunch of other guys. At that time, he lived near Idlewild Airport, which is now Kennedy. He had a butler, a lovely wife, and a beautiful home. We had a great evening; he really extended himself. I think the occasion was that he had just become a member of the National Cartoonists Society. The party didn’t end until 6:00 in the morning, and I only got one hour of sleep before I had to fly out of the country on a NCS junket.
According to Dr. Michael J. Vassallo, who provided the scan, this splash page from Timely’s Kent Blake of the Secret Service #1 (May 1951), despite the Tom Gill byline, was totally penciled and inked for him by an up-and-coming Joe Sinnott. That’s why Joe autographed the story. [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]
My wife Lolly managed my features while I was on these junkets, because I was so far ahead of the scripts. At one point, my assistants called her and said, “Gee, Lolly, where are the scripts?” She called up Stan, and he sent them a script right away. It was a romance story, and the secret to doing those is to draw everybody on their toes, as if they’re dancing with everybody else, even when they’re just in conversation. There are just certain mannerisms that you do with fellas and girls,
“To Be Continued!” y’know? Well, seems that Keats Petree needed a script, and when the story came in, Lolly gave it to him. Now, Keats was a great Western artist, and in the script, this guy was supposed to come up the stairs and say, “Oh, hello, and how are you?” And again, they’re supposed to be on their toes, y’know, because this is love. Well, not for Keats: Keats had this guy planted like he was waiting for a bull to charge! And he looked like he was going to rip the girl’s arm off, y’know? [laughter] So it was well drawn, but the dramatics were all wrong. Lolly didn’t know any better, and she sent the art in to Stan, who received it at about the same time as I got back. He called me up and said, “What the hell is this?” He hit the ceiling, and said he was never going to give me another damned love script. That’s why later on I did war stories for him. I really knocked myself out doing them, because I wanted to make up for that romance story.
27 JA: Did Stan give you complete scripts to draw? GILL: Stan would give me stories with no dialogue. I never saw anything like it. He would give me a written plot, and then he would put the dialogue in after I brought the art back. I never saw such a thing. JA: Why did you quit working for Stan? GILL: I was too busy with other accounts. Dell was so steady and constant. I did stuff for them when I didn’t even know who they were. I would just go up to the Toy Building at 23rd Street and 5th Avenue—it’s still there—and pick up assignments. I didn’t always know which publisher I was working for.
“Gotcha!”
JA: How did you get started at Western Publishing? In those days, you never told anyone that you weren’t doing it all yourself. GILL: I went there and showed Oskar This was the hypocritical part of it. For LeBeck my stuff. He had an office instance, the first bit that I got from there, had a couple of people, and he Western was a whole book, maybe 35 looked very well organized. He kindpages, and they wanted it in about 20 of liked what I did and gave me some days! How can you do?!! Now there A Timely splash page by Tom Gill—this one for the story “Dead End!” scripts. Once when I went up there, he were some guys who could bat out a from Uncanny Tales #12 (Sept. 1953). Thanks to Doc Vassallo. had kind of a bullpen, because he also [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.] hell of a lot—the “wrinkle-happy boys” did animated stuff [Walt Disney’s and stuff like that—but my kind of stuff Comics and Stories, Mickey Mouse, had to be pretty straight drawn. And they didn’t want to know if you Donald Duck, etc.]. Something came down and hit me on the head from had assistants working on the stories. behind a partition. I looked up, and this pleasant-looking guy had a big smile on his face, and he said, “Gotcha!” [laughs] Who was it but Walt JA: When you worked at Timely, did you ever deal with any editors Kelly! besides Stan? GILL: Always Stan, but I didn’t do a hell of a lot for him. I was doing a lot of other things at the time. JA: You did “Apache Kid” for Stan, and “Red Warrior” (with Joe Sinnott), and “Kent Blake of the Secret Service,” as well as some crime, horror, science-fiction, and war stories. GILL: Oh yeah. I did some crime stories for DC, too, stories that revealed themselves in the last panel. They were hard to write, but when things were hurting, I would write and draw them for Whit Ellsworth at DC. JA: Did Stan have much to say about the stories you would turn in?
JA: Did you have to get your pencils approved at Western? GILL: In the beginning, I had to have the pencils approved before inking. And boy, I went crazy, because they gave me so much work that I needed help to get it done, and the guys I had weren’t really so good that their pencils could be shown. So I would spend all of the night before fixing this hand, that foot, and this expression, and twisting this head this way instead of that way. I was what you call a shirt-sleeve editor. Later on, we had no time for approval. Anyway, the stuff had really gotten good by then, and didn’t need it. JA: Let me back up and ask you about Toby Press. GILL: At Toby Press, Mell Lazarus was the editor, and he gave me assignments to do, like John Wayne. They were very good; I still have some black-&-white proofs from them. As an editor, Mell was very obliging. I saw him just the other day. I love that guy. A very fine man.
GILL: Maybe he’d have a few comments about them, but he generally seemed affable and kind of nice. He was very busy, and he had a lot of people coming in and out of there. They used to try to keep the freelancers separated; they were afraid that you’d find out how much they were paying other people. We didn’t know what other people were making, and we didn’t ask.
JA: At Western, you had to do likenesses all the time. Was that difficult?
Working at Timely was pleasant, except for that episode with Keats Petree’s romance story, which I can’t blame Stan for. That’s how I learned to tell my classes that there are certain ways that you handle certain stories, certain dramatics that you use. It isn’t just a matter of drawing somebody shaking hands; he has to shake hands a certain way. I was full of these gems of hard-earned wisdom. [chuckles]
GILL: They didn’t always come off exactly, but that’s because, when we were trying to meet deadlines, we’d have to go with reasonable facsimiles. Once, on Bonanza, they got a new young editor over there. She looked at what was in the book, and looked at the pictures she was given from the show, and then she called up Matt Murphy and said, “Hey, this doesn’t look at all like them.” Matt had a hard time defending
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Tom Gill Is Still Going Strong The romance stuff that I had done earlier came back to plague me, because I found it difficult to draw bad guys after drawing all those handsome hunks in the romances. It was easy for me to draw The Lone Ranger, though, because he was an heroic, handsome guy. JA: The Lone Ranger is one of my all-time favorite characters, and you did the comic for about 22 years. You also did the Silver and Scout comics [about The Lone Ranger’s and Tonto’s respective horses], which I thought were unusual ideas for magazines. GILL: Oh, sure, I loved doing those! Horses were wonderful! Horses were great! Bernie could draw ’em, and I could draw ’em, and the guys could draw ’em. We really had horses down. Some of the best stories I’ve ever did were Silvers. Keenay the Indian was always trying to capture the wild horse, Silver, and The Lone Ranger narrated the stories. Those were written by Gaylord DuBois. I didn’t know him, but I corresponded with him a few times, and he was delightful. He was a former sheriff. He and his wife would drive around the country, he would tell her these stories as he drove, and she would write them down. Then at night, in whatever motel they landed, they would refine the stories together. He knew nature, and had wonderful stories about animals and their habitats. He had stories about beavers and bears. We knocked ourselves out to get the right terrain, the right rocks and trees. I also did Fury, another horse feature, and I did the Tonto book. JA: Tell me about Alberto Giolitti [artist of, among other things, Turok–Son of Stone]. GILL: I spent a Christmas with Alberto in Rome. I was at Western Publishing one day—just breezed by—and this handsome Italian guy was there. Matt Murphy introduced me to him. Alberto didn’t speak English very well. He had a beautiful woman with him, who turned out to be his agent. She wasn’t really his agent, but she could speak English for him and everything else. Years later, I found out that Giolitti married that girl. This Gill page from John Wayne Adventure Comics was done for Toby Press under publisher Elliot Caplin and editor Mell Lazarus. Repro’d from a photocopy of the original art, thanks to Tom Gill. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]
In 1973, I was going to spend about 6 months in Europe. Matt Murphy had gone in ’72, and Wally Green, one of the editors, said, “Oh, you’re going to Rome? Why don’t you stop in to see Alberto? He’s been
the work, so he asked me to speak with her, which I did. I tried to charm her, but she let me know that somebody was watching. After that, I really paid attention to the likenesses. The company gave me photo reference from the studios for most of those books [Lone Ranger, Twilight Zone, Land of the Lost, etc.], and I would make model sheets for the characters, which would be our guides. Mostly my guides, because I would draw the main characters myself to keep the continuity going.
“It Was Easy For Me To Draw The Lone Ranger” JA: Did you prefer drawing likenesses of real people, or made-up characters? GILL: We preferred to work on whatever was easiest. After a while, it wasn’t so hard to draw likenesses because everything becomes a pattern. There are round heads and square heads, classic heads, narrow heads. I never looked at the photo reference again once I’d made my model sheets.
Tom Gill may nowadays be given credit for drawing Dell’s Lone Ranger comic book, but not the syndicated daily strip. However, he did ghost the strip at one time for artist Charles Flanders—such as this Sunday for May 13, 1956. Info and art from Dave Holland’s wonderful 1988 book From Out of the Past: A Pictorial History of The Lone Ranger, whose 400+ pages might be subtitled Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about The Lone Ranger—and More! [©2004 Lone Ranger Television, Inc.]
“To Be Continued!”
29 joined them all the next day, and it was quite an international group: Germans, Canadians, Italians, and Americans. We had good wine and good food, and it was delightful. JA: Were you at Dell when Matt Murphy started?
(Above:) On the 1970s gig at St. Alban’s Naval Hospital mentioned on p. 24, Tom draws The Lone Ranger, as Tom Dunn and (at far right) Milt Caniff look on from the bedside of hospitalized sailors and veterans. (Left:) This page from a special “Movie Story” issue of The Lone Ranger doubtless refers to the 1956 film starring Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels. [Art ©2004 Lone Ranger Television, Inc.]
GILL: Yes. Oskar LeBeck was followed by George Brenner. George died young, and they brought in Matt Murphy. Matt had an assistant named Marie Monahan. Matt was a nice guy, and I never had any problems with him. Once, Matt and I were walking out under the big canopy in front of the Toy Building at Christmas time, and it was snowing lightly. Matt said, “I think maybe I have something for you here that could last for several months.” And that “something” was The Lone Ranger, which lasted for 22 years. JA: When you took your pencils in there and they suggested changes, would you have to redraw stuff? GILL: Oh, yeah. That was difficult for me, because they started me on the Lone Ranger with so many pages that I had to have help. I had Jimmy Christiansen to help me,
living over there.” I said, “He’s not doing much for us any more,” and he said, “No, he’s been doing a lot of stuff for Europe. Tell you what I’ll do: I’ll write him a note, tell him you’re coming, and tell him to look out for you.” That Christmas, I was in Rome with my second wife, and her daughter had joined us, and I got a bright idea: “Hey, I think I’ll look up Alberto.” So I called him, and he said, “Oh! Where the hell have you been? I’ve been waiting for you!” Alberto invited us to a restaurant in the old section of Rome, with gas lamps outside the doorway. We were standing outside waiting, and this Porsche convertible pulled up with a guy in it, and this opera cape flying in the wind. It was Alberto! We had a wonderful time, and he saw to it that a whole bunch of people joined us. We had the whole room to ourselves, and he had opera singers and everybody to entertain us. It was Christmas Eve, and for some reason, Alberto’s wife was in Paris. There was a couple with him, though, and the woman seemed very attentive to Alberto. I later found out she was his letterer. Interpreting for Alberto, she asked us if we liked ice cream. We said yes, and she spoke to Alberto, who then said, “Come on, we will go!” Off we all went to his car, and we whipped through Rome to this marbletopped, carpeted ice cream parlor near the Presidential Palace. It turned out it was owned by Alberto’s family. He takes me to see where they make the ice cream, and then we go in to the eating area, and people bring us ice cream like you never saw! Piled high, whipped cream, and everything. During that, the letterer asked me if we would like to join them for Christmas the next day at Alberto’s place. It turned out that she and her husband lived in the same apartment as Alberto. So we
Tom captioned this photo: “Tom Gill at his Lone Ranger drawing board when he looked like this.” The page on the right is from a comic book story that retold (and enhanced) the legend of the origins of the Ranger, from the Dell Lone Ranger #105 in the late 1950s. Script by Paul S. Newman. Art repro’d from Dave Holland’s From Out of the Past. [Art ©2004 Lone Ranger Television, Inc.]
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Tom Gill Is Still Going Strong GILL: Bernie came to me after he graduated from Pratt. He was good, but he was working for the Morgenthaler Linotype Company, designing type, and he wanted to get out of there. He lived out on Long Island with his wife and a couple of kids, and he wanted to be an artist. He wanted to be drawing and painting, not designing type. He left Morgenthaler for some reason and came to me, but he wasn’t ready. And he kept coming every few weeks, but he still wasn’t ready. All of a sudden, one snowy day, he showed up, and he had walked the two miles from the train station. His shoes hardly had any soles on them. And I said, “This can’t go on,” so I tried to help him then and there. “I said, “Here, you can work on some of these pages; I’ll find something for you to do.” That’s how he started with me.
By 1975 Herb Trimpe had been a Marvel mainstay for several years, mostly drawing The Incredible Hulk—as per this illo used as the back cover of that year’s Mighty Marvel Comic Convention’s program book, from which the photo is also taken. [Art ©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]
He was a very fine artist who initially couldn’t do the comic book stuff that I needed. However, he came into his own, and he was terrific right up until he died. JA: Tell me a little more about Jimmy Christiansen.
but my assistants weren’t as good as me because they weren’t as mature and developed as I was. I would spot all these problems, and I was a stickler for correctness; if I saw something that didn’t flow right, I had to change it. They worked at home, and they’d bring their pages in to me, and boom, suddenly I’d have 10 pages in front of me that needed straightening out before I could show them to the editor the next day. And I’d have to teach all day at the School of Visual Arts before turning them in.
GILL: I got him a job at The Daily News while he was still in high school; we needed somebody for the summer. I coached him, and told him all the idiosyncrasies of the guys on the News, so man, he just breezed through there. They loved him. He worked like a dog; he did everything, and he did it well. Eventually, I had to tell them, “C’mon, let him go back to high school!” For a while, Jimmy lived next door to us, and finally he moved in with us. He came down to Maryland with me when I started doing Flower Potts.
“I Did Anything That Needed To Be Done” JA: Were you responsible for lettering your features? GILL: I did anything that needed to be done, but Jimmy did the lettering. He used to letter for Bob Powell, too. That’s how I got back with Harvey Comics: they had an ad in the paper for a letterer, and things were slow for me after the strip ended. I suggested to Jimmy—who was still living with me—that he answer the ad. When he did, Al Harvey asked, “How come you’re not busy with Tom?” And Jim told Al that the Flower Potts was no longer in the Herald Tribune. Al said, “I’ll be damned; ask Tom to come in for lunch.” That’s when Al and I got together and I started to do romance stories. JA: So at Western, they’d hand you a script, and you’d bring back lettered, cameraready art. GILL: Sure. I never worked the way the companies worked later on, where somebody pencils so tight that they might as well ink it. Our pages were loosely penciled, and we tightened them up in the inks. JA: Tell me a little about Bernie Case.
Artist “Jumbo John Verpoorten,” as he was playfully (and truthfully) known around the Marvel Bullpen, served as the company’s production manager during most of the 1970s, until his untimely death in December 1977. He was forever and mercilessly ribbed by Herb Trimpe and other friends after he said he had “designed the Owlplane” for The Owl comic on which he assisted Tom Gill. In actuality, however, that vehicle— which rolled on wheels as well as flew—was called “The Owlmobile.” This Tom Gill (and John Verpoorten?) page is from Dell’s The Owl #2, which was cover-dated April 1968 —exactly a year after issue #1! The photo of John V., too, appeared in the 1975 MarvelCon program book. [Art ©2004 the respective copyright holders.]
When he got into the service in Korea, they asked him what he did, and he said, “I’m a cartoonist.” They said, “Well, what do you do for fun when you go out?” And he said, “Who goes out?” [laughter] Finally, they found the right assignment for him: he was a sergeant in the engineers. He helped to build a pipeline across Korea.
“To Be Continued!”
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Tom Gill’s inside front cover for The Owl #1 retold the hero’s backstory, while his splash page plunged right into the adventure—as if The Owl hadn’t been AWOL since Crackajack Funnies in 1940-42 and Popular Comics in 1942-43! His partner Owl Girl had debuted in 1941, and, as you can see from the splash at right, she appeared in The Owl #2, as well. Owl #1 art supplied by Stephan Friedt; Owl #2 art by Stephan Friedt and Bob Hughes. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]
When he came out of the service, I didn’t have a place for him in my group, but he continued to live with us. He went to the School of Visual Arts until Keats sold a strip to the Chicago Sun-Times and left the group, and then Jimmy replaced Keats. Finally, Jimmy got a place of his own and married a lovely girl that he had dated in high school. Then he left me to do a syndicated strip that appeared in The Daily News. I was delighted that he was getting a chance. Then the strip collapsed, and he had nothing to do. I couldn’t use him back here again, and he didn’t want to come back, anyway. Eventually, though, he got a good job with the Robinson Tag and Label company, designing labels for the garment industry.
“It Got So That I Was Supplying Stan Lee” JA: Herb Trimpe also worked for you. GILL: I hear from Herb every once in a while. He’s a teacher now and seems very happy. Herb was a student of mine, too. I remember he had to leave me because he went to Vietnam. I was working on a comic book for a watch company, depicting how to repair mainsprings for Swiss watches. This came from Neufchatel in Switzerland. They wanted to show how to do this pictorially, with very few words, because it was going to be published as a book and translated into seven languages. It was Jimmy Christensen who steered them to me. Herb was with me when he had to go to the service and I don’t know how he did it, but he helped me finish it while he was in boot camp. Herb is one of those guys who’s kind of elusive. He was totally dedicated to his work, and he was a student of mine at the School of Visual Arts. He was a handsome guy. Herb was a good inker, too; he could do anything. He was a great performer, and I guess he still is, though he doesn’t draw comic books anymore. JA: John Verpoorten worked for you, too. GILL: Yes, and John Verpoorten was the biggest cartoonist in the world. He was very tall and heavy. He was a slow learner, but I was desperate for help. He inked for me. I remember that his brother helped support
him. He would come out to my place and was so big that he’d weigh down the back of my car. John came out every week, and if he had to stay over, I put him in another bedroom. I had to put an extension on the bed because of his height. He was very pleasant and docile for a big guy. Big men are usually docile. Eventually he got good enough to get a job on his own, so he went to Stan Lee and Marvel. A lot of my assistants went to Stan Lee. It got so that I was supplying Stan Lee. [laughs] About the time John left me, my wife Lolly died. I was on deadlines at the time. Things were hectic at the time, as you can imagine. Lolly was handling my accounts and I got things mixed up after she died. I was floundering in every sense. There was some problem here. John thought I owed him some money and it took a while for us to straighten it out. In the meantime, he complained to somebody. I wish he hadn’t done that. I finally got my records in order and paid him. After that, John was very cool to me whenever I bumped into him. I felt badly about that and was sorry when he died. He was a nice guy, but between his size and the pressures of his job, John just gave out. I always had great affection for him.
“I Didn’t Know Anything About The Owl ” JA: What can you tell me about The Owl, which you drew for Western? GILL: I didn’t know anything about The Owl, but Matt Murphy gave me a script that was written by Jerry Siegel. At the time, I regarded all the super-hero stuff as a viewer, not a practitioner. It was a job. JA: What about Wally Wood? GILL: He was an outstanding student, Wally was. I don’t remember much about him, because I had so many students. JA: Did you know Paul Newman? GILL: We only met a couple of times. We spent a day at the beach together while we were both at Western, but I really didn’t get to know
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Tom Gill Is Still Going Strong GILL: Yes. If I was interested in it, Matt would send word up to Western, and they would send me a box, and it would be the art from the whole bloody book. I only asked when I did something that was especially good, and I wanted to keep it up in the future. I would use the returned pages as a guide. I was in competition with myself.
him very well. He was very competent, and I liked his writing. Paul was a scrupulous recorder of things. He had records of everything he ever wrote, when he wrote it, what he got paid for it, when it was commissioned, and when it was delivered, all in a notebook. Paul holds the Guinness World Record for writing the most comic book stories, and he used his records to prove it. Gaylord DuBois was the same kind of scrupulous worker, and nearly won the record himself. I was very privileged to have been their artist, so to speak.
“I Got Around!” JA: You mentioned that you knew [boxing champion] Floyd Patterson and Rocky Graziano. How did that happen?
JA: When you were doing The Lone Ranger, did you have to deal with the licenser of the characters? GILL: No, but I did have a chance meeting with [co-creator and head writer] Fran Striker at the Lamb’s Club, and we had a great evening together. Western handled all the dealings with licensers. JA: Did you meet Helen Meyer at Dell? GILL: No, but she was Matt Murphy’s nemesis. Right after he was brought in, he had a conflict with Helen Meyer, and she made his place in the pecking order very clear to him. JA: Did Dell return your original art?
Tom drew tons of comics for Western besides Lone Ranger—but several pages from one particularly fine issue will have to suffice. In these three pages from his 1962 art-adaptation of the Ray Harryhausen film Mysterious Island, the heroes face giant bees—giant crabs—and Captain Nemo, who (as in Jules Verne’s original novel) had survived the finale of Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea and took his guests on a tour of sunken Atlantis. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]
GILL: Well, I got around! I was at many parties with Jack Dempsey. He and his wife would hang out with cartoonists back in the 1960s, when the New York chapter of the Cartoonists Society was very active. We’d get together at Gallagher’s Steak House each year for our Halloween party. Margaret Hamilton would show up—she was the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz— and some of the guys who had young kids would bring them to the party. The kids would all be scared of Margaret, who would dress as a witch, and she’d call them “My little pretties.” Scared the hell out of them. Scared the hell out of some of us, too. [laughs] Jack Dempsey and his wife would be there.
“To Be Continued!”
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His motto is: “Share what you know!” Tom Gill in 2003—plus part of a special “page” designed as a tribute to him for his work in mentoring young artists over the decades. On the combination of photos and drawings, to quote from the Vol. 3, #10, issue of the slick-paper Illustration magazine, Tom’s “Lone Ranger artwork and face decorated billboards and [was] hung in subways through the United States during National Mentoring Month in January [2004].” [Lone Ranger TM & ©2004 Lone Ranger Television, Inc.]
I also knew Gene Tunney; he showed up at the Society of Illustrators one day with us. Rocky Graziano used to show up at those things, too. [Sports cartoonist] Bill Gallo used to arrange a “sports night” every so often, and the place would be packed with fighters. I met Cassius Clay at one of the hotels around here. I could go up to any of these guys and introduce myself.
One of these parties was in the ballroom at Madison Square Garden. They had a boxing ring set up in the middle of the room, and Rocky Graziano and Otto Soglow [creator of The Little King newspaper strip] had a slugfest! I think Otto knocked Rocky down. JA: You worked at Western until 1972. Why did you quit? GILL: I didn’t. The work just stopped. JA: What were your favorite features at Western? GILL: I enjoyed The Lone Ranger and Hi-Yo Silver. JA: Update me on what’s been happening to you lately. GILL: Well, I suppose when you live long enough, your past catches up with you. Or like my wife Trish quotes, ‘As ye sow, so shall ye reap.” I was on my way to my grandson’s wedding in Bourges, France, when I received a beautiful magazine, Illustration, with eight pages of tributes to me from people crediting me with helping them in their careers. One, Tom Moore, credits me with helping him start his 50-year gig at Archie Comics. It was so touching to find how warmly they still remembered me.
acquaintances. I was especially honored with their Inkpot Award for outstanding achievement in comics arts. In January, Harvard University made me their featured mentor of 2004. We filmed a public service TV announcement urging all to “Share what you know.” They had me helping a young high school student as my drawing of Tonto and The Lone Ranger looked on. It was a surprise when people would say to me weeks later, “I saw you on a poster in the railway station.” Turns out the public service poster on mentoring was sponsored by The MetLife Foundation and Harvard Mentoring Project, with space provided by Viacom. NBC also came to my studio to shoot a segment on mentoring for The Today Show. It featured me and my first mentoree, Jim Christensen, who later did two comic strips of his own. JA: I know you have macular degeneration and don’t draw comics anymore, but you still teach. GILL: Yes, I do. I’m an adjunct faculty member at Westchester Community College, and I teach at Duchess Community College. I also am a consultant for SVA. Maybe I can’t see well enough to draw details anymore, but that doesn’t mean my career’s at an end. As we used to say in the comics: “To be continued!”
I was also pleased to be an invited guest of the 2004 San Diego Comic-Con, where Trish and I met dozens of fans and many cartoonist
Two who saluted Tom Gill in the above-mentioned June 2004 issue of Illustration are Beetle Bailey artist/creator Mort Walker, and longtime Archie artist Tom Moore. By the way, interviewer (and pro inker) Jim Amash added the Archie figure at right, at Tom Gill’s request.[Beetle Bailey TM & ©2004 King Features Syndicate; Archie TM & ©2004 Archie Comic Publications.]
