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Vol. 3, No. 90 / December 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

Cover Artist Jack KIrby

Writer/Editorial: Marvels—Alter Ego Style!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Have A Cup O’ Joe! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Joe Sinnott’s 80th, celebrated by his pal Bill Cain and some of comics’ finest talents—three years late!

Cover Colorist

The Yancy Street Gang Visits Dick & Lindy Ayers . . . . . . . . . 10

Tom Ziuko

Three of the artist’s greatest fans (including Barry Pearl) spend a day with Sgt. Fury & Ghost Rider.

With Special Thanks to: Heidi Amash Sal Amendola Pedro Angosto Ger Apeldoorn Terry Austin Dick & Lindy Ayers Clive Baldwin Bob Bailey Jack & Carole Bender Rodrigo Baeza Dominic Bongo Lee Boyette Mike Burkey Bill Cain Nick Caputo DeMotte Case Gene Colan Mike Costa Steve Darnell Teresa R. Davidson Tom DeFalco Mike DeLisa Jack DiMartino Michael Dunne Mark Evanier J. Fairfax Stuart Fischer Stephen Fischler Shane Foley Todd Franklin Ron Frenz Joe Giella Janet Gilbert Anthony Gillies Mike Grell David Hajdu Jennifer Hamerlinck Tom Heintjes Fred Hembeck Ben Herman Randy Howell George Hudson Rob Kirby Brian Saner Lamken Thomas Lammers Bob Layton Marjorie Lazarus

Contents

Stan Lee Zorikh Lequidre Marvin Levy Jim Ludwig Glenn MacKay Dan Makara Frank Motler Mark Muller Will Murray Jerry Ordway Jake Oster Laurence Parade Barry Pearl Fritz Peerenboom Joe Petrilak John G. Pierce Rubén Procopio Warren Reece Ethan Roberts John Romita Sherry Ross Steven Rowe Joe Rubinstein Paul Ryan Brian Sagar Alex Saviuk Tom Sawyer Joan Schenkar Marie Severin Erin Sinnott Joe Sinnott Mark & Belinda Sinnott Joe Staton Tim Stroup Desha Swayze Marc Swayze Jeff Taylor Dann Thomas Mike Touhey Herb Trimpe George Tuska Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr. Michael Vance Dr. Michael J. Vassallo Mark Voger Hames Ware

This issue is dedicated to the memory of

Leon Lazarus, Dave Simons, & Dorothy Schaffenberger

Stan Lee In The 1940s And ’50s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 The pre-Silver Age writings of the Marvel spearhead analyzed by Ger Apeldoorn—& lavishly illustrated.

Patricia Highsmith & The Golden Age Of American Comics. . 35 Biographer Joan Schenkar on the famed novelist’s stint on Black Terror and, er, Jap Buster Johnson.

Marvel Super-Heroes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Stuart Fischer’s brief overview of the first animated TV series starring Marvel’s mighty misfits.

“I Wrote Over 800 Comic Book Stories”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Golden Age scripter Leon Lazarus on Timely/Marvel and others in the late ’40s & ’50s.

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt! “Cain Before Comics” . . . . . . . 63 Michael Gilbert presents a 1948 rebuttal to Dr. Wertham—by a 14-year-old fan!

The Teenage Creations Of Steve Gerber. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 John G. Pierce relates how the way to Howard the Duck was lit by a Comet.

A Tribute To Dave Simons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 re: [correspondence, comments, & corrections] . . . . . . . . . 74 …And All In Color For Christmas! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Holiday greetings from some buddies (and beasties) of Alter Ego.

FCA [Fawcett Collectors Of America] #149 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 P.C. Hamerlinck spotlights Marc Swayze & the female Captain Marvels—and remembers Dorothy Schaffenberger. On Our Cover: In the late 1960s a certain “California entrepreneur” licensed the rights to promote Marvel products under the name Marvelmania. Jack “King” Kirby penciled—and even inked—this threesome of heroes as one of a number of posters, most of which were never produced (according to comics historian Mark Evanier), before the promoter struck his tents, leaving behind a stack of unpaid bills. But one Kirby effort that at least served a worthy purpose was this one, done to promote Toys for Tots, the Marine Corps Reserve’s pet charity, which distributed toys to underprivileged kids at Christmas. To the best of our knowledge, this art has never before been utilized as a color cover— so it made a perfect image for our Yuletide issue! Thanks to John Morrow & the Kirby Estate. [©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.] Above: One of a Hulk-high heap of congratulatory illos done to honor joltin’ Joe Sinnott on his 80th birthday—this one by Bob Layton. See lots more, starting on page 3! [Thing TM & ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.] 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

Marvels—Alter Ego Style

espite a fair amount of coverage this past year in A/E of 1970s comic book adaptations of Robert E. Howard’s sword-andsorcery heroes and of the 1950s Mad wannabes Crazy, Wild, and Riot, we nearly managed to slip and slide through this entire twelvemonth without an issue of Alter Ego that dealt primarily with Marvel’s super-heroes and their creators. We hate it when that happens!

—and an examination of the 1960s teenage fan-creations of the late great Steve Gerber, a decade before he came up with Howard the Duck and other milestones of the medium— —and even a look at the various super-heroines called “Captain Marvel” over the years, the great majority of whom were published after 1968 by the self-styled House of Ideas!

So, to see out the year, we put together scintillating celebrations of two of Marvel’s most deserving Silver Age talents—joltin’ Joe Sinnott and darling Dick Ayers—

So here it is—Marvel from “A” (for Ayers and Apache Kid and Astonishing) to “Z” (for “Zombie” and, uh, not much else), in what Stan the Man, back in his heyday—and maybe even yesterday—would’ve referred to as a “pulsatin’ potpourri of pulse-pounding pandemonium.”

—and a lushly illustrated analysis of Smilin’ Stan Lee’s writings from 1941 up to Fantastic Four #1 twenty years later—

Oh, and just to keep things honest, there are a few non-Marvel moments herein, as well.

—and a piece on the two occasions when Marvel’s original publisher, Martin Goodman, served as “angel” to a pair of star-studded Broadway plays—

This’ll have to hold you till we can pull together a couple more Marvelcentered issues next year, starting with a much-requested focus on the hero-parody mag Not Brand Echh, that zany showcase for the unparalleled talents of mirthful Marie Severin!

—and an article on Patricia Highsmith, who wrote comic book scenarios in the 1940s for Timely/Marvel, Standard/Nedor, and other companies before becoming acclaimed as the author of the crime novels Strangers on a Train and The Talented Mr. Ripley— —and a brief look at the Marvel Super-Heroes animated TV show of 1966— —and an insightful interview with Leon Lazarus, who scripted for Marvel back in its Atlas days and returned in the ’60s for a single “GiantMan” saga—

Bestest,

P.S.: Oh, and just in case you’ve noticed that the Martin Goodman article listed in the previous column isn’t mentioned in the table of contents on the preceding page or anywhere else in this issue—well, turns out we tried to shoehorn in one thing too many, so that one’ll have to wait a little while!

COMING IN JANUARY START THE NEW YEAR WITH

CAPTAIN MARVEL, KATZ, CENTAUR, & CARICATURE!

• Stunning brand-new cover by Justice Society of America artist JERRY ORDWAY & Golden Age Fawcett staffer EMILIO SQUEGLIO! • A fantastic Fawcett festival! Vintage artists MARC SWAYZE & EMILIO SQUEGLIO— and the awesome ’40s spawn of Black Adam, with art by BECK, COSTANZA, BINDER, & GROTHKOPF! • Timely/Marvel and First Kingdom artist JACK KATZ on TOTH, SIMON & KIRBY, ROBBINS, FOSTER, RAYMOND, MESKIN, and himself—a surprise-laden interview by JIM AMASH! • “Centaur Spread – Part III”! More on those eerie early comics featuring AmazingMan, Fantom of the Fair, The Eye, et al., by LEE BOYETTE! • “What Hath Kurtzman Wrought? – Part II”! The rest of the mid-1950s Mad color wannabes, by GER APELDOORN, with art by ROSS ANDRU & MIKE ESPOSITO, L.B. COLE, JAY DISBROW, MANNY STALLMAN, HY FLEISCHMAN, HOWARD NOSTRAND, BOB POWELL, and others! • MICHAEL T. GILBERT wraps up coverage of 1940s-50s “anti-Wertham” DR. LAURETTA BENDER—continuing the 1960s fan-creations of STEVE GERBER—& MORE!! Edited by ROY THOMAS

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Have A Cup O’ Joe! Happy 80th Birthday—Even If We’re Three Years Late— To Joltin’ JOE SINNOTT! by Bill Cain A/E EDITOR’S NOTE: Eagle-eyed readers would quickly realize, even if we hadn’t worked the fact into our subtitle directly above, that ace artist Joe Sinnott’s 80th birthday was slightly more than three years ago. We had planned to run this piece, which was written soon after the fact by his friend Bill Cain, and with art sent by Joe and his son Mark, in 2007… but somehow, things kept getting in the way. (So it’s us who’re late, not Bill!) However, it’s still an event worth remembering and celebrating… as we’re sure you’ll agree!

ctober 16, 2006, marked a major milestone for one of the great artists of the comics genre, the legendary Joe Sinnott. On that day, the highly respected and still working artist and inker turned 80 years young in Saugerties, New York, the same town where he was born in 1926. As one might imagine, a man as talented and friendly as Joe Sinnott has many friends, and in Joe’s case many of these friends can really draw! To prepare for the big event, Joe’s son Mark began secretly inviting many of the great legends of the comics industry to not only come to Joe’s surprise birthday bash, but to submit something special to commemorate the big day. What you see on this and the following pages comprises the outpouring of affection and respect for one of the most talented and friendly creators in the field of four color entertainment.

Mark Sinnott’s plan was to have the guests attend the surprise birthday party at the American Legion Post in Saugerties, NY. During the party, Mark would present Joe with an album containing the many drawings and written accolades printed here. Both Mark and Joe’s wife Betty planned the event for over a year. Sadly, Betty became ill and was hospitalized four days prior to the party. Due to her illness, Mark cancelled the party; and, as many readers already know, Mrs. Sinnott passed away a few weeks later, on November 1st of that year. Despite this tragic setback for Joe and his family, the personal appreciation and professional respect emanating from these cards, drawings, and letters remain clear. For fans of great comic art, it represents another example of great talent from some of the biggest names in the industry. A brief glance through the names represented here would turn the head of any comics fan … Stan Lee, John Romita, Gene Colan, Marie

The Sinnotts And Friends The Sinnott family plus one—and Joe’s capricious visual comment on Disney’s recent acquisition of Marvel, which occurred while this feature was in preparation. [Thing TM & ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.] (Left to right in photo, standing:) Joe’s son Mark… daughter Kathy… son Joe, Jr…. and the man himself. Oh, and Jim Amash says to mention that the apparent bearded garden gnome crouching in front of the Sinnott clan is Jim, who came north last August with his wife Heidi to visit Joe and a few other friends. He talked the Sinnotts into posing for this snapshot… but they insisted on including him, as well.

Severin, Herb Trimpe, George Tuska, and Joe Giella are just the beginning of the artists and writers who took the time to send birthday congratulations to Joltin’ Joe. “The response was overwhelming,” Joe told me by telephone on New Year’s Eve. “It was a labor of love from my son Mark, and it was so wonderful to get all these amazing pieces of art from my friends and colleagues.” [Continued on p. 6]

Happy 80th Birthday To Joltin’ Joe Sinnott!

The Seven C’s—For “Congratulations!” Since Bill Cain mentions Stan Lee, John Romita, Gene Colan, Marie Severin, Herb Trimpe, George Tuska, and Joe Giella—that’s all the excuse we need to run a mirthful montage of their greetings on this and the facing page. (Herb’s is the two-image one, with the artist introducing his penciled tribute.) [Nick Fury, Medusa, Invisible Woman, Crystal, Agatha Harkness, MJ, Captain America, Hulk, & Iron Man TM & ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.; Batman TM & ©2009 DC Comics; Mary Worth TM & ©2009 King Features Syndicate, Inc.; other elements ©2009 the respective artist and/or writer.]

Have A Cup O’ Joe!

Happy 80th Birthday To Joltin’ Joe Sinnott

and I could not remember doing it. With a title like “Mule Skinner,” I assumed it was from an old Western. Turns out it actually came from an old Atlas war comic about the mule skinner who was responsible for the care and feeding of the mules who carried supplies to the troops in the mountains during the Italian campaign. The Army could not get trucks into those steep mountain passes, so they used mules to carry supplies to the troops. It was rare to get compliments for art in those days. We were just expected to always do a good job. So I am still happy to know that Stan liked my work on ‘Mule Skinner,’ and also that it was my tribute to the brave soldiers who gave all they had during the Italian campaign of the war.” Joe’s great legacy in comics is well known by just about any fan of the genre, but for those who don’t, check out Alter Ego #26 (July 2003) for an in-depth interview with Joe. Also check out Joe’s website, operated by his son Mark at www.joesinnott.com. You’ll find tons of Joe’s early and famous art as well as rare and obscure examples of his work, highlighted by the “Article of the Month.” Check it out as soon as you put this magazine down! That’s an order from Joe!

See The Seabees Jim Amash tells us that, while Joe loved and greatly appreciated all the plaudits, one of his very favorites was Mike Grell’s cartoon, because it mentions the Sea Bees—Joe’s branch of the service during World War II. Of course, the drawing has other virtues, as well. [©2009 Mike Grell.]

[Continued from p. 3] When pressed for his favorite, Joe was reluctant. “I love them all,” he said. Still, Mike Grell’s homage to Joe’s duty during World War II really hit home. “I could talk about World War II all day long,” Joe laughed. “I was in the Sea Bees. Many times, we would deploy with the Marines. There was always some type of good natured ribbing between the Sea Bees and the Marines about who was the most important to the mission. That’s why Mike’s cartoon really made me laugh! The Marines hit the beach and the Sea Bees have already been there and moved on! I loved it so much, I took it down to the Sea Bees’ Island X-9 in Kingston (New York). We all had a good laugh about it!” Joe has always been a big fan of American history, and his love for the military is well attested by anyone who knows him on even the most casual basis. His brother Jack served with the 3rd Infantry Division (the same unit as the famous Audie Murphy, the most decorated US soldier of the war). Jack was killed in action on August 28, 1944, in France at the tender age of 20. “I am always ready to talk about the liberation of Italy during World War II,” Joe emphasized. “The battles of Cassino, Rome, and Anzio where my brother gave his all … those guys were the real heroes, and they just don’t get enough recognition for what they did. Many people think the invasion of Europe began at Normandy, but there was so much more to it than that! “When Mark began compiling an index of my career in comics, he came across an old Western Union telegram from Stan [Lee], congratulating me for the art I’d done for ‘Mule Skinner.’ Mark asked me about it,

“Mule Skinner” Blues Art from the “Mule Skinner” story on which, Joe reports, editor Stan Lee went out of his way to compliment him back in the day, when Joe was both penciling and inking. From Battleground #7 (Sept. 1955). The most famous mule to come out of WWII, of course, was Francis the Talking Mule! Thanks to Anthony Gillies & Dr. Michael J. Vassallo. [©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Have A Cup O’ Joe!

Everything’s Archie! Joe has friends at Archie Comics as well as at Marvel and elsewhere—as witness these best wishes from pencilers Stan Goldberg and Jon D’Agostino, and from inker Jim Amash. Joe says he used to ghost some “Archie” inking for Jon. [Archie characters TM & ©2009 Archie Comic Publications, Inc.; Amash strip ©2009 Jim Amash.]

Of course, Joe is far from retired. He still inks the Sunday edition of Stan Lee’s Amazing Spider-Man newspaper strip with the same crisp stroke and magic that drew fans to his work over 50 years ago. And all fans of Jack Kirby and Joe’s legendary run on Fantastic Four (and who isn’t a fan of that?) had a special treat in 2007. After discovering Jack’s unused pencils for Fantastic Four #103 (the published issue was penciled by John Romita following Jack’s departure from Marvel in 1970), Marvel published the version with Jack’s original art under the title, Fantastic Four: The Lost Adventure. The 80-page special issue featured an all-new script by Stan (the Man) Lee and inks from Joltin’ Joe Sinnott. That’s not all, either. In 2007 Tim Lasiuta completed a book on Joe’s life and art that was put out by (and is still available from) TwoMorrows Publishing. And then there was the 2007 book Comic Book Creators by ABDO Publishing (www.abdopub.com) which features some of Joe’s preprofessional art and sketches. It’s one in a series of books on famous comic creators, including Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Joe Simon, John Buscema, and John Romita. According to the Book of Exodus, Moses was 80 years old when God spoke to him from the burning bush of Mount Horeb. If there is a burning bush out there providing guidance and assistance on how to be an amazing artist and just all-around great guy, I’ll bet the voice coming from that bush

Happy 80th Birthday To Joltin’ Joe Sinnott

They Take The (Birthday) Cake! Five more sensational salutations—from fellow pro artists Terry Austin, Ron Frenz (with writer Tom DeFalco), Joe Staton, Paul Ryan & Alex Saviuk, who pencils those Amazing SpiderMan Sunday strips that lucky Marvelites get to savor in their newspapers every seventh day. [SpiderMan, Thor, Captain America, Ghost Rider, Hulk, Beast, Thing, Fantastic Four, & Mary Jane TM & ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.; Phantom TM & ©2009 King Features Syndicate, Inc.; other art elements ©2009 the respective artists.]

Have A Cup O’ Joe!

The Granddaughter Also Rises (Above:) Fred Hembeck’s clever gag art above flanks two other favorite birthday greetings of Joe’s—a portrait by veteran inker Joe Rubinstein, and a poem by Erin Sinnott, daughter of son Mark and daughter-in-law Belinda. Jim Amash tells us: “She’s just published her first book (she’s 18 now) and is the apple of Joe’s eye.” [F.F. TM & ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.; other elements of cartoon ©2009 Fred Hembeck; poem ©2009 Erin Sinnott; portrait ©2009 Joe Rubinstein.]

would be 80-year-old Joe Sinnott. Thanks for being such a great person and patriot, Joe! And from all of us fans who have admired and loved your work all these years, we join in chorus to emphatically say “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” And many, many more!

The Yancy Street Gang Visits DICK & LINDY AYERS How The Artist Of Sgt. Fury And Ghost Rider Met His Greatest Fans—And Lived To Tell The Tale! by Barry Pearl, F.F.F.

ne Saturday in January 2008, the Yancy Street Gang—Nick Caputo, Barry Pearl, and Mike Vassallo (“Doc V”)—visited the home of Dick and Lindy Ayers. It is in Westchester, just down the road from Professor Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. Dick and Lindy have been living there for 50 years!

Dick Ayers had been an essential contributor to the beginning of the Marvel Age, inking many of the early stories of Fantastic Four, Avengers, and “Thor,” just to name a few. While Dick also penciled many of Marvel’s early super-heroes such as “The Human Torch” and “Giant-Man,” Dick will be most remembered for his work on the war and Western mags such as Sgt. Fury, Captain Savage, and Rawhide Kid.

Yancy Street Hath No Fury… Our colorful cast of kooky characters— flanking Dick (excuse us—Richard B.!) Ayers’ great cover for Sgt. Fury #81 (Nov. 1970). (Clockwise from right:) Dick & Lindy Ayers—Nick Caputo—Dr. Michael J. Vassallo (a.k.a. “Doc V.”)—& scribe Barry Pearl. The latter trio style themselves a latter-day Yancy Street Gang—and who’s gonna say them nay? Photos by Michael J. Vassallo & Barry Pearl. [Comic art ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

The first thing we did was crowd into the bedroom to watch a DVD on the Ayerses’ TV. Nick had discovered a DVD of the 1949 CBS-TV show called Suspense, one of the many crime shows that were popular at the time; it had originally been a very popular radio series. One Suspense episode on the DVD, “The Comic Strip Murders,” had the same basic storyline as the 1965 Jack Lemmon movie How to Murder Your Wife. The plot revolved around a comic strip artist, here played by Don Briggs, who draws a daily comic strip and who may be planning to murder his spouse! In the show, several comic strips by “Briggs’” are seen, and the artist’s hands are often shown drawing. The artist who created the strips—and whose hands were filmed doing the actual drawing—was Dick Ayers! On the TV show the artist’s assistant is played by Eva Marie Saint. Nick made Dick laugh when he asked, “Dick, how does this guy get Eva Marie Saint for an assistant, and you get Ernie Bache?“ We then discussed how few women there were in the comic book industry at that time. This was a live 30-minute broadcast, captured on film by using a kinescope, a motion picture camera that filmed the actual broadcast from a TV set. We also discussed the limitations and flaws of doing live TV; this was brought on by observing the actual cameras moving in the background. Dick and Lindy were excited to get this DVD. Dick had never seen the show. In 1949 virtually all TV was live, and there were no VCRs.

The Yancy Street Gang Visits Dick & Lindy Ayers

Leaving the bedroom, we headed towards Dick’s studio and entered a walkway filled with Dick’s original artwork. Each page has a story. For example, there is the splash page from Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos #23, a particular favorite of Dick’s. Dick told us how Stan called him one day and said, “I can’t think of a story for Sgt. Fury. We won’t have an issue unless you think of something!” A worried Dick could not sleep that night and kept Lindy awake, too. They talked about story after story until, in the middle of the night, Lindy came up with the idea of the Howlers save a nun and her young charges. Dick said, “Stan will never go for that; he wants nothing about religion. But I’ll ask him.” When Dick did, Stan said, “What a great idea, I’ll use it.” So they put together a terrific story. When Dick’s finished pages were shown to him, he saw that in the credits he was only listed as artist. He went to Stan’s office and asked if he could also be listed as co-plotter. Stan yelled, “Since when did you develop an ego? Get out of here!” The wall also displayed splash pages of “The Human Torch” and “The Incredible Hulk,” as well as a drawing Dick drew as a child! He also showed us several pages of penciled breakdowns of Sgt. Fury. You couldn’t help but notice the beauty of a framed 5-page story titled “And Not a Word Was Spoken,” a Western story with no narration or dialogue, originally published in Two-Gun Kid #61 (Jan. 1963). Dick explained that he not only drew it but plotted it. When he submitted his payment requisition, he felt he should be paid a little extra for writing, or for plotting, the story. So he asked to be paid for five pages of lettering! They argued, but they paid him! We began to discuss that, in the first Sgt. Fury Masterworks Masterworks volume, Stan wrote that Percy Pinkerton, the English Howler, might be gay. I mentioned that this was unlikely. While Percy was drawn to look like David Niven, his personality was more like Hugh Hefner. In fact, in Sgt. Fury Annual #4, which took place in “current day 1968,” Percy owned and ran a “Bunny” club. Dick said he asked Stan about this and Stan said, “You’ve got to give the fans what they want.” So Percy was ret-conned! Will war crimes never end? Dick then mentioned that he had been asked to do the introduction to the second Marvel Masterworks of Sgt. Fury. On the subject of annuals, Dick had expressed his disappointment in seeing their stories set in the future. By showing the Howlers on D-Day and in Korea and Viet Nam, it meant they all made it through the war, removing some of the suspense and eliminating some storylines where a Howler could be in real danger. It also meant that any new Howler was in trouble! I mentioned that the only other time Marvel had done this was

with Conan the Barbarian, where in his first issue you learned that he was destined to be king when he got older, insuring that he will live at least that long. But of course, Conan’s destiny had been set in stone by Robert E. Howard, decades before there was a Conan comic book. There were no covers on the Ayerses’ walls. Dick said they were very hard to get and he had none, but he did have several local newspapers framed. The papers all had stories about Dick, and sported covers or characters with which he’d been involved. In our entire stay, I never heard him express a preference for a character; it was like they were all his children. In the late 1950s, Dick said, there was some competition for jobs and assignments. Dick was disappointed when Jack Kirby got the penciling assignment on Rawhide Kid, a job Dick thought he had gotten. He was assigned the inking. Around that time, Dick mentioned he was also inking Sky Masters, the newspaper strip drawn by Kirby. For that work he said he was paid about the same as inking for Marvel, a surprise for me, because I had thought work in comic strips paid more. Dick told a story about a publisher that influenced him throughout his career. Once, while he was drawing a strip, the publisher came over and said to him, “They have already bought today’s paper. You need to draw something to make them want to buy tomorrow’s paper.” You can see he feels the same way about his comics; he is drawing to make you want to buy the next issue! We took a few pictures of Mike standing next to Dick in the hallway. You can see the comic artwork on each side. The corridor ends at his studio and office, which is also filled with artwork. Dick discussed how he went to art school on the G.I. Bill after World War II, and he showed us some very beautiful pictures he drew, which looked nothing like comics. “A small group of men at the top of their game” is how Dick described Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, Don Heck, and himself at the beginning of the Marvel Era. We sat down with Dick as he nostalgically drew upon the past. We asked him if any one artist was harder than another to ink. He said no, but some took longer to get used to than others. This was not a diplomatic response; he is just a decent guy who appreciated the efforts of others. He mentioned that Steve Ditko was one of the artists who took longer to get used to. Dick noted that Ditko’s pencils were not very tight and that, like himself, he probably did most of the finished work in the inking stage. That showed how Dick, as a fellow artist, understood what Ditko did and how he worked. Nick noted that Dick was an important contributor to the Marvel Age of Comics, who brought a solidity of form and sharp brush work to the pencils of Jack Kirby. Those early stories of Fantastic Four, “Incredible Hulk,” “Thor,” “AntMan”/”Giant-Man,” The Avengers, and “The Human Torch” all showcased the distinctive inking of Dick Ayers. His inking was absolutely perfect for Kirby’s rough-and-tumble style. The team was a startling contrast to the plain and placid DC comics, giving the early Marvel issues a visual identity of their own. Not only was Dick a thorough professional who got the assignment in on time; he also added personality to every job.

And Then There Were Nun The Howlers meet Sister Theresa (yes!) and her young charges in Sgt. Fury #23 (Oct. 1965). Script by Stan Lee; pencils by Dick Ayers; inks by Frank Giacoia (as “Frank Ray”). We’ll let Dick and Stan argue it out about how to distribute the writing credit. [©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

I felt that Dick Ayers was always a master of “minimalistic detail,” a term that sounds contradictory.

How The Artist Of Sgt. Fury And Ghost Rider Met His Greatest Fans

To sit down causally with Dick Ayers and talk about the good old days is a thrill. When we discussed writers, Dick was like Goldilocks: some writers wrote too much of an outline, and some wrote too little. Some, like Tony Isabella, were just right. This gave us an opening to discuss War Is Hell, the fourth war comic Dick penciled during the Marvel Era. Unique to the Marvel Age, this war comic does not feature a military group or even an enlisted soldier. It stars—a ghost! It is a combination of “Deadman Meets Quantum Leap,” twenty years before the latter.

A Drawing With Teeth In It Dick and Doc V. with a colored dental drawing that the former (an artist) drew for the latter (a dentist). Can you make out the pages of Ayers Western original art, including a Ghost Rider cover, framed in the Ayerses’ hallway? Photo courtesy of Michael J. Vassallo & Barry Pearl.

There is great, fine detail in his work, but before he is a penciler, before he is an inker, he is first and foremost a storyteller. Therefore, every aspect of his work, every object in a scene, works to tell a story, to give atmosphere or set the mood. Nothing is irrelevant or distracting. Of current work Dick noted there are many fine artists, but the storytelling is often missing. I asked if he had ever inked John Severin. Emphatically, Dick replied: “I never inked Severin!” Nick asked if, in the early 1960s, he ever tried to get work at DC. Again, a strong no. Dick did not like the editorial policies there—and he did not want to work for Bob Kanigher. Talking as if he were a movie director, Dick explained that he worked diligently to make his artwork seem cinematic, using movie perspective and lighting, all designed to move the story along. He pointed out on the original artwork the various angles and lighting effects he worked to achieve. You really can see that in his original artwork, which is so much better than in the printed comic. The spectacular detail, the sense of movement, compel you through the story, and, as that publisher mentioned, make you want to buy the next issue! If comics were movies, the writer would submit the screenplay. The penciler becomes the director, placing the character and laying out the setting. The inker would be both the lighting and set designer. Dick, as inker, added the details, shadings, and atmosphere to the original pencils he worked with. He helped tell the story by emphasizing the necessary items in the panel. Some inkers of that period left out not just the details, but significant portions of the penciled art, but not Dick Ayers. Other artists dominated the pencils, taking away from the look of the original artist. Not Dick Ayers. He let you appreciate the work of the pencils and brought out the strengths of the penciler. At the same time, his own style allowed you to feel the emotions of a scene and to see all the details. Dick mentioned that, on one of his first jobs for Stan, he more or less just traced the pencils. Stan said that was not what he had expected; he wanted Dick to put his own perspective and personality into the project, in order to embellish the work. Unfortunately, inkers are often not given the recognition they deserve. Some people seem to feel that if they compliment the inker, they are diminishing the work of the penciler. The best inkers tend to be artists who can also pencil. They add greatly to the finished product and bring out the best of the penciler’s work.

Tony Isabella, the fourth member of the Yancy Street Gang, said of War Is Hell: “To be honest, I wasn’t a good enough writer to do [the comic] justice after I conceived the series. That’s why I handed it off to Chris Claremont. When Roy [Thomas] asked me to come up with a new feature for War Is Hell, I decided to take the ‘Hell’ part literally. Okay, maybe it was more like ‘War Is Purgatory,’ but the idea was that [the hero] was being punished in his afterlife.” I had asked Tony, “When you come up with an idea, do you think about who the artist will be? Did you lobby for a certain one for a certain strip?” “In the case of War Is Hell, I knew Dick Ayers would be the artist. He needed a book to make up for the loss of ‘It’! So I tried to come up with something that would play to his

The Yancy Street Gang Visits Dick & Lindy Ayers

great wisdom and insists that his young A pencil sketch of Dr. Doom that Dick drew for collector Todd charge studies and Franklin. [Dr. Doom TM & ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.] learn. Later, the boy discovers that his Uncle Ben was killed, shot by a criminal. After his nephew learns great new skills, he tracks down the murderer. Instead of killing him, he turns him over to the law. He pledges to spend the rest of his life fighting crime. Not trusted by the law, he must fight the good guys, too. To avoid arrest he keeps his real identity a secret. It’s August 1960. And such is the life of Johnny Bart, the Rawhide Kid, as told by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, with Dick Ayers as inker. Peter Parker would come a year later.

The Doctor Is In (Pencil)

There were commentaries and quotes throughout Dick’s book.. There were also many color pictures. Doc supplied wonderful scans of Dick’s Atlas work, a few of which Dick had forgotten. Doc also supplied a wonderful picture of Dick in his army uniform taken just last year! And Dick was reading a comic! Also, Doc had previously taken a wonderful picture of Dick and Lindy together, holding a copy of his autobiography, which the artist had done in graphic novel format. I had taken scans of two self-portraits Dick had drawn for Sgt. Fury #22 and #100. Dick and Lindy were very touched. In fact, we received this e-mail two days later: “Lindy and I thank you for visiting us and bringing the terrific book honoring my Sgt. Fury and Marvel years, which is a most valuable keepsake for me and the family. I read it twice yesterday and marvel at the way you illustrated it.” We were sitting around the dining room table talking about what made the characters good in the 1960s and what they lack today. For example, before the Viet Nam War escalated, Dick and Lindy came up with that plot about nuns defending children, “The Man Who Failed.” Here the nun and children run to the Howlers for protection and aide. As the Viet Nam war worsened, America took a different view of itself. I pointed out to Dick that in 1973, in a similar story in Combat Kelly #7 that was written by Gary Friedrich, the nun runs away from the Americans soldiers, fearing that they are as evil and violent as the Nazis. The age of American heroism in comics is winding to an end. strengths.” Boy, did it! One in a series of memorable moments occurred when the Yancy Street Gang gave Dick another present—one for him, Lindy, his children and grandchildren. The Gang had put together a four-part illustrated book called “Dick Ayers of the Marvel Age,” an appreciation of his work. First, we collected and listed Dick’s credits from the Atlas and Marvel Age. Markus Mueller, the keeper of the on-line site of the “Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Creator” helped compile his current reprint credits. Next was a section entitled, “Mr. Ayers Goes to War.” This came from my soon-to-be-never-published book The Essential Marvel Age Reference 1961-1977. It listed all the Marvel Age war stories Dick drew, with a summery, credits and comments for every story. The third section, “Mr. Ayers of the Marvel Age,” featured a similar layout for all of his Marvel Age super-hero stories. The final section, “Mr. Ayers and the Westerns,” discusses the very important and long-lasting work Dick did in that genre, and how it “leaked over” to the super-heroes. The Westerns gave the Marvel super-heroes so many creators, characters, stories, and titles. Dick is famously known for the cowboy Ghost Rider, first at Magazine Enterprises and later at Marvel, but he also gave Marvel a Panther in TwoGun Kid #77 ten months before Lee and Kirby gave one to the Fantastic Four. There are many such super-hero precursors at Marvel, and so many were done by Dick Ayers. One story may hold particular interest to many fans: An orphan is raised by his Uncle Ben, a loving man, who is seen in just a few panels. He treats his nephew as a son. Uncle Ben gives the teenager

He’s A Marvel! Dick Ayers on “that day” in 2008, proudly displaying the book with which the Yancy Street Gangers had just presented Dick, Lindy, and their family. Photo courtesy of Dr. Michael J. Vassallo & Barry Pearl.

