Alter Ego #49 by TwoMorrows Publishing

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

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

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

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THE BEST IN COMICS AND LEGO MAGAZINES!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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. 49 / June 2005

™

Editor

Roy Thomas

Associate Editors Bill Schelly Jim Amash

Design & Layout

Christopher Day

Consulting Editor John Morrow

Contents

FCA Editor

P.C. Hamerlinck

Comic Crypt Editor Michael T. Gilbert

Editors Emeritus

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

Susan Burgos talks to Jim Amash about her father, the creator of The Human Torch.

Diamonds In The Rough(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 A cornucopia of never-seen cover sketches from the Golden Age of Timely/Marvel.

Production Assistant

Eric Nolen-Weathington

Cover Artist & Colorist Mark Sparacio (from a sketch probably by Carl Burgos)

And Special Thanks to: Jack Adams Heidi Amash Ger Apeldoorn Mike W. Barr Michael Baulderstone Bill Black Ray Bottorff, Jr. Susan Burgos Mike Burkey Bob Cherry Robert K.S. Croy, Sr. David Davisson Dwight Decker Michael Feldman Jim Fern Danny Fingeroth Shane Foley Keif Fromm Janet Gilbert Ron Goulart Jennifer Hamerlinck Mark & Stephanie Heike Tony Isabella

Writer/Editorial: Marvel Mystery Tour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 “The Privacy Act Of Carl Burgos”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Yvette Kaplan Robin Kirby Paul Kupperberg Thomas G. Lammers Wally Littman Jim Ludwig Harry Mendryk Mark Miller Joe Moore Roger Mortimer Frank Motler Jake Oster Herb Rogoff Alex Saviuk Ernie Schroeder Eric Schumacher Mark Sparacio Carrie Strong Marc Swayze Greg Theakston Dann Thomas Alex Toth Dr. Michael J. Vassallo Hames Ware Robert Wiener

This issue is dedicated to the memory of

Carl Burgos

Torch Types. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Roy Thomas on Golden Age heroes who kept the home fires burning.

“Pulling A Dragoom” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 A Timely/Marvel “human torch” of 1952, examined by Ger Apeldoorn.

Atlas Shrugged . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Thomas G. Lammers takes a look at the 1957 “Atlas Implosion” and its far-reaching effects on comics—with a sidebar by Michael Feldman.

Comic Crypt: Remembering Will . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Michael T. Gilbert on his personal encounters with the late great Will Eisner.

“Fate Did Its Odd Thing” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Alex Toth on his near-brush with Milton Caniff’s Steve Canyon.

The Bill Finger Award . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Special Announcement from Jerry Robinson.

re: [comments, correspondence, and corrections]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Letters we got—and art to go with ’em—from a bunch of top comics pros.

FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America) #107 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 P.C. Hamerlinck presents Marc Swayze, C.C. Beck, and Bill Black. About Our Cover: As you’ll read in expanded form on pp. 21-32, collector Robert Wiener recently sent us copies of nearly two dozen cover, splash, and house ad sketches done circa 194142 for comics starring “The Human Torch” and/or “Sub-Mariner,” almost certainly executed by artists in Lloyd Jacquet’s Funnies, Inc., comics shop. Ye Editor was wild to see one of those sketches used as the basis of an Alter Ego cover. So when veteran comics artist Alex Saviuk put Ye Editor in contact with his colleague Mark Sparacio—and once Roy saw an unpublished super-hero painting or two Mark had done—it was clear that this would be the perfect visual marriage. This particular sketch (see p. 22), in Roy’s opinion, was quite probably drawn by none other than Carl Burgos, creator of the Torch—but even if it wasn’t, it captures the essence of the style in which Burgos drew his blazing android through early 1942, when he went into the armed services. The Golden Age meets the 21st century—and we’re just glad we were here to see it! Bet you are, too! [Art ©2005 Mark Sparacio; Human Torch & Toro TM & ©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.] Above: This prototypical panel drawn by Carl Burgos is reproduced from photocopies of the original art for The Human Torch #4 (Spring 1941). [©2005 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.

Title writer/editorial

Marvel Mystery Tour

When I heard some years later that he had died, that was one more person whom I’d hoped to meet someday that, instead, I had to cross off the list. I felt a genuine sense of regret for a missed chance.

o some of us, Carl Burgos has always been a mystery man. To most of us who came to work for Marvel in the latter 1960s and 1970s, he was only a name, even though the other four creators of Timely’s “Big Three” super-heroes were still around and active: Bill Everett (at least through early 1973), Jack Kirby, and Joe Simon. Later Timely artists who drew The Human Torch, Sub-Mariner, and Captain America—guys like Syd Shores, Mike Sekowsky, and Lee Elias—drew for Marvel during this period, and even Al Avison, Simon & Kirby’s first successor on Captain America, was doing the odd re-creation.

Jim Amash and I were thus ecstatic when we established contact with Burgos’ daughter Susan. As it turned out, in many ways, he was nearly as much a mystery to her as he was to us. But we were glad to learn from her about his life, if not necessarily his work. Luckily, the art and stories can be documented. It’s the life story that was in danger of being totally lost… and Susan became the first person to add appreciably to our knowledge of Carl Burgos the man since Jim Steranko’s seminal interview with him for his History of Comics.

But most of us never met Carl Burgos. We would have, if we’d been looking for work around the fringes of the industry, where he and Myron Fass were making a living packaging low-level horror comics or that odd 1966 Captain Marvel. But alas, Burgos and Marvel Comics had come to a parting of the ways after his lone “Human Torch” story in 1964, and he never again set foot inside any of the offices which publisher Martin Goodman leased, at various times, up and down Madison Avenue (“depending how far his doctor told him he should walk for exercise,” was the going joke). In 1966 Burgos even sued unsuccessfully, trying to regain the copyright on the Torch, his major creation. I’ve often recounted how I did speak with him twice by phone circa 1976-77, to try to convince him to draw the 6-page “Human Torch” chapter in The Invaders Annual #1-and-only. He agreed, but, when it came time for me to send him the actual synopsis, he changed his mind without explanation, although I recall that he was quite pleasant to me personally.

Actually, this issue is in some ways a dual biography—of Carl Burgos, and of the “Human Torch” concept he engendered. We didn’t have room for a real “hero history” of the android fire-breather, but several generous collectors have provided images of comics heroes influenced by the Torch during the 1940s and ’50s, before Stan Lee and Jack Kirby mutated the concept into a new persona in 1961’s Fantastic Four #1. Burgos was quoted by Batton Lash, some issues back, as saying that he wished he’d never created the Torch. Still, we must admit that we’re glad The Human Torch is still around—and that, indeed, eventually both the Burgos and the Lee-Kirby versions were able to live side by side in the Marvel Universe. We wish Carl Burgos were still around to give us his enlarged perspective on it all… and that he were, at long last, getting his economic due. But we can, at least, honor his memory and his body of work… and that’s what we’re doing this issue. Bestest,

COMING IN JULY

50!

Hey, Nifty! ALTER EGO Is Fifty! And, By An Amazing Coincidence—

RASCALLY ROY THOMAS

Art ©20

Celebrates 40 YEARS In The Comic Book Biz— With The Help Of A Few Friends & Familiars!

05 John

From MODELING WITH MILLIE #44 (1965) To STOKER’S DRACULA (2005)—With AVENGERS, X-MEN, CONAN, ALL-STAR SQUADRON, INFINITY INC., Et Al., In Between! • Two (yep, two) full-color covers, featuring art by JOHN BUSCEMA, JACK KIRBY, & ALFREDO ALCALA (Marvel side) & JERRY ORDWAY (DC side)!

lfredo A

irby & A

, Jack K

a Buscem lcala

• ROY THOMAS talks (to JIM AMASH) and writes about working with NEAL ADAMS, ROSS ANDRU, DICK AYERS, SOL BRODSKY, RICH BUCKLER, THE BROTHERS BUSCEMA, ERNIE CHAN, GENE COLAN, ERNIE COLÓN, STEVE DITKO, BILL EVERETT, DICK GIORDANO, STAN GOLDBERG, DON HECK, GIL KANE, JACK KIRBY, MICHAEL LARK, STAN LEE, MIKE MACHLAN, TODD McFARLANE, JERRY ORDWAY, GEORGE PÉREZ, STEVEN PUGH, FRANK ROBBINS, JOHN ROMITA, WERNER ROTH, JULIE SCHWARTZ, THE SEVERIN SIBLINGS, SCOTT SHAW!, BARRY SMITH, HERB TRIMPE, GEORGE TUSKA, MORT WEISINGER—& many others! With tons of RARE, OFT-UNPUBLISHED ART & PHOTOS! • Extra! From the 1999 Comics Buyer’s Guide poll of pros and fans—“The Favorite Comic Book Writers and Editors of the 20th Century”—annotated by PETER SANDERSON!

Inc. rs, Inc.; SPI. R haracte arvel C onja TM & © 005 M S 2 d © e s R e I; ro P e C rh 5 e 0 p 0 2 Su TM & © Conan

• Plus: MICHAEL T. GILBERT on Roy’s correspondence with GARDNER F. FOX— BILL SCHELLY—FCA with MARC SWAYZE, et al.—& MORE!! Edited by ROY THOMAS • 100 PAGES!

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“The Privacy Act Of Carl Burgos” SUSAN BURGOS Talks About Two Marvel Mysteries: The Human Torch—And Her Father

Interview Conducted & Transcribed by Jim Amash

arl Burgos was an enigma. Few 1940s Timely Comics staffers even remembered him, because he worked for the company indirectly through Funnies, Inc., and I’m not certain he ever granted an interview to anyone except Jim Steranko. Most fans know of Burgos either through his creation of the original “Human Torch” or by his later, less impressive work with Myron Fass. He also achieved comics infamy with the unfortunate 1960s version of Captain Marvel. Careerwise, however, there was far more to Carl Burgos than that. He was a prolific staff cover artist for Timely during the 1950s, and briefly managed a final go at the Lee/Kirby version of the Torch in the 1960s. At his best, Burgos was a very effective artist, whose iconic, sometimes controversial “Human Torch” stories stand as a testament to good graphics and entertaining adventures. No one who has ever seen the Torch (in either incarnation) has forgotten him. While there’s much work to be done in regard to a Carl Burgos biography, we are pleased to present an interview with his daughter, Susan Burgos, as a first step in that direction. Thanks, Susan, for peeling back a few layers of the Burgos onion for us—and thanks to Write Now! editor Danny Fingeroth (and, indirectly, animation director Yvette Kaplan) for putting us in touch with Susan. —Jim.

“My Father Was A Very Private Man” JIM AMASH: Where and when was your father born? SUSAN BURGOS: He was born in New York City, April 18, 1916. His given name was Max Finkelstein, but he changed it to Carl Burgos when he was very young. JA: What do you know about his family background? BURGOS: Very little. My father was a very private man and didn’t talk much about himself. It does not surprise me that there is little information about him out there. He did have an older brother, Ruby. I do not remember my

Carl Burgos, circa 1948, in a photo supplied by his daughter Susan—flanked by pages featuring The Human Torch, from the three periods when Burgos drew his adventures. [Counterclockwise from above left:] splashes from Marvel Mystery Comics #20 (June 1941) and Young Men #26 (March 1954)—and panels from Strange Tales #123 (Aug. 1964), his lone effort at drawing the hero as revamped by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby for Fantastic Four, with inking by Dick Ayers. Thanks to Jerry K. Boyd for the 1941 splash. [Art ©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.] Incidentally, the box on the 1941 splash reads: “WARNING! Marvel Comics’ wellknown characters, THE HUMAN TORCH, SUBMARINER, THE ANGEL, and KA-ZAR, have been registered in the United States Patent Office, and are further protected by United States Copyright with every issue, as are the full contents of the magazine. This is notice that infringers of the characters, in whatever form or manner, will be prosecuted by the publisher to the full extent of the law. –Publisher, Marvel Comics.” In other words, as supplier Jerry K. Boyd quips, “we can assume that messing with Marty Goodman means you will get ‘burned’!” Unhappily, “Torch” creator Carl Burgos eventually felt burned, as well.

Susan Burgos Talks About Two Marvel Mysteries

(Above:) “The Human Torch” by Carl Burgos debuted in Marvel Comics #1 (Oct. 1939) to the tune of 80,000 or so copies. According to comics researcher Keif Fromm, a quick second printing with a November cover date sold around ten times that many. This page is from the 1991 hardcover quasi-reprint. (Right:) This primo Burgos page appeared in The Human Torch #2 (Aug. 1940—really the first issue), and is reproduced here from a photocopy of the original art. [©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

uncle or other family members after my teen years; whatever happened between the brothers, I do not know. Their parents immigrated from Russia and were of Russian-Jewish descent. I remember my uncle and his family as a child. He wore this ruby

ring that somehow always amused me. I do not remember my dad wearing any jewelry— not even a watch. In the later years, he discovered the art of jewelry making and proudly wore a ring he crafted. He produced some very creative pieces: rings, pins, pendants, etc. One jewelry designer that inspired him was a man by the name of Henry Steig. Dad always set the bar high and was completely selftaught, wanting to experiment and challenge himself. For instance, there was the “lamp period” where he crafted some interesting lighting fixtures for our home. My mother’s name was Doris. After my dad returned from military service, he was introduced to my mom by friends. Six months later, they were married, in 1947. They went on to raise two daughters—my sister Linda, and, of course, me. Because of “The Privacy Act of Carl Burgos,” I was confused about his comic book career. I always avoided talking about it because he hated it so much. It was only after his death that I started to visit book stores in search of articles and information. This was the first time I learned about his comic book career in detail. For many years, I actually thought his timeline was World War II, comics, and family. I never had a sense about the 1930s, before the war, when it all started. From my perspective as a child, you weren’t supposed to ask parents questions. It was the parents who asked the questions. Whatever he felt wasn’t important to him was not discussed. JA: As the son of immigrants, did your father learn to speak a foreign language? BURGOS: If he learned anything, it would have been Yiddish or Russian. I’m not sure. My grandfather died before I was born. My grandmother... well, I never understood her too well, because she spoke broken English/Yiddish/Russian. I do not remember an instance where we communicated, and I recall her as always being elderly. I was 16 when she died; she was in her 80s.

This Burgos page from Marvel Mystery Comics #2 (Dec. 1939) is repro’d from photocopies of the original comic, courtesy of Robert Wiener. Reproduction of the first four issues of Timely’s flagship title in the recent hardcover Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Marvel Comics, Vol. 1, wasn’t all one could have hoped— but even at $50 the book is still worth picking up. Like, you’re gonna get a better deal on Marvel Mystery #1-4 anytime soon? [©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

“The Privacy Act Of Carl Burgos”

JA: Then your father was multi-lingual? BURGOS: No, not really, although I remember more Yiddish phrases were used while my grandmother was alive. As the years went by, his Yiddish disappeared from his vocabulary, and from those of his brother and other family members. JA: Was he a strict parent? BURGOS: Very. We couldn’t stay out too late at night— typically teenage stuff. I always had a curfew. I thought it was unreasonable, but like true teenagers, I would ask permission to sleep over at a friend’s house—a friend who could stay out a little later than myself. That would be every friend I had. [laughter] JA: Was he the kind of father that you could go to with a problem?

Two Views Of A Burgos-Everett Blarney At left, from the 2004 reprint of the Human Torch vs. Sub-Mariner battle from Marvel Mystery Comics #9 (July 1940), is the splash of that slugfest that began in #8 and even spilled over into one page of #10. John Compton apparently wrote the story; Burgos drew the Torch therein, and Bill Everett the Sub-Mariner character he had created. At right is the splash from Brand Echh #1 (Aug. 1967). Although Bill Everett withdrew from the art chores after drawing very little of it and it was finished by Ross Andru (penciler) and Mike Esposito (inker), scripter Roy Thomas is 90% certain that this page was at least partly penciled by Wild Bill. [Both art pages ©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

BURGOS: I cannot remember any instances when I went to my dad to solve any problems. The only time I approached my dad for help was when I had an art problem. He spent a lot of time in his basement studio and so I looked at my dad as the “go-to art expert” for school projects or independent projects at home.

“I Was Very Integrated Into The Studio”

and such with my family. Yes, family and friends were invited over to the house. I remember Stan Starkman, George Kapitan, and Herbie Cooper from Timely Comics coming to visit. My father was the type of man that his work was his work when he got home. I’d get out of school in the afternoon, my mom would come home and make dinner, and pick him up at the train station, in time for us to eat at seven o’clock. Then, he’d go down to the basement and work.

JA: Were you allowed to disturb him when he was working?

JA: Did he read very much?

BURGOS: I did. I was very integrated into the studio. I was an art student, so we shared a desk. He had a potter’s wheel and a kiln down there, so we made pottery together. If we needed a table, he built one. He made lamps, some dishware, and vases, too. There was always a project going on.

BURGOS: He loved history. He loved to read about American Indians and World War II. He was always reading about the war, and talked about it all the time. He didn’t discuss his personal experiences, which was why I didn’t know he was in Europe and spent a year in Germany during the Occupation. I learned about that when I found his journal— a couple of weeks before September 11.

He was a heavy smoker, so I made a lot of ashtrays in my youth. [laughs] We always made gifts for Christmas and Hanukkah. I don’t know if it was because... well, we certainly weren’t rich and I don’t think art was a great success for him, monetarily. I don’t know if that’s why we made things, but I still do that today. I write poetry and make Christmas cards. I had a lot of private art lessons from my father. My earliest memories of my father are of making things. JA: Did your parents entertain much? BURGOS: I do not think of my parents as entertainers. Of course, we rotated family entertaining during the holidays. I do not equate parties

I was reading that journal over and over again when September 11 happened—things like “Germany stinks of decay.” It was kind of overwhelming to me, considering what had just happened in New York and to our country. [Quoting from her father’s journal:] “When the smoke cleared, the corpse began to stink. Germany was like a child, wrinkled and decaying. The bewildered eyes asked, ‘Where now?’ The stench is unbearable, as decaying political theories roamed over the land. Will we be merely content to let it roam until another seed is planted?” I read, and then September 11 happened, leaving me to think that seed has grown into a forest. They say you accept things when you can, and here

Susan Burgos Talks About Two Marvel Mysteries

Two photos of Burgos in the service: with a group of Army buddies circa 1943-44, and in front of a fountain circa 1945-46. The (signed) Navigator Bombardier cover was done in 1944 for a restricted armed forces document—while the other drawings were done when he spent a year in Germany during the post-WWII Occupation. See Susan’s comments in the interview on this work—and our thanks to her for sharing it with us. [©2005 Susan Burgos.]

“The Privacy Act Of Carl Burgos”

his thoughts were covered up for sixty years. He only kept this journal for about a year, while stationed in Germany. Much of it is undated and the writing is mostly blurbs with very rough sketches. Then there are the final drawings. They are mostly set up like political drawings rather than comic books panels. JA: It’s fascinating that this was the only journal he kept in his life. I guess he wanted some kind of record of the war. BURGOS: Yes. My mother passed away January 2, 2002, and what happened was that I had bits and pieces of the journal for a while, as did my sister. Recently, we put it all together and when you go through the entire collection—it’s not prolific by any means, but it is rich in content. My father never talked about his war experiences. My mother said she thought the war did something to him. It’s not an in-depth journal, but a collection of events during the four years he served, including his time in Germany. My research revealed that there was a very sophisticated black market in Berlin at the time. A carton of cigarettes was worth $1000 after the fall of Germany. Imagine how much money that was in 1944! The economy was moved by alcohol, tobacco, and of course, sex. There was even a robbery, by two American officers, of the Hesse crown jewels, worth an estimated $3,000,000. Everything highlighted in his journal has been written about in history books or has been the subject of documentaries. He describes that faraway look more than once. The anticipation of war, as well as after the battle. [quoting:] “What thoughts go through your head.” It is a moving journal. Remember the movie Kelly’s Heroes? I think of that movie when I think of what my father wrote in the book. It’s mostly sexual in nature: [quoting:] “One gets weary of GIs’ talk and it’s a pleasure to enjoy the company of a woman. The billets are safer than the civilian homes.” It’s very fascinating and I’ve gotten so caught up in it, to the point that I thought, “Oh, Daddy, why didn’t you ever tell me about these things?” But that’s not the sort of thing a parent talks about.

At his best, Burgos had a superb feel for drawing The Human Torch, as per this page from Marvel Mystery Comics #25 (Nov. 1941). Thanks to Eric Schumacher for a copy of this art he restored. [©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

JA: Unless the child is of a sufficient age in adulthood so questions like that could be asked.

“In 1966 He Threw Out Everything From The Golden Age”

BURGOS: Right. I think we were getting to that stage when he became ill. I was hoping to soften him up a little bit, but it didn’t play that way. Art is a process and some of the drawings are... well, less than impressive. But what I see in them is a true emotional connection between his head/heart and the piece of paper. They really show the tension that was in his hand, at that specific moment. It’s like any performance when someone makes a mistake, and then it occurs to you how difficult it really is. Drawing always came so easy to him. In a recent conversation with Stan Goldberg, he stated that my father said it takes 10,000 drawings to get good at your craft. Whether I think any of the drawings are good or bad, I respect this collection and think it is wonderful. The circumstances behind this collection were a major single event of a lifetime, and I embrace this as his legacy to me. There are no comic books to read or super-heroes to admire. He chose to keep a record of the war and I am glad he did. He has finally shared something with me; that is what I recognize. Would he be pleased that I want to share his work with others... I’ll never know. I do not want him to be forgotten. Maybe if the comic book industry had a kinder atmosphere, he would have granted an interview. No one can speak for my dad, especially me.

JA: Did your father ever discuss his feelings about the comic book industry? BURGOS: Never. As a kid, I was always unhappy that I didn’t know about his work. In 1966, he threw out everything from the Golden Age. That was a dark day for me. I was 15 years old at the time and argued with my dad because I wanted that work. I had never even read a comic book. JA: Why not? BURGOS: Because he never showed them to me; he never let me read them. JA: Did he ever give you a reason for that? BURGOS: No, and I’ve never been the type to go through someone else’s property. I never saw his collection until the day he threw it all out. I just happened to be in the backyard this summer day and there

Susan Burgos Talks About Two Marvel Mysteries

(Top row:) A title splash, panel, and full page from “Stoney Dawson and the Hooded Cult,” which appeared in two comics issues: Keen Detective Funnies, Vol. 2, #2 (Feb. 1939), and later in Amazing Adventure Funnies #1 (June 1940). Thanks to Greg Theakston. [©2005 the respective copyright holders.] (Left:) Burgos’ science-fiction series “Air-Sub DX” rotated during 1939-40 between Centaur titles Amazing Mystery Funnies and Amazing Adventure Funnies, with the latter changing its name to Fantoman with the second issue. Thanks to Greg Theakston. [©2005 the respective copyright holders.] (Below:) The Thunderer, who debuted in Timely’s Daring Mystery Comics #7 (April 1941, the penultimate issue), wasn’t an android like the Torch and others, but his loud, artificially-enhanced voice evidently laid criminals low. After two issues, the character continued as The Black Avenger in All Winners Comics. Thanks to Dr. Michael J. Vassallo. [©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

“The Privacy Act Of Carl Burgos”

9 about it. In the end, I gave in. He said, “They’re mine and I can do what I want with them.” I asked if I could read them first and he said, “No.” JA: He must have been in a lot of pain over this. BURGOS: I think he was. JA: What do you know about the lawsuit? BURGOS: I don’t know anything about it. I do know that he went to see a lawyer. I assume it was about getting the rights to “The Human Torch,” and I read in Alter Ego that they settled out of court. I’m sure that’s what happened the day he threw everything away. I have no idea how it was settled or even if it went to court, though I don’t think it did. When did the Comics Code come into effect? JA: Around the end of 1954. BURGOS: Maybe he felt that those books would sway me in some unpopular way? JA: Or maybe he didn’t want you to get the idea to follow in his footsteps? BURGOS: He definitely diverted me away from drawing, per se. He would always say, “Why draw when you can take a picture?” I sort-of grew up on abstract art, which is probably why I’m a designer now: dealing with shape, color, and form. I went to the Art Students League and I think he went there, too. I know he went to the School of Music and Art, though I have a feeling he did not graduate. I’m sure he had to get a job in order to help support the family as they were in the midst of the Great Depression.

“The Characters My Father Created Were Not Human” JA: He just didn’t want to talk about “The Human Torch,” did he?

After Burgos went into uniform in 1942, “Human Torch” stories were drawn by other artists, some of whom had earlier been his assistants. This tale from Marvel Mystery Comics #41 (March 1943) may have been done by Harry Sahle or Edd Ashe. Its splash page appeared in Alter Ego V3#11, accompanying Jim Amash’s interview with Timely wartime editor-in-chief Vince Fago; both are from a late-’60s issue of Captain George’s Comic World which repro’d various Timely stories from photocopies (or original art?) shipped to Canada for reprinting during World War II. [©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

was a whole pile of stuff in the yard. Instinctively, I knew what was in that pile, but I didn’t know about his 1930s work at the time. I thought it was Fantastic Four material that he threw out. I grew up believing that he came up with this fabulous idea [“The Human Torch”], and that Stan Lee took it from him. JA: Why did he throw all this stuff out? BURGOS: I couldn’t tell you, but I know he had a lawsuit against Marvel Comics. I took as many of the comics as I could carry back to my room, like they were some treasure. He came in and demanded that I give him the comics. We argued because I wanted them and he said, “I don’t want you to have them.” He’d never been like that before because we always shared with each other. I’d make something for him and he’d make something for me. We got into this “dueling artists” thing. This was the first time he didn’t grant me permission and we had a huge fight

BURGOS: No, though I’m sure he cursed about it under his breath. I got the impression that he either lost the case or something else had happened pertaining to it. I knew Stan Lee had something to do with it.

I do not want to bad-mouth Stan Lee; I didn’t know anything about him. After all these years, I certainly don’t want to discuss him, or give the impression that I know some dark secret to fill the pages of this interview. I only have a child’s memory. I would agree that they did not like each other.

JA: I’ve heard that Stan Lee and your father had some problems getting along, though I don’t know what they were. BURGOS: I don’t, either. The other thing that I have to say about all of this is that I’m dealing with old memories. Your editor, Roy Thomas, has sent me some stuff, and image-wise, some of it seems familiar. I don’t know if it was so, or that I want it to be so. I am sure that Toro wasn’t my father’s idea. He might have been another writer’s concept. JA: I am under the impression that your father wrote the earliest “Torch” stories, in addition to drawing them. BURGOS: I think he wrote them, too—in the 1930s. I don’t think he

Susan Burgos Talks About Two Marvel Mysteries

Keepers Of The Flame Once Carl Burgos had lit the Torch, various other artists (and writers, of course) kept the homefires burning in the 1940s. [All art in this spread ©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.] (Above left:) This drawing by Alex Schomburg appeared on the cover of Marvel Mystery #15—and on the inside front cover of the very same issue! (Above right:) This splash from Marvel Mystery Comics #42 (April 1943) was drawn, expert Ron Goulart tells us, by Edd Ashe. (Left:) Jimmy Thompson, who also did a stint on “Robotman” over at National/DC, had a cartoony style, but his version was quite effective in its own way. This page, which spotlights the Torch’s kid sidekick (sideburn?) Toro, comes from Marvel Mystery #69 (Feb. 1946).

wrote them after that. I think he was told to add a sidekick, since Batman had Robin and sidekicks were becoming a popular idea. JA: Why do you think Toro wasn’t your father’s idea? BURGOS: I don’t know; I just don’t think he’d come up with that idea. Toro was a human boy. To my knowledge, my father’s creations were not flesh-and-blood characters. I find it interesting that the characters my father created were not human. The Human Torch was a robot... his Captain Marvel wasn’t human, either. Why did my father feel more at home drawing machines that looked like humans? I don’t know. JA: He also created two other android heroes: The Iron Skull and The White Streak. BURGOS: There you go. There was something about artificial life that fascinated my father.

“The Privacy Act Of Carl Burgos”

Marvel After Marvel! In 1966, on the heels of the blockbuster Batman TV series, Burgos created a second Captain Marvel, utilizing the name of the super-popular 1940-1953 Fawcett hero who had been sued out of existence by National/DC. (Above:) The lead splash from Captain Marvel #1 (April 1966) proclaims: “Based on a character created by Carl Burgos.” The writer, Roger Elwood, was also a prolific packager of science-fiction paperbacks during this period. The credited artist in #1 is “Francho”—who’s identified in Jerry Bails’ 1973 Who’s Who as “Leon Francho,” whose only known credits are Captain Marvel in 1966—and Sick magazine in 1970. Could the name be a pseudonym of Burgos himself? Veteran artist Carl Hubbell also drew a few “Captain Marvel” stories in this series done for M.F. Enterprises, the “M.F.” standing for publisher (and former comics artist) Myron Fass. (Top right & right:) This campy hero’s super-power was that his arms, legs, and often head would go flying off in various directions when he shouted “Split!”—would slams into crooks, monsters, or whatever—then would re-unite with his body when he shouted “Xam!” Presumably, “Xam” was pronounced “Zam,” and the two commands were designed to approximate the original Cap’s “Shazam!” Oh, and this Captain Marvel also chummed around with a kid named Billy! Seen here are the cover of CM #2 (June 1966) and a panel from #1. Burgos and Fass’ Captain Marvel, though, borrowed from others besides the Big Red Cheese. The cover of #2 spotlights a “Dr. Fate,” an “Elasticman” (called “Plastic Man” in #1), “Tinyman” (a Doll Man/Atom clone), and “Atom-Jaw,” clearly based on Charles Biro’s Iron Jaw from 1940s Boy Comics. The most flagrant “borrowing,” though, was a Batman-like baddie who was called “The Bat” in #1—but was quickly rechristened “The Ray,” doubtless after a letter from DC’s legal department, though he continued to pal around with bats in later tales. (Did DC scare Fass away from Plastic Man and Doc Fate, as well?) Other purloined names for “villians”—as one cover spelled it—were The Destroyer (a 1940s Stan Lee hero) and Tarzac (actually an Aquaman/SubMariner type). Special thanks to Jim Ludwig for the loan of these issues. [Art in this montage ©2005 the respective copyright holders.]

Susan Burgos Talks About Two Marvel Mysteries

“It’s Only Been In Recent Years That I’ve Learned The Real Story”

completely changed him. That would make any creator unhappy. As an artist, that’s a very natural feeling. All creators have affinity with the characters they create, and your father probably felt violated when he saw the Johnny Storm version.

JA: If he never talked about comics, then how did you discover there was a lawsuit?

BURGOS: And I think I would feel that way, too. But again, I hadn’t realized at the time that my father created The Human Torch in the 1930s. I thought he did that in the 1960s, when the Fantastic Four was created. It’s only been in recent years that I’ve learned the real story.

BURGOS: I found out the day he threw out that comic material. For months, he mumbled comments about Stan Lee under his breath. Before that day, I knew he was unhappy and that something was going on, but I didn’t really know what was happening. My sister didn’t know about it, and my mother wasn’t talking, either. It must be tough to create something and then lose it. It really upset him that Stan Lee completely revamped the Torch. JA: Well, I can see why. Lee and Kirby took his character and

JA: It may also be that, emotionally, he was kicking himself for not having any rights to the Torch character. But back in those days, most creators didn’t think much about those issues. Your father was working for the Lloyd Jacquet shop [Funnies, Inc.], and when the studio got the “go-ahead” to package Marvel Comics #1, the employees were thinking about having work and paying their bills

Who Was That Android I Saw Carl Burgos With Last Night? Well, if it wasn’t the original Human Torch—or the Captain Marvel of 1966—then it might’ve been either The Iron Skull or The White Streak! (Top row:) Centaur hero “The Iron Skull” ran from Amazing-Man #5 (Sept. 1939) through Stars and Stripes, Vol. 1, #2 (May 1941), with art (and maybe script) in 1939-40 by Carl Burgos. Note that the story takes place in that wonderful year 1971, then three decades in the future—and that, as noted on the final page, the android literally did have an iron skull! Thanks to Jim Ludwig for the scans. (Below:) “The White Streak” (a.k.a. “Manowar,” and with a civilian identity of Dan Sanders) appeared in Novelty’s Target Comics during 194041, beginning with the first issue (Feb. 1940)— whose splash, seen at left, was sent by Chris Brown. He kept that look for a while, as per the splash directly below from Target #8 (Sept. 1940). However, by Vol. 2, #3 (May 1941), whose splash is seen below right, he had abandoned his costume in favor of being a G-man type, though he still used the name “The White Streak” and the art was still by Burgos for a time. Thanks to Greg Theakston for the latter two scans. [Art ©2005 the respective copyright holders.]