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Tom Gill Is Still Going Strong
TOM GILL Checklist [NOTE: The following is taken from information provided by Dr. Jerry G. Bails from his online Who’s Who of 20th-Century American Comic Books, which can be accessed online at www.nostromo.no/whoswo/. Additions and corrections are invited. The names of features which appeared both in their own titles and also in other comics are not generally rendered in italics below. Some of this data was provided by Tom Gill, and checked by Tom in July 2003 via Jim Amash. Key: (a) = full art; (p) = pencils only; (i) inking only; (w) writer; (d) daily comic strip; (S) Sunday comic strip.] Name: Thomas Francis (Tom) Gill [b. 1913] (artist, writer)
Centaur Comics & related: (specifics?) (a) 1938-40 (Chesler)
Nationality: born a US citizen in Canada
Chesler Publications/ Dynamic: (specifics?) (a) 1942
Pen Names: T.G.; T. Gee Education: mostly self-taught
Fiction House: (a) 1940 (questionable)
Founder & Director: Alumni Society, C.I.S. (Cartoonists & Illustrators School) 1969-83; also chairman of Cartooning & Design Illustration Dept. of C.I.S. 1948-69; Instructor Continuing Education C.I.S. 1969-88 and since; teacher C.I.S. (a.k.a. School of Visual Arts) 1948-69
Fox Comics: K-51 (a) 1940 Gilberton/Classics: The World around Us (a) (no specifics)
Teacher: Long Island University (C.W. Post Campus) 1988-; SUNY 1958 (Farmingdale, NY); Westchester Community College (? to present); Duchess Community College (? to present) Member: Council for Advancement and Support of Education; Lambs Club; National Cartoonists Society Illustrations: Artists & Writers Press; Picture World Encyclopedia 1959 Staff Artist: New York Daily News 1940-46 Commercial Art: Ideal Toys; Ertel Toys; Japan Air Lines; Swiss Watch Industry Art for Juvenile Books: Around the World in 80 Days 1957; Batman Shape Book (no date); Black Beauty (no date); Man from U.N.C.L.E. 1967; Sherlock Holmes Golden Picture Classic 1957 Honors: Fellow, Sweet Briar Colleage Virginia Center for Creative Arts; Meritorious Service to Higher Eduction: CASE; NCS Silver T-Square for distinguished service 1964; Outstanding Service to School of Visual Arts, S.V.A. Alumni 1969; NCS Best Comic Book Artist 1970
Harvey & related: First Romance (w/a) 1949-53; Hi-School Romance (w/a) 1949-53 K.K. Publications/ Dell (to 1962): adapations (a) 1959-62; Bedrock Barnes, Prospector (a) 1960-62; Bonanza (a) 1960-62; A self-caricature by Tom Gill—and the final page from the retelling of the origin of the Masked Rider Boy and the Pirates (a) of the Plains, as seen in The Lone Ranger #105. 1960; Cheyenne (a) Script by Paul S. Newman, art by Joe Gill. 1956-61; fillers (a) 1954[©2004 Lone Ranger Television, Inc.] 62; Fury (a) 1957-62; Hi-Yo Silver (a) 195260; Last Train from Gun Hill (a) 1959; The Lone Ranger (a) 1950-62; Mysterious Island (a) 1962; Sherlock Holmes (a) 1961; Those Remarkable Engineers (a) 1943; War Heroes (a) 1943-44 Marvel/Timely & related: Apache Kid (a) 1951-54; crime (a) 1952-53; horror (a) 1952-53, 1955; Kent Blake of the Secret Service (a) 1951-53 [with Joe Sinnott]; Red Warrior (a) 1951 [with Joe Sinnott]; romance (a) c. 1952-53; science-fantasy (a) 1952-53; sports (a) 1952-53; war (a) 195253 Novelty/Curtis: Blue Bolt (a) 1944-46; covers (a) 1945; non-fiction (a) mid-1940s [also wrote a few stories he drew] Parents’ Magazine Press/True: True Comics (i) c. 1943-47 Toby Press/Minoan: Billy the Kid (a) 1950s; John Wayne Adventure Comics (a) 1950s
COMIC BOOK CREDITS (Mainstream US):
Western Publishing/Whitman/Gold Key: adaptations (a) 1965; Bedrock Barnes, Prospector (a) 1962-70; Believe It or Not (p) 1965, 1970, 1972-73; Bonanza (a) 1962-70; Boris Karloff’s Tales of Mystery (a) 1963-66, 1970-71; (w) 1964, 1966; Boris Karloff Thriller (a) 1962-63; covers (a) 1967-68; fillers (a) 1962-67; Land of the Giants (a) 1968-69; The Lone Ranger (a) 1962-72 (reprinted 1973-76); The Owl (a) 1967-68; Ripley’s Believe It or Not (a) 1977; Runaway (a) 1964; Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (a) 1965; Time Tunnel (a) 1967; Tonto (a) 1960s; The Twilight Zone (a) 1963, 1966-67, 1972
Catechetical Guild Educational Society: Topix [religious] (a) 1944
Ziff-Davis: war (a) 1951-52
Studio Work: Tom Gill (head artist) 1950-72 (shop did work for Western Publishing) Syndicated Credits (Newspaper Comic Strips): Flower Potts (d) (w/a) 1946-48 (name later changed to Ricky Stevens); Hopalong Cassidy (dates uncertain, but included 1954); Lone Ranger (ghosted Charles Flanders; dates uncertain, but included 1956)
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Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt! Until now, I hadn’t heard of Ike’s particular talent, which apparently refers to paintings he did as a hobby. Long story short: The National Cartoonists Society invited the President to join their ranks. And so, one fine morning in 1954, a roomful of unruly ink-slingers met over breakfast to celebrate their newest member. For his part, Ike provided a most unique dessert. Himself.
[All art on pp.36-39 ©2004 the respective copyright holders.]
For the first time in history, a sitting President offered to pose for a gathering of newspaper, comic book, and magazine artists—encouraging them to use his distinctive features for portraits, caricatures, gag cartoons, or illustrations. I’ll let Mr. Humphrey describe the scene. “The occasion took the form of a breakfast. While the courses were being served and exchanges of talk were going on, artists had free hands with drawing paper or board, pencil or pen. When Mr. Eisenhower had concluded his formal remarks … he asked to see the drawings made of him. He smiled broadly as one after another was held up, and laughed outright at some of the gags. ‘Don’t cheat on me! I want them,’ he exclaimed.” Later, the Society collected all 95 original drawings, bound them into a large leather-bound volume, and presented it to the President. Talk about a must-have collectible! Apparently publisher Frederick Fell felt the same way. After reading about the meeting, Fell asked permission to print the cartoons in a book that would be used to promote the sales of Savings Bonds. Who could resist a patriotic pitch like that?
A
I Like Ike! by Michael T. Gilbert Recently, while scouring eBay for odd comic-related items, I stumbled across a 1956 oddity, President Eisenhower’s Cartoon Book. I almost skipped by it, having only a limited interest in political cartoons. But then I spotted the contributor list. Ninety-five different cartoonists were represented—including over a dozen outstanding comic book artists. I won’t name the comic book guys here, for reasons I’ll explain in a moment. But trust me, we’re talking big-name talent. First, let’s take a behind-the-scenes peek at the history of President Eisenhower’s Cartoon Book, courtesy of George Humphrey, Ike’s Secretary of the Treasury, who penned the book’s three-page introduction. As Mr. Humphrey tells it… “In June 1954, President Eisenhower met with members of the National Cartoonists Society in Washington. The Society, composed of men and women who are considered to be among the foremost exponents of the cartoonist’s art in the nation, wished to confer honorary membership upon one of the few Presidents since Thomas Jefferson who has evidenced and exercised any talents as an artist.”
The National Cartoonists Society presented this volume, collecting all 95 original drawings, to President Eisenhower in 1954. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]
“I Like Ike!”
37
you could identify by style alone. So don’t bother looking for signatures—we got rid of ‘em! However, you will find credits at the end of the article on p. 40. And speaking of credit, I’d like to mention that Ray Cuthbert provided copies of the art for this article. Thanks, Ray! Now, quit reading and start guessing!!
C Ike speaks to the members of the National Cartoonists Society.
Ike signed on, and so did the artists. Things were moving rapidly— until disaster struck. In 1955, Eisenhower had a heart attack, which temporarily scuttled the project. But Ike recovered, and in 1956 President Eisenhower’s Cartoon Book was finally published to general acclaim. That’s the back-story. Now on to the main event! Earlier, we mentioned that over a dozen comic book artists contributed to President Eisenhower’s Cartoon Book. I held off naming them. Why? Because I thought it would be fun to see how many
B
D
38
Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!
E
F
G H
“I Like Ike!”
39
I
J (OK, art-experts—turn the page and let’s see how well you did!)
Missing a Back Issue? Got a hole in your Mr. Monster collection? We’ll gladly e-mail you a free Mr. Monster EEEK-Mail Catalog! Just Contact Michael T. Gilbert at:
mgilbert00@comcast.net
For a printed version, send one dollar to Michael T. Gilbert, P.O. Box 11421, Eugene OR 97440
40
Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!
Quiz Answers!! We’re printing the original comments that appeared in the book, followed by a few updates in italics. The artists’ signatures frame this page. A. Frank Frazetta: (Frazetta) draws the story strip Ace McCoy. [Frank’s portrait of President Eisenhower was printed in black-and-white on the back cover of the hardcover edition of President Eisenhower’s Cartoon Book. It also appeared in full color as the front cover of the softcover edition––possibly Frank’s first paperback cover, and a preview of things to come! In the ’50s, Frank also ghosted Li’l Abner for Al Capp, and drew comic books stories for EC, ME, and DC. Rumor has it that Mr. Frazetta has since left the comic book field to pursue his interest in painting.] B. Bob Lubbers: (Lubbers) is the artist who collaborates with Al Capp on the Long Sam daily and Sunday strip. Capp, who is best known for his burlesque folklore in Li’l Abner, also has a hand in a third strip, Abbie an’ Slats, which is drawn by Raeburn Van Buren. [Bob was art director for Fiction House magazines in the ’40s and drew numerous features for their comic books, including “Captain Wings” and “Firehair.” He also illustrated various comic strips, including Tarzan, Secret Agent X-9, Li’l Abner, and his own strip, Robin Malone.] C. John Celardo: (Celardo) currently draws the story strip based on Edgar Rice Burroughs’ famous character, Tarzan. An illustrious predecessor on the strip was Harold Foster of Prince Valiant fame. [Earlier, John also drew “Kaänga,” a poor-man’s Tarzan, for Fiction House. In later years he illustrated newspaper comics, including The Green Berets and Buz Sawyer.] D. Jack Sparling: Here we divulge a secret: Jack Sparling was the anonymous cartoonist who supplied the drawings for the comic-book biography of Harry S Truman distributed by the Democratic National Committee in 1948. Sparling now draws the Mr. Rumbles strip. [Jack’s comic book career also includes stories for Dell, ACG, Marvel, and DC, as well as humor magazines—most notably, Sick.] E. Charles Biro: (Biro) is a producer of that indigenous American literature called the comic book. The comic book goes back to the early 1900s, when chapbook publishers compiled Katzenjammer Kids, Happy Hooligan, Foxy Grandpa, et al., into pamphlets for sale at 25¢ by railroad butcher boys. [Charles Biro popularized the “true crime” genre in comic books in the ’40s and ’50s, editing titles like Crime Does Not Pay, Crime and Punishment, Boy Comics, and the original Daredevil for Lev Gleason Publications. He also drew some of the most gruesome covers in the business—not that you could tell from this staid Ike illo!] F. Alex Raymond: Alexander Gillespie Raymond, an illustrator of high talents, has made his drawing of the Rip Kirby story strip a work of art in a real sense. It is his second memorable creation, the first having been the Flash Gordon Sunday fantasy pages. For some years he also drew the Secret Agent X-9 daily strips. [And let’s not forget Raymond’s other creations, Jungle Jim and Rip Kirby––all of which have been reprinted in comic books.] G. Walt Kelly: Walt Kelly’s Pogo the Possum, Albert the Alligator, and other Okefenokee Swamp characters have enjoyed a popularity among the intelligentsia comparable to, but more meteoric than, George Herriman’s Krazy Kat. Kelly is an ex-president of the National Cartoonists Society. [Bet you guessed this one! Need we mention that Pogo got his start in comic books in Dell’s Animal Comics #1 in 1942?] H. Tom Gill: While TV was still in its infancy, a newspaper-strip adaptation of the radio show made The Lone Ranger and his horse, Silver, recognizable character to millions of newspaper readers. Tom Gill draws the strip. [By sheer coincidence, Tom’s comic book career is covered elsewhere this issue.] I. Milton Caniff: The contributor of this outstanding portrait put on paper two enormously popular pictorial novels. After having made Terry and the Pirates the best-drawn, best-written and most exciting story strip up to that time, Caniff abandoned it to launch Steve Canyon. In the latter he has overcome the narrow limitations of newspaper-strip space and form with his remarkably brilliant dialogue and subtle character shading. [Caniff has influenced numerous comic book artists. His strips have been reprinted in numerous comic books.] J. Morris Weiss: Weiss here took a more personal approach that his colleagues, and one that is all the more effective because of its individuality. The ear in which the pen is placed indicates the artist is left-handed. [At one time Morris drew both the Joe Palooka and Mickey Finn newspaper strips. By another odd coincidence, Morris’s comic book career is explored this issue!] Not so easy, huh? Well, next issue we’ll keep it simple, with a raft of DC silver age superstars! See you next month for the conclusion of “I Like Ike!” Till next time—
& MR. MONSTER
Art ©2004
[Captain Marvel TM & ©2004 DC Comics.]
42
We Didn’t Know... After about a decade ... and a war ... he was on my drawing board again ... in another stab at the world of newspaper comics.
By mds& logo ©2004 Marc Swayze; Captain Marvel © & TM 2004 DC Comics] (c) [Art
[FCA EDITORS NOTE: From 1941-53, Marcus D. Swayze was a top artist for Fawcett Publications. The very first Mary Marvel character sketches came from Marc’s drawing table, and he illustrated her earliest adventures, including the classic origin story, “Captain Marvel Introduces Mary Marvel (CMA No. 18, Dec. ’42); but he was primarily hired by Fawcett to illustrate Captain Marvel stories and covers for Whiz Comics and Captain Marvel Adventures. He also wrote many Captain Marvel scripts, and continued to do so while in the military. After leaving the service in 1944, he made an arrangement with Fawcett to produce art and stories for them on a freelance basis out of his Louisiana home. There he created both art and story for The Phantom Eagle in Wow Comics, in addition to drawing the Flyin’ Jenny newspaper strip for Bell Syndicate (created by his friend and mentor Russell Keaton). After the cancellation of Wow, Swayze produced artwork for Fawcett’s top-selling line of romance comics. After the company ceased publishing comics, Marc moved over to Charlton Publications, where he ended his comics career in the mid-’50s. Marc’s ongoing professional memoirs have been FCA’s most popular feature since his first column appeared in FCA #54, 1996. Last issue, Marc told of his attempts at getting a syndicated strip sold, and included samples of a strip that never quite was: Marty Guy, Private Detective – The Great Guy. This time, he writes of another one of his—and perhaps his finest—syndicated strip attempts that almost was: Jango. —P.C. Hamerlinck.] There had been dogs in comic strips before, but I remembered them as funny, cartoony dogs. I wanted a hero dog ... like in those silent movies, those Jack London adventure stories. And I really thought I could create a strip featuring a dog that would hold the interest of the newspaper reader.
I thought I knew dogs pretty well. We had always had a dog around the house when I was growing up. From the beginning my choice among the breeds was the German shepherd. I realized that the canine ability to reason varied from dog to dog, and the thought of that discouraged any urge to exaggerate Jango’s intellect. “I wanted a dignified
After getting hooked on the idea of a Jango… poised….” Drawn in dog in a comic strip, I spent a lot of spare the late 1940s by Swayze. time hours drawing dogs. Plus, studying [©2004 Marc Swayze.] photographic reproductions of the German shepherd, particularly as illustrated in reference books. I learned that, while the breed was easily identifiable as such, within the boundaries of the breed there existed a variety of distinguishing qualities ... size, for example ... and coat colors. And temperament ... like people! I wanted a dignified Jango. Tall, poised ... with a coat of pale gray and white trim. This later Jango was to benefit from better writing than its predecessor. The experience from comic book stories for Whiz Comics, Captain Marvel Adventures, and Wow Comics ... and a variety of strips prepared for syndicate presentation ... paid off ... in confidence. At the typewriter I felt I knew what I was doing. I was particularly concerned with the timing ... the pacing of the story as it moved along. I was convinced that if you could hold the reader’s interest for several issues of his daily paper, while your story advanced only a few moments, you were a writer. I worked on that. It was my opinion that a new day was with us ... a more leisurely day ... a day where, in the comic strips, human interest was replacing violent action. I tried to keep that in mind as I prepared the 3 weeks of daily strips.
So it wasn’t anything special that a dog was included in my very first attempt to prepare a “try” at the newspaper syndicates. The main character was Judi, a young girl living alone in the jungle. Lest the strip contain a continuous flow of bubbly “thought balloons,” she needed a companion to whom she could express her thoughts aloud. I gave her “Jango.”
I carried the original art to New York City, where it was shown to the major syndicates. At their request, photostatic copies of the drawings were left with several for further study. Later I was given the impression that the feature was still under consideration when my contract with the Bell Syndicate for The Great Pierre was announced.
A year or so later the dog idea was attempted again ... same dog, same name. This time both art and writing may have borne the influence of the Captain Marvel work which occupied my daytime hours. The syndicate try was interrupted when our country entered World War II. But the dog just wouldn’t go away!
Marc and an early “Jango”: “We always had a dog around the house….” Photo courtesy of Marc Swayze.
[On the next four pages, printed in full for the first time anywhere, are the 18 daily strips which Marc wrote and drew of Jango. The work is ©2004 Marc Swayze.]
...It Was The Golden Age!
43
44
We Didn’t Know...
...It Was The Golden Age!
45
[More Golden Age memories from Marc in our next issue.]
46
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47
…And Then There Were None! Charlton and the Remnants of the Fawcett Comics Empire—The Index by Frank “Derby” Motler [EDITOR’S NOTE: In A/E #39, 40, & 42, we serialized Frank’s in-depth study of Charlton/CDC (Capital Distribution Co.), which during the 1950s purchased much of the inventory and copyrights of Fawcett, Toby, Mainline/Prize, and several other comics publishing companies which had left the field. Here, as the conclusion of the piece, is his exhaustive list of Charlton’s “acquisition titles,” their sources at other companies, and additional relevant information about the contents of these comics, followed by Frank’s notes on the compiling of this list. —PCH.]
This C.C. Beck cover from Captain Marvel Adventures #144 (March 1953) may well represent the way the powers-that-were at Fawcett Publications felt as their exit from the comic book industry drew nearer. They’d be out of the field before the year’s end—yet “The Stolen Shazam Powers” was and remains one of Alter Ego editor Roy Thomas’ all-time favorite “Captain Marvel” tales. Sadly, it’s never been reprinted. [Captain Marvel & Sivana TM & ©2004 DC Comics.]
Charlton (CDC): Acquisition Titles, 1953-9 Title
Issue From/
To Dates
Former Publisher/
Last Date
Remarks Hoppy cameos, various issues. See Funny Animals & note 8.
Atomic Mouse
#6-22
1954
1957
Fawcett
various
Badge of Justice
#22(1)
Jan-55
Jan-55
Fawcett
?
#84 Dec-83
Dec-83
Mainline
1954/5
Kirby Foxhole reprints.
Battlefield Action Billy the Kid Billy the Kid Billy the Kid
#9-121 Nov-57 #122-153
Sep-77
#109
Fawcett Crime Smasher, plus 1 other story. See also Crime and Justice.
Dec-76
Toby
c.Jun-55
From Masked Raider #8. Last Toby issue #29. 68-pp. giant #11.
Mar-83
Charlton
Dec-76
Series continues. Modern Promotions reprint.
1977
1977
Charlton
c.1974
Black Jack
#20-30 Nov-57
Nov-59
Charlton
n/a
Blue Beetle
#18-21 Feb-55
Aug-55
Fox
Aug-50
Featuring Rocky Lane’s horse. #22 68-pp. giant (Mar-58). Last Fox issue #60. 1st CDC Blue Beetle series, Fox reprints & some new art. Rocket Kelly #19, Joan Mason #20-21. See also Charlton Bullseye & Space Adventures.
After returning in a couple of 1954 issues of Space Adventures, The Blue Beetle got his own magazine again, starting the numbering with “#18,” which contained a mixture of Fox reprints and new art. Artist uncertain. [Blue Beetle TM & ©2004 DC Comics.]
“Hoppy,” a.k.a. Capt. Marvel Bunny, had starred in Fawcett’s Funny Animals, even before this Chad Grothkopf splash led off Hoppy the Marvel Bunny #1 (Dec. 1945) during a Fawcett post-World War II expansion that also included a monthly Marvel Family comic. At Charlton he would appear in reprints as Hoppy (or Happy) the Magic Bunny, minus the lightning bolt on his chest and with a different magic word. [Marvel Bunny TM & ©2004 DC Comics.]
48
Charlton And The Remnants Of The Fawcett Comics Empire––The Index
Title
Former Publisher/
Last Date
Issue From/
To Dates
Remarks
Blue Beetle
V2#1-5
Jun-64
Mar’Apr-65
Charlton
Aug-55
2nd series, all new stories.
Blue Beetle
V3#50-54
Jly-65
Feb’Mar-66
Charlton
Mar-Apr-65
3rd series, all new stories.
Blue Beetle
#1-5
Jun-67
Nov-68
Charlton
Feb-Mar-66
Blue Beetle
#1,3
1977
1977
Charlton
Nov-68
4th series, new Ditko art. 1st app. The Question in #1. Modern Promotions reprints.
Blue Bird Comics (most) #1-17
c.1959
c.1962
Charlton
1958-62
Reprints Charlton Li’l Genius. See note 9.
Blue Bird Comics
#1-4,10
c.1959
c.1962
Charlton
1958-62
Reprints Charlton Wild Bill Hickok. See note 9.
Blue Bird Comics
#4,5,6,8-10
c.1959
c.1962
Charlton
1958-62
Reprints Charlton Masked Raider. See note 9.
Blue Bird Comics
#7,10
c.1960
c.1961
Charlton
1959-60
Reprints Charlton Six-Gun Heroes. See note 9.
Bo
#1-3
Jun-55
Oct-55
Comic Media
Aug-54
Noodnik reprint in each. Last Superior issue #12.
Brenda Starr
#13-15
Jun-55
Oct-55
Superior
Dec-49
Bullseye
#6-7
Jun-55
Aug-55
Mainline
Feb-Mar-54
Captain Gallant
#2-4
Jan-56
Sep-56
Toby
1955
Charlie Chan
#6-9
Jun-55
Mar-56
Prize
Feb-Mar-49
#1
Jun-81
Jun-81
Charlton
Nov-68
Charlton Bullseye
Kirby covers/art. Becomes Code of the Pony Express. See also Gunfighters. No indicia on 1st issue, two versions exist. TV adaptation. Last Prize issue, #5. Inventory stories #6-7, Kirby cover #6, new CDC art #8-9. Becomes Zaza the Mystic. Last Blue Beetle at Charlton. The Question app.
Cody of the Pony Express #8-10 Oct-55
Jun-56
Charlton
Aug-55
Cowboy Love
#28-31 Dec-54
Aug-55
Fawcett
1951
Cowboy Western
#48, 50
Spr-54
-54
Fawcett
Jun-53
Cowboy Western
#50-58
1954
Jan-56
Avon
1956
Cowboy Western
#59-67
1955
Mar-58
Avon
May-Jun-56
Crime and Justice
#23-26 Mar-55
May-55
Fawcett
various
#23 Fawcett Crime Smasher #23. Fox, Fawcett, Ziff-Davis stories. Little Al, Ziff-Davis in #24, 26. See also Badge of Justice.
Danger
#12-14
Oct-55
Comic Media
Aug-54
Last Comic Media issue #11.
Danger and Adventure
#22(1) Feb-55
Feb-55
Fawcett
1953
Ibis The Invincible & Nyoka reprinted stories?
Danger and Adventure
#23 Apr-55
Apr-55
Fawcett
1953
Lance O’Casey & Nyoka reprinted stories?
Fawcett
n/a
Johnny Adventure & Mike Danger stories, unused Fawcett inventory stories with new covers.
Jun-55
Comic Media & Mainline stories + new art. Bullseye app.#8. From Romantic Story. Last Fawcett issue V2#11. Golden Arrow stories, last app. Whiz #153, Jun-53. See note 4 Jesse James, Tom Mix & Wild Bill Hickok stories. See notes 4 & 5. Wild Bill Hickok & Jingles stories in each,. #67 68-page giant.
Danger and Adventure #24-27
Jun-55
Feb-56
Death Valley
Jun-55
Oct-55
Comic Media
Aug-54
Last Comic Media issue #6.
#70-73 Nov-55
Sep-55
Fawcett
Sep-51
Last Fawcett issue Don Winslow #69; see also TV Teens.
Don Winslow
#7-9
Fightin’ Army
#16(1)-17
Jan-56
Apr-56
various
various
Ziff-Davis? inventory #16, 2x Comic Media stories #17, Don Heck art.
Fightin’ Marines
#14-132 May-55
Nov-76
St. John
Mar-53
Last St. John issue #12. #14-17 reprint St. John’s #2, 5, 3 & ? Baker art in each. Giant editions #25 (100 pp., Mar-58), #26 (68 pp., Aug-58).
The only human Fawcett super-hero to make an appearance in a Charlton comic—assuming you count magicians—was Ibis the Invincible, the resuscitated Egyptian who’d been a regular feature in Whiz Comics. This (probably) inventory story popped up in CDC’s Danger and Adventure #22 (Feb. 1955, actually the first issue). Nyoka also appeared in that ish, whose Ibis cover (with art picked up from the splash) was seen in Part II, in A/E #40. Thanks to Charlton Spotlight publisher Michael Ambrose. [Ibis & Taia TM & ©2004 DC Comics.]
...And Then There Were None!
49
Behind a new (Dick Giordano?) cover which showcased Mike Danger and Johnny Adventure, Danger and Adventure #26 (Nov. 1955) included a “Lance O’Casey” tale. Lance, like Ibis, had been a regular in Fawcett’s defunct flag title Whiz Comics since the beginning in late 1939. This is probably an inventory story. Thanks to Michael Ambrose. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]
Title Fightin’ Marines Fightin’ Marines Foreign Intrigues Foxhole Funny Animals Funny Animals
Former Publisher/
Last Date
Sep-84
St. John
Mar-53
Series continues.
1977
1977
Charlton
c.1974
Modern Promotions reprint.
#14-15 Mar-56
Aug-56
Charlton
Oct-55
Johnny Dynamite continues, new CDC art.
Issue From/
To Dates
#133-176 Oct-77 #120
Remarks
Jly-55
Mar-56
Mainline
Apr-55
Kirby art #5-6, continued as Never Again #8.
#84-91 Apr-54
Feb-56
Fawcett
Dec-53
From Fawcett’s Funny Animals #1-83. Merry Mailman #88-9. Hoppy in all. See also Atomic Mouse & note 8.
#5-7
Sep-84
Nov-84
Charlton
Feb-56
2nd series, Atomic Mouse reprints.
#51-59 Dec-54
Jan-57
Fawcett/ Toby
Dec-53
From Gabby Hayes Adventure Comics #1 (Toby, Dec-53), last Fawcett, Gabby Hayes #50 (Jan-53). See note 6.