How The Artist Of Sgt. Fury And Ghost Rider Met His Greatest Fans

Dick asked, “Did you see the PBS documentary on The War? 60 years later people still cannot talk about what they went through and what they saw.” He discussed how the country pulled together and no one complained about the lack of sugar, gas, coffee, and such. Well, Dick did not want to talk about the war. He didn’t have to; he drew it and told stories about it. That was his way of expressing what it was like. Lindy took out Dick’s war medals. There were three of them, and two ribbons: for Victory in Europe; Victory for War; Good Behavior; and the blue medal, to be worn over the right pocket was a Presidential Citation for his unit, the 586th of the US Army Air Forces. He also served in the 394th Bomb Group. Lindy also took out what Burne Hogarth called Dick’s “Boy Scout Picture”—young Dick Ayers in his military uniform, from November 1942. [A/E EDITOR’S NOTE: See opposite page.] We discussed that Marvel never romanticized war, but the Comics Code would not allow them to show the violence so Sgt. Fury often showed the loss and tragedy of war. As the Viet Nam War raged, the new editors at Marvel decided not to put out new war comics anymore, even though they had sold well. I said that I was sad that there was no Sgt. Fury #121 featuring an end to WWII. Where were the Howlers on V-E

day—where were they on V-J day? Dick said that many years after the Fury run had ended in 1974, a special issue was thought out and was going to be produced. But then Marvel got even newer editors and they were just not interested in any war story, so the idea was not used. The Howlers had reached “The End of the Road.” We started speaking of the comics produced today and why the four us simply do not enjoy them as we did the ones produced in the good old days. We discussed with Dick the fact that many comics today do not have the sense of character and morality that he, Stan, Jack, Steve, Don, and so many others brought to the comics. We discussed the humanity and the decency that they and Marvel had presented. This is something we miss in comics today. Where did it go? Well, I pulled out the Ayers project and read out loud what our friend Ken Quattro had written on this subject for and about Dick: I suspect the writers do not have any of these qualities, either, and that is why the story lines are so repulsive. Honor is now suspect; decency is treated with a smirk and a roll of the eyes. I believe that today’s writers feel obligated to strip away any semblance of heroism to somehow add “realism.” What they cannot understand is that heroism is real. Previous generations understood that implicitly because we witnessed it. Our parents survived The Depression, The War, and still managed to come through it all to raise cohesive families. And they did it all while maintaining an unshakable sense of Right and Wrong. That’s real heroism. That’s what is lacking today. The silence was deafening. Dick added a story that changed the mood. In Europe, Dick mentioned, he would paint logos onto the military aircraft, and often take a bottle of liquor as payment. One day he refused the bottle and asked to get a ride inside the belly of the plane. He wanted to buzz the Autobahn and to get so close that the cars would had to get out of the way. The pilot agreed and they buzzed the Autobahn! Lindy then brought out a picture of their greatest creations, a wonderful family picture, with children and grandchildren. I asked Dick if he got reprint rights for grandchildren. Here, at least, Stan does not get a cocreator credit! Dick also told a story where his then young daughter was in class and the teacher asked the students what their fathers did for a living. The daughter replied, “My daddy draws monsters!” The teacher thought the child was fibbing and talked to the father about this. Dick’s daughter, of course, was telling the truth. Originally, especially in the 1950s, comic book artists were looked down on. We mentioned that, when the Congressional hearings took place, even Charles Schultz, creator of Peanuts, caught some flack. Dick told a story about a neighbor who ignored him because he worked in comics. Dick was home during the day, working, but they treated

Whither Thou Ghost… No article on Dick Ayers would be complete without a manifestation of the first “Ghost Rider,” published by Magazine Enterprises during the late 1940s and early ’50s. Though he soon gained his own mag, here’s a page of original “GR” art from Tim Holt #33 (Nov. 1952), courtesy of collector Ethan Roberts. Script may (or may not) be by Gardner Fox. [Art ©2009 the respective copyright holders; Ghost Rider TM 2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

The Yancy Street Gang Visits Dick & Lindy Ayers

Gals Love A Guy In Uniform! Dick Ayers in uniform in 1944—and in the same uniform in 2007. Not even Nick Fury himself could do better than that! Original art from Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos #108 (1973); inks by Vince Colletta. With thanks to Mike Burkey. Photos courtesy of Dick & Lindy Ayers. [Page ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

him as if he were unemployed. Recently, the neighbor, now a grandfather, had his grandson over. His grandson turned out to be a big comic book fan and, when he discovered that his grandfather lived next to Dick Ayers, insisted on meeting him. The guy knocks at the Ayer’s door and has to eat a bit of humble pie. Today, Dick is happy to be remembered so fondly. He is delighted that the fans care so much about him. At one point, he thought no one would. He pointed out that he had a choice in 1949 to go to Hollywood or stay with comics. More than ever when he meets his devoted fans, he knows he made the right choice. When we left, Dick and Lindy generously pulled out sketches and let us pick one for each of us. Ghost Rider, The Thing, The Hulk, Fury, Ant-Man, Giant-Man. The Wasp were all laid out on the table. He treated them equally, as if they were all his children. It was a touching sight. The biggest thing for me was when that, we were leaving, they asked for our autographs on the book for them! Imagine Dick Ayers asking us for our autographs! Dick would later e-mail us, saying that he is going to conventions and showing that 1949 tale of Suspense. He wrote us: “You 3 F.F.F. (Fearless Face Fronters, for those who don’t know) guys have launched me on a new gig.” Lindy and Dick have one thing in common with his artwork: they are genuine, gentle, generous people. There was a premise to the Dick Ayers Project that they proved: The decency, humanity and humor of the Marvel superheroes is hereditary. They get it from their creators. EDITOR’S NOTE: For a full-scale interview with Dick Ayers, see Alter Ego #31.

STAN LEE In The 1940s And ’50s The Pre-Silver Age Writing Style Of The Marvel Spearhead by Ger Apeldoorn

n his 2002 biography Excelsior!, Stan Lee tells of being inspired at an early age by a schoolboy two years his senior, who used to come into class to sell subscriptions to The New York Times. This boy would “speak for ten full minutes, looking his audience straight in the eye, never once fumbling or losing the attention of the class.” Stan says he decided then and there that he wanted to be able to speak that way and hold the attention of an audience. And, indeed, all through his career as a writer and editor and representative of Marvel in Hollywood, that has been his driving force—to be able to be the center of attention by being as entertaining as he can be.

To do this, he has a bag of “party tricks” he developed through the years. I call them “tricks,” but I could use instead the words “stylistic traits.” They are a product of his own sense of humor and of the way he keeps his stories in the here and now. In a deeper sense, they may even be a reflection of the way his mind processes information. I know that’s a big statement, but let me tell you how I came to it.

Follow Me In his 1960 autobiographic Mark It and Strike It, Steve Allen gives an analysis of his own brand of humor. Allen was a many-faceted showman (actor, author, songwriter, etc.) with more than a few similarities to Stan Lee. In Mark It Allen describes how he used the literal meaning of words and expressions to turn a normal conversation into nonsense. When doing

What’s A Couple Of Decades Between Friends? Stan Lee mugs for the camera in an early-1970s issue of Crazy magazine, after he’d become Marvel’s publisher—a gag photo overlooking his first printed comics work (the text story in May 1941’s Captain America Comics #3) and the cover of Fantastic Four #1 (Oct. 1961). Ger Apeldoorn’s article studies Stan’s writing over the two decades between those epochmaking events... both of which, by coincidence, were largely illustrated by Jack Kirby. [©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Stan Lee In The 1940s And ’50s

in the winter of 1942. He’d started out as an office boy under editor Joe Simon in 1941. His first writing assignment had been a two-page text story in Captain America Comics #3 (May ’41), and he was soon was writing “real” comic book stories. Thanks to the new series of Marvel Masterworks reprints from this era, we can finally see for ourselves what Lee wrote in those days.

Off To See The Whizzer

his famous Q&A audience interviews, he turned his subjects’ answers on their heads by deliberately misunderstanding them—often by taking them too literally. When an audience member said she couldn’t follow him, he responded with a literal interpretation of that phrase: “Well, somebody’s been following me for the past five days... a short dark man in a grey sweater.” Allen also applied this trick to the implied social meaning of certain phrases people commonly use. When a lady in the audience spelled out her name for him (“I’m Mrs. Holt. H-O-L-T.“), he took it as a clue for some unknown social rule and replied: “Very well. W-E-L-L.” These are examples of what I would call a “literal mind”—someone who has the ability to hear the words in a phrase apart from their context.

What’s In A Signature? To see these tendencies in Stan Lee’s work, we have to take a broader view of his writing career than just his work as a super-hero scripter. After all, when The Fantastic Four #1 was published in mid-1961, he was already 38 years old and had been writing and editing comics for half his life. How much he has written isn’t 100% clear. He signed some stories he wrote and didn’t sign others. And since he also devoted a considerable portion of his time to being the editor of Timely/Atlas/Marvel (even if at times he had other editors such as Don Rico, Vince Fago, and Al Jaffee working under him), and Timely was the most prolific comics company of much of the ’40s and ’50s until the ’57 collapse, it is clear that he wrote no more than a fraction of the company’s output.

That first Lee text story, “The Traitor’s Revenge,” seen in the two hardcover reprintings of Captain America Comics #1 (March 1941), is nothing special, as you can easily check for yourself—but the lone illustration may well be by Jack Kirby, which would make it the first Lee-Kirby “collaboration.” Stan’s second signed text story seems to be the one in All Winners Comics #1 (Summer ’41). In it Stan introduces a comics fan called Johnny Blake, who wishes he could meet his Marvel heroes Torch and Toro, Sub-Mariner, The Angel, Black Marvel, Captain America and Bucky—who also just happen to be the stars of All Winners. One by one they turn up in his bedroom (see Vol. 1 of Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age All Winners). Finally Johnny wakes up and realizes it was all a dream. Stan Lee then pulls it all together with a little twist, using the literal meaning of the title of the story: “Gee, I wonder who did win the contest, though. But what am I saying? Nobody could have won, because Cap, the Marvel, the Torch, the Angel and the Sub-Mariner are all winners! Yes sir, ALL WINNERS!” There’s a similar text story by Lee in All Winners #2, reprinted in the same hardcover volume. It ends with the other heroes learning that the super-fast Whizzer—now featured in the comic—has been in the room with them all the time, simply moving too quickly to be seen. In Les Daniels’ 1991 history Marvel: Five Fabulous Decades of the World’s Greatest Comics, Lee says of The Whizzer: “I don’t remember if I made that up, but I remember writing it, because I wrote them all.” Whatever that means, precisely. Around the same time, Lee also wrote a text story introducing a number of new heroes to the reader in U.S.A. Comics #2 (Nov. 1941), which has likewise been reprinted in the Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age series. At a meeting of the mag’s heroes, Captain Terror proposes they “award a prize for the best story of the month,” with the best one to be announced in the following issue. But, apparently the editor (by then Stan

In fact, over at the Timely-Atlas-Comics list on Yahoo, where all things Goodman are discussed, Dr. Michael J. Vassallo has stated that any story that wasn’t signed by Stan Lee (or one of his early-’40s pseudonyms) probably wasn’t written by him. If so, that would yield a lot of bylined horror stories, a couple of science-fiction tales, numerous Westerns, Snafu, and a lot of dumb-blonde and funny-animal comics, but virtually no crime books, a genre he does claim to have written in the late ’40s. Doc V. also throws out all stories which have a job number with the prefix “SL.” By the time Lee got out of the US Army, Timely had begun using job numbers for every story, as a way of tracking payment. The earliest job numbers have an “R” prefix, which means they were handled by Don Rico. Soon after Stan was discharged on Sept. 29, 1945, and returned to the company, job numbers with an “SL” prefix begin appearing. But since that prefix also appears in the job numbers of Harvey Kurtzman-written “Hey Look!” pages, the simple appearance of his initials doesn’t imply authorship. In this instance, I agree totally with Doc. I am less certain about the work done before Lee went into the Army

Hey Look! A Stan Lee Job Number! “SL-163” is handwritten in this final panel of Harvey Kurtzman’s very first “Hey Look!” one-page gag, which appeared in Jeanie #17 (Jan. 1948)... but there’s no doubt that artist Kurtzman, not Stan Lee, wrote it. Doubtless the prefix was for the purpose of editorial trafficking. Reprinted from the Hey Look! collection published in 1992 by Kitchen Sink Press. [©2009 Estate of Harvey Kurtzman.]

The Pre-Silver Age Writing Style Of The Marvel Spearhead

himself) wasn’t invited, however, because while #3’s text tale is likewise written by him, it concerns a magician and has nothing to do with any of U.S.A.’s super-heroes. In those first three text stories, we see Stan Lee already developing a preference for addressing the reader directly, an approach he would carry on into his later stories, as well as into his editorial pieces. In Complete Mystery #3 (Dec. 1948), one of the few crime stories he signed (and thus undoubtedly wrote), he begins by directly addressing the reader—as seen in the splash panel reprinted on this page.

Neel Nats To The Rescue And so, young Stan Lee became Timely’s most important employee. Not only as the new editor when Joe Simon and his artist-partner Jack Kirby departed for DC, but also as a writer and creator of new characters. He had already developed “The Destroyer” and (maybe) “The Whizzer,” but scores of others were tried under his editorship. Some of those he wrote himself, often signing with pseudonyms such as “Neel Nats.” In other cases no credits appear at all, which makes it hard to judge which stories were his. Despite Marvel’s ambitious Golden Age reprint policy, which is increasingly making those pricey back issues available for reading, and despite the best efforts of Doc V. and a handful of others, identifying writers without a byline on the story is difficult at best. Still, if Stan Lee wrote large portions of All Winners #1-3 and there are no writing credits on #4-8, it’s safe to assume he may have written at least some of the latter, as well—since writing scripts brought him extra income. I see no sign of his involvement in the “Destroyer” stories in All Winners #2-8. In the Jack Binder-drawn story in #2, the Germans all say “whip” instead of “vhip,” while Lee uses the latter spelling/pronunciation over and over in the text story in the same issue. Incidentally, that tale has the worst line I’ve read in a long time, when The Destroyer asks a German farmer: “Which is the way to the nearest concentration camp?” One uncredited story that reminds me very much of Stan Lee is that of “Jack Frost” in U.S.A. Comics #2 (also recently reprinted in hardcover). Jack Frost is a sort of icebound SubMariner, created by Lee for U.S.A. #1. Awakened from an We Never Knew Fear Wore A Top Hat! iceberg in the frozen North by the cries of a dying man, he asks: Carl Burgos-drawn splash panel from a Lee-scripted tale in Complete Mystery #3 (Dec. “Mortal, who are you that cries for help in my domain?” In his 1948). Thanks for Dr. Michael J. Vassallo. To see the other two panels on this page, dig second story, his manner is even more arrogant and regal, as he up a copy on eBay—or back-order Alter Ego #49 (with its Burgos coverage) from our calls the citizens of New York “foolish mortals” and even “puny TwoMorrows ad section that begins on p. 89. [©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.] mortals.” (I don’t know how common the word “mortals” was in pop fiction at the time—Will Murray says the phrase “puny Moonlighting Under Uncle Sam humans” was used in an issue of The Spider pulp, spoken by an invading Martian—but the expression pops up all the time in Stan Lee’s work in the In the winter of 1942-43 Stan Lee found himself in the Army. ’50s, as well—as does his preference for such surnames as Blake, Parker, Classified as a “playwright,” he wound up writing training materials for and Storm.) Frost goes after a gang of pirates and uses trademark Stan Lee the Signal Corps and other departments. He created a character called patter while fighting, including alliterative exclamations such as “Freezing Fiscal Freddy for the Finance Department to teach payroll officers how to fudgicles!” and “Popping penguins!” (But then, Bill Everett used similar do their job and worked on an anti-VD poster called “VD? Not me!” phrases in his “Sub-Mariner” stories.) When he could spare a moment, he continued writing comics for Timley, which were sometimes printed with the byline “story by P.F.C. Stan Lee.” Other clues turn up in other tales. In the Lee-credited “Captain America” comics story in All Winners #3, Cap calls his partner “Bucky, He also wrote several prose short stories which ended up in his unclem’boy.” In the uncredited story Cap calls him “Bucky, m’lad.” Not by-marriage Martin Goodman’s non-comics magazines. According to phrasings that turn up in every writer’s material, but not enough to draw researcher Michael Feldman, Stan Lee wrote for those publications even any conclusions from. The choice of villains in those first few issues also before he did comic book work, doing fillers and the like. Unfortunately, fits Stan’s repertoire; there are a vampire, a magician, and the alliteratively Mike can’t recall where he picked up that bit of information: “possibly named Mock Mikado. from Joe Simon. But I remember only that I took it seriously, as it was from a reliable source. It also makes sense, as Goodman’s mags were

Stan Lee In The 1940s And ’50s

Away All Destroyers! (Above:) Perhaps Stan Lee’s most prominent super-hero co-creation prior to the Fantastic Four was “The Destroyer,” who debuted in two stories (and as the cover feature) in Mystic Comics #6 (Oct. 1940), when he was a lad of eighteen. Stan and artist Jack Binder signed the lead tale. The second had no bylines, but was probably by the same team. Thanks to Warren Reece. [©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

produced in-house, where the comics were out-sourced for the first couple years. Stan’s first job would be to fill holes producing pages of text, whenever the need arose.” I found one (and possibly two) Lee short stories in Man’s Home Companion #1 (Oct. 1942). This magazine was Goodman’s attempt at doing a slick magazine in the mode of Esquire. Goodman used name writers to attract the audience. Unfortunately, according to Feldman, he had to fold MHC after a single issue when he realized he couldn’t go on not paying those authors for their contributions. It’s a large-sized magazine, very well produced, with lots of cartoons (including an early one by Hank Ketcham) and illustrations by George Avison, Al Avison, Don Rico, Chad Grothkopf, Norman Saunders (twice), Ralph Carlson, Al Gabrielle, S. Gilman, and Arnold Allen. Besides Lee’s short story, there is an entry by a “Stanley Martin,” which is one of the pseudonyms used by Stanley Martin Lieber (Stan Lee’s birth-name). Stan Lee’s short story “...Where Is Thy Sting?” is a short, funny tale of a man who wishes he was dead—and when he wakes up, his heart has stopped beating. Now he has to go home and tell his wife, and she doesn’t suffer fools gladly. It’s not a particularly inventive story, and it

O Stan, Where Are Thy Balloons? (Right:) The first page of Stan Lee’s short story “...Where Is Thy Sting?” from Martin Goodman’s magazine Man’s Home Companion #1 (Oct. 1942), with illos by Don Rico. [©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

The Pre-Silver Age Writing Style Of The Marvel Spearhead

lacks a convincing ending. But it could have fit very well in any of the preor even post-Comics Code horror books Lee would be editing in the ’50s. Many people have commented on the resemblance of his work with Steve Ditko in 1960s issues of Amazing Adult Fantasy, et al., to TV series such as Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Twilight Zone, but there was a tradition of this type of material that goes back to the radio days of the early ’40s. “Sting” was illustrated with woodcuts by Don Rico, who worked under Stan at Timely Comics, though the choice of artist was probably a decision made by the editor of Man’s Home Companion. Neither Stan Lee’s nor Stanley Martin’s story is great literature, and Stan probably felt that way, too. He kept his real name in reserve for that “Great American Novel” he was going to write someday, and he never mentioned them again.

Something Funny Going On When Stan was mustered out of the armed services in 1945, the comic book landscape had changed. Super-heroes were making way for other genres—one of which suited him very well. The success of MLJ’s Archie had inspired other publishers to design books for the growing youth market. (Most of those readers were girls, by the way.) During Lee’s absence, Timely had done very well with the Vince Fago-edited funnyanimal books, but when Stan came back the animals (and eventually Fago) were out and teen adventures were in.

molded his heroine—played by Marie Wilson—in the style of famous radio dunderhead Gracie Allen. Irma Peterson didn’t understand anything that was said to her. When asked what she thought about compulsory military service, she said, “A girl shouldn’t have to go out with a sailor when she doesn’t want to.“ Stan jumped on this and wrote one dumb joke after another. There’s really no story; Irma just walks into a situation and starts saying stupid things. Her friend Amber wants to have her eyes checked. Irma’s response: “I’d rather leave mine the color they are!” The optometrist asks if the girls want to have their eyes tested. Irma: “Maybe we should have studied first!” The doctor asks her to read as far down as she can. She lies down on the floor. And these are just the jokes in the first few panels! All this is beautifully drawn by DeCarlo, Stan’s ideal partner in all this nonsense; his Irma has a deadpan look and a body that you don’t mind panning yourself. Not only does he stay with Stan on the book (often credited to “Stan & Dan”) for the entire run, but Stan also asks the artists of his other dumb-blondes books to draw in the same style. Thus we see permutations of the DeCarlo style by Ed Winiarski in later issues of Hedy De Vine, Howard Post on Nellie the Nurse, and Hy Rosen on the second

Stan created a successful line of books about young working girls and their relationships, with titles such as Millie the Model, Nellie the Nurse, Tessie the Typist, and Hedy De Vine (later Hedy of Hollywood). Again we see Lee’s love of language and alliteration at work. Back in the 1930s, incidentally, “Millie the Model” had been the title of a gag cartoon series in a humor monthly called Hullabaloo; naturally, Stan’s comic book version was a lot less sexy. Although Stan did claim to have created these characters, I don’t know if he actually wrote any of the stories in the early issues of these titles. Some issues of Millie are credited to artist Ken Bald, who seems to have been involved from the start; likewise, Tessie the Typist was at some point written by its most frequent artist, Morris Weiss. So it could be that Stan “created” these books as an editor, but left them to others to write. The stories of these series that I have read certainly don’t display any of his characteristics. At least, not until Dan DeCarlo takes over as artist on Millie the Model #17 in 1949. Millie is abruptly changed to a ditzy dumbbell, and Stan steps in to do what he does best—making silly jokes about dumb blondes. With the various “dumb-blonde” series he had found his niche, which in essence was the ability to come up with a verbal response to anything that anyone says or does. This is best illustrated in the series My Friend Irma. This comic was licensed in 1950 from a radio (later TV) show created by Cy Howard, who

Millie-tary Tactics (Above:) We couldn’t score an interior scan of Millie the Model #17 (April 1949), the first issue with Stan Lee writing credits. Doc V., however, came up with this splash from Millie #18 (June ’49)—the next best thing! (Left:) Dan DeCarlo at a major comicon in 2000. Thanks to Joe Petrilak. [Millie page ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Stan Lee In The 1940s And ’50s

year earlier, but apparently wasn’t doing well. Seibel left for greener pastures, and Stan & Dan were given the chance to breathe some new life into the strip. Under DeCarlo, Irma looked the same as in the comic books, only less sexy. For their joint signature, he and Stan used the same Photostatted byline as in the comic books (which Stan Lee kept on using for himself all through the ’50s). They did the strip for a couple of months, but it was too late to save it. Papers which had dropped the strip under Seidel were not likely to reinstate it, nor were new papers coming in. Lee & DeCarlo had more success in comic books, all through the ’50s. After DeCarlo left for Archie Comics, Millie was even continued in the same style by artist Stan Goldberg. The two Stans were an excellent team, and although Lee’s jokes are corny and predictable, you can see their appeal. The art is fine, of course, but what’s so fascinating about the jokes is that they just don’t stop coming. It’s not hard to see where a certain “friendly neighborhood webslinger” got his fondness for bantering. He must’ve read Irma and Millie as a child. Lee used the same set-up/gag style for a couple of other books in the late 1940s, including short-lived kiddie books with titles like Little Lana, Little Lenny, and Little Lizzie. He also wrote the funny-animal titles Wonder Duck, It’s a Duck’s Life, and Dippy Duck. All used the same format of one-page and half-page gags in the same style as his dumbblonde comics. They represented the company’s effort to publish something that resembled reprinted newspaper comics. Some of the mags even sported a logo saying they were copyrighted by the Comedy Features Syndicate, Inc. Comic strip researcher Allan Holtz assures me he has never heard of such a syndicate. Most of these stories are dull as dishwater. In fact, dishwater would be a step up for them.

Those Frightening ’50s

Stan’s Friend Dan D. (Above:) There’s a gag—of one kind or another—in each panel of this splash page for the lead story by Stan Lee & Dan DeCarlo from My Friend Irma #12 (Nov. 1951). The “Irma” one-pagers were probably easier to script—they usually had just one real joke, in the final panel. Thanks to Jim Ludwig. [©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Georgie series. Not all the dumb blondes in these stories are blonde, by the way. Some have black hair, others are redheads. But they all act the same—as if they had bleached their hair one time too many. I had long assumed it was on Irma that Stan Lee discovered he had a way with dumb-blonde jokes, but his first “Millie” stories appear more than six months before My Friend Irma #1. Maybe Stan found the style was working for him and suggested that Goodman buy the rights to the radio series. Or perhaps negotiations with CBS took longer than expected and Stan meanwhile decided to revamp Millie as long as he had all those jokes lying around. The first Timely issue of Suspense (also a CBS radio series) appeared in December 1949, so negotiations with that network were definitely going on at least a bit earlier than that. In late 1951 Stan & Dan were rewarded with their efforts on Irma by being asked to take over the newspaper version of the strip from Jack Seibel. The comic strip series had started a

At the end of the ’40s a couple of new comic book genres were born, genres that would dominate the following decade. The length of the books shrank from 52 to 36 pages (counting covers) in order to retain the 10¢ price tag. And the anthology format remained the standard. In the early ’50s, every Timely book had at least four stories, totalling 23 pages, and a two-page text story.

Irma Presses On The My Friend Irma newspaper comic strip by Jack Seibel debuted on Nov. 13, 1950. Below are a couple of 1951 examples of Seibel’s work for the press. Unlike on the radio (and later TV) series, the emphasis in the Seibel strip isn’t always on Irma’s dumb answers or on her looks, the two main sources of laughs in other media. Thanks to Ger A. [©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

The Pre-Silver Age Writing Style Of The Marvel Spearhead

The Birds And The B-Material (Just Kidding, Stan!) (Left:) A LeeDeCarlo panel from My Friend Irma #15 (Feb. 1952). Thanks to Tom Lammers— who as a botanist probably appreciated this story. [©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

In the period from 1948 to 1952, Westerns galloped through the comics landscape at a steady pace, and Stan scribed a goodly number of them. Besides the horse operas, Stan also wrote a few other stories. As the teen books gave way to full-blown romance comics, Stan scripted one particularly good story, “Love ’Em and Leave ’Em” (#A-727), in Actual Confessions #13 (Oct. 1952). It takes a leisurely ten pages (long for an entry in that genre) to tell the tale of Duncon Forsythe, a playboy who goes around breaking young girls’ hearts until he meets his match in a feisty blonde. The story is narrated by Duncon himself, unusual for a genre where a female was often the narrator; this gives Stan the chance to really delineate his main character. Duncon boasts, “I don’t need a wife! I’ve got a butler... a cook... and a housekeeper! A wife would be excess baggage!” Also remarkable in this story, along with the gorgeous art by the underrated Werner Roth, is the pacing. In a solid nine-panel grid, Stan takes the time to make his story points, as when he meets the blonde at the bus stop in an almost silent panel. A scene in which he asks a policeman to introduce him to the girl he just met so she’ll speak to him takes three panels and feels very naturalistic. In the end, it turns out that

Pearls Of Wisdom (Above:) After Timely’s license on My Friend Irma expired, Stan introduced My Girl Pearl, which was basically Irma with a new name (and a slightly less sexy appearance)—a new artist (Stan Goldberg)—and, with #8 (Oct. 1960), a new hairdo! By this time, Stan had spent the better part of a decade writing “dumb blonde” jokes. [©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

the bartender Duncon has just told about his conquests is the blonde’s father. The irate dad hits him square in the jaw and tells his daughter all about Duncon, with the result that she leaves him. A sad end for Duncon, but a great ending for any girl who might be reading the story. In the early 1950s, crime comics, which had debuted in the early ’40s and grown hugely popular by that decade’s end, were overtaken in

Irma Le Deux My Friend Irma newspaper dailies for July 1 & 4th, 1952, after Stan Lee and Dan DeCarlo took over the strip. Note that Jack Siedel’s byline remains on the feature. Thanks to Tom Heintjes. [©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

Stan Lee In The 1940s And ’50s

popularity by the burgeoning horror trend. Stan Lee edited all of Timely’s horror comics—and there were quite a few of them. Some comic book historians have treated these books as if Lee wrote them all himself. In fact, he wrote only a fraction of them. If he had merely served as the editor of Timely’s bulging horror lineup—assigning and overseeing the stories, etc.—he would already have had a full work week. But he did write some of them, and he seems to have signed all the ones he wrote. Most of those were done before the coming of the Comics Code. After the Code was installed at the turn of 1955, Lee seems to have left the writing of the defanged “horror” stories to his freelancers, while he concentrated on Westerns and humor books. When the Korean War began in 1950, a new genre was added: the war comic. Most of Timely’s titles of this type were probably edited by people like Don Rico or Norman Steinberg, both of whom wrote material for them. Another frequent writer was Hank Chapman, who had started out in the horror books but soon found his niche as one of the most nihilistic war scenarists comicdom has ever seen. Stan Lee wrote a couple of war stories, but they weren’t where his main interest lay. In his story “Troop Movement” in Battle #13 (Aug. 1952), Sergeant Dixon goes out on a scouting trip to report on the movement of North Korean troops. He doesn’t want to take anyone with him, which makes his soldiers think he is keeping the easy assignments for himself: “My kid sister could go out alone to report on enemy troop movements without disturbing her permanent!” “Hope he’s not careful not to catch poison ivy!” “Catch it?

He’d give it to a plant!” Of course, Sgt. Dixon runs into North Korean advance troops, but manages to kill them all. Interestingly, he keeps up a light banter as he fights them: “This oughtta teach you Reds not to take walks at night!” The difference with “Spider-Man” is that after that line Dixon kills the Commie with his knife. When he returns to base he reports that there are no troop movements. The soldiers scoff: “I guess you can’t blame him for taking all the easy patrols... we’d probably do the same thing!” Still, Lee’s excursions into enemy territory were rare.

Journeys Into A Weird World So it is wrong to see pre-images or even precursors to his later successes in anything and everything that was published under his editorship. Mutants and people with supernatural gifts turn up in many Timely stories, but if they were of any influence on Lee’s later writing, it was because they represented themes that were common in all of popular culture in that period. What we can learn from them is what Stan Lee was like as a writer. Some of his traits from the ’40s return if we look through his output in the ’50s. But a couple of new tricks are added to his repertoire, as well.

Is That Dorothy’s Auntie Em They’re Talking About? The last page of “Love ’Em And Leave ’Em” from Actual Confessions #13 (Oct. 1952), actually the first issue. Pencils by Werner Roth; inker uncertain. Thanks to Dr. Michael J. Vassallo. [©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Stan Lee’s byline in the horror books doesn’t begin to appear until early 1952. He starts out slowly with about five horror stories each month, but by the end of the year he is writing at least double that. At the same time his output for the dumb-blonde titles remains roughly the same. So either he was not signing some of his stuff before that, or he was busy doing something else.

