Alter Ego #85 by TwoMorrows Publishing

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CATACLYSMIC CONFRONTATIONS No.85 IN THE COSMOS, May 2009 IN CANDY STORES —& IN COURT! SPECIAL

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GOLDEN AGE GREATNESS WITH

´ LILY RENEE & CENTAUR COMICS!

Unlock the FINAL secrets of the JUSTICE SOCIETY of AMERICA (& friends) !

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• Amazing new info on the Golden Age JSA—including every JUNIOR JUSTICE SOCIETY message ever—and an incredible index of the solo stories of the original JSAers, from 1939 to 1951! • Sensational new JSA and INFINITY, INC. cover by JERRY ORDWAY, drawn especially for this volume! • The OTHER 1940s Hero Groups Examined in Depth! THE SEVEN SOLDIERS OF VICTORY—THE MARVEL FAMILY—THE ALL WINNERS SQUAD— & M.C. Gaines’ own INTERNATIONAL CRIME PATROL! • Issue-by-issue 1980s spotlight on INFINITY, INC. & SECRET ORIGINS! • Rare, often unpublished art & artifacts by: ALEX ROSS * TODD McFARLANE JOE KUBERT * CARMINE INFANTINO ALEX TOTH * GIL KANE MURPHY ANDERSON * IRWIN HASEN WAYNE BORING * SHELDON MOLDOFF MORT MESKIN * GENE COLAN MART NODELL * HARRY LAMPERT DON NEWTON * GEORGE TUSKA PAUL REINMAN * JOE GALLAGHER CHESTER KOZLAK * LEE ELIAS E.E. HIBBARD * ARTHUR PEDDY JIM VALENTINO * ALAN KUPPERBERG MICHAEL T. GILBERT * RICK HOBERG MIKE SEKOWSKY * JACK BURNLEY MIKE MACHLAN * FRANK HARRY DICK DILLIN * BERNARD KRIGSTEIN H.G. PETER * MICHAEL BAIR —& many others! VOLUM E FOUR

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TwoMorrows. Celebrating The Art & History Of Comics. TwoMorrows • 10407 Bedfordtown Drive • Raleigh, NC 27614 USA • 919-449-0344 • FAX: 919-449-0327 • E-mail: twomorrow@aol.com • www.twomorrows.com

Vol. 3, No. 85 / May 2009 Editor Roy Thomas

Associate Editors Bill Schelly Jim Amash

Design & Layout Christopher Day

Consulting Editor John Morrow

FCA Editor P.C. Hamerlinck

Comic Crypt Editor Michael T. Gilbert

Editorial Honor Roll Jerry G. Bails (founder) Ronn Foss, Biljo White Mike Friedrich

Circulation Director Bob Brodsky, Cookiesoup Productions

Cover Artist & Colorist Rich Buckler

With Special Thanks to: Greg Huneryager Rob Allen Jay Kinney Heidi Amash Dominique Leonard Henry Andrews Don Mangus Matt D. Baker Bruce Mason Dennis Beaulieu Jake Oster John Benson Barry Pearl Jon Berk Lily Renée Phillips Dominic Bongo Nick Pollack Lee Boyette Rubén Procopio Rich Buckler John James Pulaski, Jr. Susan Burgos Ken Quattro Nick Cardy Mikhaela B. Reid Dick Cole Bob Rivard Mark D. Cotnam Trina Robbins Craig Delich Fred Robinson Michaël Dewally Steven Rowe Betty Dobson Bob Rozakis Jim Engel Jean Schanberger Mark Evanier John Selegue Jon R. Evans Jean-Michel Ferragatti Ted Skimmer Flo Steinberg Martin Filchock Marc Swayze Jim Fitzpatrick Jeff Taylor Shane Foley Dann Thomas Janet Gilbert Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr. Lew Glanzman Vaughn Warren Bob Greenberger Robert Wiener Walt Grogan Monte Wolverton Lawrence P. Guidry Jennifer Hamerlinck Alex Wright Fred Hembeck

Contents writer/editorial: Of Shazam!, Señorita Rio, And Centaurs . . 2 “I’m Not Typical For Doing Comics, You Know!” . . . . . . . . . . 3 The understatement of the year from Golden Age artist Lily Renée, interviewed by Jim Amash.

Centaur Spread . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 The amazing story of the little-known but astonishing Centaur Comics Group, by Lee Boyette.

“Pow! Bam! Zap!” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Bob Rozakis spins Part 7 of his “Secret History of All-American Comics, Inc.”

Comic Crypt: In Praise Of Picto! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Michael T. Gilbert and Mr. Monster celebrate EC’s Picto-Fiction mags—and their most brazen imitator!

A Tribute To Creig Flessel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 re: [correspondence, comments, & corrections] . . . . . . . . . 60 FCA [Fawcett Collectors Of America #144] . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 P.C. Hamerlinck presents Marc Swayze, DC vs. Fawcett, Rich Buckler—& The Wall Street Journal! On Our Cover: Especially for this issue, Rich Buckler re-did his cover for the historic “Superman vs. Shazam!” tabloid-size comic of more than three decades ago—only switching the Superman and Captain Marvel figures! For the full story, see this issue’s FCA section and its intriguing interview with Rich. [Superman & Shazam! hero TM & ©2009 DC Comics.] Above: A powerful “Lost World” splash panel by Lily Renée, from Planet Comics #42 (May 1946), repro’d from a copy as reprinted in Trina Robbins’ 2001 volume The Great Women Cartoonists. Thanks to Trina for her blessing in using this art. [©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

This issue is dedicated to the memory of

Creig Flessel

Alter EgoTM is published 8 times a year 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: $9 US ($11.00 Canada, $16 elsewhere). Twelve-issue subscriptions: $88 US, $140 Canada, $210 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. ISSN: 1932-6890 FIRST PRINTING.

writer/editorial

Of Shazam!, Señorita Rio, And Centaurs Y

et once again, we bit off more than we could chew. We really ought to be getting used to the taste by now. How do these things happen?

Well, you start off simply—knowing it’s been a year since Alter Ego last featured a double-size helping of Fawcett Collectors of America—so you discuss one with FCA editor P.C. Hamerlinck, and between you, you even line up a spanking-new cover by your old buddy Rich Buckler to go with its Captain Marvel/Superman theme. Next you talk with associate-editor-slash-indefatigable-interviewer Jim Amash to be sure that his entry for the issue, the long-awaited talk with Golden Age great Lily Renée, will be ready in time for you to line up and arrange ample art to accompany it. It will. Then you recall that you have on hand this piece by Lee Boyette that you really want to get into the mag: an awesome overview of the fabled yet nearly forgotten (if that’s not a contradiction in terms) Centaur Comics Group and related companies of the late 1930s and early ’40s, stretching back even before the Golden Age. And you decide you’ve just gotta squeeze that in, too.

Well, when push came to shove, our shoehorn wasn’t quite up to the task. FCA’s twenty pages are here—and the complete Renée interview— but we had so much Centaur-related art on hand, thanks first and foremost to Lee Boyette and his pal Jon R. Evans, but also to several other generous souls, that we decided the only way to do Lee’s survey justice was to serialize it, hopefully with no more than a couple of months between installments. So that, by the time it’s been totally printed, you’ll have had an illustration-laden tour of the company that brought the world Amazing-Man, The Eye, and “Speed” Centaur. Present and accounted for, naturally, for the 85th issue in a row, is Michael T. Gilbert’s “Comic Crypt.” Bob Rozakis’ faux history of AllAmerican Publications is back, with its penultimate A/E chapter—while Bill Schelly’s “Comic Fandom Archive” will return next issue. And, with that pulsatin’ preview, it’s time to charge ahead—on centaur-back, of course! Bestest,

COMING IN JUNE

“WHAT HATH KURTZMAN WROUGHT?” The Mid-1950s Color MAD Imitations— I.e., From SUPERDUPERMAN to NUTS!

• Furshlugginer full-color cover featuring art by Mad creator HARVEY KURTZMAN and some of the era’s greatest artists! • The Mad wannabes of 1953-55—when everybody in comics was aping EC’s new smash hit! “Captain Marble”—“Drag-ula”—“Mighty Moose”—“Four-Flush Gordon”— “Prince Scallion”—“20,000 Leaks under the Sea”—“Tick Dracy”—surveyed by GER APELDOORN, with a sidebar on Harvey Comics’ horrific humor by JOHN BENSON! • Awesome ’50s art & artifacts by (take a deep breath!): ANDRU & ESPOSITO, AYERS, BERG, BRODSKY, BURGOS, COLAN, COLE, DAVIS, DISBROW, DITKO, DRUCKER, EVERETT, FAGO, GIORDANO, HARTLEY, HEATH, HUBBELL, KUBERT, LEE, MANEELY, MAURER, NOSTRAND, OVERGARD, POST, POWELL, REINMAN, SEVERIN, SIMON & KIRBY, WOOD, et al.—at their funniest and most frantic! • Plus—a frank talk with Golden/Silver Age artist FRANK BOLLE (Crimebuster, Red Mask, Dr. Solar, etc.)—conducted by JIM AMASH! • MICHAEL T. GILBERT & GER APELDOORN on the “Lost KURTZMAN Years”—BILL SCHELLY’s Comic Fandom Archive—FCA with MARC SWAYZE & a special tribute to KURT SCHAFFENBERGER—& MORE!! Edited by ROY THOMAS

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“I’m Not Typical For Doing Comics, You Know!” The Life And Times Of Golden Age Artist LILY RENÉE

NTERVIEWER’S INTRO: Lily Renée’s comic book work was mainly done for Fiction House during the 1940s on features such as “Señorita Rio,” “Werewolf Hunter,” “Jane Martin,” and “The Lost World.” I must admit that, as much as I like her work, I have a greater fascination for her biography. Born during the 1920s in Vienna, her youthful struggles against the Nazis and the prejudices of the war-torn England populace are compellingly heart-wrenching. I admire Mrs. Lily Renée Phillips for her bravery and strength in the face of troubled times and unenlightened attitudes, and I imagine everyone who reads her story will feel the same. —Jim.

“Vienna Was A Beautiful City” JIM AMASH: Did you get a lot of support from your family? How supportive were people of you being an artist? LILY RENÉE: They were proud of my ability to draw. When I was six years old, a lot of things happened; in a way it was the high point of my life. I had an art exhibition of my drawings, and also won a contest for a photo of me that my mother sent in. The prize for the contest was a movie contract, but my father was not letting his daughter enter show business. At school I was chosen to dance the little rose in the Schubert song “Heidenröslein.” The head of the education department was there and said to my parents he would see to it that I was admitted at the opera-ballet. Again my father would not let me join. JA: Were there art classes in school? RENÉE: Yes, my artwork from the exhibit was from my art class. JA: You say you were living a little bit in your own kind of fantasy world….

Señorita Renée (Left:) A recent photo of Lily Renée, which appeared with the too-short article about her in Alter Ego #70. (Above:) A Fight Comics splash by Ms. Renée, as retouched and reprinted in AC Comics’ America’s Greatest Comics #14 (2006). [Photo ©2009 Trina Robbins; page ©2009 AC Comics, Inc.]

The Life And Times Of Golden Age Artist Lily Renée

RENÉE: Yes, I was, quite a lot. When my cousin Charlie came over, we always pretended our carpet was really a flying carpet, and we had adventures in the exotic countries we visited. When I was alone, my fantasy showed up in my drawings. JA: What was it like to live in Vienna back then? RENÉE: Vienna was a beautiful city with a lot of style. There were many churches; the best known was a Gothic one with a very high spire called “Stephan’s Dome,” and the most beautiful one—which I could see from our windows—was “Karl’s Kirche,” which had a copper dome covered in green partina. There was a wide street called The Ring, which circled around the inner city and had all of Vienna’s important buildings on it: the Opera, two museums, the University, the Parliament, etc. We lived in the center of the city in a comfortable apartment. Life was less rushed than in New York. A lot of attention was paid to the preparation of food. I was an only child and often lonely. I started drawing at an early age, maybe at the age of three. Later I read a lot, as well. I also enjoyed dancing. My Nanny took me to the Stadtpark [State Park], where she had to pay for an iron fold-up-chair to sit on, and I would play with my diabolo, or push my big wooden hoop with a little stick and run after it. There were “Do not step on grass” signs everywhere. JA: What was your economic situation at the time of your childhood?

Austrian Anschluss, 1938 The German troops—this one from an armored car unit—received an enthusiastic welcome in Vienna. This photo is dated March 21, 1938. Lily says she mostly remembers that many of them arrived on motorcycles.

RENÉE: My parents were well off; we lived comfortably, had servants, and gave dinner parties. I had lots of toys but I was lonely. JA: Did you have any friends who were interested in art and near the same age as you? RENÉE: No, but the grownups around me were interested in art. I was taken to museums and art galleries, and through my parents’ friends I met some artists. JA: What was it that you drew? RENÉE: I drew clowns, ballerinas, tigers, and scenes that depicted what you would see in theatres. My parents took me to the theatre, where I saw some ballets, and I also went to dance classes. When I was older, I went to the opera twice a year with my school. JA: During your teenage years, did you make a decision that you would make a career in theatre or art? RENÉE: Yes, somehow I was convinced I would be involved in theatre or visual arts. JA: You were a teenager when Hitler came to power in Austria. What was it like for you? RENÉE: When Austria became a part of the German Reich, Jewish people lost all protection. A lot of people went to concentration camps. I wasn’t allowed to go to school, and it was just scary when walking out on the street. We always had to stand in line to get our documents stamped; and at one point, all the people who were standing in line were taken into a synagogue. The Nazis were standing all around us, and we were afraid they were going to set fire to the synagogue. Nothing happened, but I don’t know how long I stood in there. It was terrifying. I looked at one of these big men who was standing next to me. For some reason, I thought he was protecting me because I was a pretty girl. I looked at him, and I saw this totally cold face, and it was such a shock, and then I knew I was completely unprotected. I think I was thirteen when this happened. JA: The people in the town: were they pro-Nazi or anti-Nazi? RENÉE: Apparently, the Nazis were welcomed with open arms by the Viennese. It was awful. You have no idea. When they marched into

Vienna—well, they didn’t march. They came mostly on motorcycles. I can still hear the sound of the motorcycles in my mind: vroom-vroom-vroomvroom-vroom. We were listening to the radio when the son of the people who lived in the same house knocked on the door and said the Nazi headquarters needed another radio. I couldn’t believe—this is how it started—images of the helplessness. I remember my father walking over to the radio, picking it up, and handing it to this guy. So we couldn’t listen to it any more. You had to be there; otherwise, you don’t know what it was like. Just trying to get out was very hard, because we didn’t have any relatives in other countries. We lived this way for about two years. Everybody was trying to get out, but without a passport that allowed you to re-enter, other countries were not willing to let you in. We had to have someone who guaranteed that we would never be a burden on the state. That was hard to find if you did not have relatives in other countries. I had taken English in school, and was given a correspondence friend by the name of Molly Kealy in England. My parents had invited her to spend the summer with us the year before Hitler came to power, but her parents thought she was too young. Now we were asking them to send a visitor’s permit for me to come to England. It took almost a year for it to arrive. It helped me to get on one of the children’s transports (Kindertransport) for which England paid the Nazis for every child on it. I went to England late in ’39. I had to say goodbye to my parents. All the parents were standing behind bars at the station, and the children were waving to them. We had a cardboard square with a number on it around our necks, and we were given food parcels. As soon as the train started moving out of Vienna, everybody was eating. The Nazis were at the border and inspected our luggage. I had made a terra cotta figure which I was really proud of, and they took it out. It was wrapped in towels, and the guard stomped on it. He stomped on it and broke it into pieces. The woman who was the head of the Kindertransport came over to me because I was crying. She said, “Don’t cry, you can make another one. You are in one piece, and you’re getting out of this.” JA: When you were at the train station, were you afraid that you wouldn’t ever see your parents again?

“I’m Not Typical For Doing Comics, You Know!”

RENÉE: Of course. All of us were; that’s why we were eating. We wanted to be reassured. The youngest one was under a year old. I would say about a hundred children were on this train, which was paid for by England.

“When I Came To America…” JA: And what happened to you there? RENÉE: Molly was a lovely girl, but her mother thought by bringing me over she would get unpaid help in the household. I think I was a shock to her: too well-dressed and not trained in household duties. At home, I was not even allowed in the kitchen, since our cook did not like it. Anyway, Molly and her dad ate their main meals out, and Molly’s mother would eat after she sent me to the store for some groceries. The only meals I had were breakfast, and in the late afternoon when everybody was home for “high tea.” During this time I was trying to get my parents out of Austria. England let people in if they had a domestic situation, meaning they could be a cook or a butler. My parents were willing to do anything to get out of

Austria. I was interviewed by two very nice families in lovely homes, where I described how my mother was a fabulous cook, and how my handsome father was suited to be their butler. Both families backed out, saying that they would not feel comfortable with my parents as domestics because they would be too much like their peers. They did not see that it was a matter of life or death. Anyway, the war broke out, and we were cut off from Austria. Molly’s mother thought she was stuck with me and said, “You don’t even know if your parents are still alive.” After that, I knew I could not spend another night in that house. I walked into Leeds from Horseforth, a suburb of Leeds, with no money for the bus fare, and went to an employment agency, where I lied about my age and said I want to be a “mother’s helper.” I got a job right away, since there were so many requests for “mother’s helpers”! JA: The situation with the wicked mother…how long did that last? RENÉE: Less than a month. JA: When did your parents get out? RENÉE: I did not know what was happening to them, since I was completely cut off. But they got an affidavit and came to New York about 18 months after I left Austria. They wrote to Bloomsburg House, which was the agency that helped children who were on the Kindertransport, and asked for us to be united. Bloomsburg House wrote to me and told me about my parents’ request, and that I was scheduled to leave for America. Unfortunately, I had the worst listing as an alien you could have— “enemy alien,” because I had lied about not having a camera when I was asked by a Scotland Yard agent. I was afraid they would take it away from me, and it was a very good camera. Because of this, I was not supposed to move and had to report every week to the police station. I decided not to tell anyone, called my cousin in London, took a taxi to the train station in the middle of the night, and went to London. JA: When your parents got to America, were they able to take any money with them, or did they just go with the clothes they were wearing? RENÉE: My father inherited two apartment buildings in Vienna, which he gave to the Nazis in order to get out. They were able to put their furnishings and china and all of that into what was called a “lift.” You could put all of your stuff on a wagon on the railroad. Unfortunately, the train was bombed in Holland, and everything was destroyed. They came to America with nothing. JA: How did you get the money to come to America? Or did you need it? RENÉE: I came on another children’s transport that traveled from England to America. JA: So you came to America… RENÉE: ...on the Rotterdam. It was ironic, since it was a ship from the Holland-American line, of which my father had been the director in Vienna. JA: Did you go to New York?

War Stories Lily Renée’s artwork appeared in a good many war-oriented Fiction House comics, as in this copy of Rangers Comics #26 (Dec. 1945) whose Joe Doolin cover she autographed for collector Vaughn Warren. It contained one of her “Werewolf Hunter” tales. Thanks to Vaughn and to John Selegue. [©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

RENÉE: Yes. We were supposed to leave in a convoy, but the sailor who was trying to get the anchor up fell overboard, and we were unable to leave [at that particular time]. [Once we were on the ocean,] we sailed in a zigzag pattern. Everybody was seasick. A boy and I were the only ones who were not seasick and could enjoy every meal. On its return trip, the Rotterdam was sunk by a U-boat.

The Life And Times Of Golden Age Artist Lily Renée

my father, he eventually became a certified accountant. JA: How difficult was the transition to living in America for you? RENÉE: It was a totally different country. I felt so liberated when I came here from England, partly because of the war. There were all kinds of restrictions there: there were sandbags in front of the house, and the food was terrible. Not to mention the air raids, the blackouts, and the fog. Everything was miserable, and people were so uptight. However, I am very grateful to England for making it possible for me to escape from the Nazis. It was just so wonderful to be here. JA: So being here in America was the first happy time you had since you were a little girl. RENÉE: It was. JA: But you were lucky that you spoke English, because I know that some of the people who came here with you did not. It must have been an advantage. RENÉE: Of course, and I had a very British accent when I came here, which took some time to lose. It was half-British and half-Viennese.

“Fiction House Was Looking For Comic Book Artists” JA: I assume that you had to go to work to earn money when you came here? RENÉE: I went to school, I painted wooden boxes with Tyrolien designs, and I had several modeling jobs. There was somebody named Jane Turner, a very well-known fashion illustrator, who liked the way I moved, so she asked me to model for her at home in a lovely townhouse. The clothes were sent from the department store, and I was dressed in all these elegant dresses while she would draw me. Then I would go home in my old, outmoded clothes, and that was weird.

Flat-Footed Flattop Of Der Führer A Renée-drawn “Jane Martin” exploit appeared in Wings Comics #19 (March 1942), behind this Gene Fawcette cover. Not that the Germans had any operational aircraft carriers during WWII! Thanks to Jay Kinney. [©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

When I came to America, nobody knew where my parents were, so the man who was the head of the transport went to look for them. I stayed at the pier, sitting on my luggage, for three hours or so. And then I saw this couple and I thought, “Are these my parents? No, they’re much too old.” These people were my parents and were in their forties, but to me, they were old. They lived in one room under the roof on 72nd Street on the West Side, and it was just very difficult. No money... it was terrible, but we made it. I’m sorry, but I was just wondering: don’t you want me to talk about comic books, instead of the war? JA: Yes, I do, and I’m getting to that. But frankly, you’ve had such a fascinating life, and I want to hear it all, because this gives me some background on you as well as your comic book career. But I’m also interested in World War II and its effect on people. RENÉE: Well, a lot of people got killed and went through horrible, horrible things. I was very lucky to get out, and so were my parents. JA: What were your parents doing to earn money? RENÉE: Everything they could. My mother was doing alterations. She knew how to sew. She later got a job on 57th Street crocheting ribbon dresses. This was in fashion then, and there were several ladies from Europe who would sit there and crochet these ribbons all day long. As for

But anyway, I liked to model for her. I had some other modeling jobs for Junior Formals, as well as modeling hats for Gustov. Then I got a job where they put plaster on my face in order to make a cast. There was a department store called Peck and Peck, and the mannequins had my face. People used to say to me, “I know you,” but they didn’t know me. They just knew the mannequins. JA: You did some drawings for Woolworth’s, right? RENÉE: Yes, because the Reed Agency at Rockefeller Center would send me out to basements where I drew all kinds of things. It was cheaper than making photographs of that stuff. They paid me 50¢ an hour. It was terrible. JA: But it allowed you to eat, so what could you do? RENÉE: I would go to Horn and Hardart—a big cafeteria—and I would take some water and add some lemon and sugar, and drink that for free. JA: How long did you work for this advertising agency? RENÉE: I worked there off and on. I wasn’t there all the time. They just called me when they needed me. Then my mother saw an ad in the paper. Fiction House was looking for comic book artists. She said, “Why don’t you go there?” And I said, “I don’t know how to do this. I have never even looked at any comic books.” She said, “Well, draw something.” I said, “What do you want me to draw?” She said, “Why don’t you draw Tarzan and Jane?” So that’s what I drew: Tarzan and Jane. I took my portfolio with other drawings—including that Tarzan and Jane drawing—and went to Fiction House, which was on 53rd Street and Fifth Avenue. JA: When you went there, whom did you talk to?

“I’m Not Typical For Doing Comics, You Know!”

It’s A Jungle Out There—In Space! Lily (seen at right in a 1940s photo) may have done a drawing of Tarzan and Jane to gain entrée to Fiction House; yet, oddly, she illustrated few if any “jungle” stories for the company. The practice served her in good stead, however, in the science-fictional series “The Lost World” (no relation to Arthur Conan Doyle—let alone Michael Crichton!) in Planet Comics. Therein, the Earth of the 1970s (!) has been conquered by alien Voltamen, and heroic Hunt Bowman, aided by his ladyfriend Lyssa, leads the ragtag forces of our species in a guerrilla war fought with primitive weapons. As Ye Editor has often stated, that Fiction House feature (along with H.G. Wells’ novel, of course) was the inspiration for the “War of the Worlds” series he conceived for Marvel in the 1970s. Seen clockwise, from above, are Lily’s “Lost World” covers for Planet Comics #33 & #35 (Nov. 1944 & March 1945)—followed by a page from Planet #44 (Sept. 1946) in which she got to throw in some Tarzanic animal action. The signed splash page of this story was seen in A/E #70. Thanks to John Selegue for tracking down the photo, and for sending us the two cover scans. [©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

RENÉE: The owner. He wasn’t there usually, he just happened to be there that day. He was tall, and he had red hair and wore boots. He was from Texas. JA: That was Thurman Scott, right? RENÉE: That’s right, yes! I came into a room where all these men were sitting with their portfolios. I gave my name to a receptionist and I sat down and waited. Mr. Scott came out, called out a name, and he looked up. He saw me and was startled, seeing me sitting there between all these men. Then, after he finished the interview, he came out again, and he waved to me and said, “You, come on in.” I think the men there didn’t like this at all, because he should have taken everybody in the order they arrived. So then we both sat down and I showed him my drawings, including the Tarzan and Jane. He looked at them, and he kept laughing like crazy, and whipping back on his chair. I thought this was a big joke to him. Then he said, “I’ll tell you what, I’ll try you out for two weeks, and I

The Life And Times Of Golden Age Artist Lily Renée

Where’s Lon Chaney, Jr., When You Really Need Him? Not a werewolf in sight on this typical splash for a Renée-drawn episode of “The Werewolf Hunters”! This page is from Rangers Comics #14 (Dec. 1943); thanks to John Selegue. Werewolves did appear in earlier installments, though; we ran a George Tuska splash from one such in A/E #21, in our coverage of the Eisner & Iger comics shop. [©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

were from Europe, had never seen a comic book before, and became comic book artists in America. JA: In those two weeks that you were just basically erasing pages and doing backgrounds, was anyone giving you pointers on how to draw? RENÉE: No, the point is, I looked at what the other people did. JA: How did you learn to stage scenes? RENÉE: I mentioned I had a lot of imagination and I could draw. JA: Yes, but that’s a lot harder to do than, say, learning how to stage scenes from watching movies, for instance. It seems that came naturally to you. RENÉE: Yes, it did. I want you to know that I think that “Señorita Rio” and the other women that I drew were the best-dressed women in comic books. JA: [laughs] That was wish fulfillment on your part, wasn’t it?

will see.” I couldn’t believe it. I said, “All right, when do I start?” He said, “Tomorrow,” and I showed up the next day. JA: What did you start off doing? RENÉE: Erasing other people’s pages, drawing the backgrounds, and being totally miserable because the men thought of nothing but sex, and they were always making innuendos, and they just stared at me, which made me very uncomfortable. JA: That’s what Nick Cardy told me. [NOTE: See Alter Ego #65. —Jim.] RENÉE: I read that in your magazine; that’s right. JA: Did you work in the office for those two weeks, like 9-to-5? RENÉE: Yes, and I drew backgrounds. Eventually, they tried me out on a feature, which was one that nobody wanted to do: “Werewolf Hunter.” I made it into something else. because I didn’t want to draw wolves. I talked to the writer and convinced him it should be about magic, where people change into other creatures, not werewolves. So we did that, and it became quite popular. And when they saw that I did that all right, I got “Jane Martin,” who was a woman pilot that fought the Nazis. Did you read the book The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon? The character of Kavalier and I had a lot in common. We both

The Rio McCoy This nicely naughty 1948 “Señorita Rio” page by Renée was reprinted from the original art—even though a few of the more delicate ink lines dropped out—in Jerry Bails & Hames Ware’s The Who’s Who of American Comics Books, Vol. 3, in 1975. [©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

“I’m Not Typical For Doing Comics, You Know!”

The Coiffure Isn’t The Only Thing That’s Fiery! (Left:) A lush Bob Lubbers page—what’s now called “good girl art”—from the “Firehair” tale in Rangers Comics #40 (April 1948). (Right:) And, from that selfsame issue, Lily’s “Werewolf Hunter” splash page. Her entries in that series had about as much to do with werewolves as the cult film Curse of the Cat People had to do with cats! [©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

RENÉE: That’s right. But I also like to design clothes. JA: Did you feel like you were Señorita Rio when you drew her? RENÉE: It was my fantasy, in a way, because she had adventures, and she was very daring and obviously sexy, and I was always trying to hide my figure. I was shy. JA: By the way, who was the writer for “Werewolf Hunter” that you talked to? RENÉE: I don’t remember his name. I remember what he looked like and how he dressed: he had suede patches on the elbows of his jacket, and he smoked a pipe. He was very nice. I only remember Bob Lubbers, who calls me occasionally, and I remember Nick Viscardi [Cardy]. Then there was somebody there called Howard, and somebody named Dan. JA: Do you remember how much they paid you per page? RENÉE: We didn’t get paid by page. We got paid by the week. First, I got $18, then I got $25, and then it went up. Nick Viscardi mentioned a bonus

that we got for Christmas in his interview; I got the same bonus. I remember that so well because I bought myself two very elegant things: a suit and a coat that was fur-lined and beautiful—and I gave everybody wonderful Christmas presents that year. That was very nice. JA: Did you see your comics when they were printed? RENÉE: Yes, of course. JA: What did your parents think of this new career? RENÉE: They were glad that I was making money, and that I was drawing, because I had always wanted to draw. JA: When you started doing this, did you quit modeling? RENÉE: Oh, yes! I didn’t like modeling. I just did it because I liked Jane Turner. She had three children and a huge dog, and she was married to a count or something. I didn’t like him, but she was wonderful. She was such a nice person, and so talented. Her fashion illustrations were the best.

The Life And Times Of Golden Age Artist Lily Renée

“It Was Hard Work” JA: When you were handed stories to draw, I take it they were full scripts, weren’t they? RENÉE: I got a script, and then I would break it down into panels. I also tried not to just do square panels. I did different things. I tried to be inventive. The pages were lettered after I finished penciling them. JA: Did you use a lot of reference material? RENÉE: Reference material... well, whatever one could find. Most of the time, there wasn’t much available.

JA: So most of it came out of your imagination then. To me, it seems, you drew rather effortlessly. At least it looks that way. [mutual laughter] RENÉE: Believe me, it was hard work, and I always met the deadline. I’ve always been extremely conscientious. JA: Was it hard for you to learn how to ink, or had you already learned how to use a brush? RENÉE: I guess so. I don’t even remember how hard it was. I had never used a brush before, except to paint. For comics, I learned how to use a Winsor & Newton #3. But then you have to learn how to do water right, or grass, or the hair. This is sort-of like a triumph if you get it right; then you know how to do that. JA: Compared to other comic book artists whom you worked with, did you feel you were fast or slow? RENÉE: I was fast, and my pencil work was very detailed, even though I was going to ink it. JA: Did anyone there ever criticize your work? RENÉE: No, nobody! I don’t think they ever criticized anybody’s work. They left us alone. JA: Was that the only time that you ever saw Thurman Scott, when he hired you? RENÉE: No, he was there a few times. JA: Jack Byrne generally ran Fiction House’s pulp department when Scott was absent. Do you remember him? RENÉE: Yes, I do, but there was another guy sharing the same office. JA: Was that Larabee Cunningham? RENÉE: Oh, I liked Larry a lot. He was very, very nice. No, I’m talking about somebody in the same office. JA: The other one was Malcolm Reiss. RENÉE: Yes, he’s the one I was thinking of.

A Checkered Career At top right of this page is a self-portrait of Lily, done in the mid-’40s, as printed in Trina Robbins’ 1993 book A Century of Women Cartoonists. [©2009 Lily Renée Phillips.] The Renée page above, from the “Werewolf Hunter” story in Rangers #40, features an imaginative panel layout. As Trina and co-writer Catherine Yronwode pointed out in their 1985 study Women and the Comics, this pattern is “a continuation of the previous page, in which a checkered tablecloth forms the major design element.” The entire story was reprinted in Trina’s ’93 volume. [©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

JA: Okay, let’s stay with Jack Byrne for a moment. What was he like? RENÉE: Jack Byrne? He was one of the two bosses. I can’t tell you what he was like, but he was always nice to me. Larabee Cunningham would come in [to the artist’s room], and he would joke with us. JA: He wasn’t one of those who gave you a hard time, then.

“I’m Not Typical For Doing Comics, You Know!”

Hunter.” “The Werewolf Hunter” stories were all my ideas. JA: So you would talk over the stories with the writers? RENÉE: On those two features I mentioned, not on “Señorita Rita,” and not “Jane Martin,” either. JA: If there was something in a script that you didn’t like, would you ever rewrite it? RENÉE: No. JA: How many people were in the artist’s room? RENÉE: I think eight or ten.

“Once You Get In Competition With Somebody, The Attitude Changes” JA: When it came lunchtime, would you go out to eat with any of them? RENÉE: I went down to Hicks with Fran Hopper, which was a lovely place, and I was always treating myself, going there. JA: You told me that you once roomed with Ruth Atkinson. How did that come about? RENÉE: I wanted to move out of my parents’ home. She was looking for a place, too, so we thought we should pick something together. This was a very funny kind of apartment; we had separate entrances. We each had one bedroom, and she had a kitchen, which I hardly ever used. JA: How long did you room with her, and what was she like? RENÉE: I don’t know exactly. Maybe a year. Her brother was the second-best jockey in America, Teddy Atkinson. I went horseback riding with her and once. She saved my life, because the horse I was on was scared of rain, and it galloped onto the highway. She rode through the storm and stopped us. She was very courageous. She was small, but I remember we were on 62nd and Lexington one evening, and there were two guys fighting on the street on the other side of the avenue. She ran over and pushed them apart. I couldn’t believe it, but she told me that while growing up with brothers, she was always the peacemaker.