Giant Comics
#1,3Sum-1957
Win-58/9
Gunfighters
#85
Gabby Hayes Western
#1-2
Charlton
Jly-84
Jly-84
Charlton
Hot Rods & Racing Cars #16, 21 Jun-54
Mar-55
Fawcett/ Z-D
Humbug
#1-11 Aug-57
Oct-58
HK Enterprises
I Love You
#7-130
May-80
In Love
Sep-55
1954
Li’l Genius and Hoppy the Magic Bunny in both.
1955
Bullseye reprint, S&K art.
various
Clint Curtis inventory by Powell #16, Hot Rod King #21
n/a
Edited & produced by Harvey Kurtzman, published by Charlton.
Charlton
Jly-55
From I Love You. Kirby cover #8, Fawcett & Mainline inventory in early issues.
Jly-55
Mainline
Feb-55
Continued as I Love You. Kirby cover #5.
Oct-55
Comic Media
Sep-54
From Dynamite #1-9. Title change probably due to CDC/ Toby co-production of Dynamite magazine, 1955. See also Foreign Intrigues.
#47-84Mar-Apr-54
Jun-61
Fawcett
Jan-54
68-pp. giant #67, 68 (Feb & May 1958). See also Masked Raider, Six-Gun Heroes, & note 5.
Li’l Genius
#5-53
Oct-65
Toby
Jly-54
Continued from Toby’s Super Brat #1-4, created by Mel Lazarus. #5 may not exist. Giant editions #16-18 (Jan - Oct 1958). Becomes Summer Fun #54.See also Giant Comics #3 & Li’l Rascal Twins.
Li’l Genius
#54-55 Oct-85
Jan-86
Charlton
Oct-65
Li’l Rascal Twins
#6-18
Jan-60
Charlton
1954
Li’l Genius (and Li’l Tomboy) in each.
#5-6 May-55
Johnny Dynamite
#10-12
Last LaRue Western
Jun-55
?1954
1957
Series restarts.
Long John Silver
#31 Dec-56
Dec-56
Fox
Aug-49
Captain Kidd, Fox inventory story.
Masked Raider
#1-5
Jun-55
Aug-56
Toby
Jun-55
Inventory stories from Toby, Sekowsky + new art. Fox art #2, Rocky Lane Fawcett inventory #3. See note 5.
#6-8
c.Apr-56
Masked Raider
Featuring Billy the Kid. To Billy the Kid.
c.1957
Jly-57
Toby
Masked Raider
#14-30 Aug-58
Jun-61
Charlton
Jly-57
2nd series, from Frontier Scout Daniel Boone #10-13. Lash LaRue & Rocky Lane stories #21, 24. See also Blue Bird & note 5.
Monte Hale Western
#83-88 Feb-55
Jan-56
Fawcett
Jun-53
Last Fawcett issue #82. See note 3.
#4 May-55
May-55
Fawcett
Oct-50
From Negro Romance #1-3. Reprints #1, new cover.
#14-22Oct-Nov-55
Nov-57
Fawcett
Jun-53
From Zoo Funnies #13, last Fawcett Nyoka #77. Fawcett inventory to #16, new CDC art after that. New Whitman covers #14-20, #22. Jo-Jo, Fox reprint #14. See also Danger and Adventure #22-23.
Negro Romances Nyoka the Jungle Girl
50
Charlton And The Remnants Of The Fawcett Comics Empire––The Index To Dates
Former Publisher/
Last Date
Title
Issue From/
Police Trap
#5-6
Jly-55
Sep-55
Mainline
Ramar of the Jungle
#2-5
Sep-55
Sep-56
Toby
1954
Range Busters
#8-10 May-55
Sep-55
Fox
Sep-50
Last Fox issue #1, Fox reprints. Golden Arrow, Fawcett inventory #10. See also Wyatt Earp #12 & note 5.
Rocky Lane Western
#56-87 Feb-54
Nov-59
Fawcett
Jan-54
Last Fawcett issue #55, 68-pp. giant #79 (Feb-58). See also Black Jack, Masked Raider, Six-Gun Heroes, & note 5.
Romantic Secrets
V2#5-52 Oct-55
Nov-64
Fawcett
Apr-53
Last Fawcett issue #39. Becomes Time for Love.
Romantic Story
#23-27 May-54
Dec-54
Fawcett
Sum-53
Last Fawcett issue #22. Becomes Cowboy Love.
Romantic Story
#28-130 Aug-55
Nov-73
Fawcett
Sum-53
2nd series. Giants #39 (68 pp., Mar-58), #40 (100 pp., Sep-58) Colletta art.
Rookie Cop
#27(1) Nov-55
Nov-55
Comic Media
May-53
Morisi reprint from Danger #3.
Feb-Mar-55
Remarks Simon & Kirby art. Becomes Public Defender in Action. From Ramar of the Jungle #1. TV series adaptation.
Scotland Yard
#1-3
Jun-55
Oct-55
Fox/ Z-D
various
Inventory + new art in each. Little Al story #3. #4 new CDC art.
Six-Gun Heroes
#24-83
Jan-54
Mar-Apr-65
Fawcett
Nov-53
last Fawcett issue #23, becomes Gunmaster. See also Blue Bird Comics, notes 2b, 4 & 5.
Summer Fun
#54 Oct-66
Oct-66
Charlton
Oct-65
Continues from Li’l Genius #53, giant edition.
#11-15 Dec-54
Aug-55
Toby
Apr-53
Fawcett & Toby reprints, see note 6.
Soldier and Marine
V2#9 Dec-56
Dec-56
Charlton
Aug-55
2nd series, continued from Never Again #8. New CDC art.
Space Adventures
#13-14Oct-Nov-54
Jan-55
Fox
Aug-50
1st Blue Beetle appearances at Charlton, all Fox reprint. See also Blue Beetle & Charlton Bullseye.
Soldier and Marine
Space Adventures
#16-17 May-55
Jly-55
Ziff-Davis
1950
Inventory story in each. #16 by Krigstein, #17 Bill Discount?
Space Adventures
#20, #23 Mar-56
May-58
Fawcett
1950
Fawcett’s Destination Moon reprint in both.
Summer Fun
#54 Oct-66
Oct-66
Charlton
Oct-65
Li’l Genius app. 68-pp. giant.
Jan-54
Nov-54
Fawcett
Feb-53
Last Fawcett issue Strange Suspense Stories #5. See note 2b.
Strange Suspense Stories #27-77 Oct-55
Oct-65
Charlton
Nov-55
2nd series, 68-pp. giant #36 (Mar-58), Ditko art. Captain Atom by Ditko #75-7, becomes Captain Atom.
Strange Suspense Stories
V3#1 Oct-67
Oct-67
Charlton
Oct-65
3rd series
Strange Suspense Stories
#2-9
Jly-68
Sep-69
Charlton
Oct-67
3rd series continues.
#32-65 Oct-55
Aug-62
Fawcett
Jan-53
last Fawcett issue #14. 68-pp. giant #41 (Mar-58). Becomes Cynthia Doyle
Sweethearts
#122 Mar-54
Mar-54
Fawcett
May-53
1st CDC issue Last Fawcett issue #121.
Sweethearts
V2#23-137 May-54
Strange Suspense Stories #16-22
Sweetheart Dairy
Dec-73
Fawcett
May-53
series renumbered.
Terry and the Pirates
#26-28
Jun-55
Oct-55
Harvey
Apr-51
Last Harvey issue #26. George Wunder reprints in all. #27 Don Heck Comic Media reprint, #28 Lance O’Casey, Fawcett inventory.
Tex Ritter Western
#21-46 Mar-54
May-59
Fawcett
Jan-54
Last Fawcett issue #20.
#17 Nov-54
Nov-54
Fawcett
unknown
Last issue, part Fawcett inventory, Powell art.
The Thing!
Nyoka had started out in movie serials in the early 1940s (in the serial Jungle Girl), then become a co-star in Fawcett’s Master Comics and in her own popular title. (Left:) You don’t believe Nyoka the Jungle Girl was popular? This is the photo-cover of penultimate Fawcett issue #76, from April 1953. In fact, old “Nyoka” stories are still being reprinted from time to time by Bill Black’s AC Comics—check out their website <accomics.com>. (Right:) Charlton’s Nyoka #15 (April 1956) boasted another illustrative Maurice Whitman cover, fronting Fawcett inventory stories. [Nyoka TM & ©2004 AC Comics.]
...And Then There Were None! Even before it started featuring “Blue Beetle” stories, Charlton’s Space Adventures was one of the company’s class entries, often with cover (and interior) art by newcomer Steve Ditko. This is Ditko’s cover for #10 (Spring 1954). Though the words “Science Fiction” were added to the cover logo for a time, they were never part of the official title. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]
Issue From/
To Dates
Former Publisher/
This Is Suspense
#23 Apr-55
Apr-55
This Is Suspense
#24 Apr-55
Apr-55
Jun-55
Aug-55
This Magazine Is Haunted#15-21 Feb-54
Nov-54
True Life Secrets #20, 23, 26-28
Jly-54
Sep-55
#14-15 Feb-54
Title
This Is Suspense
#25-26
TV Teens
As reported in Part I of this series, in A/E #39, “A Pork Chop for Hamlet,” the George Evans-drawn tale that had appeared in Fawcett’s Battle Stories #1 (Jan. 1952) was reprinted by Charlton in its Soldier and Marine #13 (April 1955). Hamlet is the pooch— Pork Chop Hill was the site of some of the bloodiest fighting during the Korean War of 195053. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]
Last Date
Remarks
unknown
c.1952
Reprints Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde by Wally Wood. See note 7.
Fawcett
Jun-52
Reprints Suspense Detective #1. See note 7.
Comic Media
1952-4
Don Heck reprints in each. Morisi in #25. See note 7.
Fawcett
Dec-53
Last Fawcett issue #14. Part Fawcett inventory #15, 16, 18 & 20.
Fawcett/ Fox
various
Part Fawcett or Fox inventory stories. Fox cover reprint #23. Ozzie and Babs, from Fawcett series Ozzie and Babs #1-13.
May-54
Fawcett
Fal-49
Jun-54 Oct-Nov-54
Fawcett
Fal-49
Series renumbered, Ozzie and Babs continue.
Jan-55
Jan-55
Fawcett
Sep-51
1st CDC Don Winslow, also Lance O’Casey app. see Don Winslow.
#7-13 May-55
Jly-56
St. John
Sep-53
Mopsy app. Last St. John issue Mopsy #19. Becomes Rock & Rollo.
Wild Bill Hickok and Jingles #68-75Aug-58
Dec-59
Avon
Win a Prize
Apr-55
TV Teens
#3-5
TV Teens
#6
TV Teens
Wyatt Earp
#1-2 Feb-55
May-Jun-56
Last Avon issue #28. Characters continued from Cowboy Western #59-67 & Six-Gun Heroes #38-43. See notes 4 & 5.
Mainline
n/a
Conceived by Mainline, published by CDC. Kirby covers/ art to both. Third issue at design stage when title cancelled.
various
#12 Al Tewks art, Comic Media inventory? + Range Busters. #16 Masked Raider. #19 Young Eagle, new CDC art.
#12(1), 16, 19
Jan-56
Jan-58
various
#3-5
Jly-56
Apr-57
Fawcett
Jun-52
Last Fawcett issue Young Eagle #10. See also notes 2b & 5.
#10(1)-11 Apr-56
Apr-56
Charlton
Mar-56
From Charlie Chan. Charlie Chan story, (retitled Louie Lou) #10.
Sep-55
Fawcett
Jun-53
Nyoka, Fawcett inventory stories, in all. New Whitman covers #12-13. Jo-Jo (retitled Clibo) #12. Becomes Nyoka. See also Danger and Adventure.
Young Eagle Zaza the Mystic
51
Zoo Funnies (2nd series)
#8-13Oct’Nov-54
Notes & Acknowledgements Thanks to Michael Feldman for information regarding the Toby/ Charlton connection, plus CDC and Leader News (LN.)
3/
Please note similarity between the Fawcett western title Monte Hale & former Toby war title Monty Hall (of the U.S. Marines.)
1b/ Thanks also to David Howarth for drawing to my attention to the article in Alter Ego #25. See also note 8.
4/
Jesse James, Kit Carson and Wild Bill Hickok were also Avon characters. Jesse James & Wild Bill Hickok appeared in various issues of Cowboy Western #17-38, 50-8 (1948-55). Wild Bill Hickok & Jingles (TV) appeared in Cowboy Western/Wild Bill Hickok #59-67/ 68-75 (1956 to Dec. 1959) & Six-Gun Heroes #3843 (June ’56 to Nov. ’57). Kit Carson (TV) appeared in Six-Gun Heroes #44-5 (1957), last Avon issue Kit Carson #8 (Sept. 1955).
5/
The line-up of former Fawcett characters, in CDC’s continuation of Six-Gun Heroes, is as follows: #24-37 Lash LaRue, Rocky Lane, & Tom Mix (plus M.E. star Tim Holt) (#24 also Hopalong Cassidy), Lash LaRue #46-60. Lash LaRue also appeared in Masked Raider #21, Rocky Lane in Masked Raider #3 & 24, with Tom Mix in Cowboy Western #53. Of the other former Fawcett characters,
1/
2a/ This index lists all known titles acquired & published by Charlton between 1953-9, with publication dates, together with details of last known issue from previous publisher. Other titles/issues will additionally list known appearances of acquired characters/ stories. All items are Volume #1 unless stated otherwise. All related giant editions are listed, where known. Wyatt Earp #20 & 21 were also 68 & 100-pp. giants (not listed above). 2b/ The first of these releases were Six-Gun Heroes #24 & Strange Suspense Stories #16 (Jan. 1954). The last in this initial wave was Young Eagle #3 (July 1956).
52
Charlton And The Remnants Of The Fawcett Comics Empire––The Index (Left:) Sweethearts had been one of Fawcett’s (and the comic book field’s) most successful titles through 1953—so perhaps it was only fitting that Sweethearts #137 (Dec. 1957) became the last Charlton mag that bore a title it had purchased from Fawcett. (Right:) Still, it was on the World’s Mightiest Mortal, not mundane romance comics, that Fawcett’s comics empire had originally been based, so we’re “going out” with this panel from the “Captain Marvel” story in Marvel Family #62 (Sept. 1951). You may recall its splash from A/E #18, but that tale’s message bears repeating: don’t all Golden (and Silver) Age fans wish they could go back in time and purchase beaucoup copies of vintage comics? But, at least in non-super-hero areas, Charlton carried the Fawcett torch for years… and, oddly, DC Comics itself acquired the rights to Cap, Family, and friends, in 1973. Repro’d from a black-&-white Australian edition. [©2004 DC Comics.]
Crime Smasher (Whiz Comics) is in Badge of Justice #22 & Crime and Justice #23, Golden Arrow appears in Cowboy Western #48, 49(?), 50 & Range Busters #10. Ibis appears in Danger and Adventure #22, whilst Lance O’Casey appears in Danger and Adventure #23, Terry and the Pirates #28, TV Teens #6, Young Eagle in Cowboy Western #66, Young Eagle #3-5 & Wyatt Earp #19. Nyoka features in Zoo Funnies/Nyoka #8-13/ 14-22, Danger and Adventure #22 & 23. Captain Kidd (Fox) appears in Long John Silver #31, Jo-Jo (Fox) in Nyoka #14 & Zoo Funnies #12, with Little Al (Ziff-Davis) in Crime and Justice #24, 26 & Scotland Yard #3. 6/
7/
8/
9/
Soldier and Marine used inventory stories from Toby & Fawcett & continued from Soldier Comics (Fawcett), Monty Hall of the U.S. Marines, or Tell It to the Marines (both Toby). The first 2 issues carry indicia “published bi-monthly by Toby Press Of Conn.” as did Gabby Hayes Western #51 & 52. This Is Suspense #23 reprints Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, originally from A Star Presentation #3 (Fox, May 1950). It was subsequently reprinted by Star, in Startling Terror Tales #10(1) May 1952. #24 reprints Suspense Detective #1 in censored form, with cover based on original. Other issues in series reprint Comic Media stories & old inventory art from Fawcett & others. Hoppy The Marvel Bunny stories appear in Funny Animals #8491. There are back cover cameos of Hoppy on Atomic Mouse #6, 14, 15, 17, 19 & 22. Information taken from Alter Ego #25. See also note 1b. The Blue Bird series reprinted previous CDC issues, re-badged with amended covers. They were released chronologically, but with several different issues carrying the same number. There was further variation within individual issues, as different shoe store names were printed at the top of the cover.
References Alter Ego V3 #25, “Hoppy: The Forgotten Marvel” by George Ramsey, TwoMorrows, U.S.A., Jun-03 Charlton Spotlight #1, 2, “Charlton Comics Checklist” by Dan Stevenson, Argo Press, U.S.A., 2000/ 2 Comic Book Artist #9, “Charles Santangelo Interview” by Christopher Irving, “The Charlton Empire” by Jon B. Cooke & Christopher Irving; “A Capital Idea!” by Robert Beerbohm, TwoMorrows, U.S.A, Aug-00 .
Comic Book in America, The (Updated), by Mike Benton, Taylor Press, U.S.A., 1993 Comic Book Makers, The, by Joe Simon, chapter “Last Port Of Call” (Charlton Comics) p185, Crestwood/II Publications, U.S.A., 1990 Comic Book Marketplace #23, “Fearsome Fawcetts of the 50s” by Michelle Nolan, Gemstone Publishing Inc., U.S.A., May-95 Comic Book Marketplace #30, “Collecting Charltons” by Michelle Nolan, Gemstone Publishing Inc., U.S.A., Dec-95 Comic Book Marketplace #79,“1950’s Blue Beetle” by Michelle Nolan,“The Magazine Connection” by Alan Betrock, Gemstone Publishing Inc., U.S.A., Jun-00 From the Tomb # 7, “The Exotic Art Of Lou Morales,” “First Past The Post (Code)” & “Win a Prize: The Post-Code Adventures Of Simon & Kirby,” all by Frank ‘no-publicity’ Motler, Peter Normanton, England, Mar-02 From the Tomb # 12, “Bad American Comics: Never Again?” Frank ‘nature boy’ Motler, Peter Normanton, England, Feb-04 Golden-Age Greats Vol. 11, “Roy Rogers & the Silver Screen Cowboys,” by Bill Black, AC Comics/ Paragon Publications, U.S.A., 1997 My Little Margie, Episode Guide: website http://timstvshowcase.com/ margie.html, 2004 Official Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide, 34th Edition, by Robert M. Overstreet, House Of Collectibles, U.S.A., 2004 Photo-Journal Guide to Comic Books, The, 2 Volumes, by Ernest and Mary Gerber, Ernest and Mary Gerber, U.S.A., 1989/90 Sunset Carson: website http://www.surfnetinc.com/chuck/sunset.htm, 2004 Tales Too Terrible to Tell #10, “Chapter 10: Fawcett” by George Suarez, NEC Press, U.S.A., Sep’Oct-93 Tales Too Terrible to Tell #11, “Chapter 11: Charlton” by George Suarez, NEC Press, U.S.A., Nov’Dec-93 Who’s Who of American Comic Books, 4 Volumes, by Jerry Bails & Hames Ware, Jerry Bails, U.S.A., 1973-76 All information researched and compiled by: Frank Motler, England. A Fatboy Production, 8th August 2004
Now—FLIP US for our All In Color For A Peso Section!
MEXICO 1
THE GREAT SUPER-HEROES OF DURING THE U.S. SILVER AGE STARRING
1994--2004
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December 2004
PRESENTING A GOLDEN AGE OF MEXICAN COMICS, WITH
DAVE STEVENS, FRED PATTEN, PABLO MARCOS, & HEROES
SANTO, NEUTRóN, HOMBRE INVISIBLE, EL PILOTO FANTASMA, SUPERCHARRO, & CRIOLLO, THE INVINCIBLE HORSE— NOT TO MENTION
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Vol. 3, No. 43/December 2004
™
Editor
Roy Thomas
Associate Editors Bill Schelly Jim Amash
Design & Layout
Christopher Day
Consulting Editor John Morrow
FCA Editor
P.C. Hamerlinck
Comic Crypt Editor Michael T. Gilbert
Editors Emeritus
Jerry Bails (founder) Ronn Foss, Biljo White, Mike Friedrich
Production Assistant
Eric Nolen-Weathington
...AND ALL IN COLOR FOR A PESO Dept.
Cover Artists Dave Stevens George Tuska
Cover Colorists Phil Noto Tom Ziuko
And Special Thanks to: Heidi Amash Stan Lee Michael Ambrose Pablo Marcos Ger Apeldoorn Pat Mason Bob Bailey Tom Moore Jerry Beck Brian K. Morris Jack & Carol Bender Frank Motler Jerry K. Boyd Fred Patten Frank & Kisara Don Rosick Brunner Dave Ross Stan Burns Joe & Betty Sinnott Nick Cardy Dave Stevens R. Dewey Cassell Tom Stewart Bob Cherry Marc Swayze Gene & Adrienne Dann Thomas Colan Mike Thomas Kelly Everaert Alex Toth Michael Fraley George & Dorothy Stephan Friedt Tuska Janet Gilbert Michael Uslan Tom Gill Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr. Jennifer Hamerlinck Dr. Michael J. Bill Henley Vassallo Dave Herring Mort Walker Steve Herring Hames Ware Bob Hughes Morris & Blanche Weiss Al Jaffee Tom Wimbish Jeff Jatras Richard Kyle
1
1994--2004
Contents
¡Supermen South! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Fred Patten’s guided tour of Mexico’s heroic comics during the U.S. Silver Age. re: [comments, correspondence, & corrections]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Happy Holidays Side! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Flip Us! About Our Cover: Two or three years back, in an issue of Comic Book Artist, editor Jon B. Cooke printed a fairly small image of the Mexican masked-wrestler hero Santo, penciled and inked by the inimitable Dave Stevens. We realized at once that a full-size, color version of it would make a great cover for this issue’s extended coverage of Mexican comic book heroes of the 1960s. So thanks to Dave for allowing us to print it! [©2004 Dave Stevens; Santo TM & ©2004 the respective trademark & copyright holders.] Above: Ever since A/E editor Roy Thomas picked up a handful of issues of Criollo el Caballo Invencible in Mexico in 1964, that comic’s real star in its heyday—Supercharro—has been his runaway favorite of all the super-heroes from south of the Rio Grande. So not much chance he’d pass up an opportunity to display one more great cover drawing of the rider of the Invincible Horse by artist Sixto Valencia Burgos! This one is from Criollo #108 (October 1964). [©2004 the respective copyright holders.] Alter EgoTM is published monthly by TwoMorrows, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614, USA. Phone: (919) 449-0344. Roy Thomas, Editor. John Morrow, Publisher. Alter Ego Editorial Offices: 32 Bluebird Trail, St. Matthews, SC 29135, USA. Fax: (803) 826-6501; e-mail: roydann@ntinet.com. Send subscription funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial offices. Single issues: $8 ($10 Canada, $11.00 elsewhere). Twelve-issue subscriptions: $60 US, $120 Canada, $132 elsewhere. All characters are © their respective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © Roy Thomas. Alter Ego is a TM of Roy & Dann Thomas. FCA is a TM of P.C. Hamerlinck. Printed in Canada. FIRST PRINTING.
2
SOUTH! Mexican Hero Comics During The U.S. Silver Age by Fred Patten [with special thanks to Brian K. Morris for a typing assist—including all those accent marks!]
Special thanks to veteran comics artist Pablo Marcos for this powerful Avengers #1-style image of some of the very greatest of the original Mexican heroes—Santo, Neutrón, Relámpago, El Piloto Fantasma, and Supercharro riding Criollo the Invincible Horse—all set to take on Uncle Sam in the comics wars! Logo by Al Dellinges, adapted from Biljo White’s 1965 original. [Art ©2004 Pablo Marcos; heroes TM & ©2004 the respective trademark & copyright holders.]
¡Supermen South! [A/E EDITOR’S NOTE: In summer of 1964, soon after agreeing to assume the publishing and editorial duties of what in retrospect is called “Volume 1” of Alter Ego, I went on a monthlong drive through Mexico with a ladyfriend in my ’58 Chevy. While meandering between Nuevo Laredo, Monterey, Mexico City, Puebla, San Blas, Guaymas, and the Mexico/Arizona border, I added to my small collection of Mexican comic books begun the previous summer when I’d spent three weeks in Puerto Rico. I came back this time fired up with the notion of writing an article on such intriguing South of the Border super-heroes as Santo, Neutrón, Relámpago, and particularly Supercharro. While there, I’d even managed to sit through the entire movie Santo Contra Los Zombies, despite knowing virtually no Spanish (or maybe that feat was possible because I knew no Spanish). However, I quickly realized I had neither the collection nor the knowledge to do justice to the subject. [As I soon learned, however, California science-fiction/comics fan Fred Patten did. He and I had gotten in contact by mail through the Lupoffs’ fanzine Xero—or maybe through A/E or the Thompsons’ Comic Art. Fred volunteered to write such a piece—and he soon submitted a long, informative, and downright entertaining study of both Mexico’s original heroes—including several I hadn’t encountered—and its reprints and adaptations of US titles. The lattermentioned section of Fred’s article appeared in early 1965 in A/E [Vol. 1] #8, and half of the remainder in the following issue, published near the end of that year. Alas, because by then I was happily ensconced as Stan Lee’s assistant editor (call me “Houseroy”) in New York City, future issues of A/E were put on hold. Eventually, the final third of Fred’s article saw print in CAPA-Alpha in 1970; but the circulation of that first “apa-zine” devoted to comic books was only a few dozen people, as opposed to the thousand or so then-subscribers of A/E. [The part of Fred’s article dealing with Mexican reprints of US comics was itself reprinted in 1997 in Bill Schelly’s and my out-ofprint Hamster Press volume Alter Ego: The Best of the Legendary Comics Fanzine, mostly with the same art that had appeared in A/E [V1]#8. But, ever since TwoMorrows and I revived A/E as a full magazine in 1999, I’ve planned to reprint the larger portion dealing with original heroes, and Fred has been remarkably patient—not even complaining when I first featured coverage of French comics heroes (in #30) and of the Golden Age of Canadian comic books (in #36). Still, D-Day has finally come. What’s more, I decided to run Fred’s entire article, on reprints and original heroes alike, pretty much as Fred scribed it in 1964-65, plus the handful of notes he added in 1970 to the portion printed in CAPA-alpha—and, in the 11th hour, we shoehorned in a short essay he wrote in 1974 about the Mexican “Conan” comic, such as it was, which had debuted a few months after he wrote the original study. [This mid-September, I received a huge box of Mexican comic books from Fred in the mail. It contained everything really needed to illustrate the article—far beyond the handful of Mexican comics I still retain from my own summer sojourn now just over forty years in the
3 (Left:) Fred Patten as he looked in the early 1960s— well, actually, he mostly wore his Flash outfit to science-fiction conventions. Thanks to Bill Schelly. (Right:) Fred in a 1997 photo, taken by friend Stan Burns. Hey, Fred—do you still have that great hat?
past. Fred and I, too, are an incomprehensible nigh-four decades older than when he wrote the piece and I published much of it—and yet, for reasons probably neither of us could entirely explain, we still hold onto these specimens of another culture’s superheroes of yore. Nearly all the art that accompanies this article, therefore, was provided by Fred. Me, I couldn’t even find the Mexican maskedwrestler photo magazines I bought off L.A. newsstands in 1976—and I still can’t speak or read Spanish—though that hasn’t stopped me from tossing in a few personal observations and updatings when writing the captions to accompany the art, as I generally do.