The Pre-Silver Age Writing Style Of The Marvel Spearhead

And Here’s To You, Mr. Robinson! Jerry Robinson started out as Bob Kane’s assistant on “Batman,” and graduated to newspaper comic strips—but in between he was clearly one of the artists Stan Lee liked to work with during the ’50s, as per the above pages from Uncanny Tales #3 (Oct. 1952) and Mystery Tales #17 (Jan. 1953)—plus the first and last pages of a Lee-Robinson entry from Suspense #29 (April ’53, the final issue). Thanks to Dr. Michael J. Vassallo & Ger Apeldoorn. [©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Stan Lee In The 1940s And ’50s

Around that same time in early ’52, Hank Chapman abruptly stopped writing horror comics.. Stan Lee once told an interviewer that Chapman complained to him that he couldn’t sleep, because the horror stories invaded his dreams. That’s also the plot of a Chapman story in Astonishing #4 (June 1951), which was reprinted in Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Heroes, Vol. 1. A comic book writer is trapped in his own nightmares, after volunteering to write a horror story for his editor (who isn’t drawn to resemble Stan Lee). So maybe Chapman really did have trouble sleeping, and indeed most of his stories are driven by some sort of horrific image, which could very well have come from his dreams. Whatever the reason, Chapman moved on to the war books, where he would write some of the bleakest and cruelest stories Timely or anyone else published during that period. If he was prone to nightmares, he must have really been an insomniac by the end of the Korean War. The first horror stories signed by Stan Lee start appearing as a shift in the ratio of the cover date to the actual distribution date (a widening of the gap, so issues can stay on the stands longer) creates the need for a whole month of extra “spring” issues. Lee starts writing fast and he doesn’t slow down for a whole year. Between the cover dates of July ’52 and July ’53 he signs roughly 120 stories—not counting the teen humor books. That’s ten stories a month. They are distributed among all horror titles, but some trends make them stand out. Most of his horror offerings are either very short or very long. He

specialized in three-pagers. Most of these have a job number lower than some other tales in the same issue—which means they were written before the other scripts came in, not to fill a vacant space at the last minute. It’s always possible that he kept a record of the stories he had ordered, but another explanation is that such short stories simply fit his style. Many of these three- and four-pagers were nothing more than little illustrated jokes. Such as “Foolproof!” (#B-237), drawn by Russ Heath for Marvel Tales #110 (Dec. 1952): Slumlord Jack owns a building no one wants to rent. He tries to burn it down for the insurance. He figures out how long it takes for the police to arrive and plans to be trapped in the building himself, to make sure he isn’t a suspect. But when he arrives at the top floor of the burning building to phone the fire department, he realizes the phone in the building is a payphone... and he didn’t bring any change! A great sample of Stan Lee’s simple premises and great pacing. He actually shows Jack working out the amount of time he will have before the fire department arrives and pulls us into the story that way. Or “Crazy!” (#A-682), drawn by Jerry Robinson in Uncanny Tales #3 (Oct. 1952): A portly man decides to drive on after hitting a man with his car. When he arrives in a nearby village, he doesn’t understand why

What’s In A Name? (Left:) For some reason, Carmine Infantino didn’t sign stories he drew for Timely—even though Stan signed those he wrote with him, as per Suspense #24 (Nov. 1952). (Right:) But Joe Maneely usually signed his work, with or without Stan, and the one in Astonishing #9 (Feb. 1952) was no exception. Thanks to Doc V. [©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

The Pre-Silver Age Writing Style Of The Marvel Spearhead

The Devil, You Say! Another pair of splash pages by Infantino and Maneely. (Left:) The Devil may not appear on this Carmine-crafted splash page for Adventures into Terror #13 (Dec. 1952), but don’t worry—he’ll be here! (Right:) Joe goes East, in the 21st issue of the same mag, cover-dated (July 1953) Thanks to Doc V. [©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

everyone is looking at him and thinks they’re insane. But when he is dragged out of his car to be lynched, he sees they aren’t crazy... the body of his victim is still hanging from his front bumper. Even if the premises of these stories are very simple, Lee takes what little time he has to really introduce the reader to the characters. Sometimes he stretches the tales to four pages, giving the characters more room to breathe, as in “Rudolph’s Revenge!” (#B-637) in Mystery Tales #7 (Jan. 1953): Street-seller Rudolph Nubbs hawks neckties for 25 cents apiece. His big dream is to save up enough to buy a $20 suit from Charlie Flipool. When Charlie hears this, he sells Rudolph a suit for $19.75. Rudolph can owe him the last quarter. “Are you sure it is my right size?” “Sure it is! Don’t worry about that shoulder being higher than the other! The floor is uneven!” But when it rains, the suit shrinks while it’s still on him. He wants his money back, but Charlie says that it isn’t his fault if it shrunk. And he still wants his 25¢. Rudolph gives him a tie instead, which his friends don’t understand. “Rudy is so dumb he even gave Charlie a free necktie after the suit had shrunk!” Then they hear a shriek. Charlie has been suffocated by the tie. “What killed him?” “It ain’t my fault if the tie shrunk!” laughs Rudolph. This story, too, is drawn by Jerry Robinson, who in my opinion did

some of the best work of his career working for Stan Lee. Robinson may be best known in comic books for his work on “Batman” and his later partnership with Mort Meskin, but for a short period in the ’50s he drew these unrecognized little masterpieces that deserve a lot more attention than they receive. When Lee’s stories are longer, he uses the extra space to flesh out the backgrounds of his characters. He was the only writer working for Atlas who was allowed seven or even eight pages for his stories. He uses the extra pages well and displays a great sense of pacing in his storytelling. In the 7-pager “Boiling Point” (#B-234), drawn but not signed by Carmine Infantino for Suspense #24 (Nov. 1952), actor Roland Lester is thrown out of an audition—thereby showing us that he can’t get a job—before he decides to try modeling. He meets a pretty girl and tries to seduce her and con her out of all her money. It’s only then that the story actually starts. All these stories also illustrate another strength of Stan Lee as a writer. The main characters are usually quite unsympathetic. He often uses extra space to make them even more unsympathetic. In the Heath-drawn “Fright!” (#B-434) in Journey into Mystery #5 (Feb. 1953), in which the managing director of a lunatic asylum mistreats both the inmates and his wife, Stan adds a scene to show how cruel he is to his spouse, which makes the added plot twist that she has fallen in love with his flunky Kurt work even better, as seen in Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Journey into Mystery, Vol. 1. Naturally, both his wife and the maltreated inmates get their revenge in the end.

Stan Lee In The 1940s And ’50s

Stan Lee didn’t like vampires, werewolves, and ghouls as much as you would think. These traditional monsters feature in many of the Atlas horror books, but he himself wrote very few of those stories. When he did script them, he often tried to incorporate the fact that these legendary creatures were a bit hackneyed into the story, such as in one of his early tales, in Astonishing #9 (Feb. 1952), “Who Dares to Enter???” (#9368), a three-pager drawn by Joe Maneely: “Did someone mention a haunted house? ... Did I hear you snicker and laugh to yourself?? ... True, a dead house and dead tenants are things used by writers of eerie tales to entertain the masses! No one really believes in ghosts, or haunted corridors, or strange lights that come and go in a house that’s been deserted for over twenty years! Of course they don’t... but here’s the door... it’s open... well... Who Dares To Enter???” Stan did like one stock horror character, though... the Devil. He uses him in six of the Lee-scripted horror stories I have seen, and there may be more. This fits with his later use of the lord of hell, such as Mephisto in The Silver Surfer #3 (Dec. 1968). One of the best of Lee’s ’50s tales of this type is “Don’t Try to Outsmart the Devil” (#B-144) in Adventures into Terror #13 (Dec. 1952), which features art by Carmine Infantino: Mr. Murdock knows he is going to die but he doesn’t want to leave his gold behind.... On the grave of an evil man he says a

devilish incantation... and the Devil appears. Murdock offers his soul in return for everlasting life, but the Devil refuses. He already has the man’s soul, because of his deeds in the past. Two pages are spent retelling those deeds, but after that the Devil offers Murdock another deal. “I will grant your request if you will me your soul right now... before death!” Murdock agrees. “I want the gift of eternal life! Let my heart never stop beating!” The Devil asks him to lie down in a coffin to begin his rites... and the coffin is closed over Murdock, who will forever remain buried while his heart keeps on beating.

The Usual Suspects Lee apparently liked to work with Infantino, who by coincidence would become, from the latter 1960s through the mid-’70s, his rival as first editorial director, then publisher at DC Comics. Almost all the stories Infantino drew for Timely in the ’50s (unsigned, but in a very recognizable, detailed style) were written by Lee. They were some of Stan’s longest stories, too, with some of his most unsympathetic characters. If you’re surprised to see the same artists’ names pop up on story after story delineated here, don’t be. It’s not just that they represent the best of what Stan Lee wrote. As Timely’s chief editor, he could choose his own artists, and he kept coming back to the same talents.

Bet It Won’t Be The Jury That Gets Hung! The Heath-drawn “Gentlemen of the Jury” in Adventures into Weird Worlds #17 (April 1953) starts off like a crime story—but it quickly goes to hell. Thanks to Doc V., Anthony Gillies, Glenn MacKay, & Frank Motler, each of whom sent one or more of these pages. Thanks, guys! [©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

The Pre-Silver Age Writing Style Of The Marvel Spearhead

Three To Get Ready... For Horror Actually, Stan Lee wrote no less than three stories in Adventures into Weird Worlds #17—including the lead-off tale at left (with art that may or may not be by later comics publisher Myron Fass), and the one at right with Fred Kida, another favored Lee collaborator. Thanks to Glenn MacKay. [©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

There are numerous stories drawn by Joe Maneely, of course, who seems to have done no horror stories written by anyone else. Often Stan would fit the stories to Maneely’s strengths, as in “Sticks and Stones Can Break My Bones” (#C-789) in Adventures into Terror #21 (July 1953), wherein the artist gets to draw the Chinese Emperor who built the Great Wall to protect his state against the Mongol hordes. In Lee’s story the Emperor is a nasty man, whose head is eventually used to fill a hole in the wall when his ruthless demands kill one peasant too many.

Timely-Atlas’ most (retroactively) celebrated artists, such as Gene Colan, Joe Sinnott, Dick Ayers, Bernard Krigstein, Bill Everett, and Tony DiPreta. In Everett’s case it may be because that artist often wrote his own stuff. But why Colan, Sinnott, and Ayers didn’t rate more than one or two Stan Lee stories each, I don’t know. When I recently asked Dick Ayers if he remembered that as an indication that his work was less than highly valued, he didn’t recall. Which must mean it can’t have been such a huge issue.

There are also many stories by Fred Kida, an artist whose contribution to the early period of the Atlas horror and war books is often overlooked.

John Romita turns up five times illustrating Lee’s stories, including a lovely one about an inventor who can’t seem to do anything right, with this piece of typical Stan Lee dialogue: “The only thing you ever invented that was any good, was that new submarine of yours!” “It wasn’t supposed to be a submarine!” The tale, “Poor Wilbur!” (#C-016), was published in Astonishing #24 (April 1953).

Another favorite is Russ Heath, who draws some of the most gorgeous of Lee’s stories. Here’s a good one: “The Gentlemen of the Jury!” (#C-019) in Adventures into Weird Worlds #17 (April 1953): Nick Rico is a coldblooded killer. He shoots Gimpy Tuskak for squealing on him and escapes a murder rap because he has hired the best criminal lawyer in town. Now that he knows he can’t be convicted, he starts killing people left and right, but his lawyer gets him out every time. When he tries to rub out twelve men at once, his girl friend has had enough and summons the Devil to double-cross him. And the Devil grants her request... at the next trial the jury is made up of the ghosts of all the people he killed. Missing from the list of Lee’s most frequent collaborators are several of

Another artist Stan Lee liked to work with (and we have the artist’s word for it) is George Tuska. There’s always a hint of caricature in Tuska’s best work, which fit Lee’s stories quite well, even one unsigned story I am sure Stan Lee wrote, “The Dumb Slob!” in Strange Tales #12 (Nov. 1952), which was reprinted in Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Strange Tales, Vol. 2: The tramp steamer Emmy Lou has a new man aboard, the very dumb-looking Rufus (probably from the abandoned comic Rufus the Doofus). “How’d you ever get on his ship, Rufus?” “I jus’

Stan Lee In The 1940s And ’50s

Face It, Stan—You Hit The Jackpot! (Right:) Stan Lee and John Romita would become a slightly more memorable team beginning a quarter of a century later... but meanwhile they got in a bit of practice in Astonishing #24 (April 1953). Thanks to Dr. Michael J. Vassallo. [©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Mystery At Midnight—And Right Now (Above:) One of Stan Lee’s relatively rare 1950s collaborations with artist Gene Colan, from Astonishing #20 (Dec., 1952). Thanks to Tony Rose. [©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

walked up the gang-plank! It was easy!” “How many years ya got before the mast?” “I dunno... who’s he?” The crew kid him into climbing up the crow’s nest to look out for the edge of the ocean, so they won’t fall off. He warns them the edge is very close, but no one believes him. They put him in a lifeboat and tell him to row A Story To Wake The Dead back and stop any other boats (Right:) You can see the Lee-Tuska from getting too close. story “The Dumb Slob!,” mentioned in Naturally, as he rows away, the the text, in the second volume of Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Strange ship drops off the edge of the Tales—and the splash page of the Bill ocean. “Gosh! They’re sure ’nuff Everett-drawn “Zombie!” from Menace heroes! Every last one of ’em! Apart from the tone of the story and the dialogue, there is another reason why I believe Stan Lee wrote this tale. If you look at the job numbers on the list of stories he drew (see the Atlas Tales website, where I

#5 (July 1953) in numerous places, including the previous issue of A/E. Here’s the final page from that LeeEverett classic, with thanks to Doc V. The entire 11-issue run of Menace is slated for a Marvel Masterworks volume of its own, any day now! Thanks to Doc V. [©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

The Pre-Silver Age Writing Style Of The Marvel Spearhead

Situation Normal—All Fouled Up The entire 1953-55 run of comics starring The Human Torch, Captain America, and Sub-Mariner has been re-published in a trio of hardcover Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Heroes volumes—and Timely/Atlas’ three mid-’50s parody mags were covered in detail in A/E #86 (which see)—so here’s an ad drawn by Joe Maneely to draw attention to Snafu, the 1955 black-&-white satire mag entirely scripted by Stan Lee. This house plug appeared in Bunk, a photocaption one-shot that appeared between Snafu #2-3. Thanks to Ger Apeldoorn. [©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

have contributed both data and a short story description for every Stan Lee tale I could lay my hands on), you’ll see that Lee wrote his stories in bunches. Or else he gathered them up at the end of the week and logged them into the books all at once. Either way, you can see strings of job numbers all through the list. This is very handy, because it can help us predict that, e.g., job #A-771 (which hasn’t yet been recorded on Atlas Tales) was probably written by Lee, because the story before it and after it are. “The Dumb Slob!” (B-149) fits into this pattern; #B-147 and #B-148 are both written by Lee. After writing horror stories for a year, he decided to bring out a comic of his own. The first issue of Menace was published in March 1953. For

Ghosts And Monsters—Kiddie Style After the parody comics’ demise, Stan found solace in such titles as Homer the Happy Ghost (#10, Sept. 1956) and Melvin the Monster (#3, Nov. ’56); but of course these were echoes of Casper the Friendly Ghost and Dennis the Menace. When Stan started being a choice, not an echo, in the early ’60s, he’d become the founder of a new and enduring comic book empire. Maneely drew “Melvin,” and the “Homer” splash is probably by Dan DeCarlo, since a story about a witch named “Zelda,” a few pages later, sported the “by Stan & Dan” byline. Thanks to Bob Bailey. [©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Stan Lee In The 1940s And ’50s

the first seven issues, he wrote every story himself, and he assigned them to his favorite artists: Maneely, Heath, Kida, Romita, Everett (this time working from Stan’s scripts), Tuska... there are even stories by Sinnott, Colan, and Syd Shores. Around the same time, you see an influx of lesser artists in the other horror titles. Ross Andru is one of the better ones, but there are also a lot of newcomers who were just starting out or coming over from lesser-paying companies. People like Pablo Ferro, Bill Woromay, Matt Fox, and Al Eadeh were encouraged to work in their own weird styles. It seems that for a while Stan gave stories to anyone who came walking in.

preferred way of starting a story. (Few of the “Cap” stories in the three issues of his own 1954 mag begin in medias res, making it far less likely that he wrote them.) Many of Lee’s longer horror stories, for instance, don’t introduce the main problem of the story until page 2 or 3; up to that point, he’s just introducing the characters. One small negative indicator is that in one of the stories Captain America uses the word “through.” In all stories known to be written by Stan Lee during this era, he spells that word “thru.” If not crime or romance or even super-heroes, what genre besides horror and Westerns did occupy a great deal of Lee’s writing time during the first half of the 1950s?

After less than a year, around the same time he stops writing his other horror stories, Lee’s contribution to Menace comes to a halt. There’s one more Lee story in Menace #8—“The Face of Horror” (#D-325), illustrated by Russ Heath—and then nothing. This is almost a year before the Comics Code was installed, so that can’t be the reason. Apparently, something else had caught his fancy.

I believe it was the “Mad wannabes.”

Around the time he quit writing for Menace, the first of Timely/Atlas’ color parody comics appears, and it seems logical to assume he wrote many if not most of the stories in them. They display many of his writing sensibilities, and this would Go Mad, Young Stan explain the gap of eight stories a month in his output. It’s true, of This gap in Stan’s recorded output course, that none of the stories in could conceivably be explained by the Crazy, Wild, or the first run of Riot Thar’s Gold In Them Thar Comic Books! 1953-55 super-hero revival books, has his byline. But, only a year later, There were four stories in Apache Kid #18 (Feb. 1956) starring the title especially stories of “Captain America,” he did script almost the totality of hero—but Stan chose to script a generic 4-page filler, with art by Jay which John Romita has said he the three issues of the 1955 black-&Scott Pike. [©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.] believes Lee scripted, at least on white parody mag Snafu, Atlas’ occasion. Stan had, of course, guided answer to the magazine permutation the career of the Sentinel of Liberty in the ’40s after Simon & Kirby’s of Mad, and apparently had a lot of fun doing it. Snafu has a wild departure, and most of the ’53-54 “Cap” tales reflect Stan’s rampant anti“anything for a joke” tone that fits in nicely with Lee’s writing style. (I will Communist stance of that period (and of the early ’60s, for that matter). be looking into that title in an article I am preparing for a future issue of Upon perusing them, I doubt that he scripted them—or at least most of Alter Ego. Meanwhile, Timely’s trio of four-color parody titles was them. Still, four of the five “Cap” stories in the flagship anthology Young covered in A/E #86.) Men (#24-28) begin with splashes that occur in the midst of the action and thus pull the reader into the hero’s world. That’s definitely Stan Lee’s When the satire fad has come and gone, Stan’s name turns up on new

Life After Irma This example of Lee & DeCarlo’s unsold newspaper strip Life with Lizzie was printed in Bill Morrison’s 2006 book Innocence and Seduction: The Art of Dan DeCarlo. [©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

The Pre-Silver Age Writing Style Of The Marvel Spearhead

A Tip Of The Hatlo Hat? The “Howcum???” panel parody by Lee & DeCarlo from Riot #4 (Feb. 1956), and the “Why Izzit?” panel from either #5 or #6. Thanks to Ger Apeldoorn. [©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

humor titles such as Della Vison, Homer the Happy Ghost, and Melvin the Monster. This makes the total number of stories written by Stan (apart from Irma and Millie) all through the ’50s roughly about eight a month. Although he co-created the Black Knight title with artist Joe Maneely in 1955, his name appears on only the two stories in the first issue, and authorship of the remaining four issues is problematical. And then there are the Westerns. I have never been a fan of that genre, but fellow Timely-Atlas collector Tom Lammers tells me that Stan’s stories for these books are usually flat and often juvenile. Because he put his name on a lot of Western stories in the early ’60s, some folks seem to think he was particularly good or prolific in this area; but until he started dialoguing Western adventures drawn by Jack Kirby, he had added his byline to fewer cowboy tales than his total horror output in the early ’50s. Still, he seems to have had some flair for it. Will Murray wrote me that he assumes Stan may have written Western stories for Goodman’s pulps in the late ’40s, when most of the company’s pulp output was cowboy stuff.

Thar’s Gold In Them Thar Newspapers All through the 1950s, even while writing and editing comic books,

Lee kept trying to sell a newspaper comic strip. After My Friend Irma was cancelled, he worked with Dan DeCarlo on several new proposals. Life with Lizzie was a typical Lee & DeCarlo creation about a pretty, emptyheaded young blonde who works as a cashier at a movie theatre. In one of the sample strips she tells a customer there are seats inside, but she forgets to mention there are people sitting in them. These dailies look to be from around the same time as Irma—or earlier—but in his excellent book The Art of Dan DeCarlo Bill Morisson says they were done after Irma, so let’s not open that can of worms. In the last (revived) issues of Riot, the team did a panel feature, which was called “Humcum???” in #4 and “Why Izzit?” in #5-6. For these, DeCarlo adopted a style similar to that of Jimmy Hatlo’s newspaper panel They’ll Do it Every Time. Each consists of a set-up and a punchline, as per the samples printed above. The syndicates already had a Hatlo imitation, though, in Harry Shorten & Al Fagaly’s There Oughta Be a Law, so maybe it’s just as well “Why Izzit?” ended up in Riot. Lee had more luck with his next try, a strip created with his “favorite artist” Joe Maneely. Maneely had always been a talent who could tackle any genre. Working for Snafu and especially the later issues of Riot, he developed a more cartoony style that enabled him to finish a page in far less time. Always a consideration in those days. You can see it in a feature called “Naughty Georgie” in Riot #5, but it really gelled in #6 with “Pascal the Rascal,” a parody of Dennis the Menace. Both Stan and Joe realized they were onto something with “Pascal,” and they transformed it into Melvin the Monster, a blatant take-off on Ketcham’s very popular gag cartoon. Melvin ran for seven issues in his own book (though that final issue was abruptly retitled Dexter the Demon). Soon, Maneely was doing as much work in this style as possible. And it was in that style and genre that he and Lee elected to do their new strip attempt, Mrs. Lyon’s Cubs. It’s a gentle feature about Cub Scouts

Scouts’ Honor? Joe Maneely (at drawing board) and Stan Lee— flanked by display art for their strip Mrs. Lyon’s Cubs, and one of the dailies. Thanks to Ger Apeldoorn. [©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

Stan Lee In The 1940s And ’50s

and their parents; The joke itself but from the few is a turn-around samples I have from one they’d seen, it doesn’t done in My Friend Irma #6 (see seem to have any of below), with Irma Stan Lee’s waiting in the rain trademark wit. Or to meet her friend the acerbic Amber to give her characters of Melvin the back her umbrella: Monster. What it But, by adding does have is the a second character wonderful art of and making it less Joe Maneely, and intentionally that seems to have dumb, they’ve been enough to get made it more the strip up and human and running. The dates therefor more given for Mrs. funny. The same Lyon’s Cubs are can be said for all usually 1957 to of the 15-month 1958, but the run of Willie earliest strip I have Lumpkin. The seen is a Sunday for jokes are a bit February 1958. more mellow, and When Maneely although they are died in a tragic So How Come He’s Delivering The Mail On Sunday? not laugh-out-loud accident a couple of A Sunday page of Lee & DeCarlo’s Willie Lumpkin—and (below) the gag page from My Friend Irma #6 funny, it would be a months later, the (Dec. 1960) which may have inspired it. Thanks to Ger Apeldoorn. [©2009 the respective copyright holders.] strip I could see strip’s art was taken myself reading over by Al Hartley, every day. The only problem is that Lee and DeCarlo failed to create a and it kept running until later that year. In examples I have seen from the colorful cast of supporting characters among the many different people last months, however, the Cub Scout along his route. There is no grouch characters seem to have been replaced who doesn’t want him near his house, by one of their younger brothers, in a no desperate housewife who wants to desperate attempt to find some sort of lure him inside, or anything that kid’s-strip niche market. The jokes are resembles a recurring cast. There is a horrible, and Hartley’s art is pared boss at the post office, but he is too down to the barest essentials. It was reminiscent of Dagwood’s boss Mr. clear that this was not going to be Stan’s Dithers. Willie also has a friend called ticket out of the comics ghetto. Harvey, but Willie and his wife are too much like Hi and Lois. Near the end of So he went back to Dan DeCarlo the run, a young postal worker named and they tried a new strip called Barney’s Beat, about a good-natured Sterling is introduced, and he is a street cop. Although the responses from funny, fresh character, but by then it most syndicates were positive, they was probably too late. The strip ran didn’t manage to sell it. Publisher’s from December 1959 to May 1961, and unlike Mrs. Lyon’s Cubs it doesn’t Syndicate asked them to come up with seem to lose momentum towards the something similar that was not in an end. It just didn’t get enough papers urban setting. (See Bill Morrison’s 2006 for DeCarlo to continue doing it. Still, book Innocence and Seduction: The it’s a nice run, and I would certainly be Art of Dan DeCarlo for more on Barney’s Beat.) interested to see a collection of it. So the cop became a mailman named Willie Lumpkin in the small town of Glennville. I consider this the best of Stan Lee’s comic strip efforts (all later super-heroics aside). It uses the same dumb-answer jokes Stan and Dan had been doing for years, but the team added lots and lots of characters, and art-wise DeCarlo was at the peak of his capabilities. Take for instance the Sunday from March 6, 1960, printed above:

We The Jury So what did I learn from going through all of Stan’s early work during these last few weeks of research? Well, first, that you should really not take your comics in and out of their bags too often. Secondly, I came to the conclusion that Stan Lee was not a bad writer. In the last few years it has become commonplace in some circles to say that his writing before the super-

Of The Marvel Spearhead

hero explosion of the early ’60s was tired and hackneyed. Well, it wasn’t. Okay, he didn’t introduce new subjects to any of the genres he worked in. But he did write them in a very lively fashion and with an attention to character that seems lacking in the work of most of his contemporaries. At that time, most comic books were plot-based. At DC they even prided themselves on that fact. But a plot-based story doesn’t lend itself to readers who actually want to read their comics. It makes you flip through a story as quickly as possible to get to the twist ending. Lee’s stories are fun to read, because his characters are fun to read. Often he accomplishes that by making someone in the story really unlikable and adding one or two anecdotes to illustrate the point. This makes most of his stories longer than those of his fellow writers, but who was going to stop him? He also consistently used the best artists he could find, and that helped, as well. It is often said that Stan Lee brought soap opera to the super-heroes, but I don’t think that is true. He brought character to them, as is evident in his earlier work. Soap opera can be just as plot-based and gimmicky as any type of story. Stan Lee, when he was having fun, brought more to his work than relationship troubles.

Fifty Years And Counting—But Who’s Counting? (Above:) Over the nigh half-century of the selfstyled Marvel Age of Comics (and nearly seven decades of his writing career), Stan Lee has kept up the personalized, chatty approach displayed in this letter to reader Mike Touhey, sent on March 4, 1963. (Below:) And Stan’s still plugging away today, as his Amazing Spider-Man newspaper comic strip enters its fourth decade; it debuted on Jan. 3, 1977. The Sunday for Aug. 23, 2009, features no less than Spidey, MJ (who’s still married to Peter in this version, by Stan’s decision), Dr. Octopus, and a captive Wolverine! Pencils by Alex Saviuk; inks by Joe Sinnott. [©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

And that’s another thing: he seems to have written his best when he was having fun. When he was chasing a trend, such as in the Little Lizzie-style books of the late ’40s, he couldn’t breathe any life into his stories. And when he was restricted (or restricting himself) to four- and five-page stories for his Western books in the late ’50s, nothing sparkled, either. But for that brief period in the early ’50s when he was writing horror stories, he was ingesting them with a sense of fun and a lively spirit—as both a writer and as an editor. This lively spirit disappeared from the Timely-Atlas horror books, not when the Comics Code was installed, but when Stan Lee himself lost interest in them. And it returned when he started doing “mystery” stories again—this time with Steve Ditko. Ger Apeldoorn is a television writer in his native Netherlands. You can find his credits at the International Movie Database on the Internet. Many of his insights into Stan Lee’s style come from writing a play about Stan, Jack Kirby, and Joe Simon, which was performed at the British Comics Convention in Bristol, England, a couple of years ago. He would like to hear from American convention organizers who might like to see about producing this hourlong play in the US next summer. He can be contacted at gerapelde@euronet.nl.

Patricia Highsmith & The Golden Age Of American Comics by Joan Schenkar This article was written especially for Alter Ego by Ms. Schenkar, author of the new biography The Talented Miss Highsmith: The Secret Life and Serious Art of Patricia Highsmith, and is ©2009 by Joan Schenkar; all rights reserved. See ad on p. 40.

n the early 1970s, when the late, great comics historian Jerry Bails was still sending out queries to anyone who had ever been associated with the making of early comic books, he mailed a questionnaire to a woman living in a house by a quiet canal an hour’s

Highsmith & High Times Noted novelist Patricia Highsmith, on the cover of Joan Schenkar’s new bio—juxtaposed with “The Destroyer” splash panel from U.S.A. Comics #14 (Fall 1944). Highsmith reportedly wrote a number of “Destroyer” stories during her seven-year sojourn in comics, but it’s not known if this is one of them; even the artist is unidentified. Both scans supplied by Joan Schenkar. [Book cover ©2009 the respective copyright holders; Destroyer art ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

train ride outside of Paris, France. The woman to whom Bails addressed his query was a well-known American expatriate novelist. Most of her books had been made into films and European critics liked to talk about her as a kind of American Dostoyevsky. Bails’ questionnaire seems to have arrived in the form of a list—which is probably the reason why Patricia Highsmith (1921-1995), the Dark Lady of American Letters and author of such masterpieces as Strangers on a Train and The Talented Mr. Ripley, wrote back to Bails. There was nothing Pat Highsmith liked better than filling in a nice, orderly little list. As was her habit, she also used Bails’ query to establish a few misdirections: she gave the names of only a few of the many comics titles she’d actually worked on: “Black Terror” and “Sergeant Bill King” for the Sangor-Pines shop (Better/Cinema/Pines/Standard/Nedor); “Crisco and Jasper” for Fawcett; and some unidentified material for Dell Comics.1 But the truth of Pat Highsmith’s comics career was seven years longer and much stranger than the cursory answers she set down for Jerry Bails. Given her feelings for her long freelance career during the Golden Age of American Comics, the real miracle was that Highsmith chose to write anything at all on the subject. Like many people who wrote for the comics in New York City, Pat Highsmith was ashamed of her work. A couple of years before Bails contacted her, Vince Fago, who had been her wartime editor at Timely Author's Note: Jim Amash was my generous and extremely well informed guide to the Golden Age of American Comics—and Patricia Highsmith's secret comics career couldn't have been retrieved without him. Jim and the many members of the comics community who contributed to my research are acknowledged in The Talented Miss Highsmith. 1 Jerry Bails' listings of Highsmith's comics and non-comics work are incomplete, and Highsmith's novels are, in some cases, inaccurately represented and misattributed in his otherwise invaluable work.

Notes From A New Biography

What I uncovered about Highsmith’s relationship to the comics was so extensive and so surprising that I ended up devoting a quarter of her biography to the subject. This article is just a small indication of what I found: the lengthy, complicated, and much more specific history of Patricia Highsmith’s involvement in the Golden Age of American Comics is fully recounted in The Talented Miss Highsmith.

Talented Strangers Patricia Highsmith’s best-known novels are Strangers on a Train (1950) and The Amazing Mr. Ripley (1955) — both for their own virtues, and because they were made into noteworthy films. (Above:) Farley Granger and Robert Walker starred in director Alfred Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train (1951), in which two young men meet by chance and strike a devilish bargain to murder each other’s nemeses. Timely artist Allen Bellman has said that he always felt that Stan Lee (whom Vince Fago tried to fix up with a date with Highsmith) resembled Walker. The screenplay was by Philip Marlowe creator Raymond Chandler & Czenzi Ormonde. (Right:) Matt Damon starred in the 1999 cinematic version of The Talented Mr. Ripley, about a truly exceptional murderer. [Film materials ©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

Comics and had once tried to fix her up on a date with Stan Lee, also wrote to her in France. Vince was hoping to publish a book of his “hundred best comics” and, well aware of Pat’s celebrity, he was also hoping for her cooperation. Vince remembered Pat as very beautiful (which she had certainly been) and totally professional (she was always professional). Pat had come to Vince in the Timely office in the Empire State Building in late 1943 asking for work as a freelance writer, and she wrote many scenarios for Timely right up through 1946. One of the characters she wrote for was the same character Mickey Spillane had also worked on: the US Navy’s war-time human killing machine, Doug “Jap Buster Johnson.” Another was the super-hero “The Destroyer.” But the kind of cooperation Vince Fago needed from Pat for the book he had in mind would have forced her to reveal the length of her involvement in the comics and, although Timely had always been her favorite “outfit,” she wrote Vince back from her house in Moncourt to say she just didn’t have time for the comics now. In a long life of interesting secrets, the one secret Pat Highsmith didn’t reveal was the fact that she had been the most frequently employed female scriptwriter during the Golden Age of American Comics. But like her birthday twin Edgar Allan Poe and his purloined letter, Highsmith kept her secret hidden in plain sight. And that’s where I found it fifty years later when I began to research and write The Talented Miss Highsmith: The Secret Life and Serious Art of Patricia Highsmith.

