Alter Ego #92 Preview

Roy Thomas’ Barbarous Comics Fanzine

SWORD-&SORCERY IN THE COMICS PART THREE SPOTLIGHTING

RAFAEL KAYANAN JOHN BUSCEMA ERNIE CHAN HOWARD CHAYKIN KEITH GIFFEN JOE GILL SAM GLANZMAN DON GLUT PAUL GULACY JACK KATZ DAVID MICHELINIE DENNIS O’NEIL JESSE SANTOS WALT SIMONSON JIM STARLIN BERNIE WRIGHTSON & MORE!!

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No.92 March 2010

Vol. 3, No. 92 / March 2010 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 Painting Rafael Kayanan

With Special Thanks to: Heidi Amash Michael Ambrose Richard Arndt Dick Ayers Bob Bailey Jean Bails Tim Barnes Albert Becattini John Benson Frank Brunner Mike Burkey Glen Cadigan R. Dewey Cassell Mike Conroy Leonardo De Sà Michaël Dewally Jerry Edwards Michael Eury Mark Evanier Michael Finn Shane Foley Mark Foy Janet Gilbert Sam Glanzman Donald F. Glut Walt Grogan Paul Gulacy Jennifer Hamerlinck Eric Jansen Jack Katz Rafael Kayanan Gene Kehoe Shirleen King Jim Kingman Mike Kuypers Tristan Lapoussiere

Jim Ludwig Glenn MacKay Darrell McNeil Peter Meskin Philip Meskin Clifford Meth David Michelinie Brian K. Morris Mark Muller Tony Oliva Barry Pearl John G. Pierce Donnie Pitchford Ken Quattro Dave Reeder Trina Robbins Gary Robinson Herb Rogoff Steven Rowe Adrienne Roy Dr. Peter Schilder Evan Shelly Craig Shutt Jim Simon Joe Simon Anthony Snyder Desha Swayze Marc Swayze Jeff Taylor Greg Theakston Dann Thomas Anthony Tollin Dr. Michael J. Vassallo Hames Ware John Wells Steve Younis

This Issue Is Dedicated To The Memory Of

Edd Cartier & Frank Springer

Contents Writer/Editorial: The Shadow Of The Cimmerian . . . . . . . . . 2 The Twelve Labors (And Thirteen Issues) Of Hercules . . . . . 3 Charlton’s Conan precursor—plus Richard Arndt’s incisive interview with artist Sam Glanzman.

The Trials of Dagar, Prehistoric Warrior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Gold Key’s 1970s swordsman against swords, examined by co-creator Don Glut.

Fafhrd And The Gray Mouser—DC’s “Anti-Conans” . . . . . . . 18 Fritz Leiber’s Sword of Sorcery heroes at DC, put under the microscope by Richard Arndt.

Claw The Unconquered . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 John Wells surveys David Michelinie & Ernie Chan’s horror-handed DC hero.

“I’m Trying To Prod People To Think” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Part II of Jim Amash’s incredible interview with Jack Katz, writer/artist/creator of The First Kingdom.

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt! “Dr. Lauretta Bender: Comics’ Anti-Wertham – Part 4” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Michael T. Gilbert wraps up his study of comics’ most vital defender of the ’40s & ’50s.

Headline—And Beyond! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 “The Teenage Creations of Steve Gerber – Part III” by John G. Pierce.

Tributes To Artists Edd Cartier & Frank Springer . . . . . . . . . 72 re: [correspondence, comments, & corrections] . . . . . . . . . 75 FCA [Fawcett Collectors Of America] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 P.C. Hamerlink’s marvelous mixture of Marc Swayze and Captain-Marvel-inspired Superman sagas!

On Our Cover: This pulsating portrait of the quintessential mighty-thewed sword-and-sorcery hero was painted in the 1990s by Rafael Kayanan, primary artist of Marvel’s series Conan the Adventurer. Our thanks to Raf for allowing us to feature it as this issue’s cover. Oh, and you’ll find a bit more of RK on p. 34. [©2010 Rafael Kayanan.]

Above: Is it sword-and-sorcery? Is it science-fiction? Nope, it’s artist/writer Jack Katz with his own unique and powerful brand of fantasy—a scene from the 20th issue of his 24-book graphic novel The First Kingdom, which has a special place in the history of the medium. [©2010 Jack Katz.]

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.

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writer/editorial

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The Shadow Of The Cimmerian H

ard to believe it’s really been forty years (or will be this summer, anyway) since Marvel’s Conan the Barbarian slashed its way onto the nation’s newsstands, to become, apparently for the rest of my life, a major item on my résumé.

With yours truly, the Cimmerian seems to be an every-second-decade thing. From 1970 till I left Marvel in 1980, I was knee-deep in Hyborian Age hyperbole and derring-do. After which, for the next ten years, I neither wrote nor read a Conan comic (though I did get involved with the two Schwarzenegger films, especially the ill-starred second one). Then once more, for most of the ’90s, I wound up scribing the Conan titles again, until such time as Marvel decided to let its license lapse. And so the first decade of the 21st century was another Conan-less one for me personally, although Dark Horse had brought the Cimmerian back by its middle years.

As for this second decade of the century—well, we shall see what we shall see. Either way, I suspect Conan will squeak by... and so will I. Meanwhile, a couple of years back, I conceived the notion of putting together a history of sword-and-sorcery in the comics, with Conan as its centerpiece, though not its sole star, of course. When various legal Hydraheads got in the way of doing that, it seemed simpler to turn the project into an ongoing series in Alter Ego, though largely limiting coverage to titles that were launched by the mid-’70s (and, eventually, dealing with some of my own post-Marvel forays into the genre).

So here we are at the third installment of “Sword-and-Sorcery in the Comics”—the preceding ones having appeared in A/E #80 & #83. This time the spotlight is on Charlton’s pre-Conan the Barbarian/quasi-s&s title Hercules, as well as Gold Key’s Dagar the Invincible and DC’s two most notable post-CTB entries in the genre, Sword of Sorcery (starring Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and Gray Mouser) and Claw the Unconquered.

In addition, this issue also concludes Jim Amash’s fascinating interview with artist Jack Katz, whose 24-issue graphic novel The First Kingdom, by coincidence, contained elements of sword-and-sorcery as well as sciencefiction and other aspects of high adventure.

No, there’s not nearly as much about Conan, or about his creator Robert E. Howard, in this issue as there was in the series’ previous two entries. Still, the spirit of both that hero and his guiding light suffuse this issue, as well, with their gladiatorial glow.

For they were both guys who cast a very long shadow.

And the end is not yet.

Bestest, P.S.: Just as this issue went to press, a letter from Golden/Silver Age artist Sheldon Moldoff, whose hospitalization we noted last issue, informed us that he is home and recuperating from his illness. Welcome back, Shelly!

COMING IN MAY

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Beginning This Issue— Special 16-PAGE COLOR SECTION!

EARTH-TWO–1961 To 1985!

The All-Star Companion, Vol. 3, Chronicled The JLA/JSA Team-Ups And The ’70s Justice Society Series!

Now Here’s The Rest Of That Twin-Earths Saga!

• Startling new cover by CARMINE INFANTINO (artist of Flash #123), inked by JIM AMASH! • “Justice on Two Worlds!” Two Flashes—two Green Lanterns—two Atoms—two Wonder Women—one Spectre—& a whole lot more, analyzed and spotlighted by KURT MITCHELL & ROY THOMAS! Art & artifacts by INFANTINO • FOX • SCHWARTZ • KANE • ANDERSON • BROOME • DELBO • ANDRU • BUCKLER • APARO • GRANDENETTI • DILLIN, et al.!

• Part I of JIM AMASH’s monumental, never-before-published interview with Golden/ Silver Age DC editor GEORGE KASHDAN—featuring lore & lowdown on the likes of such 1940s-50s editors, writers, and artists as BINDER • ELLSWORTH • FINGER • KANE • KANIGHER • LIEBOWITZ • MILLER • REED • SCHIFF • SIEGEL & SHUSTER • WEISINGER, etc.! Lavishly illustrated with rare art by DC greats of 1939 and up!

• MICHAEL T. GILBERT’s Comic Crypt tells “The Truth about Comic Books” in 1953!— FCA presents MARC SWAYZE & those frantic Fawcett readers—& MORE!!

Edited by ROY THOMAS DC Comics; [Super-heroes TM & ©2010 o & Jim Amash.[ Infantin other art ©2010 Carmine

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The Swords And The Sorcerers

part five

[continued from Alter Ego #80 & 83]

The Twelve Labors (And Thirteen Issues) Of Hercules Charlton’s Conan Precursor— Plus An Incisive Interview With Artist SAM GLANZMAN

by Richard J. Arndt

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ix years before Fafhrd & the Gray Mouser, four years before Kull, and three years before Conan appeared—at least in comic book form—what may well have been the first modern sword-&-sorcery comic debuted from Charlton Press.

It was called Hercules.

Certainly Charlton’s effort wasn’t Hercules’ first bow in the four-color medium. He had appeared dozens, possibly hundreds, of times in previous comics, most notably in Fawcett’s “Captain Marvel” titles and, only two years prior to his Charlton debut, in Marvel’s “Thor” series in Journey into Mystery. It also wasn’t the first of what we might consider modern sword-&-sorcery tales to appear. Warren Publishing had done a number of s&s stories in its black-&-white magazines, most of them illustrated by Steve Ditko or Gray Morrow. Several amateur fanzines of the period had also done Conanesque stories in their pages. Still, Hercules appears to be the first regularly published example of what we today would call a sword-&-sorcery comic—the more so because its regular backup feature, in all its baker’s-dozen issues, was Steve Skeates’ Beowulfderived series “Thane of Bagarth” (which was discussed in A/E #80, as well as by Skeates himself in A/E #84).

Unlike Marvel’s Hercules, who existed in the present day and was caught up in the Marvel world mixture of super-heroes, science-fiction, and fantasy, Charlton’s Hercules prowled the ancient Greek world from which his stories had originated. His adventures were also pure mythology/fantasy from the get-go.