“The Privacy Act Of Carl Burgos”

13 The Human Torch During the Eisenhower Years (Left:) Burgos drew five remarkable covers for the 1953-54 super-hero revival issues of Young Men (these first two are from #24, Dec. 1953, & #25, Feb. 1954). Behind that quintet of covers, Burgos did what Ye Editor considers his best interior “Human Torch” artwork ever. See Alter Ego #35 for extended coverage of these 23 fine revival issues starring the Torch, Captain America, and Sub-Mariner. Thanks to Doc V. for the scan of the cover of YM #24. (Bottom left:) Page 2 from the Burgos-drawn “Torch” tale in YM #25. (Bottom right:) Though Dick Ayers was tapped for the art chores on the 1954 Human Torch title, Stan Lee had Burgos draw paste-up figures of the Torch and Toro for most panels in the first revival issue (#36, April 1954). The cut-out lines for the paste-ups can be seen most clearly in panel 2 of this page. It’s possible that the Torches’ forms in panels 5-6 are by Ayers with Burgos merely adding the vertical “heat” lines, but the Torches in panels 1-3 are 100% Burgos— while everything else on the page is 100% Ayers. Repro’d from an Ayers-autographed photocopy of the original art—courtesy of an unknown donor. (Let us know who you are, okay?) [All art on this page ©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Susan Burgos Talks About Two Marvel Mysteries to museums and was very passionate about art. We did “father-daughter” things together. Maybe it’d been different if I had been a boy? JA: Since you weren’t a boy, he wasn’t going to play football with you.

Torches Re-Lit (Above:) In 1961 writer/editor Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby co-created The Fantastic Four, one of whose members was Johnny Storm, a teenager turned by cosmic rays into a new version of The Human Torch. This early house ad penciled by Kirby appeared in The Incredible Hulk #1 (May 1962), the only other Goodman super-hero title then going, and is repro’d from a photocopy of the original (autographed) art, courtesy of Mark Miller. Jim A. feels the inker is probably Sol Brodsky. (Bottom right:) Only five years later, Stan Lee surprised everybody (even his assistant editor, Golden Age buff Roy Thomas) by announcing one day that he was bringing back the original Human Torch in Fantastic Four Annual #4 (1966). Did Martin Goodman order this done, to strengthen his legal hold on the earlier version of the hero, since, as Jim Amash says, the copyright was up for renewal that year? Roy doesn’t recall hearing that at the time—but Carl Burgos did launch a lawsuit in ’66 to try to reclaim the Torch, though its details are not known. Pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Joe Sinnott. [©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

and not much else. I doubt they entertained any notions about what would happen if any of those characters hit it big, as the Torch did. BURGOS: I’m sure all that’s true. And I’ve read some comments that my father’s work wasn’t the cream of the crop and that it was just average. JA: Even if that were true, it doesn’t matter. Your father created a primal, iconic character... BURGOS: ... that’s still around. I met John Romita, Sr., at an event, and he gave me a big hug and said, “I loved your father. He never got the credit he deserved.” That was a defining moment for me, because I had always avoided comics. I didn’t know if my father’s work was something I should be ashamed of. John Romita was adorable! JA: And a terrific human being. In 1964, your father did some penciling at Marvel on the “Giant-Man” feature and also drew one “Human Torch” story [Strange Tales #123], but apparently, things didn’t work out. I wonder if that was what prompted him to sue? Not to mention that the copyright was due for renewal in 1966. And since Martin Goodman was the owner of Marvel Comics, I’d expect that he was sued instead of Stan Lee. If it actually went to court, there may still be existing documents, otherwise, there’s no way to know how far your father took it. BURGOS: Right. We have no documents suggesting that anything happened, but anyone who was near knew that something was happening around the house in 1966. The result was that “I’m going to get rid of everything and no one’s going to make money off my back again” kind of attitude. It’s odd being the child of a comic book artist and not seeing anything.

“He Just Liked To Do His Own Thing” JA: When did you get interested in art? BURGOS: I guess I’ve always been interested in art. My father took us

BURGOS: But you see, I would play football, because I was very much a tomboy. He spent a lot of time in the basement and did different things. On an everyday basis, he had a project going, so I always had some kind of project going on. I remember when he was in his “collage” period, which was the late ’50s, early ’60s; he was very much interested in collages and abstract art. We go to the art store and get paper and make mixed-media collages on Masonite. I would make something and then he’d make something. He made a lot of monoliths. During his collage phase, he worked for the Pro-Art Company, and later for the Belwin Company, making covers for sheet music books. We’d take toothbrushes and make stipple textures. It was fun. Like Bill Everett, he also worked for a greeting-card company. JA: How did he react when you started dating? BURGOS: Oh, he hated it. He was very uncomfortable with it, though I don’t know why. He probably didn’t trust the guys. He probably figured

“The Privacy Act Of Carl Burgos” they were just like him. [laughter] When dates came to the house, he’d conveniently be out of sight. I was Daddy’s little girl and he didn’t want me to grow up. JA: You said your father wasn’t a very social man. Did he drink? BURGOS: Yes. I don’t know if he was a heavy drinker, but he’d have a cocktail when he came home, before he went down to his studio. He was a chain smoker and smoked cigarettes and cigars, and sometimes a pipe. JA: What made him laugh? BURGOS: I’m not sure how to answer that. He was not the type to sit down and tell a joke. I may not know what made him laugh, but I do know what made him happy. He enjoyed the creative process. And along the way, he discovered the personal joy of accomplishment in everything he created. My mom told me she married my dad because he made her laugh. JA: Did he like to watch television? BURGOS: Yes, but it wasn’t like he spent a lot of time doing that. I remember he liked The Name of the Game and Mission Impossible. He liked dramas mostly, but I remember him watching Mitch Miller and The Ed Sullivan Show. We used watch shows like Combat and Twelve O’Clock High, and he’d tell me what kind of planes were being flown, as well as helicopters and guns. He wasn’t much of a music listener, but I do remember that he liked Andre Segovia. He liked guitar players and taught himself to play the

guitar. If he wasn’t watching TV, reading, or working on a project, he was playing “Greensleeves” on guitar. JA: Was he very watchful in regard to your school work? BURGOS: Not really. He’d read my book reports and we’d have little talks, but it wasn’t like he read me bedtime stories when I was a kid. He just liked to do his own thing.

“The War Did Something To Him” JA: I know he had some bitterness towards the comic book industry, because in the 1970s he expressed regret over creating The Human Torch. He told comics creator Batton Lash, “If I knew how much trouble and heartbreak that character would cause me, I would never have bothered!” BURGOS: Maybe he felt that way because people were more interested in the Torch than in him? And then he loses all connection to the character, so what does that leave him? He never went to any comic book conventions, but they always asked him. As a young teenager, I tried to get him to go with me, but he’d say, “Nahhh.” JA: Maybe he was seeing himself more as a serious artist than just a comic book artist? And he probably didn’t want to be reminded of the Torch. BURGOS: Maybe, but it also could be that he was just a serious guy. I’m thinking more and more that my mother was right: the war did something to him. He came back from the war in 1946, met and married my mother, and then they had two children, so he had pressures. And maybe being a child of the Depression caused some angst? JA: Do you think he was an unhappy man? BURGOS: I’m not a doctor. I think of my dad as my dad, not as my friend that would share his ups and downs. I was never his peer—I was his youngest daughter. When you do not communicate, you create your own truths. There is no one to challenge or question the validity of what I remember. I think I wanted to be more of a friend. I thank you for giving me this moment to reminisce. To say he was not a happy man would be inappropriate. I think he seemed more angry than unhappy; he mellowed as he got older. How much the war and comic book business affected him, I will never know for sure. I think, during the war, he lost his innocence, and the comic book business took something away, too. You know how Gary Cooper was in the movies: he was

Lee & Burgos, Together Again—But Not For Long (Left:) During happier times, Stan Lee and Carl Burgos were occasional collaborators—as in this dually-signed story from Complete Mystery #3 (Dec. 1946). Thanks to Doc. Vassallo. (Right:) Carl drew himself and Stan into the final panel of the “Torch” story in Strange Tales #23, and Stan wrote a caption that seemed to augur well—but that turned out to be Burgos’ last work ever for Marvel. [Art ©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Susan Burgos Talks About Two Marvel Mysteries

quiet and you didn’t know what he was thinking a lot of the time. That was the image of Gary Cooper—you loved him, but why you loved him, you didn’t know. You could never get inside his head. You knew he was a complex man, but there was something in his look. My dad was like that. He had his charming side, too. He never talked about the war, so who knows what effect it had on him? He had a faraway look about him. He wouldn’t talk about his

problems. He was like a Humphrey Bogart character—that’s what was popular. He drank and smoked and you saw the light on inside of him, but he just wasn’t willing to let you in. That was not the manly thing to do in those times. I tried my hardest to break through and thought I was going to make it, but it turned out to be too late. He just couldn’t do it. He just wasn’t going to answer to anyone. I know his father was supposed to be a real sweetheart of a man, but his mother was “sugar free.” Given their lives and what their values were... you didn’t talk about things. It’s like, “Quit whining and just do it. You’ll get over it.” He was a very oldfashioned man. JA: Was he very politically oriented? BURGOS: Yes and no. When I looked at the books on his book shelf... The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, Inside the Third Reich, The Stillwell Papers, No One Wanted War, To Move a Nation, The Man Who Knew Kennedy... etc. He read John Jakes’ books. He read about war and politics, but he didn’t talk about either with me. JA: How did he feel about the social unrest of the 1960s? BURGOS: He didn’t talk about it much. I was more of a participant in the ’60s. Colleges across the country demonstrated against the war in Viet Nam. I was involved in the demonstrations. The turning point for me was Kent State. JA: Did he vote, and if so, what party did he prefer? BURGOS: He voted Democrat. The family I knew was my mother’s family, and they talked politics when the family got together at holidays.

“I Think He Expected More Of Me” JA: What do you remember about George Kapitan, Stan Starkman, and Herbie Cooper?

It’s An Imitation Mad, Mad, Mad World! Circa 1954, when nearly every comics company was churning out knockoffs of Harvey Kurtzman’s early fourcolor EC Mad comic book, Timely/Atlas had no less than three of them, and all sported at least one cover by Carl Burgos. [Clockwise from top left:] Crazy #5 (April 1954)—Wild #3 & #4 (April & June ’54)—and Riot #2 (June ’54). Note that the cover of Crazy is signed “Burgos,” and Wild #4 “CB ’54.” Thanks to Doc V. for the scans and IDs. [©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

BURGOS: George Kapitan was a real sweetheart, as was his wife, Rose. Stan and Suzie Starkman, and Herbie and Marilyn Cooper would come over, too. I know George and Herbie aren’t with us any longer. I liked those guys, and they were a charming group, but my dad didn’t mix his kids with his friends. We’d come out and say, “Hi,” and then go back into our rooms. [laughs] I realize there’s a lot of things about my father I don’t know, but sometimes the absence of stories tells the story. My father was a working-class man.

“The Privacy Act Of Carl Burgos”

17 Susan Burgos sent this photo of a gathering of her father and friends in, she thinks, the late 1960s or early ’70s.

(Back row:) Suzie Starkman, Marilyn Cooper, Carl Burgos, Herbie Cooper. (Front row:) George Kapitan, Rose Kapitan, Stan Starkman. The photo was probably taken by Mrs. Burgos, which would account for her not appearing therein…nor do we have any photos, alas, of interviewee Susan Burgos. George Kapitan was a writer for the Jacquet shop from 1940-43, and for the Iger shop circa 1945. According to Jerry Bails’ Who’s Who, he wrote “Human Torch,” “Fiery Mask,” and “Black Widow” for Timely/Marvel between 1940-43—“Air Man” and “Fantom of the Fair” for Centaur and “Green Giant” for Pelican circa 1940—“Blue Bolt,” “Target,” “Sub-Zero,” et al., for Novelty in 1942-43—and something called “Master Marvin” for McCombs in 1945. Herb Cooper and Stan Starkman were staff letterers at Timely during much of the 1950s. Herb worked for Marvel again in the late 1960s/early 1970s. Besides credited work in the latter period, as a favor to Roy Thomas he lettered the wedding invitation of Yellowjacket and The Wasp in The Avengers #60 (Jan. 1969), since that type of display lettering was his specialty.

JA: When did he die?

JA: How did you get involved in the news business?

BURGOS: He died in 1984 of colon cancer. His last job was with Harris Publications. During his illness, he did change a little. He was a wonderful grandfather to my sister’s daughter, Jessica. I don’t think he liked the idea of aging very well; time passes so quickly. I will always wonder, in the end, if he thought about the day he purged his collection from the house. Did he ever look back to the early days, yearning to hold those memories in his hands once again?

BURGOS: When the traditional animation jobs started to leave New York, I asked myself if I was interested in continuing with any other series being developed (I interviewed for Beavis and Butthead). While working on Doug, I took a course at a production company to learn the

JA: Tell me a little about yourself. Where did you go to school, and what did you study? BURGOS: I went to Farmingdale for two years and got an associate degree in advertising art and design. Then I went to Buffalo State and got a teaching degree. Then I got involved in animation. I was an inker and a checker and a preplanner for a long time with small commercial companies in New York. I worked on a couple of films like Raggedy Ann and Andy. For a couple of seasons, I worked on the Doug series for Nickelodeon. JA: Even though your father didn’t live to see your later work, was he pleased by your career choices? BURGOS: No. I think he expected more of me, though I don’t know what that would have been. Like him, I wound up in an industry that wasn’t necessarily lucrative for me. It’s the higher-ups who make the real money. He wanted me to be a teacher, which I was for a while. In retrospect, maybe we were too hard on each other? He expected a lot from me and I expected a lot from him. JA: But it doesn’t sound like you had a bad relationship. BURGOS: True, except for the fact that he did not answer some of my questions. He did not want the comic book business to quantify him. I understand that now. Who knew my questions would be echoed by questions of others curious about the lesser-known Torch creator? It always bothered me that I wasn’t allowed to read my father’s work. I hope I was able to answer some of your questions—you have mine. JA: We’ve been helpful to each other, and I thank you, too. I have been left wondering, though, if maybe he was ashamed of the comics work he did? BURGOS: He could have been, and if so, how could I be proud of my dad’s comic work when I felt the shame? I know my father’s work is well regarded today, but I’m talking about my impressions as a child. But I have the hours of wonderful memories of us making art together and those are my favorite memories of him.

Susan Burgos Talks About Two Marvel Mysteries

Burgos did a number of illustrations for an issue of one of Martin Goodman’s few surviving pulp magazines, Marvel Science Stories, Vol. 3, #4 (May 1951): the illo at left accompanying the Jack Vance story “Golden Girl,” and textpage portraits of (left to right, above) science-fiction writers L. Ron Hubbard (then writing about Dianetics), Theodore Sturgeon, and Lester del Rey. Thanks to Doc V. for all four scans. [©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

(Left & above:) During the post-Wertham days when “horror” comics had morphed into “mystery” comics, Carl Burgos drew numerous Comics Code-approved covers and splashes such as these. [Clockwise from top left:] Journey into Unknown Worlds #41 (Jan. 1956)—Strange Tales of the Unusual #4 (June ’56)—Journey into Unknown Worlds #44 (April ’56)—Astonishing #52 (Aug. ’56)— and Strange Stories of Suspense #15 (June ’57). Thanks to Doc V. for the scans. [©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

“The Privacy Act Of Carl Burgos”

Quantell Paint Box. I started freelancing at the company, working on various projects and eventually training others making their transition to broadcasting. In 1997, I joined an amazing group of artists at a 24-hour cable news network. Yesterday deadlines with today’s headlines! It is instant, powerful, and disposable. The first week we broadcasted, Flight 800 crashed off the shore of Long Island. In the eight years I have been employed, I have survived Two samples of Burgos’ humor work for Cracked other plane crashes, the deaths magazine, which for years was the most of a King and a Princess, successful of the various rivals to the black-&nature’s fury, high school white Mad. The above art is from Cracked #4 shootings, attacks on the USS (Sept.1958). Thanks yet again to Doc Vassallo. Cole and the American [©2005 the respective copyright holders.] embassies, elections, and two wars. The most tragic was September 11, 2001. This was the moment I realized that the news business, as much as it is criticized, came through beyond anything I could have imagined. To be a part of that was truly amazing. JA: Is there anything else that we should add to this interview? BURGOS: I don’t know what I’m going to do with his journal, but I’m entertaining ideas. I love this book, because it shows him in a different light than others have seen him. This book shows the passion of being an

artist. My dad always carried pencils with him. If he was sitting somewhere, he’d start doodling on paper napkins. That’s how he expressed himself. My father didn’t get all the credit he deserved. There are generations of fans who think Stan Lee created The Human Torch. It’s time for me to remind everyone that Carl Burgos created the concept of The Human Torch. I just want my father to succeed again and set the record straight.

Another photo of Carl Burgos, circa 1948— juxtaposed with a page from Marvel Mystery Comics #32 (June 1942), one of the last stories he did before entering the Army (the splash of this tale was seen in A/E #32). Photo courtesy of Susan Burgos. Because of both its original and Fantastic Four permutations, The Human Torch seems destined to remain Burgos’ most enduring creative legacy. [MMC #32 page ©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

That’s why I was so excited to see him get credit on that History Channel documentary. It was great seeing them talk about the weekend where dad and Bill Everett got a gang of people together to do that “fight issue” between The Human Torch and Sub-Mariner. It’s been a nice journey for me, traveling down my father’s path. My story with my father is one of love and acceptance. He didn’t tell me anything about himself—that’s my burden. But I don’t have to end it there.

Susan Burgos Talks About Two Marvel Mysteries

CARL BURGOS Checklist [NOTE: The following is adapted from information provided by Dr. Jerry G. Bails in his Who’s Who of 20th-Century American Comic Books. Those who want to know when his updated version of the Who’s Who will be available should e-mail him at JerryBails@aol.com; they will be notified when when it is ready. Some data has been provided by Sue Burgos via Jim Amash. Key: (a) = full art; (p) = pencils only; (i) = inks only; (w) = writer; (ed) = editor.] Name: Carl Burgos [birth name = Max Finkelstein] [1916-84] (artist; writer; editor) Education: National Academy of Design

40; The Last Pirate (w/a) 1938-39; Stoney Dawson (w/a) 1939-40 Chesler Publications & related: The Last Pirate (w/a) 1938 Eerie Publications: various titles (ed) 1965-79

Honors: Harvey Award 1996; Jack Kirby Hall of Fame (no date)

Health Publications: Panic (a) 1958

Magazine Illustrations: Marvel Science Fiction (1951); Western Magazine (1956)

Major Magazines: Cracked (a) 1958-59 Marvel/Timely & related: Complete Mystery (a) 1948-49 [tales in #3-4]; covers (a) 1951-54/1956-58; crime (w/a) 1948-51; Giant-Man (w/p) 1964-65; Human Torch (p/some w/some i) 193942/1944/1953-54/1964; horror (w/a) 1954; Official True Crime Cases (a) 1947; Strange Tales (a) 1955-56, 1964; The Thunderer (w/a) 1941; war (w/a) c. 1955

Comics Studio: Chesler Studio (a) 1938; Funnies, Inc. (w/a) 1939-42 Magazine Editing: Harris Publications (various titles) 1970s-84 Books Featuring Reprints: The Golden Age of Marvel, Vol. 1 (1997) & Vol. 2 (1999); The Great Comic Book Heroes, ed. Jules Feiffer, Dial Press (1965); Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Marvel Comics, Vol. 1 (2004). (All reprint Human Torch stories.) COMIC BOOKS (Mainstream US):

One of Martin Goodman’s last surviving pulps was Western Magazine, a digest-sized title. Carl Burgos drew this illo to accompany a story called “The Saddle Tramp” in Vol. 2, #3 (the June 1956 issue). [©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Myron Fass/Country-Wide/M.F. Enterprises: Captain Marvel (w/a) 1966-67 (ed 1966); 1966; covers (p) 1966-67; various titles (ed) 1966-69

Archie/MLJ & related: The Adventures of The Fly (layouts) 1959; The Double Life of Private Strong (layouts) 1959

Novelty Comics & related: Man O’ War (a) c. 1941; The White Streak (w/a) 1940-41

Candor Publishing Co.: Zany (a) 1959

Pierce Publishing Co.: Frantic (a) 1959

Centaur & related: Air Sub DX (w/a) 1939-40; Iron Skull (w/a) 1939-

Satire Publications: Loco (a) 1958

Submit Something To Alter Ego! Alter Ego is on the lookout for items that can be utilized in upcoming issues: • Convention Sketches and Program Books • Unpublished Artwork • Original Scripts (the older the better!) • Photos • Unpublished Interviews • Little-seen Fanzine Material We’re also interested in articles, article ideas, or any other suggestions... and we pay off in FREE COPIES of A/E. (If you’re already an A/E subscriber, we’ll extend your subscription.) Contact: Roy Thomas, Editor 32 Bluebird Trail St. Matthews, SC 29135 Fax: (803)826-6501 • E-mail: roydann@ntinet.com

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Diamonds In The Rough(s)

A Cornucopia Of Never-Seen Cover Sketches From The Golden Age of Timely/Marvel

by Roy Thomas

n Alter Ego #46, in conjunction with my 1969-70 interview with “Sub-Mariner” creator Bill Everett, we printed four unused cover sketches done (’twould seem) by him and perhaps others circa 1941 for Novelty’s Target Comics, at a time when he served as an artist, writer, and art director for Lloyd Jacquet’s early comics shop, Funnies, Inc., which produced comics material for Novelty, Timely, and other comics companies. Those photocopies were generously supplied by longtime comics fan/collector Robert Wiener, vice president of Donald M. Grant Books, who owns the originals. At the same time, Robert also mailed me copies of no less than 23 cover, splash page, and house ad sketches from the same period featuring Sub-Mariner and/or The Human Torch, all doubtless produced by Funnies, Inc., for Timely Comics (now Marvel). Many of the sketches had vintage typewritten notes attached that described the scene, perhaps for the benefit of publisher Martin Goodman and a very young Stan Lee, who’d recently become Timely’s editor upon the departure of Joe Simon and his partner Jack Kirby. In this instance, we knew the precise comic book issues for which some of these sketches were intended, since they illustrated real or symbolic scenes relating to The Human Torch #8 (Summer 1942)— one of the famed TorchNamor crossovers—or to other named-andnumbered comics. HT #8, on sale in spring of ’42, would’ve been prepared no later than the winter of 1941-42— i.e., shortly before or after America’s entry into World War II as a result of the Imperial Japanese miscalculation

which lives in infamy under the name “Pearl Harbor.” The identities of the artists of this material, however, are difficult to pin down, since we know Sub-Mariner creator Bill Everett entered the Army shortly after Dec. 7, 1941… with Torch creator Carl Burgos doing so not long afterward. We can’t be certain if Everett and/or Burgos had a personal hand in any of these drawings (either as artists, or at least as overseers), since neither man’s signature adorns even the 52-page story in Human Torch #8. Perhaps they were both just out the door, and their immediate successors drew the sketches in a similar style. Comics historian (as well as sciencefiction and mystery author) Ron Goulart feels some of the Namor art, at least, may be by Carl Pfeufer, Everett’s first and most important successor drawing “Sub-Mariner”…and that some of the Torch art may have been done by Harry Sahle or another Burgos assistant… but the jury is still out on the matter.

Some of the sketches on the pages that follow were definitely intended as potential layouts for Timely house ads such as this one from circa 1940-41. Ye Editor strongly suspects that, at the very least, Carl Burgos had a hand in the above art. [©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

My own feeling— based largely on gut instinct—is that Burgos did at least some of the Torch work that follows, since the Torch figures closely resemble his 1941 version. (Besides, Burgos was destined to become a virtual “cover editor” at Timely/Atlas during the 1950s, so he clearly had some skill in that area.) I’m a bit less inclined, alas, to find any Everett in the Subby art, which makes me lean toward Pfeufer in that case. Or maybe there’s another artist whom some eagle-eyed reader will champion. Though it seems unlikely that many if any of the

A Cornucopia Of Never-Seen Cover Sketches From The Golden Age Of Timely/Marvel

sketches are by humor cartoonist Vince Fago, Stan Lee’s wartime editorial stand-in maintained in his interview in A/E V3#11 that war-era covermeister Alex Schomburg was always given a sketch to follow, drawn either by Vince himself or by another staffer, rather than doing the cover roughs himself. Be that as it may, these sketches/roughs are rare and important artifacts—the “diamonds” alluded to in the title of this piece—of the early days of the Golden Age of Comics, of Timely/Marvel Comics, and of the seminal shop Funnies, Inc. So I’m delighted, with Robert Wiener’s blessing, to showcase them here, with a few words of added commentary. Let’s get cracking…!

(Above:) This, of course, is the rough on which artist Mark Sparacio based his stunning cover painting for this issue of A/E— though we can’t be sure if the original was intended for a cover or (more likely) a house ad. Was the concept that Adolf Hitler and a German soldier were hawking copies of something called Blitz Comics and that the Torch and Toro busted up their sales pitch? In the absence of written copy, we can’t be sure. During 1940-41 the British used the German word “Blitz” (“Lightning”) to refer to the Luftwaffe’s bomber raids on their cities. That term, in turn, was short for “Blitzkrieg” (“Lightning War”), the Nazis’ name for their combined air-tank-and-infantry attacks of 1939-41 on Poland, Western Europe, and eventually the Soviet Union. Again, if this sketch isn’t by Burgos, it may well have been prepared under his direction before he went into the service. [Human Torch & Toro TM & ©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Diamonds In The Rough(s)

(Above:) We’ve tried for a year to locate an actual copy of The Human Torch #8 (Fall 1942) so we could show you at least one lousy page showing The Python, the villain of the 52-page crossover (and that doesn’t count a two-page connected text story in the middle)… but nobody ever surfaced who owned one. So we’re running this blotchy print-out of the issue’s splash page from microfiche, just to give you a notion of what the Funnies, Inc., artists had to work with and what the villainous Python looked like in the comic itself. The red on the Torch’s figure caused it to print totally black, but you get the general idea. The fact that the page isn’t signed by either Burgos or Everett may mean they had already departed for the Army by this time. Thanks to Roger Mortimer. [©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

(Above:) Interestingly, this may be a potential sketchy layout for page 1 of the story rather than the cover, if we can believe the typed text (minus the crossed-out words): “Suggested page one HT VS SM – H.T. #8 Summer 1942 issue. SUBTERRANEAN dungeon; Python foreground – Horton chained and badly mangled on wall in background. Torch charging at Sm [sic], who is coming at torch [sic]. Winding staircase, snakes on beams, moldy-looking walls for background—Toro diving from chamber entrance and tossing fireball at Python.” In the published splash, Toro is bound and helpless… while on most of the sketches that follow, he’s attacking The Python while the Torch and Namor seem content to have at each other and let the kid do all the heavy lifting! Dr. Horton was the man who created the android Torch in Marvel Comics #1; he was thought dead at the start of Marvel Mystery Comics #2, but was brought back for this story, with The Python forcing him to turn the Torch into a “fiery monster” working for the Nazis. Interestingly, The Python seems to have made his debut in Sub-Mariner #2 (Fall 1941)—in a story starring The Angel! Catch it in the upcoming Marvel Masterworks volume reprinting Sub-Mariner #1-4! [Human Torch, Toro, Sub-Mariner, & Python TM & ©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

(Left:) Another version of that scene—though whether intended for page one of the issue or as a cover sketch isn’t clear. The typed copy, similar to that previously quoted, should be readable here. [Human Torch, Toro, Sub-Mariner, & Python TM & ©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

A Cornucopia Of Never-Seen Cover Sketches From The Golden Age Of Timely/Marvel

One of Carl Burgos’ earliest assistants was Harry Sahle, who later worked for Quality, MLJ, et al. To Sahle’s left is a painting he was doing of “Candy,” a character he drew for Quality. With thanks for the (undated) photo to his granddaughter, Carrie Strong, who is searching for more information about the artist. She can be reached in care of Alter Ego.

(Above:) Still another variation on the same scene, with The Python “trying to dash into sewer opening with Horton – Toro diving to the rescue.” Here, the sketch is clearly referred to as a “Suggested page one”—which at first we assumed meant the cover—but we’re more and more inclined to think it referred to the splash page! But we can’t be sure. [Human Torch, Toro, Sub-Mariner, & Python TM & ©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

(Right:) Here is “Python carrying Horton up long circular staircase, Sm [sic] in hot pursuit and Toro charging at him from landing. HT Flaming toward SM.” This sketch for “Page one” of Human Torch #8 would seem to be by a different artist from some of the preceding ones. Maybe Lloyd Jacquet was having a bake-off? [Human Torch, Toro, Sub-Mariner, & Python TM & ©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Diamonds In The Rough(s)

(Left:) The oddest cover/page 1 sketch, the one least likely to be by Burgos or even one of his better assistants. Copy reads: “Huge Torch grabbing life size SM as Toro scurries up pier posts. City background.” Why the Torch is oversize on this drawing alone (although he was briefly turned evil in the story), or why Toro would have to climb instead of fly, is unknown. [Human Torch, Toro, Sub-Mariner, & Python TM & ©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

(Above:) In the end, Timely’s publisher settled for simply another confrontation between the Torch and Namor as the cover of HT #8. This art was probably executed by the great Alex Schomburg. But for this drawing, sadly, we have no sketch—probably because it was given to the artist, who would’ve tossed it away after drawing the finished version! Thanks to Dr. Michael J. Vassallo. [©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

(Above:) We’d like to think this rough was meant as a cover sketch for Human Torch #8. The typed text reads: “Torch and SM play tug of war with python [sic] on top of GW [George Washington] Bridge. Toro fights off Nazi planes, background city buildings and river with boats and subs battling it out.” Just the kind of scene that cover artist Alex Schomburg would’ve sunk his teeth into! In the early 1970s, of course, Spider-Man, Gwen Stacy, and The Green Goblin had a fatal encounter atop this same bridge. [Human Torch, Toro, Sub-Mariner, & Python TM & ©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

A Cornucopia Of Never-Seen Cover Sketches From The Golden Age Of Timely/Marvel

Carl Pfeufer, at a Fawcett reunion gathering. This photo, which we’ve used before, is courtesy of Marc Swayze.