Don’t Fight It! Lily Renée’s cover for Fight Comics #47 (Dec. 1946), as repro’d in Trina Robbins’ 2001 tome The Great Women Cartoonists, perhaps the best word on the subject to date! But hey—pick up any of Trina’s books that you can find! [©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

RENÉE: No, never. It was the comic artists who were sitting there who gave me a hard time. The writers used to call them “the animals.” [Jim laughs] It was pretty horrible.

JA: Was she a talkative person? Was she quiet? RENÉE: No, she was a talker, believe me. She always talked a lot.

JA: I don’t believe she’s with us any more, is she? RENÉE: Trina [Robbins] told me that she had died, and that Ruth gave a party two weeks before she died. She had all her friends there, and so forth, and then two weeks later, she was found dead.

JA: As far as Larabee Cunningham was concerned—I know this is a hard question to ask you after all this time—but do you have any sense of how old he might have been back then?

JA: What else do you remember about her?

RENÉE: In his thirties, I think.

RENÉE: That, later, she had a daughter named Patty.

JA: There was another woman who wrote, and she also did some editing: Jean Alipe.

JA: Fiction House hired a lot of women, and some of the companies did not.

RENÉE: I didn’t know her. In the room where the writers were, there were no women writers, as far as I can remember. I don’t remember the writers’ names. I gave ideas to the writer of “Lost World” and “The Werewolf

RENÉE: Right, but St. John Publications did. JA: But Archer St. John was a pretty open-minded person. Some places, as you well know, were not.

The Life And Times Of Golden Age Artist Lily Renée

The Atkinson Diet (Clockwise from top left:) Ruth Atkinson—according to Trina Robbins in the aforementioned volume, “at Coney Island, during the period when she was art director at Fiction House”— Atkinson’s “Wing Tips” splash from Wings Comics #45 (May 1944), with thanks to Betty Dobson— A photo of Ruth’s brother, Ted Atkinson, riding the famous thoroughbred Tom Fool, ranked by the noted jockey as the best horse he ever rode— A “Patsy Walker” splash from Miss America Magazine #2 (Feb. 1951), a feature she co-created, sent by Betty Dobson & Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr. [Wings page ©2009 the respective copyright holders; “Patsy Walker” page ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

“I’m Not Typical For Doing Comics, You Know!”

When “Luck” Was a “Lady” Nick Viscardi (now Nick Cardy), as seen at right in 1947—flanking the bottom half of an April 20, 1941, page for “Lady Luck,” the feature he’d written and drawn before the war for Will Eisner’s newspaper Spirit Section. Thanks to Nick for the photo, and to Bruce Mason for the art scan. One of Nick’s own “Lost World” pages for Fiction House accompanies his in-depth interview in A/E #65. [“Lady Luck” page ©2009 Will Eisner Studios, Inc.]

RENÉE: They only [hired women] because of the war. They didn’t have enough men.

It was nothing against Nick.

JA: Did you know Marcia Snyder?

JA: Right, you were just keeping to yourself. It was nothing personal. When you did the covers, did you have to submit a cover layout first?

RENÉE: Yes, she was only there for a very short time. She lived in Greenwich Village. She was a mannish-looking woman, very bright and a good artist. JA: You said you had a hard time working in the office. RENÉE: I had a hard time. I got used to it, but in the beginning, it was awful. JA: Did they ever tone down the way they treated you? RENÉE: Well, other things happened, because some didn’t like that I made good money. And one of them—I don’t know who it was—told the elevator man that, because I was a foreigner, I didn’t have to pay taxes and could keep everything and stuff like that. That wasn’t very nice. JA: Were they jealous of you because you were a woman? In those days, women were supposed to stay home, right? RENÉE: It wasn’t that. They didn’t mind if I was there at first, but once you get in competition with somebody, the attitude changes. JA: Did you feel more comfortable talking to the women than the men? RENÉE: Yes, of course. JA: Did you know Nick Cardy very well at the time? RENÉE: No, and I didn’t want to. [mutual chuckling] I’m sorry. I shouldn’t say that, but really, I was trying to be invisible when I was there.

RENÉE: No, not that I remember. They would tell me what they wanted, whether it was “Señorita Rio” or “Lost World.” JA: How well did you know Fran Hopper? RENÉE: I had a friendship with her; we ate lunch together. She came in from Philadelphia, and she worked at Fiction House, but she wasn’t there the first year I was there. She was a typical American girl. She was very nice, blonde, and she was engaged to somebody who was a medical student. I liked her. I think she drew well. JA: Anyone else you remember at Fiction House? RENÉE: The only ones I remember I told you. I remember somebody I didn’t like whose name was Howard. He was older than the others. JA: Was that Howard Larson? RENÉE: I guess so. Bob Lubbers said, “How come you didn’t like him? He looked like Clark Gable.” [Jim chuckles] I didn’t like him because he made all of these stupid jokes, and he should have known better. He was older, and he was married. There was a man named George there, too. JA: George? Could his name have been Gene Fawcette? Because Nick Cardy told me that Fawcette worked in the office. He drew a lot of the World War I & II stories in the books, and Nick told me they used to pick on him a lot.

The Life And Times Of Golden Age Artist Lily Renée

In Space No One Can Hear You Sigh (Left:) Fran Hopper’s splash for the “Gale Allen” exploit from Planet Comics #36 (May 1945), as reprinted in AC’s trade paperback Thrilling Planet Tales (1991), still available. See AC’s ad on p. 57. [©2009 AC Comics, Inc.] (Right:) A mid-1940s sketch of Fran Hopper—by Lily Renée! Courtesy of Lily & Trina Robbins, from TR’s 1993 book A Century of Women Cartoonists. [©2009 Lily Renée Phillips.]

“So Near And Yet Safari” Ms. Renée may have rarely drawn jungle strips per se, but she apparently drew everything but Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in St. John Publishing’s Abbott & Costello Comics #2 (April 1948)—Ye Editor’s favorite issue of that title. Hubbie Eric Peters drew the comedians—and as excellently as his wife drew everything else, including this lookalike for Fiction House’s Tiger Girl! Anybody got a copy for sale or trade? The issue’s cover was seen in A/E #77’s study of St. John Publishing by Ken Quattro. Thanks to John Selegue for the scan. [©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

“I’m Not Typical For Doing Comics, You Know!”

And They’re Both Right Next Door To T.G.I. Friday’s Island, No Doubt! “Crusoe Island” splash page by Howard Larsen, from Rangers Comics #31 (Oct. 1946)—juxtaposed with another moody “Werewolf Hunter” splash by Lily Renée from the same issue. Thanks to Jay Kinney for both scans. [©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

RENÉE: Oh, yes. Now I remember. They really picked on him. JA: Another person that worked in the office was Sam Savitt. Nick remembered him, too, and liked him. RENÉE: No. I don’t remember him. I’m sure Nick only said nice things about everybody, not like me. JA: [laughs] No, but I don’t look at it as saying nice things or saying bad things. To me, it’s history, so I’m not making moral judgments. And I’ve heard much worse personal comments from other people. Nick said that you sat near the door that went into the editors’ room. RENÉE: Actually, I think I sat near the window, and I was always envying all those people who were walking on the sidewalk, because the Museum of Modern Art was right down the street. I thought, “Oh, they’ve got time to go to the Museum, and they’re so free. And here, I’m sitting, drawing.” Like a slave, you know. Anyway, Jean Lavender sat next to the room where the writers were. JA: Since you had given the writers some ideas on stories, did it ever occur to you to write one of your own? RENÉE: Since then, I’ve written two children’s books, and I’ve written five plays.

JA: I didn’t realize that. But you didn’t want to write any of the stories at the time, did you? RENÉE: I don’t know. I was just drawing.

“I Started Working For St. John” JA: You worked there until about 1948. Why did you quit working at Fiction House? RENÉE: They moved out of New York, and I didn’t want to commute. I started working for St. John, and then there were all kinds of other things going on in my life. I was getting married, and then getting married again. My second husband was the cartoonist Eric Peters, and I was working with him. We drew a comic book about Elsie the Cow, and then some Abbott and Costello comic books. He was a very good artist. JA: What was Eric Peters like? Did you meet him at Fiction House? RENÉE: Eric was born in Vienna. He was a well-known political cartoonist. One day when he was working for Ullstein Publishers in Berlin, someone told him that the Gestapo was waiting for him at his home ready to arrest him because he had made a caricature of Joseph Goebbels. So he borrowed a pair of skis and he skied over the Alps into Switzerland, leaving everything he owned behind him. He had a title—

The Life And Times Of Golden Age Artist Lily Renée

JA: Did you ever deal with Archer St. John, the man who owned the company? RENÉE: Yes, he was a lovely man, but he drank too much, and he chased me around the desk once. I mean it was awful. It was like a cartoon. There was somebody that he was involved with who was the editor there. She sort-of came in and stopped him. But he was a very nice man. JA: I have you listed as drawing covers for Harvey Comics in 1949. RENÉE: I don’t think so, no. JA: So the only comic book companies you worked for were Fiction House and St. John, is that right? RENÉE: Right. I drew romance stories at St. John. JA: You were adaptable, drawing romances and Abbott and Costello. RENÉE: Well, sometimes the girls looked like Señorita Rio. Not all the time. Jane Martin didn’t look like Señorita Rio, nor did Lyssa in “Lost World.” I could draw a variety of faces. I liked to draw faces, and I liked to draw costumes. JA: Oh, that was very obvious. [Lily laughs] Your costumes were very elegant. They were very good. Did you ever think, “I’d like to have some of my original art back”? Did that ever occur to you? RENÉE: No, only recently have I thought about it. JA: If you had asked, do you think they would have given it to you? RENÉE: Oh, yes! I’m sure I could have had the pages back. It just never occurred to me. I was sort-of looking at the newsstand to see if one of my covers was there, and it was a thrill to me at the time. JA: So if you wanted a comic book that you had worked in, you had to buy it? They didn’t give you one in the office? RENÉE: I don’t know whether I asked for them or not. I don’t remember that. JA: You never thought about working for any other comic book companies?

Getting In Dutch One of our interviewee’s romance stories drawn for St. John—in this case, for Teen-Age Romances #2 (April 1949), as repro’d in John Benson’s 2003 Fantagraphics book Romance without Tears, examining the love stories scripted by Dana Dutch. [©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

RENÉE: No, I didn’t think of myself as a comic book artist.

Seen in photo at right is publisher Archer St. John, in a pic originally provided by Fred Robinson and Matt D. Baker, kinfolk of another of the company’s ace artists, Matt Baker. (See A/E #47 for gala coverage of that celebrated “good girl” artist.)

“I Was Very Adamant About Not Being Domestic”

Eric von Peters—but did not use it in America. He was a mentor for me, twice my age—but looked much younger—and I was 22 and he was 44 when we got married. We had the same birthday, 22 years apart.

JA: I have a note here that your first husband was a physicist? Is that right?

JA: Was he a talkative person? Was he quiet? RENÉE: We were talking all the time. [Jim laughs] He was very cultured and educated; so were all his friends, and I felt like a childish idiot, because they were all very educated and sophisticated. JA: It sounds like you didn’t have a lot of self-confidence. RENÉE: Oh, I had a lot of self-confidence, but not with them. JA: When you did the Abbott and Costello stuff, did you do that with him? RENÉE: Yes, he drew the Abbott and Costello characters, and I drew the girls, and did all the inking.

RENÉE: He was the first man in my life. Yes, he was a physicist, brilliant and very neurotic. JA: You said that Eric Peters was from Vienna. When it was just the two of you talking, what language did you speak? RENÉE: German. JA: That’s what I thought. So his being from Vienna was, I assume, one of the attractions for you. RENÉE: Yes, and we had the same birthday, only 22 years apart, but he

“I’m Not Typical For Doing Comics, You Know!”

looked much younger. If you’d see pictures of him... he was tall, very good-looking, and elegant. He worked for Collier’s, Saturday Evening Post, and Esquire. He had started out with The New Yorker, but he had an argument with the art director, who wanted Eric to change something, and he didn’t want to do it. So then he never got another chance to work for them.

with him; they figured out how they could do that. There were no dryers, I think, at the time or washing machines. They would hang up laundry. So half of this space was made up into what now would be a loft. Actually, it was beautiful. There were pillars and arches, and the windows were very high. When friends came to visit, they always thought they were in an artist’s studio.

JA: Was it hard for you to learn how to cook American food, or did you cook much?

And I didn’t cook. Eric made coffee in the morning. We had a little stove there. He made coffee, and when I was home for lunch, he made Sabajoni. To make Sabajoni, you take raw eggs, sugar, and Malagar wine and mix them together. It’s a wonderful drink. That’s what we drank, and for dinner we would go out to have a meal.

RENÉE: I will have to explain things to you. I was very adamant about not being domestic, so when I got married to Eric, I said I wasn’t going to move into any apartment that had a kitchen. [Jim laughs] And he was very good about figuring things out. There was a hotel on Broadway and 103rd Street—I think it was called The Masters—and he went all the way up to the laundry room, and looked around there. Then he asked to talk to the manager. He met the manager and told him that there was an available space, on the floor for the laundry, that could be made into a loft. Nobody was using that much space up there, and he could make more money because he would get another renter. The manager went up

JA: During the time that you were sharing the place with Ruth Atkinson, what did you eat, since you didn’t cook? Did you eat out all the time? RENÉE: I went to the deli. Sometimes, I went out on a date and to a restaurant, whatever. [mutual laughter] JA: When you said you went to school, you went to the Art Students League, didn’t you? RENÉE: Yes, and I also went to the School of Visual Arts. I did all of this in the evening. JA: What did you study at the Art Students League? RENÉE: Life Drawing. JA: There was a teacher there named Harvey Dunn. Does that name ring a bell? RENÉE: In the Life Drawing class? The only one I remember is somebody by the name of “Potter.“ [NOTE: Probably Jack Potter. —Jim.] And that was at the School of Visual Arts. I remember him very well. JA: What was it like going to school here? RENÉE: I liked to take art classes because that was helpful to me—because when I was drawing for comic books I didn’t have any models.

“I Like The Idea Of Playwriting” JA: You quit doing comics around 1949. Why is that? RENÉE: I was then married to Randolph Phillips, and later I had two children. I was doing freelance work for different places, and textile design. I did other things. JA: So you divorced Eric Peters, and then married Randolph Phillips. That’s when you stopped doing comic books, is that right? RENÉE: Yes. JA: You did textile work, you say. RENÉE: Yes, in fact, for Lanz of California; they did Tyrolean designs. I also did floral designs and other things. Then I wrote a couple of children’s books, and I illustrated some children’s books. JA: When did you do the children’s books? RENÉE: It was after my children were born.

JA: What were the names of the books that you illustrated, and the ones you wrote? RENÉE: Red Is the Heart, which is a story about how a little

The Life And Times Of Golden Age Artist Lily Renée

was produced in the little theatre at Hunter [College]. I think these plays should get more attention than my comic book work. JA: Were all your plays performed, or just that one? RENÉE: No, just one called Dial God. Somebody dreams they have the telephone number for God. My favorite play is called Superman in Sleep’s Embrace. It’s about Hitler having a nightmare, and I thought it was good. JA: Did you ever think about trying to get an agent? RENÉE: I don’t know how to get an agent. I just don’t know. Maybe from the comic book publicity, somebody will get interested in my plays. That would make me feel really good. JA: Well, hopefully that will happen. Reflecting upon our conversation, it seems like, in a way, you felt a little out of place with American men. RENÉE: That’s right, but my third husband was an American. That was my only real marriage, lasting over 30 years. JA: But maybe you had a better idea of how to be with an American by that time. RENÉE: True. I didn’t have many experiences with American men. As a matter of fact, I kept telling Randolph we couldn’t get married because he was American and I was not, but he was a very unusual American.

“I Wanted To Be Nice Because They Were Fighting The Nazis” JA: So you became an American citizen because you got married, is that right? RENÉE: No, I was an American citizen long before then. JA: Was that a hard process at the time? RENÉE: No. JA: When did you become an American citizen?

Definitely Not Kitty Litter! Another genre in which Lily excelled at St. John was teenage humor, as per this page from Kitty #1 (Oct. 1948). Her cover for the issue was seen in A/E #77. Thanks to Ken Quattro. [©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

boy invents colors through his feelings. And the other one is Magic Next Door, which was a juvenile detective story. I also illustrated Battle of the Bees and Aesop’s Fables. JA: I’m fascinated about the plays you wrote. When did you start writing plays? RENÉE: Well, after my husband died, I went back to college, about 19 years ago. I’ve always been very interested in philosophy, and I wanted to take English literature, so that’s what I did. I had some really wonderful teachers. One of them was the writer Philip Roth. Mostly, I studied the Greek philosophers and German philosophers, but also a fair share of some American and English ones, too. I studied Ancient Chinese philosophers at the time, and I asked the professor if I [could write about them] in a play for my term paper, because I wanted to write a dialogue between these two philosophers; and he said, “You can do what you want as long as you bring everything in.” I liked the idea of playwriting so much, I then took a class in playwriting, and then another one, and I wrote five plays. One of them

RENÉE: I think you have to be here for four years. I think that’s what it was, four years or five years. JA: I have a note here that says that, at one point, they have your last name as being “Willheim.”

RENÉE: That was my maiden name. I signed my work “L. Renée,” not “Lily Renée.” The readers never knew that I was a woman. I got a lot of fan mail, especially from soldiers, and they all wrote “Mr. Renee,“ and most of them wanted pinup pictures of Señorita Rio. JA: So your name was Lily Renée Willheim. RENÉE: Willheim, yes. It means “I want to go home.” [Jim laughs] “Heim” means “home.” JA: I didn’t stop to think that you would have gotten fan mail for your work during the war. RENÉE: I did! I got a lot of mail. JA: Did you answer any of it? RENÉE: Some. JA: Did you ever send them drawings?

“I’m Not Typical For Doing Comics, You Know!”

RENÉE: Yes, they were always asking for drawings. And it was always “Mr. Renee” whom they wrote to at Fiction House.

JA: Then how do you think you managed to avoid being put into a concentration camp?

JA: Did any of these people write back to you once you sent them a drawing? Did you ever have a correspondence with any of these people?

RENÉE: Luck.

RENÉE: No, I didn’t. I only sent the drawings because I felt they were soldiers, and I wanted to be nice because they were fighting the Nazis. JA: In regard to the Nazis: considering how they changed your life and what they did to you and your family, how did you feel when the war ended, when you found out Hitler was dead? RENÉE: Well, you have no idea. Happy, happy, happy! JA: But the fear you had living over there vanished pretty much in America. You weren’t worried about that very much anymore, were you? RENÉE: Yes, I was, because there were so many relatives and friends left back home. I didn’t know whether they were still alive, and they were in concentration camps. At one point, when I was still in Vienna, my mother’s brother was in a concentration camp. Then he came out, and he wanted to hide. And because he had a ticket to a foreign country, he was afraid the Nazis would catch him again before he left. In the kitchen, there was a door to the maid’s room, and my mother asked him to go in there. She and the maid pushed a sideboard in front of the door, and he was there overnight. My father was in such a state because he felt my mother shouldn’t have done that, because if the Gestapo came, all of us would have gone to concentration camps. But nothing, fortunately, happened, and in the morning, he left.

JA: But you had that daily fear. How did you cope with that? RENÉE: Well, you have to, because you don’t have a choice. I don’t know whether you read the obituary of Beverly Sills, the opera singer. She had one child who was deaf, and another child who was autistic. That must have been hard. People live through all kinds of horrible things. JA: I’ve lived in America all my life, and I’ve never lived in fear. That’s hard for me to imagine. I certainly have a lot of respect for you for living through that, and coming out the way you have. RENÉE: It’s not an achievement to live through it. As I say, you don’t have a choice.

JA: How did he get out of a concentration camp? RENÉE: At that time, people got out of concentration camps if they had passage to another country. He had a ticket, but he never got out. He got killed, so did his wife and my other uncle, who was a very well known architect— they all were killed. JA: You lost a lot of family because of the Nazis. RENÉE: And friends… children I was in school with. JA: Were you ever able to establish contact with any of these people after the war? RENÉE: No, and I never wanted to go back. My husband insisted that we go to Vienna when my daughter was two years old. He wanted to see where I had lived, and where I went to school, and all of that. So we went, and I didn’t speak German with anybody. I pretended I didn’t know any German. JA: What was it like for you when you went back? RENÉE: It was very, very difficult, and we didn’t stay long in Vienna, fortunately. We went to a resort on a lake, and so that was sort-of a different thing there. JA: Were either you or your parents ever close to being put into a concentration camp? RENÉE: Fortunately, no. JA: But the fear was there, wasn’t it? RENÉE: Yes. The fear was there.

That’s What We’re Fighting For! Small wonder World War II GIs asked “Mr. Renée” to draw them pinup sketches of Señorita Rio! This Fight Comics page was reprinted in AC Comics’ America’s Greatest Comics #14. [©2009 AC Comics, Inc.]

The Life And Times Of Golden Age Artist Lily Renée

“Lost” In Translation Jon Berk kindly sent us scans of a trio of treasures from his collection: (Top left:) A re-creation of the “Lost World” cover of Planet Comics #39 (Nov. 1945). Jon says that it “took five people contacts to find her. Finally her daughter contacted me and, when she found I was sane, she had her mom call. When I explained that I wanted her to do a re-creation of an old cover, she replied to me, ‘Why on Earth would you want that?’ (after I found Bob Lubbers, because she had never lettered and requested his input on that), and it came out great.” (Above right & left:) This “Lost World” splash and page from Planet #39 show the artist at her best, as well, and are repro’d from photos of the original art. Thanks to Jon, and to John Selegue. [©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

“I’m Not Typical For Doing Comics, You Know!”

JA: But do you feel like you were a survivor? Because you certainly sound like one to me. RENÉE: I’m still here. I’m a survivor, right? And I have two children and four grandchildren, and they’re all lovely.

“I Still Have My Imagination” JA: [laughs] What do they think about the fact that you were a comic book artist? RENÉE: They like it! The youngest one is eight. His name is Jason, and he was asking his mother—you see, they call me “Omi”—he said, “Is Omi famous?” [mutual laughter] But they like it, they like it a lot. JA: By the way, what are the names of your children and your grandchildren? RENÉE: My daughter’s name is Nina, and my son is Richard, or Ricky. My daughter’s children are Chloe, she’s 22, and Nick, her brother, is 20. My son’s children are younger, Andrew and Jason. Andrew is ten and Jason is eight. JA: I assume your children know what you went through in your life. RENÉE: Not in detail. I don’t talk about it.

The Life And Times Of Golden Age Artist Lily Renée

Consider The Lilies Of The (Comics) Field (Right:) A final (and exquisite) werewolf-bereft “Werewolf Hunter” splash by Lily Renée, this one from Rangers Comics #35 (June 1947). Thanks to Jay Kinney. [©2009 the respective copyright holders.] (Below:) A real find! This photo of Lily amid a galaxy of other super-talented ladies was taken a few years ago at the opening of a retrospective of women cartoonists from the last 100 years at the Museum of Comics and Cartoon Art (MOCCA) in the Soho (South of Houston Street) district of Manhattan, NYC. It’s printed here by courtesy of editorial cartoonist Mikhaela B. Reid; thanks also to John Selegue & Bruce Mason, and to Trina Robbins for a couple of the IDs. (Seated, left to right:) Hilda Terry, creator of the 1941-1966 teenage newspaper strip Teena—and Valerie Barclay, the “glamorous girl inker” of 1940s Timely/Marvel who was interviewed in A/E #33. (Standing, l. to r.:) Ramona Fradon (artist of “Aquaman,” Metamorpho, et al., who was interviewed in A/E #69)— Lily Renée (you know all about her now!)—Trina Robbins (pioneer underground cartoonist, now author of such books as Fantagraphics’ Nell Brinkley and the New Woman in the Early 20th Century and editor of a forthcoming collection of Brinkley’s art)—and Mimi Pond (cartoonist and writer who among other accomplishments, according to Wikipedia, scripted “the first full-length broadcast episode” of The Simpsons in 1989). Quite a gathering!

JA: I would assume you try not to think about it too much, do you? RENÉE: That’s right, I don’t. JA: Looking back, does it seem like you were another person back then? RENÉE: Yes and no. In some ways, I’m totally different, and in other ways, I’m still the same. I still have my imagination. JA: But it seems like, in a way, doing the comic books was an outlet for you, as well as an income. RENÉE: That’s right. It was, absolutely. I’m not typical for doing comics, you know! JA: You are in the sense that there are people who did comics because they wanted to have fantasy worlds, too. Outside of that, no, you’re not the typical comic book artist. But I think that makes you fascinating and unique. RENÉE: Thank you. I am glad you think so. Thanks to Mrs. Phillips’ grandson, Nick Pollack, for his help with this interview.

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Centaur Spread The Amazing, Keen, and Funny Story Of The CENTAUR COMICS GROUP by Lee Boyette

A/E

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following article and its attendant listings were put together by Lee B. especially for this magazine. As it turned out, however, the amount of information covered on a subject about which relatively little has been written— added to the outpouring of scans of Centaur artwork from several enthusiastic collectors, on top of those provided by Lee and his friend Jon R. Evans—has forced us to split the material into several parts, in order to be able to fully illustrate the piece. Our heartfelt thanks to Jon for helping expedite this survey in every way.

Meet You In The Funny Pages Brimming with artists such as Rafael Astarita, Bill Everett, Jack Cole, Will Eisner, Basil Wolverton, Carl Burgos, Paul Gustavson, Harold De Lay, Tarpé Mills, and Fred Schwab, and with a roll call of characters that includes Amazing-Man, The Eye, The Shark, Meteor Martin, The Arrow, Blue Lady, The Rainbow, “Speed” Centaur, Little Dynamite, Fire-Man, The Owl, and Mighty Man— the Centaur group of comics remains a complex, baffling mystery… mainly as to how, and why, they managed to last for so long with such confusing issue numbers and titles, while going through so many renovations (and re-issues) with so little style, content, or quality!

with the May 1942 issues. But there are no less than three companies that existed before Centaur which have ties to it. Confused? Allow a longtime comics researcher to elaborate: In early 1936, two ex-employees of Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson (founding publisher of National/DC)—William H. Cook and John Mahon— inaugurated a new line of comics: The Comics Magazine Company. Its initial offering was titled The Comics Magazine and had a cover date of May 1936. It consisted mainly of one-to-two-page stories of various types: humor, funny animal, Western, puzzles, text stories, and magic tricks—

Joseph J. Hardie’s Centaur line began with March 1938 cover dates and ended

The Beginning And The End Amazing-Man—the classic hero and the best-known character to come out of any Centaur-related comics title—flanked by the earliest and latest covers dealt with in this multi-part article: The Comics Magazine #1 (May 1936) & the 1942 oddity C-M-O Chicago Mail Order Company Comics #2; cover artists of both uncertain. Thanks to Jean-Michel Ferragatti for a scan of Sam Glanzman’s cover for Amazing-Man #15 (Aug. 1940). Except where noted, all art accompanying this article was either provided by Lee Boyette & Jon R. Evans, or (in the case of a few covers, such as the ones above) are repro’d from the Gerbers’ indispensable Picto-Journal Guide to Comic Books. [©2009 the respective copyright holders.] Naturally, we regret that photos (or other images) of most of the publishers, editors, and other creative personnel mentioned are unavailable.

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Clock Work (Left:) George Brenner’s hero The Clock graced the cover of the fifth issue of Funny Picture Stories, dated Nov. 1936. He was the first masked modern-day hero in comic books. This issue’s story was recently reprinted in Fantagraphics’ excellent volume Supermen! The First Wave of Comic Book Heroes 1936-1941, edited by Greg Sadowski. (Above:) For some long-forgotten reason, writer Jerry Siegel & artist Joe Shuster’s 2-page series “Dr. Occult” appeared in FPS, Vol. 1, #1, with his name changed in mid-continuity to “Dr. Mystic.” The next month, Doc was back home in More Fun Comics. For the two preceding panels of this installment, see the forthcoming All-Star Companion, Vol. 4. Thanks to Michael T. Gilbert, Bob Rivard, & Henry Andrews—all of whom sent us these scans. [©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

some illustrated in color, some in black-&-white. Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, friends from Wheeler-Nicholson’s company, provided a single two-page installment of “Dr. Mystic,” a “Superman” precursor. Other contributors included Ellis Edwards, Matt Curzon, William Allison, John Patterson, future All-American Publications and DC editor Sheldon Mayer, and future Pogo creator Walt Kelly. Beginning with #2, the “Comics Magazine” title was printed minuscule on the cover, above the far larger phrase “Funny Pages.” With the fourth issue, the name became officially The Comics Magazine – Funny Pages; and with #6 it was retitled simply Funny Pages. (The course of comic book history would have been changed—though in what ways, it’s impossible to say for certain—had Cook and Mahon purchased “Superman” from Siegel and Shuster, which the writer-andartist team had been trying to sell in one form or another since as early as 1933, rather than a single installment of “Dr. Mystic.”) Cook and Mahon then added Funny Picture Stories, with a first issue dated November 1936, a sister comic with most stories running from two to seven pages in length. George Brenner’s “The Clock,” the first “costumed” hero in comics, was cover-featured. FPS #4 (Feb. 1937) contains Will Eisner’s great Beau Geste-style adventure story “The Brothers Three.” Color and black-&-white were also used here, ending with issue #7, dated June 1937. C&M’s next effort—Detective Picture Stories #1 (Dec. 1936)—is the first recorded comic book featuring a single theme—in this case, of course, detectives and crime. Issue #4 of DPS (March 1937) contains Eisner’s classic detective story “Muss ’Em Up!,” while #5, the final issue, has both Bob (“Batman”) Kane’s first “serious” story, “Case of the Missing Heir,” and “The Clock,” who was cover-featured. Western Picture Stories #1 (Feb. 1937) is the first Western comic, continuing Cook-Mahon’s ground-breaking efforts. Eisner’s art appears in early issues: “Top Hand” in #1, “Sheriff of Caribou County” in #2, and

Seeing Stars Even the guy on the smaller cover-within-a-cover of Star Comics, Vol. 1, #15 (Nov. 1938), at bottom right is seeing stars—and so, presumably, is the tiny figure in that cover… well, you get the idea of an “infinity cover.” Art by Martin Filchock. [©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

The Amazing, Keen, And Funny Story Of The Centaur Comics Group

Even Giants Have To Start Small Early Cook-Mahon work (clockwise from above left, with all art ©2009 the respective copyright holders): Future Spirit creator Will Eisner’s “Brothers Three,” from Funny Picture Stories #4 (as reprinted in Amazing Mystery Funnies #2 for Sept. 1938) is juxtaposed with a 1941 photo of Eisner which appeared in the 1982 Kitchen Sink book The Art of Will Eisner; An autographed page from Eisner’s detective yarn “Muss ’Em Up,” from Detective Picture Stories #4 (March 1937); Bob Kane’s first attempt at a “serious” story, as opposed to a humorous one, from DPC, Vol. 1, #5 (April 1938)—flanked by a photo of the artist after he had co-created “Batman” for National/DC; Eisner again—with “Top Hand,” from Western Picture Stories #1 (Feb. 1937), as reprinted in Keen Detective Funnies, Vol. 2, #6 (June 1939, actual #10). Shortly before his passing a few years ago, Will Eisner was interviewed by Jim Amash for Alter Ego #48; that issue, and others mentioned in these captions, are still available from TwoMorrows, as per the ad bloc at issue’s end. [Eisner photo ©2009 Will Eisner Studios, Inc.; pages ©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

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Too Many Cook-Mahons Spoil The Broth? Cook-Mahon’s Detective Picture Stories beat Detective Comics to the punch by four months (as per the cover of DPS #1, above left), but didn’t have quite as much staying power. After that, from left to right, come images of: A panel from DCP #4 (March ’37) featuring a newsstand that displays Cook-Mahon comics (artist & writer unknown); This classic cover for DCP #4 (March 1937), which Lee Boyette IDs as the work of artist Rodney Thompson. It was seen in a reprinted version in the previous issue of Alter Ego—where it was identified as having been drawn by Gus Ricca. (Whichever is correct, it’s a strong image!) [©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

“Man Hunt” in #3, all later reprinted by Centaur. Mostly stories were 7 pages long, and were a mix of color and black-&-white. While these titles were being published, Harry “A” Chesler began his comic company’s history, with covers dated Feb. 1937. He published both Star Comics and Star Ranger. These were large-size (8 ½" x 11") and were in color. His Star Ranger #1 ties CookMahon’s Western Picture Stories #1 as the first Western comic. Chesler published 52-page comics, while Cook-Mahon’s were 64 pages. Star Ranger #4 & #5 each have one-panel gags by Eisner.