Based on the original myths, particularly on the twelve labors of the Hercules legend, the first issue got off to a somewhat shaky start when the writer gave the demi-god only nine labors (an error corrected in the second issue) and placed him in the historical times of Philip of Macedonia and his son Alexander, several hundreds of years after the events described by the myths. Still, it was a rousing adventure, ably illustrated by Sam Glanzman, in which Hercules not only completed his first task, that of killing the Nemedian Lion, but also assisted Alexander in repelling a invasion by another Greek city-state.

Hercules’ twelve-labors storyline, which would run through the entire length of the series, began in #2 with a teen-aged Hercules asking his

Hercules The Four-Color Hero Sam Glanzman’s cover for Hercules #1 (Oct. 1967). Probably coincidentally, Marvel had drafted its own incarnation of the mythical son of Zeus, who had battled Thor in 1965-66, into a super-group in The Avengers #38 (March ’67). Charlton’s hero was originally beard-free, though Glanzman opted to give him one a few issues later… while Marvel’s Hercules started out bearded and later shaved it off! Thanks to Michael Ambrose, publisher of the excellent Charlton fanzine Charlton Spotlight (see ad on p. 10). [©2010 the respective copyright holders.]

father Zeus to be allowed to live in Olympus, following the death of Hercules’ mother. Zeus refused, telling him that, as he was only a demigod, he simply wasn’t good enough to enter and live in the home of the gods. Zeus informed him that he had to prove his worthiness by performing twelve labors. Hercules agreed and set out to do so.

He was somewhat the Rodney Dangerfield of heroes. Brawny, possessed of the strength of a hundred men, he was still regularly mocked by the mortals around him, who openly scoffed at his claim to be the bastard son of Zeus. One man described him as “brawny between the ears.” His half-brother Mars (another technical error, as the Greek god of war was named Ares—Mars was his Roman equivalent) despised him, while his father’s wife Hera did her best to kill him at every opportunity.

Family get-togethers always ended in a brawl of some sort. Even the Greek gods that helped him usually did so secretly, and more to express their hatred of the dominating Hera than because they liked or respected Hercules or regarded him as worthy to walk among them.

The comic wasn’t above poking sly fun at rival companies, either. In #5, his labor was to travel to the land of the Amazons, there to steal Hippolyta’s gold belt, which she used to control the minds of the female warriors. In myth, one of Hercules’ labors was indeed to obtain that belt from the Amazon queen, although there was no comics-style mind

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Charlton’s Conan Precursor—Plus An Incisive Interview With Artist Sam Glanzman

control involved. In the DC Universe, of course, Hippolyta/Hippolyte is the mother of Wonder Woman—and, in certain panels, the Charlton version of Hippolyta bears a strong resemblance to Wonder Woman. To make matters worse, Hippolyta was even more evil than Hera, perfectly willing to jealously slow-roast a maiden whom Hercules had rescued over an open fire, if he refused to become Hippolyta’s consort. She issued this demand while lolling on a bed, leaving little doubt as to what she actually wanted! The same issue also showed some interesting ways to circumvent the Comics Code’s ban on Amazon bondage scenes, which had once been a regular occurrence in DC’s “Wonder Woman” titles. Charlton simply showed the chains, the ropes, the girl, etc., but didn’t actually show her with her hands chained. It looked a little silly, but—problem solved!

Another thing notable about Hercules was the violence factor. Unlike most heroes in the 1960s, this son of Zeus actually killed people. In #1, he was clearly shown using a flail to crack soldiers’ heads while various bits of debris (but no blood) were shown flying into the air. Curiously, in those battle scenes from #1, he was not drawn front and center in the panels.

Alexander was, with Hercules’ actions relegated to the background and often depicted in silhouette.

Scripts for the series were credited to Joe Gill (#6-13, and possibly #1) and Denny O’Neil (#2-5), the latter under the pseudonym Sergius O’Shaugnessy. Although Charlton regular Gill is generally credited with the script for #1, there remains a possibility that Carl Wessler wrote the first issue’s lead tale. The present writer recently obtained a copy of the one-shot 1968 Charlton black-&-white Hercules magazine, and its title page lists Wessler as well as Denny O’Neil and Joe Gill. The latter pair are both credited on the original splash pages for the second and third “Hercules” epics in the b&w, but #1, also reprinted there, didn’t have credits. Thus the first “Hercules” adventure, the one that ascribed nine labors to the son of Zeus, may have been written by either Gill or Wessler.

The scripts for the series were generally good, with amusing and often sly twists and droll dialogue. While there’s a lot of hoity-toity god talk, at one point Mars offers to give Hercules a fat lip. Hera spared no opportunity to insult and demean our hero, reminding Hercules that his “human grossness makes even… lovely thing[s] ugly!”

Characterizations are good, also, both in the scripts and the art.

Despite the fact that he was the mightiest god of all, Zeus was also the ultimate henpecked husband, so determined not to upset his prickly wife that he never confronted her directly. Instead, while Hera openly campaigned and plotted against his son, Zeus’ response was almost always an indirect one, done behind her back. Mars clearly despised his halfbrother and did as much as Hera to thwart Hercules’ desire to live in Olympus. His failures in this regard made him increasingly frustrated as Hercules, “the muscle-bound idiot, blunder[ed] to victory in the most incredible situations!” After one of Hercules’ victories, Mars summed up his attitude towards his younger brother by voicing to his mother, Hera, the following classic Greek line: “Gee, Ma, I hate that kid.” King Eurystheus, Hercules’ cousin and the human who set out the labors that Hercules had to undertake, was depicted as a vain, spindly man. You know he’s vain because he’s balding, but, like Donald Trump, undertakes a huge comb-over to conceal that fact.

The artwork for the entire series was provided by the amazing Sam Glanzman, whose work underwent a sea change as the series progressed.

The early stories are standard Glanzman, which is to say pretty darn impressive, but in #3 the artist redesigned Hercules, slimming him down by about 30 pounds while aging him a few years and giving him a beard and a profile that could have come directly off an ancient Grecian urn.

Glanzman’s artwork also became more stylized as the series continued, with figures appearing to ape ancient Greek artwork while still remaining fluid and dynamic. Panel borders and lettering began to show strong graphic design elements, similar to what Jim Steranko and Neal Adams were doing at roughly the same time. One page depicted a violent dinner

Amazons In Australia Hercules faces Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons. The “Hercules” tales from the 5th and 6th Charlton issues were printed, along with two “Thane” installments, in this 3rd issue of an black-&-white reprint comic, published

by Murray Publishers, a.k.a. Planet Comics, of Sydney, Australia.

Regretfully, Ye Editor is uncertain which of his several valued Australian correspondents sent him this copy, some time back. Cover art by Sam Glanzman. (Inset:) Writer Dennis O’Neil, 1969; photo courtesy of Jean Bails. [©2010 the respective copyright holders.]

scene in a full-page panel that was shaped like a chalice. The stem of the chalice separated Zeus and Hera from each other and highlighted their opposing opinions as to the ongoing situation. Another page featured Hercules testing weapons and slapping his half-brother Mars around, with the ironic panel design appearing to follow the shape of a rectangular peace symbol. In yet another panel sequence captions were enlarged ten times larger than usual, with the words and caption shapes appearing as huge billows of steam as our hero prepared to bathe.

By the end of #11 Hercules had completed his twelve labors, but, in an attempt to delay his ascension to Mount Olympus, Hera demanded that he present his qualifications and describe his adventures before all the gods at a dinner party. However, Hercules was such a boring speaker that most of the gods fell asleep listening to him! Seeing that, Mars started a brawl with the demi-god and defeated him, hurling him back to Earth.

Since the assembled gods never heard the end of Hercules’ accomplishments, his acceptance to dwell on Olympus was delayed. Forever, as it turned out, since #13 marked the final issue of Hercules’ adventures, with the hero still waiting to sit side-by-side with his father.

The Swords And The Sorcerers

part six

[continued from Alter Ego #80 & 83]

The Trials of Dagar, Prehistoric Warrior Gold Key’s 1970s Swordsman Against Sorcery

by Donald F. Glut This article has been reprinted, with minor editorial emendations, from Jurassic Classics, Don Glut’s 2001 book on dinosaurs and popular culture. Thanks to Brian K. Morris for retyping this piece.

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ost of my professional writing output of the 1970s consisted of scripts written for various comic book companies. As a longtime comic book fan, actually working in the industry was, for many years, a real dream come true.

Of course, it was only natural that dinosaurs, cavemen, and other things prehistoric would frequently be featured into these scripts. I worked for most of the major comic book companies during those years—Warren, Marvel, DC, Archie, Charlton, and others—with a good percentage of my writing done on assignment for Gold Key, the comics line of Western Publishing Company.

Dagar, the mercenary-warrior hero I created for Gold Key’s Dagar the Invincible, was not a prehistoric hero per se—at least not in the same sense as was Joe Kubert’s Tor the Hunter. Dagar was not an ax-carrying caveman like Tor, but a relatively civilized sword-carrying hero of the descriptively named “sword and sorcery” genre, which had arisen basically in the pulp magazines of

Is That A Dagar That I See Before Me? Don Glut, writer/co-creator of Dagar the Invincible, is flanked by actress Monique Parent and by Dagar artist/co-creator Jesse Santos, in a pic taken at the 2007 Los Angeles Comic Book and Science Fiction Convention. Monique starred in the Frontline Films horror flick Blood Scarab, which was scripted and directed by Don. The photo, in turn, is flanked at top of page by the cover of what it and the indicia inside technically hailed as Tales of Sword and Sorcery DAGAR THE INVINCIBLE #1 (Oct. 1972)—and, at left, by the splash page of Dagar #1, as scripted by Glut and drawn by Santos. The cover is by George Wilson, according to Steven Rowe & Mark Foy; the latter collects the original paintings of Wilson, who did many excellent covers for Western/Gold Key. According to Don Glut, Jesse Santos took over the Dagar covers beginning with issue #13, and had done rough layouts for some of the earlier covers, as well. [©2010 the respective copyright holders.]