(Above:) This sketch was intended as a study for a full-page house ad for “Sub-Mariner #8, Summer 1942”—except that the Summer-dated issue of SM was actually #6!. Namor’s word balloon, indicating he has “to get back to that madman, Human Torch,” suggests this ad was probably intended to appear in HT #8. A great pencil drawing, though—probably by Carl Pfeufer. [Sub-Mariner TM & ©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

(Left:) Another ad layout—this one intended to ballyhoo Marvel Mystery Comics, though featuring only The Sub-Mariner, not The Human Torch. The figure being slugged is roughly labeled "Jap"—the unfortunate racial epithet which was nigh-universal in the US during World War II. (At that time, of course, Japanese antiWestern racism was at least as virulent as the American variety.) [Sub-Mariner TM & ©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Diamonds In The Rough(s)

(Above:) Prince Namor punches out some Nazi saboteurs in this “Suggested page one” sketch, for what is listed as a “twenty page” story. Again, whether the drawing was intended as a splash page or a cover is uncertain, but the phrasing would seem to make the former more likely. This looks a lot like the work of Carl Pfeufer, who evolved The Sub-Mariner’s head into an ever more triangular shape after Everett left, although Bill E. had been edging in that direction himself. [Sub-Mariner TM & ©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

A Cornucopia Of Never-Seen Cover Sketches From The Golden Age Of Timely/Marvel

(Above & right:) Two versions of “Suggested Page one” for a 20-page “Sub-Mariner” story—in this case labeled definitely for Sub-Mariner Comics #5. The typed copy should be legible. We’ve moved the topmost typed copy closer to the art so the latter can be repro’d as large as possible. [Sub-Mariner TM & ©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Diamonds In The Rough(s)

(Left:) The typeset stamp at bottom left of this sketch has bled through from the back and belongs to “James J. Fitzsimmons, Notary Public, Queens County No. 3300,” whose commission was set to expire on March 30, 1942. The notarizing itself is at the top. Jim Amash informs us that Jim Fitzsimmons was the production manager of Lloyd Jacquet’s Funnies, Inc. (But why, we wonder, was this sketch notarized?) [Sub-Mariner TM & ©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

A Cornucopia Of Never-Seen Cover Sketches From The Golden Age Of Timely/Marvel

(Left:) Another “Suggested Page one” for Sub-Mariner #5, with its typed notes above and below—plus a scrawled and mostly crossed-out handwritten notice of uncertain authorship (or even legibility). Is that an “okay” at the top? It seems to say: “Play up Namor – Other characters should look”—what? The first part of the final line could be “villainous” or some related word. At any rate, something close to this layout became the lead-off splash in that issue. [Sub-Mariner TM & ©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

(Right:) The bottom line here says this drawing is “Somewhat similar to last month’s SM”—by which the typer may mean the (not monthly but quarterly) Sub-Mariner Comics #4 (Winter 1941), depicted above, with its Schomburg-drawn scene of Namor attacking a German sub instead of a Japanese one. [Sub-Mariner TM & ©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.; cover art ©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Diamonds In The Rough(s)

(Above:) This sketch—intended for “SM #6”—was rejected, as per the handwritten note at top. [Sub-Mariner TM & ©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.] (Above:) This sketch for “Suggested Page one” of an 18page story in Sub-Mariner Comics #5 has an “OK” handscrawled at right, after its writer indicated to make Namor a bit larger and the Japanese torturer a little smaller—but we only wish the signature there were clearer. Lloyd Jacquet’s, perhaps? A modified version of modified version of this drawing did indeed become the splash for the second (of two) Namor tales in that issue. [Sub-Mariner TM & ©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

A Cornucopia Of Never-Seen Cover Sketches From The Golden Age Of Timely/Marvel

(Left:) This sketch for a cover or splash page in “HT #9” is also marked “Rejected”—and is the most offbeat and Marvel-Mysterious of the lot, since it shows the Torch breaking up a lynching (hopefully in time, though the poor victim is already shown hanging by his neck) performed by “Hooded Figures with Burning Torches.” There was no such story in The Human Torch #9, though it did contain a tale of “The Legion of Despair,” which preyed on suicidal persons, but with no Ku Klux Klan overtones. [Human Torch TM & ©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

(Right:) Just as this issue went to press, Eric Schumacher sent us this full-page Timely house ad for Human Torch #8, which appeared in Sub-Mariner #6 (Summer 1942)! And naturally, it doesn't resemble any of the sketches we printed on pp. 23-25! Eric thinks the art may be by Carl Pfeufer, possibly with others. [©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Anybody out there have any more info about finished drawings actually done from any of the roughs depicted on the preceding 12 pages? If so, please let us know!

Torch Types Other Golden Age Heroes Who Kept The Home Fires Burning

by Roy Thomas hen it rains, it pours—and when it rains fire, there can really be a deluge of brimstone!

While Jim Amash and I were discussing this issue’s contents a few weeks ago, and kicking around ideas for possible pieces that might complement his interview with Susan Burgos, Jim mentioned he had a copy of a Golden Age comic book containing a Human Torch clone from the 1940s—a hero whose only visual difference from the Timely/Marvel hero was that his flaming aura was blue rather than red. His name: The Blue Flame! I recalled seeing that puzzling story as a kid. Since I also had Ger Apeldoorn’s article and scans re a 1952 Timely story whose evil protagonist seemed to be a direct descendant of Carl Burgos’ Torch, I thought it might be interesting to feature the older “Blue Flame” version, as well. But, since I was aware there were also other Torch types in the Golden Age—not counting my retro addition of the female Firebrand in the 1980s All-Star Squadron—I thought I’d ask around on a couple of Internet lists to see if anyone could send copies of other characters influenced by the 1939 creation.

The primo flame-keepers during the Golden Age of Comics, of course, were Carl Burgos’ Human Torch and his young ally Toro—seen here in a panel drawn by their creator for The Human Torch #2 (Fall 1940), actually that title’s first issue. But you know how hard it is to stop a fire once it gets started… so the Torches had plenty of guys trying to hop on their blazing bandwagon…! [©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Turns out I had literally opened the fiery floodgates—because several enthusiastic collectors soon inundated me with art and info re every Torch wannabe I’d previously known about, and added several that were new to me! So, what the hey—I decided to add this several-page pictorial on the heroes inspired by the original Human Torch. And if you think we still missed a few—let us know—but don’t get burned up about it! We’ll start off with Jim’s initial contribution and go on from there…

The Blue Flame This hot-shot hero appeared in Four Star Comics’ Captain Flight #11 (Feb.-March 1947), and is a dead-ringer for The Human Torch—except that, when ablaze, he was colored bright blue (with white highlights). Actually, since blue flame is hotter than red, that should make him even hotter than the Torch—although, since red is the color universally associated with heat, the Timely/Marvel colorists probably made the right choice when their boy was rendered in scarlet. The bare-chested Blue Flame’s trunks and boots were blue, as well, and his hair was brown. (Times like these, we wish Alter Ego had a budget for color!) The artist of this one-shot (?) feature, according to researchers Hames Ware and Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr., is Zoltan (Zully) Szenics (yep, that’s a real name!). According to Hames and Jerry Bails’ 1970s Who’s Who in American Comic Books, Szenics worked for the Harry “A” Chesler shop and Quality Comics during the pre-World War II years, drew for Timely’s Krazy Komics #1 in 1942 and for MLJ in 1943-44… but the Who’s Who missed “The Blue Flame” the first time around. Incidentally, the artist was married to one Terry Szenics, a comic book letterer. [Art ©2005 the respective copyright holders.]

Other Golden Age Heroes Who Kept The Home Fires Burning The Flame This Fox Comics hero was the first and best-known of the other costumed cut-ups with a fiery theme. But, since he burst on the scene in Wonderworld Comics #3 (July 1939), three months before Marvel Comics #1, he’s hardly an imitator of The Human Torch—or vice versa, except perhaps in respect to the notion of fire. Even if Burgos saw that issue right before he wrote and drew his hero’s origin, he certainly went far beyond it. (Hmmm… wonder if Victor Fox ever claimed Martin Goodman and Carl Burgos were copying his character!) The Flame generally fought crime using a flame gun, though on this cover for The Flame #6 (Aug. 1941), he’s definitely tossing a fireball à la the Torch! Later he teamed up with a Flame Girl. Some of the series’ early art was by the great Lou Fine, though apparently not this cover. [©2005 the respective copyright holders.]

The Fire-Man This generically-named stalwart (seen above and below) appeared in Centaur’s Liberty Scouts #2-3 (June 1941-Aug. 1941) and in Man of War #1-2 (Nov. 1941-Jan. 1942). According to Harry Mendryk, the collector who sent us the accompanying art scans, Fire-Man “was not an obvious takeoff [on The Human Torch]. He is made from flame-proof glass and is lighter than air… but he does not produce fire.” Fellow collector Jim Ludwig adds that the hero’s alter ego, Jim Reuben, “gained his ability to fly, to control fire, and to resist heat damage during a mad scientist’s deranged experiment. He used those abilities to fight crime as head of the Fire-Man Association, a small private-investigation agency he ran.” [©2005 the respective copyright notice.]

Ajax The Sun Man Ed Love sent the page at left from Street & Smith’s Doc Savage Comics, Vol. 1, #11 (Jan. 1943). Ajax, he says, “is a native of the core of the Sun but was drawn to Earth by the crime and evil here. He uses his ‘sun-powers’ to fight evil: the ability to generate great heat, invulnerability to heat, flight, and super-strength.” In this tale, “Ajax faces off against a gang that’s employed a fire-eater lookalike to pretend to be Ajax, though they have to fake most of his incredible powers.” Said powers, though, clearly didn’t include “flaming on,” since the real and bogus Ajaxes on this splash page are wielding dueling acetylene torches! Oh, and fellow collector Joe Moore mentions that in one Jack Binderillustrated story, Ajax “burns up a Nazi concentration camp commander (who is begging for his life) while saying to him: ‘Fires of Hell… I order you to consume this black-souled rat!” You gotta love ’im! [©2005 the respective copyright holders.]

Torch Types

Collector Ed Love also pointed out that MLJ—the company that ere long would become Archie Comics—had no less than three candidates for the Torch’s fiery throne:

Inferno, the Flame Breather This hero (see above art) of 1941 Blue Ribbon Comics, Ed writes, was at first “a crook working with a circus rubberman called The Twister,” but he “decided to serve out his time and go straight after encountering [MLJ super-hero] Steel Sterling… even helping him capture another killer, The Rattler…. He can breathe fire from his mouth, burn his way through steel doors and walls, and melt bullets before they reach him. As he first appeared as a villain opposing Steel Sterling, my first-appearance info could be incorrect, since Sterling was usually over in Zip Comics.” This splash from Blue Ribbon #19 (Dec. 1941) is courtesy of Harry Mendryck.

The Fireball The above hero appeared in Pep Comics #12-20 in 1941, with art by Paul Reinman, who’d later draw “Green Lantern,” et al., for DC Comics, and who in the 1960s would work for Marvel and Archie. Ed Love informs us that Ted Tyler of the Waterfront Fire Patrol gained the power to heat his body to such a degree that he started fires with his touch, melted bullets, and absorbed flames into his body, though he did not emit flames himself. He wore a blue costume (with bare legs), eventually became a fireman, and even dated the fire chief’s daughter Hedy Harris, who knew his secret. Thanks to longtime fan Dwight Decker for the scan from his final appearance, in Pep #20 (Oct. 1941). [©2005 Archie Comics Publications.]

Firefly Firefly, a.k.a. scientist Harley Hudson, according to Ed Love, had “no actual flaming powers,” either. “His name was more a nod to his insect powers, making him more of an early Spider-Man.” Matter of fact, the splash and page 2 repro’d here from Top Notch Comics #8 (Sept. 1940) reveal a considerable debt not only to DC’s Superman, but even to certain panels from Action Comics #1 (not to mention Batman #1). You’d think MLJ would at least have given him the power to glow, like his six-legged namesake—but maybe they did, in another story? Firefly’s girlfriend Joan Burton, too, knew his alias. Can’t any of these guys keep a secret? Thanks to Shawn Clay for the scans from Top Notch #8—see a notice for Shawn’s <<goldcomics.com>> on page 36. [©2005 Archie Comics Publications.]

Other Golden Age Heroes Who Kept The Home Fires Burning

“Blaze” Baylor

The Fire-Eater

(Above:) Ed Love returns—to quote from the splash that this hero, who debuted in Catman Comics #1 (May 1941) from Holyoke, was the son of a “famous fire chief” who was killed in “an incendiary fire.” He “vows vengeance and dedicates his life to the task of tracking down all who profit from the crime of arson,” wears an “imperbestos” costume (made of “impervium and asbestos cloth,” making it both bulletproof and flameproof), and sports a “chemical gun… a combination grapple gun, flamethrower, and fire-extinguisher.” Ye Editor, who coined the name “adamantium” a few decades back, loves the name of that substance—“impervium”! “Blaze,” who was mostly drawn by Charles Quinlan, only lasted four issues, however. Thanks to Ed for the scan. [©2005 the respective copyright holders.]

(Above:) Frank Motler, who in 2004 penned a four-part examination of Charlton Comics’ continuation of various Fawcett and other companies’ titles for our FCA sections, sent this page from Choice Comics #1 (Dec. 1941), published by Great Comics Publications, Inc. He says the art is “signed Wood Byrnes (geddit?), but is no doubt by Artie Saaf (signed SAAF at bottom of p. 5).” Mike O’Malley, Frank reports, is a theatrical performer who on this splash is referred to as “a lusty Yankee whose amazing conquest of flames keeps audiences gasping, [while] criminals cringe at the name… Fire-Eater!” He’s “really a super-fireman, who also breathes flame,” and is in costume for the entire story. [©2005 the respective copyright holders.]

The Red Blazer (Right:) Harvey’s small-size Pocket Comics #1-2 (Aug.-Sept. 1941) featured this hero, who, feels Harry Mendryck (who sent us this scan), “was obviously influenced by The Human Torch, especially since the first-issue story was drawn by Al Avison,” who had drawn for Timely/Marvel. [©2005 the respective copyright holders.]

Torch Types

Wildfire When this splash was printed in Quality’s Smash Comics #37 (Nov. 1942), it was the heroine’s 13th and final appearance. The Who’s Who credits her as being written by Robert Turner and drawn by Jim Mooney. Seems to Ye Editor that at one stage circa 1980-81 she was a mental candidate for membership in the All-Star Squadron, but her name (already used by a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes) mitigated against her, and so Danette Reilly became the distaff version of Firebrand, another Quality heroine. Was it Jim Ludwig who sent this scan? [©2005 the respective copyright holders.]

Man O’ Metal This guy was a regular hero—as noted by the fact that he starred in Reg’lar Fellers Heroic [later just Heroic Comics] #7-28 between July 1941 and Jan. 1945. When a vat of “white hot metal” spilled on foundry worker Pat Dempsey, naturally he was turned into a super-hero, who thereafter, when exposed to heat, turned blue and emitted flames. He was, as Jeff Rovin called him in his 1985 book The Encyclopedia of Superheroes, “one of the few blue-collar super-heroes.” The art was by “Wonder Woman” artist/co-creator H.G. Peter and his studio. [©2005 the respective copyright holders.]

Vulcan Jim Ludwig found it “interesting” that Ye Editor, whose first solid sale of a comic script in 1965 was for Charlton’s Son of Vulcan, missed this one, a scan of which he sent us! Vulcan appeared in Ace’s Super Mystery Comics, Vol. 1, #1 through Vol. 3, #2 (July 1940-July 1942), as well as in Four Favorites #1-4 (Sept. 1941-March 1942), drawn by (among others) Jim Mooney and written by Otto Binder. Ed Love writes that this hero “was billed as the descendant of the Roman fire god of the same name and was born on a South Pacific island. He was the master of flame and heat, had super-strength, and could fly when aflame (his flames surrounded him like a corona, but he was visible as opposed to being engulfed in flames like The Human Torch). Bullets tended to melt before they reached him when he was powered up.” [©2005 the respective copyright holder.]

Other Golden Age Heroes Who Kept The Home Fires Burning

Running out of room—but, according to lists sent by Frank Motler, Jim Ludwig, and others, there were several other early super-heroes whose name, if not fame, was related to flame— such as Timely/Marvel’s own Joe Simon-created Fiery Mask (covered in A/E #36), Blue Fire from Centaur’s Wham Comics (who was depicted as drawn by Lew Glanzman in A/E #46), Spitfire in Harvey’s Spitfire Comics, Solarman in Centaur’s Wham Comics, Blazing Scarab in proto-Harvey’s Champion Comics, The Blazing Skull and The Blue Blaze in Timely/Marvel’s Mystic Comics, Blaze Barton in Quality’s Hit Comics, Firetop in Comic Magazine’s Slapstick Comics, and probably a few others. But, just to be perverse, we’ll close with a fiery hero who was… well, an insect. We’ve already mentioned MLJ’s non-fiery Firefly—but this one really was a firefly—Freddy Firefly, to be exact. He blazed a path through O.W.’s Mad Hatter #12 (1946), then in all seven issues of EC’s Animal Fables in 1946-47—though he had only four limbs, not the presumably requisite six. In fact, on most of the EC covers, he was shown flying— colored red, and surrounded by an aura of flame—making him most definitely an insectoid equivalent of Carl Burgos’ android hero! If you think we’re just blowing smoke—sneak a peak at this cover and interior art!

Freddy Firefly Sheesh! Wonder if Martin Goodman was bugged by this funny-animal version of The Human Torch—seen here on the covers of Animal Fables #6 (Sept.-Oct. 1947) and in panels from AF #1 (JulyAug. 1946). Probably so, thinks Frank Motler, who sent these scans—’cause in the final issue, #7, Freddy’s flaming bod is colored yellow, with green trailing flames, instead of both being crimson! [©2005 William M. Gaines Agent.]

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“Pulling A Dragoom” A Human Torch “Prototype”—Or A Fast-Fading Echo?

by Ger Apeldoorn

ack in Alter Ego #29 & 31, Thomas C. Lammers wrote an exhaustive study of the so-called “Marvel prototypes”— stories which the Overstreet Comics Price Guide has listed over the years as being “prototypes,” stalking horses, trial balloons, or whatever one wishes to call them, for the Marvel super-heroes that Lee, Kirby, Ditko, et al., began to churn out starting in 1961. Tom’s viewpoint was that few if any of the stories should actually be called “prototypes” by the dictionary definition of the term. Recently, Dutch TV-sitcom writer Ger Apeldoorn, already a frequent contributor to these pages, sent Ye Editor scans of a story which some might call yet another “prototype” for the revived Human Torch who would (admittedly 9 years later) co-star in Fantastic Four #1, and we were so intrigued by the story and art that we invited him to write about it in depth.... —Roy. In early 1952 the company that would eventually evolve into Marvel but was then still known as Atlas—or as Timely, by those who worked for it—published a story about a burning man, who could melt his way through steel doors. The story is called “Escape From Death,” and it deals with a flaming eight-foot giant, red all over with a bald head and naked body apart from a tastefully drawn pair of underpants. His opponents call him a “murdering torch” and even a “human torch”! But he is not an early revival of Carl Burgos’ famous super-hero from the 1940s. That wouldn’t happen until 1953. Super-heroes had left the newsstand and had no more relevance for their time. Romance, war, Western, and horror were the genres of the day. The six-page story in Suspense #18 (cover-dated May 1952) was in fact nothing more than an anomaly. In more ways than one.

Joe Maneely’s cover for Suspense #18 gives no hint that, inside, a Golden Age super-hero has been used as the basis of a new and frightening monster— but any reader old enough to remember Marvel Mystery Comics and The Human Torch from 1949 or before, upon beholding Manny Stallman’s powerful splash page, was liable to catch on fast! He’s even called a “murdering torch” in the splash panel. But—does anybody have any idea why his execution was backdated to Oct. 12, 1941, a decade earlier, instead of having it be contemporary, since the entire story occurs over a period of only three weeks? [©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

First, let’s tell you the story. It’s all about a criminal named Elk Diamond who is put to death in the electric chair in 1941. On the night of his death, his body is lying in a New York mortuary when, at the stroke of midnight, a strange glow surrounds his corpse. Something stirs in the coffin—and the criminal is resurrected as an eight-foot flaming monster!

It turns out that he was given a magnetic pill by a mysterious Dr. Orgesky, who is also some sort of gangster. The magnetic pill absorbs the electric charge of the electric chair and gives him his powers. Although the story has all the hallmarks of a super-hero origin, neither the words “super-hero” nor “powers” is used. But he is powerful enough to open any safe in the world and had made a deal with the gang leader to work for him for a month. After that, the gangster will return him to his natural state—as a living,

“Pulling A Dragoom”

resident expert on “prototypes” helped me write this piece, Atlas used preview splashes such as this one until sometime in 1948. In it, we see an exciting moment from later in the story, when the blazing giant goes on a bank-busting spree for his savior/boss. It is this fallback to a forgotten story-telling device that gives the tale a super-hero feel. Later, when the real Human Torch was revived for a short period in 1953-54, the device was used again. Although there are horror comics that used it as well at that same time, Atlas preview splashes were less common. Usually the first-page splash was used either for a symbolic image or to start the story with a visual bang. Still, Joe Maneely’s superbly-drawn “The Cozy Coffin” in the selfsame Suspense issue begins with a similar preview. If there was a company policy in this area, it’s hard to discern. It could be that such things were left to the writer. Who the writer is for this story, is not known. Two writers who did work for Suspense at that time, Stan Lee and Hank Chapman, generally signed their contributions, so it probably neither of them. If it had been written by Stan Lee himself, it would have been more probable that it was cooked up at the office and that Lee was writing it on direct order from Martin Goodman.

The resuscitated Elk Diamond pulls just the kind of stunt that probably Carl Burgos’ android Human Torch would have, had he acted normally—burning to nothingness the first human being he encounters, a night watchman. [©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

So what do we think? Is this story some sort of prototype, or is it just another story that was brought in by a writer, discussed with the editor, drawn, and forgotten. The first thing Tom Lammers said when I sent him the story was that he wouldn’t exclude the possibility that Martin Goodman had “pulled a Dragoom.” As you may recall from Tom’s articles on the prototypes from the early ’60s in Alter Ego #29 and #31, 1960s-Torch forerunner Dragoom is about the only one left standing as a logical possibility for a “Marvel prototype.” Goodman did not closely oversee the day-to-day operations of his

normal human being. It is not mentioned how the latter will do that— only that he is the only one who can. The evil doctor, naturally, doesn’t want to give Elk Diamond his life back. He wants to keep him as his personal weapon. The glowing monster overhears him arguing this point with his assistant, breaks out of his insulated vault, and burns both men to death. After that he runs out into the night and gets hit by lightning. It is too much, even for the magnetic pill. The monster melts and returns to the elements. The story is elegantly drawn by Manny Stallman. Stallman was a reliable workhorse for Atlas and other companies at that time. He is an artist whose work I always have trouble recognizing, but he has done some great stories, such as “Moon Ahead” (G-015) for Uncanny Tales #31 (May 1955), about the first men on the moon, who find that someone has been there before them... when they find Jules Verne’s diary. Stallman has another story in that same issue of Suspense, an old chestnut of a tale about a criminal running from the law into a swamp. He finds an old man with a boat, who can take him to safety. But it turns out the old man is Charon, the ferryman of the River Styx... and the criminal’s destiny is a flaming pit. Later on in the 1950s Stallman did some work on a couple of Mad magazine imitations, and he also worked on the restaurant giveaway comic The Adventures of Big Boy. He draws the criminal “torch” in a pleasantly polished style, with the flames having an electric feel to them. The last page of the story is the best. The burning giant cuts loose and kills his creator with a ruthless hand to his face. The burning face on the assistant in the second panel is quite gruesome and would not have been allowed to be published a couple of years later when the Comics Code was established. Another thing that makes the story stand out, in my opinion, is the “preview splash page.” According to Tom Lammers, who as Alter Ego’s

Now this is odd! The scientist who gave Diamond the life-saving pill is named Dr. Orgesky—and he refers to his henchman as “my Orge” (whether the “O” should be capitalized or not, we have no idea!). And, a page or two later, the doc calls him simply “Orge.” Did the writer mean to call the minion “Ogre” and simply misspell it? Another interesting point: he ushers Diamond into an “insulated room,” much as Dr. Horton locked his Human Torch in an airless chamber in 1939’s Marvel Comics #1, in order to keep the android from flaming on and running wild. [©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

A Human Torch “Prototype”—Or A Fast-Fading Echo?

In the above panels, Dr. Orgesky refers to Diamond as a “human torch” (presumably lower case), which suggests that the writer was conscious, at least to some extent, of the similarity between his story and Burgos’ 1939 original. Note, however, that the papers refer to Diamond as a “MURDERING TORCH” and a “HUMAN DYNAMO” and even apparently a “HUMAN WALKING TORCH”—but never quite put the two words together. In fact, now that we think of it—if Diamond got his super-powers from a magnetic pill that absorbed an electrical charge, why did he become a “human torch” rather than a “human dynamo” or a walking hunk of electricity? Probably because Burgos’ original “hot idea” was very much on his mind. So maybe it was Lon Chaney, Jr., who was the real prototype! [©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

comics division, but he did manage its direction quite strongly. Which titles were canceled or begun was his to decide. He was very well aware of the success of his heroes during the ’40s. The super-hero revival of 1953-55 was a direct result of that, and The Human Torch, Captain America, and Sub-Mariner were again at the forefront when superheroes made their comeback in the early ’60s. But in 1952 there was no sign of any super-hero comeback at any company. The story in Suspense #18 was not featured on the cover or advertised in any of the other books. In fact it was buried in a uncharacteristic 52-page issue. Both Suspense and Spellbound had 52-page and/or extra issues out in those months, which can only be attributed to the fact that Goodman was feeling the strength of the competition at that time and wanted to fill the racks with superior product. The push was for the horror comics to succeed, not to create a vibe for a return of super-heroes. And although criminals turned super-hero had been done before, there was nothing in this story that would make Elk Diamond a suitable hero for any kid. So the end verdict has to be that “Escape from Death” is nothing more than an exciting and well-drawn riff on the theme of the flaming man. Roy Thomas mentioned to me that the story itself can be seen as a variation on the old Lon Chaney, Jr., movie Man-Made Monster (1941), about an electrocuted man who survives a bus accident but is struck by lightning, only to end up being a guinea pig for two scientists... one a good man who wants to investigate McCormick’s immunity to electrical currents for the benefit of mankind, and the other who wants to make McCormick the prototype of a super-human army of electrical men that only he is able to control. So maybe it was Lon Chaney, Jr., who was the real prototype!

(Above:) Overhearing Orgesky’s plans, his “human torch/dynamo” destroys the scientist and his henchman. In Marvel Comics #1, of course, Prof. Horton seemed to have been killed in the fire started when his Human Torch refused to remain his creator’s slave and burned his way out of his lab, flying off into the night at story’s end. Horton’s death was remarked on again at the start of Marvel Mystery Comics #2, as can be seen in the recent hardcover Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Marvel Comics, Vol. 1, which reprints the first four issues of Timely’s very first title. (And here’s hoping that, before Marvel gets too carried away with other projects, it goes to press with a volume reprinting Marvel Mystery #5-8, which are historically even more important than the first four issues of, say, Human Torch or Sub-Mariner.) A final thought: the deus ex machina destruction of Elk Diamond by lightning comes pretty much out of left field. Any chance that the writer of this story had also read Philip Wylie’s super-hero-influencing 1930 novel Gladiator? [©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

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Atlas Shrugged

A Detailed Look At The 1957 “Atlas Implosion” And Its Effect On Comics by Thomas G. Lammers The Timely/Atlas super-hero revival of 1953-55 occurred during the Atlas period—so what could be more fitting as a title image for this article than to picture the fabled Atlas globe of 1951-57 held aloft Atlas-like by Captain America (from a smallish John Romita panel in Young Men #26, March 1954)? Thanks to A/E’s liltin’ layout man Chris Day for putting these two icons together. [©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

[All art, unless otherwise noted, provided by the author.]

n Alter Ego #29 & #31, Tom Lammers, who in what’s known as “real life” teaches biology (esp. botany) at a college in Wisconsin, took a skeptical look at the so-called “Marvel prototypes” of the late 1950s and early 1960s, which are purported to have been “trial balloons” for the Marvel heroes which sprang up from 1961 on. When he and others on the online Timely-Atlas List began exchanging e-mails about another reported phenomenon—the “Atlas Implosion” (which takes its name retroactively from the late-1970s “DC Implosion,” so called because it followed on the heels of a companyheralded “DC Explosion”)—we invited Tom to outline that epochmarking event for A/E’s readers. —Roy.

Introduction When I was a kid back in the 1960s, I was quite a fan of the Marvel Comics Group; a big chunk of my weekly allowance went towards following the exploits of my favorite comic book heroes. At that time, I had the impression that the company was rather a young concern. After all, the mainstream press1 heralded their super-heroes as the latest fad. Everything about the books seemed to scream “New! New! New!” Furthermore, issue numbers on most titles were quite low; my fifth-grade math skills were more than adequate to figure out that in most cases, only a few years had elapsed since those magical #1s. But some facts didn’t jibe with this impression. Journey into Mystery and Strange Tales had issue numbers well over 100. Stray comments in the letters pages2 alluded to comics Marvel had published years earlier. The debut

stories of the Sub-Mariner (Fantastic Four #4, May 1962), Captain America (Strange Tales #114, Nov. 1963, and Avengers #4, March 1964), and the original Human Torch (Fantastic Four Special #4, Nov. 1966) intimated that this was not the first time these characters had been in comics. The clincher came when Marvel began to reprint material. At first, the stories reprinted were no older than the late 1950s and early 1960s; soon, however, stories from the early 1940s began to appear.3 Clearly, there was much more to Marvel’s corporate history than I had realized!

When I began to collect vintage comic books three decades later, I discovered that the Marvel Comics Group of my misspent youth indeed had a history that could be traced back under various names to the years preceding World War II. I learned that they had published over 5800 issues through the 1950s, not just super-hero and fantasy titles but humor, romance, Westerns, war, horror, crime, and adventure books as well. Before Amazing Spider-Man and The Incredible Hulk, there were Devil-Dog Dugan and “Battleship Burke,” Kent Blake of the Secret Service and Jann of the Jungle, Sherry the Showgirl and Homer the Happy Ghost. I wondered how this diverse array of characters, titles, and genres had been whittled down to the handful of super-hero books I knew from my childhood. What had decimated the ranks so profoundly? What terrible bottleneck had the company passed through? As I got more involved with comics scholarship, I began to hear stories about a phenomenon some collectors referred to as “The Atlas Implosion,” a late-1950s business catastrophe of seemingly Biblical proportions. Dozens of titles had been canceled overnight, and scores of artists thrown out of work. Only after some period of inactivity did the

Fantasy Masterpieces #1 (Feb. 1966) reprinted fantasy/science-fiction features from late ’50s/early-’60s Goodman comics. With #3 (June ’66) the title became a big 25-center, showcasing poorly-restored 1941 Simon & Kirby “Captain America” tales behind a new Kirby-penciled cover—and by #7 (Feb. ’67) FM had added Golden Age “Human Torch” and “Sub-Mariner” reprints, with a new Gil Kane cover. Clearly, young Tom Lammers realized, Marvel Comics’ history went back a wee bit further than he had imagined! [©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

The 1957 “Atlas Implosion” And Its Effect On Comics

“Before Amazing Spider-Man and The Incredible Hulk, there were Devil-Dog Dugan and ‘Battleship Burke,’ Kent Blake of the Secret Service and Jann of the Jungle, Sherry the Showgirl and Homer the Happy Ghost.” And if that ain’t a cue for a Marvel-and-Atlas montage, we don’t know what is! Above, Spidey and Ol’ Greenskin eye a sextet of pre1961 Timely/Marvel goodies: a Jim McLaughlin splash from Devil-Dog Dugan #1 (July 1956)—a Joe Maneely “Battleship Burke” splash from Navy Action #1 (Aug. ’55)—the covers of Kent Blake of the Secret Service #2 (July ’51—artist unknown) and Jann of the Jungle #13 (Sept. ’56—art by Maneely)—and Dan DeCarlo’s covers for Sherry the Showgirl #1 (July ’56) and Homer the Happy Ghost #2 (May ’55). Thanks to Dr. Michael J. Vassallo for the splashes, and to Mike Burkey for the Spidey/Hulk illo by John Romita, which was printed in full back in A/E V3#9. [©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Martin Goodman in 1941, holding a color proof of the cover of Captain America Comics #11 (Feb. 1942). This photo originally appeared in Les Daniels’ first-rate 1991 history Marvel: Five Fabulous Decades of the World’s Greatest Comics. [©2005 the respective copyright holders.]