Young King Cole Future Plastic Man creator Jack Cole’s first published stories appeared in the April 1938 Funny Picture Stories, Vol. 2, #7 (seen at left) and in the same-date Star Comics #11. See A/E #25 for extensive coverage of this comics genius. The photo of Jack Cole appeared with a 1999 article by Art Spiegelman in The New Yorker magazine, courtesy of JC’s brother Dick. [©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

The Amazing, Keen, And Funny Story Of The Centaur Comics Group

Stories in both titles were mostly one-to-three-page efforts, with art by Rafael Astarita, Fred Guardineer, Charles Biro, Bob Wood, Dick Ryan, and others. Cook-Mahon included many house ads, which showed their titles being displayed on magazine racks and in barber shops. Centerspreads were the norm for Cook-Mahon, and although most of the art was sub-standard, the emphasis was on “complete picture stories”— and, in that respect, the books are very readable. Chesler continued to run mostly one- or two-page stories, of varying quality. However, both companies soon experienced financial difficulties, and each sought a publisher to handle their titles so they could continue their efforts. Cook-Mahon published eleven issues of Funny Pages (ending in June 1937), seven Funny Picture Stories (also ending in June ’37), five Detective Picture Stories (stopping in April ’37), and four Western Picture Stories, the last in June 1937. Chesler published six issues each of Star Comics and Star Ranger, ending with September cover dates.

Up ’N’ Ultem In a unique receivership capacity, a holding company was formed, called Ultem. Publishers Frank Z. Temerson, and I.W. Ullman picked up Funny Pages (with the Sept. 1937 issue) and Funny Picture Stories. New issues of Star Comics and Star Ranger bore Nov. 1937 cover dates. Ultem retained Chesler as editor and ran pretty much the same product as before, with centerspreads and the usual array of artists. Ultem published five issues each of FP and FPS, and three issues each of Star and Star Ranger, all four titles ending with issues dated Jan. 1938.

Oh, No! Not Another “All Star Comics” Prior To Spring 1940?! Hmm… spotting that phrase at the bottom of the above Ultem contents page from Star Comics #7 (Oct.-Nov. 1937). Ye Editor just had time to include it in his forthcoming TwoMorrows trade paperback The All-Star Companion, Vol. 4! [©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

Cook-Mahon went into receivership first—and defaulted first. When they couldn’t keep up their payments, Chesler had to shut up shop. He lost his major account when Cook-Mahon closed. But he retained his backlog of stories and his shop of artists, and continued to sell new material (and old!) to other comic publishers. After this time, Eisner’s work begins to appear at “Busy” Arnold’s Quality group; Brenner took his “Clock” and moved there, as well. The early Ultem issues of FP and FPS clearly are copyrighted by “The Comic Magazine Co.,” and their indicia state they are “published for the Comic Magazine Co.” Chesler is listed as “Editor/Publisher” in Star Comics #7. All are 64 pages. All four comic titles lay idle until March 1938. When Joe Hardie came in, he bought the quartet, plus CookMahon’s and Ultem’s backlog of stories, including some which apparently had not yet been published. Chesler published one more book, called Cocomalt Big Book of Comics, in 1938 (no month given). This was a premium to be given away by Cocomalt, a popular product and sponsor of a radio show at the time. This is a superior book, with beautiful art by Rafael Astarita and Bob Wood and very early Jack Cole.

The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide lists Quality’s Feature Funnies as being published by Chesler, but this is incorrect. Feature #1 is cover-dated October 1937, which is during the Ultem period, and Feature #4 has an ownership statement that contains no mention of either Chesler

Centaur Spread

or Ultem. Its statement of ownership lists: Comic Favorites, Inc.; Frank J. Murphy; Henry P. Martin, Jr.; Frank J. Markey; and Everett M. Arnold. FF #4 is dated Oct. 1937—oddly, the same issue date that #1 had!

The Hardie Boy Joe Hardie began publishing with cover dates of March 1938. His initial efforts were not much different from what Ultem had done. In fact, Funny Pages, Vol. 2, #6 (April 1938), is identical in format and line-up of artists to the previous issues, indicating that this one had been prepped before Hardie took over. The two-page centerfold format was retained; he also hired Lloyd V. Jacquet as his editor. However, the next month, Star Comics #11 and Funny Picture Stories, Vol. 2, #7, both have Jack Cole and Paul Gustavson, who were hired by editor Jacquet. Funny Pages, Vol. 2, #10 (Sept. 1938, actual #21), would feature “The Arrow” by Gustavson, Centaur’s first hero—decked out in a red body-covering costume with a hood, mask, and gloves. His face was never shown, as he used his bow and arrows to maximum effect against evil-doers. The Arrow was cover-featured only eight times, with Vol. 4, #1 (Jan. 1940, actual issue #34), by Harold De Lay, and #35 by Paul Gustavson both outstanding. In an oddity, in #35 and #39 The Arrow’s costume is colored blue. Within a few months, additional talent and features from editor Jacquet appeared. Tarpé Mills was the first, with her “Diane Deane in Hollywood” in #34; women artists were quite rare in comics at that time.

He Shoulda Had a Kid Sidekick Called The Pussycat! Martin Filchock’s “Owl” appeared in Funny Pages #34 (Jan. 1940)—at the same time Gardner Fox & Dennis Neville’s “Hawkman” was launched in DC/AA’s Flash Comics #1. Above, the hootin’ hooded hero goes into action for the first time. Thanks to Henry Andrews for the scan. For a hefty and high-spirited focus on Filchock’s life and career (plus another “Owl” page), see Jim Amash’s interview with the artist/writer in A/E #64. Meanwhile, at right is a photo of Martin in his mid-90s, as it appeared in the Sept.-Oct. 2007 issue of Town Square magazine. Thanks to MS for sending it. [©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

The Amazing, Keen, And Funny Story Of The Centaur Comics Group

Filchock In The Centaur Ring A trio of pages showing the versatility of the early work of Centaur pioneer Martin Filchock (clockwise from top left): The cover of Funny Pages #21 (Sept. 1938), with thanks to Bruce Mason— A “Fire-Man” page from an uncertain 1941-42 issue of Man of War, with thanks to Michael T. Gilbert (see A/E #64 for Fire-Man taking on a dead ringer for The Human Torch!)— Martin’s giant-sized hero Mighty Man, from Amazing-Man Comics #12 (May 1940), courtesy of Bruce Mason. [Art ©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

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Burgos The Buccaneer (Left:) Carl Burgos illustrated (whether or not he wrote) “The Last Pirate” in Star Comics #16 (Dec. 1938). The above photo of Burgos during his service in uniform during World War II is courtesy of his daughter, Susan Burgos, who was interviewed about her father and his work in A/E #49. [©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

Hey, Kids! Comics! Torture, bondage, and human sacrifice all made it onto Harry Francis Campbell’s cover for Keen Detective Funnies, Vol. 2, #6 (June 1939, actual #10), seen at left—and into the Sam Gilman-drawn “Dan Dennis” yarn in KDF #24 (Oct. 1940). [©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

The Amazing, Keen, And Funny Story Of The Centaur Comics Group

The “Prodigal” Son Wears A Mask Many of the early Centaur-related comics were reprinted in France. In Aventureux #23, “The Masked Marvel” became “L’Homme Prodige,” which translates basically as “The Prodigious [one of whose meanings is “Marvelous”] Man.” Art probably by Ben Thompson. Thanks to Jean-Michel Ferragatti for the scan. More about “The Masked Marvel” in the next installment of this Centaur series. [©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

Issue #34 is a turning point in that it featured not only “Diane Deane” but also “Mad Ming” (Wu Chang) by Harold De Lay, an insane Oriental who delves into bondage, torture, etc., to achieve his takeover of an unsuspecting world. Jack Cole’s “Mantoka,” an American Indian, makes magic only in this and in #37; this short-lived series was crude, but engaging. Martin Filchock’s “The Owl” makes his one and only appearance here, also. He is a library worker by day, and a crime-fighter by night. His father invented both a way for The Owl to fly, and to communicate with his dad by radio, so he can help his parent seek revenge on some evil-doers from years earlier. Most of the rest of Funny Pages is composed of humorous one-to-twopagers (some by Cole and Fred Schwab) and mostly non-memorable strips. After a few issues of Star Comics which featured reprints and nondescript stories, Carl Burgos’ first tale there, “Last Pirate,” appears in #15 (Nov. 1938). This feature represents some of his best work, with #16 being particularly good. Gil Fox does the cover for #14, and Mills’ “Diane Deane” is also featured. Also, #15 for Nov. 1938, has an “infinity” cover. Included in Star #15 is a “Professor Screwey” page by Burt Schultz, in which the covers of library books bear artists’ names: “Modern History by Biro,” “The World’s All Wrong by Gutwirth,” “Married Life by Cole,” “Now to Crack Nuts by Schwab,” and “Algebra by Fred Guardineer.” A box on the cover of #15 (in fact, of all issues that month) states: “No Newspaper Reprints.” However, Uncle Joe failed to mention the CookMahon reprints he was using. Dell and Quality were utilizing newspaper reprints at this time, and the notice was no doubt intended as a dig at them. While Star, Star Ranger, Funny Pages, and Funny Picture Stories were being published, Hardie introduced a pair of new titles in the summer of 1938.

Keen Detective Funnies began with Vol. 1, #8, for July 1938. That first issue contains “The Clock” in a story reprinted from FPS #1. (There are no numbers 1 through 7.) Issue #9 (actual #2) reprints “Top Hand,” a “Tex Martin” Western by Eisner. In fact, except for the covers, all KDF’s issues are reprints until Vol. 2, #2 (actual #6, Feb. 1939), which features new features “Dean Denton” by H. F. Campbell, “Little Dynamite” by Jack Cole, and “Stoney Dawson and the Hooded Cult” by Carl Burgos. Cole’s story has a pint-sized cop who hides in a car trunk and surprises a gang of car thieves. This is Cole’s first non-humor story, and while it is rather crude, his distinctive style and use of extreme violence are evident. Burgos’ “Stoney Dawson” is heavily influenced by Chester Gould’s newspaper strip Dick Tracy and has “an escaped lunatic” (who looks the part) as well as torture, violence, and a “hooded cult.” Pretty wild stuff! KDF #10 (Vol. 2, #6) (June 1939) reprints Eisner’s classic “Muss ’Em Up” and has a “Dean Denton” cover—with the latter hero featured inside in an equally wild tale complete with bondage, human sacrifice, torture, drugs, and more, entitled “Pyramid of Death.” Overstreet lists several issues of KDF as having “Everett” art. These “Dan Dennis, FBI” stories are actually by Sam Gilman. This artist later became an actor, appearing in the movie One-Eyed Jacks with Marlon Brando, and on TV as a regular in Shane, which starred a young David Carradine. Gilman worked steadily until his death. The cover of KDF, Vol. 2, #7 (real #11) (June 1939), introduces a new hero called “Masked Marvel,” drawn by Ben Thompson. Masked Marvel’s identity is never revealed, but he is a super-smart guy who flies his own plane, uses a number of ingenious weapons, and has assistants called ZR, ZY, and ZL, whose identities are never revealed, either. Perhaps his best story is the one in Vol. 2, #9, in which stalks stamp counterfeiters. KDF #16 (Dec. 1939) introduces “The Eye,” the most bizarre character even Centaur ever published. He/it is an actual giant, floating eye that reads people’s minds, communicates telepathically with them, rights wrongs, and helps the innocent. Issue #18 features an outlandish cover

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involving torture, bondage, and other unsavory elements. “The Air Man” was introduced in #23, and is not a copy of DC’s “Hawkman.” He has helium-filled wings and a jet-pack that enables him to fly and battle criminals. Amazing Mystery Funnies #17-24 are 64 pages, though Overstreet lists all these issues as having 52 pages. Amazing Mystery Funnies #1 (Aug.1938) debuts one month after KDF, sporting a new cover by Bill Everett, his first—and the only new piece of art in the issue. But, with #2 came “Skyrocket Steele in the Year X” (X = roughly 2500 A.D.). Everett’s first story is pretty good sciencefiction, as a grouping made up of a scientist and several adventurers battles outer-space meanies to achieve peace and progress. This is a serial that continues through Vol. 2, #6 (actual #10). The remainder of AMF #2 consists of reprints from Cooke-Mahon, including Eisner’s “Brothers Three” from Funny Picture Stories #4. Issue #3 features Eisner’s “Man Hunt” from Western Picture Stories. A new entry is “Dirk the Demon” by Everett. Overstreet lists #3 as having two Eisner stories; however, only one appears. Everett also does the covers of #1–4, 6, 7, 9, & 10, with issue #7’s a classic depicting Steele & company battling the villains. Another chapter of “Dirk the Demon” by Everett, including a self-portrait of the artist, appears in Vol. 2, #3 (real #7). It also introduced Burgos’ “Air-Sub DX,” which runs through #13 (Vol. 2, #9), which is more science-fiction, with crude but involving plots, as a pilot guides an airship through various space adventures. (Maybe he should have titled the series “Space-Sub DX”?) Vol. 2, #7 (actual #11), for July 1939, like KDF, V2#7, begins a new direction for Amazing Mystery Funnies, with the advent of Paul Gustavson’s excellent “Fantom of the Fair.” Initially, the Fantom was a seldom-seen figure who hid in a cave under the 1939 New York World’s Fair and battled crooks, a giant white gorilla, a rampaging robot, and other menaces. The Fair idea ended by #16 (Dec. 1939), even though the

I Spy With My Not-So-Little Eye Frank Thomas’ “Eye” cover for Keen Detective Funnies #20 (May 1940) featured maybe the most unusual super-hero in the history of comics—a giant disembodied human eyeball! Somebody must’ve been reading Egyptian mythology! [©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

The Air Up There Harry Sahle’s splash for the “Air Man” story in KDF #24 (Oct. 1940). Wonder if he and The Owl ever bumped into each other in the crowded skies above the Centaur offices? The photo of Sahle, one of the few around, was provided several years ago by the late artist Sam Burlockoff. [©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

The Amazing, Keen, And Funny Story Of The Centaur Comics Group

Mount Everett Bill Everett (see photo on p. 38) would be most remembered for his creation Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner—but his first major shot out of the cannon was “Skyrocket Steele,” seen above left on Bill’s cover for Amazing Mystery Funnies #3 (Nov. 1938), and the page directly above, from Vol. 2, #4 (April 1939). The writer/artist also contributed Steele’s cover co-star “Dirk the Demon” to AMF V2#3 (March ’39). Thanks to Boyette & Davis, and to Greg Huneryager. The earliest “Steele” pages were in two colors only—black & red (plus white, of course, which didn’t count as one of comics’ “four colors.”). [©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

real-life Fair itself went on through much of 1940; but the Fantom continued to fight crime until #24, at which time he is renamed “Fantoman.” Gustavson stopped doing the stories by #19, though he contributed covers for #21-22. “‘Speed’ Centaur” debuts in Vol. 2, #8 (real #12) as the lone survivor of an ancient race. Half-man and half-horse, he lives in a cave on “Nob Nose Mountain.” Found by an old trapper in the frozen North, he moves after the old man’s death and teams with a reporter, the cleverly named “Reel” McCoy. A coloring error in Vol. 2, #9 (actual #13), makes “Speed” appear all flesh tone. In the next issue, he is after Slip Horn, a master crook. He disguises himself—as a horse (!)—and he and “Reel” track down Horn. In another story (actual #19), the doping of horses is thwarted by “Speed” as he dons the trappings of a thoroughbred to defeat the crooks. Starting in Vol. 2, #12 (Dec. 1939, actual #16), of AMF, Basil Wolverton’s “Space Patrol” has Nick Nelson and his alien friend Kodi meeting an actual “spider man” in the first of six stories. Wolverton’s [Continued on p. 37]

Centaur Spread

“Fantom” With An “F” The Fantom of the Fair is shown fighting on the opulent New York World’s Fair grounds on Paul Gustavson’s cover (top left) done for Amazing Mystery Funnies #14 (Oct. 1939)— but cost-cutting measures were apparently taken on the above cover for Fantoman #2 (Aug. 1940, actual #1), with a panel from the story inside (see left) blown up to do double duty as the cover! Artist of the latter story uncertain. [©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

The Amazing, Keen, And Funny Story Of The Centaur Comics Group

Winning—But Not By A Nose! The “Speed” Centaur cover for Amazing Mystery Funnies, Vol. 2, #8 (Aug. 1939, real #12), seen above left, is credited to Paul Gustavson. In #19 (April ’40), with art attributed to Malcolm Kildale (seen above), he somehow managed to disguise himself as a racehorse. Clever, these mythological creatures! [©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

…Does Whatever A Space Spider Can! Basil Wolverton’s hi-octane hero Nick Nelson of the “Space Patrol” meets a spider man in AMF V2#12 (Dec. 1939, actual #16). The mid-1940s photo of BW was provided by his cartoonist son Monte for an FCA respective in A/E #78. [©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

Centaur Spread

[Continued from p. 34] unique talents are beautifully displayed here, with the story in #19 unsurpassed. While the reprints basically stopped with #11, only a few of the new stories have merit, such as a serial called “Fantasy Isle,” in which a youth named Tippy Taylor bumps into giants, dinosaurs, and other leftovers from someone’s nightmares. The inside front covers of AMF #14-16, 18, & 20 have “Meet the Artist” profiles of various Centaur creators, with biographical notes by Uncle Joe and self-portraits by the artist. Joe Hardie deserves credit for being the first publisher to acknowledge that his artists were important enough to recognize individually. AMF #14 spotlights Gustavson, #15 Everett, #16 Kildale, #18 Lachlan Field (with no self—portrait), and #20 Harry F. Campbell. Issue #19 also includes Filchock’s classic “Headless Horseman,” in which a girl hides her body in an elaborate (male) costume to catch the desperadoes. AMF #24 has, on the inside back cover, an ad featuring black-&-white images of covers to Ace Comics, Sure Fire, and Super-Mystery. It is now known that Hardie was one of the partners in ownership of the Ace company. Incidentally, in AMF #3, a text story turns artist Terry Gilkison’s name around to read “Terry Kilgison.”

Angel Unawares (Above:) Artist Paul Gustavson, who at virtually the same time was introducing his “Angel” feature (also through Funnies, Inc.) in Marvel Comics #1, was featured by “Uncle Joe” (Hardie) on the inside front cover of AMF v2#10. With regard to self-inflicted nicknames, Hardie beat even “Uncle Charlie” Biro, let alone Smilin’ Stan Lee, to the punch! [©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

Washington Irving, Eat Your Heart Out! (Left:) As detailed in A/E #64, Martin Filchock’s “Headless Horseman” had a secret—namely, “he” was secretly a “she,” augmenting her height with trickery and utilizing “supernatural” gimmicks that foreshadow Magazine Enterprises’ “Ghost Rider” of nearly a decade later. From AMF #19 (April ’40). [©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

The Amazing, Keen, And Funny Story Of The Centaur Comics Group

Also in 1938, the company introduced Little Giant Comics, Little Giant Detective Funnies, and Little Giant Movie Funnies. None are memorable, consisting mostly of reprints and fillers, but LGDF #4 (a more normal-sized comic) recycles “Muss ’Em Up” by Eisner. The Star Ranger title for May 1938 (actual #12) features Cole’s first cover—a real beauty. But aside from SR, V2#1 (Jan. ’39), having another great Cole cover, and V1#15 reprinting Eisner’s “Sheriff of Caribou County,” most issues are mediocre. Cowboy Comics #13 & #14 (a continuation of SR) have the only two appearances ever of the Centaur logo on the cover! The latter issue, dated Aug. 1938, with a cover by Filchock, is a real rarity. The re-renamed Star Ranger Funnies V2#5 (Oct. 1939) contains Filchock’s “Centaur Kid,” a child half horse and half boy, in a hilarious misadventure. Somehow, Funny Picture Stories metamorphosed into Comic Pages with issue Vol. 3, #4 (real #17), for July 1939. Vol. 3, #6 (Dec. 1939), includes a Filchock story called “The Dopey Kits ‘Go A-Huntin’.” In this feature, children step out of a comic book titled “Centaur Comics” dressed as The Arrow, Tarpé Mills’ Daredevil Barry Finn, Masked Marvel, Phantom Rider, and others, and catching some escaped criminals. Great fun!

Centaur Stage Amazingly, Cowboy Comics #13 & 14 (July & Aug. 1938)—the cover of the former was printed in A/E #64)—was one of only two mags that ever featured the distinctive Centaur logo, pictured above left. Martin Filchock, however, kept the dream alive with his “Centaur Kid” one-pagers (such as the title panel from Star Ranger Funnies, Vol. 2, #5,Oct.1939) & “The Dopey Kits” from Comic Pages, Vol. 3, #6 (Dec. 1939), whose first panel has kids garbed as Centaur heroes coming out of a giant-size cover labeled Centaur Comics. Apparently, Martin cared more about the Centaur image than his publisher did! [© the respective copyright holders.]

Centaur Spread

Amazing, Man! The best, and most-remembered, Centaur comic book—AmazingMan Comics—came next, with a cover date of Sept. 1939. This issue #5 (actually #1) features Bill Everett’s “Amazing-Man,” who must rate as the company’s best character. John Aman studies in Tibet, battles a cobra,

undergoes incredible preparations, and (after “The Great Question,” a mysterious, hooded teacher, is certain that he is ready to go forth into the world) is able to appear and disappear, can control the green mist (a gas that enables him to fly), and finally emerges as the Amazing-Man. Amazing-Man Comics is the first title that Hardie published listing

Up In The Wild Bill Yonder This photo of Bill Everett, which he gave to Ye Editor in 1969-70, shows him hard at work, probably in 1939, with the original art of an “Amazing-Man” splash page partly hidden by the lamp. At left is his most famous cover for Amazing-Man Comics (#11, April 1940), the first issue in which A-Man is garbed as an actual “costumed hero.” At right in the photo, we’ve inserted a sketched head by Bill of his masterpiece creation The Sub-Mariner, courtesy of Dennis Beaulieu, which shows the physical resemblance between Bill and Namor. See A/E V3#3 & #46 for full-fledged coverage of “Wild Bill,” as Stan Lee impishly dubbed him in the mid-1960s. [AmazingMan cover ©2009 the respective copyright holders; Sub-Mariner TM & ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

The Amazing, Keen, And Funny Story Of The Centaur Comics Group

“The Comic Corporation of America” as the company, rather than “Centaur.” More on this later. Amazing-Man, incidentally, is the only title which began with the first issue not labeled as “#1” and which made no later attempt to rectify the numbering count. In the spring of 1940, Lloyd Jacquet quit doing business with Centaur, taking Everett and Burgos with him. Soon his shop would become Funnies, Inc., with Everett as art director. In Amazing-Man #7 (Nov. 1939, real #3) Everett employs the same kind of craft-tint he utilized in his first “Sub-Mariner” story, which had come out only weeks before in Marvel Comics #1 (and perhaps a bit earlier in Motion Picture Funnies Weekly #1). Though that technique is used only on the splash page, it is beautifully done. A-Man (as he was often referred to) has an evil side to his personality here, much as Namor does. In #6 (actual #2) that dark side had taken over, with nightmarish results. Issue #9 ties Timely’s Marvel Mystery Comics #4 (a Sub-Mariner drawing, but drawn by Alex Shomburg, not Everett) as the first “Nazi war cover”). In AMC #11 the hero’s familiar costume makes its debut; Everett’s art here is exceptional. Although Everett left the feature after #11 (actual #6), his image of Amazing-Man appeared on every cover until the logo changed with #25. Amazing-Man #12 onward displays more conventional uses of the hero’s powers, with art by Sam Glanzman. Issue #5 also contains “CatMan,” a disguise artist written and drawn by Tarpé Mills. The 8th issue contains the only other appearance of that character, who favors cats in a way that foreshadows Blofeld in the early James Bond films. [Continued on p. 42]

“In True ‘Amazing-Man’ Fashion!” This page from an early, pre-costume “Amazing-Man” story demonstrate that, while he utilized captions in the pulp-mag-influenced style of early comics, there was also a cinematic aspect to Bill Everett’s work that went beyond that of most early comics creators. Repro’d from a photocopy provided by Robert Wiener. [©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

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That’s Amazing! (Left:) Two Everett covers for AmazingMan Comics— #6 (Nov. 1939) and #9 (Feb. 1940)—the latter, as Lee & Ron point out, being one of the first antiNazi comic book covers done anywhere, by anybody! [©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

C’est Amazing! Publishers in France reprinted “Amazing-Man” and other Centaur-related material—in a magazine called Hurrah! “Surhomme” would translate as the Nietzchean “super-man.” Provider Jean-Michel Ferragatti relates that, after the German occupation of most of France in summer of 1940, Hurrah! and the aforementioned Aventureux, from which French translations of Centaur material are reprinted in this issue, were published in the country’s Free Zone, otherwise known as Vichy France after its wartime capital. That part of France was not formally occupied, but was nonetheless subservient to the Nazis. JeanMichel informs us that the two biggest comics publishers in France in 1940 were both Italians who’d fled Mussolini’s Fascist regime—then fled to Vichy when the country fell to the Nazis. [©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

The Amazing, Keen, And Funny Story Of The Centaur Comics Group

Brother Act? The cover and lead-off splash panel of Amazing-Man Comics #16 (Oct. 1940), both the work of Lew Glanzman, who also worked under the name “Lew Glanz” and—often in tandem with his younger brother Sam—“Sam Decker.” Whether or not Sam G. worked with Lew on this particular story, however, is uncertain—though it would make sense, since Lew drew “The Shark” by his lonesome in the same issue. The writer’s full name was apparently Allen L. Kirby. Art repro’d from an actual comic owned by Ye Editor, for a change! The painted self-portrait of Lew at left was provided by Don Mangus. See A/E #46 for a full-scale interview with Lew Glanzman. [Amazing-Man art ©2009 the respective copyright holders; portrait ©2009 Lew Glanzman.]

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Of Sharks And Skulls (Right:) Like we just noted—Lew Glanzman (who dropped the “man” from his last name as casually as super-heroes like Amazing-Man added it) also wrote and drew “The Shark” in Amazing-Man #16 and all his other appearances. Here he shows his father, the sea god Neptune, a miniature human he’s found… not realizing he’ll be shrunk himself, a couple of pages hence! (Below:) Nope, “Sam Gilman,” who drew “The Iron Skull” in the same issue (having taken over from Carl Burgos), isn’t just another pseudonym for Lew (or Sam) Glanzman, but was an early comics artist and writer who, according to Bails & Ware’s 1970s Who’s Who of American Comic Books, “retired from comics to acting” after 1941 and later “appeared in many movies, including One-Eyed Jacks,” the classic Western starring and directed by Marlon Brando. [©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

[Continued from p. 40] Amazing-Man #9 also features “Chuck Hardy” by Frank Thomas. Hardy is a science-fiction adventurer involved with weird creatures, dinosaurs, human sacrifice, another evil cult, and other idiosyncrasies. Carl Burgos’ “The Iron Skull” (yet another android from the creator of the not-quite-human Human Torch) shows up in Amazing-Man #5—and in #15 becomes entirely made of iron! These stories are extremely weird and take place in 1970—“20 years after WWII” (or so the text reads). “The Shark” begins in Amazing-Man #6, with good art by Louis Glanzman, who also wrote the story. The hero is the son of Neptune, has webbed hands and feet and gills so he can breathe underwater, and is the protector of all sea life. NOTE: Part II of Lee Boyette’s all-encompassing coverage of the Centaur stalwarts, including extended coverage of the Fantom of the Fair, The Arrow, Stars and Stripes, et al., plus detailed and illustrated lists of all Centaur-related comics and their various heroes and series, will continue in Alter Ego #87, just two oh-so-short months from now!

hat if, instead of selling his share of All-American Publications to National/DC co-publishers Harry Donenfeld and Jack Liebowitz in 1945, as happened in The World We Know, AA co-publisher Max Charles Gaines had instead bought DC from them?

newsstands in the late 1940s, with both versions eventually being cancelled) the AA characters Green Lantern, The Flash, and Wonder Woman had instead become the surviving Golden Age heroes—stars of comic books, radio, movies, and TV? (Even so, in Our World, all art on the next 6 pages features characters trademarked and copyrighted by DC Comics.)

Just imagine… a comic book industry in which (due to legal problems with Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, and Bob Kane, which resulted in there being two competing versions of Superman and Batman on the nation’s

Not a dream (precisely)… not a hoax (because we tell you about it up front)…just an imaginary tale of an alternate universe we call Earth-22, and of…

The Secret History of All-American Comics, Inc. by Bob Rozakis

Book One – Chapter 7: “Pow! Bam! Zap!” [NOTE: This chapter’s interview with Ted Skimmer, longtime AllAmerican production man, has never been printed before.] BOB ROZAKIS: From the time DC was merged into AA, there wasn’t much change in the AA staff for a long time, was there?

The Other AA Editors Were Green With Envy… …when AA Green Lantern editor Mort Weisinger (seen in previous installments) acquired an assistant editor—namely, E. Nelson Bridwell, the guy who really put together many of those 80-Page Giants. He’s seen here in a photo taken by Michele Wolfman for The ACBA Newsletter for June of ’73; with thanaks to Flo Steinberg. Below, repro’d from a photocopy of the original art, is a panel from Green Lantern #39, penciled by Carmine Infantino, that was reprinted in one of the earliest 80-Page Giants. Thanks to Dominic Bongo & the Heritage Comics Archives.

TED SKIMMER: You have to realize that throughout the ’50s and much of the ’60s the comics business was a closed shop. The guys who had started the business in the 1940s were pretty much all still there. The leaner times had weeded out some, but for the most part, the faces you would have seen in the AA offices in 1950 were the same ones, albeit older, that were there in 1969. Even on the freelance side, there wasn’t much change. Guys like Kubert, Infantino, and Toth, who were the “kids” when they started working for us a few years after the War, were only in their forties when the second generation started arriving. Mort Weisinger was only 55 when he retired in 1970. I guess you could say that Bill Gaines and Julie Schwartz were somewhat responsible for the “second generation” of people getting into the comic book business. Certainly they had tapped into something when they started printing letters from the readers in the books in the early ’50s. E. Nelson Bridwell was one of their regular readers—and letter-writers— and he said that having his letters published in the books made him feel much more comfortable about asking for a job in the early 1960s. BR: Well, Nelson came to the company a lot earlier than my compatriots and I did.

some writing for Kurtzman’s Mad magazine at the time, but he was looking for a full-time job. We didn’t think he’d last long, having to deal with Mort, but he did. BR: But how did Mort convince Gaines that he deserved an assistant when no one else did?

SKIMMER: Nelson got hired as the result of one of Mort’s “salary negotiations.” At the time Mort was editing the whole line of Green Lantern books, so he had, what, six or seven titles? He somehow convinced Charlie that he was carrying a much heavier workload than the rest of the editors, so, in addition to wanting more money, he needed an assistant.

SKIMMER: It was the popularity of the Annuals that Mort used to convince Charlie. While the other editors were also producing a few, under the blanket 80-Page Giant title, it was the Green Lantern ones that appeared most often. Nobody on staff, nor among the readers for that matter, seemed bothered by the concept that “annuals” were coming out two or three times a year!

Nelson had already moved from Oklahoma to New York and was doing

Nelson, as it turned out, was the perfect choice to handle these books

“Pow! Bam! Zap!”

Sidebar: Editorial assignments at AA in 1964. Weisinger edited only seven regular titles while each of his colleagues edited eight. MORT WEISINGER Green Lantern All-American Comics Doiby Dickles Cathy Crain Kid Lantern Sensation Comics Comic Cavalcade

for Mort. He had an encyclopedic knowledge of the books, dating back to the ’40s, and a remarkable memory. Mort would be talking about an old story, and Nelson would pull it out of the file of old issues in a matter of moments. The film negatives that AA would use to produce the reprint books dated back to the early-to-mid-1950s. That there was only a decade or so worth of material did not appear to be a problem. At the time, the majority of the audience was boys ranging in age from about 10 to 14. With the audience turning over every four years or so, reprints from five years ago would be new material for them. There was one other problem, though. Weisinger took full advantage of this reader turnover and would frequently reuse old plots. Sometimes the stories would start the same way and go off in different directions; other times they would be almost identical. BR: I remember finding a couple of those. SKIMMER: [laughs] Only a couple? After the first few months, Mort was letting Nelson handle the reprints by himself. Nelson would suggest something like “Green Lantern’s Greatest Foes,” and Mort would just nod and say okay. He might look at the stats of the stories or the cover, but mostly he didn’t care. One time, however, Nelson suggested “Secrets of Green Lantern,” and Mort said to him, “Yes, I like that. Be sure to include that story where Alan’s friend accidentally finds out he’s Kid Lantern.” So Nelson says, “Which one?” and pulls out three different issues in which Mort had used the exact same premise… one from 1952, one from ’57 and the last from ’62!

JULIUS SCHWARTZ Superman Batman Flash Comics All-Flash Justice League of America Aquaman Green Arrow Sugar & Spike ROBERT KANIGHER Action Men of War G.I. Combat Our Army at War Our Fighting Forces Captain Storm Star Spangled War Stories Wonder Woman Metal Men

BR: Oh, I know about Nelson’s memory. I’d be talking about a plot point with Julie and suddenly Nelson would say, “You can’t do that. In issue such-and-such it was established that…” and then he would go to the filing cabinet, pull out a twenty-year-old comic book, flip to the exact page, and point at a panel. Sometimes Julie would go along, and sometimes he’d just growl and say, “I don’t care what it said in 1957!”

MURRAY BOLTINOFF Blackhawk The Brave and the Bold Doom Patrol Hawkman Challengers of the Unknown Sea Devils Tomahawk Rip Hunter, Time Master JACK SCHIFF Strange Adventures Mystery in Space Weird Science Tales from the Crypt Falling in Love Heart Throbs Young Love Young Romance

A Thorny Issue A classic Julie Schwartz-edited issue of All-Flash (#185, Dec. 1967), featuring the return of The Thorn. Original art, which looks like Infantino pencils, repro’d from the collection of Lawrence P. Guidry.