Remember Pearl Harbor? “Jap Buster Johnson” splash from U.S.A. Comics #14 (Fall 1944). Again, while Highsmith wrote for this dubiously titled wartime series, there is no certainty that she wrote this particular story; nor has the artist been identified. Scan supplied by Joan Schenkar. [©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

In December of 1942, Pat Highsmith, a 1942 graduate from Barnard College desperate for work, answered an ad for a “research/rewrite job” at the SangorPines comics shop at 10 W. 45th Street in Manhattan. It was something like the ad sixteen-yearold Everett Ray Kinstler would answer six months later when he was hired as a penciler for Cinema Comics at the same shop. Ray Kinstler, now a prominent portrait painter, had a “heavy teenage crush” on Pat and he remembered her very well. She looked, he said, “a bit like Katherine Hepburn. An American College Girl Type. I could have pictured her at Smith College.” He also remembered her drive for perfection:

Patricia Highsmith & The Golden Age Of American Comics

What Was Patricia Highsmith Like In Real Life? Three comic book stories specifically identified as having been written by Patricia Highsmith are the biographical “Catherine the Great” from Pines/Better/Standard’s Real Life Comics #18 (July 1944)... welterweight boxing champ “Barney Ross” (RLC #13, Sept. ’43)... and Capt. “Eddie Rickenbacker,” World War I flying ace (RLC #14, Nov. ’43). Art by August Froehlich (probably), Maurice Gutwirth, & Leo Morey, respectively. Thanks to Steven Rowe for his original assistance to Joan Schenkar, and to Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr., for these scans. [©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

Pat Highsmith, said Kinstler, insisted on always having “the best.” The writer Highsmith was hired to replace at Cinema Comics was Stanley Kauffmann—who went on to become one of America’s most prominent theatre critics. And the man who hired Pat for the job at Sangor-Pines was Richard E. Hughes, Ned Pines’ son-in-law and the creator of “Black Terror,” Sangor-Pines’ most popular super-hero. Hughes first employed Pat to research and write “real-life comics”—stories of Barney Ross, the Jewish welterweight boxing champion; Catherine the Great, Russia’s most advanced ruler; and the World War 1 flying ace, Eddie Rickenbacker—which she worked on during the year she had a fulltime job in the Sangor shop. Eventually she began to write for “Black Terror,” “Fighting Yank,” “Sergeant Bill King,” and a host of other characters battling the tidal wave of crime and foreign enemies that seemed to wash over so many comic book heroes during the Golden Age. Pat once told a lover that life “didn’t make any sense without a crime in it.” Writing for the crime-themed, criminally-inclined comic book industry of the 1940s—the only long-term “job” she ever had—must have seemed to her like compounding a felony. Bob Oksner, cartoonist and art director at Sangor-Pines in the 1940s, remembers seeing Pat at work on her scripts in the Sangor-Pines’ writers’

Notes From A New Biography

“genius.”) Dan Gordon drank. “One can see it in his face,” noted Pat, a drinker herself — and she flirted with him at work. He made her “feel like a 16 year old girl with Clark Gable,” and the remark about Gable means something: Gone with the Wind (1939) was her favorite movie. In 1943, Gerald Albert, the twenty-six-year-old son of a smart lawyerturned-pulp publisher who sold his war-time paper allotment to Ben Sangor, got himself a job writing comics for Sangor-Pines a few months after Richard Hughes hired Pat. Albert thinks his job may have been part of the paper-supplying deal his father made with Ben Sangor. However it transpired, Gerry Albert found himself sitting in the writers’ bullpen at Sangor-Pines two seats away from a “tall, dark, serious, attractive, rather remote young woman [with] good features”—like everyone else who met her at this time, Albert emphasizes how “good-looking” she was—named Patricia Highsmith. Gerald Albert was not the only scriptwriter to find Pat attractive. Leo Isaacs, a freelance writer for Sangor-Pines, fell “passionately” in love with Pat and besieged her with sonnets—or so her journals indicate. Pat, interested in a clinical way in his emotions (but not in responding to them), took appraising notes on Mr. Isaacs’ psychology. Albert, who later became a psychotherapist (his leading questions in the office to Pat—“You seem sad”—annoyed her), says he somehow formed the impression that Pat “was a homosexual.” He never heard a word about it at the office, but thinks his feeling may have been prompted by Pat’s rather severe style of dress. Or by the “semi-masculine disdain for the feminine” which seemed to emanate from her. “But,” says Dr. Albert, “what I remember most is her ability to produce an enormous amount of material.”

War On Terror The splash of a Pines/Standard “Black Terror” story, from an issue whose number and date we don’t know – a sample of a major super-hero that was scripted by Patricia Highsmith, whether or not she wrote this one. Here, the Terror fights a whole lineup of doppelgängers, echoing aspects of Highsmith’s two most celebrated novels; and, of course, he also had a secret life as chemist Bob Benton. Art perhaps by Ken Battefield. Thanks to Joan Schenkar. [©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

bullpen. But the bullpen had other occupants as well; Pat was never alone there. Pat’s desk in the 7th floor Sangor-Pines office was flanked by four other desks, small ones; just big enough to set a typewriter on. They were placed about “6-8 feet apart” and four other writers were seated at them. Three of the writers were men, a Miss Taub worked somewhere else in the office, and, briefly, another woman scriptwriter also named Patricia (Patricia Cher) sat next to Pat. And so for a short time in an industry and an office where women were almost never employed, there were two women named Patricia sitting side-by-side, typing out scenarios for the comics. Coincidentally, doubling was also the theme of the comics stories Pat Highsmith was working on in the office—and likewise the subject of the novel (The Click of the Shutting; a book she never finished) she was taking notes for at home. Later on, space in the writers’ bullpen got tight and Pat was moved around the floor at Sangor-Pines. For a while she shared a corner with Dan Gordon, an illustrator and writer whom she regarded as an “intelligent artist.” (Her editor at Timely, Vince Fago, thought Gordon was a

The four other Sangor shop writers would come to the office, get their individual assignments from Richard Hughes—the assignments would be for different kinds of stories—and try to bat ideas around with each other, spinning out the time while they tested out their “gimmicks” or their story lines on themselves and on their typewriters. But Pat would come in and start typing—“Just like a machine,” says Gerald Albert, and he said it several times—the moment she arrived at the office. And she wouldn’t quit until it was time to leave. “As a producer of comics, she was a huge producer. And she was constantly producing stuff that was useful.” Pat stayed with the Sangor-Pines comics shop as a full-time writer for “a year.” And then she spent the next six years and more as a freelance comic book scriptwriter, sending back material from wherever she was in the world. And wherever she was and whatever else she was writing, Pat was also, as a rule, working on something for the comics. In June of 1949, resentfully crammed into the tourist class of an ocean liner on her first trip to Europe, Pat wrote scripts for Timely all the way across the Atlantic. Coming back from that same trip in October of 1949, this time in steerage on a freighter where only Italian was spoken, Pat, writing hard on her novel The Price of Salt, was also typing away on comics material for the Fawcett company. In Italy, in Mexico, in the South of France, in Germany, on trains and slow boats, Pat did the comics’ fillers, the scenarios, and the odd text story. The long lead time between the writing and the publication of most comic books made scripting for the comics a good job for a restless traveller like Pat Highsmith. She could write her scripts and scenarios and submit them in advance because the super-hero stories she was writing— the ones that had their own titles—were quarterlies, published only four times a year. Pines’ America’s Best Comics anthologized many of the stories Pat wrote, and it, too, was a quarterly until 1947. Pat worked on a variety of titles and stories for different companies, and she wrote in all the comics’ genres: “silly animal” comics, historical comics, “indeterminate comics material,” and romance comics (like Betty the Nurse)— which she predictably loathed. But the preponderance of stories she wrote were stories for super-heroes; super-heroes with Alter Egos. And her very

Patricia Highsmith & The Golden Age Of American Comics

Who “Ghost” There? Joan Schenkar quotes Highsmith’s records as listing work on such features as “Spy Smasher,” “The Ghost,” and “The Champion,” among others. (Left:) “Spy Smasher” appeared in Fawcett’s Whiz Comics as well as in his own title for several years. This splash—probably drawn by Charles Tomsey—is from Whiz Comics #68 (Nov.-Dec. 1945). Thanks to P.C. Hamerlinck … who adds: “According to my notes, besides ‘Spy Smasher,’ Highsmith also wrote Whiz Comics’ ‘Golden Arrow’ and ‘Lance O’Casey’ for Fawcett.” (Right:) From 1940-46 “The Ghost” was a mystical series in Standard/Pines’ Thrilling Comics, so chances are that’s the character referred to in Highsmith’s notebooks. This splash page (drawn by August Froehlich?) is from Thrilling #51 (Dec. 1945). It’s not known if this specific tale or the “Spy Smasher” one depicted was written by Highsmith. But—“The Champion”? Hard to identify. Worth/Harvey’s Champion Comics (later Champ Comics) sported a boxing feature called “The Champ,” but the mag went down for the count in 1943, soon after Highsmith entered the field. [Spy Smasher TM & ©2009 DC Comics; Ghost art ©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

first “professional” short story, “Uncertain Treasure,” published in August of 1943 eight months after she started working at Sangor-Pines, set the two-man pattern of paranoid pursuit and ambiguous escape which would come to define all her later novels. But it was a pattern she had first worked on in her comics scenarios, and every paragraph of “Uncertain Treasure” shows the influence of the plots, the situations, and even the primary colors of comic books. During the year Pat worked full-time at Sangor-Pines, the shop’s most prominent super-heroes were Black Terror and Fighting Yank. But because the Golden Age of American Comics was shining most brightly for young men, Gerry Albert, sitting two desks away from Pat at SangorPines, had no idea that Pat had been given super-hero stories to work on. The few women writers who found their way into the comics shops of the 1940s were usually assigned the kind of ancillary material Pat was also writing: the “silly animals,” the real-life comics, the “indeterminate comics material.” Perhaps with her love of reversing things (a characteristic of most of her fiction) Pat’s work on “silly animal comics” was a prompt for the vengeful, homicidal pets she created for her collection of short stories, The Animal-Lover’s Book of Beastly Murder—but her real concentration at Sangor-Pines was on super-heroes. (And while she was there, she worked for other comics companies on super-hero features like “Spy Smasher,” “The Ghost,” “The Champion,” etc.) Always aiming for “the best,” Pat pressed editors all over town for these assignments. Writing for super-heroes, even sublunary ones like The Black Terror, was about as good as you could get in the comics. Late in life Pat told interviewers, if she mentioned the subject at all, that she’d spent a few months after she got out of college writing comic book stories for characters “like Superman or Batman.” In the hierarchy of super-heroes, Superman was the first and the best; the model for the hundreds that followed. Black Terror, the character Pat was really writing

for, epitomized her worst fear: Black Terror was a second-rate super-hero. Pat, who only liked to associate herself with “the best,” always cited illustrious writers like Dostoyevsky, Proust, and Henry James as inspirations for her work. But Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment and Henry James’ The Ambassadors were not the only fictions working away in Pat’s imagination while she was making up Strangers on a Train, The Talented Mr. Ripley, et al. Hundreds, probably thousands, of comic book scenarios dramatizing the escape from one identity to another—and the uncomfortably yoked lives of Alter Egos—had already passed through her mind and left their indelible tracings. The inspiration that made a “hero” of a conscienceless killer like Tom Ripley in 1955, and Alter Egos of the high-minded architect and the sodden, psychopathic spawn of a rich man in Strangers on a Train in 1950, was one of the distinguishing marks of Patricia Highsmith’s imagination. But that imagination—the imagination of one of America’s most unusual novelists—had not only grown up with Dostoyevsky and Poe, Proust and James and André Gide; it had also been infused for seven long years in a crucial atmosphere she never acknowledged: the colorful tropes and quintessential Alter Egos of the Great American Comic Book.

Joan Schenkar is the author of the widely praised biography Truly Wilde: The Unsettling Story of Oscar’s Niece and of a collection of award-winning plays titled Signs of Life: Six Comedies of Menace. She lives and writes in Paris and Greenwich Village and has been a comics fan all her life, with the Golden Age her favorite era. Joan’s biography of Patricia Highsmith went on sale in early December of this year. [Photo ©2009 Laurence Parade.]

“An epic biography—vivid with Joan Schenkar’s concern for her subject— the mercurial, gifted, fascinating mystery novelist Patricia Highsmith. A big book… an awesome achievement.” —Patricia Bosworth Author of Diane Arbus, A Biography

The Talented MISS HIGHSMITH The Secret Life and Serious Art of Patricia Highsmith by Joan Schenkar St. Martin’s Press – December 2009 ISBN: 978-0-312-30375-4

Marvel Super-Heroes A Brief Overview Of The First Animated (More Or Less) TV Series Starring The Mighty Marvel Misfits by Stuart Fischer

he 1960s were a most complex decade in just about every field and endeavor. Politically, socially, culturally and more, they were a decade of change. A decade, also, that introduced some very innovative and challenging concepts, especially in the realm of music, movies, television, theatre, books—and comics.

Comics, just like books, theatre, movies, television, and music, are a reflection of their times, and the comic book medium was changing in the 1960s, just as so much else was. Comics are a reflection of ourselves, and Marvel gradually made its way to the front of American popular culture during the ’60s. Kids were reading Marvel’s comic books such as Fantastic Four and The Amazing Spider-Man, and soon, images of Marvel’s characters began to appear on T-shirts, board games, action figures, and toys. The TV networks noticed this, and so did that medium’s advertisers— with the result that, only after a few years after Marvel had re-invented itself from the old Timely and Atlas days, its comic book heroes who had broken new ground found themselves on television and thus in the cultural mainstream, as a result of having attracted such a strong following as comics heroes. The 1960s saw many colorful novelties and personalities that arose from music. Set against a pop culture filled with the likes of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Muhammed Ali, James Bond, and Star Trek, Marvel contributed an element that kids and even adults could relate to. What separated Marvel Comics under Stan Lee from other comics publishers of the day was something very special. Marvel’s super-heroes had powers that made them different from ordinary people and wore colorful costumes and led double lives to protect their true identities; however, they were seen not only as hyper-powered do-gooders, but also as people you might pass on the street in real life, people you would never suspect as being anything other than what they appear to be. All of this story material not only made (and still makes) for good comic books, but it also made for good television programs and movies, and producers and screenwriters were savvy enough to realize this. Marvel’s first foray into television was a 1966 syndicated package of cartoons which ran on local television stations and consisted of five Marvel Super-Heroes: Captain America, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, and Sub-Mariner. (Fantastic Four and Spider-Man would follow, on ABC-TV, in 1967.) Marvel Super-Heroes was programmed Monday through Friday and was aired in the early evening, where it became a hit, behind its colorful

Okay, Mr. Nielsen—Here We Come! The above ad for the Marvel Super Heroes show appeared in all Marvel comics with a November 1966 cover date opposite this Bullpen Bulletins paragraph written by Stan: “It won’t be long now before our swingin’ super-heroes make their star-studded debut on TV, appearing five nights a week—that’s right, five—count ’em—five nights a week, for a half-hour each night! So, you’ve just got time to make sure your set’s in good working order—check your local paper for time and station—and prepare to have a ball!” If this seems a relatively soft sell for Super-Salesman Stan, it’s partly because the full-page ad was on the facing page—and besides, he’d written a similar but longer notice the month before as an “official scoop.” Thanks to Barry Pearl. [©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

theme songs—the most memorable of which, surely, began: “When Captain America throws his mighty shield….” The series started in ’66 and ran for a few years in the syndication market (off-network). It was the result of a collaboration between Marvel and two television production companies: Krantz Films and Grantray-Lawrence. Krantz Films had been founded by Steve Krantz (1923-2007), whose full name was Stephen Falk Krantz, husband of bestselling author Judith Krantz. Born in Brooklyn, NY, Krantz had graduated from Columbia University. Something of a pioneer animation production company when it first started producing TV cartoons in the 1960s, Krantz Films provided shows to both the major networks and to the first-run syndication market. The firm’s first big successes were Marvel Super-Heroes and, a year later, Spider-Man.

The First Animated Series Starring The Mighty Marvel Misfits

“WATCH MARVEL SUPER-HEROES ON TV” (Right:) Appearing at the bottom of a number of story pages in all Marvel issues cover-dated Nov. & Dec. ’66 and in some (but not all) dated Oct. ’66 and Jan. ’67 were alternately red or green elongated boxes sporting the above exhortation. Ye Editor recalls being told at the time that the arrows next to them were left blank so that the call letters/numbers of a TV station in a given area that carried the series could be added at the printers, keyed to the geographical area to which a particular batch of copies was to be sent. All the arrows in Roy’s own bound volumes (see top sample) are devoid of text—he presumed, because the copies shipped to the Marvel offices weren’t keyed to any specific region. But he had never checked to see if there was relevant data printed in those arrows in copies that people bought off the stands—and, informally asking about, he didn’t run into anyone who had a comic whose arrow featured station information— —until the intrepid Barry Pearl set himself the task of scouring through a four-month run of his own collection. Initially he found nothing but blank arrows, then suddenly discovered that some of his Dec. 1966 comics had exactly the kind of info Roy remembered. The second scan at right is from the final story page of Barry’s copy of The Avengers #35, and features the call letters (“WOR-TV”) and channel number (“9”) of one of New York’s largest nonnetwork stations. Since then, Barry’s fellow Yancy Street Ganger Nick Caputo has found WOR-TV mentions in his own Oct.-to-Dec. copies of Journey into Mystery (starring “Thor”), but nowhere else—while Mike Costa reports finding one listing for Detroit’s CKLW-TV, channel 9—and Tim Stroup’s own copy of Avengers #35 contained a reference to “WGN-TV…9” and “Chicago,” with an earlier one in #33 (Oct.). Thanks a heap, guys! Roy was beginning to think he’d dreamed the whole thing about the arrows’ original intention—which clearly proved too difficult to implement fully. [©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Krantz Films was the business end of the shows that it produced. The actual production work for Marvel Super-Heroes (and later for Spider-Man) was provided by a small West Coast animation company called Grantray-Lawrence. It consisted of three men, who were artists and animators: Grant Simmons, Ray Patterson, and Robert Lawrence. The shows they produced were all done for Krantz Films, and they had a talent for keeping production costs low. In the late ’60s the two companies together would also produce Rocket Robin Hood (a futuristic look at Robin Hood and his Merry Men) and Max, the 2000-Year-Old Mouse, an off-network show which was a combination of comedy and education, starring a rodent who provided plenty of information for those who hung around long enough to listen. They would also do Professor Kitzel, another syndicated effort that blended humor with a bit of educational material.

But it all started with…

Marvel Super-Heroes (Monday – Friday, 7:00-7:30 PM, WOR-TV, NY) Producer: Krantz Films in association with Grantray-Lawrence Animation,Inc. Distributor: ARP Films Debut:

9/2/66 (first debut in US) 9/19/66 (on WOR-TV, NY)

Component Series: Captain America, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, The Mighty Thor, Sub-Mariner This animated series, Marvel Comics’ first foray into television, was actually five different animated series under one umbrella title. Each super-hero was on in a half-hour time-slot on a different day of the week… and each had its own distinctive theme song. This show was probably the most faithful of any other-media versions of Marvel characters, because each episode was actually adapted from the

Grantray-Lawrence went out of business at the end of the 1960s. While Krantz Films later produced live-action movies such as The Weakest Sex in 1968 and Strange Paradise in 1969, the company’s greatest success came when in 1972 it produced the groundbreaking animated feature Fritz the Cat, directed by Ralph Bakshi and bringing to life the underground cartoons of Robert Crumb; it was the first X-rated animated film in history, and succeeded beyond anyone’s wildest dreams.

Don’t Touch That Dial—Or Thor Will Cream You With His Hammer! You had to turn the comic sideways to read it, but this full-page ad for MSH faced the Bullpen Bulletins page in all Marvel mags cover-dated Dec. 1966. Thanks to Barry Pearl. [©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Marvel Super-Heroes

A Bit Of Shield-Slinging (Left:) The Captain America title image from “his night” on Marvel Super-Heroes. These “screen captures,” made especially for A/E by Brian Saner Lamken, may be a bit fuzzy—but wadda you expect when you take a picture off a TV screen? We’re just glad we’ve got ’em at all—and our thanks go out to Brian, who several years back was the editor of the TwoMorrows mag Comicology. (Below:) Iron Man, Cap, and Thor together in a scene from a Captain America episode clearly based on an early issue of The Avengers. By then Shellhead and Goldilocks had starred in enough solo exploits to make up the first season of their solo series—but such a crossover, necessary as it was, probably added to the cohesion of the series. [©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

remind the public why this red-white-and-blue figure has come to symbolize America.

The Incredible Hulk

pages of the comics themselves, and put on the TV screen with dialogue and limited movement. Very limited movement—less “animation,” per se, than moving the camera around to give the illusion of motion. True animation was mostly reserved for the characters’ lips—and for the occasional flailing arm or leg. Yet somehow the series was effective for its time—perhaps because it had the added virtue of showcasing actual Jack Kirby artwork on the small screen, rather than the vision of a nameless TV animator. That’s got to count for something.

Captain America This hero is one of Marvel’s oldest and most important properties. Created by writing/drawing partners Joe Simon & Jack Kirby in 1941, when Marvel was known as Timely Comics, Captain America (real name: Steve Rogers) was a symbol of World War II and believed strongly in defending the USA from any who opposed it. When he returned in The Avengers #4 in 1964 after (so goes the story) being frozen in a state of suspended animation since 1945, he felt like a fish out of water. While serving as a member of The Avengers along with Thor and Iron Man, he strove to find a new place for himself in a world that had moved on for two decades since his disappearance. As it happened, his greatest wartime foe, the ultimate Nazi known as The Red Skull, had also survived World War II, and they were destined to clash again, early and often. Though the 1944 movie serial Captain America bore little resemblance to the comic book character, and a 1990s low-budget movie was deemed all but unreleasable, a big-budget film now in the works may

The Hulk is a variation on Mary Shelly’s classic novel Frankenstein crossed with Robert Louis Stevenson’s novella The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. But the two-characters-in-one in the Marvel concept are Dr. Bruce Banner, a brilliant scientist, and a green-skinned, super-powerful man-monster that men call the Hulk, their duel personality a result of a 1962 gamma-bomb explosion. The plots revolve around the complex double life Banner leads, and his two identities are completely opposite. Only their teenage friend Rick Jones knows their secret during the early years. The Hulk fights a wide variety of bad guys, ranging from evil human beings to rampaging monsters. In between, Banner desperately tries to find a cure for his condition. He changes into his other identity only when he gets angry; it is rage that drives the Hulk. When that rage subsides, he reverts to his human form, and usually Banner has little memory of what has transpired when he was the Hulk. Of course, the Hulk is now known to the public through the 1970s TV series The Incredible Hulk starring Bill Bixby and bodybuilder Lou Ferrigno and a pair of 21st-century films, but in the 1960s all this was still to come.

Iron Man Iron Man is actually Tony Stark, a millionaire businessman who runs a huge corporation called Stark Industries, and who is also a playboy and a very innovative inventor. In his Iron Man armor, he uses supertechnology against his enemies; his metal suits contains virtually all weaponry that a scientist or inventor could imagine. He battles a wide variety of villains, ranging from those who use technology for evil as well as those who try to steal Stark Industries’ secrets and sell them to the highest bidder. [Continued on p. 45]

Three’s Company Title cards for the Hulk, Iron Man, and Thor nights. By the time the first season of Marvel Super-Heroes was over, despite episodes adapted from stories drawn by Don Heck and Gene Colan, as well, Kirby-style images had been forever and indelibly branded in young viewers’ eyes and minds as the way a super-hero looked and acted. And that, in Ye Ed’s humble opinion, is pretty much just as it should be. A lot of the stories weren’t too shabby, either. Thanks to Brian Saner Lamken for the “screencaps.” [©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

The First Animated Series Starring The Mighty Marvel Misfits

Sub-Mariner Sidebar: One thing that kept nagging at A/E’s editor during the preparation of this article was the situation re The Sub-Mariner. Since in 1966 Namor had only been a solo star again for a couple of years, there was a shortage of the Atlantean’s adventures to choose from, even after FF Annual #1 was adapted with The X-Men subbing (pun intended) for Reed and company—and X-Men #6 (July 1964), in which Namor and Dr. Doom were guest-starred, was likewise rung in. I have vague memories of working at the office to come up with at least one TV plotline for SubMariner, the idea being that the new tale had to be capable of utilizing mostly art from already-existent Tales to Astonish epics. But I don’t recall any story elements I worked with, or whether or not my offering made it in any form to that small silver screen. So I sent out a call to some of the knowledgeable comics fans, researchers, and historians who dwell in cyberspace, and received (along with a full list of MSH episode titles from Barry Pearl) the following informative comments: Will Murray: “I have a distinct recollection that either a ‘Sub-Mariner’ or ‘Hulk’ story ran on TV months before it appeared in Tales to Astonish circa #86-87. Might have been the Subby ‘Stalker from Space’ story. Also, did you know that Boston WNAC-7 ran MSH with a live-action Captain America introducing the episodes? These bumpers evolved into a series of sorts. Jerry Siegel scripted these.” Nick Caputo: “[There were] quite a few new ‘Sub-Mariner’ stories. One called ‘Peril from the Surface World’ (which you can see on YouTube) features a recap of Subby’s origin and includes a mysterious elderly woman who turns out to be…no, not Betty Dean, but Captain MacKenzie’s mother, in effect Namor’s grandmother. I suspect you may have been involved in that one.

“Doug Wildey and, I think, Mike Royer did art for the show… By the way, I was a wee lad when the MSH shows premiered on New York’s Channel 9 in 1966, so it’s a guilty pleasure of mine. At least it taught me how to pronounce ‘Sub-Mariner.’” Nick ads that “Mike Royer (better known for his work on Disney’s Winnie the Pooh [and earlier for his inking of Jack Kirby’s “Fourth World” titles at DC]) worked on these Marvel cartoons for GrantrayLawrence straight out of high school and has told us that among his bosses was Doug Wildey. Much of Mike’s art is identifiable in the inbetweens or sequences not based on the comic art. In fact, according to Royer, Marvel sent the animation studio a ton of their original early comic art to utilize for the animated show. When Grantray-Lawrence went under, it was still there the night before the sheriff came to lock up the building. Probably all got dumpstered.” Brian Saner Lamken, after watching “both parts” of the abovementioned “Peril from the Surface World,” said “the episode did have a heartwarming, nostalgia-retconnish touch I could see being your handiwork. [By the way,] The Avengers appeared in ‘The Origin of Captain America’ at least.” Which brings up the little matter that Captain America, too, was new to Silver Age solo adventures—but perhaps several other Avengers storylines were also folded into his segments? —Roy Thomas

Sunken Treasures The Sub-Mariner title card—plus a couple of extras: (Left:) A penciled but never-used splash drawn by Namor creator Bill Everett for a late-1960s issue of Tales to Astonish (probably around #98 or #99, following a Plunderer storyline). Thanks to Nick Caputo for spotting this gem in the Stephen Fischler Bill Everett Comic Art Gallery Room on the comicartfans.com website—and congrats to Stephen, owner of Metropolis Comics in New York City, for sharing this forgotten but fabulous artifact with those of us who believe there’s never nearly enough Everett artwork to go around. [©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.] (Above:) It’s well known nowadays that circa 1954-55 there were serious negotiations concerning a live-action Sub-Mariner TV series to compete with George Reeves’ Adventures of Superman—and that Namor was to have been portrayed by Richard Egan, a minor star (and major hunk) of the era. Cartoonist and A/E enthusiast Jay Piscopo, who’s graced these pages with several “maskot” illos in the past, transformed a studio portrait of Egan into a pulsatin’ pic of the awesome Atlantean. We’d like to think the TV folks would’ve done as well, had things worked out. If so, at least Marvel wouldn’t have received letters from irate if uninformed readers in the late ’60s that accused Prince Namor of ripping off Mr. Spock’s ears!

Marvel Super-Heroes

[Continued from p. 43] When Stark dons his armor, he can fly at great speed, shoot repulsor rays capable of smashing solid objects to bits, and perform any mechanical task one needs. His Achilles heel is his weak heart. In fact, he is kept alive only by devices within his metal chestplate. Despite this, he keeps up his playboy image when he isn’t battling to keep the world safe. Since the MSH series, Iron Man has returned to television in yet another syndicated animated series in the 1990s… and in a hit film starring Robert Downey, Jr., in 2008, with a sequel in the works.

The Mighty Thor Marvel Comics did something very innovative when they first published “The Mighty Thor” in 1963 (in Journey into Mystery #83). With the aid of his brother Larry Lieber, who scripted from Stan Lee’s plot, and with art by the incomparable Jack Kirby (inked by Joe Sinnott), Marvel developed the Norse thunder god Thor into a modern-day superhero with limitless power, great intelligence, and the ability to command the natural elements, which include thunder, lightning, and rain. He also has an unbeatable weapon, his Uru hammer. At the time of the MSH series in 1966, Thor would fight powerful villains that only a god could fight… then revert to his human identity of Dr. Donald Blake, a physician who walked with the aid of a cane (his hammer in disguise)… and whose devoted nurse Jane Foster was, of course, in love with the good doctor. When Thor was needed, either by his father, the supreme Norse god Odin, or by humanity, Don Blake stamped his cane on the floor and he would become The Mighty Thor. As the blond-tressed thunder god, he divided his time between Earth (Midgard) and Asgard, the abode of the gods… and was torn by his love for Jane, and his father’s decree that he could never wed a mortal. At present, a major live-action Thor film is nearing completion.

Sub-Mariner Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner, was created in 1939 by artist/writer Bill Everett for Timely Comics (now Marvel), in the pages of Marvel Comics #1. He is an undersea prince with fantastic strength, able to fly (somehow) by means of tiny wings on his ankles. As revived and slightly altered by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in the 1960s, he dwells in Atlantis (his sunken homeland earlier had no name given) and powerfully resents the human race (“surface-dwellers”) for a whole slate of real and imagined wrongs. Namor’s mother is Atlantean, his father an American. His love interest in the 1960s, the period of the MSH series, was the Lady Dorma—a character who in the 1940s and ’50s had been depicted as his cousin. Namor has the Caucasian flesh-tones of his father, while other Atlanteans have a blue cast to their skin. At the time of this series, he was appearing monthly in Tales to Astonish, a title he shared with the Hulk. Because until 1964 Namor had been primarily a recurring supporting character (and a quasi-villain at that) mostly in the pages of Fantastic Four, there were fewer “Sub-Mariner” tales to adapt than there were of the other four heroes, with the result that one episode had to be adapted from Fantastic Four Annual #1 which had guest-starred the sea monarch—but with The X-Men standing in for the unlicensed F.F. (And see the sidebar on the preceding page.) While no live-action Sub-Mariner movie has been released to date, one has been announced now and again… and if the Marvel filmic hits keep coming, it seems only a matter of time…. Stuart Fischer is a former advertising executive, former studio executive, and former agent. In the latter role he represented the likes of Hanna-Barbera, Ruby-Spears, Titus Productions, and First Comics, among others, including writers and properties for character licensing. He is also an author and responsible for Kids’ TV: The First 25 Years, including a second edition, as well as various articles for trade publications.

Maybe That TV Show Should’ve Been Called The Avengers! This half-page ad (we’ve left off the still-incomplete list of relevant TV stations) appeared in all Marvel mags for Jan. 1967, with all-Kirby images. After that, despite a few mentions in Bullpen Bulletins and letters pages, there were no more display ads in the comics. Whether these were “paid ads” or part of the deal between Marvel and Krantz/Grantray-Lawrence, we couldn’t say. Even if some money changed hands, it was doubtless at a reduced rate. Thanks to Barry Pearl. [©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

I Wrote Over 800 Comic Book Stories” LEON LAZARUS (And His Wife MARJORIE) On Timely/Marvel In The Late Golden Age

Conducted and Transcribed by Jim Amash

NTERVIEWER’S INTRO: Leon Lazarus [1919- 2008] was an assistant editor for Timely Comics from 1947 until 1950, working primarily on their humor and teenage books. In addition, he wrote a fair number of features [“Kid Colt Outlaw,” “Black Rider,” Millie the Model,” “Tessie the Typist,” “Patsy Walker,” “Hedy De Vine,” etc.] during that time, continuing on until 1957. He also wrote for ACG, Joe Simon & Jack Kirby, Ziff-Davis [“G.I. Joe” and “Kid Cowboy”]. When the comics work dried up, Leon turned to writing for Martin Goodman’s Magazine Management for many years, returning to the newly christened Marvel Comics for a single “Giant-Man” story in 1964.