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Gold Key’s 1970s Swordsman Against Sorcery

This article about Dagar the Invincible, originally titled simply “The Trials of Dagar,” was written for the fifth [July-Aug. 1973] special swordand-sorcery issue of Comixscene, a tabloid periodical published and edited by innovative comic-book writer and illustrator, and former magician and escape artist, Jim Steranko. *** Dagar, a young mercenary warrior living during a mythical prehistoric era of monsters and magic just following the Stone Age, battled his way through a number of issues of Gold Key’s sword-and-sorcery comic book Dagar the Invincible. He continued to fight evil forces despite the often poor distribution of Gold Key titles in some major cities. And although there may be relatively few comic book collectors who had even heard of (let alone actually seen and read) an issue of Dagar the Invincible [coverdated Oct. 1972], his first issue outsold every other Gold Key title for that month, with further adventures having been scripted up to a full year in advance. Somebody must have been buying the magazine, which made this author, the creator and writer of Dagar, quite happy.

Dagar’s comic-book origin was that of a young, blond-haired orphan boy, living at a time when many creatures—mostly strange mammals, but also an occasional monstrous reptile like the giant spike-backed lizard that he slays in his second-issue adventure [Jan. 1972], and the likewise slain, corpse-eating “earth-lizard” in the eighth issue [July 1974] from the Stone Age—still lived. Dagar witnesses the genocide of his entire nation of Tulgonia (an “in-joke” name that the publishers never seemed to catch, as when I first began this book the stories were published without a byline) by the hordes of Scorpio, a powerful evil sorcerer. The boy’s grandfather, once a great warrior, saves young Dagar from the massacre so that he might be trained in all manner of combat and someday avenge his people.

Later, standing by his grandfather’s deathbed, the adult (and by now quite cynical) Dagar, representing his nation personified, vows to become a mercenary warrior, bearing as he does no love for his fellow men, and to destroy the fiend Scorpio.

That was Dagar’s official origin.

A Glut On The Market (Above:) Dagar of Tulgonia battles one of the surviving giant reptilians that inhabit his era, in issue #2 (Jan. 1973) of the quarterly comic. Art by Jesse Santos. Don says his editors never realized that “Tulgonia” is his last name spelled backwards, with an “-onia” tacked on. (Or maybe they did, and just never let on!) “Glut,” by the way, is pronounced “gloot”—so the pun in this caption’s heading works only visually, not aurally.

(Right:) Using magical jewels, our hero brings to life a statue of a giant warrior in Dagar #6 (Jan. 1974). Script by Don Glut; art by Jesse Santos. [©2010 the respective copyright holders.]

earlier decades and was currently enjoying a new life in numerous comic books featuring burly warriors, particularly Marvel Comics’ highly successful Conan the Barbarian.

But Dagar certainly lived in a prehistoric time period, albeit a mythical one that was never discovered by archaeologists or paleontologists, in which early civilizations were based upon and governed by magic and sorcery rather than science and industry. In this very ancient realm that never was, Dagar would encounter and often have to fight creatures that had survived from the previous age of clubs and stoneheaded axes, including sabertooth cats, mammoths, giant ground sloths, dinosaur-like dragons and reptiles, even enormous serpents.

Dagar the Invincible enjoyed a healthy run, being published for most of the decade in a series spanning 18 issues, two of which were reprints of the first issue. In addition to this “official” series, Dagar also appeared in Gold Key Spotlight and made brief guest appearances in my fellow Gold Key titles Tragg and the Sky Gods and The Occult Files of Dr. Spektor.

Dagar’s real beginnings go back nearly six months before his “birth” at Gold Key. During the spring of 1971, I had written a sword and sorcery comic-book script entitled “Castle of the Skull,” featuring a one-shot barbarian hero named Shaark. The story had been first submitted by my agent Forrest J Ackerman to the line of black-&-white horror-comics magazines issued by the Warren Publishing Company, to which I had sold many scripts before. It was promptly rejected by thenstory editor J.R. Cochran.

The story immediately got recycled to Skywald, another publisher of black-&-white comics magazines, which returned it with a note that the story was acceptable, but that the backlog of scripts flooding their offices had necessitated that it be resub-

The Trials Of Dagar, Prehistoric Warrior

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mitted the following winter. That was too long for me to wait.

About that time (the early 1970s) I had begun writing horror and science-fiction scripts for Mystery Comics Digest, a new publication from Gold Key, a division of the very large Western Publishing Company. One of my early submissions to the Digest was a story titled “Lizard Sword,” which featured Daggar, yet another one-shot barbarian hero I’d named.

The Gold Key editors were surprised and a bit confused by the story and its hero, the “sword-and-sorcery” genre being an entirely alien concept to them. Wisely, they bought the script but, perhaps just as wisely, requested a new and better title, which I changed to “Wizard of the Crimson Castle.”

The story then went into a stack of scripts waiting to be drawn by the company’s new artist “discovery,” Jesse Santos.

Jesse had been one of the top artists in his native Philippines, working as a staff illustrator for the Halawak comic magazine and chief artist on Paraluman magazine. In 1967 he had been elected vice-president of the Society of Philippine Illustrators and Cartoonists (SPIC), and in 1970 he became a member of the Society of Western Artists. Jesse worked in pen and ink, water color, oil paints, tempera, pastel, and acrylic, and had already earned an enviable reputation as a fine and much in demand portrait artist. Seven of the comic books he drew in the Philippines had been made into motion pictures, some of these in the popular “James Bond” spy genre.

In 1971, just before I became a freelancer for Gold Key, Jesse Santos began getting art assignments at that company, handling both pencils and inks. Jesse started drawing the Brothers of the Spear feature when that strip was awarded its own magazine. Because of his rugged style, Santos was the artist chosen to illustrate “Wizard of the Crimson Castle.”

However, before “Wizard” was shipped out to Jesse at his studio in San Jose, California, I submitted a second sword-and-sorcery tale to Gold Key. It was entitled “Demon of the Temple,” and again starred the character Daggar. At first the editors, Del Connell and Chase Craig, frowned on the idea of using the same character again in a new story, disliking any kind of heavy continuity in their books, arguing that no reader would see both stories. After much effort, I finally managed to convince the editors that it didn’t matter, really, since each story stood up as an individual tale, neither relating directly to the other. With both scripts in their hands, however, Connell and Craig began to see this new (to them) kind of story as a possible series. I made a presentation, complete with an origin, and submitted it as “Daggar the Invincible.” Soon afterward, Western’s New York office made the final decision to proceed with the new book. We were in business.

Getting the old “Castle of the Skull” script back from Forry Ackerman, I set out revamping it, altering the hero from Shaark to Daggar, at the same time giving the character more of a personality and altering him to fit within the more severe restrictions of Gold Key’s self-imposed and quite rigid censorship policies. The script was approved with the exception of the name—Daggar, the editors contended, was too much of a pun on the word “dagger.” Indeed, I had purposely given the hero a dagger to use in the premier story, when he slays an attacking prehistoric sabertooth cat (who leaps upon him on the second page of the initial story), to tie in with the weapon. Although I wanted to title the magazine with the hero’s name as is the custom, Del Connell preferred the less dynamic, in my opinion, Tales of Sword and Sorcery. Perhaps both “swords” and “daggars” spelled out on the same cover was simply too much deadly weaponry for a usually rather tame company like Gold Key! What followed was perhaps one of the most difficult phases of comic book writing—creating a new name. “Dragar” was suggested; but I argued against this to avoid future jokes about our new hero wearing a dress. Del made up a dummy cover with the name “Zagar”; but that was abandoned when I showed them a Skywald Publishing Corporation comic book featuring the jungle hero Zangar. I knew that if Gold Key didn’t like Daggar,

Is This A Zagar That I See Before Me? This “dummy cover” for a “Zagar the Invincible” comic was prepared

by Gold Key editor Del Connell in Los Angeles. Thanks to Don Glut. [©2010 the respective copyright holders.]

they certainly wouldn’t care for my original Shaark.

Eventually everyone settled on “Dagar.” I was pleased, still pronouncing it with the short “a” as in “dagger.” But most of the Gold Key staff—and, as it turned out, the buyers, too—pronounced it “Day-gar,” with the long “a,” which I for a long time did not like, perhaps fearing it might offend our Italian readers. (Not until after our third issue was published did I learn of an old comic book called Dagar, published by Fox during the 1940s, about a desert sheik hero.)

Tales of Sword and Sorcery #1 was shipped out to the printers, with art by Santos and with a two-part story bearing the separate titles “The Sword of Dagar” and “Castle of the Skull.” In this tale Dagar is pitted against Scorpio’s inhuman minion Ostellon, a villain with mystical control over bones. Among the supernormal threats Dagar must face is Ostellon’s resurrection and animation of the entire articulated skeleton of a giant wooly mammoth, which he sets upon the sword-carrying hero. Swinging a primitive mace and chain, Dagar reduces the skeletal prehistoric threat to a pile of inanimate bone fragments.

When this first issue was released featuring a non-Santos painting recreating the mammoth-skeleton sequence on its cover, I was happy to see that the title had been changed to the more dynamic (and commercial) Dagar the Invincible, almost my original choice. The cover, not surprisingly, featured the attacking mammoth skeleton.

The Swords And The Sorcerers part seven [continued from Alter Ego #80 & 83]

18

Fafhrd And The Gray Mouser— DC’s “Anti-Conans” Fritz Leiber’s Sword Of Sorcery Heroes

by Richard Arndt

C

In Search Of Nehwon

onan the Barbarian had not been an immediate hit for Marvel Comics when it debuted in 1970, but by 1972 the book was certainly doing well enough for other comic companies, particularly DC, to take notice.

Since most of Robert E. Howard’s stories and characters were tied up legally by Marvel, DC went looking for the other bestselling sword-&-sorcery characters on the paperback racks, namely acclaimed science-fiction and fantasy writer Fritz Leiber’s jaded adventurers Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser.

Like Howard’s Conan, Leiber’s red-headed giant Fafhrd and the small, dark Gray Mouser had made their literary debut in the 1930s—in their case, in the magazine Unknown, a rival to the Weird Tales pulp that had spawned the Cimmerian. And, also like Conan, while the stories were greatly appreciated by fans of fantasy prose stories, their real surge in popularity came with their paperback appearances in the 1960s. It would have taken DC no great effort at research to discover this.

Fritz, Fafhrd, And Friend Author Fritz Leiber, juxtaposed with the cover of a paperback edition of the adventures of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser.

Cover artist uncertain. [©2010 the respective copyright holders.]

The Boys Who Cried “Ironwolf”—And/Or “Fafhrd”!