Atlas Shrugged unknown to most comics readers.

company regroup and resume publication on a far more modest scale. Clearly it was this event that had transformed an allencompassing comics empire into the seeming upstart of my youth.

On a few occasions in the 1940s, we see half-hearted attempts at establishing a unified identity for the comics produced by this plethora of corporate entities.11 Although fans often refer to Goodman’s 1940s output as “Timely Comics,” that imprint only appeared on the covers of certain titles and issues with July to September 1942 cover dates. An “Atlas” emblem was used on a few books with late 1943 and early 1944 cover dates. Some books dated Dec. 1946 to May 1947 were identified as “A Marvel Magazine” via a cover logo that looked like a turneddown corner. Books dated Feb. 1949 to June 1950 rather consistently bore a “Marvel Comic” red circle logo, although starting in December 1949 this was replaced on the romance titles with a heart-shaped logo that read, “A Lovers Magazine.” Other than these brief periods, Goodman’s 1940s comics were not marked with any sort of corporate imprint.10

Details regarding this critical episode in Marvel’s history were frustratingly scarce. Standard comic book histories4 briefly mentioned the Atlas Implosion from a business perspective; artist biographies5 spoke of the personal toll. However, I could find virtually nothing about effects on the books themselves. For the titles that survived, it was all but impossible to learn how long publication had been suspended; I had no idea which issue was the last before the Implosion or the first after, nor the length of the hiatus separating them. Similarly, it was said that when publication resumed, editor Stan Lee relied for some time on a huge backlog of material created by the numerous cancellations. But how long did this inventory last? When were new stories finally commissioned? I soon realized that the only way I could answer these questions was to obtain the books and discover the answers for myself. It took nearly eight years, but I am finally able to answer my many questions. In this article, I would like to share with you what I have learned from the books themselves about this fascinating period in the evolution of the Marvel Comics Group.

Throughout the 1940s, Goodman depended on an independent firm, Kable News Co., to get his products from the The copy at the bottom of this house ad from Astonishing #19 printing plant to wholesalers, and from (Nov. 1952) bolsters Tom’s thesis that the name “Atlas” was there to retailers and the reading public. meant to identify Goodman’s comics company, not just the This relationship was denoted by the distributor. [©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.] presence of Kable News’ “K” logo on the cover, along with the North American map that symbolized the Independent Distributors group to which Kable belonged.10

Taking Care Of Business

Martin Goodman became a publisher of cheap popular periodicals (so-called pulp magazines) circa 1932-33.6 A few years later, he released his first comic book: the legendary Marvel Comics #1 (Oct. 1939), filled with material produced by the Funnies, Inc., studio, including Bill Everett’s “Sub-Mariner” and Carl Burgos’ “Human Torch.” Sales were sufficient that Goodman expanded his comics line and soon hired his own staff of writers and artists. Both the number of titles and the number of issues increased steadily through the 1940s. After a brief retrenchment in 19507, the line continued to expand.

The Atlas Age Of Comics In the early 1950s, Goodman decided to maximize profits by cutting out this middleman and establishing his own distributor.9 Atlas News Co., Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary, was paid a fee to distribute the products of Chipiden, Manvis, and the rest. Because Goodman owned them all, he was essentially taking money out of one pocket and putting it in the other.

Goodman has been aptly described as a “binge-and-purge” publisher.8 His primary business strategy was to determine what sorts of books were selling well (either for himself or for competitors) and then to flood the market with books like it. This trend-chasing strategy meant that if Love Romances did well, it would soon be joined on the newsstand by Love Adventures, Love Classics, Love Dramas, Love Secrets, Love Tales, and Lovers. If competitor DC Comics had A Date with Judy, Goodman had A Date with Millie and A Date with Patsy. His empire was “built on selling paper, not innovation.”9

An Atlas globe logo was added to the covers of all Goodman’s comics beginning with the Nov. 1951 issues. Many comics scholars maintain that this was the imprint of the new distribution firm, not another attempt at a unified corporate identity. However, the logos of Kable News remained on the covers through the Aug. 1952 issues.10 This 10month overlap of the Atlas and Kable symbols supports the view that “Atlas” was intended as a product imprint, not a distributor’s mark. And it definitely was used to encourage brand loyalty and to promote sales. Interior pages frequently carried on their bottom margin the exhortation: “For the best in [name of genre] tales, look for the Atlas seal on the cover!”

Today, “Marvel Comics” is a brand name nearly as widely recognized as Coca-Cola or Chevrolet. However, for many years, Goodman did not seem overly concerned with establishing a distinctive product identity for his comic book line.10 He set up over 50 different corporate entities (e.g., Canam Publishing Sales Corp.; Chipiden Publishing Corp., Lion Books, Inc.; Male Publishing Corp.; Manvis Publications, Inc.; Vista Publications, Inc.) to serve as publisher-of-record for his comics. All of these were wholly owned by Goodman and appear to have been subsidiaries of his main corporation, Magazine Management Co., a name

In 1956, Goodman decided to give up on self-distribution and once again entrust his product to an outside distributor. American News Co. (ANC)12 had been the nation’s largest distributor of periodicals for over four decades. Major magazines such as Time, Look, Life, Fortune, Newsweek, The New Yorker, Glamour, Vogue, Sports Illustrated, and Popular Mechanics were placed on America’s newsstands by ANC. The company was financially quite sound, reporting a net income for 1956 of nearly $2.4 million on net sales of $172 million; this was an increase of 40% over the previous year’s profits.

The 1957 “Atlas Implosion” And Its Effect On Comics

A Clash of Symbols Half a dozen early, if sporadically seen, pre-1951 symbols for the company that in 1963 would become the Marvel Comics Group—grouped with covers that sported them—all courtesy of Dr. Michael J. Vassallo. [Clockwise from top of page:] (a) Early-1940s “Timely” logo (Comedy Comics #10, June 1942)— (b) 1943-44 “An Atlas Publication” emblem (on an issue of Amazing Detective Cases magazine)— (c) “A Marvel Magazine” (Georgie #9, Jan. 1947)— (d) “Marvel Group” (Georgie #10, April 1947)— (e) “Marvel Comic” (Sub-Mariner #32, June 1949—final issue before 1954; artist(s) uncertain)— (f) “A Lovers Magazine” (Young Hearts #2, Feb. 1950). [©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Atlas Shrugged

was having difficulty getting enough books to fill them. Signing a “volume” publisher like Goodman would help resolve this problem. ANC took over distribution of Goodman’s magazines, comics, and paperback books on 1 November 1956.9 No indication of the change appeared on the covers. Instead, the Atlas globe remained, which further supports the view that “Atlas” was not only a distributor’s logo but indeed a unifying imprint For nearly a year, between the for Goodman’s comic book line. Nov. 1951 and Aug. 1952 issues, Goodman’s comics bore both the “Atlas” globe and the “ID” (for the Independent Distributors group) which was the symbol of Kable News—as seen above on Sol Brodsky’s cover for Spy Fighters #5 (Nov. 1951). [©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc..]

However, all was not well at ANC. Although the company as a whole was financially sound, its Wholesale Periodical Division (the actual subsidiary that distributed and wholesaled Goodman’s books) had been running a half-million-dollar deficit on $60 million net sales for the past few years. Clients continued to jump ship, reducing the division’s profits. On 25 April 1957, ANC’s largest remaining client, Dell Publishing Co., served notice that it was canceling its franchise with ANC in favor of independent distribution to wholesalers. Dell apparently believed that its publications were not receiving proper exposure to the buying public. Eleven days later, Dell filed a $15,000,000 anti-trust suit in federal court, charging ANC with restraint of trade by controlling not only distribution but also wholesale and retail markets.

At the encouragement of his business manager, Monroe Froehlich, Jr., Goodman shut down Atlas News and signed an agreement with ANC. Froehlich’s motives for promoting this deal have been questioned.9 However, if one looks at the situation objectively, without the benefit of hindsight, one can understand how Goodman would have thought it a smart move.

The American Way A major challenge for periodical publishers was getting their product a “spot in the sun” on the nation’s ever-more-crowded newsstands. Once their books left the printing facility, publishers had little control over whether they were displayed in an eye-catching spot, buried on the bottom, or never even unbundled. A distributor delivered the books to an independent wholesaler, who then delivered them to independent retail outlets. ANC was unique in the publishing industry in controlling all three steps of the process. Its Wholesale Periodical Division not only provided books to wholesalers, but also served as a major wholesaler itself, supplying magazines to over 100,000 newsstand dealers nationwide through its chain of 300 branch offices; another subsidiary, Union News Co., was one of the nation’s largest periodical retailers, owning 1,500 newsstands, cigar stores, snack bars, and restaurants in 32 states. In this way, ANC was able to assure its clients of the sort of prime exposure to the buying public that no other distributor could match. It undoubtedly seemed to Goodman that, in this situation, he could pay an outsider to distribute his books and still increase his profits, by selling more books. The deal was likewise advantageous for ANC, as it had lost several large clients to competitors in recent years. For example, in 1954, Time, Life, Fortune, and Sports Illustrated all signed distribution agreements with Select Magazines, Inc. Though ANC owned 1500 newsstands, it

Word spread rapidly through the publishing industry. ANC’s remaining clients could read the handwriting on the wall, and some began a frantic search for new distributors. Newsweek and The New Yorker quickly signed with Curtis Circulation, Ziff-Davis Publications went with MacFadden Circulation, and Popular Mechanics elected to undertake independent distribution. Goodman’s response to ANC’s troubles apparently included an order to comic book editor Stan Lee to cease issuing story assignments until the situation clarified. When artist Joe Sinnott submitted a completed story on 26 April 1957, he was told there would be no more work for a while;13 Dick Ayers got a similar message when he sent in finished art in May 1957.14 On 17 May 1957, eleven days after Dell went to court, ANC announced that it was closing its Wholesale Periodical Division, presumably as a negotiated settlement of the lawsuit.10 Though the company retained ownership of the highly profitable Union News retail outlets, the link between them and the publishers was severed. Though Goodman’s own business was financially sound, he had no

(Above:) The final two panels of the horror tale “Wanted: One Werewolf!” from Journey into Unknown Worlds #15 (June 1951). The latitudinal and longitudinal lines in the Atlas globes on p. 6 have partly dropped out, even though our copies were made from photostats of the original art; but the phrasing of the tagline shows beyond any reasonable doubt that Martin Goodman meant the Atlas “seal” to give an identity to his comics company as well as to his distribution arm. And it definitely worked with contemporary readers such as Ye Editor! Art by Tony diPreta; thanks to Doc V. for the ID. [©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

The 1957 “Atlas Implosion” And Its Effect On Comics

American News Company ––– A Sidebar by Michael Feldman Because the reported demise of American News Company is so important to Thomas Lammers’ article, we asked researcher Michael Feldman to impart a bit more information about that historically important organization. He says that this piece “summarizes parts of my own research. Much contemporary coverage appeared in the commonly archived press such as The New York Times.” He adds that Jack Adams, for years an executive with the DC-owned Independent News, has given him “some insider back story.” Some added information came from David Davisson, who he says is “primarily exploring ANC in the 19th century and only deals with the final years for the sake of completeness.” —Roy

agazines came into existence not long after the first printing presses had started in Europe. There was a tremendous demand for periodicals in a rapidly urbanizing and increasingly literate America in the 19th century, but publishers were largely limited to regional distribution or paid subscriptions. The American News Company came into existence and changed that in the 1860s, acting as middlemen between the publisher and retailers, making possible things we now take for granted—nationwide distribution and the public newsstand. With radio or TV many decades away, the newsstand became the first competitive mass media marketplace. American News with its hundreds of railroad locations, owned by its subsidiary Union News, also sold other items including candy, postcards, toiletries, etc. Boys often as young as 10 or 11, known as ‘butchers,’ sold papers directly to commuters. Carrying hundreds of magazines along with essential newspapers, ANC supplied local wholesalers with a constant flow of new product, taking about half the retail price in exchange for shipping, handling, collections, and accounting. Everyone benefited, particularly the consumer, who now had a regular supply of new reading matter to choose from. In the 1890s, Frank A. Munsey was the first publisher to seek an alternative to a monopoly situation created by ANC, and in the process generated three long-lasting innovations—the independent distributor, the pulp magazine, and the 10¢ cover price.

American News had turned down his Argosy and Munsey’s magazines because they considered the 10¢ price too low for their profit expectations. Hard to believe, but most magazines were more expensive in the 1800s than they would be in the first half of the 20th century. Munsey established his own distribution system, carried magazines that were impulse buying purchases, and in the process opened the floodgates for cheaplyprinted fiction trading off a low cover price for huge sales. Other publishers were quick to follow his selfdistribution lead: Hearst, MacFadden, McClure’s, Popular Science, et al. By the 1930s, the Independent

Distributors, as they came to be known, had succeeded in expanding their scope and penetration to cumulatively become the major force in periodical dissemination. The Independents carried product that ANC did not, including racing forms, spicy pulps, leftist papers, and progressive magazines. But trashy mags and lurid pulps were some of their biggest sellers. Stodgier ANC still carried the slick magazines and family reading that relied heavily on advertising and subscriptions. In the early 1940s, Munsey’s went under, in part due to F.A .Munsey’s mandated 10¢ cover price. A contributing factor was the rapid rise of the 10¢ comic book. Munsey carried only Prize Comics. But in the late ’30s American News had noticed the growing demand for newsstand comics. They encouraged client Dell Publishing to develop a strong line for them. Dell’s Walt Disney and other licensed titles became the comics backbone for American News. Though rarely acknowledged by fans, Dell was by a wide margin the most successful publisher in the first two decades of US comics, often outselling DC, Timely/Marvel, and Fawcett combined. Though carrying half the comics on the newsstands, American News missed the boat with the major 20th-century reading market shift—the paperback book. Before the ’40s, books were sold in specialty stores. Publishers and distributors quickly picked up on the innovation of the disposable 25¢ book. The more aggressive Independent Distributors (“ID” for short), which had formalized a co-operative association in the ’20s, quickly outgunned ANC on the burgeoning paperback front. (ID members included MacFadden, Independent News, Kable, Fawcett, PDC, Charlton, et al.) ANC went into rapid decline during its last years as a periodical distributor. Newsstands were glutted and buying habits were changing. Television was a factor, along with the post-war mass movement to the suburbs and less reliance on trains. But ANC also had many legal problems over their strong-arm tactics and inflexibility with clients who were often forced into exclusive arrangements. There were Federal investigations of their practices. As a public company, ANC ultimately succumbed to what amounted to a hostile takeover by members of the enemy camp, the Independent Distributors. ANC management and control had been taken over by two ID veterans, Henry Garfinkle and Irwin Molasky, who had known connections with gambling and the underworld. With publishing and distribution in its worst slump since the Depression, ANC closed down its periodical distribution division in 1957, but happily carried on with its other businesses. It had established restaurants in its prime locations, among many other ventures. Its warehouses’ locations, often purchased in the 19th Century, had increased dramatically in real estate value, and would turn enormous profits in the boom market.

Frank A. Munsey, the first publisher to break with American News, hit pay dirt in 1912-13 with the serialization of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan of the Apes, but finally went under in the early 1940s, at a time when the only comic books the company carried was the Prize Group. At right is the cover of Prize Comics #2 (1940); artist uncertain. [Tarzan TM & ©2005 Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.; Prize cover ©2005 the respective copyright holders.]

An ulterior motive for a few of the shareholders, who happened to be Independent Distributors, was their longhoped-for break-up of the monopoly that they had found themselves struggling against for so many years.

Atlas Shrugged

means by which to get his myriad magazines, comics, and paperback books to wholesalers, retailers, and the reading public. This problem was resolved by signing an agreement with Independent News (IND), the distribution subsidiary of National Periodical Publications, publisher of rival DC Comics.

One can only speculate on the criteria by which they were selected. Possibly, they were Goodman’s top sellers; most had been in publication for several years. On the other hand, IND may have influenced the choice, seeking titles to complement rather than compete with books they were already carrying from other publishers.

The terms of this agreement were not very conducive to the way Goodman traditionally did business. IND took on many of his magazines, but declined to distribute the paperback books he published under the Lion Books imprint; that line was discontinued. Furthermore, IND would only agree to carry eight comic book titles per month, a mere fraction of the number Goodman had been publishing.

Fully one-fourth of the titles chosen represented teen humor. Three of these featured Patsy Walker and her friends: Miss America, Patsy Walker, and Patsy and Hedy; the last was Millie the Model. Another quarter were Westerns, all of which featured a recurring character (in contrast to generic anthologies): Two-Gun Kid, Kid Colt Outlaw, Wyatt Earp, and Gunsmoke Western, which starred Kid Colt.

It was this provision of the new distribution contract that resulted in the decimation of Goodman’s comic book line. Though he maximized the number of titles retained on his roster to 16 by shifting to a strictly bimonthly production schedule, this was nothing compared to the scores of comics bearing the Atlas logo that had graced the nation’s newsstands a few months earlier. This juxtaposition of the upper left-hand corner of the

Three of the surviving titles were war books. The oldest, Battle, was a generic anthology. Marines in Battle featured the exploits of wunder-gyrene Iron Mike McGraw, while Navy Combat starred his submarine equivalent, Torpedo Taylor. Two romance anthologies were among the survivors: My Own Romance and Love Romances. A single kid humor book, Homer the Happy Ghost, was also among the select.

For reasons that are not entirely clear, the covers of Millie the Model #80 & 81—with Aug. 1957 Atlas seal that had survived the 1956 shift to It comes as some surprise to the average and Nov. 1957 dates—illustrates the switch from ANC distribution only now disappeared from comics fan that only two of the numerous Atlas to distribution by the DC-owned Independent News (IND). [©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.] Goodman’s covers. Without it, Goodman’s Atlas fantasy anthologies were among the comics lacked any obvious corporate identity. Implosion survivors: the venerable Strange The only trademark now carried on their covers was the same tiny IND Tales passed muster, as did relative newcomer World of Fantasy. imprint found on DC Comics and many other periodicals.15 Because of their relationship to super-hero comics, fans often see such books as “most important.” It would seem that, in 1957, Martin One can only assume that Goodman tried but was unable to find a Goodman and/or his distributor did not agree. distributor who would take his entire line. Contemporary accounts indicate that most of ANC’s competitors were sorely taxed by the unexpected influx of new clients, as they did not have adequate capacity to properly service a larger clientele than they already carried. If The fact that just 16 titles survived the Atlas Implosion is widely Newsweek and The New Yorker were up for grabs and resources were known. What is not clear is the number of titles that were canceled limited, a publisher like Goodman may indeed have experienced diffibecause of it. Between 1939 and 1957, Goodman published over 350 culty competing for distributors’ attention. different titles and series. But how many of these were actively being It is not known why Goodman did not attempt to revive his former published when Goodman ordered a halt to new assignments in late distribution wing, Atlas News. It has been stated16 that his decision to April 1957? Figures in print range from 759 to more than 85.10 sign with ANC had alienated the wholesalers with whom he formerly Throughout his career as a comic book publisher, Goodman had dealt. Whatever the reason, it was probably just as well that he didn’t constantly started new titles and canceled existing ones. For example, undertake self-distribution. The national economy entered a severe books with 1948 cover dates included 27 new titles and 12 cancellations; business recession in August 1957, from which it did not begin to two years later, 28 titles were new and 45 discontinued. During the 82recover until April 1958. month period covering Jan 1951 to Oct 1957 cover dates, at least one From this brief overview, it is obvious that the phrase “Atlas new title (usually more) appeared in 55 of the months; the same can be Implosion” actually encompasses three distinct events in the second said for cancellations. Incessant innovation and constant cancellation quarter of 1957. The first was Goodman’s late-April work stoppage, in were the hallmarks of Goodman’s business strategy. response to Dell’s cancellation of its contract with ANC. The second Goodman was still cranking out new titles right up to the end. was the closing of ANC’s Wholesale Periodical Division in mid-May, During 1957, 17 comics marked “#1” were published with the Atlas seal; leaving Goodman without a distributor. Neither event, by itself or another six books were retitled in the same period. Perhaps this together, would have necessitated any change in Goodman’s publication particular burst of innovation was the result of the shift to ANC as output. It was the final event, the new distribution agreement with IND, distributor and that company’s need to fill its own racks.10 These that decimated the list of titles Goodman published. It was this deal that debutantes included almost all genres covered by Goodman: kid humor caused Atlas to “implode.” (Adventures of Homer Ghost, Cartoon Kids, Dippy Duck, Marvin One day, great things would grow from this sad and tattered remnant Mouse, Willie the Wise-Guy); teen humor (A Date with Patsy, Hedy of Goodman’s publishing empire. But, for the present, it was a mere Wolfe, Nellie the Nurse, Showgirls); westerns (Black Rider, The Kid shadow of its former self, struggling to remain viable. from Dodge City, The Kid from Texas, Western Trails); war (Commando Adventures); and romance (The Romances of Nurse Helen Grant). Note that new fantasy titles (allegedly the “most important”) were conspicuous by their absence.

How Many Titles Were Canceled in 1957?

Survivors: The “Sweet 16”

The titles that survived the Atlas Implosion have been described as “a rather uninteresting mix of war, Western, romance, and teenage titles.”17

If Goodman was following his standard strategy of rolling out new titles during 1957, it stands to reason that he was also canceling them

The 1957 “Atlas Implosion” And Its Effect On Comics

Samples of the six genres from what Tom Lammers calls the “Sweet 16” bimonthly survivors of Goodman’s once-mighty line after it was picked up by IND distribution in 1957—all but the last dated November: teen humor (Millie the Model #81, cover by Dan DeCarlo)—Western (Kid Colt Outlaw #75, cover by John Severin)—war (Marines in Battle #20, cover by Carl Burgos)—romance (My Own Romance #60—signed “Vince Colletta”)—kiddie humor (Homer the Happy Ghost #16, DeCarlo)—and fantasy (Strange Tales #60, Dec. ’57, Bill Everett). Note that the “IND” symbol sometimes seems hastily added—e.g., on Homer #16, the background behind the “IND” is white, while that of the rest of the cover is black. Such mismatches occurred on several of the first Goodman/IND covers. Thanks to Tom Lammers & Doc Vassallo for some of the art IDs… though others of the covers are signed. [©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

right up to the end. In other words, there must have been titles that would have been canceled in 1957 even if the Implosion had not happened. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to identify specific cases. Publishers rarely ballyhoo a title’s demise; it just fades away without notice. Determining whether a book was canceled prior to the Implosion is also made difficult by certain irregularities in the periodicity of issuance during this period. Throughout 1955 and 1956, Goodman’s titles had

been quite regular, appearing on either a monthly or bimonthly schedule. During 1957, however, several titles became quite irregular in their issuance. For example, Marvel Tales had been appearing monthly since #127 (Oct. 1954); it then skipped two months before its final issue appeared (#158, May 1957; #159, Aug. 1957), despite the fact that the indicia of both issues stated that the title was published monthly. It almost seems as though Goodman had canceled some of these titles and then reconsidered.

Atlas Shrugged In attempting to understand how the Atlas Implosion affected the publication of Goodman’s comic books, it is essential that we clearly differentiate between the cover date of a comic book and its actual publication date. Comic books traditionally appeared on newsstands two to five months prior to the date on the cover, in order to maximize the period that a book might be offered for sale without appearing to be “yesterday’s news.” This discrepancy is obvious from the discussion thus far: the Implosion occurred during April-May 1957, while the very last books to bear the Atlas seal had Sept.-Oct. 1957 cover dates. There appear to be no surviving records that document the exact dates that Goodman’s books appeared on the nation’s newsstands. This may, in any case, have varied considerably in different parts of the country. The best that can be done is to assume that the date of publication of a given issue is roughly equivalent to the date on which that issue was registered with the U.S. Copyright Office. To protect their publications under copyright laws, publishers routinely sent copies of their periodicals to the Copyright Office in Washington. The date of receipt recorded there may be somewhat later than the actual date the books went on sale. However, the sequence in which they were registered should be identical to the sequence in which they were published. Several years ago, journalist Brad Elliott examined the Copyright Office files (which are a matter of public record) and compiled date of registration for many of Goodman’s comic books. This information he shared with the Timely-Atlas e-mail group.18 Much of this same data was obtained independently by William Joseph Marek and likewise posted to the internet.19 The best method for determining whether a given title was still in production at the time of the Implosion is to compare this publication date with the periodicity of issuance as stated in its last issue’s indicia. If another issue should have appeared before the Implosion but did not, we can assume it was canceled for reasons unrelated to the Implosion. If there was no time for

another issue to appear before the Implosion, we can assume the title was a casualty of the Implosion. Goodman published a total of 83 different comic book titles during calendar year 1957. Of these, it appears that Spellbound was cancelled prior to the Implosion. Its last issue was published around 13 Feb. 1957. The title was bimonthly, and so the next issue should have appeared by mid-April 1957, two weeks before the first inkling of trouble. Jann of the Jungle also appears to have been canceled prior to the Implosion. Its final issue appeared around 7 March 1957. The title was bimonthly, so the next issue should have been on the stands by early May 1957, too early to have been canceled by the Implosion. Astonishing and Marvel Tales likewise may have been struck from the roster prior to the Implosion. Both were monthly and both had last issues that went on sale around 18 April 1957. Their next issues would’ve been due out in mid-May 1957, too early to have been impacted by the Implosion. Three other titles would seem to be in a similar position. Kid Colt Outlaw was a monthly title that last appeared on or about 3 Apr 1957; its next issue should have been on sale in early May. Patsy and Hedy, a bimonthly, was last published at the same time; it was due out again by early June. Wyatt Earp was monthly and last appeared a week later; thus, its next issue should have been on the stands by mid-May. Based on these facts, one would assume that these titles had all been canceled prior to the Implosion. However, all three were among the “Sweet 16” that resumed publication later in 1957! Because it is difficult to fathom why Goodman would have chosen to revive canceled titles at that point, it is probably best to assume that these titles were still on the “active” roster when the Implosion struck. There is another complication in this analysis. The periodicity of issuance changed for certain titles just prior to the Implosion. For example, Homer, the Happy Ghost went from bimonthly to quarterly with #15. In this instance, the change was reflected in the statement of periodicity in the indicia. However, such was not always the case. As noted above, the indicia of Marvel Tales #158 and #159 both state “monthly,” even though there was a three-month gap between them! It appears that some titles either experienced unintentional delays in production or were canceled and then revived, or that not all changes in periodicity were immediately recorded in the indicia. In any case, our ability to ascertain which titles were still in publication in April-May 1957 and which were canceled before that time is compromised. This may be especially germane in the case of Astonishing and Marvel Tales, noted above. Furthermore, publication dates are not known for the final issues of six titles: Black Rider, Combat Kelly, G.I. Tales, Millie the Model, Showgirls, and Western Trails. As such, it is not possible to apply the method above to them. We can note, however, that Combat Kelly and Millie the Model had been in publication for several years, and Millie’s title survived the Implosion, so these two at the very least were not likely cancelled prior to the Implosion.

A 1957 cover proof for Dippy Duck #1 exists with a “Sept.” cover date— but the date on the cover as published reads “Oct.” Art by Joe Maneely. Thanks to Doc V. for the scans. [©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Balancing all these facts, 79 seems to be the most probable number of titles in publication at the time of the Implosion, i.e., all titles published during 1957 except Jann of the Jungle and Spellbound. With just 16 titles surviving, this means that fully 63 titles were canceled due to the Atlas Implosion. In other words, the new distribution agreement with IND caused an incredible 80% reduction in the number of comic book titles that Goodman published.

The 1957 “Atlas Implosion” And Its Effect On Comics what should have been the June issue was dated July), as were Navy Combat and Two-Gun Kid; this means the next issue of each was two months late, as judged by cover date.

This decimation is also reflected in the total number of issues published. Goodman marketed 359 different comic books with 1957 cover dates (all but 17 dated Jan. through Oct.) but only 96 issues with 1958 cover dates. This represented a 78% reduction in the number of issues from the preceding year.

A three-month gap was evident for Gunsmoke Western (#42, Aug. 1957–#43, Nov. 1957), Homer the Happy Ghost (#15, Aug. 1957–#16, Nov. 1957), Marines in Battle (#19, Aug. 1957–#20, Nov. 1957), and Battle (#54, Sept. 1957–#55, Dec. 1957). However, Homer’s book had recently gone quarterly; so, in fact, the first postImplosion issue was right on schedule. The other three were bimonthlies and so were one month late as to cover date.

How Long Was The Hiatus? Accounts of the Implosion typically embody the idea that these numerous cancellations were accompanied by a hiatus in the production of the surviving titles, i.e., that issues were delayed in their appearance or that there was a period during which no Goodman comics reached America’s newsstands. Finding information on the length of this supposed hiatus from conventional sources is frustrating. The only member of the Sweet 16 for which the Overstreet Guide20 indicates an interruption is Strange Tales. Unfortunately, the information provided [“60-(8/57)” and “#61(2/58)”] is erroneous. Issue #60 was actually a post-Implosion issue, with a Dec. 1957 cover date. There was no Aug. 1957 issue of this title; as noted above, the last Atlas issue was #59 (July 1957).

For three books, only two months passed between issues, as judged from cover dates: Love Romances (#71, Sept. 1957–#72, Nov. 1957), Miss America (#86, Sept. 1957–#87, Nov. 1957), and My Own Romance (#59, Sept. 1957–#60, Nov. 1957). However, the last two were appearing bimonthly before the Implosion, so they really did not experience a hiatus, based on cover dates. The first was monthly and so was delayed a month. Amazingly, one of the Sweet 16 actually seems to have appeared sooner than expected! Patsy Walker had been appearing bimonthly almost since its inception. Its last issue with the Atlas seal, #72, was dated Sept. 1957, while #73 was the only book without the Atlas seal to bear an Oct. 1957 date!