[I enjoyed re-reading “¡Supermen South!” just as much this time as when I first read it at the turn of 1965—and Fred and I both hope you’ll feel it was worth waiting for. For best results, put yourself in the proper mindset: the year is 1965 (most of the time, anyway), and Fred has buttonholed you to tell you about this very interesting phenomenon he learned about not so very long ago…! —Roy.]
Super-Heroes of the World Unite! The comic book super-hero is usually considered a uniquely American phenomenon; nor does one often see much to change this impression. The super-heroes we read about are all 100% American, from the Fantastic Four, et al., in New York to Green Lantern in “Coast City” by the blue Pacific. Is someone threatening to blow up the Eiffel Tower in Paris? The Flash will take care of it. Are the Commies getting especially active in Vietnam? Everybody from Captain America to Magicman seems to be on hand to push them back again. If there’s trouble anywhere in the world, our comics proclaim, one of our super-heroes will buzz right over to set things aright. This picture of a complete US comics monopoly is enhanced if you read the letter columns. I’m sure you’ve all seen the letter from some boy in a South Pacific nation, who has just found an isolated two-yearold copy of The Comic on his newsstand and wants to know if anybody in America will send him more issues so he won’t continue to be culturally deprived. Or the one from the American serviceman stationed abroad who’s just come across The Comic in the Base PX, and, boy, does it remind him of the good old days of comicdom! The implications are clear: the whole world would be in a mess if it weren’t for the American super-heroes, and obviously no other nation is capable of producing such Men of Might. (Though some of these foreign places manage to come up with a colorful super-villain every now and then.) Furthermore, the US seems to be the only country that publishes these comics; any copies to be found in foreign lands are either exported American issues, or, at best, sloppy reproductions of US comics in the quaint local tongue. ’Tain’t so! Granted, there are a lot of exported US comics and reprints of same. But other countries also have their own super-heroes,
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Mexican Hero Comics During The U.S. Silver Age style. Indeed, La Prensa’s comics seem to be produced for sale in the United States as much as for Mexican sale. The cover price reads: “$1.00 [i.e., one peso, or 8H¢ cents in our currency] en la Rep. Mexicana; 0.10 dolares en el extranjero.” A note inside confirms that the price “in foreign lands” is in US money.
When Fred wrote in 1964-65 of The Flash saving the Eiffel Tower and Captain America showing up in Vietnam, he was referring to stories like these from Showcase #13 (April 1958) and Tales of Suspense #61 (Jan. 1965). The former was written by Robert Kanigher and drawn by Carmine Infantino (pencils) & Joe Giella (inks), while the latter— well, read the credits! [Flash panels ©2004 DC Comics; Capt. America splash ©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]
who combat mad villains and natural and extraterrestrial disasters in their own right. Comic fandom has spent several years now discussing the American comic book in great detail; it’s time we broadened the field to take in the comics output of other nations. The acme of desirability would be a sort of comic book Baedeker, in which any comic fan could look up in an instant the information as to what comic books and which super-heroes are available in any given country. To commence such a project, let’s look into the comic book situation just across the Rio Grande. The Mexican super-hero and science-fiction comics can generally be divided into three broad fields: straight reprints of US comics; original comics based on American titles; and entirely original comics with their own heroes and villains. Part I, following, will discuss the first two of these fields lightly; and Part II will go into the original Mexican costume-hero comics in much greater detail. Onward, then!
Part I Norteamericano Reprints– Plus a Couple of Anomalies …And All in Color for a Peso The reprinting of US comic books in Mexico is largely in the hands of two publishing companies, both located in Mexico City. These are “Organización Editorial Novaro, S.A. de C.V.” and “Editora de Periodicos, S.C.L., ‘La Prensa.’” Of these, Novaro has by far the largest percentage of US reprints, consisting of all Mexican publication of National Periodical (DC), Gold Key, and Dell titles: super-hero, Disney, and otherwise. La Prensa has just the Marvel titles, of which they reprint only four. La Prensa’s main line is in original comics based on US titles (not always with permission to use the US characters) and completely original Mexican comics drawn in the “American” (norteamericano)
Incidentally, the peso price-tag (and yes, that “$1.00” startled me the first time I saw it, too) is unanimous on all regular Mexican comics, though the newsstands here in Los Angeles charge 15¢ apiece for them. All in all, Novaro and La Prensa take up about equal amounts of space on stands with their titles, though La Prensa doesn’t have nearly so many in the adventure-hero line. The bulk of Novaro’s super-hero comics lies in its reprints of the DC issues. These are usually reprinted six months to a year or more after their original appearance in this country, and they pretty well cover the entire DC output. The biggest difference lies in the number of titles appearing, because Novaro generally combines two or more US titles into only one Mexican title, leaning heavily toward “presentations” in the Brave and Bold and Showcase manner. Most of the DC comics edited by Mort Weisinger are reprinted under the single title of Supermán, which appears weekly. For instance: Supermán #466 (Sept. 23, 1964) is a reprint of Jimmy Olsen #71 (Sept. 1963); Supermán #467 (Sept. 30, 1964) is our Superman #170 (July 1964); Supermán #468 (Oct. 7, 1964) is Lois Lane #46 (Jan. 1964); Supermán #469 (Oct. 14, 1964) is Adventure Comics #316 (Jan. 1964); and Supermán #470 (Oct. 21, 1964) is Superboy #109 (Dec. 1963). The 80-Page Giant “annuals” appear as “Numeros Extraordinarios” and are not numbered, though they are dated. Batman, also a weekly (issue #254 is dated Jan. 21, 1965), reprints in the same way Batman, Detective Comics, and World’s Finest Comics (a holdover from when Jack Schiff edited the US version). In addition, Batman also “presents” Flash (The Flash), Linterna Verde (Green Lantern), and Campeones de la Justicia (Champions of Justice = Justice League of America). Thus, under these two weekly titles are reprinted twelve of the DC Comics. Other DC reprints are lumped together in lesser amounts. Historias Fantásticas is published on the first and 15th of every month and consists of reprints of Tales of the Unexpected, Rip Hunter, Sea Devils, and The Brave and the Bold (the issues featuring super-heroes, anyway). Marvila, a monthly, is Wonder Woman, who “presents” Showcase (the “Tommy Tomorrow” issues) and Metal Men. Relatos Fabulosos, also monthly, runs Aquaman, The Atom, and House of Secrets. Titanes Planetarios, a semi-monthly, is for some reason
¡Supermen South!
Under the omnibus title Supermán, Novaro reprinted tales of “Superman,” “Legion of Super-Heroes,” “Superboy,” “Lois Lane,” and “Jimmy Olsen.” Inside, all the DC stories list 1963 copyrights, but the Mexican comics have late-1964 print dates. In fact, most Novaro reprints depicted in this section seem to be dated a year and more after their US publication. There were ads in these issues for other DC reprints, educational comics, Daniel el Travieso (Dennis the Menace), Lorenzo y Pepita (Dagwood and Blondie), and others. [©2004 DC Comics.]
Fred has some key Batman – El Hombre Murciélago issues, featuring Batman vs. Catman—Green Lantern—The Flash (no “El Flash” in Spanish, for some reason) in his second meeting with his 1940s prototype—and Part II of the first Justice League-Justice Society get-together. These are 1963 DC stories reprinted by Novaro in 1964. [©2004 DC Comics.]
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Mexican Hero Comics During The U.S. Silver Age Marvila alternated stories of “Marvila” (“Wonder Woman”) and “Metal Men,” both edited and scripted by Robert Kanigher— and, as it happens, both drawn by Ross Andru & Mike Esposito. The “Los Hombres de Metal” issue lists a 1963 copyright on the US material, but a 1965 cover date. [©2004 DC Comics.]
publishing 1951 issues of Strange Adventures (Captain Comet and all) with the new Hawkman. Three straight monthly reprints are: Mi Gran Aventura, which is just My Greatest Adventure (now The Doom Patrol) running under the same old title; Tomajauk (Tomahawk); and El Halcón de Oro (Blackhawk). That’s right, Spanish-speaking readers: Blackhawk is translated as Halcón de Oro—I’ll get to that one later.
As for Novaro’s Gold Key reprints, these all appear in the weekly Domingos Alegres, which means “Merry Sundays”—presumably the day on which it appears in Mexico (#567 is dated Feb. 7, 1965). This takes in Magnus – Robot Fighter, Dr. Solar, Space Family Robinson, Turok, and Twilight Zone, as well as other nonscience-fiction titles. The only other Gold Key reprint of note is the monthly Tarzan, which also reprints issues of Korak - Son of Tarzan. There is one Dell reprint I know of: Space Man, which appears in something called TV Mondial, along with other adventure strips. This covers Novaro’s contributions to the Mexican comics field, insofar as costumed heroes and science-fiction are concerned. La Prensa’s Marvel reprints consist of two bi-weeklies. Los 4 [i.e., Cuatro] Fantásticos alternates reprints of Fantastic Four with Strange Tales, while El Sorprendente Hombre Araña switches off between The
Relatos Fabulosos alternated Aquaman, The Atom, and House of Secrets (whose issue shown features Mark Merlin and Eclipso—drawn within by Mort Meskin and Alex Toth, respectively). [©2004 DC Comics.]
¡Supermen South!
Tomajauk (Tomahawk) trailblazed in his own comic for a time—as, apparently, did DC stars Hopalong Cassidy, Sal y Pimienta (Sugar and Spike), and La Zorra y el Cuervo (that’s The Fox and the Crow, to you). [Tomahawk ©2004 DC Comics.]
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La Prensa’s Los 4 Fantásticos segued between reprints of Fantastic Four and Strange Tales—logical enough, when the latter was reprinting the “Human Torch” series (plus back-up mystery stories). But until/unless The X-Men was also being reprinted, this Mexican edition of F.F. #28 doubtless confused many readers. Unlike Novaro, La Prensa’s indicia listed only its own publication date, not the copyright date of the original US comic, months earlier. E.g., this 1964 US material had 1965 Mexican cover dates. Incidentally, the renamed Thing became El Coloso, Reed Richards was Mr. (not Sr.) Fantástico, Sue was La Mujer Invisible, and Johnny Storm was La Antorcha Humana, since the word for “torch” in Spanish is feminine. [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]
Amazing Spider-Man and Tales to Astonish. Both of these are fairly new titles, of course; Fantásticos is only up to #37 (Jan. 31, 1965) and Hombre Araña to #26 (Jan. 15, 1965).
Lost in Translation That’s it as to what there is, and how often it comes out. Now, how do these translated reprints compare to the U.S. originals? Not quite as good, but not too much worse. Their biggest faults are that they “lose something in translation,” as the saying goes, and that they lack the continuity of the US versions.
Novaro was apparently an equal-opportunity licensee! In addition to DC, Marvel, Gold Key (as per this Tarzan/Korak cover), and Dell, the house ad above shows that at least in the mid1960s they also reprinted Archie (as Archi). [Korak cover ©2004 Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.; Archie art ©2004 Archie Comic Publications, Inc.]
This latter shows up most clearly in the reprints of the Marvel titles. Stan Lee’s comics are all so tightly woven together that you have to read all of them in order to fully understand everything that goes on in any of them. But the Mexicans are getting only four of these; so when an issue of Fantastic Four guest-starring The
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Mexican Hero Comics During The U.S. Silver Age
“Insectoid super-heroes of the world unite!” Okay, so a spider isn’t an insect—but early issues of El Sorprendente Hombre Araña alternated reprints of The Amazing Spider-Man, Tales to Astonish, and (soon after Fred wrote his article) The Avengers. The latter two featured Ant-Man before he enlarged himself by two letters and became Giant-Man. [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]
Avengers is reprinted, for example, I imagine a lot of Mexican readers are going to be wondering who these “Vengadores” are and where they suddenly came from. Things aren’t quite so bad with Novaro’s DC reprints, both because the DC titles aren’t so closely connected and because they are all being reprinted. But there is still likely to be some confusion, for the chronological order of the different original titles has been lost. The drastic extreme is seen in the case of Hawkman; reprints of the Brave and Bold tryouts, the Mystery in Space stories, and the first issue of the Hawkman comic are appearing simultaneously. Reproduction? Novaro’s reprints are as good as the originals, though occasionally the colors will be a little more washed out. La Prensa, unfortunately, doesn’t produce nearly so good a product. The color is faded and sometimes blurred, the pages are often cut crookedly so that the panels at the top or bottom are almost running off the paper, and the dialogue is almost always off-center in the speech balloon, sometimes running up into the black line of the balloon itself, which makes for difficult reading. It’s all too obvious that the original text has been cut out here and something else put in its place.
Things get interesting in the translation department. By and large, the Spanish text follows the English one rather closely—after all, it’s so connected with the art that it can’t be altered too greatly. What textual change there is tends toward simplification. For instance, in Action Comics #304, “The Interplanetary Olympics,” page 6, panel 1, reads: “Come now, Superman, we expected more competition from you than this! Where are the mighty super-powers I heard so much about?” The same panel in Mexico’s Supermán #454 reads simply, “¡Esperabamos una actuacion major de ti, Supermán…!” (Translation: “We expected a better performance from you, Superman…!”) This simplification sometimes has a strong effect on the conclusion of a story. In The Doom Patrol #90, “The Spy within the Doom Patrol,” Madame Rouge, who has just gained the power to mold herself into a duplicate of anyone else’s body, has substituted herself for the Chief and is about to shoot Larry (Negative Man) Trainor on the grounds that, since he “forgot” his code word, he must be the deadly spy. Larry defeats her, and when the real Chief later asks him how he knew the apparent Chief was actually the imposter, Larry replies: “When Madame Rouge referred to ‘Elasti-Girl,’ I knew that wasn’t you
Not long after Fred wrote this article at the turn of 1965, La Prensa was clearly adding more Marvel titles to its repertoire, such as this reprinting of Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos #1 from June 1965, nearly two years after its US debut. Note how the credits have been replaced on this splash page by Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers. Other La Prensa mags advertised comics titled Heroes del Oeste (showing Rawhide Kid)—Aquila Blanca (“White Eagle”—apparently Amerindianrelated fare—maybe begun as reprints of Fawcett’s Young Eagle or M.E.’s White Indian?)—Flecha Velos (“Swift Arrow”)—and Frentes de Guerra (“Warfronts”— seemingly non-hero battle reprints). [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]
¡Supermen South!
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Novaro’s Titanes Planetarios came to feature, along with “Hawkman” and “Captain Comet” tales, Adam Strange’s Strange Adventures. This looks like Gil Kane art to Ye Editor. We’ve also seen an ad for Historias Fantásticas featuring Space Ranger. [©2004 DC Comics.]
speaking— because you never call Rita by that freak name! So I pretended to forget my code word—just to see how far she’d go!” To cut down this speech in Mi Gran Aventura #54, it was rewritten to become, “Me parecio extrana que ella sacara un arma para acabar conmiga, selo porque yo habia olvidado la contrasena.” (“I thought it was funny that you’d pull a gun to shoot me, just because I’d forgotten the countersign.”) Because of this pruning down of the original dialogue, much of the natural flavor of the speech—and sometimes a detailed explanation at the end of a story—is lost. The whole effect is similar to that in the case of literary classics, such as The Count of Monte Cristo or Ben-Hur, which are abridged from their original 900-page lengths to 400-page “popular editions” for easier reading. The one area in which the translators have given themselves free rein is in the translation of the proper names of characters, both their secret
and public identities. Here, strangely enough, Novaro and La Prensa take opposite extremes. Novaro will seldom change a super-hero’s name, but his secret identity—or the name of the group—is something else again. Batman remains Batman, even though a subtitle has to be added (El Hombre Murciélago = the Man Bat) to tell the Mexican readers what the name means. But Bruce Wayne has become Bruno Díaz. (And, interestingly, Steven Dayton—Mento in The Doom Patrol—has become Sergio Díaz. I wonder if the translator felt that, since both are among the wealthiest men in the world, they should be related to each other.) The Challengers of the Unknown—Prof, Rocky, Red, and Ace—have become Los Temerarios (The Reckless Ones) and are now Uriel, Lino, Mauro, and Efrén. Barry Allen is Bruno Alba, and Jay Garrick is Jorge Luna (the Justice Society of America, by the way, is now Los Defensores de la Justicia). And though J’onn J’onzz retains the same weird combination of letters, his Earthly alter ego has been known as Julio Jordan; now, of course, he has been replaced in the Detective reprints by “Rafael Rivas, El Hombre Elástico” (in for Ralph Dibny, The Elongated Man). Long names tend to be shortened into oneword names. In La Legión de Superhéroes, Ultra Boy is Ultra, Phantom Girl is Fantasma, Saturn Girl is Saturna, Cosmic Boy is Cósmico, etc. Here, of course, Spanish can show gender by utilizing Latin suffixes, a device immeasurably preferable to the rash of “Boys,” “Girls,” “Lads,” “Lasses,” “Kids,” et al., in English-language comics. Even in the case of a proper name, the
These 1966 house ads show that Novaro had begun publishing Los Vengadores (The Avengers), Diabolico (Daredevil), Agente International (“Nick Furia, Agent de C.I.D.E.L.”), and even “Titina y Pikina” (Millie the Model, with “Pikina” probably being Millie’s pal/rival Chili), presented in a comic titled Pepito. Guess they rethought calling Daredevil “El Dynamo”! [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]
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Mexican Hero Comics During The U.S. Silver Age Two “Hawks” for the price of two! (Left:) We’re just making an educated guess here, but La Prensa probably picked up the rights to Blackhawk from Quality Comics before it sold that title to DC in 1956—and the Mexican publisher felt he had the legal right to later do new stories in El Halcón Negro, as well as to drop Chop Chop or change the Blackhawks’ status, as Fred Patten reports. (Right:) Novaro probably had no choice, under the circumstances, but to retitle its own authorized DC reprint El Halcón de Oro (Hawk of Gold, or Goldhawk). [Blackhawk TM & ©2004 DC Comics.]
filled with a note saying to “Ask for magazines edited by ‘La Prensa’!” A final, minor difference between the Mexican and US editions of a comic is that, in the Spanish-language text, the exclamation point is seldom used. An ordinary period suffices. Unforgivable, no?
cognomen is seldom used. Barry Allen is just “Bruno” throughout most of the “Flash” issues of Batman. In the “Hawkman” reprints, Carter and Shiera Hall are almost universally referred to as “Carlos y su esposa Mirna” (“Carlos and his wife Mirna”), though if you look hard enough, you’ll finally discover that Carlos’ last name is Lara. In his identity as El Hombre Halcón, he is usually just Halcón—and so is Blackhawk, in the Mexican edition of that comic. On the other hand, in La Prensa’s reprints of the Marvel comics the personal names remain untouched, even in the case of Johnny Storm, though the Mexicans have their own diminutive of John (“Juanito”). But the public name of the super-hero is much more apt to be revised. The Hulk is La Mole (mass, bulk—and of course it’s pronounced in two syllables, as “mo'-lay”); the Thing is El Coloso. Daredevil has become El Dynamo, and Dr. Strange is now Dr. Centella (Dr. Lightning, or Dr. Spark). Outside of the stories themselves, almost everything in the Mexican magazines is original. Novaro reprints a few of the one-page filler comics, such as Prof. Eureka and Charlie Cannonball; but for the most part, it has its own supply of strips, such as Patachín (a robot), Milocho, Lucas, etc. These run throughout the Novaro comics, including the Gold Key and Dell reprints. The advertisements are, of course, entirely original and for Mexican products. La Prensa’s comics carry ads for their other comics (revistas), “Enciclopedia Popular” information on nature topics, crossword puzzles, pencil mazes, connect-the-dots, and that sort of thing. El Sorprendente Hombre Araña is the only comic book in Mexico, so far as I know, that carries a letter column. As to credits, most of these have been deleted. The loss of the letter columns in the DC reprints means that most of the information as to writers, artists, etc., is gone. Novaro does leave credits in when they are printed on the first page of the story, as in reprints of The Atom and Hawkman. La Prensa, though, has cut out all of Stan Lee’s wacky credit statements, as though it is trying to give the impression that the comics are entirely original with the Mexican edition; the blank boxes on the first page are now
There is a reason for this besides common sense. In Spanish, an exclamatory or interrogative sentence is always preceded by an inverted version of the closing punctuation mark; this would tend to give all sentences in Mexican comics greater emphasis than they might be meant to have, since in English the reader generally doesn’t know whether a sentence is declarative or exclamatory until he comes to the end of it, at which time it is too late to make much difference.
Hawk of Black, Hawk of Gold Between the above-mentioned direct reprints of American comics and the completely original Mexican costume-hero books comes a small intermediary class of original Mexicomics featuring US comic book characters. There are only a few of these, and they aren’t particularly noteworthy in art or plot quality when compared to the original American titles, but they are distinct enough that they cannot be ignored and should not be lumped together with any of the other categories of Mexican comics. Most of these are published by La Prensa, and the most popular of these is apparently El Halcón Negro, featuring our old friends the Blackhawks. This is a decidedly different set of stories from those published in the present US comic, corresponding more closely to the old Quality Blackhawk issues than to the modern DC ones. What is even more unusual, though, is that there is another Mexican Blackhawk comic, Novaro’s El Halcón de Oro, which is the reprint edition of the current DC magazine. It would be interesting to know how two Blackhawk comics came to be. Apparently La Prensa began its original adventures first, patterned after the US Blackhawk comic as it then was. When Novaro started its series of DC reprints, it came up against the fact that the Spanish translation of “Blackhawk”—El Halcón Negro—was already being used, and was forced to settle for a poor substitute—El Halcón de Oro, or “The Hawk of Gold.” While Novaro’s monthly reprint is only up to issue #84, La Prensa’s comic (which comes out twice a month) is already up to #221 (February 15, 1965). That La Prensa’s original comic is an unwelcome interloper to both Novaro and DC can be seen from a notice (translated below) which is printed on the first page of each issue of Novaro’s El Halcón de Oro: “We remind our readers that only in El Halcón de Oro will they
¡Supermen South!
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clear). Blackhawk Island is still the base of their operations, but it is just another military outpost, rather than a secret lair. Possibly the best example of this is given in issue #219, in the story “Los Proscritos” (“The Exiled”). The Blackhawks are flying to Ciudad Centro (Central City) when a robot bomb homes in on them and explodes. Though none of them is hurt, they are all covered with a radioactive material. Blackhawk contacts his superiors in the Department, who order him not to return to the island, as “the island and the equipment on it belong to the government.” It all turns out to be a trick at the end, but it is easy to see the change in status that the Blackhawks have undergone in this Mexican comic. Weird creatures are out; their adversaries are usually either the Red Chinese or mad scientists—but no costumed super-crooks. Lady Blackhawk is gone; in her place is Vanessa, a lone-wolf agent who may seem to have sold out to the enemy but who is usually just working as a spy in their camp. El Halcón Negro consists of 24 pages, not counting covers, as do all the original La Prensa comics. These are divided into three stories, generally of eight pages each, though there will occasionally be an advertisement on page 24 instead. No other interior ads or one-page cartoons are used and, unlike in US comics, there is no need for a page of text anywhere in the issue. The art (unsigned) is in the style of the US comic but is distinctly inferior, with nothing like the fine-line detail of the
Even so (continuing our speculations), when Novaro used the names of its seven “authorized” Blackhawks, as seen here from El Halcón de Oro #84 (1965), Novaro must’ve decided at some point to re-dub the members of its own group, as Fred relates. La Prensa must’ve been happy when Novaro’s Hawks of Gold got those spiffy new red-and-black uniforms—not to mention when they gained super-powers near the end of their run. We wonder which Mexican comic lasted longer…! Art by Dick Dillin & Chuck Cuidera. [©2004 DC Comics.]
encounter the sensational adventures of the authentic Blackhawks, and that the Organization Novaro, S.A. de C.V., editor of the magazine that you now hold in your hands, is the only one authorized to publish them, in Spanish, by National Periodical Publications, Inc., holders of the literary and artistic rights to Blackhawk (El Halcón Negro) in the whole world.” Actually, La Prensa’s El Halcón Negro has made a number of definite and important changes in the Blackhawks. Its version has dropped Chop Chop entirely, and changed the names of the rest of the group, so that Olaf is now Lars, Hendrickson is Henrik, Andre is Pierre, Chuck is Jock, and Stanislaus is Stanley. As in the Novaro comic (where Chop Chop is just “Chop”), Blackhawk is called just Halcón, but in this case he also has a real name which is no secret; the newspapers run stories about “Liam O’Hara, known as Blackhawk.” They still wear the old uniforms, and it’s clear that these are uniforms, not just costumes. Which brings us to the major change in emphasis: La Prensa’s Blackhawks are not nearly so much a band of roving costumed heroes as the American ones are, as they are a special military group. The American comic has tried to return to the semi-military tiein lately, as evinced in the recent issue which had them serving under the United Nations. But in the La Prensa revista they are definitely a military squad, directly under the orders of the Army’s Department of Security (though whether this is the US or Mexican Army isn’t made
The new-material El Halcón Negro likewise revamped the Blackhawks’ jets into these super-streamlined versions, apparently starting with #205 in April 1964. Their new planes could function underwater (maybe they picked that technology up from their old foe Killer Shark?), and they also gained new underground headquarters and launch-pads. The mustachioed guy with Halcón is probably one of his governmental superiors, as noted by Fred. [Blackhawk TM & ©2004 DC Comics.]