(Left:) “Ironwolf” splash page from Weird Worlds #10 (Oct.-Nov. 1974). Half science-fiction and half sword-and-sorcery, “Ironwolf” by writer Denny O’Neil and artist Howard Chaykin was also a precursor of Stars Wars—indeed, it was largely because of “Ironwolf” that Star Wars director George Lucas told Marvel in 1976 that he’d like Chaykin to draw the adaptation of the upcoming film.

Scipter/editor Roy Thomas was only too happy to oblige. Thanks to Bob Bailey for the scan. [©2010 DC Comics.]

(Above:) This photo of three rising stars of the comics world, all of whom had illustrated material for the 1973 Sword of Sorcery series: (l. to r.: Bernie Wrightson, Howard Chaykin, & Jim Starlin) was taken at Phil Seuling’s 1976 New York Comic Art Convention. Clearly, they got into the spirit of the con’s masquerade—or maybe just got into spirits? With thanks to the Golden Age Comic Book Stories website.

Fafhrd And The Gray Mouser—DC’s “Anti-Conans”

DC also had to be aware that nobody on their regular staff of artists was going to attract the new audience fan base for sword-&-sorcery comics that Conan artist Barry Smith (now Barry Windsor-Smith) was attracting. So they went looking among the “Young Turks” entering comics in the early 1970s—and they found Howard Chaykin.

They didn’t have to look far. Chaykin, who had debuted with work in comics fanzines only two years earlier, was already doing his own strip for DC: “Ironwolf,” which appeared in Weird Worlds. For the times, it was an odd feature, combining the appeal of a far-future world with the dynamics and swordplay of an old Errol Flynn historical swashbuckler. “Ironwolf,” and his 1974 reincarnation “Cody Starbuck” in Mike Friedrich’s early indy comic Star*Reach, clearly anticipated the frantic arrival and appeal of Star Wars a few years down the road.

Still, in 1972 “Ironwolf ” was not doing particularly well, so Chaykin, as well as “Ironwolf ” editor and scripter Denny O’Neil, became the editor/writer-artist team on Sword of Sorcery. No doubt, the generic title was selected both to alert sword-&-sorcery fans to a comic aimed directly at them, and because Fafhrd the Barbarian and the Gray Mouser would have made a long, cumbersome, and hard-to-pronounce title. Even so, DC itself was probably quite aware of differences between Leiber’s style of s&s (and let’s just use “s&s” instead of typing out “sword-&-sorcery” every time, shall we?) and Howard’s more straight-ahead, balls-to-the-wall style.

19

Leiber was certainly the more literate of the two writers, establishing in his fantasy world of Nehwon (“Nowhen” spelled backward) a considerably decadent style and two main characters who actually liked to talk to each other. A lot! Compared to Conan, these fellows were regular jabberjaws.

Physically they were quite different, as well. Fafhrd was a tall, red-headed giant with muttonchop whiskers and a certain amount of clumsiness. The Gray Mouser was short, dark, and quick, with a sharp tongue and a sharper knife.

In Howard’s Hyborian Age, Conan’s barbarian gods rarely interfered in the everyday dealings of men. Leiber’s gods, particularly the Gray Mouser’s patron Sheelba of the Eyeless Face and Fafhrd’s patron Ningauble of the Seven Eyes, constantly stuck their noses into storylines.

There’s a lot more sex and sex-talk in the Leiber stories, too. And although Fafhrd is called “the barbarian” in the tales, he’s considerably sharper and smoother in his approach to women, crime, and barroom brawls than Conan ever was. There’s also a great deal of humor in Fafhrd & the Mouser’s adventures, which may have been off-putting to the young Conan readers of the time.

Here Are The Swords—The Sorcery Comes Later (Left:) A preliminary pencil sketch by Howard Chaykin of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. With thanks to Tim Barnes. (Above:) The second story page of Sword of Sorcery #1, by O’Neil (writer), Chaykin (penciler), and The Crusty Bunkers (which generally consisted of Neal Adams and various talented young artists who happened to wander into his studio that week). The cover and splash page of the first issue were seen in A/E #80. [©2010 DC Comics.]

The Swords And The Sorcerers

part eight

[continued from Alter Ego #80 & 83]

23

Claw The Unconquered David Michelinie & Ernie Chan’s Horror-Handed Hero

by John Wells

H

Nature Red In Talon And Claw

owever rocky his birth may have been, by 1974 Conan the Barbarian was king of the Hyborian Age of Comics, and Marvel Comics was riding high. This success had not been lost on rival DC Comics, whose efforts at conceiving a viable sword-&-sorcery series of their own had thus far met with no success, despite some fine efforts. If distinctive features like “Nightmaster” (which had preceded the Conan comic) and the licensed Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser had failed to catch on, DC seemed to reason, perhaps something a bit more visually on-the-nose was in order. A brawny shirtless soul with long black hair and a sharp sword in his hand. A barbarian drawn by a man who already

Claw Is Coming!

(Above:) This house ad, with strong art by Ernie Chan (then known as Ernie Chua), appeared in DC comics in early 1975 to promote the launch of Claw the Unconquered. All art accompanying this article was supplied by John Wells, except where otherwise identified. [©2010 DC Comics.]

had Conan’s adventures on his résumé. And a rhythmic name/description like… Talon the Untamed.

Or not.

Jawbonin’ (Above:) The sword-and-sorcery hero Iron Jaw was created for DC editor Joe Orlando by writer Michael Fleisher… but when Orlando elected not to publish the series, it wound up at Martin Goodman’s Atlas/Seaboard Comics as Iron Jaw #1 (Jan. 1975), with art by Mike Sekowsky & Jack Abel. Back in the ’40s, of course, the original Iron Jaw had been one of comics’ great villains, the relentless nemesis of Crimebuster in Charlie Biro’s Boy Comics. From Ye Editor’s personal collection. [©2010 the respective copyright holders.]

DC editor Joe Orlando’s search for an s&s hero had begun with writer Michael Fleisher, his go-to guy for features as diverse as the Simon & Kirby-revived “Sandman” and a hard-edged take on “The Spectre” with artist Jim Aparo. In 1973, Denny O’Neil and Howard Chaykin had created an energetic political space opera called “Ironwolf ” in 1973’s Weird Worlds #8 & 9, only to have it abruptly cancelled as a consequence of a nationwide paper shortage. The already-completed Weird Worlds #10 was published in the summer of 1974, and Orlando believed its title character might work in a different environment.

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David Michelinie & Ernie Chan’s Horror-Handed Hero

Buscema & Chan—A Conan Team Supreme John Buscema became the most popular “Conan” artist of the 1970s, taking over the color comic with #25 (April 1973). Seen at left is a barbarian sketch he drew for a collector in 1979; with thanks to Mike Burkey.

[Art ©2010 Estate of John Buscema.]

The team of Buscema and Ernie Chan was born with John’s second Conan the Barbarian outing, in #26 (May ’73)—in which the Cimmerian discovered the grim secret of the Living Tarim. Script by Roy Thomas. Thanks to Tony Oliva and Barry Pearl for the scan. [©2010 Conan Properties International, LLC.]

“I decided to try Michael on a sword-&-sorcery series,” Orlando explained in the DC-produced fan-magazine Amazing World of DC Comics #6 (May-June, 1975), “so I had him read the ‘Ironwolf ’ books and come up with a sequel. He came in with ‘Iron Jaw’…. He wanted a Jonah Hex type attitude on the part of the hero, and I wanted strange worlds and a feeling of fantasy. The end product was unlike what either of us expected, and although I bought it, I told Michael that I wouldn’t use it. I gave him the choice of trying it on another market, and he did—taking it to Seaboard [better known as Martin Goodman’s Atlas Comics], where they published it as Iron Jaw #1.”

Orlando next turned to David Michelinie, another young writer, whose provocative work on non-super-hero features like “The Unknown Soldier” and Swamp Thing was already earning him a good reputation. In Michelinie, the editor found someone more simpatico with the type of character and series he envisioned.

Visually, as noted, their tanned hero had the build and hair of Conan, but with points of distinction that included a white fur loincloth and a matching swath worn around his neck with a gold necklace. Most important, though, was the metallic red glove on his right hand that concealed a grotesque gray-furred dragon’s paw with webbing between the fingers. The man born as Valcan would wander the land of Pytharia and fight unearthly threats sent his way by the evil King Occulas of the Yellow Eye (so named for his jaundiced left pupil).

Completing the creative team was artist Ernie Chan, then known as Ernie Chua due to a transcription error when he had emigrated to the United States from the Philippines. A strong storyteller with a roughhewn inking style, Chan was a perfect fit for the project. Indeed, Paul Levitz noted in Amazing World of DC Comics #3 (Nov.-Dec. 1974) that he brought “a wealth of experience from inking a Certain Other Noteworthy Adventurer (Not published by us)” in 1973—specifically, Conan the Barbarian #26-36. Chan ultimately penciled and inked the first seven issues of the new DC title, save for #3 & 4 (which were inked and lettered by Pat Boyette).

Plans for Talon the Untamed #1 were well underway when word of the project reached artist/writer Jim Steranko. That comics legend had long since announced a projected series starring a barbarian hero of his own named “Talon,” first previewed in 1968’s witzend #5, and later covered in Marvel’s Savage Tales #3 (Feb. ’74). Under threat of legal action (as reported in The Comic Reader #112, Nov. 1974), Talon the Untamed abruptly became Claw the Unconquered. He was part of a wave of new DC fantasy titles that included Paul Levitz & Wally Wood’s Stalker and

Michael Uslan & Ricardo Villamonte’s Beowulf adaptation, each of which likewise featured sword-&-sorcery overtones.

Clawing His Way Into Comics On sale in February of 1975 (and dated May-June), Claw the Unconquered #1 doled out a degree of backstory. Years earlier, while plotting the murder of his own father, then-Prince Occulas had been advised by the blank-eyed court wizard Miftung that an unspecified figure with a clawed hand would threaten his dreams of conquest. Learning that a woodsman named Kregar possessed such a hand, Occulas arranged for his assassin Zedon to murder the man and his wife. But the killer failed to notice the couple’s infant son Valcan—who possessed a claw just like his father’s. After Zedon stalked off, a snow-white hand reached down to soothe the tot, and a voice pronounced him uniquely suited to completing specific tasks in the years ahead.