ROTATING EDITORS Hollywood Funny Folks (Jerry Lewis, Bob Hope, Fox & Crow) Showcase 80-Page Giants (reprints)

SKIMMER: Well, that was probably one of the reasons Mort treated Nelson so badly. Mort interpreted Nelson knowing about multiple uses of the same plot as a way his assistant was showing him up. But Nelson didn’t have a mean bone in his body; he was just doing what he thought Mort wanted. But Mort made no attempt to disguise his contempt for Nelson, and often referred to him as “that idiot.” BR: Didn’t he fire Nelson at one point?

SKIMMER: Indeed he did. In 1965, Weisinger fired him and replaced him with Roy Thomas. However, Roy would not tolerate Mort’s abuse and left for Marvel after two weeks. This forced Mort to grudgingly rehire Nelson, telling the staff that he’d had Thomas fill in while Bridwell had taken a “vacation.” BR: Aside from adding Nelson to the staff, there was another big change in ’64. How did Julie end up editing the “Flash” books again? SKIMMER: By 1964, sales of Flash Comics and All-Flash had fallen off substantially. Under Jack Schiff, the character had been reduced to battling aliens, being changed into bizarre forms like the Zebra-Striped Flash, or chasing the one-shot gimmick villain of the

The Secret History Of All-American Comics, Inc. — Chapter 7

month. Ostensibly the company’s number two character, behind Green Lantern, The Flash was expected to generate a better return. Charlie and Billy [Gaines, father and son who owned and ran AA] decided that a shuffling of editorial duties was necessary to revitalize the Wizard of Whiz, and the man they wanted to do it was Julie. Given Julie’s success with the revivals of Superman and Batman and, to a lesser extent, Aquaman and Green Arrow, it was obvious he knew how to bring some new excitement to a character. BR: But this wouldn’t be a revival, since The Flash had not been out of print for a decade. SKIMMER: Right. Julie wasn’t going to reinvent everything as he had done with Superman. They simply wanted him to bring The Flash up to the same level as the other heroes. Even so, it had been fifteen years since Julie had given up the Flash titles to handle the science-fiction and horror books. As far as he was concerned, this was a new character he was taking on. BR: Who decided which titles Julie was going to trade to Jack Schiff? SKIMMER: Billy gave Julie the choice. Julie did not want to give up any of them. Superman and Batman were his babies and, since he was doing Justice League, he wanted to keep his hands on Aquaman and Green Arrow, too. So he told Billy he would hand over Strange Adventures and Mystery in Space. Schiff already had Weird Science and Tales from the Crypt, so it made some sense. BR: Well, there was quite a difference between Julie’s approach to the books and Jack’s. I asked Julie one time what he thought Schiff ’s version of Adam Strange, and he told me he never even looked at an issue after he gave up the book. SKIMMER: [laughs] I’m not surprised. Julie’s first move in his revamp of The Flash was to get rid of the more ridiculous elements. The aliens and the transformations were gone. Flash-Woman and Flash-Girl, FlashHound and Flash-Mite—all banished. He thought seriously about eliminating Kid Flash, too. But he had introduced a new Robin as the sidekick in Batman and the character had caught on. So keeping Wally Williams around as an occasional partner for The Flash made some sense. Julie figured he could always retire the character later if he wanted to. That eventually happened in 1970 when he sent Wally off to college. Jay Garrick had been a man of science in his earliest adventures. It was, after all, his accident with “hard water fumes” that gave him his powers in the first place. So Jay went back to the science lab, and his use of superspeed became much more scientifically plausible. Similarly, the villains The Flash would now face were scientifically grounded. One of the things Julie wanted to do was introduce a few recurring enemies for Flash. The parade of bad guys from the Schiff era could all have been the same guy in a never-ending collection of costumes, for all the character development they had. This resulted in the creation of Mirror Master, the Trickster, and Weather Wizard, along with revamps of The Icicle and The Fiddler. BR: And there was Grodd. SKIMMER: Well, it was inevitable that The Flash would end up fighting some kind of a gorilla. Any time we put an ape on the cover—didn’t matter whether it was a super-hero book, a sci-fi anthology, a Western, or a war book, even a romance comic—sales bumped up! Of course, it also helped that Carmine Infantino, who was now handling the penciling on some of the “Flash” stories, seemed to love drawing the simian characters. So it was that Gorilla Grodd became part of Flash’s Rogues Gallery. BR: And the creation of the Rogues Gallery is supposedly what led to the Flash TV series.

A Legion In Its Own Time During the 1960s, Mort Weisinger kept the Green Lantern “family” on top of the super-hero heap with some inventive gimmicks. Seen here is the cover of Sensation Comics #242 (Feb. 1963), which as usual starred Kid Lantern and this time featured the increasingly popular Lantern Legion. Sent by both Lawrence P. Guidry & Shane Foley.

SKIMMER: Or so the story goes. The producer saw an issue of All-Flash with The Trickster and decided it would make a great TV series. Anyway, Julie’s plans for The Flash went somewhat off-track when the TV show hit the screens in 1966. All the campy sound effects, the villains of the week, the corny dialogue caught the viewing public’s attention, and it had to be reflected in the comics. That was probably the last time that having a character in another medium seriously helped the sales of the comic books. Not only were the current issues selling out—distributors in some areas were sending returned copies back out and having them sell, as well. You would have thought there were a dozen different Flash titles out there when, in fact, there were only two. But the casual reader, brought in by seeing the TV show, could find six different issues of Flash Comics in the same racks. Suddenly, the “Flash” books were selling more than a million copies an issue… seriously outselling Weisinger’s Green Lantern books for the first time in the company’s history. Julie might not have been thrilled with the type of stuff he had to do in the books during that period, but everyone agreed that he loved the fact he was finally outselling his buddy/rival Mort. BR: I’ll bet he loved rubbing it in.

“Pow! Bam! Zap!”

The Brave And The Boltinoff Editor Murray Boltinoff (some say with a bit of encouragement from Julie Schwartz) turned The Brave and the Bold into a magazine with some great teams. These cover scans were supplied from the collections of Lawrence P. Guidry & Shane Foley… while Alex Wright sent scans of mags he’d collected especially for their brightly colored covers. Pictured are the Boltinoff-produced covers of (clockwise from top left): B&B #54 (July 1965) sporting Kid Flash, Hawklad, & Electron—#57 (Jan. ’66) with Johnny Thunder & Black Canary (with inking by “Roland Paris,” which may be a pseudonym for classic “Batman” inker Charles P.)— #63 (Jan. ’67) with Sandman & Dr. Mid-Nite—and Showcase #65 (June ’67) featuring Mr. Terrific & Wonder Woman, edited by Boltinoff on that mag’s rotating schedule. B&B #63 was inked by Joe Rubinstein, Sr., father of the popular Bronze Age embellisher.

The Secret History Of All-American Comics, Inc. — Chapter 7

“Please don’t say I have to bring back the old one,” Julie begged him. “They don’t care what she looks like or who she is, as long as they can have a woman in a snazzy costume speeding across the screen for next season,” Billy told him. “In that case,” said Julie, “I’ll do it.” And so, as he had done with Superman, Batman, and his other revamped super-heroes, Julie created a new Flashette from whole cloth. BR: I know this one… Kelly Kelley was a college student who worked with Jay Garrick. She had been doing research into old projects the lab had abandoned, looking for the basis of her doctoral thesis. Her thinking was that if she could find something in the old experiments and make it work, she’d be on her way. As fate would have it—this being comic books, after all—she came upon the “hard water” testing that had resulted in Jay becoming The Flash in the first place. The notes and data had been marked “failed” and filed away. Kelly, however, recreated the experiments and, exposed to the hard water fumes, gained the same super-speed powers. If nothing else, this made more sense than Wally Williams gaining his powers from a blood transfusion from Jay. Of course, when Kid Flash was created in the ’50s, the readers were not as sophisticated. No one ever mentioned Wally’s origin again—he was just Kid Flash after that.

What’s Black And White And Red All Over? One mid-1960s title edited by Schwartz was left off the editorial sidebar— because it only lasted one issue. But Red Tornado #1-and-only (Oct. ’67), with its guest appearance by the black-&-white monster Solomon Grundy, is still a collector’s item classic, proving that the Gaineses knew what they were doing when they put Julie Schwartz in charge of AA’s humor titles! Thanks to Lawrence P. Guidry.

SKIMMER: He certainly did. The campy material took over the AA line, along with the super-hero comics published by others. The Flash was being featured prominently on the covers of Justice League and was making guest appearances in other titles. They even had him gueststarring with Jerry Lewis in Hollywood Funny Folks. Even a cross-over by one of The Flash’s Rogues Gallery villains got cover-play. The Weather Wizard jumped ship to battle Batman and Robin, and sales soared. And Charlie and Billy had the editors coming up with new super-heroes and bringing back old ones. Other publishers were cashing in on “Flashomania,” and we wanted to make sure we got the bulk of it. BR: Whose idea was Flashette? Did that come from TV or AA? SKIMMER: That was pure Hollywood. The TV producers wanted to add a new element to the show. They thought the series needed a female super-hero in the mix. It was pretty funny, actually. Here was Billy, who was used to calling the shots and, at the same time, relying on the instincts of his editors, forced to go to Julie and ask him to bring back Flash-Girl.

Quick As A Flashette! TV meets the comics—when Flashette comes to town in Flash Comics #324 (Jan. 1967)! Copies of this were sent by Lawrence P. Guidry, Shane Foley, & Alex Wright—so it must’ve been a real keeper!

“Pow! Bam! Zap!”

it felt like a repeat of the late 1940s. BR: With one big difference… SKIMMER: Yes, AA was no longer the only “big guy” in the business. Marvel had been able to jump on the Flashomania trend and build their line into one that could match ours. Billy realized that we were going to have to make some changes or Marvel was going to leave us in the dust. But Charlie was still in charge… BR: …and so there was a status quo until late 1969. SKIMMER: And that’s when everything started to change! NEXT: The End of the Beginning!

Monthly! The Original First-Person History!

Write to: Robin Snyder, 3745 Canterbury Lane #81, Bellingham, WA 98225-1186

A Fast Penciler For some reason, the penciled version of this page of the debut of Flashette still exists. The inker must’ve had to “light-box” the work, as they say. From the collection of Lawrence P. Guidry.

SKIMMER: As I recall, Kelly’s Flashette had a much sleeker costume than her Flash-Woman predecessor. They had hired an actress named Yvonne Craig to play her on TV. She was quite shapely, and the producers wanted to make sure the costume showed off her assets. And, much to Julie’s surprise, the introduction of Flashette in the comics was greeted warmly by the regular readers. So he used her fairly regularly in the book, even after the TV show was cancelled. Eventually, Flashette took over the back-up slot in Flash Comics from Stretch Bando. BR: Yes, but it was pretty obvious Julie and his writers were having problems avoiding stereotypes when it came to female characters. Fanboys everywhere remember the cover where Flash and Kid Flash are in trouble and Flashette can’t help them because she has a run in her stocking. SKIMMER: [laughs] I’m sure this played a part in how you fanboys viewed the opposite sex as you grew up. BR: So the whole “camp” movement took over the books for a while and then what? Who decided to pull the plug? SKIMMER: The readers. The TV series went off the air, and a lot of the interest in super-heroes vanished into the ether with it. We were suddenly scrambling to find other types of books to pull in readers. In some ways,

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!

In Praise of Picto! by Michael T. Gilbert Pity the poor sap who invested his life savings in an Edsel knock-off, certain it was going to be the next Mustang. Or the loser who just knew that Beta Max was the wave of the future, and went broke building a cheap copy. That’s pretty much the story of Myron Fass’ ill-fated attempt to jump on the Picto-Fiction bandwagon. Picto-Fiction began in 1955, as a last-ditch attempt to save Bill Gaines’ failing Entertaining Comics line. After achieving critical and earlier financial success with titles like Weird Science, Tales from the Crypt, and Mad, EC was on the verge of bankruptcy, thanks to devastating publicity from a 1954 Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency. The Senators seemed convinced that lurid crime and horror comics were hurting kids. To his credit, EC publisher Gaines volunteered to defend the industry on camera, but his testimony proved disastrous—a fact that his competitors and distributors never forgot. Soon, a tough Comics Code was instated by most publishers. Mags containing crime, horror, or terror (with the latter two nouns expressly forbidden as part of a title) were clamped down on, effectively killing EC’s Crime SuspenseStories, Vault of Horror, and an advertised fourth EC horror title, The Crypt of Terror. Gaines and Feldstein believed this provision was designed to destroy EC. If so, the plan worked.

Needling The Comics Code (Above right & below:) Artist Jack Kamen’s cover and two pages from “The Needle,” from Shock Illustrated #1 (Oct. 1955), EC’s first Picto-Fiction title. [©2009 William M. Gaines, Agent, Inc.]

In Praise Of Picto!

News venders refused to stock any comics (except for Classics Illustrated and the squeaky-clean Dell line) that didn't carry the Comics Code seal, and most EC titles quickly died. A subsequent sanitized line of Code-approved “New Direction” EC titles fared little better. The one bright spot on EC’s horizon was Mad. Harvey Kurtzman’s brainchild had recently transformed itself from a 10¢ color comic into a 25¢ black-&-white magazine, and was selling phenomenally. Better yet, as a magazine aimed at a supposedly older audience, it wasn’t subject to the Comics Code. So publisher Bill Gaines and editor Al Feldstein came up with a brilliant idea: Why not convert all their titles to a similar format? With few other options available, it sounded like a good idea. Working with cartoonist Jack Kamen (and writers Dan Keyes and Robert Bernstein), they set to work on Shock Illustrated #1 (Oct. 1955), their first Picto-Fiction title. Though actually a variation of the old Big Little Books, Feldstein’s intro in that issue describes this “new” form: “SHOCK Illustrated” is the first of a new series of magazines to present a novel and revolutionary development in the art of story-telling. We at E.C. call this new form of adult entertainment “Picto-Fiction.” Picto-Fiction is a careful combination of two arts: the art of writing and the art of illustrations.

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!

We deliberately label Picto-Fiction “adult” entertainment because it is designed for exactly that purpose...to entertain the more mature fiction reader. In “SHOCK Illustrated,” Picto-Fiction enters the world of psychiatry, brings to the adult reader fictionalized studies of people with psychological problems, and shows how these people solve their problems with the aid of psychoanalysis and psychotherapy. A look at the table of contents below will give you an idea of the adult subject matter of our stories.” And indeed they did! With stories like “The Needle!” (“Why does a teen-age girl succumb to the ravages of dope?”), “Switch Party!” (“An analysis of this new and shocking social phenomenon”), and “The Jacket!” (“A psychological study of a black-jacketed thrill-killer”), the first Picto-Fiction title seemed to have cornered the market on lurid adult literature. In short order they followed up with Terror Illustrated and Crime Illustrated (take that, Comics Code!), and finally, Confessions Illustrated. The latter related supposedly true stories of love and betrayal. Which is where Myron Fass comes in. Fass was a cartoonist who had drawn lurid crime and horror comics in the 1950s for pre-Code titles like Tales of Horror and Beware. He later branched out, editing tiles like Shock Tales (a 1959 Famous Monsters of Filmland knockoff) and Lunatickle (a 1956 Mad imitator).

Mugshots, Anyone? True Problems’ table of contents (above) shows Editor Myron Fass, Associate Editor Pat Kahn, Art Director Harry Matetsky, and Production gal Frances Rubin. [©2009 True Problems Publications.] (Bottom left:) One of Myron Fass’ horror comics covers, from Tales of Horror #12 (Aug 1954). [©2009 Toby Press.] (Bottom right:) True Problems’ “Advice to the Lovelorn” column. [©2009 True Problems Publications.]

In Praise Of Picto!

“Loose” Woman A. C. Hollingsworth’s “Girl on the Loose!” was the issue’s only signed story.

Fass must’ve taken one look at EC’s Confessions Illustrated and thought, “This is going to be the next Mad!” He quickly cobbled together at least one issue of True Problems, using mostly anonymous artists. Fass’ True Problems featured five stories in a format almost identical to EC’s Confessions Illustrated, with blocks of type and toned art aping EC’s PictoFiction titles. Much of the art looked like watered-down Jack Kamen, Confession’s main artist. Interestingly, the one thing Fass didn’t borrow from EC was the phrase “Picto-Fiction.” Instead, he used “Illustories” on the cover; this was a term swiped from later issues of Charles Biro’s Daredevil and Boy Comics. Hey, give Myron credit—he stole from the best! The rest of the issue was filled with ads for $8.00 dresses, sex manuals, tummy-slimmers, and similar “female” items. Unfortunately, the whole thing quickly backfired. EC’s Confessions Illustrated #1 came out in January 1956, followed by a second issue in May. Fass’ knockoff hit the stands a month later. But, by then, Confessions Illustrated, and indeed the entire EC Picto-Fiction line, had fizzled out. Fass had inadvertently produced the very last magazine in the Picto-Fiction format—and the only one not produced by EC! The trouble with being the first to steal an idea is that sometimes the idea’s a dud. EC learned the hard way that comic book readers didn’t like reading tons of text, while most older readers back then simply wouldn’t be caught dead reading comic books. Equally importantly, many of the distrib-

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!

utors still had a grudge against Gaines, and returned bundles of the magazines unopened. That spelled the final death knell for EC’s glorious comic book line. Unfortunately for Myron, he backed the wrong horse— and the first issue of True Problems was also its last! But don’t feel too bad for Myron Fass. He picked himself up and went on to a very successful career as a publisher of quickie exploitation magazines like Poorboy (Playboys’ impoverished cousin!), Official UFO, and Son of Sam magazine. From the ’50s through the ’80s, his schlocky magazines littered the stands. In the mid-’60s he made a brief return to color comics, publishing unauthorized versions of Captain Marvel and Plastic Man under his M.F. Enterprises label. He also produced wonderfully awful comics like Weird, Terror Tales, and Tales from the Crypt (a short-lived swipe of EC’s most notorious horror title, whose cover was seen in last issue’s “Comic Crypt”). Fass later moved to Florida, where he reportedly ran a gun shop. He passed away in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Sept. 14, 2006, at age 80.

As for Gaines and Feldstein, their subsequent success with Mad took the sting out of their Picto-mags’ failure. But that wasn’t quite the end of the Picto-Fiction saga. In 2006, Russ Cochran collected all the Picto-Fiction magazines into one gorgeous four-volume slipcase edition, as part of the Complete EC Library. While preparing the volumes, Russ and his helpers dug into Bill Gaines’ original art stash and were stunned to discover original art for four more never-published issues buried in Bill’s vault for 50 years! These tales, featuring magnificent art by Frank Frazetta, Reed Crandall, Wally Wood, Johnny Craig, and others, were included in the volumes. So, while the Picto-Fiction books were commercial failures, they are far from forgotten. In a different time they might have been wildly successful, but the market simply wasn’t ready for them in 1956. As Myron Fass learned the hard way! Till next time…

Will The Real Picto-Fiction Please Stand Up? (Above:) In the ‘70s, Fass touted his black-&-white magazines (such as this April 1973 Weird issue) as Picto-Fiction. However, inside were standard comic book stories. Myron must’ve liked the name as much as Bill Gaines did! [©2009 Eerie Publications.]

The Fass-est Man Alive (Above:) This undated photo of Myron is probably from the late ‘70s. [©2009 Jeff Goodman.] More Fass info can be found out at Tom Brinkmann’s Bad Mags site: www.badmags.com/bmmyronfass.html

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In Memoriam

Creig Flessel (1912-2008)

“A Pioneer Artist Of Comics”

by Mark Evanier

reig Flessel, a pioneer artist of comics, passed away on July 17, 2008, at the age of 96. He had recently suffered a stroke.

Flessel was born February 2, 1912, in Huntington, Long Island, New York, the son of a blacksmith. He attended Alfred University in New York, which is where he met the future Mrs. Flessel, graduating in 1936. One of his classmates, he always noted with pride, was Charles Addams. His first job in comics was assisting cartoonist John H. Striebel on the newspaper strip Dixie Dugan. This also brought him a career in advertising art, as Striebel was doing a lot of it at the time, mostly featuring the characters from the radio show Vic and Sade. Over the years, Flessel would bounce back and forth between the two fields: when he wasn’t doing comics, he was drawing for advertising, primarily for the Johnstone-Cushing art service. Over the decades, he did thousands of magazine ads and commercial storyboards, primarily but not exclusively in comic strip form. His non-advertising cartoons appeared over the years in publications as diverse as Boy’s Life and Playboy, but it was his work for the early DC Comics that made the most history. His first work for them seems to have appeared in More Fun Comics #10, cover-dated May of 1936. He also did a strip in the first issue of the historic Detective Comics and drew the covers for issues #2-17, as well as many other covers for early DC titles. His work also appeared inside many comics for the firm. He did numerous stories of “The Sandman” in Adventure Comics, and he cocreated a character named “The Shining Knight,” who was featured in the same title. In 1940, DC editor Vin Sullivan moved over to the newly-formed Columbia Comics, and Flessel began to freelance for him there, as

well. In 1943 Sullivan founded his own company, Magazine Enterprises, and Flessel signed on as associate editor. He returned to DC from time to time, drawing for them again briefly in 1949, in the late 1950s (mostly as an inker on “Superman”-related comics), and then in the early ’70s on comics that Joe Simon was editing for the company, including Prez. All this time, he was primarily engaged in advertising art, though he occasionally assisted Al Capp on the Li’l Abner newspaper strip; and from 1960 to 1971 he drew another strip, David Crane, which he took over from Winslow Mortimer. The National Cartoonists Society honored him in 1992 with its Silver T-Square Award for extraordinary service, and the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco and Jeanne Schulz honored him in 2007 with the Sparky Award, named for Jeanne’s late husband, Charles Schulz, creator of Peanuts. Creig was also a nominee for the 2008 Hall of Fame Award at the Comic-Con International. In 2000 he and his wife Marie (yes, the spouse he met at Alfred University) moved from the East Coast to a home in Mill Valley, California, to be closer to their son Peter and several grandchildren. (They also had a daughter, Eugenie, who followed in Dad’s footsteps by becoming a successful illustrator.) Creig never stopped cartooning and was often a guest at comics conventions, where I had the pleasure of interviewing him and chatting on many occasions. He was a delightful man who acted as if you were doing him a favor by asking him for an autograph or posing some question about his long, long career. This tribute originally appeared in a slightly different form on Mark Evanier’s website www.newsfromme.com, always an excellent source for information on comics and many related (and unrelated) topics. Creig Flessel was the subject of an in-depth interview in Alter Ego #45, and will be prominently featured again in issue #88, which will center around National/DC founder Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson and other early giants of that company.

Creig’s Crowning Moments (Above:) A 1943 photo of Creig & Marie Flessel (they’d been married in ’37). (Left:) Two of the artist’s recent drawings: a color Sandman he drew for collector Dominique Leonard at age 93… and an illo he did in gratitude when he received the Sparky Award, as noted in the tribute. The photo accompanied an interview with CF that appeared in Comic Book Marketplace #15 (July 1992). [Sandman TM & © 2009 DC Comics; Snoopy TM & © 2009 United Feature Syndicate; self-caricature © 2009 Estate of Creig Flessel.]

re:

Michaël Dewally wrote us concerning a comment in that issue’s letters section, but we found that it imparted some truly fascinating information: Hi Roy, First let me congratulate you on another excellent issue of A/E. I will admit that the first section I turn to is the “re:” letters column. In his letter there, Mark Lewis wonders, in reference to Marc Swayze’s column in #58 [about a slightly racy romance story he drew back in ’52], if back then, “when some of the Fawcett books were trying to incorporate elements from the horror and crime comics they were fighting for rack space… the editors [may have been] under orders to have [the writers and artists] do something slightly spicier like this.” There is no doubt Fawcett tried its hand at “spicier” material, as evidenced by the introduction of such titles as This Magazine Is Haunted. The horror elements crept onto Captain Marvel Jr.’s covers starting with #107.

his issue of Alter Ego sports no fewer than three cover-featured motifs—Captain Marvel vs. Superman—Centaur Comics—and the great Lily Renée—but hardworking artist Shane Foley had to concentrate on one of them. Hence, the above homage to Rich Buckler’s cover for the 1978 “Superman vs. Shazam!” tabloid, featuring our “maskots” Alter Ego and Captain Ego slugging it out. Well, considering all my (Roy’s) years at Marvel, I guess a clash of those two totemic titans was inevitable sooner or later. Nice work as always, Shane! [Alter Ego © & TM 2009 Roy & Dann Thomas; Capt. Ego TM & ©2009 Roy Thomas & Bill Schelly.]

Yet, by coincidence, I found evidence to the contrary this week [at least concerning comics published by another comics company, Fiction House]. I received a copy of Rangers Comics #21, cover-dated Feb. 1945, and I recognized the “Firehair” story as having also been printed in Firehair #11 (Spring 1952). I also happen to own the original art to this page, which allowed me to compare the versions. The original art had some paste-ups that had fallen off. Those were interesting for the look into the editorial decision process, and to see what the folks at Fiction House thought was appropriate in 1945 that became not so much in 1952 in the context of

Now, because—for some reason—we received relatively sparse mail concerning our reprinting of Michael Hirsh & Patrick Loubert’s important 1971 tome The Great Canadian Comic Books (not that we believe for one moment that it was unappreciated—it’s just that not too many folks had anything to add to the coverage, apparently), we’re taking this opportunity to rush through truncated missives re #71-72. We’ll catch up yet, by Crom! First, a point of information from Canadian reader Jeff Taylor re A/E #71: Roy: In Alter Ego #71 you remarked you didn’t understand why Speed Savage’s other identity was called The White Mask when his mask wasn’t white. Actually, however, while his later super-hero-style cowled mask was red and black just like Mr. Monster’s (and it was Speed Savage seen in the dedication drawing and not the costumed version of Doc Stearne), the domino mask that he wore as part of his ensemble was white just as it had been during his earlier Shadow-style cloak and slouch hat-clad days. Remind me to really blow your mind one day by explaining how Doctor Who started out as a puppet on the Canadian version of Howdy Doody! Jeff Taylor Yeah, you’ll have to tell us about that one of these days, Jeff. Or, better yet—show us.

Fine For Speed-ing Here’s a half-page worth of panels from a page of a World War II “Speed Savage” story that was printed in Hirsh & Loubert’s The Great Canadian Comic Books—but didn’t make it into A/E #72, or into our earlier Canadian coverage in #36. Art by T.A. Steele. [©2009 Nelvana Limited.]

re:

From Rangers Comics #21 (1945).

new and increasing pressures on the business. Firehair is a lot more covered up in the reprint than in the original. She goes from a sexy two-piece brown outfit to a very dowdy full-length green robe. This is not a change for the spicier. Secondly, the editorial changes were heavy. Not only are there more captions in the 1952 version, but there are other textual changes… [EDITOR’S NOTE: See above.] There you have it: a kinder, gentler “Firehair” in a span of seven years. It seems that, if indeed there was a policy to spice up the Fiction House line to compete better on the newsstands, at least the editor of Firehair must have missed the memo. Michaël Dewally

might enjoy seeing the one time I did draw the Zoo Crew—as a commissioned piece for Texas CC&HAZC fan (and veterinarian!) Mark D. Cotnam. Jim Engel Readers can see the happy results elsewhere on the following page, Jim. Assuming I ever saw that sample of yours, I’m sorry you never got your shot artwise. Matter of fact, the guy who commissioned the Zoo Crew piece you drew, Mark D. Cotnam, likewise sent us a copy of your fine illo! Oh, and in answer to queries from a number of readers over the past year and a half (and counting): no, I don’t know, either, why DC hasn’t yet published the announced, then delayed Showcase Presents Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew! volume for which I was paid an advance royalty in mid-2007. But I sure wish they’d get on the stick, already!

Michaël, as you know, you sent us scans of pages from both the 1945 and 1952 versions of that page; so, being short of space, we’ve let the alterations speak for themselves, elsewhere on this page! Thanks for this instructive sending.

Next, Steven Rowe pops in with some info related largely to the twopage spread we had in #72 depicting a number of the funny-animal superheroes of the ’40s to the ’60s:

Next, we turn to A/E #72, with its featured coverage of Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew!, DC humor talents Larry and Martin Nadel, et al.—starting out with a missive from cartoonist Jim Engel:

Roy—

Hi, Roy! Just flipping through the latest issue of my favorite periodical (the Captain Carrot ish). As you observe, I never did draw any CC comics (though I did submit a few inked-over Ernie Chan panels, in the hopes of inking the story I wrote and he drew for one issue). Anyway, thought you

Bee-29: The “JCA” actually stands for Jason Comic Art, a shop or studio run by Leon Jason, which used moonlighting animators from NYC for the materials. Atomic Mouse: Al Fago used a lot of ghost artists, so when I see his signature, even on a cover, I figure he wrote it. Charlton had a longrunning series in Atomic Mouse of “Hoppy the Magic Bunny,” some of which were reprints of Fawcett’s “Hoppy the Marvel Bunny.”

[correspondence, comments, & corrections]

By the way, I recently read the Bob Oksner issue (#66)—good job. The writer on Leave It to Binky #1 was Hal Seeger, with dialogue help by Shelly Mayer. Seeger claims to have written Binky till 1953, when he was fired because he co-owned his own comic book company in the same building as DC. (Oddly enough, comics fandom usually lists Stanhall as an imprint of Trojan, which is considered by some to be a sister company to DC; so, if true, it’s a bizarre twist that a man would be fired for owning part of a company he worked for!) I haven’t gotten around to tackling the ACG issue (#61) yet, but I will, some year. I was amused to see the material that I was to be credited for still didn’t contain my credit! I’ve been spending most of my research time these days working on a history of liberal religion in the Southeast in the 1800s. Steven Rowe Hartsville, SC Glad you’ve forgiven us for our oversight, Steven. We try to attach names to scans and photocopies that come in, but some do slip past us. Wish you had mentioned what that neglected credit was in your letter; that would’ve taken care of the matter. Now we’re even further in your debt, because of all the info your letter dumped on us! Incidentally, your fellow A/E reader Jake Oster also informed us that “JCA” referred to Jason Comic art—“an art service which supplied cameraready comic book artwork to various comic book publishers. Cartoonists such as Milton Stein, Dave Tendlar, Marty Taras, Al Eugster, Larry Silverman, Al Pross, and others all did work for JCA.” Thanks, Jake. The following is an informative tidbit from longtime DC editor Bob Greenberger concerning #72 interviewee Dick Rockwell, who unfortunately had passed away by the time the issue saw print:

So Zoo Us! As per his letter, above is cartoonist Jim Engel’s 1991 commission drawing of Captain Carrot and the Zoo Crew, which of course was primarily co-created by writer Roy Thomas and artist Scott Shaw! You really caught the spirit, Jim! At right is Jim’s self-portrait. [Zoo Crew TM & ©2009 DC Comics; self-caricature ©2009 Jim Engel.]

Cosmo Cat: Only the Fox books contained new stories; everybody else was reprints. Art by Ellis Chambers. Phantom Blot: No question, that horse is a Murray [not “Murry”] drawing. Soopermutt: The art looks like Ben Brown, although I won’t swear to it. Funny Folks #22: That cover is by Rube Grossman. Rudolph: There was an actual Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer newspaper strip done by DC; art by Rube Grossman. It was advertised, but I don’t know what papers it appeared in. Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis #1 art is by Howie Post. Larry Nadle wasn’t the only DC humor editor. Bernie Breslauer was the editor on the DC side of the DC-AA group up to his death in 1950. Nadle started on the All-American side… not sure when he became editor, but mid-1940s AA issues contained credited text pages. Mayer mentions him as humor editor (under his supervision) prior to 1948. And wasn’t Nadle editor of Blackhawk for a couple of issues around 1963? Re Don R. Christensen: Don started work for the Sangor Shop around 1944, switching to writing for Western when the shop closed around 1950. He kept detailed records of the Western records, which is why he is credited well in the Who’s Who and the GCD. He didn’t keep records of the Sangor Shop material and so was excited when I gave him records for his records. He also wrote radio scripts.

Hi Roy, I wanted to add my recollections about Dick Rockwell. After Milt Caniff died and Steve Canyon came to an end, Dick made the rounds of publishers in New York in the summer of 1988. I recall he met with Mike Gold, who brought him next door to the office I was in. Dick was used to the fast deadlines required for daily and weekly publication, and Mike thought he’d be an asset in helping Action Comics Weekly catch up. As a result, he was given the “Wild Dog” feature to help us with. At the time, I was also responsible for the cover assignments and asked Dick to do the one with The Secret Six, #629. He provided a quick sketch and then executed the finished piece. It was clear that, after a time, Dick was not happy with the material he was given, nor was his work met with much enthusiasm by the editors at DC. Dick soon stopped working for Mike, and I seem to recall it was fairly mutual. He was a gentleman, as were most of the creators from that generation, and fairly modest, so dealing with him was a pleasure. Bob Greenberger Gracias, Bob. (Forgive our Spanish. If we say “thanks” to our evergenerous readers any more often in this section, we’ll start looking overingratiating!) On a related Dick Rockwell front: With regard to that “Giant-Man” story mentioned in #72 that he was scheduled to draw for Marvel’s Tales to Astonish #61 but didn’t, Rob Allen points out that Fred Hembeck had corresponded with Mark Evanier about it, and Rob reports: “It turns out that the story was originally drawn by Joe Orlando, who was also drawing Daredevil at the time. Stan wanted extensive changes to the ‘Giant-Man’ story, and Joe was not willing to redraw the pages without more pay, which was not forthcoming. So this story was the last straw for Joe Orlando at Marvel; he left without making the changes. Steve Ditko redrew about half the story very quickly, and George Roussos did one of his over-the-weekend inking jobs to get the story to the printer on time. The ‘Marvel Method’ was

re:

Apparently Latona only remember the private eye strip drawn in a Mort Drucker style which featured a character who always got into some sort of sexy scrape, rather mild by today’s standards or even those of 1968. I do remember Art Spiegelman trying to get the “Master Race” essay back from someone so it could be run in Squa Tront, but didn’t realize that Schoenfeld had been involved. John Benson Finally, just room for a few fast comments on the two issues, beginning with A/E #71: •

Someone—alas, we’re not sure who—sent us a photocopy of a page from the Nov. 8, 1971, Canadian edition of Time magazine, which devoted an entire page to “the Canadian whites” and particularly mentioned the then-new Hirsh-Loubert volume, which sold for $15 Canadian at the time.