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Mexican Hero Comics During The U.S. Silver Age
Tor, Meet Azor! Azor, Meet Tor! [Clockwise from top left:] Since Fred reports seeing Azor #2 and that it, like this 1964 house ad from that period, sported artwork that was not “inspired” by that in Joe Kubert’s St. John Tor comic, it could very well be that the quasi-tracing of Kubert started a bit later. The art above left may even have been taken from Azor #1. ’Twould seem Azor was launched a decade after the first run of Tor was discontinued, and more than a decade before DC began to reprint those stories. Some Azor el Primitivo covers from 1965 do show a decided Kubert aspect (at least on the Azor figures themselves), as per #11, above right— —while others, such as #14 (the latest Fred could supply, also 1965), show far less Kubert influence. You can see the splendid Tor originals, of course, in DC’s three hardcover volumes of The Tor Archives… and you should. [Art ©2004 the respective copyright holders; Tor TM & ©2004 Joe Kubert.]
work of Richard Dillin and Charles Cuidera. Unlike La Prensa’s Marvel reprints, however, it is clearly printed, the pages are cut correctly, and the dialogue is properly centered in the speech balloons.
Tor, Azor, and Others Of interest to the many admirers of the artwork of Joe Kubert is La Prensa’s Azor el Primitivo, which is based on his Tor comic published by St. John in the mid-1950s minus the “Danny Dreams” and “Wizard of Uggh” features. The art in most issues, though not in Azor #2 or house-ads in other La Prensa mags, is divided between thick-lined tracings and mimicking of Kubert’s Tor. Original drawings and/or poses of Tor have been reworked into original stories, usually three to an issue. Azor goes on sale at the end of every month, and the latest issue at this time is #10 (Feb. 27, 1965). Strangely enough, “Tor” has evidently proven more popular in Mexico than he did in the U.S. original. The principal difference between Tor and Azor seems to be that the latter-day caveman has a steady mate, Rhea, who follows along in his adventures—though both Rhea and Chi Chi (the Mexican version of Tor’s pet monkey Chee Chee) are being played down in recent issues. Aside from that, it’s the same battling with dinosaurs, invading tribes, etc.—coupled with the invention of such things as music long before any
other human thought of them—that Tor and other caveman comics have presented. Skipping over the original La Prensa editions of Robin Hood, Davy Crockett, et al., which have no place in an article on costume-hero comics, there is one other that should be mentioned, at least briefly. Those of you who followed the cowboy comics of a dozen years ago, notably Magazine Enterprises’ efforts, may remember a masked avenger called the Ghost Rider, who regularly caught villains by making them think he was a spirit, “come from the depths of the grave—summoned by the screams of your victims” (as he put it in Best of the West #4), and terrorizing them into publicly revealing their crimes. He appeared in his own comic as well, where he superseded Rex Fury, “The Calico Kid,” taking the latter as his own secret identity.
¡Supermen South!
13
Some Azor pages in #12 show little Kubert influence except in facial characteristics— while the splash panel of the second story in that issue is heavily derived from Tor #3 (May 1954). Oh, and that’s Azor’s mate Rhea in the bottom right panel. Incidentally, Azor was far likelier than Tor to do battle with mammals, especially mammoths, although there were plenty of left-over dinosaurs to go around, as well. [Art ©2004 the respective copyright holders; Tor TM & ©2004 Joe Kubert.]
Well, the Ghost Rider, now known as El Espectro (literally, “the Spectre”), can be found occasionally today in Editora Sol’s AventurasVaqueros Intrepidos, a bi-monthly novel-lengther of 36 pages (counting covers and ads). The art (signed by Ram Zittie) is more detailed than anything Dick Ayers ever contributed to the old series and the ghostly tricks are played up less, but otherwise it’s the same comic, complete with plots and art that would never make it by the Comics Code Authority today. The Ghost Rider’s secret identity of Marshal Rex Fury has now become Rojo (Red) Pérez, and his Chinese sidekick Ming now talks in broken Spanish instead of broken English. This, then, should cover virtually the entire subject of Mexican reprints of US costumeheroes and Mexican comics which utilize characters from American magazines.
By 1965’s Azor el Primitivo #14—the last issue in Fred’s collection—the Kubert quasi-tracings were pretty much gone, and far more outré story elements made an appearance. While the lead tale saw Azor merely tackle a human giant, the other two stories introduced little green aliens in a space ship—and a giant spider who’d have been more at home in Conan the Barbarian than in Tor. In the late 1960s, in the wake of Erich von Däniken’s Chariots of the Gods?, writer Don Glut would combine cave men and aliens in his Gold Key title Tragg and the Sky Gods. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]
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Mexican Hero Comics During The U.S. Silver Age
Part II Mexican Super-Heroes of the Silver Age
A Stroll through Mexico City––1965 Actually, the bulk of Mexican super-herodom consists of the comics in the first of these classes. Virtually every super-hero and science-fiction/fantasy comic being published today by DC and Gold Key, not to mention several of Marvel’s best and such Dell titles as there are, appears on the Mexican newsstands. With this horde of relatively cheap reprint material available to readers, the chances of producing a significant number of entirely original, financially successful super-hero comics must be fairly slim. Such do exist, however, ranging from stylistic copies of the American magazines to those containing stories based much more closely upon Mexican customs and daily life. Frankly, I suspect that the latter factor is one primary reason why independent Mexican comics do exist: being more Mexican in their cultural background, dialogue, setting, etc., they appeal more to the reader as “realistic” stories, just as we American readers praise the Marvel comics for their “more natural” American dialogue. This, then, is a coverage of the superhero comic books featuring entirely original characters to be found on Mexican newsstands today. And, while disliking to be a spoilsport, I’m afraid I’ll have to emphasize that “today.” While I intend to go into as much detail as seems advisable, I have neither the space nor the Ramón Alonso Grecia’s cover and splash page for Relámpago el Ser Increible #1 (July 1964), the Elvis-like Rod Hanelson with Linda, plus an action page. Since Relámpago’s entire body—except for hands, lower face, purple eye-mask, and red belt—is covered by his skintight yellow costume, he closely resembles the similar early-1940s Quality hero, The Ray—whether on purpose or by coincidence. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]
knowledge to write a full history of each character, from his origin story down through the years to the present. Imagine that you are walking through the streets of downtown Mexico City and you stop at one of the newsstands which abound at almost every street corner. This is what you’d find right now [1965].
“Justice, like Lightning, Ever Shall Appear…” As I said, a very few Mexican hero comics are stylistic copies of their US counterparts. In support of my aforementioned theory that independent Mexican comics survive because they are more closely attuned to the Mexican cultural heritage and daily life, I note that there are only two such pseudo-American comics being published today. These are both published by La Prensa, on a monthly schedule, at $1.00 (one peso—about 8¢) per copy, containing 24 pages, not counting covers. The only one of these two which can be unequivocally considered a super-hero comic is Relámpago el Ser Increible (or, in English, Lightning the Incredible Being). This comic is exactly one year old as these lines are written, the first issue being dated July 1964, so perhaps it would not be out of place to cover the origin story in some detail….
¡Supermen South!
15 make new equipment, but Rod’s life is more important…. I’m ready now to connect the battery….”
“The story of this extraordinary being begins in the laboratory of the notable scientist Dr. Van Hackett,” we translate from the Spanish, “hidden in the high mountains of the Atlantic coast” (which should place it in the state of Veracruz, if it’s not a completely mythical setting). In this lab Dr. Hackett is putting the finishing touches on an experiment which will “have revolutionized every concept of medicine.”
The experiment is a success. Rod returns to life—but is it the same life he had known before? Remembering his earlier doubts as to a restored being’s humanity, Rod fears that he may now be a robot. “That’s what we don’t know,” Dr. Hackett explains. “Your body is functioning well even though your vital impulses are electric… but what you call your sentiments is another thing… it’ s outside of human control. The only robot that’s in you is the apparatus that makes your body function. The rest is human. And so, being more human than robot, you will be a more superior human in many respects than the rest of us….”
To his two assistants—his pretty 24-year old daughter Linda and young Rod Hanelson (who bears a striking resemblance to Elvis Presley)—he demonstrates that he has kept a rabbit’s heart beating artificially for ten days, and that other parts of his equipment will restore other organs to functioning status: “I’m almost sure that I could revive a corpse.” Rod has his doubts that such a revived being would still be human, and the doctor admits, “It will live electrically, and I don’t see how it will be capable of having sentiments and passions.”
Rod is still not convinced that he has not lost his soul and is merely an electrical robot, but he is willing to accept the doctor’s hypothesis until he discovers differently. Joining Linda, he finds out that They are soon to find out, though. “his emotions will be reflected in electricity Leaving the laboratory to close down the built up in his body,” emphasizing his building’s electric installations in the face of This house ad utilizing scenes from Relámpago #1 appeared human-robot status. The doctor goes on, an approaching storm, Rod is working on in another La Prensa mag, El Piloto Fantasma (see p. 17). “I had to cover your body with a substance some defectively-insulated wiring when a [©2004 the respective copyright holders.] that, when an electric current is passed lightning-bolt strikes a nearby power-line through it, ionizes and generates a and the overload races through the wires, magnetic field that can repel anything. With the electricity that’s electrocuting him instantly. Attracted by the noise, Dr. Hackett and produced in your body, you’ve come to be a practically invulnerable Linda rush to the room to discover Rod’s body. being.” The only hope lies in the doctor’s new invention. “The moment of Rod muses, “That puts me in the category of supermen, and since I proving his theories has arrived. With a wild look and a trembling voice, have been permitted to return to life, I’m going to use my life to help the doctor locks himself in his laboratory….” For the next several hours, mankind. All that I am capable of doing, I will put to the service of the doctor operates on Rod amidst an atmosphere of slowly rising justice and good. What’s your opinion, tension: “I’m almost finished now…. If my doctor?” experiments are a success, I’ll have saved Rod— though it will leave me without the apparatus “I think that it’s what you ought to do, I’ve been constructing. I don’t know if I can
A trio of powerful splash pages from Relámpago #3, 4, &5. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]
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Mexican Hero Comics During The U.S. Silver Age on him so that he, too, can be an invulnerable, flying super-being. And so forth. Some of the plots are poor-to-average, others are surprisingly good. One of the best gimmicks so far appears in issue #5, wherein a maddened scientific genius, an expert in studies of light waves, disguises himself as a tailor. Under the pretext of measuring a customer for a suit of clothes, he would take a light-image of the man, then later “dress” a robot in this light-image and send it out to commit crimes, thus incriminating the innocent customer and remaining free of suspicion himself. A truly ingenious idea.
(Left:) Relámpago #24 (June 1966) had a different artist, and a look not unlike a US Gold Key comic of the period. By now the hero’s eye-mask was colored red. Slicker art, but lacking the raw power and excitement of Grecia’s version. (Right:) As seen by this splash, Grecia was back with #26 (August 1966), although another artist drew the cover. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]
Rod. But I believe that we ought to keep these powers and your true name a secret. What other name would you like?” “What’s your opinion of Lightning?” suggests Linda. “It was a lightning-bolt that brought you to the threshold of death and that made you come to this state of being.”
On the whole, there has been no change in the basic storyline since the first issue. Relámpago still isn’t sure whether he’s human or a soulless, Godless robot; but he doesn’t seem to worry about it quite so much as he did earlier. His costume is a skin-tight yellow suit with a small raised helmet ridge (similar to Starman’s), a purple mask, and a wide leather-looking belt that changes color from issue to issue. The belt has a triangular buckle with rounded corners and the base topmost, featuring a design of a lightning-bolt; to the back of the belt are fastened the tubes of his “transportador,” Dr. Hackett’s propulsion device that enables him to jet through the air. He wears this costume under his street clothes. As I remarked, the artist is apparently using a photo of Elvis Presley as his model for Rod/Relámpago; the resemblance is too marked to be
“Very good, Lightning,” agrees the doctor. “I’ll help you with my scientific knowledge.” Thus the birth of a new super-hero. The rest of this first issue tells of Relámpago’s first test under fire, as he rescues the infant daughter of an atomic physicist from a powerful criminal who hopes to blackmail the scientist into working for him. In subsequent issues, Relámpago has defeated a mad scientist bent on world conquest through a machine controlling all forms of energy, an invader from space who used superhypnotic powers to control mankind, and an Oriental fakir who raised the dead to create his own private army of moldering zombies. He has traveled into several subterranean worlds—one inhabited by fishmen, another containing a very Roman-looking lost civilization of immortal Spaniards and Indians under the Mojave Desert (they disintegrated into skeletons when he destroyed their life-giving apparatus), and even a city of Lunarians at the heart of the moon. He has also saved the life of an extraterrestrial visitor whose hideous appearance turned everyone against it, although it meant no harm. By issue #11, the world is beginning to connect Relámpago with the brilliant Dr. Hackett, and a criminal genius threatens to kill Linda unless her father consents to perform the same operation
Busy, busy, busy! On the opposite page, Fred Patten describes many (but not quite all) the elements in the crowded cover of Relámpago #11 (above). The splash (left) is far more focused. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]
¡Supermen South!
17
This house ad, which appeared in numerous 1964-65 La Prensa comics, quite likely utilizes art from the cover of El Piloto Fantasma #1. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]
accidental. The electric shield that surrounds his body melts bullets fired at him and causes death-rays used against him to rebound against their source. His principal Achilles’ heel seems to be the danger of running down his battery, so to speak, through a great output of energy—in a particularly difficult battle, for instance, or in trying to escape from an escape-proof prison. Only once has he actually succumbed (in issue #2), and on that occasion Dr. Hackett was able to recharge him sufficiently. On the whole, he’s as invulnerable a super-hero as you could find anywhere.
Grecia’s covers, especially, are artistic abominations, being of the kitchen-sink school—the cover for issue #11 shows Relámpago battling a robot (five scenes), Relámpago being held by a man in Roman gladiatorial dress, assorted demons, snakes, and monsters, the Sphinx, the jackal-headed god Anubis, Adolf Hitler (with horns), the Earth, various wild animals, groups of people including Indians and Nazis, the American and Japanese Rising Sun flags, a composite street scene of Washington and a Turkish-looking city, an altar, a Swastika, a Star of David, and possibly other ingredients that I missed. All this is painted in the two colors of bright red and dull pink—and, with the exception of Relámpago’s battle with the robot, none of it has anything at all to do with the story. To call the cover “confusing” would be an understatement; it looks like something Alex Schomberg might have done for the old Timely comics after a particularly disturbing nightmare.
Fortunately, the interior art is not so confused as to subject matter as the covers, and if Grecia isn’t the best artist in the field, he’s still better than some American artists, so I won’t complain too much. Evidently, he rather likes his stuff; he sometimes includes at least one full-page panel in the middle of an episode, and signs his name there as well as on the first page.
Look! Up in the Sky! La Prensa’s second adventure-hero comic is not science-fictional, but fantastic: El Piloto Fantasma, or The Phantom Pilot. This one has been going slightly longer than Relámpago, with issue #14 dated May 31, 1965.
Relámpago runs to novel-length (24-page) stories. The first issue credited the script to Enrique Noroña; the art in all issues is signed by Ramón Alonso Grecia. Grecia has a distinctive style which I can’t say is bad, though I find it displeasing. He runs a bit too much toward grotesquerie for my tastes. There is almost no shading; he works in sharp contrasts of primary colors with heavy lines to indicate shadow when such is necessary. Streamlining is nonexistent; large masses are all (he seems particularly fond of bulky, tin-can robots). He has almost no talent for facial characteristics: when two men or two women appear in the same story, unless there is a great difference in their ages or one is malformed, it is often impossible to tell them apart except by their clothing and hair color.
The usual setting is an unnamed modern USAF base. The principal characters are Capt. “Stash” Colton, one of the base’s best flyers; Cmdr. Nelson Bright, the base commander and Stash’s friend; the Commander’s daughter, Spark, who is Stash’s unofficial (as yet) fiancée; and the “ghost” of Anthony “Lord” Sword, an RFC buddy of Bright’s youth who was killed at the front in 1917 but whose ghost still appears today to help American pilots in need—usually Stash Colton. This comic contains three stories per issue. Unfortunately, it is not living up to its potential because of an almost complete lack of plot development. Up to issue #7, the stories were virtually all the same. Stash would be flying a mission to test a new plane or to complete
As seen at left in panels from El Piloto Fantasma #2 (March 1964), The Phantom Pilot made only mysterious, unspeaking appearances outside his Sopwith Camel cockpit in the earliest issues. By #7, he was using his fists as well as his biplane to battle evil-doers, and had dialogue, to boot! [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]
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Mexican Hero Comics During The U.S. Silver Age
The strongest element on many El Piloto Fantasma covers, especially the early ones, was the juxtaposition of “Lord” Sword’s World War I biplane and modern aircraft, as on these from #4 & 6. But by #27 (June 1966), some stories actually took place during WWI, as per the photographically realistic cover at right. #29 had three tales—one set in the Great War, one in World War II, and a third during the Korean War of 1950-53—with The Phantom Pilot not always involved in the actual adventure. Fred Patten tells us that issue #8 states that “Sword died in 1916.” [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]
some secret assignment. Either because of an accident or (more often) enemy sabotage, his plane would be in danger of destruction. Suddenly, out of the blue, down would come Sword’s old Sopwith Camel to strafe the enemy lying in wait for Stash, or to warn him of a booby trap in his plane. In the earlier issues, there was supposedly some doubt as to whether Stash’s miraculous savior was really the ghost of Cmdr. Bright’s old friend, or whether it was some trick on the part of the Air Force to keep an unknown type of super-plane a secret (after all, it outstripped the fastest jets). Stash himself is a hard-headed skeptic who refuses to believe in ghosts, insisting that there must be some logical explanation to the phenomenon of The Phantom Pilot. However, as each new story presents “Lord” Sword performing some new feat that only a ghost could do, Stash is becoming increasingly desperate in his search for the “logical explanation.” In issue #8, Stash suddenly came up with what he hoped would be a telling question: if “Lord” Sword is supposed to have been a guardian angel of Allied pilots since his death in 1916, how come nobody ever saw him until he appeared over their air base in 1964? Commander Bright answered with a “legend” of a ghostly pilot who had appeared during World War II, that everyone at the time thought was a hallucination but which must really have been “Lord” Sword. Since then, El Piloto Fantasma has alternated stories of Sword’s saving Stash with tales of his helping other American and British pilots down through the years (#14 explains how it was “Lord” Sword who helped make Lindbergh’s 1927 flight across the Atlantic a success). But, at three stories per issue, these two plots are rapidly beginning to pall. The main flaw, I think, is that “Lord” Sword has been basically a background character up till now. The story spends its first three or four pages setting the scene; the ghost only appears briefly in the last couple of pages to save the day à la Mighty Mouse, then he’s gone again. Stash tears his hair looking for the “logical explanation,” Spark makes eyes at Stash, Commander Bright looks wise and knowing, and that’s it. The stories don’t go anywhere. If “Lord” Sword were played up more as an
individual character and each story didn’t end on the same theme, the comic would be much more interesting. Unlike that of Relámpago, the art in El Piloto Fantasma is superb. The comic has two artists, either of whom would be a credit to US comics. The better of the two is R. Avila, who works mostly in cool colors, often with a foreground object or person in bright crimson as a contrast. One of his tricks is to leave a key figure completely uncolored in the midst of a colored panel. His art sometimes approaches the photographic, and his people are as detailed as characters drawn by Murphy Anderson. The other artist is a man named Durán, whose colors are a bit brighter than Avila’s and whose characters aren’t drawn in so fine a detail. He also makes Spark look considerably sexier. No story credits are given. This is a comic with a lot of promise, but—if its publishers want to keep it alive—I’d guess they’re going to have to start delivering on that promise pretty soon.
Santo the Silver (Age) Masquerader These are the two comics which most closely approach the style and technique established by the American comic book. The other original Mexican super-hero comics are vastly different from these, though most of them bear strong resemblances to each other, namely: (1) They are all weekly; (2) None have colored interiors—they are all brown-and-white, being published by a rotogravure process; (3) The settings and characters are all distinctly Mexican, while El Piloto Fantasma is set in the US, and Relámpago’s adventures take place in a big city which could be New York as easily as any other; (4) They run 32 pages each, consisting of one full-length story per issue;
¡Supermen South!
19 from this mask, he is nude to the waist. On covers he sometimes wears a glimmering cape, but this is never worn in the stories; Sr. Cruz explained that it would make the action poses “difficult.” Basically a lone wolf, Santo often cooperates with the chief of police of his home city (probably Mexico City, but never named). He doesn’t do much scientific detecting, but he invariably finds out whodunit before the police do, and he’s handy with his fists at the climax. Though science-fiction stories are not rare, the plots are usually of the gangster, cops-and-robbers variety. All stories are at least full-length, and serials running over two or three issues appear about once every two months.
The four covers on this page (clockwise from top left): Even over just a several-month period in 1964, covers of the weekly Santo el Enmascardo de Plata (The Masquerader of Silver) vacillated between fantasy paintings signed by José G. Cruz (#205), paintings based more closely on photographs (#213), photos pure and simple (#216), and composites/collages of both (#223). [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]
(5) They, like most Mexican comics, are one peso each. One of the most popular of these is Santo: El Enmascarado de Plata, or, Santo [The Sacred One] the Silver Masquerader. Santo, of which there have thus far been over 250 issues, is published weekly by Ediciones José G. Cruz, Arquimedes No. 73, Chapultepec Morales, México, D.F.; it contains 31 pages of story plus an “art” page of sketches of Santo sent in by the readers—who hail from Central and South America and the Caribbean as well as Mexico. The basic illustrations in Santo are not drawings but are photographs using live actors in the fumetti style employed in this country by such magazines as Kurtzman’s Help! The precise process used in Santo, called Fotomontage, was invented by Sr. Cruz in 1943 and includes a sizable amount of touch-up and additional drawings to provide exotic backgrounds, outer-space monsters—and often the bodies and clothing to accompany photographed female faces. The result is a bit crude, but effective enough. When one considers that José G. Cruz is turning out 32 pages per week of this title alone, it’s a wonder that the result is as polished as it is. The covers are usually paintings, many of them done by Cruz himself and prominently featuring well-proportioned and alluringly-clad femme fatales. On occasion, however, an action color photo is used instead. Santo is not actually a super-hero but a costumed hero, a cross between a toughguy private eye and Batman. What there is of his costume gives him a silverish look, consisting as it does of white tights with silver knee-patches, silver boots, and a silver mask that covers his entire head except for holes for his eyes, nose, and mouth. Aside
In addition to his weekly comic book, Santo also appears in a Mexican equivalent to our Big Little Books. This is a reprint of old stories originally published several years ago, in a format of about 6 H”x5”, containing 260 pages and selling at 3H pesos a copy. The latest issue I’ve seen is #210. Undoubtedly, the most amazing thing about Santo is the fact that its star is not an imaginary dual-identitied hero at all. He is quite real, and, according to Sr. Cruz, only a handful of “sports newspaper people” know his true name. He began his career in 1936 as a masked wrestler and became so famous in the Mexican sports world that in 1951 he was signed by José G. Cruz to appear as the star of his own comic book adventures—similar to what has happened in this country with Roy Rogers, the late Alan Ladd, and many other entertainers. The resulting comic was originally smaller and appeared three times a week; the current 32-page weekly dates from about 1954. Santo is still active in the wrestling ring; his picture appears almost as often in such magazines as Box y Lucha (Boxing and Wrestling) as it does in his comic. One can purchase Santo-type masks and costumes, as well.
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Mexican Hero Comics During The U.S. Silver Age
(Above & right:) In issue #224, Santo goes into other-world action in panels that are part photographs, part artwork. By the way, that pointy-eared guy silhouetted in panel 1 is an alien dragon-man Santo befriended for an issue or two. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]
(Above:) Sometime around issue #269, Santo suddenly began sporting a scarlet cape with white trim on covers, though it never appeared in a single panel in the stories inside. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]
Page 26, above, is a fairly typical Santo page, in which the hero is shown talking and walking around, in a combination of photos and art. The climactic fight on p. 30 (at right) is less characteristic, but there was action in the rotogravure Santo. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]
¡Supermen South!
21 Actually, one begins to believe after a time that Santo must be some sort of superhero in order to act in 31 pages of comics weekly, star in movies, and still keep up an active wrestling career! It is possible that the movie Santo is a professional actor; and one may well wonder if the comic book Santo is the bona fide article as well. Since the identity of Santo and/or his doubles is a well-kept secret, we can only speculate, though José G. Cruz has stated that there is “no relation” between the movies and his comic book. How much of Santo’s comic book popularity is due to the stories it features and how much to his role as a wrestling and movie star, I couldn’t say. But Santo is undeniably one of the favorite costumed-hero comics in Mexico, with an announced average sale of 100,000 copies per issue, or 5,200,000 per year. At least one other Mexican masked wrestler, The Blue Demon—who generally uses the English form of his name rather than El Demonio Azul—has tried to imitate Santo’s success with a comic of his own, but it was inferior in quality and didn’t last long. The Blue Demon, La Bestia (the Beast), and other masked
Santo #697 (for Dec. 25, 1973) has abandoned the photographed covers, as inside the hero battles an obviously drawn gorilla. We’d tell you how the tussle came out, but this is the secondfrom-last page of a continued story! [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]
In addition, there are also Santo motion pictures, in both featurelength and serial forms. A few of his movies, which seem to be quite popular with young and old alike south of the border, are Hombres Infernales (Infernal Men), Santo y Las Mujeres Vampiros (Santo and the Vampire Women), and Santo Contra Los Zombies (Santo Battles the Zombies). These pictures are long on action and short on plot—the villain in the latter film was almost ridiculously easy to spot—and seem to exist primarily to give our masked hero a chance to slug and be slugged. Santo’s wrestling career is not ignored in the films, however. Santo Contra Los Zombies, for example, begins with a several-minute wrestling match, won, of course, by The Sacred One. And, later in the movie, one of the walking dead is substituted for one of Santo’s ring opponents, with results almost fatal even for the Silver Masquerader.