Believing his future unimpeded, Occulas poisoned his own sire and claimed the throne of Castle Darkmorn. Was it the guilt concerning the destitute, subjugated people of Pytharia that filled Occulas’ sleeping mind with dreams of the dreaded clawed man? Not according to Miftung, whose crystal ball finally disclosed the existence of Valcan, now a tanned, muscle-bound wandering savage who was called Claw.

Claw had no answers. His lone memory was of the stranger’s visitation following his parents’ murders. “I know only that I have a gnawing sense of fate,” he told a barmaid. “A feeling that I am to play a vital role in the future of this world.” Appropriately, Valcan often called on Pytharia’s god of chance, the seven-bearded Soth.

The barbarian’s survival instincts and strong sword arm ensured that he didn’t fall prey to the constant attacks on his person. A pretty face was another matter, and the aforementioned barmaid soon lured him into a trap set by Miftung. Using an ancient crimson jewel, the assassin Zedon summoned a Lovecraftian plant-god called Kann the All-Consuming.

Wrapped in one of Kann’s many tentacles and reeling from its piercing yet soundless scream, Claw managed to plant a makeshift spear in the creature’s “eye” (or was it a brain?) and proved that “even a god can die.”

Zedon could die, too, and did, having unwittingly sacrificed his life force

Claw The Unconquered

to summon Kann. The fact that this was the man who had killed his parents was unknown to the barbarian.

Against his better judgment, Valcan agreed to take the pleading barmaid with him as he resumed his wandering and was nearly repaid with a knife in the back. Leaving her stranded in the desert, the barbarian assured her she need not worry about being alone. The jackals would come out at dusk. “I’m sure you’ll feel quite at home with them.” And he rode away alone as the poster that had caught the ill-fated barmaid’s eye fluttered in the breeze: “Reward: 10,000 dreknars for the head and right hand of Valcan the Claw.”

The hits kept right on coming in issue #2 (July-Aug. 1975), where the green-robed Gofflok of the Slender Blade tried to kill the sleeping Valcan. When a pack of glowing hell-hounds bore down on them, the duo declared a truce and desperately leaped for the rope that conveniently dropped out of the sky. They were warmly greeted by the gold-skinned grand-priestess Myrallya of K’dasha-Dheen, a glorious floating city that existed between dimensions, via a spell sustained through periodic sacrifices of godly beings. Due to a dearth of the latter, Myrallya decided Claw and his sycophantic companion would suffice. But the barbarian refused to die quietly, even when faced with a giant slug that sported unicorn-like horns on both of its heads. Claw goaded it into stabbing one of its horns into the brain of the other head. Then he and Gofflok escaped while the flesh of the city’s inhabitants faded to gray, “assuming the consistency of curdled cream as it [dissipated] into time’s waiting maw.” K’dasha-Dheen was no more.

Not resting on sentiment, Gofflok immediately tried to stab Valcan in the back, only to have the barbarian’s gloved hand thrust the blade into the blackguard’s heart. Claw was less shaken by the betrayal than by the fact that the attack had caught him genuinely unawares and that his unearthly hand had reacted of its own accord to save him.

Further betrayal awaited Claw in issue #3 (Sept.-Oct. 1975), when a silver-haired centauress named Elathia convinced him to scale a wizard’s tower to recover the runespear called Kyriach, with which her true human form could be restored. In fact, the wizard was Miftung, and what he’d really told her was that he’d undo the supposed spell if she killed Claw. To no great surprise, the centauress was killed by the runespear while Valcan defended himself. As she succumbed, Elathia rejoiced that at least her true shape would manifest upon her death. But her corpse remained the carcass of a centaur.

Lo, There Shall Come A Quest!

After three issues of episodic fare, Claw #4 (Nov.-Dec. 1975) reached for something bigger—introducing a genuine ally for Claw, revealing a far greater plane of existence beyond Pytharia, and inaugurating that grand tradition: the quest.

In his latest scuffle with reward-seeking swordsmen, Valcan was joined by Ghilkyn, the self-described Prince of the Thousand Hills, a

The Twin Talons Of Claw The cover of Claw the Unconquered #1 (May-June 1975)—and the hero’s creators, writer David Michelinie (center) and artist Ernie Chan. David sent us a photo of himself at the wedding of comics artist Bob Layton… while Ernie was snapped at a comics convention not long ago.

[Claw art ©20101 DC Comics; Chan photo ©2010 Atomic Romance.]

25

fighter equally adept with a slingshot and a curved blade—and sporting demonic horns on his forehead. There were, Ghilkyn explained, numerous planes of reality, and he was born on an utterly boring one called Awadaka. Dabbling with mystic forces beyond his control, he had accidentally thrust himself across dimensions and picked up his horns in one hellish realm before landing in Pytharia.

Elsewhere, Occulas revealed that Claw endangered his rule of his own kingdom, and of fifteen worlds across the parallel realities that he planned to conquer (which, three issues later in Claw #7 he would refer to as the Multiverse, the first use of that term in a DC comic book). The king urged Miftung to summon the gargantuan N’hglthss the Damned from one of the seven hells to use its death touch on Valcan.

Claw, meanwhile, was stunned to learn that the crimson gauntlet on his hand had been meant to be joined

26

David Michelinie & Ernie Chan’s Horror-Handed Hero

You’ve Gotta Hand It To Claw (Above:) The baby Valcan was marked for greatness by someone—or something— while, years later, an overeager barmaid discovered the grown-up Claw’s terrible secret. From Claw the Unconquered #1, by David Michelinie (writer) and Ernie Chan (artist). [©2010 DC Comics.]

Worms Of The Earth (Left:) Ernie Chan’s covers for Claw #2-3. [©2010 DC Comics.]

37

“I’m Trying To Prod People To Think” The Conclusion Of Our Intriguing Interview with Golden & Silver Age artist JACK KATZ Conducted by Jim Amash

Transcribed by Brian K. Morris

L

ast issue, Jack Katz talked about his friendship (dating from their days together at the High School of Industrial Arts) with fellow future comic book artists Alex Toth, Pete Morisi, and Alfonso Greene, as well as about their relationship with legendary newspaper comic strip artist Frank Robbins. In some of his earliest days, Jack worked at the Chesler, Sangor, and Iger comic art shops, later in the production department at King Features Syndicate. Then, after drawing for a time for Standard/Nedor Publications alongside Toth and Mike Peppe, Jack moved on, in the mid-1950s—to the studio of comics’ ultrateam, Joe Simon & Jack Kirby…. —Jim.

…And The Last Shall Be First Jack Katz (on left) with fellow artist Jack Kirby in the 1970s—and the cover of the first issue of his 24-book magnum opus The First Kingdom. Thanks to Jack for the photo, and to Jerry Edwards for the comic book cover. Jack Katz currently does commission drawings, and can be reached at (510) 237-1779. [©2010 Jack Katz.]

“I Learned To Ink [From Jack Kirby]” JIM AMASH: How did you get started with Simon & Kirby?

JACK KATZ: This was before I went to Timely. Jack Kirby took a look at my stuff, and he spoke to Joe Simon. I started working with them, and right next to me was Mort Meskin. There were about seven desks there, and for the most part, people came in to work there. Very few people took the stuff home except Marvin Stein, and Marvy was a machine like I’d never seen before. He barely penciled anything. He did most all of his drawing with the brush.

JA: Was there a receptionist?

KATZ: No, there was nobody there.

JA: Did Simon and Kirby work out in the open with the others?

KATZ: Jack would work at his own desk there, and Joe would come in during the morning, and subtly stare at us. Then Jack would go to lunch, and when he came back, Joe would leave for day. I think he was looking for financing, I’m not sure. You know how I learned to ink? Jack sat me down one day. He said, “This is what you do.” He took one of my drawings, and he inked it with a

38

Interview With Golden & Silver Age Artist Jack Katz—Part II

brush. I’d never seen inking that good in my life. I said, “Jack, if you could ink so good, why do you let—?” He said, “I don’t have the time.” I wish to this day I could have stolen those pages and kept them. He did an amazing job.

He said, “This is what I want you to do. You apply the blacks like this.

This is what you do with your camera angle to make sure that the background, if you have a background, will stand out.” Sometimes, when there was one figure I had in a hallway, Jack would fill the scene with all kinds of black areas in the background. As an inker, I don’t think there could have been anybody better if he had just done his own stuff by himself. Unfortunately, there was just no way he could do this.

JA: Did he talk about holding lines? Did he talk about line weights?

KATZ: Yes, he did. He showed me how to apply all of that to figures and objects. He said, “You have to make it three-dimensional. What you do is, you just make sure you have a black area behind a line, always a dark behind a line. It could be feathered, it could be this, it could be that.” One of the things they had in that office was the Sunday Hal Foster Tarzan strips, almost from its inception from 1931. They also had almost all of Foster’s Prince Valiant Sundays, and everybody in the office was using them for swipes.

JA: Did you ever see Kirby use swipes?

KATZ: No, never. I’m being very straight about that one. If he did, it would have just been for reference. I never saw him erase anything, either.

JA: When Jack was talking to you about inking, what did he say about light sources?

KATZ: He said that the light sources were extremely important to emphasize dramatic scenes. He put away the pages, and showed me two different ways of showing light. He said, “If you bring the light in behind a figure, on the right hand side, you have to make sure that the other side is carefully outlined. But if you want to show real drama, sometimes you have to have the light source come from the top so that the eyes are in shadow, and the mouth is in shadow, and the neck is in shadow. If you want to make a real ghoul”… and he turned the page over, and drew a quick face. He showed me how the light comes from underneath, highlighting bone structures. He showed me a lot of these things.

He looked at my stuff and said, “You know what your problem is? You can’t tell the difference between wood and clothing,” and he showed me how to vary my textures. He didn’t like the way I had drawn curtains, and said, “Curtains should kind-of look delicate,” and he showed me how to do that with his brush. He used the brush almost continually. He liked some of the dramatic shots that I had, like this guy was waking up out of the bed and looking at this door that was barely open. Kirby said, “Keep that in the dark! If you want, you can make two little white eyes, but make sure the door is open to a point where you don’t know who the hell is behind it.”