•

Jim Fitzpatrick thanks us for reprinting The Great Canadian Comic Books, but points out that its Afterword was written by Harold (not “Howard”) Town, a well-known Canadian artist. We apologize for the typo, though at least his correct name did appear elsewhere in the issue.

•

Last and most embarrassingly, Craig Delich advises us that although, on p. 68 of the Comic Crypt, we showed the cover of Pep Comics #36, signed by Bob Montana, the caption text calls it a Harry Sahle cover for Pep #35! Michael T. Gilbert had noticed that error in his original text and sent us a correction right before we went to press, but in the deadline crunch the update wasn’t made, we’re sorry to report. Now, re A/E #72:

•

FCA editor P.C. Hamerlinck writes that, on p. 81, my caption for the story “Henry’s Grandmother” from Captain Marvel Adventures #14 attributes the art to “shop artists.” “Not so,” he says. “Art is by Swayze. Sorry I missed it on the proofs.” Hey, none of us is perfect, P.C.—as I prove eight times a year.

•

Jeff Taylor (yep, the same JT who wrote us earlier about #71) notes that we listed H.G. Wells as writing The War of the Worlds in 1997, rather than 1897. Sadly, that’s what happens when distant centuries are only a fingertip apart on the keyboard.

•

Mark Evanier corrected another goof that slipped by us: “Don R. Christensen, though a lovely man, was not a co-founder of CAPS [Comic Art Professionals Society, in Los Angeles]. Don Rico was. You are not the first person to make this mistake.” Maybe not, Mark, but as a charter member myself back in the mid-’70s, I should’ve gotten it right!

Make Mine Marsupial! John James Pulaski, Jr., wrote us that Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew! was his favorite mag as a kid—the one that got him started collecting comics: “I didn’t care for the recent updating in Captain Carrot and the Final Ark; I thought what they did to Cap and the Zoo Crew at the end was awful!” (What can we say, John? When you’re right, you’re right… but don’t blame penciler Scott Shaw! or even writer Bill Morrison. It wasn’t their idea!) In his best pseudo-Shaw! style, John transformed those basic beasties into “The Avengeimals.” Besides Captain Ameri-Carrot, seen above, he sent us pics of Iron Pig, Scarlet Witchcat, Fantastic Fowl, Slicksilver (a turtle), and Ms. Mongrel. [Captain America is a trademark of Marvel Characters, Inc.]

great for artists like Kirby and Ditko, but not for everybody.” Too true, Rob. And now, concerning Bill Schelly’s Comic Fandom Archive tribute to early fanzine editor Bob Schoenfeld, John Benson, who puts together the excellent EC fanzine Squa Tront and has also written a pair of excellent books about St. John Publishing’s romance titles, has this to say: Dear Roy, I was very sorry to read that Bob Schoenfeld had died. I remember him well as a really nice and interesting guy. I guess I only met him at the 1968 con, but we also corresponded. Nearly all the photos from that con that were printed in Bob’s Gosh Wow were taken by me. And I’m almost positive the pictures of Bob on pages 63 and 65 in Alter Ego #72 are by me, too. It must have been in 1968 that he told me he was repackaging old rock-and-roll 45s into LP collections. I remember him saying that copyright didn’t seem to be a problem on the old, obscure tracks he was using. At this late date I don’t recall [Bob] Latona’s and Schoenfeld’s visit to my apartment. But I know I never showed them any “Japanese manga porno,” because I never had any. What Latona must be referring to is the magazine Manga Action, which had every sort of manga, from samurai classics to teen angst, avant garde narratives, and stick-figure humor.

Timely/Marvel Golden Age artist Allen Bellman, who was interviewed back in Alter Ego #32, was so pleased to see reprints of some of his early work in the recent hardcover Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age AllWinners, Vol. 3—not to mention his name on the cover—that he asked if we’d tell A/E’s readers that he’d been happy to autograph any copies at no charge. “All they would have to do,” he says, “is send the book to me with $10 to cover return postage plus wear and tear on my shoes walking to the post-office. It would be my pleasure.” To learn the particulars, contact Allen at: allenbellman@aol.com5 Send any comments, corrections, or curmudgeonly caterwauling to: Roy Thomas 32 Bluebird Trail St. Matthews, SC 29135

e-mail: roydann@ntinet.com fax: (803) 826-6501

And get set for more than a few chuckles and a lot of chortling next issue, when we cover the mid-1950s imitations of the early color Mad!

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So Many Ways, So Little Time [FCA EDITORS NOTE: From 1941-53, Marcus D. Swayze was a top artist for Fawcett Publications. The very first Mary Marvel character “There are just so many ways the human figure can sketches came from Marc’s drawing table, and he illustrated her be depicted!” was the 1942 earliest adventures, including the classic origin story, “Captain Marvel remark from Fawcett artist Introduces Mary Marvel (Captain Marvel Adventures No. 18, Dec. Mac Raboy. “Even fewer ’42); but he was primarily hired by Fawcett Publications to illustrate when the human figure is a Captain Marvel stories and covers for Whiz Comics and Captain girl!” responded Swayze, Marvel Adventures. He also wrote many Captain Marvel scripts, and busy at his board with the continued to do so while in the military. After leaving the service in first drawings of Mary 1944, he made an arrangement with Fawcett to produce art and Marvel. The above Raboystories for them on a freelance basis out of his Louisiana home. There drawn “Capt. Marvel Jr.” Captain Marvel Jr. … but his remark he created both art and stories for The Phantom Eagle in Wow panel appeared in Master was also appropriate to the one on mine. Comics #25, April 1942. Comics, in addition to drawing the Flyin’ Jenny newspaper strip for [©2009 DC Comics.] Bell Syndicate (created by his friend and mentor Russell Keaton). “Even fewer, Mac,” I responded, “… when After the cancellation of Wow, Swayze produced artwork for the human figure is a female!” Fawcett’s top-selling line of romance comics, including Sweethearts and It took only a brief study of the subject to reach the conclusion that Life Story. After the company ceased publishing comics, Marc moved action, in our day, was an essential element of the comic book. Writers, over to Charlton Publications, where he ended his comics career in the artists, and editors knew it. Readers expected it … and usually got it. If mid-’50s. Marc’s ongoing professional memoirs have been a vital part of your job was drawing a feature character, then you’d better be able to FCA since his first column appeared in FCA #54, 1996. Last issue, Marc picture him … or her … in all sorts of physical contortions. That’s what discussed his writing of Captain Marvel scripts while serving in the Mac was talking about. If you weren’t careful, before long you’d be army during World War II. In this installment, he takes a look at action repeating yourself. comics—the Fawcett way. —P.C. Hamerlinck.]

The question with which I coped, still unsettled, was Mary’s costume. That skirt … how would it behave when Mary went into action … the extreme, frenzied type of action demanded of comic books in the early ’40s?

here was once a mythical fancy that wafted up and down the Fawcett halls to the effect that it was distasteful to depict a clenched fist actually landing on its mark. Better, went the opinion, that the action be shown just after, or just before, the impact. Busy with the first sketches of Mary Marvel at the time, I never went for that crap. Nor did Mary. When she deemed it deserving that an obnoxious antagonist receive such forcible combat, that’s exactly what he got … a dainty smash, right smack in the snoot! The usual day at my desk in 1942 was drawing Captain Marvel, who had been eased to one side temporarily to allow for this interim assignment … “a young girl about Billy’s age.” Mac Raboy, a few tables over, was heard to mumble, “There are just so many ways the human figure can be depicted.” Mac was obviously thinking of the character on his drawing board …

“Right Smack in the Snoot!” Despite a Fawcett opinion opposing excessive brutality, when Mary Marvel deemed it deserving of a foe … that’s exactly what he got. Panel from Captain Marvel Adventures #19 (Jan. 1943), “The Training of Mary Marvel.” Art & script by Marc Swayze. [©2009 DC Comics.]

As the work day came to a close, Reynold “Andy” Anderson, veteran of the Fawcett non-comics art staff, approached with a reminder of our plan to attend a sports event that evening at Madison Square Garden. The occasion was a tennis tournament … and the ladies so expertly brandishing the rackets out on the courts provided a solution to the problem I’d left at the office. The typical brief but snuggly-fitting outfits they wore was an ideal suggestion for the costume I hoped to have Mary Marvel wear in her future comic book adventures. Comics executive editor Rod Reed, describing the original Mary Marvel

FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America)

sketches, ended with, “… complete in miniskirt.” Which came first? Mary may have been the inspiration for that piece of feminine wear. At the drawing board, three items considered important as contributors to Mary’s physical action were her hair, her cape, and … the modest flare of her skirt. By that is meant: when she moved, her hair stirred, her cape billowed, and her skirt flared … accordingly … all emphasizing her move. Later, when I was doing the Phantom Eagle stories in Wow Comics, Mary was featured on the covers … and I couldn’t help but notice that issue by issue the skirt became longer, heavier, and more cumbersome. Had that been foreseen, I’d have put Mary in full-length tights in the beginning … or, hey … blue jeans! Renewed interest in comic book action led me to review past Captain Marvel stories, including some of my own. The purpose was to see just how the super-hero had handled his action scenes. The quest went all the way back to Bill Parker and C.C. Beck, originators of the character. To this day I am not convinced that either of those two talented gentlemen was ever aware of what had taken place … the birth of a style of action … the Captain Marvel style. The style was identified by an obvious air of composure and little or no display of emotion … or of extravagant effort.

Capt. Billy’s WOW Gang (Above:) The cover to Wow Comics #30 (Oct. 1944), with art by Jack Binder. Later, when Swayze was drawing the Phantom Eagle in Wow, he couldn’t help notice on the book’s covers that Mary’s skirt had become longer and more cumbersome-looking. [©2009 DC Comics.]

All over the newsracks there were comic book heroes maintaining their popularity with dramatic outbursts, straining their super-powers … and their emotions … to the explosion point. Captain Marvel was a cool, calm, rational character. At my table those factors were kept in mind, and when the story called for action, the fellow to perform it, Captain Marvel, of course, was just a nice guy taking care of an unpleasant situation … because he knew it was the right thing to do! The Captain Marvel way!

From Carbon Copy To Digital Duplication National Vs. Fawcett Through a 21st-Century (SPAM) Filter

by Jean Schanberger Edited by P.C. Hamerlinck Illustrations by Rubén Procopio

n 1953, following twelve years of protracted, aggressive, nearexhaustive litigation which ultimately proved fatal to one of its combatants, Fawcett Publications, the lawsuit in which National Comics Publications claimed that Fawcett’s highly successful Captain Marvel character was in effect a copy of its predecessor Detective Comics, Inc.’s, earlier-created Superman character, was finally resolved.

Reams of carbon paper, miles of typewriter ribbon, countless hours of lawyer, administrative, and go-fer time, “scorch the earth” evidencegathering, a trial to verdict, a pivotal appeal, and tedious preparation for another almost-trial later, it was over. Fawcett agreed to pay $400,000 and discontinue publication of Captain Marvel and The Marvel Family.

FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America)

character that comic book empire BG “Big Guy” Comics felt was too much like one of its flagship characters, SuperDude. After BG sued, Wannabe stopped publishing its new character after just six issues. BG was well known for protecting SuperDude’s turf; just last year it had won a lawsuit against another smaller comic book publisher who published only one issue including an allegedly infringing character.2 Glancing at the art proofs laid out on Optimisto’s worktable, everything looks good until an illustration of a clean-cut, broad-shouldered, muscular, super-heroic character in a form-fitting red suit and yellow boots with a cape and a lightning bolt emblazoned on his chest catches your eye. There is something vaguely familiar… “Who’s this character and what’s his story?” you venture guardedly. [Superman & Shazam! hero TM & © 2009 DC Comics.]

As a practical matter, this was the catalyst for Fawcett’s decision to exit the comics business almost entirely. The details of this grisly legal battle, which may have germinated the term “Bet the Company litigation,” have been thoroughly, lovingly, and entertainingly documented in these and other pages, and will not be comprehensively repeated here. Rather, let’s take a “then and now” look at the legal dynamics of the lawsuit as it occurred throughout the Golden Age of Comics, and explore a hypothetical situation: “What would happen today?” Join us in a journey bringing the Superman/Captain Marvel dispute into modern day!1

Protecting The Turf For starters, let’s assume you’re Assistant General Counsel at Wannabe Comics. This means you’re a mid-level in-house lawyer whose job is to keep the business people out of trouble. On this day, you nosed your leased 5-series BMW into your reserved parking space and, carefully balancing your Starbucks® Cinnamon Dolce Latte on your briefcase, ducked into the garage elevator as it closed, catching the eye of one of your frequent internal clients, Antonio Optimisto, the Creative Director for Wannabe. “Hey, how’s it going?” “Great. You?”

“Oh, that’s Captain Marvel. He’s a new superhero. His alter ego is a boy, who meets a wizard, who gives the boy the power to transform into Captain Marvel with a bolt of magic lightning he creates by saying ‘Shazam.’” “Shazam”? “It’s an acronym for Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, uh, some others… There’s about a half dozen different villains in the works, and we’re thinking we’ll create a Marvel Family around him, too.” “You don’t think he looks a lot like SuperDude?” Optimisto takes a moment to re-establish eye contact with you. “Well, sure he does, but the story’s pretty different. Besides, what can you really do these days that’s truly original? Practically every one of these books has a guy in tights who can save the world against evil. SuperDude can’t be the only guy at the trough. Bob told us, ‘Give us a SuperDude, only have his identity be a 10- or 12-year-old boy rather than a man.”3 Isn’t that different enough?”

Is It Different Enough? Is it different enough? What if it’s not? What’s at stake? These are the questions at the heart of copyright infringement claims, both in the 1940s and today. Let’s take a comic book-sized look at the structure of copyright law:

“Good. Hey, I got some stuff I need to show you. You around this morning?”

The Copyright Act of 1909 was the operative law in Superman and Captain Marvel’s day, and remains so now. For National to have prevailed

And so it innocently began. Your days are filled with “Can we…” “We wanna…” “Whadya think about…” and “Can you take a look?” requests just like this, all asking you to walk the sometimes extremely fine line between what the business wants to do and whether or not it is “legal.” There are few “yes” or “no” answers; rather, your advice and recommendations are based not only on your law school degree and legal training, but your experience-based understanding of your client’s business goals and risk tolerance.

1 For purposes of this excursion, we request that you suspend your reality-based belief that this dispute wouldn’t arise today because DC Comics—formerly National—now owns the rights to both Superman and Captain Marvel. 2 Fawcett aficionados will recognize this history from National Comics’ 1940 lawsuit against it over Fawcett Publication’s Master Man (“The boy becomes the strongest man on earth!”), the lead character of Master Comics, as well as Detective Comics’ successful case against Fox Comics for the sole appearance of Wonder Man in its May 1939 release of Wonder Comics #1, the first copyright infringement lawsuit in comic book history. Will Eisner reportedly created Wonder Man under protest of his instructions to make a Superman-type character. 3 This infamous Captain Marvel-era quote is attributed to Fawcett VP/Circulation Manager Roscoe Kent Fawcett, and extracted from P.C. Hamerlinck’s 1997 article, “The Fawcetts Could Do It As Well, or Better, Than Anybody: The Roscoe K. Fawcett Interview,” later reprinted in the 2001 TwoMorrows book Fawcett Companion.

An hour later you stick your head into Optimisto’s crowded office, which looks like a cross between a children’s playroom and a newsstand where an explosion has occurred. You’re always glad to be asked there, hopefully while there’s still time to give advice and head off any really big problems. Before they hired you, at least one thing got past the lawyers—a

From Carbon Copy To Digital Duplication

against Fawcett, or BG against Wannabe, the copyright holder must show: (i) Ownership of a valid copyright in an original work expressed in a tangible medium; (ii) Actual copying by someone who had access to the copyrighted work, resulting in “striking similarity” between the copyrighted work and the alleged copy; and (iii) Misappropriation of the work such that the intended audience would see substantial similarities between the two works. How similar is “substantially similar”? The standard is somewhat vague and extremely fact-specific. Two methodologies are used to analyze it: the subtraction approach, which blacks out unprotected elements of the work, then assesses whether or not the balance has substantial similarity to the protected work; and the totality approach, which compares the work’s overall concept and feel to the corresponding copyrighted work. The creator may have a defense to an infringement claim if it can be shown that the work was created independently without access to the copyrighted work, if the copying is so minimal as to be trivial, or if it qualifies as fair use (available in very limited, typically non-commercial circumstances). If copyright infringement is proven, the copyright owner may be entitled to several types of damages. Depending on the facts of the case, these may include any ill-gained profits made by the infringer through the infringing work, punitive damages to punish the infringer for the wrongful conduct, losses to the copyright owner including lost license fees and profits, statutory damages that are pre-established by law to deter infringement, and attorneys’ fees. Beyond paying damages, the infringer may be required to stop using or selling the infringing work, and may be required to deliver or destroy the infringing work so that it may not be sold. [Superman & Shazam! hero TM & © 2009 DC Comics.]

“Another SuperDude Ripoff” Now, flash forward three months to a skyscraper on the other side of town. Put yourself in the high-end Italian loafers of the Associate General Counsel, Intellectual Property, for BG Comics. Just as you stepped off the elevator this morning onto the seventh floor, a discrete tone sounded in your iPhone®’s Bluetooth® headset. “Hello?” “Malone, get the hell in here.” Frequent caller Joe Hurley, Senior Vice President of Marketing, gives you his usual morning greeting. “Be right there.” Within five minutes you stick your head into his spacious, lavishly appointed corner office, the Manhattan skyline comprising its rectilinear background like a painted animation cel. “Hey, Joe. What’s up?” Hurley picks up a comic book from his desk and slams it down in front of me. “What the hell is this?” The colorful cover of one of BG’s competitors, Wannabe Comics, practically leaps off the desk at you, sporting a SuperDude-like, AllAmerican-looking, masculine hero character in a red suit with yellow accessories. On his chest, where your eye is fully accustomed to seeing the SuperDude “S,” there is a lightning bolt. This character is demonstrating his apparent superhuman strength by single-handedly hurling a large vehicle into the distance, its driver tumbling from an open door. The strong man’s cape swirls around his

shoulders, reflecting the motion of the effort. You quickly fan through the pages. Your eyes meet Hurley’s as you take a breath. “Well, it looks like the boys at Wannabe are getting clever with another SuperDude rip-off.” “I should say so. Listen, this has got to stop. There’s just too much invested and too damn much at stake for us to keep fooling around with every Tom, Dick and Harry who dreams up, or thinks he dreams up, the next iteration of SuperDude. We’re not talking kid stuff here, we’ve got licensing deals, movie deals, merchandise, Internet, action figures, DVDs, graphic novels, TV shows, video games, ring tones, and God knows what’s coming out next week. This is a billion-dollar franchise, and I won’t stand for them trying to cut into it. We gotta nip this in the bud. Now. And if it puts ’em out of business, that’s just too damn bad.”

Number Crunching What would make Wannabe risk publishing Captain Marvel, almost certainly realizing that their cross-town rival BG, home of SuperDude, would be watching their every move, litigation talons at the ready? Well, if the character and comic book avoid infringing and find an audience, there’s a lot of money to be made, even in a media-saturated world. In North American comic book sales during 2008, the monthly list of top 300 comic books includes about thirty publishers.4 Marvel and DC consistently dominate both the top 25 books and the list as a whole, with 4 Golden Age competitors included DC, Marvel, Fawcett, Quality, Standard, ACG, Lev Gleason, and Fiction House.

FCA (Fawcett Collectors Of America)

Marvel routinely selling more than a third of all comic books and DC another thirty percent. Superman remains one of DC’s best sellers.5 The top-selling book each month typically moves 150,000-160,000 issues, with spikes to 250,000 for desirable launch books, and dips to almost 100,000 in slow months.6 At the low end of the top 300 list, small books typically sell 3,000-4,000, but sometimes as few as 1,000. The current price for most comic books is $2.997, though cover prices up to $4.99 are creeping into the marketplace. Taking into account customary trade discounts, a top-selling book stands to generate upwards of $2 million in annual revenue, for estimated total comic book industry sales of $300 million as of 2003, which are higher now. But really, selling comic books is only the beginning. Today, successful comic book characters lead multiple lives in numerous mass media, including, for starters, movies, television, collectibles such as statues, action figures, and myriad other licensed merchandise running the gamut from Halloween costumes to cell phone ring tones.8 The US market for action figures and accessories alone represented $1.3 billion in sales in 2005, and, as anyone who has attended a comic book convention anywhere in the country anytime lately knows, continues on the upswing. Characters develop strong, loyal fan bases that have a seemingly insatiable demand for more products. Nearly eight decades after the medium launched, as more and more additional media have been developed and movie box office figures are commonplace water cooler discussion, comic book characters are increasingly and inextricably woven into every aspect of the popular culture.9 New distribution modes including the Internet, self-publishing, cable, cell phones, and other personal electronic devices expand the ability to reach both loyal and new audiences almost exponentially. Even as new market participants’ barriers to entry become lower, the potential financial rewards are greater than ever. The market reality that so many new media have been created within even the past ten years feeds business’ appetite to create even more and increases the value of successful properties that can be further licensed and developed. The reasons why Wannabe would introduce Captain Marvel mirror the reasons why BG would vigorously oppose new and similar competition to SuperDude: letting a competitor establish a toehold in the “super-hero with extraordinary talents” category would not only diminish the value of its intellectual property, but potentially cut into its own character’s potential profits.10

Unsettling Settlements To resolve the National litigation in 1953, Fawcett agreed to pay a $400,000 settlement. To make this more tangible, this is about 142 times the $2,800 average salary in the United States that year. While this amount sounds paltry under modern day major litigation standards, considering the time value of money, $400,000 from 1953 translates to a relative value in 2007 (the most recent available data year) 5 DC led the Golden Age market with 8 to 10 million copies per month until 1950, when Timely/Marvel took the lead. Fawcett made a strong third place showing, selling about 4 million copies per month between 1943 and 1952. 6 In 1938, top comic book titles sold about 200,000 copies per issue, but rose to about a half million copies per issue by 1945. From the early 1940s to the early 1950s, total monthly comic book circulation climbed from 6 million copies to 35 million, with annual total copies rising from $500 million to surpass two billion. 7 When Captain Marvel first appeared in Whiz Comics in February 1940, the cover price was 10 cents.

of between $2.6 million and $14.55 million, depending on which economic methodology is used. Using our salary reference point, the average US salary in 2007 was $47,655; 142 times that is $6.77 million. This figure falls squarely in the middle of the estimated present value range for Fawcett’s settlement, and in any event is a stack of cash, but it is actually somewhat lower than the increasingly routine settlement and trial verdict figures in entertainment-related intellectual property cases of recent years. Here are a few examples: • In 2005, comic book giant Marvel Enterprises resolved 2½ years of litigation with comic book demigod Stan Lee through a settlement estimated to approach $10 million. Lee had claimed that he had not received profits from Spider-Man movies and other television and film projects based on his creations Spider-Man, The X-Men, and The Incredible Hulk. This settlement paved the way for Marvel’s joint venture with Paramount Pictures to produce its own films. • In 2005, Warner Bros. paid $17.5 million to settle a copyright infringement lawsuit brought by Robert Clark, the producer of a 1975 film, Moonrunners, on which the TV series The Dukes of Hazzard was based. When Warner bought the TV rights to make a film, it failed to acquire the movie rights from Clark. 8 In the 1940s the primary additional media stage for comic book figures was radio shows and the burgeoning, World War II-stunted film industry. By the 1950s, television shows had joined the mix and became a more dominant feature of entertainment, contributing to the end of the Golden Age of Comics. 9 National Allied Publications (forerunner of DC Comics) launched the first “real” comic book (original content rather than reprints of newspaper comic strips) in February 1935. Superman was introduced in June 1938, followed by Batman in 1939. During the 1940s, despite or perhaps largely because of World War II, superhero-based comics grew exponentially. Even by 1953, when the National v. Fawcett case was resolved, the potential for the still relatively young medium’s long life and further exploitation was likely not fully foreseen. 10 In fact, this is what happened, with Captain Marvel substantially upending Superman for much of the 1940s. After his February 1940 introduction, Captain Marvel rapidly became Fawcett’s best-selling flagship comic book character as well as the first super-hero to be adapted into Saturday movie serials. By mid-1941, Captain Marvel Adventures was selling 1.4 million copies per issue.

From Carbon Copy To Digital Duplication

• In January 2007, in one micro-corner of toy merchandising, High-Tech Magic agreed to pay a $250,000 judgment to LucasFilm related to HighTech’s unauthorized use of Star Wars trademarks to make and sell replica Lightsabers. • In March 2008, 107-year-old model train maker Lionel LLC agreed to pay $12 million to MTH Electric Trains to resolve violation of a trade secrets agreement and infringement of a smoke-puffing technology patent. The settlement follows a jury verdict of $38.6 million against Lionel, which forced it into bankruptcy to reorganize.

scheduled for release in March 2009. Fox claims that it has continuing distribution rights in any film based on the Watchmen story, despite its decision to pass on producing the film. In August 2008 a judge denied Warner’s motion to dismiss, which means that the case moved forward into the discovery phase and was scheduled for trial in Los Angeles in January 2009. • In November 2008, Fox issued a cease and desist letter to the Asylum studio, seeking to stop the planned December 2008 theatrical release of Asylum’s relatively low-budget The Day the Earth Stopped right alongside Fox’s starstudded sci-fi remake The Day the Earth Stood Still. Previous Asylum films include Snakes on a Train, Street Racer, and Transmorphers, marketed simultaneously with Snakes on a Plane, Speed Racer, and Transformers.

• In March 2008, the heirs of Jerome “Jerry” Siegel, one of Superman’s co-creators, won a landmark claim begun in 1997 against DC Comics (a division of Time Warner, • In November 2008, the town Inc.) to reclaim a share of the of Batman, Turkey, reportedly US copyright. Their suit was filed suit claiming that Warner based on a 1976 revision to Bros. and Christopher Nolan the Copyright Act that used its name without enables authors and their permission in The Dark heirs to terminate previously Knight—which approaches $1 transferred rights after a [Superman & Shazam! hero TM & © 2009 DC Comics.] billion in worldwide gross— certain period of time. The allegedly creating a high level matter will proceed further of psychological illness and injury among the townspeople. in court to determine what share of Superman profits since 1999 is owed to the Siegel estate. The Siegels had similarly regained the rights to Superboy in 2006, which remains under appeal. The heirs of It’s important to note that alleged copyright infringers don’t always Superman co-creator Joe Shuster will have the right to bring similar lose, though typically this means that the smaller party’s claim against a claims in 2013. bigger company doesn’t succeed: • In October 2008, Google paid $125 million to settle class actions brought three years ago by the Association of American Publishers and the Authors Guild for copyright infringement related to Google’s unauthorized scanning of books by US authors. Google will also pay the two organizations’ legal fees. • In December 2008, Mattel was awarded ownership and control of Barbie doll competitor MGA Entertainment’s highly successful Bratz doll empire, valued at an estimated $1 billion. Mattel proved that Bratz’ inventor had created the new doll line while under a work-for-hire and non-compete contract to Mattel and presented the idea to MGA between Mattel stints. A Los Angeles federal court jury had previously awarded Mattel $100 million in damages. MGA is expected to appeal; the order does not go into effect until at least the next court date, scheduled for February 2009. MGA has reportedly incurred $80 million in legal fees in four years of litigation. And the hits just keep on coming: • In February 2008, Fox filed a lawsuit against Time Warner seeking to stop distribution of the upcoming movie Watchmen, which was

• In May 2006, a court turned down a $150 million claim by the author of Daughter of God, a book published in 2000, against Random House and the author of The Da Vinci Code, claiming copyright infringement. The court ruled that while the books referenced common religious and historical people, places, and events, the Da Vinci factual details were not sufficiently similar to constitute a copyright infringement. • In December 2007, a New York federal judge ruled in favor of NBC Universal in dismissing a copyright infringement lawsuit filed earlier in 2007 by two individuals claiming that NBC’s television series Heroes misappropriated certain character and story ideas they had submitted to NBC. Calling the lawsuit “absurd,” the judge explained in her opinion that the line between mere “ideas” and protected “expression” is “famously difficult to fix precisely.” If current entertainment and litigation trends continue, we could anticipate that BG v. Wannabe would be part of a steady stream of intellectual property-related lawsuits, verdicts, and out-of-court settlements, each seemingly eclipsing the last.

FCA (Fawcett Collectors Of America)

The Lawyers Are Sure To Follow Where the dollars go, the lawyers are sure to follow (or these days, are probably there to begin with). Intellectual property litigation shows no signs of abating in the entertainment field, or for that matter, in any other industry. Along with the lawyers come, well, legal fees. The blue chip, white shoe, big city, high prestige entertainment and copyright law intellectual horsepower (some would say “shark power”) typically retained by the large comic book companies or studios charge hourly rates ranging from $100+ for paralegal services (which include tasks such as summarizing deposition transcripts and indexing documents), $250400 for associates (who do the large majority of the legal and legwork), up to $750+ for experienced senior partners (who manage the matter and cultivate the client relationship). Even with a conservatively managed, carefully budgeted team of legal professionals, when lawyers devote the substantial amounts of time required by complex litigation, legal fees can easily run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars each month, for months and sometimes years on end. Notwithstanding the economy-induced, recently rumored demise of the billable hour and a slowly growing current of “alternative” fee arrangements (this means an alternative to straight billable hours and costs), fixed fees, cost-sharing arrangements, and the occasional contingency fee arrangement (where the lawyer’s pay depends on the outcome of the case and is typically paid from the proceeds of the case) aside, the billable hour remains the legal industry standard to measure fees.11 As we all know, time flies—which means the fees add up fast. Throw in travel expenses, office administrative expenses, court costs, the vagaries of court calendars, expert witness fees, in-house counsel, and company employees’ time, and no matter how you do the math, it costs a small fortune in out-of-pocket and opportunity cost to be on either side of high stakes copyright infringement litigation. During the late 1930s and 1940s, driven by increased legal regulation of business matters, greater complexity and lower predictability in legal matters, and the sense that fixed fee arrangements led to lawyers being under-compensated, state bar associations published minimum fee schedules to standardize suggested pricing for various legal services. Finally law firms began the now-much-abhorred practice of requiring lawyers to fulfill quotas of billable hours.12 As with Fawcett’s $400,000 settlement amount, the billing practices of the time may have helped National and Fawcett to incur proportionately smaller legal bills than BG and Wannabe likely would today. That said, it was more than eleven long and likely very expensive years from June 1941, when Fawcett received National’s cease and desist letter and decided to fight it, leading to National’s filing the lawsuit in September 1941, until the dispute’s 1953 resolution. Along the way there was a trial in 1948, which Fawcett won on a copyright technicality13, which National appealed. In his 1952 appellate ruling reinstating the trial court’s finding of infringement, US Second Circuit Court of Appeals Justice Learned Hand14 sent the case back for a 11 The billable hour was not always the standard measure for legal fees; indeed, it was not widely utilized until the 1950s, after the National v. Fawcett case was concluded. Earlier in the twentieth century, legal fees were calculated using a combination of fixed fees for certain tasks, contingency fees, annual retainers, and discretionary bonuses or so-called “feels right” payments. 12 By today’s standards, billing targets at that time constituted part-time work: by 1958, the American Bar Association estimated that a lawyer could earn fees 1,300 hours in a year; today most major law firms require billing at least 2,000 hours annually.

second trial to determine the amount of infringement damages. Both sides then immersed themselves in the tedious preparation of voluminous evidentiary scrapbooks comparing both characters’ stories side by side. In the opinion of Michael Uslan (from an article published in The Amazing World of DC Comics #17 [16], Apr. ’78), it was the looming specter of additional legal fees for lawyers to review these tomes in preparation for the second trial—which Fawcett has already “lost”— that proved the final straw leading to Fawcett’s decision to pay the $400,000 to exit both the litigation and comic book publishing. As a practical matter, today it would be substantially more cost-prohib13 The trial court found that National had abandoned the Superman copyright due to a licensee’s failure to use property copyright notices, meaning there was no copyright to infringe (though Captain Marvel was indeed found to infringe Superman). The abandonment ruling was reversed on appeal, paving the way for the infringement part of the trial court judgment to stand. 14 Justice Learned Hand is considered one of the 20th century’s preeminent legal thinkers, most authoritative, frequently quoted legal writers, and the model of appellate judicial temperament. Having Justice Learned Hand hear your case would be tantamount to having Stan Lee sketch all of your holiday cards. Ironically, it’s a small world of comic book appellate justices. Learned Hand’s brother, August Hand, was the Second District Court of Appeals Justice in the 1939 Superman v. Wonder Man lawsuit, and also found that Fox Comics infringed Detective Comics’ Superman.