Yes, Virginia, there is a Santo clause! But apparently it left plenty of room for other masked wrestlers-cum-crimefighters in Mexico in the mid-1960s. (Left:) This art from a full-page ad in #19 of a Blue Demon comic showed the hero defeating a “double” of Santo. (Well, it was The Blue Demon’s mag, after all!) (Above:) The photo-cover and an action page from the 12-27-73 issue of El Solitario – El Enmascarado de Oro (The Masquerader of Gold, what else?). Reproduction in the latter is better than in Santo, because the uncolored El Solitario art is rendered in black-&-white, while Santo interior panels are printed in shades of brown. But, at least in this single issue we’ve seen, El Solitario doesn’t do anything or face any situation that needs the addition of more than a few crudely-added speedlines. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]
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Mexican Hero Comics During The U.S. Silver Age Neutrón’s except that his headpiece exposes his full face. While the value of kid assistants in comic books is debatable, they do add another hook upon which new plot elements can be added.
Situations on these nicely-photographed 1964 Neutrón covers seem to run the gamut from receiving (fan?) mail to battling a bad guy on the wing of an airplane. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]
battlers are still quite popular in the ring in a country where roughly half the wrestlers seem to be hooded, but only Santo has successfully made the transition to the comic book field.
name just two locales.
Secondly, Neutrón’s adventures are much more science-fictionally oriented than are those of Santo. Neutrón and Iddar live in Mexico City, in a big house which contains, among other things, a large laboratory. The pride and joy of this lab is a large machine which consists primarily of a wall-sized television screen and a camera. The camera will project onto the screen whatever it’s focused on; or, conversely, the machine can transport anyone into this scene. When used in the fourth dimension, it is capable of focusing anywhere in the physical universe—Paris, Rome, Jupiter, or wherever you wish. When used in the fifth dimension, it transcends these limits and will focus either into the real past or future, or into the realms of fantasy. Thus, in addition to fighting current crime, Neutrón and Iddar can undertake adventures in the Middle Ages or the world of mythology, to
On one occasion (Neutrón #141), Iddar left the machine accidentally
Neutrón Bomb Santo does, however, have a close sartorial competitor in the form of Neutrón. Neutrón is published every Friday by Editorial Argumentos, S.A. (EDAR), San Lorenzo 1009, Desp. 103, México 12, D.F., and has run over 175 issues as of this writing. At first glance Neutrón bears many similarities to Santo, though the former is a totally fictitious character not based on any specific wrestler. Neutrón is reproduced by a rotogravure process much like Fotomontage, if not Fotomontage itself, consisting of photographs of living models. Also, Neutrón’s costume is almost identical with Santo’s in all save coloring: Neutrón’s is basically black with white trimming— three white lightning-bolts on the headpiece, converging at a point between the eyes; and white streaks on the front of the legs of his tights, beginning about midway down the thighs, reaching their broadest point just below the knees, and continuing down into the boots, which have white laces. Neutrón’s costume lacks the knee-patches found on Santo’s, and it has two features of its own: a large black leather belt (with a broad white buckle bearing the initial “N” in jagged-lightning lettering) and heavy leather gauntlets. Aside from these surface similarities, however, the two comics are quite different. Technically, Neutrón is quite a better product than Santo. The photographic reproduction is even more clear and distinct, and the drawn-in backgrounds and special effects are more effectively integrated into the photo-panel. Also, an extraterrestrial or medieval man-in-armor is as like as not to be a photographed actor in costume, while in Santo it will invariably be a drawing; also, there appears to be greater use of actual props and backdrops in Neutrón. Apparently the EDAR studios have a more complete costume and stage props department than does José G. Cruz, as well as superior printing facilities. Neutrón is also far different in story development. In the first place, Neutrón has a kid assistant, a nine- or ten-year-old boy named Iddar (also called Neutroncito) whose costume is identical to
Things look bad for Neutrón in issue #144 when, shrunk down to Ant-Man size, he evades a charging ant—only to find himself trapped in a spider’s web. Not to worry, though—on the next page he’s yanked back to his lab (and normal size) by his kid chum Iddar. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]
¡Supermen South! focused upon a copy of H.G. Wells’ The Invisible Man, and that worthy escaped into Mexico City to create a considerable amount of panic before Neutrón was able to force him back into the book.
Neutrón, his boy buddy Iddar (a.k.a. Neutroncito), and the Mummy-masked alien Cósmico. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]
A third major member of the cast is Cósmico, a being from another galaxy who came to earth through the machine in issue #114 to observe human customs. Mummy-like bandaging hides his alien face. He has become a solid friend of Neutrón and Iddar and seems to have settled down as a permanent costar of the series; in fact, he sometimes goes on adventures in issues in which Neutrón does not appear at all.
The result of all this is a much wider field for adventure than Santo has, though the emphasis is less on action and more on setting and story development. Santo is basically straight cops-and-robbers stuff, with each story complete in itself. Neutrón uses its individual plots to build up a large, continued story, and utilizes emotions other than pure actionexcitement. Some of the episodes in which Cósmico learns about human customs are strong on soap-opera sentimentality. While definitely a nemesis of evil, Neutrón does not work solely against Mexican gangsters; and he hardly works at all in connection with the law, preferring to arrange events so that the criminals are punished by their own actions. In the more fantastic adventures in Neutrón, the heroes appear more as spectators than as participants; there is no “solving a mystery of the past,” as is so common in most time-travel stories in our comics (e.g., Batman and The Atom).
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usually much less acceptable when they do occur. In #213-1485, the second part of a two-issue adventure, Santo has been tracking down stolen bank money hidden somewhere in the Mexican countryside. Just as he finds it, he is discovered by the bank-robbers. After a 15-page battle, Santo is unconscious, badly wounded, and trapped in the middle of a forest fire which is about to do him in. How can he possibly escape from this situation? Well, the White Fairy appears, waving her magic wand…. I submit that this is cheating, even if it is explained—in a rather passionate love scene that probably wouldn’t make it past the CCA— that they are “old friends” and that she is always looking after him. Neutrón’s dei ex machina are at least acceptable, being based on already established plot elements.) Neutrón is also considerably less gory than is Santo, which seems to go in in a big way for bloody corpses, mad axe-murderers, and the like, all shown in full detail. “Blood and gore all o’er the floor, and me without my spoon,” as the saying goes. These differences aside, Neutrón and Santo do have similarities that no American costumed-heroes share. Aside from the fact that Neutrón has his fantastic machine that carries him to exotic places, neither of the two is scientifically inclined or has any special “powers.” Both are strong, but rely on hand-to-hand combat with their fists or on fairly simple acrobatic skills. Neither has any gimmicks such as utility belts or employs special physical stunts such as swinging over rooftops on ropes across unbelievably long distances. The fact that they are costumed is singularly ignored. They are never seen out of costume, nobody remarks on the fact that they are costumed, and I have never seen an issue of either comic in which the matter of a secret identity has even been mentioned. Like Santo, Neutrón also stars in Mexican movies, the first of which was Neutrón: El Enmascarado Negro. He made a guest appearance last year [1964] in the Mexican section of Los Angeles in connection with one of his films. And, speaking of movies, EDAR happily gives “screen credits” at the end of its magazines. The stories are by Alfredo Hernández and the art
Neutrón relies rather heavily on deus ex machina endings, especially in its more fantastic episodes. A typical finale, for instance, has Iddar about to be sacrificed by ancient Mayas (this is in #148) when Neutrón discovers this on the fifthdimensional screen at the last minute and transports himself there to rescue the boy. (On the other hand, deus ex machina conclusions in Santo, while much less common, are
At least in the 1960s, no respectable US comics company would have allowed a hoodlum to threaten a child on a cover (and if it had, the Comics Code would’ve raised Cain). But at least EDAR also didn’t mind putting Neutrón himself in a tight spot! [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]
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Mexican Hero Comics During The U.S. Silver Age
(read: photography?) is by José Herrera B. Neutrón is played by Marco Antonio Arzate, Iddar by Iddar de la Parra, and Cósmico by Fernando G. Calderón. Sr. Arzate is a lucky man: how many people can claim that they are genuine comic book heroes?
pre-adolescent wearing a western-type outfit and half-mask of golden hue.
Fred Patten writes to Ye Ed: “I would have sworn that I never heard of La Pantera Negra, but I have five issues of it dating from 1968. It looks like a bad Neutrón imitation from an otherwise unknown publisher [Editormir].” The comic’s interiors started out as straight black-&-white line art (as per the karate lesson from #19), later used grayish “washes” in an attempt to make it look more like Santo and Neutrón. La Pantera Negra also advertised a more mystic-looking hero called Salimar. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]
EDAR is one of the largest comic book publishing houses in Mexico. In addition to Neutrón, they publish two masked-cowboy revistas with the same photo-anddrawing combination: these are El Latigo Negro (The Black Whip), about a masked and caped Zorro type, and El Charrito de Oro, which can be roughly translated as The Little Cowboy of Gold and has as its protagonist a
The earliest issue of Criollo el Caballo Invencible of which Fred Patten still has copies is #86 (May 1964). Blacksmith José Maria takes a swig of mystic water from his ring (“With one magic gulp”…?), and he’s off and running—soon coming face to face with his nemesis, Prof. Mental. Cover and interior art by Sixto Valencia Burgos. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]
It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! It’s a Horse!
Most of the original Mexican comics I’ve mentioned so far have dealt with costumed heroes as opposed to super-heroes. However, there is one important title that is Mexico’s own answer to Superman or Captain Marvel, and this is EDAR’s Criollo el Caballo Invencible (Creole, the Invincible Horse), published every Friday, with the current issue somewhere around #160. Criollo himself, though, is just a supporting character in his own
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comic. The star is his master, Supercharro, or Supercowboy. Without doubt, Supercharro is the most impressive-looking Mexican costumed hero of them all (on the colored covers, at least), wearing a widebrimmed blue sombrero, the rim tipped in gold; a skin-tight, collarless blue shirt with the symbol of the god Tlaloc, his “sponsor,” in orange on his chest; a leather belt with an orange horseshoe buckle; tight blue working pants with the chaps edged in gold; and brown boots. And, though it doesn’t show, he also wears a ring, in which he carries the source of his magic powers. To quote the splash-panel blurb in issue #54: “A certain mysterious old man gave Chema water with extraordinary powers. On taking and drinking it, he becomes strong and powerful. The only thing wrong is that he can’t For once, the four-hooved Criollo takes part in the action, as he and Supercharro battle space invaders in #104—but Super takes calculate how long the effect will charge solo in the splash of the (continued) #105. Personally, A/E’s editor always liked the admittedly simplistic art by José Cruz Hernandez a bit more than Fred did; he tells a good enough story, anyway. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.] last, and it may pass away at the moment when he most needs it.” genuine Big Red Cheese, of course.) As this gourd is a little awkward to As his ordinary self, Chema—his proper name is José Maria, and he’s carry about wherever he goes, José Maria had to devise a squirting ring called both—is a pleasant-looking young peasant, rather tall (about 5’10” of the practical-joke sort that would hold enough of the elixir to or 11”, I’d guess), but skinny, dark-complexioned as is natural for a transform himself and Criollo into their super-forms whenever needed. Mexican, and apparently in his late twenties. (As a matter of fact, he Once this is done, it’s up to them to finish their job and get back to San states in issue #86 that he was born in 1930, but what super-hero is ever Hipólito before the effects of the elixir wear off. In issue #96, José Maria drawn looking older than in his late twenties?) As his hometown, the discovered the fountain of Tlaloc itself, just in time to replenish the small pueblo of San Hipólito, is an agricultural community, José Maria is supply in his almost-empty gourd. Since then, he has had an endless a farmer, still living with his aged parents, barely able to farm a large stock of the elixir at his disposal, with his only limitation the small enough crop to keep the family alive. José Maria is, in fact, San amount of it he can carry with him at any one time. Hipólito’s version of Clark Kent. He’s not a coward, exactly, but he is a 97-lb. weakling; he may have the will, but he doesn’t have the muscle or energy to get ahead. Crillo #54, incidentally, is the earliest issue I’ve seen, and from the plot only one or two issues after Supercharro’s origin story. I wish I could find copies of the previous 53 issues to find out what this comic was like before Super (as he’s nicknamed) entered the scene. Possibly Criollo was played up more then; I know of no other reason why the stallion should get the comic’s top billing. He has no role other than as Super’s means of transportation (unnecessary, since Super can fly by himself, but a cowboy traditionally needs a horse), and he’s no more prominent than, say, Hopalong Cassidy’s horse was in Hoppy’s comic book. All of this, however, is incidental to Criollo as it appears on the newsstand today, which is the focus of this article. José Maria has two close friends. The first is his plow-horse Criollo, an old nag as skinny as he is. The second is the beautiful Lupita, the daughter of Don Esteban, one of the wealthiest men of San Hipólito. José Maria and Lupita are in love, in fact, but Don Esteban has no intention of letting his daughter marry the least worthwhile man in town. All in all, José Maria was a pretty hopeless case. But one day this mysterious old man gave him a gourd filled with the waters of the magic fountain of the Aztec rain-god Tlaloc, and upon sipping this “superelixir,” José Maria and Criollo turned into Supercharro and Supercaballo, gaining approximately the same powers as Captain Marvel. (The
For the first ten or so issues after getting his powers, José Maria was mostly in a transitional stage, feeling his way about—as, obviously, were the publishers. He was originally called “eso Superhombre”—“that Superman”—and had many of the powers of our own Superman, such as telescopic vision, super-hearing, etc. Gradually, though, most of his powers besides super-strength, invulnerability, and super-flight disappeared; his costume began developing to its present state, and he got his distinct name. His earliest opponents were transitional, too—a local bully to be bashed here, an anonymous gang of bank robbers to be captured there. Clearly, this wasn’t enough to keep a super-hero comic going, and after a little while, Supercharro’s major nemesis made his first appearance. This is Professor Mental, Mexico’s leading Mad Scientist and Dirty Old Man, who is intent on taking over first San Hipólito and then the rest of the world. If Supercharro can be called a copy of Captain Marvel, then Prof. Mental could give Dr. Sivana lessons in villainy. The Prof is, actually, the only real personality in the whole comic. 98 years old (“the flower of youth,” he insists), he’s of average height, bald on top but with a bushy fringe of white hair, whiskers, and short beard. His outfit consists of a thigh-length white lab smock with a yellow atomic symbol on his chest, a wide black belt, brown trousers, and calf-length black boots. He goes about his work of trying to destroy or conquer everything in sight with a good sarcastic sense of humor, and he’s convinced that he’s irresistible to females. In one episode in which he’s aboard a
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Mexican Hero Comics During The U.S. Silver Age occasionally: Mentalito, a ten-year-old smart-aleck version of his uncle; and Malda, a Harlequin type who’s out to trap Super into marriage.
But Profesor Mental has come to be practically the sole raison d’être for Supercharro’s existence. Today’s usual plot will involve Prof. Mental escaping from his “Cell 99” in the local penitentiary (where Super deposited him around issue #88), either by his own superscientific means or through the help of Mentalito and/or Malda and/or a visiting extraterrestrial. Once free, he sets some diabolical device into operation to attract Super onto his already-prepared battlefield, to destroy Super so that he’ll be free to On many of the Valencia covers by later 1964—though José Cruz Hdez didn’t bother to follow this with the inside art— conquer the world. But Supercharro sports a chest symbol representing the Aztec rain god Tlaloc, the source of his powers. What we wouldn’t Super always triumphs in have given to see Otto Binder and C.C. Beck—the writer-artist team behind the best Fawcett “Captain Marvel” stories in the 1940s and ’50s—get a crack at Supercharro and Criollo! [©2004 the respective copyright holders.] the end, of course, though it may take one, two, or three flying saucer piloted by two busty cat-women, he bargains that if they’ll issues, depending on how involved the particular plot is. At any rate, take him back to their planet and out of Super’s reach, he’ll permit one Prof. Mental always winds up back in la Celda 99, grumbling about how or both of them to marry him. He is honestly bewildered when they things will be different next Friday! Variations in this standard story line indignantly kick him out of their saucer. include stories in which Malda appears alone with another trap to make Super fall in love with her, or a menace-from-space tale without the Prof In contrast to this, Supercharro is even denser than Captain Marvel getting into the action. But these are exceptions: Supercharro vs. ever was, if this is possible. A nice enough guy, but no mental standout, he’s okay as long as he’s up against something he can wallop to pieces, and he has enough doggedness to stick with any situation until such an opportunity presents itself. Lupita has a smaller role, approximately equal to that of Iris West in our Flash comic book. She does suspect that José Maria is really Supercharro, but seems reluctant to take steps to find out once and for all; possibly she’s afraid of definitely discovering that he’s not, while this way she can at least dream that her lover is something more than the weakest man in town. (This is the only situation in which the ramifications of the secretidentity plot are used in any original Mexican comic book, to my knowledge.) Nobody else, Criollo included, plays more than a minor supporting role, except for two other villains who show up
Prof. Mental’s nephew Mentalito wasn’t exactly Sivana, Jr., but was still prominent in numerous issues of Criollo—while the Invincible Horse had to content himself with occasional bits on symbolic covers. [© the respective copyright holders.]
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Peninsula (Spain or Portugal). This was a very strong issue of the time, equivalent to our racial situation today. The Penínsulares, of whatever social rank, considered themselves morally and culturally superior to any Criollo country bumpkin, no matter how intelligent and well-refined the latter might be. Most Dons who could afford it would send their wives back to Spain when they were about to give birth, so that their children would be born without the social handicap of being a Criollo. Though this belief disappeared about the time the Spanish colonies in the New World won their independence, modern Latin Americans still remember it and have come to adopt the name in the same way that the British colonists adopted the insulting term “Yankee” for themselves. In fact, I wonder if the horse Criollo was so named partly as a retort to our comic books, as a way of saying—“This is our hero, not another import from North of the Border”? Criollo has had an uneven history of writers and artists—being drawn, instead of illustrated by photographs as are Santo and Neutrón. Most, if not all, of the stories written since Prof. Mental’s debut seem to be by a G. Navarro. Up to around July of 1964, there was a rapid turnover of artists, finally settling on one named José Cruz Hdez. The artist just prior to Cruz was Sixto Valencia Burgos, who still does the covers for Criollo, but whose time is now spent mostly on one of EDAR’s other titles, an Our Gang-type of boys’ comic called Memín Pinguin. It’s a great shame that the publishers made this switch, because while Sr. Valencia is one of the better comic book illustrators in Mexico today, Sr. Cruz is without doubt the worst artist in either Mexico or the United
Each week, a b&w house ad on the inside back cover showed the cover of the next issue—and related how an “Elixir Màgico” turned José Maria into— “Superhombre”! This was apparently a holdover from the monicker the super-hero was called before somebody came up with the far more original “Supercharro.” [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]
Profesor Mental is the usual order of the day. An interesting cultural sidelight is hidden in the name of the comic’s title-star: Criollo, meaning “Creole,” a native New Worlder. Presumably, the horse is named this to signify that he’s a patriotic Mexican steed rather than being a fancy imported foreign thoroughbred. Back in colonial days, a Criollo was anybody born in the New World, as opposed to a Peninsular, who was an immigrant born in the Iberian
Somewhere between Valencia’s striking cover for Criollo #127 (Feb. 27, 1965) and issue #164 (Nov. 12, 1965), there was a radical shift in emphasis and Prof. Mental became the comic’s star. Actually, even #127 had been all about Mental, with José Maria never appearing as Supercharro. In the above interior page from #165 (as in #164), Supercharro shows up only in a few panels—and minus Criollo—to save the day à la Mighty Mouse. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]
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Mexican Hero Comics During The U.S. Silver Age
States. (I limit it to these countries because I’m not familiar enough with the state of comic art in other lands.) Besides a style that looks like a rough, unfinished pencil sketch, Cruz has taken to such tricks as simplifying Super’s costume, dropping the sombrero, chest emblem, etc., and generally limiting it to a bare suit that’s so skin-tight that it’s only by the lack of the appearance of certain physical attributes that you can tell that Super isn’t stark naked. (Valencia still draws the old, fully-costumed Supercharro on the covers, fortunately.) It says much for the quality of Sr. Navarro’s stories that this comic remains worth buying at all in the face of Cruz’s interior art. As it is, its text makes Criollo one of the better titles on the Mexican newsstand today. I can only hope that the publishers will soon transfer Sr. Valencia back full-time to Criollo, though I doubt that this will happen. Memín Pinguin seems to be the better-selling of the two titles, and they’ll naturally want to keep their best artist with their more popular title. Sigh. [1970 NOTE: At this writing, Criollo has been dead for two years or more. As far as I know, Cruz was never replaced as artist; instead, the publishers made the mistake of switching writers around mid1965. The new author, who signed himself “Gamino,” promptly ruined the book by promoting Prof. Mental into the lead and turning him into a comical mad scientist, more funny than menacing, and reducing Supercharro to a background guardian angel for the Prof, to rescue him just as his latest device was about to backfire and blow him up. Without either art or story to recommend it, Criollo soon disappeared; the last issue I ever saw was #170, dated Dec. 15, 1965. Incidentally, having gained a bit more experience with comic art during the last five years, I can say that José Cruz’s artwork is still the worst I’ve ever seen. Comparing it to unfinished pencil sketches is flattering it. Valencia is drawing Memín Pinguin today. —Fred.]
Tawa of the Gazelles Tawa el Hombre Gacela (Tawa, the Gazelle Man) is published by EDAR every Monday, and is currently up to issue #308, dated 17 August, 1965. Tawa is neither costumed nor a super-hero. He is, however, a jungle-man in a jungle kingdom filled with fantastic characters and science-fictional events, so he properly belongs within the scope of this article. Tawa is Mexico’s Tarzan-surrogate. Clad in a rag loincloth, with a circlet around his forehead to keep his shoulder-length chestnut hair out of his eyes, he lives in a tree hut with his wife Paty, a frail-looking blond dressed in a leopardskin, and his son Tawita, a 14- or 15-year-old copy of himself. His closest friends include Etreuf, a gigantically fat strong man with a pin head (who looks exactly like Jack Severin’s “Boy” in the old Mad parody of Tarzan); Homcabagui, a centaur with an eagle’s head and wings; Ollabac, a saber-toothed horse; Otijo, a sort of living eye; and Aneub, a friendly witch. As both king and god of the kingdom of Av-les, Tawa rules over assorted tribes of strange beings such as the Atinob, whose heads are on upside down; the Zebra Men, a centauroid race; the Boa Men, snakeman hybrids who look suspiciously like those in “Barton Werper’s” novel Tarzan and the Snake People; and others. Tawa’s time is usually spent in protecting his subjects from enemies bent upon turning the inhabitants of Av-les into their food supply. These enemies include such inimical peoples as the Mosquito Men, the Vulture Men, the Panther Men, and their like; things from outer space; or supernatural creatures. Occasionally he does battle with a specific character-villain out to take over his kingdom. Recent examples of these include Soid, a tiger-skinmasked false god in league with the Devil, and the Man Without Arms. If things should ever become dull in Av-les, Tawa can shrink himself by super-scientific means to a tiny size, enter a paper-airplane-sized jet, and fly to other lands, including an island of giants, a miniature futuristic city hovering in the sky (where I gather he got his plane and his shrinking power), or our own world. He travels fairly frequently to “civilization” (Mexico City) to visit Dr. González, a friend who often
(Left:) The Tarzan-like Tawa encountered many odd races in his lost land, as per the cover of #195 (June 1963)—but no characters were odder than his friends, like the fat pinheaded giant Etreuf and the human/eagle/centaur Homcabagui. (Above:) Fred’s right—Etreuf does look almost identical to “Boy” in the final panel (inset above right) of the Harvey Kurtzman/John Severin parody of Tarzan in Mad #2 (Dec. 1952-Jan. 1953)! [Tawa art ©2004 the respective copyright holders; Mad art ©2004 E.C. Publishing, Inc.]
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Often, Tawa was bumped from the covers of his own comic in favor of weird creatures—such as green pseudo-Smurfs, a hand/foot thingie (looks like something from an old 16th-century travel book)—man-ducks—Tawa’s saber-toothed horse Ollabac—mosquito women—and another odd furriner. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]
provides medical services otherwise unobtainable in Av-les. These constitute the usual plot elements in this comic book, though an issue will occasionally be devoted to Tawa’s settling disputes between various tribes of his land, finding a yet-unexplored corner of Av-les which will invariably turn out to be inhabited by another strange race of beings, or seeking aid for one of his friends or relatives—usually his wife Paty—who has been attacked by a poisonous snake or some similar deadly beast. The main interest in this comic seems to be in seeing what new type of creature the author/artist can create each week, for he never repeats himself. Only in the case of a specific villain will any given enemy return more than once, and even then, the villain seldom lasts for more than three or four appearances. The good characters (Tawa’s friends and subjects) never change, but the menace (if not its nature) always changes. The plot of any single issue is usually fairly predictable, once you’ve read enough of them to become familiar with the standard variations. In
spite of this, the story line is generally handled well enough that it will continue to hold your interest to the end. Unfortunately, there is an irritating childishness that intrudes into the stories that detracts from the total enjoyment. For one thing, though most of the dialogue is naturally presented, there are about a half-dozen regular characters who speak in, and must be spoken to in, the Spanish equivalent of Johnny Weissmuller ape-talk. In issue #307, Tawa asks, “Family of Tawa know what Ollabac and Homcabagui said to Tawa?” “No,” replies Homcabagui, “Tawa ordered to no say anything.” This rapidly becomes as annoying as the dialog Mort Weisinger keeps putting into Super-Baby’s mouth. For another thing, the author/artist delights in the use of cute names. Most proper names are just descriptions of the characters or places spelled backwards and carefully presented between quotation marks, just in case the reader should otherwise be too dense to spot them. Ollabac, the saber-toothed horse, when reversed, becomes Caballo—horse. Aneub is Buena—she’s a good witch. Av-les, without the hyphen, is
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Mexican Hero Comics During The U.S. Silver Age Since he seemed so often surrounded by his wife, son, and weird-looking friends, here’s a rare chance to see Tawa in action alone in #316 (1965)—even if he’s been captured by crocodile-headed (or is it alligator-headed) tribesmen? [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]
where you’re bringing in, in a supposedly serious dramatic story, an interplanetary band of gremlin-dolls commanded by a cadre of kewpiedoll leaders (issue #263), the whole thing rapidly becomes such a strain on the imagination that the suspension of disbelief crumbles and your comic is merely ludicrous. Fortunately, this doesn’t happen all of the time, but it does occur often enough to be a serious problem. If Tawa were being written for the youngest age-group of comic buyers, this sort of stuff might pass, but the overall quality is such as to establish that it’s being presented to the 10- to 15-year-old super-hero comic book purchaser. This being the case, the above-mentioned flaws are a constant annoyance. Whether they are so bothersome as to make Tawa not worth buying is up to the individual.
simply Selva, or forest. Homcabagui is a portmanteau-word consisting of “hombre,” “caballo,” and “águila”—literally, “Horse-eagle Man.” A third complaint lies with the increasingly ridiculous nature of many of the invading menaces. Granted, if you’re going to have a different set of creatures each week, you’re going to have to go increasingly farther out to come up with something new. But when you get to the point
Though the covers for Tawa are usually signed “Rey,” the comic itself is written and drawn by J. Cervantes Bassoco, one of the Grand Old Men of Mexico’s comic book industry, and his staff. In fact, a special back-cover “short story” on the July 20, 1965 issue has all of Sr. Cervantes’ comic heroes gather together to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the beginning of his career as a comic book creator. His artistic style is simple but clean and precise; if he has any flaw, it’s that his different characters may turn out to look like each other to a greater extent than most artists’ creations do. Aside from this, and ignoring the annoyances mentioned above, he’s got a good basic science-fictional/ fantastic title here, and as long as he can keep on creating new menaces and new unexplored corners of Av-les for Tawa to fall into, he s got a comic worth your investigation.