Leon was part of a family of comic book professionals. His wife Marjorie also wrote text pages for Timely in the 1950s, and was of great help in this interview, remembering some things that Leon didn’t, and supplying us with photos. His brothers Harry and Sid wrote and drew for several companies. In addition to that, Harry holds a number of patents on various inventions. I wish Leon had lived to see this interview printed, but his memories of his times live on and, thankfully, we are able to share them with you now. —Jim.

Lazarus Times Two Leon & Marjorie Lazarus in 2005—above art from two stories Leon wrote for Martin Goodman’s publications in the mid-1960s. Photo courtesy of the Lazaruses; forwarded by Jim Amash & Teresa R. Davidson. (Left:) Splash page from Tales to Astonish #64 (Feb. ’65). Art by Carl Burgos & Paul Reinman; repro’d from Essential Astonishing Ant-Man, Vol. 1—although by then Hank Pym had added two letters to his name and thirty feet to his height, to become Giant-Man. (Above:) A double-page title spread from Stag, Vol. 15, #7 (July ’64), with art by Bob Schulz; thanks to Rodrigo Baeza. [Stag art ©2009 the respective copyright holders; “Giant-Man” splash ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

“I Wrote Over 800 Comic Book Stories”

The Way We Were Marjorie writes: “The picture of Leon was taken in 1946, age 27, and the one of me in 1945, age 23.” This is how the happy couple looked as they entered married bliss and the postwar world.

“I Was Always Interested In Writing” LEON LAZARUS: I was born in the Bronx, Aug. 22, 1919. Sid was the oldest brother (born March 12, 1912), then Harry came along (Feb. 22, 1917), and I was the youngest. Sid passed away in 1973, I believe. I was always interested in writing. I loved to read, even as a four-yearold child. Sid encouraged me to read. I asked him to help me learn how to read, which he did, before I entered the first grade. In the fifth or sixth grade, I won an essay-writing contest and won a box of hard candy. That was a great incentive and gave me the idea to become a writer. I used to go to the library every day and read books in the reference room where the high schoolers were, even though I was much younger than they were. My brother Sid was working for Parents Magazine [company] on a feature called “Marco Polar Bear.” He also worked for DC. This was before the war. Sid had a family and wasn’t drafted, but I was unmarried and the sole support for my parents, who were already in their 60s. I wanted to get into the service. My friends were in, and I wasn’t patriotic-crazy, but I felt I could serve. I wasn’t there the first day the war started, but I went when I was called. In 1942, I was drafted into the Army. It was there that I decided I was going to make writing my career. I was in the radar department, which was a highly secret department during the Second World War. The Signal Corps wanted to do a film on radar, and I was asked to write about the importance of radar. I was in Italy at the time, training people how to use radar. A Signal Corps colonel told me that they were happy with what I did and would put my name on the film, which I never did get to see. Right after that, I was honorably discharged from the Army; this was 1945. JIM AMASH: What did you do when you came home? MARJORIE LAZARUS: He married me [in May 1946]! [laughter] Not to take away from Leon, but he wrote some articles when he got home, one of which was for The New Yorker.

“Timely Had Trouble With Their Proofreaders” LEON: It was about soldiers returning home from the war. They didn’t publish it, though, because they only wanted factual stories and I had

written fiction. They asked me to write something else, but that didn’t get published, either. As it turned out, I didn’t get into the magazine field until after I left comics. My older brothers were artists and were doing comic books for a living. I had to make a living, and my friend Bob Landers was working at Timely as an inker. I had good penmanship and decided to give lettering a try. I had done some jobs lettering on blueprints, so Bob said, “If you can do that, you can letter comics.” He gave me advice on doing samples, I did them, and got a staff job at $40 a week. Then I starting thinking, “I can write this stuff.”

Dave Berg was an editor there at the time, and he was also a good cartoonist. He was handling the teenage books, and he wrote and drew stories, too. He had a good sense of humor. I was only there about three weeks when I asked if I could submit a writing sample to him. He said, “Okay, kid, but remember, this may look easy, but it isn’t easy.” I wrote a story outline. Dave liked it and said, “Go take a crack at it.” I wrote it and they bought it. I don’t remember the character, but it was a teenage feature. Then they took me out of the lettering department, and made me the associate editor to Don Rico. I was making $60 a week now, not including my writing, so I was making about a $100 a week total. That was good money then. All the freelance writers, no matter who they were, got the same page rate. I know this for sure because I made out the vouchers when I was an associate editor. The rate was about $7 a page. JA: Who hired you to be a letterer? LEON: Gary Keller. He was in charge of the production department; gray haired... he was an old guy. Timely had trouble with their proofreaders, so I was made an associate editor in order to look over their shoulders and check out their work. Don Rico was working with Stan Lee and Ernie Hart. Rico had drawn features like “The Sub-Mariner.” He may have written some of it, too; I can’t be sure now. Ernie Hart had done a book on German police dogs, and could draw as well as write. He was a nice guy, very slick-looking, with a good sense of humor. He was smart. We were on the 14th floor of the Empire State Building. The letterers were gathered together in the production room, away from the artists. In that room with me were many people, most of whom I don’t remember now. Mario Aquaviva was in charge of the letterers, but Artie Simek was over him. Artie was a tall, skinny guy, very nice and quiet, with a big Adam’s apple. He never pushed anyone around. He didn’t letter stories; he did logos. Don Rico and Ernie Hart divided up a number of titles. Ernie edited the crime books and Rico did the “Sub-Mariner.” I knew Rico because he was a friend of my brother Sid. They had worked on WPA art projects together. I was like a kid brother to Rico, who talked to Stan Lee about putting me in charge of the women who were proofreading. When I started writing, Dave Berg and Ernie Hart were my editors. But right after I became a writer, Dave Berg stopped editing. I think Al Jaffee replaced Dave Berg. Jim Miele was an editor there, too, but I don’t remember what books he did. There was a time when super-heroes fell out of favor with the buying public and more “realistic” comics became popular. Westerns and romance comics were big by this time. [A/E

Leon & Marjorie Lazarus On Timely & Marvel In The Late Golden Age

What About Bob? Bob Landers in 2002; photo courtesy of Mr. & Mrs. Lazarus. P.S.: Because DC’s records list him as “Bob Lander” (no “s”), his credits are listed under that name in the online Who’s Who of American Comic Books (1928-1999); but Jim Amash notes that the Lazaruses and fellow Timely artist Allen Bellman always used the name “Landers.” Thanks to Steven Rowe for bringing the disparity to our attention. At right: a splash page from the radio/TV-licensed Big Town #14 (March-April 1952), inked by Lander(s) over pencils by John Lehti. From a black-&-white Australian reprint, sent by Mark Muller. [©2009 DC Comics.]

EDITOR’S NOTE: Caricatures and photos of a number of Timely humor Bullpenners were seen in A/E #35, accompanying Jim Amash’s in-depth interview with Al Jaffee. It’s still available from TwoMorrows, so check it out—’cause we didn’t have room to repeat them here! End of plug.] JA: Do you remember the names of the proofreaders? LEON: Polly Schwartz was there. She must have been in her 60s, and was like the big “mother” in the room. Sometimes the guys would curse and she’d say, “Quit that, you boys.” She had a very good education, I think. A woman named Adele was there, too. [NOTE: Adele Hasan later married Harvey Kurtzman. —Jim.] I do remember Harvey, who was very good at what he did. I didn’t get to know him, since he wasn’t a staffer. I only did this for a short period of time. I started writing stories and they liked what I did, so I became an assistant editor to both Hart and Rico. I did some assistant editing for Al Sulman, too. I helped edit

When Super-Heroes Were Hot (Left:) Don Rico drew—and sometimes scripted—tales of Timely’s “Big Three” super-heroes (Captain America, Human Torch, & Sub-Mariner) in the postWWII years. It’s not certain when he did this color illustration of the original Torch, which was retrieved from the Heritage Comics Archives by Dominic Bongo; it was probably drawn in his later years. (Above:) Ernie Hart was the original writer/artist/creator of “Super Rabbit,” a feature which soon won its own mag. These panels are from his first exploit, in Comedy Comics #14 (March 1943); for this story’s splash, see A/E #35. [©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

“I Wrote Over 800 Comic Book Stories”

material and gather stories together for publication for these guys. We always had deadlines, and they had to be met or the books wouldn’t come out. Stan was the one who oversaw the schedules. Space was very precious. The magazine department was on another floor, so some editors were there. At times, things didn’t seem well organized. I did what was asked of me, and I wasn’t always aware of who was in charge of what title. [It seemed like the division of labor kept changing.] I remember one funny thing. I started in November 1947, and for Christmas, Martin Goodman gave everybody a turkey. I thought that was getting a gift pretty quick. At one point, things got tight at Timely and there was a cutback. Ernie Hart and Don Rico left. That’s when Al Jaffee became an editor. [NOTE: Al probably replaced Ernie Hart, though his memory on whom he replaced wasn’t clear. –Jim.] Al was the one I worked closest with. He trusted me more than [he trusted] the others. I would correct scripts and I sometimes came up with better endings when needed, in order to save a weak script. We got along very well. MARJORIE: Leon worked the same way with Al Sulman. Leon dealt more with the writers than Al Jaffee did. LEON: Maybe so, but I don’t like to say that. Al Jaffee was a very bright, clever cartoonist who was fun to work with. He had a lot of good ideas. I’d go over my rewrites with him; we were a good team. He treated me like an equal. He knew I was a writer who wanted to get out of comics. Comics was not a good place for a writer who really wanted to write. The artists got all the credit, and most people thought they wrote their own stories.

“I Remember…” JA: Al told me you rewrote the scripts rather than having the original writer do it. LEON: That’s true. Al really knew humor [and concentrated on those books]. I remember Ed Jurist, who later became very rich. He got into selling old automobiles in Nyack, NY. I remember he had huge signs up telling people not to touch the cars. Jurist had the same name as another guy who used to write for television and radio. [I didn’t know that Ed Jurist.] I thought he was one of the best writers at Timely. He also wrote

Girls, Gags—And Hints Of Greatness (Right:) This was hardly future Mad creator Harvey Kurtzman’s finest hour, but it’s still a pleasure to showcase this little-seen trio of gags from Miss America #7 (April 1945). Thanks to Ger Apeldoorn, who’s done several features on Kurtzman’s “lost” art for A/E. [©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

for the men’s magazines and knew how to hook the reader into the story. He wrote great openings. That was something I always tried to play with in my own writing. I remember Irv Werstein; I knew him very well. His wife couldn’t have children, so they adopted a child from Europe—a Jewish kid who had lost his parents in the war. Then his wife died young, and at the cemetery Irving collapsed from a heart attack and died on the day she was buried. Werstein was a little like myself in that he wrote comics, but that wasn’t his first love. He was about two years older than I. When he left comics, he went into the paperback field and must have written 35 or 40 books. He had a very good agent; the agent also represented Mario Puzo. In fact, I wrote about 250 stories for Puzo when he was in the men’s magazine department at Magazine Management. I remember seeing Mickey Spillane at Timely one day for some reason. I, the Jury had already been published. I don’t know why he was there, but I’m almost positive he did some comic work. He could have been doing some magazine writing, I’m not sure. I remember I used to call him at a bar in Newburg. He took his messages there. [laughs] I also remember that my brother Sid—who knew Mickey because they lived in the same town—had an idea to sell Mickey Spillane seat covers for cars. The covers would have had [simulated] bloodstains on them, but he couldn’t sell the idea. That was the big joke back then. Mickey was a good man; he had a lot of guts. Kin Platt wrote for us, but I don’t remember which books he did. A lot of people who wrote for us didn’t want people to know they were

Black Horse, Black Rider (Left:) Syd Shores drew all three of the title hero’s tales in Black Rider #24 (Sept. 1954)—but we’ve no way of knowing who scripted them, although Leon Lazarus reports that he wrote some “BR” stories. This splash is typical of the period—and of Shores’ considerable talent. [©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Leon & Marjorie Lazarus On Timely & Marvel In The Late Golden Age

doing it. People looked down on us for doing comics. They thought it wasn’t real writing. Some people wrote under other names, even though their names weren’t going to be published in the books, so there were people I may have known by a pen name rather than their real one. You might remember that Stan Lee used to have his name on a lot of stories. He had a little stamp with his name on it that he put on the stories so he didn’t have to sign his name. Of course, Stan Lee wasn’t even his real name. His name was Stan Lieber. Do you know what Stan’s idea of a good artist was? Stan said that he wanted the pictures to carry the story. It was a smart thing to say, because if the storytelling isn’t in the pictures, and you rely only on the copy, the chances are that the story won’t work. A lot of writers were radio writers; this was before television was big. You had to use your imagination when listening to a radio story [sound effects notwithstanding]. It was very hard to break into radio writing, and comics needed writers. But the radio writer was committed to voices and sounds, which is different than comic books. Some of these writers couldn’t adapt to writing comics; they didn’t understand that you should let the picture tell the story as much as you can. If you look at some of the old comics, you can see captions describing the art in the panel. That doesn’t work. JA: What was it like to work for Stan Lee? LEON: We got along well. Stan had his way of doing things, but we never had problems. We were friendly. But when the pressure was on, Stan had to do his job. I had a lot of respect for Stan. We didn’t go out to lunch together.... MARJORIE: Stan didn’t do that with anyone. He ate the same kind of sandwich every day, cream cheese and grape jelly. I think he liked to distance himself from most of the workers, from what Leon has told me. He was shy, but he could be tough when he needed to be. LEON: Stan was not the type of person to say things to hurt people. He built a team and managed it well. He was always available to his staff. We did get him to go out to lunch with us one day. We went to a barbecue place... Stan, Bob Brown, me, and a few other people. He had a good time and we got him to go out with us the next day. But by the third day, he was back to eating those sandwiches. Normally, I ate my lunch in the office. JA: Do you remember Hank Chapman, who wrote and did some editing? LEON: He lived in the Bronx. He took over my position after I left Timely, though he was there before Black Friday came around. He worked in a little office up front—it wasn’t much bigger than a large closet. Nobody ever saw him. He wrote a lot of stories in all kinds of genres; he was very prolific. His stories were unusual, and I remember that he drew a little, too. He broke down his scripts into panels, but he didn’t draw anything in them. He wrote the dialogue in those blank panels. He worked very closely with Stan. Hank had a lot of energy, and I think he was into other things, too, but no details come to mind. He was a hard worker who went about his business. He was a nice guy, but he didn’t make too many friends because he was off to himself. He read a lot of scripts. MARJORIE: Patricia Highsmith also wrote for the comics. LEON: Yes, I spoke to her on the phone. I was her associate editor for the comic books. She wrote romance stories. She was basically a writer who became famous for her crime stories. I only met her a couple of times, although it seemed she worked there for a while. She seemed to be a quiet, discreet person; a very intelligent woman. We mainly talked on the telephone. I say she was discreet because she came into Manhattan to deliver a script and would just lay it on my desk. Then we’d mail her a check. I guess she would mail her scripts in, too. When she wrote [the

The Timely Empire Dr. Michael J. Vassallo provided this photo of Leon Lazarus (on left) and fellow artist Pete Tumlinson—on Wednesday, Dec. 15, 1948—apparently punching in or punching out of Timely’s offices in the Empire State Building. The late Pete T. was interviewed in A/E #74—but never got around to sending us a photo of himself. [©2009 Dr. Michael J. Vassallo; no further reproduction is allowed without permission.]

novel] Strangers on a Train, she became a big success. I liked her writing, and so did Stan. Eleanor Roosevelt used to have a newspaper column called “My Day.” Once, she mentioned that she was on a train and read Strangers on a Train. She liked the book. The next thing you know, everybody went out and brought her book because Eleanor Roosevelt recommended it. MARJORIE: In the days when Patricia Highsmith wrote for Timely, the guys in the office would discuss whether or not she was gay. Highsmith did not really hang around the offices, but she made an impression on the men working there. [A/E EDITOR’S NOTE: See Joan Schenker’s article on Patricia Highsmith, which begins on p. 35.]

“‘Black Friday’” JA: What other writers do you remember? MARJORIE: I was one of the writers. I wrote 44 or 45 two-page text pieces. LEON: I wrote about 40 of them, too. The comic book stories I wrote included “Millie the Model,” “Patsy Walker,” “Hedy De Vine,” and “Tessie the Typist.” Some of those stories were fillers in other titles. Al Jaffee wrote the “Patsy Walker” stories that he drew. I also wrote some crime stories and Westerns. I wrote over 800 comic book stories. MARJORIE: I did the text fillers for Joellen Murdock in ’48 and ’49. She assigned text stories and did secretarial work. I also did some for Al Sulman, who took over the text-page job. I wrote for Sulman from June 1955 until March 1956. He was assigning them to me every week, but I was so busy raising a family that I just couldn’t keep up. I was running out of ideas, too. LEON: Joellen’s desk was behind mine, and Stan Lee‘s desk was on the

“I Wrote Over 800 Comic Book Stories”

Girls, Girls, Girls Hedy De Vine #25 (Feb. 1948) sported several “Hedy” stories, plus tales of “Millie the Model” and “Tessie the Typist.” Leon says that at one time or another he wrote all three of those series—though whether or not he scripted any of these particular tales is anybody’s guess. (Morris Weiss signed this “Tessie,” and he probably wrote it, as well as drawing it.) The title of the mag was later changed to Hedy of Hollywood. Thanks to Randy Howell for IDing the issue number of Ye Editor’s coverless copy. [©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

other side of the office. There was another guy named Schwartz in the office, but he worked on the magazines, not the comics. He was not a writer or an artist. Joellen came from Chicago. I know she was the only person who didn’t lose her job when the staff was let go in 1950. She was an editor and did some kind of writing. I believe she did some editing on their magazines, too. She didn’t edit comics, that I know. MARJORIE: I believe she was Goodman’s private secretary at some point, too. JA: I didn’t know you wrote text pages, so I have to ask you an ungentlemanly question. This information is for the Who’s Who. When were you born? MARJORIE: I was born March 21, 1922. I didn’t do any other published writing. I thought it would be fun to write the fillers. I had some ideas and they liked what I did. I got $10 apiece. I wrote many of them for the romance books, and some ghost comics and teenage ones, too. Millie the Model was one of them. I didn’t always know where the articles were to appear. I have an Al Sulman story for you. The writers used to come up on

Leon & Marjorie Lazarus On Timely & Marvel In The Late Golden Age

Fridays so Sulman could look over the scripts. He loved to make them wait. He’d sit in his office and look over scripts while the writers sat waiting for work. One time, he took a two-week vacation, and he had Leon take over. Leon looked over all the scripts and was prepared for the guys who came to see him. So whether it was a writer or an artist, Leon had their work ready for them. LEON: Al was kind-of prissy in a way, but he was okay. He was overly picky on things that didn’t matter. He didn’t have much of a sense of humor. He graduated from Yale, and I guess he lost his sense of humor there. [laughter] He was so grim about everything. He’d argue over using commas or semicolons.

Texting, 1948 Style Marjorie Lazarus wrote a number of (un-bylined) two-page filler text stories in 1948-49. The above pair of examples, while not from the romance, teenage, or “ghost” titles for which she recalls writing, at least give us two shots at picking one she may have scribed. “Night of Terror” is from Sun Girl #3 (Dec. ’48)… the sea adventure “The Gallant Lady” was, oddly, printed in Wild Western #3 (Sept. ’48). The illos’ artists, too, are unknown. And if you wanna know how the tales turned out—scrounge up copies of the comics, like Jim Amash and Ye Editor did! [©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Another writer I remember is Ray Cummings. He was wonderful. He wrote early science-fiction pulp stories, too. I loved that man! He came into the office—he was about 70 at the time—and wore the kind of suit that you didn’t see anymore. I had read his stuff in Amazing Stories in the 1920s. His daughter wrote some comics, too. He was a gentleman. He wrote comic books, but he helped Al Sulman out by writing some two-page text fillers, too. He wrote super-heroes and mystery stories. He had a very imaginative mind. In January of 1950, the entire staff was laid off on a Friday—a “Black Friday.” It was a surprise to everyone. Some statement was made that there were problems with distribution and so forth, and Goodman had made a couple of investments that didn’t work out. But everyone wasn’t out of work for too long before Timely was back in business.

The Man With The Golden Idea Leon liked scripter Ray Cummings, who’d made a name for himself years earlier as a pulp science-fiction writer, especially with his story “The Girl in the Golden Atom” in a 1919 issue of Argosy magazine. Seen above are an un-bylined caricature of Cummings and the cover of a related 1950 paperback, The Princess of the Atom; both are reprinted from James Gunn’s splendid 1974 book Alternate Worlds: The Illustrated History of Science Fiction. Also attributed to Cummings is the two-part story, likewise titled “The Princess of the Atom,” which appeared in Captain America #25-26 (April-May 1943), with pencils by Syd Shores and inks by Vince Alascia. This splash of Part I, repro’d from microfiche, was located for us by Jim Ludwig. [Illos ©2009 the respective copyright holders; CA art ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

“I Wrote Over 800 Comic Book Stories”

My wife had just given birth to our first daughter, and I brought her and the little baby back home when the phone rang. A secretary—the pet name for her was Cookie—called me with the bad news. My wife asked me who called and I said the office called. “They’re being generous today, and told me to stay home with the baby and not to bother with coming back in.” I didn’t tell her the real news just yet, but when I did, Marjorie said, “Oh, good. You can stay home and help out.” [laughter] JA: I heard that one reason everyone was let go was because Martin Goodman opened up a closet and found that Stan Lee had a ton of unused inventory stored away. He told Stan to fire everyone and use up the inventory. LEON: Oh, yes! I put that inventory together, but I didn’t hear the closet story. The comic books were selling well and they wanted a stockpile of material. Maybe it was to keep the competition from catching up, but it seemed to me that the stock was increasing. Timely was publishing maybe 40 titles at one time; most them were bimonthly. We were putting out a comic book almost every day, so we had to have inventory. But it looked like the piles of art were growing. They overdid the inventory because they thought some of the books would go monthly. If that happened, we had to have the inventory to

produce the books; you just can’t turn out artwork on a moment’s notice. I don’t blame Stan for the amount of pages there. And Martin Goodman was selling books at a certain clip, so he expected to use the work. And if a book broke even or worse, then they’d drop the title, but have left-over inventory which wasn’t easy to put into other books. MARJORIE: [to Leon] You told me that they had at least a year’s worth of inventory.

“Goodman Was Interested In Profits” LEON: I can’t be sure this was the reason the staff was let go. There may have been something else going on as well. I think that the sales fell after the war [to a point that changes had to be made]. The turndown in the market meant that those bimonthly books were not going to become monthlies, and suddenly Timely was stuck with a large inventory that they had to use up. Many magazines were dropped, and that work was paid for, so they had to use it. Help was scarce during the war because the men were fighting overseas. When they came back, Martin Goodman was smart in giving them staff jobs. I think this inventory was one way of getting rid of the artists on staff, because they weren’t turning out as much work as they should have. Mr. Goodman was interested in profits, so he was going to use up that inventory. I don’t know if they used all of that material. Stan was held accountable, but it wasn’t his fault. And once they got rid of the staff artists, they could hire back the ones they really wanted to keep. You know, you’d pass Martin Goodman in a hall corridor and he’d nod at you. That was usually the extent [of his social interaction with the help]. Once, I was in the office with Stan and a fellow named Schwartz, who was in advertising. Goodman came in to talk with Stan because they were having a problem with a romance comic. [This was after the Comics Code came into being. —Jim.] They had to ship out the artwork for approval, and they had to be careful about the sex angle of the stories. The people [at the Code] didn’t want two people of the opposite sex alone in a room unless they had a chaperone. Stan and Martin were discussing this—I was not participating in the discussion. I said, “If the man was a war hero who was lying in bed paralyzed, maybe they could be alone together?” Goodman looked at me rather strangely. He was a very serious man. Later, I worked for his son Chip on Swank magazine. Stan called me one morning from home because he was sick. He was almost never absent from work. He told me which books were going out, and wanted me to hold up on one book because he wanted to see it before it went out to the printer. “I’ll be in tomorrow to check it out.” So I put a hold on it. The printer told me that he wanted to have that book. I told him, “I can’t give it to you now, I’ll give it to you in the morning. Stan wants to see it first.” He went to tell Martin Goodman, who then came in and wanted to know why Stan wasn’t in, and why the book wasn’t going out. The book was quite complete and could have gone out, but Stan wanted to wait. Goodman told me the book had to go out, and I didn’t want to go against Stan’s wishes. Goodman said, “What if Stan dropped dead? Would the book go out or not?” I said, “Mr. Goodman, I’ll get the book out.” That was that! I never told Stan what Goodman had said.

Love For Sale One of Alex Toth’s high-priced Timely romance pages—from My Love Story #7 (April 1957). Of course, later that year, Goodman’s entire company all but went under due to the collapse of its distributor, but by then, hopefully, Toth had long since cashed the check. Thanks to Dr. Michael J. Vassallo. [©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Stan was in control of everything that happened there. If he saw someone doing bad lettering, he’d say, “Get rid of that man.” He ran the place firmly. He might tell an editor like Al Jaffee to give a certain book to a certain artist. Stan would look over the inventory and reject stuff. He was a very “hands-on” boss. I’m sure he saw everything before it went to the printer. Do you know of an artist named [Alex] Toth? He worked for DC a lot, and Goodman wanted Toth to work for him. He saw the romance work Toth was doing for another company. Goodman was paying maybe $35 a

Leon & Marjorie Lazarus On Timely & Marvel In The Late Golden Age

page [which was not the highest rate in the field]. So Stan got in touch with Toth, who came down to see him. I talked to Toth, and of course, his rate was higher than what Timely paid. He wanted $50 a page. Stan said he had to think it over and talk to Martin Goodman. Toth said he wouldn’t work for less. Stan talked to Goodman, who said “I don’t give a damn about the amount. Pay him the $50.” Goodman very seldom, as far as I know, had trouble with people. He mostly kept to himself. One time, Stan was called into Goodman’s office. He came out and said that the boss wasn’t happy with certain things. At one point, Stan was writing a new character and asked Goodman to read it. Goodman said, “I don’t read comics.” He only cared about how many books he sold that month. Well, he was an accountant before he became a publisher. He said, “Don’t tell me that you read comics.” JA: Tell me about Robbie Solomon. LEON: He was related to Martin Goodman; I believe they were brothersin-law. I never knew what he did there. He may have been an inside spy for Goodman. I never got to know him, but he may have known something about the distribution part of the business. I do know that whenever anyone went out on a trip, they’d go check the newsstands to see if Timely’s books were out. A few times, I know they heard that their magazines weren’t ending up front on the stands, and at times Timely paid extra money to get a better space on the shelves. Many times they checked on the distributors to see if the magazines were leaving the warehouse and going where they were supposed to go. In fact, when I went to visit my in-laws, I’d go and check out the newsstands to see if our books were there. Frank Torpey was a little bald guy who was a baseball fan [the New York Giants was his team]. Everybody wondered why he was in the office and what he did, because nobody ever saw him do anything. Finally, somebody came up with the idea that, when the comics began to become popular, Torpey had talked Goodman into doing comic books.

“Some Of The Artists” JA: Earlier, you mentioned Bob Landers. Tell me about him. LEON: Bob Landers was my brother Harry’s brother-in-law. I had known him since I was 17. He was a very good letterer who taught me how to letter, and he was also an inker. When Timely let us all go, he left comics. Later on, he went to work for Esso, which is now Exxon. Before either Bob or I was married, we used to double-date. He had two daughters. MARJORIE: He met his wife while trying to become an actor. LEON: Bob wanted to be an actor and took acting lessons. He’d go to tryouts, and once landed a walk-on part in the movie Stage Door Canteen. He was a friendly person who liked to socialize. Because he took acting lessons, he always acted like he was on stage. He had a normal life, though his marriage was disastrous. We used to go on picnics together. Another artist I knew was Bob Sale. He stuttered a lot. There was something that wasn’t quite right about him. He stumbled a bit of the time. His behavior put off people who really didn’t know him; he had problems with relationships. He was very spontaneous. I think he and Bob Landers were very good friends. MARJORIE: Both Bobs would come and have picnics with us. At one point, something happened with Bob Sale, and we heard that he had died. I never knew the circumstances, but he was young. He was about 5'5" or 5'6", and had a very round face with a receding hairline. He was broadshouldered with a paunch. He liked to eat and was always smiling. Sometimes, he’d mumble things under his breath. I think he was selfconscious about his stuttering, and so acted rather clownish and extroverted to make up for it.

LEON: I had an artist’s table at my house, and on the lamp I used to have a sign where I wrote one-liners. One was “I know knothing,” spelling the first “n” in “knothing” backwards. Bob saw it and thought it was funny. By the way, Bill Savage, who was an artist at Timely, was Don Rico’s brother-inlaw. I sold Bill my drawing table for about 15 bucks. I didn’t get to know him. MARJORIE: The only thing I remember about Bill Savage was Happy Birthday To Whoever! that his wife was of Leon Lazarus (on left) and his buddy Bob Landers at Mexican descent. He a birthday celebration (we don’t know whose) in came over for lunch 1999. Thanks to Leon & Marjorie for the pic. one day alone, and said this was great because his mother-in-law would cook everything with chili, including steaks. LEON: I became good friends with Bob Brown, who wanted to be a fighter pilot but he couldn’t land anything well. He went through training, and on his last trial flight he tipped the end of the wing when he landed. Well, the Army had made such an investment in time with Bob that they weren’t going to put him in the kitchen washing dishes. So they made him into a navigator. I believe he ended up being a captain. He met his wife in the war [she was a WAC]. He was a literary man who would have liked to have become a writer. Bob was also into shortwave radio as a ham radio operator. He had friends all over the world. His wife said that some wives are golf widows and she was a ham radio widow. [laughter] He was a tap dancer; he danced with his sister, like Fred Astaire and his sister Adele. I saw him a few times over the years, and saw him just before he died. I remember one time he offered to help get me writing work at DC, but I never followed up on that. He quit comics at one point and went back into the Army. He was a private kind of a man, but we got along well. I know his wife had a tough time after he died. She went to work for Bloomingdale’s. At one point, he was put in charge of the artists. Before that, it was Syd Shores that they brought the work to. Some of the young artists who came in would take their work to Shores before they took it to Stan Lee. Shores would make some comments [to the artists, who’d fix whatever Syd suggested], because he didn’t want to take work into Stan and have him reject pages. Syd was the “old man” in the shop. He drew Captain America. He was kind-of quiet. JA: The next guy on list wasn’t quiet: Mike Sekowsky. LEON: [laughs] He was tall and always making jokes. He was good friends with Bob Deschamps, who was a fast inker. Mike was very important to Stan because he was very fast in turning out pages. If there was a rush on something, Mike was the guy who’d get it out. Mike would draw some very interesting things on the backs of the pages. I wonder what Goodman thought of that?

“I Wrote Over 800 Comic Book Stories”

MARJORIE: Some of the artists drew pornographic pictures on the backs of the pages. We were visiting Bob Landers once and he was inking. A page flipped over and Leon took a look, and Bob said, “Don’t let Marjorie see it.” [mutual laughter] JA: Do you remember George Klein? LEON: Oh yes, he was a handsome guy who smoked a pipe. He could have been an actor, because he spoke with a deep baritone voice. He didn’t talk much, but the ladies liked him. I remember him as a good professional inker. Chris Rule was the oldest man at Timely; a big, heavy man. We used to joke with him. He was good friends with George Klein. You know, Ed Winiarski had more trouble getting his work out than anyone else. He did humor and teenage stories. Every panel was a struggle for him. His pages were not clean. He was a very likable guy, married, and certainly did the best he could. He just wasn’t an Al Jaffee, who could work at great speed. Dan DeCarlo drew fast and good. I liked him. He was a short, rolypoly person who didn’t talk much. He liked drawing my stories and would tell me so. Stan liked to work with Dan, too. I remember one time when Stan was looking for new artists and he set up a program to get new people. Stan was looking for new blood to throw into the mix. He put an ad in The New York Times looking for artists. Hal Lockwood got a job that way. He had been in advertising before comics. I remember that. when he was asked to do a sample page, his wife delivered it. JA: Did you know John Buscema? LEON: Vaguely. I remember there was a lot of black areas on his pages. I remember Gene Colan, too, but he was a quiet guy and I didn’t get to know him. There were so many people there that it’s hard to remember them all after so much time has passed. The guy I remember is Russ Heath. He was very young back then, nice-looking, tall... a nice guy. He put a lot of black on his pages. I thought there’d be no way they could apply color to his pages. Stan really liked his work. JA: Heath’s work was so solid and clean that they tried to print from his pencils. Do you remember that?