From Carbon Copy To Digital Duplication

concluded in 1948. The findings of that particular trial tipped generally in Fawcett’s favor, despite the judge’s conclusion that CM was a copy of Superman. While Fawcett’s defense ineffectually pressed that Captain Marvel’s attributes were magic-based and Superman’s were sciencebased, it was ultimately the discovered technicality of National and McClure Syndicate’s failure to secure copyright on several of their newspaper Superman comic strips which forced the ruling that the Superman trademark was no longer valid, resulting in Fawcett continuing to go about their business publishing CM. Of course, National went on to appeal the decision, Judge Hand reversed the ruling in their favor, Fawcett wrote their out-of-court settlement check to National … and irrefutably, Billy’s magic word was silenced. —PCH.] If Wannabe Comics were to introduce Captain Marvel today, undoubtedly BG Comics would take immediate action to stop it, to protect its well-established, estimated $1 billion SuperDude franchise. The outcome would likely be much the same as National’s victory over Fawcett, but the dispute would almost certainly be resolved in a much shorter time, though probably incurring even higher legal fees and a potentially higher settlement value for willful copyright infringement. In any event, it seems our lawyer friends over at Wannabe and BG can plan on having pretty good job security, keeping the comic book world safe from threats against successful super-heroes. Jean Schanberger is a California attorney and freelance writer who has worked as in-house counsel for two Fortune 500 companies. She currently serves as General Counsel to Masked Avenger Studios, www.MaskedAvenger.com.

itive to allow this dispute to continue for nearly twelve years. The availability of alternative dispute resolution forums such as arbitration and mediation, the significant congestion of trial and appellate court calendars, increased management oversight, and of course the extremely high legal costs of major litigation, tend to limit all but the most determined litigants’ stomachs—and budgets—to a few years of combat before finding some kind of resolution.

Keeping The Comic Book World Safe We can’t know for certain why Fawcett moved forward with and persisted in marketing Captain Marvel during the 1940s in the face of vigorous, well-founded opposition from National Comics, but it’s not surprising that it was strongly litigated and expensive both in legal fees and settlement value.

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[FCA EDITOR’S NOTE: During my ‘98 interview with the late Roscoe K. Fawcett, I didn’t specifically inquire as to why his company continued to carry on the day-to-day battle with National throughout the 1940s—which leaves us now only to speculate why they did. But, based on our conversation, I got the impression from him that, to Fawcett Publications, Captain Marvel was certainly worth fighting for: the character was incredibly profitable for them, even in the face of mounting legal bills. Additionally, Fawcett Publications was undoubtedly inspired to carry on more than ever with Captain Marvel after walking away virtually unscathed from the initial suit which

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SPLIT! XAM! And The Wall Street Journal The Day That Dueling Captain Marvels Hit The Headlines

by P.C. Hamerlinck

he contemptible comic book outfit known as M.F. Enterprises (named after its notorious publisher, Myron Fass), and their embarrassingly amateurish and unimaginative body part-splitting android character (created by Carl Burgos) that briefly desecrated the Captain Marvel name, were the subject of a Nov. 13, 1967, newspaper article nestled, remarkably, within the renowned and prestigious pages of The Wall Street Journal. That article, pertaining to MFE’s lawsuit against Marvel Comics’ Martin Goodman over the ownership of the name “Captain Marvel,” not only cited quotes from Fass and Goodman, but also breezed through a brief history of the unfortunate fate which had bludgeoned Fawcett Publications’ original Captain Marvel—including a quote from Fawcett editorial director Ralph Daigh (labeled in print as a Fawcett “vicepresident” and “co-creator” of the original CM). As many recall with great disdain—and still dream they could eternally eradicate from their memory—the MFE “Captain Marvel” shouted “Split!” to have his body parts separate… and then exclaimed “Xam!” (presumably pronounced “Zam!”) to call them back. The sheer loathsomeness of MFE resulted in more blatant thievery and insipid manipulation of other established characters, making the WSJ article’s report that the public purchased an average of “only” 100,000 copies (of 250,000 printed) of each issue of MF’s Captain Marvel a bit surprising, if not disturbing.

We Need An Atlas! (Above:) Myron Fass exulting in a 1970s moment. (Left:) A year or two before his Captain Marvel, Super Comics, Inc. (run by Fass’ old partner Israel Waldman), had reprinted the origin of a CM imitator—“Atlas, Man of Might”—in Daring Adventures #18. Its lead story was a retread from Great Comics Publications’ Choice Comics #1 (Dec. 1941). The youth destined to grow up to be the “human Atlas” received “the secret of strength” from “Atlas, Greek god of strength”—one of the same pantheon, of course, from whom the Big Red Cheese had derived his powers. The 1964 cover was penciled by Ross Andru and inked by Mike Esposito. Writer and artist of the interior story unknown. [©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

The article was written by A. Kent MacDougall, a former newspaper reporter with the WSJ and the Los Angeles Times, whose articles over the years had sometimes reflected a left-leaning agenda. Now retired and a professor emeritus of journalism at the University of California Berkeley, MacDougall had actively marched in Viet Nam War protests while employed as a WSJ staffer—the same era during which he penned the Captain Marvel article. Alter Ego editor Roy Thomas recalls being “startled” to see a serious mention of comic books in a major newspaper like The Wall Street Journal, the more so “because it was about [the] business, not the usual ‘Bam! Zow! Bap!’ stuff that made up most newspaper articles on comics for many years … and still rears its head way too often.” The Dark Knight film producer Michael Uslan noted “fly-by-night” comic book companies headed by Myron Fass, Isadore [Israel] Waldman, and their ilk had sprung up in post-Golden Age years, surfacing again in full force during the ’60s as numerous speculators attempted to cash in on the success of the Batman TV show.

“Waldman’s Super Comics and I.W. Publications, without any authorization, reprinted old comic stories with new covers [including such Golden Age stalwarts as Doll Man, Plastic Man, Sheena, Torchy, and even The Spirit] until receiving cease and desist letters, if not the actual summons and complaints,” Uslan said. “Waldman would pop back up in

SPLIT! XAM! And The Wall Street Journal

FROM:

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 1967 the post-TV Batman 1960s with a company reprinting the worst of old pre-Code horror comics, and a R-rated magazine called HellRider under the company banner of Skywald. He was the ‘Wald’ and Sol Brodsky was the ‘Sky.’ I wrote a two-part satire of comic book publishers like Waldman and Fass and their companies in my back-up stories for Stan Lee’s Just Imagine Superman and Just Imagine Flash with Kyle Baker and Sergio Aragonés. “My ‘Fly-By-Night Comics Group’ was inspired directly by Fass’ rip-off press that brought us [his] Captain Marvel. The legal theory was that Fawcett had constructively abandoned the trademark on Captain Marvel by failing to use it since 1954. But not only did Fass attempt to hijack Captain Marvel, but he also grabbed the names ‘Dr. Fate,’ ‘Plastic Man,’ and ‘The Bat’ (the latter [was] just close enough to sign his own legal death warrant, courtesy of DC Comics). When I first went to work at DC in the early ’70s and Sol Harrison assigned me to clean out ‘The Closet’ (which was similar to the last scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark), I found and read all the company’s cease and desist letters sent out to the likes of Victor Fox, Fawcett, Archie Comics … and Fass. With one magic word (‘Lawsuit!’), ‘The Bat’ became ‘The Ray’ and ‘Dr. Fate’ and ‘Plastic Man’ became other ‘duck-and-cover’ alternatives.” Uslan summarized Fass’ Captain Marvel as containing “awful stories and sub-par art” and being “the final insult to the memory and name [of] Captain Marvel.” Uslan viewed the WSJ coverage of the legal incident as “a rarity from an era where comic books were just beginning to claw their way to respectability in mainstream society and press—as evidenced [a couple of years later] by Sgt. Rock making the cover of The New York Times Magazine section in an article covering Green Lantern/Green Arrow and the Age of Relevancy in comics.” Roy Thomas and Alter Ego have arranged for FCA to re-present the Wall Street Journal piece in its entirety, complete with the three illustrations that originally accompanied it, on the facing page (with thanks also to Barry Pearl for reminding us about it some time back). The article, like the logo of The Wall Street Journal repro’d above, is © 1967, 2009 Dow Jones & Co., and is reprinted by permission….

SUPERMAN VS. SHAZAM! The Rich Buckler FCA Interview Conducted by P.C. Hamerlinck

NTRODUCTION: A 1978 DC Comics house ad called it “The Battle Nearly Four Decades in the Making!” The oversized “Superman vs. Shazam!” (more formally, All-New Collectors’ Edition #C-58) comic book, marking Superman and Captain Marvel’s first true co-starring adventure, is now over 30 years old. While time has flown by faster than a speeding bullet or the speed of Mercury, the book still remains as fun and dynamic as when it first appeared, thanks to Gerry Conway’s script and the multi-faceted artistic abilities of Rich Buckler (in collaboration with supreme inker Dick Giordano). Rich’s powerful layouts effectively collided the two worlds of the Man of Steel and the World’s Mightiest Mortal together. One of the comics industry’s most prominent artists during the ’70s and ’80s, Buckler has drawn virtually every Marvel and DC super-hero at one time or another during his career. He is best remembered for his work on Fantastic Four in the mid-’70s, co-creating Deathlok with writer Doug Moench, and penciling early issues of All-Star Squadron. My interview with Rich, conducted in late 2008, focuses primarily on that memorable late-’70s epic … “Superman vs. Shazam!”

Buckler’s Battle Royal (Left:) Rich Buckler’s surrealistic self-portrait, 2001. The painting appeared on a poster for his successful solo exhibition in Paris that same year at Galerie Natalie Boldyreff, a French art gallery owned and operated by Russians. Visit richbuckler.com to view more of Rich’s paintings. [©2009 Rich Buckler.] (Above:) The Rich Buckler/Dick Giordano cover for the 1978 tabloid-sized All-New Collectors’ Edition #C-58 – a.k.a. “Superman vs. Shazam!” Julius Schwartz was the editor. Rich reversed the main figures for the cover of this issue of A/E. Scan courtesy of Walt Grogan. [©2009 DC Comics.]

P.C. HAMERLINCK: Rich, you were born in 1949. Fawcett Publications had ceased publishing Captain Marvel in 1953. How or when did you first become acquainted with the character? RICH BUCKLER: I first became acquainted with the Captain Marvel books from articles in fanzines during the early stages of organized comics fandom. It was then that I met Jerry Bails and Roy Thomas. Jerry was in the process of putting a huge amount of Golden Age comics on microfilm, and I had the opportunity to read and peruse rare books that I could not afford to buy from comic book dealers. I was 17 or 18 years old—but at that tender age I knew I was going to become a comic book artist. I delved into the world of fanzine publishing; I started out as a publisher before I became a professional artist. The Golden Age of Comic

FCA (Fawcett Collectors Of America)

Knockin’ ’Em On Their Axis In 1969, Detroit fan Rich B. drew this wraparound cover for Jerry G. Bails’ Collector’s Guide: The First Heroic Age. Rich recalls it as being “MLJ heroes,” though besides The Shield there were several more from various companies—and note which Fawcett hero made the front page! [Captain Marvel Jr. & The Spectre TM & ©2009 DC Comics; The Mighty Destroyer TM & ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.; The Shield TM & ©2009 Archie Comic Publications, Inc.; Skyman TM & ©2009 the respective copyright holders; other art ©2009 Rich Buckler.]

Books lived on in Alter Ego, Rocket’s Blast-Comic Collector, and Paul Levitz’s Comic Reader. I contributed to just about every fanzine I could find, and then published a few myself. Those were the days before the Internet, so all of our networking was done by mail and telephone. A whole world had opened up to me in my discovering what came before I was born. My mom remembered a lot of these books from her childhood. Captain Marvel was one of her favorites. It wasn’t long before I purchased a few dog-eared Golden Age comics via mail order—Captain Marvel and Captain Marvel Jr. among them—and he became one of my favorites too. PCH: Some of your friends involved in fandom at the time—Roy Thomas, Alan Weiss, Arvell Jones—of course all went on to become comic book professionals themselves (and, incidentally, would all get their own shots on Captain Marvel). Before and during your work in the fanzines, were you only involved in comics as an avocation and for the escapism aspect, or did you have serious aspirations about joining the professional ranks? BUCKLER: I had already decided I wanted to be a comic book artist, even before I got involved in fanzine publishing. I took this all very seriously from the beginning. I was thoroughly convinced that I could learn how to do it by meeting other professionals and studying and practicing. I did have trouble early on with other people not taking me seriously. I would get challenged by friends and new acquaintances. It always went something like this: “You want to be an artist? Okay, you draw a lot, but you never went to school for it. How are you going to do

it?” I would argue back, “Hey, these guys never went to comic book art school. If they can do it, so can I!” Of course, it wasn’t that simple. But there were no “comic book art schools” in those days, so that wasn’t even a choice—and it was true that I had absolutely no formal art education. Everything I knew about art and drawing was from studying books and practicing. It was stubborn resolve and a certainty that I was born be an artist that kept me going. That, and the two people who believed in me the most: my mother and my sister. I met Arvell Jones during my fanzine publishing days. He and I collaborated on a lot of publishing projects, and we became close friends. One day I visited Jerry Bails, and he wanted to hire me to do a wraparound cover for one of his publications. I think I was 19 years old at the time, and the assignment paid $50 (which was a lot, then). It was my very first professional work as a comics artist—and it was [drawing] Golden Age characters—from the old MLJ comics… I was thrilled! Jerry was very encouraging and inspiring. But at that point I was still years away from actually breaking into the comic book field. That would take several trips to New York, and eventually moving there—along with a whole lot of luck! Alan Weiss I knew from correspondence and telephone conversations. He contributed to my fanzines (and just about everybody else’s fanzines), and we exchanged ideas and encouraged each other. Alan’s drawing was always so much better than mine—the guy was (and is) amazing. In terms of overall drawing skill and finesse, I haven’t caught up to him yet.

Superman Vs. Shazam!

BUCKLER: The cover idea was a “one-off.” I just came up with it at the office. Almost all of the covers I did for DC and Marvel were done like that—first thing that came to mind, I would sketch it out, and that was the one. PCH: Would you purposely try to channel other artists’ styles for certain jobs? It’s obvious that you successfully tapped the Neal Adams approach for the “S vs. S” book. Adams had only previously drawn Captain Marvel for a 1976 calendar and a couple of other merchandising pieces. Had you seen, or were you inspired, by any of those? Was there an official editorial decision made for you to incorporate the Adams “look” for the book?

Red Punch (Above:) Battle panel from “Superman vs. Shazam!” Buckler remembered thinking beforehand, “This has got to be the biggest and most intimidating assignment I have ever gotten! (Right:) Scripter Gerry Conway, caricatured by Dave Manak in Amazing World of DC Comics #14 (March 1977), not long before the project was launched. [©2009 DC Comics.]

PCH: Let’s fast-forward to “Superman vs. Shazam!” While there had begun a series of “Superman-versus-somebody” tabloid-sized comics, do you know who specifically conceptualized the “S vs. S” book? Its writer, Gerry Conway, told Michael Eury in an interview that it was “another Roy Thomas-influenced story” (“S vs. S” was released prior to Roy’s 1980s association with DC). Other reports claim Dick Giordano originated the idea for the book—or that it was the idea of its editor, Julie Schwartz, who had spearhead DC’s tabloid-sized books to begin with, though he considered his Shazam-related projects to be “low-lights” of his career. BUCKLER: I’m not sure if it was Roy’s idea, but it does sound like him. I got the assignment from Dick Giordano. Dick was thinking, at the time, that I could be groomed to be the new regular Superman artist; Curt Swan was planning on retiring. I was more than happy to get a chance to draw a Superman book (I learned to draw the human figure, originally, by studying and imitating Curt Swan from the comics). PCH: According to Julie, the tabloid-sized comics were created as a marketing tool to get DC books prominently displayed and sold in stores outside of the usual venues at that time. But by 1978—the year “S vs. S” was released—the over-sized comics were on their tail end after a successful run. BUCKLER: Yeah, they were a bit of a novelty. I knew they wouldn’t last. But they sure were cool. PCH: After Giordano assigned “S vs. S” to you, were you intrigued about illustrating a larger-sized, potentially higher-profile book? BUCKLER: I remember thinking, “This has got to be the biggest and most intimidating assignment I have ever gotten! How the hell am I going to do it?” Remember, this was around the same time as the Neal Adams Superman vs. Muhammed Ali book—that was what I had to measure up to! “I better hurry up and start on it before they change their minds and figure out that I’m not up to it and give it to somebody else!” PCH: Did you work with Julie on the layout of the “S vs. S” cover? Did you have to submit various cover concepts, or was the final version the first and only layout you came up with?

BUCKLER: I wouldn’t say “channel”—that’s not accurate at all. I didn’t become possessed or anything like that—just the opposite, actually. I’m a stubborn individualist. I never, ever drew anything that I didn’t want to draw. I would always throw off any and all restrictions. Somebody recently remarked in a trade magazine that I have a “quirky and complicated personality”—or something like that. Well, my main “quirk” is that I do whatever I want, and nobody could ever force me to think or act otherwise. If that’s complicated, I don’t see how. I love comics and I have a whole lot of favorite characters. When I drew Fantastic Four, I drew my version of my favorite FF comics, which were drawn originally by Jack Kirby. So, I tried to evoke Kirby’s dynamics and sensibility in the new work I produced for that title. Same with Superman: Curt Swan for foundations, Neal Adams for flash and dynamics. I was coming from a “super fan” mentality, if you will. Give me Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD and I probably would have done my version of Jim Steranko. This was pure fun for me (and it still is). At the time, DC was evolving a Neal Adams look for Superman. I did a lot of commercial comics work for Dick Giordano, and Dick was scheduled to ink the “Superman/Shazam!” book. What “style” to use? For me, it was a no-brainer. With any comics assignment, first and foremost was the storytelling. That has always been my strong point. You get that right and the publisher (at that time, anyway) didn’t care which “style” you chose to work in. Whatever I drew,

FCA (Fawcett Collectors Of America)

BUCKLER: I had no problem with the villain. The eyeballs were my idea (all-seeing eye, take over the world, rule the universe—it just seemed to fit). All super-villains are generic, in a way. They’re coming from the “New World Order”-global fascism-Doctor Doom school of Empire. It’s the artist’s job to jazz them up and make them fun. As for The Marvel Family, Gerry knew these characters inside out. He knew them better than I did! PCH: What type of research did you do on the book regarding the Captain Marvel-related characters? For example, did Gerry or Julie supply you with reference material for Mary Marvel/Batson, Black Adam, Shazam, Billy Batson’s girlfriend Cissie Sommerly, etc. … as well as aspects of the Marvel Family mythos found in the story, such as Black Adam obtaining Prince Ibis’ Ibistick, and Shazam’s Rock of Eternity dwelling? BUCKLER: Gerry supplied a lot of the reference. Also, DC had, at the time, a very extensive library Dreamy Heroines of comics. I made tons of photocopies, mostly “Superman vs. Shazam!” co-starred Mary Marvel and Supergirl, who lent a helpful assist in saving their from the Captain Marvel titles. Also, I could get worlds—but Mary still found time to pine over the Man of Steel. [©2009 DC Comics.] on the phone if I was in a pinch. … call in, and anything I asked for, they supplied it. Julie was a in whatever style I was working in (and I have always had a lot of range), I stickler for details. [E.] Nelson Bridwell, who was Julie’s executive assistant always worked to please myself first. My goal was never to become a (and one-man human encyclopedia of comics and their creators), was “super-star” comic book artist. My focus has always been to do the indispensable. absolute best comics I am capable of doing—exactly the way I want to do them! Get the characters right, tell the story in pictures as clear and PCH: Your pencils/layouts with Dick Giordano’s inks were a winning dynamic and engaging as possible—all within the deadline! combination. Were you pleased with Dick’s inking on the book? While a few inconsistencies in the art slipped through the cracks (such as PCH: Did you have much editorial input from Julie regarding your Captain Marvel’s facial features sometimes being a little off or the artistic approach to properly mesh the two worlds of Superman and occasional extended length of Cap’s cape and boots), overall, the artwork Captain Marvel together? Were you happy with Gerry Conway’s script? worked well with the story. BUCKLER: Was I happy with the script? I would have been happy with BUCKLER: Remember, there was always the deadline to consider. any script, but Gerry was probably the best choice for this book. He was Everything was drawn under tremendous pressure. I remember doing 10 (and is) one of my favorite writers. The script read like a movie. I had no to 15 pages per week … a real crunch. There were bound to be inconsisidea how I would be able to plow through 72 art pages, but Gerry’s tencies. I’m amazed that there were so few of them. Nowadays, they would writing was beautifully paced and structurally solid. After the pages were probably give an artist six months to do a project like this. I had more like drawn, I would take time out and read them from the art pages (having six weeks. I recall [when] the inked pages by Dick started coming into the penciled in all of the word balloons and lettering); everything fit perfectly office when I was about half-way through the pencil stage, and I was … read smoothly. And the story was excellently crafted—which made my amazed. It totally worked. I got so excited that I delved back into drawing work that much easier. Regarding my approach, storytelling choices, and the remaining pages with even more intensity! My favorite inkers in layout, I had absolutely no editorial supervision. I even made minor comics are Joe Sinnott, Frank Giacoia, Tony DeZuniga, and Dick changes here and there, but for the most part, I kept to Gerry’s descripGiordano. I think what their work has in common is a knowledge of real tions in the script. drawing. Some inkers just “ink” (they do their best to follow the drawing but don’t add anything). These guys would have a texture and rendering PCH: If I had to give the book a hard critique, I felt the story’s villain, a technique for everything! It’s more like illustration, and the results of this megalomaniac named Karmang (from Mars, naturally—apparently prekind of collaboration is definitely more than the sum of its parts. dating the Martian Manhunter’s civilization), was a bit generic (except for those eyeball earrings), given what could’ve been tapped from PCH: I understand Dick Giordano and Neal Adams were the first pros Superman and Captain Marvel’s long and colorful list of rogues … and who really believed in you and basically became your mentors. Did you Mary Marvel seemed a bit out-of-character with her flirtatious infatufeel during those early years of breaking into the industry that talent was ation towards Superman. On the other hand, Gerry Conway nicely only part of “making it”—and that you still had to get out there and referenced Earth-S heroes and The Marvel Family’s earlier appearance make the right connections? in Justice League of America #135-137. Another noteworthy thing about his script was that, at one point during the two heroes’ battle, BUCKLER: Both Dick and Neal were mentors for me, in different ways. Superman notes to himself that Captain Marvel is “a unique guy” Neal is my son’s godfather; Rick now works at Neal’s Continuity Graphics because he has “the mind of a young boy—in the body of a mighty man.” as an assistant art director. I had done commercial art for Dick back when Conway clearly established this popular, modern-day interpretation of he and Neal split off and Dick started his own studio, Dik-Art. I would the Cap/Billy persona, which was later adopted by subsequent DC pencil record album covers for him (Incredible Hulk, Wonder Woman, writers and generally accepted by readers over the years. Robin Hood, etc.), and the Adams-influenced style meshed perfectly with

Superman Vs. Shazam!

Dick’s inking. He and I developed a close work relationship—this was just before his big move to DC Comics. At DC, Joe Orlando was mentoring me, too; he got me a lot of breaks. Then when Dick started working at DC he threw a lot of work my way, knowing that I was dependable (met deadlines) and always turned out quality work. Neal has been a tremendous artistic influence on me and we have remained close friends (more like family, really) since I first met him in my early twenties at a Detroit comic book convention. It wasn’t only a matter of making the “right connections”, as you mention. It was a matter of being up to doing the work. It was great having these consummate professionals believing in me—but I was never allowed to slack off (not that I would on my own, mind you—that’s just not me). The work pace for a comic book artist is not something that every artist can handle. PCH: Did you have a good working relationship with Julie Schwartz? Didn’t you sort of become his “go-to” man whenever he needed a quick cover or tight deadline for something completed? BUCKLER: Most artists I’ve talked to about Julie have said he was a bit tough to work for at times. I had no problems with him. He was “no nonsense” about the work and had a wonderful wry sense of humor [and was] always very exacting and precise (which I liked and appreciated). He learned early on that I possessed these same qualities (exacting and precise), which helped our work relationship—but it was Vinnie Colletta (another important mentor) who convinced Julie that I was hardworking and reliable (my youthful appearance would always throw people off at first—I was in my twenties then, but still looked a bit like a teenager). Deadlines were never missed. DC always had a bit more “lead time” than Marvel—but in both cases, the deadline always ruled. PCH: Was the original art for “S vs. S” drawn on boards close to the book’s actual size? Was the pay greater than artwork prepared for regular sized books? Were you also working on other books while you were on the project?

iment and “pull out all the stops,” as you put it. Of course, I took full advantage! I remember going to the library and getting a lot of photo reference for the backgrounds and props. Everything in the book would be printed big—and that especially required getting everything right. The full-pagers and double-pagers, though, were planned out by Gerry. His choices were absolutely perfect. The rest I played around with a bit— changing the pacing slightly, using an extreme close-up when I felt it was needed. “Camera angles” and “acting” of the characters was left up to me. I felt like a movie director! Yeah, it was really big fun! PCH: Over the course of your comic book career, how were you able to effectively adapt to so many different artist styles? BUCKLER: I always thought that a “style” was just self-imposed parameters. None of the artists was deliberately doing a “style.” Ross Andru, Gil Kane, Steve Ditko—okay, I can name a lot of artists with immediately recognizable styles. But I can tell you, they weren’t deliberately doing the same thing over and over just to be consistent or “true” to one style. You do “this,” but you never do “that”—and always do “these little things” that the fans always expect to see. A lot of what fans think are unique styles are really just a repertoire of “tricks” and “stylisms,” with each artist putting his own wrinkle on that. Like how an artist draws a rock or tree or building, or a standard action pose or composition—a lot of memorized “techniques” that are sort of “visual clichés.” Without getting technical, what I’m referring to are lots of details or ways of doing things that are done sometimes out of habit or laziness, or sometimes just because it looks cool. I’ve picked up thousands of these nuances from other comic artists. Fans (who are not artists) mostly take notice of figures. But a lot of what they think is style is really choices of which “ism” or trick to use. If the artist is a really good draughtsman you won’t even be able to pick these things out easily. My style shows through

BUCKLER: I think the pay was around 20% more than the regular size art. DC printed up special 2-ply Bristol [board] for the work, slightly larger than the regular comic book art pages. No, I wasn’t working on anything else at the time. The actual work on the book took all of my time and concentration. PCH: I know you viewed “S vs. S” as more than just another assignment. Did you feel the project had the potential to become a true landmark book, and something where you could really cut loose on with its additional splash pages, two-page spreads, and fullpage illustrations afforded to you? An example of an effective full-page illustration can be seen on page 62 of the book—which will be utilized as this issue’s FCA cover—you can literally feel the impact of Superman’s punch connecting on Captain Marvel. There was a touch of Kirby in action scenes like those, combined with the obvious Adams style you applied. You clearly and literally dove into the story, experimenting with dynamic angles and layouts; you had a 72-page length book (with no ads) to pull out all the stops and think big … big figures, big close-ups, big splash pages. It must have been fun and a bit liberating for you, in contrast to the regular-sized comic book work. BUCKLER: You already know this was not “just another assignment.” In a way, it was a test, I think: “Can he really handle the big characters?” It was definitely a challenge. Creatively, it was a dream. I had absolutely no supervision and was allowed to exper-

Can We All Just Get Along? “Go, friend … and God go with you!” After pounding on each other for the majority of book, the Big Red ‘S’ and the Big Red Cheese finally make amends and begin working together for truth and justice—the DC way. [©2009 DC Comics.]

FCA (Fawcett Collectors Of America)

Garcia-Lopez. I thought: “Uh-oh, better watch out for this guy, he’s on to something!” I met up with him at a comic book convention a few years ago, and he told me that back in those early days when he worked at DC he really had no idea what he was doing—so he imitated Rich Buckler! What do you make of that? I think back on my early work at DC and Marvel and it showed hints of “cut and paste” now and then—but only because I was learning as I went along. It was only as I became more proficient over the years that I could blend these “tricks” or “riffs” into my own style. After that, it’s just endless variations that are always fresh and new … like music … like rock n’ roll, actually. That’s how I do it, anyway. Critics are usually fans who take things way too seriously. Like I said before, I please myself first. If and when I emulate a favorite artist, it’s on purpose, not for lack of imagination or lack of ability—and I’m having fun doing it! And—I’m being a fan who is having fun! In my career, I have drawn over 400 comic books. Can you imagine, drawing that many comic books in one single recognizable style that never varied? It would be like drawing the same comic book 400 times! Uhh! Definitely not for me. PCH: In addition to Gerry Conway, you also had quite a few successful collaborations with Roy Thomas, at both Marvel and at DC—including All-Star Squadron and Superman/Captain Marvel team-up tales in DC Comics Presents. How did you like working with Roy in general, and on these DCCP stories in particular? Did you both share the same philosophies towards super-hero storytelling? Were Roy’s plots/scripts easy to work from and to visualize, like a screenplay? BUCKLER: Roy is my absolute favorite comic book writer. Visual? Yes,

Super-Team-Ups, Continued In post-“Superman vs. Shazam!” assignments, Buckler described working with Roy Thomas on titles such as All-Star Squadron and DC Comics Presents as “an adventure.” Seen here are covers to the RT-scripted DC Comics Presents #34 (June 1981; art by Rich Buckler & Dick Giordano), and All-Star Squadron #36 (Aug. 1984; art by Buckler & Jerry Ordway). [©2009 DC Comics.]

most when I’m not even consciously using those visual tricks—I use them, but they just blend in and I get what I want, and I’m having fun with it. If it were music, we would call them “riffs.” Knowing another artist’s “riffs” can be very helpful. They are sort-of the building blocks of the “language” of comic book art. Now I’m starting to sound technical, but I think you get the idea. Artists who are “purists” (or try to be—actually, they’re fooling themselves) tend to try to reinvent the wheel. What is the point? And wouldn’t it be boring—really boring—to be stuck in one set of parameters—one “style”—for your entire career? For me, that would really suck! In my comics work, concept and approach are both something that is worked out before you start drawing. You don’t fly by the seat of your pants (well, you can—but if you do, you’ll probably get skid marks on your bottom real quick). PCH: What do you say to criticisms that you never really developed your own individual style? BUCKLER: I have fans that I meet all the time who tell me they know my style—that they can recognize it right away! I never think about “my style” … it’s whatever I make it … whatever is appropriate for the subject matter … whatever works. Around the time I was working on the “Superman/Shazam!” book, there came along an artist at DC named José

Superman Vs. Shazam!

characters like they were close friends of mine. When I would visualize from a script it was always like a movie running through my head. The characters were alive, and I knew all their gestures and movements—even their individual voices. It was never about lines and brush strokes. What is most important? “Hey, everybody, look how great I can draw!” No. Comic book readers aren’t paying attention to the mechanics of the drawing—they don’t notice the lines, and aren’t even aware of the craft. They are carried away by the “magic” of the storytelling and how successful the artist and writer are at bringing the characters to life on the page. PCH: What’s your view of today’s comic books? The look and feel is certainly different from back when you were doing them month after month. Would you agree that the companies have lost that kind of family-like, bullpen atmosphere they once had?