Now You See Him… This is more than can be said for Editorial Continente’s El Hombre Invisible, which I’m including in this article mostly because Roy has already promised that it would be mentioned. El Hombre Invisible is a weekly comic book, the first issue of which should have been dated October 1, 1964 (due to an error, the publishers ran a colophon for one of their romance comics, instead). My local newsstand only got five out of the first eight issues, so I don’t even know if it’s still being published or not. If not,
This combination of the cover of El Hombre Invisible #1 (1964), an origin recap printed in early issues, and panels from #2 should tell you everything you need to know about this transparently obvious hero. The art isn’t all that bad, though—and the idea of an invisible man saving a would-be ledge jumper is reasonably clever. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]
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Bêlit, not the blond Conan, is the actual—not just titular—star of La Reina de la Costa Negra, as these 1965-66 covers show. Surprisingly, this Mexican comic can’t have been inspired by the US paperback reprinting of Robert E. Howard’s prose stories of the black-maned barbarian, since the first Lancer title, Conan the Adventurer, only appeared in 1966. La Reina was clearly launched by someone familiar with the original 1930s Weird Tales pulp stories, or at least with the 1953 Gnome hardcover book The Coming of Conan, which reprinted “The Queen of the Black Coast”—source of the winged ape on #16’s cover. “Queen,” the only tale by REH in which Bêlit appears, was finally printed in a US paperback in Conan of Cimmeria (1969). Even the similarity of artist Lavalle’s Conan figure on La Reina #23 to Frank Frazetta’s splendid cover painting for the 1967 paperback called simply Conan can thus be only a coincidence. [Art ©2004 the respective copyright owners; Conan & Bêlit TM & ©2004 Conan Properties, Inc.]
it’s no great loss. The art (unsigned) is crudely simple, but tolerable; yet the plots are so basic to the invisible-man theme, without anything original in the way of gimmicks or characterization, that they’re worthless. Of course, assuming it is still being published, there may have been some changes made that would make it more worthwhile. Judging from these five issues, however, none of us is missing anything. To cover the origin story briefly, the hero is Valente Delmar, a handsome, rich young playboy, famous for his philanthropies. Traveling through the desert one day, his car breaks down, and in looking for help, he finds a dying old prospector. The prospector, recognizing Valente as a man noted for doing good deeds, gives him a ring made from a mysterious meteorite, which when worn renders its wearer invisible. With this, Valente can grow from being a passive doer of good (i.e., endowing schools, hospitals, etc.) to become an active fighter for law and order. Valente accepts the dying prospector’s trust and begins to use his invisibility to follow criminals unseen to their hideouts, eavesdrop on their conversations, free their captives, terrify them into helplessness, etc., etc., etc. There is one amusing facet to all this, though. The invisibility conferred by the ring is of the sort described in H.G. Wells’ famous novel: while the subject himself is invisible, the invisibility has no effect on anything he may be wearing (except, for no stated reason, the ring itself) or holding. Thus, far from being a costumed super-hero, Valente must strip himself nude before going into action. (I hope for his sake he never has any adventures at the North Pole.) In one adventure, while strolling down the street in his normal identity, he stumbles upon a kidnapping. As the kidnappers jump into their car and speed off, Valente hops onto the rear bumper, slips on his ring, and proceeds to divest himself of his clothes so that the villains will be unable to see him when they stop. Aside from the fact that you’d be strewing your clothes, valuables, and identification all over the landscape, would you care to try doing a strip-tease while clinging to the rear of an automobile doing about 75 m.p.h. over a bumpy Mexican country road? I don’t think so. [1970 NOTE: The last time I looked over a Mexican newsstand, about six months ago, both El Hombre Invisible and Tawa were still being published. The former was as bland as ever, but Tawa had
apparently undergone a fairly radical change. The artwork was still the same, but Tawa was now conventionally clothed and involved with some sort of secret-agent adventures in civilization, with some super-scientific overtones. The particular issue I saw seemed to be somewhere in the middle of a long serial. I don’t know what’s happened between 1965 and 1969, but the sign of originality is refreshing. —Fred.]
¿“Conan el Cimeriano”? [NOTE: While everything else in “¡Supermen South!” was written in 1964-65, except for the occasional italicized interpolations—such as this one—Fred Patten and Ye Editor agreed that we should also shoehorn into it the following section, which appeared under the above title in the Sept. 1974 issue of Richard Kyle’s magazine Wonderworld (Vol. 4, #3—whole #13). Our thanks to Richard for his blessing. It has been very slightly edited. —Roy.] One of the biggest events in American comic art in recent years [as of 1974] has been the introduction of sword-and-sorcery pulp literature to comic books. Conan the Barbarian, Kull the Conqueror, “Thongor of Lemuria” [in Creatures on the Loose], Dagar the Invincible, Sword of Sorcery—almost every major publisher has at least one title in the genre. They seem extremely popular with today’s readers. Early issues of Conan are a top investment among modern comic books in the collectors’ market. Most people date this development from the first appearance of Conan in comic book form, in Marvel’s Conan the Barbarian, whose first issue was dated October 1970. Most people don’t know that Conan appeared in comic book form five years earlier.
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Mexican Hero Comics During The U.S. Silver Age Aside from the title and names of the leading characters, most stories had virtually nothing to do with Howard’s Hyborian Age. Bêlit was a brunette who dressed in vaguely medieval armor, with a Spanish conquistador-style helmet. Her pirates were all—including her first mate, Conan!—blond Vikings, who swore by Thor. The only other continuing character was Yanga, the helmsman. Their drakkar, the Venganza (Vengeance), sailed the seas of the world, landing on strange islands or exotic African and Asian coasts. The time frame wobbled between that of Eric the Red to the later Crusades, about 900 to 1300 A.D. Plots usually involved encounters with monsters on unknown isles, befriending exiled princes or princesses and intriguing to restore them to their thrones, escaping some mighty monarch’s navies, or battling with a rival Viking gang for some treasure. The quality of the stories was about what you might expect when one man wrote and another drew all 32 pages each week—sketchy hackwork. Joma’s La Reina de la Costa Negra was an interesting oddity, but it was too ephemeral and unknown to have influenced the development of graphic-story literature. Marvel’s standing as the creator of sword-andsorcery literature in comics is still secure. La Reina de la Costa Negra was uncovered by a US Robert E. Howard fan during a visit to Tijuana, Baja California, during the Christmas season of 1965. He forwarded copies to the major sword-andsorcery fan club, The Hyborian Legion, which passed them on to L. Sprague de Camp, Howard’s literary successor. De Camp wrote to the publisher to inquire about obtaining back issues. He never received a reply, and it was just about then that the last issue of the comic was seen. It is interesting to speculate whether this was just coincidence, or whether the publisher feared a norteamericano copyright holder was trying to gather evidence for legal action.
Rolando Fabuloso Thought you should see at least one of the interior 7” x 10” pages of La Reina. #16 is the issue which adapts most of Howard’s story “Queen of the Black Coast”: Bêlit, Conan, and crew sail up a jungle river, and the she-pirate captain is hurt (though not killed, as in the prose tale) by a winged gorilla. Conan, searching for a mysterious orchid that will restore her, battles a huge two-headed serpent (which isn’t in “Queen”) and a pack of hyenas (which is) before he fights the winged ape, also as per REH. In “Queen,” the ghost of the dead Bêlit materializes at a crucial moment to help Conan by distracting the ape; in La Reina, her image appears to him, even though she’s still alive and comatose leagues away. In the comic, Conan kills the simian and restores his beloved to health. This seems to be one of the few issues in which Conan, not Bêlit, has the more active role, doubtless because it was such a close adaptation of Howard’s original tale—except for the happy ending. Art by Lavalle. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]
It was an extremely odd incarnation, in a weekly Mexican comic book, completely unauthorized, that lasted for about half a year in 19651966. The comic was based upon one of Robert E. Howard’s most popular Conan stories, “The Queen of the Black Coast”—but with a difference. In Howard’s story, Conan met a pirate queen, Bêlit of Askalon, and had a brief dalliance with her before her death at the end of the tale. In the Mexican comic, Bêlit was the star and Conan only a supporting character. The first issue of La Reina de la Costa Negra was dated August 25, 1965. A new issue appeared every Wednesday thereafter for about half a year. The last issue known to any collector seems to be #24, dated February 2, 1966. It was a one-peso, 32-page, black-&-white magazine. The publisher was Ediciones Joma of Mexico City. Most early issues were drawn by “Lavalle,” identified further in the colophon as the publisher’s Art Director, Salvador H. Lavalle. Later issues had art signed by A. Kstro or A. Ramirez. All scenarios were credited to R. Silva Quiros.
The comics mentioned above cover those costumed-heroes now [mid-1960s] appearing on Mexican newsstands. However, if you were building up a collection of Mexicomics, there’s one other fantasy title you’d probably want to buy. This is Rolando el Rabioso (Mad Roland), published every Saturday by Editorial Zeus, Albino Garcia No. 218, Col. Asturias, México 8, D.F. Rolando el Rabioso is a weekly comic that just began publication this year; the current issue is #39, dated 21 August, 1965. It’s one of the most humorous comics being published today in either the US or Mexico, being a mad conglomeration of the romance of King Arthur, the Carolingian legends, Robin Hood, and as many anachronisms as the author can possibly throw in. Roland, in the traditional Chansons de Geste—a series of French legends similar to the Arthurian saga in Britain—was one of Charlemagne’s most famous knights, one of the twelve paladins who fought for Christianity against the Saracens, monsters, and evil wizards who were spreading throughout Spain and southwestern France at the time. In actual history, Charlemagne invaded northern Spain to push back the Moors, who had swept up through Spain and into France until defeated by his grandfather Charles Martel (The Hammer) at the Battle of Tours. Charlemagne was retreating back into France through the Pyrenees after an unsatisfactory campaign in northern Spain when an ambush by a renegade Christian force massacred his rearguard, which was led by Count Roland of Brittany, at Roncevaux, on August 15, 778 A.D. Peasant tradition over the next 500 years added the fairytale elements. In the early 1500s, an Italian named Lodovico Ariosto “novelized” the Chansons de Geste into an epic poem titled Orlando Furioso (Mad Roland), in which, at one point, Roland accidentally drinks from the
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Covers for Rolando el Rabioso #24, 28, & 53, all 1965. #53 is the weekly’s “first anniversary” issue. Art by Gaspar Bolanos V. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]
Fountain of Forgetfulness, loses his wits, and wanders about challenging and slaying everyone he meets, friend and foe alike. In the Rolando el Rabioso comic book, the hero is fighting a guerrilla war à la Robin Hood on behalf of King Richard the ChickenHearted, whose kingdom has been usurped by cowardly Duke Chilperic and evil Sir Basil Isk while Richard is off fighting in the Crusades. Rolando is accompanied only by his young squire Pitoloco (roughly, Crazycoot), though he occasionally gets some help from old Queen Berenjena and Princess Urlanda, Richard’s wife and daughter, now both under house arrest by Sir Basil. Queen Berenjena is content to remain barricaded in her quarters and wait for Ricardo to return, meanwhile crowning anybody who tries to break in with a chamber pot. Urlanda and Rolando are in love, however, and whenever he’s not out fouling up Sir Basil’s plots, he drops in at the palace to tell her of his undying amour. Sir Basil wants to marry Urlanda to his son, dim-witted Sir Gildebard the Bolshevik, to give him a claim to the throne, and he keeps setting increasingly complex traps around the palace to capture Rolando the next time he comes by. Rolando is so blindly in love that he usually blunders right through them like a rhinoceros, without even noticing them or dropping the posies he’s bringing to Urlanda. Other characters who wander through this comic landscape include Magin, an evil magician; the Devil, in Viet Cong uniform; Chulinda, a friendly, pretty Arab lady knight; a mysterious masked knight who may or may not be King Ricardo himself; various personages from other medieval romances; and assorted witches, good and wicked knights, giants, ogres, and what-have-you. Plots vary between Rolando’s avoiding Sir Basil’s attempts to capture him and foiling his schemes to rob the kingdom blind, and adventures in which Rolando and Pitoloco travel about searching for King Ricardo, fighting the Saracens, freeing beautiful princesses from nasty ogres, and the like. In one episode partly cribbed from Dante, in which they accompany a witch on a trip through Hell in return for a favor she’d done them, one of the sights they see is a flaming pit filled with all the writers and artists of all other comic books. Their own author/artist is a saint, of course. “Braaack!” says one of the damned souls.
Rolando and friend have a skullful of fun in issue #24. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]
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Mexican Hero Comics During The U.S. Silver Age
A Justice League of Their Own These, then, are the costumed heroes of Mexico. But is there anything besides the fact that they happen to be published in Mexico, in the Spanish language, that would serve to distinguish them from costumedhero comics published in the United States? Well, as I mentioned earlier, there is a definite spectrum ranging from the virtual Americanism of the reprints of such titles as Superman and Fantastic Four—which differ from the originals only in the fact that the dialogue is now in Spanish—to the Mexicanism of the original comics: different in format, technique of publication, and cultural elements of plots and background. In language, the American reprints and the stylistic copies of the US comics are written in basic textbook Spanish. Anybody with a semester’s worth of high school Spanish and a Spanish-English pocket dictionary shouldn’t have any trouble reading these at all. The original Mexican comics, however, are much more difficult. Colloquial Mexican is used to a large extent, and there are many words and phrases whose meaning you’ll just have to guess at. For example, a Spanish-English dictionary is more likely to list “charro” under its Spanish definition of “fool” or “country bumpkin” than its Mexican meaning of “cowboy.” Mexico, having a unified religious heritage under Roman Catholicism, tends to use religious words and phrases to an extent that would never be allowed in the US, where religious tolerance has kept specific denominational references out of the mass media. In fact, the Mexican use of
What a difference 400 issues can make! While there was always a bit of anachronism in Rolando (in one early issue the Devil was shown wearing a football helmet with a hammer and sickle on the back—and note the Frankenstein Monster on the cover of #53), by 1970 the hero had gone the Alley Oop time travel route. This cover, for issue #449, is from 1973. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]
Rolando el Rabioso is printed in a black-&-white process rather than the usual brown-&-white rotogravure, but aside from that it looks like most other weekly Mexican comics. The author/artist, Gaspar Bolanos V., is unfortunately not as good an illustrator as most, but he makes up for this by the action of his stories, the mad dialogue, and his humorous situations and backgrounds—he works in involved backgrounds such as Will Elder used to have in the old Mad. Several local fans who’ve seen Rolando have compared it to the old Sir Oaky Doakes. The main fault of Bolanos is over-involved plots. Between issues #29 and 37, he had two independent plots of four and five installments each going at once, alternately. This can be awkward, especially when your local newsstand doesn’t get every issue of a comic. He’s also overly fond of dialects and accents (not to mention Pitoloco, who stutters), which can be a headache to an American reader whose knowledge of Spanish is poor at best. However, despite these flaws (the latter of which is hardly the comic’s fault), Rolando el Rabioso is definitely a comic book that most of us would probably want in our collections. [1970 NOTE: Rolando also seems to be healthy and well today, though the plots have gotten even more involved, if possible. Judging from the different costumes in the scattered issues I’ve seen since 1965, there seems to be a lot of time travel in the stories now. —Fred.]
The Spanish word “charro” means not only “cowboy,” but particularly a cowboy wearing a fancy, elaborate outfit for show, as opposed to rugged outdoor clothes. By that definition, Supercharro is aptly named! [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]
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The ubiquitous 1964 ad for a free photo of Pope Paul VI. All you had to do was subscribe to Vidas Ejemplares (Exemplary Lives). [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]
religious references and themes is carried on to such a familiar extent that the US reader might at first glance consider this as sacrilegious. “Por Dios” (“By God”) and “Dios Mio” (“My God”) are used as epithets as freely as “Gosh” or “Golly” in this country, references to the Virgin Mary and various saints are as common, and even “What the Hell” is not unknown. I’ve already cited Relámpago’s fear that, having been resurrected from the dead, he might no longer have a soul. In one humorous instance in Criollo, when Prof. Mental is about to enter a circus cage full of wild lions as part of a plan to escape from prison, he recites the Lord’s Prayer as insurance just in case anything goes wrong. Tawa had a series of issues around Christmas 1964 in which Tawa was battling the Devil, and every time the Devil had him down and was just about to do him in, a glowing crucifix would appear overhead and send Satan shrieking for shelter. [2004 NOTE: The inside back cover in Batman #238-239 advertised a “Free, Full-Color Portrait of His Holiness, Pope Paul VI, for Subscribing.” I originally thought this was a gift for subscribing to these super-hero titles (the ad also appeared in the Supermán reprint; but, on more careful reading, the offer is made for subscribing to the educational Vidas Ejemplares comic. Even so, it is startling for a nonMexican to see such a religious offer in such a secular comic book. — Fred.] Racial distinctions are more marked in some respects and less marked in others. In the comics illustrated with photographs, Mexican and black actors are used indiscriminately to a degree that far exceeds the “token black” appearances just beginning in our comics. In everyday street scenes, a storekeeper, bank teller, or merchant is as likely to be a black as
a Mexican/Indian, and no mention is made of the fact. On the other hand, in the comics illustrated with drawings (and particularly those of the cartoon sort), the characters are all Caucasians or Mexican/Indians, with the exceptions of the blatantly-drawn comic-relief black with thick rubbery lips, kinky hair, and rolling poached-egg eyes. There are fewer of these in the costumed-hero comics than there are in others, though, and the blacks are usually sympathetically shown. There is an Our Gang-style boys’ comic in which the black member of the gang is the central character—Memín Pinguin. Racial prejudice is clearly shown when it’s for the purpose of establishing a character as a villain. A brutal policeman in El Halcón Negro and a group of juvenile delinquents in Memín Pinguin both use the ultimate racial epithet for a black which, needless to say, would hardly be permitted under our Comics Code Authority, even if the ultimate purpose of the plot were to show that the black is a far superior person to the bigots who insult him at first. With its Spanish cultural heritage, Mexico hasn’t yet reached the level of sexual equality that we have in this country. Women are almost ignored in these comics unless present in the background in a very minor role as a mother, wife, or girlfriend. There is nothing approaching a feminine costumed-hero or assistant, newspaper columnist or reporter, business figure of any sort, or tagalong girlfriend on the hero’s heels. If a woman is in any way obtrusive other than as a frail creature to be protected by the hero, it’s in a derogatory role as a gangster’s moll, a burlesque dancer, or a femme fatale. Malda, the super-villainess chasing Supercharro, is the only one who might be considered as an exception to this rule, being presented in a humorous semi-sympathetic light even though it’s evident that she’s not a Nice Girl.
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Mexican Hero Comics During The U.S. Silver Age Cósmico, in Neutrón, sets out to learn about human society, he doesn’t visit the Grand Canyon or the Pyramids but the Folies in Paris. Whether this is “good” for the average reader or not I won’t presume to guess, but it does seem to be a lot less hypocritical than the watered-down picture of human behavior to be found in US comics.
Memín Pinguin, though visually a blatantly racial-stereotype black, is a sympathetic and intelligent kid hero—more like Will Eisner’s Ebony in The Spirit than Steamboat or Whitewash in the old Captain Marvel and Young Allies. And the lad’s got legs as well as heart: issue #84 was published in 1965, while #133 (a digest-sized but full-color comic) was on sale in Mexico in 2004—and, while the title may have been suspended for a time, Sixto Valencia is still drawing it! Thanks to Don Rosick & Pat Mason for the copy of the recent issue. [©2004 Grupo Editorial VID, S.A.]
And there are still other aspects of Mexican cultural life that stand out more clearly in the photographic comics than in the drawn ones. As is common in a masculinist society, the mustache is much more predominant on Mexican men than on Americans, though none of the heroes themselves are mustached. Also, Mexico is just beginning to become an urban, industrial nation, and many of the city scenes still show streets without sidewalks and big towns with buildings not over a few stories tall. Many other stories are set in agricultural communities, where much of the labor is still done by hand and by animal power. The final picture composed from all this is that Mexican comic books are separate and distinct from US comic books. Simply translating one into American English would not disguise the fact that it
[1970 NOTE: Since the above was written, a photomontage comic titled 0013, featuring a beautiful female secret agent, briefly flickered on and off the scene. Though the heroine, played by Mexican actress Regina Torné, was fighting for the Good Guys, she was too much of a tigress to be a very sympathetic character. —Fred.] Mexican comics seem more frank about real life. The use of swearing has been noted. The brutality of the fights in such comics as Santo and Neutrón is not cut, and Mexican heroes are frankly shown as vigilantes who deal out justice at their own hands, as US costumed-heroes used to be before they all became adjuncts to their local police forces. When
(Left:) Twenty rotogravure pages (plus color covers) of the female secret agent 0013 #1 (1966) were stapled inside Tawa #338, much as DC in the 1980s would add a free 16-page insert inside an established title. (Right:) One historical revista dealt with Cabalgando con Villa—Pancho Villa and those who rode with him. Considered an early 20th-century bandit by the US, he is a national hero in Mexico. This 1964 La Prensa ad for the first issue displays excellent artwork. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]
¡Supermen South! originally came from our sister nation to the south. And this is as it should be. This is what gives the Mexican reader his own heritage rather than making him feel inferior because the only example held up to him is of life in the United States. That’s about it. Mexico may not be as super-hero happy as the United States is today, but it’s by no means a Badlands totally lacking any of these mighty defenders of law and order. So the next time you read about The Flash racing to Paris to prop up a toppling Eiffel Tower, or Superman zooming to Rio to protect the city from a tidal wave, you might stop to wonder if they’re really needed, after all. They’re more than likely to find when they get there that the job’s already been done by a local super-hero whom none of us have ever heard of! [FRED PATTEN became active in science-fiction fandom while attending UCLA in 1960, and segued into comics fandom when it split off in the early ’60s. He wrote “¡Supermen South!” for Alter Ego in 1964-65. In the ’60s and early ’70s, he was a member of CAPAAlpha, the first comics-fandom apa, for which he wrote articles about French comics. From 1972-75 he and Richard Kyle were partners in the Graphic Story Bookshop, the first comics shop to import the best international comics into the US. He was a co-founder of the first anime fan club, the Cartoon/Fantasy Organization, in 1977. He currently writes monthly anime columns for Animation World Magazine, Comics Buyer’s Guide, and Newtype USA. He is also active in the genre of anthropomorphic/Furry literature and fandom and is an administrator for the annual Ursa Major Awards in that field (www.ursamajorawards.org). His first book (as editor), Best in Show: Fifteen Years of Outstanding Furry Fiction, was published in 2003 by Sofawolf Press. His second (as author), Watching Anime, Reading Manga: 25 Years of Essays and Reviews, was published this September by Stone Bridge Press.]
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If you’re viewing a digital version of this publication, PLEASE read this plea from the publisher! his is COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL, which is NOT INTENDED FOR FREE T DOWNLOADING ANYWHERE. If you’re a print subscriber, or you paid the modest fee we charge to download it at our website, you have our sincere thanks—your support allows us to keep producing publications like this one. If instead you downloaded it for free from some other website or torrent, please know that it was absolutely 100% DONE WITHOUT OUR CONSENT, and it was an ILLEGAL POSTING OF OUR COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL. If that’s the case, here’s what you should do: 1) Go ahead and READ THIS DIGITAL ISSUE, and see what you think. 2) If you enjoy it enough to keep it, DO THE RIGHT THING and purchase a legal download of it from our website, or purchase the print edition at our website (which entitles you to the Digital Edition for free) or at your local comic book shop. We’d love to have you as a regular paid reader. 3) Otherwise, DELETE IT FROM YOUR COMPUTER and DO NOT SHARE IT WITH FRIENDS OR POST IT ANYWHERE. 4) Finally, DON’T KEEP DOWNLOADING OUR MATERIAL ILLEGALLY, for free. We offer one complete issue of all our magazines for free downloading at our website, which should be sufficient for you to decide if you want to purchase others. If you enjoy our publications enough to keep downloading them, support our company by paying for the material we produce. We’re not some giant corporation with deep pockets, and can absorb these losses. We’re a small company—literally a “mom and pop” shop—with dozens of hard-working freelance creators, slaving away day and night and on weekends, to make a pretty minimal amount of income for all this work. We love what we do, but our editors, authors, and your local comic shop owner, rely on income from this publication to stay in business. Please don’t rob us of the small amount of compensation we receive. Doing so will ensure there won’t be any future products like this to download. TwoMorrows publications should only be downloaded at
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As a parting gesture, here’s the late Biljo White’s great wraparound cover drawn for Alter Ego [V1]#9 in 1965. Consider it a test: if you can’t identify every one of the original Mexican comics heroes on it after reading Fred Patten’s article—you just flunked! [Art ©2004 Estate of Biljo White; characters TM & ©2004 the respective trademark & copyright holders.]