He said that the line had to be strong enough so that it would stand up to reproduction. In those days, the reproduction was not good. Jack said that the trouble with Lou Fine, and he knew I loved Lou Fine... everybody loved Fine. He had some work of Lou Fine’s, and he said, “Look at these delicate lines, and look at the reproduction that came out. Nothing came out. You have to have remember, in comic art, no matter how important it seems to you, you’re not doing a Rembrandt. If you’re doing comics, you’re working for reproduction.” Then he showed me a Hal Foster drawing. Jack said, “Look at the economy of line, and yet it does everything that it needs to do.” Jack was very involved and very, very knowledgeable where I was concerned. Then I said to him, “Inking is problemsolving.” He said, “No, inking and drawing is decision-making. The problem-solving, you do that in your head. But when you put those lines down, you’ve made a decision.”

“You’re Overthinking It!” JA: Did he talk about drawing figures?

Fighting For Survival Although the mid-’50s would see the official end of the 15-year Simon-&Kirby partnership, it was also the period during which Joe & Jack would do some of their best work together, such as this splash page from Fighting American #3 (Aug.-Sept. 1954). Repro’d from the 1989 Marvel hardcover reprinting. [©2010 Joe Simon & Estate of Jack Kirby.]

KATZ: Yes, and this is where we had the beginning of the end for me.

Kirby said, “Jack, why are you putting the anatomy underneath the clothing? You’re going to drive the inkers crazy.” As a matter of fact, he gave one of my stories to Mort Meskin, and Mort handed it back, saying, “I want to ink. I don’t want to think.” Kirby said, “What do you mean you have to think?” Mort says, “I don’t like it. I want clean lines. It’s much too detailed. It’s too much work.” Another time, Kirby said, “Jack, you’re just slowing everything up. You’re doing wonderful anatomy. You drew an anatomy book in this story, but we don’t have that kind of time. We’ve got to get this stuff out.” And I did not do complete stories. Nobody did.

Everybody did piecemeal work. It was like a sweatshop. Sometimes, several people worked on one story. I don’t think I ever did a complete story for Jack, and there was another guy who was tall and thin—a little older than me—and he never did a complete story. Jack would go over people’s pencils, and redraw things. As long as you got the figures in the right place and stuff like that, Jack would jump on that, and so would Joe Simon.

JA: What did Jack tell you about camera angles?

Top: Lewiston, Idaho, where Young Lauretta lived from 1902-1909. And there she is on the far left in all her finery!

Next, a studious Lauretta, date unknown.

And above, she takes a moment to enjoy nature. [Photos Š2010 Peter Schilder.]

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Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!

Dr. Lauretta Bender: Comics’ Anti-Wertham - Part 4 Introduction by Michael T. Gilbert

L

ast issue we featured the first selection from Dr. Bender’s testimony before the 1954 Senate Subcommittee Hearings into Juvenile Delinquency. As her testimony continues this issue, we’ll see rare glimpses of the inner workings of DC Comics during the Golden Age. But first, a little background on Dr. Bender. Though we’ve focused on her comic book credentials, her comics work was a tiny asterisk in a very successful career.

Lauretta was born in Butte, Montana, on August 9, 1897, to attorney John Bender and his wife Catherine. She had two younger brothers, Jack and Carl. Lauretta spent her childhood in Montana, Idaho, Oregon, and California. She earned a B.S. degree from the University of Chicago in 1922, and was awarded her M.A. in pathology a year later.

Dr. Bender was best known for developing (in 1923) the BenderGestalt Visual Motor Test, a neuropsychological exam that has become a worldwide standard. She spent many years researching the cause of childhood schizophrenia and was responsible for studies on child suicides and violence. In 1926, she earned her M.D. degree from the University of Iowa Medical School. This was followed by overseas study, an internship at the University of Chicago, a residency at Boston Psychopathic Hospital, and a research appointment at the Henry Phipps Psychiatric Clinic of Johns Hopkins Hospital. While there, she fell in love with a colleague, Dr. Paul Schilder, who was married and eleven years her senior. According to son Peter, “When Lauretta Bender and Paul Schilder first met she instantly fell in love. They worked together at JHH. In the early 1930s they moved together to NYU-Bellevue. They married and had three children.”

She became a staff member at the hospital, and later was senior psychiatrist in charge of the Children’s Services, a post she held for 21 years. Ironically, the man who directed Bellevue’s Mental Health Clinic was Dr. Fredric Wertham, whose 1954 best-seller Seduction of the Innocent would fuel the anticomics movement and inspire the Senate hearings.

Lauretta and 2nd husband Henry B. Parkes (nicknamed Michael) at their family home in Long Beach, Long Island, August 1971. [©2010 Peter Schilder.]

Lauretta married Paul Schilder in 1936 and they had three children, Michael (in

1937), Peter (in 1938), and Jane (in 1940).

While she was in the hospital following the birth of her daughter, a car struck Paul, killing him. This left Lauretta Bender to raise the children alone. “This she did very successfully while continuing to make major contributions to the concepts of biological child psychiatry.” says Peter Schilder. “She remained at NYU-Bellevue as Chief of Child Psychiatry. Many of her co-workers and trainees served as surrogate family to the Schilder children. Through most of this period the family lived in a ‘beach’ house that Paul Schilder had bought as a present for Lauretta. It was in Long Beach, NY; Lauretta commuted on the Long Island Railroad six days a week to get to work.”

Lauretta and Paul Schilder on a California trip in the ’30s. [©2010 Peter Schilder.]

Peter remembers his mother fondly. “She was always upbeat and energetic. She did household projects such as finishing furniture. She decided it would be nice to have a fireplace, so she had one built in spite of warnings that it might damage the structure of the house. We had a red wagon and would collect driftwood from the beach, often large enough that it would stick out into the living room.

“She was very flexible and adaptive; willing to listen to any suggestions.

She came home from work one day to discover that I had an automobile engine hanging from the porch railing. Her comment was ‘If the porch falls down you will have to put it back up.’

“Her involvement on the Advisory Board of DC Comics was a natural extension of her pioneer work in Child Psychiatry. The basic approach was a positive non-judgmental belief that children either mentally disturbed or healthy benefited from honestly presented material.”

In 1955, Dr. Bender was appointed principal research scientist in child psychiatry, a new post in the State Mental Hygiene Department. She continued working with the state until 1973, when she moved to Annapolis, Maryland. Dr. Bender taught at the University of Maryland and was a consultant to the Children’s Guild, Inc. (a group that worked with the emotionally disturbed) and similar organizations. She won numerous awards, including New York State’s Medical Woman of the Year in 1958. Fittingly, she also received New York University School of Medicine’s Paul Schilder Memorial Award in 1977.

She remained single until 1967, when 70-year-old Lauretta wed Henry B. Parkes, a marriage that lasted until his death in 1972. Lauretta Bender passed away on January 4, 1987, at age 88, leaving behind a rich scientific legacy and a lifetime of service to children.

And now, let’s find out what she had to say about comic books in part two of her 1954 Senate testimony….

Dr. Lauretta Bender: Comics’ Anti-Wertham — Part 4

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1954 Senate Testimony of Dr. Lauretta Bender, Part Two Mr. Beaser: You are on the editorial advisory board of the Superman Comics?

Dr. Bender: That is right.

Mr. Beaser: I gather you were in the courtroom today and heard the discussion?

Dr. Bender: I was. By the way, I am not in any way connected with the Child Study Association. That was implied and it was a mistake. It is merely that Josette Frank interviewed me for one of her articles.

Mr. Beaser: You were one of the resource persons?

Dr. Bender: I was one of the resource persons from which she got expert testimony, let us say, and wrote the article. It is true now, I am an editorial adviser of the Child Study Association. That is another one of my jobs that I do not even get a dollar a year for.

Mr. Beaser: What I cannot understand is that with all the listings of the associations you belong to you must be pretty busy. How do you get time to read the comic books of the National Superman?

Dr. Bender’s name was prominently displayed in DC comics of the ’40s and early ’50s. [©2010 DC Comics.]

sionary ideas. The children in the ward thought that was a good story and they thought it was a good idea, it was like the kind of treatment we were giving them, which I had not thought of in that fashion. They certainly thought it was a good way to cure the sick woman.

Mr. Beaser: But you saw this after the comic book had been on the stands?

Dr. Bender: I don’t read them all.

Mr. Beaser: You read what?

Dr. Bender: I read the ones which look to me to be of some interest. I give the rest to the children at Bellevue and let them read them and tell me what they think about them. I give them to the teachers, psychiatrists. I take them home to my children.

And if there is any question about one, and frequently there is—for instance, about two years ago one of the psychiatrists wrote me in dismay saying that he had picked up a comic his daughter brought in, in which a psychiatrist had been abused in his opinion and found my name on the advisory board and wondered how I could justify such a thing.

In this particular comic the storywriter had thought up a new form of what might be called shock treatment, in which a wife, who was jealous of her husband, had been exposed by the husband, at the advice of his psychiatrist, to actual situations which could be interpreted as indicating that the husband was wanting to do her harm.

But then it ended up with the husband explaining everything and the psychiatrist coming in and explaining everything and the wife and the husband reunited in their mutual understanding and love and the psychiatrist going home. He lived next door. The husband played chess with him, or something.

Well, this didn’t look very bad to me. I said I was not even sure it was not a good idea, it has some good ideas in it. Maybe if we actually did try to portray some of the delusions of patients and showed we could explain, that might be a way of exposing disillusionary ideas. I showed them to the children in the ward because they do have disilluDr. Bender on the roof of Bellevue Hospital. [©2010 Peter Schilder.]

Dr. Bender: That is right. I am not responsible in any way whatsoever with what is published.

Mr. Beaser: And your duties as a member of the editorial advisory board consist of what?

Dr. Bender: My duties on the editorial advisory board are to be consulted by them whenever they choose to consult me and to give them advice about matters which many think are problems in just the terms that you are trying to deal with today, and in the beginning when I worked with them, I also helped them work out their first code.

Whenever they have asked for my advice I have always made an immediate study as carefully as I can, have given my advice and, to my knowledge, it has always been followed.

Mr. Beaser: How often does the board meet?

Dr. Bender: It meets very irregularly and in the last six months I think we have not met. As a matter of fact, we don’t function as a board usually. Now and then we do. We have, sometimes in the past, been called together, as a board, to take up certain questions.