Rich-ly Rewarded During his career, Buckler has drawn over 400 comic books—nearly every DC and Marvel character. He states matter-of-factly that “The work pace for a comic book artist is not something that every artist can handle.” As a reliable “go-to” man who never missed a deadline, he could be depended on to deliver a quick cover, such as this one for the digest-sized reprint title Best of DC #22 (March 1982), inked by Dick Giordano … and featuring the Little Blue Cheese, Captain Marvel Jr. [©2009 DC Comics.]

always. A wordsmith. A super comic book fan. On the DC Comics Presents stuff, he sent me even more reference than Gerry did for the Marvel Family! And on All-Star Squadron it was boxes and boxes of vintage reference (he actually apologized about it—but I loved it!). It was always a pleasure working from his scripts. That was at DC. At Marvel, it was plot outlines (and sometimes just a telephone conversation!). Creatively, we would synchronize, somehow, and whatever we worked on together came out magical. I really miss working that way. The only other writers I worked with like this were Don McGregor and Doug Moench. Working with Roy on All-Star Squadron and the DC Comics Presents stories was an adventure. I worked out a separate approach for each of those titles. Someone once pointed out to me that I seem to have a DC style and a Marvel style—and they’re right. What works for one does not always work for the other. On these titles I was working with Golden Age characters, so of course I wanted to convey some nostalgia from that period. That just made it all the more interesting to work on. PCH: As you visualized comic book scripts and fully immersed yourself illustrating story after story, did the characters almost begin to feel “real” to you? You were certainly one of the most prolific comic book artists during that period; did all those different super-heroes literally begin to “live” in your mind? BUCKLER: You’ve hit the nail on the head. Absolutely. I knew the

BUCKLER: It’s a whole different world now for comics, isn’t it? … hightech coloring and printing, slick packaging, computer precision. Comics are now competing with computer graphics, video games, and movies. The craft of comics is more technical and sophisticated, yes, but not necessarily (in my opinion) new and improved. Marketing is more prominent than ever. Some of the “magic” seems to be missing, I think, because of creative “overkill.” Too much planning … too many cooks in the kitchen … too much “double think” which can degenerate into formula and cliché. Stories are planned a bit too carefully; everything is a little too precise and technical. There is more of an emphasis on the writing—which I think is a good thing—but the art and pacing of the scripts, for me, seem to be moving the stories along too slowly, almost plodding along. I don’t get the sense that anybody at DC or Marvel is ever “pulling out all the stops” and “going all out.” Stories are set-up so that they can be easily reprinted as “graphic novels.” The books are perfectly packaged—as product—but they’re almost playing it too safe. That’s my overall view. There are exceptions, of course. Hey, you asked for my opinion, and not everybody is going to agree with it. That’s okay, because it’s my point of view, but I think it’s a valid one and that I’m not the only one to make some of these observations. I see too much material that is “dark”—maybe too imitative of the latest movie trends, which tend to be “adult” mostly due to generous amounts of spilled blood and graphic violence, perverted sex, and glorifying a totally godless civilization that is not reality to most people. [And there’s] way too much occultism. The concept of heroism has gotten obfuscated and unnecessarily complicated. “Dark is light,” “black is white,” “evil is good,” everything is a shade of gray. I mean, it all gets to be a bit too much, really. Just how evil does evil have to be in order to provide a formidable nemesis for your hero? How many character flaws or foibles does your hero have to have? How sick and disgusting does a monster or bad guy have to be in order to be scary enough? I can’t help wondering—are there any heroes left who are not total basket cases? Also, I can’t help but wonder just where, creatively, some of our modern writers (not to mention editors) are coming from. Actually, I can guess. I miss the quality writing of Archie Goodwin, Steve Gerber, Roy Thomas, Doug Moench, and Don McGregor—and the sheer joy and exuberance of a script by Stan Lee. Whatever happened to Gerry Conway, Jim Shooter, and Steve Englehart? And why aren’t Peter David and Jim Owsley/Christopher Priest writing comics anymore? Nearly everything coming out now seems to be overly “psychologized” and over–“intellectualized.” Much of it is coming from an occult tradition (as in “hidden,” like the knowledge of the ancient mystery schools and secret societies). In general, it seems agenda-driven (okay, “editorial direction”), which leaves very little room for inspiration and intuition. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for thinking (it’s one of my favorite exercises!); but for creativity, too much “left brain” thinking at the expense of the “right brain” activity is not a good thing. Also, too much “left brain” makes for too much of the same old thing. The “left brain” reasoning stuff may seem reliable and tried and true (after all, it’s what we learned in

FCA (Fawcett Collectors Of America)

school, right? language, structure, the world of the five senses)—but too often it leads to predictability and formula and cliché. Too much of what I see these days is dark, dreary, miserable and relentlessly nightmarish. Um … some balance, please? Enough with stories about extreme this, and extreme that—extreme killers, mega-violence, ultramayhem, every evil you can think of taken to the max. What are we talking about here? I mean, is this fun? Most people are trapped in a “left brain” prison—that’s the sort of “reality” we are indoctrinated with since childhood, and we are presented with in most of the comics. And there is no escape—for anybody! Not even the hero! I was talking recently to a psychologist who is also into comics (a bit of an unusual combination, right?), who gave me his assessment of our modern day comics entertainment. Without holding back any punches, he told me, “The comics are nothing but a ‘corporatist paradigm’ being pushed in a medium that is now designed to totally numb the senses and overload our nervous systems to the point of hopeless addiction to morbidity and perversion” (hmm, sounds like video games, or a lot of bad Hollywood movies). Well, I look at a lot of what is coming out from the “Big Two” and I think, you know, he’s not too far off the mark. The corporate stuff—well, I saw that coming in the early ’90s. “Quick, lock all the doors. Install security. Don’t let any of the freelancers hang out. Everybody has to have an appointment!” Too many meetings … too many marketing gimmicks … too much supervision of the talent … too much oversight, period. A “family-like, bullpen atmosphere”? No room for that anymore! PCH: Let’s discuss one of your post-comics activities—the surrealistic paintings you’ve produced over the years. How was your work accepted at the solo exhibit you had in Paris back in 2001? Was there any stigma attached to you being a “former comic book artist”? BUCKLER: My solo exhibition was a total creative success! I exhibited at Galerie Natalie Boldyreff , which is a French gallery owned and operated by Russians. Nobody who is French, it seems, has a handle on “surrealism” anymore, unfortunately (or, if they do, the people I met there during my two trips to Paris were doing their best to keep it to themselves). To say the least, my work totally confounded them (much to my delight). They did, to their credit, know my comic book art, and I was treated with the utmost respect and reverence because of it. In Europe, an artist is an artist—whether he does Manga, comic books, or newspaper strips, fine art, commercial art, whatever. By the way, I have found that my surrealist paintings are altogether more accessible to Russians, as opposed to the American audience. I even got invited to participate recently in an exhibition of Russian painters (they sort-of adopted me). My comic book illustration background has never been held against me, in Europe or the US. But then again, if I were

Drawing Dynamically (Left:) Rich Buckler’s How to Draw Dynamic Comic Books, published by Vanguard Productions, is a book is about comic book storytelling— the techniques, craft, and dynamics of telling a story in pictures, revealed by an insider who learned from the very best. Buckler: “It’s for artists at all levels, from beginner to working professional, and it is a sort of authoritative guide to creating compelling comics.” The book features a foreword by Stan Lee and an introduction by Roy Thomas. [©2009 Vanguard Productions.] Buckler’s post-comics painting activities include a series of superhero acrylic renderings on canvas for the collectors market, in which the characters are depicted realistically while still retaining the dynamics of the heroic “comic book look.” Buckler proclaims that his approach is “quite a bit different from what is already out there.” To contact Rich, go to his website richbuckler.com. [Superman TM & ©2009 DC Comics.]

not surrealist in my thinking to begin with, I wouldn’t be painting surrealism and definitely never would have drawn comic books for over 35 years. I have gotten very good critical reviews of my surrealist work. Recently The New York Times gave a review of a recent show I did in Brooklyn, The 400th Year Celebration of John Milton—and in the book review section they featured one of my paintings, “Portrait of Salvador Dali,” in color. I have shown my paintings regularly over the past eight years in galleries in Manhattan. I am an artist in residence at the Amsterdam Whitney International Art Gallery (thank you Ruthie Tucker and Alton Amsterdam III for helping me get it all started on a serious level!). There is a possibility of an upcoming solo exhibition at Long Island University (probably some time around June of ‘09). Also, I am a member of the Williamsburg Art Salon (Brooklyn), and exhibit there regularly. PCH: I understand you also recently started to create realisticallyrendered paintings of super-heroes, but that still adhere to the exaggerated dynamics of traditional comics. Have you been having success in developing this approach with painting comic book characters? BUCKLER: I have been painting since October of 2000. Over sixty paintings, all of them done on a very serious level (none of them are “knock-offs” or, as Dali put it, “overnight masterpieces”). I love painting almost as much as I love the comics. Lately, I have been working on a series of super-hero paintings on canvas for the collectors market. I think what is appealing is that the characters are depicted as realistically as possible while still retaining the heroic “comic book look.” It’s quite a bit different from what is already out there. And I’m having a heck of a good time doing it.

TwoMorrows Publishing 2009 Update WINTER/SPRING

Supplement to the 2008 TwoMorrows Preview Catalog

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BATCAVE COMPANION

IT’S FINALLY HERE! The writer/editor of the critically acclaimed KRYPTON COMPANION and the designer of the eye-popping SPIES, VIXENS, AND MASTERS OF KUNG FU: THE ART OF PAUL GULACY team up to explore the Silver and Bronze Ages of Batman comic books in THE BATCAVE COMPANION! Two distinct sections of this book examine the Dark Knight’s progression from his campy “New Look” of the mid-1960s to his “creature of the night” reinvention of the 1970s. Features include issue-byissue indexes, interviews with CARMINE INFANTINO, JOE GIELLA, DENNIS O’NEIL, and NEAL ADAMS, and guest essays by MIKE W. BARR and WILL MURRAY. Contributors include SHELDON MOLDOFF, LEN WEIN, STEVE ENGLEHART, and TERRY AUSTIN, with a special tribute to the late MARSHALL ROGERS. With its incisive introduction by DENNIS O’NEIL and its iconic cover painting by NEAL ADAMS, THE BATCAVE COMPANION is a must-have for every comics fan! By MICHAEL EURY and MICHAEL KRONENBERG.

WHE % N YO ORD U ONL ER INE!

(224-page trade paperback) $26.95 US • ISBN: 9781893905788 • Diamond Order Code: NOV068368 • Ships April 2009

COMIC BOOK PODCAST COMPANION Comic book podcasts have taken the Internet by storm, and now TwoMorrows offers you the chance to go behind the scenes of ten of today's top comic book podcasts via all-new interviews with the casts of AROUND COMICS, WORD BALLOON, QUIET! PANELOLOGISTS AT WORK, COMIC BOOK QUEERS, iFANBOY, THE CRANKCAST, THE COLLECTED COMICS LIBRARY, THE PIPELINE PODCAST, COMIC GEEK SPEAK, and TwoMorrows’ own TUNE-IN PODCAST! Also featured are new interviews about podcasting and comics on the Internet with creators MATT FRACTION, TIM SEELEY, and GENE COLAN. You'll also find a handy guide of what you’ll need to start your own podcast, an index of more than thirty great comic book podcasts, numerous photos of your favorite podcasters, and original art from COLAN, SEELEY, DC's MIKE NORTON, and many more! By ERIC HOUSTON, with a spectacular new cover by MIKE MANLEY. (128-page trade paperback) $15.95 • ISBN: 9781605490182 • Ships May 2009

ALL-STAR COMPANION Volume 4 The epic series of ALL-STAR COMPANIONS goes out with a bang, featuring: Colossal coverage of the Golden Age ALL-STAR COMICS! Sensational secrets of the JUNIOR JUSTICE SOCIETY! An index of the complete solo adventures of all 18 original JSAers in their own features, from 1940 to 1951! The JSA's earliest imitators (Seven Soldiers of Victory, All Winners Squad, Marvel Family, and International Crime Patrol)! INFINITY, INC. on Earth-Two and after! And the 1980s SECRET ORIGINS series! With rare art by ALEX ROSS, TODD McFARLANE, JERRY ORDWAY, CARMINE INFANTINO, JOE KUBERT, ALEX TOTH, GIL KANE, MURPHY ANDERSON, IRWIN HASEN, MORT MESKIN, GENE COLAN, WAYNE BORING, GEORGE TUSKA, MICHAEL T. GILBERT, GEORGE FREEMAN, DON NEWTON, JACK BURNLEY, MIKE MACHLAN, HOWARD CHAYKIN, DICK DILLIN, and others. Edited by ROY THOMAS.

CAPTAIN ACTION: THE ORIGINAL SUPERHERO ACTION FIGURE

(240-page trade paperback) $27.95 US • ISBN: 9781605490045 Ships June 2009

(Hardcover 2nd Edition)

CAPTAIN ACTION was introduced in 1966 in the wake of the Batman TV show craze, and later received his own DC comic book with art by WALLY WOOD and GIL KANE. Able to assume the identities of 13 famous super-heroes, his initial career was short-lived, but continuing interest in the hero has led to two different returns to toy-store shelves. Lavishly illustrated with over 200 toy photos, this FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER SECOND EDITION chronicles the history of this quick-changing champion, including photos of virtually EVERY CAPTAIN ACTION PRODUCT ever released, spotlights on his allies ACTION BOY and the SUPER QUEENS and his arch enemy DR. EVIL, an examination of his comic-book appearances, and “Action facts” that even the most diehard Captain Action fan won’t know! The original softcover edition has been sold out for years, but this revised, full-color hardcover second edition includes behind-the-scenes coverage of CAPTAIN ACTION’S TRIUMPHANT 2008 RETURN to comics shelves in his new series from Moonstone Books, and spotlights the new wave of Captain Action collectibles. Written by MICHAEL EURY. (176-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95 US • ISBN: 9781605490175 • Ships July 2009

MARVEL COMICS IN THE 1960s: An Issue-By-Issue Field Guide

The comic book industry experienced an unexpected flowering in the early 1960s, compliments of Marvel Comics, and this book presents a step-by-step look at how a company that had the reputation of being one of the least creative in a generally moribund industry, emerged as one of the most dynamic, slightly irreverent and downright original contributions to an era when pop-culture emerged as the dominant force in the artistic life of America. In scores of handy, easy to reference entries, MARVEL COMICS IN THE 1960s takes the reader from the legendary company’s first fumbling beginnings as helmed by savvy editor/writer STAN LEE (aided by such artists as JACK KIRBY and STEVE DITKO), to the full maturity of its wild, colorful, offbeat grandiosity. With the history of Marvel Comics in the 1960s divided into four distinct phases, author PIERRE COMTOIS explains just how Lee, Kirby, Ditko, and others created a line of comic books that, while grounded in the traditional elements of panel-to-panel storytelling, broke through the juvenile mindset of a low brow industry and provided a tapestry of full blown pop culture icons. (224-page trade paperback) $27.95 US • ISBN: 9781605490168 • Ships July 2009

GRAILPAGES:

Original Comic Book Art And The Collectors GRAILPAGES brings to light the burgeoning hobby of collecting the original, hand-drawn art that is used to create comic books! Beginning more as a novelty, the hobby of collecting original comic art has expanded to a point where some of the seminal pages commonly run more than $10,000 each. Author STEVEN ALAN PAYNE lets you meet collectors from around the globe and hear their passion in their own words, as they detail collections ranging from a few key pages, to broad, encompassing collections of literally hundreds of pages of original comic art by such artists as JACK KIRBY, JOHN ROMITA SR., and others! Balancing out the narratives are incisive interviews with industry pros, including writers GERRY CONWAY, STEVE ENGLEHART, and ROY THOMAS, and exclusive perspectives from Silver Age artists DICK GIORDANO, BOB McLEOD, ERNIE CHAN, TONY DeZUNIGA, and the unparalleled great, GENE COLAN! Completing the book is a diverse sampling of breathtakingly beautiful original comic art, some lavishly presented in full-page spreads, including pages not seen publicly for decades. Fans of comic art, comic books, and pop culture will find in GRAILPAGES an appreciation for a uniquely American form of art! (128-page trade paperback) $15.95 US • ISBN: 9781605490151 Diamond Order Code: JAN094470 • Ships March 2009

MAGAZINES

DIEDGITIIOTANSL BL AVAILA

BRICKJOURNAL magazine is the ultimate resource for LEGO enthusiasts of all ages, spotlighting the LEGO Community with contributions and how-to articles by top builders worldwide, new product intros, and more. Edited by JOE MENO. ALTER EGO focuses on Golden and Silver Age comics and creators with articles, interviews and unseen art, plus FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America), Mr. Monster & more. Edited by ROY THOMAS.

BRICKJOURNAL #3

BRICKJOURNAL #4

BRICKJOURNAL #5

BRICKJOURNAL #6

Event Reports from BRICKWORLD, FIRST LEGO LEAGUE WORLD FESTIVAL and PIECE OF PEACE (Japan), spotlight on our cover model builder BRYCE McGLONE, and interviews with ARTHUR GUGICK and STEVEN CANVIN of LEGO MINDSTORMS to see where LEGO ROBOTICS is going! There’s also STEP-BY-STEP BUILDING INSTRUCTIONS, TECHNIQUES, & more!

Interviews with LEGO BUILDERS including BREANN SLEDGE (BIONICLE BUILDER), Event Reports from BRICKFAIR and BRICKCON, plus reports on new MINDSTORMS PROJECTS, STEP-BY-STEP BUILDING INSTRUCTIONS and TECHNIQUES for all skill levels, NEW SET REVIEWS, and a report on constructing the Chinese Olympic Village in LEGO!

Features event reports from around the world, and the MINDSTORMS 10TH ANNIVERSARY at LEGO HEADQUARTERS! Plus an interview with the head of the LEGO GROUP’S 3D DEPARTMENT, a glimpse at the LEGO Group's past with the DIRECTOR OF LEGO'S IDEA HOUSE, instructions and spotlights on builders, and an idea section for Pirate builders!

Spotlight on CLASSIC SPACE SETS and a look at new ones with LEGO SET DESIGNERS, BRANDON GRIFFITH shows his STAR TREK MODELS, plus take a tour of the DUTCH MOONBASE with MIKE VAN LEEUWEN and MARCO BAAS. There's also coverage of BRICKFEST 2009 and FIRST LEGO LEAGUE'S WORLD FESTIVAL and photos from TOY FAIR NEW YORK!

(80-page COLOR magazine) $8.95 US Diamond Order Code: JUN084415

(80-page COLOR magazine) $8.95 US Diamond Order Code: SEP084428

(80-page COLOR magazine) $8.95 US Diamond Order Code: DEC084408 Ships March 2009

(80-page COLOR magazine) $8.95 US Ships June 2009

THE RETRO COMICS EXPERIENCE!

BACK ISSUE celebrates comic books of the 1970s, 1980s, and today through a variety of recurring (and rotating) departments, plus rare and unpublished art. Edited by MICHAEL EURY. DRAW! is the professional “How-To” magazine on cartooning and animation, featuring in-depth interviews and step-bystep demonstrations from top comics professionals. Edited by MIKE MANLEY. ROUGH STUFF features never-seen pencil pages, sketches, layouts, roughs, and unused inked pages from throughout comics history, plus columns, critiques, and more! Edited by BOB McLEOD. WRITE NOW! features writing tips from pros on both sides of the desk, interviews, sample scripts, reviews, exclusive Nuts & Bolts tutorials, and more! Edited by DANNY FINGEROTH.

ALTER EGO #81

ALTER EGO #82

ALTER EGO #83

ALTER EGO #84

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, in-depth art-filled look at Marvel’s Conan the Barbarian, DC’s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, Dagar the Invincible, Ironjaw & Wulf, and Arak, Son of Thunder, plus the never-seen Valda the Iron Maiden by TODD McFARLANE! Plus JOE EDWARDS (Part 2), FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more!

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!

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US Diamond Order Code: AUG084454

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US Diamond Order Code: OCT084483

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US Diamond Order Code: NOV084368

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US Diamond Order Code: JAN094555 Ships March 2009

C o l l e c t o r

The JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR magazine celebrates his life and career through INTERVIEWS WITH KIRBY and his contemporaries, FEATURE ARTICLES, RARE AND UNSEEN KIRBY ART, and more. Edited by JOHN MORROW.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE PRINT EDITION, AND GET THE DIGITAL EDITION FREE, BEFORE THE PRINT ISSUE HITS STORES!

BACK ISSUE #29

BACK ISSUE #30

BACK ISSUE #31

BACK ISSUE #32

“Mutants” issue! CLAREMONT, BYRNE, SMITH, and ROMITA, JR.’s X-Men work, NOCENTI and ARTHUR ADAMS’ Longshot, McLEOD and SIENKIEWICZ’s New Mutants, the UK’s CAPTAIN BRITAIN series, lost Angel stories, Beast’s tenure with the Avengers, the return of the original X-Men in X-Factor, the revelation of Nightcrawler’s “original” father, a history of DC’s mutant, Captain Comet, and more! Cover by DAVE COCKRUM!

“Saturday Morning Heroes!” Interviews with TV Captain Marvels JACKSON BOSTWICK and JOHN DAVEY, MAGGIN and SAVIUK’s lost Superman/”Captain Thunder” sequel, Space Ghost interviews with GARY OWENS and STEVE RUDE, MARV WOLFMAN guest editorial, Super Friends, unproduced fourth wave Super Powers action figures, Astro Boy, ADAM HUGHES tribute to DAVE STEVENS, and a new cover by ALEX ROSS!

“STEVE GERBER Salute!” In-depth look at his Howard the Duck, Man-Thing, Omega the Unknown, Defenders, Metal Men, Mister Miracle, Thundarr the Barbarian, and more! Plus: Creators pay tribute to Steve Gerber, featuring art by and commentary from BRUNNER, BUCKLER, COLAN, GOLDEN, STAN LEE, LEVITZ, MAYERIK, MOONEY, PLOOG, SIMONSON, and others. Cover painting by FRANK BRUNNER!

“Tech, Data, and Hardware!” The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, WEIN, WOLFMAN, and GREENBERGER on DC’s Who’s Who, SAVIUK, STATON, and VAN SCIVER on Drawing Green Lantern, ED HANNIGAN Art Gallery, history of Rom: Spaceknight, story of BILL MANTLO, Dial H for Hero, Richie Rich’s Inventions, and a Spider-Mobile schematic cover by ELIOT BROWN and DUSTY ABELL!

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US Diamond Order Code: MAY084246

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US Diamond Order Code: JUL084393

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US Diamond Order Code: SEP084399

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US Diamond Order Code: NOV084369

DRAW! #17

DRAW! #18

ROUGH STUFF #10

ROUGH STUFF #11

ROUGH STUFF #12

Interview with Scott Pilgrim’s creator and artist BRYAN LEE O’MALLEY on how he creates the acclaimed series, plus learn how B.P.R.D.’s GUY DAVIS works on his series. Also, more Comic Art Bootcamp: Learning from The Great Cartoonists by BRET BLEVINS and MIKE MANLEY, reviews, and more!

Features an in-depth interview and demo by R.M. GUERA (the artist of Vertigo’s Scalped), behind-the-scenes in the Batcave with Cartoon Network’s JAMES TUCKER on the new hit show “Batman: The Brave and the Bold,” plus product reviews by JAMAR NICHOLAS, and Comic Book Boot Camp’s “Anatomy: Part 2” by BRET BLEVINS and MIKE MANLEY!

Interview with RON GARNEY, with copious examples of sketchwork and comments. Also features on ANDY SMITH, MICHAEL JASON PAZ, and MATT HALEY, showing how their work evolves, excerpts from a new book on ALEX RAYMOND, secrets of teaching comic art by pro inker BOB McLEOD, new cover by GARNEY and McLEOD, newcomer critique, and more!

New cover by GREG HORN, plus interviews with HORN and TOM YEATES on how they produce their stellar work. Also features on GENE HA, JIMMY CHEUNG, and MIKE PERKINS, showing their sketchwork and commentary, tips on collecting sketches and commissions from artists, a “Rough Critique” of a newcomer’s work, and more!

Interview and cover by comic painter CHRIS MOELLER, features on New Zealand comic artist COLIN WILSON, G.I. Joe artist JEREMY DALE, and fan favorite TERRY DODSON, plus "GOOD GIRL ART" (a new article about everyone's favorite collectible art) by ROBERT PLUNKETT, a "Rough Critique" of an aspiring artist's work, and more!

(80-page magazine with COLOR) $6.95 US • Ships Spring 2009

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US Diamond Order Code: AUG084469

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US Diamond Order Code: NOV084404

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US Ships April 2009

(80-page magazine with COLOR) $6.95 US • Ships February 2009 Diamond Order Code: DEC084377

ALTER EGO #85

ALTER EGO #86

ALTER EGO #87

ALTER EGO #88

WRITE NOW! #20

Captain Marvel and Superman’s battles explored (in cosmic space, candy stories, and in court, with art by WALLY WOOD, CURT SWAN, and GIL KANE), 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 early editors WHITNEY ELLSWORTH, VIN SULLIVAN, and MORT WEISINGER, with rare art and artifacts by SIEGEL & SHUSTER, BOB KANE, CREIG FLESSEL, FRED GUARDINEER, GARDNER FOX, SHELDON MOLDOFF, and others, plus FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more!

Focus on THE SPIRIT movie, showing how FRANK MILLER transformed WILL EISNER’s comics into the smash-hit film, with interviews with key players behind the making of the movie, a look at what made Eisner’s comics so special, and more. Plus: an interview with COLLEEN DORAN, writer ALEX GRECIAN on how to get a pitch green lighted, script and art examples, and more!

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US Ships May 2009

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US Ships June 2009

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US Ships July 2009

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US Ships August 2009

(80-page magazine) $6.95 US FINAL ISSUE! Ships February 2009 Diamond Order Code: DEC084398

BACK ISSUE #33

BACK ISSUE #34

BACK ISSUE #35

KIRBY COLLECTOR #52

KIRBY COLLECTOR #53

“Teen Heroes!” Teen Titans in the 1970s & 1980s, with CARDY, GARCÍA-LÓPEZ, PÉREZ, TUSKA, and WOLFMAN, BARON and GUICE on the Flash, interviews with TV Billy Batson MICHAEL GRAY and writer STEVE SKEATES, NICIEZA and BAGLEY’s New Warriors, Legion of Super-Heroes 1970s art gallery, James Bond Jr., and… the Archies! New Teen Titans cover by GEORGE PÉREZ and colored by GENE HA!

“New World Order!” Adam Warlock examined with JIM STARLIN and ROY THOMAS, the history of Miracleman with ALAN DAVIS & GARRY LEACH, JIM SHOOTER interview, roundtable with Marvel’s post-STAN LEE editors-in-chief on the New Universe, Logan’s Run, Star Hunters, BOB WIACEK on Star Wars and Star-Lord, DICK GIORDANO revisits Crisis on Infinite Earths and “The Post-Crisis DC Universe You Didn’t See,” and a new cover by JIM STARLIN!

“Villains!” MIKE ZECK and J.M. DeMATTEIS discuss “Kraven’s Last Hunt” in a “Pro2Pro” interview, the history of the Hobgoblin is exposed, the Joker’s short-lived series, looks back at Secret Society of Super-Villains and Kobra, a Magneto biography, Luthor and Brainiac’s malevolent makeovers, interview with Secret Society artist MIKE VOSBURG, plus contributions from BYRNE, CONWAY, FRENZ, NOVICK, ROMITA JR., STERN, WOLFMAN, and a cover by MIKE ZECK!

Spotlights Kirby’s most obscure work, like an UNUSED THOR STORY, his BRUCE LEE comic, animation work, stage play, and see original unaltered versions of pages from KAMANDI, DEMON, DESTROYER DUCK, and more, including a feature examining the last page of his final issue of various series BEFORE EDITORIAL TAMPERING (with lots of surprises)! Color Kirby covers inked by DON HECK and PAUL SMITH!

Spotlights THE MAGIC OF STAN & JACK! There’s a new interview with STAN LEE, a walking tour of New York showing where Lee & Kirby lived and worked, a re-evaluation of the “Lost” FF #108 story (including a missing page that just surfaced), “What If Jack Hadn’t Left Marvel In 1970?”, plus MARK EVANIER’s regular column, a Kirby pencil art gallery, a complete Golden Age Kirby story, and more, behind a color Kirby cover inked by GEORGE PÉREZ!

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US Ships May 2009

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US Ships July 2009

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US Diamond Order Code: JAN094556 Ships March 2009

(84-page tabloid magazine) $9.95 US Diamond Order Code: DEC084397 Ships February 2009

(84-page tabloid magazine) $9.95 US Ships May 2009

THE ULTIMATE MAGAZINE FOR LEGO ENTHUSIASTS OF ALL AGES! TM

DIEDGITIIOTANSL

BLE AVAILANLY FOR O PER $3.95 LOAD DOWN

BRICKJOURNAL #4 (Vol. 2) BRICKJOURNAL #1 (Vol. 2)

BRICKJOURNAL #2 (Vol. 2)

(80-page FULL COLOR magazine) $8.95 US (Digital Edition) $3.95 (or FREE to print subscribers) Diamond Order Code: FEB088010

(80-page FULL COLOR magazine) $8.95 US (Digital Edition) $3.95 (or FREE to print subscribers) Diamond Order Code: MAR084135

BRICKJOURNAL #5 (Vol. 2)

BRICKJOURNAL #6 (Vol. 2)

(80-page FULL COLOR magazine) $8.95 US (Digital Edition) $3.95 (or FREE to print subscribers) Diamond Order Code: DEC084408 Ships March 2009

(80-page FULL COLOR magazine) $8.95 US (Digital Edition) $3.95 (or FREE to print subscribers) Ships June 2009

4-ISSUE SUBSCRIPTIONS: $38 US Postpaid by Media Mail ($48 First Class, $55 Canada • Elsewhere: $78 Surface, $85 Airmail)

PRINT SUBSCRIBERS GET THE DIGITAL EDITION FREE, BEFORE THE PRINT ISSUE HITS STORES!

NEW MODERN MASTERS VOLUMES Each book contains RARE AND UNSEEN ARTWORK direct from the artist’s files, a COMPREHENSIVE INTERVIEW, DELUXE SKETCHBOOK SECTIONS, and more!

Volume 19: MIKE PLOOG

Volume 20: KYLE BAKER

Volume 21: CHRIS SPROUSE

Volume 22: MARK BUCKINGHAM

Volume 23: DARWYN COOKE

by Eric Nolen-Weathington & Roger Ash (120-page TPB with COLOR) $14.95 ISBN: 9781605490076 Diamond Order Code: SEP084304 Now shipping

by Eric Nolen-Weathington (120-page TPB with COLOR) $14.95 ISBN: 9781605490083 Diamond Order Code: SEP084305 Ships February 2009

by Eric Nolen-Weathington & Todd DeZago (128-page trade paperback) $14.95 ISBN: 97801605490137 Diamond Order Code: NOV084298 Ships March 2008

by Eric Nolen-Weathington (128-page trade paperback) $14.95 ISBN: 9781605490144 Diamond Order Code: JUL088519 Ships May 2008

by Eric Nolen-Weathington (120-page TPB with COLOR) $15.95 ISBN: 9781605490205 Ships June 2008

AGE OF TV HEROES Examines the history of the live-action television adventures of everyone’s favorite comic book heroes! FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER features the in-depth stories of the actors and behind-thescene players that made the classic super-hero television programs we all grew up with. Included are new and exclusive interviews and commentary from ADAM WEST (Batman), LYNDA CARTER (Wonder Woman), PATRICK WARBURTON (The Tick), NICHOLAS HAMMOND (Spider-Man), WILLIAM KATT (The Greatest American Hero), JACK LARSON (The Adventures of Superman), JOHN WESLEY SHIPP (The Flash), JACKSON BOSTWICK (Shazam!), and many more! Written by JASON HOFIUS and GEORGE KHOURY, with a new cover by superstar painter ALEX ROSS! (192-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95 US • ISBN: 9781605490106 Diamond Order Code: SEP084302 Rescheduled for July 2009

SUBSCRIPTION RATES 2009 SUBSCRIPTION RATES:

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EXTRAORDINARY WORKS KIRBY FIVE-OH! OF ALAN MOORE: LIMITED HARDCOVER Indispensable Edition Limited to 500 copies, KIRBY FIVE-OH! The definitive biography of the co-creator of WATCHMEN and V FOR VENDETTA finally returns to print in a NEW EXPANDED AND UPDATED VERSION! Features an extensive series of interviews with MOORE about his entire career, including a new interview covering his work since the sold-out 2003 edition of this book was published. Includes RARE STRIPS, SCRIPTS, ART, and private PHOTOS of the author, plus a series of tribute comic strips by many of Moore’s closest collaborators, a COLOR SECTION featuring a RARE MOORE STORY (remastered, and starring MR. MONSTER), and more! Edited by GEORGE KHOURY, with a cover by DAVE McKEAN! (240-page trade paperback) $29.95 US ISBN: 9781605490090 Diamond Order Code: OCT084400 Limited Hardcover Signed by Alan Moore (100 hardcover copies) $49.95 US Only available from TwoMorrows!

1st Class Canada 1st Class Priority Intl. Intl. US

JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR (4 issues)

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BACK ISSUE! (6 issues)

$44

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$105

$115

DRAW! (4 issues)

$30

$40

$47

$70

$77

ALTER EGO (12 issues) Six-issue subs are half-price!

$88

$120

$140

$210

$230

BRICKJOURNAL (4 issues)

$38

$48

$55

$78

$85

LIMITED HARDCOVER EDITION covers the best of everything from Jack Kirby’s 50-year career in comics, including his 50 BEST STORIES, BEST COVERS, BEST EXAMPLES OF UNUSED KIRBY ART, BEST CHARACTER DESIGNS, and profiles of, and commentary by, 50 PEOPLE INFLUENCED BY KIRBY’S WORK! Plus there’s a 50-PAGE GALLERY of Kirby’s PENCIL ART, a DELUXE COLOR SECTION, a previously unseen Kirby Superman cover inked by DARWYN COOKE, and an introduction by MARK EVANIER! Includes a full-color wrapped hardcover, and an individuallynumbered extra Kirby pencil art plate not included in the softcover edition! It’s ONLY AVAILABLE FROM TWOMORROWS, and is not sold in stores! Edited by JOHN MORROW.

Reprints JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR #27-30, with looks at Jack’s 1970s and ‘80s work, plus a two-part focus on how widespread Kirby’s influence is! Features rare interviews with KIRBY himself, plus Watchmen’s ALAN MOORE and DAVE GIBBONS, NEIL GAIMAN, Bone’s JEFF SMITH, MARK HAMILL, and others! See page after page of rare Kirby art, including a NEW SPECIAL SECTION with over 30 PIECES OF KIRBY ART NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED, and more! (288-page trade paperback) $29.95 US ISBN: 9781605490120 Diamond Order Code: DEC084286 Ships February 2009

(168-page Limited Edition Hardcover) (500 hardcover copies) $34.95 US Only available from TwoMorrows!

SHIPPING COSTS: Order online for exact weight-based postage, or ADD $2 PER MAGAZINE OR DVD/$4 PER BOOK IN THE US for Media Mail shipping. OUTSIDE THE US, PLEASE ORDER ONLINE TO CALCULATE YOUR EXACT POSTAGE COSTS & SAVE!

Subscriptions will start with the next available issue, but CURRENT AND OLDER ISSUES MUST BE PURCHASED AT THE BACK ISSUE PRICE (new issues ship in bulk, and we pass the savings on in our subscription rates). In the US, we generally ship back issues and books by MEDIA MAIL.