As Tom demonstrates, Patsy and Hedy vanished from the newsstands for several months in early 1957, but was revived for the IND-distributed line with #55, seen above, dated Dec. 1957. Cover by Al Hartley. [©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

There are two perspectives that may be taken regarding the length of the hiatus. First, there is the hiatus reflected in cover dates, which may be judged readily by comparing the last Atlas issue and the first post-Implosion issue. Second, there is the actual time span between publication or onsale dates of these same books, as described in the preceding section. The concept of the Implosion-induced hiatus will be examined here from both perspectives (except for Millie the Model, for which no copyright data are available). Cover Date Hiatus The most obvious fact to be noted is that the publication hiatus, as evinced by cover dates, varied with the title. Much of this variation is attributable to the shift from a variety of issuance frequencies (monthly, bimonthly, quarterly) to a rigidly bimonthly schedule. The irregularities previously noted in the appearance of final Atlas issues exacerbated this variation. The longest hiatus in cover dates, five months, was experienced by Patsy and Hedy (#54, July 1957–#55, Dec. 1957) and Strange Tales (#59, July 1957–#60, Dec. 1957). Both these books were avowedly bimonthly, which means the next issue of each to appear was three months overdue, based on cover dates. The commonest gap was four months, experienced by Kid Colt Outlaw (#74, July 1957–#75, Nov. 1957), Navy Combat (#14, Aug. 1957–#15, Dec. 1957), Two-Gun Kid (#38, Aug. 1957–#39, Dec. 1957), World of Fantasy (#8, Aug. 1957–#9, Dec. 1957), and Wyatt Earp (#13, Aug. 1957–#14, Dec. 1957). Kid Colt Outlaw was an avowedly monthly title, making the next issue three months late; Wyatt Earp also was avowedly monthly (although the July issue had been skipped for some reason). World of Fantasy was avowedly bimonthly (although

In summary, most of the Sweet 16 were one to three months late as judged by cover dates. However, Homer the Happy Ghost, Miss America, and My Own Romance were right on schedule, while Patsy Walker seemed to appear a month sooner than expected. In fact, if one considers cover dates for Goodman’s comics line as a whole, there was no hiatus. Only two of Goodman’s comics carry an Oct. 1957 cover date: Dippy Duck #1 has the Atlas seal, Patsy Walker #73 lacks it.21 Publication Date Hiatus A somewhat similar pattern for individual titles emerges from Elliott’s18 and Marek’s19 data on copyright registration dates. The longest gap is five months (12 April–9 Sept. 1957), as seen in Navy Combat and Two-Gun Kid. Since these titles were bimonthly, their first postImplosion issues were three months overdue. A four-month gap was seen in Patsy and Hedy and Strange Tales (3 April–8 Aug. 1957), Marines in Battle and Wyatt Earp (12 April–8 Aug. 1957), and World of Fantasy (2 May–9 Sept. 1957). Earp’s title was monthly, so it was three months late; the rest were bimonthly, so were two months late. Three months elapsed between issues of Kid Colt Outlaw (3 April–15 July 1957), Homer the Happy Ghost (12 April–15 July 1957), Battle (13 May–8 Aug. 1957), and Gunsmoke Western (25 April–8 Aug. 1957). Kid Colt’s book was monthly, so it was two months overdue, while Homer’s book was quarterly, so it was on schedule. The other two were bimonthly, so were delayed a month.

Atlas Shrugged

The remaining titles showed a hiatus of two months or less: Miss America and Patsy Walker (13 May–15 July 1957), Love Romances and My Own Romance (17 June–8 Aug. 1957). Love Romances was monthly and so a month late. All the rest were bimonthly and so were on schedule; note that the supposed precocity of Patsy Walker as judged by cover date was illusory. In summary, most of the Sweet 16 suffered a one- to three-month delay in reaching newsstands, as judged by copyright registration dates. However, Homer the Happy Ghost, Miss America, My Own Romance, and Patsy Walker were right on schedule. But, just as looking at cover dates for the line as a whole yields a different picture; so too does looking at publication dates in this way. Doing so reveals that Goodman registered comics with the US Copyright Office on the following dates in mid1957: 3 April, 12 April, 18

There was a four-month lapse between Two-Gun Kid #38 (Aug. 1957) and #39 (Dec. ’57), with their John Severin covers. Sorry, but we’ve lost track of precisely who sent us, some time ago, a photocopy of the original art for that of #38. Whoever he is, we owe him a free copy of this issue! [Marvel Characters, Inc.]

April, 22 April, 25 April, 2 May, 7 May, 13 May, 17 June, 27 June, 15 July, 8 August, 9 September, and 27 September.18 The one-month gap between 13 May and 17 June represents the actual hiatus associated with the shift from ANC to IND distribution. ANC closed its Wholesale Periodical Division on 17 May; the books that were registered on 17 June were the first to be distributed by IND. These apparently had been printed prior to signing the new agreement, because they still carried the Atlas trademark on their covers! In fact, all copyright registrations through 27 June were of books with the Atlas logo on the cover!18 Three more such books (Cartoon Kids #1, Dexter the Demon #7, Nellie the Nurse #1) were registered on 15 July 1957; these were the very last Atlas comics. That same day, five books lacking the Atlas seal (the first such) were copyrighted. With the next batch on 8 August, we see a regular pattern of eight titles being registered each month, four with one month’s cover date, four with the following month’s.10 For example, the 27 September 1957 shipment contained four books with January 1958 cover dates and four dated February 1958. Summary Patsy Walker #73, Tom tells us, “was the only book without the Atlas seal—the only postImplosion Goodman comic—to bear an Oct. 1957 date!” Doc V. suspects this cover was penciled by Al Hartley and inked by Bill Everett. [©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Despite the change of distributors, there really was no significant period of time when Goodman’s comics were not on America’s newsstands.10 The actual length of time between the closure of ANC’s Wholesale Periodical Division and Goodman’s first shipment via IND was just one month. The first post-Implosion issues of Homer the Happy Ghost, Miss America, My Own Romance, and Patsy Walker appeared right on schedule, as though the Implosion had never happened. The remaining 12 titles experienced delays of up to three months in their publication, due largely to coincident changes in the sequence and timing of publication.

The 1957 “Atlas Implosion” And Its Effect On Comics

What Became Of All That Inventory?

1947 book24 that purported to explain so many 1940s “secrets behind the comics” did not explain job numbers. By 1949 at the latest, job numbers (for illustrated stories anyway) had stabilized as a single numerical series without prefixes. When this run exceeded 10,000 in 1952, job numbers became alphanumeric. Now, the prefix letters appeared in alphabetical order and denoted an entire number series, which now ran to only 1000 or so. Thus, A-1 to A-1000 were followed by B-1 to B-1000, C-1 to C1000, etc. The letter I- was skipped, perhaps to avoid visual confusion with J- and the number 1.

The unanticipated cancellation of 80% of Goodman’s titles created an enormous backlog of stories and art in all stages of completion. Conversion of some titles from monthly issuance to bimonthly (e.g., Love Romances, Millie the Model) may have contributed to this backlog, as would the pre-Implosion irregularities mentioned above. But just how much inventory was on hand to supply the drastically reduced comics line? How long did it take to use up? When did Stan Lee begin to commission new stories? This is perhaps the most misunderstood aspect of the Atlas Implosion. One article stated that Lee “hardly bought a story for over a year. Most 1958 material was produced in 1957.”9 Another said that “it appears that the offices re-opened in late 1958.”10 One recent book22 states that artists weren’t called back to work until “June 1958, a year after Atlas closed its door.” A biography of Lee23 stated that he bought no new material until the entire batch of inventory was used up. As we shall see, all these statements are demonstrably wrong.

Love Romances #72 (Nov. 1957), being a monthly at the time of the

Job numbers prefaced by the letter M- began to appear in books with May and June 1957 cover dates, which reached newsstands sometime in mid-February 1957.18 The Mstories encompassed a full 1000number series, though many did not see print till after the Implosion (see below). A great diversity of artists (comparable to that seen throughout the 1950s25) was evident among the M- stories, e.g., Bernard Baily, Ann Brewster, Gene Colan, Reed Crandall, Richard Doxsee, John Forte, Matt Fox, Alfonso Greene, Jimmy Infantino, Bernie Krigstein, Joe Maneely, Jim Mooney, Joe Orlando, Mac Pakula, Bob Powell, John Romita, Werner Roth, Robert Sale, John Severin, Syd Shores, John Tartaglione, Angelo Torres, Al Williamson, Ed Winiarski, George Woodbridge, and others too numerous to mention.

Implosion, came out one month late. Though the cover is signed by Many questions regarding the Vince Colletta, it’s probable that he only inked it, since he generally Atlas Implosion admittedly are “farmed out” penciling to other artists… but Colletta had an inking style difficult to answer without intimate which editor Stan Lee particularly liked for romance comics (and later, knowledge of Goodman’s business of course, for the Kirby-penciled Thor). [©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.] operation. However, the comics themselves provide us with an incredibly valuable means of answering the questions posed above: job numbers. A job number is a tiny serial number on the splash page of a The next series of job numbers was prefixed O-. (N- apparently was story that uniquely identifies it irrespective of its title, issue, or date. It is skipped to avoid confusion with M-.) These likewise were drawn by a assumed that this number served as a bookkeeping device, used to track wide range of artists. It was the O- stories that were being assigned to and pay the various artisans (scripter, penciler, inker, letterer) who artists when the Implosion struck. For example, Joe Sinnott turned in his worked on a given story; it apparently was assigned at the time the script last assignment for many months (O-248) on 26 April 195713 while Dick was commissioned or submitted. As a result, job numbers are a far better Ayers’ submitted O-304 in early May 1957.14 The O- series ended indicator of the relative sequence in which stories were created than their abruptly with O-403; this was no doubt the last assignment issued publication or cover dates. A careful analysis of job numbers in books before Lee received word from Goodman to suspend production in late with 1957–59 cover dates yields a reasonably clear picture of events that April. transpired as Goodman and Lee attempted to regroup and resume comic None of the O- stories saw publication in ANC-distributed books, book publication. and only a handful appeared in books bearing the Atlas logo (see above). O-39, -40, -42, and –43 appeared in Cartoon Kids #1, while O-37, -92, -93, and –94 were published in Nellie the Nurse #1. These were the two Atlas books with no indication of month, which were distributed by In Goodman’s comics, job numbers were first used in early 1946. IND on 15 July 1957, along with the first of the Sweet 16.18 Some of these earliest job numbers had prefix letters and some did not. Prefixes included F-, L-, M-, R-, RP-, S-, SL-, V-, X-, Y-, and perhaps The first new assignments after the Implosion had P- prefixes and others. It is not known what these letters denoted, and whether each appeared in books dated January to September 1958. This series only ran represented a complete independent sequence of numbers. Only two of to 101 numbers. All but one of the stories featured a recurring character: these prefixes are found after the first year. Job numbers prefaced R- ran Homer the Happy Ghost, Kid Colt, Millie the Model, Patsy Walker, over 500 numbers, appearing into 1948. Those prefaced SL- ran over Two-Gun Kid, or Wyatt Earp. All scripts were written by Stan Lee, and 7400 numbers, although most of them after 2500 were two-page text the art was executed by just six artists, all of whom had worked for Lee stories rather than standard comic stories. It is unfortunate that Lee’s for several years prior to the Implosion. It was these men—Dick Ayers,

Job Number Basics

Atlas Shrugged Dan DeCarlo, Al Hartley, Jack Keller, Joe Maneely, and Morris Weiss— who were the true “core” around whom Lee began to rebuild Goodman’s comic empire. P-101 was followed by a series of 20 S- stories which appeared in August and September 1958 issues. (Q and R were not used, presumably to avoid confusion with O and P.) These stories all likewise featured recurring characters, were written by Lee, and were executed by the same artists (minus Weiss). T- stories included both character and generic stories. They first appeared in books with September 1958 cover dates and ran a full 1000 numbers; the last were published in January 1961 issues. With these stories, the roster of freelancers once again taking work from Lee grew considerably. Although the lion’s share of fandom’s attention is focused on Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko in this period,4 Lee was also giving work to Ross Andru, Matt Baker, Sol Brodsky, Carl Burgos, John Buscema, Vince Colletta, Reed Crandall, Jack Davis, Mike Esposito, Bill Everett, Bob Forgione, John Forte, Dick Giordano, Stan Goldberg, Russ Heath, Don Heck, Jay Scott Pike, Paul Reinman, Chris Rule, Henry Scarpelli, John Severin, Joe Sinnott, Doug Wildey, Al Williamson, and perhaps some others not yet recognized. Most had been working for Lee prior to the Implosion, a few had not. Apparently one or more additional scriptwriters were receiving assignments again, as many of the T- stories (primarily generic fantasy) were not signed by Lee.

57 5717

Actual Romances #1 (Oct. 1949)

5721

Suspense #7 (Mar. 1951)

5741

Frankie Fuddle #16 (Aug. 1949)

5744

Venus #6 (Aug. 1949)

5746

Awful Oscar #12 (Aug. 1949)

5747

Suspense #2 (Feb. 1950)

5748

My Own Romance #9 (Oct. 1949)

A great many stories accumulated during this period, presumably due to the 1950 retrenchment mentioned above.7 One gets the impression that Lee had drawers full of completed material to choose from when assembling a given issue during this period. Another impact of this surfeit of inventory was the shift from an in-house staff of artists (“the Bullpen”) to a strictly freelance system.26 The second deviation from the norm was that caused by the Atlas Implosion. As noted above, M- and O- stories were commissioned prior to the Implosion, but many of the former and nearly all of the latter only saw print some time later, in books without the Atlas logo. A smattering of older stories with J-, K-, and L- numbers also surfaced after the Implosion.

During the 18-year span that they were in use, job numbers typically appeared on the newsstand in a rough approximation of alphanumeric order. This relationship was most obvious within a given title. Consider the following data for the last Atlas issues of My Own Romance: #55 (Jan. 1957)

between K-509 and K-621

#56 (March 1957)

between K-916 and L-166

#57 (May 1957)

between L-671 and L-724

#58 (July 1957)

between M-213 and M-233

#59 (Sept. 1957)

between M-557 and M-622

This correlation was also seen, albeit less tightly, in the line as a whole. For example, job numbers between J-350 and J-550 mostly appeared in books dated June or July 1956, those between J-850 and J-950 in books dated August or September 1956. There were just two exceptions to this more-or-less regular pattern. The first was the completely erratic jumbling of job numbers during 1949-51. A given book in this period might contain stories separated by several thousand numbers, and the next issue of the title might contain both lower and higher numbers. The following partial sequence of job numbers from the period will illustrate this point: 5651

My Own Romance #9 (Oct. 1949)

5661

Rex Hart #6 (Aug. 1949)

5673

Crimefighters #10 (Nov. 1949)

5677

Love Romances #16 (May 1951)

5679

True Secrets #4 (Feb. 1951)

5684

Casey Crime Photographer #2 (Oct. 1949)

5689

Love Romances #8 (Sept. 1949)

5699

Little Lenny #2 (Aug. 1949)

5706

Li’l Willie #21 (Sept. 1949)

5710

Hedy DeVine Comics #36 (Feb. 1950)

5714

Lovers #30 (Nov. 1950)

5715

Romances of Molly Manton #2 (Dec. 1949)

This “Willie the Wise-Guy” gag-page from Cartoon Kids #1 (1957) is signed “by Stan & Joe”—that’s Lee and Maneely, to you. Tom Lammers says that it, Dexter the Demon #7, and Nellie the Nurse #1 were “the very last Atlas comics.” Note the “job number” at bottom: “O-44(3).” Also in Cartoon Kids #1 was, among others, job number “O-39(5).” Thanks to Doc Vassallo for the photocopy. [©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

The 1957 “Atlas Implosion” And Its Effect On Comics sioned in early 1957, before the Implosion. The story finally saw print in Tales of Suspense #1 (Jan. 1959), a book otherwise filled with T- stories. Curiously, it was drawn by John Buscema, who was not working for Lee at the time M- stories were assigned! It seems likely that this had only gotten as far as the script stage when the Implosion struck; later, after Buscema had begun to freelance for Lee, he was given the story to draw. Job number O-367 was a script called “Torpedo Tubes Ready!” This was a “Torpedo Taylor” story for Navy Combat, probably intended for #15, which should have been the Oct. 1957 issue, due out in mid-June.19 The script was sent out (presumably just a few days before assignments were halted with O-403) to “Torpedo Taylor”’s regular artist, Don Heck. However, when it finally appeared in Navy Combat #19 (Aug. 1958, published 25 April 1958), only the first page was Heck’s work; the final four pages were clearly drawn by Joe Maneely! It seems likely that Heck had only penciled one page of the story when he heard of Goodman’s troubles; uncertain of what to do, perhaps fearing he wouldn’t get paid, he returned the script and single page to Lee. Some time later, Lee must have asked Maneely (who was on staff and not a freelancer) to finish the story.

So Just How Much Inventory Was There? Analysis of Goodman’s 1957-1959 comics reveals a little over 1700 pages of backlog were published during this period. By genre, there were 435 pages of Westerns (character and generic), 382 pp. of war (mostly generic), 341 pp. of fantasy, 276 pp. of romance, 201 pp. of teen humor, and 68 pp. of kid humor. This gives us the minimum amount of inventory available to Lee as he resumed publication.

This tale from issue #43 of Two-Gun Kid (Aug. 1958) was, reports sender Doc V., from the “last batch of ‘Two-Gun Kid’ stories that Joe Maneely did before he died” in an unfortunate train accident. Maneely and writer/editor Stan Lee signed most of the stories they did together. [©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

The Nature Of Inventory I define “Atlas Implosion inventory” as stories with J-, K-, L-, M-, or O- job numbers, which appeared in Goodman’s 1957-59 books lacking the Atlas logo. To understand the fate of this backlog, one must first understand the basics of story production at that time.24 In consultation with Lee, a writer wrote a detailed script, including art directions. This was passed on to a penciler. The penciler drew the basic story, then passed it on to a letterer and finally an inker. By 1957, many of the people involved in this process were freelancers working off-site; as a result, scripts and art spent a fair bit of time in transit. On any given day, including the day that Goodman ordered a halt to operations, stories would have been in all stages of production, from barest draft outline to completed art, with many en route between steps via Special Delivery. Thus, at the time Lee began to get operations underway again, a great deal of his “inventory” probably consisted of partially completed material scattered throughout the tri-state area. He no doubt spent considerable effort just getting extant assignments finished up and returned. Two published stories offer a glimpse at some of the difficulties this may have created. Job number M-567, intended for one of the fantasy titles, was a script called “The Day I Left My Body!” This number clearly was commis-

However, there may have been additional stories that had been commissioned but never published. Dippy Duck, Dexter the Demon, Kid Slade, Lorna the Jungle Girl, Nellie the Nurse, Nurse Helen Grant, Sherry the Showgirl, The Western Kid, and Willie the WiseGuy were all still in production, and stories for their next issues surely were in the works at the time work was halted. However, no stories featuring these characters were ever published in Goodman’s postImplosion comics. (Three unpublished “Jann of the Jungle” stories did appear recently in a book on artist Al Williamson.27) No crime stories are known, either, yet 23 pages of them would’ve been needed for the next issue of Tales of Justice. Altogether, these books would have required more than 200 additional pages of artwork to fill. Scripter Carl Wessler’s records28 indicate that he wrote several stories (e.g., for Nurse Helen Grant) that were never published and perhaps never drawn.

How Long Before Inventory Was Used Up? With over 1700 pages at hand and a monthly requirement of just 184 pages, Lee should have been able to subsist on inventory for over nine months. However, because of Implosion-caused changes in the line-up, material available often was a poor match for material needed. For example, 341 pages of fantasy stories were on hand, but Goodman was now only publishing two titles in that genre. He had twice as many teen humor books to put out, but only 201 pages of such stories. His Western inventory totaled 435 pages, but much of it was generic or featured characters he no longer published (see below). For these reasons, titles varied considerable in the number of post-Implosion issues that contained inventory. It must be noted that in only a few cases was an issue that was composed entirely of inventory followed by an issue filled with new material. For most titles, there were several “transitional” issues that contained both pre-Implosion inventory and newly commissioned material. Comparison of the discussion here with that in the section “When Did New Stories First Appear?” (see p. 63) will show the extent

Atlas Shrugged of this overlap. In the following discussions, we must bear in mind certain differences in composition among Goodman’s books. The Sweet 16 comprised some books with recurring characters and some with only generic stories. Among the former, the kid humor and teen humor books contained strictly character material. The Westerns and war books on the other hand typically had a couple of character stories backed up by one or more generic fillers. In general, stories featuring recurring characters ran out long before it was necessary to create additional generic stories. There was also the problem of stories featuring recurring characters whose books had been canceled by the Implosion. A number of such stories had accumulated; once Goodman had paid for them, its fair to assume he wasn’t going to just throw them out, if at all possible. A number of Atlas characters actually had their last hurrah after their own titles were canceled by the Implosion. These are discussed in detail below. The teen humor books were some of the first to use up their inventory. The last issue of Patsy and Hedy to contain inventory was #56 (Feb. 1958, published 27 Sept. 1957); of Patsy Walker, #77 (June 1958, published 25 Feb. 1958); and of Miss America, #92 (Sept. 1958, published 26 April 1958). Millie the Model contained “leftovers” until #87 (Nov. 1958). The small amount of kid humor inventory was used up in the same period. The last in Homer the Happy Ghost appeared in #20 (July 1958, published 25 Feb. 1958). Romance stories on hand lasted

a little longer. The last in My Own Romance appeared in #65 (Sept. 1958, published 27 May 1958); the last in Love Romances, in #78 (Nov. 1958, published 25 July 1958). The situation in the Westerns was more complex, because they carried both character features and generic fillers. Furthermore, only three of the many Goodman cowboys (“Kid Colt,” “Two-Gun Kid,” “Wyatt Earp”) survived the Implosion and got new stories; the rest did not. Leftover stories featuring these “orphans” were used as fillers in the surviving Western books (see below). Stories with the three surviving characters were among the first to be used up. The last pre-Implosion “Kid Colt” stories appeared in Kid Colt Outlaw #76 (Jan. 1958, published 9 Sept. 1957) and Gunsmoke Western #44 (Jan. 1958, published on 27 Sept. 1957). The last pre-Implosion tales of “Wyatt Earp” were in the same issue of Gunsmoke Western and in Wyatt Earp #15 (Feb. 1958, likewise published 27 Sept. 1957). The last backlogged “Two-Gun Kid” story appeared in Two-Gun Kid #40 (Feb. 1958, published 28 Oct. 1957). The generic stories (including those starring discontinued characters) lasted far longer. Two-Gun Kid didn’t run its last such story until #49 (Aug. 1959, published 5 May 1959); Wyatt Earp, #25 (Oct. 1959, published 5 June 1959); Kid Colt Outlaw, #87 (Nov. 1959, published 1 July 1959); and Gunsmoke Western, #55 (Nov. 1959, published 31 July 1959). In other words, more than two years after Goodman signed on with IND, Lee was still using up Western stories commis-

This “Torpedo Taylor” entry (O-367), Tom writes, was probably originally intended to appear in Navy Combat #15, but didn’t actually appear until #19 (Aug. 1958). The splash page is drawn by Don Heck, the remaining four pages by Joe Maneely—perhaps for the reasons Tom suggests. Thanks to Doc V. for the copies. [©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

The 1957 “Atlas Implosion” And Its Effect On Comics sioned before the April 1957 work stoppage! The war genre, as noted above, also had some recurring characters as well as generic stories. However, no new stories were commissioned for the characters in the books that survived the Implosion. Once their inventory was expended, that was the end. In fact, Marines in Battle and Navy Combat never did get any new stories; they subsisted entirely on inventory clear through to their cancellation, with #25 (Sept. 1958, published 27 May 1957) and #20 (Oct. 1958, published 26 June 1958), respectively. Battle contained inventory through #66 (Oct. 1959, published 5 June 1959). The fantasy backlog was exhausted just about the time that the three new titles dated December 1958 or January 1959 were launched (see below). The last inventory to appear in Strange Tales was in #66 (Dec. 1958, published 25 July 1958). The last in World of Fantasy appeared in #15 (Dec 1958, published 2 Sept. 1958). The pre-Implosion title Journey into Mystery was revived with #49 (Nov. 1958, published 25 July 1958), which was the only post-Implosion issue to contain inventory.25 Finally, as noted above, there was a single M- story in Tales of Suspense #1 (Jan. 1959). Because it was drawn by John Buscema, who did no other work for Lee in the immediate pre-Implosion period, it is assumed this story was only in script form at the time of the Implosion. From this analysis, it is clear that there was considerable variation in how long the inventory lasted. For Patsy and Kid Colt, backlog was used up by the fifth or sixth shipment handled by IND, in September 1957. At the other extreme, enough generic Westerns and war stories were on hand to last until the summer of 1959, more than two years after the Implosion! Put another way, Lee was still publishing Atlas inventory in some titles just two years before the appearance of Fantastic Four #1!

This is the splash of one of three “Jann of the Jungle” stories unpublished in the 1950s and printed beautifully in the recent Dark Horse Books volume Al Williamson: Hidden Lands. Actually, this particular story—drawn by Williamson in tandem with Ralph Mayo—was first printed, with grey tones added, in Marvel’s black-&-white mag Savage Tales #6 (Sept. 1974). [©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

“Orphan” Characters One aspect of the post-Implosion publication of inventory has been little noted: the numerous characters whose books had been canceled, yet for whom stories had been created. As noted above, some never were

These stories from Two-Gun Kid #43 (Aug. 1958—art by Joe Maneely) and Wyatt Earp #22 (April 1959—art by Dick Ayers), some time after the Implosion, were both scripted by Stan Lee. Thanks to Doc V. [©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Atlas Shrugged published (assuming they were even created). But many did get published, as back-up stories in various of the Sweet 16. This was particularly true for Goodman’s numerous cowboys. “Black Rider” debuted in All Western Winners #2 (Winter 1948) and had his own book from 1950 to 1955. After a back-up story to reintroduce the character in Kid Colt Outlaw #74 (July 1957), his title was resurrected with #1 (Sept. 1957); the artist of the teaser story is unknown, but Jack Kirby drew the character in all subsequent stories. Black Rider #2 (which would have had a Dec. 1957 cover date) was never published, but three stories intended for it (13 pages total) are known: M-526 (Gunsmoke Western #47, July 1958), M-556 (Kid Colt Outlaw #86, Sept. 1959), and M-615 (Gunsmoke Western #51, March 1959). “The Kid from Dodge City” had his bimonthly title canceled with #2 (Sept. 1957). One four-page story for #3 (which would have had a Nov. 1957 cover date) was completed. O-21 was drawn by Don Heck, the series’ regular artist, and appeared in Two-Gun Kid #45 (Dec. 1958). The fate of “The Kid from Texas” was similar; his bimonthly was likewise canceled after #2 (Aug. 1957). In this case, however, four stories (19 pages total) intended for #3 (which would have had an Oct. 1957 cover date) were completed by feature artist Joe Sinnott: M-995 (Gunsmoke Western #49, Nov. 1958), O-73 (Kid Colt Outlaw #85, July 1959), O-116 (Gunsmoke Western #52, May 1959), and O-121 (Wyatt Earp #23, June 1959).

O-316 (Kid Colt Outlaw #87, Nov. 1959). These job numbers indicate that the stories were assigned before the April 1957 work stoppage; therefore, this Kid was an Atlas character. The problem is, he never appeared in any book with the Atlas seal on the cover! Perhaps these stories were intended for a new title that was in the offing. Alternatively, his name might suggest that he was intended as a new feature for Gunsmoke Western, in the same way that Strange Tales hosted “Dr. Strange” and Amazing Fantasy gave us “The Amazing Spider-Man.” Actually, 25 pages would be sufficient material for both options. Several characters from the war titles were similarly orphaned by the Implosion. “Combat Kelly” had his own book from 1951 until the Implosion canceled it with #44 (Aug. 1957). Four stories totaling 18 pages were drawn by Dave Berg (the series’ regular artist) and published after the Implosion; with a five-page generic filler, this probably would have been the contents of #45, which would have had an Oct. 1957 cover date). The earliest of the backlogged stories to appear, M-972 in Battle #60 (Oct. 1958), was for some reason altered to remove any mention of the star! Combat Kelly was renamed “Nickie” and given a moustache, while his sidekick Cookie Novak became “Larry” and grew a beard! Oddly enough, an installment of the back-up series “Cookie’s Combat Tales” (O-20) appeared in this same issue, with Cookie unaltered! Moreover, a second leftover “Combat Kelly” adventure, M1000, was printed unchanged two issues later (Battle #62, Feb. 1959); the splashpage trumpeted in large letters, “This Issue’s Guest Star: Combat Kelly.” The fourth story intended for #45 (O-19) was part of the title’s other back-up series, “True War Stories That Made History ... Told by Combat Kelly.” It appeared in Battle #61 (Dec. 1958) and likewise made no attempt to disguise the former Atlas star.

“The Outlaw Kid” debuted in 1954 in his own title, which ended with #19 Paramount among the Western heroes “orphaned” in the (Sept. 1957). Two stories (nine pages Atlas Implosion was the long-running “Black Rider.” Pictured total) intended for #20 (which would above is Joe Maneely’s cover for Black Rider #24 (Sept. 1954). have had a Nov. 1957 cover date) were [©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.] completed by Doug Wildey, the character’s regular artist: M-982 (Kid Colt Outlaw #82, Jan. 1959) and O-246 (Wyatt Earp #24, Aug. 1959). Atlas’ other fightin’ Irishman, “Combat Casey,” had his own title from 1953 until it was terminated by the Implosion with #34 (July 1957). The “Ringo Kid” debuted in Wild Western #26 (Feb. 1953) and Fourteen pages of material (drawn by the series’ regular artist, Jay Scott became the star of his own title the next year. The Implosion ended the Pike) was published after the Implosion; undoubtedly, it was intended book with #21 (Sept. 1957). He also was featured in both issues of for #35, which would have had an October 1957 cover date. As with Western Trails (#1, May 1957–#2, July 1957). A single five-pager “Combat Kelly,” the earliest of these “Casey” stories was modified to (O-245) intended for Ringo Kid #22 (which would have had a Nov. remove any reference to the Atlas character. In M-848 (Marines in 1957 cover date) or more likely Western Trails #3 (which would have Battle #25, Sept. 1958), Casey lost his trademark beard and was called had a Sept. 1957 cover date) was executed by Joe Maneely (the series’ “Lennie”; his bespectacled sidekick Penny Pennington became “Specs.” regular artist) and published in Gunsmoke Western #53 (July 1959). Most seriously, they were transferred from the U.S. Army to the Marine The “Rawhide Kid” appeared in his own book from 1955 until the Corps! But in Battle #61 (Dec. 1958), M-836 is unaltered and the splash Implosion ended it with #16 (Sept. 1957); the title was resurrected almost panel says clearly, “Featuring guest stars Combat Casey and his buddy three years later with #17 (Aug. 1960). During this long hiatus, a single ‘Penny’!” An installment of the back-up series “True Action-Packed inventoried four-pager (O-319) featuring Dick Ayers’ original version of Battle Stories of World War I, Told by ... Combat Casey” (M-851) was the gunslinger appeared in Wyatt Earp #20 (Dec. 1958). printed unaltered in Battle #64 (June 1959). Perhaps the most unusual of the “orphaned” cowpokes was the “Gunsmoke Kid.” Four stories totaling 25 pages were drawn by Jack Davis: O-228 (Wyatt Earp #25, Oct. 1959), O-271 (Gunsmoke Western #55, Nov. 1959), O-281 (Gunsmoke Western #54, Sept. 1959), and

“Boot-Camp Brady” and “Rock Murdock” appeared regularly in the pages of Marines in Action through its last issue, #14 (Sept. 1957). One story featuring each, intended for #15 (which would have had a Nov. 1957 cover date) was subsequently published in Marines in Battle

The 1957 “Atlas Implosion” And Its Effect On Comics My Friend Irma was a popular radio program starring comedienne Marie Wilson that moved first to TV, then into a pair of movies—which were hijacked to showcase the hot new comedy team of Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis. Irma was licensed by Timely/Marvel from 1950-55, as per the cover logo at left and the splash page below. When the license lapsed, an attempt was made to pick up the slack with a new comic, My Girl Pearl. Art in both was by Dan DeCarlo, with scripting by Stan Lee. (The original inspiration for Irma was almost certainly the hit Broadway play My Sister Eileen, also made into a film in the 1950s.) Thanks to Michael Baulderstone for the Irma photocopies from Australian reprints. [©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

#22 (March 1958). The threepage “Brady” story (M-974) was drawn by Dave Berg, the “Murdock” five-pager (M975) by John Severin. “Iron Mike McGraw” held a similar position in Marines in Battle, one of the titles to survive the Implosion. One of his stories, M-835, appeared in the first post-Implosion issue, #20 (Nov. 1957). The other, O289, did not see print until several months later, in #23 (May 1958). Both were fivepagers and both were drawn by Joe Sinnott. Don Heck’s “Torpedo Taylor” had been appearing in Navy Combat (another of the Sweet 16) since its debut issue. He did not show up in the first post-Implosion issue (#15, Dec. 1957), but M869 (5 pp.) was printed in #16 (Feb. 1958). His other story, O-367 in #19 (Aug. 1958), was the one finished by Joe Maneely (see p. 59). Of the numerous new kid humor characters to debut during 1957 (see above), “Marvin Mouse” (drawn by Bill Everett) was the only one to show up as inventory in a post-Implosion book. One three-page story, M-979, showed up in Homer the Happy Ghost #17 (Jan. 1958). One assumes it was intended for the second issue of the quarterly Marvin Mouse, which would have had a Dec. 1957 cover date. “My Girl Pearl” was Dan DeCarlo’s thinly-veiled continuation of Atlas’ earlier radio and television licensee, My Friend Irma.29 Pearl’s title ran four issues (#1, April 1955–#4, Oct. 1955) before cancellation. It was later revived, but there was just time for two issues (#5, July 1957–#6, Sept. 1957) before the Implosion. The title was resurrected three years after the Implosion for a five-issue run (#7, Aug. 1960–#11, April 1961). While on hiatus in 1956, “Pearl” began to appear as a back-up feature in Millie the Model, which was also drawn by DeCarlo. This continued uninterrupted, right on through the Implosion to Millie the Model #87 (Nov. 1958). All of the post-Implosion “Pearl” back-ups bore O- job numbers and so are counted as inventory.