The Chairman: Are the members polled? For example, you have a problem come before you, submitted to you. Do they poll all the members on that problem?

Dr. Bender: I gather they do, because Mr. Dybwad, just ahead of me, told you about a letter which the Child Study Association got and the advice that they had given in regard to this copyrighted article from one of the comics, and I am sure it is the same letter I got and I gave the same advice and I thought they were following my advice, but, obviously, they were not following all our advice. [A/E NOTE: Mr. Dybwad was Executive Director of Child Study Association of America, a parent education group, from 1951 to 1957.]

The Chairman: Are the board members compensated?

Dr. Bender: Yes. I received $150 a month.

Mr. Beaser: I suppose each one of the members received the same compensation?

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Comic Fandom Archive

Headline – And Beyond!

Part III Of “The Teenage Creations of Steve Gerber”

by John G. Pierce “CFA” EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION: In this final chapter of John Pierce’s look back at the late Steve Gerber’s fanzine Headline from the early 1960s, you’ll find an interesting litany of the challenges that beset fanzine publishers of the day. The glow of nostalgia can sometimes cause us to forget that editing and publishing even the humble amateur magazines of yesteryear were not without their stresses, their disappointments, and their outright snafus. This realization can only serve to heighten our appreciation of those fans—such as Steve Gerber—who managed to shepherd their fanzines from an idea to a finished product.

The road was often bumpy!! —Bill Schelly.

I

n earlier articles, I have recounted the story of Steve Gerber’s childhood creations, as well as the first two issues of his fanzine Headline. In this final chapter, we’ll take a look at the third issue of that seminal, oft-overlooked zine.

In 1964, more than a year after the 1963 publication of #2 (that had also been the approximate time-span between #1 & #2), the third issue appeared. Headline was, admittedly, published irregularly, as were most fanzines of the early days, but it might as well have been labeled an annual.

Following a Superman cover, “Ye Olde Print Shoppe”—again labeled “Editorial Comment,” although presumably the readers knew that by now—bears reprinting here, if for no other reason than a look at Steve’s early writing style: At the risk of sounding like Jerry Bails, I’m forced to say that this will be the last issue of Headline under my editorial eye. I’m turning the chores over to Steve Grant, fellow U. Citian, child prodigy, and the biggest braggart since yours truly. With Steve at the helm, you can be sure that HL will continue under its original motto—“Open mouth, insert foot”….

[R]ather than the standard sob-story, I think I’ll devote this last editorial to a re-hashing of the “behind the scenes” story of this fanzine. If you think you’ve been reading incredible fiction, wait’ll you dig into this!

It started with Alter-Ego #2. In that issue, Jerry Bails (yes, he did publish A-E once) offered his #35 duplicator for sale. The two A-E issues had given me the fanzine bug, and I immediately wrote to him about it, and I happened to mention the possibility of a zine devoted to original hero creations. Jerry, too, was enthused about the idea—though probably more because he thought he could unload his duplicator than because he liked the idea. [AUTHOR’S NOTE: I think perhaps Steve was selling the late Dr. Bails a bit short here. It is my impression that the Father

Two Super-Stars From the vantage point of a later time, Steve Gerber contemplates fan-artist Ronn Foss’ cover for the third issue of the former’s fanzine Headline. Art sports for this chapter have been supplied

by John G. Pierce and/or Bill Schelly. [Superman TM & ©2010 DC Comics; other Headline cover art ©2010 Estate of Ronn Foss.]

of Comics Fandom was glad to see it flourish in multitudinous forms, and almost certainly a publication with such a focus would have been welcomed by him. —John.]

Nonetheless, the two of us exchanged correspondence prolifically, discussing the duplicator, the fanzine, and the money. And then, when I finally decided to buy the duplicator and put out one whammo of a fanzine—Jerry sold it locally.

Undaunted, I searched about and finally located an outfit called Standard Duplicators. I checked, and found a great used model for $45, bought it, and things began looking up a bit.

Slowly but surely, the articles were compiled. This was about November of 1961. Jerry had put me in contact with a number of teenage writers, and almost all of them graciously contributed to HL. Somewhere along the line, Paul Seydor joined the crew as co-editor. And it was his excellent art that graced the cover of Headline #1 when it debuted in May of 1962.

But between November and May there was one heck of a winter, and it was no fun for this editor! S.G. Ross had written the Little Giant story, to be our illo’d strip in #1, around a plot which didn’t satisfy artist Ronn Foss. I agreed, and so S.G. and I plotted the actual tale which appeared in HL. This script was admittedly rather crude, but Ronn managed to turn it into a strip which brought raves from every reader! Then he quit! But that comes later.

Now wait. All this sounds fairly simple. But LG was never even intended for HL at first! Paul Seydor was going to do “The Falcon and Electricman,” but pulled out because he felt the strip “just

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not much. Through John Pierce, I’d met Mel Herbers and he came through with an All-Star review without a hitch. A few readers had the courage (some had the gall) to write letters, so that column filled up nicely. And then—DISASTER!! After a beautifully done origin, John Pierce’s Black Hand took a wee bit of a plunge.

John and I went over the story at least three times and we still didn’t get what I—er, we—wanted. I called in S.G. Ross, who had evidently been reading my mail from then-co-editor Seydor. He recalled that Paul had mentioned that both the Hand and Death Spirit, his foe, were the proud owners of rather mysterious faces, Hand’s being invisible and Death Spirit’s being shrouded in darkness. He proposed a ‘duel of the faces’ in which the two adversaries would use the powers of their strange faces in an epic battle. That new angle was incorporated into the story and at last it was complete. But this new aspect eliminated the usefulness of a couple of pictures Seydor had drawn for the original story, so it was back to the old ditto masters for him! [AUTHOR’S NOTE: Years later, as I re-read the line about a “battle of the faces,” it makes even me want to crack up a bit, but really, it wasn’t a bad idea. —John.]

Four By Foss Ronn Foss was as important to the history of Headline as he was to the original hyphenated edition of Alter-Ego, which he was destined to inherit from Jerry Bails and publish in 1963-64. These “Original Creations of Yesterday” pages of his from Headline #3 showcase several of the artist’s own earlier hero concepts. For a photo of Ronn, see our previous issue. [©2010 Estate of Ronn Foss.]

didn’t have it.” It was only then that S.G. Ross and Ronn Foss turned up to further complicate my life. But wait—here comes the clincher!

HL was almost ready to roll. Then, I realized I’d lost my tracing of the Flash Comics #1 cover!!! I wrote to Douglas Marden who had loaned me the book, sighing with relief because I knew he would trace it for me... OH YEAH? The book was out on loan!

Fortunately, I knew Nick Debelo, the fellow to whom the precious volume had been entrusted, so I quickly wrote to him, sent masters, and Nick came through in grand style.

Finally, the zine was run off, stapled (aagh), and mailed. It was only the seventh fanzine out. Only Alter-Ego, Comic Art, Xero, Rocket’s Blast and Spotlite were around at that time, a far cry from the 39 fanzines of today. (That’s the actual number.)

The reviews ran so-so. Almost everyone liked the idea.

(Witness the many copies and imitations of HL scattered through fandom.) The Black Hand by John Pierce fared rather well, and the Flash #1 cover (along with Marden’s excellent article) was a novelty and was received as most ‘firsts’ are. Sadly, the Guard, my comedy story, and Original Creations of Yesteryear really didn’t do as well as I’d hoped.

Next issue rolled around. By now I had a little idea of what to expect in editing a zine, so this one was somewhat easier—but

This time, Paul came through with The Falcon (although what became of Electricman is probably the comics’ greatest mystery) and the Black Hand picture we couldn’t use in the story ended up as a colorful back cover. And now comes this issue’s first big mish-mash. Jerry Bails (remember him?) had sent me a package intended for Paul. (I guess I’m not the only one in fandom who can goof.) These were the original art drawings that appeared in the Original Heroes of Yesteryear section in #2 . I wasn’t sure exactly what was going on at first, but after another pile of letters had been exchanged, Paul got the drawings, traced them, and wrote the article... after a long hassle over which of us should do it! (Chee...) As if this weren’t enough, the Superman-TV article by George Paul was put on masters and set to go when The Comicollector printed a letter accusing him of being a thief!! (The validity of this charge is still a mystery. I have no proof either way.) Finally, after typing and rejecting a half-dozen editorials (at least) I managed to get that portion into good order and set it on masters, at last.

So, at last, the issue went to press. It was only after the 250th copy of the last page came rolling off the presses that I realized— no doubt with the greatest expression of horror in recorded history—that I had omitted (sob) a full-page ad!! I first thought of printing in inside the front cover. But a screw was loose somewhere—probably in my head—and all I did was ruin 250 beautiful covers!! Needless to say, I re-ditto’d all of them (I don’t think Paul ever forgave me for that blue blotch in the middle of the cape), and placed the ad elsewhere. Then, after more stapling, more stamping, and more aggravation, I took them to be mailed.

It was at this point that I became somewhat disenchanted with the US Post Office Department. The fellow at the post office told me that HL #2 would cost eight cents to mail—it cost TEN!! And after stamping them with 250 8-cent stamps, I had the unpleasant chore of dragging the whole lot home from the post office, to add 2 cents postage to each one. The zine went out, though, as what I felt was a fine effort. So what did I get? A 2.71 rating on the Alley Awards Poll. Actually, that was probably due to the fact that there was a full year between the time the issue came out and the voting. And the fact that only 65 (out of 250) readers voted. (Sigh) That’s reader appreciation for you!

There was more, but this pretty much gives the picture. It was not uncommon in those days for editors to turn their publications over to other fans for continuation. At the end of this parting editorial, Steve turned control over to Steve Grant and Steve Wyde, who then took over for a page (“The New Print Shoppe,” still subtitled “Editorial Comment”).

After listing #3’s contents (a relatively worthless activity, since the readers

[Characters TM & ©2010 DC Comics; the name “Captain Thunder” is a trademark of Roy & Dann Thomas.]

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FCA [Fawcett Collectors Of America]

about as long as people had. But mostly they were funny dogs ... and I wanted mine to be different. We were in an era of humorless comics at the time, and the graceful shepherd dog I had in mind was not intended to be funny.

Nor was he meant to carry on oral conversations with the strip’s human characters ... or the reader.