Fire Sale The enigmatic Robert Q. Sale drew the cover and lead story in War Combat #6 (Nov. 1952)—what Dr. Michael J. Vassallo, who sent these scans, refers to as “the 2nd debut story” of Combat Casey, who’d soon star in his own mag. Note that the script is by the much-praised Hank Chapman—though his dialogue line “But can’t you slow down a bit?” was rendered unintelligible when several letters dropped out due to a printing glitch. [©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

LEON: Oh God, that was a horror! They thought if they could eliminate the inker, that they’d save a lot of money. It was Goodman’s idea. But it didn’t work well. When they tried to make stats of the pages, the pencil lines didn’t print as clean as the inked lines. Not only that, the penciler had to draw fast [to give the sense of movement in the panels] and the inker—who had to know how to draw—had to go over the work, and finish the drawings in ink. Inkers have to know how to draw because they have to fix things at times. There’s no way a penciler can etch into the page clean enough to reproduce it well. Once, I won a contest and they gave me a carton of Camel cigarettes. Stan told his secretary “Cookie” that I won because I was a nice guy to work with. He told his secretary to “Run downstairs and buy him [Leon] something so we can give him an award.” That was another nail in my coffin. [laughs] Helen Bennett worked at Timely. She was the niece of actor Fredric March. She kept quiet about that. He called her once because she was in a play in New York City. She told me that whenever he was in New York, he left her tickets for whatever play he was in, and then she’d see him backstage after the show. She was cute and smart, a nice person. She left right before everyone was let go. She was a freelance writer for us on the romance books and did some office editorial work.

“When I Left Timely…” JA: Do you remember Chic Stone? LEON: They used to call him “Chicky.” He did some romance work. I

Leon & Marjorie Lazarus On Timely & Marvel In The Late Golden Age

was good. Gerda Gattel, who was a proofreader and someone who got out of Germany during the Holocaust, ended up at DC, too. I was offered an editor’s job at Ziff-Davis, but I didn’t take the job. Jerry Siegel was the editor. I wrote Westerns for them as a freelancer. I wrote a lot of lead stories for them for about $15 a page. Kid Cowboy comes to mind here. I also wrote G.I. Joe. Every time he started a new book, he had me write lead stories for them. I did this for about a year. I also worked for Joe Simon & Jack Kirby. I only did a few jobs. I got along well with Kirby; I don’t remember talking to Simon. I never met him, but he liked my work. I remember writing a two-pager, something about water running uphill. It was like odd facts. I did a few of them. I may have written some romance stories for them. Richard Hughes [at American Comic Group] was a different kind of an editor. He was very careful on details and worked much slower than Stan Lee. Hughes wanted a lot of copy in the stories. He was very literate, he read the classics, and always had music playing in the office. He was very good with the writers; he didn’t have a big staff because he only had four or five magazines. Harry Donenfeld’s son-in-law [Fred Iger] owned the company. In fact, Hughes went on vacation for a couple of weeks and Fred Iger was the one I reported to. Only three people worked in the office: Iger, Hughes, and a secretary. Iger gave me more money than Richard Hughes did.

A Brown Derby Bob Brown drew the splash page at left for Man Comics #3 (June 1950)—and later he and writer/editor Stan Lee teamed up in Frontier Western #4 (Aug. 1956). The photo of Brown was taken at an early-1970s awards banquet for the industry’s Academy of Comic Book Arts, of which he was an enthusiastic member; thanks to Sal Amendola for the pic. In the ’60s and ’70s Brown illustrated Challengers of the Unknown, et al., for DC, and Daredevil and others for Marvel. Thanks to Dr. Michael J. Vassallo & Michael T. Gilbert, respectively, for the art scans. [Pages ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

think he penciled and inked. I remember Lin Streeter, who was a tall blond guy. Sol Brodsky once worked for a company in the New York Times building. The publisher’s name was Phil something. Phil put out this comic book because he wanted to publish something that his son liked. I wrote a story called “The King of Sport,” and it had something to do with horses. Brodsky was his partner, so to speak. Brodsky could letter well, and he could draw some. After we were all let go, Stan wanted me to come back to Timely on staff, but I didn’t take the job. I never liked working on staff. I wanted to work at home like my brothers did. When I was cleaning out my desk, Stan asked me what I was going to do. I said I was going to look around for work and try freelancing. Stan said, “I’d be scared like hell to go freelance.” Well, Stan then hired Brodsky, and I never told Sol that I was offered the job first. He became Stan’s right hand man. Sol [later] produced a humor book called Cracked, and I wrote a story in the very first issue. I may have written a couple of more. When I left Timely, people went to DC like lemmings going over a cliff, looking for work. Bob Brown got work there immediately because he

“I Wrote Over 800 Comic Book Stories”

Flying Torches, Flying Fortresses Two artists Leon Lazarus remembered from his Timely Comics days were youngsters Gene Colan and Russ Heath. (Left:) Colan panels from Human Torch #31 (July 1948). (Right:) A Heath page from Battlefront #20 (June 1954). Both art scans provided by Dr. Michael J. Vassallo. [©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

So I said, “I’d like to work for you in the future.” When Hughes came back, he gave me the same rate he had before. I never argued with them. They paid me around $8 a page. I wrote mystery and romance stories for him. Hughes was a quiet, very loyal person. If you worked for him, he would very seriously keep you busy. I couldn’t do too much for him because I was getting work from Stan, and from Ziff-Davis, and anyone else I could. I wanted to freelance as long as I could. Hughes liked my work and always asked for more outlines. I had to submit outlines for approval before writing the stories. My brother Harry worked for Hughes. He came up with the 3-D comics they did, which was good, but I think it took a lot of life out of the work. Cartoons should look like cartoons, not like real life. That’s my personal viewpoint. Later, when ACG went out of business, and I was working for Magazine Management, I had heard that Hughes was working in the complaint department at Macy’s. I talked to him once and he said he liked the job. JA: When did you stop working for Hughes? LEON: I don’t remember, maybe a couple of years? I know Hughes was one of the early editors to give credit to the writers in the books. He even published little drawings of the artists. Most companies didn’t publicize the writers. Martin Goodman loved the artists. DC didn’t want to credit anyone.

I wrote some romance stories for Stan, and I wrote the Black Rider comic book. I wrote all the stories in the book. I wrote “Kid Colt,” and some other Westerns. The Arizona Kid seems familiar, too. JA: Who created the Black Rider? LEON: I’m not sure; it may have been Stan Lee. I always submitted plot ideas first, maybe two paragraphs’ worth. I wrote various things for Stan until 1957 [when Timely temporarily suspended publishing]. I started writing for Magazine Management around this time. Noah Sarlett was my editor. I wrote 350 stories for their men’s magazines, going into the 1960s. I also worked for Bruce Jay Friedman. Friedman was a very smart man who was once offered the editorship of The Saturday Evening Post. MARJORIE: Goodman handled him with kid gloves. LEON: He went on to do great things. He liked my work. I didn’t know him too well, even though I was on staff for a short period. Mario Puzo was there, and was a furious gambler. We were good friends. At one time, I edited his work. He’d apologize for his stories, “I wrote this in the middle of the night. I hope I didn’t give you a bad story.” [laughter] When he was an editor, he edited my stuff. When he wrote The Godfather, everyone learned about him. He was ambitious, not a man to stay where he was. He wanted to write for magazines that paid more [than Martin Goodman]. We would meet at watering holes and have a drink. Once, he got a story mixed up. He had a main character in one story and another story with another character, and he moved the one character

Leon & Marjorie Lazarus On Timely & Marvel In The Late Golden Age

Down The Hall From Stan Lee (Above:) Two (later famous) writers who, during the 1950s and ’60s, wrote and edited for Goodman’s Magazine Management on what Harvey Kurtzman called its “men’s sweat” mags. (Left:) Bruce J. Friedman, author of the critically acclaimed novels Stern and A Mother’s Kisses and the short story on which the two Heartbreak Kid films were based. (Right:) Mario Puzo, author of The Godfather (plus the later screenplay for the film version).

Are You Kidding? This page from Ziff-Davis’ Kid Cowboy #8 (June-July 1952) is from the period when Leon was writing for that title, so—did he script this story? We dunno—but it’s safe to say that the artist was Al Carreno. Thanks to Jim Ludwig. [©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

into the story for another magazine. [mutual laughter] He apologized profusely and we worked it out. He was a lot of fun, a gentleman. By the way, Irv Werstein also wrote for the magazines.

“All Three Of The Lazarus Boys Could Not Stop Talking” JA: Let’s talk about your brothers. How did Sid get into comics? LEON: He needed the money. He really should have been a famous artist. His son has around 3000 paintings and drawings of Sid’s. He worked for Parents Magazine and they published comics, as I told you. “Bee Lewis” was something he did for them: he wrote and drew it while I was in the Army. I saw it while I was in Italy. [The government used to send comics over.] Everyone used to read them. He also inked Leave it to Binky for DC, and some other work there, too. He did cartoon work, not the realistic stuff. I

Your Credit Is Good With Us! Richard Hughes (in photo) believed in writers’ credits—even though he used pseudonyms for his own scripts. But a very real Leon Lazarus scribed the above story for ACG’s Unknown Worlds #6 (Jan. 1961); artist John Forte got to draw his own mug on the splash page, too. Thanks to Jon Ingersoll for the page scan, and to Michael Vance for the rare pic of Hughes. For Vance’s invaluable history of ACG, see back issues A/E #61-62 (in which Ye Editor accidentally listed “Leon Lazarus” as one of Hughes’ pen names!)—and pick up Michael’s recent collection Weird Horror Tales at Barnes & Noble. [Art ©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

“I Wrote Over 800 Comic Book Stories”

MARJORIE: Robin King lived near us in Palisades Park. We were at his house a couple of times. Harry [Lazarus] knew him, and when he quit doing comics, we lost touch [with King]. [Robin King was a long-time comic book inker, mostly for Quality Comics. —Jim.] Back to Sid: he was a non-stop talker. He liked being the center of attention. All three of the Lazarus boys could not stop talking. They always loved to talk with people and had interesting ideas about the art world and philosophy. LEON: My father did not have much education. He was born in 1884, and had the standard 6th-grade education, because he had to go out to work. But he was a great storyteller [and we got that from him]. Sid had a wonderful sense of humor. My brother Harry was very mechanically inclined. My parents were in the garment industry, but he didn’t want to do that. Sid was a professional artist, so Harry decided to be one. I could have been a professional artist; I did some drawing and was pretty good, but I was more interested in writing. My brothers wanted to make me an artist and tried to teach me. One brother would tell me to do it one way, and the other would say, “Don’t pay attention to him. Do it this way.” I decided to disregard the whole idea and write. We got along quite well despite the argument. Harry took the Famous Artists course. He went through those textbooks on Bob Brown’s recommendation. Bob Brown studied at the

Smokin’! Gunsmoke Western #42 (Aug. 1957) was quite an issue: a lead tale drawn by latter-day “Kid Colt Outlaw” mainstay Jack Keller (seen in photo above), plus backup tales illo’d by Doug Wildey, Frank Bolle, Jim Infantino (Carmine’s brother), and Gene Colan—behind a John Severin cover. If Leon wrote this “Kid Colt” exploit, he was in very fast company! Photo of Jack Keller from Marvel Tales Annual #1 (1966), with thanks to Bob Bailey & J. Fairfax. [©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

believe he did some Disney work, too. He went to the Arts Students League on a scholarship. He died in 1973. MARJORIE: He did “Ali Baba” during the war. I remember that. [NOTE: This was for Holyoke. —Jim.] He was tall and lanky, about 6 feet tall. His wife Sylvia wasn’t even 5 feet. They were an amusing couple. LEON: And she would sit on his knee and spoon-feed him. [mutual laughter] I don’t know if this will interest you, but in the 1930s there was a magazine called Americana, which was edited and owned by Alexander King. He had a cartoonist son named Robin King, whom I knew. Sid wrote for this magazine and did some cartoons for it, too. Alexander King was on the Jack Paar [Tonight] show and I liked him, but you had to be careful with him. He worked all kinds of deals in the publishing field. His name... he made that up when he came over from Europe.

An Artist Of Quality Sid Lazarus (on left in photo) with his brother Leon in 1977—and (above) a signed “Perky” splash page by Sid from Quality’s Feature Comics #85 (March 1945). Thanks to Jim Ludwig. [©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

Leon & Marjorie Lazarus On Timely & Marvel In The Late Golden Age

3-D Or Not 3-D Harry Lazarus (on right in photo at top of page) with sibling Leon in 2006— flanked by two examples of his work for ACG: the splash page of a “TrueVision” tale in Adventures into the Unknown #52 (Feb. 1954)… and a later splash from AITU #79 (Dec. 1956). Harry’s self-styled “3-D Effect” was achieved not with red-and-green specs, but by figures overlapping the panel borders, a liberal use of varying black-&-white tones, and black borders. The effect was striking, though not actually “3-D.” Michael Vance, who provided both page-scans, reports that the cover and all three stories in #52—even the house ads!—were done in the “TrueVison” style… and that Harry drew the cover and all art in the issue, except for a two-page filler. Thanks to Leon & Marjorie for the photo. [Pages ©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

Rhode Island School of Design. He drew from life and also took the Famous Artists course. He was over at the house one day—I met Bob at Timely—and told Harry to take the course. Harry took the course, and when he finished it, he was able to go out and get a job. Remember I told you about a publisher named Phil who had an office in the New York Times building, and only published one book? Well, Sid went there and got some work. Then Harry went there and got some work. Later on, Harry got into the book field and did art work for McGraw-Hill on their college textbooks. Robin King was his agent and got him that job. Harry did children’s books, too. I also wrote for Golden Books. I did two or three Lassie books, Tales of Wells Fargo, and more. This was in the mid-1950s. They paid $250 per book and I was delirious! [laughs] JA: Did Harry write his own comic book stories?

There Were Giants In The Earth—And Underwater Heroes and baddies carry on a back-and-forth conversation during a climactic battle panel from the Leon Lazarus-scripted “Giant-Man” extravaganza in 1964’s Tales to Astonish #64. Art by Carl Burgos & Paul Reinman, as seen in Essential Astonishing Ant-Man. [©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

“I Wrote Over 800 Comic Book Stories”

LEON: He usually worked from someone else’s scripts, but he did write 40 or 50 stories. He did the 3-D books for ACG. He came up with a way to do it [that was different than the other companies]. Harry also created a flip book that went into cereal boxes. JA: Did you write any of the 3-D books your brother Harry drew for ACG? LEON: No, I don’t think I ever wrote them. I believe Harry wrote them. I never wrote stories for my brothers. I did write some comic stories for various companies, like the New York Bank. I did this for an advertising agency. Harry was a good artist who drew accurately. He made good money. He was an inventor. He designed a matrix to hold a tooth so that you could put a filling in. They needed something that would prevent the silver filling from leaking out onto the teeth that flanked it. You remember that they had a key that the dentist would turn to tighten the matrix that held a tooth firmly. Well, Harry’s matrix eliminated the use of that key. His invention was less balky than the old model. He became quite wealthy because of that; he held the patent for 17 years. You know, we were all independent people. We felt that if you had to work a 9-to-5 job, then you were a failure. [laughter]

“Goodman Told Stan To ‘Have Leon Write Stories’” JA: You wrote a story for ACG in 1961. Why did you come back to comics and do that? LEON: I don’t remember that at all, but if you have that credit for me, then I must have done it. I remember writing some story about “Plastic Man” for Stan. I don’t remember much about it, except that he had a girl friend. JA: “Plastic Man” was published by Quality Comics. You couldn’t have written it for Stan. LEON: I don’t remember Quality Comics. I may have written “Plastic Man” for some other company, but I know I wrote something about that character for Stan. [NOTE: I wonder if perhaps Leon wrote something pertaining to the Fantastic Four (or one of the “Human Torch” solo stories, that sometimes also featured the rest of the FF) for Stan, and it either wasn’t used or was rewritten by Stan? Maybe Leon had taken one of Stan’s tests for prospective writers? Because he was so very certain that he had written “Plastic Man,” he may have mixed up the details of freelancing for Quality, though he didn’t remember that company at all. Plastic Man did not have a girl friend, and of course Mr. Fantastic did (The Invisible Girl). I never was able to get Leon to recall any details on this point, and I imagine this will remain an unsolved mystery. —Jim.]

Parting Potpourri (Top center:) Leon and Marjorie having a night on the town in 1977—and they deserved it, after all that hard work! (Above:) The title page to a perhaps-slightly-exaggerated WWII exploit written by Leon, with an Earl Norem illo, from one of Martin Goodman’s men’s magazines, probably in the late ’50s or 1960s… [Art & text ©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

by the fact that the story was written first, and then it was drawn. Stan showed that it could be done another way. He said, “This is an artists’ medium and most of the story should be told by the artists’ drawing, except for pertinent information that had to be written.” Stan’s way of working [caused the art and writing to work in closer harmony]. If the artist did something in pictures that was different than what Stan had expected to see, then he could adjust the script to fit the picture. Not everybody could do this. In the 1960s, Martin Goodman started pressuring Stan to have other writers do some of the stories. He wasn’t sold on this method of doing stories. He became concerned that Stan had too much leverage over him, and he worried about what would happen if Stan ever decided to leave the company. Goodman wanted other writers as a back-up in case he needed them, so he ordered Stan to try using other writers. I was working in the magazine department at Marvel then. Goodman told Stan to “Have Leon write stories.” Stan called me up and asked if I was willing to come in and work there again. “Mr. Goodman wants you to do it.” I didn’t want to say “no” because I was working for Goodman’s men’s magazines, and didn’t want to lose the account.

I was never ashamed of working in comic books, but I felt I could have done better in the book field. That doesn’t mean I hated comics. I felt it was a wonderful opportunity to make some money. I learned a lot about writing while working in comics. The craft was very basic, and I had to tell a story in just a few pages.

JA: Then that’s why you wrote that one “Giant-Man” story.

Stan Lee had a good idea when he started giving the artists a rough synopsis of the story to work off of. He was able to get the books out faster that way. The artists turned the pages in, and Stan wrote the dialogue. It was an ass-backwards way of writing a story, but it worked. I was blinded

LEON: You’re right. I saw that in Alter Ego the other day, and wondered why I didn’t remember writing this story. Then I remembered the incident I just told you about. But I only did this one story, because I wasn’t comfortable with the way Stan wanted writers to work with the artists,

Leon & Marjorie Lazarus On Timely & Marvel In The Late Golden Age

though I see now how right he was. I didn’t want to get back into comics, though. The magazine stories paid better than comics. Stan told me that “The boss wants a back-up, but I told him that I don’t

think anyone else can do it. I’m doing it because I created this approach. But I have to do it [hire other writers] because Mr. Goodman asked me.” But it didn’t work for me, and that ended my comics career.

LEON LAZARUS Checklist [NOTE: The following Checklist is primarily adapted from information contained in the online Who’s Who of American Comic Books (1928-1999), established by Jerry G. Bails; see website ad on p. 83. Names of features which appeared both in magazines with that title and in other publications, as well, are generally not italicized below. Key: (w) = writer; (e) = editor.] Name: Leon Lazarus (1919-2008) (writer, editor) Family in Arts: Sid and Harry Lazarus (brothers), Marjorie Lazarus (wife) Print Media (Non-Comics): writer – juvenile books 1958 Lassie and the Lost Explorer, Tales of Wells Fargo, Danger at Mesa Flats; writer – Magazine Management’s line of magazines; writer – novels 1960s Nick Carter (under house name) COMIC BOOK CREDITS (Mainstream U.S. Publishers): American Comics Group: horror (w) early 1950s; mystery/occult mid-1950s, 1961; romance (w) early to mid1950s Better/Standard/Nedor/Pines: various features (w) 1940s Mainline Comics: Black Magic (w) early 1950s; romance (w) early 1950s Major Magazines: Cracked (w) 1958

And Then I Wrote... (Above:) The splash panel of a 12-page comics-style pamphlet—though with only captions, no balloons—scripted by Leon for the Mutual Savings Bank, through the Knowelton Advertising Agency in New York (artist unknown). [Art ©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

Timely/Marvel Comics: backup features (w) c. 1952-57 in Westerns; Black Rider (w) c. 1952-57; Giant-Man (w) 1965; Kid Colt Outlaw (w) c. 1952-57; Millie the Model (w) late 1950s (a.k.a. Millie); Patsy Walker (w) late 1940s; support (assistant ed) c. 1947-50; Tessie the Typist (w) late 1940s Ziff-Davis Comics: filler (w) early 1950s; G.I. Joe (w) early 1950s; Kid Cowboy (w) early 1950s; other Westerns (w) early 1950s

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Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt

Introduction by Michael T. Gilbert

uring the Golden Age, many parents believed that comic books were a corrosive influence on their children. Critical articles by Dr. Fredric Wertham and other “experts” blamed them for every ill from juvenile delinquency to pimples. But comic books still had their defenders, even then. David Hajdu’s excellent book The Ten-Cent Plague referenced one such voice: David Wigransky, a teenage comic book fan who, outraged by Wertham’s claims, stood up and fought back. Young David wrote a very powerful letter in the July 24, 1948, issue of The Saturday Review defending his favorite reading material. This was in response to two articles that had appeared in the magazine, one by Wertham and a second by John Mason Brown. David’s rebuttal is remarkably powerful—mixing common sense and a passion for our medium to which Alter Ego readers can easily relate. We begin with an introductory note from the editors of The Saturday Review.

Cain Before Comics EDITOR’S NOTE: Of the numerous replies we have received to Dr. Fredric Wertham’s article, “The Comics… Very Funny!” (SRL, May 29), and John Mason Brown’s “The Case Against the Comics” (SRL, March 20), one of the most interesting is that written by fourteen-year-old David Pace Wigransky of Washington, D.C. Young Mr. Wigransky, who has just completed the tenth grade at the Calvin Coolidge Senior High School, is a devoted reader and collector of comic books. He tells us that he now owns 5,212 such books and “intends to make drawing them for his profession and life’s work.” “Unlike other critics of comics,” Mr. Wigransky writes, “I possess a first-hand knowledge of them, and unlike even those critics who argue in their favor, I can say that I was once an average, normal comic-book fan

David Pace Wigransky In this photo that accompanied the Saturday Review article, David is reading an issue of Funnyman, the comic book which Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster created for Vin Sullivan’s Magazine Enterprises after they lost their Superman lawsuit in the late 1940s.

and reader, during the war and before it. Therefore I feel that I am more qualified that people like John Mason Brown and Dr. Wertham in criticizing them.” Although sections of Mr. Wigransky’s letter have been omitted for considerations of space, his copy has not been edited. Sir: And it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and slew him. The brothers Cain and Abel lived in a world of ideal tranquility, a world that had never before known violence or crime, a world completely devoid of comic books. How then does Dr. Fredric Wertham account for this brutal fratricide told within the pages of the Bible, the only book in the history of man more widely read and more widely attacked than American comic books? Or, if Cain’s slaying of Abel seems far off and far fetched, let us take the Leopold-Loeb case, which took place in early 1924, just five years before publication of the first independently produced comic book. Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, eighteen and seventeen years old respectively, were accused of brutally murdering fourteen-year-old Robert Franks, thereby committing what has been acknowledged by some as the most brutal crime in United States history. Both boys were of well-to-do and cultured families and were readers of “good” books. How then could Dr. Wertham possibly account for even the remotest thought of murder or violence entering the minds of either?

Raising Cain This image of Cain slaying Abel was printed in The Saturday Review, July 24, 1948. The original source of the panel is AA/DC’s Picture Stories from the Bible – Old Testament #3 (Spring 1943). Art by Don Cameron. [©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

Dr. Wertham cites some two dozen gruesome and horrible cases of juvenile delinquency from his files. These crimes were committed recently by weak-minded children and adolescents who, Dr. Wertham implies, would never have considered crime had not they been comic book readers. In none of these cases was it proved that reading comic books was the cause of the delinquency. A good many of the delinquents mentions happened to be readers of comic

Cain Before Comics

ignorance of anything and everything except the innocuous and sterile world that the Dr. Werthams of the world prefer to keep them prisoner within from birth to maturity. The net result of all this, however, is that when they have to someday grow up, they will be thrust into an entirely different kind of world, a world of violence and cruelty, a world of force and competition, an impersonal world in which they will have to fight their own battles, afraid, insecure, helpless.

Darrow For The Defense Famed attorney Clarence Darrow (center) with Leopold and Loeb in 1924.

magazines, just as are 69,999,975 perfectly healthy, happy, normal American boys and girls, men and women, who also read the comics. It is just as ridiculous to suppose that the 69,999,975 people are lawabiding citizens just because they are comic book readers as it is to suppose that twenty-five others are depraved criminals due to the same reading habits. Capable as Dr. Wertham may be in his psychoanalyzation of adults, I certainly do not believe him able to deal equally well with children, due to his fanatic hatred and prejudice toward comic books. From reading his article I get the impression that this feeling colors all of his investigations and reports. It appears that his $64 question to a child being psychoanalyzed is, “Do you read COMIC BOOKS, my little man?” Of course the juvenile delinquent being a normal child in at least that way, will answer, “Yes.” “Ah ha,” says Dr. Wertham. “This child is a juvenile delinquent. This child reads comic books. Therefore it is because he reads comic books that he is a juvenile delinquent.” This is enough for Dr. Wertham. I seriously doubt if the children and adolescents interviewed by Dr. Wertham would even bring up the subject of comic books at all if he did not first bring it up himself. Being a psychiatrist, he must be able to do an expert job of leading them on, mixing them up, getting them excited, and generally unnerving them. He stirs them up over the subject of comic books just as he has the ability to do on any subject, and then records their nervously blurted-out remarks to use in his attacks on comic books.

The whole argument over comic magazines is very silly and needless. The kids know what they want. They are individuals with minds of their own, and very definite tastes in everything. Just because they happen to disagree with him, Dr. Wertham says that they do not know how to discriminate. It is time that society woke up to the fact that children are human beings with opinions of their own, instead of brainless robots to be ordered hither and yon without even so much as asking them their ideas about anything. To be a child psychiatrist, one should be able to look at things through the eyes of a child. If a child is told not to read a comic book, he will break his neck to do it. This is not willful stubbornness, but a perfectly normal revolt against a world of giants who seem to be doing nothing but what they please. He wants to be like them, and at the same time he hates and resents them for their high-handed superiority. The comic book publishers know what the kids want and try to give it to them. This is not only democratic policy but good business sense. A child looks upon crime and violence as ideal adventure and excitement. He has no desire to experience these things in actual form, and knows them only as fun, and not in their true ugliness. The adult, on the other hand, has had actual experiences along this line, and looks upon fighting and violent action as loathsome and horrid. A typical example of all this is the soldier who longs for home and his kid brother who would give his right arm to be out there fighting along side him. The child, having never been an adult, cannot be expected to understand the adult point of view. The adult, on the other hand, was once a child, and should therefore realize that this craving for horror is not for actual physical violence, but for imaginary violence in the form of comics, radio, movies, or a good game of “Cops ‘n’ Robbers,” the last of which I am sure was enjoyed many years before the other three had even been thought of. If all the Dr. Werthams in the world would realize this, the greatest barrier between parent-child mutual understanding would be automatically removed.

If let alone by the Dr. Werthams and John Mason Browns, I think This crusade against comics is nothing new. It all began back in the comic-reading kids will turn out all right, as did the present gener1896 with the conception of “The Yellow Kid,” after whom was named “yellow journalism,” so christened by preachers and clergy who preached entire sermons against the little Chinese boy who had leaped from the pen of Richard Felton Outcault. This criticism grew and grew until it seemed that it could grow no more. Then came the comic book, the newer and greater offspring of the comic strip. This opened up a new field to the critics. They began ignoring the quieter newspaper strip to transfer their opposition to the magazines. This unwarranted and vicious attack is now at its height, led by such fanatics as Dr. Wertham and John Mason Brown. The defenders of comic books occasionally write a good-natured article in answer to the deadly serious and bitter articles written against them. It is high time that we who are on the defensive become as serious as are our attackers. We didn’t ask for this fight, but we are in it to the finish. The fate of millions of children hangs in the balance. We owe it to them to continue to give them the reading matter which they have When You’re Defending come to know and love. Comic Books, Don’t Turn Dr. Wertham seems to believe that adults should have the perfect right to read anything they please, no matter how vulgar, how vicious, or how depraving, simply because they are adults. Children, on the other hand, should be kept in utter and complete

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt

ation, the first brought up on comic books. Let any who starts to raise his voice in protest to this generation, first compare it with any preceding one. I am certain that he will discover the cards are stacked in favor of the comic book readers of the present age. David Pace Wigransky Washington, D.C.

David’s heartfelt defense of comics did not go unnoticed. In February 1949, Marvel printed an editorial in their comics. The editorial page reprinted directly below from Kid Colt Outlaw #4 (and perhaps other of the company’s titles, as well), most likely written by Stan Lee, specifically referred to Wigransky’s comments:

Dave Wigransky must have been particularly pleased to be quoted in the pages of the comics he loved. In addition to appearing in Timely/Marvel’s editorial pages, Dave’s letter was also cited during the 1954 Senate Subcommittee meeting. Pretty impressive for a 14-year-old! While he never became a comic book artist, Wigransky did write a book. His Jolsonography, a book devoted to Al Jolson, was published in 1969. Tragically, he died that same year while, still in his early 30s. Further investigation led me to Clive Baldwin, a fellow Jolson fan who performs in the style of the legendary singer. Here Mr. Baldwin tells meeting David shortly before his death: “Yes, Mr. Gilbert, I did meet Dave W. in Washington, DC, in November 1968. I was on my way from Boston to Miami by motorcycle where I thought I might get lucky in showbiz as an entertainer with a natural voice after the sound of Jolson. I had arrived from England as an immigrant the previous year. As a Jolson fan myself I made it a point to stop off at the houses of the fans along my route and that’s how I dropped in on Dave. He was something of a literary legend among the fans and I thought I might get his approval of my talents. I’m not sure if he had written his Jolsonography at that time but I did find an appreciative response about myself when I finally got to see it. Perhaps he already had it published before I visited and added me in subsequent publications, of which I don’t think there were many.

“Dave lived with his mother in an average house but I don’t remember the address. I knocked on the door and was slightly surprised to see a rather disheveled man about my height and age but who looked older. He had a larger than normal balding head which I attached to his being an intellectual. He may well have been developing an aneurism since he died a year later. He seemed taken aback by my forth-

Cain Before Comics

right manner, as if the sound of my voice was reminiscent of the Star he knew so well. The house needed paint and the carpets were worn but everything was clean. His mother was pleasant as only a mother could be with a guest who was visiting her son who obviously preferred to be a recluse; so it was that I was invited me to stay the night. I may have stayed more but I’m not sure now. At least I stayed long enough to check out the large collection of Jolsonia in his basement and to sing to recordings of songs that Jolson was said to have sung but of which there were no recordings. I owned a portable Telefunken recorder and sang to the music playing alongside into the microphone, as soon as I had learned the many songs. He couldn’t get enough of the combination so I guess I made an impression. I say “guess” because I don’t have the ego to take it for granted that I was a good substitute. In The David Who Wounded Goliath actual fact I’m the best there is or has been but David Wigransky, 1955. boasting seems childish to me. I just get on with the job and hope I made somebody as happy as singing makes me. Much later one of the songs out of Dave’s Till next time, basement, ‘He’d Have to Get Under,’ surfaced as a much prized ‘lost’ Jolson recording. We didn’t correspond very much but after Dave died his mother wrote to say she had moved back south to Mississippi. “Best Regards, Clive Baldwin.”