Original Venue For Generic Stories For most generic stories that were published after the Implosion, we have no idea (from the books themselves, at least) of the title for which they were originally intended. The sole exception to this is found among the fantasy stories. In many of these, the splash panel bore a circular blurb that incorporated the book’s title in a catchy promotional phrase. For example, in Astonishing, the blurb said, “The editors guarantee that

this is one of the most ASTONISHING stories you’ve ever read!” while in Mystery Tales, stories were billed as “A MYSTERY TALE to hold you breathless!” In five cases, these blurbs allow us to identify the titles for which inventoried fantasy stories were originally intended. Stories in World of Fantasy #9 (Dec. 1957) bear the “Astonishing” blurb described above; apparently, the contents of this book were originally intended to form Astonishing #64, which would have been dated October 1957. Stories in World of Fantasy #12 (June 1958) are referred to as “A TALE to MARVEL at!”—the ungrammatical ballyhoo found in Marvel Tales. One assumes these stories were destined for Marvel Tales #160, which would have been dated Sept. 1957. In World of Fantasy #14 (Oct. 1958) are stories with the “Mystery Tale” blurb mentioned above, no doubt slated for Mystery Tales #55, which would have been dated Nov. 1957. As noted above, Spellbound ceased publication with #34 (June 1957), and may have been canceled for reasons unrelated to the Implosion. Nonetheless, every story published in Strange Tales #65 (Oct. 1958) bore that title’s distinctive blurb, “A tale of mystery to hold you SPELLBOUND!” These stories apparently were intended for #35, which would have had an August 1957 cover date and should have gone on sale in mid-April18, well before the Implosion. In only one case did these marked stories show up where they should have. All of the stories in Strange Tales #60 (Dec. 1957) carry that title’s identifier: “One of the STRANGEst TALES ever told!” Clearly, these were intended from the start for this issue, which, however, should have appeared with a Sept. 1957 cover date.

Atlas Shrugged

When Did New Stories First Appear? Contrary to published suggestions that over a year passed before new commissions were even issued, perhaps not until late 1958 (see above), the first newly-assigned stories actually appeared on the newsstands less than three months after IND began distributing Goodman’s comics, in early September 1957! The very first new commissions given out after the Implosion were for the teen humor books. P-1 was a “Patsy Walker” story by Morris Weiss that appeared in Miss America #88 (Jan. 1958, published 9 Sept. 1957); P-2 was the only non-character P- or S- story, a generic romance filler for the same issue, also by Weiss. New “Patsy” tales soon followed in her other books, in Patsy and Hedy #56 (Feb. 1958, published 27 Sept. 1957) and Patsy Walker #76 (Apr. 1958, published 20 Dec. 1957). The first new “Millie” stories were published in Millie the Model #83 (March 1958). How soon were P-1 and P-2 assigned, if the published story went on sale 9 September? We know that Dick Ayers14 received the script for P-25 in September 1957 and that the resulting story was published 25 Nov. 1957 in Gunsmoke Western #45 (March 1958). This suggests approximately a two- to three-month lead-time from assignment to newsstand in that period. As such, the assignments for those first two newly-commissioned stories probably were issued in early July 1957, perhaps as little as two or three weeks after IND took over distribution of Goodman’s comics! Western characters were the next to need new adventures. Stories with the P- prefix and starring recurring characters first turned up in Two-Gun Kid #40 (Feb. 1958), Kid Colt Outlaw #77, and Gunsmoke Western #45 (March 1958), and Wyatt Earp #16 (April 1958); the first two went on sale 28 October 1957, the latter two on 25 November 1957. The first new generic fillers didn’t appear until months later. These were T- stories in Two-Gun Kid #50 (Oct. 1959, published 1 July 1959),

Gunsmoke Western #55 (Nov. 1959, published 31 July 1959), Kid Colt Outlaw #88 (Jan. 1960, published 1 Sept. 1959), and Wyatt Earp #27 (Feb. 1960, published 1 Oct. 1959). The only other book to carry P- stories was the sole surviving kid humor title, Homer the Happy Ghost. These began to appear in #19 (May 1958), while S- and T- stories followed in #21 (Sept. 1958). In fact, this latter issue contained both the last P- number (P-101) as well as T-1. The former issue went on sale just before Christmas 1957, the latter on 25 April 1958. The romance anthologies were the next to require new material. Stories with T- job numbers began to appear in My Own Romance with #65 (Sept. 1958) and in Love Romances with #78 (Nov. 1958). The former appeared 27 May 1958, the latter 25 July 1958. One suspects that it is comicdom’s emphasis on the fantasy titles that caused various writers to believe that Goodman published no new material until a year or more after the Implosion, because these books did not get new material (T- stories) until the last quarter of 1958. Interestingly, this was the only genre in which there was almost no overlap in the publication of inventory and new material. When Strange Worlds debuted with #1 (Dec. 1958) on 2 September 1958, it contained solely T- stories. One month later, Tales of Suspense (Jan. 1959) and Tales to Astonish (Jan. 1959) debuted with all new material (save for the odd M- story mentioned above). Journey into Mystery had been revived (see below) with an inventory-filled #49 (Nov. 1958) but the very next issue (Jan. 1959, published 2 Oct. 1958) was all T- stories. The two Sweet 16 survivors in this genre finally got new stories with Strange Tales #67 (Feb. 1959, published 2 Oct. 1958) and World of Fantasy #16 (Feb. 1959, published 3 Nov. 1958). The very last genre to get new stories was represented by Goodman’s sole surviving war book, Battle, which didn’t get its first new material (T- stories) until #64 (Jun. 1959, published 3 Feb. 1959). As noted above, Marines in Battle and Navy Combat had subsisted entirely on M- and O- stories clear through to their cancellation, with #25 (Sept. 1958) and #20 (Oct. 1958), respectively (see above). In summary, despite an abundance of inventory, it was necessary to commission new stories for some characters almost as soon as the new distribution agreement was in place. Lee apparently commissioned the first of the new stories in early July 1957, roughly ten weeks after Goodman had curtailed new assignments. All titles had at least some new material by February 1959 (i.e., June 1959 cover date).

Summary And Conclusion The fuse of the Atlas Implosion was lit on 1 November 1956, when publisher Martin Goodman turned over distribution of his books to an outside firm, American News Co. On 25 April 1957, ANC lost its largest client, Dell Publications, threatening its profitability and sparking a panic among its remaining clients; in response, Goodman ordered editor Stan Lee to cease issuing story assignments. On 6 May 1957, Dell filed a $15,000,000 federal anti-trust lawsuit against ANC. In response, ANC shut down its Wholesale Periodical Division on 17 May 1957, leaving Goodman and other publishers without a means of getting their product to the public.

Behind Bill Everett’s cover for World of Fantasy #9 (Dec. 1957) lurked stories bearing a splash-panel blurb originally intended for the canceled title Astonishing—including this one drawn by Bernard Krigstein. [©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Sometime later that month or in early June, Goodman entered into a highly restrictive distribution agreement with Independent News (owned by competitor National Periodical Publications). IND would only carry eight comic book titles per month, which Goodman configured as 16 bimonthlies. This restriction caused the cancellation of 80% of Goodman’s

The 1957 “Atlas Implosion” And Its Effect On Comics surviving war title, Battle, was cut in February 1960 to make way for another teen humor book, the revived My Girl Pearl (#7, Aug. 1960). At the same time, Wyatt Earp was replaced by another Atlas Western, Rawhide Kid (#17, Aug. 1960).

Al Hartley’s Miss America #87 (Nov. 1957) cover graced the first post-Implosion issue. Tom says the “Patsy Walker” story above, which appeared in Miss America #88 (cover-dated Jan. 1958), was demonstrably the “first new story” commissioned after the Implosion. The artist was Morris Weiss, who was interviewed in Alter Ego #43. [©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

About this time, it would appear that Goodman renegotiated his distribution agreement, so as to allow him to produce a total of 10 books per month. Starting with their October 1960 issues, Journey into Mystery, Kid Colt Outlaw, and Tales to Astonish appeared monthly. Strange Tales went monthly with the November issue, Tales of Suspense with February. Kid Colt Outlaw resumed bimonthly issuance with the March 1961 issue. Goodman continued to tinker

comic book titles and ultimately generated a backlog of over 1700 pages of finished art (some featuring characters whose titles had been canceled), which was not exhausted until July 1959. IND began shipping books on 17 June 1957. Some titles reached newsstands right on schedule, while others were delayed by as much as three months, primarily due to changes in the timing of issuance. By early August 1957, a regular pattern of shipments was established, consisting of four books dated three months ahead and another four dated four months ahead. Despite the large amount of inventory, Lee was running out of material for certain characters within a month after the new distribution deal was signed. To meet this need, he resumed issuing assignments for new stories in early July 1957. By early February 1959, all titles contained at least some new material. It was not a propitious time to try to regrow a publishing empire. The nation entered a severe business recession in August 1957, just as Goodman’s situation was beginning to stabilize. Recovery did not appear on the horizon until April 1958. This may be why very little change occurred in Goodman’s comic book line in the first year after the Implosion. About a year after the Implosion, Goodman apparently decided that fantasy books were hot again. Because of the restrictions of his distribution agreement, every time he wanted to introduce a new title, he had to cancel one to make room for it. As a result, Marines in Battle was axed in June 1958 to make room for a resurrection of Journey into Mystery (#49, Nov. 1958). The following month, Homer the Happy Ghost, Navy Combat, and Miss America were canceled in favor of three brand new titles, the first since the Implosion: Strange Worlds (#1, Dec. 1958), Tales of Suspense (#1, Jan. 1959), and Tales to Astonish (#1, Jan. 1959). A year later, Goodman may have felt he had overestimated the marketability of fantasy books. In June 1959, Strange Worlds and World of Fantasy were canceled to make room for two new teen humor titles: A Date with Millie (#1, Oct. 1959) and Kathy (#1, Oct. 1959). His last

Doc V., who provided this Alfonso Greene-drawn splash page from Journey into Mystery #49 (Nov. 1958) concurs with Tom L. that this story was inventory from spring of 1957. #49 was the last issue before that title’s format was changed to headline giant monsters, commencing with the Kirby-drawn “I Was Captured by Korilla!” [©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Atlas Shrugged with his line-up. In January 1961, My Girl Pearl and Two-Gun Kid were dropped with their April 1961 issues (#11 and #59, respectively). Hedging his bets, Goodman brought out a monthly fantasy book, Amazing Adventures (#1, June 1961) and a bimonthly teen humor book, Linda Carter, Student Nurse (#1, Sept. 1961). In retrospect, these events marked the end of the long transition period connecting Atlas to Marvel. In April and May 1961, Goodman introduced the boxed “MC” logo on the covers of his comics, his first attempt at product identity since the demise of the Atlas globe.30 The very next new title introduced by Goodman was the landmark Fantastic Four #1, the company’s very first Silver Age super-hero title. The Atlas Implosion was without doubt the single most important event in the development of the corporate entity that gave us the classic Marvel super-heroes of the Silver Age. Had the Implosion not occurred, Marvel’s product in the 1960s would have been very different. It may have included super-heroes at some point, but I do not think they would have so predominated the far bigger line, nor would they have been so

innovative and influential. Had Goodman been able to continue his trend-chasing market-flooding business strategy into the 1960s uninterrupted, his super-heroes likely would have been no more memorable than his teen humor books, his romance titles, or his Westerns. Like Archie’s Adventures of The Fly, ACG’s “Nemesis,” or Charlton’s Captain Atom, they would never have become part of the 21st-century mainstream landscape; they would have rated barely a footnote in the history of pop culture. As Jim Vadeboncoeur and Brad Elliott have noted,31 under his restrictive distribution agreement with IND, Goodman “couldn’t get bigger, which had been the goal for the previous 17 years, so he ended up getting better.”

Acknowledgments This article is respectfully dedicated to the past and present members of the Timely-Atlas e-mail list, many of whom contributed directly or indirectly to this article, including but not limited to Ger Apeldoorn,

(Above:) A trio of final pre-Implosion 1957 issues: Gunsmoke Western #43 (Nov.) and Battle #55 (Dec.), both with Severin covers— Navy Combat #15 (Dec.) with cover by Everett (the name on the lifeboat is “S.S. Everett”!). [©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

(Left & right:) From the early days of Atlas, a pair of Nov. 1951 cover: Patsy Walker #37 (Nov.), cover by Hartley—and Rocky Jorden– Private Eye #6 (Nov.), with cover by A/E #48 interviewee Vern Henkel. [©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

The 1957 “Atlas Implosion” And Its Effect On Comics 1959-60, was Marvel’s first reprint book after the advent of the Silver Age super-heroes. Material from 1958-62 similarly was reprinted (with minor alterations) in Patsy and Hedy Annual #1 (1963). The Western titles began to include reprints of 1958-63 stories during 1965. Fantasy Masterpieces debuted with a Feb. 1966 cover date, reprinting fantasy tales from 1959-62; by #3 (June 1966), it published Marvel’s first Golden Age reprints, “Captain America” stories from the early 1940s. The classic battle between the Human Torch and Sub-Mariner from Marvel Mystery Comics #8 (June 1940) was reprinted in the Marvel SuperHeroes one-shot (Oct. 1966), and their individual Golden Age adventures began to appear regularly in Fantasy Masterpieces with #7 (Feb. 1967). The first Atlas-era stories to be reprinted were the “Black Knight” and “Sub-Mariner” tales in Fantasy Masterpieces #11 (Oct. 1967); Atlas “Captain America” and “Human Torch” adventures followed in Marvel Super-Heroes #12 (Dec. 1967). 4 See, for example, L. Daniels, Marvel: Five Fabulous Decades of the

World’s Greatest Comics (Harry N. Abrams, 1991), pp. 80-81; G. Jones and W. Jacobs, The Comic Book Heroes (Prima Publishing, 1997), p. 48; J. Raphael and T. Spurgeon, Stan Lee and the Rise and Fall of the American Comic Book (Chicago Review Press, 2003), pp. 60-63; and R. Ro, Tales to Astonish: Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, and the American Comic Book Revolution (Bloomsbury, 2004), pp. 61-63. 5 See, for example, J. Amash, “The Goldberg Variations,” Alter Ego #18 (Oct. 2002), pp. 4-30; M.J. Vassallo, “What If ... Joe Maneely Had Lived and Drawn in the Marvel Age of Comics?” Alter Ego #28 (Sept. 2003),

In the mid-1950s, Goodman also published his own attempt at a Life magazine knockoff: Eye – People and Pictures. Movie newcomer Sophia Loren’s ballyhooed on this cover for Vol. 4, #7 (July 1954)—but that ain’t her on the cover. Thanks to Doc Vassallo—who tells us that “the magazine started as an oversized bedsheet and changed to a digest. This is a digest-sized issue.” [©2005 the respective copyright holders.]

Randall Barlow, Robert Beerbohm, Chris Brown, Nick Caputo, James Cassara, Brad Elliott, Michael Feldman, Bob Ford, Greg Gatlin, Mark Miyake, Frank Motler, Stan Taylor, Tony Thomas, and most especially Michael J. Vassallo. It is an honor and a pleasure to be part of this exemplary assemblage of comics’ scholars and fans. Everything I know about the Atlas Implosion, I have learned since I joined this group; I could not have written this article without them.

Endnotes 1 See especially “O.K., You Passed the 2-S Test – Now You’re Smart

Enough for Comic Books” Esquire, Vol. 66 (Sept. 1966), pp. 114-115; and “As Barry Jenkins, Ohio ’69, Says: ‘A Person Has to Have Intelligence to Read Them’” Esquire, Vol. 66 (Sept. 1966), pp. 116-117. Also of note are “No Laughing Matter” Newsweek, Vol. 65, no. 10 (8 March 1965), pg. 62; T. Prideaux, “The Whole Country Goes Supermad” Life, Vol. 60, no. 10 (11 March 1966), pp. 22-27; B. Rollin, “The Return of the (Whoosh! There Goes One!) Superhero!” Look, Vol. 30, No. 6 (22 March 1966), pp. 113-114. 2 See, for example, letters on the “Fantastic 4 Fan Page” from Bill

Andrew of Port Chester, NY (Fantastic Four #16, July 1963); Ronn Foss of Suisun, CA (Fantastic Four #18, Sept. 1963); and Mrs. Beryl Wright of Worcester, MA (Fantastic Four #19, Oct. 1963). 3 Strange Tales Annual #1 (1962), which featured fantasy stories from

Dick Ayers, as Tom reports, was one of the artists around whom Stan Lee began to rebuild following the Implosion. Here’s Dick’s splash page for a “filler” story in Kid Colt Outlaw #80 (Sept. 1958). Thanks to Doc V. [©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Atlas Shrugged

Since Tom Lammers wrote in A/E #29 & 31 about the so-called “Marvel prototypes,” we’ll close with work from Martin Goodman’s comics line both before and after the equally-so-called “Atlas Implosion.” At left, a begowned Timely super-heroine battles a “prototype type”—The Mole—in Blonde Phantom #22 (March 1949), one of the issues that sported the “Marvel Comic” symbol. Below, with script by Stan Lee and pencils by Jack Kirby, a slightly better-known Mole Man burrows his way into readers’ hearts in The Fantastic Four #1 (Oct. 1961), setting the stage for the true coming of the name “Marvel Comics” a couple of years later. Thanks to Frank Motler for the Blonde Phantom scan. [©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

15 The first recorded comment in the comics themselves regarding this

pp. 3-41; and R. Thomas and J. Amash, “To Keep Busy as a Freelancer, You Should Have Three Accounts!” Alter Ego #31 (Dec. 2003), pp. 3-36.

change is found in a fan letter in Fantastic Four #18 (Sept. 1963). Harold Silverman of Cincinnati, OH, commented: “You changed [your trademark] once from Atlas to IND.”

6 Daniels, op. cit., pp. 17-19, for the 1932 date. However, fellow

16 Ro, loc. cit.

researcher Michael Feldman writes: “Joe Lovese did considerable primary source research and posted information on his [web]site. This particular bit of information is in the magazines themselves. Western Supernovels, dated May 1933, is Goodman’s first work [publication], though he uses a house name. The printer takes over the pulp line for non-payment in 1934, and editors Goodman and Lincoln Hoffman successfully keep the magazines going. Hoffman on his own lasts only a couple of years.” 7 There were 271 issues with 1949 cover dates, but only 184 for 1950; for 1951, the total had climbed to 303.

17 Daniels, op. cit., p. 81. 18 Posted to the Timely-Atlas e-mail group on 5 May 2001 and archived at groups.yahoo.com/group/timelyatlas/message/2612.

19 Marvel Comics Group and the Silver Age of Comics website (www.angelfire.com/comics/mcg-sac/), accessed 20 January 2004. 20 Overstreet, op. cit., p. 767. 21 The cover date of Dippy Duck #1 was apparently changed at the last

8 Jones and Jacobs, loc. cit.

minute. Artist John Severin had a proof sheet in his files of this cover, clearly showing “Sept.” (M. J. Vassallo, pers. comm.)

9 J. Vadeboncoeur and B. Elliott, “Atlas Implosion,” pp. 30-33 in S.

22 Ro, op. cit., p. 62.

Duin and M. Richardson, Comics: Between the Panels (Dark Horse Comics, 1998). 10 M. Tiefenbacher, “The Marvel Distribution Roller Coaster Ride,”

Comic Buyers’ Guide no. 1158 (26 Jan. 1996), pp. 22, 26, 36.

23 Raphael and Spurgeon, loc. cit. 24 S. Lee, Secrets behind the Comics (Famous Enterprises, 1947). 25 F. Motler and M. J. Vassallo, “Atlas through the Looking Glass! The

11 Overstreet, R. M., Official Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide,

32nd ed. (Gemstone Publishing, 2002), p. 226.

Post-Code Mystery Titles, 1955 through 1957,” From the Tomb #10 (2003), pp. 27-39.

12 Information on ANC’s woes was compiled from the following

26 Daniels, op. cit., p. 68; Raphael and Spurgeon, op. cit., pp. 54-55.

contemporary sources: “American News ’56 profit rose sharply,” The New York Times (4 March 1957), p. 35; “Publisher Files Suit,” The New York Times (7 May 1957), p. 53; “Newsstand giant shrinks away,” Business Week no. 1447 (25 May 1957), pp. 59-60, 64, 66, 70, 72; “Selling problem faces magazines,” The New York Times (26 May 1957), p. 95; “Cutback of American News Co.,” The Commonweal Vol. 66 (7 Jun. 1957), p. 246; “American News to Sell Assets,” The New York Times (18 June 1957), p. 53; “American News cashes in on corporate streamlining,” Barron’s National Business and Financial Weekly (12 Jan. 1959), p. 28.

27 Yeates, T., M. Schultz, & S. Ringgenberg, Al Williamson: Hidden Lands (Dark Horse Comics, 2004). 28 Copy given to Michael J. Vassallo (pers. comm.). 29 T. G. Lammers, “The Other Silver Age Marvel Universe!” in Alter

Ego (in press).

30 According to Roy Thomas (pers. comm.), Lee told him circa 1965

Michael J. Vassallo (pers. comm.).

that, in the early 1960s, he himself had wanted to revive “Atlas” as the company name, but that Goodman had vetoed it, preferring to return to the earlier “Marvel Comics” name, and that Stan felt in retrospect that Goodman had made a wise choice.

14 Pers. comm.

31 Vadeboncoeur and Elliott, op. cit., p. 33.

13 As recorded in Sinnott’s work log, a copy of which was given to

hen Will Eisner passed away on January 3, 2005, the comics world lost a true friend. I lost a friend, too. With your indulgence, I’d like to share a few of my memories of Will Eisner.

I first encountered Will when I was about 12 or so, in the pages of an unauthorized Spirit comic book, published around 1963 by Super Comics (also known as IW). The experience was confusing, to say the least! The issue’s lead story introduced me to The Spirit, the character most associated with Will Eisner. “The Man Who Killed The Spirit!” told the tale of a crooked accountant traveling by trolley through an eerie marshland outside Central City. The story itself was prime Eisner, if something of an atypical Spirit tale. A passenger steps into the trolley, calmly carrying what appears to be The Spirit’s corpse. The accountant, a guy named Crauley, does a double-take when he sees it. Things get worse when he looks around and finds himself surrounded by his former partners in crime, “Killer” Conch and “Bottles” McTopp. Crauley made the fatal mistake of double-crossing them, and now they’ve tracked him down. In the final minutes of his life, he tells them (and us!) the sordid tale of how he ratted them out to The Spirit, and stole their money. In a final doublecross, Crauley shot The Spirit in the back. In the end, we discover the seated crooks are actually dead, killed earlier in a battle with the cops, and placed there by The Spirit to elicit a confession. The Spirit’s corpse (seen throughout the story) turns out to be a dummy that only resembles the blue-suited Spirit. And where is The Spirit when all this is going on? Why, he’s been sitting up front, disguised as the conductor. Whew! That was one complicated plot— even for Eisner! Since I had never even seen The Spirit before, I was baffled. Was The Spirit a hero (as he seemed), a villain, or a ghost? The flashback implied he was some sort of cop, but who knew? The story, drawn in 1946, was

unlike any I’d ever seen. Pages oozed atmosphere. Dead bodies littered the trolley, their demented eyes frozen in death mask. I wasn’t sure what I was seeing, but I was sure of one thing. I loved it! Two other stories in the issue featured Carrion, another Eisner villain, and his beloved vulture Julia. A fight between The Spirit’s kid sidekick and Julia was as brutal as any I’d seen in all my 12 years. The storytelling was brilliant, and Eisner’s art was the perfect mixture of illustration and classic cartooning. In short, it was everything I was looking for in a comic. Will Eisner had me hooked. I was desperate for another shot of Spirit, but in the early ’60s Spirit stories were nearly impossible to find. After all, Eisner had pulled the plug on his newspaper strip and comic books in the early ’50s. I did stumble onto a second Super Comics Spirit reprint, but the art wasn’t nearly as exciting. No wonder. Years later, I discovered the issue had been ghosted by Lou Fine. Former Spirit-scripter Jules Feiffer provided my next encounter with Will Eisner. In 1965 Feiffer came out with The Great Comic Book Heroes, a fascinating book devoted to early heroes and their creators. Feiffer spoke of his former boss in glowing tones, at one point stating that: “Alone among comic book men, Eisner was a cartoonist other

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt Each story was a classic, with breathtaking art. I read and reread the comic dozens of times, carefully studying how Eisner manipulated the size and shape of his panels to control the pace and the emotional impact. Even today, 40 years later, I can’t imagine a more effective “How to Draw Comics” primer. Charged up by Eisner’s work, I began drawing my own comic book pages. A few months later, a second giant Spirit comic came out, every bit as breathtaking as the first. Previews for issue #3 promised more great stuff. Sadly, the Harvey line never really took off, and the 25¢ Spirit comic was cancelled after two issues. Would I ever see The Spirit again? Well, of course! My next Spirit encounter occurred at Len Wein’s house a few months later, shortly before Swamp Thing’s co-creator went pro. We both lived in Levittown, so a few fanboys had dropped by to see Len’s legendary collection. In a pile of old comics I found a slick pro-zine published that year by Ed Aprill, Jr., that reprinted some of Eisner’s rare Spirit daily comic strips. Though Eisner claimed to dislike the daily comic strip format, he seemed to have effortlessly mastered it. I desperately wanted to own that beautiful book. Years later, I finally did. Patience rewarded! Then, in 1969, I learned even more about Will Eisner—courtesy of Will Eisner! Issue #6 of witzend, a prozine founded three years earlier by Wally Wood, another former Eisner assistant, featured John Benson’s seminal interview with Eisner. It was the first time I could peek behind the panels and hear the person behind one of my favorite characters. Eisner

“The Man Who Killed The Spirit” (a.k.a. “The Last Trolley”) originally appeared in the Spirit newspaper section of March 24, 1946. It was later reprinted in Super Comics’ The Spirit #11 in 1963. [©2005 Estate of Will Eisner.]

cartoonists swiped from.” To prove his point, he reprinted an early Spirit story. Good as it was, it wasn’t nearly enough. In 1966 I finally got my first major dose of the real thing. During the Batman TV craze, comic books started selling again, and almost every publisher tried to cash in on the gold rush. Harvey Comics was no exception. When they hired Golden Age great Joe Simon to edit a line of adventure comics, Joe invited Will to put together a Spirit comic. Joe was familiar with The Spirit, having drawn the cover of the bootleg Super Comics reprint mentioned earlier. A few months later, on the way home from Hebrew school, my dad and I stopped by a drug store to pick up a few comics. Lucky me! I found two new titles, giant 25¢ comics filled with pre-Code reprints. One of these was Joe’s own Fighting American comic book, done in the ’50s with Jack Kirby. A new Kirby super-hero? Cool! But even cooler was the first issue of Harvey’s Spirit comic. My heart did a triple-gainer when I saw it! The Harvey Spirits were truly crackcocaine for Spirit fans. In addition to reprinting seven of the very best Spirit stories from the late ’40s, Eisner (and assistant Chuck Kramer) drew a new origin tale, plus a cover and two-page filler story. The comic was so good I bought two copies, an almost unheard-of extravagance for this cash-strapped 15-year-old! Joe Simon’s, er, striking cover to the bootleg Super reprint. Three years later, Joe became editor at Harvey Comics, and got Will to produce two fully-authorized Spirit issues for that company. [Spirit TM & ©2005 Estate of Will Eisner.]

Remembering Will

71 with the second volume of his History of Comics. In addition to detailing the history of The Spirit, Steranko also reprinted an entire 7-page Spirit story tabloid size in glorious black-&-white. That same year, a small company called Spirit Enterprises went the opposite direction, publishing digest-sized reprints of the earliest Spirit stories. These were black-&-white, bagged ten to a set, featuring recent commentary on the stories by Will Eisner himself. I subscribed, delighted to finally read the earliest Spirit tales and watch as Eisner developed as an artist, issue by issue. But the best was yet to come!

Ebony was a scrappy kid in 1941, as seen in the panel at left. In the 1966 story… er, not so much…! The 1966 Spirit story was reprinted in Alter Ego, Vol. 3, #2, and is still on sale from TwoMorrows. [©2005 Estate of Will Eisner.]

came off as intelligent, down-to-earth, and very respectful of the comic book medium. As an extra treat, I got to see more Spirit art. But it wasn’t nearly enough. I wanted more Spirit stories!

1973 was quite a year for Spirit fans. In January, underground cartoonist and publisher Denis Kitchen came out with a new Spirit comic, featuring both new and vintage art. A second issue appeared nine months later, devoted to P’Gell, our hero’s favorite femme fatale. In addition to four classic reprints, each featured wrap-around covers and a brand new 5-page story by Eisner. Another new Spirit story appeared courtesy of Tabloid Press, printed 16H” x 11” on good paper. Slowly but surely, Eisner was easing back into comic books.

Like a junkie, I kept searching for the hard stuff (hard to find, that is!). In college I snagged a decade-old issue of Harvey Kurtzman’s Help! (Feb. 1962) with a late-’40s Spirit reprint and a glowing introduction by Kurtzman. He wrote: “A hundred years from now, when they publish a collection of the cartoon masters of the 20th Century, Will Eisner will undoubtedly rank high on the list.” High praise indeed from the great Harvey Kurtzman, creator of Mad and Frontline Combat! Shortly afterward, I bought an old New York Herald Tribune magazine section from an older fan who was reducing his vast collection. The Jan. 9, 1966, issue included a 5-page story done especially for the magazine, featuring the return of The Spirit. When he revisited The Spirit for the first time in 14 years, Eisner took the unusual tack of having his characters age in real time. Particularly amusing was seeing L’il Ebony, The Spirit’s fearless kid assistant, as a conservative corporate executive, reluctant to rock any boats. Though Eisner ignored this tongue-in-cheek continuity in later stories, it was an audacious experiment, and a touch of realism seldom seen in comics. The same collector also sold me some classic Spirit comics from the ’40s and ’50s, including five published by Fiction House and a couple of terrific Quality Comics issues. My admiration for Eisner and his work grew. And, inspired by that work, I continued to develop my own comic book skills, trying (with typical teenage arrogance!) to become the next Will Eisner. Meanwhile, the real Will Eisner was doing his best to put The Spirit behind him. In interview after interview he patiently explained to eager fans that The Spirit was part of the past. Fun to visit, but only a pleasant memory. Will Eisner had moved on. Ah, but that was not to be. Unexpectedly, a tiny snowball began to roll down the hill of Spirit fandom, getting bigger by the minute. Fanzines like Bill Schelly’s Sense of Wonder began printing articles about Eisner and his work. Jim Steranko added fuel to the fire in 1972

Publisher Denis Kitchen was planning to publish The Spirit. But first he tested the waters with this new Eisner cover for Snarf #3 in November 1972. It was the beginning of a beautiful relationship! [©2005 Estate of Will Eisner.]