I had by this time met with sufficient syndicate opinion to be convinced that a fixed demand among them was that an original feature, such as mine, was not to begin with people talking. As one was quoted: “Never open with a bunch of promises of things to come. Have the action already here ... in that first episode on that very first panel!”

By [Art & logo ©2010 Marc Swayze; Captain Marvel © & TM 2010 DC Comics]

[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 time, Marc explained the importance of “doodles.” In this issue, the artist speaks of his love for dogs, and revisits one of his unpublished newspaper strips. —P.C. Hamerlinck.]

M

aybe it’s just the imagination working overtime, but it seems that we’ve had a dog or two around ... ever since I was a kid. I love dogs. It stands to reason, then, that one of the first comic strips I ever attempted featured a dog.

I remembered that ... yet, I began the story at hand with two unimportant characters ... talking. Then there followed more vocal exchanges, and inactive panels, and temporary characters ... this time Judge Bentley. In the final panel of strip one, Jango appears. Not much action there!

Nor in the next strip ... but the plot thickens a bit. Jango becomes aware of the presence of a dangerous forest denizen nearby ... a panther!

And strip by strip a story unfolds ... three weeks of dailies ... and Jango has a new friend... an injured war veteran ... and a new world of adventures.

Jango never made it to the printing press. Like many others, he was a victim of the massive postwar switch in reader interest ... from the dramatic ... back again to the funnies of yore.

And ... Consequently ... he was stashed away ... Here ... where he is today.

And we still have dogs. Matter of fact, a couple are curled up at my feet at this very moment.

And I love ’em!

Marc Swayze will return next issue with more anecdotes about the Golden Age of Comics.

It was not a new thing. Dogs had been appearing in comic strips ...

Dog Gone (Above right:) Marc recalls always having “…had a dog or two around …” Sure enough, one such four-legged friend is nearby as he inscribes the FCA editor’s copy of Captain Marvel Adventures #19 on Memorial Day, 2005. Photo by Jennifer Hamerlinck.

(Directly above:) A Jango daily, circa 1954, when Swayze pitched the strip for syndication … about a dog, without a co-star (although later in the story, Jango teams up with a war vet). The Jango character was actually created around 1941 as a canine companion to Judi the Jungle Girl, another syndicate strip attempt by the artist which, like Jango, never made it to the printing press. [©2010 Marcus D. Swayze.]

81

Super-Marvels Captain Marvel-Inspired Superman Stories

by John G. Pierce Edited by P.C. Hamerlinck

Introduction

I

t is generally conceded that Captain Marvel started his life as a deliberate imitation of Superman. Actually, that doesn’t make him all that unique, by itself, anyway. In a general sense, virtually all superheroes, even those (such as Batman) who were merely non-powered costumed heroes, were in one way or another imitations of Superman.

Some, such as Fox’s Wonder Man or Fawcett’s Master Man, were a bit more obvious.

But it is hard to deny the order came down from on high at Fawcett Publications to “create a character like Superman” (see PCH’s ’98 Roscoe K. Fawcett interview, reprinted in the book Fawcett Companion), although that mandate could simply have meant something on the order of “not a character like Mickey Mouse” or “not a character like Flash Gordon.” Be that as it may, Captain Marvel did bear an undeniable similarity to the Man of Steel. Later on, when DC sued Fawcett over alleged copyright infringement, each company had teams of workers poring over stories and panels looking for similarities—which were located, but going in both directions, with some sequences having been done in “Captain Marvel” stories before they appeared in Superman’s adventures.

Well, we all know how that story ended, and further elaboration is not the task at hand. Instead, it is to focus upon a certain set of “Superman” stories which were inspired by Captain Marvel—not imitations of him, necessarily, but owing their existence (or at least certain story elements therein) to his prior existence.

Zha-Vam The Invincible One such three-part Silver Age tour de force was found in Action Comics #351-353 (June-Aug. 1967). In a series of stories, readers were introduced to a villain with the suspicious-sounding name of Zha-Vam, a mere two letters and a hyphen removed from that of the old wizard whose powers gave birth to The Marvel Family, viz., Shazam. It might come as no surprise that the tale was written by Captain Marvel’s erstwhile head writer, and by this point head writer for the Superman family, Otto Binder. Still, it’s hard to tell where the idea actually originated, as editor Mort Weisinger was, in Otto’s own words, “an idea man,” though MW was also notorious for taking ideas from one writer and force-feeding them to another under the pretense that they were his own creations. But here, given Otto’s history with the Marvels, we might be more inclined to credit Otto himself with having generated the idea—or, if nothing else, perhaps it was Mort’s knowledge of Otto’s past association with Fawcett which gave him the thought, instead.

Whizzed Action Comics #351 (June 1967) marked the first installment of former “Captain Marvel”/”Marvel Family” scripter Otto O. Binder’s “Zha-Vam” trilogy (cover art

by Curt Swan & George Klein).

Residing next to it is a re-creation of the cover— with a Captain Marvel twist— by artist Eric Jansen (ericjansenartist@tripod.com) and assembled by Walt Grogan (marvelfamily.com).

[Action art ©2010 DC Comics; Superman & Shazam hero TM & ©2010 DC Comics.]

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Anyway, after a quick demonstration of his abilities, Zha-Vam easily convinces the crooks to accept him as their leader, and they start off on what criminals do best: committing crimes. An attempt on Fort Knox (a location which turned up more than once in Silver Age “Superman” tales) brings the Man of Steel into action, and up against Zha-Vam for the first time. But, although the villain is able to knock Superman around, he can’t quite defeat him. Even Apollo’s magic bow, shooting arrows made from Zeus’ lightning (an interesting combination), doesn’t really affect Superman. (Yes, yes, I know he’s supposed to be vulnerable to magic just as he is to Kryptonite. Does magic have rules?)

It is then that Zha-Vam unveils his reserve powers, in the form of his belt with various buttons, each with a different letter. When he touches the ‘T,’ he gets the power of Titan, and grows to be 100 feet tall. The chapter ends with Superman’s defeat, and a written message of defiance to Superman on a Fort Knox wall. (The fort’s gold, however, presumably the object of the invasion, was not taken but rather simply melted down by Zha-Vam’s flame breath.)

The Victory Of Zha-Vam The second Zha-Vam tale demonstrates once more how Silver Age writers were able to pack more plot into 14 pages than most modern writers can do into several issues. It begins with a charity exhibition in which Superman tosses, smashes, and otherwise cavorts with full-sized replicas of the Empire State Building, the Great Pyramid, and the Eiffel Tower. (This was supposed to be taking place in Metropolis Stadium, which had to have been one huge place to accommodate all those facsimiles.) The crowd is suitably wowed by the spectacle, until Zha-Vam shows up to challenge the Man of Steel.

Insuperable Action #351’s Zha-Vam splash page, drawn by artist Wayne Boring. Otto Binder’s “Zha-Vam the Invincible,” and the two subsequent stories featuring the character, copiously contained slight (and not-so-slim) deferences to the original Captain Marvel. Scan courtesy of Darrell McNeil. [©2010 DC Comics.]

The “action” begins when Zha-Vam intrudes on a meeting of criminals—the United Crime Syndicates—who are in need of a new leader, given that Superman has jailed their previous one. Zha-Vam presents his impressive résumé for the job: the lightning bolts of Zeus, the strength of Hercules, the invulnerability of Achilles, flame breath from Vulcan, magic bow and arrows from Apollo, and the speed of Mercury.

One right away notices some similarities to Captain Marvel’s pantheon, and some differences. Here, Zeus is given a specific ability, that of throwing thunderbolts, rather than the vague “power of Zeus” (often considered to be the source of CM’s invulnerability). The strength of Hercules is not only the same as with Cap, but in the same spot in the name.

Then there’s Achilles, who gives Captain Marvel courage, rather than invulnerability—though it’s tempting to think that anyone with invulnerability would have a built-in advantage in that department. (Still, keep in mind that the early CM was not totally impervious to harm or pain.)

Vulcan and Apollo, of course, are specific to Zha-Vam, as are the attributes they convey. Finally, Mercury, as with Cap (and in the same tailend spot), gives speed, which obviously includes flying ability. (Mercury apparently was a bit stingier when he gave his speed to Wonder Woman, as that gift did not include flight—at least, not until George Pérez took hold of the character in the mid-’80s.)

His challenge? An invitation to Superman to push one of his belt buttons. Superman chooses “G,” which turns Zha-Vam into a Gorgon, who immediately turns Superman to stone. But, being the sporting sort, Zha-Vam gives our hero a clue before he flies off: “A lucky horseshoe can set you free!”

Meanwhile, those first-degree voyeurs, the Phantom Zone villains, are looking in on the events. Concentrating their thoughts, they send Superman a mental message: “We figured out Zha-Vam’s clue, and it’s attractive! That’s a clue of our own... if you can guess it!”

As if all that weren’t enough, Superman remembers that Clark Kent had promised Lois a story for her woman’s-page feature, and he’s worried that if he doesn’t deliver soon, she’ll get suspicious. But then he gets a flash of brilliance. “Lucky horseshoe means a horseshoe magnet, which has an attractive force. Zha-Vam turned me into lodestone, which is a natural magnetic material!” And conveniently, of course, a thunderstorm comes up, so Superman’s lodestone body is able to attract a lightning bolt, which “temporarily charged my thought-waves with electrical energy!”

(The Silver Age: There’s nothing quite like it!)

So then Superman uses his concentrated mental energy to operate the keys of an electric typewriter in the Daily Planet office, thus pounding out a story for Lois to find, and divert her suspicions—for now, anyway.

(This trick, which in various forms has been used more than once, can be traced to the 1950 Columbia movie serial Atom-Man vs. Superman, where Lex Luthor trapped the hero in what was called “the Empty Doom,” an obvious forerunner of the Phantom Zone.) Meanwhile, Superman has managed to attract a barrage of lightning bolts, “which are smashing the iron magnetite atoms and turning me back to living flesh!”

Later, Clark gets a report about strange temple being built in Greece.

Investigating, he finds that, surely enough, it’s the work of Zha-Vam, who has proclaimed himself “King of Earth” (in English lettering on the temple; one wonders why no Greek letters were used … a missed opportunity to teach readers a little something worthwhile). In the ensuing