We have no way of knowing if Dave was still a comics fan at the time of his death. Perhaps the censorship of his beloved industry dimmed his passion for comics and led him elsewhere. If so, it was comics’ loss. As a 14-year-old, Dave Wigransky did his best to defend comic books, but it wasn’t enough. In the short run, Dr. Wertham won the battle. Not in 1948, perhaps, but certainly by 1954 when hundreds of comic titles were censored or driven out of business. But ultimately Wertham lost the war. For, despite his dire predictions, the kids who read those forbidden comics mostly grew up to become decent adults and who fondly remembered the comics of their youth. Kids like David Pace Wigransky. Our thanks to Mr. Baldwin for a fascinating portrait of David’s later years, and to Jolson fan George Hudson for helping us contact Clive. Thanks also to my wife Janet, and David Hajdu.

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The Teenage Creations Of Steve Gerber A Comet Lights The Way To Howard The Duck by John G. Pierce CFA EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION: In the past 10 years, the CFA has covered many fans and fanzine publishers from fandom’s Golden Age, but somehow—we don’t know how— we’d failed to chronicle the activities of one of the earliest comics fanzine publishers of all, Steve Gerber. For this issue and the next two, we welcome guest columnist John G. Pierce, who has rectified our omission. He became aware of comic book fandom very early, after a copy of Alter-Ego #1 was sent to him by Jerry Bails (who got his address from a Flash letters column), and has been involved ever since. In the 1970s he wrote for the British fanzine Fantasy Unlimited, which led to his own Fawcett-centered zine, The Whiz Kids. Readers of this current incarnation of A/E will have noticed his name appearing often in the FCA section. Thus, we happily yield the floor of the Comic Fandom Archive to John for this, the first of three parts of his history of Steve Gerber in early fandom. Steve left us last year—but his sensational stories and ever-inventive concepts remained behind to entertain future generations. —Bill Schelly.

teve Gerber would have to rank as one of the more unusual comics scripters to enter the field in the 1970s. Already somewhat controversial by the time he presented Howard the Duck, Gerber would go on to become even more notorious as he lashed out against Marvel in his frustration at (so he alleged) having been robbed of his creation. In addition to writing some rather unusual fare for DC, including some “Doctor Fate” stories and a rather bizarre (for its time) Phantom Zone mini-series, along with work for Saturday morning TV and doing Destroyer Duck for Eclipse, he would finally return to Marvel, this time as a generator of even greater controversy as the writer of Void Indigo. But long before all of that, back in the early ’60s, Steve was, like so many other comics creators, a fan. And like so many other fans, Steve practiced the plying of what would be his future craft by inventing his own creations and writing stories about them. On rather flimsy paper, Steve created his own homemade comics, which were passed around among his friends in his University City, Missouri, neighborhood, as well as, occasionally, among those of us who were his correspondents. Steve didn’t just write these comics; he also drew them. His style can safely be described as exaggerated and cartoony. He himself would call it “nutty.” Clearly, writing, not art, was his forte, yet even his acknowledgement of that did not deter him from drawing his own stories.

Deadline For Headline Steve Gerber at the 1974 New York Comic Art Convention—looking back on the cover of his 1962 fanzine Headline #1, as drawn by his friend and co-editor Paul Seydor. Though that zine would be dated “Winter 1962,” it’s rubber-stamped “June 1, 1962”; that’s dating pretty far ahead, even for comics! Below is the cover for FOOM Magazine #15 (Sept. 1976) by Gene Colan & Steve Leialoha, featuring a co-creation of Steve’s; the photo of SG first appeared in FOOM Magazine #2 (Fall 1974). All art for this article was provided either by John G. Pierce & Bill Schelly, or by Ye Editor. [Headline art ©2009 Paul Seydor; characters © & TM Estate of Steve Gerber; FOOM cover ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

The Teenage Creations Of Steve Gerber

Steve’s line of comics incorporated some characters initially created by his younger brother Mike, but which Steve himself crafted in his own mold as time went on. One of these, The Comet (no relation to the old MLJ hero of the same name, nor to any of the other heroes who used that moniker), would become a sort of mainstay of Steve’s line of homespun comics, a figure whom Steve would later describe as “one of my best creations.” (Mike’s early version of The Comet had evidently been substantially different). “How could it miss?” asked Steve rhetorically. “I combined Superman, Spider-Man, and Green Lantern into one character,” which was a very generous description on his part, inasmuch as The Comet preceded Spider-Man by a year! Steve provided a description of the origin and background of The Comet in his fanzine Headline (which will be discussed at greater length in Part II): “While playing baseball, Bill Wilson, ace outfielder for the Silver City Orphanage Team, trips over a rock on the field, falls and hits his head hard against a piece of crystalline material. He is rushed to the hospital where it is learned that he has a skill fracture, and only hours to live. The crystal which injured Bill sits on a table next to his bed. (Although the story actually showed no reason for the crystal to be there, we can assume that the doctor had examined it and just left it there.) As life begins to fade from him, Bill reaches out, gasping for breath, and his hand falls on the crystal. Suddenly, he regains full consciousness... and finds himself floating above his bed! Dropping to the floor, Bill runs to the door to call the doctor, but as he opens it, he crushes the doorknob in his bare hand. A nurse finds Bill and he is rushed to a fluoroscope. The skull fracture had disappeared! It is not until later that Bill realizes that it’s the crystal that gives him his amazing powers of defying gravity, superstrength, and distance x-ray vision. He establishes his base of operations in Secluded Valley and decides to become ‘the Comet,‘ a name he chose from thin air, to fight evil and injustice. The story closes as Bill dons his costume for the first time. “A later story revealed the origin and properties of the crystal.” At this point, Steve interrupted himself with an “editor’s note,” hardly necessary given that he was both writer of this piece and editor of Headline, but the practice was so common in the Weisinger and especially the Schwartz comics of the era, that it is not too surprising that Steve decided to use it here. Anyway, Steve, as editor, pointed out that Green Lantern “was the vogue in comics when Comet was created, and Comet bears some resemblance to him, as you will note.” So what is perhaps the main influence is openly acknowledged. Resuming: “The crystal once belonged to a group of men living on the planet Olba, who were known as the Caretakers. A

hundred in number, each had two agents who patrolled a specific sector of space. The Caretakers are identified by numbers, according to the number of each one’s own particular section of space. Comet’s Caretaker is known as Number 81. The Caretakers, however, unlike GL’s Guardians, play a major part in many of the Comet’s adventures. In one story, No. 81 actually got into the action. They are more human and seem less almighty than the Guardians.” He went on to describe the fantastic villains The Comet met up with, such as: “H-H-F, the renegade scientist who chose those initials for his name for some unknown purpose. A master of rays, H-H-F has used his weapons to alter Comet’s body, send him on journeys into the past and future, and send him into other dimensions. “Niba-Rus, the space pirate, who Comet met in his first encounter with the Caretakers. Since that time Niba-Rus has teamed up with other evildoers such as Pluto, God of the Underworld. “Both H-H-F and Niba-Rus appeared in the Comet’s best adventure – a book-lengther entitled ‘Secret of the Stolen ALL-STARS!,’ which costarred ye editor, Jerry Bails and Roy Thomas. “Another villain (?) appearing in the strip is Sibyl Mae Alcotts, the cousin of Comet’s girlfriend... While she’s not out for blood, Sibyl uses diabolical traps and schemes to get Comet to marry her! “Fortunately, Comet’s friends outnumber his enemies. There’s Doris Alcotts, his beautiful brunette girlfriend. His aide, Comet-Girl (June Marten on Earth), is in reality Caretaker 81’s daughter. The Three Nitwits, Clyde, Clarence, and Joe, provide a comedy relief. “Perhaps the most unusual of his friends, however, is Comet-Nut, the Comet from the distant planet Nutson. It’s nothing like the Bizarro World –nothing is backwards. However, everyone there is a duplicate of an Earth person, except that they’re shaped like Nutsonians...i.e., they have a beak attached to a perfectly global skull, a tiny neck, a ball-belly, pipe-cleaner legs, and no arms. But they are generally duplicates.” The foregoing description certainly shows that Gerber was not above the use of heavy derivation from existing comics and other sources. Need I point out that Niba-Rus is simply Abin-Sur spelled backwards? Abin Sur, being, of course, the alien who passed on the Power Ring and Power Battery (a.k.a., the green lantern) to Hal Jordan. Steve openly acknowl-

A Comet Lights The Way To Howard The Duck

edged his debt to the Bizarros. And, moving outside comics and into the realm of literature, one wonders if Doris and Sibyl Mae Alcotts had another relative named Louisa Mae. Nonetheless, sparks of distinctiveness show through. Perhaps there is little to hint at features which would follow in the 1970s, such as Omega the Unknown and Howard the Duck, and yet there is evidence of an imagination waiting to burst forth. Certainly, Gerber was not afraid to be different. For example, at a time when most fans had nothing but contempt for the Weisinger treatment of Superman, Steve enjoyed those Indicia Exposure comics (“Writing like this keeps me Besides drawing himself as a character in a “Comet” story or two, Steve illustrated the indicia of Headline #1 with on my toes,” he would mention on approximations of co-editor Paul Seydor & himself. Note that several of the credited “contributors” to the issue are another occasion), and was not afraid names that have popped up in Alter Ego from time to time over the years. You’ll learn a lot more about Headline #1 to adapt into his own work certain next issue! [Art ©2009 Estate of Steve Gerber.] elements therefrom. Gardner Fox’s one “Comet” story, the hero confronted a group of neo-Nazi types out to attempted revival of the Three Stooges-like Winky, Blinky, and Noddy promote prejudice and intolerance. The Comet’s solution was to transport (the Three Dimwits) in The Flash had failed miserably; but, undeterred, these folks to a country where their own type was persecuted. Steve Steve introduced the Three Nitwits into the “Comet” strip. If the specific succinctly described this story thusly, “Comet gets mad in this one!” level of originality isn’t always high, the level of individuality certainly is. Few others would have dared to combine so any diverse elements into one If you are tempted to respond, “Big deal!,” remember that we are feature, and do so unapologetically, as Steve Gerber did. talking about stories written during the very early ’60s—before Stan Lee had introduced, or reintroduced, such human traits as anger into the In some of the stories themselves, Steve was even more inclined both world of super-heroes. Characterization was minimal in those days. The to adapt existing practices and to depart therefrom at the same time. In “Superman” tales generally settled for stereotypes, and not particularly consistently at that, while highly regarded JLA, “Hawkman,” and “Adam Strange” author Gardner Fox seemed to feel little if any need for characterization. (There was scarcely any room for it, in his densely-plotted tales full of pseudo-scientific explanations.) One of the few authors of the time who could and did write some effective characterization, not to mention humor, was the oftenoverlooked John Broome, author of Green Lantern and The Flash. A practice he would much later use in professional comics was also in evidence in these tales, as Steve wrote himself into some of the stories. The fictional version of Steve Gerber was a semi-regular in the “Comet” stories, and probably conformed well to Gerber’s own self-image as “a nutty joker and a continuous talker.” On at

Welcome To The Club! Steve’s early-1960s drawings of the members of his Heroes’ Club, from Headline #1. The honorary members are named in the type. From left to right above are regulars Saturn-Boy, The Comet, Spaceboy. Comet-Girl, Wonderboy, The Ace, and Li’l Caliber Pistol. [©2009 Estate of Steve Gerber.]

The Teenage Creations Of Steve Gerber

to write about teen characters in solo adventures (with Superboy and Supergirl being about the only role models at the time), but he also teamed them in the Heroes’ Club. Among the membership of this group were such figures as Comet, Comet-Girl, Saturn-Boy, Spaceboy, Wonderboy, Li’l Caliber Pistol (another creation of Mike Gerber), the Ace, and the honorary membership consisting of Little Giant, Star Girl, Captain Huey, and The Dagger.

What A Difference A Couple Of Decades Makes! Another Gerber illo of himself and Paul Seydor from Headline #1 in 1962— juxtaposed with Frank Miller’s cover for Destroyer Duck #7 (May 1984) from Eclipse Comics. Steve G. and Jack Kirby co-created DD, partly as a fundraiser to pay for Steve’s impending lawsuit, during the time of Steve’s (and for that matter, Jack’s) disputes with Marvel. [Destroyer Duck TM & ©2009 Estates of Steve Gerber & Jack Kirby; Destroyer Duck art ©2009 Frank Miller; Headline art ©2009 Estate of Steve Gerber.]

least one occasion, however, in Steve’s own version of an “Imaginary Tale,” his fictional doppelgänger reformed from his nuttiness and got his chance to become The Comet. Steve described this in his characteristic style, while modestly putting himself in third person: “He out-Comets the Comet!” Speaking of “Imaginary Stories,” those Mort Weisinger/”Superman” adventures were about the only place in pro comics where we ever got to witness the death of a major (or even minor) character—apart, of course, from the endless retellings of the explosion of Krypton, in those days before writers would become trigger-happy and decide that death equalled drama. But Steve, again anticipating developments in comics of the future, daringly killed off his Comet-Girl character. Oh, she was simply replaced by another person who assumed the Comet-Girl costume and identity, but nonetheless it was a bold step for its time. (Ironically enough, though Steve knew nothing of this at the time, the first comic book super-hero ever to be killed had been MLJ’s original Comet, way back in 1941. Steve, upon learning later of the original Comet, gave some thought to renaming his character Comet-Boy, though I don’t know if he ever actually did so.) Steve never forgot that The Comet was only a teen-ager, and made liberal use of the high school setting he himself knew so well from contemporary personal experience. He was also conscious of locale, and again drew upon the old and familiar dictum, “Write what you know.” The Comet’s Silver City was clearly a Midwestern location, devoid of any surrounding oceans—again, something of a departure from the established norm in pro comics of the day. Steve appeared to be most comfortable in writing about teens, as his leading characters seemed to be drawn almost exclusively from that age group. Again, Gerber was almost prophetic in his writing. There was little, if anything, in published comics of the time to indicate the popularity to which teen super-heroes would someday rise. The Legion of Super-Heroes had barely been introduced, with no one being able to foresee the cult status it would later achieve. The various incarnations of the Teen Titans were also still in the future, as were The X-Men. Not only did Steve dare

Even in that list, there is innovation. Comet-Girl was an equal member of the club with The Comet; it would be many years before Hawkgirl joined her husband Hawkman in the JLA. And The Dagger was a reformed crook, yet another innovation ahead of its time. Well, except for Plastic Man, but again, it is unlikely that Steve knew about this still-deceased Golden Ager. Saturn-Boy showed some traces of originality, too. An orphan (that, at least, was standard) determined to avenge the death of his parents (that, too), young Roger Hart asked the aid of an already-established superdoer, Spaceboy, who lived in a neighboring city. At Roger’s request, Spaceboy assembled the “greatest scientists of the galaxy” (where would Silver Age characters have been without scientists?), to have them design a craft which could travel at faster-than-light speed. In return, Roger promised that he would help all of their planets, though his first loyalties were to Earth and the USA. (Exactly how all of that would avenge his parents’ death is a bit unclear.) Roger took his nom de guerre from a Saturn globe which had been his favorite toy in his early childhood. The aforementioned Spaceboy, Steve claimed, was “the only hero in existence who named himself out of thin air, to match his ‘S’ emblem.” Wonderboy had powers like those of Superboy. Not much is known about any of the others, with the exception of Little Giant, who will be discussed in Part II. Among the various titles “published” by Steve were The Comet, Saturn Comics, Star Comics (with the super-strong Star Girl), and All-Star Stories of the Comet (which, Steve insisted, not entirely convincingly, was “not inspired by All-Star Comics”). But soon he was to find yet another outlet for his creativity, in the form of a new venture—new for comics fans, anyway—called a fanzine. And that will be the subject of Part II, “The Forgotten Fanzine.” Stay tuned for Part II of John’s look at Steve Gerber’s fanzine work. Plus, I’ll be returning with a new series of interviews and articles to the Comic Fandom Archive after John’s threeparter. —Bill.

In Memoriam

Dave Simons (1954-2009) “A Very Talented, Enthusiastic Artist” by Mark Evanier

omic book and animation artist Dave Simons has died at the age of 55 following a long battle with cancer.

David Lloyd Simons was a native New Yorker with a childhood passion for comic books. Art teachers encouraged and advised him, and while he was serving in the Coast Guard in the 1970s, he began attending classes conducted by one of Marvel’s star artists, John Buscema. Dave would later say he owed his career to those workshop, citing not only Buscema’s teaching but also the friendships he forged there with other young artists, including Armando Gill and Ken Landraf.

design and storyboard work were G.I. Joe Extreme, Captain Planet, Masters of the Universe, Exo-Squad, and Courage the Cowardly Dog. He was a very talented, enthusiastic artist. His work was well-liked and Dave was well-liked. A lot of folks will be saddened to hear we’ve lost him. This tribute has been very slightly edited from its original form in Mark’s website www.newsfromme.com, and is ©2009 Mark Evanier.

At a 1979 comics convention, he showed his work to Rick Marschall, who was then an editor for Marvel. This led to Dave getting work at the company. His first assignment was inking a “Falcon” story that I wrote and which was penciled by John’s brother, Sal Buscema. Dave followed it with work on many Marvel titles, including Howard the Duck, Tomb of Dracula, Ghost Rider, Red Sonja, Conan the Barbarian, and many more, segueing from inking to also, at times, penciling. He also worked for DC and Disney, but by the early ’90s had moved more into animation work. Among the shows that featured his

Dave’s Team-Ups Dave Simons, in a photo taken a few years ago—juxtaposed with a re-creation of the cover art for Marvel Two-in-One #68 (Oct. 1980), executed by Dave (penciler) and Joe Rubinstein (inker)… and with Dave’s penciled-and-inked cover for The Young All-Stars #27 (July 1989). Thanks to Brian Sagar for a scan of the Marvel piece he commissioned in 2007. [MTIO art ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.; YAS cover ©2009 DC Comics.]

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(prior to going into service in September), where I tightened pencil backgrounds and inked them for “Captain America” at Timely and “Captain Marvel Jr.” at Fawcett. Mort Lawrence, Mac Raboy, Charles Sultan (I believe), and another character inker worked there, as well. I know Lawrence penciled “Captain America” and possibly “Captain Marvel Jr.” The penciler would draw the complete story but leave Cap M Jr. for Raboy to meticulously pencil himself. I remember Baily returning to the studio from Fawcett with the approved “Captain Marvel Jr.” pencils already lettered. One of the “Cap M Jr.” stories I worked on was titled “German Germs,” which appeared in Master Comics #45. I don’t remember the “Captain America” story, but it was probably published about six months later. In answer to your e-mail question, the “Filipino Kid” story was the only one I did for the 1946 Yellowjacket #7; the art was delivered to Lloyd Jacuqet 9-17-45. In summary: the Who’s Who dates are not correct. I worked at the Baily shop August 1943, where Fawcett and Timely were serviced. After discharge from the Army, I freelanced in 1945 on Wonderland Comics but not on Timely or Fawcett features, as far as I recall. Thanks to Herb Rogoff and Jim Amash for locating me after I had moved to a different town. My family was delighted with the interview; my kids and grandkids never knew too much about my early cartoonist aspirations. Imagine— “Larry Condell” in print! Marvin Levy We’re the ones who should thank you, Marv—and we do! Now that these facts are in print here, perhaps the Who’s Who will update your entry at the proper time. At present, its information is frozen is stasis as it was at the time of the November 2006 passing of its founder and guardian, Jerry G. Bails.

ell, we messed up again last issue, and at the last moment had to drop our letters section, but here at least are comments on A/E #75—beneath Shane Foley’s sensational sketch of our twin “maskots” Captain Ego (on left) and Alter Ego— who were originally drawn by Biljo White and Ron Harris, respectively—homaging a John Romita panel from Daredevil #14 (March 1966). Watching, of course, are their young allies Alter and Rob Lindsay. Thanks again, Shane! [Alter Ego & Rob Lindsay TM & ©2009 Roy & Dann Thomas; Alter & Captain Ego ©2009 Roy Thomas & Bill Schelly.] Though there were other features galore in issue #75, its heralded themes were the FCA’s “The Shazam Curse,” which included a spotlight on Alex Ross’ Shazam! series proposal which had been rejected by DC a few years back, with all that gorgeous art—plus the work of 1940s-50s comic artist Marv Levy. The latter sent us the following e-mail, in response to a query Jim Amash and I made of him requesting confirmation of a few facts of his bio: Dear Roy and Jim, I worked at Bernard Baily’s studio in August 1943

Next up: Not surprisingly, most A/E readers were thrilled to see Alex Ross’ concept and art for a Shazam! revival, and the majority hope will it may yet come to pass. In fact, Alex e-mailed us that even DC was taking another look at it after its coverage in this mag, though we don’t know what may have come of that reassessment—and of course we wish Alex (and thus DC) the best of luck with it. Dan Makara, however,

Belle Of Rights In A/E #75 we printed the first page of a never-published, 10-page story written and drawn by Marv Levy in 1942 for a proposed super-hero series, “Bill of Rights and Liberty Belle” (no relation to DC’s 1943+ heroine of the latter monicker). Seen above is the bottom tier of panels from its eighth page. One of these days we’ll have to run the whole thing! Marv wasn’t certain, though, whether he’d drawn it as a sample series for the Jacquet or Chesler shop. [©2009 Marv Levy.]

re:

had a few issues with Alex’s cover… Dear Roy: Just felt the urge to weigh in on the cover to A/E #75. I heard recently that former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has just converted to Catholicism. I believe this is possible. Look, man has walked on the moon. The Berlin Wall came down. But the Big Red Cheese, portrayed in the role of a monotheistic deity?!? Come on… in the ether world in which the good Captain dwells, all the money clearly states… “In the gods we trust!” While I truly appreciate the work of Mr. Ross, as well as Jerry Ordway and all the other talented artists and writers who have attempted to resurrect probably the greatest of all comic book creations, it seems they have all made the same mistake… Preaching to the Wrong Flock!

Fran Matera Was A Doll, Man! Lee Boyette, who wrote the ongoing history of the Centaur Comics Group that has thus far appeared in A/E #85 & 87 (and which will continue in #91), found his name mentioned in #75 in conjunction with the Maxwell Elkan feature. He relates: “I showed Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr., [a piece of Elkan art] from Feature Comics #48. He also does ‘Samar’ in #47 and the cover to Hit Comics #19 & #20, not Reed Crandall.” Then, responding to Jim V. & Hames Ware’s discussion in their Elkan article of “sneaks”—cases in which an artist secretly signs his name or initials on a piece of artwork to ID his participation when he wasn’t allowed to sign it—Lee sent us the above two panels. They feature “sneaks” worked by artist Fran Matera (who was interviewed in A/E #59) into the “Doll Man” tale for Quality’s Feature #47 (Aug. 1941); note the arrows drawn on the photocopies. He adds: “I want to do an article about hidden signatures, word games, and sneaks. I have about 500 comics from 1936-43; most are Iger or Eisner shop products (Quality, Fox, Fiction House) and Centaurs. Have at least 25-30 good examples for you. Oh, and on p. 44 [of A/E #75], the Centaur reference for ‘Kisco Kid’ should be ‘41,’ not ‘51.’” Thanks for the correction, Lee— and we’ll take you up on your article on “sneaks” as soon as the Centaur piece has run its full course! [Doll Man TM & ©2009 DC Comics.]

What made Captain Marvel stand out above the men of steel and dark knights was that he was slightly irreligious. He was a stuffed cheese in his outfit… not a muscular sausage. His were “funny book” stories. Am I the only comics fan that saw Captain Marvel Adventures more like Rocky Squirrel than Superman? Wasn’t Rocky and Bullwinkle a kids’ show that adults loved? I would love to have seen C.C. Beck’s portrayal of the Pieta, or, more interesting… his reaction to someone suggesting he do it. The real question, of course, is…can comic books be really daring and attempt to sell to children and not to angst-ridden teenagers? Other than that… A/E #75 was another great issue! Dan Makara We doubt Alex intended any real religious significance by the use of a work of Renaissance art as an object of aesthetic homage, Dan. In fact, your fellow reader DeMotte Case reminded Ye Editor of an important interim inspiration for Alex’s cover which we’d meant to mention in #75 but forgot: “Surely you remember your old running mate Jim Starlin’s excellent Death of Captain Marvel graphic novel?” So, in a sense, Alex was doing an homage to an homage! Here are a few more encapsulated comments re #75 before we move on:

Jake Oster says “the Harvey Comics editor identified as ‘Bev Sousa,’ of whom Marvin Levy speaks so highly on page 19, is actually Beverly Suser. (The Who’s Who website gives the spelling as ‘Souser.’) And the ‘somebody’ Miss Suser wound up marrying was Henry Grunwald, the managing editor of Time magazine.” Thanks for the info, Jake—though it’d be good to know its source.

Jeff Taylor reports: “Liked Alex Wright’s calendar, but I do have to wonder: if artist Sheldon Moldoff based Moon Girl’s likeness on Merle Oberon, shouldn’t a photo of her have been used instead of Ann Blyth?” He also reminds us, re Nick Noble’s letter in #75 on The Shadow, that “there was another radio show called The Avenger, no relation to the pulp or comic character, who was scientist Jim Brandon, who fought crime with his ‘secret diffusing capsule that cloaks him in the black light of his invisibility’ and with the help of his beautiful girlfriend Fern Collier…. Walter Gibson himself wrote the scripts.” Very interesting, Jeff… I hadn’t heard of that one. Steve Darnall applauded “the tributes to Paul Norris and Mike Wieringo, and P.C. Hamerlinck’s examination of the post-Fawcett Captain Marvel…. The Alter Ego calendar was inspired, although I believe someone has confused Carole Landis (who starred in the original One Million B.C.) with Carole Lombard (who actually died in a plane crash in early 1942). A small quibble, but I’m happy to see the underrated Ms. Landis get some of the attention that is her due.” The error was a slip of Ye Editor’s during a weak moment, Steve… although on a good day I certainly know the difference between Caroles Lombard and Landis. Hames Ware, who co-edited the original print version of the Who’s Who

[correspondence, comments, & corrections]

in American Comic Books with Jerry Bails, opined as how “the interview with Marv Levy was just excellent. The elderly artist at [the Bernard Baily studio] that Levy refers to may be Cavoigt, who did quite a bit there.” [Jim Amash tells us that Carmine Infantino says it was indeed Charles Voight, who used that pen name.) Naturally, we could’ve added that Hames and Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr.’s, piece on artist Maxwell Elkan in A/E #75 also added to the mix of the issue, and we look forward to the next edition of their “Great Unknowns” series. Offtimes FCA contributor John G. Pierce writes that “Marc Swayze was great, as usual,” and “wish[es] someone would reprint Flyin’ Jenny.” Re “The Shazam Curse,” he feels the 1970s Shazam! revival might’ve been better handled by a combination of: “(1) longer stories rather than short ones; (2) allowing Beck to hire Don Newton as assistant; (3) not trying to restore everything at once (in the first few issues, we not only had Cap and Billy return, but Jr., Mary, Tawny, Mr. Mind, Sivana, et al., and it was perhaps a bit too much); and (4) being able to title the book Captain Marvel would have helped.” John wasn’t wild about either the Thomas 1980s revival or Alex Ross’ recently proposed one, and closes: “Frankly, I think the Marvels would be better off being sold to Archie Comics. A traditional-looking and -acting Captain Marvel would not be at all out of place next to the denizens of Riverdale.” Now that’s an intriguing thought, John! As a Capfan since the mid-1940s myself, I certainly don’t agree with all your assessments, but perhaps key Archie artist Stan Goldberg (who was also Stan Lee’s and my 1960s collaborator on Millie the Model, as well as colorist of the early Marvel Age titles) will favor us with a drawing of the World’s Mightiest Mortal one of these days?! From Spain, Pedro Angosto argues (alas, at too great length for full inclusion here) that “I don’t think we fans do [the Marvel Family franchise] any favor by putting a curse on his relaunches. The Captain Marvel mythos is, beyond any doubt, the most complex and symbolically rich of all the

classic super-heroes. Being a true and direct heir to the old mythologies, it’s not a strange thing that many interpretations arise from the original ‘revelations,’ as many and diverse as from any other sacred text.” Hear, hear! Comics/pulp historian Will Murray notes that he was the guy who had passed on the sad Ogden Whitney anecdote repeated in #75, while Richard Kyle was the source of the letter. “No big deal,” he adds. “The anecdote, not the provider, was the point.” And, in closing: Fritz Peerenboom sent an e-mail to FCA editor P.C. Hamerlinck advising him that “your FCA is the only reason I buy Alter Ego”—but hey, we’ll take readers any way we can get them, Fritz! Oh, and here’s one additional bit of info we missed printing last issue, re A/E #74: from England, Rob Kirby writes that the Warriors Three illo on p. 27 is actually “a recap illo preceding the final installment of a reprint of a ‘Warriors’ solo outing from Marvel Spotlight, Vol. 1.” He believes it to have been penciled by either Jim Mooney or [very early] John Romita, Jr. Comments or questions re this issue’s contents? Send them to: Roy Thomas e-mail: roydann@ntinet.com 32 Bluebird Trail St. Matthews, SC 29135 We’d like to end this letters section with a “shameless suggestion” (his term) from one-time comics artist Tom Sawyer, who was interviewed in A/E #77. He writes that his new mystery-thriller novel No Place to Run is finally available at amazon.com and elsewhere. Gerald Petievich, author of The Sentinel and To Live and Die in L.A., says it’s “a thrill-a-minute ride. Members of the 9/11 Commission who read this compelling, entertaining novel with squirm.” Lots of luck with it, Tom!

…And All In Color For CHRISTMAS! by Ye Editor

emember last year’s cavortin’ collection of comics pros’ Christmas cards in Alter Ego? Or the year before’s? Well, of course you don’t—because I totally forgot about doing holiday sections for those issues till it was too late! But I wasn’t going to let a third Yuletide rush by without sharing with you at least a handful of season’s greetings from some folks who are very special to A/E—and quite possibly to you, as well! So…

JOE SINNOTT Greetings from your friendly neighborhood SantaMan were sent to Roy & Dann in 2008 by one of the greatest comic book inkers ever—just to prove that he can still sharpen a mean pencil, to boot! [Spider-Man TM & ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

DICK & LINDY AYERS This Christmas card was sent by the Ayerses to Keif Simon, who takes many of the New York comicon photos that pop up in Alter Ego. So, since Dick & Lindy are the focus of an article (and a home invasion!) this issue…! [Thing, Ghost Rider, Spider-Man, Sgt. Fury, & Dum-Dum Dugan TM & ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.; Superman TM & ©2009 DC Comics.]

...And All In Color For Christmas!

JACK & CAROLE BENDER It would take a whole page of drawings of Alley Oop (not that that’s a bad thing!) to print all the great cards sent to Roy & Dann these past few years by the artist-andwriter team who now helm V.T. Hamlin’s cavortin’ caveman. The one is from 2005. [Alley Oop TM & © 2009 Newspaper Enterprises Association.]

MICHAEL T. & JANET GILBERT The keeper of Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt and his equally talented wife were musing over some of their recent work (the graphic novel Mann and Superman) and a Japanese Disney comic on this 2004 card.

ROY & DANN THOMAS We couldn’t decide between our Christmas cards featuring our beloved trumpeter hornbill Barbra (guess who she’s named after!)—or our capricious capybaras, the magnificent Marguerita and the effervescent Evita. Not that we can tell “The Girls” apart, even by looking at their webbed toes, which would give Esther Williams a run for her money!

Happy Holidays!

The Beat Goes On [FCA EDITORS NOTE: From 1941-53, Marcus D. Swayze was a top artist for Fawcett Publications. The very first Mary Marvel character sketches came from Marc’s drawing table, and he illustrated her earliest adventures, including the classic origin story, “Captain Marvel Introduces Mary Marvel (Captain Marvel Adventures #18, Dec. ’42); but he was primarily hired by Fawcett Publications to illustrate Captain Marvel stories and covers for Whiz Comics and Captain Marvel Adventures. He also wrote many Captain Marvel scripts, and continued to do so while in the military. After leaving the service in 1944, he made an arrangement with Fawcett to produce art and stories for them on a freelance basis out of his Louisiana home. There he created both art and stories for The Phantom Eagle in Wow Comics, in addition to drawing the Flyin’ Jenny newspaper strip for Bell Syndicate (created by his friend and mentor Russell Keaton). After the cancellation of Wow, Swayze produced artwork for Fawcett’s top-selling line of romance comics, including Sweethearts and Life Story. After the company ceased publishing comics, Marc moved over to Charlton Publications, where he ended his comics career in the mid-’50s. Marc’s ongoing professional memoirs have been a vital part of FCA since his first column appeared in FCA #54, 1996. Last issue, Marc spoke of the creative satisfaction he had from illustrating romance comics for Fawcett. This issue, he examines the art of depicting sound. —P.C. Hamerlinck.]

ver try to draw a sound? The “pows” and “bams” and “eeks” of those very early comic strip creators come to mind at the thought ... and are remembered as valiant drawing board efforts to handle the subject. And they were usually accompanied by pictured action to suggest various degrees of volume. Nice try by the old-timers, but the question remains ... draw sound?