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt

1973 was also the year I finally saw my first comic book stories printed. My college paper was set to publish the first issue of New Paltz Comix, an underground comic named for my upstate NY college. Mere months before my graduation, the funding fell through. I wound up publishing the book myself, selling copies door to door in the dorms. Eisner would have been proud! Of course Will wasn’t exactly resting on his laurels, either. Besides running a thriving instructional comics business, Eisner was also planning a big surprise for Spirit fans. The following year Warren Publishing, the same company that had published that 1962 Help! reprint of The Spirit, began issuing a bi-monthly magazine-size Spirit comic. The Warren Spirits ran for two years (April 1974-Oct. 1976). Not only were the magazines wonderful, but I finally got to read some of the stories promised in the never-published third Harvey Comics Spirit! I had been following Eisner’s work for a decade by then, never dreaming I’d actually meet my hero. But, in 1974, I came very close to doing just that. I’d just gone to Warren Publications, to sell them one of my stories. It was my third and final try. Unfortunately, editor Bill DuBay politely but firmly rejected my work, voicing the opinion that my art would never be good enough to be published at Warren. Ouch! But he eased the pain by showing me stats of upcoming Bernie Wrightson art, as well as some unused Spirit cover paintings. Later, as I trudged back to the train station, I noticed a small sign on a nearby building that said “Will Eisner Productions.” Fate had led me to the offices of my hero. But I was dead tired by then, and afraid to barge in on the great Will Eisner. So I got on the train and went home, thinking that perhaps someday… someday… I’d get the nerve to actually meet him. The late Raoul Vezina drew this beautiful cover for New Paltz Comix #2. This 1974 underground (edited by Michael T. Gilbert) also contained Brian Buniak’s 5-page Spirit parody, “The Sprite.” [Art ©2005 Estate of Raoul Vezina.]

Around that time, I heard some exciting news. Will Eisner was teaching a comic book course at the School of Visual Arts in New York! The school was just a subway ride from where I was living, and taking the class would have been a dream-come-true. Unfortunately, the timing was wrong. I’d recently graduated from SUNY New Paltz, and returning to school was the last thing I wanted to do. The real world beckoned! While I had no luck getting work at DC or Marvel, I managed to land a part-time job producing graphics for NBC News. Later, I designed advertising keychain tags and such for a place called Hit Sales. I was also busy putting the final touches on my second underground comic, Amazing Adult Fantasies. More importantly, I was preparing to move to San Francisco. If New York comic book companies weren’t buying my work, perhaps I’d have better luck with the underground comix scene. Months later, after storing my worldly goods at a friend’s house, I stuffed a few essentials into four duffel bags, packed up stakes, and moved to California. With only a few hundred dollars to my name, I set about looking for cartooning work to pay the bills. I hit paydirt at the legendary underground paper The Berkeley Barb, selling a series of humorous comic strips for $25 bucks a pop. I also approached a couple of comix publishers in the area, getting a bit of work here and there.

Eventually, I pitched some stories to Mike Friedrich, publisher of the quasi-underground fantasy comic Star*Reach. He wasn’t interested in any of the work I’d brought, but offered me a spot in Quack!, a funnyanimal comic he was about to publish. I jumped at the chance. But this

Remembering Will

73 character. Neither was true.

meant that I had to come up with an ongoing character—fast!

After I moved to California, I called Vince to see how things were going on his end. To my horror, he informed me that Will was threatening to sue us for trademark infringement. Actually “threatening” is too harsh a word. Eisner’s letter of June 25, 1975, is a marvelous example of the “carrot and stick” approach. He suggested that his lawyers wanted to take action on this, but that he “asked them to hold off until I’ve written to you.”

Luckily, Will Eisner came to my rescue. I was a rookie when it came to funny animals, but I sure knew The Spirit inside and out. Why not create a funnyanimal parody of The Spirit? It would give me a basic structure for the series and I could fulfill my fantasy of doing my own Spirit stories. In short order I came up with counterparts of Eisner’s main characters, Inspector Dolan (Inspector Mulchberry), Ebony White (Ivory Snow), and The Spirit himself (The Wraith). The Wraith was my first comic book series, and appeared in each issue of Quack!’s sixissue run. My goal wasn’t to do a cold swipe of Eisner’s strip, but rather to capture Michael T. Gilbert’s Spirit-inspired funny-animal hero, The Wraith. the, er, spirit of The This splash is from Quack! #1, July 1976. In 1998, Edd Vick at Mu Press Spirit. Inspired by my reprinted all the “Wraith” stories in The Complete Wraith. [©2005 mentor’s example, I experMichael T. Gilbert.] imented with different art techniques and writing styles each issue. I also tried to capture some of Eisner’s warmth and humanity. “The Wraith” was popular, and I enjoyed playing with Eisner-style splash pages, fancy logos, and similar gimmicks. Of course, I was also bit worried that Eisner might object to my parody.

He patiently explained the legal ramifications of infringing on his trademark, then added: “I am always interested in helping underground fanzines, and I doubt that you will find me uncooperative where such permissions do not conflict with other commitments.” Will ended his letter by saying, “I am not a lawyer, but I can assure you that others have been sued and lost substantial sums for less than what you’ve done. Why not send me a note assuring me that you are changing your style with the very next issue. Also, for your own safety, why not send me a copy of your new logo? Who knows—this could be the beginning of a nice professional relationship. May I hear from you right away? Cordially, Will Eisner Studios, Inc.” The letter, signed by Will, was both friendly and intimidating. And very effective. I was appalled that my first contact with my idol had been under these circumstances, but Vince assured me that he’d explained the situation and things were cool with Will. I was relieved. And a little jealous. After all, Vince now had Will Eisner’s autograph, even if it was only a cease-and-desist letter!

I had good reason to be concerned. Two years earlier Will Eisner almost sued me! Here’s the whole sordid story. In 1974, shortly before I left New York, I was editing my second underground comic, Amazing Adult Fantasies (a.k.a. New Paltz Comix #2). A young cartoonist named Brian Buniak wanted to do a story for the book. Knowing my weakness for The Spirit, Brian pitched a parody idea called “The Sprite.” How could I refuse? Brian’s five-page story was one of the high points of the issue. But it inadvertently got us in hot water with Will. Our problems began when Vince, a financial backer, created an ad for Amazing Adult Fantasies. Instead of running our cover, Vince’s used a large head-shot of The Sprite with a logo almost identical to the Spirit logo on the Warren issues. The ad gave the impression “The Sprite” was our lead feature and a continuing

Three years later, I finally got an autograph of my own. In January 1978, with my career finally beginning to take off, I decided to contact Will. Gathering up my courage, I wrote him a gushing letter thanking him for his inspiration and asking for feedback on my work. I enclosed a set of Quack! with the note. The sixth and final issue had come out weeks earlier, and I was busy working on other Star*Reach projects. Concerned that Will might object to my parody, I mentioned that “The Wraith” was not intended a rip-off, but as a loving homage to one of my favorite characters. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever hear from him, but a week later the mail arrived, and among the junk mail was a letter in a light yellow envelope. I did a classic double-take when I saw “Will Eisner Studios” on the return address. Heart pounding,

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt

I ripped open the envelope and started reading. Will’s handwritten letter, dated 1/28/78, said: “Thank you for your letter of 20, Jan ’78. The samples of “Quack” are very interesting. Your style and approach are very vigorous and, I feel, promises to be quite original. I particularly like the halftone application which gives your strong line a kind of plasticity and dimension—I’d like to encourage you to keep on in this direction. I’d be happy to see more your work from time to time!! Best of good luck—and thanks for the flattering comments. Cordially —Will Eisner” Adding the cherry to the sundae, Will also drew a small Spirit sketch. His word balloon said: “The Wraith has a lot of originality… hardly a rip-off…” I was flying high for weeks. “Praise from Caesar,” indeed! I’m sure Will wrote a lot of similar letters to newcomers, but I was thrilled and thankful to have my work validated by one of my idols. And I was thankful for one more thing. Will hadn’t remembered the name of that pesky comic book publisher he’d almost sued three years earlier! Next issue: Alter Ego #50 celebrates Roy Thomas’ 40th year in comics. We’ll mark the occasion by reprinting rare examples of his earliest stories, as well as some of Roy’s correspondence with DC scripter Gardner Fox. Then, in A/E #51, we’ll conclude this issue’s Will Eisner article. See you in two months!

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

“Fate Did Its Odd Thing”

ALEX TOTH On His Near-Brush With MILTON CANIFF’s Steve Canyon ack in issue #37, Alex related how artistic fellow-legend Noel Sickles told him of being asked by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster to become a prime artist of Superman. Here, on his monthly postcard from the edge of Southern California, Alex tells of his own dealings with Sickles’ friend and colleague Milt Caniff, who in the late 1940s moved from one super-popular newspaper strip (Terry and the Pirates) to start another (Steve Canyon), and of his own nearconnection with the latter. —Roy.

Visit the official Alex Toth website at: www.tothfans.com.

Caniff’s Steve Canyon Sunday for Aug. 30, 1953…definitely a Cold War classic. Note that the art continues outside the panel borders— to be dropped when photostats were made of the originals. [©2005 Field Enterprises, Inc., or successors in interest.]

Special Announcement from Jerry Robinson

The Bill Finger Award For Lifetime Contribution To The Art Of Comics Writing

ligibility: Writers in all genres of comics, living or deceased, published in any country.

The Bill Finger Award will be given annually, elected by a select jury of comics editors, writers, and historians. Nominations can be made by all those eligible to vote for the Eisner Awards, and the announcement of the writer selected will be made at the Eisner Awards Ceremony at the San Diego Comic-Con International each summer. The Bill Finger Award will be a worthy addition to the appreciation of the comics in the tradition of the Eisners, and of the Russ Manning and Bob Clampett Awards. It would be particularly appropriate for it to be given this year: Bill would’ve been in his 90th year. The Bill Finger Award will be given to an extraordinary writer/creator in honor of the genius of Bill Finger. Finger, the unsung hero and co-creator of Batman, scripted the first and many of the best “Batman” stories during the Golden Age of Comic Books. Finger also made significant refinements to the concept and persona of Batman. He created many of the series’ most notable characters, including The Penguin, The Riddler, Catwoman, and Two-Face. Among his innovations were the Bat Cave, Batmobile, Batplane, and Batsignal. His phrases such as “Dynamic Duo” and “Gotham City” became part of our lexicon. His scripts were imbued with humor and sprightly repartee. Finger was a craftsman, and his “Batman” adventures were carefully plotted. Above all, he was a visual writer—even his scripts were accompanied with visual or descriptive research. He knew instinctively what the artist could translate into compelling pictures and sequential narrative. Finger’s comics credits that are rarely acknowledged in print include many other DC characters, including the co-creation of “Green Lantern” (1940) and “Wildcat” (1941), as well as others for Quality Comics, Fawcett Publications, and Timely Comics. His television credits include episodes of 77 Sunset Strip, Hawaiian Eye, the animated New Adventures of Superman, and the prime-time 1966 Batman series.

Bill Finger’s greatest co-creations—Batman & Green Lantern— juxtaposed with an ultra-rare (if, alas, slightly fuzzy) photo of Bill himself. This photo appeared in Jerry Bails’ 1960 pamphlet The Green Lantern Golden Age Index, as did the above GL art by Irwin Hasen. The “Batman” title panel, of course, is from Detective Comics #27, and serves as a reminder that Bill Finger’s name should have been up there with that of “Rob’t Kane” right from the start. The use of DC images and characters on this page does not in any way indicate any DC connection with the Bill Finger Award. Although it is widely believed that legal requirements prevent DC from formally acknowledging his co-creation of Batman in print, DC in recent years has allowed Finger to be given increased credit in its comics and other official publications. [Art ©2005 DC Comics; photo courtesy of Jerry G. Bails.]

Bill Finger was born February 8, 1914, and died, mostly forgotten and unheralded except by his colleagues and comics historians, on January 24, 1974. — Jerry Robinson Fax: (212) 595-4218 cwsmedia@aol.com

[Jerry Robinson entered the comic book industry in 1939 as Bob Kanes’ assistant on the new DC feature “Batman.” He has gone on to become a legend in the fields of both comic book and comic strips. He was interviewed in depth in Alter Ego #39.]

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78 Checklist,” where, much to my surprise, someone came up with “Norton” as my middle name. How that happened is beyond me. Be that as it may. This letter, therefore, will serve to correct what turned out to be the only error in the 27-page saga.

re:

Herbert Walter Rogoff No need to thank us, Herb. We’re overjoyed that you liked the way your interview turned out, and vaguely mortified that somehow we got your middle name wrong. We’re happy to correct that egregious error here and now, before the 20th-century history books are further compromised with misinformation. Around the time this issue goes on sale, we hope to be meeting you in person at Shelton Drum’s Heroes Con in Charlotte, NC (see ad last issue).

lter Ego: The Graphic Novel, starring our miraculous “maskot” shown here, is attracting a bit of attention (but we can’t give you any more details on that score just yet)—so you might want to check out p. 84 for Heroic Publishing’s ad for this quality color, slick-paper re-presentation of Ron Harris’ and my 1986 mini-series. Above, A/E the super-hero smashes his way into our liltin’ letters section in a new drawing by Australian collectorand-artist Shane Foley, who says this is what he might’ve looked like if drawn by the great Joe Maneely, as per the Namor figure from JM’s 1955 cover for Sub-Mariner #37. [Art ©2005 Shane Foley; Alter Ego TM & ©2005 Roy & Dann Thomas; costume design by Ron Harris.] Once again, the best-laid plans of super-mice and super-men have gone astray, as we’d hoped to double up with comments on Alter Ego #42-43 this time. However, because of some spectacular art and letters that came in from Ernie Schroeder in particular (see below, next page, and p. 81), we’ll have to let #43 wait till next month… and content ourselves with material dealing with #42—whose main emphasis was on Ernie S., Herb Rogoff, and Wally Littman on one side, and Don Heck, Werner Roth, and Paul Reinman on the other. First up is a letter from one of #42’s intriguing interviewees, Herb Rogoff, who in the 1940s and ’50s served as an editor first at Hillman Publications, then at Ziff-Davis. —Roy. Hi, Roy: I have been remiss in not writing earlier to thank you and that indefatigable interviewer, Jim Amash, for running my Hillman/ZiffDavis years in your very fine magazine, Alter Ego #42. People to whom I have sent copies—none, by the way, familiar with the comic book industry—were intrigued by comics in general, by your publication specifically, and in me in a way they’d never known as friend or kin. I really needn’t tell you that Jim is an excellent interviewer. He was able to dig out a lot of stuff that I had already consigned, unmindful of the act, to the junkyard of my brain. I want to thank you for the great coverage you gave me, Ernie, and Wally, and for the opportunity to explain, in the best ways we could, the workings at Hillman and ZiffDavis. I never dreamed that the artwork would reproduce the way that it did.

I am also writing to let you know that when Mom and Pop informed me, an eon ago, that my middle name was Walter, I didn’t like it. It took me that eon to not only become accustomed to the name, but to actually adore it. Herbert Walter. Herbert Walter. I liked the sound of it. In Jim’s piece in A/E, not only was I beautifully reborn, but, unfortunately, I was also re-christened. This appeared in the “Herb Rogoff

Incidentally, this is a good place to mention that Write Now! editor Danny Fingeroth also sent us contact info for Herb Rogoff, though Jim Amash says he actually got in touch with Herb on his own. Turns out Danny went to high school with Herb’s son, and at a recent reunion he discovered the comics past of his old classmate’s father and forwarded it to us. That’s all the excuse Jim Amash and I needed. Herb, in turn, led us to Ernie Schroeder and Wally Littman, both of whom were also interviewed in #42. Thanks, Danny! By the way, Wally Littman dropped us a line, too: Dear Roy, I can’t tell you how honored I am to be in the issue with Ernie Schroeder and Herb Rogoff. They talked about things that I had long forgotten. Pleasant things that certainly had an influence on my life. I feel that I was lucky to have been a part of that era. Herb seems to remember so much, perhaps because he was at it longer. Your magazine is terrific. Thanks again for including me. Wally Littman Our pleasure, Wally. And, just to complete comments we received from our triumvirate of A/E #42 interviewees, we’re also printing below and on the next page a new several-drawing sequence we received from “Airboy”/“Heap” artist/writer Ernie Schroeder around the time it came out!

re: Here’s a comment from reader Jake Oster, typical of the many raves we received on that triple coverage: Roy, Kudos to associate editor Jim Amash for his interview with Herb Rogoff, which contained much information and interesting tidbits about Hillman and Ziff-Davis Publications. On page 10, Mr. Rogoff mentions an incident involving a writer who sold the same script to several publishers. This may have been Harry Stein, and jibes with what [1940s Timely editor] Vince Fago said about him in Alter Ego #11. Jake Oster We wouldn’t be surprised, Jake, if more than one writer tried that particular ploy at one time or another—and Jim tells us that Harry Stein was not the writer Herb Rogoff mentioned. Another pro who dropped us a line, as he often does—and they’re always informative, which is why we print ’em for our readers’ benefit— is Mike W. Barr, who was a writer and editor at DC during the 1980s and has done independent work as well, particularly on his creation The Maze Agency: Dear Roy: A few words about two of my favorite subjects: Alter Ego and Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. Herb Rogoff says in #42: “After he [Bernard Davis] left Ziff-Davis, Davis… bought Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, and his son Joel was the editor.” Actually, Frederic Dannay, one-half of the “Ellery Queen” writing team, edited EQMM from its first issue in 1941 (when it was published by Mercury Publications) until just before his death in 1982.

79 Davis Publications’ first issue was October 1957. Joel Davis eventually took over as President and Publisher, with B.G. Davis listed as “Chairman of the Board, 1969-1972.” The transition to Davis Publications may have been facilitated by the fact that Ziff-Davis had published two issues of Ellery Queen Comics dated Spring and Summer 1952. It would be interesting to find out if Mr. Rogoff has any recollectin of these. You are to be congratulated for your triptych of tributes to Don Heck, Paul Reinman, and Werner Roth. They have been largely forgotten or, worse, denigrated by dopes whose lungs work better than their brains, and A/E seems to be the only establishment that cares. One thing: in the Paul Reinman tribute, you printed the first page of the “Fly/Fly-Man” retooling and credited it to Super-Heroes vs. Super-Villains #1. That’s true as far as it goes, but SHvSV was itself a reprinting of earlier “Mighty Comics” issues. The “Fly-Man” page came from Fly-Man #38 or thereabouts, the one that kicked off the whole “Mighty” mini-explosion. I’ve forgotten the chronology. Since you were at Marvel in those days, how ticked off were Stan and Company by those books? I do recall a Bullpen Bulletins page that dealt harshly with them, though not by actual name. I imagine Stan’s private sentiments would not have been Code-approved. Mike W. Barr Even less so those of publisher Martin Goodman, Mike! But that’s all blood under the bridge now, as Edward Albee once said. And indeed, not many moons after Archie’s “Mighty Comics” line folded, its scripter, Jerry Siegel, co-creator of Superman, came to work briefly in the Marvel bullpen as a proofreader, and we all got along swimmingly… while “Mighty” artist Paul Reinman did an additional spot of work for Marvel later, as well. Indeed, Jerry wrote a three-part “Angel” story which will pop up in the fifth Marvel Masterworks volume of The X-Men. I know because I was invited to write an intro to that hardcover, which also features work by A/E #42 subjects Don Heck and Werner Roth… as well as Jim Steranko and others. Great to see all that 1960s work republished in full color on good paper, ain’t it!

Late 1940s/early ’50s “Heap”/”Airboy” writer/artist Ernie Schroeder, who was not only interviewed in A/E #42 but painted one of its covers, sent us this wonderful comics sequence featuring the two heroes with whom he is most associated, plus this informative update: “Airboy & The Heap – I’ve known these two for years. They are both alive an well—and, I might add, well off. The Heap had been raised as a member of the German upper class! Heidelberg University, sword-cuts, etc. When I was in Germany before the last war (1936), I was 4th officer on the Washington, a first-rate ship. We lost 3 crew members to the Nazis. I escaped!! In talking to The Heap, I never allude to the Nazi era, as he hates them and flies into a rage! However, The Heap, like Airboy, is an extremely wealthy creature. He travels alone around the world. Sightings of him started rumors of the Yeti in Asia, and here in our Northwest he is sighted occasionally. As both Airboy and The Heap have been wise in their investments, they have the bucks. The Heap is a vegetarian. Spinach, like with Popeye, is his favorite dish. Airboy hasn’t changed. Although he dresses very conservatively, his aircraft has been updated and the two engines—one a jet for propulsion, and the other for vertical flight—are increased in power. Some UFO sightings I attribute to him. He winks and grins! They like me (I’m pushing ninety), are not as spry. Airboy still flies locally on the weekends. That’s it! --Ernie.” [Art ©2005 Ernie Schroeder; Airboy & The Heap TM & ©2005 the respective trademark and copyright holders.]

[comments & corrections] his army, crossing the Alps’… but then an artist’s gotta spend all day drawing it!” But there was a twinkle in his eye and a big smile on his face as he said it, and, as you might expect, he turned around and did his usual marvelous job on this little nothing of a fivepage story. I’m happy to say I had the opportunity to tell Don how much I admired him and his work, even if, with a modesty typical of his generation, he waved aside my compliments and unabashed gushing, but I could see he appreciated hearing it. So thanks for sticking up for these unappreciated artists. They may never have been super-stars, but they were talented, hardworking men who brought pleasure to generations of readers. I’m happy to see that I’m not alone in that belief. Paul Kupperberg

A Heck Of A Pair Of Buddies (Left:) Ye Editor put out a call on the Grand Comics Data Base list, via the good offices of Ray Bottorff, Jr., for a good “Wonder Woman” page by Don Heck. When Y.E. went online to read his e-mail a ludicrously short time later, collector Bob Cherry had already forwarded this gorgeous splash page from Wonder Woman #317 (July 1984). Great choice, Bob—and thanks! Only sorry we couldn’t print it bigger!

Far from it, Paul—and we were tickled pink to read the anecdotes you provided! As a matter of fact, we also got a letter from a colleague and friend of Don Heck’s during his later years— artist Jim Fern—which we’ll print without further ado: Roy,

(Right:) Artist Jim Fern sent this nice example of his own pencils, from a comic he identified as “Superman Secret Files #[3].” He also worked on Aquaman and other titles. [Both drawings ©2005 DC Comics.]

Still another letter from a longtime comics pro—Paul Kupperberg, who wrote and edited for DC for some years: Roy, Man, you really pushed my nostalgia buttons with the “Forgotten Artists” features in A/E #42. Being of a certain age, I grew up with the art of Don Heck, Paul Reinman, and Werner Roth… and I have always loved the work of these unrecognized giants. In fact, some of my favorite comics of the mid-’60s were Reinman’s Mighty Heroes (along with Dell’s forgotten Super-Heroes, drawn by another of my Silver Age favorite, Sal Trapani). I always adored Reinman’s inking over Jack Kirby. It wasn’t popular to like Reinman’s work (I’m mocked to this very day by those who don’t know any better), but I hold firm to my convictions. Don Heck was another life-long favorite. I first became familiar with Don’s work in the earliest “Iron Man” stories—I can still see one of his Mandarin splash pages and Avengers covers in my mind’s eye!—and was hooked. Why he was singled out for the abuse his reputation was subjected to late in his career is and will always be a mystery to me. Don was a superb storyteller and a unique stylist. I always thought of him as Marvel’s Mike Sekowsky (no small compliment from this life-long JLA fan!), a massively talented artist with a quirky style (and some of his 1950s genre work for the Atlas Western and war titles was downright stunning!). But, unlike with Sekowsky and Reinman, I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to work with Don Heck when he jumped (or was pushed) to DC. He did a number of “Aquaman” stories I wrote early in my career for Adventure Comics (late 1970s), as well as a short story I wrote for the anthology title Weird War Tales #75. I happened to be in the offices the day Don picked up that script and ran into him in the hall. He waved the script—which was about Alexander the Great and some fictitious weird war encounter he had while crossing the Alps with his army—at me with mock anger and said, in an accent that was all New York street: “You #@+&! Writers! It takes you guys three seconds to type up ‘Alexander the Great, at the head of

You might or might not recognize my name: Jim Fern. I’m a fellow comic professional/artist. I’ve penciled, inked, co-created for over 20 years for Marvel and DC on various titles. I’m one of those guys who was never put on anything long-term. Maybe because I learned the craft while doing it and not before, starting off as an inker.

I picked up Alter Ego #42, with its story on Don Heck, and I have to say “thank you” on his behalf. Don and I were more than close friends for eleven years, up until his death from lung cancer. When I say close, I mean close. We were close in geographic proximity as well as having a best-of-friends relationship. I used to call him “Mr. Don” out of respect, and he hated that! But he got used to it. Don’s family were not close to him. His nephew Keith I met only once the whole time I knew Don, up until the second time I met him, when Don was sick with lung cancer, which he passed away from ten years ago this month [Feb. 2005]. Keith is the son of Don’s only sibling, a sister. Don and I were in Suffolk County, Long Island, New York. He was in Centereach and I in the neighboring town of Lake Grove. I had my family, but other than my poor mother, who was an artist in her own right, no one understood what it is that comic artists go through, so Don and I would commiserate. We kept each other sane. Don and I helped each other out with deadlines as well as in everyday life. We used to joke about how we both got the short end of the stick and how I should get out of the comic business while the getting was good! I’m still in it, though, barely! There were a couple of misconceptions about Don. I heard his name mentioned when I was just a teenager getting into the business. I was sitting in the hall up at DC, at this point at 74 Rock, waiting for (I think) either Ernie Colón or Sal Amendola to critique my portfolio, and two people were discussing to whom to give a job. They mentioned Don Heck, and one of them said no, because the word was that Don was slow on deadlines because he wasn’t in his right state of mind over his wife dying, and that he suffered from depression and was once suicidal. I remember thinking to myself, “Poor Don Heck,”

re:

because I knew who he was and was surprised to hear this.

all about the money and not the product. I think that’s proven true.

Well, fast-forward a couple of years, when, my first ink job for Marvel under my arm, I walked into a local comic shop, ready to show it to my buddy behind the counter. He was talking to this fellow who reminded me of Art Carney, wearing his cabby-style hat, and his out-of-date clothes with plaid slacks. I entered just as he was introducing himself to my friend, extending his hand for a handshake and saying, “Hi, I’m Don Heck, and I’m supposed to do a signing on Friday, so I just came to look the place over.”

Don often said there are no publications for young guys like me to learn their craft in, or for the older guys like him just to keep active. I used to get Don to lay out pages for me as often as I could, just to keep him busy. I needed the help, as well, and learned a thing or two about composition from working over his layouts. He was there for me through my trials in life. I was only 18 when we started our friendship. I was there for him when he was sick and when he was dying. The man had a good, good heart. Not a mean bone in his body. A softy. All he wanted to do was draw pretty pictures, and he wished the world would have a need to see them. I did, and I am grateful for it.

I couldn’t believe my ears! Don Heck! Of all people! This guy had been on my mind because that inter-office banter that day had left an impression on me. I was so happy to meet a professional, because I really did not know how to approach the inks on the job I had under my arms! At the appropriate time, I introduced myself and asked him for advice, and he gave it. When I got home only to find I still had stage fright on this, my first professional job, I looked Don’s name up in the phone book and there he was! I called, and he invited me over to his place. He told me he couldn’t spend a lot of time with me, but he’d take another look. I said that would be great.

Don really would have appreciated your editorial, and so I thought you might like to know that. Jim Fern Wonderful to hear from you about your long friendship with Don, Jim. He was indeed one of the nice guys, as well as a talented one. As you can see, the two of you are together on p. 80—a page of Heck, and a page of Fern! Don would get a kick out of it, I’m sure, if he were around to see it.

Well, “not a lot of time” became eleven years!

Ernie Schroeder strikes again! Our Golden Age Heap/Airboy artist But when I showed up at his house Here’s a note re the Rogoff was so impressed by the detective work done by Hames Ware and that day, I had that thought of him interview from a guy who came to Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr., in tracking down his name a few years being suicidal hanging over my head, so work for Marvel in the 1970s (I know, back—as reported in Alter Ego #29—that he drew this brand new I tiptoed around him, not knowing ’cause I’m proud to say I’m the one picture of the vintage characters for Hames. Thanks for sharing what his state of mind would be. Not who suggested to Stan Lee that he hire it with us, pal! [Art ©2005 Ernie Schroeder; Heap and Airboy long after our friendship started, I him)—one Tony Isabella, now a TM & ©2005 the respective copyright holders.] realized he wasn’t depressed nor popular columnist for the Comics anywhere near suicidal, so I told him what I had hard in the offices, and Buyer’s Guide, among other things. And check out “Tony’s Online Tips” he couldn’t believe it! “Irate” doesn’t even describe how he felt! at: www.worldfamouscomics.com/tony.

I found out that not only was he not suicidal, but he never had a wife that died. He was married and divorced twice, and both ex-wives were still living. He really loved his second wife. It was she he patterned his Wonder Woman after. She had wanted the divorce because she couldn’t put up with him constantly sitting at the drawing board and got sick of seeing the back of his head, as he put it. To top it off, in the eleven years I knew him, I don’t think he ever missed a deadline. One year Don was drawing a double-size Wonder Woman that you wrote, and we had Hurricane Gloria on Long Island and wound up without power for a week or two, so Don finished that issue by the light of Bunsen burners! And I believe he got it in on time, or close enough to it! Don preferred his work on Wonder Woman to anything else he’d done. I told him I really thought he’d done great work in the 1950s, but he didn’t like to hear that. He thought he had improved, and that Wonder Woman was the result. He had all those originals in his basement, and I used to just love to look through the piles of art. In your editorial you pondered whether you could have done more for Don or Paul or Werner. I believe I’m not wrong in presuming that many others do not have that kind of second thought. There was a lot more the industry could have done for Don and the others. I’ll give Jim Shooter credit for one thing he said to me—that he felt the advent of royalty checks would ruin the comics business because it would then be

Hey, Roy— I don’t know if it was an oversight or if no one spotted this, but I think the artist of “The Man with the Carpetbag” story on p. 11 [of the Hillman/Ziff-Davis side] was Rocco Mastroserio. Look at the name on the sign on the assayer’s office in the splash panel. I just checked the fourth volume of my well-worn Who’s Who of American Comic Books, and Mastroserio’s updated entry does confirm that he worked for Hillman around that time. Tony Isabella You’re dead right, Tony—the sign says “R. Mastro,” and was probably Mastroserio’s way of “signing” that 1950 Western story. You always did have sharp eyes, back when you were a Marvel staffer! In addition, Robin Kirby sent us this: Hi— Just devoured Alter Ego #42—and grinned when I saw the illustration for “Return of the Outlaw,” which was one of the last stories to be identified (only ten strips still to find after 30+ years of publishing— not a bad strike rate) for my pending Marvel UK tome (through Comics International publishers Quality Communications, excuse my brief plug). Noticing that you couldn’t find details of the issue it appeared in, I couldn’t resist dropping you a quick line to clear up the mystery. The story in question originally appeared in issue #3 of The Rawhide Kid

[comments & corrections]

(Vol. 1), and was reprinted over here in the early 1980s in issue #18 of the Marvel UK weekly Forces in Combat. Nick Caputo is also quite correct in stating that Don Heck has been criminally overlooked, partly due, I think, to his less flashy style, but more because his thinner line work never reproduced particularly well due to printing limitations of that time. In the old UK weekly comics, Heck’s art often looked very pale by comparison with Romita’s and Sinnott’s ink work. I’m sorry to say that I, too, thought less of his work in my youth. I think Marvel’s wonderful Essentials volumes are showing off this artwork in the best light it’s ever been seen (re Chic Stone, et al.)… where they still have photocopies of the original art to work with, anyway. Rob Kirby 2 Bramshott Close London Road Hitchin, Herts SG49EP UK Thanks for the info, Rob—and good luck with your forthcoming book! Hope I run into a copy!