COLLECTED JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR Volume 7

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TwoMorrows. Celebrating The Art & History Of Comics. (& LEGO! ) TwoMorrows • 10407 Bedfordtown Drive • Raleigh, NC 27614 USA • 919-449-0344 • FAX: 919-449-0327 • E-mail: twomorrow@aol.com • www.twomorrows.com

THE RETRO COMICS EXPERIENCE!

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

Go online for an ULTIMATE BUNDLE, with all the issues at HALF-PRICE! 6-ISSUE SUBS: $40 US Postpaid by Media Mail ($55 First Class, $63 Canada, $91 1st Class Intl., $112 Priority Intl.).

BACK ISSUE #1

BACK ISSUE #2

BACK ISSUE #3

“PRO2PRO” interview between GEORGE PÉREZ & MARV WOLFMAN (with UNSEEN PÉREZ ART), “ROUGH STUFF” featuring JACK KIRBY’s PENCIL ART, “GREATEST STORIES NEVER TOLD” on the first JLA/AVENGERS, “BEYOND CAPES” on DC and Marvel’s TARZAN (with KUBERT and BUSCEMA ART), “OFF MY CHEST” editorial by INFANTINO, and more! PÉREZ cover!

“PRO2PRO” between ADAM HUGHES and MIKE W. BARR (with UNSEEN HUGHES ART) and MATT WAGNER and DIANA SCHUTZ, “ROUGH STUFF” HUGHES PENCIL ART, STEVE RUDE’s unseen SPACE GHOST/HERCULOIDS team-up, Bruce Jones’ ALIEN WORLDS and TWISTED TALES, “OFF MY CHEST” by MIKE W. BARR on the DC IMPLOSION, and more! HUGHES cover!

“PRO2PRO” between KEITH GIFFEN, J.M. DeMATTEIS and KEVIN MAGUIRE on their JLA WORK, “ROUGH STUFF” PENCIL ART by ARAGONÉS, HERNANDEZ BROS., MIGNOLA, BYRNE, KIRBY, HUGHES, details on two unknown PLASTIC MAN movies, Joker’s history with O’NEIL, ADAMS, ENGLEHART, ROGERS and BOLLAND, editorial by MARK EVANIER, and more! BOLLAND cover!

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“PRO2PRO” between JOHN BYRNE and CHRIS CLAREMONT on their X-MEN WORK and WALT SIMONSON and JOE CASEY on Walter’s THOR, WOLVERINE PENCIL ART by BUSCEMA, LEE, COCKRUM, BYRNE, and GIL KANE, LEN WEIN’S TEEN WOLVERINE, PUNISHER’S 30TH and SECRET WARS’ 20TH ANNIVERSARIES (with UNSEEN ZECK ART), and more! BYRNE cover!

Wonder Woman TV series in-depth, LYNDA CARTER INTERVIEW, WONDER WOMAN TV ART GALLERY, Marvel’s TV Hulk, SpiderMan, Captain America, and Dr. Strange, LOU FERRIGNO INTERVIEW, super-hero cartoons you didn’t see, pencil gallery by JERRY ORDWAY, STAR TREK in comics, and ROMITA SR. editorial on Marvel’s movies! Covers by ALEX ROSS and ADAM HUGHES!

TOMB OF DRACULA revealed with GENE COLAN and MARV WOLFMAN, LEN WEIN & BERNIE WRIGHTSON on Swamp Thing’s roots, STEVE BISSETTE & RICK VEITCH on their Swamp work, pencil art by BRUNNER, PLOOG, BISSETTE, COLAN, WRIGHTSON, and SMITH, editorial by ROY THOMAS, PREZ, GODZILLA comics (with TRIMPE art), CHARLTON horror, & more! COLAN cover!

History of BRAVE AND BOLD, JIM APARO interview, tribute to BOB HANEY, FANTASTIC FOUR ROUNDTABLE with STAN LEE, MARK WAID, and others, EVANIER and MEUGNIOT on DNAgents, pencil art by ROSS, TOTH, COCKRUM, HECK, ROBBINS, NEWTON, and BYRNE, DENNY O’NEIL editorial, a tour of METROPOLIS, IL, and more! SWAN/ANDERSON cover!

DENNY O’NEIL and Justice League Unlimited voice actor PHIL LaMARR discuss GL JOHN STEWART, NEW X-MEN pencil art by NEAL ADAMS, ARTHUR ADAMS, DAVID MAZZUCCHELLI, ALAN DAVIS, JIM LEE, ADAM HUGHES, STORM’s 30-year history, animated TV’s black heroes (with TOTH art), ISABELLA and TREVOR VON EEDEN on BLACK LIGHTNING, and more! KYLE BAKER cover!

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MIKE BARON and STEVE RUDE on NEXUS past and present, a colossal GIL KANE pencil art gallery, a look at Marvel’s STAR WARS comics, secrets of DC’s unseen CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS SEQUEL, TIM TRUMAN on his GRIMJACK SERIES, MIKE GOLD editorial, THANOS history, TIME WARP revisited, and more! All-new STEVE RUDE COVER!

NEAL ADAMS and DENNY O’NEIL on RA’S AL GHUL’s history (with Adams art), O’Neil and MICHAEL KALUTA on THE SHADOW, MIKE GRELL on JON SABLE FREELANCE, HOWIE CHAYKIN interview, DOC SAVAGE in comics, BATMAN ART GALLERY by PAUL SMITH, SIENKIEWICZ, SIMONSON, BOLLAND, HANNIGAN, MAZZUCCHELLI, and others! New cover by ADAMS!

ROY THOMAS, KURT BUSIEK, and JOE JUSKO on CONAN (with art by JOHN BUSCEMA, BARRY WINDSOR-SMITH, NEAL ADAMS, JUSKO, and others), SERGIO ARAGONÉS and MARK EVANIER on GROO, DC’s never-published KING ARTHUR, pencil art gallery by KIRBY, PÉREZ, MOEBIUS, GARCÍA-LÓPEZ, BOLLAND, and others, and a new BUSCEMA/JUSKO Conan cover!

‘70s and ‘80s character revamps with DAVE GIBBONS, ROY THOMAS and KURT BUSIEK, TOM DeFALCO and RON FRENZ on Spider-Man’s 1980s “black” costume change, DENNY O’NEIL on Superman’s 1970 revamp, JOHN BYRNE’s aborted SHAZAM! series detailed, pencil art gallery with FRANK MILLER, LEE WEEKS, DAVID MAZZUCCHELLI, CHARLES VESS, and more!

CARDY interview, ENGLEHART and MOENCH on kung-fu comics, “Pro2Pro” with STATON and CUTI on Charlton’s E-Man, pencil art gallery featuring MILLER, KUBERT, GIORDANO, SWAN, GIL KANE, COLAN, COCKRUM, and others, EISNER’s A Contract with God; “The Death of Romance (Comics)” (with art by ROMITA, SR. and TOTH), and more!

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DAVE COCKRUM and MIKE GRELL go “Pro2Pro” on the Legion, pencil art gallery by BUSCEMA, BYRNE, MILLER, STARLIN, McFARLANE, ROMITA JR., SIENKIEWICZ, looks at Hercules Unbound, Hex, Killraven, Kamandi, MARS, Planet of the Apes, art and interviews with GARCÍA-LÓPEZ, KIRBY, WILLIAMSON, and more! New MIKE GRELL/BOB McLEOD cover!

“Weird Heroes” of the 1970s and ‘80s! MIKE PLOOG discusses Ghost Rider, MATT WAGNER revisits The Demon, JOE KUBERT dusts off Ragman, GENE COLAN “Rough Stuff” pencil gallery, GARCÍALÓPEZ recalls Deadman, DC’s unpublished Gorilla Grodd series, PERLIN, CONWAY, and MOENCH on Werewolf by Night, and more! New ARTHUR ADAMS cover!

“Toy Stories!” Behind the Scenes of Marvel’s G.I. JOE™ and TRANSFORMERS with PAUL LEVITZ and GEORGE TUSKA, “Rough Stuff” MIKE ZECK pencil gallery, ARTHUR ADAMS on Gumby, HE-MAN, ROM, MICRONAUTS, SUPER POWERS, SUPER-HERO CARS, art by HAMA, SAL BUSCEMA, GUICE, GOLDEN, KIRBY, TRIMPE, and new ZECK sketch cover!

“Super Girls!” Supergirl retrospective with art by STELFREEZE, HAMNER, SpiderWoman, Flare, Tigra, DC’s unused Double Comics with unseen BARRETTO and INFANTINO art, WOLFMAN and JIMENEZ on Donna Troy, female comics pros, art by SEKOWSKY, OKSNER, PÉREZ, HUGHES, GIORDANO, plus a COLOR GALLERY and COVER by BRUCE TIMM!

“Big, Green Issue!” Tour of NEAL ADAMS’ studio (with interview and art gallery), DAVE GIBBONS “Rough Stuff” pencil art spotlight, interviews with MIKE GRELL (on Green Arrow), PETER DAVID (on Incredible Hulk), a “Pro2Pro” chat between GERRY CONWAY and JOHN ROMITA, SR. (on the Green Goblin), and more. New cover by NEAL ADAMS!

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“Unsung Heroes!” DON NEWTON spotlight, STEVE GERBER and GENE COLAN on Howard the Duck, MIKE CARLIN and DANNY FINGEROTH on Marvel’s Assistant Editors’ Month, the unrealized Unlimited Powers TV show, TONY ISABELLA’s aborted plans for The Champions, MARK GRUENWALD tribute, art by SAL BUSCEMA, JOHN BYRNE, and more! NEWTON/ RUBINSTEIN cover!

“Secret Identities!” Histories of characters with unusual alter egos: Firestorm, Moon Knight, the Question, and the “real-life” Human Fly! STEVE ENGLEHART and SAL BUSCEMA on Captain America, JERRY ORDWAY interview and cover, Superman roundtable with SIENKIEWICZ, NOWLAN, MOENCH, COWAN, MAGGIN, O’NEIL, MILGROM, CONWAY, ROBBINS, SWAN, plus FREE ALTER EGO #64 PREVIEW!

“The Devil You Say!” issue! A look at Daredevil in the 1980s and 1990s with interviews and art by KLAUS JANSON, JOHN ROMITA JR., and FRANK MILLER, MIKE MIGNOLA Hellboy interview, DAN MISHKIN and GARY COHN on Blue Devil, COLLEEN DORAN’s unpublished X-Men spin-off “Fallen Angels”, Son of Satan, Stig’s Inferno, DC’s Plop!, JACK KIRBY’s Devil Dinosaur, and cover by MIKE ZECK!

“Dynamic Duos!’ “Pro2Pro” interviews with Batman’s ALAN GRANT and NORM BREYFOGLE and the Legion’s PAUL LEVITZ and KEITH GIFFEN, a “Backstage Pass” to Dark Horse Comics, Robin’s history, EASTMAN and LAIRD’s Ninja Turtles, histories of duos Robin and Batgirl, Captain America and the Falcon, and Blue Beetle and Booster Gold, “Zot!” interview with SCOTT McCLOUD, and a new BREYFOGLE cover!

“Comics Go Hollywood!” Spider-Man roundtable with STAN LEE, JOHN ROMITA, SR., JIM SHOOTER, ERIK LARSEN, and others, STAR TREK comics writers’ roundtable Part 1, Gladstone’s Disney comics line, behindthe-scenes at TV’s ISIS and THE FLASH (plus an interview with Flash’s JOHN WESLEY SHIPP), TV tie-in comics, bonus 8-page color ADAM HUGHES ART GALLERY and cover, plus a FREE WRITE NOW #16 PREVIEW!

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“Magic” issue! MICHAEL GOLDEN interview, GENE COLAN, PAUL SMITH, and FRANK BRUNNER on drawing Dr. Strange, Mystic Art Gallery with CARL POTTS & KEVIN NOWLAN, BILL WILLINGHAM’s Elementals, Zatanna history, Dr. Fate’s revival, a “Greatest Stories Never Told” look at Peter Pan, tribute to the late MARSHALL ROGERS, a new GOLDEN cover, plus a FREE ROUGH STUFF #6 PREVIEW!

“Men of Steel!’ BOB LAYTON and DAVID MICHELINIE on Iron Man, RICH BUCKLER on Deathlok, MIKE GRELL on Warlord, JOHN BYRNE on ROG 2000, Six Million Dollar Man and Bionic Woman, Machine Man, the World’s Greatest Super-Heroes comic strip, DC’s Steel, art by KIRBY, HECK, WINDSOR-SMITH, TUSKA, LAYTON cover, and bonus “Men of Steel” art gallery! Includes a FREE DRAW! #15 PREVIEW!

“Spies and Tough Guys!’ PAUL GULACY and DOUG MOENCH in an art-packed “Pro2Pro” on Master of Kung Fu and their unrealized Shang-Chi/Nick Fury crossover, Suicide Squad spotlight, Ms. Tree, CHUCK DIXON and TIM TRUMAN’s Airboy, James Bond and Mr. T in comic books, Sgt. Rock’s oddball super-hero team-ups, Nathaniel Dusk, JOE KUBERT’s unpublished The Redeemer, and a new GULACY cover!

“Comic Book Royalty!” The ’70s/’80s careers of Aquaman and the Sub-Mariner explored, BARR and BOLLAND discuss CAMELOT 3000, comics pros tell “Why JACK KIRBY Was King,” “Dr. Doom: Monarch or Menace?” DON McGREGOR’s Black Panther; an exclusive ALAN WEISS art gallery; spotlights on ARION, LORD OF ATLANTIS; NIGHT FORCE; and more! New cover by NICK CARDY!

“Heroes Behaving Badly!” Hulk vs. Thing tirades with RON WILSON, HERB TRIMPE, and JIM SHOOTER; CARY BATES and CARMINE INFANTINO on “Trial of the Flash”; JOHN BYRNE’s heroes who cross the line; Teen Titan Terra, Kid Miracleman, Mark Shaw Manhunter, and others who went bad, featuring LAYTON, MICHELINIE, WOLFMAN, and PÉREZ, and more! New cover by DARWYN COOKE!

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TWOMORROWS BOOKS by ROY THOMAS NEW FOR 2008

ALTER EGO COLLECTION, VOL. 1 Collects ALTER EGO #1-2, plus 30 pages of new material! Behind a new JLA Jam Cover by JOE KUBERT, GEORGE PÉREZ, DICK GIORDANO, GEORGE TUSKA, NICK CARDY, RAMONA FRADON, and JOE GIELLA, there’s: GIL KANE, JULIUS SCHWARTZ, and GARDNER FOX on the creation of the Silver Age Atom! “The STAN LEE Roast” with SAL BUSCEMA, JOHN ROMITA, PETER DAVID, CHRIS CLAREMONT, JIM SHOOTER, et al.! MICHAEL T. GILBERT on WILL EISNER’s 1966 Spirit story! ROY THOMAS, JERRY ORDWAY, and MIKE MACHLAN on creating Infinity, Inc.! Interviews with LARRY LIEBER, IRWIN HASEN, & JACK BURNLEY! Wonder Woman rarities, with art by H.G. PETER! Plus FCA, new sections featuring scarce art by GIL KANE, WILL EISNER, CARMINE INFANTINO, MIKE SEKOWSKY, MURPHY ANDERSON, DICK DILLIN, plus all seven of our super-star cover artists! (192-page trade paperback) $21.95 ISBN: 9781893905597 Diamond Order Code: APR063420

ALTER EGO: THE BEST OF THE LEGENDARY COMICS FANZINE

(10TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION) In 1961, JERRY BAILS and ROY THOMAS launched ALTER EGO, the first fanzine devoted to comic books and their colorful history. This volume, first published in low distribution in 1997, collects the original 11 issues (published from 1961-78) of A/E, with the creative and artistic contributions of JACK KIRBY, STEVE DITKO, WALLY WOOD, JOHN BUSCEMA, MARIE SEVERIN, BILL EVERETT, RUSS MANNING, CURT SWAN, & others—and important, illustrated interviews with GIL KANE, BILL EVERETT, & JOE KUBERT! See where a generation first learned about the Golden Age of Comics—while the Silver Age was in full flower—with major articles on the JUSTICE SOCIETY, the MARVEL FAMILY, the MLJ HEROES, and more! Edited by ROY THOMAS & BILL SCHELLY with an introduction by the late JULIUS SCHWARTZ.

JOHN ROMITA... AND ALL THAT JAZZ! “Jazzy” JOHN ROMITA talks about his life, his art, and his contemporaries! Authored by former Marvel Comics editor in chief and top writer ROY THOMAS, and noted historian JIM AMASH, it features the most definitive interview Romita’s ever given, about working with such comics legends as STAN LEE and JACK KIRBY, following Spider-Man co-creator STEVE DITKO as artist on the strip, and more! Plus, Roy Thomas shares memories of working with Romita in the 1960s-70s, and Jim Amash examines the awesome artistry of Ring-a-Ding Romita! Lavishly illustrated with Romita art—original classic art, and unseen masterpieces—as well as illos by some of Marvel’s and DC’s finest, this is at once a career overview of a comics master, and a firsthand history of the industry by one of its leading artists! Available in Softcover and Deluxe Hardcover (with 16 extra color pages, dust jacket, and custom endleaves). (192-page softcover) $24.95 ISBN: 9781893905757 • Diamond Order Code: APR074018 (208-page hardcover with COLOR) $44.95 ISBN: 9781893905764 • Diamond Order Code: APR074019

(192-page trade paperback) $21.95 ISBN: 9781893905887 Diamond Order Code: DEC073946

ALL- STAR COMPANION VOL. 2 ROY THOMAS presents still more secrets of the Justice Society of America and ALL-STAR COMICS, from 1940 through the 1980s, featuring: A fabulous wraparound cover by CARLOS PACHECO! More amazing information and speculation on the classic ALL-STAR COMICS of 1940-1951! Never-before-seen Golden Age art by IRWIN HASEN, CARMINE INFANTINO, ALEX TOTH, MART NODELL, JOE KUBERT, H.G. PETER, and others! Art from an unpublished 1940s JSA story not seen in Volume 1! Rare art from the original JLA-JSA team-ups and the 1970s ALL-STAR COMICS REVIVAL by MIKE SEKOWSKY, DICK DILLIN, JOE STATON, WALLY WOOD, KEITH GIFFEN, and RIC ESTRADA! Full coverage of the 1980s ALL-STAR SQUADRON, and a bio of every single All-Star, plus never-seen art by JERRY ORDWAY, RICH BUCKLER, ARVELL JONES, RAFAEL KAYANAN, and special JSArelated art and features by FRANK BRUNNER, ALEX ROSS, NEAL ADAMS, GIL KANE, MIKE MIGNOLA, and RAMONA FRADON—and more!

NEW FOR 2008

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ALL- STAR COMPANION VOL. 3

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In this third volume, comics legend Roy Thomas presents still more amazing secrets behind the 1940-51 ALL-STAR COMICS and the JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA! Also, there’s an issue-by-issue survey of the JLA/JSA TEAM-UPS of 1963-85, the 1970s JSA REVIVAL, and the 1980s series THE YOUNG ALL-STARS with commentary by the artists and writers! Plus rare, often unseen art by NEAL ADAMS, DICK AYERS, MICHAEL BAIR, JOHN BUSCEMA, SEAN CHEN, DICK DILLIN, RIC ESTRADA, CREIG FLESSEL, KEITH GIFFEN, DICK GIORDANO, MIKE GRELL, TOM GRINDBERG, TOM GRUMMETT, RON HARRIS, IRWIN HASEN, DON HECK, CARMINE INFANTINO, GIL KANE, JACK KIRBY, JOE KUBERT, BOB LAYTON, SHELDON MAYER, BOB McLEOD, SHELDON MOLDOFF, BRIAN MURRAY, JERRY ORDWAY, ARTHUR PEDDY, GEORGE PÉREZ, H.G. PETER, HOWARD PURCELL, PAUL REINMAN, MIKE SEKOWSKY, HOWARD SIMPSON, JOE SINNOTT, JIM STARLIN, JOE STATON, RONN SUTTON, ALEX TOTH, JIM VALENTINO and many others! Featuring a new JLA/JSA cover by GEORGE PÉREZ! (240-page trade paperback) $26.95 ISBN: 9781893905801 • Diamond Order Code: SEP074020

Edited by ROY THOMAS The greatest ‘zine of the 1960s is back, ALL-NEW, and focusing on GOLDEN AND SILVER AGE comics and creators with ARTICLES, INTERVIEWS, UNSEEN ART, P.C. Hamerlinck’s FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America, featuring the archives of C.C. BECK and recollections by Fawcett artist MARCUS SWAYZE), Michael T. Gilbert’s MR. MONSTER, and more!

2007 EISNER AWARD WINNER Best Comics-Related Periodical

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ALTER EGO #1

ALTER EGO #2

ALTER EGO #3

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

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

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

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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 #17 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!

ALTER EGO #14

ALTER EGO #15

ALTER EGO #16

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!

(100-page magazine) $5.95 Diamond Order Code: FEB022730

(108-page magazine) $5.95 Diamond Order Code: APR022615

(108-page magazine) $5.95 Diamond Order Code: MAY022386

ALTER EGO #18

ALTER EGO #19

ALTER EGO #20

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!

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!

(108-page magazine) $5.95 Diamond Order Code: AUG022420

(108-page magazine) $5.95 Diamond Order Code: OCT022884

(108-page magazine) $5.95 Diamond Order Code: NOV022845

(108-page magazine) $5.95 Diamond Order Code: JUL022370

ALTER EGO #21 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 the JSA and All-Star Squadron, more UNSEEN 1946 ALL-STAR ART, MR. MONSTER on GARDNER FOX, FCA, and more! DAVE STEVENS and IRWIN HASEN covers! (108-page magazine) $5.95 Diamond Order Code: DEC023029

ALTER EGO #22

ALTER EGO #23

ALTER EGO #24

ALTER EGO #25

ALTER EGO #26

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!

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 All-Star 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!

(108-page magazine) $5.95 Diamond Order Code: JAN032492

(108-page magazine) $5.95 Diamond Order Code: FEB032260

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ALTER EGO #27

ALTER EGO #28

ALTER EGO #29

ALTER EGO #30

ALTER EGO #31

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!

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!

(108-page magazine) $5.95 Diamond Order Code: JUN032614

(108-page magazine) $5.95 Diamond Order Code: JUL032570

(108-page magazine) $5.95 Diamond Order Code: AUG032604

(108-page magazine) $5.95 Diamond Order Code: SEP032620

(108-page magazine) $5.95 Diamond Order Code: OCT032843

ALTER EGO #32

ALTER EGO #33

ALTER EGO #34

ALTER EGO #35

ALTER EGO #36

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!

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!

(108-page magazine) $5.95 Diamond Order Code: NOV032695

(108-page magazine) $5.95 Diamond Order Code: DEC032833

(108-page magazine) $5.95 Diamond Order Code: JAN042879

(108-page magazine) $5.95 Diamond Order Code: FEB042796

(108-page magazine) $5.95 Diamond Order Code: MAR042972

ALTER EGO #37

ALTER EGO #38

ALTER EGO #39

ALTER EGO #40

ALTER EGO #41

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!

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!

(108-page magazine) $5.95 Diamond Order Code: APR043055

(108-page magazine) $5.95 Diamond Order Code: MAY043050

(108-page magazine) $5.95 Diamond Order Code: JUN042972

(108-page magazine) $5.95 Diamond Order Code: JUL043386

(108-page magazine) $5.95 Diamond Order Code: AUG043186

ALTER EGO #42

ALTER EGO #43

ALTER EGO #44

ALTER EGO #45

ALTER EGO #46

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!

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!

(108-page magazine) $5.95 Diamond Order Code: SEP043043

(108-page magazine) $5.95 Diamond Order Code: OCT043189

(100-page magazine) $5.95 Diamond Order Code: NOV043080

(100-page magazine) $5.95 Diamond Order Code: DEC042992

(100-page magazine) $5.95 Diamond Order Code: JAN053133

ALTER EGO #47

ALTER EGO #48

ALTER EGO #49

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!

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!

(100-page magazine) $5.95 Diamond Order Code: FEB053220

(100-page magazine) $5.95 Diamond Order Code: MAR053331

(100-page magazine) $5.95 Diamond Order Code: APR053287

ALTER EGO #50 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!

(100-page magazine) $5.95 Diamond Order Code: MAY053172

ALTER EGO #54 ALTER EGO #51

ALTER EGO #52

ALTER EGO #53

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 Diamond Order Code: JUN053345

(100-page magazine) $6.95 Diamond Order Code: JUL053293

(100-page magazine) $6.95 Diamond Order Code: AUG053328

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!

(100-page magazine) $6.95 Diamond Order Code: SEP053301

ALTER EGO #56

ALTER EGO #57

ALTER EGO #58

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 Diamond Order Code: DEC053401

(100-page magazine) $6.95 Diamond Order Code: JAN063429

(100-page magazine) $6.95 Diamond Order Code: MAR063545

ALTER EGO #55 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 Card Art from CRANDALL, SINNOTT, HEATH, MOONEY, and CARDY, 1943 Pin-Up Calendar (with ’40s movie stars as superheroines), ALEX TOTH, and more! ALEX ROSS and ALEX WRIGHT covers!

(100-page magazine) $6.95 Diamond Order Code: OCT053396

ALTER EGO #59 Special issue on Batman and Superman in the Golden and Silver Ages, ARTHUR SUYDAM interview, NEAL ADAMS on 1960s/70s DC, SHELLY MOLDOFF, AL PLASTINO, Golden Age artist FRAN (Doll Man) MATERA and VIC CARRABOTTA interviewed, SIEGEL & SHUSTER, RUSS MANNING, FCA, MR. MONSTER, SUYDAM cover, and more!

(100-page magazine) $6.95 Diamond Order Code: APR063474

ALTER EGO #60

ALTER EGO #61

ALTER EGO #62

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!

(100-page magazine) $6.95 Diamond Order Code: MAY063496

(100-page magazine) $6.95 Diamond Order Code: JUN063522

(100-page magazine) $6.95 Diamond Order Code: AUG063690

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ALTER EGO #63

ALTER EGO #64

ALTER EGO #65

ALTER EGO #66

ALTER EGO #67

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!

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!

(100-page magazine) $6.95 Diamond Order Code: OCT063800

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ALTER EGO #68

ALTER EGO #69

ALTER EGO #70

ALTER EGO #71

ALTER EGO #72

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!

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!

(100-page magazine) $6.95 Diamond Order Code: MAR073852

(100-page magazine) $6.95 Diamond Order Code: APR074098

(100-page magazine) $6.95 Diamond Order Code: MAY073879

(100-page magazine) $6.95 Diamond Order Code: JUN074006

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ALTER EGO #73

ALTER EGO #75

ALTER EGO #76

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!

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!

(100-page magazine) $6.95 Diamond Order Code: NOV073947

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ALTER EGO #74

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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! (100-page magazine) $6.95 Diamond Order Code: OCT073927

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ALTER EGO #78 ALTER EGO #77 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! (100-page magazine) $6.95 Diamond Order Code: MAR084108

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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 Diamond Order Code: APR084249

ALTER EGO #79

ALTER EGO #80

SUPERMAN & HIS CREATORS! New cover by MICHAEL GOLDEN, exclusive and revealing interview with JOE SHUSTER’s sister, JEAN SHUSTER PEAVEY—MIKE W. BARR on Superman the detective— 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 The Gray Mouser, Beowulf, Warlord, Dagar the Invincible, and more, with art by FRAZETTA, SMITH, BUSCEMA, KANE, WRIGHTSON, PLOOG, THORNE, BRUNNER, and more! New cover by RAFAEL KAYANAN!

(100-page magazine) $6.95 Diamond Order Code: MAY084245

(100-page magazine) $6.95 Diamond Order Code: JUN084380

NEW STUFF FROM TWOMORROWS!

BACK ISSUE #34

WRITE NOW! #20

ROUGH STUFF #12

DRAW! #17

BRICKJOURNAL #5

Go behind the pages of the hit series of graphic novels starring Scott Pilgrim with his creator and artist, BRYAN LEE O’MALLEY, to see how he creates the acclaimed series! Then, learn how B.P.R.D.’s GUY DAVIS works on the series, plus more Comic Art Bootcamp: Learning from The Great Cartoonists by BRET BLEVINS and MIKE MANLEY, reviews, and more!

(80-page magazine) $6.95 US (Digital Edition) $2.95 Diamond Order Code: DEC084398 FINAL ISSUE! Now shipping!

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US (Digital Edition) $2.95 Diamond Order Code: FEB094564 FINAL ISSUE! Now shipping!

(80-page magazine with COLOR) $6.95 US • (Digital Edition) $2.95 Diamond Order Code: DEC084377 Now shipping!

(80-page COLOR magazine) $8.95 US (Digital Edition) $3.95 Diamond Order Code: DEC084408 Now shipping!

EXTRAORDINARY WORKS OF ALAN MOORE:

BATCAVE COMPANION

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US (Digital Edition) $2.95 • Now shipping!

KIRBY COLLECTOR #52 Spotlights Kirby’s most obscure work, like an UNUSED THOR STORY, BRUCE LEE comic, animation work, stage play, unaltered versions of pages from KAMANDI, DEMON, & DESTROYER DUCK, a feature examining the last page of his final issue of various series BEFORE EDITORIAL TAMPERING, unseen Kirby covers & more! (84-page tabloid magazine) $9.95 US Diamond Order Code: DEC084397 (Digital Edition) $3.95 • Now shipping!

COLLECTED KIRBY COLLECTOR VOL. 7 Reprints KIRBY COLLECTOR #27-30 plus over 30 pieces of Kirby art never published! (288-page trade paperback) $29.95 ISBN: 9781605490120 Now shipping!

GRAILPAGES

The definitive autobiographical book on ALAN MOORE in a NEW EXPANDED AND UPDATED VERSION! Includes new interviews covering his work since the original 2003 edition of the book. From SWAMP THING, V FOR VENDETTA, WATCHMEN, and LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN and beyond – all are discussed by Alan. Plus, there’s RARE STRIPS, SCRIPTS, ARTWORK, and PHOTOGRAPHS, tribute comic strips by NEIL GAIMAN and other of Moore’s closest collaborators, a COLOR SECTION featuring the RARE MOORE STORY “The Riddle of the Recalcitrant Refuse” (newly remastered, and starring MR. MONSTER), and more! Edited by GEORGE KHOURY, with a cover by DAVE McKEAN!

Explore the Silver and Bronze Ages of Batman comic books in THE BATCAVE COMPANION! Two distinct sections of this book examine the Dark Knight’s progression from his campy “New Look” of the mid-1960s to his “creature of the night” reinvention of the 1970s. Features include issue-by-issue indexes, interviews with CARMINE INFANTINO, JOE GIELLA, DENNIS O’NEIL, and NEAL ADAMS, and guest essays by MIKE W. BARR and WILL MURRAY. Contributors include SHELDON MOLDOFF, LEN WEIN, STEVE ENGLEHART, and TERRY AUSTIN, with a special tribute to the late MARSHALL ROGERS. With its incisive introduction by DENNIS O’NEIL and its iconic cover painting by NEAL ADAMS, THE BATCAVE COMPANION is a must-have for every comics fan! By MICHAEL EURY and MICHAEL KRONENBERG.

(240-page trade paperback) $29.95 US ISBN: 9781605490090 Diamond Order Code: JAN088702 Now shipping!

(224-page trade paperback) $26.95 US ISBN: 9781893905788 Diamond Order Code: NOV068368 Now shipping!

Indispensable Edition

Go to www.twomorrows.com for FULL-COLOR downloadable PDF versions of our magazines for only $2.95! Subscribers to the print edition get the digital edition FREE, weeks before it hits stores!

2009 SUBSCRIPTION RATES:

Media Mail

Original Comic Book Art & The Collectors Examines the hobby of collecting original comic book art, letting you meet collectors from around the globe as they detail collections ranging from a few key pages, to hundreds of pages of original comic art by JACK KIRBY, JOHN ROMITA SR., and others! Features interviews with industry pros, including writers GERRY CONWAY, STEVE ENGLEHART, and ROY THOMAS, and exclusive perspectives from Silver Age artists DICK GIORDANO, BOB McLEOD, ERNIE CHAN, TONY DeZUNIGA, and the unparalleled great, GENE COLAN! Completing the book is a diverse sampling of breathtakingly beautiful original comic art, some lavishly presented in full-page spreads, including pages not seen publicly for decades. Written by STEVEN ALAN PAYNE. (128-page trade paperback) $15.95 US ISBN: 9781605490151 Diamond Order Code: JAN094470 Now shipping!

VOLUME 20: KYLE BAKER

(120-page trade paperback with COLOR) $14.95 US • ISBN: 9781605490083 Now shipping!

VOLUME 21: CHRIS SPROUSE

(128-page trade paperback) $14.95 US • ISBN: 97801605490137 Ships May 2009 Each features an extensive, career-spanning interview lavishly illustrated with rare art from the artist’s files, plus huge sketchbook section, including unseen and unused art!

1st Class Canada 1st Class Priority US Intl. Intl.

JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR (4 issues)

$50

$60

$84

$136

BACK ISSUE! (6 issues)

$44

$60

$70

$105

$115

DRAW! (4 issues)

$30

$40

$47

$70

$77

ALTER EGO (12 issues) Six-issue subs are half-price!

$88

$120

$140

$210

$230

BRICKJOURNAL (4 issues)

$38

$48

$55

$78

$85

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