Back in the 1940s and ’50s, at my table there was a persistence to create something based upon a favored avocation ... music. It was an activity begun in the school years and continued ... professionally, though not in the full sense ... sort of a semi-career ... that brought about events and

people that A panel from Marc Swayze’s “Melody of Hate,” a story utilizing were never one of his old characters, Neal Valentine, in Charlton’s Strange to be Suspense Stories #27 (Oct. 1955. Say, Marc, is that C.C. Beck forgotten. you drew in the background playing the stand-up bass? High time [©2009 the respective copyright holders.] now, thought I, to delve into that store of memories, in the hopes that some of it might be retold ... in comic strip format. The art style would be as it had developed over the years with Captain Marvel, Mary, the Phantom Eagle, and Flyin’ Jenny, dependent upon three trustworthy implements: the pointed watercolor brush, the Spencerian #2 writing pen, and the highly flexible, split-nib, Joseph Gillotte #290 drawing pen. My character would be a piano player who composed popular songs and might be seen performing in various places ... from concert halls to roadside barrooms. I called him Neal, and pulled together a story about how he and a new friend, Jill, go looking for a missing musician. It was prepared as newspaper daily strips and submitted to various syndicates for approval. I think Neal made a good impression wherever I took him. Eventually, though, the story was revised and sold to Charlton Publications, where it appeared in Strange Suspense Stories #27. That issue, by the way, should you have a copy, might have some value as a collectors’ item. Its date, Oct. 1955, is that of the flash flood of the Naughatuck River that washed out the Charlton facilities and the extent of its effect on the production is mysterious. There was a panel in one of those strips that came pretty close to drawing sound. Neal has handed his publisher a song and a close shot of it shows it to be titled “All I Want.” That was a number I had composed and dedicated to my wife, June. About as close to “drawing sound,” I guess, as you can get!

“All I Want” (Above:) A panel from one of Swayze’s Neal Valentine strips, in which Neal handed his publisher a song titled “All I Want”— a number that Marc, being a musician, had composed himself and dedicated to his wife June. (Left:) A snapshot of the Swayzes on July 17, 2009—Marc’s 96th birthday. [Art ©2009 Marc Swayze.]

Give Yourself A Christmas Present! NOW AVAILABLE from ROY THOMAS’ private stash!

Rare, Out-ofPrint Issues of ALTER EGO— Vol. 3, #1 & Vol. 3, #5! $15.00 @, includes US postage— Autographed on request Send to: Roy Thomas 32 Bluebird Trail St. Matthews, SC 29135

The Female Captain Marvels Marvel & DC’s Gender Adjustments Of A Fawcett Legacy by Zorikh Lequidre

here have been many different characters named “Captain Marvel” over the years, so it should come as no surprise that some of them have been female. Chronologically listed by the time they were known as “Captain Marvel,” they are: Monica Rambeau (a.k.a. Captain Marvel, Photon, Pulsar); Mary Batson/Bromfield (a.k.a. Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel, Black Mary); Phyla-Vell (a.k.a. Captain Marvel, Quasar, Martyr); and Carol Danvers (a.k.a. Ms. Marvel, Binary, Warbird, Captain Marvel). Only one of them—Monica Rambeau—was not related in some way to any other Captain Marvel.

I. Monica Rambeau In 1982 Jim Starlin had just completed his graphic novel The Death of Captain Marvel, which killed off the hero who starting in 1967 had secured the trademark of the name “Captain Marvel” for Marvel Comics. The issue as to why Marvel needed to have a character named “Captain Marvel” would fill another article, but writer Roger Stern, in an interview with Kurt Anthony Krug found on Mania.com, said that he “offered to come up with a new character to fill the bill.” Up to that time, most of the popular super-hero characters were white males. As “glass ceilings” were shattered over the years, a series of “firsts” and “pioneers” paved the way for a world in which the color or sex of a person would not limit their opportunities. Stern says that his wife pointed out to him that “Captain Marvel” was a genderneutral name, so he set forth to create a female Captain Marvel. On Sterntalk.com, he states that he “wanted to create a well-rounded female superhero—one who didn’t fit into any of the then-current clichés, and who could hold her own against the toughest opponents.” So he decided to make the next Captain Marvel an African-American woman. Though he had edited Marvel’s previous Captain Marvel, he made no connection between that character and his new creation: she was not a relative, nor were her powers derived from the previous CM; in fact, she had never even heard of him. With the civilian name Monica Rambeau, she started out as a New Orleans Harbor Patrol lieutenant who was often up against the aforementioned glass ceiling, in the person of her sexist superior officer (who happened to be black man, thereby making it clear that it was gender, not race, at issue). Monica/CM was introduced in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #16 (1982),

with John Romita, Jr., as artist. In Modern Masters, Vol. 18: John Romita, Jr. (still available from TwoMorrows Publishing), the artist revealed about this new CM that he “just took some reference on [actress] Pam Grier, because I always loved her, and at the last moment somebody said that, ‘well, we need to use this woman, here (a different model),’ because they thought maybe Pam Grier wasn’t as good-looking as the model they found.” But, in her first appearance, the new CM even caused Peter Parker to turn his head as she passed by him. In the course of the adventure that gave her the ability to transform herself into “any form of electromagnetic energy,” she was referred to as “Mon Capitain” by Professor Andre LeClaire, an old friend of her grandfather’s who had discovered the extra-dimensional energy from which she obtained her powers. Clad in garments pilfered from a Mardi Gras costume warehouse (which conveniently included a mask, and coincidentally bore a black 16-pointed star, much like Captain Mar-Vell’s!), she rescued LeClaire and saved an oil rig from destruction. A South American soldier overheard LeClaire call her “Mon Capitain” and, realizing she had saved them all, started repeating, “Capitan est Maravilla.” When the story hit the newspapers, the headline read: “WHO IS CAPTAIN MARVEL?” At LeClaire’s urging, Monica decided to accept the opportunity to become a super-hero, and left her job with the Harbor Patrol. He even got a costume made for her—in that most practical of Marvel Universe fabrics: unstable molecules. A few weeks later she was in New York City, fighting off muggers and running into first Spider-Man, then The Thing, who was the first to inform her there had been an earlier Captain Marvel. She wound up going to The Avengers and was soon inducted as the first-ever “Avenger-in-training.” The very first thing she did was look up the records of Captain Mar-Vell. Conveniently, Stern was also writer of The Avengers at the time. Though it had been his hope that the new CM would have her own ongoing series, it never happened, and it would be in the pages of The Avengers that Monica Rambeau lived her life.

Monica gained full-member status in Avengers #231 (May 1983), and spent the next 50-odd issues developing her powers and gaining confidence as a super-hero. She was able to create holographic images and to could convert herself into everything from radio waves to cosmic rays to gamma rays to X-rays

FCA [Fawcett Collectors Of America]

to a laser beam; she proved herself of sound tactical mind in battle and highly capable at hand-to-hand combat. She thoroughly perused The Avengers’ data banks, thus being informed of all her new teammates’ abilities and prepared for any of their regular adversaries. She traveled to other galaxies and played key roles in cosmic wars. Her appearance even stymied an attack of Lava Men (yes, really), who believed her to be their legendary Lady-ofLight. But connections with the previous Captain Marvel did occur. Monica felt discomfort around Mar-Vell’s old friend Eros (Starfox), until he acknowledged her worthiness to bear the name. In a brief appearance, General Bridges, the “Old Man” from Cape Canaveral in Mar-Vell’s early stories, stammered when he met this new “Captain... ah... Marvel,” but he turned out to actually be a Dire Wraith who had killed the original “Old Man” and taken his memories.

A Photon By Any Other Name… The passing of the mantle of “Captain Marvel,” and the introduction of one of the less impressive super-hero names—Photon—in Avengers Unplugged #5 (June 1996). Story by Glenn Herdling; art by M.C. Wyman, Sandu Florea, & Tom Palmer. [©2009 Marvel Comics.]

By Avengers #278 (April 1987) Monica had been with The Avengers for over four dozen issues (nearly five years as the crow flies, though only reckoned as a few months in Marvel Universe time), and had seen Yellowjacket, Hawkeye, Thor, She-Hulk, Vision, Scarlet Witch, Sub-Mariner, Starfox, Hercules, Marrina, the Black Knight, and Dr. Druid come and/or go from the team. When the Wasp stepped down as the team’s chairperson, Captain America nominated Monica and she accepted the position.

All through her time with The Avengers, Monica/CM enjoyed considerable support among published fan mail, applauding her fascinating powers and independence, as well as her being the only African-American female super-hero. She was also unique in not being part of the trend of using the word “Black” as part of her name (as per Marvel’s Black Goliath and Black Panther and DC’s Black Lightning); she was not a “street” hero like Luke Cage, nor an African nobility or “deity” like Black Panther or Storm; she was not a variant of a Caucasian character (Black Goliath) or a sidekick like The Falcon; nor was she paired in a “salt & pepper” team (Captain America and The Falcon). As a female character she was also unique in that she did not originate as a partner or relative (like the Wasp to Ant-Man, Scarlet Witch to Quicksilver, or Invisible Girl to The Human Torch). Nor was she a female version or spin-off of a male hero as were the Wasp, Ms. Marvel, and SheHulk. In short, Monica Rambeau filled a role and served several demographics that were lacking in comics at the time.

II. Genis-Vell But drastic changes were in store for The Avengers. Stern stated that senior editor Mark Gruenwald wanted to replace Captain Marvel (Monica) as leader with Captain America. In the Krug interview, Stern says that he responded to Gruenwald’s stated preferences and “sent editorial a memo pointing out that dumping Captain Marvel at that time would look both racist and sexist. I suggested that we rethink that particular idea. Instead, I received a message that I was fired.” Gruenwald commented in Avengers #288 that “I was not interested in doing any injustice to any characters, either, but I also believed that the story line could be done without hurting any characters…we had irreconcilable differences… I informed Roger that I wanted to proceed with the agreedupon storyline and thus I would hire another writer.” According to the listed credits, the next few issues were produced from Stern’s plots, with Ralph Macchio scripting. Walter Simonson soon took over as writer; it was under his watch that the ambitious machinations of

Dr. Druid undermined Monica’s leadership of The Avengers. In the course of a battle with a sea monster that had once been Prince Namor’s wife Marrina, Monica transformed into a bolt of lightning and, upon contact with the water, dissipated across the sea. She was able to pull herself together (so to speak), but only as a wasted, withered, powerless husk. At that point, Druid’s mind-controlling abilities influenced her to step down as the team’s leader. Monica slowly regained her full powers, but by then the world of comics had changed again: the early-’90s speculators’ boom was full-on as Marvel introduced new characters in all their ’93 annuals—one of them being Genis-Vell, the cloned son of Captain Mar-Vell. Though the hero name was initially “Legacy,” the trademark name Captain Marvel was used for his short-lived series. It was not until the second issue of that series (Jan. 1996) that there was any acknowledgment of Ms. Rambeau, and then only as a caller into a TV show (“Monica from New Orleans”) whose face was never shown. The Captain Marvel name issue was finally settled when, in Avengers Unplugged #5 (June 1996), Monica and Genis met in a battle involving Mar-Vell’s old adversary, The Collector. Monica outshone Genis, who was even willing to cede her the CM name; but she instead chose to be called “Photon.” As such, she continued to be a seldom-used Marvel character. Years later Genis “died” and came back (as super-heroes are wont to do) with different powers and called himself Photon—at which time Monica decided to go with the name “Pulsar.” And still, Marvel Comics hasn’t done much with her. (Monica currently resides in a mini-series, Marvel Divas, which is essentially Sex in the City with super-heroes.)

III. Mary Bromfield/Batson As Genis-Vell was coming on the scene, DC Comics had given Jerry Ordway the green light on The Power of Shazam!, re-booting Captain Marvel/Billy Batson and his extended family, including Billy’s sister adopted by the Bromfield family, who also gained the power to transform into a super-hero by saying the name of the ancient wizard, “Shazam!” In the Golden Age Fawcett stories and in the early continuation with DC comics, Mary was Billy’s twin sister, and her super-hero identity was “Mary Marvel.” Mary looked exactly the same in both identities and had powers based on six goddesses of antiquity. In Ordway’s version, however, Mary was Billy’s younger sister, transformed into a grown-up version of

The Female Captain Marvels

Drawing From the Source (Left:) Is Freddy Freeman recognizing one—or both—heroes then called “Captain Marvel”? Captain Marvel Jr.’s updated origin from The Power of Shazam! #4 (June 1995). Writer: Jerry Ordway; art: Peter Krause & Mike Manley. [©2009 DC Comics.] (Right:) A 2001 Jerry Ordway sketch of Mary Marvel. (Sorry, folks— neither the FCA’s nor A/E’s Editor can bring himself to call her “Cap.”) Sketch courtesy of JO & Ben Herman. [Mary Marvel TM & ©2009 DC Comics.]

herself, with powers derived from the same “Shazam” acronym as her brother and, also like her brother, her super-hero character was called Captain Marvel. Ordway deemed “Mary Marvel” an illogical moniker for his new version of the old heroine. In fact, her naming even became a plot point. In one of her first adventures, the villain Madame Libertine asked her name, and she said “Marvel! Captain Marvel!” So for the duration of Power of Shazam! she was officially known as “Captain Marvel.” This was despite her brother’s protestations: “You can call yourself Mary Marvel for all I care! Anything but ‘Captain.’” to which she responded “Ooh! What about Lieutenant Marvel?” This particular change in the character’s mythos did lead to some confusion and awkward moments. Sometimes she would be referred to as “the lady Captain Marvel,” or someone would address her as “Miss... uh... Captain Marvel.” Billy and Freddy Freemen (Captain Marvel Jr.) would just call her “Mary.” Captain Nazi called her “‘Madame Marvel,” while Mr. Mind called her “‘Mary Marvel” and “Little Miss Marvel” out of derision. In the Supergirl Plus book, the Girl of Steel called her “Captain Marvel... ette?” Her use of the Captain Marvel name actually added to the dramatic effect of Captain Marvel Jr.’s origin. In an alteration from the Fawcett era, Mary preceded Freddy Freeman in the gaining of the powers of Shazam. In the new version, it was she and Billy who took Freddy to Shazam to beg for his life. When the wounded boy woke up and saw both heroes there he murmured “Captain Marvel?,” never specifying if he was referring to one or both of them. As with Billy Batson, Ordway had written the character of Mary to have the same mind as both youngster and super-hero. Mary was established as a nice Midwestern girl who was initially hesitant about using her powers. But while her upbringing may have inhibited her aggressiveness, she did have, as Shazam himself said, “an intuitive use of...powers...in many ways using them better than your brother [has].” This clear difference between the thoughtful, intuitive Mary and the impulsive, aggressive Billy made for interesting interaction between them. Since the Ordway series ended, Mary has never again been referred to as “Captain Marvel,” but only as “Mary Marvel.” Subsequently, Mary has lost her powers, but gained new ones from Black Adam and has battled with the corrupting influence of several evil characters, and, to many readers’ dismay, has even become an evil parody of herself as “Black Mary.”

Captain Marvel…ette? Two famous heroines make fun of each other’s names in Supergirl Plus #1 (Feb. 1997) … not the only time Peter David would write about a female Captain Marvel. Art by Mike Manley & John Nyberg. [©2009 DC Comics.]

FCA [Fawcett Collectors Of America]

The World’s Mightiest Mortal(s) (Right:) “When Danverses Clash!” Linda (Supergirl) Danvers meets Carol (Ms. Marvel) Danvers in Jim Mooney’s commissioned homage to the cover of Action Comics #252 (May 1959) and the first “Supergirl” story. Mooney, of course, drew both heroines at one time or another. Thanks to John G. Pierce; we’re just sorry part of Mooney’s signature is missing on the scan we have. [Supergirl TM & ©2009 DC Comics; Ms. Marvel TM & ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.] (Below:) Carol Danvers as Captain Marvel on the cover of House of M #2 (Aug. 2005). Art by Terry & Rachel Dodson . [©2009 Marvel Comics.]

IV. Phyla Meanwhile, back at Marvel Comics, their newest Captain Marvel, Genis-Vell, as written mostly by Peter David, had become omnipotent, gone insane, and was involved in the destruction and recreation of the universe. Genis later resurrected his mother, who was so proud of her son that she created a sister, Phyla-Vell, who would become “The New Captain Marvel.” This new Captain Marvel had been granted a version of Genis-Vell’s “Cosmic Awareness.” After Genis passed away, Phyla finally inherited the mantle of “Captain Marvel” and became the answer to the news item that Marvel Comics’ next Captain Marvel would be gay. Phyla’s time as a Captain Marvel, however, was short-lived. Unable to follow in her father’s and brother’s footsteps, she traded in her Captain Marvel costume for one more evoking a monk or crusader. Her high moment of heroism came when she rescued the “Quantum bands of Quasar” (the same bands that had been worn by the 1950s Marvel Boy). Along with the their power, Phyla was given a new responsibility, that of “Protector of the Universe,” and a new name, Quasar. She and Moondragon were present for the latest resurrection of Adam Warlock (who in this incarnation appeared with a big “Shazam”-style lightning bolt on his chest, an homage to the tribute Roy Thomas & Gil Kane had paid to the original Captain Marvel when Warlock’s costume had been designed back in 1972). Phyla eventually died, but returned again under the name Martyr.

V. Carol Danvers The final female Captain Marvel has had a long comic book career, but had the briefest time as a Captain Marvel: Carol Danvers. Created by writer Roy Thomas and penciler Gene Colan in Marvel Super-Heroes #13 (March 1968), Carol started off as the head of security for Cape Canaveral when Captain Mar-Vell first appeared. In time she gained the powers and abilities of a Kree super-warrior from radiation

absorbed from a Kree machine, and became Ms. Marvel, the “first feminist super-hero.” The similarities between the early Mar-Vell and Superman are numerous—and Carol’s being named Danvers, the same name as the original Supergirl (Thomas says he simply forgot all about Linda Danvers when naming the character, since he rarely read “Supergirl” stories), and then becoming a female version of the Kree Captain Marvel, only added to the unique parallels. In the course of her life, Carol had to endure parental disapproval, professional failure, schizophrenia, technology-assisted seduction and rape, being trapped in limbo, having her powers and memories stolen, alcoholism, the death of several friends and lovers, and being courtmartialed and kicked out of The Avengers. As a result of changes in her powers and situations, she altered her super-hero name from Ms. Marvel to Binary to Warbird. More recently, The Scarlet Witch reconstructed reality into a world where Magneto ruled over the planet as a benign dictator, as mutants became the dominant species and humans bided their time awaiting eventual extinction. In this world, Carol Danvers, a human with all the Kree-based powers of Ms. Marvel, was “Captain Marvel,” the world’s greatest hero, the one that everyone could count on to save the day. She had a publicist, a sorcerer/time traveler arch-enemy, and even a fan club. Though her time as a “Captain Marvel” was brief, it had a vast impact on her life. Carol took great pleasure in being the world’s greatest superhero… and in fulfilling the aspirations we all share: to be the best we can be. Zorikh Lequidre can be found at captainmarvelculture.com.

In Memoriam

Remembering Dorothy Dorothy Schaffenberger (1923-2009), Widow Of Artist Kurt Schaffenberger

by Mark Voger Author of Hero Gets Girl! The Life and Art of Kurt Schaffenberger Edited by P.C. Hamerlinck

or many comic-book fans, it’s the end of an enchanted era.

Dorothy Schaffenberger, wife of “Captain Marvel” and “Lois Lane” artist Kurt Schaffenberger, passed away on June 13, 2009. “Dotty,” as friends called the vivacious redhead, was married to Kurt for 56 years, from 1946 until the artist’s death in 2002. The couple had two children—daughter Susan and son Karl—and six grandchildren. In her final years, Dorothy was relishing her new role as a great-grandmother. More than most artists’ wives, Dorothy played a looming role in her husband’s work. She was an inspiration for the artist’s unique, comical incarnation of Lois Lane—even though Kurt once jokingly said to her, “But you’re not a brunette, dear.” “Give me a half-hour,” Dorothy shot back. Kurt also drew occasional cameos of Dorothy in the pages of Whiz Comics, Master Comics, Marvel Family, and Superman’s Girlfriend, Lois Lane, and depicted the Schaffenberger family in custom Christmas cards he illustrated from the 1940s through the ’90s. Kurt’s biography, published by TwoMorrows in 2003, was titled Hero Gets Girl! expressly as a tribute to Dorothy. On the surface, of course, the hero of the title was Superman and the girl was Lois. But in reality, it was Kurt and Dotty all the way. Their ’til-death-do-us-part romance was the center of the artist’s private life. Dorothy ran the show, providing Kurt with a stable and happy home life. This enabled him to concentrate on his important work, entertaining millions by illustrating the exploits of Captain Marvel and Superman. Keep that in mind whenever you look at a Schaffenberger comic book page. Dorothy was at Kurt’s side the entire time—quite literally, since Kurt freelanced from home. I first met the “Schaffs” in 1989, when my late wife, photographer Kathy Voglesong, and I visited their home in Brick, New Jersey, to interview Kurt for the Asbury Park [NJ] Press on a tip from my friend Howard Bender, who also drew “Superman” for DC Comics. This job was one of hundreds of field assignments Kathy and I fulfilled during our 19 years as a husband-and-wife, writer-photographer team. We might never have seen the Schaffs again, but for Dorothy’s invitation to keep in touch after the article was published. Sure enough, we all became friends, occasionally going out to lunch or dinner along with Howard and Joni Bender, or just hanging out in the Schaffs’ living room for an afternoon every now and then. We never forgot one particular dinner party Dorothy threw—lobster, with hot towels between courses. On another memorable evening, the six of us went to dinner to celebrate Kurt’s 70th birthday, and then convened at our home for birthday cake. To tease Kurt, Kathy insisted on lighting 70 candles. The

Schaffenberger Christmas The Schaffenberger family in 1954—just one of Kurt’s famous annual Christmas cards which he illustrated from the ’40s through the ’90s. [©2009 Estate of Kurt & Dorothy Schaffenberger.]

resulting heat caused the icing on the cake to melt into goo. It is quite a rare privilege to call one of your favorite artists in the world a “friend.” But I have no illusions that my friendship with Kurt would have happened if not for Dorothy. Dot was the demonstrative one; Kurt was the stoic one. Whenever Kathy and I would visit the Schaffs, Dorothy would be her usual rollicking self while Kurt sat at her side,

FCA [Fawcett Collectors Of America]

Cute Cameos

smiling slyly. He was biding his time, you see, waiting to get a zinger in. Some of the couple’s patter was polished, of course, over decades of marriage, as if Kurt and Dot were an old comedy team who knew each others’ punch lines by heart. It was a blessed thing to witness. I’ll always remember the moment when, shortly after Kurt passed away in 2002, Dorothy watched as I walked out of her house carrying armloads of her old family photo albums, including her wedding album, to use in Hero Gets Girl! She was trusting me with all of her life’s memories. It was an awesome responsibility. “I’ll turn these around real fast,” I promised her. “I trust you,” she said with a smile. We all break promises in life, but this was one promise I was determined to keep. Kathy and I got right to work studying, comparing, editing, annotating, scanning, and cleaning up dozens of photos from those albums, and returned them to Dorothy within weeks. We didn’t know it then, but that window of opportunity was narrow; shortly thereafter, Dorothy moved away from New Jersey to live near her daughter in Maryland. We never saw Dorothy again, but spoke on the phone every once in a while. She was getting up there in years, but was still as sharp and funny as ever. Dorothy sent me flowers when Kathy passed away in 2005 at age 42. “What we’re going through shouldn’t happen to anybody,” I once said to Dot. “Don’t I know it,” she replied. As luck would have it, P.C. Hamerlinck had recently asked me to do a fresh interview with Dorothy for Alter Ego/FCA (June ’09), so she and I had been speaking a bit more regularly. During our final telephone conversation, we promised to touch base once the FCA article came out. I will always feel blessed to have known this funny, talented, caring couple. I miss you, Kurt and Dorothy, but I know that I’ll see you in the funny pages.

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BATCAVE COMPANION

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WHE % N YO ORD U ONL ER INE!

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

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 • Now shipping!

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 Now shipping!

(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 • Now shipping!

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 August 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 • Now shipping!

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

Go online for an ULTIMATE BUNDLE, with all the issues at HALF-PRICE!

DIEGDITITIOANL ONLY!

ALTER EGO #1

ALTER EGO #2

ALTER EGO #3

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

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

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

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

(100-page magazine) $5.95

DIEGDITITIOANL ONLY!

ALTER EGO #4

ALTER EGO #5

ALTER EGO #6

ALTER EGO #7

ALTER EGO #8

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

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

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

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

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

(100-page magazine) $5.95

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

(100-page magazine) $5.95

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!

(100-page magazine) $5.95

ALTER EGO #14

ALTER EGO #15

ALTER EGO #16

ALTER EGO #17

ALTER EGO #18

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

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

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

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

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

(100-page magazine) $5.95

(108-page magazine) $5.95

ALTER EGO #19

ALTER EGO #20

ALTER EGO #21

ALTER EGO #22

ALTER EGO #23

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

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

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

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

(108-page magazine) $5.95

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

ALTER EGO #24

ALTER EGO #25

ALTER EGO #26

ALTER EGO #27

ALTER EGO #28

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

JACK COLE remembered by ALEX TOTH, interview with brother DICK COLE and his PLAYBOY colleagues, CHRIS CLAREMONT on the X-Men (with more never-seen art by DAVE COCKRUM), ROY THOMAS on 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!

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

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

(108-page magazine) $5.95

ALTER EGO #29

ALTER EGO #30

ALTER EGO #31

ALTER EGO #32

ALTER EGO #33

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

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

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

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

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

(108-page magazine) $5.95

ALTER EGO #34

ALTER EGO #35

ALTER EGO #36

ALTER EGO #37

ALTER EGO #38

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

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

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

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

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

(108-page magazine) $5.95

ALTER EGO #39

ALTER EGO #40

ALTER EGO #41

ALTER EGO #42

ALTER EGO #43

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

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

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

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

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

(108-page magazine) $5.95

ALTER EGO #44

ALTER EGO #45

ALTER EGO #46

ALTER EGO #47

ALTER EGO #48

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

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

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

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

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

(100-page magazine) $5.95

ALTER EGO #49

ALTER EGO #50

ALTER EGO #51

ALTER EGO #52

ALTER EGO #53

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

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

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

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

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

(100-page magazine) $5.95

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ALTER EGO #54

ALTER EGO #55

ALTER EGO #56

ALTER EGO #57

ALTER EGO #58

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

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

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

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

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

(100-page magazine) $6.95

ALTER EGO #59

ALTER EGO #60

ALTER EGO #61

ALTER EGO #62

ALTER EGO #63

Special issue on Batman and Superman in the Golden and Silver Ages, 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!

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

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

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

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

(100-page magazine) $6.95

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ALTER EGO #64

ALTER EGO #65

ALTER EGO #66

ALTER EGO #67

ALTER EGO #68

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

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

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

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

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

(100-page magazine) $6.95

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ALTER EGO #69

ALTER EGO #70

ALTER EGO #71

ALTER EGO #72

ALTER EGO #73

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

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

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

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

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

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ALTER EGO #74

ALTER EGO #75

ALTER EGO #76

ALTER EGO #77

ALTER EGO #78

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

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

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

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

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

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

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ALTER EGO #79

ALTER EGO #80

ALTER EGO #81

ALTER EGO #82

ALTER EGO #83

SUPERMAN & HIS CREATORS! New cover by MICHAEL GOLDEN, exclusive and revealing interview with JOE SHUSTER’s sister, JEAN SHUSTER PEAVEY—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!

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!

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ALTER EGO #84

ALTER EGO #85

ALTER EGO #86

ALTER EGO #87

ALTER EGO #88

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

Captain Marvel and Superman’s battles explored (in cosmic space, candy 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!

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

TITANIC TOMES FROM TWOMORROWS!

BACK ISSUE #37

DRAW! #19

KIRBY COLLECTOR #54

DOUG BRAITHWAITE gives a demo and interview, pro inker and ROUGH STUFF editor BOB McLEOD offers a "Rough Critique" of a newcomer’s work, JAMAR NICHOLAS’ “Crusty Critic” column gives the low-down on the best art supplies and tool tech, MIKE MANLEY and BRET BLEVINS’ COMIC ART BOOTCAMP helps you get your penciling in shape, plus Web links, reviews, and more!

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US Now shipping!

(80-page magazine with COLOR) $7.95 US • Ships April 2010

ALL-STAR COMPANION Vol. 4

SAL BUSCEMA: COMICS’ FAST & FURIOUS ARTIST

MARVEL COMICS IN THE 1960s

Features: 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 Intl. 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.

In 1968, SAL BUSCEMA joined Marvel Comics and quickly became one of their top artists, penciling such storylines as the original AVENGERS/DEFENDERS WAR and CAPTAIN AMERICA, as well as a tenyear run on THE HULK and 100 consecutive issues of SPECTACULAR SPIDERMAN. This new book by Alter Ego’s JIM AMASH with Modern Masters’ ERIC NOLEN-WEATHINGTON explores Sal’s life and career through an exhaustive interview with the artist, complete with extensive examples of his art, including a deluxe color section, and a gallery of work from Sal’s personal files! Ships Dec. 2009!

This issue-by-issue field guide presents a step-by-step look at how Marvel Comics went from being one of the least creative publishers in a generally moribund industry, to its most dynamic and original in an era when pop-culture emerged as the dominant force in the artistic life of America. In scores of handy, easy to reference entries, follow the 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.

(240-page trade paperback) $27.95 US ISBN: 9781605490045 Diamond Order Code: APR091002 Now shipping!

(176-page paperback w/16 color pages) $26.95 US • ISBN: 9781605490212 (192-page HARDCOVER with 32 color pages, dust jacket, and illo’d endleaves) $46.95 US • ISBN: 9781605490229 ULTRA-LIMITED HARDCOVER EDITION (52-copy numbered edition with a custom pencil portrait of one of Sal’s characters) $100 US • ONLY FROM TWOMORROWS!

Go to www.twomorrows.com for FULL-COLOR downloadable PDF versions of our magazines for only $2.95-3.95! Print subscribers get the digital edition FREE, weeks before it hits stores!

(84-page tabloid magazine) $10.95 US Ships February 2010

(224-page trade paperback) $27.95 US Diamond Order Code: MAY091042 ISBN: 9781605490168 • Now shipping!

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BRICKJOURNAL #9

BrickJournal looks at LEGO® Disney sets, with features on the Disney LEGO sets of the past (Mickey and Minnie) and present (Toy Story and Prince of Persia)! We also present models built by LEGO fans, and a look at the newest Master Build model at Walt Disney World, plus articles and instructions on building and customization, and more! (80-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 US • Ships January 2010

BRICKJOURNAL COMPENDIUM 3

Compiles the digital-only issues #6-7 (Vol. 1) of BRICKJOURNAL for the first time in printed form! Interviews with builders and LEGO Group CEO JØRGEN VIG KNUDSTORP, features on LEGO FAN CONVENTIONS, reviews and behind the scenes reports on two LEGO sets, how to create custom minifigures, instructions and techniques, and more! (224-page FULL-COLOR trade paperback) $34.95 US • ISBN: 9781605490069 Diamond Order Code: JAN094469 • Now shipping!

CAPTAIN ACTION: THE ORIGINAL SUPERHERO ACTION FIGURE REVISED 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, 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 more, including his recent return to comics shelves and the new wave of Captain Action collectibles. By MICHAEL EURY. (176-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95 US • ISBN: 9781605490175 • Diamond Order Code: APR091003 Now shipping!

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

MODERN MASTERS: MARK BUCKINGHAM (128-page trade paperback) $14.95 ISBN: 9781605490144 Diamond Order Code: FEB094473 Ships February 2010

MODERN MASTERS: GUY DAVIS by Eric Nolen-Weathington (120-page TPB with COLOR) $15.95 ISBN: 9781605490236 Ships January 2010 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!

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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

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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