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Keep those cards and letters coming in—well, nowadays we get a lot more e-mails than we do cards and letters, but we’ll take what we can get: Roy Thomas 32 Bluebird Trail St. Matthews, SC 29135

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

Next month, I’ve thrown caution (and perhaps due modesty) to the wind and will celebrate both Alter Ego’s 50th issue—and my own 40th year in the comic book field. Frankly, I can’t believe that either A/E or I ever got to be this old—but, like the song says, “We’re still a-livin’, so everything’s okay!” Be here, huh? It won’t be much of a party if I have to blow out all the candles myself!

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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 (Captain Marvel Adventures No. 18, Dec. ’42); but he was primarily hired by Fawcett Publications to illustrate Captain Marvel stories and covers for Whiz Comics and Captain Marvel Adventures. He also wrote many Captain Marvel scripts, and continued to do so while in the military. After leaving the service 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, including Sweethearts and Life Story. 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 recalled contemplating over his career in comics in 1956 while he tested the waters of corporate work. This time, the versatile artist discusses his writing “Captain Marvel” scripts near the very beginning of the Golden Age, and the usage in the stories of the World’s Mightiest Mortal’s 14-year-old alter ego. —P.C. Hamerlinck.

t was 1938… radio sets up and down the street... and in the dorms at Louisiana Tech... were blaring startling news that we, the USA and the rest of the world I suppose, were being attacked by unknowns from outer space! Turned out to be a hoax, I am thankful to say today. Come to think of it, more thankful then.

It can be assumed that writers... like the incredibly prolific Otto Binder... got around to opening some Captain Marvel stories without the customary Billy Batson scene. Of the tales scripted for the feature by others, however, including myself, it’s a safe bet that few began otherwise. In the majority of cases it was Billy... setting the stage... arranging the props... providing a supporting cast... hinting at a plot... moving toward his initial “Shazam”... to return at the story’s close for his farewell... after the magic word again, of course. There weren’t any special memos or pep talks about it, but the general understanding was that Eddie Herron, Al Allard, and very likely Ralph Daigh expected to see Captain Marvel out front very early in the stories. So did the Madison Avenue suits upstairs. The name of the game... the comic book game... at Fawcett was Captain Marvel! My somewhat impromptu entry into the writing arena came about when there was a spur of the moment need for a script and I volunteered. I don’t know why I did that, except that I considered myself a team player... and Fawcett was my team. My big brother’s words echoed then and still do: “Don’t make your infielder have to dig the ball out of the dirt! Throw him a perfect strike!” Not bad advice. Not easy to forget. They didn’t know I could write. Nobody did... but me. There had been no mention of writing in my résumé... how could they know? Of course, in my own personal ratings of authorship I invariably found myself at or very near the top... up there with the literary greats. No sense in selling oneself short... to oneself. I call it confidence... selfconfidence. Little can be recalled about the story after it was accepted and scheduled... not even whether it was illustrated by C.C. Beck or by me. I did a couple more scripts after that but not under similar pressure circumstances. I have since wondered occasionally how they were handled in the accounting department. Surely not in my name, a salaried member of the art department. There was a strict no-no on the premises that purchases never be made from company employees. The benefit that I was to enjoy from the experience was the satisfaction when I left for military service a year or so later that I was not the only one who knew

Scared the daylights out of us but didn’t hurt us. Nor did it hurt the young radio announcer, Orson Welles, who spawned the joke. Another production of his, Citizen Kane, hit the movie screens three years later with almost as great an impact. Maybe greater. If Orson was not already a star by that time, he was well on his way to becoming one. So was another young radio announcer, high in the upper tiers of Manhattan... kid named Batson with station WHIZ. Billy is perhaps better remembered by the name of his alter ego, Captain Marvel. Billy Batson, one of a surprising number of Golden Age good-deeders from the creative mind of Fawcett writer-editor Bill Parker, must have been his creator’s gift to comic book writers of the day. What

“The kid with radio station WHIZ is perhaps better remembered by the name of his alter ego, Captain Marvel. In the majority of stories, it was Billy… setting the stage….” Marc Swayze panel from Captain Marvel Adventures #15 (Sept. 1942). [2005 DC Comics.]

“We Didn’t Know... It Was The Golden Age!”

I could write. And that benefit was truly appreciated once I was in uniform and permanently assigned. Conditions were ideal for penning Captain Marvel stories in an old notebook, passing it on to some speed-typing pals, thence to the gang at Fawcett... who “knew I could write.” Now is an opportunity to apologize to my reader for a mistake I made some issues back in recounting that period. In quoting a remark as

having been made by my friend Wendell Crowley “of the staff,” I was wrong. It was later that Wendell left the Jack Binder shop to join the editorial staff of the comics department of Fawcett Publications... and become one of the most memorable figures of the Golden Age. [Marc’s memories of the Golden Age continue next issue.]

COMICS’ GOLDEN AGE LIVES AGAIN!

COMMANDO YANK BLACK TERROR AVENGER PHANTOM LADY CAT-MAN DAREDEVIL CRIMEBUSTER CAPTAIN FLASH MR. SCARLET SPY SMASHER SKYMAN STUNTMAN THE OWL BULLETMAN FIGHTING YANK PYROMAN GREEN LAMA THE EAGLE IBIS The Original GHOST RIDER The above is just a partial list of characters that have appeared in AC Comics’ reprint titles such as MEN OF MYSTERY, GOLDEN AGE GREATS, and AMERICA’S GREATEST COMICS. Virtually all issues published to date are available at $6.95 each. To find over 100 quality Golden Age reprints, go to the AC Comics website at <accomics.com>. AC COMICS Box 521216 Longwood FL 32752 Please add $1.50 postage & handling per order.

Man of Mystery

BILL BLACK’s AC Comics by P.C. Hamerlinck [Special Thanks to Robert K.S. Croy, Sr.]

A Fan In Florida

uper-heroes and cowboys influenced a boy who would one day own his own comic book company.

Bill Black was first exposed to comics as its Golden Age dissipated directly following World War II. Black witnessed firsthand many of his favorite super-heroes fall and vanish into thin air. Still, the youngster with a strong passion for comics kept a steady vigil near the newsstands, armed with dimes and ready to grab any heroes still left standing. His family moved to Florida in 1951. During the 1950s, he had his definite favorites: Simon and Kirby’s Fighting American, Bullseye, and Stuntman. By sixth grade, Black was already creating and drawing his own comics. Another top pop-culture love of Black’s was films. He took an immediate liking to the Saturday afternoon matinee B-western movies, and was particularly awestruck with the Durango Kid films starring Charles Starrett. The combination of Durango’s heroics and all-black outfit filled a void

Marvels All! (Above:) Bill Black talks with a bearded C.C. Beck about his gun collection at an OrlandoCon in the early 1980s. (Below:) The Marvel Family—penciled by Don Newton, and inked by Bill Black. [Art ©2005 Bill Black & Estate of Don Newton; characters TM & ©2005 DC Comics.]

for Black during a time when many of his favorite comic book costumed characters continued to shrink in numbers. (Black soon discovered to his delight Magazine Enterprises’ Durango Kid comic book and was lassoed into the thriving cowboy comics genre of the period.) As early as 1959 Black started to produce his own regular 8mm and super-8 horror films. He even made it as a finalist in a contest sponsored by Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine. Eventually Black became more serious with his movie projects and began filming in 16mm, making roughly twenty movies. (He continues film work today, with plans to put more time and energy into the field.) Black entered Florida State University in 1963, majoring in Advertising Design while he fine-tuned his art skills. He produced his first professional work with underground comix publisher Bill Killeen on The Charlatan, a humor magazine based in Tallahassee, Florida. After graduating from FSU in 1966, Black was drafted into the Army and assigned to teach photography and painting at Fort Stewart in Georgia. While in the service he married his college sweetheart, Rebekah, who soon understood her husband’s fascination with comics after she read his entire box of early Fantastic Four issues. During this time Black discovered comics fandom by stumbling upon an issue of G.B. Love’s comic fanzine, The Rocket’s BlastComicollector. Through the RB-CC’s large number of advertisers, Black began buying Golden Age comics from dealers and fans and developed friendships with others in fandom. Black would soon become one of comic fandom’s major figures.

Paragon And Prodom In early 1969 Black began to create small press publications under the banner of Paragon Publications. The previous year he had

Bill Black’s AC Comics on a new life of their own, transforming from fanzines into professionallyproduced and -designed magazines. Various then-current and future comics professionals provided art contributions to Black’s magazines, including Gil Kane, Joe Staton, and Jerry Ordway. In 1972 Black decided to write to his childhood idol, Charles Starrett, the actor who had portrayed The Durango Kid. One evening close to midnight, a ringing phone awakened Black. The familiar-sounding voice on the other end said, “This is The Durango Kid!” Black’s friendship with Starrett had begun, lasting almost two decades until the actor’s death. Starrett had granted Black permission for the continued use of his name and image in Durango Kid comics. Black promised Starrett that he would keep him and Durango alive by always having “The Durango Kid” in print … a promise that Black has kept since 1973.

Bill’s contact with the late Charles Starrett, who had played “The Durango Kid” in a series of movies in the 1940s and early ’50s, led to his eventually reprinting numerous Western comics stories from that period—e.g., in Best of the West #26 (2002) and Western Movie Hero #2 (2001) with Monte Hale, Lash LaRue, Tom Mix, and Tim Holt. These and most of the rest of AC Comics’ product are still available; see ad on p. 86. [Covers ©2005 AC Comics.]

published Paragon Golden Age Greats #1, which contained reprints of Golden Age stories of “Rocketman,” “The Spirit,” “Captain Marvel,” and others. It was produced on a photocopier and was an extremely limited edition of one copy. The next year, a week before his discharge from the Army, Black persuaded his supervisor to buy a used printing press, and with it he printed Paragon Golden Age Greats # 2. The book contained reprints of Golden Age “Captain Marvel” stories, which, Black learned, could have caused him trademark problems. Thus, with the exception of a dozen or so ultra-rare copies, the entire print run was trashed. Noteworthy of this rarity was the inclusion of a brand new Captain Marvel story, written and drawn (in then-current Marvel Comics-style) by Black, years before DC Comics officially revived the World’s Mightiest Mortal. Luckily, Black had saved the original artwork, which was reworked and re-lettered and subsequently published in the next Paragon book, Paragon Publications – Captain Paragon #1. (The second issue was titled Paragon Presents – Dark Continent #2, featuring Tara, originally drawn by Black on typewriter paper.) Returning to Florida after his time in the service, Black did a brief freelance stint with Warren Publications, illustrating horror stories for Creepy and Eerie magazines. He continued to produce books under the Paragon banner during evening hours. Black became heavily involved within fandom and produced many covers and spot illustrations for various fanzines, most notably for Bill Wilson’s The Collector, Gary Groth’s Fantastic Fanzine, Marty Greim’s Comic Crusader, and other fan-related projects. By producing an entire line of different titles, Black’s own fanzines were unique from his contemporaries’. In 1970 Black moved to Tallahassee and worked at the Florida State University Media Center as an illustrator and supervisor. During his employment with them, Black persuaded yet another of his employers to obtain a used printing press! In evenings down in the FSU basement Black printed his Paragon books. (He would eventually obtain a printing press of his own while in Tallahassee.) The Paragon books began to take

Black became involved in Florida’s OrlandoCon in the late ’70s. The convention became well-known for its big-name guests, including Will Eisner, Marty Nodell, C.C. Beck, and many others. Black’s association with OrlandoCon lasted 17 years.

In the mid-’70s, Marvel Comics editor Roy Thomas asked Black if he would be interested in some freelance inking work for them. Black inked stories in What If #9 & #12 and The Invaders #31. Black then turned down further freelance work from Marvel and relocated to Longwood, Florida, where he took an art director job with a film production company. Black continued to contribute art for various comics and fanzines. In the early ’80s, he illustrated several covers for Charlton, including Billy the Kid and Gunfighters. He also assisted Dan Reed on the “Blue Beetle” strip and provided artwork for Charlton Bullseye.

Turning On The AC In 1982, Black decided to form his own independent comic book company: AmeriComics—later renamed AC Comics. For 13 years Black had run Paragon Publications out of his home, but with AC, he opened up offices in Longwood, where the business has since remained. Wisconsin artist Mark Heike, whom Black calls “my first fan,” relocated to Longwood to join AC as associate editor and artist. AC Comics was one of the pioneering four-color comics publishers responsible for the development of the independent direct sales market. The company grew quickly and was soon publishing several titles. 1985 marked the year that Black, long inspired by Golden Age “good girl” art (specifically Matt Baker’s Phantom Lady), began publishing comics featuring what would become his most popular creation: “Femforce.” The successful and longest-running super-heroine group is celebrating its 20-year anniversary. By the late ’80s Black began to experiment in publishing different genres, reprinting Golden Age western, crime, jungle, and science-fiction comic stories—in addition to reprinting public domain super-hero stories from the ’40s and ’50s. Charlton departed from the comic book business in 1987 and began

Man of Mystery

Amazon Warriors #1 – A one-shot comic with a Henry Kieffer-drawn “Nyoka the Jungle Girl” story (“Jungle Jaundice”) from Master Comics.

to sell its entire warehouse inventory and liquidate all of its comic book properties. Subsequently, Black acquired an impressive lot of old comic book treasures, such as Dick Giordano-drawn Rocky Lane Western original page photostats.

America’s Greatest Comics – Hmmm, does that title sound familiar? This Golden Age reprint anthology generally contains various genres per issue … horror, crime, hero, jungle, war, good girl, sci-fi … by masters of comic art: Wood, Ditko, Evans, Baker, Powell, Simon and Kirby, and others. Issue #3’s all-Fawcett assembly featured Dan Barry’s “Bulletman,” Emil Gershwin’s “Spy Smasher,” Kurt Schaffenberger’s “Ibis the Invincible,” Bob Fujitani’s “Mr. Scarlet,” and George Tuska’s “El Carim.”

With a desire to actually own a Golden Age comic book character and finding the former-Fawcett “Nyoka the Jungle Girl” property available from Charlton, Black purchased it, along with the original art to a two-part “Nyoka” story and other formerly Fawcett strips such as “Don Winslow of the Navy.” In a separate transaction, Black purchased old Fawcett Publications photostats to approximately 25 issues of Master Comics, featuring “Nyoka,” “Tom Mix,” and “Bulletman” stories. Black admits that most of “Nyoka”’s Fawcett stories lacked dynamic artwork. “I’ve been searching for a well-drawn ‘Nyoka’ story ... and I’m still looking!” he said recently. “The best ‘Nyoka’ artwork ever was by Harry Anderson for the first issue” (titled Jungle Girl, which adapted the 1942 Republic movie serial Perils of Nyoka). Black intended to reprint Jungle Girl #1 in the late ’80s, and even hired an artist to trace the pages’ original art size using an art-o-graph, but the job was never finished and has sat on Black’s shelf for over 15 years. Black eventually met Kay Aldridge, who played the lead role in Perils of Nyoka. “Nyoka became a part of our life and a role model for my daughter,” Black says. “She portrayed ‘Young Nyoka’ in AC’s Nyoka #4. I also wrote a screenplay for a new Nyoka film, but nothing became of the project.”

Best of the West –This revival title of Magazine Enterprises’ line of Western comics now also includes other Western heroes, with occasional reprints of Fawcett’s “Golden Arrow,” “Monte Hale,” “Lash LaRue,” “Rocky Lane,” “Ken Maynard,” ”Tom Mix,” “Smiley Burnette,” and “Pistol Packin’ Pattie” (Frank Bolle’s back-up humor feature from Fawcett’s Hopalong Cassidy comic; Pattie has also popped up in AC’s Red Mask #1 and various issues of Good Girl Art Quarterly.). AC Comics is the only company today keeping the Western comic book alive. Blue Bulleteer #1 – A Bill Ward-drawn “Bulletman” tale from Master Comics is re-worked as “The Blue Bulleteer vs. the Magnet.” Bob Steele Western #1 – Reprints from the Fawcett series, with a bonus “Rocky Lane” story.

On the prowl to secure more Golden Age material to reprint, Black established contact with former Fiction House editor T.T. Scott and gained permission to reprint all of FH’s Golden Age material. Black then contacted former Magazine Enterprises publisher Vin Sullivan, who gave him permission to reprint the entire line of ME’s western comics. Black was also granted a license by Roy and Dale Rogers to reprint stories from old Roy Rogers comics. Black eventually arranged for the licensing of other Golden Age Western stars, including Lash LaRue, Tom Mix, Hopalong Cassidy, and Monte Hale.

Cliffhanger Comics – The 4-issue run featured reprints of Fawcett’s stars from the movie serials: “Nyoka,” “Don Winslow,” “Tom Mix,” and “Rocky Lane.” Don Winslow Trouble Shooter #1 – This one-shot had reprints from Fawcett’s Don Winslow of the Navy series, illustrated by the prolific art team of Carl Pfeufer and John Jordan. Also included was a Winslow cover gallery and a “Lance O’Casey” yarn from Whiz Comics. Fem Force House of Horror #1 – “The Last Man” from Fawcett’s This Magazine Is Haunted #5, 1951.

Back To The Golden Age Black began producing a series of trade paperbacks entitled Golden Age Greats, reprinting fully-restored Golden Age comic book stories plus new text features, along with several other Golden Age reprint titles. Fawcett Publications have been well-represented in many of these AC books. Here’s a sampling:

Lots of Fawcett material—though not the Big Red Cheese and family—has been reprinted in AC titles such as America’s Greatest Comics #3 (2002)—still in print! Bill did the cover, working with inspiration from Golden Age greats. [Cover art ©2005 AC Comics.]

Golden Age Greats – AC’s essential trade paperback series! The first volume contained two nicely-restored Mac Raboy “Green Lama” stories. Vol. 4’s must-have all-Fawcett edition features “The Fawcett Heroes: Captain Billy’s Whiz Gang,” with articles, indexes, Raboy “Captain Midnight” art, and story reprints of Alex

Bill Black’s AC Comics “Don Winslow” (Pfeufer/Jordan), Daredevil vs. The Claw and “The Human Bomb” (re-created in the ’70s by C.C. Beck), “Minute-Man” (Bard, Raboy, Beck, Sultan), “Golden Arrow,” and “The Phantom Eagle” by Marc Swayze (appearing in all-Fawcett issue #21; also containing contributions by Swayze and FCA.)

Blum’s “Spy Smasher,” Bob Fujitani’s “Bulletman,” “Ibis,” “Mr. Scarlet,” and Phil Bard’s “Minute-Man” story from Master Comics #41. This story is unique, as it featured the “Crime Crusaders Club,” a one-time Fawcett super-team group consisting of Minute-Man and his Master co-stars Bulletman, Bulletgirl, and Captain Marvel Jr. However, since Cap Jr. didn’t fall into public domain, Black masterfully replaced him with Mr. Scarlet! The results were still satisfying, even to the staunchest Fawcett purist. Vol. 10 featured an “Ibis the Invincible” story plus Don Winslow outmatching wits with his recurring female nemesis, Singapore Sal.

Miss Victory #2 – The UK’s Young Marvelman becomes Young Mysticman! (With a contribution from FCA.) The Further Adventures of Nyoka the Jungle Girl – Nyoka returned for five issues of her own book, featuring new AC stories, Laura Stafford as Young Nyoka, Fawcett and Charlton reprints, articles, and classic photos from the two Nyoka Republic movie serials.

Golden Age Treasury, Vol. 1 and 2 – In the grand tradition of Fawcett’s Gift Comics and Xmas Comics, these thick, phone book-sized comics contain material already published (or reprinted, in AC’s case), but still make for great collections. The gang’s all here within each volume’s 240 pages: Bulletman, Spy Smasher, Mr. Scarlet, Ibis, Nyoka, and more. GAT’s covers are Black’s take-offs of the first two covers of Fawcett’s America’s Greatest Comics. Great American Western – This title showcased Pfeufer/Jordan “Tom Mix” stories in #3, and more “Mix,” “Lash LaRue,” and Leonard Frank’s “Gabby Hayes” in #4. Issue #5 ran the entire Fawcett movie adaptation of Lash LaRue’s King of the Bull Whip, drawn by Bob Powell.

The Official Golden Age Hero & Heroine Directory – One fact-filled volume thus far, with statistics and art of random Golden Age characters. Includes Bulletman and Bulletgirl, Captain Midnight, Commando Yank, Mr. Scarlet, and Nyoka. Rocketman Ashcan #1 and 2 Playing back-up are Bill Ward-drawn “Bulletman” stories from Master Comics. More Fawcett reprints have appeared in Golden-Age Men of Mystery #2 (1996). The guys on the cover are Commando Yank, Black Terror, mid-1950s hero Captain Flash, and, of course, Phantom Lady—with art by Brad Gorbey, Bill Black, and Mark Heike. [Covers ©2005 AC Comics.]

Hopalong Cassidy and the Five Men of Evil – A trade paperback reprinting Dan Spiegle’s excellent Hopalong Cassidy newspaper strip, plus a bonus Fawcett Hopalong story, an introduction by Mike Royer, and Black’s article “The Hopalong Phenomena.” Jungle Girls – Nyoka the Jungle Girl reprints appeared in several issues of the series’ run … some from Fawcett, some from the Charlton era. Lady Crime #1 – One-shot with Bob Powell reprints from Fawcett’s Down with Crime. Lash LaRue #1, 2, Annual #1 – Some Fawcett, some Charlton, but all excellent Western adventures. Men of Mystery – AC’s flagship Golden Age reprint anthology title! Fawcett reprints have included “Mr. Scarlet” (Bob Fujitani, Carl Pfeufer, Jack Binder), “Commando Yank” (Dan Barry, Pfeufer/Jordan, Phil Bard, text piece by Roy Thomas), the UK’s “Marvelman” (Mick Anglo, Don Lawrence), “Bulletman” (Bill Ward, Harry Anderson, Chesler Shop, Charles Sultan, Mac Raboy, Ken Bald), “Ibis the Invincible” (Kurt Schaffenberger, Alex Blum), “Captain Midnight” (Dan Barry), “Spy Smasher” (C.C. Beck, Jack Binder, Emil Gershwin, Alex Blum, Irv Steinberg), “Lee Granger Jungle King” with Eric, his talking pet tiger (pre-Mr. Tawny!), “Lance O’Casey,” “Captain Video” (George Evans),

Rocky Lane Western #1, 2, Annual #1 – Both Fawcett and Charlton eras represented. Roy Rogers Western # 2, 5 – Included are Leonard Frank’s humorous “Gabby Hayes” stories.

She-Cat #4 – Featuring a retro/reprint story that never was! A certain famous “Junior” from Fawcett Publications is re-worked as a ‘Captain Paragon Jr.’ story! Thrilling Science Tales #1 (“Bob Colt”), #2 (“Captain Video” by Evans). Tom Mix Western # 1, 2, Holiday Album #1 – Action-packed Pfeufer/Jordan Fawcett reprints, most from Master Comics. Wall of Flesh #1 – A one-shot issue with a same-titled, pre-Code horror Bob Powell reprint from Fawcett’s This Magazine Is Haunted. Western Movie Hero – Like the similarly titled Fawcett comic, this AC book reprints comics of B-movie cowboys such as Tex Ritter, Rocky Lane, Lash LaRue, Tom Mix, and Monte Hale. Despite today’s crumbing comic book market—but fulfilling a niche with a successful presence on the web (www.accomics.com)—Bill Black’s AC Comics continues to bring Golden Age comic material to new generations, and to collector’s who have been priced out of collecting old comics. More importantly, AC keeps alive a part of our heritage, diligently preserving the history and spirit of an original American art form.

True Art

“But you have to change things!” these copyists maintain. “You have to bring things up to date, and use modern terms that readers will understand.” In other words, you must rewrite history. If an old story is bloodthirsty and horrible, you must clean it up and make it all pretty and nice. If an old story is simple and direct, you must clutter it all up and make it mind-boggling. Above all, you must make everything polished, slick, homogenized like a TV dinner or a fast-food milkshake.

by C.C. Beck Edited by P.C. Hamerlinck [Originally presented in FCA/SOB #11 (FCA #22), 1981.]

ot long ago a young artist asked me whether the purpose of art was not to search for new ways to see things and then to show the world how to view everything in new and wonderful ways.

He seemed shocked when I said that I didn’t hold much to that view. Perhaps, I said, in the long run artists manage to teach the public new ways of seeing things, but only gradually and after the passage of many years. No individual artist can bring about any great change, I pointed out. In my opinion it is much more important that artists use standard, accepted methods to show things that everyone is familiar with but of which most people are not aware. Art, like language, must be understood by ordinary humans. There is no point in creating new and strange terms which nobody can understand. Such work, in either literature or art, is no better than gibberish.

This is utter nonsense, of course. If an old story (there really aren’t any new ones, and haven’t been since prehistoric times) is still worth telling, tell it the way it was told in the first place. Don’t fruit it up with all sorts of meaningless garbage. If you have no story to tell, don’t expect to get many readers to buy your work for the sake of the beautiful, mostly meaningless art you give them instead. To me, art is like magic. True art should make viewers say, “I don’t know how he did that, but it’s a great job.” False art makes viewers say, “Now why did he do that? I can’t make heads or tails of this fellow’s work.” Even other artists don’t really like such false art. So many of them sit down and produce art that’s even more false. After a while, everything becomes so meaningless that it all falls apart and disappears, never to be seen again. The whole shebang is buried under tons of rubble and later generations forget all about the misguided souls who thought that their names would be remembered forever.

Political cartoonists merely exaggerate politicians’ noses, ears, teeth, jowls, and other features so that they can become instantly recognizable characters. “Why, that looks just like Nixon, or Reagan, or Carter, or Tip O’Neil!” the reader laughs—or snorts— depending on his politics. Political cartoonists don’t show figures as if seen from directly overhead, or from a manhole, or leaping off the page in startling perspective. They don’t tip and distort everything merely to show off. They do not use an airbrush, or acrylic paint, or even, most of the time, any color. Comic book cartoonists, however, seem to be trying to impress readers with their artwork, not with their ability to depict great characters. They seem to be always experimenting, like so many students, with strange angles and weird techniques in hopes of finding something new and wonderful. What that something may be, nobody knows. After a political character has been established in cartoon form, other artists copy the caricature mindlessly. They distort it farther and farther away from the original form until it becomes grotesque and meaningless. This happens to comic book characters, too. All the great Golden Age characters have been so changed over the years that they are no longer recognizable. They are like the great heroes and villains and saints of ancient times whose stories and images were retold and reshaped by copyists and scribes who hadn’t the faintest idea of what they were supposed to be doing.

Edited by ROY THOMAS

DIGITAL

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

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ALTER EGO #4

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!

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

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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!

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

ALTER EGO #24

ALTER EGO #25

ALTER EGO #26

ALTER EGO #27

ALTER EGO #28

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

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

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

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

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

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

ALTER EGO #29

ALTER EGO #30

ALTER EGO #31

ALTER EGO #32

ALTER EGO #33

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ALTER EGO #34

ALTER EGO #35

ALTER EGO #36

ALTER EGO #37

ALTER EGO #38

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

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

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

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

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

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

ALTER EGO #39

ALTER EGO #40

ALTER EGO #41

ALTER EGO #42

ALTER EGO #43

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

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

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

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

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

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

ALTER EGO #44

ALTER EGO #45

ALTER EGO #46

ALTER EGO #47

ALTER EGO #48

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ALTER EGO #49

ALTER EGO #50

ALTER EGO #51

ALTER EGO #52

ALTER EGO #53

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ALTER EGO #54

ALTER EGO #55

ALTER EGO #56

ALTER EGO #57

ALTER EGO #58

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

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

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

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

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

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

ALTER EGO #59

ALTER EGO #60

ALTER EGO #61

ALTER EGO #62

ALTER EGO #63

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

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

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

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

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

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

ALTER EGO #64

ALTER EGO #65

ALTER EGO #66

ALTER EGO #67

ALTER EGO #68

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

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

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

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

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

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

ALTER EGO #69

ALTER EGO #70

ALTER EGO #71

ALTER EGO #72

ALTER EGO #73

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

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

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

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

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

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

ALTER EGO #74

ALTER EGO #75

ALTER EGO #76

ALTER EGO #77

ALTER EGO #78

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

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

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

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

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

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

ALTER EGO #79

ALTER EGO #80

ALTER EGO #81

ALTER EGO #82

ALTER EGO #83

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

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

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

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

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

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

ALTER EGO #84

ALTER EGO #85

ALTER EGO #86

ALTER EGO #87

ALTER EGO #88

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

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

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

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

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

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

ALTER EGO #89

ALTER EGO #90

ALTER EGO #91

ALTER EGO #92

ALTER EGO #93

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ALTER EGO #94

ALTER EGO #95

ALTER EGO #96

ALTER EGO #97

ALTER EGO #98

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

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

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

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

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

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

ALTER EGO: CENTENNIAL (AE #100)

ALTER EGO #99

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

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

ALTER EGO #101

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

NEW!

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

ALTER EGO #102

ALTER EGO #103

ALTER EGO #104

ALTER EGO: THE CBA COLLECTION

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

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

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

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

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

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

HUMOR MAGAZINES (BUNDLE ALL THREE FOR JUST $14.95)

ALTER EGO:

BEST OF THE LEGENDARY COMICS FANZINE

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

COMIC BOOK NERD

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

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

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

DIEDGITIIOTANSL E

BL AVAILA

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

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

NEW!

MR. MONSTER, VOL. 0

TRUE BRIT

DICK GIORDANO: CHANGING COMICS, ONE DAY AT A TIME

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

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

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

(136-page Digital Edition with COLOR) $4.95

(204-page Digital Edition with COLOR) $6.95

(176-page Digital Edition with COLOR) $5.95

SECRETS IN THE SHADOWS: GENE COLAN

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

ART OF GEORGE TUSKA

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

OTHER BOOKS FROM TWOMORROWS PUBLISHING

PENCILER, PUBLISHER, PROVOCATEUR

COMICS’ FAST & FURIOUS ARTIST

THE ART OF GLAMOUR

MATT BAKER

EXTRAORDINARY WORKS OF ALAN MOORE

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

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

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

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

(224-page trade paperback) $26.95

(176-page trade paperback with COLOR) $26.95

(192-page hardcover with COLOR) $39.95

(240-page trade paperback) $29.95

QUALITY COMPANION

BATCAVE COMPANION

ALL- STAR COMPANION

AGE OF TV HEROES

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

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

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

(256-page trade paperback with COLOR) $31.95

(240-page trade paperback) $26.95

(224-page trade paperbacks) $24.95

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

CARMINE INFANTINO

SAL BUSCEMA

(192-page full-color hardcover) $39.95

MARVEL COMICS

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

IN THE 1960s

(224-page trade paperback) $27.95

MODERN MASTERS

HOW TO CREATE COMICS

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

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

(224-page trade paperback) $27.95

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

(128-page trade paperbacks) $14.95 each

(108-page trade paperback) $15.95

IN THE 1970s

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

FROM SCRIPT TO PRINT

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

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