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re: Ye Editor Roy Thomas here. Well, I’m gonna take another stab, in these letters sections, at speaking in the first person instead of the third. I’m not making much progress in achieving my goal of catching up to publishing letters re Alter Ego only five months after a given issue, but at least I’m trading water— dealing with #35 if not #38. The former issue (still available from TwoMorrows if you missed it) cover-featured the 1953-55 Timely/Atlas super-hero revival (behind John Romita’s never-before-printed first pro drawing ever of Captain America!) and an in-depth interview with Timely/Mad artist/writer Al Jaffee. First, we hear from another interviewee in that selfsame issue, somebody named Stan Lee: Dear Roy— I enjoy reading those beautifully edited and written issues of Alter Ego. The latest one, with Al Jaffee’s interview, brought back so many names I had forgotten about. I always think of you as a terrific writer/editor—but I’m beginning to feel you’re also one of the world’s great historians! Excelsior! Stan Lee Thanks for the compliment, Stan. Now everybody can see why I enjoyed working for you all those years. But, while I’ll happily admit I contributed a few thoughts and interviews concerning the 1950s hero revival in issue #35, the Al Jaffee talk you so enjoyed was, of course, conducted by Jim Amash, who’s also a comic book inker in his own right. I’d say Jim was one of A/E’s “hidden treasures,” except that his name is right out there in the open on something-or-other in every issue. I try to help the historical process along a bit whenever I can—the rest of the time, I get out of the way and let guys like Jim and others get on with it. Getting kind words about the issue from folks like you, John Romita, Dick Ayers, and others who were a part of the revival is merely icing on the four-color cake. Next, reader Bill Henley weighs in on the revival material: Dear Roy— I enjoyed the coverage of the 1950s Marvel super-hero revival in A/E #35. The complete index of those hero titles with your running commentary was a useful addition to my store of comics history info. The interviews with Ayers, Romita, and Stan Lee were also enlightening (even if the latter seemed to consist more of you telling Stan what was in those issues than him telling you). And the Al Jaffee half of the book was more interesting than I expected. I associate Jaffee with Mad, which I’m not very interested in these days, but he had good stories to tell about old-time Marvel. A question came to mind that maybe you can answer yourself. When Marvel published Golden Age stories in Fantasy Masterpieces/ Marvel Super-Heroes in the 1960s, at first that title used Simon &
John Romita and John Romita, Jr. (we’ll assume you can figure out which is which) peruse John Sr.’s “Captain America” story in Young Men #28 (June 1954) at the 1996 San Diego ComicCon—in a photo taken by Tom Stewart. In these later revival issues, the red stripes on Cap’s shield were only color-held and don’t show up here—and the shield had shrunk a bit, too. [Art ©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]
Kirby “Captain America” stories and other early-’40s material; but later it switched to using mostly reprints of the 1950s stories covered in #35. Was that because the original art or stats to the ’50s stories were still available, making them easier to reprint? Or because you or Stan thought the ’50s stories were closer to current standards of story and art than the ’40s stories were? Or both? Also, I was amused to note that, when you praise the hero revival stories for tying the characters into their past history, you ignored a major anomaly that turns up in the “Cap” revival (and to a lesser extent in the “Torch”). The “Captain America” story in Young Men #24 makes explicit that Steve Rogers first became Cap and teamed up with Bucky in “the early days of the war”—i.e., 1941—then shows Cap and Bucky returning to action in the “present” of 1953. Okay, maybe the alreadyadult Captain America doesn’t show any noticeable signs of ageing, especially considering the super-soldier serum. But Bucky’s still a boy after 12 years! Did this bother you at all when you first read the story? Even if he’d been only ten years old in 1941, he’d be a full-grown adult by 1953. Granted, all super-hero series with kid sidekicks—and indeed, all comic strips and other continuing series with child protagonists— have this problem of keeping their characters frozen in time. But most such stories don’t rub it in our noses by tying the storylines to specific dates and making it explicit that the boy sidekick has been the same age for over a decade! Bill Henley 3120 W. 101st St. Cleveland, OH 44101 You’re dead right, Bill. I was definitely remiss in forgetting to mention that business with Bucky not having aged between 1945 and 1953—and yes, that did bother me even at age 12, since most things about the updating of Captain America, The Human Torch, and Sub-Mariner in Young Men #24 were handled so realistically. Ditto the statement there that Toro had only joined forces with the Torch in 1949, when I knew better. The handling of those two kid-sidekick elements was a double lapse in an otherwise exemplary revival. You’re also correct about why 1950s reprints began to edge out 1940s ones in Fantasy Masterpieces/Marvel Super-Heroes in the late 1960s. Stan and the rest of us had been less than thrilled with the necessarily hurried retouching of the art on 1940s stories of Timely’s “Big Three” (already reproduced poorly from copies of the original comics, by techniques far more primitive than today’s), and were discovering photostats of many ’50s stories in Marvel’s warehouse facilities. We also felt, as
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re: Maybe, Jeff. And yet, whether ’twas Stan or Jack who dug up the reference material for the 1966 F.F. Annual story “The Torch That Was,” the fact remains that one or both must’ve had access either to Marvel Comics #1 from 1939, or to 1940’s Marvel Mystery Comics #92 (the last issue), because those are the only two places where, up to that time, the true origin of the Torch had been shown. His Russ Heath-drawn return in Young Men #24 inaccurately shows the flaming hero arising out of a big test tube, which is merely a symbolic approach to his origin. Any other ideas out there? I remember being surprised in 1966 when I learned Stan planned to bring back the original Torch at all. Since it was a one-shot story not intended to lead to sequels, I subscribe to the notion that publisher Martin Goodman may have directed Stan to do that story in order to shore up Marvel’s rights in the first Torch, not just in the Johnny Storm model—but I didn’t hear anything along those lines in ’66. Or, if I did, I’ve totally forgotten it. Now, on to the Al Jaffee half of the issue, starting with a letter from Michael Fraley: Dear Jim Amash— I love the work you’ve done with Alter Ego. I suppose these days it’s more common for me to search out the newest issue of A/E than it is to actually buy a new Marvel or DC comic. Perhaps I’m just starting to show my age, but I can’t identify with most of the product out there.
Jim Amash, who interviewed Al Jaffee for Alter Ego #35, received this gracious thank-you from the humor artist. [Art ©2004 Al Jaffee.]
you suggest, that the later tales were a bit closer in tone and sophistication to what was being written and drawn in Marvel comics by the late ’60s.
Great interviews with Romita and Jaffee in the current issue of A/E, BTW. You know, I never could figure out Jaffee’s stuff—it never quite “clicked” with me, for some reason—but your interview warmed me up to him in spite of myself. It’s always a pleasant feeling to be able to get some insight into something or someone you’ve not known how to appreciate before. It’s a broadening of vision and an expansion of taste. Thanks so much.
Now, a theory about that ’50s revival, courtesy of Jerry Beck:
Michael Fraley 2910 Farnsworth Drive Fort Wayne, IN 46805
Dear Roy, Long time fan, first time caller. I love Alter Ego each month. Don’t know how you do it. Re A/E #35: You were wondering why the revival of Captain America, The Human Torch, and Subby—you asked Stan on page 36 (about Marty Goodman): “He may have seen that The Adventures of Superman was causing a spike in the sales of DC’s Superman books.” That’s a possibility, but here’s another: Republic’s Captain America movie serial was re-released (as The Return of Captain America) on September 30, 1953. It would be in theatres on a weekly basis when Young Men #24 hit the stands. Perhaps this bit of publicity—and Goodman’s knowledge of the matter—led him to decide to try superheroes again. (And, for the record, Republic’s Captain Marvel serial was reissued in April 1953.) Jerry Beck Could very well be, Jerry. But of course, the re-release to movie theatres of the Captain Marvel and Captain America serials was itself, in all likelihood, a response to the popularity of The Adventures of Superman on TV in the early 1950s. Jeff Jatras has another thought: Roy, Your comment in the article on The Human Torch that Russ Heath’s version of the “fiery” Torch in Young Men #24 was a “singular achievement” is incorrect. The first appearance of the original Human Torch since the 1950s, in Fantastic Four Annual #4, plainly had the same fiery look and feel as the Heath version. Could that be what Russ was referring to in A/E #35 when he commented about Stan [Lee] giving Jack [Kirby] his old story? Jeff Jatras
Congratulations for being so open to a re-evaluation of your opinions, Michael. And, speaking of Al Jaffee, here’s an e-mail from the Netherlands and reader/contributor Ger Apeldoorn: Hi, Roy, Another great issue. Here’s a gag Al Jaffee must have drawn for Yank (or maybe for a smaller paper, after which it was picked up by Yank). It was reprinted in The Best of Yank, Dutton & Co. 1945. Ger Apeldoorn Everyone can see it now on the opposite page, Ger. Thanks for that— and for the Harvey Kurtzman Varsity material you’ve provided for Michael T. Gilbert’s “Comic Crypt” since. Roy, Did Al Jaffee get the last laff from Alter Ego #35? I just took a second long look at his cover, after finishing the issue, and I believe that one of Cap’s little head-wings just gave me the finger! Mike Thomas Just a figment of your imagination, Mike. Gentleman Al Jaffee, like the rest of the refined talents up at Mad, would never do such a thing. (Yeah, right!) We’ll end this column with a couple of long paragraphs left over from a letter we got months ago from one-time comics writer (and now movie producer, as in Batman) Michael Uslan of Branded Entertainment. Back in A/E #26, in connection with our coverage of Silver Age DC copublisher Irwin Donenfeld, we noted in passing rumors about the creation of two prominent comics—Archie’s Little Archie and Martin Goodman’s Fantastic Four. Michael wrote his own take on both legends:
re:
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Dear Roy: In your article transcribing the Irwin Donenfeld session from the San Diego ComiCon, I was that “unidentified member of the audience” who quizzed Irwin about the Little Archie story and the JLA golf game. Irwin said he was never at that poker game nor at that golf game and declared the stories untrue. I claim he was absolutely right that he attended neither and was absolutely wrong that they were untrue. Let’s start with Little Archie. Back around 1980, I put together with Jeff Mendel a hardback/trade paperback for G.P. Putnam’s Sons called The Best of Archie. In our long introduction we mention the poker game in which guys from other comic book publishing houses were ribbing John [Goldwater, Archie publisher] about how they themselves published every different type of comic book genre… superheroes, humor, romance, Westerns, war, funny animal, movie and TV tie-ins, etc., while all John published was Archie: Archie’s Pals… Archie’s Jokes… Big Archie… Little Archie…. And that did it for John. He declared on the spot that he would actually go ahead and make a comic book about a “Little Archie” and would make it into a better seller than their books. That story was personally related to Jeff by John himself. Shortly thereafter, I confirmed the story with Sol Harrison, variously production manager, vice president, and president of DC Comics. It was Sol who was at that poker game, not Irwin Donenfeld. What would Sol Harrison be doing socializing with John Goldwater back then? The answer was that they were both deeply involved with the Comics Code Authority. John was its president [technically of the Comic Magazine Association of America], and Sol was DC’s most active representative in its workings. It makes sense that they would be at the same game. I wonder if Code director Len Darvin was also there. But I did get that story from two first-hand sources. Richard Goldwater [John G.’s son] might be able
Thanks to Ger Apeldoorn for this 1945 Al Jaffee cartoon, done while the artist was in the armed services. See Ger’s letter for details. [Art ©2004 Al Jaffee.]
to shed further light on the event. And now, the legendary golf game in which Martin Goodman, publisher of [what would soon be] Marvel Comics, was supposedly told by the head of DC that DC had a big hit on its hands with Justice League of America, sending Martin straight back to Stan Lee with orders to create their own group of super-heroes—and thus, the birth of The Fantastic Four and the entire Marvel Age of Comics. Irwin said he never played golf with Goodman, so the story is untrue. I heard this story more than a couple of times while sitting in the lunchroom at DC’s 909 Third Avenue office and 75 Rockefeller Plaza office as Sol Harrison and [production chief] Jack Adler were schmoozing with some of us “Junior Woodchucks” (there was no term “interns” back then) who worked for DC during our college summers while we churned out issues of The Amazing World of DC Comics pro/fan-zine.
(Above left:) This “Little Archie” story was reprinted in the 1980 book The Best of Archie, edited by Michael Uslan and Jeffrey Mendel. The Little Archie series was launched in 1956 and ran until 1983—not a bad pot to win in a poker game! (Above right:) This La Prensa house ad for the 1960s Mexican reprint of Fantastic Four utilizes a quartet of panels from FF #1, and this seemed the right issue to use it—even though some of the lines in the art faded when the ad was first reprinted in the 1997 Hamster Press volume Alter Ego: The Best of the Legendary Comics Fanzine. [Archie page ©2004 Archie Comic Publications, Inc.; Fantastic Four TM & ©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]
Irwin was right. He never played golf with Goodman. But the way I heard the story from Sol was that Goodman was playing with one of the heads of Independent News, not DC Comics (though DC owned Independent News). I don’t recall the head
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re:
honcho’s name… Paul Levitz knows it. As the distributor of DC comics, this man certainly knew all the sales figures and was in the best position to tell this tidbit to Goodman. Now, why would Goodman be playing golf with the head of Independent News? I.N. was distributing “Marvel” then, as well as DC, under a “take it or leave it” arrangement that severely limited the number of comics Goodman could publish monthly. Of course, Goodman would want to be playing golf with this fellow and be in his good graces. It would absolutely be in the best interests of his business. In addition, I understand that I.N. was wellknown for its golf outings back then. Anyway, that’s the way it was told to me. Sol worked closely with Independent News’ top management over the decades and would have gotten this story straight from the horse’s mouth. Is all this proof-positive? Alas, with no written historical records, we have to rely on first-hand accounts when available, and second-hand accounts form trusted sources when not. Sol Harrison’s stories to me, a spellbound comic book freak he was mentoring into the business, remain good enough for me. And John Goldwater, I believe, was telling it straight when he told Jeff his story, as well. Michael Uslan I can’t thank you enough, Michael, for giving us as firm an underpinning to two “urban legends” as we shall probably ever have. Your narrative, because you had longterm access to people in a “position to know,” makes these tales seem more likely to be true than some of us had probably believed, as they’ve come under attack by skeptics in recent years. All I’ve ever known about the JLA/Fantastic Four connection, for instance, is that I, too, heard the story second-hand from Stan Lee sometime soon after I went to work as his assistant editor in 1965.
As you say, neither that story nor the “Little Archie” one stands definitively proven, and probably never will—and the origins of FF #1 in particular are of major importance to the history of the comic book field. But I, for one, will henceforth consider both stories as far more likely to be true than spurious, pending further definite revelations. Oh, and a belated thanks to you for your part in putting together the excellent Marvel Super Heroes’ Guide to New York City for the Travel Channel, in which my wife Dann and I had the privilege of appearing. Working on it, even briefly, with producers Karen Kraft and Molly Hermann and assistant Marisa Giovagnoli was a great pleasure. The most amusing part for me came when Karen and Molly had me strolling around Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village, scene of an X-Men battle I’d written circa 1967. When a disheveled guy sidled up to me and whispered, did I wanna buy some dope, I should’ve asked him to enunciate a bit more clearly, since we were being videotaped by TV cameras a few dozen feet away. That would’ve sent him scurrying on his way! ’Twas also fun, for the first time in nearly four decades, being inside the Greenwich Village building where I lived in 1965-66 with Bill Everett and Gary Friedrich, and whose address eventually became that of Dr. Strange’s fabled mansion. Only thing is—for years I’ve told people it was Wild Bill who gave Doc’s Sanctum Sanctorum that address, and it was only when I couldn’t verify that fact in poring over Bill’s half dozen or so “Dr. Strange” tales that I realized it must’ve been I myself (since I wrote “Doc,” some months after Bill drew it) who located Doc’s mansion at 177A Bleecker Street. The “A” is gone from the number over the door now—and so, I’m sure, is the landlord who threatened Gary’s and my lives over matters related to rent control—but the shotgun three-roomsand-bath apartment is still there. Maybe you can’t go home again—but sometimes you do at least get to peek in through the keyhole. One additional correction to Alter Ego #35: By my editorial error, a slightly-earlier version of Michael T. Gilbert’s Comic Crypt was used in that issue, instead of his later replacement version. Left out of his piece on unpublished American Comics Group covers was the information that the early-1960s feature “John Force, Magic Agent” appeared in Forbidden Worlds and Unknown Worlds, as well as in Adventures into the Unknown. Also printed by mistake was MTG’s earlier speculation that ACG’s Magic Agent comic might’ve been inspired by the James Bond craze—and Michael had intended to note that Magic Agent #1’s January 1962 cover date predates the first Bond movie Doctor No by a few months, so direct influence was unlikely, “unless [ACG editor Richard] Hughes was inspired by the Bond novels [and instead] anticipated the Bond craze.” Glad the differences were no more than those, Michael, and now we’ve even straightened them out. Send those cards and corrections to: Roy Thomas 32 Bluebird Trail St. Matthews, SC 29135
Fax = (803) 826-6501 E-mail = roydann@ntinet.com
Be here in the New Year for Jerry Ordway’s fabulous wraparound cover—and lots of goodies on the Justice Society, All-Star Squadron, and Infinity, Inc., in between! And check out our proud ad on p. 40 for Heroic Publishing's full-color trade paperback reprint of the 1986 Roy Thomas/Ron Harris Alter Ego comic book, starring this mag's "maskot"! Wild Bill Everett may not have been, as Rascally Roy misremembered, the guy who located Dr. Strange’s mansion at 177A Bleecker Street in New York City—but, in his very first “Doc” splash page, done for Strange Tales #147 (Aug. 1966), Bill definitely caught the flavor of the Greenwich Village street on which he, Roy, and then-Charlton scribe Gary Friedrich resided from late 1965 through spring of ’66! See The Essential Dr. Strange, Vol. 1. [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]
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ALTER EGO #4
ALTER EGO #5
ALTER EGO #1
ALTER EGO #2
ALTER EGO #3
STAN LEE gets roasted by SCHWARTZ, CLAREMONT, DAVID, ROMITA, BUSCEMA, and SHOOTER, ORDWAY and THOMAS on INFINITY, INC., IRWIN HASEN interview, unseen H.G. PETER Wonder Woman pages, the original Captain Marvel and Human Torch teamup, FCA with MARC SWAYZE, “Mr. Monster”, plus plenty of rare and unpublished art!
Featuring a never-reprinted SPIRIT story by WILL EISNER, the genesis of the SILVER AGE ATOM (with GARDNER FOX, GIL KANE, and JULIE SCHWARTZ), interviews with LARRY LIEBER and Golden Age great JACK BURNLEY, BOB KANIGHER, a new Fawcett Collectors of America section with MARC SWAYZE, C.C. BECK, and more! GIL KANE and JACK BURNLEY flip-covers!
Unseen ALEX ROSS and JERRY ORDWAY Shazam! art, 1953 interview with OTTO BINDER, the SUPERMAN/CAPTAIN MARVEL LAWSUIT, GIL KANE on The Golden Age of TIMELY COMICS, FCA with SWAYZE, BECK, and SCHAFFENBERGER, rare art by AYERS, BERG, BURNLEY, DITKO, RICO, SCHOMBURG, MARIE SEVERIN and more! ALEX ROSS & BILL EVERETT covers!
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ALTER EGO #6
ALTER EGO #7
ALTER EGO #8
Interviews with KUBERT, SHELLY MOLDOFF, and HARRY LAMPERT, BOB KANIGHER, life and times of GARDNER FOX, ROY THOMAS remembers GIL KANE, a history of Flash Comics, MOEBIUS Silver Surfer sketches, MR. MONSTER, FCA section with SWAYZE, BECK, and SCHAFFENBERGER, and lots more! Dual color covers by JOE KUBERT!
Celebrating the JSA, with interviews with MART NODELL, SHELLY MAYER, GEORGE ROUSSOS, BILL BLACK, and GIL KANE, unpublished H.G. PETER Wonder Woman art, GARDNER FOX, an FCA section with MARC SWAYZE, C.C. BECK, WENDELL CROWLEY, and more! Wraparound cover by CARMINE INFANTINO and JERRY ORDWAY!
GENE COLAN interview, 1940s books on comics by STAN LEE and ROBERT KANIGHER, AYERS, SEVERIN, and ROY THOMAS on Sgt. Fury, ROY on All-Star Squadron’s Golden Age roots, FCA section with SWAYZE, BECK, and WILLIAM WOOLFOLK, JOE SIMON interview, a definitive look at MAC RABOY’S work, and more! Covers by COLAN and RABOY!
Companion to ALL-STAR COMPANION book, with a JULIE SCHWARTZ interview, guide to JLA-JSA TEAMUPS, origins of the ALL-STAR SQUADRON, FCA section with MARC SWAYZE, C.C. BECK (on his 1970s DC conflicts), DAVE BERG, BOB ROGERS, more on MAC RABOY from his son, MR. MONSTER, and more! RICH BUCKLER and C.C. BECK covers!
WALLY WOOD biography, DAN ADKINS & BILL PEARSON on Wood, TOR section with 1963 JOE KUBERT interview, ROY THOMAS on creating the ALL-STAR SQUADRON and its 1940s forebears, FCA section with SWAYZE & BECK, MR. MONSTER, JERRY ORDWAY on Shazam!, JERRY DeFUCCIO on the Golden Age, CHIC STONE remembered! ADKINS and KUBERT covers!
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ALTER EGO #9
ALTER EGO #10
ALTER EGO #11
ALTER EGO #12
ALTER EGO #13
JOHN ROMITA interview by ROY THOMAS (with unseen art), Roy’s PROPOSED DREAM PROJECTS that never got published (with a host of great artists), MR. MONSTER on WAYNE BORING’S life after Superman, The Golden Age of Comic Fandom Panel, FCA section with GEORGE TUSKA, C.C. BECK, MARC SWAYZE, BILL MORRISON, & more! ROMITA and GIORDANO covers!
Who Created the Silver Age Flash? (with KANIGHER, INFANTINO, KUBERT, and SCHWARTZ), DICK AYERS interview (with unseen art), JOHN BROOME remembered, never-seen Golden Age Flash pages, VIN SULLIVAN Magazine Enterprises interview, FCA, interview with FRED GUARDINEER, and MR. MONSTER on WAYNE BORING! INFANTINO and AYERS covers!
Focuses on TIMELY/MARVEL (interviews and features on SYD SHORES, MICKEY SPILLANE, and VINCE FAGO), and MAGAZINE ENTERPRISES (including JOE CERTA, JOHN BELFI, FRANK BOLLE, BOB POWELL, and FRED MEAGHER), MR. MONSTER on JERRY SIEGEL, DON and MAGGIE THOMPSON interview, FCA with SWAYZE, BECK, and DON NEWTON!
DC and QUALITY COMICS focus! Quality’s GILL FOX interview, never-seen ‘40s PAUL REINMAN Green Lantern story, ROY THOMAS talks to LEN WEIN and RICH BUCKLER about ALL-STAR SQUADRON, MR. MONSTER shows what made WALLY WOOD leave MAD, FCA section with BECK & SWAYZE, & ‘65 NEWSWEEK ARTICLE on comics! REINMAN and BILL WARD covers!
1974 panel with JOE SIMON, STAN LEE, FRANK ROBBINS, and ROY THOMAS, ROY and JOHN BUSCEMA on Avengers, 1964 STAN LEE interview, tributes to DON HECK, JOHNNY CRAIG, and GRAY MORROW, Timely alums DAVID GANTZ and DANIEL KEYES, and FCA with BECK, SWAYZE, and MIKE MANLEY! Covers by MURPHY ANDERSON and JOE SIMON!
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ALTER EGO #14
ALTER EGO #15
ALTER EGO #16
ALTER EGO #17
ALTER EGO #18
A look at the 1970s JSA revival with CONWAY, LEVITZ, ESTRADA, GIFFEN, MILGROM, and STATON, JERRY ORDWAY on All-Star Squadron, tributes to CRAIG CHASE and DAN DeCARLO, “lost” 1945 issue of All-Star, 1970 interview with LEE ELIAS, MR. MONSTER on GARDNER FOX, FCA with SWAYZE, BECK, & JAY DISBROW! MIKE NASSER & MICHAEL GILBERT covers!
JOHN BUSCEMA ISSUE! BUSCEMA interview (with UNSEEN ART), reminiscences by SAL BUSCEMA, STAN LEE, INFANTINO, KUBERT, ORDWAY, FLO STEINBERG, and HERB TRIMPE, ROY THOMAS on 35 years with BIG JOHN, FCA tribute to KURT SCHAFFENBERGER, plus C.C. BECK and MARC SWAYZE, and MR. MONSTER revisits WALLY WOOD! Two BUSCEMA covers!
MARVEL BULLPEN REUNION (BUSCEMA, COLAN, ROMITA, and SEVERIN), memories of the JOHN BUSCEMA SCHOOL, FCA with ALEX ROSS, C.C. BECK, and MARC SWAYZE, tribute to CHAD GROTHKOPF, MR. MONSTER on EC COMICS with art by KURTZMAN, DAVIS, and WOOD, and more! Covers by ALEX ROSS and MARIE SEVERIN & RAMONA FRADON!
Spotlighting LOU FINE (with an overview of his career, and interviews with family members), interview with MURPHY ANDERSON about Fine, ALEX TOTH on Fine, ARNOLD DRAKE interviewed about DEADMAN and DOOM PATROL, MR. MONSTER on the non-EC work of JACK DAVIS and GEORGE EVANS, FINE and LUIS DOMINGUEZ COVERS, FCA and more!
STAN GOLDBERG interview, secrets of ‘40s Timely, art by KIRBY, DITKO, ROMITA, BUSCEMA, MANEELY, EVERETT, BURGOS, and DeCARLO, spotlight on sci-fi fanzine XERO with the LUPOFFS, OTTO BINDER, DON THOMPSON, ROY THOMAS, BILL SCHELLY, and ROGER EBERT, FCA, and MR. MONSTER on WALLY WOOD ghosting Flash Gordon! KIRBY and SWAYZE covers!
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ALTER EGO #19
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!
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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!
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17
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!
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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!
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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!
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18
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!
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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!
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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!
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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!
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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!
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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!
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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
(100-page magazine) $6.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95
(100-page magazine) $6.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95
(100-page magazine) $6.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95
(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
(100-page magazine) $6.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95
(100-page magazine) $6.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95
(100-page magazine) $6.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95
(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
(100-page magazine) $6.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95
(100-page magazine) $6.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95
(100-page magazine) $6.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95
(100-page magazine) $6.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95
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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
(100-page magazine) $6.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95
(100-page magazine) $6.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95
(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
(84-page magazine with COLOR) $7.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95
(84-page magazine with COLOR) $7.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95
(84-page magazine with COLOR) $7.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95
(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
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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
(84-page magazine with COLOR) $7.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95
(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
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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
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